Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
WT-ARIMA Combination Modelling for Short-term Load Forecasting

—Accurate load forecasting is of critical importance for the smart grid. However, power load forecasting accuracy is limited in the traditional ARIMA model due to the non-stationary power grid data. In this research, a combined forecasting model based on wavelet transform and ARIMA is proposed to improve the forecasting accuracy and increase the predictability of power load data. The non-stationarity of the load data is reduced, and the predictability of the load data is increased by decomposing the original data. Finally, the prediction result is a linear superposition of each subsequence's predicted value. The feasibility of the proposed comprehensive forecasting model is verified by an experiment with the actual load data in a county in Jiangxi Province. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed WT-ARIMA model has good performance in terms of MAPE and RMSE. Compared with the traditional ARIMA model, the prediction accuracy of the WT-ARIMA model is more stable.
Effect of the Orientation of Hexagonal Fibers on the Effective Elastic Properties of Unidirectional Composites

Existing studies reveal that the shape corners of hexagonal fiber affect the degree of constraint on the matrix material. However, none of these studies included the effect of orientation of hexagonal fibers. In this study, a computational micromechanics model of oriented hexagonal fibers in periodic unidirectional composite materials is established for the determination of effective orthotropic elastic properties of the composite. In the present numerical modeling, the representative unit composite cell including the matrix material and the single oriented hexagonal fiber or random oriented hexagonal fibers is solved by micro-scale finite element analysis with different stress loads and periodic displacement boundary conditions, which are applied along the cell boundary to meet the requirement of straight-line constraint during deformation of the cell. Subsequently, the effective elastic properties of the composite are evaluated for periodic regular packing and random packing using the homogenization approach for investigating the influence of unified orientation and random orientation of the hexagonal fibers on the overall elastic properties of the fiber-reinforced composites. The numerical results are verified by comparing with other available results.
Acta Botanica Brasilica

Though they comprise 1 % of plant species on the planet, plant parasites are poorly known. They have been considered a threat to cultivated plants and to the conservation of host species in natural areas. Due to the complex interactions they have with their hosts, understanding their biology is fundamental to the development of conservation strategies for both parasite species and their hosts. We sampled two populations of the root parasite Scybalium fungiforme (Balanophoraceae) in seasonal tropical forest fragments to identify its host species and their functional attributes. Among the hosts, Croton floribundus seems to be preferred (68 % of parasitized plants), while four liana species were complementary hosts (32 %). Host species preference differed sharply among fragments and seems to be related to the successional stage of these forests. The hosts C. floribundus and the four liana species are perennial, fast growing and have large vessels, all of which are attributes that enable high water and nutrient acquisition efficiency. Despite a lack of clear host specificity at the species level, functional convergence among parasitized species suggests that host specificity is mediated by functional traits.
Short-wavelength interband cascade infrared photodetectors operating above room temperature

High temperature operation (250–340 K) of short-wavelength interband cascade infrared photodetectors (ICIPs) with InAs/GaSb/Al0.2In0. 8Sb/GaSb superlattice absorbers has been demonstrated with a 50% cutoff wavelength of 2.9 μm at 300 K. Two ICIP structures, one with two and the other with three stages, were designed and grown to explore this multiple-stage architecture. At λ = 2.1 μm, the two- and three-stage ICIPs had Johnson-noise-limited detectivities of 5.1 × 109 and 5.8 × 109 cm Hz1/2/W, respectively, at 300 K. The better device performance of the three-stage ICIP over the two-stage ICIP confirmed the advantage of more stages for this cascade architecture. An Arrhenius activation energy of 450 meV is extracted for the bulk resistance-area product, which indicates the dominance of the diffusion current at these high temperatures.
Event-Triggered Optimal Neuro-Controller Design With Reinforcement Learning for Unknown Nonlinear Systems

This paper develops an optimal control scheme for continuous-time unknown nonlinear systems using the event-triggering mechanism. Different from designing controllers using the time-triggering mechanism, the event-triggered controller is updated only when the system state deviates more than a certain threshold from a prescribed value. To obtain the event-triggered optimal controller, we develop an identifier-critic architecture under the framework of reinforcement learning. The identifier network, composed of a feedforward neural network (FNN), aims to derive the knowledge of unknown system dynamics, and the critic network, constituted of an FNN, intends to derive the event-triggered optimal controller. The identifier network is tuned via the combination of a standard back-propagation algorithm and an ${e}$ -modification method, and the critic network is updated using a modification of the gradient descent method. By introducing an additional stability term to update the critic network, the initial admissible control is no longer required. Meanwhile, by using historical and instantaneous state data together, the persistence of excitation condition is relaxed. A stability analysis of the closed-loop system is provided based on the Lyapunov method. The effectiveness of the proposed designs is illustrated through simulations of a nonlinear example and a single link robot arm system.
Wavelet spectral analysis of the free surface of turbulent flows

ABSTRACT This work demonstrates the applicability of the wavelet directional method as a means of characterizing the free surface dynamics in shallow turbulent flows using a small number of sensors. The measurements are obtained with three conductance wave probes in a laboratory flume, in a range of subcritical flow conditions where the Froude number was smaller than one, and the bed was homogeneously rough. The characteristic spatial scale of the surface elevation is found to correspond to the wavelength of stationary waves oriented against the flow. The spectrum of the dominant distribution of waves is characterized in terms of an angular spreading function. A new procedure to estimate the mean surface velocity based on measurements of the surface elevation at only two locations is proposed. The results can inform the development of more accurate models of the surface behaviour, with applications for the remote sensing of rivers and open channel flows.
Statistical analysis methods for transient flows – the dam-break case

ABSTRACT Transient flows differ from steady flows in the sense that their dynamic variables, e.g. velocity, change with time. This imposes several constraints both on the measurement techniques to use as well on the data processing. The dam-break flow, as an example of severe transient flow, is used in this paper as test case for the application of different statistical methods identified in the literature: the common statistical tools (e.g. time average, standard deviation), the application of a Fourier-series-based method and the ensemble statistics approach. Data were collected using a fast acquisition camera and particle image velocimetry was used to obtain quantitative information about the velocity field of a set of seven dam-break flows. From the analysis made in this paper it was possible to identify in which conditions each statistical method can be applied to the dam-break flow.
Norovirus

SUMMARY Norovirus, an RNA virus of the family Caliciviridae, is a human enteric pathogen that causes substantial morbidity across both health care and community settings. Several factors enhance the transmissibility of norovirus, including the small inoculum required to produce infection (<100 viral particles), prolonged viral shedding, and its ability to survive in the environment. In this review, we describe the basic virology and immunology of noroviruses, the clinical disease resulting from infection and its diagnosis and management, as well as host and pathogen factors that complicate vaccine development. Additionally, we discuss overall epidemiology, infection control strategies, and global reporting efforts aimed at controlling this worldwide cause of acute gastroenteritis. Prompt implementation of infection control measures remains the mainstay of norovirus outbreak management.
Certain Type of Lie Algebra Action

The main aim in this study is to look for an interesting action with new properties from a Schure's lemma, which states that the action of the tensor product of Lie algebras representations has interesting property. Putting in mind that one of the two representations is usual and the other is the dual we obtain some results by relating the tensor product of dual representations with usual representations. Our main work here is to give a representation of Lie algebra by intertwine these actions (representations).
Communicating Process Architectures 2009

This book is a collection of the papers presented at the 32nd Communicating Process Architecture conference (CPA), held at the Technical University Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from the 1st to the 4th of November 2009. Concurrency is a fundamental mechanism of the universe, existing in all structures and at all levels of granularity. To be useful in this universe, any computer system has to model and reflect an appropriate level of abstraction. For simplicity, therefore, the system needs to be concurrent -- so that this modeling is obvious and correct. Today, the commercial reality of multicore processors means that concurrency issues can no longer be ducked if applications are going to be able to exploit more than an ever-diminishing fraction of their power. This is a second, but very forceful, reason to take this subject seriously. We need theory and programming technology that turns this around and makes concurrency an elementary part of the everyday toolkit of every software engineer. This is what these proceedings are all about. Subjects covered in this volume include: system design and implementation for both hardware and software; tools for concurrent programming languages, libraries and run-time kernels; and formal methods and applications.
Estimation of Tokamak Plasma Position and Shape in TOKASTAR-2 Using Magnetic Field Measurement

The tokamak plasma position and shape were estimated for the first time in TOKASTAR-2 based on external magnetic measurement using filament current approximation method. Data of a magnetic probe array and flux loops was used. Effects of the helical field on the tokamak plasma radial position were investigated. The oscillation of the radial position and the outer displacement of the plasma under the weak vertical field were suppressed by the helical field.
Measuring the viewing angle of binary neutron star mergers

The joint detection of GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterparts GRB170817A and kilonova AT 2017gfo has triggered extensive study of the electromagnetic emission of binary neutron star mergers. If a binary is viewed from different angles, the electromagnetic signatures can be distinct depending on the structure of the emission. Connecting electromagnetic observations to the inclination angle of the binary orbital plane is therefore crucial. We present a systematic study of how well ground-based gravitational-wave detectors can constrain the viewing angle of binary neutron star mergers. We find that, if the sky position and the redshift of the binary can be identified independently, e.g. via the electromagnetic counterpart and an associated host galaxy, for 50$\%$ of the systems the viewing angle can be constrained to $\leq 7^{\circ}$ uncertainty, independent of electromagnetic emission models. On the other hand, if no redshift measurement is available, the measurement of the viewing angle with gravitational-data alone is not informative, unless the true viewing angle is close to $90^{\circ}$. This holds true even if the sky position is measured independently.
End-of-Life Decisions: A Cross-National Study of Treatment Preference Discussions and Surrogate Decision-Maker Appointments

Background Making treatment decisions in anticipation of possible future incapacity is an important part of patient participation in end-of-life decision-making. This study estimates and compares the prevalence of GP-patient end-of-life treatment discussions and patients’ appointment of surrogate decision-makers in Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands and examines associated factors. Methods A cross-sectional, retrospective survey was conducted with representative GP networks in four countries. GPs recorded the health and care characteristics in the last three months of life of 4,396 patients who died non-suddenly. Prevalences were estimated and logistic regressions were used to examine between country differences and country-specific associated patient and care factors. Results GP-patient discussion of treatment preferences occurred for 10%, 7%, 25% and 47% of Italian, Spanish, Belgian and of Dutch patients respectively. Furthermore, 6%, 5%, 16% and 29% of Italian, Spanish, Belgian and Dutch patients had a surrogate decision-maker. Despite some country-specific differences, previous GP-patient discussion of primary diagnosis, more frequent GP contact, GP provision of palliative care, the importance of palliative care as a treatment aim and place of death were positively associated with preference discussions or surrogate appointments. A diagnosis of dementia was negatively associated with preference discussions and surrogate appointments. Conclusions The study revealed a higher prevalence of treatment preference discussions and surrogate appointments in the two northern compared to the two southern European countries. Factors associated with preference discussions and surrogate appointments suggest that delaying diagnosis discussions impedes anticipatory planning, whereas early preference discussions, particularly for dementia patients, and the provision of palliative care encourage participation.
Incoherent source localization in random acoustic waveguides

ABSTRACT We consider the problem of localizing one or more sources in a two-dimensional waveguide with horizontal flat boundaries and random sound speed fluctuations. Our data are the acoustic pressure field, measured on a vertical array of hydrophones that may span the entire depth of the waveguide or a part of it. We use randomness to model the effect of internal waves on the sound channel. Although the strength of the fluctuations is small, the transmitted signal is significantly affected from the multiple scattering of the waves with the random inhomogeneities, especially since we consider large propagation distances between the sources and the receiver array. Source localization is performed following an incoherent approach relying on a transport system of equations that describes wave propagation in random waveguides and that takes into account modal dispersion and energy transfer between modes.
What Predicts Students’ Academic Performance

The Performance of a higher education institution was one of the important factors determining success in producing quality graduates. Academic achievement obtained by students was considered to the success of a student and the learning system at the institution. The academic quality was also inseparable from the background of the student itself. Besides, the system and climate of teaching and learning are created in the educational environment. This study aimed to describe students' academic Performance and the factors that influence the improvement in academic performance of undergraduate students majoring in Psychology at Airlangga University. This research used a quantitative approach with a descriptive survey research design. Based on the results of research conducted, it concluded that student performance, the program of study performance, and university performance on student's academic performance, both simultaneously and partially for undergraduate students at the Faculty of Psychology, Airlangga University.
Toward an online cognitive and emotional battery to predict treatment remission in depression

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of a cognitive and emotional test battery in a representative sample of depressed outpatients to inform likelihood of remission over 8 weeks of treatment with each of three common antidepressant medications. Patients and methods: Outpatients 18–65 years old with nonpsychotic major depressive disorder (17 sites) were randomized to escitalopram, sertraline or venlafaxine-XR (extended release). Participants scored $ 12 on the baseline 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – Self-Report and completed 8 weeks of treatment. The baseline test battery measured cognitive and emotional status. Exploratory multivariate logistic regression models predicting remission (16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – Self-Report score # 5 at 8 weeks) were developed independently for each medication in subgroups stratified by age, sex, or cognitive and emotional test performance. The model with the highest cross-validated accuracy determined the participant proportion in each arm for whom remission could be predicted with an accuracy $ 10% above chance. The proportion for whom a prediction could be made with very high certainty (positive predictive value and negative predictive value exceeding 80%) was calculated by incrementally increasing test battery thresholds to predict remission/non-remission. Results: The test battery, individually developed for each medication, improved identification of remitting and non-remitting participants by $ 10% beyond chance for 243 of 467 participants. The overall remission rates were escitalopram: 40.8%, sertraline: 30.3%, and venlafaxine-XR: 31.1%. Within this subset for whom prediction exceeded chance, test battery thresholds established a negative predictive value of $ 80%, which identified 40.9% of participants not remitting on escitalopram, 77.1% of participants not remitting on sertraline, and 38.7% of participants not remitting on venlafaxine-XR (all including 20% false negatives). Conclusion: The test battery identified about 50% of each medication group as being $ 10% more or less likely to remit than by chance, and identified about 38% of individuals who did not remit with $ 80% certainty. Clinicians might choose to avoid this specific medication in these particular patients.
Developing Bare-Metal GPGPU Drivers From Scratch What prevents scientists from developing own GPGPU drivers?

Most of modern computers use Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) as an additional source of computing power. However, using GPUs in bare-metal research operating systems comes with some challenges. Existing drivers for Linux or Windows are complex and cannot be used for without much effort. Documentation of modern GPUs is often missing or incomplete and drivers are incom-prehensive or closed source. This paper tries to explain what prevents scientists from creating their own GPU drivers. Additionally, it gives an overview about GPGPU driver development for GPUs from different manufacturers and shows some challenges. Nevertheless, we have ambitiously started an undertaking to develop our own driver from scratch. To some extend this was successful, but with many problems on the way.
'Motherhood penalty' and 'fatherhood premium'? Fertility effects on parents in China.

BACKGROUND Many previous empirical findings on 'motherhood penalty' and 'fatherhood premium' remain inconclusive due to potential selection biases. China's regional variation in exemptions to the one-child policy enables us to use the gender of the first child as a powerful instrumental variable (IV) in identifying the gendered fertility effects. OBJECTIVE We aim to estimate the causal effects of fertility on fathers' and mothers' various outcomes in China. METHODS Using the IV approach, this paper examines the gender-specific fertility effects on parents' time use, income, and subjective well-being, using data for 2010 from the China Family Panel Studies. RESULTS Results show that while fathers spend more time at work and less time taking care of family members with more children, mothers report better subjective well-being. Moreover, fathers gain self-confidence in both their careers and the future, and mothers are happier, more satisfied with life and report better social ability. CONCLUSIONS Our findings do not directly support the gendered fertility effects on parents. However, the differential fertility effects on specific domains for mothers versus fathers are consistent with household specialisation. By interpreting this conclusion within the context of China's one-child family planning policy, our research suggests that parents would do better if the one-child policy were abolished - i.e., if parents were allowed to have more children.
Application of the photoacoustic technique for temperature measurements during hyperthermia

ABSTRACT Non-invasive monitoring of tissues’ temperatures is necessary for some diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Photoacoustic is a new hybrid biomedical imaging technique, combining the high-contrast of optical properties with the high spatial resolution of ultrasound. The estimation of model parameters that are temperature dependent was used in this work to indirectly measure the temperatures of tissues, as the solution of an inverse problem within the Bayesian framework of statistics. A two-dimensional case was examined, which is related to the hyperthermia treatment of cancer with laser heating in the near infrared range. Simulated measurements were used in the inverse analysis. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo method provided accurate estimation of the spatial distribution of the Gruneisen parameter and the temperature distribution in the region of interest could be recovered with discrepancies smaller than 0.03°C.
Advanced Glycation End Products: A Review

On exposure to aldose sugar advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs) which may be proteins or lipids in nature undergo glycation. AGEs have been found to be prevalent in the blood of diabetic persons and they tend to accelerate atherosclerosis. Besides, the accumulation of AGEs in many different cell types also affect their structure and function . AGEs can also cause other effects that lead to a variety of microvascular and macrovascular complications through the formation of cross-links between molecules in the basement membrane of the extracellular matrix and by engaging the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE). Activation of RAGE by AGEs results in alteration of the transcription factor, nuclear factor kB and its target genes. Soluble AGEs activate monocytes,n where as AGEs in the basement membrane suppress the monocyte migration. AGE-bound RAGE also enhances the endothelial permeability to macromolecules. AGEs block nitric oxide activity in the endothelium and cause the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Since there are risisng evidences pertaining to adverse effects of AGEs on the vasculature of diabetic patients, different theraputic studies to inhibit AGEs are under investigations.