Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling battery management system using the lithium-ion battery

Battery-powered electronics devices have become well-verse in the current society. The rapid growth of the use of portable devices such as portable computers, personal data assistants, cellular phones and Hybrid Electrical Vehicles (HEVs) creates a strong claim for fast deployment of the battery technologies at an extraordinary rate. The design of a battery-power-driven device requires many battery-management features, including charge control, battery-capacity monitoring, remaining run-time information and charge-cycle counting. Compare to other batteries, lithium battery has the highest power density, energy density and the longest cycle life. The main objective is to develop a battery management system model to ensure that optimum use is made of the energy inside the battery powering the portable device and that the risk of damage to the battery is prevented. Modeling a battery management system by studying the charging and discharging characteristic curve of the lithium-ion battery is being proposed in this research project.
A New Shape Dissimilarity Measuring Technique Between 3-D Models Using Z-buffer and Surface Roving Method In

Estimation of the shape dissimilarity between 3-D models is very important problem in both computer vision and graphics for 3-D surface reconstruction, modeling, matching and compression. In this paper, we propose a novel method called ”surface roving technique’ to estimate the shape dissimilarity between 3-D models. Unlike conventional methods, our ‘surface roving’ approach exploits a virtual camera and Z-buffer, which is commonly used in 3-D graphics, so that the corresponding points on different 3-D model can be easily identified, and also the distance between them is determined efficiently, regardless of the representation types of the 3-D models. Moreover, by employing the viewpoint sampling technique, the overall computation can be greatly reduced so that the dissimilarity is obtained rapidly without loss of accuracy. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves fast and accurate measurement of shape dissimilarity for different types of 3-D object models.
A low power CMOS temperature-to-frequency converter for RFID applications

This paper presents the design of a low power temperature sensor based on temperature-to-frequency conversion for RFID applications. The variation of temperature is detected by a PTC resistor that determines the reference current of a bootstrapped cascode source. This current is used to bias an active inductor. The self-resonance frequency varies accordingly to the shift of the current, thus providing the temperature to frequency conversion. The circuit has been implemented using a standard 65 nm CMOS technology. A frequency of oscillation of 31.3 MHz at 20°C has been obtained, with an estimated sensitivity of 50.5 kHz/°C, a resolution of 0.12°C and a power consumption of 21.8 uW within the 0-80°C temperature range.
CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE Regular physical activity reduces hospital admission and mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a population based cohort study

Background: Information about the influence of regular physical activity on the course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is scarce. A study was undertaken to examine the association between regular physical activity and both hospital admissions for COPD and all-cause and specific mortality in COPD subjects. Methods: From a population-based sample recruited in Copenhagen in 1981–3 and 1991–4, 2386 individuals with COPD (according to lung function tests) were identified and followed until 2000. Selfreported regular physical activity at baseline was classified into four categories (very low, low, moderate, and high). Dates and causes of hospital admissions and mortality were obtained from Danish registers. Adjusted associations between physical activity and hospital admissions for COPD and mortality were obtained using negative binomial and Cox regression models, respectively. Results: After adjustment for relevant confounders, subjects reporting low, moderate or high physical activity had a lower risk of hospital admission for COPD during the follow up period than those who reported very low physical activity (incidence rate ratio 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53 to 0.97). Low, moderate and high levels of regular physical activity were associated with an adjusted lower risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 0.76, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.90) and respiratory mortality (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.02). No effect modification was found for sex, age group, COPD severity, or a background of ischaemic heart disease. Conclusions: Subjects with COPD who perform some level of regular physical activity have a lower risk of both COPD admissions and mortality. The recommendation that COPD patients be encouraged to maintain or increase their levels of regular physical activity should be considered in future COPD guidelines, since it is likely to result in a relevant public health benefit.
Membrane Potential Dynamics of Hippocampal Neurons During Ripples in Awake Mice

During periods of slow wave sleep and quiet wakefulness, the hippocampal formation generates spontaneous population bursts that are organized as a high-frequency “ripple” oscillation. The neurons that participate in these bursts often replay previously experienced activity patterns encoded during alert behavior, and interfering with ripple generation produces deficits in learning and memory tasks. For these reasons, ripples play a prominent role in theories of memory consolidation and retrieval. While spiking during ripples has been extensively studied, our understanding of the subthreshold behavior of hippocampal neurons during these events remains incomplete. Here, we combine in vivo whole-cell recordings with multisite extracellular and behavioral measurements to study the membrane potential dynamics of hippocampal neurons during ripples in awake mice. We find that the subthreshold depolarization of CA1 pyramidal neurons is uncorrelated with net excitatory input, clarifying the circuit mechanism keeping most neurons silent during ripples. On a finer time scale, the phase delay between intracellular and extracellular ripple oscillations varies systematically with the membrane potential, which is inconsistent with models of intracellular ripple generation involving perisomatic inhibition alone. In addition, we find that membrane potential statistics (mean, variability, distance to threshold) of CA1 pyramidal neurons and dentate granule cells are systematically modulated across brain states, that rapid variations in pupil diameter are reflected in subthreshold fluctuations, and that many neurons begin depolarizing about one second before ripple onset. These results provide evidence that coordinated shifts in the subthreshold dynamics of individual neurons may contribute to the emergence of state-dependent hippocampal activity patterns. Finally, we present evidence that area CA3 provides the major excitatory input to dentate granule cells during ripples and that there are coordinated interactions between hippocampal ripples and population events in the dentate gyrus, both of which inform network-level models of ripple generation.
God Does Not Play Dice : Causal Determinism and Preschoolers ’ Causal Inferences

Three studies investigated children’s belief in causal determinism. If children are determinists, they should infer unobserved causes whenever observed causes appear to act stochastically. In Experiment 1, 4-year-olds saw a stochastic generative cause and inferred the existence of an unobserved inhibitory cause. Children traded off inferences about the presence of unobserved inhibitory causes and the absence of unobserved generative causes. In Experiment 2, 4-year-olds used the pattern of indeterminacy to decide whether unobserved variables were generative or inhibitory. Experiment 3 suggested that children (4 years old) resist believing that direct causes can act stochastically, although they accept that events can be stochastically associated. Children’s deterministic assumptions seem to support inferences not obtainable from other cues.
Activation timing of soleus and tibialis anterior muscles during sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit in post-stroke vs. healthy subjects

Introduction. Sit-to-stand (SitTS) and stand-to-sit (StandTS) are very important functional tasks that become compromised in stroke patients. As in other voluntary movements, they require an adequate postural control (PC) involving the generation of anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). In order to give clues for more efficient and directed rehabilitation programs, a deeper knowledge about APAs during challenging and daily life movements is essential. Purpose. To analyze the activation timing of tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus (SOL) muscles during SitTS and StandTS in healthy subjects and in post-stroke patients. Methods. Two groups participated in this study: one composed of ten healthy subjects and the other by ten subjects with a history of stroke and increased H-reflex. Electromyographic activity (EMGa) of SOL and TA was analyzed during SitTS and StandTS in the ipsilateral (IPSI) and the contralateral (CONTRA) limb to the side lesion in stroke subjects, and in one limb in healthy subjects. A force plate was used to identify the movement onset. Results. In both sequences, in the stroke group SOL activation timing occurred prior to movement onset, contrary to the pattern observed in the healthy subjects. Statistically significant differences were found in SOL activation timings between each lower limb of the stroke and healthy groups, but no significant differences were found between the IPSI and the CONTRA limb. The TA activation timing seems to be delayed in the CONTRA limb when compared to the healthy subjects and showed a better organization of TA timing activation in StandTS when compared to SitTS. Conclusion. Compared to healthy subjects, APAs seem to be altered in both limbs of the post-stroke subjects, with the SOL activation timing being anticipated in both SitTS and StandTS.
Energy effi ciency and conservation : Is solid state lighting a bright idea ?

Because lighting constitutes 20 % of total US electricity consumption, and many current lighting technologies are highly ineffi cient, improved technologies for lighting hold great potential for energy savings and for reducing associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Solid-state lighting (SSL) is a technology that shows great promise as a source of effi cient, aff ordable, color-balanced white light in the near future. Indeed, under a pure engineering-economic analysis, SSL already performs better than incandescent bulbs it is expected that commercial available LEDs to surpass fl uorescents within the next decade. However, a large literature indicates that individual household decision-makers (and to a lesser extent commercial decision makers) do not make their decisions using pure engineering-economic evaluations. An analysis for commercial decision-makers and for individual households has been made to compare the cost, electricity consumption, carbon emissions and cost-eff ectiveness of incandescent lamps, fl uorescent lamps (compact and tubes) and SSL. Th e analysis includes a parametric evaluation of the levelized annual cost (LAC) of providing an illumination service for households or commercial consumers similar to the one in place today by replacing incandescent or fl uorescent bulbs with SSL bulbs as a function of the changes in electricity consumption, incremental cost and incremental lifetime of the new technology. Th e analysis accounts for the expected evolution of the main characteristics of SSL between 2007 and 2015. Also, this work has identifi ed a number of fundamental methodological limitations in the adoption and diffusion of new technology clearly deserve more attention in the future. Objectives and Motivation Electricity is used everyday in our houses and in the commercial buildings. Because lighting constitutes 20 % of total US electricity consumption, and many current lighting technologies are highly ineffi cient, improved technology for lighting holds great potential for energy, emissions and cost savings. Th is research aims to answer two questions: (i) What are the costs of investing in the current lighting technologies and how are they likely to evolve over time? (ii) Which policies will enhance energy and GHG emissions savings through the adoption of more effi cient lighting technologies? Energy Effi ciency and Conservation: Setting the
CREATION OF A BIOMECHANICAL MODEL OF THE FOOT AND ANKLE JOINT COMPLEX

Introduction:The use of tridimensional biomechanical models allows the simulation of articular movements and also stress and strenght analisis on the tissues. The foot and ankle are a stable base of support for the body, provides shock absorption and propulsion of the body during gait, therefore, the creation of a model for this complex joint is indeed needed. Objective: This study aims to develop a 3D biomechanical model of the joint complex of the foot and ankle. Orientation and relation between bones and ligaments will be demostrated and may be used in future biomechanical simulations through the model. Methods: This model is formed by skin and bones from the joint complex foot and ankle, besides the ligaments of the subtalar and talocrural joints. In order to be built, images of cadavers were used from the Visible Human Project®. First, the bone structures were marked by dots and then imported by the software Solidworks®. The bone accident referring to the origin and insertion of each ligament was marked on the 3D geometry and those dots were connected with strips, with its characteristical disposition and thickness, forming one by one the ligaments. Results: Buiding the model makes it possible that an optimized view of bones and ligaments be simultaneously made, presenting an advantage ahead of the models built from CT scans and MRI. The great anatomic representativity of the model may be useful in cirurgic simulations, injury treatment, anatomy teaching and radiology, in the ergonomic and sportive areas, besides the production and perfecting of orthesis, protesis and shoes. Furthermore, bone accidents are recognizable (the articular space and the morphology and disposition of the 3D ligaments) and it showcases an advance in the sense of having more precise ligaments, which connect bones and aid the stability of the joint and the anatomic movement control. Conclusion: The model built in this study can be usefull in many aspects of the healthy field, for example, in the creation of orthesis and protesis. Besides, the use of biomechanics simulation makes the ligamentar tension distribution analisys possible, which can be usefull in the injury prevention and treatment.
MITIGATION OF INTERSYMBOL INTERFERENCE WITH EQUALIZATION AND CONVOLUTION CODING

In mobile radio communications, various phenomena such as multipath wave propagation, time dispersion, and fading introduce errors like Intersymbol interference (ISI), and other distortions into the signals that are transmitted over wireless channel in mobile radio communications. To combat errors, equalization (a sophisticated set of signal processing techniques), convolution coding and other schemes are employed. Equalization process compensates for channel-induced interference whereas convolution coding enable for detection and possible correction of errors in a digital mobile radio communication system. Technical computing is very powerful for simulation and evaluation of error-performance of digital data transmission. This paper gives a brief overview of adaptive equalization and the convolution coding used in mobile communication systems. Suitable algorithms for simulation of these techniques are presented here. The results are obtained using MATLAB functions and derived in the form of scatter plot and constellation of equalized signal along with filtered and ideal signal for QPSK modulation. The results show significant improvement in error-performance of digital data transmission. The analysis can be extended to include different digital modulation schemes and wireless channel characteristics.
Contours-Matching in Building Reconstruction from a Single Image

Image-based building reconstruction is a hot point in computer vision and computer graphics, but few works have done on reconstruction from a single image because it is an ill-conditional problem and is very difficult to resolve. In this paper, we present an efficient method by matching contours between image and projection of 3D models. Our method simplifies the reconstruction process and avoids cameras calibrating and human interaction. Given a building photo captured in daily life as input, we segment the photo into different regions firstly, then extract the contour of the building automatically. Finally, we get 3D building model by matching the contour of the building with projection contour of 3D models from different views stored in model database. Experiments prove that our method is efficient and effective especially for building photos containing shelters.
Streptococcus agalactiae GAPDH Is a Virulence-Associated Immunomodulatory Protein1

Certain extracellular proteins produced by several pathogenic microorganisms interfere with the host immune system facilitating microbial colonization and were thus designated virulence-associated immunomodulatory proteins. In this study, a protein with B lymphocyte stimulatory activity was isolated from culture supernatants of Streptococcus agalactiae strain NEM316. This protein, with an apparent molecular mass of 45 kDa, was identified as GAPDH by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. The gapC gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli for the production of a recombinant histidyl-tagged protein. The recombinant GAPDH (rGAPDH), purified in an enzymatically active form, induced in vitro an up-regulation of CD69 expression on B cells from normal and BCR transgenic mice. In addition, rGAPDH induced an increase in the numbers of total, but not of rGAPDH-specific, splenic Ig-secreting cells in C57BL/6 mice treated i.p. with this protein. These in vitro- and in vivo-elicited B cell responses suggest that the B cell stimulatory effect of rGAPDH is independent of BCR specificity. A S. agalactiae strain overexpressing GAPDH showed increased virulence as compared with the wild-type strain in C57BL/6 mice. This virulence was markedly reduced in IL-10-deficient and anti-rGAPDH antiserum-treated mice. These results suggest that IL-10 production, which was detected at higher concentrations in the serum of rGAPDH-treated mice, is important in determining the successfulness of the host colonization by S. agalactiae and they highlight the direct role of GAPDH in this process. Taken together, our data demonstrate that S. agalactiae GAPDH is a virulence-associated immunomodulatory protein.
Modelling Dictyostelium discoideum morphogenesis: The culmination

The culmination of the morphogenesis of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum involves complex cell movements which transform a mound of cells into a globule of spores on a slender stalk. We show that cyclic AMP signalling and differential adhesion, combined with cell differentiation and slime production, are sufficient to produce the morphogenetic cell movements which lead to culmination. We have simulated the process of culmination using a hybrid cellular automata/partial differential equation model. With our model we have been able to reproduce the main features that occur during culmination, namely the straight downward elongation of the stalk, its anchoring to the substratum and the formation of the long thin stalk topped by the spore head.We conclude that the cyclic AMP signalling system is responsible for the elongation and anchoring of the stalk, but in a roundabout way: pressure waves that are induced by the chemotaxis towards cyclic AMP squeeze the stalk through the cell mass. This mechanism forces the stalk to elongate precisely in the direction opposite to that of the chemotactically moving cells. The process turns out to be ‘guided’ by inactive ‘pathfinder’ cells, which form the tip of the stalk. We show that the entire development is enacted by means of the aforementioned building blocks. This means that no global gradients or different modes of chemotaxis are needed to complete the culmination.MPEG movies of the simulations are available on-line: http://www-binf.bio. uu.nl/stan/bmb.
Hierarchical Design of Continuous Line Illustrations

A hierarchical approach for designing continuous line illustrations, drawings that consist of a single line, is presented throughout this paper. Users specify a graph that will guide the overall shape of the line illustration, and proceed to assign a series of child graphs to many of its vertices. A line illustration can then be generated by taking all of these graphs into account, allowing us to produce complex drawings that are composed of several objects. Our approach also allows us to preserve the overall structure and orientation of the line as graphs are inserted or removed from the illustration. We also propose a variety of visual enhancements for our illustrations based on the specified hierarchical graph information and provide several result examples that demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
Effects of context on processing emotionally neutral abstract and concrete concepts

The abstractness effect describes the phenomenon of individuals processing abstract concepts faster and more accurately than they process concrete concepts. In this study, we explored the effects of context on how 43 college students processed words, controlling for the emotional valence of the words. The participants performed a lexical decision task in which they were shown individual abstract and concrete words, or abstract and concrete words embedded in sentences. The results showed that in the word-context condition the participants’ processing of concrete concepts improved, whereas in the sentence-context condition their processing of abstract concepts improved. These findings support the embodied cognition theory of concept processing.
Perturbative Treatment of the Evolution Operator Associated with Raman Couplings

A novel perturbative treatment of the time evolution operator of a quantum system is applied to the model describing a Raman-driven trapped ion in order to obtain a suitable 'effective model'. It is shown that the associated effective Hamiltonian describes the system dynamics up to a certain transformation which may be interpreted as a 'dyna- mical dressing' of the effective model.
Strategy Synthesis for Stochastic Rabin Games with Discounted Reward

Stochastic games are often used to model reactive processes. We consider the problem of synthesizing an optimal almost-sure winning strategy in a two-player (namely a system and its environment) turn-based stochastic game with both a qualitative objective as a Rabin winning condition, and a quantitative objective as a discounted reward. Optimality is considered only over the almost-sure winning strategies, i.e., system strategies that guarantee the satisfaction of the Rabin condition with probability 1 regardless of the environment's strategy. We show that optimal almost-sure winning strategies may need infinite memory, but epsilon-optimal almost-sure winning strategies can always be finite-memory or even memoryless. We identify a sufficient and necessary condition of the existence of memoryless epsilon-optimal almost-sure winning strategies and propose an algorithm to compute one when this condition is satisfied.