Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deployment Optimization for Shared e-Mobility Systems With Multi-Agent Deep Neural Search

Shared e-mobility services have been widely tested and piloted in cities across the globe, and already woven into the fabric of modern urban planning. This paper studies a practical yet important problem in those systems: how to deploy and manage their infrastructure across space and time, so that the services are ubiquitous to the users while sustainable in profitability. However, in real-world systems evaluating the performance of different deployment strategies and then finding the optimal plan is prohibitively expensive, as it is often infeasible to conduct many iterations of trial-and-error. We tackle this by designing a high-fidelity simulation environment, which abstracts the key operation details of the shared e-mobility systems at fine-granularity, and is calibrated using data collected from the real-world. This allows us to try out arbitrary deployment plans to learn the optimal given specific context, before actually implementing any in the real-world systems. In particular, we propose a novel multi-agent neural search approach, in which we design a hierarchical controller to produce tentative deployment plans. The generated deployment plans are then tested using a multi-simulation paradigm, i.e., evaluated in parallel, where the results are used to train the controller with deep reinforcement learning. With this closed loop, the controller can be steered to have higher probability of generating better deployment plans in future iterations. The proposed approach has been evaluated extensively in our simulation environment, and experimental results show that it outperforms baselines e.g., human knowledge, and state-of-the-art heuristic-based optimization approaches in both service coverage and net revenue.
Dynamical Mass of the Young Substellar Companion HD 984 B

Model-independent masses of substellar companions are critical tools to validate models of planet and brown dwarf cooling, test their input physics, and determine the formation and evolution of these objects. In this work, we measure the dynamical mass and orbit of the young substellar companion HD 984 B. We obtained new high-contrast imaging of the HD 984 system with Keck/NIRC2 that expands the baseline of relative astrometry from 3 to 8 yr. We also present new radial velocities of the host star with the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder spectrograph at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. Furthermore, HD 984 exhibits a significant proper motion difference between Hipparcos and Gaia EDR3. Our joint orbit fit of the relative astrometry, proper motions, and radial velocities yields a dynamical mass of 61 ± 4 M Jup for HD 984 B, placing the companion firmly in the brown dwarf regime. The new fit also reveals a higher eccentricity for the companion (e = 0.76 ± 0.05) compared to previous orbit fits. Given the broad age constraint for HD 984, this mass is consistent with predictions from evolutionary models. HD 984 B’s dynamical mass places it among a small but growing list of giant planet and brown dwarf companions with direct mass measurements.
From Strings to Data Science: a Practical Framework for Automated String Handling

Many machine learning libraries require that string features be converted to a numerical representation for the models to work as intended. Categorical string features can represent a wide variety of data (e.g., zip codes, names, marital status), and are notoriously difficult to preprocess automatically. In this paper, we propose a framework to do so based on best practices, domain knowledge, and novel techniques. It automatically identifies different types of string features, processes them accordingly, and encodes them into numerical representations. We also provide an open source Python implementation to automatically preprocess categorical string data in tabular datasets and demonstrate promising results on a wide range of datasets.
Softbridge : a socially aware framework for communication bridges over digital divides

ii Table of Contents. iii List of Figures . ix List of Tables . xi Dedication. xiii Acknowledgements . xiv Glossary. xv Chapter 1: Introduction. 1 1.1 DIGITAL DIVIDE LANDSCAPE IN SOUTH AFRICA. 2 1.2 SOCIAL FACTORS OF ICT. 3 1.3 MISALIGNED ASSUMPTIONS. 4 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS . 4 1.5 METHODS. 5 1.6 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS . 6 Chapter 2: Communication system design and evaluation . 9 2.1 DESIGN ABSTRACTIONS FOR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS . 9 2.1.1 The OSI stack . 10 2.1.2 TCP/IP stack . 11 2.2 EVALUATION OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS. 12 2.2.1 Quality of Service . 13 2.2.2 Service Level Agreement . 14 2.2.3 Performance metrics . 14 2.2. 4 QoS protocols . 16 2.2. 5 The network and the user. 16 2.2. 6 User-centric QoS . 18 2.3 SUMMARY. 20 Chapter 3: ICT4D design and evaluation. 21 3.1 DESIGN OF ICT4D . 22 3.1.1 Power design considerations . 23 3.1.2 Network design considerations. 24 3.1.3 Device design considerations . 27 Un ive rsi ty of Ca pe To wn
SQUIRT: The Prototypical Mobile Robot for Autonomous Graduate Students

This paper describes an exercise in building a complete robot aimed at being as small as possible but using off-the-shelf components exclusively. The result is an autonomous mobile robot slightly larger than one cubic inch which incorporates sensing, actuation, onboard computation, and onboard power supplies. Nicknamed Squirt, this robot acts as a ``bug,'''' hiding in dark corners and venturing out in the direction of last heard noises, only moving after the noises are long gone.
Analyzing and improving throughput of Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems in personal computer manufacturing

The content of this thesis draws heavily on work completed during a 6.5 month MIT Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) internship at Dell Corporation's personal computer manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tennessee (EG1) from June 2004 to December 2004. This work relates primarily to efforts to analyze and improve the throughput of the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) in that factory. Wherever possible, the thesis abstracts from the EG1 factory case study to provide lessons for improving the throughput of ASRSs and accumulative manufacturing systems in general. In addition to this core of the thesis, specific implementation challenges encountered during the EG 1 case study are addressed. Finally, general cultural observations about Dell's manufacturing environment are discussed. The author believes the two most unique aspects of this work are the Crane Frontier framework developed for analyzing ASRS throughput (Section 2.6) and the range and taxonomy of ASRS throughput improvement solutions (Chapter 3). Thesis Supervisors: Stephen C. Graves Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management David Simchi-Levi Professor, MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Thesis Reader: Gregory McRae Professor, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering
Mycobacterium Survival Strategy Translated to Develop a Lipo-Peptide Based Fusion Inhibitor

The entry of enveloped viruses requires fusion of viral and host cell membranes. An effective fusion inhibitor aiming at impeding such virus-host cell membrane fusion may emerge as a broad-spectrum antiviral agent to neutralize the infection from an increasing diversity of harmful new viruses. Mycobacterium survives inside the phagosome of the host cells by inhibiting phagosome-lysosome fusion with the help of a coat protein coronin 1. Structural analysis of coronin 1 and other WD40-repeat containing protein suggest that the tryptophan-aspartic acid (WD) sequence is placed at distorted β-meander motif (more exposed) whereas the WD resides in regular β-meander motif in other WD40 proteins. The unique structural feature of coronin 1 was explored to identify a simple lipo-peptide sequence (lipid-WD), which effectively inhibit the membrane fusion by increasing interfacial order and decreasing water penetration, surface potential. The effective fusion inhibitory role of mycobacterium inspired lipo-dipeptide was applied to combat type 1 influenza virus (H1N1) infection as a ‘broad spectrum’ antiviral agent.
Effects of flushing on electrical discharge machining and electro-arc machining

Both electrical discharge machining and electro-arc machining are non-contact machining processes, which use high temperatures produced by discharges to erode material. The gap between the tool and the workpiece is usually filled with liquid dielectric medium. Moreover, liquid flushing is commonly used in the machining processes of electrical discharge machining and electro-arc machining. Much research has been conducted to study the effects of flushing on these processes. However, there has been little study on the mechanism of the flushing procedure for these machining processes. In this article, electrical discharge machining and electro-arc machining experiments adopting different polarities and flow rates were designed and implemented. The plasma tunnel and crater morphology were studied. It was found that the plasma tunnel was lengthened, compressed and broken by flushing in the electro-arc machining experiment; however, the electrical discharge machining experiment did not produce this result. Similarly, tailing discharge craters and polarity effects caused by flushing were observed in the electro-arc machining experiment, while no such performances caused by flushing were found in the electrical discharge machining experiment. The flushing in electro-arc machining was able to reduce the material removal rate, tool wear rate and surface roughness simultaneously, while the effects of flushing in electrical discharge machining were inconspicuous. Moreover, the characteristics of the plasma tunnels of the electro-arc machining experiment were similar to those of arcs, which were different from those of the electrical discharge machining experiment. These results help to verify that the electro-arc machining process adopts arcs, while the electrical discharge machining process adopts sparks, during their respective material removal processes.
Improvement in radiation losses of spur line resonators based LPF on an EBG substrate

Filters have always remained a field of immense interest in the high frequency domain. Emerging applications such as wireless communications continue to challenge RF/microwave filters with ever more stringent requirements-high performance, smaller size, lightweight, and lower cost. In this paper we propose and investigate the application of Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) structures for improving the performance of a stub type 5 pole Low Pass Filter with spur line resonators. Whereas the spur line resonators, improve the roll off factor significantly from −22.666 dB/GHz to −38.0893 dB/GHz, the effect of the EBG is evident in reducing the radiation losses of the spur line resonators and getting almost the same return loss and roll off factor.
Les facteurs de succès ou d'échec des Jeunes Entreprises Innovantes françaises selon leurs modes de financement et de gouvernance

Apres avoir evalue la reussite des Jeunes Entreprises Innovantes (JEI) francaises, notre recherche porte sur l'identification des facteurs de succes ou d'echec. Parmi ceux-ci, nous nous focalisons en priorite sur l'emergence de facteurs-cles lies aux modalites de financement et de gouvernance. Notre champ d'etude est circonscrit a la France metropolitaine. Notre base de donnees est constituee par 488 petites ou moyennes entreprises (PME), presentant de fortes similarites avec les JEI statutaires1, notamment dans la predominance dans leurs activites de RD ce qui peut biaiser les resultats dans un sens defavorable a leur succes. Enfin, la derniere limite porte sur l'extension des resultats trouves sur les JEI simulees aux JEI actuelles4. Les premieres n'ont pas beneficie d'une reglementation fiscale et sociale aussi favorable que le dispositif JEI des secondes. Dans cette perspective, il faut considerer cette etude comme une premiere etape vers une meilleure connaissance dans l'evaluation du succes des JEI francaises et dans l'identification des facteurs de reussite. [. ]
Product Evaluation Methods and Their Applications

This paper discusses methods and techniques to be used for an ergonomic evaluation of products, product interfaces and systems. In this context evaluation is seen as a part of the design process that interacts with all design stages. It plays an integral role in it and is concerned with assuring a high degree of likelihood of the user’s acceptance. Traditional and new evaluation methods such as task analysis, checklists, TA (talk/think aloud) protocols, CAD simulation are addressed.
From Statistical Quality Control, over Quality Systems to Total Quality Management - The Institutionalization of a New Management Approach

Quality management has become a prominent issue in management practice. In general the management literature presents management knowledge, such as quality management techniques and practices, as a technical tool and as a vehicle for improving the efficiency of organizations. The implicit assumption is that organizations adopt certain management practices because they are technically superior. An assumption which, according to many empirical studies does not hold water. Therefore, institutionalists argue that the adoption of general management techniques and practices by organizations is predominantly the result of rules and expectations within the environment of organizations, which are binding or obligatory. However, the process of institutionalization itself is still a white spot in the theory. The paper aims to develop a contribution to solving this problem. Based on the framework of Resource-Mobilization-Theory the strategies and activities of the quality engineering profession in Germany from the early 50s onwards are analyzed with the help of qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings show that the diffusion of quality management techniques may best be understood as a successful institutionalization of the belief-system of a social movement - the quality movement.
/spl Omega/-NRD: pseudochiral nonradiative dielectric waveguide

This paper presents a full-wave analysis of a nonradiative dielectric waveguide with a dielectric pseudochiral slab-the /spl Omega/-NRD waveguide. The modal equation for the Longitudinal Section Magnetic (LSM) modes is derived and the effect of the pseudochiral /spl Omega/-medium is discussed. The dispersion curves for the first hybrid modes are presented, showing that the propagation characteristics may considerably differ from the isotropic case.
Integrasi Data pada Heterogenitas Sumber Data Kunjungan Rawat Jalan di Puskesmas D.I.Yogyakarta

Latar Belakang: Bagi Provinsi D.I. Yogyakarta, adalah sebuah peluang untuk mengintegrasikan datakunjungan rawat jalan di Puskesmas sampai di tingkat pusat, karena saat ini, seluruh puskesmas sudahmemiliki sistem informasi puskesmas (SIMPUS) yang secara operasional sudah menjalankan sistempencatatan kunjngan rawat jalan secara terkomputerisasi. Meskipun demikian, ada tantangan tersendirikarena dari seluruh puskesmas yang ada, SIMPUS yang dimiliki dikembangkan oleh vendor yang berbeda-beda. Dengan menetapkan dataset standar, maka dimulailah upaya untuk integrasi data tersebut.Metode Penelitian: Mekanisme alur data pada integrasi data di D.I. Yogyakarta dimulai dari puskesmasyang bertugas mengirimkan dataset standar ke kabupaten/kota dan provinsi, selanjutnya data dikumpulkandi tingkat kabupatan/kota dan tingkat provinsi. Di tingkat kabupaten/kota dan provinsi, data dari seluruhpuskesmas diolah menjadi laporan sesuai kebutuhan pengguna di internal Dinas Kesehatan. Di tingkatprovinsi data dikonversi menjadi dataset minimal versi Pusdatin Kementrian Kesehatan yang siap dikirimke Kementrian Kesehatan.Hasil :Permasalahan teknis yang paling mendasar dari integrasi ini adalah bagaimana meghasilkandataset standar di puskesmas mengingat aplikasi SIMPUS yang ada dikembangkan oleh vendor yangberbeda-beda. Solusi yang dilakukan di D.I. Yogyakarta adalah dengan menciptakan sebuah tools yangdiinstal di masing-masing puskesmas. Tools yang diberi nama Lappus (singkatan dari laporan puskesmas)ini dikembangkan tidak saja untuk menggenarate dataset standar yang nantinya akan dikirimkan kekabupaten/kota/provinsi, namun juga diciptakan agar petugas di puskesmas bisa mendulang informasilebih banyak dari database SIMPUS. Keunggulan lain dari Lappus ini adalah bersifat luwes karena bisadicostumisasi sehingga bisa diterapkan di aplikasi SIMPUS apapun.Simpulan: Integrasi data sudah bisa dilakukan di tingkat kabupaten/kota dan provinsi meskipun sumberdata bersifat heterogen. Integrasi data yang dilakukan mendukung integrasi data tingkat nasional karenabisa menghasilkan dataset minimal versi Pusdatin Kementrian Kesehatan.
Active control of vibration and analysis of dynamic properties concerning machine tools

Vibration in internal turning is a problem in the manufacturing industry. Vibrations appear under the excitation applied by the material deformation process during the machining of a workpiece. In order for a lathe to perform an internal turning or boring operation, for example, in a pre-drilled hole in a workpiece, it is generally required that the boring bar should be long and slender; therefore extra sensitive to vibrations. These vibrations will affect the result of machining, in particular the surface finish, also the tool life may be reduced. As a result of tool vibration, severe acoustic noise frequently occurs in the working environment. This thesis comprises three parts and the first part presents a method for active control of boring bar vibration. This method consists of an active boring bar controlled by, for example, an analog controller. The focus lies on the analog controller and the advantages that may be obtained from working in the analog domain. The controller is a lead-lag compensator with digitally controlled parameters, such as gain and phase. However, signals remain in the analog domain. In addition, the analog controller is compared with a digital adaptive controller and it is found that both controllers yield an attenuation of the vibration by up to 50 dB. The second part of this thesis concerns the dynamic properties of a clamped boring bar used by the industry. In order to design a robust controller for a certain system, knowledge about the system's dynamic properties is required. On the workshop floor, a boring bar is dismounted and remounted, and reconfiguration of boring bars will alter the dynamic properties of the clamped boring bar. The dynamic properties of a standard boring bar and an active boring bar for a number of possible clamping conditions, as well as for a linearized clamping have been investigated based on an experimental approach. Also simple Euler-Bernoulli modeling of clamped boring bars incorporating simple non-rigid models of the boring bar clamping are investigated. Initial simulations of nonlinear SDOF systems have been carried out: one with a signed squared stiffness and one with a cubic stiffness. The purpose of these simulations was to identify a nonlinearity that introduces a similar behavior in the SDOF system dynamics as the nonlinear behavior observed in the dynamic properties of a clamped boring bar. The third and final part of this thesis focuses on vibration analysis methods in engineering education. A signal analyzer (which is a commonly used instrument in signal processing and vibration analysis) was made accessible via the Internet. Assignments were developed for students to learn and practice vibration analysis on real signals from a real setup of a relevant structure; a clamped boring bar. Whilst the experimental setup was fixed, the instrument and sensor configuration nonetheless enable a variety of experiment, for example: excitation signal analysis, spectrum analysis and experimental modal analysis.
CRACKING IN WEARING COURSES --PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF ASPHALT PAVEMENTS HELD DEFLT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AUGUST 23-26 1982. VOL 1 AND 2. -- NETHERLANDS

The use of fracture mechanics in the study of pavements is a further step towards a better knowledge of the mechanisms, and thus of the influences of the parameters, governing the behaviour of a pavement. The model presented in this article forms part of this approach, since it takes into account the vertical discontinuities created by the transverse shrinkage cracks of course treated with hydraulic binders. Its two-dimensional character is well suited to the study of pavements and the finite element method provides a good approximation to the modelling of the crack. The examples given show that it is possible to determine the directions of propagation of an existing crack for each type of loading encountered in pavement mechanics. It may be matched to a multi-layer two-dimensional model for use in interpreting the results of testing, to detect the presence of a vertical crack in the treated road base before it has begun its propagation into the coated material. The presence of such a crack is reflected by a substantial increase in deflection and a decrease in the radius of curvature by comparison with measurements made on a crack-free pavement. The wearing course design method proposed takes into account the influence of cracks; it is presented in a branching form that schematically represents the various stages of propagation of the crack. The model may be used to give an approximate determination of the time taken by cracks to spread upward into the wearing courses. This design method yields a better qualitative understanding of cracking phenomena in coated materials. (a) for the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 815640.
Who Says What with Whom: Using Bi-Spectral Clustering to Organize and Analyze Social Media Protest Networks

Social media protest networks involve many participants, from long-time activists to individuals who are engaged only in a particular protest event. We propose a new approach to studying how various communities of users participate in protest events. Our approach combines two methodological innovations. First, rather than study tweets central to one event, we collect full timelines of user activity leading up to participation in a focal event. Second, we propose bi-spectral clustering as a scalable computational method for rapidly identifying communities of users by the words (hashtags) they use. Using a large sample of tweets from users who discussed the 2016 protests in Charlotte, North Carolina following the extrajudicial killing of Keith Lamont Scott as a case study, we demonstrate how bi-spectral clustering can be applied to sort, sample, and identify ideologically and thematically coherent clusters whose members participated in the protest on Twitter. Our proposed approach provides another tool in the mixed methods scholar’s toolkit to computationally sort and cluster large-scale network data by allowing researchers to look beyond focal hashtags or keywords and situate protest messages within the broader communication context of participating users.
Testing Teachers: The effect of school inspections on primary teachers

Since the 1992 Education Act inaugurated national arrangements for inspection, schools have operated within an 'inspection climate' which pervades every aspect of school life on a continual basis. The significance of OFSTED inspections cannot be overestimated. They are often the most challenging, searching, uncompromising and stressful events teacher have ever experienced. What effects do they have on teachers and their work, on their self and role, and on school policy and ethos? Drawing on case studies from contrasting primary schools over a three- year period, this book reveals how OFSTED inspections were received within primary schools. It meets the need for detailed, rigorous research into inspections and their effects on teachers.