Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental analysis of fiber‐reinforced recycled aggregate self‐compacting concrete using waste recycled concrete aggregates, polypropylene, and steel fibers

Self‐compacting concrete (SCC) is a cementitious composite which serves complex formworks without mechanical vibrations with superior deformability and high resistance to segregation. Besides, the recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is also developing rapidly and along with the ever‐increasing sustainable demand for infrastructure. The combination of the fibers, RAC, and SCC may create advantages for the construction industry. In this study, the polypropylene (PP) fiber at 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, and 0.25% volume fractions and steel fibers at 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1% volume fractions are introduced into fiber‐reinforced recycled aggregate self‐compacting concrete (FR‐RASCC). Both fresh property and hardened mechanical performance, comprising compressive and tensile strengths and modulus of elasticity are analyzed. The fibers validate the optimal 0.1% volume fraction for PP fiber and 0.75% volume fraction for steel fiber. In addition, the results are proved to enhance the mechanical properties and reduce cracking despite the negative impact on the fresh property. Moreover, the experimental outcomes are compared with previous researches to establish the linear model, demonstrating the relationship between fiber fraction and the mechanical properties.
Time-dependent Behaviour Analysis of Long-span Concrete Arch Bridge

This paper continues the previous study on clarifying the time-dependent behaviour of Beipanjiang Bridge ‒ a reinforced concrete arch bridge with concrete-filled steel tubular stiffened skeleton. The obtained prediction models and the Finite Element Models were used to simulate the long-term behaviour and stress redistribution of the concrete arch bridge. Three-dimensional beam elements simulated the stiffened skeleton and surrounding concrete. Then, a parameters study was carried out to analyse the time-dependent behaviour of the arch bridge influenced by different concrete creep and shrinkage models. The simulation results demonstrate that concrete creep and shrinkage have a significant influence on the time-dependent behaviour of the concrete arch bridge. After the bridge completion, the Comite Euro-International du Beton mean deviation of displacements obtained by 1990 CEBFIP Model Code: Design Code model and fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010 model are 3.4%, 31.9% larger than the results predicted by the modified fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010 model. The stresses between the steel and the concrete redistribute with time because of the concrete long-term effect. The steel will yield if the fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010 model is used in the analysis. The stresses in a different part of the surrounding concrete are non-uniformly distributed.
Variation aware design of controlled voltage swing ring oscillator

ABSTRACT An inverter is designed using an innovative controlled voltage swing logic and having two different current sources. The logic levels are detected by sensing the voltage drop across a termination resistance. Logic 1 is defined when both the current sources are pumping current through termination resistance, whereas a logic 0 is determined when one of the sources is pumping current. This inverter is the newest class of inverter and used in designing a ring oscillator, capable of operating at various frequencies, fosc. Varying the external load capacitance (CL) from 1 to 10 fF, the values of fosc are tuned in between 0.8 and 1.0 GHz. Mathematical equations relating fosc as a function of CL and intrinsic capacitive components (Θ) are obtained and subsequently validated using gpdk 90 nm technology CMOS process. The proposed controlled voltage swing ring oscillator is observed to draw a current of 0.716 μA at fosc close to 1.0 GHz. The corresponding CL and the Θ happen to be 1.0 and 53.8 fF, respectively. The effect on fosc due to layout geometries and other process parameters keep on changing only by 16% compared to a 7% change in the intrinsic values between pre and post layout for the said ring oscillator. Lastly, a linear empirical relation is obtained to indicate fosc as a function of both CL and the power supply voltage (Vdd).
An Improved Antenna Scattering Model: An equivalent model based on the reciprocity theorem

The Thévenin and Norton equivalent models of a receiving antenna cannot be used to calculate the antenna's scattered power because they are too simplistic. Based on the reciprocity theorem, a more elaborate equivalent model, consisting of a passive distributed transformer, is proposed for wire antennas in both the transmit and receive modes. The model parameters are derived from the antenna's transfer admittance parameters, the latter obtained under short circuit loading conditions in transmit mode only. A method is then applied to determine the new admittance parameters when the antenna is perturbed by an arbitrary load, which allows the receive-mode current distribution on the antenna to be calculated. Once the receive-mode current is known, scattered power can be calculated with a formula that avoids integration over the far-field sphere. The method has been applied to o a λ/2-dipole, λ-dipole, and three-element Yagi antenna for resistive loads spanning up to nine decades. Calculated scattered-power values are shown to agree almost perfectly with values obtained using a commercial simulator, thus demonstrating that it is possible to calculate scattered power based on the characterization of the antenna in transmit mode only. Results indicate that the aperture efficiency of a dipole antenna can exceed 50% when it is connected to a mismatched load. Finally, a newly defined transducer efficiency is presented, which can be used to choose an optimum load to obtain the best compromise between the aperture and scattering areas.
Cyclist injury severity analysis with mixed-logit models at intersections and nonintersection locations

Abstract Cyclist injury severity in bicycle-vehicle crashes is influenced by numerous factors that are related to driver, vehicle, cyclist, crash, roadway, temporal, and environmental characteristics. Results indicate that differences remain between cyclist injury severities sustained in crashes occurred at different locations (intersections and nonintersection locations). However, few research efforts have been made to examine and compare different contributing factors to cyclist injury severity at such locations. Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze the impact of various factors on cyclist injury severity at intersection and nonintersection locations. Police-reported data from 2007 to 2014 in North Carolina are used in this study. Three mixed-logit models are developed based on the preestimated multinomial logit models. Market segmentation is conducted to analyze cyclist injury severity at separate locations. An ordered probit model is also developed and compared with the mixed-logit model at both locations. Furthermore, cyclists drinking alcohol; driving van, bus, or single-unit truck; motorists’ fault; inclement weather; dusk or dawn are found to have a significant impact on cyclist injury severity at intersections. Cyclist gender, drivers drinking alcohol, vehicle speed, speeding, rural or urban areas, traffic control, curved road are found to have a significant impact at nonintersection locations.
Gendered Shopping: A Seven Country Comparison

Studies in Western countries have revealed that women spend more time shopping than do men with the exception of online shopping. To extend this finding to non-Western populations, the present study used identical methods of observing visitors to indoor shopping malls in seven different countries. Three of the countries were Western (Canada, Spain, and the United States) and four were non-Western (China, Laos, Malaysia, and Turkey). In all seven countries, the proportion of women significantly exceeded the proportion of men. Among children and adolescents, female also outnumbered their male cohorts in most of the seven countries, although the differences were not always statistically significant. Theoretical explanations for these findings are explored. Overall, we propose that the most credible explanation involves a combination of social, evolutionary, and neurohormonal variables.
The motivational factors of activity versus helplessness and the psychotherapeutic change

SUMMARY Aim. Many authors consider motivation as an important factor influencing psychotherapy outcome. there is a discussion, whether motivation is a stable construct or a dynamic process. Material and methods. the purpose of the study was to investigate the dynamics of motivation and the relationship between motivation and clinical improvement during the inpatient integrative psychotherapy. the data was collected from 274 patients. the Questionnaire of Motivation, measuring: helplessness, ac tivity, sense of wrongness, sense of threat, was a key tool. Measures for assessing the clinical and personality change were also applied: Symptoms Check List, Adjective Check List, Sense of Coherence. they were distributed at: the placement on the waiting list, the admission to the department and at the end of the 10-weeks therapy. results. Motivation showed the strongest influence on symptoms’ level at the time of admission. the personality variables had stronger influence at the end of the treatment. All factors of motivation changed both during the waiting list period and the therapy. Helplessness, sense of wrongness and threat showed a steady decline. the level of activity rose significantly during the treatment, parallel to the clinical improvement. the helplessness motivational factor was predominant at both pre-treatment occasions. Conclusions. Assessment of motivation should be recognized as a standard procedure at the different stages of therapy. the most efficient way of strengthening the internal motivation is active participation of the patient in his/her therapy process. integrative psychotherapy / motivation / activity / helplessness / change
LED Nonlinearity Estimation and Compensation in VLC Systems Using Probabilistic Bayesian Learning

In this paper, we propose and evaluate a novel light-emitting diode (LED) nonlinearity estimation and compensation scheme using probabilistic Bayesian learning (PBL) for spectral-efficient visible light communication (VLC) systems. The nonlinear power-current curve of the LED transmitter can be accurately estimated by exploiting PBL regression and hence the adverse effect of LED nonlinearity can be efficiently compensated. Simulation results show that, in a 80-Mbit/s orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based nonlinear VLC system, comparable bit-error rate (BER) performance can be achieved by the conventional time domain averaging (TDA)-based LED nonlinearity mitigation scheme with totally 20 training symbols (TSs) and the proposed PBL-based scheme with only a single TS. Therefore, compared with the conventional TDA scheme, the proposed PBL-based scheme can substantially reduce the required training overhead and hence greatly improve the overall spectral efficiency of bandlimited VLC systems. It is also shown that the PBL-based LED nonlinearity estimation and compensation scheme is computational efficient for the implementation in practical VLC systems.
Simulation analysis of algorithms for interference management in 5G cellular networks using spatial spectrum sharing

In this thesis we completely overhaul past techniques to the new millimeter wave frequencies used in 5G and the aim is to study algorithm, protocols and architectures enablers to allow spatial spectrum sharing between different networks at these frequencies. With the use of specific modules of the network simulator ns-3, studies of simulations has been made in order to analyse performance of several sharing procedure with the goal of increase performance in a 5G mobile network
Design and Evaluation of a Novel Low Acoustic Impedance-Based PZT Transducer for Detecting the Near-Surface Defects

Near-surface defects are one of the most common types of damage occurring in polymer composite materials. Conventional Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques, especially ultrasonic testing, are not always suitable for detecting these types of defect, especially in thin plates. The proposed NDT method in this article employs Low Acoustic Impedance (LAI) characterization. The novelty of LAI technique lies in the transverse resonating of Lead-Zirconate-Titanate (PZT) transducer which shows significant lower effective acoustic impedance compared to thickness - extension mode. The LAI technique eliminates the need for the matching layers and reduces the manufacturing cost consequently. Briefly, the analytical model has been introduced and the fabrication procedure has been discussed in detail. The setup has been evaluated both numerically and experimentally to detect a debonding. The results proved the ability of LAI technique in the detection of defects and, moreover, the approximate geometry of the affected region as well.
Distributionally Robust Chance-Constrained AC-OPF for Integrating Wind Energy Through Multi-Terminal VSC-HVDC

Using the multi-terminal VSC-HVdc (MTDC) system to collect far-distance offshore wind power into the main onshore ac grid has become one of the ideal transmission approaches for renewable energy integration. However, with traditional fixed dc droop control in MTDC system, the lack of the capability of regulating power flow might pose a great challenge to the system operation. Accordingly, a novel MTDC model has been established in this paper which establishes that the output power of onshore converters can be formulated as a linear function of the control variables, namely power initial set point of each onshore converter. Based on this model, considering the uncertainty from wind power forecast error, a distributionally robust chance-constrained AC-OPF model is proposed for the hybrid AC/MTDC system. Without any presumption on the probability distribution of uncertainty, this model ensures the secure operation by enforcing chance constraints under the worst-case probability distribution over an ambiguity set based on the Wasserstein-Moment metric. Aiming at obtaining a tractable chance-constraint reformulation, we first employ the partial linearization of ac power flow equations to yield a linear model which represents the system response under uncertainties. We then develop an efficient and scalable approach to derive the linear analytical reformulation of distributionally robust chance constraints. The performance of the proposed model is firstly tested on the 14-bus system for an illustrative purpose, and then on the 1354-bus system for demonstrating scalability.
News Shocks in the data : Olympic games and their macroeconomic effects

We examine the macroeconomic effects of bidding for the Olympic Games using panel data for 188 countries during the period 1950–2009. Our findings confirm that economies react to news shocks: investment, consumption, and output significantly increase 9 to 7 years before the actual event in bidding countries. Hosting countries also experience significant increases in investment, consumption, and output 5 to 2 years before the hosting of the Games. Mapping the Olympics into a macroeconomic model, we show that we can match our empirical findings if we assume that an Olympic bid represents news about increases in government investment.
A Centralized Route-Management Solution for Autonomous Vehicles in Urban Areas

Currently, one of the main challenges that large metropolitan areas must face is traffic congestion. To address this problem, it becomes necessary to implement an efficient solution to control traffic that generates benefits for citizens, such as reducing vehicle journey times and, consequently, environmental pollution. By properly analyzing traffic demand, it is possible to predict future traffic conditions, using this information for the optimization of the routes taken by vehicles. Such an approach becomes especially effective if applied in the context of autonomous vehicles, which have a more predictable behavior, thus enabling city management entities to mitigate the effects of traffic congestion and pollution, thereby improving the traffic flow in a city in a fully centralized manner. This paper represents a step forward towards this novel traffic management paradigm by proposing a route server capable of handling all the traffic in a city, and balancing traffic flows by accounting for present and future traffic congestion conditions. We perform a simulation study using real data of traffic congestion in the city of Valencia, Spain, to demonstrate how the traffic flow in a typical day can be improved using our proposed solution. Experimental results show that our proposed traffic prediction equation, combined with frequent updating of traffic conditions on the route server, can achieve substantial improvements in terms of average travel speeds and travel times, both indicators of lower degrees of congestion and improved traffic fluidity.
State-of-the-Art Model for Music Object Recognition with Deep Learning

Optical music recognition (OMR) is an area in music information retrieval. Music object detection is a key part of the OMR pipeline. Notes are used to record pitch and duration and have semantic information. Therefore, note recognition is the core and key aspect of music score recognition. This paper proposes an end-to-end detection model based on a deep convolutional neural network and feature fusion. This model is able to directly process the entire image and then output the symbol categories and the pitch and duration of notes. We show a state-of-the-art recognition model for general music symbols which can get 0.92 duration accurary and 0.96 pitch accuracy .
Comparison of Sprinting With and Without Running-Specific Prostheses Using Optimal Control Techniques

Summary The purpose of our study was to get deeper insights into sprinting with and without running-specific prostheses and to perform a comparison of the two by combining analysis of known motion capture data with mathematical modeling and optimal control problem (OCP) findings. We established rigid multi-body system models with 14 bodies and 16 degrees of freedom in the sagittal plane for one unilateral transtibial amputee and three non-amputee sprinters. The internal joints are powered by torque actuators except for the passive prosthetic ankle joint which is equipped with a linear spring–damper system. For each model, the dynamics of one sprinting trial was reconstructed by solving a multiphase least squares OCP with discontinuities and constraints. We compared the motions of the amputee athlete and the non-amputee reference group by computing characteristic criteria such as the contribution of joint torques, the absolute mechanical work, step frequency and length, among others. By comparing the amputee athlete with the non-amputee athletes, we found reduced activity in the joints of the prosthetic limb, but increased torques and absolute mechanical work in the arms. We also compared the recorded motions to synthesized motions using different optimality criteria and found that the recorded motions are still far from the optimal solutions for both amputee and non-amputee sprinting.
A Random Parameter Logit Model of Immediate Red-Light Running Behavior of Pedestrians and Cyclists at Major-Major Intersections

It is a dangerous behaviour for pedestrians and nonmotorized vehicles to cross intersections without waiting when they arrive at intersections during the red-light period. This paper investigates three typical signalized major-major intersections in the center of Beijing, by collecting and analyzing 1368 samples of pedestrians and nonmotorized vehicles. A random parameter logit model (RPLM) is established, with immediate red-light running (IRLR) behaviour as the dependent variable. The results show that the number of people waiting upon arrival, number of people crossing upon arrival, traffic mode, motor vehicle phase upon arrival, and speed change upon arrival have significant effects on IRLR behaviour. Accordingly, we suggest enforcing education administration on cyclists to reduce cyclists’ IRLR behaviour. Thus, people’s red-light running (RLR) behaviour will further decrease with fewer cyclists’ IRLR behaviour.
Questioning as an Instructional Strategy in Multimedia Environments

Interactive multimedia learning environments incorporate interactive features, such as questioning, through which questions are posed to students and feedback is delivered on their answers. An experiment was conducted comparing two forms of questioning. The participants learned about geology with a multimedia environment that included questioning episodes. In the interactive questioning condition, the participants were presented with the question, chose an answer from a set of three options, and got the corresponding feedback. In the noninteractive questioning condition, the participants were presented with the same question and options, but they were not required to make a choice; instead, they were exposed to the feedback for each option. In a control condition, the participants received statements equivalent to those in the question and feedback. After learning with the environment, the participants took retention and transfer tests. The results in retention and transfer showed that the participants in the interactive condition outperformed those in the control and the noninteractive conditions, who did not differ from each other. This finding means that participation is critical for questioning to work effectively. This has implications for the design of learning environments.
CFD Computation of the H-Darrieus Wind Turbine—The Impact of the Rotating Shaft on the Rotor Performance

Aerodynamics of the Darrieus wind turbine is an extremely complex issue requiring the use of very advanced numerical methods. Additional structural components of this device, such as, for example, a rotating shaft disturb the flow through the rotor significantly impairing its aerodynamic characteristics. The main purpose of the presented research is to validate the commonly-used unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) approach with the shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model based on the particle image velocimetry (PIV) studies of a two-bladed rotor operating at the moderate tip speed ratio of 4.5. In the present numerical studies, a two-dimensional turbine rotor with a diameter of 1 meter was considered. The following parameters were evaluated: instantaneous velocity fields; velocity profiles in the rotor shadow and aerodynamic blade loads. The obtained numerical results are comparable with the reference experimental results taken from the literature. The second purpose of this work was to examine the influence of the rotating rotor shaft/tower on the wind turbine performance. It has been proven that the cylindrical shaft reduces the power of the device by 2.5% in comparison with the non-shaft configuration.