Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real‐time structural monitoring of Building 350 at Del Valle University

Design errors, misuse, and natural or accidental events can cause small and cumulative damages or large and sudden damages that can deteriorate structural systems or cause their collapse. Structural monitoring consists in the permanent real‐time tracking of information about the condition and performance of a structure. This paper presents the development, validation, and implementation of the structural monitoring system for building 350 at Del Valle University, located in Santiago de Cali, Colombia. The system uses the SSI and natural excitation technique with the eigensystem realization algorithm methodologies for modal identification and a specialized event‐recognition algorithm based on the standard deviation analysis of vibrations. The dynamic behavior monitoring of the building has been conducted in real‐time since January 2012, and six seismic events have been successfully recognized. The computational tool was validated using a finite element model with which the effect of variation in mass was evaluated.
Effect of varying hysteresis models and damage models on damage assessment of r/c structures under standard design level earthquakes obtained using a new scaling method

A seismic damage assessment of a real ductile framed structure of reinforced concrete requires not only realistic damage indices for members, storeys and the whole structure, but also a hysteresis rule simulating strength, stiffness and energy dissipation characteristics of the member hysteretic behaviour. Many member damage indices and hysteresis models have been developed [CalT 1998]. Varying the member damage indices and the hysteresis models may result in significant variations in the predicted damage indices for storeys and structures subjected to design level earthquake excitations at ultimate limit state specified in New Zealand loading standard [NZS4203 1992]. This could greatly influence colTect engineedng decisions of a structural design engineer, hence the effect of varying member damage indices and hysteresis models on the damage indices for the storeys and structures should be identified. To this purpose, three main aspects studied include the earthquake scaling, the relationship between the member curvature ductility and structural displacement ductility, and the effect of varying hysteresis models and member damage indices on the damage indices for the storeys and structures respectively. Three structures, four earthquakes, eight hysteresis rules and four member damage indices were employed in this study for structural models, earthquake inputs, modelling the inelastic behaviour in members and member damage respectively. The three reinforced concrete ductile frames are 6, 12 and 18 storeys respectively, designed according to the current New Zealand Standards [NZS4203 1992, NZS3101 1995] using the capacity design philosophy [Paulay 1992] with a structural displacement ductility of 5.0. The four different past earthquake excitations are Bucharest (1977-NS), El Centro (1940-NS), Northridge (Sylmar-949NW) and Kobe (1995-NS). The eight hysteresis models are the Elasto-Plastic, Bilinear, Modified Takeda (a=O.O, ~==0.6), Degrading Bilinear (a=0.5), Clough, Modified Takeda (a.==0.3, ~=0.4), Q-Hyst (a=0.5) and Origin-Centred hysteresis models. The four member damage indices are the Park & Ang, Roufaiel & Meyer, Cosenza et al and
Investigation of a Macromolecular Additive on the Decrease of the Aluminum Horizontal Etching Rate in the Wet Etching Process

The effect of a macromolecular additive on the etching rate of aluminum (Al) horizontal etching in the wet process was investigated in this work. The horizontal etching in the Al wet etching process became more evident as the film Al becomes thicker. The proposed macromolecule additive, including polyethylene-polypropylene glycol, was added into the Al etchant solution to reduce the Al horizontal etching rate (ER). The undercut problem during metal patterning can then be improved. By using this method, the Al horizontal ER was reduced from 2.0 to 0.9 μm per minute and the selection ratio between the horizontal and vertical ER was effectively improved from 3 to 1.3 times. As well, a hypothesis of physical mechanism for the improvement was proposed. The dispersed particles from the additive emulsion inhibited the transport and exchange of liquid in a horizontal direction. This work provides an alternative reference to improve the selection ratio performance in the metal wet etching process compared with that when using traditional method.
The Availability of Limestone and Other Raw Materials for Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement

The work assesses the availability and localizations of different raw materials suitable for ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), like limestone, olivine, magnesite and brucite, since several billion tons of rocky materials are needed to achieve meaningful results for carbon sequestration through OAE. Resources of carbonates are immense and widespread around all continents. Availability of pure carbonates is still very large (outcrop area 4.1 million km2) and is not a constraint for the large‐scale development of OAE. Outcrops of pure carbonates within 10 km from the coastline and below bare ground or scrub/shrub, preferred for the logistics of exploitation, account for about 70,000 km2, and could provide about 5,000 Gt of limestone. These values increase by a factor of 3 and 8 within 50 and 100 km from the coastline, respectively. Potential resources of olivine, less easily identifiable from the geological data, are estimated in the order of a few hundred billion tons and could provide only a minor contribution to ocean‐based carbon removal strategies. A comparison with the current level of world extraction of mineral raw materials is also provided. The annual production of limestone, estimated to be more than 6.6 Gt from deposits scattered all around the world, is about 9% of the world production of mineral raw materials (around 44 Gt yr−1), and is of the same order of magnitude as coal (7.3 Gt yr−1). The annual productions of magnesite (29 Mt yr−1), olivine (8.4 Mt yr−1) and brucite (1.5 Mt yr−1) are two orders of magnitude lower.
Effects of tea polyphenols on UVA-induced melanogenesis via inhibition of α-MSH-MC1R signalling pathway

Introduction Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is a major environmental factor affecting photoaging, which is characterized by skin wrinkle formation and hyperpigmentation. Although many factors are involved in the melanogenesis progress, UV is thought to play a major role in tanning. The pathway of α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH)-melanocortin receptor 1 (MC1R) is associated with UV-induced melanogenesis. Thus, α-MSH antagonists may have applications in the prevention of melanogenesis. Aim To investigate the effects of tea polyphenols (TPS) on pigmentation, and further explore the underlying mechanism. Material and methods Human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) cells and Human epidermal melanocytes (HEM) were exposed to UVA and treated with different concentrations of TPS or Nonapeptide-1 acetate salt (N-1A). Then, cell viability, melanin content, and tyrosinase activity of both kinds of cells were detected. Quantification of α-MSH in HaCaT cells and HEM cells determined by ELISA assays. Immunohistochemistry of HEM cells was employed to further investigate the expression of melanogenesis-related proteins. Results The different concentrations of TPS were found to decrease the melanin content, tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis-related proteins such as microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase-related protein (TRP)1, and TRP2. Besides, TPS inhibited α-MSH-MC1R signalling through directly suppressed α-MSH expression rather than the down-regulated expression level of MC1R. Conclusions Our findings indicate that TPS may be a potential whitening agent for use in cosmetics and the medical treatment of hyperpigmentation disorders.
Stabilization of a class of stochastic nonlinear systems using a bang‐bang controller

In this article, a bang‐bang control strategy is proposed to almost surely exponentially stabilize a class of nonlinear stochastic systems driven by multiplicative noises. Two cases are considered: first, a state feedback control if the whole state is measured and, second, an observer‐based feedback control if the state is partially measured.
Effect of soda-ethanol cooking with caustic extraction prior to bleaching on the properties of hardwood pulp

Pulping using organic solvents is an alternative to kraft pulping and can reduce environmental pollutants. Ethanol is a potential cooking liquor, as it improves the penetration of the cooking chemical due to its low surface tension, and it can be recovered via distillation. The chemical structure and alpha-cellulose content need to be controlled during cooking and bleaching processes to prepare dissolving pulp. Therefore, the effect of ethanol on the cooking efficiency and caustic extraction prior to sequential bleaching on the alpha-cellulose content of the pulp were analyzed. The cooking yield was 50.2% in cooking liquor with 20% NaOH and 50% ethanol at 160 °C for 120 min. The delignification extent was 83.2%, which was better than that of kraft cooking. Caustic extraction was effective in removing the hemicellulose content, and the removal rate of xylan was 61.1% with 10% NaOH added to 1.5% pulp slurry and reacted at 60 °C for 90 min. The alpha-cellulose of bleached pulp could be improved to over 94% by a sequential bleaching process consisting of chlorine dioxide, sodium hydroxide, and hydrogen peroxide.
Optimum selection of photovoltaic modules using probabilistic approach based on capacity factor estimation

ABSTRACT In this paper, the optimum selection of photovoltaic module using probabilistic techniques based on capacity factor estimation is proposed. The approach entails modelling the solar irradiance characteristics of the site by fitting probability distributions to the irradiance data for different hours of a typical day in each month of the year. The parameters of the probability distribution that best fits the solar irradiance data for a particular hour are thereafter used to estimate the capacity factor of different designs of PV modules. The module with the highest average capacity factor across all the months is identified as the best suited module for the given site. The proposed technique is investigated using 5 years data (2008–2012) of solar irradiance and temperature. The choice of the year of observation of the data was due to accuracy and completeness of the data for the period. The data sheets of 10 commercially available PV modules were also obtained from different manufacturers. The proposed method is simple, easy to use, and can be applied to any solar regimes around the world.
Co-Design of the Morphology and Actuation of Soft Robots for Locomotion

Recently, the field of soft robotics has received considerable attention due to their potential to increase the safety of human-robot interaction. The design of soft robots poses great challenges, for example, the co-design of morphology and actuation, making designing them by hand a trial-and-error process. Earlier work by the authors proposes a Computational Design Synthesis (CDS) method for the automated design of virtual, soft locomotion robot morphologies. This work extends the CDS method for morphologies with the automated co-design of actuation. Two methods are considered. In the first method, the actuation of designs is described by Parametric Actuation Curves (PACs) that model feedforward actuation patterns. For every morphology in the design process, a set of PACs are optimized that assume symmetric and cyclic gaits. The second method, Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) reinforcement learning, removes this assumption as well as modeling feedback control for comparison. Adding PAC optimization to the CDS method is shown to improve the performance of the resulting designs and to achieve better results within less design iterations. SAC is, however, deemed less effective, due to the need for design specific problem tuning for each new morphology. The SAC experiments also show that the best found soft robot gaits are symmetric and cyclic, although not constrained in the SAC problem formulation, thus verifying the assumptions made in the PAC formulation. To validate the search space modeled in the co-design CDS method, a state-of-the-art soft robot is replicated and compared.
Robust development of Matsui's observer

This paper presents a robust observer based on redundancy computing EMF on 2-axis rotor oriented reference frame. Driving sensorless synchronous machine is presented in 3 steps. The first is a stalling phase to avoid wrong rotation whatever the initial rotor position is. The second step is a calibration phase, to estimate accurately the electrical parameters of the drive. So using the 2 first step, finally we control the sensorless drive by estimating EMF, velocity and position which are quite close to reality only by voltages and currents measurements.
Simulations of Small Scale Straight Blade Darrieus Wind Turbine Using Latest CAE Techniques to get Optimum Power Output.

A B S T R A C T We are going to design & simulate small scale Savonius windmill by using CAE techniques. After referring previous literatures, we conclude that there is no any research has been done to optimize aspect ratio of vertical axis savonius wind turbine. We had optimized aspect ratio by using CAD & CFD software to get maximum efficiency at particular aspect ratio with the same frontal area. Our concluding work is out of 1,2,3,4,5 aspect ratios of wind turbine that we had chosen, Maximum efficiency has been shown by Aspect Ratio 1.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE OF ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES AGAINST MALARIA ENDEMICITY IN THE OKAVANGO DELTA, BOTSWANA

Background: An increasing recognition of the need to eliminate malaria infection globally and particularly in Africa where more than 90% of the cases originate, should enhance community awareness and participation in the same. The perennial freshwater of Okavango Delta located in northern Botswana, which is a source of rural livelihoods and a suitable habitat for the malaria-causing mosquito, and where malaria is endemic provides a suitable environment for the study. Therefore, local households’ adaptive strategies against malaria transmission in the Okavango Delta were investigated. Materials and Methods: The data used in this paper is a subset or retrospective cohort of 79 households that reported malaria cases/incidences during the first community level household survey conducted from October-November 2015 on 355 households in Shakawe and Ngarange. The households were selected through stratified random sampling in the two study villages. The retrospective cohort household survey was conducted from 7-19 August 2016, in the two study sites. Data were collected through socio-economic survey, key informants’ interviews and focus group discussions. Results: The results obtained indicate that most cohort households embraced several adaptive strategies against malaria transmission. These included, inter alia, knowledge capacity building through attendance of health information and education workshops (69%), modifications of houses structures (49.4%), timing of activities and restricting movement at certain times of the day (43%). Discussion: Although most of the stated adaptive strategies such as house screening were not exclusively aimed towards malaria prevention and adaptation, they nonetheless had postive spill over effect that could be a catalyst for eliminating malaria in the study area.
Hybrid FiST_CNN approach for feature extraction for vision-based indian sign language recognition

Indian sign language (ISL) is the commonly used language by the deaf-mute community in the Indian continent. Effective feature extraction is essential for the automatic recognition of gestures. This paper aims at developing an efficient feature extraction technique using FAST, SIFT, and CNN. Features from Fast Accelerated Segment Test(FAST) with Scale-invariant Feature Transformation(SIFT) are used to detect and compute features, respectively. CNN is used for classification with the hybridization of FAST-SIFT features. The system is implemented and tested using the python-based library Keras. The results of the proposed techniques have been tested on 34 gestures of ISL (24 alphabet sets and 10 digit sets) and then compared with the CNN and SIFT_CNN, and it is also tested on two publicly available datasets on Jochen Trisech Dataset(JTD) and NUS-II dataset. The proposed study outperformed some existing ISLR works with an accuracy of 97.89%, 95.68%, 94.90% and 95.87% for ISL-alphabets, MNIST, JTD and NUS-II, respectively.
Microwave permittivity measurements through cross-shaped ring sensors

A microwave sensor designed to determine the complex permittivity of planar materials is proposed. The sensor is implemented using a full planar microstrip technology. The near fields of the ring resonator interact with the material under test (MUT) and the electrical characteristics of the resonator change. A scalar network analyzer is used to measure the resonant frequency and the corresponding amplitude of the transmission parameter for the fundamental mode. The complex permittivity is estimated by inverting the measured parameters using by an algorithm based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The proposed sensor is extremely compact and guarantees a good accuracy for low permittivity material. The design procedure is described and experimental results are reported validating the sensor performance.
Towards a Latin American NIME Research Community

In this workshop, we propose the first steps towards consolidating a Latin American (LATAM) New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) Research Community. We aim to start a discussion and generate ideas around shortterm actionable initiatives that a LATAM NIME Research Community could explore in the near future. We will discuss various topics centered around three main areas: (1) The creation of a LATAM NIME network, (2) Exploring LATAM NIME perspectives, and (3) the Next Steps for LATAM NIME. After this activity, we will have a plenary discussion where we will share ideas for action and reflections. Lastly, we list a series of expected outcomes of the workshop, although we acknowledge that many others may emerge during the workshop. We look forward to taking the first steps towards a LATAM NIME Community and the future of this community within and beyond NIME, opening to other communities in LATAM, and stirring policy changes to support the development of our local communities.
Diabetes Education and Support Tele-Visit Needs Differ in Duration, Content, and Satisfaction in Older Versus Younger Adults

Background: Diabetes education and support are critical components of diabetes care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when telemedicine took the place of in-person visits, remote Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) services were offered to address diabetes education and support. Specific needs for older adults, including the time required to provide education and support remotely, have not been previously reported. Methods: Adults with diabetes (primarily insulin-requiring) were referred to remote CDCESs. Utilization was individualized based on patient needs and preferences. Topics discussed, patient satisfaction, and time spent in each tele-visit were evaluated by diabetes type, age, sex, insurance type, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), pump, and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) usage. t-Tests, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlations were employed as appropriate. Results: Adults (n = 982; mean age 48.4 years, 41.0% age ≥55 years) with type 1 diabetes (n = 846) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 136, 86.0% insulin-treated), 50.8% female; 19.0% Medicaid, 29.1% Medicare, 48.9% private insurance; mean HbA1c 8.4% (standard deviation 1.9); and 46.6% pump and 64.5% CGM users had 2203 tele-visits with remote CDCESs over 5 months. Of those referred, 272 (21.7%) could not be reached or did not receive education/support. Older age (≥55 years), compared with 36–54 year olds and 18–35 year olds, respectively, was associated with more tele-visits (mean 2.6 vs. 2.2 and 1.8) and more time/tele-visits (mean 20.4 min vs. 16.5 min and 14.8 min; p < 0.001) as was coverage with Medicare (mean 2.8 visits) versus private insurance (mean 2.0 visits; p < 0.001) and lower participant satisfaction. The total mean time spent with remote CDCESs was 53.1, 37.4, and 26.2 min for participants aged ≥55, 36–54, and 18–35 years, respectively. During remote tele-visits, the most frequently discussed topics per participant were CGM and insulin pump use (73.4% and 49.7%). After adjustment for sex and diabetes type, older age was associated with lack of access to a computer, tablet, smartphone, or internet (p < 0.001), and need for more education related to CGM (p < 0.001), medications (p = 0.015), hypoglycemia (p = 0.044), and hyperglycemia (p = 0.048). Discussion: Most remote CDCES tele-visits were successfully completed. Older adults/those with Medicare required more time to fulfill educational needs. Although 85.7% of individual sessions lasted <30 min, which does not meet current Medicare requirements for reimbursement, multiple visits were common with a total time of >50 min for most older participants. This suggests that new reimbursement models are needed. Education/support needs of insulin-treated older adults should be a focus of future studies.
Gender Differences in Seeking Health Care and Postintervention Pain Outcomes in Foot and Ankle Orthopedic Patients

Background: A significant portion of the adults suffer from foot and ankle pain. The sex differences that exist throughout health care, pain management, and orthopedics may further complicate treatment strategies. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any differences in women and men in health care seeking behavior and symptom chronicity in a West Texas orthopedic population with foot and ankle conditions. Materials and Methods: Data from 137 patients were collected in a retrospective chart review. Data were analyzed to determine if there were sex differences in time to primary care provider (PCP) after ankle injury, referral time from PCP to orthopedic surgeon consult, time from orthopedic consult to surgical intervention (if applicable), and chronicity of symptoms. Results: Women had a significantly higher percentage of chronic injuries than men (30.7% vs. 10.9%), but there were no sex differences in time to PCP from the time of injury, time from PCP visit to orthopedic consult, and time from orthopedic consult to surgical intervention. There were also no differences in those same time frames when compared by chronicity of symptoms (acute injury vs. chronic injury). Finally, we did not find any differences in pain scores between sexes or chronicity of symptoms. Conclusions: This study suggests that conventional health seeking sex differences may not apply to the foot and ankle patient population in West Texas and surrounding rural areas. Continuing to examine patterns in sex differences may lead to the development of more efficient and tailored treatment approaches and better outcomes.