Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MATRIX CONVERTER FOR ISA 42 V POWERNET VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS PART I: THEORETICAL FEASIBILITY

Abstract: Although it is intuitively clear to many experts that using the conventional VSI (Voltage Source Inverter) in construction of (Integrated Starter/Alternator) ISA 42 V system has been imposing sever constraint on both the design of ISA machine at present and the sustainability of system efficiency in the future, no scientific treatment dealing with the constraint has been reported. This paper, by using matrix converter theory, proved the aforesaid constraint in a rigorous way, and showed the constraint details quantitatively. Meanwhile the theoretical feasibility of incorporating a matrix converter into an ISA 42 V system was given. A simplified comparison between the proposed converter and VSI was introduced. The simulated physical implementation was presented in part II of this paper. 1 INTRODUCTION The consideration of replacing the existing (Separated dc Starter/Alternator) SSA 14 V electrical power system by the next generation ISA 42 V PowerNet electrical system for road vehicle is motivated primarily by a desire to save fuel consumption as the electrical loads of road vehicles increasing [1]. The system under development consisting of mainly a three-phase ac ISA machine and a three-phase ac-dc bidirectional power converter will operate at higher voltages and lower currents in order to reduce power loss and system mass. While conventional power converters in [2][3][4] step-up the phase voltage at the three-phase terminals of the ISA machine to the nominal 42 V at dc terminals, and consequently constrain the operation of the ISA machine at lower voltages and higher currents. This brings sever challenge in the design and manufacture of new ISA machine [4][11], disables the utilization of widely available three-phase ac machines capable of operating at higher phase voltages, and can causes difficulties in sustainability of the system efficiency when magnitude of road vehicle electrical power consumption is required to expand further. To find such a power converter that not only can fulfill the requirement of 42 V PowerNet vehicle electrical loads but also is able to supply/receive power to/from the ISA machine at a higher voltage and lower current is strongly motivating the work of this research. Matrix Converter (MC), backed by both matrix converter theory and modern advanced control theories with the enabling support from the recent development in both power semiconductors (e.g. SiC) and digital signal processor (DSP), is increasingly showing the potential to replace quite a number of conventional power converters in the area of three-phase ac-ac power conversion and drive control systems because of the advantages brought by its inherent characteristics [5] [6]. (a) (b) Figure 1-1Proposed architecture of ISA 42 V PowerNet road vehicle electrical system. (a) energy interaction (b) the three-terminal port to two-terminal port power electronic interface. As shown in Figure 1-1 ISA 42V PowerNet road vehicle electrical system needs high performance power electronic interface to implement the high-efficiency
Unexpected Interacting Effects of Physical (Radiation) and Chemical (Bisphenol A) Treatments on Male Reproductive Functions in Mice

For decades, numerous chemical pollutants have been described to interfere with endogenous hormone metabolism/signaling altering reproductive functions. Among these endocrine disrupting substances, Bisphenol A (BPA), a widely used compound, is known to negatively impact germ and somatic cells in the testis. Physical agents, such as ionizing radiation, were also described to perturb spermatogenesis. Despite the fact that we are constantly exposed to numerous environmental chemical and physical compounds, very few studies explore the impact of combined exposure to chemical and physical pollutants on reproductive health. The aim of this study was to describe the impact of fetal co-exposure to BPA and IR on testicular function in mice. We exposed pregnant mice to 10 µM BPA (corresponding to 0.5 mg/kg/day) in drinking water from 10.5 dpc until birth, and we irradiated mice with 0.2 Gy (γ-ray, RAD) at 12.5 days post-conception. Co-exposure to BPA and γ-ray induces DNA damage in fetal germ cells in an additive manner, leading to a long-lasting decrease in germ cell abundance. We also observed significant alteration of adult steroidogenesis by RAD exposure independently of the BPA exposure. This is illustrated by the downregulation of steroidogenic genes and the decrease of the number of adult Leydig cells. As a consequence, courtship behavior is modified, and male ultrasonic vocalizations associated with courtship decreased. In conclusion, this study provides evidence for the importance of broadening the concept of endocrine disruptors to include physical agents, leading to a reevaluation of risk management and regulatory decisions.
Incorporating Robustness to Imaging Physics into Radiomic Feature Selection for Breast Cancer Risk Estimation

Simple Summary Mammographic density estimates can be combined with radiomic texture features to offer an even better assessment of breast cancer risk. However, some feature variations will be due to true parenchymal differences between women, but others will be due to imaging physics effects (contrast, noise, and image sharpness); features robust to imaging physics effects should better model risk. To investigate this, we imaged an anthropomorphic phantom at various x-ray technique settings, allowing us to directly measure the effects of imaging physics on feature values. We compared these variations, for each feature, with the inter-woman variation in a screening population (552 cancer-free women) and the intra-woman variation between each woman’s left and right breasts, to assess which features were relatively robust to physics settings. We then tested more- versus less-robust features in modeling cancer risk on an independent case-control data set, and demonstrated that more-robust features were indeed better at risk prediction. Abstract Digital mammography has seen an explosion in the number of radiomic features used for risk-assessment modeling. However, having more features is not necessarily beneficial, as some features may be overly sensitive to imaging physics (contrast, noise, and image sharpness). To measure the effects of imaging physics, we analyzed the feature variation across imaging acquisition settings (kV, mAs) using an anthropomorphic phantom. We also analyzed the intra-woman variation (IWV), a measure of how much a feature varies between breasts with similar parenchymal patterns—a woman’s left and right breasts. From 341 features, we identified “robust” features that minimized the effects of imaging physics and IWV. We also investigated whether robust features offered better case-control classification in an independent data set of 575 images, all with an overall BI-RADS® assessment of 1 (negative) or 2 (benign); 115 images (cases) were of women who developed cancer at least one year after that screening image, matched to 460 controls. We modeled cancer occurrence via logistic regression, using cross-validated area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUC) to measure model performance. Models using features from the most-robust quartile of features yielded an AUC = 0.59, versus 0.54 for the least-robust, with p < 0.005 for the difference among the quartiles.
Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationships of New 2-Phenoxybenzamides with Antiplasmodial Activity

The 2-phenoxybenzamide 1 from the Medicines for Malaria Venture Malaria Box Project has shown promising multi-stage activity against different strains of P. falciparum. It was successfully synthesized via a retrosynthetic approach. Subsequently, twenty-one new derivatives were prepared and tested for their in vitro activity against blood stages of the NF54 strain of P. falciparum. Several insights into structure-activity relationships were revealed. The antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of compounds strongly depended on the substitution pattern of the anilino partial structure as well as on the size of substituents. The diaryl ether partial structure had further impacts on the activity. Additionally, several physicochemical and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated (log P, log D7.4 and ligand efficiency) or determined experimentally (passive permeability and CYP3A4 inhibition). The tert-butyl-4-{4-[2-(4-fluorophenoxy)-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzamido]phenyl}piperazine-1-carboxylate possesses high antiplasmodial activity against P. falciparum NF54 (PfNF54 IC50 = 0.2690 µM) and very low cytotoxicity (L-6 cells IC50 = 124.0 µM) resulting in an excellent selectivity index of 460. Compared to the lead structure 1 the antiplasmodial activity was improved as well as the physicochemical and some pharmacokinetic parameters.
Design, Modeling, and Measurement of a Metamaterial Electromagnetic Field Concentrator

Abstract : This document addresses the need to improve the design process for creating an optimized metamaterial. In particular, two challenges are addressed: creating an electromagnetic concentrator and optimizing the design of metamaterial used to create the electromagnetic concentrator. The first challenge is addressed by developing an electromagnetic field concentrator from a design of concentric geometric shapes. The material forming the concentrator is derived from the application of transformation optics. The resulting anisotropic, spatially variant constitutive parameter tensors are then approximated with metamatieral inclusions using the combination of an AFIT rapid metamaterial design process and a design process created for rapid metamaterial production. The second challenge of optimizing the design of the metamaterial is addressed by considering factors such as circuit board selection, various sets of metamaterial cell geometry combinations, and optimization of the ratio of the widths for the concentric geometric shapes. The resulting optimized design is simulated and shown to compress and concentrate the vertical electric field component of incident plane waves. A physical device is constructed based on the simulations and tested to confirm the entire design process. Experimental data do not definitely show concentration however an optimized design process has been proven.
Crowd Dynamics of Athletic Events

Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we Find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards Of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. This thesis will research crowd dynamics of athletic events. Specifically, this thesis will test the effectiveness of a crowdsourced scoring system of volleyball matches. To aid in the research of this thesis, I am using the TallyBok app that I have developed over the past year. TallyBok is a crowd sourced score alert mobile application developed for iOS and Android that targets the parents of volleyball players. TallyBok's primary goal is to keep family and friends engaged with multiple matches at once, able to follow the scores of their favorite teams even when they are attending another physically-separated match. In addition, TallyBok allows its users to share photos and comments with others viewing a match. The users themselves are responsible for scoring the matches they are watching. For testing, I will use high school volleyball matches. For each match, a test group of parents will be directed to download the TallyBok app and follow the match. In one test group, I will do all the match scoring and the test subjects will only follow the match. In another test group, I will begin to score the match but at a certain point will not update the match, forcing one of the members from the test group to score the match. In the final test group, I will not participate, forcing the test users to score the match themselves. These test will give insight into the dynamics of allowing match scores to be crowd sourced, as well as provide insight into how user friendly and intuitive the TallyBok app is for following live matches. Magazine. The crowd in his article refers to some group of people drawn from members of the public that from the perspective of a company might do a task for you as opposed to the company's employees. In many ways, crowdsourcing is a form of outsourcing, where individuals and organizations outsource their tasks to a larger group of volunteers (the crowd) [5, 8, 9]. Crowdsourcing typically involves three types of actors: customers, workers, and platforms. Customers, also known as requestors, are individuals or organizations who have tasks to be completed. Workers are the individuals who actually perform the work that is outsourced …
The Effect of Teacher Scaffolding on Students’ Paragraph Writing Skills in EFL Classroom: The Case of Grade Nine Students in Meneguzer Secondary School, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

This study was intended to examine the effect of teacher scaffolding on grade nine students’ paragraph writing performance in Meneguzer secondary school, Amhara-Ethiopia. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design with explanatory sequential mixed methods of data collection and analysis. There were experimental and control groups of students including 40 students in each group. Test, questionnaire and interview were used to gather data. The quantitative data were analysed using an independent sample t-test, whereas the qualitative data were analysed thematically. The pre-test yielded a significant value of sig. (2-tailed) =0.659 which was higher than α =0.05. This showed that both the experimental and the control groups of students were equal and homogenous in their writing performance before treatment. However, after the treatment, there was a significant difference between the writing performance of the students in the two groups as the analysis of writing test in post-test yielded sig. (2- tailed) =0.025 which was smaller than α = 0.05. This implies that the treatment enabled the participants in the experimental group to improve their writing skills. The result of the questionnaire and interview analyses further revealed that the experimental group of participants were motivated and initiated by the teacher scaffolding to improve their writing skills. Thus, it can be concluded that teacher scaffolding has a positive significant effect on students’ writing skills. As a result, it motivates students to practice their writing skills independently.
Virtual lockstep for fault tolerance and architectural vulnerability analysis

This dissertation presents a flexible technique that can be applied to commodity many-core architectures to exploit idle resources and ensure reliable system operation. The proposed system interposes a dynamically-adaptable fault tolerance layer between the hardware and the operating system through the use of a hypervisor. It avoids the introduction of a new single point of failure by incorporating the hypervisor into the sphere of replication. This approach greatly simplifies implementation over specialized hardware, operating system, or application-based techniques and offers significant flexibility in the type and degree of protection provided. The possible levels of protection considered range from duplex replication to arbitrary n-modular replication limited only by the number of processors in the system. The feasibility of the approach is considered for both near- and long-term computing platforms and a prototype is developed as a proof-of-concept and used to estimate the performance overhead and gather empirical data on fault tolerance capabilities. A fault detection latency reduction technique is also proposed and analyzed using the fault injection facilities provided by the prototype.
The Effect of Phase Separation on the Mechanical Behavior of the Co–Cr–Cu–Fe–Ni High-Entropy Alloy

Phase separation phenomena in high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted much attention since their discovery, but little attention has been given to the dynamics of the deformation mechanism of this kind of HEA during uniaxial tension, which limits their widespread and practical utility. In this work, molecular dynamics simulation was used to study the effect of phase separation on the mechanical properties of an HEA under uniaxial tensile loading. Moreover, the associated deformation behavior of the Co–Cr–Cu–Fe–Ni HEA was investigated at the nanoscale. Models with Cu-rich grain boundaries or grains were constructed. The results showed that Cu-rich grain boundaries or grains lowered the strength of the Co–Cr–Cu–Fe–Ni HEA, and Cu-rich grain boundaries significantly reduced ductility. This change of mechanical properties was closely associated with a deformation behavior. Furthermore, the deformation behavior was affected by the critical resolved shear stress of Cu-rich and Cu-depleted regions and the uneven stress distribution caused by phase separation. In addition, dislocation slipping and grain boundary sliding were the main mechanisms of plastic deformation in the Co–Cr–Cu–Fe–Ni HEA.
Comparative Study of a Powerplant Life Consumption Rate When Installed in Two Different Aircraft Variants

The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) operates both EMB-145 and EMB-135 LR versions of Embraer aircraft, used in surveillance and civil missions respectively. These aircraft are equipped with the same version of Rolls Royce, AE 3007 turbofan engine. This study aims to quantify and compare the life consumption rate of this engine when installed in each of the two aircraft variants. Two typical missions, one for each variant, were constructed based on mission profile data dictated by the aircraft commanders. For each mission profile segment, corresponding engine data were matched out of the engine recordings archives held by the Hellenic Air Force. The life consumption rate was based on the Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) and creep cumulative detrimental effect on the rotor blades of the 1st High-Pressure Turbine stage. For the LCF, the rainflow method was used to determine the respective loading cycles, whereas the Larson - Miller parameter method was used to determine the consumed life fractions due to creep. The main conclusion of the study was that the engine when installed in the EMB-145 military variant, is much more loaded. Despite the fact absolute life consumption values could hide a great level of uncertainty, the comparative outcomes wherein errors are, to a certain extent, cancelled out, could be used as a rule of thumb when monitoring engine life consumption rates.
Fatigue deterioration process of brick masonry

In order to develop greater understanding of the long-term fatigue deterioration process of masonry structures, e.g. bridges, the effects of quasi-static and high-cycle fatigue loading have been studied through a series of small-scale laboratory test samples. With the help of acoustic emission monitoring, stages of the damage accumulation processes have been investigated under compression and shear for brick masonry. The relationship between stress level and fatigue life was characterised through S-N type curves and mathematical models. The concept of fatigue and permissibility limit were discussed and related to practical application. Methodology for assessing the life expectancy of masonry structures was demonstrated for masonry arch bridges with potential for wider application.
The landscape of climate change adaptation aspirations in the US non‐profit conservation sector

Despite extensive recommendations for adapting conservation to climate change, limited knowledge exists about how practitioners aim to respond. To address this gap, we analyzed proposals for on‐the‐ground climate adaptation projects submitted by US conservation non‐profits, which play a central role in conserving biodiversity. We assessed 415 proposals submitted between 2011 and 2015 to the Wildlife Conservation Society's Climate Adaptation Fund, a US‐based fund focused solely on adaptation for wildlife and ecosystems. We evaluated the distribution of proposed projects across conservation targets, strategies, and activities, and their geographic alignment with climate impacts. Proposals most often targeted river and riparian ecosystems, fish, and birds. Attention on amphibians and invertebrates was disproportionately low relative to their climate vulnerability. Proposals commonly included efforts to restore previous structures and functions, while relatively few described facilitating change (e.g., supporting future‐adapted species). Proposal density was highest along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, geographically aligned with non‐profit density and public opinion on climate change. There was no geographic alignment between exposure and proposed responses to five of six climate threats (warming, aridity, wildfire, inland flooding, sea level rise). Our findings identify gaps in adaptation attention, and can enhance strategic resource allocation, targeted capacity building, and adaptation outcomes for conservation.
Theoretical and experimental investigation of the aeroelastic stability of an advanced bearingless rotor in hover and forward flight

The aeroelastic stability of a shaft-fixed, 1/8th Froude scaled bearingless rotor was investigated in a series of wind tunnel experiments simulating a wide range of operating conditions. A finite element formulation was used to perform a parallel theoretical analysis, with the goal of determining whether a bearingless rotor system could be made aeroelastically stable without the incorporation of auxilliary dampers. A quick estimate of lag mode damping was provided by a refined moving-block analysis implemented in real time which predicted similar damping values. Model rotor and blade properties were also determined, and these properties were used as inputs for a newly refined bearingless rotor analysis. Predicted results were compared with experimental results in hover and forward flight. Results indicated that soft pitch link stiffness increases pitch-lag coupling and stabilizes lag mode stability in hover and at low advance ratios, but destabilizes at higher advance ratios.
Physics considerations for the FED limiter

The physics of the scrapeoff plasma and its interaction with a pumping limiter is reviewed. The governing equations for heat and particle transport in the scrapeoff are solved analytically with several simplifying assumptions. The assumed scrapeoff model is widely used and is presented here for completeness. From the solution, a shape for the limiter is derived which has a uniform heat loading on the front surface. The assumed crossfield transport coefficient is varied to examine the sensitivity of the heat loading to variations in plasma scrapeoff thickness. The heat flux to the limiter leading edge is an extremely sensitive function of variations in scrapeoff thickness, and we argue that uncertainties in the plasma crossfield transport preclude derivation of a believable limiter shape. We also discuss the problems involved with an edgeless, perforated limiter and with a global limiter. Finally, a solution is proposed using a flat-plate limiter with the heat flux to the leading edge controlled by major radius motion of the plasma.