Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perception, planning, and control for walking on rugged terrain

The CMU Planetary Rover project is developing a six-legged walking robot capable of autonomously navigating, exploring, and acquiring samples in rugged, unknown environments. To gain experience with the problems involved in walking on rugged terrain, a full-scale prototype leg was built and mounted on a carriage that rolls along overhead rails. Issues addressed in developing the software system to autonomously walk the leg through rugged terrain are described. In particular, the insights gained into perceiving and modeling rugged terrain, controlling the legged mechanism, interacting with the ground, choosing safe yet effective footfalls, and planning efficient leg moves through space are described.
Optimisation of the Output of a Heaving Wave Energy Converter

This research project is to investigate the control of the wave power device, known as the ? Manchester Bobber? (MB), and to optimise the output by tuning its drive-train parameters. The work starts with building a numerical model and developing a control strategy. The work sequentially progressed to obtain the experimental results from a physical model in order to make a comparison with the numerical results.An assessment of three different control strategies is made. These are reactive control, latching control, and two methods of torque control based on either time-averaged velocity or a pre-defined static characteristic. It is found that reactive control and latching control are not feasibly applicable to the MB wave energy device due to the configuration of the device. It is also found that the historical data approach is able to reduce the problem of high rate of change of electromagnetic torque but with a subdued output performance. A method based on a static characteristic, similar to the approach used to control wind turbines, is shown to significantly enhance the power output performance although this imposes a high rate of change of electromagnetic torque.The findings of the numerical simulation are supported by experimental measurements obtained in the wave tank. The parameters used in the numerical model (i.e. hydrodynamic damping co-efficient, added mass co-efficient and Froude-Krylov force co-efficient) are calibrated by comparing with the experimental measurements.Two drive-train parameters, the number of generator poles and flywheel inertia, are optimised in order to both maximise output power and minimise rate of change of electromagnetic torque. The proportional gain and integral time constant of the PI controller are tuned to further reduce the maximum rate of change of electromagnetic torque, so that the device is protected from the high mechanical stress. It is found that the annual energy production from the device at a range of locations is found to be almost linear with the annual average significant wave height of each site.
Human resource management in the leisure industry

"Human Resource Management for the Leisure Industry" provides practical guidance on how to create a highly skilled workforce who can adapt and cope with the future changes within the leisure industry. The manual is designed to help leisure managers review their current practice of people management as well as other human resource issues such as manpower planning, recruitment, selection and training. It leads managers through a series of 50 steps allowing them to assess at each stage how recommended activities and practices contribute to the objectives of their organisation and includes various practical case studies. Folowing an overview of trends in human resource management and their implications for the leisure industry, the guide takes the reader through a number of steps they can take which directly link decisions about staff to the overall objectives of the business. The practical steps are grouped into key sections which follow a logical sequence: the organisation mission, culture and structure; matching people to organisations; recruiting and selecting the right people; developing staff; rewarding staff; employee rights under law; putting a value on investing in people; how has organisation changed? By the close of the book, the reader will have been introduced to good practice in the wide field of human resource management as well as being in a position to use them strategically.
Synthesis and Rapid Prototyping of Motion for A Four-Legged Mammal-Structured Robot

This paper presents an innovative motion synthesis method for a quadruped robot, which involves a simultaneous transfer of two of the robot's legs, along with its body. Motion synthesis is carried out for straight-line and rotational motion. The solution to the inverse kinematics problem of the robot's legs is given, which makes it possible to determine their articulated angles. The motion synthesis takes the robot’s center of gravity and zero moment point into consideration. The robot's motion simulation results are presented. Experimental research was carried out by rapid prototyping method i.e. using a multifunctional card and the Real Time Windows Target toolbox in an environment similar to the one used during simulation research, which makes research process fast and easy. The conducted simulation and experimental research verified the correctness of the proposed innovative motion synthesis method.
Women’s Status and Empowerment within the Household as a Determinant of Adequate Antenatal Care Visits in Malawi. A Population-Based Study

Background Research has linked women status and empowerment to an improved health status of the general population. However, there is a deficiency of pragmatic data to support how females’ position within the household may impact adequate antenatal care (ANC) visits in Malawi. Therefore, this study explored whether the women’s status and empowerment influence adequate ANC visits in Malawi.Methods The current study sampled and analyzed ever-married women of reproductive age from the 2010 and 2015–16 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys (MDHS). The two-level multilevel multivariable analyses were performed by means of the generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to investigate the relationships between the women’s status and empowerment within the household and adequate ANC visits while controlling for covariates.Results About 46% and slightly over 50% of participants had adequate ANC visits in 2010 and 2015–16 respectively. The GLMMs shows that women with no formal education (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54–0.94) and primary education (aOR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.53–0.80) had reduced odds of achieving adequate ANC visits. Additionally, younger women, women from the poorest households, women who did not have access to media and women who resided in the northern region had reduced odds of achieving adequate ANC visits. The GLMMs also revealed variations in the communities with respect to the odds of achieving adequate ANC visits.Conclusion The association of women’s education on adequate ANC visits underscores the need for policymakers’ to think through incorporating education sector in ANC settings to increase health-related knowledge among women of reproductive age in order to inform them of the importance of achieving adequate ANC visits.
Institutional Environment, Economic Performance and Innovation in Turkey

This paper investigates the relationship between economic performance and innovation in Turkey, while also taking into account the crucial mediating effect of the institutional environment. We carry out an in-depth analysis of the recent shifts in STI policy making in Turkey. The emphasis is on the innovation support policy instruments, and their effectiveness, as well as on the formulation of national STI targets, sector priorities and targets in the field of human resources. A number of concerns are expressed for the effectiveness of policy instruments and for the attainability of national STI targets. In the second part using firm-level data from an innovation survey pertaining to 2008-2010, an econometric exercise is conducted in order to test for the effectiveness of innovation support in Turkey. Innovation support is treated alternatively as an exogenous and endogenous variable. Findings indicate a positive impact innovation support in general. Innovation support granted by local authorities is not effective while EU-funded projects lead to innovation although they constitute an extremely low share of total innovation supports.
Bipolar and bipolar-MOS integration

The context, P.A. H. Hart Fundamental equations, P.A. Gough Bipolar transistor physics, G.A.M. Hurkx Transistor modelling, P.A. H. Hart Technology, P.A. H. Hart Process simulation, K.J. van Oostrum Interconnection, P.A. H. Hart Integration and its components, P.A. H. Hart Power and high voltage ICs, P.A. H. Hart, A.W. Ludikhuize Some physical constants.
Association of Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Cirrhosis Presented with COVID-19

Objective: To determine the association of adverse outcomes in term of mortality in patients with cirrhosis presented with coronavirus disease. Study Design: Retrospective/observational study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medicine, Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana from 1st March 2019 to 31st December 2020. Methodology: Two hundred and twenty covid-19 patients of both genders with or without chronic liver disease were enrolled in this study. Patients were categorized in to two groups. Group A (with cirrhosis 60 patients) and group B (without cirrhosis 60 patients). Outcomes in term of mortality between both groups were examined. Results: There were 38 (63.33%) males and 22 (36.67%) were females with mean age 46.14±8.44 years in group A while in group B, 40 (66.67%) and 20 (33.33%) patients were males and females with mean age 45.26±9.34 years. Patients with cirrhosis had high mortality rate as compared to patients without cirrhosis (33.33% Vs 13.33%) with p-value 0.0001. Conclusion: A significant association of adverse outcomes was found in cirrhotic patients with coronavirus disease. Keywords: Chronic Liver Disease, Corvid-19, Mortality
Optimal Replacement Strategies for Wind Energy Systems

Motivated by rising energy prices, global climate change, escalating demand for electricity and global energy supply uncertainties, the U.S. government has established an ambitious goal of generating 80% of its electricity supply from clean, renewable sources by 2035. Wind energy is poised to play a prominent role in achieving this goal as it is estimated that 20% of the total domestic electricity supply can be reliably generated by land-based and offshore wind turbines by 2030. However, the cost of producing wind energy remains a significant barrier with operating and maintenance (O&M) costs contributing 20 to 47.5% of the total cost of energy. Given the urgent need for clean, renewable energy sources, and the widespread appeal of wind energy as a viable alternative, it is imperative to develop effective techniques to reduce the O&M costs of wind energy. This dissertation presents a framework within which real-time, condition-based data can be exploited to optimally time the replacement of critical wind turbine components. First, hybrid analytical-statistical tools are developed to estimate the current health of the component and approximate the expected time at which it will fail by observing a surrogate signal of degradation. The signal is assumed to evolve as a switching diffusion process, and its parameters are estimated via a novel Markov chain Monte Carlo procedure. Next, the problem of optimally replacing a critical component that resides in a partially-observable environment is addressed. Two models are formulated using a partially-observed Markov decision process (POMDP) framework. The first model ignores the cost of turbine downtime, while the second includes this cost explicitly. For both models, it is shown that a threshold replacement policy is optimal with respect to the cumulative level of component degradation. A third model is presented that considers cases in which the environment is partially observed and degradation measurements are uncertain. A threshold policy is shown to be optimal for a special case of this model. Several numerical examples will illustrate the main results and the value of including environmental observations in the wind energy setting.
A Method of Finding Hidden Key Users Based on Transfer Entropy in Microblog Network

Finding key users in microblog has been a research hotspot in recent years. There are two kinds of key users: obvious and hidden ones. Influence of the former is direct while that of the latter is indirect. Most of existing methods evaluate user's direct influence, so key users they can find usually obvious ones, and their ability to identify hidden key users is very low as hidden ones exert influence in a very covert way. Consequently, the algorithm of finding hidden key users based on topic transfer entropy, called TTE, is proposed. TTE algorithm believes that hidden key users are those normal users possessing a high covert influence on obvious ones. Firstly, obvious key users are discovered based on microblog propagation scale. Then, based on microblogs' topic similarity and time correlation, the transfer entropy from ordinary users' blogs to obvious key users is calculated and used to measure the covert influence. Finally, hidden influence degrees of ordinary users are comprehensively evaluated by combining above indicators with the influence of both ordinary users and obvious ones. We conducted experiments on Sina Weibo, and the results showed that TTE algorithm had a good ability to identify hidden key users.
Customize the Brand: Make it more desirable and profitable

Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. The customized brand introducing the concept. From the mark of a marker to a symbol of desire, and from mass market to customization twice over. Leading the way. Markets fragment, communication and competition increase, less time, more uncertainty. We are all different, but not that different the principles of segmentation. Find the Big Number. The 10 steps to a customized brand. Step 1: know the enemy and the battlefield. Step 2: know your customers. Step 3: know thyself. Step 4: customizing the brand proposition the foundation for a truly desirable brand. Step 5: the foundation for sustainable desirability: the product/service package. Step 6: getting into the customer s hands. Step 7: the price to pay. Step 8: from interesting to just right for me . Step 9: make it move sales promotion in a customized world. Step 10: clinching the deal. A better bottom line. What does it take? Conclusions and summary. Index.
Application for the Visually Impaired People With Voice Assistant

Visual perception, while an important means to navigate the world, can be replaced, as proven and demonstrated by studies on perception in animals, including humans. The system uses the tools and techniques of machine learning to create an application that would help the visually impaired to see thus giving them newfound hope for enjoying the richness and complexity of the world, all the while successfully navigate in it. The android application presented in this paper aims to enable people with visual impairment to live more independently. It uses a smartphone to capture real-time input data, with this approach the user could easily read menu cards in restaurants, hotel room number or even find their belongings. The system can recognize various objects at which the user is looking in its surrounding. The app uses a voice control feedback mechanism through which the user can perform various tasks with the help of his voice.
Development of SIDRA-TRIP Integrated GPS Model to Evaluate Fuel Consumption/Emission on Expressway and Alternative Road

Factors that influence travel planning and route choice decision include route attributes, personal characteristic, trip characteristics, and environment condition. To inform road users with the travel information, a travel planning system requires advanced computers, electrical technologies and robust traffic models. Intelligent transport systems (ITS) are one of the limited responses remaining to reducing traffic congestion in conjunction with collecting traffic data. This study evaluates route attributes which include travel time, travel distance and fuel consumption/emission. Global Positioning System (GPS) was adapted for data collection on an elevated expressway and alternative road. Six probe vehicles were equipped with GPS and data-logger to gather second-by-second travel data such as speed, time and location. The vehicles were also governed to travel on the selected parallel route. Besides riding quality, the paper also examined travel time and distance trajectories and driving cycle to estimate instant fuel consumption and pollutant emissions using the a SIDRA-TRIP integrated GPS model. Second-by-second fuel consumption and pollutant emissions were then estimated. The results showed that fuel consumption and emission outputs travelled on the expressway route were lower than those travelled on the at-grade route. However, the SIDRA-TRIP model is required careful calibration and validation to replicate Thailand’s traffic conditions.
Study on the migration and transformation characteristics of arsenic and antimony in the rhizosphere of plants grown in zinc smelting waste residue

Background: In this paper, the physical and chemical characteristics of the rhizospheres of Broussonetia papyrifera, Cryptomeria fortunei, Arundo donax, Robinia pseudoacacia, Photinia serrulata and Lolium perenne grown in indigenous Zn-smelting waste residue were studied, and the effects of the rhizosphere on the migration and transformation of arsenic and antimony in waste residue were investigated. Results: The results showed that compared with the control waste residue, the pH and Eh of the waste residues from the rhizospheres of the six plants decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content increased significantly (P<0.05). The peak strength of hydroxyl groups, aliphatic groups, aromatic groups, calcite and quartz in the rhizosphere waste residue decreased to different degrees compared with that of the control waste residue, and the peak strength of carbohydrates/organosilicates increased. Overall, the contents of arsenic and antimony in the rhizosphere waste residues of the 6 plants were lower than those of the control waste residue, and the contents of arsenic(III) and antimony(III) were significantly higher than those of arsenic(V) and antimony(V), respectively (P<0.05). The proportions of residual arsenic and antimony in the rhizosphere waste residues were the highest, and the proportion was significantly higher than that of control waste residue, and the proportions of exchangeable state, the aluminum-bound state and the calcium-bound state were lower than that in the control waste residue. The contents of arsenic and antimony in the tissues of the six plants followed the order of roots > leaves > stems, and the enrichment coefficients of arsenic and antimony in different plants were low. Conclusion: After 7 years of phytoremediation, the content and bioavailability of arsenic and antimony in the waste residue were significantly reduced, and the enrichment of arsenic and antimony in plant tissue was also low. It is speculated that the migration of arsenic and antimony in waste residue may increase in the early stage of phytoremediation and gradually stabilize in the later stage.
Energy and Data Conversion Circuits for Low Power Sensory Systems

This dissertation focuses on the problem of increasing the lifetime of wireless sensors. This problem is addressed from two different angles: energy harvesting and data compression. Energy harvesting enables a sensor to extract energy from its environment and use it to power itself or recharge its batteries. Data compression, on the other hand, allows a sensor to save energy by reducing the radio transmission bandwidth. This dissertation proposes a fractal-based photodiode fabricated on standard CMOS process as an energy harvesting device with increased efficiency. Experiments show that, the fractal based photodiodes are 6% more efficient compared to the conventional square shaped photodiode. The fractal shape photodiode has more perimeter-to-area ratio which increases the lateral response, improving its efficiency. With increased efficiency, more current is generated but the open-circuit voltage still remains low (0.3V 0.45V depending on illumination condition). These voltages iii have to be boosted up to higher values if they are going to be used to power up any sensory circuit or recharge a battery. We propose a switched-inductor DC-DC converter to boost the low voltage of the photodiodes to higher voltages. The proposed circuit uses two onchip switches and two off-chip components: an inductor and a capacitor. Experiments show a voltage up to 2.81V can be generated from a single photodiode of 1mm area. The voltage booster circuit achieved a conversion efficiency of 59%. Data compression was also explored in an effort to reduce energy consumption during radio transmission. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which can jointly perform the tasks of digital conversion and entropy encoding, has also been proposed in this dissertation. The joint data conversion/compression help savings in area and power resources, making it suitable for on-sensor compression. The proposed converter combines a cyclic converter architecture and Golomb-Rice entropy encoder. The converter hardware design is based on current-mode circuits and it was fabricated on a 0.5 μm CMOS process and tested. Experiment results show a lossless compression ratio of 1.52 and a near-lossless compression of 5.2 can be achieved for 32× 32 pixel image.
Motivations of the millennial and centennial generations
for the creation of startups

Resumen Algunos motivos para emprender consisten en la aprobación, riqueza, sentido comunitario, desarrollo personal e independencia. El objetivo del estudio fue determinar los factores que influyen en la motivación para el emprendimiento entre los jóvenes de la generación millennial (Y) y centennial (Z). La investigación fue exploratoria, descriptiva no experimental, transversal con enfoque cuantitativo mediante la técnica de encuesta. El Alfa de Cronbach fue de 0.957, siendo el nivel de confiabilidad aceptable. La población de estudio comprendió 167,910 estudiantes entre nivel básico medio, medio superior y superior. La muestra fue determinada por fórmula de poblaciones finitas con un nivel de confianza de 95% y un margen de error de 6%, dando como resultado 265 elementos, dicha cifra fue divida en dos partes, 133 correspondientes a la generación millennial y 132 de la centennial. El muestreo fue dirigido y el trabajo de campo se realizó durante agosto y septiembre de 2019.
Survey of product-line verification and validation techniques

This report presents the results from the first task of the SARP Center Initiative, 'Product Line Verification of Safety-Critical Software. ' Task 1 is a literature survey of available techniques for product line verification and validation. Section 1 of the report provides an introduction to product lines and motivates the survey of verification techniques. It describes what is reused in product-line engineering and explains the goal of verifiable conformance of the developed system to its product-line specifications. Section 2 of the report describes six lifecycle steps in product-line verification and validation. This description is based on, and refers to, the best practices extracted from the readings. It ends with a list of verification challenges for NASA product lines (2.7) and verification enablers for NASA product lines (2.8) derived from the survey. Section 3 provides resource lists of related conferences, workshops, industrial and defense industry experiences and case studies of product lines, and academic/industrial consortiums. Section 4 is a bibliography of papers and tutorials with annotated entries for relevant papers not previously discussed in sections 2 or 3.