Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New Econometric Evidence on Agricultural Total Factor Productivity Determinants: Impact of Funding Sources

This paper examines the impact of public and private agricultural research and extension on agricultural total factor productivity at the state level. We test the hypothesis that the composition of agricultural experiment station funding—share of funding from impact of federal competitive grants and contracts and from federal formula and state government appropriations---affects the productivity of public agricultural research using data for the 48 contiguous states over 1970-1999. Our results show not only that sources of funding matter, but that an increase in federal competitive grant funding at the expense of federal formula funding would lower the productivity of public agricultural research. Furthermore, our simulation results show that a few states would most likely gain by a re-allocation of federal formula to grant and contract funding but most would lose.
Transferability of Expressway Incident Detection Algorithms to Singapore and Melbourne

This study investigates the performance of several existing automatic incident detection algorithms along the Central Expressway in Singapore and freeways in Melbourne, Australia. These algorithms were originally developed for freeways in the United States. Thus, it is of interest to evaluate how they would perform when applied to cities in other countries. The evaluation is carried out on two databases containing 160 and 100 incidents collected from Singapore and Melbourne, respectively. These databases reflect differences in vehicle detector system used to collect traffic parameters and in driver behavior. The following empirical findings were obtained: (1) the Minnesota and Standard Normal Deviate (SND) algorithms appear to possess transferable properties as well as being able to receive wide-area traffic measurements from a machine-vision vehicle detector system; (2) California Algorithm number 7 and the Double Exponential Smoothing algorithm performed poorly in Singapore but may be transferable to Melbourne freeways; and (3) no significant difference in average efficiencies between the better-performing algorithms (SND and Minnesota) on both databases.
Low-power 77-81 GHz CMOS LNA with excellent matching for automotive radars

A low-power and wideband three-stage 77–81 GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA) using standard 90 nm CMOS technology is reported. The T-match technique is utilised to achieve simultaneously wideband input and output impedance matching, wideband power gain (S 21) and a wideband noise figure (NF). The LNA consumes 21.1 mW, achieving S 11 better than −10 dB for the frequencies 62.3–82.4 GHz, S 22 better than −10 dB for the frequencies 62.8–84.6 GHz, S 12 better than −29 dB for the frequencies 72–84 GHz and a group delay variation smaller than ±4 ps for the frequencies 77–81 GHz. In addition, high and flat S 21 of 13.1 ± 1.5 dB is achieved for the frequencies 72–84 GHz, which means the corresponding 3 dB bandwidth is 12 GHz. Furthermore, the LNA achieves a minimum NF of 6.2 dB at 78 GHz and a NF of 6.8 ± 0.6 dB for the frequencies 75–82 GHz, one of the best NF results ever reported for a CMOS LNA for 77–81 GHz automotive radar applications.
Granular modelling for virtual prototyping in interactive design

This paper introduces the concept of granular modelling as a strategy to construct human-centred virtual prototype and environment models. This approach aims at providing a granular strategy for virtual prototype models in order to allow the change from a coarse-grain description to a fine-grain one according to the level of specification desired. The granular model is built from the aggregation of several component models and their interaction models, representing the interaction between two components. Component models must include information not only about themselves but also about the environmental part related to them. This is important as environmental conditions may have different effects at different scales/levels. Additionally, it leads to a higher level of communication, only allowed through the interaction models. This implies that new different objects might be integrated only by including their component models and their required interaction. The foreseen advantage is that the human is integrated in a simple manner: a component model corresponding to a haptic interface and an interaction model relating it to the virtual product. The first step, identification and organic description, consists of establishing an interaction graph from the hierarchical structure of the virtual product and all the objects that will be present in its future environment. Subsequently, the component and interactions models are constructed. The model is expected to be implemented into a multi-agent system where every component model derives into a component agent.
Agent-Based Aiding for Individual and Team Planning Tasks

Intelligent aiding strategies were evaluated for a team planning task. The MokSAF interface agent links an Artificial Intelligence (AI) route planning agent to a Geographic Information System (GIS). Through this agent, the user specifies a start and an end point, and describes the composition and characteristics of a military platoon. Two aided conditions and one non-aided condition were examined. In the first aided condition, a route-planning agent determines a minimum cost path between the specified end points. The user is allowed to define additional “intangible” constraints that describe situational or social information. In the second aided condition the same knowledge of the terrain is used to plot the best route within bounds specified by the user. In the control condition the user draws a route without help. The reported study found across the board advantages for agent-based aiding when routes were merged in a team-planning task.
Modelling of shear lag effect for piezo-elstodynamic structure for electro-mechanical imedance technique

The impedance based structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques have utilized the electro-mechanical coupling property of piezoelectric materials (piezo-impedance transducers), due to their self-sensing nature (ability to act both as actuators and sensors), and its diminutive in shape and size, cost effectiveness and ease of installation. The adhesive bond acts as an elastic medium which facilitates the transfer of stresses and strains developed due to piezo displacement and also couples the impedance of PZT patch with that of the host structure. The sensitivity of the electro-mechanical impedance (EMI) technique can be enhanced by understanding shear mechanism phenomena of the adhesive layer. This paper reviews the existing shear lag models and discuss the recent advances in impedance based coupled piezo-structural model duly considering the shear lag effect with all responsible piezo-mechanical parameters.
Fire Load Survey of Historic Buildings: A Case Study:

The results of a fire load density survey carried out in Ouro Preto in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil are presented. The inventory method is used and details of the survey methodology and processing are given. Forty-three buildings are surveyed and the determination of fire load density is made for 39 occupancies, each occupancy comprising one or more rooms, or even an entire building. The average fire load density is 2989 MJ/m2 and the standard deviation is 2833 MJ/m2. Commercial stores are found to be the most heavily loaded but a single maximum fire load density of 14,560 MJ/m2 is found in a drugstore. Because of new extensions of old buildings, some rooms have relatively low fire loads. It is observed that wood contributes a substantial portion of fire load, being 35% of movable fire load and 37% of fixed fire load. Comparison of the results, with those established by Brazilian standard NBR 14432, indicate that measured values could exceed standard values by up to a factor of 10.
Behavior of cemented sands—I. Testing

This paper is accompanied by a study on constitutive modelling issues of cemented sands. The concentration here is on experimental issues related to the triaxial testing of cemented sands. A preliminary investigation is performed aiming to identify potential effects of specimen size and slenderness on the stress–strain–strength characteristics of cemented sands. A comprehensive experimental study follows where clean sand specimens, as well as specimens with 2, 4 and 6 per cent cement content, are tested. The aim of the study is to examine the effects of cement content and confinement on the shear strength, stiffness, softening and dilation characteristics of cemented sand. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
People's Plants: A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa

This title is a photographic guide to the useful plants of Southern Africa. Traditional and contemporary uses of more than 650 plants are described and illustrated, each dealing with a specific category of plant use: foods and drinks, health and beauty, and skills and crafts. More than 530 photographs are included, showing the plants, plant products and the way in which they are used. Plants and plant-derived products of special cultural or commercial significance are highlighted. This title is a must for anyone interested in useful plants, new crop plants, medicinal plants, new product development, ecotourism, rural development, traditional crafts, African culture, ethnobotany, and botany in general.
Improved inhaled air quality at reduced ventilation rate by control of airflow interaction at the breathing zone with lobed jets

Inhaled air quality at a reduced supply of clean air was studied by controlling the airflow interaction at the breathing zone of a person using lobed jets as part of personalized ventilation (PV). Experiments were performed in a full-scale test room at 23°C (73.4°F) with a breathing thermal manikin seated at a workstation, with realistic free-convection flow around the body and a normal breathing cycle. The air in the room was mixed with tracer gas R134a. Clean air was supplied isothermally from three nozzles with circular, four-leafed clover, and six-edged star openings of 0.025 m (0.08 ft) equivalent diameter. The nozzles were positioned frontally at the face within the boundary layer and centered to the mouth. The enhancement of inhaled air quality by changing the initial velocity (0.2–0.6 m/s, 0.66–1.97 fps) and the distance from the mouth (0.02–0.06 m, 0.07–0.20 ft) was studied. The control over the interaction between the inserted jets and the free convection flow was efficient. Over 80% clean PV air was measured in inhalation. The worst performing nozzle was the four-leafed clover: its best performance yielded 23% clean air inhalation, at the shortest distance and the highest velocity. The other lobed nozzle, the six-edged star, performed similarly to the circular nozzle.
Robust and Efficient Implementation of the PEM-AFROW Algorithm for Acoustic Feedback Cancellation

The PEM-AFROW algorithm has been developed to model a room impulse response under closed-loop conditions, such as in microphone-amplifier-loudspeaker systems, and is particularly suited for a speech signal input. If a controller is inserted in the loop that uses this model to remove the loudspeaker signal component from the microphone signal, an efficient feedback cancellation can be performed. Crucial implementation-oriented issues that have not been studied so far are addressed. In particular, adaptation control mechanisms are proposed for feedback cancellation based on PEM-AFROW, and efficient subband and frequency-domain implementations are provided for this algorithm.
Comparison of impedance eduction results using different methods and test rigs

This thesis is motivated by the need for noise control in aircraft engine with orifices and perforated liner. The presence of high-level acoustic excitation, different flow situations either bias flow, grazing flow or any combination in the aircraft engine, makes the acoustic behavior complex due to the interaction between sound and flow over the lined wall. Both systematic acoustic prediction of aircraft engines and liner optimization necessitate progress in impedance measurement methods by including the effect of the complex flow situations. The aim of the present thesis is to experimentally study the change in acoustic properties of orifices and perforated liners under bias or grazing flow.In order to study the effect of different combinations of bias flow and high-level acoustic excitation, an in-duct orifice has been investigated with finely controlled acoustic excitation levels and bias flow speeds. This provides a detailed study of the transition from cases when high-level acoustic excitation causes flow reversal in the orifice to cases when the bias flow maintains the flow direction. Nonlinear impedance is measured and compared, and a scattering matrix and its eigenvalues are investigated to study the potentiality of acoustic energy dissipation or production. A harmonic method is proposed for modelling the impedance, especially the resistance, which captures the change in impedance results at low frequencies compared with experimental results.The presence of grazing flow can increase the resistance of acoustic liners and shift their resonator frequency. So-called impedance eduction technology has been widely studied during the past decades, but with a limited confidence due to the interaction of grazing flow and acoustic waves. A comparison has been performed with different test rigs and methods from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Numerical work has been performed to investigate the effect of shear flow and viscosity. Our study indicates that the impedance eduction process should be consistent with that of the code of wave propagation computation, for example with the same assumption regarding shear flow and viscosity. A systematic analysis for measurement uncertainties is proposed in order to understand the essentials for data quality assessment and model validation. The idea of using different Mach numbers for wave dispersion and in the Ingard-Myers boundary condition has been tested regarding their effect on impedance eduction. In conclusion, a local Mach number based on friction velocity is introduced and validated using both our own experimental results and those of previous studies.
An inspection model of products and their input materials

Consider an input material with a nonconforming probability that is used for the production of a product through a deteriorating process, which is initially maintained in an in-control state, but can randomly shift into an out-of-control state after some products are produced. To economically control the total quality-related cost for a given production lot, an optimal inspection policy for the products and their input materials is proposed. Furthermore, under the optimal inspection policy, a decision on the optimal production lot size is also incorporated. The unique properties and conditions that give the optimal production lot size are explored. Numerical examples are given to illustrate our proposed inspection and production model. The effects of the model's parameter values, such as inspection error rate, unit inspection cost for the input material, unit inspection cost for the product, etc., on the optimal solution are investigated. Finally, some useful insights that should help industrial operations are presented.
Ergonomic Intervention of Reduced Reach Force and Rate Attenuates High Repetition High Force Induced Bone Osteopenia in Distal Forelimb Bones

Using a rat model of overuse, we have shown that prolonged performance of a high repetition high force (HRHF) reaching and grasping task (12 weeks) induced significant osteopenic changes in distal forelimb bones that were attenuated by 8 weeks of ibuprofen treatment. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of an ergonomic intervention of switching rats from a high repetition high force (HRHF) task to a reduced force and reach rate task. Trabecular structure in distal radius and ulna bones was examined in young adult rats performing one of three repetitive handle-pulling tasks for 12 wks: 1) HRHF, 2) low repetition low force (LRLF), or 3) HRHF task for 4 wks and then the LRLF task for 8 wks (HRHF-to-LRLF). Distal forelimb bones of HRHF rats showed enhanced bone resorption. In contrast, HRHF-to-LRLF rats showed no bone resorptive changes, and instead showed increased bone formation. These findings support the idea of reduced workload as an effective approach to management of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and begin to define reach rate and load level boundaries for establishing activity ranges for such interventions.
Identifying Technology Applications Using an Adaptation of the Lead User Method

In this paper, we suggest an approach to application identification based on von Hippel’s lead user method, adapted in such a way that it starts from a given technology rather than from an application area. Our approach complements existing methods for application identification, but it also differs from them by focusing on trends, and thus dynamic aspects of needs, by involving users at the leading edge of the market and by leapfrogging the manufacturer, thus eventually creating market pull from lead users. We describe the method, demonstrate its viability using exploratory case studies, and provide theoretical arguments regarding when and why a disintermediation of the manufacturer is effective.
Prevalence of Low Vision in Owerri Municipal Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria

This study evaluated the prevalence of low vision in Owerri municipal in Imo State, Nigeria. A total of 371 persons within the age of 18-97 years were examined and 60 persons had low vision. Low vision prevalence of 16.21% was found. The age bracket of 71-79 and 80-88 years were mostly affected while the least affected was 8-l6years. The prevalence of low vision was more in female (56.60%) than in males (43.33%). About 60% were above 50 years of age. The major causes of low vision were cataract (35.29%), glaucoma (29.41%) and glaucoma/cataract (23.52%). The most common visual acuity range after low vision assessment was <6/18-6/60 (16.67%), <6/60-3/60 (26.67%), respectively and no light perception (NLP, 13.33%). The findings from our results showed that gender and increase in age were the major risk factors for low vision. The results also established that cataract and glaucoma were the commonest causes of low vision. We therefore suggest that availability of efficient and effective low vision services would go a long way to reduce the burden of low vision in our society.
Image Super Resolution Based on Interpolation of Wavelet Domain High Frequency Subbands and the Spatial Domain Input Image

In this paper, we propose a new super‐resolution technique based on interpolation of the high‐frequency subband images obtained by discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and the input image. The proposed technique uses DWT to decompose an image into different subband images. Then the high‐frequency subband images and the input low‐resolution image have been interpolated, followed by combining all these images to generate a new super‐resolved image by using inverse DWT. The proposed technique has been tested on Lena, Elaine, Pepper, and Baboon. The quantitative peak signal‐to‐noise ratio (PSNR) and visual results show the superiority of the proposed technique over the conventional and state‐of‐art image resolution enhancement techniques. For Lena's image, the PSNR is 7.93 dB higher than the bicubic interpolation.
Design of two-layer six-pole bandpass filter for wireless applications

A new miniaturised microstrip six-pole bandpass filter using a multilayer configuration is proposed. This structure consists of six resonators placed on two stacked layers separated by a common ground plane. In this structure, the mixed coupling between the resonators on the upper layer and those on the lower one is obtained by introducing two identical slots on the common ground plane. To validate this approach, a six-pole bandpass filter prototype was designed, fabricated and measured.
Quantifying the optical sensitivity of planar Bragg gratings in glass micro-cantilevers to physical deflection

Here we introduce a novel technique for characterizing the deflection and force sensitivity of a silica micro-cantilever transducer, with inherently defined planar Bragg gratings. The technique uses a 3D scanning surface profiler to deform the micro-cantilever both vertically and horizontally whilst simultaneously monitoring a set of multiplexed Bragg gratings. By using this characterization technique a theoretical model for the cantilever's optical response is tested.
Sense and Respond: Capturing Value in the Network Era

From the Publisher: Here, in a collection of timely and thought-provoking essays, today's leading technology experts explore how the emerging Network Era is creating opportunities for firms that can adapt to the new "sense and respond" mandate. Editors Stephen Bradley and Richard Nolan have compiled an impressive resource for executives seeking to capture maximum value from information technology. Drawing on a wide range of company and industry examples, the contributors build compelling scenarios that reveal what future customer interactions might look like and address what companies must do - today - to capitalize on emerging opportunities.
COMPARISON OF LYMPH NODE METASTASIS WITH PREOPERATIVE PALPATION, ULTRASONOGRAPHY, AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY FINDINGS AND POSTOPERATIVE HISTOPATHOLOGICAL RESULTS IN PATIENTS WITH HEAD AND NECK SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

COMPARISON OF LYMPH NODE METASTASIS WITH PREOPERATIVE PALPATION, ULTRASONOGRAPHY, AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY FINDINGS AND POSTOPERATIVE HISTOPATHOLOGICAL RESULTS IN PATIENTS WITH HEAD AND NECK SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA Kazım BOZDEMIR, MD; Veysel YURTTAŞ, MD; Alper ATA, MD; Behçet TARLAK, MD; Hasan ÇAKAR, MD; Hüseyin ÇETIN, MD; Aykut ONURSEVER, MD; Ahmet KUTLUHAN, MD Ankara Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Kulak Burun Boğaz Bölümü, kulak burun boğaz, Ankara, Türkiye Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi Kulak Burun Boğaz Ana Bilim Dalı, kulak burun boğaz, Bolu, Türkiye Mersin Devlet Hastanesi, Medikal Onkoloji Bölümü, onkoloji, Mersin, Türkiye Ankara Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Radyoloji Bölümü, radyoloji, Ankara, Türkiye Ankara Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Patoloji Bölümü, patoloji, Ankara, Türkiye