Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Harmonics Reduction in a Current Source Fed Quasi-Resonant Inverter Based Induction Heater

This paper investigates an approach to reduce the injection of unwanted harmonics from the input side power source. The proposed work finds an application of a suitably designed Low Pass Filter (LPF) for harmonics reduction. The Low Pass Filter is incorporated in between the input power source and high frequency current source fed single switch parallel quasi-resonant inverter of a domestic Induction Heater. The inverter has an Insulated Gate Bipolar Junction Transistor (IGBT) switch. Undesirable harmonics injection to the input power source makes voltage and current waveforms non-sinusoidal. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis has been applied to study the effect of harmonics in frequency domain. The entire system is realized in Power System Simulator (PSIM) environment. It is finally proved that the proposed filter reduces the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) and the Distortion Factor (DF) of the input current. It is also proved that the proposed Low Pass Filter can make the input power factor closer to unity.
Effect of hibiscus sabdariffa on blood pressure in patients with stage 1 hypertension

Using different drug regimens has been proved to have effective effects on lowering blood pressure, but the adverse effects of long-term usage such medications is evident. According to recent trend in suing herbal and traditional medicines, researchers have been focused on evaluating the effect of different herbals on managing hypertension. The aim of the present study is the evaluation of the antihypertensive effect one of these herbs, sour tea (Hibiscus sabdariffa), on stage one hypertension. Patients with stage one hypertension who were diagnosed by a cardiologist has been included in the present clinical trial after giving informed consent. The patients were divided into two groups. The control and case group received the same lifestyle and dietary advices for controlling blood pressure. The case group received two standard cup of sour tea every morning for 1 month. The blood pressure of both groups was documented at baseline and at the end of the study and the results were analyzed using SPSS software. A total of 46 patients participated in this study and there was no significant difference in terms of age and body mass index between groups. There was a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure in both groups, but the mean reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the case group (P = 0.004 and P < 0.001, respectively). Using H. sabdariffa as sour tea two times a day can be effective in managing blood pressure in stage one hypertension along with lifestyle and dietary modification.
Evaluation of Ocular Pain During and After Intravitreal Injection of Antivascular Endothelial Growth Factors in South-West Nigeria

Aim: This article determines pain scores during and after intravitreal injections in black Africans so as to make evidence-based decisions in pain management. Settings and Design: This was a prospective cohort study conducted over 16 months following institutional ethical clearance on adults scheduled for intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy. Materials and Methods: Age, sex, indication for therapy, presence of diabetes mellitus, anti-VEGF agent, current dose of anti-VEGF taken, and quadrant of injection were recorded. Pain was measured with visual analog scale during the procedure and 15 min, 30 min, 1 h, and 3 h after procedure. Pain intensity was classified into no pain, mild, moderate, and severe. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22.0, P-value below 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 49 eyes of 49 patients with male-to-female ratio of 1.2:1 and mean age of 66.61 ± 11.24 years were studied. Most common indication for anti-VEGF was diabetic retinopathy (17, 34.7%) and most patients (34, 69.4%) received bevacizumab. The mean pain score during injection was 36.33 ± 23.25; this progressively decreased with time to 0.20 ± 1.42 by 3 h postinjection (P < 0.001). Six (12.2%) patients experienced no pain at all during the injection, whereas mean pain score was significantly higher in those who had bevacizumab injections (P = 0.031) and diabetes (P = 0.013). Pain was mainly mild in severity during the injection and female patients tended to have more severe pains. Conclusion: Pain during intravitreal anti-VEGF in black Africans is mild, and it resolves within 3 h of the injection.
Minimum prediction residual principle applied to speech recognition

A computer system is described in which isolated words, spoken by a designated talker, are recognized through calculation of a minimum prediction residual. A reference pattern for each word to be recognized is stored as a time pattern of linear prediction coefficients (LPC). The total log prediction residual of an input signal is minimized by optimally registering the reference LPC onto the input autocorrelation coefficients using the dynamic programming algorithm (DP). The input signal is recognized as the reference word which produces the minimum prediction residual. A sequential decision procedure is used to reduce the amount of computation in DP. A frequency normalization with respect to the long-time spectral distribution is used to reduce effects of variations in the frequency response of telephone connections. The system has been implemented on a DDP-516 computer for the 200-word recognition experiment. The recognition rate for a designated male talker is 97.3 percent for telephone input, and the recognition time is about 22 times real time.
Value of Number Portability on Internet Phones

Even though Internet phone service (IPS) continues to evolve in terms of quality and competitive pricing compared with the public switched telephone network (PSTN), the number of Internet phone subscribers is still low in South Korea. The Korean government decided to apply number portability to the IPS market in 2008. This study expresses its value in monetary terms with a contingent valuation approach. With this methodology, this study investigates the willingness of 316 current PSTN subscribers to pay for IPS, using a specific survey method called double‐bounded dichotomous choices, to obtain more accurate data. The results show that the calculated value of Internet phone number portability positively impacts consumer welfare.
A situation assessment approach using support vector machines as a learning tool

In order to assess a situation and support decision makers' awareness for the situation, this study first proposes a situation assessment model with mathematical description. It then develops a Support Vector Machine based assessment approach, which has the ability to learn the rules from the previous assessment results and generate necessary warnings for a situation. Finally, a set of experiments is conducted to illustrate and validate the proposed approach.
Mobile cloud computing: state of the art and outlook

Purpose – The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the meaning of cloud computing for mobile communication. The paper answers the question “what is mobile cloud computing? ” and how is it related to the generic cloud computing concept? Design/methodology/approach – This is an explanatory conceptual paper, based on literature review and exploring potential use cases, focused on the use of mobile cloud for service, platform or infrastructure access. The authors exclude the discussion of the traditional cloud concept in back office processes of telecom operators, and service providers.Findings – Where cloud computing is focused on pooling of resources, mobile technology is focused on pooling and sharing of resources locally enabling alternative use cases for mobile infrastructure, platforms and service delivery. The paper discusses relevant concepts and offers examples of use cases.Research limitations/implications – The value of mobile cloud solutions is not yet explicit, but needs further attention.
System Identification of an Ornithopter Aerodynamics Model

Flapping-wing ornithopters are emerging as a promising vehicle design for developing small scale unmanned air vehicles with multi-mission capabilities. One of the primary technical challenges currently impeding the maturation of apping-wing vehicle systems is the di culty in obtaining simple but accurate models of the complex aerodynamic ow elds which characterize apping ight. Typically aerodynamic models are based on rst principles, numerical models, or time-averaged wind tunnel testing. System identi cation provides an alternative that does not compromise the aerodynamic environment experienced in free ight. In this paper the authors present model structure determination results of lift and thrust forces generated by the apping wings of an ornithopter. A visual tracking system was used to obtain state measurements of the ornithopter while in trimmed straight and level mean ight. A multibody vehicle dynamics model, previous experimental results, model structure determination, and the equation-error parameter estimation routine used in both the time and frequency domains were used to determine models for the aerodynamic forces.
Length-Weight Relationship, Condition Factor and Fecundity of African Snakehead Parachanna obscura from the Anambra River, South East Nigeria

Abstract The length-weight relationship, condition factor, fecundity, gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices of Parachanna obscura from the Anambra River were determined between December 2015 and June 2016. Eighty-three live samples of P. obscura were obtained from fishermen. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis were used to analyze the obtained data. The length-weight relationship had R values of 0.933, 0.843 and 0.896 for male, female and combined sexes, respectively. The b value of 3.133 for male and 2.674 for female were not significantly different (P>0.05). Mean condition factors of 0.89±0.33 and 0.80±0.21 were obtained for female and male, respectively. The largest number of eggs (10,965) was found in a female with the body weight of 154 g, gonad weight of 9.1 g and egg size of 1.3 mm, while the least fecund female with 1820 eggs weighed (94 g) and had a gonad weight 2.1 g with egg size of 1.0 mm. The hepatosomatic indices ranged between 0.55±0.20 and 0.64±0.29 in both male and female, respectively, while female gonadosomatic index average was 2.05±1.44. There was a positive correlation between fecundity and gonad weight.
An architecture and implementation of secure device communication in oxygen

This thesis describes the design and implementation of a system for securely controlling and communicating with devices. The system requires little processing overhead on the device while allowing secure control of the device through a proxy. The proxy is a software representative for the device that runs on a fast computer and so is capable of implementing sophisticated cryptographic algorithms to authorize control of the device. With the proxy doing the difficult work, the device must only implement simple algorithms. The devices communicate using a RF protocol that allows mobility and the ability to easily add new devices to the environment. In addition, the devices communicate over the Internet so they can be controlled from virtually anywhere. The system design incorporates well with resource discovery services that facilitate device automation. This thesis describes one such application. Thesis Supervisor: Srinivas Devadas Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Low-complexity geometry based MIMO channel emulation

The design and optimization of modern radio communication systems requires realistic models of the radio propagation channel. Especially for the test of mobile radio hardware devices, real-time implementations of such channel models are needed. Geometry based channel models are computationally intensive, since for every propagation path, every time instance and every delay or frequency bin a complex exponential has to be evaluated. On a real-time hardware channel emulator, like the ARC SmartSim, the number of paths P, that can be simulated, is limited by the available processing power. In this paper, a new method is introduced, that allows both to increase the number of paths P and to reduce the overall computational complexity.
Conversationally and Monologically-Produced Narratives: A Complex Story of Horizontal Décalages

Abstract Theory-of- mind-related abilities present a long development characterized by both vertical and horizontal décalages. A vertical type of décalage can be seen in children’s abilities to take into account, on a practical level, others’ intentional and mental states and use internal state terms to talk about them before they are able to succeed, at the dominant representational level of functioning, in false belief tasks. Several horizontal décalages can also be observed. It is only after success in FB tasks that children can talk about the mental states of characters in fictional stories. Moreover, ToM-related and other inferential elements are expressed earlier and more frequently in conversationally-constructed than in monologically-produced narratives. This paper examines in particular this type of horizontal décalage by comparing the types of explanations produced by eighty 6- and 7-year-old French-speaking children during a short conversational intervention (SCI) focused on the causes of the story events to those expressed in monological narratives, about the same wordless picture story, produced immediately after or before the SCI. The results confirm that children expressed more ToM-related and other inferential elements during the SCI than in the two monologically-produced narratives. However, the comparison between explanations produced during the SCI and in the immediately following monological narrative also reveals complex relations among understanding, knowing and expressing this knowledge. The reasons and the significance of the horizontal décalages found in the study are discussed.
Performance evaluation of the quasi-FIFO back-off scheme for wireless access networks

The binary exponential back-off (BEB) scheme is widely adopted in both wire and wireless networks for collision resolution. Since the back-off windows among competing users are not synchronized, the BEB algorithm results in a "capture effect" and, in the limit as the number of users approaches infinity, the BEB is unstable for every arrival rate greater than 0. Taking the advantage that a common back-off window size can be broadcast by the base-station or access point in wireless networks, the capture effect can be substantially alleviated. We first show that maximum throughput can be achieved when the back-off window size is equal to the number of competing users and there are on the average 2.3922 users involved in each collision. Then, a novel quasi-FIFO back-off scheme is proposed, not only to improve the fairness in bandwidth usage, but also to maximize the throughput. In quasi-FIFO, packets generated in the current cycle are guaranteed to be serviced in the next cycle and the FIFO principle can be semi-accomplished.
Calculation of The Electromagnetic Field of The Microwave of Devices With Use of Method FDTD and Integral Kirchhoff

Application of superficial integral Kirchhoff together with method FDTD expands a scope of a metho d. Such hybrid is effective at calculations of diagrams of an orientation of aerials, the effective area of refle ction and in other cases where the field on some removal from ob ject is required to find. Accuracy of calculations with use of superficial integral Kirchhoff is commensurable with accuracy of method FDTD.
Assessment in Systems Analysis and Design: Simulation, Constraints and New Foundations

Abstract Over recent years, we have attempted to design summative assessments for a final year undergraduate module in Systems Analysis and Design that engage students in stimulating, practical tasks that are based upon real-world requirements. This paper evaluates the progression of these ambitions and draws attention to the constraints that inevitably limit attempts to simulate software development environments. The paper critically reflects on lessons learned and anticipates improvements in the model, particularly the idea that student solutions can form a repository of material representing an advancing body of in-house knowledge, and the prospect of moving towards a more real-world learning and assessment environment. Current work is focused on analysing system requirements among a community of voluntary carers dealing with elderly residents. This has the advantage of forging valuable external links as well as providing a live user environment. It is suggested that such projects could also be integrated into other modules.
The use of Kohonen self-organizing maps in process monitoring

Process monitoring and fault diagnosis have been studied widely in recent years, and the number of industrial applications with encouraging results has grown rapidly. In the case of complex processes a computer aided monitoring enhances operators' possibilities to run the process economically. In this paper a fault diagnosis system is described and some application results from the Outokumpu Harjavalta smelter are discussed. The system monitors process states using neural networks (Kohonen self-organizing maps, SOM) in conjunction with heuristic rules, which are also used to detect equipment malfunctions.
A unified analysis of hybrid ARQ protocol in frequency-hop spread-spectrum systems subject to frequency-selective fading and interference

This paper presents an exact analysis of the type-I hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocol for a frequency-hop (FH) communication system that uses symbol interleaving, multiple codewords per packet, and multiple symbols per dwell interval. The analysis relies on exact formulas for the probabilities of decoder error and failure with an arbitrary number of different conditional symbol error and erasure probabilities. We specialize our analysis to two channel models. The first channel exhibits frequency-selective fading, and the second exhibits frequency-selective interference. The results show that the interrelationships between system and channel parameters are complex and not always intuitive. Numerical results show that: (1) depending on the channel parameters, frequency-selective channel phenomena can result in either an improvement or degradation in system performance compared with an equivalent nonselective channel and (2) in a fading channel, increasing the number of symbols per dwell interval can result in a significant improvement in reliability at only a modest reduction in throughput.
Speaker adaptation for telephony data using speaker clustering

This paper reports an ongoing effort to develop an unsupervised on-line speaker adaptation method for the telephony environment. All speakers in the training data corpus are acoustically pre-clustered into clusters, and a cluster-dependent system is built for each cluster. When a new telephony test speaker is given, a cluster, which is the closest to the speaker, is determined and selected by an improved distance measure. Based on this selected cluster, a MLLR (maximum likelihood linear regression) adaptation algorithm with block diagonal transformation is applied to move the cluster model to be closer to the testing speaker. For telephony applications the adaptation data can be very short or noisy, potentially the MLLR adapted means can be unreliable. A MAP-like weighting scheme for MLLR adaptation is applied to ensure the adapted mean reliability when the adaptation data is very short.
Replicated Landscape Genomics Identifies Evidence of Local Adaptation to Urbanization in Wood Frogs

Abstract Native species that persist in urban environments may benefit from local adaptation to novel selection factors. We used double-digest restriction-side associated DNA (RAD) sequencing to evaluate shifts in genome-wide genetic diversity and investigate the presence of parallel evolution associated with urban-specific selection factors in wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). Our replicated paired study design involved 12 individuals from each of 4 rural and urban populations to improve our confidence that detected signals of selection are indeed associated with urbanization. Genetic diversity measures were less for urban populations; however, the effect size was small, suggesting little biological consequence. Using an FST outlier approach, we identified 37 of 8344 genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms with consistent evidence of directional selection across replicates. A genome-wide association study analysis detected modest support for an association between environment type and 12 of the 37 FST outlier loci. Discriminant analysis of principal components using the 37 FST outlier loci produced correct reassignment for 87.5% of rural samples and 93.8% of urban samples. Eighteen of the 37 FST outlier loci mapped to the American bullfrog (Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana) genome, although none were in coding regions. This evidence of parallel evolution to urban environments provides a powerful example of the ability of urban landscapes to direct evolutionary processes.
Virtual Currencies; Bitcoin & What Now after Liberty Reserve, Silk Road, and Mt. Gox?

During 2013, the U.S. Treasury Department evoked the first use of the 2001 Patriot Act to exclude virtual currency provider Liberty Reserve from the U.S. financial system. This article will discuss: the regulation of virtual currencies; cybercrimes and payment systems; darknets, Tor and the “deep web”; Bitcoin; Liberty Reserve; Silk Road and Mt. Gox. Virtual currencies have quickly become a reality, gaining significant traction in a very short period of time, and are evolving rapidly. Virtual currencies present particularly difficult law enforcement challenges because of their: ability to transcend national borders in the fraction of a second; unique jurisdictional issues; and anonymity due to encryption. Due primarily to their anonymous characteristic, virtual currencies have been linked to numerous types of crimes, including facilitating marketplaces for: assassins; attacks on businesses; child exploitation (including pornography); corporate espionage; counterfeit currencies; drugs; fake IDs and passports; high yield investment schemes (Ponzi schemes and other financial frauds); sexual exploitation; stolen credit cards and credit card numbers; and weapons. Innovation in the pace of development of new currencies and technologies continue to create ongoing challenges for responsible users of technology and regulators alike. While technological advances create great opportunities to improve the health, living conditions, and general wellbeing of mankind; new technologies also create great challenges for nation states.
GTTS Systems for the Query-by-Example Spoken Term Detection Task of the Albayzin 2012 Search on Speech Evaluation ?

This paper briefly describes the systems presented by the Working Group on Software Technologies (GTTS) 1 of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) to the Query-by-Example (QbE) Spoken Term Detection task of the Albayzin 2012 Search on Speech Evaluation. GTTS systems apply the state-of-the-art Brno University of Technology phone decoders for Czech, Hungarian and Russian in two di↵erent ways: System A looks for approximate matchings of the best decoding of a spoken query in the phone lattice of the target audio doc- ument; System B represents both the query and the audio document in terms of frame-level phone log-likelihoods and scans the audio document for possible matchings, by minimizing the distance between feature vec- tors and applying heuristic strategies to prune the search space and to validate the hypothesized segments.