Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Passive suspensions for ride quality improvement of two-axle railway vehicles

The aim of this paper is to investigate the possibility of improving the ride quality of a two-axle railway vehicle with a single-stage suspension by means of passive suspensions employing an inerter device. The inerter is a mechanical one-port element that is analogous to a capacitor in electrical circuits. The goal is to improve the ride quality in both the vertical and lateral motions in response to track irregularities. Performance benefits for several simple passive suspension layouts are demonstrated and compared with the conventional scheme. The elastic effects of the damper and inerter device are then taken into consideration for practical purposes. The optimum parameter values of the damper, inerter and the parameters representing the elastic effects provide guidance for mechanical design purposes.
Forecasting of Dengue Disease Incident Risks Using Non-stationary Spatial of Geostatistics Model in Bone Regency Indonesia

Background: Standard statistical models generally assume that any incident of dengue disease in one location are independent with the incidence of dengue disease in other locations. However, the independent assumption does not apply in the spread of dengue disease. The spread of dengue disease tends to occur almost simultaneously in a same area or in the adjacent area due to similar environmental factors in the area. Similar environmental factors results in their risk spatial correlation of disease spread. If spatial correlation aspects is not considered in modeling then the conclusion of the significant factors that influence on the risk of spreading disease becomes inaccurate. Objective: The purpose of this study was to make mapping the risk of dengue fever incidence in Bone Regency South Sulawesi province by region (districts) with non-stationary spatial geostatistics model. Materials and Methods: The analysis variables included are larvae density, temperature, population density, rainfall, altitude from sea level and the incidence rate of dengue fever. Results: The results showed that risk rate model of dengue in Bone Regency with stationary spatial geostatistics models are as follows: log(pi) = -0.08+0.006X1+0.02X2-0.02X3-0.04X4-0.01X5. X1 = The density of larvae, X2 = Air temperature, X3 = Population density, X4 = Rainfall and X5 = The height of the sea level. Risk rate model of dengue in Northern Bone Regency (cluster 1) with non-stationary spatial geostatistics models are as follow: log(pi) = -0.02-0.0009X1-0.17X2+0.003X3+0.22X4-0.006X5. Risk rate model of dengue in Southern Bone Regency (cluster 2) with non-stationary spatial geostatistics models are as follow: log(pi) = -0.02-0.02X1-0.01X2-0.02X3-0.02X40. 03X5. Risk rate model of dengue in Western Bone Regency (cluster 3) with non-stationary spatial geostatistics models are as follow: log(pi) = -0.08-0.007X1-0.02X2-0.03X3-0.009X4-0.06X5. Conclusion: The prediction error values on the non-stationary model between (0.27-3.6) lower than stationary model with variation between (0.68-6.37).
Intra-annual Variability of CO2 Flux in the Mahanadi Estuary- A Tropical Estuarine System, India

The inorganic carbon dynamics and the CO2 fl ux of estuarine system are strongly infl uenced by the productivity and nutrient regime of water. This study provides full seasonal coverage of assessment of the physicochemical variables of Mahanadi estuary, mainly focusing on the carbonate system through the measurement of pH, Total Alkalinity (TA),
Model and Reduction of Inactive Times in a Maintenance Workshop Following a Diagnostic Error

The majority of maintenance workshops in manufacturing factories are hierarchical. This arrangement permits quick response in advent of a breakdown. Reaction of the maintenance workshop is done by evaluating the characteristics of the breakdown. In effect, a diagnostic error at a given level of the process of decision making delays the restoration of normal operating state. The consequences are not just financial loses, but loss in customers’ satisfaction as well. The goal of this paper is to model the inactive time of a maintenance workshop in case that an unpredicted catalectic breakdown has occurred and a diagnostic error has also occurred at a certain level of decision-making, during the treatment process of the breakdown. We show that the expression for the inactive times obtained, is depended only on the characteristics of the workshop. Next, we propose a method to reduce the inactive times.
The Condition of the Diverse Regions of Rural America

It is important that policy analysts at the state and federal levels intent on designing fiscal policies for rural schools be especially mindful of the great diversity in rural America. The socioeconomic and political trends impacting different nonmetropolitan regimes at the beginning of the present decade will further complicate the construction of fiscal policies that will stand the tests of both equity and adequacy.
MIMO-OFDM whith Code-Division Multiplexing for V-BLAST Receivers

We extend orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing code-division multiplexing (OFDM-CDM) to multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and develop a detection scheme called a space-frequency unified vertical-Bell Labs layered space-time scheme. A CDM transform matrix appropriate for the proposed detection scheme is also constructed. Simulation results show that the proposed MIMO-OFDM-CDM can achieve both frequency diversity and high spectral efficiency.
Intra-industry trade : a methodology to test the automobile industry in South Africa

This paper provides a study of the theory and empirical evidence of intra-industry trade (IIT) and relates it specifically to South Africa’s automobile industry. The automobile industry in South Africa is a key sector within the national economy and has experienced increased trade and foreign investment in recent years, and thus represents an important case study of IIT. In view of this, the paper proposes a methodology that may be used in future to assess the pattern and determinants of IIT between South Africa and its main trading partners in the automobile industry.
The Inclusion of Health Education Curriculum in Initial Teacher Education: Exploring the Possibilities

Teacher education is critical to the successful implementation of health education in schools. This paper reports on the implementation of a pilot module in health education with initial teacher education students, which was offered on an optional basis to Physical Education graduate diploma students, in the University of Limerick, Ireland. Nine students decided to participate. The module was experiential and innovative in design. Pre and post tests were administered to students via questionnaire examining attitude, knowledge and experiences of Social Personal and Health Education. In addition a focus group was held with participants on completion of the module to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives and experiences. The results indicate that as a result of exposure to health education, students reported increased confidence and interest in teaching SPHE in schools. Therefore, exposure to health education during initial teacher education has great potential as it can promote a positive disposition towards the subject. This paper challenges current provision of Health Education in initial teacher education and calls for a paradigm shift in policy, in this regard.
Developing a Neural Networks Model for Evaluating Financial Performance of Residential Companies based on FCM

: Intense competition among construction companies urges for continuous improvement and evaluation of performance. Many researches recognized the importance of financial performance (FP) and attempted to develop a reliable model to evaluate the company FP. The main objective of this research is developing an accurate model to evaluate the financial performance of residential construction companies. Financial data of a number of residential construction companies were collected from the Egyptian Authority of Money Market in the form of balance sheets and income statement. The most six ratios affecting company financial performance were identified and calculated. Every financial point (case) defined with six financial ratios. The financial ratios represent the model input while the model output, i.e. performance index, is developed using fuzzy c-mean clustering (FCM). Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is utilized to develop the relation between the input and output variables. Some points were kept for the purpose of testing the validity of the developed model. The validation of the model showed satisfactory results which provide a sufficientdegree of reliability to use the model in evaluating the financial performance of construction companies.
Development and Evaluation of Web Applications for Investigating Candidate Genes in Rat Models of Complex Diseases

_____________________________________________________ 2 LIST OF PAPERS _________________________________________________ 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ____________________________________________ 4 ABBREVIATIONS_________________________________________________ 6 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________ 7 Complex diseases ________________________________________________________ 7 Animal models/ Rattus Norvegicus__________________________________________ 7 QTL Analysis ___________________________________________________________ 8 Sources of gene information _______________________________________________ 8 Available tools for selecting candidate genes__________________________________ 9 Rheumatoid arthritis ____________________________________________________ 11 The DA rat ____________________________________________________________ 12 The BB/Dr rat__________________________________________________________ 12 AIMS OF THE STUDY ____________________________________________ 13 MATERIALS AND METHODS______________________________________ 14 CGC Basic application (Paper I) _________________________________________ 14 Database construction _________________________________________________________14 Running the application ________________________________________________________15 CGC – Multiple reference terms (Paper II)__________________________________ 17 Database construction _________________________________________________________18 Running the application ________________________________________________________18 Tree phylogeny of reference terms _______________________________________________19 Linking candidate genes between QTLs (Paper III)___________________________ 19 Database construction _________________________________________________________19 Running the application ________________________________________________________20 Investigating connections between candidate genes in QTLs from two rat crosses___________20 Functional connections between QTLs (Paper IV) ____________________________ 21 Investigating localization of candidate genes (Paper IV) _______________________ 21 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ______________________________________ 22 CGC-Arthritis Basic application (Paper I) _________________________________ 22 Gene information source _______________________________________________________22 First evaluation of CGC: Keyword value and gene ranking ____________________________23 CGC-Diabetes – Multiple reference terms (Paper II)__________________________ 24 Tree phylogeny of reference terms _______________________________________________24 Second Evaluation of CGC: Multiple keywords and keyword selection ___________________25 CGC-RefLink – Connecting candidate genes (Paper III) ______________________ 26 Functional connections between QTL regions (Paper IV) ______________________ 29 Localization of candidate genes (Paper IV) __________________________________ 32
Using line scan camera for material cutting

The paper describes an intelligent manufacturing control system, designed to optimise flat material cutting from visually inspected scenes. A vision processor reconstructs the 2D image of the material, moving on a linear conveyor, from a dual line scan camera. A number of image features are extracted to identify internal defects. A skeletonization algorithm produces the binary representation of the useful surface to be manufactured. The vision system generates the maximal number of user-defined patterns that optimally cover the useful surface. The vision pattern data is converted to path specification to command the pattern cutting trajectories for a SCARA robot.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) On the intracellular pH of baker ’ s yeast

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Organization of change agents during care process redesign in Swedish health care

Background: Swedish health care organizations (HCOs) are changing using management concepts such as Lean, in attempts of improving efficiency, quality of care and work environment. Since there are pre-conditional challenges for operative managers to engage in change, HCOs tend to assign supportive functions such as change agents (CAs) to facilitate change. Research on the use of CAs in HCOs is sparse, thus the aim of this study explores role assignments and conditions of formally appointed CAs contributing to care process redesign. Methods: A purposive sample of three Swedish hospitals initiating Lean-inspired care process redesign during 2010–2011 was done. In-depth interviews were held with fifty-one key functions during change. Focus group interviews were conducted with thirty-eight health care professionals. Data were analysed by content analysis. Results: Top managers’ goal was to have operative management responsible for change during care process redesign, with support from assigned CAs. Organizing of CAs varied concerning, e.g. their hierarchical positions, job descriptions and practices, and conditions to act as driving forces towards change. Being granted formal power, having earned legitimacy and credibility, clarity regarding roles and responsibilities in change; a good sense of timing and ability to build relationships and trust, were identified as beneficial for CAs to support change. Conclusions: Role assignment and organizing of CAs varies. A position closer to the operative levels, formalized and clarified responsibilities, earned legitimacy and timing support adaptation and alignment of planned change, such as Lean-inspired care process redesign.
Whole genome sequencing of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli ( ETEC ) Identification of ETEC lineages and novel colonization factors

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infections are a common cause of diarrhea but little is known about the evolution and genomic composition of ETEC. The main aim of this thesis was to generate a large collection of whole genome sequenced ETEC isolates to study the evolution of such bacteria on a global level and to search for novel colonization factors (CFs) using both classical and cutting-edge genomic techniques. Using whole genome sequencing and epidemiological data of 362 human ETEC isolates collected during three decades from all over the world, we studied the population structure of ETEC. We could show that major ETEC lineages comprising isolates with specific virulence profiles, i.e. CFs and LT and/or ST toxins, are stable and spread worldwide. These findings suggest that the virulence genes have been acquired once and then spread through clonal expansion and that a vaccine based on the most prevalent CFs could be protective against a large proportion of ETEC diarrhea cases. At least 30% of all clinical ETEC isolates lack a known CF. Therefore, we examined whole genome sequences of 94 “CF negative” isolates with the aim to identify novel CFs using two different approaches. I) By comparative genomics we have characterized a novel CF, CS30, which is related to the porcine CF 987P (F6). The major subunit of CS30 is 18.5 kD in size and the assembly of the fimbriae is dependent on its expression. CS30-positive bacteria are heavily fimbriated, as shown by electron microscopy, which promotes binding to human intestinal (Caco-2) cells. Furthermore, CS30 expression is thermo-regulated. II) By means of phenotypic analyses (SDS-PAGE, Caco-2 adhesion assays and electron microscopy) we have identified a number of isolates that may harbor additional putative fimbrial and non-fimbrial novel CFs. Nine candidate isolates with putative novel CFs were identified from 35 isolates: these were shown to express thermo-regulated proteins of 12-25 kD by SDS-PAGE analyses indicating the presence of major subunits and these isolates were found to bind well to Caco-2 cells. Based on further analyses of these isolates, using comparative genomics to identify CF related genes/operons, four AFA/Dr/AAF-like operons and an operon related to the porcine CF K88, were identified. The findings in this thesis have improved the knowledge of ETEC genomics and will provide a basis for future studies of ETEC transmission and pathogenicity.
Exploring the Mobile Structural Assessment Tool: Concept Maps for Learning Website Exploración de la herramienta de aseguramiento estructural móvil: mapas conceptuales para websites de aprendizaje

In this paper, we describe how the pathfinder algorithm converts relatedness ratings of concept pairs to concept maps; we also present how this algorit hm has been used to develop the Concept Maps for Learning website ( www.conceptmapsforlearning.com ) based on the principles of effective formative assessment. The pathfinder networks, one of the network representation tools, claim to help more students memorize and recall the relations between concepts than spatial representation tools (such as MultiDimensional Scaling). Therefore, the pathfinder networks have been used in various studies on knowledge structures, including identifying students’ misconceptions. To accomplish this, each student’s knowledge map and the expert knowledge map are compared via the pathfinder software, and the differences between these maps are highlighted. After misconceptions are identified, the pathfinder software fails to provide any feedback on these misconceptions. To overcome this weakness, we have been developing a mobile-based concept mapping tool providing visual, textual and remedial feedback (ex. videos, website links and applets) on the concept relations. This information is then placed on the expert concept map, but not on the student’s concept map. Additionally, students are asked to not e what they understand from given feedback, and given the opportunity to revise their knowledge maps after receiving various types of feedback.
Head-T urning Approach to EyeT racking in Immersive Virtual Environments

Reliable and unobtrusive eye tracking remains a technical challenge for immersive virtual environment, especially when Head Mounted Displays (HMD) are used for visualization and users are allowed to move freely in the environment. In this work, we provide experimental evidence that gaze direction can be safely approximated by user head rotation, in HMD-based Virtual Reality (VR) applications, where users actively interact with the environment. We discuss the application range of our approach and consider possible extensions.
Striving against invalidity in qualitative research: Discussing a reflective framework

This work was financed by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/44611/2008) and by Fundos FEDER atraves do Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE e por Fundos Nacionais atraves da FCT (PTDC/CPE-CED/117516/2010).
FPGA design and performance analysis of SHA-512, whirlpool and PHASH hashing functions

Hashing functions play a fundamental role in modern cryptography. Such functions process data of finite length and produce a small fixed size output referred to as a digest or hash. Typical applications of these functions include data integrity verification and message authentication schemes. With the ever increasing amounts of data that needs to be hashed, the throughput of hashing functions becomes an important factor. This work presents and compares high performance FPGA implementations of SHA512, Whirlpool and a recently proposed parallelizable hash function, PHASH. The novelty of PHASH is that it is able to process multiple data blocks at once, making it suitable for achieving ultra high-performance. It utilizes the W cipher, as described in Whirlpool, at its core. The SHA (SHA-0, SHA-1, SHA-2) family of functions is one of the first widely accepted standards for hashing. According to currently published literature, the fastest SHA-512 (a variant of SHA-2) implementation achieves a throughput of 1550 Mbps. A recently introduced hashing function, Whirlpool, provides comparable security to SHA512 and is able to achieve much better performance. According to currently published literature, the fastest Whirlpool implementation achieves a throughput of 4896 Mbps. The proposed PHASH hash function greatly outperforms both SHA-512 and Whirlpool. All implementations are targeted for the state-of-the-art Xilinx Virtex-5 LX330 FPGA. The SHA-512 implementation attains a throughput of 1828 Mbps, and Whirlpool attains 7687 Mbps. PHASH achieves a throughput over 15 Gbps using a single W cipher instance. Using 8 W cipher instances a throughput over 100 Gbps is achieved and 16 instances provide a throughput over 182 Gbps.
Learning decision rules using a distributed evolutionary algorithm

A new parallel method for learning decision rules from databases by using an evolutionary algorithm is proposed. We describe an implementation of EDRL-MD system in the cluster of multiprocessor machines connected by Fast Ethernet. Our approach consists in a distribution of the learning set into processors of the cluster. The evolutionary algorithm uses a master-slave model to compute the fitness function in parallel. The remainder of evolutionary algorithm is executed in the master node. The experimental results show, that for large datasets our approach is able to obtain a significant speed-up in comparison to a single processor version.
Organizational Perception on Technology Adoption of Recruitment Process in Nigeria Civil Service: The Moderating Role of User Attitude

Information technology is increasingly gaining position within working organizations and many of its adherents assume and express its importance. A quite number of studies were conducted to assess perception on technology adoption; most of these studies concentrated on the perception of jobseekers, third party (Highring Company) and came up with inconclusive results. This paper is working toward the assessment of an organizational perception not the jobseeker’s perspective on technology adoption, by proposing framework that predicts the role of user attitude as potential moderator on the relationship between organizational perceptions toward the usefulness of information technology system in the selecting of qualified personnel. The proposed model will have important policy implication to an organization for their recruitment decision making.