Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endpoint control in fast point-to-point elbow rotations:: Contribution of the dynamical properties of the peripheral motor system to the control of movement

In our daily live we make countless fast goal-directed movements under a large variety in external conditions. When we want to grab a pack of milk to take a sip our starting position, the placement of the pack, and the weight of the pack vary each time we grab. Hence, the required joint torques vary as well. It has been proposed that the brain only plans and controls movement endpoints, leaving the generation of required joint torques to the viscoelastic properties of the musculoskeletal system. The experiments described in this thesis were setup to investigate whether detailed knowledge on external load is used to control point-to-point elbow rotations. Additionally, a simulationstudy is described that illustrates how the level of simplification used to model the viscoelastic properties of the musculoskeletal system affects conclusions on motor control derived from measured responses to external load perturbations. The research carried out within MOVE is related to human movement and health, with an emphasis on prevention and recovery of injury and disorders of the (neuro-)musculoskeletal system, on optimal recovery of tissue and function, and on motor control and coordination. MOVE aims at fundamental, multidisciplinary and translational research, especially in the fields of (oral) regenerative medicine, rehabilitation and sports.
Electronic Chat: Social Issues on Internet Relay Chat

This paper discusses social issues raised by interaction on 'Internet Relay Chat', the synchronous computer-mediated communication system available on the Internet. It is shown that the structure of IRC forces users to deconstruct many of the cultural tools that form the basis of more conventional systems of interaction. Unable to rely on physical cues as a channel of meaning, users of IRC have developed ways of substituting for or bypassing them. New systems of cultural significance have developed, along with methods of enforcing that new hegemony. These new systems of meaning and social control define the usership of IRC as constituting a unique cultural group.
Investigation on Sex Hormone-Disruption Effects of Two Novel Brominated Flame Retardants (DBDPE and BTBPE) in Male Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Two Human Cell Lines (H295R and MVLN)

Decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromo-phenoxy) ethane (BTBPE) are novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) and have been detected in variety of environment and biota. Although sex endocrine-disrupting potential has been suggested in experimental studies, their adverse effects on sex steroid hormones and underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the sex hormone-disrupting effects of two NBFRs using in vivo and in vitro models together. For this, male zebrafish (Danio rerio) along with human adrenocortical carcinoma (H295R) and breast carcinoma (MVLN) cell lines were employed. In male zebrafish, 14-day exposure to DBDPE significantly increased 17β-estradiol (E2) concentrations. Disruption of sex hormone regulation was also suggested after exposure to BTBPE, i.e., the increasing trend of E2 levels, E2/11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) ratio, and estrogen receptor-alpha (erα) and erβ gene expression levels. In H295R cells, an E2/T ratio showed an increasing trend by DBDPE exposure, but transcriptions of major genes in steroidogenesis pathway were not affected. Taken together, our observation implies that two NBFRs could cause the sex hormone disruption potential in male zebrafish and H295R cells but probably not through alteration of steroidogenesis pathway.
Automated analysis of failure event data

This paper focuses on fully automated analysis of failure event data in the concept and early development stage of a semiconductor-manufacturing tool. In addition to presenting a wide range of statistical and machine-specific performance information, algorithms have been developed to examine reliability growth and to identify major contributors to unreliability. These capabilities are being implemented in a new software package called Reliadigm. When coupled with additional input regarding repair times and parts availability, the analysis software also provides spare parts inventory optimization based on genetic optimization methods. The type of question to be answered is: If this tool were placed with a customer for beta testing, what would be the optimal spares kit to meet equipment reliability goals for the lowest cost? The new algorithms are implemented in Windows{reg_sign} software and are easy to apply. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of failure event data from three IDEA machines currently in development. The paper also includes an optimal spare parts kit analysis.
Development and characterization of high -efficiency, high -specific impulse xenon Hall thrusters.

Development and Characterization of High-Efficiency, High-Specific Impulse Xenon Hall Thrusters by Richard Robert Hofer Chair: Associate Professor Alec D. Gallimore This dissertation presents research aimed at extending the efficient operation of 1600 s specific impulse Hall thruster technology to the 2000-3000 s range. While recent studies of commercially developed Hall thrusters demonstrated greater than 4000 s specific impulse, maximum efficiency occurred at less than 3000 s. It was hypothesized that the efficiency maximum resulted as a consequence of modern magnetic field designs, optimized for 1600 s, which were unsuitable at high-specific impulse. Motivated by the industry efforts and mission studies, the aim of this research was to develop and characterize xenon Hall thrusters capable of both highspecific impulse and high-efficiency operation. The research divided into development and characterization phases. During the development phase, the laboratory-model NASA-173M Hall thrusters were designed with plasma lens magnetic field topographies and their performance and plasma characteristics were evaluated. Experiments with the NASA-173M version 1 (v1) validated the plasma lens design by showing how changing the magnetic field topography at high-specific impulse improved efficiency. Experiments with the NASA-173M version 2 (v2) showed there was a minimum current density and optimum magnetic field topography at which efficiency monotonically increased with voltage. Between 300-1000 V, total specific impulse and total efficiency of the NASA-173Mv2 operating at 10 mg/s ranged from 16003400 s and 51-61%, respectively. Comparison of the thrusters showed that efficiency can be optimized for specific impulse by varying the plasma lens design. During the characterization phase, additional plasma properties of the NASA-173Mv2 were measured and a performance model was derived accounting for a multiply-charged, partially-ionized plasma. Results from the model based on experimental data showed how efficient operation at high-specific impulse was enabled through regulation of the electron current with the magnetic field. The decrease of efficiency due to multiply-charged ions was minor. Efficiency was largely determined by the current utilization, which suggested maximum Hall thruster efficiency has yet to be reached. The electron Hall parameter was approximately constant with voltage, decreasing from an average of 210 at 300 V to an average of 160 between 400-900 V, which confirmed efficient operation can be realized only over a limited range of Hall parameters. Development and Characterization of High-Efficiency, High-Specific Impulse Xenon Hall Thrusters
An overview of load management techniques in smart grid

Load management (LM) is supposed to have a vital role in future energy management systems. This article presents an overview and comparison of LM techniques along with related technologies and implementation challenges in smart grid. The article also covers consumer and utility concerns in context of LM to enhance readers' intuition about the topic. Two major categories of LM techniques, incentive‐based and dynamic pricing‐based schemes, have been discussed and compared. Most commonly used incentive‐based direct load control is elaborated in detail. Dynamic pricing‐based energy consumption scheduling schemes, featuring peak load reduction and consumers' energy cost minimization at residential level, are also emphasized. Furthermore, the article includes a description of dynamic pricing‐based home energy management and associated optimization techniques as well as comparison of the latest schemes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Solutions to Rectangular Sluice Gate Flow Problems

AbstractThis paper provides direct solution or iteration procedures to the following four types of submerged flow problems for rectangular sluice gates: (1) find discharge per unit width (q) for given gate opening (a), gate upstream water depth (H1), and tailwater depth (yt); (2) find H1 for given q, a, and yt; (3) find yt for given q, a, and H1; and (4) find a for given q, H1, and yt. The paper also provides procedures to distinguish flow state (free flow or submerged flow) for given values of three of the four variables (q, a, H1, and yt).
Probabilistic Head Tracking Based on Cascaded Condensation Filtering

This paper presents a probabilistic head tracking method, mainly applicable to face recognition and human robot interaction, which can robustly track human head against various variations such as pose/scale change, illumination change, and background clutters. Compared to conventional particle filter based approaches, the proposed method can effectively track a human head by regularizing the sample space and sequentially weighting multiple visual cues, in the prediction and observation stages, respectively. Experimental results show the robustness of the proposed method, and it is worthy to be mentioned that some proposed probabilistic framework could be easily applied to other object tracking problems.
State of the Art: Deterioration Models of Railway Ballasts and Subgrades. Recommendations and Applications

The need to build efficiently and sustainably in recent years has changed the trends in the design and exploitation of infrastructure, which is essential for the social and economic development of each country. This change is being seen more frequently in the field of transportation infrastructure and other types of construction of special interest, since it is important to know the long-term behavior and deterioration of certain materials to verify their functionality and security. The study of behavior and deterioration over time is motivating the development of new and innovative design methodologies that evolve from purely numerical methods that allow us to predict the long-term response to new experimental work that serves as a guide and reference in this engineering field. This review of the state of the art shows a set of deterioration models, collected in the literature, that quantify the deterioration of materials, with special interest in the railway field. These models have been classified and analyzed according to criteria that may be useful for railway infrastructure designers.
Are ultra low frequency waves suitable for detection?

Seismic processing tools have been developed mainly by petroleum research. As underwater sources are now at low frequency (<100 Hz), most of these methods can be adapted or directly used to underwater source detection in shallow water. In this paper, we focus on detection using ultra low frequency (ULF) waves. The first step is to know how these waves propagate and which valuable information they can carry. A study of the propagation between an underwater source and sensors laid on the floor is proposed. Different transformations (velocity correction, frequency-wavenumber transformation) are used to estimate geoacoustical parameters on a real data set. Wave propagation simulation in a heterogeneous medium using finite-difference algorithm is made in a similar environment and to validate the methods, simulated geoacoustical parameters are estimated.
Predecibilidad del tráfico en redes modernas de comunicaciones

This paper presents the results of some experiments that allow determining the predictability in a real traffic trace with fractal behavior. The conclusion is that without fitting the trace to any particular self-similar model, is possible to use typical point statistical to predict, with high grade of precision, the traffic intensity in the near future. Finally we discuss about the use of this results for congestion control in modern telecommunications networks. The paper explains, in a tutorial manner, both the theory and the experiments. The final section presents some investigation results about congestion control protocols based on predictability, obtained with the discrete event simulator NS-2.
Association of NAFLD Fibrosis Score with Subclinical Myocardial Remodeling in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), especially with liver fibrosis, is associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), a noninvasive marker of advanced fibrosis first developed in patients with NAFLD, has found to be associated with CVD in different populations including with diabetes, regardless of the presence of NAFLD. The aim of the present study was to determine whether NFS is associated with subclinical myocardial remodeling in type 2 diabetic patients.Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in type 2 diabetic patients. NFS derived from available parameters was calculated and the subjects were divided into four groups according to the quartiles of NFS. Subclinical myocardial remodeling was examined by echocardiography and its association with NFS was analyzed.Results: A total of 1878 type 2 diabetic patients were enrolled in the present study. Subjects with higher NFS were older, had a longer duration of diabetes and higher levels of body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and serum creatinine (Scr) than those with lower NFS (P < 0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that sex, age, BMI, LDL-C and HbA1c were independent determiners of NFS in type 2 diabetic patients. Parameters of subclinical myocardial remodeling including left atrial dimension (LAD), interventricular septum thickness (IST), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) and left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) were all gradually increased with the increment of NFS. Linear regression analysis further revealed that NFS was positively associated with LAD, IST, LVEDD, LVESD and LVPWT after adjustment for the confounding factors.Conclusions: NFS is independently associated with subclinical myocardial remodeling in type 2 diabetic subjects.
3G Evolution: HSPA and LTE for Mobile Broadband

This very up-to-date and practical book, written by engineers working closely in 3GPP, gives insight into the newest technologies and standards adopted by 3GPP, with detailed explanations of the specific solutions chosen and their implementation in HSPA and LTE. The key technologies presented include multi-carrier transmission, advanced single-carrier transmission, advanced receivers, OFDM, MIMO and adaptive antenna solutions, advanced radio resource management and protocols, and different radio network architectures. Their role and use in the context of mobile broadband access in general is explained. Both a high-level overview and more detailed step-by-step explanations of HSPA and LTE implementation are given. An overview of other related systems such as TD SCDMA, CDMA2000, and WIMAX is also provided.This is a 'must-have' resource for engineers and other professionals working with cellular or wireless broadband technologies who need to know how to utilize the new technology to stay ahead of the competition.The authors of the book all work at Ericsson Research and are deeply involved in 3G development and standardisation since the early days of 3G research. They are leading experts in the field and are today still actively contributing to the standardisation of both HSPA and LTE within 3GPP. * Gives the first explanation of the radio access technologies and key international standards for moving to the next stage of 3G evolution: fully operational mobile broadband* Describes the new technologies selected by the 3GPP to realise High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) for mobile broadband * Gives both higher-level overviews and detailed explanations of HSPA and LTE as specified by 3GPP
Model Optimization of Distributed-Mode Loudspeaker Using Attached Masses

The model of a panel with attached masses is developed and the modes of a distributed-mode loudspeaker (DML) are analyzed with FEMLAB. The aim was to make minor modifications to the panel with properly attached masses which will be sufficient to improve its sound pressure response in a given frequency band. Based on the established model, a series of optimized positions of various attached masses is presented using genetic algorithm (GA). The corresponding sound pressure responses are also calculated using the FEMLAB. The attached-masses method (AMM) is verified by experimental investigations. The measurement results indicate that the AMM indeed improves the performance of the DMA with regard to its sound pressure response.
Rubrics and the enhancement of student learning

Empirical research on the effectiveness of rubrics has primarily concentrated on its contribution towards improvement in academic performance, as reflected in attainment of higher grades. Its role in assessing the other dimensions of SL such as attitudes, behaviors and perceptions that affect students’ inclination and ability to learn has been largely unexplored. There is also a paucity of literature on how the tool can be used for informing course delivery and course design. The objectives of the study are derived from these gaps in literature. The proposed study seeks to explore the usefulness of rubrics from the perspective of students, drawing motivation from two recent studies – the study by Andrade & Du (2005), which examined the usage of rubrics by students to support their own learning and academic performance and the study by Petkov & Petkova(2006), which explored the possibility of developing curriculum wide rubrics at post-graduate level. This study intends to investigate the contribution of rubrics referenced feedback towards enhancement of motivation, development of self- regulation characteristics and improvement in academic performance. It seeks to achieve this by assessing student-learning outcomes in a multiple courses of general Masters in Business Administration (MBA) program in two or more business schools in Hyderabad including, ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad.
Control for interfaces and handling qualities for space telerobotic vehicles

The goal of this thesis was to improve control interface designs for remotely controlled vehicles. It is hypothesized that operator performance is substantially affected by the need to share attention between multiple control devices. It is further hypothesized that attention sharing between the hands and feet is easier than between the hands alone, and that interfaces which require hand/feet attention sharing will permit higher quality control than those which require hand/hand attention sharing. The impact of attention sharing and control interfaces on the handling qualities of a free flying, space telerobot is discussed. Experiments are described that use pilot ratings and performance indices to compare control interfaces which include hand and foot generated control devices. The hypothesis was tested by comparing three different control device and command assignment configurations. The first configuration was the traditional two hand controller combination with translational degrees of freedom assigned to the left hand controller and rotational to the right. The second included a foot controller with one rotational degree of freedom assigned to it. The third included the foot controller with two rotational degrees of freedom assigned to it. Eight pilots flew two different tasks for a total of 18 flights each. The first task required the pilots to reorient the vehicle from an unusual attitude. The second task required the pilots to hold position in the presence of disturbances. The flights were divided evenly between two tasks and the three configurations. The configurations were evaluated based on pilot rating, using a Cooper-Harper rating system, and on performance indicators like fuel expenditure and maximum velocity. Conclusions are made that support the hypothesis to the extent that there appears to be no significant difference between the traditional configuration and the configuration with one degree of freedom assigned to the feet. Error source analysis reveals biases which suggest that improved experiments might support the hypothesis conclusively. It was also concluded that the foot controller design used in these experiments was unsuitable for pitch commands. Matt (IRIS God) Machlis:
ANTHROPOMETRY OF THE AIR FORCE FEMALE HAND

Abstract : The report describes 56 anthropometric dimensions measured on the hands of Air Force female personnel (Women in the Air Force, Nurse Corp, and Biomedical Science Corps), aged 18-56. Summary statistics including the means, standard deviations, ranges, selected percentiles, measures of distribution, and coefficients of variation are presented for the 56 dimensions. Also included are statistical variations by age, rank and Corps within the sample, a complete correlation matrix, bivariate tables, and nomographs for various selected combinations of dimensions.
Identyfying Selected Sources of Variation in the Results of Gymnasium Examination Using ANOVA

One of the part of the Polish external examination system in preliminary education is the Gymnasium Examination. It is the first examination taken by the students, having serious impact on their prospective educational path, and because of its importance, a comprehensive and extensive study of the examination results should be carried out, allowing for identification of the factors influencing students’ scores. This paper attempts to investigate the sources of variations in results of the Gymnasium Examination conducted in 2010 in Lower Silesia and Opole Voivodeships, in particular focusing on the extent to what the differences in students’ scores are associated with the location of the gymnasium, the sex of the student and the dyslexia diagnosis. The results could provide the basis for guidelines in creating equal opportunities policies in education.
Reverse Engineering of a Mix

It is shown how to reverse engineer the parameters that, starting from a multitrack recording, can produce a given mix. Linear effects and dynamic processors, which comprise all the effects commonly used in the mixing and mastering stages, are considered. Two different techniques based on least-squares optimization are described. Starting from a multitrack recording and a target mix, which is obtained by applying effects to each of its channels, impulse responses and gain envelopes are calculated, which can be used to estimate gains, delays, filters, panning settings, and combinations of these processors; or to estimate time-varying gain envelopes produced by dynamic effects, such as compressors and expanders. Theoretical and experimental results show that, given some assumptions about the nature of the processing originally applied, the proposed techniques are able to precisely and efficiently retrieve the mixing parameters.