Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D nonlinear ground motion simulation for postglacial sediments in Kinburn Basin

We used a finite difference (FD) modeling method, developed by Olsen-Day-Cui, to simulate nonlinear-viscoelastic basin effects, in the spectral frequency range of 0.1 to 1 Hz, in the Kinburn basin, Ottawa, Canada, with a very high (~20) shearwave impedance contrast between bedrock and soil in comparison to typical contrasts of 3–5 in many other places. Cyclic nonlinear models, which mainly considered an elastoplastic behavior for soil deposits, determine the nonlinear stress-strain behavior of soil by following the actual stress-strain path during cyclic loading. In regular linear simulations, the shear modulus of soil is assumed constant in stress-strain relation. In proposed method, the shear modulus is defined as a function of strain and modified based on the strain level at each time step of simulation and for each element of soil. Detailed geophysical information was used to model the study basin and modulus reduction equation. The focal mechanism associated with the recorded May 17th, 2013 Ladysmith earthquake of M4.6 was used as a source while the magnitude was scaled to 7.5 in order to study the effects of nonlinearity. The nonlinear viscoelastic ground motions for the frequency range of 0.1 to 1 Hz were carried out for this simulation. Ground motion modeling in the Kinburn basin using a scaled Ladysmith earthquake event of Mw=7.5 showed the nonlinear relationship between stress and strain following Masing rules. The use of nonlinearviscoelastic ground motion simulations reduced the amplitude of the horizontal component spectrum at low frequencies and the predicted PGA values compared to regular linear viscoelastic simulations.
Hepatoprotective Screening of Seriphidium kurramense (Qazilb.) Y.R. Ling

Investigation on medicinal plants' therapeutic potential has gained substantial importance in the discovery of novel effective and safe therapeutic agents. The present study is aimed at investigating the hepatoprotective potential of Seriphidium kurramense methanolic extract (SKM) against carbon tetrachloride- (CCl4-) induced hepatotoxicity in rats. S. kurramense is one of the most imperative plants for its various pharmacological activities. Therefore, this study was aimed at evaluating the hepatoprotective potential against CCl4-induced liver toxicity. The serum samples were analyzed for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) together with the oxidative stress mediator levels as nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), reduced glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) as well as peroxidation and H2O2 activity. CCl4 administration resulted in an elevated free radical generation, altered liver marker (AST and ALT) enzymes, reduced antioxidant enzyme, and increased DNA damage. Methanolic extract of S. kurramense decreased CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity by increasing the antioxidant status and reducing H2O2 and nitrate content generation as well as reducing DNA damage. Additionally, SKM reversed the morphological alterations induced by CCl4 in the SKM-treated groups. These results demonstrated that SKM displayed hepatoprotective activity against CCl4-induced hepatic damage in experimental rats.
Optimizing environmental flows for multiple reaches affected by a multipurpose reservoir system in Taiwan: Restoring natural flow regimes at multiple temporal scales

For reservoirs that are operated for multiple purposes such as water supply, flood control, and power generation, any attempts to incorporate environmental flow targets in the reservoir operation rules need to take into account both the human and ecosystem demands. To date, however, none of the reservoir operation schemes that consider environmental flow requirements includes subdaily flow regimes and is able to optimize for multiple reaches. Here, we address the temporal and spatial issues associated with the optimal environmental flow and operation strategies for a multipurpose reservoir system in Taiwan. We propose an environmental flow proportion strategy and three‐period release approach, and multireach operation scenarios that simultaneously optimize reservoir performances and environmental flow objectives at subdaily to interannual timescales for a maximum of three connected reaches. Our results imply that taking into account the environmental flow objectives does not necessarily degrade the overall reservoir performance due to the positive effect on flood control, which in turn would compensate for the adverse effects on domestic water supply and hydropower generation. The three‐period release approach benefits mainly the subdaily flow regime, while the environmental flow proportion strategy benefits primarily the daily flow regime. Spatially, a mutual exclusion is observed between the reaches above and below a diversion weir, a fact that revises the conventional perception that restoring the flow regimes of a downstream reach would automatically restore those of upstream reaches. An overall evaluation reveals that the three‐reach scenario outperforms the two‐reach scenarios, which then outperform the one‐reach scenarios. The one‐ or two‐reach scenario that incorporates the midstream reach may be taken as an alternative because such scenario would benefit the upstream or downstream reach in addition to the midstream reach.
A new generalized cross-connected switched capacitor multilevel inverter topology with high output voltage gain for single phase solar PV unit

Switched capacitor multilevel inverters are gaining much attention these days due to their merits like voltage boosting and voltage balancing characteristics. A Cross Connected Switched Capacitor Multilevel Inverter (C2SC-MLI) topology is proposed in this work. It can synthesize thirteen levels in the terminal voltage waveform and with a voltage boost ratio of 1:3. The topology is extendable by adding additional “n” modules in series. The number of levels (NLevel) and the voltage gain can be increased up to 4i+9 and 1:(i+2) respectively by connecting ‘i’ such ‘n’ modules. The topology also has inherent voltage balancing ability. To prove the advantage of proposed topology it is compared with recent switched capacitor multilevel inverter topologies and conventional multilevel inverter topologies in terms of number of power electronic components required, cost and voltage gain. The performance of proposed topology is validated using simulation in MATLAB and with an experimental prototype rated 0.1 kW fed by a solar PV emulator under steady state and dynamic loading conditions.
Case History: Foundations for the New Mississippi River Bridge, St. Louis

Abstract This case history describes the foundation design and construction for the New Mississippi River Bridge, presently under construction in St. Louis, Missouri. The 1,500 ft (457.2 m) main span of the cable-stayed bridge is supported by two delta tower pylons in the river, with anchor piers on each bank. The final foundation design was completed as a part of an Alternate Technical Concept (ATC) proposal by the winning construction team, and utilized drilled shafts up to 11.5-ft (3.5-m) diameter that were socketed into very hard limestone. As part of the ATC foundation design, a full-scale, bidirectional static load test was performed to verify the design and allow use of higher resistance values. This paper presents the results of the site exploration, construction of the load test shaft, details of the load testing, and a comparison of the test results with various design parameters.
A flexible automatic test system for turbine machinery

The objective of this paper is to discuss the general development of a Flexible Automatic Test System For Turbine Machinery (FATSFTM). In order to meet the test needs of a large and diverse community of turbine machinery, the automatic test system should have a contemporary windows interface, have graphical interaction and be easily configured to include the functions required by current and emerging test demands. The design and implementation of such a test system is approached from an object-oriented software engineering point-of-view for ease of extension, expansion and maintenance. Practical application has proved the validity and effect of the implemented automatic test system in helping turbine developers improve the performance of turbine machinery.
Emission current enhancement of MIM cathodes by optimizing the tunneling insulator thickness

The relationship between the thickness of the anodized Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ tunneling insulator and the transfer ratio was investigated for metal-insulator-metal (MIM) cathodes to optimize the thickness in terms of a high transfer ratio and emission current. Combining ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we determined the accurate thickness of an anodized Al film less than 20 nm-thick. With the knowledge of accurate thickness, we found that the transfer ratio increases as the insulator thickness increases from 5.2 nm to 10.6 nm, but saturates at 13.3 nm and decreases slightly at 20.1 nm. Optimizing the thickness of the insulator to 13.3 nm raised the transfer ratio of 0.1% for our previous work (Kusunoki and Suzuki, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, vol. 47, pp. 1667-1672, 2000) to 0.7%. A high emission current of 14 mA/cm/sup 2/ was thus obtained. The existence of an optimal thickness for the anodized Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ insulator was also clarified from a theoretical simulation. This is the result of a trade-off, as thickness increases, between the decreasing probability of cut-off at the surface workfunction barrier of the Ir-Pt-Au top electrode and the increased scattering of hot electrons inside the Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ insulator and top electrode. The relationship is discussed on the basis of the absolute distribution of energy of the hot electrons, which we determined by simulating inelastic scattering driven by electron-optical phonon interaction in the Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ insulator.
A low voltage ride-through technique for grid-connected converters of distributed energy resources

With more and more distributed energy resources (DERs) being connected to the grid through interface converters, the utility requires the DER generation system to remain grid-connected during voltage sags to ensure the operating stability of the AC power system. These low voltage ride-through requirements also suggest that the DER generation system injects reactive power to support grid voltages. In this paper, a positive and negative sequence reactive current injection method is proposed to meet the low voltage ride-through requirement. Its operation principle and control method are explained and analyzed. Experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Comparisons of the proposed method and other low voltage ride-through techniques are also presented.
Characterization of In-Swath Spray Deposition for CP-11TT Flat-Fan Nozzles Used in Low-Volume Aerial Application of Crop Production and Protection Materials

A study was conducted to quantify spray deposit characteristics of the low-drift CP flat-fan nozzle. In the study, CP flat-fan nozzles with selectable tips and swivel angles were evaluated for droplet spectra and coverage using water-sensitive paper (WSP) placed in the spray swath. Three nozzle angles (23°, 38°, and 53° downward from the horizontal) and three application volumes (9.5, 19, and 28.5 L ha-1) were coupled with appropriate flat-fan tips as required by the target application volume. Droplet spectra of the WSP over the spray swath were calculated to produce DV0.1, DV0.5 (also referred as volume median diameter or VMD), and DV0.9. Statistical results showed that higher nozzle spray flow rates resulted in higher percentage spray coverage and that relative humidity at the time of spraying had a significant positive effect on spray coverage (p = 0.0007). Average VMD did not differ much between the 38° and 53° downward angles, but average VMD for the 23° angle was 50% higher and more variable than for the 38° and 53° angles across flow rates. Relative span, which is an indication of droplet size ranges, was lower in the field trials than the values indicated by the USDA models at low flow rates. Baseline data obtained in the swath on droplet characteristics can help aerial applicators verify the correct spray tip for a given flow rate and nozzle angle for a desired droplet spectrum and sufficient spray coverage.
Clinical Manifestations of Hyperandrogenism and Ovulatory Dysfunction Are Not Associated with His1058 C/T SNP (rs1799817) Polymorphism of Insulin Receptor Gene Tyrosine Kinase Domain in Kashmiri Women with PCOS

Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine metabolic disorder affecting premenopausal women. Besides primary features like anovulation, hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries, women with PCOS present with multiple metabolic, cardiovascular, and psychological disorders. The etiology is multifactorial and the different genetic variants are suggested to play an important role in pathogenesis. Insulin resistance is a ubiquitous finding in PCOS and SNPs in genes involved in the insulin signaling pathway are possible candidates that can explain the development of clinical manifestations of PCOS. Aim We aimed to investigate the association of INSR His1058 C/T (rs1799817) single nucleotide polymorphism with PCOS in Kashmiri women. The genotypic-phenotypic correlation of the tested SNP with hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and metabolic markers was evaluated. Results The allele frequency (OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.67–1.48, χ2 = 0.01, P=0.99) and genotype distribution (χ2 = 3.73, P=0.15) in INSR C/T polymorphism were comparable with controls. No significant association was found with PCOS in dominant (P=0.194), recessive (P=0.442), and homo vs. het. (P=0.5) genotype models. Genotype-phenotype correlation analysis revealed that variant TT genotype had significantly higher HOMA (P=0.029) and reduced insulin sensitivity QUICKI (P=0.037) values. There was no significant variation in the prevalence of hirsutism, acne, alopecia, menstrual disturbances, acanthosis nigricans, and obesity (all P > 0.05) in different INSR C/T genotypes. Conclusion The INSR C/T SNP (rs1799817) does not increase the risk of PCOS in Kashmiri women. This SNP is unlikely to play a significant role in the development and manifestation of clinical symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome.
The first meeting of the APS Topical Group on Hadronic Physics

The first meeting of the APS Topical Group on Hadronic Physics (`GHP') took place on 24–26 October 2004, at Fermilab. Two factors contributed to the decision to hold this meeting. First, the Topical Group on Hadronic Physics had recently been established, and there was general agreement that a conference devoted to the physics of hadrons was an important group activity. Second, many exciting new experimental results on hadron spectroscopy had been announced recently, and there was intense interest in these new developments. The meeting was very well attended, with over 120 scientists participating; this was triple our original estimate of the likely audience for this meeting. The plenary sessions covered a broad range of topics, as we considered it important to promote communication between the communities pursuing research in different areas of hadron physics. The topics discussed included new results from RHIC on the QGP, the status of experiments on the flavour-exotic pentaquark and other new baryons, the new open-charm Ds and hidden-charm X states, conventional light quark resonances, glueballs and hybrids, and new facilities. Finally, a `town meeting' was held to discuss funding prospects for hadronic physics and related issues, which included a panel discussion with representatives from DOE, NSF and JLab. These plenary sessions were supplemented by 14 parallel sessions, giving a total of approximately 80 presentations. To make the conference more accessible to younger researchers, as well as to simiplify administration, there was no conference fee for this meeting. This was possible as a result of the generous financial support of our hosts at Fermilab, for which we are very appreciative. We are also grateful to Larry Cardman for arranging Jlab assistance in producing and distributing the conference poster, to Gerald Ragghianti for designing the poster and proceedings cover, and to Lali Chatterjee and the Institute of Physics for arranging publication of the proceedings at no cost to the topical group. The efforts of the session organizers and chairs, which were crucial for the smooth operation of the conference, are also gratefully acknowledged. Finally, we were extremely fortunate to have the local assistance of Cynthia Sazama and Suzanne Weber at Fermilab, who dealt with the many details of conference organization with good cheer, exemplary competence and unstinting loyalty, even to the extent of sacrificing their weekends. We hope that this first GHP conference has been a useful contribution to the field of hadron physics, and that it may encourage the organization of subsequent APS conferences on this diverse, challenging and fascinating field.
The Welfare Effects of Law Enforcement in the Illegal Money Lending Market

We estimate a structural model of borrowing and lending in the illegal money lending market using a unique panel survey of 1,090 borrowers taking out 11,032 loans from loan sharks. We use the model to evaluate the welfare effects of alternative law enforcement strategies. We ﬁnd that a large enforcement crackdown that occurred during our sample period raised interest rates, lowered the volume of loans, increased the lenders’ unit cost of harassment, decreased lender proﬁts, and decreased borrower welfare. We compare this strategy to targeting borrowers and ﬁnd that targeting medium-performing borrowers is the most effective at lowering lender proﬁts.
Dependence of spectral linewidth on cavity length and coupling coefficient in DFB laser

The dependence of the spectral linewidth of DFB lasers on cavity length and coupling coefficient has been investigated. It was shown experimentally that the long cavity was very effective at reducing the spectral linewidth of DFB lasers, whereas a large coupling coefficient was ineffective. With a corrugation depth of 15 nm and a cavity length of 1200 mu m, a narrow linewidth of 1.7 MHz was obtained at 11 mW.
Novel DC-rail soft-switched three-phase voltage-source inverters

A family of DC-rail soft-switched three-phase voltage-source inverters (VSIs) adopting the zero-voltage-transition (ZVT) or zero-current-transition (ZCT) techniques are proposed in this paper. Adding an active switch on the DC-rail makes the implementation of the ZVT and ZCT as easy as in a single-ended DC/DC power converter, while true pulse-width-modulation (PWM) operation is achieved by a modified space-vector modulation. As a result, these inverters can run at much higher switching frequencies than conventional hard-switched VSIs, and with higher power density and efficiency. The operation and control strategy are analyzed. Implementation and experimental results of a prototype DC-rail ZVT VSI, which is rated at 15 kVA and run at a switching frequency of 62.5 kHz, are presented. The measured efficiency with static loads reaches 93% under the input voltage of 400 V.
Robust speed control of DC servomotors using modern two degrees-of-freedom controller design

The authors propose a robust speed control system for DC servomotors based on the parametrization of two-degree-of-freedom controllers. The servosystems can dramatically improve the characteristics of the closed loop systems, i.e. the disturbance torque suppression performance and the robustness to system parameter variations, without changing the command input response. The excellent control performances obtained during laboratory experiments by using a microprocessor-based controller are shown. >
Optimizing And Comparative of Polymer-45S5BG and Polymer- HA Coating by Electrophoretic Deposition (EPD)

In this study, two systems of bio-ceramic coating (45S5 bioactive glass and hydroxyapatite) were used in order to compare between them for biomedical applications. Each system consists from two layers of coating done by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique on 316L stainless steel material as substrate. Two types of biopolymer were used (Chitosan with Gelatin) as first layer of coating. Taguchi approach with L9 array was used in order to choose the best conditions (concentrations, voltage and time) for coating layers. Each system consists of two layer (biopolymer (first layer) and bioceramic (second layer)) materials. The optimum parameters for first layer of biopolymer was (3g/L concentration, 20 voltage and 3 minute) while optimum parameter for second layer (6g/L concentration, 30 voltage and 1 minute) for two bioceramic group. Zeta potential test were employed to measure suspensions stability. The tape test method was used to evaluate the adhesion between substrate and coating layers, the results show that the percentage of removal area for optimum coating layer (biopolymer, 45S5 BG and HA 8.06%, 10.668%, 6.23% subsequently). XRD inspection was used for identify the phases of coating layers. The Cyclic polarization test was used for evaluation of pitting corrosion resistance, the results show all layers gives good corrosion resistance but 45S5BG gives the best corrosion resistance when compared with HA system.
Optimal Temperature Control with Phased Array Hyperthermia System

A strategy for controlling the temperature distribution in tissue, irradiated by a phased array of RF applicators, described. Using the amptitudes and relative phases from the individual applicators as control inputs, feedback control is established from a corresponding number of measured tissue temperatures. Optimal control theory based on a state-space model of the thermal process is used for designing the multi-variable self-toning controller. Simulations of the two-dimensional temperature distribution in cylindrical homogeneous muscle tissue indicate that it is possible to place a temperature maximum near a given point and to maintain therapeutic temperatures in a specified tumor area while the temperatures in the surrounding tissue are lower.
Comparison of electro-optic effect between stoichiometric and congruent LiNbO3

Comparison of the electro-optic (EO) effect between stoichiometric and congruent lithium niobate (LiNbO/sub 3/) crystals has been investigated using the Mach-Zehnder interferometer at 0.633 /spl mu/m wavelength. Anisotropic changes of EO coefficients, r/sub 33/ and r/sub 13/ have been found between the stoichiometric and congruent LiNbO/sub 3/ crystals. The measured r/sub 33/ value in the stoichiometric LiNbO/sub 3/ is at least 20% larger than that of LiNbO/sub 3/ with congruent composition whereas the r/sub 13/, coefficient of stoichiometric LiNbO/sub 3/ is the same as that of congruent LiNbO/sub 3/.