Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual-Fed C-DRA Loaded by Modified Circular Patch Antenna

This paper presents a cylindrical-dielectric resonator antenna (C-DRA) loaded by a circular patch for emerging wide-band wireless communications. To generate a polarization diversity pattern, the proposed antenna is fed by two orthogonal aperture-coupled feeding slots. The slots' shape and position were chosen to achieve the best operating bandwidth and isolation between the two feeds. A circular patch with crossed dumbbell-shaped slots was etched to achieve high polarization purity. Ansys EDT full wave simulator was used to design and optimize the proposed antenna. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed antenna achieves a 2 GHz impedance bandwidth (26.64 GHz – 28.69 GHz) centered at 27.6 GHz, with isolation between the two feeding ports better than 25 dB over the operational bandwidth, implying that the antenna can achieve pure diverse polarization (Axial Ratio (AR) less than 0.1 dB) with total gain more than 6 dB over the operating frequency bandwidth. The proposed antenna is a good building component for the next 5G wireless communications technology as well as Ka-band satellite communications.
Unequal Duty-Ratio Feedforward Control to Extend Balanced-Currents Input Voltage Range for Series-Capacitor-Based Boost PFC Converter

In this letter, the series-capacitor-based boost power factor correction (PFC) converter (or called the voltage doubler PFC converter) is studied. It possesses the voltage doubler and intrinsic current balancing characteristics only when their equal duty ratios are larger than 0.5. Thus, for PFC application, the balanced-currents input voltage should be smaller than the quarter (1/4) output dc voltage. To extend the balanced-currents input voltage range, the unequal duty-ratio feedforward control is proposed in this letter. For the case of dc output voltage 400 V, the maximum input voltage with balanced inductor currents increased from 100 V (the quarter output dc voltage) to 200 V. The proposed control method is implemented in the field programmable gate array chip to evaluate its performance.
Measuring Control to Dynamically Induce Flow in Tetris

Dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) is a set of techniques that aim to automatically adapt the difficulty of a video game based on the player’s performance. This article presents a methodology for DDA using ideas from the theory of flow and case-based reasoning (CBR). In essence, we are looking to generate game sessions with a similar difficulty evolution to previous game sessions that have produced flow in players with a similar skill level. We propose a CBR approach to dynamically assess the player’s skill level and adapt the difficulty of the game based on the relative complexity of the last game states. We develop a DDA system for Tetris using this methodology and show, in an experiment with 40 participants, that the DDA version has a measurable impact on the perceived flow using validated questionnaires.
Maize producers’ vulnerability to climate change: Evidence from Makhuduthamaga Local Municipality, South Africa

Climate change is predicted to impact agricultural production and affect food security in poor communities of developing countries due to the likely negative impacts on rainfall characteristics. South Africa is one of the largest producers of maize crops in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The majority of crop production is rainfed with precipitation received during the summer growing season. This study evaluated the impact of climate change on maize yields using trend and multiple regression analysis in northern South Africa. Exposure and vulnerability of maize farmers to the impacts of climate change were also evaluated. Rainfall characteristics showed variability of 20.35% with rain days standard deviation of 10.25 days and coefficient of variation of 18.57%. The results revealed a weak relationship between annual rainfall and rainy days, and annual rainfall and maize yields, both showed an r² and p-values of less than 0.5 and 0.005, respectively. The study found that variations in rainfall did not significantly influence variation in maize yields. Despite a clear fluctuation in yields, the results demonstrate a rising trend that can be attributed to agricultural practices such as the use of fertilisers and planting drought resistant cultivars as opposed to climate variables. The study further found that maize producers were proactively adapting to climate change, thus, reducing their vulnerability to its impacts.
Pattern of Some Sperm Proteins, Anti-oxidants, Testosterone, and Prostate-Specific Antigen of Infertile Males with Sperm Cell Deformities in Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Aim: Infertility is a global problem affecting both males and females. It is a condition with psychological, economic, and medical implications resulting in trauma and stress, particularly in a society where there is a strong emphasis on childbearing. The study therefore aims to investigate the pattern of some sperm proteins, anti-oxidants, and prostate-specific antigen in the seminal plasma of infertile males with sperm cell deformities. Study Design: The study is a case-control study designed to investigate semen parameters and sperm proteins in infertile males with sperm cell deformities in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. However, some of the Laboratory investigations were done in the Chemical Pathology Unit and Medical Microbiology Unit of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt. The Study was between the periods of September 2019 and Feb. 2022. Methodology: A total of 276 males indicated interest to participate in the study of which 193 male subjects were recruited. These subjects were grouped into normospermic males (100), azoospermic (40) and oligospermic males (53). Based on their sperm cell morphology and active motility, they were further classified into asthenozoospermic (40), oligoasthenozoospermic (48), teratozoospermic (26), asthenoteratozoospermic (32), and oligoasthenoteratozoospermic (22). HSP70, PKA, MDA, TAC, and GPX (in seminal plasma), PSA, and testosterone (in serum) were analyzed using ELISA while TAC was done using spectrophotometric methods. Results obtained were statistically analyzed using GraphPad Prism and SPSS. Results: Sperm motility, TSC, and normal sperm morphology were poor in oligospermic subjects but were very severe in OAT subjects. Sperm proteins were altered in subjects with abnormal sperm cell morphologies. HSP70 and PKA were significantly increased while OPN, TAC, and GPX were significantly decreased in the seminal plasma of infertile males with abnormal sperm cells. Testosterone and PSA in blood plasma were significantly lower and higher respectively. Conclusion: Oxidative stress played a significant role in sperm cell deformities and fertility. OAT subjects were the most affected.
Bridge Crack Inspection Efficiency of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System with a Laser Ranging Module

In this study, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a camera and laser ranging module was developed to inspect bridge cracks. Four laser ranging units were installed adjacent to the camera to measure the distance from the camera to the object to calculate the object’s projection plane and overcome the limitation of vertical photography. The image processing method was adopted to extract crack information and calculate crack sizes. The developed UAV was used in outdoor bridge crack inspection tests; for images taken at a distance of 2.5 m, we measured the crack length, and the error between the result and the real length was less than 0.8%. The developed UAV has a dual-lens design, where one lens is used for bridge inspections and the other lens is used for flight control. The camera of the developed UAV can be rotated from the horizontal level to the zenith according to user requirements; thus, this UAV achieves high safety and efficiency in bridge inspections.
Seeing Yourself Through the Learner's Eyes: Incorporating Smart Glasses Into Objective Structured Teaching Exercises for Faculty Development

Introduction: Although physicians gain clinical knowledge in their specialty, it does not mean they receive adequate instruction to teach and provide feedback. Using smart glasses (SG) to provide educators with a first-person learner perspective has not been explored in faculty development such as Objective Structured Teaching Exercises (OSTEs). Methods: Integrated within a 6-session continuing medical education–bearing certificate course, this descriptive study involved one session where participants provided feedback to a standardized student in an OSTE. Participants were recorded by mounted wall cameras (MWCs) and SG. They received verbal feedback on their performance based on a self-designed assessment tool. Participants reviewed the recorded content and identified areas for improvement, completed a survey about their experience with SG, and wrote a narrative reflection. Results: Seventeen physicians at the assistant professor level participated in the session; data were analyzed on the 14 who had both MWC and SG recordings and who also completed the survey and reflection. All were comfortable with the standardized student wearing SG and indicated it did not affect communication. Eighty-five percent of the participants felt the SG provided additional feedback not available with the MWC, with majority noting additional feedback was related to eye contact, body language, voice inflection, and tone. Eighty-six percent see value in using SG for faculty development, and 79% felt that periodically using SG in their teaching would improve quality. Conclusion: Use of SG during an OSTE on giving feedback was a nondistracting and positive experience. SG provided affective feedback otherwise not perceived from a standard MWC.
The 777 nm oxygen triplet in the Sun and solar-type stars, and its use for abundance analysis

The use of the neutral oxygen triplet lines at 777 nm and other atomic lines for abundance analysis of the Sun and solar-type stars is investigated and discussed taking into account the effects on these lines by departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE effects). It is found that the discrepant behaviour of the 777 nm triplet in the Sun is not possible to explain within the context of one-dimensional homogeneous model atmospheres. It seems very likely that the inhomogeneous properties of the solar photosphere (granulation) must be taken into account to reproduce these lines with the accuracy needed for precision abundance analyses
ESTIMATION OF A HIGH-DIMENSIONAL COUNTING PROCESS WITHOUT PENALTY FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY EVENTS

This paper introduces a counting process for event arrivals in high-frequency trading, based on high-dimensional covariates. The novelty is that, under sparsity conditions on the true model, we do not need to impose any model penalty or parameters shrinkage, unlike Lasso. The procedure allows us to derive a central limit theorem to test restrictions in a two-stage estimator. We achieve this by the use of a sign constraint on the intensity which necessarily needs to be positive. In particular, we introduce an additive model to extract the nonlinear impact of order book variables on buy and sell trade arrivals. In the empirical application, we show that the shape and dynamics of the order book are fundamental in determining the arrival of buy and sell trades in the crude oil futures market. We establish our empirical results mapping the covariates into a higher-dimensional space. Consistently with the theoretical results, the estimated models are sparse in the number of parameters. Using this approach, we are also able to compare competing model hypotheses on the basis of an out-of-sample likelihood ratio type of test.
Neural Network-Based Practical/Ideal Integral Sliding Mode Control

This letter deals with the design of a novel neural network based integral sliding mode (NN-ISM) control for nonlinear systems with uncertain drift term and control effectiveness matrix. Specifically, this letter extends the classical integral sliding mode control law to the case of unknown nominal model. The latter is indeed reconstructed by two deep neural networks capable of approximating the unknown terms, which are instrumental to design the so-called integral sliding manifold. In this letter, the ultimate boundedness of the system state is formally proved by using Lyapunov stability arguments, thus providing the conditions to enforce practical integral sliding modes. The possible generation of ideal integral sliding modes is also discussed. Moreover, the effectiveness of the proposed NN-ISM control law is assessed in simulation relying on the classical Duffing oscillator.
Background: An essential factor in colour harmony

Colour harmony is typically assessed using a neutral (e.g. grey) background, but little is known about the effect that background colour has on the perception of saliency and harmony. A series of experiments has been conducted to assess the effects of lightness, hue angle and chroma difference on observer perceptions of saliency and harmony for an array of single and dual foreground colour patches viewed against numerous backgrounds. Experiments enabled observers to cluster perceptions of saliency and harmony as a function of variable background colour based on a 5-point semantic-differential scale running from a strongly harmonious to strongly disharmonious continuum. Results indicate that each background colour has the potential to create either high or low saliency and harmony ratings depending on the specific foreground colour/s viewed against it. This suggests that background colour is intimately linked with observer perceptions of saliency and harmony and should be seriously considered in future work as a further dimension and determinant of colour harmony. Results seem to raise questions on already existing ‘harmonious’ colour combinations that have been proposed to date. With a simple change in background colour, the possibility of creating a disharmonious from a formerly termed harmonious combination seems highly likely. The reverse holds true.
Multi-Scenario Simulation of Production-Living-Ecological Space in the Poyang Lake Area Based on Remote Sensing and RF-Markov-FLUS Model

With industrialization and urbanization, the competition among land production, living, and ecological (PLE) spaces has intensified. Particularly in ecological reserves, competition among various types of land use restricts the coordinated development of PLE space. To explore spatial sustainable development, this study starts from a PLE spatial perspective, based on Landsat long time series images. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) and landscape index analysis were selected to monitor the spatial and temporal land use and landscape pattern changes in the Poyang Lake region (PYL region) from 1989 to 2020. The RF-Markov-FLUS coupled model was used to simulate spatial changes in 2030 under four scenarios: production space priority (PSP), living space priority (LSP), ecological space priority (ESP), and an integrated development (ID). Finally, the goal-problem-principle was used to enhance PLE space. The results showed that: (1) production space and ecological spaces decreased in general from 1989 to 2020 by 3% and 7%, respectively; living space increased by 11%. (2) From 1989 to 2020, the overall landscape spread in the Poyang Lake (PYL) area decreased, connectivity decreased, fragmentation increased, landscape heterogeneity increased, and landscape geometry became more irregular. (3) Compared with the other three scenarios, the ID scenario maintained steady production space growth in 2030, the expansion rate of living space slowed, and the area of ecological space decreased the least. (4) Spatial pattern optimization should start with three aspects: the transformation of the agricultural industry, improving the efficiency of urban land use, and establishing communities of “mountains, water, forests, fields, lakes and grasses”. The results provide scientific planning and suggestions for the future ecological protection of Poyang Lake area with multiple scenarios and perspectives.
Filtering Techniques for Pose Estimation With Applications to Unmanned Air Vehicles

Filtering Techniques for Pose Estimation With Applications to Unmanned Air Vehicles Bryce Benson Ready Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Doctor of Philosophy This work presents two novel methods of estimating the state of a dynamic system in a Kalman Filtering framework. The first is an application specific method for use with systems performing Visual Odometry in a mostly planar scene. Because a Visual Odometry method inherently provides relative information about the pose of a platform, we use this system as part of the time update in a Kalman Filtering framework, and develop a novel way to propagate the uncertainty of the pose through this time update method. Our initial results show that this method is able to reduce localization error significantly with respect to pure INS time update, limiting drift in our test system to around 30 meters for tens of seconds. The second key contribution of this work is the Manifold EKF, a generalized version of the Extended Kalman Filter which is explicitly designed to estimate manifold-valued states. This filter works for a large number of commonly useful manifolds, and may have applications to other manifolds as well. In our tests, the Manifold EKF demonstrated significant advantages in terms of consistency when compared to other filtering methods. We feel that these promising initial results merit further study of the Manifold EKF, related filters, and their properties.
¿Es la formación de jugadores de fútbol un proceso rentable para los clubes? (Is the development of players in football a cost-effective process for clubs?)

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar y determinar la revalorización en el mercado de los jugadores de fútbol de los equipos filiales de una liga de fútbol profesional. Se llevó a cabo un análisis descriptivo donde participaron los jugadores de fútbol de los equipos filiales de LaLiga Santander de la temporada 19-20 (n=144) de edades entre 17 y 26 años (M=22.34±2.18). Los resultados más relevantes muestran como la mayoría de los jugadores están tan solo 4 años formándose en el club, con una revalorización en el mercado al cabo de tres años de 15.57 millones de euros de media, siendo aquellos que se incorporan al club en edad cadete e infantil los que más valor suelen obtener al cabo del tiempo. Se puede concluir que los procedimientos utilizados en esta investigación pueden ser de gran utilidad para analizar el proceso formativo el jugador de fútbol y la rentabilidad que este genera en sus clubes. Abstract. The aim of this study was to analyze and determine the market revaluation of U23 football players from professional league clubs. A descriptive analysis was carried out with the participation of football players from LaLiga Santander subsidiary teams in the 19-20 season (n=144) aged between 17 and 26 years (M=22.34±2.18). The most relevant results show that the majority of the players are only 4 years training in the club, with a revaluation in the market after three years of 15.57 million euros on average, being those who join the club at U15-16 and U13-U14, the ones that tend to obtain the most value over time. It can be concluded that the procedures used in this research can be of great use in analysing the training process of the football player and the profitability that he generates for his club.
Impact of proton pump inhibitors on the in-hospital outcome of COVID-19 patients: a retrospective study

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has triggered a global public health crisis. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs. However, the effect of PPIs on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients remains unclear. Methods: All COVID-19 patients admitted to the Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital from February 2020 to April 2020 were retrospectively collected. Patients were divided into PPIs and non-PPIs groups. Logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the effects of PPIs on the outcomes of COVID-19 patients, including transfer to intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation, and death. Subgroup analyses were performed according to the presence of upper gastrointestinal symptoms potentially associated with acid and the routes, types, median total dosage, and duration of PPIs. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results: Of the 3024 COVID-19 patients included, 694 and 2330 were in PPIs and non-PPIs groups, respectively. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that PPIs significantly increased the risk of reaching the composite endpoint in COVID-19 patients (OR = 10.23, 95% CI = 6.90–15.16, p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, other medications, and severe/critical COVID-19, PPIs were independently associated with an increased risk of reaching the composite endpoint (OR = 7.00, 95% CI = 4.57–10.71, p < 0.001). This association remained significant in patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms and those who received an intravenous omeprazole alone, but not those who received oral lansoprazole or rabeprazole alone. It was not influenced by dosage or duration of PPIs. Conclusion: The use of intravenous PPIs alone during hospitalization may be associated with worse clinical outcome in COVID-19 patients.
Consequences of Anemia in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Background: Heart failure (HF) is recognized as a structural and functional heart complication. Many studies have revealed that anemia plays an ambiguous role in this complication and can be a significant prognostic parameter in HF. In our trial, for clarification of this issue, the relationship between HF and anemia was studied. Methods: In this case-control study, 273 patients admitted to the CCU and post-CCU wards of Dezful Hospital, who were selected by the available sampling method, were studied. In this investigation, among 273 patients with HF, hematological, biochemical, and heart functional parameters were assessed and compared with 89 healthy volunteers. Consequently, the correlation between hematological parameters and functional heart parameters in the patients was evaluated via Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The study subjects were tried to have similar conditions regarding their demographic characteristics. The mean age of the included participants was 53.68 ± 2.17 years. Our data revealed that HF occurs mainly at the age of 50 to 70 years, and patients had an 8.7% mortality risk. Hematocrit (HCT) had a significant reduction in the HF group in comparison to the normal range (P-value < 0.05), and HCT level in healthy subjects (P-value 0.02). Further, anemia is positively correlated with HF mortality rate and severity of HF indices in patients (P-value = 0.01). Conclusions: The results of our study, consistent with other previous studies, showed that HF patients have a low HCT level, and this reduction is associated with a marked decline in health status indices in HF patients. Also, our results revealed that patients with the lowest level of HCT are at high risk for HF symptoms.