Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human Factors Engineering as a supportive tool for Lean Product Development

Lean Product Development (LPD) is a systematic approach used by enterprises to create streamlined processes and value-added activities. One of the main building blocks in LPD is to define and identify customer value and then deliver that value to the customer. Despite that, we have perceived a number of weaknesses in how LPD works with customer needs and requirements. Especially with respect to how best actively and continuously involve the customers/users in the development process. The area of Human Factors Engineering (HFE) concerns ways of designing with regards to human characteristics, capacities and limitations. In the work it is central to elicit user needs and mediate them into the product development processes, as well as letting the user actively be involved in the process. Therefore, in this paper we argue that HFE can make substantial contribution to the area of LPD.
Heat Explosion In Porous Media Using Radial Basis Functions

The paper is devoted to the numerical investigation of the interaction between natural convection and heat explosion in a fluid-saturated porous media in a rectangular domain. The model consists of Darcy equations for an incompressible fluid in a porous medium coupled with the nonlinear heat equation. Numerical simulations are performed using the radial basis functions method (RBFs). We study the bifurcation of the periodic oscillation of the response born by Hopf bifurcation. First, a symmetry-breaking bifurcations observed; then is followed by successive period-doubling bifurcations leading to chaos.
Verification of the bursting and spalling formulas in the FIB model code by finite element analyses of anchorage zones of pretensioned girders

In order to predict the stress and possible crack distribution in the anchorage zones of pretensioned girders several models have been developed as can be found in the fib Model Code, the ASHTOO code or Eurocode 2. In this paper, the bursting and spalling formulas from the fib Model Code are evaluated by finite element calculations since some issues could be raised when applying the proposed formulas for industrial applications, especially for beams of limited dimensions. The effect of the upper strands, the assumed stress distribution at the opposite side of the equivalent symmetric prism, the stress transfer diagram along the strands and the effects of the strand position relative to the simplified resultant forces remain unclear. Accordingly two-dimensional finite element models were developed to gain insight into the bursting and spalling formulations from the fib Model Code. The numerical models render stresses and the stress flow results, which allow a more clear coupling to well-known strut-and-tie models. The results indicate that for various strand configurations, especially for small beams, the fib formulations may be too conservative.
A Collaborative Filtering Recommendation Algorithm with Improved Similarity Calculation

Abstract In order to improve the accuracy of the proposed algorithm in collaborative filtering recommendation system, an Improved Pearson collaborative filtering (IP-CF) algorithm is proposed in this paper. The algorithm uses the user portrait, item characteristics and data of user behavior to compute the baseline predictors model. Instead of the traditional algorithm’s similarity calculation, the prediction model is used to improve the accuracy of the recommendation algorithm. Experimental results on Moivelens dataset show that the IP-CF algorithm significantly improves the accuracy of the recommended results, and the RMSE and MAE evaluation results are better than the traditional algorithms.
Information, Accounting, and the Regulation of Concessioned Infrastructure Monopolies

Economists often characterize the regulation of monopolies as a"game"(between the regulator and the service provider) in which the two players do not share the same information. The regulator is assumed to have poorer information than the service provider about the scope of future efficiency gains and the size and timing of future investment plans. Over time, the regulator must increase its information base so that regulatory targets become more realistic - but this is a costly process. The authors examine the ways such information can and should be generated, especially through the accounting requirements a regulator can impose on private operators of infrastructure concessions. (They view concessioning and regulation as complementary, not substitute, activities.) Concessionaires should provide regulators with the information they need to: 1) Compare outcomes with expectations. 2) Evaluate the cost of adverse shocks that may warrant relaxed regulations. 3) Evaluate whether lower costs than expected are the result of better performance or diminished output. 4) Properly evaluate the asset base and charge for the consumption of capital. Information that regulators get from private operators of infrastructure monopolies should be used to make both regulators and concessionaires accountable. In Chile, for example, the privatization of monopolies led to significant efficiency gains, but it took a long time for these gains to be passed on to users because neither the firms nor the regulators were held accountable - until Congress expressed reluctance to endorse further privatization because earlier waves of privatization had not benefited consumers. In other words, information should be used to make regulatory decisions more transparent and to reduce the risk of the private providers"capturing"the regulators.
Grazing and Burning Japanese Brome (Bromus Japonicus) on Mixed Grass Rangelands

Abstract Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus Thunb. ex Murr.) is an introduced, annual cool-season grass adapted to the central and northern Great Plains. Japanese brome has negatively impacted perennial grasses and decreased seasonal animal gains. Prescribed spring burning and defoliation have been effective in reducing brome density or cover, but little information directly compares the two common strategies. The objectives of this study were to 1) compare annual spring burning and grazing to reduce Japanese brome populations; and 2) evaluate trends of vegetative composition and biomass in burned, grazed, and unburned rangelands infested with Japanese brome. Paddocks with Japanese brome were assigned to one of four treatments: 1) annual prescribed spring burning, 2) spring grazing, 3) a combination of annual spring burning and grazing, and 4) an idle control. Treatments were applied annually from 2000 to 2004. Japanese brome density was greatest in the idle control in all years, even when low winter and spring precipitation limited Japanese brome recruitment. Late spring Japanese brome density was similar in all treatments with grazing or burning in four of the five seasons. Spring burning resulted in less than 65% litter cover the last 3 years, whereas the idle control and spring grazing had over 80% litter cover the last 4 years. Western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii [Rydb.] A. Löve) decreased with spring grazing in burned and unburned paddocks. Buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides [Nutt] J. T. Columbus) composition decreased in the idle control treatment. Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis [Willd. ex Kunth] Lag. ex Griffiths) and sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula [Michx.] Torr.) composition varied by year. Even though annual burning and spring grazing were equally effective in limiting Japanese brome density and biomass compared to the idle control, Japanese brome was still present after 5 years, which indicates the difficulty of eradicating Japanese brome from ecosystems where it has become naturalized.
Hierarchical Feature Extraction Assisted with Visual Saliency for Image Quality Assessment

Image quality assessment (IQA) is desired to evaluate the perceptual quality of an image in a manner consistent with subjective rating. Considering the characteristics of hierarchical visual cortex, a novel full reference IQA method is proposed in this paper. Quality-aware features that human visual system is sensitive to are extracted to describe image quality comprehensively. Concretely, log Gabor filters and local tetra patterns are employed to capture spatial frequency and local texture features, which are attractive to the primary and secondary visual cortex, respectively. Moreover, images are enhanced before feature extraction with the assistance of visual saliency maps since visual attention affects human evaluation of image quality. The similarities between the features extracted from distorted image and corresponding reference images are synthesized and mapped into an objective quality score by support vector regression. Experiments conducted on four public IQA databases show that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods in terms of both accuracy and robustness; that is, it is highly consistent with subjective evaluation and is robust across different databases.
Structure characterization and tribological study of magnetron sputtered nanocomposite nc-TiAlV(N,C)/a-C coatings

Grown by reactive unbalanced magnetron sputtering in a mixed N2 and CH4 gaseous medium, heterogeneous nanocomposite coatings in the Ti–Al–V–N–C system show extraordinarily excellent tribological performance of coated machining tools. Using analytical high-resolution TEM, EELS, FEG-SEM, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy, this paper reports detailed structural and chemical characterization of the coatings grown at various CH4 : N2 ratios. Meanwhile, the mechanical and tribological properties were also measured, including hardness, Young's modulus, residual stress and the dry-sliding friction and wear at varying environmental humidity. When CH4 gas was introduced in the deposition, the structure of the coatings has been found to experience a change from nano-scale TiAlN/VN multilayer architecture to a complex mixture of columnar grains of nc-TiAlV(N,C)/a-C nanocomposites and inter-column network of sp2-type amorphous carbon. Carbon incorporation and segregation also shows remarkable influence on the columnar growth model by leading to finer grain size. As compared to the carbon-free nitride coating, the nanocomposite coatings showed substantially reduced residual stress owing to the free-carbon precipitation, whereas the coatings maintained comparable hardness to the carbon-free TiAlN/VN. Their tribological properties were found to be strongly dependent on the environment. In humid air at RH > 30%, the coatings showed low friction coefficient less than 0.4 and extremely low wear rate at a scale of ∼10−17 m3N−1 m−1.
Cache Prediction for XIV

Enterprise block storage systems have been experiencing a revolution with the introduction of solid-state-disks, and the demise of high RPM disks. The IBM XIV storage system in particular has embraced this concept with the introduction of large capacity SSD based caches. Customers can purchase the additional cache, for a price. The natural customer question is therefore, “will SSD caching improve the performance of my workload? ”. To try to answer this question, and others like it, XIV has incorporated block-tracing into its platform, with complementary analysis and prediction tools. We have constructed an efficient cache prediction tool, that works for a modern controller two level cache: RAM over SSD. It scales to terabytes of cache, and massive multi day traces. Given a customer workload, it can quickly figure out if the addition of SSD cache is likely to improve cache hit rates.
GENETIC DIVERSITY AND POPULATION STRUCTURE OF MANDAR BESAR ( Porphyrio porphyrio ) iNHABITING JAVA WETLANDS

Despite the occurrence of a massive agricultural landscape change in Java, very few reliable studies evaluate its genetic consequence for impacted wildlife species. This study reported the genetic diversity of the Mandar besar (Porphyrio porphyrio) in the modified landscape of Java as a backdrop for such an evaluation. Aim of this study was to estimate genetic diversity and genetic structure of the species. I collected eighty-eight blood samples from five a-priory populations (Demak, Jombor, Kendal, Pagak, and Nawan) and genotyped them at ten selected microsatellite loci to estimate allelic richness (R) and expected heterozygosity (He), fixation index (FST) and genetic clusters (K). DNA was isolated using a commercial kit (Invitrogen) and amplified using touch-down polymerase-chain-reaction technique. Allele length was estimated using an automatic sequencer. Pre-analysis showed that all selected loci have null alleles frequency less than 0.2, successful amplification rate more than 80%, no significant linkage between loci and no deviation from HWE. Further analysis employing GDA and FSTAT showed that Demak population has richest genetic diversity in term of R, meanwhile Jombor was the poorest population. Analysis of population structure employing FSTAT and STRUCTURE showed that the population was likely structured into four subpopulations, as showed by FST (0.085; P<0.05) and K=4 (ln probability -1725.2+3.92). This study might reveal that genetic diversity and population structure of Mandar besar in Java were still in common level as compared to other aquatic bird species. Keywords :Swamphen, bird, richness, genetic, wetlands
Development and Validation of RP-HPLC Method for Quantitative Analysis of Simvastatin in Pure and Pharmaceutical Formulations

A simple, specific, accurate and precise reverse phase liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the determination of Simvastatin in pure and pharmaceutical formulations. A phenomenex C-18, 5 μm column having 250 mm x 4.6 mm internal diameter, isocratic mode with mobile phase containing ethanol: Acetonitrile: Water (30 : 30 : 40 v/v) was used. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min. and effluents were monitored at 271 nm. The retention time of simvastatin was 2.05 min. The method was validated for parameters as per ICH guidelines. Due to its simplicity and accuracy, the method can be used for routine quality control of Simvastatin in bulk and pharmaceutical formulations.
The Measurement of Intrapuff Nicotine Yield

Abstract Time-resolved measurements of intrapuff nicotine yield in mainstream smoke have been performed with a specially designed intrapuff smoking apparatus (IPSA). The IPSA-filter traversing mechanism collects mainstream particles on a rectangular filter pad which moves at a constant velocity perpendicular to the direction of smoke flow at the mouthend of the cigarette. Filter pads were assayed by two analytical techniques. Standard gas chromatographic (GC) methodology was used to quantify nicotine mass in five equal time segments per puff. A second method, using a Berthold TLC-Linear Analyser, measured total radioactivity across the pad for samples from [2'-14C]-nicotine labelled cigarettes. Intrapuff nicotine concentrations were determined from measured puff flow-rate profiles and the collected masses of nicotine on the filters. GC nicotine concentration measurements correlated well with total activity from the scanner measurements. Studies carried out with filtered full-flavour cigarettes revealed that nicotine concentrations in the smoke vary significantly during a puff. This work provides a new technique for studying time-resolved yields of mainstream smoke components. It may potentially be used to elucidate mechanisms controlling the yield of nicotine and other mainstream smoke components.
Study and comparison of CMOS layouts for applications in analog circuits

This study presents different layouts techniques (serpentine, concentric, interdigitated) applied to a differential amplifier designed in commercial technology CMOS (0.6 μm). It was observed that serpentine technique improves by 6 to 7 electrical parameters, where area was reduced (64%) and power consumption diminishes until a 57% with respect to conventional technique. Thus designer can optimally use different abstraction levels during integrated circuits (IC) design, by applying the best layout technique towards efficient systems.
New near-infrared observations and lens-model constraints for UM673

Aims. We performed a detailed photometric analysis of the lensed system UM673 (Q0142-100) and an analysis of the tentative lens models. Methods. High-resolution adaptive optics images of UM673 taken with the Subaru telescope in the H band were examined. We also analysed the J, H and K-band observational data of UM673 obtained with the 1.3m telescope at the CTIO observatory. Results. We present photometry of quasar components A and B of UM673, the lens, and the nearby bright galaxy using H-band observational data obtained with the Subaru telescope. Based on the CTIO observations of UM673, we also present J- and H-band photometry and estimates of the J, H and K-band flux ratios bet ween the two UM673 components in recent epochs. The near-infrared fluxes of the A and B components of UM673 and their published optical fluxes are analysed to measure extinction properties o f the lensing galaxy. We estimate the extinction-corrected flux r atio between components A and B to be about 2.14 mag. We discuss lens models for the UM673 system constrained with the positions of the UM673 components, their flux ratio, and the previously m easured time delay.
Star-forming compact groups (SFCGs): an ultraviolet search for a local sample

We present a local sample (z<0.15) of 280 Star-Forming Compact Groups (SFCGs) of galaxies identified in the ultraviolet Galaxy Evolution EXplorer (GALEX) All-sky Imaging Survey (AIS). So far, just one prototypical example of SFCG, the Blue Infalling Group, has been studied in detail in the Local Universe. The sample of SFCGs is mainly the result of applying a Friends-of-Friends group finder in the space of celestial coordinates with a maximum linking-length of 1.5 arcmin and choosing groups with a minimum number of four members of bright UV-emitting 17<FUV<20.5 sources (mostly galaxies) from the GALEX/AIS catalogue. The result from the search are 280 galaxy groups composed by 226, 39, 11 and 4 groups of four, five, six and seven bright ultraviolet (UV) members, respectively. Only 59 of these 280 newly identified SFCGs have a previous catalogued group counterpart. Group redshifts are available for at least one member in 75% of the SFCGs, and over 40% of the SFCGs have redshifts measured for two or more galaxies. Twenty-six of the SFCGs appear to be located in the infalling regions of clusters with known redshift. The SFCG sample presents a combination of properties different from the group samples studied up to now, such as low velocity dispersions of $\sigma_{\rm{}l-o-s}$$\sim$120 km/s, small crossing-times ($H_{0}$$t_{c}$$\sim$0.05) and high star-formation content (95% of star-forming galaxies). This points to the SFCGs being in an evolutionary stage distinct from those groups selected in the optical and near-infrared ranges (see Fig. 6).
A Parametric Study of Optimal Number and Location of Radiant Heaters in Enclosures with Participating Media

An inverse solution technique is applied to the design of radiant enclosures when design variables are discrete and radiation is the dominant mode of heat transfer.The enclosure contains an absorbing, emitting and linear anisotropic scattering medium in radiative equilibrium. The discrete ordinate method is employed to solve the radiative transfer equation. The goal of the design problem is to find the best number and location of discrete equally power heaters which produce the desired (specified) temperature and heat flux profile over the design surface of enclosures. The inverse problem is formulated as an optimization problem and is solved using a micro-genetic algorithm. Results show that the micro genetic algorithm is able to find the optimal solution by just searching a few percent of feasible solutions.The ability of this methodology is demonstrated by finding the optimal number and location of heaters in an irregular enclosure.Then, the effect of some thermophysical properties, such as extinction coefficient, scattering albedo, scattering phase function, and design surface emissivity, on the optimal solution is considered.
HEAVY METALS IN NEUSTON FROM THE STRAITS OF MALACCA

Heavy metals cadmium, lead, copper and zinc in neuston were analyzed from samples collected with a modified neuston net (310 μm mesh size) during an oceanographic cruise from July 29 to August 8, 2000 in the Straits of Malacca. The period of sampling coincided with South-West (SW) monsoon. The heavy metal concentrations in neuston were relatively low: ranging from 1.19-1013.70 μg g -1 wet weight for copper, 16.54-235.78 μg g -1 wet weight for zinc, 3.92-36.08 μg g -1 wet weight for lead and from 0.32-4.09 μg g -1 wet weight for cadmium. The heavy metal concentrations in neuston in this study were within the ranges published elsewhere, except for cadmium, there were significant differences (p 0.05). The presence of two groups of stations with high and low heavy metal concentration as revealed by multivariate analyses corresponded mostly to near-coastal and neritic waters, respectively.
Heat Transfer Enhancement of the Air-Cooling Tower with Rotating Wind Deflectors under Crosswind Conditions

To investigate the effect of wind deflectors on air flow and heat transfer performance of an air-cooling tower under crosswind conditions, an experimental system based on a surface condenser aluminum exchanger-type indirect air-cooling tower is established at a 1:100 proportional reduction. A 3-D computational fluid dynamics simulation model is built to study the air flow and temperature fields. The air flow rate into the cooling tower and the heat transfer rate of the radiators are used to evaluate cooling performance. Rotating wind deflectors are adopted to reduce the influence of crosswind on the cooling tower performance. The effects of the rotating wind deflectors on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the air-cooling tower under different environmental crosswind speeds are studied. Results indicate that the wind direction in the tower reverses as the rotating speed of the wind deflectors increases. The thermal performance of an air-cooling tower under crosswind conditions can be improved by using rotating wind deflectors. The heat transfer rate of a cooling tower with eight wind deflectors begins to increase when the rotating speed exceeds 2 r/min.
Science story telling in TV documentaries

Les tres lletres que formen la paraula ADN han experimentat un canvi en el seu significat en els darrers seixanta anys, no nomes en biologia, sino en la vida quotidiana. Aquest article analitza un conjunt de diferents estrategies per explicar histories sobre ciencies de la vida a la televisio. Aquestes poden ser entretingudes, introduir conflictes, plantejar enigmes, abordar grans questions, o mostrar linies temporals inusuals; pero totes segueixen una narrativa robusta. A partir de clips de pel·licules que he dirigit o produit, il·lustro una varietat de tecniques (visuals i estructurals) per explicar histories a la televisio. Trobar la narrativa adequada es clau en la majoria de documentals, i encara mes en aquells que tracten sobre ciencia, ja que els temes cientifics poden esdevenir arids i mancats de lligams emocionals. Les histories sobre ciencia apassionants no son escasses. El repte es trobar-les i trobar tambe formes interessants de donar-hi vida.