Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Review of Deterministic Approaches to Stochastic Computing

Stochastic computing (SC) has emerged as an alternative to conventional computing with weighted binary representation. The operations in SC can be performed through simple logic gates to significantly reduce hardware complexity. The random bitstreams generated by stochastic number generators are exploited as the computing medium in SC. However, traditional operations in SC are inaccurate because of the inherent random fluctuations in bitstreams. To resolve this issue, deterministic approaches using the relatively prime stream length, rotation, and clock division of bitstreams, have been proposed for completely accurate computing. However, these approaches require much longer bitstreams, resulting in a longer computing latency and thus a larger energy consumption. For example, the bitstream length (BSL) is approximately 22n if two numbers with n-bit precision are multiplied using a deterministic approach. The studies aimed at lowering the latency and energy can be divided into two categories of serial and parallel designs to, respectively, reduce the BSL and parallelize bitstreams. These deterministic approaches to SC and the associated designs are reviewed in this paper with discussions of their strengths and weaknesses for possible improvements in future work.
Bilingual aphasia as the initial presentation of a hemorrhagic stroke: Case report

With a great number of bilingual individuals in the world, there is a growing need for understanding and studying language. In cases of bilingual aphasia, patterns of language recovery can vary. Case report: The present case refers to a male patient, 52 years old, right-handed, born in Arkansas-United States of America and resident for 20 years in the city of Santos, São Paulo. The patient is bilingual fluent in English and Portuguese and had a sudden language disorder associated with a right-sided strength and sensitivity deficit; Imaging exams showed a left lenticular nucleus hemorrhagic stroke. In the language assessment, he presented an important impairment of fluency, compression and repetition in the Portuguese language and relative preservation, with slight dysfunction in fluency in the English language. Symptomatic treatment was instituted with partial improvement of the symptoms. Keywords: bilingual aphasia; hemorrhagic stroke.
The ARoA Platform: An Autonomous Robotic Assistant with a Reconfigurable Torso System and Dexterous Manipulation Capabilities

The ongoing global healthcare crisis has amplified the need for automation of manual tasks in several industries and service sectors. Simple household tasks such as tidying and cleaning are in high demand, with only a few robotic platforms capable of performing them due to the mobility, workspace, and dexterity requirements. This work presents ARoA, an autonomous robotic assistant that can execute complex tasks in industrial, service, and home environments. It is equipped with two lightweight, compliant, 7 degree of freedom arms and a pair of adaptive end-effectors that enable efficient execution of a wide range of tasks. Due to the linear rail based torso system that supports the arms, the ARoA offers exceptional flexibility in terms of reachable workspace. A framework for vision-based execution of tidying and cleaning tasks is also proposed and integrated in the platform. The efficiency of the ARoA platform was experimentally validated through two everyday life applications: i) picking up and tidying randomly scattered household objects and ii) cleaning of common surfaces.
A LabVIEW Design for Frontal and Non-Frontal Human Face Detection System in Complex Background

Biometric identification has advanced vastly since many decades ago. It became a blooming area for research as biometric technology has been used extensively in areas like robotics, surveillance, security and others. Face technology is more preferable due to its reliability and accuracy. By and large, face detection is the first processing stage that is performed before extending to face identification or tracking. The main challenge in face detection is the sensitiveness of the detection to pose, illumination, background and orientation. Thus, it is crucial to design a face detection system that can accommodate those problems. In this paper, a face detection algorithm is developed and designed in LabVIEW that is flexible to adapt changes in background and different face angle. Skin color detection method blending with edge and circle detection is used to improve the accuracy of face detected. The overall system designed in LabVIEW was tested in real time and it achieves accuracy about 97%.
Periodic product distribution from multi-depots under limited supplies

Physical distribution is one of the key functions in logistics systems, involving the flow of products from manufacturing plants or distribution centers through the transportation network to consumers. It is a very costly function, especially for the distribution industries. While maintaining the desired customer service levels, an effort is made in this paper to improve distribution strategies and reduce the distribution cost for the multi-product, multi-depot periodic distribution problem. In industry practice, depots typically operate independently and solely within their own territories. However, it may be beneficial to allow those depots to operate interdependently, particularly when the product supplies are limited at some depots. In such cases, the distributors may satisfy customers' requests by delivering products from other depots that hold more supplies. In particular, the impact of interdependent operations among depots, which has not previously been addressed in the context of industrial applications, is investigated in this research. A mixed-integer linear programming model is formulated to represent the multi-product, multi-depot periodic distribution problem. Three tabu search heuristics with different long-term memory applications are developed to solve the problem. The performance of the heuristics is evaluated by comparing the solutions obtained with the optimal solutions or lower bounds from the regular branch-and-bound method as well as a fast technique to find a lower bound that is developed in this research. The heuristics provide optimal/good quality solutions in a much shorter time. A randomized complete block design is applied to test the performance of the heuristics on various problem structures. The experimental results show that the tabu search heuristic that incorporates the use of a long-term memory in the diversification process outperforms the other heuristics. The heuristic is further applied to investigate the impact of interdependent operations among depots. The results reveal that interdependent operations among depots provide significant savings in costs over independent operations among depots, especially for large-size problems.
On the modeling of conductor and substrate losses in multiconductor, multidielectric transmission line systems

Most models used for the analysis of lossy, multiconductor, multidielectric transmission line systems (MCMDTLSs) are noncausal and fail to accurately predict the signal distortion on practical printed circuits. The authors review the method of analysis and assumptions made in these models and present more accurate models. The authors solve for the time-domain response of a single, lossy, perfectly matched conductor above a ground plane and immersed in a perfect dielectric, assuming transverse electromagnetic (TEM) propagation. The authors also solve for the same line, except that the line is assumed to be perfect while the dielectric is lossy. The TEM mode propagates in such lines and no errors result from this assumption. A brief generalization to MCMDTLSs is described to illustrate the theory, and numerical examples are presented. >
Real-Time BER Test for Real-Time Optical OFDM Transmission System

For the real-time measurement of transmission performance in the real-time optical OFDM transmission system, realization of BER test with an optimum method by utilizing FPGA, which means to complete the calculation of BER inside transceiver, become essential and efficient. An experiment setup demonstrate the dramatic real-time property and effectiveness in testing the optical OFDM transmission system.
Impact of nonlinear crosstalk in 0.8 nm-spaced 40 Gbit/s DWDM systems

The impact of nonlinear crosstalk in 0.8 nm-spaced 40 Gbit/s DWDM systems using single mode fibre (SMF) and slope-compensating dispersion compensating fibre (DCF) is investigated. The penalty due to nonlinear crosstalk was found to be as small as 1 dB even in 16 channel transmission over 1500 km.
MODELING OF COMPOST TEMPERATURE AND INACTIVATION OF SALMONELLA AND E. COLI O157:H7 DURING WINDROW FOOD WASTE COMPOSTING

A simulation model was developed to predict temperature and inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella during windrow composting. In particular, the model included an energy balance to estimate the change in temperature based on heat generated by biological decomposition and heat losses by convection, conduction, evaporation, and radiation. The model was validated with the measured data for the effects of seasonal variation on compost temperature and pathogen reduction. Sensitivity analysis was performed on the model to evaluate the variations in both seasons (winter and summer) and moisture contents (40% to 80%). The model showed the highest variation between experimental and predicted data only in winter composts. The results suggested that moisture content of 40% to 60% was appropriate for summer and 40% to <60% for winter composting. Higher moisture levels did not demonstrate pathogen inactivation during winter conditions, whereas it took a month to eliminate the pathogens in summer according to the model predictions. Overall, the model was promising for evaluation of the composting process for different conditions. Further research is needed to improve the model predictions using measured process parameters under different environmental conditions.
Organizations of unsuccessful R&D projects

This paper discusses the organization and the criterion for funding of an applied research project that can be regarded as a collection of necessary but potentially unsuccessful tasks. Each task might be successfully achieved by any of a number of alternative approaches. Each alternative approach can be regarded as a collection of necessary but potentially unsuccessful subtasks. Each subtask consists of subalternatives, etc. A comparatively simple procedure is given for selecting which projects to fund, for estimating various expected expenditures, and for determining that order of carrying out the tasks, alternatives, subtasks, etc., of a project that minimizes the project's expected cost. The procedure takes into account the possibility that the project may fail and be abandoned before all tasks, subtasks, etc., are performed and the possibility that engineering considerations may exclude some economically desirable task orderings. A number of industrial practices are discussed from this viewpoint.
Numerical Simulation of Water-Oil Flow on the Falling Film Plate

Dimethyldichlorosilane hydrolysis devices are now faced with problems of incomplete reaction and emulsion between the mixture of siloxane and the hydrochloric acid. This paper adopted ideas of falling film and designed a inclined plate to avoid the problems. CFD software was used to simulate the water-oil falling film on the plate.The simulation results show that using a inclined plate within the reactor can expand the contact area between water and oil effectively. The hydrolysis reaction is completed and there is no emulsified phenomenon happening by using the plate.
The consequences of undiscosed traceability in extra-virgin olive oil: some preliminary results from a case study

The evolution experienced by the food sector in the last ten years has greatly changed the models analysts employ to explore the purchase and consumption patterns of the post-industrial society. Nowhere is this more evident than in urban food markets, where consumers are furthest removed from the food production processes. New consumption patterns are based partly on undifferentiated food products and partly on typical ones, which are often characterised by a close link to specific geographical areas and their local traditions in food production. These changes have induced a major transformation of the EU food policy, whose regulations have increasingly been aimed at protecting and boosting the value of such ‘typical’ products. However, “typicity” is difficult to assess on the part of consumers, who need to rely on labelling and certification, on which EU regulation is not very strict. Exemplary is the case of extra-virgin olive oil. Olive oil bottlers are not required to report the olives’ production areas on the commercial label, thus having the possibility of inducing the false belief that product is strictly Italian by stating that it is the product “of an Italian brand” or that it has been bottled in Italy. In this paper we assess the effects of such false beliefs through estimation of a choice, on data collected by a survey of 169 Italian consumers interviewed after purchase of extra-virgin olive oil in a supermarket. Riassunto
Experimental evaluation of a UHV tower model for lightning surge analysis

An experimental investigation was performed on a UHV tower model for the EMTP multiconductor calculation of lightning overvoltage at substations associated with back-flashover at an adjacent transmission tower. The various lightning surge response characteristics were measured on an actual UHV tower, and parameters of a multistory transmission tower model that can reproduce voltages across the insulator strings, voltages of the crossarms, and voltages of the power lines were determined. A value of 120 /spl Omega/ was determined as the surge impedance at each section of the multistory tower model, which closely agreed with the tower surge impedance measured for the UHV tower alone. >
Model parsera za hrvatski jezik

Iako je racunalna obradba prirodnoga jezika izrazito interdisciplinarno podrucje te pripada informatici, umjetnoj inteligenciji, lingvistici, logici, matematici, rad se svojim pristupom problemu kroz evaluaciju jezicne građe i metodologijom rada smjesta između lingvistike i informatike tj. između racunalnoga jezikoslovlja i racunalne obradbe prirodnih jezika (u ovome slucaju hrvatskoga). Glavni je cilj ovoga rada teorijska razrada modela i njegova realizacija kao sustava koji je u stanju automatski analizirati jednostavnije razine sintaktickih struktura u hrvatskome jeziku. Istraživacki dio ovoga rada posvecen je izvedbi takva sustava i njegovu vrjednovanju koristeci preciznost, odziv i F- mjeru. U radu je detaljno opisan model djelomicnoga plitkog parsera upravljanog gramatikom cija je analiza prikazana linearno u obliku popisa singatmi koristeci se xml zapisom. Pri izradi modela koristena je gramatika ovisnosti te kaskadno povezane lokalne gramatike kojima su opisane imenske sintagme, apozicijske sintagme, atributske sintagme, glagolske sintagme i prijedložne sintagme. Osnovne gramatike za opis navedenih sintagmi dodatno su specificirane koristenjem valencijskih okvira preuzetih iz hrvatskog valencijskog leksikona CROVALLEX. Pri tome je uspjesno uklonjen veliki dio viseznacnosti imenskih sintagmi.
Novel space vector based current controllers for PWM-inverters

Two simple control strategies for current-controlled VSI-PWM (voltage-source-inverter-pulse-width-modulated) transistor inverters are presented. Both methods are based on three-level hysteresis comparators that select appropriate inverter output voltage vectors using a switching EPROM table. The first controller works with current components represented in a stationary coordinate system (AC components) and the second with components represented in a rotated (field-oriented) coordinate system (DC components). The theoretical principles of these methods are discussed. The results of a comparative study are presented which illustrate the performance of the proposed controllers in comparison to the most popular scheme, based on three independent two-level hysteresis comparators. <<ETX>>
Fishing Tourism in Greece: Defining Possibilities and Prospects

The transformation of the fishing industry into tourism has become a global trend. Due to the continuous crisis on the field, professional fishermen turn to maritime tourism activities, providing a memorable tourism experience to visitors. Fishing tourism is a relatively new development in sustainable tourism, where tourists have the opportunity to participate in fishing operations by casting and pulling in the nets and taste freshly caught fish cooked on board. Over the past seven years, Greece, following the other European countries, has rapidly adopted this conversion into tourism. The aim of this research is to examine the possibilities and prospects for the development of fishing tourism in Greece. This is achieved through face-to-face interviews with 40 experienced fishers who wanted to be actively involved in this whole process. The analysis of data revealed positive results in this groundbreaking form of tourism.
Reply on RC1

This study studied the factors of land use and bedrock on protein depolymerization across a 4000-km transect in Europe, and highlighted the important role of climate and soil properties on N cycling at large scales. The sampling scheme is attractive, and many interesting biochemical indicators are measured. This study stated N cycling was controlled by substrate availability. This conclusion is not novel, actually which has been widely acknowledged for a long time. Generally, I think this paper fits the scope of this Journal, however, more should be added to highlight the novelty of this study. Some conclusions are confusing, the author had clarified the importance of substrate availability, which was related with OM input or vegetation, however, it also declared that the land use effect was insignificant. Those ideas are not consistent. It’s better to clarify them. Besides, the writing should be improved. For instance, some paragraphs lack the key points, and some sentences are confusing or too long to understand. See the details as follows.
The Research and Improvement on Correction Algorithm of Inclination License Plate

More and more intelligent transportation technologies are applied to license plate detection and recognition that can greatly reduce the burden of traffic management. However, character segmentation of license plate is an indispensable step of license plate recognition. Traditional character segmentation algorithms of license plate mainly use the space between characters of license plate to segment characters, but the license plate cannot be recognized if there are degraded characters or license plate inclination. In this paper, an improved character segmentation algorithm of license plate is proposed. In the improved algorithm, firstly, the noise of precise located license plate is eliminated and then the license plate inclination is tested. When there is license plate inclination, we calculate the inclination angle and use rotation to correct the inclination. So, the problem of license plate inclination is solved in character segmentation. Lastly, the results show that the improved algorithm has better effect than the traditional algorithms and it lays a good foundation for the next research of license plate recognition.
Dynamic range of nanotube- and nanowire-based electromechanical systems

Nanomechanical resonators with high aspect ratio, such as nanotubes and nanowires are of interest due to their expected high sensitivity. However, a strongly nonlinear response combined with a high thermomechanical noise level limits the useful linear dynamic range of this type of device. We derive the equations governing this behavior and find a strong dependence [[proportional]dsqrt((d/L)[sup 5])] of the dynamic range on aspect ratio.
Application of a Combination Model Based on Wavelet Transform and KPLS-ARMA for Urban Annual Water Demand Forecasting

AbstractA combination of models including wavelet transform and kernel partial least squares-autoregressive moving average (KPLS-ARMA) is proposed to explore the nonstationarity of the urban annual water demand series, the nonlinear relationships between water demand series and its determinants, and the high correlations among those determinants, based on which a novel forecast model is proposed for urban annual water demand. First, by Mallat algorithm, a nonstationary urban annual water demand series is decomposed and reconstructed into one low-frequency component and one or several high-frequency components. Following that, the kernel partial least squares (KPLS) model is applied to simulating the low-frequency component. An autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model is constructed for each of the high-frequency components. The combined models are applied to understanding the nonstationarity and forecasting the annual water demand of Dalian City. The results are then compared with those from other sever.
Predictability of concrete damage level by non-destructive test methods

Non-destructive methods have many advantages over traditional test methods, especially since it does not damage the specimen, it can be used multiple times on the same specimen. These advantages also provide a great benefit in terms of following the property development in concrete as the same specimens are used which eliminates the variations related to the specimens. In this study, it is aimed to determine the damaged amount of concrete produced with different binders by electrical bulk resistivity, resonance frequency, and ultrasonic pulse velocity methods. Firstly, concretes containing different binders were produced, and along with the mechanical properties, ultrasonic wave velocity, resonance frequency, and electrical resistivity values of the produced concrete were determined at the 7, 28, and 90 days. Besides, the specimens were subjected to gradually increase compressive loads and non-destructive methods were used to estimate the extent of damage on specimens. It was attempted to establish a relationship between the damage on concrete specimens and the results obtained by non-destructive methods. Consequently, the compressive strength, electrical resistivity, ultrasonic pulse velocity and resonance frequency values of all specimens increased with the advancing age. It was concluded that the resonant frequency method is more successful than other methods in estimating the amount of damage in concrete.
Validation of the French sexual mindfulness measure and its links with psychosexual well-being

Limited instruments are available to assess sexual mindfulness (i.e., state of mindfulness during sexual interactions) and understand its links with psychosexual well-being. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of a French version of the Sexual Mindfulness Measure (SMM) (Leavitt et al., 2019) and its relation to psychosexual outcomes (e.g., body image, sexual com- munication). A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with a community sample of 541 adults ( M age= 36.82, SD = 11.78). The factorial structure of the original English version of the SMM was replicated, and satisfactory internal consistency was found, sug- gesting that the French SMM can be considered a valid measure to capture sexual mindfulness in research and clinical settings. Results showed significant linear regressions with expected psychosexual outcomes, which suggests that increased sexual mind- fulness could improve psychosexual well-being. Lay summary : This study presents the validation of a questionnaire measuring sexual mindfulness - the level of awareness and nonjudgment during sexual interactions. Findings support the validity of the questionnaire to measure sexual mindfulness in clinical and research settings; it also suggests that sexual mindfulness may predict sexual higher self-esteem and body image, and lower anxiety towards sexual communication.