Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT VOLUMES OF DYNAMIC STRETCHING ON 20-M REPEATED SPRINT ABILITY PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this within-subjects counterbalanced design study is to elucidate the effects of different volumes of dynamic stretching on Repeated Sprint Ability (RSA) performance. Thirteen male team sport athletes perfromed a repeated sprint ability test consisting of a maximal 6 x 20 meter sprint (with 30s active recovery between each sprint) following different volumes of dynamic stretching (DSS1, DSS2 and DSS3). T he results showed no significant difference for all parameters between all the all dynamic stretching volumes. Results show that any of the dynamic stretching volumes may be used as a warm up prior to the repeated sprints session. However, DSS1 confers some advantage in terms of lesser times, though not statistically significant for BST, MST and TST
Fixated on Fixation? An Exploration of the Benefits and Deficits of Design “Fixation” in Engineering Design

Design fixation is often thought of only as a limiting factor when a designer is generating ideas, but design fixation is defined only as ‘sometimes counter-productive’ indicating that there may be room for good fixation. In addition, design fixation is defined as a ‘blind adherence’, meaning that the designer does not know that they are limiting their idea set. Prior work in fixation has focused on how introducing designers to bad examples can cause a negative adherence to a limited set of ideas, while work in design by analogy has focused on how introducing a designer to the right idea can positively impact the creative output of idea generation. In addition, product dissection has been investigated as a way to inspire creative design with positive results. While researchers have investigated good examples for their positive impact on the creativity of generated ideas, little work has investigated how these good examples are having a positive impact. Therefore, this study aims to understand how exposing designers to different types of products through a product dissection activity impacts how designers are reusing parts in their ideation. In addition, this study investigates if these reuses are unconscious through the use of eye tracking equipment. The results show that reuse of parts is positively related to an individual’s creativity during idea generation. In addition, they show that there is no relationship between eye fixations and design fixation, indicating that reuse might not be unconscious. Overall, the results shed a positive light on reuse and design fixation.
Two-Dimensional, Time-dependent Modelling of an Arbitrarily Shaped Ice Mass with the Finite-Element Technique

Abstract The two-dimensional, time-dependent flow of an arbitrarily shaped ice mass can be successfully modeled with the finite-element technique on a small computer. Methods developed for automatically generating the mesh data greatly simplify the data preparation and optimize the numerical simulations. Using quadratic basis functions permits the flow to be approximated quite adequately by only two element rows (five nodes vertically). Mixed-order basis functions, however, must be used so that numerical oscillations do not set in, and the ends of the ice mass, where the thickness tends to zero, must be treated carefully. Time simulations to a steady-state condition are necessary to test such numerical models adequately. South Cascade Glacier, Washington, is currently close to equilibrium. A bedrock sill dominates the bed topography in the lower half of the glacier, rising to a height of about 20% of the ice thickness. This sill produces a maximum increase in the overall thickness of about 6–7% compared to what the thickness would have been if the sill were not present. Finally, this glacier does not appear to be sliding much, if at all, despite its maritime alpine environment. This could help explain the difficulties encountered when trying to measure sliding and basal water pressures on the same glacier (Hodge, 1979), or it could imply that drag exerted by the valley walls has a significantly greater effect than conventional shape-factor concepts imply.
Shape Selection in the Non-Euclidean Model of Elasticity

In this dissertation we investigate the behavior of radially symmetric non-Euclidean plates of thickness t with constant negative Gaussian curvature. We present a complete study of these plates using the Foppl-von Karman and Kirchhoff reduced theories of elasticity. Motivated by experimental results, we focus on deformations with a periodic profile. For the Foppl-von Karman model, we prove rigorously that minimizers of the elastic energy converge to saddle shaped isometric immersions. In studying this convergence, we prove rigorous upper and lower bounds for the energy that scale like the thickness t squared. Furthermore, for deformation with n-waves we prove that the lower bound scales like nt while the upper bound scales like nt. We also investigate the scaling with thickness of boundary layers where the stretching energy is concentrated with decreasing thickness. For the Kichhoff model, we investigate isometric immersions of disks with constant negative curvature into R, and the minimizers for the bending energy, i.e. the L norm of the principal curvatures over the class of W 2,2 isometric immersions. We show the existence of smooth immersions of arbitrarily large geodesic balls in H 2 into R. In elucidating the connection between these immersions and the nonexistence/singularity results of Hilbert and Amsler, we obtain a lower bound for the L∞ norm of the principal curvatures for such smooth isometric immersions. We also construct piecewise smooth isometric immersions that have a periodic profile, are globally W , and numerically have lower bending energy than their smooth counterparts. The number of periods in these configurations is set by the condition that the principal curvatures of the surface remain finite and grow approximately exponentially with the radius of the disc.
Identification and location of PIM faults in radio‐frequency circuits with multiple coaxial connectors using a neural network approach

Coaxial connectors are widely used in radio-frequency circuits and are a major non-linear source of passive intermodulation (PIM), especially when they are subjected to environmental degradation. Accordingly, an effective and accurate method to locate the position of the PIM source in a communication system is of substantial value. By analysing the characteristics of different connectors, equivalent circuit models were developed to generate dynamic harmonics powers. On the basis of transmission line theory and simulations, the features of the IM products (IM3, IM5, and IM7) in a series circuit with the selected PIM source points were investigated. Using this information, a PIM fault diagnosis method for coaxial connectors in a circuit was developed employing a neural network. The IM products powers were obtained as feature parameters using a scattering parameter simulation of series circuit for three different connectors. Simulations were then conducted to generate training and testing samples. Finally, using the back-propagation neural network algorithm, the fault modes were classified and the results show diagnosis accuracy was 96.72%.
Malaysian higher education system towards industry 4.0 – Current trends overview

Industry 4.0 has been a great deal in the past years as it is known to be the latest revolution in the industrial field. Moreover, this revolution gives an inevitable impact to the other fields such as education which caused a new term of Education 4.0. This paper aims to give a view of the current trend in the industrial revolution and education system, focused on the higher-level education, by the look on Malaysian perspective. By using structured literature to investigate the current issue regarding the topic, it shows that Malaysian government has been aware and currently prepare to welcome the Industry 4.0 and Education 4.0.
Implementation and sensitivity analysis of the Dam-Reservoir OPeration model (DROP v1.0) over Spain

Abstract. The prediction of water resource evolution is considered to be a major challenge for the coming century, particularly in the context of climate change and increasing demographic pressure. Water resources are directly linked to the continental water cycle, and the main processes modulating changes can be represented by global hydrological models. However, anthropogenic impacts on water resources, and in particular the effects of dams-reservoirs on river flows, are still poorly known and generally neglected in coupled land surface–river routing models. This paper presents a parameterized reservoir model, DROP (Dam-Reservoir OPeration), based on Hanasaki's scheme to compute monthly releases given inflows, water demands and the management purpose. With its significantly anthropized river basins, Spain has been chosen as a study case for which simulated outflows and water storage variations are evaluated against in situ observations over the period 1979–2014. Using a default configuration of the reservoir model, results reveal its positive contribution in representing the seasonal cycle of discharge and storage variation, specifically for large-storage capacity irrigation reservoirs. Based on a bounded version of the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) index, called C2M, the overall outflow representation is improved by 43 % in the median. For irrigation reservoirs, the improvement rate reaches 80 %. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis of DROP model parameters was conducted based on the performance of C2M on outflows and volumes using the Sobol method. The results show that the most influential parameter is the threshold coefficient describing the demand-controlled release level. The analysis also reveals the parameters that need to be focused on in order to improve river flow or reservoir water storage modeling by highlighting the difference in the individual effects of the parameters and their interactions depending on whether one focuses on outflows or volume mean seasonal patterns. The results of this generic reservoir scheme show promise for modeling present and future reservoir impacts on the continental hydrology within global land surface–river routing models.
An adaptive stencil finite difference method for first order linear hyperbolic systems

A numerical method is presented to deal with the difficulties associated with discontinuous coefficients and initial data for hyperbolic partial differential equations. The method applies directly, to first order linear systems. It combines aspects of the Courant-Rees-Isaacson method, the essentially non-oscillatory derivative approx­ imations of Harten and Osher, and, to propagate solutions in more than one space dimension, Strang splittings. Several examples in one and two space dimensions are presented which indicate that the method maintains, sharp wavefdrms without intro­ ducing spurious oscillations.
Dendrocrinid crinoids from the Ordovician of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota

Plicodendrocrinus n. gen. is erected for dendrocrinids with solid pentalobate columns, strong stellate ridges on the aboral cup plates, and highly plicate anal sac plates. Five species are assigned: Middle Ordovician; P. proboscidiatus (E. Billings, not W. R. Billings) n. comb. , from the Trenton of Canada and the Dunleith of Iowa and Minnesota. Upper Ordovician; P. casei (Meek) n. comb. , from the Richmond and Gamachian of the midcontinent; P. rugocyathus (Ramsbottom) n. comb. , from the Ashgill of England; P. collapsus (Donovan) n. comb. ; and P. granditubus (Ramsbottom) n. comb. , from the Ashgill of Scotland. The Middle Ordovician dendrocrinids from the Dunleith Formation (Trentonian) of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota are P. proboscidiatus (E. Billings), Dendrocrinus acutidactylus E. Billings, and Quienquecaudex springeri (Kolata). All species are also known from the Middle Ordovician of Ontario and Quebec. In addition, O. springeri (Kolata) is recorded from the Platteville Group of Illinois. Biogeographically, the Dunleith dendrocrinids are most similar to those of the northern Appalachians. Plicodendrocrinus casei (Meek) ranges widely in the midcontinent and has been obtained from the Maysvillian and Richmondian Maquoketa Formation of Iowa and Minnesota, several Richmondian units in the Cincinnati area, and the Gamachian Girardeau Limestone of Illinois and Missouri. A quantitative cladistic analysis of Ordovician cladid and flexible crinoids produces five groups: primitive forms including Aethocrinus, Compagicrinus, Ottawacrinus, and Grenprisia; cyathocrinids with Carabocrinus, Palaeocrinus, Illemocrinus, and Porocrinus; merocrinids with Archaetaxocrinus, Merocrinus, Praecupulocrinus, Polycrinus, and Aithriocrinus; dendrocrinids with Esthonocrinus, Eoparisocrinus, Dendrocrinus, Quienquecaudex, Plicodendrocrinus and perhaps Eopinnacrinus; and Cupulocrinus and the flexibles, Protaxocrinus, Clidochirus, and Proanisocrinus. These groups are not consistent with the present taxonomy and several suggestions for restructuring are presented, notably grouping flexibles with cladids and adjusting the taxonomic level of cyathocrinids. The cladograms for early cladids and flexibles are poorly correlated with stratigraphic position because of numerous unfilled range zones for the taxa or their ancestors. Thus, the cladograms generate predictions that can be tested by later finds in the Lower and the lower part of the Middle Ordovician. The overall evolutionary trends are highly mosaic with numerous parallelisms and reversals.
Boundary Elements of Special Reinforced Concrete Walls Tested under Different Loading Paths

Large inelastic tensile strains and wide horizontal cracks primarily caused by in-plane loading, may lead to local out-of-plane deformations of the end regions of reinforced concrete (RC) walls within a buckled zone that comprises the plastic hinge length. Critical parameters that influence the onset of this failure mode have been studied through past experimental tests on RC prisms subjected to axial loading, which simulates the response of end regions of RC walls under in-plane demands. Missing from those studies is the effect of bidirectional loading protocols and the effect of the longitudinal reinforcement ratio on the hysteretic response. Therefore, 12 RC prisms with 3 longitudinal steel ratios representative of prototype boundary elements of typical special RC walls and piers walls were tested. The experimental results showed that the longitudinal steel content and the in-plane loading demands mainly govern the onset of out-of-plane buckling instability of planar RC walls.
Water-pressure Coupling of Sliding and Bed Deformation: II. Velocity-Depth Profiles

Abstract Basal motion of a glacier resting on an unconsolidated bed can arise from sliding between ice and bed, ploughing of clasts through the upper layer of the bed, pervasive deformation of the bed, or shearing across discrete planes in the bed. Theoretical analyses and limited observations of soft-bedded glaciers not dominated by supply of channelized melt water from the surface suggest that sliding will be slow if the bed contains abundant clasts in the 1–10 mm size range, and that high velocities by ploughing are unlikely though possible. Pervasive deformation usually will account for 60–100% of the basal velocity, and the strain-rate will be proportional to the basal shear stress and inversely proportional to the square or cube of the effective pressure. These hypotheses are based on results of part I in this series, and allow modeling of Ice Stream B, West Antarctica, in part III of this series.
Influence of Power Modules on the Thermal Design of Laminated Busbars

The temperature of laminated busbars has to be limited to prevent their inner electrical insulators from over-heating. In that purpose, Finite Elements Method (FEM) simulations are usually conducted to evaluate the busbar's temperature. However, the thermal influence of external heat sources such as power modules has to be considered to obtain an accurate temperature repartition estimation. In this paper, the thermal influence of power modules on busbar temperature is first evaluated through simulation and experimental works. Then, a method based on the use of electrical equivalent circuits as boundary conditions is proposed to consider this issue and reduce the computation time.
Modelling of fire performance of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panels

A numerical method has been developed to incorporate the effects of heat transfer in a CLT panel exposed to fire. The procedure has been added into the software package Abaqus [1] as a user-defined subroutine (Umatht), and has been verified using both time-and spatially dependent heat fluxes in two- and three-dimensional problems. The aim is to contribute to the development of simulation tools needed to assist structural engineers and fire testing laboratories in technical assessment exercises. The accuracy of the used thermal properties and the finite element models was validated by comparing the predicted results with an available fire test in literature. It was found that the model calibrated to results from standard fire conditions provided reasonable predictions of temperatures within CLT panel exposed to fire.
A MODIFIED LEVENBERG-MARQUARDT ALGORITHM FOR SINGULAR SYSTEM OF NONLINEAR EQUATIONS

Based on the work of paper,we propose a modified Levenberg-Marquardt algoithm for solving singular system of nonlinear equations F(x)=0,where F(x):R^n→R^n is continuously differentiable and F'(x)is Lipschitz continuous.The algorithm is equivalent to a trust region algorithm in some sense,and the global convergence result is given.The sequence generated by the algorithm converges to the solution quadratically,if ||F(x)||2 provides a local error bound for the system of nonlinear equations.Numerical results show that the algorithm performs well.
North American Engineering, Procurement, Fabrication and Construction Worker Safety Climate Perception Affected by Job Position

Understanding and implementing the results of Safety Climate surveys can assist in decreasing occupational injuries and illnesses. The following article presents findings of a cross-sectional study that assessed the relationship between safety climate perceptions and job position among engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction (EPFC) employees using a 15-item survey. Descriptive statistics (means and frequencies) and an ANACOVA (analysis of covariance) were performed on a saturated model. The study had a 62% response rate. Results indicate a statistically significant in mean safety climate scores between job position among EPFC employees when controlling for years in industry and location type (i.e., construction versus fabrication) [F (9, 603) = 5.28, p < 0.0001, adjusted R-square = 0.07]. Employee perception of safety climate differed based on the employee’s job position (i.e., laborer, foreman, etc.). Project management reported the highest safety climate scores (0.91), followed by supervisors (0.86), technical support employees and foremen (0.84) and laborers (0.81).
OPF-Based CVR Operation in PV-Rich MV–LV Distribution Networks

Conservation voltage reduction (CVR) has been traditionally applied adopting moderate settings at primary substations and when distributed generation was uncommon. However, as new infrastructure is deployed across European-style medium voltage (MV) and low voltage (LV) networks, driven by increasing photovoltaic (PV) penetration levels, the opportunity arises to develop more advanced CVR schemes. This paper proposes a centralized, three-phase AC optimal power flow (OPF)-based CVR scheme that, using monitoring, on-load tap changers and capacitors across MV and LV, actively manages voltages to minimize energy consumption, even with high PV penetration, while considering MV–LV constraints. To tackle scalability issues brought by discrete variables, a two-stage approach is proposed to solve the OPF as a non-linear programming problem (relaxing integer variables). A process that continuously checks customer voltages is adopted to trigger the optimization only when needed. Moreover, CVR benefits are not only quantified at a network level but also for customers, providing useful insights to policy makers. The proposed control is assessed using a realistic, unbalanced U.K. residential MV–LV network (2,400+ customers) with high PV penetration, and 1-min resolution time-varying profiles and load models. Results demonstrate that the proposed control effectively coordinates voltage regulation in MV and LV levels throughout the day, minimizing energy imports for all customers.
The Influence of Energy Renovation on the Change of Indoor Temperature and Energy Use

The aim of the renovation of apartment buildings is to lower the energy consumption of those buildings, mainly the heating energy consumption. There are few analyses regarding those other energy consumptions which are also related to the primary energy need for calculating the energy efficiency class, including the primary energy need of calculated heating, domestic hot water (DHW), and household electricity. Indoor temperature is directly connected with heating energy consumption, but it is not known yet how much it will change after renovation. One of the research issues relates to the change of electricity and DHW usage after renovation and to the question of whether this change is related to the users’ behavior or to changes to technical solutions. Thirty-five renovated apartment buildings have been analyzed in this study, where the data of indoor temperature, airflow, and energy consumption for DHW with and without circulation and electricity use in apartments and common rooms has been measured. During research, it turned out that the usage of DHW without circulation and the usage of household electricity do not change after renovation. Yet there is a major increase in indoor temperature and DHW energy use in buildings that did not have circulation before the renovation. In addition, a small increase in the use of electricity in common areas was discovered. This study will offer changes in calculations for the energy efficiency number.
Soft-Switching Voltage-Demultiplier-Cell-Based High Step-Down DC–DC Converter

A novel high step-down dc–dc converter with voltage demultiplier cell is proposed in this paper, which is widely used in the high step-down applications such as electric vehicle and digital circuits. The combination of switched-capacitor and coupled-inductor is employed to build extended voltage demultiplier in the proposed converter, which makes a quite higher voltage conversion ratio than that of the existing counterparts. Thus, the proposed converter can achieve extremely low output voltage with an appropriate duty ratio, and the extreme duty cycle is avoided. Accordingly, voltage stress on power switches is greatly reduced. Then, mosfets with low conduction resistance could be utilized to reduce conduction loss. Importantly, zero-voltage switching could be achieved for the main switch, which promotes the conversion efficiency further. In addition, the coupled inductor operates not only as a filter inductor, but also as a transformer when the main switch is in the off state, which reduces the volume of the magnetic core and improves the power density of the converter. The operation principle, performance analysis, design considerations of the proposed converter and performance comparison with recent counterparts are discussed in detail, and finally, an experimental prototype is built to verify the theoretical analysis and performance of the proposed converter.