Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-linear model calibration for off-design performance prediction of gas turbines with experimental data

ABSTRACT One of the key challenges of the gas turbine community is to empower the condition based maintenance with simulation, diagnostic and prognostic tools which improve the reliability and availability of the engines. Within this context, the inverse adaptive modelling methods have generated much attention for their capability to tune engine models for matching experimental test data and/or simulation data. In this study, an integrated performance adaptation system for estimating the steady-state off-design performance of gas turbines is presented. In the system, a novel method for compressor map generation and a genetic algorithm-based method for engine off-design performance adaptation are introduced. The methods are integrated into PYTHIA gas turbine simulation software, developed at Cranfield University and tested with experimental data of an aero derivative gas turbine. The results demonstrate the promising capabilities of the proposed system for accurate prediction of the gas turbine performance. This is achieved by matching simultaneously a set of multiple off-design operating points. It is proven that the proposed methods and the system have the capability to progressively update and refine gas turbine performance models with improved accuracy, which is crucial for model-based gas path diagnostics and prognostics.
High pyroelectricity in lead-free 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3–0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 ceramics

We report high pyroelectricity in lead-free 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3–0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 (BZT–50BCT) ceramics which were previously reported to exhibit high piezoelectricity. The pyroelectric coefficient measured by the Byer–Roundy method upon heating for dc-poled samples shows a high value of 5.84 × 10−4 C m−2 K−1 at 300 K, comparable to those of PZT-based ceramics and significantly higher than many other lead-free pyroelectric materials. The pyroelectric coefficient calculated from the remanent polarization versus temperature relationship obtained during a cooling process is 17.17 × 10−4 C m−2 K−1 at 300 K, which is considerably larger than the value obtained by the Byer–Roundy method. This difference is attributed to the thermal hysteresis of the rhombohedral–tetragonal phase transition between the heating and cooling processes.
Novel Liver Parenchymal Transection Technique Using Saline-linked Monopolar Cautery Scissors (SLiC-Scissors) in Robotic Liver Resection

Introduction Although there are a number of benefits to using robotics in liver surgery over conventional open and laparoscopic approaches, liver parenchymal transection is still the most difficult aspect of robotic liver resection (RLR) due to the limitations of the currently available robotic instruments and the lack of a standardized method. Methods We present a novel method for transecting the liver parenchyma during RLR employing saline-linked monopolar cautery (SLiC) scissors (SLiC-Scissors method). Between September 2021 and April 2022, 10 RLRs were performed utilizing the SLiC-Scissors method for both anatomical and non-anatomical liver resections. We assessed the short-term results, as well as the safety and practicality of our robotic liver parenchymal transection technique. Results Six of the 10 patients had malignant liver tumors, and four of them had liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Except for S1, the target lesions were present everywhere, and their median size was 25 mm (14-43 mm). The median amount of intraoperative bleeding was 5 mL (5-30 mL), and the median operative and console times were 223 and 134 min, respectively. There were no conversions to open liver resections. The median length of the postoperative stay was seven (4-13) days, and there were no serious postoperative complications or mortality. Conclusions The SLiC-Scissors method is a safe and practical procedure for liver parenchymal transection in RLR. In order to standardize and broadly implement RLR into normal patient treatment, this unique approach enables an advanced, locally controlled preparation of intrahepatic vessels and bile ducts.
Revisit the circle of representation in Web 2.0

ABSTRACT Visual perception plays a leading role in tourism destination marketing. In the era of Web 2.0, it is critical to understand whether and how the circle of representation has changed in the visual representation. The research combines photo data from the internet and interview data to explore the visual representation mechanism of TDI. Through both content and thematic analysis, the research finds that: (1) diverse sources result in differences and similarities between the projected and perceived images of the destination; (2) the circle of representation is still valid. The icons were photographed repeatedly due to the impacts of social context; (3) new iconic images emerged to satisfy tourists’ needs to construct meaningful experiences. The emerging images became a new component of the circle of representation. Applications for destination marketing are made accordingly.
Do Political Connections Matter for Firm Trade Credit?

ABSTRACT We examine two types of political connections on trade credit of Pakistani firms over 2009–2015; parliamentarian connections are divided into the senate, national assembly, and provincial level, while bureaucrat connections cover civil and military officers and individuals working on government committees. We documented evidence that parliamentarian connections have significant preferential access to trade credit while bureaucratic political connections decrease the firm’s access to trade credit. These findings are more pronounced in the presence of CEO political connection. Our results stay robust using alternative proxies and accounting for endogeneity and time-invariant concerns. Additional analysis reveals that politically connected firms with higher leverage and low market power use more trade credit. Moreover, low economic developed regions decrease the benefits of political connections to access trade credit.
Comparative genomics and evolutionary analysis of plant CNGCs

Abstract Comparative genomics and computational biology offer powerful research tools for studying evolutionary mechanisms of organisms, and the identification and characterization of conserved/distant genes and gene families. The plant CNGC gene family encodes evolutionary conserved ion channel proteins involved in important signaling pathways and biological functions. The fundamental ideas and standard procedures for genome-wide identification and evolutionary analysis of plant cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels employing various software, tools, and online servers have been discussed. In particular, this developed method focused on practical procedures involving the comparative analysis of paralogs and orthologs of CNGC genes in different plant species at different levels including phylogenetic analysis, nomenclature and classification, gene structure, molecular protein evolution, and duplication events as mechanisms of gene family expansion and synteny.
NUTRIENTS IN MARGINAL LAND SOILS AND THEIR POTENTIAL EFFECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Increasing global population leads to an increase in demand for foods and cleaner energy such as biofuel and bioenergy that are produced from feedstocks. Utilizing marginal land for production of these feedstocks alleviates the competition of fuel versus food that comes with use of prime agricultural land. Canada has a large area of marginal land. Sorghum is an important plant for food, fodder, and forage production. It is regarded as a nature-cared plant with low input requirements and is recommended as a top crop for removing carbon from the atmosphere. As a part of a collaborative project to develop a system for producing biomass (sorghum) on marginal land in Canada, this research focuses on the species and their distribution, mobility and availability (to plants) of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) in marginal land soils from selected locations in Canada. US EPA method 1312 was followed to simulate the leaching process of nutrients from soils in the natural environment. Colorimetry and ICP-OES were used for the determination of the nutrient species. Preliminary results show that the predominant leachable and plant-usable form of nitrogen is nitrate (NO 3– ) while the majority of phosphorus in the soil is not water leachable; depth variation of leachable nitrogen and phosphorus species in the soils is indicated; the concentrations of nitrate in the soils increased shortly after N-fertilizer application but the level decreased to that observed before planting, suggesting that atmospheric precipitate/deposition can move nitrogen from marginal land soils to surface water.
FedMarket: A Cryptocurrency Driven Marketplace for Mobile Federated Learning Services

Federated learning (FL) enables the training of a shared collaborative machine learning model while keeping all the confidential training data on distributed devices. The FL state-of-the-art considers a monopolist FL task publisher. However, we present a FL marketplace where multiple FL task publishers and mobile devices co-exist for a set of diverse and varying learning tasks. Mobile devices participating in the training of FL models provides pay-as-you-go (i.e. using blockchain-based cryptocurrencies) FL training services to the FL task publishers. In the proposed framework, multiple FL task publishers may compete with each other and the participating workers (i.e. mobile devices) can choose one FL task publisher over another for participation in the training of a global model. We utilize code offloading for enabling customized FL pipelines in mobile devices and mitigating the model heterogeneity inherent in varying and changing FL tasks published by the task publishers. Experimental results indicate the efficacy of the proposed framework.
Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Additive and Non-Additive Effects on Growth Traits in Duroc Pigs

Growth rate plays a critical role in the pig industry and is related to quantitative traits controlled by many genes. Here, we aimed to identify causative mutations and candidate genes responsible for pig growth traits. In this study, 2360 Duroc pigs were used to detect significant additive, dominance, and epistatic effects associated with growth traits. As a result, a total number of 32 significant SNPs for additive or dominance effects were found to be associated with various factors, including adjusted age at a specified weight (AGE), average daily gain (ADG), backfat thickness (BF), and loin muscle depth (LMD). In addition, the detected additive significant SNPs explained 2.49%, 3.02%, 3.18%, and 1.96% of the deregressed estimated breeding value (DEBV) variance for AGE, ADG, BF, and LMD, respectively, while significant dominance SNPs could explain 2.24%, 13.26%, and 4.08% of AGE, BF, and LMD, respectively. Meanwhile, a total of 805 significant epistatic effects SNPs were associated with one of ADG, AGE, and LMD, from which 11 sub-networks were constructed. In total, 46 potential genes involved in muscle development, fat deposition, and regulation of cell growth were considered as candidates for growth traits, including CD55 and NRIP1 for AGE and ADG, TRIP11 and MIS2 for BF, and VRTN and ZEB2 for LMD, respectively. Generally, in this study, we detected both new and reported variants and potential candidate genes for growth traits of Duroc pigs, which might to be taken into account in future molecular breeding programs to improve the growth performance of pigs.
A Non-Contact Detection Method for Multi-Person Vital Signs Based on IR-UWB Radar

With the vigorous development of ubiquitous sensing technology, an increasing number of scholars pay attention to non-contact vital signs (e.g., Respiration Rate (RR) and Heart Rate (HR)) detection for physical health. Since Impulse Radio Ultra-Wide Band (IR-UWB) technology has good characteristics, such as non-invasive, high penetration, accurate ranging, low power, and low cost, it makes the technology more suitable for non-contact vital signs detection. Therefore, a non-contact multi-human vital signs detection method based on IR-UWB radar is proposed in this paper. By using this technique, the realm of multi-target detection is opened up to even more targets for subjects than the more conventional single target. We used an optimized algorithm CIR-SS based on the channel impulse response (CIR) smoothing spline method to solve the problem that existing algorithms cannot effectively separate and extract respiratory and heartbeat signals. Also in our study, the effectiveness of the algorithm was analyzed using the Bland–Altman consistency analysis statistical method with the algorithm’s respiratory and heart rate estimation errors of 5.14% and 4.87%, respectively, indicating a high accuracy and precision. The experimental results showed that our proposed method provides a highly accurate, easy-to-implement, and highly robust solution in the field of non-contact multi-person vital signs detection.
Activation of AcvR1-Mediated Signaling Results in Semilunar Valve Defects

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is a common cardiac defect, particularly in the aging population. While several risk factors, such as bi-leaflet valve structure and old age, have been identified in CAVD pathogenesis, molecular mechanisms resulting in this condition are still under active investigation. Bone morphogenetic protein signaling via the activin type I receptor (AcvRI) plays an important role during physiological and pathological processes involving calcification, e.g., bone formation and heterotopic ossification. In addition, AcvRI is required for normal cardiac valve development, yet its role in aortic valve disease, if any, is currently unknown. Here, we induced the expression of constitutively active AcvRI in developing mouse embryos in the endocardium and in cells at the valve leaflet–wall junction that are not of endocardium origin using the Nfac1Cre transgene. The mutant mice were born alive, but showed thickened aortic and pulmonary valve leaflets during the early postnatal period. Adult mutant mice developed aortic stenosis with high frequency, sclerotic aortic valves, and displayed Alcian Blue-positive hypertrophic chondrocyte-like cells at the leaflet–wall junction. Calcification was only seen with low penetrance. In addition, we observed that the expression levels of gene sets associated with inflammation-related cytokine signaling, smooth muscle cell contraction, and cGMP signaling were altered in the mutants when compared with those of the controls. This work shows that, in a mouse model, such continuous AcvRI activity in the Nfatc1Cre recombination domain results in pathological changes in the aortic valve structure and function.
60 GHz antenna array for millimeter‐wave wireless sensor devices using silver nanoparticles ink mounted on a flexible polymer substrate

This paper demonstrates a mm‐wave high‐gain antenna design that is printed on a flexible polymer substrate using silver nanoparticles ranging from 50 to 200 nm in inkjet printing technology. Specifically, it shows that inkjet technology can leverage to fully fabricated antennas with this technology, where it provides both the characterization and preparation of an antenna. The initial fabrication problem addressed via ink formulation for printing a homogeneous layer with an excellent electrical conductivity. A planar series fed antenna array was analyzed by using the Transmission Line Model with tapering feed line structure. The excitation coefficients in both E and H planes follow a uniform aperture distribution. The realized antenna has 24 dBi gain, the side‐lobe level of elevation direction at the center frequency is lower than −15dB. In combination with the planar antenna structure, polymer substrate, and inkjet printing enables the production of structures with high gain that are widely applicable for mm‐wave wireless sensors and portable communication devices.
A Collection of Numerical Recipes Useful for Building Scalable Psychometric Applications

This article is concerned with a subset of numerically stable and scalable algorithms useful to support computationally complex psychometric models in the era of machine learning and massive data. The subset selected here is a core set of numerical methods that should be familiar to computational psychometricians and considers whitening transforms for dealing with correlated data, computational concepts for linear models, multivariable integration, and optimization techniques.
System Integration and Method for High-efficiency Utilization of Solar Energy and Biomass Energy Thermochemically Based on Neural Network Algorithm

: With the rapid development of economy and society, many problems such as environmental pollution and shortage of fossil energy have become increasingly prominent. It is urgent to develop and vigorously utilize renewable and clean energy such as solar energy. The purpose of this work is to study the system integration and biomass thermochemistry based on neural network algorithm. The proposed methanol and electricity cogeneration system is used to complete the step-by-step and orderly conversion of fuel chemical energy, and analyze the thermal characteristics of the cogeneration. Analysis and discussion are made for the academic characteristics and economic performance under different operating modes. The performance evaluation results of the solar-biomass gasification polygeneration system show that the thermal energy loss or exergy loss of the system is 63885kW and 15187.9kW respectively, of which the solar heat collection part has the largest loss, accounting for 43.2% of the total heat loss of the system and 43.2%. The total exergy loss accounts for 48.6%. Based on this, the collaborative optimization of the operating parameters of these devices will greatly promote the effective utilization of system energy.
Evaluation of prediction of indigestible fiber fraction (iNDF) of whole-crop barley silage by using non-destructive spectroscopic techniques as a fast-screening method: comparison between FTIR vs. NIR

Abstract The objective of this study was to reveal the potential of using Fourier transform mid-infrared (FTIR) and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as tools for the determination of indigestible neutral (NDF) fraction (iNDF) of whole-crop barley silage. A total of 48 whole-crop barley silage samples collected from 48 different farms in Western Canada were analyzed for iNDF. Reference values were matched with NIR and FTIR spectra. Spectral data processing (pretreatments) included first derivative, standard normal variate, multiplicative scattering correction, second derivative, and orthogonal signal correction. Prediction equations were obtained from each model using an external validation set. The coefficient of determination for the external validation of iNDF was 0.62 for FTIR and 0.41 for NIR, while the corresponding ratio performance deviation was 1.69 and 1.38 for FTIR and NIR, respectively. Results from this research showed the high potential of applying infrared molecular spectroscopy for the examination of forage plant fiber digestibility. More studies are needed to improve the accuracy and performance of FTIR and NIR spectroscopies in predicting the iNDF of whole-crop barley silage samples.
Making-a-Scene: A Preliminary Case Study on Speech-Based 3D Shape Exploration Through Scene Modeling

We explore verbalization as a means for quick-and-dirty 3D shape exploration in early design. Our work stems from the knowledge gap that the fundamental principles necessary to operationalize speech as a viable means for describing and communicating 3D digital forms do not currently exist. To address this gap, we present a case study on 3D scene modeling within the context of interior design. For this, we implemented a constrained workflow wherein a user can iteratively generate variations of seed templates of objects in a scene through verbal input. Using this workflow as an experimental setup, we systematically study four aspects of speech-based shape exploration, namely, (a) design-in-context (creating one shape with respect or in relation to the other), (b) order independence (sequence of parts preferred in speech-based shape exploration), (c) multi-scale exploration (study how speech allows overview-then-detail modifications), and (d) semantic regions of interest (effectiveness of speech for modifying regions of a given object). We finally present an observational study with 6 participants selected from diverse backgrounds to better understand shape verbalization.
Reversible watermarking utilising weighted median-based prediction

Reversible digital watermarking techniques enable the recovery of the original ‘cover image’ from a watermarked image in a distortion-free way. Reversible watermarking techniques find application in military and medical imagery, where integrity of the cover image is of utmost importance. In this study, we propose a reversible digital image watermarking algorithm that predicts a pixel greyscale value exploiting its correlation with its neighbouring pixels, and embeds watermark bits into the prediction errors. Our algorithm succeeds in providing high embedding capacity with very low distortion, without ‘multilayer embedding’, hence reducing the computational burden compared with existing state-of-the-art algorithms. In addition, our results indicate that the resulting data overhead requirement is extremely low.
Sistem Dokumentasi Elektronik (Logbook) Bimbingan Akademik Mahasiswa

Bimbingan akademik merupakan suatu layanan yang diberikan kepada mahasiswa sejak mahasiswa terdaftar sebagai mahasiswa baru hingga mahasiswa dinyatakan lulus. Di dalam kegiatan pembimbingan akademik dibutuhkan dokumentasi berupa dokumentasi dalam bentuk buku bimbingan yang bertujuan memantau perkembangan studi mahasiswa disetiap semester. Sistem informasi merupakan salah satu solusi yang dapat digunakan untuk membantu kegiatan pembimbingan akademik agar lebih terstruktur dan sistematis. Oleh karena itu penelitian ini mengembangkan sebuah sistem electronic logbook bimbingan akademik untuk melakukan monitoring dan evaluasi studi akademik mahasiswa. Metode pengembangan perangkat lunak yang digunakan adalah Waterfall yang menghasilkan sebuah sistem yang dapat memantau dan memberikan informasi secara rinci dan real-time mengenai riwayat studi mahasiswa berdasarkan logbook dan hasil pengujian black box yang telah dilakukan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan sistem ini dapat meningkatkan efektivitas dan efisiensi proses pembimbingan akademik anatar dosen dan mahasiswa.
THEORY AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE SELF-EXCITED OSCILLATION PULSED JET NOZZLE

Comparing with usual continuous jet nozzle, the self-excited oscillation pulsed jet nozzle SEOPJN) can make jet generate a higher peak of pressure and larger scouring volume. And it can make jet increase the effective standoff distance, too. The basic theories of the SEOPJN are introduced.Some experimental results are shown. According to the results, using tricorn bits assembled the SEOPJN to drill oil well, the ROP increases by 8%～77%, and the rates of the footage for tricorn bit increases by 6.7%～44.0%.