Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving materials management on construction projects

An essential factor adversely affecting the performance of construction projects is the improper handling of materials during site activities. Materials management is made problematic by materials shortages, delays in supply, price fluctuations, damage and wastage, and lack of storage space. In addition, paper-based reports are mostly used to record and exchange information related to the materials component within a supply chain which is problematic, error-prone, and inefficient. Generally, modern technologies are not being adequately used to overcome human error and are not well integrated with project management systems to make the tracking and management of materials easier and faster. Thus, this research focuses on the development of a mechanism to improve materials management on construction projects through the integration of materials tracking and resource modelling systems. A multi-facetted research approach was adopted. Initially, a literature review on materials management process in the construction project was conducted. This was followed by case studies involving six construction projects in order to investigate current practice in materials management to establish key problem areas and elements of good practice. The case studies also explored the requirements for integrating materials management and resource modelling in project management systems. The case study findings underpinned by literature results were used to develop a real-time framework for integrating RFID-based materials tracking and resource modelling. The framework was encapsulated in a computer-based prototype system based on Microsoft Visual Basic.NET. The prototype system was developed by amalgamation of all the software and hardware chosen such as MS Access (database system), MS Project (resource modelling) and RFID (automated materials tracking) to provide the mechanisms for integrating materials management and resource modelling in the construction industry. Evaluation of the prototype system was carried out by a series of interviews with industry practitioners to assess its appropriateness and functionality. It also established the skills and other requirements for the effective use of the real-time materials tracking system. The evaluation established that the prototype system demonstrated many benefits and is suitable for use in materials tracking and inventory management processes. It is concluded that the prototype system developed can improve materials management on construction projects, particularly with regard to materials tracking and integrating materials utilisation with the resource modelling subsystem in project management applications. Adoption of the approaches suggested in the thesis will enable the construction industry to improve the real-time management of materials on sites, and hence improve project performance.
Delays at oversaturated unsignalized intersections based on reserve capacities

There is a practical need for estimating average delays at intersections, especially during peak periods, even if a temporary overload must be managed by the intersection. Suitable computation formulas must always be based on approximations. The formulas available are based on the degree of saturation x, where x > 1 describes the oversaturated situation. The application of x has proven to be successful in the context of signalized intersections. For unsignalized intersections, the reserve capacity R is a more elegant parameter. Here R < 0 describes the oversaturated situation. The coordinate transformation technique applied for R to derive average delays during peak periods is explained. The complexity of many influencing parameters and the algebraic solutions make it impossible to solve the complete problem analytically. However, for two levels of approximation, a set of formulas is derived to estimate the average delay during a peak hour for the vehicles on the minor street of an unsignalized intersection. These formulas can be used for practical application.
Short-Term Prediction of Ridership on Public Transport with Smart Card Data

Public transport operators are collecting massive amounts of data from smart card systems. In the Netherlands, every passenger checks in and checks out; this system creates detailed records of demand patterns. In buses and trams, users check in and check out in the vehicle; this factor provides good information on route choice. Options for analyzing smart card data and performing what-if analyses with transport planning software were explored. On the basis of big data, this new generation of transport demand models added to the existing range of transport demand models and approaches. The goal was to provide public transport operators with a simple (easy-to-build) model to perform what-if analyses. The data were converted to passengers per line and an origin–destination matrix between stops. This matrix was assigned to the network to repro-duce the measured passenger flows, and then what-if analysis became possible. With fixed demand, line changes could be investigated. With the introduction of an elastic demand model, changes in the level of service realistically affected passenger numbers. This method was applied to a case study in The Hague, Netherlands. Smart card data were imported into a transport model and connected with the network. The tool proved to be valuable to operators, who gained insights into the effects of small changes.
A Basic Analysis of Entry and Exit in the US Broadband Market, 2005–2008

Abstract We conduct a basic analysis of entry and exit in the US broadband market, using a complete FCC census of providers from 2005 to 2008. There is a tremendous amount of (simultaneous) entry and exit in the US broadband market. Most entry is from existing providers expanding into new geographic areas. Entry and exit vary widely across the various modes of provision, which argues against treating broadband as a homogenous service in theoretical or empirical work. The highest entry rates also generally have the highest entrant shares. Entry rates display positive autocorrelation, and the same is true for exit. There is also positive correlation between the entry and exit rates at various leads and lags, suggesting that there are systematic differences among the broadband types in the height of entry and exit barriers. We discuss some implications these results may have for both policy purposes and future work in the broadband market.
Aerodynamics for MDO of an Innovative Configuration

Abstract : A numerical methodology for the evaluation of aerodynamic loads acting on a complex lifting configuration is presented. The work is limited to the case of attached high-Reynolds number flows. A viscous/potential interaction technique is utilized to take into account the effects of the viscosity. For the potential-flow analysis, a boundary element formulation is used; for simplicity, only incompressible flows are examined. The theoretical basis of the present methodology is briefly described. Comparisons with available, numerical and experimental results are included.
Experiences, challenges, and supports during studying and sojourning in Canada: the case of Chinese international students

With the internationalization of education, Chinese students have constituted the largest international student group in the world as well as in Canada. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences, challenges, and supports specific to the Chinese student population at Canadian universities. In order to triangulate the data from different sources, individual interviews with eight Chinese international students and three International Student Advisors were conducted in this qualitative research. Hofstede's theory on cultural dimensions and the bilinear model of acculturation and enculturation are applied to explain the findings about Chinese international students' experiences and challenges with regard to second language learning, academic studies, social interaction, post-graduation plans, and personal development and identity reshaping. Moreover, based on Chinese international students' awareness and use of supports available to them, this study has implications for practice as to how to improve their support system. Key words: Chinese international students; cultural dimensions; acculturation and enculturation; international student support; second language learning; academic studies; social interaction; post-graduationhengying plans; personal development; identity reshaping
Analyses of the IRT, Sofia intital LEU core performance.

The initial LEU (IRT-4M fuel assemblies, 19.75% {sup 235}U) core of the new IRT-Sofia research reactor of the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy (INRNE) of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, Bulgaria is jointly analyzed with the RERTR Program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to evaluate its performance and other important characteristics for safety analyses. The initial configuration using 16 fuel assemblies (four 8-tube and twelve 6-tube fuel assemblies) detailed power distributions and beam tubes flux performance for two critical core states corresponding to different control rods positioning, and different performance characteristics are compared. Results of calculations for two configurations at the beginning of the second operation cycle using 17 fuel assemblies (sixteen burned fuel assemblies (FA) and one fresh 6-tube FA) are presented. The results provide important and useful information for safety analyses and performance of the future reactor operation.
Visualizing Stakeholder Influence — Two Australian Examples

This paper introduces and illustrates a tool, the Stakeholder Circle™, for measuring and visualizing stakeholder influence on managing projects drawing upon two case study examples. Development of the tool was based upon stakeholder and project management theory and it extends our appreciation of the potential impact that stakeholders may exert that unearths vital risk management and customer relationship implications for the project management profession. Using a case study and action learning approach, this paper draws upon emerging project management and wider strands of management decision-making literature. The paper is exploratory in nature and the case studies used provide a useful vehicle for reflection and sense making.
Quantitative Analysis of Selected Heavy Metals in Samples of Branded and Unbranded Cow Milk in Selected Areas of Kaduna Metropolis

Milk is a food of outstanding interest and has been taken by humans since the earliest pre-historic times and still forms the basis of most nation economies (Alfa, 1987). Milk is considered to be a complete food for young animals and of high nutritional value to humans. The constituents of milk include protein, fat, total solid, lactose, etc. Also, milk contains hundreds of minor constituents which include milk fat, vitamins, metal ion and flavor compounds (Armstrong, 1995). Animals are reared to produce milk for consumption by humans, although, cow is by far the most important in commercial terms (Adams and Moses, 1995) and White Fulani (Bunaji) as native breed in west Africa was recognized as the principal producer (Adeneye, 1989). Trace metals are a general collective term applying to the group of metals and metalloids with an atomic density greater than 6 g/cm. This term is widely recognized and usually applied to the elements such as cadmium (Cd), Cu, Fe, lead (Pb), and Zn which are commonly associated with pollution and toxicity problems (Malhatet al., 2012). One of the main problems with metals is their ability to bio-accumulate. Metal residues in milk are of particular concern because milk is largely consumed by infants and children (Tripathi et al., 1999). The food chain is an important source of Cd and Pb accumulation, especially for plants grown on polluted soils. Significant amounts of Cd and Pb can be transferred from contaminated soil to plants and grass, causing accumulation of these potentially toxic metals in grazing ruminants, particularly in cattle (Lópezet al., 2003). Accumulation of Cd and Pb in ruminants causes toxic effects in cattle, but also in humans consuming meat and milk contaminated with toxic metals (González-Weller et al., 2012). Cd and Pb are amongst the elements that have caused the most concern in terms of adverse effects on human health. This is because they are readily transferred through food chains and are not known to serve any essential biological function. Lead is a pervasive and widely distributed environmental pollutant with no beneficial biological roles. The poisoning is more common in farm ruminants, which are considered most susceptible to the toxic effects of lead (Swarup et al., 2005).
Humanoid robot omnidirectional walking trajectory generation and control

Walking humanoid machines, once only seen or read in science fiction, became reality with the intensive research of the last four decades. However, there is a long way to go in the direction of technical achievements before humanoid robots can be used widely as human assistants. The design of a controller which can achieve a steady and stable walk is central in humanoid robotics. This control cannot be achieved if the reference trajectories are not generated suitably. The Zero Moment Point (ZMP) is the most widely used stability criterion for trajectory generation. The Center of Mass (CoM) reference can be obtained from the ZMP reference in a number of ways. A natural ZMP reference trajectory and a Fourier series approximation based method for computing the CoM reference from it, was previously proposed and published for the Sabanci University Robotics ReseArch Laboratory Platform (SURALP), for a straight walk. This thesis improves these techniques by modifying the straight walk reference trajectory into an omnidirectional one. The second contribution of this thesis is controller designs in order to cope with the changing slopes of the walking surface. The proposed controllers employ the trunk link rotational motion to adapt to the ground surface. A virtual pelvis link is introduced for the robots which do not posses roll and pitch axis in pelvis link. The proposed reference generation and control algorithms are tested on the humanoid robot SURALP. The experiments indicate that these methods are successful under various floor conditions.
The development of integrated chemistry-based experiments implications for the teaching of environmental chemistry in the Vietnamese context

A survey of environmental chemistry laboratory experiments in the Journal of Chemical Education (ACS) and Education in Chemistry (RCS) has been carried out from 1969 to the present. The experiments have been categorized as being related to the areas of either air, water or soil. Over the same period of time, a similar survey has been carried out for commonly used environmental chemistry textbooks, whereby the relative number of pages have been assessed which are devoted to the same areas. The data obtained from both of these analyses indicate that the area of soil is seriously underrepresented in the environmental chemistry curriculum. Further analysis of this material also highlights the failure of many experiments to reflect "real world" laboratory processes such as sample preparation, data analysis and quality control/assurance. To help alleviate these deficiencies, a strategy was designed to develop several soil-related laboratory experiments which would not only reflect real world practices in a developed country such as Australia, but which would also be appropriate for educational programs in a developing country such as Vietnam. In order to gain the necessary skills and experience, the author undertook a five month work experience program at the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories (AGAL). The program focussed on the routine analysis of hydrocarbons in soil samples. A programmed schedule allowed the author to experience all aspects of the procedure, from sampling through to reporting. Following the work experience program, the author undertook a visit to her home country of Vietnam in order to conduct a modified Dephi survey of leading Vietnamese educators, considered expert in the area of environmental chemistry education. The survey was constructed to assess the requirements for the design and implementation of undergraduate environmental chemistry experiments in the Vietnamese context. The Delphi study successfully converged after two rounds. Both the AGAL experience and the results of the Delphi survey have been used to formulate environmental chemistry laboratory experiments which help address the deficiency of soil-related experiments in the current curriculum, reflect the professional skills of real world environmental scientists, and which are well-suited for implementation in developing countries such as Vietnam. Attention has also been paid to international requirements for environmental education and to the advantages of the integrated approach with respect to the different areas of chemistry.
Analysis of Children’s Primary School Readiness According to Some Variables

The aim of this study was to determine the primary school students' readiness for school and analyze it according to some socio-demographic characteristics. Furthermore, the research will contribute in terms of revealing how much the children are ready to begin the process of elementary school in Turkey, which has a different education system and culture. The research was conducted in the general survey model, one of the quantitative research methods and 402 children attending the first grade of primary school in Eskisehir province participated in the study. In the study, “ Primary School Readiness Scale ” (Canbulat and Kırıktaş, 2016) was filled by teachers for each child. Children’s readiness for school was analyzed in cognitive, affective, psychomotor and self-care skills sub dimensions of the scale. As a result of the research, it was found that primary school readiness levels of the following children groups were significantly higher (p <0.05): the children who had preschool education compared to the children who had not; the children who are 72-84 months old compared to the children who are 60-72 months old; the, children whose mothers’ education level are high compared to the children whose mothers have lower education and the children whose fathers are working compared to the children whose fathers are not working. In addition, significant differences were found in primary school readiness level of some subgroups in the following dimension: girls are significantly more ready in affective dimension; the readiness of the children whose mother is working is higher in cognitive dimension; and children whose father had university education and more are more ready in cognitive, affective and psychomotor dimensions (p <0,05).
Quantifying the Effects of Motivation on Listening Effort: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Motivation influences the amount of listening effort (LE) exerted or experienced under challenging conditions, such as in high-noise environments. This systematic review and meta-analysis is the first to quantify the effects of motivation on LE. The review was pre-registered in PROSPERO, and performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Eligible studies examined the influence of motivation or individual traits (related to motivation) on LE in adults. Motivational factors, coded as independent variables, included financial reward, evaluative threat, perceived competence, feedback, and individual traits. LE outcomes were categorized as subjective, behavioral, or physiological. The quality of evidence was assessed using an adaptation of the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool. Nested random-effects meta-analyses were performed to quantify and compare the influence of motivational factors across LE outcomes. After assessing 3,532 records, 48 studies met the inclusion criteria and 43 were included in the meta-analyses. Risk of bias was high, for example, many studies lacked sample size justification. Motivational factors had a small-to-medium effect (mean Cohen's d = 0.34, range: 0.11–0.72) on LE. When LE outcomes were considered collectively, an external manipulation of motivation (perceived competence) produced a larger mean effect size compared with individual traits. Some combinations of motivational factors and LE outcomes produced more robust effects than others, for example, evaluative threat and subjective LE outcomes. Although wide prediction intervals and high risk of bias mean that significant positive effects cannot be guaranteed, these findings provide useful guidance on the selection of motivational factors and LE outcomes for future research.
A Correlational Study on Analogical Reasoning, Mathematical Creativity, and Logical Operation of Primary School Prospective Teachers

The purpose of this study was to find the relationship between analogical reasoning, mathematical creativity, and logical operation developed by the prospective teachers. The research population was the fourth semester students of one state Islamic university in West Java and one state Islamic university in Central Java. A random sampling technique was used to obtain 47 primary school prospective teachers as the research samples from both universities. The results showed that (a) more than 50% of primary school prospective teachers had formal logical operation; (b) there was a significant relationship between analogical reasoning and mathematical creativity; (c) there was a significant relationship between mathematical creativity and logical operation; (d) there was no significant relationship between analogical reasoning and logical operation.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Neurological Findings in Dogs with Disc-Associated Cervical Spondylomyelopathy (63 cases)

Background: Canine cervical spondylomyelopathy can be separated into osseous and disc-associated (DA-CSM) forms. Our aim was to describe the magnetic resonance imaging (using a high-field scanner) and neurological findings in dogs with DA-CSM and investigate a relationship between these findings.Results: Sixty-three dogs were included: 60/63 (95%) were large breeds, with Doberman Pinschers and males over-represented (70%). Mean and median age at the time of diagnosis was 7.25 and 7.2 years (range 0.41 – 12 years). Chronic signs were noted in 52/63 (83%) dogs, with proprioceptive ataxia the most common. Main site of spinal cord compression was commonly C6-C7 or C5-C6. Thirty-six (57%) dogs had various sites of spinal cord compression. Most dogs younger than 6 years of age had a single affected. Foraminal stenosis was present in 51/63 dogs (81%). T2-weighted hyperintensity was present in 40/63 dogs (63%). Eighty-eight percent of the articular processes showed degenerative changes, which correlated strongly with intervertebral disc degeneration. Ligamentum flavum hypertrophy was seen in 38% of dogs. No correlation was observed between neurologic signs and number of affected sites. A moderate positive correlation was observed between severity of spinal cord compression and neurologic grade (r 0.48; p<0.001). Conclusions: DA-CSM was predominantly observed in older, male Dobermans, with chronic neurologic signs, with compressive lesions located in the caudal cervical vertebral region. Although less common, DA-CSM was also seen in dogs 3 years of age or younger (8%). Single compressive lesions were more common in dogs younger than 6 years of age. Most dogs had concomitant changes (e.g.: ligamentum flavum hypertrophy and foraminal stenosis) that may affect neurologic signs. Most dogs with ligamentum flavum hypertrophy were 6 years or older. A correlation was observed between severity of spinal cord compression and neurologic grade; dogs with more severe spinal cord compression were more likely to have a higher neurologic grade. Dogs with more sites of spinal cord compression did not have more severe neurologic involvement. A very high percentage of dogs had articular process degenerative changes. Possible biomechanical or genetic relationships between degenerative changes in articular processes, ligamentum flavum, and intervertebral discs warrants further investigation.