Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nanosecond Bias-Free Mach–Zehnder Electro-Optic Switch Based on Dye-Doped Polymer DR1/SU-8 and Microstrip Line Electrode

Abstract A bias-free Mach–Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switch is demonstrated with a dye-doped polymer Disperse Red 1 (Tokyo Chemical Industry, Co., LTD, Tokyo, Japan)/SU-8 (MicroChem Corp., Newton, Massachusetts, USA) and microstrip line electrode. The device is carefully designed and optimized for bias-free function and high-speed switching using the three-dimensional beam-propagation method and extended point-matching method, and the switch is seriously fabricated by a wet-etching technique and inductively coupled plasma etching technique for good control of dimension parameters. The measured rise time and fall time at 1,550 nm are both at the level of ~10 ns. Owing to the bias-free function and nanosecond response speed, this switch exhibits potential applications of high-speed optical routing and exchanging.
Al Microheater and Ni Temperature Sensor Set based-on Photolithography with Closed-Loop Control

This article proposes the development of a new low-cost microheater and temperature sensor set. It was developed based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) which based on photolithography technique and lift-off technique. Thin film of aluminum was utilized as microheater and encompassed nickel temperature sensor inside in order to decrease response time of the desired temperature. To control the various temperatures correctly, closed-loop feedback control based on PI-controller was adapted into control circuit system. Microcontroller was implemented to control and observe the responses of temperature between 40°C and 120°C. Simulation and experimental results are also presented.
Peak factor in orthogonal multicarrier modulation with variable levels

Usually in multicarrier modulation (MCM) the level of the modulated signal is constant and does not depend on the specific vector of information symbols which are actually transmitted. In such a case the value of peak factor (PF) for an MCM signal composed N carriers is 10 log/sub 10/N [dB]. The author proposes a method for reducing the PF, where for each vector of information symbols, for which the maximum of the instantaneous envelope power exceeds some given threshold value, the amplitudes of all carriers are uniformly reduced to obtain equality between the maximum of the instantaneous envelope power and the threshold. Moreover, for each vector of symbols, for which the maximum of the instantaneous envelope power is lower than the threshold, the amplitudes of all carriers are uniformly increased to obtain equality. Thus the PF of the whole modulation is reduced without reducing the net bit rate. The price paid for reduction of the PF is an insignificant increase in bit error rate (BER).
Diabetes mellitus in Adults - Aspects of Incidence, Autoimmunity and C-peptide

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes increase worldwide, leading to a heavy burden of disease and its complications. All 1666 adults aged 18-100 years with new onset diabetes in Kronoberg during 3 years were registered, and type of diabetes classified by pancreatic autoantibodies and C-peptide. Annual incidences of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes were higher than previously described (27.1/100 000 and 378/100 000). Type 1 incidence was bimodal with peaks in 0-19 and 50-80 years. Patients with latent auto-immune diabetes (LADA) were treated either with insulin or conventionally (diet ± oral hypoglycaemic agents). Beta cell function (glucagon-stimulated Cpeptide)and metabolic control (HbA1c) were followed for 36 months. LADA patients treated with insulin did not demonstrate better preservation of beta cell function but had a better metabolic control compared to those on conventional treatment. Adult type 1 patients with long duration (n=40)were examined for pancreatic antibodies, residual C-peptide, and other autoantibodies and complications, with focus on complications from the connective tissues. After 20-30 years duration of diabetes, 20% of type 1 patients had detectable pancreatic autoantibodies, 23% had still detectable C-peptide. Complications from the connective tissues were as common as retinopathy and increased with duration.
Modelling signal interactions with application to financial time series

In this thesis, we concern ourselves with the problem of reasoning over a set of objects evolving over time that are coupled through interaction structures that are themselves changing over time. We focus on inferring time-varying interaction structures among a set of objects from sequences of noisy time series observations with the caveat that the number of interaction structures is not known a priori. Furthermore, we aim to develop an inference procedure that operates online, meaning that it is capable of incorporating observations as they arrive. We develop an online nonparametric inference algorithm called Online Nonparametric Switching Temporal Interaction Model inference (ONSTIM). ONSTIM is an extension of the work of Dzunic and Fisher [1], who employ a linear Gaussian model with time-varying transition dynamics as the generative graphical model for observed time series. Like Dzunic and Fisher, we employ sampling approaches to perform inference. Instead of presupposing a fixed number of interaction structures, however, we allow for proposal of new interaction structures sampled from a prior distribution as new observations are incorporated into our inference. We then demonstrate the viability of ONSTIM on synthetic and financial datasets. Synthetic datasets are sampled from a generative model, and financial datasets are constructed from the price data of various US stocks and ETFs. Thesis Supervisor: John W. Fisher III Title: Senior Research Scientist of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Realization of Image Processing Algorithm based on FPGA

This paper proposes the use of Xilinx System Generator for image processing. Several categories of algorithms are assisted by necessary libraries in Xilinx System Generator. This work integrates Matlab Simulink environment. The image processing algorithms are implemented by design approaches based on model design. The results are verified by hardware co-simulation. The system generator blocks are used for various algorithms of image processing for image negatives, RGB to grayscale, dilation, etc
Custom-Quality Wire Routing Using Modern Design Rules

This thesis presents a wire routing methodology that produces custom-quality results. We use a gridless tile-based approach that extends previous works in four main ways. First, it captures all the intricacies of modern design rules, e.g. the difference between contact-to-contact spacing and contact-to-wire spacing. Second, it implements a robust cost model that includes: i) horizontal wire costs, ii) vertical wire costs, iii) via costs, and iv) jog costs. Third, a design-rule correct route is always guaranteed even if the search for the least-cost path is terminated early. Fourth, route ordering is dynamically updated based upon the routability of nodes. The resulting router is shown to route 1.5-11x faster than the Cadence Chip Assembly Router while consuming 6-8x less memory with 5-15% less wiring overhead.
Structural Impediments to Growth in Japan

As Japan's decade-long economic stagnation continues, there has been much analysis of the immediate macroeconomic problems that confront the Japanese economy. This book looks past the short-run challenges to the future of Japan and highlights the intermediate and longer-term issues that country faces. In this, the first book-length academic treatment of this important issue, a team of notable contributors present nine papers, offering a comprehensive assessment of those economic difficulties and addressing a range of specific issues, from financial restructuring and the impact of the aging Japanese population to corporate behavior, public lending, employment practices, and innovative capacity. In each paper, contributors clearly identify and outline problems and concerns, carefully pose provocative questions, and in many instances present concrete suggestions for improvement. The resulting volume is a timely and important examination of critical issues for Japan's stalling economy, packed with both telling data and expert analysis and offering valuable perspectives on Japan's current obstacles.
Voltage distribution in stator windings of the motor driven by PWM inverter

Based on the distributed parameters circuit model of motor windings, time domain analysis is applied to get the function of the winding voltage that depends on time, voltage input and location of each turn. The software ANSYS for Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to analyze the electromagnetic field in stator slots of the motor. A model of a single slot is constructed; from which distributed inductance and distributed capacitance of each turn in the slot can be obtained. The results show the rules of distributed parameters of windings in different location of each turn. Lastly, using MATLAB simulation, this paper probes into the voltage distribution laws in turns and windings when the motor is driven by PWM pulse voltage, which found the theoretical basis of premature failure of winding insulation.
Generalised Sinusoidal PWM with Harmonic Injection for Multi-Phase VSIs

Application of power electronics in electric drives enables utilisation of ac machines with a phase number higher than three. Such multi-phase motor drives are nowadays considered for various applications. Multi-phase drives are invariably supplied from multi-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs) and adequate methods for VSI pulse width modulation (PWM) are therefore required. This paper deals with carrier-based PWM, where harmonic injection enables an improvement in the dc bus utilisation without moving into the over-modulation region, while still providing sinusoidal output phase voltages. A generalised concept of n th harmonic injection for n-phase inverters is presented. The viability of the proposed concept is proved by simulation taking five-phase VSI as an example. The method of fifth-harmonic injection in five-phase VSIs enables operation with pure sinusoidal voltages up to a certain reference voltage value which is smaller than the maximum achievable with the given dc link voltage. Sinusoidal PWM is further modified, by injecting other harmonics, in order to enable full utilisation of the dc bus voltage. The correlation of this PWM scheme with space vector PWM, based on utilisation of large vectors only, is established in this way. Some experimental results, illustrating application of the sinusoidal PWM in series-connected five-phase two-motor drives, are included.
Laboratory Studies of Dead Storage in Sediment Ponds

ABSTRACT THE hydraulic efficiency of a pond is related to the water flow pattern and the degree of mixing within the pond's volume. Inefficiencies result in the actual detention time of the water being less than the theoretical detention time. These inefficiencies are typically characterized as dead storage. The dead storage characteristics of a laboratory model were studied using dye tracer tests. Two theoretical methods for evaluating dye tracer tests, the plug flow model and the continuous stirred tank reactors in series model (CSTRS), were evaluated. The optimized dead storage values obtained from the plug flow model were the same as those predicted by the CSTRS model with two reactors in series. Dead storage was found to be heavily dependent upon the length/width (i/co) ratio ranging from 12 to 17% for l/co > 2:1 and from 23 to 27% for i/co < 2:1.
An empirical investigation of supply chain strategy typologies and relationships to performance

We propose a typology of supply chain management strategies based on data from a large sample of US firms. The resulting typologies and their relationships with firm performance are tested. The result of set correlation analysis on the data revealed six distinct supply chain management typologies, and showed significant statistical relationships with performance. Additional analysis revealed that two of the typologies describe the ideas of velocity, variability, and visibility of supply chains. The paper also discusses the relationship between product life cycle and the supply chain management initiatives that comprise the strategy typologies.
The Economic Benefits of a Green Chemical Industry in the United States: Renewing Manufacturing Jobs While Protecting Health and the Environment

In this report examining the U.S. chemical industry, James Heintz shows that a shift to the production of chemicals that are safer for workers, the environment and human health can create jobs and new markets. The chemical industry has shed 300,000 jobs since 1992, and has under-invested in research and development. These job losses—and their continuation under the status quo—are not inevitable. The study finds that shifting the industry towards greater disclosure, appropriate regulation (such as reform of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act), and long-run sustainability would encourage innovation, support competitiveness, and renew manufacturing jobs. >> Download the executive summary>> Download the press release>> Download a summary powerpoint presentation>> Listen to the audio file from the May 20 webinar
Research for Predicting the Underwater Acoustic Performance of Sandwich Structural Composite Based on Support Vector Machine

Support vector machine(SVM) is a new learning machine based on the statistical learning theory. For it not only has solid theory, but also can solve many practical problems in optimizing area, such as small samples, over learning, high dimension and local minima. And has shown attractive potential and promising performance in a wide range of fields and applications. In this paper, the least square support vector machine(LS-SVM), which developed from normal SVM, has been used for predicting and modeling the underwater acoustic performance of sandwich composite plates, which were composed of fiber-reinforced plastics/acoustic rubber/fiber-reinforced plastics. Effective result indicate that LS-SVM is of potential application in sandwich structural composite design and acoustic material research.
A Study on Optimization of Resistive SFCL for Multi-Machine Power System Using Eigenvalue Analysis

【This paper describes the optimization of a resistive superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) applied to a multi-machine power system. Since the resistive SFCL is useful to provide a quick protection and reduce the fault current with its unique characteristics during a fault, it can be easily known that the transient stability of the entire system is improved effectively. However, when the SFCL is applied to a complex electric power system, especially a multi-machine power system, its direct optimization is difficult only considering fault conditions of the power system. Therefore, the resistive SFCL is optimized systematically by the eigenvalue analysis because it is effective to verify the transient stability and to evaluate the relationship between the parameters of a controller and the stability of the power system. Also, the dynamic effects of the SFCL on all generators of the multi-machine system can be considered synthetically with the eigenvalue analysis. Finally, the performance of the optimized SFCL is evaluated by time-domain simulation, and it is shown that that the optimized SFCL improves aggregately the damping performance of low-frequency oscillations in the entire multi-machine power system. 】
Applying bilinear time-optimal control system in boost converters

A new development of time-optimal control in bilinear systems is introduced here and applied to a boost converter. By an analytic approach, time-optimal control system for output regulation is employed in bilinear systems and an optimal switching surface is obtained. Transient response of the time-optimal system is described to eliminate any output disturbances in minimum time. Some experimental and numerical results are illustrated that the time interval for output regulation and transient performances of a boost converter using the proposed technique in comparison with other classical method such as sliding mode control are effectively improved.
An unsupervised, on-line system for induction motor fault detection using stator current monitoring

A new method for on-line induction motor fault detection is presented in this paper. This system utilizes artificial neural networks to learn the spectral characteristics of a good motor operating on-line. This learned spectrum may contain many harmonics due to the load which corresponds to normal operating conditions. In order to reduce the number of harmonics which are continuously monitored to a manageable number, a selective frequency filter is employed. This frequency filter only passes those harmonics which are known to be of importance in fault detection, or which are continuously above a set level, to a neural net clustering algorithm. After a sufficient training period, the neural network signals a potential failure condition when a new cluster is formed, and persists for some time. Since a fault condition is found by a relative comparison to a good condition, on-line failure prediction is possible with this without requiring information on the motor or load characteristics. The detection algorithm was implemented and its performance verified on various fault types. <<ETX>>
Inhibition of arterivirus RNA synthesis by cyclophilin inhibitors is counteracted by mutations in replicase transmembrane subunits

Previously, the cyclophilin inhibitors cyclosporin A (CsA) and Alisporivir (ALV) were shown to inhibit the replication of diverse RNA viruses, including arteriviruses and coronaviruses, which both belong to the order Nidovirales. Here we aimed to identify arterivirus proteins involved in the mode-of-action of cyclophilin inhibitors and to investigate how these compounds inhibit arterivirus RNA synthesis in the infected cell. Repeated passaging of the arterivirus prototype equine arteritis virus (EAV) in the presence of CsA revealed that reduced drug sensitivity is associated with the emergence of adaptive mutations in nonstructural protein 5 (nsp5), one of the transmembrane subunits of the arterivirus replicase polyprotein. Introduction of singular nsp5 mutations (nsp5 Q21R, Y113H, or A134V) led to a ∼2-fold decrease in sensitivity to CsA treatment, whereas combinations of mutations further increased EAV’s CsA resistance. The detailed experimental characterization of engineered EAV mutants harboring CsA-resistance mutations implicated nsp5 in arterivirus RNA synthesis. Particularly, in an in vitro assay, EAV RNA synthesis was far less sensitive to CsA treatment when nsp5 contained the adaptive mutations mentioned above. Interestingly, for increased sensitivity to the closely-related drug ALV CsA-resistant nsp5 mutants required the incorporation of an additional adaptive mutation, which resided in nsp2 (H114R), another transmembrane subunit of the arterivirus replicase. Our study provides the first evidence for the involvement of nsp2 and nsp5 in the mechanism underlying the inhibition of arterivirus replication by cyclophilin inhibitors. Importance Currently, no approved treatments are available to combat infections with nidoviruses, a group of plus-stranded RNA viruses including important zoonotic and veterinary pathogens. Previously, the cyclophilin inhibitors cyclosporin A (CsA) and Alisporivir (ALV) were shown to inhibit the replication of diverse nidoviruses (both arteriviruses and coronaviruses), and may thus represent a class of pan-nidovirus inhibitors. Here, using the arterivirus prototype equine arteritis virus, we have established that resistance to CsA and ALV treatment is associated with adaptive mutations in two trans-membrane subunits of the viral replication complex, nonstructural proteins 2 and 5. This is the first evidence for the involvement of specific replicase subunits of nidoviruses in the mechanism underlying the inhibition of their replication by cyclophilin inhibitors. Understanding this mechanism of action is of major importance to guide future drug design, both for nidoviruses and other RNA viruses inhibited by these compounds.
ScienceDirect 20 th European Conference on Fracture ( ECF 20 ) BEM implementation of a quasistatic and rate-independent non-associative model of mixed-mode interface-crack growth

The present authors and coworkers have recently developed a new physically and mathematically well justified and efficient approach for interface crack onset and propagation, implemented in finite and boundary element method (FEM and BEM) codes and applied to several problems of engineering interest. This approach borrows concepts from damage mechanics, such as the damage variable, from plasticity, as kinematic hardening, and from interface fracture mechanics, as fracture energy dependent on the fracture mode mixity. The computational implementation is based on recursive minimizations of a total energy functional, which can be computed by FEM and BEM. Global or specific local minimizations lead to different solution types, the energetic and stress driven solutions, respectively. In opposite to the associative models, where interface plasticity is explicitly taken into account by a plastic slip variable, applied to mixed-mode crack propagation problems by the present authors so far, it seems that non-associative models have the advantage of ending up at easier (e.g. smooth instead of non-smooth) and reduced (e.g. elimination of plasticity variable) minimization problems. An implementation of such a non-associative model in a collocation BEM code is presented and applied to an engineering problem of delamination. c © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Structural Engineering.
Continuous-wave pumped holey fiber Raman laser

We have presented a holey fiber Raman laser pumped by a continuous wave Yb-doped fiber laser. We believe this to be the first such device presented the literature. In one configuration we were able to launch up to 5.5 W of pump power into the holey fiber, with a cw power density of 0.2 GW/cm/sup 2/.
The Adelaide Grand Prix: the impact of a special event.

The book contains the following chapters: a framework for the analysis of major special events (burns,jpa and mules,tj); the grand prix and tourism (van der lee,p and williams,j); the impact of the grand prix on the transport sector (arnold,a); the impact of the grand prix on the accommodation sector (bishop,g and hayles,j); the impact of the grand prix on the restaurant industry (hatch,jh); living with the grand prix - good or bad? (dunstan,g); some social impacts of the grand prix on residents closest to the circuit - noise and property damage (mckay,jm); road accidents and the grand prix (fischer,a, hatch,jh and paix,b); the role of the grand prix in promoting south Australian entrepreneurship, exports and the terms of trade (bentick,bl); financial impacts upon the public sector (thomson,nj); the grand prix surveys - design aspects (mableson,r, cheok,f and rowlands,d).
Linear CMOS triode transconductor for low-voltage applications

A linear transconductor is presented which uses transistors biased in the triode region. Based on the regulated-cascode technique for maintaining the drain-source voltage of triode-biased transistors. The circuit offers an advantage in terms of a low supply requirement, resulting from the use of a short-channel pMOS transistor for the gain stage. Analysis and design considerations for optimising the large-signal characteristic are described. The simulated THD of the proposed circuit is smaller than -56 dB for differential input ranges up to 0.8 V/sub peak/ at 3 V for the entire transconductance tuning range.