Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decomposition Methods for Restoring Infrastructure Systems

We consider a new class of integrated network design and scheduling problems, with important applications in the restoration of services provided by civil infrastructure systems after an extreme event. Critical services such as power, waste water, and transportation are provided by these infrastructure systems. The restoration of these services is necessary for the society to recover from the extreme event as quickly as possible. The class of integrated network design and scheduling problems considered by this work focuses on a set of selected arcs to install into an existing network (i.e., network design decisions) and then scheduling these arcs on a set of work groups. Unlike previous network design problems, the network must be operating at intermediate points in time so that the scheduling decisions associated with the design decisions have a significant impact on the objective of the problem. The operations of the network at intermediate points in time will be evaluated by determining the amount of satisfied demand in the network. We also discuss exact methods to solve this class of large scale optimization problems by employing decomposition techniques. Our methods are tested on a realistic data set representing the (disrupted) power infrastructure of New Hanover County, NC. These results indicate that our methods are capable of providing better computational performance to decision-makers.
Well-being and academic workload: Perceptions of Science and technology students

University students need to find a balance between their physical, mental, social, and emotional state to do well in their academics. Student’s well-being should be one of the top priorities for any academic institute. The present study employed a sequential mixed methods approach to provide insights into students’ perceptions of well-being and academic workload. An online survey (n = 385) was conducted in the first phase, followed by collection of qualitative data through course assignments (n = 119) in the second phase for in-depth information. The findings showed that the students are not satisfied with college life, particularly in terms of academic workload as well as basic facilities and services. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that students have issues coping with negative emotions, which is likely to impact their overall well-being and health. Therefore, it is crucial that the colleges implement strategic interventions to address these issues.
‘Why would I want sex now?’ A qualitative study on older women's affirmative narratives on sexual inactivity in later life

Abstract The existing research tries to understand the reasons for discontinuing sex in later life with the assumption that people want to be sexual. Although the growing body of literature informs that sex remains an integral part of older adults’ lives, a substantial number of older adults declare not being sexually active. This study aimed at exploring motives for deliberately choosing sexual inactivity among older women. Semi-structured interviews with 16 Polish women (aged 65–82) were thematically analysed in relation to the sexual scripts theory and the participants’ specific socio-cultural background. Three main themes regarding the reasons for cessation of their sex life were identified: ‘I am glad that sex does not concern me anymore’, ‘I am satisfied with my memories’ and ‘The right one’ or no one. The results indicate that some women give up sex for good, with no regrets or feeling of a loss; for others, it may be a temporary decision, its duration dependent on meeting the right partner. Developing sexual agency may encourage discontinuing their sex life – a choice perceived as optimal and liberating. Personal factors and the memories of marital relationships seem to shape older women's (a)sexual expectations. Acknowledging these nuances may contribute to a better understanding of older women's sexual functioning; implications for consideration in further research and practice are also discussed.
Visual servo control of robotic manipulators based on artificial neural network

The authors describe a control scheme for a robotic manipulator system which uses visual information to position and orient the end effector. The main feature of the control scheme is direct integration of visual data into the serving process without any geometric process of the position and orientation, and without inverse kinematic calculation. Another feature is the use of an artificial neural network for the determination of the change in the joint angles required to achieve the desired position and orientation. This approach is effective because it essentially decomposes complex geometric calculations into a simple mapping of the network. The validity and the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme are verified by computer simulations. <<ETX>>
A technical assessment of ADS-B and multilateration technology in the Gulf of Mexico

Two aircraft surveillance technologies, multilateration and ADS-B, have emerged during the past few years and now appear to be possible alternatives to traditional primary and secondary radar systems. Multilateration has been tested extensively for airport surface applications - e.g., test in Atlanta (1996) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tests at Dallas-Forth Worth (1998-1999). The FAA plans to deploy multilateration/ADS-B systems as part of the airport surface detection equipment-X (ASDE-X) system now scheduled for installation at 25 non-ASDE-3 equipped airports. There is, however, limited experience with multilateration for tracking of airborne aircraft. HITS, based on commercially available equipment, forms the ground segment of a dual-technology multilateration and ADS-B aircraft tracking system. Multiateration utilizes signals from air traffic control radar beacon system (ATCRBS) (Modes A and C) and Mode S transponders, and requires no changes in current aircraft equipage. HITS also operates with signals from ADS-B Mode S extended squitter transponders now being considered for operation in the National Airspace Systems (NAS). To assess the performance of HITS, technical requirements were derived from ATCBI-6 SSR to compare the technical performance of HITS against FAA secondary radar. The evaluation criteria include coverage volume, probability of detection, positional accuracy, code performance, and target resolution. These criteria were derived to assist the FAA in assessing the technical feasibility and possibly developing certification criteria for these two potential non-radar surveillance alternatives. The results from this test and evaluation will provide important data to the FAA as it attempts to determine the feasibility of implementing multilateration and ADS-B in terminal and en route environments. This paper details the technical results and the HITS system performance.
Motor skills predict adaptive behavior in autistic children and adolescents

It is well‐documented that intelligence quotient (IQ) is a poor predictor of adaptive behavior scores in autism, with autistic children having lower adaptive behavior scores than would be predicted based on their IQ scores. Differences in motor skills may explain the variability in their adaptive behavior scores. The current study examined how motor skills might explain autistic individuals' low adaptive behavior scores and which individual components of IQ (i.e., verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning) and motor skills (i.e., manual dexterity, aiming and catching, and balance) may drive this effect. We examined the associations between IQ, motor skills, calibrated severity, and adaptive behavior scores in 45 autistic children and adolescents. Using a t‐test, we found a significant difference (p <0.001) between full‐scale IQ and adaptive behavior scores, indicating that our participants' adaptive behavior scores were lower than would be expected given their full‐scale IQ. Using a linear regression, we investigated whether motor skills predicted adaptive behavior in autistic children and adolescents and found that motor skills scores were associated with adaptive behavior scores (p = 0.022). To further investigate these associations, we used another linear regression to examine how individual components of IQ and motor skills predicted adaptive behavior scores in autistic children and adolescents. Our results indicated that manual dexterity scores were associated with adaptive behavior scores (p = 0.036). These findings clearly illustrate the need for further understanding of autistic individuals' difficulties with adaptive behavior and the potential role of motor skill difficulties that may underlie these difficulties.
The design of foundations for high-rise buildings

High-rise buildings are usually founded on some form of piled foundation subject to a combination of vertical, lateral and overturning forces. However, conventional methods for assessing stability may not be adequate when designing such foundations because they tend to focus on resistance under vertical loading. This paper sets out an ultimate-limit-state approach for computer-based design of pile foundation systems for high-rise buildings and provides an example application on a 151-storey tower in South Korea.
Assesment of Material Flow in Foundry Production by Applying Simulation Analysis

In this paper we applied simulation tools to assess the material flow in particular company oriented on die-casting production. The objective of the presented case study is to highlight that detailed data analysis from simulation can help to increase utilization of machinery considerably. Another reason for simulation adoption is to determine deviation of production volume. We have also implicitly outlined the benefits that can be derived from implementing a simulation tools and the additional costs for the implementation.
Simplified control technique for high-power-factor flyback Cuk and Sepic rectifiers operating in CCM

Control techniques for high power factor rectifiers which do not need input voltage sensing are gaining considerable attention due to their simpler implementation and inherently superior stability, as compared to conventional average or peak current mode control. Among these, the solutions based on integration of a current signal (switch, diode or inductor current) provide an inherent noise immunity, which makes them further appealing. This paper proposes a simple implementation of one of such control techniques for high power factor flyback, Cuk or Sepic rectifiers, which, while still retaining a high power factor, further reduces the control complexity, thus making the solution very attractive for smart-power integration. A 200 W flyback rectifier with the proposed control technique was implemented and tested. The achieved results are in good agreement with the expected performance.
A compound structure and a single‐step identification procedure for I/Q and DC offset impairments and nonlinear distortion modeling and compensation in wireless transmitters

The nonlinear behavior of power amplifiers (PAs) and the in‐phase/quadrature (I/Q) imbalance in I/Q modulators are considered as the main sources of distortions and impairments in radio frequency transmitters. In this article, a compound structure and a single‐step identification procedure are proposed for the modulator's I/Q imbalance and DC offset and the PAs nonlinearity modeling and compensation of wireless transmitters. In fact, the performance of the digital predistortion technique used for PA linearization is adversely affected by the I/Q modulator's impairments that result mainly from gain/phase imbalance and DC offset. The measurement results reveal the robustness of the proposed model in modeling and linearization of the PA in the presence of I/Q modulator imperfections and show its superiority as compared to the generalized memory polynomial model and the dual‐input polynomial model. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2013.
Design on Real-Time Control System of Lower Limb Exoskeleton Robot Based on Optical Fiber

In the exoskeleton robot motion capture system, the sensor characteristics not only should be small in size, light in weight, low power consumption, but also requires easy to wear, reliable real-time. In this article, an exoskeleton robot real-time control system is designed based on the existing fiber-optic sensor. The experimental data is analyzed by hidden Markov model. The system can distinguish between the human bodies six sports: rest, walk, run, squat, stand , on the slope, and it can realize the real-time control on the exoskeleton robot.
Wave-Propagation Formulation of Seismic Response of Multistory Buildings

This paper presents a discrete-time wave-propagation method to calculate the seismic response of multistory buildings, founded on layered soil media and subjected to vertically propagating shear waves. Buildings are modeled as an extension of the layered soil media by considering each story as another layer in the wave-propagation path. The seismic response is expressed in terms of wave travel times between the layers and wave reflection and transmission coefficients at layer interfaces. The method accounts for the filtering effects of the concentrated foundation and floor masses. Compared with commonly used vibration formulation, the wave-propagation formulation provides several advantages, including simplicity, improved accuracy, better representation of damping, the ability to incorporate the soil layers under the foundation, and providing better tools for identification and damage detection from seismic records. Examples are presented to show the versatility and the superiority of the method.
Application of a neural network model to sensor data fusion

This paper describes the application of a neural network model the Kohonen Feature Map to tactical and sensor data fusion. The problems presented by data fusion are reviewed with illustrations taken from the modern naval environment. The tasks of target and task identification for both automated surveillance and support tasks for naval operatives are highlighted as potential application domains for neural network based systems. The Kohonen Feature Map model is reviewed its limitations for practical applications examined and a discussion of how to overcome these problems is provided. Two alternative modular network architectures which use the Kohonen Feature Map as the basic unit are then described and their application to data fusion contrasted. 1.
The chloroplast genome sequence and characteristic analysis of Vitex negundo var. heterophylla (Franch.) Rehder

Abstract Vitex negundo var. heterophylla (Franch.) Rehder is a common small shrub in northern China. In order to study the fine nectar characteristics and water and soil conservation characteristics of V. negundo, the analysis of chloroplast genome would provide theoretical basis for economic development and germplasm utilization of V. negundo. The chloroplast genome sequence (accession number MW366787) of V. negundo was accepted by high-throughput sequencing technology using a plant from Jiulongshan, Mentougou District, Beijing, China. The total length of the chloroplast genome is 154,438 bp, and the A, T, C and G content of the whole genome is 30.48, 31.26, 19.42, and 18.84%, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis of 16 Verbenaceae plants (including V. negundo) with Arabidopsis thaliana as the outgroup was carried out by the maximum likelihood method; and the result shows that V. negundo is relatively closed to Vitex rotundifolia.
Scalable GaInP/GaAs HBT large-signal model

A scalable large-signal model for heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is presented. It allows exact modeling of all transistor parameters from single finger elementary cells to multifinger power devices. The scaling rules are given in detail. The model is verified by comparison with measurements of GaInP/GaAs-HBTs.
SOFT-SWITCHED DC/DC CONVERTER WITH PWM CONTROL CONVERTISSEUR CONTINU-CONTINU A COMMUTATION DOUCE AVEC REGULATION DE TYPE PWM

In this paper, a new power converter with two variations is proposed. A novel asymmetrical pulse-width-modulation (PWM) control scheme is used to control the power converter under constant switching frequency operation. The modes of operation for both variations are discussed. The DC characteristics, which can be used in the design of the power converters, are also presented. Two 50 W power converters were built to verify the characteristics of the converters. Due to the zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) operation of the switches and low device voltage and current stresses, these power converters have high full- and partial-load efficiencies. They are, therefore, potential candidates for high-efficiency high-density power supply applications.
Contract design for cooperative product service system with information asymmetry

This paper studies how to effectively provide product service system (PSS) in the supply chain with asymmetric information for service-oriented manufacturing (SOM). With a PSS, the manufacturer chooses the product quality, and the retailer, who possesses private cost information, is responsible for adding necessary value-added service based on the basic product. The analytical underpinnings of our work are provided by the principal-agent paradigm. In the paper, we develop three types of contracts and conduct a detailed comparison among the three contract models. With these studies, we find that: (i) the wholesale price contract is dominated by the other two contracts, (ii) The retail price maintenance contract can always generate a higher profit for the manufacturer and a higher welfare for the consumers, whereas the franchise fee (FF) contract can always generate a higher profit for the retailer and (iii) The FF contract can always stimulate more service from the retailer. Our theoretical and numerical results show that there are significantly different effects when the three types of contracts are utilized in the supply chain for SOM with asymmetric information, and which of them is the most attractive will depend largely on the power structure of the supply chain and/or their cost information types.
Compact strain fiber sensor based on Fabry-Perot microstructural air cavity

Abstract A Fabry-Perot air chamber was prepared at the splicing point of two single-mode fibers by the heating-expansion of liquid glycerin. The morphology of the Fabry-Perot air chamber was optimized by the splicing parameters (drawing process, discharging location, time and intensity) and the fibers’ end-face (plane or arc). The in-line Fabry-Perot interferometer was employed to determine the tensile strain from 0 to 1.2 N. A sensitivity of 3.628 nm/N and the resolution of ∼0.005 N were experimentally demonstrated. The reported Fabry-Perot strain sensor is easy to fabricate, low cost, and flexible to connect with other fibers.
An observational study of multi-disciplinary co-design – application to an electromechanical device

This paper deals with the observational study of a multi-disciplinary and collaborative design project to produce an electromechanical plunger. The design of the device was carried out by students from different disciplines, in their final year. It was co-located and non co-located. Synchronous and asynchronous tasks were observed and several studies carried out with various scenarios. The aims of the study are to produce qualitative analysis based on the observations made, to prepare observational studies and quantitative analyses in an industrial context and to specify dedicated tools for the support of non co-located collaborative design. In this way, the paper presents a bibliographic study concerning various empirical approaches for observational studies of collaborative design. The successive observational studies are detailed: context, scenarios, tools, actors, recording means. A global qualitative analysis is finally proposed, highlighting the key parameters for the building of an industrial case observation.
THE ROLE OF EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS IN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH: PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTATION

This paper describes the application of experimental economics techniques to urban goods modelling research. A simulation system consisting of a simplified representation of the New York City metropolitan area was used to capture the behaviour of a set of volunteers playing the role of trucking companies which tried to maximize their profits in a context of market competition. The resulting datasets represent an approximation to spatial price equilibrium solutions that provide a wealth of information about the joint behaviour of shippers, receivers, and trucking companies in urban areas. These data sets were used to gain insights into the role of network and market structure on a set of measures designed to measure the performance of the trucking companies. Several statistical models relating these performance measures to structural aspects of the urban freight market were developed. These models indicated that the trucking companies' performance is positively related to the amount of freight to be transported and negatively related to the number of centroids in the market and the number of competitors in the market. For two of these models, one for total profit and the other for total number of tour stops, there was relatively good agreement between the estimated and theoretical values of the model parameters. This agreement suggests that the EE approach is able to capture, at least in part, some of the fundamental dynamics of the urban freight transportation process and that this approach has great potential in this area of research. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.