Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance Index for Water Distribution Networks under Multiple Loading Conditions

AbstractPrevious studies have naturally related water distribution network performance to the ability to deliver sufficient pressure and flow. The present paper emphasizes that performance also depends on the efficiency of delivering these requirements. Accordingly, an efficiency-based performance index is proposed. It is the geometric average of four performance metrics: reliability, vulnerability, resilience, and connectivity. These are themselves based on the energy efficiency, hydraulic capacity, and structural ability of the system to deliver water under a range of conditions. The metrics are applied to two example networks and variations of these, enabling the assessment of their relevance, their sensitivity to system changes, and permitting a comparison to existing metrics. Variations represent different redundancy increasing strategies, recognized for improving performance. The proposed performance index generally follows a similar trend as the previous indices, increasing with network pressure. N.
Neural Network MIMO Model for Production of Isopropyl Myristate in a Semibatch Reactive Distillation Column

Batch reactive distillation is an integrated unit of batch reactor and distillation. It provides benefits of having higher conversion and yield by continuous removal of side product. The aim of this paper is to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) based model for production of isopropyl myristate in an industrial scaled semibatch reactive distillation. Two cases of the MIMO model were developed. Case 1 does not consider historical data as inputs while case 2 does. The trained ANN for both cases was validated with independent validation data and the best architecture was optimized. Case 1 resulted to 8 inputs, 14 hidden nodes and 2 outputs [8-14-2] ANN while Case 2 resulted to [12-13-2] ANN. The results show that both ANN models have ability to predict the unknown validation and testing data very well. However, the [8-14-2] ANN model produce higher accuracy than [12-13-2] ANN model with MSE of 0.00094 and 0.0013, respectively.
Satellite Image Processing for the Coarse-Scale Investigation of Sandy Coastal Areas

In recent years, satellite imagery has shown its potential to support the sustainable management of land, water, and natural resources. In particular, it can provide key information about the properties and behavior of sandy beaches and the surrounding vegetation, improving the ecomorphological understanding and modeling of coastal dynamics. Although satellite image processing usually demands high memory and computational resources, free online platforms such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) have recently enabled their users to leverage cloud-based tools and handle big satellite data. In this technical note, we describe an algorithm to classify the coastal land cover and retrieve relevant information from Sentinel-2 and Landsat image collections at specific times or in a multitemporal way: the extent of the beach and vegetation strips, the statistics of the grass cover, and the position of the shoreline and the vegetation–sand interface. Furthermore, we validate the algorithm through both quantitative and qualitative methods, demonstrating the goodness of the derived classification (accuracy of approximately 90%) and showing some examples about the use of the algorithm’s output to study coastal physical and ecological dynamics. Finally, we discuss the algorithm’s limitations and potentialities in light of its scaling for global analyses.
Nonlinear embedding and de‐embedding techniques for large‐signal fet measurements

The manuscript presents a comparison between two nonlinear procedures oriented to the investigation of the intrinsic I/V dynamic characteristics at a transistor's current‐generator plane. These approaches, without the need of modeling device trapping and thermal effects, allow to obtain information at the current‐generator reference plane that is more strictly linked to the device performance in terms of output power and efficiency. Experiments carried out on a 800‐μm GaN HEMT are reported. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:2835–2838, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27169
cMUT echographic probes: design and fabrication process

The electrostatic capacitive, silicon micro fabricated, ultrasonic transducer (cMUT), approached in the last years, is a new promising alternative to the piezoelectric transducer for echographic probes. The cMUT transducer inherently has a larger bandwidth for immersion application and, because it takes advantage of the well established microelectronic technology it is, potentially, less expensive and gives much more flexibility in the design of complex 1D and 2D arrays than piezoelectric transducers. In perspective, a further advantage of the cMUT is the possibility to be integrated with the front-end electronics on the same silicon wafer. In this paper the design and the fabrication process of a 64-elements cMUT probe is described. We are fabricating an array with a pitch of 0.245 mm, kerf 27 Am, elevation 14 mm, glued on a commercial backing and soldered using a typical connection-comb to permit the electrical connection to the printing circuits, as used in commercial probes. With the addition of the biasing voltage, the probe is ready to be connected to a commercial echographic system, like Technos/spl reg/ (ESAOTE). Due to the inherently large bandwidth, the probe can be used as a linear array at about 7 MHz, and as a phased array at about MHZ.
Forecasting Paratransit Ridership Using Discrete Choice Models with Explicit Consideration of Availability

In most developed countries, the population of the elderly and disabled is growing rapidly. These individuals require transportation service suited to their needs. Such service may be provided by applying emerging technologies to dial-a-ride transit. This research develops a methodology to quantitatively evaluate the impact of paratransit services on a traveler’s mode choice behavior. The mode choice model explicitly considers availability of alternative modes and includes latent factors to account for taste heterogeneity. Stated preferences are also used to elicit preferences for new paratransit services. The methodology is empirically tested with data collected in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The model system developed is applied to evaluate the effect of improving service attributes and the impact of the introduction of new cost-effective modes on modal shares. Results of the policy analysis indicate that (a) transit policy changes, such as fare reduction, would have little effect on automobile driver and automobile passenger shares; (b) an improved reservation system for dial-a-ride services would produce shifts in mode share; (c) the proposed new bus deviation service was favored; (d) free bus service reduces dial-a-ride share; and (e) an increase in awareness of a dial-a-ride system would significantly increase its share.
Laser radar-based measuring systems for large scale assembly applications

Long term research on pulsed time-of-flight laser distance measurement has opened new dimensions in measurement applications, from large scale assembly in shipbuilding to precast concrete element production, leading to improved quality control and more efficient manufacturing. The ACMAN 3-D coordinate meters measure the coordinate values of a point in terms of radial distance and two angles directly from natural surfaces. The accuracy of coordinate values is 1 mm (1-sigma) in the measurement range of 3 - 30 m. The functions of the automatic ACMAN 200 include pointing with a red beam, automatic searching and measuring of marked target points and shape measurement by scanning. Coaxial optics of measuring, pointing and aiming provide the optimal measurement geometry. ACMAN 3-D coordinate meters are integrated into the ACMAN 1000 and ACMAN 2000 series dimension control systems.
A computerized visualization of gas-phase EHD flow field for needle-plane electrodes system

For analyzing gas-phase electrohydrodynamical (EHD) phenomena, it is effective to get the characteristics of ionic wind. In this work, a numerical calculation code of the ionic flow field was developed because of insufficiency of the quantitative characterization from experimental measurements. The distribution of electric field and ion density were calculated with the Poisson equation and the electrical current continuity equation to analyze a gas-phase EHD flow field for needle-plane electrodes system by means of the Navier-Stokes equation of fluid flow motion with them. As a result, it became easy to understand the gas-phase EHD phenomena by a computer aided visualization. This paper shows some visualization results of the gas-phase EHD flow field with corona discharge.
Contributions to switched capacitor filter synthesis

• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers.
Blind channel estimation based on subspace for multicarrier CDMA

The channel model and effective signature waveform are analyzed for synchronous multicarrier CDMA (MC-CDMA), and a blind channel estimation algorithm is proposed. We deduce the effective signature waveform in MC-CDMA systems, which is the convolution of signature and unknown channel vector and followed by OFDM demodulation. Thus, the effective signature estimation problem in a subspace-based multiuser detector is actually the channel vector estimation problem. Based on the analysis, a blind channel estimation algorithm is proposed, which provides a close-form signal estimate. Numerical results show that the analysis of effective signature waveform in MC-CDMA is exact and the proposed algorithm is robust in multiuser MC-CDMA system.
Optical Directional Coupler Switc Short Device Length: A Proposal

novel vertical directional coupler waveguide switch composed of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) is proposed and analyzed. The surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystalbreak (SSFLC) is used as an active separation layer between passive waveguides. To decrease the switching length, the waveguide switch is based on the power crossing the separation layer rather than coupling between waveguides. The calculated results relevant to the switch parameters such as the switching length, switching time, capacitance, and extinction ratio are presented. Because of the large birefringence of FLC, a very short switching length, less than 60 pm, is possible.
The Cooling Effect of Urban Green Spaces in Metacities: A Case Study of Beijing, China's Capital

Urban green spaces have many vital ecosystem services such as air cleaning, noise reduction, and carbon sequestration. Amid these great benefits from urban green spaces, the cooling effects via shading and evapotranspiration can mitigate the urban heat island effect. The impact of urban green spaces (UGSs) on the urban thermal environment in Beijing was quantified as a case study of metacities using four metrics: Land surface temperature (LST), cooling intensity, cooling extent, and cooling lapse. Three hundred and sixteen urban green spaces were extracted within the 4th ring road of Beijing from SPOT 6 satellite imagery and retrieved LST from Landsat 8 remote sensing data. The results showed that the cooling intensity of green spaces was generally more prominent in the areas with denser human activities and higher LST in this metacity. Vegetation density is always the dominant driver for the cooling effect indicated by all of the metrics. Furthermore, the results showed that those dispersive green spaces smaller than 9 ha, which are closely linked to the health and well-being of citizens, can possess about 6 °C of cooling effect variability, suggesting a great potential of managing the layout of small UGSs. In addition, the water nearby could be introduced to couple with the green and blue space for the promotion of cooling and enhancement of thermal comfort for tourists and residents. As the severe urban heating threatens human health and well-being in metacities, our findings may provide solutions for the mitigation of both the urban heat island and global climate warming of the UGS area customized cooling service.
Provable and Practical Location Privacy for Vehicular and Mobile Systems

In recent years, there has been a rapid evolution of location-based vehicular and mobile services (e.g., electronic tolling, congestion pricing, traffic statistics, insurance pricing, locationbased social applications), which promise tremendous benefits to users. Unfortunately, most such systems pose a serious threat to the location privacy of users because they track each individual’s path. A question that arises naturally is how can we preserve location privacy of users while maintaining the benefits of such services? In this thesis, we address this question by tackling two general problems that are the foundation of many of the aforementioned services. The first problem is how to enable an untrusted server to compute agreed-upon functions on a specific user’s path without learning the user’s path. We address this problem in a system called VPriv. VPriv supports a variety of applications including electronic tolling, congestion pricing, insurance premium computation, and some kinds of social applications. The second problem is how to enable an untrusted server to compute aggregate statistics over all users’ paths without learning any specific user’s path. We tackle this problem in a system called PrivStats. With PrivStats, one can compute statistics such as traffic statistics (e.g., average speed at an intersection, average delay on a road, number of drivers at a location) or average ratings of a location in a social application. The computation and threat models for VPriv and PrivStats are different, and required markedly different solutions. For both systems, we provide formal definitions of location privacy and prove that our protocols achieve these definitions. We implemented and evaluated both systems, and concluded that they are practical on commodity hardware and smartphones. Thesis Supervisor: Hari Balakrishnan Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Burden of chronic disease comorbidities among cancer patients at Queen Elizabeth and Kamuzu Central Hospitals in Malawi: an exploratory cross-sectional study

Introduction chronic disease comorbidities are common among cancer patients in most parts of the world, however; there are limited data on the same for Malawi. Comorbidities worsen clinical outcomes and are associated with lower quality of life among cancer patients. We aimed at estimating chronic disease comorbidities and associated factors among cancer patients attending oncology services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QECH) and Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Blantyre and Lilongwe respectively. Methods we conducted a cross-sectional study at QECH and KCH in Malawi from January to March 2021. Participants were recruited using simple random sampling technique at the oncology clinics and were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The College of Medicine Research and Ethics Committee (COMREC) approved the study and informed consent was obtained with each participant. Data were analyzed in Stata version 14 and summary statistics were presented as frequencies and proportions. Results we interviewed 398 cancer patients and the mean age was 45.4years (SD± 12.77). The common cancers were cervical (30%), Kaposi´s sarcoma (24%), breast (11%), esophageal (4%) and leukemia (4%). The prevalence of chronic disease comorbidities was 61.56% (n=398) and common conditions included: HIV and AIDS (43%), depression (9%) hypertension (8%) and anemia (9%). Chronic disease comorbidities were significantly associated with formal employment (p<0.01) and obesity (p<0.02). Conclusion chronic disease comorbidities were prevalent among cancer patients in the study settings in Malawi. There is a need to develop a multidisciplinary approach when managing cancer patients with emphasis on active screening for the common conditions as reported by this study.
Effectiveness of Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet for Induction of Remission in Crohn’s Disease Adult Patients

Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is a first-line treatment in active, mild to moderate Crohn’s disease (CD) in children. The Crohn’s disease exclusion diet (CDED), which avoids products known to have a pro-inflammatory effect on the intestinal mucosa, presents similar effectiveness to EEN for inducing remission in the paediatric population. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CDED in inducing remission in adult patients. Between March 2020 and May 2021, 32 patients in a gastroenterology outpatient centre were treated according to the assumptions of the CDED. The patients were seen at baseline, at week 6, and at week 12 of the study. During the visits, anthropometric measurements and laboratory tests were performed, Crohn’s disease activity index (CDAI) was calculated, and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) was completed. The study included a total of 32 participants, 18 women (56.3%) and 14 men (43.7%). Clinical remission was obtained in 76.7% patients after 6 weeks and in 82.1% after 12 weeks of therapy. Calprotectin levels were significantly lower in the second follow-up compared with baseline (p = 0.021). The CDED is an effective therapy for inducing remission in the adult CD population.
Suggestions for Revegetation over the Next 30 Years Based on Precipitation in the Three North Region of China

Afforestation in the Three North Region (TNR) of China has received wide concern due to the low survival rate and threats to water security associated with the lack of available precipitation for vegetation. It is crucial to provide a spatial layout for revegetation according to the available precipitation to achieve the vegetation cover target. This study investigated the spatial pattern of precipitation, determined the suitable vegetation distribution based on the ecological water requirements and precipitation, and proposed an optimized revegetation scheme by comparing the actual and suitable vegetation patterns. The results indicated that the actual vegetation that matched the pixel-level precipitation accounted for 67.24% of the total vegetation area in the TNR. However, 18.50% of the actual forest, 21.82% of the actual shrublands, and 19.95% of the actual grasslands were overloaded with respect to precipitation. The total suitable vegetation area was reduced slightly compared to the actual vegetation area. There is still some potential for the revegetation of forest and shrublands, mainly those in the eastern and south-eastern parts of the TNR. The optimized revegetation area in the TNR was 3.04 × 106 km2, including a maintenance management type of 2.19 × 106 km2, an upgrade type of 0.49 × 106 km2, and a degradation type of 0.37 × 106 km2. Maintenance management (natural restoration) and transformation to vegetation types with lower ecological water requirements were recognized as important revegetation practices in the TNR. This study provides guidelines to adjust the Three North Shelterbelt Project policies based on precipitation data to reduce the negative impact of revegetation on the hydrological cycle.
A vehicle ABS adaptive sliding-mode control algorithm based on the vehicle velocity estimation and tyre/road friction coefficient estimations

A sliding-mode observer is designed to estimate the vehicle velocity with the measured vehicle acceleration, the wheel speeds and the braking torques. Based on the Burckhardt tyre model, the extended Kalman filter is designed to estimate the parameters of the Burckhardt model with the estimated vehicle velocity, the measured wheel speeds and the vehicle acceleration. According to the estimated parameters of the Burckhardt tyre model, the tyre/road friction coefficients and the optimal slip ratios are calculated. A vehicle adaptive sliding-mode control (SMC) algorithm is presented with the estimated vehicle velocity, the tyre/road friction coefficients and the optimal slip ratios. And the adjustment method of the sliding-mode gain factors is discussed. Based on the adaptive SMC algorithm, a vehicle's antilock braking system (ABS) control system model is built with the Simulink Toolbox. Under the single-road condition as well as the different road conditions, the performance of the vehicle ABS system is simulated with the vehicle velocity observer, the tyre/road friction coefficient estimator and the adaptive SMC algorithm. The results indicate that the estimated errors of the vehicle velocity and the tyre/road friction coefficients are acceptable and the vehicle ABS adaptive SMC algorithm is effective. So the proposed adaptive SMC algorithm can be used to control the vehicle ABS without the information of the vehicle velocity and the road conditions.
Comprehensive Simulation of Ca2+ Transients in the Continuum of Mouse Skeletal Muscle Fiber Types

Mag-Fluo-4 has revealed differences in the kinetics of the Ca2+ transients of mammalian fiber types (I, IIA, IIX, and IIB). We simulated the changes in [Ca2+] through the sarcomere of these four fiber types, considering classical (troponin –Tn–, parvalbumin –Pv–, adenosine triphosphate –ATP–, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pump –SERCA–, and dye) and new (mitochondria –MITO–, Na+/Ca2+ exchanger –NCX–, and store-operated calcium entry –SOCE–) Ca2+ binding sites, during single and tetanic stimulation. We found that during a single twitch, the sarcoplasmic peak [Ca2+] for fibers type IIB and IIX was around 16 µM, and for fibers type I and IIA reached 10–13 µM. The release rate in fibers type I, IIA, IIX, and IIB was 64.8, 153.6, 238.8, and 244.5 µM ms−1, respectively. Both the pattern of change and the peak concentrations of the Ca2+-bound species in the sarcoplasm (Tn, PV, ATP, and dye), the sarcolemma (NCX, SOCE), and the SR (SERCA) showed the order IIB ≥ IIX > IIA > I. The capacity of the NCX was 2.5, 1.3, 0.9, and 0.8% of the capacity of SERCA, for fibers type I, IIA, IIX, and IIB, respectively. MITO peak [Ca2+] ranged from 0.93 to 0.23 µM, in fibers type I and IIB, respectively, while intermediate values were obtained in fibers IIA and IIX. The latter numbers doubled during tetanic stimulation. In conclusion, we presented a comprehensive mathematical model of the excitation–contraction coupling that integrated most classical and novel Ca2+ handling mechanisms, overcoming the limitations of the fast- vs. slow-fibers dichotomy and the use of slow dyes.