Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IN TEXTASIS: MATRIXIAL NARRATIVES OF TEXTILE DESIGN

Since its inception in the late 1970s, the academic field of design research has lacked significant input from textile design. Textile design inhabits a liminal space that spans art, design, craft; the decorative and functional; from handiwork to industrial manufacture. This PhD by thesis, although recognizing this particularity, asserts textile design as a design discipline and seeks to address key questions that define a design discipline (Archer 1979). Specific factors have prevented the participation of textile design in the development of design theory: the universalism of the Modernist age decried many of the innate characteristics of textiles despite the fact that the versatility of textiles has made it one of the most appropriate mediums for its message. This suppression points to the femininely gendered nature of textiles and how this affected the participation of textile designers in the development of design research. Addressing this historical and cultural context necessitated the utilization of feminist qualitative research methods in a methodology that references matrixial theory (Ettinger 2006) and relationality. Encounters, conversations, stories, drawings, metaphor, meshing and restorying are all key research methods used in this study. In its autoethnographic approach, my position as a textile designer and as the researcher is frequently foregrounded, and is also blended with the experiences of other textile designers. The study unfolds and expands in a non-linear way, structure and outcome co-evolving through my contingent thinking and activity. Theory and texts are montaged from anthropology, philosophy, literature, cognitive psychology and psychoanalysis to define key characteristics of textile design and its associated thinking, both tacit and explicit. These characteristics are then placed into the context of the design research agenda, with particular reference to design thinking and problem-solving. This both strengthens the position of textiles as a design discipline and highlights its anomalies. Through analysing the articulation of textile design practice and thinking, this study proposes an alternative perspective on design thinking and problem-solving in design which contrasts with the notions of divergence followed by convergence which are predominant in design research literature. It suggests that textile design thinking is fundamentally dimensionally expansive yet set in tense relation to external forces of folding and rhizomatic breakage (Deleuze 1993/1999, Deleuze & Guattari 1987/2008). This paradigm of design thinking rests upon the significance of long-established textile metaphors for the embodied and interconnected activities of cognition and action, and is indicative of particular views of post- Postmodernist thought. Based on this, as well as on other key characteristics of textile design process and thinking that have been defined, pedagogic implications are discussed and specific areas of current design research discourse which would benefit from greater involvement from textile designers and theorists are explored.
Application of the critical power concept in swimming

INTRODUCTION The critical power concept originally introduced by Monod and Scherrer (13) attempted to improve the understanding of the local work capacity of one muscle or one synergistic muscle group. The authors highlighted that local work (W) and time to exhaustion (t) were linearly related (Equation 1). The slope of the relationship, called Critical Power (CP), was defined as a ‘threshold of local fatigue’ while the y-intercept (a) was corresponding to a reserve of energy. Equation 1: W = a + CP.t The concept of CP has since been extended to activities involving larger muscle masses such as running (11), cycling (14), and swimming (24). However, applying the CP concept to cyclic activities requires the consideration of several assumptions (6, 16, 22) not always apparent to scientists and coaches. Understanding the underlying theory of the whole-body CP concept would allow a better appreciation of its potential when applied as a tool for training.
The contribution of police and fire consolidation to the homeland security mission

Abstract : This thesis explores the idea of consolidating police and fire departments as a unique way to deliver public safety services to communities in an integrated fashion. It investigates how the uniqueness of this concept can fit into our plan to prevent, protect, respond, and mitigate interrelated challenges in a fully coordinated approach. The main claim of this study is that the consolidation of police and fire services enhances communication among disciplines, creates unified leadership and command, and aids in attaining a high level of comprehensive emergency response and planning-and that this improves the execution of the homeland security mission. Through a comparative case study, the research focuses on the history and organizational design of three consolidated departments; the perspective they have towards collaboration and homeland security; and the reported advantages and challenges attributed to these models. The thesis will use the homeland security mission as a backdrop in order to examine the concept of consolidation through comparative case studies. As our country continues to deal with multifaceted threats that force our disparate organizations to integrate in a unified effort; what are the contributions that the consolidation of police and fire services have on the homeland security mission?
The effect of expansion and simultaneous contrast in modificated figural dotted and groundal dotted illusions

The appearance of colour is based on different parameters and observation conditions. Taking into account that the research of certain visual psychophysical effects is updated daily, such a phenomenon presents a challenge for researchers of modern visual communication systems. Effects of psychophysical expansion and simultaneous contrast belong to this group. This paper researches the influence of those effects using method of visual tuning. Those effects cause the shifting of colour appearance of stimuli (different combinations of primary and secondary colours) on test samples. Test samples are based on White’s illusions (groundal dotted illusion and figural dotted illusion).
Mechanical Insufflator-Exsufflator Maneuver no Collapse, so Says Electrical Impedance Tomography

Although mechanical insufflator-exsufflator (MI-E) is widely used among patients with neuromuscular disease, little is known about its effect on alveolar pressure and pulmonary volumes in patients with lung diseases. Currently, outcomes related to MI-E are based mainly on oxygenation, although this parameter is unable to determine secondary collapse or hyper-distension. MI-E application was not yet evaluated by electrical impedance tomography (EIT), a tool that can assess lung aeration during MI-E therapy and enable safety to perform the technique and broaden the application of the procedure for patients with lung disease. region, which corresponds to the atelectasis zone. We believe that air could be driven into this area (as Vt change was detected by EIT) but air trapping occurred. A different time constant in this region might relate to this phenomenon.
TRAINING AND TESTING THE ELITE ATHLETE

The performance of a top-class athlete can be improved by appropriate training. The fitness training should be closely related to the activities of the athlete during competition. Furthermore, the capacity of the athlete should be known. For that purpose, Yo-Yo tests can be used since they have been shown to be sensitive and to give valid measures of performance in many sports. The fitness training can be divided into aerobic, anaerobic and specific muscle training. Each type of training has a number of subcategories, which allows for a precise execution of the training when the aim of the training is known. A critical factor when training elite athletes is when to do what, i.e. to plan the training. An example of the preparation of the Danish National soccer team for the European Championship 2004 is given in the text with examples of physiological measurements and testing, which also takes individuals’ needs into account.
Effect of annealing temperature on p–n junction formation in Cu2SnS3 thin-film solar cells fabricated via the co-evaporation of elemental precursors

Cu2SnS3 (CTS) thin-film solar cells were fabricated by the co-evaporation of the precursors, and the effect of annealing in N2 atmosphere on their photovoltaic properties was investigated by varying the annealing temperature after the chemical bath deposition of CdS. The characteristics of the solar cells improved as the annealing temperature was increased in the 250 °C–275 °C range (annealing time: 30 min). However, annealing temperatures exceeding 275 °C caused the deterioration of the device characteristics. Therefore, annealing in the 250 °C–275 °C range after CdS deposition is important for forming an optimum p–n junction at the CTS/CdS interface for manufacturing the CTS solar cells evaluated in this study. The best-performing solar cell fabricated using a CTS film annealed at 275 °C after CdS deposition exhibited an open circuit voltage of 0.181 V, with a short circuit current density of 20.9 mA cm−2, fill factor of 0.462, and power conversion efficiency of 1.74%.
Aerodynamic Analysis of a Fan for Future Ultra-High-Bypass-Ratio Aeroengines

A model scaled fan being representative for a propulsor of a future high bypass-ratio aeroengine was designed, tested and aerodynamically investigated. The focus of the experimental and theoretical work was mainly to evaluate the fan performance with respect to the changing requirements of modern fans being typical for engines with a bypass ratio in the order of 12 or higher. The fan design work, also carried out at DLR, comprised aeromechanical aspects of the bladed disk rotor and the fully 3D aerodynamic fan design. Besides three dimensional design features of the rotor and stator blades also technological considerations were taken into account during the fan design. In this context the tip circumferential velocity was limited (compared to a conventional state-of-the art design) in order to avoid the evolvement of strong shocks in the rotor tip region. This is expected to drastically reduce the noise emission of this fan and was one of the main design goals. A typical near tip sweep or a so called S-shape leading edge of the rotor blade was found as the best compromise to reach high efficiency, 10 % higher specific mass flow rate and reasonable stall margin. A 1:3 scaled rig was built and experimentally investigated at the Multistage Two Shaft compressor test facility M2VP at DLR cologne (Figure 1, left). The measurements presented in this paper mainly comprised probe measurements upstream of the rotor and downstream of the OGV in order to measure fan performance in terms of efficiency and total pressure ratio. The experimental data, covering the complete potential flight envelope, fully confirmed the design goal in all aspects such as the maximum achieved pressure ratio and corresponding massflow (Figure 1, right). Apart from the experimental effort detailed numerical studies were carried out during all phases of the project. The results in Figure 1 (right) show the comparison of the pre-test computations with the numerical setup used during the design iterations as well as the results of post-test predictions with a much finer computational grid and boundary conditions derived from the experimental data. A detailed analysis of the aerodynamic flow features, also in comparison with existing experimental data at selected operating conditions (near stall, peak efficiency and choked) will be presented and discussed in the paper. This comparison includes global performance data as shown in Figure 1 as well as results from the probe measurements (mainly total pressure and temperature) upstream and downstream of the fan stage (see an example in Fig. 2). The analysis of the fine grid computations will focus on two different speedlines in the stage performance map, one at 100% mechanical speed and one at 43% speed, which is representative for an approach condition of the corresponding engine. Ongoing investigations, results of which will partly be included into the final version of the paper, are focussing on aeroacoustic experimental analysis as well as stability enhancement using active flow control, such as flow injection in the rotor region.
Shaping and policy search in reinforcement learning

To make reinforcement learning algorithms run in a reasonable amount of time, it is frequently necessary to use a well-chosen reward function that gives appropriate “hints” to the learning algorithm. But, the selection of these hints—called shaping rewards—often entails significant trial and error, and poorly chosen shaping rewards often change the problem in unanticipated ways that cause poor solutions to be learned. In this dissertation, we give a theory of reward shaping that shows how these problems can be eliminated. This theory further gives guidelines for selecting good shaping rewards that in practice give significant speedups of the learning process. We also show that shaping can allow us to use “myopic” learning algorithms and still do well. The “curse of dimensionality” refers to the observation that many simple reinforcement learning algorithms, ones based on discretization, scale exponentially with the size of the problem and are thus impractical for many applications. In this dissertation, we consider the policy search approach to reinforcement learning. Here, we wish to select a controller from among some restricted set of controllers for a task. We see that a key issue in policy search is obtaining uniformly good estimates of the quality of the controllers being considered. We show that simple Monte Carlo methods will not in general give uniformly good estimates. We then present the P EGASUS policy search method, which is derived using the surprising observation that all reinforcement learning problems can be transformed into ones in which all state transitions (given the current state and action) are deterministic. We show that PEGASUS has sample complexity that scales at most polynomially with the size of the problem, and give strong guarantees on the quality of the solutions it finds. In deriving these results, we also take the ideas of VC dimension and sample complexity that are familiar from supervised learning and apply them to the reinforcement learning setting, thus putting the two problems on a more equal footing. Finally, we apply these ideas to designing a controller for an autonomous helicopter. Autonomous helicopter flight is widely viewed as a difficult control problem. Using shaping and the PEGASUS policy search method, we are able to automatically design a stable hovering controller for a helicopter, as well as make it fly a number of challenging maneuvers taken from an RC helicopter competition. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Surface modification induced improvement of dispersion stability and tribological properties of MoS2 nanosheets

Abstract To alleviate the agglomeration and deposition of MoS2 nanofluid, MoS2 nanosheets were modified using self-made surface modifier. The self-made surface modifier was synthesized using triethanolamine (TEA) and stearic-acid (SA). Both total weight and mass ratio of TEA and SA were researched to gain modified MoS2 nanosheets with better dispersion stability. The modified MoS2 nanosheets prepared using surface modifier with optimal mass ratio and total weight were characterized by FT-IR and TEM. An organics solvation layer with a thickness of 15–17 nm was found adsorbed on MoS2 nanosheets, which prevented their agglomeration and improved their dispersion stability. Both four-ball tribotester and Molecular Dynamics simulation method were conducted to learn the effects of surface modification on the tribological properties of modified MoS2 nanofluid. The diffusion rate, interlayer distance, interlayer adsorption energy and shear stress of modified and unmodified MoS2 nanosheets were calculated. Due to interaction between MoS2 nanosheets and surface modifier, the interlayer distance of modified MoS2 nanosheets was increased. And the interlayer adsorption energy and interlayer shear stress were decreased, especially when the normal pressure was applied. The modified MoS2 nanosheets had not only better dispersion stability, but also excellent tribological properties. Graphical Abstract
Benefits of Proximity to Rail on Housing Markets: Experiences in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County, California, has turned to transit oriented development as a means to both reduce traffic congestion and redress severe shortages of affordable housing units. This article examines the degree to which proximity to two forms of rail transit - light rail and commuter rail - confer benefits to residential properties in terms of sales values. Hedonic price models are estimated that show job proximity over transit network as well as nearness to rail stops substantially add value to residential parcels. All else being equal, large apartments within a quarter mile of a light rail station commanded land value premiums as high as 45%. Such market profits not only lure developers to station sites, but also provide a potential source of revenues to local agencies that have set up the kind of value-recapture programs that allow them to participate in land appreciation benefits that accrue.
The Design, Performance, and Analysis of Slug Tests

Introduction The Slug Test-What Is It? Why Is It So Prevalent? But Skepticism Abounds. Purpose of this Book Outline A Short Word on Terminology The Design of Slug Tests Chapter Overview Well Construction Well Development Verification of Conventional Theory Design Guidelines The Performance of Slug Tests Chapter Overview Slug-Test Equipment Test Initiation Degree of Head Recovery Performance Guidelines Pre-analysis Processing Chapter Overview Pre-analysis Data Processing Pre-analysis Processing Guidelines The Analysis of Slug Tests-Confined Formations Chapter Overview Theoretical Models for the Analysis of Response Data Slug Tests in Confined Formations The Analysis of Slug Tests-Unconfined Formations Chapter Overview Slug Tests in Unconfined Formations The Analysis of Slug Tests-Low-Conductivity Formations Chapter Overview Slug Tests in Log-Conductivity Formations The Analysis of Slug Tests-High-Conductivity Formulations Chapter Overview Slug Tests in High-Conductivity Formations The Analysis of Slug Tests-Well Skins Chapter Overview Slug Tests in the Presence of Well Skins The Analysis of Slug Tests-Multiwell Tests Chapter Overview Multiwell Slug Tests The Analysis of Slug Tests-Additional Issues Chapter Overview Slug Tests in Fractured Formations Slug Tests in Naturally Heterogeneous Formations Assessment of Prospective Observation Wells The Analysis of Slug Tests-Guidelines Chapter Overview Analysis Guidelines Final Comments Appendix A: A Brief Discussion of Analysis Software Appendix B: List of Notations References NTI/Sales copy (Already routed/approved)
Supportive Resources: Mastering the Art of Making Sense

This paper questions the nature of qualitative user studies as currently applied in the context of experience-centered design. We suggest that conceiving knowledge as if it were an entity that can be captured in some form and transferred unchanged oversimplifies the situation in the case of design, and, for the purpose of opening a dialogue on the topic is problematic. We put forward an alternative perspective, that of supportive resources, which go beyond social science-based approaches, such as user studies, to focus on the forming of knowledge by designers. Supportive resources are intended to inspire, but equally they are intended to help frame, guide and support the design process in a non-prescriptive way. Designers can apply them as needed to support existing approaches. In order to better describe supportive resources and their role in design, the authors present four examples from projects currently being undertaken by the authors; storytelling, language and touch, material knowledge, and video.
Open up the Building: Architectural Relevance of Building-Users and their Participations

As buildings have become more advanced and complex, our ability to understand how they are operated and managed has diminished. Modern technologies have given us systems to look after us but it appears to have taken away our say in how we like our environment to be managed. The aim of this paper is to discuss our research concerning spaces that are sensitive to changing needs and allow building-users to have a certain level of freedom to understand and control their environment. We discuss why, what we call the Active Layer, is needed in modern buildings; how building inhabitants are to interact with it; and the development of interface prototypes to test consequences of having the Active Layer in our environment.
Evaluating food transfers in Botswana using multiple matching methods

ABSTRACT Data from a household survey in Botswana were analysed to assess the effectiveness of food transfers. Food transfers have been contentious, and much assessment has focused on market participation while overlooking direct impacts on hunger. This paper quantitatively assesses food transfers while controlling for selection bias. Responses to food insecurity questions and Body Mass Index of the head of household were tested for association with socioeconomic variables using logistic and ordinal regression. Respondents who were female (p < .0001), lived outside major cities and towns (p = .0002), lived in larger households (p < .0001), or had never received formal education (p < .0001) were more likely to report hunger and be underweight. After controlling for selection bias using several Propensity Score and Exact Matching methods, we showed that food transfers reduced the proportion of respondents reporting hunger (p = .017 with Optimal 1:2 matching). This demonstrates that food transfers targeted the hungry and alleviated household food insecurity.
Efficient Mixed Reality Application Development

In this paper we present the authoring process and the authoring tools for Mixed Reality applications that have been implemented for AMIRE. We introduce concepts that allow non-experts to develop MR applications, with dedicated authoring tools and a well-defined authoring process. The authoring process is reflected in the introduced system architecture. AMIRE is an EU-funded project (IST-2001-34024) where a MR oil-refinery application and a MR museum application are developed.
Guidelines to Observe And Estimate Statewide Seat Belt Use at Night

Previous research has found an overrepresentation of fatal crashes at night, as well as substantially lower seat belt use among occupants of passenger vehicles at night compared to seat belt use during the day. An estimate of statewide nighttime seat belt use would be beneficial for understanding the problem of nighttime driving risk, and for evaluating the impact of nighttime seat belt enforcement programs. The Guidelines to Observe and Estimate Statewide Seat Belt Use at Night provides States with options for estimating statewide seat belt use at night. This report also provides a detailed description of how to conduct night observations.