Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Use of Structural Equation Modeling to Examine Life-style and Cardio-metabolic Factors Associated With Micro-vascular Endothelial Dysfunction in Middle-aged Chinese Males

Objective: The present study aims to use structural equation modeling with multiple regression pathways to examine direct and indirect association of potential behavioral (diet, physical activity and sleep) and cardio-metabolic risk factors with micro-vascular endothelial dysfunction (ED) among middle-aged Chinese males.Methods: The study was conducted in 306 middle-aged Chinese males, who underwent a health checkup between 2018 and 2019. Data on life-style behavior factors (physical activity, diet pattern, sleep quality, and diet data underwent exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis [EFA and CFA] in advance) and cardio-metabolic risk factors referring to metabolic syndrome [blood pressure, triglyceride (TG), fasting blood glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and body mass index] were introduced into the structural equation model to examine interrelationship among these factors and their association with ED, as evaluated by the reactive hyperemia index (RHI). Results: Impaired ED defined by RHI <1.67 occurred in 39.2% of the participants. Both EFA and CFA identified two major dietary patterns: "prudent pattern" and "western pattern". The univariate test suggested that only TG and prudent dietary pattern were directly associated with RHI. Furthermore, prudent dietary pattern had a direct association with RHI (β=0.16, P<0.05) and an indirect association via triglyceride (Prudent diet→TG: β=-0.15, P<0.05; TG→RHI: β=-0.17, P<0.001). As to confirming the hypothesized association between variables apart, physical activity frequency was correlated to the decrease in TG (β=-0.29, P<0.001), but had no direct correlation to RHI.Conclusion: The network of direct and indirect associations among life-style behavioral and cardio-metabolic risk factors with RHI measured ED among middle-aged males. The most significant modifiable factors identified were TG and prudent diet pattern, which needs to be targeted as preventive strategies for early micro-vascular impairment.
Signal Integrity Issues and Printed Circuit Board Design

From the Publisher: In this book, renowned engineer, author, and seminar leader Douglas Brooks teaches PCB designers how to successfully design boards for any high-speed application. Brooks begins with an easy-to-understand electronics primer for every PCB designer, then offers practical, real-world solutions for every important signal-integrity problem. Based on his legendary seminars, this book offers even more design rules, specific recommendations, examples, illustrations, and diagrams.
MetalMapper System: Camp San Luis Obispo Discrimination Study

Abstract : Data collection with the MetalMapper system in support of 2009 ESTCP Discrimination Study, San Luis Obispo, CA commenced on 25 May and continued until 16 June. Allowing for the 4-day break we took from 4-7 June, the data collection required 19 field days. All operations were conducted in accordance with the draft demonstration plan that we submitted prior to mobilizing to San Luis Obispo (SLO) [1]. Table 1 contains a log of daily activities. Based on that table, approximately 12 field days were required for the dynamic (detection mapping) part of the demonstration while 7 days were spent in performing the static ( Cued ID ) survey.
Investigation of EDFA power transients in circuit-switched and packet-switched optical networks

Erbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EDFA’s) are a key technology for the design of all optical communication systems and networks. The superiority of EDFAs lies in their negligible intermodulation distortion across high speed multichannel signals, low intrinsic losses, slow gain dynamics, and gain in a wide range of optical wavelengths. Due to long lifetime in excited states, EDFAs do not oppose the effect of cross-gain saturation. The time characteristics of the gain saturation and recovery effects are between a few hundred microseconds and 10 milliseconds. However, in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical networks with EDFAs, the number of channels traversing an EDFA can change due to the faulty link of the network or the system reconfiguration. It has been found that, due to the variation in channel number in the EDFAs chain, the output system powers of surviving channels can change in a very short time. Thus, the power transient is one of the problems deteriorating system performance. In this thesis, the transient phenomenon in wavelength routed WDM optical networks with EDFA chains was investigated. The task was performed using different input signal powers for circuit switched networks. A simulator for the EDFA gain dynamicmodel was developed to compute the magnitude and speed of the power transients in the non-self-saturated EDFA both single and chained. The dynamic model of the self-saturated EDFAs chain and its simulator were also developed to compute the magnitude and speed of the power transients and the Optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR). We found that the OSNR transient magnitude and speed are a function of both the output power transient and the number of EDFAs in the chain. The OSNR value predicts the level of the quality of service in the related network. It was found that the power transients for both self-saturated and non-self-saturated EDFAs are close in magnitude in the case of gain saturated EDFAs networks. Moreover, the cross-gain saturation also degrades the performance of the packet switching networks due to varying traffic characteristics. The magnitude and the speed of output power transients increase along the EDFAs chain. An investigation was done on the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or the WDM Internet protocol (WDM-IP) traffic networks using different traffic patterns based on the Pareto and Poisson distribution. The simulator is used to examine the amount and speed of the power transients in Pareto and Poisson distributed traffic at different bit rates, with specific focus on 2.5 Gb/s. It was found from numerical and statistical analysis that the power swing increases if the time interval of theburst-ON/burst-OFF is long in the packet bursts. This is because the gain dynamics is fast during strong signal pulse or with long duration pulses, which is due to the stimulatedemission avalanche depletion of the excited ions. Thus, an increase in output power levelcould lead to error burst which affects the system performance.
Application of SPH Method in Large Eddy Simulation of High-Speed Free-Surface Flow

The Weakly Compressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) has been reformulated to simulate high-speed free-surface flows such as skimming flows over steep slopes and ski jump flows with high turbulence and large fluctution of the free surface. The modeling of the un-resolvable motion has been done following the wall unresolved Large Eddy Sumulation formulated in fixed grid methods. The effects of the solid boundaries, in particular, have been incorporated by formulating the equations of motion separately from the particles away from solid boundaries by using the wall law similarities valid for turbulent flows over smooth and rough surfaces as well as laminar flow depending on the Reynolds number and the resolution by the given number of particles and the spacings. The single-phase method has been tested in the calculation of dam-break flow comparing with the results obtained by using the open-source code, DualSPHysics. The present method is shown to be as good as or better than DualSPhysics. The method is then appplied to simulate high-speed free-surface flows.
Handbook of vehicle-road interaction

This handbook discusses tyre-road contact forces generated by heavy vehicles, their influence on road surface and bridge response and damage, as well as ways of assessing and improving vehicles so as to minimise road damage. The book is divided into eight sections: 1. provides general background material about road wear, expenditure on roads and some historical perspectives. 2. deals with vehicle dynamics and includes chapters on road surface roughness, suspension components, measuring and simulating dynamic tyre forces and a brief introduction to the subject of "weigh-in-motion". 3. is concerned with the response of the guideway to heavy vehicle loads. 4. concentrates on the mechanisms of damage of flexible pavements, particularly permanent deformation and fatigue cracking. 5. discusses vehicle-guideway interactions. 6. discusses the design of suspensions to minimise road damage. 7. is concerned with the problem of assessing the road damaging potential of heavy vehicles for regulatory purposes. 8. presents conclusions and suggests areas needing further research. Lists of abbreviations, references and an index are provided in the appendices.
Plant uptake of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, 4-amino-2,6-trinitrotoluene, and 2-amino-4,6 trinitrotoluene using ¹⁴C-labeled and unlabeled compounds

Abstract : Plant uptake of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and two of its principal degradation products, 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene (4ADNT) and 2-amino-4,6- dinitrotoluene (2ADNT), were investigated. TNT, 4ADNT, and 2ADNT were added to two soils: Tunica silt and Sharkey clay. The addition rate was 80 micrograms of the respective treatment compound per gram of soil on an oven-dry weight basis. TNT- and 4ADNT-treated soils received both 14C-labeled and unlabeled compounds. 2ADNT-treated soils received only unlabeled 2ADNT. Results indicated that TNT was degraded in the soil to 4ADNT and, to a lesser extent, to 2ADNT. 4ADNT and 2ADNT remained predominant in 4ADNT- and 2ADNT- treated soils, respectively. Plant uptake was greatest from 4ADNT-treated silt, but also occurred from TNT- treated silt and clay. No plant uptake of 2ADNT was observed. Percent recoveries of treatment compounds from soils by solvent extraction were much lower than expected. Recoveries obtained by complete combustion analysis were higher. Keywords: Yellow nutsedge, Cyrerus esculentus, Contaminants, Soil pollution.
Delevitation modelling of an active magnetic bearing supported rotor

For active magnetic bearings (AMBs) to be used with confidence in industrial applications, the safe failure of the AMB system should be guaranteed. The exact behaviour of the rotor on the backup bearings (BBs) is relatively uncertain [1,2,3]. Uncertainty in a failure situation means that the safe failure of the AMB system cannot be guaranteed. The purpose of the presented rotor delevitation simulation model (RDSim model) is to eliminate some of the uncertainties associated with a rotor delevitation event. The simulation model includes a flexible rotor model [4], a non-linear AMB model [5], a non-linear BB model, stator effects, active rotor braking, rotor free running, inner race speed up, AMB/BB load sharing and sudden unbalance (blade-loss simulation). The RDSim model can be used to simulate any AMB failure on one or more locations. The failure modes include power amplifier (PA) malfunction, AMB coil short-circuit, total power failure and controller failure. This paper will discuss the BBSim model; a brief explanation of each of the sub-models of the BBSim model is also given.
Exploratory Analysis of Relationship Between Number of Lanes and Safety on Urban Freeways

The relationship between freeway capacity and the number of lanes is reasonably well understood at present. In contrast to capacity, the relationship between the number of lanes and safety is not fully understood or systematically considered when planning capacity improvements. During the planning and design phase the discussion is centered on the degree to which design alternatives comply with geometric design standards and what Level of Service (LOS) is provided. It is generally believed by the practitioners that additional capacity afforded by additional lanes is associated with more safety. How much safety and for what time period is generally not considered. Exploratory analysis of the Safety Performance Functions (SPF) for multilane freeways in Colorado, California and Texas suggests that adding lanes may initially result in a temporary safety improvement that disappears as congestion increases. As Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) increases, the slope of SPF, described by its first derivative, becomes steeper, reflecting that accidents are increasing at a faster rate than would be expected from a freeway with fewer lanes. This may possibly be explained by the fact that increase in the number of lanes is associated with increase in the number of potential lane-change-related conflict opportunities. Understanding of the relationship between number of lanes and safety should be used to inform the public involvement process in evaluating and selecting design alternatives. Additionally, high AADT on multilane freeways is associated with high crash frequency and consequently reduced mobility.
On the Economy of the Human Processing System: A Model of Multiple Capacity.

Abstract : An approach to human performance which is based on economic concepts is proposed. This approach hinges on the idea that the human processing system has a number of mechanisms each having its own capacity. Those capacities can at any moment be allocated among several processes. Since tasks may differ with respect to the types of mechanisms they call for and the demands they pose for the use of those mechanisms, it is argued that the hope to find single measures for system capacity and mental load may be groundless. Different pairs of time-shared tasks may conflict with each other to a variable degree, which is difficult to predict without knowing the overlap in their demand for various mechanisms. The amount and specific nature of trade-off between time-shared tasks can be displayed by means of performance operating characteristics. The effects of a number of properties of the system and of the tasks on the shape and interpretation of performance operating characteristics are discussed. The analysis in this paper also serves to elucidate the notion of resources brought forward by previous authors, to elaborate on the distinction between demand for and supply of resources, to discuss possible interactions between the effects of supply of resources and situation parameters on performance, and to conjecture about the way by which allocation policy depends on the value of outcomes of different allocations.
Variables that influence results of impedance testing for valve regulated cells

This paper demonstrates the effects of two variables that influence measured internal cell impedance values: state-of-charge and temperature. Both influences have an inverse effect in that the internal impedance will decrease as the cell is subjected to proper float charging and/or elevated temperatures. The popularity of this test technique has been propelled since the advent of the sealed valve-regulated lead acid cell, and an understanding of the data that must be collected to correlate the findings must be attained. Data presented represents tests on valve-regulated cells of both gelled and absorbed electrolyte technology. <<ETX>>
A THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE Numerical Wave Generation In OpenFOAM

An open source CFD solver,OpenFOAMR , has been used to create a numerical wave tank. The study is based on the interFoam solver, i.e. a solver for incompressible multiphase flow problems. The solver uses the finite volume method for the spatial discretization of equations and applies the VOF approach for the free surface modeling. Initially a convergence study was carried out. The study was based on the propagation of fifth order Stokes waves in deep water condition. To this end two separate applications, waveWriter and errorCalculator, were created. With the former the initial conditions for the velocities and pressure of fifth order Stokes wave can been specified directly for interFoam. The errorCalculator is a post-processing tool that estimate the computational errors at each time step. The study revealed that the model exhibits only first order convergence. The loss of one order is due to the waveWriter setting only first order initial conditions. Wave generation and absorption in the wave tank are performed by the relaxation method. For this purpose the existing interFoam solver has been partially modified in order for replacing the computational solutions with desired analytical ones inside the relaxation zones. In this manner the modified solver is able to generate and dissipate different wave types in the numerical wave tank. It is shown that outgoing waves are absorbed efficiently by extending the damping relaxation zone to at least three wavelengths, while one wavelength extension is required for the wave-generating zone. To validate the numerical wave tank, the Whalin shoaling test was considered. Unfortunately, inadequacies in the then existing version of interFoam, (version 1.6.x), in the handling of the pressure force balance on non-orthogonal and distorted meshes, hindered and finally stopped the validation test process. Subsequently it was found that the newer version OpenFOAM-1.7. x, can be used promisingly for the validation of wave tank by Whalin test and this has been defined as a recommended future work.
A Study of the Toyota Production System From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint

While Dr. Shingo was developing SMED, Mr. Ohno, as the executive managing director of Toyota, was realizing that there was a close connection between the principle aspects of the Toyota Production System and the SMED system. In his pursuit of the ideal production system, he became convinced that drastic reductions in set-up times were essential. This conviction prompted him to demand that his people achieve three minute die changeovers. Fortunately, his demand and Shingo's ideas about the SMED system that were in the back of his mind, coupled with Shingo's keen interest in set-up reductions all came together in a timely manner.
Assessment of Ocean Wave Model used to Analyze the Constellation Program (CxP) Orion Project Crew Module Water Landing Conditions

Mr. Christopher Johnson, NASA's Systems Manager for the Orion Project Crew Module (CM) Landing and Recovery at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), and Mr. James Corliss, Project Engineer for the Orion CM Landing System Advanced Development Project at the Langley Research Center (LaRC) requested an independent assessment of the wave model that was developed to analyze the CM water landing conditions. A NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) initial evaluation was approved November 20, 2008. Mr. Bryan Smith, NESC Chief Engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), was selected to lead this assessment. The Assessment Plan was presented and approved by the NESC Review Board (NRB) on December 18, 2008. The Assessment Report was presented to the NRB on March 12, 2009. This document is the final Assessment Report.
Testing Safety-Critical Systems using Fault Injection and Property-Based Testing

In this work we use our testing platform based on FaultCheck and QuickCheck that we apply on a quadcopter simulator. We have used a hardware platform as the basis for the simulator and for deriving realistic fault models for our simulations. The quadcopters have a collision-avoidance mechanism that shall take over control when the situation becomes hazardous, steer away from the potential danger and then give control back to the pilot, thereby preventing collisions regardless of what the pilot does. We use our testing platform to randomly generate thousands of simulations with different input stimuli (using QuickCheck) for hundreds of quadcopters, while injecting faults simultaneously (using FaultCheck). This way, we can effectively adjust system parameters and enhance the collision-avoidance mechanism.
An experimental evaluation of the Sternberg task as a workload metric for helicopter Flight Handling Qualities (FHQ) research

The objective was to determine whether the Sternberg item-recognition task, employed as a secondary task measure of spare mental capacity for flight handling qualities (FHQ) simulation research, could help to differentiate between different flight-control conditions. FHQ evaluations were conducted on the Vertical Motion Simulator at Ames Research Center to investigate different primary flight-control configurations, and selected stability and control augmentation levels for helicopters engaged in low-level flight regimes. The Sternberg task was superimposed upon the primary flight-control task in a balanced experimental design. The results of parametric statistical analysis of Sternberg secondary task data failed to support the continued use of this task as a measure of pilot workload. In addition to the secondary task, subjects provided Cooper-Harper pilot ratings (CHPR) and responded to workload questionnaire. The CHPR data also failed to provide reliable statistical discrimination between FHQ treatment conditions; some insight into the behavior of the secondary task was gained from the workload questionnaire data.
Women vs men – technical and tactical efficiency in football

Women’s football is the sports game with the most spectacular development in recent years both in terms of the number of participants (approximately 40 million) and all other factors involved in this process (international federations, investments, spectators, etc.). The general perception that most specialists have about women’s football is: “Like amateur football, but in slow motion”. This perception has fundamentally changed with the significant improvement in the level of performance shown on the field by football players. The questions we are trying to answer by conducting this research are the following: Are there important technical and tactical differences between women’s and men’s high-performance football? If there are such differences, what relevance do they have for the preparation process? In this context, the present study represents a comparative analysis, from a technical and tactical point of view, of the teams ranked in the top 3 at the last World Cups for both men (2018 FIFA World Cup Russia) and women (2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup France). The data were obtained from the FIFA website and from live statistics provided during each World Cup game. The conclusions that will emerge from this study may represent directions for the further technical and tactical development of women’s football.
Virtual Classroom Usage and User Perception for English Learning as a Second Language at Universities in Lima, Peru

A more extensive use of virtual tools in teaching-learning processes needs a professors’ and students’ proactive attitude, positive experiences, and improvement in their implementation. A cross-sectional study was carried out to know the perceptions of private university students from Lima on the use of the necessary elements for an English language virtual classroom. The sample was composed of 150 accounting students from five universities, whose perceptions on virtual classroom elements were assessed and compared to their previous experiences. Most students were in favor of using the virtual classroom and its different elements, and those who had a previous experience with virtual classrooms were more in favor of using reminders, chats, forums, e-mails and online exercises (p<0,05). In sum, most students were in favor of using the virtual classroom and having a previous experience favors a more positive perception towards online learning tools.