Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low timing jitter of gain- and Q-switched laser diodes for high bit rate OTDM applications

High repetition rate picosecond pulses with low uncorrelated timing jitter (down to ~0.25 ps) have been generated at 1.55 µm from gain- and Q-switched InGaAsP lasers without external feedback. Experiments were carried out at multi-gigahertz frequencies on one- and two-section devices; the timing jitter was estimated from spectral measurements. Sub-picosecond values were found above ~5 GHz for optimally-biased one-section DFB lasers in gain-switching. Values more than two times lower were obtained from Q-switched quantum well two-section lasers, with RF modulation applied to a fast absorber section.
Fatigue crack growth monitoring in multi-layered structures using guided ultrasonic waves

This contribution investigates the application of low frequency guided ultrasonic waves for monitoring fatigue crack growth at fastener holes in the 2nd layer of multi-layered plate structures, a common problem in aerospace industry. The model multi-layered structure investigated consists of two aluminum plate-strips adhesively bonded using a structural paste adhesive. Guided ultrasonic waves were excited using multiple piezoelectric discs bonded to the surface of the multi-layered structure. The wave propagation in the tensile specimen was measured using a laser interferometer and compared to numerical simulations. Thickness and width mode shapes of the excited flexural waves were identified from Semi-Analytical Finite Element (SAFE) calculations. Experiments and 3D Finite Element (FE) simulations show a change in the scattered field around fastener holes caused by a defect in the 2nd layer. The amplitude of the guided ultrasonic wave was monitored during fatigue experiments at a single point. The measured changes in the amplitude of the ultrasonic signal due to fatigue crack growth agree well with FE simulations.
The effect of inequality of interstage buffer capacities and operation time variability on the efficiency of production line systems

It has now been generally established that the output rate of balanced production lines having variable operation times can be improved by deliberately unbalancing the line through assigning proportionately lower operation times to the middle station(s). Nevertheless, a production line may be balanced in terms of mean operation times at the respective stations yet unbalanced in the sense that the interstage buffer capacity allocation or the operation time variability are not equal for all stations. This paper attempts to study the effect that the latter types of imbalance have on the output rate and average number of work units in the system for some production line situations. Computer simulation experimentation results confirm that inequality of variability of operation times have the same general effect on output rate as inequality of operation times but little effect on the number of units in the system. Inequality of interstage buffers, on the other hand, affects the average number of units in the sy.
Effect of Painless Labor on Postpartum Depression

a prospective cohort study [2] Predictors of postpartum depression: Prospective study of 264 women followed during pregnancy and postpartum [3] Perinatal depression: Prevalence, screening accuracy, and screening outcomes [4] Psychiatric symptoms following attempted natural childbirth [5] The myth of painless childbirth (the John J. Bonica lecture) [6] The nature and consequences of childbirth pain [7] Labour pain as a model of acute pain [8] Childbirth pain and postpartum depression [9] Association between the intensity of childbirth pain and the intensity of postpartum blues [10] Severity of acute pain after childbirth, but not type of delivery, predicts persistent pain and postpartum depression [11] The fear-avoidance model of musculoskeletal pain: current state of scientific evidence [12] Methods to identify postnatal depression in primary care: an integrated evidence synthesis and value of information analysis [13] Clinically significant changes in pain along the visual analog scale [14] Depressed mood, anxiety, and the use of labor analgesia [15] Factors associated with postpartum depressive symptomatology in Brazil: the Birth in Brazil national research study, 2011/2012 [16] The Connections of Pregnancy-, Delivery-, and Infant-Related Risk Factors and Negative Life Events on Postpartum Depression and Their Role in First and Recurrent Depression [17] Pain Management During Labor Part 2: Techniques for Labor Analgesia [18] A negative birth experience: prevalence and risk factors in a national sample [19] Birth place preferences and women’s expectations and experiences regarding duration and pain of labor [20] Depressive symptoms and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in women after childbirth [21] Pain relief during childbirth: Efficacy and safety of prolonging labour-analgesia with morphine directly into the lumbar cerebro-spinal-fluid (CSF) [22] Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced . [23] Labor Epidural Analgesia and Postpartum Depression [24] Childbirth and the development of acute trauma symptoms: incidence and contributing factors ©2018 ASP Ins. , Afarand Scholarly Publishing Institute, Iran ISSN: 2476-5848; Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Cancer Research. 2018;3(3):93-97.
Design of an autonomous underwater vehicle : vehicle tracking and position control.

This project proposes the development of an autonomous underwater vehicle that can be used to perform underwater research missions. The vehicle can be pre-programmed to complete a specified mission. Missions may include underwater pipe inspection, a survey of the sea floor or just the transport of given sensors to a certain depth or position and take measurements of underwater conditions. The Mechatronics and Micro Manufacturing group at the CSIR is engaged in developing a portfolio of autonomous vehicles as well as further research into the development and implementation of such vehicles. Underwater vehicles will form part of the portfolio of autonomous vehicle research. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are mostly used for research purposes in oceanographic studies as well as climate studies. These scientists use AUVs to carry a payload of sensors to specified depths and take measurements of underwater conditions, such as water temperature, water salinity or carbon levels as carbon is being released by plankton or other ocean organisms. Very little information is available about what is happening below the surface of the oceans and AUVs are being used to investigate this relatively unknown environment. The area covered by the world’s ocean is 361 million km with an average depth of 3790 m. The deepest surveyed depth point in the ocean is at a depth of about 11 000 m at the southern end of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. This just shows the need for research into this mostly unexplored world. Research and exploration in the oceans can be achieved through the use of autonomous underwater vehicles. A big problem to overcome is the fact that GPS is not available for navigation in an underwater environment. Other sensors need to be found to be used for navigational purposes. The particular vehicle developed for this study will be used to facilitate further research into underwater vehicle navigation and underwater robotics.
The Effect In Changes of Persian Gulf Country Crude Oil Production, Usa Crude Oil Production, OECD Country Oil Consumption To The World Oil Price Changes

There are background issues has generated this study, which one from the global crude oil price get reduced to around 70% in the second semester of 2014. Several observations were associated with an imbalance between the pattern of supply and demand for crude oil. This study is purposed at examining the effect of the variable crude oil production from the Gulf Country and the USA, furthermore is the variable consumption of crude oil on changes in the price of WTI crude oil (West Texas Intermediate). The secondary data has obtained by U.S. agencies. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The results processed by multiple linear regression methods in the period of observation Q3 2001 - Q4 2018, the results describe that the variables of crude oil production from Saudi countries (Persian Gulf Country) give a significant negative result (β = -4.993; significant level 0.028), and for USA Oil production variable gives a significant positive result (β = 0.177; significant level 0,000) whereas OECD country consumption shows a positive result that is not significant for changes in crude oil prices (β = 1,926; significant level 0.058).
Depression stigma predictors and its effects on help-seeking attitudes

Background: College years represent a critical phase on young peoples lives, consequently the increasing of mental illness risk can not be ignored. Depression stigma has been considered a significant barrier both in treatment, rehabilitation, and help-seeking behaviours of people diagnosed with depression. With this study we aimed to understand the effects of age, gender, previous health care and PHQ-4 scores on depression stigma, and to analyze the effects of depression stigma on help-seeking attitudes. Methods: A total of 969 participants with a mean age of 18.87 (SD=1.49) ranging between 16 and 25 were included in this study and completed the DSS, the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help, the General help-Seeking questionnaire, the PHQ-9 questionnaire and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS 24.0. Results: Gender and previous experience with mental health care services are significant predictors of stigma and help-seeking attitudes. Personal stigma has a significant effect on help-seeking attitudes. PHQ-4 scores play a role on personal depression stigma and on perceived stigma, however no direct effect from PHQ-4 on help-seeking attitudes was detected. Conclusions: Personal depression stigma has an important effect on help-seeking attitudes. Literacy promotion may decrease personal depression stigma and increase professional help seeking intensions.
Prediction of Flow Behaviour and Performance of Squirrel-Cage Centrifugal Fans Operating at Medium and High Flow Rates

This paper describes a method for predicting flow behaviour and performance for centrifugal fans of the squirrel-cage type. The work is directed at improving understanding of the factors affecting performance of these fans. A simulation approach has been adopted. That is, the fan is sub-divided into a number of zones (inlet zone, blading zone, volute zone) and the zones are divided into elements. Flow behaviour in the zones and elements and interactions between them are modelled using appropriate equations and correlations. The blading correlations make use of new experimental data for high-solidity cascades of bent sheet metal blades, typical of squirrel-cage fans. Predicted fan performance characteristics are in reasonable agreement with experimental results for flow rates at and above the best-efficiency operating point. Although relatively simple, the method recognizes the main flow phenomena and interactions that occur in squirrel-cage fans and it thus represents a substantial advance over what is currently available in the literature. Together with earlier experimental work, development of the method has provided considerable insight into the relative importance of various aspects of flow behaviour. The ability to deal with extensive reverse flow through the rotor blading has not yet been incorporated and it is evident that this ability is essential for realistic prediction of flow behaviour and performance at below-design flow rates.Copyright © 1996 by ASME
Efficiency and economic viability of neem seed oil emulsion and cyper-diforce® insecticides in watermelon production within the Nigerian Southern Guinea Savanna zone

The efficiency of neem based insecticides have been assessed by many studies however, there is scanty information on the cost:benefit ratio of their use vis-a-viz synthetics, particularly, in watermelon production. In this study, thirty-six 5 m long x 8 m wide plots were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design in 4 replications of weekly spray of; 0.5% Cyperdiforce (CD); 1, 3 and 5% Neem Oil Emulsion (NOE); 0.25% CD + 1, 3 and 5% NOE; 1% soap solution and, Control (unsprayed plots). Arthropods were sampled on 5 m length of row using Suction Sampler and Yellow Sticky Board. Severity of leaf damage and aphid colony size was also assessed. At harvest, marketable fruits were weighed and used to compute cost-benefit ratio. The prevalent pests were five species of leaf-beetles, Aphis gossypii Glover, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), Bactrocera cucurbitae (Coquillett) and Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner). The beneficials included; Apis mellifera L. , Cardiochiles niger Szépligeti and Cheilomenes sulphurea (Olivier). The 0.5% CD was ineffective against Aphids but 3 and 5% NOE were. Overall, insecticide treatments reduced infestation by 2.9-95.3%. Though, combination of 0.25% CD with NOE treatments suppressed pest infestation relative to sole neem oil treatments, leaf injury and yields were statistically comparable. Sole NOE treatments were observed not to significantly suppress populations of beneficials when compared to 0.25% CD or their combinations. 0.25% CD + 5% NOE consistently gave the highest yield/season (39192-44642 kgha). Monetary benefits exceeded US$3724 ha. The insignificant differences in yield among the insecticide treatments showcased neem’s potential in managing watermelon pests. The ineffectiveness of Cyper-diforce against A. gossypii suggests resistance development.
Analysis, design and experimental results of a floating-output interleaved-input boost-derived DC-DC high-gain transformer-less converter

In transformer-less energy systems sourced from low and unregulated voltage generated by a fuel cell or photovoltaic source, the voltage gain of the power electronic conditioning stage is required to be as high as possible. Although component parasitic elements limit the practically realisable voltage gain of any converter topology, this becomes a critical issue in the case of the basic step-up converter. In this study, a high-gain interleaved boost-derived converter topology is discussed. The proposed converter topology offers modularity, lower ripple for both input current and output voltage, and lower voltage and current ratings of the various circuit elements when compared to the basic boost converter. Analysis, design and key converter waveforms operating in the continuous conduction mode are provided along with design guidelines. Experimental results taken from a 1 kW laboratory prototype operating at 60 kHz are presented to confirm the validity of the analysis and design considerations.
ESTIMATING SOIL WATER CONTENT USING SITE-SPECIFIC CALIBRATION OF CAPACITANCE MEASUREMENTS FROM SENTEK ENVIROSCAN SYSTEMS

Newly developed sensors, including the EnviroSCAN capacitance system have the potential to monitor and estimate soil moisture content continuously at various depths. A simple site calibration of the sensors is required to obtain accurate soil water content because these sensors are shipped with a default (uncalibrated) equation to the user. Therefore, our research objectives were: 1) to calibrate the EnviroSCAN capacitance system versus soil moisture values estimated by a neutron probe calibrated with gravimetrically measured water contents, then 2) statistically compare the calibrated soil water content results with those estimated by the uncalibrated equation using three years of field data. Both the EnviroSCAN capacitance and the neutron probe were installed in a Warden silt loam soil planted to alfalfa. The average water contents of the soil profile estimated by the EnviroSCAN capacitance was used to develop a site specific calibration equation by comparing the sensors’ scaled frequencies for 1998 with the soil water content of the neutron probe. The site calibration equation was then statistically validated using both 1999 and 2000 soil water contents. The statistical analyses indicated that discrepancies existed between soil water contents of the site calibration equation and those estimated by the uncalibrated equation. For instance, the RRMSE values of soil water content produced from the calibrated equation were 7%, 41%, and 40%, compared with uncalibrated RRMSE values of 68%, 59%, and 66%, for 1998, 1999, and 2000, respectively. These results support that the site calibration equation was found to give more accurate estimates of individual values (low RRMSE) of volumetric soil water content compared to those obtained from the uncalibrated equation.
Rediscovery of Heteromys nelsoni in its type locality after over a century

Abstract We rediscovered a population of Nelson’s spiny pocket mouse (Heteromys nelsoni; Merriam, 1902) in the type locality of Pinabeto in the Mexican state of Chiapas, 121 years after it was last collected. We describe five topotype specimens according to their morphology and external measurements, and we confirm its identity at the species level in the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) of GenBank. As the population of H. nelsoni in Pinabeto is isolated, it is likely to be susceptible to extinction. There is a need to carry out additional scientific studies of this microendemic species in order to obtain more information regarding its biology, ecology and evolutionary history, and to be able to influence environmental policy to protect and conserve this species, as well as the region’s cloud forests.
Control and coordination of locomotion and manipulation of a wheeled mobile manipulator

In this thesis, we investigate modeling, control, and coordination of mobile manipulators. A mobile manipulator in this study consists of a robotic manipulator and a mobile platform, with the manipulator being mounted atop the mobile platform. A mobile manipulator combines the dextrous manipulation capability offered by fixed-base manipulators and the mobility offered by mobile platforms. While mobile manipulators offer a tremendous potential for flexible material handling and other tasks, at the same time they bring about a number of challenging issues rather than simply increase the structural complexity. First, combining a manipulator and a platform creates redundancy. Second, a wheeled mobile platform is subject to nonholonomic constraints. Third, there exists dynamic interaction between the manipulator and the mobile platform. Fourth, manipulators and mobile platforms have different bandwidths. Mobile platforms typically have slower dynamic response than manipulators. The objective of the thesis is to develop control algorithms that effectively coordinate manipulation and mobility of mobile manipulators. We begin with deriving the motion equations of mobile manipulators. The derivation presented here makes use of the existing motion equations of manipulators and mobile platforms, and introduces the velocity and acceleration dependent terms that account for the dynamic interaction between manipulators and mobile platforms. Since nonholonomic constraints play a critical role in control of mobile manipulators, we then study the control properties of nonholonomic dynamic systems, including feedback linearization and internal dynamics. Based on the newly proposed concept of preferred operating region, we develop a set of coordination algorithms for mobile manipulators. While the manipulator performs manipulation tasks, the mobile platform is controlled to always bring the configuration of the manipulator into a preferred operating region. The control algorithms for two types of tasks--dragging motion and following motion--are discussed in detail. The effects of the dynamic interaction are also investigated. To verify the efficacy of the coordination algorithms, we conduct numerical simulations with representative task trajectories. Additionally, the control algorithms for the dragging motion and following motion have been implemented on an experimental mobile manipulator. The results from the simulation and experiment are presented to support the proposed control algorithms.
Travel Mode Choice Modeling with Support Vector Machines

This study investigates the applications of nontraditional models for travel mode choice modeling, which traditionally has relied on disaggregate discrete choice models such as multinomial logit models. A new artificial intelligence model, a support vector machine, is applied for the first time to travel mode choice modeling. This support vector machine model is tested and compared with a multinomial logit model and a multilayer feedforward neural network model based on data collected in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Two scenarios with different training data sizes are tested. For both scenarios, the support vector machine model outperforms the multinomial logit model in terms of fitting and testing results. Although the multilayer feedforward neural network model performs best for fitting, it underperforms the other two models for testing. It is recommended that the support vector machine model be used as an alternative procedure for travel mode choice modeling because of its promising performance and easy implementation.
Wastewater Ozonation in the U.S.A. – History and Current Status - 1989

Abstract Wastewater ozonation has achieved its widest application in the United States of America in the past ten years. Many U.S. facilities designed in the 1970s have manifested significant operational and maintenance problems with the first generation application of ozone technology to wastewater treatment. These problems are reviewed and solutions recommended. The second generation facilities of the 1980s demonstrate higher levels of efficiency, reliability, and operability. The broad application of ozonation to wastewater treatment in the United States of America (U.S.) in the 1970s was carried out with little or no reference to the prior experience of the applications of ozone in the field of drinking water treatment attained in Europe.
Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden

flicts over power and ownership (Cameroon) or social and political control (Senegal). The contributors are anthropologists and geographers, and chapters focus on small-scale conflicts, not necessarily between rebels and the state. For peace researchers, the focus can be rather too narrow, but for those more sympathetic to the Boserupian approach than the neo-Malthusian, the case studies provide interesting and convincing examples of Africans’ ability to deal with resource challenges in a flexible and creative way. Helga Malmin Binningsbø