Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing Resilience to Emergencies: Evaluation of Thermal Indices and Outdoor Comfort Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This research discusses thermal indices and outdoor comfort before and during the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in three counties in Connecticut (41.6032°N, 73.0877°W), United States. The counties are Fairfield, Hartford, and New Haven. Existing research noted that people residing in highly populated urban and low-income areas are disproportionately affected by the pandemic and subject to health, heat, and cold stress-related problems. As a result, the study is motivated to examine outdoor comfort and thermal indices in the counties that account for over 75% of the population in the state. The specific aim of the study is to examine outdoor comfort and thermal indices a year before and during the pandemic to determine if the pandemic significantly affects outdoor occupants and their overall well-being. Due to lesser activities observed during the pandemic than before the pandemic, the research questions include 1) Does the pandemic year provide a more comfortable thermal environment for outdoor occupants than the period before the pandemic? 2) Does the period provide a cleaner environment with no thermal or cold stress to occupants than before the pandemic? The research approaches include the field data recorded in 2019 and 2020. The research also utilized observations and mathematical models. The findings revealed that the mean monthly temperatures varied from −3.2°C to 25.2°C and relative humidity ranged from and 62.6–70.7%. The study revealed cold stress in wintertime, especially in Fairfield. Heat stress is also noted in summertime across the counties. New Haven is more prone to heat stress than other counties because of some factors (such as climate change, lesser land area, higher incidence from solar radiation, etc.). Higher thermal indices are reported in 2020 (during the pandemic) than the indices computed for 2019 (pre-pandemic) which could influence thermal comfort, health, and well-being of people. The indices are strongly influenced by outdoor temperatures and dew-point. A combination of some environmental variables such as temperature and wind speed also have significant effects on the indices. The study recommends that the use of clean energy for running infrastructure systems would help in mitigating the impact of climate change in various locations. The investigation suggests that a thorough evaluation of environmental conditions and interventions should be explored for developing resilience to emergencies in cities and urban areas. The research outcomes provide useful information for designers, planners, stakeholders, policymakers, etc., to develop pathways for achieving resilient zero-carbon cities in various places.
New Methodology for the Optimization of the Management of Wind Farms, Including Energy Storage

Storing energy on wind farms could improve the power generation curve, avoiding the problems associated with abrupt variations and the random nature of wind power. New batteries such as flow batteries or NaS batteries are suitable to be used in storing energy on wind farms in intervals of some hours. A new methodology for the optimization of the management of wind farms, including energy storage, is shown. The objective is to maximize the benefits of selling electricity to the grid within 24 hours. The genetic algorithm technique was used for the optimization.
See, Hear, or Feel – to Speak: A Versatile Multiple-Choice Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy-Brain-Computer Interface Feasible With Visual, Auditory, or Tactile Instructions

Severely motor-disabled patients, such as those suffering from the so-called “locked-in” syndrome, cannot communicate naturally. They may benefit from brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) exploiting brain signals for communication and therewith circumventing the muscular system. One BCI technique that has gained attention recently is functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Typically, fNIRS-based BCIs allow for brain-based communication via voluntarily modulation of brain activity through mental task performance guided by visual or auditory instructions. While the development of fNIRS-BCIs has made great progress, the reliability of fNIRS-BCIs across time and environments has rarely been assessed. In the present fNIRS-BCI study, we tested six healthy participants across three consecutive days using a straightforward four-choice fNIRS-BCI communication paradigm that allows answer encoding based on instructions using various sensory modalities. To encode an answer, participants performed a motor imagery task (mental drawing) in one out of four time periods. Answer encoding was guided by either the visual, auditory, or tactile sensory modality. Two participants were tested outside the laboratory in a cafeteria. Answers were decoded from the time course of the most-informative fNIRS channel-by-chromophore combination. Across the three testing days, we obtained mean single- and multi-trial (joint analysis of four consecutive trials) accuracies of 62.5 and 85.19%, respectively. Obtained multi-trial accuracies were 86.11% for visual, 80.56% for auditory, and 88.89% for tactile sensory encoding. The two participants that used the fNIRS-BCI in a cafeteria obtained the best single- (72.22 and 77.78%) and multi-trial accuracies (100 and 94.44%). Communication was reliable over the three recording sessions with multi-trial accuracies of 86.11% on day 1, 86.11% on day 2, and 83.33% on day 3. To gauge the trade-off between number of optodes and decoding accuracy, averaging across two and three promising fNIRS channels was compared to the one-channel approach. Multi-trial accuracy increased from 85.19% (one-channel approach) to 91.67% (two-/three-channel approach). In sum, the presented fNIRS-BCI yielded robust decoding results using three alternative sensory encoding modalities. Further, fNIRS-BCI communication was stable over the course of three consecutive days, even in a natural (social) environment. Therewith, the developed fNIRS-BCI demonstrated high flexibility, reliability and robustness, crucial requirements for future clinical applicability.
Work-Related Mental Health Under COVID-19 Restrictions: A Mini Literature Review

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions, including national lockdown, social distancing, compulsory quarantine, and organizational measures of remote working, are imposed in many countries and organizations to combat the coronavirus. The various restrictions have caused different impacts on the employees' mental health worldwide. The purpose of this mini-review is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on employees' mental health across the world. We searched articles in Web of Science and Google Scholar, selecting literature focusing on employees' mental health conditions under COVID-19 restrictions. The findings reveal that the psychological impacts of teleworking are associated with employees' various perceptions of its pros and cons. The national lockdown, quarantine, and resuming to work can cause mild to severe mental health issues, whereas the capability to practice social distancing is positively related to employees' mental health. Generally, employees in developed countries have experienced the same negative and positive impacts on mental health, whereas, in developing countries, employees have reported a more negative effect of the restrictions. One explanation is that the unevenly distributed mental health resources and assistances in developed and developing countries.
Design of an Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control Using Supervisory Fuzzy Control for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Z-Axis Gyroscope

This paper presents a novel robust adaptive control strategy for MEMS gyroscope, based on the coupling of the fuzzy logic control with sliding mode control (SMC) approach and adaptive laws. The drawbacks of the conventional SMC include chattering phenomenon and requirement of a priori knowledge of the bounds of uncertainties. In this paper, these problems are suitably attenuated by adopting an adaptive fuzzy sliding mode control (AFSMC) approach which uses two additional fuzzy self-tuning controllers as supervisory fuzzy systems to adaptively tune the output control gain, sliding gain of the AFSMC in order to speed up the convergence rates of the tracking errors and parameter estimations with a desired level of attenuation. Control system stability is proved by Lyapunov method. Numerical simulations using the MEMS gyroscope model with uncertainties demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in high speed trajectory tracking problems and robustness in estimating the gyroscope parameters and the angular velocity. Numerical simulations show that the chattering is effectively attenuated by this method. Convergence rate of tracking errors and the gyroscope parameters is better than convergence rates in the literature.
Multi-objective design optimisation using multiple adaptive spatially distributed surrogates

This paper introduces an evolutionary algorithm with Multiple Adaptive Spatially Distributed Surrogates (MASDS) for multi-objective optimisation. The core optimisation algorithm is a canonical evolutionary algorithm. The solutions are evaluated using the actual analysis periodically every few generations and evaluated using surrogate models in between. An external archive of the unique solutions evaluated using actual analysis is maintained to train the surrogate models. The solutions in the archive are split into multiple partitions using k-means clustering. A surrogate model based on the Radial Basis Function (RBF) network is built for each partition and its prediction accuracy is computed using a validation set. A surrogate model for a partition is only considered valid if its prediction error is below a user-defined threshold. The performance of a new candidate solution is predicted using a valid surrogate model with the least prediction error in the neighbourhood of that point. The results of six multi-objective test problems are presented in this study, along with a welded beam design optimisation problem. A detailed comparison of the results obtained using Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), the Single Surrogate (SS) model, the Multiple Spatially Distributed Surrogate (MSDS) model and finally, the MASDS model, is presented to highlight the benefits offered by the approach.
Age-Related Differences in Cardiac Autonomic Control at Resting State and in Response to Mental Stress

Our goal was to investigate age-related differences in cardiac autonomic control by means of heart rate variability (HRV). For this purpose, 30 healthy older and 34 younger adults were studied during three different conditions: (i) during resting state, (ii) during the execution of two cognitive tasks, and (iii) during the subsequent recovery phase. Mean heart rate and HRV parameters were higher in younger compared to older participants during all three conditions. While the mean heart rate was higher in older adults during the cognitive tasks compared to the resting state, it did not change in younger adults. In contrast, the change in HRV during the three conditions did not differ between age groups. Our results suggest decreased parasympathetic activity reflecting declined cardiac autonomic control with aging. In conclusion, HRV analysis could support the assessment of normal age-related alterations in cardiac autonomic control at resting state and in response to cognitive demands.
Fully integrated frequency synthesizer design for wireless network application with digital programmability

A 2.60‐GHz integer‐N frequency synthesizer was designed and implemented in SiGe BiCMOS technology. The single chip includes fully integrated VCO (voltage control oscillator) as well as LPF (loop‐filter). The synthesizer provides a wide frequency range of 300 MHz, which covers 2.59–2.66 and 2.8725–2.9025 GHz, with a single VCO. Digital technique is employed at VCO and charge‐pump to cover the frequency range and cater for process variation. Using reference frequency of 2.5 MHz, the fabricated prototype demonstrates a settling time of 32 μs, and reference spur below −56 dBc. The synthesizer's phase noise is −115 dBc/Hz at 1.0‐MHz offset frequency. It consumes approximately 42 mW power from a 3.0 V single supply, with a total active area of 2.34 mm2. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 2579–2582, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22773
Application of an ASHRAE 152-2004 Duct Model for Simulating Code-Compliant 2000/2001 IECC Residences

This paper presents the results of the application of the duct model based on ASHRAE 152-2004 Method of Test for Determining the Design and Seasonal Efficiencies of Residential Thermal Distribution Systems (ASHRAE 2004) to the codecompliant 2001 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 1
Automation bias and system design: a case study in a medical application

We discuss the results of an interdisciplinary study of computer-aided decision making in cancer screening. We found evidence of "automation bias" - roughly, over-reliance on automation, which may degrade users' performance. While such effects are well known, they have not been previously reported for this application with expert clinicians, and are not generally considered in the literature. One lesson from our study was that these potentially important effects easily go unnoticed with common assessment methods. Implications for designers of computer aided decision making include that: a) it may be necessary to calibrate tool design for a range of different levels of user skills; b) an "expert system" approach to computerised aid design - building a "better replica" of a human expert - may be counterproductive by making the aid weak in those very areas where humans need help; c) HCI design risks focusing on usability of the physical human-computer interface, but the critical issues in design concern the cognitive effects (e.g. changes of decision thresholds) a computer tool may have on users; d) users' subjective assessments of a computer aid may be misleading: people may judge a tool helpful when their decision-making performance is actually being hampered.
The interpretational preferences of null and overt pronouns in Chinese

We report three reading comprehension experiments investigating the interpretational preferences and processing of pro and overt pronouns in Chinese, a ‘discourse-oriented’ pro-drop language (Huang 1984). Our offline rating experiments showed that both pro and overt pronouns were subject-based, but the preference for the subject antecedents was stronger with pro than with overt pronouns. In addition, these different levels of subject biases were confirmed in a self-paced reading experiment; a processing penalty was incurred with object antecedent interpretation regardless of the pronominal type, but the penalty was bigger for pro than for overt pronouns. These experimental results are consistent with Accessibility theory that less specific anaphoric expressions (e.g. pro) were less likely than more specific anaphoric expressions (e.g. overt pronouns) to refer to a less prominent antecedent (e.g. syntactic object).
Applications of Integrated IoT-Fog-Cloud Systems to Smart Cities: A Survey

Several cities have recently moved towards becoming smart cities for better services and quality of life for residents and visitors, with: optimized resource utilization; increased environmental protection; enhanced infrastructure operations and maintenance; and strong safety and security measures. Smart cities depend on deploying current and new technologies and different optimization methods to enhance services and performance in their different sectors. Some of the technologies assisting smart city applications are the Internet of Things (IoT), fog computing, and cloud computing. Integrating these three to serve one system (we will refer to it as integrated IoT-fog-cloud system (iIFC)) creates an advanced platform to develop and operate various types of smart city applications. This platform will allow applications to use the best features from the IoT devices, fog nodes, and cloud services to deliver best capabilities and performance. Utilizing this powerful platform will provide many opportunities for enhancing and optimizing applications in energy, transportation, healthcare, and other areas. In this paper we survey various applications of iIFCs for smart cities. We identify different common issues associated with utilizing iIFCs for smart city applications. These issues arise due to the characteristics of iIFCs on the one side and the requirements of different smart city applications on the other. In addition, we outline the main requirements to effectively utilize iIFCs for smart city applications. These requirements are related to optimization, networking, and security.
Supportive Pad Impact on Upper Extremity Blood Flow While Wearing a Military Backpack

Introduction: The Spine Buddy® supportive pad was developed to be inserted underneath military backpacks to help disperse heavy loads. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact the additional supportive pad has on upper extremity blood flow when wearing a heavy military backpack. Methods: Forty healthy participants (age= 26.4 + 5.5 yr, height= 1.74 + 0.11 m, body mass= 79.6 + 20.4 kg: mean + SD) were equally randomized into an AB:BA crossover study design. Twenty participants were in the AB group, and twenty were in the BA group. The study involved a 15minute rest period between each of the 2 conditions: A (wearing a 45.3 kg military backpack) vs B (wearing a 45.3 kg military backpack with an additional ergonomic support pad underneath). Participants wore the backpack for 2 minutes during each condition (A or B) and then upper extremity blood flow measurements were taken. Outcome measures were index finger pulse oximetry and radial artery spectral Doppler Resistance Index (RI) assessed under each condition. An independent samples t-test was used to make comparisons between A and B conditions.
IC SynthLogo: A Synthetic Logo Image Dataset for Counterfeit and Recycled IC detection

We present and describe a novel and completely automatic method to create synthetic logos images of Integrated Circuits (ICs) for Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) assurance. Our method employs a hybrid of existing and newly developed techniques built specifically for the textures and colors in IC and PCB Images. This method can be utilized for reliability and quality assurance, evaluating counterfeit detection algorithms, and also to aid in PCB Marking detection as logos are prime false positives in Tesseract, EAST and CRAFT algorithms (popular text recognition algorithms in the vision community). In addition, we also make the script available to the community for creating the database of the images, along with their bounding box annotations to train Logo identification neural networks and machine learning algorithms. The data, along with the script for extending to further logos can be found at: https://github.com/mukhilazhagan/ic_synth_logo_code and https://www.trust-hub.org/#/data
A Novel Force Variation Fine Blanking Process for the High-strength and Low-plasticity Material

Fine blanking is a kind of metal forming process with the advantages of high precision, good surface quality and low cost. Influenced by the concept of lightweight, a large number of metal materials with high strength are widely used in various fields. High strength materials are prone to be cracked during plastic deformation due to their poor plasticity, which limits the application range of them. This paper proposed a force variation fine blanking process for high-strength and low-plasticity materials. At the same time, a method to find the curve of forming force for this novel process was presented. A 2D finite element fine blanking model was established for the TC4 material. Combining genetic algorithm and neural network methods, a model was built up to find the optimal forming force loading curve. The parts fabricated by force variation loading and constant loading fine blanking process were compared through experiments. The mechanism of force variation fine blanking is also revealed. The forming force mainly affects the length of clean cutting surface by affecting hydrostatic stress. According to the ultimate optimal loading curve, the forming force should be kept at a low level in the early stage of blanking stroke, and increased gradually in the ending stage. In the application of force variation fine blanking, the part with long length of clean cutting surface can be obtained with lower die load.
New Routine to Determine Microstructures of Metallic Interconnectors Using SEM-EBSD Technique

Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is an ideal technology for microstructure analyses of metallic interconnectors, including phase identification, grain size and boundary characterization, and crystallographic orientation statistics. However, the application of EBSD is limited for characterizing the samples with unknown intermetallic compounds (IMCs) that are commonly formed among different interconnect materials and strongly related to failures. One reason for the limited EBSD application is that many users are not familiar with the technology that can solve the unknown phases in the current EBSDs, resulting in EBSD map data that do not provide the correct information on grain size and orientation. In this paper, we demonstrate case studies using EBSD on three typical samples of interconnectors, Al/Cu wire bonding, solder microbump, as well as through-silicon via (TSV). The software-assisted Phase Identification combining EBSD with Energy X-ray Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) is explained as it is the key step to the sequent characterization. To avoid missing the correct phases in the IMC layers, parameter optimization based on the recently developed CMOS-based EBSD detector and the corresponding software is also presented. With the help of Phase Identification, Al2Cu and Al4Cu9 compounds both with the cubic crystal structure can be differentiated by the program in the IMC zone between Cu wire and Al pad. The further EBSD-EDS simultaneous mapping reveals that two compound layers with grain size of 50 to 400 nm are detected as the transition from the Cu wire to Al pad. In the microbump sample, multiple compounds with complex crystal structures are found, such as orthorhombic Cu3Sn and Ag3Sn, hexagonal Cu6Sn5 phase. According to the phases detected by Phase Identification, the mapping technology used to differentiate materials with very similar crystal structure, but different chemistry is applied. We can also use this technique to analyze the microstructure of TSV cross-sections across the length and at the interface. Henceforth, a new workflow of EBSD data acquisition for interconnect samples using the latest EBSD software is summarized based on the case studies.
Human Thermal Model Expressing Local Characteristics of Each Segment

We discussed the present research trends of mathematical models of heat transfer phenomena within human body. In addition we introduced our mathematical model expressing local characteristics of each segment including a subroutine of calculation of physiological thermoregulatory responses. By using this computer program several simulations under various combinations of thermal environmental conditions and working levels were performed. The calculated results were agreed with the measured results and suggested the validity of the present mathematical model to evaluate human responses.