Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Process principles and improvements: A case study of the healthcare industry

Process improvements have been on the rise in the healthcare industry as leaders have worked to improve quality, eliminate waste, improve patient safety, while remaining competitive in a dampening economy. Decades ago, healthcare organizations utilized Total Quality Management, continuous quality improvement, and balanced score cards as a means to survive in a highly competitive market, without any real success. In 2010, the current healthcare practices are not yet sustainable in today’s unstable economic climate, until lean was introduced. Lean, a term coined by those who compared Toyotas methods to those of other manufacturers, is an antidote that seeks to identify and eliminate waste or non-value-added work and in many ways helps to improve overall quality of care. Healthcare organizations that have successfully implemented lean and kaizen process improvements have experienced significant cost savings, improved operations, and improved overall quality in their organization. This case study was prepared to understand the effectiveness of lean and kaizen as it is subjectively experienced by participants (i.e., employees), who are the subject matter experts, at a private hospital in a northwest state. The participants consisted of subject matter experts employed at a private hospital in a northwest state. Individual interviews and observation of subject matter experts in the hospital were the only data collection methodologies utilized. Data analysis consisted of identifying common themes in participant’s individual experiences of lean methodology. Data were categorized in three categories: training and education, application of lean and kaizen principles, and lean and kaizen process improvements. Information was coded and common themes extracted to adequately answer the research questions. iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my late father, Spencer Scott Jr., who will not get the chance to see me receive my degree. And last to my partner, Carlton Hutton, who has been by my side throughout this entire journey. Thank you both for your support.
Garut Flash Flood Victim's Families: Relation Between Stress Management and Family Resilience of Based on Residence and Post-disaster Time

This research aimed to analyze stress management (stressors, coping strategies, and stress symptoms) and family resilience (process and output) of garut flash flood victim families at 1 and 4 months post-disaster. This cross-sectional study involved 120 families (each 60 from the temporary shelter (FTS) and nontemporary shelter (FNTS)) who were chosen by stratified non-proportional random sampling. The results showed that FNTS faced higher stressors and did higher coping strategies than FTS, either at 1 or 4 months post-disaster. Stress symptoms were also higher among FNTS at 1-month post-disaster, while the output of family resilience was higher in FTS at 4 months post-disaster. Stressors significantly influenced stress symptoms at 1-month post-disaster, coping strategies and the process of family resilience. In contrast, stressors influenced stress symptoms at 4 months post-disaster, coping strategies and stress symptoms 1-month post-disaster. The process of family resilience influenced the output of family resilience at 1-month post-disaster. In contrast, the output of family resilience at 4 month post-disaster was influenced by residence, family income per capita, stressors and the process of family resilience. This study reinforces the importance of family resilience in disaster-prone areas.
The Guinardera quarry (Sant Martí de Tous, Barcelona): A new chert exploitation location during historical times

In 2014, an anthropic accumulation of chert material was discovered in La Guinardera area, at the southwest of the Sant Martí de Tous town (Barcelona, NE Iberian Peninsula). In 2018 a first archaeological intervention was carried out in two locations: La Guinardera and La Guinardera Nord. After the fieldworks, these two accumulations were interpreted as chert workshops. These workshops are in the St. Genís Formation, included within La Noguera lacustrine system and dated to the Priabonian age (upper Eocene). The St. Martí de Tous area presents shallow lacustrine conditions typical of sabkha environments, in which layers of gypsums and sandy lutites are interspersed with tabular red sandstone levels, yielding different varieties of chert. The Guinardera chert is characterized by a fairly homogeneous matrix, presenting a fine texture, with a microcrystalline and spherulitic length-slow chalcedony matrix, and a combination of grey colours, in general of dark hues, with an opaque diaphaneity but translucent at the edges. The archaeological assemblage from La Guinardera Nord site allows us to identify a chert workshop for the production of gunflints. The heterogeneity of the assemblage at La Guinardera site precludes assigning it to any single chrono-cultural period or function. The technological characterization of La Guinardera Nord site reveals distinctive attributes of a gunflint workshop that can be differentiated from prehistoric workshops. The presence of square and thick preforms, oxide traces on butts and ventral faces, marked bulbs and thick platforms, together with fresh edges on flakes and blades and the near-absence of patinated materials, corroborate it. The presence of these two deposits within the above-mentioned formation shows us a repeated landscape exploitation pattern for raw material extraction, since references chert use range from the Middle Palaeolithic (e.g., Abric Romaní) to historical times (e.g., La Guinardera Nord).
Tuned Window for Standing Wave Linear Accelerators

This paper proposes a dielectric window for Standing Wave Linear Accelerators (LINAC's) which can be tuned after brazing and welding, in order to compensate the electro-magnetic alteration due to these production processes. This study investigates the in-frequency return loss behavior of the LINAC, in order to improve matching and transmitting conditions while maintaining the optimum coupling between LINAC and High Power Microwave (HPMW) source. Device design is single-frequency based and considers the dielectric window interface as an Input Matching Network (IMN) at the LINAC normal mode working frequency. Thus, design formulas are provided and Computer Aided Design techniques are proposed. A prototype has been made and tested by performing cold S-parameter measurements of a LINAC with the proposed dielectric window and with a traditional dielectric window. The proposed device offers more energy transport attitude over the traditional dielectric window, as shown by a return loss increase of 167% of the complete system.
Phenylketonuria Patients’ and Their Caregivers’ Perception of the Pandemic Lockdown: The Results of a National Online Survey

The first pandemic lockdown dramatically impacted many aspects of everyday life, including healthcare systems. The purpose of this study was to identify problems of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) and their parents/caregivers during that time. We aimed to analyse potential differences in the self-reported compliance and characteristics of contacts with a doctor/dietitian before and during the pandemic lockdown and the perception of access to special food and opinions on remote contacts between a particular group of respondents. All participants (n = 614) were asked to complete an online questionnaire that consisted of 31 questions on pandemic-related events and circumstances which may have directly or indirectly impacted health and treatment. The people who completed the survey were divided into three groups: parents of PKU children (n = 403), parents of PKU adults (n = 58) and PKU patients older than 16 years (n = 153). The differences among the three analysed groups were found in the number of contacts, the way of contacting a doctor/dietitian during the pandemic and satisfaction with remote contact. Caregivers of children with PKU reported better therapy compliance, more frequent contacts with specialists and more satisfaction with remote visits than adult patients. We also observed a relationship between satisfaction from remote contact and self-reported frequency of contacts with a doctor/dietitian, as well as a relationship between satisfaction from remote contact and recommended blood Phe levels reported by both patients and caregivers. Travel time exceeding three hours from the respondents’ location to their doctor was associated with higher odds of their recognition of remote contact as a method of PKU treatment only in the group of caregivers. In the caregiver groups, the reported worse access to low-Phe products during the lockdown was linked to the perceived difficulty of maintaining the diet. However, such a relationship was not found among patients. In conclusion, significant differences in the perception of the pandemic lockdown and its impact on health and treatment-related issues were found.
Determination of Time Domain Reflectometry Surface Sensors Sensitivity Depending on Geometry and Material Moisture

The article concerns the electric techniques of moisture detection that are based on the evaluation of the apparent permittivity of the tested medium. The main goal of the research was to evaluate the non-invasive Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) sensors’ sensitivity by measuring the span of elements and material moisture. To that aim, two non-invasive sensor designs were investigated for their sensitivity in the evaluation of the apparent permittivity value of aerated concrete. Sensors A and B were characterized by the spacing between the measuring elements equal to 30 mm and 70 mm, respectively. The tested samples differed in moisture, ranging between 0 and 0.3 cm3/cm3 volumetric water content. Within the research, it was stated that in the case of the narrower sensor (A), the range of the sensor equals about 30 mm, and in the case of the wider design (B), it equals about 50 mm. Additionally, it was stated that material moisture influences the range of sensor influence. In the case of the dry and low-saturated material, it was not possible to evaluate the range of sensor sensitivity using the adopted method, whereas the range of sensor signal influence was visible for the moist material.
The Effects of Resistance Training on Junior Golfers' Strength and On-Course Performance

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of resistance training on strength characteristics in junior golfers and observe the effect this has on golf performance. The study used a quasi-experimental design. Junior golfers (n = 30) were recruited and allocated to either an intervention (n = 20) or a control (n = 10) group for the 12-week study period. Assessments were conducted at baseline and 12 weeks. The primary outcome was change in strength over the intervention period. Effects on handicap were also assessed. No significant differences were found between groups at baseline for handicap or physical fitness variables. The intervention resulted in strength increases with all variables showing moderate to high effect sizes (d = 0.64–0.96). There was a moderate effect size for handicap (d = 0.42). Resistance-training programs can positively affect strength characteristics in junior golfers, which may influence golf performance.
INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF SALT DUST CAUSED BY DRYING OF URMIA LAKE ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

Due to the gradual drying of parts of Urmia Lake, several centers of salt dust which is created and influence the agriculture, economy, public health and causes migrations within the region of the Urmia Lake. Hence, knowing the temporal and spatial distribution of this phenomenon is very important to quantify these effects. In the present study, using Sentinel-5 and MODIS products for 2020 in the Google Earth system, have shown despite month-to-month fluctuations, has an increasing trend and the incremental changes of fine dust are more considerable in May and June and their dispersal are greater in the northern and northwestern cities in the basin of the Urmia Lake. The distribution of fine dust in the cities of Tabriz, Shabestar, Urmia, Mahabad, Khoy, Salmas, and Tabak, shows heavy concentrations of the dusts, and exhibits destructive impacts on the economy (60.80%) in December and also has adverse effects on the health index. And most of the referrals of people suffering from diseases caused by fine dust in December is (47.50%). The two indicators of agriculture and migration are closely related and the most effects of salt dust for these two indicators showed (15%) in November and (40.51%) in July, respectively. According to the results, it can be said that these dust particles have the greatest impact on the indices (migration, economy, agriculture, and health) of urban regions of the basin of Urmia Lake from 2019 to 2020. The results of this study can directly contribute to the decision-making process by the local authorities to understand the environmental problems across urban and rural areas of Urmia lakes which is at considerable risk.
Aerodynamic Investigation of the Tip Leakage Flow for Blades With Different Tip Squealer Geometries at Transonic Conditions

Modern high pressure turbines operate at high velocity and high temperature conditions. The gap existing above a turbine rotor blade is responsible for an undesirable tip leakage flow. It is a source of high aerodynamic losses and high heat transfer rates. A better understanding of the tip flow behaviour is needed to provide a more efficient cooling design in this region. The objective of this paper is to investigate the tip leakage flow for a blade with two different squealer tips and film-cooling applied on the pressure side and through tip dust holes in a non-rotating, linear cascade arrangement. The experiments were performed in the VKI Light Piston Compression Tube facility, CT-2. The tip gap flow was investigated by oil flow visualisations and by wall static and total pressure measurements. Two geometries were tested — a full squealer and a partial suction side squealer. The measurements were performed in the blade tip region, including the squealer rim and on the corresponding end-wall for engine representative values of outlet Reynolds and Mach numbers. The main flow structures in the cavity were put in evidence. Positive influence of the coolant on the tip gap flow and on the aerodynamic losses was found for the full squealer tip case: increasing the coolant mass-flow increased the tip gap flow resistance. The flow through the clearance therefore slows down, the tip gap mass-flow and the heat transfer respectively decreases. No such effect of cooling was found in the case of the partial suction side squealer geometry. The absence of a pressure side squealer rim resulted in a totally different tip gap flow topology, indifferent to cooling. The influence of cooling on the overall mass-weighted thermodynamic loss coefficient, which takes into account the different energies of the mainstream and coolant flows was found marginal for both geometries. Finally the overall loss coefficient was found to be higher for the partial suction side squealer tip than for the full squealer tip. © 2009 ASME
Direct Displacement-Based Seismic Design of Eccentrically Braced Steel Frames

A series of eccentrically braced frames (EBF) are designed and subjected to nonlinear analyses to highlight ambiguities and differences in current seismic design provisions for EBF structures. This provides motivation to implement better guidance for the checking of local displacement demand considerations and move towards a displacement-based design approach. A recently proposed direct displacement-based design (DDBD) procedure for EBFs is then described and further developed in this article through the calibration of a spectral displacement reduction factors that relate the displacement of an inelastically responding structure to that of the equivalent linear representation used in the DDBD of EBFs. Such an expression is calibrated as part of this study using an experimentally validated numerical model also proposed here for the EBF links such that the actual hysteretic behavior of the links is well represented. The DDBD guidelines are applied to EBF systems from 1–15 stories in height and their performance is verified via nonlinear dynamic analyses using two different sets of design spectrum compatible ground motions. The results of the study indicate the robustness of the proposed DDBD method in limiting the interstory drifts to design limits for a variety of EBF systems with short links, thus demonstrating that the proposed DDBD method is an effective tool for seismic design of EBFs.
Design of Coil Specifications in EDS Maglev Using Optimization Program

Eight figure coils for EDS can generate not only levitation force but also propulsion and guidance forces. Besides, on-board power is gained by utilizing a harmonic magnetic field generated by these coils. It is desirable for economic efficiency that these same coils fulfill that many functions, but it is difficult to design these coils balanced for that many functions. In addition, there are various specifications to design these coils because there should be an asymmetric figure between upper and lower coils to elevate the stability between guidance and rolling, improvement of which contributes to build up the take off velocity. On the contrary, some electrical machines are designed by adopting the optimization program. This paper describes application of the optimization program for the coil specifications in EDS maglev which combines propulsion, levitation, guidance and linear generator. Using numerical examples, the specifications for optimizing each function and combined functions are examined and the relationships between the specifications and the functions are revealed.
Improved Spectral Purity of 222‐nm Irradiation Eliminates Detectable Cyclobutylpyrimidine Dimers Formation in Skin Reconstructs even at High and Repetitive Disinfecting Doses

UVC222 nm has germicidal effects with potential clinical applications. However, UVC irradiation is capable of inducing DNA damage like cyclobutylpyrimidine dimers (CPD). Although new devices have emission peaks in the short‐wavelength region of UVC (~222 nm), the remaining “collateral” radiation at longer wavelengths could be harmful to human health. We investigated the DNA damage caused by far‐UVC 222 nm KrCl exciplex radiation on human skin reconstructs after additional filtering using silica filters. The skin reconstructs were irradiated with 100 mJ cm−2, 500 mJ cm−2, and 3 × 500 mJ cm−2 unfiltered and filtered (230–270 nm suppressed) far‐UVC or UVB (308 nm) radiation. UVB and non‐filtered UVC irradiation induced a significant amount of CPDs, compared with the background. Filtered far‐UVC lowered the CPD amount compared with unfiltered UVC and UVB treatments. Repetitive UVC irradiation did not result in the accumulation of CPDs compared with UVB treatment. Reduction in excess of 99.9% of E. coli, S. aureus and C. albicans was detected after applying far‐UVC radiation. This identifies a therapeutic window in which microorganisms are killed but tissue is still alive and not damaged, which could give rise to new clinical applications.
Seismic vulnerability assessment of power transmission networks : a system thinking approach

Electrical power transmission systems are essential to the economy and well-being of modern societies. The systems consist of power generating facilities, substations, and supervisory control and data acquisition, which are inter-connected through transmission lines arranged within a high dimensional network (i.e., large amount of edges and nodes). Efficiency and service quality are influenced by reliability of this network. Therefore, identification of critical components and vulnerability analysis become paramount, in particular, in regions where seismic activity is significant. In this research a novel methodology for seismic vulnerability assessment of power transmission systems is developed. The analysis is carried out from the perspective of both the system’s form (i.e., topological-electrical importance of elements) and system’s strength (i.e., probability of failure). The form combines the electrical properties of the network (e.g., electrical distance, power flow) with the systems approach via hierarchical network decomposition. On the other hand, the strength focuses on evaluating the probability of failure by means of the physical consequences of multiple earthquakes scenarios. Therefore, the vulnerability measure presents a trade–off between strength and form. Sensitivity analysis is carried out, where the influence of each perspective (i.e., form and strength) in the vulnerability measure is exhibited. Finally, different techniques for identification of critical components are compared with the proposed methodology. The results showed that the proposed approach exhibit features that provide a better understanding of seismic vulnerability of power systems than traditional approaches.
Formação de mudas e produção de frutos de berinjela Eggplant seedlings and fruits production

Viewing to increase the availability of quality vegetables in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, an ex- periment was carried out in the Mato Grosso do Sul State University at its Aquidauana unit in which procedures for the production of eggplant seedlings were studied. The experiment lasted from October of 2008 to March of 2009. Initially, seedlings of the 'Comprida Roxa' eggplant cultivar were developed under the following greenhouse conditions: 1- greenhouse roof covered with a light diffuser polyeth- ylene 150 µm film; 2- nursery whose roof was made by a monofilament screen (Sombrite®) to reduce luminosity to 50% of its normal value; 3- nursery whose roof was made by an aluminized thermal-re- flective screen (Aluminet®) also to reduce luminosity to 50% of its normal value. The seedlings were produced in 72 celled trays filled with the following substrates: 1- 86% of Plantmax® + 14% of an organic compound; 2- 86% of soil + 14% of the organic compound, and 3- 86% of coconut fiber + 14% of the organic compound. The experiment was carried out in a completely random design and a split- plot scheme with 15 replications for the production of seedlings in the protected environments and in a completely random design with 10 repetitions for the production of fruits in the field. The best eggplant seedlings were formed in the substrate "Plantmax® + the organic compound" regardless of the envi- ronment. The seedlings resulting from the combinations "Environments + Plantmax® + organic com- pound" were those originating the most productive plants in the field.