Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formation control of nonholonomic mobile robots: the virtual structure approach

In recent years, there has been a considerable growth in applications of multi-robot systems as opposed to single-robot systems. This thesis presents our proposed solutions to a formation control problem in which mobile robots are required to create a desired formation shape and track a desired trajectory as a whole. In the first instance, we study the formation control problem for unicycle mobile robots. We propose two control algorithms based on a cascaded approach: one based on a kinematic model of a robot and the other based on a dynamic model. We also propose a saturated controller in which actuator limitations are explicitly accounted for. To demonstrate how the control algorithms work, we present an extensive simulation and experimental study. Thereafter we move on to formation control algorithms in which the coordination error is explicitly defined. Thus, we are able to give conditions for robots keeping their desired formation shape without necessarily tracking the desired trajectory. We also introduce a controller in which both trajectory tracking and formation shape maintenance are achieved as well as a saturated algorithm. We validate the applicability of the introduced controllers in simulations and experiments. Lastly, we study the formation control problem for car-like robots. In this case we develop a controller using the backstepping technique. We give conditions for robots keeping their desired formation shape while failing to track their desired trajectories and present simulation results to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed controller.
Industrial Districts: A New Approach To Industrial Change

Contents: Foreword: An Invitation to Read by Brian Loasby Introduction Part I: From the 'Sector' to the 'District' 1. From the Industrial 'Sector' to the Industrial 'District': Some Remarks on the Conceptual Foundations of Industrial Economics 2. The Marshallian Industrial District as a Socioeconomic Notion 3. The Industrial District as a Creative Milieu 4. Local Systems and Global Markets (with Enzo Rullani) 5. From Marshallian to Italian 'Industrial Districts': A Brief Critical Reconstruction 6. Measuring the 'District Effect': Reflections on the Literature (with Francesco Musotti) Part II: Industrial Districts and Beyond 7. Thought and Places in the Works of Carlo Cattaneo 8. Industrial Sectors and Industrial Districts: Tools for Industrial Analysis 9. The Conditions of Local Development 10. Rural Identities and Globalisation (with Luigi Omodei Zorini) Bibliography Index
STATE OF THE PRACTICE FOR DISPLAYING NON-TRAFFIC RELATED MESSAGES ON DYNAMIC MESSAGE SIGNS

Dynamic message signs (DMS), also referred to as changeable message signs (CMS) and variable message signs (VMS), have been used for over 30 years to provide traffic information to motorists and have become a prominent component of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). They have become an important component of many advanced traveler information and traffic management systems. DMS allow for the dissemination of real-time traffic information to motorists and are generally deployed in urban areas to inform motorists of traffic conditions (e.g., expected delays, estimated travel times, diversion routes, lane closures). DMS have become an important source of motorist information during incidents, special events, and work zone traffic control. The value of DMS, or any traffic information source, is dependent on two items: (1) The accuracy and usefulness of the information disseminated; (2) Motorists' willingness and ability to understand and utilize the information. The latter point involves the public perception of traffic information technologies. The quality of traffic-related messages as well as the overall presence of DMS affects the public perception. Traffic management agencies must understand that DMS affect public perception even when they are not actively conveying traffic-related information. Motorists may perceive blank signs as inoperable or may question the allocation of resources to technologies that seem to be (from their perspective) underutilized. On the other hand, displaying information not germane to real-time traffic conditions may erode the credibility of DMS and reduce their effectiveness as a traffic management tool. The purpose of the research presented herein was to assess the professional opinion regarding DMS usage during normal traffic conditions.
Prediction of usability: Comparing method combinations

The objective of this thesis is to obtain knowledge regarding how effective user centred evaluation methods are and how user centred evaluations are conducted by IT professionals. This will be achieved by exploring user centred evaluation in experimental and practical settings. The knowledge gained in these studies should inspire suggestions for further research and suggestions for improvements on the user centred evaluation activity. Two experimental studies were conducted. One compares the results from using three user centred evaluation methods, and the other examines two factors while conducting heuristic evaluation. The results show that the think-aloud evaluation method was the most effective method in finding realistic usability problems of the three methods. The number of critical problems found during think-aloud evaluation increases, if heuristic evaluation is conducted prior to the think-aloud evaluations. Further, two studies of user centred evaluation in practical settings were performed. The IT professionals participating in those studies were using the software development process Scrum to plan their work. The results show that user centred evaluation is infrequently conducted in Scrum projects, compared to testing activities like acceptance testing. The main type of evaluation is qualitative. Few participants measure user performance or use surveys to gather quantitative results on the usability and the user experience. IT professionals get feedback from users in an informal way and gather informal feedback from peers. Many participants use a mixture of methods for gathering feedback on their work. The outcome of this thesis shows that IT professionals should be encouraged to include users whenever possible when evaluating software, for example by using the think-aloud method. Using heuristic evaluation prior to conducting think-aloud evaluations is also recommended. In addition, IT professionals are encouraged to evaluate their software in an informal way frequently, rather than waiting for the right time to conduct a thorough quantitative evaluation. To advance this field further, researchers who want to improve the evaluation activity for the IT professionals should study how user centred evaluation methods could be combined in an efficient way and how the use of qualitative evaluation methods could be made more effective.
Through, Over, or Under Guardrail Penetration by Guardrail Height

This report evaluates whether a clear correlation between guardrail height and penetration of the guardrail exists in the collision and roadside features inventory datasets available for Washington State. In particular, an examination was made of whether guardrail heights of 27 in. or lower experience more through, over, or under penetrations (TOU) than 28 in. or greater guardrail installations.
Factors influencing the scientific production of university professors: a systematic review

This article presents a bibliographical review of empirical studies of the factors influencing the scientific production of professors, with the objective of characterizing scientific production in the university and its determining factors. It was carried out through the analysis of articles that present the situation of institutions of higher education. To find these articles, search strings were used in various databases, including Scopus, Scielo, Taylor and Francis, and inclusive and exclusive terms were used to delimit the articles found. An analysis is provided of the factors influencing scientific production, based on type of institution training and professional development, as indicators of their essential characteristics.
The post carbon reader : managing the 21st century's sustainability crises

This diverse collection by best-selling authors, renowned scientists, and experienced activists is an engaging and practical book that will be of interest to the lay reader as well as university students in both graduate and undergraduate courses. The expert contributors to The Post Carbon Reader were asked to unflinchingly describe the deep and interconnected sustainability crises confronting humanity in the 21st century--and then give readers concrete steps for addressing those crises. This unprecedented collection of writings (34 essays, 4 previously published) is an honest, informed and engaging exploration of the most challenging issues of our time. It includes chapters by best-selling authors like climate activist Bill McKibben, renowned scholars like "ecological footprint" co-founder William Rees, and up-and-coming experts like urban food systems pioneer Erika Allen. Lead editor Richard Heinberg is the world's leading author of mass-market books on fossil fuel dependence and depletion. Heinberg says, "We've run out of time, natural resources and capital, so this is our only chance to get things right. "
MODEL PEDESTRIAN SAFETY PROGRAM USER'S GUIDE

The Guide was written to assist individuals o organizations interested in planning and creating a safer environment for pedestrians. The Guide was designed for local associations; civic groups; school groups; municipal, county, and state governments; highway departments; safety coordinators; and police and traffic engineering departments. The Guide presents ideas, resources, procedures, and implementation suggestions to help the pedestrian. It identifies steps to follow in setting up a pedestrian safety program, and lists possible solutions to safety problems and suggests additional references.
MINIMUM RETROREFLECTANCE FOR NIGHTTIME VISIBILITY OF PAVEMENT MARKINGS

Many studies have addressed questions related to pavement markings; few, however, have dealt with the subject of minimum and generally acceptable retroreflectance values for nighttime visibility. Three studies that deal with this subject were found, and they agree closely on minimum retroreflectance depends on the retroreflective quality of the painted line, the quality of headlamp illuminance, the contrast between the line and the immediately adjacent road surface, and the presence or absence of roadway lighting. Tests were conducted using markings with a broad range of retroreflectance on a level tangent roadway of weathered asphaltic concrete. A subjective system was employed for rating the lines, and the results correlated well with those of other studies. Two retroreflectance values, expressed as specific luminance in units of millicandelas per square meter per lux (mcd/m2/1x) are suggested as acceptable and minimum. These values are approximately 300 and 100 mcd/m2/1x, respectively. These values may be useful in establishing acceptance and service criteria for pavement markings. The availability of portable instruments such as the Ecolux, which was used in this study, permits the assessment of pavement markings for conformance to such criteria.
Hot Rolling of Steel

"History of Hot Rolling Types of Hot-Rolled Products Casting Practices The Reheating of Ingots Conditioning Semi-Finished Products The Basic Principles of Rolling and Pass Design Blooming, Slabbing, and Billet Mills.Reheat Furnaces Bar and Rod Mills Structural Mills The Rolling of Rails, Wheels, and Rings Tube Mills Plate Mills Hot-Strip Mills Mill Drives Mill Rolls and Bearings The Cooling of Mill Rolls The Cooling and Descaling of Workpieces Mathematical Models of Hot, Flat Rolling The Behavior of Steels During Deformation at Elevated Temperatures Controlled Rolling or the Thermomechanical Treatment of Steel Frictional Effects in Hot Rolling Nonuniform Deformation in Hot Rolling.Heat Treatments for Hot-Rolled Products The Instrumentation and Computer Control of Hot Mills The Further Processing of Hot-Rolled Products "
Air pollution control and design handbook

United States Environmental Protection Agency Air Pollution Training Institute MD20 Environmental Air Pollution and Control Design Handbook, part 2. Download Air Pollution Control A Design Approach, 4th Edition PDF 576 PDF Download. Planning, analysis, design and construction of all types of private and public works. Reference Fundamentals of engineering supplied-reference handbook TA 159.F83 2008 California Air Pollution Control Laws TD 883.5 C2 C3 2003
Jet transport performance in thunderstorm wind shear conditions

Several hours of three dimensional wind data were collected in the thunderstorm approach-to-landing environment, using an instrumented Queen Air airplane. These data were used as input to a numerical simulation of aircraft response, concentrating on fixed-stick assumptions, while the aircraft simulated an instrument landing systems approach. Output included airspeed, vertical displacement, pitch angle, and a special approach deterioration parameter. Theory and the results of approximately 1000 simulations indicated that about 20 percent of the cases contained serious wind shear conditions capable of causing a critical deterioration of the approach. In particular, the presence of high energy at the airplane's phugoid frequency was found to have a deleterious effect on approach quality. Oscillations of the horizontal wind at the phugoid frequency were found to have a more serious effect than vertical wind. A simulation of Eastern flight 66, which crashed at JFK in 1975, served to illustrate the points of the research. A concept of a real-time wind shear detector was outlined utilizing these results.
Predicting romantic interest during early relationship development: A preregistered investigation using machine learning

There are massive literatures on initial attraction and established relationships. But few studies capture early relationship development: the interstitial period in which people experience rising and falling romantic interest for partners who could—but often do not—become sexual or dating partners. In this study, 208 single participants reported on 1,065 potential romantic partners across 7,179 data points over 7 months. In stage 1, we used random forests (a type of machine learning) to estimate how well different classes of variables (e.g., individual differences vs. target-specific constructs) predicted participants’ romantic interest in these potential partners. We also tested (and found only modest support for) the perceiver × target moderation account of compatibility: the meta-theoretical perspective that some types of perceivers experience greater romantic interest for some types of targets. In stage 2, we used multilevel modeling to depict predictors retained by the random-forests models; robust (positive) main effects emerged for many variables, including sociosexuality, sex drive, perceptions of the partner’s positive attributes (e.g., attractive and exciting), attachment features (e.g., proximity seeking), and perceived interest. Finally, we found no support for ideal partner preference-matching effects on romantic interest. The discussion highlights the need for new models to explain the origin of romantic compatibility.
The Regenerator and the Stirling Engine

Bridging the gap the Stirling cycle heat transfer - and the price similarity and scaling energetic similarity in support of similarity Hausen revisited connectivity and thermal shorting real particle trajectories - natural co-ordinates the Stirling regenerator compressibility effects regenerator flow impedance complex admittance - experimental collaboration steady flow correlations optimization - without the computer optimization - cycle steady state elements of combustion design study hobbyhorse origins.
Clinical and immunological response to checkpoint therapy in renal cell carcinoma is associated with TCF1+ CD8 T-cells in the tumor

We investigated changes in T cell responses in the peripheral blood of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after receiving immunotherapy. We found that a small proportion of both CD4 and CD8 cells activate and express the proliferation marker Ki67 and the activation markers HLA-DR and CD38. Patients who had the highest increase in these HLA-DR+CD38+ CD8 T cells after treatment had the best anti-tumor response. We studied these newly activated cells in more detail using flow cytometry and RNAseq and found that while these cells expanded in most patients, their phenotype did not drastically change during treatment. However, when we analyzed the TCR repertoire of these HLA-DR+CD38+CD8+ T cells, we found only patients who responded to the treatment had a burst of new clonotypes enter this pool of activated cells. Finally, we investigated how the T-cell response in the resected tumor months or years before receiving checkpoint therapy predicted later response to checkpoint therapy. Together, these data suggest that having a strong pre-existing immune response and immediate T cell response to checkpoint therapy is a predictor of anti-tumor response in patients with RCC.
Engineering a Safer World: Systems Thinking Applied to Safety

A new approach to safety, based on systems thinking, that is more effective, less costly, and easier to use than current techniques.Engineering has experienced a technological revolution, but the basic engineering techniques applied in safety and reliability engineering, created in a simpler, analog world, have changed very little over the years. In this groundbreaking book, Nancy Leveson proposes a new approach to safety? more suited to today's complex, sociotechnical, software-intensive world? based on modern systems thinking and systems theory. Revisiting and updating ideas pioneered by 1950s aerospace engineers in their System Safety concept, and testing her new model extensively on real-world examples, Leveson has created a new approach to safety that is more effective, less expensive, and easier to use than current techniques.Arguing that traditional models of causality are inadequate, Leveson presents a new, extended model of causation (Systems-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes, or STAMP), then shows how the new model can be used to create techniques for system safety engineering, including accident analysis, hazard analysis, system design, safety in operations, and management of safety-critical systems. She applies the new techniques to real-world events including the friendly-fire loss of a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter in the first Gulf War; the Vioxx recall; the U.S. Navy SUBSAFE program; and the bacterial contamination of a public water supply in a Canadian town. Leveson's approach is relevant even beyond safety engineering, offering techniques for ? reengineering? any large sociotechnical system to improve safety and manage risk.
Understanding Microwave Heating Cavities

Introduction. Microwave Heating Fundamentals. Numerical Techniques. Measurements. Field Studies in Multimode Cavities. Heating Uniformity in Multi-Feed Multimode Loaded Cavities. Single Mode Resonant Cavities. Slotted Feed Cavities. A Thought Process for the Choice of Applicators. Appendix: EMAS Data Flow Diagram. Cavity and Feed Dimensions. Conductivities of Some Commonly Used Materials. Dielectric Properties, Constant and Loss Tangent of Some Materials. Table of Rectangular Waveguide Dimensions. Data and Fittings. System Calibration. Bessel Functions. Rectangular Waveguide Field Equations. MATLAB Routines.
A theoretical justification for partnerships in Community Technology Centre projects

In many Community Technology Centre projects, partnerships are emerging as a fundamentally important aspect to achieving sustainability. While generally considered a less formal approach than direct funding from rich benefactors such as Government or philanthropic organisations, the paper argues that partnerships offer an effective and theoretically justifiable framework to achieving sustainability. Drawing on information based perspectives the paper proposes a theoretical justification for the use o f partnerships in community informatics projects that is able to incorporate individuals and groups in the analysis.
WAVE BREAKING OVER A SUBMERGED HORIZONTAL PLATE: OPTICAL FLOW, LES AND RANS

Wave breaking is a complex phenomenon which typically involves strong air entrainment and turbulence. When taking place at the shoreline, wave breaking may cause severe erosion and beach deformation. Wave breakers may be considered to force offshore breaking. It was shown in several earlier studies that a submerged horizontal plate may serve as such wave breaker. Waves propagating over the plate are transformed to shallow water waves and breaking takes place over the plate. In the present study, this process is modeled numerically by 3D LES and RANS (with RNG k -  turbulence closure) CFD simulations using the commercial software FLOW-3D ® . The performance of both methods is compared to each other and to new laboratory data. Optical Flow and surface detection methods are employed in the experimental model, using high-speed recordings with HD resolution. The paper aims to provide a performance evaluation of different numerical simulation methods and visual laboratory measurement
Comparison of psychiatric co-morbidity in patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures and epilepsy at a tertiary care hospital in Kashmir

Background: objective of the study was to describe and compare frequency of psychiatric disorders in two groups of patients, one with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNESs) and other with epilepsy.Methods: We studied 64 patients in which 32 belonged to the group with PNESs and 32 belonged to group with Epilepsy, admitted in a video-EEG unit of tertiary care hospital in Kashmir in order to confirm epileptic diagnosis. This study was conducted from March 2019 to August 2019 in neurology department and the patients underwent neurological evaluation, inter ictal EEG, MRI, neuropsychological assessment and psychiatric diagnosis codified in DSM-5.Results: Depression was found to be the most common diagnosis in the group with epilepsy-40% versus 15.75% of those with PNES, while as personality disorder (21.88%) was the common psychiatric disorder in group with PNES. Anxiety disorder was found to be the second leading psychiatric disorder and was almost common in both the groups, 13.33% in group with epilepsy and 18.75% in the group with PNES. It was also cited that Psychotic disorder (13.33%) was found only in the group with Epilepsy, while Personality disorder and PTSD was found only in the group with PNES. Bipolar disorder was more prevalent in group with epilepsy (13.33%) than in the group with PNES (3.13%). Somatic symptom disorder, dissociation and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was also found in both the groups.Conclusions: Psychiatric disorder is more common in PNES than in epilepsy.
Intrinsically Stable Wide Band Gap Br-Free CsxFA1-xPbI3 (x=0.5-0.9) Perovskites Overcoming Phase Segregation

A ~20 nm thick compact TiO2 was deposited on patterned FTO (TEC-7) by spray pyrolysis of 0.2 M Ti (IV) bis(ethylacetoacetate)-diisopropoxide 1-butanol solution at 450 ºC followed by annealing at 450 ºC for one hour. The perovskite precursor solution was prepared by dissolving CsI, FAI, PbI2 and DMAI in 1 mL DMF and was deposited on 70 ℃ preheated c-TiO2/FTO substrate by spin coating at 3000 rpm for 30 s. The obtained precursor film was annealed at 170℃ for 40 min. A hole-transport material (HTM) solution containing 0.1 M spiro-OMeTAD, 0.035 M Li-TFSi, and 0.12 M 4-tert-butylpyridine (tBP) in chlorobenzene solution was then spin coated onto the perovskite film at 4000 rpm for 20 s. Finally, a 100 nm thick Ag was deposited as contact layer via thermal evaporator.