Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Image-Derived Ground Visibility for Aviation (Pilot Study)

Including a crowd in the weather-sensing loop has the potential for improving the availability of weather observations to Alaska's widely dispersed airfields where essential weather data sets are currently not available. One method of virtually expanding the existing weather-sensing infrastructure, at least in part, would be to pair the images taken by the large network of aviation weather cameras installed in Alaska with crowdsourced estimates of ground visibility11FAA 14 CFR 1.1 defines ground visibility as the prevailing horizontal visibility near the earth's surface as reported by the United States National Weather Service or an accredited observer [1]. derived from those images. In 2018, the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) conducted a pilot study of image-based ground visibility utilizing CAMI's cloud-based research platform at https://cbtopsatcami.faa. gov. The goal of this exploratory research was twofold. First, make observations about the behavior of the different image-based and non-image-based visibility models across different weather conditions during daytime at airfields where a traditional weather sensor is collocated with an aviation weather-camera installation and on-staff expert human weather-observers. Second, survey the viability of deriving ground visibility from Alaska's weather camera network via crowdsourcing in applied settings. The models' behavior was examined using daily time-series plots. The recommendations for future research are founded on the observations of the models' behavior, participation rates and feedback from the pilot and expert human observer's communities.
Origin and spatial distribution of roadside vegetation within the forest and agricultural areas in Szczecin Lowland (West Poland)

The paper presents research results of roadside vegetation which were carried out along public roads with hardened surface within the forest and agricultural areas in Szczecin Lowland (West Poland). Mosaic of habitat conditions observed along roadsides was suitable for development over 39 syntaxa from 10 classes of vegetation. The significant diversity of roadside vegetation of anthropogenic origin was found in agricultural regions, whereas within the forest areas mostly autogenic roadside vegetation were observed. Spatial distribution of roadside plant associations was related to the zonal structure of roadside profile. Anthropogenic associations were connected with narrow stripes adjoining to the roads but autogenic ones prefered roadside ditches and slopes. Majority of plant associations, regardless of the way of land use, found suitable habitat conditions in the roadside ditches.
Multi- Touch Touch Screens on the Flight Deck: The Impact of Display Location, Display Inclination Angle and Gesture Type on Pilot Performance

Under NextGen operations, multifunction flight deck controls such as touch screens are being used in new ways. Since many of the multifunction touch screen controls (TSCs) being considered for the flight deck are multi-touch, it is important that their usability and human factors considerations be studied in realistic aviation environments. A study was conducted to help understand the impact of multi-touch display location, display inclination angle, and gesture type on task performance, as well as workload and fatigue, for single pilots flying a flight simulator in moderate turbulence conditions. Two preliminary studies were conducted in order to inform a larger single pilot multi-touch study. A preliminary gesture study explored seventeen touch gestures and identified a subset of nine gestures to use in the larger single pilot study. A preliminary inclination study assessed the impact of inclination angle on pilot performance while using touch gestures. The main single-pilot study sought to further explore pilot performance using multi-touch gestures by incorporating the results from both preliminary studies in the context of flight simulation with turbulence. Electromyography (EMG) was used to capture muscle activations at the forearm and shoulder as an indicator of potential fatigue. Tasks included gestures performed on instrument approach procedures (IAP), maps, on a menu and application driven interface, and on a fuel balance interface. Dependent measures included time on task; number of touches to completion, perceptions of workload and fatigue, readability rating, objective fatigue via EMG, maintenance of flight indices, and ratings questionnaires. The results of this study revealed various human factors implications associated with the application of multi-touch screen controls in the flight deck. Generally, both time on task and the number of gesture attempts before successful task completion were elevated for gestures requiring more than two digits. In addition, gestures requiring more than two digits have greater potential to obscure touch targets and flight deck display information. These gestures were often awkward to complete even in a static environment; this may worsen in flight, especially in turbulent conditions. For completing touch screen tasks with gestures, pilots preferred four of the presented display inclination angles. Touch gestures performed at the upper multifunction display (MFD) location often required pilots to “lean forward” or stretch by bending at the waist and lifting their back off the seat to achieve the reach needed. This implies greater propensity for issues with fatigue. The results are intended to help inform the development of guidelines and recommendations for the integration of multi-touch screen controls into flight decks.
Modeling and Analysis of Performance Degradation Data for Reliability Assessment: A Review

Reliability engineering plays an important role in the design, manufacture, maintenance, and replacement of industrial products. Over the last few decades, accelerated degradation testing (ADT) has been largely utilized to shorten test durations, reduce the samples needed, and provide sufficient degradation data to ensure the effective reliability assessment of the concerned products. Meanwhile, performance degradation modeling has been recognized as an essential approach to help researchers and producers understand the health conditions of the deteriorating systems. However, the diversity in reliability tests, degradation models, and statistical analysis techniques has increased the difficulty in selecting appropriate reliability assessment methods in specific scenarios. Besides, there are no systematic reviews focused on modeling and analysis of performance degradation data. Therefore, this paper aims to (1) present ADT fundamentals, including the basic theory, ADT methods, accelerated stress variables, type of acceleration models, as well as ADT optimization, (2) comprehensively review current states and future challenges in degradation modeling, (3) discuss the problem of model mis-specification and compare different approaches for parameter estimation, (4) highlight future opportunities and possible directions deserving further research.
Position Independent Wearable 6.78 MHz Near-Field Radiative Wireless Power Transfer using Electrically-Small Embroidered Textile Coils

Coupled wireless power transfer (WPT) has been widely used for near-field high-efficiency WPT applications. However, the efficiency of the WPT link is highly sensitive to separation and alignment, and is prone to over-coupling, making it unsuitable for mobile systems with unknown or loose coupling such as wearables. While ultra-high frequency (UHF) and microwave radiative WPT (0.3-3 GHz) enables meters-long separation between the transmitter and the receiver, free space propagation losses, and rectification inefficiencies, adversely limit the end-to-end efficiency of the WPT link. This work proposes radiative WPT, in the 6.78 MHz license-free band, based on resonant electrically small antennas fabricated using embroidered textile coils, tuned using L-matching networks. The proposed WPT system achieves a stable forward transmission of $\mathrm{S}_{21} \gt$ – 17 dB and $\mathrm{S}_{21} \gt$ – 28 dB, independent of coil, separation on the XZ and XY planes respectively, in a $27 \mathrm{m}^{3}$ volume space. The presented approach demonstrates the highest WPT-link efficiency, and promises higher end-to-end efficiency, compared to UHF WPT.
Application of Data Mining of Clinical Data

The involvement of data science technology has rapidly pierce to different disciplines. The prime purpose of this research is to utilize the principles of data mining and data science in the domain of patient data. Due to the abundance and vast variety of general patient data, it is often overlooked. This research focuses on the complete life-cycle of medical health data form acquiring it to extracting valuable information from it. Through data mining using digital solution the process of collection of data becomes less crucial and with the advancement of data storage technologies in terms of velocity and size makes the process of data processing swift. The anonymity is yet another milestone in medical health data which has to be dealt with using techniques of cryptography and well protected data warehouses. Clinical data holds secrets of nation’s healthcare. It can be used for comparisons and role models for the betterment of healthcare system. The adoption of smart digital solutions is being done to encourage individuals to proceed towards disease free world Keywords
Optimum location and sizing of capacitor banks using VOLT VAR compensation in micro-grids

In this work, a mathematical model called optimization by swarm of particles (PSO), was implemented to optimally solve the location and sizing of capacitor banks in a micro-grid of electrical distribution. The proposed method is based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) and the solution will be obtained with dynamic programming, implementing an algorithm that will be developed entirely in MATLAB. The algorithm calculates the optimal solution satisfying the necessary requirements to guarantee the operation of the electrical system. As a case study, a model of a micro-grid which is typically of 5 bars will be used. However, the algorithm was implemented in a general way and it can respond correctly to multi-bar systems. As a final analysis we made a comparison of the system data without compensating and the compensated system data, highlighting an improvement in the voltage profiles, minimization of the losses in the lines, minimization of the total losses of the system, improvement of the power factor, decrement in the maximum voltage deviation and average voltage deviation, complying with a minimum possible cost restriction criterion.
The Simulation Study of Ohmic Contact at GaN- HEMT Devices Based on TCAD

AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) are power devices with high switching frequency, high operating temperature and voltage due to the remarkable materials performance of GaN, which is expected to replace silicon based or silicon carbide devices in low- and medium- voltage applications. However, in order to obtain low-loss and high-frequency performance of these devices, the formation of source and drain ohmic contacts with low contact resistance is vital. In this work, the influence of trap and self-heating effects on the contact resistance simulations with various trap density, trap energy level and external temperature has been investigated by SILVACO-ATLAS software tool. The results show that the contact resistance augments with the increase of the interface trap density and the high bulk trap density has a great influence on the device performance, but the effects of the trap level can be omitted. In addition, with the increase of temperature, the emission current of thermionic in the electrode area will go up, thus reducing the contact resistance. However, high temperature will limit other performance of the device and deteriorate the reliability.
Optimal Selection of Photovoltaic Generation for a Community of Electricity Prosumers

In Brazil, in the lasts five years there has been a significant growth of photovoltaic generation installed in the consumer side of me-ters, the so-called prosumers. However, most of these installations occur in an individual way, as self-consumption, with net-metering billing. The possibility of forming a community grouping several consumer units is little used. This paper analyzes the eco-nomic benefit obtained by prosumers acting individually and by prosumers grouped in a community when investing in photovolta-ic generation. A mixed integer linear programming model was used to select photovoltaic generation systems, considering the Brazilian net-metering billing, in order to minimize the annualized total cost to meet the demand of the prosumers. Tests were con-ducted for prosumers connected individually and in communities, for two tariff modalities, conventional and time of use. The results show that there is an increase in the economic benefit obtained by some of the individually connected prosumers when they install photovoltaic generation. However, when the option is to form a community the economic benefit can be 120% higher.
Two-phase Flow Dynamics and PM2.5 Deposition in Healthy and Obstructed Human Airways during Inhalation

ABSTRACT Lately, there has been an unexpected increase in the global burden of diseases due to inhalation of ambient air contaminated with fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The adverse effects due to inhalation of PM2.5 are more exaggerated for patients with obstructive lung diseases such as Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, numerical investigations were carried out on the effects of particle diameters and different Reynold numbers at the inlet on deposition patterns and fractions in COPD patients and healthy individuals. Three real and transient inhalation curves with average Reynolds numbers of 164.3, 362.4, and 606.4 were used to represent rest, light activity, and moderate exercise inhalation statuses. Four median diameters including 0.075 µm, 0.15 µm, 0.3 µm, and 0.6 µm were injected at the inlet of the control volume (G5–G8) of the Weibel’s lung geometry to represent the particle size distribution for a PM2.5 concentration of 50 µg m–3. Deposition fractions and patterns were obtained from tracking a total of 350031, 692596, and 833553 PM2.5 particles corresponding to rest, light activity and, moderate exercise respectively. Deposition fractions (DFs) for the different sizes of PM2.5 ranged between 0.12% and 1.18% in the healthy airway geometry and between 0.05% and 0.49% in the COPD case. The deposition patterns were skewed for a COPD case due to jet flow phenomena, skewed mass flow rates, and the induced dean vortices. While depositions at the carina regions could be attributed to inertial impaction, those along the bifurcations could be attributed to centrifugal forces, complex secondary flows, and inertial impaction. The effects of the deposition mechanisms varied between the two geometries, among different particle diameters and inhalation statuses.
Ultra-low power 2.4 GHz Self Oscillating Mixer using a load-tolerant VCO

This paper presents a 2.4 GHz ultra-low power self-oscillating mixer (SOM) using a load tolerant Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO). It consists of a double balanced switched transconductance mixer stacked on top of a PMOS LC-VCO. In this design the loading effect of the mixer section on the VCO is analyzed, and a load tolerant configuration is proposed. The simulation results of the circuit, implemented in 0.13 $\mu$m CMOS technology, show a conversion gain of 9 dB @ 5MHz with 600 $\mu$ W of power consumption, and a phase noise (PN) of-110.5dBc/Hz@1MHz. The SOM exhibits a single sideband noise Figure of 16 dB.
Design and Evaluation of a Coupled Motor Drive Powertrain for an Electric Bus*

This paper presents a theoretical sizing framework for torque coupled and speed coupled motor drive configurations for an electric bus using given performance requirements. Either the motors are sized or the coupling mechanism is sized, given specifications of the other. The performance of the coupled configurations was evaluated and compared with a single motor drive configuration, using both theoretical calculations and AVL CRUISETM, for a 10 ton bus. Performance obtained from simulation and theoretical calculations matched closely, which corroborates the sizing framework. The coupled configurations were observed to satisfy all performance requirements, unlike the single motor drive configuration.
A Versatile Through-Metal-Wall Acoustic Power and Data Transfer Solution

This paper reports techniques to transfer power and data through metal walls by exploiting acoustic waves using innovative piezoelectric transducer mountings. Instead of permanently gluing piezoelectric elements on both sides of the metal wall as usually proposed, we studied two detachable and reusable solutions and study their associated power performances. These solutions allow to implement quickly Acoustic Power and Data Transfer (APDT) for in-situ demonstration of the technology. Power transmission efficiencies are equivalent to the ones reached with standard designs. These concepts could be applied to develop a portable equipment to supply sensors in closed or metallic operational environments. In addition, the maximum reachable efficiencies can be obtained directly by a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), enabling the real-time observation of the evolution of power transfer efficiency when moving the transducers.
Ecophysiological Responses of Three Riparian Graminoids to Changes in the Soil Water Table

We examined the effect of changes in soil water table on the water relations, leaf gas exchange, and aboveground biomass of three riparian graminoids native to the semiarid western United States: Carex lanuginosa, Juncus balticus, and Carex nebrascensis. All three species co-occur at the wettest microhabitats within riparian corridors, but J. balticus and C. nebrascensis extend into drier areas. Lowering the water table to 1 m had little effect on the leaf gas exchange characteristics of the three graminoids. In the greenhouse, experimental reductions of the water table when plants had three fully mature leaves did not affect gas exchange rates or water potential in any of the three species. Lowering the water table when plants had one fully mature leaf resulted in limited differences between plants grown under high and low water table in J. balticus and C. lanuginosa. Further, these differences were only apparent after long periods of depressed water table (19 wk). In the field, rates of leaf gas exchange did not differ between plants growing near the creek from those occurring distant from the creek. Three factors contribute to the ability of these riparian graminoids to maintain favorable gas exchange and water relations across a range of water table depths. Each species appears to adjust rooting depth to, or just above, the shallow saturated zone. In the field, C. nebrascensis and J. balticus exhibited reductions of aboveground live biomass at locations far from the creek compared to those near the creek. Small adjustments of osmotic potential and the bulk modulus of elasticity help cells of C. nebrascensis and J. balticus maintain turgor as water table drops during the season. The limited distribution of C. lanuginosa near the creek may result, in part, from a higher biomass allocation to leaves and a less efficient water transport from roots to leaves, particularly when depressions of the water table occur during early growth stages.
SARS-CoV-2 receptor mutation in Egyptian population

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory tract infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 triggers severe pneumonia leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death in severe cases. According to WHO reported, Egypt is among the countries with low confirmed SARS CoV2 infected symptomatic cases and death. We postulate that one of the reasons for this may be due mutations in the viral receptor. Therefore this study was conducted to confirm or reject this postulation.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in field crop production: Potential and new direction

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are multipurpose organisms with complex ecological ramifications in the soil system that have been difficult to study and understand. The phytocentric concept of AMF that has prevailed since the naming of these organisms is being replaced by a holistic vision recognizing that AMF are a key element of soil functioning and health rather than a plant root component. Recent advances in knowledge brought about by new techniques for soil microbiology research open the way to AMF management in crop production. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi may influence crop development, even in phosphorus-rich soils. However, growing crops in soil with lower fertility would optimize the expression of the multiple beneficial effects of AMF in agro-ecosystem and reduce nutrient seepage to the environment. The consideration of the soil mycorrhizal potential within the framework of soil testing and fertilization recommendations, the development of improved inoculants and signal molecules to manipul.
DeTrac: Transfer Learning of Class Decomposed Medical Images in Convolutional Neural Networks

Due to the high availability of large-scale annotated image datasets, paramount progress has been made in deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for image classification tasks. CNNs enable learning highly representative and hierarchical local image features directly from data. However, the availability of annotated data, especially in the medical imaging domain, remains the biggest challenge in the field. Transfer learning can provide a promising and effective solution by transferring knowledge from generic image recognition tasks to the medical image classification. However, due to irregularities in the dataset distribution, transfer learning usually fails to provide a robust solution. Class decomposition facilitates easier to learn class boundaries of a dataset, and consequently can deal with any irregularities in the data distribution. Motivated by this challenging problem, the paper presents Decompose, Transfer, and Compose (DeTraC) approach, a novel CNN architecture based on class decomposition to improve the performance of medical image classification using transfer learning and class decomposition approach. DeTraC enables learning at the subclass level that can be more separable with a prospect to faster convergence. We validated our proposed approach with three different cohorts of chest X-ray images, histological images of human colorectal cancer, and digital mammograms. We compared DeTraC with the state-of-the-art CNN models to demonstrate its high performance in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity.