Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study of the Structural Performance of Flexible Pavements Using a Traffic Speed Deflectometer

The falling weight deflectometer (FWD) is a non-destructive testing device that has been used by many road agencies worldwide since 1980 for structural evaluation of flexible pavements. In early 2000, the world first Doppler laser-based traffic speed deflectometer (TSD) was developed by Greenwood Engineering, and now eight TSD vehicles are in use worldwide. The two main advantages of the TSD technology are: (a) the ability to carry out continuous bearing capacity measurements instead of discrete points, (b) that testing can be carried out at traffic speeds without the need for lane closures with a stationary device such as FWD. The objective of this paper was to study the structural performance of flexible pavements using TSD deflection data. The study successfully established a correlation between maximum deflections TSD-D0 and FWD-D0 that are derived from the two devices. This study also drew some interesting conclusions in that deflection data collected by TSD could be transformed to FWD equivalent structural numbers with simple models as derived in the study. The outcome of this study was an established methodology for reporting structural performance at network level utilizing TSD
The DCU Multi-Engine MT System for CWMT'2011

In this paper we describe the multi-engine machine translation system we used in the Japanese-Chinese News subtask in the 7 th Chinese Workshop on Machine Translation (CWMT'2011). We employed an MBR decoder and a Confusion Network decoder in our approach to combine different system outputs. We also describe the modular design of the system and report on how we pre-process the corpus.
Assessing environmental effects of hydropower peaking by 3D numerical modeling

The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether 3D numerical modeling is suitable to predict frequent load fluctuations in natural rivers according to different hydro power operation schemes. The study is carried out in the framework of the Center of Environmental Design of Renewable Energies (CEDREN). The objective of the centre is to develop and disseminate effective design solutions for renewable energy production that take adequate account of environmental and societal issues, both locally and globally. The focus of the present study is on the simulation of highly unsteady flow, including strongly varying water levels in a natural river reach of approximately 1.2 km length and 75 m width. The flow in the river reach is highly complex, since it includes river bends as well as large pool / riffle sequences. The model will be verified by measurements of 3D velocities and water levels. In the future, these results will be used to investigate morphodynamic changes and risk for potential fish stranding areas. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es ein dreidimensionales, numerisches Programm auf einen Flussabschnitt mit lokal und zeitlich starken Wasserspiegellagenschwankungen anzuwenden und zu beurteilen ob dieses numerische Programm in der Lage ist die richtigen Wasserspeiegellagen vorherzusagen. Die Studie ist im Rahmen des Center of Environmental Design of Renewable Energy (CEDREN) durchgefuhrt. Das Ziel des Forschungsprojektes ist die Entwicklung und Verbreitung wirksamer Losungen fur erneuerbare Energien, welche okologische und gesellschaftliche Problematiken in Betracht ziehen. Der Fokus der vorliegenden Studie beruht auf der Simulation von stark instationaren Abflussen einschlieslich stark schwankender Wasserstande in einem naturlichen Flussabschnitt von ca. 1.2 km Lange und 75 m Breite. Die Stromung in diesem Flussabschnitt ist aufgrund von Flussschleifen und ausgepragten Pool / riffle Sequenzen sehr komplex. Die Simulationsergebnisse werden mit gemessenen Wasserstanden verglichen. In Zukunft werden die Resultate dieser Studie genutzt um Untersuchungen in den Bereichen morphodynamischer Veranderungen sowie Risiken moglicher Fisch Strandung durchzufuhren.
Master Thesis Proposal Disparate Lens-Stiching

Image stitching describes the process of aligning images from different perspectives to form seamless photo-mosaics. This procedure has a multitude of use cases, from the creation of ultra wide-angle panoramas on smartphones to high-resolution satellite maps [Sze22]. Another application can be found in the emerging field of autonomous vehicles or driver assistant systems as demonstrated in [WYL20]. These tasks comprise of embedded systems that provide ubiquitous and consistent surveillance of the vehicles surrounding to enable safe and reliable operation. In order to gain a widearea of observation a variety of different technologies can be utilized and even combined together (eg. LiDAR, RADAR, etc.). Digital cameras present a cheap and flexible solution as they are able to convey huge amounts of information and can therefore be utilized for various tasks in the area of autonomous locomotion. However a major drawback of cameras is their limited field of view (FOV). This issue is usually handled by distributing multiple cameras across the vehicle. To form a continuous and consistent view given a set of partially overlapping camera images a stitching pipeline can be used. In case the camera positions are precisely calibrated the stitching task can be efficiently solved by exploiting epipolar geometry constraints [Sze22]. However for wide baselines this requires robust and usually bulky mounting frames that would increase both the vehicles weight and manufacturing costs. To provide large FOV surveillance without the structural requirements of calibrated camera setups different image registration techniques can be deployed. In particular the registration process for partially overlapping images can be approached in two ways. Either by local feature detection and matching followed by the estimation
Transfer Learning for Event-Type Differentiation on Power Systems

Machine Learning (ML) models are continuously introduced to power systems in domains like state estimation and event identification. However, training an ML model usually requires a lot of data. For data-limited grids, we propose a transfer learning framework to transfer knowledge from a source grid with rich Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) data for the event-type differentiation problem. The goal is challenging due to (1) different dimensionalities of the source and the target measurement spaces, (2) dissimilar data distributions, and (3) redundant PMU’s information. Thus, we project the source and the target measurement space into a latent feature space, which reduces and aligns the dimensionality of input measurements, maintains close data distributions in the latent space, and enables the transferability from the source domain to the target domain. Then, we introduce transfer learning in supervised learning by vectorizing each PMU’s measurement window as one training sample, forming the latent space. We theoretically show that our approach minimizes the upper bound of misclassification rate and experimentally demonstrates the high performance on various synthetic datasets.
Bimanual Control and Learning with Composable Energy Policies

Study on reactive motion generation of mobile robots and manipulator has a long history. In past years one of traditional solutions to these issues is to calculate corresponding actions over a sum of policies for multi-objective tasks. However, these policies are designed independent from each other and even during optimization also separately updated. Therefore these solutions may could cause conflicts or unexpected results in some complex cases. Composable Energy Policies (CEP) provides new insight to improve the performance in filed of reactive motion generation. Instead of sum of policies, CEP optimize the product over different policies to compute appropriate actions, which satisfies all tasks. In this project, we aims focus on the simple applications of CEP for a bimanual robot with 14 DOF along with extra joystick. Besides CEP framework, we also build obstacle map via depth camera and use them as for the obstacle.
Research on android application security configuration rules based on fuzzing test

In the official Android documentation, although it has described various configuration elements in the configuration file, some descriptions do not give accurate semantic definitions, and some descriptions do not show accurate relationships between related configuration elements, namely At present, there are uncertainties and ambiguities in the description of natural language in the document, which will cause some differences in the understanding of developers, and may cause developers to improperly configure the App to produce some security vulnerabilities. Therefore, this article mainly adopts the fuzzing-based security configuration rules research framework (ARMG) based on reading official documents, that is, for the existence of some configuration files with fuzzy semantics, the Fuzzing test method of multi-dimensional strategy is used to construct test cases. Analyze the test results to further clarify the rule definitions of related configuration items, and then use MobSF to statically analyze the sample set, and observe the compliance of the samples and the effectiveness of the rules by parsing, outputting logs, and comparing them. The final rules are used by designers or developers to improve development efficiency and better avoid software security vulnerabilities.
Caries Experience and Increment in Children Attending Kindergartens with an Early Childhood Caries Preventive Program Compared to Basic Prophylaxis Measures—A Retrospective Cohort Study

Dental caries constitutes a public health challenge. As preventive strategies are desirable, this retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the caries experience and increment in children attending kindergartens with an early childhood caries (ECC) preventive program (intervention group, IG) compared to basic prophylaxis measures (control group, CG) located in areas of different socioeconomic status (SES) within Marburg (Germany). The long-term caries experience (2009–2019) of these 3–5-year-old kindergarten children was evaluated. For the caries increment, dental records of 2019 were screened for the availability of a minimum of two dental examinations at least 8 months apart. Caries was scored according to the WHO criteria (dmf–t). The data were split by observation period (300–550 and >550 days). Overall, 135 children (Ø 3.7 years) attended IG, and 132 children (Ø 3.6 years) attended CG. After 300–550 days, no significant differences were found between both groups regarding mean caries increment and experience (p > 0.05). After >550 days, IG with low SES exhibited a high caries experience. Fluoride varnish applications could not reduce the caries increment compared to CG in the short-term but slightly decreased the long-term caries experience. Comprehensive ECC prevention measures actively involving parents are needed to overcome the caries burden.
OPTIMAL POSITION AND PATH PLANNING FOR STOP-AND-GO LASERSCANNING FOR THE ACQUISITION OF 3D BUILDING MODELS

Abstract. Terrestrial laser scanning has become more and more popular in recent years. The according planning of the standpoint network is a crucial issue influencing the overhead and the resulting point cloud. Fully static approaches are both cost and time extensive, whereas fully kinematic approaches cannot produce the same data quality. Stop-and-go scanning, which combines the strengths of both strategies, represents a good alternative solution. In the scanning process, the standpoint planning is by now mostly a manual process based on expert knowledge and relying on the surveyor’s experience. This paper provides a method based on Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) ensuring an optimal placement of scanner standpoints considering all scanner-related constraints (e.g. incidence angle), a full coverage of the scenery, a sufficient overlap for the subsequent registration and an optimal route planning solving a Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP). This enables the fully automatic application of autonomous systems for providing a complete model while performing a stop-and-go laser scanning, e.g. with the Spot robot from Boston Dynamics. Our pre-computed solution, i.e. standpoints and trajectory, has been evaluated surveying a real-world environment using a 360° panoramic laser scanner and successfully compared with a precise LoD2 building model of the underlying scene. The performed ICP-based registration issued from our fully automatic pipeline turns out to be a very good and safe alternative of the otherwise laborious target-based registration.
Indonesian Adaptation and Validation of The Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale – Short Form (CAPS-SF)

This study aimed to adapt and examine the psychometric properties of The Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale – Short Form (CAPS – SF) in an Indonesian sample. In Indonesia, research on perfectionism is being developed, but there is no measurement for adolescent perfectionism that can be used. Therefore, a valid and reliable measurement is needed. The Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale – Short Form (CAPS – SF) developed by Bento et al. is an instrument consisting of 2 dimensions of Socially Prescribed Perfectionism and Self-Oriented Perfectionism with a total of 9 items that can measure perfectionism in children and adolescents. The adaptation process followed the guidelines established by the International Test Commission such as translation, cognitive interview, and test of the pre-final Indonesian version which involved 322 adolescents aged 13-15 years who lived in Indonesia. Reliability test using Cronbach's Alpha and CFA, which was used to measure the construct validity, showed that the nine items in adapted The Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale – Short Form (CAPS – SF) could be used to measure the perfectionism of Indonesian adolescents.
Confirmation of Tylototritonziegleri Nishikawa, Matsui & Nguyen, 2013 in China, with discussion on the relationship between T.verrucosus Anderson, 1871 and T.panwaensis Grismer, Wood, Quah, Thura, Espinoza & Murdoch, 2019 (Caudata, Salamandridae)

Abstract Background The distribution of the Ziegler’s Crocodile Newt Tylototritonziegleri Nishikawa, Matsui & Nguyen, 2013 in China has been controversial. This species was originally recorded uncertainly from Guangxi Autonomous Region, China. Subsequently, this species was recorded from Yunnan and Guangdong provinces, China. Thereafter, the record from Guangdong was denied and the record from Yunnan was questioned. New information Two specimens of Tylototriton Anderson, 1871 were collected from Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, in 2020. Phylogenetically, the sequences of these two specimens clustered with the sequences of T.ziegleri (including the holotype) from its type locality with strong support, and morphologically agree well with the original description of T.ziegleri. We confirm the record of T.ziegleri in China and present detailed collection site and morphological description of the specimens from China. In addition, we found that T.panwaensis Grismer, Wood, Quah, Thura, Espinoza & Murdoch, 2019 may be the synonym of T.verrucosus Anderson, 1871. We discussed the relationship between T.verrucosus and T.panwaensis.
Integrated dye lasers for all-polymer photonic Lab-on-a-Chip systems

Basierend auf integrierten Farbstofflasern wurden zwei optische Lab-on-a-Chip Systeme entwickelt. Zur effizienten Anregung von Fluoreszenzmarkern wurden optofluidische Farbstofflaser mit verteilter Ruckkopplung (DFB Laser) untersucht. Fur die markerfreie Molekuldetektion wurden Mikrokelchlaser entwickelt, die auf Flustergaleriemoden basieren. Besonderes Augenmerk lag auf einer moglichen Grosserienfertigung der Chips als kostengunstige Einwegartikel und auf einer einfachen Handhabung.
An application of peer performance-based earthquake engineering methodology

Performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) methodology is a focus of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center. The final output of the PBEE method is a probabilistic quantitative description of the seismic performance of a structure using metrics that are of immediate use to engineers and other stakeholders. This research digest illustrates the concept of PBEE through a simplified example, where a prototype building near the University of California, Berkeley campus is designed and modeled. Suites of ground motions that represent the hazard are used in a series of nonlinear dynamic analyses to determine peak building responses. Major structural and nonstructural components are identified and separated into different performance groups (PGs). Depending on the building response, different damage states and the corresponding repair costs for all PGs are identified. Simple statistical simulation procedures are used to efficiently generate large numbers of cost realizations, making it possible to describe probabilities of repair costs exceeding threshold values.
Technological diversity and inventor networks

This article examines the relationship between the structure of intra-firm inventor networks and the technological diversity of firms. We test this relationship for a panel of 222 firms in the ICT sector for the period 1995–2003, by utilizing data on their granted patents. The results reveal that the relation between the strength of ties between inventors in R&D teams and the firms’ technological diversity is curvilinear. In other words, while strong ties between inventors can promote diversity, there is a limit to this positive effect. After this limit, strong ties can inhibit diversity, possibly by limiting the capabilities of network members to process novelty. In addition, we find that the impact of the scale-free metric on technological diversity is negative.
Acetone Vapor Sensors Based on Tin Dioxide Doped by Au Nanoparticles

The effect of nano-sized gold particles on the adsorption-sensitive properties of SnO2–Au sensors under the detection of acetone vapors has been studied. Different techniques for the preparation of SnO2–Au nanocomposites with an average Au particle size of 2 nm were applied. It has been found that a fivefold increase in the sensor response to acetone vapors and threshold sensitivity (Clim) of 0.1 ppm are achieved by adding gold to tin dioxide in the colloidal form during synthesis. While adding gold in ion form (Au (III)) leads to a growth of the sensor response to acetone vapors by 2.7 times and defines Clim of 0.2 ppm. The slope of the calibration curves of the SnO2–Au sensors allows registering acetone vapors at concentrations ranging from Clim to 5 ppm. This concentration range can be used for the express diagnostics in diabetes. The enhanced sensitivity of SnO2–Au sensors to acetone vapors can be explained by an increase in the adsorption-catalytic activity of tin ions as a result of the modifying effect of sulfate groups and the envolving of highly dispersed gold in the adsorption – catalytic process of oxidation of acetone molecules.
Hydrothermal synthesis of novel heterostructured Ag/TiO2/CuFe2O4 nanocomposite: Characterization, enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye, and efficient antibacterial studies

In this work, we reported the successful synthesis of novel Ag/TiO2/CuFe2O4 ternary nanocomposite by hydrothermal technique by using TiO2/CuFe2O4 binary nanocomposite precursor that was also prepared by hydrothermal treatment by using TiO2 nanoparticles and CuFe2O4 nanoparticles synthesized via sol–gel method. The synthesized nanomaterials were accessed for their morphological, structural, and optical properties. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) study reveals the formation of pure Ag/TiO2/CuFe2O4 ternary nanocomposite in which the Ag, TiO2, and CuFe2O4 are in anatase, spinal, and cubic crystal phases, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high‐resolution TEM (HRTEM) analyses of Ag/TiO2/CuFe2O4 ternary nanocomposite indicated granule‐shaped morphology with bright spots of silver. The existence of Ti, O, Cu, Fe, and Ag without any other elements in the energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS) spectra of the prepared ternary nanocomposite depict its purity and its polycrystalline nature was confirmed by its selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern. The ternary nanocomposite was utilized for the methylene blue dye degradation with an optimum dose of 1.00 g/100 ml under ultraviolet (UV) light; the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the composite is attributed mainly due to the appreciable magnitudinal difference of positive charge of the valence band and negative charge of the conduction band of TiO2 and CuFe2O4; meanwhile, the interfacially placed Ag acts as a sink for the elections. Also, the ternary nanocomposite showed satisfactory antibacterial activities.
Theoretical reassessment of the first Stefan diffusion column experiment with a two-component liquid phase, consisting of a high-density volatile solvent and a low-density nonvolatile diluent

Abstract The Stefan column was designed in the 19th century to allow the experimental estimation of binary gas diffusion coefficients starting with a pure volatile liquid A placed at the bottom overlaid with a stagnant/inert gas B. A sweeping B stream was provided at the top to remove the diffused gas A. In 1959, Richardson first studied a two-component liquid mixture in the Stefan column. One of his systems, a high-density volatile liquid A (carbon tetrachloride) dissolved in a low-density nonvolatile liquid O (dibutyl phthalate), is of interest to our ongoing research efforts. He collected interfacial descent-time data in his single isothermal Stefan column experiment, and analyzed them with a diffusion transport model, which contained unnecessary assumptions and simplifications, to obtain the binary liquid diffusivity of A in O, D AO. The present study removes the major restrictions of the previous model, reanalyzing the reported data with an improved numerical diffusion model that includes realistic features of the one-dimensional transport problem and statistical information on the estimated D AO. The average ± standard deviation of D AO were 8.82E-10 ± 1.85E-15 m2/s (12 data points), with an error of −13.3% relative to the Richardson value. The new model also provides detailed insight on the diffusive transport dynamics of liquid A by predicting interfacial descent rates, instantaneous concentration profiles in the liquid phase, and the time-dependent fraction of the mass of A lost from the original solution. The model is valuable to chemical engineering researchers studying diffusion–evaporation phenomena and multicomponent distillation processes.
Research on influencing factors of fatigue performance of cruciform welded joints on offshore platforms

In this study, the fatigue life of load-carrying cruciform welded joints under various plate thicknesses and degrees of penetration was performed. The fatigue assessment results showed a significant “thickness effect. ” The fatigue limit of the 25 mm-thick sample was 13.4% lower than that of the 16 mm-thick fatigue sample. Essentially, the fatigue life of the weld toe does not change with the degree of penetration. Plate thickness is the key factor affecting the fatigue life. The thickness effect is determined by both the stress gradient along the plate thickness and the degree of surface stress concentration. The correction result based on the effective notch stress approach is more accurate than the thickness correction formula in the ABS standard, which underestimates the thickness effect of load-carrying cruciform welded joints and may lead to danger. The penetration ratio a/t affects the fatigue failure position of load-carrying cruciform welded joints. The fatigue design of load-carrying cruciform welded joints can be performed by appropriately increasing the degree of penetration while achieving the damage at the weld toe.