Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Webonomics : Nine Essential Principles for Growing Your Business on the World Wide Web

From the Publisher: The World Wide Web has become the most important new communications medium since television, with tens of millions of people now on-line and Web sites springing up at the rate of one per minute. It has also created a digital marketplace where consumers can search for the best deals and services in an instant. While almost everyone agrees that the Web provides excellent marketing opportunities, many businesses don't know how to use it effectively and have been losing millions of dollars because of it. In Webonomics, Evan I. Schwartz shows how the new Web economy mirrors the traditional economy in some ways but also exhibits entirely unique properties of its own. Using numerous case studies of corporations such as IBM, Volvo, Playboy Enterprises, and Wells Fargo bank, as well as smaller companies and web-based start-ups, Schwartz documents both the tremendous failures and successes on the Web in a multitude of industries. Defining nine essential principles for growing your business on the Web, Schwartz challenges the conventional wisdom and shows how using traditional business approaches on the Web can backfire. Why are some products better suited to being sold on the Web than others? Why are certain brand names gaining status and how do you create and then reinforce yours? What are the new patterns of consumer behavior? Webonomics answers these questions and shows how to capture the only scarce commodity on this information-based terrain: the attention of the busy people who are spending time there. Putting the frenetic activity in a context, Schwartz delves into the new economic rules, new forms of currency, new ways to do businessglobally, and shows how to add value to existing products and build customer loyalty. In addition to offering practical wisdom, Webonomics tells a larger story about life in the Information Age. It's about rising new communities, the next phase of capitalism, a shift in the role of government, and surviving amidst accelerating change, where only the most agile and adaptable businesses will thrive.
An electromagnetic MEMS 2/spl times/2 fiber optic bypass switch

A fully micromachined multi-mode 2/spl times/2 fiber optic bypass switch which is small (<1 cm/sup 3/), fast (<10 msec), and low power when compared to commercial bypass switches, has been designed, fabricated, and tested. Development of this switch is driven by the rapid growth of fiber optic networks which require small, high performance bypass switches. Electromagnetic actuation is provided in the switch by control of a current through a set of 70-turn copper coils on a spring-supported silicon plate in the presence of a fixed external magnetic field. The electromagnetically induced switch deflections are modeled and shown to agree with experimental measurements. The performance of the switch is evaluated and compared to a commercial DiCon fiber optic multi-mode, bypass switch.
Pattern classification of terrain during amputee walking

In this thesis I study the role of extrinsic versus intrinsic sensing and determine a robust set of sensors from physical and reliability constraints for a terrain adaptation in a robotic ankle prosthesis. Further, during this thesis I collect a novel data-set that contains seven able-bodied participants walking over 19 terrain transitions and 7 non-amputees walking over 9 transitions, forming the largest collection of transitions to date using an exhaustive set of sensors: inertial measurement units, gyroscopes, kinematics from motion capture, and electromyography from 16 sites on the lower limbs for non-amputee subjects and 9 sites or amputee subjects. This work extends previous work [3] by using more conditions, a larger subject group, and more sensors on amputees, and includes non-amputees. I present a novel machine learning algorithm that uses sensor data during rapid transitions from pre-foothold to just prior to post-foothold to predict different terrain boundaries. This advances the field of biomechatronics, our understanding of terrain adaptation in people both with and without amputations, contributes to the development of a fully terrain adaptive robotic ankle prosthesis, and improves the quality of life for the physically challenged. Specifically we set out to prove between pre and post-foothold the ankle and knee positions calculated using an IMU attached to an amputees powered prosthetic ankle can discriminate with greater than 99% accuracy between 9 conditions. Our results suggest that myography as a non-volitional sensing modality for terrain adaptive protheses was not needed. Thesis Supervisor: Hugh Herr Title: Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, Program in Media Arts and Sciences
Road humps for the control of vehicle speeds

In the 1970s the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) undertook research on road humps that led to the standard U.K. hump design and the initial legislation that governed their use. With the increasing interest in traffic calming and the growing number of 20 mile per hour zones, it is an appropriate time to review this research and the changes in the regulations. TRL has recently obtained measurements of speeds on roads where circular-profile and flat-topped humps have been installed, and new relationships for speeds midway between the humps and hump separation have been derived. The results, while based on measurements from a large number of sites, are subject to a large degree of variability and should be considered as a guide only. It is likely that the relationships between speed and hump spacing will continue to change over time, and further studies will be needed in the future.
Networks in New Venture Creation and Development

In the 1980s, researchers began arguing that every entrepreneur is embedded in a network that plays a critical role in new venture formation and development. The rationale given for the importance of networks is a rather simple one: network relationships are seen as providing resources to favorable conditions. Thus, they are considered especially important for entrepreneurs who are typically resource-poor. Based on this basic understanding, the thesis at hand addresses open questions related to the role of networks in new venture creation and development. It comprises five chapters, in which four studies are presented. The first two studies shed further light on the relationship between the costs and benefits that come with developing and maintaining network contacts in the stage of new venture creation. In contrast, studies three and four address two research questions in the field of already-established ventures. Specifically, the third study shows how entrepreneurs� personal networking abilities affect new ventures� networks and performance and the fourth demonstrates that entrepreneurs may foster network change as well as their network management capacity by applying the basic means of organization design to their relationship management.
influence of marijuana on driving

The role of cannabis in traffic accident causality is still unknown. That it is often detected in crash-involved drivers could either indicate a causal role or simply reflect the fact that it is the most used illicit drug. This book contains a comprehensive literature review concerning many aspects of cannabis, including its effects on driving performance and traffic safety. It continues with a description of one laboratory and three actual driving studies that progressively approached reality. These were conducted on a closed section of a primary highway, on a primary highway in the presence of other traffic, and in urban traffic. Together, they answer the questions addressed by the book: does cannabis impair driving performance, and if so, how much in comparison with other psychoactive drugs.
EFFECTS OF A VISION ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM ON DRIVERS' ABILITY TO DRIVE SAFELY IN FOG.

Car driving is largely a visual task. Therefore, poor visibility conditions like fog may impose severe demands on drivers, because the possibility to collect necessary information is markedly degraded. If, however, car driving is seen as a self-paced task, the drivers should be able to adjust their speed in accordance with the increased demands. The purpose of this study was to investigate if it was possible to drive safely in heavy fog when a simulated vision enhancement system was available.
Proactivity and Innovation: Promoting a New Workforce for the New Workplace

Imagine you are running a marathon. You started at a nice, steady pace, but the speed just kept increasing. You must compete with the others in the race but they keep sprinting forward. And more and more people keep joining the race. Not only that, but things are now being thrown at you from all angles and you must duck and swerve to avoid them, and the finishing line keeps being moved. Feel the pressure? This is how many organizations today operate: in an increasingly competitive environment in which frequent changes in technologies, markets, government regulations, and customers give rise to turbulence and unpredictability. So, how does an organization deal with such pressures? How do they finish the race? We believe that one important ingredient is the proactive and innovative behaviour of employees: that is, employees who help you to sprint forward with new ideas, and who can duck and cope with unpredictability. This chapter examines the concepts of proactivity and innovation. It is unique in that it draws together findings from these traditionally separate research streams and identifies areas of convergence and divergence.
Understanding the impact of engagement in culture and sport: a systematic review of the learning impacts for young people

The Culture and Sport Evidence (CASE) programme was set up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2008, in collaboration with the sector-leading non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs): Arts Council England (ACE), English Heritage (EH), Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and Sport England (SE). The programme aims to generate strategic evidence that will be used to inform the deployment of public funds to maximise engagement in sport and culture, and the value citizens in England receive from that engagement. / As part of the CASE programme, the EPPI-Centre (Institute of Education, University of London) and Matrix Knowledge Group were commissioned to undertake a research project to investigate the drivers, impact and value of engagement in culture and sport. The project used systematic review, analytical and statistical modelling techniques to begin to understand why people engage, or do not engage, in cultural and sporting activities, the benefits they obtain from that engagement, and the potential value to them, and to society as a whole. An overview of the approach and methods of this project can be found in ‘Understanding the drivers, impact and value of engagement in culture and sport: Technical Report for the Systematic Review’ published alongside this report on the CASE website.
Virtual Education System (Current Myth & Future Reality in Pakistan)

“Education is one of the most important building blocks in the progress of a Nation. ” No doubt education has a great role in the progressing of nations. Today, most of progressing and frontiers nations in the world recognized them just because of their education. Look at the China (one of the most progressing nation in all fields of life), India (best in IT and Social Sciences), Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Korea etc. They all proved them in the world on the basis of their successful education system (from grass root to higher level) and keen to achieve something. They are successful as they have molded themselves according to the need of changing environment and technology in every field of life. As you know, technology and scientific development has great impact in every field of life that it totally changed the lifestyle. Businesses, hospitals, public agencies, sports, agriculture and so many other institutes are now excessively using the new faces of technology. Invent of computer changed the way of doing work in organizations. They are now using different computerized soft-wares (i.e. ERP systems in businesses) and technological tools to successfully manage their work. Technological developments also changed the way of obtaining education and learning systems same as it impacted every field of life. Advancement in information technology and telecom sector has provided a plate form of “Virtual Education System” which opened the new doors of learning and enabled so many educational institutes to efficiently and effectively provide their services all over the world which we call today “The Global Village”. Physical boundaries are becoming meaningless now as much as the concept of Virtual Education is prevailing all over the world.
Improving high-frequency bus service reliability through better scheduling

Developing a schedule for high-frequency bus routes involves balancing the costs to the passengers in terms of passenger waiting time and in-vehicle time and the cost to the transit agency. Passengers are interested in short travel times and in short and reliable waiting times. In order to assess the trade-off between trip speed and reliability, transit planners need to follow a clear scheduling process; i.e., a series of steps the scheduler follows to create a schedule. This thesis develops a scheduling process based on a model which explicitly projects and evaluates the tradeoffs between overall travel time and reliability. The model uses Automatic Vehicle Location and Automatic Passenger Count data and is based on two critical hypotheses: (i) consecutive bus vehicle trips are independent and (ii) consecutive segment running times for a particular bus trips are independent. These two hypotheses will not be true in all cases but were shown to be true on the two CTA bus routes analyzed, 95E and 85. By simulating the running time distributions and headway variability of any proposed schedule, the model estimates the cost of the schedule for waiting passengers, onboard passengers and the transit agency. The scheduling process involves finding the time point schedule which minimizes the total cost with the help of the model. The scheduling process is applied to two CTA bus routes; Route 95E and 85. For each route, the schedule which minimizes the total passenger cost was determined. The operating cost of the proposed schedule on each route is the same as for the current schedule because the same number of buses is used. The schedules obtained with the generalized cost minimization approach showed improved reliability and overall passenger service quality compared to the current schedule in both routes as well as compared to traditional approaches. A sensitivity analysis showed that in most cases the generalized cost minimization schedule can significantly improve reliability and overall passenger service quality over traditional approaches. Thesis Supervisor: Nigel H.M. Wilson Title: Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Thesis Supervisor: John P. Attanucci Research Associate for Center for Transportation and Logistics
The sophisticated architecture of the rat atrioventricular node

In the mammalian heart, the action potential spontaneously generated in the sinoatrial (SA) node propagates through the atria to reach the atrioventricular (AV) node. As the only conduction pathway between the atria and ventricles, the AV node functions to delay and regulate action potential conduction between the atria and ventricles. Since Tawara described the anatomical and morphological characteristics of the AV node in 1906, it has been difficult to correlate electrophysiological recordings with distinct cell types and the three dimensional structure of the AV node due to the exceptional functional and architectural complexity of this region. The cardiac voltage-gated Na+ channel isoform (Na1.5) is known to play a major role in the generation and conduction of the action potential in the heart. Recently, various mutations of Na, 1.5 responsible for AV conduction block and Na,, 1.5+/- mice with impaired AV conduction have been reported. Various neuronal Na' channel isoforms have also been shown to be expressed in the heart (mouse ventricular myocytes and rat and mouse SA node) and to be functionally important. The distribution of neuronal Na channel isoforms in the AV node is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of cardiac and neuronal Na'channel isoforms in and around the AV node. The nodal cell region was identified by Masson's trichrome staining and confocal microscopy with immunohistochemical markers, such as connexin43 (Cx43), desmoplakin(DP), atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and the type 4 hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation (HCN) channel. The unique pattern of expression in the nodal cell region (DP-positive/Cx43-negative/ANP-negative/HCN4-positive) allowed it to be distinguished from the surrounding working myocardium (DP-positive/Cx43-positive/HCN4-negative). I have investigated the expression of Na,1.5 and other Na+ channel isoforms in rat AV node. Na1.1 was distributed in a similar manner to Na1.5, Na1.2 was not detected. Na1.3 labelling was restricted to nerve fibres and nerve cell bodies and was not detected in myocytes.Na1.3 labelling was abundant in the enclosed node and the common bundle, but much less abundant in other regions. Na1.4, the skeletal isoform, was not studied. Na1.5 labelling was present in atrial and ventricular myocardium and the left bundle branch (right not studied). However, Na1.5 labelling was absent in the open node, the enclosed node and the common bundle, but present at a reduced level in the posterior nodal extension, transitional cells and AV ring bundle. Na 1.6 was not detected. The study has revealed a complex organisation of three different myocyte types at the AV junction (including the tricuspid annulus). Impaired AV conduction as a result of mutations in or loss of Na1.5 must be the result of impaired conduction in the AV node inputs (posterior nodal extension and transitional cells) or output (bundle branch) rather than the AV node itself (open and enclosed nodes).
Load sharing and power quality enhanced operation of a distributed microgrid

This paper describes control methods for proper load sharing between parallel converters connected in a microgrid and supplied by distributed generators (DGs). It is assumed that the microgrid spans a large area and it supplies loads in both in grid connected and islanded modes. A control strategy is proposed to improve power quality and proper load sharing in both islanded and grid connected modes. It is assumed that each of the DGs has a local load connected to it which can be unbalanced and/or nonlinear. The DGs compensate the effects of unbalance and nonlinearity of the local loads. Common loads are also connected to the microgrid, which are supplied by the utility grid under normal conditions. However during islanding, each of the DGs supplies its local load and shares the common load through droop characteristics. Both impedance and motor loads are considered to verify the system response. The efficacy of the controller has been validated through simulation for various operating conditions using PSCAD. It has been found through simulation that the total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the of the microgrid voltage is about 10% and the negative and zero sequence component are around 20% of the positive sequence component before compensation. After compensation, the THD remain below 0.5%, whereas, negative and zero sequence components of the voltages remain below 0.02% of the positive sequence component.
An evaluation of milk recording, somatic cell counts and reproductive performance in a large cohort of dairy herds in England and Wales

Milk recording consists in the regular, usually monthly, collection of a milk sample from all the lactating cows of a dairy herd. A large sample of milk recording data collected in England and Wales between 2004 and 2006 was used in this thesis. A sample of 8,211,988 recordings in 2,128 herds, representing 16 % of the dairy herds in activity in December 2006, were described and analysed. Calvings followed a seasonal pattern with 80 % more calving in September than in May. Milk production was highest in May (26.5 kg) and lowest in October (24.1 kg). Butterfat was stable, close to 4 % from October to March and reached a minimum at 3.7 % in June and July. Protein stayed between 3.2 and 3.3 % all the year. Geometric mean somatic cell count was between 177 and 180 between October and March and reached 205,000 cells/mL in July and August. At the individual cow level, the mean milk yield, percentage of butterfat, percentage of protein, fat to protein ratio and somatic cell count (geometric mean) were 26.4 kg, 3.96 %, 3.29 %, 1.21 and 90,000 cells/mL, between 5 and 305 days in milk. Changes in individual cow somatic cell counts around a threshold of 200,000 cells/mL between consecutive recording dates were used to predict bulk milk somatic cell count at both the herd-year and test-day levels. The main contributors to bulk milk somatic cell counts were cows staying above the threshold for 2 consecutive test-days. Milk yields and composition at the start of lactation were used to predict the calving to conception interval. Higher milk yield, lower percentage of protein, lower percentage of lactose, higher somatic cell count and higher percentage of butterfat were associated with lower probabilities of conception before 145 days in milk.
Feasibility study on through-wafer interconnecting method for hybrid wafer-scale-integration

A novel soldering technique for connecting input/output (I/O) pins on the back side of the wafer is described. After the preforms between the through-holes etched into the silicon wafer and the I/O pins are melted in vacuum (about 1 torr), the vacuum is released to make the solder flow into the through-hole area, soldering the I/O pins to the metallization layer on the active devices. This process provides reliable and highly conductive metal interconnection through the wafer because a virtually voidless solder layer is formed without the use of flux. The percentage of void-free through-holes is 95%, and the resistance of each through-hole is 10-15 m/spl Omega/. It is demonstrated that this method provides ideal interconnections for hybrid wafer-scale integration. <<ETX>>