Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Full Spectrum Training and Development: Soldier Skills and Attributes

Abstract : Counterinsurgency (COIN) is essentially a human endeavor that taxes the full spectrum of human capabilities. The challenges of COIN and Full Spectrum Operations (FSO) require a complementary approach to Soldier preparation referred to here as Full Spectrum Training and Development (FSTD). The goal of the research described in this report was to develop an exemplary guide for FSTD focused on the skills and attributes needed for reconnaissance leaders in FSO. This goal was achieved by developing and evaluating a guide designed to help instructors facilitate collaborative learning. The guide incorporated principles and best practices of peer-to-peer training to directly support instructors teaching reconnaissance leader skills and attributes. During development the guide underwent iterative review by course leaders and instructors as well as behavioral research scientists. The guide was then evaluated and revised based on two operational implementations. Empirical data from the evaluations suggested the guide is a valuable and welcome resource for instructors and course leaders. The report includes suggestions for extending the methodology to other U.S. Army courses.
Migration and gender dynamics of irrigation governance in Nepal

Nepal has a long history of irrigation, including government and farmer-managed irrigation systems that are laborand skill-intensive. Widespread male migration has important effects on Nepalese society. How institutions such as Water Users’ Associations (WUAs) respond and adapt, is therefore critical to the understanding of rural transformation and the likely impact on gender equality, food production, and rural livelihoods. This paper examines the effects of male migration on institutional change in WUAs, women’s roles, technological change, and outcomes affecting effectiveness of irrigation systems based on a mixed methods study, combining a phone survey of 336 WUA leaders from all provinces in Nepal with qualitative data from case studies in 10 irrigation systems. Results indicate WUAs have adapted rules to increase women’s participation, and to monetize the contributions for maintenance. Women exercise agency in whether and how to interact with WUAs. Mechanization has reduced the need for some male labor, though the ability to mechanize is limited by hilly terrain and small plot sizes. Overall, systems are adapting to male migration, with relatively low idling of land or labor shortages causing deterioration of the systems, though there are concerns with the high levels of women’s labor burdens.
Patterns of neural activity associated with honest and dishonest moral decisions

What makes people behave honestly when confronted with opportunities for dishonest gain? Research on the interplay between controlled and automatic processes in decision making suggests 2 hypotheses: According to the ‘‘Will’’ hypothesis, honesty results from the active resistance of temptation, comparable to the controlled cognitive processes that enable the delay of reward. According to the ‘‘Grace’’ hypothesis, honesty results from the absence of temptation, consistent with research emphasizing the determinationofbehaviorbythepresenceorabsenceofautomatic processes. To test these hypotheses, we examined neural activity in individuals confronted with opportunities for dishonest gain. Subjects undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) gained money by accurately predicting the outcomes of computerized coin-ﬂips. In some trials, subjects recorded their predictions in advance. In other trials, subjects were rewarded based on self-reported accuracy, allowing them to gain money dishonestly by lying about the accuracy of their predictions. Many subjects behaved dishonestly, as indicated by improbable levels of ‘‘accuracy. ’’ Our ﬁndings support the Grace hypothesis. Individuals who behaved honestly exhibited no additional control-related activity (or other kind of activity) when choosing to behave honestly, as compared with a control condition in which there was no opportunity for dishonest gain. In contrast, individuals who behaved dishonestly exhibited increased activity in control-related regions of prefrontal cortex, both when choosing to behave dishonestly and on occasions when they refrained from dishonesty. Levels of activity in these regions correlated with the frequency of dishonesty in individuals.
Short-Term Traffic and Travel Time Prediction Models

Road traffic is the visible result of the complex interplay between traffic demand (the amount and mix of vehicles arriving at a particular place and time) and traffic supply (e.g., capacity, prevailing speeds, and other average traffic characteristics). As a result, short-term prediction of road traffic variables is a complex nonlinear task that has been the subject of many research efforts in the past few decades. The term “short term” usually entails that the variables of interest are predicted for a period up to 1 h ahead, although the exact definition differs largely between approaches. In practical terms, short-term traffic prediction is an important if not critical component for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and particularly in traffic control and traffic information provision. This paper briefly discusses some general aspects related to short-term traffic prediction. It then provides a taxonomy of the many different approaches reported in the literature for the general problem of short-term traffic prediction; in these cases, artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are discussed either as a complete solution or as part of a hybrid approach to short-term prediction.
New Media and a New Learning Culture

U raspravi se kriticki analizira nastanak nove kulture ucenja potpomognute razvitkom digitalnih medija. U prvom dijelu analizira se pojam nove kulture ucenja i navode njezina bitna obilježja. U tom okviru obrađuju se i brojni novi oblici ucenja, posebno u kontekstu obrazovanja odraslih i cjeloživotnog obrazovanja. Primjena novih medija i novih oblika ucenja izazvala je znacajne promjene u tradicionalnoj kulturi poucavanja. U analizi tih promjena polazi se od konstruktivisticke paradigme ucenja koja je bitno promijenila neke spoznaje o prirodi procesa ucenja i poucavanja. S tim u skladu razmatraju se i problemi nove organizacije ucenja i nastave, te uloga nastavnika u tim procesima. Posebno se razmatra i znacenje koje nova WEB 2 tehnologija ima za obrazovanje.
LIMIT-CYCLE-OSCILLATION EXPERIMENTS AT A TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT WING MODEL

Experiments have been performed in order to explore the Limit-Cycle Oscillation (LCO) behavior of a transport aircraft wing at transonic airspeeds. Therefore an aeroelastically scaled model of the outer part of a typical wing has been designed for investigations in a wind tunnel. The research model has a supercritical airfoil and an aspect ratio of 3.68 with a leading-edge sweepback angle of 32°. The static and dynamic structural properties as well as the aerodynamic shape of the wing model are reported. Experiments have been conducted in order to determine its static aeroelastic behavior. The LCO behavior can be investigated depending on several inflow parameters. The research model provides an excellent opportunity for investigating the governing physics of LCOs due to its properties and its instrumentation.
Building Stata: The Design and Construction of Frank O. Gehry's Stata Center at MIT

This stunning, lavishly illustrated book chronicles the entire planning and construction process of the Frank Gehry-designed Ray and Maria Stata Center at MIT. Taking us from the historical background and architectural context at MIT through the interaction of the clients' needs and the architect's vision to the choice of building materials and construction methods, Building Stata offers a uniquely detailed look at the evolution of a major work by a master architect.The purpose of the Stata Center is to bring the "intelligence sciences"--computer science, artificial intelligence, information and decision systems, linguistics, and philosophy--together into a space that emphasizes research-focused collaboration. Frank Gehry's design integrates flexible and interconnected workspaces and incorporates a series of steps from public to private space, with places for social and intellectual interaction on lower levels giving way to space for study and contemplation on the upper floors; thus a two-level warehouse-like space is topped by two towers. The Center is wrapped around a series of outdoor terraces visible from a central court in both towers. The characteristic Gehry curves are clad in metal, the more block-like elements in brick.The architectural drawings and photographs -- 300 of them in color -- in Building Stata document the making of the Stata Center from concept to concrete reality. The photographs by Richard Sobol portray a work in progress, evoking the beauty of its architectural form and capturing the telling detail -- the building's sculptured shape against a clear blue sky, or construction workers perched on a massive curve of metal.
VARIANCE RATIO TESTS OF THE RANDOM WALK HYPOTHESIS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN STOCK FUTURES

The hypothesis that stock futures follow a random walk is tested for four stock index futures and a sample of 36 single stock futures traded on the JSE Securities Exchange, South Africa, using joint variance ratio tests based on (i) ranks and signs and (ii) wild bootstrapping. Overall, there is a high degree of weak-form efficiency: all four stock index futures and twenty-five of the sample of 36 single stock futures follow a random walk.
MODELING CRUTCH COMPENSATION OF HIP ABDUCTOR WEAKNESS AND PARALYSIS

Title of dissertation: MODELING CRUTCH COMPENSATION OF HIP ABDUCTOR WEAKNESS AND PARALYSIS James Rocco Borrelli, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Dissertation directed by: Henry W. Haslach Jr. Department of Mechanical Engineering Hip abductor weakness or paralysis is prevalent in the half a million cases of low level spinal injuries in the United States alone. Crutches are often used as an ambulatory aid by individuals with this type of permanent disability. This study investigates whether using a crutch with a wide stance, as opposed to a conventional vertical stance, returns the hip rotation and pelvic obliquity to a more normal range of motion for individuals with weak or paralyzed hip abductors. An inverse dynamics six link model of the body with ten degrees of freedom and a forward dynamics six link model with six degrees of freedom were used to simulate the swing and stance phases of gait with hip abductor weakness/paralysis while using either compensatory motions (hip hiking or lateral displacement of the torso) or crutches. The forward dynamics model characterizes the effect of hip abductor weakness on the gait kinematics hip rotation and pelvic obliquity. The model also characterizes the effect of compensatory motions and crutch use on gait with paralyzed hip abductors. The inverse dynamics model calculates the time varying body weight that must be supported on a contralateral crutch to achieve normal gait kinematics even with paralyzed hip abductors. The forward dynamics model predicts that hip abductor paralysis reduces the range of pelvic obliquity and increases the range of hip rotation. The model also predicts that compensatory motions and crutch use restore the range of motion of hip rotation and pelvic obliquity in gait with paralyzed hip abductors to more normal. The inverse dynamics model predicts that the portion of body weight that must be supported on a crutch for normal gait kinematics with paralyzed hip abductors is lowered by using a wide crutch stance. This study suggests that contralateral crutch use replaces the need for the compensatory motions hip hiking and lateral displacement of the torso while restoring the range of hip rotation and pelvic obliquity to more normal ranges in an individual with weak or paralyzed hip abductors. Furthermore, angling the crutch side-to-side restores the range while supporting less body weight on a contralateral crutch. MODELING CRUTCH COMPENSATION OF HIP ABDUCTOR WEAKNESS AND PARALYSIS
Compressive sensing with prior information applied to magnetic resonance imaging

This dissertation introduces the theory of compressive sensing with prior information about a signal’s sparse representation. We show, mathematically and in numerical simulations, that prior information improves signal reconstruction, in terms of number of required measurements, computation time and signal-to-noise ratios. Following, we present a set of methods for enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and tomography that can be combined with prior information, for enhanced image quality. In developing the theory of compressive sensing with prior information, we provide a mathematical proof of the required condition (in terms of number of linear measurements) for reconstruction using the ideal approach of l0-minimization, as well as the necessary and sufficient conditions for reconstruction using l1-minimization. We then develop the theory for evaluating the probability of reconstruction when dealing with stochastic signals, both in the case without and with prior information. Furthermore, we compare the proposed models with the empirical probability of reconstruction, by evaluating in Monte-Carlo simulations the percentage of cases in which the conditions for reconstruction with prior information are satisfied, opposed to compressive sensing without prior information. These analyzes show that prior information about the sparse representation’s support reduces the number of linear measurements required to reconstruct a signal, both in terms of the theoretical lower bound and of the l1-minimization procedure, commonly used in the compressive sensing literature. Regarding practical reconstruction algorithms, we provide an optimization procedure for compressive sensing with prior information based on lp-minimization. The experimental results show that further improvement can be obtained by combining support prior informa-
Use of Warning Signs and Markings to Reduce Speeds on Curves

Sharp horizontal curves can pose dangers to the driver when dealing with speed adjustment, vehicle placement, and judgment of the appropriate operating speed. Roadway designers use various warning methods to aid drivers in such situations, primarily with warning signs and pavement markings. There is a suspicion, however, that these devices are often misinterpreted or disregarded by drivers, thus reducing their effectiveness and not achieving intended reduction in operating speeds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of several warning signs and pavement markings at problematic rural horizontal curves, and to evaluate their effectiveness in relation to speed reduction. A series of treatments, including one-direction large arrow signs, chevron alignment signs, the new sign that combines horizontal alignment and advisory speed, addition of flags to the existing sign, addition of flashing lights to the existing sign, post delineators, and transverse lines, was applied to three curves and speed data were collected over a two-day period at three locations approaching the curve over a distance of approximately 350 m. The results indicated that the most promising treatments in reducing operating speeds are flashing lights and transverse lines. An analysis of the over the 85th percentile speeds showed also significant reductions indicating that there was a greater impact for the higher operating speeds: a fact which could be considered more important than the smaller overall reductions noted. Another treatment that also showed some potential for reducing speeds is the new combination sign.
Loss analysis of crystalline silicon solar cells using photoconductance and quantum efficiency measurements

Summary of Chapter 2 The three-dimensional transport in solar cells with periodically arranged rear point contacts wassuccessfully reduced to a one-dimensional calculation. A new analytical formulation attributes aneffective surface recombination velocity S eff to the inhomogeneous rear surface. It is based on arelationship between the effective diffusion length and the series resistance in the base that be-came obvious after rigorously decoupling the transport problem. An approximation for this seriesresistance was derived which, for the first time, remains valid in every asymptote of the involvedparameters. Scaling laws helped to reduce the number of these parameters to only two; the cover-age fraction f and the period to cell thickness ratio l P . The final equation for the effective SRVreads fsf l f l f sls passP P metPeff −++−= − 11 1exp2arctan2 1 ππ,with s i = S i W / D , the SRV at the contacts S met and between the contacts S pass . The results are in goodagreement with three-dimensional simulations using a numerical Fourier-transform technique.A new method was found to discuss the effects of carrier lifetime variations in multicrystal-line solar cells without the need to assume a particular lifetime distribution. It consists in rules,expressed as a number
Machine-learning classification techniques for the analysis and prediction of high-frequency stock direction

This thesis explores predictability in the market and then designs a decision support framework that can be used by traders to provide suggested indications of future stock price direction along with an associated probability of making that move. Markets do not remain stable and approaches that are highly predictive at one moment may cease to be so as more traders spot the patterns and adjust their trading techniques. Ideally, if these “concept drifts” could be anticipated, then the trader could store models to use with each specific market condition (or concept) and later apply those models to incoming data. The assumption however is that the future is uncertain, therefore future concepts are still undecided. Maintaining a model with only the most up-to-date price data is not necessarily the most ideal choice since the market may stabilize and old knowledge may become useful again. Additionally, decreasing training times to enable modified classifiers to work with streaming high-frequency stock data may result in decreases in performance (e.g. accuracy or AUC) due to insufficient learning times. Our framework takes a different approach to learning with drifting concepts, which is to assume that concept drift occurs and builds this into the model. The framework adapts to these market changes by building thousands of traditional base classifiers (SVMs, Decision Trees, and Neural Networks), using random subsets of past data, and covering similar (sector) stocks and heuristically combining the best of these base classifiers. This “ensemble”, or pool of multiple models selected to achieve better predictive per-
The diagnostic value of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test in young women with cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion: A Retrospective Analysis

Background At present, the HPV DNA test is used to triage young female patients with abnormal cytology. Still, it is not suitable to precisely identify the population with persistent HPV infection. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of HPV E6/E7 mRNA test in young women with abnormal cytology by comparing HPV DNA test.Methods A total of 258 young women aged 20 to 29 years,with squamous cell abnormalities on the cervical cytology, were enrolled in this study between January 2015 and December 2019.All patients were subject to HPV DNA test, HPV E6/E7mRNA test,colposcopy biopsy, and histopathological examination.A comparative analysis of the diagnostic performance of the HPV DNA test and HPV E6/E7mRNA test was conducted according to the histological diagnosis(CIN II and CIN II+were defined as high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion+(HSIL+)). Results The results showed that HPV E6/E7 mRNA test had a higher specificity of 47.3%(40.0%-55.1%) for HSIL+ compared to HPV DNA test that had specificity of 16.0% (11.0%-22.6%)in young women(P<0.01). The HPV E6/E7 mRNA test presented high rates of specificity,positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value(NPV), which were 92.1%(86.0%-96.0%), 62.1%(42.4%-78.7%), 92.1%(85.9%-95.8%), respectively, compared to that of HPV DNA,which were 15.8%(10.4%-23.2%),14.6%(9.40%-21.9%), and 71.0%(51.8%-85.1%),respectively(P<0.01)in young women with mildly abnormal cytology(ASC-US and LSIL). Yet, with severe abnormal cytology(ASC-H and HSIL), HR-HPV test was similar to HPV E6/E7 mRNA test in sensitivity(χ2=0.98,P=0.322),specificity(χ2=0.938,P=0.333),PPV(χ2=0.074,P=0.786) and NPV(χ2=0.00,P=1.000). Conclusions Compared to the HPV DNA test,the HPV E6 /E7mRNA test has better clinical value in screening cervical cancer and predicting the risk of HSIL+ in young women, especially those with mild abnormal cytology.
PH—Postharvest Technology: Physical Properties of Raw Cashew Nut

Abstract Physical properties of raw cashew nut were evaluated as a function of moisture content. The average dimension of three principal axes ( viz. , length, width, thickness), mass ratio, equivalent diameter and sphericity were measured at a moisture content of 8·46% d.b. The 100 nut mass, porosity, bulk density, true density and coefficient of friction were determined for moisture contents ranging from 3·15 to 20·05% d.b. It was found that the 100 nut mass and true density of raw cashew nuts increased with increased moisture content. The porosity and bulk density decreased linearly as the moisture content increased. The coefficient of friction on various surfaces increased with increase in moisture content. Cardboard as a surface for sliding offered the maximum friction followed by galvanized iron, aluminium and glass.
Systems alignment: linking tertiary institution learning modes and graduate attributes to business enhancement

In recent years moves towards flexible learning have taken many forms across the tertiary institution sector. Along the way, many formats and approaches have been trialed. Previous research has examined influences between tertiary learning modes and student outcomes, or the influences between student outcomes and graduate students’ employability. This paper takes a holistic view, and develops a Business Value Enhancement Model, which maps the tertiary institution learning offerings to student learning outcomes, and to business enhancement (delivered by employed graduate students).
Stability Analysis of Seed Yield of Ethiopian Caraway (Trachyspermum ammi L. Sprague ex Turrill) Genotypes in Multi-Environment Trials

Twelve Ethiopian caraway genotypes were evaluated in eight environments in Ethiopia during 2014 and 2015 under rain fed condition. The field experiment was laid out using randomized complete block design with three replications. The objective of this experiment was to select high yielding and stable Ethiopian caraway genotypes with nonparametric methods. Combined analysis of variance was performed and ten rank-based nonparametric stability parameters were measured. A pooled analysis variance for seed yield indicated that there were highly significant (P<0.001) differences for main effects of genotype, environment and their interaction. The results of principal component analysis revealed that the stability statistics and yield were classified into three groups and related to two contrasting concept of stability. In this study, TOP and rank-sum were found to be useful measures for simultaneously selecting high yield and stable cultivars. These measures selected Gondar 027-2001 and Gondar 023-2000 that gave 2254.7 Kg ha-1 and 2186.1 Kg ha-1 seed yield respectively, as stable and the National Variety Release Committee has released these genotypes as the first Ethiopian caraway varieties for production in 2017.