Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Very narrow linewidth tunable distributed Bragg reflector photodetector

Summary form only given. In conclusion, we have demonstrated a normal incidence, resonant cavity, tunable, quantum well photodetector with distributed feedback. The photodetector has a single-channel bandwidth of approximately 2 /spl Aring/ and a tuning range of approximately 36 /spl Aring/.
Managerial Economics : Applications, Strategy and Tactics

This text seeks to train students to think analytically in a business context. Specifically, it uses over 250 real-world, managerially-oriented applications to show students how managers apply theories and techniques to solve real-world business problems. This approach motivates student learning and extends student thinking well beyond the final exam. The book includes extensive coverage of the latest analytical tools in managerial economics: game-theoretic tactics, best-practices mechanism design, information economics, and organizational architecture, as well as a thorough integration of international issues.
Sustainable Development and Durability of Self-Compacting Concretes

Self-compacting concretes (SCC) represent a move toward a sustainable material since they encourage the use of waste and recycled materials. The high volume of very fine powder necessary to achieve deformability and passing ability properties, in fact, permits SCC to consume large amount of fly-ash, very fine particles generated by the recycling of demolished concrete structures, and huge amount of calcareous filler available from the marble quarries. Moreover SCC turn out to be materials with an extended durability with respect to conventional concretes. Since fresh properties of self-compacting concretes (SCC) are significantly different from those of conventional concretes (CC) durability can be significantly improved when a SCC is used due to a modification of the microstructure of the interfacial transition zone between aggregates and cement matrix. This paper presents results of an experimental study carried out to evaluate changes in microstructure of interfacial transition zone (itz) and of bulk paste for both SCC and CC. Data on the influence of the calcareous filler, a fundamental ingredients to achieve self-compactability, on the hydration process of cement are also presented. Data indicate that the decrease in internal bleeding, when self-compacting concrete is used, seems to favour the formation of a stronger transition zone characterized by a less porous structure and with a limited amount of microcracking responsible for higher compressive strength values for SCC with respect CC. No differences were detected by EDAX analysis in the chemical nature of itz with respect the bulk matrix both for SCC and CC. Finally, observations of the cement hydration by analysis of the temperature profile vs time seem to indicate the calcareous grains promote formation of heterogeneous nucleation responsible for the increased crystallinity of ettringite, for a shorter normally dormant period and, hence, for higher strength values at early ages, when the calcareous filler is used.
The acceleration kinematics of cricket-specific starts when completing a quick single

The cricket quick single has received minimal scientific analysis. This study investigated the acceleration kinematics of the non-striking batsmen during a quick single. A total of 20 cricketers completed 17.68-m sprints following three starts: standard (no cricket-specific equipment), static cricket (side-on start, bat held on crease) and rolling cricket (walking start, bat dragged through crease). Timing gates recorded 0–5 m and 0–17.68 m time. Participants wore leg guards and carried a bat during cricket-specific sprints. Joint and step kinematics were investigated through the first and second steps via motion analysis. A repeated measures analysis of variance determined significant (p < 0.05) within-participant differences between conditions. The rolling cricket start resulted in faster 0–5 m and 0–17.68 m times, and a 12% longer first, and 8% longer second, step. For cricket-specific sprints, shoulder sagittal plane range of motion (ROM) and elbow extension decreased in the arm carrying the bat. In response to this reduced arm ROM, hip flexion decreased. There were no changes to hip extension. Shoulder and wrist frontal plane ROM, and wrist sagittal plane ROM, increased as a result of carrying the bat. The need for cricketers to use specialised equipment while completing a quick single resulted in specific acceleration kinematic alterations.
High-frequency wave propagation in random media - A unified approach

High-frequency wave propagation in a random medium over long propagation distances, where the fluctuations in the wave field are not small and caustic formation is likely, is studied. Techniques based on the geometrical optics approximation or ray theory as well as those based on the parabolic wave equation are examined. It is shown that for small fluctuations in the refractive index of order $\sigma ( {\sigma \ll 1} )$ and long propagation distances of order $\sigma ^{ - 2/3} $, that both these methods are equivalent at high frequencies, at least away from caustics. Since previous theories have identified this $\sigma ( \sigma ^{ - 2/3} )$ distance scale as that on which random caustics first appear, we also derive a regularization of the ray approximation, which is called the beam method, and which is uniformly valid in the vicinity of caustics.On the $\sigma ^{ - 2/3} $ scale, the random ray process converges to a diffusion Markov process, and equations can be derived for the joint distribution of an a.
The eccentrically insulated circular-loop antenna and the horizontal circular-loop antenna near a planar interface

The horizontal circular loop antenna near a planar interface between two materials is analyzed theoretically for both the transmitting and the receiving cases. For the transmitting antenna the distribution of current, input admittance, and electric field in both media are obtained by applying a limiting process to the previously obtained results for the eccentrically insulated circular loop antenna. The receiving formulation is for an electromagnetic plane wave incident at an arbitrary angle from either side of the interface, i.e., incident from either the region that contains or the region that does not contain the loop. Parametric studies are used to investigate the effect of the interface on the input admittance of the loop and the directive properties for the electric field of the loop in both media. Measured input admittances and electric field patterns of model loop antennas above and below an interface between air and fresh water are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations.
Objective Measures of Listener Envelopment in Multichannel Surround Systems

A common goal in multichannel musical recordings is to create a better approximation of the concert-hall experience than can be achieved with a traditional stereo reproduction system. Listener envelopment (LEV) is known to be an important part of good concert-hall acoustics and is therefore desirable in multichannel reproduction. In the present study a series of subjective tests were conducted to determine which acoustic parameters are important to the creation of LEV. It is shown that LEV can be controlled systematically in a home listening environment by varying the level and angular distribution of the late arriving sound. While the perceptual transition point between early and late energy has traditionally been set to 80 ms when predicting LEV, this matter has not been investigated rigorously. Subjective tests were conducted wherein the temporal and spatial distributions of the late energy were varied. A new frequency-dependent objective measure GS perc was derived, and it was shown to outperform other objective measures significantly.
Identification of Service Quality Factors and Patient Satisfaction Level toward Specialist Doctor Treatment

: One of the patient dissatisfaction problems in medical services is an ineffective communication between patients and doctors which impacts on subsequent visits. To increase the patient satisfaction level, the quality factors of a specialist doctors treatment are identified. This study used the cross sectional method with quantitative analytic to the questionnaire of primary respondents. Respondent population are 191 outpatients in specialist polyclinic unit with 66 samples. Sampling was done by non-random (non-probability) sampling with purposive sampling. Logistic regression was used to analyze the respondent's data. The results of the bivariate analysis showed good and satisfied results namely tangibles about 96.2%, responsiveness about 94.6%, empathy about 94.4%, control about 94.7%, trust about 81.2%, self-disclosure about 80.6%, and confirmation about 96.4%. While the results of multivariate analysis showed that there were only 5 variables that significantly affected patient satisfaction (p<0.05), namely the tangibles variable (OR=2.455), responsiveness (OR=4.573), empathy (OR=4.841), control (OR=3.970), and confirmation (OR=3.656). The highest result for bivariate was shown in the confirmation about 96.4% and for multivariate was on emphaty with OR value 4.841.
Nonlinear interaction of long-wave distrubances with short-scale oscillations in stratified flows

A nonlinear mechanism that couples long-wave disturbances with short-scale oscillations in d(ispersive wave systems is investigated theoretically. This fully nonlinear interaction mechanism obtains when the phase speed of the short wave matches the speed of the long wave, and it causes solitary internal gravity waves to radiate short-scale oscillatory tails. In the context of density-stratified flows, the same resonance mechanism is also relevant to the generation of lee waves by flow over extended topography and to the formation of surface rips by long internal waves. In the weakly nonlinear-weakly dispersive regime, however, the short-wave amplitude is exponentially small (with respect to the long-wave amplitude) and lies beyond all orders of the usual expansion procedures. For this reason, in order to understand this long-short wave interaction theoretically, it becomes necessary to use techniques of exponential asymptotics. In this thesis, a perturbation procedure in the wavenumber domain is presented for calculating the amplitude of short-scale oscillatory tails induced by steady long-wave disturbances. Through a series of model problems, it is demonstrated that the induced short-wave tail is sensitive to the details of the long-wave profile. Furthermore, in order to examine the physical importance of the resonance mechanism, the problems of lee waves and non-local gravity-capillary solitary waves are investigated. In the limit of weak dispersion and nonlinearity, the tail amplitude is calculated analytically following the wavenumberdomain approach. Numerical computations of large-amplitude wave disturbances are also carried out. Comparison with numerical results indicates that the asymptotic theory often remains reasonably accurate even when the effects of nonlinearity and dispersion are moderate, in which case the (formally exponentially small) tail amplitude is greatly enhanced by nonlinearity and can be quite substantial. Finally, the techniques developed here are used to investigate the possibility of smallamplitude asymmetric solitary waves. In general, such waves exist and are related to envelope solitons with stationary crests near the minimum of the dispersion curve, where the phase velocity equals the group velocity. Both symmetric and asymmetric multi-modal solitary wavepackets are found, consistent with numerical computations. Thesis Supervisor: Triantaphyllos R. Akylas Title: Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Plant location, ISO 9000 certifications and quality management practices

Purpose – The main purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the country in which a manufacturing plant is located on its ability to achieve one or more of the ISO certifications, and the extent to which six other quality management practices have been implemented. It also examines the impact of achieving world class manufacturing status (WCM) on product quality. Product quality was measured by finished‐product first‐pass yield, scrap and rework costs, and warranty costs as percentages of sales.Design/methodology/approach – The analyses are based on empirical data collected from more than 2900 manufacturing plants in the USA Canada, and Mexico.Findings – The results show that there are significant differences in the plants' efforts to achieve quality certifications. Significant differences were also found in the extent to which six other quality management techniques are implemented. More important, our results show that there are significant differences in product quality performance among plants.
The role of facilities management in the control of healthcare associated infections (HAI)

A growing body of evidence now exist, which suggests that Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. There is, however, a paucity of empirical knowledge and evidence-base of the role of Facilities Management (FM) in the control of HAI. Therefore, the main aim of this research was to investigate the role of FM in the control of HAI. The focus of the study is on domestic services. The research methodology of the study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Altogether, 81 interviews were carried out involving experts in the areas of FM and HAI in the National Health Service (NHS). The qualitative data collected was analysed using content analysis. The qualitative data sets were then augmented by 412 completed questionnaires. The quantitative data sets obtained were subjected to rigorous statistical analyses. The study concluded that FM has a major role to play in the control of HAI, mainly in terms of cleaning, catering, waste management and laundry and linen services. However, FM is yet to feature prominently in the ‘control of HAI agenda’ in the NHS. There is evidence and lack of clarity on the roles and clear lines of communication between the major players in the control of HAI in FM services. There is a relatively low level of integration between the clinical teams and FM teams in the control of HAI. The roles and benefits of knowledge management and performance management are yet to be fully exploited in FM services in the control of HAI. A Performance Management Framework (PMF) for the control of HAI in FM services (particularly in domestic services) have been developed, tested and validated. The study recommends, inter alia, that FM should be made integral to the core services in hospitals for effective control of HAI. A national training and education framework for FM teams should be developed in order to enable them to carry out their work to the highest standards. There is also a need to adhere to a Performance Management Framework (PMF), which allows FM services to monitor and measure the performances in the control of HAI. The research methodology employed in this study could be replicated in different countries, including developing countries. There is also scope to research the key motivational constructs associated with effective knowledge sharing between the domestics and ICT teams in the control of HAI.
The Functions of Middle And Top Management in the Dynamic Capabilities Framework

This paper examines the roles played by middle- and top-level managers in the dynamic capabilities framework. The key entrepreneurial capabilities needed for asset orchestration and realignment of the enterprise often reside in the skills and knowledge of top managers. Although dynamic capabilities favor shallow hierarchies, middle managers will always fulfill vital functions that complement those of top management within the framework. They play a variety of roles, including oversight of the "ordinary capabilities" that underpin the firm’s technical fitness, leadership of product development teams, and direct (or indirect) involvement with the development of routine-based dynamic capabilities. Empirical research on the interaction between levels of management will most likely need to be based on in-depth case studies because of the context-dependent nature of the relationship between management and performance.
Beam Steering by Lag Synchronization in Wide‐Bandwidth, Chaotic Arrays

Chaotic oscillators are an intriguing source of waveforms for ultra wideband‐radar applications. The broadband and nonrepeating nature of chaos provides an ideal combination of high range resolution and no range ambiguity. In addition, synchronization via local coupling of array elements is an efficient alternative to the use of a master oscillator in a phased array. However, a difficulty in any wideband array is achieving a practical mechanism for beam steering. Conventional approaches using phase shifters are impractical for bandwidths exceeding just a few percent of the carrier frequency, and for larger bandwidths true time‐delay steering is required. Here, we explore the use of lag synchronization in a chaotic array to achieve steering. The natural frequency of each oscillator is adjusted using a variable capacitor to achieve a uniform lag across the array. To first order this tuning is equivalent to a standard method of inducing lag synchronization. The direction and extent of the steering is directl.
Professionalization, Gender and Anonymity in the Global File Sharing Community

This article presents the analysis of a large survey on file-sharing that was conducted in April 2011 with over 75,000 respondents from all over the world. The study, also known as The Research Bay, due to that it was conducted in collaboration with the infamous BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay, by the Cybernorms research group. The aim of the online study of The Pirate Bay community has been to describe a file sharing community from within and thereby to shed light on the underlying demographics and social structures of the phenomenon that has emerged as one of the greatest challenges to IP law ever. The results indicate that this community of mainly bitTorrentfile-sharers to a large extent is a male community (93.8 % of the respondents were male) of a younger generation (77.3 percent were younger than 30 years of age). These results, in combination with the fact that the relatively low share of uploaders are more inclined to seek protection from identification via encrypted means than the rest and the fact that offline sharing is common, is an indication of that the file sharing community is differentiated within. This is in the article discussed in terms of a professionalization or specialization existing in the file-sharing community, that includes different roles in an “eco system” of sharing files and consuming media. This means that those informants we have found via the Pirate Bay website may represent a link in a bigger chain, as a technology competent and vital link for a larger structure of which BitTorrent plays an important, but not all-encompassing, part. (Less)
The Impact of Business Obstacles on Firm Growth and Job Stability in East Asia and Pacific Nations

Economic sustainability is closely linked to firm growth and employment stability, making them of great interest to policymakers and business leaders. Insights into the factors that impact employment growth and employment stability aid decision makers to develop policies that encourage economic growth and economic sustainability. This study used World Bank Enterprise Survey data to examine the effect of the business obstacles of financing, labour regulation, and under-skilled workforce on firm growth and on employment stability, estimated by the proportion of permanent to non-permanent workforce in East Asia and Pacific nations. The instrumental variables (IV) method was used with two-stage least squares (2SLS) to account for potential endogeneity between the business obstacles and employment growth and the proportion of permanent to non-permanent workers employed by firms. In addition, the quantile method was applied to capture the partial effect of the reported obstacles across different segments of firm growth. Findings included a significant negative effect of the financing obstacle on employment growth and therefore firm growth, particularly at the lowest levels thereof. In addition, financing and labour regulations obstacles have a significant, negative effect on the proportion of permanent employees in a firm’s workforce.
The Limits of Systems Integration: Complementarity, Contingencies, and Solution Design Choices

Whereas systems integration is recognized as an important organizational capability, the mechanisms through which it creates value as well as the environmental contingencies that delimit its effectiveness remain unclear, particularly when firms deliver integrated solutions embodying products and services. Focusing on IT solution providers, the authors investigate the effectiveness of systems integration with respect to three specific approaches to solution design: breadth, modularity, and customization. They find a complementarity effect between systems integration and solution design approaches: if firms pursue customization or rely on a broad set of heterogeneous knowledge bases, systems integration becomes fundamental. Conversely, if firms adopt a modular design, systems integration is redundant and even counterproductive. The authors also find evidence of complementarity between breadth and customization, but not between breadth and modularity nor between customization and modularity.
A review of turning of hard steels used in bearing and automotive applications

Hard turning is a recent technology that involves machining of hard steels using modern machine tools. Hard machining presents challenges in terms of selection of tool insert with improved tool life and high-precision machining. Turning of hardened steels using single-point cutting tool has got considerable interest among manufacturers of ball bearings, automotive, gear, and die industry. Hard turning in the automotive industry and bearing applications typically has a number of potential benefits over traditional form grinding including lower equipment costs, shorter setup time, and fewer process steps which in turn provides high flexibility and ability to cut complex geometries. Moreover, the hard turning process is usually carried out without coolant/lubricant and thus, the problem of storage, handling, and disposal of cutting fluid is eliminated, and at the same time, it probably favors the health of operators. This paper presents an overview of the past research hard turning using hard turning tools such as PCBN, cubic boron nitride, Ceramics, Carbide, etc. Major hard turning cutting materials and effect of hard turning process parameters on cutting forces, heat generation during cutting, surface finish and surface integrity, and tool wear have been discussed in light of the findings of the past research.
The impact of Covid-19 on agriculture: evidence from oats and wheat markets

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the dynamics of the overall economy, impacting many fields, including the agricultural sector In this paper, we examine two important commodities of the agricultural sector, namely oats and wheat, during the Covid-19 spread and the lockdown measures Using relevant time series specifications, we establish a hypothesis regarding the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on these two commodities Based on our findings, the commodities were affected by the Covid-19 spread and moreover, the Covid-19 confirmed cases provide useful information for the prediction and forecasting of these values Our findings are robust, since the out-of-sample forecasting accuracy of the alternative model employed, that explicitly incorporates the pandemic induced by the Covid-19 disease, is superior to the baseline model © 2020, NAIK Research Institute of Agricultural Economics All rights reserved