Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soldier Performance in a Moving Command Vehicle Under Manned, Teleoperated, and Teleoperated Cruise Control Modes Under Day and Night Conditions

Abstract : Soldiers will be required to perform missions using remote technology with increasing frequency as the U.S. Army transforms. Teleoperation requires that Soldiers perform missions that will require them to be at greater standoff distances at the cost of degraded sensory information and resulting limited system performance. Historically, teleoperated systems have had capabilities that are twice the error rate and time required to perform a mission. This is due to the limited field of view, depth perception, vestibular cues, and other immersion reducing characteristics of remote operation. The need to provide operational improvements to the historically degraded teleoperation mode is being recognized by the U.S. Army in many areas, including route clearing and mine detection systems. The Rabbit 2.0 system allows several modes of operation that are purported to reduce Soldier workload. These modes include manned operation, teleoperation, and teleoperation with cruise control. The study was designed to examine these modes of operation, comparing the subjective workload, stress, and motion sickness as well as course completion time, average speed, and driving error in terms of lateral drift. Soldiers operated the Rabbit 2.0 system over a secondary course while maintaining proper speed and road edge following in all three modes under both day and night conditions. Data for vehicle position and speed were collected at a rate of 5 Hz while subjective ratings of workload, stress, and motion sickness were collected at the end-points of the course runs. Participants were four U.S. Army Soldiers recruited from the 10th Mountain Division. Separate ANOVA analyses were used for day and night conditions. ANOVAs revealed significant differences for the effects of control mode on workload for both day and night conditions as well as for the effect of speed on lateral drift distances. Subjective ratings of accelerator quality were affected by mode for both day and night conditions. Vid
Risk Assessment of Bioaccumulation Substances. Part II: Description of a Model Framework

This report provides a proposal for a framework for risk assessment of bioaccumulative substances, either from produced water discharges or present as background contamination. The proposed framework is such that it is compatible to the current EIF risk assessment models that are used in the Norwegian offshore oil and gas industry. The risk assessment approach selected for this framework is based on the use of critical body residues (CBR); i.e., body-tissue concentrations above which adverse effects are expected. A three-tiered risk assessment approach is distinguished: tier 1 for worst-case screening purposes; tier 2 based on probabilistic risk assessment using species sensitivity distributions and tier 3 focusing on population modelling for specific species. The latter tier is, because of its specific characteristics, not elaborated in detail. It is proposed to use a food-chain accumulation model to translate species sensitivity thresholds on the basis of CBR into external threshold concentrations, those external thresholds could then be used to either derive an ecosystem PNEC (tier I) or Species Sensitivity Distribution (tier II). This would provide a pragmatic approach to risk assessment of bioaccumulative substances in the context of the EIF modelling framework. Finally, an outline is provided for a research project in which the a risk assessment model for bioaccumulative substances is developed. This model will then be applied to two cases for purposes of demonstration and evaluation. An indication of workload and planning is provided.
Managing the Building Design Process

About the book - Section 1 The Basics: Design and the designers * Communication * Permissions and approvals - Section 2 The Design Period: Inception * Design planning * The design brief * The design: Function Part 1 How buildings are used * The design: Function Part 2: Design and construction constraints * The design: aesthetics * Construction information * Pre-contract administration - Section 3: The Construction Period * Construction supervision * Completion * Feedback * Conclusion
Accurate Plane Estimation Within A Holistic Probabilistic Framework

Accurate 3D plane estimation in complex environments is an important functionality in many robotics applications such as navigation, manipulation, human-machine interaction. Following recent research in coherent geometrical contextual reasoning and object recognition, this paper proposes a joint probabilistic model which uses the results of wireframe feature detection to facilitate refinement of supporting plane estimation. By maximizing the probability of the joint model, our method has the capability of simultaneously estimating multiple 3D surfaces. The experiments using both synthetic data and an indoor mobile robot scenario demonstrate the benefits of our coherent model approach.
Project Management Maturity Model: Providing a Proven Path to Project Management Excellence

Ideal for organizations setting up a project management maturity model, this book provides effective strategies for the implementation of efficient systems, time and cost conservation, quality assurance, and project success. The author details areas critical to organizational improvement such as the project office, management oversight, professional development, risk assessment, and streamlining processes. Summarizing methods to identify, analyze, and control factors affecting project
Roundabout operations : a summary of FHWA's - 'Roundabouts: An Informational Guide'

As in many other countries, roundabouts are receiving renewed interest in South Africa. The recently published U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) publication, Roundabouts: An Informational Guide, presents a comprehensive discussion of roundabout planning, performance analysis, and design. No specific local guidelines for roundabouts have been developed and local engineers rely mostly on English and Australian methods. This guide provides another useful tool for the traffic engineering toolbox. One of its features is the definition of six categories of roundabouts, ranging from small, urban mini-roundabouts to relatively large, rural double-lane roundabouts. Distinctions have been made between the various categories in terms of characteristics, planning procedures, operational analysis, and design treatments. This paper presents the various elements of operational analysis included in the guide, including measures of capacity and performance analysis, and provides a discussion of many of the decisions made during the development of the guide. The paper presents capacity curves for urban compact roundabouts, single-lane roundabouts, and double-lane roundabouts, as well as adjustment factors to account for the effect of short lanes (flaring). The paper also presents the methodologies and recommended practices for determining degree of saturation, delay, and queuing.
Advanced lighting guidelines, 1993: Revision 1

The 1993 Advanced Lighting Guidelines document consists of twelve guidelines that provide an overview of specific lighting technologies and design application techniques utilizing energy-efficient lighting practice. Lighting Design Practice assesses energy-efficient lighting strategies, discusses lighting issues, and explains how to obtain quality lighting design and consulting services. Luminaires and Lighting Systems surveys luminaire equipment designed to take advantage of advanced technology lamp products and includes performance tables that allow for accurate estimation of luminaire light output and power input. The additional ten guidelines -- Computer-Aided Lighting Design, Energy-Efficient Fluorescent Ballasts, Full-Size Fluorescent Lamps, Compact Fluorescent Lamps, Tungsten- Halogen Lamps, Metal Halide and HPS Lamps, Daylighting and Lumen Maintenance, Occupant Sensors, Time Scheduling Systems, and Retrofit Control Technologies -- each provide a product technology overview, discuss current products on the lighting equipment market, and provide application techniques. This document is intended for use by electric utility personnel involved in lighting programs, lighting designers, electrical engineers, architects, lighting manufacturers' representatives, and other lighting professionals.
Power Quality Improvement of Distributed Generation Integrated Network with Unified Power Quality Conditioner.

With the increased penetration of small scale renewable energy sources in the electrical distribution network, maintenance or improvement of power quality has become more critical than ever where the level of voltage and current harmonics or disturbances can vary widely. For this reason, Custom Power Devices (CPDs) such as the Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) can be the most appropriate solution for enhancing the dynamic performance of the distribution network, where accurate prior knowledge may not be available. Therefore, the main objective of the present research is to investigate the (i) placement (ii) integration (iii) capacity enhancement and (iv) real time control of the Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) to improve the power quality (PQ) of a distributed generation (DG) network connected to the grid or microgrid.
Flow-induced tube vibration thresholds in heat exchangers from shellside water tests

Typical industrial shell-and-tube heat exchanger configurations are investigated experimentally for the occurrence of potentially damaging tube vibration as a function of flowrate. The effort is part of a program to develop vibration avoidance criteria to be integrated and optimized with the advanced thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical design methods now available. The tests use a 0.6-m (2-ft)-diameter, 3.7-m (12-ft)-long shell containing a removable tube bundle whose components are readily rearranged or replaced. The 15 different full tube bundle configurations tested represent various combinations of parameters: triangular or square tube layout patterns with different orientations to the flow, number of crosspasses, sizes of nozzles, plain or finned tubes. All bundles have 19-mm (0.75-in.)-diameter tubes spaced with a pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.25. The heat exchanger is tested with waterflow on the shellside to determine a critical threshold, above which a small increase in the flowrate initiates a fluidelastic instability resulting in large amplitude vibration. The test conditions, the critical flowrates, the vibration frequencies, and the locations of the tubes most susceptible to vibration are presented. The given data are used for a comparison with a presently recognized method of vibration prediction and will permit updated evaluations as more advanced methods become available inmore » the future. « less
Exploring Critical Success Factors of ERP Implementation inUnited Nations Types of Organizations: Relationship betweenfactors impacting user experience

The present study entails the literature in critical success factors (Daniel, 1961; Rockart, 1979; Thierauf, 1982; Pinto & Slevin, 1987; Wijn et.al, 1996) namely for ERP implementation (Sarkar et.al, 2003; Jaideep et.al, 2005, Koh et.al, 2011) and the components of user satisfaction (Doll & Torkzadeh, 1988). The primary purpose of this research is to explain the critical factors for successful ERP implementation in United Nations type of organization and set up a grounded research approach that aims to identify and investigate the relationship between the components of user satisfaction with the goal to propose a model that explains the success factors and relevant relationships between information technology usage, information characteristics and business processes. A three dimension (triangulation) approach consisting of grounded research, a quantitative survey methodology and qualitative semi-structured interviews was used to collect information and data from a United Nations agency in Montreal, Canada. The data for the research was taken over a period of 6 months, studying documents of project implementation, discussions, meetings, observations, a survey with 101 responses and interviewing 10 senior management officials. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to identify the relevant factors critical to the success of ERP implementation. A correlation analysis was done to understand the relationship between the components of user satisfaction. Structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was then used to extract a model that explains ERP implementation. Finally, qualitative information were examined in light of the findings to complete our investigation loop. The findings along with the theoretical and practical significance of the research are discussed.
Body Composition and Bioelectrical-Impedance-Analysis-Derived Raw Variables in Pole Dancers

Few data are available on the body composition of pole dancers. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a method that is used to estimate fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM), while raw BIA variables, such as the impedance ratio (IR) and phase angle (PhA), are markers of body cell mass and the ratio between extracellular and total body water. The aim of this study was to evaluate the body composition of pole dancers compared to controls, in particular, those raw BIA variables that are considered as markers of muscle composition. Forty female pole dancers and 59 controls participated in the study. BIA was performed on the whole body and upper and lower limbs, separately, at 5, 50, 100 and 250 kHz. The FFM, FFM index, FM and body fat percentage (BF%) were predicted. The bioelectrical impedance indexes IR and PhA were also considered. Pole dancers exhibited higher FFMI and BI indexes and lower BF%. PhA was greater and IRs were smaller in pole dancers than in controls for the whole body and upper limbs. Considering the training level, FFM, whole-body IR and PhA were higher in the professionals than non-professionals. Raw BIA variables significantly differed between the pole dancers and controls, suggesting a higher BCM; furthermore, practicing pole dancing was associated with a greater FFM and lower FM.
A review of tone reproduction techniques

The ultimate aim of realistic graphics is the creation of images that provoke the same responses that a viewer would have to a real scene. While research into ways of rendering images provides us with better and faster methods, we do not necessarily see their full effect due to limitations of the display hardware. The low dynamic range of a standard computer monitor requires some form of mapping to produce images that are perceptually accurate. Tone reproduction operators attempt to replicate the effect of real-world luminance intensities. This paper reviews the work to date on tone reproduction techniques. It includes an investigation into the need for accurate tone reproduction and a discussion of techniques to date. The future of tone reproduction is considered, together with the implications of advances in display hardware.
Using the Kinect Sensor for Social Robotics

This thesis presents an innovative approach to social robotics through gesture recognition. The focus is on recognizing gestures because this is an important aspect regarding interpretation of a person's intent when he or she gives commands to a robot. The equipment used is a Kinect sensor, developed by Microsoft, attached to a moving platform. The Kinect communicates with software running on a PC through the OpenNI interface and uses the NITE middleware by PrimeSense. The results of this thesis are: - a broad literature study presenting the state of the art of gesture recognition - a system which handles the problems that arise when the Kinect is non-stationary - a gesture recognizer that observes and analyzes human actions There are mainly two problems that are solved by the implemented system. First, user labels might be incorrectly swapped when the Kinect's standard algorithm loses track of a user for a few frames. Second, false-positive users are detected, as the Kinect is assumed stationary. Because of this, everything that moves relative to the Kinect is marked as a user. The first problem is counteracted by mapping the observed label to where it was last seen. The second problem is solved using a combination of optical flow and feature analysis. The gesture recognizer has been developed to allow robust and efficient segmentation, joint detection and gesture recognition. To achieve both high efficiency and good results, these algorithms are tailored to be used with the high quality user silhouettes detected by the Kinect. In addition, the default Kinect algorithm needs some time to initialize when a new human user is detected. The implemented gesture recognizer has no such delay.
ERP Implementations the pitfalls of a positivist outlook

Research into Enterprises Resource Planning Systems (ERP) has shown a disconcerting failure of implementations in organisations. This is alarming considering the phenomenal industry uptake of ERP's over the past decade. The reasons for such failure are not forthcoming however it is argued that domination of a positivist research paradigm gives little or no insight into why ERP's fail. Such research approaches are insufficient in that the focus is on surface elements (i.e. empirical data from one perspective) and cannot account accurately for large scale ERP implementations which involve complex interaction of social, technical and political elements. The case for a broader multidisciplinary research perspective that draws from existing models, methodologies and philosophises is advanced in order to establish a more holistic view of the reasons why ERP systems fail. This paper establishes two parallel trends, namely the scope of ERP failures and reliance of Information Systems research on positivist methods. A key argument is then made for a more diverse approach to Information Systems research in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of ERP failures which could be used to generate more effective implementation solutions. The paper concludes with an exploration of the implications for widening the methodologies employed in Information Systems research.
Outcome-based learning field guide : tools to harvest and monitor outcomes and systematically learn from complex projects

The outcome harvesting approach is adapted from the outcome mapping community, with an outcome defined as a significant change in the behavior, relationships, activities, or actions of the people, groups, communities, or organizations with whom a program works directly. By identifying and monitoring those changes that fall within the sphere of influence of a program, practitioners can understand the many often non-linear streams of outcomes that characterize that programs contribution toward a development goal. Harvesting program information for outcome-based learning is a stakeholder-centered process that captures qualitative, tacit knowledge. The process includes substantiating and analyzing harvested knowledge collaboratively to communicate progress toward impact to clients, management, and partners. Tools are flexible to adapt to a programs design and can provide useful details to inform the theory of change, implementation lessons, outcomes, and indicators.
Detection of Intrusion Using Neural Networks: A Customized Study

Abstract : Over the last years, computer and software industry has rapidly evolved changing the face of many aspects of the world, but the information system protection did not keep up with the vast change. As a result, information protection is gaining a lot of importance these days. Several physical and logical protection methods are used to protect the Computer systems. Among the physical method is the physical placement of devices, network separation. But due to the international trend in e-Commerce application, network separation is no longer used in protecting the networks. New systems depends on logical security that uses Firewall “Hardware, software”, Log auditing. Intrusion detection systems are one of the major corners in logical system security development. These systems aim to monitor and discover attempts for system security penetration and reporting these attempts to the systems administrator. Developing intrusion detection systems was mainly concentrated on the expert system development field. This paper will discuss the possible implementation of neural networks in intrusion detection systems development.
Badging to support teaching and student engagement: An implementation of a school-based badging system

Badges and badging have recently emerged as a program within formal and informal education to improve learning experiences. Yet, there are very few empirical studies of their implementation within a school setting. This dissertation presents two studies of a badging system within a school-based setting. As a school-based intervention, ostensibly the badging system could impact both the students and the teachers involved. Therefore, one of the studies directs its lens on the participating students and the other study directs its lens on the participating teachers. The first study explores the relationship between student participation in the school’s badging system and students’ interests. Specifically, the paper uncovers some key elements of the badges that motivated students’ participation. The second study investigates the impact on teachers participating as facilitators within the badging system. Specifically, the study investigates if teachers learned new information about students that could be actionable for instruction, did the badging system influence their interactions with colleagues, and did the badging system influence their instruction in any way? The data suggest that the badging system provided teachers with new information about their students, but had minimal impact on the teachers’ collegial interactions and instructional practice. The contribution of this work is more than simply providing empirical findings to a nascent field. These findings suggest design features to a badging system to support student motivation as well as ways that teachers can accrue benefits from involvement. Furthermore, this study offers hypotheses related to badging that can be pursued in future studies.
Design of Concrete-Filled Circular Steel Tubes under Lateral Impact

Infrastructures and key members are potentially exposed to accidental loads due to extreme situations such as collisions, impacts, and terrorist bombings. Consequently, the current design concept requires that the structures or key members possess adequate capacities to resist accidental loads. To understand the mechanical response of concrete-filled steel tube (CFT) beams subjected to impact loads, this paper presents numerical simulations on the CFT beam tests in an instrumented drop-weight impact facility using finite element code LS-DYNA. The adequacy of finite element modeling (FEM) has been validated against drop-hammer impact tests in the literature. Based on the dynamic increase factors (DIFs) derived from FEM, an algorithm based on theoretical sectional analysis (TSA) is introduced to evaluate the dynamic plastic moment capacity of CFT beams. A linear relationship between initial impact energies and absorbed energies by CFT beams is found using either FEM or TSA. To assist engineers in designing simply supported circular CFT beams subjected to lateral impact, an energy design procedure using TSA is proposed, along with the ranges of key parameters, and an example is presented to illustrate the design procedure.