Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polymer MEMS pressure sensor arrays for fish-like underwater sensing applications

Blind cave fish are capable of sensing flows and movements of nearby objects even in dark and murky water conditions with the help of arrays of pressure-gradient sensors present on their bodies called lateral-lines. To emulate this functionality of lateral-lines for autonomous underwater vehicles, an array of polymer MEMS pressure sensors have been developed that can transduce underwater pressure variations generated by moving objects. Individual sensors are fabricated using liquid crystal polymer as a membrane material, which gives high robustness and reliability, and higher sensitivity compared with its silicon counterparts. The individual sensor in the array achieves a sensitivity of 90 mV/(m/s) with a high resolution of 25 mm/s. The underwater object detection capability of the array is demonstrated through proof-of-concept experiments. The array is capable of determining the velocity and distinguishing various distances of an underwater stimulus with high accuracy and repeatability.
A SIMULATION APPROACH TO RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF PLASTIC FRAMES

Santrauka Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas plastinių rėmų patikimumo vertinimas stochastinio modeliavimo metodu, kuris vadinamas radialiniu ėmimu. Patikimumo problema yra formuluojama apkrovų erdvėje. Naudojamas faktas, kad daugeliui praktinių problemų apkrovų erdvės dimensija yra gerokai mažesnė už bazinių kintamųjų erdvės dimensiją. Plastinės avarijos tikimybė vertinama naudojantis proporcingo apkrovos didinimo metodu. Atsisakoma apkrovų erdvės diskretizavimo pagal apkrovų proporcijas. Deterministiniu rėmų mechaniniu modeliu parinktas statinės formuluotės uždavinys, turintis tiesinio programavimo uždavinio formą. Plastinės avarijos vertinimui naudojama radialinio ėmimo ir tiesinio programavimo uždavinio kombinacija. Jungiamoji grandis tarp radialinio ėmimo ir mechaninio modelio yra apkrovos krypcių ir pasiskirstymo vektorius, kuris isreiskiamas kaip krypties kosinusų vektorius. Isspresti dviejų rėmų pavyzdžiai. Gauti rezultatai lyginami su kitų autorių rezultatais.
Building theories from case study research: the progressive case study

Meredith (1998) argues for more case and field research studies in the field of operations management. Based on a literature review, we discuss several existing approaches to case studies and their characteristics. These approaches include; the Grounded Theory approach which proposes no prior literature review in the substantive area under study (Glaser, 1992: 31) versus Eisenhardt (1989) and Yin (1994) who propose a more directed study with a priori constructs. We then propose an alternative approach which we call the progressive case study. This approach combines strengths of both approaches such as the informative aspect of Grounded Theory and a more plan able approach such as Yin and Eisenhardt propose. We also describe that case studies are not simply a set of interviews and provide examples on the amount of data that might be collected in a detailed case study. Furthermore, we provide direction for analyzing qualitative data in cases.
Effects of Experience and Uncertainty during Dynamic Decision Making

This study investigated decision response times in dynamic tactical scenarios in which participants interacted with a virtual command post environment. Fifty-two Marines were asked to observe a tactical situation and to formulate a battle plan as quickly as possible. Two scenarios differing in the level of information certainty were presented. Participants were required to assess a developing situation, determine the tactical leverage point, form a plan of action, and issue battle orders. Results show that situation assessment time was significantly greater for the High Experience group than the Low Experience group. However, once situational assessment was complete, the selection of a course of action was significantly faster for the High Experience group. In addition, the time needed to execute a course of action was significantly less for the highly experienced individuals under conditions of high uncertainty. However, under conditions of low uncertainty, level of experience produced no statistically significant differences in response execution. Results suggest that information processing for situation assessment and response selection may become more parallel or overlap as content domain experience increases.
Response of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] and Associated Weeds to Pre-emergence Application of Chlorimuron Ethyl and Metolachlor

Afield study conducted during kharif season for two years on medium black soils revealed that chlorimuron ethyl @ 9 and 12 g/ha as pre-emergence (PE) applied 3 DAS reduced the population ofCyperus rotundus L. significantly over its lower dose of 6 g/ha and weedy control plot. Whereas grassy and dicot weeds were not controlled even with higher rates. Metolachlor application@ 2.0 kg/ha as PE suppressed C. rotundus significantly compared with weedy control plot. Similarly, grasses were controlled effectively than that of chlorimuron ethyl but it was ineffective on dicot weeds. Total number of weeds was reduced significantly under metolachlor treated plots as compared to chlorirnuron ethyl. Although metolachlor was superior to chlorirnuron ethyl in reducing total dry weed biomass production at harvest but it was inferior to two hand weedings (HW) at 20 and 35 DA8. As far as growth and yield parameters and grain yield are concerned, application of dllorimuron ethyl at any rate was not effective and produced only 32.9–35.8% more grain yield over weedy control. On the other hand, metolachlor improved all growth as well as yield parameters resulting in significantly higher grain yield of 2060 kg/ha (54.54%) higher over weedy control plot which was comparable with two manual weedings (2160 kg/ha).
FuzzSemNIC: A Deep Fuzzy Neural Network Semantic-enhanced Approach of Neural Image Captioning

Neural image captioning (NIC) is considered as a primitive problem artificial intelligence (AI) in which creates a connection between computer vision (CV) and natural language processing (NLP). However, recent attribute-based and textual semantic attention based models in NIC still encounter challenges related to irrelevant concentration of the designed attention mechanism on the relationship between extracted visual features and textual representations of corresponding image’s caption. Moreover, recent NIC-based models also suffer from the uncertainties and noises of extracted visual latent features from images which sometime leads to the disruption of the given image captioning model to sufficiently attend on the correct visual concepts. To solve these challenges, in this paper, we proposed an end-to-end integrated deep fuzzy-neural network with the unified attention-based semantic-enhanced vision-language approach, called as FuzzSemNIC. To alleviate noises and ambiguities from the extracted visual features, we apply a fused deep fuzzy-based neural network architecture to effectively learn and generate the visual representations of images. Then, the learnt fuzzy-based visual embedding vectors are combined with selective attributes/concepts of images via a recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture to incorporate the fused latent visual features into captioning task. Finally, the fused visual representations are integrated with a unified vision-language encoder-decoder for handling caption generation task. Extensive experiments in benchmark NIC-based datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed FuzzSemNIC model.
BUILDING ON EPS GEOFOAM IN THE 'LOW-LANDS'. EXPERIENCES IN THE NETHERLANDS

Large parts of the Netherlands, especially those in the original delta areas of our 'low-lands', have a subsoil with poor load-bearing capacity, caused by waterlogged peat and clay. Civil engineering projects can only be executed after a proper treatment of the soil to improve its stability and/or reduce the load of the construction. Since the early 70's, civil engineers have successfully experimented with the latter option using ultra lightweight products based upon expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam material. The growth in its use has been supported by practical and fundamental studies from research institutes, such as Stichting Bouwresearch (SBR) and the Delft University of Technology (DUT). These studies involved product properties and performance under static and dynamic conditions and sophisticated finite element analyses of temperature distributions and stress-strain predictions in the various pavement layers. The calculated or predicted values have been validated in laboratory experiments and/or actual instrumented road pavements. Design and construction guidelines have been established together with quality criteria for the EPS geofoam products. In the past 10 years more than 400,000 cu. m EPS geofoam has been used in civil engineering practice in the Netherlands. The current annual rate of consumption is around 50-100,000 cu. m. The growing confidence in this civil engineering material through theoretical and practical experience, not only in the Netherlands but also world-wide, will provide opportunities beyond those applications illustrated in the case studies. For the covering abstract see ITRD E109968.
Detecting and Quantifying Damage in Buildings Using Earthquake Response Data and Capacity Curves

The focus of this research is developing the ability to detect and quantify damage in buildings following earthquakes. In particular, the hysteretic behavior of a subject building that has been subject to earthquake ground motion is estimated using the recorded acceleration response and derived velocity and displacement responses of the building. The hypothesis is that building acceleration records contain sufficient characteristic information to develop the lateralload resistance curve, also known as the capacity curve, of the building to the extent the building was forced to during an earthquake. This research allows comparing standard practice prediction methods, such as computer generated pushover curves, with partial capacity curves generated from measured earthquake response acceleration data.
Challenges of the 1990s: Clothing and Textiles Enrollment Trends and Program Issues

Major changes are occurring in higher education. Clothing and textiles programs with origins in home economics face many challenges as they move into the 21st century. The three purposes of this study were (1) to examine enrollment patterns, staffing and department configurations; (2) to ascertain the extent of departments' involvement in recruitment and enrichment or improvement activities, and perception of environmental conditions affecting programs; and (3) to test hypotheses concerning potential differences between large and small programs for recruitment, enrichment or improvement and environmental conditions. One questionnaire was mailed to the administrator of every department (234) with faculty who were members of the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) in the United States, 160 administrators provided usable responses. Seventy percent of the administrators indicated their departments were multidisciplinary. Small programs, fewer than six faculty, constituted seventy percent of the sample used in the analysis. MANOVA and Hotelling's T2 procedures identified differences between large and small programs for recruitment (F(10, 119) = 1.86, p < . 05), with large programs indicating greater recruitment activities. The other two hypotheses approached significance by program size for enrichment or improvement activities (F(10,128) = 1.71, p = . 08) and perceptions of environmental conditions (F(12,119) = 1. 73, p = . 07). Conclusions and implications focus on critical issues and concerns.
Yüksek Öğrenimde Öğretim Elemanlarının Teknoloji Kabulü ve Kullanımı: Adnan Menderes Üniversitesinde Ampirik Bir Değerlendirme

For more than 20 years, Information Technologies, especially personal computer and Internet have been employed in all phases of our lives, especially in education. In today's globalizing world, borders among countries have been dissolved as qualified workforce would easily travel from one country to another. These developments required higher education institutions to provide education by using the latest techniques and technologies and educate highly qualified individuals with worldwide accredited diplomas and certificates at an increasing pace. In order to have such graduates, first instructors and academicians at higher institutions should use new Information and Communication Technologies effectively and efficiently and to do that, we need to know why these faculty members would use or prefer not to use such technologies as a personal choice. In this study, Davis' (1989) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which has strong socio-psychological theoretical foundations, has been empirically tested with the help of data collected at one of the newly established universities in Turkey. The study is among the first that tests the TAM, and the results generally support the theory empirically.
Payment Systems

Payment systems matter: they provide the basis for the processing and execution of the multifarious value-transfer transactions, wholesale and retail alike, that are crucial for the operation of modern, free-market economies. Less obvious–but no less pivotal–is the role that payment systems play for monetary policy and its transmission, not least in the sui generis context of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The launch, in January 1999, of the Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer (TARGET) system, the precursor of TARGET2, simultaneously with the launch of the euro, testifies to the centrality of payment systems for the implementation of the single monetary policy, and for the consolidation of the euro area money market.
Design considerations in micromachined silicon microphones

We present and compare the different design of micromachined silicon condenser microphones. The aim is to develop the microphones with high sensitivity and low fabrication cost. Slotted and corrugated diaphragms have been designed and fabricated in order to increase the mechanical sensitivity of microphones. At the same time we developed the fabrication process for the low stress so stress-free multilayers polysilicon used as the microphone diaphragms. To increase the microphone chip density on one wafer and avoid the sticking problem during the wet release process, a new process design using deep reactive ion etching is prosed, such process system is available in our laboratory.
CORRELATION BETWEEN THORACIC LESIONS AND FORCE VALUES MEASURED AT THE SHOULDER OF 92 BELTED OCCUPANTS INVOLVED IN REAL ACCIDENTS

The 3-point static belts that are installed in Renault and Peugeot vehicles are equipped with a force limiter near the upper anchorage. This system is made up of several bands of textiles that tear successively for the increasing levels of force exerted by the occupant. One can thus associate, for each person in the accident, the degree of the thoracic AIS and the value of the support force, expressed in daN. This relationship is established for 92 belted occupants who were involved in frontal impacts. In addition it is indicated which are the distributions of impact violence parameters incurred and which are the distributions of ages in order to determine the statistical meaning of the required results. The levels of tolerance observed in this sample are compared to thoracic injuries observed on belted cadavers exposed to equivalent violent impacts.
Mixed Modes of Innovation: An Empiric Approach to Capturing Firms' Innovation Behaviour

This study uses exploratory data analysis techniques to develop typologies of innovation modes or strategies for groups of firms. Analysing micro-level survey data from 18 countries we identify five innovation modes. The coherence and relevance of the innovation modes is tested by using them as explanatory factors in equations explaining economic performance. In most countries one or more innovation modes are positively associated with labour productivity. However, there is no consistent cross-country pattern as to which modes show significant associations with productivity. Even if common innovation patterns have been identified, there is no ‘single’ mode or form of innovation across countries that underlies the overall impact of innovation and there appear to be major national differences in patterns of competitive and comparative advantage with respect to levels of productivity as well as growth in turnover and employment. Importantly, sectoral innovation orientations are embedded in national systems, as well as exhibiting a degree of convergence at sectoral level.
Metabolic cost calculations of gait using musculoskeletal energy models, a comparison study

This paper compares predictions of metabolic energy expenditure in gait using seven metabolic energy expenditure models to assess their correlation with experimental data. Ground reaction forces, marker data, and pulmonary gas exchange data were recorded for six walking trials at combinations of two speeds, 0.8 m/s and 1.3 m/s, and three inclines, −8% (downhill), level, and 8% (uphill). The metabolic cost, calculated with the metabolic energy models was compared to the metabolic cost from the pulmonary gas exchange rates. A repeated measures correlation showed that all models correlated well with experimental data, with correlations of at least 0.9. The model by Bhargava et al. [7] and the model by Lichtwark and Wilson [21] had the highest correlation, 0.96. The model by Margaria [23] predicted the increase in metabolic cost following a change in dynamics best in absolute terms.
A unified fracture mechanics approach to fretting fatigue crack growth

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the adequacy of a modeling approach of fretting fatigue for a sphere-on-flat geometry entirely based on fracture mechanics. All stages of damage evolution, from initiation to failure, are encompassed within the framework of fracture mechanics, in contrast with the general use of stress based criteria to predict crack initiation. A comparison with the classical approaches show how this methodology allows to circumvent the problem of the length scale for initiation by using the crack analogue methodology of contact of Giannakopoulos, Venkatesh, Lindley and Suresh. On the other hand, another length scale, identified as the region of dominance of the singular adhesive stresses, is introduced by the model, and experimental methods to validate it are suggested. The comparison of simulations with three sets of experiments performed on a titanium alloy, with a good control of the normal, tangential and axial loads, shows that the qualitative trends are captured. Good quantitative agreement is also obtained for some of them, depending on the details of the crack growth law. Experimentally, results on the same material after shot peening are reported and used to evaluate the ability of the approach to cope with residual stresses. A good qualitative explanation of the fretting fatigue resistance of the shot peened material is demonstrated. These experiments also serve to illustrate possible testing methods and observations which could yield more useful information than the "classical" fretting fatigue test to failure, and to emphasize the need for a careful stress analysis to avoid plastification under certain material and experimental conditions. Thesis Supervisor: Subra Suresh Title: R. P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Comparison of the Hypertransferasemic Effects of Erythropoietin and U-74389G on Aspartate Aminotransferase Levels

Aim: This study calculated the effects on aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, after treatment with either of two drugs: The erythropoietin (Epo) and the antioxidant lazaroid (L) drug U-74389G. The calculation was based on the results of two preliminary studies, each one of which estimated the certain influence, after the respective drug usage in an induced ischemiareperfusion (IR) animal experiment. Materials and Methods: The two main experimental endpoints at which the serum AST levels were evaluated were the 60th reperfusion min (for the Groups A, C, and E) and the 120th reperfusion min (for the Groups B, D, and F). Especially, Groups A and B were processed without drugs, Groups C and D after Epo administration, whereas Groups E and F after the L administration. Results: The first preliminary study of Epo presented a significant hypertransferasemic effect by 19.73 ± 7.71% (P = 0.0119). The second preliminary study of U-74389G presented a nonsignificant hypertransferasemic effect by 16.23 ± 8.59% (P = 0.0583). These two studies were coevaluated since they came from the same experimental setting. The outcome of the coevaluation was that L is 0.8224656-fold (0.8211631–0.8237701) less hypertransferasemic than Epo (P = 0.0000). Conclusions: The antioxidant capacities of U-74389G ascribe 0.8224656-fold less hypertransferasemic effects than Epo (P = 0.0000).
SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION IN THE ENGINEERING AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT CURRICULUM: THE CASE FOR ASIA-PACIFIC

Buildings and cities are measures of economic health in most Developed and Developing economies across the globe. The built environment is constantly changing, reflecting government policies, legislative changes and community expectations. Strategies to deliver low carbon resilient built environments require a range of different stakeholders to work effectively. Government targets, both voluntary and mandatory are putting pressure on new graduates to be fully abreast of relevant global and local issues. Increasing globalisation is finding graduates and senior professionals working on projects away from their home bases. This is putting additional pressures on graduates to understand not just the requirements for meeting the local regulatory minimum but also best practice requirements for sustainability in these regional centres. Education has long been recognised internationally as fundamental to addressing the global challenges society faces. The unique features and issues of sustainability have a profound effect on the way academic curricula are structured. The general direction of education for sustainability is moving increasingly towards integration and innovation. However, the slow progress of the integration of sustainability in the built environment curricula may have been due in part to the practice-led approach, which is hallmark of the discipline and by the assumption that sustainability already permeates the curricula by its nature. This paper presents the general findings of the United Nations University – Institute of Advanced Studies, Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Research (UNU-IAS ProSPER.Net) Project on “Integrating sustainability education into existing engineering and built environment curriculum” which is aimed at developing a Guide for university academics and curriculum developers to integrate sustainability thinking and practice into built environment disciplines such as engineering and architecture at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The project used action research in a workshop structure to identify and validate issues identified in the literature and educator’s and industry experiences of teaching in engineering and built environment disciplines. The wider aim of the project is to ultimately ensure that sustainability is firmly embedded in the expanding/developing further courses/offerings to students within this rapidly changing environment.