Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PHYTO: An IoT Urban Gardening Mobile App

Urban gardening has taken the interest of people in the Philippines. Due to several reasons, such as better quality of produce, less expensive alternative, and with the accessibility of the Internet, it has been made possible for people to gain the information they need for gardening and equipment. The recent advancement and dependence on the Internet today, allowed the development of Internet of things (IoT). With IoT, it is possible to connect anything to the "cloud" using hardware such as a microcontroller units. Application of this technology could be seen from agriculture, manufacturing, health and home security. This study focused on the integration of urban agriculture on indoor gardening. The developed system provided plant owners and enthusiasts a possible way of monitoring plants' condition in an indoor setup through a mobile application. The mobile application gives updates and information, such as light and water plant needs, through the use of microcontroller unit sensors and other components. Sensors used and connected to the indoor plants provide information like the indoor temperature and humidity, plant's soil moisture and the water level of the water source. By using a mobile application, analysis of the plant conditions can be determined and known by the plant owners through a connection with the cloud. This study shows that the developed system is highly recommended as a means of alternative urban gardening and has a high commercial viability.
Multiple Food or Non-Food Detection in Single Tray Box Image using Fraction of Pixel Segmentation for Developing Smart Nutrition Box Prototype

Smart Nutrition Box is a hardware prototype to predict food leftover measurement as well as the nutrition of the leftover. In the previous approach, there was a need of trained observer to conduct the analysis. Human observer may produce subjective judgement, so that algorithm which is embedded in a prototype is proposed to get rid of the bias. Black background of tray box is used, and two menus are served in this paper. The problem on raw dataset of images is reflection and it affects the result of segmentation, since it is considered to determine the leftover measurement precisely. In this paper, we focus on how to classify image of food and non-food image in each compartment of tray box by using pixel segmentation before going to further stage of prediction. Automatic cropping is applied by means of rectangle contour detection for each compartment. Combination of L of HSL and V color channel of HSV color spaces are utilized to remove glare in each compartment. The ratio of segmented pixel is a fraction of detected object and the area of compartment. There are 10 out of 12 of tray box images containing multiple food that are correctly classified as food and non-food. The accuracy reaches 95.83% in all compartments using luminosity (L) 50% of lower upper white masking and 100% of upper white masking. It is proved that fraction pixel segmentation is sufficient to be embedded as one of features in Smart Nutrition Box prototype.
Overexpression of immune-responsive gene 1 prevents acute otitis media due to streptococcus pneumoniae infection through Nrf2- Hmox1 pathway

Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most commonly diagnosed childhood diseases that are associated with influenza infection. Immunoresponsive gene 1 (Irg1) is overexpressed in mammalian macrophage during inflammation process. Here, the present study aims to investigate the role of Irg1 in streptococcus pneumoniae infection-induced inflammatory response in AOM through Nrf2 signaling pathway. Methods: Positive rate of streptococcus pneumoniae and expression of Irg1, Nrf2 and Hmox1 were determined in the middle ear lavage fluid from 85 AOM patients infected with streptococcus pneumoniae and 48 healthy subjects. After the successful establishment of mice model with AOM, macrophage was harvest from the middle ear lavage fluid of mice. At last, to investigate the effect of Irg1 and Nrf2 signaling pathway on inflammatory response and streptococcus pneumoniae infection by accumulating macrophage, Irg1, sh-Irg1 and retinoic acid (an inhibitor of Nrf2 signaling pathway) were injected into AOM mice. Results: Irg1 exhibited a high level and activated Nrf2 signaling pathway was detected in AOM. Besides, positive rate of streptococcus pneumoniae was increased in AOM. Furthermore, in the mice model with AOM, Irg1 could repress inflammatory response by downregulating expression of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β and inhibit streptococcus pneumoniae infection by stimulating accumulation of macrophage to increase its endocytosis through activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway. Conclusion: Taken together, Irg1 contributes to inhibiting inflammatory response and streptococcus pneumoniae infection in AOM by promoting accumulation of macrophage through activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway, which provides novel therapeutic targets for AOM therapy.
Power system security analysis: Applications for wind power allocations and smart islanding

Power system reliability is the overall objective in power system design and operation. It includes two main aspects: adequacy and security. During the last decades, outages and blackout emerged more and more frequently which affected the normal consumption of consumers. In order to meet the increase the power system security, a self-healing grid is needed to monitor and response to the change within the whole network in time. Smart islanding is considered as an effective way to prevent small outages in the system from propagating into big blackout. In this paper, two common methods used to find the islands are introduced and the formation of islands was conducted by a C++ minimal cutset algorithm based program which was implemented on the platform of Dev cpp in the simulation part, moreover the proposed approach was applied to a Nordic 32-bus test system and was used to save the network from voltage collapse. On the other hand, since the large amounts of sustainable resources are being widely used by taking into account of the ever-increasing load demand throughout the world, people are exploring new resources to replace the existing non-renewable resources. As one of the renewable energy, wind power, draws people‟s attentions more and more. Renewable resource generation connected to the existing network will incur plenty of problems which will decrease the power system reliability. The wind energy injection will probably induce transmission overloaded problem which reduce the power system adequacy. It is critical to allocate the wind energy optimally. In order to find good locations to set up large-scale wind power projects, a Weighted Transmission Loading Relief (WTLR) / Equal Transmission Loading Relief (ETLR) sensitivity was introduced in this work to help find the positions of injecting the wind power so that the increasingly load demand can be satisfied as well as reduce the contingency overloads within the system to enhance the power system reliability.
Public Attitudes during the Second Lockdown: Sentiment and Topic Analyses using Tweets from Ontario, Canada (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has continued for over a year and caused a significant number of cases and deaths in Canada and around the world. Governments worldwide have implemented lockdowns and other interventions to reduce the transmission. OBJECTIVE To explore sentiments for pre-specified topics using tweets from Ontario, Canada, during its second wave and identify any correlation between public attitude and government policy and cases. METHODS Tweets were collected from December 5, 2020, to March 6, 2021, with locations in Toronto and Ottawa, excluding public health, political organizations and figures. Dates of vaccine-related events and COVID-19 policy changes were collected from each public health unit in Ontario within the same period. The daily number of COVID-19 cases was retrieved directly from the Ontario provincial government’s public health database within the same time period. Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner (VADER) were used to calculate daily and average sentiment compound scores for topics and keywords identified from preliminary data exploration using unsupervised topic modelling. RESULTS Between December 5, 2020, and March 6, 2021, the average sentiment compound score for each topic appeared to be slightly positive, while the daily sentiment compound scores varied greatly between positive and negative emotions for each topic. Positive sentiments were mainly about holiday wishes and support for healthcare works and each other, whereas negative sentiments were largely associated with frustrations and blame on political leaders. CONCLUSIONS The exploratory results have shown a slightly positive sentiment on average during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, along with six topics. Our research has also demonstrated a possible social listening approach to identify what the public sentiments and opinions are in a timely manner using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.
Cooperative Control of Autonomous Flight Vehicles Formation

Abstract : This report presents results from research dealing with the aspects of automated formation management and control necessary for the development of a dual controller capable of keeping a given formation structure and allowing the formation to follow specified paths. The report contains two parts. Part I describes the results obtained, and methodologies developed, for the dynamics and control of unmanned air vehicles flying in a formation. Part II describes a fuzzy-set approach to the guidance and control management of these vehicles to establish conditions for successful target intercept. Chapter 1, Formation Flight Dynamic Modelling, focuses on Aerodynamic Modeling, including the Distributed Horse Shoe Vortex Technique, Induced Velocity Calculation, and Force and Moment Coefficients; and Formation Dynamics, including Modified Equations of Motion and Formation Kinematics. Chapter 2, Formation Flight Control, looks at the Natural Behavior of Migratory Birds, Formation Geometry Center, Inner-Loop Synthesis, Formation Controller Design, and Simulation Results. Chapter 3, Reconfiguration in the Presence of Communications Failures, examines Formation Flight Management; Optimal Communications, such as the Virtual Leader and Graph Theory Approach; Communications Failure, including Communication Topology Reconfiguration and the Broadcast Channel; and Aircraft Position Reconfiguration, including Aircraft Loss, Receiver Failure, and Failure Management during Aircraft Loss. Chapter 4, Stability of Gain Scheduling using Fuzzy Sets, focuses on Modeling and Control, Stability Analysis, and Case Studies. Chapter 5 examines a Guidance Methodology using Fuzzy Sets and Waypoints. Chapter 6 examines Aircraft Dynamics and Control Systems, Fuzzy Guidance System (FGS) Design and Simulation, Problems with the First FGS, the Second FGS Structure, and Management of Moving Waypoints. (62 figures, 35 refs.)
Strategic Research Connections: Implementing Funding Policy in a Dynamic Network

Since the early phone book experiments that produced the term "six degrees of separation," renewed interest in network theory ranges from sociology and organizational management to economic development and new economic geography. More formal ‘small world’ studies today underline the importance for an agent to navigate a network efficiently to accomplish, say, a successful job search. Fieldwork has produced a wealth of network data and data collection protocols that grow in sophistication continuously. Lagging behind are proactive analytic tools that use this data to locate strategic connections among network agents to leverage better outcomes, such as applied research output. This work employs a network map of collaborations among venture capitalists in Silicon Valley to locate unexploited strategic connections. From the literature, we test several rules suggested as to how network connections might evolve, simple rules in the style of cellular automata and compare connection choice strategies from the static structure alone. One strategy may be especially attractive. A "smart small world" policy robustly achieves two ends: it improves overall output and flattens the informal hierarchy of the network to improve connectivity and increase competition. Since the smart small world strategy does not require any form of dynamic optimization or programming, but relies on the field data directly, it is more accessible to policy-makers and other social sciences. We test the rule on a research network we are still creating for an emerging technology in the pulp and paper industry. The very first initial connection located a divide between European and North American researchers that participating scholars readily recognize as a concern, providing a face validity test of the program.
A Model of Suicide and Trespassing Processes to Support the Analysis and Decision Related to Preventing Railway Suicides and Trespassing Accidents at Railways

More than 3000 people die each year in Europe due to the collision with a train due to suicides or trespassing. This paper describes and justifies a model of suicide and trespassing processes on the tracks from a review of papers on rail suicide and/or trespasses carried out in the European project RESTRAIL (REduction of Suicides and Trespasses on RAILway property). Inspired by Radbo et al. (2008; 2012a), the model identifies 9 steps and antecedents in the chain of events leading to railway suicides and trespassing accidents, and associates them with corresponding classes of preventative measures. It starts from the identified motives and ends with the trainpedestrian collision. We discuss on the added values of this model and on some important considerations related to the selection and design of preventive measures.
Using Embryonic Stem Cells as a Novel Model to Compare the Toxicological Effects of Harm Reduction and Conventional Cigarette Smoke on Early Embryo Development

Embryonic stem cells are derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of blastocysts. Before implantation, cells in the ICM undergo multiple divisions, and after implantation, the entire ICM develops into the embryo. Here, we are interested in the effects of environmental toxicants, such as cigarette smoke, on blastocysts during pre-implantation development. Our lab used mouse and human embryonic stem cells (mESC, hESC) as a pre-implantation model to examine the effects of mainstream (MS) or sidestream (SS) smoke from conventional (Marlboro Red) and harm reduction (Advance Lights, Quest, and Marlboro Lights) cigarettes on early development. Harm reduction tobacco products, contain genetically modified tobacco to produce lower nicotine concentration or are equipped with advanced filters designed to remove carcinogens. These products are often advertised as safer with fewer toxins. In our mESC study, stem cells were cultured in suspension with cigarette smoke solutions and allowed to attach over 24 hours. All brands tested inhibited mESC attachment, survival, and proliferation, and surprisingly, harm reduction cigarette smoke was more potent than conventional smoke (Lin et al., 2009). To further investigate the effects of cigarette products on human embryos, hESC colonies were treated with conventional and harm reduction cigarette smoke solutions for 48 hours. To overcome technical challenges with the hESC system, BioStation technology combined with video bioinformatics tools was used to develop assays based time-lapse video data of dynamic cellular processes (Lin, et al., 2010). This technology was used to quantify hESC colony attachment and growth in various smoke treatments. Data demonstrated that non-cytotoxic doses of conventional and harm reduction cigarette SS smoke impaired hESC colony attachment and growth significantly, but MS smoke did not. Moreover, hESC were more sensitive in most assays than mESC. Most significantly, for both species in all assays, SS smoke from harm reduction cigarettes was more potent than SS smoke from a conventional brand. This study clearly demonstrates the need to monitor harm reduction products carefully and to evaluate both MS and SS smoke emitted from them.
PREDICTING THE SPEED OF SAILING YACHTS

In this paper an overview is given of the state-of-the-art of predicting the speed of sailing yachts. After explaining the importance of this topic in the design and racing of sailing yachts, the basic hydrodynamic and aerodynamic forces and their inter- dependence, which ultimately determine the speed potential at the various points of sail, are described. The different possibilities of determining these forces, together with their centres of effort, is the principal subject of this paper. The use of model testing techniques and associated data reduction methods for the determination of the various hydrodynamic forces are first of all dealt with. Details of how these model tests are best carried out are given. A method is defined with which it is possible to divide the total measured hydrodynamic resistance into its six basic components. Extrapolation of model test results to arrive at full-scale values, and their use for speed prediction, are described. A major part of the paper is associated with the state-of-the-art of calculating sailing yacht performance as this is performed in semi-empirical models for so-called velocity prediction programs (VPP's). Each of the elements involved are considered, e.g. the side forces on hull and appendages, induced resistance, viscous and wave resistance, the resistance due to heel, the added resistance due to waves, etc. The recent availability of computation fluid dynamics programs and their present and future impact on sailing yacht performance prediction is addressed in the final part of the paper.
Estimating and forecasting the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea:  A Bayesian SIHR-based dynamic model with non-pharmaceutical interventions

Background: As of May 22, 2020, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is over 5 million worldwide and more than 300 thousand people have lost their lives to the virus. South Korea also experienced a sharp increase in late February, but owing to non-pharmaceutical interventions, the number of confirmed cases has been decreasing since March. In this study, we aimed to investigate the transmission dynamics with these effects as well as forecast the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea, using a flexible statistical model.Methods: We analyzed the COVID-19 data obtained at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from Feb 18 to April 30. Using a Bayesian susceptible-infectious-hospitalized-removed (SIHR) dynamic model, we estimated the dynamic transmission rate considering the non-pharmaceutical intervention effects and forecast the confirmed cases.Results: The estimated transmission rate without any control effects was 0.4605 with 95% credible interval (0.4468, 0.4745). During the days with effects between February 26 and March 6, the daily transmission rate decreased by about 89.48% of that of the previous day. With consistent control effects, it remained at 0.1549 with 95% credible interval (0.1497, 0.1602). Based on the estimated transmission rate, the forecast number of COVID-19 infections in South Korea showed an overall decreasing pattern.Conclusions: We considered and estimated the dynamic effects of the non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 using a Bayesian SIHR-based model. This study shows that non-pharmaceutical interventions including active testing, quarantine and isolation, personal preventive measures, and social distancing are crucial to curb the transmission. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of non-pharmaceutical interventions in COVID-19.
Piezoceramic Sensors/Actuators with Interdigitated Electrode Patterns

Author(s): Pisani, David McIntyre | Advisor(s): Lynch, Christopher S | Abstract: Monolithic piezoelectric ceramic devices are well understood and employed in a wide variety of structural actuation and sensing applications. Over the last twenty years piezoceramic fiber composites with interdigitated electrodes (IDE) have fallen into favor. These piezocomposite devices with IDE have been shown to be more conformal, durable and responsive than conventional monolithic devices. One of the more prevalent piezocomposite devices with IDE is the Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) developed at the NASA-Langley Research Center. The MFC shows superior free strain actuation performance, manufacturability and reliability over conventional devices.While the MFC boasts some improved characteristics over conventional devices, the use of IDE also introduces added complexity. Simple in design, the IDE causes nonuniform electric fields, large electric field gradients and increased hysteresis in the device. Characterization and modeling efforts of the MFC beyond a linear approximation have been limited. The majority of published work relies on experimental quantification and a heavy reliance on linear finite element analysis. The MFC has significant time dependent effects, conduction issues, creep, and other nonlinear effects that have not been explored.This study serves as an attempt to rectify some of the previously overlooked issues of non-linearity in piezocomposite actuators with IDE. As a baseline of comparison, the capability of a MFC to serve as a strain sensing/actuating rosette was compared to single crystal PMN-PT. It was found that increased hysteresis and creep caused the MFC to perform poorly by comparison. This spurred the process of seeking improved IDE designs. A twenty actuator study was performed using actuators with different electrode line widths and spacings. It was found that the hysteresis of an actuator with IDE could be reduced, but with the sacrifice of some of the free strain actuation. For accurate strain sensing/actuation, devices with large electrode line widths were found to show less hysteresis. For maximal free strain actuation, devices with small electrode line widths and large electrode spacing were found to have larger free strain actuation. The free strain frequency response was explored for the MFC, and custom devices were designed to mitigate some of the frequency dependence. The IDE devices were characterized using a dielectric finite element model and using a nonlinear ferroelectric finite element model. A phase field model was also developed to explore domain formation along electrode edges.