Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-resolution spectroscopy mode for CASTLE telescope with a composite grism

The CASTLE is a small robotic telescope designed for the observations of ultra-low surface brightness objects and the search and detection of transient objects. The telescope is designed and built at Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille and will be installed at the Calar Alto Observatory. In the present work we consider a possibility to implement a low-resolution slitless spectroscopy mode for CASTLE in order to provide a fast spectrum of the transient immediately after the first detection. Such an additional observation mode could be realized by introduction of a grism in the pre-focal position at the filter wheel. The grism can create spectral images with a minimal decentering and a small defocusing, so the same detector and focusing mechanism can be used. Use of a volume-phase holographic grating as the main dispersing part of the grism allows to reach a high diffraction efficiency together with the low level of scattered light. The value of the spectral resolving power is R=163- 698 over the extended spectral range of 350-950 nm, while telescopes nominal f/#=2.5 is maintained and an extended field of view of 9’x14’ is covered. Due to the limitations set by the telescope optical design the grism will be placed in a converging beam far from the pupil, so that its aberrations and diffraction efficiency will vary notably across the clear aperture. In order to compensate for these variations we consider using a composite holographic component, which represents a mosaic of zones. In each of them such parameters of the hologram as the photosensitive layer thickness, refraction index modulation depth and aberrations of the recording wavefronts can be optimized separately. We estimate the performances of such an innovative element and compare it with that of an ordinary grism. The comparison demonstrates gain up to a factor of 3 in the image quality and up to a factor of 4.2 in the diffraction efficiency.
Urban Road Network Partitioning Based on Bi-Modal Traffic Flows With Multiobjective Optimization

The recent extension of a macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) into a bi-modal MFD (or 3D-MFD) provides the relationship among the total network circulating flows and the accumulations of private vehicles and public buses. 3D-MFD reveals the contribution of large occupancy vehicles such as buses in improving urban transportation efficiency. A lot of bi-modal traffic management techniques are introduced based on 3D-MFD to improve the urban traffic efficiency without using detailed origin-destination (OD) information. However, similar to MFD, 3D-MFD is also highly affected by the heterogeneity of a road network. In order to form 3D-MFDs with low scatter to be utilized for further bi-modal traffic management, this paper proposes a partition method to cluster road links into several homogeneous regions for a bi-modal urban network. It is comprised of three layers named as initial partition, merging, and boundary adjusting. At the initial partition layer, Seeded Region Growing (SRG) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are integrated to obtain a number of subregions. A modified Genetic Algorithm (GA) is developed to merge the subregions into larger regions at the merging layer. Then, boundary adjusting is performed by changing the region to which a boundary is clustered to optimize the result. Multi-sensor data collected from Shenzhen in China are utilized to verify the effectiveness of the proposed partition method.
RNN-Based Quadratic Programming Scheme for Tennis-Training Robots With Flexible Capabilities

Sports intelligence receives constant attention, especially with the development of information technology. Existing tennis-launching machines, a kind of device launching tennis balls from a fixed point, have shortcomings such as limited launching height and low control accuracy, which are lack of considerable flexibility when applied in a practical situation. In this article, a tennis-training robot based on a redundant manipulator cooperated with a tennis-launching structure is presented to realize a high-precision and flexible ball-launching task. In order to construct a control scheme of the robotic system, the physical situation of tennis launching is modeled, and further transformed into a quadratic programming problem. Then, a recurrent neural network (RNN) is built to obtain the optimal solution. Furthermore, simulative experiments based on the CoppeliaSim platform using a FRANKA EMIKA manipulator are carried out to demonstrate the realizability of the designed application scenarios.
Molecular Simulation of Interactions between High-Molecular-Polymer Flocculation Gel for Oil-Based Drilling Fluid and Clay Minerals

China has abundant shale gas resources with great potential, which may serve as a significant support for the development of a “low-carbon economy”. Domestic shale gas resources are buried deeply and difficult to exploit due to some prevalent issues, such as long horizontal sections, severe development of reservoir fractures, strong sensitivity to water, borehole instability, etc. Compared to water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluid exhibits better inhibition and good lubricity and is thus broadly used in shale gas drilling, but it is confronted with the challenge of removing the harmful solid phase. Selective chemical flocculation is one of the most effective methods of removing the harmful solid phase in oil-based drilling fluid. In this study, interactions between the flocculation gel for oil-based drilling fluid and clay minerals were investigated by molecular simulation, which revealed the molecular-scale selectivity of the flocculation gel for rock cuttings with negative charges. Calculations showed that the flocculation gel is highly effective for the flocculation of negatively charged cuttings, but it is ineffective for flocculating neutral cuttings. The flocculation gel is not very effective for cuttings with high hydrophilicity, and it is totally ineffective for flocculating cuttings with poor hydrophilicity. Within a limited concentration range, the flocculation effect can be enhanced by increasing the flocculation gel concentration. The performance of the flocculation gel declined at elevated temperatures.
Molecular dynamics study of phonon thermal transport in borophene with random vacancy defects

This study uses non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the effect of random vacancy defects on the in-plane thermal conductivity of borophene phonon dispersion curves and phonon group velocities are used to explain the anisotropy of the thermal conductivity of borophene nanosheets and the transmission characteristics of the acoustic and optical branches. Further calculations for the in-plane thermal conductivity of borophene with random vacancy defects are carried out, and the calculations show that the thermal conductivity gradually decreases to a steady state with increasing defect concentration. The phonon density of states and phonon participation rate are used to explain describe the activity of phonons in borophene for further explaining the change of thermal conductivity. Finally, the effect of defects on thermal conductivity is further verified by the spatial distribution of localized intensity of borophene nanosheets.
SMART WEARABLE PROTOTYPE FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Visually impaired individuals have relied on a variety of techniques to actively participate in society. There are many available technologies both wearable and non-wearable to assist them. These either provide them assistance in walking, or some help them to recognize things by audio or touch feedback. Our approach is to provide a low-cost wearable assistive system which can not only help blinds to navigate freely, but also tells them the time. The system will also enable a distant mobile user to monitor body vitals of the blind person and in case of any emergency the blind can call him with just one press of a button. So overall, the system provides not only aids to the blind, but also to his/her family members.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Adoption: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract Robotic process automation (RPA) is a recent technology that has recently become increasingly adopted by companies as a solution for employees to focus on higher complexity and more valuable tasks while delegating routine, monotonous and rule-based tasks to their digital colleagues. The increased interest, reflected in the increasing number of articles regarding approaches and test cases, has triggered the necessity for a summary that could extract the more generalisable ideas and concepts about these software robots. This paper used a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach to find and synthesise information from articles obtained on this subject. This research identified the most general implementation approaches of successful RPA adoption cases, observed benefits, challenges commonly faced by organisations, characteristics that make processes more suitable for RPA, and research gaps in the current literature. The findings presented in this paper have two purposes. The first is to provide a way for companies and organisations to become more familiar with good practices regarding the adoption of robotic process automation. The second is to foster further research on the subject by complementing the current knowledge and proposing new paths for research.
Genetic Susceptibility to Insulin Resistance and Its Association with Estimated Longevity in the Hungarian General and Roma Populations

Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem with a wide range of prevalence among different ethnic groups. Early recognition of pre-diabetes is important to prevent the development of the disease, its complications, co-morbidities, and consequently early death. Insulin resistance (IR) is considered a condition that precedes type 2 diabetes; thus, understanding its underlying causes (genetic and non-genetic factors) will bring us closer to preventing it. The present study aimed to investigate the genetic susceptibility to IR and its impact on estimated longevity in populations with different ethnic origins using randomly selected samples of 372 Hungarian general (HG, as a reference with Caucasian origin) and 334 Roma participants (largest ethnic minority in Europe, with a northern India origin). In the present study, we used the Homeostasis Model Assessment—Insulin Resistance (HOMA—IR) to identify people with IR (>3.63) at the population level. To investigate the genetic predisposition to IR, 29 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in a systematic literature search were selected and genotyped in sample populations. In the analyses, the adjusted p < 0.0033 was considered significant. Of these 29 SNPs, the commutative effects of 15 SNPs showing the strongest association with HOMA—IR were used to calculate an optimized genetic risk score (oGRS). The oGRS was found nominally significantly (p = 0.019) higher in the Roma population compared to HG one, and it was more strongly correlated with HOMA—IR. Therefore, it can be considered as a stronger predictor of the presence of IR among the Roma (AUCRoma = 0.673 vs. AUCHG = 0.528). Furthermore, oGRS also showed a significant correlation with reduced estimated longevity in the Roma population (β = −0.724, 95% CI: −1.230–−0.218; p = 0.005), but not in the HG one (β = 0.065, 95% CI: −0.388–0.518; p = 0.779). Overall, IR shows a strong correlation with a genetic predisposition among Roma, but not in the HG population. Furthermore, the increased genetic risk of Roma is associated with shorter estimated longevity, whereas this association is not observed in the HG one. Increased genetic susceptibility of Roma to IR should be considered in preventive programs targeting the development of type 2 diabetes, which may also reduce the risk of preventable premature death among them.
Motives behind Sino-Japanese strategic alliances in the new energy vehicles sector in the age of the Belt and Road Initiative

ABSTRACT Several Chinese companies have emerged as global competitors in the non-traditional automotive industry and have become attractive partners for foreign firms in high-technology development. To identify the motives behind such strategic partnerships in the new energy vehicle industry, we combine dynamic capabilities with institutional factors of both national and emerging regional levels generated by the Belt and Road Initiative. Case studies of BYD, SinoHytec, Hino, and Toyota’s joint ventures reveal that besides pursuing complementary technology, firms are being pushed into NEV production by government policies targeting carbon neutrality while strategic alliances with Chinese companies may yield facilitated access to BRI projects.
Health Estimation of Individual Capacitors in a Bank With Reduced Sensor Requirements

Aluminum electrolytic capacitors (AECs) are connected in a bank to meet the requirement of capacitance, voltage, and current rating for dc-link of power electronic converters. The performance of capacitor bank deteriorates with time due to the degradation of AECs in the bank. Further, each AEC in the bank degrades differently based on its core temperature, which in turn depends on the current and its equivalent series resistance (ESR). Therefore, health monitoring of a bank would require monitoring of individual AECs in the bank. However, extending the available literature on health monitoring of an AEC to the capacitor bank would require voltage/current sensors for individual AECs. To address the aforementioned issue, this paper suggests a method to assess the health of individual AECs online in the bank without using sensors for each AECs. The proposed method involves estimation of current through each capacitor, which is used to determine the core temperature by using a thermal model of AEC. The core temperature is used for estimation of ESR and capacitance of each capacitor using physics-of-failure based degradation model. For the consistent matching of the degradation model to the actual degradation of the capacitor, the coefficients of the model are sequentially updated. For updating, an algorithm based on extended Kalman filter is used. The proposed scheme is experimentally validated on laboratory prototype of single-phase, grid-connected solar PV inverter under variable load conditions.
Nutritional Biomarkers and Factors Correlated with Poor Sleep Status among Young Females: A Case-Control Study

Poor sleep status is associated with several health problems. Nutritional biomarkers and factors related to poor sleep are understudied. This study aimed to identify nutrition biomarkers and factors related to sleep status in healthy young Saudi females. The study included 92 normal-weight and obese Saudi females aged 19–25. Fasting blood glucose, insulin, and lipid profiles were measured. Insulin resistance was calculated on the basis of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) method. Anthropometric, stress, physical activity, and dietary data were collected. Data on the polyphenol content in foods were retrieved from the Phenol-Explorer database. The sleep status was assessed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). Associations between variables were assessed using the multiple logistic regression model. Around 76% of the participants had poor sleep status (PSQI > 5). Multiple logistic regression reported high polyphenol intake as a protective factor against poor sleep (OR 0.24; 95% CI 0.07–0.83; p = 0.03) and HOMA-IR as an independent risk for poor sleep (OR 4.97; 95% CI 1.11–22.31; p = 0.04). Other nutritional biomarkers and factors, such as BMI, lipid profile, and vitamins, revealed a trend but were not significant. In conclusion, poor sleep status is associated with insulin resistance and low polyphenol intake among women of reproductive age.
Design and Numerical Simulation of Unidirectional Chaotic Synchronization and its Application in Secure Communication System

Chaotic systems are characterized by sensitive dependence on initial conditions, similar to random behavior, and continuous broad-band power spectrum. Chaos is a good potential to be used in secure communications system. In this paper, in order to show some interesting phenomena of three-order Jerk circuit with modulus nonlinearity, the chaotic behavior as a function of a variable control parameter, has been studied. The initial study in this paper is to analyze the phase portraits, the Poincaré maps, the bifurcation diagrams, while the analysis of the synchronization in the case of unidirectional coupling between two identical generated chaotic systems, has been presented. Moreover, some appropriate comparisons are made to contrast some of the existing results. Finally, the effectiveness of the unidirectional coupling scheme between two identical Jerk circuits in a secure communication system is presented in details. Integration of theoretical physics, the numerical simulation by using MATLAB 2010, as well as the implementation of circuit simulations by using MultiSIM 10.0 has been performed in this study.
Combined Action of Antibiotics and Bacteriocins against Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci

Antibiotics have been one of the most important discoveries in the area of applied medical microbiology; however, as a result of various factors, we are currently facing a dramatic and relatively dangerous increase in the number of cases of antibiotic resistance, and the need for new types of antimicrobials continues to grow. New approaches are needed to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Bacteriocins, as part of the group of antimicrobial peptides, can be considered as alternatives and/or complements to known antibiotics. Their narrow spectra of activity can be explored for the control of various pathogens, such as vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), as single therapies or in combination with known antibiotics. In the present study, we isolated bacteriocins from different lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains, including Enterococcus and Pediococcus, and explored the possible synergistic inhibition of growth by bacteriocins and vancomycin. It was observed in the growth dynamics with previously selected VRE strains that the bacteriocins had a high specificity and a promising inhibitory effect against the VRE strains, and these results were validated by a propidium iodide viability test using flow cytometry. The data obtained indicate that the selected bacteriocins can be used to control VRE in the food industry or even as an alternative treatment to combat infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The Tunisian stock market before invoking Article 80 of the Constitution: the (in)direct impact of government interventions during the sanitary crisis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of government policies adopted by the Tunisian government to cope with the COVID-19 sanitary crisis on stock market return.Design/methodology/approachThe author uses daily data from March 2, 2020, to July 23, 2021.FindingsThe author finds that policies interventions have a negative impact on Tunisia's stock market, particularly stock market returns due to stringency, confinement and health measures. Also, Government announcements regarding economic has a negative impact on Tunisia's stock market but this impact is insignificant. By conducting an additional analysis, the author shows that the government interventions policies amplify the negative effect of COVID-19 on stock returns.Research limitations/implicationsThese results will be useful for policy authorities seeking to consider the advantages and drawbacks of government measures. Finally, a legislative proposal about the audit of public debt should be included in the Constitution to spur Tunisia's economic and social recovery.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the related literature in two ways: First, it is the first study to examine the impact of government actions on stock market performance. Second, it bridges a gap in the literature by investigating the case of Tunisia, because most studies focus on developed and emerging economies.
The Effects of Barriers and Freight Vehicle Restrictions on Logistics Costs: A Comparison before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of the supply chains, in which the production, distribution, and transportation systems were disrupted, permanently or temporarily. Despite the enormous influences the pandemic had on transportation systems, no study has yet assessed the extent to which the freight restrictions and barriers influenced logistics costs after the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, understanding them is necessary to guide and stimulate public policies that intend to optimize the effects of freight restrictions on logistics costs. Thus, this paper assesses and compares the effects that such barriers in urban freight transport, and the restrictions imposed on freight vehicles, had on logistics costs before and during the pandemic. We surveyed more than 120 logistics professionals in Brazil in both 2018 and 2020/2021, making comparisons using models that were assessed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The findings suggest that barriers and freight restrictions influenced the logistics costs positively, but such influences reduced during the pandemic. Being aware of the barriers and restrictions that influence logistics costs and of how the pandemic increased the effects of some restrictions is essential for managers to be able make timely and appropriate decisions and to plan and implement initiatives to prevent or reduce costs.
H1RG readout procedures for MAJIS, the VIS/NIR imaging spectrometer of JUICE: impacts on the performances

MAJIS is an imaging spectrometer operating in the visible and IR range which is part of the payload of the JUICE mission of ESA, dedicated to the study of the icy moons of Jupiter, Jupiter and the Jupiter environment, to be launched in April 2023. MAJIS implements two channels, one for the visible-near IR range (0.5 – 2.35 μm) and one for the IR range (2.25 – 5.52 μm). H1RG detectors from Teledyne where selected for these two channels. The specific constraints of MAJIS (very wide dynamic range, windowing, on-board de-spiking) required very significant adjustments to readout microcodes provided by Teledyne. The de-spiking approach implemented by MAJIS relies on on-board processing of series of consecutive sub-integrations5 . For reaching optimum performance, possible biases between successive CDS readouts of the same signal needed to be lower than the total noise. The first of the two detector readouts required for CDS had to be implemented very shortly after reset so as to benefit from the full well depth for dynamic range. This required coping with the reset anomaly which is specific to the HxRG family of detectors. The MAJIS team selected an approach based on drop frames and dark subtraction which minimized microcode adjustments so as to limit development and schedule risks. Detector characterization then instrument calibration showed that this approach was quite successful in terms of performances with no impact on the duty cycle for observations with short integration times.