Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A NEW APPROACH TO AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING SCHEDULES FOR CANE RAILWAYS

The scheduling of locomotive movements on cane railways has proven to be a very complex task. Various optimisation methods have been used over the years to try and produce an optimised schedule that eliminates or minimises bin supply delays to harvesters and the factory, while minimising the number of locomotives, locomotive shifts and cane bins, and also the cane age. This paper reports on a new attempt to develop an automatic scheduler using a mathematical model solved using mixed integer programming and constraint programming approaches and blocking parallel job shop scheduling fundamentals. The model solution has been explored using conventional constraint programming search techniques and found to produce a reasonable schedule for small-scale problems with up to nine harvesters. While more effort is required to complete the development of the full model with metaheuristic search techniques, the work completed to date gives confidence that the metaheuristic techniques will provide near optimal solutions in reasonable time.
Design of a wide-band conformal phased array antenna with aperture-coupled antenna

A wide-band 9×4 conformal phased array antenna is designed with the aperture-coupled antenna in this paper. The array is assembled with 9 linear arrays. The elements in the each linear array are fed via apertures by a feed network which is integrated with the array. The proposed conformal antenna is easy to fabricate. Meanwhile, the elements are shielded with a dielectric layer on them. The measured result of the center embedded linear array shows the bandwidth over 20% (VSWR<2.0) and the cross-polarization level is below -20dB. (3 pages)
Genetic algorithm in locating the optimum mid-connection of Off-Centre braced system

In this article, a particular Off-Centre braced system is examined. This bracing system consists of three members, where the diagonal member is not straight and it is connected to the corner of the frame by a third member. The out-of-straightness of the diagonal member introduces eccentricity to the system. This system improves the energy dissipation due to earthquake as well as its eccentricity allows architects to have more openings in the panel areas. In this regard, the location of brace elements connection point has significant effect on the stiffness of the system. In order to assess the influence of the connection position and other parameters such as cross section of brace elements and span/height ratio of the braced frame on the stiffness of the system, analytical equations have been developed. A new method based on Genetic algorithm (GA) to obtain the connection point is also proposed. The importance of elite individuals together with selection, mutation and crossover operator between populations are also examined. In order to achieve the best and practical location of the connection point, two equations for boundary conditions with regards to the opening dimensions are set in a computer model developed in MATLAB program. The results indicate that the stiffness decreases as the connection point moves closer to the corner of the frame. Additionally, the proposed method is proven to be efficient in determining the connection point due to its accuracy and minimal computational time required compare to conventional trial and error method.
Stability Issues of Smart Grid Transmission Line Switching

This paper investigates the stability issues that might arise when incorporating transmission line switching into smart grid planning and operation. To demonstrate the feasibility of line switching, we use scenarios and dynamic simulations to demonstrate system security margin and online stability issues. Results show that proper line switching can resolve system emergency and boost system security margin, even though less transmission lines are used. Also it reveals that small signal instability can be triggered by line switching. It is necessary to apply sophisticated voltage controls and power system stabilizers (PSS) to avoid triggering rotor angle and voltage small signal instability for full benefits of line switching.
Dynamic Sensitivity to Atmospheric Turbulence of Unmanned Air Vehicles with Varying Configuration

DOI: 10.2514/1.46860 Air vehicle flight in turbulence is generally treated as an anomalous part of the flying environment. Aircraft geometries and flight-control systems are often designed and tested for calm atmospheric conditions, where both steady winds and gusts are minor. As a result, the flight performance of small aircraft deteriorates in the presence of atmospheric turbulence, where gust disturbances can be large relative to the flying speeds. A better approach is needed in the aircraft and control system design process that specifically accounts for the effects of turbulence and providesameansofmitigatingdisturbancestoimprovethemissioneffectivenessofmicrounmannedairvehiclesand small unmanned air vehicles. The current research considers untethered flight tests of a small unmanned air vehicle in a large wind engineering tunnel that can be configured to replicate turbulence levels expected from urban and suburban environments. Systematic changes to the configuration of the fixed-wing aircraft are made to evaluate the roleofmetrics,suchasc.g. ,mass,momentofinertia,wingspan,andwingloadingtoturbulencesensitivity.Estimates of the force and moment disturbances indicate that some parameters, such as moment of inertia, have simple and expectedinfluencesontheresponsetoturbulence. Conversely,wingareaandmasshaveconflictingeffectsduetothe compounded influences on the aircraft response. The sensitivity of the various aircraft configurations to turbulence are presented as control equivalent turbulence disturbances, which equate forces and moments acting on the airframe to control deflections. This method normalizes the aircraft responses with respect to the ability to suppress disturbances with actuated controls.
Social preferences and economic valuation for water quality and river restoration: the Segura River, Spain

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims at improving the ecological status of the water bodies in Europe. In this context, some rivers are currently being restored and, in accordance with this Directive, the restoration actions have to be evaluated from a socio‐economic approach. This work applies the Choice Modelling method to the WFD provisions for river restoration. This method proves to be useful for the economic valuation of the restoration measures, as well as a very important tool for people's public participation. In this sense, the water quality improvement has been defined as a priority action from a social point of view. Moreover, the method used has provided answers to both basic questions included in the WFD: the calculation of the economic value of the Segura River's ecological flow, the decrease of which would pose an environmental cost, and the estimation of the environmental income generated by this river.
Habituation of Auditory Evoked Potentials: The Dynamics of Waveform Morphology

Habituation of auditory evoked potentials is central to our understanding of the processes of attention within the auditory neuronal pathways and clinical applications in audiological diagnosis. This study presents a unique methodology to elaborate on auditory habituation over time with the acquisition of evoked potentials. Subjects were presented with clicks at a rate of 1 per second for 90 min. Each subject listened to a total of 5400 click stimuli (trials). A time epoch of 500 ms was used and each trial was digitised at a sample rate of 12,800 samples per second. The trials were individually saved and 4401 evoked potentials were obtained offline using a moving average of 1000 trials (1-1000; 2-1001, and so on). A unique paradigm was developed, which allowed the early, middle and late components of the auditory evoked potential to be acquired simultaneously and also permitted the study of amplitude and latency interdifferences between the evoked potentials in order to observe the progression of habituation. Amplitude changes occurred as the subject progressed through various states of alertness and attentiveness. The results of the study indicated that the habituation process modulates the waveform at different response latencies over a 90 minute time period. Similar patterns were found for all subjects in the sample. The habituation was found to be the greatest for the late evoked potentials, in agreement with the involvement of higher order functioning related to structures such as the frontal cortex and auditory regions of the hippocampus. The middle latency components were also found to be affected by the process of habituation, with visible amplitude and latency changes, while only modest changes were observed in the auditory brainstem response components over the 90 minute time period. This implies that within the auditory pathway and the entire auditory evoked potential there is a follow on or cumulative effect of habituation that increases within the sampled time epoch during auditory habituation and attention fluctuations.
Anomaly detection of rolling elements using fuzzy entropy and similarity measures

The ability of detecting faults in rotating elements is highly desired in machine condition monitoring application (MCM). On many MCM platforms, discriminating attributes based on time and/or frequency domain of the acquired vibration data are used to classify the element under monitoring into normal and abnormal conditions. However, having such diagnostic ability is still insufficient in our global goal towards predictive maintenance. To achieve true predictive maintenance, the development tool must be able to provide a certain level of real time computation capability. In this paper, the authors propose a novel method based on fuzzy entropy and similarity measure for monitoring the health conditions of ball bearings on-line. The practicalities of the effectiveness and speed of the method are verified empirically, and results are presented towards the end of this paper.
Role of Hyperaccumulators in Phytoextraction of Metals From Contaminated Mining Sites: A Review

Accumulation of heavy metals in selective locations of the environment has been attracting considerable public attention over the last decades. The conventional clean-up technologies to extract and remove heavy metals from mining sites are either inadequate or too expensive for developing countries. In the past decades, research efforts have been directed toward phytoextraction by using hyperaccumulators as an alternative, low-cost means of extracting heavy metals from the metal contaminated mining sites. Hyperaccumulating plants are used to transport and concentrate metals from soil into the harvestable parts of plants such as roots and aboveground shoots. Such harvestable biomass is ashed so that the ash can be disposed or even better recycled in metal processing industry for biorecovery of precious and semiprecious metals. This is a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, aesthetically pleasing approach most suitable for developing countries. The authors report the characteristics and mechanisms of hyperaccumulation in metal extraction and also classify the types of hyperaccumulation on the basis of bioavailability of metal to the plant. They also give insight into the role of genetic engineering for enhancing the efficiency of hyperaccumulation in metal extraction.
Inter-Team Coordination Patterns and Outcomes in Multi-Team Projects

We examine what kinds of patterns of mechanisms can be applied in the coordination of several inter-related project teams. We identify three distinct coordination schemes; namely: centralized coordination, decentralized coordination, and balanced coordination. In addition, we compare individuals' perceptions on communication, coordination effectiveness, project efficiency, learning, task analyzability, and task uncertainty between the three identified coordination schemes. The results of our study extend to both theoretical and practical understanding of coordination in multi-team projects and its relation to communication, coordination effectiveness, project performance, and learning.
High cycle fretting corrosion studies on tin-coated contact materials

The high-cycle (above 20,000) fretting contact characteristics of matte tin-plated copper are reported in this paper. Current loads extended from 0.1 mA to 100 mA with an open circuit voltage of 12 V. As observed in the past, there is a plateau in the contact resistance versus fretting cycles above 20,000 cycles. Here, we report on changes in the plateau as a function of load current. Box plots of the median values of the distribution of contact resistances show a dramatic decrease with increasing current. Contact voltages are also seen to range from 1 to 12 V, depending on the current. These results are discussed in terms of changes in the granular interface between the contacts with increasing current.
Mechanical characterization of a tire derived material and its application in vibration reduction

Tire Derived Materials (TDMs) deserve special interest as the reuse of tires is one of the most important topics in recycling and Environmental Engineering. This thesis describes the mechanical characterization of a new TDM based on appropriate experimental tests. Moreover a novel strain energy function is presented, based on the Hencky-logarithmic strain tensor, to model the response for moderately large deformations. Finally a Finite element program is used to solve an optimization problem of railway track mat for light-weight lines.
The Impact of Companies’ Strategic Global Orientation on HR Function and on The IHRM Practices

Ketika sebuah organisasi mengadopsi strategi yang berorientasi global, ada beberapa implikasi yang akan dialami perusahaan. Salah satu implikasi utamanya berkaitan dengan isu sumber daya manusia. Tulisan ini akan mendiskusikan perubahan yang akan terjadi pada fungsi sumber daya manusia ketika perusahaan mengadopsi strategi global, yaitu pada peran manajemen sumber daya manusia dan praktek manajemen sumber daya internasional. Termasuk didalamnya perubahan terhadap aktivitas pokok manajemen sumber daya manusia seperti rekrutmen dan seleksi, pelatihan dan pengembangan, kompensasi, dan manajemen prestasi kerja karyawan, yang terjadi ketika organisasi melakukan ekspansi bisnisnya ke pasar internasional, yang akan mempengaruhi tujuan organisasi. Tulisan ini juga akan membahas faktor endogenus dan faktor eksogenus yang mempengaruhi manajemen sumber daya manusia strategik ketika perusahaan ‘go international’.
Deadbeat control of three phase voltage source active power filter using sinusoidal tracking model

In this paper a new simple control method for an active power filter which can realize the complete compensation of the harmonic currents is proposed. In the proposed scheme, a compensating current reference generator employing sinusoidal tracking model is introduced. Deadbeat control is employed to control the active power filter. The switching pulse width based SVM (space vector modulation) is adopted so that the current of the active power filter is exactly equal to its reference at the next sampling instant. To compensate the computation delay of the digital controller, the predictive current control is achieved by the current observer with deadbeat response.
Design of broadband microstrip series array for mm-wave applications

A simple strategy is presented for the design of broadband microstrip series arrays at millimetric wavelengths. The array performance is enhanced systematically by cascading several microstrip patch elements in a series configuration and terminated in a matched load. Experimental and computed full-wave results indicate good agreement, showing that a bandwidth in excess of 11% is achievable.
Metallic losses in a waveguide slot array

The objective of this paper is to determine the power loss to the finite conductivity of the metal in a waveguide slot array. The method of analysis is based on the introduction of a waveguide slot module. Attention is focused on a single module in which the slot voltageV_{s}and complex mode amplitudes A10and D10(henceforth the 10 subscript is implied for A and D) are assumed to be known values. The losses for the module are computed from the loss-free magnetic field solution. The fields in the interior of the guide are formulated in terms of Green's functions for rectangular waveguide. Explicit expressions for the dominant TE10and scattered higher order modes are derived. In the exterior plane of the module, the near field of the slot is formulated in terms of the exact field solution for a magnetic dipole. The exterior losses are computed numerically. Numerical results for a two-by-four array are presented.
The impact of firm characteristics on firm innovation

This study examines the relationship between firm innovation and six of its potential determinants. The results indicate that there are positive and significant relationships between organizational innovation and: (1) decentralized structure; (2) presence of organizational resources; (3) belief that innovation is important; (4) willingness to take risks; and (5) willingness to exchange ideas.
Characterization and modeling of low-frequency noise in sub-0.1-μm SiGe pMOSFETs

Drain current-gate voltage Id(Vg) characteristics and power spectral density of drain current fluctuations were obtained on SiGe channel pMOSFETs and on their Si homologues, for drain current intensities varied from deep subthreshold to strong inversion regions. Devices with 2.2nm thick SiO2 gates and channel lengths 50nmd(Vg) characteristics, served for calculating the power spectral density versus drain current functions. The latter required adjusting the interface trap density and a parameter αc, accounting for the effect of the interface charge fluctuations on the hole mobility fluctuations, significant at high levels of trap filling i.e. high drain current. We found that the power spectral density in the SiGe devices was up to 10 times lower than in the Si controls at sufficiently high drain currents. The simulation, accounting for the data, required a significant lowering of αc for the SiGe channel. That implies that the low frequency noise reduction in SiGe MOSFETs results from a weaker interaction of the SiGe holes with the interface charges. The sub-0. 1μm channel devices show a similar noise lowering, in spite of the significant hole mobility degradation.
Screening of Asa River water in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria for available pollutants and its effects on mitosis and chromosomes morphology in Allium cepa cells

Improper disposal of wastes as an environmental problem is common in African and other developing countries of the world, and it raises concerns due to its potential threats to the life of organisms in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In this study, Asa River in Ilorin, Nigeria was evaluated for cytogenotoxicity at 25.0 %, 50.0 %, 100.0 % following the Allium cepa assay. Water samples were collected from three points tagged A, B, C, and each point was 500 m apart from each other. The water samples were used to grow A . cepa for microscopic and macroscopic toxicities screenings. Heavy metals and volatile organic pollutants in the water were elucidated following the Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy. The Water samples induced higher mitotic index values, except the sample C which induced smaller mitotic index value than the negative control. Root growth in the exposed A . cepa was significantly promoted at 25.0 % of the water samples, while significant reduction was obtained at 50.0 % and 100.0 % of the sample C, and 100.0 % of the sample A. The absolute water sample A induced highest percentage chromosomal aberrations, as the water samples B and C induced higher percentage chromosomal aberration than the negative control. Cadmium was detected at a concentration higher than its permissible limit in drinking water unlike Zinc, Iron, Manganase. Poly aromatic hydrocarbons, Aromatic amines, Acridine dye, Phenolic and Polychlorinated compounds were detected in the water sample. These pollutants may be responsible for the observed proliferative, inhibitory, cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of the water samples on A . cepa cells. Our results suggest that Asa River is polluted, having potential to inflict different adverse effects on human, animals and plants utilizing it along its course.
Self-aligned control of threshold voltages in sub-0.2-/spl mu/m MOSFETs

We propose a new method to control the threshold voltages (V/sub th/) in sub-0.2 /spl mu/m MOSFETs. The method suppresses V/sub th/ fluctuations caused by variations in the fabricated gate length. Our scheme is to change the concentration of the channel impurity according to the gate length by tilted ion implantation from two directions after the polysilicon gate formation. We show the feasibility of our process by two-dimensional (2-D) process and device simulations. Then we clarify that our scheme was realized in fabricated nMOSFETs. We also measured the V/sub th/ in numerous MOSFETs and show that our method can indeed suppress V/sub th/ fluctuations caused by variations in the fabricated gate length.
Pulsed 2 μm fiber lasers for direct and pumping applications in defence and security

The paper gives an overview on pulsed 2 μm fiber laser technology that has strongly evolved during the last years. In the beginning, 2 μm fiber-amplifier systems have been considered to allow short-pulse generation at high repetition rates for pumping mid-IR conversion elements due to their possibility of generating short pulses by properly-driven laser diodes and successive amplification. However, this scheme turned out to be rather complex in architecture and needed low-phonon fluoride-glass fibers for efficient energy storage. Then a new technology has been developed to provide short pulses directly from a single, Q-switched fiber laser at very high repetition rates with silica fibers. Even taking into account the high phonon energies of these fibers, an efficient operation is possible. These fibers are also much more durable than fluoride fibers and thus better suited for military applications. Thulium-doped and thulium-holmium-codoped fibers are therefore the most promising candidates for pulse generation when some-ten-ns pulses at 100 kHz or more are needed. Average powers of over 32 W have been achieved with pulse durations down to 42 ns at > 100 kHz with Thulium-doped fibers. Tm-Ho codoping can provide longer emission wavelengths towards 2.1 μm, thus allowing direct conversion towards the mid-IR using ZGP crystals. On the Holmium emission, pulses of down to 58 ns have been achieved at average powers exceeding 14 W, being currently only limited by the available pump power. The theory of this short-pulse generation will also be explained. Pumping, e.g., quasi-phase-matched nonlinear GaAs, with a Tm-Ho-doped fiber laser, > 2 W of average power has been achieved in the mid-IR.