Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance Analysis of Cooperative ARQ Scheme with Co-channel Interference

Abstract In this paper, the performance of cooperative decode-and-forward (DF) automatic-repeat-request (ARQ) scheme with co-channel interference is investigated in a long-term static Rayleigh fading environment. We assume that the relay node is impaired by M interferers and the destination node is impaired by N interferers. A closed-form expression for the outage probability of cooperative DF ARQ scheme with co-channel interference is derived. Then we analyze the average throughput of the scheme with co-channel interference and further derive that the average throughput is mainly influenced by the interferers at the destination node. The average total power consumption per information packet of cooperative DF ARQ scheme with co-channel interference is investigated and a closed-form expression is obtained for cooperative DF ARQ scheme with co-channel interference, in which the source and relay may use different transmission power level in different transmission time slots. The closed-form expression is valid for any maximum number of transmission time slots L allowed by the protocol and may play a key role in optimizing power allocation. Numerical and simulation results are presented to verify our analysis.
Succession of Microbial Communities of Corn Silage Inoculated with Heterofermentative Lactic Acid Bacteria from Ensiling to Aerobic Exposure

To further explore the effects of heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on silage fermentation and aerobic stability, whole-plant corn at around the 1/2 milk-line stage was freshly chopped and ensiled in laboratory silos with deionized water (control), Lactobacillus buchneri (LB), or L. rhamnosus (LR). Each treatment was prepared in triplicate for 3, 14, and 60 d of fermentation, followed by 3 and 7 days of aerobic exposure. The dynamic changes in microbial community were studied by single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing. The results showed that the two LAB inoculants altered the microbial communities in different ways. Succession from L. plantarum to L. buchneri and L. rhamnosus was observed in LB- and LR-treated silage, respectively. Both silages improved aerobic stability (82 and 78 h vs. 44 h) by occupying the microbial niche to produce higher levels of acetic acid at terminal fermentation. Because Acetobacter fabarum dominated in the silages after aerobic exposure, beta diversity dramatically decreased. In this study, a. fabarum was reported for the first time in silage and was related to aerobic spoilage. The two heterofermentative LAB produced acetic acid and improved the aerobic stability of the corn silage by occupying the microbial niche at terminal fermentation. Inoculated L. rhamnosus had a greater pH for a longer period of time after opening and less DM loss at day 7.
Radial Artery Pseudoaneurysm Following Cardiac Catheterization: A Case Report

The transradial approach is the most preferred method for cardiac catheterization. The radial route approach has many advantages, including fewer puncture site-related complications and early mobility and discharge. The vascular complications include radial artery spasms, occlusions, dissections, perforations, and compartment syndrome. Although pseudoaneurysms are a well-known complication of femoral access (0.2%-3%), pseudoaneurysms are very infrequent (0.05%) after radial artery access. Very few cases of radial pseudoaneurysms have been reported to date. We present a rare case of an 82-year-old man on dual antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy who underwent coronary angiography via the radial route. The patient developed a pseudoaneurysm requiring surgical intervention.
ASSESSING THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENERGY USE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM RALS COINTEGRATION TECHNIQUE

This study is relevant towards determining the ability of Turkey in mitigating environmental degradation which is one of the major areas of concern. Therefore, we aimed to examine the linkage among agriculture, energy use, economic performance and FDI with environmental sustainability. To this end, ecological footprint has been considered as a more comprehensive and reliable indicator to measure the level of environmental degradation. This relationship has been investigated with different approaches such as the Residual Augmented Least Squares Augmented Dickey-Fuller (RALS-ADF), Residual Augmented Least Squares Engle and Granger (RALS-EG) and leveraged bootstrap causality test for the period from 1970 to 2017. The RALS procedure was utilized to analyze the stationarity level of each variable and their cointegration relationship. The findings confirmed that all the variables investigated have cointegration relationship and have positive and statistically significant effect on environmental degradation in Turkey. The results of leveraged bootstrap causality test showed that there are bidirectional causal relationships of environmental sustainability with agriculture sector as well as FDI and economic performance. Moreover, the unidirectional causal relationship runs from environmental degradation to energy use and from FDI to economic performance and agriculture sector. The other unidirectional causal relationship running from agriculture sector to energy use and from economic performance to energy use. Also, our findings confirmed the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis for the relationship of economic performance and environmental sustainability. Therefore, our findings provide insights for policymakers to consider investigated variables as a surest way to have environmental sustainability.
Microwave absorption characteristics of substituted Ba0.5Sr0.5MxFe(12−2x)O19 (M = Co2+Zr4+ AND Co2+Ti4+) sintered ferrite at X‐band

The microwave reflection loss (RL) of four series of synthesized ferrites, Ba0.5Sr0. 5CoxZrxFe(12 − 2x)O19 and Ba0.5Sr0. 5CoxTixFe(12 − 2x)O19, have been measured using network analyzer in the frequency range from 8.2 to 12.4 GHz. The comprehensive analysis of RL is carried out as a function of substitution, frequency, and thickness. The various models contributing to large RL are described. The composition accompanying maximum microwave absorption is suggested. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:1661–1665, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26912
Geometrical designs and performance analysis of a linear fresnel reflector solar concentrator with a flat horizontal absorber

Two different approaches for designing a linear Fresnel reflector solar concentrator (LFRSC) with a flat horizontal absorber are described. The performance characteristics of both the designs are studied in detail. The distribution of local concentration ratio on the surface of the absorber, for each design, is investigated using the ray trace technique. Results of some typical numerical calculations are presented graphically and discussed.
Conditions associated with sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity among community-dwelling older people

Objective: to investigate the factors associated with sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity (SO) in community-dwelling older people. Methods: This was a cross-sectional community-based study. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the cutoff points of hand grip strength (HGS), and SO was identified through a low HGS concomitant with a high body fat percentage, according to sex, determined using electrical bioimpedance. Calorie and protein intake was estimated using a 24-hour recall. Socio-demographic data were obtained by means of an interview and the level of physical activity was assessed using a specific instrument. Results: Prevalence of 43% and 19.6% were observed for sarcopenia and SO, respectively. Older people aged ≥ 70 years have a significantly higher risk for sarcopenia in 183% (PR = 2.83; 95% CI = [1.62 to 4.96]; p value < 0.001) compared to those aged 60 to 69 years. The prevalence of sarcopenia was higher in males, among those who contribute to family support, present comorbidities and are less physically active. The prevalence of SO and sarcopenia was high, but this study did not allow us to observe statistically significant associations. Calorie and protein intakes were predominantly inadequate throughout the sample, however, there was no association with sarcopenia and SO. Conclusion: Advance years of life was shown to be a factor associated with sarcopenia, and with SO. Contributing to family support and insufficient physical activity were determining conditions for the occurrence of sarcopenia.
Comparison of Fatigue Damage, Healing, and Endurance Limit with Beam and Uniaxial Fatigue Tests

The concept of an endurance limit assumes a strain value below which the net fatigue damage that occurs during a load cycle is zero. The fact that real traffic loads are separated by rest periods may allow for partial or full healing of the microcracks, which can affect this endurance limit. If the asphalt layer thickness is controlled to keep strains below the endurance limit, the fatigue life of the pavement can be extended considerably. In the study reported in this paper, it was hypothesized that the endurance limit in asphalt concrete developed from the interaction and balance of damage and healing during a load cycle. This hypothesis formed the basis of the testing and analysis program, which evaluated the effects of air voids, asphalt content, rest periods, and temperature on the endurance limit. Two types of fatigue tests were conducted: beam (flexural) and uniaxial. A regression model also was developed on the basis of the results of each test and used to obtain the endurance limit values. This paper compares fatigue damage, healing, and endurance limit results from the two tests under similar conditions. The comparison shows that the beam fatigue test yields less overall fatigue damage and less healing than the uniaxial fatigue test. Beam fatigue yields 8 to 14 times longer fatigue lives, while uniaxial fatigue yields higher healing (10.4 times for the only available case). Because damage and healing combined to govern the endurance limit, the two tests produced close values in which the overall uniaxial endurance limit values were 12% less than the beam fatigue endurance limit values.
Segmentation of pulmonary vascular tree by incorporating vessel enhancement filter and variational region-growing.

BACKGROUND Automatic segmentation of pulmonary vascular tree in the thoracic computed tomography (CT) image is a promising but challenging task with great clinical potential values. It is difficult to segment the whole vascular tree in reasonable time and acceptable accuracy. OBJECTIVE To develop a novel pulmonary vessel segmentation approach by incorporating vessel enhancement filters and the anisotropic diffusion filter with the variational region growing. METHODS First, the airway wall from the lung lobes is eliminated from CT images by using multi-scale morphological operations. Second, a Hessian-based multi-scale vesselness filter and medialness filter are applied to detect and enhance the potential vessel. Third, an anisotropic diffusion filter is used to remove noise and enhance the tube-like structures in CT images. Last, the vascular tree is segmented by applying variational region growing algorithm. RESULTS Applying to the CT images collected from the entire dataset of VESSEL12 challenge, we achieved an average sensitivity of 92.9%, specificity of 91.6% and the area under the ROC curve of AUC = 0.972. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated feasibility of segmenting the pulmonary vessel effectively by incorporating vessel enhancement filters and the anisotropic diffusion filter with the variational region growing algorithm. Our method cannot only segment both large and peripheral vessels, but also distinguish the vessels from the adjacent tissues, especially the airway walls.
CO2 Absorption in a 5M Aqueous Solution of 2-(Diethylamino)Ethanol

Currently, climate change and global warming are the main issues on environmental concern due to the higher amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The main sources of carbon dioxide are energy-related activities such as power generation. Now, the effective technology to remove CO2 from these sources is absorption especially with amine solution. The commercially used amine solutions are monoethanolamine (MEA) and methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). Nevertheless, they also have disadvantages such as low capacity, corrosion and high energy requirement. Therefore, many new solvents have been developed to improve efficiency for CO2 capture. Therefore, the objective of this work is to measure the vapor-liquid equilibrium of CO2 in a 5M aqueous solution of 2-(Diethylamino) ethanol (DEAE) as a novel solution at the temperature from 30 °C to 80 °C and CO2 partial pressures ranging from 5 to 100 kPa. The solubility results of CO2 in DEAE solution are compared with those of aqueous solution of MEA. For cyclic capacity, the results present that DEAE provides higher performance which is up to 861% higher than that of MEA. This means that DEAE can save more energy and cost for solution regeneration.
Saliency Map Based Defect Alarm System for FPC Roll-to-Roll Process

Defect rate in flexible printed circuit(FPC) industry is not so good. This paper propose a system and an algorithm to monitor appearance defects in FPC roll-to-roll process. This algorithm is based on selective attention mechanism computed by saliency map. Edge density is introduced as feature to compute the saliency map. Object’s distribution map is defined to help locate all the known objects in FPC. According to the particularity of roll-to-roll process, lateral difference operator is presented to highlight the defects. This operator’s algorithm involved the edge density maps and object’s distribution maps. Experimental data confirm the validity of the proposed system and algorithm.
Investigation of FMS-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3 Mutation Frequency in Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Introduction: FMS-Like Tyrosine Kinase Class 3 (FLT3) mutations harbor poor prognosis, high relapse, and decreased overall survival in acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). This mutation is also known to be demonstrated in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This study included 94 MDS-diagnosed patients and we tried to investigate FLT3 mutation frequency (as tyrosine kinase domain-TKD and internal tandem duplication-ITD). Materials and Methods: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism, and agarose-gel electrophoresis methods were used to analyze the mutation. The blood samples were collected in K3-EDTA tubes, and total DNA was isolated using genomic DNA isolation kits (GeneMark, Cat No: DP023P). For the detection of FLT3-ITD mutation, PCR was performed to amplify a 330- base pair fragment of exons 11 and 12 of FLT3 using FAM (Carboxyfluorescein)-labeled ITD-11F and HEX (Hexachloro-Fluorescein )-labeled ITD-12R primers in a thermal cycler (Eppendorf). Similarly, to detect D835 mutation, a 115- bp region of exon 17 of the FLT3 gene region was amplified using primers. Results: One patient was found FLT3-ITD positive (1.1%). The patient was 64-year-old and diagnosed with MDS-excess blast type 2 according to the World Health Organisation 2016 myeloid neoplasm classification. He transformed to AML within 19 months and subsequently died after 1 month. No patient with tyrosine kinase domain mutation was detected. Conclusion: FLT3 mutation is considered a significant parameter to define prognosis in AML. The routine workup of FLT3 screening and the potential of targeting FLT3 inhibition for high-risk MDS may be taken into consideration in the future.
Complete genome sequence and Benzophenone-3 mineralisation potential of Rhodococcus sp. USK10, a bacterium isolated from riverbank sediment

Benzophenone-3 (BP3) is an organic UV filter whose presence in the aquatic environment has been linked to detrimental developmental impacts in aquatic organisms such as coral and fish. The genus Rhodococcus has been extensively studied and is known for possessing large genomes housing genes for biodegradation of a wide range of compounds, including aromatic carbons. Here, we present the genome sequence of Rhodococcus sp. USK10, which was isolated from Chinese riverbank sediment and is capable of utilising BP3 as the sole carbon source, resulting in full BP3 mineralisation. The genome consisted of 9,870,030 bp in 3 replicons, a G+C content of 67.2%, and 9,722 coding DNA sequences (CDSs). Annotation of the genome revealed that 179 of these CDSs are involved in metabolism of aromatic carbons. The complete genome of Rhodococcus sp. USK10 is the first complete, annotated genome sequence of a Benzophenone-3 degrading bacterium. Through radiolabelling, it is also the first bacterium proven to mineralise Benzophenone-3. Due to the widespread environmental prevalence of Benzophenone-3, coupled to its adverse impact on aquatic organisms, this characterisation provides an integral first step in better understanding the environmentally relevant degradation pathway of the commonly used UV filter. Given USK10’s ability to completely mineralise Benzophenone-3, it could prove to be a suitable candidate for bioremediation application.
One Year Follow-Up of Taste-Related Reward Associations with Weight Loss Suggests a Critical Time to Mitigate Weight Regain Following Bariatric Surgery

Background: Weight regain is a concerning issue in bariatric patients. We previously demonstrated that taste-related reward processing was associated with six-month weight loss outcomes following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) but not vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG). Here, we assessed whether these taste factors persisted in predicting weight loss, and weight regain, at one year post-surgery. Methods: Adult women enrolled in a longitudinal study of taste preferences following bariatric surgery completed behavioral and neuroimaging assessments at one year post-surgery. Results: RYGB produced better weight loss relative to VSG, with weight regain and greater weight loss variability observed from six months to one year post-VSG. Changes in liking for high fat at 2 weeks post-surgery from baseline remained a predictor of weight loss in RYGB, but other predictors did not persist. Average liking ratings rebounded to baseline and higher self-reported food cravings and dietary disinhibition correlated with poorer weight loss at one year post-surgery. Conclusion: Initial anatomical and metabolic changes resulting from RYGB that reset neural processing of reward stimuli in the mesolimbic pathway appear to be temporary and may be contingent upon post-operative eating behaviors returning to preoperative obesogenic tendencies. Six months post-surgery may be a critical window for implementing interventions to mitigate weight gain.
A comparison of several raw data compression algorithms for acquisition of remotely sensed data

As an active microwave sensor, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is capable of continuously monitoring geophysical parameters related to the structural and electrical properties of the earth's surface and subsurface. With the development of advanced SAR technologies with high resolutions and multiple imaging modes, SAR generates a large amount of remotely sensed data to be transmitted and processed. The raw data compression has become important tools to reduce the huge amount of data for downlink and required memory on-board. In this paper, four compression algorithms are discussed, including block adaptive quantization (BAQ) algorithm, amplitude and phase compression (AP) algorithm, wavelet BAQ (WT-BAQ) algorithm and wavelet packet BAQ (WPT-BAQ) algorithm. Considering the statistical independent property between amplitude and phase of raw data along with the growing popularity of wavelets, two additional algorithms are presented: wavelet AP (WT-AP) algorithm and wavelet packet AP (WPT-AP) algorithm. The six different algorithms are compared in the signal domain and the image domain with several quality parameters and the simulation is given to validate analytic result. The experimental results will be used for remotely sensed data acquisition, data processing and SAR systems design.
Detection of Bird Nests on Equipments of Electric Transmission Lines Based on Aerial Images

This paper presents a method for detecting bird nests on the equipments of electric transmission lines by aerial images. Firstly, an input color aerial image is transformed from the RGB space to the HSV space, and then bird nests can be segmented roughly from the aerial images by the K-means clustering algorithm. After that, some noises are removed by morphological filtering operations. Finally, the location of the bird nests in aerial images can be obtained by judging the shapes of the connected regions. Experiments show that this method is effective and can be applied to the helicopter patrol inspection system.
Genetic diversity of Salixlapponum populations in Central Europe

Abstract Salixlapponum is a cold-tolerant relict species in Europe that occurs in several sites, probably reflecting previous migration routes of S.lapponum during the Pleistocene. However, only a few data are available on the genetic structures of populations of S.lapponum. In this study, we use PCR-ISSR markers to investigate genetic variation in 19 European populations of S.lapponum L. AMOVA analysis shows that most of the variation (55.8%) occurs within populations; variability among groups accounts for 19.7%. An AMOVA analysis based on four groups determined by STRUCTURE analysis shows similar results: variability of 54.1% within the population and variability of 18.9% between the four population groups, based on geographic regions. Within individual geographic groups, which are characterised by the studied populations, the lowest variability (as well as the highest homogeneity) was found in populations located in Belarus. The obtained results are consistent with our expectations that the European Lowland could be a significant geographic barrier for gene flow over large geographic distances for S.lapponum. Both the Scandinavian and Belarusian populations, as well as those coming from NE Poland, are characterised by significant genetic distinctiveness. However, some populations from NE Poland and the Sudetes show similarities with populations from other geographic regions, indicating existing genetic relationships between them. Moreover, the results suggest a fairly clear division of the population into 4 emerging geographic regions, although separated by a geographical barrier: the Polish lowland, which forms part of the larger geographic unit known as the European Lowland.
A Novel Chipless RFID Tag with Multi-Resonators Based on Frequency Selective Surface

A new scheme that FSS applies in chipless RFID tag is proposed. The bandpass cross-slot FSS cell is used in the chipless RFID tag based on the spectrum signature as the resonator. The chipless RFID tag successfully performs 6 bit in 3-9GHz, the test result of S12 is-11.9~-14.3dB. The whole tag could be completely printed and the cost could be quite low. The size of the whole tag is 24.5*9cm2.
Spare parts supply modelling: application to a space station

The work deals with the topic of spare parts management in a space system. The paper is divided into three parts. The first one is dedicated to the characterization of the system structure and presents the particularities related to the spare‐elements procurement. Modelling is the object of the second part. After having exposed the bases of the problem to be solved, a macro‐model is introduced. Each of the three elements of an orbital system, namely ground, flying and transport, is then described with a Petri net. Operation specificities of every element are then listed and integrated into the model. A concrete application of this modelling is given in the last part. It concerns the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. A representative function is selected and several supply strategies are evaluated.