Search Results (32)

The primary goal of the present study was to assess the efficacy of the inflation-targeting framework (ITF) within the Egyptian economy. This was achieved by scrutinizing the monetary policy framework (MPF) from 2005 to 2022 and measuring its effectiveness in realizing monetary policy objectives (MPs). The approach involved constructing a macroeconomic model that captures the interconnections among macroeconomic variables (real and monetary), whether they serve as targets or instruments of MP or are otherwise closely associated variables. The model also helps to estimate the sensitivity coefficients of macroeconomic variables (real and monetary) related to changes in interest rate, exchange rate, money supply, and real output and then to identify how the impact transfers between monetary variables and related macroeconomic variables, as well as the amount of that impact. Using a quarterly series constructed from the original annual data via a Bayesian temporal disaggregation procedure (2005Q1–2022Q4), our findings conclude that there is a mechanism in the Egyptian economy to transfer the impact to and from the basic macroeconomic variables (household and investment expenditure, net exports, money demand, interest rate, and real output). This reflects the responses of the household and business sectors in their decisions on changes in both the real interest rate and the level of output. However, the extent to which the impact of monetary policy instruments was transmitted to the main monetary target value (money supply) and subsequently to real output (or economic growth) was significantly low, indicating the weak effectiveness of the ITF in the Egyptian economy. Full article

The Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) significantly influences global climate and interoceanic exchange. This review synthesizes recent findings on the Halmahera Sea’s role within the ITF, emphasizing its physical mechanisms, climatic modulation, and ecological consequences. Despite being a minor route, the Halmahera Sea transport volume is approximately 1.5 to 2.44 Sv, bringing water mass from the Southern Pacific Ocean. Seasonal and interannual variability, driven by monsoonal winds and phenomena like the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), significantly affect the flow dynamics in this region. The Halmahera Sea also plays a pivotal role in nutrient cycling and marine biodiversity, influencing local ecosystems and fisheries. Understanding these dynamics is essential for predicting climate change impacts and managing marine resources in the Indo-Pacific region. This review highlights the need for enhanced observational efforts and high-resolution modeling to better understand the Halmahera Sea’s contribution to the broader ITF framework and its implications for regional and global climate systems. Full article

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite profiles produced by pultrusion method are widely used as an alternative to traditional building materials due to their lightness and corrosion resistance. However, these materials are susceptible to crushing type fractures known as “web crippling” especially under local loading due to their anisotropic structure and limited mechanical strength. Understanding web-crippling behavior is crucial for the safe and efficient structural application of pultruded GFRP profiles. This study report narrated the review of experimental, numerical, and analytical investigations of web-crippling behavior of pultruded GFRP profiles. Highlights of the major findings include profile geometry and detailing of the flange–web joint, loading types (end-two-flange (ETF), interior-two-flange (ITF), end bearing with ground (EG), interior bearing with ground (IG)), bearing plate dimensions, presence of web openings, and elevated temperatures. It also considers the limitations of current standards, along with new modeling techniques that incorporate finite element analysis as well as artificial intelligence. Damage types such as web–flange joint fractures, crushing, and buckling were comparatively analyzed; design approaches based on finite element modeling and artificial intelligence-supported prediction models were also included. These insights provide guidance for optimizing profile design and improving predictive models for structural engineering applications. Gaps in current design standards and modeling approaches are highlighted to guide future research. Full article

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy remains a significant side effect of cancer treatment, often requiring dose reductions or even discontinuation of therapy. Paclitaxel (PTX), a widely used chemotherapeutic agent for solid tumors, is particularly neurotoxic, and no effective treatment exists for paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN). Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are enzymes that remove acetyl groups from histone and non-histone proteins, including transcription factors and cytoskeletal components. This study evaluates the HDAC6 inhibitor ITF6475 for its potential to prevent PIPN and compares its effects with ricolinostat, a well-established HDAC6 inhibitor previously studied in cisplatin-induced neuropathy models. Female C57BL/6 mice received PTX vehicle (VEH) or PTX (70 mg/kg intravenously, once per week for four weeks), and the remaining four groups received PTX with co-treatment of either ricolinostat (50 mg/kg orally, daily) or ITF6475 (1, 6, or 12.5 mg/kg orally, daily). Neurophysiological assessments at the end of treatment showed a significant reduction in caudal sensory nerve action potential amplitude across all PTX-treated groups compared to the VEH group. At the same time, PTX treatment led to the development of mechanical allodynia. However, co-treatment with the HDAC6 inhibitor prevented significant differences compared to the VEH group. PTX-induced reduction in intraepidermal nerve fiber density was significantly prevented in the PTX + ITF6475 (1 mg/kg) group, and PTX-induced increase in neurofilament light levels was reduced in all ITF6475 co-treated groups. These findings support the potential of ITF6475 in preventing small fiber damage in a severe, chronic PIPN model. Full article

In this study, a current vector pattern is analyzed for inter-turn fault (ITF) diagnosis of induction machines (IMs), and an ITF diagnosis algorithm is proposed. When an ITF occurs in IMs, a negative-sequence current is generated due to fault resistance, even though a positive-sequence voltage is applied to IMs. Based on the mathematical model of IMs with an ITF, the current vector patterns in the stationary coordinate frame are analyzed. The superposition of positive- and negative-sequence components results in an elliptical current vector trajectory, and its orientation varies depending on the fault conditions. The co-simulation using finite element analysis and circuit simulation is implemented to analyze the current vector pattern of IMs with an ITF. The ITF diagnosis is proposed based on the current vector pattern. A 12 kW, four-pole, three-phase IM and terminal box, which was used to implement an ITF, is manufactured, and an experiment setup is established to verify the ITF algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed ITF algorithm is validated through experimental verification of the manufactured IM and terminal box. Full article

The application of intelligent video monitoring for natural resource protection and management has become increasingly common in recent years. To enhance safety monitoring during the grazing prohibition and rest period of grassland, this paper proposes a multi-object segmentation algorithm based on mid-infrared images for all-weather surveillance. The approach integrates the Image Timing Features–Gaussian Mixture Model (ITF-GMM) and Convolutional-UNet (Con-UNet) to improve the accuracy of target detection. First, a robust background modelling, i.e., the ITF-GMM, is proposed. Unlike the basic Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), the proposed model dynamically adjusts the learning rate according to the content difference between adjacent frames and optimizes the number of Gaussian distributions through time series histogram analysis of pixels. Second, a segmentation framework based on Con-UNet is developed to improve the feature extraction ability of UNet. In this model, the maximum pooling layer is replaced with a convolutional layer, addressing the challenge of limited training data and improving the network’s ability to preserve spatial features. Finally, an integrated computation strategy is designed to combine the outputs of ITF-GMM and Con-UNet at the pixel level, and morphological operations are performed to refine the segmentation results and suppress noises, ensuring clearer object boundaries. The experimental results show the effectiveness of proposed approach, achieving a precision of 96.92%, an accuracy of 99.87%, an intersection over union (IOU) of 94.81%, and a recall of 97.75%. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm meets real-time processing requirements, confirming its capability to enhance small-target detection in complex outdoor environments and supporting the automation of grassland monitoring and enforcement. Full article

We present a model of classical binary time series derived from a matrix product state (MPS) Ansatz widely used in one-dimensional quantum systems. We discuss how this quantum Ansatz allows us to generate classical time series in a sequential manner. Our time series are built in two steps: First, a lower-level series (the driving noise or the increments) is created directly from the MPS representation, which is then integrated to create our ultimate higher-level series. The lower- and higher-level series have clear interpretations in the quantum context, and we elaborate on this correspondence with specific examples such as the spin-1/2 Ising model in a transverse field (ITF model), where spin configurations correspond to the increments of discrete-time, discrete-level stochastic processes with finite or infinite autocorrelation lengths, Gaussian or non-Gaussian limit distributions, nontrivial Hurst exponents, multifractality, asymptotic self-similarity, etc. Our time series model is a parametric model, and we investigate how flexible the model is in some synthetic and real-life calibration problems. Full article

There are numerous methods for detecting interturn faults (ITFs) in the field winding of synchronous machines (SMs). One effective approach is based on comparing theoretical and measured excitation currents. This method is unaffected by rotor temperature in static excitation SMs. However, this paper investigates the influence of rotor temperature in brushless synchronous machines (BSMs), where rotor temperature significantly impacts the exciter excitation current. Extensive experimental tests were conducted on a special BSM with measurable rotor temperature. Given the challenges of measuring rotor temperature in industrial machines, this paper explores the feasibility of using stator temperature in the exciter field current estimation model. The theoretical exciter field current is calculated using a deep neural network (DNN), which incorporates electrical brushless synchronous generator output values and stator temperature, and it is subsequently compared with the measured exciter field current. This method achieves an error rate below 0.5% under healthy conditions, demonstrating its potential for simple implementation in industrial BSMs for ITF detection. Full article

The drainage capacity of stormwater inlets, which serve as the connection between the surface and the underground drainage system, directly affects surface runoff and the drainage capacity of underground drainage systems. However, in reality, stormwater inlets are often blocked due to the accumulation of leaves, human waste disposal and other factors, resulting in a greatly reduced drainage capacity of the drainage network and, in turn, urban waterlogging disasters. In view of the problem of stormwater inlet blockage, employing a typical waterlogging point in the Lianjiang Middle Road area of Fuzhou city as the research object, the stormwater inlet equivalent drainage method was adopted in this paper to characterize the drainage capacity of the pipe network and enable the control of the stormwater inlet blockage state. Coupled with the stormwater inlet drainage equation, an improved ITF-FLOOD two-dimensional hydrodynamic model was constructed, and the influence of stormwater inlet blockage on urban waterlogging under different rainfall return periods was simulated and analyzed. With increasing rainfall return period, the influences of stormwater inlet blockage on both the maximum area and the depth of accumulated water in the study area gradually decreased compared with those of a nonblocked stormwater inlet, and the growth proportions decreased from 43.35% and 34.58% under the 1-year rainfall scenario to 3.34% and 9.76% under the 50-year rainfall scenario, respectively. However, in terms of the change in the accumulated water level, stormwater inlet blockage will cause an increase, and the influence will always be significant. Overall, stormwater inlet blockage aggravated the waterlogging risk and the extent of waterlogging. Therefore, the results provided a reference for the construction of an urban waterlogging model and have certain guiding significance for waterlogging prevention and control in the study area prone to stormwater inlet blockage. Full article

Starting from January 2023, Permanent Staff Personnel and Associated Personnel of INFN-LNF (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare—Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati) have founded, and are setting up, the local Astrophysics and Cosmology Team (ACT). The INFN-LNF ACT joined the initial development phases of one of the forthcoming (early 2030) next-generation cosmology space-borne probes, with particular emphasis on (1) thermal balance tests (and correlation to models) of the electronics of interest; (2) (non)destructive irradiation tests of the electronics of interest and X-ray circuitry diagnostics on a specifically dedicated and instrumented optical bench; and (3) joining the simulation-related, and data analysis-related, activities, at both the cosmological and instrumental levels. The INFN-LNF ACT has constituted an Integrated Test Facility (ITF), which is being instrumented in a dedicated space and will also make use of the pre-existing INFN-LNF infrastructures. In the following, as a first contribution, mainly related to what was completed in late 2023 and early 2024, the activities of the commissioning and setup of the so-called ‘pocket’ cryostat are described, linking them to the envisaged thermal balance tests (and correlation to the models) of the electronics of interest. While mainly devoted to cosmology-oriented tasks, the INFN-LNF ACT ‘pocket’ cryostat will, in principle, be available to the wider community for other dedicated activities. Full article

The purpose of this study was to understand the different forces exerted between the side kick and turning kick in taekwon-do, which would add knowledge to the field, as well as help inform future research. Eighty kicks performed by four elite ITF (International Taekwon-do Federation) athletes (age: 28.5 ± 7.2 years; body mass: 77.5 ± 6.7 kg; height: 180.0 ± 1.6 cm) were analysed. Participants performed a series of turning and side kicks with the right and left leg to the target. The impact-force-measuring apparatus was a training shield mounted on a force plate manufactured by AMTI, model MC12-2K. The mean resultant impact force for the turning kick was significantly lower than the mean resultant impact force for the side kick. There were no significant differences in the impact force between turning kicks performed with either the right or left leg. With regard to the correlations for the turning kick performed by both legs, there was almost a full correlation between F_Z and the resultant impact force (r = 0.988 for the right leg and r = 0.994 for the left leg). The side kicks’ significantly higher resultant force (4429.77 ± 1361.25 N) than that of a turning kick (2648.98 ± 441.41 N) could be due to more effective mass being used. The turning kick peaked in a shorter time; this indicates that a turning kick has a shorter contact time with the target. The strong correlations between F_z and the resultant impact force in both kicks could be due to the direction of the kicks, suggesting that the force in the Z axis was the most important direction. Full article

Somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) with high affinity for somatostatin receptors 2 and 5 (SSTR2 and SSTR5) are poorly efficacious in NF-PitNETs, expressing high levels of SSTR3. ITF2984 is a pan-SSTR ligand with high affinity for SSTR3, able to induce SSTR3 activation and to exert antitumoral activity in the MENX rat model. The aim of this study was to test ITF2984’s antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects in NF-PitNET primary cultured cells derived from surgically removed human tumors and to characterize their SSTR expression profile. We treated cells derived from 23 NF-PitNETs with ITF2984, and a subset of them with octreotide, pasireotide (SRLs with high affinity for SSTR2 or 5, respectively), or cabergoline (DRD2 agonist) and we measured cell proliferation and apoptosis. SSTR3, SSTR2, and SSTR5 expression in tumor tissues was analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blot. We demonstrated that ITF2984 reduced cell proliferation (−40.8 (17.08)%, p < 0.001 vs. basal, n = 19 NF-PitNETs) and increased cell apoptosis (+41.4 (22.1)%, p < 0.001 vs. basal, n = 17 NF-PitNETs) in all tumors tested, whereas the other drugs were only effective in some tumors. In our model, SSTR3 expression levels did not correlate with ITF2984 antiproliferative nor proapoptotic effects. In conclusion, our data support a possible use of ITF2984 in the pharmacological treatment of NF-PitNET. Full article

The ISP (Internet Service Provider) industry relies heavily on internet traffic forecasting (ITF) for long-term business strategy planning and proactive network management. Effective ITF frameworks are necessary to manage these networks and prevent network congestion and over-provisioning. This study introduces an ITF model designed for proactive network management. It innovatively combines outlier detection and mitigation techniques with advanced gradient descent and boosting algorithms, including Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGB), CatBoost Regressor (CBR), and Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD). In contrast to traditional methods that rely on synthetic datasets, our model addresses the problems caused by real aberrant ISP traffic data. We evaluated our model across varying forecast horizons—six, nine, and twelve steps—demonstrating its adaptability and superior predictive accuracy compared to traditional forecasting models. The integration of the outlier detection and mitigation module significantly enhances the model’s performance, ensuring robust and accurate predictions even in the presence of data volatility and anomalies. To guarantee that our suggested model works in real-world situations, our research is based on an extensive experimental setup that uses real internet traffic monitoring from high-speed ISP networks. Full article

Maintaining and reducing weight are considered as important features in reducing mortality and morbidity caused by metabolic-associated diseases. Increasing evidence from in vivo mechanistic and clinical studies has shown that the gut microbiota is interacting with the host's physiological function in regulating energy intake and body weight. A prebiotic is a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit. Numerous clinical studies showed multifaceted benefits of prebiotic chicory inulin-type fructans (ITFs) on gut and metabolic health. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the totality of evidence through pooled estimates of ITF supplementation in supporting weight management on both healthy and diseased subjects. A systematic search for eligible articles was performed in databases (EMBASE, MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science) without a language restriction. Two reviewers independently extracted data from eligible articles. We chose primary (body weight) and secondary (BMI, total fat mass, body fat percentage and waist circumference) outcomes as weight management parameters. The baseline-corrected mean difference (MD) was used to synthesize the pooled effect size by employing a random-effects model using the inverse variance method. A sub-group analysis based on dose, duration, health status and ITF-type was also conducted. A total of 31 randomized controlled trials with 40 arms (n = 1309 participants) were included in this review. A significant reduction was observed on body weight (MD: −1.03 kg, 95% CI: −1.42 to −0.64, p < 0.0001), BMI (MD: −0.39 kg/m², 95% CI: −0.58 to −0.21, p = 0.0001), fat mass (MD: −0.45 kg, 95% CI: −0.71 to −0.2, p = 0.0023), and waist circumference (MD: −0.99 cm, 95% CI: −1.61 to −0.37, p = 0.003) following ITF supplementation. For body fat percentage, a significant effect was observed following subgroup analysis on an intervention that lasted for more than 8 weeks (MD: −0.78 percent, 95% CI: −1.17 to −0.39, p < 0.01). The present meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials provides further evidence to support that ITF supplementation could help benefit weight management by reducing body weight, BMI, fat mass, waist circumference, and to a certain extent on body fat percentage. Full article

High-performance steel has emerged as an advanced structural material in the construction practice of industrial buildings, due to its excellent properties. However, fire poses a significant threat to cold-formed steel structures, as they are prone to deform and buckle under the exposure, potentially leading to building collapse. This study aimed to evaluate the post-fire web-crippling behaviour of high performance CFS sections for End Two Flange (ETF) and Interior Two Flange (ITF) load cases. Two types of specimens were used: CFS webs without holes and CFS webs with circular holes. All test specimens were heated according to the ISO 834 standard fire curve and were subsequently cooled by air or water. A total of 52 specimens (ambient and post-fire) were tested under ETF and ITF load conditions. The load-deflection behaviour and failure modes were evaluated through experimental and numerical analysis. Finite element modelling was used to compare the load-deflection behaviour and failure modes of CFS members with experimental results. The experimental results indicate that the web load-carrying capacity of the high-performance steel member decreases drastically as the heating duration increases. Furthermore, the ITF load case specimens exhibited a lower strength loss than the ETF load case specimens at elevated temperatures. There was an excellent agreement between the experimental and FEM results in terms of the load-carrying capacity and failure modes of high performance CFS. Full article