Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ONLINE AND OFFLINE CONSUMER DECISION MAKING WITH REFERENCE TO TOURISM INDUSTRY

The consumer buying behaviour has been always a distinguished marketing subject, extensively studied and pondered over the last decades. It is believed that consumers or customers make purchase decisions on the receipt of small selectively chosen pieces of information. Thus it will be very important to understand what and how much information is required by the customer to help him evaluate the goods and service offerings. Online consumer buying behaviour is the behaviour displayed by consumers in searching for, purchasing, using and evaluating of products or services that they expect will satisfy their needs through web media whereas offline consumer buying behaviour refers to the buying behaviour of the ultimate consumer who prefers to visit traditional stores or contact salesman/use magazines/newspapers/telephonic media for buying any product/service. The online and offline consumer behaviour has been examined under various contexts over the years. In the proposed study a survey has been conducted with the help of structured questionnaire, with sample size of 100 respondents in Jaipur city. The study progresses with a hypothesis that there is a significant difference between consumer buying decision processes in online vs. offline medium . For data analysis Chi-square test would be applied on the actual and expected results. The paper attempts to propose a research framework with major focus on differences between online and offline consumer decision making so as to understand the online consumer behaviour in a comparative manner. This proposed framework not only provides us with a cohesive view of online vs. offline consumer behaviour, but also serves as a salient guideline for researchers in this area. The study has certain managerial implications for marketers.
Pandora-a microprogrammable node for DSP oriented architectures

The design and the performance evaluation of a parallel architecture for digital signal processing (DSP) are described. Many DSP applications cannot be efficiently solved by using standard DSP sequential microprocessors. In this case, using dedicated parallel architectures is the best way to obtain high performance, but they need flexibility to apply different DSP algorithms efficiently. The Pandora architecture provides a high degree of flexibility both for the system architecture (a mixed SIMD/MIMD technique is exploited) and for the node capability to implement different DSP algorithms (due to the writable control store). The node architecture and its VLSI implementation are described, focusing on the architectural aspects and the performance evaluation. <<ETX>>
Localization and regulation of peroxiredoxins in human lung and lung diseases

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can cause severe damage to cells and organs but they are also important mediators of inflammatory responses and cellular signalling. Due to the significant role of ROS, the cells have evolved a broad antioxidative system to regulate the concentration of these species. Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are enzymes that participate in the regulation of the cellular redoxhomeostasis by detoxifying hydrogen peroxide. Prxs are not classified as conventional antioxidant enzymes and their physiological role, whether protective or regulatory, is still unclear. The aim of this project was to study the localization and regulation of Prxs in normal human lung and also their role in selected lung disorders (pulmonary sarcoidosis, pleural mesothelioma, lung carcinomas and chronic obstructive disorder, COPD). Additionally the expression of thioredoxin (Trx) and thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) was analysed in the lung of smokers and COPD patients. These enzymes are important reductants in cell and Prxs are one of their targets. Lung is an important organ in the field of ROS and antioxidant research since it is especially vulnerable to exogenous oxidative stress caused by pollutants, cigarette smoke and also by high oxygen pressure. The results showed that all six human Prxs were expressed in healthy human lung but in a cellspecific manner. The most prominent expression was detected in the epithelium and in macrophages, the cells most prone to oxidative stress. There were also differences in subcellular locations of Prxs. The expression of Prxs in non-malignant lung diseases (pulmonary sarcoidosis and COPD) and in smoker's lung was very similar with that in normal lung. Higher expression of Prx V and VI was detected in a subpopulation of macrophages sampled from COPD patients' lung. In contrast, Trx expression was induced in the bronchial epithelium of smoker's lung. Differences in the expression compared to normal lung were seen in lung malignancies (pleural mesothelioma and lung carcinomas). Interestingly, different Prxs were highly expressed in different types of carcinomas. In pleural mesothelioma, all Prxs except Prx IV were highly expressed when compared to normal pleura, in adenocarcinoma Prxs I, II, VI and especially IV, and in squamous cell carcinoma Prxs I, II and IV were upregulated. Tests performed on cultured cells in vitro revealed only a minor increase in the Prx expression after severe oxidant stress in malignant lung cell line originating from alveolar type II pneumocytes (A549) or non-malignant cell line derived from bronchial epithelium. None of the tested growth factors or cytokines affected Prx expression or oxidation state, but severe oxidant stress influenced remarkably the oxidation state of the Prxs.
The UBO-TSUFD tsunami inundation model: validation and application to a tsunami case study focused on the city of Catania, Italy

Abstract. Nowadays numerical models are a powerful tool in tsunami research since they can be used (i) to reconstruct modern and historical events, (ii) to cast new light on tsunami sources by inverting tsunami data and observations, (iii) to build scenarios in the frame of tsunami mitigation plans, and (iv) to produce forecasts of tsunami impact and inundation in systems of early warning. In parallel with the general recognition of the importance of numerical tsunami simulations, the demand has grown for reliable tsunami codes, validated through tests agreed upon by the tsunami community. This paper presents the tsunami code UBO-TSUFD that has been developed at the University of Bologna, Italy, and that solves the non-linear shallow water (NSW) equations in a Cartesian frame, with inclusion of bottom friction and exclusion of the Coriolis force, by means of a leapfrog (LF) finite-difference scheme on a staggered grid and that accounts for moving boundaries to compute sea inundation and withdrawal at the coast. Results of UBO-TSUFD applied to four classical benchmark problems are shown: two benchmarks are based on analytical solutions, one on a plane wave propagating on a flat channel with a constant slope beach; and one on a laboratory experiment. The code is proven to perform very satisfactorily since it reproduces quite well the benchmark theoretical and experimental data. Further, the code is applied to a realistic tsunami case: a scenario of a tsunami threatening the coasts of eastern Sicily, Italy, is defined and discussed based on the historical tsunami of 11 January 1693, i.e. one of the most severe events in the Italian history.
Durability Aspects of Recycled Aggregate Concrete: An Experimental Study

: Aggregate compositions in the construction and demolition (C&amp;D) waste have potential to replace normal aggregates. However, to re-utilise these aggregates, the concrete produced with these recycled aggregates needs to provide the desired compressive strength and durability. This paper examines the performance of recycled aggregate concrete made up of 60% recycled aggregates of 20 mm size in terms of durability tests namely rapid chloride permeability, drying shrinkage, water permeability, modulus of elasticity and creep without compromising the compressive strength. The experimental outcome indicates that recycled aggregate concrete provides strength and durability same as controlled concrete when processed for removal of adhered mortar.
Analytical Electromagnetic Sizing of Inner Rotor Brushless PM Machines Based on Split Ratio Optimization

This paper presents an analytical procedure to size brushless PM Machines from a set of required performance specifications. The sizing is obtained by optimizing the machine's split ratio, defined as the ratio of the stator inner to outer diameter. This ratio is key in the design of the machine and it is a compromise among several performance factors, and in particular it is shown to be a trade-off between efficiency and torque density. The split ratio also affects the volume of each material and in turn the cost of the machine. The algorithm outputs the machine performance and cost curves as a function of the split ratio, giving the possibility to the user to decide the best compromise for a certain application. The analytical sizing procedure is built and integrated with a 2D FEM simulator for refinement and verification of the design. A case study is presented and validated to prove the effectiveness of the sizing procedure.
Sex, Lies and Videogames: Why Videogames Still Struggle to Overcome Moral Panic

For the past few decades video games have been the focus of widespread concerns regarding violence, addiction and sexist content. In the United States, video games are blamed for high gun violence rates. The World Health Organization (WHO) has claimed that excessive gaming is tantamount to a disease. Activists worldwide express concerns that the sexist content of some games may lead to sexism and misogyny in real life. But is there good research evidence to support these claims? Lessons learned from the "video game violence" research era are instrumental. The term "violent video game" never held conceptual, scientific value, yet was used as an emotional loadstone. This resulted in overstatements of evidence by politicians, scholars and professional guilds such as the American Psychological Association. In some cases, hyperbole continued despite mounting evidence that action-oriented games are associated with, if anything, declining trends in violence and evidence for even effects on mild aggression remained inconsistent. Nonetheless repetitions of this trend continued with discussions of "sexist" games and their impact on sexism in real life as well as the controversy over the WHO's "gaming disorder. " In both cases activists for particular positions which appear to disparage games pushed forward aggressively despite the presence of evidence that might have advised a more cautious approach. It is time for a reassessment of games research and how a societal culture of moral panic impacted games research over the past few decades. However, these cultural issues can be repaired first by understanding the historical patterns of moral panic that scholars contributed to and second by embracing a culture of open science.
A DC-link Capacitor Voltage Oscillation Reduction Method for a Modular Multilevel Cascade Converter with Single Delta Bridge Cells (MMCC-SDBC)

This paper proposes a capacitor voltage oscillation reduction method by using third harmonic zero-sequence current for Modular Multilevel Cascade Converter (MMCC) with Single Delta Bridge Cells (SDBC). A practical case study on an 80 MVar/ 33 kV MMCC-SDBC based STATCOM is used to demonstrate the method. The impact of the third harmonic zero-sequence current level of the capacitor oscillation reduction and the electro-thermal stresses on IGBT modules is investigated. An optimal parameter of the current level is obtained by compromising the above two performance factors. The capacitor bank volume is reduced by 23 % by applying the proposed method.
A Wearable Haptic System for the Health Monitoring of Elderly People in Smart Cities

A sensor-fusion wearable health-monitoring system with integrated haptic feedback was previously introduced by our research group. The system's components are the following: a chest-worn device with an embedded controller board, an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, a temperature sensor, an accelerometer, a vibration motor, a colour-changing light-emitting diode (LED) and a push-button. This multi-sensor device makes possible to collect biometric and medical monitoring data from its wearer. The data provide a real-time indication of the wearer's health state and can also be further analysed later for medical diagnosis. The embedded vibration motor can actuate distinctive haptic feedback patterns according to the wearer's health state. The embedded colour-changing LED provides the wearer with an additional intuitive visual feedback of the current health state, and the wearer can report a potential emergency condition by using the push-button. In this paper, a conceptual case study is presented concerning possible applications for the health monitoring of elderly people in smart cities. The proposed system aims at reducing risk by assessing individual and overall potentially-harmful situations. A data collection and analysis are also presented to demonstrate that the system can provide compelling vibrotactile feedback.
Geo-Social Influence Spanning Maximization

The problem of influence maximization has attracted a lot of attention as it provides a way to improve marketing, branding, and product adoption. However, existing studies rarely consider the physical locations of the social users, although location is an important factor in targeted marketing. In this paper, we investigate the problem of influence spanning maximization in location-aware social networks. Our target is to identify the maximum spanning geographical regions in a query region, which is very different from the existing methods that focus on the quantity of the activated users in the query region. Since the problem is NP-hard, we develop one greedy algorithm with a 1-1/e approximation ratio and further improve its efficiency by developing an upper bound based approach. Then, we propose the OIR index by combining ordered influential node lists and an R*-tree and design the index based solution. The efficiency and effectiveness of our proposed solutions and index have been verified using three real datasets.
Adaptive Control of DC Power Distribution Systems: Applying Pseudo-Random Sequences and Fourier Techniques

Interconnected AC and DC power-distribution systems are prone to interactions that can reduce system stability. Since the system parameters usually vary over time and with operating conditions, adaptive controllers are required to guarantee desired system operation. Recent studies have presented adaptive methods based on online measurements of converter small-signal transfer functions. This paper proposes a computationally efficient strategy for adaptive control that enables each converter in a system to adjust its own local control. In the paper, a pseudo-random-binary-sequence (PRBS) injection is applied, and the converter control-to-output frequency response is measured online. The controller loop gain is quickly computed based on the measured control-to-output response. A loop-shaping technique is then utilized for adaptive control design to obtain desired stability margins. Advantages of the presented method compared to previously presented techniques are that it does not require a parametric system model for control design, and that the frequency-response measurements do not require opening the feedback loop. The online adaptive control method is fully implementable in the converter digital controller. Experimental results are presented and used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
VSC Control and Parameters Design Based on Virtual Synchronous Generator

To cope with the problems that the VSC lacks inertia and synchronous generator controls slowly, the paper combines the advantages of VSC and synchronous generator together to present a control scheme of virtual synchronous generator and a parameters design method. To solve the mutual influence of droop and virtual damping coefficients, a method of combining output frequency and line frequency feedback control is proposed to decouple the two coefficients regulation process while without using the differentiation. Mode switching between constant power and droop control under frequency large disturbance in large scale based on frequency hysteresis control is proposed to maintain system stability. The switching process is realized only through the outer power loop while the inner loop stays the same. At last, a quasi-synchronous-generator parameters design method is established combining the flexible and rapid control characteristics of VSC and the synchronous generator unit’s self-droop and self-synchronizing characteristics. The simulation result verified the correctness of theoretical analysis and control scheme.
Design Consideration of a High-Speed Integrated Permanent Magnet Machine and its Drive System

This paper presents the design consideration of a high-speed synchronous drive with integrated magnetics of the grid connected LCL filter. Consisting of the combination mechanical, thermal and electrical aspects of an electric drive system this integrated drive claiming to exhibit significant benefits over traditional electrical drive systems as well as cost reductions. Four major technical issues related to this integrated drive are introduced in this paper, including integrating magnetics of the grid connected filters in the machine with minimized coupling effects, investigating a novel winding connection method to manage extra terminals induced by filters, a compact power electronics design with SiC devices and thermal management considering both electrical machine and power electronics.
Design of Water-Cooled Calorimeter for Electric Motor's Power Loss Measurement

The paper presents the design process of and measurement possibilities with a water cooled, balanced calorimeter for the power loss measurement of an induction motor. The tested motor is a totally enclosed fan-cooled cage induction motor with efficiency of 92%. To create an optimal design, aspects of heat-leakage and measurement times are considered early in the design stage. Coupled heat and air-flow simulations with computational fluid-dynamic capabilities of the 3-D geometry of the calorimeter are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the chosen design parameters. Calorimetric measurements of the power loss of the motor at different operating points are presented, and compared with the traditional input-output method. The calorimeter achieves extended measurement accuracy of 2.08% in measurement of 2.6 kW of power loss.
Method of Information Security Risk Assessment Based on Improved Fuzzy Theory of Evidence

A method based on improved fuzzy theory of evidence was presented to solve the problem that there exist all kinds of uncertainty in the process of information security risk assessment. The hierarchy model for the information systems risk assessment was established firstly, and then fuzzy sets were introduced into theory of evidence. The basic probability assignments were constructed using the membership function of fuzzy sets, and the basic probability assignments were determined. Moreover, weight coefficients were calculated using entropy weight and empirical factor, which combined the objective weights with the subjective ones, and improved the validity and reliability. An illustration example indicates that the method is feasible and effective, and provides reasonable data for constituting the risk control strategy of the information systems security.
Thermal Management of a Racing E- Machine

The aim of this paper is to present a study regarding the thermal management of a high performance electrical machine designed for motorsport application. The electrical machine under examination is a radial flux permanent magnet machine able to run up to 12000rpm and equipped with three different cooling systems: housing cooling jacket, direct slot cooling and liquid-cooled rotor. The thermal behaviour of the machine is studied considering the electrical machine involved in a real race drive cycle like Le Mans circuit. The machine losses, during the race, are calculated with electromagnetic simulations, whose results are then used for the thermal study of the machine behaviour, with the aim of optimising its cooling systems. Special attention is given to the high frequency losses occurring in the winding.
Analytical Approach for the Identification of an Optimal Design Space for Switched Reluctance Machines

This work presents a rigorous approach to simplify the design optimization process for Switched Reluctance Machines. First of all, the dimension of the Design Space is found to be equal to twelve, as the number of Independent Design Variables. Then, constraints and requirements in the design are represented as inequalities to determine the limit surfaces, which are nothing else than the boundaries of the Design Space. By applying constraints and requirements one by one, the paper shows how it is possible to find the Actual Design Space, which includes only feasible solutions to the design problem. A case study clearly shows how, by means of this methodology, the size of the Design Space can be decreased by orders of magnitude.
Investigating the Challenges of Temporal Relation Extraction from Clinical Text

Temporal reasoning remains as an unsolved task for Natural Language Processing (NLP), particularly demonstrated in the clinical domain. The complexity of temporal representation in language is evident as results of the 2016 Clinical TempEval challenge indicate: the current state-of-the-art systems perform well in solving mention-identification tasks of event and time expressions but poorly in temporal relation extraction, showing a gap of around 0.25 point below human performance. We explore to adapt the tree-based LSTM-RNN model proposed by Miwa and Bansal (2016) to temporal relation extraction from clinical text, obtaining a five point improvement over the best 2016 Clinical TempEval system and two points over the state-of-the-art. We deliver a deep analysis of the results and discuss the next step towards human-like temporal reasoning.
Crowdsourcing-Based Copyright Infringement Detection in Live Video Streams

With the increasing popularity of online video sharing platforms (such as YouTube and Twitch), the detection of content that infringes copyright has emerged as a new critical problem in online social media. In contrast to the traditional copyright detection problem that studies the static content (e.g., music, films, digital documents), this paper focuses on a much more challenging problem: one in which the content of interest is from live videos. We found that the state-of-the-art commercial copyright infringement detection systems, such as the ContentID from YouTube, did not solve this problem well: large amounts of copyright-infringing videos bypass the detector while many legal videos are taken down by mistake. In addressing the copyright infringement detection problem for live videos, we identify several critical challenges: i) live streams are generated in real-time and the original copyright content from the owner may not be accessible; ii) streamers are getting more and more sophisticated in bypassing the copyright detection system (e.g., by modifying the title, tweaking the presentation of the video); iii) similar video descriptions and visual contents make it difficult to distinguish between legal streams and copyright-infringing ones. In this paper, we develop a crowdsourcing-based copyright infringement detection (CCID) scheme to address the above challenges by exploring a rich set of valuable clues from live chat messages. We evaluate CCID on two real world live video datasets collected from YouTube. The results show our scheme is significantly more effective and efficient than ContentID in detecting copyright-infringing live videos on YouTube.