Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Overview of Power Converter Control in Microgrids—Challenges, Advances, and Future Trends

As the electronic interfaces between distributed energy resources and the electrical network, power converters play a vital role in voltage stabilization and power conversion. So far, various power converter control methods have been developed. Now it is urgently needed to compare and understand these approaches to support the smart microgrid pyramid. This article provides an overview of the state-of-the-art of parallel power converter control in microgrid applications. The most important control schemes to address existing challenges, including concentrated control, master–slave control, droop mechanism, virtual synchronous generators, virtual oscillator control, distributed cooperative control, and model predictive control, are highlighted and analyzed in detail. In addition, the hierarchical control structure, as well as future trends, are reviewed and discussed.
Intelligent Small Sample Defect Detection of Water Walls in Power Plants Using Novel Deep Learning Integrating Deep Convolutional GAN

Thermal power generation is one of the main forms of electricity generation in the world, and the share of thermal power generation in total electricity generation has long been maintained at over 80% in 2018. However, power plants are often shut down due to boiler accidents, which are mostly caused by water wall damage. At present, the detection method for water wall defects is still in the stage of manual detection, which has a high risk coefficient, long time-frame, and low efficiency. In this article, a deep learning method integrating deep convolutional generating adversarial networks (DCGAN) and a seam carving algorithm to solve the problem of small sample defect detection is proposed. The proposed method uses the seam carving algorithm to solve the overfitting of the DCGAN, for which the DCGAN generates high-quality images. Then, the intelligent small sample defect detection model is built by convolutional neural networks. Finally, the proposed method is used in the defect detection of water walls in the actual thermal power generation plant. To evaluate the performance of our proposed method, we conduct comparison experiments among different GANs and different detection networks integrating different processes used and not used the proposed data expansion method. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve a detection accuracy of 98.43%, which is higher than other methods, and has the best generalization ability.
Effects of fire on soil organic matter in northern Amazonian forest fragments

ABSTRACT Forest fires incorporate pyrogenic organic matter into the soil, affecting the characteristics of soil organic matter (SOM) due to its high aromaticity, increasing its renewal time. However, the factors that control the concentration of pyrogenic organic matter and its chemical composition and structure are still little known. Forest fragments dispersed in a savanna matrix of the northern Brazilian Amazon are frequently impacted by fires, which can affect the composition of SOM within the fragments. The aim of this study was to analyse the chemical composition of SOM in the border and interior of six forest fragments in the Roraima savanna, in the northern Brazilian Amazon. Soil samples were collected at 10-cm intervals up to 1 m in depth at the border and in the interior of each fragment. Soil organic material concentration was determined with 10% HF solution and its elemental composition, thermogravimetric index, and 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopic analysis were determined. There was no significant difference in the aromaticity index between border and interior. The concentration of alkyl C structures between border (22 to 25%) and interior (19 to 29%) indicated the occurrence of medium-intensity fires in the study area. The thermogravimetric analysis showed no significant difference in the thermal stability of SOM between border and interior. Our results showed no pronounced difference in SOM quality up to 1 m depth between the border and the interior of the evaluated forest fragments, indicating that this compartment is stable throughout the fragments.
Electrorheology and particle dynamics of single-wall-carbon-nanotube suspensions under shear and electric fields

OF THE DISSERTATION Electrorheology and particle dynamics of single-wall-carbon-nanotube suspensions under shear and electric fields by Chen Lin Dissertation Director: Prof. Jerry W. Shan Electrorheological (ER) fluids are smart materials consisting of polarizable particles in an insulating liquid. Under an electric field, the dispersed particles develop an induced dipole moment and interact with each other to form chains or fibrous structures. This anisotropic microstructure enables ER fluids to have reversible changes on their macroscopic rheological properties, such as apparent viscosity and yield stress. As such, electrorheological fluids have potential application in the control of devices such as dampers, clutches, and robotics. Single-wall-carbon-nanotubes (SWNTs), because of their nanoscale size, large aspect ratio and high polarizability, are of interest as a possible dispersed phase of novel, highly efficient ER fluids. In this work, we experimentally demonstrated for the first time the ER response of dilute SWNT suspensions, with a more-than-doubling of the apparent viscosity at moderate shear rates for a SWNT volume fraction of just Φ = 1.5×10−5. By systematically varying the shear rate and electric field, we found that the electrorheological response can be interpreted in terms of an electrostatic-polarization model, where the governing parameter was a modified Mason number giving the ratio of viscous to dipole-dipole forces. Analysis of the electrostatic forces suggested that the
Balanced Computing Offloading for Selfish IoT Devices in Fog Computing

Fog computing, which provides low-latency computing services at the network edge, is an enabler for the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Offloading tasks to the fog that is closer to IoT users for processing has become a means to ensure that tasks are completed quickly. Fog computing cannot only reduce the congestion of the backbone network but also ensure that the task is completed within the specified time. Since fog resources are limited, there will be resource competition among IoT devices. How to quickly and efficiently make an optimal computation offloading decision for individual selfish IoT devices is a fundamental research issue. This article regards the process of multiple IoT devices competing for fog devices as a game and proposes a distributed computation offloading algorithm. The goal is to optimize the balance of computation delay, energy consumption, and cost for fog nodes. The competition between IoT nodes eventually reaches an equilibrium point, that is the Nash equilibrium point. We prove the existence of Nash equilibrium by Weighted Potential Game. In addition, if a large number of IoT devices select the same node for offloading, which will cause the fog node to run out of power and make some networks unable to work normally. Further, causing part of the network to be paralyzed. Therefore, the paper considers the fairness of offloading to extend the network life cycle. A calculation rate adjustment algorithm is designed for the fairness of offloading to ensure that fog nodes do not run out of power and fail. This paper not only fully considers the performance of the IoT device, but also considers the fairness of the fog. Numerous experiments proved the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Research on Salt Corrosion Resistance of Lithium-Based Protective Coating on Mortar Substrate

The present study concerns hydrophobic surface treatments with silane-based coating on concrete surfaces against external ionic transport. The nano-modification and organic–inorganic modification were carried out on it and applied to the mortar matrix and concrete matrix. Lithium-based protective coating (PC1, PC2), nano-modified coating (NC1, NC2) and organic–inorganic composite coating (OL1) were prepared. The salt erosion resistance of the mortar matrix and concrete matrix was tested, compared with the blank group and the market. The test results found that the organic–inorganic modified OL1 and LC1 coatings have the greatest influence on the chloride penetration resistance of the mortar matrix, in which the chloride penetration depth of 28 days is reduced by 73.03% and 63.83%, respectively, compared with the blank group. The rate of mass change of the blank group, PC1 and PC2 coatings, and NL1 and NL2 coatings were 0.17%, 0.08%, and 0.03%, respectively. The result demonstrated that the lithium-based coating could effectively delay the penetration rate of chloride ions and sulfates into the mortar, and the nano-modified properties could improve the salt resistance. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that coating treatment would promote the secondary hydration of cement-based materials, by reducing the content of Ca(OH)2 in hydration products of cement-based materials and producing C-S-H gel, which is conducive to strength enhancement and pore refinement. The nano-component would promote the reaction degree, while the organic–inorganic coating would have the respective advantages of the two components.
Flux-tube-dependent propagation of Alfvén waves in the solar corona

Alfv\'en-wave turbulence has emerged as an important heating mechanism to accelerate the solar wind. The generation of this turbulent heating is dependent on the presence and subsequent interaction of counter-propagating alfv\'en waves. This requires us to understand the propagation and evolution of alfv\'en waves in the solar wind in order to develop an understanding of the relationship between turbulent heating and solar-wind parameters. We aim to study the response of the solar wind upon injecting monochromatic single-frequency alfv\'en waves at the base of the corona for various magnetic flux-tube geometries. We used an ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model using an adiabatic equation of state. An Alfv\'en pump wave was injected into the quiet solar wind by perturbing the transverse magnetic field and velocity components. Alfv\'en waves were found to be reflected due to the development of the parametric decay instability (PDI). Further investigation revealed that the PDI was suppressed both by efficient reflections at low frequencies as well as magnetic flux-tube geometries.
TPX2 Serves as a Cancer Susceptibility Gene and Is Closely Associated with the Poor Prognosis of Endometrial Cancer

Background Endometrial cancer (EC) is a common tumor of the genital tract that affects the female reproductive system but with only limited treatment options. We aimed to discover new prognostic biomarkers for EC. Methods We used mRNA-seq data to detect differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between EC and control tissues. Detailed clinicopathological information was collected, and changes in the mRNA and protein levels of hub DEGs were analyzed in EC. Copy number variation (CNV) was also evaluated for its association with the pathogenesis of EC. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was conducted to enrich significant pathways driven by the hub genes. Cox regression analysis was used to select variables to create a nomogram. The nomogram was calibrated by applying the concordance index (C-index), and net benefits of the nomogram at different threshold probabilities were quantified using decision curve analysis (DCA). Results Differential expression analysis identified 24 DEGs as potential risk factors for EC. Survival analysis revealed that TPX2 expression was related to worsening overall survival in patients with advanced EC. A high CNV was associated with the overexpression of TPX2; this suggested that modifications in the cell-cycle pathway might be crucial in the advancement of EC. Moreover, an individualized nomogram was developed for TPX2 incorporating clinical factors; this was also evaluated for its ability to predict EC. Calibration and DCA analyses confirmed the robustness and clinical usefulness of the nomogram. Conclusion We offer novel insights into the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of EC. The overexpression of TPX2 was related to a poorer prognosis and could serve as a biomarker for predicting prognostic outcomes in EC patients.
Experimental Identification of Heating Process from Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) Equipment

Peritoneal Carcinomatosis (PC) carries a worse prognosis than other sites of systemic metastases. The combination of complete cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is on the verge of becoming the gold-standard treatment of PC, when feasible. In order to develop a HIPEC equipment, with complex inflow distribution system having multiple nozzles and a multipoint temperature measurement system, model based techniques will be used by the authors in order to design heating and flow controllers. Thus a functional model is needed for the concerned process such that the simulated model and the behavior of the real system coincide. This paper presents the experimental identification of the heater used on each of the flow channels that result in a transfer function model for the heating process. Also the model for the temperature sensor is obtained
Adaptive Authority Allocation Approach for Shared Steering Control System

To improve the reliability of the shared steering control system, and weaken the influence of uncertain driver behavior on driving safety, an extended shared steering control system with an authority adaptive allocation model is proposed. The system framework consists of upper-level and lower-level. The upper-level is an adaptive authority allocation model, which is composed of a reference model and an authority dynamic allocation model. The reference authority level can be calculated by the reference model, which is used as the reference of the authority dynamic allocation model. The authority levels of the autonomous controller and driver are gained by the adaptive authority allocation model. The lower level is the human-machine shared steering control, which includes the driver and autonomous controller. Using the authority level obtained by the upper-level, the lower-level can realize the coordinated control of human and machine. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified by simulation. The results show that relative to the numerical function model, the proposed approach can effectively weaken the impact of driver misoperation and poor preview time, the trajectory tracking ability and handling stability are improved significantly, and the human-machine conflict and the workload of the controller are weakened.
The Trump Administration and the COVID‐19 crisis: Exploring the warning‐response problems and missed opportunities of a public health emergency

Abstract This article examines the Trump Administration's inability to mount a timely and effective response to the COVID‐19 outbreak, despite ample warning. Through an empirical exploration guided by three explanatory perspectives—psychological, bureau‐organizational, and agenda‐political—developed from the strategic surprise, public administration, and crisis management literature, the authors seek to shed light on the mechanisms that contributed to the underestimation of the coronavirus threat by the Trump Administration and the slow and mismanaged federal response. The analysis highlights the extent to which the factors identified by previous studies of policy surprise and failure in other security domains are relevant for health security. The paper concludes by addressing the crucial role of executive leadership as an underlying factor in all three perspectives and discussing why the US president is ultimately responsible for ensuring a healthy policy process to guard against the pathologies implicated in the federal government's sub‐optimal response to the COVID‐19 crisis.
Endfire Circularly Polarized Planar Antennas: A review of their development

This article reviews and summarizes the developments of endfire circularly polarized (CP) planar antennas. The difficulty in designing such antennas is that there is not a large radiating aperture on a substrate to produce strong enough vertically polarized (VP) radiation to match the horizontally polarized (HP) radiation. Mainly based on the structures of radiation and feeding, endfire CP planar antennas are classified into several groups. The mechanisms of these antennas are identified, their performance is compared with tables, and the relation between performance and structures is explored. It is indicated that the distance between the phase centers of VP and HP radiators is a crucial parameter to affect the axial ratio (AR) bandwidth and beamwidth of an endfire CP antenna. It is addressed that it is essential to have strong VP radiation for a high-gain and wideband endfire CP antenna when substrates are thin.
Effects of NaCl Concentration on the Behavior of Vibrio brasiliensis and Transcriptome Analysis

The growth of Vibrio bacteria is affected by environmental conditions, and unfavorable conditions will produce different degrees of stress on Vibrio. The cells respond to the stress on the bacteria through changes in biological characteristics and transcriptomes. To study the effect of NaCl concentration on Vibrio brasiliensis, we have determined the biological characteristics of the 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 5%, and 7% NaCl concentrations cultured V. brasiliensis to research the salt stress to bacteria. We found that the biological properties of V. brasiliensis cultured with different NaCl concentrations were different, and the expression of outer membrane proteins of V. brasiliensis changed when it was grown under different NaCl concentrations. When bacteria cultured in higher NaCl concentrations (3%, 5% and 7% NaCl), the sodium-type flagellar protein MotY was found. Finally, the transcriptome analysis of V. brasiliensis cultured with 0% NaCl and 7% NaCl was carried out to find out the differentially expressed genes. We found that the same gene have opposite up-regulated and down-regulated expression in two treatments, indicating that these types of genes are regulated different in low and high osmotic stress.
ANALYSIS OF THE BIOACTIVE AND MICROBIOLOGICAL CONTENTS OF HERBAL MIXTURES SOLD IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Over the years, medicinal plants have played a significant role in traditional medicine practice. The ever-increasing health-related difficulties and the search for possible treatments and likely cures have led to the increasing patronage of herbal drugs in Nigeria. There is an overwhelming increase in the production and distribution of herbal medications, and the trend has instigated concern about the quality of the products being sold in Anambra State, Nigeria. Thus, the primary purpose of the current study is to analyze the microbiological and phytochemical constituents of okanga powder, goko cleanser, and deep root herbal mixtures popularly sold in Nigeria. The phytochemical tests conducted on the herbal products revealed that the herbal products contain alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, anthraquinones, tannins, and saponins. The result of the microbial count indicates the presence of varying microorganisms such as S. aureus, E. coli, Salmonella, and Klebsiella spp in the herbal products. The study concludes that herbal products possess active phytochemicals. However, the presence of pathogenic organisms was discovered in the herbal drugs.
Ultrahigh-Sensitivity and Compact EBG-Based Microwave Sensor for Liquid Characterization

In this letter, an ultrahigh-sensitivity microwave sensor based on an electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure is proposed. The proposed sensor consists of step via EBG and suspended microstrip line. Two low-cost polypropylene pipes are used to place the liquid under test (LUT) above the EBG patch, which changes the effective dielectric constant of the substrate, and therefore, frequency shift and change in the peak of attenuation of transmission response are observed. The change in the resonance frequency and peak attenuation is used to measure the complex permittivity of the LUT. A matrix-based model is developed to retrieve the complex permittivity of the LUT. A prototype of the proposed sensor is fabricated and tested with a good agreement between the calculated and reference values. The average relative sensitivity of 0.588 is achieved for the proposed sensor with a size of 0.198<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{o}$</tex-math></inline-formula> × 0.198<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{o}$</tex-math></inline-formula>.
Comparison in Short-Term Safety and Efficacy between New-Generation WATCHMAN FLX and Conventional WATCHMAN 2.5 for Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure

Background: Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure using the WATCHMAN system, to prevent thrombosis and minimize anti-coagulant use in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, has recently been introduced. The safety and efficacy of new-generation WATCHMAN FLX, as compared to conventional WATCHMAN 2.5, remain unknown. Methods: Consecutive patients who received percutaneous left atrial appendage closure using the WATCHMAN system in our institute, between June 2020 and December 2021, were retrospectively analyzed. Safety and efficacy during the 45-day observational period were compared between the two devices. Results: A total of 93 patients (73.0 ± 7.3 years old, 63 men) who received WATCHMAN FLX (n = 44) or WATCHMAN 2.5 (n = 49) were included. The device implant success rate was 100% in the FLX device group and 98% in the 2.5 device group. There were no procedure-related complications in the FLX group, and one non-relevant pericardial effusion in the 2.5 device group. During the 45-day observational period, there were no procedure-related adverse events. No patients in the FLX group had a peri-device leak >3 mm, whereas two patients in the 2.5 device group had a peri-device leak >3 mm. Anti-coagulants could be terminated in most of the patients (85% versus 88%; p = 0.68). Conclusions: Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure using new-generation WATCHMAN FLX seemed to be as safe and effective as conventional WATCHMAN 2.5 during the short-term observational period.
Enlighten me: teaching social justice in further and higher education by reclaiming philosophically liberal values – a social work education case study

ABSTRACT This article suggests that traditional, liberal values that comprise the broad value consensus of most western democracies may be at risk of erosion, especially in further and higher education settings. The factors that may be contributing to their devaluation include: the down-grading of belief in unique individualism and common humanity in favour of reified group identity, the erosion of the importance of ‘liberal science’ or a liberal definition of what constitutes knowledge, the supplanting of economic social justice concerns with identity matters, and the erosion of free speech. These developments are related to the promotion of a certain type of postmodern social justice critical theory, typified by critical race theory (CRT), and this article will explore their impact on education. Tenets of CRT, as espoused by mainstream writers, will be summarised and contrasted with liberal values to illustrate the concerns raised. In the example of social work education, the case is made that postmodern critical social work can be co-opted by ‘progressive neoliberalism’ and the punitive approach to ‘undeserving’ groups that this entails. Awareness of this concerning development is very important in the education of future professionals in any of the human services. The article concludes that liberal principles should be robustly reclaimed within social work and further and higher education more broadly.