Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Numerical study of particle bed scour by vortices

Scouring is the process of soil or sediment erosion due to flowing water, which can lead to bed degradation and compromised transportation infrastructure. In the decade before 2000, over half of the 500 bridge failures in the United States were caused by flooding or scouring. To gain a better grasp of the effects of extreme weather events, such as Tropical Storm Irene, on the scouring process, this work is focused on a first principle understanding of the mechanism(s) of scour. The field of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is particularly well suited to this task. Utilizing a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) code, the repeated impacts of a vortex dipole on a particle bed are simulated. The resulting scour characteristics and flow dynamics are investigated as a function of the Shields number. The vortex dipole propagates perpendicularly to the particle bed, resulting in the scouring of the bed and dissipation of the dipole. After completion of the scour event, the simulation is repeated four more times, where subsequent simulations use the scoured bed from the previous simulation as the initial bed form. This simulation series is conducted over a Shields number parameter space. The fluid phase is treated as a continuum and the discretized Navier-Stokes equations are solved down to the smallest scales of the flow on an Eulerian grid. The particles comprising the bed are represented by the Discrete Particle Model (DPM), whereby each individual particle is tracked in a Lagrangian framework. Particle-particle and particle-wall collisions are calculated using a soft-sphere model. The fluid phase and the solid phase are coupled through a forcing term in the fluid conservation of momentum equation, and a drag force in the particle equation of motion, governed by Newton’s Second Law. Above the critical Shields number, the scour hole topography is not fundamentally altered with subsequent impacts until the scale of the scour hole reaches a critical value. At which point, the shape and scale of the scour hole significantly alters the behavior of the vortex dipole and results in strongly asymmetric scour topographies. This two-way coupling between the bed scour and the vortex dipole dynamics is the focus of this work.
Longitudinal Study on Functional and Cognitive Outcomes in Patients with Postoperative Delirium after Femoral Fracture

Background Proximal femoral fractures are frequent injuries of elderly people and are often associated with declines in physical function and high rates of morbidity and mortality. A severe and frequent complication after hip surgery is postoperative delirium (POD), potentially associated with poorer clinical outcomes. We hypothesized that elderly patients with POD after hip fracture showed significantly worse clinical outcomes within one year after the fracture, compared to patients not suffering from POD. Additionally, relevant predictors of POD were evaluated. Methods Patients with proximal femoral fractures aged ≥ 60 years were included in a prospective, single-center observational study in Germany and followed up for 12 months. POD was evaluated by daily application of the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) during the acute hospital stay. A variety of standardized instruments were used to evaluate patients’ functional and cognitive capacity, mobility, quality of life (HrQoL), depression, pain, etc., at baseline, discharge, and follow-up. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine socio-demographic and clinical predictors of POD. Results Among 402 included patients (mean age: 81.3 ± 8.2 years), 184 (45.8%) developed POD (mean duration: 6.5 ± 4.4 days). At baseline, POD patients were significantly older, more often institutionalized, cognitively and physically more impaired, reported lower HrQoL, and had significantly more complications during the hospital stay. Multiple logistic regression analyses explained 22% of the variance, while prolonged intensive care unit stays, level of pain after surgery, and diminished pre-operative physical and cognitive state were significant predictors of POD. In-hospital mortality and overall mortality after 12 months were significantly higher in POD patients. Twelve months after the fracture, POD was significantly associated with diminished mobility, HrQoL, cognitive and functional capacity, and higher risk of falls. Conclusions Pain management is an important and controllable variable during hospital stay and should be a specific focus of the postoperative period, especially in functionally and cognitively impaired patients. Since patients with POD showed significantly worse clinical outcomes at discharge and 12 months post-fracture, prevention and effective treatment of POD should be of high priority in elderly patients with hip fractures.
ALINEA maximises motorway throughput - an answer to flawed criticism

In a recent series of articles ([1-5]) with largely indentical confents an preformance of the well-[6,7] and of some extended version such as UP-ALINEA and ALINEA/Q expressed claim are based on result produced by B S Kermer with a soff. made microscopic answer to specially [5], showing that alt raised claims are utterly flawed. ALINEA's efficiency (compared to other known strategies) is due to its feedback character [5] are based on an insufficient of the feedback character of the ALINEA algorith which led to an inappropriate the maintream measurement could not be monitored: this renther blind to the traffic condition undre control and negates the very notion of feedback. The paper also includes some new results related to the ALINEA application based on measurements (UP-ALINEA).
The Phenomenon of Dynamic Stall.

Abstract : Stall and its consequences are fundamentally important to the design and operation of flight vehicles. A certain degree of unsteadiness always accompanies the flow over an airfoil or other streamlined body at high angle of attack, but the stall of a lifting surface undergoing unsteady motion is even more complex than static stall. Dynamic stall remains a major unsolved problem with a variety of current applications in aeronautics, hydrodynamics, and wind engineering. This report summarizes the main physical features of the phenomenon and the attempts that have been made to predict it. The information presented is drawn mainly from recent review articles and investigations by the author and his colleagues. Since a large fraction of the existing knowledge has come from experimental research, the details of dynamic stall are discussed principally in physical terms.
Exploring Faculty Perceptions of a Case Library as an Online Teaching Resource

EXPLORING FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF A CASE LIBRARY AS AN ONLINE TEACHING RESOURCE by Yuxin Ma Professors need alternative programs to support their online teaching. This dissertation reports an initial study in a long-term research agenda for developing a faculty online teaching solution. The primary purpose of the study is to explore faculty perceptions of a case library to help decision makers and researchers determine whether they would pursue the use of such a tool to support faculty online teaching. The secondary purpose of the study is to generate design knowledge to inform future development of and research on this or similar case libraries. The methodology of this study includes three components: development research, rapid prototyping, and qualitative methods. Development research and rapid prototyping provided a three-stage framework for this study: conceptualization, development, and research. I synthesized the literature to create conceptual models of an Online Teaching Case Library (OTCL) at the conceptualization stage, built a prototype to implement the models at the development stage, and conducted research to evaluate the prototype at the research stage. Qualitative methods guided data gathering and analysis. I recruited seven faculty participants based on a purposeful sampling technique. To gather the data, I followed a three-step data collection process: initial interviews, contextual interviews, and final interviews. This process allowed me to observe and interview faculty participants while they were exploring the prototype. I analyzed the data by following an 11-step procedure synthesized from the works of Miles and Huberman (1994) as well as LeCompte and Schensul (1999a). This study found that on one hand, faculty members might use an OTCL, because they perceived that this tool could support their apprenticeship approach to learning to teach. On the other hand, however, their perceived decision to use an OTCL would also be influenced by the perceptions of the usefulness and usability of the tool. The study identified the initial evidence supporting an OTCL as an online teaching resource and the challenges involved in developing and implementing such a solution. It provides a base for decision makers to determine whether they would adopt this tool. It also offers some design guidance for those who do want to pursue this solution to faculty development. EXPLORING FACULTY PERCEPTIONS OF A CASE LIBRARY AS AN ONLINE TEACHING RESOURCE
Technical Support Document: The Development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Retail Buildings

This Technical Support Document (TSD) describes the process and methodology for the development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings (AEDG-SO), a design guidance document intended to provide recommendations for achieving 30% energy savings in small office buildings over levels contained in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The AEDG-SO is the first in a series of guides being developed by a partnership of organizations, including the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), the New Buildings Institute (NBI), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Each of the guides in the AEDG series will provide recommendations and user-friendly design assistance to designers, developers and owners of small commercial buildings that will encourage steady progress towards net-zero energy buildings. The guides will provide prescriptive recommendation packages that are capable of reaching the energy savings target for each climate zone in order to ease the burden of the design and construction of energy-efficient small commercial buildings The AEDG-SO was developed by an ASHRAE Special Project committee (SP-102) made up of representatives of each of the partnermore » organizations in eight months. This TSD describes the charge given to the committee in developing the office guide and outlines the schedule of the development effort. The project committee developed two prototype office buildings (5,000 ft2 frame building and 20,000 ft2 two-story mass building) to represent the class of small office buildings and performed an energy simulation scoping study to determine the preliminary levels of efficiency necessary to meet the energy savings target. The simulation approach used by the project committee is documented in this TSD along with the characteristics of the prototype buildings. The prototype buildings were simulated in the same climate zones used by the prevailing energy codes and standards to evaluate energy savings. Prescriptive packages of recommendations presented in the guide by climate zone include enhanced envelope technologies, lighting and day lighting technologies and HVAC and SWH technologies. The report also documents the modeling assumptions used in the simulations for both the baseline and advanced buildings. Final efficiency recommendations for each climate zone are included, along with the results of the energy simulations indicating an average energy savings over all buildings and climates of approximately 38%. « less
Identifying and building the leadership capacity of community of practice facilitators

The authors report on an Australian project that conducted a sector-wide needs analysis and qualitative interviews to identify community of practice (CoP) leadership roles, challenges, and development needs. Survey and interview data identified that most communities of practice are situated within university faculties among practitioners and are, therefore, close to where student learning takes place. The project findings informed the creation of resources to develop CoP leadership capacity to foster shared social learning and thereby improve learning and teaching across the Australian higher education sector. This article outlines the distributed leadership approach that profiled the strengths of each member of the project team and enabled the group to become a CoP in action and to work collaboratively over three years.
Dynamic ranking algorithm for landing site selection

Abstract Landing on planets is always a challenging task due to the distance, communication delays, and hostile environments found. In this paper we present a dynamic ranking algorithm, based on a hybrid aggregation operator, for selecting the best site for landing. The proposed algorithm uses feedback historical information from previous iterations to ensure a reinforcement behavior in the decision process. Keywords: aggregation operators, dynamic ranking algorithm, hazard maps. 1 Introduction Past planetary lander missions tended to focus on pre-qualified landing sites, which implied a smooth terrain with little risk and few geologic features [4]. Landing on planets is always a challenging task due to the distance and hostile environments found. Improving the landing site selection process implies greater onboard autonomy, due to communication time delays and data volume involved. ASTRIUM Space Transportation has been consistently improving the hazard avoidance techniques for on-board piloting autonomy [2, 4] (denoted piloting function). Hazard avoidance includes three separate critical functions [2, 4]: hazard mapping that estimates ground features based on an imaging sensor data (camera or Lidar); site selection that chooses a suitable landing site based on available hazard maps, mission, propulsion and guidance constraints; and a robust guidance to reach the selected target. In this work our inputs are hazard maps of dimensions 512x512 pixels that provide assessments of terrain features and trajectory constraints. From these maps we have to select the best site (pixel x, y in the aggregated map). Since the selection of a suitable landing site is a critical task for any planetary mission success, the motivation for this work is to build a fuzzy multiple attribute decision-making process to select the best site. Specifically, in this paper we focus on the second step of a fuzzy multiple attribute (or criteria) decision-making process, the ranking of alternatives with respect to the global aggregated degree of satisfaction [6]. For this purpose we present a dynamic algorithm for landing site ranking, taking into account past historical data from previous iterations, during the piloting function. The proposed dynamic ranking algorithm uses a hybrid aggregation operator, based on ideas from the uninorm aggregation operator [3, 9], for combining past and present data because it ensures a full reinforcement behavior [1, 10]. If we encounter a collection of high values we want that the resulting aggregation value to be more positive than any of the individual values. On the other hand, if we encounter a collection of low values we want that resulting aggregation value to be more discriminative than any individual values. The first concept is called upward reinforcement and the second concept is called downward reinforcement. Most aggregation/ranking methods are only either
The effect of text messaging on driver behaviour: a simulator study

RAC Foundation (2008) reported the results of a survey of 2,000+ users of Facebook, showing that 45% of UK drivers engage in texting whilst driving. The RAC Foundation commissioned TRL to study the impairment caused by texting whilst driving using TRL’s driving simulator. Seventeen drivers (aged 17-24 years) took part in the study. Drivers completed one drive as normal (undistracted) and one drive in which they completed text messaging tasks. Participants were impaired in their performance when reading and writing text messages, particularly reaction time and ability to maintain lateral vehicle control. Reaction times were around 35% slower when writing a text message. Earlier studies at TRL showed that alcohol consumption to the legal limit caused a 12% reaction time increase; cannabis slowed reaction times by 21%. When texting, drivers slowed significantly, indicating that they recognised the impairment, attempting to mitigate risk by reducing speed. However, greater lateral variability in lane position and drifting into adjacent lanes when texting are not mitigated by speed reduction and would lead to potential conflict with other traffic. Female drivers showed greater variability in lateral lane position when texting than male drivers. However, female participants tended to show greater speed reductions, indicating that they may have had greater awareness that their driving was impaired. This study highlighted that when texting, a driver may present a greater accident risk than when at the legal limit for alcohol consumption or when under the influence of cannabis, reinforcing that drivers should refrain from this dangerous activity. (A)
Dates Consumption in Malaysia

The aim of this study is to analyse and identify date consumption patterns by region in Malaysia. In addition, this study also will identify demand on dates in Malaysia. Currently, there is a lack of study on prophetic food, especially in Malaysia. The data were collected through survey questionnaires. The sample size of this study was 1739 respondents from various socioeconomic backgrounds, profession, and level of education. The survey was conducted in several states in Peninsular Malaysia in June 2015. Descriptive statistics and crosstab have been used to find the results. The findings showed that Selangor had the most date consumers. The reason is that Selangor is an urban state, and the level of income of respondents from this state is higher compared to other states. Moreover, the level of education and awareness among respondents in Selangor are better compared to other states. This study also showed that people tend to consume dates not only because of religion but also because of health factors. Findings of the study can be used to formulate and develop a systematic supply chain in the dates market.
The biomechanical basis of ergonomics

Sinter pallet apparatus including a frame supporting a plurality of coextensive grate bars formed with relatively thick structural support bodies which are spaced apart to define air passages therebetween. Relatively thin heat shields are arranged over the respective bars and spacers are provided for spacing such shields from such bars to form a heat insulator space between such bodies and shields. Insulating air is disposed in the insulator space and retainer means is included for retaining the shields on the bars.
The Elusive Last Mile to the Internet

This case highlights the challenges faced by organizations in developing countries in getting reliable, high-speed Internet access to support their mission critical web enabled information systems. The case prescribes various measures to optimally use the constrained bandwidth available from service providers. The challenges in defining and monitoring appropriate service level agreements with the service providers are discussed.
Competency Based Curriculum in Higher Education: A Necessity Grounded by Globalization (English version)

Ever demanding forces of globalisation have introduced new discourses into curriculum planning in the higher education. In order to sustain in the knowledge based economy and to deal with demand in job market, incorporation of competency based curriculum is emerging as a necessity in higher education sector. In order to develop competency based curriculum in higher education, determination of competencies for each discipline and subsequent development of means of measurement and performance assessment is a must. There are competency based models developed for specific discipline through intense research can serve as a guiding tool for this purpose. In this backdrop the present paper tries to draw an attention to the importance of competency based curriculum and its pros and cons.
Investigation of Issues Related to Electrical Efficiency Improvements of Pump and Fan Drives in Buildings

This thesis deals with issues related to efficiency of building related pump and fan drive systems. Different motor technologies are analyzed and a more detailed study on inverter fed Induction Machines (IM) is presented. A 4-pole, 4kW IM has been the focus of investigation, where different energy labels (eff1, eff2 and eff3), different voltage/frequency (V/Hz) control and different switching schemes of the frequency converter have been analyzed. Simulations as well as measurements have been performed with a close correlation of the results. The simulation results have then been used in order to analyze the saving potential for different load profiles. The general conclusion is that savings will be made during the life time of the drive system, both for an IM and frequency converter replacement. The analysis also show that the choice between an eff2 and eff1 IM, for the given load profiles, always generate the highest saving for the eff1 IM in economical terms, including the increased cost for an eff1 motor. It is interesting to note that, during the time period 1998-2003, eff2 label took 86% of the market share compared to eff1 8% and eff3 6%. It is also shown that losses introduced by the common over dimensioning of the pump and fan motor can result in increased energy efficiency with appropriate converter control compared with the use of a motor with lower rating. Finally, a study on modeling of the IM for bearing current prediction is presented containing a literature study and laboratory measurements.