Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation Into the Polarization of Asymmetrical- Feed Triangular Microstrip Antennas and its Application to Reconfigurable Antennas

A single-feed equilateral-triangular microstrip antenna has been designed with truncated corners for diverse radiation polarizations. The proposed antenna is excited by a microstrip line placed parallel to the oblique side of an equilateral-triangular patch. The antenna exhibits linear polarization (LP), left-hand circular polarization, or right-hand circular polarization (RHCP) depending on whether the three identically sized corners of the triangular patch are cut. A novel reconfigurable microstrip antenna with selectable polarization is proposed based on this first antenna. This second antenna has a simple structure consisting of a corner-truncated triangular patch, a small triangular conductor, an asymmetrical microstrip feed line, and a biased PIN diode between the patch and the triangular conductor. It produces LP or RHCP depending on the bias voltage. The measured results show that this antenna has a low cross-polarization level when operated in the linear state and a good axial ratio in the circular state.
Medición de la Madurez de la Gestión del Conocimiento en la Escuela de Ciencias Básicas Tecnología e Ingeniería de la UNAD

El objetivo de este trabajo es medir la madurez de la Gestion del Conocimiento en la Escuela de Cien- cias Basicas, Tecnologia e Ingenieria (ECBTI) de la Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia, Unad (Co- lombia). Para este proposito, se adapto el modelo denominado General Knowledge Management Maturity Model (G-KMMM) [1], el cual propone 5 niveles de madurez: inicial, conciencia, definido, gestionado y opti- mizado, y establece 3 areas clave: personas, procesos y tecnologia. La modificacion del modelo consistio en adicionar un area clave denominada estrategia. Para el estudio se aplico un instrumento de evaluacion que proporciona el modelo G-KMMM, a 307 colaboradores de la ECBTI. En relacion con los resultados se encontro que el nivel de madurez del area clave personas era 2 (conciencia), del area clave procesos era 3 (definido), del area clave tecnologia era 5 (optimizado) y del area clave estrategia era 5 (optimizado). Con respecto al nivel de madurez de GC global de la ECBTI se encontro que era 4 (gestionado).
Text Segmentation from Bangla Land Map Images

Abstract Text segmentation from land map images is a non-trivial task as map components are interleaved and overlapped in a complex spatial form. The characters in a word in most of the Indic languages, including Bangla (the 6th most spoken language in the world), are connected through a headline (”matra” or ”shirorekha”) which makes the corresponding word a single component. It has been observed that the Delaunay triangulation (DT) forms a number of small triangles on the text regions compared to other regions of the map - a property very much discernible for Bangla (and some other Indic scripts) texts. This property is primarily exploited here to segment text from the complex background of the land map images. The proposed text segmentation approach is tested and compared with an existing method on a collected dataset of paper map images( containing Bangla, an Indian regional language texts) and the results are encouraging.
A conceptual model of salt marsh plant distribution in coastal dunes of southeastern Spain

The main objectives of this study were to identify a small of edaphic factors that could be related to vegetation distribution in a coastal dune salt marsh system in the Southeast of Spain and to establish a simple conceptual model to describe the relationships between these soil factors and the main plant communities. Soil and vegetation data were obtained from 87 sampling plots. The plant communities studied were dominated by Crucianella maritima, Teucrium dunense, Ammophila arenaria, Lygeum spartum, Schoenus nigricans, Juncus maritimus, Limonium cossonianum, Sarcocornia fruticosa, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, and co-dominance of Sarcocornia fruticosa and Arthrocnemum macrostachyum. The first four communities occupied summit positions and the rest of communities interdune depressions. In addition, we sampled plots in bare soil at interdune depressions. The soil parameters studied were soil salinity, soil moisture, the ground-water level, the depth to gleyed matrix, and the distance to the shoreline. Soils at interdune depressions were consistently more saline, wetter, and with a shallower water table and gleyed matrix than soils at summit positions. Soil moisture, salinity, and the distance to the shoreline were parameters related to plant distribution at summit positions. However, at interdune depressions species distribution was mainly related to salinity, moisture, the depth of the ground water, and the depth to gleyed matrix. In the conceptual model proposed, bare soils are characterized by their extreme salinity in the growing season (spring) and a shallower ground-water level, which leads to a shallower gleyed matrix.
Selective suppression of idler spectral broadening in two-pump parametric architectures

We describe methods for selective suppression of idler spectral broadening in two-pump fiber parametric fiber amplifiers. Combinations of multiple amplification bands and dissimilar pump modulation techniques are used to generate narrow idlers at preselected wavelengths. In-phase pump modulation is shown to eliminate the need for phase-delay management in two-pump parametric amplification schemes.
The relationship between male infertility and increased levels of sperm disomy

Sperm chromosome abnormalities cut across a number of areas relevant to ICC XV. The association between increased levels of sperm aneuploidy (usually disomy) and male infertility has implications for the sessions on reproduction, sex chromosomes, aneuploidy and meiosis and was, to the best of our knowledge, first reported in 1995. Since then most studies have reported similar increases of varying degrees but, despite this, a small number of laboratories have presented results that demonstrate no significant association. The purpose of this article is to review the state of the art in this area and to speculate as to reasons for the differences in reports from different laboratories. The findings are broken down by chromosome with studies of the sex chromosomes being broken down further to indicate meiotic stages of origin. We conclude that comparisons are difficult to make since many studies do not clearly define patient and control groups. Nevertheless, despite these and other differences (such as scoring criteria, technical differences, demographics, etc.), the consensus in the literature is that a strong correlation exists between sperm aneuploidy and male infertility. The nature of that relationship will be further defined when andrological criteria are more closely taken into account and protocols for preparation and scoring are standardised.
Does Social Media Marketing Really Work for Online SMEs?: An Empirical Study

Social media has become a major channel for firms’ marketing communications. Yet studies on the impact of social media marketing (SMM) have been limited to a few large firms. Motivated by the lack of understanding of the effectiveness of SMM for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this study investigates the impact of online SMEs’ SMM messages on their sales performance through customer engagement. Fixed-effects regression analyses on weekly data from 288 online SMEs from the fashion retailing industry in China indicate that both customer endorsement and promotion information SMM messages positively influence customer engagement in the form of likes, shares, and comments. Additionally, customer engagement behaviors (likes and shares) lead to increased sales performance only if the SMEs verified their identity (a trust cue) with the social networking services and online e-commerce platform providers. Overall, the findings of this study highlight the crucial role of trust in SMEs’ SMM activities.
Design and testing of a millimeter-wave beam-steering mesh-grid array for 5th generation (5G) mobile communication handset devices

Summary form only given. The steady advancement of silicon and compound semiconductor technologies has triggered the possibility of utilizing millimeter-wave frequencies for next-generation cellular data networks (“5G”). In comparison to 4G networks, the millimeter-wave 5G network offers significant advantage in data throughput due to the much wider RF bandwidth. Recent publications by other authors in (T.S. Rappaport, Y. Qiao, J.I. Tamir, J.N. Murdock, and E. Ben-Dor, Radio and Wireless Symposium, 2012, IEEE, pp. 151-154) have successfully demonstrated the possibility of a millimeter-wave cellular network by characterizing the propagation and angle-of-arrival for an adaptive beam-steering system operating at 38 GHz with full consideration of obstructions by foliage and other structures. However, the advent of an affordable, low-profile beam steering antenna remains one of the most critical issues for future 5G devices. Deployment of a beam-steering antenna array within a cellular handset device is unprecedented in the wireless community. This paper presents a first-of-the-kind phased-array which is specifically conceived for future millimeter-wave 5G cellular networks. The technical challenges associated with the inherent properties of the utilized 28 GHz frequency band and the real-life design constraints in the consumer electronics industry are identified and addressed. The well-understood laser and mechanical via structure within a high-volume printed circuit board technology is used to devise a novel mesh-grid patch antenna element topology. The presented mesh-grid patch features a fan-beam radiation characteristic with a o measured 3dB elevation beamwidth of more than 130 . The required horizontal 2 footprint is less than 3 x 1 mm which is smaller by several factors compared to a conventional Yagi-Uda or a planar dipole topology. Furthermore, the proposed antenna element does not require a ground fill-cut region, greatly alleviating the space constraints when integrating within a cellular handset device. The antenna element is further expanded into a beam-steering phased array configuration and integrated within a cellular handset prototype. The far-field radiation patterns of the mesh-grid array are first measured independently in the anechoic chamber and the procedure is subsequently repeated after integration with the 28 GHz RF transceiver unit. The maximum scanning angles for both measurements are controlled by adjusting the phase configurations of each antenna elements within the array. Measurements confirm the 28 GHz mesh-grid array exhibits a o maximum boresight gain of more than 10.5 dBi and ±170 scanning range in the azimuthal plane despite the degradations incurred due to the cellular handset chassis.
How Can We Reduce the Burden of Hepatitis C?

There are an estimated 130−170 million people with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection worldwide with approximately 350,000 deaths occurring per year due to HCV-related liver disease. [1] It has been suggested that there are 2.3−4.7 million people with HCV infections annually from nosocomial transmission alone. [2] As an example, in countries like Egypt, mass immunization has led to an exceedingly high HCV prevalence rate of 14-20%. [3] In most other populations in Africa, North and South America, Europe, and Asia, the prevalence in the general population is <3%. [4]
Frequency Domain Analysis and Synthesis of Image Pyramid Generating Kernels

Construction of image pyramids is described as a two-di-mensional decimation process. Frequently employed generating kernels are compared to the optimal kernel that assures minimal information loss after the resolution reduction, i.e., the one corresponding to an ideal low pass filter. Physically realizable, optimal generating kernels are presented. The amount of computation required for generation of the image pyramid can be reduced significantly by employing half-band filters as components of the optimal kernel. Image pyramids generated by the optimal kernel show a better command of details than the ones generated by a simple 4 × 4 averaging, or a computationally equivalent kernel.
Communication interprofessionnelle écrite pour le suivi de patients à domicile

CONTEXTE — Les professionnels de la sante (PdS) communiquent souvent entre eux par ecrit dans un carnet pour le suivi de patients polymorbides confines a domicile. OBJECTIFS — Identifier les differences entre ce qui est consigne et ce qui est attendu dans ces carnets, et leur impact sur la collaboration interprofessionnelle. METHODE — Nous avons d’abord realise une etude descriptive d’un echantillon de carnets utilises a Geneve (Suisse) ; puis, nous avons conduit une etude qualitative de 6 focus groups de PdS. Nous avons analyse thematiquement leur transcription verbatim. RESULTATS — L’analyse de 11 carnets a revele qu’aucun destinataire n’etait identifie la plupart du temps. Les themes principaux relevaient du somatique et des medicaments. La proportion des interactions entre PdS etait faible comparativement a la quantite de texte produite ; aucun des patients n’a ecrit. Aucun plan de soin explicite n’etait consigne. Les focus groups ont permis d’identifier plusieurs themes. Les 31 participants trouvaient que le carnet permettait de materialiser le reseau et qu’il etait un repere dans la prise en charge des patients. Pourtant, beaucoup se plaignaient de doublons, en l’absence d’un dossier de soin partage. Le contenu des messages etait influence par les caracteristiques de ce support (propriete du patient, accessible a tous). L’implication constructive du patient etait jugee insuffisante. CONCLUSIONS — Nos resultats ont montre qu’en l’absence de consensus clair et negocie, la fonction premiere du carnet est sinon devoyee, du moins sous-optimale. Ameliorer la communication interprofessionnelle ecrite, centree sur le patient, passe par la definition de plan de soin partage.
An analysis of the communication during an enhanced and structured information exchange between social insurance physicians and occupational physicians in disability management in Belgium

Purpose. The overall objective of this study was to analyse the inter-physician communication during an intervention that aimed at enhancing and structuring the information exchange practices among Belgian social insurance physicians and occupational physicians. We aimed at determining: (i) the communication frequency; (ii) the communication content; and (iii) the type of patients for whom social insurance physicians want communication with occupational physicians. Method. We analysed inter-physician information exchange data derived from communication forms. The communication forms were, during a two-year prospective intervention trial, exchanged between 15 social insurance and 40 occupational physicians for 505 sick-listed patients. Results. Inter-physician communication was initiated for 52% of patients, mainly to execute work modifications. Communication was implemented particularly for patients that had mental disorders, poor decision latitude, high physical work demands at their workplace, pronounced pain perceptions, bad work resumption prognosis, or work-related health disorders. Conclusion. A simple information exchange system already has the benefit to enhance inter-physician communication in disability management.
Dynamics of cholera epidemics in Haiti and Africa

Le cholera est une maladie diarrheique aigue due a la consommation d’eau ou d’aliments contamines par des souches toxigeniques de Vibrio cholerae. Selon le “paradigme du cholera”, la maladie est provoquee par une exposition a un reservoir environnemental de V. cholerae avec des epidemies directement modulees par des facteurs environnementaux. Cependant, comme divers arguments plaident contre ce dogme, nous avons voulu elucider les mecanismes de la dynamique des epidemies de cholera dans trois foyers situes en Haiti, en Republique Democratique du Congo (RDC) et en Afrique de l’Ouest. Nous avons associe une analyse temporo-spatiale des epidemies a une etude genetique des isolats de V. cholerae. En Haiti, nous avons cherche a savoir si les epidemies actuelles etaient dues a des souches toxigeniques de V. cholerae O1 durablement implantees dans l’environnement aquatique. En Afrique de l’Ouest, notre etude a revele qu’Accra, la capitale du Ghana, etait le principal foyer de cholera pour l’ensemble des pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest situes a l’Ouest du Nigeria. Le reseau d’eau d’Accra a probablement joue un role dans la propagation rapide de V. cholerae vers la majorite des quartiers de la ville. Les epidemies de cholera ont diffuse vers les autres pays sous la forme de vagues epidemiques et plusieurs epidemies ont ete liees a la migration de populations a risque comme certains pecheurs. En conclusion, notre reflexion globale sur les epidemies de cholera dans ces trois foyers distincts nous donne une vision coherente des mecanismes d’emergence et de diffusion du cholera.
Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting Are Strongly Influenced by Postoperative Opioid Use in a Dose-Related Manner

We prospectively examined the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in a group of 193 elderly surgical inpatients receiving no postoperative antiemetic prophylaxis. Risk factors for PONV and detailed data on postoperative opioid use were recorded. The overall postoperative vomiting (POV) rate was 23.8%, whereas postoperative nausea (PON) was 51.3%. Opioid use (P = 0.025), and female gender (P = 0.038) were identified as significantly influencing POV in this relatively small population. There was a strong logarithmic dose-response relationship between postoperative opioid dose and POV (r2 = 0.98, P < 0.01), as well as PON (r2 = 0.98, P = 0.01). Use of patient-controlled analgesia or epidural analgesia was a marker for large-dose opioid use (P < 0.001) and was associated with POV in the 24-h postoperative period of 41% and 31% respectively, compared with 11% for other patients (P < 0.001). Future studies defining risk factors for POV should treat postoperative opioid use as a continuous variable, rather than treat it as a dichotomous variable.
Forest Change Detection by Using Point Clouds From Dense Image Matching Together With a LiDAR-Derived Terrain Model

Recent development of image matching algorithms has enabled the generation of highly detailed image point clouds (IPCs) from aerial stereo images. The acquisition of aerial images is typically significantly less expensive than the collection of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) or field data. IPCs thus provide a cost-effective alternative to update forest resource data more frequently than at present. We evaluate the feasibility of IPCs in the detection of forest changes by assessing the accuracy of automatic IPC-based classification of thinnings and clear cuts. IPCs were created by using the semi-global matching and next-generation automatic terrain extraction algorithms. To predict changes over a period of three years, we created difference layers which displayed the difference in height or volume between the initial and subsequent time points. These were constructed by calculating the difference in either IPC-based canopy height models or in IPC-derived height and volume models. In this process, the LiDAR-derived digital terrain model was used to scale heights to above ground level. The values from the difference layers were then used in logistic regression models to classify the study area into the categories ClearCut, Thinning, or NoChange. When the predicted changes were compared with the true changes verified in the field, we obtained a classification accuracy for clear cuts 98.6% at best, but only 24.1% for thinnings. In conclusion, IPCs are applicable for the detection of major changes in forests, but incapable of detecting minor changes. The same seems to be applied to LiDAR data.
Vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic plasticity and the regulation of vascular calcification

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) exhibit an extraordinary capacity to undergo phenotypic change during development, in vitro and in association with disease. Unlike other muscle cells they do not terminally differentiate. Development and maintenance of the mature contractile phenotype is regulated by a number of interacting transcription factors. In response to injury contractile VSMCs can be induced to change phenotype, proliferate and migrate to effect repair. On completion of the repair process VSMCs return to a nonproliferating contractile phenotype. In this way, in the context of atherosclerosis, a protective fibrous cap is formed and maintained at sites of injury. However in disease, when modulatory signals are perturbed, this phenotypic transition is dysregulated and VSMCs are induced to undergo inappropriate differentiation into cells with features of other mesenchymal lineages such as osteoblasts, chondrocytes and adipocytes. Moreover, evidence is accumulating that these aberrant phenotypic transitions contribute to the pathogenesis of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and Monckeberg's Sclerosis. Indeed, the osteo/chondrocytic conversion of VSMCs and the association of this phenotype with vascular calcification is a paradigm for how inappropriate differentiation can influence disease processes. Understanding of the mechanisms and signalling pathways involved in this particular phenotype change is well advanced offering the possibility for the design of successful therapeutic interventions in the future.
Low-Dropout Regulators With Adaptive Reference Control and Dynamic Push–Pull Techniques for Enhancing Transient Performance

An adaptive reference control (ARC) technique is proposed for minimizing overshoot/undershoot voltage and settling time of low-dropout regulators. Linear operation provided by the ARC technique can dynamically and smoothly adjust the reference voltage so as to increase the slew rate of error amplifier thus forcing the output voltage back to its steady-state value rapidly. The amount of transient revision is proportional to transient state output voltage variation and load condition. In addition, a dynamic push-pull technique is used to enhance transient response. Experimental results demonstrate that the undershoot voltage, settling time, and load regulation are improved by 31%, 68.5%, and 70%, respectively, when load current changes between 1 and 100 mA.