Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proposing a Multimode Switching Control Method for a Half-Bridge Converter to Improve Its Efficiency Over the Entire Load Variations

The aim of this paper is to propose a novel switching control method to improve the efficiency of the basic half-bridge converter for the whole range of the load current. Using multimode control for this purpose, instead of modifying the structure of the converter, is proposed for the first time. Efficiency improvement is achieved by using a digital controller to select and change the control mode to the most efficient one, for each of the load sub-ranges. Control modes are prominent ones, including asymmetric, duty phase shift, pulsewidth modulation, and burst control, and are selected in turn, while the load current varies in its entire range from the full down to the no-load. The three transition points between control modes, being specific values of the load current, are analytically determined based on comparing the half-bridge converter power losses for different control modes. The digital controller compares the load current with the transition points and puts the converter in the control mode with the highest efficiency. The accuracy of the analytically determined transition points and the efficiency improvement of the proposed control method over the previous ones are investigated and approved by the experimental results.
A design-based vision on future roles in engineering

In this paper, we present a vision on how engineers can play different roles in future society 2030. First we predicted how society in the Netherlands (in relation to Europe and the rest of the world) is going to develop and how future engineers will behave, act and take their position in this future world. We used the ‘Vision in Design’ methodology to unravel the complexity of future society step-by-step and to understand the diversity of engineer(ing)-behaviour: 260 relevant future conditions for 2030 were derived from 10 interviews with visionaries in society, experts in the field of engineering education and from literature search. Clustering these factors into ten driving forces helped us to discover three independent determining dimensions, defining eight possible engineer-behaviours in 2030. As a result of this rich contextual research, these eight roles are further illustrated with accompanying skills and pathways to support role development. The vision and roles have been developed in co-creation and validated in a series of workshops with a wide variety of people within and beyond academia and within the professional world of engineering.
Study on the Alteration of Geometrical Dimensions of Tee Stiffeners Concerning the Ultimate Strength Characteristics under a Vertical Bending Load

The midship section in oil tankers has become a major concern for the maximum bending moment during operational conditions. The section is assembled by a top deck structure, side structure, and bottom structure, which is usually supported by a stiffened panel, that is, a panel with an attached stiffener. This study elaborated on the conventional tee stiffener profile on the midship section of an oil tanker structure. Ultimate strength analysis was carried out using the finite element method for all the stiffeners with various geometrical dimensions according to the International Association of Classification Societies. This included the calculation of the section’s modulus and mass as related variables, using an analytical approach. The results showed that the ultimate strength, section modulus, and mass were influenced by the alteration of web length and plate thickness. For example, an increase of 10 mm in web length gave an additional value of 2.22% for the ultimate strength, 2.8% for the section modulus, and 0.61% for the mass. In contrast, 1 mm of additional plate thickness increased the ultimate strength by 48.57%, section modulus by 6.91%, and mass by 3.68%.
Assessing the implementation of BIM – an information systems approach

Abstract Much attention has been paid to measuring the perceived benefits of Building Information Modelling (BIM). Yet despite an increase its adoption throughout the construction industry, important links between implementation, support and benefits are yet to be explored. We examine the constitutive elements of the BIM implementation process of two case studies implementing and using BIM: the first is a large urban regeneration project, and the second is a healthcare project. A well-recognised model of system success is mobilized from the field of information systems (ISs) to reveal that irrespective of project size and type, BIM benefits are confined to technically discrete productivity and efficiency gains when there is limited focus on the organizational aspects of BIM adoption. This paper focuses on the disconnections between organizational and project level BIM implementation using the DeLone and McLean Model as an analytical framework to systematically examine the benefits of BIM to each project in relation to the implementation approach employed. This study highlights the significance of these interdependencies and argues for a more comprehensive approach to BIM benefits capture that recognises this to usefully inform implementation strategy development.
Incorporating air density into a Gaussian process wind turbine power curve model for improving fitting accuracy

A power curve conventionally represents the relationship between hub height wind speed and wind turbine power output. Power curves facilitate the prediction of power production at a site and are also useful in identifying the significant changes in turbine performance which can be vital for condition monitoring. However, their accuracy is significantly influenced by changes in air density, mainly when the turbine is operating below rated power. A Gaussian process (GP) is a nonparametric machine learning approach useful for power curve fitting. Critical analysis of temperature correction is essential for improving the accuracy of wind turbine power curves. The conventional approach is to correct the data for air density before it is binned to provide a power curve, as described in the IEC standard. In this paper, four different possible approaches of air density correction and its effect on GP power curve fitting model accuracy are explored to identify whether the traditional IEC approach used for air density correction is most effective when estimating power curves using a GP. Finding the most accurate air density compensation approach is necessary to minimize GP model uncertainty.
Primal dual pursuit: a homotopy based algorithm for the Dantzig selector

To My parents with utmost respect, Haiqa and Dayan with best dreams. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Justin Romberg, for all the inspiration, motivation and guidance. Without his invaluable insight and constant mentoring this thesis would have not been possible. I will always be grateful to him for introducing me to this research area with so many new and exciting problems and helping me all along the way. I cannot thank him enough for the long hours of discussion on any problem I brought to him; anytime, anywhere. I also want to thank him for reading all the drafts of this thesis, his suggestions helped a lot in improving its content and presentation. I am grateful to him for being so friendly, patient and kind to me all the time (not to mention all the squash games he beats me in, ruthlessly! ). I want to thank my thesis committee members Prof. James McClellan and Prof. Russell Mersereau for their encouraging remarks about this work. I would like to thank my teachers here at Georgia Tech., all of whom influenced me a lot. I would like to thank Profs. William Green and Michael Westdickenberg who taught me about mathematical analysis. I would also like to thank Profs. John Barry and Faramarz Fekri for their exciting classes in my first semester here. I would like to extend my gratitude towards my undergraduate advisor, Amjad Luna, whose guidance has been instrumental in every possible way, Thankyou! I would also like to thank all my teachers (and later colleagues) at UET Lahore, without whom I would not have been here. Many thanks to all my friends who made my time here a lot more enjoyable than I had anticipated. First of all, I must thank Farasat Munir and Mohammad Omer for being a huge support to me whenever I needed them. I cherish their friendship iv a lot. I especially want to thank Omer for his help and consideration at all those times when I have nobody else to talk to. I also want to thank my roommate Umair Bin Altaf (" patti ") for all the great time so far, for forcing me to learn L A T E X (along with many other things) and carefully reading the initial drafts of my thesis. William Mantzel, with whom I discuss almost all of my research problems …
Suppression of Range Sidelobes of Random Modulations

A technique is described to cancel the range sidelobes due to the use of a random waveform for radars. The technique is based on the deterministic relationship (a complex conjugation) between the range sidelobes either side of a target. The technique is demonstrated by simulation and is also shown to work with recorded data from a practical noise radar demonstrator. The most important field of application for this technique is likely to be to improve the dynamic range of noise radars which must work in the presence of direct leakage between the transmitter and receiver, simplifying the system design.
Measuring gamma in B+- ---> K+- (KK*)(D) decays

We develop a method to measure the CKM angle $\gamma$ without hadronic uncertainties from the analysis of $B^\pm \to K^\pm D^0$ and $K^\pm \D0bar$ followed by singly Cabibbo-suppressed $D$ decays to non CP-eigenstates, such as $K^\pm K^{*\mp}$. This method utilizes the interference between $b\to c\bar u s$ and $b\to u\bar c s$ decays, and we point out several attractive features of it. All the modes that need to be measured for this method are accessible in the present data.
Multifrequency Current Control for $n$-Phase Machines Including Antiwindup and Distortion-Free Saturation With Full DC-Bus Utilization

Multiphase drives offer important advantages over three-phase ones, e.g., lower per-phase rating and enhanced fault tolerance. For multiphase machines, multifrequency current control (MCC) is often required, e.g., for harmonic cancellation or injection. In certain situations, converter output voltage (OV) saturation occurs, which can cause windup and additional OV distortion. For MCC, obtaining antiwindup and distortion-free OV saturation, with full dc-bus exploitation, entails extra complexity. Recent publications address this problem in three-phase and dual-three-phase (treated as two independent three phases) systems with one and two isolated neutrals, respectively. However, extending such solutions to drives of any phase number $n$, winding arrangement (symmetrical or asymmetrical), and neutral configuration is not straightforward. This paper proposes a general MCC scheme, including antiwindup and distortion-free OV saturation with full dc-link utilization, for $n$-phase machines with different winding arrangements (symmetrical or asymmetrical) and neutral configurations. The computational burden required by the proposed antiwindup and saturation strategy is studied; it is concluded that, although it is significant in comparison with the resources needed by the rest of the MCC, the total computational load is acceptable in most of the cases. Experimental results with two multiphase machines are provided, including a comparison with other approaches.
Affine template matching by differential evolution with adaptive two‐part search

In this paper, we address the affine template matching of general images. The extensive search space of affine transformations necessitates effective searches of the global optimum. The proposed method utilizes differential evolution (DE), which is a method of metaheuristic optimization, to achieve that goal. Self‐adaptive DEs can be useful and are applicable in a wide range of studies as they tune crossover rate and scaling factor (F) themselves over generation iteration. However, this approach is not particularly good for affine template matching because the population often converges to local optima. In order to solve this problem, the population is divided into two equal groups for exploitation and exploration. The former group utilizes current‐to‐best/1, and the latter group adopts improved current‐to‐rand/1 for the mutation scheme. Furthermore, the proportion of the population sizes of the two groups are linearly changed on the basis of the best sum of absolute difference error measurements over each generation. These ideas are easy and simple, but experimental results have revealed our method to be more accurate than the state‐of‐the‐art method. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mortality audit in general surgery unit and lessons learned at a Nigerian tertiary hospital: a single centre observational study

Introduction mortality among surgical admissions is a global phenomenon, but the rates, pattern and factors that predict such deaths vary from region to region and even in one region, it varies among institutions. The aim was to document the pattern and factors that influence mortality in the general surgery unit of our institution. Methods this was a seven-year retrospective, case-control study. All general surgery admissions managed at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Nigeria from January 2013 to December 2019 were included. Data were retrieved from case files of those managed during the period. Pattern and factors associated with increased mortality were analyzed and presented in tabular and descriptive forms. Results of 4,898 general surgery admissions, 481 deaths were recorded, giving a crude mortality rate of 9.8%. Though highest number of deaths occurred in those in the 16-45 years age range, crude mortality rate was highest in elderly patients (>65 years). Generalized peritonitis was the most common cause of death, representing 38.9% of all deaths followed by cancers (22.9%), then abdominal injuries (16.8%). Of the 110 deaths from cancers, breast cancer (40, 36.4%) was the most important cause followed by colorectal cancers (29, 26.4%). Overall, 78.2% of the deaths occurred in emergency cases. In the logistic regression analysis, the following were significantly associated with mortality: advanced age, comorbidities, emergency presentation, high ASA scores (III-V) and delayed presentation. Conclusion significant mortality occurs in our general surgery unit and is higher in older patients, and in those with generalized peritonitis, abdominal trauma and cancers.
Design and Preliminary Findings of Adherence to the Self-Testing for Our Protection From COVID-19 (STOP COVID-19) Risk-Based Testing Protocol: Prospective Digital Study

Background Serial testing for SARS-CoV-2 is recommended to reduce spread of the virus; however, little is known about adherence to recommended testing schedules and reporting practices to health departments. Objective The Self-Testing for Our Protection from COVID-19 (STOP COVID-19) study aims to examine adherence to a risk-based COVID-19 testing strategy using rapid antigen tests and reporting of test results to health departments. Methods STOP COVID-19 is a 12-week digital study, facilitated using a smartphone app for testing assistance and reporting. We are recruiting 20,000 participants throughout the United States. Participants are stratified into high- and low-risk groups based on history of COVID-19 infection and vaccination status. High-risk participants are instructed to perform twice-weekly testing for COVID-19 using rapid antigen tests, while low-risk participants test only in the case of symptoms or exposure to COVID-19. All participants complete COVID-19 surveillance surveys, and rapid antigen results are recorded within the smartphone app. Primary outcomes include participant adherence to a risk-based serial testing protocol and percentage of rapid tests reported to health departments. Results As of February 2022, 3496 participants have enrolled, including 1083 high-risk participants. Out of 13,730 tests completed, participants have reported 13,480 (98.18%, 95% CI 97.9%-98.4%) results to state public health departments with full personal identifying information or anonymously. Among 622 high-risk participants who finished the study period, 35.9% showed high adherence to the study testing protocol. Participants with high adherence reported a higher percentage of test results to the state health department with full identifying information than those in the moderate- or low-adherence groups (high: 71.7%, 95% CI 70.3%-73.1%; moderate: 68.3%, 95% CI 66.0%-70.5%; low: 63.1%, 59.5%-66.6%). Conclusions Preliminary results from the STOP COVID-19 study provide important insights into rapid antigen test reporting and usage, and can thus inform the use of rapid testing interventions for COVID-19 surveillance.
Towards the First Multiepitope Vaccine Candidate against Neospora caninum in Mouse Model: Immunoinformatic Standpoint

Neospora caninum is an economically significant parasite among livestock, particularly in dairy cattle herds, causing storm abortions. Vaccination seems necessary to limit the infection and its harsh consequences. This is the first steps towards developing a multiepitope vaccine candidate against N. caninum using in silico approaches. High-ranked mouse MHC-binding and shared linear B-cell epitopes from six proteins (SRS2, MIC3, MIC6, GRA1, IMP-1, and profilin) as well as IFN-γ-inducing epitopes (from SAG1) were predicted, screened, and connected together through appropriate linkers. Finally, RS-09 protein (TLR4 agonist) and histidine tag were added to N- and C-terminal of the vaccine sequence, yielding 486 residues in length. Physicochemical properties showed a stable (instability index: 27.23), highly soluble, antigenic (VaxiJen score: 0.9554), and nonallergenic candidate. Secondary structure of the multiepitope protein included 58.85% random coil, 20.99% extended strand, and 20.16% alpha helix. Also, the tertiary structure was predicted, and further analyses validated a stable interaction between the vaccine model and mouse TLR4 (binding score: -1261.6). Virtual simulation of immune profile demonstrated potently stimulated humoral (IgG+IgM) and cell-mediated (IFN-γ) responses upon multiepitope vaccine injection. Altogether, a potentially immunogenic vaccine candidate was developed using several N. caninum proteins, with the capability to elicit IFN-γ upsurge and other components of cellular immunity, and can be used in prophylactic purposes against neosporosis.
A Fault Detection Method of Microgrids With Grid-Connected Inverter Interfaced Distributed Generators Based on the PQ Control Strategy

The fault characteristics of an inverter interfaced distributed generator (IIDG) depend on its control strategy and whether it has a low voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability, which cannot be a simple equivalent to a constant power or current source. Thus, it is necessary to consider the specific control strategy of IIDGs and perform specific research on the fault detection method of a microgrid. Based on the fault models of a grid-connected PQ controlled DG with an LVRT capacity, this paper analyzed the fault component characteristics of a microgrid under different operating conditions, such as high-impedance faults and low-impedance faults. The fault point is located using a new fault detection method based on the phase differences between the positive-sequence fault component of the bus voltage and the positive-sequence fault components of the currents in the feeders. Finally, PSCAD/EMTDC is used in the simulation analysis, and the simulation results verified the validity of the fault detection method.
A liquid-metal reactor for burning minor actinides of spent light water reactor fuel-I: Neutronics design study

A liquid-metal reactor was designed for the primary purpose of burning the minor actinide waste from commercial light water reactors (LWRs). The design was constrained to maintain acceptable safety performance as measured by the burnup reactivity swing, the Doppler constant, and the sodium void worth. Sensitivity studies were performed for homogeneous and decoupled core designs, and a minor actinide burner design was determined to maximize actinide consumption and satisfy safety constraints. One of the principal innovations was the use of two core regions, with a fissile plutonium outer core and an inner core consisting only of minor actinides. The physics studies performed here indicate that a 1200-MW(thermal) core is able to consume the annual minor actinide inventory of about 16 LWRs and still exhibit reasonable safety characteristics.
External validation and updating of a prognostic survival model 1

Summary We propose the view that external validation of a prognostic survival model means evaluating its performance in an independent (secondary) dataset obtained separately from the data in the original (primary) study, with a minimum of change or reconstruction of the model. The primary and secondary datasets should consist of patients with a set of prognostically relevant predictors in common, comparably de…ned time-to-event outcomes with similar follow-up times, and the same clinical condition observed in similar settings. We suggest graphical and analytical techniques for evaluating the …t of a proposed model in the secondary dataset. The analyses involve evaluating by how much minor changes to the model in the secondary dataset improve the …t there. The ‘ideal’model does not require any such modi…cation. Other assessments of performance we discuss include a goodness of …t test and a measure of explained variation. We note that full validation of a model requires the model to provide a complete probabilistic description of the data, su¢ cient to predict the survival probabilities at any relevant timepoint and for any combination of values of the prognostic factors. The Cox proportional hazards ��
Hard Real Time Software Design for Three Phase SPWM Generation Systems by Using Fixed Point Arithmetic Computation in Low Cost 16 Bit DSC dsPIC30f4011

Three-phase voltage source inverters are widely used in various power system applications including industrial motor drives, renewable generation systems, active filter and active rectifiers. The main aim of this paper is to present the software design and implementation of a SPWM signal generator system for the three phase inverter with variable frequency-variable voltage magnitude output based on the low cost-high performance of 16 bit digital signal controller dsPIC30f4011. To achieve a fast execution time, all the arithmetic computations are designed and realized by using the fixed point arithmetic technique, whereas the sinusoidal wave value is precalculated and stored in 8-bit wide look up table. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the software realization.