Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stochastic optimization of space-time constellations

For wireless data communication systems employing multiple antennas, space-time codes play crucial roles for fast transmission of data with accuracy and bandwidth efficiency. Motivated by the large size of constellations of space-time codes and the resultant computational complexity, we develop a stochastic approach for the optimization of space-time constellations. We use union bounds of block error rate as performance measures of the space-time codes. To overcome the computational complexity, we propose to transform the performance measure into the mean of a bounded random variable and establish a statistical method for the estimation of such mean and its gradients with respect to parameters. A stochastic gradient descent method is developed for optimizing space-time codes. Such stochastic techniques are applied to obtain high performance space-time codes of large constellation sizes.
Archaeological prospection in the Swedish mountain tundra region

Introduction During the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 scientists from over 60 nations have examined the Arctic and Antarctic environments from different scientific perspectives in over 200 different projects. The focus of the IPY in Sweden has been set on studies of climate change as well as of human cultures and societies in the polar region. These studies were considered important not only from an environmental but also from a cultural perspective. The project Arctic Sweden focus.
Protocol Process Evaluation of a Medical Student – Delivered Smoking Prevention Program for Secondary Schools : Protocol for the Education Against Tobacco Cluster Randomized Trial

Background: Most smokers start smoking during their early adolescence under the impression that smoking entails positive attributes. Given the addictive nature of cigarettes, however, many of them might end up as long-term smokers and suffering from tobacco-related diseases. To prevent tobacco use among adolescents, the large international medical students’ network Education Against Tobacco (EAT) educates more than 40,000 secondary school students per year in the classroom setting, using evidence-based self-developed apps and strategies. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the school-based EAT intervention in reducing smoking prevalence among seventh-grade students in Germany. Additionally, we aimed to improve the intervention by drawing conclusions from our process evaluation. Methods: We conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial with measurements at baseline and 9, 16, and 24 months postintervention via paper-and-pencil questionnaires administered by teachers. The study groups consist of randomized schools receiving the 2016 EAT curriculum and control schools with comparable baseline data (no intervention). The primary outcome is the difference of change in smoking prevalence between the intervention and control groups at the 24-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes are between-group differences of changes in smoking-related attitudes and the number of new smokers, quitters, and never-smokers. Results: A total of 11,268 students of both sexes, with an average age of 12.32 years, in seventh grade of 144 secondary schools in Germany were included at baseline. The prevalence of cigarette smoking in our sample was 2.6%. The process evaluation surveys were filled out by 324 medical student volunteers, 63 medical student supervisors, 4896 students, and 141 teachers. Conclusions: The EAT cluster randomized trial is the largest school-based tobacco-prevention study in Germany conducted to date. Its results will provide important insights with regards to the effectiveness of medical student–delivered smoking prevention programs at school. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/13508 (JMIR Res Protoc 2019;8(4):e13508) doi:10.2196/13508
More Enhanced Swing Colpitts Oscillators: A Circuit Analysis

In this paper, we show that an additional inductor–capacitor–inductor filter can increase the oscillation amplitude of the enhanced swing Colpitts oscillator (ESCO), and call this topology the more enhanced swing Colpitts oscillator (mESCO). When it is connected with a rectifier, the DC–DC boost conversion ratio can be increased, especially for low-voltage sensor ICs or energy harvesting. This paper focuses on the electrical characteristics of mESCO. The oscillation frequency was modeled as a function of the circuit parameters of mESCO. The common gate voltage gain (ACG), defined by the ratio of the drain voltage amplitude to the source voltage amplitude of the switching MOSFET of mESCO, was also modeled under the assumption that all the circuit elements are ideal. The model was validated with a SPICE simulation. For ACG < 1.5, the model was in good agreement with the SPICE results within 10%. In addition, the drain voltage amplitude vda was modeled by assuming that the average transconductance of the MOSFET in a half cycle is null when the long-channel Shockley model is used. vda needs to be sufficiently high to have a large DC–DC boost conversion ratio. The model can predict the tendency that vda increases as ACG approaches unity. We found that the voltage difference of the drain voltage amplitude to the source voltage amplitude is a constant even when the circuit parameters, and thereby ACG are varied.
Tracheobronchopathia Osteochondroplastica: A Rare, Underrecognized Entity

Tracheobronchopathia Osteochondroplastica (TO) is an extremely rare condition characterized by the presence of nodules made of bone and cartilage within the submucosa of the tracheobronchial wall. These protuberant nodules inside the trachea and bronchi can lead to airway obstruction, resulting in patients who experience recurrent respiratory systems and infections. The exact etiology is unknown. The mean age of diagnosis is in the 5th - 6th decades of life. TO is often confused with other diagnoses, especially asthma. We report a 41-year-old female who presented with intermittent exertional dyspnea for 10 years. Workups, including pulmonary function test, CT chest, and most importantly, flexible bronchoscopy, aided in the appropriate diagnosis. The unique feature observed during bronchoscopy is the sparing of the posterior wall of the trachea and bronchi.
Investigating the Risk Factors Associated with Injury Severity in Pedestrian Crashes in Santiago, Chile

Pedestrians are vulnerable road users that are directly exposed to road traffic crashes with high odds of resulting in serious injuries and fatalities. Therefore, there is a critical need to identify the risk factors associated with injury severity in pedestrian crashes to promote safe and friendly walking environments for pedestrians. This study investigates the risk factors related to pedestrian, crash, and built environment characteristics that contribute to different injury severity levels in pedestrian crashes in Santiago, Chile from a spatial and statistical perspective. First, a GIS kernel density technique was used to identify spatial clusters with high concentrations of pedestrian crash fatalities and severe injuries. Subsequently, partial proportional odds models were developed using the crash dataset for the whole city and the identified spatial clusters to examine and compare the risk factors that significantly affect pedestrian crash injury severity. The model results reveal higher increases in the fatality probability within the spatial clusters for statistically significant contributing factors related to drunk driving, traffic signage disobedience, and imprudence of the pedestrian. The findings may be utilized in the development and implementation of effective public policies and preventive measures to help improve pedestrian safety in Santiago.
Technical Efficiency and Production Elasticity of Broiler Producers in Edo State, Nigeria

There is a pressing need to increase broiler output in Nigeria in order to meet the inadequate supply of animal protein. The relatively poor technology used in smallholder farms results in significantly lower feed efficiency, marketing of low weight broilers at the end of fattening period and very high mortality rates. This situation is mainly attributable to failure to exploit economies of scale and modern care systems such as fully automated feeding, which decreases feed waste. An awareness of the implicit relationship between the resources and the product will stimulate the farmers to improve on their existing methods of production. This will help in increasing production and productivity of the farmers at lower cost of production and hence increased profits. This study was designed to analyze the farm level technical efficiency and production elasticity of broiler farmers in the study area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting the 140 broiler farmers interviewed in this study, through a combination of purposive, random and snowball sampling techniques. The data that were used in this study were collected from a cross - sectional survey of broiler farmers in the State via the use of a well structured questionnaire.Maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of the stochastic frontier production functions showed that all the coefficients of the variables of the productionfunction conformed to a priori expectations and were positive, with the exception of medication cost. The estimated coefficient of feed intake was 0.19 and it was significant (p? 0.01). The estimated coefficient of stock size was 1.03 and was significant (p? 0.01). Results also showed that 82.9 % of the respondents had technical efficiency levels of 0.81 and above. Result of the diagnostic statistics indicated that there were technical inefficiency effects in broiler production in the study area, as confirmed by the large and significant value of the gamma coefficient (0.74). Also, the generalized likelihood ratio was significant (p? 0.01). The respondents were operating at increasing returns to scale (stage 1 of the production function) as shown by the summation of the elasticities of the inputs which was greater than one (1.2). It was concluded that some gaps exist at farm level technical efficiencies of broiler farmers in Edo State. Improved technical efficiency of broiler farmers can be achieved in the study area by filling these identified gaps. Also, broiler farmers could benefit from economies of scale linked to increasing returns as a way of enhancing production and ensuring the sustainability of the sector
DESIGN OF CONVEX AND CONCAVE DUAL BENT ARRAY FOR 5G LENS ANTENNA SYSTEM

Previous research on the multi-beam system for the fifth generation (5G) application has shown that the number of feed elements of a lens antenna system at the mobile base station is increasing due to the massive MIMO requirements. The design of the array circuits of the 5G lens antenna systems will be more complicated due to the feeding structure, which consists of the power dividers and phase shifters, thus contributing to higher feeding losses. The antenna fabrication process also becomes more complicated. Besides that, the conventional array feed also produces a single radiation beam only. Thus, a large space is needed, where array feed antennas should be arranged to perform wide-angle beam scanning for 5G massive MIMO operation. Therefore, to overcome these issues, this paper uses a bent array configuration as the lens antenna feed to produce bifurcated beam radiation and has a wide beam angle from the feed radiator to the lens edge. Multiple bent arrays are arranged on the lens axis to generate a multi-beam by cylindrical lens antenna. This paper shows a comparison of the bent array in convex and concave configurations. This process investigates the mutual coupling when more than one bent array is arranged as feed radiators. By comparing the arrays in convex and concave structures, it is observed that the convex structure produces a better-bifurcated beam with a smaller middle lobe. The antenna also produces the same bifurcated beam shifting angle, θs for both ports, when s = 4λ is used. It is verified as the optimum spacing value between two bent array structures by the optimization process.
Entropy and Enthalpy Effects on Metal Complex Formation in Non-Aqueous Solvents: The Case of Silver(I) and Monoamines

Access to the enthalpy and entropy of the formation of metal complexes in solution is essential for understanding the factors determining their thermodynamic stability and speciation. As a case study, in this report we systematically examine the complexation of silver(I) in acetonitrile (AN) with the following monoamines: n-propylamine (n-pr), n-butylamine (n-but), hexylamine (hexyl), diethylamine (di-et), dipropylamine (di-pr), dibutylamine (di-but), triethylamine (tri-et) and tripropylamine (tri-pr). The study shows that the complex stabilities are quite independent of the length of the substitution chain on the N atom and demonstrates that, in general, the overall enthalpy terms associated with the complex formation are strongly exothermic, whereas the entropy values oppose the complex formations. In addition, we examined the similarity of the formation constants of AgL complexes of the primary monoamines in AN, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and water, which were unexpected on the basis of the difference between the donor properties of solvents.
Is Randomized Gurvich-Karzanov-Khachiyan's Algorithm for Parity Games Polynomial?

We report on the experimental study of the Gurvich-Karzanov-Khachiyan (GKK) algorithm for cyclic games adapted for parity games (equivalent to the -calculus model checking), one of the major open problems in complexity and automata theories, computer-aided veri cation. The algorithms demonstrates excellent polynomial (actually, a sublinear number of iterations) behavior in a substantial (millions) number of experiments with games of sizes up to 20.000 and 6 { 7 colors. It also allows for a natural randomization. We conducted extensive experiments of the randomized GKK algorithm on the `hard' Lebedev-Gurvich's game instances, which force the deterministic version of the algorithm to make exponentially many iterations. With high probability the algorithm converges after just a few hundred iterations (compared with 250 { 260 for deterministic version). This allows for giving up computations that converge slowly and restart with a fresh initial potential transformation. While it remains to be theoretically justi ed and proved, we present convincing experimental data on dependency of the average and maximal number of iterations on game sizes, outdegrees, colors, initial randomizations. Topics: automata, game theory, computational complexity, logic in computer science, veri cation. Note: The web page http://www.csd.uu.se/ vorobyov/eb-gkk/ contains extensive experimental data, Maple worksheets, histograms, supporting claims contained in this report, which could t only a small amount of experimental material. The information on the web page is rapidly and regularly updated. Acknowledgments. Supported by TFR Grant 221-2000-103 \Games for Computer-Aided Veri cation: Algorithms and Complexity". Many thanks to Vladimir Gurvich for providing examples forcing the deterministic GKK algorithm behave exponentially. Correspondence to: vorobyov@csd.uu.se
Determining the metabolic fate of human milk oligosaccharides: It may just be more complex than you think?

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are a class of structurally diverse and complex unconjugated glycans present in breast milk, which act as selective substrates for several genera of select microbes and inhibit the colonisation of pathogenic bacteria. Yet, not all infants are breastfed, instead being fed with formula milks which may or may not contain HMOs. Currently, formula milks only possess two HMOs: 2 0 -fucosyllactose (2 ’ FL) and lacto- N -neotetraose (LNnT), which have been suggested to be similarly effective as human breast milk in supporting age-related growth. However, the in vivo evidence regarding their ability to beneficially reduce respiratory infections along with altering the composition of an infant ’ s microbiota is limited at best. Thus, this review will explore the concept of HMOs and their metabolic fate, and summarise previous in vitro and in vivo clinical data regarding HMOs, with specific regard to 2 ’ FL and LNnT. Fuc and sialic acid moiety with B. longum bv. infantis ATCC 15697 of Bifidobacterium tested, B. breve ATCC 1570 only able to achieve intermediate levels of growth with only moderate Fuc usage and B. adolescentis and B. bifidum ATCC 15696 exhibiting no growth on either Fuc or sialic acids. These are similar to those recorded by Garrido et al. (2015), who infant formula (Berger et al., 2020). Results were analysed against a breastfed reference group with changes in microbial community types being analysed at 3 and 12 months via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results indicated that, compared with the breastfed reference group, the HMO-containing formula stimulated increases in Bifidobacterium , albeit to a lower degree than the reference breastfed group. Levels of Escherichia were, however, significantly lower in the HMO-containing formula group compared with the control group and were similar to those in the breastfed the Bifidobacteriaceae relative abundance, as well as resulting in higher log ratios of Bacteroidaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae relative to Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae amplicon sequencing variant P These results help to explain the large variability in the presence and levels of HMOs detected in the faecal samples of infants, even when secretor status is considered, with virtually no HMOs being detected potential The opinions/views contained those of
Effects of Auricularia auricula Polysaccharides on Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Phenotype in Mice

Personalized diets change the internal metabolism of organisms, which, in turn, affects the health of the body; this study was performed to explore the regulatory effects of polysaccharides extracted from Auricularia auricula on the overall metabolism and gut microbiota in normal C57BL/6J mice. The study was conducted using metabolomic and microbiomic methods to provide a scientific basis for further development and use of Auricularia auricula resources in the Qinba Mountains and in nutritional food with Auricularia auricula polysaccharides (AAP) as the main functional component. Based on LC-MS/MS metabolomic results, 51 AAP-regulated metabolites were found, mainly enriched in the arginine biosynthesis pathway, which had the highest correlation, followed by the following metabolisms: arginine and proline; glycine, serine and threonine; and glycerophospholipid, along with the sphingolipid metabolism pathway. Furthermore, supplementation of AAP significantly changed the composition of the mice intestinal flora. The relative abundance levels of Lactobacillus johnsonii, Weissella cibaria, Kosakonia cowanii, Enterococcus faecalis, Bifidobacterium animalis and Bacteroides uniformis were markedly up-regulated, while the relative abundance of Firmicutes bacterium M10-2 was down-regulated. The bioactivities of AAP may be related to the regulatory effects of endogenous metabolism and gut microbiota composition.
3D target detection based on monocular ranging

Target detection in autonomous driving scenes refers to the output of environmental target information by relevant algorithms after the vehicle collects all-round image, radar, GPS and other information through sensors. Target detection actually includes two tasks : positioning and classification. The positioning task outputs the location information of the target relative to the vehicle, and the classification task needs to output the specific categories of the target. This paper mainly studies 3D target detection based on monocular RGB image. This method only needs monocular camera, which has the lowest cost and the fastest running speed.
Oil dependence and business cycles in Algeria: new keynesian DSGE framework analysis

This study aims to investigate the macroeconomic effect of oil price shock in Algeria at different levels of oil dependency. To do this, an extensive version of small open DSGE model developed by Medina and Soto (2005) has been used. This version of DSGE model is attentive to the fact that the Algerian economic structure is characterized by oil dependency. After we calibrate model parameters, this paper presents simulation results for positive oil price shock to illustrate how the structure of the model and its theoretical underpinnings shape the transmission of the shock to real variables of the domestic economy. In particular, the paper shows 3D impulse responses for oil price shock and characterizes their impact on real GDP, CPI inflation, external position and real effective exchange rate. The results show that the effect of the real oil price shock on the main macroeconomic variables varies according to the level of oil dependency. High oil dependence makes the economy more vulnerable to oil price fluctuations compared to low oil dependence. Therefore, structural transformation is unavoidable necessity for Algerian economy.
Transient Tire Slip Losses Using the Brush Theory

Tire slip losses have been shown to have a significant impact on vehicle performance in terms of energy efficiency, thus requiring accurate studies. In this paper, the transient dissipation mechanisms connected to the presence of micro-sliding phenomena occurring at the tire–road interface are investigated analytically. The influence of a two-dimensional velocity field inside the contact patch is also considered in light of the new brush theory recently developed by the authors. Theoretical results align with findings already known from literature but suggest that the camber and turn spins contribute differently to the slip losses and should be regarded as separate entities when the camber angle is sufficiently large. The present work shows that an additional amount of power which relates to the initial sliding conditions is generated or lost during the unsteady-state maneuvers. A simple example is presented to illustrate the discrepancy between the microscopic and macroscopic approaches during a transient maneuver.
Investigation of Wavelet Entropy of Spinor Type Instanton Solutions in a 4-Dimensional Model

In recent years, many methods have been proposed in various fields to investigate the properties of orbits of nonlinear dynamical systems. In this study, the characteristics of the orbits of spinor-type instanton solutions in the four-dimensional Gursey model via Heisenberg ansatz is investigated. The orbits of spinor-type instanton solutions are analyzed by Shannon wavelet entropy (WE) method. In order to analyze the regular or irregular states of the orbits of spinor-type instanton solutions, WE spectrum and WE in phase space are studied. It is observed that spinor-type instanton solutions have regular orbits around the fixed point and irregular orbits for other points. According to this study, WE can be used to observe the entropy evolution of nonlinear dynamical systems in phase space.