Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automated behavior modeling for verifying safety-relevant modules

Despite employing state-of-the-art safety mechanisms, the intractable variety of possible dynamical behaviors requires automating verification in safety-relevant domains like automated driving. This paper proposes an automatic modeling approach for safety-relevant modules amenable to verification of formal requirements. A logical predicate abstraction is imposed over the module’s inputs and outputs. By stimulating the module with possible finite input sequences, an approximate behavior model is obtained. The approximation accuracy can be improved by increasing the trace length. Then, the satisfaction of the specification is evaluated by model checking in an iterative manner, as shown for the implementation of an automated driving system supervisor.
Engineering Leadership Development: Contribution of Professional Skills to Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Leadership Self-efficacy

Corresponding to industry trends and changes in engineering education accreditation criteria, non-technical professional skills training is now seen as central to baccalaureate engineering education. Beyond simply developing good managers in the engineering fields, engineering educators have adopted a goal to prepare engineering students to be leaders who can provide vision to their organizations with strong ethical standards. This study investigated engineering undergraduate students’ leadership efficacy development associated with such professional skills as self-awareness, global competence, ethical awareness, creativity, and teamwork skills. Responding to an online survey, 247 engineering undergraduates who were enrolled in an engineering leadership course participated in this study. Results of this study indicated that there are positive associations among the five professional skills (e.g., self-awareness, ethical awareness, global competency, creativity, and teamwork skills), and engineering leadership self-efficacy for engineering undergraduate students. The five professional skills (self-awareness, ethical awareness, global competency, creativity, and teamwork skills) predicted 54% of the overall variance of engineering leadership self-efficacy.
What happens after early intervention in first-episode psychosis? Limitations of existing service models and an agenda for the future

Purpose of review Early intervention in first-episode psychosis (FEP) improves symptomatic and functional outcomes while programs last. However, these gains may not be sustained over time and not all individuals benefit equally from such programs. This review examines the efficacy of FEP programs, as well as step-down practices and long-term outcomes to identify ways to extend the gains made in FEP programs. Recent findings FEP programs improve outcomes while services last, but effects diminish over time. Step-down and discharge practices vary widely with little randomized evidence guiding practice. Extending the duration of FEP programs for all does not consistently improve outcomes, but there is some encouraging evidence that targeted psychosocial interventions after program end may extend symptomatic and functional benefits. Members of marginalized groups and individuals with poorer outcomes during the FEP period may benefit from further specialized intervention after FEP. Summary Step down practices from FEP programs should be structured and tailored to individual needs, and benefit from sustained connections to community resources. Psychosocial interventions like social skills training, peer support, and supported education and employment may help extend the benefit of FEP programs after more intensive services end.
Linear array modules with prescribed excitations using waveguide shunt slot-fed microstrip patch elements

A waveguide shunt slot-fed microstrip patch antenna (WGMPA) element is proposed and analyzed with method of moments (MOM) using entire-domain basis functions. The developed analysis has been utilized to obtain parametric observation of power-coupling versus transverse offset of feeding slot from the waveguide axis. Expressions for the radiation pattern as a summation of contributions of individual basis functions are reported. The proposed element is amenable to building-up series-fed linear arrays by a simple cascading of elements at the through-end of the feeding waveguide. The authors propose that arbitrary amplitude excitations may be applied to such linear arrays for desired tailored array pattern characteristics. The required transverse offsets for each array element may be computed using the reported parametric result. As a demonstration of concept, two distributions are designed – uniform amplitudes and Dolph–Chebyshev for reduced side lobes. Computed element patterns from MOM are used with an array factor formulation for arbitrary element positions. Both modules show radiation characteristics closely matching the expected directivity and sidelobe envelopes. Analysis validation is achieved using a proven finite element method (FEM)-based solver; the comparison is close and is reported. Efficacy of the waveguide shunt-slot fed patch element for building linear array modules with prescribed amplitude distributions is thus established.
Measuring Productivity, Perceived Stress and Work Engagement of a Nationally Delivered Workplace Step Count Challenge

Workplace step count challenges show promise with regard to increasing physical activity, with walking linked to many positive physical and mental health benefits. Few studies have investigated their effects on work-related outcomes. The aim of this study was to describe (1) the process of collecting work-related outcomes as part of a real-world workplace intervention, the Step Count Challenge, and (2) report step counts and work-related outcomes (productivity, perceived stress and work engagement) during the Step Count Challenge. This pre-post study was conducted as part of a four-week 2018 National Step Count Challenge (SCC) in Scotland, UK. A survey was administered to collect self-reported steps, productivity (HWQ), perceived stress (Cohen Perceived Stress Scale) and work engagement (UWES) on the week prior to the intervention starting (baseline), week 1 and week 4. Process data such as recruitment and response rates were monitored throughout. Of 2042 employees who signed up to the SCC, baseline data were reported for 246 (12% of total; mean age 42.5 years, 83% female). Process data suggest low uptake to the study and poor compliance between surveys time points. Preliminary data suggest positive changes in step counts (3374 steps/day by week 4), stress and productivity. No changes in work engagement were found. The findings highlight the need to integrate research more effectively into real-world interventions, including a true baseline period. The Step Count Challenge may have positive change on some work-related outcomes warranting further investigation into how robust research designs can be delivered without negatively influencing real-world interventions.
Dissecting a frog: a meta-Analytic evaluation of humor intensity in persuasion research

ABSTRACT After decades of study, much of what comprises ‘funny’ content remains subjective. A meta-analysis of 80 experimental humor manipulations sought to identify what makes a stimulus funny by focusing on its content, audience, and research design. Results suggest that content which draws upon theoretically grounded techniques like surprise, tension relief, and superiority leads to stronger effects on perceived humor. Study design features such as the message modality and scale type also significantly influence perceptions of humor. This evidence suggests that methodology plays a key role in explaining the variance in perceived humor. The process of conducting this synthesis revealed the need for more widespread stimuli testing to confirm whether messages designed to elicit humor are indeed interpreted as such.
Fund Allocation Strategies and Project Sustainability: A Case of Vision City Project in Kigali City

The intention of this research is to examine the contribution of fund allocation strategies and sustainability of Vision City Project in Kigali. This research project is guided by three specific objectives such as to determine the impact of participatory planning on the sustainability of the Vision City Project in Kigali, to analyze the role of rate of return on the sustainability of the Vision City Project in Kigali, to establish the relationship between fund allocation strategies and sustainability of the Vision City Project in Kigali. This study is significant to policy makers in terms of formulating policies that favor sustainability of the project. The study is also significant to the future researchers in terms of using it as point of reference in regard to fund allocation strategies and project sustainability. The descriptive research design was applied in this study with a target population of 120 employees of the project, the same number were considered for sample size because it is reasonable and the sampling technique applied here is census sampling techniques, questionnaire and interview guides helped to gatherer the collected data which was coded, analyzed, interpreted in relation to the study objectives. The results have indicate a significant positive correlation between participatory planning and rate of returns (p=.646 and sig=.003), between project ownership and stakeholder satisfaction (p=742 and sig=.000), and rate of returns and stakeholder satisfaction (p=.536 and sig=.000). Hence, the results confirm a significant positive relationship between project sustainability of vision city in Rwanda. The results have also revealed that R coefficient . 815 shows fund allocation strategies has a positive relationship with project ownership. The coefficient of determination . 665 R square also shows that fund allocation strategies explains 66.5% of the variability in project ownership. Hence, this implies that the predictors such as constant, consultative project design, participatory planning and rate of returns affect the progress of project ownership by 66.5% in Vision City Project. In conclusion, since the results of the study have proved that there is a positive significant relationship between fund allocation strategies and project sustainability. Thus, the researcher also recommends to the government to continue encourage the private sector, investors and big business owners to allocate their fund in promoting project which can be sustainable and benefit the general public. The researcher cannot forget to recommend seminars, study tours and workshops to private sector federation to promote skills and knowledge on the allocation of funds to make sure sustainability of both private sector and government.
Band Gap Tuning of Films of Undoped ZnO Nanocrystals by Removal of Surface Groups

Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) are widely used in optoelectronic devices such as flat-panel displays and solar cells. A significant optical property of TCOs is their band gap, which determines the spectral range of the transparency of the material. In this study, a tunable band gap range from 3.35 eV to 3.53 eV is achieved for zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystals (NCs) films synthesized by nonthermal plasmas through the removal of surface groups using atomic layer deposition (ALD) coating of Al2O3 and intense pulsed light (IPL) photo-doping. The Al2O3 coating is found to be necessary for band gap tuning, as it protects ZnO NCs from interactions with the ambient and prevents the formation of electron traps. With respect to the solar spectrum, the 0.18 eV band gap shift would allow ~4.1% more photons to pass through the transparent layer, for instance, into a CH3NH3PbX3 solar cell beneath. The mechanism of band gap tuning via photo-doping appears to be related to a combination of the Burstein–Moss (BM) and band gap renormalization (BGN) effects due to the significant number of electrons released from trap states after the removal of hydroxyl groups. The BM effect shifts the conduction band edge and enlarges the band gap, while the BGN effect narrows the band gap.
Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in a Tertiary Referral Center: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a risk factor in developing colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CA-CRC). CA-CRC causes the death of about 15% IBD patients and the risk is 1.5–2.4 fold higher among IBD sufferers than in the general population. The dysplasia CA-CRC develops in a different mechanism in comparison to sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aimed at evaluating the surgical treatment and its outcomes as well as 5-year survival rates in the CA-CRC and sporadic CRC patients. Materials and methods: This single-center, retrospective, propensity score-matched case-control study was conducted with 2204 patients operated on due to primary CRC, who were hospitalized from 2003 to 2019. The CA-CRC group consisted of 49 patients with CRC in the course of IBD. The sporadic CRC group was selected with the propensity score matching technique and comprised 98 patients with sporadic CRC who did not have clinical or histopathological features characteristic for IBD. Results: CA-CRC is characterized by a more aggressive clinical course. Surgical treatment of CA-CRC involves more palliative operations and is related with a higher risk of perioperative and postoperative complications. Further studies of CA-CRC risk factor stratification and the development of molecular markers hold promise in reducing CRC in IBD patients in the future were warranted.
REDUCING ANTIRESONANCE EFFECT WITH COHERENCE FUNCTION FOR LOAD IDENTIFICATION OF BURNING STREAM

There is effect of system characteristics on the estimated result when a shock load of the burning stream is identified.When the load is identified by use of a forced response of the system,the effect of antiresonance of the system could not be eliminated.The antiresonance effect is better eliminated while the identification spectrum is revised by means of coherence function.
Effect of backward looking and velocity difference in an extended car following model

Based on the full velocity difference(FVD) model,an extended car following model is proposed by considering the effect of backward looking and the velocity difference information in the same time.The linear stability condition of the presented model is obtained by employing the linear stability theory.The variation of density wave of traffic flow near the critical point is investigated with the nonlinear analysis method,and then the modified Kortewege-de Vries(mKdV) equation with which the occurrence of traffic jamming transitions can be described is derived.The numerical simulation and corresponding analysis of the extended model shows that by considering the effect of backward-looking and velocity difference information the stability of traffic flow can be enhanced and traffic jam can be suppressed effectively.
Developing a Smart Grid that Customers can Afford: The Impact of Deferrable Demand

Abstract With more electricity generated from renewable sources, the importance of effective storage capacity is increasing due to its capability to mitigate the inherent variability of these sources, such as wind and solar power. However, the cost of dedicated storage is high and all customers eventually have to pay. Deferrable demand offers an alternative form of storage that is potentially less expensive because the capital cost is shared between providing an energy service and supporting the grid. This paper presents an empirical analysis to illustrate the beneficial effects of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) and thermal storage on the total system cost using data for a hot summer day in New York City. The analysis shows how customers can reduce total system costs and their bills by 1) shifting load from expensive peak periods to less expensive off-peak periods, 2) reducing the amount of installed conventional generating capacity needed to maintain System Adequacy, and 3) providing ramping services to mitigate the variability of generation from renewable sources. Moreover, this paper demonstrates economic benefits of different types of customers with different deferrable demand capabilities under two bill payment policies, flat price payment and optimum price payment, and it finally shows how long it takes for customers to fully pay back their initial capital costs of PHEV or thermal storage under two different policies.
Android Security Internals: An In-Depth Guide to Android's Security Architecture

There are nearly a billion Android devices in use today, and every one is a potential security breach. Love it or hate it, the security of Android-based devices is of major concern to users and developers alike. In Android Security Internals, author Nikolay Elenkov delves into Android components and subsystems to give you a very deep and complete understanding of the security internals of Android devices. Elenkov's coverage of security topics ranges from package and user management to the details of cryptographic providers and credential storage. Android Security Internals is destined to be one book that that all security-minded Android developers will have to have on their bookshelves.
Dynamic Control of Soft Robotic Arm: A Simulation Study

In this article, the control problem of one segment pneumatically actuated soft robotic arm is investigated in detail. To date, extensive prior work has been done in soft robotics kinematics and dynamics modeling. Proper controller designs can complement the modeling work since they are able to compensate the effects that have not been considered in the modeling, such as the model uncertainties, system parameter identification error, hysteresis, external forces, disturbances, etc. In this letter, we explored different control approaches (kinematic control, PD+feedback linearization, passivity control, adaptive passivity control) and summarized the advantages and disadvantages of each controller. We further investigated the robot control problem in the practical scenarios when the sensor noise exists, actuator velocity measurement is not available, the hysteresis effect is non-neglectable, as well as the existence of external force. Our simulation results indicated that the adaptive passivity control with sigma modification terms, along with a high-gain observer presents a better performance in comparison with other approaches. Although this paper mainly presented the simulation results of various controllers, the work here will pave the way for practical implementation of soft robot control.
From the Lab to the Field: Combined Application of Plant-Growth-Promoting Bacteria for Mitigation of Salinity Stress in Melon Plants

Soil salinization is a major and increasing problem adversely impacting plant growth and crop production. Accordingly, coping with this problem has become a central topic in agriculture. In this study, we address this issue by evaluating the potential effectiveness of two bacterial species, Azospirillum brasilense and Paenibacillus dendritiformis, in enhancing growth and yield of melon and tomato plants under salinity stress. In vitro laboratory experiments indicated that these bacteria can efficiently colonize plant roots, and increase root length (25–33%) and root biomass (46–210%) of three melon plant varieties under saline stress. Similarly, greenhouse experiments showed that these bacteria significantly induced root (78–102%) and shoot weights (37–57%) of the three melon varieties irrigated with saline water. Tomato plants grown under the same conditions did not exhibit growth deficiency upon exposure to the saline stress and their growth was not enhanced in response to bacterial inoculation. Interestingly, saline-stressed melon plants inoculated with P. dendritiformis and A. brasilense exhibited lower total antioxidant activity compared to un-inoculated plants (80% vs. 60% of DPPH radical scavenging activity, respectively), suggesting that the inoculated plants experienced lower stress levels. These positive effects were further manifested by an increase of 16% in the crop yield of melon plants grown in the field under standard agricultural fertilization practices, but irrigated with saline water. Overall, these results demonstrate the beneficial effects of two plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria, which can significantly alleviate the negative outcome of salt stress.
Pharmaceutical and Analytical Study of Tryushanadya Lauha & Modified Form as Tryushanadya Mandura and their Comparative Evaluation for Antidiabetic Activity in Wistar Rats

Background: Lohais a metal that is used in many preparations after transforming it into non-metallic form by purification and incineration method uses to treat different kinds of diseases. Mandura is the rusting of iron.Tryushanadyalauha(TL) is one among the Ayurvedicherbo-mineral formulations described in BhaishajyaRatnavalliand as modified dosage form as Tryushanadyamandura(TM). The herbal contents are tryushana (i.epippali( Piper longum Linn ),maricha (Piper nigrum Linn)and shunti (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe), cavya (Piper chabaHunter), bakuchi (Psoralea CorylifoliaLinn),bhang (cannabis sativum Linn),andlavana like saindhava,aubhida,vida and sauvarchala ,andlohabhasma is the main ingredient. Aim: Pharmaceutical and Analytical study of TryushanadyaLauha& modified form as TryushanadyaMandura and comparative evaluation for antidiabetic activity in Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: All herbal drugs will be collected, verified, and primarily authenticated by the Department of Dravyaguna. Lohaand Mandura will be procured from the vendor and authenticated by the Department of Rasashastra and BhaishajyaKalpana, Mahatma Gandhi Ayurved College Hospital Research Centre, Salod(H), Wardha, and they will be prepared as per reference. Organoleptic, bhasmapariksha, Physico-chemical,XRD and FEG-SEM parameters will be evaluated. To assess Tryushanadya Lauha (TL) and Tryushanadya Mandura (TM)antidiabetic action will be conducted in 30 Wistar rats in 5 groups and will be compared. Observation and Results: The study will be assessed Tryushanadya lauha (TL) and TryushanadyaMandura (TM)antidiabetic action in 30 Wistar rats by using one-way ANOVA. Conclusion: Pharmaceutical and Analytical study of TryushanadyaLauha (TL) & modified form as TryushanadyaMandura (TM) will provide the standard parameters.
Genetics of Externalizing Behavior and Structural Brain Development in Adolescence

Externalizing behavior in its more extreme form is often considered a problem to the individual, their families, teachers and society as a whole. Several brain structures have been linked to externalizing behavior and such associations may arise if the (co)development of externalizing behavior and brain structures share the same genetic and/or environmental factor(s). We assessed externalizing behavior with the Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self Report, and brain volumes and white matter integrity (FA and MD) with magnetic resonance imaging in the BrainSCALE cohort, consisting of twins and their older siblings from 112 families measured longitudinally at ages 10, 13, and 18 years of the twins. Genes influenced externalizing behavior and changes therein (h2 up to 88%). More pronounced externalizing behavior was associated with higher FA (observed correlation rph up to +0.20) and lower MD (rph up to –0.20); with sizeable genetic correlations (FA ra up to +0.42; MD ra up to –0.33). Cortical gray matter (CGM; rph up to –0.20) and cerebral white matter (CWM; rph up to +0.20) volume were phenotypically but not genotypically associated with externalizing behavior. These results suggest a potential mediating role for global brain structures in the display of externalizing behavior during adolescence that are both partially explained by the influence from the same genetic factor.