Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The case for aerodynamic sensitivity analysis

No specific solutions are offered, nor verified by applications, for its subject problem which is sensitivity analysis in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Instead, a plea is made to the CFD community for extending their present capability to include sensitivity analysis. The plea is made from the viewpoint of an aeronautical engineer, not an expert in CFD methods, who needs the sensitivity information when working at the junction of aerodynamics, structures, active controls, and other disciplines whose inputs need to be integrated in aircraft design.
ASPHALT-AGGREGATE MIXTURE ANALYSIS SYSTEM: AAMAS

This manual presents the procedures for an Asphalt-Aggregate Mixture Analysis System (AAMAS) developed under NCHRP Research Project 9-6(1). The procedures included in the manual are intended to be used for the design and evaluation of dense-graded hot-mixed asphalt concrete mixtures, based on performance-related criteria for high-volume roadways. This manual is the first of three documents, and constitutes the Procedural Manual for mixture design and AAMAS. This manual is divided into four parts. Part I (Selection of Mixture Components) presents the guidelines and criteria recommended for selecting the mixture components, Part II (Mixture Design) is the mixture design procedure, Part III (Mixture Analyses) discusses the test procedures that are required for AAMAS, and Part IV (Mixture Performance Evaluation) discusses the mechanistic-empirical procedures used to predict mixture behavior under traffic and environmental loads.
WATER: KEY CAUSE OF PAVEMENT FAILURE?

Road builders from ancient times have known that the performance of pavements hinges heavily on the ability to keep execss water out. Widespread experiences for centuries, together with detailed records from several modern Road Test experiments, prove that while a pavement structural section contains free water, the rate of damage under traffic often is hundreds to thousands of times faster (per load) than when no free water is present. The high costs of repairing relatively new pavements throughout our land, together with the fact that large amounts of vital paving materials are being used up unnecessarily, suggest there should be a return to the "good drainage" philosophy expressed by John McAdam more than 150 years ago. The paper explains why undrained pavements break up prematurely, and tells about a recently issued FHWA booklet that shows how to design underdrains that can virtually eliminate this proble. /CE-ASCE/
ON FORECASTING FREEWAY OCCUPANCIES AND VOLUMES (ABRIDGMENT)

Box-Jenkins time-series analyses were conducted on 20-, 40-, and 60-s occupancy and volume data collected during a morning rush period at two freeway locations--one on the local lanes and the other on the express lanes on the Dan Ryan Expresseay in Chicago, Illinois. The local section experienced heavy truck traffic and was connected to an entrance ramp. The express section, on the other hand, was of the straight-pipe type that had no truck traffic. Several autoregressive integrated-moving-average (ARIMA) models were evaluated, and the ARIMA (0, 1, 1) model was found to be the most statistically significant for all forecasting intervals for both volume and occupancy. A comparison between the ARIMA (0, 1, 1) model and the Illinois Department of Transportation Traffic Systems Center ARIMA (0, 1, 0) model showed significant improvement in forecasting for the former. The 60-s forecasting interval was found to be the most-effective interval. When compared with occupancy forecasting, volume forecasting was found to be less variable than occupancy, as expressed by the ratio of the residual sum of squares to the mean of the observations. By the same token, forecasts of volumes and occupancies on the express lanes were found to be less variables than those on the local lanes. (Author)
How and Why Do Managers Use Public Forecasts to Guide the Market?

We compare publicly disclosed forecasts and internal forecasts collected by confidential government surveys using a sample of publicly-listed Japanese firms. Both forecasts are mandatory and meaningfully predict corporate policy but on average public forecasts are pessimistic relative to internal forecasts. Firms with greater shareholder pressure and bonusrelated compensation are more pessimistic. Public pessimism likely guides market beliefs down, predicting higher future stock returns, earnings surprises, and executive, but not rankand-file, compensation. However, it flips to optimism when firms are financially constrained, consistent with an inter-temporal trade-off between benefits from meeting managerial goalposts versus maintaining financial flexibility. JEL Classification: D83, E22, G14, G31, G34, G41
PRACTICAL FATIGUE CHARACTERISATION OF BITUMINOUS PAVING MIXTURES

This paper gives details of the development and later use of the Indirect Tensile Fatigue Test (ITFT) as a routine practical method for evaluating the life-to-crack-initiation of bituminous paving mixtures. Although this test has been used for many years, a recent collaborative project in the UK has led to its significant practical improvement. The project's specific areas of investigation included: (1) mixture design; (2) stiffness modulus measurement; (3) permanent deformation evaluation; (4) fatigue characterisation; and (5) durability testing. The biaxial state of stress occurring in the ITFT is more representative of field conditions than a uniaxial stress state, but complicates calculations of stress and strain. However, linear elastic theory can be applied here, as long as the test temperature does not exceed 30 degrees C. The data also confirm that tensile strain can be used as the principal criterion for fatigue crack initiation. A high correlation was found between results from the ITFT and the trapezoidal cantilever and uniaxial tension-compression tests. The ITFT can characterise a material in as little as two hours, and is very repeatable and reproducible. It is considered to be suitable for a British standard, and a serious candidate for adoption as a European standard. For the covering abstract, see IRRD 889137.
Electronic brachytherapy for treatment of non-melanoma skin cancers: clinical results and toxicities

Purpose Although surgical approaches are standard for most non-melanomatous skin cancers, some patients are not candidates due to medical co-morbidities or functional or cosmetic or lesion location. High-dose-rate electronic brachytherapy (HDR-EBT) may be an alternative treatment modality. Material and methods A retrospective chart review was conducted from April 2011 to April 2013. All lesions were pathologically confirmed as malignant basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma. A HDR-EBT system delivered a median biological equivalent dose of 50 Gy total to a depth of 0.1-0.5 cm using various sizes of applicators. Treatment feasibility, acute and late toxicity, cosmetic outcomes, and local recurrence were assessed. Results Thirty-three patients with a mean age of 76 years with 50 cutaneous lesions were treated. Locations included 17 extremity lesions and 33 head and neck lesions. After treatments, acute grade 3 moist desquamation developed in 9 of the lesions (18%). Acute grade 4 ulceration developed in 3 lesions in the lower extremity (6%) and 1 upper lip lesion (2%). These toxicities were improved after a median of 20 days. Amongst the 4 lesions with grade 4 toxicities, a greater proportion were in lower extremity lesions compared to head and neck lesions (75% vs. 25%). There was no difference in the rate of grade 3 and 4 toxicities between patients aged ≤ 75 years and aged > 75 years (p = 0.082). With a mean long-term follow-up of 45.6 months, there was 1 local recurrence treated with surgery and no reported late toxicities. Conclusions Our experience with HDR-EBT for non-melanomatous skin cancers is encouraging in terms of efficacy and convenience for patients. Our long-term follow-up shows a good response in all treated sites. Caution should be used for extremity sites, and more fractionated regimens should be considered to avoid severe acute toxicities.
Effect of Dowel Bar Embedment Length on Joint Load Transfer Efficiency of MnROAD Concrete Pavement Test Cells

It is well understood that for heavily loaded concrete pavements, the use of dowel bars across transverse joints can significantly improve their performance. To function effectively, dowel bars must be properly aligned and have sufficient embedment length to transfer load to the surrounding concrete. The use of new high accuracy dowel bar location equipment has brought renewed interest toward understanding reasonable construction tolerances for dowel bar alignment. The thirteen-year history of pavement performance data from the Minnesota Road Research (MnROAD) facility provides a unique opportunity to examine the effects of dowel bar alignment on joint performance. Specifically, this study investigated the effects of dowel bar embedment length on joint load transfer efficiency. Results of the analysis show that most test cells demonstrate little effect on the overall level and variability of load transfer efficiency (LTE) from dowel embedment lengths as low as 10 cm (4 in). Findings of this study could lead to important changes in construction specifications for dowel bar embedment length.
Linking Industrial Ecology with Business Strategy: Creating Value for Green Product Design

As organizations practice environmental design, some discover green design positively impacts business performance. This article demonstrates how an organization can employ existing design methods and tools with the Kano technique to craft an environmental product design strategy that enhances its business strategy. These tools expand the toolbox of the industrial ecologist and enable the link between green design and business improvement. The Kano technique was developed in the 1980s to facilitate design of innovative products. We also introduce terminology and concepts such as “voices of the environment,”“environmental knowledge management,”“environmental profile,” and “environmental product attribute” in order to bridge the gap between industrial ecology and business concerns.
Designing and Conducting Business Surveys

Designing and Conducting Business Surveys provides a coherent overview of the business survey process, from start to finish. It uniquely integrates an understanding of how businesses operate, a total survey error approach to data quality that focuses specifically on business surveys, and sound project management principles. The book brings together what is currently known about planning, designing, and conducting business surveys, with producing and disseminating statistics or other research results from the collected data. This knowledge draws upon a variety of disciplines such as survey methodology, organizational sciences, sociology, psychology, and statistical methods. The contents of the book formulate a comprehensive guide to scholarly material previously dispersed among books, journal articles, and conference papers. This book provides guidelines that will help the reader make educated trade-off decisions that minimize survey errors, costs, and response burden, while being attentive to survey data quality. Major topics include:
Real-Time Predictability of Mutual Fund Performance Predictors

Researchers have discovered abundant evidence that mutual fund performance is predictable in the cross-section ex post. This paper studies the ex ante predictability of 12 well-known predictors for fund performance from investors’ perspective. Exploiting two types of fund picking strategies with either rule-based approach or machine learning methods, I find that utilizing machine learning can deliver superior real-time economic gains for investors with fund short-term performance being the primary driver underlying predictability. Moreover, using a novel approach to decomposing fund performance, I discover that investors’ flow response to predictorimplied performance exhibits strong variations across predictors. These results suggest ex ante predictability as the compensation for employing costly algorithms to search for skilled managers. JEL Classifications: G11; G14; G17; G23; G50
Institutional role in coping livestock diseases on farm level in rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan

Livestock sector seeks a multifold increase in production to sustain its role in achieving food sufficiency in the world. However, anxiety is observed in terms of its falling production particularly in developing countries like Pakistan. The livestock sector is vulnerable to numerous diseases followed by poorly adopted coping strategies. This study was conducted in the Punjab Pakistan, a prominent province in terms of livestock production. A list of 3808 livestock farmers was developed through a benchmark survey conducted in two purposively selected (Raheem-Yar-Khan and Muzaffargarh) districts. A sample of 400 livestock farmers was determined from the 40 selected villages through a multistage sampling technique. Collected data were analyzed through SPSS and tables were drawn to interpret the results. Results indicate that awareness of farmers about different diseases was considerably good but the extent of damage theses disease gives to the livestock business was not understood by the farmers. Apart from foot-and-mouth disease and hemorrhagic septicemia farmers rated either low threatening or very low threatening. Farmers had poor knowledge about internal and external parasites and their damage was also not recognized by them. Only tick was reported as a farm damaging parasite. Though farmers were adopting coping strategies at the farms, but clean cattle shelter, vaccination and disease prevention were the leading practices. While against the services provided by the Punjab livestock department, only vaccination against the different disease was prominent. The education and experience of the farmers had a significant association with most of the coping strategies.
Development and Evaluation of an Active Warning Device for School Bus Loading and Unloading Points in Areas of Limited Visibility

The primary objectives of this research project were: (1) to develop an active advance warning device (AAWD) comprised of an actuated flashing beacon supplement to a conventional SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD sign (S3-1) and (2) to evaluate its effect on driver performance and safety through school bus loading and unloading zones. Secondary objectives were to summarize system components and costs, develop an activation strategy, review the liability risk, review national experience related to safety, and provide guidance regarding specifications and use in Texas. With respect to safety, 37 of 46 studies reported a positive effect resulting from AAWDs. Findings from field studies conducted in Texas also suggest favorable results with confirmed reductions in vehicle approach speeds when the flashing beacon was activated. Costs for the final AAWD are estimated to be $2,000 for the S3-1 sign and flashing beacons and $2,600 for the flashing beacon activation system, not including sign installation or ongoing maintenance and operations costs. A review of published literature and historic case law suggests minimal additional liability risk above what is already experienced by transportation departments. Unique areas of risk relate to "jurisdictional responsibility" for establishing, operating, and maintaining school bus loading and unloading zones and the hazard expectation tied to the flashing beacon activation (i.e., motorists may not exercise the same degree of caution when the bus is not present and the beacons are not flashing despite children being present at the bus stop). Given the favorable safety impacts, the low system cost, and the minimal additional liability risk incurred, the AAWD is recommended for further implementation.
Optimisation of the Knitting Process on Warp-Knitting Machines in the Aspect of the Feeding Zone Geometry

An analysis of the structure of warp-knitting machines shows a great variety of the parameters of the knitting zone geometry, rigidity and attenuation of the tension rail system, a coefficient of friction of the threads against guiding elements and the character of the kinematic input function of loop forming elements. In the process of technical design, the constructors concentrate on the kinematics and dynamics of the components of the machine, the kind and properties of the materials used, optimisation of overall constructional dimensions etc. In many cases the aspects concerning the technology of manufacturing knitted fabrics are ignored at the stage of assumptions and design concepts. A significant element in the modelling of the construction design of a warp-knitting machine is the process of optimisation of the machine feeding parameters, considering the minimum load of the threads being fed. This paper presents a simulation of the feeding zone in order to analyse and optimise its working conditions.
Salivary

Background: Studies suggest Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) increased the incidence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, fimA genotypes distribution of Pg, the origination of Pg in tissue, and its prognostic value are inconclusive. We aimed to investigate the frequency of fimA genotypes in OSCC patients, study the association between Pg and OSCC, and explore the prognostic value of Pg. Methods: The abundance of Pg in saliva from the OSCC group and the OSCC-free group was analysed by qPCR. The presence of Pg was explored in OSCC tissue and para-cancerous tissue by in situ hybridization. The frequency of fimA genotypes in saliva and OSCC tissue was determined by PCR, then PCR products were sequenced and compared. Clinical data were extracted, and patients followed up for a median period of 23 months. Clinicopathological variables were compared with the abundance of Pg using Pearson Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. The disease-free survival (DFS) rate was calculated by Kaplan–Meier method with log-rank tests. Results: Comparing the OSCC-free group, 95 patients with OSCC showed a high abundance of Pg in saliva (P = 0.033), and OSCC tissue showed strong in situ expression of Pg compared with paired normal tissue. Patients with OSCC showed a dominant distribution of Pg with genotype I + Ib (21.1%), II (31.6%), and IV (21.1%). FimA genotypes detected in saliva were in accordance with those in OSCC tissue, there was, moreover, a significant similarity in amplified Pg fragments. Of the 94 responsive OSCC patients, the recurrence rate was 26.6% (25/94). Overabundance of Pg in saliva showed advanced pathologic staging (P = 0.008), longer disease-free time (P = 0.029) and lower recurrence rate (P = 0.033). The overabundance of Pg in saliva was associated with improved disease-free survival (P = 0.049). Conclusions: This study indicated that Pg might involve in the pathogenesis of OSCC, Pg carrying fimA I, Ib, II, and IV were prevalent genotypes in patients with OSCC, the provenance of Pg in OSCC tissue might be from the salivary microbial reservoir, and the abundance of Pg in saliva might consider as a favorable potential prognostic indicator in
EUV Sources for Lithography

This comprehensive volume, edited by a senior technical staff member at SEMATECH, is the authoritative reference book on EUV source technology. The volume contains 38 chapters contributed by leading researchers and suppliers in the EUV source field. Topics range from a state-of-the-art overview and in-depth explanation of EUV source requirements, to fundamental atomic data and theoretical models of EUV sources based on discharge-produced plasmas (DPP) and laser-produced plasmas, to a description of prominent DPP and LPP designs and other technologies for producing EUV radiation. Additional topics include EUV source metrology and components (collectors, electrodes), debris mitigation, and mechanisms of component erosion in EUV sources. The volume is intended to meet the needs of both practitioners of the technology and readers seeking an introduction to the subject.
Inside the Sports Pages: Work Routines, Professional Ideologies, and the Manufacture of Sports News

Inside the Sports Pages explores the working world of contemporary sports journalism through the eyes of the reporters, editors, athletes and media-relations people who inhabit it. In this first comprehensive study of the work routines and professional ideologies involved in the manufacture of sports news, Mark Douglas Lowes presents a detailed and richly textured ethnographic account of life on the sports desk at a major Canadian daily newspaper. His wide-ranging analysis considers the role of the 'audience commodity' in sports news production, the dynamics of the newsroom, and the complex relations between reporters and their routine sources on the sports beat. The book concludes with an assessment of the ideological nature of sports news, and argues that sports coverage functions primarily as a promotional vehicle for the North American 'major league' sports industry. It will be of interest to anyone concerned about how the media report sports news- and the way they leave some of it unreported.
EFFECT OF WATER QUANTITY AND FOLIAR SPRAY WITH SOME SAFELY SUBSTANCES ON GROWTH, YIELD QUALITY AND STORABILITY OF GARLIC 1- GROWTH, YIELD, WATER RELATIONS AND LEAF PIGMENTS

Two field experiments were carried out during two successive winter seasons of 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 at the Experimental Farm, El Kassasein Horticultural Research Station, Ismailia Governorate, to clarify the effects of different rates of irrigation water; i.e., 1300, 1950 and 2600 m3/ fed. and foliar spray with some safely substances; i.e., potassium chloride, algae extract, potassium humate and calcium carbonate in addition to control treatment on growth, bulb quality, yield, water relations as well as leaf pigments and proline amino acid content of garlic plants (Allium sativum L.) cv. Chinese, grown under sandy soil conditions using drip irrigation system. Irrigation water quantity at 2600 or 1950 m3/ fed. were the superior treatments which significantly increased vegetative growth characters, bulb physical characters, total water, free water, water utilization and total yield without significant differences between them in most cases. Meanwhile, chlorophylls, bound water, water economy and proline amino acid content were at their maximum values under water stress (1300 m3/ fed.). Aqueous solution of calcium carbonate at 6% and/ or potassium humate at 0.2% as foliar spray had significant effect, in most cases, on plant growth, bulb physical characters, free water, water economy and total yield without significant differences between them. The interaction between calcium carbonate at 6% and/ or potassium humate at 0.2% and irrigation water quantity at 1950 m3/ fed. enhanced plant growth, bulb physical characters, total water, free water, water economy and total yield.
MODEL INVESTIGATIONS OF PILE GROUPS IN SAND

An optimizing sewer design program that incorporates discrete dynamic programming optimization is described. This digital computer program determines the least cost combination of pipe sizes and depths for the specified sewer system and constraint set. A design and cost sensitivity analysis for an interceptor sewer is given to illustrate application of the optimizing design system. Cost sensitivity to the design constraints varies markedly from system to system, but for this interceptor it was found that the cost was very sensitive to minimum velocity, Manning n value, design flowrate, and minimum depth. It is estimated that optimization and sensitivity analyses would typically reduce sewer costs from 10 to 20% or more.