Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speed Reduction Profiles Affecting Vehicle Interactions at Level Crossings with No Trains

Observed road vehicle speed and deceleration profiles at active level crossings in the absence of a train are investigated and linked to safety performance. Results indicated that speed and deceleration profiles could be segmented into two zones along the approach road. Speed reduction was initiated at an upstream point along the road about 60 m from the track (Zone 1), and this became more pronounced for the road segment 20 to 30 m before the track (Zone 2). Although the deceleration rates based on average vehicle speeds were found to be within comfortable thresholds in both approach zones, a safety concern was raised for the worst-case scenario in which lead vehicles were reducing their speeds at a higher rate than following vehicles. Safety performance using an average crash potential index per vehicle was found to increase in the vicinity of the track for a given case study crossing application. The range of safety performance values was also found to be greater in Zone 2; this finding suggested possible safety concerns about rear-end crashes taking place near the track and the added possibility of a vehicle being pushed onto the track in the path of an oncoming train. This study provides useful insight for modifying speed profiles in a traffic simulation model to account for the presence of a level crossing. The analysis also provides insights into a base crash risk for an open crossing. These insights can be used to refine previous estimates of countermeasure effectiveness, including closures.
Ruling on IHNC Floodwall Failures during Hurricane Katrina

On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina came ashore just east of New Orleans with sustained winds exceeding 212 km=h (125 mph), significant rainfall and storm surge, and widespread flooding. The ruling in Armstrong, C.A. No. 10-866 on 12 April 2013 by Federal Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. against property owners in the Lower Ninth Ward that were inundated by two breaches of the floodwall along the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) essentially ended litigation against the United States of America. This paper discusses events leading up to and during Hurricane Katrina, IHNC floodwall performance, negligence claim brought by Lower Ninth Ward property owners against the United States and Washington Group, International (WGI), and the United States’s defense to the negligence claim with emphasis on the “cause in fact” prong. Recommendations for clarifying the causation issue are presented to help focus the trying and defense of future levee and floodwall negligence claims. On 12 April 2013, United States District Court Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. (Duval 2013) ruled in favor of the United States of America and the Washington Group International (WGI) in a class-action case brought by six named Lower Ninth Ward property owners (Kenneth and Jeannine Armstrong, Fred Holmes, the Succession of Ethel Coats, Alvin Livers, and Clifford Washington) whose properties were rapidly and catastrophically inundated by two floodwall failures during Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005. The Court conducted a 15-day bench trial over 3 weeks to determine whether the United States and WGI were negligent before Hurricane Katrina in their environmental restoration activities in the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal (IHNC) that parallels the subject floodwall and Lower Ninth Ward. This paper discusses the events leading up to and during Hurricane Katrina, the negligence claim brought by property owners, the plaintiffs’ problems proving “cause in fact,” and why the defendants did not prove the cause of the two floodwall failures but only that the United States and WGI activities were not a substantial factor in either floodwall failure. Because of the many variables and uncertainties surrounding the two floodwall failures (e.g., soil compressibility, floodwall height and alignment; storm surge height and duration; wave heights in the IHNC; duration and height of floodwall overtopping; depth of landside scour and erosion; sheet pile tensile properties, repairs, interlocking, and performance; wind speeds; timing of floodwall failures), proving the exact cause of both floodwall failures with certainty was difficult, if not impossible. In fact, Judge Duval states in his 12 April 2013 ruling:
Effects of Ca Addition on Chemical Composition, Microstructure and Dielectric Properties of BaTiO3

Owing to its high dielectric constant, barium titanate is a material commonly employed in fabrication of high energy density capacitors. Dielectric properties required for practical applications can be attained in barium titanate with desired chemical composition and microstructure. This study, therefore, aims at examining effects of additive contents on formation of secondary phases, microstructure and dielectric properties of BaTiO3 and BaTiO3 with 20-40 at% Ca. Chemical composition analysis revealed that single-phase BaTiO3 powder could be attained by the solution combustion technique. However, the powder with high Ca content exhibited large quantities of secondary phases. Dielectric property measurements of the uniaxially pressed powders indicated that dielectric constants could be enhanced with low Ca content. On the contrary, dielectric constant significantly degraded with high Ca content. This was attributed to formation of large quantities of secondary phases, coarse grain size and low density. Values of dielectric loss of all materials were lower than 1%.
1 LIPID CHAPERONING OF A THYLAKOID PROTEASE WHOSE STABILITY IS 1 MODIFIED BY THE PROTONMOTIVE FORCE 2 3

10 Protein folding is a complex cellular process often assisted by chaperones but can also be 11 facilitated by interactions with lipids. Disulfide bond formation is a common mechanism to 12 stabilize a protein. This can help maintain functionality amidst changes in the biochemical milieu 13 which are especially common across energy-transducing membranes. Plastidic Type I Signal 14 Peptidase 1 (Plsp1) is an integral thylakoid membrane signal peptidase which requires an 15 intramolecular disulfide bond for in vitro activity. We have investigated the interplay between 16 disulfide bond formation, lipids, and pH in the folding and activity of Plsp1. By combining 17 biochemical approaches with a genetic complementation assay, we provide evidence that 18 interactions with lipids in the thylakoid membrane have chaperoning activity towards Plsp1. 19 Further, the disulfide bridge appears to prevent an inhibitory conformational change resulting 20 from proton motive force-mimicking pH conditions. Broader implications related to the folding 21 of proteins in energy-transducing membranes are discussed. 22
Does Multidimensional Poverty Affect Depression? Evidence from Peru

The number of people in low- and middle-income countries who suffer from depression is increasing, and a significant proportion of people in these countries live in poverty. We estimated the effect of living in multidimensional poverty on experiencing symptoms associated with major depression using the 2018 Peruvian Demographic and Health Survey. We used an instrumental variables approach to overcome the potential endogeneity bias caused by the simultaneous relationship between multidimensional poverty and depression. We found that living in multidimensional poverty significantly increases depression symptom severity. This has urgent policy implications for low- and middle-income countries with limited provision of mental health services.
Cascading Models of CNN and GRU with Autoencoder Loss for Precipitation Forecast in Thailand

It is a crucial task to accurately forecast precipitation, especially rainfall in Thailand, since it relates to flood prevention and agricultural planning. In our prior work, we have presented a model based on deep learning approach; however, its performance is still limited due to two main issues. First, there is an imbalance issue, where most rainfall is zero or no rain because Thailand has short rainy season. Second, predicted rainfall is still underestimated since moderate and heavy rainfall cases barely occurs. In this paper, we propose an enhanced deep learning model to forecast rainfall in Thailand. Our model is a cascading of CNN and GRU along with exogenous variables, i.e., temperature, pressure, and humidity. There are two stages in our model. First, CNN is specialized for classifying rain and non-rain events. In this stage, an imbalanced issue is alleviated by applying “focal loss”. Second, GRU is responsible for forecasting rainfall. Its predicted range is lifted using “autoencoder loss”. The experiment was conducted on hourly rainfall dataset between 2012 and 2018 obtained from a public government sector in Thailand. The results show that our enhanced model outperforms ARIMA and CNN-GRU in terms on RMSE of most regions in Thailand.
Designing Buildings Using Reclaimed Steel Components

Abstract The consumption of non-renewable resources and the creation of wastes have been identified as among the key issues that our society must address in order not to prejudice the opportunities of future generations. Yet the way we design and construct our buildings leads to huge volumes of waste being generated as well as the use of large amounts of materials, the extraction of which leads to considerable environmental damage. So, how can we design buildings in a way that creates closed loop materials systems that minimize waste generation and primary resourse use? The objective of this paper is to review work carried out at Ryerson University in Canada funded by NRCan and CISC to identify ways in which construction can set up reuse loops for steel components so that waste and the demand for primary steel are reduced. In particular, the design and construction issues related to the use of salvaged steel components will be reviewed, through a series of case studies to draw out lessons and conclusions .
Productive Contribution of Public Spending and Human Capital in Developing Countries Revisited: The Role of Trade Openness

This study examines the catalytic role of trade openness in the relationships between human capital and public spending and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in 44 developing countries over the 1980–2014 period. Applying various estimation techniques to deal with autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity and cross-section dependence, the study finds that (a) the effect of human capital on TFP is nonlinear, (b) government consumption positively affects TFP but military spending is a negative factor and (c) trade openness significantly improves the positive influences of these factors on TFP. The results imply the important role of trade liberalisation in productivity evolution in developing countries. JEL Codes: F43, H52, O47
A noise thermometry investigation of the melting point of gallium at the NIM

This paper describes a study of the melting point of gallium with the new NIM Johnson noise thermometer (JNT). The new thermometer adopts the structure of switching correlator and commutator with the reference resistor maintained at the triple point of water. The electronic system of the new thermometer is basically the same as the current JNT, but the preamplifiers have been improved slightly. This study demonstrates that examining the characteristics of the noise signals in the frequency domain is of critical importance in constructing an improved new thermometer, where a power spectral analysis is found to be critical in establishing appropriate grounding for the new thermometer. The new JNT is tested on measurements of the thermodynamic temperature of the melting point of gallium, which give the thermodynamic temperature of 302.9160 K, with an overall integration time of 190 h and a combined standard uncertainty of 9.4 mK. The uncertainty analysis indicates that a standard combined uncertainty of 3 mK could be achieved with the new thermometer over an integration period of 1750 h.
An exploratory study examining the changes to Australia’s social security system during COVID‐19 lockdown measures

Abstract During the 2020 COVID‐19 wave, the Australian Government made an additional $550 Coronavirus Supplement available for people receiving social security payments, and temporarily suspended mutual obligation requirements. By doing so, the government effectively gave people who had been long stigmatised and subject to punitive conditionality to compel them into the labour market, financial security and their time back. Drawing on survey responses from people who received the $550 Supplement and had their mutual obligation activities suspended or reduced, this research examines how people used their time during this period and whether it differed from pre‐pandemic government policy. We find that the increase in payments through the Supplement and the suspension of mutual obligations impacted positively on people's lives including the (1) the ability of respondents to meet basic needs and improve their long‐term financial security, (2) improvements to physical and emotional well‐being, (3) increased labour market engagement and (4) engagement in other forms of unpaid productive work.
Small Business Failure Rates and the New Zealand Retail Sector: Perceptions of Shopping Mall Managers

Abstract Evidence from 220 small business start-ups in both managed and unmanaged shopping centres in New Zealand shows that the difference in failure rates between the two are statistically significant under one definitions of failure, as defined by Watson and Everett (1996). Average annual failure rates range from 0.5% to 9.6% in this study compared with much larger government reported ‘discontinuance’ rates, thus supporting the notion that the actual small business failure experience requires closer and more detailed examination before the ‘risk of failure’ for small businesses can be understood and not assumed to be the same as the lack of continuance. This study suggests that small business failure rates would be best modelled and reported in order to provide a more accurate assessment of failure rates as well as a deeper understanding that ‘discontinuance’ is not necessarily failure’ and not, therefore, to be confused with a risk measure.
The Novel Combination of Nitroxoline and PD-1 Blockade, Exerts a Potent Antitumor Effect in a Mouse Model of Prostate Cancer

Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade is a promising therapeutic strategy against prostate cancer. Nitroxoline has been found to have effective anticancer properties in several cancer types. We investigated the efficacy of a combination therapy involving nitroxoline and PD-1 blockade in a prostate cancer mouse model. In our in vitro analysis, we found that nitroxoline inhibited the viability and proliferation of the mouse prostate cancer cell line RM9-Luc-PSA. Additionally, nitroxoline downregulated the expressions of phospho-PI3 kinase, phospho-Akt (Thr308), phospho-Akt (Ser473), phospho-GSK-3β, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xL. Nitroxoline also downregulated programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression levels in prostate cancer cell line and tumor tissue. In our murine prostate cancer orthotopic model, nitroxoline plus PD-1 blockade synergistically suppressed tumor growth when compared with nitroxoline or PD-1 blockade alone, leading to reductions in tumor weight, bioluminescence tumor signals, and serum prostate-specific antigen levels. Furthermore, fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis showed that the combination strategy significantly enhanced antitumor immunity by increasing CD44+CD62L+CD8+ memory T cell numbers and reducing myeloid-derived suppressor cell numbers in peripheral blood. In conclusion, our findings suggest that nitroxoline plus PD-1 blockade may be a promising treatment strategy in patients with prostate cancer.
Analysing the effect of thermal modification on the calorific values of Eucalyptus nitens wood

Gross and net calorific value of 13 samples of Eucalyptus nitens wood were determined at HAWK (Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst), Göttingen, Germany. Among 13 samples, 12 were thermally modified and one was unmodified. Calorific values of samples were determined by using a bomb calorimeter, and the wood components (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and extractives) already analysed by Wentzel et al. (2019). After determination of the values, samples were statistically analysed by R studio to find the relations among the calorific value, temperature, and wood components. The gross calorific value and net calorific value of the untreated sample of Eucalyptus nitens were found to be 18.83 MJ/kg and 17.48 MJ/kg, and after thermal modification these increased up to 20.24 MJ/kg and 18.84 MJ/kg. Upon statistical analysis, the results for lignin showed a strong correlation with the temperature of thermal treatment and calorific value.
A comparison of 200 kN magneto-rheological damper models for use in real-time hybrid simulation pretesting

Control devices can be used to dissipate the energy of a civil structure subjected to dynamic loading, such as earthquake, wave and wind excitation, thus reducing structural damage and preventing failure. The magneto-rheological (MR) fluid damper is a promising device for use in civil structures due to its mechanical simplicity, inherent stability, high dynamic range, large temperature operating range, robust performance, and low power requirements. The MR damper is intrinsically nonlinear and rate dependent. Thus a challenging aspect of applying this technology is the development of accurate models to describe the behavior of such dampers for control design and evaluation purposes. In particular, a new type of experimental testing called real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) combines numerical simulation with laboratory testing of physical components. As with any laboratory testing, safety is of critical importance. For RTHS in particular the feedback and dynamic interaction of physical and numerical components can result in potentially unstable behavior. For safety purposes, it is desired to conduct pretest simulations where the physical specimen is replaced with an appropriate numerical model yet the numerical RTHS component is left unchanged. These pretest simulations require a MR damper model that can exhibit stability and convergence at larger fixed integration time steps, and provide computational efficiency, speed of calculation, and accuracy during pretest verification of the experimental setup. Several models for MR dampers have been proposed, including the hyperbolic tangent, Bouc–Wen, viscous plus Dahl and algebraic models. This paper examines the relative performance of four MR damper models of large-scale 200 kN MR dampers as needed for pretest simulations of RTHS. Experimental tests are conducted on two large-scale MR dampers located at two RTHS test facilities at the Smart Structures Technology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and the Lehigh University Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation facility. It is shown that each of the MR damper models examined has relative merits and the ultimate selection of the particular model is dependent on the specific RTHS being tested.
Measuring University Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Sudden Transition to Online Learning and Academic Self- Efficacy

Online learning has unquestionably shaped contemporary education. The emergence and spread in recent months of the COVID-19 virus, with the attendant preventative implementation of social distancing, has significantly enhanced online learning’s influence. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where strict social distancing precautions were implemented early in the pandemic, thousands of college students were rapidly shifted from conventional to online instructional environments. Now that these students have a semester of experience with online learning, the time is propitious to explore these students’ online learning experiences. One concept in connection with which students’ online learning experiences have not been extensively studied is that of academic self-efficacy. The present study seeks to investigate Jeddah University students’ experiences with online learning in light of their assessments of their academic self-efficacy. Employing a combined descriptive/correlational research design organized around a pair of survey instruments—one designed to query students’ online learning experiences and a second designed to measure their senses of their academic self-efficacy—the present study investigates attitudes of a population of 1,167 Jeddah University undergraduate students randomly selected from the available pool of 16,893 individuals. The study finds that student attitudes with respect to both online learning and self-efficacy are high. It shows, furthermore, significant statistical correlation between students’ highly positive experiences with online instruction and their high senses of their academic self-efficacy. By developing the understanding regarding student attitudes and self-efficacy, this research opens avenues for further research into the connections between online learning and students’ self-perceptions. Moreover, the study’s findings hold significant implications for bettering Saudi Arabian e-learning, an outcome fully in keeping with the policy goals outlined in the 2030 vision.
Waveguide-based surface plasmon resonance sensor design

In this paper, we discussed the method for optimization of fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor and the effect of optimized parameters by analysis of the transmission spectrum of waveguide-based SPR sensors. Because of their high sensitivity, the SPR sensors can be used in a lot of chemical and biological studies, but it is difficult to perform a theoretical analysis of an SPR fiber sensor. Therefore, for the design and analysis of the sensor responses, a fiber-optic SPR sensor can be optimized numerically by adjusting parameters such as the thickness of metal layers and the grating period, etc. We simulated and optimized parameters by employing the method of the rigorous coupled wave analysis and the genetic algorithm. Also we discussed the methods for improving sensing capability.
An Unchained Dog of War: An Examination of the Lack of Constraint on Presidential Uses of Force in the Modern Era

ABSTRACT Research on the constraint President’s face in matters of foreign policy is generally of the view that they are largely free to do as they please. Some research however posits that Congressional constrain on the executive is in fact much larger than it is given credit for. Using their research as a jumping off point, I re-examine this matter by asking when the President will seek ex ante Congressional authorization for the use of force. I estimate this potential effect of Congressional constraint on the President by looking at US initiated militarized interstate disputes with at least one fatality. In so doing, it is demonstrated that no Congressional constrain exists in this regard; the President rarely seeks ex ante authorization for the use of force and is therefore not truly constrained in its use. In fact, evidence is brought to bear that if anything the diversionary theory of war initiation may hold water; inflation is shown herein to be negatively linked to ex ante Congressional authorization for the use of force. It seems as though the President is less likely to ask Congress for permission to conduct deadly military operations when inflation is high.