Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance Analysis of Sensor Fusion Techniques for Heading Estimation Using Smartphone Sensors

Efficient indoor positioning requires accurate heading and step length estimation algorithms. Therefore, in order to improve the indoor position accuracy, it is necessary to estimate both the user heading and step length with minimal error. These include errors from the accelerometer, magnetometer and gyroscope of smartphone sensors. Fusing different sensor data has a high impact on improving heading accuracy. In this paper, we present a comparative analysis of different sensor fusion techniques for heading estimation using smartphone sensors. The performance of different sensor fusion techniques is discussed in terms of root mean square error and cumulative distribution functions of heading errors. The experimental results show the effects of different sensor fusion techniques for heading estimation. The performance of five sensor fusion techniques such as a linear Kalman filter (LKF), extended Kalman filter (EKF), unscented Kalman filter (UKF), particle filters (PF) and complementary filters (CF) were analyzed. The UKF fusion algorithm shows better results compared to EKF and LKF fusion algorithms. The EKF approach is better than LKF and CF approaches. The experimental results show that the PF fusion technique has poor performance for heading estimation.
Respiratory muscle work and inspiratory muscle training on cytokines, oxidative stress and diaphragm fatigue in younger and older populations

Increased respiratory muscle work is encountered during strenuous whole-body exercise, and at rest in older adults and those with pulmonary limitations such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). When sufficiently strenuous it can result in diaphragmatic fatigue, increased blood lactate concentrations, and an alteration in respiratory muscle recruitment patterns. Increased respiratory muscle work also elevates cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) within the respiratory muscles and systemically. There is mounting evidence that inflammation contributes significantly to the ageing process and age related diseases. Enhanced oxidative stress, glycogen depletion and diaphragmatic fatigue are all potential stimuli for this production. Whole-body exercise training can attenuate systemic inflammation and oxidative stress in younger adults during exercise, and in older adults who experience this at rest. An attenuation of muscle glycogen or increases in antioxidant enzymes may explain such reductions. Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) may also elicit similar adaptations in the inspiratory muscles, and thus also attenuate these markers.
Mutual Coupling Suppression for On-Body Multiantenna Systems

The mutual coupling in small wearable multiantenna systems under bending conditions is studied. Two conventional passive mutual coupling suppression approaches, involving electromagnetic bandgap structures and defected ground structures (DGS) are investigated when curving or deforming. To overcome the limitations of those traditional isolators in on-body applications, a novel metamaterial-inspired isolator that combines DGS and modified split ring resonators (SRR) is proposed. It avoids any vertical conducting parts that have a high risk of being broken with time due to movements of the user. On top, it is wideband, with stable isolating performance under complex bending conditions, and does not affect the compactness of a linear array. The envelope correlation coefficient between the two on-body antennas, when the proposed isolator is present, is found to be low, which is important for a better throughput for a multiple-input-multiple-output system. A prototype is fabricated and measured to prove the validity of the new concept.
Forecast skill score assessment of a relocatable ocean prediction system, using a simplified objective analysis method

Abstract. A relocatable ocean prediction system (ROPS) was employed to an observational data set which was collected in June 2014 in the waters to the west of Sardinia (western Mediterranean) in the framework of the REP14-MED experiment. The observational data, comprising more than 6000 temperature and salinity profiles from a fleet of underwater gliders and shipborne probes, were assimilated in the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), which is the heart of ROPS, and verified against independent observations from ScanFish tows by means of the forecast skill score as defined by Murphy(1993). A simplified objective analysis (OA) method was utilised for assimilation, taking account of only those profiles which were located within a predetermined time window W. As a result of a sensitivity study, the highest skill score was obtained for a correlation length scale C = 12.5 km, W = 24 h, and r = 1, where r is the ratio between the error of the observations and the background error, both for temperature and salinity. Additional ROPS runs showed that (i) the skill score of assimilation runs was mostly higher than the score of a control run without assimilation, (i) the skill score increased with increasing forecast range, and (iii) the skill score for temperature was higher than the score for salinity in the majority of cases. Further on, it is demonstrated that the vast number of observations can be managed by the applied OA method without data reduction, enabling timely operational forecasts even on a commercially available personal computer or a laptop.
Privacy-Preserving Database Assisted Spectrum Access for Industrial Internet of Things: A Distributed Learning Approach

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has been shown to be of great value to the deployment of smart industrial environment. With the immense growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, dynamic spectrum sharing is introduced, envisaged as a promising solution to the spectrum shortage in IIoT. Meanwhile, cyber–physical safety issue remains to be a great concern for the reliable operation of IIoT system. In this article, we consider the dynamic spectrum access in IIoT under a received signal strength-based adversarial localization attack. We employ a practical and effective power perturbation approach to mitigate the localization threat on the IoT devices and cast the privacy-preserving spectrum sharing problem as a stochastic channel selection game. To address the randomness induced by the power perturbation approach, we develop a two-timescale distributed learning algorithm that converges almost surely to the set of correlated equilibria of the game. The numerical results show the convergence of the algorithm and corroborate that the design of two-timescale learning process effectively alleviates the network throughput degradation brought by the power perturbation procedure.
Adaptive Sliding Mode Trajectory Tracking Control for WMR Considering Skidding and Slipping via Extended State Observer

When the wheeled mobile robot (WMR) is required to perform specific tasks in complex environment, i.e., on the forestry, wet, icy ground or on the sharp corner, wheel skidding and slipping inevitably occur during trajectory tracking. To improve the trajectory tracking performance of WMR under unknown skidding and slipping condition, an adaptive sliding mode controller (ASMC) design approach based on the extended state observer (ESO) is presented. The skidding and slipping is regarded as external disturbance. In this paper, the ESO is introduced to estimate the lumped disturbance containing the unknown skidding and slipping, parameter variation, parameter uncertainties, etc. By designing a sliding surface based on the disturbance estimation, an adaptive sliding mode tracking control strategy is developed to attenuate the lumped disturbance. Simulation results show that higher precision tracking and better disturbance rejection of ESO-ASMC is realized for linear and circular trajectory than the ASMC scheme. Besides, experimental results indicate the ESO-ASMC scheme is feasible and effective. Therefore, ESO-ASMC scheme can enhance the energy efficiency for the differentially driven WMR under unknown skidding and slipping condition.
Facilitating Lithium-Ion Diffusion in Layered Cathode Materials by Introducing Li+/Ni2+ Antisite Defects for High-Rate Li-Ion Batteries

Li+/Ni2+ antisite defects mainly resulting from their similar ionic radii in the layered nickel-rich cathode materials belong to one of cation disordering scenarios. They are commonly considered harmful to the electrochemical properties, so a minimum degree of cation disordering is usually desired. However, this study indicates that LiNi0.8Co0. 15Al0.05O2 as the key material for Tesla batteries possesses the highest rate capability when there is a minor degree (2.3%) of Li+/Ni2+ antisite defects existing in its layered structure. By combining a theoretical calculation, the improvement mechanism is attributed to two effects to decrease the activation barrier for lithium migration: (1) the anchoring of a low fraction of high-valence Ni2+ ions in the Li slab pushes uphill the nearest Li+ ions and (2) the same fraction of low-valence Li+ ions in the Ni slab weakens the repulsive interaction to the Li+ ions at the saddle point.
Optically Transparent Anionic Nanofibrillar Cellulose Is Cytocompatible with Human Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells and Allows Simple Imaging in 3D

The anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a focus within regenerative medicine. However, 2D cultivation of MSCs for extended periods results in abnormal cell polarity, chromosomal changes, reduction in viability, and altered differentiation potential. As an alternative, various 3D hydrogels have been developed which mimic the endogenous niche of MSCs. Nevertheless, imaging cells embedded within 3D hydrogels often suffers from low signal-to-noise ratios which can be at least partly attributed to the high light absorbance and light scattering of the hydrogels in the visible light spectrum. In this study, human adipose tissue-derived MSCs (ADSCs) are cultivated within an anionic nanofibrillar cellulose (aNFC) hydrogel. It is demonstrated that aNFC forms nanofibres arranged as a porous network with low light absorbance in the visible spectrum. Moreover, it is shown that aNFC is cytocompatible, allowing for MSC proliferation, maintaining cell viability and multilineage differentiation potential. Finally, aNFC is compatible with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscopy including the application of conventional dyes, fluorescent probes, indirect immunocytochemistry, and calcium imaging. Overall, the results indicate that aNFC represents a promising 3D material for the expansion of MSCs whilst allowing detailed examination of cell morphology and cellular behaviour.
Intrinsic Strong Linear Dichroism of Multilayered 2D Hybrid Perovskite Crystals toward Highly Polarized‐Sensitive Photodetection

Linear dichroism of 2D materials is brought into practical operation of polarized light detection; currently, organic–inorganic 2D hybrid perovskites with the linear dichroic nature offers immense potentials within this portfolio. Here, a newly tailored 2D hybrid perovskite, (iBA)2(MA)Pb2I7 (1, where MA+ is methylammonium and iBA+ is n‐isobutylammonium) is investigated, adopting a highly anisotropic bilayered perovskite motif that results in strong crystallographic‐dependence of linear dichroism. Both the absorption spectra (300–650 nm) and polarized‐sensitive activities of 1 exhibit the distinctive anisotropic characteristics. Consequently, based on this intrinsic linear dichroism, crystal‐based photodetectors of 1 show remarkable polarized‐light detecting behaviors, including quite fast response time (≈300 µs), notable photocurrent on/off ratio (>103) and large dichroic ratios (Ipb/Ipc ≈ 1.20 at 520 nm, 1.23 at 637 nm). Such figure‐of‐merits are comparable to those of the conventional GeSe nanoflakes (the linearly dichroic ratio of ≈1.09 at 532 nm), revealing the great potentials of 1 for the future polarized photodetection. As an innovative work, the intrinsic anisotropy and prominent linear dichroism of 1, together with the structural flexibility, opens up a promising avenue for exploring new candidates for the 2D polarized optoelectronic applications.
Discrete Greenwood–Williamson Modeling of Rough Surface Contact Accounting for Three-Dimensional Sinusoidal Asperities and Asperity Interaction

The Greenwood–Williamson (GW) model has been one of the commonly used contact models to study rough surface contact problems during the past decades. While this has been a successful model, it still has a number of restrictions: (i) surface asperities are spheres; (ii) the overall deformation must be assumed to be small enough, such that there is no interaction between asperities, i.e., they are independent of each other; and (iii) asperity deformation remains elastic. This renders the GW model unrealistic in many situations. In the present work, we resolve above restrictions in a discrete version of the GW model: instead of spherical asperities, we assumed that the surface consists of three-dimensional sinusoidal asperities which appear more similar to asperities on a rough surface. For single asperity mechanical response, we propose a Hertz-like analytical solution for purely elastic deformation and a semi-analytical solution based on finite element method (FEM) for elastic–plastic deformation. The asperity interaction is accounted for by discretely utilizing a modified Boussinesq solution without consideration of asperity merger. It is seen that the asperity interaction effect is more than just the delay of contact as shown in the statistical model, it also contributes to the loss of linearity between the contact force and the contact area. Our model also shows that: for elastic contact, using spherical asperities results in a larger average contact pressure than using sinusoids; when plasticity is taken into account, using a sphere to represent asperities results in a softer response as compared with using sinusoids. It is also confirmed that sinusoidal asperities are a much better description than spheres, by comparison with fully resolved FEM simulation results for computer-generated rough surfaces.
The Shortcomings of Design Thinking when Compared to Designerly Thinking

Abstract This paper contributes by clearly identifying the shortcoming of design thinking as well as pinpointing where to begin in terms of achieving a more solid conceptualization of the concept. To identify its potential shortcomings, this study examines the theoretical structure of design thinking and compares it to the theoretical structure of designerly thinking. This comparison suggests that the current conceptualization of design thinking lacks methodological approaches, that is, guidelines concerning how best to approach a given problem and how to competently select, configure, apply and evaluate the tools and techniques needed to tackle that problem. In its present form, design thinking facilitates the general, non-situated application of tools and techniques, which is neither linked to nor anchored in a design paradigm.
Oxygen Adsorption on Graphene-Encapsulated Palladium Nanoparticles Imaged by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy

Graphene-encapsulated metal nanoparticles (G@NPs) offer a possibility to observe confined reactions in the nanocontainer formed by the NP's facets and graphene. However, direct experimental detection of adsorbed atomic and molecular species under the graphene cover is still challenging, and the mechanisms of intercalation and adsorption are not well understood. Here, we show that Kelvin probe force microscopy can largely contribute to the understanding of adsorption and desorption at the single NP level, which we exemplify by comparing oxygen adsorption experiments obtained at as-prepared PdNPs and G@PdNPs, both supported on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and studied under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. We show that oxygen adsorption at room temperature occurs at a much higher partial oxygen pressure on G@PdNPs compared to as-prepared PdNPs. Similarly, the removal of oxygen via a reaction with the residual gas of the UHV is slower on the G@PdNPs compared to as-prepared PdNPs. The differences can be explained by a limited facility for reactant and product molecules to enter and desorb from the nanocontainer via the defects of the graphene. Experimental observations are supported by assisting density functional theory calculations.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, SLEEP PATTERNS, AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN UNIVERSITY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

OF THESIS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, SLEEP PATTERNS, AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN UNIVERSITY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS Research indicates that law enforcement officers (LEOs) have a higher prevalence of developing coronary artery disease (CAD) compared to the general population. Sleep deprivation and physical inactivity have been found to be related to many risk factors for CAD. This cross-sectional study examined the health status and the relationship between sleep and physical activity outcomes versus CAD risk factors among 27 University LEOs. The subjects’ health behaviors, and CAD and metabolic syndrome risk factors were described using basic statistics. Accelerometer derived sleep and physical activity outcomes were correlated to measures of health to identify potential relationships. 33% of LEOs were classified as moderate risk for CAD; 92% had dyslipidemia, 58% had elevated triglycerides, 23% had prediabetes, and 22% suffered from obesity. The administrators and first shift LEOs slept more compared to second or third shift LEOs. The LEOs were more sedentary while on-duty. In addition, sedentary time was correlated to systolic blood pressure. LEOs accumulated 24.4 min·d of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), but only spent 9.3 min·d in continuous bouts of MVPA. In conclusion, multiple CAD risk factors were present in these LEOs and achieving adequate amounts of physical activity and sleep may decrease their risk of developing chronic diseases.
Vertical Dependence of Horizontal Scaling Behavior of Orographic Wind and Moisture Fields in Atmospheric Models

Previous work showed that atmospheric model simulations exhibit different scaling behavior of vertically averaged horizontal wind (u,v) and moisture (q) in the mesoscales for convective (spectral slopes β~−5/3) and nonconvective (β~−11/5) conditions. Here, the focus is on the transient behavior of horizontal scaling in the vertical during the evolution of extreme orographic precipitation storms in middle (Appalachians, <2,500m) and high mountains (Andes). The results show that β exhibits a strong diurnal cycle switching between convective and nonconvective behavior following the space‐time evolution of atmospheric stability in the lower troposphere (below 700 hPa) depending on latitude, topography, landform, and the synoptic environment. Anomalous flattening of the wind and moisture spectra (i.e., spectral saturation, ∣β ∣ < 5/3) at high wavenumbers and up to 200 hPa is tied to convective activity, where and when strong vertical motions develop, corresponding to an abrupt directional switch from horizontal energy transfer to vertical energy transfer including latent heating release and parameterized microphysical processes. In the small mesoscales (<50 km), β~ − 5/3 at all times up to 200 hPa with nighttime steepening (β~−11/5) below the orographic envelope where cold air pools form at low elevations and vertical motion weakens in the Appalachians. In the Andes, the scaling behavior exhibits a stronger diurnal cycle at low levels (below 700 hPa) with significant shoaling between tropical and high latitudes. Blocking and strong modification of regional circulations result in nighttime anisotropy at midlevels on the altitudinal profile along the North‐South topographic divide.
N × N optical phased array with 2N phase shifters.

Two-dimensional (2-D) integrated optical phased arrays (OPA) have many applications from optical imaging to LiDAR. Conventionally, 2-D beam-steering in an N × N OPA requires N2 phase shifters placed within the phased array aperture, resulting in a high per-element power consumption while limiting the minimum achievable element-to-element spacing. In this paper, we report an OPA architecture, where for 2-D beam-steering in an N × N OPA, only 2N phase shifters outside of the array aperture are used, which significantly reduces the total OPA power consumption and eliminates electrical routing within the aperture. As a proof of concept, an 8 × 8 OPA is implemented that uses 16 phase shifters to perform 2-D beam-steering without tuning the wavelength. Using the aperture size of 77 µm × 77 µm for the implemented OPA transmitter, far-field beam-steering over a range of about 7° is demonstrated.
Composite of manganese dioxide impregnated in porous hollow carbon spheres for flexible asymmetric solid‐state supercapacitors

Compared with symmetric supercapacitors, asymmetric supercapacitors are been widely applied in energy storage devices because of delivering an impressible energy density. Herein, a simple temple strategy was used to fabricate the porous hollow carbon spheres (PHCS) with high specific surface area of 793 m2 g−1, large pore volume of 1.0 cm3 g−1 and pore size distribution from micropores to mesopores, serving as the capacitive electrodes of asymmetric supercapacitors. Subsequently, manganese dioxide (MnO2) was impregnated into the PHCS to form a faradic electrode with a promising performance, owing to a synergistic effect between high capacity MnO2 and conductive PHCS. Furthermore, the flexible asymmetric solid‐state devices were constructed with PHCS anode, PHCS@MnO2 cathode, and PVA/LiCl electrolyte, extending a voltage window up to 1.8 V. The extensive voltage window would lead to an increased energy density. In our case, the flexible asymmetric sandwich exhibit excellent electrochemical performance in terms of a high energy density capacity of 26.5 W·h kg−1 (900 W kg−1) and superior cycling performance (10 000 cycles). Therefore, the developed strategy provides a strategy to achieve the PHCS‐based composites for the application in the asymmetric solid‐state supercapacitors, which will enable a widely field of flexible energy storage devices.
Vacuum therapy in the treatment of suppurative lactation mastitis

: An analysis of results of treatment of 299 patients with acute purulent lactation mastitis has shown the use of vacuum therapy by the authors' method to result in a considerably shorter time of healing the wounds, in quicker detoxication of the organism. It controls pyo-septic complications, normalizes immune processes. The method is simple and may be used at any surgical department.