Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new method of temporal phase shifting using principle of stroboscopy for characterizing microstructures

Temporal Phase Shifting Interferometry is the most common method for characterization of surface, profile and displacement properties of micro devices. Common methods of phase shifting require PZT based devices that have inherent errors due to non-linearity. To avoid these errors during phase shifting, a new phase shifting technique is presented in this work. A detailed analysis of the temporal phase shifting technique was performed and an optimized methodology for phase shifting was also established. This technique utilizes the advantage of stroboscopic interferometry to create phase shifted images without requiring any component for phase shifting. The feasibility of the proposed method of phase shifting was demonstrated using the developed Acoustic-Optic Modulated Stroboscopic Interferometer (AOMSI) on simple 1D and 2D micro structures designed specifically for this purpose. The proposed method was used for surface profiling and static characterization of the microstructures. Experiments were performed on microcantilevers in order to extract the curvature of the device due to residual stress on it. The same device was tested under a commercial surface profiler with 1A resolution and the results were found to be in good agreement with the results from the proposed technique. Static characterization was performed to identify the tip deflection and profile variation of the microcantilever in response to various DC voltages. A capacitor-based cantilever was tested under varied electrostatic loads and the deflection of the cantilever was extracted using the proposed method. The deflection of the cantilever was predicted using a theoretical model based on energy method. Static characterization results from the proposed technique were found to be in good agreement with the predicted results. To extend the applicability of this technique without affecting the spatial resolution for micro devices larger than the field of view of the interferometer, stitching method was proposed and three different stitching configurations were also presented. The same device was tested in full-field of view under the commercial profiler. Good agreement between the result of presented stitching methods and commercial profiler demonstrates the reliability of the presented methods for stitching large structures.
Why and How Using HPC in University Teaching? A Case Study at PoliTo

After an era of "personal-computers-only", supercomputing facilities and services are coming back to Universities to support research activities and computationally intensive simulations, but with some important differences with respect to the past. Besides the technological issues, while in the seventies-eighties the scene was dominated by mainframes, managed by skilled system managers and most of times used by operators with good computer expertise, today, the widespread and pervasive use of computers has lead to a completely different scenario. The demand for computation resources is emerging from a wide variety of areas and disciplines and mostly by users with basic expertise in computers, who however most of times request to have full control of the computation resources. Within this picture and especially at University level, High Performance Computing (HPC) has emerged as a good tradeoff to meet the different demands, and at the same offering good services at reasonable setup and maintenance costs. Traditionally, HPC has been and is being mostly used in support to applied research, but more recently some questions have emerged: - How much is it reasonable to offer HPC also to some teaching activities? What are the problems, advantages, and drawbacks? Is this the "right" way or should HPC resources be directed to research only? At Politecnico di Torino we tried to respond to these questions and started a test project called HPC-4-teaching. In this paper we present the results achieved by this project on a small set of courses during one full academic year
Multi-Agent Coordination and Optimisation in the RoboCup Rescue Project

The RoboCup Rescue (RCR) simulation project is an open resource for research in the area of multi-agent systems. The domain is based on a scenario with a city undergoing certain catastrophes. The goal is to coordinate and control the emergency services in the city to minimize damage and injuries resulting from the disasters. The emergency services are represented by police, fire and ambulance software agents. The domain incorporates general command and control issues and concepts. In this paper we propose a decentralised multi-agent architecture which is applied to the RCR simulation. The architecture is designed to coordinate the emergency services in the simulation. The multi-agent architecture is implemented via a communication protocol, and is based on the Contract Net Protocol (CNP), which operates similarly to a first-price sealed-bid auction system. Multi-agent interaction can occur in a many-to-many setting; with many customer agents interacting with many supplier agents at the same time, with the goal of allocating tasks to the best suited agent. Agent decision making was managed using an agent control loop, shown in Figure 1, which was designed to control and synchronize each agents’ actions. Optimal path planning within the RCR city is done using a modified A* search algorithm, called Online A*, which finds an optimal path in a network with changing path costs. Optimisation techniques were also used to improve the agents’ performances in the scenario by prioritising the tasks to be completed, assigning an efficient number of agents to perform each task, and to determine which specific agents should complete each task. Experiments were conducted to validate the approach taken. The experimental results suggest that the decentralised agent architecture may be promising, but future research is required.
Supporting Collaborative Teams in Engineering Education

Problem-based learning techniques involving small collaborative teams of students are widely regarded as being effective in teaching engineering design courses. However, the heavy requirements upon the teaching staff to support and coordinate such teams typically limit these courses to small numbers of students. In this paper, we describe the design of a computer-based tool for supporting small collaborative teams with the ultimate goal of scaling these engineering design courses to larger numbers of students. The system, deployed on laptops with wireless networking, utilizes student self-evaluations and instrumented project management tools to provide feedback of individual and team performance to the students and teaching staff. We present an example of the usage and data collected from this system during a pilot test in an undergraduate computer science design course. Based on that experience, we discuss future plans to refine the system for early detection of problem teams and to instrument asynchronous and instant messaging tools to support social network analysis of team communication.
Innovated Malay Traditional Food Products: Do Consumers Accept the Authentic Quality?

Innovation in Malay traditional food is somehow inevitable for the society in this modern era with their hectic lifestyle and limited time to prepare food from scratch. However, the implementation of innovation in traditional food is highly challenging as traditional and innovation are two elements that are considered contradict as the innovation may possibly ruin the authenticity and traditional characteristics of the foods. Therefore, this study investigated the perceived authenticity quality of innovated traditional Malay food products among Malaysian consumers will lead to better understanding. This study employed quantitative research design. The information needed for this study was obtained through self-administered questionnaire with 215 Malaysian consumers who have consume innovated Malaysian traditional food products with the age range from 18 till 60 years old. This study confirmed that majority of the consumers were positive towards innovations in traditional Malay food products particularly pertaining to sensory quality properties and ingredients content and revealed that perceived authenticity quality had a relatively strong influence on consumer acceptance. Therefore, it is crucial for the food manufacturer to not only strategically develop their innovation plan of action to better organize the scope of innovation categorization, but also be able to understand the importance of preserving the authenticity of the traditional foods character simultaneously.
Digital signal processing : theory and practice

The discrete sinusoid time-domain analysis of discrete systems the discrete Fourier transform properties of the DFT the z-transform frequency-domain analysis of discrete systems digital filters - characterization and realization FIR filters IIR filters aliasing and other effects the continuous-time Fourier transform fundamentals of the PM DFT algorithms the u X 1 PM DFT algorithms DFT algorithms for real data.
A Note on Viable Proposals

An important problem faced by colleges and universities, that of evaluating the effect of their financial aid offers on student enrollment decisions, is complicated by the likely endogeneity of the aid offer variable in a student enrollment equation. This article shows how discontinuities in an East Coast college's aid assignment rule can be exploited to obtain credible estimates of the aid effect without having to rely on arbitrary exclusion restrictions and functional form assumptions. Semiparametric estimates based on a regression-discontinuity (RD) approach affirm the importance of financial aid as an effective instrument in competing with other colleges for students. Copyright 2002 by the Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association
VOD-CA - Assisting Human Flight Performance and Situation Awareness in Lateral Deconflicting

Velocity-obstacle based collision avoidance displays can provide the pilot with information about potential conflicts and assist manual avoidance maneuvers. Lateral deconflicting assistance is a significant field in aviation research since it complements vertical conflict resolution provided by available collision avoidance systems (ACAS/TCAS). Avoiding conflicts in the horizontal plane increases the number of options for a more efficient deconfliction. VOD-CA (Velocity-Obstacle based Display for Collision Avoidance) is a display implementation developed by DLR to enhance pilot awareness of potential conflicts in velocity space and provide necessary information to derive lateral conflict resolving maneuvers (Peinecke et al., 2013). It represents conflict geometries in a track-up velocity space, centered on own-ship speed and heading. In a first explorative study participants with flight simulation experience flew several scenarios using VOD-CA to avoid conflicts while their situation awareness was assessed. The results indicate adequate situation awareness. Participants could stay sufficiently separated from other aircraft by choosing safe headings and speeds. It is discussed that some aspects of the display could be misinterpreted when confused with spatial hints. Nevertheless essential information could be derived to stay clear of potential conflicts.
When (not) to Use Derivational Analogy: Lessons Learned Using APU

We present an experience report in applying derivational analogy to speed up the performance of a prototype system called APU that synthesizes UNIX shell scripts from a problem specification. We present experimental results showing how the system performed, the quality of solutions obtained by using analogy, and how the system scaled up with size of case libraries. We discuss the implications of the results and describe properties of the knowledge representation and the domain that contributed to APU’s performance.
Developing a stochastic model for partial discharge detection in voids of polymeric cable insulation

The detection of Partial Discharge (PD) is a useful tool in the maintenance and operation of electrical high voltage power cables. It has attracted many research and development efforts within the past one and a half decade. However, questions regarding the analysis and interpretation of PD data are still unanswered. In this research, an attempt is made to develop a simulation programme that can be used for developing a better understanding of the nature of PD phenomena based on its stochastic nature. It is done in consideration to the statistical properties of measured PD data from previous research, as well as the use of trial and error to obtain some parameters. Simulation was done in an effort to reconstruct the electrical field model of voids in polymeric cables using MATLAB M-files and statistical data from Phase Resolve Partial Discharge (PRPD) patterns. Such modeling can work for both electrical and acoustic data and may be used as a basis for comparison of future PD detection outcomes. The results indicates that the model worked well in the reconstruction of the field patterns of voids from given time and statistical data using the computer programme developed. Though the time was limited, the result seems to present new insight regarding the field patterns in the void. Phase and time data were combined in an effort to realize the objectives.
Pilot of a community-based interprofessional “student-infused” pulmonary rehabilitation program in Saint John, New Brunswick

Background With the increasing prevalence of chronic pulmonary conditions in New Brunswick and Canada it is necessary to consider innovative interventions to improve access to rehabilitation and supportive care for affected clients. In Fall 2018 we piloted a pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program for persons with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to demonstrate a novel approach of bridging interprofessional education of students in health care fields with provision of care in a community setting. Methods An 8-week PR program was implemented and evaluated using a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-testing to measure the effects of the program’s exercise and educational interventions on persons with COPD. Participants were assessed using the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and a custom questionnaire that rated the participants’ activities of daily living and the PR program. Results Seven participants completed our PR program. Following the intervention, participants’ self-reported health demonstrated a statistically significant improvement. Even though changes on the 6MWT and SGRQ were not shown to be statistically significant, there was evidence of clinically meaningful improvements in those measures. On average, participants walked 25 m further postintervention and showed clinically meaningful improvements on the SGRQ. Conclusions This pilot project demonstrated that a community-based PR program with active involvement of students from multiple health care programs can have positive outcomes for clients with COPD. It also illustrated how educational programs can provide an innovative means for increasing access to rehabilitation and supportive care for clients in the community.
Modelos Dinâmicos com Dados em Painel: Revisão da Literatura

Since Hsiao [1986]’s work, many surveys have appeared, providing the researcher with the necessary tools for fully enjoying the advantages of panel data in terms of both microeconometric and macroeconometric studies. This survey has this very aim and, in a sense, offers no novel contribution, beyond the fact of bringing together some new developments in estimation and specification testing in a selective manner. The estimation of dynamic models either with fixed effects or random effects in the intercept using LSDV, GLS,MLE, IV and GMM is presented, as well as binary choice models. A short review on specification tests and unit roots testing is also presented.
Influence of Rapid‐Mix Parameters on Flocculation

seismic forces. For design purposes an earthquake of Richter magnitude 8.6 was assumed on the San Andreas fault. The tank has additional freeboard provided to protect it from overtopping from waves generated by seismic activity. The freeboard allowance also gives consideration to possible vertical movement of the Tehachapi tunnel system as a result of earthquake. Ring stiffeners were provided inside the tank at 15-ft vertical inter-
Signal Received Power Mapping in Wireless Communication Networks using Time Series and Geostatistics

— Some theoretical and experimental models have been considered for the prediction of the path loss in mobile communications systems. However, one knows that in real environment, the received signal is subject to variations. The model developed for an urban area cannot give resulted acceptable for different urban areas since that, each model has different parameters in accordance with the considered area. This paper presents the results of propagation channel modeling, based on multivariate time series models using data collected in measurement campaigns and the main characteristics of urbanization in the city of Belem-PA. Transfer function models were used to evaluate effects on the time series of received signal strength (dBm) which was used as the response variable and as explanatory variables of the height of buildings and distances between buildings. As time series models disregard to the possible correlations between neighboring samples, we used a geostatistical model to establish the correctness of this model error. The results obtained with the proposed model showed a good performance
Optimized thrust control of linear induction motors by a compensation approach

This paper describes a solution to the control problems that can be associated with the application of the linear induction motor (LIM) in urban transportation. In order to meet the principle objective of LIM control - the peak thrust tracking - a new compensation technique is presented. The control system has additionally been verified by use of the appropriate finite element field calculations of the LIM and measurements done on the test machine.
Designing Social City Experiences

‘GoGlobal: Seoul Social City Software’ is an interdisciplinary cross-cultural project partnership between the Innovation Design Engineering Masters programme at the Royal College of Art/ Imperial College London, department of Industrial Design of KAIST, The British Council and The Seoul Design Foundation with advice and support from LG, Samsung and KIDP. The essays contained in the first part of the book are a collection of reflections by project partners and supporters that highlight our evolving thoughts, project challenges and outcomes. Our themes include how social design activity can improve city habitability, connection between emerging design ecology for industrial production, social design and recombining design methods as ‘design tackles’. The second part of the book documents the 2012 partnership with the department of Industrial Design at KAIST in Daejeon highlighting students project work and the tutorial feedback notes from each session to show readers to see how students were advised and guided throughout.
Development of a laser scanning system for the inspection of surface defects

The main objective of this project is the development of a low cost laser scanning system for the detection of surface defects The inspection system is based on a laser sensor, power supply unit and an X-Y table All of these components are interfaced with a personal computer The system developed is capable of measuring surface defects within the range of greater than or equal to 1mm For the experiments carried out it was intended to assess the sensors measuring ability under certain headings The two main headings covered were accuracy and repeatability Other important subjects included examining the measuring limits of the system, examining the effect of using materials of different reflection abilities, and the possible cause of errors in the system.
Design Research in Informatics: A Response to Iivari

Juhani Iivari’s rich discussion essay about information systems as a design science serves the goal of triggering a debate about research on information systems (IS). The essay is a reflective piece, and the historic approach to IS research taken by Iivari succeeds in opening up for a discussion about several fundamental dilemmas within the informatics field, such as the tension between research and practice, between technological and social aspects, and between the process and the product of design. This kind of discussion is particularly important for the field of IS, which focuses on making changes, and it is important in relation to the changes that are happening right now with web 2.0, mobile technologies and new ways of combining physical and virtual information spaces. In this commentary I follow up on some of Iivari’s points. The structure of my commentary is as follows: I start with being specific about what I think design in informatics is, before I move on to discuss whether it is a science. Next, I follow up some of Iivari’s main points by discussing them as basic dilemmas in design. I then discuss research on design in informatics.
AMMONIA EMISSIONS FROM U.S. POULTRY HOUSES: PART I – MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND TECHNIQUES

A multi-state, multi-disciplinary research project is currently underway to quantify aerial ammonia (NH3) emissions from selected US poultry houses with different housing and management schemes. A series of publications will result from this study. This paper highlights the system and techniques used by the participating institutions to continuously measure NH3 and carbon dioxide concentrations and determine building ventilation rate. Specifically, a portable monitoring unit (PMU) has been developed and refined for field measurement and acquisition of NH3 level, CO2 level and building static pressure. Ammonia level is measured with electro-chemical sensors that undergo cyclic purging to avoid sensor saturation. Building ventilation rate is directly measured by calibrating the airflow rates of fans in-situ with a Fan Assessment Numeration System (FANS) device and recording of fans runtime, or indirectly calculated using the CO2 balance method based on the latest metabolic rate information for the modern birds (W-36 laying hens). Comparative tests were conducted between the PMU and a chemiluminescence NH3 analyzer in a field emission laboratory (FEL), and there were no significant differences between the two measurement methods (P=0.33).
Is gold open access the only option for nurse researchers?: Questioning the efficacy of this unrestricted publication access approach.

Open access is unrestricted access to academic, theoretical, and research literature that is scholarly and peer-reviewed. Two models of open access exist and have been identified as: 1) gold and 2) green. Gold open access is based on the principal of providing open access throughout all stages of the publication process. Green open access, also called self-archiving, is the second, and most frequently used form of open access publishing. This type of open access involves placing an already published article into a repository that is created by either an institution or an author in order to provide unrestricted access. Self-archiving is a more economic and efficient means of granting open access to scholarly literature. In spite of these advantages, gold open access continues to thrive. This paper questions the need for gold open access publishing, in light of the significant advantages associated with self-archiving.