Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Employees Relevancy Following The Emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly hijacking human tasks at different organizational levels; thus, employees need to be skilled in various aspects beyond work limitations and prerequisites. The fourth industrial revolution has catapult this into the work space, which encompasses a combination of different technologies that have gradually led to the blurring of lines between both the physical and digital world. It incessantly plays a pivotal role in how job tasks are conducted and has even aided in revamping the structure of the organization. Some authors contended that AI would primarily replace tasks not jobs. This implies that AI would concentrate more on difficult tasks that may probably require mechanical intelligence. It would furthermore supersede the human labor in analytical intelligence by determining tasks that entail rational thinking skills. With the probability game-changing of digitalization toward dehumanizing people, many areas are needed to unmask the strengths and abilities of employees. While AI experts are incessantly designing machines to imitate human skills including problem-solving, task-execution, to mention a few, it is however useful and reasonable to explore for employees’ survival after the widespread emergence of AI machines. The capability of AI in data-processing requests for massive employees’ concentration on preparing individuals toward understanding data, interpreting results and making decisions. Employees would solely be remembered in the era of AI if extraordinary skills that may not be discharged by AI machines are cultivated. In this regard, this paper attempts to unveil AI and employees’ relevance in addition to the valuable and lucrative areas for employees in the immediate future.
Agitation Dredging: Lessons and Guidelines from Past Projects

Abstract : This report is based on a comprehensive literature survey of agitation dredging projects and the field data obtained from a small-scale monitoring study. Twenty-two agitation dredging projects are described from the standpoints of technical performance, environmental effects, and economic results. The projects encompassed seven different categories of agitation dredging equipment and several combinations of physical environment and sediment characteristics. The information gathered from these projects is used to develop a number of general and specific conclusions about agitation dredging and the types of applications for which it is best suited. Several categories of agitation dredging equipment are selected as having the most technical potential. The author recommends that existing agitation dredging technology be improved and standardized and that a comprehensive approach be developed for planning and conducting agitation dredging.
Validity of the 500 Yard Swim and 5 Kilometer Stationary Cycle Ride as Indicators of Aerobic Fitness.

Abstract : Two studies were performed, under contract, to determine the validity of including a 500-yard, swim or a 5-kilometer stationary cycle ride as an aerobic fitness measure in the Navy's Physical Readiness Test (PRT). Participants in the swim test study were 60 college students (29 men and 31 women). Th aerobic fitness of each subject was determined from 1.5-mile run time and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). Swimming skill, percent body fat, and 500-yard swim time were also measured. Results showed swim time to be weakly correlated with both run time and VO20max (r = .44 and -.32 respectively). Swimming skill was the primary determinant of swim time (r = -.83). In the second study, 20 college students (9 men and 11 women) performed a series of 5-kilometer rides on a stationary cycle ergometer for time. Maximum oxygen uptake and 1.5-mile run time were also measured. Cycle ride time was significantly correlated with both run time and VO20max (r = .94 and -.72 respectively). These results indicate that factors other than aerobic fitness (i.e., swimming skill) significantly affect 500-yard swim performance, and therefore, its validity as a measure of aerobic fitness has to be seriously questioned.
Quantifying the Importance of Image and Perception to Bus Rapid Transit

This study was designed to quantify the importance of image and perception to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), by identifying the different underlying tangible and intangible factors that drive any perceived differences between BRT and other forms of rapid transit. “Tangible” service attributes refer to those that are functional and objectively quantifiable, whereas attributes that are abstract, subjective, and more difficult to measure and quantify are termed “intangible. ” Los Angeles was chosen as the study location because it features a wide range of rapid transit modes, including “BRT-Lite” (Metro Rapid), “Full-Service” BRT (Metro Orange Line), Light Rail Transit (Gold Line and Blue Line) and Heavy Rail Transit (Red Line). A series of focus groups was conducted in late 2007, followed in 2008 with an attitudinal survey of 2,400 transit users and non-users in the Los Angeles area. Survey data analysis showed that statistically significant differences existed in the overall ratings achieved by the alternative transit modes, which were separated into four different tiers (ordered in terms of lowest to highest overall rating): Tier 1: Local bus service; Tier 2: Metro Rapid and Blue Line LRT; Tier 3: Orange Line and the Gold Line; Tier 4: Red Line HRT. These overall ratings were compared against the level of investment associated with each mode, defined in terms of capital cost per mile. Given that the investment level associated with the Metro Rapid is much closer to that of the local bus than to any of the other modes, it was concluded that the Metro Rapid performs remarkably well in terms of overall rating achieved per dollar of investment, and therefore represents a very cost effective form of BRT. The Orange Line BRT also performed well in terms of overall rating achieved per dollar of investment, though not to the dramatic level associated with the Metro Rapid. It was found that intangible service attributes have a significant influence on modal perceptions - the Gold Line LRT and Orange Line BRT both achieved higher overall ratings than the Blue Line LRT due to higher ratings on key intangible attributes like safety while riding, safety while at the station, and other riders that use the service. It was hypothesized that these differences in intangible attribute ratings were related to the issue of urban context, and it appears that the urban area through which a rapid transit service runs has a larger impact on overall perceptions than whether it is based on bus or rail technology. Overall, these findings showed that BRT (even in its lower investment forms) can compete with rail-based transit (at least in the perception of the general public) in return for lower capital cost investments. The question of whether these perceptions translate into similar levels of ridership attraction is a topic for further research.
Laboratory Evaluation of Expedient Low-Temperature Admixtures for Runway Craters in Cold Weather

The research included in this report investigates admixtures that can improve the low-temperature early strength gain performance of two products already in existence (which are currently in limited use by the Air Force) for hasty runway repair. The first product, a “flowable fill,” is a low-level cementitious sandy mixture used to rapidly fill the bulk of a runway crater; the second product, a rapid setting concrete, seals the final 10–12 in. of the crater and allows heavy-vehicle trafficability. The primary operational requirements, which the current two-part solution meets at higher temperatures (greater than 10°C) but which require improvements at lower temperatures (−10°C to 10°C), involve time of set and 2 hr unconfined compressive strength (UCS). This research ignores typical concerns, such as long-term durability, aesthetics, and corrosion, that are of minimal importance in this expedient field-use application—horizontal surface repairs not expected to last more than two to five years. Results from this study are expected to be incorporated into operational testing, using Air Force equipment, personnel, and techniques, for small and large crater repair at sub-freezing temperatures. This report describes laboratory tests to improve the early strength gain performance of both repair materials to repair small-to-large craters at ambient temperatures of −10°C to 10°C.
Defining Priorities and Timescales for Seismic Intervention in School Buildings in Italy

This report presents the development of a risk-management framework for the seismic safety of school buildings in Italy. The primary objectives of the decision-making framework are to identify the most high-risk schools, prioritise the allocation of resources to these schools for seismic strengthening, and to assign timescales and target safety levels for the strengthening, in accordance with the new Italian seismic design code. While the steps in the method are clearly outlined and described, the fundamental parameters of the framework, such as tolerable risk levels and resources available to carry out the operation, must be defined by the relevant authorities. With an appropriate selection of these parameters, the framework described herein is able to provide a rational distribution of both technical and financial resources to reduce the seismic risk of Italian school buildings over realistic timescales that reflect the urgency of these measures for protecting the next generation of Italian citizens.
The effects of organizational context on quality management: An empirical investigation

While the quality literature abounds with prescriptions for how quality should be managed, no one has proposed an organization-theory explanation for how quality is managed in organizations. This paper proposes a system-structural model of quality management that relates organizational quality context, actual quality management, ideal quality management, and quality performance. The relationships between organizational quality context and actual and ideal quality management are investigated using data collected from 152 managers from 77 business units of 20 manufacturing and service companies. A previously reported instrument is used to measure managers' perceptions of ideal and actual quality management in terms of eight critical factors including product/service design, training, employee relations, and top management leadership. Several measures are used to characterize organizational quality context including company type, company size, degree of competition, and corporate support for quality. The results indicate that organizational quality context influences managers' perceptions of both ideal and actual quality management. This suggests that knowledge of organizational quality context is useful for explaining and predicting quality management practice. Important contextual variables are corporate support for quality, past quality performance, managerial knowledge, and the extent of external quality demands.
Effects of Hole Length, Supply Plenum Geometry, and Freestream Turbulence on Film Cooling Performance

Experimental measurements are presented in this report to document the sensitivity of film cooling performance to the hole length and coolant delivery plenum geometry. Measurements with hot-wire anemometry detail velocity, local turbulence, and spectral distributions over the exit plane of film cooling holes and downstream of injection in the coolant-freestream interaction zone. Measurements of discharge coefficients and adiabatic effectiveness are also provided. Coolant is supplied to the film cooling holes by means of a large, open plenum and through plenums which force the coolant to approach the holes either co-current or counter-current to the freestream. A single row of film cooling holes with 35 degree-inclined streamwise at two coolant-to-freestream velocity ratios, 0.5 and 1.0, is investigated. The coolant-to-freestream density ratio is maintained in the range 0.96 to 1.0. Measurements were taken under high-freestream (FSTI = 12%) and low-freestream turbulence intensity (FSTI = 0.5%) conditions. The results document the effects of the hole L/D, coolant supply plenum geometry, velocity ratio, and FSTI. In general, hole L/D and the supply plenum geometry play influential roles in the film cooling performance. Hole L/D effects, however, are more pronounced. Film cooling performance is also dependent upon the velocity ratio and FSTI.
Aerosol direct radiative effect over clouds from synergy of OMI and MODIS reflectance

Abstract. The retrieval of geophysical parameters is increasingly dependent on synergistic use of satellite instruments. More sophisticated parameters can be retrieved and the accuracy of retrievals can be increased when more information is combined. In this paper, a synergistic application of OMI/Aura and MODIS/Aqua Level 1B reflectances is described, enabling the retrieval of the aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE) over clouds using the differential aerosol absorption (DAA) technique. This technique was first developed for reflectances from SCIAMACHY/Envisat, which had the unique capability of measuring contiguous radiances from the ultraviolet (UV) at 240 nm to 1750 nm in the shortwave-infrared (SWIR), at a moderate spectral resolution of 0.2–1.5 nm. However, the spatial resolution and global coverage of SCIAMACHY was limited, and Envisat stopped delivering data in 2012. In order to continue the DRE data retrieval, reflectances from OMI and MODIS, flying in formation, were combined from the UV to the SWIR. This resulted in reflectances at a limited but sufficient spectral resolution, available at the OMI pixel grid, which have a much higher spatial resolution and coverage than SCIAMACHY. The combined reflectance spectra allow the retrieval of cloud microphysical parameters in the SWIR, and the subsequent retrieval of aerosol DRE over cloud scenes using the DAA technique. The new aerosol DRE over clouds dataset from OMI/MODIS is compared to the SCIAMACHY dataset for the period 2006–2009, showing a very high correlation. The average aerosol DRE over clouds in August 2006 was 31.5 Wm−2 with a standard deviation of 16 Wm−2. The maximum daily averaged DRE from OMI/MODIS in August 2006 was 75.6 ± 13 Wm−2. Over the Atlantic Ocean, the OMI/MODIS DRE dataset is related to AOT measurements over Ascension Island in 2016, showing the transport of smoke all the way from its source region in Africa over the Atlantic to Ascension and beyond.
INJURY RISK FUNCTIONS IN FRONTAL IMPACTS USING RECORDED CRASH PULSES

The aim of this paper was to present injury risk functions based on real-life frontal crashes where crash severity was measured with on-board crash pulse recorders (CPR). Results from 178 frontal collisions with an overlap of more than 25% and with an angle within +/- 30 degrees from straight frontal have been analysed. A mix of 18 car models of 4 different makes was included. The study shows the potential in using real-life data to establish injury risk functions to be used as guidelines in the design of a crashworthy road transport system. The results showed variations in the ability of explaining risk of injury depending on the crash severity parameter used. Acceleration seemed to better describe injury risk than velocity change of (delta V) in frontal impacts. In order to have lower than 25% risk of an Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2+ injury, mean acceleration should be kept below 8 g and peak acceleration below 26 g. At every crash severity interval, women had a higher injury risk of AIS1 injuries than men. Also the risk of AIS2+ injuries was higher for women than for men at a crash severity above 25 km/h or 7 g. At every crash severity, older drivers above 50 years of age had higher risk of AIS2+ injuries than drivers below 50 years of age. Drivers had higher AIS2+ injury risk than front seat passengers at mean acceleration above 8 g. At crash severities where the airbags are likely to be deployed, a large reduction in the risk of AIS1 and AIS2+ injuries was found. For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E206514.
The BBC's Second-Shift Aesthetics: Interactive Television, Multi-Platform Projects and Public Service Content for a Digital Era

This article maps out some of the implications of interactivity and convergence for television's textual and industrial forms in relation to the BBC's status as a public service broadcaster. Whilst the digitalisation of television may bring about new textual, industrial and audience configurations, the goals for broadcasters remain the same: to attract viewers in a marketplace where there is increasing competition for screen-based leisure time. John Caldwell's work on ‘second-shift aesthetics’ demonstrates how TV-dot.com synergies must now attempt to ‘master textual dispersals and user navigations that can and will inevitably migrate across brand boundaries’ in order to keep audiences engaged with their proprietary content for as long as possible (Caldwell, 2003: 136). However, for public service broadcasters, mastering these user flows does not simply take the form of an economic transaction. Rather, these second-shift strategies must serve and fulfil public service (PS) obligations and engage viewers in new relationships. Based on a combination of textual analysis and critical industrial research, including interviews with key industry personnel, this article examines the BBC's early second-shift practices in relation to interactive television (iTV) and ‘multi-platform projects’, as the corporation moves from being a PS broadcaster to a PS content-provider.
Relating Personality with Stress Coping Strategies among Student Pilots in a Collegiate Flight Training Program

This paper describes how aviation psychologists have long been interested in studying the personality characteristics of successful and safe pilots. To date, much of the research on pilot personality has involved the use of military aircrew. Few studies have examined the role of personality in civil aviation pilots’ performance and stress coping during flight training. Therefore, little is known about the personality profiles of commercial and general aviation pilots, or the relationship between personality dimensions and the use of different strategies for dealing with flight-related stressors. Given the recurrent cutbacks in the U.S. military, an increasing number of commercial pilots in the U.S. are now being trained and recruited from the private sector rather than from the Armed Forces. Consequently, a better understanding of the personality profiles and stress coping strategies of pilots entering civil aviation training programs may help develop better selection, training, and safety programs for the civil aviation industry. To address these issues, the authors administered a personality test and a stress coping questionnaire (COPE) to first-year students (n=50) enrolled in the Professional Pilot Training program at the University of Illinois’ Institute of Aviation. Results revealed that certain personality and stress-coping profiles of student pilots differed significantly from previously published norms within the population. Personality characteristics were differentially and significantly related to specific stress coping strategies adopted by student pilots. These findings support the notion that civil aviation pilots have different personality characteristics than non-pilots. In addition, they demonstrate that such differences can be associated with important stress coping strategies that may contribute to flight-training performance and success within civil aviation. Additional research is needed to increase the sample size used in this study and to track pilots’ career performance long term.
Patient satisfaction with malaria care among pregnant women and mothers of under 5 children in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Background Patient satisfaction is as an important measure of program assessment and health system performance. In our study, we assessed patient’s satisfaction with malaria care among pregnant women (PW) and mothers of children less than five years of age (MU5) in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods A cross-sectional design, patient satisfaction with malaria care was assessed among 1,373 participants (818 PW and 555 MU5) with the anti-malarial care they received in a comprehensive hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. Data on patient satisfaction was obtained using a validated eighteen-item questionnaire (PSQ-18) and analyzed using the standard satisfaction scales and quantitative scores. Results Overall, more than half of the participants (79.5% of PW and 78.8% MU5) were well satisfied with malaria care. The least satisfaction i.e., 41.4% among PW (mean satisfaction score = 3.06±1.2) and 45.1% (mean 3.16±1.3) among MU5 was reported on the clinical technical quality of (Sometimes doctors make me wonder if their diagnosis is correct). Furthermore, general satisfaction (based on satisfactions with technical quality, inter-personal attitude, communication, cost, accessibility or convenience and time spent with the doctor) was inversely associated with parity of PW (OR for PW with one child = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.34-0.75 with reference to pregnant women who have had more than one child) in multivariate analyses. Among MU5, general satisfaction was associated with extreme poverty (OR = for the poorest = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.10-0.90, with reference to the richest). Conclusion Socio economic status plays significant roles in mothers’ satisfaction with health care access, level of care received and most importantly their prospective health seeking behaviour. Important aspect, such as patient’s perception of being well treated by the health care provider should be a key consideration for formulate a patients’ centred strategy to improve malaria cares in Oyo state and Nigeria at large.
Epithelial Remodelling After Epithelium-off Continuous Accelerated Corneal Collagen Cross-linking in Progressive Keratoconus

Background: To analyse regional corneal epithelial and stromal remodelling after epithelium-off (epi-off) continuous accelerated corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) for keratoconus (KC). Methods: In this retrospective study, 20 patients (33 eyes) who were treated with epi-off continuous accelerated CXL (KXL system; Avedro, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA). All treatments were performed with ultraviolet-A (UVA) (energy, 7.2 J/cm2; irradiance, 30 mW/cm2), using continuous (4 min) illumination. The postoperative changes in corneal biometric and visual outcomes were compared. The corneal thickness changes were evaluated using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (Optovue). All patients were followed up for 12 months postoperatively.Results: Uncorrected distance visual acuity significantly improved from 1.06 ± 0.49 logarithm of the minimum angle resolution (logMAR) to 0.71 ± 0.37 logMAR at 3 months after epi-off continuous accelerated CXL (p<0.001). The corneal epithelial thickness changes were significant in the inner nasal at -1.48 ± 3.65 µm (p=0.024), -1.76 ± 4.21 µm in the inner superior-nasal (p=0.024), -1.52 ± 4.02 µm in the inner superior (p=0.046), -1.97 ± 4.57 µm in the inner superior-temporal (p=0.018), -2.12 ± 4.46 µm in the outer inferior (p=0.014), -2.15 ± 4.82 µm in the outer inferior-nasal (p=0.022), -1.73 ± 4.45 µm in the outer temporal (p=0.019) at 6 months after epi-off continuous accelerated CXL.Conclusions: Significant regional epithelial remodelling occurs after epi-off continuous accelerated CXL; a more regular corneal thickness profile and keratometric variations were observed after treatment.