Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-level Refinement Feature Pyramid Network for scale imbalance object detection

Object detection becomes a challenge due to diversity of object scales. In general, modern object detectors use feature pyramid to learn multi-scale representation for better results. However, current versions of feature pyramid are insufficient to handle the scale imbalance, as it is inefficient to integrate the semantic information across different scales. In this paper, we reformulate the feature pyramid construction as a feature reconfiguration process. Finally, we propose a novel detection network, Multi-level Refinement Feature pyramid Network (MRFPN), to combine the high-level features (i.e., semantic information), middle-level feature and low-level feature (i.e., boundary information), in a highly-nonlinear yet efficient manner. In particular, a novel contextual features module (chain parallel pooling) is proposed, which consists of global attention and local reconfigurations. It efficiently gathers task-oriented contextual features across different scales and spatial locations (i.e., lightweight local reconfiguration and global attention). To evaluate significance of proposed model, we designed and trained a robust end-to-end single stage detector called MRFDet by assimilating it into a conventional SSD model, and it achieved better detection performance compared to most recent single-stage objects detectors. In particular, MRFDet achieves an AP of 45.2 with MS-COCO and an improvement in the map of 4.5% with VOC compared to conventional SSD. We are releasing the source code for our proposed model MRFDet, to facilitate the research community.
Design of high gain, broadband cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna

A new high-gain cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with a large bandwidth is proposed. A cylindrical dielectric resonator, an intermediate layer and a metallic cylinder are used to obtain a large bandwidth and a high gain. The intermediate layer structure can suppress surface wave propagation, which results in a gain improvement, and the cavity formed by the metallic cylinder provides a further higher gain. The measured results demonstrate that the proposed DRA achieves a large bandwidth of 23% from 5.4 to 6.8 GHz with a voltage standing wave ratio of < 2 and a high gain of around 11 dBi.
Seismic Reliability Assessment of Existing R/C Flat-Slab Buildings

The reliability of existing reinforced-concrete flat-slab buildings, designed and detailed to resist gravity loads only, was studied for punching failure at connections under earthquake-type loading. Two flat-slab buildings, three and 10 stories in height, designed according to the ACI 318-56 building code, were used in the nonlinear dynamic analysis and reliability calculations. Results from previous experimental results on the seismic resistance of slab-column connections were employed to establish the effective slab widths, unbalanced moment-transfer capacity of connections, and their punching strength. The member dimensions, material strengths, and live load were treated as random variables and the effect of model uncertainty was included in the calculations of reliability indices. Random earthquake time histories were generated with the Kanai-Tajimi power spectrum. The limit-state function was based on the punching failure capacity of the interior slab-column connections. Based on the reliability ana.
A robust objective function for topology optimization

Purpose – Robust design is very important for manufacturers to ensure the quality of the finished product. Therefore, a robustness measure is needed for the topological design of electromagnetic problems which may be sensitive to parameter variations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a robust objective function for topological design problems.Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, a robust objective function for topology optimization is defined on an uncertainty set using the worst case analysis. The robustness of a topological design is defined as the worst response due to the variations of the location of the topology change. The approach is based on the definition of a topological gradient.Findings – The robust topology optimization (RTO) was applied to eddy current crack reconstruction problems. The numerical applications showed that this method can provide more reliable results for the reconstruction in the presence of significant noise in the measured signal.Research limitations/implica.
RISK ASSESSMENT OF GRAY CAST IRON PIPELINES

Tokyo Gas has been supplying gas to 9 million customers in the Tokyo metropolitan area in Japan since 1885, using 45,000 km of distribution pipelines. One of the old materials for the low pressure distribution pipelines is gray cast iron (GCI) pipe, which was used for construction until the 1970s, often break and cause gas leakage due to the lack of ductility; therefore, these GCI pipelines have a potential risk. To reduce the risk induced by breaks in GCI pipes and improve the safety level, Tokyo Gas (TG) has been conducting a program to repair or replace the aged-GCI pipes with liners or polyethylene pipes. In urban areas, however, measures such as repair or replacement are highly time- and cost-consuming, which is against the trend in the gas industry. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk induced by breaks in GCI pipes with minimum cost, TG has been developing a method for assessing the risk of GCI pipes. Presented in this paper is a revised method to assess the risk of GCI pipes by accurately evaluating the likelihood of breaks and the consequences induced by the gas leakage with detailed information on the environment where the pipe is buried.
High-valued passive element simulation using low-voltage low-power current conveyors for fully integrated applications

In this brief, we describe how, using low-voltage low-power second-generation current conveyors, it is possible to simulate the frequency behavior of high capacitances and inductances by utilizing only elements suitable for an integrated implementation. The effect of current conveyor nonidealities has been taken into account. The simulated inductances and capacitances have been utilized, as an example, in the design of a fully integrated bandpass filter. PSPICE simulations, performed employing a standard CMOS technology (ALCATEL Mietec 0.5 /spl mu/m) and showing good performance of the presented circuits, are also reported.
Electroplating simulation and design tool

Abstract Electroplating process energy and material costs are very important considerations in product manufacturing. The most important plating criteria, however, are quality and plated uniformity of the deposited metals. Simulation tools can help to obtain better plating results. New plating simulation tools are now available that will run on PC/Windows computers and can point the way to optimizing many common electroplating processes. Software packages are available that are versatile and user friendly. These tools have been designed to optimize electroplating cells and racks. An accurate analysis is required to determine the distribution of deposited thickness, current densities and electrode potentials. A good plating simulation tool can help an engineering team find the most reliable rack configuration based on the geometrical description of the rack, the parts to be plated and from calculation of the electrochemical properties of the process being studied.
Modeling and analysis of a micromachined piezoelectric energy harvester stimulated by ambient random vibrations

Piezoelectric energy microgenerators are devices that continuously generate electricity when they are subjected to varying mechanical strain due to vibrations. They can generate electrical power up to 100 μW which can be used to drive various sensing and actuating MEMS devices. Today, piezoelectric energy harvesters are considered autonomous and reliable energy sources to actuate low power microdevices such as wireless sensor networks, indoor-outdoor monitoring, facility management and biomedical applications. The advantages of piezoelectric energy harvesters including high power density, moderate output power and CMOS compatible fabrication in particular with aluminum nitride (AlN) have fuelled and motivated researchers to develop MEMS based energy harvesters. Recently, the use of AlN as a piezoelectric material has increased fabrication compatibility, enabling the realization of smart integrated systems on chip which include sensors, actuators and energy storage. Piezoelectric MEMS energy microgenerator is used to capture and transform the available ambient mechanical vibrations into usable electric energy via resonant coupling in the thin film piezoelectric material. Analysis and modeling of piezoelectric energy generators are very important aspects for improved performance. Aluminum nitride as the piezoelectric material is sandwiched between two electrodes. The device design includes a silicon cantilever on which the AlN film is deposited and which features a seismic mass at the end of the cantilever. Beam theory and lumped modeling with circuit elements are applied for modeling and analysis of the device operation at various acceleration values. The model shows good agreement with the experimental findings, thus giving confidence in the model.
Parameters Affecting The Ability To Align Aluminum Layers On An Optical Wafer Stepper

Very high registration accuracy is required for 5:1 wafer steppers used in V-LSI production. The image quality of an alignment mark is affected by illumination wavelength, photoresist thickness, light absorption in the photoresist, and by the characteristics of the alignment mark itself. Reflection Modeling and image profile analysis are applied to evaluate the influence of the alignment geometry and image quality on the ability to align the wafer. As a result of this study, ideal image quality is observed by optimization of the step height, and the influence of background noise is studied on rough aluminum surfaces. Degradation of the image profile and edge contrast are observed on rough aluminum surfaces.
Times to Diagnosis, Staging, and Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer Before and During COVID-19

Objective The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has reduced the demand for, and supply of, head and neck cancer services. This study compares the times to diagnosis, staging, and treatment of head and neck cancers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary academic medical center in New York City (NYC). Methods The times to diagnosis, staging, and treatment of head and neck cancer for patients presenting to the clinics of 4 head and neck oncology surgeons with newly diagnosed head and neck cancers were compared between pre–COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. Results Sixty-eight patients in the pre–COVID-19 period and 26 patients in the COVID-19 period presented with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer. Patients in the COVID-19 group had a significantly longer time to diagnosis than the pre–COVID-19 group after adjustment for age and cancer diagnosis (P = .02; hazard ratio [HR], 0.54; 95% CI, 0.32-0.92). Patients in the pre–COVID-19 and COVID-19 groups had no statistically significant differences in time to staging (P > .9; HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.58-1.74) or time to treatment (P = .12; HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.89-2.72). Conclusion This study found that time to diagnosis for head and neck cancers was delayed during a COVID-19 period compared to a pre–COVID-19 period. However, there was no evidence of delays in time to staging and time to treatment during the COVID-19 period. Our results prompt further investigations into the factors contributing to diagnostic delays but provide reassurance that despite COVID-19, patients were receiving timely staging and treatment for head and neck cancers.
Resilience Concepts for Water Resource Systems

This paper reviews existing approaches to system resilience, and proposes a scheme to quantify the resilience of water resource systems. In general, three aspects of resilience are considered in water resource systems: (1) that against crossing a performance threshold; (2) that for response and recovery after disturbances; and (3) that of adaptive capacity. Conventionally these aspects are treated separately without considering possible functional relationships or interdependencies. We argue that the adaptive capacity of the system is better treated as an input variable of the other two aspects of resilience, and that response/recovery may be considered only when the performance threshold is not crossed. Because of the dynamic and evolving nature of water resource systems, proper consideration of uncertainty and associated information, whether obtained from well-defined numerical data or vague linguistic articulation, is essential for better understanding and proper management of their resilience. Constan.
Impact of lime application on erosive strength and bulk density of aggregates

*Corresponding author e-mail: t.frank@soils.uni-kiel.de **This work was carried out in cooperation with TU Berlin and financially supported by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU) (project no 33068/01 and 33068/02 – 2017-2021). A b s t r a c t. An area with well-aggregated and structured soil with a high inter-aggregate strength is favourable for use as arable land, both to withstand mechanical stresses and for optimal plant growth. The application of lime in the form of CaCO3 can facilitate the formation of a stable soil structure. Therefore, we determined the impact of lime application on the erosive strength and density of air-dry aggregates sampled from a Haplic Gleysol with a clay content of 45%. The lime was applied to the soil in the field at two different rates, resulting in the following: 36 dt CaO-equivalents ha and 54 dt CaO-equivalents ha. The results show that liming significantly increased the erosive strength of aggregates. Lower densities were observed which presumably leads to an improved accessibility of the pores and the particle surfaces within the aggregates due to the application of CaCO3. Furthermore, differences between amounts of C and N were determined in the aggregate layers between the limed plots and the control plots. K e y w o r d s: erosive strength, arable land, liming, conventional tillage
Vehicular Edge Computing: Architecture, Resource Management, Security, and Challenges

Vehicular Edge Computing (VEC), based on the Edge Computing motivation and fundamentals, is a promising technology supporting Intelligent Transport Systems services, smart city applications, and urban computing. VEC can provide and manage computational resources closer to vehicles and end-users, providing access to services at lower latency and meeting the minimum execution requirements for each service type. This survey describes VEC’s concepts and technologies; we also present an overview of existing VEC architectures, discussing them and exemplifying them through layered designs. Besides, we describe the underlying vehicular communication in supporting resource allocation mechanisms. With the intent to overview the risks, breaches, and measures in VEC, we review related security approaches and methods. Finally, we conclude this survey work with an overview and study of VEC’s main challenges. Unlike other surveys in which they are focused on content caching and data offloading, this work proposes a taxonomy based on the architectures in which VEC serves as the central element. VEC supports such architectures in capturing and disseminating data and resources to offer services aimed at a smart city through their aggregation and the allocation in a secure manner.
Pembuatan Prosedur Manajemen Insiden Berdasarkan ITIL V3 dan COBIT 5 pada Rumah Sakit PHC Surabaya

PHC hospital Surabaya use information technology as a supporter to the provider of the services provided and make the management information System unit with one of its function to ensures data availability and information either medic and non-medical. The incidents handling so far only as handling reactively without any grooves and good documentation. So, incident management procedures need to be made in order for better incident handling incidents and in accordance with the existing resource, its also can eventually guarantee the availability of it services and minimize the impact of the incident. The steps in creating procedures is, (1) the preparation of the study,, (2) analyze the information, (3) the making of incident management procedure, (4) and then carried out procedure verification and procedures validation. The results of this research is the form of eleven incident management procedures based on ITIL v3 for PHC Hospital Surabaya which have been verified against the COBIT 5’s controls and has performed validation using simulation with BPMN notation. Abstrak Rumah Sakit PHC Surabaya menjadikan Teknologi Informasi sebagai pendukung hingga penyedia layanan yang diberikan dan membentuk unit Sistem Informasi Manajemen dengan salah satu tugasnya menjamin ketersediaan data dan informasi baik medik maupun non-medik. Penanganan insiden selama ini hanya sebatas penanganan secara reaktif tanpa ada alur dan dokumentasi yang baik. Untuk itu perlu dibuat prosedur manajemen insiden agar penanganan insiden dapat berjalan baik dan sesuai dengan resource yang ada sehingga pada akhirnya dapat menjamin ketersediaan layanan TI dan meminimalkan dampak dari insiden. Langkah-langkah dalam pembuatan prosedur tersebut yaitu (1) persiapan, (2) analisa informasi, (3) pembuatan prosedur manajemen insiden, (4) kemudian dilakukan verifikasi prosedur dan validasi prosedur. Hasil dari penilitian ini berupa sebelas prosedur manajemen insiden TI berdasarkan ITIL v3 untuk RS PHC Surabaya yang telah dilakukan verifikasi terhadap control COBIT 5 dan telah dilakukan validasi menggunakan simulasi dengan notasi BPMN. Kata kunci: prosedur, manajemen insiden, ITIL, tata kelola TI, manajemen layanan TI
Design and Analysis of a Permanent Magnet Vernier Machine with Non-Uniform Tooth Distribution

To improve the torque performance of the permanent magnet vernier machine in the direct-drive system for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), this paper proposes the topology of non-uniform tooth distribution. This distribution, considering the additional flux harmonics, aims to contribute to torque improvement, whereas the cogging torque also increases at the same time. A phasors method is proposed to solve the issue caused by the non-uniform structure, adjusting the mechanic angle of each tooth reasonably to restrict the cogging torque. In addition, the non-uniform design is illustrated in detail, which includes the method of grouping the teeth, considering the factors of series pole ratio and winding layout. By using the three-dimensional finite element method, torque is significantly increased without additional torque ripple, which satisfies the desired design target.
Love, Hope, Perspective, and Leadership in the Ngram Database: Solace for Modern Times

The Ngram database allows searches that identify words that are top of mind in a culture at a specific time. We used this database to discover the character strengths that have been loudest in the conversation of the American English publication record during the last 100 years, and in particular in 2019. Love, perspective, and leadership have been increasing since 1920 and hope has been increasing since 1987. Results suggest that these character strengths could be increased even more with greater emphasis upon them. The Ngram database was used to filter the 24 constructs identified by Peterson and Seligman (2004) perhaps identifying four of the most important constructs now and ever.
Two-tone IMD asymmetry in microwave power amplifiers

This paper presents the first study of the relation between the IMD asymmetries, often observed in almost all power amplifiers subject to a two-tone test, and the nonlinear characteristics of their active devices. First, the reasons for the different amplitudes of the two adjacent tones are investigated using a general circuit with frequency dependent embedding impedances, and resistive and reactive nonlinearities. Those theoretical conclusions are then extrapolated for real circuits, and validated by comparing results obtained from nonlinear simulation to laboratory measurements of a microwave power amplifier.
1.2.2 A Specification Format for Reducing the Cost of Change in Safety‐Critical Systems

Safety‐critical systems are costly to change. In all systems, changes must be examined for their impact on existing designs. Conflicts must be resolved and trade‐offs evaluated to ensure that the system still accomplishes its goals. In safety‐critical systems, the additional concerns of system safety must be satisfied: the change must not introduce new hazardous behaviors, be they incorrect actions or correct actions taken at an incorrect time. An improved format for system specifications, called intent specifications, and a component requirements modeling language, called SpecTRM‐RL (SpecTRM Requirements Language) can reduce the cost of evaluating the safety of changes to complex safety‐critical systems. Intent specifications, the SpecTRM‐RL requirements modeling language, and supporting tool automation have been applied in the aerospace, automotive, and medical device industries.
Optical Adaptive Systems: Recent Results At ONERA

One way to overcome the turbulence perturbations problem on ground based telescopes is to use adaptive optics. The main components of an adaptive optics system developed for several years at ONERA are reviewed here. The different structures of 21 actuators monolithic piezoelectric and electrostrictive deformable mirrors are described. The Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensing technique is presented. The wavefront reconstruction and the mirror control algorithms and processors are mentioned. An adaptive optics test bench associating these components is detailed. Some simulation results dealing with aberrations correction are given.
Enhanced dielectric breakdown lifetime of the copper/silicon nitride/silicon dioxide structure

Time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) of MIS and MIM capacitors with Cu electrodes is investigated. The dielectric breakdown lifetime strongly depends on (1) the material and (2) the electric field strength of the dielectrics in contact with the Cu anode, while the dependence of the TDDB lifetime on the dielectric thickness and the capacitor structure (single-layer or multilayer) is small. In the case of the applied voltage and the total thickness of the dielectrics being constant, the layered SiN-SiO/sub 2/ structure with thinner p-SiN has higher resistance to dielectric breakdown than that of a monolayer structure (SiN, SiO/sub 2/). This higher resistance to breakdown is because of the higher dielectric constant and the higher TDDB endurance of SiN.