Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Innovation policy in a complexity perspective: levels and levers for policy intervention

We investigate to what extent and how the adoption of a complexity-based perspective to innovation (Lane and Maxfield, 1996, 1997, 2005; Lane et al., 2008; Read et al, 2008; Russo, 2000) can support policymakers in their quest to implement effective interventions, able to foster innovation processes and to create structures that sustain them over time. We argue that broad attempts at theorizing innovation processes do not lend themselves to a quick translation into simple ‘policy recipes’, because conceptualizing innovation as a complex multi-level process implies that it is not possible to devise context-independent ways to support it: improved theoretical understanding of innovation processes should not aim to provide policymakers with simple encompassing solutions, but it should help them formulate and address questions that are appropriate to the particular context within which they operate. In line with this approach, we present our analysis of a specific policy experiment, the ‘Technological Innovation in Tuscany’ programme (henceforth RPIA-ITT). In this context - drawing upon a dynamic interactionist theory of innovation whose main building blocks are the concepts of generative relationships, competence networks, scaffolding structures and the role of narrative in driving action in situations characterized by ontological uncertainty (Lane, Malerba, Maxfield and Orsenigo, 1996; Lane and Maxfield, 1997, 2005, 2008; Russo, 2000, 2005) – we have been able to identify methodological and analytical tools that can be applied to policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities. We conclude with some broader implications for innovation policy as well as an agenda for future research.
Characteristics of Joint Displays Illustrating Data Integration in Mixed-Methods Nursing Studies.

AIMS To identify the characteristics of joint displays illustrating data integration in mixed-methods nursing studies and to make recommendations for better use of joint displays for integration of qualitative and quantitative data in mixed methods studies. DESIGN Discussion Paper DATA SOURCES: We completed this paper as a part of a mixed methods prevalence review of 190 studies published in nursing journals. We searched ten nursing journals and three databases from January 2014-April 2018, additional journal search was performed from May-September 2018. We reviewed 17 studies that used joint displays as the method of data integration. Using a joint display typology, a checklist, summary tables and personal experiences of using joint displays, we evaluated the quality of displays. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Nurse researchers should use advanced data integration approaches to increase the rigour of the mixed methods studies. Joint displays can enable nurse researchers to efficiently integrate and synthesize qualitative and quantitative data in mixed methods studies. However, nurse researchers should clearly label the type and title of the display, include both qualitative and quantitative data and interpretations and highlight the mixed methods interpretations as confirmed, divergent, or expanded in the displays. CONCLUSION Joint displays are adopted for data integration in nursing mixed methods studies. Improvements are required concerning data presentation in the displays. Researchers should provide clear titles and supporting data and inferences and identify the meta-inferences by assessing the fit between quantitative and qualitative data. IMPACT Despite the importance of integration in mixed-methods, reviews indicated a consistent lack of integration in nursing research. Joint displays are structured frameworks used for the integration and synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data at the analysis and interpretation levels. The discussed typology and characteristics of displays can enable nurse researchers to enhance the quality and presentation of integrated results in mixed methods studies.
Becoming Places: Urbanism / Architecture / Identity / Power

Part 1: Ideas 1. Making Sense of Place 2. Place as Assemblage 3. Silent Complicities 4. Limits of Critical Architecture Part 2: Places 5. Slippery Characters: Defending and Creating Place Identities (with Ian Woodcock and Stephen Wood) 6. Becoming Prosperous: Informal Urbanism in Yogyakarta (with Wiryono Rhajo) 7. Urbanising Architecture: Koolhaas and Spatial Segmentarity 8. Open Court: Transparency and Legitimation in the Courthouse 9. Safety Becomes Danger: Drug-Use in Public Space (with John Fitzgerald) 10. New Orders: Monas and Merdeka Square (with Eka Permanasari) 11. Urban Slippage: Smooth and Striated Streetscapes in Bangkok (with Kasama Polakit)
Effects of rural-to-urban migration on the cognitive aging trajectories of older Chinese adults: results from a prospective cohort analysis

Background Increasingly, rural older Chinese adults are moving to urban to live with their children who have migrated to urban. However, few studies have examined this pattern of migration and its effects on cognitive function. Our aim was to investigate the effects of domestic rural-to-urban migration on the cognitive function trajectories of older Chinese adults, as well as the explanatory factors for these effects.Methods The data were drawn from three waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Migrants were defined as participants who had a rural Hukou status (the household registration system of China) but lived in an urban area throughout the study and follow-up period. Cognitive functions were measured using an adapted Chinese version of the Mini-Mental State Examination. We performed multilevel linear regression models to examine the association of internal migration and cognitive function trajectories.Results 3,876 Chinese adults aged ≥60 years at baseline were included. Migrants (n = 850) had higher levels of education and reported more interactions with family than their rural non-migrant counterparts. Additionally, female migrants were more likely to participate in leisure activities. All cognitive function scores declined over time, but no significant differences were observed in the rates of cognitive decline between migrants and non-migrants, regardless of sex. Female migrants exhibited significantly better performances in terms of total cognition ( β = 0.77, P < .001) and mental status ( β =0.68, P < .001) than female non-migrants, whereas no inter-group difference was observed in memory ( β = 0.09, P > .05). No significant differences in cognitive function levels were observed between male migrants and male non-migrants. A series of adjusted models revealed that psychosocial factors such as residence with children, caring grandchildren and participation in leisure activities partly explained the association between migration and cognition in women.Conclusion Rural-to-urban migration was positively associated with cognitive function only in women, but did not affect the rate of cognitive decline in either sex. The findings indicate that interventions are warranted to increase the cognitive functions of male migrants and rural, non-migrating older adults.
La grande impresa italiana nell'ultimo quarto di secolo

The study addresses the issue of the possible contribution of large firms to the growth of the Italian industrial system shortly before the single European currency. Our research has required to understand the behaviour and characteristics of large firms throughout the ups and downs of business cycles. We analysed the role of technical progress and of the related organisational changes, the effects of the evolution of political scenarios, the fall outs of financial management. At the moment, as a matter of fact, the Italian large firms are systems connecting several different and highly specialised operational units; the resulting network is a complex structure from which significant improvements of efficiency may derive, especially in the light of progress in telecommunication and information systems.
Experimental and Analytical Studies of a Model Helicopter Rotor in Hover

Abstract : The present study is a benchmark test to aid the development of various rotor performance codes. The study involves simultaneous blade pressure measurements and tip vortex surveys. Measurements were made for a wide range of tip Mach numbers including the transonic flow regime. The measured tip vortex strength and geometry permit effective blade loading predictions when used as input to a prescribed wake lifting surface code. It is also shown that with proper inflow and boundary layer modeling, the supercritical flow regime can be accurately predicted.
Alcohol ignition interlock schemes: best practice review

Alcohol ignition interlock schemes (AISs) for drink drive offenders can be mandatory or voluntary in nature, although many include both approaches. Outcome evaluations of AISs show that they effectively reduce or eliminate drink drive offending only for as long as an interlock is installed, as once an interlock is removed risks of re-offending tend to return. Achieving a critical mass of interlock use among drivers will increasingly develop a sense of normality about interlocks, with benefits in reducing recidivism among drink drivers as well as contributing to reduced alcohol offences and crashes among drivers generally. Increased use of interlocks can come from greater use among non-offender driver groups such as occupational drivers, inclusion of first offenders as well as repeat offenders in AISs and technological advances in interlock design relating to ease of use and tampering prevention. Other critical operational factors relevant to AIS effectiveness include: the timing of an offenderrs admission to an AIS, the degree and nature of participant monitoring while on the AIS, the type of any adjunct education, treatment or other support programs, availability of user cost subsidies, how often participants drive illegally while subject to AIS requirements, and AIS interoperability between jurisdictions. Based on AIS evaluation findings, together with relevant theoretical and experiential perspectives, a substantial list of best practice components characteristic of effective AISs has been derived. This list can be used to gauge the potential effectiveness of and identify possible areas for improvement in existing AISs.
Impact of planting techniques on the growth and quality performance of maize hybrids in the spring season

A field trial was conducted at Yamunanagar, Haryana, India during the spring season to study the performance of maize hybrids under different planting techniques. The 5 maize hybrids viz; HM-4, HM-9, HM-10, HM-11, and HQPM5 were tested under three planting techniques: ridge, flat, and furrow methods. The growth parameters like plant-stand per hectare, plant height (cm), and dry matter accumulation (g/plant)were recorded higher under ridge method of planting followed by flat and furrow but had no significant effect on the quality parameters such astryptophan, lysine, protein, zinc, iron and nitrogen content in maize grains. The periodic growth parameters such as plant stand per hectare, plant height, and dry matter accumulation were significantly higher with hybrid HM-10 followed by the rest of maize hybrids whereas, zinc and iron content was not significantly affected in any of the maize hybrids. Tryptophan and lysine content was significantly higher inHQPM-5 hybrid but nitrogen and protein content were more in HM-4 hybrid. In conclusion, the planting method had significant effects on the yield parameters yet quality parameters are less affected by the planting. The varietal genotype has more influence on the performance, productivity, and quality, under different planting techniques.
Effect of Resampling on the Performance and Execution Speed of Adaptive Marginalized Particle Filter

One of the major factors that affects the performance of adaptive filters like Particle Filter (PF), Marginalized Particle Filter (MPF) and Adaptive Marginalized Particle Filter (AMPF) is sample degeneracy. Sample degeneracy occurs when the weights associated with particles converges to zero making them useless in state estimation. Resampling is the most common method used to avoid sample degeneracy problem, in which a new set of particles are generated and weights are assigned. Performance and execution time of these filter depends a lot on what type of resampling technique is employed. AMPF is the modified version of MPF which is typically faster than PF and MPF. The main aim of this paper is to find the effect of different types of resampling on the performance and execution time of AMPF. For this, a typical target tracking problem is simulated using MATLAB. AMPF with different types of resampling techniques is used for state estimation for the above-mentioned problem and the best in terms of performance and execution speed will be found out. From the simulation, it will be clear that AMPF with systematic resampling is found to be best in terms of execution speed and performance i.e. minimum Root Mean Square Error.
FATIGUE PERFORMANCE OF ASPHALT CONCRETE MIXES AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO ASPHALT CONCRETE PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE IN CALIFORNIA

This project focused on evaluating the effects of asphalt content and air-void content on the fatigue response of a typical California asphalt concrete mix. Recommendations for improving the fatigue performance of asphalt concrete pavements in California were also developed. The project, in addition, demonstrated and adapted the testing and analysis procedures developed for use in the design and analysis of California asphalt concrete mixes and asphalt concrete pavements for improved fatigue performance.
Optimization of Snow Removal in Vermont

The purpose of this report is to document the research activities performed under project SPR-RAC-727 for the State of Vermont, Agency of Transportation (VTrans), Materials & Research Section entitled “Optimization of Snow Removal in Vermont”. The overall objective for this project was to develop, for VTrans roadway snow and ice control operations, storm-specific routes designed to maximize the efficiency of the service provided in terms of labor-hours and fuel. This report describes the set of processes implemented for optimizing roadway snow and ice control (RSIC) operations for the roadways that VTrans is responsible for. Three different approaches to establishing priority for certain roadways are implemented, including one that uses the Network Robustness Index developed previously by researchers at the University of Vermont (UVM) Transportation Research Center (TRC), and each is run for three storm levels – low-salt, medium-salt, and high-salt. Storm-intensity levels are important because they dictate the amount of salt application required - – 200 lbs/mile, 500 lbs/mile, and 800 lbs/mile, which is the primary constraint for the maximum length of a round-trip route for roadway snow and ice control. The first task was to optimize the service areas for each of the 61 VTrans maintenance garages based on the travel time between each garage and the surrounding road network. The second task was to develop alternative vehicle allocation methods and assign each of the vehicles in the VTrans RSIC fleet to the maintenance garages based on these methods. The third task was to optimally route each of these vehicle allocations according to the combined service time/fuel consumption metric. The fourth and final task was to evaluate the competing vehicle allocations based on the speed with which high priority road corridors are serviced.
User Manual for the NASA Glenn Ice Accretion Code LEWICE: Version 2.0

A research project is underway at NASA Glenn to produce a computer code which can accurately predict ice growth under a wide range of meteorological conditions for any aircraft surface. This report will present a description of the code inputs and outputs from version 2.2. 2 of this code, which is called LEWICE. This version differs from release 2.0 due to the addition of advanced thermal analysis capabilities for de-icing and anti-icing applications using electrothermal heaters or bleed air applications. An extensive effort was also undertaken to compare the results against the database of electrothermal results which have been generated in the NASA Glenn Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) as was performed for the validation effort for version 2.0. This report will primarily describe the features of the software related to the use of the program. Appendix A of this report has been included to list some of the inner workings of the software or the physical models used. This information is also available in the form of several unpublished documents internal to NASA. This report is intended as a replacement for all previous user manuals of LEWICE. In addition to describing the changes and improvements made for this version, information from previous manuals may be duplicated so that the user will not need to consult previous manuals to use this code.
EVALUATION OF TRAFFIC CONTROL PLANS AT RECONSTRUCTION SITES. FINAL REPORT

A considerable amount of time and effort are being spent by Department personnel to prepare Traffic Control Plans (TCPs). Thus, there is a need to evaluate TCP procedures and identify needed improvement. In addition, the complexity of reconstruction work zones requires that a variety of traffic handling approaches both standard and innovative be utilized. Toward these ends, data were collected by a series of visits to several work zone sites in Texas, interviews with numerous District personnel, review of several TCPs for worksites in Texas and several field studies. Also, the study staff worked with District 12 (Houston) in organizing a Special Traffic Handling Crew, and in developing and implementing work zone traffic management strategies. This is the third and final report in a 3-report series. The other reports are: Report 321-1 -- Catalog of Traffic Control Strategies and Devices; and, Report 321-2 -- Guidelines for Preparing Work Zone Traffic Control Plans.
FPGA-based architectures for next generation communications networks

This engineering doctorate concerns the application of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology to some of the challenges faced in the design of next generation communications networks. The growth and convergence of such networks has fuelled demand for higher bandwidth systems, and a requirement to support a diverse range of payloads across the network span. The research which follows focuses on the development of FPGA-based architectures for two important paradigms in contemporary networking - Forward Error Correction and Packet Classification. The work seeks to combine analysis of the underlying algorithms and mathematical techniques which drive these applications, with an informed approach to the design of efficient FPGA-based circuits.
Parametric, Non-Parametric and Multivariate Analysis of Capital Structure During the Financial Crises in Jordanian Banks

: Motivations : This research seeks to analyze the determinants of capital structure of the banking sector in Jordan taking into consideration bank business model (Islamic versus Commercial bank). The research also sheds light on the financial crises of 2007/2008 and its impact on the financing decision in the banking sector. Novelty : Although the topic of capital structure’s determinants is well studied in non-financial firms, very few studies considered the financial firms, namely banks. Since the nature of operations and capital components for banks are totally different this research comes to fill the gap in the banking literature. Methodology and Methods : The study uses multivariate regression techniques of panel data besides the parametric and non-parametric analysis. Three measurements of capital structure are considered: leverage ratio, long term debt ratio and short-term debt ratio, the explanatory variables are included in two sets, bank specific characteristics and economic characteristics. Data and Empirical Analysis : Balanced panel data set was formed for 27 Jordanian banks during the period of 2003- 2015. Empirically, the findings suggest a variation of capital structure determinants based on the variable of measurement. However, the analysis confirms that bank’s profitability and bank’s risk are major components of the capital structure decision regardless of its measurement variable. In addition to these two variables, liquidity, growth and taxes are important variable in the short-term debt financing, and retained earnings is important to the long-term financing. Empirically proven that Jordanian banks' capital structure decision is affected by the global financial crisis 2007/2008 and by bank type. Jordanian banks might differ in size, but this doesn't affect their policies toward the capital structure. The empirical results are consistent with the pecking order theory that profitable firms prefer to use more of their internal sources of funds rather than debt financing. Policy Implications : Due to importance of the capital structure decision for banks and non-banks firms and based on our finding, the policy makers in Jordan and may in other similar countries should pay attention to capital requirement regulations as the determinants of leverage among banks are different based on the business model whether commercial or Islamic.
QUANTITATIONS OF THE IMPACTS OF PROVIDING PROTECTED LEFT TURNS AT SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS. FINAL REPORT

This report documents the development of guidelines and recommendations for the selection of left-turn phasing and loop detector locations for left-turning traffic. The guidelines developed are based on a comprehensive literature search and a survey of state highway agencies. Recommendations for vehicle loop detector locations are based on survey data and computer simulations. Recommendations regarding the type of left-turn phasing are based on a two level decision process. The first level of the decision process provides guidelines to assist the engineer in the decision of whether no left-turn phasing is adequate or if some degree of protection is necessary. The second level provides recommendations to assist in determining if the less restrictive protected/permissive phasing is adequate or if the more restrictive protected only phasing is required. Accident studies of signalized intersections in Greenville and Anderson, South Carolina, were conducted to compare accident frequencies before and after the installation of left-turn phasing.
Strobe Light Deterrent Efficacy Test and Fish Behavior Determination at Grand Coulee Dam Third Powerplant Forebay

This report documents the third year of a four-year study to assess the efficacy of a prototype strobe light system to elicit a negative phototactic response in kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and rainbow trout (O. mykiss) in the forebay to the third powerplant at Grand Coulee Dam. This work was conducted for the Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in conjunction with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Colville Confederated Tribes).