Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementation of Incremental Conductance Based MPPT Algorithm for Photovoltaic System

This paper deals with the hardware implementation of incremental conductance (IncCond) algorithm based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for a photovoltaic (PV) system using Arduino board. The considered system consists of a DC-DC Boost converter, a PV panel and a resistive load. Firstly, simulation tests using Matlab/Siumilink are provided and then experimental validation is conduced based on an Arduino uno and spatial Simulink package known as "support package for Arduino hardware". The simulation and experimental tests show the satisfied results of IncCond algorithm in terms of extraction of the maximum power point(MPP) form PV panel.
Realization of a low cost and fast boost converter based MPPT for PV system

Photovoltaic (PV) modules have a small power conversion efficiency since material technologies used in commercial PV modules is weak and not well developed. In order to provide the maximum available efficiency in a PV module, a power processing unit (PPU) is connected between PV module and load to extract more power from PV modules In other words, DC-DC converters are used for impedance matching between PV module and load in any kind of loading and environmental conditions. Several maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms have been proposed in the literature. But there are still shortcomings to be improved such as reducing the steady state ripples in power, dynamic response time under changing conditions. In this paper, design steps of the boost converter for an MPPT application have been presented and some experiments have been performed. Consequently, a low cost and fast boost converter based MPPT is implemented.
Graph-to-Graph Energy Minimization for Video Object Segmentation

We describe a new unsupervised video object segmentation (VOS) method based on the graph-to-graph energy minimization, which focuses on exploiting the mutual bootstrapping information between bottom-up (i.e., using pixel/superpixel attributes) and top-down (i.e., using learned appearance and motion cues) processes in a uni-fiedframework. Specifically, we construct a graph-to-graph energy function to encode the spatial similarities among superpixels (superpixel-graph) and temporal consistency among regions (region-graph). An efficient heuristic iterative algorithm is used to minimize the energy function to get the optimal assignment of superpixel and region labels to complete the VOS task. Experiments on two challenging benchmarks (i.e., SegTrack v2 and DAVIS) show that the proposed method achieves favorable performance against the state-of-the-art unsupervised VOS methods and comparable performance with the state-of-the-art semi-supervised methods.
AFSIW Termination with Full- and Partial-Height Absorbing Material Loading

In this paper, an air-filled substrate integrated waveguide (AFSIW) termination is introduced. To the authors' knowledge, it is the first time such essential component found in most microwave and millimetre-wave systems is reported based on the AFSIW technological platform. First, a full-height absorbing material loaded AFSIW termination is studied, with a design based on the theory of multi-section transformer. Second, an improved partial-height absorbing material loaded AFSIW termination is introduced to reduce the termination size as well as to improve the distribution of energy dissipated in the absorbing material. This second design is based on the effective permittivity calculation of a multilayer dielectric model inspired by the Wienner analytical model. For demonstration purposes, an optimized partial-height absorbing material loaded AFSIW termination, operating in the downlink Ka-band satellite communication frequency band (17.7 to 21.3 GHz), was designed and fabricated based on a shorted AFSIW transmission line loaded with a laser cut absorbing material sheet to fabricate the desired absorber geometric shape. The measured results show a reflection coefficient better than -20 dB over the entire frequency range of interest with a termination total length as small as 15 mm.
Quasi Inverse Class-F X-Band Highly Efficient Power Amplifier with 51.8% Peak PAE in SiGe

This paper presents a compact quasi inverse class-F highly efficient power amplifier (PA) based on the 130 nm SiGe technology. The purpose is to drive high output power with high power added efficiency (PAE) over the X-band, while ensuring a good amplitude and phase linearity. To do that, a differential cascode topology with low base impedance has been used. Measured results exhibit 51.8% peak PAE with 25.7 dBm output power at 9 GHz. To our knowledge, this PA demonstrates the highest efficiency with linear behaviour among Si-based X-band power amplifiers found in literature.
Accurate Semantic Segmentation in Turbulence Media

Accurate image semantic segmentation in atmosphere turbulence conditions is challenging due to the severe degradation effects introduced by the random refractive-index fluctuations of atmosphere. In this paper, we present an end-to-end trainable methodology for turbulence-degraded image semantic segmentation that is capable of digging the physical imaging mechanism in atmosphere turbulence conditions, in order to improve semantic estimates. First, we investigate the physical imaging mechanism in kinds of turbulence conditions, including the isotropic turbulence and the anisotropic turbulence. Physical turbulence parameters are considered, such as the anisotropic factor, turbulence inner and outer scales, refractive-index structure constant, general spectral power law and imaging distance. Second, based on the physical imaging model in various turbulence conditions and image processing algorithms, we construct the turbulence-degraded image datasets, including the turbulence-degraded Pascal VOC 2012 and ADE20K. The new datasets cover a wide range of turbulence scenes. Third, in order to obtain more accurate boundary information, we propose the Boundary-aware DeepLabv3+ network that is trained on the constructed turbulence-degraded image datasets for semantic segmentation in turbulence media. The proposed model extends DeepLabv3+ by adding simple yet effective Edge Aware Loss and Border Auxiliary Supervision Module, which is helpful to acquire precise boundary segmentation effect while confining the target in this boundary region. Finally, without any pre-processing, the semantic segmentation accuracy reached a performance of 87.95% mIoU on the Turbulence-degraded Pascal VOC 2012 Dataset.
Prototyping a Visual Academic Transcript

In this paper we propose two visual academic transcript interface alternatives. Both have exactly the same features but with different layout design. While version (A) presents all of the required information in an overview page, version (B) adopts simplicity as a primary concern by minimizing the number of interface components. Both alternatives apply the main HCI design principles such as: Layout, Aesthetics, Information, Colors, Charts, and Metaphors. The paper also discusses the failure of basing the interface design on legacy processes and interface design, and concludes with the results of testing the two proposals on a sample of students.
Formal Verification of Cloud based Distributed System using UPPAAL

Verifying the cloud-based distributed system is a very challenging task, which requires the right modeling and verification of the properties before it is deployed. Different synchronized systems' properties need to be verified with limited resources. This paper proposed a compositional approach with the goal that it tends to be reused by others to make different verifications for different property checking needs. The proposed approach targeted distributed applications written in visual studio. To verify the target properties timed automata are used to model different aspects related to distributed systems and cloud computations.
Performance Assessment of Non-Gaussian Systems Based on Double Error Entropy Minimization

Due to the existence of non-Gaussian interference in practical industry, more and more people are studying the parameter identification of non-Gaussian systems. Some results have been achieved. In this paper, a new double error entropy minimization algorithm is proposed for parameter identification of non-Gaussian systems. The algorithm is improved on the basis of the EDA algorithm and the Fixed-Point MEE algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can not only improve the accuracy of parameter identification but also estimate the required interference distribution. The algorithm has been successfully applied to the performance assessment of non-Gaussian systems and achieved good results.
Creation of Predictive Analytics System for Power Energy Objects

Paper presents a review of diagnostic methods and forecasting the technical condition. The relevance of the task of forecasting the values of technological parameters in the framework of solving the problem of forecasting the technical condition of power equipment for the condition-based repairs organization is shown. The architecture of the predictive analytics system for energy facilities has been developed. Methods of pre-processing Big data and forecasting parameter values are considered. The effectiveness of artificial neural networks in solving these problems is shown.
Visual Detection System of Automotive Parts Attitude Based on Deep Learning

In the automobile assembly process, pose detection technology is the key technology in the assembly system, which plays an important role in the assembly work and will directly affect the assembly results. In order to improve the detection intelligence and accuracy, the deep learning vision technology is applied to the attitude measurement of automotive parts assembly, and a method of extracting key points by deep learning is proposed. Different from the traditional methods, the deep convolutional network has strong robustness and versatility. Therefore, this paper proposes a joint detection method for double convolutional networks. First, the deep convolutional network is used to predict the key points of the part. Then, the recursive convolutional neural network is used to optimize the prediction result. Finally, the key point coordinates are substituted into the PnP algorithm to check whether the part pose conforms to the standard. The simulation results show that the method can accurately realize the target attitude detection.
High self-interference mitigation achieved thanks to significant antenna isolation and advanced RF frontend for In-Band Full-Duplex communications

Several techniques are used to mitigate the Self-Interference (SI) in In-Band Full-Duplex (IBFD) applications. Antenna isolation and especially dual polarized antenna is an efficient way to reach such objective in restricted footprint. Moreover antenna isolation does not generate noise and it does not create non-linear distortion. A test bench, including dual port antenna, analog and digital cancellation techniques is proposed, and the SI cancellation is evaluated in a controlled environment. A specific design of antenna is presented. An isolation of 47.5 dB is experimentally obtained between the two cross-polarized ports of a particular patch antenna. Matching of the antenna's reflection parameters to -20 dB and broadside gains of 8 dBi are obtained. The additional analog and digital cancellers bring 48.9 dB more cancellation to reach 103 dB Self Interference mitigation.
Orphan Drugs and Potential Novel Approaches for Therapies of β-Thalassemia: Current Status and Future Expectations

ABSTRACT Introduction: The β-thalassemias are rare diseases caused by more than 300 different mutations of the adult β-globin genes: they are treated with blood transfusions, chelation therapy or bone marrow transplantation. Areas Covered: This article reviews orphan drugs, related patent applications and related clinical trials on β-thalassemia, including novel therapeutic approaches and repurposing of orphan drugs. Expert Opinion: Patient stratification is expected to be applied for personalized therapeutic interventions for β-thalassemia patients. This will cover primary mutations of the β-globin gene and DNA polymorphisms that predict severity of the disease and response to therapy. Improved understanding of the regulation of γ-globin gene expression and the optimization of novel approaches for gene editing are expected to introduce innovative orphan drugs and/or approaches for fetal hemoglobin induction and gene correction, respectively. The possible combination between gene therapy and cellular therapy, including gene-correction, presents a new opportunity. A dramatic increase in the need for cellular biobanking (including also cord blood biobanking) is expected, given the possibility to intervene on patients-derived cells with bone marrow transplantation and/or generated induced pluripotent stem cells. The repurposing of drugs used in clinical trials for different pathologies is an interesting approach to providing novel drugs at low cost.
A High Directivity Beam-Steering Parasitic Antenna Array

A printed antenna with parasitic patches on a superstrate is proposed to achieve a high directivity, while beam-steering is carried out by tuning the reactive loads. The proposed antenna array consists of a classical patch antenna on one layer, stacked with multiple parasitic patches on another layer. The parasitic patches are connected by variable reactive loads. Values of the variable reactive elements required to steer the beam in a given direction are determined by using efficient methodology. The main beam can be steered from -9° to +9° around broadside of the array while maintaining a high directivity of 18.5 dBi and a side-lobe level of -11 dB.
Modeling and Simulation of three Control Techniques for UAV Quadrotor

This paper presents the modeling of a four rotor type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called the quadrotor and three techniques to control its altitude, attitude, heading and position. The dynamic model of the quadrotor is nonlinear and has been derived using Newton’s and Euler’s laws. The first approach is designed using a linear Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control technique. The second approach is based on a nonlinear Back-stepping controller while the third one is a gain Gain-Scheduling based PID controller. The Genetic Algorithm technique has been used to get an optimal tuning for the gains and parameters of the three mentioned controllers. MATLAB/Simulink software was used to evaluate and compare the three designed control approaches in terms of the stability, the effect of possible disturbances and the dynamic performance.
A Segmented Internally-Matched Class J GaN Power Amplifier for High Duty Cycle C-Band Radars

An internally matched 70 W class J GaN power amplifier for C-band radar remote sensing applications is demonstrated. The amplifier achieves 50% power added efficiency at 7900 ± 10 MHz, using a pulsed waveform with 30% duty cycle. The amplifier features a segmented matching network inside a metal flange package to synthesize a reactance at the fundamental and operates in class J mode
WORKING PAPER SERIES

This paper suggests incorporating investor probability weighting and the default risk of individual firms into a consumption-based asset pricing model. The extended model provides a unified solution for several anomalous patterns observed on financial markets. The analysis addresses not only widely-recognized asset pricing puzzles, such as the equity premium puzzle, but also less studied anomalies on financially distressed stocks. The simulation, under which the model is calibrated according to U.S. historical data, shows the combination of mild overweighting of probability on tail events and nonlinearity of equity values caused by default risk has the potential to resolve these patterns.
Regulation comes at a cost: underpricing and valuation of European IPOs

Literature has shown that stringent regulatory changes typically reduce IPO underpricing. The traditional explanation is that the uncertainty surrounding firms going public decreases thanks to improved transparency. By reducing cost of capital, this should in turn increase their valuations. Using a sample of 3,789 IPOs during 1995-2012, we show that the adoption of SOX-like provisions, staggered at different dates across European countries, has instead reduced the valuations of small and high-tech firms. We argue that this is due to increased direct costs of compliance, proportionally larger for smaller firms, and indirect costs due to loss of confidentiality, higher for high-tech and knowledge-intensive services firms.
Adult Character Education Model in Islamic Boarding Schools of Salafiyah Biba'a Fadlrah

The purpose of this study is to investigate and to explore the substantive items. This study analyzed and described adult character education at Salafiyah Biba'a Fadlrah Turen Malang Islamic boarding school. This study used case study approach. Data collection was described in-depth by using interviews, participant observation, and documentation. The researchers used software NVivo 11 to analyze the data. The findings show that : 1) the comprehensive intelligence development model were applied; 2) core character development were faith and God loving, it was manifested in obeying to the God, love, compassion towards His fellow creatures, and the awareness as the servant hood in nature; 3) internalization of values were forming good character through various the students’ activities and the concept of " religious life study " through caregivers’ advise; and 4) the application stage was reached via: cleansing the heart from varieties of the pain, habituation to learn sense of heart and positive thought, learning all the time and learning long life which takes wisdom and lessons from each incident.
INDEX FOR QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC LEVEL OF TERTIARY EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THEORY AND APPLICATION

New quantitative index for measurement of the scientific level of tertiary education in developing countries is constructed. Index shows the level of readiness of the new generation to function in a developed country. Index characterizes the degree of intimacy of knowledge and competencies of the new generation for the conditions, which the domestic country strives to achieve. Index is based on the calculation of the quantity of talents in science, who are able to adapt to the conditions of working and living in developed countries. The available statistical data uses as example for index calculation. Surprisingly, the values of the index for the level of tertiary education in Russia and Ukraine are extremely low.
Antiradical Activity and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power of Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus floridanus and Pleurotus sajor-caju Formulations Extracts in Vitro

Edible mushrooms, known for many years and considered as functional foods, contain a wide variety of biomolecules with nutritional and medicinal properties. Pleurotus species, especially Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus floridanus and Pleurotus sajor-caju are the most commonly consumed in Cameroon. The present work aims to study the “in vitro” antiradical activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power of extracts of formulations of these three species. Mushrooms were harvested in two mycicultures from Cameroon, then dried and crushed finely to obtain powders. In well-defined proportions, ten different formulations were made and their aqueous, ethanol and hydroethanol extracts prepared. These were used to determine total phenolic content by using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent method, the antioxidant activity determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) scavenging activity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, with vitamin C (ascorbic acid) as standard. The results obtained from the ten formulations, including thirty extracts, showed that all the extracts had quite significant ferric reducing power at C = 1 mg/ml, (7.35 - 26.02 mg EAA/g). They also had good percentages of DPPH radical inhibition at C = 25 mg/ml (60.40% - 77.72%) and a significant polyphenol content at C = 100 mg/ml (13.73 - 21.15 mg CE/g). The aqueous extracts had the best activities compared to the standard. In addition, a strong positive linear correlation exists between polyphenol content and the scavenging property (R2 = 0.9063; p = 0.0003) also with the ferric reducing test (R2 = 0.9253; p = 0.0001); suggesting the responsibility of these compounds for these activities. This study suggests that these mushrooms may be used as a natural source of potential antioxidants for food supplements and their consumption is strongly recommended for their beneficial effects on health through, the protection of the human body against the oxidative damage involved in the occurrence of many chronic diseases.
Assessing the Hazard Posed by Ryugu Ejecta Dynamics on Haybusa2 spacecraft

Hayabusa2 mission is the Japanese sample and return mission to Ryugu asteroid launched in 2014. It is the successor mission to JAXA’s Hayabusa mission to Itokawa asteroid. Hayabusa2 spacecraft will encounter Ryugu in June 2018, followed by the asteroid touch-down mission phase in the first half of 2019. The challenge that Hayabusa2 spacecraft will encounter is the asteroid cratering mission phase. Hayabusa2 spacecraft is equipped with a small carry on impactor, and it is expected to create a crater of 2-3 m size in diameter to allow the sampling of substrate asteroid materials. This paper investigates the hazard posed by the asteroid ejecta dynamics to Hayabusa2 spacecraft. Past studies concluded that the regions around Ryugu are expected to be cleared after two weeks from the impact event if size particles of 1 mm are considered. However, Ryugu asteroid is composed by regolith (highly porous) material with high likelihood of ejecta in 1 cm size. Natural impact phenomena on asteroids observed from Earth suggest that dust particles of 1 cm size in diameter can be captured for several months in orbit around the asteroid [1]. This condition is extremely dangerous for Hayabusa2 spacecraft as a collision with small particles can severely damage the spacecraft structure and compromise its functionality. The fate of the asteroid ejecta is here investigated through numerical modelling. A high fidelity dynamical model is used where the asteroids’ gravity harmonics, its ephemeris, spin rotation and inclination, the solar radiation pressure perturbation and the effect of the Sun third-body perturbation are taken into account [2]. Equation (1) shows the dynamics for a perturbed two-body problem in the Asteroid-Centred Inertial frame:
Micro-CT-based improvement of geometrical and mechanical controllability of selective laser melted Ti6Al4V porous structures

Despite the fact that additive manufacturing (AM) techniques allow to manufacture complex porous parts with a controlled architecture, differences can occur between designed and as-produced morphological properties. Therefore this study aimed at optimizing the robustness and controllability of the production of porous Ti6Al4V structures using selective laser melting (SLM) by reducing the mismatch between designed and as-produced morphological and mechanical properties in two runs. In the first run, porous Ti6Al4V structures with different pore sizes were designed, manufactured by SLM, analyzed by microfocus X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) image analysis and compared to the original design. The itanium alloys orous materials echanical characterization omography comparison was based on the following morphological parameters: pore size, strut thickness, porosity, surface area and structure volume. Integration of the mismatch between designed and measured properties into a second run enabled a decrease of the mismatch. For example, for the average pore size the mismatch decreased from 45% to 5%. The demonstrated protocol is furthermore applicable to other 3D structures, properties and production techniques, powder metallurgy, titanium alloys, porous materials, mechanical characterization, tomography.