Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Damping force prediction of electrorheological fluid damper using an analytical dynamic model

This work proposes a new analytical approach for dynamic modelling of the Electrorheological (ER) damper for accurate prediction of the hysteresis behaviour. In the proposed dynamic model, both the compressibility of ER fluid in the upper and lower chambers and the dynamics of ER fluid flow in the annular duct of the ER damper are considered. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model, a comparative work between simulation and experiment is undertaken at various piston motions with different excitation magnitude and frequency. The effects of the fluid compressibility, initial pressure and gas volume in the accumulator on the hysteresis of the ER damper are investigated.
Improvement of drive range, acceleration and deceleration performance in an electric vehicle propulsion system

This paper presents technologies that will be employed in a battery electric vehicle, aiming at improving the vehicle drive range, acceleration and deceleration performance and reducing the cost. Firstly it discusses a short-term power management scheme employing a high-power-density ultracapacitor bank to load level a high-energy-density, cost-effective but low-power-density Zn-Br battery for satisfactory overall performance of the vehicle power source. Then it looks at the issue of constant power operation of a BDCM propulsion system. A novel multifunctional DC-DC converter topology has been proposed for both short-term power management and the constant power operation of the BDCM propulsion system. It features simple circuitry, high efficiency, and low cost. Analysis of the operation principles of the multifunctional DC-DC converter is given. Control methods of regenerative braking of a BDCM at different operation modes are especially addressed.
Nutrient enrichment and its effect on the phytoplankton community of Hrazdan River in the Yerevan District, Republic of Armenia

The phytoplankton community and nutrient enrichment of Hrazdan River have been studied in the Yerevan District, Republic of Armenia. Water was sampled in spring and summer of 2019. The content of phosphate, ammonium, and nitrite ions were significantly higher downstream of the Yerevan District compared to the stations located upstream. The latter were characterized by higher abundance of diatoms (Melosira varians and Rhoicosphenia curvata), while Oscillatoria limnetica, O. chlorina, and Anabaena sphaerica dominated downstream, reflecting different eutrophic state of the river parts.
Robust control of ionic polymer–metal composites

Ionic polymer–metal composites (IPMCs) have been considered for various applications due to their light weight, large bending, and low actuation voltage requirements. However, their response can be slow and vary widely, depending on various factors such as fabrication processes, water content, and contact conditions with the electrodes. In order to utilize their capability in various high-performance microelectromechanical systems, controllers need to address this uncertainty and non-repeatability while improving the response speed. In this work, we identified an empirical model for the dynamic relationship between the applied voltage and the IPMC beam deflection, which includes the uncertainties and variations of the response. Then, four types of controller were designed, and their performances were compared: a proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller with optimized gains using a co-evolutionary algorithm, and three types of robust controller based on , with loop shaping, and μ-synthesis, respectively. Our results show that the robust control techniques can significantly improve the IPMC performance against non-repeatability or parametric uncertainties, in terms of the faster response and lower overshoot than the PID control, using lower actuation voltage.
Topological Entropy of Free Semigroup Actions Generated by Proper Maps for Noncompact Subsets

In this paper, we introduce three notions of topological entropy of a free semigroup action generated by proper maps for noncompact subsets, which extends the notions defined by Ju et al. [13] and Ma et al. [17]. By using the one-point compactification as a bridge, we study the relations of the entropies between two dynamical systems. We then introduce three skew-product transformations, and for a particular subset, the relationship between the upper capacity topological entropy of a free semigroup action generated by proper maps, and the upper capacity topological entropy of a skew-product transformation is given. As applications, we examine the multifractal spectrum of a locally compact separable metric space, and it is shown that the irregular set has full upper capacity topological entropy of a free semigroup action generated by proper maps.
Deficiências de macronutrientes no crescimento e na produção da mamoneira cultivar Iris

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of macronutrient deficiencies on the growth and biomass yield of castor beans (Ricinus communis L.) cultivar Iris. The experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions. It was used a completely randomized design, with the treatments in a split plot arrangement with six replications for N, P and K, and three replications for Ca, Mg and S. The plots corresponded to treatments and sub-plots, the evaluations performed weekly right after the treatments started. Nutrient solutions containing all macronutrient and those from which one of these elements was omitted were the treatments used. Visual symptoms of deficiencies were observed in all treatments. The following determinations and measurements were made: stem diameter, plant height, axial root length and the shoot : root ratio. Plants were harvested at 91 days after the treatments started, then various parts were separated. Visual symptoms of deficiencies were observed for each treatment with N, K, Ca, Mg and S being the first to show up and that of P being the last. Deficiencies of N, Ca, Mg and S were the most limiting for castor bean stem diameter as well as the plant height, whereas K and P had less effect. There is a close relationship between the plant height and stem diameter. The axial root length as well as the shoot : root ratio was not affected by the treatments. N, Ca, S and Mg deficiencies were the most limiting for the dry matter yield, being followed, in a decreasing order, by K and P, showing up the nutritional requirements of the castor beans ‘Iris’.
A new method for assessing the shakedown limit state associated with the breakage of a ship's hull girder

Shakedown occurs when a structure responds steadily under cyclic loadings within appropriate limits after one or a few cycles of loading. This study proposes a new method for assessing the shakedown limit state associated with the breakage of a ship's hull girder, considering the buckling effects seen under the cyclic hull girder actions of hogging and sagging bending. The method is applied to a Suezmax-class double-hull oil tanker as an example. The shakedown limit state of the ship under cyclic hull girder actions is analysed, and the results are compared with the ultimate hull girder strength of the ship under monotonically applied hull girder loads. It is concluded that a ship's hull under cyclic actions of vertical bending can collapse, with a shakedown failure even if the vertical bending moments applied are smaller than the ultimate hull girder strength determined under monotonically applied hull girder loads. The method and insights developed will be useful for assessing hull girder breakage subject to cyclic hull girder bending moments.
A closed-form spatial Green's function for the thick microstrip substrate

The spatial Green's function for the open microstrip structure, especially with a thick substrate, is generally represented in the time-consuming Sommerfield integrals. Through the Sommerfield identity, a closed-form spatial Green's function of a few terms is found from the quasi-dynamic images, the complex images, and the surface waves. With the numerical integration of the Sommerfeld integrals thus avoided, this closed-form Green's function is computationally very efficient. Numerical examples show that the closed-form Green's function gives less than 1% error for all substrates and source-to-field distances. >
CASPER 2009 RET (Research Experience for Teachers) at Baylor University, Waco, Texas

The 2009 RET Program at Baylor University has been exactly as advertised. It has been a diverse experience both in a functioning Dusty Plasma Lab but also lectures on assorted cutting edge topics and discussions with fellow physics instructors ranging from programs of study to curriculum implementation. Exploration of four and seven particle chains, height measures of particle clouds, Vere laser use and time dependent dispersion of particle clouds were experiments studied during the institute.
The use of LS-SVM for short-term passenger flow prediction

Abstract Transit flow is the basement of transit planning and scheduling. The paper presents a new transit flow prediction model based on Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM). With reference to the theory of Support Vector Machine and Genetic Algorithm, a new short-term passenger flow prediction model is built employing LSSVM, and a new evaluation indicator is used for presenting training permanence. An improved genetic algorithm is designed by enhancing crossover and variation in the use of optimizing the penalty parameter γ and kernel parameter s in LS-SVM. By using this method, passenger flow in a certain bus route is predicted in Changchun. The obtained result shows that there is little difference between actual value and prediction, and the majority of the equal coefficients of a training set are larger than 0.90, which shows the validity of the approach.
Graphical Method for Constraining the Local Stress State in Arbitrarily-Oriented Wells Using Drilling-Induced Tensile Fracture Observations

During drilling, tensile fractures initiate from the well walls. The initiation mechanism of these drillinginduced tensile fractures (DITFs) is the same as that of hydraulic fractures induced during completions. Also similarly to completion-induced hydraulic fractures, DITFs can initiate longitudinally (axially) or transversely (laterally) relative to the wellbore. Transverse DITFs, although a rarity compared to longitudinal DITFs, were observed in image logs of vertical wells and this phenomenon was used in the past to constrain the local maximum horizontal stress, SHmax magnitude assuming a linearly elastic rock formation, combined with interpreted information from leak-off tests and pore pressure data. SHmax is the component of the in-situ stress tensor for which the magnitude is the hardest to constrain.
Deep Continual Learning for Emerging Emotion Recognition

Understanding an unknown facial emotion that emerges in the future underpins significant impacts in various domains. Knowing the fact that emotional states grow in vocabulary, new emotional states need to be adapted while the existing knowledge of known emotional states is preserved. While human beings spontaneously perform this task, the challenge is, how to devise a deep learning technique that can effectively recognize an unknown emotion category in the future. Although the deep convolutional neural network has shown excellent emotion recognition performances in the past, it is conventionally a predefined multi-way classifier showing little resilience towards adding a new emotion class. Considering the aforementioned challenge, in this paper, we propose a generic deep convolutional neural network-based architecture that constantly absorbs the upcoming emotion categories and recognizes them effectively. We further propose an indicator loss, which is associated with the distillation mechanism that preserves the existing knowledge. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed method, we evaluated our model using benchmark emotion datasets. The results confirm that the proposed approach is superior in recognizing unknown emotional states compared to continual learning benchmarks. Further, our proposed method demonstrates higher accuracy, compared to the transfer learning baselines.
The contrasting human gut microbiota in early and late life and implications for host health and disease

The gut microbiota plays a significant role in health and development from birth and continues to affect several processes throughout life and into old age. During both infancy and old age, the trajectory of the gut microbiota changes with contrasting consequences at both stages for the host. The infant gut is unstable, and colonization is influenced by a variety of perinatal and postnatal factors. Many of these factors can contribute to an altered microbiota profile in infancy which can be associated with negative consequences later in life such as allergies, obesity, and neuropsychiatric disorders. The late-life gut microbiota is influenced by physiological changes within the host, illness, diet and lifestyle that impact its composition and functionality. Indeed, reduced microbial diversity, loss of beneficial microorganisms and increased pathobionts are key signatures of the elderly microbiome. Such changes have been associated with degenerative diseases including inflammageing, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and increased risk of infection with Clostridioides difficile. Here, we examine early- and late-life factors that contribute to contrasting gut microbiota disturbances and the consequences associated with these disruptions. Finally, we provide compelling evidence of nutritional and probiotic/prebiotic interventions that may help alleviate the effects of gut microbiota changes into old age.
A novel prototype design for a transformer for high voltage, high frequency, high power use

A prototype transformer has been designed and built which is novel in its combination of high voltage (50 kV), high frequency (20 kHz) and high power (25 kVA) specifications. The design technique utilized a spreadsheet approach which facilitated an iterative design procedure. The transformer used a ferrite core, nylon insulated secondary bobbins and pressurized sulfur hexafluoride encapsulation. It was designed as part of a high-voltage switched-mode power supply for driving electrostatic precipitators. The transformer was field tested at a large coal-fired power station and was found to have an efficiency of better than 98%.
A corpus-based study of some aspects of the Notts subdialect

Rural dialects are slowly disappearing and giving way to larger, more generalised ways of speaking (Trudgill 2004; Kortmann 2008; Beal 2010; Braber 2015). This paper is concerned with the study of the specific subdialect of Nottinghamshire, known as ‘Notts’ or ‘Nottinghamese’, and aims at describing its linguistic features. For the purpose, a personalised corpus of approximately 26,000 words has been compiled. The corpus consists of oral texts, which have been transcribed, from a TV show set in the area. The analysis is focused on three facets of the dialectal variation surrounding the county of Nottinghamshire, namely relating to the linguistic levels of phonology, morphosyntax and lexis. Several conclusions have been reached, including the /æ/ phoneme as an indicator of a northern dialect, the usage of the velar nasal plus cluster, as well as the pronunciation of continuous forms and past tense irregularities. In terms of lexical analysis, a justification for the evolution of language use in the area is provided.
Synaptische Plastizität, Schizophrenie-Risiko und Hirnstruktur: eine MR-morphometrische Assoziationsstudie

Ein erheblicher Anteil des genetischen Risikos fur die Entwicklung einer Schizophrenie ist durch den Effekt von Einzelnukleotidpolymorphismen (single neucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) vermittelt, wobei neuere genomweite Assoziationsstudien (GWAS) eine grose Anzahl von Genen auf insgesamt uber 100 Genloci identifiziert haben, welche zu diesem Risiko beitragen (Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Nature 2014). In diesen Studien wurde ein Gruppe von Genen identifiziert, welche Einflus auf synaptische Funktion und Plastizitat bei Neuronen aufweist und somit die Plastizitat bzw. neuronale Signalubertragung beeinflussen. In der vorliegenden Studie soll ausgehend von obiger GWAS-Studie, welche die bisher international grosten Kohorten schizophren erkrankter Patienten und gesunder Kontrollen verglichen hat, diese Gruppe von Genen in ihrem Einflus auf die Hirnstruktur gesunder Probanden untersucht werden. Dabei soll die Hypothese gepruft werden, dass auch bei Gesunden diese SNPs die Hirnstruktur in Arealen beeinflussen, welche bei der Schizophrenie verandert sind, insbesondere im Prafrontalcortex (dorsolateral, sowie medial / anterior cingularer Cortex), lateralen temporal Cortex und Hippocampus. Diese Hypothese soll an hochauflosenden T1-gewichteten MRT-Aufnahmen (MPRAGE) von 200 gesunden Personen (ohne psychiatrische Vorerkrankung und ohne erstgradig Verwandte mit psychotischen Storungen) untersucht werden, unter Verwendung der voxel-basierten Morphometrie (VBM) und oberflachenbasierter Morphomerie (Gyrifizierung), welche in der CAT12-Toolbox implementiert sind. Als Nebenhypothese soll der Effekte in einer case-control-Kohorte mit Schizophrenie-Patienten und alters- und geschlechtsparallelisierten gesunden Kontrollen nachuntersucht werden. Somit soll die Arbeit untersuchen, auf welche einzelnen Hirnregionen sich die in den Pathway-PGRS zusammengefassten einzelnen Risikogene strukturell niederschlagen.
A novel 2 × 2 MEMS optical switch using the split cross-bar design

In this paper, a novel 2 × 2 MEMS optical switch is presented. The switch, which employs the proposed split cross-bar (SCB) design, intrinsically possesses advantages over typical 2 × 2 MEMS switches of traditional designs, such as the cross-bar design and the mirror-array design. In comparison to the cross-bar switches, the SCB switch does not have the constraint on the mirror thickness which affects fiber alignment significantly. In comparison to the mirror-array switches, the SCB switch requires fewer movable mirrors and thus gives better fabrication yield. The SCB device can be easily fabricated by employing inductively-coupled-plasma etching (ICP) on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with one photo-mask. Electro-thermal V-beam actuators integrated with the bi-stable mechanisms are employed to move and latch the movable mirrors of the proposed device. The displacement of the movable mirrors is at least 60 µm under a driving voltage of 40 V. The optical performance and the dynamic response of the SCB switch are also investigated. The measured average insertion loss is less than −1.4 dB with a deviation of 0.08 dB. Also, the measured switching time is about 10 ms.
Design of a Compact Omnidirectional Leaky-Wave Antenna Fed by Higher Order Mode

This article presents a novel leaky-wave antenna (LWA) based on a dielectric-filled rectangular waveguide (RWG) and fed by a higher order mode. The proposed quasi-uniform LWA has a compact configuration that is suitable for microwave applications, featuring the omnidirectional radiation patterns and low cross-polarization. In the frequency band of interest, the higher order mode, i.e., the TM11 mode, performs as a fast wave in the proposed quasi-uniform LWA, radiating via the transverse slots etched on the walls. The advantage of the TM11 mode for LWA applications is analyzed and demonstrated. This higher order mode is excited via a mode convertor from an inline coaxial line to the dielectric-filled RWG. For the reduction in sidelobe levels at high frequencies, −25 dB Taylor amplitude distribution is applied to the etched slots. The dielectric-filled LWA with the inline coaxial feeding is fabricated and measured. The measurement is consistent with the simulation, showing frequency-driven beam-scanning capability with low cross-polarization in the elevation plane. The simulated and measured radiation patterns in the azimuth plane illustrate the omnidirectional radiation patterns and thus confirm the radiating performance of the TM11 mode in the proposed LWA. The advantages of the scanned beams and omnidirectional radiations are promising for radar systems.
Throughput Bounds for HTTP Services Over WiFi Networks

Summary Access networks based on cooper cables are costly to build and maintain. For this reason, last-mile access networks based on wireless technologies are gaining considerable attention. Among the wireless technologies being employed, the IEEE802.11 (WiFi) is commonplace. In such scenarios it is important to have well defined mechanisms to better evaluate the underline traffic characteristics and overall system performance. Such understanding can help network designers to better estimate the resources needed to provide basic services with a reasonable level of quality (QoS). This task, however, has been shown to be non-trivial. The main contribution of this work is to present techniques than can be applied to estimate the throughput and the access pattern for fundamental services in the context of a WiFi based networks.
Risk management framework for construction projects in developing countries

It is important to manage the multifaceted risks associated with international construction projects, in particular in developing countries, not only to secure work but also to make profit. This research seeks to identify and evaluate these risks and their effective mitigation measures and to develop a risk management framework which the international investors/developers/contractors can adopt when contracting construction work in developing countries. A survey was conducted and twenty‐eight critical risks were identified, categorized into three (country, market and project) hierarchical levels and their criticality evaluated and ranked. For each of the identified risks, practical mitigation measures have also been proposed and evaluated. Almost all mitigation measures have been perceived by the survey respondents as effective. A risk model, named Alien Eyes' Risk Model, which shows the hierarchical levels of the risks and the influence relationship among the risks, is also proposed. Based on the findings, a qualitative risk mitigation framework was finally proposed which will benefit the risk management of construction project in developing countries.