Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regression Estimators: A Comparative Study by GRUBER, M. H. J.

As stated by the authors, “this book contains an introduction to general and generalized linear models using . likelihood techniques. The aim is to provide a flexible framework for the analysis and model building using data of almost any type. ” The book is organized in seven chapters and two appendices. It begins with a general chapter presenting some motivating examples and a first view on the type of models that will be treated in the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 presents a review of some basic concepts and definitions linked to the likelihood theory with examples, establishing the notation to be used, which I find is very useful. The presentation of general (Chapter 3) and generalized linear models (Chapter 4) is provided applying the likelihood methods, allowing for a clear comparison between the models. The concept of Gaussian mixed models is presented and developed in Chapter 5 and extended to hierarchical generalized linear models in Chapter 6. Exercises are proposed at the end of each chapter and some problems inspired by real life situations are considered in Chapter 7. The Appendices A and B summarize the delta method used to derive approximate expressions for the moments of a random variable and some probability distributions. All examples can be verified by the reader through the packages and code in R, and the analysis can be explored in great detail. A minor point is that the authors use nonstandard terminology in a few places. For example, the chapter called “The likelihood principle” should probably have been called “The likelihood method”, because the term “likelihood principle” normally refers to inference methods that depend on the likelihood function only, and not, for example, on the assumed distribution of the data, which is not what the authors have in mind. This book is targeted to undergraduates in statistics but can be used by researchers as a reference manual as well. It is well written, easy to read and the discussion of the examples is clear. As a complement there is a collection of slides for an introductory course on general, generalized, and mixed effects models in the homepage cited in the preface of this book. This book has a good set of references but I missed citations to the paper by Jorgensen (1987) and to the book by Jorgensen (1997) when using the terminology “exponential dispersion family” created by Jorgensen (1987). In summary, I recommend this book as one of the textbooks to be discussed in a course for model building.
Determination of Scaled Wind Turbine Rotor Characteristics from Three Dimensional RANS Calculations

Previous studies have shown the importance of 3D effects when calculating the performance characteristics of a scaled down turbine rotor [1-4]. In this paper the results of 3D RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) computations by Make and Vaz [1] are taken to calculate 2D lift and drag coefficients. These coefficients are assigned to FAST (Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT) tool from NREL) as input parameters. Then, the rotor characteristics (power and thrust coefficients) are calculated using BEMT. This coupling of RANS and BEMT was previously applied by other parties and is termed here the RANS-BEMT coupled approach. Here the approach is compared to measurements carried out in a wave basin at MARIN applying Froude scaled wind, and the direct 3D RANS computation. The data of both a model and full scale wind turbine are used for the validation and verification. The flow around a turbine blade at full scale has a more 2D character than the flow properties around a turbine blade at model scale (Make and Vaz [1]). Since BEMT assumes 2D flow behaviour, the results of the RANS-BEMT coupled approach agree better with the results of the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation at full- than at model-scale.
Pager Hessages as Se(f Reminders: A Case Studu of their Use in Hemorg Impairment

Each year many people suffer an accident or illness which leaves them with a permanent memory impairment. As a result they will fait to remember to do things, making it difficult for them to maintain employment or independent leisure activities. Conventional memory aids offer little assistance because their use depends on relatively normal memory functioning. A system designed specifically for memory-impaired people has been developed recently in the USA, however. 'NeuroPage' uses a combination of computing and telecom- munications to store and transmit reminders to a pager worn by the user. The system is designed to place minimal demands on memory. This paper presents a case study evaluation of NeuroPage in use by a young man with a severe memory impairment. The pager messages led to a marked increase in the probability that he would carry out his intended tasks. Issues of usability and acceptability of the system to the user and his family are also reported. A number of possible developments to the system are considered, including the incorporation of artificial intelligence and context-sensitivity. Broader issues in the design of memory aids for people with and without memory impairments are also considered, as well as the potential role of memory-impaired people in the design of technology for their own use.
Mineralogy Sensitive Immersion Freezing Parameterization in DREAM

Dust aerosols are abundant in the atmosphere and are very efficient ice nucleating particles at temperatures below −15°C. Depending on temperature, dust particles containing certain minerals (i.e., feldspar and quartz) are the most active as ice nuclei. A mineralogy‐sensitive immersion freezing parameterization for ice nucleating particle concentration (INPC) is implemented in Dust Regional Atmospheric Model (DREAM) for the first time. Additionally, four mineralogy‐indifferent parameterizations are implemented, two for immersion freezing and two for deposition nucleation. Dust concentration and its feldspar and quartz fractions are forecasted by DREAM for a dust episode in the Mediterranean in April 2016. DREAM results are compared with vertical profiles of cloud‐relevant dust concentrations and INPC from ground‐based lidar measurements in Potenza, Italy and Nicosia, Cyprus. INPC predictions are also compared with vertical profiles of ice crystal number concentration (ICNC) from satellite observations for two overpasses over the dust plume. The model successfully simulates the evolution and vertical extent of the dust plume. Mineralogy‐sensitive and mineralogy‐indifferent INPC parameterization results generally differ by about an order of magnitude. Forecasted INPC and observed ICNC values differ by an order of magnitude for all parameterizations. Feldspar fraction increase within a dust plume during transport can increase INPC by around 6% at −35°C, and up to 17% at −25°C, but sedimentation can reduce this effect. Over the Atlantic, mineralogy‐sensitive parameterization predicts horizontal distribution of clouds with higher probability of success, while in the Mediterranean; the results for different parameterizations show lower variability.
Ultra-high performance telecom DC-DC converter

Telecommunication and data provision are cornerstones of our modern society. The evolution of the multimedia network around the world started more than one century ago and, as a consequence, the power supplies for the telecom facilities and the parallel-emerging data centres passed through the entire evolution of power electronic systems. Telecom facilities and data centres have started to merge with the digitalisation of the telecom networks. Ever since the following internet boom in the nineties of the last century, the demand on a high-performance data storage, transmission, and computation is rapidly increased. Concurrently, the demanded performance of the modules in the power supply chain and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment has severely increased. The development of highly compact converter systems counteract the increased demand on space for the ICT-equipment and additionally enables a more-efficient cooling in the data centres. The continuous expansion of digital networks and data centres, as well as the increasing energy prices and the advanced environmental awareness result in shifting drivers for the power-supply development towards an efficient energy transmission and distribution, whereas the power density of the system should remain on a high level. In this thesis, the limits for the power density and efficiency for Dc-Dc converters as part of the power supply chain in data centres or telecommunication facilities is investigated. Based on comprehensive analytical thermal, electrical, and magnetic models, the system performance is calculated with the selected free design parameters. Furthermore, these analytical models provide the basis for an automated determination of the optimal design parameters with respect to the maximum power density and/or the maximum efficiency. Based on the examples of a series-parallel-resonant converter and a phase-shift pulse-width-modulated Dc-Dc converter with current doubler rectifier, the analytical determination of the maximum power density based on an optimisation algorithm is explained in detail in chapter 2. With the resulting optimised design parameters, the corresponding prototype systems are realised with which the applied analytical models are validated. Moreover, an almost loss-less snubber circuit for the hard-switched rectifier elements of general phase-shift converters is presented, which detracts the ringing energy from the core of the magnetic components and provides this energy for further utilisation. In addition, a phase-shift pulse-width-modulated Dc-Dc converter
Performance Isolation in Cloud Storage Systems

Cloud computing enables data centres to provide resource sharing across multiple tenants. This sharing, however, usually comes at a cost in the form of reduced isolation between tenants, which can lead to inconsistent and unpredictable performance. This variability in performance becomes an impediment for clients whose services rely on consistent, responsive performance in cloud environments. The problem is exacerbated for applications that rely on cloud storage systems as performance in these systems is affected by disk access times, which often dominate overall request service times for these types of data services. In this thesis we introduce MicroFuge, a new distributed caching and scheduling middleware that provides performance isolation for cloud storage systems. To provide performance isolation, MicroFuge’s cache eviction policy is tenant and deadline-aware, which enables the provision of isolation to tenants and ensures that data for queries with more urgent deadlines, which are most likely to be affected by competing requests, are less likely to be evicted than data for other queries. MicroFuge also provides simplified, intelligent scheduling in addition to request admission control whose performance model of the underlying storage system will reject requests with deadlines that are unlikely to be satisfied. The middleware approach of MicroFuge makes it unique among other systems which provide performance isolation in cloud storage systems. Rather than providing performance isolation for some particular cloud storage system, MicroFuge can be deployed on top of any already deployed storage system without modifying it. Keeping in mind the wide spectrum of cloud storage systems available today, such an approach make MicroFuge very adoptable. In this thesis, we show that MicroFuge can provide significantly better performance isolation between tenants with different latency requirements than Memcached, and with admission control enabled, can ensure that more than certain percentage of requests meet their deadlines.
PPP Social Infrastructure Procurement: Examining the Feasibility of a Lifecycle Performance Measurement Framework

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been extensively used to deliver an array of infrastructure projects in Australia; they have become an integral part of several state governments’ procurement strategies. Over the last decade, however, several major PPP projects have incurred significant cost and schedule overruns, which have marred their use as a mechanism for delivering much-needed infrastructure. The paucity of performance measurement frameworks has contributed to the difficulty of proactively managing the effective and efficient delivery of PPPs, particularly during operations and maintenance. With this in mind, a lifecycle and stakeholder-oriented performance measurement framework (PMF) is conceptualized within the context of social infrastructure PPPs. The opinions of 160 practitioners about the proposed measures and their core indicators were solicited using a questionnaire survey. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the significance of proposed measures and their relevant core indicators (CIs) for measuring the performance of PPP projects throughout their lifecycle. The analysis reveals that the proposed PMF is a reliable and robust tool that can be used to assist with ensuring that social infrastructure PPPs can be delivered successfully throughout each phase of their lifecycle. The developed PMF provides governments and private consortiums with a robust and practical tool to measure and control the performance of their future projects.
Bandwidth-Efficient Communication through 225 MHz Ka-band Relay Satellite Channel

The communications and navigation space infrastructure of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) consists of a constellation of relay satellites (called Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS)) and a global set of ground stations to receive and deliver data to researchers around the world from mission spacecraft throughout the solar system. Planning is underway to enhance and transform the infrastructure over the coming decade. Key to the upgrade will be the simultaneous and efficient use of relay transponders to minimize cost and operations while supporting science and exploration spacecraft. Efficient use of transponders necessitates bandwidth efficient communications to best use and maximize data throughput within the allocated spectrum. Experiments conducted with NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed on the International Space Station provides a unique opportunity to evaluate advanced communication techniques, such as bandwidth-efficient modulations, in an operational flight system. Demonstrations of these new techniques in realistic flight conditions provides critical experience and reduces the risk of using these techniques in future missions. Efficient use of spectrum is enabled by using high-order modulations coupled with efficient forward error correction codes. This paper presents a high-rate, bandwidth-efficient waveform operating over the 225 MHz Ka-band service of the TDRS System (TDRSS). The testing explores the application of Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK), 2/4/8-phase shift keying (PSK) and 16/32- amplitude PSK (APSK) providing over three bits-per-second-per-Hertz (3 b/s/Hz) modulation combined with various LDPC encoding rates to maximize through- put. With a symbol rate of 200 M-band, coded data rates of 1000 Mbps were tested in the laboratory and up to 800 Mbps over the TDRS 225 MHz channel. This paper will present on the high-rate waveform design, channel characteristics, performance results, compensation techniques for filtering and equalization, and architecture considerations going forward for efficient use of NASA's infrastructure.
Performance evaluation of compact FSS‐integrated flexible monopole antenna for body area communication applications

This article presents a compact wearable antenna integrated with a novel frequency selective surface (FSS) made of textile materials. The antenna can be applied in wearable health monitoring applications aimed at the 2.45‐GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. An array of 4 × 4 octagonal slot‐shaped FSS (106 × 106 mm2) superstrate enhances the performance of the modified Koch curve planar monopole antenna (44.85 × 39 mm2). The Jeans substrate prototype with the overall dimensions of 1. 128λ0 × 1. 128λ0 × 0. 319λ0 covers the bandwidth of 2.45‐GHz ISM band from 2.24 to 2.76 GHz (S11 ≤ −10 dB). The band rejection and reflective nature of the proposed FSS suppress the back radiation and improves the antenna's gain by −20 dB and 6.3 dBi, respectively. The specific absorption rate (SAR) level is reduced to 0.445 W/kg from 24.995 W/kg with a higher reduction rate of 98.21%. Many literature reports produced higher gain and lower SAR but exhibited reduced efficiency when the antenna is placed near the human body. The wearable antenna's frequency response tends to vary under bending conditions for narrowband antennas. Wide‐band monopole antennas produce omnidirectional radiation pattern which tends to affect human body tissues. So stable polarization‐insensitive FSS is placed behind the antenna to enhance the antenna's gain and avoid back radiation. The proposed antenna exhibits stable performance under bending conditions with fractional bandwidth of 22.2%, gain of 8.83 dBi, and produces a better efficiency of 91.30% when the antenna is positioned in the vicinity with human body models. The experimental validation shows that the proposed antenna is a promising candidate for wireless body area networks.
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A ROAD PROFILE GENERATOR

This work aims to develop a method of generating a random road profile in three-dimensional space based on existing road design and classification standards and parameters, such examples being the Volvo Global Transport Application (GTA) and the International Organization of Standards (ISO). This is done by combining probability models, statistical distributions and mathematical methods of defining road curves, elevation and surface roughness through the use of MATLAB code. The proposed road profile generator code creates a road in three-dimensional space independent of vehicle characteristics and behaviour. The ultimate goal of this work is to contribute to the capabilities of modern virtual vehicle simulation systems by incorporating more random environments with respect to a wide range of established national standards to better simulate real driving loads.
Should Stochastic Volatility Matter to the Cost‐Constrained Investor?

Significant strides have been made in the development of continuous‐time portfolio optimization models since Merton (1969) . Two independent advances have been the incorporation of transaction costs and time‐varying volatility into the investor's optimization problem. Transaction costs generally inhibit investors from trading too often. Time‐varying volatility, on the other hand, encourages trading activity, as it can result in an evolving optimal allocation of resources. We examine the two‐asset portfolio optimization problem when both elements are present. We show that a transaction cost framework can be extended to include a stochastic volatility process. We then specify a transaction cost model with stochastic volatility and show that when the risk premium is linear in variance, the optimal strategy for the investor is independent of the level of volatility in the risky asset. We call this the Variance Invariance Principle.
Microwave dielectric stepped-index flat lens antenna

Dielectric stepped-index flat lens antennas for operation at 12 GHz are presented. A brick-shaped dielectric with a permittivity profile optimized for focusing is sandwiched between the metallic plates of an open-ended parallel-plate waveguide. A tapered slot antenna is placed at the focal point of the dielectric lens, thereby creating antennas with high directivity of 16.8 and 15.8 dBi, respectively. In the two versions of the antenna, the parallel-plate waveguide operates in TEM-mode and in the first higher-order TE-mode, respectively. The dielectric profile is realized by appropriate mixtures of alumina ceramic powder and microscopic hollow glass spheres, realizing permittivity ranging from εrel = 1.31 to εrel = 3.24. The design of the complete antennas is based on geometrical optics followed by optimizations with a full-wave electromagnetic solver. Measurements show good agreement with simulations.
Fetal QRS extraction based on wavelet analysis and pattern matching

A high precision method for fetal QRS complex extraction from the abdominal ECG is presented. The method is based on a wavelet multiresolution decomposition and a pattern matching procedure. The wavelet analysis allowed the elimination of detail signals that did not have maternal and fetal QRS frequency components and it also allowed maternal and fetal complexes homogenization. The existence and position of a fetal QRS immersed in a maternal QRS was determined by correlating the maternal complex with a set of cases that represent all possible fetal occurrences. The method was able to detect all immersed fetal QRS complexes in 5 real signals. Non significant differences for the position of 202 extracted fetal complexes were found on simulated signals. This method introduces a new approach resulting in excellent fetal QRS extraction and maternal QRS cancellation.
INDUCED OSCILLATIONS GENERATED BY PROTECTIVE THRESHOLD POLICIES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPLOITED POPULATIONS

Abstract Management and conservation of exploited populations have been a central issue in theoretical and empirical studies. In this work, it is shown that threshold policies can induce cyclic behavior in an otherwise exploited stable population as a consequence of the combination of harvest pressure and excessively protective threshold densities. Moreover, the dynamical outcomes generated by these extremely protective policies may vary according to the initial densities. These results may be of significant concern in conservation as well as in management of exploited population.
Disinfection and Antimicrobial Processes

A review of the literature published in 2006 on topics relating to disinfection and antimicrobial processes is presented. This review is divided into the following sections: general, disinfection methods, microbiology and disinfection chemistry, analytical methods, disinfection byproducts, and distribution systems/regrowth and biofilm. General Regulations and Policies. point sources that discharge pollutants States in to control water
An Application of Neural Network and Hidden Markov Model: A Case Study for Euro Dollars Exchange Rate

In this paper a robust hybrid algorithm for forecasting exchange rate trends is proposed and simulated. The existence of noise in time series of exchange rate causes many forecasting methods encounter with uncertainty prediction degree. This work introduces a coefficient framework based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) tools to overcome this problem. First time series samples of exchange rate are quantized by self organizing map (SOM) which is considered a powerful tool in ANNs. SOMs are different from other artificial neural networks (ANNs) since they use a neighborhood function that has the ability in preserving the topological of the input space. A signal processing at this level can be considered as a signal smoothing operation for denoising input data. In the next level the proposed algorithm uses Elman neural network for estimating the direction of quantized (training/test) input data. The simulated result shows that application of SOM neural network can overcome some limitations of conventional methods. To show the effectiveness and efficiency of proposed algorithm, the performance of the model is compared with a Markov model by using daily data of 7 November 2002 to 9 October 2006 to predict the trend of exchange of Dollar/Euro. The simulated results show that Markov model has superior predicting performance than proposed hybrid algorithms.