Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sliding mode control with perturbation estimation (SMCPE): a new approach

Abstract Sliding mode control (SMC) of a general class of nonlinear control systems is considered in this work. The conventional SMC technique requires knowledge of the upperbounds of disturbances and modelling uncertainties to assure robustness. However, this may not be easy to obtain. As a remedy, an estimation process for these dynamic perturbations is employed jointly with the SMC technique. This new methodology, sliding mode control with perturbation estimation (SMCPE), offers a robust feedback control with much lower gains than its conventional counterparts against slowly varying perturbations. This resolves one of the problematic issues which has caused concern over the years of development of SMC applications. An interesting perspective of selecting the cut-off frequency for s dynamics is presented with a novel upperbound argument. Much desirable tracking fidelity is arrived through SMCPE in the computer simulation studies for a two-link manipulator. A companion approach to SMCPE, the discrete equ.
Boeremia Exigua Leaf Spot: A New Emerging Threat to Gossypium hirsutum L. in Pakistan

Cotton is grown all over the world including Asian countries. Severe foliar disease symptoms were observed on cotton in fields from different districts of cotton zone of the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Infected plant leaves were sampled from various areas and processed for the isolation of the causal organism. Fungal isolates were identified morphologically. The conidia of the fungus were observed oblong to ellipsoid, hyaline, and aseptate, but occasionally 1-septate with dimensions ranging from 2.7 to 7.8 × 1.6 to 3.5 μm. A total of two isolates were characterized further for genetic diversity. Both the isolates showed moderate reactions to the NaOH test for E metabolite. The pathogen was morphologically identified as Boeremia exigua. Further, the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and TUB gene of the fungal isolates were amplified and analyzed. The sequence of partial ITS and TUB showed 99% homology with the isolates of B. exigua. The pathogenicity test was performed on three months old cotton plants by using two isolates of B. exigua. After 15 days of inoculation, necrotic spots started developing on the leaves that were very similar to those observed in the field. The fungal pathogen was re-isolated from the leaves of all the inoculated plants, identified morphologically following Koch's postulates. This disease might be a potential threat to cotton production in Pakistan in the future. However, further studies are required to know the virulence, behavior, alternate hosts, and spreading nature of the pathogen.
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Promotes Recovery in Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: The most popular approach for treating obesity is laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). The enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol aims to reduce the patient's surgical stress response, optimize their physiological function, and facilitate recovery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the ERAS protocol in patients who have undergone LSG. Methods: Between January 2020 and March 2021, a single-center randomized controlled study with patients undergoing LSG was planned. Patient demographics, duration of surgery and anesthetic induction, postoperative nausea-vomiting (PONV) and pain scores, length of hospital stay, and emergency room readmissions within the first 30 days were also documented. Patients were divided into two groups: those who followed the ERAS protocol and those who did not. The senior surgeon was blinded for the preoperative and postoperative period, whereas the other surgeon was not. The groups were compared in terms of length of hospital stay, duration of surgery, visual analog scale (VAS) scores, PONV effect scores, and emergency service admissions within the first 30 days after surgery. Results: A total of 96 patients were included in this study. Of these, 49 were in the ERAS protocol group and 47 were in the traditional treatment group. The mean age of the patients in the ERAS and traditional treatment groups were 37.47 ± 10.11 years and 35.77 ± 9.62 years, respectively. While the ERAS group patients were hospitalized for a mean of 30.46 ± 11.26 hours, the traditional group patients were hospitalized for 52.02 ± 6.63 hours (P: .001). There was no difference between the groups in terms of the first 30-day readmission to the emergency department (P: .498). Both VAS and PONV effect scores at the 2nd and 12th hours of the ERAS group patients were lower (P: .001, .002, .001, .001, respectively). Conclusions: When compared with the conventional method, the ERAS protocol reduced patient hospitalization time, decreased postoperative nausea, vomiting, and pain scores, and did not vary in postoperative emergency department readmissions. In patients receiving LSG, the ERAS protocol can be employed safely and successfully. Clinical Trial Registration number: NCT04442568.
From Optical Tracking to Tactical Performance via Voronoi Diagrams: Team Formation and Players’ Roles Constrain Interpersonal Linkages in High-Level Football

Football performance behaviour relies on the individual and collective perceptual attunement to the opportunities for action (affordances) available in a given competitive environment. Such perception–action coupling is constrained by players’ spatial dominance. Aiming to understand the influence of team formation and players’ roles in their dynamic interaction (interpersonal linkages), Voronoi diagrams were used to assess the differences in players’ spatial dominance resulting from their interactions according to ball-possession status in high-performance football. Notational (i.e., team formation, players’ role, and ball-possession status) and positional data (from optical sensors) from ten matches of the men’s French main football league were analysed. Voronoi diagrams were computed from players’ positional data for both teams. Probability density functions of the players’ Voronoi cell areas were then computed and compared, using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, for the different variables (i.e., team formation, player role, and ball-possession status) and their classes. For these variables, the players’ Voronoi cell areas presented statistical differences, which were sensitive to team formation classes (i.e., defenders, midfielders, and forwards) and relative pitch location (interior or exterior in the effective play space). Differences were also found between players with similar roles when in different team formations. Our results showed that team formation and players’ roles constrain their interpersonal linkages, resulting in different spatial dominance patterns. Using positional data captured by optical sensors, Voronoi diagrams can be computed into compound variables, which are meaningful for understanding the match and thus offer information to the design representative training tasks.
Clinical Outcome of Resected Non-Ampullary Duodenal Adenocarcinoma: A Single Center Experience

(1) Background: This study identified the clinical outcome and prognostic factors of resected non-ampullary duodenal adenocarcinoma (NADA) in a single tertiary cancer center. (2) Methods: The medical records of 109 patients with NADA who underwent curative surgery between 2000 and 2018 were reviewed retrospectively. (3) Results: The mean age was 62.4 years with a male predominance (70.6%). The majority of tumors were located at the 2nd portion (58.7%). Fifty-seven patients (52.3%) had symptoms at diagnosis. CA19-9 was elevated in 32 patients (29.4%). Of this cohort, most patients were diagnosed as stage III (64.2%). The median overall survival was 92.9 months, and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 84.4%, 71.6%, and 53.7%, respectively. In univariate and multivariate analysis, age, symptoms, CA19-9, and margin status were associated with overall survival and symptoms, CA19-9 and margin status were also associated with recurrence. When correlating symptoms with stages, patients with symptoms at diagnosis had more advanced stages (all p < 0.001). (4) Conclusion: Old age, elevated CA19-9, symptoms, and margin status were independent prognostic factors of NADA, and the patients with symptoms at diagnosis tend to have more advanced stages and a poor prognosis.
A NOTE ON MEASURES OF SPECIFICITY FOR FUZZY SETS

This note discusses a few issues related to Yager's specificity index and the “possibilistic entropy” recently introduced by Higashi and Klir. A probabilistic interpretation of Yager's index is provided; moreover it is indicated that both indices can be straightforwardly extended to assess the amount of imprecision in Shafer's belief functions.
Environmental Information Disclosure, Environmental Inputs and the Cost of Debt Financing——Experience from Listed Companies in China's Heavily Polluting Industries

: This paper investigates the impact of corporate environmental information disclosure on the cost of debt financing and further explores the impact of environmental information disclosure on the cost of debt financing based on the moderating effect of environmental inputs and also based on the heterogeneity of firm attributes. The findings of this study show that: environmental information disclosure is negatively related to firms' debt financing costs; environmental protection inputs play an enhanced moderating role in the effect of environmental information disclosure on debt financing costs; and the moderating effect of environmental protection inputs on the negative relationship between environmental information disclosure and debt financing costs is more significant in non-state-owned firms compared to state-owned firms.
The Latest Approach of Immunotherapy with Endosomal TLR Agonists Improving NK Cell Function: An Overview

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the most well-defined pattern recognition receptors (PRR) of several cell types recognizing pathogens and triggering innate immunity. TLRs are also expressed on tumor cells and tumor microenvironment (TME) cells, including natural killer (NK) cells. Cell surface TLRs primarily recognize extracellular ligands from bacteria and fungi, while endosomal TLRs recognize microbial DNA or RNA. TLR engagement activates intracellular pathways leading to the activation of transcription factors regulating gene expression of several inflammatory molecules. Endosomal TLR agonists may be considered as new immunotherapeutic adjuvants for dendritic cell (DC) vaccines able to improve anti-tumor immunity and cancer patient outcomes. The literature suggests that endosomal TLR agonists modify TME on murine models and human cancer (clinical trials), providing evidence that locally infused endosomal TLR agonists may delay tumor growth and induce tumor regression. Recently, our group demonstrated that CD56bright NK cell subset is selectively responsive to TLR8 engagement. Thus, TLR8 agonists (loaded or not to nanoparticles or other carriers) can be considered a novel strategy able to promote anti-tumor immunity. TLR8 agonists can be used to activate and expand in vitro circulating or intra-tumoral NK cells to be adoptively transferred into patients.
Channel Estimation in Sub-6 GHz and Hybrid Millimeter Wave MIMO Systems With Low-Resolution ADCs

This paper presents channel estimation strategies for the fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) frequency bands i.e., sub-6 GHz for long range communications and millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency bands for medium to short range communications with low-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). For sub-6 GHz systems, we propose an energy-efficient iterative semi-blind channel estimation scheme for multi-user massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with low-resolution ADCs. The proposed semi-blind estimator improves the channel state information (CSI) accuracy with the addition of a few data symbols in the CSI acquisition process and concurrently enhances the spectral efficiency (SE) under the minimum pilot length constraint, unlike pilot training based schemes. We also derive an analytical expression for the lower bound on the uplink achievable rate of quantized massive MIMO sub-6 GHz systems. The energy efficiency (EE) and SE of the designed estimator for maximal ratio combining and zero-forcing receivers are also investigated. Furthermore, for the mmWave frequency band of 5G NR, we formulate a sparse Bayesian learning based frequency selective mmWave channel estimation scheme for MIMO systems equipped with hybrid architecture and low-resolution ADCs. The solidity of the proposed scheme is validated through extensive numerical results.
A theory of the operation of cylindrical induction motors with squirrel-cage rotors

The electric and magnetic field vectors in the air-gap of an induction machine are derived from a scalar potential which satisfies Laplace's equation; the application of boundary conditions at the stator and rotor surfaces then leads to a complete knowledge of the air-gap field and the rotor current in terms of stator current. All the electric and magnetic quantities can be expanded in a series of travelling harmonics, each of which produces its own component of torque and rotor I2R loss. The pulsating component of torque is the only derived quantity which depends upon interaction between harmonics. The general theory is applied to the polyphase machine, the singlephase machine and the 2-phase servo-motor; in each case the result conforms with accepted theory. The theory could well be applied to machines with unusual stator windings.
Doppler Velocities Measured in Coronal Emission Lines from a Bright Point Observed with the EUNIS Sounding Rocket

Spectroscopic measurements of a coronal bright point obtained with the Extreme Ultraviolet Normal Incidence Spectrograph (EUNIS) sounding rocket instrument on 2006 April 12 show both upflows and downflows in all five of the best observed emission lines. Relative velocities on opposite sides of the feature were found to be ±15 km s-1 in the line of He II 303.8 Å (formed at T ≈ 5 × 104 K), ±14 km s-1 in Mg IX 368.1 Å (T ≈ 9.5 × 105 K), ±26 km s-1 in Fe XIV 334.2 Å (T ≈ 2.0 × 106 K), and ±35 km s-1 in both Fe XVI 335.4 and 360.8 Å (T ≈ 2.5 × 106 K). The latter are the hottest lines for which Doppler velocities have been reported in a bright point. Photospheric longitudinal magnetograms reveal that the photospheric magnetic fields underlying the bright point were canceling during the EUNIS observation. Based on existing bright point models, this suggests that the observed hot flows were associated with magnetic reconnection.
The effect of thin film variations and transverse curvature on the shape of fingers in a Hele–Shaw cell

The steady‐state shape of a finger penetrating into a viscous fluid that fills the gap between two closely spaced parallel plates is examined. Boundary conditions that take into account variations in the thickness of the thin film and both transverse curvature (across the gap) and lateral curvature (along the interface edge) are applied at the leading edge of the interface. These interface conditions, derived from local solutions in the vicinity of the interface edge, depend on μUn/T, where μ is the viscosity of the original fluid, Un is the normal velocity of the interface edge, and T is the interfacial tension. They also depend on e/R, where e=b/a≪1 is the ratio of gap width to cell width and aR is the lateral radius of curvature. The problem is solved by conformally mapping the domain to a circle. By expanding the solution in terms of analytic functions and satisfying the boundary conditions, the shape of the interface edge and finger width λ are determined. The agreement between numerical and experime.
Parkinson’s Disease-Related Brain Metabolic Pattern Is Expressed in Schizophrenia Patients during Neuroleptic Drug-Induced Parkinsonism

Drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) is a frequent parkinsonian syndrome that appears as a result of pharmacotherapy for the management of psychosis. It could substantially hamper treatment and therefore its diagnosis has a direct influence on treatment effectiveness. Although of such high importance, there is a lack of systematic research for developing neuroimaging-based criteria for DIP diagnostics for such patients. Therefore, the current study was aimed at applying a metabolic brain imaging approach using the 18F-FDG positron emission tomography and spatial covariance analysis to reveal possible candidates for DIP markers. As a result, we demonstrated, to our knowledge, the first attempt at the application of the Parkinson’s Disease-Related Pattern (PDRP) as a metabolic signature of parkinsonism for the assessment of PDRP expression for schizophrenia patients with DIP. As a result, we observed significant differences in PDRP expression between the control group and the groups with PD and DIP patients. Similar differences in PDRP expression were also found when the non-DIP schizophrenia patients were compared with the PD group. Therefore, our findings made it possible to conclude that PDRP is a promising tool for the development of clinically relevant criteria for the estimation of the risk of developing DIP.
Indonesian Teachers’ Self-Regulation, Their Self-Concept of Competence and Satisfaction in Teaching

It has been acknowledged in the literature that a good self-concept of teachers will enable teachers to adapt to changing situations, which might result in effective teaching that will benefit students. On the contrary, negative self-concept results in teachers’ burnout and inability to perform well in teaching. This mixed-methods study aims to investigate whether teacher self-concept can be enhanced by the implementation of self-regulation strategies. Two research questions are formulated in this study: (1) To what extent do Indonesian teachers implement self-regulation in their teaching? (2) What is the correlation between teachers’ self-regulation and the concept of their competency and satisfaction in teaching? In the quantitative phase, sixty teachers from different parts of Indonesia participated in the study by completing an online questionnaire. The data gathered was submitted to the SPSS and was analyzed using the Pearson correlation method. The result showed that there were positive correlations between teacher self-regulation and teacher self-concept of competence with r=. 381 and satisfaction with r=. 372. To gain a deeper understanding, in the qualitative phase, interviews were done with three of the teachers. The data resulted that teachers have highly implemented teacher self-regulation and affirmed that it has contributed to the enhancement of their self-concept of competence and satisfaction.
Surgical goniolens for tag identification and removal in DMEK surgery

Introduction We describe a novel technique for identifying endothelial Descemet membrane (DM) tags remaining after descemetorhexis in patients undergoing Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) surgery. Methods A surgical goniolens is applied to the corneal surface after descemetorhexis in order to visualize the peripheral inner corneal layer at 360° and identify endothelial-DM tags. Results A detailed visualization of the peripheral inner corneal layer is possible using goniolens, without using any staining in the anterior chamber. Conclusion The technique may be used to screen the posterior corneal surface for any retained endothelial-DM tags. It may to lower the risk of remaining tags and indirectly lower the incidence of DMEK graft detachment.
Optical biosensor microsystems based on the integration of highly sensitive Mach–Zehnder interferometer devices

We present highly sensitive optical biosensors able to be fully integrated in lab-on-a-chip microsystems using standard CMOS compatible processes. These optical biosensors are based on integrated Mach–Zehnder interferometers, which have been designed to have high surface sensitivity and monomode behaviour. As a biosensing application of the devices we show the real-time detection of the covalent immobilization and hybridization of DNA strands without labelling. In order to achieve a lab-on-a-chip portable microsystem, we present the integration of the sensor with a CMOS compatible microfluidic system using SU-8 photolithography patterned layers.
Combination of results from several 2 X 2 contingency tables

After reviewing various methods commonly used to combine the results from several 2 X 2 contingency tables, Cochran [1954] suggested a new approach and test of significance. Although the method is general, it will for convenience be discussed against the background of clinical trials. Briefly, it consists of calculating a weighted average of the differences in efficacy between the two treatments in the various 2 X 2 tables, the weights being based on some consideration of optimality. Adapting Cochran's notation, let, for the ith table: nil, ni2 = sample sizes for the two treatments, pil 2 pi2 observed proportions of favourable response for the two treatments,
Relating Molecular T Cell–mediated Rejection Activity in Kidney Transplant Biopsies to Time and to Histologic Tubulitis and Atrophy-fibrosis

Background. We studied the variation in molecular T cell–mediated rejection (TCMR) activity in kidney transplant indication biopsies and its relationship with histologic lesions (particularly tubulitis and atrophy-fibrosis) and time posttransplant. Methods. We examined 175 kidney transplant biopsies with molecular TCMR as defined by archetypal analysis in the INTERCOMEX study (ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT01299168). TCMR activity was defined by a molecular classifier. Results. Archetypal analysis identified 2 TCMR classes, TCMR1 and TCMR2: TCMR1 had higher TCMR activity and more antibody-mediated rejection (“mixed”) activity and arteritis but little hyalinosis, whereas TCMR2 had less TCMR activity but more atrophy-fibrosis. TCMR1 and TCMR2 had similar levels of molecular injury and tubulitis. Both TCMR1 and TCMR2 biopsies were uncommon after 2 y posttransplant and were rare after 10 y, particularly TCMR1. Within late TCMR biopsies, TCMR classifier activity and activity molecules such as IFNG fell progressively with time, but tubulitis and molecular injury were sustained. Atrophy-fibrosis was increased in TCMR biopsies, even in the first year posttransplant, and rose with time posttransplant. TCMR1 and TCMR2 both reduced graft survival, but in random forests, the strongest determinant of survival after biopsies with TCMR was molecular injury, not TCMR activity. Conclusions. TCMR varies in intensity but is always strongly related to molecular injury and atrophy-fibrosis, which ultimately explains its effect on survival. We hypothesize, based on the reciprocal relationship with hyalinosis, that the TCMR1-TCMR2 gradient reflects calcineurin inhibitor drug underexposure, whereas the time-dependent decline in TCMR activity and frequency after the first year reflects T-cell exhaustion.
Vibration Confinement in Trusses

The mode-localization phenomenon is here proposed as a mechanism for suppressing undesired oscillations of trusses. Sample trusses consisting of repeated unit cells are designed to have weak intermediate member(s) in addition to geometric disorders. These irregularities lead to the confinement of motion to a limited part of the structure. The results of a finite-element analysis show the natural frequencies and the relative amplitudes of mode shapes as functions of a disorder parameter.