Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
KONSTANTIN KHRAMTCOV ANALYSIS OF POWER SUPPLY METHODS FOR WIRELESS BIOMEDICAL SENSORS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

KONSTANTIN KHRAMTCOV: TUT Thesis Template Tampere University of Technology Master of Science Thesis, 68 pages, June 2018 Master’s Degree Programme in Electrical Engineering Major: Wireless communications Examiners: Professor Leena Ukkonen, Professor Lauri Sydänheimo
Angular Dependence of the MatriXX Evolution

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the angular response to dose of the MatriXX Evolution, manufactured by IBA Dosimetry, a 2-dimensional ion chamber array used for patient specific quality assurance of advanced radiotherapy techniques such as IMRT and VMAT. Investigations were made to characterize the angular response of the MatriXX and describe any differences from the Philips Pinnacle 3 Treatment Planning System (TPS) used at the Juravinski Cancer Centre. A comparison was made between the gantry angle dependent correction factors supplied by the manufacturer and those derived by measurement. Gantry angle dependent correction factors were derived, with the MatriXX under 5cm polystyrene build-up and without any build-up, for the 5 x 5 cm 2 , 10 x 10 cm 2 and 20 x 20 cm 2 field sizes. For gantry angles ranging from 320 o to 40 o the maximum difference between the derived gantry angle dependent correction factors and those provided by the manufacturer is 1.5%, at a gantry angle of 320 o , a 5 x 5 cm 2 field and MSc. Thesis Daniel Sopher, B MedPhys. McMaster – Medical Physics iv without build-up. The differences for the 10 x 10 cm 2 and 20 x 20 cm 2 fields within this gantry angle range are less than 1%. Between gantry angles of 50 o and 130 o the largest difference is 4.9% at 100 o , for the 5 x 5 cm 2 field without buildup. The other field sizes show similar differences; 4.7% at gantry angle of 120 o for 10 x 10 cm 2 with build-up and 4.0% at a gantry angle of 80 o without build-up. Between gantry angles of 140 o to 220 o the greatest discrepancy is for the 5 x 5 cm 2 field with build-up, a difference of 3.0%. The 10 x 10 cm 2 has a maximum difference of 2.4% at gantry angles of 180 o and 200 o , both when the MatriXX has build-up. The maximum discrepancy for gantry angle dependent correction factors for the 20 x 20 cm 2 fields is at a gantry angle of 140 o , when the MatriXX has build-up. Between the gantry angles of 230 o to 310 o the largest discrepancy occurs between the derived gantry angle dependent correction factors and those supplied by the manufacturer. For the 5 x 5 cm 2 , 10 x 10 cm 2 and 20 x 20 cm 2 fields respectively the largest differences are 5.9%, 4.5% and 4.9%. All three occur when there is no build-up. MSc. Thesis Daniel Sopher, B MedPhys. McMaster – Medical Physics
Speech-Driven Arm Gestures Synthesis in Multimodal Human-Robot Interaction

Short Abstract— In multimodal human-robot interaction (HRI), the process of communication can be established thr ough verbal, non-verbal, and/or para-verbal cues. While non-verbal communication includes gestural/postural messages, the paraverbal communication includes voice volume, pitch a nd speaking style. Moreover, verbal communication focuses on th e semantic reference of the spoken words. The linguistic liter ature shows that para-verbal and non-verbal communications are naturally synchronized [2]. This research focuses on the rela tion between non-verbal and para-verbal communication by mapping prosody cues to the corresponding arm gestures. Our approac h uses the coupled hidden markov models (CHMMs), which could be seen as a collection of HMMs, one for the arm movements’ stream and one for the prosodic characteristics’ stream.
Preparation and Characterization of Sol-gel Silica-modified Kenaf Bast Microfiber/Polypropylene Composites

The present study was conducted to determine the influence of the chemically modified kenaf bast fiber (KBF) on the mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties of fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites. The KBF was modified via the in situ sol-gel silica process through soaking the KBF in tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) at a pH of 11, room temperature (25 °C ± 1 °C), and a KBF to TEOS ratio of 1:10 for 24 h. Silica successfully formed on the surface of the KBF. Subsequently, the sol-gel silica-modified KBF was utilized to produce sol-gel silica-modified KBF-reinforced polypropylene (PP-KBF-S) composites. Several analytical methods were utilized to determine the mechanical, morphological, and thermal properties of the PP-KBF-S composites, which were then compared with those of the untreated KBF-reinforced polypropylene composite. The findings revealed that sol-gel silica modification of the KBF reduced the void content and enhanced the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the PP-KBF-S.
Multiple Model Adaptive Tracking Control Based on Adaptive Dynamic Programming

Adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) has been tested as an effective method for optimal control of nonlinear system. However, as the structure of ADP requires control input to satisfy the initial admissible control condition, the control performance may be deteriorated due to abrupt parameter change or system failure. In this paper, we introduce the multiple models idea into ADP, multiple subcontrollers run in parallel to supply multiple initial conditions for different environments, and a switching index is set up to decide the appropriate initial conditions for current system. By taking this strategy, the proposed multiple model ADP achieves optimal control for system with jumping parameters. The convergence of multiple model adaptive control based on ADP is proved and the simulation shows that the proposed method can improve the transient response of system effectively.
Clustering Dependencies over Relational Tables

Integrity constraints have proven to be valuable in the database field. Not only can they help schema design (functional dependencies, FDs [1][2]), they can also be used in query optimization (ordering dependencies, ODs [4][5][8][9]), or data cleaning (conditional functional dependencies, CFDs [12] and denial constraints, DCs [14]). In this thesis, however, we will introduce a new type of integrity constraint, called a clustering dependency (CD). Similar to ordering dependencies which rely on the database operation ORDER BY, clustering dependencies focus on studying the operation GROUP BY. Furthermore, we claim that clustering dependencies are useful not only in query optimization as most integrity constraints do, but also useful in data visualization, data analysis and MapReduce. In this thesis, we first introduce some examples of clustering dependencies in a real-life dataset. We then formally define clustering dependencies and elaborate on our motivation. We will also look into the reasoning system for clustering dependencies including the implication problem, consistency problem and influence rules for clustering dependencies. After that, we will propose two algorithms for clustering dependencies, first a checking algorithm that is able to check if a given dependency is valid in a table within O(N ∗M) time, with N being the number of rows and M being the size of potentially aggregated attributes, a.k. a, the size of the right-hand-side attributes. Secondly, we propose a mining algorithm that is able to discover all potential clustering dependencies occurring in a table. Finally, we will use both synthetic and real-life data to test the performance of our mining algorithm.
P o S ( M R U ) 1 1 7 Starburst / AGN discrimination from combined MERLIN and VLA imaging of the 13 hr deep survey

E-mail: azoghbi@ast.cam. ac.uk 1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southam pton, SO17 1BJ. 2 Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA 3 Spitzer Science Center, Caltech, 1200 East California Boul evard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. 4 Nuffield Radio Astronomy Observatory, Jodrell Bank 5 Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL, Holmbury St. Marry, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK 6 SALT, PO box 9, Observatory, 7925, South Africa
Augmentation of Thermal Conductivity for Polypropylene / Ethylene-vinyl Acetate Based Composites Filled by Organic and Inorganic Particles

Emerging thermal dissipation of many electronic devices, i.e. light emitting diodes, energy storage components, CPU chips etc. as well as in many emergent new applications (smart textile, self-assembling materials, etc.) is a great challenge. The reliance of thermal conductivity of composites on the filler loading, filler networking morphology and on the whole composite structure is also discussed. This work is intended to design composites for the improvement of thermal conductivity of polypropylene and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer with lower filler contents. As filler both organic (activated carbon) and inorganic (alumina) materials alone or in a combination of various relative proportions have been used. An internal blending unit was used for melting the copolymer and proper mixing the filler particles with the molten matrix. Final composites were made by the hot press. Then Lee's Disc apparatus was used to measure the thermal conductivity of various composite samples by steady-state method. Experimental results show that only carbon black addition was not adequate to increase the thermal conductivity of the composites to expected level. The experimental value compare with some theoretical model to describe the prediction value accuracy for such multiphase composite. However, addition of small amount of alumina powder with carbon black significantly increased the copolymer composites.
Annona muricata to have antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli Streptococcus pyogenes , Bacillus subtilis , Salmonella typhimurium and Klebsiella pneumonia

Plants produce wide variety of phytochemical compounds which have been known to perform most biological activities such as antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant activities etc. Plants which possess these medicinal properties are known to be medicinal plants. In this study, Annona muricata, Piper betle and Mentha spicata were collected from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The crude extracts were taken using various solvents like acetone, ethanol, chloroform, toluene and petroleum ether. All the extracts were subjected for qualitative analysis for the phytochemicals. All the samples were also subjected for antibacterial activity and TLC bioautography analysis for antioxidants. Since they found to possess antioxidant activity, quantitative assay for antioxidant activity like DPPH and FRAP assays were performed.
SYSTEM BASED ON AN ANDROID PLATFORM AS A SENSOR TO ASSIST THE AUTONOMOUS LOCALIZATION

Project developed to study the use of mobile devices, smartphones, provided with the Android operating platform as a sensor to aid the autonomous localization of robotic systems in indoor environments. The development includes the location of the robotic system by the camera of the device, with which landmarks are detected, extracting information of position and angulation of the robotics system, and the aid to the navigation by the built-in sensors, such as accelerometer, magnetic compass and gyroscope, which also were submitted to a sensor fusion technique. So, was developed an application that can extract data and perform communication with the robotic system or any other external control system. Thus, tests and validations were performed, evaluating the accuracy and performance of the sensors and the algorithms used for data acquisition, which exceeded expectations, allowing a basic autonomous localization in a controlled environment. Finally, was concluded that the main objective of the work was accomplished, validating the use of mobile devices supplied with the Android OS as a system of sensors applicable to autonomous localization of robotic systems.
Chapter 4 Spectrum Decision Framework to Support Cognitive Radio Based IoT in 5 G

RF Spectrum Decision in Cognitive Radio enables unlicensed users of wireless communication systems to occupy the vacant spectrum slots as a solution to scarce spectrum. Internet of Things (IoT) is a wide-reaching network of unified entities. IoT capable things will be interconnected through wireless communication technologies offering costeffectiveness and accessibility to remote users making quality life style. IoT implementation suffers from challenges of vulnerabilities to dynamic environmental conditions, ease of access, bandwidth allocation and utilization, and cost to purchase RF spectrum. As RF spectrum is a precious commodity and there is a dearth of RF spectrum, hence IoT connections are drifting towards Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs). Permeating things with cognitive abilities will be able to make RF spectrum decisions to achieve interference-free and wireless connectivity as per their QoS requirements. The wireless systems are rapidly advancing. The leap from packet switching along with circuit switching with 144 kbps data rate (2G and 2.5G) to Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), i.e., 4G occurred in one decade time frame. As the current wireless connectivity is aimed at higher capacity, higher data rate, low end-to-end latency, massive device connectivity, reduced cost and consistent Quality of Experience (QoE) provision, therefore, 4G is being replaced with 5G. Presently the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum band is fully sold out and allocated to various wireless operators and applications. On the other hand, new wireless applications are emerging and there is a serious dearth of frequency spectrum to be allocated to emerging wireless services. The efficient utilization of assigned RF spectrum which is otherwise underutilized due to the typical usage by the licensed users known as Primary Users (PUs) is the one of the best possible way to implement IoT in 5G. Thus the Spectrum Decision by unlicensed users of CR holds a significance in CR-based IoT in 5G and beyond network. This chapter describes a scientific supported spectrum decision support framework for CR Network. The main goal of this chapter is to discuss how CR technology can be helpful for the IoT paradigm. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The Relationship between Plasma Soluble Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products and Coronary Artery Disease

Background Inflammation is involved in the development and progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). The role of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) in the development of CAD has been recognized. The expression of sRAGE and S100A12 in patients with coronary artery disease from different studies was inconsistent. We attempted to determine the expression of sRAGE and S100A12 and their relationship in the subjects with different severity levels of CAD. Methods A total of 259 patients undergoing coronary angiography were enrolled from the Department of Geriatric Cardiology in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2014 to December 2016. Groups were divided as follows: normal coronary artery (control group), nonobstructive coronary atherosclerosis (<50% stenosis in all coronary vessels, NOCA group), stable angina (SAP group), and acute coronary syndrome (ACS group). During CAG or PCI, peripheral arterial blood was collected from all the patients. Plasma sRAGE and S100A12 levels were measured by ELISA. We calculated the SYNTAX score of each patient with CAD according to the result of CAG. Results The levels of sRAGE were significantly elevated in the ACS group compared with those in the control group, the NOCA group, and the SAP group. sRAGE levels were similar among the control group, the NOCA group, and the SAP group. Plasma S100A12 levels were significantly higher in the ACS group than in the control group and the NOCA group. Baseline correlations between plasma levels of sRAGE and plasma S100A12 in the ACS group were significant. Plasma sRAGE concentration was increasing in patients with ACS and was significantly positively correlated with the increasing SYNTAX score. ROC curve analysis revealed that the combination of sRAGE and S100A12 had a good performance in the prediction of high-risk CAD patients. Conclusion The plasma levels of sRAGE and S100A12 can be increased in patients with ACS. The elevated sRAGE concentration may be independently associated with the severity of CAD and the inflammatory process. sRAGE combined with S100A12 may be used as a predictor of severe coronary heart disease.
Accruals, Investment and Errors-in-Variables

We formulate well-known discretionary accruals models in an investment setting. Given that accruals basically consist of short-term investment, we introduce, (i) cash-flows, as a proxy for financial constraints and other financial markets imperfections, and (ii) Tobin’s q as a measure of capital return. Accounting data and Tobin’s q being measured with errors, we propose an econometric method based on a modified version of the Hausman artificial regression which features an optimal weighting matrix of higher moments instrumental variable estimators. The empirical results suggest that all the key parameters of the discretionary accruals models studied are biased systematically with measurement errors.
The Fraction of Hydrogen Isotope During Earth ’ s Evolution

A theoretical simulation on the process by which the hydrogen isotope differentiation took place in the Earth during its early stage of evolution has been made by a model for the Earth’s evolution. The result shows that, after having experienced a degassing process when the Earth became an open system from a close system, significant fractionation of the hydrogen isotope composition took place in the Earth’s hydrosphere, crust and mantle. The closer to the Earth’s core, the more negative the δD value of matter is. In other words, mantle-derived fluids are of extremely negative δD value. The initial δD value of the Earth was about −3/00 (relative SMOW) immediately after the Earth had been formed. The water content of the hydrosphere makes up about 96% of the total on the Earth. This has opened up a way of imminent Earthquake prediction by use of the hydrogen isotope changes that occur in hot springs along active deep faults.
Nutrient Contents in Sugarcane Biomass in the First Regrowth Cycle

Sugarcane extracts and accumulates high amounts of soil nutrients, because it produces large amounts of biomass. Nutrient contents for varieties widely used in the past can be found in the literature, but there is little information on current cultivars. In view of these considerations, the study aimed to determine the nutrient concentration in the shoot biomass of sugarcane varieties in the first regrowth cycle. The study was conducted at a Latossolo Amarelo in Fazenda Jequia, located in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. The experiment was a randomized block design with five replicates, consisting of four sugarcane varieties: SP813250, RB867515, RB92579 and VAT90212. At maturity of the first regrowth sugarcane, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), Ca (calcium), Mg (magnesium), S (sulfur), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and Boron (B) contents were determined. Varietal differences were found in nutrient contents. However, no variety showed higher concentration for all the elements. The varieties showed the following order of macronutrient concentrations: K > N > Ca > Mg > S > P. The average values were 0.47, 0.08, 0.66, 0.15, 0.13 and 0.11 dag kg -1 of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S, respectively. Concentrations of 9.9, 98.7, 29.2, 1.9 and 4.4 mg kg -1 of Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B were found for the micronutrients, respectively.
Gender Adeptness Among Educational Administrators for Leading Innovative Initiatives in Public Education

It may be concluded that female administrators are perceived as being more adept than their male counterparts for leading innovation in schools and leveraging resources into productive outputs. It may be concluded that both genders of administrators perceive such efforts similarly. The only two skills where gender is significant are the two competencies identified as being alert for new opportunities and synthesizing ideas into focused projects. For the other eight skills indicated in the survey, gender did not play a significant role in such perceptions.
Fish death in mountain lakes in southwestern Norway during late 1800 s and early 1900 s – a review of historical data

Most of the historical data regarding fish and fish populations in mountain lakes in southwestern Norway is currently not very available. In this study we have succeeded in aquiring a number of such old data sources, and we have extracted rele­ vant information on fish and fish populations. These old data reveal that trout populations in mountain areas in southwestern Norway became severely diminished, or even extinct, apparently during the two periods 1860­1890 and 1910­ 1930. Our results support the most recent hypo­ thesis, that a combination of “sea salt episodes” and emerging acidification may have contributed to the fish death in the latter of these two periods. Introduction Due to the geography, comprising numerous migration barriers, most of the trout (Salmo trutta L.) in the inland and mountain areas in Norway have at some point of time been stocked (Huitfeldt­Kaas 1924, Sømme 1941). At Hardan­ gervidda mountain plateau (1000­1300 m a.s.l.), trout bones dating back to the Stone Age have been found (Indrelid 1994), and a discription of Eilifr Elgr stocking fish (trout) in Lake Raudsjøen in Gausdal is found on a rune stone from 1050­ 1100. Huitfeldt­Kaas (1924) linked the compre­ hensive stocking of trout to settling, and a subsequent need of a reliable source of food. From the high mountain summer farms (“støler”) in southwestern Norway, trout fishing was an important and necessary part of the exploitation of the mountain resources (Pedersen and Solli 1978). In this area, the stocking have also been linked to medieval mountain paths (L’Abée­Lund 1985). Thus, possessing detailed information about trout and trout lakes was a matter of sur­ vival in these barren mountain areas in ancient
TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF GRASS PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CENTRAL NAMIB DESERT

The production of grass was investigated on the gravel plains of the Central Namib Desert, Namibia, during 10 rainfall seasons sampled between 1989-2003. The aim was to evaluate the rainfall-productivity relationship, to elucidate the relationship between temporal and spatial variability, and to examine the spatial scale of patchiness. We compared two different methods and found that a less accurate rapid assessment of grass cover correlat- ed well with measurements of biomass. Our data were in agreement with previous determina- tions of the desert end of the curve of grassland productivity, and productivity was closely related to the rainfall of the particular season. There was high variability between years at study sites, especially in the west (CV=279%), where it rained more seldom than in the east (CV=86%). During all years rainfall was very patchy at a spatial scale of 5 km, which appar- ently reflected the storm path of individual rain clouds. Long-term monitoring should be continued in order to detect changes of pattern in this rainfall-driven system.