Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic modeling and robust control of an L-shaped microrobot based on fast trilayer polypyrrole-bending actuators

In this article, analytical dynamic model derivation and robust position control of a microrobot based on fast trilayer polypyrrole-bending actuators employing quantitative feedback theory is presented. The conjugated polymer actuators based on polypyrrole can be employed to achieve microscale precision positioning, having a wide range of application including biomimetic robots and biomedical devices. There has been extensive research on modeling the electrochemical dynamics of polypyrrole bending actuators. However, the mechanical dynamics modeling of actuator remains to be unexplored. In this article, we first develop a proper mechanical dynamics model for the fast-conducting polymer actuators that matches well with the existing experimental results and then extend it to a microrobot. In the controlling part, the robust control quantitative feedback theory will be used to control the microrobot with variable tip loading. The numerical simulation results show that the quantitative feedback theory controller has consistent and robust-tracking performance.
Physiological, biochemical and metabolic responses of abiotic plant stress: salinity and drought

: The most important types of abiotic stress that affect agricultural crops throughout the world are drought and salinity. These stresses will continue to worsen as the current climate crisis progresses. Plants have evolved a complex set of mechanisms in order to protect themselves from salt and drought. At the macrobiological level, these include alterations in growth rate, water balance, antioxidant defenses, and photosynthesis. Altered metabolites include proline, carbohydrates, glycine betaine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and polyamines. It is not surprising, thus, that one of the most important research areas of plant biology is the study of plant responses to abiotic stress and stress tolerance mechanisms. The methods, used in this study, are diverse, including the study of physiological properties, biochemical research, and metabolomics approaches toward abiotic stress. This awareness should lead to the development of (near) future, sustainable and better-adapted agriculture in the sense of global warming and environmental emission scenarios. Also, different information presented in this overview can be regarded by the scientific community to produce tolerant cultivars in response to salinity and drought stresses.
Simultaneous arrival of multiple UAVs under imperfect communication

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a new algorithm for in‐mission trajectories and speed adjustment of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) participating in a mission that requires them to arrive at target location simultaneously with switching and imperfect communication among the vehicles.Design/methodology/approach – This algorithm, programmed at each UAV level, is based on the repeated consensus seeking among the participating vehicles about the time‐on‐target (ToT) through an imperfect inter‐vehicle communication link. The vehicles exchange their individual ToT values repeatedly for a particular duration to pick the highest value among all the vehicles in communication. A consensus confidence flag is set high when consensus is successful. After every consensus cycle with high confidence value, the mission adjustment is carried out by computing difference value between ToT consensus and a threshold value. For the difference values higher than a certain limit, vehicle's trajectory is.
Workspace Analysis for A New Design Laparoscopic Robotic Manipulator, "MU-LapaRobot1"

This paper describes workspace analysis used for designing a compact robot for laparoscopic surgery, called “MU-LapaRobot. ” The overall design is strictly based on surgical requirements which our specific workspace analysis also plays an important role. The motion of laparoscopic tool creates a unique constraint which is a remote-fulcrum point away from the robot at the small incision on abdominal wall. Our robot consists of 3 sections; 1) 2-link passive planar manipulator with level adjuster for locating the fulcrum point in 3D-space, 2) 2DOF distant-parallel mechanical linkage for generating a cone-shape workspace, and 3) tool’s quick release for switching tool during the surgery. Our current study and mechanical design is to develop the first stage of “Passive Laparoscopic Tool Holder” with full motion constraint. The second stage is to improve and integrate wire-driving and motorizing systems on the MU-LapaRobot. The third (final) stage is focusing on robot controls, force feedback and human-machine interface. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop an interchangeable surgical robots which capable of human-robot collaboration and tele-operation.
Isolation and Identification Rust Pathogens and the Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activity and Gene Expression under Rust Infection in Zoysia japonica

The goal of this study was to identify the zoysiagrass rust pathogens and to analyze the differences in rust-resistant and rust-susceptible Zoysia japonica germplasm upon inoculation. Based on the assessment of spore morphology and 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) molecular identification, the zoysiagrass rust pathogen was identified as Puccinia zoysiae Diet. The development of mycelium, the rate of spreading, and the timing of spore production were more delayed in the rust-resistant (RR) genotype than the rust-susceptible (RS) genotype. After inoculation, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) initially decreased, then increased in both the RR and RS genotypes, but the increased enzyme activities were faster in the RR than in the RS genotype. Rust resistance was positively correlated with antioxidant enzyme activity. The observed changes in CAT, POD and APX activity corresponded to their gene expression levels. The results of this study may be utilized in accurately evaluating the damage of rust disease and rust-resistance in zoysiagrass germplasm aimed at breeding the rust-resistant zoysiagrass varieties and improving disease management of zoysiagrass turf.
Particle trajectories in turbine cascades

An analytical investigation into the nature of particle trajectories in cascades of airfoils has been carried out in order to predict the location, velocity, and angle of particle impact on the airfoils of turbines. As a result of this analysis it has been shown that for any given inviscid flow, particle trajectories are uniquely determined by the specification of only two dimensionless parameters, the most important of which is the Stokes number. In addition, computed results have indicated that particle trajectories are virtually invariant with cascade Mach number. Finally, a comparison of analytically and experimentally determined trajectories for the flow around the circular leading edge of a blunt body has shown excellent agreement over a wide range of Stokes number.
All-fiber laser mode-locked by the acousto-optic modulation of a fiber Bragg grating in suspended core fiber

An ytterbium-doped fiber laser mode-locked by the interaction of a fiber Bragg grating and longitudinal acoustic waves in a suspended core fiber is experimentally investigated. An optimized design of an acousto-optic modulator is also proposed. The results indicate output pulses with a width of less than 550 ps at a repetition rate of 10 MHz. The reduction of the power consumed by the transducer and the grating length points out to more efficient, compact and fast acousto-optic modulators for mode-locked all-fiber lasers.
Exploring the relationship between after-sales service strategies and design for X methodologies

The transition from a product manufacturer into a service provider constitutes a major managerial challenge for companies. It requires new organisational principles, structures and processes, which encompass the whole product life cycle, from its concept and design to its dismissal. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how design for X (DFX) methodologies and practices can consistently enable the achievement of the objectives of specific after-sales strategic profiles, by encompassing those distinctive features which can at best fulfil the customer's requirements and expectations throughout the product life cycle usage. A model is proposed in order to relate after-sales strategies with 'DFX' methodologies. The description of two industrial case studies provides a pragmatic insight on the opportunities coming out from a consistent relation between after-sales strategies and product development practices.
Dynamic Structured Pruning With Novel Filter Importance and Leaky Masking Based on Convolution and Batch Normalization Parameters

Various pruning methods have been proposed to solve the overparameterized problem in deep neural networks. Most of the structured pruning methods have used magnitude-based filter importance to remove unnecessary filters. Usually, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) consist of blocks that proceed with batch normalization (BN) operations after convolutional (Conv) operations. Each element is calculated through cooperation between Conv and BN, so both Conv and BN parameters must be considered together in pruning. However, previous pruning methods independently used the norm of parameters, either Conv weights or BN scales, as filter importance, ignoring these CNN structures. With this intuition, we propose a new magnitude-based filter importance method that considers both Conv weights and BN scales, and provide evidence of importance through experimental analysis on the rank of the feature map as well as mathematical analysis on the feature distortion. Furthermore, in recent works, dynamically applying a mask to recover weights has enabled more accurate pruning. However, when the weights are multiplied by zero mask values, the gradients become zero, which prevents updating the weights. We name this problem the zero gradient transferring. To solve this problem, we propose a leaky masking method that replaces the zero value of the mask with a positive constant. As a result, we solve the zero gradient transferring through the leaky masking method, enabling more accurate dynamic structured pruning. We denote our proposed method as CoBaL that incorporates Conv and BN based filter importance and Leaky mask into dynamic structured pruning. Experimental results show that our CoBaL compresses 50.09% parameters and 32.51% FLOPs on ResNet 56 with the CIFAR-10 with slightly improved accuracy. Also, we possess comparable results on ImageNet with 50.74% and 29.38% reduction in the number of parameters and FLOPs at ResNet18, respectively.
Accurate synthesis of inline prototype filters using cascaded triplet and quadruplet sections

A general method for designing low-pass prototype networks with cascade inline topology is presented. The generalized Chebyshev characteristic is imposed, allowing an equiripple response in the passband and transmission zeros arbitrarily displaced in the complex plane (symmetry with respect to the imaginary axis is, however, required). A computationally efficient method is employed for evaluating reflection and transmission polynomials, given the transmission zeros; then, the synthesis of a starting coupling matrix is performed using one of the methods available in the literature. The desired inline topology is then assembled by cascading elementary building blocks (triplets and/or quadruplets), following specific rules which assure the feasibility of the structure; finally, the synthesis is performed by applying a multiple similarity transform to the starting coupling matrix (the set of rotation angles is determined by means of an efficient and fast optimization procedure). Examples are reported which validate the proposed synthesis procedure.
Exploring the role of mindful eating and self-compassion on eating behaviours and orthorexia in people following a plant-based diet

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is a new concept that is more prevalent in vegan populations. The aim of this study was to explore problematic eating behaviours in a vegan population, and to explore whether mindful eating and self-compassion have an impact on orthorexia nervosa. Three hundred thirteen individuals following a vegan diet completed scales in Orthorexia, Self-Compassion, Mindful, Emotional, External and Restraint Eating. The results indicated that individuals with high levels of orthorexia nervosa display low levels of self-compassion, and high levels of restrained eating. Moreover, the findings indicated that self-compassion, but not mindful eating, partially mediated the relationship between restrained eating and orthorexia nervosa. The present results contribute to a better understanding of orthorexic eating behaviours in a vegan population, and identifies the mediating capacity of self-compassion. Future directions are discussed.
A novel insight into vertical ground motion modelling in earthquake engineering

Recent observations of failure and damage of buildings and structures under seismic action has led to an increasing interest for an in‐depth analysis of the vertical component of site ground motion. In particular, when dealing with saturated soils, the current engineering practice does not usually go beyond the simplified u – p formulation of the Biot's equations describing the coupled hydro‐mechanical behaviour, thus neglecting some terms of fluid inertial forces, despite the presence of more refined formulations, for example, the u – U formulation. Therefore, a theoretical and numerical validation of the u – p formulation as compared with the u – U formulation is proposed in this work, where the numerical simulations are compared with the analytical solution for the u – p formulation, which is also derived and illustrated in this text. The comparison between the two formulations and the analytical solution is provided for different levels of permeability and dynamic actions, which are representative of a wide scenario of site ground properties and seismic hazard in the vertical direction. In particular, the soil response is analysed in terms of acceleration and pore pressure time history, frequency content, acceleration response spectrum, and amplification ratio of acceleration. This study extends the discussion of the limits of applicability of the u – p formulation with respect to the rigorous solution of Biot's equations (obtained here with u – U formulation) to the context of a complex dynamic regime provided by the vertical components of real earthquake records, and paves the way for further investigations.
Socio-demographic Determinants of Low Physical Activity in Peruvian Adults: Results of a Population-based Survey Performed in 2017-2018

Objectives The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of low physical activity (PA) in Peruvian adults and to identify associated factors. Methods An analytical study was performed using data from the 2017-2018 Nutritional Food Surveillance by Life Stages survey. The outcome variable was low PA (yes or no), assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form. Prevalence ratios were estimated as a measure of association. Results Among the 1045 persons included in the analysis, the age-standardized prevalence of low PA was 61.9%. The adjusted model showed that being female and migrating from a rural to an urban area in the last 5 years were associated with a higher probability of having low PA than males and individuals who had not migrated, while residing in rural highlands and jungle areas was associated with a reduced probability of having low PA compared to people residing in other geographic domains. Conclusions Being a female and migration from a rural to an urban area in the last 5 years were associated with a higher likelihood of having low PA. Therefore, promotion and prevention strategies related to PA are required, especially in the female and migrant populations.
Harmonic analysis of induction motors with stator faults

In the paper stator faults are analyzed by means of a procedure ba­ sed on the space-vector theory. The used approach, due to Stepina, allows to consider separately each conductor of every single slot and therefore to take easily into account the winding dissymmetry. The interactions among the different harmonic fields are studied by starting from the topological structure of windings and the harmonic ana­ lysis of the currents and of torque is carried out. The method is' tested to numerical computations of steady-state cur­ rents for an induction machine with different positions of stator short­ circuits. Finally the procedure is validated by using an experimental squirrel cage machine, having stator windings constructed so as to realize diffe­ rent short-circuits.
Airborne passive location based on combined time and frequency difference of arrival

Passive location techniques have always been considered an important topic and recently, thanks to digital signal processing (DSP) advances, new methods are being studied and experimented with. The possibility to passively locate radar emitters avoiding transmission is crucial in a variety of military applications, in particular when a flying platform (aircraft or helicopter) is entering an unknown and potentially hostile area. Elettronica SpA (ELT) gave start in 2004 to an experimental campaign in this field with the support and collaboration of the Italian Ministry of Defence (MoD). In this context the following activities were carried out: – theoretical study (with analytically derived and simulated results) of a passive location algorithm,– design and development of a passive location demonstrator (PLD) qualified for flight,– field tests (July 2006) performed in Sardegna (Salto di Quirra). This paper presents the specific passive location algorithm selected for the field tests illustrating analytical performance prediction. The PLD and the field tests are described and the main results are reported. A location accuracy in the order of 10% of emitter distance has been achieved during experimentation.
Multiresolution Analysis Based on Dual-Scale Regression for Pansharpening

Pansharpening technique is used to merge the original multispectral image with a high spatial resolution panchromatic image. Due to its robustness, the multiresolution analysis (MRA) is an important part of pansharpening. The scale regression model is effective for improving MRA. However, the existing MRA based on scale regression results into single-scale regression information, thus affecting the final pansharpening result. In order to address this problem, in this work, we propose a dual-scale regression-based MRA for pansharpening. First, we establish a scale regression-based model. Then, this model is improved using a high-pass modulation (HPM) injection scheme. Finally, the dual-scale information is added to the scale regression to construct the dual-scale regression for obtaining the final pansharpening result. We perform experiments by using five datasets. The results show that the proposed method obtains a better pansharpening result as compared to various state-of-the-art MRA methods. In addition, the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results shows that the proposed method achieves appropriate spatial and spectral resolution fusion. Therefore, it has a great potential in pansharpening technique.
Part-family formation for cellular manufacturing: A case study at Harnischfeger

In this paper, a procedure for part-family formation in a manufacturing situation with high part variety is discussed, a new similarity coefficient based on batch size is introduced, and a case study at Harnischfeger is reviewed. The component variety at Harnischfeger is in hundred thousands of parts, and poses a problem for the traditional methods of gathering data for machine-part matrices. The development of a procedure for dealing with this problem has been a part of this work as well as a step-by-step refinement of he final block-diagonal machinepart matrix for adaptation to the specific requirements of the manufacturing system at Harnischfeger.
ACTIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

In the article the latest explorings of different approaches to activation of teaching and learning process in higher education are analysed. A majority of classes in institutions of higher education are taught in the traditional lecture mode. Many explorers point out that traditional lecturing does not involve significant audience participation but relies upon passive listening. Therefore they suggest different active learning techniques to actively engage students in more activities than just listening passively which can help to increase effectiveness in teaching and learning.
Land Use Practices along Saadani-Wami-Mbiki Wildlife Corridor and their Implications to Wildlife Conservation

Saadani-Wami-Mbiki wildlife corridor has been facing conservation threats as a result of various land-use practices (LUP) carried out in and around the corridor. The understanding of changes happening in the corridor over time is important for establishing the management baseline data. This study aimed at identifying land use practices along the Saadani-Wami-Mbiki wildlife corridor and their implications to wildlife conservation. Specifically, the study sought to determine the rate of land cover changes in the corridor between 1975 and 2011 and the effects associated with land use practices on wildlife conservation. The land sat imageries of 1975, 1995, and 2011 were used to assess the rate of vegetation cover changes as a result of various land use practices carried out along. The household survey and Key informants' interview methods were used to obtain socio-economic data which were analyzed using SPSS while GIS data were analyzed using the ERDAS IMAGINE 9.1 and ArcGIS 9.3 programs. In the past 36 years (1975-2011), the cultivated land increased by 25%, settlement by 13%, open forest by 10% while closed forest and grassland decreased by 18% and 3% respectively. Shifting cultivation, overgrazing, charcoal burning, settlements, and poaching were identified as major land use practices threatening wildlife conservation within the corridor. Based on the results, it was recommended that, the Government should formulate a land use management plan and introduce a community-based natural resources management strategy to improve natural resources utilization and reduction of human stress to the corridor.
Integrated active antenna with full duplex operation

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a novel two-element active transmit-receive array using dual linear polarization and sequential rotation. Each element includes an integrated oscillator and amplifier mounted on orthogonal edges of a square patch, such that the transmit and receive paths are isolated and polarization duplexed. The array gives in excess of 45-dB transmit-receive isolation with an output power of 5.4 dBm and a receive gain of 8.2 dB at 4.05 GHz. Link budget calculations are used to show expected system performances. These active antennas have potential uses in both short-range communication and radar systems.