Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analytic Hierarchy Process–Based Environmental Criteria Weight Assessment and Prioritization for Suitable Petroleum Refining Plant siting in Edo State, Nigeria

In this paper, Saaty’s Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) of Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) technique was used to estimate the weights of some selected environmental criteria in the suitable siting of a Petroleum refining Plant. In doing this, fifteen (15) key environmental criteria, based on reviewed literature, specifications, and Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIA) on the siting of petroleum refining plants were selected for this study, which includes Ground Water level, Proximity to major settlement, Proximity to Water bodies, Proximity to the Electricity transmission line, Land use / Land cover, Topography, Sensitive and Protected Areas proximity, Critically Polluted Areas (refuse dumpsites, landfill sites, etc.), Proximity to Existing Industrial areas, Major Transportation network, Flood zones, Proximity to crude oil supply (oil well), Wind speed, Large-scale Mines and Population density. The result from the calculated environmental criteria weights show proximities of Petroleum refinery to existing industrial areas; source of crude oil and Landuse/Landcover to have the highest influence value, followed by proximity to Water Body; Population Density; Groundwater Level; Major Settlement; Wind Speed; Transportation Network, Topography, while Sensitive/Protected Areas, Critically Polluted areas and Flood zones with the least influence value. The result of this AHP – based weight assessment will be used generally by Planners, Investors, Environmental Managers, and Oil and Gas experts as a general guide in the prioritization of criteria weights based on the influence of one criterion over the other in the suitability siting of petroleum refining plant. and transparent of ethical In this paper, Saaty’s Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) of Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) technique was used to estimate the weights of some selected environmental criteria in the suitable siting of a Petroleum refining Plant.
Structural Form Optimisation, Methods of numerical optimisation and applications on civil engineering structures

The procedures for structural design used by civil engineers today often result in suboptimal solutions. However, in other industries optimisation is already part of the design process. In this thesis, numerical optimisation methods are investigated and applied on civil engineering structures, to find out if these methods can be part of the design procedures that brings forth the grand designs of tomorrow. Several types of structural optimisation are investigated, including size, shape and topology optimisation methods. Most focus is put on the topology optimisation, where methods as SIMP, ESO and homogenisation are reviewed. The three optimisation types are applied on civil engineering structures, to investigate the usefulness of structural optimisation. Smaller structures are optimised, as well as a large-scale bridge. The results presented in this report shows that structural optimisation is useful for structures, where simple linear material models are sufficient to represent the behaviour of the structure. For civil engineering structures, the optimisation methods have yet to be further developed for truly becoming useful in practice, mainly due to the lack of proper material models for the behaviour of concrete in the available optimisation softwares.
Elusive Knowledge

David Lewis (1941-2001) was Class of 1943 University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. His contributions spanned philosophical logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and epistemology. In On the Plurality of Worlds, he defended his challenging metaphysical position, "modal realism. " He was also the author of the books Convention, Counterfactuals, Parts of Classes, and several volumes of collected papers.
Adaptation of Artificial Intelligence to Predict Concrete Strength

: In past, different methods were used to predict the strength of concrete. Artificial intelligence in term of the fuzzy-logic system was used in this study. A new model was proposed and developed for the prediction of concrete compressive strength at different ages. The variables used in the prediction models were from the knowledge of the mix itself, i.e., mix proportion elements. The models providea good estimation of compressive strength and yielded good correlations with the data used in this study. Moreover, the proposed models proved to bea significant tool in predicting compressive strength of different concretes in spite of variations in the results.
Prediction of Backbreak in Open Pit Blasting by Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System / Prognozowanie Spękań Skał Przy Pracach Strzałowych W Kopalniach Odkrywkowych Przy Użyciu Metod Neuronowych I Wnioskowania Rozmytego (Anfis) Zastosowanych W Modelu Adaptywnym

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is powerful model in solving complex problems. Since ANFIS has the potential of solving nonlinear problem and can easily achieve the input–output mapping, it is perfect to be used for solving the predicting problem. Backbreak is one of the undesirable effects of blasting operations causing instability in mine walls, falling down the machinery, improper fragmentation and reduction in efficiency of drilling. In this paper, ANFIS was applied to predict backbreak in Sangan iron mine of Iran. The performance of the model was assessed through the root mean squared error (RMSE), the variance account for (VAF) and the correlation coefficient ( R 2 ) computed from the measured of backbreak and model-predicted values of the dependent variables. The RMSE, VAF, R 2 indices were calculated 0.6, 0.94 and 0.95 for ANFIS model. As results, these indices revealed that the ANFIS model has very good prediction performance.
Scaling of Hybrid Rocket Motors with Swirling Oxidizer Injection - Part 2

The present research focuses on the use of a swirling oxidizer injection, in a hybrid motor with a classical cylindrical solid fuel grain with a circular port, i.e. a side burning grain. The conducted study is mainly a numerical analysis, that pays a particular attention on the scaling behaviour of this particular configuration of hybrid rocket motor, in relation to the variation of the geometric swirl number and of the oxidizer mass flux
Neogene-Recent Reactivation of Jurassic-age Faults in Southern Vietnam, with Implications for the Extrusion of Indochina

8 Onshore Vietnam contains a complex series of faults coupled with a diffuse igneous province that has 9 been active since the mid-Miocene. However, there are several conflicting fault maps in the literature and 10 no consensus concerning the relative age of mapped faults and Neogene basalt flows, which becomes 11 problematic when trying to use structural data to distinguish between competing tectonic models for the 12 SE Asia region. This paper aims to define the Neogene-Recent tectonic setting and kinematics of the Da 13 Lat block of the onshore Vietnam region, by analyzing the orientation, kinematics and ages of faults across 14 a sub-region of the block. Fault ages can be constrained by the cross-cutting relationships with dated 15 basalt flows. Results from remote sensing show a strong NE-SW fault trend for southern Vietnam, with 16 additional, minor N-S, E-W and NW-SE trends. Fault orientations observed in the field fall into this NE-SW 17 trending class, and are sub-vertical. In the basalt flows (with eruption ages < 5 Ma) these faults have 18 oblique lineations with a strong strike-slip component. In Jurassic sediments, these faults show two sets 19 of lineations: an older, dip-slip set, and a younger, oblique-slip set. We postulate that Jurassic-age dip-slip 20 faults have been reactivated as strike-slip faults post 5 Ma. Strike-slip motion on NE-SW oriented faults is 21 consistent with rotation and extrusion of the Kontum and Da Lat blocks. Rotation of the blocks is 22 Submitted to Earth and Planetary Science Letters Oct 31 2019 2 consistent with continuum rubble behavior of small crustal blocks under the influence of extrusion-driven 23 asthenospheric flow. 24
Discrete choice models of pedestrian behavior

We propose a discrete choice framework for pedestrian dynamics, modeling short term behavior of individuals as a response to the presence of other pedestrians. We use a dynamic and individual-based spatial discretization, representing the physical space. We develop a model predicting where the next step of a walking pedestrian will be, at a given point in time. The use of the discrete choice framework is justified by its flexibility, the capacity to deal with individuals and the compatibility with agent-based simulation. The model is calibrated using data from actual pedestrian movements, manually taken from video sequences. We present two different formulations: a cross nested logit and a mixed nested logit. In order to verify the quality of the calibrated model, we have designed and developed a pedestrians simulator.
Military Cuts and Conversion in the Defense Industry

The partial reorientation of the Soviet defense industry toward civilian production is examined by a prominent Western specialist in the context of the overall reduction in military spending. Provisions of the current program for conversion in the defense complex are analyzed with due consideration of anticipated effects on the economy at large. The author discusses the expected mix between civilian and military production within the defense industry, and notes the range and number of enterprises affected. Also outlined are the implications of the conversion program for military R&D and for the size and compensation of the workforce in the defense complex, journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, H56.
Development of a floating piston expander control algorithm for a Collins-type cryocooler

The multi-stage Collins-type cryocooler uses a floating piston design for the working fluid expansion in each stage. The piston floats between a cold volume, where the working fluid is expanded, and a warm volume. The piston's motion is controlled by opening and closing valves connecting several reservoirs at various pressures to the warm volume. Ideally, these pressures should be distributed between the high and low system pressure to gain good control of the piston motion. In past prototypes, helium flow through the piston-cylinder gap resulted in a loss of pressure in the reservoirs causing the piston to become immobile. A more complex control algorithm is required to maintain a net zero helium flow through this gap to allow for steady expander operation. A numerical quasi-steady thermodynamic model is developed for the piston cycle. The model determines the steady state pressure distribution of the reservoirs for an ideal expander with no helium flow through the piston-cylinder gap. This pressure distribution is dependent on the total mass of helium in pressure reservoirs as well as the points at which the warm helium intake as well as the cold helium exhaust end. The pressures in the pressure reservoirs show varying levels of dependence on the lengths of the intake and exhaust strokes. The model is extended to include helium flow through the gap and the inertia of the piston. The model is then used to determine how helium can be added to or removed from the reservoirs in the case that there is too much helium flow through the gap. These results are then integrated into a control algorithm that maintains zero net mass flow through the gap in each expander stage. Thesis Supervisor: John G. Brisson Title: Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Essays on workforce scheduling and crosstraining decisions with heterogeneous learning and forgetting

This dissertation aims at modeling workforce scheduling and cross-training decisions in the presence of heterogeneous individual learning and forgetting characteristics, in which worker productivity changes dynamically over time depending on the previous experience level and assignments. The primary objective of this research is to derive managerial implications in different objectives through appropriate decisions regarding multi-skilled worker allocation. Since a skilled workforce has become an increasingly expensive resource for organizations, determining minimum staffing levels to meet production requirements is critical to competitiveness. This dissertation investigates the effects of several exogenous and controllable factors on minimum staffing levels in parallel dual resource constrained (DRC) systems. The study examines factors of worker selection policies, task heterogeneity, individual cross-training levels, time schedule granularity, and production requirements. The research explores two cases of parallel systems in which a system consists of an equal number of workers and tasks and another with more tasks than workers. In addition, the dissertation presents an association rule mining based framework for workforce scheduling to assist managers with robust real-time assignment decisions. The study explores a parallel production system that meets specified production requirements over a fixed time horizon with the minimum workforce resources based on the number of worker-periods assigned. Three managerial policies are considered including, setting a maximum allowable individual cross-training level, balancing workload among workers, and an unconstrained policy. The research proposes the use of several schedule attributes to quantify key aspects of optimized schedules that may in turn, aid in determining robust iv assignment rules, and the development of better cross-training policies. Current results indicate that the proposed approach is effective at identifying important rules, many of which add to our knowledge of useful workforce scheduling strategies. Besides, the dissertation examines analytically how heterogeneity in each of the four parameters of the Exponential L/F model affects system productivity. The dissertation also introduces several linearization techniques to reformulate non-convex mixed integer nonlinear (MINLP) workforce assignment models to mixed integer (MIP) models. Through the linearization processes, the resulting model becomes entirely linear, so we can utilize commercially available MIP solvers which are capable of solving problems an order of magnitude larger than typical MINLP solvers can tackle.
Male social workers: the experience of masculinity in "female" work.

This MRP explores the experiences of male social workers working within the female dominated profession of child protection. More specifically, it was the goal to examine a) the potential obstacles that male social workers face as a result of hegemonic constructions of masculinity; b) whether these men use their position as a site of resistance to the patriarchal social order; and c) whether workplace dynamics further perpetuate patriarchy. Using the narrative approach three male social workers were interviewed. These co-researchers indicated that they experienced difficulties building rapport and engaging with clients, and expressed challenges regarding how they are perceived. They also explained that being a male social worker can have some privileges when it comes to interacting with male clients and being given more authority in their roles. When taken together, it becomes clear that patriarchal ideals and assumptions are alive and well within the context of child welfare.
Robotically steering flexible needles

Needle insertion into soft tissue is one of the common minimally invasive surgical procedures. Many diagnostic and therapeutic clinical procedures require insertion of a needle to a specific location in soft-tissue, including biopsy or radioactive seed implantation for cancer treatment (brachytherapy). In this thesis, we start with modeling the effect of skin thickness on target motion during insertion. A closed-loop control algorithm is then developed for flexible needle steering using camera and ultrasound images for feedback. An ultrasound-based 3D needle tracking algorithm is then combined with real-time path planning for needle steering. The needle is steered during insertion in gelatin-based and biological soft-tissue phantoms. A non-imaging approach (fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors) is also used for real-time needle shape reconstruction and tip tracking. FBG sensors are used as feedback to the control algorithm to steer the needle towards a target in 3D space. We then focus on physical target localization and 3D shape reconstruction for needle steering in phantoms with curved surfaces. A clinical application (needle insertion in the prostate) is also investigated where the needle is steered in a multi-layer phantom with different tissue elasticities. In order to bring the proposed algorithms to clinical environments, we consider practical issues such as including the clinician in the control loop to merge robot accuracy with clinical expertise. The proposed system is adapted to enable clinicians to directly control the insertion procedure while receiving navigation cues from the control algorithm. Navigation cues are provided through a combination of haptic (vibratory) and visual feedback to the operator who controls the needle for steering. The proposed system is further adapted by using a clinically-approved Automated Breast Volume Scanner (ABVS) which is experimentally evaluated to be used for needle insertion procedures. The ultrasound-based ABVS system is used for pre-operative scanning of soft-tissue for target localization, shape reconstruction, and also intra-operatively for needle tip tracking during the steering process. The achieved targeting errors suggest that our approach is convenient for targeting lesions that can be detected using clinical ultrasound imaging systems. These promising results allow us to proceed further in bringing our system towards clinical practice.
Cooperative Learning for Higher Education Faculty

This practical, "how-to" book on co-operative learning is designed to serve as a resource for faculty members at colleges and universities. It offers an overview of the co-operative learning process, including its rationale, its research base, its value, and its practical implementation. The authors also describe a variety of approaches to co-operative learning drawn from complementary movements such as classroom research, writing across-the-curriculum, computer technology and critical thinking. They begin with a basic structure for implementing a co-operative learning programme, then move progressively through more complex activities. Numerous examples of actual co-operative learning programmes are included which span a wide variety of disciplines. These examples underscore how a successful programme can bolster student achievement, increase self-esteem, and foster the spirit of teamwork. This book should appeal to those new to the cooperative learning process, as well as to established practitioners in the field.
Logistics Spatial Patterns in Paris

The purpose of this study is to consider the spatial distribution of freight and logistics facilities in both the Paris region and the Paris megaregion (the Paris basin) between 2000 and 2012. A major rise in the number of warehousing and logistics facilities has been documented since the beginning of the 2000s in both areas. In terms of spatial characteristics, this growth illustrates both centrifugal processes, from the urban core to the suburban and exurban areas of the region, and centripetal processes, from the margins of the Paris basin to the edges of the Paris region. The logistics system is a global distribution process from international supply chains to urban supply chains. In this process, freight hubs serve as switches connecting these two scales of the logistics system. This role explains part of the locational patterns of logistics and warehousing facilities in Paris, both at the metropolitan scale of the Ile-de-France region and at the megaregional scale of the Paris basin. Areas of further research are provided; these could help establish and better specify the megaregional nature of the Paris basin as far as freight and logistics facilities are concerned.
What Do Risks Exist After Minimally Invasive Surgery in Patients With Stage IA1-IIA1 Cervical Cancer

Objective: To investigate the risks of patients with stage IA1-IIA1 cervical cancer after laparoscopic hysterectomy, and whether adjuvant radiotherapy is necessary.Patients and Methods: From January 2013 to December 2016, we retrospectively analyzed 221 patients with cervical cancer of stage IA1-IIA1. Sixty-two patients were treated with laparoscopic hysterectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy (group A), 115 patients only underwent open surgery (group B) and 44 patients received laparoscopic hysterectomy alone (group C). Local recurrence-free survival（LRFS) was the primary outcome, distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were secondary outcomes in the study.Results: The median follow-up time was 58.33 months (range, 56.91-59.76 months) for all the patients. Three groups were balanced in terms of baseline characteristics. The 3-year LRFS rates were 98.4% in group A, 97.4% in group B, and 86.4% in group C, respectively. The LRFS rates of group A and B surpassed group C ( group A vs. B, p=0.634; group A vs. C, p=0.011; group B vs. C, p=0.006). In subgroup analysis of stage IB1-IB3 disease, the 3-year LRFS was 100% in group A , 98.8 % in group B and 83.1% in group C, the 3-year OS rates were 100% in group A, 98.9% in group B, 91.5% in group C. The 3-year LRFS and OS rates on group A and B were significantly superior to group C ( p<0.05 ). No benefits of adjuvant radiotherapy were observed in patients with stage IA and IIA1 cervical cancer.Conclusions: There is a risk of local failure in laparoscopic hysterectomy for early stage cervical cancer. Adjuvant radiotherapy can reduce the risk of recurrence and improve local control for women with early cervical cancer and bring survival benefits for patients with stage IB disease after minimally invasive hysterectomy.
Nutrients and metals effects on nitrification in drinking water systems

The activity of nitrifying bacteria in potable water systems was strongly affected by nutrient levels and the presence of certain metals. Specifically, copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) levels > 100 μg/L and phosphate levels < 5 μg/L inhibited nitrifier activity. This research also showed that inorganic carbon has important direct and indirect effects on nitrification because inorganic carbon (0.1 mg C/mg oxidized nitrogen) was required for autotrophic nitrifier growth, but higher inorganic carbon reduced the toxicity of Cu/Zn and can increase phosphate availability to nitrifying bacteria. Different pipe materials modify nutrient availability to nitrifiers and thus either inhibit or enhance nitrifier activity. For example, orthophosphate can leach to water during corrosion of some metallic alloys but can be removed from water during corrosion of other materials.
Temperature acceleration of thin gate-oxide degradation

The temperature dependence of TBD and QBD of ultra-thin (3.9 nm thick) gate oxides was studied for p+-poly Si PMOS and n+-poly Si NMOS capacitors. It was observed that the temperature acceleration of TBD exhibits a non-Arrhenius behavior, meaning that no activation energy could be determined. Furthermore for p+ gate devices both TBD and QBD exhibit a stronger temperature dependence compared to n+ poly-Si MOS devices. Also the dependence on the gate voltage is much stronger. This might have consequences for the reliability of p+ gate devices under operating conditions.