Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential method against motion artefacts in skin conductance response measurement

A differential method is proposed that can reduce motion artefacts in the bipolar measurement of skin conductance response. It is based on the fact that both the conductive and the capacitive currents across the skin are proportional to the contact area while only the conductive current reflects the sweat gland activity. Experimental results with a prototype system are presented.
Cost-effective and manufacturable route to the fabrication of high-density 2D micromachined ultrasonic transducer arrays and (CMOS) signal conditioning electronics on the same silicon substrate

The ability to fabricate Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (cMUTs) and signal conditioning electronics together on the same silicon substrate offers significant benefits to overall transducer performance, and simplifies connectivity within a dense 2D transducer array. This integration of cMUTs and electronics has been demonstrated utilising a low-temperature silicon nitride membrane technology, post-processed onto CMOS-ASIC substrates. Successful results from fabricated arrays of cMUTs and front-end analogue amplifiers confirm the integration to be relatively simple and highly manufacturable.
Isomorphism, Isopraxism and Isonymism - Complementary or Competing Processes?

New institutional theory has been criticized, for describing institutionalization as a static qualitative state rather than a process. In this paper we provide an extended understanding of the process of institutionalization by replacing the mechanical concept of diffusion by the concept of translation and an analytical model of “travel of ideas”. Analyzing the field material from three cases of translation of ideas in the Swedish health care sector we have traced not only various homogenizing but also heterogenizing processes which reproduce organizational ideas, models, and practices. In the paper we thus suggest and discuss how name, form, and practice can be seen as different expressions of an idea through which organizations can be homogenized or heterogenized in an institutional process.
Optical fiber macro-bend seismic sensor for real-time vibration monitoring in harsh industrial environment

Condition monitoring of electromechanical equipment for heavy industry places special requirements on the environmental sensors' construction. Widely available electronic devices can easily suffer from the electromagnetic interference or may pose fire hazard. An important category of dedicated sensing devices emerged during the expansion of fiber optic technology in the last few decades. In this paper, contributing in the basic research in the field, a novel kind of intrinsic intensity fiber optic vibration sensor is proposed. We present a fiber loop based opto-mechanical transducer utilized in two configurations: the inertial sensor system working as accelerometer and a distributed vibration sensor. The complete mathematical model for the latter type configuration has been introduced, as well as some results of preliminary experimental tests on both sensor concepts have been presented.
Solderless interconnection and packaging technique for embedded active components

In the present study a solderless interconnection and packaging technique for active components is presented. It is based on electroless copper deposition directly onto photodefined wiring tracks connecting the (I/O) pads of embedded active components. In this manner better electrical conductivity, higher reliability and accuracy of ultra fine-pitch interconnections in a low-cost multichip module are achieved. This non-vacuum and solderless copper/polymer process which makes use of a photosensitive epoxy resin, has been used for interconnecting successfully the pads as small as 30/spl times/30 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. It is emphasized that this solderless process enables the production of reliable electrical connections at ambient temperature without difficulties related to mechanical and thermal stability of very small solder joints. Detailed microstructural observations of interconnected test chips each containing 376 contact pads revealed good chemically bonded interfaces. The electrical performance of the embedded active components is also briefly discussed.
Model-Free Off-Policy Iterative Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Nitrate-Nitrogen Concentration Control

To solve the optimal control problem of the nitrate-nitrogen concentration in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), a model-free off-policy iterative adaptive dynamic programming algorithm using online data is proposed. Under the actor-critic structure, the developed algorithm approximates the optimal Q-function by minimizing the temporal difference and improves the control law through the policy gradient method. Neural networks are utilized in the proposed scheme. Besides, the experience replay buffer is involved in the off-policy iteration of neural networks. Finally, simulation examples for a nonlinear system and WWTP are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Recognition ofModulated Speech overOFDMA

Thispaperpresents an analysis oftheerror associated withspeech after ithasbeenprocessed using QAM modulation and sentthroughan IFFT/FFT OFDM transmission system. Themainfocus willbeonhowthis typeofmodulation and transmission systemwillaffect theuniquefeatures ofspeech usedforspeaker recognition andverification systems. Channeldeformations canleadtoserious errors inspeech feature, whichwouldresult inrecognition andverification algorithms becoming unreliable forsecure applications. We will usethewell-known Mel-Frequency Cepstral feature extraction algorithm toextract thespeaker dependent features before andafter thespeech ismodulated andsentoveranoisy communication channel forcomparison inourstudy. I. INTRODUCTION Speaker recognition andverification hasattracted alot ofattention inrecent timeswiththeincreased needfor security ofsensitive information. Substantial research has beendoneon theaccuracy ofautomatic systems in recognising speakers fromcertain unique features within the individual's voice aswellasverifying whothey saythey are. Ithasbeenfound inmanycases that automatic systems can bemoreaccurate inrecognising someone fromtheir voices thanevenhumanscan(1). Evenso,theaccuracy ofthese systems canonlybeasgoodasthequality ofthevoices being usedintesting andtraining thesystems andwiththe increasing useofchannels being usedinthetransmitting of voices, theencoding schemes andquality ofthechannel isa hugeissue whichcannot beignored since problems canand doarise withtheslightest distortion inthespeech being used. Recently, frequency diversity through orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)hasreceived massive attention asa candidate foroptimal multimedia transmission. OFDM proved tobeaneffective frequency diversity technique that mitigates inter-symbol interference (ISI) infrequency selective fading channels andenables highdata ratetransmission overwireless channels. OFDM enhances thesystem performance intermsoflower error rateandhigher channel capacity. Inmanyreal-time applications ofspeaker recognition orverification (e.g., wireless telephone banking), ahighdata ratewithlowISI areessential, henceOFDM isastrong candidate forsecure wireless recognition. Inmostpractical OFDM systems, IFFT/ FFTisusedfor modulation. However, this technique requires acyclic prefix (CP)toprevent inter-symbol interference (ISI). Thecyclic prefix willreduce datatransmission rate. Thewavelet transform, although a bitmore complicated in implementation, provedtobemorepromising inthis connection asthere isnoneedforCP. Inthis paper wewill study theperformance ofthemel- cepstrum speaker recognition algorithm (intermsofmean- square error) ifspeech isQAM/PSKmodulated andsent using OFDM overafrequency-selective wireless channel.
Triphala in Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine Inhibits Dengue Virus Infection in Huh7 Hepatoma Cells

Traditional Triphala (three fruits), consisting of Phyllanthus emblica, Terminalia chebula, and Terminalia bellirica, presents a broad range of biological activities. However, its ability to inhibit dengue virus (DENV) infection has not been reported yet. Herein, the authors investigated the efficiency of three different Triphala formulations and its individual extract constituents to inhibit DENV infection. Treatment with T. bellirica extract or Triphala formulated with a high ratio of T. bellirica extract showed remarkable efficiency in significantly lowering DENV infection in Vero cells. Their effects were further studied in Huh7 cells, to address its potential ability in human cells. Treatment with 100 μg/mL of T. bellirica extract or Triphala resulted in an approximate 3000-fold or 1000-fold lowering of virus production, respectively. Furthermore, the treatment diminished IL-6 and CXCL-10 expressions, which are the hallmark of the cytokine storm phenomenon in DENV infection. The HPLC profiling demonstrated gallic acid as a major compound, the treatment by which showed its ability to effectively inhibit DENV infection after virus entry. Molecular docking demonstrated that gallic acid was able to interact with DENV NS5 protein, which could be one of Triphala’s antiviral mechanism. This study offers Triphala formulation and its ingredient, T. bellirica extract, as a natural based pharmaceutical to be used in DENV infection treatment.
CORRELATION OF SERUM ALBUMIN AND CREATININE WITH OXIDATIVE STRESS MARKERS IN PATIENTS HAVING NEPHROTIC SYNDROME

Objective: Children with nephrotic syndrome (NS) have a stressful condition, and oxidative damage may impair their treatment response. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the relationship between oxidative stress and NS to lay the basis for further research into improved diagnostic options, treatment, and prevention of the disease. Methods: We took a blood sample from 100 Indian patients aged 2-14 y. Each patient was tested for oxidative stress. The buege method was used to assess MDA levels in patients. The pyrogallol method was used to measure SOD activity in blood serum, and the jollow method was used to measure glutathione levels. Results: The levels of oxidative stress markers (MDA, SOD, and GSH) were compared between NS patients and the control. SOD and GSH concentrations were significantly decreased in the NS group when compared to the control. In contrast, MDA level was significantly higher in the NS group than in the control. In the correlation analysis, we found that the serum SOD activity was significantly positively correlated with serum albumin and creatinine level in patients with NS. Thus, oxidative stress in children with NS is indicated by reduced antioxidant potential because of low albumin. Therefore, it is thought that oxidative stress is implicated in the development of NS in Indian children. Conclusion: We concluded that oxidative stress was intensified in children with NS due to decreased antioxidant levels caused by hypoalbuminemia.
Power Supply Noise Analysis Methodology for DeepSubmicron VLSI Chip Design

This paper describes a new design methodology to analyze the on-chip power supply noise for high-performance microprocessors. Based on an integrated package-level and chip-level power bus model, and a simulated switching circuit model for each functional block, this methodology offers the most complete and accurate analysis of Vdd distribution for the entire chip. The analysis results not only provide designers with the inductive ? > I noise and the resistive I R drop data at the same time, but also allow designers to easily identify the hot spots on the chip and ? > V across the chip. global and local optimization such as buffer sizing, power bus sizing, and on-chip decoupling capacitor placement can then be conducted to maximize the circuit performance and minimize the noise.
Combined Developmental Toxicity of the Pesticides Difenoconazole and Dimethomorph on Embryonic Zebrafish

Difenoconazole (DIF) and dimethomorph (DIM) are widely used pesticides frequently detected together in environmental samples, so the deleterious effects of combined exposure warrant detailed examination. In this study, the individual and combined effects of DIM and DIF on conventional developmental parameters (hatching rate, deformity rate, lethality) and gene expression were measured in embryonic zebrafish. Both DIF and DIM interfered with normal zebrafish embryo development, and the most sensitive toxicity index for both was 96 h post-fertilization (hpf) deformity rate (BMDL10 values of 0.30 and 1.10 mg/L, respectively). The combination of DIF and DIM had mainly synergistic deleterious effects on 96 hpf deformity and mortality rates. Transcriptome analysis showed that these compounds markedly downregulated expression of mcm family genes, cdk1, and cdc20, thereby potentially disrupting DNA replication and cell cycle progression. Enhanced surveillance for this pesticide combination is recommended as simultaneous environmental exposure may be substantially more harmful than exposure to either compound alone.
Performance of a validated spontaneous preterm delivery predictor in South Asian and Sub-Saharan African women: a nested case control study

Abstract Objectives To address the disproportionate burden of preterm birth (PTB) in low- and middle-income countries, this study aimed to (1) verify the performance of the United States-validated spontaneous PTB (sPTB) predictor, comprised of the IBP4/SHBG protein ratio, in subjects from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Tanzania enrolled in the Alliance for Maternal and Newborn Health Improvement (AMANHI) biorepository study, and (2) discover biomarkers that improve performance of IBP4/SHBG in the AMANHI cohort. Study design The performance of the IBP4/SHBG biomarker was first evaluated in a nested case control validation study, then utilized in a follow-on discovery study performed on the same samples. Levels of serum proteins were measured by targeted mass spectrometry. Differences between the AMANHI and U.S. cohorts were adjusted using body mass index (BMI) and gestational age (GA) at blood draw as covariates. Prediction of sPTB < 37 weeks and < 34 weeks was assessed by area under the receiver operator curve (AUC). In the discovery phase, an artificial intelligence method selected additional protein biomarkers complementary to IBP4/SHBG in the AMANHI cohort. Results The IBP4/SHBG biomarker significantly predicted sPTB < 37 weeks (n = 88 vs. 171 terms ≥ 37 weeks) after adjusting for BMI and GA at blood draw (AUC= 0.64, 95% CI: 0.57–0.71, p < .001). Performance was similar for sPTB < 34 weeks (n = 17 vs. 184 ≥ 34 weeks): AUC = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.51–0.82, p = . 012. The discovery phase of the study showed that the addition of endoglin, prolactin, and tetranectin to the above model resulted in the prediction of sPTB < 37 with an AUC= 0.72 (95% CI: 0.66–0.79, p-value < .001) and prediction of sPTB < 34 with an AUC of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.67–0.90, p < .001). Conclusion A protein biomarker pair developed in the U.S. may have broader application in diverse non-U.S. populations.
Motor speed identification via neural networks

Speed information is necessary for high-performance vector-controlled induction motor drives. This information is generally provided by a sensor, which spoils the ruggedness and simplicity of the induction motor. This article presents a newly developed speed sensorless drive based on neural network techniques. The backpropagation neural network technique is used to provide a real-time adaptive identification of the motor speed. The estimation objective is defined in terms of a reference or desired trajectory that the neural networks model output should match or track as closely as possible. The backpropagation algorithm is used to adjust the motor speed so that the neural model output follows the desired trajectory. This backpropagation mechanism forces the estimated speed to follow the actual motor speed precisely. This article describes both the theoretical analysis as well as the simulation results to verify the effectiveness of the new method. >
Facilely Flexible Imprinted Hemispherical Cavity Array for Effective Plasmonic Coupling as SERS Substrate

The focusing field effect excited by the cavity mode has a positive coupling effect with the metal localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect, which can stimulate a stronger local electromagnetic field. Therefore, we combined the self-organizing process for component and array manufacturing with imprinting technology to construct a cheap and reproducible flexible polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocavity array decorating with the silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). The distribution of the local electromagnetic field was simulated theoretically, and the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance of the substrate was evaluated experimentally. The substrate shows excellent mechanical stability in bending experiments. It was proved theoretically and experimentally that the substrate still provides a stable signal when the excited light is incident from different angles. This flexible substrate can achieve low-cost, highly sensitive, uniform and conducive SERS detection, especially in situ detection, which shows a promising application prospect in food safety and biomedicine.
Nano-Micro-Structured 6%–8% YSZ Thermal Barrier Coatings: A Comprehensive Review of Comparative Performance Analysis

Beneficial properties achieved by nanostructuring effects in materials have generated tremendous interests in applications in surface engineering, especially in thermal barrier coatings (TBC). Limitations in conventional TBC processing for gas turbines and aero-propulsion systems have been exposed during past decades when rapid progress was made in nano-structuring coating research and developments. The present work is a comprehensive review of the current state of progress in nanostructured TBC (Ntbc) in reference to its microstructure, damage progression, failure mechanisms and a wide range of properties. The review aims to address the comparative performance analysis between the nanostructured and conventional (microstructured) 6–8 wt. % yttrium stabilized zirconia (YSZ) TBC systems. Oxidation resistance and sintering behavior in two TBCs are considered as the central focus of discussion. A few schematics are used to represent major microstructural features and failure progression. A performance analysis is performed for standard 2-layer, as well as functionally graded multilayer, TBC systems. A comparison of TBC characteristics processed by plasma spray and vapor deposition techniques is also made as reference. Compared to the sea of R&D efforts made for conventional TBC (Ctbc), limited experimental studies on Ntbc offers conflicting data, and prediction modeling and computational research are scarce.
Spontaneous speech intelligibility: early cochlear implanted children versus their normally hearing peers at seven years of age

Abstract Speaking intelligibly is an important achievement in children’s language development. How far do congenitally severe-to-profound hearing-impaired children who received a cochlear implant (CI) in the first two years of their life advance on the path to intelligibility in comparison to children with typical hearing (NH)? Spontaneous speech samples of children with CI and children with NH were orthographically transcribed by naïve transcribers. The entropy of the transcriptions was computed to analyze their degree of uniformity. The same samples were also rated on a continuous rating scale by another group of adult listeners. The transcriptions of the NH children’s speech were more uniform, i.e., had significantly lower entropy, than those of the CI children, suggesting that the latter group displayed lower intelligibility. This was confirmed by the ratings on the continuous scale. Despite the relatively restricted age ranges, older children reached better intelligibility scores in both groups.
OPTIMIZED RELIABLE AND LOAD BALANCED ROUTING PROTOCOL FOR MOBILE AD HOC NETWORKS

In Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) protocol for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), high transmission overhead is involved since DSR header size comprises the IP addresses of all the nodes involved in the transmission of the data packet. By reducing the am ount of the packets involved in routing, the DSR control overhead is reduced by most of the optimiza tion techniques. In this paper, we develop an optimization technique for DSR to reduce the overhe ad during data transmission. The optimization is performed in two phases. In the first phase, the ro ute for the data packet transmission is determined and the bloom filter is used for the estimation of the comp ressed source route at every node. In the second ph ase, before the transmission of the data packet, the rel ated information of the transmitting intermediate n ode is deleted. This prevents the data packet from includi ng all its intermediate node information on transmi ssion, in turn maintaining the data packet size to the ori ginal size without overloading it. Thus this techni que reduces the overall overhead in the network. By sim ulation results, we show that the proposed techniqu e reduces the overhead and hence the energy consumption and delay.
Excess phase jitter cancellation method for SC relaxation oscillators

A practical jitter cancellation method for relaxation SC oscillators is presented. Two versatile switched-capacitor (SC) oscillators using the proposed excess phase jitter suppression technique are described. The jitter and the dependence of the oscillation frequency on the saturation voltages of operational amplifiers (op-amp) or comparators are eliminated. Therefore, there is no oscillation frequency limitation, except the one determined by the Nyquist rate. Because the frequency of oscillation of the proposed SC oscillators depends on a capacitor ratio and a reference voltage, the oscillators have excellent stability and accuracy. Experimental results showed good agreement with theoretical ones.
Chitosan utilized for bacterial preparation for scanning electron microscopy

Bacterial sample preparation is crucial for its observation by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). However, the current polylysine (PLL) method leads to bacterial morphological changes. To overcome this problem, we employed chitosan (CS) to coat coverslips to prepare bacteria for SEM and compared it with the PLL method. Coverslips coated with 0.025% (w/v) CS showed satisfactory bacterial binding ability. Within 30 min of binding time, the number of bacteria on CS‐coated and PLL‐coated coverslips exhibited no differences. Four bacteria strains were employed to compare the differences in SEM images between the two methods. Most of the bacteria showed irregular surface or sticky substances after settling on PLL‐coated coverslips, while bacteria with clear surface texture were observed on CS‐coated coverslips. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed deformed bacterial envelope on PLL‐coated coverslips; meanwhile, similar intact envelope was observed from the bacteria on CS‐coated coverslips and the bacteria without any treatment. The TEM results verified the morphological differences of SEM between the two methods. Except for morphology, the length of the rod‐shaped bacteria was longer on CS‐coated coverslips than that on PLL‐coated coverslips, less shrinkage of the sample was observed, and CS could preserve the length of the rod‐shaped bacteria better than PLL in its preparation for SEM. It is demonstrated that the low‐cost CS could be utilized in bacterial preparation for SEM to acquire preferable images. Bacterial suspension with optical density at 600 nm of about 0.5, deposited on 0.025% CS‐coated coverslips for 30 min, and followed by routine fixation, dehydration, and drying are optimal parameters.