Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tuned Lamb Wave Excitation and Detection with Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring

The capability of embedded piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) to excite and detect tuned Lamb waves for structural health monitoring is explored. First, a brief review of Lamb waves theory is presented. Second, the PWAS operating principles and their structural coupling through a thin adhesive layer are analyzed. Then, a model of the Lamb waves tuning mechanism with PWAS transducers is described. The model uses the space domain Fourier transform. The analysis is performed in the wavenumber space. The inverse Fourier transform is used to return into the physical space. The integrals are evaluated with the residues theorem. A general solution is obtained for a generic expression of the interface shear stress distribution. The general solution is reduced to a closed-form expression for the case of ideal bonding which admits a closed-form Fourier transform of the interfacial shear stress. It is shown that the strain wave response varies like sin a, whereas the displacement response varies like sinc a. Maximum coupling is achieved when the PWAS length equals the half wavelength of a particular Lamb wave mode. Since Lamb wave modes wavelengths vary with frequency, the tuning of certain modes at certain frequencies can thus be achieved. Tuning curves are derived and verified against experimental results. A particular S0 mode ‘sweet spot’ is found at 300 kHz for a 7-mm PWAS attached to a 1.6-mm aluminum plate. Crack detection via the pulse echo technique using the phased array principle and tuned S0 mode Lamb waves is demonstrated as an effective structural health monitoring method.
Strategic foresight and environmental uncertainty: a research agenda

Purpose – The main purpose of this article is to promote further systematic inquiry into the field of strategic foresight. It carefully aims to re‐examine the notion of environmental uncertainty, the main theoretical approaches advanced by literature on strategy to cope with uncertainty, and foresight activities in corporate organizations.Design/methodology/approach – This article is theoretical in nature. However, its insights are significantly based on empirical analysis: the author has been involved in the past ten years in in‐depth investigation of foresight practices in several international firms of different industries.Findings – Several important issues and research questions on strategic foresight have remained largely unresolved from both an academic and managerial perspective. This paper outlines such questions.Originality/value – The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it links the work on strategic foresight to a wide range of related literature streams, thus revealing new connectio.
Phase Transition Analysis of Target Coverage Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks

Hardness analysis of combinatorial problems is an important AI-based study of intractable problems. As a domain parameter is made to vary, the hard instances of the problem cluster around a critical value. Thus, there is a phase-transition like situation and the probability of solvability sharply rises from 0 to 1 (or 1 to 0) at the critical value. The aim of this paper is to examine phase-transition behavior of maximum lifetime target coverage problem in wireless sensor networks domain. In this paper, we show that as we vary the uniform sensing range of sensors, the number of hard instances of the problem sharply rises around a critical value independent of other parameters. To facilitate the hardness analysis, we devise a new and efficient algorithm to solve target coverage problem; this algorithm has the distinct ability of distinguishing hard problem instances. The empirical analysis of phase transition is carried out through extensive experimentation.
Innovation in academe: the diffusion of information technologies

This study investigates the diffusion of two early Information technologies across 1348 institutions of higher education: (1) the adoption of Because It's Time Network (BITNET), a precursor to the Internet as we know it today and (2) the adoption of the Domain Name System (DNS) with its registration of domain names, an essential feature of the modern Internet. We find that the time paths of adoption for both generally exhibit the typical S shape found for other innovations. We identify factors likely responsible for the patterns observed and in the process extend the scope of the diffusion literature by incorporating insights from the optimization behaviour of nonprofits. Using a proportional hazards framework, we find that faster adoption occurred among institutions focused on research and doctoral education as well as among select liberal arts colleges relative to nonselect colleges. Faster adoption also occurred for larger institutions, suggesting that they benefited from economies of scale. Adoption was slower for institutions having a larger percent of female faculty members. Also, there is some evidence to suggest that public institutions were faster to innovate than private institutions, while institutions in the South tended to innovate more slowly than institutions located in other regions of the country.
Is the UK Moving Up the International Wellbeing Rankings

Over the last quarter of a century the UK has not moved up the wellbeing league tables. It remains near the bottom of the top ten industrialised nations. Satisfaction with life has not changed since the 1970s. Job satisfaction has declined over the 1990s. Satisfaction with democracy has gone up. As is true throughout the European Union, UK workers say that compared with five years earlier they are now under much increased stress and pressure at work. When a standard mental stress measure is used to examine employees’ well-being across 15 nations, the UK is around the middle of the ranking.
An ensemble method based on evolving classifiers: eStacking

An ensemble can be defined as a set of separately trained classifiers whose predictions are combined in order to achieve better accuracy. It is proved that ensemble methods improve the performance of individual classifiers as long as the members of the ensemble are sufficiently diverse. Much research has been done using different approaches in order to obtain successful ensembles. One of the most used techniques for combining classifiers and improving prediction accuracy is stacking. In this paper, we present a schema based on the stacked generalization. The main contribution of this research is that the base-classifiers of the proposed schema are self-developing (evolving) Fuzzy-rule-based (FRB) classifiers. Since the proposed stacking schema is based on evolving classifiers, it keeps the properties of the evolving classifiers of streaming data. Several versions of this proposed schema have been successfully tested and their results have been extensively analyzed.
Relativistic Self-Focusing of Short-Pulse Radiation Beams in Plasmas

An envelope equation is derived which describes the radial evolution of a radiation beam propagating through a plasma. The radiation envelope equation contains a defocusing term due to diffraction spreading and a focusing term due to relativistic oscillations of the plasma electrons. The case of a constant density background plasma is analyzed in detail and an expression for a critical laser power is derived. For powers exceeding the critical power, the radiation envelope oscillates and does not diffract. Under certain conditions the radiation beam propagates through the plasma with a constant radius envelope.
Diagnostics of outdoor insulators using leakage current waveform parameters

This paper reports the investigation results on the leakage currents (LC) on the ceramic as well as polymeric outdoor insulators. The LC waveforms were measured under various environmental conditions (humidity and pollution). The LC waveform parameters such as magnitude and harmonic content (as indicated by the total harmonic content (THD)) were analyzed. 3rd, 5th and 7th harmonics and higher odd harmonics were observed for symmetrical-distorted LC waveforms while for unsymmetrical-distorted LC waveforms, odd and even harmonics were observed. The results also showed that in general the magnitude of LC was good enough to show the condition of the insulators. However, under discharge condition (for example as a result of dry band arching) the LC magnitude should be combined by the THD to show a better correlation with the insulator condition. The product between THD and LC magnitude may be used as a diagnostic parameter.
Exploring a South-European eco-neighbourhood model: planning forms, constraints of implementation and emerging resilience practices

The paper seeks to overview perspectives of eco-neighbourhoods in Southern Europe. Emphasis is given to spatial planning system related issues as well as organisational, investment, financial and governance specificities in countries that belong to Southern Europe, thus governed by 'urbanism tradition' (ESPON, 2005). In Northern European eco-neighbourhoods, one can conclude on certain typologies and a North European model (Souami, 2007). The paper aims at exploring a South European 'model', presenting some already existing methodological tools and experiences from realised projects. The key findings of the paper are both lessons learned from Northern European examples of eco-neighbourhoods and trends in France, Italy and Greece. In Greece, developments vary from public, for worker's housing purposes to private ones mainly for marketing purposes. The paper concludes that implementation of an eco-district mostly depends on the degree of strategic spatial planning tradition and culture, community engagement, catalytic investments and the possibility of public-private partnerships.
Private Equity Firms: Decisions Influenced by Time and the Implications for Value Harvesting

This paper combines existing theory on approaches to organizational change interventions and links this theory to the price earnings ratio method of valuation. In doing so, this paper introduces levers for value creation that are determined by the appropriate change intervention typology and are influenced by the constraint of time. This paper then takes this new theory and applies it to a case study 1 . As a result, this theoretical paper seeks to showcase the importance of time and the possible implications for the chosen intervention method, which ultimately influence value harvesting for private equity firms. PROLOGUE
Satisfaction With All-Inclusive Tourism Resorts: The Effects of Satisfaction With Destination and Destination Loyalty

Despite the fact that all-inclusive package holidays play a major role in the tourism developments of sun and sea destinations, relatively little research has been done within the hospitality literature to investigate the relationships between satisfaction with all-inclusive, destination satisfaction and loyalty to a destination. Moreover, the measurement of satisfaction with all-inclusive resorts is lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine relationships between satisfaction with all-inclusive resorts, satisfaction with destination, and destination loyalty, in order to understand the generation of tourist satisfaction with all-inclusive resorts. Based the previous theoretical and empirical evidence in the related literature, a questionnaire survey was conducted during summer 2008 at Antalya, a major sun and sea tourism destination of Turkey. The data were analyzed using several statistical techniques. The results suggested that there were significant relationships between satisfaction with all-inclusive resorts, satisfaction with destination and destination loyalty. It is also noteworthy that an all-inclusive package tour is the most popular traveling mode for tourists visiting Antalya.
Zero-R2 Hedge Funds and Market Neutrality

Factor models yield an R 2 insignificantly different from 0 for one-third of hedge funds in a broad sample. These funds illustrate the concept of market neutrality and feature lower volatilities, higher Sharpe ratios, and higher alphas than other funds, indicating that they provide a successful alternative investment. However, large portfolios of zero- R 2 funds contain fully half the volatility of portfolios of other funds, suggesting that they feature substantial systematic risk. Furthermore, these funds display an increased probability of failure even after controlling for idiosyncratic volatility. These results indicate the presence of an omitted factor that exposes investors to significant downside risk.
Simultaneous Microgrid Voltage and Current Harmonics Compensation Using Coordinated Control of Dual-Interfacing Converters

The growing installation of distributed generation (DG) units in low-voltage distribution systems has popularized the concept of nonlinear load harmonic current compensation using multifunctional DG interfacing converters. It is analyzed in this paper that the compensation of local load harmonic current using a single DG interfacing converter may cause the amplification of supply voltage harmonics to sensitive loads, particularly when the main grid voltage is highly distorted. To address this limitation, unlike the operation of conventional unified power quality conditioners with series converter, a new simultaneous supply voltage and grid current harmonic compensation strategy is proposed using coordinated control of two shunt interfacing converters. Specifically, the first converter is responsible for local load supply voltage harmonic suppression. The second converter is used to mitigate the harmonic current produced by the interaction between the first interfacing converter and the local nonlinear load. To realize a simple control of parallel converters, a modified hybrid voltage and current controller is also developed in the paper. By using this proposed controller, the grid voltage phase-locked loop and the detection of the load current and the supply voltage harmonics are unnecessary for both interfacing converters. Thus, the computational load of interfacing converters can be significantly reduced. Simulated and experimental results are captured to validate the performance of the proposed topology and the control strategy.
Tumor enucleation for small renal masses

Purpose of reviewThe incidence of renal cell carcinoma and the detection of incidental small renal masses are rising. Urologists are faced with difficult management decisions on how to treat patients with small renal masses. Traditionally, the treatment of suspicious renal masses was radical nephrectomy. However, nephron-sparing surgery is the standard of care, when possible, because of the risk of renal insufficiency associated with radical nephrectomy. Recent findingsA large breadth of data have shown that partial nephrectomy has equivalent oncologic outcomes compared to radical nephrectomy. Recently, attempts to further spare renal parenchyma and perform nephron-sparing surgery in anatomically difficult scenarios have led to the development of the enucleation technique. Enucleation is performed by following the natural plane between the peritumor pseudocapsule and the renal parenchyma. This emerging technique was met with skepticism and concern for incomplete tumor removal. However, studies comparing enucleation and partial nephrectomy to date have revealed equivalent oncologic outcomes. SummaryThere has been a greater acceptance of tumor enucleation as a safe alternative for renal masses which are locally confined on preoperative imaging, easily delineated intraoperatively, and do not appear to grossly invade beyond the pseudocapsule.
The Political Economy of Peacebuilding in Post-Dayton Bosnia

1. Introduction and Overview 2. The Washington Consensus Meets the Political Economy of Conflict Chapter 3. State-Making the Dayton Way 4. Resistance and Entrenchment - Ethnic Division, Domestic Power Structures, and Economic Reform 5. Business as Usual - International Prescriptions for Bosnia's Economic Transition 6. The Politics of Privatization 7. The Political Economy of Return 8. The Social Dimensions of Peacebuilding and Transition 9. Conclusion
Sécurité alimentaire en Afrique de l’Ouest: Enjeux et Eléments Stratégique pour sa Réalisation

The situation analysis and perspectives on food security West Africa shows a widening gap between the needs of consumption and nutrition and food availability at Global countries, households and individuals. Low gains productivity in food production and import capacity are the major constraints to the achievement of security Food in the region. The agricultural growth becomes the prerequisite for improving the food situation.
Social-emotional problems in preschool-aged children: opportunities for prevention and early intervention.

OBJECTIVES To estimate the prevalence of positive screens for social-emotional problems among preschool-aged children in a low-income clinical population and to explore the family context and receptivity to referrals to help guide development of interventions. DESIGN Observational, cross-sectional study. SETTING Two urban primary care clinics. PARTICIPANTS A total of 254 parents of 3- and 4-year-old children at 2 urban primary care clinics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Score on a standardized screen for social-emotional problems (Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional) and answers to additional survey questions about child care arrangements, parental depressive symptoms, and attitudes toward preschool and behavioral health referrals. RESULTS Twenty-four percent (95% CI, 16.5%-31.5%) of children screened positive for social-emotional problems. Among those screening positive, 45% had a parent with depressive symptoms, and 27% had no nonparental child care. Among parents of children who screened positive for social-emotional problems, 79% reported they would welcome or would not mind a referral to a counselor or psychologist; only 16% reported a prior referral. CONCLUSIONS In a clinical sample, 1 in 4 low-income preschool-aged children screened positive for social-emotional problems, and most parents were amenable to referrals to preschool or early childhood mental health. This represents an opportunity for improvement in primary prevention and early intervention for social-emotional problems.
Capital Gains Taxes and Acquisition Activity: Evidence of the Lock-In Effect

The lock-in effect proposes that capital gains taxes represent transaction costs that increase the reservation price for security owners and, ceteris paribus, reduce trading volume. Consistent with the lock-in effect, previous empirical research documents price and volume reactions to enacted changes in the capital gains tax rate. We investigate whether the "volume hypothesis" predicted by the lock-in effect extends to corporate acquisition activity. In particular, we analyze whether aggregate corporate acquisition activity is inversely associated with shareholder capital gains tax rates. We measure quarterly corporate acquisition activity from 1973 through 2001 using (1) the percentage of traded firms acquired in a calendar quarter and (2) the percentage of market value of traded firms acquired in a calendar quarter. In supplemental analysis, we measure acquisition activity at the industry level (i.e., as the percentage of firms and percentage of market value acquired by industry annually). In each analysis we model acquisition activity as a function of the maximum long-term capital gains tax rate for individuals and other macroeconomic factors previously hypothesized to be associated with acquisition activity. Consistent with a lock-in effect for corporate acquisitions, we find a significant negative association between corporate acquisition activity and the capital gains tax rate whether we measure acquisition activity in the aggregate or at the industry level. In addition, we find that this negative association is attributable to increased (decreased) taxable acquisition activity during periods of low (high) capital gains tax rates. These results suggest that, ceteris paribus, capital gains taxes represent significant transaction costs that influence the level of corporate acquisition activity.
Service Computing Optimization Based on Generalized Particle Dynamics

This paper presents a novel generalized particle model (GPM) for parallel service optimization in distributed service systems. The proposed GPM transforms the allocation of service resources and the assignment of service jobs in distributed service systems into the kinematics and dynamics of massive particles in a force-field. The construction, dynamics and properties of the GPM approach and parallel algorithm GPMA are discussed. The GPM approach has many advantages in terms of the high-scale parallelism, multi-objective optimization, multi-type coordination, multi-degree autonomy, and the ability to deal complex phenomena randomly occurring in distributed service systems. Simulations have shown the effectiveness and suitability of the proposed GPM approach for service computing
Murein Hydrolase Activity in the Surface Layer of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356

ABSTRACT We describe a new enzymatic functionality for the surface layer (S-layer) of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356, namely, an endopeptidase activity against the cell wall of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport, assayed via zymograms and identified by Western blotting. Based on amino acid sequence comparisons, the hydrolase activity was predicted to be located at the C terminus. Subsequent cloning and expression of the C-terminal domain in Bacillus subtilis resulted in the functional verification of the enzymatic activity.
Agent Oriented Engineering and Methodologies with Application to Production, Economical and Social Systems

Multi-agent systems paradigm and technologies are known for couple of years. They are applied in real word in many applications, where characteristic features of multi-agent systems (MAS) are useful and can help to handle, e.g. control and coordination problems. Possibilities to use MAS in many different applications are huge. This chapter features some possible alternatives, where and how MAS can be applied and a problem of agents' coalitions creation. The application field of this approach may be a variety and very wide. It is applicable in resolving planning problems in manufacturing (Sandholm, 1999), (Odubyi, 1997). Another applicable field is in creating of virtual and network enterprises (Horvath, 2006) and in marketing for enterprises, where to maximize own profit each manager (considered as one agent) can try to cooperate with another ones (Cantamessa, 2001), (Wellman, 1993). Coalition in this case may have another effect to eliminate execution of agents not belonging to the same coalition. Another problem belongs to the coalition creation for large scale multi-agent systems that adress problem of shceduling and planing in huge manufacturing systems and network enterprises. MAS can be used for modelling and managing social systems and virtual societies, as it is described in this chapter. One of new approaches to the MAS research is inspired by similarity between artificial immune systems and multi-agent systems. A multi-agent control system inspired by immune systems is described by the end of the chapter.