Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wireless data and power transmission aiming intracranial epilepsy monitoring

This study presents a wireless power and data transmission system to overcome the problems in intracranial epilepsy monitoring associated with transcutaneous wires. Firstly, a wireless power transfer link based on inductive coupling is implemented and a power management unit for the implant is designed. 4-coil resonant inductive link scheme is exploited since it exhibits a high efficiency and optimal load flexibility. Power management unit consists of an active rectifier, a low drop-out voltage regulator which is biased internally with a supply independent current source; all implemented as integrated circuit. Wireless power link provides 10 mW under 1.8 V dc to the load, more specifically the electrodes and read-out electronics. Wireless data communication is realized using the same frequency, 8.4 MHz, as the power link. Load shift keying is performed for uplink (from implant to external) communication by switching an integrated modulator which, in fact, detunes the resonance. Modulated signal is recovered on the external device by means of an integrated self-referenced ASK demodulator. Data rate is adapted for a fast ripple ( < 500 Hz) detection system which requires 300 kbps communication. The measurements show that the system works at 36% power transfer efficiency without communication link and the efficiency drops to 33% with 300 kbps uplink data transfer. Finally, in-vitro tests that emulate the real operation scenario are performed thanks to the two-polymer packaging and almost the same power transfer efficiency is achieved under same operation conditions.
Loosely power flow control scheme for piezoelectric energy harvesting

Piezoelectric energy harvesting generally employs a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control scheme in the DC-to-DC converter in order to continuously track to the maximum power point (MPP) voltage of the piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH). Owing to the high power consumption of the MPPT-based control circuit, the efficiency of the converter remains at an essentially low level. Proposed is a loosely power flow (LPF) control scheme to intermittently operate the converter near the MPP voltage of the PEH. Experimental verification on a 22 µW PEH prototype finds that the power consumption of the LPF-based control circuit is as low as the quiescent power of the converter and the efficiency of the converter is as high as 56%.
YPMA-01 non-contacting radar level meter for hydrocarbon materials and products of their processing stored in tanks

According to the order from OAO Gazprom, a radar level meter was developed for hydrocarbon materials and commercial products in tanks of a height up to 20 meters with a fixed roof or a floating cover. As a level meter YPMA-01 is designed for operation within control and data acquisition systems using an RS-485 interface. Site tests are at the final stage at Gazprom facilities, and RF Gostekhnadzor permission for stock production will be received soon.
Focused ion beam technology : implementation in manufacturing platforms and process optimisation

Process chains are regarded as viable manufacturing platforms for the production of Microand Nano Technology (MNT) enabled products. In particular, by combining several manufacturing technologies, each utilised in its optimal process window, they could benefit from the unique advantages of high-profile research technologies such as the focused ion beam (FIB) machining. The present work concerns the development of process chains and the investigation of pilot cost-effective implementations of the FIB technology in manufacturing platforms forfabrication of serial replication masters.
Modal Analysis Applied to the Stability Study of Hydroelectric Systems with Modular Structures

Power plants experience distinct dynamic behaviors according to the primary source of energy. Whereas thermal power plants have a slow dynamic, modern renewables such as wind and solar PV are subject to very fast variations, due to environmental factors. Therefore, their availability is not guaranteed. Consequently, it is opportune to take advantage of the intrinsic flexibility of hydropower plants for balancing fast variations caused by modern renewable sources, in order to keep stability and reliability of the power grid. On the other hand, the use of hydropower plants as means of compensating constant variations between electricity generation and consumption leads to off-design operation. Such condition may cause instabilities or undesirable oscillations in the power plant whose origin lies in the hydraulic system. Furthermore, small hydropower plants play a major role in the development of emerging countries, where they may be frequently subjected to islanded or isolated operation. In such context, operating conditions are more critical in terms of reliability and stability. Considering these factors, one can readily understand the importance of predicting the dynamic behavior of power plants under various scenarios and different operating modes. This requires precise, comprehensive mathematical models and efficient computational tools, which are appropriate for planning new installations and better exploiting the existing ones. Thereupon, the purpose of the present work is the development of a novel tool for small-signal stability analysis of hydroelectric systems, with comprehensive modeling of both electrical and hydraulic elements of a hydropower plant. This tool is implemented in SIMSEN, a fully modular, efficient, user-friendly software developed at EPFL, for the simulation of electrical power networks and hydroelectric systems. The originality of this new tool lies not only on the exhaustive and detailed modeling of electrical and hydraulic systems (a multi-physics representation). It lies also on the fact that it is a modular tool, capable of treating systems with any given topology, with automatic generation of the full set of differential equations, based on circuits easily built in an user-friendly GUI. Another distinctive characteristic of the present work is that small-signal models of electrical elements are based on a,b,c-phase variables, different from the traditional d,q,o-axis representation. The procedure to be followed for the derivation of such models is presented in this document. Furthermore, case studies performed with this tool show that substantial interactions happen between electrical, mechanical, hydraulic and regulation elements. These interactions can be either positive or detrimental to the stability of the system. In case of adverse interactions, unstable behaviors may occur. Such instabilities cannot be predicted without a comprehensive, multi-physics model. These conflicting interactions are presented, and their consequences and possible solutions are discussed in this document.
Antimicrobial Resistance in Environmental Waters

This special issue on Antimicrobial Resistance in Environmental Waters features 11 articles on monitoring and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in natural aquatic systems (reservoirs, rivers), and effluent discharge from water treatment plants to assess the effectiveness of AMR removal and resulting loads in treated waters. The occurrence and distribution of antimicrobials, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) was determined by utilizing a variety of techniques including liquid chromatography—mass spectrometry in tandem (LC-MS/MS), traditional culturing, antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST), molecular and OMIC approaches. Some of the key elements of AMR studies presented in this special issue highlight the underlying drivers of AMR contamination in the environment and evaluation of the hazard imposed on aquatic organisms in receiving environments through ecological risk assessments. As described in this issue, screening antimicrobial peptide (AMP) libraries for biofilm disruption and antimicrobial candidates are promising avenues for the development of new treatment options to eradicate resistance. This editorial puts into perspective the current AMR problem in the environment and potential new methods which could be applied to surveillance and monitoring efforts.
Changes in Costing in Italy

The issue of cost calculation has been largely debated in the last years under the pressure of the perceived lost of relevance of the "traditional cost accounting approaches". The enthusiasm for new management accounting techniques has often driven the attention to the technical theoretical aspects of the proposed cost models. The paper presents the comparison of two survey results developed in a ten years distance on the similar sample of companies located in Italy (the first survey is reported in Cinquini et al., 1999). The comparison is based on costing system characteristics such as cost objects, costing purposes, cost configuration, allocation bases and innovative trends in costing (behavior respect to Activitybased costing and Target costing). These two long-distance surveys provide the opportunity to assess the changes occurred in the costing systems reducing the effects of physical and cultural barriers. The latter constitute the main issue in comparing results of surveys conducted in different countries. Moreover, the time elapsed could allow the perception about adopters’ behavior, along different stages of the diffusion process of advanced costing techniques. This outcome could open to further studies to assess whether or not adopters are moving from a “fad and fashion” behavior of the early stages, to a more rational approach in which the matching between management needs and tools potentiality is improved.
Precise coupling-of-modes simulation of surface transverse wave devices for frequency control applications

The paper proposes a precise simulation method for devices employing surface transverse waves (STWs) which propagate under grating structure and possess strong dispersive nature. The method is based on the coupling-of-modes (COM) theory, where four parameters required for the analysis, i.e., static capacitance, and self-coupling, mutual-coupling and transduction coefficients are determined as a function of frequency by the discrete Green function theory. The method was applied to the simulation STW resonator filters on quartz employing metallic gratings. The result was in good agreement with experiments, and showed that the passband shape as well as the resonance frequency are most dependent on the thickness and width of grating electrodes. This indicates that STWs on quartz with weak piezoelectric coupling are substantially guided close to the surface by mass-loading effect of gratings.
Radio Frequency Identification: An Introduction for Library Professionals

While it is common for libraries to now have information technology expertise within their organizations, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) with its blend of radio technology and electronics may appear unfamiliar and against standards and frequencies. This paper provides information and observation which put some of the variables into context. Through discussions with libraries over recent years, many areas of concern or confusion regarding RFID have been identified. A framework to begin further exploration of the world of library RFID is suggested.
ON PORE-PRESSURE ANALYSIS IN EARTH DAMS BY MEANS OF IMPULSE RESPONSE FUNCTION

Effective control of dam safety requires that the measured pore-pressure data be interpreted in the shortest possible time following the readings. Direct resolution based on partial differential equations are not appropriate. We present a relevant formalism for analysing pore-pressure monitoring data: the Impulse Response Function Analysis (IRFA) method. The model based on approximations for the im- pulse response of the dam gives the variations in the pore-pressure measurement resulting from changes in the reservoir levels. An expression for the explicit estimation of in situ hydraulic diffusivity is derived. The model was applied to the analysis of monitoring data obtained at a zoned earth dam. The results ob- tained proved that essential aspects of the observed phenomenon in most cells data can be described in this linear framework, and that they are taken into account.
Implementation of Ground Penetrating Radar

The objective of this project was to demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for use in local road applications. The effectiveness of a GPR survey is a function of site conditions, the equipment used, and experience of personnel interpreting the results. In addition, not all site conditions are appropriate for GPR applications. GPR is a nondestructive field test that can provide a continuous profile of existing road conditions. GPR utilizes high-speed data collection at speeds up to 50 mph, thus requiring less traffic control and resulting in greater safety. GPR has the potential to be used for a variety of pavement applications, including measuring the thickness of asphalt pavement, base and sub-grade; assisting in the analysis of rutting mechanisms; calculating and verifying material properties; locating subsurface objects; detecting stripping and/or layer separation; detecting subsurface moisture; and determining depth to near-surface bedrock and peat deposits. These applications are discussed in reference to 22 projects completed throughout the State of Minnesota.
Short-Term Effect of Poly Lactic Acid Microplastics Uptake by Earthworms, Eudrilus eugeniae.

The uptake of polylactic acid (PLA) microplastics, the most commonly used biodegradable plastics by earthworms Eudrilus eugeniae was investigated by observing their weight changes, biomass and the microplastics concentration after feeding them with a mixture of PLA and cow dung for 16 days at the concentrations of 0%, 10%, 30%, 60%, and 80% w/w dry weight. The mortality rate of the earthworms for all the PLA concentrations during the 16 days of feeding period was 0%. However, the microplastic affected the earthworms' weight significantly (P-value 0.00027), especially at the concentration of 80% of PLA. The earthworms had the lowest weight gain at 80%, followed by 60%, 30%, and 10% of PLA, respectively. The earthworms subjected to 80% and 10% of PLA had a similar pattern with the control. This was perhaps due to the high organic matter in the worm’s feed for the 10% PLA and the digestion mechanisms, which led the earthworms to preserve their energy and become less active in the 80% PLA, compared to all the other treatments. The PLA microplastics concentration factor (CF) in the vermicast was the highest at the 10 % PLA compared to other treatments, because Eudrilus eugeniae did not degrade the PLA. This study concludes that even though PLA is a biopolymer-based, it cannot be bio- assimilated by the earthworm.
Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment for the Operation of the Explosives Waste Treatment Facility at Site 300 of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Volume 1: Report of Results

Human health and ecological risk assessments are required as part of the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act (RCRA) permit renewal process for waste treatment units. This risk assessment is prepared in support of the RCRA permit renewal for the Explosives Waste Treatment Facility (EWTF) at Site 300 of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The human health risk assessment is based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency- (U.S. EPA) approved emissions factors and on California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), California Air Resources Board (CARB) and U.S. EPA assessment and air dispersion models. This risk assessment identifies the receptors of concern and evaluates theoretical carcinogenic risk, and theoretical acute and chronic non-carcinogenic hazard, following those guidelines. The carcinogenic risk to a 30-year resident at the maximum off-site receptor location is 0.0000006 or 0.6 in 1 million. The carcinogenic risk to a 25-year worker at the maximum bystander on-site receptor location is also 0.0000006 or 0.6 in 1 million. Any risk of less than 1 in a million is below the level of regulatory concern. The acute non-carcinogenic hazard for the 30-year resident is 0.01, and the chronic non-carcinogenic hazard is 0.01. The acute non-carcinogenic hazard for the 25-year worker is 0.3, andmore » the chronic non-carcinogenic hazard is 0.2. The point of comparison for acute and chronic non-carcinogenic hazard is 1.0; an estimate less than 1.0 is below the level of regulatory concern. The estimates of health effects are based on health conservative assumptions and represent an upper bound of the possible exposures to the receptors. Based on these results, emissions from the operations of the EWTF should not be of concern for human health. For the ecological risk assessment (ERA), 10 receptor species (including plants), representing members of the trophic levels in the habitat of Site 300, were evaluated for the possibility of potential detrimental effects from EWTF emissions. The ecological hazard quotients (EHQs) at a location closest to the EWTF suggest a potential for adverse consequences. However, the conservatisms incorporated into the analysis may overestimate potential consequences and may explain the potential for impacts. Using less conservative values suggests that there is a possibility for limited to no additional impact to occur from the continuing operation of the EWTF. « less
Enhanced stability of phenylethyl resorcinol in elastic vesicular formulations

Purpose: To enhance the stability and reduce photo-degradation of phenylethyl resorcinol (PR) by elastic vesicle formation. Methods: PR solution was stored at different temperatures, pH conditions, and under protected and unprotected natural light. The color of the solution and total active content were investigated. Three types of elastic vesicles, viz, ethosomes, transfersomes and invasomes, were prepared and their sedimentation in formulations and total active content were investigated before and after storage under various conditions for 4 months. The stability of the solutions and vesicular formulations were assessed. Results: PR solution was unstable at pH 9, higher temperature (70 ± 1 o C) and under natural light. The color of PR solution changed from colorless to orange tone and the PR content decreased. On the other hand, PR entrapped within ethosome, tranfersome and invasome vesicles showed better stability, color change was not observed in the formulations, and PR content remained > 90 %. Conclusion: All the vesicles display reduced degradation of PR under thermal and natural light. Thus, PR vesicular formulation enhances stability and improves the quality of the product for use in topical administration. Keywords: Phenylethyl resorcinol, Degradation, Ethosomes, Transfersomes, Invasomes, Topical administration
A New High Efficient Bi-directional DC/DC Converter in the Dual Voltage System

This paper introduces a new high efficient bi-directional, non-isolated DC/DC converter. Through variations of the topology of the conventional Cuk converter, an optimum bi-directional DC/DC converter is proposed. Voltage and current in the proposed DC/DC converter are continuous. Furthermore, the efficiency in both step-up and step-down mode is improved over that of the conventional bi-directional converter. To prove the validation for the proposed converter, simulations and experiments are executed with a 300W bi-directional converter.
IRA++: Distributed Incremental Rotation Averaging

By observing that the recently presented Incremental Rotation Averaging (IRA) suffers from drifting and efficiency problems in large-scale situations, it is upgraded in this work to possess stronger scalability in both accuracy and efficiency based on the thought of divide and conquer. This upgraded version is termed as IRA++. Specifically, the original Epipolar-geometry Graph (EG) is clustered into several sub-graphs and inner-rotation averaging is distributedly performed in each of them with IRA at first. Then, the relative rotation between each pair of inner-sub-EG coordinate systems is distributedly estimated by a voting-based single rotation averaging method. Subsequently, IRA-based inter-rotation averaging is performed to obtain the absolute rotation of each inner-sub-EG coordinate system. And finally, the absolute rotations of all the cameras in the original EG are globally aligned and optimized to get the final rotation averaging result. Comprehensive evaluations on the 1DSfM, Campus, and San Francisco datasets demonstrate the advantages of our proposed IRA++ over IRA and several other state-of-the-art rotation averaging methods in both efficiency and accuracy, especially the accuracy in noise-polluted and efficiency in large-scale situations.
Research & Development White Paper WHP 251

Next generation spatial audio systems are likely to be capable of 3D sound reproduction. Systems currently under discussion require the sound designer to position and manipulate sound sources in three dimensions. New intuitive tools, designed to meet the requirements of audio production environments, are needed to make e � cient use of this new technology. This work investigates a haptic feedback controller as a user interface for spatial audio systems. The paper will give an overview of conventional tools and controllers. A prototype has been developed, based on the requirements of di ↵ erent tasks and reproduction methods. The implementation will be described in detaile and the results of a user evaluation will be given. This work
Fecal Indicator Bacteria Transport from Watersheds with Differing Wastewater Technologies and Septic System Densities

Wastewater contains elevated concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). The type of wastewater treatment technology and septic system density may influence the FIB concentration and exports at the watershed scale. The goal of this study was to gain a better understanding of FIB concentrations and exports from watersheds served by conventional septic (CS) systems, sand filter (SF) septic systems, and a municipal sewer (SEW) system. Seven watersheds (3 CS, 3 SF, and 1 SEW) were monitored to quantify FIB concentration and export monthly from April 2015 to March 2016. The type of wastewater treatment did not yield significant differences in FIB concentration or exports when pooling watersheds using similar wastewater treatment. Watersheds with the highest septic densities (approximately 0.4 systems ha−1) contained greater FIB concentrations and exports than watersheds with the lowest (approximately 0.1–0.2 systems ha−1), but only FIB concentrations significantly differed. These findings suggest that when the septic system density exceeds 0.4 systems ha−1, water quality degradation from septic leachate may be observable at the watershed scale, especially in watersheds dominated by residential development. More research is recommended to determine if this density threshold is similar for other water pollutants and/or in watersheds with differing hydrogeological, land use, and wastewater characteristics.
Design Workstation of the Future

Design research must be concerned with providing industry with significant competitive advantages in product and process design by developing advanced design methods and computer-based design tools, techniques, systems ad applications that support the creation of reliable, high quality, cost-effective, innovation and competitive products. The Design Technology Research Centre (DTRC) in the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University focuses on the development of computer enhanced design processes and product-orientated and user-centred design tools and systems. Evolutionary computation, generative and knowledge based systems, Artificial Intelligence, integrated and interactive system techniques, virtual reality and computer supported collaborative work are employed for the implementation of these processes, tools and systems. In this paper, the author presents an overview of the research undertaken by the DTRC and discusses the issues related to the development of the design workstation of the future.