Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed cluster management techniques for unattended ground sensor networks

Smart Sensor Networks are becoming important target detection and tracking tools. The challenging problems in such networks include the sensor fusion, data management and communication schemes. This work discusses techniques used to distribute sensor management and multi-target tracking responsibilities across an ad hoc, self-healing cluster of sensor nodes. Although miniaturized computing resources possess the ability to host complex tracking and data fusion algorithms, there still exist inherent bandwidth constraints on the RF channel. Therefore, special attention is placed on the reduction of node-to-node communications within the cluster by minimizing unsolicited messaging, and distributing the sensor fusion and tracking tasks onto local portions of the network. Several challenging problems are addressed in this work including track initialization and conflict resolution, track ownership handling, and communication control optimization. Emphasis is also placed on increasing the overall robustness of the sensor cluster through independent decision capabilities on all sensor nodes. Track initiation is performed using collaborative sensing within a neighborhood of sensor nodes, allowing each node to independently determine if initial track ownership should be assumed. This autonomous track initiation prevents the formation of duplicate tracks while eliminating the need for a central “management” node to assign tracking responsibilities. Track update is performed as an ownership node requests sensor reports from neighboring nodes based on track error covariance and the neighboring nodes geo-positional location. Track ownership is periodically recomputed using propagated track states to determine which sensing node provides the desired coverage characteristics. High fidelity multi-target simulation results are presented, indicating the distribution of sensor management and tracking capabilities to not only reduce communication bandwidth consumption, but to also simplify multi-target tracking within the cluster.
Low-voltage wideband compact CMOS variable gain amplifier

A novel low-voltage wideband CMOS variable gain amplifier (VGA) is proposed. Using a 0.13 µm CMOS technology, the VGA exhibits a linear-dB controllable gain range of 40 dB with a bandwidth in excess of 130 MHz, while drawing only 50 µA from a single 1 V power supply voltage.
The Pain at Work Toolkit for Employees with Chronic or Persistent Pain: A Collaborative-Participatory Study

Self-management tools for people with chronic or persistent pain tend to focus on symptom reporting, treatment programmes or exercise and do not address barriers to work, facilitators of work ability, or workplace pain self-management strategies. We developed the Pain at Work (PAW) toolkit, an evidence-based digital toolkit to provide advice on how employees can self-manage their pain at work. In a collaborative-participatory design, 4-step Agile methodology (N = 452) was used to co-create the toolkit with healthcare professionals, employers and people with chronic or persistent pain. Step 1: stakeholder consultation event (n = 27) established content and format; Step 2: online survey with employees who have persistent pain (n = 274) showed employees fear disclosing their condition, and commonly report discrimination and lack of line manager support. Step 3: online employer survey (n = 107) showed employers rarely provide self-management materials or education around managing pain at work, occupational health recommendations for reasonable adjustments are not always actioned, and pain-related stigma is common. Step 4: Toolkit development integrated findings and recommendations from Steps 1–3, and iterative expert peer review was conducted (n = 40). The PAW toolkit provides (a) evidence-based guidelines and signposting around work-capacity advice and support; (b) self-management strategies around working with chronic or persistent pain, (c) promotion of healthy lifestyles, and quality of life at work; (d) advice on adjustments to working environments and workplace solutions to facilitate work participation.
Correlation Between Atmospheric Radio Noise-Burst Amplitudes with Different Bandwidths

Correlation between atmospheric radio noise-burst amplitudes measured by the Aiya noise meter with different bandwidths was examined during periods of local thunderstorm activity. The investigations were carried over a frequency range of 100 kHz to 9 MHz and over a 6-dB bandwidth range of 300 Hz to 16 kHz. The correlation observed in all cases was so high that the standard error of estimate was nearly equal to the accuracy of measurement itself. This suggests that the phenomenon is deterministic rather than statistical. The practical utility of the result is discussed.
Improving efficiency as a means to improving transport quality

In many economies, local public transport has for many years been losing favour to its more flexible competitor, the car. Improving public transport as a way of attracting back lost passengers is a key goal of all public transport service providers and of policymakers. One of the ways in which public transport might be improved—and therefore have the possibility to attract more passengers—is by engaging operators in performance measurement and the sharing of good ideas within the industry. To date, very little performance measurement has taken place in the local passenger transport sector; however, benchmarking is one option for enabling this process. Against such a background, this paper describes the setting up of a benchmarking group by a number of ex-municipal bus companies. The paper describes the aims and aspirations of the different members in the setting up of the benchmarking group and identifies the progress made and presents an analysis of the difficulties encountered. It goes on to consider ho.
Do Consumers Experience a Reversal State When Encountering Mobile Commerce Services

Mobile commerce services (MCS) have become an important way in which consumers communicate and marketers have started to use MCS to interact with them. Previous research found that when consumers encounter MCS, they are more involved and impulsive in their purchases. Why? Consumers may experience a disequilibrium or multi-stable cognitive reversal. This proposition is tested for SMS and MMS. 782 undergraduate s and postgraduates were surveyed, ascertaining the key motivations for SMS and MMS usage. Using structural equation modelling the co-existence of the following reversal state s (pairs) was found; (1) telic and paratelic, (2) conformity and negativity, (3) autic and alloic st ate, (4) mastery and sympathy (for MMS only).
Pou5f1 and Nanog Are Reliable Germ Cell-Specific Genes in Gonad of a Protogynous Hermaphroditic Fish, Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)

Pluripotency markers Pou5f1 and Nanog are core transcription factors regulating early embryonic development and maintaining the pluripotency and self-renewal of stem cells. Pou5f1 and Nanog also play important roles in germ cell development and gametogenesis. In this study, Pou5f1 (EcPou5f1) and Nanog (EcNanog) were cloned from orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides. The full-length cDNAs of EcPou5f1 and EcNanog were 2790 and 1820 bp, and encoded 475 and 432 amino acids, respectively. EcPou5f1 exhibited a specific expression in gonads, whereas EcNanog was expressed highly in gonads and weakly in some somatic tissues. In situ hybridization analyses showed that the mRNA signals of EcNanog and EcPou5f1 were exclusively restricted to germ cells in gonads. Likewise, immunohistofluorescence staining revealed that EcNanog protein was limited to germ cells. Moreover, both EcPou5f1 and EcNanog mRNAs were discovered to be co-localized with Vasa mRNA, a well-known germ cell maker, in male and female germ cells. These results implied that EcPou5f1 and EcNanog could be also regarded as reliable germ cell marker genes. Therefore, the findings of this study would pave the way for elucidating the mechanism whereby EcPou5f1 and EcNanog regulate germ cell development and gametogenesis in grouper fish, and even in other protogynous hermaphroditic species.
Advanced Optimization Models For Bandwidth Provisioning And Routing In Fixed Microwave Backhaul Networks

This paper addresses the problem of determining bandwidth allocation and traffic routes in fixed microwave networks such that overall bandwidth cost is minimized while traffic demands are satisfied with a required reliability level. These networks exhibit high variability in link throughput as modulations schemes are adapted dynamically to ensure acceptable bit-error rate at the receivers according to external conditions such as the weather. First, we formulate an optimal optimization approach based on mixed-integer linear programming, which is subsequently reinforced by inserting problem-specific valid inequalities based on global network capacity and feasible bandwidth/modulation combinations. Then, we introduce a Lagrangian-based heuristic that provides near optimal solutions while reducing drastically the computation time. In comparison to previous work, our experimental results show that our approaches are capable to solve large real-world network instances in an effective manner. Furthermore, the results evaluate the impact of reliability and transported traffic demands on bandwidth cost.
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SN16-1-Induced Resistance System of the Tomato against Rhizoctonia solani

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), as an important economical vegetable, is often infected with Rhizoctonia solani, which results in a substantial reduction in production. Therefore, the molecular mechanism of biocontrol microorganisms assisting tomato to resist pathogens is worth exploring. Here, we use Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SN16-1 as biocontrol bacteria, and employed RNA-Seq technology to study tomato gene and defense-signaling pathways expression. Gene Ontology (GO) analyses showed that an oxidation-reduction process, peptidase regulator activity, and oxidoreductase activity were predominant. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses showed that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, aldosterone synthesis and secretion, and phototransduction were significantly enriched. SN16-1 activated defenses in the tomato via systemic-acquired resistance (which depends on the salicylic acid signaling pathway), rather than classic induction of systemic resistance. The genes induced by SN16-1 included transcription factors, plant hormones (ethylene, auxin, abscisic acid, and gibberellin), receptor-like kinases, heat shock proteins, and defense proteins. SN16-1 rarely activated pathogenesis-related proteins, but most pathogenesis-related proteins were induced in the presence of the pathogens. In addition, the molecular mechanisms of the response of tomatoes to SN16-1 and R. solani RS520 were significantly different.
In vitro Antioxidant Potential of Abrus precatorius L. and Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson

Antioxidant substances are an important part of human life as it plays a key role in nutraceuticals and also help to defend free radicals present in our body. The present study highlights the need to find potent natural antioxidants from medicinal plants. Different extracts of Abrus precatorius L. (Fabaceae) and Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson (Acanthaceae) were successively prepared using petroleum ether, benzene, chloroform, and ethanol. It was evaluated for antioxidant activities using various assays. Maximum extractable total phenolics and flavonoids were recorded in varied extracts of A. precatorius and A. gangetica. The extracts also showed efficient phosphomolybdenum reduction, reducing power activity, nitric oxide, and hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging properties. It is very clear from the results that the studied plants A. precatorius and A. gangetica have remarkable medicinal uses with extraordinary potential for pharmaceuticals. Further detailed studies will pave the way to promote natural drugs for health benefits.
Performance Evaluation of WINNER-II Channel Model for Long Term Evolution (LTE)

The Third Generation Partnership Program's Long-term Evolution (3GPP LTE) group is developing a new standard for mobile broad-band access that will meet the throughput and coverage requirements beyond third generation cellular technology. The key goals for this evolution are increased data rate, improved spectrum efficiency, improved coverage. To evaluate and ensure the overall performance of LTE technology proper channel model which is WINNER II have been actively studied and considered in the standardization process of next-generation mobile broadband communication system. This paper focuses the WINNER II channel modeling & evaluates the performance of this model in LTE network. As an outcome, the simulation results from the simulator show that WINNER II technologies can effectively perform better.
GMT-WGAN: An Adversarial Sample Expansion Method for Ground Moving Targets Classification

In the field of target classification, detecting a ground moving target that is easily covered in clutter has been a challenge. In addition, traditional feature extraction techniques and classification methods usually rely on strong subjective factors and prior knowledge, which affect their generalization capacity. Most existing deep-learning-based methods suffer from insufficient feature learning due to the lack of data samples, which makes it difficult for the training process to converge to a steady-state. To overcome these limitations, this paper proposes a Wasserstein generative adversarial network (WGAN) sample enhancement method for ground moving target classification (GMT-WGAN). First, the micro-Doppler characteristics of ground moving targets are analyzed. Next, a WGAN is constructed to generate effective time–frequency images of ground moving targets and thereby enrich the sample database used to train the classification network. Then, image quality evaluation indexes are introduced to evaluate the generated spectrogram samples, with an aim to verify the distribution similarity of generated and real samples. Afterward, by feeding augmented samples to the deep convolutional neural networks with good generalization capacity, the classification performance of the GMT-WGAN is improved. Finally, experiments conducted on different datasets validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.
ANALYSIS OF A STRINGER RUN-OUT CONCEPT INCLUDING DAMAGE INITIATION AND EVOLUTION AT THE INTERFACES

An experimental test was specifically designed in order to analyse the e ect of the run-out of a stringer in a composite specimen. The test was carried out in several stages until the specimen collapse. The damaged regions and their geometric dimensions were identified by ultrasound inspections at the end of each stage. Several FEAs of the component were performed using the commercial software ABAQUS using two global-local approaches. The analysis of the results of the global model allows the geometric dimensions of the local one to be defined. Damage process will be included in the adhesive layer at this level. Finally, a correlation between the numerical predictions and the experimental results was accomplished.
A Wideband Circularly Polarized Magneto-Electric Dipole Antenna Array for Millimeter-Wave Applications

A wideband circularly polarized (CP) magneto-electric (ME) dipole antenna is presented in this communication. The uniqueness of this design stands from the fact that the electric dipoles are 3-D-meandered and shorted to the ground plane at the edges of patches, respectively. By this means, two orthogonal ME-dipole modes with similar magnitudes and phase quadrature are well excited. Thus, a wideband CP ME-dipole antenna is achieved. Simulation results indicate that the antenna element achieves a wide impedance bandwidth of 49.6% (24.7–41 GHz) and a 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 50.4% (26.7–44.7 GHz) with a peak gain of 8 dBic. For proof-of-concept demonstration, a 4 $\times $ 4 CP ME-dipole antenna array is investigated, implemented, and measured. The measurement results of the antenna array show a wide impedance bandwidth of 50% (24.5–40.8 GHz) and a 3 dB AR bandwidth of 44% (27.5–43 GHz) with a maximum gain of 19.2 dBic. The proposed CP antenna array demonstrates distinctive properties, such as broad impedance and AR bandwidth, stable gain, symmetrical radiation patterns, and ease of integration.
Shopping Motivation and Green Consumption: A Study about Green Buying Behavior of Pakistani Consumers

Natural resource depletion, increase in global population, climate change, and unsustainable consumption behaviors have all wreaked havoc on the ecosystem around the world. Increased consumption of green products is among the most effective strategies in adoption of sustainable consumption. The purpose of current research is to investigates the effect of shopping motivation (utilitarian) antecedents’ impact on utilitarian motivation and also discussed the mediating effect of utilitarian motivation on the association between utilitarian motivation antecedents and intention to purchase green products. Online survey was used to collect the data and SEM(structural equation modeling) was used to analyze data. The antecedents of shopping motivation (utilitarian) influence the intention of consumer about green buying. Four out of five hypothesis were supported. The findings of current research enable practitioners and managers to formulate strategies for sustainable consumption.
Uniplanar coupled‐fed printed PIFA for WWAN/WLAN operation in the mobile phone

A coupled‐fed printed planar inverted‐F antenna (PIFA) with a compact uniplanar structure for easy implementation in the mobile phone for WWAN/WLAN operation is presented. The printed PIFA occupies a small area of 10 × 60 mm2 and provides two wide operating bands (the lower and upper bands) at about 900 and 2000 MHz for covering GSM850/900/DCS/PCS/UMTS/WLAN six‐band operation. The printed PIFA is formed by two coupled‐fed PIFAs of different sizes, a longer radiating/coupling portion and a shorter radiating/coupling portion. Owing to the use of the coupling feed, both of the two portions can generate dual‐resonance excitation, with the longer portion providing a wide lower band for GSM850/900 operation and the shorter portion providing a wide upper band for DCS/PCS/UMTS/WLAN operation. In addition, the lower and upper bands of the printed PIFA can generally be controlled separately by the longer and shorter portions, making it easy for fine tuning of the desired operating bands in practical applications. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 1250–1257, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24298
Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (vSLAM) of Driverless Car in GPS-Denied Areas

A simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm allows a mobile robot or a driverless car to determine its location in an unknown and dynamic environment where it is placed, and simultaneously allows it to build a consistent map of that environment. Driverless cars are becoming an emerging reality from science fiction, but there is still too much required for the development of technological breakthroughs for their control, guidance, safety, and health related issues. One existing problem which is required to be addressed is SLAM of driverless car in GPS denied-areas, i.e., congested urban areas with large buildings where GPS signals are weak as a result of congested infrastructure. Due to poor reception of GPS signals in these areas, there is an immense need to localize and route driverless car using onboard sensory modalities, e.g., LIDAR, RADAR, etc., without being dependent on GPS information for its navigation and control. The driverless car SLAM using LIDAR and RADAR involves costly sensors, which appears to be a limitation of this approach. To overcome these limitations, in this article we propose a visual information-based SLAM (vSLAM) algorithm for GPS-denied areas using a cheap video camera. As a front-end process, features-based monocular visual odometry (VO) on grayscale input image frames is performed. Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) refinement and global pose estimation is performed as a back-end process. The results obtained from the proposed approach demonstrate 95% accuracy with a maximum mean error of 4.98.
Evaluation of in vitro Dissolution Profile and Physicochemical Characterization of Polymer Based Formulations of Sparingly Soluble Rosuvastatin

Rosuvastatin (RVT) is a BCS class II antilipidemic crystalline drug, which exhibits low bioavailability due to its very poor aqueous solubility; therefore, it is challenging to develop a proper formulation of RVT. To enhance solubility and bioavailability of this API, an attempt has been made by implementing solid dispersion technique. Solid dispersion (SD) technique is a solubility enhancing technique where one or more active entities are dispersed in an inert medium (matrix or carrier) at solid state. In this study, different ratios of Kollicoat® IR (KIR) and Kollidon® 90F (KF90) polymers were used with API to prepare various formulations by physical mixing (PM) and SD approaches; here solvent evaporation technique was used whereas methanol was used as solvent which was completely evaporated from the homogenously dispersed system by placing in a water-bath at 60-65°C and then in oven for 30 minutes at 50 °C. Among the formulations, RVT-KF90 SD formulations showed the most promising result in in-vitro study in terms of drug release profile (78.04 – 99.21%) in comparison to pure RVT (63.1%) and physical mixing of RVT with those polymers. USP dissolution apparatus type II was used at 37°C ± 0.5°C with 50 rpm to conduct the in-vitro experiment. The experiment also unraveled that the dissolution of RVT improved with increasing the amounts of polymers. Subsequently, stability of the developed formulations was conducted by Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results obtained from FTIR ensured no involvement of any significant drug-excipient interaction. Moreover, the DSC study signified thermal stability at high temperature. Besides, the SEM micrograph illustrated homogenous distribution of RVT in the polymer and transformation of crystal-like RVT into amorphous formulations. Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 20(2): 199-211, 2021 (December)
FPGA-based real time incremental conductance maximum power point tracking controller for photovoltaic systems

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) is an important issue in photovoltaic (PV) systems. Hence, we need to design an efficient and cost-effective system which is able to transfer the maximum power received from PV cell to the load. This study describes the hardware implementation of a real time incremental conductance (INC) MPPT algorithm for a PV module. According to the PV dynamic model, a criterion is presented that by modifying the original algorithm, an adaptive variable step size INC algorithm is realised and efficiently is implemented on XILINX XC3S400 field programmable gate array (FPGA). At first, the PV model characteristics and the proposed algorithm with the mathematical equations are modelled and simulated using `MATLAB/Simulink-system generator' environment; then the system performance is examined. It is worth that some solutions are proposed to simplify the system based on the design constraints for hardware implementation of digital controller on FPGA. The optimised design of hardware architecture and the high processing speed of FPGA have enhanced the performance of digital controller in designed MPPT system. The experimental results show the proposed method provides a good tracking speed and also mitigation of fluctuation output power.