Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modell und Programm CLIMT zur einfachen Ermittlung der Raumlufttemperatur und Raumluftfeuchte bei freier Klimatisierung

In der Planungspraxis besteht Bedarf nach einem vergleichsweise (siehe TRNSYS, ENERGY PLUS) einfachen und zuverlässigen Handwerkszeug zur Quantifizierung des Raumklimas. In diesem Beitrag wird ein praktikables Modell zur Ermittlung der Stundenwerte für die Raumlufttemperatur, die Empfindungstemperatur (Mitteltemperatur aus Raumluft‐ und Umschließungsflächentemperatur) und die Raumluftfeuchte in Abhängigkeit vom Außenklima (Außenlufttemperatur, Wärmestrahlung und relative Luftfeuchtigkeit der Außenluft), von den Gebäudeparametern (Geometrie, Wärmetransportwiderstände der Hüllkonstruktion, Wärme‐ und Feuchteabsorptionsvermögen der Bauteile), von der Lüftung und der Raumnutzung (innere Wärmequellen, innere Feuchtequellen und raumluftregulierte Heizung) bei freier Klimatisierung vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse bilden den Quelltext für das nutzerfreundliche Windows‐Programm CLIMT (CLimate‐Indoor‐Moisture‐Temperature). Modell und Programm CLIMT werden durch einen Vergleich mit Rechenwerten nach TRNSYS und Messwerten in einem Testhaus validiert. Die Ergebnisse stimmen sehr gut überein. Das Programm CLIMT ist anwenderfreundlich und praxistauglich.
A COVARIANCE HETEROGENEITY GENERALIZED NESTED LOGIT MODEL OF NEW BUS SERVICES

This research attempts to investigate long distance travelers' preferences for new bus services in which buses are equipped with seats or sleepers on the lower deck. The stated preference survey instrument includes alternative scenarios of bus fares and service frequency for two hypothetical bus classes. This paper adopts the generalized nested logit (GNL) model with covariance heterogeneity (COVGNL) to take account of flexible substitution patterns among alternatives and to allow heterogeneity across individuals in the covariance among nested alternatives. The estimation results indicate that travel cost, individual and trip characteristics, and quality-of-service are important factors affecting the choices of travel modes and bus service classes. The preferred GNL model includes two multiple alternative nests - the lower deck sleeper and seat in a nest and the lower deck sleeper and upper deck seat in a nest. The COVGNL model statistically rejects the multinomial logit, nested logit, and GNL models and indicates a significant difference in the correlation between the utilities of nested alternatives across individuals with different income earnings and gender. The empirical findings provide valuable insights for the proposed new bus services.
Pore‐Scale Investigation of the Electrical Resistivity of Saturated Porous Media: Flow Patterns and Porosity Efficiency

The electrical resistivity‐porosity relationship of porous media is critical for reliable formation evaluation. Archie's equation is empirical, and uses only porosity as pore‐space property, neglecting the spatial variability of the pore space; its fitting parameters may have unclear physical meaning and be nonconstant over a wider porosity range or in spatially complex rocks. We use microfluidics augmented with pore‐network modeling to investigate the effects of pore‐space properties and their evolution processes on electrical resistivity‐porosity relationships. Both a flow‐pattern parameter and a measure of porosity efficiency are implemented to quantify the spatial variability of the flow field and the conduction efficiency of porous media. Results indicate that both pore‐size distribution and pore‐space evolution impact the electrical behavior considerably. In cases of unimodal pore‐size distributions, a larger pore‐size variation or a higher porosity reduction in small pores results in higher values of Archie's porosity exponent, m; the flow pattern becomes more heterogeneous, and the efficiency of porosity to conduct electricity decreases. For cases of bimodal pore‐size distributions, the formation factor‐porosity relationship is nonlinear in log–log plots; the flow behavior is primarily affected by the fraction and connectivity of large pores. Results suggest that using porosity alone as pore‐space characteristic is inadequate to describe the electrical behavior of complex porous media. Petrophysical classification based on flow patterns and porosity efficiency is an effective alternative to differentiate the results. We introduce the electrical quality index as an effective parameter for petrophysical classification, which is verified with core data for both Fontainebleau sandstones and carbonates.
Performance Analysis of 77 GHz mmWave Radar Based Object Behavior

In this paper, performance analysis of the object behavior using mmwave radar is proposed. The AWR1642 mmwave radar with frequency 77 GHz that has advantages over the other sensors, especially in penetrate materials and high accuracy, is utilized in this research. The paper presents an analysis of object behavior in the experimental method in the indoor environment. The radar will detect an object by sending a chirp signal and receiving it again after it is reflected. The mmwave radar shows the performances in the distance, number of objects, radiation pattern, and velocity. The measurement results show that the object can be detected up to 3 m in the indoor environment with a high level of accuracy and stability. Then, the radar can detect multiple objects in the Line-of-Sight (LOS) condition, where the received power level would be attenuated by about 10 dB after penetrating the first object. The research results showed the beamwidth of the radar is 140 degrees with a directional radiation pattern from 20 degrees to 160 degrees. In this system, radar has been able to identify the velocity of the object accurately. It appears that increasing the speed will affect the Central Processing Unit (CPU) usage on the radar too. The proposed system showed excellent performance in object behavior analysis, and it can be utilized in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) applications.
SEMI-ACTIVE VEHICLE CAB SUSPENSION USING MAGNETORHEOLOGICAL (MR) TECHNOLOGY

Agricultural vehicle manufacturers are employing new semi-active cab suspensions using Magnetorheological (MR) technology. The use of MR technology in cab suspensions is a logical next step in improving operator safety and comfort. The speed and simplicity of MR technology enables the use of low-stiffness springs without the compromise between ride and stability, and can provide roll, isolation and pitch stability. MR fluids are materials that respond to a magnetic field with a dramatic change in rheological behavior. These fluids can reversibly change instantaneously from a free-flowing liquid to a semi-solid with controllable yield strength when exposed to a magnetic field. MR systems have been developed with a modular, integrated approach that can include a damper containing MR fluid, air spring, automatic electronic leveling, sensors, controller, and CANbus data communication.
Electro-optic characterisation of ultrafast photodetectors using adiabatically compressed soliton pulses

The response of ultrafast photodetectors at 1.55 mu m wavelength has been measured by electro-optic sampling using adiabatically compressed soliton pulses. 750 fs-duration pulses with no wings were used to both pump and probe the waveguide pin photodiode. The measured bandwidth of the photodiode is more than 110 GHz, which is the highest value for a detector operating at 1.55 mu m.
Importance of the pig as a human biomedical model

Description Pigs are important biomedical models for studying human development and disease, for xenotransplant organ donors, and for vaccine and drug design. Pigs have substantial potential as biomedical models for studying human developmental processes, congenital diseases, and pathogen response mechanisms in addition to utility as xenotransplant organ donors and tools for vaccine and drug design. The similarity of pigs to humans in anatomical size and structure, physiology, immunology, and genome enhances their potential as models for humans. Hence, it is imperative that research is relevant and reproducible in animal models that more closely resemble humans, such as the pig. This review summarizes the current status of pigs as an investigative model for humans and highlights their future applications.
THE CULTURE OF LEARNING OF DIGITAL LIBRARY PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPE: A STUDY OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES' COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

In the context of knowledge management (KM) in the field of digital libraries (DL), communities of practice (CoPs) is one of the unexplored areas of interests for research, as compared to those in the fields of business and management, education, engineering and medical sciences. Greater importance is being placed on those communities‟ ability to share knowledge, facilitate knowledge transfer and most importantly, provide the proper context for learning to take place. Thus, this research sought to: (1) find out the defining characteristics of CoPs in the field of DL, (2) examine how CoPs contribute to the development of a learning culture and(3)determine the success and hindering factors in the development of such learning culture.
Eight element time-division multiplexed fiber grating sensor array with integrated-optic wavelength discriminator

An eight element time-division multiplexed fiber Bragg grating sensor array is demonstrated using an unbalanced integrated-optic discriminator to facilitate demodulation of Bragg wavelength shifts in the return signals. The system exhibits a wide sensing range with a detection capability of <1 (mu) - strain/(root)Hz rms at low frequencies.
Cost‐effectiveness of construction safety programme elements

Every year the construction industry accounts for a disproportionate injury rate when compared to the all‐industry average. In recent years, incident rates have declined as a result of improvements in safety management. While there is a great deal of knowledge regarding the safety management strategies of highly effective construction firms, little is known about the cost‐effectiveness of these strategies. Interviews with 26 representatives of construction firms headquartered in the US were undertaken to quantify the cost of implementing common safety programme elements by: (1) quantifying cost for each element per US$1 million of project scope; and (2) determining the distribution of safety funding to each element. Using these cost data and effectiveness ratings from previous research, the cost‐effectiveness of 13 safety programme elements was quantified. The results indicate that the most cost‐effective safety programme elements are subcontractor selection and management and upper management support and commitment. Alternatively, the least cost‐effective elements are the employment of a full‐time safety manager and record‐keeping. The information presented in this paper may be used by practitioners to direct resource investments, strategically select a subset of safety programme elements when resources are limited, and to justify additional resource investment in accident prevention.
Circularly polarised array antenna with cascade feed network for broadband application in C-band

A new configuration of a circularly polarised square slot antenna (CPSSA) array operating in C-band is presented. The array consists of 2 × 2 CPSSA elements and is fed by a novel feeding network consisting of the circuit stripline couplers and delay lines. The proposed feeding technique is applied to the 2 × 2 antenna array to increase the axial ratio (AR) bandwidth. The measured impedance bandwidth for a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) <2 is around 78.5% (3.4–7.8 GHz), the 3 dB AR bandwidth is about 35.7% (4.6–6.6 GHz) and the antenna has an average 14.2 dBic gain over the 3 dB AR bandwidth. The measured results corroborate well with the simulated results.
Automating Stowage Operations for the International Space Station

Stowage operations (the act of storing and retrieving items) onboard the International Space Station takes up approximately 25% of each astronaut's time. Until recently, managing stowage was fundamentally performed by hand by extremely skilled technicians called stowage officers. These individuals need to be able to know, by simply examining a list of items and a location, how much room is left at a location and if some new item could be placed there. We have provided a fielded capability that uses a novel box-packing algorithm combined with a database search capability to aid stowage officers in their duties.
Impact of Incretin Hormone Receptors on Insulin-Independent Glucose Disposal in Model Experiments in Mice

A large contribution to glucose elimination from the circulation is achieved by insulin-independent processes. We have previously shown that the two incretin hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) increase this process and, therefore, seem to contribute to glucose disposal both through this effect and through the classical incretin effect resulting in enhanced insulin levels. We have now explored in more detail the potential contribution by incretin hormone receptors to insulin-independent processes for glucose elimination. To that end, we have performed intravenous glucose tests (0.35g/kg) in C57BL/6J mice and analyzed glucose elimination rate and glucose effectiveness (i.e., insulin-independent glucose disposal, SG) in wildtype mice and in mice with genetic deletion of GIP receptors or GLP-1 receptors. We performed studies with or without complete blockade of insulin secretion by the drug diazoxide (25 mg/kg). The mice were anesthetized with a novel fentanyl citrate/fluanisone formulation, called Fluafent, together with midazolam. Initially we demonstrated that glucose and insulin data after intravenous and oral glucose were not different using this anesthesia compared to the previously commonly used combination of HypnormR and midazolam. The results show that SG was reduced in GLP-1 receptor knockout mice, whereas there was no difference between GIP receptor knockout mice and wildtype mice, and this was evident both under normal conditions and after complete inhibition of insulin secretion. The study therefore indicates that insulin-independent glucose elimination requires active GLP-1 receptors and thus that the two incretin hormone receptor types show dissociated relevance for this process.
Beyond Greed: Why Armed Groups Tax

Armed groups tax. Journalistic accounts often include a tone of surprise about this fact, while policy reports tend to strike a tone of alarm, highlighting the link between armed group taxation and ongoing conflict. Policymakers often focus on targeting the mechanisms of armed group taxation as part of their conflict strategy, often described as ‘following the money’. We argue that what is instead needed is a deeper understanding of the nuanced realities of armed group taxation, the motivations behind it, and the implications it has for an armed group’s relationship with civilian and diaspora populations, as well as the broader international community. This paper builds on two distinct literatures, on armed groups and on taxation, to provide the first systematic exploration into the motivation of armed group taxation. Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of their motivation needs to go beyond revenue collection, and engage with key themes around legitimacy, population control, institution building, and the performance of public authority. We problematise common approaches towards armed group taxation and state-building, and outline key questions of a new research agenda.
Impact of inspiratory threshold loading on brain activity and cognitive performances in healthy humans.

In healthy humans, inspiratory threshold loading deteriorates cognitive performances. This can result from motor-cognitive interference (activation of motor respiratory-related cortical networks vs. executive resources allocation), sensory-cognitive interference (dyspnea vs. shift in attentional focus), or both. We hypothesized that inspiratory loading would concomitantly induce dyspnea, activate motor respiratory-related cortical networks, and deteriorate cognitive performance. We reasoned that a concomitant activation of cortical networks and cognitive deterioration would be compatible with motor-cognitive interference, particularly in case of a predominant alteration of executive cognitive performances. Symmetrically, we reasoned that a predominant alteration of attention-depending performances would suggest sensory-cognitive interference. Twenty-five volunteers (12 men; 19.5-51.5 years) performed the Paced Auditory Serial Addition test (PASAT-A and B; calculation capacity, working memory, attention), the Trail Making Test (TMT-A, visuospatial exploration capacity; TMT-B, visuospatial exploration capacity and attention), and the Corsi block-tapping test (visuospatial memory, short-term and working memory) during unloaded breathing and inspiratory threshold loading in random order. Loading consistently induced dyspnea and respiratory-related brain activation. It was associated with deteriorations inPASAT A (52 [45.5;55.5] (median [interquartile range]) to 48 [41;54.5], p=0.01), PASAT B (55 [47.5;58] to 51 [44.5;57.5], p=0.01), and TMT B (44s [36;54.5] to 53s [42;64], p=0.01), but did not affect TMT-A and Corsi. The concomitance of cortical activation and cognitive performance deterioration is compatible with competition for cortical resources (motor-cognitive interference), while the profile of cognitive impairment (PASAT and TMT-B but not TMT-A and Corsi) is compatible with a contribution of attentional distraction (sensory-cognitive interference). Both mechanisms are therefore likely at play.
Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Modification of Residential Buildings for Effective and Efficient Mass Housing Delivery: Case Study of Owerri Urban, South-Eastern Nigeria

This study evaluates Aladinma and Prefab Housing Estates in Owerri Urban South-Eastern Nigeria which is experiencing population increase emanating from rapid urbanization. The aim is to improve future mass housing delivery in the area through feed-back information from the building consumers. The specific objectives were: to establish the nature and extent of post-occupancy modifications carried out in the estates; to determine the reasons for the modification and factors of satisfaction that are necessarily required to be considered in the programming and design of residential buildings in the study area for optimal performance; and to develop a mathematical method of conducting post-occupancy evaluation of modification of residential buildings. The evaluation was based on a theoretical frame work of tripartite quality of architecture emphasized by Vitruvius; Utilitas (functionality or utility value: the social dimension), Firmitas (strength and rigidity: the technological dimension) and Venustas (beauty: the aesthetic dimension). The methodology involved field survey or case study. The field study involves six research approaches: archival retrieval; comparative mapping; physical trace identification; observations; questionnaires and interviews. The sample population of 405 building consumers and 409 housing units from the population of 1261 were used. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS software and the results were exported to Microsoft Excel to generate the graphs used. The research revealed that Overall Modification Index for model predicted data was 0.9126 and overall experimental data was 0.9126 with Overall Deviation of 0.00%. Average Modification Index for Housing Estates in Owerri South-Eastern Nigeria was 0.9126. Design factors that necessitated post-occupancy modifications in the study area were: functionality- 92.6 percent; Aesthetic- 92.7 percent; and Constructional issue- 97.3 percent. This implied that for a sustainable housing estate to be achieved, the concept of Equilibrium of Appropriate Balance (ConstructFunctional Aesthetic Balance) has to be adopted. The consumers of building products should be involved in the programming, design and construction of their buildings to capture their needs and aspirations. Overall Modification Index for Owerri was 91.26%. The Authors successfully developed a mathematical model for Post-occupancy evaluation of modification of residential buildings in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria
Whole Genome Level Analysis of the Wnt and DIX Gene Families in Mice and Their Coordination Relationship in Regulating Cardiac Hypertrophy

The Wnt signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway that plays essential roles in embryonic development, organogenesis, and many other biological activities. Both Wnt proteins and DIX proteins are important components of Wnt signaling. Systematic studies of Wnt and DIX families at the genome-wide level may provide a comprehensive landscape to elucidate their functions and demonstrate their relationships, but they are currently lacking. In this report, we describe the correlations between mouse Wnt and DIX genes in family expansion, molecular evolution, and expression levels in cardiac hypertrophy at the genome-wide scale. We observed that both the Wnt and DIX families underwent more expansion than the overall average in the evolutionarily early stage. In addition, mirrortree analyses suggested that Wnt and DIX were co-evolved protein families. Collectively, these results would help to elucidate the evolutionary characters of Wnt and DIX families and demonstrate their correlations in mediating cardiac hypertrophy.
A Network Function Parallelism-Enabled MEC Framework for Supporting Low-Latency Services

Mobile edge computing (MEC) enables users to offload computing tasks to edge servers for provisioning low-latency and computation-intensive services. To manage heterogeneous resources and improve service flexibility, MEC is entailed by new technologies, i.e., software defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV), which allow services running on common commodity hardware instead of proprietary hardware. However, data processing via software on commodity servers may induce high latency due to limited processing capacity, which impedes the quality of service. Meanwhile, MEC is a resource-sharing system and thus fairness should be considered. In this paper, we propose a network function parallelism (NFP)-enabled MEC (NFPMec) framework for supporting low-latency services. To reap the potential benefits of the NFPMec, we formulate the fairness-aware throughput maximization problem (FTMP) with aim of maximizing the fairness-aware system throughput while satisfying the QoS requirements. We propose a relaxation-based generalized benders algorithm (RGBA) to decouple the FTMP into two sub-problems based on the non-linear convex duality theory. After relaxation, the sub-problems are solved by the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) approach. The convergence of the RGBA is theoretically proved. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed NFPMec outperforms SDN-enabled MEC networks in terms of resource utilization, service latency and system throughput.