Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulating Hearing Loss Using a Transmission Line Cochlea Model

A back transformation of a linear transmission line cochlea model was developed giving rise to a new method to simulate hearing loss. To make the back transformation possible an energy reflection problem was corrected in the model of the cochlea. An inverse filter, digital signal processing, approach in the frequency domain is used for the back transformation. To effectively simulate hearing loss the inverse filter uses the entire cochlear output which is systematically combined to form the resynthesized sound. Using the inverse filter of a normal model on the output from a model that simulates a damaged ear allows for sound to be created as a hearing disabled person would hear it. Results show that the effect of damage in one region of the cochlea propagates to other parts of the cochlea thereby being a more comprehensive hearing loss simulator than traditional digital signal processing methods. The developed techniques introduce a more accurate method to simulate hearing loss and form a solid base for future work on simulating hearing loss.
orderalpha: Nonparametric order-α efficiency analysis for Stata

Despite its frequent use in applied work, nonparametric approaches to efficiency analysis, namely data envelopment analysis (DEA) and free disposal hull (FDH), have bad reputations among econometricians. This is mainly due to DEA and FDH representing deterministic approaches that are highly sensitive to outliers and measurement errors. However, recently, so-called partial frontier approaches—namely order-m (Cazals, Florens, and Simar, 2002, Journal of Econometrics 106:1–25) and order-a (Aragon, Dauia, and Thomas-Agnan, 2005, Economic Theory 21: 358– 389)—have been developed; they generalize FDH by allowing for super- efficient observations to be located beyond the estimated production- possibility frontier. Although these methods are purely nonparametric too, sensitivity to outliers is substantially reduced by partial frontier approaches enveloping just a subsample of observations. I present the new Stata command orderalpha that implements order-a efficiency analysis in Stata. The command allows for several options, such as statistical inference based on subsampling bootstrap. In addition, I present the accompanying Stata command oaoutlier, which is an explorative tool that employs orderalpha for detecting potential outliers in data meant for subsequent efficiency analysis using DEA.
WebSeq: A Genomic Data Analytics Platform for Monogenic Disease Discovery

Whole exome sequencing (WES) is commonly used to study monogenic diseases. The application of this sequencing technology has gained in popularity amongst clinicians and researchers as WES pricing has declined. The accumulation of WES data creates a need for a robust, flexible, scalable and easy-to-use analytics platform to allow researchers to gain biological insight from this genomic data. We present WebSeq, a self-contained server and web interface to facilitate intuitive analysis of WES data. WebSeq provides access to sophisticated tools and pipelines through a user-friendly and modern web interface. WebSeq has modules that support i) FASTQ to VCF conversion, ii) VCF to ANNOVAR1 CSV conversion, iii) family-based analyses for Mendelian disease gene discovery, iv) cohort-wide gene enrichment analyses, (v) an automated IGV2 browser, and (vi) a ‘virtual gene panel’ analysis module. WebSeq Pro, our expanded pipeline, also supports SNP genotype analyses such as ancestry inference and kinship testing. WebSeq Lite, our minimal pipeline, supports family-based analyses, cohort-wide gene enrichment analyses, and a virtual gene panel along with the IGV2 browser module. We anticipate that the rigorous use of our web application will allow researchers to expedite discoveries from human genomic data3. WebSeq Lite, WebSeq, and WebSeq Pro are fully containerized using Docker4, run on all major operating systems, and are freely available for personal, academic, and non-profit use at http://bitly.ws/g6cn
Monolithic microfabricated ion trap chip design for scaleable quantum processors

A design is proposed for a novel ion trap quantum processor chip, microfabricated using a process based on planar silica-on-silicon techniques. The trap electrodes are of gold-coated silica and are spaced by highly doped silicon in a monolithic structure. This design allows a unit aspect-ratio trap with an ion-electrode separation below 100 μm, when using current fabrication techniques. The trapping potential is modelled and the operating parameters required to achieve motional frequencies of a few MHz are calculated. RF loss and the resultant heating of the trap chip are not found to be a factor limiting the trap's operation. This monolithic unit aspect-ratio trap is therefore expected to exhibit a deep potential well, high trap efficiency, and a low RF loss, when compared to other microfabricated traps. This technological approach is in principle scaleable to complex devices, and may form the basis for large-scale ion trap quantum processors.
Evaluation of lithium-ion synergetic battery pack as battery charger

A new battery configuration technique and accompanying control circuitry, termed a synergetic battery pack (SBP), is designed to work with lithium batteries, and can be used as both an inverter for an electric vehicle AC induction motor drive and a battery charger. In this paper, the authors compare the performance of the synergetic battery pack as a battery charger with several simple conventional battery charging circuits via computer simulation. The factors of comparison were power factor, harmonic distortion and circuit efficiency. The simulations showed that the SBP is superior to conventional charging circuits since the power factor is unity and harmonic distortion is negligible.
Effective Online Order Acceptance Policies for Omnichannel Fulfillment

Problem definition: Omnichannel retailing has led to the use of traditional stores as fulfillment centers for online orders. Omnichannel fulfillment problems have two components: (1) accepting a certain number of online orders prior to seeing store demands and (2) satisfying (or filling) some of these accepted online demands as efficiently as possible with any leftover inventory after store demands have been met. Hence, there is a fundamental trade-off between store cancellations of accepted online orders and potentially increased profits because of more acceptances of online orders. We study this joint problem of online order acceptance and fulfillment (including cancellations) to minimize total costs, including shipping charges and cancellation penalties in single-period and limited multiperiod settings. Academic/practical relevance: Despite the growing importance of omnichannel fulfillment via online orders, our work provides the first study incorporating cancellation penalties along with fulfillment costs. Methodology: We build a two-stage stochastic model. In the first stage, the retailer sets a policy specifying which online orders it will accept. The second stage represents the process of fulfilling online orders after the uncertain quantities of in-store purchases are revealed. We analyze threshold policies that accept online orders as long as the inventories are above a global threshold, a local threshold per region, or a hybrid. Results: For a single period, total costs are unimodal as a function of the global threshold and unimodal as a function of a single local threshold holding all other local thresholds at constant values, motivating a gradient search algorithm. Reformulating as an appropriate linear program with network flow structure, we estimate the derivative (using infinitesimal perturbation analysis) of the total cost as a function of the thresholds. We validate the performance of the threshold policies empirically using data from a high-end North American retailer. Our two-location experiments demonstrate that local thresholds perform better than global thresholds in a wide variety of settings. Conversely, in a narrow region with negatively correlated online demand between locations and very low shipping costs, global threshold outperforms local thresholds. A hybrid policy only marginally improves on the better of the two. In multiple periods, we study one- and two-location models and provide insights into effective solution methods for the general case. Managerial implications: Our methods provide effective algorithms to manage fulfillment costs for online orders, demonstrating a significant reduction over policies that treat each location separately and reflecting the significant advantage of incorporating shipping in computing thresholds. Numerical studies provide insights as to why local thresholds perform well in a wide variety of situations.
Carbon Beta: A Market-Based Measure of Climate Risk

Despite sustainable investments standing at record highs, it remains a challenge to quantify climate risk. We propose a proxy for a climate risk factor, the pollutive-minus-clean (PMC) portfolio, which captures diﬀerences in returns to ﬁrms that have high versus low corporate emissions. By regressing individual stock returns on the PMC factor, we obtain estimates of asset-level climate risk exposure: ’carbon beta’. Validation of carbon betas conﬁrms that variation in climate risk exposures aligns with our prior expectations. Our measure has desirable properties regarding availability, coverage, and informativeness compared to conventional climate risk measures. We study the interaction of carbon betas with several proxies for realisations in climate risk. Returns to stocks with high carbon betas are lower during months in which climate change is more frequently discussed in the news, during months in which temperatures are abnormally high, and during exceptionally dry months. Unlike ﬁrm emissions and intensities, variation in carbon betas correlates with green patent issuance and forward-looking measures of climate risk.
CROPS - A Decision-Making Aid Tool for Product Redesign

Change Ranking of Product Subsystems (CROPS) is a computer program that is designed to act as a decision-making aid for designers during early stages of their product redesign process. It generates a ranking of all subsystems within the existing product design architecture based on their estimated redesign risk. This information assists designers in selecting the right existing subsystems to be initially changed to satisfy the driving requirements, which have to be quickly decided. In this program, evaluation of redesign risk captures both direct and indirect change effects that potentially result from the modification of each subsystem. Designers are provided with a relative reference as to how risky and extensive it is to change one subsystem over the others, which can be useful when they have options to pick between several subsystems to modify for the same redesign requirement.
New Strategy for Inducing Surface Anisotropy in Polyimide Films for Nematics Orientation in Display Applications

The operability of liquid crystal displays is strongly impacted by the orientation aspects of nematics, which in turn are affected by the alignment layer surface features. In this work, two polyimide (PI) structures are obtained based on a cycloaliphatic dianhydride and aromatic or aliphatic diamines with distinct flexibility. The attained PI films have high transmittance (T) for visible radiations, i.e., at 550 nm T > 80%. Here, a novel strategy for creating surface anisotropy in the samples that combines rubbing with a cloth and stretching via pressing is reported. Birefringence and atomic force microscopy (AFM) scans reveal that the generated orientation of the chains is affected by the chemical structure of the polymer and order of the steps involved in the surface treatment. Molecular modeling computations and wettability tests show that the PI structure and produced surface topography are competitive factors, which are impacting the intensity of the interactions with the nematic liquid crystals. The achieved results are of great relevance for designing of reliable display devices with improved uniform orientation of liquid crystals.
A new solution to distributed permutation flow shop scheduling problem based on NASH Q-Learning

Aiming at Distributed Permutation Flow-shop Scheduling Problems (DPFSPs), this study took the minimization of the maximum completion time of the workpieces to be processed in all production tasks as the goal, and took the multi-agent Reinforcement Learning (RL) method as the main frame of the solution model, then, combining with the NASH equilibrium theory and the RL method, it proposed a NASH Q-Learning algorithm for Distributed Flow-shop Scheduling Problem (DFSP) based on Mean Field (MF). In the RL part, this study designed a two-layer online learning mode in which the sample collection and the training improvement proceed alternately, the outer layer collects samples, when the collected samples meet the requirement of batch size, it enters to the inner layer loop, which uses the Q-learning model-free batch processing mode to proceed, and adopts neural network to approximate the value function to adapt to large-scale problems. By comparing the Average Relative Percentage Deviation (ARPD) index of the benchmark test questions, the calculation results of the proposed algorithm outperformed other similar algorithms, which proved the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
Seismic resistant retaining walls of reinforced soil

The paper presents the experimental results of a comparative study carried out on the Bristol shaking table. The behaviour under seismic loads of two similar models of retaining walls has been investigated. One of them modelled a reinforced soil wall, while the other was a confined wall. The test programme used three types of inputs: sinedwell, Calitri and EC8. Since testing objectives were the settlements, horizontal displacements and induced accelerations at five different levels appropriate recording devices were provided. A total of 50 quakes with gradually increasing intensities were performed: 26 for the gravity model and 24 for the confined one. The tilting phenomenon experienced by prototype retaining walls in the Kobe earthquake also occurred in the shaking table tests. However, the two models behaved essentially differently. While the induced accelerations were much amplified by the gravity model, the confined model showed a strong attenuation. Both conceptual design and further research of practical interest for developing advanced numerical models are supported by the results.
25.3: Perceptually Linear Gamma Correction for LCDs

This paper proposes a natural and accurate approach how to design perceptually linear “gamma correction”1 for LCD. It is based on two advanced technologies: piece‐wise TRC (tone reproduction curve) model of electro‐optical property for LCD device, and DICOM grayscale function of optical‐perceptual characteristic for human visual system.
Optimal design of horizontal-axis wind turbines using blade-element theory and evolutionary computation

This paper describes a multi-objective optimization method for the design of stall-regulated horizontal-axis wind turbines. Two modules are used for this purpose: an aerodynamic model implementing the blade-element theory and a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The former provides a sufficiently accurate solution of the flow field around the rotor disc; the latter handles the decision variables of the optimization problem, i.e., the main geometrical parameters of the rotor configuration, and promotes function optimization. The scope of the method is to achieve the best trade-off performance between two objectives: annual energy production per square meter of wind park (to be maximized) and cost of energy (to be minimized). Examples of the best solutions found by the method are described and their performance compared with those of commercial wind turbines.
Influence of Congested Match Schedules, Pre-Match Well-Being and Level of Opponents on Match Loads during World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series

This study aimed at assessing (1) the effect of congested match schedules on match loads and well-being as well as (2) pre-match well-being and level of opponents on match loads in elite women’s rugby sevens. Eleven players of the Brazilian women’s rugby sevens national team were investigated across three 2019-20 HSVC World Rugby Women’s Seven Series tournaments to assess: (1) within-tournament match-to-match changes in various external and internal match load measures; (2) daily changes in players’ well-being collected before the commencement of a tournament (day one) and during or post-tournament (day two to day four); and (3) the effect of pre-match well-being and level of opponents (high vs. low level) on match loads. Results revealed no between-match significant differences (p > 0.05) in most of the investigated match load measures. A congested match schedule negatively affected perceived fatigue (p < 0.001), muscle soreness (p = 0.004) and overall wellness (p < 0.001), with post hoc analyses showing decreased values on day four compared to previous days (small-to-moderate effect sizes). Finally, pre-match well-being and level of opponents did not affect match loads (p > 0.05). These results highlighted the necessity to embrace a multidimensional approach when adopting monitoring systems in elite women’s rugby sevens during tournaments and to consider various contextual factors possibly affecting match loads, besides those investigated.
XBRL and Integrated Reporting: The Spanish Accounting Association Taxonomy approach

Recently, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) developed a Discussion Paper (DP), offering initial proposals for the development of an International Integrated Reporting Framework, combining and connecting financial and non-financial information, including past and future information and outlining the next steps towards its creation and adoption. Among different aspects and elements of a future integrated report, the DP develops the idea of a report supported by XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language). The aim of this article is to explain the proposal made to the IIRC by the Spanish Accounting and Business Administration Association (Asociacion Espanola de Contabilidad y Administracion de Empresas, AECA) of a taxonomy for integrated reporting. In that proposal, the Association made use of the most recent technical developments of XBRL, which are briefly discussed in the first part of the article.
Eksplorasi Kemampuan Pemecahan Masalah Siswa SMA dengan Model Discovery Learning pada Materi Fluida Statis

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi kemampuan pemecahan masalah siswa pada materi fluida statis. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah eksperimental kuasi, dengan desain penelitian yaitu tipe rancangan pasangan subjek melalui tes awal dan tes akhir dengan kelompok kontrol. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di SMA Negeri 3 Samarinda pada kelas XI MIPA 4 dan XI MIPA 5. Pengambilan data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan teknik tes yang dilaksanakan sebelum kegiatan pembelajaran (pretest) dan sesudah kegiatan pembelajaran (posttest), dengan jenis instrumen tes yaitu tes esai. Hasil analisis uji Mann-Whitney menunjukkan bahwa model discovery learning berpengaruh terhadap kemampuan pemecahan masalah siswa, dimana terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara kelas eksperimen dan kelas kontrol. Terjadi peningkatan kemampuan pemecahan masalah siswa baik kelas eksperimen maupun kelas kontrol. Hal ini didasarkan pada hasil uji N-Gain dimana rata-rata N-Gain kelas ekperimen adalah 0,6 dan kelas kontrol 0,3 yang mana keduanya termasuk kategori sedang. Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa penerapan model discovery learning dapat meningkatkan kemampuan pemecahan masalah siswa SMA pada materi fluida statis.
Circularly polarized SIW square ring‐slot antenna for X‐band applications

In this letter, a single‐layer circularly polarized substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) square ring‐slot antenna operating in the X‐band is proposed.The circularly polarized wave is generated by a combination of a shortened square ring‐slot etched in the SIW top wall and a shorting via placed between the area bounded by the ring and the SIW bottom wall. Experimental results prove that the antenna with a coax‐to‐SIW transition radiates a right‐hand circularly polarized (RHCP) wave and it achieves the impedance bandwidth of 10.3% for the reflection coefficient less than –10 dB, the axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 2.6% for AR less than 3 dB, and the RHCP gain 8.0 dBi. The proposed antenna has the advantage of conventional planar structures including low profile, light weight, and easy low cost fabrication. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:2590–2594, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27113
Multi-band radio-frequency filters fabricated using polyimide-based membrane transfer bonding technology

In this paper, we present a polyimide-based Si membrane transfer bonding technology and its application to CMOS-compatible integration of different modes of AlN/Si composite piezoelectric MEMS resonators. The thermosetting polyimide, which has excellent chemical resistance and thermal stability, is used as a bonding adhesion, and is successfully removed as a sacrificial layer by O2 plasma to release free-standing MEMS devices. The whole process temperature is below 350 °C and compatible with CMOS LSI. Using this technology, different modes of AlN/Si resonators, which are film bulk acoustic wave resonators and wine-glass mode disk-type resonators, have been co-fabricated on the same wafer. We also fabricated a ladder-type FBAR filter with a center frequency of 7.71 GHz and a mechanically coupled disk-array filter with a center frequency of 292.8 GHz.
A multi-objective selective maintenance optimization method for series-parallel systems using NSGA-III and NSGA-II evolutionary algorithms

Aiming at the problem that the downtime is simply assumed to be constant and the limited resources are not considered in the current selective maintenance of the series-parallel system, a three-objective selective maintenance model for the series-parallel system is established to minimize the maintenance cost, maximize the probability of completing the next task and minimize the downtime. The maintenance decision-making model and personnel allocation model are combined to make decisions on the optimal length of each equipment’s rest period, the equipment to be maintained during the rest period and the maintenance level. For the multi-objective model established, the NSGA-III algorithm is designed to solve the model. Comparing with the NSGA-II algorithm that only considers the first two objectives, it is verified that the designed multi-objective model can effectively reduce the downtime of the system.