Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of a Novel Transistor and aMicrowave PalletaTesting of a Novel Power Amplifier

Radio frequency based technology has unleashed a vast area in research and development. This thesis work is based on RF power transistors and their usages in different applications. Traditionally, RF transistors were used in base station applications. But now, they are being used in new applications like microwave applications, medical equipment, energy sources for cutting wood, drying clothes, and street lighting systems. Hence redesign of RF transistors is required to make them suitable for their new applications. The thesis work focuses on building highly efficient yet cheap RF transistors and RF amplifiers by redesigning several sections of them. This report is divided into three sections.The first section describes a novel RF transistor from design to final testing phase. The packaging style of the new RF power transistor is modified by using different material to make packaging process simpler and manufacturing process more efficient. The modified RF transistor showed positive results while testing, thus proving the feasibility of using the new package for RF transistor.The second section of the report describes a microwave pallet redesigned by adapting the transistor built in the first section. This redesigning has an added advantage of simplicity, fewer manufacturing steps, and low cost. This microwave pallet has a bandwidth of operation from 2900MHz to 3300MHz. Similar to the transistor, the microwave pallet packaging style was redesigned without affecting its electrical behavior. The pallet showed positive results while testing, thus proving the feasibility of this new design.The last section of the report describes the testing of a novel power amplifier. The aim of this test was to observe the effect on various parts of the power amplifier while removing the circulator from it. The test was performed to reduce the cost and size of the power amplifier. The test was not completely successful indicating the need for redesigning the power amplifier. The work presented in this report represents initial research that needs to be extensively examined in the future to reduce the cost and manufacturing time of the RF products.
Design of the In-Vehicle Driving Behavior and Crash Risk Study: In Support of the SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study

This report describes the study design for the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2) Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS). Using a sophisticated recording package installed in vehicles, it will collect information on the day-to-day driving of about 3,100 volunteer drivers for up to 2 years. Participants will be recruited in six sites throughout the United States. In this report, potential users of the SHRP 2 NDS data or its findings will find information about the participant recruitment plan, informed consent and data protection procedures, driver assessment tests, the capabilities of the data acquisition system (DAS), quality control, and project management.
Trend Setting Impacts of Organic Matter on Soil Physico-Chemical Properties in Traditional vis -a- vis Chemical-Based Amendment Practices

Amongst the soil qualities that are taken into consideration while quantifying the fertility status of soil for agri-production, the properties of water holding capacity, bulk density, electrical conductivity and soil pH play crucially important roles, directly as well as indirectly. The role of organic matter content of soil in altering the aforesaid properties occurs through various complex interactions. In our study we attempted to understand the impact of amendments in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)-based organic input agri-management systems (A1), versus conventional chemical-intensive agri-systems (A2) in altering/modifying the few important properties viz soil organic matter (SOM), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), bulk density, and water holding capacity of the soil in the three different crop phases viz. pre, mid and the post-harvest, spread over six cropping seasons in four years. The study area was a geo-ecologically unique terrain of Kachchh, Western India. Natural stressors as erratic rainfall, drought and salinity are a typical feature of this zone. Physico-chemical soil attributes have shown significant differences in the amendment systems. The application of organic manures and concoctions like Jivamrit from indigenous knowledge base of local farming community, certainly rendered better organic matter content that affect soil structure and stability, which in turn affected the maximum water holding capacity (MWHC), which was significantly higher in A1 (47.53%; (Standard Error [SE] = ±0.92%) across phases and seasons than A2 (37.99%; SE = ±0.74%). Probably, for the same reason, amendments with organic inputs had a lower bulk density (1.04 g/cm3; SE = ±0.02 g/cm3) as compared to amendments with no or very few organic inputs (1.31 g/cm3; SE = ± 0.03 g/cm3). The reduction in pH and electrical conductivity in A1 may be ascribed to increased amounts of SOM as a result of addition of green manures and organic concoctions. Even during the stressed period of drought in cropping seasons of season 2 (Kharif2012) and season 3 (Rabi 2012–2013) this trend was followed. This clearly shows that salinity endurance and drought resistance are remarkable features of organically amended soils and this resilience to drought is achieved over continual usage of organic manures. The arid and semi-arid tropics are highly prone to stressors like drought, highly erratic rainfall patterns, and salinity, and the present study advocates the supremacy of TEK-based agri-management systems in soil sustainability for maintaining the soil fertility in the long run.
Construction Dispute Review Board Manual

Part 1 Concept and purpose: description of the DRB what are its functions development of the DRB concept essential elements of the DRB benefits of the DRB applicability discussion and typical objectives. Part 2 Practice: member selection operation of the board referral of dispute to the board conduct of the hearing deliberation and recommendation avoiding potential problems. Part 3 International: international applications.
Leading Pharmaceutical Innovation: Trends and Drivers for Growth in the Pharmaceutical Industry

"It's time for a paradigm shift in pharmaceutical R&D. This book will tell you why. " Dr. Goetz Baumann, Business Unit Manager, Hoffmann-La-Roche Germany. "This book offers a fact based, comprehensive insight to the increasing challenges of today's drug development. Well worth reading not just for newcomers to the industry but also for industry professionals who want to understand the big picture. " Dr. Pius Renner, Head of Strategic Planning, Novartis. "Pharmaceutical innovation is in crisis. The industry will have to change both its innovation processes and its business models in order to reverse these trends. The authors have marshalled together an impressive array of research in one volume. This book should prove to be an indispensable resource for all participants in the pharmaceutical industry. " Prof. Henry Chesbrough, Executive Director, Center for Open Innovation, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.
Finding the balance: the University of Bologna E-Learning Centre strategy for lifelong learning in a complex environment

The aim of this paper is to present the University of Bologna’s E-Learning Centre strategy for quality e-learning courses production and delivery, with special regards to lifelong learning. The starting point was very complex since the University lacked a harmonised student approach, teaching styles, and so forth. The experimental phases of e-learning implied also the use of a number of different platforms. Since 2006 the Rector and the Academic Senate introduced a step by step strategy in order to harmonise projects, introduce quality technological and teaching guidelines, and improve lifelong learning offer. An E-Learning Centre was established and new regulations were approved for master degree courses, with reference to the e-learning utilization. Since 2007 the University of Bologna Strategic Plan has focussed on e-learning in the European context and strategic issues. Main issues include: a) delivery of blended learning courses in compliance with the University of Bologna information systems (authentication system, Academic Courses databases and so forth) b) keeping up with technological change such as LMSs and learners’ technical access to the e-content c) developing partnerships and e-learning based joint international master degrees for lifelong learning with other European Universities and Institutions. The paper highlights some critical aspects and the first results of the E-Learning Centre activities.
How Preference Change Induced by Mere Action Versus Inaction Persists Over Time

Understanding how sustainable preference change can be achieved is of both scientific and practical importance. Recent work shows that merely responding or not responding to objects during go/no-go training can influence preferences for these objects right after the training, when people choose with a time limit. Here we examined whether and how such immediate preference change in fast choices can impact choices without time limit one week later. In two preregistered experiments, participants responded to go food items and withheld responses toward no-go food items during a go/no-go training. Immediately after the training, they made consumption choices for half of the items (with a time limit in Experiment 1; without time limit in Experiment 2). One week later, participants chose again (without time limit in both experiments). Half of the choices had been presented immediately after the training (repeated choices), while the other half had not (new choices). Participants preferred go over no-go items both immediately after the training and one week later. Furthermore, the effect was observed for both repeated and new choices after one week, revealing a direct effect of mere (non)responses on preferences one week later. Exploratory analyses revealed that the effect after one week is related to the memory of stimulus-response contingencies immediately after the training, and this memory is impaired by making choices. These findings show mere action versus inaction can directly induce preference change that lasts for at least one week, and memory of stimulus-response contingencies may play a crucial role in this effect.
Appropriate technology water treatment processes for MaeLa Temporary Shelter, Thailand

This thesis recommends the use of horizontal-flow roughing filters to treat spring water of variable annual quality in MaeLa Temporary Shelter, Thailand. The public drinking water system for 45,000 refugees is overseen by Aide Medicale Internacionale, with which this project was conducted. Half the drinking water for the camp is provided by thirteen springs. The volume and turbidity of these springs varies annually, correlating with the rainy and dry seasons. Treating the varying turbidity and volume at these sources so that the water can be effectively disinfected is the treatment goal. Available materials and operation and maintenance capabilities are also design parameters. Horizontal-flow roughing filtration was determined to fit these parameters and a design with two equivalent filters operating in parallel is recommended. One important feature of the filters is baffles that dictate the flow path of water through the filter. A second feature is an outflow at the top of the filter that will maintain a constant water volume in the filter. The feasibility of the design is based on flow tests and turbidity measurements taken on site as well as weekly flow rates and turbidities for 2007 provided by AMI. The requirements for mechanical regeneration of the filter are also determined. Thesis Supervisor: Peter Shanahan Title: Senior Lecturer of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Inside the Boardroom: How Boards Really Work and the Coming Revolution in Corporate Governance

Foreword. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Chapter 1. Boards of Directors Have Failed and We Don't Know Why. Chapter 2. The Many Forms of the Modern Corporations. Chapter 3. Contemporary Directors: Who Are They, What Do They Do, and How Well Do They Do It? Chapter 4. Best Board Practices and Assessments: Necessary but Not Enough. Chapter 5. The Traditional Board: The Triumph of Structure. Chapter 6. The Effective Board: Function Not Form. Chapter 7. Effective Directors for Effective Boards: Putting Them Together. Chapter 8. The Director Behavioural Types. Chapter 9. A Special Type pf Director: The Chair of the Board. Chapter 10. "C-B-S-R"-How to Build a Better Board. Chapter 11. The Coming Revolution in Corporate Governance. Appendix A: Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methodologies: How Do They Differ? Appendix B: The Research Process: Getting into the Boardrooms, Obtaining the Interviews and Analyzing the Data. Bibliography. Index.
TPACK: exploring a secondary pre-service teachers' context

Twenty-first century teacher educators need to design learning experiences integrating technology for transformative learning. Bringing together the power of deep content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and technological knowledge in an integrated manner is critical in the design of today’s learning experience. The TPACK framework assists educators to gain competency and confidence to design technology-enhanced learning in ways that transform the learning experience for both students and teachers. This paper describes the TPACK findings of secondary pre-service teachers who have just completed their second professional experience placement in conjunction with a curriculum and pedagogy course. Pre-service teachers reported that they were developing the necessary confidence in working with the technology and designing learning using a TPACK framework. From the data, it was apparent that teacher educators are able use the framework to design, model and explore innovative teaching with technology to design TPACK learning experiences that are mindful and thoughtful
Using Concepts from Self-Determination Theory to Enhance the Application of an Already-Existing Coach Assessment in Youth Coach Professional Development: Autonomy Support and the CoachDISC Profile

ABSTRACT Grounded in self-determination theory, the purpose of this study was to determine the existence of autonomy-supportive coaching characteristics within the CoachDISC Profile evaluation system. Expert researchers in autonomy support with a familiarity with sport coaching were recruited for this study (N = 11 participants; 4 males, 7 females; Mage = 40.45, SDage = 8.27). Participants had on average 12 years of experience in working with self-determination theory in both research and applied settings. After providing demographic information, each participant completed a full CoachDISC profile as if they were acting as an autonomy-supportive coach. Across all categories (dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness) a distinct profile emerged, verified via intraclass correlation, ICC = 0.97, p < . 001. These results indicate that an autonomy-supportive profile exists, which allows coach developers to potentially utilize the assessment to provide feedback and contribute to reflective practices that are grounded in motivational theory.
Asymmetric U-Net for Brain Tumor Segmentation: Transfer to an independent database

An automatic and accurate brain tumor segmentation software for magnetic resonance imaging is crucial for clinical assessment, follow-up, and subsequent gliomas treatment. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) is the state-of-the-art in this task. One of the fundamental challenges for the inclusion of CNN's into clinical practice is the networks' ability to generalize their performance on a different dataset, other than the one in which the model was trained. Most of the proposed methods only evaluate their models on public databases and do not test them in real clinical images. We present a 3D Asymmetric U-Net for brain tumor segmentation from MRI images in patients with glioma. Our model has been trained on the BraTS 2020 public database. Besides, our model performance was evaluated on an independent cohort of 12 patients from the Bretonneau Hospital.
Economic Issues Related to Continuous Supercritical Biodiesel Production

Biodiesel is non-petroleum based alternative diesel fuel that consists of alkyl esters derived from renewable feedstocks such as plant oils or animal fats. These feedstocks commonly contain both triglycerides and free fatty acids, which can undergo transesterification or esterification reactions (respectively) to produce the alkyl esters that make up biodiesel. Currently, most of the global biodiesel is produced from refined vegetable oils that contain primarily triglycerides with limited free fatty acids. These refined oils, such as soybean and rapeseed oil, are becoming increasingly expensive, and generally account for as much as 80% of the total operating cost in biodiesel production. In general, without government subsidies, biodiesel production in not currently cost-competitive with petro-diesel. The investigators of this proposal in previous Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center (MBTC) projects have studied less refined and less expensive feedstocks for use in biodiesel production in hopes of improving the economic competitiveness of biodiesel. Biodiesel holds many advantages over conventional petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is renewable, biodegradable, and locally produced while offering a low toxicity, high cetane index, and is a carbon-neutral fuel source. Some other advantages include superior lubricant and solvent properties, lower emissions of harmful chemicals, and the ease of storage, transportation, and adaptation into current equipment and infrastructure. Not only does this support a more sustainable energy infrastructure, it also lessens the need for foreign imports of oil while creating labor and market opportunities for domestic crops. A wide range of feedstocks can be used in the production of biodiesel including, but not limited to virgin or refined tree and vegetable oils, waste fryer oil, animal fats, pond algae, and importantly a combination of these feedstocks. It is imperative to adapt any proposed production process to locally available raw materials on an intermittent basis if biodiesel is to become an attractive alternative to petroleum diesel. The transition from conventional diesel to biodiesel can be almost seamless. The diesel engine can operate on pure biodiesel. Older engine models that use rubber gaskets and seals can experience some deterioration due to the solvent properties of biodiesel. However, these seals can be replaced with more resistant materials. The logistics for distribution of diesel fuels currently in place can easily accommodate biodiesel as a fuel. Such is not the case with proposed compressed gas fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen. Many biodiesel fuel facilities currently exist in the U.S. dispensing biodiesel-blended fuel.
Seasonal Distribution of Bemesia Honeydew Sugars on Pima and Upland Cotton Lint

Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring populations were higher on Pima S-7 cotton compared with DPL SO cotton. Higher numbers of mature open cotton bolls occurred earlier for DPL 50 compared with Pima S-7. Also, numbers of open bolls for DPL 50 peaked 8 to 14 days before Pima S-7 and decreased dramatically by 15 September reflecting termination of the first fruiting cycle in August In contrast the indeterminate fruiting pattern of Pima S-7 showed that numbers of open bolls per week declined gradually after the peak without a clear cut termination occurrence. About 95 and 80% of the open cotton bolls, of the Deltapine and Pima S-7 cottons, respectively, occurred by midSeptember. This suggests that defoliation timing and early harvest can be important management tools to avoid sticky cotton. For upland cotton, extending the cotton season after 95% of the crop matured O. : 15 September) resulted in development from non sticky cotton to lightlysticky cotton within 21 days following the occurrence of increasing whitefly populations after 15 September. Later fruiting and lack of a distinct end of the first cotton fruiting cycle probably precludes using early defoliation for long -staple Pima cotton. At harvest, thermodetector counts for all weekly harvests were greater than amounts found in lint for randomly selected 20 boll samples; and samples from all cotton picked from 4 m of row. This probably occurred because weekly picked cotton escaped rainfall and exposure and other weathering, in 1995 but not 1996, and machine picked cotton contains more honeydewcontaminated leaf trash. Except in one instance, thermodetector counts and trehalulose and melezitose content in lint for all sampling methods were stgniteantly correlated. Introduction The cotton stickiness issue remains a significant problem in the textile industry (Hector and Hodkinson 1989). The authors called attention to the lack of controlled field experimentation to determine factors affecting cotton stickiness, but reported that most often cotton stickiness problems are caused by insect honeydew contamination. Silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring, (formerly B. tabaci Gennadius strain B) populations have often occurred in epidemic proportions in cotton in CA, AZ, and TX since 1986 resulting in increased incidences of sticky cotton. Sticky cotton economic losses, in general, have been poorly documented. However, Hector and Hodkinson (1989), after a survey of European spinning mills reported monetary compensation of 500,000 Austrian shillings, the difficulty of spinning mills to obtain subsequent contracts following sticky cotton episodes, increased spinning mill machinery maintenance, actual refusal of spinning mills to process sticky cotton and a price reduction differential greater than 10% for sticky cottons. Price premiums for nonsticky cotton by cotton growers were also reported to be about 10% in the Sudan Gezira (Carlson and Mohamed 1986). Khalifs and
Technical Brief: Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement – Top 10 High Performance States

The American Transportation Research Institute's (ATRI's) study, “Evaluating the Impact of Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement Disparities on Carrier Safety Performance,” compared the enforcement and safety performance of the lower 48 states across various safety and operational metrics, such as, crashes, roadside inspections, and violations. ATRI researchers compiled a “Top 10” and “Bottom 10” list for each given metric. This document looks at the performance of the Top 10 states and the methodology used to identify the top performing states.
A case-control study of the effect of alcohol on the risk of driver fatal injury in New Zealand

This study presents estimates of the effect of alcohol on the risk of driver crash death in New Zealand. The risk estimates presented in this paper are derived from a case-control study using data from the years 1995 to 2000. The cases were drivers killed in crashes that occurred on Friday and Saturday nights between 9:30pm and 2:30am and the controls were drivers stopped at the roadside and breath-tested, also on Friday and Saturday nights (the main drinking days and times in New Zealand). Estimates of driver fatal injury risk per average driving trip were derived from a log-linear model fitted to the data. The estimated risks increased steeply with increasing BAC, with risks at all BAC levels statistically significantly higher for drivers aged under 20 and for drivers aged 20-29 than for drivers aged 30 and over.