Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Experimental Study of Transient Thermal Effects in a Plain Journal Bearing

The present study deals with the experimental determination of temperature distribution in a plain, steadily loaded journal bearing, during transient thermal periods such as start-up or slow changing in velocity. A number ofchromel-alumel thermocouples, placed circumferentially in the median section of the bearing, are used in order to carry out the measurements. The temperature at film-shaft interface is also measured by means of a chromel-alumel thermocouple and a mercury transmitter. The effects of journal speed and load on bearing temperature and fluid friction torque are analyzed. The bearing temperature increases considerably with the increase of rotational speed. In addition, for slight bearing loads the bearing temperatures are greater than for higher loads, due to the oil recirculation. The fluid friction torque increases at start-up and afterwards tends to decrease because of the temperature rise which decreases the oil viscosity.
Research on Product Systematic Innovative Design Based on TRIZ

Many solution tools TRIZ provided, such as innovative principles, technology evolution, have been widely used for product innovative design in last decade. The key using TRIZ to improve design is the correct definition and solving of technical problems. However, it’s difficult for engineers to discover the inherent problems of product, especially for complex engineering systems. Therefore, this paper proposes a whole process model for product systematical innovation design, whose objective is to obtain ideal solution and whose technical method is to analyze and solve conflicts. This model integrates the definition, analysis of problems from top to bottom, with the resolving of problems from bottom to top, and will contribute to a systematic and operable process for problems definition, analysis, resolving. A practical application of this work is also presented.
Multimorbidity in Pregnancy: An Exploratory Study Among Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Odisha, India

Background: In recent years, the interplay of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in pregnancy has gained global prominence, with documented risk for maternal and newborn wellbeing; especially, multimorbidity, the coexistence of two or more chronic conditions, is being recognized as a maternal health challenge. At the same time, pregnancy has remained as an exclusion criterion in most of the multimorbidity estimation studies resulting in deficient understanding of the problem in this vulnerable population. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of multimorbidity and identify its correlates among females presenting to antenatal care clinics, and assessed the outcomes in terms of health care utilization and expenditure.Method: An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted among 127 pregnant women attending three antenatal clinics of Bhubaneswar, Odisha from January – June 2016. Data was collected using “multimorbidity assessment questionnaire for antenatal care” (MAQ ANC) specifically developed and validated for the purpose. Multimorbidity was defined as two or more of the enlisted morbidities. Descriptive analysis was performed to determine prevalence and correlates. Outcomes were measured by number of healthcare visit, medications and healthcare expenditure. Result: Multimorbidity was present in 15% of antenatal women. Anemia (58.62%), hypertension (21%), acid peptic diseases (21%) and thyroid (17.24%) were leading chronic conditions. A statistically significant association was found (p-value <0.05, Pearson’s chi-square test) between multimorbidity and medical consultation, medicines consumed, and functional limitation. Health care expenditure was significantly higher among multimorbidity group, of which nearly half was incurred on diagnostics. Conclusion: Multimorbidity is an emerging issue in pregnancy. Our findings suggest inclusion of comprehensive multimorbidity assessment in routine antenatal screening. The preconception care needs to establish linkages between maternal and reproductive health with NCD prevention, and identify ways to reduce health care utilization and expenditure Longitudinal studies to assess the trajectory and impact of multimorbidity on maternal and infant health are warranted.
The Effect of Climate Change over Agricultural Factor Productivity: Some Econometric Considerations

This paper examines the role that climate change might be playing in the declining returns to agricultural research. For this purpose, we estimate a cross-section time-series model of agricultural total factor productivity for the U.S. states over the period 1970–1999, with the inclusion of climatic variables, and controlling for non stationarity of the data. Our findings suggest that after controlling for climatic variables and non stationarity, the effect of Public Agricultural Research Capital over Total Factor Productivity is reduced.
Microwave band FSS in optically transparent conducting layers: Performance of ring element arrays

FSS consisting of arrays of single rings have been etched onto optically transparent, but microwave reflecting layers deposited on thin supporting substrates. The transmission performance is compared with that of arrays of metallic elements with the same dimensions. With the correct choice of materials, the relative passband losses were reduced to 1 dB. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 16: 61–63, 1997.
Deep supply relationships: influencing outcomes by managing supply service quality

Service science emphasises the process of value co-creation within relationships. This frames the importance of service quality and its outcomes to business-to-business (B2B) interaction. This exploratory paper investigates the dimensions of service encounter quality in B2B relationships and its effect on (dis)satisfaction. Purchasers are sampled from America and Canada who are in extended relationships with suppliers. Qualitative data are in the form of critical incidents that code to 272 critical judgements of these purchasers’ perceptions of their suppliers. Findings reveal eight dimensions of service encounter quality: basic capability, relationship, communication, attitude, specification conformance, time and money, flexibility and resolution. The findings reveal how service encounter quality impacts (dis)satisfaction in a way that provides insight for suppliers in managing impacts of investment in service.
RANS/CAA based prediction of NACA 0012 broadband trailing edge noise and experimental validation

The prediction quality of a fast Computational Aeroacoustics (CAA) approach is studied for noise generated at a NACA 0012 trailing edge. Broadband spectra, the power law underlying their Mach number scaling, and the effect of Reynolds Number on the spectra are juxtaposed against published data from measurements and results from a semi-empirical prediction tool. The CAA method rests on the use of Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solutions to describe the turbulent flow problem around the airfoil. Acoustic Perturbation Equations (APE) are solved in the time domain, using a vortex source term, which is a function of turbulent field quantities. The acoustic approach was sccessfully validated in other works by utilizing turbulence data from Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to prescribe the unsteady sound sources. For the fast CAA approach applied in this work unsteady vortex sound sources are determined by a stochastic method, which generates 4D spatio-temporal synthetic turbulence that very accurately accompishes a local realization of all statistical and mean-flow features provided by steady RANS. Based on these prerequisites it becomes now feasible to make an assessment as to which acoustic accuracy can be achieved with such a hybrid RANS / CAA prediction method, bearing in mind the approximative nature and limited turbulence resolution of RANS:
Experimental Evaluation of Ability of Relap5, Drako®, Flowmaster2™ and Program Using Unsteady Wall Friction Model to Calculate Water Hammer Loadings on Pipelines

Mechanical loadings on pipe systems caused by water hammer (hydraulic transients) belong to the most important and most difficult to calculate design loadings in nuclear power plants. The most common procedure in Sweden is to calculate the water hammer loadings on pipe segments, according to the classical 1D theory of liquid transient flow in a pipeline, and then transfer the results to strength analyses of pipeline structure. This procedure assumes that there is quasi-steady respond of the pipeline structure to pressure surges — no dynamic interaction between the fluid and the pipeline construction. The hydraulic loadings are calculated with 1-D so-called “network” programs. Commonly used in Sweden are Relap5, Drako and Flowmaster2 — all using quasi-steady wall friction model. As a third party accredited inspection body INSPECTA NUCLEAR AB reviews calculations of water hammer loadings. The presented work shall be seen as an attempt to illustrate ability of Relap5, Flowmaster2 and Drako programs to calculate the water hammer loadings. A special attention was paid to using of Relap5 for calculation of water hammer pressure surges and forces (including some aspects of influence of Courant number on the calculation results) and also the importance of considering the dynamic (or unsteady) friction models. The calculations are compared with experimental results. The experiments have been conducted at a test rig designed and constructed at the Szewalski Institute of Fluid–Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IMP PAN) in Gdansk, Poland. The analyses show quite small differences between pressures and forces calculated with Relap5, Flowmaster2 and Drako (the differences regard mainly damping of pressure waves). The comparison of calculated and measured pressures and also a force acting on a pre-defined pipe segment show significant differences. It is shown that the differences can be reduced by using unsteady friction models in calculations. Recently, such models have been subjects of works of several researches in the world.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Macroeconomic, Political, And Institutional Determinants of Private Investment In Ethiopia: A Dynamic Analysis

This article investigates the macroeconomic, political, and institutional determinants of private investment in Ethiopia based on a time series data from 1985 to 2018. We apply ARDL approach to Co-integration to investigate the long-run and short run outcomes. The result reveals that real GDP has positive significant effect on private investment growth in both long run and short run while public investment has a crowding-out effect in short run but crowding-in effect in the long run. Real interest rate has a significant negative effect on private investment growth in long run unlike its short run effect. Hence, we recommend more effort has to be excreted to increase the market-size and real income of the people to promote private investment. Secondly, public investment in infrastructures is crucial to attract private investors though public investment in sectors that compete directly with the private sector retard private investment growth. Thirdly, given the negative significant effect of real effective exchange rate on private investment, devaluation is not a long-lasting solution to promote private investment unless the marshal-learner condition is satisfied. Fourthly, the government has to ensure consistent management strategies to minimize corruption, violent uprisings, and bureaucratic inefficiencies to build up confidence of private investors.
Monolithic 2-18 GHz matrix amplifiers

The design and performance of two different monolithic 2-18-GHz matrix amplifiers are discussed. The first module, optimized for gain and return loss, yields gains of G=15.5+or-0.9 dB and a maximum return loss of RL=-12.0 dB. When these modules are cascaded to form a two- or three-stage amplifier, gains of G=31.4+or-1.4 dB and G=43.2+or-1.8 dB, respectively, are measured. For the second unit, designed for low noise and gain, noise figures of NF=4.15+or-0.85 dB and gains of G=17.1+or-1.25 dB are achieved. >
Distribution of Microbial Generalists and Habitat Specialists in Soils Along a Climate Gradient in the Chilean Coastal Cordillera

Background: Recent studies have made significant progress in understanding how microbial composition varies across the major terrestrial biomes. However, they neglected large-scale environmental gradients and a defined set of global environmental predictors, which are applicable within biomes and across gradients, are elusive. We identified the soil microbial community composition on a broad continental scale along the Chilean Coastal Cordillera based on the generalist-specialist concept. Thereby, encompassing surface and subsurface soils from arid, semi-arid, mediterranean, and humid-temperate climate conditions.Results: Our results showed that soil communities from different climate regions are composed of the same subset of taxonomic groups. We further identified generalists, comprising taxa that predominated in all four regions, and habitat specialists that predominated in one or two regions only. We obtained higher proportions of habitat specialists (34 groups) than generalists (22 groups) with an increase of the generalist-to-specialist index along our gradient from North to South. The arid climate region revealed a unique hotspot of microbial specialization (60.1%). Contrary, the mediterranean and semi-arid regions featured mainly boundary-crossing specialists (35.5%). Conclusions: Our study supports that species sorting in response to local environmental factors is a key determinant of microbial community composition and further, the degree of microbial specialization can potentially be linked to the overall ecosystem stability.
Latent Structures of the Factors Affecting Construction Labor Productivity

At any moment in time, a multitude of factors simultaneously impact construction productivity. Utilizing the knowledge of thousands of construction craft workers, the writers quantitatively analyzed the underlying structure of the factors affecting construction productivity and identified which factors the craft workers consider to be more relatively important as well. This research identified 83 factors affecting construction labor productivity through 18 focus groups with craft workers and their immediate supervisors on nine jobsites throughout the U.S. Next, a nationwide survey was administered to 1,996 craft workers to assess the impact of these factors on construction labor productivity. Principal factor analyses identified 10 latent factors to represent the underlying structure of 83 productivity factors. In addition, the relative importance of the factors' impact on construction productivity was examined based on the crafts' union status, trade, and position (craft worker versus foreman). The writers also compared their results to similar previous efforts, and more importantly, identified significant differences that may impact future productivity improvement strategies. This research will help industry and the research community better understand the factors affecting construction labor productivity and more effectively direct future efforts to improve its performance.
Dealing with Interruptions can be Complex, but does Interruption Complexity Matter: A Mental Resources Approach to Quantifying Disruptions

Past work examining the effects of interruption complexity on primary task performance has yielded quite mixed results. Some research suggests that more complex interruptions lead to greater disruption of the primary task, while other studies have shown that interruption complexity does not directly influence the amount of primary task disruption. It is our hypothesis that interruption complexity, defined by the number of mental operators required to complete a task as opposed to an intuitive sense of difficulty, does affect primary task performance, such that interruptions requiring more mental operators (more complex) lead to greater disruption than do less complex interruptions. Participants performed a single primary task in conjunction with either a simple or complex interruption. The complex interruption required more mental operators to complete than the simple interruption. Our results showed that it took longer to resume the primary task following a complex interruption than it did following a simple interruption. These results suggest that more complex interruptions, as quantified by the number of mental operations required, do indeed lead to greater primary task disruption.
ASSESSING SOIL WATER CONTENT USING COMPLEX PERMITTIVITY

For most temperate zone food and fiber plants that require medium amounts of water (mesophytes), it is crucial for plant health and growth to know the volumetric water content in the growing media. Understanding the basics of the complex electrical permittivity of wet agronomic soil can lead to the development of a real-time, relatively low-cost, reasonably accurate, dielectric soil-moisture probe. Theoretical and practical concepts are presented concerning the nature of the complex permittivity and dielectric constant within an operating frequency range that can make development of a low-cost probe feasible. The real component of the complex permittivity contains water content information while the imaginary component contains soil electrical conductivity information. A commercial soil-moisture probe operating at 50 MHz was used to provide the temperature-corrected real component of the complex permittivity in custom-made, 85/15 (85% graded sand and 15% pulverized peat moss) golf course greens-mixture soil (soil especially formulated for use on golf course greens). Gravimetric water-content and real dielectric constant measurements were made simultaneously in the greens-mixture soil for developing an empirical equation with desired absolute error of less than 0.015 cm 3 /cm 3 between the permanent wilting point and field capacity values, and error less than 0.03 cm 3 /cm 3 between zero water content and the saturation value. When compared with the results using a time domain reflectometry (TDR) calibration equation, it is possible that a simple electrical capacitance/dielectric probe may perform as well as the more expensive TDR equipment. The probe was able to estimate the volumetric water content with reasonable accuracy in the presence of a 1:1 electrolyte (KCl) at concentrations from zero to 0.01 M.
Family of non-isolated zero current transition bi-directional converters with one auxiliary switch

A new family of non-isolated zero current transition bi-directional converters is introduced. Basic non-isolated bi-directional DC-DC converters are derived by combining basic DC-DC converters and they are able to transfer energy between two DC sources using two main switches. In the proposed bi-directional converters, instead of using two independent auxiliary circuits for each main switch, same components with a single auxiliary switch is used to provide soft commutation at both modes of converter operation. In addition, the soft switching range in the proposed converters is not dependent on the duty cycle and the auxiliary circuit is applied only once in each switching cycle, which leads to a simple control circuit. Low weight, small volume, high efficiency and the ease of control are the most important benefits of the proposed converters. The proposed bi-directional buck and boost converter is fully analysed for both buck and boost operating modes. The validity of theoretical analysis is justified using experimental results of a 200 W, 50-100 V prototype converter.
Quality in the games industry: an analysis of customer perceptions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore, via an examination of a large number of games released in the quadrennial 2000 to 2003 for the five dominant video‐games platforms, the extent to which current product quality matches expectations.Design/methodology/approach – All games software released between 2000 and 2003 for the five dominant video‐games platforms (Playstation2, Xbox, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance, and PC) were recorded and analysed for their perceived level of quality. The games were sorted with respect to country of origin, platform, publisher, genre, and time of release with the aim of assessing possible relationships with quality.Findings – The results are disquieting in that they suggest a threat to the long‐term prosperity of the games industry, when quality as perceived by experienced gamers and reviewers is taken into consideration.Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the study is that customer perceptions in the form of review scores may be biased as a mean.
Vernier operation of series‐coupled optical microring resonator filters

Nonsymmetric Vernier type series‐coupled optical microring filters have been found to be free of the spurious responses that commonly occur in those of symmetric design. Large free spectral range (FSR) is obtained without significant decrease of the waveguide‐bending radius. The tradeoff between coupling coefficients, filter bandwidth, and the suppression of interstitial resonances has been investigated. Results on filter sensitivity to waveguide and coupler loss are also reported. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 39: 257–261, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.11185
Field application of a dynamic thermal circuit rating method

The thermal capacity of power equipment has been traditionally based on simultaneous occurrence of worst case weather conditions and peak loadings. A dynamic thermal rating method has been developed where the thermal capacity of power equipment is based on actual real-time weather conditions and circuit loadings. This normally results in higher thermal ratings which may allow the power utility to postpone replacement of underground cables and substation equipment or reconstruction of overhead lines. It may also allow immediate increased access to low cost power sources. This paper describes the technical philosophy and field data collection plan necessary to apply the EPRI Dynamic Thermal Circuit Rating Methods to overhead lines within the PECO Energy transmission area. It also briefly describes field test management for a power transformer and an underground cable in the same transmission system.
Low complexity discrete Hartley transform precoded OFDM for peak power reduction

A discrete Hartley transform (DHT) precoded OFDM system to counteract the peak power problem is proposed. By utilising the intrinsic relationship between DHT and discrete Fourier transform (DFT), the transmitter can be simplified to generate the precoded signals by only linear combination instead of inverse DFT and DHT, and the transceiver complexity can be reduced to simplify the system design. Simulations have confirmed that the peak-to-average power ratio of DHT precoded OFDM systems is substantially lower than that of both the discrete cosine transform and the discrete Walsh transform precoded OFDM system.
Does the quasibound-state lifetime restrict the high-frequency operation of resonant-tunnelling diodes?

We have shown, firstly, that the response time (τresp) of the double-barrier resonant-tunnelling diode (RTD) can be much smaller as well as much larger than the quasibound-state lifetime in the quantum well (τdwell). Secondly, the real part of the RTD conductance can be negative and large at the frequencies higher than the reciprocal τdwell in the RTDs with a heavily doped collector without spacer layers. The Coulomb interaction of the electrons in the quantum well with emitter and collector is responsible for the effects. A simple analytical expression for the impedance of the RTD has been derived and an equivalent circuit has been proposed.