Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling and control of nonlinear networks : A power-based perspective

Increasing demands on efficient power management and conversion, together with demands on reduced harmonic generation, higher bandwidths, and reliability, make it necessary to design devices (e.g., controllers, compensators, filters etc.) that ensure a system to meet certain directives. Such devices are most often developed and studied using linear signal-based approaches. However, since virtually all modern systems are highly complex and inherently nonlinear, linear analysis and design techniques might become insufficient as to ensure certain predefined behaviors, robustness and reliability under all operating conditions, especially if the (controlled or compensated) system is subject to large set-point changes, disturbances, or errors that cause the system to deviate from its nominal point of operation. For that reason, the development of dedicated tools that take the systems nonlinearities into account is of utmost importance. This thesis is concerned with the development of new modeling, analysis and control methods for nonlinear electrical networks. A unified power-based framework that provides a systematic dynamical description of a broad class of networks, including switched-mode power converters, is presented. A major advantage of the method is that the underlying physical structure, like the interconnection of the individual elements, nonlinear phenomena and the power flow, are explicitly incorporated in the model. Taking the network power-flow as a starting point, the concept of passivity is considered from a fairly different point of view with respect to the existing energy-based approaches. The resulting passivity properties are of interest in network theory, but also have applications in control as they suggest a so-called Power-Shaping stabilization method which forms an alternative to the existing method of Energy-Shaping. In addition, useful relations with reactive power are established and lead to the notion of reactive Hamiltonians. In the context of the recently proposed Passivity-Based Control (PBC) strategy for switched-mode power converters, the power-based framework reveals and justifies a revised damping injection scenario that significantly improves the robustness of the closed-loop. Some preliminary steps are taken to extend the power basedmodeling and control approach to mechanical and electro-mechanical systems. The developments throughout the thesis heavily rely on the ideas of R.K. Brayton and J.K. Moser stemming from in the early sixties. Where applicable, the newly obtained results are compared with well-known existing energy-based methods, like the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian approach, and several structural relationships between the methods are established.
The system of strategic planning as an institutional basis for ensuring sustainable development of territories under Industry 4.0

Technological revolution and growing social, economic, ecological, and biological threats make the topic of sustainable development increasingly relevant. Having examined the development strategies of the subjects of the Russian Federation, we identify three strategies of industrial development currently pursued by the Russian regions: extractive growth, inclusive reindustrialization, and new industrialization. In line with the specified strategic directions, the systems of objectives are structured. The analysis of the strategic planning documents of the RF subjects located within the Ural macroregion revealed that in accordance with the suggested classification, they adopt the policy of industrial development. To shift the policy focus towards the new industrialization, corrective measures are proposed. The research proves that modern system of strategic planning should be flexible and adaptable, in addition to be based on the uniform rules of strategizing.
Classificação de Imagens de Sensoriamento Remoto Utilizando uma Rede Neural Artificial com Função de Base Radial

This work presents a hybrid classifier for multispectral images using Radial Basis Function networks (RBF). A Kohonen Self-Organazing-Map is used in substitution to the k-means algorithm in unsupervised stage of training. The algorithm of the Pseudo-inverse is used for the determination of the weights of the supervised stage. The architecture proposal reduces the time required for processing. Also, it presents satisfactory results with small training samples. A practical application is accomplished and the results obtained between the classifier of Maximum Likelihood and the proposed hybrid classifier are compared.
The role and potential of tripartite partnerships to promote strong sustainable consumption in the context of Brazil: an evaluation of possibilities and risks

ABSTRACT The growing concern about persisting environmental problems caused by overconsumption in the context of Brazil must be understood as an issue of democratic character. However, there is a gap in research examining models that can drive change of sustainable-related issues such as sustainable consumption. Critically evaluating existing literature, we discuss the potential of tripartite partnerships (TPPs) to advance sustainable consumption practices. We argue that multi-sector partnership approaches such as TPPs involving multiple actors can strengthen a socio-political basis for the advancement of public policies and inter-sectorial dynamics offering mechanisms that can foster sustainable consumption. By applying a TPP model as analytical lens, we explore prevalent possibilities and risks of promoting sustainable consumption in the context of Brazil.
Exploring the Role of Steering Committees in Realizing Value from Project Management

The impact of steering committees on project performance and their role in creating value from project management capabilities is not well understood. A case study analysis was chosen to analyze the configurations and specific functions of project steering committees. A measurement model for steering committee configurations was developed to enable further survey-based studies. One of the major insights resulting from the authors’ interviews with project managers and senior managers was that they perceived the existence of a project steering committee only when the context was defined and clarified. Furthermore, a large variety of committee involvements was identified, concluding that steering committees per se are very rare. On the project level, the cases clearly demonstrate that committees with project steering functions play an important role in the selection, initiation, definition, and control of projects. On the organizational level, they are important to implement and maintain project management standards. Finally, the results clearly indicate that steering committees directly support project success and are instrumental for attaining value from an organization's investments in its project management system.
Vaccines 2020: The era of the digital vaccine is here

Description The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has generated a renaissance in vaccinology, with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines delivering a “digital code” of the viral antigen with no need to purify proteins or inactivate pathogens. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has generated a renaissance in vaccinology, with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines delivering a “digital code” of the viral antigen with no need to purify proteins or inactivate pathogens.
Native SAD Phasing at Room Temperature

Single-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) is a routine method for overcoming the phase problem when solving a new macromolecular structure. This technique requires the accurate measurement of intensities to sensitively determine differences across Bijvoet pairs, making it a stringent test for the reliability of a data collection method. Although SAD experiments are commonly conducted at cryogenic temperatures to mitigate the effects of radiation damage, such temperatures can alter the conformational ensemble of the protein crystal and may impede the merging of data from multiple crystals due to non-uniform freezing. Here, we propose a data collection strategy to obtain high-quality data from room temperature samples. To illustrate the strengths of this approach we use native SAD phasing at 6.5 keV to solve four structures of three model systems at 295 K. The resulting datasets allow for automatic phasing and model building, and exhibit alternate conformations that are well-supported by the electron density. The high-redundancy data collection method demonstrated here enables the routine collection of high-quality, room-temperature diffraction to improve the study of protein conformational ensembles.
An application of FBG accelerometers for monitoring pantographs of underground trains

The use of FBG based sensors for the monitoring of the pantograph-catenary interaction is very attractive due to the insensitivity of fiber optic sensors to the electromagnetic disturbances and due to their ability to be electrically insulated. In fact, the monitoring of pantograph-catenary interaction with traditional sensors needs a complicated set-up to electrically insulate sensors, to power the signal conditioning devices and to transmit the signal to the data acquisition system, and to avoid interferences between the measurement signals and electromagnetic disturbances typically generated by continuous sparking and eventual arcing phenomena caused by contact loss between the pantograph collector and the contact wire of overhead line. In this work the application of a commercial FBG accelerometer on a pantograph of an underground train, instrumented for experimental in-line tests, is analyzed. In particular, a comparison between a traditional capacitive accelerometer and a FBG accelerometer is presented to highlight the proper working of the fiber optic sensor during in-line tests and to take the use of this kind of fiber optic sensor into consideration for monitoring aim in the pantograph-catenary interaction, simplifying the measurement set-up. The first results show that this approach is promising.
Immunology and Immunotherapy of Endometriosis

Endometriosis is one of the most common gynecological and systemic diseases, with a remarkable immune background. Patients suffer from pain and fertility reduction. Due to the distinct immune component, an immunotherapeutic approach may gain importance in the future. In endometriosis, shifts in the cell fractions of the immune system are well known. Moreover, hypoxia concomitant with inflammation causes a disturbed immune response. The removal of endometriosis has a therapeutic effect, normalizes the immune disorders, and remains the most effective causative treatment in terms of pain and infertility. A key issue is whether a similar effect can be achieved for fertility with non-invasive immunotherapy where surgery is inadvisable or cannot be performed for various reasons. Numerous immunotherapy trials, including vaccines, were conducted on animals only, although the research is encouraging. Among the promising methods of non-specific immunotherapy is the administration of an ethiodized oil contrast. Moreover, due to the significant successes of immunotherapy in oncology, the possibility of immunotherapy affecting NK cells has been postulated. NK cells are responsible for the surveillance and apoptosis of ectopic cells. Expanding the arsenal of endometriosis treatment by immunotherapy is promising due to the significant contribution of immunological factors and the limitations of current treatment methods.
Environmental Analysis of Textile Products

The increasing public awareness and sense of social responsibility related to environmental issues have led the textile industry to manufacture products with improved environmental profiles. This article evaluates processes used to produce cotton, wool, nylon, polyester, rayon, lyocell (Tencel®), and leather, and their potential environmental impacts using selected criteria. An analysis of the measures the textile industry has taken to reduce the adverse environmental impacts is provided. Finally, the textile industry's and consumers' responsibilities in moving toward the production of environmentally sound textile products are discussed. The assessment of the environmental impact of a product is a complex issue, and solutions cannot be achieved without action by the government, industry, and the consumers.
A Minimizing Cost of Transport Gabage in Nonsung District Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand

The objective this research for estimate minimum cost of gabage from its sources to disposal sites in Nonsung District Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. By using genetic algorithms run in microsoft excel add-ins find the minimum cost and appropriate waste allocation.The distance applied in the simulation was displacement between two points not the true distance along the route. It was found from the study that the factors affecting the pattern of the hauling system and waste allocation were number of sources and waste quantities produced, number and capacity of transfer stations and disposal sites and hauling cost from different points.
Plasma energetic substrates and hepatic enzymes in the four-eyed fish Anableps anableps (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes) during the dry and rainy seasons in the Amazonian Island of Maracá, extreme north of Brazil

ABSTRACT Anableps anableps is a viviparous teleost typical from Amazon Delta estuaries. It is representative of this biome in Maracá, which offers a potential for biomonitoring. The aim of this study is to apply different biomarkers to males and females of this species and verify possible seasonal influences on their physiology. To collect fish, three expeditions were carried out from the rainy season of April 2018 to the rainy season of February 2019. Biometric parameters and gonadosomatic (GSI), hepatosomatic (HSI), and viscerosomatic (VSI) indexes were calculated, and blood samples were taken to measure triglycerides, total proteins, glucose, and activity of the enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The GSI of males is higher in the rainy season and of females in the dry season. This is probably related to the embryogenesis process. Males show an increase in biomass during the dry season, a metabolic homogeneity, and females show an increase in plasma glucose, triglycerides, and ALT activity. The tested biomarkers are potential for biomonitoring, preliminarily suggesting that there is a seasonal asynchronism between males and females of A. anableps as for the allocation of energy resources at different times of their life cycle.
A Deep-Learning Based Solution to Automatically Control Closure and Seal of Pizza Packages

Closure and seal inspection is one of the key steps in quality control of pizza packages. This is generally carried out by human operators that are not able to inspect all the packages due to cadence restrictions. To overcome this limitation, a computer vision system that automatically performs 100% inline seal and closure inspection is proposed. In this paper, after evaluating pizza package features, the manual quality control procedure, and the packaging machines of a real industrial scenario, a detailed description of hardware and software components of the proposed system as well as the main design decisions are presented. Focusing on the hardware, line-scan technology and hyperspectral imaging has been considered to ensure that all relevant information can be acquired independently of the pizza brand, topping, and film features. Focusing on the software, this applies a three-phases strategy that, first, applies a set of basic rejection controls; second, identifies the sealing region; and third, prepares the data for prediction through the classification of the pizzas using a deep learning network. This network is one of the software key elements and has been selected after comparing the commercial off-the-shelf (pretrained-dl-classifier-resnet50 from MVTec Halcon) and the custom-developed (ResNet18) architectures designed to automate the accept/reject classification of pizza packages. To train the networks, a classification of pizza package defects, focusing on sealing and closure, and an image-based method able to automatically detect them have been proposed. The system has been tested in laboratory and in real industrial conditions comparing it with the manual scenario and considering three pizza brands with two toppings per brand. From the evaluation, it has been seen that ResNet18 achieves the best results with mean, maximum, and minimum precision values of 99.87%, 99.95%, and 99.74%, respectively. Moreover, our system achieves twice the throughput rate with respect to the manual scenario, with the guarantee that all pizzas are evaluated, which is not possible in the manual scenario due to operator fatigue. The proposed solution can be easily adapted to similar contexts, even considering packages with other shapes.
The Accuracy of Drivers’ Judgments of the Effects of Headlight Glare on the Visibility of a Non-retroreflective Object

Headlights must balance the conflicting goals of maximizing visibility for the driver and minimizing glare to others. Yet consumer complaints about headlights tend to emphasize only glare. This project extended earlier research by asking 17 young drivers to judge the distance at which they would be able to recognize the orientation of a non-retroreflective stimulus adjacent to the headlights of a stationary opposing vehicle. The beam setting (low vs. high) of both vehicles was manipulated. Participants correctly estimated that the stimulus would be less visible when their own vehicle used low beams and when the opposing vehicle used high beams. Contrary to earlier studies that used high contrast (retroreflective) stimuli, drivers’ estimates of conspicuity were, on average, not significantly different from the actual visibility of the stimulus. These results suggest that drivers’ understanding of headlight glare is more accurate for low contrast stimuli than for high contrast (retroreflective) stimuli and that drivers may overestimate the disabling effects of opposing headlights for higher contrast objects more than for lower contrast objects.
eLearning Cost Analysis of On-Premise versus Cloud- hosted Implementation in Sub-Saharan Countries

The cost of acquiring, managing, and maintaining ICT infrastructure is one of the main factors that hinder educational institutions in Sub-Saharan countries to adopt and implement eLearning. Recently, cloud computing has emerged as a new computing paradigm for delivering cost effective computing services that can be used to harness eLearning. However, the adoption of cloud computing in higher education in Sub-Saharan countries is very low. Although there are many factors that may influence educational institutions to adopt cloud services, cost effectiveness is often a key factor. Far too little is known on how much the use of cloud computing can be cost effective in delivering eLearning services. This paper compares the cost of hosting eLearning services between on-premise and cloud-hosted approaches in higher education, taking Tanzania as a case study. The study found that institutions can significantly reduce the cost of eLearning implementation by adopting a cloud-hosted approach. The findings of this study serve as a base for educational institutions seeking cost effective alternatives to implement eLearning in developing countries.
Disease characteristics and clinical outcome over two decades from the Swiss pulmonary hypertension registry.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH), especially pulmonary arterial and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (PAH/CTEPH), are rare and progressive conditions. Despite recent advances in treatment and prognosis, PH is still associated with impaired quality of life and survival. Long-term PH-registry data provide information on the changing PH-epidemiology and may help to direct resources to patient's needs. This retrospective analysis of the Swiss Pulmonary Hypertension Registry includes patients newly diagnosed with PH (mainly PAH/CTEPH) registered from January 2001 to June 2019 at 13 Swiss hospitals. Patient characteristics (age, body mass index, gender, diagnosis), hemodynamics at baseline, treatment, days of follow-up, and events (death, transplantation, pulmonary endarterectomy, or loss to follow-up) at last visit were analyzed. Patients were stratified into four time periods according to their date of diagnosis. Survival was analyzed overall and separately for PAH/CTEPH and time periods. 1427 PH patients were included (thereof 560 PAH, 383 CTEPH). Over the years, age at baseline (mean ± SD) significantly increased from 59 ± 14 years in 2001-2005 to 66 ± 14 years in 2016-2019 (p < 0.001) while the gender distribution tended toward equality. Mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance significantly decreased over time (from 46 ± 15 to 41 ± 11 mmHg, respectively, 9 ± 5 to 7 ± 4 WU, p < 0.001). Three-year survival substantially increased over consecutive periods from 69% to 91% (for PAH 63%-95%, for CTEPH 86%-93%) and was poorer in PAH than CTEPH independently of time period (p < 0.001). Most patients were treated with mono- or combination therapy and an increasing number of CTEPH underwent pulmonary endarterectomy (40% 2016-2019 vs. 15% 2001-2005). This long-term PH registry reveals that over two decades of observation, newly diagnosed patients are older, less predominantly female, have less impaired hemodynamics and a better survival.
HIV-1, how llamas help us fight the AIDS pandemic

Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) is one of the major health problems worldwide and has been for over thirty years. Most (67%) of the people infected with HIV-1 are living in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, the access to treatments is limited and most women are not in a position to protect themselves from getting infected. The aim of this study was to identify VHH that are both broad and potent HIV-1 neutralizers, which can be used in the fight against HIV-1. A VHH is an antibody fragment containing the antigen binding domain derived from a heavy chain only antibody. This special type of antibody can be found in members of the camel family. The advantage of VHH is that they are relatively small, stable, cheap to produce and easy to work with. In order to raise VHH against HIV-1, two llamas were immunized with a mix of its envelope proteins. After cloning of the llama’s VHH repertoire into a phagemid expression system, multiple different strategies were followed to identify neutralizing VHH. In total, twelve families of neutralizing VHH were found and characterized in more detail. These VHH target four independent areas on the HIV-1 envelope protein. The best VHH of them being J3, which neutralized 96 out of a 100 tested viruses with a median IC50 of 0.9 µg/ml and is targeting the CD4 binding site. The CD4 binding site on the envelope protein is considered an important area as the first interaction between virus and its target cell occurs via CD4. Previous studies have shown that linking two VHH together into so-called biheads may increase their breadth and potency. For this reason we have linked two different VHH, targeting independent epitopes, together to form bi-specific biheads. Several combinations of VHH have been tried, the best (J3 linked to 2E7) yielded upto 1400 times increase in potency compared to a mix of the individual VHH. Another bihead (J3 linked to 1F10) was capable of neutralizing a viral strain J3 alone could not neutralize, possibly improving the breadth of this molecule above 96%.