Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-financial factors affecting the operational performance of hospitality companies: Evidence from Vietnam

Non-financial factors including quality of services, the flexibility of a company, utilization of resources, and market orientation are regarded as significant determinants that enhance the profitability-based performance of a service company or a hotel. The study investigated the interaction between these factors and hotel operating performance measured by the hospitality performance and results indicators. Data on 346 executives of Vietnam’s hospitality companies were collected. A structural equation modeling (SEM) method was utilized to examine the positive-direct and moderating effects of non-financial factors on hotel performance in terms of occupancy rate (OCR), average daily rate (ADR), and the revenue per available room (RevPAR). The findings showed that service quality ( = 0.118, p &lt; 0.05), flexibility ( = 0.173, p &lt; 0.05) and resource utilization (= 0.172, p &lt; 0.05) positively affected the performance of Vietnam’s hospitality companies. Meanwhile, innovation showed no direct influence (p = 0.068) but an indirect impact on the performance through service quality ( = 0.311, p &lt; 0.05). Market orientation did not impact the performance (p = 0.076) but it positively affected both innovation ( = 0.322, p &lt; 0.05) and service quality ( = 0.146, p &lt; 0.05). The study contributed to a theoretical enhancement of the current level of knowledge on the factors that affect the performance and developed a reliable scale for measuring the performance of hotels in Vietnam.
Performance Decay Analysis of a Marine Gas Turbine Propulsion System

Marine propulsion plants are designed to be more and more efficient to minimize fuel consumption and pollution emissions. However, during the ship operating life, propulsion components and hull are characterized by a certain performance decay, responsible for a worse behavior of the overall propulsion plant. For this reason, the several propulsion components are periodically subjected to expensive maintenance works to restore, as far as possible, their original design characteristics. In the present study, the propulsive performance variation of a naval vessel, powered by a gas turbine as part of an innovative CODLAG system, is simulated and analyzed by means of a detailed and validated numerical code. A sensitivity analysis regarding the influence of the main components deterioration (gas turbine, propellers, and ship hull) on the overall behavior of the propulsion plant is carried out. Several speed profiles of the vessel have been analyzed in terms of the usual performance parameters (ship speed, engine power, and fuel consumption) as well as the pollution emissions of the gas turbine. The main aim of the work is to get useful information for the ship management and maintenance scheduling (condition-based maintenance).
Experimental Study of Adsorption Treatment of the Arsenic-Containing Rural Drinking Groundwater

The arsenic-containing rural drinking groundwater was treated by adsorption method in the paper. It was studied that the varieties and dosages of adsorbents, pH value and adsorption time have an effect on removal of arsenic. The experimental results indicated that the rate of arsenic removal is able to reach 91.39% at room temperature and under the condition of neutral pH values, 2.0 g of zeolite as adsorbent and 1 h of adsorption time. The content of arsenic in the treated drinking groundwater can be up to the current national hygiene standards of rural drinking water (<0.05mg /L).
Electrical Conduction Mechanism in Carbon Filled Polymers

Carbon filled polymers find wide use in industry. In many instances the carbon is added to impart certain electrical properties to the finished product. This paper addresses itself to the latter application. Carbon filled thermoplastics or elastomers are used in the cable and wire industry mainly to take advantage of their pseudo semi-conducting nature. They are usually extruded as shields on electric power cables. Although these materials are widely used, less is known about the mechanism of charge transport through them than is known on either the pure polymer or the carbon filler itself. In the following paragraphs an attempt will be made to explain the experimentally observed conduction in terms of a combination of two classical conduction mechanisms.
H-plane sectoral dielectric horn antenna

The purpose of this paper is to investigate theoretically and experimentally the radiation aspect of a H-plane sectoral dielectric horn antenna. In the theoretical analysis, the radiated field at a distant point from this antenna is evaluated by determining separately the field from the waveguide in absence of the scatterers (scatterers are flares of the horn) and the scattered field and then adding the two fields at the point. In order to simplify the problem, the volume polarization currents are approximated with sheet currents for thin dielectric flares.The experimental study is carried out at X-band with 10°, 20°, and 30° dielectric (er = 2.62) horns and also with 25° dielectric (er = 3.0) horn at 1λ and 2λ axial lengths in all cases. The results of the experimental investigation show fairly good agreement with the predicted pattern. Limitations of the theory are also discussed.
QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL PALM-BASED COOKING OIL PACKED IN PLASTIC POUCH AND POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE (PET) BOTTLE

The study compared the quality of palm cooking oil sold in two types of packaging in Malaysia; plastic pouch (16 samples) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle (9 samples). The study was conducted because consumer perceived that the quality of palm cooking oil in plastic pouch is lower than in the PET bottle due to its lower price. Cooking oil in plastic pouch is subsidised by the Government of Malaysia and as such, it is sold at a cheaper price compared to bottled cooking oil. Therefore, comparison of the initial quality in terms of free fatty acid (FFA), fatty acid composition (FAC), triacylglycerol composition (TAG), total vitamin E, iodine value (IV), cloud point, smoke point, colour, polar compound, polymer compound and oxidative stability index (OSI) of the commercial palm cooking oils were conducted between the cooking oil in plastic pouch and PET bottle. The quality parameters of average FFA, FAC (oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic acids), IV and colour (red and yellow) of cooking oil in both packagings met the specifications or guidelines by either Malaysian Standard (MS) 682:2004, MS 816:2007 or Palm Oil Refiners’ Association (PORAM) specifications/guidelines. However, quality parameters of TAG, total vitamin E, cloud point, smoke point, polar compound, polymer compound and OSI are not specified in any of the standards above. After conducting a 2-sample t-test to detect differences of cooking oil in both packagings, quality parameters of average FFA, FAC (oleic acid), total vitamin E, colour (red, yellow, neutral and blue), polar compound and polymer compound were comparable between cooking oil in plastic pouch and PET bottle. However, the FAC (palmitic acid, stearic acid and linoleic acid), TAG [UUU (unsaturated-unsaturated-unsaturated) and SUU (saturated-unsaturated-unsaturated)], IV and cloud point quality of cooking oil in PET bottle were better than in plastic pouch in which FAC (stearic acid and linoleic acid), TAG (UUU and SUU) and IV in PET bottle showed higher value while FAC (palmitic acid) and cloud point showed lower value than plastic pouch in this study. Notwithstanding this, the smoke point and OSI quality of commercial palm cooking oil in plastic pouch was better than in PET bottle, having higher values than PET bottle. TAG [SUS (saturated-unsaturated-saturated)] of commercial cooking oil in plastic pouch was also higher than in PET bottle but did not necessarily provide indication of good quality cooking oil.
Capacity of bit-interleaved channels

The authors compute the capacity of bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) in the case of ideal interleaving. They show that for most signal sets with Gray labelling, this turns out to be almost equal to the capacity of the signal sets themselves. This implies that BICM can achieve the same coding gain as TCM.
Adaptive‐network‐based fuzzy inference system models for computing the characteristic impedances of air‐suspended trapezoidal and rectangular‐shaped microshield lines

In this article, adaptive‐network‐based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) models are proposed to compute the characteristic impedances of air‐suspended trapezoidal‐shaped microshield lines (AS‐TSMLs) and air‐suspended rectangular‐shaped microshield lines (AS‐RSMLs). The ANFIS is a fuzzy inference system implemented within the architecture and optimization procedure of adaptive networks. Four optimization algorithms, hybrid learning, simulated annealing, genetic, and least‐squares, are used to determine optimally the design parameters of ANFIS. The characteristic impedance results of ANFIS models are in very good agreement with the results available in the literature. When the performances of ANFIS models are compared with each other, the best results are obtained from the ANFIS model trained by the hybrid learning algorithm. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 52: 20–24, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24829
Robust Nonlinear Predictive Control Using a Disturbance Estimator

A robust nonlinear predictive control strategy using a disturbance estimator is presented. The disturbance estimator is comprised of two parts: one is the disturbance model parameter adaptation and the other is future disturbance prediction. A linear discrete model is proposed as a disturbance model which is formulated by using process inputs and available process measurements. The recursive least square (RLS) method with exponential forgetting is used to determine the uncertain disturbance model parameters and for the future disturbance prediction, future disturbances projected by the future process inputs are used. Two illustrative examples: a jacketed CSTR as a SISO system: an adiabatic CSTR as a MIMO system, and experimental results of the distillation column control are presented. The results indicate that a substantial improvement in nonlinear predictive control performance is possible using the disturbance estimator.
Phase-error performance of multi-focal and non-focal two-dimensional Rotman lens designs

The phase errors of the conventional trifocal Rotman lens and its modified quadrufocal designs could be reduced by adopting a non-focal design scheme. The non-focal design produces minimum average phase errors for all beam ports rather than achieving zero-phase error for only selected focal points. Fundamental models of designing and optimising typical trifocal and quadrufocal planar bootlace lenses are reviewed. Results based on the non-focal design method are compared to the ones from conventional designs, and noticeable improvements demonstrate that the non-focal design scheme is an alternative way of optimising the phase errors for the Rotman lens design. As in referenced papers on multiple-focal designs, the emphasis is on the phase-error analysis and not on experimental verifications.
Research on Piezoelectric Generators for Vibration Energy Harvesting

Ambient energy harvesting has been in recent years the recurring object of a number of research efforts aimed at providing an autonomous solution to the powering of small scale electronic mobile devices. Among the different solutions, vibration energy harvesting has played a major role due to the almost universal presence of mechanical vibrations. In the paper, a piezoelectric cantilever device for harvesting the ambient low-frequency vibration energy is designed, and influences of its structure on output voltage and power generation capacity are studied also. The study results show that the piezoelectric cantilever can produce enough power energy which meets the operation requirements of sensors in wireless networks. It provides a method and corresponding theoretical basis for the harvesting of ambient low-frequency vibration energy and the design of self-supply devices for sensors in wireless networks.
Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Obese Male Semen Parameters and Reproductive Hormones: a meta-analysis

Background The relation between bariatric surgery and semen parameters and reproductive hormones on obese male remains incompletely understood.Methods We searched PUBMED, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register for studies from 1999 to 2019 for studies on effect of bariatric surgery on obese male semen parameters and reproductive hormones. Three studies met the inclusion criteria for our meta-analysis. After data extraction and quality assessment, we used RevMan 5.2 to pool the data.Results Three studies were included in our meta-analysis. The pooled data showed that the testosterone concentration and sperm volume were higher in postoperative group than baseline with a significant difference (WMD:4.63, 95%CI 2.65 to 6.61, P<0.05, WMD; 0.89, 95CI 0.38 to 1.40, P<0.05, respectively). No significant difference was found in the postoperative sperm concentration, sperm morphology, sperm motility and estradiol concentration (WMD: -3.28, 95%CI: -38.86 to 32.29, I2=9%; p=0.89,WMD: -0.52, 95%CI: -5.83 to 4.79, I2=71%; p=0.85, (WMD; -0.01, 95%CI; -5.42 to 5.40, I2=0; p=1.00, WMD: -2.93, 95%CI: -43.11 to 37.24, I2=87%; p=0.89, respectively). Conclusions Bariatric surgery did not interfere with sperm quality. Our study showed that the postoperation testosterone increased with statistically significance.
A New Manufacturing Information System

AbstractRecent advances in manufacturing and information technologies present promising strategic alternatives for designing a new manufacturing information system. Total manufacturing information system (TMIS) is an integrated system of manufacturing technologies and business strategy into an information system. It is a strategic tool for achieving competitive advantage, which enables firms to respond quickly to market changes, achieve flexibility of products and processes, and manage the complexity of today’ manufacturing environment.
Q-Learning for Flexible Learning of Daily Activity Plans

Q-learning is a method from artificial intelligence to solve the reinforcement learning problem (RLP), defined as follows. An agent is faced with a set of states, S. For each state s there is a set of actions, A(s), that the agent can take and that takes the agent (deterministically or stochastically) to another state. For each state the agent receives a (possibly stochastic) reward. The task is to select actions such that the reward is maximized. Activity generation is for demand generation in the context of transportation simulation. For each member of a synthetic population, a daily activity plan stating a sequence of activities (e.g., home-work-shop-home), including locations and times, needs to be found. Activities at different locations generate demand for transportation. Activity generation can be modeled as an RLP with the states given by the triple (type of activity, starting time of activity, time already spent at activity). The possible actions are either to stay at a given activity or to move to another activity. Rewards are given as “utility per time slice,” which corresponds to a coarse version of marginal utility. Q-learning has the property that, by repeating similar experiences over and over again, the agent looks forward in time; that is, the agent can also go on paths through state space in which high rewards are given only at the end. This paper presents computational results with such an algorithm for daily activity planning.
Non-gaussian beams in direct coupling from laser diodes into optical waveguides via small gaps

In a direct coupling from a laser diode into an optical waveguide, some mathematical models about field profile, spot size, and phase variation of the optical beam within the small diode-waveguide gap can be used to fit the experimental data much better than those of the Gaussian beam. These models are expected to be useful in the numerical simulation of the losses of the diode-to-waveguide or diode-to-fiber coupling.
Research on First-Price Sealed Auction Game Handoff Strategy

In wireless mesh network, handoff decision strategy chooses targets according to the detected signal strength, in which way too many mesh clients will be associated to routes with stronger signal strength, resulting in severe load imbalance and a huge waste of wireless resource. In this paper, we propose a new first-price sealed auction game handoff strategy, which takes into consideration the signal strength and network load when choosing handoff target. This strategy assures the fairness during the handoff process as well as the load balance in the wireless mesh network. The simulation results show that our proposed strategy achieves better performance in the aspects of user number and signal strength.
Team-Centered Virtual Interactive Presence for Adjustable Autonomy

Current solutions for autonomy plan creation, monitoring and modification are complex, resulting in loss of flexibility and safety. The size of ground control operations and the number of aviation accidents involving automation are clear indicators of this problem. The solution is for humans to naturally collaborate with autonomous systems. Visual spatial information is a common reference for increased team situation awareness between humans and adaptive autonomous systems such as robots, satellites, and agents. We use a teamcentered, augmented reality spatial dialog approach to improve human-automation interaction for collaborative assembly, repair, and exploration. With our spatial dialog approach, we provide a data-rich virtual interactive presence for collaborating with autonomous systems by incorporating the spatial context along with the spoken context. Spatial Dialog is an interaction and communication technology that uses a deeper understanding of spatial context and a richer spatial vocabulary to realize improved humancomputer symbiosis. Spatial context is useful for communicating, understanding and remembering information. It includes the location of objects and people, and the place in which events are occurring. Using computers that see, we can pick out faces in a scene, track people, and follow where people are pointing and the objects they use. Using augmented reality and a real-time understanding of the spatial scene, we can overlay information on the real world or virtual models as a key spatial component of the dialog process, especially for remote virtual tele-presence, tele-supervision, and tele-science cases.
Temperature dependence of ionisation coefficients in silicon derived from physical model (MOSFETs)

Electron and hole ionisation coefficients from 200 to 500 K have been calculated using the lucky drift model of impact ionisation calibrated to measurements made at 300 K. The results are fitted to two- and three-parameter empirical relationships for the ionisation coefficient against field, which can be used in device modelling.
Selected Results from a Large-Scale Field Operational Test with Electric Vehicles in Germany and France

In this paper we present results from a large-scale field operational test with electric vehicles (EVs) in the French-German border region. The vehicle fleet consists of 100+ EVs from four different European car manufacturers. The EVs have been allocated to commercial users and public authorities for daily use as business cars, mostly within a small fleet. The majority of the EVs has been equipped with data logging devices to monitor technical conditions of the car and their mobility. In addition a share of approximately 40 fleet vehicles has also been equipped with smartphones as measurement devices to log GPS profiles of the trips and complementary mobility data that can be entered manually. Additional data consists of the trip purpose, the number of passengers, the payload and other values that are hard or impossible to measure with a sensor. Data of the fleet has been collected for more than 18 months to get a clear insight in the usage of the EVs. The data base that this analysis is founded on consists of information of more than 130,000 full-electric trips. The goal of the data analysis is to get a clear insight in all characteristics of mobility. A special attention is paid at the comparison between the sub-fleets in France and Germany. For that purpose the data of one EV type that has been used in large number in both countries is used for a comparing analysis. By the reduction on one EV type distortive factors like different ranges or top speeds are eliminated. In the course of the analysis the data from the trips like distances, durations and speed profiles are analysed as well as the state of charge of the battery and the charging behaviour. We show significant differences in some aspects like trip lengths and speed profiles whereas other aspects like the charging behaviour are not influenced by national idiosyncrasies.
Applying Innovative Models for Forecasting Small-Area Peak Electrical Loads

The number of Distributed generators is currently increasing, and the electrical industry is trending toward regional supply-and-demand and resource integration. Thus, a model that can forecast small-area peak electrical loads is an indispensable part of power infrastructures. This study constructs innovative model for forecasting small-area peak electrical loads. The main aspects considered were the accuracy of the forecasting model and the convenience of follow-up maintenance and management of the model and data. This study used yearly peak load value and total power data from substations to construct regression tree models. These acted as models for the small-region peak electrical load of substation districts in the Taipower distribution systems. The errors of these forecasting models were substantially smaller than those of the least squares model originally used by Taipower to forecast peak load. The addition of exogenous factors was unnecessary. Additionally, our results were superior regardless of whether once or incremental models were adopted for the data. This confirms the usability of our models.
Diagnosis of alzheimer disease through detection of eyes retinal blood vessels

Today, Alzheimer’s disease is rapidly growing and spreading. The disease is caused by the accumulation of Amyloid plaque deposits, thereby destroying the connection between nerve cells and the formation of neurofibrillary nods. According to recent research, one of the ways to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease is by reflecting light into the patient’s retinal blood vessels and using a machine vision system. Therefore, in this study, we have attempted to introduce a method to detect human retinal blood vessels to improve the disease. In the above method, using DRIVE bank images, they are first clustered and after applying the Unsharp filter and Radon conversion, the vessel is diagnosed so that early detection of Alzheimer’s disease by counting the number of vessels present.
20 Gbit/s data transmission over 2 km multimode fibre using 850 nm mode filter VCSEL

Error-free data transmission over 1.3 and 2 km multimode fibre at 25 and 20 Gbit/s, respectively, is demonstrated using a high-speed, single-mode, 850 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with an integrated mode filter. This result represents a bitrate-distance product of 40 Gbit/s km, a new record for multimode fibre VCSELbased interconnects.