Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reconstruction of wind and surge of the 1906 storm tide at the German North Sea Coast

Abstract. Storm tides represent a major threat to the low-lying German North Sea coast. Knowledge of extremes is essential for the design of reliable and robust coastal defences. A storm tide that occurred on 12–13 March 1906 along the German Bight coastline still represents one of the strongest events on record. For this event, detailed knowledge of atmospheric and hydrodynamic conditions is still lacking. To assess the potential impact of such an event on today’s coastline, century-long atmospheric reanalysis data together with a manual synoptic reconstruction based on archived weather data were used to drive a tide-surge model and to simulate water levels during the event. Sensitivity experiments were performed to estimate potential amplification of water levels that could have been caused by different time lags between the storm and the astronomical tide. Comparison between the model results and the limited available observational data indicated, that the water levels could be reasonably reconstructed using wind fields from the manual synoptic approach and some of the reanalysis ensemble members. The amplification potential was found to be low because the storm occurred during spring tide and shifts in the phase of the astronomic tide yielded only small changes in total water levels. To summarize, if pressure data are available at relevant locations, historical storm surges can be simulated with reanalysis products and also with a manual synoptic reconstruction.
Evaluation of Communicable Disease Surveillance System at Primary Health Care Centers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Introduction Jeddah is one of the busiest and multicultural cities in Saudi Arabia. It poses a higher risk of importing and spreading emerging communicable diseases because of the increased international traffic during the seasons of Hajj and Umrah. The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) emphasizes the role of primary health care centers (PHCCs) as the first gate of the health care system. Therefore, having an efficient and effective communicable disease surveillance system (CDSS) at the level of PHCCs is crucial to provide early warning and sustain health security. Methods This study took place at all PHCCs in Jeddah city between September 2017 and January 2018 as a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were collected from CDSS key informants using an interview-based questionnaire to evaluate the performance of CDSS by assessing its core and support functions at PHCCs. Results The majority (93%) of PHCCs had reporting forms, and all of them had working laboratories. However, about 41% of PHCCs had the standard manual and only in the Arabic language, 12% were performing basic data analysis, and none of them had a written plan for epidemic response. Although Internet access was available at only 33% of PHCCs, other resources such as computers, printers, and personal protective equipment (PPE) were available at all PHCCs. Conclusion CDSS at PHCCs had an acceptable performance especially in functions such as reporting, confirmation, and supervision. However, other functions such as detection, registration, data analysis, epidemic preparedness, and feedback need to be strengthened. More comprehensive evaluations are required to further enhance the CDSS in Jeddah and Saudi Arabia.
Determination of high-risk impact sites on a Hybrid III headform by finite element analysis

The current standards and methods to evaluate helmet performance remain focused on traumatic brain injuries and not concussive injuries. This is reflected in the methodologies currently used and the injury metrics employed to determine the pass/fail criteria for the helmets being tested. To address the problem surrounding concussion and helmets, a method reflecting high risk of concussive injury must be developed. The purpose of this research was to identify high risk of concussive injury impact sites on the Hybrid III headform using the Wayne State head injury finite element model. The Hybrid III headform was impacted using a linear impactor in five different sites with four angles per site at 5.5 m/s. The resulting acceleration loading curves were used as input for brain deformation analyses using the Wayne State University Brain Injury Model. The brain deformation results indicated that there are 12 impact conditions on the Hybrid III headform which reflect a risk of concussion above 80% when compared with the literature. The method used and impact sites discovered by this research differ significantly from the current standard method and may be used to guide future impact sites for the evaluation of helmet performance.
Chromatic dispersion limitations in coherent lightwave transmission systems

Computer simulation is used to evaluate the chromatic dispersion limitations for both various coherent lightwave transmission systems and direct-detection on-off keying (OOK) systems. The results show that for a 2-dB dispersion penalty the maximum modulation rate ranges from 5 to 9 Gb/s for systems operating at 1.55 mu m with 15 ps/km-nm of chromatic dispersion and 100 km of fiber. The effect is less severe for OOK systems and most severe in coherent detection systems. Simulation results are in agreement with a available experimental data. >
Experimental Analysis of the Over-The-Air Activation procedure in LoRaWAN

Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology is knowing an impressive growth. It is considered by many researchers as the new era of Internet of Things (IoT) communication. Several studies focus on evaluating the LoRaWAN performance according to many features such as coverage, scalability, and communication reliability. However, these studies assume that LoRaWAN end-devices are already activated by the network server. Thus, the performance of LoRaWAN activation procedure, referred as Over-The-Air Activation (OTAA), is not widely treated.In this paper, we elaborate an experimental analysis of the OTAA procedure performance using a real field LoRaWAN deployment. Our objective is to analyse the end-device activation delay and power consumption at large scale LoRaWAN. To achieve this goal, we design an experimental scenario of 30 end-devices competing for being activated by sending network join-requests. Upon its activation, each end-device transmits unconfirmed data at high rate, which simulates a large-scale LoRaWAN where hundreds of end-devices send their join-requests concurrently. Results show that OTAA procedure incurs high activation delays and power consumption, especially in large scale where the network traffic is high. This is due to three main factors: collisions, the back-off retransmission mechanism and join-request duty-cycle.
Increasing Success in Higher Education: The Relationships of Online Course Taking With College Completion and Time-to-Degree

Online courses provide flexible learning opportunities, but research suggests that students may learn less and persist at lower rates compared to face-to-face settings. However, few studies have investigated more distal effects of online education. In this study, we analyzed 6 years of institutional data for three cohorts of students in 13 large majors (N = 10,572) at a public research university to examine distal effects of online course participation. Using online course offering as an instrumental variable for online course taking, we find that online course taking of major-required courses leads to higher likelihood of successful 4-year graduation and slightly accelerated time-to-degree. These results suggest that offering online courses may help students to more efficiently graduate college.
Association of endothelial dysfunction with sarcopenia and muscle function in a relatively young cohort of kidney transplant recipients

Background Sarcopenia and endothelial dysfunction are both common among kidney transplant (KT) recipients. We aimed to evaluate the association between endothelial dysfunction and sarcopenia, as well as its individual components. Methods Vascular reactivity index (VRI), skeletal muscle index (SMI = skeletal muscle mass/height2), handgrip strength (HGS), and 6-meter usual gait speed (GS) were measured in 95 KT recipients. Low SMI was defined as SMI less than 10% of the sex-specific reference values from Chinese adults; low HGS as HGS < 28 kg for men and < 18 kg for women; slow GS as GS below 1.0 m/s. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on the presence of low SMI as an essential criterion, accompanied by either low HGS or slow GS. Vascular reactivity was classified as being indicative of poor (VRI < 1.0), intermediate (1.0 ≤ VRI < 2.0), or good (VRI ≥ 2.0) vascular reactivity. Results Of the 95 patients, aged 45.2 ± 10.9 years, 11.6% had sarcopenia and 13.7% had poor vascular reactivity. Patients with sarcopenia were lower in body mass index (p = 0.001) and VRI (p = 0.041), and have a higher proportion of low muscle mass (p < 0.001), low HGS (p < 0.001), and slow GS (p = 0.001). Patients with poor vascular reactivity have a higher proportion of sarcopenia (p = 0.005), low HGS (p = 0.006), and slow GS (p = 0.029). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that patients in the poor VRI group were significantly associated with sarcopenia (odds ratio, OR = 6.17; 95% confidence interval [1.06–36.04]; p = 0.043), comparing to those with good VRI. We further analysed the effects of VRI on individual components of sarcopenia and found that VRI predicted slow GS significantly (OR = 0.41; 95% CI = [0.21–0.79]; p = 0.007), but not low SMI (OR = 1.15; 95% CI [0.53–2.49]; p = 0.718) and HGS (OR = 0.59; 95% CI [0.31–1.16]; p = 0.125). Conclusions We concluded that endothelial dysfunction is a key determinant of sarcopenia in KT recipients. Furthermore, endothelial dysfunction is more closely related to gait speed than muscle mass and strength.
LocalityGuru: A PTX Analyzer for Extracting Thread Block-level Locality in GPGPUs

Exploiting data locality in GPGPUs is critical for efficiently using the smaller data caches and handling the memory bottleneck problem. This paper proposes a thread block-centric locality analysis, which identifies the locality among the thread blocks (TBs) in terms of a number of common data references. In LocalityGuru, we seek to employ a detailed just-in-time (JIT) compilation analysis of the static memory accesses in the source code and derive the mapping between the threads and data indices at kernel-launch-time. Our locality analysis technique can be employed at multiple granularities such as threads, warps, and thread blocks in a GPU Kernel. This information can be leveraged to help make smarter decisions for locality-aware data-partition, memory page data placement, cache management, and scheduling in single-GPU and multi-GPU systems.The results of the LocalityGuru PTX analyzer are then validated by comparing with the Locality graph obtained through profiling. Since the entire analysis is carried out by the compiler before the kernel launch time, it does not introduce any timing overhead to the kernel execution time.
Probabilistic Modeling of Traffic Flows through Signalized Intersection with Branching Routes

A probabilistic model of traffic at a signalized intersection with branching routes is proposed, that is built in the form of a hybrid dynamic system and takes into account the scatter of static and dynamic parameters and driving of individual cars as well as the stochastic nature of the choice of the direction of passage of the intersection. The model can serve as a tool for forecasting and managing the traffic situation.
Estimating the size of the informal sector in Kenya

Abstract In Kenya, very little research has been carried out on the topic of the informal sector. This paper estimates the size of the Kenyan informal sector for the period 1970–2018. In light of our analysis of the stationary properties of the data, which suggests a mixture of I(0) and I(1) variables, this study specifies an Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL), which is applied to variables that pose such attributes. In addition, the model is good for small sample size observation, a characteristic that is common among developing countries. Our estimates indicate that this sector is quite large and has grown over time to about 32% of the country’s GDP or nearly one-third of the size of the recorded GDP. These results are consistent with the stylized fact about the Kenyan economy, in particular the large number of individuals employed in small businesses and trading as well as the number of tax returns filed on an annual basis versus the stated level of employment. The finding of a significant informal sector also has implications for the conduct of fiscal policy. The sector should not be wound abruptly since it provides employment to many Kenyans. The fiscal policy should aim at reducing the tax burden so that the participants in the informal sector gradually formalize their businesses.
FTLD‐TDP assemblies seed neoaggregates with subtype‐specific features via a prion‐like cascade

Morphologically distinct TDP‐43 aggregates occur in clinically different FTLD‐TDP subtypes, yet the mechanism of their emergence and contribution to clinical heterogeneity are poorly understood. Several lines of evidence suggest that pathological TDP‐43 follows a prion‐like cascade, but the molecular determinants of this process remain unknown. We use advanced microscopy techniques to compare the seeding properties of pathological FTLD‐TDP‐A and FTLD‐TDP‐C aggregates. Upon inoculation of patient‐derived aggregates in cells, FTLD‐TDP‐A seeds amplify in a template‐dependent fashion, triggering neoaggregation more efficiently than those extracted from FTLD‐TDP‐C patients, correlating with the respective disease progression rates. Neoaggregates are sequentially phosphorylated with N‐to‐C directionality and with subtype‐specific timelines. The resulting FTLD‐TDP‐A neoaggregates are large and contain densely packed fibrils, reminiscent of the pure compacted fibrils present within cytoplasmic inclusions in postmortem brains. In contrast, FTLD‐TDP‐C dystrophic neurites show less dense fibrils mixed with cellular components, and their respective neoaggregates are small, amorphous protein accumulations. These cellular seeding models replicate aspects of the patient pathological diversity and will be a useful tool in the quest for subtype‐specific therapeutics.
Control system design for a double-prism scanner

A control system designed for a Double-Prism scanner is discussed in this paper. This control system is required to regulate the speed of prisms accurately and change the scan pattern as quickly as possible. Therefore, we designed a digital double closed-loop control system which consists of an inner loop and an outer loop to achieve that function. In this double closed-loop control system, the inner loop uses linear Proportional-Integral (PI) controller for the current control and the outer loop uses saturated Proportional-Integral controller for the speed control. To verify the feasibility and rationality of this control method, simulation based on MATLAB was performed. And the simulation results indicate that the step response of prism speed is stable and there is no steady state error. After building the digital control system, many experiments were performed to obtain key characteristics. The experiment results show that the speed regulation time is about 0.4s when the reference speed is 1rps. The accuracy of speed regulation reaches 10-4 level, and the fluctuation ratio of speed regulation reaches 10-2 level over its operation range(0rps-3rps).
Active Flow Control Techniques on a Stator Compressor Cascade: A Comparison Between Synthetic Jet and Plasma Actuators

In this work a CFD analysis is applied to study the suppression of the boundary layer separation into a highly-loaded subsonic compressor stator cascade, by different active flow control techniques. Active flow control techniques have the potential to delay separation and to increase the pressure ratio. In particular three different techniques have been applied: the actuation by steady jet, by zero net mass flux Synthetic Jet (SJA) and by plasma actuator.Several works have investigated the use of synthetic jet and plasma actuators on the airfoil, but only few studies have compared the effect of these devices.Concerning the synthetic jet actuator, a suction/blowing type boundary condition is used, imposing a prescribed sinusoidal velocity depending on velocity amplitude, jet frequency and jet angle of ejection with respect to the wall.Concerning the plasma actuation, the effect is modeled into numerical flow solvers by adding the paraelectric force that represents the plasma force into the momentum equation. The plasma, generated by Dielectric Barrier Discharge, acts as a momentum source to the boundary layer allowing it to remain attached throughout a larger portion of the airfoil. The time-averaged body force component, acting on the fluid, depends on the frequency and on the applied voltage, the charge density, the electrical field and the dimensional properties of the actuator, like width of the electrodes and gap between the electrodes. Using this numerical model, the effect of plasma actuators to suppress the flow separation over the blade has been investigated, increasing the turbo-machinery performance too.Finally, the comparison between the different actuation devices shows that, reducing the secondary flow structures, each actuation technique beneficially affects the performance of the stator compressor cascade, even if in the steady jet the costs are relevant. © 2012 ASME
Multiphase Modelling of the Steel Grade Transition in a Continuous Casting Tundish

Nowadays, continuous casting is extremely conditioned by sequences of different steel grades that produce a large amount of intermixed steel. Due to customer requirements, steel producers are forced to deliver a few slabs of high-specialized steels, so the number of castings handling steels of dissimilar grades has been significantly increased in recent years. As a consequence, manufacturers are particularly concerned with the development of practical methods to know exactly where the mixed regions begin and end, in order to make a precise classification of the steel grade that has been produced and avoid further downgrading. Pioneering works by Huang and Thomas introduced a 1-D model to estimate the intermixed region during a grade transition. This model reached a notable popularity because of its ability to provide on-line predictions, though it is assumed that mixing inside the tundish is globally determined with a number of fixed parameters. Recently, Cho and Kim have introduced a modification reducing the number of parameters required, but with the full unsteady description of the tundish flow still unresolved. Moreover, all these models require experimental calibration, using the results from full-scale water models. Additionally, other researchers have been focused on the development of numerical simulations to analyze the flow structures and mixing features of the tundish, mainly during stable operation, but using limiting simplifications and/or steady schemes. In the present investigation, to the author’s knowledge, a 3D, unsteady numerical simulation using a volume-of-fluid formulation is carried out for the first time. With this technique, the transient behavior of the tundish during the ladle change can be fully modelled, tracking the free surface and extending the computations towards the steady state. A transport equation is resolved for a non-reactive scalar, representing a dimensionless concentration, so it is possible to predict the mixing degree of the steel at the tundish exit for different operating conditions. The final objective is the development of an off-line methodology to estimate precise intermixing periods during grade transition in continuous casting.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Design of Metal Foam Cladding Subjected to Close-Range Blast

AbstractThe response of a blast mitigation cladding consisting of a face sheet and metal foam core subjected to a close-range blast is predicted. Whereas the cladding is sufficiently wide compared to the standoff distance between the explosion center and the cladding, the boundary of the blast induced bulge is released. The face sheet is considered as a rigid perfectly plastic membrane as the deformation of the sheet always exceeds half its thickness. A procedure predicting the depth and extent of the bulge is proposed with energy method. Subsequently, the minimum thickness of the foam layer is calculated based on the bulge depth. This design-oriented approach, in a ready-to-use manner, can be straightforwardly applied, facilitating the preliminary design of blast mitigation claddings with metal foam core.
Platelet-to-lymphocyte Ratio can be used as Marker to Predict Activity and Severity in Moderate and High Disease Activity of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Retrospective Study

Objective: This study aimed to study and evaluate the value of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as markers to predict the disease activity and severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: A total of 139 inpatients with RA were divided into two groups: moderate activity group (3.2<DAS28-CRP score<5.1) and high activity group (≥5.1). The correlation of routine hematological indices with DAS28 and joint ultrasound score (gray-scale ultrasound score, GS-US; power Doppler ultrasound score, PD-US; total ultrasound score, T-US) were analyzed by Pearson's correlation and logistic regression analyses. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was performed to compare the efficacy of blood indices, ESR, or CRP in reflecting the disease activity and severity of RA.Results: The values of PLR, NLR, PD-US, and T-US were significantly different between moderate and high disease activity groups (p<0.001), and PLR was significantly correlated with PD-US and DAS28. Logistic regression analyses showed that PLR was an independent risk factor for disease activity by DAS 28 and joint damage severity by PD-US and T-US. ROC analysis showed that the efficacy of using PLR alone to evaluate the disease activity and joint severity of RA was similar to that of using combined CRP and ESR. The best cut-off value of PLR for predicting high disease activity and high joint severity was determined as 236.6. Conclusions: PLR can be used as a marker to predict activity and severity in patients with moderate and high RA disease activity.
Time-Resolved Numerical Study of Axial Gap Effects on Labyrinth-Seal Leakage and Secondary Flow in a LP Turbine

One of the most promising ways to improve the efficiency of modern turbomachinery is the reduction of secondary flow-structures and associated losses. A widely spread approach is the usage of shrouded airfoils in combination with labyrinth-seals. The disadvantage of this arrangement is a small but inevitable labyrinth-leakage flow that tends to increase the secondary-flow structures. The present work investigates how the axial gap of the blade rows and the corresponding shift of the labyrinth’s inlet and outlet influences leakage related effects on the flow-field and loss-generation. In order to capture the inter-blade and leakage interaction properly, time-resolved RANS computations of a 1 1/2 stage low pressure turbine have been performed. Besides accounting for labyrinth seals, fillets have been modeled. The axial gap is varied from 20% to 80% axial chord length. Clocking-effects induced by the axial gap variation are compensated.The leakage flow nearly retains the flow direction of the flow entering the blade row. In case of the largest axial gap, mixing causes the flow-angle of the leakage to tend towards that of the main-flow, thus reducing the incidence on the downstream blade row. Therefore, the turning of the low-momentum flow is increased compared to a small axial gap. This leads to a higher loading in the affected region and an increased passage vortex can be observed. By comparing the entropy generation of computations with and without labyrinth seals, the regions where leakage-related losses occur are identified and the relevant mechanisms are distinguished.Copyright © 2013 by ASME