Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-Efficiency Charge-Pump Circuits which Use a 0.5Vdd-Step Pumping Method

This paper presents a 0.5Vdd-step pumping method for Dickson-type charge-pump circuits that achieve high overall efficiency, including regulator circuitry, even at large output currents, and these circuits are targeted at mobile equipment applications. We have designed positive and negative chargepump circuits which use a 0.5Vdd-step pumping method, are implemented with advanced control functions, and are fabricated with our custom CMOS process. Measured results showed that efficiency of a 2.5-stage positive charge-pump circuit before regulation is more than 93% (power supply Vdd = 5V, output voltage Vout = 16.9V 3.5Vdd, output current Iout = 4mA), and that of a 1.5-stage negative charge-pump circuit is 93% (power supply Vdd = 5V, output voltage Vout = −7.2V −1.5Vdd, output current Iout = 4mA). key words: charge-pump circuit, DC-DC converter, highefficiency, high-voltage generation
Soft robotics for engineers

Soft robotics is a fast-emerging interdisciplinary field combining mechatronics, control, material science and biomimetics. With their unique inherent compliance feature, soft robots have advantages over rigid-bodied robots for operations in unstructured environments. On the other hand, most soft robots reported to date are laboratory prototypes rather than end products. To fill this gap, they must undergo multiple transitions from an engineering perspective, through which soft robots are optimised in design, fabrication, power, control, and other engineering criteria, and be proven of their application worthiness. This paper compares conventional soft robotic technologies with the latest developments, and reviews the most recent advances of several engineering-oriented aspects of soft robotics research: fabrication technique standardisation which helps improve the repeatability and reliability of soft actuators; modelling and characterisation from both theoretical and simulation approaches which allow for the systematic analysis of soft robot behaviour and performance; evaluation works on soft actuator drive and power methods which provide insights into how to energise and optimise for the most suitable soft robot for a particular application; untethering soft robots which further relax their physical limitations and enable operations over a greater distance across all-terrain, all-habitat environments; and other factors such as actuation speed, fatigue, and failure modes.
Hot-carrier-induced on-resistance degradation of step gate oxide NLDMOS

The hot-carrier-induced on-resistance degradations of step gate oxide NLDMOS (SG-NLDMOS) transistors are investigated in detail by a DC voltage stress experiment, a TCAD simulation and a charge pumping test. For different stress conditions, degradation behaviors of SG-NLDMOS transistors are analyzed and degradation mechanisms are presented. Then the effect of various doses of n-type drain drift (NDD) region implant on Ron degradation is investigated. Experimental results show that a lower NDD dosage can reduce the hot-carrier induced Ron degradation effectively, which is different from uniform gate oxide NLDMOS (UG-NLDMOS) transistors.
Utilization of Palm Oil Sludge for Poultry Feed

Indonesia imports feedstuffs such as corn and soybean meal to fulfill the requirement in the country. The volume of imports is increasing due to the increasing demand on livestock products. On the other hand, we have a huge amount of unconventional feedstuffs produced locally. Palm oil sludge is one of the unconventional feedstuffs that have not been utilized. The palm oil sludge production in 2001 was approximately 632,570 ton and is increasing following the increasing of palm oil productions in Indonesia. Some reports have shown that palm oil sludge could be included in the feed of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. The sludge is limited in use for poultry feed due to high fiber contents and low nutrient digestibility. Indonesian Research Institute for Animal Production conducted researches in order to improve nutritive values of palm oil sludge by fermentation method. The fermentation increased the protein, amino acids, metabolisable energy (TME) and reduced the fiber contents of the sludge. Feeding trials showed that the fermented products could be included as much as 10% in diets of broilers and native chickens, but 15% could be included in diet of growing ducks. Key words: Palm oil sludge, nutritive values, poultry feed, fermentation
Driver behaviour at level crossings: evaluation of a targeted intervention program

Determining the key factors that contribute to unsafe driving behaviour at level crossings has major implications for the development of road safety intervention programs. To date, there is no known research that has been conducted in Australia that evaluates educational intervention programs targeting different road user groups at level crossings, as well as identifying impediments towards the development of safe level crossing behaviour. This paper documents a program of research undertaken that uses a multidisciplinary approach to level crossing safety interventions, drawing on perspectives from psychology and sociology. It discusses the merits of education and publicity related to level crossing behaviour, as well as the planning and development of interventions and proposed evaluation methods. The development of interventions will be specifically targeted to address the level crossing behaviours of three road user groups consisting of heavy vehicle drivers, older drivers and younger drivers in both regional and metropolitan settings. The evaluation of road safety interventions will provide the rail industry with the necessary information to assist in implementation of strategies to improve level crossing safety in Australia.
A critical look on quality through CSR lenses

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to map the key challenges that quality management faces in order to meet the demands of CSR. The paper focuses on ISO 26000 – a newly emerging international standard for social responsibility – and discusses synergies (and divergences) between quality management (and ISO quality management and environmental management standards) and CSR as they emerged during the process of ISO 26000 development.Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws conclusions from the resolutions and working materials produced by ISO Committee on Consumer Policy, the Strategic Advisory Group on Social Responsibility and ISO/TMB/WG SR – a working group in charge of the development of ISO 26000. To add the quality management dimension to the discussion, the evidence is further expanded from the ISO documents by revealing the arguments posited by nominated experts during the development of ISO 26000.Findings – The paper finds that the quality field can significantly contribute to the deployme.
Improving VoIP Transmission for IEEE 802.11n 5GHz MANET

In catastrophic scenarios, rescue teams need to communicate with each other without any fixed infrastructure while moving, such as search and rescue, firefighter, police, and tactical networks i.e. MANET. In these scenarios Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) can supports immediately Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to be used, with fast deployment, low cost, and flexibility during movement. Recently the new mobile devices support the new frequency of IEEE 802.11n 5GHz that gives better performance requirements to MANET, with enhanced Quality of Service (QoS) and bandwidth (B.W). This paper will calculate and improve VoIP service in MANET that operates under IEEE 802.11n 5GHz frequency, with comparing two main routing protocols AODV and OLSR, and analyzing some QoS requirement such as end-to-end delay, throughput, and retransmission attempts using Network Simulator (NS2).
Planificación de Movimientos y Control de Fuerza en Entornos Multi-Robot

En este articulo se presentan las caracteristicas y posibilidades mas destacadas de los sistemas multi-robot en los que diferentes robots actuan de manera coordinada en un espacio de trabajo compartido. A tal efecto, se pasa revista a los principales enfoques existentes y a los algoritmos utilizados para la planificacion y control de estos sistemas. El articulo se completa con una breve exposicion de algunos trabajos realizados en los ultimos tiempos en el Institut d’Organitzacio i Control de Sistemes Industrials (IOC) dentro de este ambito.
Obstacle Awareness and Collision Avoidance Radar Sensor System for Smart UAV

In this paper, the critical requirement for obstacle awareness and avoidance is assessed with the compliance of the equivalent level of safety regulation, and then the collision avoidance sensor system is presented with the key design parameters for the requirement of the smart unmanned aerial vehicle in low-altitude flight. Based on the assessment of various sensors, small-sized radar sensor is selected for the suitable candidate due to the real-time range and range-rate acquisition capability of the stationary and moving aircraft even under all-weather environments. Through the performance analysis for the system requirement, the conceptual design result of radar sensor model is proposed with the range detection probability and collision avoidance mode is established based on the time-to-collision, which is analyzed by collision scenario.
Blind bipedal walking on rough terrain

This project develops a rough terrain walking algorithim using a simulated robot with prismatic knees and applies it to the control of a simulated robot with revolute knees through virtual modeling. The primary source of robustness lies in the use of force control at the joint level to effect cartesian position and velocity control. No detailed knowledge or sensing of the upcomming terrain is used or required at any time. Data is presented to show the effectiveness of this approach and to demonstrate the realistic limitations to which these models adhere. Thesis Supervisor: Gill Pratt Title: Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science 9. ' . '-"~ . ~. ',. ~ P . Acknowledgments I have to express my gratitude first to Gill, Jerry, Peter, Anne, Marc, Robert, Karl, Dave, Achilles and the Leg Lab in general. They were all a tremendous help. This thesis would not have happened without them. I also wish to thank Myk, my roommates Matt, Phil, and Brad, Phrank and the Tang and Nestlee Quick hockey team, Parag and the PUTZ volleyball team, and everyone else who kept me company out here this year. I must thank my parents for all their support and for the freedom they gave me to follow my dreams. I also want to thank all my elementary and high school teachers, who pushed me to realize my potential, especially Mr. Danielson, Mr. Lightfoot, Mrs. Moen, and Mr. Berg. I also owe a debt to all the people back in my home town of LaCrescent, MN, and at the Prince of Peace Church, for taking an interest in my plans and development, and for always meeting me with a warm welcome. Support from so many has helped to carry me through. I do not know if theses are usually dedicated to anyone, but I want to send this one out to Odin and Justin-my not-so-little dog and not-so-little brother, respectively. Here's to a fun-filled summer together!
Managing on the edge : how successful companies use conflict to stay ahead

An exploration of why companies decline and why so few of the top 500 companies in the US 10 years ago have kept their place. Pascale approaches the question partly by looking at Japanese companies which have remained successful (particularly Honda), partly by a close look at big American companies like Ford and General Electric. His conclusions are that American and British companies tend to be run by small cliques of people who, no matter how hard they work and how determined they are, eventually run out of ideas. He sees that Japanese companies are much more democratically managed and that Honda, for example, positively encourages conflict by divisionizing.
Mechanisms of Shaft Friction in Sand from Instrumented Pile Tests

Comprehensive measurements of the effective stresses developed during the installation, equalization, and load testing of displacement piles in a loose to medium dense quartz sand are presented. The results shed new light on the mechanisms that control shaft friction in sand. First, it is demonstrated directly that the stresses developed at any given soil horizon depend strongly on both the distance of that horizon from the pile tip and the soil's initial state. Second, pile loading is shown to induce radial effective stress changes associated with the soil fabric set up by installation and dilation phenomena at pile‐soil interface. Thirdly, the operational angles of interface friction are found to be constant volume values that correlate well with the results from laboratory interface shear tests.
Biomaterials for protection and repair of the central nervous system

Clinically available injectable hydrogels face technical challenges associated with swelling after injection and toxicity from unreacted constituents that impede their performance as surgical biomaterials. To overcome these challenges, we developed a system where chemical gelation was controlled by a conjugate Michael addition between thiol and acrylate in aqueous media, with 97 % monomer conversion and 6 wt. % sol fraction. The hydrogel exhibited syneresis on equilibration, reducing to 59.7 % of its initial volume. It had mechanical properties similar to soft human tissue with an elastic modulus of 189.8 kPa. Furthermore, a mesh size of 6.9 nm resulted in sustained release of methylprednisolone sodium succinate with a loading efficiency of 2 mg/mL. Functionalization with 50 μg/mL of an oligolysine peptide resulted in attachment of freshly isolated murine mesenchymal stem cells. The rational design of the physical, chemical and biological properties of the hydrogel make it a potentially promising candidate for injectable
The creative moment : how science made itself alien to modern culture

Joe Schwartz makes plain that great moments of individual creativity - the work of Galileo and Newton, Einstein figuring out relativity - must in fact be viewed as part of a social context. Yet in the last 100 years science has progressively alienated itself from the rest of culture, to the point where it is not only a mystery to most, but actually operating in an increasingly dangerous void. Choosing a number of significant "moments" from 17th-century Florence (Galileo) to Cold Spring Harbour, USA in 1946 (molecular biology), Schwartz ventures to act as a sort of critic of science, showing famous advances in a new light. Galileo invents a mathematical language for physical description, thus protecting himself from the Church; Einstein's relativity theory arises from the Industrial Revolution; the bomb-making physicists of Los Alamos, vulnerable from their background in inter-war Europe, are manipulated by the American military; AIDS researchers, caught up in the traditions of molecular biology, are locked into a pattern of investigation that may well be perilously misguided; physicists enchanted with numbers lose the capacity to understand why the numbers work and as a result have come up with no new ideas since the 1920s. The author is a physicist who has also written "Einstein For Beginners".
The perception of surface layout during low level flight

Although it is fairly well established that information about surface layout can be gained from motion cues, it is not so clear as to what information humans can use and what specific information they should be provided. Theoretical analyses tell us that the information is in the stimulus. It will take more experiments to verify that this information can be used by humans to extract surface layout from the 2D velocity flow field. The visual motion factors that can affect the pilot's ability to control an aircraft and to infer the layout of the terrain ahead are discussed.
Model predictive control for advanced multilevel power converters in smart-grid applications

In the coming decades, electrical energy networks will gradually change from a traditional passive network into an active bidirectional one using concepts such as these associated with the smart grid. Power electronics will play an important role in these changes. The inherent ability to control power flow and respond to highly dynamic network will be vital. Modular power electronics structures which can be reconfigured for a variety of applications promote economies of scale and technical advantages such as redundancy. The control of the energy flow through these converters has been much researched over the last 20 years. This thesis presents novel control concepts for such a structure, focusing mainly on the control of a Cascaded H-Bridge converter, configured to function as a solid state substation. The work considers the derivation and application of Dead Beat and Model Predictive controllers for this application and scrutinises the technical advantages and potential application issues of these methodologies. Moreover an improvement to the standard Model Predictive Control algorithm that include an intrinsic modulation scheme inside the controller and named Modulated Model Predictive Control is introduced. Detailed technical work is supported by Matlab/Simulink model based simulations and validated by experimental work on two converter platforms, considering both ideal and non-ideal electrical network conditions.
Description of Light-Vehicle Pre-Crash Scenarios for Safety Applications Based on Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications

This report describes pre-crash scenarios that might be addressed by vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The focus is on crashes involving at least 1 light vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. The 2004-2008 General Estimates System crash databases were used to quantify the societal cost and describe the driving environment, driver characteristics, and crash contributing factors. The National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey was queried to statistically portray crash causal factors. Data from Event Data Recorders drawn from model year 2000-2007 vehicles were analyzed to describe the kinematics of pre-crash scenarios in terms of travel speed, brake application, and deceleration level over a period of five seconds before the crash. Most crashes occurred on straight roads, dry surfaces, in clear weather, and during daylight hours. About 56 percent of drivers were male and 60 percent were of middle age. About 27 percent of all drivers were inattentive, 4 percent were under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, and 10 percent were fatigued. Speeding was a factor in 13 percent of all crashes. The average effective deceleration level was over 0.6g in the ‘lead vehicle moving’ and ‘lead vehicle decelerating’ pre-crash scenarios, when braking was initiated 2 to 3 seconds before the crash.
Black Tigers: A Grammar of Chinese Rubbings

PrefaceAcknowledgments1. The History and Functions of Rubbings2. Orchid Root and Rhinoceros-Tail Hair3. The Gentle Art4. Gentler Still5. Variations on the Theme6. When the Work Is Done7. The Rice and the Chaff Appendix 1. Historical PeriodsAppendix 2. Terms for Rubbings, the Rubbing Technique, and Related ProcessesAppendix 3. Terms for Papers Used to Make RubbingsGlossary of Chinese CharactersNotesBibliographyIndex
User Profile Correlation-Based Similarity Algorithm in Movie Recommendation System

A recommendation system is a software used in the e-commerce field that provides recommendations for customers to choose the items they like. Several recommendation systems have been proposed; however, collaborative filtering is the most widely used approach. The main issue in collaborative filtering is how to implement a similarity algorithm that can improve performance in the recommendation system. Several similarity algorithms based on user rating value have been developed, and recently a similarity algorithm has been developed that combines the user rating value and the user behavior value. However, the existing research is still based only on a single user behavior value, which is the genre data. Therefore, we propose a new similarity algorithm that considers not only the genre data but also the user profile data (namely age, gender, occupation, and location). The new similarity we are proposing is called User Profile Correlation-based Similarity (UPCSim). The user profile correlation similarity was obtained by calculating the correlation coefficient between the user profile data and the user rating or behavior values. An experiment was done to compare the accuracy of the UPCSim algorithm with that of the previous algorithm. The experiment results show that the UPCSim algorithm can improve the recommendation performance MAE by 1.64% and RMSE by 1.4% compared to the previous algorithm.
Risk-based design of structures for fire

Techniques of performance-based design in fire safety have developed notably in the past two decades. One of the reasons for departing from the prescriptive methods is the ability of performance-based methods to form a scientific basis for the cost-riskbenefit analysis of different fire safety alternatives. Apart from few exceptions, observation of past fires has shown that the structure’s contribution to the overall fire resistance was considerably underestimated. The purpose of this research is to outline a risk-based design approach for structures in fire. Probabilistic methods are employed to ascertain uniform reliability indices in line with the classical trend in code development. Modern design codes for complex phenomena such as fire have been structured to facilitate design computations. Prescriptive design methods specify fire protection methods for structural systems based on laboratory controlled and highly restrictive testing regimes. Those methods inherently assume that the tested elements behave similarly in real structures irrespective of their loading, location or boundary conditions. This approach is contested by many researchers, and analyses following fire incidents indicated alarming discrepancy between anticipated and actual structural behaviour during real fires. In formulating design and construction codes, code writers deal with the inherent uncertainties by setting a ceiling to the potential risk of failure. The latter process is implemented by specifying safety parameters, that are derived via probabilistic techniques aimed at harmonising the risks ensuing different load scenarios. The code Risk-Based Design of Structures for Fire h structure addresses the probability of failure with adequate detail and accuracy. The other component of the risk metric, namely the consequence of failure, is a subjective field that assumes a multitude of variables depending on the context of the problem. In codified structural design, the severity of failure is implicitly embodied in the different magnitudes of safety indices applied to different modes of structural response. This project introduces a risk-based method for the design of structures in fire. It provides a coherent approach to a quantified treatment of risk elements that meets the demands of performance-based fire safety methods. A number of proposals are made for rational acceptable risk and reliability parameters in addition to a damage index with applications in structural fire safety design. Although the example application of the proposed damage index is a structure subjected to fire effects, the same rationale can be easily applied to the assessment of structural damage due to other effects.
THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE IN IMPROVING YOUNG DRIVER SAFETY

The overinvolvement of young drivers in crashes is a large and, to date, intractable road safety problem and public health issue. While there is still significant scope for safety improvements through the (innovative) implementation of exposure reduction countermeasures in a graduated licensing context, the ability of the road safety system to reduce the risk of young driver crash involvement remains knowledge-limited. Addressing these limitations is a central focus of this paper.