Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aalborg Universitet A modified LLCL-filter with the reduced conducted EMI noise

For a transformerless grid-tied converter using pulse width modulation, the harmonics of grid-injected current, the leakage current, and the electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise are three important issues during designing of the output filter. In this paper, the common mode and the differential mode EMI noises are investigated for the LCLand LLCL-filter-based single-phase full-bridge grid-tied inverters. Based on this, a modified LLCLfilter topology is proposed to provide enough attenuation on the conducted EMI noise as well as to reduce the dc-side leakage current. The parameter design method of the filter is also developed. The comparative analysis and discussion on four filter cases (the conventional LCL filter, the conventional LLCL filter, the modified LCL filter, and the modified LLCL filter) are carried out and verified through simulations and experiments on a 0.5-kW, 110 V/50 Hz single-phase full-bridge grid-tied inverter prototype.
The key issues of a quality improvement process

SUMMARY A recent study of the quality improvement process in a cross-section of UK manufacturing industry has been carried out. This paper discusses how organizations become motivated to improve their product and service quality, the ways in which the quality improvement process can get started, the barriers to improvement, and the key factors for success. It is pointed out that the quality improvement process is a form of organizational change which requires the intervention of powerful change agents, of which demanding customers are the most influential. To succeed, quality improvement needs the commitment and effective leadership of the chief executive and his senior management team. The quality improvement process should be part of a wider business improvement strategy rather than a stand-alone programme.
Individual differences in music reward sensitivity influence the perception of emotions represented by music

Although music is one of the most important sources of pleasure for many people, there are considerable individual differences in music reward sensitivity. Behavioral and neurobiological characterizations of music reward variability have been topics of increasing scientific interest over the last two decades. However, it is not clear how differences in music reward sensitivity might influence the perception of emotions represented by music and, specifically, how music reward sensitivity could influence subjective music evaluation when the affective valence of music is considered. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between music reward sensitivity and the perception of emotions in music, taking into account the emotional category of stimuli (pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant music clips). Music reward and emotion perception were also explored as a function of gender, musicianship, and music discrimination skills. We used the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire and the previously validated Film Music Stimulus Set (FMSS); participants rated FMSS excerpts for affective dimensions (valence, energy, and tension arousal) and discrete emotions (happiness, anger, fear, tenderness, and sadness). Our results showed that music reward was the main factor influencing FMSS evaluation, particularly for excerpts associated with positive affect. Gender had an important influence on evaluations linked to the negative pole of emotions, and music discrimination skills seemed to be associated with cognitive aspects of music analysis, rather than with the emotional architecture of pleasant music excerpts. Our findings highlight the need to consider music reward sensitivity and gender in studies of music and emotion, and open the possibility of using the FMSS in studies exploring the neurobiological and psychosocial bases of music emotion.
SCORE2 Assessment in the Calculation of Cardiovascular Risk in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Risk chart algorithms, such as the Systematic Coronary Risk Assessment (SCORE), often underestimate the risk of CVD in patients with RA. In this sense, the use of noninvasive tools, such as the carotid ultrasound, has made it possible to identify RA patients at high risk of CVD who had subclinical atherosclerosis disease and who had been included in the low or moderate CVD risk categories when the SCORE risk tables were applied. The 2003 SCORE calculator was recently updated to a new prediction model: SCORE2. This new algorithm improves the identification of individuals from the general population at high risk of developing CVD in Europe. Our objective was to compare the predictive capacity between the original SCORE and the new SCORE2 to identify RA patients with subclinical atherosclerosis and, consequently, high risk of CVD. 1168 non-diabetic patients with RA and age > 40 years were recruited. Subclinical atherosclerosis was searched for by carotid ultrasound. The presence of carotid plaque and the carotid intima media wall thickness (cIMT) were evaluated. SCORE and SCORE2 were also calculated. The relationships of SCORE and SCORE2 to each other and to the presence of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis were studied. The correlation between SCORE and SCORE2 was found to be high in patients with RA (Spearman’s Rho = 0.961, p < 0.001). Both SCORE (Spearman’s Rho = 0.524) and SCORE2 (Spearman’s Rho = 0.521) were similarly correlated with cIMT (p = 0.92). Likewise, both calculators showed significant and comparable discriminations for the presence of carotid plaque: SCORE AUC 0.781 (95%CI 0.755–0.807) and SCORE2 AUC 0.774 (95%CI 0.748–0.801). Using SCORE, 80% and 20% of the patients were in the low or moderate and high or very high CVD risk categories, respectively. However, when the same categories were evaluated using SCORE2, the percentages were different (58% and 42%, respectively). Consequently, the number of RA patients included in the high or very high CVD risk categories was significantly higher with SCORE2 compared to the original SCORE. (p < 0.001). In conclusion, although predictive capacity for the presence of carotid plaque is equivalent between SCORE and SCORE2, SCORE2 identifies a significantly higher proportion of patients with RA who are at high or very high risk of CVD.
Analysis of plane wave reflection and transmission phenomenon at the interface of two distinct micro-mechanically modeled rotating initially stressed piezomagnetic fiber-reinforced half-spaces

Abstract Analyzed the influence of normal/shear initial stresses and rotation on reflection/transmission characteristics of waves propagating at the interface of two distinct micro-mechanically modeled piezomagnetic fiber-reinforced composite(PMFRC) half-spaces composed of CoFe2O4 fiber-epoxy matrix combination. An incident quasi-longitudinal(qP) wave generates reflected/transmitted quasi-longitudinal(qP), quasi-transverse(qSV), and magneto-acoustic(MA) waves, whose propagation directions are illustrated graphically. Transmitted qP wave has critical angles for considered initial stresses and rotation. Energy ratios of reflected/transmitted waves, interaction energy, and net energy are obtained, which satisfy the Law of Conservation of Energy, thereby validating this problem. Influences of incident angle, initial stresses, and rotation on amplitude/energy ratios are meticulously analyzed.
Whole-chip ESD protection design with efficient VDD-to-VSS ESD clamp circuits for submicron CMOS VLSI

A whole-chip ESD protection design with efficient VDD-to-VSS ESD clamp circuits is proposed to provide a real whole-chip ESD protection for submicron CMOS IC's without causing unexpected ESD damage in the internal circuits. The efficient VDD-to-VSS ESD clamp circuit has been designed to provide a low-impedance path between the VDD and VSS power lines of the IC during the ESD-stress condition, but this ESD clamp circuit is kept off when the IC is under its normal operating condition. Due to the parasitic resistance and capacitance along the VDD and VSS power lines, the ESD-protection efficiency is dependent on the pin location on a chip. Therefore, an experimental test chip has been designed and fabricated to build up a special ESD design rule for whole-chip ESD protection in a 0.8-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. This whole-chip ESD protection design has been practically used to rescue a 0.8-/spl mu/m CMOS IC product with a pin-to-pin HBM ESD level from the original level of 0.5 kV to become above 3 kV.
Effect of adding different levels of red ginseng roots powder to feed on some physiological characteristics of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica).

The present study was conducted at in the Quail field of the Faculty of the Agriculture/University of Basrah for the period from 21/9/2017 to 12/11/2017 to determine the effect of adding different levels of red ginseng roots powder to feed on some physiological of the Japanese quail. A total of 240 Japanese quail birds aged one week were used in this study. The birds were randomly distributed into four treatments (60 birds for each). Each treatment was replicated three times (20 birds for each). (T1) fed a basal diet without feed additive (control), (T2), (T3), and (T4) were fed a basal diet with adding red ginseng roots powder 250, 500 and750 mg/kg respectively. The results indicated add the red ginseng roots powder has no significant differences between treatments on some blood characteristics (RBCs, PCV and Hb) at 60 days of age in both male and female, while the T4 and T3 treatments were recorded highest value in WBCs and the lowest Value in (H / L) for both male and female compared with the T2 and T1. In conclusion, the red ginseng roots powder has a positive effect to improve the immune status of quails and reduce stress.
Parametrisation and Application of Cube and Eggbox-Type Folded Geometries

There exist several kirigami, or non-developable folded plate patterns that share the most useful properties of the widely-used Miura-ori pattern, namely rigid-foldability, a tessellated unit geometry, and constituent elements composed of a single parallelogram plate. This paper first presents parametrisations of five such patterns, two cube-type and three eggbox-type, consistent with that previously developed for Miura-type patterns. For each pattern, the parametrisation establishes relationships between crease pattern, volumetric, and kinematic parameters. Along with the Miura-type patterns, these geometries form a set termed parallelogram-plate folded geometries and together they suggest a range of interesting structural engineering applications. This paper discusses two applications specifically enabled by the new parametrisations: space frame synthesis and hierarchical sandwich panels.
Save Face or Save Life: Physicians' Dilemma in Using Clinical Decision Support Systems

Humans think both rationally and heuristically. So do physicians. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) provide advice to physicians that could save patients’ lives, but they could also make physicians feel face loss because of submission to machine intelligence, leading to a perplexing dilemma. Thinking rationally, physicians focus on fulfilling their professional duty to save patients and should follow advice from CDSS to improve care quality. Thinking heuristically, they focus on protecting their authoritative image to maintain face and are inclined to avoid embarrassment by resisting CDSS. Through a longitudinal survey and follow-up interviews with a group of Chinese physicians, we find that the dilemma does exist. Moreover, face loss has a stronger effect on CDSS resistance when physicians have high autonomy. When time pressure is high, perceived usefulness more strongly reduces, whereas face loss more strongly increases CDSS resistance, worsening the dilemma. As face is a universal social concern existing in both Eastern and Western cultures, this research generates insights regarding why physicians are slow in adopting information technology innovations.
Foreign direct investment and militarized international conflict

Liberals claim that countries avoid conflict in order not to disrupt economically beneficial exchange. The statement that economic integration reduces the likelihood of conflict is largely based on the effects of trade. A similar rationale can be applied to economic interdependence in the form of international capital exchange. A state is expected to avoid political risk, especially severe forms such as militarized disputes, in order not to deter investors. This study tests, on the dyadic and monadic levels of analyses, whether the liberal peace proposition holds when economic integration is operationalized as foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks, inflows, and outflows. The results for the years 1980—2000 indicate that inflows and stock of foreign investment reduce the risk of an outbreak of a fatal dispute, regardless of whether they are tested in a single equation or a simultaneous equation model. Thus, reverse causality does not bias the pacifying effect of foreign investment inflows and stock. The results also support the underlying notion of the commercial peace that militarized conflicts inhibit foreign investment. The onset of a fatal conflict reduces FDI inflows, and, if tested in a two-stage instrumental variable approach, FDI stock, the most complete measure of economic integration through foreign investment. Accounting for endogeneity seems particularly important when analyzing the link between the onset of fatal disputes and the outflow of FDI.
A dual beam slotted waveguide array antenna for SAR applications

The authors describe the design process and test results of a dual beam array antenna model. The objective of this ESA funded program is to study the realization of dual beams in a waveguide slotted array of the ERS-1 SAR type (10 m*1 m). The experimental model is 1 m*1 m and comprises 24 slotted waveguides and a Blass matrix feed network. The synthesis and design of the array and Blass matrix is described. Calculated and measured results of the experimental model are presented. The key component in the Blass matrix is a crossguide coupler. The authors present a novel design of a crossguide coupler which makes it possible to realize very tight coupling. >
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Cervical Spine: Frequency of Abnormal Findings with Relation to Age

Background: Patients with neck pain are frequently encountered in cervical spine (C-spine) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) practice. However, the exact distribution and prevalence of cervical abnormalities are not known. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between age, gender, and prevalence of abnormal cervical MRI findings. Methods: Records of 111 cervical MRIs were collected in 12 months from January to December 2019 from adults aged 20–89 years who were referred from neurosurgery, neurology, and orthopedic clinics. Findings were classified and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 24.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). The chi-square test was used to determine the association between demographics and abnormalities using a significance of p = 0.05. Results: The majority of patients were female (72.1%). The number of abnormal incidences increased with age until it reached a peak at ages 50–59. Spondylodegenerative changes were the most frequent finding, which was present in 52.2% of the total sample, and was followed by disc bulge (25.2%). Incidences increased in lower discs, with C5–C6 being the most frequent in 65% of the total sample. Younger males in their 20s had more injuries than females of the same age. However, this rate was reversed in patients over 40, as women were the dominant gender among patients in their 40s with cervical injuries, with a rate of 81.5%. Conclusion: In our study, we found that older patients developed more C-spine injuries. Gender may play a role in the rate of incidents. However, we did not find any significant differences between men and women or between different types of abnormalities.
Surrogate Modeling of a Nonlinear, Biphasic Model of Articular Cartilage with Artificial Neural Networks

The increasing number of cartilage diseases negatively affects the quality of life for a large part of the population. Understanding the mechanical properties of cartilage is a key component in investigating and mitigating the effects of such diseases. To describe the behavior of articular cartilage, a biphasic fiber‐reinforced numerical model based on the Theory of Porous Media (TPM) has been developed. To possibly provide an alternative for the corresponding time‐consuming computational simulations, the suitability of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) as surrogate models is investigated. For this purpose, the simulation results of a compression‐relaxation test are compared with the predictions of the ANN.
Implementation of BBS and the Impact of Site-Level Commitment

AbstractThis work presents the results of a case study and addresses an important area within the field of construction safety management, namely behavior-based safety (BBS). The study investigates the implementation process of the BBS management approach and assesses how the commitment of site-level management, BBS implementation observers, and operatives’ impact on safety performance by using data collected from construction sites located in Hong Kong. While achieving the set objectives, this work provoked several aspects of education, training, and engineer’s obligations towards managing safety on construction sites. The research introduces BBS practices in five categories: personal protective equipment, house keeping, access to heights, plant and equipment, and scaffolding. Intervention was introduced and its impacts on site safety were monitored and analyzed. The results revealed that improvement in safety performance was higher when the site-management team was more committed to implementing the int.
Serum metabolic profiles changes observed post COVID-19 – Case report

COVID-19 and its consequences are still not well known. The recovery from the infection is slow and many symptoms persist for a long time. We present the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection on serum metabolic profiles. The profiles were obtained using NMR spectroscopy from sera collected two years prior to the infection and twice during the recovery time from otherwise healthy subject. We performed comparisons of data collected pre- with postinfection. We present the metabolites which levels were decreased after COVID-19. These metabolites are involved in metabolic pathways like the TCA cycle, purine, glycine, arginine, proline, pyruvate, taurine, alanine, glutamate, glycerophospholipids, and cholesterol metabolism, as well as fatty acid and steroid hormone biosynthesis. Studies show changes in metabolic profiles during the recovery after COVID-19 that have not been observed by standard blood tests. Keywords: COVID-19; NMR spectroscopy; serum metabolite profiles.
Safety of Electric Vehicles in Crash Conditions: A Review of Hazards to Occupants, Regulatory Activities, and Technical Support

There is little review work concerning the safety of electric vehicles (EVs) in the crash conditions, leading to the fact that many people, even including those who have been studying EVs for many years, are not familiar with the relevant injury hazards and the corresponding prevention measures. To solve the problem, this article reviews several safety-related aspects of EVs in crash conditions. First, the injuries, including the reasons and forms behind them, that the occupants are going to suffer are introduced. Meanwhile, both the international and national regulations and their provisions concerning injury hazards prevention are discussed. Finally, the up-to-date technologies that are adopted to prevent the different injuries are illustrated. Through this article, the scholars in academia and researchers in the industry can gain a sufficient grasp of current/future development about the EV safety issues in the crash conditions, and meanwhile, the end-users or potential end-users (EUs/PEUs) can gain easy-to-understand knowledge in this area.
RNA binding protein RBM3 augments kissing loop formation with lncRNAs to enhance translational control

It is becoming apparent that translational regulation involves the coordinated actions of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) and non-coding RNAs. For efficient translation, mRNA needs to be circularized, which is catalyzed by RNA binding proteins and translation factors. However, the role of lncRNAs in the process is not yet defined. We first performed RNA-seq and RNA- immunoprecipitation coupled-Seq and identified LSAMP-3 and Flii-1. Moreover, modeling studies suggest enhanced kissing loop interactions including of transcripts that encode angiogenesis and epithelial mesenchymal transition. While intestinal epithelial cell specific RBM3 transgenic mice showed increased LSAMP-3 and Flii-1, this was reduced in knockout mice. Also, RBM3 overexpression increased tumor xenograft growth, this was suppressed by knockdown of the lncRNAs. Also, knockdown of endogenous RBM3 reduced lncRNA levels and tumor xenograft growth. In addition, it reduced colitis-associated cancers. We propose that RBPs such as RBM3 mediate their function through regulatory lncRNAs that enable circularization to control translation.
Application of the transmission line laser model in analysis of multiple‐phase‐shift DFB lasers

In this paper, we analyze the characteristic performance of a multiple‐phase‐shift (MPS) distributed feedback (DFB) laser diode based on the transmission line laser model (TLLM) for the first time. The effects of the phase shift position and the value and number of phase shifts on the laser performance have also been analyzed. As expected, the simulation results indicate that the longitudinal field distributions of three‐phase‐shift (3PS) DFB are more uniform than the quarter‐wave shift (QWS) DFB and, hence, the spatial‐hole‐burning effect is significantly reduced in this structure. Also, optimum designs for the 3PS DFB laser diode, based on the flatness of the field distribution, are studied. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 40: 51–57, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.11283