Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Results Of A "TIE" For Samples Of Urban Runoff Entering San Francisco Bay

Stormwater runoff to estuaries, bays and coastal Ocean waters is now recognized as a significant contribution of bacterial and chemical contamination. In this study runoff from station S3, draining a large urban area with mixed land use, was compared to station L2 which collected runoff from a heavily industrialized small drainage area. The general EPA protocol for a Phase I. TIE was used, but there were limitations caused by the lack of a continuous flow. Runoff from S3 produced toxicity (Ceriodaphnia; 96h LCso) which was attributable to several classes of toxicants, with none being particularly dominant. The TIE identified suspended solids, metal chelates, cationic metals and non-polar compounds as important, but only removal of the latter completely eliminated toxicity. These findings are consistent with the multiple sources of contaminants from this large and diverse drainage system. The toxicity of L2 water was dominated by the role of cationic metals, but runoff from this industrial site was somewhat influenced by the removal of suspended solids and non-polar compounds. The L2 runoff, from the parking lots surrounding a large airport and high tech~~ology complexes, apparently contains toxic levels of industrial type pollutants. The biological and chemical findings of this project will aid in understanding the magnitude and effects of nonpoint source contributions to San Francisco Bay.
Flood monitoring in Santa Fe using the Google Earth Engine platform

Floods cause large losses for society. The frequency of these events has been increasing in recent decades in different regions of the world as a consequence of the global climate change. In Argentina, Santa Fe city is vulnerable to the flooding of two major rivers, i.e. the Paraná and the Salado-Juramento. For this reason, this paper aims to develop an online monitoring system for the metropolitan area of Santa Fe, in order to improve the response to a water risk. For this purpose, satellite information and the programming interface available on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, were used here. The following indicators were evaluated to monitoring water excess: the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the water ratio index (WRI), the modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) and the radar signal thresholding technique of the Sentinel 1 mission. The spatial-temporal behaviour of the indicators was analysed for the period 2016-2021, including the 2016 Paraná River flood, to determine the monitoring capacity of the indicators studied. The results presented suggest that the proposed set of optical indices and the thresholding of the Sentinel 1 radar signal allow monitoring the evolution of flooded zones in the area of influence of the city of Santa Fe in near-real time.
A new analytical model of SRAM cell stability in low-voltage operation

A new analytical model of MOS SRAM cell stability is presented as the measure of cell stability in low-voltage operation. The model individually deals with transistor parameters together with parasitic resistance in the cell. Mutual effects of cell-parameter variation on the lower limit of supply voltage is clarified for the first time. The V/sub CCmin's/ of a conventional cell and a split wordline (SWL) cell are evaluated under the consideration of fabricated cell patterns, and superiority of the SWL cell is shown. This superiority is mainly attributed to its simple layout of the MOSFETs in the cell rather than its symmetrical layout.
Intrinsic and Robust Voltage Balancing of FCML Converters with Coupled Inductors

Flying capacitor voltage balancing is critical for the performance of flying capacitor multilevel (FCML) converters. This paper investigates the fundamentals of intrinsic capacitor voltage balancing of multiphase FCML converters with coupled inductors. It is shown that the coupled inductor provides a new, intrinsic mechanism of flying capacitor voltage balancing that is robust to periodic disturbances and independent of the inductor quality factor. This balancing mechanism is typically stronger than natural balancing. The imbalances with uncoupled inductors are analytically predicted and shown to be dependent on the quality factor of the inductor, thus leading to much larger imbalances compared to the coupled inductor balancing mechanism. A dynamic model for voltage balancing of the flying capacitors with coupled inductors is derived and used to estimate the time required to settle from an initial imbalance. The theoretical analysis is verified with simulations and experimental results. Adding coupled inductors to FCML converters can greatly enhance the robustness of FCML converters against physical nonidealities and periodic disturbances.
A novel LQR Controller Design Method based on the Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle

In this work, a new design methodology for the LQR deduction controller based on the Pontryagin’s maximum principle for LTI systems is presented. The advantage of this new procedure over the classic ones is that it allows tuning the weighting matrices, Q and R, in operation without requiring a large volume of computing effort, making it suitable for implementation in low-cost microcontrollers. In order to show its performance, computer simulations applied to the control of an inverted pendulum and a quadrotor are shown.
Genetic Profiling in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Referred for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Introduction Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the essential and often the only curative therapeutic option in high risk and relapsed pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Methods The objective of the study was to investigate whole-genome expression in children with high risk or relapsed ALL referred for HSCT. Gene expression was assessed in 18 children with ALL referred for HSCT (10 high risk, 8 relapsed; median age of 9.4 years) and in a control group of 38 obese children (median age of 14.1 years). Whole-genome expression was assessed in leukocytes using GeneChip® HumanGene 1.0 ST microarray. Results The analysis of genomic profiles revealed a significantly lower expression of 21 genes with a defined function, involved in immunoglobulin production, lymphocyte function, or regulation of DNA processing in ALL patients referred for HSCT compared with the control group. Conclusion Genome expression of patients with ALL in remission referred to HSCT revealed deep immunosuppression of both B-cell and T-cell lineages, which may increase the probability of donor cell engraftment.
CMOS Neural Probe With Multi-Turn Micro-coil Magnetic Stimulation

Micro-coil magnetic stimulation has been shown to be an effective method of neurostimulation while circumventing issues that limit the more commonly used implantable electrodes. Micro-coils do not need direct electrical contact with biological tissue, allowing for complete device encapsulation. This allows for the stimulation effectiveness to be maintained over long periods of time and eliminates the electrode-tissue interface, which is prone to electrochemical effects that can damage the probe and/or tissue. Recent work has demonstrated programmable micro-coil neural probes integrating CMOS technology with the micro-coil design. This work proposes a neural probe that co-optimizes a multi-turn micro-coil design with configurable CMOS current drivers for each micro-coil to maximize the induced electric field gradients. A four wire interface is used to multiplex power, deliver the stimulation current, and program the micro-coil current configuration. The proposed probes are characterized in a saline bath with a maximum stimulation current of 9 mA per 16-turn micro-coil, when simultaneously driving two micro-coils on a 3.5 V supply. Preliminary in vitro testing with mouse olfactory bulb slices and a commercial MEA show the probes are capable of producing changes in neural behavior.
Pest detection and classification to reduce pesticide use in fruit crops based on deep neural networks and image processing

The aim for organic farming is obtaining food of the highest quality, avoiding synthetic chemicals, protecting the environment and preserving the fertility of the land. In this context, effective pest control allows to reduce yield loss and pesticides application producing pollution-free vegetables. In fruit crops, Carpocapsa is the main pest present in pear, apple, walnut and quince trees. This insect produces irreversible damage to the fruit, since the larvae feed the seeds inside the fruit. In this paper, we present automatic pest detection and classification in the context of fruit crops based on image processing and Deep Neural Networks, employing an image collection obtained from in-field traps. Due to the limited size of the data set, we perform data augmentation to increase the number of images for training, to prevent over-fitting and to improve the deep neural network learning rate. Results showed an overall accuracy of 94.8%, while precision and recall scores for the class related with the moth were around 97.2% and 93.6% respectively, demonstrating the efficacy of this type of classifier proposed for pest detection. An inference time of 40 ms per image for the deep neural network classifier has been reached.
Altitude Variation of Snow Cover in Nevado Huascaran and its Relationship to ENSO During the Period 2001-2016

The Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) is the most fundamental altitude in glacier studies that is related to the ablation and accumulation process in the glaciers. These processes play an important role which depend on the local climate. Nevado Huascaran is located in the Peruvian Andean Mountain and its ELA is affected by events of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The objective of this study is to estimate the Altitude Variation of Snow Cover (AVSC) in the Nevado Huascaran and analyze its relationship to ENSO. The Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Fractional Snow Cover (FSC) and The Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) are used. These data are processed and analyzed using filters and Wavelet Analysis. The results showed an AVSC anomaly with a period of around 2.99 years. This is a clear evidence on how ENSO influences over the Nevado Huascaran.
Outage Probability Analysis of SWIPT Systems with Ambient Backscatter

Simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) and ambient backscatter communications are two promising technologies for Internet-of-Things applications. This paper studies the performance of a SWIPT system with an ambient backscatter device. In the system, the SWIPT transmitter (source) and the backscatter device have a common destination. The backscatter device uses passive radio technology to transmit its information over the source signal, and the destination adopts a power-splitting scheme to decode information and harvest energy. Closed-form expressions of the outage probabilities of all related communication links are derived and the achievable throughputs are analyzed. The analytical results are validated by a series of simulations.
Analysis of Adhesion Strength Between Silver Film and Substrate in Plain Silver Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor

Recently, plain silver surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor has been studied extensively due to its high sensitivity and desirable chemical stability in types of liquid environments. However, its physical stability was not reported yet. In this work, we explored the physical stability of the plain silver SPR sensor by analyzing its adhesion strength between the outmost silver film and substrate. After being divided into 1 x 1 mm grids by an adhesion cross-cut tester, the adhesion of the silver film was tested by Scotch adhesion testing tape. Under Zeiss optical microscope, no grid with a peeled-off area is found in the film, which proves adhesion between the silver film and substrate is firm. In contrast, a single silver film deposited on a substrate with chromium as the adhesion layer can be peeled off in all the grids. The comparative study shows that the gold layer can both promote the chemical and physical stability of the plain silver SPR sensor.
Unsupervised fault detection of forest harvester head functions

Abstract It is difficult to come up with working solutions for the fault detection of forest harvesters due to the extreme variability in their operating conditions. This text studies the feasibility of implementing an automatic fault detection scheme based on an existing index hierarchy system. This index computation system estimates the performance of different subsystems of the harvester with dimensionless numbers. These indices can be used as feature vectors for traditional detection methods like the T 2 -statistic or methods based on clustering. The implemented methods are compared by using them on artificial simulated fault data.
On forming a symmetrical broad‐beam utilizing a paired curved‐leakywave structure

In this article, an easy method for forming a symmetrical broad‐beam, utilizing a paired curved‐leakywave structure (CLS), is proposed. These radiation structures can be used as millimeter‐wave antennas in relatively short‐range communication, such as indoor wireless LAN and intelligent transport system (ITS). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 39: 86–88, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.11135
SMAD3 Host and Tumor Profiling to Identify Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients at High Risk of Poor Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy

Identifying patients at risk of poor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is an emerging clinical need in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). SMAD3 is a key player in the chemoradio-resistance phenotype and its expression is both constitutive and locally induced. The aim was to investigate both host (genetic polymorphisms) and tumor SMAD3 profiling to predict response to nCRT. In a group of 76 LARC patients, SMAD3 and phosphorylated-SMAD3 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in preoperative tumor tissue. In an expanded study group (n = 378), a set of SMAD3 polymorphisms (rs35874463, rs1065080, rs1061427, rs17228212, rs744910, and rs745103) was analyzed. Association with tumor regression grade (TRG) and patient prognosis (progression-free survival [PFS] and overall survival [OS]) was assessed. Patients with high tumor expression of SMAD3 had a significantly increased risk of poor response (TRG≥2) [cellularity >55% (OR:10.36, p = 0.0004), or moderate/high intensity (OR:5.20, p = 0.0038), or an H-score≥1 (OR:9.84, p = 0.0004)]. Patients carrying the variant SMAD3 rs745103-G allele had a poorer response (OR:0.48, p = 0.0093), a longer OS (HR:0.65, p = 0.0307), and a trend for longer PFS (HR:0.75, p = 0.0944). Patients who carried both high SMAD3 tumor expression and the wild-type rs745103-A allele had an extremely high risk of not achieving a complete response (OR:13.45, p = 0.0005). Host and tumor SMAD3 status might be considered to improve risk stratification of LARC patients to facilitate selection for alternative personalized neoadjuvant strategies including intensified regimens.
Low voltage microgrid under islanded operation: Control strategies and experimental tests

The paper aims at describing the experimental setup of a low voltage microgrid equipped with distributed energy resources, both renewable and conventional, storage systems and loads. The experimentation involves the validation of control strategies also in islanding operation. The control algorithms are implemented in the Matlab-Simulink environment and run on a laptop connected to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA) of the test facility. The objective is to safely and stably operate the system using a Vanadium Redox Battery (VRB) as the only regulating unit in the microgrid, thus using this storage system as the provider of both frequency and voltage control. Different control strategies are tested and their performances evaluated and reported. (7 pages)
Prediction in Geoenvironmental Engineering: Recommendations for Reliable Predictive Modeling

Rapid increases in processing power, convenient graphical user interfaces, and the commercial availability of sophisticated two and three-dimensional numerical codes have made detailed simulation of engineered geoenvironmental systems practical for many projects. Predictions made with these codes exhibit many of the nuances and perturbations evident in real systems that are stressed by temporally and spatially variable factors (e.g., rainfall or loads). However, these predictions can be very sensitive to the material properties input by the user, the boundary conditions that are applied, and the characteristics of the constitutive relationships that are selected. Examples are used to illustrate the sensitivity of model predictions to each of these factors when they are varied within a reasonable range. The power of inversion for parameterization and assessment of the conceptual model is also discussed. Comparison with field data is shown to be a key step in checking the reasonableness of predictive models.
Multiobjective Design of Dynamic Monitoring Networks for Detection of Groundwater Pollution

A methodology is developed based on the solution of optimization models for optimal design of groundwater quality monitoring networks. The optimal monitoring network is time varying as the monitoring wells are installed in stages, considering the transient pollutant transport process. The monitoring locations specified as solution to the optimization model change with time. This ensures additional economy in the installation of the network, compared to a single stage network design. The optimization model incorporates uncertainties in prediction or estimation of some of the aquifer parameters such as hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity. Advective, dispersive, and radioactive decay processes of transport in a two-dimensional groundwater system are considered. Randomly generated aquifer parameter values are used to simulate different realizations of resulting pollutant plumes incorporating uncertainties in predicting the transport process. The simulated pollutant plume realizations are subsequently util.
Controlling a MARV in Backward Movements with Null Space-based Collision Avoidance

This work proposes a null space-based controller for a multi-articulated robot vehicle (MARV) in backward movements, capable of avoiding collision with static obstacles during navigation. This can be the case of a multi-trailer truck moving backwards or even a tractor vehicle pushing passive trailers in agricultural applications. These articulated vehicles should also avoid possible collisions between the elements of the composition (situation known as jackknife), which would prevent the vehicle to continue in motion. In this context, the article discusses the application of null space-based control to a MARV, to manage the conflicting tasks of following a path and avoid obstacles surrounding it. The MARV modeling and the proposed controller are presented. Results obtained running simulations considering a MARV composed of a unicycle mobile robot pushing two trailers validate the approach adopted to guide the MARV navigation when there are obstacles nearby or on the path being followed.
Twentieth-century earthen buildings of Sardinia : archaeometry and conservation

This thesis is a study of the traditional manufacturing processes and repair methods of twentieth-century earthen architecture of Sardinia. A fundamental concern of the work is to propose guidelines towards better repair, prevention of decay, and maintenance of these buildings. The methods employed are multiple and interdisciplinary, and the work was carried out as follows: (1) the traditional manufacturing processes of the following building materials were studied as explained through interviews with elderly Master Craftsmen: mud brick and mud plaster, and also the related traditionally-used materials such as tiles and fired brick, stone, lime, and vegetable materials; (2) the principal symptoms and mechanisms of decay were investigated by undertaking a questionnaire based on a population of 288 earthen building users; (3) the traditional repair methods for earthen buildings were studied as explained through interviews with Master Craftsmen; (4) mud brick and lime renders were analysed in the laboratory in order to complement what had been explained by Master Craftsmen (point 1). For the same reason, and in order to study recent conservation practices, two buildings were selected as case studies. It should be noted here that the above four points are all original contributions made to knowledge in the subject of traditional earthen construction of Sardinia, as the available literature focuses on building types and not on the analysis of building materials.
Thick-film power hybridization of switchmode power circuits

To help the electrical circuit designer better understand what is involved in a hybrid circuit design and to aid the designer hybrid-compatible circuits, the author presents a tutorial on the design of a power hybrid circuit. The structure of a power hybrid circuit is given along with the device's material properties and dimensions. Thick film and copper-on-ceramic techniques are presented. The designer can use the information to understand both the electrical and thermal limitations of such circuits. An example of a 2 MHz, off-line, thick-film-hybrid DC-DC-converter is provided. <<ETX>>
Predicting Response Time in SDN-Fog Environments for IIoT Applications

In IoT application scenarios, the response time is one of the attributes that most require attention and, for this reason, the paradigm of decentralized (or fog) computation has gained ground. Moreover, to help reduce the response time of decentralized IoT networks, routing optimization approaches can be employed using software-defined networking (SDN). When both contexts are combined, a new one called SDN-Fog Environments appears. This work presents a solution to predict the response time of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications using supervised and unsupervised learning for SDN-Fog Environments. Results show that the prediction of the response time of IIoT scenarios was close to the times obtained by solving the problem in the literature. Furthermore, according to the best-performing models, the prediction framework had less than 50 milliseconds of variation, executed in less than one second.
A Dual-Band Metasurface-Based Antenna with Shorting Pins

A dual-band metasurface (MTS)-based antenna can be realized by composite right-/left-handed (CRLH) structures for wireless power transfer or ambient wireless energy harvesting. The bandwidth in the right-handed (RH) region can be obtained by exciting different desired transverse magnetic (TM) modes while that in the left-handed (LH) region can be achieved by mushroom radiating structures. The position choice of shorting pins in mushroom structures is significant since it will not only affect the potential bandwidth in the RH region, but also be related to the resonant frequencies in the LH region. The positions of the shorting pins will be chosen where the Electric field distribution is minimal for modes excited in the RH region. The proposed dual-band MTS-based antenna with an overall size of 0.375 $\lambda_{0}\times 0.375 \lambda_{0}\times 0.035\ \lambda_{0}$ can achieve 25% and 48% fractional bandwidths, and 5.0 and 9.6 dBi peak gains in the lower and higher frequency band, respectively.