Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Removal processes of indicator organisms and opportunistic pathogens in an anaerobic digester‐constructed wetland system

Factors affecting the removal of opportunistic pathogens were evaluated in a hybrid constructed wetland (CW2) treating rural wastewater. The correlations between the bacterial population and the environmental variables showed that bacteria discharge was the result of abiotic factors change such as temperature (T), electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), organic matter and nutrient availability, as well as biotic factors like antagonism and competition with the native microbial community. However, the contribution of each factor depends on bacteria nature, on the influence of wetland design, availability of oxygen, season, presence of plant, and wastewater composition. Higher removals rates of biochemical oxygen demand BOD5 (94.64 ± 3.92%), chemical oxygen demand COD (90.91 ± 6.81%), total suspended solids TSS (98.05 ± 1.18%), nitrogen (total Kjeldahl nitrogen TKN (81.78 ± 11.01%), ammonia nitrogen NH4+ (92.17 ± 6.56%), orthophosphate PO43- (79.73 ± 10.41%) and bacteria (>98%) were observed in CW2.
Multi-Objective Optimal STATCOM Allocation for Voltage Sag Mitigation

Voltage sags mitigation has become a significant concern for utilities due to the pressure from both customers and regulators recently. This paper proposes a novel multi-objective optimization formulation for STATCOM allocation problem to mitigate voltage sags. The allocation of STATCOM is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem (MOP) with two conflicting objectives including the voltage sag performance and annual investment costs of STATCOM. To analytically evaluate the voltage sag performance in the optimization process, a mathematical voltage sag profile calculation model of power system with multiple STATCOMs is proposed and solved by nonlinear programming method. System Average RMS Variation Frequency index-X index is chosen to quantify the voltage sag performance for optimization. Sensitivity-based candidate bus selection is also performed as an essential step to reduce problem size. An improved multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) called SPEA2+SDE (Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm with shifting density estimation) is utilized to solve the proposed MOP model, so a set of Pareto optimal STATCOM allocations for voltage sag mitigation can be derived demonstrating the trade-off between two objectives and better supporting the decision-making. IEEE 30-bus system and IEEE 118-bus system are tested to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of proposed method.
Sensors With Multifold Nanorod Metasurfaces Array Based on Hyperbolic Metamaterials

The sensors with multifold nanorod metasurfaces array based on hyperbolic metamaterials with a multi-film structure are proposed in this paper. The Fano-like effect is analyzed to explain the coupling between different hyperbolic metamaterials structures. The sensors can be improved not only by changing the structure parameters, but also by changing the metamaterials’ properties, such as filling factor, length and arrangement patterns are studied. The performance of the sensor is improved four to five times in comparison with the original structure through increasing the number of the hyperbolic metamaterials structures. This will lead to new applications in optical switches and other fields.
Self-Tuning High-Voltage and High-Frequency Sinusoidal Power Supply for Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Generation

In this paper a high-voltage sinusoidal power supply controlled by Arduino DUE micro-controller is described. This generator can feed a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) load with sinusoidal voltages up to 20 kV peak and frequencies in the range 10–60 kHz, with a maximum output power of 200 W. Output voltage can be produced either in a continuous mode, or with on/off modulation cycles, according to treatment/application requirements. This power source is equipped with on-board diagnostics used to measure the output voltage and the charge delivered to the load. With a sample frequency of 500 kHz, Arduino DUE allows to evaluate both the high voltage and the average power feeding the discharge without the use of an expensive external measurement setup. Lissajous techniques are utilized to calculate discharge average power in a quasi-real-time manner. When a load is connected to high-voltage terminals, a self-tuning procedure is carried out to obtain the best working frequency. This parameter allows to minimize power-electronic component stress and to maximize generator efficiency.
Beta-blockade in CHF : pathophysiological considerations

Sympathetic activation leading to raised levels of catecholamines is one of the earliest responses to the fall in cardiac output that occurs in chronic heart failure (CHF). Raised catecholamine levels have numerous adverse effects that can be counteracted by beta-blockers. For example, the increased heart rate associated with sympathetic activation is associated with a poor prognosis in CHF. In the major beta-blocker trials in CHF a reduction in mortality of about 35% was consistently demonstrated with beta-blockade, which was associated with a reduction in heart rate of 10-15 bpm. The resting heart rate predicts longevity in many mammalian species. A limited ability to increase heart rate during exercise (chronotropic incompetence) in left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and CHF also predicts mortality. Beta-blockers increase heart rate variability by rebalancing the sympatho-vagal axis. Beta-blockers also reduce remodelling in CHF, increase LV ejection fraction, reduce end-systolic volume, and improve ventricular filling time. They are also believed to have a direct anti-arrhythmic action that protects against sudden cardiac death and to have additional effects at the cellular level on myocyte hypertrophy and apoptosis.
An Efficient Model of Nanoelectromechanical Systems Based Ultrasonic Sensor With Fringing Field Effects

In this work, modeling of parasitic capacitance due to fringing field and its influence on the performance of nano-electro-mechanical-system (NEMS) capacitive micromachined ultrasonic sensor (CMUT) is reported. The fringing effect was modeled with the help of empirical approach which is based on equivalent parallel plate capacitor employing circular membrane approximation. While accommodating the fringing field, the finiteness of the electrode diameter was taken care of. Two important performance parameters, electromechanical coupling coefficient and collapse voltage, were modeled. Influence of the fringing field from a finite dimensional electrode on various structural parameters was also investigated. Capacitance of a single cell, including the static deformation produced by polarizing voltage was evaluated numerically. As an important figure of merit, it was observed that the coupling factor is strongly dependent on the bias voltage, radius, membrane thickness, and also on the electrode separation. The factor approaches unity for higher bias (close to collapse) and large diameter thin membranes. Comparative study of percentage errors for direct and fringing model shows a significant improvement in the case of fringing approach, as expected. The error percentage for the evaluation of the collapse voltage shows a reduction of more than 10%.
A Novel Plant Propagation-Based Cascaded Fractional Order PI Controller for Optimal Operation of Grid-Connected Single-Stage Three-Phase Solar Photovoltaic System

Grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) inverters are gaining attention all over the world. The optimal controller setting is key to the successful operation of a grid-connected PV system. In this paper, a novel plant propagation algorithm-based fractional order proportional-integrator (FOPI) controller for cascaded DC link voltage and inner current control of a grid-connected PV controller has been proposed, which outperforms particle swarm optimization-based PI and elephant herding optimization-based FOPI in terms of multicriteria-based analysis. The performance of the proposed controller also has been measured in terms of total harmonic distortion to maintain the appropriate power quality. Also, the proposed controllers were tested under various solar irradiance and voltage sag conditions to show the effectiveness and robustness of the controllers. The whole system is developed in OPAL-RT using MATLAB/Simulink and RT-LAB as a machine-in-loop (MIL) system to validate the performance in real time.
Espesor corneal central en el glaucoma juvenil Central corneal thickness in juvenile glaucoma

Introduction: juvenile glaucoma is an uncommon variety and its clinical manifestations can simulate a primary glaucoma of open angle. Objective: to assess the behavior of central corneal thickness in juvenile glaucoma. Material and Method: an analytical, longitudinal and prospective study was carried out including 29 patients suffering from juvenile glaucoma who attended to the specialized center of Ophthalmology at “Pepe Portilla” children hospital, Pinar del Rio from June 2010 to December 2011. Results: the average age was 18, with a majority of male patients (51.72 %), and Caucasian, without statistical value. This figure (51.72 %) referred familial history of glaucoma; 93.10 % presented open angle glaucoma and 65.51% had a central corneal thickness inferior to 539 μm prevailing in this group a highly significant value of intraocular pressure between 22-25 mmHg was present in the 84.21% of them. No relationship was found between low-central corneal thicknesses and papillary-glaucoma alterations, a significant-statistical relationship among the values of intraocular pressure superior than 22mmHg and excavations greater than 0.5 with 92.85 % were found. Conclusion: both sexes and races were equally affected prevailing patients suffering from open-angle glaucoma, family history was very important to establish the diagnosis; finding a significant association between the low corneal thickness and high figures of intra-ocular pressure not present in papillary glaucoma damage, which was related to high values of intra-ocular pressure. DeCS: Glaucoma/diagnosis, Eye diseases.
Stochastic Geometry-Based Model for Dynamic Allocation of Metering Equipment in Spatio-Temporal Expanding Power Grids

With smart grids replacing conventional power grids and rapidly expanding in both space and time, ensuring an acceptable system observability becomes a challenge in spatio-temporal expanding power grids. In addition, system operators face another challenge, namely, financial budget constraints. To address these challenges, a metering equipment allocation strategy for monitoring of the power grid state needs to be dynamic in both space and time. Unfortunately, existing metering allocation strategies are quite limited. They usually deal with static power grid topologies, and hence, do not reflect the spatio-temporal expansion of the power grid. In this paper, a spatio-temporal power grid model is proposed based on stochastic geometry, which we show that it is in a good match with real-world power grids. The proposed model enables us to carry out tractable dynamic allocation of metering equipment in a large (city-wide) and structurally evolving power grid. Using the developed model, a multi-year algorithm for the allocation of metering equipment is proposed based on finite horizon dynamic programming, given budgetary and technical constraints on system observability. Several case studies for metering allocation are demonstrated through simulation results.
Informal caregiver burden in middle-income countries

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate caregiver burden based on Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and depression in caregivers on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Methods: Literate individuals, 18 years or older, who spoke Spanish as their native language were included. Demographic characteristics: Age, sex, education, relationship to person with dementia, length of time caregiving, other sources of help for caring, impact on the household economy, family support, and perception of impaired health; and Clinical data on care-recipients: type of dementia, time since diagnosis, treatment, and Global Deterioration Scale (GDS); the ZBI and BDI-II. Descriptive and analytical statistics were employed to assess caregiver burden and predictors of higher burden in caregivers. Results: A total of 92 informal caregivers were evaluated. Regarding care-recipients, 75% were 69 years old or over, 75% had at least one year since diagnosis, 73.9% had Alzheimer's disease, 84.8% received treatment, 75% scored 5 or over on the GDS. For caregivers, 75% were 55.5 years old or over, predominantly female (81.5%), married (83.7%), the spouse of care-recipients (60.87%), had at least 10 years of education (75.0%) and one year of caregiving (75%), reduced entertainment time (90.2%) and self-perception of impaired health (83.7%). Median score on the ZBI was 37.5 (minimum value = 3; and maximum value = 74). The coefficient of BDI was 1.38 (p-value <0.001). Conclusion: This sample of Peruvian informal caregivers showed elevated ZBI values. Self-perception of worsened health, repercussion on the family economy and time caregiving were the main determinants of ZBI, although only BDI was a consistent predictor of ZBI.
Defining Time-to-Collision Thresholds by the Type of Lead Vehicle in Non-Lane-Based Traffic Environments

While anecdotal evidence suggests the consideration of a constant time-to-collision (TTC) threshold in advanced driver assistance systems, yet the prospect of the warning criterion acting as a catalyst for the evaluation of conflict severities in non-lane based traffic environments needs further assessment. The current study attempts to provide a copula-based framework to capture the potential dependence between TTC and centerline separation between the interacting vehicles in staggered-following events according to lead vehicle type. Detailed trajectory data extracted from the video footage of urban roads were used for the purpose of this study. Considering negative association between the considered variables and checked by the performance measures, the bivariate Frank copula model is found acceptable to model the bivariate dependency structure between TTC and CS. In particular, the results of the study corroborate a pragmatic decreasing relationship of TTC with increasing CS and decrease in lead vehicle size- a finding which indicates that the risk level of riders in staggered-following scenario varies by the type of front vehicle ahead and the lateral positioning of the vehicles. Based on the results presented in this paper, our recommendation is to use different minimum TTC thresholds for different centerline separations and leader-follower pairs to suitably evaluate traffic safety in such non-lane based traffic environments.
Polish on-line resources for community nurses

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to present our experiences in supplying seminars for community nurses and other their self-educational activities with Polish online resources free distributed in the Internet. We didn’t pretended to give scrupulous review of all Polish medical and health Web sites. The choice was got subjectively, but all links mentioned in the paper were find useful in own Author’s didactic practice. Material and methods: In the paper several Web hosts were classified into five categories: legal and organizational information; handbooks and readings for nurses’ self-education; didactic aids and readings for patients; diagnostic and organizational tools; mailing lists for nurses. Results: It was stated that Polish on-line resources to assist community health nurses implement their role are becoming more accessible. There are observed somewhere lack of up-to-date information, but more frightening away is lack of credible guidance on the trustworthiness of healthrelated information. Conclusions: The on-line resources should not be treated only as tool for making our lessons more brilliant. The main goal there is to train the practical skills necessary for reading and critically evaluating medical literature, to make students sensitive to the reliability and credibility of information.
Secondary and Tertiary Prevention at Different Stages in the Development of Heart Failure

'' I! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS' III! LIST'OF'INCLUDED'MANUSCRIPTS' XII! LIST'OF'ABBREVIATIONS' XIV! INTRODUCTION' 1! CHAPTER'1 1.1! HEART'FAILURE' 2! 1.1.1! DEFINITION! 2! 1.1.2! STAGES! OF! HEART! FAILURE! 2! 1.1.3! CLINICAL! PRESENTATION! 4! 1.1.4! DIAGNOSIS! 5! 1.1.5! EPIDEMIOLOGY! 6! 1.1.6! PROGNOSIS! 7! 1.2! PREVENTION'OF'DISEASE' 8! 1.2.1! THE! CONCEPT! OF! PREVENTION! 8! 1.2.2! STRATEGY! 8! 1.2.3! LEVELS! OF! PREVENTION! 9! 1.2.4! SCREENING! 10! 1.3! PREVENTION'OF'HEART'FAILURE' 13! 1.3.1! RATIONALE! 13! 1.3. 2! PRIMORDIAL! 13! 1.3. 3! PRIMARY! 14! 1.3. 4! SECONDARY! 14! 1.3. 5! TERTIARY! 15! 1.4! GOAL' 16! 1.5! OBJECTIVES' 16! 1.6! SUBAOBJECTIVES' 16! PART A '''SECONDARY PREVENTION IN STAGE B HEART FAILURE 19! INTRODUCTION' 20! CHAPTER'2 2.1! BACKGROUND' 21! 2.2! RATIONALE' 22! 2.2.1! TYPE! 2! DIABETES! MELLITUS! 22! 2.2.2! ABNORMALITIES! OF! LV! GEOMETRY! 22! 2.3! TYPE'2'DIABETES'MELLITUS' 22! 2.3.1! DEFINITION! 23! 2.3. 2! PREVALENCE! 23! 2.3. 3! PROGNOSIS! 24! 2.3. 4! COMPLICATIONS! 24! 2.4! ABNORMALITIES'OF'LEFT'VENTRICULAR'GEOMETRY' 25! 2.4. 1! LEFT! VENTRICULAR! HYPERTROPHY! 25! 2.4. 2! CONCENTRIC! REMODELLING! 32! 2.5! OBJECTIVES'FOR'PART'A' 33! EARLY'DETECTION'AND'SIGNIFICANCE'OF'STRUCTURAL' CHAPTER'3 CARDIOVASCULAR'ABNORMALITIES'IN'PATIENTS'WITH'TYPE'2' DIABETES'MELLITUS' 35! 3.1! INTRODUCTION' 36!
Machine Learning Driven Approach Towards the Quality Assessment of Fresh Fruits Using Non-Invasive Sensing

In agriculture science, accurate information of moisture content (MC) in fruits and vegetables in an automated fashion can be vital for astute quality and grading evaluation. This demands for a viable, feasible and cost-effective technique for the defect recognition using timely detection of MC in fruits and vegetables to maintain a healthy sensory characteristic of fruits. Here we propose a non-invasive machine learning (ML) driven technique to monitor variations of MC in fruits using the terahertz (THz) waves with Swissto12 material characterization kit (MCK) in the frequency range of 0.75 THz to 1.1 THz. In this regard, multi-domain features are extracted from time-, frequency-, and time-frequency domains, and applied three ML algorithms such as support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbour (KNN) and Decision Tree (D-Tree) for the precise assessment of MC in both apple and mango slices. The results illustrated that the performance of SVM exceeded other classifiers results using 10-fold validation and leave-one-observation-out-cross-validation techniques. Moreover, all three classifiers exhibited 100% accuracy for day 1 and 4 with 80% MC value (freshness) and 2% MC value (staleness) of both fruits’ slices, respectively. Similarly, for day 2 and 3, an accuracy of 95% was achieved with intermediate MC values in both fruits’ slices. This study will pave a new direction for the real-time quality evaluation of fruits in a non-invasive manner by incorporating ML with THz sensing at a cellular level. It also has a strong potential to optimize economic benefits by the timely detection of fruits quality in an automated fashion.
Flexible Actuators for Soft Robotics

Rigid robots have taken on a variety of automated manufacturing tasks and have made a huge contribution to industrial development; however, they are not suitable for further wearable applications due to their rigid and bulky structure, poor environmental adaptability, and low safety. Soft robots, which are mainly fabricated with ﬂexible or elastomeric materials, can easily adjust to environmental changes and accomplish complex tasks, offering a new paradigm to achieve human–machine compliance. Soft robots do not replace rigid robots but add diverse features for softer robotic applications. In particular, the use of flexible actuators in robotic systems can realize certain intelligent functions, enrich soft robotic systems and migrate academic research to engineering applications. Currently, the application of flexible actuators in soft robotic fields is still at the embryonic stage. However, tremendous application spaces can be envisaged when combining flexible actuators with soft wearable robotics. Therefore, the current flexible actuators that rely on different external stimuli are addressed herein, and their materials, designs, and approaches suitable for soft robotic applications are highlighted. The application advancement and future perspective of flexible actuator prototypes toward various soft robotics are also discussed.
Lane‐keeping control based on an improved artificial potential method and coordination of steering/braking systems

Based on the impact of the vehicle velocity on the potential field function, considering the overall lane-keeping performance and vehicle stability, the yaw angular adjusting factor is introduced to regulate the potential field function. The proportions of vehicle velocity and yaw angle factors in potential field function are distributed by extension decision. The sliding mode controller is designed based on the two-degree-of-freedom vehicle dynamics model to obtain the front wheel steering angle. The fuzzy decision is made for the dynamic thresholds of distance deviation and angle deviation of lane-keeping system to avoid the control frequently start-up. Next, the combined control strategy of active steering and differential braking systems is designed based on vehicle driving safety boundary, and the yaw angle rate and mass-centroid sideslip angle are selected as the characteristic variables for dividing the vehicle driving safety regions. The different weights are determined for the steering and braking systems in different regions. Finally, the simulation by Carsim/Simulink and the hardware-in-loop test are carried out to demonstrate that it is effective and superior by adopting the sliding-mode controller based on the improved artificial potential function and the coordination strategy of steering and braking systems.
Motion-Induction Compensation to Mitigate Sub-Synchronous Oscillation in Wind Farms

This paper presents a comprehensive solution to mitigate the sub-synchronous oscillation (SSO) in wind farms connected to series-compensated transmission lines. The concept of motion-induction amplification (MIA) is introduced to reinterpret the physical root cause of the negative resistance in doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs). Based on this new interpretation, a novel control scheme called motion-induction compensation (MIC) is proposed to counteract the MIA effect. The MIC control eliminates the negative resistance in DFIGs across the entire frequency range, and makes the Type-III (DFIG) generator behave like a Type-IV generator in dynamics. The proposed solution provides wide-range SSO damping and also shows excellent robustness against model and measurement errors.
Voltage-Balancing Strategy for Three-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Cascade Converter under Sequence Smooth Modulation

Three-level neutral-point clamped cascaded converters (3LNPC-CC) are widely used in high power nigh-voltage applications. This paper mainly discusses the open-circuit fault in DC-side of the 3LNPC-CC. Optimized by the sequence pulse modulation, a sequence smooth modulation (SSM) is proposed to keep the DC-side voltage balance while the 3LNPC-CC suffers open-circuit fault from DC-side. The SSM found efficient switch-state path through a 3-D cube model and simplified the path from thousands of switch state. The SSM avoids the complex calculation in the voltage-balancing modulation, while the dynamic character of it was less influenced. At the same time, the modulation changes the voltage level smoothly and balances the fault DC-side voltage effectively. The characters of the proposed modulation are verified by the simulation and the experiment.