Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of comorbid post traumatic stress disorder on multiple sclerosis in military veterans: A population-based cohort study

Background: Very little is known regarding the impact of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the course of multiple sclerosis (MS). Objectives: To explore the impact of pre-existing PTSD on MS relapses, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity, and disability in a large population-based cohort. Methods: Military Veterans with MS and PTSD prior to symptom onset (MSPTSD, n = 96) were identified using the Department of Veterans Affairs MS databases. MSPTSD cases were matched to MS controls without PTSD (n = 95). Number of relapses, number of new T2 lesions and new gadolinium lesions on brain MRI, and neurological disability were abstracted between 2015 and 2019. Results: The mean annualized relapse rate was greater in the MSPTSD group versus controls (0.23 vs 0.06, respectively; p < 0.05), as was the annualized mean number of new T2 and gadolinium-enhancing lesions on brain MRI (0.52 vs 0.16 and 0.29 vs 0.08, respectively; p < 0.05). Disability accrual (time to Disability Status Scale 6.0) was more rapid (23.7 vs 29.5 years, p < 0.05) in relapsing MS patients with PTSD. Conclusion: Patients with MSPTSD have higher disease activity and reach disability endpoints more rapidly than controls. This is the first study to show PTSD as a potentially modifiable risk factor for MS relapses, MRI activity, and disability.
Miocardiopatía hipertrófica apical

Introducción: la miocardiopatía hipertrófica (MCH) apical constituye 15% de los pacientes con MCH en Japón; sin embargo, en nuestro país es un diagnóstico poco frecuente. Esta entidad consiste en la afectación casi exclusiva del ápex, siendo más común su localización ventricular izquierda. Su diagnóstico se da por la visualización de engrosamiento apical mayor a 15 mm o una relación entre el espesor de la pared apical y basal del ventrículo izquierdo ≥1.3-1.5. Su tratamiento es sintomático a través del uso de betabloqueadores y el implante de desfibrilador automático para prevención primaria de muerte súbita. Presentación de caso: paciente de 59 años que de forma incidental se le confirmó MCH apical o síndrome de Yamaguchi. Conclusión: la MCH apical es una entidad infrecuente, en muchos casos asintomática. Su diagnóstico oportuno permite un tratamiento temprano y prevenir desenlaces cardiovasculares incluso fatales.
Practical Resilience Metrics for Planning, Design, and Decision Making

AbstractNatural disasters in 2011 alone resulted in $366 billion (2011 US$) in direct damages and 29,782 fatalities worldwide. Storms and floods accounted for up to 70% of the 302 natural disasters worldwide, with earthquakes producing the greatest number of fatalities. Managing these risks rationally requires an appropriate definition of resilience and associated metrics. This paper provides a resilience definition that meets a set of requirements with clear relationships to reliability and risk as key relevant metrics. The resilience definition proposed is of the intension type, which is of the highest order. Resilience metrics are reviewed, and simplified ones are proposed to meet logically consistent requirements drawn from measure theory. Such metrics provide a sound basis for the development of effective decision-making tools for multihazard environments. The paper also examines recovery, with its classifications based on level, spatial, and temporal considerations. Three case studies are developed .
Advanced control strategies for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration systems—An overview: Part I: Hard control

A chronological overview of the advanced control strategies for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) is presented in this article. The overview focuses on hard-computing or control techniques, such as proportional-integral-derivative, optimal, nonlinear, adaptive, and robust; soft-computing or control techniques, such as neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms; and on the fusion or hybrid of hard- and soft-control techniques. Thus, it is to be noted that the terminology “hard” and “soft” computing/control has nothing to do with the “hardware” and “software” that is being generally used. Part I of a two-part series focuses on hard-control strategies, and Part II focuses on soft- and fusion-control in addition to some future directions in HVAC&R research. This overview is not intended to be an exhaustive survey on this topic, and any omission of other works is purely unintentional.
Chaotic Pulse-Position Baseband Modulation

A CMOS impulse radio transceiver that uses chaotic pulse-position modulation for ultra-wideband (UWB) communica- tions is designed. While the conventional direct-sequence spread- spectrum (DSSS) system dither the time delay between impulses by a pseudorandom number generator, chaotic modulation dither- ing uses a predictable but wideband nonlinear function, resulting in significant improvements in spectral spreading. The nonlinear functions implemented in the transmitter and receiver use a tent map, requiring only a voltage-to-time and time-to-voltage con- verter. A R-S latch enables the parallel implementation of two consecutive states of the tent map. Due to the predictable nature of the nonlinear mapping functions, receiver synchronization time is achieved in Order (0) time, as opposed to the conventional DSSS correlating receivers. Implemented in a 0. 25μm CMOS technol- ogy, the transceiver achieves an average data rate of 25 Mbps and a BER < 10e-9, while sending 0.4-ns wide UWB baseband impulses. Index Terms—Chaotic communications, impulse radio, spread spectrum.
Comparison of Aging Resistance and Antimicrobial Properties of Ethylene–Norbornene Copolymer and Poly(Lactic Acid) Impregnated with Phytochemicals Embodied in Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)

The effects of plant-based extracts on the solar aging and antimicrobial properties of impregnated ethylene–norbornene (EN) copolymer and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) were investigated. In this study, the impregnation yield of polyolefin, lacking in active centers capable of phytochemical bonding, and polyester, abundant in active sides, was measured. Moreover, two different extracts plentiful in phytochemicals—thyme (TE) and clove (CE)—were employed in the solvent-based impregnation process. The effect of thymol and eugenol, the two main compounds embodied in the extracts, was studied as well. Interestingly, oxidation induction times (OIT) for the impregnation of EN with thyme and clove extracts were established to be, respectively, 27.7 and 39.02 min, which are higher than for thymol (18.4 min) and eugenol (21.1 min). Therefore, an aging experiment, mimicking the full spectrum of sunlight, was carried out to investigate the resistance to common radiation of materials impregnated with antioxidative substances. As expected, the experiment revealed that the natural extracts increased the shelf-life of the polymer matrix by inhibiting the degradation processes. The aging resistance was assessed based on detected changes in the materials’ behavior and structure that were examined with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, color quantification, tensile tests, and hardness investigation. Such broad results of solar aging regarding materials impregnated with thyme and clove extracts have not been reported to date. Moreover, CE was found to be the most effective modifying agent for enabling material with antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli to be obtained.
Meta Ensemble Learning with Acoustic Spectrum Analysis for Intelligent Diagnosis of Direct-buried Transformer Substations

This paper proposes a meta ensemble learning method to extract multiple electrical and non-electrical features, including acoustic signal, voltage, current and temperature, etc., for the status monitoring and fault diagnosis of direct-buried transformer substation (DBTS). The proposed method consists of a meta learning model and a sub-classifier model. In the meta learning model, a multi-input and multi-output back propagation neural network (BPNN) with multiple hidden layers is utilized to dynamically update the integrated weight coefficients of sub-classifiers based on the extracted multiple features of DBTS for accuracy improvements. The sub-classifier model involves four pre-trained classifiers using XGBoost for the fault type classification. Consequently, the fault type can be identified by weighted summation of integrated weights and classification results from the sub-classifier model. Comparative studies have been investigated to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed meta ensemble learning method in improving the accuracy of DBTS fault diagnosis.
24-Pulse AC-DC Converter for Power Quality Improvement in Vector Controlled Induction Motor Drives

This article deals with autotransformer based multipulse AC-DC converters feeding vector controlled induction motor drives (VCIMDs) for improving power quality at the point of common coupling (PCC). The proposed 24-pulse AC-DC converter is realized on the principle of DC ripple re-injection technique for pulse multiplication and harmonic mitigation. The design of the autotransformer is given for the proposed AC-DC converter for making it suitable for retrofit applications, where presently a 6-pulse diode bridge rectifier is used. The effect of load variation on VCIMD is also studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed AC-DC converter. The test results, along with simulated results, on a developed laboratory prototype are presented to validate the design and model of the proposed 24-pulse AC-DC converter.
Effect of Temperature Cycling on IMC Growth and Solder Joint Strength of SAC305 Solder Alloy and Low Silver Alloy REL61

This work deals with the comparison of the standard SAC305 (Sn 96.5 %; Ag 3 %; Cu 0.5 %) solder alloy with melting temperature between 217 - 220 °C and an alternative alloy REL61 (SnBiAgCu) with lower silver content and melting temperature in the range of 208 - 215 °C in terms of IMC layer growth during thermal cycling and its effect on the shear strength of the solder joints. The test PCBs were soldered using two different temperature profiles and the temperature cycling was performed under two different conditions. No negative effect of REL61 solder alloy on the growth of the IMC layer under thermal stress and on the subsequent shear strength of the solder joint was found. From this point of view, the REL61 solder alloy can be used as a replacement for the SAC305 solder alloy.
FOOD SAFETY OF SELF HELP GROUP FOOD PRODUCTS IN PUDUCHERRY REGION - NO MORE EXCUSES

In recent years, there have been many serious concerns regarding the food safety of the SHG food products, health and well-being of the consumers which indeed seeks special attention to protect the consumers. Only limited studies have been carried out to understand food safety aspects of the SHG food products. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the level of food safety and hygienic practices among SHG food handlers and also to assess their food safety knowledge. The current study focuses on key food safety factors. Sample of 123 SHG FBO‟s under Government and Non-government organization covering rural and urban areas of Puducherry region were met to collect the data using questionnaire through interview as well as observational method. From the investigation, it is found that improper food handling process; unhygienic practices among SHG food handlers, soiled food preparation unit, insufficient training and lack of awareness about food safety are prevalent in SHG FBO‟s. We recommend organization‟s to conduct well designed training programs, evaluate safety of food products on regular basis and inspect the food preparation units periodically.
Effective fulfilment, implementation, and supervision of the validation and registration requirements for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects: a missing link in the achievement of the sustainable development objective of the CDM

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was established by Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol to promote sustainable development in developing countries and, at the same time, assist developed countries to achieve their emission reduction commitments in a costeffective way. The CDM appears to have been successful in its delivering its cost-effective objective but it is debatable if it has been as successful in promoting sustainable development in developing countries. Previous research studies have shown that overall, the CDM is not contributing a great deal to sustainable development. This is because, inter alia, there is no system in place for the effective implementation and supervision of the CDM’s sustainable development objective, either at the international or national levels. Proposed CDM projects are required to fulfil validation and registration (V & R) requirements as a prerequisite for their registration as CDM projects. The effective fulfilment, implementation and supervision of these should, presumably, contribute to the achievement of the CDM’s sustainable development objective in CDM host countries. This is because some of these requirements, such as stakeholder participation and environmental impact assessment are generally regarded in international law as key tools for promoting sustainable development. The overall aim of this thesis is to consider the broad question of why the CDM is failing to achieve its sustainable development objective. To answer this question, this thesis focuses specifically on the fulfilment, implementation, and supervision of the V & R requirements for CDM projects, and their role in helping the CDM achieve this objective. None of the previous research studies examined the suitability of the V & R requirements and the fulfillment, implementation and supervision of the V & R requirements, to address the broad
Energy-Efficient Secure Communications for Wireless-Powered Cognitive Radio Networks

In this study, we investigate energy-efficient secure communications for wireless-powered cognitive ratio networks, in which multiple secondary users (SUs) share the same frequency band with primary users (PUs) and energy harvesting (EH) nodes harvest energy from the transmitted signals, even though information decoding is not permitted. To maximize the average secrecy energy efficiency (SEE) of SUs while ensuring acceptable interference on PUs and the required amount of energy for the EH nodes, we propose an energy-efficient transmit power control algorithm using dual decomposition, wherein suboptimal transmit powers are determined in an iterative manner with low complexity. Through extensive simulations in various scenarios, we verify that the proposed scheme has a higher average SEE than conventional schemes and a considerably shorter computation time than the optimal scheme.
Embedded Very Fast Switching Module for SiC Power MOSFETs

The development of very fast switching semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) offers many opportunities. Switching speed and pulse frequency can be increased significantly and passive components can be reduced in size and cost. One requirement to make use of these benefits is to package the semiconductors in a way that reduces EMI already at its origin. The embedding technology gives the opportunity to reduce parasitic inductances significantly [1]. When the low side chip of a half bridge is attached face-down, the output capacitance is almost eliminated and DC+ and DC-capacitances against heat sink are symmetrized [2]. This paper focusses on how the module needs to be designed to meet the needs like thermal aspects and manufacturing processes.
Analysis and Development of Walking Algorithm Kinematic Model for 5-Degree of Freedom Bipedal Robot

A design of walking diagram and the calculation of a bipedal robot have been developed. The bipedal robot was designed and constructed with several kinds of servo bracket for the legs, two feet and a hip. Each of the bipedal robot leg was 5-degrees of freedom, three pitches (hip joint, knee joint and ankle joint) and two rolls (hip joint and ankle joint). The walking algorithm of this bipedal robot was based on the triangle formulation of cosine law to get the angle value at each joint. The hip height, height of the swinging leg and the step distance are derived based on linear equation. This paper discussed the kinematic model analysis and the development of the walking diagram of the bipedal robot. Kinematics equations were derived, the joint angles were simulated and coded into Arduino board to be executed to the robot.
Listening to Saudi EFL Learners’ Voices: Demotivating Factors Affecting Learning

A plethora of research has considered motivation instrumental in achieving the requisite objectives in learning a language regrettably overlooked the most critical component called demotivation that indubitably affects the learning process substantially. The researchers have taken the daunting task to figure out the demotivating factors that affect Saudi learners’ English proficiency. The research is qualitatively based on the responses obtained from semi-structured informal interviews with twenty-six respondents and classroom observation inputs from over 125 students learning English as a foreign (EFL) language at Jazan University in Saudi Arabia. The sample of this study responded to a self-structured questionnaire to get qualitative data and after twofold data analysis, six demotivating factors related to students; teachers; environment (internal & external); attitude towards EFL learning; course materials, and time constriction were identified. The findings and suggestions reckon students, teachers, parents, and administrators to give utmost priority to address demotivation factors to facilitate even EFL learning to timely achieve not only the prerequisite learning outcomes but may also lead learners to be autonomous, infuse interest, confident with 21st-century skills, better teacher-learner relationship, and change in cognitive behavior, and non-cognitive aspects which includes perception, attitude, beliefs and willingness to learn English language.
COMPARISON OF SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY MEASURED BY VARIOUS FIELD METHODS

Field experiments were conducted to compare the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks ) measured by four different techniques: Double Ring Infiltrometer (RI), Rainfall Simulator (RS), Guelph Permeameter (GP), and Guelph Infiltrometer (GI). Ks values obtained with the RI and GP were statistically the same, but were significantly lower than those determined by the RS and GI methods. The Ks values obtained with the GP and the GI have greater variability than those obtained with the RI and RS methods. The GP and GI methods require a larger number of measurements (as compared to the RI and the RS methods) to achieve a mean Ks value exhibiting a comparable standard error of estimate.
The Use of Pineapple Fruit in Batting Process on the Chemical Properties of Sheepskin Using Shorfloat Tanning

Batting is the process of removing globular and non-collagen proteins. Bromelain can be found in all parts of the pineapple plant (Ananas comosus L.) with different amounts and properties. Bromelain can be used as a batting agent in the tanning process. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the bromelain enzyme concentration used during the protein removal process on the quality of sheepskin. This research used 30 sheets of sheepskin obtained from abattoir in Yogyakarta City and pineapple fruit’s flesh. The experimental design used was a completely randomized design. The research uses different concentrations of pineapples fruit’s flesh (T1 0,5%, T2 1%, T3 1,5% and T4 2% w/w) with feliderm (T0). Statistical analysis using one-way analysis of variance and in accordance with the statistical model. The results of this study showed in dissolved protein content was T0 0.83%, T1 0.77%, T2 0.68%, T3 0.82% and T4 0.85%, protein content of batting skin was T0 19.17%, T1 17.90%, T2 18.37%, T3 21.35% and T4 21.50%, protein content of leather was T0 59.69%, T1 59.27%, T2 60.34%, T3 61.59% and T4 63.25%, fat content was T0 15.31%, T1 14.61%, T2 15.19%, T3 15.36% and T4 16.25%, chromium content was T0 2.60%, T1 2.67%, T2 2.78%, T3 2.82% and T4 3.00% and shrinkage temperature was T0 92.330C, T1 95.670C, T2 93.670C, T3 96.330C and T4 97.330C. The results for pineapple juice showed potency to be used as batting agent for sheepskin. The minimum amount of pineapple juice added for batting the sheepskin is 1% (w/w).
Impact of pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams) on growth of Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia Ten.)

One of the most important damaging insects on Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) forests in the coastal Mediterranean Region of Turkey is pine processionary moth (PPM), Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams. The larvae of PPM feed on needles of Turkish red pine and on some other Mediterranean conifers such as cedar. This study covers the impact of defoliation caused by PPM on growth of red pine. Three test sites were taken on different plantations in the coastal Mediterranean region of Turkey, near Antalya city. The heights and diameters at breast height (dbh) of individual trees both in the control group and the treatment groups were measured. The trees defoliated over 40% in the test sites were considered as the treatments. The results indicated that, compared to the control, the losses in defoliated trees in terms of dbh increment were 55, 50 and 35% in the three test sites, respectively. The corresponding losses in the three test sites in terms of volume increment were 44, 37 and 17%, respectively. Test results also showed that effects of defoliation and site on both diameter and volume increment were statistically significant at 0.000 probability level.
Simulation of Structural Transition of Ni Nano-Material under Different Pressures

In this paper, the structural transitions of the rapidly cooled Ni nanomaterial under different pressures were studied by using molecular dynamics simulation. The work gives the structural properties, including the potential energy, pair-correlation function and Honeycutt-Andersen (HA) and Voronoi indices. This pair-correlation function of liquid Ni agrees well with the experimental results. The local structures are characterized by Honeycutt-Andersen (HA) indices and Voronoi tessellation. Our results indicate that with the increasing pressure the Ni nanomaterial transformed from the disordered structure to the ordered structure. The icosahedral and defect icosahedral decrease, the hcp-like structure increased at 300 K. These phenomena were shown that the crystalline state is hcp-like local structure.
ONO inter-poly dielectric scaling for nonvolatile memory applications

The ONO (oxide/nitride/oxide) inter-poly dielectric thickness scaling effect on electric-field-leakage-current characteristics and charge retention characteristics in nonvolatile memories are investigated. Surface top-oxide thickness strongly affects the charge leakage and retention characteristics. Thicker than 3 nm top oxide can block hole injunction from the anode. Thick top oxide can reduce leakage current in both high and low electric field regions. Moreover, it can improve charge retention characteristics in nonvolatile memory cells. Therefore, a certain amount of top oxide is required to preserve good charge retention characteristics. SiN thickness scaling leads to an improvement in charge retention characteristics. Bottom oxide has an important role in suppressing electron leakage in a low electric field region. A degraded quality thin bottom oxide leads to charge retention capability degradation. Therefore, bottom-oxide quality and thickness control is an important subject for ONO thickness scaling. >