Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genomic-based epidemiology reveals gene flow and independent origins of glyphosate resistance in Bassia scoparia populations across North America

Genomic-based epidemiology can provide insight into the origins and spread of herbicide resistance mechanisms in weeds. We used kochia (Bassia scoparia) populations resistant to the herbicide glyphosate from across western North America to test the alternative hypotheses that 1) a single EPSPS gene duplication event occurred initially in the Central Great Plains and then subsequently spread to all other geographical areas now exhibiting glyphosate-resistant kochia populations or that 2) gene duplication occurred multiple times in independent events in a case of parallel evolution. We used qPCR markers previously developed for measuring the various units of the EPSPS tandem duplication to investigate whether all glyphosate-resistant plants had the same EPSPS repeat structure. We also investigated population structure using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to determine the relatedness of kochia populations from across the Central Great Plains, Northern Plains, and the Paciﬁc Northwest. We identiﬁed three distinct EPSPS-duplication haplotypes that had geographic associations with the Central Great Plains, Northern Plains, and Paciﬁc Northwest. Population structure revealed a group of populations around the ﬁrst reported occurrence of glyphosate resistance in the Central Great Plains, a separate group of Paciﬁc Northwest populations, and some relatedness of populations from geographically isolated areas. The results support at least three independent origins of glyphosate resistance in kochia, followed by substantial and mostly geographically localized gene ﬂow to spread the resistance alleles into diverse genetic backgrounds.
Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines

From the Preface (See Front Matter for full Preface) Man has within a single generation found himself sharing the world with a strange new species: the computers and computer-like machines. Neither history, nor philosophy, nor common sense will tell us how these machines will affect us, for they do not do "work" as did machines of the Industrial Revolution. Instead of dealing with materials or energy, we are told that they handle "control" and "information" and even "intellectual processes. " There are very few individuals today who doubt that the computer and its relatives are developing rapidly in capability and complexity, and that these machines are destined to play important (though not as yet fully understood) roles in society's future. Though only some of us deal directly with computers, all of us are falling under the shadow of their ever-growing sphere of influence, and thus we all need to understand their capabilities and their limitations. It would indeed be reassuring to have a book that categorically and systematically described what all these machines can do and what they cannot do, giving sound theoretical or practical grounds for each judgment. However, although some books have purported to do this, it cannot be done for the following reasons: a) Computer-like devices are utterly unlike anything which science has ever considered---we still lack the tools necessary to fully analyze, synthesize, or even think about them; and b) The methods discovered so far are effective in certain areas, but are developing much too rapidly to allow a useful interpretation and interpolation of results. The abstract theory---as described in this book---tells us in no uncertain terms that the machines' potential range is enormous, and that its theoretical limitations are of the subtlest and most elusive sort. There is no reason to suppose machines have any limitations not shared by man.
Extended Kalman filter tuning in sensorless PMSM drives

The use of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) as nonlinear speed and position observer for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives is a mature research topic. Notwithstanding, the shift from research prototype to a market-ready product still calls for a solution of some implementation pitfalls. The major and still unsolved topic is the choice of the EKF covariance matrices. This paper replaces the usual trial-and-error method with a straightforward matrices choice. These matrices, possibly combined with a novel self-tuning procedure, should put the EKF drive much closer to an off-the-shelf product. The proposed method is based on the complete normalisation of the EKF algorithm representation. Successful experimental results are included in the paper.
Sliding Mode Control of PFC Converter

The controllers in Power Factor Corrected (PFC) converters are conventionally designed in frequency or time domain using linearized model of the converter system. These controllers are not always adequate for PFC converters due to presence of hard nonlinearity in the system. Theoretically, linear feedback designs can only ensure stability and satisfactory operation under restrictive operating conditions for which the linearized model is valid. However, as the application base of PFC converters increases, the need for more robust control schemes becomes imperative. To this end, the sliding mode approach, described in this work, inherently addresses hard nonlinearity present in the PFC converters. The controller design and simulations results are presented and discussed in detail. As expected, the results show that sliding mode controller improves converter dynamics and large-signal stability without compromising on the intrinsic simplicity of the conventional control scheme. The sliding mode controller is found to be more robust and appropriate control scheme for PFC converters as compared to conventional linear controllers.
Seismic Behavior of Frame-Wall-Rocking Foundation Systems. I: Test Program and Slow Cyclic Results

AbstractThe mechanism of foundation rocking has received much attention recently due to its appealing seismic resistant features, namely, self-centering tendency and energy dissipation capability. It is well recognized, however, that other inelastic mechanisms will contribute to a system’s seismic resistance. Considering the strength difference between a rocking footing and a shear wall structural fuse, and the system symmetry, six different two-story-two-bay frame-wall-foundation building models were constructed and tested in a geotechnical centrifuge. In this paper, the test program and experimental results when the models were subjected to slow cyclic loading are presented. A companion paper presents results from the dynamic phase of testing. Results indicate that, with the aid of foundation rocking, the system behaves in a ductile and stable manner with no strength degradation, even when the model is pushed to a drift of more than 2.5%. Importantly, when structural and foundation component strengths a.
Storage Tank Floor and Wall Defect In-Situ Inspection With Ultrasonic Guided Wave Technique

Large storage tanks for oil storage are widely used in petrochemical industry. Corrosion in the tank floor and wall is a serious threat for environmental and economic safety. Owing to their unique potential for long-range, in-plane propagation through plates, Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGW) offer an obvious solution in the development of an on-board structural health-monitoring (SHM) system, providing assessment of structural integrity for storage tank floor and wall defect in-situ inspection. This paper presents this application by focusing on their propagation through the plate structure. Even very small mechanical discontinuity or geometry change of plate structure, e.g. corrosion defect on tank floor, will influence the propagation characteristic of the guided waves. These effects are measured as mode changes, frequency shifts or filtering, reflection and diffraction of new ultrasonic modes or overall distortion of the original ultrasonic signals. By capturing and analyzing these changes we can deduct the corrosion defect of the tank floor and wall which causes the ultrasonic signal change and interactions. The T/R transducers are required to be attached on the outer edge of the tank floor and outer surface of the tank wall. The technique is developed based on the Lamb wave transmission tomography. Starting from the dispersion curve and choosing the appropriate wave mode, the propagation of the guided waves in the tank floor and wall has been carried out through numerical simulation and the experiment has been conducted for verification using the full-size oil storage tank. The low frequency guided waves can propagate longer distance in planar and tubular structures. The later has been already used in pipeline inspection. The complexity of the application of ultrasonic guided wave in tank floor inspection lies in the object containing multiple lap joint welds along the large diameter of the tank (up to 100 m) and the complicated reconstruction of the two-dimensional defect distribution information. The main scope of the investigation was the application of the ultrasonic transmission tomography for localization of non-uniformities of inside tank floor, taking into account ultrasonic signal losses due to the loading with oil on the top and ground support at the bottom for the tank floor, and the loading with oil inside for the vertical tank wall.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Hybrid Cognitive-Radio NOMA with Blind Transmission Mode Identification and BER Constraints

The synergy of nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and cognitive radio (CR) can provide efficient spectrum utilization for future wireless networks and enable supporting heterogeneous quality of service (QoS) requirements. In this context, this article aims at evaluating the throughput of a downlink CR-NOMA network where the secondary user (SU) data is opportunistically multiplexed with the primary user (PU) data using power-domain NOMA. The data multiplexing process is constrained by the PU QoS requirements. The multiplexing process can be considered seamless with respect to the PU because its receiver design will generally remain unchanged. Moreover, we consider the case where the SU detects its own data by blindly identifying the adopted transmission mode (TM) at the base station, which can be PU orthogonal multiple access PU-OMA, SU-OMA, PU/SU-NOMA, and no transmission. Consequently, the network can be classified as a hybrid underlay-interweave. The detection process is considered blind because the SU does not receive side information about the adopted TM. The obtained analytical results corroborated by Monte Carlo simulation results show that the proposed CR-NOMA network can provide substantial throughput improvement over conventional NOMA networks, particularly at low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) because the unutilized PU spectrum can be used by the SU. Moreover, in good channel conditions the PU can tolerate some interference from the SU, which may improve the channel utilization significantly.
Performance Index for a Preview Active Suspension Applied to a Quarter-Car Model

A simple and convenient matrix expression is derived for the performance index in the case of a linear vehicle model with two degrees of freedom and a preview active suspension, subject to a unit step road input and employing optimal control. The usual quadratic integral-type performance index is assumed and the effect of an additional form of constraint is described briefly. The effects of preview time on the performance index and the optimal feed-forward control are illustrated graphically for a particular example.
New design of the low crosstalk and low-loss AWG with optimal waveguide separations and orientation angle of slabs

This paper presents an optimal design of the waveguide separation and the orientation angle of the slabs for the arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) with low-crosstalk and low-loss. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a 16×16 AWG using silica-based sol-gel material is designed as an example to meet our prescribed specifications. The performance of the designed AWG is perfectly verified by simulation usingbeam propagation method (BPM). And the methodology of determining the optimal waveguide separation and the orientation angle of the slabs is simple and useful to obtain a low-crosstalk and low-loss AWG.
Optical interferometric displacement calibration and thermomechanical noise detection in bulk focused ion beam-fabricated nanoelectromechanical systems

Optical interferometric techniques are used for absolute (calibrated) displacement measurements of focused ion beam (FIB)-fabricated nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). FIB nanomachining of bulk Si gives rapidly prototyped cantilever and doubly clamped beam devices. Ion impingement from orthogonal directions allows tailoring of deep, undercut-free gaps between the device layer and the bulk, in turn allowing large amplitude NEMS oscillatory motion, access to a nonlinear readout regime and a new calibration method for optical interferometric displacement detection. The measurements are sensitive enough to determine the thermomechanical noise floor of a bulk FIBed NEMS device with a displacement sensitivity of 166 fm Hz−½, limited by the combination of optical shot noise and detector dark current. This sensitivity, comparable to the state of the art for free-space optical interferometry of NEMS, validates the robustness of the bulk FIB fabrication technique for rapid prototyping of nanoscale mechanical devices.
ACTIVE NOISE CONTROL OF A VARIABLE DISPLACEMENT AXIAL PISTON PUMP WITH EVEN NUMBER OF CYLINDERS

This paper deals with an active noise control of a variable displacement axial piston pump. The primary cause of noise generation of a piston pump is the exciting force due to the sudden pressure change in the rotor cylinders. In the pump with even number of cylinders, it is easy to control the vibration because exciting forces make a moment and the frequency is a half of that of the pump with odd number of cylinders. We use two swash angle control cylinders to actively control the swash plate vibration and reduce the pump noise. This methodis not to suppress the vibration but to support the swash plate softly and consequently to reduce the high frequency components of the pump noise. The noise level was reduced to 67 dB from 69 dB and the effects remained for a long time after once the parameters were tuned.
Using Composite Classifier Systems to Predict Protein Locations

Predicting protein location is both an important and challenging topic in molecular and cellular biology. As we all know that the location of proteins sheds light upon the function of a protein whose location was uncertain. But the success of human genome project led to a protein sequence explosion. It is in a great need to develop a computational method for fast and reliably predicting the locations of proteins according to their primary sequences. In this paper, we use composite classifier system that was formed by a set of k-nearest neighbor (K-NN) classifiers, each of which is defined in a different pseudo amino composition vector. The location of a queried protein is determined by the outcome of voting among these constituent individual classifiers. It is show through the outcome that the classifier outperformed single classifier widely used in biological literature.
A Data Base of Physically Demanding Tasks Performed by U.S. Army Soldiers

The Department of Defense spends approximately one million dollars annually on research to enhance soldier physical performance (LTC K.E. Friedl, personal communication, Jan 1996). To most effectively direct this research effort, an accurate understanding of the physical demands of Army jobs is needed. The physical demands are available in printed form, however, there is no computerized means to quickly access and compile this information. The purpose of this paper is to describe the creation of a series of data bases containing the physically demanding tasks of Army occupations and to provide a preliminary summary of a selected data base.
Self-aligned inkjet printing of highly conducting gold electrodes with submicron resolution

Self-aligned printing is a recently developed bottom-up printing technique which utilizes the unique droplet motion on heterogeneous surfaces to define sub-100-nm critical features and surpasses the resolution which can commonly be achieved by direct printing by two orders of magnitude. Here we extend this method, which was originally implemented with conductive polymer inks, to fabrication of functional conductive nanostructures with gold nanoparticle ink. We also designed a configuration where the ink was printed between two lithographically defined patterns to facilitate the study of the channel formation. Channel lengths from 4μm down to 60nm were achieved by controlling the surface tension and drying time of the ink. A fluid dynamical model is presented to explain the mechanism by which the channel forms in the self-aligned printing technique. Field-effect transistors fabricated using gold self-aligned printed source-drain electrodes exhibit significantly improved output currents than those using con.
Compliant bistable mechanism for low frequency vibration energy harvester inspired by auditory hair bundle structures

This paper presents a bio-inspired mechanism for the performance enhancement of piezoelectric power generation in vibration energy harvesting. A compliant bistable mechanism for vibration energy harvesting was explored based on the negative stiffness inspired by the auditory hair bundle structures. The proposed mechanism consists of a compliant, four-bar linkage system to mimic the hair bundle structure inside an inner ear. Our initial prototype energy harvester demonstrates that the compliant bistable mechanism featuring negative stiffness outperforms the conventional vibration energy harvester in the infra-low frequency range (1–10 Hz).
Dynamic Humanoid Gait Simulation of Biped Robot Based on ADAMS

During the design of biped robot HEUBR_1, a new structure of tandem and parallel connection is used in lower-limbs, adding toe-joints to feet. In order to make sure the rationality of humanoid structure design and feasibility of the humanoid gait planning, we built the simulating model of biped robot HEUBR_1 by using software ADAMS. The simulating model of biped robot HEUBR_1 walked stably with toe-joints in fictitious surrounding, which used the motion data exported by humanoid gait planning. During humanoid gait simulation, the biped robot kinematic and dynamical characteristics were achieved. Simulation indicates that the structure of tandem and parallel connection is rational and the method of humanoid gait planning is feasible. Humanoid walking with toe-joints has the characteristic: balanced motion, lower energy and small impact on feet. Simulated data of steady walking will be used as reference for biped robot HEUBR_1 walking experiments.
THE MAGIC FORMULA TYRE MODEL

Abstract An account is given of the latest version 3 of the Magic Formula tyre model. The model provides a set of mathematical formulae from which the forces and moment acting from road to tyre can be calculated at longitudinal, lateral and camber slip conditions, which may occur simultaneously. The model aims at an accurate description of measured steady-state tyre behaviour. The coefficients of the basic formula represent typifying quantities of the tyre characteristic. By selecting proper values, the characteristics for either side force, aligning torque or fore and aft force can be obtained. The new version of the model contains physically based formulations to avoid the introduction of correction factors. Double-sided, possibly non-symmetric pure slip curves are employed as the basis for combined slip calculations. Suggestions are given to estimate the driving part of the longitudinal slip curve and to represent the characteristic at rolling backwards.
Introduction to robust ship track-keeping control design

The application of modern robust control techniques to the problem of surface ship track-keeping control will be considered. The system structure will be assessed and a control strategy proposed which exploits the intrinsic characteristics of the dynamics to provide a natural means of scheduling the controller with surge speed. The design philosophy enables the ship autopilot loop to be used with or without the outer track-keeping control action.
Teaching with technology and higher education: a brave new world?

ABSTRACT This paper explores the application of technology to pedagogy in higher education. The data are gathered from 21 academics who apply technology to their teaching with University students in England. The research is based on a qualitative inductive methodology. The findings reveal that a complex range of personal, social and professional factors influence pedagogy with technology in higher education. The paper makes an original contribution to knowledge by outlining some of the challenges that exist in using technology to teach in higher education. The research participants do not think that applying technology to teaching is necessarily representative of best pedagogical practice. Caution and thought are recommended if pedagogy with technology in higher education is to be developed effectively. The research reveals that transformative pedagogy is possible when technology is applied to teaching in higher education; however, this necessitates considering the needs of the students alongside reflecting on the personal, social and professional backgrounds of those who are teaching in higher education. This innovative approach to professional development with technology is developed in the paper.
Wide dynamic range direct accelerometer

The acceleration input-digital-output sigma-delta modulator accelerometer and the finite-element analysis of the mechanical structure are described. The performance obtained from prototype units is also presented. Silicon micromachining techniques were used to fabricate a high-precision, micro-gee accelerometer. Operating in a closed-loop configuration, the accelerometer utilizes electrostatic field sensing and electrostatic force feedback. The sensor assembly consists of three silicon chips, bonded together at the wafer level. The micromachined sensor is operated in a vacuum to eliminate nonlinear viscous damping and to provide a high-Q second-order mechanical resonant circuit. Near-critical damping is provided by the closed-loop control system. The control system is a highly oversampled sigma-delta modulator that produces a wide dynamic range and a direct digital output. These accelerometers can be built to serve widely diverse markets at a reasonable cost. Frequency ranges from DC to thousands of hertz, accelerations from nano-gees to hundreds of gees, and dynamic ranges in excess of 120 dB can all be accommodated in small rugged silicon accelerometers. <<ETX>>