Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliable methodology for gearbox wear monitoring based on vibration analysis

Gearboxes are important components in industrial applications and its condition monitoring is relevant in industries for reducing costs and minimizing maintenance downtime. Diagnosing wear in gearboxes saves time to prepare appropriate corrective actions, and to ensure that the system does not deteriorate critically. Nowadays, for condition monitoring in gearboxes, vibration analysis is commonly used due to its high reliability. In this work, a reliable methodology for diagnosing different levels of wear in a gearbox through vibration signals, and supported by a theoretical model, is proposed. The theoretical model is based on calculating the characteristic frequencies of the gearbox, with the aim for locating the spectral components of the faults in the vibration signal. Experimentation is done to a healthy gearbox and three wear levels. Results show the reliability of this method that makes it suitable to be used in diagnosing industrial machinery such as in automotive manufacturing applications.
Extracting unstructured data from template generated web documents

We propose a novel approach that identifies web page templates and extracts the unstructured data. Extracting only the body of the page and eliminating the template increases the retrieval precision for the queries that generate irrelevant results. We believe that by reducing the number of irrelevant results; the users are encouraged to go back to a given site to search. Our experimental results on several different web sites and on the whole cnnfn collection demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
Discriminative adsorption of amphiphilic monolayer protected gold nanoparticles on amyloid fibers

This thesis presents a systematic study of how different types monolayer-protected AuNPs interact with amyloid fibers. We report a class of amphiphilic gold nanoparticles capable of adsorbing onto specific surface features on these types of protein fibers. A common disease-associated protein fold is the amyloid state: it is characterized by a cross-beta sheet structure that forces proteins and peptides into a fibrillar state, commonly found in illnesses such as Alzheimerâs disease, Parkinsonâs disease among many others. Amyloid diseases are typically chronic, correlated with ageing and have posed several challenges: the exact structure of the fibers is difficult to determine and their etiologic role is often unclear. This thesis shows, for the first time, that amphiphilic monolayer-protected AuNPs can discriminatively adsorb onto surface features of amyloid fibers made of A1-40 and -synuclein in vitro and that hydrophobicity determines adsorption onto Tau fibers. Given an amyloid fiber that adopts a twisted ribbon morphology, AuNPs protected by a mixture of sulfonated and hydrophobic thiolate molecules adsorb onto specific features on the surface of the fiber, leaving other interfaces uncovered. This generates a novel supra-molecular assembly that directly interfaces an engineered nanomaterial with a biological structure, without using antibodies. Experiments and calculations demonstrated the importance of nanoparticle size and ligand-shell composition: a size cut-off around 4 nm was observed and other types of water soluble nanoparticles did not adsorb discriminatively. Small amphiphilic AuNPs act as surfactants and probably adsorb onto solvent-exposed beta sheets and small amyloidogenic oligomers. The results presented in this thesis provide a systematic framework to understand the interaction between nanoparticles and amyloid fibers. The particles can, moreover, become useful markers for amyloid research and possibly a cross-instrumental probe to reconcile spectroscopic and imaging techniques to help molecular structure determination. During this work, the synthesis and purification of large amounts of sulfonated thiolate molecules was systematized to generate libraries of differently coated water soluble gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). This helped elucidate how amphiphilic AuNPs fuse with lipid bilayers.
Long-Term Warming Shifts the Composition of Bacterial Communities in the Phyllosphere of Galium album in a Permanent Grassland Field-Experiment

Global warming is currently a much discussed topic with as yet largely unexplored consequences for agro-ecosystems. Little is known about the warming effect on the bacterial microbiota inhabiting the plant surface (phyllosphere), which can have a strong impact on plant growth and health, as well as on plant diseases and colonization by human pathogens. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of moderate surface warming on the diversity and composition of the bacterial leaf microbiota of the herbaceous plant Galium album. Leaves were collected from four control and four surface warmed (+2°C) plots located at the field site of the Environmental Monitoring and Climate Impact Research Station Linden in Germany over a 6-year period. Warming had no effect on the concentration of total number of cells attached to the leaf surface as counted by Sybr Green I staining after detachment, but changes in the diversity and phylogenetic composition of the bacterial leaf microbiota analyzed by bacterial 16S rRNA gene Illumina amplicon sequencing were observed. The bacterial phyllosphere microbiota were dominated by Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria. Warming caused a significant higher relative abundance of members of the Gammaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes, and a lower relative abundance of members of the Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Plant beneficial bacteria like Sphingomonas spp. and Rhizobium spp. occurred in significantly lower relative abundance in leaf samples of warmed plots. In contrast, several members of the Enterobacteriaceae, especially Enterobacter and Erwinia, and other potential plant or human pathogenic genera such as Acinetobacter and insect-associated Buchnera and Wolbachia spp. occurred in higher relative abundances in the phyllosphere samples from warmed plots. This study showed for the first time the long-term impact of moderate (+2°C) surface warming on the phyllosphere microbiota on plants. A reduction of beneficial bacteria and an enhancement of potential pathogenic bacteria in the phyllosphere of plants may indicate that this aspect of the ecosystem which has been largely neglected up till now, can be a potential risk for pathogen transmission in agro-ecosystems in the near future.
Effects of initiating moderate wine intake on abdominal adipose tissue in adults with type 2 diabetes: a 2-year randomized controlled trial

Abstract Objective To generate evidence-based conclusions about the effect of wine consumption on weight gain and abdominal fat accumulation and distribution in patients with type 2 diabetes. Design In the 2-year randomized controlled CASCADE (CArdiovaSCulAr Diabetes & Ethanol) trial, patients following a Mediterranean diet were randomly assigned to drink 150 ml of mineral water, white wine or red wine with dinner for 2 years. Visceral adiposity and abdominal fat distribution were measured in a subgroup of sixty-five participants, using abdominal MRI. Setting Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Soroka-Medical Center and the Nuclear Research Center Negev, Israel. Subjects Alcohol-abstaining adults with well-controlled type 2 diabetes. Results Forty-eight participants (red wine, n 27; mineral water, n 21) who completed a second MRI measurement were included in the 2-year analysis. Similar weight losses (sd) were observed: red wine 1·3 (3·9) kg; water 1·0 (4·2) kg (P=0·8 between groups). Changes (95 % CI) in abdominal adipose-tissue distribution were similar: red wine, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) −3·0 (−8·0, 2·0) %, deep subcutaneous adipose tissue (DSAT) +5·2 (−1·1, 11·6) %, superficial subcutaneous adipose tissue (SSAT) −1·9 (−5·0, 1·2) %; water, VAT −3·2 (−8·9, 2·5) %, DSAT +2·9 (−2·8, 8·6) %, SSAT −0·15 (−3·3, 2·9) %. No changes in antidiabetic medication and no substantial changes in energy intake (+126 (sd 2889) kJ/d (+30·2 (sd 690) kcal/d), P=0·8) were recorded. A 2-year decrease in glycated Hb (β=0·28, P=0·05) was associated with a decrease in VAT. Conclusions Moderate wine consumption, as part of a Mediterranean diet, in persons with controlled diabetes did not promote weight gain or abdominal adiposity.
The prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 fecal shedding in feedlot pens is affected by the water-to-cattle ratio: A randomized controlled trial

Escherichia coli O157:H7 fecal shedding in feedlot cattle is common and is a public health concern due to the risk of foodborne transmission that can result in severe, or even fatal, disease in people. Despite a large body of research, few practical and cost-effective farm-level interventions have been identified. In this study, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effect of reducing the level of water in automatically refilling water-troughs on fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle. Pens in a feedlot in the Texas Panhandle were randomly allocated as control (total number: 17) or intervention (total number: 18) pens. Fecal samples (2,759 in total) were collected both at baseline and three weeks after the intervention, and tested for the presence of E. coli O157:H7 using immunomagnetic bead separation and selective culture. There was a strong statistical association between sampling date and the likelihood of a fecal sample testing positive for E. coli O157:H7. Pen was also a strong predictor of fecal prevalence. Despite accounting for this high level of clustering, a statistically significant association between reduced water levels in the trough and increased prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces was observed (Odds Ratio = 1.6; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.2–2.0; Likelihood Ratio Test: p = 0.02). This is the first time that such an association has been reported, and suggests that increasing water-trough levels may be effective in reducing shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle feces, although further work would be needed to test this hypothesis. Controlling E. coli O157:H7 fecal shedding at the pre-harvest level may lead to a reduced burden of human foodborne illness attributed to this pathogen in beef.
Hybrid continuous nonsingular terminal sliding mode control of uncertain flexible manipulators

This paper investigates the robust control of two-link flexible manipulator systems subject to parameter perturbations, and a hybrid control scheme consisting of a continuous nonsingular terminal sliding mode (NTSM) controller and an observer-based LQR controller is proposed. In order to solve the non-minimum phase problem of flexible manipulator, singular perturbation method is utilized to decompose the system into a slow and fast subsystem in two-time scale, and joint angles and corrected flexible modes are modeled as the slow and fast variables, respectively. For the slow subsystem, a novel continuous NTSM control based on the concept of relative degree is proposed for robustness, finite-time convergence and free-chattering. For the fast subsystem, a reduced-order observer is designed to estimate corrected flexible modes and then a LQR controller is proposed for its optimal stability. Simulation results are presented to validate the control scheme.
Baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity in early heart failure assessed by the sequence method

The integrity of the baroreflex control of sympathetic activity in heart failure (HF) remains under debate. We proposed the use of the sequence method to assess the baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA). The sequence method assesses the spontaneous arterial pressure (AP) fluctuations and their related changes in heart rate (or other efferent responses), providing the sensitivity and the effectiveness of the baroreflex. Effectiveness refers to the fraction of spontaneous AP changes that elicits baroreflex‐mediated variations in the efferent response. Using three different approaches, we showed that the baroreflex sensitivity between AP and RSNA is not altered in early HF rats. However, the sequence method provided evidence that the effectiveness of baroreflex in changing RSNA in response to AP changes is markedly decreased in HF. The results help us better understand the baroreflex control of the sympathetic nerve activity.
Online learning with kernel losses

We present a generalization of the adversarial linear bandits framework, where the underlying losses are kernel functions (with an associated reproducing kernel Hilbert space) rather than linear functions. We study a version of the exponential weights algorithm and bound its regret in this setting. Under conditions on the eigendecay of the kernel we provide a sharp characterization of the regret for this algorithm. When we have polynomial eigendecay $\mu_j \le \mathcal{O}(j^{-\beta})$, we find that the regret is bounded by $\mathcal{R}_n \le \mathcal{O}(n^{\beta/(2(\beta-1))})$; while under the assumption of exponential eigendecay $\mu_j \le \mathcal{O}(e^{-\beta j })$, we get an even tighter bound on the regret $\mathcal{R}_n \le \mathcal{O}(n^{1/2}\log(n)^{1/2})$. We also study the full information setting when the underlying losses are kernel functions and present an adapted exponential weights algorithm and a conditional gradient descent algorithm.
Sleep, training load and performance in elite female gymnasts

Abstract Training load (TL) and recovery should be in optimal balance to obtain maximal performance gains. We aimed to study sleep as a recovery technique and its relationship with TL and performance in elite athletes. Twenty-six elite female artistic gymnasts were divided into an under 13 (n = 6), an under 14 (n = 6), a junior (n = 7; 14–15y) and a senior (=World Championship (WC) competitors, n = 7; ≥16y) category. Sleep, through sleep logs, and training parameters, using the session Rate of Perceived Exertion (sRPE) scale, were monitored to calculate total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), TL, monotony and strain. Performance of WC competitors was evaluated through coach and WC qualification ranking. For the entire group, TST (effect sizes (ES) = −1.12, confidence intervals (CI) = −60:−47, P < . 05) and SE (ES = −0.13, CI = −1.40:−0.10, P = .022) were shorter during week than weekend nights. TST and SE were highest in youngest gymnasts (P < .05). TL was lowest in under 13 and senior gymnasts (P < .05), while TL, monotony and strain were highest in junior gymnasts (P < .05). A negative regression was found between TST and TL the day after, while higher TL also led to lower TST the following night (P < .001). For the WC competitors, TST the night before the qualifications was shorter than the mean TST of the WC period (ES = −0.95, CI = −170:24, P = .030). TST correlated with coach ranking (r = −0.857, P = .014). Higher TL correlated with worse WC (r = 0.829, P = .042) and coach (r = 0.893, P = .007) ranking. This research in elite gymnasts indicated associations between decreased TST, augmented TL and inferior performance. Optimizing sleep and TL may therefore represent strategies to enhance performance.
Serum from interferon-β-1b-treated patients with early multiple sclerosis stabilizes the blood–brain barrier in vitro

Interferon-β (IFN-β) stabilizes the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in vitro. Here we investigated the effect of serum from 15 IFN-β-1b-treated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients on the permeability read-outs of small solutes in an in vitro BBB model consisting of human brain microvascular endothelial cells in co-culture with rat astrocytes. The addition of sera from IFN-β-treated patients resulted in a significantly (p < 0.05) reduced permeability as compared with untreated patients. Our findings show that sera from IFN-β-1b-treated MS patients have a stabilizing effect on the in vitro BBB. We suggest an unknown potentially pro-inflammatory factor in the serum of MS patients that may lead to a BBB dysfunction and can be modulated by IFN-β.
Shell quality as influenced by zeolite with high ion-exchange capability.

Sixteen dietary treatments applied to a total of 960 hens were used to determine the influence of zeolite A on shell quality and egg size. In Experiment 1, sodium zeolite A (SZA) was fed at three levels (0, .75, and 1.50%) in diets containing 4.0 and 2.75% calcium (Ca) for 8 weeks to old hens. In Experiment 2, the same levels of SZA were fed in diets containing two total sulfur amino acid levels (TSAA, .61 and .51%) to young hens for 12 weeks. Calcium zeolite A (CZA) was also fed at . 68% in Experiment 1 in the 4.0% Ca diets and in Experiment 2 in the . 51 and . 61% TSAA diets. These diets were adjusted for sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl). SZA (.75% unadjusted for Na and Cl) was fed to old hens receiving the 2.75% Ca diet in Experiment 1. All diets were isocaloric and isonitrogenous within diets having the same Ca or TSAA level within an experiment. Response criteria were egg production, feed consumption, egg specific gravity, serum Ca, and body weight. A significant linear response in egg specific gravity occurred within 2 or 3 weeks, when diets supplemented with SZA were fed to old (Experiment 1) and young (Experiment 2) hens. Average Ca intake for control hens (Experiment 1) fed the 2.75 and 4.0% Ca diets was 2.93 and 4.54 g, respectively. Average Ca intake for control hens (Experiment 2) fed the . 51 and . 61% TSAA diet was 4.38 and 4.00 g, respectively. The CAZ (Experiments 1 and 2) and SZA (unadjusted for Na and Cl, Experiment 1) also gave significant increases in egg specific gravity. Zeolite A had little or no influence on egg weight, feed consumption, or egg production in Experiments 1 or 2. When Na and Cl were not adjusted in the SZA treatments (Experiment 1) a significant reduction in production occurred. It was concluded that zeolite A will significantly increase egg specific gravity and we hypothesize that the mechanism responsible for the significant improvement is related to the high ion-exchange capability of zeolite A.
Effect of heat stress and diet composition on performance of White Leghorn hens.

A total of 192 Single Comb White Leghorn pullets were divided into three groups to study the effect of heat stress and diet composition on feed intake and laying performance at 21, 25, and 33 weeks of age. For each age group all birds were fed a control diet [17.1% crude protein (CP), 2770 kcal metabolizable energy (ME)/kg] for a 7-day period. During this time they were kept at a temperature of 18 C. The temperature was then immediately increased to 35 C, and groups of 16 birds offered either the control diet, a high protein diet (43.5% CP), a high energy diet (3371 kcal ME/kg), or a diet of high nutrient density (28.3% CP, 2842 kcal ME/kg, and 6.5% Ca) for a 3-day period. After the 3-day test period, temperature was returned to 18 C, although birds were still offered the experimental diets for an additional 4 days prior to returning to the control diet. Production parameters were measured for individual birds. Feed consumption, egg production (except for the 21-week-old birds), egg weight, and egg shell thickness decreased (P less than .05) with heat stress. Increases in energy and calcium intake helped partially to maintain normal egg production, egg weight, and egg shell deformation. Egg weight and egg shell deformation returned to pretest levels within an 8-week postexperimental period. With the exception of those birds receiving the control and high nutrient density diets at 21 weeks of age, data collected over the test periods showed that heat stress caused a significant reduction (P less than .05) in liveweight birds.
Broiler chick response to low protein diets supplemented with synthetic amino acids.

Performance of broiler chicks fed low protein diets supplemented with several essential amino acids (EAA) is generally inferior to that of birds fed a higher protein diet composed primarily of intact protein. Two experiments were conducted to determine whether lowering the minimum requirements of the EAA in proportion to the lowered protein concentration or equalizing the dietary amino nitrogen content by use of glutamic acid would prevent the reduction in performance. Chicks were fed the experimental diets from 7 to 21 days of age, and body weight gain, feed consumption, and feed efficiency were determined. In the first experiment, the chicks were fed diets with 23, 20, or 17% CP with minimum EAA set at 100% of the 1984 National Research Council (NRC) suggested requirements. Other groups were fed the 20% CP diet with EAA set at 93.5% or the 17% CP diet set at either 93.5 or 87.5% of the NRC requirements. In the second experiment, the 23% and 17% CP diets were fed, and glutamic acid was added at 3, 6, or 9% to provide the amino nitrogen equivalent of 23% protein with the minimum EAA set at 100% of 1984 NRC requirements. In the first experiment, body weight gain and feed efficiency, but not feed intake, were depressed by lowering CP content. Reducing the minimum EAA requirements in proportion to the reduction in CP failed to correct the difference in performance between the high and low CP diets. In Experiment 2, body weight gain and feed intake were reduced as intact CP decreased and glutamic acid increased, but feed efficiency was unaffected. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
First and second cycle egg production characteristics in commercial table egg flocks.

Egg production data for 1,231 first cycle and 887 second cycle commercial table egg layer flocks were studied to determine the shape of the production curve, the relationship between the two cycles, and the effects of strain and season on various measures of egg production. Means for peak egg production were 89.1 and 80.0%. Calculated slopes for the period from peak production to 60 wk of age and 40 wk postmolt were . 596 and . 671%/wk, and egg production levels at the end of each cycle were 71.2 and 61.7% for the first and second cycles, respectively. Egg production curves proved to be nonlinear with significantly greater slopes during the last 10 wk of each cycle compared with the earlier part of the cycle. This nonlinearity was shown to be associated with winter- and fall-hatched flocks for the first cycle of lay and with second cycle flocks that reached Week 30 in the spring and fall months. Calculated slopes averaged . 565%/wk from peak to 50 wk of age compared with . 655%/wk from 50 to 60 wk of age. Second cycle flocks had slopes of . 590%/wk from peak to 30 wk postmolt compared with . 819%/wk from 30 to 40 wk postmolt. Individual White Leghorn strains varied significantly in all measured traits with the exception of the calculated slope from peak egg production to Week 50 in the first cycle and from peak egg production to Week 30 in the second cycle.
Random access preamble design for 5G millimeter-wave cellular systems with multiple beams

A random access (RA) technique that is suitable for millimeter-wave cellular systems with multiple beams is proposed in this paper. A new random access preamble (RAP) is proposed to reduce the RA duration by carrying the information on beam IDs (BIDs) as well as preamble ID (PID). The properties of the RAPs such as the constant amplitude, correlation, false-alarm probability, and detection probability are analyzed for RA in a multi-user environment. It is shown by simulation that the proposed RAP is well-suited for mm-wave cellular systems with multiple beams because of its high detection probability in a multi-user environment and shorter processing time.