Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methodology for optimal wind vane design

Measurements of wind direction are sought after by a multitude of professionals in many different domains. Whether to recalibrate meteorological models or simply for leisure activities, the demand for accurate and responsive wind measurements is widespread. This study was motivated by the need to improve the responsiveness of direction measurements on yachts. Here we argue that the ideal form factor of the wind sensor can be determined using digital tools, rather than empirically, with the aim of improving the mechanical response of the wind vane. Then we present the results obtained by applying a predictive filter method tailored to the specified form factor. We have developed and experimentally validate a mathematical model describing the dynamic behavior of a wind vane. This model is then used to determine the form factor of the vane that will give the best possible response to perturbations it will encounter. To do so we use operational research tools, specifying the mechanical characteristics of the vane and by providing the future use conditions of the sensor, in the form of a wind speed spectral density. The design built from this optimization methodology helps reduce the response time of the vane by 44% compared to to designs currently in use. We then work on digital signal processing by using a predictive filter which takes into account the dynamic characteristics of the vane previously determined by the mathematical model. This step vastly improves the quality and sensitivity of the signal, leading to another reduction in response time of 83%. This brings the total decrease in response time at 90%. There is therefore not only an improvement in the quality of wind direction measurements, but also with respect to the set of data that is derived from this information. In the context of single-handed racing boats, the performance of the automatic pilot directly benefits from this improvement in responsiveness.
Mechanics of 21 st Century-ICTAM 04 Proceedings

Instantaneous velocity profiles of grain motion during glas s beads avalanches are obtained with a high speed camera and by Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) in a rotating drum set-u p. When the pile is seen from above the surface velocity profil e is curved with a strong slip on the two lateral smooth walls. When obser ved from the side, the in-depth velocity profile at the wall is found exponential with a characteristic length of two grain diame ters. These profiles are time resolved (1/250 sec.) and show t hat their shapes are determined as soon as the avalanches start. Velocity mea surements are in good agreements with global flow rate measur ment deduced from the pile angle decrease.
Integrated Virtual Impactor Enabled PM2.5 Sensor

As more and more proofs show that fine particles (diameter of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.5~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and below) pose more risk on human health than coarse particles, an increasing need for monitoring fine particles has emerged. A miniaturized sensor designed for measuring fine particle concentration is presented in this paper. The proposed sensor possesses a compact size of only 15 mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times10$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times1$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm. A virtual impactor has been integrated as a particle size selector and the design is optimized by simulation-assisted analysis. The sensor is realized by silicon microfabrication and wafer-level packaging. Testing results show that a high measurement accuracy of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.55~\mu \text{g}/\text{m}^{3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> has been achieved.
Hypertension and Heart Failure: Role of Neurohormonal Mechanisms

Hypertension represents the most common associated cause of heart failure, and it is frequently involved in the pathogenesis of left ventricular dysfunction and its progression towards congestive heart failure. A common pathophysiological link of hypertension to heart failure is represented by the abnormalities of the neurohormonal profile and its impact on cardiac function, systemic hemodynamics and salt/water balance. This article synthetically reviews this aspect together with a specific analysis of the significance of measurements of neurohormones for diagnosis and prognostic stratification in heart failure.
The α-Camera: A Quantitative Digital Autoradiography Technique Using a Charge-Coupled Device for Ex Vivo High-Resolution Bioimaging of α-Particles

Bioconjugates used in internal radiotherapy exhibit heterogeneous distributions in organs and tumors, implying a risk of nonuniform dose distribution in therapeutic applications using α-particle emitters. Tools are required that provide data on the activity distribution for estimation of absorbed dose on a suborgan level. The α-camera is a quantitative imaging technique developed to detect α-particles in tissues ex vivo. The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of this imaging system and to exemplify its potential use in the development of α-radioimmunotherapy. Methods: The α-camera combines autoradiography with a scintillating technique and optical registration by a charge-coupled device (CCD). The imaging system characteristics were evaluated by measurements of linearity, uniformity, and spatial resolution. The technique was applied for quantitative imaging of 211At activity distribution in cryosections of tumors, kidney, and whole body. Intratumoral activity distributions of tumor-specific 211At-MX35-F(ab′)2 were studied at various times after injection. The postinjection activity distributions in the renal cortex and whole kidneys were compared for 211At-F(ab′)2 and 211At-IgG trastuzumab. Results: Quantitative analysis of α-camera images demonstrated that the pixel intensity increased linearly with activity in the imaged specimen. The spatial resolution was 35 ± 11 μm (mean ± SD) and the uniformity better than 2%. Kidney cryosections revealed a higher cortex–to–whole kidney ratio for 211At-F(ab′)2 than for 211At-IgG (1.38 ± 0.03 and 0.77 ± 0.04, respectively) at 2 h after injection. Nonuniform intratumoral activity distributions were found for tumor-specific 211At-MX35-F(ab′)2 at 10 min and 7 h after injection; after 21 h, the distribution was more uniform. Conclusion: The characteristics of the α-camera are promising, suggesting that this bioimaging system can assist the development, evaluation, and refinement of future targeted radiotherapy approaches using α-emitters. The α-camera provides quantitative data on the activity distribution in tissues on a near-cellular scale and can therefore be used for small-scale dosimetry, improving the prediction of biologic outcomes with α-particles with short path length and high linear energy transfer.
AoA and source polarization estimation with circularly polarized multibeam antenna using MUSIC algorithm

The angle-of-arrival estimation algorithm MUSIC using a multibeam antenna was investigated. The antenna is composed of four circularly polarized antenna elements and a beam-forming network, which provides a switchable set of radiation patterns with distinct main lobe directions. Circularly polarized lobes are not affected from random source inclinations in terms of polarization losses. But they have a limited axial ratio beamwidth, being a limitation for direction finding algorithm based on phase difference. This limitation is illustrated and utilizing the MUSIC algorithm. Compensation of the effect of source inclination on the direction of arrival estimation with a multibeam antenna is presented.
Evaluation of Effect of Cigarette Smoking on Vital Seminal Parameters which Influence Fertility.

INTRODUCTION Cigarette smoke contains many compounds which are proven carcinogens having detrimental effect on various organs. The free radicals and other carcinogens have a harmful effect on testicular function which may affect male fertility directly. AIM Although many studies have been conducted to establish the relationship between cigarette smoking and male infertility, their conclusions have been highly controversial. This evoked our interest to investigate this intriguing research question. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and twenty three subjects were included in the present study amongst which 20 were non smokers, 42 with smoking history of less than 5 years and 61 with more than 5 years. RESULTS Cigarette smoking was found to have a detrimental effect on both the sperm motility and the sperm count, but the effect on sperm motility was greater than that of sperm count. CONCLUSION This study throws light on the detrimental effect of cigarette smoking on male fertility as reflected by decreased vital parameters of semen like sperm motility and sperm count.
Twitter Social Networking Graph using Hypernym based Semantic Similarity Detection

With the increasing number of people taking to social media, it has become important that the people get introduced into their networks of people they know and their interests. The role of recommendation systems is to create more connections for people which would create interest for people to develop their profiles. Social interaction graphs show how users on social media handle Twitter, follow each other on social media. The proposed model aims to create a social interaction graph based on the similarity of the content of tweets. Hypernym based feature engineering is performed to improve the semantic analysis of tweets. The dataset contains tweets from users and up to 15 levels of hypernyms are added. The similarity between tweets is evaluated using k-Nearest Neighbours model and potential users to follow are recommended. 39.73% of recommendations are actual connections thereby showing the effectiveness of the system. The social networking graph of different users created by the proposed system is visualized in 2D space.
Sector Free and Sub-Connected Precoding for Millimeter Wave Massive FD-MIMO Systems

Hybrid precoding architectures can solve the achievable sum-rate and energy consumption problems in massive MIMO systems. This makes millimeter wave (mm-Wave) as a strong contestant to enable magnitude greater spectrum than current cellular frequency bands. Therefore, desirable hybrid precoding with enough antenna gain should be designed for the mmWave system to provide promising high data rates. However, most previous works focus on fully-connected structure, where sub-connected structure can be the breakpoint between sum-rate and energy consumption. Compared to ULA (Uniform Linear Array), the URA (Uniform Rectangular array) and the UCA (Uniform Cylindrical Array) can provide beams in the vertical domain in addition to the horizontal domain with a uniform beam coverage in the horizontal 360-degree domain, thus making it full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO). In this paper, a sub-connected structure is exploited, first the whole antenna array problem is broken into sub-array problems then each sub-array is optimized using an iterative procedure and later interference cancellation between sub-arrays over sector free base station (BS) is performed to find the analog precoder and then a digital precoder. Simulation results show that the proposed hybrid precoding solution achieves better sum-rate and energy efficiency when compared with other existing hybrid precoding designs. And also showing the advantage of having a sector free UCA as compared to the UPA.
Synovial Entrapment: A Complication of Posterior Stabilized Total Knee Arthroplasty

Background: We observed a complication of posterior stabilized total knee arthroplasty involving hypertrophy of tissue proximal to the patella associated with pain during active knee extension from 90° of flexion. The purpose of this paper was to describe synovial entrapment and to determine if design features of the prosthesis predispose patients to the complication.Methods: Between April 1990 and June 1999, we performed 459 consecutive posterior stabilized primary total knee arthroplasties using three prosthetic designs with different femoral intercondylar geometries. We identified twenty-six patients (twenty-seven knees) in whom arthroscopic débridement of the knee or open arthrotomy with débridement of the knee had been subsequently performed because of a diagnosis of synovial entrapment. We reviewed the records of these patients to identify the knee components that had been used and the symptoms and conditions that necessitated additional treatment.Results: Symptoms (grating, crepitation, and pain with active knee extension from 90°) necessitating subsequent débridement occurred in 13.5% (nineteen) of 141 knees treated with the Anatomic Modular Knee-Congruency implant, 3.8% (eight) of 212 treated with the Anatomic Modular Knee-Posterior Stabilized implant, and none of the 106 treated with the Press Fit Condylar Sigma-Posterior Stabilized implant. All patients had difficulty rising from a chair and climbing stairs; however, none had symptoms when standing or walking. No patient had a patellar clunk. The symptoms occurred at a mean of seven months after the arthroplasty in the patients with an Anatomic Modular Knee-Congruency implant and at a mean of twenty months after the arthroplasty in those with an Anatomic Modular Knee-Posterior Stabilized implant. Débridement of the frond-like hypertrophic synovial tissue at the distal aspect of the quadriceps tendon alleviated symptoms in all patients. No nodules were identified during the arthroscopy.Conclusions: Synovial entrapment is characterized by hypertrophic synovial tissue at the superior pole of the patella. Use of a posterior stabilized femoral component with a proximally positioned or wide femoral box is more likely to result in this complication.
A DNA Vaccine Encoding Cu,Zn Superoxide Dismutase of Brucella abortus Induces Protective Immunity in BALB/c Mice

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a DNA vaccine encoding Brucella abortus Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD). Intramuscular injection of plasmid DNA carrying the SOD gene (pcDNA-SOD) into BALB/c mice elicited both humoral and cellular immune responses. Animals injected with pcDNA-SOD developed SOD-specific antibodies which exhibited a dominance of immunoglobulin G2a (IgG2a) over IgG1. In addition, the DNA vaccine elicited a T-cell-proliferative response and also induced the production of gamma interferon, but not interleukin-10 (IL-10) or IL-4, upon restimulation with either recombinant SOD or crude Brucella protein, suggesting the induction of a typical T-helper-1-dominated immune response in mice. The pcDNA-SOD (but not the control vector) induced a strong, significant level of protection in BALB/c mice against challenge with B. abortus virulent strain 2308; the level of protection was similar to the one induced by B. abortus vaccine strain RB51. Altogether, these data suggest that pcDNA-SOD is a good candidate for use in future studies of vaccination against brucellosis.
Implementing Systems Engineering in Civil Engineering Consulting Firm: An Evaluation

This study explores the challenges that civil engineering consulting firms face in their projects when they apply Systems Engineering (SE). It is also explained were these firms should focus when improving the use of SE. To conduct this study, the methodology of Eisenhardt (Building theories from case study research, Acad Manage Rev 14 [1989], 532–550) for building theory from case study research is used. The extent, to which SE is applied, is assessed in six civil engineering projects, using a newly developed framework containing an extensive list of questions about how and why SE was applied. Based on this assessment, it is shown that there are three major reasons why SE was not applied to the full extent. First, SE procedures and responsibilities were not always clearly established and communicated to team members. Second, team members were in a learning process and did not yet possess all the SE knowledge and skills required. Finally, there was a lack of a demanding client to enforce the use of SE. This paper also presents recommendations for improving the application of SE in projects, related to methods, skills, and the client. Further research should focus on different (kinds of) companies within the civil engineering industry.
Influences of long-term use of intrauterine devices on reproductive organs.

The frequency of pregnancy and the interval between removal of the Ota Ring IUD and pregnancy were studied in 260 women. Pregnancy occurred in 55% of the patients within 6 months after the IUD was removed and in 67.1% within 1 year after removal. All 3 women who used an IUD for 4-9 years showed bephasic BBT (basal body temperature) and normal ovulatory patterns. Abnormal endometrium was seen in 30.9% (0-2 years) 29.1% (2-4 years) and 36.6% (over 4 years). ; inflammatory cell infiltration edema fibrosis and hyperplasia were the major findings. All findings except edema increased with duration of wearing the IUD. Regular menstrual cycles were seen in 77.4% (0-2 years) 72.3% (2-4 years) and 65.9% (longer than 4 years). Urinary hormonal levels were also found to be normal.
XML-REG: Transforming XML Into Relational Using Hybrid-Based Mapping Approach

eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is one of the most used standards for information sharing between applications and devices, both on the internet and local network. However, relational database (RDB) has been used by many enterprises as their data management system and will require an amount of cost to change the system completely, if they are to change to XML technology solely. Thus, a mapping scheme is required to provide seamless integration on bridging XML technologies and RDBs. In this paper, an efficient model-based mapping scheme named XML-REG is proposed. The XML document will first be read and parsed into the parser, namely Streaming API for XML (StAX) parser. Then, each node will then be assigned with unique identification label to show the exact position of nodes in the document. Subsequently, by employing the proposed algorithm, data will then be transformed into tables in the RDB storage. As the result, two tables, namely (i) value table to store information carried by text node of the document, and (ii) path table to store the hierarchy structure of the document will be created. Experimental evaluations demonstrated that XML-REG outperformed some existing approaches, such as Mini-XML, XAncestor, XMap and XRecursive in terms of data storage size, mapping time and query retrieval time. In addition, the scalability test has also been conducted to show the capability of these approaches in supporting huge datasets, by scaling the DBLP dataset by times 5, times 10 and times 15. The results showed that XML-REG has the closest to linear graph compared to other existing approaches. On average, XML-REG showed the best performance in terms of query retrieval time and database storage size.
Single-Layer Waveguide Feed for Uniform Plane TEM-Wave in Oversized-Rectangular Waveguide With Hard-Surface Sidewalls

A new single-layer waveguide feed is presented for excitation of the dominant quasi-TEM mode in oversized-rectangular waveguide with hard-surface sidewalls. Coupling windows are cut on the narrow wall of the waveguide feed and are cascaded on the same layer as the oversized waveguide. The feed is compact in terms of the length compared to the conventional hard horns and inhomogenious transformers. This type of waveguide feed is useful for the uniform feeding of the oversized-rectangular waveguide slot-array antenna with installed hard-surface sidewalls. Excitation of the uniform plane wave in 4lambda0 wide waveguide is confirmed by the measurements on 12 GHz band model. The ripple in amplitude is less than 3 dB and in phase less than 15deg. The uniformity of the field distribution is preserved along the direction of the wave propagation. Presented waveguide feed has the 3-dB beamwidth of 12.5deg which is 4.5deg narrower than the one of the conventional waveguide feed. The bandwidth is 16.7% in terms of reflection less than -10 dB for the overall feeding structure
The shear mode of multi-layer graphene

State Key Laboratory for Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China Department of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China Department of Materials, University of Oxford,Oxford OX1 3PH, UK Department of Structural Engineering and Geotechnics, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy Engineering Department, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 OFA, UK
A 2.6-mW 106-GHz transmission-line-based voltage-controlled oscillator integrated in a 65-nm CMOS process

In this paper, we report a low-power voltage-controlled oscillator optimized for an operation around 100 GHz. The ultimate targets of this design are to maximize the oscillation frequency and minimize the power consumption of the oscillator. At the same time, the oscillator must provide a reasonable tuning range and an acceptable phase noise performance. To achieve these stringent requirements, the design procedure has been carefully considered. In addition, modifications from standard RF CMOS process are omitted to simplify the design process. The implemented oscillator uses transmission lines as the inductive element and inversion-mode MOSFET varactors as the tuning element. Integrated in a 65-nm CMOS process, the oscillator can operate with a supply voltage of as low as 0.7 V while exhibiting a tuning range between 105.48 to 106.88 GHz, a phase noise at the center of the tuning range of −89.2 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset (−105.9 dBc/Hz at 3-MHz offset) and consuming 2.59 mW (including output buffers).
Parallel in-plane-gated wires coupled by a ballistic window.

Two parallel in-plane-gated (IPG) wires are coupled by a ballistic window. The ballistic window is rectangular, and the four terminals have a different arrangement from the usual fourfold-symmetry structures (such as a wire cross) where alternate terminals face each other. The ballistic coupling is achieved between two parallel wires by a sideways component but not by a straightforward component, and the four-terminal resistance (or transfer resistance) becomes negative at zero magnetic field. The amount of a sideways ballistic component is sensitive to a subband depopulation in each wire
Neopterin and ß2-Microglobulin as Serum Markers in a Placebo-Controlled anti-HIV Therapy Trial

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of the biologic immune activation markers neopterin and beta 2-microglobulin in monitoring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients without acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) treated with isoprinosine and placebo. Serum samples obtained at the commencement of study and samples obtained after 24 weeks were available from 277 HIV-positive patients in the Scandinavian multicentre isoprinosine trial. After 24 weeks' treatment, the concentrations of beta 2-microglobulin and neopterin had increased both in the isoprinosine group and the placebo group. However, in the isoprinosine group the relative increase within beta 2-microglobulin was significantly smaller. Within neopterin, the increase from baseline level was small and not significantly different from the change in the placebo group. The beta 2-microglobulin data might reflect a suppressive effect of isoprinosine on the HIV-induced activation of the cellular immune system. Because of the minor changes, there is no real evidence of neopterin and beta 2-microglobulin being valuable as surrogate markers in monitoring therapy effects of isoprinosine.