Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital Coherent Receivers for Passive Optical Networks

The work presented herein explores the use of digital coherent receivers in loss limited transmission with a view to implementation in a 100 km long-reach passive optical network (LR-PON) with a net data rate of 10 Gbit/s per optical network unit. Optical power receiver sensitivity limits are investigated for C-band coherent receivers. Coherent-enabled advanced (amplitude, phase, and polarisation) modulation schemes are characterised in terms of electronic and optical bandwidth requirements and power efficiency to determine the optimum modulation format for a high capacity LRPON. Including the net coding gain achievable with forward error correction, the high power efficiency of polarisation switched (PS) quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) enables an experimental demonstration of 4 photons/bit receiver sensitivity, while polarisation division multiplexed (PDM) QPSK enables transmission with 5 photons/bit sensitivity; a 0.5 dB power penalty. Nevertheless, PDM-QPSK is identified as the optimum modulation format for coherent LR-PON, due to its 1.25 dB bandwidth efficiency advantage over PS-QPSK. A coherent access network architecture is developed using 10 Gbit/s PDM-QPSK channels in a wavelength division multiplexed configuration. Multiple access is achieved by using the frequency selectivity of the coherent receiver to provide gain to the channel of interest. Combined with high receiver sensitivity, this demonstrates the feasibility of colourless network operation supporting 1024 channels. In bidirectional transmission, crosstalk from backscattering of optical power is mitigated using the receiver frequency selectivity and by using pulse shaping to restrict the optical channel bandwidth. A reflection-to-signal power ratio of 18.5 dB is tolerated without penalty. Practical realisation is addressed by exploring low complexity, multiplier-free digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms for adaptive channel equalisation; algorithms are identified that can be used without penalty. Finally, to address issues of integration, tunable local oscillator lasers, suitable for monolithic integration, are investigated. The receiver DSP is modified to overcome the additional intensity noise from these lasers. In this scenario, the reduced receiver sensitivity would still enable an LR-PON with 128 channels.
Development of design basis for hydrodynamic vortex separators

OF THE DISSERTATION Development of Design Basis for Hydrodynamic Vortex Separators by YUNJIE LI Dissertation Director: Professor Qizhong Guo Though many prototypes of hydrodynamic separators have been developed to remove solids from wastewater and stormwater, to date, not much fundamental development on unit performance evaluation exists due to the complexity of the problem. Design specifications of commercial separators are derived from empirical or semiempirical equations that are unique and proprietary to each manufacturer. In this research, experimental and theoretical investigations were conducted to examine the mechanisms of solid-liquid separation for a general vortex separator, thereby providing a fundamental approach for unit performance evaluation. The main achievements and findings obtained through the experimental investigation and theoretical study are as follows. Experimental investigation with four physical vortex models, three with varying inlet pipe elevations and one with a lower chamber height, reveal that the impact of a changing inlet pipe elevation on particle removal efficiency is insignificant; while the effect of a changing chamber height on removal efficiency is significant and measurable. In the theoretical development, three topics, namely, flow pattern, particle trajectory, and unit performance evaluation, were researched. Based on the Rankine combined vortex model, the law of conservation of momentum, and the boundary conditions for a confined vortex chamber, a simple formula for angular velocity was
ADAPTIVE AIRBAG-BELT RESTRAINTS - AN ANALYSIS OF BIOMECHANICAL BENEFITS. IN: SEAT BELTS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ESSENTIAL SAFETY FEATURE

This paper defines the concept of adaptability of the restraint system, the adaptability of its protection performance to various different possible initial parameters such as type and severity of accident, and the occupancy/car interior model with simulation for individual crash occupancy combinations in a frontal crash. N adaptive or intelligent restraint system (RS) must fulfill the following prerequisites: crash sizes and biomechanical sizes must be able to be reliability measures by sensors and immune in interference; and the RS must be able to differ its performance output in the subsystems safety belt or airbag system.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease

The following lists examples of COI and represents the minimum standards for identifying potential COI. Divisions may add additional examples as needed. This list is not all-inclusive and may be used as a template. This document should be used in conjunction with processes outlined by your Division/Center. All of the following apply to the individual, their spouse, dependent children, other relatives with whom they have a close relationship, and household members.
Thin on the Ground

This article examines "electronic paper," a new display technology that could increase accessibility and lower the cost of providing real-time information to public transportation users. The system combines a circuit board containing polymer transistors in an active-matrix plastic backplane and electronic ink film, which produces a material like paper. Display properties change when voltage is applied. The new system is being tested in a pilot project at Berlin Ostbahnhof Station. Not only will the system be used for large, real-time passenger information displays, but also for page-sized "e-readers" which passengers can carry with them.
CHILD SAFETY SEAT MISUSE IN FOUR STATES

Child safety seat misuse is still a concern in the nation. This paper addresses the patterns of child safety seat (CSS) misuse and reports on the techniques used to effectively collect this data. CSS use and misuse observations were collected for 5900 target young children in over 4000 vehicles in four states: Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Results showed overall CSS use for target children was 50.6%. Only 12.8% of these children were unrestrained, with the remainder restrained in safety belts. Correct CSS use was defined as proper use of all of the following CSS elements: seat direction, vehicle safety belt routing, harness buckle and harness strap, harness retainer clip, and locking clip. Overall correct CSS use was 20.5%. The strongest positive relationship between target child restraint use and CSS proper use was for drivers using safety belts. Other positive relationships were found for the vehicle having air bags, the driver being a family member, the child in the middle back seat position, and CSS infrequently removed from the vehicle.
Aerodynamic performance of low form factor spoilers

The development of low form factor flight controls is driven by the benefits of reducingthe installed volume of the control device and/or minimising the change in external geometry, with particular application to flight control of low observable aircraft. Forthis work, the term ? low form factor? does not refer to the aspect ratio of the controldevice rather the overall installed volume. This thesis compares the use of low formfactor geometric and fluid devices on a NACA 0015 aerofoil section through two-dimensional numerical analysis and low speed wind tunnel experiments. The geometricspoiler is implemented as a small (boundary layer scale) variable height tab oriented normal to the local surface, referred to as a Micro Geometric Spoiler (MiGS). Thefluidic spoiler is implemented as an air jet tangential to the local surface acting in theforward direction, referred to as a Counter-Flow Fluidic Spoiler (CFFS). Twochordwise spoiler locations were considered: 0.35c and 0.65c. Numerical analysis was undertaken using a commercial CFD code using an unsteady solver and k-omega shear-stress-transport turbulence model. Experimental forces and moments were measured via an overhead force balance, integrated surface pressures and pressure wake survey. Device performance is assessed against the magnitude of control achievable comparedto macro scale spoilers and trailing edge controls (effectiveness), the ratio of aerodynamic output to control input (efficiency or gain), the shape of control response curve (linearity), and the degree of control cross coupling. Results show that the MiG and CFF spoilers work by a similar mechanism based oninducing flow separation that increases the pressure ahead of the spoiler and reducesthe pressure downstream. Increasing control input increases drag and reduces lift, however the change in pitching moment is dependent on chordwise location.Chordwise location has a significant effect on effectiveness, efficiency, linearity and separability. Forward MiGS location gives the largest drag gain however the controlresponse is strongly nonlinear with angle of attack and there is a significant undesirablecoupling of drag with pitching moment. Aft MiGS location significantly improvescontrol linearity and reduces pitching moment coupling however the drag gain is much reduced. For the CFFS, the control linearity with respect to control input and angle ofattack is good for both forward and aft locations, with the aft location giving the largest gain for lift and drag. The control response trends predicted from numerical analysis aregood, however a calibration factor of around � has to be applied to the control inputmomentum to match the experimentally observed gains. Furthermore numerical control drag polars under predict the change in lift with change in drag at low blowing rates. Through the use of a CFFS device on both the upper and lower surfaces of a wing section it is possible to generate control drag inputs fully decoupled from both lift and pitching moment, thus potentially simplifying device control law implementationwithin an integrated yaw control system.
Modeling the Dynamics of Cooperative Predators

The focus of this thesis is the modeling of cooperative predatorshunting ocks of animals. The modeling is based on biological studiesof the behavior of speci c predators and their preys, lions and zebras forthis case. General rules are established in order to model the overallhunting and escape strategies, with a focus on the former. The dynamicsof the predator during the hunt are modeled using the unicyclemodel applied locally, i.e., applied to each agent. The cooperation istaken into account by considering the system as a multi-agent system.Subsequently, a computer simulation based on the mathematical modelsis constructed and numerous simulations performed. The resultsfrom the simulations are then compared to biological studies in orderto assess the validity of the model.Keywords: Multi-agent, unicycle model, mathematical modeling,cooperative predator dynamics, bio-mimicry
Multi-agent system for an airline operations control centre

Being planned in advance, the operation of an airline company is often subject to change. This is due to problems with crew members, aircraft, or passengers, which affect the beginning of a flight at the time planned. The Operational Control Centre (OCC) is the entity that manages the operation of an airline company in the moments preceding the flights. It has the main goal of solving any problems that might occur at the lowest possible impact and cost, in a process called disruption management. The management of the operation, which covers the activities of monitoring, event detection, and troubleshooting, is usually still a highly manual process, heavily based on the tacit knowledge of the various members of the OCC. The main goal of this project is to implement a multi-agent system that automates various activities on this process, increasing the quantity and quality of the information available to the entity responsible for making the changes to the plan. For this purpose, it was developed an agent that monitors the operation of the airline in a particular base, allowing the visualization of the flights that will arrive, that have already arrived, that will depart, and that have already departed from that base. It was also created an event detection mechanism, which recognizes existing problems based on the customizable definition of events given by agents. Finally, the problem resolution is achieved by a number of specialist agents, each implementing a different resolution method based on Artificial Intelligence. The objectives of this project were achieved, as the system was implemented and tested in an airline company. The implemented system makes it easier for the events to be detected, and achieves better solutions to the problems than the previous system. 6 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Luís Paulo Reis, without whom this project would never see the light. His advices and orientation were invaluable. I'm very grateful to Eng. António Castro, project manager at TAP Portugal, for all the help he gave me. I would also like to thank my colleagues at TAP Portugal.
İŞLETMELERİN PAZAR PERFORMANSI İLE İNSAN KAYNAKLARI UYGULAMALARI ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİNİN ARAŞTIRILMASINA YÖNELİK BİR ÇALIŞMA A RESEARCH ON ANALYSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESSES, MARKET PERFORMANCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES APPLICATIONS

Human factor lies beneath all activities performed by businesses and directing this factor well is a crucial factor in the success of businesses. Within the scope of this study, human resources applications in businesses consist of employee recruitment process, performance evaluation, work enrichment, work simplification, work rotation and work expanding. Besides, businesses check whether predefined targets are reached or not by evaluating the result of their activities. In this context, it is important to consider businesses' market performance related to its outer surrounding. In this study the relationship between businesses' market performance and their human resources applications has been investigated within the scope of the businesses operational in Turkey. 1. Giris Yapilan literatur incelemesi sonucunda, etkili IKY (Insan Kaynaklari Yonetimi) sistemleri ve stratejileri acik bir sekilde verimliligin gelismesine katkida bulunmakta, firmalarin farkli IKY algilamalari, cok farkli IKY stratejileri ortaya cikarmakta ve IKY'nin uygulamalari isletme performansina da farkli bir sekilde yansimaktadir (Chen et all, 2003, s. 314-315). Isletme yoneticileri IKY fonksiyonunun sonuclar (ciktilar) uzerine dogrudan etkisi oldugunu fark etmis, bunun icinde Insan Kaynaklari (IK) amaclarinin isletme amaclari ile paralel olmasi gerektigini belirlemislerdir. Hem akademisyenler hem de uygulayicilar rekabetin dinamikleri arttikca insan kaynaginin rekabetci avantajin tek
Abstract

This article deals with the problem of vessel edge and centerline detection using classical image processing techniques due to their simpleness and easiness to be implemented. The method is divided into four steps: the vessel enhancement which implies a non-linear filtering proposed by Frangi, the thresholding using Otsu method and the contour detection using the Canny edge detector due to its good performances for the small vessels and the morphological skeletonisation. The algorithms are tested on real data collected from a cardiac catheterism laboratory and it is accurate for images with good spatial resolution (512*512). The output image can be used for further processing in order to find the vessel length or its radius.
Localisation de sources sonores par représentation parcimonieuse

The source localization problem by an acoustical array is considered in this communication. The sources will be correlated or uncorrelated, wideband or narrowband, in nearfield or farfield. The method is based on a sparse representation of microphone measurements with an overcomplete basis composed of time samples from the acoustical array and the source position estimation is obtained by a compromise between a residual error and the sparsity coefficients. Numerical and experimental results in an anechoic room are presented. Our algorithm is compared to traditional algorithms such as beamforming, Capon and MUSIC.
The Influence of Film Genres on the Tourist’s Decision Making Process

The principal purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationships between film genres and the decision-making process of the tourist. Within the tourism industry, the specific type of tourism-Film Tourism-has recently been recognised and approached in several research projects and case-studies. As a result of these efforts, the researchers agree that, in certain conditions, a film may influence the decision of the viewer to travel to the destination that such film portrays. However, due to the recent recognition of this type of tourism and consequent low number of explanatory research in this area, there is an evident lack of understanding about the underlying reasons why films may have such a stimulating effect on tourist decisions. To develop deeper understanding of this newly emerged type of tourism, it is vital to research different elements of the film and their possible effects on tourism-related decisions of the viewer. This pioneering study focuses on the previously neglected “genre” element of the film and the role of this element in the overall influence of the film on the tourist’s decision making process. Accordingly, an extensive survey (n=241) was conducted, implemented via the Internet and to randomly selected Exeter residents. The survey was followed by a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews (n=10) of randomly selected respondents from Exeter. The results suggest that film genres may affect the motivational factors, such as Exciting and Achievement (Yoon and Uysal, 2005). Moreover, emotions are an important factor in the decisions of Film Tourists (Kim, 2012), and films of specific genres may infuse destination with such emotions, alter the destination image and create an interest in the destination. The major contribution of this study is the discovery that the effect of film genres on the Film Tourist is but a small subconscious part of the overall film influence, which encompasses a wider range of elements such as visual beauty, plot, actors, credibility and the atmosphere. Furthermore, it would appear that, for most tourists, film is an additional and not a primary factor which creates a wish to travel. The visual portrayal of the destination is the key element which determines whether the film will affect the decision of the viewer to travel, but the genres of the film may allow the prediction of tourist type and possible travel behaviour.
Design methods for focusing grating coupler using holographic optical elements

Light can be coupled out of a waveguide to a focused point by a focusing grating coupler and has possible applications in optical data storage. The grating can be fabricated with either e-beam techniques or holographic techniques. Two design methods are demonstrated that model the focusing grating coupler with holographic optical elements. Both methods take a geometrical optics approach to designing the holographic optical elements and both methods make use of commercially available ray trace programs. The first method uses complicated non-rotationally symmetric construction optics and requires either a modified ray trace program or special user defined surfaces. The second method involves a much simpler approach which did not require any changes to an existing ray trace program and requires only rotationally symmetric elements to correct the aberrations.
Multi-locomotion robotic systems : new concepts of bio-inspired robotics

Nowadays, multiple attention have been paid on a robot working in the human living environment, such as in the field of medical, welfare, entertainment and so on. Various types of researches are being conducted actively in a variety of fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive engineering, sensor- technology, interfaces and motion control. In the future, it is expected to realize super high functional human-like robot by integrating technologies in various fields including these types of researches. The book represents new developments and advances in the field of bio-inspired robotics research introducing the state of the art, the idea of multi-locomotion robotic system to implement the diversity of animal motion. It covers theoretical and computational aspects of Passive Dynamic Autonomous Control (PDAC), robot motion control, multi legged walking and climbing as well as brachiation focusing concrete robot systems, components and applications. In addition, gorilla type robot systems are described as hardware of Multi-Locomotion Robotic system. It is useful for students and researchers in the field of robotics in general, bio-inspired robots, multi-modal locomotion, legged walking, motion control, and humanoid robots. Furthermore, it is also of interest for lecturers and engineers in practice building systems cooperating with humans.
Factor structure and psychometric properties of a perceived barriers to physical activity scale for low-income teens

Background: Despite known benefits of health and well-being, high-school aged adolescents don’t engage in regular daily physical activity (PA). PA levels are lesser among low-income adolescents. One significant predictor of PA levels is perceived barriers, however, there is a lack of a valid and reliable scale to measure perceived barriers among the low-income adolescent population. The objective of this study was to develop a scale to assess perceived barriers to PA among these high-school aged, low-income adolescents. Methods: The Perceived Barriers to PA Survey for Low-Income Adolescents (PBPA-A) was developed using a mixed-method approach. Initially, 110 items were identified from pre-existing surveys and extensive literature review. These items were then tested using cognitive interviews (n=15) to ensure the wording clarity and appropriateness. Items were deleted and revised based on the feedback from the cognitive interviews. Then, a 2-week test-retest reliability was conducted with 105 adolescents to assess the scale’s consistency over time using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Items with ICC ≤ 0.4, indicating insufficient reliability, were deleted, as were those demonstrating a floor effect. Exploratory factor analysis (n=999) and confirmatory factor analysis (n=999) were used to explore and confirm the underlying structure of the remaining 73-item scale. Items with a loading of ≥0.4 were retained and internal consistencies for the whole scale and subscales were calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. Test-retest reliability was recalculated, and concurrent validity was tested in a sample of 1,998 adolescents against the pre-established physical activity questionnaire for adolescent (PAQ-A) using Spearman correlations.Results: The EFA yielded a 7-factor solution with 37 items, which was further cross-validated by CFA. The test-retest reliability was 0.75 for the whole scale and ranged from 0.65 to 0.81 for the subscales. As predicted, the PABA-A scale and subscales were negatively associated the PAQ-A score, indicating adolescents with higher perceived barriers had lower physical activity levels. Conclusions: The PBPA-A is a valid and reliable scale that can be used to measure perceived barriers among older, low-income adolescents to better understand the relationship between perceived barriers and PA in this population. Further research is warranted to validate the scale in other adolescent subgroups.