Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CONTROL OF OVER-ACTUATED SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATION TO ADVANCED TURBOCHARGED DIESEL ENGINES

The automotive industry is currently striving to improve vehicle fuel economy, while complying to stringent emission standards and keeping affordable costs. Engine downsizing with advanced turbochargers is one of the main technical solutions nowadays implemented by the industry in response to the above challenges. In particular, the adoption of advanced actuation techniques brings more degrees of freedom to improve the efficiency of breathing and combustion in internal combustion engines. However, it is understood that improvements in engine design can be effective only if matched by the ability to closely control engine breathing and combustion performance. This dissertation aims at exploiting systematic methodologies for control and optimization of over-actuated systems. Following the path of the state of the art in control theory and practice, a novel control design methodology is proposed that hinges on the characterization of redundancy for a class of over-actuated systems in geometric terms to determine the reconfigurable structure of the controller. The method relies upon the concept of inverse model allocation, where the integration of allocation module is effectively separated from stabilization of the regulated outputs, allowing one to shape the transient response by optimizing on-line a given cost function without affecting the output tracking performance. The proposed approach overcomes fundamental limitations found in current techniques and specifically addresses the need for simultaneous control and optimization of the air-path systems for advanced downsized engines.
Design of An Air-Filled Slot Antenna and Array for Millimeter-Wave Applications

This paper introduces a new structure of wideband slot antenna with high gain and stable radiation patterns for millimeter-wave (mmW) applications. It is the first attempt to apply an air-filled I-shape slot excited by a substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) feed. The slot can achieve lower Q-factor contributing to a wider bandwidth. In addition, the feature of even electric field distributions across the operating bandwidth produces very stable gain performance for the proposed antenna. The proposed antenna is realized using a single-layered PCB substrate with plated-through-hole technology, which is cost effective and easy to fabricate. In addition, a 1 × 8 antenna array based on the proposed antenna element is developed with a planar 1–8 SIW feeding network. The measurement results show that the proposed array can achieve an impedance bandwidth of 36.6 % from 58 to 84 GHz with a peak gain of 16 dBi. These performances ensure that the proposed antenna array is a promising candidate for mmW communications.
Validation of the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ-C), short version, in Colombian adolescents

Introduction. The most widely accepted theoretical and measurement model in personality study is the Big Five Personality Test, designed to measure five traits: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. One of the most commonly used instruments for evaluating personality in children and adolescents is the BFQ-C. However, its applicability may be limited by its length. The short version of the test has shown stability across different cultures but there is no empirical evidence on its psychometric properties to enable it to be used in the Latin American context. Objective. This study seeks to validate the short version of the Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C) in the Colombian population. Method. The questionnaire was administered to 844 adolescents (55% boys and 45% girls) aged between 11 and 16 (M = 13.55 and SD = 2.30). Seven possible models were obtained from a series of exploratory and confirmatory analyses to explain the factorial structure of the test, which were compared with each other to find the model with the best statistical fit. Results. The model with the best absolute fit coincided with the five-factor proposal of the scale, for which empirical evidence is provided for the universality of the Big Five model. The factors showed adequate levels of reliability. Discussion and conclusion. The short version of the BFQ-C has good psychometric properties in adolescents and constitutes a useful instrument for measuring personality in the Latin American context.
The Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Oral Colchicine in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trails

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral colchicine in the treatment for knee OA. Design Meta-analysis. Data Sources. Embase, PubMed (MEDLINE), the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science from inception to December 12, 2021. Study Selection. RCTs comparing colchicine with placebo for knee OA were included. No language or date restrictions were applied. Two authors abstracted data and determined quality. Outcomes of interest included VAS-pain, WOMAC total index, and patient-reported adverse events. Results A total of five RCTs including 400 adult patients with OA met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of patients included was 56.05 years (range 21 to 79), and 80.87% were female. There was no difference in VAS-pain (MD -1.49; 95% CI -3.15, 0.17; p = 0.08) when compared colchicine group with placebo group. And there was no statistically difference in WOMAC total index (std. MD -0.13; 95% CI -0.64, 0.38; p = 0.61) and patient report adverse events (RR 1.23; 95% CI 0.72, 2.11; p = 0.46). Conclusion Colchicine is not currently recommended as a treatment for knee OA but might have insignificant effect. The conclusion is limited due to the variation in assessment indicator among available data. Further RCTs with larger sample size and longer follow-up are needed to confirm the findings.
Data Dissemination in VANETs Using Clustering and Probabilistic Forwarding Based on Adaptive Jumping Multi-Objective Firefly Optimization

Data dissemination in a VANETs network requires a meticulous process to ensure a high quality of service and eliminate hazardous conditions due to congestion or a broadcast storm. Considering multi-metric approaches and their implicit conflicting nature, it is necessary to handle this through effective multi-objective optimization algorithms. An effective optimization can be handled using a meta-heuristic approach with a high level of solution interactions. For this purpose, firefly was selected, which is a type of meta-heuristic search algorithm. Several developments of the firefly optimization were added to increase its capability to find more dominating solutions, namely, objective decomposition, archive management, and controlled mutation for exploration and exploitation balance. This developed multi-objective optimization was designated as adaptive jumping multi-objective firefly algorithm (AJ-MOFA). Afterwards, AJ-MOFA was integrated with a clustering and forwarding mechanism (CFM). This mechanism includes three main components. The first is clustering, which uses arbitration based on the cluster head score; the second is a forwarding mechanism that uses probabilistic forwarding and the third is AJ-MOFA. The solution space design in CFM combined two variables: the first is the probability of forwarding and the second is the maximum number of nodes within one cluster. The metrics to be incorporated in the multi-objective optimizations are the packet delivery ratio (PDR), the end-to-end delay (E2E-delay) and the number of dropped packets. Comparing both AJ-MOFA and CFM with benchmarks using multi-objective optimization and networking metrics reveals the superiority in most evaluation measures, which makes them promising algorithms for data dissemination in VANETs. The results showed an accomplished PDR of 60% and an E2E delay of 6.6 seconds, while the number of dropped packets was almost nine for the entire running time of the experiment, comparing a similar or lower performance of the benchmarks for these metrics.
Properties of Ultrafine-Grained Tungsten Prepared by Ball Milling and Spark Plasma Sintering

Tungsten is currently considered as the most suitable plasma facing material for the first wall of a nuclear fusion reactor. First wall will be subjected to harsh conditions that will gradually deteriorate properties of the wall material. Some studies point out that fine-grained tungsten could be more resistant to the structure and property changes than coarse-grained tungsten. However, tailoring of tungsten microstructure is very laborious. Due to its high melting point, tungsten is very often processed mechanically and subsequently sintered into a compact body. In this study, preparation of ultrafine-grained tungsten by mechanical processing in a planetary ball mill was examined. Three types of tungsten samples were compared. One was made from coarse grained tungsten powder consolidated by SPS (spark plasma sintering). Other two samples were prepared from the powder processed in a planetary ball mill with and without addition of Y2O3. After ball milling, the powders were consolidated by SPS, i.e. fast sintering process that allows preserving fine-grained structure of the powder material. Properties of the samples such as hardness and thermal conductivity were examined and correlated with the processing history and microstructure.
Efficacy of NHP66 Bioactive Cage on Patients with Cervical Spine Injury in Short-Track Speed Skating

Background Short-track speed skating (STSS) is an extreme sport in pursuit of extreme speed and explosive force. In such a sport, once athletes fall down, they are susceptible to serious cervical spine injury (CSI) under the inertia of high-velocity movement. Nanohydroxyapatite/polyamide 66 (NHP66) bioactive cage is a high-tech product of nanotechnology in the medical field in recent years. With a structure similar to that of human cortical bone, NHP66 bioactive cage has extremely high toughness and strength, which tailors to the needs of STSS. Objective This study mainly analyzed the therapeutic effect of NHP66 on patients with CSI in STSS, aiming to provide new opportunities for the treatment of this patient population. Methods A total of 51 patients with CSI treated in our hospital were enrolled, including 19 cases of short-track speed skaters (observation group) and 32 cases of car accidents, falls from heights, or collision injuries (control group). The relevant surgical indicators (operation time, intraoperative blood loss, etc.), the incidence of adverse reactions, the Cobb angle of cervical lordosis before and after surgery, and the fusion segment height of the cage were observed and compared between the two groups. Postoperative pain was evaluated by the visual analog scale (VAS), improvement of spinal cord injury was assessed by the American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale, and bone fusion, bone subsidence, and other motor functions were assessed by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score rating system. Results The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The Cobb angle of cervical lordosis and the fusion segment height of cage increased significantly higher in both groups after surgery. In addition, the VAS scores of the observation group 2 h and 3 d after operation were significantly lower than those of the control group. In terms of improvement of spinal cord injury, ASIA and JOA scores in the observation group were significantly higher than those before treatment and in the control group. There was no significant difference in bone fusion activity between the two groups. Conclusions In this study, it is found through experiments that NHP66 has higher safety and application value than autogenous iliac bone, confirming that NHP66 can achieve significant results as a cage for anterior cervical decompression and iliac bone graft fusion and internal fixation in short-track speed skaters after CSI.
Euesperides: a devastated site: a challenge for multimedia presentation

This article gives an account of the history and archaeology of the Greek colony of Euesperides in Cyrenaica. It also describes a project based at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford for the multimedia presentation of the surviving evidence about the site, which is part of doctoral research on the use of multimedia systems in archaeology and museums.
Study of Warpage and Mechanical Stress of 2.5D Package Interposers during Chip and Interposer Mount Process

As data transmission rate increases, flip chip plastic ball grid array (FCPBGA) utilizing a interposer for multiple chips is gaining popularity because of high electrical performance, ease of chip design, ease of thermal management with thermal lid, etc. The authors assessed package design configuration and key design elements for two chips application assuming 1600 signal I/Os for logic and 800 signal I/Os for memory. Then, we studied warpage behavior of the interposer, and mechanical stress of solder interconnections and low-k dielectric layer under controlled collapse chip connection (C4) pad. We set three different mount process assumptions for chip to interposer and interposer to base organic substrate. The mount process assumptions are (1) two pass reflow of chip to interposer first, then interposer to base organic substrate, (2) reversed sequence of two pass reflow which is interposer to base organic substrate first, then chip to interposer, (3) one pass reflow of chip, interposer and base organic .
Antecedents and enablers of supply chain value creation: An analysis of trust and competences

ABSTRACT The study investigated how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) create value in local supply chains. Specifically, the study focused on two initiators of value creation: entrepreneurial competences and supply chain trust. The authors analyse a cross-sectional survey of 294 SMEs in Uganda operating in the construction, furniture and fitting, food processing and agricultural sectors to test a number of hypotheses, using factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Results show that building value-driven supply chains requires SME owner-managers to build an optimal level of trust. Although trust is identified as a key factor in facilitating trade within local communities, different entrepreneurs’ perspectives alter how SME-owner managers assess trusted partners, determining different strategies and behaviours in building trust in customer, as opposed to suppliers’ relationships. In addition, findings show how operational cost is not a key value driver, indicating why SME-owners managers should instead focus on building trust.
Health and Ease of Doing Business Indices in the Eastern Mediterranean Region Based on the Panel Data

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between ease of doing business and health indices in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The present study is a panel data study which was done using data from 2007 to 2019. Pre-estimation and post-estimation tests were performed to estimate the model by data panel model. The tests included the unit root test, Fisher test and Hausman test, crosssectional dependence tests, co-integration test, test for heteroscedastic and autocorrelation test between disturbances. The data were entered into EVIEWS-7 and STATA-13 software and the final estimation of the model was done by Driscoll and Croy method. Levin-Lin-Chu (LLC) test, Im-Pesaran-Shin test and Shin tests showed that most of the variables were significant. The panel effects were confirmed based on the Limer test (F=99.155, P<0/001). Hausmann test rejected the random effects in the model and showed fixed effects (χ2 =78.2968, P<0/001). The results of the parent test showed a cross-sectional dependence of the disturbances. The Cao co-integration test also confirmed the existence of coaccumulation (P<0.001, t=-4.38). The null hypothesis of this test based on variance homogeneity was rejected (P<0.001, χ2 =78.2968). The final estimation shows 68% the model determination coefficient based on the Driscoll and Croy test; This means that 68% of the variables dependent on the explanatory variables of this model are explained. The ease of doing business index has had a significant impact on determining health. Therefore, health managers and decision makers should pay attention to the ease of doing business index on the health of communities in determining their general health policies. On the other hand, they should improve the inter-section cooperation with the aim of improving the employment situation to achieve the general goal of health in the communities.
Siamese Detail Difference and Self-Inverse Network for Forest Cover Change Extraction Based on Landsat 8 OLI Satellite Images

In the context of carbon neutrality, forest cover change detection has become a key topic of global environmental monitoring. As a large-scale monitoring technique, remote sensing has received obvious attention in various land cover observation applications. With the rapid development of deep learning, remote sensing change detection combined with deep neural network has achieved high accuracy. In this paper, the deep neural network is used to study forest cover change with Landsat images. The main research ideas are as follows. (1) A Siamese detail difference neural network is proposed, which uses a combination of concatenate weight sharing mode and subtract weight sharing mode to improve the accuracy of forest cover change detection. (2) The self-inverse network is introduced to detect the change of forest increase by using the sample data set of forest decrease, which realizes the transfer learning of the sample data set and improves the utilization rate of the sample data set. The experimental results on Landsat 8 images show that the proposed method outperforms several Siamese neural network methods in forest cover change extraction.
Analysis of Scaling Policies for NFV Providing 5G/6G Reliability Levels With Fallible Servers

The softwarization of mobile networks enables an efficient use of resources, by dynamically scaling and re-assigning them following variations in demand. Given that the activation of additional servers is not immediate, scaling up resources should anticipate traffic demands to prevent service disruption. At the same time, the activation of more servers than strictly necessary results in a waste of resources, and thus should be avoided. Given the stringent reliability requirements of 5G applications (up to 6 nines) and the fallible nature of servers, finding the right trade-off between efficiency and service disruption is particularly critical. In this paper, we analyze a generic auto-scaling mechanism for communication services, used to de(activate) servers in a cluster, based on occupation thresholds. We model the impact of the activation delay and the finite lifetime of the servers on performance, in terms of power consumption and failure probability. Based on this model, we derive an algorithm to optimally configure the thresholds. Simulation results confirm the accuracy of the model both under synthetic and realistic traffic patterns as well as the effectiveness of the configuration algorithm. We also provide some insights on the best strategy to support an energy-efficient highly-reliable service: deploying a few powerful and reliable machines versus deploying many machines, but less powerful and reliable.
Current State and Principles of Basal Insulin Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes

Treatment with basal insulins is a fundamental part of management in many patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Multiple management schemes may be indicated in these individuals, for example, the use of oral antihyperglycemic agents with basal insulins (basal-supported oral therapy) or the combinations of basal insulins with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists; each of these strategies makes it easier to achieve glycemic control goals. A basic knowledge of the physiology, pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic aspects of the different basal insulins is essential to achieve treatment goals and compliance. This review addresses the principles of management with basal insulins.
Systematic review: Occupational stress of health professionals in times of pandemic [Revisión Sistemática: Estrés laboral de los profesionales de la salud en tiempos de pandemia]

Work stress in health professionals has increased in the last two years due to the presence of SARS-COV2, being of worldwide impact. Objective: To analyze the development of scientific evidence on work stress in times of pandemic directed to health professionals. Methodology: a bibliographic search of four databases was carried out, including studies in English, Spanish and Portuguese published in full-text indexed journals. A critical analysis was made of each of the articles and a matrix was used to order the information and categorize them. The results show that the triggers of occupational stress are related to work overload, fatigue, fear and fear perceived by health professionals in the pandemic situation. However, there are protective factors for work stress and preventive and occupational policies against work stress that can alleviate this situation. Conclusions: High levels of occupational stress in health professionals cause physical and psychological damage, the authors agree in taking preventive actions to mitigate the impact on the metal health of workers.
Comparison of Crack-Width Prediction Models for Steel-Reinforced Concrete Structures

Prediction of time-to-cracking and crack-width of concrete cover provides useful information for decision making on maintenance and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete structures. Comparison of prediction models for time-to-cracking has been done in a recently published study, which indicated simple prediction models provide better good fit to various sets of experimental data than complex models. As a follow-up, this study uses published crack-width data to compare different models, developed in the literature to predict crack-width of concrete cover.
Giant Parathyroid Adenoma-Associated Fracture, Not All Lytic Bone Lesions are Cancer: A Case-Based Review

Introduction Due to the early diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism the musculoskeletal manifestations of this disease are becoming less frequent. When this disease manifests secondary to a giant adenoma, it presents with more aggressive symptoms and can have important repercussions such as the hungry bone syndrome after parathyroidectomy. There are few reported cases of hyperparathyroidism secondary to a giant adenoma in the literature, as the presence of a brown tumor is often misinterpreted as a metastatic lesion from an unknown primary tumor. Methods We describe a case and performed a literature review to identify all case reports. A literature search was carried out on PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE bibliographic databases. All available studies from May 2009 to May 2021 were included. Data were tabulated, and outcomes were cumulatively analyzed. Results Twenty-four cases of primary hyperparathyroidism due to giant adenoma have been described; the majority were women, with a mean age of 52 years. They presented with heterogeneous symptoms such as palpable nodules (45%), bone pain (33%), brown tumor (12.5%), asymptomatic (12.5%), metabolic profile with a mean calcemia of 13.8 mg/dL, PTH 1109 ng/L, and mean tumor weight of 47.24 g. Conclusion Primary hyperparathyroidism due to giant adenoma increases the risk of developing potentially serious postoperative complications such as hungry bone syndrome. This implies the need of implementing preventive measures comprising administration of intravenous zoledronic acid and early supplementation of oral calcium to prevent complications after resection.