Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimizing Industrial Robots for Accurate High-Speed Applications

Today’s standard robotic systems often do not meet the industry’s demands for accurate high-speed robotic applications. Any machine, be it an existing or a new one, should be pushed to its limits to provide “optimal” efficiency. However, due to the high complexity of modern applications, a one-step overall optimization is not possible. Therefore, this contribution introduces a step-by-step sequence of multiple nonlinear optimizations. Included are optimal configurations for geometric calibration, best-exciting trajectories for parameter identification, model-based control, and time/energy optimal trajectory planning for continuous path and point-to-point trajectories. Each of these optimizations contributes to the improvement of the overall system. Existing optimization techniques are adapted and extended for use with a standard industrial robot scenario and combined with a comprehensive toolkit with discussions on the interplay between the separate components. Most importantly, all procedures are evaluated in practical experiments on a standard robot with industrial control hardware and the recorded measurements are presented, a step often missing in publications in this area.
Bemessung von Verbundstützen – Update prEN 1994‐1‐1

Die Bemessung von Verbundstützen in Stahl und Beton erfolgt nach den Regeln des Eurocode 4. Dabei wird zwischen vereinfachten und dem allgemeinen Nachweisverfahren differenziert. Das allgemeine Nachweisverfahren basiert auf einer umfassenden numerischen Analyse, gefolgt von einer Validierung des Sicherheitsniveaus. Die aktuell gültige europäische Norm EN 1994‐1‐1:2004 enthält keine detaillierten Informationen zur Anwendung des allgemeinen Nachweisverfahrens. Auch in der Fachliteratur werden nur wenige Informationen bereitgestellt. Dies führt häufig zu Fragen in der Anwendung des Verfahrens und bei der Bewertung der Berechnungsergebnisse. In Deutschland wurden zusätzliche Details zur Anwendung des Verfahrens in den nationalen Anhang (DIN EN 1994‐1‐1/NA) aufgenommen. Aktuell liegt der Entwurf der zweiten Generation der prEN 1994‐1‐1:2021 mit komplementären Informationen zum allgemeinen Nachweisverfahren vor. Parallel werden neue Sicherheitsparameter eingeführt, die in EN 1994‐1‐1 nicht enthalten sind, und der Anwendungsbereich im Hinblick auf die Materialfestigkeiten erweitert. Dieser Beitrag erläutert die Vorgehensweise bei der Bemessung von Verbundstützen nach prEN 1994‐1‐1 und zeigt Änderungen gegenüber dem aktuell gültigen Eurocode auf.
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) Growth, Yield, and Nodulation in the Early Transition Period from Conventional Tillage to Conservation and No-Tillage Systems

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. ) is the most important protein crop globally, with its cultivation area in Europe on the increase. To investigate how alternative tillage systems affect soybean growth, yield performance, and nitrogen fixation capacity in the early conversion period from conventional tillage to conservation and no-tillage practices, a field study was conducted in 2020 under the humid central European climatic conditions of Slovenia. A complete randomized block design with four repetitions was used for the three different tillage systems (conventional, conservation, and no-tillage). The results show that the majority of the studied soybean growth parameters (e.g., plant density, nodes per plant, and shoot and root dry matter) and the yield components (e.g., pods per plant, and 100-seed mass) were greatest for the reference conventional tillage system. The conventional system also showed significantly greater dry nodule mass (p < 0.01) and proportion of large-sized nodules (>4 mm) on both the tap root (p < 0.05) and the lateral roots (p < 0.001). A positive linear correlation between nitrogen content and nodule production in the roots also suggested increased nitrogen fixation for the conventional system. The less intensive conservation and no-tillage systems resulted in significantly greater soil compaction, which negatively affected early plant establishment and resulted in significantly decreased plant densities. Despite the large differences in plant stands and individual plant performances, no significant differences were seen for dry seed yields between these tillage systems. Dry seed yields for the conventional and conservation systems were 4.54 and 4.48 t ha−1, respectively, with only minor (non-significant) yield reduction for the no-tillage system, at 4.0 t ha−1. These data show that soybean cultivation in the early transition period to less intensive tillage systems have no major yield losses under these less suitable agro-climatic conditions if correct crop and weed management measures are implemented.
Effects of Partial Bonding and Adhesive Thickness on the Load-Carrying Capacity of Tension Specimens Bonded with Epoxy Adhesive Investigated by Microindentation, Tensile Testing, and FEM Simulation

The use of epoxy adhesives in metal structures for adhesive reasons is a continuously growing market, because of the increasing demand of lightweight constructions, which renders in certain cases conventional mechanical bonding unpractical. Furthermore, epoxy ad- hesives possess enhanced mechanical, chemical, and physical properties, i.e., increased shear and compression strength and resistance in solvents, whereas maintaining these properties at higher temperatures than traditional mechanical bonding methods. Next generation aircraft engines and pipelines are common application areas of these adhesives. In order, however, to ensure the safe use of epoxy adhesives in such structures, computational analyses must be conducted to simulate eventual failure mechanisms. These simulations require the exact deter- mination of the epoxy adhesion strength properties with respect to several parameters. A systematic investigation of these properties will be presented, on the basis of tensile tests of standard aluminium tension specimens bonded together with epoxy adhesives, whereas their failure mechanisms will be simulated by a FEM-supported model to evaluate the extracted characteristics. The specimens were cemented by means of a developed experimental device under constant temperature and humidity conditions. The deformation as well as the developed stress distribution of the specimens during the tensile experiments were simulated by means of a FEM-supported software package, considering the stress-strain curves of the adhesive, determined by a FEM-based evaluation of microindentation results. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943- 5525.0000092. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Adhesives; Mechanical properties; Bonding; Simulation; Finite element method. Author keywords: Epoxy adhesive; Mechanical properties; Bonding strength; FEM simulation.
Recent developments in experimental on-chip stiction research: a review

Release-related stiction problems in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) have been solved almost completely by the use of CO2 drying and vapour-phase HF etching, but in-use stiction still poses a reliability threat to these tiny machines. In this paper, a review is presented of the recent work on the experimental investigation of adhesion forces in MEMS. The Cantilever Beam Array (CBA) technique and its derivatives (two-sides clamped, arc-shaped, S-shaped, electrostatic actuation, sidewall contacts) is discussed first. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) studies can be used to obtain a more accurate physical picture of nanoscale adhesion, but suffer from the fact that the contact geometry is not exactly the same as a true MEMS contact. Emphasis is placed on new techniques that can be used to investigate stiction between MEMS surfaces in situ dynamically on-chip by means of dedicated MEMS devices. Combination of these techniques with AFM is especially promising, as is the application of these techniques to microscale friction research.
Interference rejection combining for GSM

Digital cellular communication systems in urban areas are today beginning to be limited in performance by interference. To further increase the capacity in these areas, more advanced detection schemes could be used. We study how the performance of the MLSE equalizer can be improved by utilizing interference suppression. Simulation results for a GSM system under realistic conditions are presented.
Improving the resilience of SMEs in times of crisis: The impact of mobile money amid Covid‐19 in Zambia

Abstract This study investigates the impact of mobile money (MM) on SMEs' resilience and the associated business outcome in developing countries amid Covid‐19. Despite the potential of MM to improve SMEs' resilience, little evidence has been documented. Using Enterprise Survey data in Zambia, we show that SMEs are more likely than large firms to experience catastrophic sales decline, reflecting their inherent vulnerability. Further analysis reveals that this unfavourable effect can be effectively counteracted when SMEs incorporate MM into daily business. An important policy implication is that the use of digital technologies should be a key element of policy responses to Covid‐19.
Objective Numerical Evaluation of Diffuse, Optically Reconstructed Images Using Structural Similarity Index

Diffuse optical tomography is emerging as a non-invasive optical modality used to evaluate tissue information by obtaining the optical properties’ distribution. Two procedures are performed to produce reconstructed absorption and reduced scattering images, which provide structural information that can be used to locate inclusions within tissues with the assistance of a known light intensity around the boundary. These methods are referred to as a forward problem and an inverse solution. Once the reconstructed image is obtained, a subjective measurement is used as the conventional way to assess the image. Hence, in this study, we developed an algorithm designed to numerically assess reconstructed images to identify inclusions using the structural similarity (SSIM) index. We compared four SSIM algorithms with 168 simulated reconstructed images involving the same inclusion position with different contrast ratios and inclusion sizes. A multiscale, improved SSIM containing a sharpness parameter (MS-ISSIM-S) was proposed to represent the potential evaluation compared with the human visible perception. The results indicated that the proposed MS-ISSIM-S is suitable for human visual perception by demonstrating a reduction of similarity score related to various contrasts with a similar size of inclusion; thus, this metric is promising for the objective numerical assessment of diffuse, optically reconstructed images.
Peach Production and Foreign Trade of Turkey: Current Situation, Forecasting and Analysis of Competitiveness

: In this study, changes in peach-nectarine ( Prunus persica L.) production and trade in the world and Turkey have been evaluated considering developments in the last decade. Turkey's production and export volumes for the next three years were also estimated, and competitiveness analysis was performed for the major exporting countries. According to 2010-2019 data, it was determined that there were significant changes in peach-nectarine production, production areas, and productivity in the world. Production and export forecasting was examined with the ARIMA model, which is the Box-Jenkins method. By using 50-year data covering 1971-2020, ARIMA (1,1,0) was the best model in production and ARIMA (0,1,2) in exports. Estimates indicated that Turkey's export and production in 2023 would be 893.575 and 157.343 tons, respectively. To determine competitiveness, Balassa's revealed comparative advantage and Vollrath's relative export advantage ındex, relative import penetration index, relative trade advantage index, and revealed competitiveness were used. For this purpose, important exporting countries such as Spain, Greece, Italy, China, Chile, USA, Jordan, Uzbekistan and the Netherlands were examined. Considering the index values calculated for the period covering the years 2010-2019, it has been determined that Turkey has a comparative advantage in peach-nectarine exports. Spain, Uzbekistan, Greece, Jordan, and Chile attracted attention as other countries with comparative advantage. Besides protecting existing markets, speeding up the search for new markets is very important to maintain the comparative advantage gained by Turkey.
Information sharing when competing manufacturers adopt asymmetric channel in an e-tailer

This paper investigates the incentive for information sharing when competing manufacturers sell substitute products through the marketplace channel and the reseller channel respectively. Our analysis shows that the e-tailer's incentive to share information strongly depends on the platform fee, competition intensity, and different information sharing scenarios. If competition intensity is small, or competition intensity is large and the platform fee is enough large, the e-tailer has incentive to alone share information with the manufacturer who is from the marketplace channel; if competition intensity is moderate and the platform fee is small, or competition intensity is large but the platform fee is moderate, it has incentive to share information with both manufacturers; if competition intensity is large but the platform fee is small, it has no incentive to share information. The results also indicate that the double marginalization effect of information sharing is a promoting factor to share information under linear cost, which is different from previous literature. Additionally, we find that the main qualitative insights from the base model are robust even if one monopolist manufacturer employs both channels. And we also compare the incentive of information sharing under asymmetric channel with that under symmetric channel.
User-responsive interface generation for manufacturing systems: A theoretical basis

Abstract Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems with a significant level of human-computer interaction are often inefficient. This is particularly problematical for those users who have to interact with multiple subsystem interfaces. These difficulties can be traced back to the fact that representation of the user in existing manufacturing models and systems is inadequate. An approach that increases user representation to improve CIM interface design is proposed, in which stereotype-based user and task models are used to specify a common user interface for each individual system user. An overview of the architecture is followed by discussion of an application domain (statistical process control) in which a demonstrator based on the architecture has been tested.
The relationship between employer image and employee commitment in family-run hospitality firms

Purpose Among all forms of commitment, affective commitment has been shown to be the most desirable for enterprises. However, research on commitment among employees in family-run businesses in the hospitality industry is scant. To address this gap, this study aims to analyze the impact of employer image components on hospitality employees’ affective occupational commitment within family-run businesses. As one can assume specific employer image aspects when studying family-run businesses, this paper expects to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between employer image and employee commitment in this context. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the employer image framework of Baum and Kabst (2013), emphasizing that in addition to considering potential employees, the commitment of current employees needs to be assessed. Convenience sampling is used to obtain a sample from the target population (Tyrolean hospitality and gastronomy employees) from June to September 2018. Multiple linear regression analysis is applied to test the influence of individual employer image constituents on employees’ affective occupational commitment. Findings Among the five components of the employer image framework applied here, working atmosphere, task attractiveness and payment attractiveness show a significant influence on employees’ affective occupational commitment. Originality/value This study connects an existing employer image model to employee commitment within the hospitality industry. The findings suggest that the model is applicable to current employees as a key stakeholder group and shows the utility of employer image theory in connection with employee commitment.
Semi-Supervised Pipeline for Autonomous Annotation of SARS-CoV-2 Genomes

SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing efforts have scaled dramatically to address the current global pandemic and aid public health. However, autonomous genome annotation of SARS-CoV-2 genes, proteins, and domains is not readily accomplished by existing methods and results in missing or incorrect sequences. To overcome this limitation, we developed a novel semi-supervised pipeline for automated gene, protein, and functional domain annotation of SARS-CoV-2 genomes that differentiates itself by not relying on the use of a single reference genome and by overcoming atypical genomic traits that challenge traditional bioinformatic methods. We analyzed an initial corpus of 66,000 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences collected from labs across the world using our method and identified the comprehensive set of known proteins with 98.5% set membership accuracy and 99.1% accuracy in length prediction, compared to proteome references, including Replicase polyprotein 1ab (with its transcriptional slippage site). Compared to other published tools, such as Prokka (base) and VAPiD, we yielded a 6.4- and 1.8-fold increase in protein annotations. Our method generated 13,000,000 gene, protein, and domain sequences—some conserved across time and geography and others representing emerging variants. We observed 3362 non-redundant sequences per protein on average within this corpus and described key D614G and N501Y variants spatiotemporally in the initial genome corpus. For spike glycoprotein domains, we achieved greater than 97.9% sequence identity to references and characterized receptor binding domain variants. We further demonstrated the robustness and extensibility of our method on an additional 4000 variant diverse genomes containing all named variants of concern and interest as of August 2021. In this cohort, we successfully identified all keystone spike glycoprotein mutations in our predicted protein sequences with greater than 99% accuracy as well as demonstrating high accuracy of the protein and domain annotations. This work comprehensively presents the molecular targets to refine biomedical interventions for SARS-CoV-2 with a scalable, high-accuracy method to analyze newly sequenced infections as they arise.
Biology of Perseverative Negative Thinking: The Role of Timing and Folate Intake

Past-oriented rumination and future-oriented worry are two aspects of perseverative negative thinking related to the neuroticism endophenotype and associated with depression and anxiety. Our present aim was to investigate the genomic background of these two aspects of perseverative negative thinking within separate groups of individuals with suboptimal versus optimal folate intake. We conducted a genome-wide association study in the UK Biobank database (n = 72,621) on the “rumination” and “worry” items of the Eysenck Personality Inventory Neuroticism scale in these separate groups. Optimal folate intake was related to lower worry, but unrelated to rumination. In contrast, genetic associations for worry did not implicate specific biological processes, while past-oriented rumination had a more specific genetic background, emphasizing its endophenotypic nature. Furthermore, biological pathways leading to rumination appeared to differ according to folate intake: purinergic signaling and circadian regulator gene ARNTL emerged in the whole sample, blastocyst development, DNA replication, and C-C chemokines in the suboptimal folate group, and prostaglandin response and K+ channel subunit gene KCNH3 in the optimal folate group. Our results point to possible benefits of folate in anxiety disorders, and to the importance of simultaneously taking into account genetic and environmental factors to determine personalized intervention in polygenic and multifactorial disorders.
Ku-band (12.6 GHz) SiGe/Si high-power heterojunction bipolar transistors

Large-area multifinger Si/sub 0.7/Ge/sub 0.3//Si heterojunction bipolar transistors for high-power and high-frequency operation have been designed, fabricated and characterised. For a nine-emitter finger device, an f/sub max/ of 100 GHz was achieved with a maximum available gain of 14 dB. The peak power-added efficiency in the Ku-band (12.6 GHz) in the common-base configuration for a 15-emitter finger device was 23% with associated power gain of 7.4 dB and an output power of 22 dBm under class AB operation. The device delivered a maximum output power of 24.4 dBm under the same matching conditions.
Achieving sustained competitive advantage by integrating ECR, RFID and visibility in retail supply chains: a conceptual framework

While efficient consumer response (ECR), radio frequency identification (RFID) and supply chain visibility are concepts that have received academic and practitioner attention, the benefits of integration have not been considered in any detail. Based on a systematic review of literature, the findings suggest that designing retail supply chains to integrate the concepts of RFID, ECR and visibility presents opportunities for sustained competitive advantage. The contribution made by this article is the formulation of six research propositions which propose that the integration of ECR, RFID and supply chain visibility may be considered as a strategic capability within retail supply networks. By adopting the theoretical lens of the resource-based view of the firm, research propositions examining integration as per the characteristics of valuable, rare, imperfectly mobile, not imitable and not substitutable are developed.
The New Pharmacological Chaperones PBXs Increase α-Galactosidase A Activity in Fabry Disease Cellular Models

Fabry disease is an X-linked multisystemic disorder caused by the impairment of lysosomal α-Galactosidase A, which leads to the progressive accumulation of glycosphingolipids and to defective lysosomal metabolism. Currently, Fabry disease is treated by enzyme replacement therapy or the orally administrated pharmacological chaperone Migalastat. Both therapeutic strategies present limitations, since enzyme replacement therapy has shown low half-life and bioavailability, while Migalastat is only approved for patients with specific mutations. The aim of this work was to assess the efficacy of PBX galactose analogues to stabilize α-Galactosidase A and therefore evaluate their potential use in Fabry patients with mutations that are not amenable to the treatment with Migalastat. We demonstrated that PBX compounds are safe and effective concerning stabilization of α-Galactosidase A in relevant cellular models of the disease, as assessed by enzymatic activity measurements, molecular modelling, and cell viability assays. This experimental evidence suggests that PBX compounds are promising candidates for the treatment of Fabry disease caused by mutations which affect the folding of α-Galactosidase A, even for GLA variants that are not amenable to the treatment with Migalastat.