Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of Specification for the Superpave Simple Performance Tests (SPT)

This report describes the development and establishment of a proposed Simple Performance Test (SPT) specification in order to contribute to the asphalt materials technology in the state of Michigan. The properties and characteristic of materials, performance testing of specimens, and field analyses are used in developing draft SPT specifications. These advanced and more effective specifications should significantly improve the qualities of designed and constructed hot mix asphalt (HMA) leading to improvement in pavement life in Michigan. The objectives of this study include the following: 1) using the SPT, conduct a laboratory study to measure the parameters including the dynamic modulus terms (E*/sinϕ and E*) and the flow number (Fn) for typical Michigan HMA mixtures, 2) correlate the results of the laboratory study to field performance as they relate to flexible pavement performance (rutting, fatigue, and low temperature cracking), and 3) make recommendations for the SPT criteria at specific traffic levels (e.g. E3, E10, E30), including recommendations for a draft test specification for use in Michigan. The specification criteria of dynamic modulus were developed based upon field rutting performance and contractor warranty criteria.
A Model for Predicting the Sound Transmission Loss of Walls

This paper presents formulae, which have been developed for predicting the sound transmission loss of cavity walls, which are lined with acoustically thin materials such as gypsum plasterboard. Formulae are also given for acoustically thin single walls. These formulae are compared with published experimental results for gypsum plasterboard walls. The formulae cover the full frequency range for thin single walls. For cavity walls the frequency range is from the mass-air-mass resonance frequency to the lower of the two critical frequencies. The formulae also cover the air-borne transmission across the cavity at and above the critical frequencies provided the two critical frequencies are not too far apart. Formulae have not yet been developed for transmission via the studs at and above the critical frequencies.
Characterization of Oregano Essential Oil (Origanum vulgare L. subsp. hirtum) Particles Produced by the Novel Nano Spray Drying Technique

Oregano essential oil (OEO), due to its wide variety of biological activities, could be a “green” alternative to chemical preservatives. On the other hand, the difficulties in its use or storage have turned researchers’ interest in encapsulation strategies as a way to face stability and handling issues. Fabrication of OEO-loaded particles, using nano spray drying technique (NSD) and whey protein isolate-maltodextrin mixtures (1:1, 1:3) as wall materials appears to be a novel and promising strategy. The obtained particles were characterized in terms of volatile composition, encapsulation efficiency, and physicochemical, molecular, morphological, and antibacterial properties. The results confirmed that encapsulation of OEO using NSD achieved high levels of powder recovery (>77%) and encapsulation efficiency (>98%) while assisting in the retention of the main bioactive compounds. The partial replacement of WPI by MD significantly affected particles’ physical properties. FTIR analyses revealed the possible structural stabilization of core and wall materials, while SEM verified the very fine size and spherical shape. Finally, antibacterial studies demonstrated their activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, which is much stronger in comparison with that of pure OEO, proving the positive effect of NSD and particles’ potential in future food applications.
Leader knowledge hiding, feedback avoidance and hotel employee outcomes: a moderated mediation model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a research model that investigates feedback avoidance behavior (FAB) as a mediator of the impact of leader knowledge hiding (LKH) behavior on creativity and job performance. The model also examines whether leader-follower value congruence (LFVC) moderates the aforementioned mediating linkages. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from hotel managerial employees in two waves and their superiors in Pakistan. The hypotheses were gauged via macro PROCESS. Findings The findings reveal that LKH behavior intensifies employees’ FAB, which, in turn, impedes their creativity and job performance. The findings further demonstrate that the positive impact of LKH behavior on FAB is stronger among employees high on LFVC. Practical implications Management should arrange workshops that highlight the critical role of leader’s knowledge sharing with the relevant individuals. This is so important because knowledge hiding behavior heightens FAB and erodes creativity. These workshops can be followed by training programs, which focus on the importance of knowledge exchange and feedback-seeking behavior. Top managers’ and/hotel owners’ participation in these programs can be a force for mutual trust and cultivate LFVC. Originality/value The hospitality and tourism literature is devoid of evidence about the underlying process through which LKH behavior influences employee outcomes. The paper enhances current knowledge by proposing FAB as a mediator of the influence of LKH behavior on creativity and job performance. The paper is the first of its kind by assessing whether LFVC moderates the indirect influence of LKH behavior on creativity and job performance via FAB.
Silica-based waveguide-type wavelength-insensitive couplers (WINC's) with series-tapered coupling structure

The authors propose new wavelength-insensitive directional couplers (WINCs) with series-tapered waveguides in the coupling region. The wavelength-insensitive characteristics are investigated with respect to the geometric symmetry of the series-tapered coupling structure. An approximate analysis of three types of WINC is made using simple transmission matrix multiplication. These new WINC's were fabricated based on silica-based planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) on silicon substrates. The experimental results for the wavelength-insensitive responses of the series-tapered coupler, which was designed in detail with the beam propagation method (BPM), are in good agreement with the calculated results. The novel wavelength-insensitive characteristics of these couplers are also demonstrated for the first time. >
Stressful Life Events and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Older Adults: The Role of Coping Styles

This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of coping styles in the relationship between stressful life events and life satisfaction among Chinese older adults. To test the hypotheses, cross-sectional data (n = 8799) from the 2016 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS) were analyzed by Stata 15/SE in this study. Results indicated that stressful life events directly affected life satisfaction. Moreover, the association between stressful life events and life satisfaction was partially mediated by coping styles. This study had implications for the current body of knowledge and provided empirical evidence for social work practice and social policy.
Beyond utility value interventions: The why, when, and how for next steps in expectancy-value intervention research

Abstract Motivational interventions grounded in Eccles and colleagues’ situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT) can promote students’ motivational beliefs and academic performance. However, most prior work has focused on one construct, perceived utility value. SEVT includes multiple constructs found to influence students’ academic motivation, performance, and choices. We therefore believe it is time to move beyond a sole focus on utility value by exploring interventions that are designed to impact the other central constructs in the theory. In this article we provide theoretical and research-based recommendations for the design of such interventions, focusing on the why, when, and how of their implementation. We discuss interventions to target students’ attainment value, intrinsic value, perceived cost, expectancies for success and/or ability beliefs, and different combinations of SEVT constructs. We conclude by discussing ideas for SEVT-based interventions that can address the situated, synergistic, and dynamic nature of motivation.
Information Source Use and Social Media Engagement: Examining their Effects on Origin of COVID-19 Beliefs

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a highly infectious virus transmitted through droplets from sneezes and coughs, was declared a global pandemic in 2020. Measures implemented by organizations as a result of COVID-19 were controversial among United States (U.S.) citizens. Perceptions of governmental and scientific information further divided U.S. citizens and distrust in science fostered conspiratorial thinking toward the origin of the virus. The purpose of this study was to determine if critical thinking style (CTS), the use of COVID-19 information sources, and social media connections were predictors of origin of COVID-19 beliefs. A survey was disseminated to 1,048 U.S. adults in May 2020 when most states were under shelter-in-place orders. Results indicated select COVID-19 information sources used and social media connections predicted origin of COVID-19 beliefs. CTS was not a significant predictor. Findings revealed a partisan divide between COVID-19 information sources. Implications for science communicators engaging the public during crisis were discussed.
On comparison of a conventional proportional-integral plus derivative controller versus a fuzzy proportional-integral plus derivative controller: a case study of subsystem failure

A conventional PI+D controller is a practical structure of PID typed controllers, widely used in industry and mechatronic applications. In addition, many fuzzy control-based versions, embracing the linear structure of the conventional PI+D controller, have been designed and implemented. Although there are many reports proving a superior performance of these fuzzy versions over the conventional ones, there is still argument over the trade-off between the simplicity and the effectiveness with regard to the implementation as "pros and cons" for these two types of controllers. To help clarify these concerned issues, the paper presents a detailed study on comparison of conventional PI+D controller versus a fuzzy PI+D controller in the case of a subsystem failure. Simulations on an induction AC motor are carried out as part of the investigation. In case of failure in the feedforward path of the PI control subsystem, the finding shows that the conventional controller fails to perform whereas the fuzzy controller remains working very well.
Results of the technical management of four rabbit farms in Benin.

A study was carried out in 2000 to evaluate the level of the technical management of the rabbit farms of South-Benin. Four farms were included into the investigation. Data collected by the farmers made it possible to note the mean level of the zootechnical performances. The average litter size was 6. An average of 5.6 kits were born alive of which 4.8 were weaned. The interval between littering was evaluated to 73 days, thus, an average of 6 litters per year can be counted. Considerable variations were observed among the farms in some zootechnical parameters such as the number of born alive per litter. Results of this study show that there is an exploitable genetic characteristic on the level of the rabbit breeding in Benin.
Optimal Flame Detection of Fires in Videos Based on Deep Learning and the Use of Various Optimizers

Deep learning has recently attracted a lot of attention with the aim of devel-oping a fast, automatic and accurate system for image identification and classification. In this work, the focus was on transfer learning and evaluation of state-of-the-art VGG16 and 19 deep convolutional neural networks for fire image classification from fire images. In this study, five different approaches (Adagrad, Adam, AdaMax, Nadam and Rmsprop) based on the gradient descent methods used in parameter updating were studied. By selecting specific learning rates, training image base proportions, number of recursion (epochs), the advantages and disadvantages of each approach are compared with each other in order to achieve the minimum cost function. The results of the comparison are presented in the tables. In our experiment, Adam optimizers with the VGG16 architecture with 300 and 500 epochs tend to steadily improve their accuracy with increasing number of epochs without deteriorating performance. The optimizers were evaluated on the basis of their AUC of the ROC curve. It achieves a test accuracy of 96%, which puts it ahead of other architectures.
Nonhydrostatic three-dimensional model for hydraulic flow simulation. I: Formulation and verification

A three-dimensional numerical method, without the hydrostatic assumption, is developed to solve flow problems in hydraulic engineering. This method adopts an unstructured grid technology that is applicable to arbitrarily shaped cells and offers the potential to unify many grid topologies into a single formulation. It solves the three-dimensional turbulent flow equations and utilizes a collocated and cell-centered storage scheme with a finite-volume discretization. In Part I, the technical details of the method are presented, along with its verification and validation by computing a benchmark open channel flow. Meshes of hexahedral, tetrahedral, and prismatic shapes are employed, and results are compared with experimental data and among different meshes. Accuracy estimates and error analyses are also developed and discussed. Our companion paper applies the method to two practical problems: Flow in a hydroturbine draft tube, and flow in the forebay of Rocky Reach Dam for design of a fish passage facility.
Meissner model of superconducting rectangular waveguides

The propagation properties of the TEW mode and their dispersion relations in a high temperature superconductor (HTS) rectangular waveguide using the Meissner boundary conditions on all four superconducting walls are presented. In addition to recovering some previously known results, we have obtained some unique and novel results: the dominant mode for HTSWG is the TE11 mode (instead of the conventional TE10 mode) and the tangential electric field and normal magnetic field for the dominant mode TE11 exist on the surfaces. The expressions for electromagnetic components, surface current, attenuation coefficient, the maximum transmitted power, dispersion and wave impedance are also presented. The attenuation is found to be much smaller than that of the conventional waveguides and the dispersion is negligible. The Meissner model presented here has been proved to be valid and powerful for analysis of superconducting waveguides. For the first time, we have shown that the Meissner boundary condition is a key elem.
Making E-Government Projects in Developing Countries More Successful and Sustainable

Evidence from e-government projects in developing countries suggests that most of these projects either fail completely or succeed only partially in meeting their objectives. How can these projects be made more successful and sustainable over relatively longer periods of time? In this paper, I examine this issue in the context of lessons drawn from two ICT based government to citizen (G2C) and citizen to government (C2G) projects in India. The projects that I examine are: Gyandoot, a G2C and C2G project aimed at delivering a host of government services to the people in Madhya Pradesh, and the e-government component of the Sustainable Access in Rural India (SARI) project, a G2C and C2G project in Tamil Nadu aimed at delivering government services to the public. I examine the sustainability of these projects and argue that in addition to analyzing the critical factors responsible for success or failure of a project using a cross-sectional analytic framework, it is also important to examine the sustainability using a longitudinal framework along five dimensions: financial, cultural/social, technological, political/institutional, and environmental. I conclude that ensuring a project’s sustainability along all these longitudinal dimensions is critical to its long-term success in meeting its objectives. I also draw some general lessons from these cases that are critical to the long term success of such projects. I conclude that successful e-government projects require full back-end computerization to improve service delivery, effective disintermediation, and locally relevant content in the local language. Creating suitable ICT infrastructure and coordination among supporting institutions for service delivery are also very important.
Evaluating discomfort glare from non-uniform electric light sources

This study tested the appropriateness of unified glare rating (UGR), CIE glare index (CGI), British glare index (BGI), and visual comfort probability (VCP) for evaluating discomfort glare from common non-uniform electric light sources. An experiment was conducted in a windowless room. High dynamic range photogrammetry was used for measuring three non-uniform fluorescent glare sources. The luminance and geometry data were acquired to calculate the glare ratings. The sub-divisibility and additivity of UGR, CGI, BGI, and VCP were tested via numerical method. Their predictability was evaluated using 67 subjects in two sessions. It was found that UGR, CGI, BGI, and VCP all have valid additivity, but only UGR and CGI have valid sub-divisibility. Current formulae of UGR, CGI, BGI and VCP all overestimate the glare sensation from non-uniform sources that young people may feel.
Feasibility and Safety of Three-Port Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Compared to Four-Port Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Background The standard four-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the gold standard procedure. The various clinical trials and reports in the literature have suggested that the three-port technique LC can be done safely with acceptable results. Still, that the three-port LC offers any added benefits to the patient is a controversial issue especially in view of safety and feasibility. In this study, we report the experience of three-port LC compared to four-port LC technique, its safety, feasibility and outcomes. Materials and methods A prospective randomized study was conducted between two groups which included 165 cases - 93 patients were included in three-port LC (Group A) and 72 patients in four-port LC (Group B). Operative time, intraoperative complications, postoperative pain, length of hospital stay, analgesics requirement, conversion to open and return to normal activities were parameters of evaluation. Results Demographic data was comparable in both the groups. Three-port LC Group A had lesser post-operative pain and analgesics requirements. The mean postoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score on day 1 was (4.16 and 6.24), on day 7 was (1.26 and 1.81) in three-port group and in four-port LC group, respectively. The mean days of analgesics requirement were 2.56 days and 4.21 days among three-port group and four-port group, respectively Length of hospital stay was less and returning to work was early in three-port group. There was no statistical difference in operative time. The mean operative time among three-port LC group A and four-port LC group B was 36+/-8.6 minutes (30-68) and 39+/-7 minutes (30-90), respectively. The overall outcomes were comparable to four-port LC. Conclusion Three-port LC is a feasible and safe procedure for LC with satisfactory outcomes like lesser postoperative pain, postoperative stay and less scars, when performed by experienced hands, especially in acute cholecystitis. The use of fourth port should be done when required in a difficult situation.
Enabling role of hybrid simulation across NEES in advancing earthquake engineering

Hybrid simulation is increasingly being recognized as a powerful technique for laboratory testing. It offers the opportunity for global system evaluation of civil infrastructure systems subject to extreme dynamic loading, often with a significant reduction in time and cost. In this approach, a reference structure/system is partitioned into two or more substructures. The portion of the structural system designated as ‘physical’ or ‘experimental’ is tested in the laboratory, while other portions are replaced with a computational model. Many researchers have quite effectively used hybrid simulation (HS) and real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) methods for examination and verification of existing and new design concepts and proposed structural systems or devices. This paper provides a detailed perspective of the enabling role that HS and RTHS methods have played in advancing the practice of earthquake engineering. Herein, our focus is on investigations related to earthquake engineering, those with CURATED data available in their entirety in the NEES Data Repository.
Response to reviewers

Thanks for reviewers’ careful reading and constructive comments and suggestions. We made every effort to respond to reviewers' questions point to point, and revised our manuscript and appendix according to their comments. For clarity, reviewers’ comments are shown in black italic font. The response is shown in blue normal font. The modified content in the manuscript and/or the appendix is shown in green bold font.
Damping in tall buildings—a mechanism and a predictor

Only when the data base is of sufficient quality can a theoretical model of any process be justified. Such a data base has recently been assembled in the field of damping in tall buildings. It is now possible to specify a damping value appropriate to a particular building vibrating at a specified amplitude which is well correlated with values which are measured in practice. The mechanism on which this predictor is based suggests that the predictor will be applicable to other types of structure as well. As yet the data base for these other structures does not exist, but some circumstantial evidence is encouraging.
Environment modelling in mobile robotics through takagi-sugeno fuzzy model

The modelling of uncertain and dynamic environments is an important and challenging problem in mobile robotics. Nonlinear dynamic systems can be represented as Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy models, with linear or affine consequence. This paper proposes a novel method of object tracking in cluttered environments for mobile robots using T-S fuzzy models. The model has been tested on a Patrolbot which tracks a ball using a camera and avoids obstacles using six sonars. (6 pages)
Heuristic Model Structure Optimization for Digital Predistortion

Power amplifiers (PAs) are widely used in RF broadcasting applications. However, they exhibit nonlinear behavior and deteriorate the quality of transmitted signals. Digital predistortion (DPD) is developed to linearize the distortion generated by PAs. Due to the contradiction between modeling precision and complexity, to reduce the complexity and ensure comparable performance, it is necessary to determine an appropriate or optimized structure before applying DPD. Heuristic method is a good method to solve such multivariate problems with a considerable large search domain. In this paper, a novel approach to determine the structure of DPD based on heuristic method is proposed, including the enhanced hill-climbing (EHC) with stronger global search ability and enhanced genetic algorithm (EGA). Ridge regression is introduced to ensure the correctness of the search direction. Besides, orthogonal matching pursuit is used to further reduce the basis number while keeping good performance. The validation of the proposed techniques on a Doherty PA using generalized memory polynomial (GMP) model demonstrates the capability to efficiently find the dimensions of an appropriate GMP model. As shown by the convergence curve and the final model performance, the model searched by the proposed method has satisfactory results, and achieves a good balance between complexity and performance.