Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Material perception for philosophers

: Common everyday materials such as textiles, foodstuffs, soil or skin can have complex, mutable and varied appearances. Under typical viewing conditions, most observers can visually recognize materials effortlessly, and determine many of their properties without touching them. Visual material perception raises many fascinating questions for vision researchers, neuroscientists and philosophers, yet has received little attention compared to the perception of colour or shape. Here we discuss some of the challenges that material perception raises and argue that further philosophical thought should be directed to how we see materials.
Measurements of Planar Microwave Circuits Using an Improved Trl Calibration Method

In this paper, an improved TRL (Thru-Re∞ect-Line) calibration method is presented. This method is based on ten-term error model of a two-port vector network analyzer(VNA) measurement system. Eight error terms induced by flxtures as well as two leakage errors are derived directly from the S parameters of the calibration standards measured from the coaxial reference plane without converting S parameters to T parameters. To validate our algorithm, a microstrip device with a via hole and a coplanar waveguide transmission line are fabricated and calibrated using the present TRL calibration method and Engen's algorithm, respectively. The magnitudes and phases of S11 and S21 of the devices are compared. The consistency of the de-embedded results with those calibrated by Engen's TRL algorithm illustrates the validity of the TRL algorithm in this paper.
An Active Suspension with Optimal Linear State Feedback

SUMMARY In this paper modern optimal control theory is applied to the design of an active suspension system for a motor vehicle. The road profile is assumed to be continuous and random with a power spectral density (P.S.D.) which varies inversely with the square of the frequency. The quadratic integral type performance index employed is a weighted sum of the integral squares of body acceleration, dynamic tyre deflection and relative body-to-axle displacement. A solution is obtained for the infinite time case which is both computationally and physically realizable as an active suspension in which the only continuous measurements required are the body absolute velocity and the body displacement relative to the road. The performance is compared with that of a conventional type passive suspension and found to be significantly better in practically all respects.
The Association between Physical Frailty and Psycho-Social Health in Determining Geriatric Health-Related Quality of Life in Rural India

The association of physical frailty and psycho-social health is well established. However, it appears no study on the interaction of these conditions in determining the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has yet been attempted in India. Hence, present study aims to investigate the interaction effects of physical frailty and psycho-social health in determining the HRQoL. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 500 community-dwelling rural elderly participants from West Bengal, India. The modified Fried’s Frailty instrument was assessed physical frailty status. Psycho-social characteristics investigated were depression, anxiety and stress using the 21-item DASS instrument, loneliness using the UCLA Loneliness instrument, and cognitive function using the Mini-Mental State Examination instrument. HRQoL was assessed by the 36-items Short Form health survey questionnaire. Overall prevalence of frail, pre-frail and non-frail was 26.2%, 60.2%, and 13.6%, respectively. One-way ANOVA highlighted that mean scores of psycho-social traits are significantly differed among different physical frailty status groups (p<0.01). All the elderly participants were clustered with their psycho-social characteristics instrument scores as clustering variables using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis to understand psycho-social health of the participants. Two-way ANCOVA showed significant interaction of physical frailty status (frail, pre-frail and non-frail) and empirically occurring clusters of psycho-social health (low, moderate and good) in determining the overall HRQoL [F(8,491)=8.904,p<0.01]. Thus, our findings suggest that consideration of physical frailty and psycho-social health status will be a prudent approach for a better diagnosis of HRQoL and challenges related to the same.
Cooperation Design System Based on Mobile-C Agent Platform

Over the past decades, Distributed Systems (DS) have been adopted for industrial applications to improve the system efficiency because distributed architecture has advantages in resource utilization, fault toleration . etc. Multi-Agent System (MAS) arises from combination of the theories of artificial intelligence and distributed systems. One character of MAS is their self-organization, so how to implement an effective mechanism for self-organization of agents is important to a MAS system, this paper describes the design and implementation of a Mobile-C based agent management system, in which Mobile-C was adopted as the implementation platform, and this paper also described an agent-based cooperative design application using this system to manage all the agents involved.
Social distancing from foreign individuals as a disease-avoidance mechanism: Testing the assumptions of the behavioral immune system theory during the COVID-19 pandemic

Topics of prejudice, discrimination, and negative attitudes toward outgroups have attracted much attention of social scientists during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the preference for social distancing can originate from the perception of threat. One of the theoretical approaches that offers an explanation for avoidance tendencies is the behavioral immune system theory. As a motivational system that aims to identify and avoid pathogens, the behavioral immune system has been shown to be triggered by various cues of a potential disease threat (e.g., the risk of contracting a virus), which further leads to negative social consequences such as xenophobia, negative attitudes toward various social groups, and distancing tendencies. We present a correlational study (N = 588; Polish sample) that was designed to test mediational models derived from the behavioral immune system theory, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a source of natural disease threat. In serial mediation analyses we show that the perceived threat of COVID-19 translates into greater preferred social distance from foreign individuals, and that this occurs in two ways: 1) via pathogen disgust (but not sexual or moral disgust), and 2) via germ aversion (but not perceived infectability). Both pathogen disgust and germ aversion further predict general feelings toward foreign individuals, which finally determine the preferred social distance from these individuals. The results support the behavioral immune system theory as an important concept for understanding social distancing tendencies.
AGARD Standard Aeroelastic Configurations for Dynamic Response I - Wing 445.6

Abstract : Research on the application of computational fluid dynamics methods to unsteady flows and aeroelastic analysis, especially in the transonic range, is presently undergoing rapid development. In order to assess the applicability of such newly developed prediction techniques for practical aeroelastic investigations of modern aircraft, standard aeroelastic configurations for comparing calculated and measured dynamic aeroelastic behavior under high subsonic to transonic flow conditions have been defined by the AGARD-SMP. The present report contains experimental flutter data for the AGARD 3D swept tapered standard configuration 'Wing 445.6', along with related descriptive data of the model properties required for comparative flutter calculations. Within a cooperative AGARD-SMP programme guided by the Subcommittee on Aeroelasticity, this standard configuration may serve as a common basis for comparisons of calculated and measured aeroelastic behaviour, in order to promote a better understanding of the assumptions, approximation and limitations underlying the various aerodynamic methods applied, thus pointing the way to further improvements.
Development of the resonant-cavity virtual-cathode and large-orbit gyrotron high-power microwave sources

At Los Alamos National Laboratory, research is continuing on the development of both the resonant-cavity virtual-cathode source and the large-orbit gyrotron high-power microwave source. The resonant-cavity virtual-cathode development effort has succeeded in demonstrating narrowband, single-mode operation of this typically wideband source. This is accomplished by supplying feedback to the oscillating virtual cathode with a resonant-cavity structure. The large-orbit gyrotron effort is developing a method for efficiently coupling the microwave power from the device so that it can be easily used as a high-power microwave generator for accelerator applications. A repetitive pulse capability is also being developed for both microwave sources. Experimental results are presented. <<ETX>>
The heuristic analysis of the diffusion

The principles of the heuristic analysis are presented in the form of the heuristic diffusion model. The model is based on the theoretical issues of mathematical diffusion models. It specifies the life cycle of an innovation, defines typical features of diffusion phases and some features of the diffusion as a phenomenon. The heuristic model is a tool that increases understanding of the complicated process of diffusion. It is a tool to explain and manage the adoption of new technologies. The theoretical background and contents of the heuristic model were presented in earlier publications by the author. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the practice of the heuristic analysis and the use of the model. In the beginning, a short introduction to the heuristic model is given. Practical applications based on the real empirical data are presented. These applications show the benefits of the model as a tool to manage the adoption of complicated technologies. Analysis of the applications and evaluation of the model are presented in the paper. <<ETX>>
Probabilistic evaluation of the economical damage due to harmonic losses in industrial energy system

The problem of harmonic loss evaluation is of growing interest among power system engineers, both for the increase of operating costs and the decrease of the useful life of the system components. The paper addresses this problem with a probabilistic approach to take into account the randomness of current and voltage harmonics; a method for evaluating the expected value of the operating costs and of the premature aging costs is presented. A numerical application to a test system is also discussed, showing the viability of the proposed approach and the significance of the results; in particular, the aging costs turn out to be unaffected by the type of probability density function describing the harmonics.
Growth Kinetics and Toxicity of Pseudomonas fredriksbergsis Grown on Phenol as Sole Carbon Source

Phenol is one of the main pollutants that have a serious impact on the environment and can even be very critical to human health. The biodegradation of phenol can be considered an increasingly important pollution control process. In this study, the degradation of phenol by Pseudomonas fredriksbergsis was investigated for the first time under different growth conditions. Six different initial concentrations of phenol were used as the primary substrate. Culture conditions had an important effect on these cells’ ability to biodegrade phenol. The best growth of this or ganism and its highest biodegradation level of phenol were noticed at pH 7, temperature 28 °C, and periods of 36 and 96 h, respectively. The highest biodegradation rate was perceived at 700 mg/L initial phenol concentration. Approximately 90% of the phenol (700 mg/L) was removed in less than 96 hours of incubation time. It was found that the Haldane model best fitted the relationship between the specific growth rate and the initial phenol concentration, whereas the phenol biodegradation profiles time could be adequately described by the modified Gompertz model. The parameters of the Haldane equation are: 0.062 h −1 , 11 ppm, and 121 ppm for Haldane’s maximum specific growth rate, the half-saturation coefficient, and the Haldane’s growth kinetics inhibition coefficient, respectively. The Haldane equation fitted the experimental data by minimizing the sum of squared error (SSR) to 1.36×10 -3 .
A Compact Wideband Active Two-Dipole HF Phased Array

The design and construction of an upgraded HF quarter-wavelength two-dipole active array with 90° difference feed was implemented in the course of a research project to perform a directional (azimuthal) investigation of interference at HF. The lack of affordable compact antennas to meet the project requirements was the incentive to develop a compact unidirectional antenna, with the maximum possible front-to-back ratio at frequencies of 20–30 MHz, where the dimensions of traditional passive antennas are enormous. By installing a low-noise very-high-input impedance amplifier in each dipole of the array, the effect of the mutual coupling between the two dipoles was reduced, improving the front-to-back (F/B) ratio over a wide frequency range. Electronic steering, easy polarization adjustment, and fast and easy deployment were the key requirements for the construction of the antenna. Therefore, a light and compact design was of the utmost importance to meet the space limitations at the monitoring site, which did not allow the deployment of a traditional HF directional antenna that employs a very long boom and elements.
Monolithic integration of a micromachined piezoresistive flow sensor

In this paper, a monolithic integrated piezoresistive flow sensor is presented, which was fabricated with an intermediate CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) process compatible with integrated pressure sensors. Four symmetrically arranged silicon diaphragms with piezoresistors on them were used to sense the drag force induced by the input gas flow. A signal conditioning CMOS circuit with a temperature compensation module was designed and fabricated simultaneously on the same chip with an increase of the total chip area by only 35%. An extra step of boron implantation and annealing was inserted into the standard CMOS process to form the piezoresistors. KOH anisotropic etching from the backside and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) from the front side were combined to realize the silicon diaphragms. The integrated flow sensor was packaged and tested. The testing results indicated that the addition of piezoresistor formation and structure releasing did not significantly change any of the circuitry characteristics. The measured sensor output has a quadratic relation with the input flow rate of the fluid as predicted. The tested resolution of the sensor is less than 0.1 L min−1 with a measurement range of 0.1–5 L min−1 and the sensitivity is better than 40 mV per (L min−1) with a measurement range of 4–5 L min−1. The measured noise floor of the sensor is 21.7 µV rtHz−1.
Degradation of bit-error rate in coherent optical communications due to spectral spread of the transmitter and the local oscillator

In coherent optical communication schemes, the FM noises of the transmitter and/or the local oscillator seriously deteriorate the receiver sensitivity. A theory is developed describing the effect of the FM noise on the bit-error rate (BER) performance of various heterodyne and homodyne schemes. To verify the theory, the BER of a phase-shift keying (PSK) heterodyne system is measured. The feasibility of the PSK scheme using semiconductor lasers is also discussed on the basis of analysis and experimentation.
Pre-migration residual multiple subtraction using post-migration matching for North Sea OBN data

Summary In the North Sea, water bottom related surface multiples offer one of the largest challenges to a seismic processing project with a careful balance between multiple attenuation and primary preservation required when using a model and subtract approach. For Ocean Bottom Node (OBN) data Up/down deconvolution can be used to output the reflectivity where multiple and source signature will be removed, eliminating the need for an adaptive subtraction as part of the principle de-multiple process. Residual multiple can however still be present where the assumptions within the up/down deconvolution method do not adequately describe the reality of the data. Often, these residuals are only noticeable once migrated, particularly where a diffracted component is prevalent. In this paper, a method using the coherency of residual multiple evaluated on migrated and stacked data is used to drive pre-migration residual multiple attenuation through the use of a matched-subtraction.
Fast real power contingency ranking using a counterpropagation network

This paper proposes a fast real power contingency ranking approach which is based on a pattern recognition technique using a forward-only counterpropagation neural network (CPN). The power system operating state is described by a set of variables which compose the pattern. The corresponding performance indices of various contingencies can then be recognised by a properly trained counterpropagation network. A feature selection method is also employed for reducing the dimensionality of the input patterns. When compared with a full AC load flow the proposed method is more superior and has good pattern recognition ability.
Phase noise in oscillators: a unifying theory and numerical methods for characterization

Phase noise is a topic of theoretical and practical interest in electronic circuits, as well as in other fields, such as optics. Although progress has been made in understanding the phenomenon, there still remain significant gaps, both in its fundamental theory and in numerical techniques for its characterization. In this paper, we develop a solid foundation for phase noise that is valid for any oscillator, regardless of operating mechanism. We establish novel results about the dynamics of stable nonlinear oscillators in the presence of perturbations, both deterministic and random. We obtain an exact nonlinear equation for phase error, which we solve without approximations for random perturbations. This leads us to a precise characterization of timing jitter and spectral dispersion, for computing of which we have developed efficient numerical methods. We demonstrate our techniques on a variety of practical electrical oscillators and obtain good matches with measurements, even at frequencies close to the carrier, where previous techniques break down. Our methods are more than three orders of magnitude faster than the brute-force Monte Carlo approach, which is the only previously available technique that can predict phase noise correctly.
Analysis of the Admittance Component for Digitally Controlled Single-Phase Bridgeless PFC Converter

This paper analyzes the effect of the admittance component for the digitally controlled single-phase bridgeless power factor correction (PFC) converter. To do this, it is shown how the digital delay effects such as the digital pulse-width modulation (DPWM) and the computation delays restrict the bandwidth of the converter. After that, the admittance effect of the entire digital control system is analyzed when the bridgeless PFC converter which has the limited bandwidth is connected to the grid. From this, the waveform distortion of the input current is explained and the compensation method for the admittance component is suggested to improve the quality of the input current. Both the simulations and the experiments are performed to verify the analyses taken in this paper for the 1 kW bridgeless PFC converter prototype.
Spatio-Temporal Quality of Precision Farming Applications

The successful use of precision farming technology for automated data acquisition, site specific farming, fleet management and field robots makes it necessary to have a detailed knowledge on the quality of all utilized equipment. To get knowledge on this quality is the aim of the presented investigation. Key technologies such as the positioning system or the standardized bus communication are the main subjects. The delays and errors of these systems and their variance allow to point out limiting factors and formulate general design rules for future precision farming developments.
Adaptive reduction of motion artifact from photoplethysmographic recordings using a variable step-size LMS filter

Photoplethysmography (PPG) is widely used for the continuous monitoring of peripheral circulation. However, the quality of the PPG signal is degraded drastically by motion artifact caused during dynamic recordings. In this paper, a LMS filter with automatic step-size control is proposed to mitigate the effects of motion artifact in PPG recordings for long-term patient monitoring. Experimental results show that the proposed variable step-size LMS filter can provide better performance than the LMS filter with fixed step-size.
Knowledge, perception and utilization of cervical cancer screening and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among immigrants and refugees in Central Ohio

Background: Immigrants in the US are at higher risk of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer compared to the general US population. Low awareness surrounding cervical cancer inhibits associated preventive practices. Purpose: This cross-sectional study examined the association between knowledge, attitude, and utilization of health services for cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccine among immigrant and refugee women in Ohio. Method: Preliminary analyses were conducted on a total of 70 participants recruited from immigrant and refugee organizations and community centers, using a validated paper survey. Results: There was a statistically significant association between cervical cancer screening and general knowledge on cervical cancer (p = 0.038). The study also revealed association between screening age (p < 0.001) and insurance status (p = 0.033). Majority of the participants perceived HPV vaccine to be ineffective at preventing cervical cancer, and 40.8% participants had never heard of the vaccine and consequently had not been vaccinated. 94% participants did not receive the HPV vaccine, however, 65.3% participants indicated willingness to be vaccinated against HPV for free or at reduced cost. Conclusion: Culturally appropriate interventions are warranted to develop effective strategies that will influence HPV screening behavior and vaccine uptake in this target population.
Performance analysis of non‐orthogonal multiple access assisted cooperative relay system with channel estimation errors and imperfect successive interference cancellation

This article studies a new non‐orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) assisted decode‐and‐forward cooperative relay (NOMA‐DFCR) system, where the downlink NOMA principle is employed to communicate between a source‐destination pair through a dedicated relay. Performance of the proposed system is analyzed in terms of the outage probability (OP), system throughput (ST), and ergodic sum rate with channel estimation errors (CEEs) and imperfect successive interference cancellation (SIC). An approximate expression of the OP and the diversity order of the presented scheme are derived. To gain further insights, asymptotic analysis of the OP is carried out at high signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) regime. Further, we also investigate the impact of power allocation coefficients and CEEs on the system performance. Moreover, the OP of orthogonal multiple access (OMA) assisted cooperative relay system is evaluated and compared with the proposed scheme. To validate the correctness of the derived analytical results, Monte Carlo simulations are performed. Numerical and simulation results have shown that the proposed system outperforms its OMA counterpart and the schemes in References 14 and 15, in terms of both the ST and OP.