Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measure the Thermal Parameters of SiC MOSFET through Case Temperature

SiC MOSFET is gathering more important in the industrial field for its excellent electro-thermal properties. To investigate the thermal performance of the SiC MOSFET module, the thermal network parameters is the most dramatic method. This paper proposed a method to measure the thermal parameters of SiC MOSFET module in the Cauer type by establishing the relation between the thermal parameters and the time constants of case temperature cooling curves. The method achieves in no need of thermal-equilibrium state, power losses and even the measurement of junction temperature. The experiment is carried out and the results prove the feasibility of the method.
Life after graduation: Instrumentation and measurements and human care

The worlds of human care and measurements have always been linked. It is certainly not a piece of news: no one would be surprised if I said that human care depends heavily on measurements, and that conversely, the world of measurements finds in human care one of the most flourishing and interesting applications and research fields. In fact, it is constantly evolving and increasingly linked to technology.
Robust Optimization Over Networks Using Distributed Restarting of Accelerated Dynamics

We present a new class of accelerated distributed algorithms for the robust solution of convex optimization problems over networks. The novelty of the approach lies in the introduction of distributed restarting mechanisms that coordinate the evolution of accelerated optimization dynamics with individual asynchronous and periodic time-varying momentum coefficients. We model the algorithms as set-valued hybrid dynamical systems since the method combines continuous-time dynamics with acceleration and set-valued discrete-time restarting updates. For these dynamics, we derive graph-dependent restarting conditions that guarantee suitable stability, robustness, and convergence properties in distributed optimization problems characterized by strongly convex primal functions. Our results are illustrated via numerical examples.
Sensorless Control of Doubly-Fed Reluctance Machines for Wind Energy Conversion Systems

An improved rotor position and speed sensorless controller design for a prominent doubly-fed reluctance machine has been presented and practically validated in generating operating mode being of immediate interest to the target wind power applications. This inherently medium-speed brushless generator type is a good candidate to overcome the reliability and maintenance concerns with conventional wound rotor doubly-fed induction generators which use a vulnerable 3-stage gearbox in such systems. The proposed control method has been successfully implemented on a laboratory wind turbine generator emulator, and its excellent performance verified by the comprehensive experimental results produced in the paper.
Bidirectional DC-DC Converter Utilizing New Loss Reduction Techniques for HV/PHV

This paper presents a 30kW bidirectional DC-DC converter utilizing new loss reduction techniques which combines soft switching technology and tail current suppression control with minimum components and achieves 86% switching loss reduction of power semiconductor devices. Unlike the other soft switching circuit, the proposed circuit reduces the tail current which spoils soft-switching condition of turn-off and minimizes the number of auxiliary components utilizing parallel operation of Si-IGBTs.
An Improved Modulation Scheme for “Si&SiC” Hybrid 3L-Active NPC Rectifiers with Low Conduction Losses

Wide-bandgap devices such as SiC devices have good switching characteristics, the application of wide-bandgap devices can improve the efficiency and power density effectively because of the fast switching speed. However, it has not been widely used due to its high price. Therefore, the hybrid applications of Si&SiC devices attracted more attention, but few attentions are paid to the reduction of conduction losses. This paper proposes an improved modulation scheme based on the Si&SiC hybrid 3L-ANPC rectifier. It can not only make full use of the good switching characteristics of SiC devices, but also lower the conduction losses by decreasing the conduction resistance. However, the improved modulation scheme is not suitable for 4-SiC hybrid inverter. A 3kW prototype is built to verify the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed modulation scheme.
Movement of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) as determined by satellite tagging experiments initiated off New England

Pop-up satellite archival tags were attached to 35 Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus )o ff the New Eng- land coast of the United States of America in 1998, 2000, and 2001. The tags provided information on the horizontal and vertical movements and environmental preferences of bluefin tuna. Fish showed movement patterns that can be categorized by age and season. Mature individuals were linked to the Gulf of Mexico breeding grounds based on light level longitude and sea surface temperature latitude estimates of geolocation and a radiosatellite endpoint position. A track based on geolocation indicated that a single individual moved from the tagging release location to the Gulf of Mexico and back to New England waters. Tag-generated water column profiles of depth versus temperature were con- sistent with fish movement along the shelf and into the Gulf of Mexico. Adolescent fish moved from the New England offshore feeding locations to winter aggregations in the coastal shelf and slope waters of North and South Carolina. Bluefin tuna showed a preference for ambient temperatures that ranged from 14 to 26 °C in autumn and from 18 to 24 °C in winter.
Pole-Zero Analysis of a simple Gate Driver Circuit over the medium range of frequency used in Power Electronics Devices

In recent, high frequency power converters are more popular due to extensive use in electric vehicle and micro grid applications. In high frequency power converters PCB designing is an important part of the circuit designing specially for high-frequency operation. In all power electronics systems, PCB is used for compact circuits but the effect of parasitic elements in the PCB is usually neglected. While designing the gate driver circuit for high-frequency operation devices requires proper characterization of the PCB parasitic element along with the other resistive and capacitive elements used. Even in lower frequencies if the parasitic elements not considered creates ripples in the output. The paper presents a detailed pole-zero analysis of a simple gate driver circuit and the effect of different frequency operations on the same design to represent the need for different values of external resistor and capacitor to get the best voltage waveform to feed the gate terminal of the power device.
Increasing student motivation in computer programming with gamification

Games have important motivational power. They take advantage of a set of tools to encourage people to engage with them just for the joy of playing and the possibility to win. While gamification is gaining ground in a lot of areas in our society, its application in education is still an emerging trend. In recent years, gamification has attracted the attention of researchers from different areas such as teaching and learning computer programming. Ever since the first programming languages emerged, the problems inherent to programming teaching and learning have been studied and investigated. The theme is very serious, not only for the important concepts underlying computer science courses but also for reducing the lack of motivation, failure, and abandonment that result from student frustration. In most of these studies and research one factor prevails, lack of student motivation or how to motivate students to learn programming. One way to combat this problem is to use gamification. Using game design elements in non-game contexts is one of the good ways to motivate and encourage students to learn programming. To assess how gamification impacted the learning experience, we compared data from one gamified and non-gamified year. In general, the results show significant improvements in terms of attendance to class, participation, and proactivity. They also suggest that our approach can reduce the high rate of failure grade among students. In conclusion, this case study, we show how the use of concepts related to gamification can improve motivation, passion, beauty, joy, awe, e naturally the succeed in programming.
Fostering students’ analytical thinking and applied mathematical skills through 3D design and printing

This paper proposes to develop the competence for teaching engineering design in school by engaging prospective teachers in the practice of reverse engineering (RE) and making. Our study was conducted in the framework of the course "Selected problems in teaching mechanics technology" as part of the technology teacher education program at *****. The lectures presented the foundations of the engineering design education. In the practical sessions, the prospective teachers performed RE and making activities and developed instructional units based on this experience. Our educational study aimed to evaluate the impact of the integration of RE and making activities to the development of the competence for teaching engineering design. The data were collected through in-class observations and evaluation of the instructional models and units, as well as by pre- and post-workshop questionnaires, and course reflections. As found, all the prospective teachers successfully produced models and developed instructional units. The prospective teachers evaluated the proposed approach as effective and suitable for teaching engineering design in school. They noted that RE helped to direct learning and organize the knowledge while making enhanced technical skills and helped to create original and interesting instructional models.
Protection and Management of Internal Faults in Modular Smart Transformer

High penetration of distributed generation and charging stations in the LV distribution grid leads the electric grid to be subjected to violations of voltage and current limits. The Smart Transformer (ST) can effectively solve these challenges by flexible power flow control. Moreover, the ST can provide the DC connectivities. Thus, power control and DC connectivity reduce the reinforcements in the electric grid assets. However, compared to the conventional power transformer, the power electronics-based ST is sensitive to internal faults. Thus, in this paper, the device level short-circuits protection, in particular of SiC-based power semiconductors, is designed first and then a post-fault management solution is proposed to improve the ST capability for fault tolerance and continuous operation. Experimental results are provided to clearly validate the effectiveness of the internal fault protection and management.
Joint User Association and Caching Placement for Cache-Enabled UAVs in Cellular Networks

Cache-enabled unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are considered for caching popular contents and providing downlink data offloading in cellular networks in this paper. In this context, we formulate a joint optimization problem of user association and caching placement for minimizing content acquisition delay with consideration of the energy limitation of UAVs. A matching theory based algorithm is proposed for solving it. More particularly, a three-dimensional (3D) matching problem is formulated to model the relationships among UAVs, users and contents. We decompose it into two two-dimensional (2D) matching problems and provide a low-complexity two-step algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate that: i) the proposed cache-enabled UAV framework is capable of outperforming the conventional UAVassisted cellular networks without cache in terms of content acquisition delay; and ii) the proposed algorithm can achieve a significant reduction of content acquisition delay against two benchmark algorithms without joint optimization of user association and caching placement.
Sulfate‐reducing bacteria: Physiology determines their environmental impact

The cell physiology of the sulfate‐reducing bacteria is considered in the light of the thermodynamic restrictions imposed by the use of sulfate as terminal electron acceptor. Extension of the analysis to particular ecosystems demonstrates that the environmental and economic problems associated with these organisms—pollution, hydrocarbon reservoir souring, and corrosion of carbon steel—are the direct consequences of that cell physiology.
Survey about the most important CCPs of the Agricultural Certification Systems in Greece

Aim of our research was to compare the Critical Control Points (CCPs), between the three agricultural certification systems: Organic Agriculture (OA), Integrated Management (IM) and Conventional Agriculture (CA). For the collection of the information we used non-structured and in-depth interviews, as well as closed-ended questionnaires. A total of 25 people from various fields, always related to agriculture and particularly to certification, attended the interviews. Among those who participated in the interviews were academics, directors of certification organisations and cooperatives, journalists and others. Correspondingly, the sample of persons who completed the questionnaires included people involved in the agricultural sector (eg. producers, processors etc.), constituted of a representative sample of our research target group. Concluding, we found that in Greece the most important CCPs of the three agricultural certification systems were: a) the subsidy in OA production, b) the pricing of IM products and c) the lack of state control in CA.
An analysis of an art project through Reggio Emilia and Deleuzean theory

The study of art has become an important aspect of early childhood education. According to Picasso, “every child is an artist”. However, how do we, as teachers, protect and cultivate children’s art making? Many theories guiding arts education have arisen from developmental psychology, however, in this paper, projects are analysed in relation to Reggio Emilia practice and Deleuzean philosophy. In the last part of the paper, I will reflect on my own arts learning experience and consider new possibilities, referring to Deleuze.
Food habits of wolverine Gulo gulo in montane ecosystems of British Columbia, Canada

Abstract We examined the seasonal food habits of wolverine Gulo gulo in subboreal and interior wet-belt montane environments in British Columbia by analyzing scats collected during the course of two concurrent wolverine studies. Understanding foraging ecology for a wide-ranging carnivore such as the wolverine is important, particularly because reproduction has been demonstrated to be closely linked to food abundance. Wolverine diet was shown to vary regionally and seasonally. Regional variation was related to differences in prey availability between study areas. Moose Alces alces, caribou Rangifer tarandus, and hoary marmots Marmota caligata were abundant and common prey items within both study areas. Mountain goats Oreamnos americanus and porcupine Erithizon dorsatum were more abundant and more frequent prey items in the Columbia Mountains, while snowshoe hare Lepus americanus and beaver Castor canadensis were more abundant and more frequent prey items in the Omineca Mountains. Within the winter season, diet choices by reproductive females were different than other sex and age classes. Caribou, hoary marmots and porcupines were found in significantly higher frequencies in the diet of reproductive females. Foraging observations concurred with the findings of scat analyses. Dependence of reproductive females on a species of current conservation concern (caribou) and one which could be affected by issues related to climate change (hoary marmot) may present conservation issues for wolverines in the future.
Precision-based modeling approaches for necrotizing enterocolitis

ABSTRACT Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the leading cause of death from gastrointestinal disease in premature infants and remains stubbornly difficult to treat in many cases. Much of our understanding of NEC pathogenesis has been gained through the study of highly translational animal models. However, most models of NEC are limited by their overall complexity and by the fact that they do not incorporate human tissue. To address these limitations, investigators have recently developed precision-based ex vivo models of NEC, also termed ‘NEC-in-a-dish’ models, which provide the opportunity to increase our understanding of this disease and for drug discovery. These approaches involve exposing intestinal cells from either humans or animals with or without NEC to a combination of environmental and microbial factors associated with NEC pathogenesis. This Review highlights the current progress in the field of NEC model development, introduces NEC-in-a-dish models as a means to understand NEC pathogenesis and examines the fundamental questions that remain unanswered in NEC research. By answering these questions, and through a renewed focus on precision model development, the research community may finally achieve enduring success in improving the outcome of patients with this devastating disease. Summary: Much of our understanding of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) pathogenesis has been achieved through animal models. Here, we discuss the development of advanced precision-based models to improve outcomes for patients with NEC.
Characterization of peptide dendrimers for DNA delivery inliving cells

The hope of a successful treatment of genetically based diseases like cancer increased with the development of gene therapy in the early 1990’s. The major challenge thereof is the safe and efficient transfer of nucleic acids into eukaryotic cells. As viral vectors (genetically modified viruses) are toxic and immunogenic, non-viral gene delivery systems (synthetic polymers) lacking these disadvantages continue to gain a high profile. To achieve an efficient and safe delivery of nucleic acids into living cells, low generation asymmetric peptide dendrimers comprised of the basic amino acids lysine and arginine were synthesized using the well established solid phase peptide synthesis approach. The mechanisms of peptide dendrimer/DNA complex(dendriplex) formation as well as the complex stoichiometry were inspected by electrophoretic mobility shift assay and a PicoGreen exclusion assay. The dendriplex formation is of electrostatic nature and strongly depends on the charge ratio as well as on the number of dendrimer head group charges. The peptide dendrimers are able to form stable complexes with DNA of various sizes at a charge ratio of two and higher. For effective tracing of the pathway through the cell membrane and quantitative evaluation of cellular uptake the peptide dendrimer was site-specifically labelled with a fluorophore. The optimal transfection charge ratio and the capacity of the peptide dendrimers as a DNA delivery system were examined in two different cell lines (NIH3T3 EpoR and HeLa) by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Efficient transfection of plasmid DNA as well as of single and double stranded oligonucleotides of various lengths with minimal cell toxicity was achieved for both cell lines at a charge ratio of five. The intracellular distribution of the dendriplexes was limited to the cell cytoplasm. The cellular internalization of dendriplexes was found to occur by energy dependent endocytosis including both clathrin-dependent and clathrin-independent uptake pathways. Furthermore, the actin cytoskeleton and the lipid rafts/caveolae are not involved in the dendriplexe uptake mechanism. Due to their low pH (between 5.5-6.5), fluorescent dendriplexes are mainly directed to lysosomes and partially to mitochondria. These studies has demonstrated that low fluorescent labelled generation asymmetric peptide based dendrimers can transfect different mammalian cells in vitro. To possess a potential as a non-viral gene delivery vectors for gene therapy a significant improvement of their transfection efficiency is needed.
Unsupervised Techniques for Blind Audio Source Separation

A typical audio scene is generated by several concurrent audio sources. For example, the speech of a speaker is often obscured by concurrent background speakers or other indoor and outdoor sounds. A human listener’s brain can easily track the audio source of interest [1]. The aim of source separation is to equip machine listeners with similar skills and to solve the cocktail party problem [2]. The problem dimensionality (relation between number of speakers and microphones), the type of mixing environment (instantaneous or convolutive), and noisy, non-stationary, reverberative environments influence the complexity of source separation. The segregated target signal is either listened to or processed further, resulting in better performance in several applications like speech enhancement for hearing aids, automatic speech recognition, automatic speaker recognition and identification, real time speech translation, automatic indexing of large audio databases, audio information retrieval, automatic music transcription etc. Since the advantages offered by BSpS are many, different kinds of algorithms have been proposed for a few decades now. Currently, the state-of-the-art in speech separation is DNN based monaural and array separation algorithms [3]. But DNNs fail in fully blind settings. The solution is to develop unsupervised techniques which need no training data. Though many unsupervised or fully blind methods have been proposed, there are many potential techniques that remain unexplored. The motivation for research has stemmed from these factors. Further, these unsupervised methods may be used for initialization of DNNs for faster convergence and better performance, thus combining the aspects of unsupervised techniques and deep learning in source separation.
Formulação do fungo Coniothyrium minitans para controle do mofo-branco causado por Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, causal agent of white mold, maintains its resistant structures viable for many years in the soil, and its control is difficult. An alternative method for controlling it is the use of Coniothyrium minitans, an antagonistic fungus efficient in attacking the sclerotia. The objective of this work was to develop a method to encapsulate picnidia of C. minitans to control the white mold, using different polymers, such as alginate and pectin supplemented with wheat flour or cellulose and kaolin. Picnidia of C. minitans formulated in alginate 0.5%, cellulose 1.5%, and kaolin 5% survived better at 4 than at 28oC when stored during two months. After this period, only the formulation stored at 4oC maintained its viability. When the formulation was stored at 28oC, the fungus lost its ability to grow after two months. The fungus formulated grew abundantly on the pellets when they were inoculated on PDA. They also reduced completely the disease incidence in infested soil.
Battling Villagers in the Midst of Modern Life in Mata

This discussion aims to present the descriptive analysis of five short stories by Ahmad Tohari in the collection of short stories of Mata yang Enak Dipandang. Well-known for stories richly depict the life of villagers, the short stories reveal the struggles behind a seemingly homogeneous, innocent, and simple village culture with individualistic, heterogeneous, and complexed modern life. The two collide and boil down to the behaviors and reasons that represent the struggles of personal identity and its survival in the late modern life settings. It is within that context, Ahmad Tohari presents different layers of personal struggles of identity that is always faced with challenges to adapt and change in the midst of their respective era.