Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agility and resilience as antecedents of supply chain performance under moderating effects of organizational culture within the humanitarian setting: a dynamic capability view

Abstract This study examines the effects of supply chain agility (SCAG) and supply chain resilience (SCRES) on performance under the moderating effect of organizational culture. We have used the dynamic capability view (DCV) to conceptualize our theoretical models for different phases of humanitarian supply chain (HSC) (pre and post-disaster phases). We used partial least squares (PLS) to examine the proposed research hypotheses using 335 responses gathered from organizations in India using questionnaires designed for a single respondent. The results suggest that SCAG and SCRES are two important dynamic capabilities of supply chain, have significant effects on pre-disaster performance (PRE-DP). The control orientation does not have significant effect on the path joining SCAG and PRE-DP. However, the control orientation has a significant interaction effect on the path joining SCRES and PRE-DP. Similarly, SCRES has significant effect on post-disaster performance (POST-DP) but SCAG has no significant effect on POST-DP. In contrast, the flexible orientation has significant moderation effects on the paths SCAG/SCRES and POST-DP. These findings contribute to our understanding of the differential effect of SCAG/SCRES on supply chain performance in different contexts. The results provide further understanding to develop appropriate strategies for different phases. Finally, limitations of our study and future research are presented.
FPGA Implementation of Reversible LFSR with Primitive Polynomial using Verilog HDL

Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSRs) based pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) are used in test pattern generators (TPGs). Because FPGAs are reprogrammable, you can implement designs of LFSR on FPGA and simulate different lengths. It is important to test and validate the simulated results and synthesis results. The primitive polynomial determines the total number of pseudo-random output states of LFSRs. If the polynomial used is a primitive, the output random state is up to 2n- 1 state. This paper presented the designed, developed, and implemented 4, 8, 16, and 32 bit reversible LFSRs in FPGAs by performing, analyzing, and investigating random behavior using the Verilog HDL code. The analysis is performed to find the design speed requirements in FPGA when the number of constant inputs, the number of garbage outputs, the number of reversible logic gates, and the increased number of bits. In this paper, shows a comparative study of 4, 8, 16, and 32 bit reversible LFSRs on FPGAs to understand their performance. According to the results, the proposed reversible LFSR design using the Pareek gate approach reduces power by 10% when compared to the irreversible approach. As a result, the proposed design is used to develop Built-In-Self-Test (BIST) module.
Stating and manipulating periodicity in the polytope model : Applications to program analysis and optimization

Cette these est centree sur les objets mathematiques formes de l'intersection entre un polyedre rationnel dependant de parametres et un reseau regulier de points a coordonnees entieres: les Z-polyedres parametriques. Ces objets sont utilises en compilation ou ils permettent de modeliser les nids de boucles for/do (on parle du "modele polyedrique"), afin d'analyser leur comportement, et de les transformer pour les optimiser ou les paralleliser. Cette these contribue a l'amelioration de ce modele en introduisant le concept de polyedre periodique, qui traduit le caractere periodique des coordonnees de points entiers extremaux du Z-polyedre. Ce concept est d'abord utilise pour definir le premier algorithme de calcul de la coque entiere d'un Z-polyedre parametrique P, c'est a dire l'enveloppe convexe des points contenus dans P. Dans le meme cadre, nous nous interessons aux polynomes d'Ehrhart, qui donnent le nombre de points a coordonnees entieres contenus dans P et qui possedent un caractere periodique. Certaines observations fines sur le caractere periodique de la coque entiere de P nous permettent d'etendre une conjecture prononcee par Ehrhart et qui donne des informations precises sur la periodicite des coefficients. Nous en derivons une condition pour laquelle le polynome d'Ehrhart d'un Z-polyedre est non-periodique, et en deduisons deux methodes d'approximation d'un polynome d'Ehrhart par un polynome non-periodique. Dans l'un des cas, nous donnons egalement un algorithme de calcul de ce polynome dont la complexite est polynomiale en dimension fixee. D'autre part, l'ensemble des solutions faisables d'un probleme de programmation lineaire parametrique en nombre entiers est un Z-polyedre S. La solution optimale est donnee par un un point extremal de S, qui depend periodiquement des parametres. Notre approche est de considerer un probleme general, englobant le probleme du maximum lexicographique et la forme classique de la programmation lineaire en nombre entiers. Nous donnons un nouvel algorithme de calcul d'une solution optimale de ce probleme.
Modern International Politics Towards the Dissipative-Bifurcating Order

The international system is in the transition phase from a simple and linear system to a complex and chaotic one, within the framework of multicomponent systems, which has created new challenges in explaining the order in it. The international relations literature has studied order from a simple and classical point of view and has a linear conception of it, while this system is complex and chaotic. A new paradigm of order is emerging that existing theories of international relations are incapable of explaining it. Based on this, the main question of the current study is based on the centrality of the theoretical model explaining the complex and chaotic order of the complex international system. The main purpose of conceptualizing such an order is that the author uses the ontological and epistemological foundations of complexity theory and its theoretical propositions and uses an innovative method approach. The model of distributed branch order is an innovative theoretical model for the scientific community of relations between international relations.
Modeling Bromide River Transport and Bromide Impacts on Disinfection Byproducts

Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) formed during potable water treatment can be affected by bromide (Br)‐containing discharges into receiving streams from coal‐fired power plants as well as other sources that increase the bromide content of the source water. This research focused on two aspects related to bromide increases in receiving streams. First, a bromide river transport model was adapted to track bromide concentrations in the river following a point discharge. In this work, the point discharges modeled were coal‐fired power plants. The model tracked the bromide concentrations at river segments after the point of discharge daily and, therefore, at water intakes as a function of time. In this article, the application of the model is illustrated for two rivers: the Ohio River along the Indiana and Kentucky borders and the Dan River in Virginia and North Carolina. Second, models to predict DBP formation due to increased bromide in source waters were developed. The source waters used in the DBP models were obtained from 13 states across the United States. Good model fits were found for predicting trihalomethane as bromide varies, as well as for predicting the unregulated sum of four haloacetic acids (HAA4). A method was also developed to predict the sum of nine HAAs (HAA9) based on measured sum of five HAAs (HAA5; the currently regulated HAAs) and modeled HAA4. The DBP formation models developed using the specific criteria evaluated in this research would have applications beyond only bromide discharges from coal‐fired power plants and would apply to any cause of a bromide increase in the source water.
Design of Ka band substrate integrated waveguide slot traveling wave array antenna

Aiming at the requirements of Missile Radio Fuze Antenna with low sidelobe, narrow beam and specific directional pattern, a design method of Ka band substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) slot traveling wave array antenna is proposed. Based on the slot theory of SIW, the slot parameters and the excitation amplitude of Taylor linear array elements are calculated by MATLAB, and then the slot parameters and the excitation amplitude of array elements are optimized by Ansoft HFSS electromagnetic simulation software to realize the design of Ka band SIW slot traveling wave array antenna. The simulation results show that the Ka band SIW slot quasi traveling wave array antenna has a working frequency of 34.5 GHz, a gain of 14.2 dB, an E-plane beam width of 8° and a beam inclination of 20°, which can meet the requirements of missile radio fuze.
The Survival Response of Earthworm (Eisenia fetida L.) to Individual and Binary Mixtures of Herbicides

Frequent use of herbicides may impose a risk on non-target species. The objective was to test the combined toxic effect of binary herbicide mixtures—metribuzin:halosulfuron and metribuzin:flumioxazin—on non-target earthworms in two test systems: filter paper and a soil toxicity test system. The joint action experiments were independently run twice to substantiate the findings. The most potent individual herbicide was metribuzin, with a 50% lethal concentration (LC50) of 17.17 µg ai. cm−2 at 48 h in the filter paper test. The toxicity of the individual herbicides on the filter paper test was ranked as metribuzin>halosulfuron>flumioxazin. In the soil test, metribuzin and halosulfuron had high toxicity with an LC50 of 8.48 and 10.08 mg ai. kg−1, respectively, on day 14. Thus, the individual herbicide ranking did not change between the filter paper and artificial soil tests. The herbicide’s mixed effect in both test systems showed a consistent antagonistic effect relative to a Concentration Addition reference model. It indicates that the mixtures retracted the herbicide’s action in the earthworms.
Experimental Infection of Pigs with a ST 245 Brachyspira hyodysenteriae Isolated from an Asymptomatic Pig in a Herd with No History of Swine Dysentery

Swine dysentery (SD) is characterized by a severe mucohemorrhagic colitis caused by infection with Brachyspira species. In infected herds the disease causes considerable financial loss due to mortality, slow growth rates, poor feed conversion, and costs of treatment. B. hyodysenteriae is the most common etiological agent of SD and infection is usually associated with disease. However, isolated reports have described low pathogenic strains of B. hyodysenteriae. The aim of this study was to describe an experimental infection trial using a subclinical B. hyodysenteriae isolated from an animal without clinical signs and from a disease-free herd, to evaluate the pathogenicity and clinical pathological characteristics compared to a highly clinical isolate. Forty-eight 5-week-old pigs were divided into three groups: control, clinical and the subclinical isolates. The first detection/isolation of B. hyodysenteriae in samples of the animals challenged with a known clinical B. hyodysenteriae strain (clinical group) occurred 5th day post inoculation. Considering the whole period of the study, 11/16 animals from this group were qPCR positive in fecal samples, and diarrhea was observed in 10/16 pigs. In the subclinical isolate group, one animal had diarrhea. There were SD large intestine lesions in 3 animals at necropsy and positive B. hyodysenteriae isolation in 7/15 samples of the subclinical group. In the control group, no diarrhea, gross/microscopic lesions, or qPCR positivity were observed. Clinical signs, bacterial isolation, macroscopic and histologic lesions were significantly difference among groups, demonstrating low pathogenicity of the subclinical isolate in susceptible pigs.
Modeling and Characterization of the Detection and Suppression of Bogus Messages in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

It is very important to detect and prevent bogus messages (here called rumors) in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) because such misbehaviors could cause road safety problems and even casualties. In this paper, we first propose an evolutionary public goods game (EPGG) model to detect bogus messages and stimulate nodes to implement data verification. When a node detects a rumor, it immediately broadcasts an anti-rumor. We here present a susceptible, immune, and neutral (SIN) rumor diffusion model to characterize the spread of rumors and anti-rumors. Moreover, we propose a dynamic, hierarchical public goods game (DHPGG) model to analyze the symbiosis and confrontation of rumors and anti-rumors. Simulation results show these models could detect and suppress rumors effectively in VANETs.
Middleware systems and analytics for energy management in buildings

As one of the largest consumers of overall energy, buildings have emerged as attractive targets for using information and communications technologies to advance large-scale sustainability goals. With increasing availability and affordability of sophisticated sensing, control and computational methods, a variety of novel applications have been envisioned in the recent past aiming towards energy savings. However, the centralized building management system with its inflexible and isolated subsystems, currently used to manage the building operations, restrict the widespread development and deployment of novel energy management applications. In this thesis, we hypothesize that decentralized, flexible, and extensible software systems, together with novel applications and analytical techniques, would improve the energy efficiency in buildings. To support our hypothesis, we present the architecture, design, development, and experimental validation of middleware systems for building energy management, which enable 1) decentralized management of building resources involving different stakeholders, including occupants, to make control-over decisions and energy management policies, by providing appropriate finegrained access-control mechanisms, 2) flexible interfaces for integrating existing and retrofitted sensing and control systems, and suitable software representations for accessing and managing their operations, e.g. spatio-hierarchical relationship, which are specific to buildings, and 3) an extensible automation framework for developing and deploying energy management applications involving simple and advanced sensor data processing methods for identifying detailed insights about the operational context of the building, and suitable programming abstractions for developers. We evaluate these systems through multiple real-world deployments in our test-bed buildings consisting of varied categories of functionalities, operations, users, and hundreds of heterogeneous sensor data streams, across the world. On top of this, we also implemented several practical applications ranging from detecting the deviation in the energy usage of building sub-
Resting-state Functional Connectivity During Controlled Respiratory Cycles Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the effect of controlled mouth breathing during the resting state using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods: Eleven subjects participated in this experiment in which the controlled “Nose” and “Mouth” breathings of 6 s respiratory cycle were performed with a visual cue at 3T MRI. Voxel-wise seed-to-voxel maps and whole-brain region of interest (ROI)-to-ROI connectome maps were analyzed in both “Nose>Mouth” and “Mouth>Nose” contrasts. Results: As a result, there were more connection pairs in the “Mouth” breathing condition, i.e., 14 seeds and 14 connecting pairs in the “Mouth>Nose” contrast, compared to 7 seeds and 4 connecting pairs in the “Nose>Mouth” contrast (false discovery rate [FDR] of P<0.05). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that mouth breathing with controlled respiratory cycles could significantly induce alterations in functional connectivity in the resting-state network, suggesting that it can differently affect resting brain function; in particular, the brain can hardly rest during mouth breathing, as opposed to conventional nasal breathing.
The Smart in Smart Cities: A Framework for Image Classification Using Deep Learning

The need for a smart city is more pressing today due to the recent pandemic, lockouts, climate changes, population growth, and limitations on availability/access to natural resources. However, these challenges can be better faced with the utilization of new technologies. The zoning design of smart cities can mitigate these challenges. It identifies the main components of a new smart city and then proposes a general framework for designing a smart city that tackles these elements. Then, we propose a technology-driven model to support this framework. A mapping between the proposed general framework and the proposed technology model is then introduced. To highlight the importance and usefulness of the proposed framework, we designed and implemented a smart image handling system targeted at non-technical personnel. The high cost, security, and inconvenience issues may limit the cities’ abilities to adopt such solutions. Therefore, this work also proposes to design and implement a generalized image processing model using deep learning. The proposed model accepts images from users, then performs self-tuning operations to select the best deep network, and finally produces the required insights without any human intervention. This helps in automating the decision-making process without the need for a specialized data scientist.
Effect of the Mass Conversion Degree of an Oxygen Carrier on Char Conversion and Its Implication for Chemical Looping Gasification

Chemical looping gasification (CLG) is an emerging process that aims to produce valuable chemical feedstocks. The key operational requirement of CLG is to limit the oxygen transfer from the air reactor (AR) to the fuel reactor (FR). This can be accomplished by partially oxidizing the oxygen carrier in the AR, which may lead to a higher reduction degree of the oxygen carrier under the fuel conversion. A highly reduced oxygen carrier may experience multiple issues, such as agglomeration and defluidization. Given such an interest, this study examined how the variation of the mass conversion degree of ilmenite may affect the conversion of pine forest residue char in a fluidized bed batch reactor. Ilmenite was pre-reduced using diluted CO and then underwent the char conversion at 850, 900, 950, and 975 °C. Our investigations showed that the activation energy of the char conversion was between 194 and 256 kJ/mol, depending upon the mass conversion degree of ilmenite. Furthermore, the hydrogen partial pressure in the particle bed increased as the oxygen carrier mass conversion degree decreased, which was accompanied by a lower reaction rate and a higher reduction potential. Such a hydrogen inhibition effect was confirmed in the experiments; therefore, the change in the mass conversion degree indirectly affected the char conversion. Langmuir–Hinshelwood mechanism models used to evaluate the char conversion were validated. On the basis of the physical observation and characterizations, the use of ilmenite in CLG with biomass char as fuel will likely not suffer from major agglomeration or fluidization issues.
Contributions of a Heritage Values-based Approach to Rock Art Management. Lessons from the Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage Site, South Africa

Abstract This paper is based on rock art sites of the Maloti-Drakensberg massif (South African part), where more than 600 decorated shelters have thus far been identified. Being both institutionalised heritage sites open to the public and living heritage sites associated with various social practices and utilizations, their preservation requires us to consider the complexity of the values attributed to them. Combining a multidisciplinary and empirical approach, our paper highlights the processes of hybridization between attributed values, which therefore do not adhere to a strict category approach. Being strongly linked to the contexts in which they are articulated, their identification is coupled with a consideration of the macrodynamics in which rock art sites are integrated, as well as an analysis of the links between these different contexts and the value systems identified. In conclusion, the operational dimensions of such a methodology is questioned and some initial possibilities for action are proposed.
Hunting Based Optimization Techniques used in Controlling an Active Magnetic Bearing System

This paper proposes a closed-loop and implements some metaheuristic optimization approaches to regulate an unstable active magnetic bearing (AMB) system. First of all, a hardware model of an AMB is fabricated in the laboratory. Mathematical analysis is carried out and a linearized open-loop transfer function is obtained for an equilibrium point of operation, using the parameters of the hardware model. Then, a closed loop is proposed for this AMB system, which comprises a PID controller, power amplifier, and position sensor. Further, three different metaheuristic nature-inspired hunting-based optimization algorithms i.e., Ant lion optimization (ALO), Grey wolf optimization (GWO), and Whale optimization algorithm (WOA) are implemented individually to calculate the gain parameters of the PID controller. Separately, the performance of these optimization algorithms is evaluated and observed on four different performance indices: integral of absolute error (IAE), integral of squared error (ISE), and an integral of time multiplied absolute error (ITAE) and integral of time multiplied squared error (ITSE). For a stable, efficient, and reliable bearing operation, it is vital to perform an analysis of the performance of optimization techniques with different objective functions for the proposed system. Therefore, few comparisons are conducted, first based on data obtained from statistical analysis. The second is based on data obtained from transient state performance and phase margin. Third on the scale of algorithm execution time. Finally, with the assistance of observed data effectiveness of each optimization technique to control the proposed AMB system is concluded which can serve as theoretical and experimental foundations for the continued use of AMB in high-speed applications.
An X-Band CMOS VCO Using Ultra-Wideband Dual Common-Mode Resonance Technique

In this paper, the dual common-mode (CM) resonance technique is proposed for lowering the phase noise (PN) and flicker PN corner of LC voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) across wide tuning range. The dual CM resonator can provide high and resistive input impedance across a wide <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2^{\mathbf {nd}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> harmonic band without dedicated tuning. It can both prevent the tank-loading effect and reshape the output waveform. Novel implementation methods are demonstrated to realize dual CM resonance at high frequencies. For comparison, both the dual CM resonance VCO and a reference one with a tail filter are fabricated in 65-nm CMOS, achieving the measured frequency range of 8-11.15 and 7.98-11.3 GHz, respectively. In 1/f<sup>2</sup> region, the proposed VCO shows an average PN of −139 dBc/Hz and the FOM of 190-192.3 dBc/Hz across the band, leading to an excellent FOM<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\mathbf {T}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of larger than 200.3 dBc/Hz. The reference VCO shows the average PN and FOM of -137.7 and 190.5 dBc/Hz. In 1/f<sup>3</sup> region, the former exhibits a low flicker PN corner of 280–350 kHz while the latter’s flicker PN corner varies largely from 290 to 950 kHz across the band. Both VCOs’ cores consume about 5 mW at 1 V supply and occupy approximately 0.13 mm<sup>2</sup>.