Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the Vocal Calls of Alexandrine and African Grey Species of Parrots using LPC Based Analysis Approach

Speech analysis is one of the interesting analytical approaches in the areas of digital signal processing and it has been explored for various research applications including modeling of speech signals, phonetics research, understanding the speech production mechanism, speech coding and speech recognition processes, etc. Birds are completely dependent on their vocal signals in order to fulfill their survival requirements like nesting, food, protection from any threat or danger and other mutual communicating activities, etc. Birds communicate with their vocal signals because they have a greater range of sounds than humans. Moreover, bird's calls contain a lot of useful information, but it cannot be easily recognized by human ear as time and frequency resolution of our auditory system is limited. The basic mechanism of sound production in birds is almost similar to that of humans in many contexts. LPC model has been used as an efficient speech model for the analysis of human voice. So, it may be used for the analysis of bird's vocal calls. This paper examines an investigating method for exploring the application of phonetics research on parrot's vocal calls. LPC based analysis approach has been applied on the vocal calls of Alexandrine Parakeet (Psittacula Eupatria) and African Grey (Psittacus Erithacus) species of parrots and investigations have been successfully carried out for comparing the number of phonemes in the calls of both the species using line spectral frequencies (LSF) vectors and Euclidean distances. Line spectral frequencies can be used to encode speech spectral information more efficiently than other transmission parameters. A classical method, known as vector quantization has also used for performing efficient speech analysis.
Assignment of structural behaviours in long-term monitoring: Application to a strengthened railway bridge

Novelty detection, the identification of data that is unusual or different, is relevant in a wide number of real-world scenarios, ranging from identifying unusual weather conditions to detecting evidence of damage in mechanical systems. Using novelty detection approaches for structural health monitoring presents significant challenges to the non-expert user. In this article, symbolic data analysis is introduced to model variability in tests. Hierarchy-divisive methods and dynamic clouds procedures are then used to discriminate structural changes used as novelty detection approaches for classifying structural behaviours. This article reports the study of experimental tests performed on a railway bridge in France. This bridge has undergone reinforcement works during the summer of 2003. Through the years of 2004–2006, new sets of dynamic tests were recorded. The main objective was to analyse the evolution of the bridge’s dynamic behaviour over time. To this end, the symbolic data analysis–based clustering methods are used for assigning new tests to clusters identified before and after strengthening or to highlight a totally different structural behaviour.
HUBUNGAN SELF EFFICACY DENGAN KETEPATAN FREE THROW PADA PEMAIN NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE KLUB CLS KNIGHTS

Abstract This research aims to discover the relationship between self efficacy and free throw to national basketball league players CLS Knights club. There is one independent variable self efficacy and one dependent variable free throw accuracy. This research is correlation type. Subject in this research are national basketball league players CLS Knight club. Total of subject are 16 employees. Analysis technique that is used in this research is correlation technique with “Spearman Rank Order” by PASW Statistic 18. Based on Spearman Rank Order technique obtained result correlation 0,956 with significant level p=0,00 (p>0,01). That result indicate there are significant relationship between self efficacy and free throw accuracy to national basketball league players CLS Knight club. Keyword: Self Efficacy, Accuracy, Free Throw, National Basketball League, CLS Knight Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan self efficacy dengan ketepatan free throw pada pemain national basketball league klub CLS Knights. Terdapat satu variabel bebas yaitu self efficacy dan satu variabel terikat yaitu ketepatan free throw.Penelitian ini merupakan tipe penelitian korelasional. Subjek penelitian ini adalah pemain national basketball league klub CLS Knights. Jumlah subjek penelitian ini sebanyak 16 pegawai. Teknik analisis data dalam penelitian ini adalah teknik korelasi “Spearman Rank-Order” dengan bantuan program PASW Statistics 18. Berdasarkan teknik analisis korelasi Spearman Rank Order diperoleh hasil korelasi sebesar 0,956 pada taraf signifikansi p = 0,000, (p>0,01). Hasil tersebut menunjukan bahwa terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara self efficacy dengan ketepatan free throw pada pemain national basketball league klub CLS Knights. Kata Kunci: Self Efficacy, Ketepatan, Free Throw, National Basketball League, CLS Knights.
Long‐term trends in gastropod abundance and biodiversity: Disentangling effects of press versus pulse disturbances

Aim: Climate- induced pulse (e.g., hurricanes) and press (e.g., global warming) disturbances represent threats to populations, communities, and the ecosystem services that they provide. We leveraged three decades of annual data on tropical gastropods to quantify the effects of major hurricanes, associated secondary succession, and global warming on abundance, biodiversity, and species composition. Location: Methods: Gastropod abundance, biodiversity, and composition were estimated annually for each of 27 years in
Refuerzo secundario de pastas de cemento portland ultrafino con nanofibras agregadas de poli (alcohol vinílico)

En este articulo se presentan resultados de una investigacion sobre la validacion de nanofibras agregadas de PVA obtenidas por sol-gel electrohilado, para reducir la retraccion y las fisuras por fraguado de pastas de cemento portland ultrafino. La metodologia aplicada consistio en variar la longitud de las nanofibras agregadas de PVA en 6 y 12 mm. Este procedimiento permitio evaluar el desempeno de estas nanofibras y compararlas con el de la misma matriz cementicia reforzada con fibras comerciales de polipropileno (PP). Las tecnicas de caracterizacion aplicadas sobre las pastas fibrorreforzadas fueron granulometria laser del cemento, ensayos a la compresion, a la flexion e impacto y observacion de falla a traves de microscopia electronica de barrido (SEM). Igualmente se observo la retraccion y el fisuracion a edades tempranas. Los resultados mostraron que las pastas de cemento con fibras agregadas de PVA presentaron resultados mejorados comparados con las pastas de cemento que contenian fibras de PP. Este tipo de material compuesto podria ser utilizado en la elaboracion de tuneles, lechadas en la reparacion de edificaciones, y en general, en aplicaciones que requieran la inyeccion o relleno debido a las caracteristicas fluidas de este tipo de cementos.
Smartphone Addiction and Associated Health Outcomes in Adult Populations: A Systematic Review

Background: Smartphones play a critical role in increasing human–machine interactions, with many advantages. However, the growing popularity of smartphone use has led to smartphone overuse and addiction. This review aims to systematically investigate the impact of smartphone addiction on health outcomes. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to carry out the systematic review. Five electronic databases including Medline, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Scopus were searched to identify eligible studies. Eligible studies were screened against predetermined inclusion criteria and data were extracted according to the review questions. This review is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020181404). The quality of the articles was assessed using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Results: A total of 27 of 2550 articles met the inclusion criteria. All of the studies were cross-sectional and focused on physical, mental, and neurological health outcomes. The majority of the studies focused on mental health outcomes and consistent associations were observed between smartphone addiction and several mental health outcomes. Anxiety and depression were commonly found to mediate mental health problems. A wide range of physical health sequelae was also associated with smartphone addiction. Furthermore, there was an association between smartphone addiction and neurological disorders. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that there are consistent associations between smartphone addiction and physical and mental health, especially mental health. Social awareness campaigns about smartphone addiction and its impact on physical and mental health are needed. Further studies, especially randomized controlled trials, are warranted to validate the impacts of smartphone addiction.
A new Self-Adaptive disPatching System for local clusters

The scheduler is one of the most important components of a high performance cluster. This paper introduces a self-adaptive dispatching system (SAPS) based on Torque[1] and Maui[2]. It promotes cluster resource utilization and improves the overall speed of tasks. It provides some extra functions for administrators and users. First of all, in order to allow the scheduling of GPUs, a GPU scheduling module based on Torque and Maui has been developed. Second, SAPS analyses the relationship between the number of queueing jobs and the idle job slots, and then tunes the priority of users’ jobs dynamically. This means more jobs run and fewer job slots are idle. Third, integrating with the monitoring function, SAPS excludes nodes in error states as detected by the monitor, and returns them to the cluster after the nodes have recovered. In addition, SAPS provides a series of function modules including a batch monitoring management module, a comprehensive scheduling accounting module and a real-time alarm module. The aim of SAPS is to enhance the reliability and stability of Torque and Maui. Currently, SAPS has been running stably on a local cluster at IHEP (Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences), with more than 12,000 cpu cores and 50,000 jobs running each day. Monitoring has shown that resource utilization has been improved by more than 26%, and the management work for both administrator and users has been reduced greatly.
Essential Learning Conditions for California Youth: Educational Facilities - eScholarship

Ortiz begins with research showing that safe, healthy, and uncrowded school facilities are a basic ingredient of a good educational program. When teachers work in well-designed and highly functional school buildings, they are able to be more effective than when they must teach in inadequate facilities. Ortiz sets these findings against the evidence that a high proportion of California’s educational facilities are inadequate because they are crowded, old, and in need of repair and modernization. She finds that pressures from increased enrollment in the state due to demographic changes and class size reduction, an average age of the state’s school buildings of over 25 years, and the high cost of facilities have all contributed to the current inadequacies. However, the State’s responses to the many problems with educational facilities have been severely limited by flaws in policies establishing the state’s relationships with local districts with regard to funding, inventory, and oversight of educational facilities. The State has failed to establish a system of state financing to ensure that funds are available to and used by districts with schools in the poorest conditions. It has failed to promulgate minimum standards for school facility conditions and maintenance, develop systematic ways of monitoring conditions in schools throughout the state, or maintain effective investigation and correction processes when serious deficiencies are reported.
Analysis and implementation of a three-level active filter with a reduced number of power semiconductors

A three-phase two-leg voltage source inverter is proposed to achieve three-level pulse-width mudulation operation. A shunt active power filter based on the proposed inverter is implemented to achieve harmonic elimination, reactive power compensation and DC-link voltage regulation. Four active switches are used in each inverter leg. The proposed inverter is operated as a controllable current source to supply the necessary active power for the compensation of inverter losses, to suppress current harmonics, and to compensate the reactive power drawn by the nonlinear loads. The balanced and sinusoidal line currents are drawn from the AC source. There are two control loops in the control algorithm to keep the DC-link voltage constant and to track line current commands. The effectiveness of the control scheme is verified through simulation and experimental results based on a laboratory prototype.
Small-signal and transient analysis of a full-bridge, zero-current-switched PWM converter using an average model

This paper presents a detailed small-signal and transient analysis of a full bridge zero-current-switched (FB-ZCS) PWM converter designed for high voltage, high power applications using an average model. The development shows the model follows directly from the converter's steady-state analysis and is produced by inspection of the converter's instantaneous waveforms. The method used in model development can be extended to other topologies that are not easily modeled by conventional methods. The derived model is implemented in a PSPICE subcircuit and used to produce the small-signal and transient characteristics of the converter. Results obtained in the analysis of the high voltage and high power design example are validated by comparison to the actual, switched-circuit simulations.
COOPERATIVE RIVERFRONT PLANNING: THE COLORADO RIVER, GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO

The Colorado River, the largest river system in the western United States stretches from the headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to Mexico. This mighty river evokes strong feelings and images to many people. Rich in history, it offers a haven for outdoor enthusiasts as well as for wildlife. Unfortunately, this image of the majestic river does not hold true for the segment running through Grand Junction, where the Colorado (formerly known as the Grand) and the Gunnison Rivers meet. Once the "lifeline" of the community, the river had become a neglected and forgotten resource, with its banks being lined with salvage yards and other undesirable industrial uses.In 1985 the community embarked on an ambitious project to reclaim the Colorado River corridor. The appointed Riverfront Commission’s goals are to maximize recreational use and public access, preserve and rehabilitate the wildlife and riparian habitat along the river, and promote the reclamation of the river as a source of community pr.
Human-Centered Design of Mobile Health Apps for Older Adults: Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis

Background The world is aging. The number of older patients is on the rise, and along with it comes the burden of noncommunicable diseases, both clinical and economic. Attempts with mobile health (mHealth) have been made to remedy the situation with promising outcomes. Researchers have adopted human-centered design (HCD) in mHealth creation to ensure those promises become a reality. Objective This systematic review aims to explore existing literature on relevant primary research and case studies to (1) illustrate how HCD can be used to create mHealth solutions for older adults and (2) summarize the overall process with recommendations specific to the older population. Methods We conducted a systematic review to address the study objectives. IEEE Xplore, Medline via Ovid, PubMed, and Scopus were searched for HCD research of mHealth solutions for older adults. Two independent reviewers then included the papers if they (1) were written in English, (2) included participants equal to or older than 60 years old, (3) were primary research, and (4) reported about mHealth apps and their HCD developments from start to finish. The 2 reviewers continued to assess the included studies’ qualities using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). A narrative synthesis was then carried out and completed. Results Eight studies passed the eligibility criteria: 5 were mixed methods studies and 3 were case studies. Some studies were about the same mHealth projects with a total of 5 mHealth apps. The included studies differed in HCD goals, target groups, and details of their HCD methodologies. The HCD process was explored through narrative synthesis in 4 steps according to the International Standardization Organization (ISO) standard 9241-210: (1) understand and specify the context of use, (2) specify the user requirements, (3) produce design solutions to meet these requirements, and (4) evaluate the designs against requirements. The overall process and recommendations unique to older adults are summarized logically with structural order and time order based on the Minto pyramid principle and ISO 9241-210. Conclusions Findings show that HCD can be used to create mHealth solutions for older adults with positive outcomes. This review has also summarized practical HCD steps and additional suggestions based on existing literature in the subfield. However, evidence-based results are still limited because most included studies lacked details about their sampling methods and did not set objective and quantifiable goals, leading to failure to draw significant conclusions. More studies of HCD application on mHealth for older adults with measurable design goals and rigorous research strategy are warranted.
Development of Invertebrate Assemblages and Fish on Offshore Wave Power

A significant development of offshore wave power is planned in the future, and its impact on the marine environment is unclear. Solid structures placed on the seabed create new habitats and function as artificial reefs for marine organisms. In this study we investigated the artificial reef effect and fouling impacts on offshore wave power devices deployed at the Swedish west coast. Here, buoys acting as point absorbers on the surface are connected to generators anchored on concrete foundations on the seabed. We studied the influence of surface orientation of the wave power foundations on epibiotic colonisation, and made in situ observations of micro-habitat use by fish and crustaceans over four years of submergence. We also examined fouling assemblages on buoys and calculated the effects of biofouling on the energy absorption of the wave power buoys.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Investigating Individual Growth and Change as a Result of International Professional Learning in Pakistani Higher Education

Abstract: In the context of a rapidly changing world landscape, universities in the United States and abroad are internationalizing their curricula and engaging in faculty and student international exchanges. Because professors are the ones who are largely responsible for translating and implementing global perspectives to the local university, it is important to understand how those participating in international experiences might be influenced and come to transfer new knowledge post-project. Using a phenomenological approach to capture the voices of faculty, this study explored how three professors at a private university in Pakistan experienced internationalization during a three-year funded project. Richly nuanced data share professors' responses upon return to Pakistan, presenting a window into individual experiences and their "transadaption" of global thinking to the local.
Acoustic imaging with time reversal methods: From medicine to NDT

This talk will present an overview of the research conducted on ultrasonic time-reversal methods applied to biomedical imaging and to non-destructive testing. We will first describe iterative time-reversal techniques that allow both focusing ultrasonic waves on reflectors in tissues (kidney stones, micro-calcifications, contrast agents) or on flaws in solid materials. We will also show that time-reversal focusing does not need the presence of bright reflectors but it can be achieved only from the speckle noise generated by random distributions of non-resolved scatterers. We will describe the applications of this concept to correct distortions and aberrations in ultrasonic imaging and in NDT. In the second part of the talk we will describe the concept of time-reversal processors to get ultrafast ultrasonic images with typical frame rates of order of 10.000 F/s. It is the field of ultrafast ultrasonic imaging that has plenty medical applications and can be of great interest in NDT. We will describe some applications in the biomedical domain: Quantitative Elasticity imaging of tissues by following shear wave propagation to improve cancer detection and Ultrafast Doppler imaging that allows ultrasonic functional imaging.
Estimating the most important criteria for hatching eggs as function of broiler breeders age

This research aimed to compare two female broiler breeder ages during the incubation period regarding management using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method (AHP). This method is characterized by the possibility of analyzing a multicriteria problem and assists a decision making. This study was carried out on a commercial hatchery located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Two ages of broiler breeder (42 and 56 weeks) were compared relative to production rate. Production index data were the same in both ages and were submitted to multicriteria decision analysis using the AHP method. The results indicate that broiler breeders of 42 weeks presented better performance than those of 56 week-old. The setter phase (incubation) is more critical than the hatcher. The AHP method was efficient for this analysis and can serve as a methodological basis for future studies to improve the hatchability of broilers eggs.
Investigating The Effect of The Carrier Frequency Offset(CFO) and Frequency Synchronization on The Performance of The OFDM Wireless Systems

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a modulation schema that due to the high spectral efficiency and the simplicity of the receiver implementation is the most common system for using in broadband communication systems. Although OFDM has been used in numerous wireless communication systems, but two of the main problems that are needed to be considered and investigated is Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) and OFDM synchronization. CFO ruins the orthogonality between the subcarriers and creates Inter-Carrier Interference (ICI). In brief, CFO and lack of the frequency synchronization in OFDM systems can severely degrade the performance of the OFDM systems. In this paper we review and analyze the effect of the CFO and frequency synchronization in the OFDM systems, and propose an algorithm that can be used for CFO estimation.
Predicting Slowdowns in Decadal Climate Warming Trends With Explainable Neural Networks

The global mean surface temperature (GMST) record exhibits both interannual to multidecadal variability and a long‐term warming trend due to external climate forcing. To explore the predictability of temporary slowdowns in decadal warming, we apply an artificial neural network (ANN) to climate model data from the Community Earth System Model Version 2 Large Ensemble. Here, an ANN is tasked with whether or not there will be a slowdown in the rate of the GMST trend by using maps of ocean heat content (OHC) at the onset. Through a machine learning explainability method, we find the ANN is learning off‐equatorial patterns of anomalous OHC that resemble transitions in the phase of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation in order to make slowdown predictions. Finally, we test our ANN on observed historical data, which further reveals how explainable neural networks are useful tools for understanding decadal variability in both climate models and observations.