Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust speed control of brushless direct-drive motor using integral variable structure control

A robust speed control technique for a brushless direct-drive motor (BLDDM) using a variable structure control (VSC) approach is presented. The significant problems of conventional VSC are investigated in view of the practical implementation and an integral variable structure control with a load torque observer is proposed as an effective way of overcoming these problems. By employing the proposed control scheme, the robustness against the unknown disturbance can be improved in the transient state and the steady-state error can be minimised by an integral action. Furthermore, the reduction of the chattering is also realised by using a load torque observer. The proposed algorithms are implemented using the software of DSP TMS320C30 and the effectiveness is verified through the comparative simulations and experiments for the BLDDM driven by a three phase voltage-fed PWM inverter.
Representation of phosphorus cycle in Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (vn5.5_JULES-CNP)

Abstract. Most Land Surface Models (LSMs), the land components of Earth system models (ESMs), include representation of N limitation on ecosystem productivity. However only few of these models have incorporated phosphorus (P) cycling. In tropical ecosystems, this is likely to be particularly important as N tends to be abundant but the availability of rock-derived elements, such as P, can be very low. Thus, without a representation of P cycling, tropical forest response in areas such as Amazonia to rising atmospheric CO2 conditions remains highly uncertain. In this study, we introduced P dynamics and its interactions with the N and carbon (C) cycles into the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES). The new model (JULES-CNP) includes the representation of P stocks in vegetation and soil pools, as well as key processes controlling fluxes between these pools. We evaluate JULES-CNP at the Amazon nutrient fertilization experiment (AFEX), a low fertility site, representative of about 60 % of Amazon soils. We apply the model under ambient CO2 and elevated CO2. The model is able to reproduce the observed plant and soil P pools and fluxes under ambient CO2. We estimate P to limit net primary productivity (NPP) by 24 % under current CO2 and by 46 % under elevated CO2. Under elevated CO2, biomass in simulations accounting for CNP increase by 10 % relative to at contemporary CO2, although it is 5 % lower compared with CN and C-only simulations. Our results highlight the potential for high P limitation and therefore lower CO2 fertilization capacity in the Amazon forest with low fertility soils.
An Inteligent Tasks Planning System for Industrial Mobile Robots

In this paper we present a general structure of an automatic task planner for a multirobot system. Our focus in this paper is to develop an intelligent complex task planning system that uses both model and case - based approach, while trying to come up with actions that support end goals. We provide an overall description of the proposed system and its integration in an implemented architecture.
The harmonic characteristics of multiple fundamental frequency HVDC systems

The harmonic characteristics of multiple fundamental frequency HVDC systems has been studied with an ideal model. A new kind of harmonics has been found, which is named sub-characteristic harmonics in this paper, and the concept of dominant sub-characteristic harmonics has been proposed, which can be easily used to describe the harmonic transform characteristics of multiple fundamental frequency HVDC systems.
A Rhetorical Model of Debating

A rhetorical model of the debate centered on the image of a labyrinth is more suitable than the metaphor of debate-as-game in describing the benefits of arguing in front of an audience. The labyrinth best expresses that proceeding by successive choices, coming and going, and sometimes retracing one's steps, typical of the debate activity. The basic thesis is that arguing is a continuous adaptation of one's speeches according to the audience that listens. In fact, in the labyrinth, what matters is not only arriving at the outcome - the exit or reaching the center of the structure - but the path you choose to get there is equally important. More than the definitive and winning argument, which rarely occurs in discussions, the labyrinth teaches us to recognise the plurality of approaches adopted when faced with an issue.
System-Level Algorithm Design for Radionavigation using UWB Waveforms

A radiolocation/navigation system is considered in which mobile nodes use ultra-wideband (UWB) radios to obtain inter-node ranges via round-trip travel time (RTT). Each node is also assumed to contain an inertial measurement unit (IMU) which generates 2D position estimates subject to Gaussian drift and additive noise errors. The key problem in such a system is obtaining 2 or 3-D position estimates from the nonlinear UWB range measurements and fusing the resulting UWB and IMU estimates. The system presented uses a Steepest Descent Random Start (SDRS) algorithm to solve the nonlinear positioning problem. It is shown that SDRS is a stable algorithim under a realistic communications reciprocity assumption. The SDRS estimates are then treated as measurements by the navigation Kalman filter. The navigation filter also processes separate IMU-derived position estimates to update node position/velocity. Simulation results for an urban corridor are given showing < 6 m. rms position errors.
A Behavioral Finance Study: Effect of Personal Characteristics on Risk Preferences and Investment Decisions of Vietnamese Investors

Vietnam's financial investing market, especially the stock market, overcame the "Year of Covid-19" spectacularly with an exceptionally strong recovery, record-high liquidity, and the enthusiastic participation of new investors, surpassing all expectations. Now that the markets are expanding fast, individual investors and financial advisors need to upgrade their understanding of the investing markets, and be ready to adapt to the vast wave of newcomers. It is, therefore, necessary to explore behavioral factors including emotions and cognition that play a significant role in explaining investors’ decision making process, so as to help the investors as well as financial advisors make better predictions and decisions for their business. Research purpose: This research explores the behavioral characteristics influencing risk preferences and investment decisions of Vietnamese individual investors. The combination of The Big Five Personality Model and Cognitive Reflection Test constructs an investor characteristic profile, which hinders a correlation with investors’ risk aversion and investment decision-making. Research motivation: The motivation for this research stems largely from the need of knowing the many diverse factors that might influence risk behavior, as well as the need to better understand how behavioral traits might influence risk choices connected to investing. It contributes to not only behavioral finance theory but also general economic analysis and professional practices. Research design, approach, and method: The study utilizes a sample of 321 investors and potential investors on the Big Five personality scales and the Cognitive Reflection Test. The scales for the financial dimensions are based on concepts developed from extant literature. The collected data are analyzed using SPSS with tests include Cronbach’s Alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis, regression, and one-way ANOVA with post hoc test in Bonferroni correction. Main findings: Neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness were found to have a significant direct influence on risk aversion; while agreeableness and openness to experience have an inverse relationship with risk aversion. Performance in the Cognitive Reflection Test does provide evidence on risk preferences, the relationship of which is non-linear. Risk aversion negatively affects investment decision. Practical/managerial implications: Awareness of the influence of specific personality traits in financial decision making would help financial planners tailor products more effectively to cater for the understanding and lifestyle of investors. Several recommendations regarding the discovered relationships are put forward to further assist individual investors as well as investment advisors in professional practice.
Redefining Security Roles: Japan's Response to the September 11 Terrorism

This paper examines Japan's security policy after the September 11 terrorism, arguing that its response has been part of a larger process of redefining its security role in the Asia-Pacific region for the last decade. The passage of the 1992 Peacekeeping Law and the 1999 US-Japan security guidelines were an important part of the drastic changes. The paper also discusses the Japanese government's response to the September 11 terrorism, looking into the question of how the government sought to maintain a balance between military contributions to US-Japan security alliance and the restriction on the “threat and use of force” prescribed in the Constitution. Japan's recent pro-activeness toward Asia and entry into regional politics is also examined. The paper concludes by arguing that the combination of continued Japan's security relationship with the US and its strenuous efforts to enter Asian regional politics will be the first step toward real “normalcy” of Japan.
VALORACIÓN DE LAS ALETAS EN FUNCIÓN DEL TIEMPO EMPLEADO EN PRUEBAS DE NADO Y REMOLQUE DE MANIQUÍ Evaluation of swim fins according to the time taken in swim tests and manikin tow tests

The objective of the present paper was to evaluate the effect of different swim fins in trials of free swimming and manikin carry. The sample consisted of 13 subjects (all males, average age of 22.9 ± 0.8 years, average weight of 74.5 ± 8.7 kg, and average height of 175.7 ± 6.8 cm). The subjects swam under two situations, both a distance of 50m, one free swimming and the other swimming while carrying a manikin. These situations were done under each of the following conditions: without fins, with soft fins, with short fins, with hard fins, and with fibre fins. The order of the trials was random and the subjects had at least 30 minutes of recovery between trials. Results show no significant differences between using swim fins or not in the 50m free swim, though there are significant differences in the manikin carry. It was also observed that the hard swim fins contributed to faster times in free swimming and manikin carry. In every case, fatigue had an effect on the second part of the trial, and it was significant in the 50m manikin carry.
Microbial Diversity Characteristics of Areca Palm Rhizosphere Soil at Different Growth Stages

The rhizosphere microflora are key determinants that contribute to plant health and productivity, which can support plant nutrition and resistance to biotic and abiotic stressors. However, limited research is conducted on the areca palm rhizosphere microbiota. To further study the effect of the areca palm’s developmental stages on the rhizosphere microbiota, the rhizosphere microbiota of areca palm (Areca catechu) grown in its main producing area were examined in Wanning, Hainan province, at different vegetation stages by an Illumina Miseq sequence analysis of the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid and internal transcribed spacer genes. Significant shifts of the taxonomic composition of the bacteria and fungi were observed in the four stages. Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia were the most dominant group in stage T1 and T2; the genera Allorhizobium-Neorhizobium-Pararhizobium-Rhizobium were decreased significantly from T1 to T2; and the genera Acidothermus and Bacillus were the most dominant in stage T3 and T4, respectively. Meanwhile, Neocosmospora, Saitozyma, Penicillium, and Trichoderma were the most dominant genera in the stage T1, T2, T3, and T4, respectively. Among the core microbiota, the dominant bacterial genera were Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia and Bacillus, and the dominant fungal genera were Saitozyma and Trichoderma. In addition, we identified five bacterial genera and five fungal genera that reached significant levels during development. Finally, we constructed the OTU (top 30) interaction network of bacteria and fungi, revealed its interaction characteristics, and found that the bacterial OTUs exhibited more extensive interactions than the fungal OTUs. Understanding the rhizosphere soil microbial diversity characteristics of the areca palm could provide the basis for exploring microbial association and maintaining the areca palm’s health.
VISUAL INSPECTION RELIABILITY: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHY WE NEED TO KNOW IT

Inspection reliability is the key to continuing airworthiness of the civil aviation fleet. First we must have quantitative knowledge of inspection reliability to determine inspection intervals, then we must find ways to improve this reliability if we are to keep costs under control while ensuring safety. This paper shows where we get our data and models for inspection reliability, concentrating on the human inspector within the inspection system. Three examples, from FPI, borescope inspection and visual inspection, show how such data and knowledge can be applied to derive Good Practices that have since been adopted in the industry. But our knowledge of inspection reliability is incomplete, so that continuing studies are required to support the continuous improvement demanded by quality systems. Two examples of such studies show how off-line experiments can be combined with field observations to further our understanding of reliability, and can lead to implementable conclusions. 1. Why Do We Need to Know About Inspection reliability? Airworthiness of civil aircraft depends upon a process by which a team composed of aircraft manufacturers, regulators and one or more airlines predict possible system failures. This process, Maintenance Steering Group 3 or MSG-3, considers possible failure pathways (for example, in structures, engines, avionics) and for each pathway determines a recovery strategy. For structural failure in airframe or engine this is often regular inspection to assure detection. The concern here is with the reliability of the primary failure recovery system for aircraft and engine structural inspection: regular inspection to assure detection. Inspection systems are designed to detect all structural in a timely manner, i.e. before the failure has a catastrophic effect on structural integrity. For example, crack growth rates in engine and airframe critical components can be predicted probabilitistically from material properties and applied stresses, so that the MSG-3 process can schedule inspections before a potential crack becomes dangerous. However, the detection system has certain limits on size crack that can be detected, so that MSG-3 typically schedules several inspections between the time the crack becomes detectable and the time it becomes dangerous. If too many inspections are scheduled, the costs are driven up in a highly-competitive industry, and the risk of collateral damage is increased due to the handling activities involved in the inspection process itself. Conversely, if too few inspections are scheduled, the probabilistic rate of the crack growth prediction process may combine with the probabilistic nature of the detection process to cause dangerous cracks to remain undetected. Spectacular failures of this inspection process have occurred both for aircraft structures (Aloha incident, Hawaii 1988) and engine components (Pensacola incident, Florida 1997).
Compact microstrip bandpass filter with fragment‐loaded resonators

Microstrip bandpass filter with fragment‐loaded resonators is proposed and designed using multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition combined with enhanced genetic operators (MOEA/D‐GO). When loaded by fragment‐type structures, microstrip resonators may have compact size and operate at different modes. By properly setting the modes of fragment‐loaded resonators in objectives of MOEA/D‐GO, stopband attenuation and spurious passband suppression of the microstrip bandpass filter can be readily adjusted and controlled. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:2896–2899, 2014
SUFFICIENCY AND INSUFFICIENCY OF HOTEL FACILITIES AND SERVICES FOR GUESTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: THE CASES OF PORTUGAL AND CYPRUS

Adequate facilities and appropriate customer service in the hotel industry are needed to cater the increasing numbers of people with special needs, including within the senior cohort. This paper purpose is to assess and compare the cases of Cyprus and Portugal – countries that are highly dependent on the tourism industry – and to identify whether their hotels have the necessary facilities and employees are well equipped to support guests with special needs. The results reveal that both Portuguese and Cypriot hotels regard their facilities as adequate for people with physical disabilities but exclude guests with other types of disabilities. Furthermore, employees are not well prepared to provide services to this cohort of the market. This failure to develop the necessary structures has implications for these countries’ competitiveness in terms of becoming accessible and disabled-friendly destinations. S. Liasidou; J. Umbelino; C. Viegas
An LVDC industrial power distribution system without central control unit

This paper develops a scheme to control a parallel connected, multiterminal DC power distribution system without the need of central control unit for fast communication. The described scheme utilizes superconductors on the DC bus and incorporates UPS properties with the ability to supply large passive loads than conventional UPSs. A five terminal, mesh connected study system is used to demonstrate the basic characteristics of DC power distribution system such as the ability to ride through an AC system outage. In this paper, a simulation model of the study system is developed and the simulation results show that the proposed DC power distribution system has a high power quality performance.
Performance of large line-start permanent magnet synchronous motors

A successful design of a 25 hp permanent-magnet synchronous motor using SmCo/sub 5/ and NdBFe magnets is presented. Expressions to predict the motor run-up and terminal performance are given. The rotor was tested for the straight interior rotor magnet arrangement. A record efficiency of over 94% was obtained at full load with a high power factor when the NdBFe magnets were used. The starting and synchronization were quick and smooth. There was no evidence of temperature limitations on the embedded rotor NdFBe magnets. A reasonable agreement between the computed and measured results was obtained. >
The effects of precisely meeting estimated daily energy and lysine requirements for gestating sows over three consecutive pregnancies on sow reproductive and lactation performance

Abstract The objective of the current study was to determine the effects of precisely meeting estimated daily energy and Lys requirements for gestating sows over three consecutive pregnancies on sow reproductive and lactation performance. A total of 105 sows (initial reproductive cycle 1.4 ± 0.5) were randomly assigned to a precision (PF; n = 50) or control (CON; n = 55) feeding program between days 2 and 9 of gestation and housed in group-pens equipped with electronic sow feeders capable of blending two diets. The PF sows received unique daily blends of two isocaloric diets (2518 kcal/kg NE; 0.80% and 0.20% standardized ileal digestible [SID] Lys, respectively), whereas CON sows received a static blend throughout gestation to achieve 0.56% SID Lys. After weaning, sows were re-bred and entered the same feeding program as in the previous pregnancy for two subsequent pregnancy cycles (PF: n = 36; CON: n = 37; average reproductive cycle: 2.4 ± 0.5; PF: n = 25; CON: n = 24; average reproductive cycle: 3.5 ± 0.5). Sows on the PF program received 97%, 105%, and 118% (average over three pregnancy cycles) of dietary energy and 67%, 79%, and 106% of SID Lys intakes compared to CON between days 5 and 37, 38 and 72, and 73 and 108 of gestation, respectively. Estimated N (26.1%) retention did not differ between gestation feeding programs in any pregnancy, but excess N excretion was less (1617 vs. 1750 ± 54 g/sow; P < 0.01) for PF vs. CON sows. Regardless of pregnancy cycle, sows that received the PF program had greater ADG between days 38 and 72 (614 vs. 518 ± 63 g/d; P < 0.05) and between days 73 and 108 (719 vs. 618 ± 94 g/d; P = 0.063) of gestation, and greater loin depth gain between days 63 and 110 of gestation (0.7 vs. −1.1 ± 1.6 mm; P < 0.05), but BW (235.1 kg) and backfat (17.8 mm) and loin (70.5 mm) depths on day 110 of gestation did not differ. The number of piglets born alive, stillborn, and mummified, and litter birth weight (16.5 kg) did not differ in any pregnancy cycle, nor did piglet ADG during lactation (250 g/d) and piglet BW (6.7 kg) at weaning. Sows that received the PF program during gestation had lower ADFI during lactation (5.7 vs. 6.2 ± 0.2 kg; P < 0.01). Therefore, using feeding programs that precisely match estimated daily energy and Lys requirements for gestating sows provides the opportunity to reduce N losses to the environment and reduce lactation feed usage, without negatively affecting sow reproductive and lactation performance.
Agronomic yield and starch properties of banana cultivars

Abstract The objective of this work was to evaluate the banana cultivars for their agronomic yield and starch characteristics. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design, with a factorial arrangement of two cultivars ('BRS Conquista' and 'BRS Platina') and two crop cycles, with three plants per treatment, and five replicates. Fruit yield and starch quality were evaluated. 'BRS Conquista' showed smaller fruit; however, it had a greater marketable bunch weight and yield than 'BRS Platina'. Starches differed for the main physicochemical characteristics, except for X-ray diffraction pattern (B type) and phosphorus content (0.0058–0.0060%). 'BRS Platina' stood out for its higher content of resistant starch (74.55%) that differed from the starch isolated from 'BRS Conquista'. However, the starch of 'BRS Conquista' showed the following characteristics: larger granules (34.74 µm), with greater crystallinity (33.64%); less swelling power and solubility (26.77 g g-1 and 19.21%, respectively); and greater breakdown, setback and final viscosity (67.06, 182.42, and 341.39 RVU, respectively). 'BRS Conquista' shows favorable production characteristics for processing to obtain starch. The higher resistant starch content of 'BRS Platina' may commercially justify its lower agronomic yield. Starches of the two cultivars show desirable characteristics for different industrial applications.
Pilot project to estimate the centralized volt/VAr control effectiveness

This paper describes a volt/VAr control (VVC) project in which a centralized network-model based VVC was put in place to control a 13.8 kV distribution subsystem. The goal of the project is to estimate the effectiveness of VVC based on different objective functions, including an objective function for future market economy (revenue maximization). The technical issues which are critical to implementing the VVC are discussed. The effectiveness of VVC for energy conservation and revenue maximization is calculated as an effect due to the immediate (within the span of a few minutes) load to voltage response. This effect is compared with the actual effect calculated based on a fifteen minutes average archived telemetered data.