Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ergonomics in air traffic control

As part of a continuing investigation of the conditions associated with operating irregularities in air traffic control (ATC), reports prepared during the investigation of 301 operating irregularities were analysed in order to identify the factors most likely to precipitate air traffic control operating irregularities. The results of the analysis indicated that the occurrence of operating irregularities was not directly related to rated workload. Operating irregularities were found to occur more frequently under conditions of moderate or low workload and normal complexity. In addition, some of the results may have direct implications for the design of controller workstations and the automation of selected tasks. A second objective of the work has been to develop a database system from which statistical data on operating irregularities and the various identified factors can be extracted. However, in order to enhance the integrity of the descriptive information in the database, the category structure that h.
Autochthonous plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria enhance Thymus vulgaris growth in well-watered and drought-stressed conditions

The use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in the production of medicinal plants is crucial, because agricultural chemicals are no longer acceptable in their production. This paper discusses the results of a recent study undertaken to isolate and characterize PGPR isolates of Bacillus, Pseudomonas and Azotobacter from common thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) rhizospheric soil and monitor the effect of their application on seed germination and plant growth. The effect of selected isolates on seed germination and initial growth of common thyme was examined in controlled conditions. The impact of the isolates on the content of biochemical stress markers (total phenols and lipid peroxidation intensity) in germinated seeds was determined. The influence of the isolates on the plant growth under well-watered conditions (watered to 80% of water holding capacity (WHC)) and under water deficit stress (watered to 40% of WHC) was evaluated by measuring plant root and stem length in semi-controlled conditions. This study confirmed that indigenous rhizospheric bacteria of common thyme have multiple plant growthpromoting (PGP) properties. Among Bacillus 10 isolates, Pseudomonas 12 isolates and Azotobacter 9 isolates, only Pseudomonas isolate (P53) had all the tested PGP properties. The applied isolates had a positive effect on the examined plant growth parameters. The highest percentage of germination was determined in the treatment with P53 isolate (96%). The highest response for vigour index was observed with isolate A1 (3807%). All isolates, except B58 and B60, reduced stress by lowering the amount of both or at least one stress related molecules. The results of the experiment led to the conclusion that isolates Azotobacter sp. A1 and Pseudomonas sp. P53, both ACC-deaminase-producing bacteria, have the best effect on plant growth under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions, which indicates their potential to be used as a biofertiliser for promoting common thyme growth.
An Efficient Spatial-Temporal Convolution Recurrent Neural Network Surrogate Model for History Matching

Surrogate modeling has shown to be effective in improving the solving efficiency for history matching in the development of oil and gas, but the traditional surrogate models are difficult to directly deal with the high-dimensional spatial uncertain parameters, such as the permeability field. In this paper, we introduce a new deep-learning-based surrogate modeling framework, image-to-sequence regression, which can directly predict the production data from the high-dimensional spatial parameters. Specifically, a spatial-temporal convolution recurrent neural network surrogate model is proposed based on a densely connected convolutional neural network (CNN) model and a stacked multilayer long short-term memory (LSTM) model. And a surrogate-based history-matching workflow is then developed by combining the proposed surrogate model with an improved ensemble smoother data assimilation algorithm. Two case studies on a 2D and a 3D reservoir model demonstrate that the proposed surrogate model can effectively predict production data and improve the efficiency of history matching.
LYAR Promotes Colorectal Cancer Progression by Upregulating FSCN1 Expression and Fatty Acid Metabolism

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly malignant tumor associated with poor prognosis, yet the molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we showed that LYAR, a nucleolar protein, is expressed at a higher level in CRC tissue than in adjacent normal tissue and that LYAR expression is closely associated with distant CRC metastasis. LYAR not only significantly promotes the migration and invasion of CRC cells in vitro, but knockdown (KD) of LYAR in CRC cells also inhibits xenograft tumor metastasis in vivo. Microarray analysis of LYAR KD cells combined with a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay, gene reporter assay, and rescue experiment indicated that FSCN1 (encoding fascin actin-bundling protein 1 (Fascin-1)) serves as a novel key regulator of LYAR-promoted migration and invasion of CRC cells. Knockdown of FSCN1 significantly inhibits subcutaneous tumorigenesis of CRC cells and leads to the downregulation of FASN and SCD, genes encoding key enzymes in fatty acid synthesis. In summary, this study reveals a novel mechanism by which LYAR promotes tumor cell migration and invasion by upregulating FSCN1 expression and affecting fatty acid metabolism in CRC.
On the origin of the dispersion of erased threshold voltages in flash EEPROM memory cells

This work investigates the origin of the dispersion of tunnel-erased threshold voltages (V/sub T/) in flash EEPROM memory cells. A clear correlation between cell-to-cell variations of tunnel current I/sub T/ and dispersion of erased V/sub T/ is demonstrated by looking at the I/sub T/ characteristics and the erasing characteristics corresponding to channel and source injection as well as at the dependence of I/sub T/ and V/sub T/ dispersion on device area and tunnel polarity. Experimental evidence is provided that nonuniform injection at poly-Si/SiO/sub 2/ interface is a major cause of erased V/sub T/ dispersion.
A dual-input high-gain bidirectional DC/DC converter for hybrid energy storage systems in DC grid applications

This paper presents a dual input-port bidirectional DC/DC converter for a Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS). The converter is non-coupled, non-isolated and it has high-gain. Thus, it does not have transformer or coupling inductances, so voltage spikes or circulating currents are not present which is reflected in its high efficiency. In addition, the DC/DC converter is totally bidirectional, so the sources can transfer the energy between them and to the load. The converter has six switches but only three of them work in each mode, so the control is relatively simple. The main applications of the proposed converter are HESS for DC microgrid applications or small electric vehicles, particularly in which the storage system is small, hence the voltage is low, but the “load” works at a much higher voltage. The article analyses the converter in steady-state and presents the small-signal model, based on that, the control loop is designed. Simulations and experimental results validate the converter.
Development of a marker panel for genotyping of domestic soybean cultivars for genes controlling the duration of vegetation and response to photoperiod

Soybean, Glycine max L. , is one of the most important agricultural crops grown in a wide range of latitude. In this regard, in soybean breeding, it is necessary to pay attention to the set of genes that control the transition to the f lowering stage, which will make it possible to adapt genotypes to local growing conditions as accurately as possible. The possibilities of soybean breeding for this trait have now signif icantly expanded due to identif ication of the main genes (E1–E4, GmFT2a, GmFT5a) that control the processes of f lowering and maturation in soybean, depending on the day length. The aim of this work was to develop a panel of markers for these genes, which could be used for a rapid and eff icient genotyping of domestic soybean cultivars and selection of plant material based on sensitivity to photoperiod and the duration of vegetation. Combinations of 10 primers, both previously developed and our own, were tested to identify different alleles of the E1–E4, GmFT2a, and GmFT5a genes using 10 soybean cultivars from different maturity groups. As a result, 5 combinations of dominant and recessive alleles for the E1–E4 genes were identif ied: (1) e1-nl(e1-as)/ e2-ns/e3-tr(e3-fs)/e4; (2) e1-as/e2-ns/e3-tr/E4; (3) e1-as/e2-ns/E3-Ha/e4; (4) E1/e2-ns/e3-tr/E4; (5) e1-nl/e2-ns/E3-Ha/E4. The studied cultivars contained the most common alleles of the GmFT2a and GmFT5a genes, with the exception of the ‘Cassidi’ cultivar having a rare dominant allele GmFT5a-H4. The degree of earliness of cultivars positively correlated with the number of recessive genes E1–E4, which is consistent with the data of foreign authors on different sets of cultivars from Japan and North China. Thus, the developed panel of markers can be successfully used in the selection of soybean for earliness and sensitivity to photoperiod.
Chloride Diffusion by Build Orientation of Cementitious Material-Based Binder Jetting 3D Printing Mortar

Binder jetting 3D printing (BJ3DP) is used to create geometrical and topology-optimized building structures via architectural geometric design owing to its high degree of freedom in geometry implementation. However, building structures require high mechanical and durability performance. Because of the recent trend of using 3D printing concrete as a structural component in reinforcing bars, its durability with respect to chloride penetration needs to be reviewed. Therefore, in this study, the compressive strength and durability of the chloride diffusion of cement-based 3D-printed output were evaluated. In addition, to confirm the performance difference based on the build orientation, the compressive strength and chloride diffusion were evaluated with respect to the build direction and transverse direction. The experimental results show that the compressive strength was approximately 22.1–26.5% lower in the transverse direction than in the build direction and that the chloride diffusion coefficient was approximately 186.1–407.1% higher in the transverse direction. Consequently, when a structure that requires long-term durability is produced using BJ3DP, it is necessary to examine the design and manufacturing methods in relation to the build orientation in advance.
Analysis of the Pricing Process in Electricity Market using Multi-Agent Model

Many electric utilities world-wide have been forced to change their ways of doing business, from vertically integrated mechanisms to open market systems. We are facing urgent issues about how we design the structures of power market systems. In order to settle down these issues, many studies have been made with market models of various characteristics and regulations. The goal of modeling analysis is to enrich our understanding of fundamental process that may appear. However, there are many kinds of modeling methods. Each has drawback and advantage about validity and versatility. This paper presents two kinds of methods to construct multi-agent market models. One is based on game theory and another is based on reinforcement learning. By comparing the results of the two methods, they can advance in validity and help us figure out potential problems in electricity markets which have oligopolistic generators, demand fluctuation and inelastic demand. Moreover, this model based on reinforcement learning enables us to consider characteristics peculiar to electricity markets which have plant unit characteristics, seasonable and hourly demand fluctuation, real-time regulation market and operating reserve market. This model figures out importance of the share of peak-load-plants and the way of designing operating reserve market.
Adaptive LMS filter with lattice prefilter

A filter structure consisting of a lattice predictor to function as a prefilter and a bank of subfilters using backward predictor errors is presented. It can realise a general transversal transfer function, has a good convergence rate, and is insensitive to the eigenvalue spread, even when a low order lattice predictor is used.
Live It - Recommendation System based on Emotion Detection

This paper presents the development of a web application that integrates a system of movie recommendations using the collaborative filtering algorithm with a component of real-time recording and detection of emotions. So far, there were no implementations that combine recommendations and emotions, so this application proposes these two to work together to make our lives better regarding the movie-watching experience. To recognize emotions, we created a component that examines facial expressions, which offers, as a result, one of the emotion types: happy, sad, neutral, anger, surprise. This component was later integrated into a movie recommendation application, which analyzes the user’s emotions in real-time while watching the presentation video. In the second part of the paper, we presented how we performed usability tests in order to improve the quality of the application. The results were promising, with a high degree of accuracy and usefulness coming from end-users, showing the future potential of this application, for instance adding new functionalities or recommendation algorithms.
Judgments of Object Size and Distance across Different Virtual Reality Environments: A Preliminary Study

Emerging technologies offer the potential to expand the domain of the future workforce to extreme environments, such as outer space and alien terrains. To understand how humans navigate in such environments that lack familiar spatial cues this study examined spatial perception in three types of environments. The environments were simulated using virtual reality. We examined participants’ ability to estimate the size and distance of stimuli under conditions of minimal, moderate, or maximum visual cues, corresponding to an environment simulating outer space, an alien terrain, or a typical cityscape, respectively. The findings show underestimation of distance in both the maximum and the minimum visual cue environment but a tendency for overestimation of distance in the moderate environment. We further observed that depth estimation was substantially better in the minimum environment than in the other two environments. However, estimation of height was more accurate in the environment with maximum cues (cityscape) than the environment with minimum cues (outer space). More generally, our results suggest that familiar visual cues facilitated better estimation of size and distance than unfamiliar cues. In fact, the presence of unfamiliar, and perhaps misleading visual cues (characterizing the alien terrain environment), was more disruptive than an environment with a total absence of visual cues for distance and size perception. The findings have implications for training workers to better adapt to extreme environments.
Geophysical experiments for the pre-reclamation assessment of industrial and municipal waste landfills

Two examples of combined application of geophysical techniques for the pre-reclamation study of old waste landfills in Sardinia, Italy, are illustrated. The first one concerned a mine tailings basin and the second one a municipal solid waste landfill; both disposal sites date back to the 1970–80s. The gravity, shallow reflection, resistivity and induced polarization methods were employed in different combinations at the two sites, and in both cases useful information on the landfill's geometry has been obtained. The gravity method proved effective for locating the boundaries of the landfill and the shallow reflection seismic technique proved effective for the precise imaging of the landfill's bottom; conversely the electrical techniques, though widely employed for studying waste landfills, provided mainly qualitative and debatable results. The overall effectiveness of the surveys has been highly improved through the combined use of different techniques, whose individual responses, being strongly dependent on their specific basic physical characteristic and the complexity of the situation to be studied, did not show the same effectiveness at the two places.
Traumatic life events as risk factors for psychosis and ICD-11 complex PTSD: a gender-specific examination

ABSTRACT Background: Numerous studies found robust associations between psychosis and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but few have examined the relationships between psychosis and recently formulated ICD-11 Complex PTSD (CPTSD). Further, no known study has examined the effects of different traumatic life events on CPTSD and psychotic-like symptoms in a manner that permits gender-specific effects to be identified. Objective: Using a nationally representative sample of 1,020 Irish adults, we examined gender-differences in (a) psychotic-like symptoms, CPTSD, and exposure to 21 different traumatic life events, and (b) the unique associations between different traumas with CPTSD and Psychosis. Method: Bivariate analyses and structural equation modelling were performed. Results: Consistent with the literature, no gender differences were observed in psychotic-like symptoms. Females reported slightly higher levels of CPTSD and were more likely to be exposed to sexual and emotional abuse, whereas men reported greater exposure to physical violence, accidents, and disasters. Psychosis symptoms were explained by trauma exposure to a considerate degree and at a level similar to CPTSD; a moderate correlation was also found between CPTSD and Psychosis. Physical/emotional neglect was the only traumatic life event that significantly and most strongly predicted both conditions. Two gender-specific associations between different traumatic life events and CPTSD and Psychosis were identified out of the 42 possible effects modelled. Conclusions: The present investigation provides initial evidence that psychotic-like symptoms and CPTSD are moderately correlated constructs in the general population. Results also highlight the importance of conducting a detailed assessment of trauma history for all clients presenting with symptoms of CPTSD, psychosis, or both. HIGHLIGHTS Structural equation modelling of data from 1,020 Irish adults showed symptoms of psychosis and complex posttraumatic stress disorder moderately correlate. Physical emotional neglect was the only traumatic life event that significantly and most strongly predicted both conditions.
FUTURE ADVERTISING IN UBIQUITOUS ENVIRONMENT

The advent of the internet has revolutionized the field of advertising by providing a whole new path for reaching potential customers. Studies show that online advertising is, on the whole, extremely effective and that consumer acceptance of online advertising is comparable to traditional media [1][2] . One of the reasons for the high effectiveness of online advertising is that users interact with the web at a far more personal and intimate level than they interact with other advertising media like the radio or television. Ubiquitous computing environments deal with users at an even more intimate level; hence such environments are even better advertising platforms than the web. Ubiquitous environments allow the delivery of relevant advertising in suitable ways to selected consumers. In this paper, we examine some of the possibilities of Ubiquitous advertising as well as some of the issues involved.
High-performance built-in self-routing for through-silicon vias

In this reported work, a built-in self-routing scheme is developed for exploring the through-silicon via (TSV) redundancy to the extremes. A built-in self-router consists of a built-in self-tester for testing the TSVs, and a priority switching network for selecting from M TSVs to N inter-chip interconnects. A switching cell is developed to sequentially construct the priority switching network for area reduction and synthesis regularity. Although a long latency is needed for the encoding network, the best performance during inter-chip communication can be achieved due to only one switch per tier in normal operations. In a multiple fault model with no more than M-N defected TSVs, the repair rate can be always 100%.
Modelling of MEMS vibratory gyroscopes utilizing phase detection

Modelling of MEMS vibratory gyroscopes utilizing phase detection A.C. Dreyer Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, 7602 Matieland, South Africa Thesis: MScEng (Mech) March 2008 This thesis aims to contribute to the modelling and analysis of MEMS gyroscope technologies. Various gyroscope types are studied, and the phase-based vibratory gyroscope is then selected for further investigation. In the literature, vibratory MEMS gyroscopes are mostly used in a single excitation and amplitude detection mode. However, a dual excitation and phase detection mode has recently been proposed, since phase-based detection, as opposed to amplitude-based detection modes, may be expected to increase measurement accuracy (in turn since improved signal-to-noise ratios may be expected). However, the presented analytical model was relatively crude, and the assumptions made appear unrealistic. Accordingly, in this thesis, an improved analytical model is developed. To describe the dual excitation and phase detection problem more comprehensively, principles of classical dynamics are used herein to investigate the dual excitation of a two degree of freedom spring-mass-damper system subjected to an applied rotation rate. In doing so, an analytical formulation including mechanical coupling effects is extended into a generalized form, after which the amplitude and phase responses of the mechanically uncoupled system are interpreted. The differences between the amplitude and phase measurement techniques are illustrated. Finally, the system is modelled numerically, and the scale factor of a hypothetical device based on the phase-based detection method is optimized, subject to constraints on the nonlinearity of the device, using constrained mathematical optimization techniques. ii Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za