Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scratch Properties of Clear Coat for Automotive Coating Comprising Molecular Necklace Crosslinkers with Silane Functional Groups for Various Environmental Factors

Automotive coatings, which comprise multiple layers, i.e., primer, base coating, and clear coat layers, are exposed to various environmental conditions that pose various types of damages to them. In particular, the outer layer of the automotive coating, i.e., the clear coat, is affected significantly by such damages. Therefore, a reliable and durable clear coat must be developed to improve the appearance of automobiles. In this study, a new clear coat based on an acrylic-based clear coat modified using polyrotaxane crosslinkers, which are necklace-shaped supramolecules composed of ring-shaped host molecules, is developed and characterized. The effects of polyrotaxane and silane on the scratch properties and mechanisms of the clear coating are analyzed. It is observed that the critical loads of the clear coat from scratch tests can be improved by adding optimal molecular necklace crosslinkers comprising silane functional groups. The improvement in the scratch properties of the modified acrylic-based clear coat may be attributed to the crosslinking characteristics and dynamic molecular movements of the polyrotaxane. In addition, the effects of environmental factors on the scratch characteristics of the modified acrylic-based clear coat are investigated by addressing the scratch durability of the clear coat.
SOME FACTORS CONTROLLING THE IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL MOISTURE CHARACTERISTICS AND PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN NORTH NILE DELTA SOILS

Undisturbed soil samples were taken from the surface layers of the soil of El-Serw experimental station, Domitta governorate. after the harvesting of wheat crop to demonstrate the effect of potassium fertilization and gypsum application under different irrigations water types on soil moisture characteristics and pore size distribution. The main obtained results can be summarized as follow: Soil moisture contents as well as soil moisture constants, i.e. field capacity, available water and wilting point increased under the addition of gypsum more than under those of potassium fertilization . Total soil porosity as well as pore size distribution were affected mainly by the additions of gypsum. Positive and high significant correlations have been established between soil moisture contents at field capacity and wilting point and either clay or organic matter contents. Otherwise , the percentages of coarse and fine sand were negatively affected at field capacity after irrigation with drainage water , such correlations were negative and significant at 1 % and 5 % between soil moisture content at wilting point and either coarse sand or silt, respectively for soil irrigated by Nile water. Results showed that soil organic matter contents affected positively and high significantly total soil porosity, Correlation coefficients between total soil porosity and either coarse or fine sand were negative and significant. More over, the volumes of quickly and slowly drainable pores are positively and significantly correlated with clay content under drainage water irrigation. Also there was a high positive and significant correlation between fine capillary pores and organic matter content . On the other hand, negative and significant correlations established found between either slowly drainable or fine capillary pores and silt content in soil irrigated with Nile water.
ADSORPTION SELECTIVITY SEQUENCE OF HEAVY METAL CATIONS BY SOME SOILS OF EGYPT

Heavy-metal adsorption reactions, in a competitive system, are important to determine heavy metal availability to plants and their mobility throughout the soil. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the competitive adsorption of several heavy metal cations in some soils of Egypt with different chemical and physical characteristics. Distribution coefficients (k d ) were obtained for each soil and heavy metal. On the basis of these k d , the selectivity sequence was evaluated. The most common sequences were Cr > Pb > Cu > Cd > Ni > Zn and Pb > Cr > Cu > Cd > Zn > Ni. Chromium, Cu and Pb were the heavy metal cations most strongly adsorbed by all the studied soils, whereas, Cd, Ni and Zn were the least adsorbed, in the competitive adsorption situation. Selectivity sequences related to valence for the trivalent Cr. For cations of the same valence, sequences did not follow the order of electronegativity. Statistical analysis showed that distribution coefficient was significantly correlated to cation exchange capacity (CEC) and organic matter (O.M) for Cr; CaCO 3 and pH for Cd; organic matter and clay for Cu; pH and O.M for Ni; CEC, clay for Pb; CEC and clay for Zn.
A proposal of a new paradigm for national quality certification systems

Purpose – The goal of this paper is to suggest a new incentive model that is capable of creating the conditions for the autonomous growth of diffusion and credibility of the ISO 9000 national quality certification system.Design/methodology/approach – The first part of this work contains some considerations about the general interest of organisations in quality certification systems, emphasising the advantages and the drawbacks in being certified. Next, the attention shifts to future scenarios. Specifically, a new model is proposed that is capable of encouraging certified organisations (COs) and certification bodies (CBs) that operate blamelessly and seriously, while at the same time penalising those that do not.Findings – The suggested model consists of two inter‐connected sub‐models relative to COs and CBs, respectively. Each sub‐model includes different states with different incentives/penalties. The switch‐over from one state to another depends on the practical results recorded in recent years by the C.
2B-Alert Web 2.0, an Open-Access Tool for Predicting Alertness and Optimizing the Benefits of Caffeine: Utility Study

Background One-third of the US population experiences sleep loss, with the potential to impair physical and cognitive performance, reduce productivity, and imperil safety during work and daily activities. Computer-based fatigue-management systems with the ability to predict the effects of sleep schedules on alertness and identify safe and effective caffeine interventions that maximize its stimulating benefits could help mitigate cognitive impairment due to limited sleep. To provide these capabilities to broad communities, we previously released 2B-Alert Web, a publicly available tool for predicting the average alertness level of a group of individuals as a function of time of day, sleep history, and caffeine consumption. Objective In this study, we aim to enhance the capability of the 2B-Alert Web tool by providing the means for it to automatically recommend safe and effective caffeine interventions (time and dose) that lead to optimal alertness levels at user-specified times under any sleep-loss condition. Methods We incorporated a recently developed caffeine-optimization algorithm into the predictive models of the original 2B-Alert Web tool, allowing the system to search for and identify viable caffeine interventions that result in user-specified alertness levels at desired times of the day. To assess the potential benefits of this new capability, we simulated four sleep-deprivation conditions (sustained operations, restricted sleep with morning or evening shift, and night shift with daytime sleep) and compared the alertness levels resulting from the algorithm’s recommendations with those based on the US Army caffeine-countermeasure guidelines. In addition, we enhanced the usability of the tool by adopting a drag-and-drop graphical interface for the creation of sleep and caffeine schedules. Results For the 4 simulated conditions, the 2B-Alert Web–proposed interventions increased mean alertness by 36% to 94% and decreased peak alertness impairment by 31% to 71% while using equivalent or smaller doses of caffeine as the corresponding US Army guidelines. Conclusions The enhanced capability of this evidence-based, publicly available tool increases the efficiency by which diverse communities of users can identify safe and effective caffeine interventions to mitigate the effects of sleep loss in the design of research studies and work and rest schedules.
Control development for floating wind

Control of a floating wind turbine has proven to be challenging, but essential for lowering the cost of floating wind energy. Topic of a recent joint R&D project by GustoMSC, MARIN and ECN, is the concept design and verification with coupled simulations and model tests of the GustoMSC Tri-Floater. Only using an integral design approach, including mooring and control design, a cost effective system can be obtained. In this project, ECN developed a general floating wind turbine control strategy and applied this in a case study to the GustoMSC Tri-Floater and the OC3Hywind spar, both equipped with the NREL 5MW RWT. The designed controller ensures stable operation, while maintaining proper speed and power regulation. The motions of the floating support are reduced and substantial load reduction has been achieved.
A Sliding-Mode Set-Point Position Controller for Hydraulic Excavators

This paper proposes a sliding-mode set-point position controller for hydraulic excavators. The controller employs a simple switching surface that exponentially drives the actuator position to the desired position with a specified time constant. The discrete-time algorithm of the controller is constructed through a double-implicit implementation scheme, which is for implementing a simple sliding-mode controller to nonsmooth actuators, including hydraulic actuators. We employ a nonsmooth quasistatic model of the hydraulic actuator, which analytically accounts for the pressure saturation caused by the relief valves and check valves and the square-root law of the pressure-flowrate relation. This paper elaborates the analytical form of the model to be combined with the double-implicit implementation. A state predictor based on the actuator model extends the controller to compensate for the deadtime in the hydraulic system. The proposed controller is validated with some simulations and also through experiments employing the swing axis of a 13-ton class excavator.
Quantifying the extent of space shortages: English dwellings

Lack of internal space is a problem in UK homes, and is often linked to a lack of space standards for housing in the UK. Although previous studies have examined new-build housing, this paper uses a new method to study 16 000 dwellings in the English Housing Survey (EHS) 2010 to examine existing housing and compare them with a modern space standard in an attempt to quantify the extent and magnitude of the problem. Dwellings in the survey were compared against a slightly modified version of the London Housing Design Guide 2010 internal space standard. It was found that between 21% and 55% of dwellings failed to meet the standard; and that flats and small terraced houses were most commonly below the standard. Dwellings were also frequently found to be under-occupied in comparison with the number of bedrooms. This research hypothesized that this was a result of the lack of space. To illustrate the use of this new analysis method, a recent change to the Housing Benefit system (colloquially known as the ‘Bedroom Tax’) has been considered. Households receiving Housing Benefit were more likely to be undersized, suggesting that the policy to withdraw housing benefits from these households may be misguided.
Cardiac Rehabilitation Early after Sternotomy Using New Assistive VR-Enhanced Robotic Exoskeleton—Study Protocol for a Randomised Controlled Trial

(1) Background and objective: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) means delivering health education by structured exercises with the means of risk reduction, in a cost-effective manner. Well-conducted CR improves functional capacity, decreases re-hospitalization, and reduces mortality up to 25%. We bring to attention the protocol of a randomised control trial with the aim of validating the prototype of an assistive upper-body robotic exoskeleton system enhanced with a non-immersive virtual reality exergame (CardioVR-ReTone) in patients who undergone cardiac surgery. (2) Methods: Description of the CardioVR-ReTone system and the technical specification, followed by the group selection, randomization and evaluated variables. (3) Expected results: The primary outcome measurement is the modification of life quality at the end of the CR exercise training program. Secondary outcomes will encompass measurements of sternal stability, muscular activity, cardiac response to exercise, pain level and compliance/adherence to CR. (4) Conclusions: Implementing these novel features of the CardioVR-ReTone system, addressability, and efficacy of CR, so problematic in certain situations and especially in cardiac surgery, will be greatly facilitated, being independent of the skills and availability of the rehabilitation therapist.
Impact of Corporate Governance on Research & Development Investment in The Pharmaceutical Industry in Indonesia

Deciding the investment scale of a company's Research & Development is a strategic investment decision related to creating long-term value of the company and it is a very important decision because it has a certain level of risk and the cost is not small. Corporate governance of a company differs according to the ownership structure of each company, and corporate governance will affect the company's decision-making. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of corporate governance structure, namely major shareholder, institutional investor, and outside directors to investment research & development at a pharmaceutical company listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange period 2010 to 2017. The population of this study is a pharmaceutical company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The number of pharmaceutical companies listed during the period 2010 to 2017 is as many as 11 companies. By using purposive sampling, obtained a sample of 5 companies. The data analysis technique used in this research is multiple linear regression analysis. The results of this study indicate that major shareholders have a positive significant influence on research & development investment. Meanwhile, the institutional investor has a positively significant influence on research & development investment. And the outside directors have an insignificant negative effect on investment & development investment.
Evaluation of Welfare in Commercial Turkey Flocks of Both Sexes Using the Transect Walk Method

Simple Summary In the last decade, increased attention has been directed toward the welfare of commercial poultry. In current turkey production systems, males and females are typically reared in the same facility until slaughtering the hens. Hens are reared for 12 to 14 weeks, while toms are reared for up to 22 weeks. This study examines farm health and welfare in commercial turkey flocks of both sexes during the fattening cycle using the transect walk method. Flocks, separately for males and females, were assessed at 3 to 4 weeks of age, 1 week before slaughtering the hens and 1 week before slaughtering the toms. We found several differences in the frequency of welfare indicators between different assessments and between male and female populations. The period just before slaughtering the hens was found to be most problematic for both sexes, although several welfare indicators suggested that health problems were mainly already present at 3 to 4 weeks of age and also continued after hen depopulation. Our results show that transect walks used at different ages may provide relevant information on animal health and welfare during the fattening cycle. Abstract The study was conducted between March and September 2019 in six meat-type turkey flocks with similar management standard procedures using the transect walk method. The concept of the method is based on visual observation of the birds while slowly walking across the entire farm in predetermined transects. Each flock was evaluated at three different times during the fattening cycle: at 3 to 4, 12 to 13, and 19 to 20 weeks of age, and total number of males and females that were immobile or lame, had visible head, vent, or back wounds, were small, featherless, dirty, or sick, had pendulous crop, or showed aggression toward birds or humans were recorded. At each visit, NH3 and CO2 were measured within the facilities. In the first assessment, the most frequently observed welfare indicators were small size (0.87%) and immobility (0.08%). Males showed a significantly higher prevalence of small size (p < 0.01), sickness (p < 0.05), and dirtiness (p < 0.1) compared to females. In the second assessment, the most common findings in both sexes were dirtiness (1.65%) and poor feather condition (1.06%), followed by immobility (0.28%). Males were significantly dirtier (p < 0.001), had more immobile birds (p < 0.01) and birds with vent wounds (p < 0.1), but had fewer sick birds (p < 0.05). In the last assessment, an increase in immobile, lame, sick, and dead birds was recorded, indicating an increase in health problems. Higher CO2 (3000 and 4433 ppm) and NH3 (40 and 27.6 ppm) values were noted only at the first assessment in two facilities. Further analyses showed that slightly elevated NH3 and CO2 levels did not influence the occurrence of welfare indicators. This study is the first description of the welfare of commercial turkey flocks in Slovenia.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE HUMAN FACTORS SOCIETY-30th ANNUAL MEETING-I986 PERIPHERAL DETECTION OF REFLECTORIZED LICENSE PLATES

This paper contains data on the peripheral detection distances of a reflectorized license plate ( 2 4 CIL) at night. Detection distances were obtained for two car heading angles ( 3 degrees to the left and 10 degrees to the right), and seven detection angles (-30, -20, -10, 0, 10, 20, and 30 degrees) using two groups of 7 young and healthy drivers each. The order of presentation for the 7 detection angles was random and balanced. Each driver sat in a stationary car on a 2000 feet long runway and detected an approaching target under low beam conditions against a background containing a number of luminaires and other light sources. There were three parallel approach paths on the runway. A total of nine consecutive approaches were made for each detection angle. The approaches were divided into 3 blocks and within each block each approach path was randomly chosen once. Each subject detected a total of 63 approaching targets. The results of this study indicate that the average peripheral detection distance for a 30 degree peripheral detection angle can be as short as 25 percent of the average foveal detection distance, while a 20 degree peripheral detection angle resulted in an average peripheral detection distance 36 percent of the average foveal detection distance and a 10 degree peripheral detection angle resulted in an average peripheral detection distance of 54 percent of the average foveal detection distance. Based upon the peripheral detection distances obtained in this study we conclude that in roadway situations such as in horizontal curves where reflective targets could become visible for the first time in the periphery of a driver's visual field, appropriate increases in the reflecitvity of a target must be made in order to assure timely detection.
DATA CLASSIFICATION USING THE MAHALANOBIS—TAGUCHI SYSTEM

ABSTRACT The Mahalanobis-Taguchi System (MTS) is a pattern information technology developed by Dr. Taguchi. This technology is aimed at providing a better prediction for multivariate data through the construction of a multivariate measurement scale. In this study, two sets of data are analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the MTS. Implementation results reveal that the MTS outperforms traditional discriminant analysis methods. In addition, several important issues regarding the MTS are summarized in the conclusion section.
Not so terrifying after all? A set of failed replications of the mortality salience effects of Terror Management Theory

Terror Management Theory (TMT) postulates that humans, in response to awareness of their death, developed complex defenses to remove the salience and discomfort stemming from those thoughts. In a standard paradigm to test this theory, an individual is presented with a death-related prime (Mortality Salience; MS), such as writing the details of their own death, or something neutral, such as watching television. After a distractor task (for delay), participants complete the dependent variable, such as rating how much they like or agree with a pro- or anti-national essay and its author. Individuals in the MS condition typically exhibit greater worldview defense than control conditions by rating the pro-national essay more positively and the anti-national essay more negatively. We completed five separate studies across five unique samples with the goal of replicating and extending this well-established pattern to provide further understanding of the phenomena that underlie the effects of MS. However, despite using standard procedures, we were unable to replicate basic patterns of the dependent variable in the MS conditions. We also pooled all responses into two meta-analyses, one examining all dependent variables and one focusing on the anti-national essay; yet the effect sizes in these analyses did not significantly differ from zero. We discuss the methodological and theoretical implications of these (unintended) failures to replicate. It is not clear if these null findings were due to methodological limitations, restraints of online/crowd-sourced recruitment, or ever-evolving sociocultural factors.
Tire Modeling for Vertical Properties Including Enveloping Properties Using Experimental Modal Parameters

Summary Tire modal parameters reflect the natural properties of the tire. This paper models tire performance using experimental tire modal parameters to calculate the static vertical tire stiffness on both drum and flat road surfaces and the distribution of vertical and shear forces. The model was used to investigate tire enveloping properties. In addition to the radial and tangential displacements, the rotational angular displacement of the contact element is considered. This study examined the obstacle’s effect on tire static vertical properties, the axle load responses under rectangle obstacles with a fixed axle height, and the effects of tire pressure on enveloping properties.