Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Airbag head restraint system

Abstract The function of a head restraint system is to prevent injurious hyperextension of the occupant's neck in the event of a road vehicle rear end impact, and thus it must have adequate stiffness to limit the movement of the head relative to the torso. Also, it should absorb the kinetic energy progressively so that the head does not sustain any injury and does not roll on the cushion. Practically, a well-designed head restraint will have an optimum balance of these features and thereby offer adequate protection for both the head and the neck. This paper presents some pioneering thinking on head restraint design and develops criteria for qualifying the systems. It presents an airbag head restraint system that has optimum stiffness and good potential for reducing head and neck injuries suffered through rear end collisions. It also presents the results of experimental tests conducted on this novel airbag head restraint system and on several randomly selected existing head restraints. Furthermore, analysis of energy absorption capabilities, head injury criterion (HIC) values and a new criterion, called the equivalent impact power criterion (EIPC), is developed in order to quantify the relation between the rate at which energy is imparted to the head during the impact cycle and injury severity. Current test results show that, the lower the EIPC, the better is the head restraint system and the less is the risk of whiplash and head injuries. Moreover, the work has quantified a number of variables, including the optimum stiffness, as the factors governing the severity of injury to the occupant in a rear impact scenario.
Ultra-Low Noise Figure in Optical Fiber Amplifier by Tailoring the Mode Field Profile of Erbium-Doped Fiber

We present a numerical analysis of noise performance improvement of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier by flatting the mode field intensity distribution within the interaction region of erbium ions. Three different refractive index types of erbium-doped fiber were used to study the effect of the pump mode intensity distribution on noise performance. The results show that taking advantage of the depressed refractive index erbium-doped fiber which has a flat mode distribution in the fiber core, the maximum reduction of nearly 0.53 dB for noise figure was achieved across the full C-band. Based on the center depressed refractive index profile, the noise figure was further decreased by about 0.1 dB by reducing the doping radius to 0.71 μm. Finally, maintaining the same gain level of ∼38.3 dB, a NF reduction of ∼0.63 dB was realized by introducing the center depressed refractive index profile and narrowing the erbium doping region. It is suggested that our investigation shows great potential for improving the noise performance of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier.
Managing choice in a disruptive technology

Using results from our study of firms commercializing MEMS-based products, we look at the efficacy of using a real options perspective to manage risk in the area of a disruptive technology. Finns working in an area of disruptive technology, such as Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), are now regularly making choices on projects which focus on discontinuous innovations. Often a discontinuous or radical innovation represents the destruction of traditional core competencies for the sake of new core competencies. These new competencies may have not existed at all, or may have existed only in other marketplaces. In our study of firms commercializing MEMS-based products, we found that most firms had MEMS, products based both inside and outside their core competence. A core competence strategic perspective would have suggested that firms should approach MEMS production from its strengths, producing products mostly by expanding upon their core competence. One possible explanation of this departure from the expected is that these firms, in their dedicated commitment to pursue production of MEMS-based products, were diversifying, therefore creating a 'MEMS-portfolio' as a means of risk management. The risks in this new arena are speculative in nature, making unreliable the traditional probability-based tools using historical data.
Towards a Framework for Scrum Handover Process

In the software industry Agile development methods are in practice at very large scale because of their ability to accommodate the change, yield quick results and provide high level of customer's satisfaction. Scrum is an agile methodology which is used for project management and software development. But release planning, documentation and scrum ceremonies are major challenges while practicing the scrum. At the completion stage of software systems, it is ready for the handover (transition) process, which is a process of transfer of responsibilities of the software system from developers to the maintainers. It is very crucial phase because smooth handover is required to avoid future problems related to the software system. This area needs to be explored more because the very little work has been done in this area. The main aim of this paper is to highlight the need of the handover process model and to suggest a framework which supports the planning and organization of handover, also provides and smooth handover process for scrum practices. We have opted the action research methodology to explore the knowledge and for developing framework. The proposed framework is evaluated through industrial experimentation and results show that the proposed solution is providing the baseline for the smooth handover of system in scrum.
Harmonic distortion in switched-current audio memory cells

Harmonic distortion in switched-current memory cells is investigated, and closed-form equations are presented concerning the effects of threshold voltage mismatch, signal dependent output conductance, and clock injection. We show that output conductance can be the main source of distortion in basic cells, but clock injection is dominant in regulated cascode (RgC), grounded-gate regulated cascode, and Shah-Toumazou cells. Concerning the V-I converter, we show that if this is simply a resistor at the input of either a GGRgC or an RgC Shah-Toumazou cell, the resulting distortion is very low. Our results have been confirmed by SPICE simulations and by measurements made on two 1.2 /spl mu/m CMOS prototype chips.
From Lock-In to Transformation: A Path-Centric Theory of Emerging Technology and Organizing

We offer a path-centric theory of emerging technology and organizing that addresses a basic question. When does emerging technology lead to transformative change? A path-centric perspective on technology focuses on the patterns of actions afforded by technology in use. We identify performing and patterning as self-reinforcing mechanisms that shape patterns of action in the domain of emerging technology and organizing. We use a dynamic simulation to show that performing and patterning can lead to a wide range of trajectories, from lock-in to transformation, depending on how emerging technology in use influences the pattern of action. When emerging technologies afford new actions that can be flexibly recombined to generate new paths, decisive transformative effects are more likely. By themselves, new affordances are not likely to generate transformation. We illustrate this theory with examples from the practice of pharmaceutical drug discovery. The path-centric perspective offers a new way to think about generativity and the role of affordances in organizing.
New product performance in emerging markets: two cases from the Indian passenger car industry

In June 1993, the Government of India opened the automobile sector for entry to foreign auto-manufacturers. One of the first foreign entrants was Automobile Peugeot of France, which set up a joint venture in 1994 with Premier Automobiles Limited, a domestic auto assembler, to manufacture and market the Peugeot 309 in India. In the same year, an Indian truck manufacturer, TELCO, embarked on a project to manufacture and market its passenger Indica, without foreign collaboration. Though resource-constrained in several ways, the Indica was a success, while the Peugeot 309 failed. Here we research these two cases to identify the antecedents to new product success in emerging markets. The emergent model from our study suggests that new product success in emergent markets is strongly linked to market selection and product positioning, (which in turn emanate from 'sense and response capabilities') and integrative capabilities (internal and external) that are driven by strategic intent. Resource/capability gaps appear to have only a weak influence.
Broadband Fabry‐Perot resonator printed antennas using FSS superstrate with dissimilar size

In this paper, the broadband Fabry‐Perot resonator antenna composed of single‐layer FSS superstrate with dissimilar size square patch fed by U‐slotted patch is proposed, which is validated by two cases of samples. It is demonstrated that the common bandwidth for (3 dB directivity‐drop and −10 dB returned loss of the Fabry‐Perot resonator antenna with the tapered FSS superstrate increases by 7.99% to 12.2% for two different cases, as compared to that of previously single layer FSS with similar size. At the same time the side‐lobe level of antenna can also be improved.The simulated and measured results are good agreement each other. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 1623–1627, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23456
Unsupervised Deep Learning for Landslide Detection from Multispectral Sentinel-2 Imagery

This paper proposes a new approach based on an unsupervised deep learning (DL) model for landslide detection. Recently, supervised DL models using convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been widely studied for landslide detection. Even though these models provide robust performance and reliable results, they depend highly on a large labeled dataset for their training step. As an alternative, in this paper, we developed an unsupervised learning model by employing a convolutional auto-encoder (CAE) to deal with the problem of limited labeled data for training. The CAE was used to learn and extract the abstract and high-level features without using training data. To assess the performance of the proposed approach, we used Sentinel-2 imagery and a digital elevation model (DEM) to map landslides in three different case studies in India, China, and Taiwan. Using minimum noise fraction (MNF) transformation, we reduced the multispectral dimension to three features containing more than 80% of scene information. Next, these features were stacked with slope data and NDVI as inputs to the CAE model. The Huber reconstruction loss was used to evaluate the inputs. We achieved reconstruction losses ranging from 0.10 to 0.147 for the MNF features, slope, and NDVI stack for all three study areas. The mini-batch K-means clustering method was used to cluster the features into two to five classes. To evaluate the impact of deep features on landslide detection, we first clustered a stack of MNF features, slope, and NDVI, then the same ones plus with the deep features. For all cases, clustering based on deep features provided the highest precision, recall, F1-score, and mean intersection over the union in landslide detection.
Nanocoating Is a New Way for Biofouling Prevention

Biofouling is a major concern to the maritime industry. Biofouling increases fuel consumption, accelerates corrosion, clogs membranes and pipes, and reduces the buoyancy of marine installations, such as ships, platforms, and nets. While traditionally marine installations are protected by toxic biocidal coatings, due to recent environmental concerns and legislation, novel nanomaterial-based anti-fouling coatings are being developed. Hybrid nanocomposites of organic-inorganic materials give a possibility to combine the characteristics of both groups of material generating opportunities to prevent biofouling. The development of bio-inspired surface designs, progress in polymer science and advances in nanotechnology is significantly contributing to the development of eco-friendly marine coatings containing photocatalytic nanomaterials. The review mainly discusses photocatalysis, antifouling activity, and formulation of coatings using metal and metal oxide nanomaterials (nanoparticles, nanowires, nanorods). Additionally, applications of nanocomposite coatings for inhibition of micro- and macro-fouling in marine environments are reviewed.
PERSEVERING FOR A CRUEL AND CYNICAL FICTION? THE EXPERIENCES OF THE ‘LOW ACHIEVERS’ IN PRIMARY SCHOOLING

ABSTRACT This paper is significant in its exploration of the experiences of children designated as ‘lower-attaining’ in British primary schooling. It is underpinned by Nancy Fraser’s conceptualisation of a global shift from government via nation-state welfare structures to governance through supra-national financialised neoliberalism. Within this context, we take the innovative path of investigating how ‘lower-attaining’ children explain perseverance with hard work at school within neoliberalism’s ‘cruel and cynical fiction’ of social mobility. Our extended interviews with 23 ‘lower-attaining’ children over two years provide findings which indicate – with a startling vividness – that these particular children experienced loneliness at school and blamed themselves for being inadequate and inferior. Fear appeared to be an essential component of their schooling system and sometimes elicited from them anger as well as humiliation. In particular, these children feared being assessed and sorted according to attainment. We propose that these factors often led the ‘lower-attaining’ children to experience schooling as at least uncomfortable. And yet they came to accept as fact the fiction that they were inadequate; and to perceive that perseverance in conforming to schooling’s rules was their only chance of not slipping out of the race altogether.
Contribuições Não-Hegemônicas do Programa Escala Gestores y Administradores para a Internacionalização da Universidade

Com base nos pressupostos teóricos da modernidade/colonialidade e nos estudos que problematizam o fenômeno da internacionalização da educação superior, busca-se, neste artigo, significar as experiências de técnicos administrativos da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) que realizaram mobilidade de curta duração em universidades latino-americanas. Essa mobilidade ocorreu pelo Programa Escala Gestores y Administradores da Asociación de Universidades Grupo Montevideo (AUGM). Para isso, desenvolve-se um estudo de caso, com dados coletados por entrevistas com os oito participantes da UFSC nos anos de 2017 e 2018. A interpretação dos relatos aponta que suas experiências transcendem o discurso hegemônico e colonial da internacionalização. Constata-se a ênfase na história, na diversidade e no cotidiano dos sujeitos que integram as universidades públicas latino-americanas, que se distancia daquela orientada a suprir as demandas do mercado mundial capitalista.
The dairy control and management system in the robotic milking farm

The research and development described in this thesis was directed towards the technical and managerial integration of the milking robot into the dairy farm. First a concept and tools for the milking robot dairy farm were developed. A set of parameters was introduced which represents the individual cow's production and behaviour pattern in addition to herd and automatic milking system capacity characteristics. Then, a series of three field tests was conducted to validate the automatic milking system management concept, and the tools for its implementation. The aim was to assign an individual milking frequency and concentrates supplementation regime to each dairy cow in a loose housing system. Attention was focused on the implementation of an individual production and behaviour-based strategy, using cow traffic, milking frequency and individual concentrates allocation as the control tools. in all field tests, the milking robot was available for milking and concentrates allocation for 24 hours a day. The cows visited voluntarily a selection unit which was installed before the milking robot, where an on-line milking and concentrates allocation decision was made. In the first and second field tests, cows were milked between two to five times daily, based on daily fixed and pre-determined milking frequency and concentrates allocation. In the third field test the daily milking frequency, two to six times daily, and concentrates allocation were based on frequent evaluation of cow behaviour and production performance. The methods and results described can be used as management guidelines for the loose housing milking robot dairy farm.
Do Neurotrophins Connect Neurological Disorders and Heart Diseases?

Neurotrophins (NTs) are one of the most characterized neurotrophic factor family members and consist of four members in mammals. Growing evidence suggests that there is a complex inter- and bi-directional relationship between central nervous system (CNS) disorders and cardiac dysfunction, so-called “brain–heart axis”. Recent studies suggest that CNS disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases, stroke, and depression, affect cardiovascular function via various mechanisms, such as hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis augmentation. Although this brain–heart axis has been well studied in humans and mice, the involvement of NT signaling in the axis has not been fully investigated. In the first half of this review, we emphasize the importance of NTs not only in the nervous system, but also in the cardiovascular system from the embryonic stage to the adult state. In the second half, we discuss the involvement of NTs in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, and then examine whether an alteration in NTs could serve as the mediator between neurological disorders and heart dysfunction. The further investigation we propose herein could contribute to finding direct evidence for the involvement of NTs in the axis and new treatment for cardiovascular diseases.
Efficacy of Ursolic Acid-Enriched Water-Soluble and Not Cytotoxic Nanoparticles against Enterococci

Ursolic acid (UA), a pentacyclic triterpenoid acid found in many medicinal plants and aromas, is known for its antibacterial effects against multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Gram-positive bacteria, which seriously threaten human health. Unfortunately, UA water-insolubility, low bioavailability, and systemic toxicity limit the possibilities of its application in vivo. Consequently, the beneficial activities of UA observed in vitro lose their potential clinical relevance unless water-soluble, not cytotoxic UA formulations are developed. With a nano-technologic approach, we have recently prepared water-soluble UA-loaded dendrimer nanoparticles (UA-G4K NPs) non-cytotoxic on HeLa cells, with promising physicochemical properties for their clinical applications. In this work, with the aim of developing a new antibacterial agent based on UA, UA-G4K has been tested on different strains of the Enterococcus genus, including marine isolates, toward which UA-G4K has shown minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) very low (0.5–4.3 µM), regardless of their resistance to antibiotics. Time-kill experiments, in addition to confirming the previously reported bactericidal activity of UA against E. faecium, also established it for UA-G4K. Furthermore, cytotoxicity experiments on human keratinocytes revealed that nanomanipulation of UA significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of UA, providing UA-G4K NPs with very high LD50 (96.4 µM) and selectivity indices, which were in the range 22.4–192.8, depending on the enterococcal strain tested. Due to its physicochemical and biological properties, UA-G4K could be seriously evaluated as a novel oral-administrable therapeutic option for tackling difficult-to-treat enterococcal infections.
DRD4 Exon 3 Gene Polymorphisms in Patients Diagnosed with Polysubstance Use Disorder and Co-Occurrence of a Depressive Episode

Background: There has been a noticeable and systematic growth of the use of psychoactive substances over the past few decades. Dual diagnosis is a clinical term referring to the occurrence of psychoactive substance use disorder comorbid with another psychiatric disorder in the same person. The most common type of dual diagnosis is the co-occurrence of alcohol use disorder and mood disorders in the form of a depressive episode. Co-occurrent substance use disorders are frequently influenced by genetic factors. In selecting our area of research, we focused on dopamine and the DRD4 (Dopamine Receptor D4) gene polymorphism as well as associations with personality features. The aim of the study: The aim of the study was to compare DRD4 exon 3 (DRD4 Ex3) gene polymorphisms in patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder and co-occurrence of a depressive episode to DRD4 exon 3 gene polymorphisms in patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder and without co-occurrence of a depressive episode and a group of healthy volunteers. The study also aimed at establishing associations between personality features and DRD4 exon 3 gene polymorphisms of male patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder with co-occurrence of a depressive episode which may present a specific endophenotype of this group of patients. Methods: The study group comprised 602 male volunteers: patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder comorbid with a depressive episode (PUD MDD) (n = 95; mean age = 28.29, standard deviation (SD) = 7.40), patients diagnosed with polysubstance use disorder (PUD) (n = 206; mean age = 28.13, SD = 5.97), and controls (n = 301; mean age = 22.13, SD = 4.57). The patients and control subjects were diagnosed by a psychiatrist using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaires. An analysis of the DRD4 exon 3 polymorphism was performed. Results: The patients diagnosed with PUD MDD compared to the control group of healthy volunteers showed significantly higher scores on both the STAI status and features scale and the NEO-FFI Neuroticism and Openness Scale, as well as lower scores on the Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness NEO-FFI scales. In the DRD4 exon 3 gene polymorphism, the s allele was more frequent in the PUD MDD compared to the l allele, which was less frequent. The results of the 2 × 3 factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) in patients and controls and the variant DRD4 exon 3 interaction were found on the Extraversion Scale and the Conscientiousness Scale of the NEO-FFI. Conclusions: The associations show that psychological factors combined with genetic data create a new area of research on addiction, including the problem of dual diagnosis. However, we want to be careful and draw no definite conclusions at this stage of our research.
Organizational Routine Affection in Supply Chain Management

This paper discusses the affection of routine which is an informal institutional factor in supply chain management. First the disadvantage and limitations are found out based on analysis of supply chain management from industrial engineering view. Secondly, the effects of organization routines in automobile plant are introduced. The result shows organization routine plays an important role as formal institutions in supply chain system.
Parallel Structures and Their Applications in Reconfigurable Machining Systems

Reconfigurable Machine Tools (RMTs), assembled from machine modules such as spindles, slides and worktables are designed to be easily reconfigured to accommodate new machining requirements. Their goal is to provide exactly the capacity and functionality, exactly when needed. In this paper, we present a novel parallely-actuated work-support module as a part of an RMT to meet the machining requirements of specific features on a family of automotive cylinder heads. A prototype of the proposed module is designed/built and experimental results regarding its performance are presented.