Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-Phase Interleaved AC–DC Step-Down Converter with Power Factor Improvement

This paper presents the converter design of a single-phase non-isolated step-down controlled rectifier for power factor improvement and output voltage regulation. The converter consists of a full-bridge diode rectifier and a DC–DC interleaved buck converter of two or more switching cells that has an LC filter in its input. It is proposed that the interleaved switching cells operate in discontinuous conduction mode and the current through the input LC filter be continuous, avoiding switching frequency components to be injected into the grid. The controller, which has a simple structure and a small number of sensors, allows the system to achieve a high power factor. It also regulates the output voltage to a constant reference. An experimental prototype is built and tested to validate the analysis and proposed design. The closed-loop converter is evaluated both in a steady state and in transient conditions. At steady state, the converter achieves a power factor above 0.9 with a maximum of 45.4% THD at 110.1W. The main contributions of this paper are guidelines for the design of the converter, open-loop analysis, and converter control.
Wideband Endfire Antenna Array for Future Short-Range Communications

A broadband, unidirectional, phased array is proposed. Single antenna element of the prototyped array is a broadband windmill-like shaped antenna. Four elements of this antenna are fed by a power divider and are configured in a novel semicircular-shaped, angular-phased array. A phase difference of $\pi $ /4 was introduced by optimizing the angular path difference among four antenna elements in the array. Total 21.5% of size reduction is achieved by introducing angular-phased array in comparison with the conventional linear-phased array. The array of radius 65 mm is prototyped on the Rogers RO4232 substrate for the operating frequency range 9.35–42.89 GHz. The proposed array configuration can maintain an average gain of 8.54 dB and average radiation efficiency of 69.71% in the entire operating frequency range while exhibiting a peak gain of 11.86 dB. The presented array exhibits highly directional behavior in the endfire direction, with the 3-dB angular beamwidth in the range from 15.1° to 76.7°. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, any comparable state-of-art has not been reported yet in the literature that could provide such a large impedance bandwidth in sub-mmWave range. The proposed array may find its applications for future indoor and outdoor short-range communication networks.
A hybrid mechanism forming a 2:1 librating–circulating resonant configuration in the planetary system

A diversity of resonance configurations may be formed under the different migration of two giant planets. Researchers have shown that the HD 128311 and HD 73526 planetary systems are involved in a 2 : 1 mean motion resonance but not in apsidal corotation, because one of the resonance arguments circulates over the dynamical evolution. In this paper, we investigate potential mechanisms to form the 2 : 1 librating-circulating resonance configuration.
I3N: Intra- and Inter-Representation Interaction Network for Change Captioning

Change captioning aims to describe the disagreement of image pairs with a linguistic sentence. Compared with single image captioning, change captioning requires not only understanding the fine-grained information of each image, but also determining whether change occurs and further representing the differences of image pairs. Although much progress has been made, it remains a severe challenge of the precise difference representation in the distraction of viewpoint change, especially that of tiny difference. In this paper, we propose a novel Intra- and Inter-representation Interaction Network (I3N) to learn the fine difference representation and be immune to viewpoint change. In the Intra-representation Interaction stage, we design Geometry-Semantic Interaction Refining (GSIR) to explore the positional and semantic interactions of intra-image, which can be a prior knowledge of enduring viewpoint change and reinforce the cognition of semantic change. In the Inter-representation Interaction stage, to endow the model with the capability of pinpointing the latent difference in viewpoint change, Hierarchical Representation Interaction (HRI) models difference from coarse to fine representations through the Semantic Matcher and Change Amplifier module. The proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art methods with an encouraging performance on the existing change captioning benchmarks.
Effects and Potential Mechanism of Zhuyu Pill Against Atherosclerosis: Network Pharmacology and Experimental Validation

Background Atherosclerosis (AS) is an immunoinflammatory disease associated with dyslipidemia. Zhuyu Pill (ZYP) is a classic Chinese herbal compound that has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering effects on AS in our previous studies. However, the underlying mechanisms by which ZYP ameliorates atherosclerosis have not yet been fully investigated. In this study, network pharmacology and in vivo experiments were conducted to explore the underlying pharmacological mechanisms of ZYP on ameliorating AS. Methods The active ingredients of ZYP were acquired from our previous study. The putative targets of ZYP relevant to AS were obtained from TCMSP, SwissTargetPrediction, STITCH, DisGeNET, and GeneCards databases. Protein-protein interactions (PPI) network, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were conducted using the Cytoscape software. Furthermore, in vivo experiments were carried out for target validation in apolipoprotein E (ApoE) -/- mice. Results Animal experiments revealed that ZYP ameliorated AS mainly through lowering blood lipids, alleviating vascular inflammation, and decreasing the levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM1), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Additionally, the results of Real-Time quantitative PCR revealed that ZYP inhibited the gene expressions of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) p38, extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) p65. The Immunohistochemistry and Western blot assays showed the inhibitory effect of ZYP on the proteins level of p38, p-p38, p65, and p-p65. Conclusion This study has provided valuable evidence on the pharmacological mechanisms of action of ZYP in ameliorating AS that will be useful for forming the rationale of future research studying the cardio-protection and anti-inflammation effects of ZYP.
Carbon-Coated CuNb13O33 as A New Anode Material for Lithium Storage

Niobates are very promising anode materials for Li+-storage rooted in their good safety and high capacities. However, the exploration of niobate anode materials is still insufficient. In this work, we explore ~1 wt% carbon-coated CuNb13O33 microparticles (C-CuNb13O33) with a stable shear ReO3 structure as a new anode material to store Li+. C-CuNb13O33 delivers a safe operation potential (~1.54 V), high reversible capacity of 244 mAh g−1, and high initial-cycle Coulombic efficiency of 90.4% at 0.1C. Its fast Li+ transport is systematically confirmed through galvanostatic intermittent titration technique and cyclic voltammetry, which reveal an ultra-high average Li+ diffusion coefficient (~5 × 10–11 cm2 s−1), significantly contributing to its excellent rate capability with capacity retention of 69.4%/59.9% at 10C/20C relative to 0.5C. An in-situ XRD test is performed to analyze crystal-structural evolutions of C-CuNb13O33 during lithiation/delithiation, demonstrating its intercalation-type Li+-storage mechanism with small unit-cell-volume variations, which results in its capacity retention of 86.2%/92.3% at 10C/20C after 3000 cycles. These comprehensively good electrochemical properties indicate that C-CuNb13O33 is a practical anode material for high-performance energy-storage applications.
Evaluating the Targeting of a Staphylococcus-aureus-Infected Implant with a Radiolabeled Antibody In Vivo

Implant infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus are difficult to treat due to biofilm formation, which complicates surgical and antibiotic treatment. We introduce an alternative approach using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting S. aureus and provide evidence of the specificity and biodistribution of S. -aureus-targeting antibodies in a mouse implant infection model. The monoclonal antibody 4497-IgG1 targeting wall teichoic acid in S. aureus was labeled with indium-111 using CHX-A”-DTPA as a chelator. Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/computed tomographyscans were performed at 24, 72 and 120 h after administration of the 111In-4497 mAb in Balb/cAnNCrl mice with a subcutaneous implant that was pre-colonized with S. aureus biofilm. The biodistribution of this labelled antibody over various organs was visualized and quantified using SPECT/CT imaging, and was compared to the uptake at the target tissue with the implanted infection. Uptake of the 111In-4497 mAbs at the infected implant gradually increased from 8.34 %ID/cm3 at 24 h to 9.22 %ID/cm3 at 120 h. Uptake at the heart/blood pool decreased over time from 11.60 to 7.58 %ID/cm3, whereas the uptake in the other organs decreased from 7.26 to less than 4.66 %ID/cm3 at 120 h. The effective half-life of 111In-4497 mAbs was determined to be 59 h. In conclusion, 111In-4497 mAbs were found to specifically detect S. aureus and its biofilm with excellent and prolonged accumulation at the site of the colonized implant. Therefore, it has the potential to serve as a drug delivery system for the diagnostic and bactericidal treatment of biofilm.
Simultaneous radio and X-ray observations of the X-ray burst source MXB 1636 – 53

On June 17, 1977, the X-ray burst source MXB 1636-53 was simultaneously monitored for about 4 hr with the Parkes 64-m radio telescope at a frequency of 14.7 GHz and the SAS 3 X-ray satellite (1.3-12 keV). One X-ray burst was observed; an upper limit (2 sigmas) of 200 mJy is reported for any radio burst coincident with the X-ray event. During the X-ray burst the radio/X-ray time-integrated flux ratio was no more than 375 with a 90 percent confidence. An upper limit (2 sigmas) of 22 mJy was determined for any steady 14.7-GHz source coincident with the X-ray position.
Event-Triggered Output Feedback Control for a Class of Nonlinear Systems via Disturbance Observer and Adaptive Dynamic Programming

An event-triggered output feedback control approach is proposed via a disturbance observer and adaptive dynamic programming (ADP). The solution starts by constructing a nonlinear disturbance observer, which only depends on the measurement of system output. A state observer is then developed based on approximation information of system dynamics via neural networks. In order to avoid continuous transmission and reduce the communication burden in the closed-loop system, an event-triggered mechanism is introduced such that the control signal is updated only at a specific instant when a triggered condition is violated. By virtue of the disturbance observer and state observer, an output-feedback ADP control approach then is developed, where only a critic network is employed to estimate the value function. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the stability of the closed-loop system is rigorously analyzed, and the effectiveness of the proposed control approach is verified by two simulation examples.
Slow-zone model for longitudinal dispersion in two-dimensional shear flows

A two-zone model is proposed for the longitudinal dispersion of contaminants in two-dimensional turbulent flow in open channels – a fast zone in the upper region of the flow, and a slow zone nearer to the bottom. The usual one-dimensional dispersion approach (Elder 1959) is used in each zone, but with different flow speeds U1 and U2 and dispersion coefficients D1 and D2 in the fast and slow zones respectively. However, turbulent vertical mixing is allowed at the interface between the two zones, with a small vertical diffusivity ε. This leads to a pair of coupled, linear, one-dimensional dispersion equations, which are solved by Fourier transformation. The Fourier-inversion integrals are analysed using two different methods. In the first method asymptotically valid expressions are found using the saddle-point method. The resulting cross-sectional average concentration consists of a leading Gaussian distribution followed by a trailing Gaussian distribution. The trailing Gaussian cloud disperses (longitudinally) faster than the leading one, and this gives the long tail observed in most dispersion experiments. Significantly the peak value of the average concentration is found to decay exponentially with time at a rate which is close to the rate observed by Sullivan (1971) in the early stage of the dispersion process. The solution is useful for fairly small times, and both the calculated value of D1 and the predicted bulk concentration distribution are in meaningful agreement with the experimental and simulation data of Sullivan (1971). In the second method an exact solution is found in the form of a convolution integral for the case D1 = D2 = D0. Explicit expressions which are valid for small times and for large times from the release of contaminant are found. For small times this exact solution confirms the basic results obtained by the saddle-point method. For large times the exact solution gives a contaminant concentration which approaches a Gaussian distribution travelling with the bulk speed as predicted by the Taylor model. The overall longitudinal dispersion coefficient at large times, D(∞), consists of the diffusivity D0 plus a contribution D[ell ](∞) which depends entirely on the vertical mixing. D(∞) is in good agreement with Chatwin's (1971) interpretation of Fischer's (1966) experimental data.
How rarities like gold came to exist: on co-evolutionary interactions between morphology and lexical phonotactics 1

We address the question of when, how and why highly marked rhymes of the structure VVCC (as in gold, false or bind) came to be established in the lexical phonotactics of English. Specifically, we discuss two hypotheses. The first is that lexical VVCC clusters owe their existence to the fact that similar rhyme structures are produced routinely in verbal past tenses and third-person singular present tense forms (fails, fined), and in nominal plurals (goals, signs), The other is based on the insight emerging in morphonotactic research (Dressler & Dziubalska-Kołaczyk 2006) that languages tend to avoid homophonies between lexical and morphotactically produced structures. We hold both hypotheses against a body of OED and corpus data, reconstruct the phases in which the lexical VVCC rhymes that are still attested in Present-day English emerged, and relate them to the phases in which productive inflectional rules came to produce rhymes of the same type. We show that the emergence of morphotactic models is indeed likely to have played a role in establishing VVCC rhymes in the English lexicon, since VVCC rhymes of the types VV[sonorant]/d|z/ began to establish themselves in lexical phonotactics at the same period in which they also started to be produced in inflection, and clearly before similar types that had no inflectionally produced analogues (i.e. VV[sonorant]/t|s/ as in fault, dance). At the same time, we show that this does not necessarily contradict the hypothesis that homophonies between lexical and morphotactic rhymes are dispreferred. We argue that under the specific historical circumstances that obtained in English, natural ways of eliminating the resulting ambiguities failed to be available. Finally, we show that, once the phonotactically and semiotically dispreferred VV[sonorant]/d|z/ rhymes had been established, the emergence of morphotactically unambiguous rhymes of the types VV[sonorant]/t|s/ was to be expected, since they filled what was an accidental rather than natural gap in the phonotactic system of English (see Hayes & White 2013).
Strong completeness in profinite groups

The purpose of this paper is to extend some results of Anderson [1] in the theory of strong completeness of profinite groups. A profinίte group is a topological group whose topology is Hausdorff, compact and has neighborhood base of the identity consisting of certain subgroups of finite index. A profinite group is strongly complete if every subgroups of finite index is open. Since all open subgroups are also closed, a strongly complete profinite group has no dense subgroups of finite index except itself.
The resonance overlap criterion and the onset of stochastic behavior in the restricted three-body problem

The resonance overlap criterion for the onset of stochastic behavior is applied to the planar circular-restricted three-body problem with small mass ratio (mu). Its predictions for mu = 0.001, 0.0001, and 0.00001 are compared to the transitions observed in the numerically determined Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy and found to be in remarkably good agreement. In addition, an approximate scaling law for the onset of stochastic behavior is derived.
Gender composition of pairs influences joint action effect

Research on joint action has demonstrated that individuals are sensitive to a coactor’s attentional relation to jointly attend stimuli. It has also been suggested that some features are necessary to resolve the discrimination problem (i.e., self-own and other-own actions). In the present study, we aimed to test whether the gender composition of interacting pairs modulated the joint action effect. Same- (female-female or male-male) and mixed- (female-male) gender pairs performed a joint version of flanker tasks in Experiment 1 (90 participants, 50% males), while in Experiment 2 (154 participants, 50% males) Navon tasks were performed. In Experiment 1, a higher joint flanker effect in same-gender pairs than in mixed-gender pairs, and this joint effect was similar to the classical flanker effect reported by males and females in a classical procedure of the task (70 participants, 50% males). In Experiment 2, the same-gender pairs reported a joint Navon effect, which was reversed in mixed-gender pairs. In conclusion, our findings support how the gender composition of interacting pairs plays a role in joint attentional tasks.
An Adaptive IMU/UWB Fusion Method for NLOS Indoor Positioning and Navigation

Indoor positioning system (IPS) plays an important role in the applications of Internet of Things (IoT), including intelligent hospital, logistics, and warehousing. Ultrawideband (UWB)-based IPS has shown superior performance due to its strong multipath resistance and high temporal resolution. However, the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) situations noticeably degrade both the positioning accuracy and the communication reliability. To address this issue, we first propose a support vector machine (SVM)-based channel detection method to distinguish the line-of-sight (LOS) and NLOS conditions. Then, one base station (BS)-based distance and angle positioning algorithm with extended Kalman filter (DAPA-EKF) in NLOS environment is proposed. For the LOS environment, least squares (LSs) with EKF processing of acceleration (LS-AEKF) and velocity (LS-VEKF) are developed. To further improve the performance, the combination of time difference of arrival (TDOA) and KF in LOS environment is proposed. Simulation results show that the positioning accuracy of the proposed algorithm is improved in various environments. Finally, validated using more than 1000 testing positions, the positioning accuracy of LS-AEKF is 73.8%–74.1% higher than that of LS-VEKF among the two proposed algorithms in terms of three or four BSs metrics.
Role of Microaneurysms in the Pathogenesis and Therapy of Diabetic Macular Edema: A Descriptive Review

Background and Objectives: This study aims to elucidate the role of microaneurysms (MAs) in the pathogenesis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME), the major causes of acquired visual impairment. Materials and Methods: We synthesized the relevance of findings on the clinical characteristics, pathogenesis, and etiology of MAs in DR and DME and their role in anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. Results: MAs, a characteristic feature in DR and DME, can be detected by fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography. These instrumental analyses demonstrated a geographic and functional association between MA and ischemic areas. MA turnover, the production and loss of MA, reflects the activity of DME and DR. Several cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of MAs, which is characterized by pericyte loss and endothelial cell proliferation in a VEGF-dependent or -independent manner. Ischemia and MAs localized in the deep retinal layers are characteristic of refractory DME cases. Even in the current anti-VEGF era, laser photocoagulation targeting MAs in the focal residual edema is still an effective therapeutic tool, but it is necessary to be creative in accurately identifying the location of MAs and performing highly precise and minimally invasive coagulation. Conclusions: MAs play a distinctive and important role in the pathogenesis of the onset, progression of DR and DME, and response to anti-VEGF treatment. Further research on MA is significant not only for understanding the pathogenesis of DME but also for improving the effectiveness of treatment.