Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Geometric characterisation and out-of-plane seismic stability of low-rise unreinforced brick masonry buildings in Auckland, New Zealand

The 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes and corresponding Royal Commission reports have resulted in changes to the legislative environment and led to increased public awareness in New Zealand of the earthquake performance of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. As a result, building regulators, owners, tenants, users and heritage stakeholders will be facing a unique challenge in the near future where assessments, improvements and demolitions of URM buildings are expected to occur at an unusually high rate. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand and because of the relative prosperity of Auckland during the period 1880-1935 when most URM buildings were being constructed in New Zealand, the city has the largest number of URM buildings in the country. Identifying those buildings most at seismic risk in Auckland’s large and varied building stock has warranted a rapid field assessment program supplemented by strategically chosen detailed assessments. Information that can be procured through rapid field inspections includes the building geometric typologies (e.g., heights, building footprint geometry and isolated versus row configuration), elevation type (e.g., perforated frame versus solid wall), wall construction (e.g., solid versus cavity, number of leaves) and basic construction material type (e.g., clay brick versus stone). Furthermore, investigation into the architectural history, heritage status and functional usage of Auckland’s URM buildings will affect the direction of retrofit strategies and priorities. As the owner of a large and varied portfolio of URM buildings as well as the local organisation responsible for assessing building safety, Auckland Council is developing exemplar inspection, assessment, prioritisation and retrofit strategies that will target the seismic risks associated with URM buildings, in particular, so as to preserve and enhance safety and the economic and community value of these special buildings. Collaboration amongst Auckland Council, The University of Auckland and GNS Science has resulted in a state-of-the-art rapid quantitative assessment program applied to a sampling of typologically representative URM buildings in Auckland.
Modeling damage to the solid electrolyte matrix in composite electrodes: role of ionic conductivity

Solid composite electrodes play a critical role in all-solid-sate-batteries, but intercalation-induced expansion of the active materials will cause damage in the matrix and affect the performance of battery. In this work, damage evolution in the solid electrolyte (SE) matrix related to migration of ions/electrons in SE matrix, transport of species in electrode particles, local current densities at the SE/active materials interface, and mechanical deformation of the structure is investigated based on the non-local damage approach. The influence of mechanical damage on the electrochemical performance is modeled by coupling the damage variable and ionic conductivity of the SE. The results indicate that for low ionic conductivity, the damage of the SE matrix is inhomogeneous across the composite electrodes, while for high ionic conductivity, the damage of the SE matrix is uniform. We also investigate the effect of damage on the electrochemical performance of battery and it is shown that capacity loss is significant for low ionic conductivity, but shows little variation under high ionic conductivity.
Il calo degli investimenti nei Comuni tra Patto di stabilità interno e carenza di risorse

This paper analyzes the decline in Italian municipal investments that began in the middle of the last decade. The analysis shows that, organizational methods for service provision and budgetary financial conditions being equal, investments declined more sharply in the larger municipalities subject to the Domestic Stability Pact than in those which were exempted. The Pact effects have been relatively stronger for those municipalities in better financial conditions, that would have been able to finance investments with their own resources. The Pact has helped to achieve the main goal of the legislator, i.e. to keep the deficit under control. It has also provided a stimulus for local governments to be more rigorous in drafting their budgets, leading to a closer correlation between the amounts committed and those actually spent, in line with the provisions of the new accounting system which has come into force in 2015.
RF phase modulation of optical signals and optical/electrical signal processing

Analog RF phase modulation of optical signals has been a topic of interest for many years, mainly focusing on Intensity Modulation Direct Detection (IMDD). The virtues of coherent detection combined with the advantages of Frequency Modulation, however, have not been explored thoroughly. By employing Frequency Modulation Coherent Detection (FMCD), the wide optical transmission bandwidth of optical fiber can be traded for higher signal-to-noise performance. In this thesis, we derive the FM gain over AM modulation – the maximum achievable signal-tonoise ratio (by spreading the signal’s spectrum) for specific carrier-to-noise ratio. We then employ FMCD for a scheme of remote antennas for which we use optical components and subsystem to perform signal processing such as nulling of interfering signals. The performance of optical processing on different modulation schemes are compared, and some important conclusions are reported relating to the use of conventional FMCD, FMCD with optical discriminator (FMCD O-D), and IMDD. Specifically, the superiority of conventional FMCD is shown; and, on the other hand, the inferiority of FMCD O-D is shown (same performance as IMDD) because of the use of an O-D. Finally, the remote antenna scheme is generalized for N antennas and N users. Thesis Supervisor: Vincent W. S. Chan Title: Joan and Irwin Jacobs Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, and Aeronautics & Astronautics Director, Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems
The adiposity indicators in relation to diabetes among adults in China: a cross-sectional study from China Health and Nutrition Survey.

BACKGROUND Diabetes is a metabolic disease which has been confirmed to be involved with abnormal or excessive body fat accumulation. There is still a lack of nationwide research in China to discuss the relationship between adiposity indicators included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), visceral adiposity index, waist-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and diabetes. The question of which one is the best indicator of obesity to predict diabetes in China remains to be unclear. METHODS Data were collected from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) in 2009, including 7,930 participants aged over 18 years old for cross-sectional analysis. Information about height, weight, WC, hip circumference, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, energy intake and blood samples were analyzed. Binary logistic regression models were used to explore the association of WC, BMI, WHR, waist-to-height ration (WHtR) and visceral adipose index (VAI) with the prevalence of diabetes in the 2009 CHNS respectively. Predictive potential of five adiposity indicators was validated by the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUROC). The optimal cut-off points were determined by Youden's index, which was used to estimate the performance of adiposity indicators. RESULTS The study shows patients in the highest quartile were more likely to have diabetes than those in the lowest quartile of WC (OR: 4.237, 95% CI: 3.265-5.499), BMI (OR: 3.312, 95% CI: 2.601-4.218), WHR (OR: 3.199, 95% CI: 2.493-4.104), WHtR (OR: 3.760, 95% CI: 2.891-4.890), VAI (OR: 4.347, 95% CI: 3.411-5.541). The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of WC, BMI, WHR, WHtR and VAI for diabetes was 0.700, 0.663, 0.668, and 0.697 and 0.694, respectively. The optimal cut-offs regarding diabetes in Chinese are WHtR ≥0.520 for men and VAI ≥1.878 for women. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that WC, WHtR, BMI, WHR and VAI are all independent risk factors for diabetes among Chinese adults. WHtR is the most accurate indicator for diabetes in men, while VAI for women.
Differential Phospho‐Signatures in Blood Cells Identify LRRK2 G2019S Carriers in Parkinson's Disease

The clinicopathological phenotype of G2019S LRRK2‐associated Parkinson's disease (L2PD) is similar to idiopathic Parkinson's disease (iPD), and G2019S LRRK2 nonmanifesting carriers (L2NMCs) are at increased risk for development of PD. With various therapeutic strategies in the clinical and preclinical pipeline, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers that can aid early diagnosis and patient enrichment for ongoing and future LRRK2‐targeted trials.
Plastic limit analysis of offshore foundation and anchor

Plastic Limit Analysis of Offshore Foundation and Anchor. (August 2010) Chao-Ming Chi, B.S., Feng Chia University, Taiwan; M.S., National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan Chair of Committee: Dr. Charles Aubeny This study presents the applications of plastic limit analysis to offshore foundations and anchors, including the drag embedment anchors (DEAs) for mobile offshore drilling units (MODU’s) and spudcan foundations for jack-up platforms. In deep waters, drag embedment anchors are an attractive option for mooring of semisubmersible platforms due to low installation cost and high holding capacity; on the other hand, jack-up platforms are more stable than semisubmersible platforms but only can be placed in shallow waters. The analyses of anchor capacities are developed for an idealized anchor comprising a rectangular fluke, a cylindrical shank, and a metal chain connected to the shank at the padeye. The anchor trajectory prediction during drag embedment is also developed by considering anchor behavior in conjunction with the mechanics of the anchor line. The results of simulations show that anchors approach at equilibrium condition rapidly during the embedment and both the normalized holding capacity and the anchor line uplift angle remain constants in this stage. Besides the geometry of the fluke, the
Electromagnetic band gap technology for millimetre wave applications

En esta tesis se ha estudiado el uso de estructuras Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) para frecuencias en la banda de las milimetricas. Estas frecuencias son muy apropiadas para aplicaciones de creacion de imagenes ("imaging") debido a las diferentes propiedades de los materiales con respecto a las que presentan a frecuencias opticas. El uso de antenas planas para estas aplicaciones, lo cual seria la opcion preferida en cuanto a coste y complejidad de fabricacion puede verse limitado debido a las perdidas causadas por la excitacion de ondas de sustrato. Estos problemas se pueden superar mediante el uso de la tecnologia EBG, dado que dichos modos son inhibidos en estas estructuras periodicas. A pesar de que algunas demostraciones preliminares del uso de la tecnologia EBG para estas aplicaciones ya han tenido lugar, estas pueden considerarse como meras pruebas de concepto. El proposito de esta tesis ha sido tratar de superar este estado inicial y utilizar configuraciones basadas en esta tecnologia para el diseno de receptores. En particular, se han estudiado varios aspectos relacionados con el diseno de receptores a frecuencias de milimetricas implementando tecnologia EBG. Primeramente se han estudiado las caracteristicas principales de los substratos basados en tecnologia EBG. Para ello, se han considerado dos estructuras EBG, el "woodpile" y la estructura de Fan. Con respecto a los materiales dielectricos utilizados para su construccion, se han utilizado silicio y Titanato de Zr/Sn, ZZT. El uso de un material de elevada constante dielectrica es de gran interes, ya que permite la reduccion del tamano del EBG y el aumento de su ancho de banda. Se han estudiado tanto la impedancia de entrada como el diagrama de radiacion de las configuraciones para las diferentes posiciones de un dipolo sobre el substrato EBG. Se ha encontrado que ambas caracteristicas dependen fuertemente de la posicion y de la orientacion del
Electoral Rules, Women’s Representation and the Qualification of Politicians

Proportional electoral rules are associated with more substantial women’s representation than majoritarian ones. To provide causal evidence that electoral rules affect women’s representation and the qualification of politicians, we collect panel data on the universe of Italian politicians from all levels of government over the period 1987–2013 and analyse an Italian reform which, in 2005, changed the electoral rule for national elections from (mostly) majoritarian to proportional, but did not affect subnational level elections. We find that this reform increased the number of women elected by 5%, while not decreasing the overall qualification levels of politicians, measured by the level of education and political experience. We provide evidence that the highest qualification women are not elected and that the overall qualification of elected politicians could have increased (rather than remain constant) if the best women candidates had been elected.
Experimental Study on Lateral Strength Evaluation of Unreinforced Masonry-Infilled RC Frame

In this study, RC frames with unreinforced masonry (URM) infill for typical school buildings in Korea are experimentally investigated to evaluate their seismic performance. For this purpose, one-bay, one-fourth scale specimens, with unreinforced concrete block (CB) infill having different boundary conditions due to beam rigidity, are tested under in-plane cyclic loading, using a distinctive measurement scheme consisting of three-axis strain gauges attached to all CB units. In this paper, the diagonal strut mechanism of CB infill including its main strut angle, average compressive strain, and equivalent strut width is discussed using principal compressive strains on CB units. The lateral strength carried by CB infill and RC frame from the overall response of the specimens is also explained, based on the compressive stress acting on the infill and the curvature distribution along RC members during the test.
GASTROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF VITEX DONIANA LEAF FRACTIONS AGAINST ACETIC ACID INDUCED GASTRIC ULCER MODEL IN ALBINO RATS

Vitex doniana is used traditionally for the treatment of various gastrointestinal ailments. This study was designed to evaluate the gastroprotective effects of different fractions of V. doniana against acetic acid induced gastric ulcers in rats. Diseases free Albino rats were used for the study. After 24 hours of recovery, treatment commenced for 14 days as follows – negative control received no treatment, positive control received 25 mg/kg body weight of omeprazole orally, groups 3 to 5 received 250 mg/kg body weight of ethyl acetate, methanol and hexane V. doniana fraction respectively. At the end of administration, the animals were sacrificed and the stomachs excised to measure the ulcerated areas. Histological and immunohistochemical methods were used to evaluate the ulcer healing degree in the excised gastric tissues. The results obtained showed that the methanol and hexane fractions caused significant healing of the ulcers with curative ratios of approximately 97% and 83% respectively (p < 0.05). Histochemical and immunohistochemical studies suggested that the fractions improved mucin distribution and angiogenesis.
The effects of lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin resistance on the fitness of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Abstract Lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin from pyrethroids have been used for many years to control the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), which causes serious economic damage in many cultivated and ornamental plants worldwide. In this study, resistant populations previously selected in the laboratory with lambda cyhalothrin and bifenthrin (LR and BR, respectively) were compared with the susceptible strain GSS to assess the effect of the resistance on fitness. Life tables were created by using some biological parameters such as development time, fecundity and adult longevity. Data analysis revealed that lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin resistant populations of T. urticae had no fitness disadvantages. The relative fitness values of the LR (1.09) and BR (1.19) populations also showed an advantage over the susceptible population. Total development and generation time were prolonged in both resistant populations. In the LR population, the life span of the adult females was prolonged, whereas the rm value was found to increase in the BR population. Total fecundity and egg hatchability were also found to be higher in both resistant populations than the susceptible strain GSS. The net reproduction rate (R0), one of the life table parameters, was significantly increased in the LR and BR populations. In this study, lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin resistance affected some biological parameters in T.urticae, but the resistance did not produce a loss of fitness in the LR and BR populations. These findings have significant implications for resistance management strategies in terms of the state and management of resistance.
Evaluating the Influence of Social Media Use in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy of Residents of Owerri Metropolis

The study aimed to find out the level of vaccine hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria and determine whether social media is facilitating the spread of anti-vaccination messages about COVID-19 vaccines and the extent of vaccine hesitancy which is attributable to use of social media. The researchers used the cultivation theory to explain how frequent use of social media for information about the coronavirus pandemic has influenced users’ attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. A survey was conducted which produced quantitative data from 300 respondents using the multi-stage sampling technique, with the questionnaire as the instrument to elicit data on how social media influenced respondents’ decision on getting immunized. Findings showed that hesitancy is high in Nigeria. It revealed that social media is facilitating the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers found out that hesitancy is attributable to social media because social media was the leading information source (45%) that enabled respondents to make the decision not to take the COVID-19 vaccine. This study recommends that governments, the NCDC, the NPHCDA, the health industry and the media must use social media, alongside traditional media to propagate vaccine campaigns to negate the misinformation spreading online.
Cognitive control states influence real-time sentence processing as reflected in the P600 ERP

ABSTRACT As sentences unfold, people often encounter conflicting cues that vie for influence during processing and comprehension. We measured event-related potentials (ERPs) to test the hypothesis that cognitive control increases activation of the most plausible analysis of the input to resolve such conflicts. Participants read sentences like “The bathroom floor was mopping yesterday”, where conflict arises between a syntactically-licensed interpretation (“floor” as Agent of “mop”) and a semantically plausible one (“floor” as Theme of “mop”). Participants also completed pseudorandomly interleaved Congruent and Incongruent Stroop trials, which manipulated cognitive-control engagement immediately before sentence-reading trials. Target sentences elicited a P600 effect, replicating previous results suggesting that readers typically make morphosyntactic edits to yield the plausible interpretation (e.g. “mopping” → “mopped”). Crucially, the P600 was larger and more broadly distributed following Incongruent versus Congruent Stroop items, consistent with increased structural repair activity when an individual’s state of cognitive control is relatively upregulated.
Narrowband Variable Digital Filters with Independently Tunable Characteristics and Minimum Number of Tunable Elements

Abstract— A new approach to design variable IIR digital filters by using a cascade of equal firstor second-order lowpass filter sections is proposed in this paper. These sections are designed in a way that the cutoff frequency of the resulting filter can be tuned by recalculating and changing only a single parameter value. And as there is no any approximate representations of the coefficients, tuning is not limited by magnitude degradations typical to the other known methods. The necessary approximation methods for such design are developed and step-by-step procedures for their application are proposed. Then the realizations of firstand second-order filter sections, permitting independent tuning of the cutoff frequency, are discussed and design methods are derived. Other then lowpass filters are easily obtained through frequency transformations. Finally, experimental results, validating the proposed design procedures and demonstrating the superiority of the new method, are given.
Production control policy for tandem workstations with constant service times and queue time constraints

Queue time constraints are commonly imposed to ensure product quality in contemporary production systems. We study the performance of two single stations with deterministic service times and a predetermined time window in between, where both stations suffer time-based pre-emptive breakdowns. To improve productivity, achieving higher capacity and lower rework rate are the two main objectives. While higher capacity requires a higher work-in-process (WIP)-level threshold, a lower rework rate requires a smaller one. To quantify the trade-off between the two objectives, an analytical model is derived. The model is then used to derive the WIP-level threshold control policy for a time-constrained system. We also show that system capacity diminishes with the decrease in WIP-level thresholds.
Can Californian Households Save Money on Transportation Costs by Living in Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs)?

Many residents in large Californian metropolitan areas are heavily burdened by housing costs. Advocates, researchers, and elected officials in California are debating whether transit-oriented development (TOD) could be an effective tool to mitigate the housing affordability problem by increasing housing supply and reducing transportation costs in transit-rich neighborhoods. This study contributes to this debate by estimating how much Californian families can save on transportation costs by living in transit-oriented developments (TODs). By utilizing the confidential version of the 2010–2012 California Household Travel Survey, this study evaluates the impact of TOD on household transportation expenditures by comparing TOD households with two control groups. When controlling for household demographics, TOD households save $1,232 per year on transportation expenditures—18% of their total annual transportation expenditures. When controlling for both demographics and neighborhood environment, TOD households save $429 per year—about 6% of their total annual transportation expenditures. The study confirms that Californian households save money on transportation costs by living in TODs mainly because they own fewer vehicles. About two-thirds of the savings can be attributed to transit-friendly neighborhood environment and one-third to access to rail transit, which highlights the importance of integrating a rail transit system with supportive land use planning and neighborhood design.