Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study on Determination of Electrical Impedance and Frequency Characteristics of a Subway System Using Finite Element Analysis

The paper provides a description of the analysis of a subway system (track-in-tunnel) by using FEM analysis and comparing to classical analytical approaches by Carson, Pollaczek, Bickford and Tylavsky.Reviews of methods to determine self and mutual impedance for electrified railroads are provided. These methods include frequency response and are directly applicable to a three-rail track DC track system.The analytic impedance models are built on Carson-Pollaczek–Bickford equations, adjusted by Tylavsky, for two situations: when the ground is perfectly insulated and when considering the earth return current. For the latter, the authors assume a return current path only through the tunnel concrete structure below the railway track support structure. The model is extended by considering the effects of the soil beneath under tunnel as a conductor.The solution of finite element method (FEM) applied for the determination of impedance for the three-rail track subway train configuration, modeled and examined, consists of computational analysis based upon minimizing the energy of electromagnetic field.The paper continues by examining the frequency effects on the track and system. The track/trolley model developed by Tylavsky was modified such that the trolley feeder is provided by the power rail and used to calculate the return current through the traction rails. The subway train, supplied with a rectified DC power, is subjected to a significant harmonic content, which may affect the signal and control circuits.Both experimental data and preliminary analytical and numerical calculations are presented, showing the variation of resistances and inductances of the running track with the current magnitude and frequency response. In the study, a large frequency range was considered (15Hz to 5000Hz) in order to cover all of the significant frequencies used for control and signal systems in common tracks configurations, and for which measurements have been carried. It is then shown that the power and signaling characteristics of the modeled system can predict the magnitude of the perturbation current for different values of frequency. The current density profile is illustrated for the case of a concrete tunnel structure in a subway application.The last section consists of a discussion regarding future developments and further work. © 2013 ASME
Food insecurity, psychological distress and alcohol use: understanding the salience of family roles for gender disparities

ABSTRACT The goal of this paper was to expand upon research documenting the adverse mental health effects of food insecurity by assessing the explanatory role of gender differences in family roles and arrangements among a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults. Using data from the combined 2011–2012 and 2013–2014 cycles of The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we estimated a series of models using adult food insecurity measures and self-reported gender as main predictors of depressive symptoms and alcohol use. Our results demonstrate that marriage is protective against greater depressive symptomatology among women and men, and higher alcohol consumption among men. However, the protective effects of marriage against high alcohol use are reduced within the context of food insecurity among men. Further, the results indicate that parenthood is protective against greater depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption among women, but not men. The protective effects of having children are, however, diminished among women in food insecure households. These findings add to the growing literature on the mental health consequences of household food insecurity, and extend this work by clarifying ways in which family roles come to bear on gender differences in the association between food insecurity and psychological and behavioural outcomes.
Own-Brand and Cross-Brand Retail Pass-Through

In this paper we describe the pass-through behavior of a major U.S. supermarket chain for 78 products across 11 categories. Our data set includes retail prices and wholesale prices for stores in 15 retail price zones for a one-year period. For the empirical model, we use a reduced-form approach that focuses directly on equilibrium prices as a function of exogenous supply-and demand-shifting variables. The reduced-form approach enables us to identify the theoretical pass-through rate without specific assumptions about the form of consumer demand or the conduct of a category-pricing manager. Thus, our measurements of pass-through are not constrained by specific structure on the underlying economic model. The empirical pricing model includes costs of all competing products in the category on the right-hand side not only the cost of the focal brand and yields estimates of both own-brand and cross-brand pass-through rates. Our results provide a rich picture of the retailer's pass-through behavior. We find that pass-through varies substantially across products and across categories. Own-brand pass-through rates are, on average, more than 60% for 9 of 11 categories, a finding that is at odds with the claims of manufacturers about retailers in general. Importantly, we find substantial evidence of cross-brand pass-through effects, indicating that retail prices of competing products are adjusted in response to a change in the wholesale price of any given product in the category. We find that cross-brand pass-through rates are both positive and negative. We explore determinants of own-brand and cross-brand pass-through rates and find strong evidence in multiple categories of asymmetric retailer response to trade promotions on large versus small brands. For example, brands with larger market shares, and brands that contribute more to retailer profits in the category, receive higher pass-through. We also find that trade promotions on large brands are less likely than small brands to generate positive cross-brand pass-through, i.e., induce the retailer to reduce the retail price of competing smaller products. On the other hand, small share brands are disadvantaged along three dimensions. Trade promotions on small brands receive low own-brand pass-through and generate positive cross-brand pass-through for larger competing brands. Moreover, small share brands do not receive positive cross pass-through from trade promotions on these larger competitors. We also find that store brands are similarly disadvantaged with respect to national brands.
Phonetic structure in Yoloxóchitl Mixtec consonants

While Mixtec languages are well-known for their tonal systems, there remains relatively little work focusing on their consonant inventories. This paper provides an in-depth phonetic description of the consonant system of the Yoloxóchitl Mixtec language (Oto-Manguean, ISO 639-3 code xty), a Guerrero Mixtec variety. The language possesses a number of contrasts common among Mixtec languages, such as voiceless unaspirated stops, prenasalized stops, and a strong tendency for words to conform to a minimally bimoraic structure. Using a controlled set of data, we focus on how word size and word position influence the acoustic properties of different consonant types. We examine closure duration, VOT, and formant transitions with the stop series, spectral moments with the fricative series, the timing between oral and nasal closure with the prenasalized stop series, and both formant transitions and qualitative variability with the glide series. The general effect of word size is discussed in relation to work on polysyllabic shortening (Turk & Shattuck-Hufnagel 2000) and demonstrates the importance of prosodic templates in Mixtec languages (Macken & Salmons 1997). The prenasalized stop data provides evidence that such stops are best analyzed as allophones of nasal consonants preceding oral vowels (as per Marlett 1992) and not as hypervoiced variants of voiced stops (as per Iverson & Salmons 1996).
Exact and Monte Carlo study of adsorption of a self-interacting polymer chain for a family of three-dimensional fractals

We study the problem of adsorption of self-interacting linear polymers situated in fractal containers that belong to the three-dimensional (3D) Sierpinski gasket (SG) family of fractals. Each member of the 3D SG fractal family has a fractal impenetrable 2D adsorbing surface (which is, in fact, 2D SG fractal) and can be labelled by an integer b (2 ≤ b ≤ ∞). By applying the exact and Monte Carlo renormalization group (MCRG) method, we calculate the critical exponents ν (associated with the mean-squared end-to-end distance of polymers) and (associated with the number of adsorbed monomers), for a sequence of fractals with 2 ≤ b ≤ 4 (exactly) and 2 ≤ b ≤ 40 (Monte Carlo). We find that both ν and monotonically decrease with increasing b (that is, with increase of the container fractal dimension df), and the interesting fact that both functions, ν(b) and (b), cross the estimated Euclidean values. Besides, we establish the phase diagrams, for fractals with b = 3 and b = 4, which reveal the existence of six different phases that merge together at a multi-critical point, whose nature depends on the value of the monomer energy in the layer adjacent to the adsorbing surface.
Moonlighting, Harm? : Student Perception of the Effect of Moonligthing, Achievement Motivation on Lecturer Performance

This study aims to determine students 'perceptions of the term moonlighting lecturers and find out the effect of moonlinghting on lecturers' performance which is mediated by achievement motivation. This study uses quantitative methods with path analysis based on data from 145 student respondents in private universities in Jeneponto Regency. The results of the study showed that students perceive moonlighting as a natural thing for lecturers to do as an alternative to meet the needs of lecturers. The findings indicate that moonlighting has a significant positive indirect effect which is mediated by the achievement motivation of lecturers on the performance of
MOOC as semester-long entrance exam

MOOCs (massive open online courses) became a hugely popular topic in both academic and non-academic discussions in 2012. Many of the offered MOOCs are somewhat "watered-down versions" of the actual courses given by the MOOC professors at their home universities. At the University of Helsinki, Department of Computer Science, our MOOC on introductory programming is exactly the same course as our first programming course on campus. Our MOOC uses the Extreme Apprenticeship (XA) model for programming education, thus ensuring that students are proceeding step-by-step in the desired direction. As an additional twist, we have used our MOOC as an entrance exam to studies in University of Helsinki. In this paper, we compare the student achievement after one year of studies between two cohorts: the MOOC intake (n=38) and the intake that started their studies during the fall (n=68). The results indicate that student achievement is at least as good on the MOOC intake when compared to the normal intake. An additional benefit is that the students admitted via MOOC are less likely to drop out from their studies during their first year.
A Comparative Study of the Epidemiological Aspects of Legionnaires’ Disease: Outbreaks in Korea and Japan, 2010 - 2014

Background In the present study, we compared the epidemiological aspects of Legionnaire’ disease (LD) outbreaks in Korea and Japan by analyzing the current state from 2010 to 2014. Methods The following factors were analyzed: nationwide cumulative incidence rate (CIR) per 100,000 populations and case-fatality rate in percentage, epidemiological aspects (i.e., case related to gender), male to female morbidity ratio (MFMR), age, seasonality and habitat distribution of LD cases. Results In total, there were 134 cases of LD with the CIR of 0.05 per 100,000 populations in Korea from 2010 to 2014. During the same period in Japan, there were 4,840 cases of LD with a CIR of 0.76 per 100,000 populations. The CIR in Japan was significantly higher than that in Korea. However, the case-fatality rates were at similar levels (3.0% vs. 5.9%). Moreover, LD affects both sexes differently, accounting for 2.05 and 4.41 of MFMR in Korea and Japan, respectively. In both countries, the incidence mainly occurred among people aged 40 years or older, and peaked in summer (37.3% vs. 33.7% of total cases). Significant differences were observed in the incidence of LD cases between the capital city and county areas in both two countries. These differences in LD risk factors reflect the different influences of reservoir/host with natural or artificial aquatic environments. Conclusion This study provides a quantitative analysis of the epidemiological aspects and risk factors of LD outbreaks in Korea and Japan. We hope this study would be helpful for providing insight on effective future strategies to reduce LD outbreaks.
THE IMPACT OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: A CASE STUDY OF ESCON CONSULTING

The study focuses on the impact of training and development on employee performance at ESCON. Training and development is a critical process, which seeks to improve the performance of workers in the organisation. In order to form competent committees, employees’ relevant expertise and intellectual capacity needs to be improved. Some of the projects executed by ESCON fail at an embryonic stage owing to the fact that tenders are awarded to the lowest priced contractor. Moreover, the ineffectiveness of training and development of employees in the organisation reduces the organisation’s productivity, as organisations depend on having people with the right skills, attitudes and capabilities in order to reach goals effectively. A random sampling method was used to select participants for this study, which adopted a quantitative approach. Accordingly, data was collected using a questionnaire. The study was limited to employees of ESCON. Subsequently, the findings revealed that working conditions and a lack of resources affect the training and development of employees. It is recommended that certain areas be improved, that is, management support, the provision of feedback to employees and the conducting of employee training on a continuous basis. The findings show that this would improve employee performance in the organisation.
Facilitating Social Media and Offline Political Engagement During Electoral Cycles: Using Social Cognitive Theory to Explain Political Action Among Hispanics and Latinos

Two interacting forces are subtly shifting the nature of American democracy—the public’s increased use of social media for political information and meaningful changes in the demographic characteristics of the country. This study specifically examined ways in which social media use for political purposes could leverage greater offline political participation among Hispanics and Latinos—a rapidly growing segment of the population. Using social cognitive theory, this study evaluated features of users’ social media network and social media behaviors that can facilitate greater political participation both online and offline. Results indicate that individuals’ social media network expression and social media political expression experiences influence users’ social media political efficacy, social media political expression, and eventually their offline political engagement. Special attention is given to the role of social media political efficacy in promoting broad forms of social media political expression and offline engagement for Hispanics and Latinos.
Historical Trends in Mean and Extreme Runoff and Streamflow Based on Observations and Climate Models

To understand changes in global mean and extreme streamflow volumes over recent decades, we statistically analyzed runoff and streamflow simulated by the WBM-plus hydrological model using either observational-based meteorological inputs from WATCH Forcing Data (WFD), or bias-corrected inputs from five global climate models (GCMs) provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP). Results show that the bias-corrected GCM inputs yield very good agreement with the observation-based inputs in average magnitude of runoff and streamflow. On global average, the observation-based simulated mean runoff and streamflow both decreased about 1.3% from 1971 to 2001. However, GCM-based simulations yield increasing trends over that period, with an inter-model global average of 1% for mean runoff and 0.9% for mean streamflow. In the GCM-based simulations, relative changes in extreme runoff and extreme streamflow (annual maximum daily values and annual-maximum seven-day streamflow) are slightly greater than those of mean runoff and streamflow, in terms of global and continental averages. Observation-based simulations show increasing trend in mean runoff and streamflow for about one-half of the land areas and decreasing trend for the other half. However, mean and extreme runoff and streamflow based on the GCMs show increasing trend for approximately two-thirds of the global land area and decreasing trend for the other one-third. Further work is needed to understand why GCM simulations appear to indicate trends in streamflow that are more positive than those suggested by climate observations, even where, as in ISI-MIP, bias correction has been applied so that their streamflow climatology is realistic.
The medial temporal lobes are critical for reward‐based decision making under conditions that promote episodic future thinking

In the present study, we investigated the effect of medial temporal lobe (MTL) damage on human decision making in the context of reward‐based intertemporal choice. During intertemporal choice, humans typically devalue (or discount) a future reward to account for its delayed arrival (e.g., preferring $30 now over $42 in 2 months), but this effect is attenuated when participants engage in episodic future thinking, i.e., project themselves into the future to imagine a specific event. We hypothesized that this attenuation would be selectively impaired in amnesic patients, who have deficits in episodic future thinking. Replicating previous work, in a standard intertemporal choice task, amnesic patients showed temporal discounting indices similar to healthy controls. Consistent with our hypothesis, while healthy controls demonstrated attenuated temporal discounting in a condition that required participants first to engage in episodic future thinking (e.g., to imagine spending $42 at a theatre in 2 months), amnesic patients failed to demonstrate this effect. Moreover, as expected, amnesic patients' narratives were less episodically rich than those of controls. These findings extend the range of tasks that are shown to be MTL dependent to include not only memory‐based decision‐making tasks but also future‐oriented ones. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
T wave and QRS complex alternans during standard diagnostic stress ECG test

The aim of the present work was to study and analyse the presence of both T wave and QRS complex alternans (TWA&QRSA) during diagnostic stress ECG test using principal component analysis, and wave amplitude computation on a combined lead. We studied 57 patients at a mean age of 65 ± 12 y, 44% males. 28 of the patients had angiographically significant coronary artery disease (AS_CAD ≥ 50% stenosis of at least 1 epicardial coronary artery). The results showed that patients with positive stress ECG test had significantly higher TWA&QRSA values compared to patients with negative stress test (2.32 versus 1.66, p &#60; 0.001 for TWA and 1.77 versus 1.11, p = 0.003, for QRS). Patients with AS_CAD had significantly higher QRSA, but not TWA, values (1.6 and 1.1, respectively; p = 0.017).
PREFABL: predictors of failure of antibiotic locks for the treatment of catheter-related bacteraemia.

BACKGROUND Antibiotic lock (ABL) solutions can effectively treat catheter-related bacteraemia (CRB) without the need for catheter exchange. This approach does not increase secondary infectious complications. We evaluated the risk factors that contribute to failure when CRB is treated with ABLs and systemic antibiotics in paediatric haemodialysis patients. METHODS A retrospective chart review of 72 children on haemodialysis between January 2004 and June 2006 was performed. We evaluated risk factors for ABL treatment using patients' characteristics, CRB/catheter characteristics and patients' biochemical profiles. The first CRB of each catheter was included in the statistical analysis. Our end points were outcome at 2 weeks of treatment and at 6 weeks following treatment. Compound symmetry covariance structure was employed for statistical analysis. RESULTS We treated 149 CRB in 50 patients. The incidence was 3.4 CRB/1000 catheter days. Thirty CRB failed to be cleared with the use of ABL and systemic antibiotics at 2 weeks of treatment (30/149, 20 vs 80%, P < 0.001). Twenty-four of these catheters required exchange. Thirty-nine of the treated catheters got re-infected within the next 6 weeks (39/125, 31 vs 69%, P < 0.001). CRB aetiology was the only statistically significant independent variable for 2-week outcome (P = 0.033). Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus CRB had higher odds of being cleared at 2 weeks compared with other CRB aetiologies. For the 6-week outcome, the statistically significant independent variables in the final model included age (P = 0.048) and serum phosphorous level (P < 0.001). Younger age and higher serum phosphorous levels were independent risk factors for failure at 6 weeks with re-infection. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the model of the 2-week outcome was 0.736 with the percentage of correct predictions at 81.2%. Area under the ROC curve for the model of the 6-week outcome was 0.689 with the percentage of correct predictions at 75.5%. CONCLUSIONS CRB can effectively be treated with ABLs and systemic antibiotics. CRB aetiology is the only independent variable of early treatment failure. Younger age and higher serum phosphorous levels are independent risk factors for re-infection at 6 weeks.
Patient-reported adherence to coprescribed proton pump inhibitor gastroprotection in osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis patients using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Background Patients with osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are commonly treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sometimes with a concomitant gastroprotective proton pump inhibitor (PPI). The present study examines real-life patient adherence to PPIs when coprescribed with NSAIDs. Methods This retrospective medical record survey identified patients diagnosed with OA, RA, or AS who had PPIs coprescribed with NSAIDs for prevention of NSAID-associated gastrointestinal ulcers. Actual NSAID and PPI intake was retrospectively recorded using a self-reported questionnaire. Adherence to PPI treatment was assessed using descriptive statistics. Results In total, 96 patients (69% female, mean age 67 years, 72% OA, 16% RA, 12% AS) were included. The mean patient-reported adherence to coprescribed PPIs was 73%–81%. The percentage of patients with a self-reported adherence of ≤80% was 26%. No predictive factors for low adherence could be identified. Conclusion Despite doctors’ instructions to use PPIs concomitantly with NSAIDs, the mean patient-reported adherence to coprescribed PPIs in this population indicates a risk of a “gastroprotective treatment gap”. The patients’ adherence to gastroprotective PPIs for the prevention of NSAID-associated upper gastrointestinal ulcers can be improved.