Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pneumatic Artificial Mini-Muscles Conception: Medical Robotics Applications

Actually, the pneumatic artificial muscles of McKibben type [1] show a great functional similarity with the skeletal muscle. A detailed analysis of the system has been performed to better characterize this similarity with the analogous dynamic behavior of the organic system. Such analysis has shown that the McKibben-type artificial muscle can be adapted to the Hill fundamental model [2]. Research regarding pneumatic artificial muscle with application to robotics has recently focused on mini-actuators for miniaturized robotics systems. This is specially true in the area of medical robotics, but an extension of miniactuator technology to other applications may be feasible, such as the development of artificial fine-motion limbs (hands and/or fingers). The present work details the artificial muscle miniaturization process developed in the LESIA laboratory, their behavior, their position and force control characteristics, as well as the possible applications of this technology to medical robotics.
A Retrospective Cohort Analysis of the Impact of Osteoarthritis on Disability Leave, Workers’ Compensation Claims, and Healthcare Payments

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objectives: Examine short-term disability (STD) and workers’ compensation (WC) associated leave and wage replacements, and overall direct healthcare payments, among employees with osteoarthritis (OA) versus other chronically painful conditions; quantifying the impact of opioid use. Methods: Analysis of employees with more than or equal to two STD or WC claims for OA or pre-specified chronically painful conditions (control) in the IBM MarketScan Research Databases (2014 to 2017). Results: The OA cohort (n = 144,355) had an estimated +1.2 STD days, +$152 STD payments, and +$1410 healthcare payments relative to the control cohort (n = 392,639; P < 0.001). WC days/payments were similar. Differences were partially driven by an association between opioid use, increased STD days/payments, and healthcare payments observed in pooled cohorts (P < 0.001). Conclusions: OA is associated with high STD days/payments and healthcare payments. Opioid use significantly contributes to these and this should be considered when choosing treatment.
Marine Technology and Policy in 2005: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges

Studies of national ocean policy have focused the attention of the marine science and technology communities on the possibility of outcomes in the near future. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy devised over two hundred recommendations. In response to the policy recommendations of the Commission, President Bush has set certain policies through his Executive Order on Ocean Policy and through the issuance of the U.S. Ocean Action Plan. This Plan holds promise for the technology community, but the opportunities of technological advancement also bring the uncertainties of change. The authors believe that the Integrated Ocean Observing System exemplifies beneficial change, both in collection methodologies and integration of science data, and in proposing the legal complexities of Autonomous Undersea Vehicle strandings and unwanted recovery (marine salvage). The recommendations of the Commission will benefit the marine technology community and should thus be supported.
CFD Optimization Analysis of a Cooling Fan for Mining Dump Truck

Axial flow fans are widely used in our daily lives such as automotive cooling systems, electronic appliances and air conditioning. The factors that affect the aerodynamic performance of axial flow fans include blade number, fan diameter, hub ratio, blade angle, rotating speed, etc. This paper investigates effects of hub ratio and bladenumber on the aerodynamic performance of the axial flow fan of the radiator of a dump truck we previously designed for mining. With the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, the fans operation condition, such as entry static pressure, effective power and flow rate, are numerically simulated with various hub ratios and blade numbers. The results of the numerical simulations are quantitatively analyzed and curves of fans performance changing with hub ratio and blade number are given. An optimization design for the cooling fan is conducted. The results of numerical simulation give conclusion that an increase of 5.6% of the vacuum static pressure and an increase of 3% of flow rate can be obtained when the hub ratio is between 500-600mm, with the same or even less power consumption. The flow rate increment reaches its peak at 8%, while power consumption efficiency is almost linearly increased, when the blade number increases to be in the range of 8 to 10. That is to say when the blade number is between 8 to 10, the fan is apparently making better use of energy. Compared with experimental method, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method can reduce design circle and lower cost. The CFD results provide guidance to improvement of design efficiency and energy utilization.
Optical CDMA video transport/switching system

Optical CDMA offers an alternate solution for video transport/switching to WDMA. Optical CDMA potentially provides a large number of virtual optical circuits for video distribution and channel selection. In a video network, it provides asynchronous, multi-rate, multi-channel communication with network scalability, reconfigurability (channel on demand), and network security (provided by inherent CDMA coding). We have demonstrated a video transport/switching system over a distance of 40 Km using discrete optical components in our laboratory. We are currently pursuing Photonic Integrated Circuit implementation. In this paper, we will describe the optical CDMA video transport/switching system concept/features, the demonstration system, and the network applications to Hybrid Fiber/Coaxial, Fiber-To-The-Curb and Fiber-To-The-Home.
An FTC Approach to Wind Turbine Power Maximisation Via T-S Fuzzy Modelling and Control

Abstract This paper presents a new strategy for offshore wind (OSW) turbine active sensor fault-tolerant control (FTC) to optimise the wind energy captured by a wind turbine operating at low wind speed via Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) multiple models with effective wind speed (EWS) estimation. The FTC strategy uses the proportional multiple integral observer (PMIO) as intermediate block between the system and the controller to provide (1) an estimation of the generator and/or rotor speed sensor(s) faults to compensate (hide) their effects from the T-S fuzzy dynamic output feedback controller (TSDOFC), and (2) robust estimation of the unknown aerodynamic torque component required to estimate the EWS. The Lyapunov stability condition and proof for the PMIO are derived and the TSDOFC stability with H ∞ performance and D-stability constraints is formulated via a further Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) problem. The strategy is illustrated using a non-linear benchmark system model of a wind turbine offered within a competition led by the companies Mathworks (USA) and KK-Electronic (Denmark).
Effect of nanoscale amorphization on dislocation emission from a semi-elliptical surface crack tip in nanocrystalline materials

An impact analysis model is built to describe the effect of nanoscale amorphization on dislocation emission from a surface semi-elliptical crack tip in nanocrystalline materials. The nanoscale amorphization is formed by the splitting transformation of grain boundary(GB)disclinations caused by the motion of GBs. The analytical solution of the model is obtained by using the complex method, and the influence of nanoscale amorphization, dislocation emission angle, crack length, and curvature radius of surface crack tip on the critical stress intensity factor (SIF) of the first dislocation emission is investigated through numerical analysis. The numerical analysis shows that the impact of nanoscale amorphization on the critical SIF corresponding to dislocation emission depends on the dislocation emission angle, the position and the size of the nanoscale amorphous, the curvature radius, and the length of surface crack. As the curvature radius of surface crack tip and the crack length increase, the normalized critical SIF increases. When the nanoscale amorphization size is small, it has a great impact on the critical SIF for dislocation, but when the size is relatively large, the effect becomes small. The effect of the increasing strength of the nanoscale amorphization on dislocation emission from the surface crack tip is related to the distance between the nanoscale amorphization and the crack tip, and there is a critical crack-junction for which the increase of dislocation strength has little effect on dislocation emission.
Continuous wave operation of long wavelength ( ≃ 11 [micro sign]m) inter-miniband lasers

A long wavelength (λ ≃ 11 µm) quantum cascade laser based on inter-miniband transitions in semiconductor superlattices is reported. The device operates continuous wave up to a temperature of 85 K, with a maximum output power of 75 mW at 25 K, both record values for unipolar lasers of comparable wavelength.
Optimization of sampled imaging system with baseband response squeeze model

When evaluating or designing a sampled imager, a comprehensive analysis is necessary and a trade-off among optics, photoelectric detector and display technique is inevitable. A new method for sampled imaging system evaluation and optimization is developed in this paper. By extension of MTF in sampled imaging system, inseparable parameters of a detector are taken into account and relations among optics, detector and display are revealed. To measure the artifacts of sampling, the Baseband Response Squeeze model, which will impose a penalty for undersampling, is clarified. Taken the squeezed baseband response and its cutoff frequency for favorable criterion, the method is competent not only for evaluating but also for optimizing sampled imaging system oriented either to single task or to multi-task. The method is applied to optimize a typical sampled imaging system. a sensitivity analysis of various detector parameters is performed and the resulted guidelines are given.
Control of doubly-fed induction machine storage system for constant charging/discharging grid power using artificial neural network

A large-capacity low-speed flywheel energy storage system based on a doubly-fed induction machine (DFIM) basically consists of a wound-rotor induction machine, and a back-to back converter for rotor excitation. It has been promoted as a challenging storage system for power system applications such as grid frequency support/control, power conditioning, and voltage sag mitigation. This paper presents a power control strategy to charge/discharge a flywheel doubly-fed induction machine storage system (FW-DFIM) to obtain a constant power delivered to the grid. The proposed controller is based on conventional vector control, where an artificial neural network (ANN) is used to develop the required rotor current component based on the required grid power level and the flywheel instantaneous speed. This technique is proposed for power levelling and frequency support to improve the quality of the electric power delivered by wind generators, where a constant power level can be delivered to the grid for a predetermined time depending on the required power level and the storage system inertia. The controller is designed to avoid overloading stator as well as rotor circuits while the flywheel charges/discharges. The validity of the developed concept in this paper, along with the effectiveness and viability of the control strategy, is confirmed by computer simulation using Matlab/Simulink for a medium voltage 10MJ/1000hp FW-DFIM example. (6 pages)
Wireless Structural Sensing

The evolution of the smart structure technology on one side and the recent innovations in ICT have generated a new functionality in structural engineering: wireless structural sensing (WSS). This concept refers to the idea of measuring the structural response of a mechanical component and transmitting in remote the data to a control centre. WSS can be viewed as an extension of the features of a smart structure that includes now not only a sensing capability but also the possibility of transmitting signals, in the presence of a transceiver. In the paper, the characteristics of this technology and the potential outcomes in terms of products and services are illustrated. The constituent elements of the system are also described and the evolution of structural design for such structural systems is highlighted in terms of the driving design parameters. Some basic demonstrators produced by the research group of the authors are also illustrated as practical implementation of the WSS technology.
Input impedance of aperture coupled hemispherical dielectric resonator antenna

A hemispherical dielectric resonator (DR) antenna fed by a microstripline through an aperture on the ground plane is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The broadside TE111 mode input impedance of the antenna configuration is evaluated, and reasonable agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. The effects of the slot length and the slot width on the input impedance are studied and discussed.
An evaluation of new asphaltene inhibitors: laboratory study and field testing

Three candidate asphaltene inhibitors have been laboratory tested for their effectiveness on a canadian crude. One inhibitor, an oil-soluble polymeric dispersant developed by Shell Chemicals, showed superior behavior compared with the others; flocculation titrations with n-heptane resulted in an optimum concentration of 1,300 ppm. PVT calculations, however, indicated that the prevailing conditions downhole can be quite favorable with respect to the amount of effective inhibitor compared with the atmospheric laboratory titrations, which appear to be quite sever tests. Therefore, lower initial concentrations were recommended for a field trial. The chemical could be injected continuously through a capillary string, thereby avoiding the lost oil production associated with solvent-cleaning operations. It have proved to be very effective at concentrations as low as 66 ppm, resulting in both a technically and economically successful trial.
The INFN Tier-1

INFN-CNAF is the central computing facility of INFN: it is the Italian Tier-1 for the experiments at LHC, but also one of the main Italian computing facilities for several other experiments such as BABAR, CDF, SuperB, Virgo, Argo, AMS, Pamela, MAGIC, Auger etc. Currently there is an installed CPU capacity of 100,000 HS06, a net disk capacity of 9 PB and an equivalent amount of tape storage (these figures are going to be increased in the first half of 2012 respectively to 125,000 HS06, 12 PB and 18 PB). More than 80,000 computing jobs are executed daily on the farm, managed by LSF, accessing the storage, managed by GPFS, with an aggregate bandwidth up to several GB/s. The access to the storage system from the farm is direct through the file protocol. The interconnection of the computing resources and the data storage is based on 10 Gbps technology. The disk-servers and the storage systems are connected through a Storage Area Network allowing a complete flexibility and easiness of management; dedicated disk-servers are connected, also via the SAN, to the tape library. The INFN Tier-1 is connected to the other centers via 3×10 Gbps links (to be upgraded at the end of 2012), including the LHCOPN and to the LHCONE. In this paper we show the main results of our center after 2 full years of run of LHC.
Supply chain network design with unreliable suppliers: a Lagrangian relaxation-based approach

This paper deals with the integrated facility location and supplier selection decisions for the design of supply chain network with reliable and unreliable suppliers. Two problems are addressed: (1) facility location/supplier selection; and (2) facility location/supplier reliability. We first consider the facility location and supplier selections problem where all the suppliers are reliable. The decisions concern the selection of suppliers, the location of distribution centres (DCs), the allocation of suppliers to DCs and the allocation of retailers to DCs. The objective is to minimise fixed DCs location costs, inventory and safety stock costs at the DCs and ordering costs and transportation costs across the network. The introduction of inventory costs and safety stock costs leads to a non-linear NP-hard optimisation problem. To solve this problem, a Lagrangian relaxation-based approach is developed. For the second problem, a two-period decision model is proposed in which selected suppliers are reliable in the first period and can fail in the second period. The corresponding facility location/supplier reliability problem is formulated as a non-linear stochastic programming problem. A Monte Carlo optimisation approach combining the sample average approximation scheme and the Lagrangian relaxation-based approach is proposed. Computational results are presented to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed approaches.
A pseudo-lucky electron model for simulation of electron gate current in submicron NMOSFET's

An energy parameterized pseudo-lucky electron model for simulation of gate current in submicron MOSFET's is presented in this paper. The model uses hydrodynamic equations to describe more correctly the carrier energy dependence of the gate injection phenomenon. The proposed model is based on the exponential form of the conventional lucky electron gate current model. Unlike the conventional lucky electron model, which is based on the local electric fields in the device, the proposed model accounts for nonlocal effects resulting from the large variations in the electric field in submicron MOSFET's. This is achieved by formulating the lucky electron model in terms of an effective-electric field that is obtained by using the computed average carrier energy in the device and the energy versus field relation obtained from uniform-field Monte Carlo simulations. Good agreement with gate currents over a wide range of bias conditions for three sets of devices is demonstrated.
Dual-wideband bandstop filter using transversal signal-interaction concept

A dual-wideband bandstop filter with high selectivity using transversal signal-interaction concept is proposed. Five transmission poles in the passband between the two stopbands can be achieved due to the superposition of signals for the two transmission paths. A planar dual-wideband bandstop filter prototype for WLAN bands with 10 dB fractional bandwidths of 76.2% and 26.9% has been designed and fabricated.
Sensitivity Analysis of the WEPP Watershed Model for Rangeland Applications I: Hillslope Processes

Uncertainty in the hydrologic and soil erosion predictions of the WEPP watershed model due to errors in model parameter estimation is identified through a sensitivity analysis based on the Monte Carlo method. Hillslope component model sensitivities to model inputs for rangeland conditions are presented. Model sensitivities provide guidance in the collection of input data where the model is intended to simulate soil erosion. The results show that hydrologic and erosion predictions are very sensitive to attributes that define a storm event (amount, duration, and time to peak and intensity) and to the saturated hydraulic conductivity parameter. Sensitivity to critical shear stress in soil erosion predictions indicates that interrill flow is the dominant factor of sediment transport under consolidated, nontill managed soils.
Exemple de prévision et de simulation opérationnelle des débits d'étiage pour les besoins d'EDF

En situation d'etage, il devient difficile de gerer l'ensemble des besoins lies a la ressource en eau. EDF, en particulier, utilise cette ressource a des fins energetiques tant pour des moyens de production thermiques, qui necessitent un debit minimal pour leur refroidissement et pour la dilution de leurs effluents, que pour ses moyens de production hydrauliques dont les reserves permettent d'economiser des combustibles onereux durant les periode a forte demande. Cet usage de l'eau ne peut se faire en ignorant la demande supplementaire correspondant a d'autres besoins, agricoles, industriels, touristiques ou relatifs a la qualite de l'eau. Dans ces conditions, pour la gestion optimale d'une retenue d'eau, la connaissance et la prevision a court terme des debits naturels permettent de lâcher de l'eau en quantite suffisante pour satisfaire les besoins aval tout en l'economisant au maximum pour faire face aux besoins futurs. Par ailleurs, la simulation de scenarios hydrologiques a long terme permet de probabiliser a l'avance l'occurrence d'evenements identifies comme critiques, tels le franchissement de certains seuils de debit, ou leur persistance dans le temps, pour finalement anticiper les consequences de ces evenements sur l'exploitation du parc de production EDF se dote donc progressivement des outils necessaires a la connaissance et a la prevision de la ressource en eau en etiage: stations pluviometriques et hydrometriques, modeles de prevision hydrologiques conceptuels et statistiques, serveurs de donnees, modeles d'analyse statistique d'indicateurs d'etiage, tableau de bord de la ressource en eau. Cette demarche est illustree par les realisations et les developpements actuels sur les bassins de la Vienne et de la Loire.
Research on the Quadrature Demodulation-Based Quartz Crystal Microbalance Implementation Method

In order to overcome the shortcomings of traditional quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) network measuring method, such as high requirements for hardware devices, low measurement speed and high challenge to curve fitting, a method based on the Quadrature Demodulation was proposed to design a rapid and accurate measuring system for QCM parameters, which mainly took the advantages of Quadrature Demodulation to remove the intermediate frequency component while reserve the low frequency component. Furthermore, the effectiveness of this method was proved by contrasting the Matlab simulation results with the actual measurement results based on the modified measuring system, which indicated that the frequency resolution could reach 0.1Hz with high testing speed of 0.02s per cycle, the relative deviations of resonance frequencies were less than 0.01% and the deviation of the differences between series and parallel resonant frequency points was 0.38%.
A MODEL FOR PLANT GROWTH. ESTIMATION OF THE PARAMETERS OF THE LOGISTIC FUNCTION

SUMMARY The logistic function is an adequate model for the growth of individuals of higher plants under constant environmental conditions. The parameters are estimated by means of a simple regression analysis. As an illustration growth of two related annual species (Galinsoga ciliata and G. parviflora) under heated green-house conditions has been compared.