Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Durability of thin asphalt surfacing systems. Part 3: Findings after six years monitoring

Thin surfacing systems, as the term is currently understood, were introduced into the UK in 1991. On some sites used for the system to gain HA approval, the thin surfacing systems are approaching the end of their assumed lives whilst others have only been in-service for just over two years. Therefore, it is opportune to begin to evaluate information collected from these sites to establish a better understanding of their service-life. In this report, the results from SCRIMtex, visual assessment and recovered binder properties are given for the sites selected over the three years of theproject together with analysis of those results. The findings, now extended by a further three years monitoring since the last published report, indicate that, if a thin surfacing system is in good condition after its first year in-service, it will be serviceable for at least 5 years and probably in excess of 8 years. Furthermore, the typical life of a thin surfacingsystem can be in excess of ten years, depending on the category of thin surfacing and the condition of the substrate.
Corrosion of Steel in Concrete

The sections in this article are Introduction Concrete Cement Types and Hydration Reaction Porosity and Transport Properties Water-to-Cement Ratio and Curing Porosity, Permeability and Percolation Deterioration of Concrete Frost and De-icing Salts Chemical Attack of Concrete Sea Water Attack by Sulfates Corrosion of Steel in Concrete General Electrochemistry of Steel in Concrete Corrosion Potential Initiation Phase Depassivation Due to Chloride Ions Depassivation Due to Carbonation Propagation Phase Chloride-Induced Corrosion Preventive Measures Inhibitors as a Preventive Measure Mechanism Nitrites MFP (Sodium Monofluoro Phosphate) Organic-Based Inhibitors Stainless Steels Epoxy-Coated Rebars Non-Metallic Reinforcement Cathodic Prevention Other Preventive Measures Monitoring and Condition Assessment of RC Structures Half-Cell Potential Mapping Principle Procedure Interpretation Resistivity Measurements General Measurements at the Surface Corrosion Rate General Determination of the Polarization Resistance Execution of the Measurements Corrosion Rate Measurements On-Site Interpretation of the Results Rehabilitation of Reinforced Concrete Structures General Structural Conditions Cause of Deterioration Expected Service Life of the Structure Corrosion Inhibitors for Repair Electrochemical Protection and Repair Methods Fundamentals The Electrochemical Reactions at the Cathode (the Rebars) Laboratory Results Results from Field Applications Electrochemical Treatment and Monitoring Control of the Effectiveness Durability of the Treatment Traditional Repair Methods Outlook
COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ADAPTIVE AND NEURAL-NETWORK EXIT DEMAND PREDICTION FOR FREEWAY CONTROL

Reliable on-line predictors that can accurately predict freeway demand in real time are of critical importance in developing optimal control systems for freeway corridors. New freeway exit demand predictors have been developed using two prediction approaches: model-based adaptive-parameter and backpropagation neural network-based prediction. The adaptive-parameter predictor requires prespecified models with parameters determined on line using the Kalman filter. Two such models are formulated. The first model is developed for normal weekdays and requires both historical and current-day measurements. The second model is designed for situations in which no historical information is available. Neural network-based prediction does not require a prespecified functional form that relates traffic measurements to predicted flow. However, an appropriate network structure and training method need to be determined before the network is trained. A three-layer backpropagation neural network was trained with the same data that are used to determine the historical pattern for the adaptive-parameter predictor. The new predictors were tested with real data from the I-35W freeway during a 2-week period and their performance was compared with that of the urban traffic control system (UTCS-2) predictor. The error indexes from the two new predictors are very close and substantially better than those from UTCS-2 under the same conditions.
Multiple Perspectives on Engaging Future Engineers

Engaging future engineers is a central topic in everyday conversations on engineering education. Considerable investments have been made to make engineering more engaging, recruit and retain aspiring engineers, and to design an education to prepare future engineers. However, the impact of these efforts has been less than intended. It is imperative that the community reflects on progress and sets a more effective path for the future.
Aircraft Engines and Gas Turbines

Part 1 Introduction to concepts: thermal efficiency propulsive efficiency specific impulse and range ramjets turbojets turbofans turboprops and other shaft engines - regeneration stationary gas turbines - topping energy exchange, Mach number, and Reynolds number stresses noise thrust and drag fuels and propellants some engines in cutaway. Part 2 Ideal cycle analysis - trends: stagnation temperature and pressure the ramjet the turbojet the afterburning turbojet the turbofan the afterburning turbofan the turboprop thrust lapse cooling cycles the regenerative gas turbine gas turbines for topping the importance of turbine inlet temperature. Part 3 Cycle analysis with losses: variation in gas properties diffuser pressure recovery compressor and turbine efficiencies burner efficiency and pressure loss imperfect expansion loss heat exchanger effectivness and pressure loss turbojet with losses turbofan with losses regenerated gas turbine with losses combined gas turbine-steam cycles with losses. Part 4 Nonrotating components: topics in gas dynamics diffusers exhaust nozzles combustors and afterburners. Part 5 Compressors and fans: energy exchange, rotor to fluid compressor geometry and the flow pattern design choices based on blade section performance details of flow in transonic compressors stage performance - corrected parameters multi-stage compressors compressor and compression system stability centrifugal compressors supersonic-throughflow fan. Part 6 Turbines: turbine stage characteristics turbine blading turbine cooling turbine design systems turbine similarity. Part 7 Engine structures: centrifugal stresses gas bending loads on blades thermal stresses critical speeds and vibration blade flutter bearings engine arrangement and static structure. Part 8 Component matching and engine performance: compressor-turbine matching - the gas generator matching the gas generator and the nozzle multi-spool matching engine-inlet matching and distortion overall performance control and acceleration. Part 9 Aircraft engine noise: noise sources - unsteady flow jet noise turbomachinery noise noise measurement and rules. Part 10 Hypersonic engines: hypersonic inlets heat addition in high-speed flow heat release due to chemical reactions nozzle flow fuel injection and mixing quantitative discussion of scramjet performance cooling the scramjet the air turborocket the liquid-air collection engine. Part 11 Propulsion systems analysis: takeoff climb and acceleration cruise maneuvering.
Leading Innovators in Large Organisations : Enablers and Barriers for Intrapreneurship

Innovation is considered by many to be a driver of organisational performance and growth. A key factor to consider for competitive edge is the utilization of the companies’ innovative capabilities. The bureaucracy often involved with large companies could limit the utilization of the inherent innovative ability and new business development.The commissioner for this study, a large Swedish multinational technology company, has in a previous study raised the importance of innovators to be properly recognised and rewarded. Moreover, they have identified a need to better identify, track and train their innovators in order to utilise their full potential. With this in mind, the research question, "How can the company’s innovative capabilities be further utilised? " was formulated. The research question was further complemented with sub-questions narrowing the field of study and allowed for a more systematic approach.Three methods were used in this study, interviews, a questionnaire and a workshop. The interviews were conducted in order to capture the company specific context and factors influencing the company’s innovators to verify and complement the literature study. Secondly, the questionnaire was done to add an additional perspective on the topic including quantitative data verifying the extent of the found factors and exploring their importance throughout the organisation. Finally, the aim of the workshop was to let innovators in the company form specific actions targeting the most pressing issues discovered from the questionnaire.The findings suggest recommendations regarding what obstacles that are most important to address, how to motivate innovation efforts, identify innovators and how to enhance the utilisation of the company’s innovative capabilities. The proposed actions from the workshop, concluding the preceding data collections were to implement a strategy facilitating innovation execution, create an incubation team supporting innovators in realising innovations, and to foster an experimental culture.Keywords: Intrapreneurship, Innovation Enabler, Innovation Barrier, Innovator Motivation, Innovative Capability
Basic Skills and Competences of Higher National Diploma Computer Science Graduates: An Analysis of Stakeholders Views

This study was motivated by the general opinion or statements from the public and specifically from professional bodies and industries in the country suggesting that tertiary curricula currently being implemented by academic institutions in Nigeria do not provide what is needed by the industry or labour employer. The main objective of the study is to identify skill and competency gaps in the training of Higher National Diploma graduates of computer science or information technology in Nigeria and to provide recommendations on how the identified gaps could be address in the training curriculum. A three-round Delphi questionnaire where the respondents were asked to rate the items on the scale of their importance was used for the study. The results suggest that, there was significant difference in the views of academic and industry participants in the ranking of the skill and competency attributes based on the scale of preference. The current curriculum also aligned with the needs of the industry in terms of the generic skills. The study among others, recommend two generic skills (21 and 25) considered to be of importance by the industry participants be given serious consideration during review of curriculum to improve the employability of the graduates. obtaining the of and of HND the
Distraction in Commercial Trucks and Buses: Assessing Prevalence and Risk in Conjunction with Crashes and Near-Crashes

The aim of this project was to use an existing naturalistic data set to document the prevalence and risk of commercial truck and bus drivers activities or actions that distract their attention away from the driving task. This naturalistic data set involved thousands of commercial motor vehicles(including trucks and buses) and provided a wealth of data, including driver behavior during safety-critical events. The data set was provided by DriveCam a vendor of onboard safety monitoring systems (OBMS) aimed at reducing risky driving behaviors. The OBMS contains video recordings and data from kinematic sensors (e.g., vehicle speed) in order to study driver behavior in driving conditions in the presence of real world daily pressures. These video recordings and kinematic data are used by fleet safety managers to provide feedback on safe and at-risk driving behaviors. Note that the authors of this study did not receive any video recordings, but rather kinematic data and driver behavior data that did not identify the driver.
Clinical study on ruminal disorders in cow

Thirty five adult native breed Egyptian cattle were introduced to a privet clinic suffering from ruminal disorders. The animals were divided into three groups, based on clinical signs and ruminal ph. The number of diseased cases with severe ruminal acidosis was fifteen, while the animals suffering from simple indigestion were twelve and those with ruminal tympany were eight. In addition, five clinically adult caws were used as control. Most cases with ruminal indigestion showed partial or complete anorexia, loss of body condition, abdominal pain, cessation of rumination and abdominal distension. Such signs differ according to the disease condition. Ruminal samples and blood samples were collected from all animals and transferred to the laboratory for biophysical and hematological analyses. All samples collected from diseased cases showed changes in the rumen microbial activity. All cases with ruminal dysfunction showed reduction in values and percentages of total and differential protozoal count. Hematological parameters Such as hemoglobin, packed cell volume (PCV), erythrocyte, Leucocyte and differential counts were performed. A significant increase in pulse and respiratory rates and significant decrease in rumen motility was observed in both acidosis and tympany. Rumen pH decreased significantly in acidosis and simple indigestion and increase in ruminal tympany. In rumen liquor the protozoal count, motility and activities were significantly reduced. Increased PCV was seen in both acidosis and tympany.
Effect of Women Economic Empowerment on Family Stability in Imenti North Sub-County, Kenya

This study focused on the effect of economic empowerment for women on family stability among families in Imenti North Sub-County. This study used the quantitative method for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. The descriptive design helped to describe, explain and validate the findings. The data collected was both primary and secondary data by use of a questionnaire. Data from questionnaires was analyzed using the descriptive techniques and inferential statistics with the help of data analysis software -Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21). The study found out that a majority of the career women were working full-time and they have been engaged in their careers for a period of 5-10 years. Economic empowerment of women was found to reduce their reliance on their husbands and be able to take care of their needs and enjoy their rights. However, it was reported that there are instances of arguments among spouses over finances. Career women should seek professional counselling services to equip them with adequate skills of managing psychological stress emanating from their careers as well as family commitments. This will help them deal with the situations, thus reducing occurrences of depression and extreme stress that would lead to health complications as well as family stability.
Multicultural Identities

Rapid globalization has heightened intercultural exposure and diversity of societies. As an adaptation to globalization, many individuals are acquiring identities that pertain to more than one regional and/or national culture. To understand the formation, maintenance, and impact of multicultural identity, researchers study it at multiple levels of analysis. To this end, this chapter will review the literature on multicultural identities at the levels of intrapersonal processes, interpersonal processes, and organizational and societal influences. The review shows that the concept of multicultural identity has evolved over time, from being seen as maladaptive to an embodiment of creativity and open-mindedness. This chapter demonstrates how the study of multicultural identities has gained prominence in recent decades and will be even more urgent as the mobility of individuals and social groups becomes the “new normal. ” That is, with the exponential rate of intercultural contacts and mixing, being or becoming multicultural seems more normative than being monocultural. Monoculturalism may soon be a rare case and, as such, described as a thing of the past. It is ever more pressing to understand how people navigate among cultures, form bi- or multicultural identities, and adapt to new cultural environments cognitively and biologically and the challenges and barriers they face in the era of globalized world.
Buffalo Gut Microbes May Affect the Host Th2 Responses During Fasciola Gigantica Infection via SCFAs Metabolism and TLR Signaling Pathway

Background: Helminth-induced Th2 responses are essential to modify the structure and diversity of gut microbes. However, observations have come mainly from studies of helminth-infected humans or rodent models. Very little research has been conducted in veterinary animals. Methods: In this study, we searched for links between microbiota and Th2-biased responses during the time course of Fasciala gigantica infection in buffaloes.16S rRNA gene amplicon and metagenome sequencing were applied to analyze the structure and function of the gut microbiota. Results: Both alpha and beta diversities decreased during infection, and gut microbes differed considerably across different sections of the gut at different stages. Immune responses changed when the microbiota traverses the gut wall into the peritoneal cavity, in line with the changes in Th2 response induced by F. gigantica infection. We found that the order Coriobacteriales was greatly decreased at the early stages in which the Peptostreptococcaceae and Family_XIII families are closely linked to the upregulation of IgG1 and IL4, respectively. The F. gigantica infection significantly reduced short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs)-producing microbes, reduced the concentrations of gut SCFAs and downregulated the SCFAs-producing metabolic pathways. In addition, The microbes associated with TLR2 increased and showed similar trend to the TLR2 and Th2 cytokine production during infection, suggesting that bacteria ligands might recognize TLR2 and subsequently induce a Th2-biased response. Conclusions: Our data show that buffalo gut microbes may affect the host Th2 response during F. gigantica infection via the SCFAs metabolism and TLR signaling pathway. These findings provide new insights into the relationship between F. gigantica–microbiota-host, which may provide new potential therapeutic targets for prevention and control Fasciolosis.
Fiber optic sensors : an introduction for engineers and scientists

Preface. About the Authors. Contributors. 1 The Emergence of Fiber Optic Sensor Technology (Eric Udd). 2 Optical Fibers (Daniel A. Nolan, Paul E. Blaszyk, and Eric Udd). 3 Light Sources (Eric Udd). 4 Optical Detectors (William B. Spillman, Jr.). 5 Optical Modulators for Fiber Optic Sensors (Leonard M. Johnson). 6 Intensity-Based and Fabry Perot Interferometer Sensors (Gordon L. Mitchell). 7 Multimode Grating Sensors (William B. Spillman, Jr.). 8 Multimode Polarization Sensors (William B. Spillman, Jr.). 9 Fiber Optic Sensors Based on the Sagnac Interferometer and Passive Ring Resonator (Eric Udd). 10 Fiber Optic Sensors Based on the Mach Zehnder and Michelson Interferometers (Anthony Dandridge). 11 Distributed and Multiplexed Fiber Optic Sensors (Alan D. Kersey). 12 Fiber Optic Magnetic Sensors (Frank Bucholtz). 13 Industrial Applications of Fiber Optic Sensors (John W. Berthold III). 14 Fiber Optic Smart Structures (Eric Udd). 15 Fiber Grating Sensors (Eric Udd). 16 Fiber Optic Biosensors (William B. Spillman, Jr.). Index.
Microstructural Features and Surface Hardening of Ultrafine-Grained Ti-6Al-4V Alloy through Plasma Electrolytic Polishing and Nitrogen Ion Implantation

This work studies a near-surface layer microstructure in Ti-6Al-4V alloy samples subjected to plasma electrolytic polishing (PEP) and subsequent high-energy ion implantation with nitrogen (II). Samples with a conventional coarse-grained (CG) structure with an average α-phase size of 8 μm and an ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure (α-phase size up to 0.35 μm) produced by equal channel angular pressing were used in the studies. Features of phase composition and substructure in the thin surface layers are shown after sequential processing by PEP and II of both substrates with CG and UFG structures. Irrespective of a substrate structure, the so-called “long-range effect” was observed, which manifested itself in enhanced microhardness to a depth of surface layer up to 40 μm, exceeding the penetration distance of an implanted ion he. The effect of a UFG structure on depth and degree of surface hardening after PEP and ion-implantation is discussed.
CONCRETE PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE TREATMENT PERFORMANCE REVIEW: SPS-4 5-YEAR DATA ANALYSIS

The Strategic Highway Research Program developed and coordinated construction of test sections for rigid pavement maintenance throughout the United States and Canada. Test sites included specific test sections for evaluation of the performance of undersealing and joint sealing as maintenance treatments. Each site also included an unsealed control section. This report discusses the project background and analysis of monitoring data collected over a 5-year period by the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) project at SPS-4 sites throughout the United States and Canada. The analysis considers three important characteristics of the maintenance treatments: treatment performance, timing of application, and cost effectiveness. In addition to data analysis results, the report conclusions include information from "Pavement Treatment Effectiveness, 1995 SPS-3 and SPS-4 Site Evaluations, National Report" (May 1997).
Analysis of work zone gaps and rear-end collision probability

This paper studies platooning and headway/gap characteristics of traffic flow in highway short-term and long-term work zones under various car-following patterns. The relationship between traffic volume and the percentage of vehicles in platoons is developed, along with some statistical models for platoon size and headway/gap size distribution. An in-depth analysis of data reveals that vehicles in work zones with higher speed limits maintain shorter car-following time gaps than those in work zones with lower speed limits, even though more time is needed to stop a faster vehicle. This unusual combination of higher speeds and shorter car-following time gaps in work zones may contribute to the high proportion of rear-end collisions among all work zone-related accidents. This paper also presents a new method for evaluating rear-end collision potential, including the probability and the number of vehicles involved in rear-end collisions, by analyzing platoon and gap characteristics for locations without crash records during a construction period.
Discovery of anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents from commercially available flavor via docking screening

Flavor and spice is largely consumed in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. A novel coronavirus, recently named the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in humans in Wuhan China in 2019. This study is to examine whether the flavor components can prevent human from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Given that the druggable antiviral target ACE2 receptor and viral main protease were reported, 169 compounds were screened against these two targets by using autodock vina. According to our docking screening, 10 antiviral components, including glycyrrhizic acid, theaflavin 3,3'-digallate, agnuside, fenflumizole, angelicide, sageone, oleanic acid, benzyl (3-fluoro-4-morpholine-4-yl phenyl) carbamate, glycerol ester of rosin, and endere S can directly bind to both host cell target ACE2 receptor and viral target main protease, indicating their potential for SARS-CoV-2 treatment.