Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Active Pulse Modulated Transducer (AT) - A Novel Audio Power Conversion System Architecture

A novel audio power conversion system architecture is presented, in the attempt to provide a step forward in overall system efficiency and performance. The Active pulse modulated Transducer system (“Active Transducer” ) converts power directly from AC mains or from a DC power supply to the acoustic output in one simplified topological stage. New perspectives in audio system design emerge.
The use of the Intranet and Internet by teaching staff of the University of Zambia

The use of the Intranet and Internet among academic members of staff at the University of Zambia was surveyed using a questionnaire. The findings revealed that the University had a well-developed network for both Intranet and Internet that was established to foster communication and access to both internal and external information. The paper concluded that there are some bottlenecks to the full use of the network. There is potential for full utilisation of the networks on condition that a policy to integrate the networks and ICT in general university management and running was developed and implemented. Af. J. Lib. Arch. & Inf. Sc. (2003) 13, 119-132
Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport: Have-It Approach

This paper describes HAVEit, a new European Community (EC) funded Integrated Project under the 7th framework program, that aims at the realization of the long-term vision of highly automated driving for intelligent transport. The project is the biggest initiative taken in this area in Europe and will develop, validate and demonstrate important intermediate steps towards highly automated driving. The focus in HAVEit is to create the most suitable way to optimally share the driving tasks between driver, co-driving system and vehicle. Highly automated driving tries to hold the driver as long as possible on the optimal performance level by facilitating the normal driving task. The effect is an increase in comfort which indirectly also contributes to safety. The authors conclude that, in the long term, these HAVEit results can form the ideal basis to integrate further generations of ADAS and drive-train components that offer the next step of highly automated functionalities. HAVEit will significantly contribute to higher traffic safety and efficiency for passenger cars, busses and trucks, thereby strongly promoting safe and intelligent mobility of both people and goods.
A free database of university web links: data collection issues

This paper describes a free set of databases of the link structures of the university web sites from a selection of countries, as created by a specialist information science web crawler. With the increasing interest in web links by information and computer scientists this is an attempt to make available raw data for research that is not reliant upon the opaque techniques of commercial search engines. Basic tools for querying are also provided. The key issues concerning running an accurate web crawler are also discussed. Access is also given to the normally hidden crawler stop list with the aim of making the crawl process more transparent. The necessity of having such a list is discussed, with the conclusion that fully automatic crawling is not socially or empirically desirable because of the existence of database-generated areas of the web and the proliferation of the phenomenon of mirroring.
Building the Perfect Graduate: What News Employers Want in New Hires

The converged media environment has prompted journalism educators to question whether they should increase the use of digital media technology in the classroom and teach across multiple platforms. Newsroom surveys, however, reveal that Australian and US news employers are emphasising traditional journalism skills. This paper examines whether journalism schools are producing graduates with skills sets that media organisations may not consider highly critical to a cadetship. Research was undertaken to examine graduate skills deemed most important by West Australian news employers. The findings echo US employers in their preference for traditional journalism skills, such as good writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, general knowledge and understanding of ethics. Digital skills remain the poor cousin. But they also want graduates who embody the journalistic 'ideal': curious, hard-working, driven news hounds, a passion for writing and reporting.
Classifying TIM Barrel Protein Domain Structure by an Alignment Approach Using Best Hit Strategy and PSI-BLAST

High-tech large-scale sequencing projects have identified a massive number of amino acid sequences for both known and putative proteins, but information on the three-dimensional (3D) structures of these proteins is limited. Several structure databases, such as the Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP (Andreeva et al., 2008), release version 1.73) and the Class, Architecture, Topology, and Homologous superfamily (CATH (Cuff et al., 2009), release version 3.2. 0), contain fewer than 60,000 entries in the Protein Data Bank (PDB (Berman et al., 2000), released on 12 May, 2009). This number of entries constitutes only about 15% of entries in Swiss-Prot (Bairoch et al., 2004), release version 57.2, with more than 400,000 entries). Either X-ray diffraction or NMR can be used to determine the 3D structure of a protein, but each method has its limitation (Dubchak et al., 1995). As such, extracting structural information from sequence databases is an important and complementary alternative to these experimental methods, especially when swiftly determining protein functions or discovering new compounds for medical or therapeutic purposes. From ASTRAL SCOP 1.73, it has been estimated that ~10% of known enzymes have triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) barrel domains. Moreover, TIM barrel proteins have been identified in five of six enzyme classes, oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases and isomerases, in the Enzyme nomenclature (ENZYME (Bairoch, 2000), released on 5 May, 2009) database; the ligases class does not contain TIM barrel protein. TIM barrel proteins are diverse in sequence and functionality and thus represent attractive targets for protein engineering and evolutionary studies. It is therefore important to examine TIM barrel protein domain structure classification in SCOP and ENZYME. In SCOP, there are six levels of hierarchy: class, fold, superfamily, family, protein domain and species. The classification of protein structures has, more recently, been facilitated by computer-aided algorithms. Previous research (Chou & Zhang, 1995; Dubchak et al., 1995; Lin et al., 2005, 2007) has shown that an overall prediction accuracy rate of 70-90% can be
Calculations of second breakdown in silicon diodes

Abstract : An electrothermal model computer program is described and used to study the basic physical mechanisms that initiate second breakdown. It is shown that space charge in the reverse-biased diode causes a negative resistance to develop, which in turn leads to filamentation and damage. Various doping profiles are studied. Thermal injection currents are shown to be important for time greater than the thermal time constant. High forward currents and reverse switching into avalanche are calculated. The effects of ionizing radiation are presented. The analogy of the stages of second breakdown with glow and arc discharges in gases is found to be useful.
Design of a printed MIMO/diversity monopole antenna for future generation handheld devices

This article presents a printed crescent‐shaped monopole MIMO diversity antenna for wireless communications. The port‐to‐port isolation is increased by introducing an I‐shaped conductor symmetrically between the two antenna elements and shaping the ground plane. Both the computed and experimental results confirm that the antenna possesses a wide impedance bandwidth of 54.5% across 1.6–2.8 GHz, with a reflection coefficient and mutual coupling better than −10 and −14 dB, respectively. By further validating the simulated and the measured radiation and MIMO characteristics including far‐field, gain, envelope correlation and channel capacity loss, the results show that the antenna can offer effective MIMO/diversity operation to alleviate multipath environments. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 24:348–359, 2014.
Designing an alternate reality board game with augmented reality and multi-dimensional scaffolding for promoting spatial and logical ability

ABSTRACT Logical thinking and reasoning of geometric space are among the key abilities of science and technology education. This research developed a framework of an alternate reality-based board game incorporating augmented reality (AR) exploration with multi-dimensional scaffolding, including cognitive scaffolding, metacognitive scaffolding, and peer scaffolding. Features included alternate reality games, board games, and AR technology. An educational alternate reality game Lost in Space based on the above framework was developed, and scaffolding was designed to help players focus on spatial and logical thinking. Participants were 127 tenth-grade students from northern Taiwan. Empirical analysis was conducted with the aim of exploring the learners’ learning outcomes, flow state, and perceptions of the multi-dimensional scaffolding as well as its usefulness. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the learning achievement of the students in the experimental group (using game learning) and the control group (using general teaching materials). However, students in the experimental group showed significant improvement in learning achievement after the game, while students in the control group showed no significant improvement in learning achievement. Moreover, experimental group learners could sense most of the cognitive scaffolding, metacognitive scaffolding, and peer scaffolding.
Agile All-digital Clock Generators with Spread-Spectrum Capabilities in 28nm technology

The spread spectrum clocking (SSC) is an established, effective and efficient technique to reduce the electromagnetic interference (EMI) produced by digital chips. This method allows to reduce the level of EMI of digital circuit by intentionally sweeping the frequency of the clock signal (frequency modulated) within a certain frequency range in order to evenly spread the energy of each clock harmonic over a given bandwidth, reducing in this way the peak power level of radiated EMI. In this thesis, a novel All-digital Spread Spectrum Clock Generator (SSCG) prototype is presented in all its aspects: design, simulation and post-fabrication measurements. The circuit is realized by using a design flow completely based on standard cells simplifying design and porting in new technologies, and is able to perform both discontinuous frequency modulation or complex modulation profiles. The circuit uses four digitally controlled delay lines and two digital delay interpolator driven by a digital modulator to synthesize the output waveform A chip has been implemented in a 28nm CMOS technology. The chip is able to generate signals up to 3.3GHz. The measured peak level reduction of the clock spectrum, at 1GHz output frequency, is 27dB with a 10% modulation depth. The power dissipation is 24mW. In the second part of this thesis the first developed SSCG has been redesigned in order to allow the generation of an output clock signal with a frequency higher than the frequency of the input clock signal. To this purpose a new delay line block has been designed in order to implement the clock frequency multiplication. Furthermore, the injection locking technique is implemented by using a novel DCO-based architecture in order to improve the jitter performance of the circuit. The circuit is designed by using only standard cells and is able to generate an output clock frequency larger of 2GHz.
Officer Career Development: Surface Warfare Officer Retention

Abstract : The factors that contribute to surface warfare officer in the Navy were investigated. Information was obtained from a sample of 373 stayers and 52 leavers selected from a larger sample of 3,059 surface warfare officers who responded to a survey of officer career development in 1986. An hypothesized model of surface warfare officer retention, based on Steers and Mowday's model of employee turnover (1981), was tested using path analyses. The results of the analyses supported several of the major linkages contained in the model. In line with the model, stated career intent had the strongest influence on officer retention. Additionally, search for alternatives had a direct impact on retention. Level of organizational commitment, along with spousal support and tenure, had a direct influence on career intent. The direct links from spousal support, esteem, assignment acceptability, and benefits to organizational commitment were also supported. Overall, the present study contributes to our understanding of the turnover process within a military setting and provides avenues for future research.
Real-Time Head Pose Estimation in Low-Resolution Football Footage

This report examines the problem of real-time head pose estimation in low-resolution football footage. A method is presented for inferring the head pose using a combination of footage and knowledge of the locations of the football and players. An ensemble of randomized ferns is compared with a support vector machine for processing the footage, while a support vector machine performs pattern recognition on the location data. Combining the two sources of information outperforms either in isolation. The location of the football turns out to be an important piece of information.
A training framework for the Department of Defense public key infrastructure

Abstract : Increased use of the Internet and the growth of electronic commerce within the Department of Defense (DoD) has led to the development and implementation of the DoD Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Any PKI can only serve its intended purpose if there is trust within the system. This thesis reviews the basics of public (or asymmetric) key cryptography and its counterpart, symmetric key cryptography. It outlines the DoD's PKI implementation plan and the user roles identified within the infrastructure. Because a PKI relies entirely on trust, training for all users of a PKI is essential. The current approach to PKI training within the DoD will not provide all of its users with the required level of understanding of the system as a whole, or of the implications and ramifications that their individual actions may have upon the system. The decentralized, segmented, and inconsistent approach to PKI training will result in a lack of trust within the PKI. Training for the DoD PKI must be consistent, current, appropriate, and available to all users at any time. The author proposes a web-based training framework for the DoD PKI. The basic requirements and design of the framework are presented, and a prototype is developed for further testing and evaluation. Without the proper attention to training, the DoD PKI will be at risk, and may not perform its intended functions of providing the required authenticity and integrity across the various networks upon which DoD conducts business.
From 3D Building Information Modeling Towards 5D City Information Modeling

This paper gives an overview of digital methods currently used for three-dimensional modeling of urban structures as utilized in architecture and town planning. The paper presents new trends in the field of CIM (City Information Modeling), and points to the complexity of problems of planning as seen from the perspective of town planning, indicating the necessity to introduce and visualize the semantic context in 3D modeling at the urban structure level
RELIABILITY-BASED DESIGN OPTIMIZATION OF AN AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING KINEMATIC AND COMPLIANCE CHARACTERISTICS

This study introduces the Reliability-Based Design Optimization (RBDO) to enhance the kinematic and compliance (K & C) characteristics of automotive suspension system. In previous studies, the deterministic optimization has been performed to enhance the K & C characteristics. Unfortunately, uncertainties in the real world have not been considered in the deterministic optimization. In the design of suspension system, design variables with the uncertainties, such as the bushing stiffness, have a great influence on the variation of the suspension performances. There is a need to quantify these uncertainties and to apply the RBDO to obtain the design, satisfying the target reliability level. In this research, design variables including uncertainties are dealt as random variables and reliability of the suspension performances, which are related the K & C characteristics, are quantified and the RBDO is performed. The RBD-optimum is compared with the deterministic optimum to verify the enhancement in reliability. Thus, the reliability of the suspension performances is estimated and the RBD-optimum, satisfying the target reliability level, is determined.
Research on the Influence of Customer Value on Purchase Intention based on Service-dominant Logic

Creating more value is the source of a company's competitive advantage, and how to improve customer value is an important issue that the business community pays attention to. This study takes customer value co-creation participation behavior as the research object, introduces customer experience, explores the mechanism of customer value co-creation participation behavior on purchase intention, and uncovers the black box of customer value co-creation participation behavior to purchase intention. This research uses questionnaire analysis, introduces customer experience, and conducts research on the influence mechanism of customer co-creation value participation behavior on purchase intention. This article explores the specific composition and result mechanism of customer value co-creation behavior, which is conducive to further improving the theory of customer value co-creation behavior; explores the formation mechanism of purchase intention from the perspective of value co-creation, and provides a new theoretical reference for the promotion of purchase intention; How to improve customer value and co-creation effect in management practice, enhance customer purchase intention and provide decision support.
Inter-vehicle communication and ranging system using FH/SS technique

In recent years, ITS (intelligent transport systems) are studied and developed for safe driving supports, etc. In many systems for ITS, inter-vehicle communication systems and ranging systems are very important. Therefore, the inter-vehicle communication and ranging system using spread spectrum technique called SS Boomerang Transmission System has been proposed. Using this system, a vehicle (vehicle-A) can know the information of a target vehicle (vehicle-B) and range distance between two vehicles at the same time. In the conventional reports for the SS Boomerang Transmission Systems, they used direct sequence spread spectrum (DS/SS) technique. In this paper, inter-vehicle communication and ranging system using frequency hopping spread spectrum (FH/SS) technique called FH/SS Boomerang Transmission System is proposed. From computer simulations, it is confirmed that the proposed system is better than the conventional DS/SS Boomerang Transmission System when interference waves exist.
Key Characteristics of Carbonized Corncob through Hydrothermal and Pyrolysis Conversion Techniques for Further Activation

The eco-friendly technique which converted the low cost waste residues such as corncob to the valuable material such as solid fuel or advanced material is favorable. This study aims to enhance the knowledge limitation of key elements characteristics of carbonized corncob including fiber constituents, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy as the precursor material for further activation to produce the bio-based activated carbon via the mild temperature hydrothermal technique with demonstrated scale reactor comparing to high temperature pyrolysis. The hydrothermal carbonization takes place in 10 liters reactor at 250 o C. The pyrolysis is operated at 480 o C. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of corncob feedstock, hydrochar derived from hydrothermal and biochar derived from pyrolysis are 16.13, 11.53 and 7.66 m2 g -1 respectively. The oxygenated functional groups contents and high BET surface area of hydrochar are more predominant than biochar. Henceforth, the optimization for better degradation of fiber constituents will be the future work before the activation step
Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development

In October 2019, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer jointly won the 51st Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. " But what is the exact scope of their experimental method, known as randomized control trials (RCTs)? Which sorts of questions are RCTs able to address and which do they fail to answer? This book provides answers to these questions, explaining how RCTs work, what they can achieve, why they sometimes fail, how they can be improved and why other methods are both useful and necessary. Chapters contributed by leading specialists in the field present a full and coherent picture of the main strengths and weaknesses of RCTs in the field of development. Looking beyond the epistemological, political, and ethical differences underlying many of the disagreements surrounding RCTs, it explores the implementation of RCTs on the ground, outside of their ideal theoretical conditions and reveals some unsuspected uses and effects, their disruptive potential, but also their political uses. The contributions uncover the implicit worldview that many RCTs draw on and disseminate, and probe the gap between the method's narrow scope and its success, while also proposing improvements and alternatives. This book warns against the potential dangers of their excessive use, arguing that the best use for RCTs is not necessarily that which immediately springs to mind, and offering opportunity to come to an informed and reasoned judgement on RCTs and what they can bring to development.
A microwave switch matrix using MMICs for satellite applications

The design, packaging, and measured performance of a lightweight crossbar 4*4 microwave switch matrix (MSM) for communications satellite applications is presented. Miniaturization of the MSM has been achieved by integrating GaAs MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) broadband switch elements with hybrid power dividers and combiners and driver/control circuits in a lightweight MSM package. The onstate insertion loss and on-to-off isolation for all MSM paths are measured to be 6.25 dB (maximum) and 50 dB (minimum), respectively, over 3.5-6.5-GHz frequency range. The corresponding path-to-path insertion loss and phase variations are within +or-0.5 dB and +or-10 degrees . <<ETX>>