Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning approach to control of servomotors under disturbance torque dependent on time and states

This paper describes a new type of learning control method for precision velocity control of servomotors suffering from significant disturbance torque. The disturbance torque under consideration is assumed to be periodic in time and nonlinear in system states, but possibly non-Lipschitzian. Based on the property that the learning system tends to oscillate in the steady state, the proposed learning algorithm iteratively generates a feedforward input to cancel the effect of the disturbance torque. Thereby, it can eventually drive the steady-state velocity error to zero. In order to demonstrate the generality of the proposed method, we present a rigorous analysis for the convergence of the proposed learning algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by simulation and experiment.
Design of FRP Systems for Strengthening Concrete Girders in Shear

Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) systems have been used on a project-specific basis for the last two decades. They are now becoming a widely accepted method of strengthening concrete structures. The acceptance and utilization of these new strengthening techniques depend on the availability of clear design guidelines, installation procedures and construction specifications. Standard specifications exist for all commonly used traditional materials in civil engineering structures. At this time, design specifications for FRP use are still under development. The results of several experimental investigations have shown that FRP systems can be effective for increasing ductility and strength to structural members such as columns and girders. As most of the research focused on strengthening of axial members of flexural members, there are less experimental and analytical data on the use of FRP systems for shear strengthening of girders. Shear strengthening with FRP is still under investigation and the results obtained thus far are scarce and sometimes controversial. Even in traditional reinforced concrete members without FRP, the shear design is a complex challenge and uses more empirical methods as compared to axial and flexural design methods. Adding FRP to the equation, with its specific design issues, would bring another level of complication in the design. These FRP-related shear design issues and lack of comprehensive analytical and experimental models are the main motivation for this research project. Thus, a thorough understanding of the shear design problem along with the development of an American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) design method for FRP shear strengthening of concrete girders is needed. As such, the objective of this project is to develop design methods, specifications, and examples for design of FRP systems for strengthening concrete girders in shear. The proposed specifications will be in Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) format and will be suitable for recommendation to the AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures for adoption.
Precursor models construction at preschool education: an approach to improve scientific education in the classroom

This study aimed to explore young children scientific precursor models construction and how the designed teaching strategy was successful for improving science learning at preschool in a social context. We describe how 6 years old children built a precursor model of flotation based on density. The exploratory study used a qualitative data collection and analysis following a pre-interview, instructional process and post-interview design. On analyzing children’s answers after the instructional period, we realized that several children were led to both the construction of a precursor model and a general qualitative upgrade in reasoning. We conclude that learning activities were effective and that the approach used in this study may help expand and improve teaching and learning of scientific concepts in preschool education.
Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage

Chapter 1: Introduction: Why Project Management? Chapter 2: The Organizational Context: Strategy, Sturcutre, and Culture Chapter 3: Project Selection and Portfolio Management Chapter 4: Leadership and the Project Manager Chapter 5: Scope Management Chapter 6: Project Team Building, Conflict, and Negotiation Chapter 7: Risk Management Chapter 8: Cost Estimation and Budgeting Chapter 9: Project Scheduling: Networks, Duration Estimation, and Critical Path Chapter 10: Project Scheduling: Lagging, Crashing, and Activity Networks Chapter 11: Critical Chain Project Scheduling Chapter 12: Resource Management Chapter 13: Project Evaluation and Control Chapter 14: Project Closeout and Termination
Aerodynamic Performance Analysis of a Gurney Flap for Rotorcraft Application

In the present study, the aerodynamic characteristics of the Gurney flap were comprehensively investigated in terms of the performance requirements for a helicopter rotor by using two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. To this end, with the rotor operating flow conditions in mind, the static aerodynamic characteristics of the Gurney flap are thoroughly compared with those of the clean airfoil at various Mach numbers, incidences, and Gurney flap heights. Next, to understand the general dynamic stall features of the airfoils with the Gurney flap, a series of parametric studies are performed with respect to oscillating frequency and amplitude, and the correlations of the aerodynamic coefficients are obtained by using the dynamic stall function of Bousman. It is concluded that there exists some optimum Gurney flap heights, which minimize the drag and pitching moment while maximizing the lift coefficient and lift-to-drag ratio at the same time. In the present study, the 2% Gurney flap would be a good compromise to satisfy all the major rotorcraft design criteria.
Mechanisms of Economic Decisions under Sequential Offers

Binary choices between goods are thought to take place in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, current notions emerged mostly from studies where two offers were presented simultaneously, and other work suggested that choices under sequential offers rely on fundamentally different mechanisms. Here we recorded from the OFC of macaques choosing between two juices offered sequentially. Analyzing neuronal responses across time windows, we discovered different groups of neurons that closely resemble those identified under simultaneous offers, suggesting that decisions in the two modalities are formed in the same neural circuit. Building on this result, we examined four hypotheses on the decision mechanisms. OFC neurons encoded goods and values in a juice-based representation (labeled lines). Contrary to previous assessments, decisions did not involve mutual inhibition between pools of offer value cells. Instead, decisions involved mechanisms of circuit inhibition, whereby each offer value indirectly inhibits neurons encoding the opposite choice outcome. These results reconcile disparate findings and provide a unitary account for the neuronal mechanisms underlying economic decisions.
Structural Optimization of a Distributed Actuation System in a Flexible In-Plane Morphing Wing

Abstract : Structural weight and efficiency are hurdles for morphing aircraft being realizable on the full-scale level. The optimal distribution and orientation of actuators throughout an in-plane flexible morphing wing structure is investigated. The drive to minimize structural weight causes a wing to be more flexible and the location and orientation of the actuators become more critical as the structure becomes more flexible. NextGen's N-MAS morphing wing is used as a case study. The wing is modeled as a number of unit cells assembled in a scissor-like structure, each comprised of four linkages pinned together and an actuator. The flexible skin of the wing is modeled with a nonlinear material stretched between two opposing vertices. It will be shown that the optimal orientation of the actuators will vary depending on the loading conditions and initial configuration of the wing. Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) optimization techniques are utilized to orient those actuators and effectively size the members of the structure. The goal is to minimize weight while maximizing the geometric advantage and efficiency. The constraints are member stresses and the force transferred to the actuators is not to be greater than the force the actuator is able to produce. Matlab(R) code is developed to do the SQP optimization while NASTRAN(TM) is utilized to do the nonlinear finite element analysis required to evaluate the objective function and constraints. The single-cell results are compared to experimental data to validate the finite element model (FEM) and optimization routine. A three-cell experiment is designed by utilizing aeroelastic scaling techniques. Matlab is used to develop the scaling problem while the actual scaling is done as an optimization in NASTRAN. The objective for scaling the wing is to minimize the differences in the non-dimensional displacements and strain energies between the two models, using the element cross-sectional dimensions as design variables.
Jantzer, Anderson, Kuehl (2017) JHL Breastfeeding Support and Work-Life Balance.pdf

Background: Women are increasingly faced with decisions about how to combine breastfeeding with work, but few researchers have directly measured how breastfeeding relates to the work–life interface. Research aim: The authors examined how perceptions of work enhancement of personal life and work interference with personal life were influenced by workplace breastfeeding support, including organizational, manager, and coworker support, as well as adequate time to express human milk. Then, we examined how workplace breastfeeding support predicted work–life variables and job satisfaction. Methods: Using a self-report, survey design, the authors analyzed online surveys from 87 women in a rural, community sample who indicated that they had pumped at work or anticipated needing to pump in the future. Results: According to regression results, provision of workplace breastfeeding support, particularly providing adequate time for human milk expression, predicted work enhancement of personal life. Conversely, we found that as workplace support diminished, employees perceived greater work interference with personal life. Results of path analysis further suggested that providing time for expressing milk improved job satisfaction via a partially mediated relationship where work enhancement of personal life acted as a mediator. Conclusion: These results suggest that employers can enhance the lives of their breastfeeding employees both at work and at home by providing workplace breastfeeding support, especially through providing time for expressing human milk in the workplace.
Where Stuff Comes From: How Toasters, Toilets, Cars, Computers and Many Other Things Come To Be As They Are

Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Lash-Ups: Goods and Bads 2. Inside Stuff: How Professionals Do It 3. Form and Function 4. Changing Goods 5. Venues and Middlemen 6. Place in Product 7. Corporate Organization and the Design Big Thing 8. Moral Rules: New for Old
Characteristic of Board Directors and Financial Performance: Evidence from Companies Listed in Ftse Bursa Malaysia Klci Index

Corporate governance is an effective mechanism to supervise and evaluate decisions made by a firm. It also could curtail the agency cost and information asymmetry between the management and stakeholders. The role of corporate governance thru the presence of board of directors has received increased attention across a number of disciplines in recent years. Thus, this study intended to examine the relationship between board characteristics and firms’ performance. Panel data regression of Fixed Effect Model was applied to estimate the influence of the board characteristics and performance (ROA) of firms listed in the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index starting from 2011 to 2019. The findings have indicated that board size, board meeting and director’s higher educa tional qualification are the characteristics that significantly influenced firm’s performance. However, in oppose to the expectations of the study, inconclusive results are found concerning board independence. The result also shows that composition of boar d gender does not influence firms’ performance, although several initiatives have been made to reform corporate governance. This result managed to ascertain the board directors’ characters that influence the firms’ performance and provided a useful insight to policy makers for their supervision purposes. As such, this paper offers several implications for corporate governance and firm performance.
Low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: A single-center experience from Saudi Arabia

Abstract Objective: To report our single-center experience in terms of patient clinical characteristics, treatment outcomes, and chemotherapy-related toxicities in patients with low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN). Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study (2008–2013) was conducted at a tertiary health-care hospital in Saudi Arabia. Forty-four (n = 44) patients met the inclusion criteria for low-risk GTN. Methotrexate (MTX) was administered in a 5-day regimen: 0.3–0.5mg/kg intravenously (IV) daily for 5 days every 2 weeks (maximum 25mg per dose). Actinomycin D (ActD) was administered 1.25mg/m2 pulsed IV every 2 weeks. Results: The majority of patients had molar pregnancy as the antecedent event (86%), developed GTN within the first 4 months after the initial evacuation (93.2%), had human chorionic gonadotropin levels between 1,000 and 10,000 mIU/dL (36.3%), and had the World Health Organization prognostic scores from 0 to 2 (48.7%). Only 38 patients accepted treatment with chemotherapy. A total of 37 patients received first-line MTX; 34 patients of them achieved complete remission (CR, 92%). The three patients who developed MTX resistance were salvaged with sequential ActD and all achieved CR of 100%. Only one patient received first-line ActD and achieved CR. The overall survival as well as cure rate for all patients with low-risk GTN was 100%. No patient developed MTX-related hepatic toxicity or ActD-related blister formation. No severe adverse effects occurred. Conclusion: Our 5-day IV MTX regimen was highly effective in treating patients with low-risk GTN, with CR rate of 92% and no severe toxicity. Primary and sequential ActD therapy appears to be very effective.
Aligning manufacturing strategy content with heterogeneous requirements

This article expands the existing body of knowledge of manufacturing strategy research as it highlights the influence of context factors on manufacturing strategy content. A sound theoretical foundation is given for the proposition that context factors not only influence competitive priorities but as well the second dimension, the action programs. Whereas various studies showed that companies are in need to compete on multiple competitive priorities simultaneously, research is needed in order to understand how these requirements can be successfully implemented. We find that while the competition on multiple competitive priorities can lead to trade-offs, concerted actions help to minimize the negative effects and can lead to a strong market position. However, the concerted actions have to be aligned to context factors as this influence the success of the action program. Therefore, context factors not only influence the requirement to compete on multiple competitive priorities but define as well which actions are needed in order to gain a strong market position.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Exercise Tolerance and Quality of Life in IPF Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Methods. Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chongqing VIP (CQVIP), Wanfang Data, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (SinoMed) were comprehensively searched. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the effects of PR for IPF patients were included. Literature selection and data extraction were conducted by two review authors independently. The Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool and RevMan software (version 5.3) were used to evaluate the quality of studies and conduct statistical analysis, respectively. Results. Seven studies (190 participants) were included. PR had a significant effect on six-minute walk distance (6MWD) (MD:48.60; 95%CI: 29.03 to 68.18; Z=4.87, P<0.00001), and 6MWD was improved more in subgroup analysis including studies conducted in Asia (MD: 53.62; 95%CI: 30.48 to 76.66; Z=4.54, P<0.00001) and Europe (MD:54.10; 95% CI: 26.65 to 101.56; Z=2.23, P=0.03). Forced vital capacity (FVC%) was higher (MD: 3.69; 95%CI: 0.16 to 7.23; Z=2.05, P=0.04). St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)/IPF-specific SGRQ (SGRQ-I) total score was lower (MD: -7.87; 95% CI: -11.44 to -4.30; Z=4.32, P<0.0001). No significant effects were found for lung diffusing capacity determined by the single-breath technique (DLCO%) (MD: 3.02; 95%CI: -0.38 to 6.42; Z=1.74, P=0.08). Conclusions This study suggests that PR may enhance exercise capacity and improve quality of life in IPF patients. Besides, PR may also delay the decline of lung function of patients with IPF. However, further research should more fully assess the efficacy and safety of PR for IPF.
Prevalence of smoking and smoking predictors among adolescents in Qassim, Saudi Arabia: Does the Healthy City Program make any Difference?

Aim: To compare the prevalence of smoking and smoking predictors among adolescents between cities running a healthy city program (HCP cities) and the cities that are not running such a program (NHCP cities) in the Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. Subject and Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a self-reported questionnaire on the prevalence of smoking and smoking predictors among adolescents in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia was undertaken between April and September 2017. Using multi-staged cluster sampling, probability proportionate to the size, we surveyed 364 adolescents from three HCP cites and 769 adolescents from three NHCP cities. Results: The overall prevalence of smoking among school-aged adolescents in Qassim is 5.2% (95% CI: 3.9-6.5). Smoking prevalence among adolescents in the HCP cities is 8.8% (95% CI: 5.9-11.7); while in the NHCP cities it is 3.5% (95% CI: 2.2-4.8). The prevalence of at least one smoker among close friends in HCP and NHCP cities is 67.3% (62.5-72.1) and 72.2% (69-75.3), respectively. The prevalence of at least one smoker in the family of the adolescents in HCP and NHCP cities is 58% (52.9-63.1) and 44.3% (40.8-47.9), respectively. Among the socio-demographic variables, smoking is significantly associated with gender (OR: .08) *, age (OR: 1.61) and academic performance (OR: .27). Prevalence of smoking among adolescents is significantly higher in HCP cities than in NHCP cities (OR: 3.03; 95% CI: 1.7-5.4). Conclusion: Prevalence of smoking and key smoking risk factors were found to be higher in cities implementing the healthy city program, despite exposure to an anti-smoking campaign being higher in these cities. Given these findings, we recommend further in-depth evaluation of the program.
Is there a g-factor of genderedness? Using a continuous measure of genderedness to assess sex differences in personality, values, cognitive ability, school grades, and educational track

Some of the most persistently recurring research questions concern sex differences. Despite much progress, limited research has thus far been undertaken to investigate whether there is one general construct of genderedness that runs through various domains of human individuality. In order to determine whether being gender typical in one way goes together with being gender typical also in other ways, we investigated whether 16-year-old Finnish girls and boys (N = 4106) differ in their personality, values, cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and educational track. To do this, we updated the prediction-focused gender diagnosticity approach by methods of cross-validation for more accurate estimation. The preregistered analysis shows that sex differences vary across domains (Ds = 0.15–1.48), that fine-grained measures, such as grade profiles, can be accurate in predicting sex (77.5%), whereas some summary indices, such as general cognitive ability, do not perform above-chance (52.4%), and that the genderedness correlations, despite all being positive, are too weak (average partial correlation, r´ = .09, range .03–.34) to support a general factor of genderedness. Our more exploratory analyses show that more focus on gender typicality could offer important insights into the role of gender in shaping people’s lives.
Wideband RCS Reduction of Slot Array Antenna Utilizing 3-D Absorptive Frequency-Selective Structure

A low radar cross-section (RCS) slot array antenna based on absorptive frequency-selective structure (AFSS) is presented in this letter. The AFSS unit cell is constructed by two lossy layers and four double-sided parallel strip lines (DSPSLs). The radiation performance of the antenna can be preserved due to the transmission window of the lossy layers. Wide absorption bands of the AFSS are achieved due to periodic impedance of the DSPSL and the combination of the lossy layers. The operating principle of the design is demonstrated, and a prototype is fabricated and measured to validate the design. The proposed design features both wide RCS reduction band of the antenna and wide transmission band of the AFSS.
A bilateral sinus cyst treated via a bilateral frontonasal bone flap in a standing horse

Bilateral paranasal sinus diseases are rarely reported in horses. Treatment using a bilateral frontonasal bone flap on a standing, regular-sized adult horse has not been described previously. A 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding was evaluated for bilateral mucopurulent nasal discharge. Radiographic, endoscopic and computed tomographic examinations revealed bilateral sinus pathological changes consistent with an ethmoid haematoma involving the maxillary and frontal sinuses. A bilateral frontonasal bone flap was created under standing sedation and local anaesthesia. A tracheotomy was performed initially to ensure a patent airway during the procedure. Additional analgesia had to be given to transect the dorsal part of the nasal septum while elevating the flap. The sinus masses were removed and communications with the nasal cavities created uneventfully. Small sequestra were removed transendoscopically from the left caudal maxillary sinus 4 weeks after the initial procedure. The horse made a complete recovery with an excellent cosmetic outcome. Histopathology revealed the mass to be a sinus cyst. We concluded that a bilateral sinus bone flap can be used in adult regular-sized horses to access the left and right paranasal sinuses simultaneously. Regional nerve blocks should be performed in order to increase analgesia. A temporary tracheotomy prevents any airway obstruction during the procedure. The post-operative cosmesis is excellent. Keywords frontonasal bone flap; sinus cyst; computed tomography; standing surgery; horse.