Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of the level of implementation of Lean Management on employees: an empirical study

This paper analyses the impact that Lean Management practices have on employees. In order to carry out this work we moved away from the level of organisational analysis traditionally used in research on Lean Management towards one based on the employee (individual). The results reached using a case study have enabled us to create a model that shows the evolution of employee integration in the company in accordance with the degree of implementation of Lean practices. Our findings indicate that increasing the level of adoption of Lean Management means employees are more motivated and keen to participate in decision making and offer a higher number of suggestions. It has also been detected that companies with a higher degree of adoption of Lean Management are characterised by having employees who are multifunctional, better trained and more skilled. On the other hand, our results show that a higher degree of Lean Management does not necessarily mean an increase in variable incentives for employees.
A State-of-the-Art Review on Fatigue Life Assessment of Steel Bridges

Fatigue is among the most critical forms of damage potentially occurring in steel bridges, while accurate assessment or prediction of the fatigue damage status as well as the remaining fatigue life of steel bridges is still a challenging and unsolved issue. There have been numerous investigations on the fatigue damage evaluation and life prediction of steel bridges by use of deterministic or probabilistic methods. The purpose of this review is devoted to presenting a summary on the development history and current status of fatigue condition assessment of steel bridges, containing basic aspects of fatigue, classical fatigue analysis methods, data-driven fatigue life assessment, and reliability-based fatigue condition assessment.
STRENGTH ANALYSIS OF A GANTRY CRANE OF A COATING STRUCTURE

Gantry cranes with coating construction are used in Polish steel industry much less than truss bridges. For several bridges, which span and the supports have coating construction, there were made series of non-destructive testing, which revealed the presence of numerous fatigue cracks: in the area of a beam pad, the coating, as well as other ele­ments of their supporting structure. Periodically carried out repairs and strengthening of bridges have not eliminated the problem of the emergence of more fatigue cracks. The analysis of FEM, verified by extensometer measurements of strains, gave the basis to designate the most strenuous areas of the construction. Gathered results of periodic nonde­structive testing, combined with obtained results of FEM analysis, were the basis for designing appropriate reinforce­ments and indication the scope of conducting non-destructive testing of considered construction of bridges with coating.
Impurity Detection Using Machine Vision

In the fields of transparent liquid impurity detection based on machine vision technology, how to detect and identify a variety of impurities effectively in the liquid is a difficult problem which has not yet been solved, mainly in the low recognition rate, the slow recognition speed, and the phenomenon of error detection and undetected. Therefore, a new impurity detection method based on machine vision is presented in this paper. The experiments show that this method can decrease the recognition speed to 100ms for impurities’ diameter greater than 1mm and achieved a 99% recognition rate.
Continued Validation of the AeroDyn Subroutines Using NREL Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment Data

Full-scale wind tunnel tests of the NREL Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment (UAE) Phase VI permitted unprecedented control and measurement of inflow to the UAE rotor. This in turn has allowed in-depth validation of the AeroDyn wind turbine aerodynamics software. This validation began with comparison of simple cases (i.e., fixed yaw, fixed pitch, no teeter), with results presented last year [2]. Among the findings of that study was the significant increase in section lift along the rotor blades due to the 3–dimensional flow over the UAE rotor. This delayed stall was not adequately accounted for in the AeroDyn model. This continued validation effort looks into delayed stall and the static and dynamic behavior of the Generalized Dynamic Wake (GDW) model in AeroDyn. Validation is accomplished through comparison of UAE data and simulation results for the following cases: • Uniform inflow (upwind, zero yaw error), • Step pitch changes on an operating rotor, • A teetering rotor at various yaw angles, and • Downwind rotor released into flee yaw from various initial yaw error positions. Results presented allow us to draw several conclusions. The Du and Selig delayed stall correction adequately models the increase in CL , but the suggested decrease in CD of that model does not agree with observations in the data. The time lag coefficient in the GDW model agrees well with observations in the rapid pitch change UAE data. The phase of teeter response for the GDW model agrees better with data than for the equilibrium wake model. Dynamic stall provides significant additional damping to the teeter motion. The choice of wake model also greatly affects the yaw rate in the yaw release simulations.
Measurement-based Electric Arc Furnace Model Using Ellipse Formula

This paper proposes a mathematical model of an electric arc furnace (EAF) system based on the voltage and current (V–I) field data. The proposed method is formulated using the ellipse equation, which is derived from the measurement profile of real EAF systems. This paper also presents the harmonics and power-pattern information corresponding to the smelting processes (boring, melting, and refining) in order to realistically design an EAF for potential industrial applications. The third harmonic component significantly affects the shape of the V–I curve in realistic EAF systems, while the periodic power fluctuation is closely associated with the size of the ellipse. These characteristics can be formulated and designed by the proposed method, and even in the absence of the V–I profile, an EAF model can be generated using the generalized information provided in this paper. The electrical phenomenon in the proposed method is mathematically verified using the PSCAD/EMTDC software.
Date of publication xxxx 00, 0000, date of current version xxxx 00, 0000

Mobility robustness optimization (MRO) is a fundamental issue regarding self-optimization network (SON). In long-term evolution-advanced (LTE-A), handover (HO) optimization in heterogeneous networks (HetNets) is an urgent need to improve system performance. This improvement is in terms of immunity against unnecessary HO (UHO) such as ping-pong HO (PPHO) and against failed HOs in the sense of radio link failure (RLF) such as too-early HO (TEHO) and too-late HO (TLHO), that is, RLF HO. The occurrence of these undesired HOs increases the consumption of network resources and decreases the quality of service (QoS). In this study, we propose a robust algorithm to reduce the number of PPHO, TLHO, and TEHO events to a minimum by an innovative mechanism that adaptively sets the HO control parameters (HCPs). This reduction is obtained without the need for unjustified techniques that assume certain thresholds for the ratio of PPHOs or the ratio of RLF HOs relative to the total number of HOs, as most recent literature proposed. We also present the importance of thinking about the existence of a direct relationship between the hysteresis margin (HM) and time-to-trigger (TTT). We invest this relationship in determining adaptive HCPs. Simulation results show that RLF HOs and PPHOs are minimal, almost zero, compared to the literature and the classical method. This study opens a new avenue for research on mobility management. It reorients research axes towards thinking about the possibility of a correlation between the HM and TTT. This is what the research community has not yet realized.
Manual on integrated water quality evaluation

Deze handleiding voor integrale waterkwaliteitsbeoordeling is samengesteld op basis van de bevindingen die zijn opgedaan in een zes jaar durende samenwerking tussen de Central Pollution Control Board in India en het RIVM. Het aan dit werk ten grondslag liggende onderzoek werd van de Nederlandse zijde gefinancierd door het Directoraat Generaal voor Internationale Samenwerking, terwijl de financiering vanuit India voor rekening kwam van het Department of Environment and Forests. Naast een rechtvaardiging van de wetenschappelijke achtergrond omvat de handleiding de beschrijving van een groot aantal methoden en procedures voor bemonstering, analyse en gegevensbeoordeling. In een bijlage wordt een aantal voorbeelden gegeven van werkelijke beoordelingsresultaten die zijn gebaseerd op metingen die in verschillende riviersystemen in India zijn uitgevoerd in het monitoring seizoen 1993-1994.
The Effects of Confined Water Operations on Ship Performance: A Guide for the Perplexed

Operations in confined waters (both shallow and width-restricted) are quite different from those in the open ocean, and in some ways are more dangerous. This paper acts as a guide to some of these differences, pointing out where the dangers lie, and provides some guidelines for designers and operators to consider. The paper covers the following topics: definition of confined waters; effect on resistance and powering; considerations for ship maneuvering; sinkage and trim effects; ship motions; and other effects. Most of the topics are dealt with in a qualitative manner, but some methods of predicting confined water resistance are presented.
Concept Drift-Based Runtime Reliability Anomaly Detection for Edge Services Adaptation

To meet the rapidly increasing need of computation-intensive and latency-sensitive applications, mobile edge computing (MEC) has attracted tremendous attention from both academia and industry. However, the runtime reliability of edge services fluctuates over time due to the dynamics in their internal states and the external environment. This causes the distribution of edge services’ reliability data streams to vary in the form of concept drift. Severe negative reliability drifts indicate that an edge service may be suffering from a performance anomaly or a runtime failure. To ensure the stable operation of edge services, we propose A-Detection, a concept drift-based runtime reliability anomaly detection approach for edge services adaptation. We integrate reservoir sampling and singular value decomposition (SVD) for large-scale streaming data sampling and feature extraction. Jensen Shannon (JS) divergence is utilized to develop a dissimilarity metric of data stream distribution, called FDC, for runtime edge service reliability anomaly detection. When an anomaly is detected in a running edge service, checkpoint-retry is combined with computation offloading to implement runtime reliability adaptation. Extensive experimental results verify and demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of A-Detection.
A Study of Styles and Outcomes in Construction Dispute Negotiation

The adversarial nature of the construction industry contributes to the germination and manifestation of construction disputes. Negotiation between the disputants is most often the first attempt in getting disputes resolved. During negotiation, personality characteristics of the disputants affect their behavior and thus the outcomes. Understanding the negotiating behaviors and negotiation outcomes is therefore of both academic and practical value. This paper reports such a study conducted with construction professionals in Hong Kong. The Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II was used to measure the negotiating styles of construction professionals. Taxonomies of negotiation outcomes were developed through a principal component factor analysis. Three functional and four dysfunctional negotiation outcomes were identified. Based on these results, the relationships between the negotiating styles and negotiation outcomes were examined by the use of the multiple regression analyses. The findings suggested that the use of obliging, dominating, and avoiding styles are less influential in achieving functional negotiation outcomes. However, integrating negotiating styles is found to be useful to achieve functional outcomes and the use of comprising styles is a practical approach in resolving dispute. These findings are therefore supportive of the notion of the contingent use of negotiating styles.
Genotoxicity Tests and their Use in Occupational Toxicology as Biomarkers

Certain occupational groups are exposed to much higher concentrations of potentially hazardous genotoxins than the general population. The possibility exists that these exposures may significantly increase the risk of cancer for certain of those occupationally exposed. Genotoxicity tests reflect irreversible damage resulting from a toxic interaction, either at the molecular target or at an analogous side target, which is considered to be pathogenically linked to cancer. Occupational groups, which are at genotoxic risk, have been evaluated by using sensitive, reliable biomarkers (such as comet assay and sister chromatid exchange). These types of biomonitoring assays are cost effective and valuable indicators which signal genotoxic risk in occupational toxicology, and they also encourage the regulatory agencies to take preventive actions against carcinogenic risk within workplaces.
COVID-19 in Bulgarian Social Media: Factuality, Harmfulness, Propaganda, and Framing

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the political and the medical aspects of disinformation merged as the problem got elevated to a whole new level to become the first global infodemic. Fighting this infodemic is currently ranked very high on the list of priorities of the World Health Organization, with dangers ranging from promoting fake cures, rumors, and conspiracy theories to spreading xenophobia and panic. With this in mind, we studied how COVID-19 is discussed in Bulgarian social media in terms of factuality, harmfulness, propaganda, and framing. We found that most Bulgarian tweets contain verifiable factual claims, are factually true, are of potential public interest, are not harmful, and are too trivial to fact-check; moreover, zooming into harmful tweets, we found that they spread not only rumors but also panic. We further analyzed articles shared in Bulgarian partisan pro/con-COVID-19 Facebook groups and found that propaganda is more prevalent in skeptical articles, which use doubt, flag waving, and slogans to convey their message; in contrast, concerned ones appeal to emotions, fear, and authority; moreover, skeptical articles frame the issue as one of quality of life, policy, legality, economy, and politics, while concerned articles focus on health & safety. We release our manually and automatically analyzed datasets to enable further research.
International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems Harmonic Reducing ANN Controller for a SVC Compensating Unbalanced Fluctuating Loads

This paper presents the development of an artificial neural network (ANN) controller for a Static Var Compensator (SVC) system compensating unbalanced fluctuating loads. The proposed controller can balance and reduce the reactive power drawn from the source under unbalanced loads while keeping harmonic injection to the system due to SVC operation low. The first stage of controller development is a fuzzy logic based control algorithm. This algorithm determines a number of possible operating states of SVC for a given load condition and calculates corresponding harmonics injections. Then a fuzzy logic system is used to rank those operating states in terms of the magnitude of the reactive power drawn from the source and the harmonic injection level indicated by Total Demand Distortion (TDD). The best operating state is selected based on the ranking score assigned by the fuzzy logic ranking system. Finally, computational speed of the controller is improved by replacing the analytical and fuzzy computations by a set of neural networks trained with data generated with fuzzy logic based controller.
Extended Frequency Bandwidth and Electrical Resonance Tuning in Hybrid Terfenol-D/PMN-PT Transducers in Mechanical Series Configuration

This article addresses the modeling and characterization of hybrid transducers incorporating both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic elements. The complementary electrical and mechanical properties of the two classes of materials can yield transducers with higher performance or enhanced functionality relative to single-element devices. As a template for studying the properties of hybrid architectures, a transducer is considered which consists of a mechanical series arrangement of a PMN-PT stack and a Terfenol-D rod. This configuration exhibits a double resonant frequency response that can be tuned for a variety of applications. We are specifically interested in the development of models and design criteria for achieving broadband electromechanical transduction over the range from 500 Hz to over 6 kHz. To that end, a model is presented which is constructed from three classical, widely available theories: (i) linear mechanical vibrations, (ii) classical electroacoustics, and (iii) linear piezoelectricity and piezomagnetism. Despite the general limitations of linear models when applied to nonlinear materials, the linear formulation is justified in this article by the consideration of biased, low signal regimes in which transducer behavior is quasilinear. The model is applicable to the design and control of high-performance devices, while being mathematically tractable and accurate over the regimes considered. The model also provides a framework which permits extraction of material property information from dynamic impedance measurements – as opposed to quasistatic measurements – that is under conditions similar to those found in transducer operation. The study also shows that it is possible to tune the electrical resonance frequency without fundamentally altering the transducer bandwidth. This result has practical implications in that it allows matching of the transducer response to individual drivers. This could allow for retrofit of an existing hybrid device with a newer, more advanced ferroelectric stack without compromising the device bandwidth.
Climate impacts on nitrate loss in drainage waters from a southern alluvial soil

Fertilizer nitrogen transported via agricultural drainage has caused eutrophication of nearby surface waters. In the Lower Mississippi River Valley region, periods of drought are occurring more frequently. The impacts of drought on nutrient loss from agricultural lands of this region have not been reported. Field studies were used to evaluate the impact of climate (rainfall) on nitrate loss from agricultural fields in both normal (1996) and drought (1999) periods at the Ben Hur Water Quality Site in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Four replicates of two treatments, surface drainage only (SUR) and surface drainage + deep controlled drainage (DCD), were initiated on 0.21 ha plots planted to corn (Zea mays L.). After each rainfall/runoff event, the volumes of runoff and subsurface drainage were analyzed for soluble nitrate concentration and loss. No significant drainage treatment impacts were found on runoff volume and nitrate loss in runoff. Nitrate loss in runoff was impacted by climate, with a four-fold decrease in nitrate loss during the drought, caused by decreased volume of runoff. Conversely, the mass of nitrate loss in leachate increased two-fold during the drought. Diverting subsurface drainage effluent (DCD) to surface receiving waters increased nitrate transport to these waters by 2.6 times in the normal climate, and over ten-fold during the drought, compared to SUR management. In either climate, but particularly during drought, subsurface drainage could potentially accelerate eutrophication of receiving waters of this region. When compared to DCD, these results suggest that SUR should be the water management practice in this region.
Assessment of Passive Flow Control for Transonic Cavity Flow Using Detached-Eddy Simulation

The implementation of internal store carriage on stealthy military aircraft has accelerated research into transonic cavity flows. Depending on the freestream Mach number and the cavity dimensions, flows inside cavities can become unsteady, threatening the structural integrity of the cavity and its contents (e.g., stores, avionics, etc.). Below a critical length-to-depth ratio, the shear layer formed along the cavity mouth has enough energy to span across the opening. This shear layer impacts the downstream cavity corner and the generated acoustic disturbances propagate upstream, causing further instabilities near the cavity front. Consequently, a self-sustained feedback loop is established. This extreme flow environment calls for flow control ideas aiming to pacify the cavity by breaking the feedback loop and controlling the breakdown of the shear layer. This is the objective of the present work, which aims to assess changes of the cavity geometry and their effect on the resulting flow using detached-eddy simulation. For the cases computed in this work, quantitative and qualitative agreement with experimental data has been obtained. All of the devices tested achieved similar reductions in overall sound pressure level in the rear half of the cavity; however, a slanted aft wall provided the largest noise reduction in the front half of the cavity.
Models for predicting flicker induced by large wind turbines

Accurate models for voltage flicker prediction are required so that large wind turbines may be connected, to weak utility networks, in the confidence that excessive flicker levels will not occur. These models must work satisfactorily with different wind turbine designs so that risks to manufacturers, intending to adopt a particular type of turbine, are minimised. This paper presents a simple model for identifying critical busbars, where the levels of flicker may be high. It also describes a more complex model for accurately predicting flicker induced by operating wind turbines. The models are very flexible and were developed specifically to be coupled to an existing dynamic model of an entire wind turbine. The various models representing static and dynamic loads are described and their impact on flicker are investigated. In addition, the effects of the X/R ratio and fault level of the network are discussed. Various wind conditions and different network parameters have been simulated. Results are presented from simulations carried out using measured wind turbine power time series and data from operating wind farms.
Flexible solar cells and modules

Flexible photovoltaic (PV) modules enable a wealth of applications in architecture, clothing integration, or other mobile power supplies. Moreover, a simple and cost-effective roll-to-roll manufacturing of thin film PV modules could in the long run compete with large area glass plate processing for the PV power market. Based upon the optimisation of amorphous, nano and protocrystalline silicon thin films, flexible solar cells grown at temperatures between 40°C and 110°C are described with power conversion efficiency up to 5%. A novel in situ series connection technique establishes monolithic integration of such cells into a PV module by locally masking thin film deposition, without any laser patterning or breaking of the continuous production flow. The first flexible modules from a non-optimised, single junction n-i-p structure demonstrate the function of the in situ series connection, and exhibit a total area efficiency of 3%, resulting from an average single cell efficiency of 3.3% and a total interconnection loss of only 15% over the 40 cm2 module area.