Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Awareness about Road Accidents and Knowledge of Traffic Rules: Empirical Evidence from Khulna City in Bangladesh

This paper explores the social, demographic, economic, and other relevant determinants of road accident victims’ awareness and knowledge regarding traffic rules. Data were collected from 200 victims of road traffic accidents (RTAs) in Khulna City, Bangladesh, using face-to-face surveys and inter-views. Using probit model estimation, seven factors were found to be statistically significant: gender, training experience, education, access to media, previous involvement in road accidents, residence in urban areas, and high-skilled jobs. The results show that victims with training experience, higher education, access to media, and previous road accident experiences are more aware of road accidents and have learned adequate traffic rules. Victims who live in rural areas or have low-skilled jobs are less likely to have knowledge of traffic rules than those who live in urban areas or those with high-skilled jobs. In addition, males are likely to be more aware of RTAs than females.
Association between SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Nursing Home Staff and Resident COVID-19 Cases and Mortality: A Cross-Sectional Study

The burden of COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the elderly, who are at increased risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the association between SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among nursing home staff, and cumulative incidence rates of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths among residents. Staff seroprevalence was estimated within the SEROCoV-WORK+ study between May and September 2020 across 29 nursing homes in Geneva, Switzerland. Data on nursing home residents were obtained from the canton of Geneva for the period between March and August 2020. Associations were assessed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient and quasi-Poisson regression models. Overall, seroprevalence among staff ranged between 0 and 31.4%, with a median of 8.3%. A positive association was found between staff seroprevalence and resident cumulative incidence of COVID-19 cases (correlation coefficient R = 0.72, 95%CI 0.45–0.87; incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.10, 95%CI 1.07–1.17), hospitalizations (R = 0.59, 95%CI 0.25–0.80; IRR = 1.09, 95%CI 1.05–1.13), and deaths (R = 0.71, 95%CI 0.44–0.86; IRR = 1.12, 95%CI 1.07–1.18). Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 transmission between staff and residents may contribute to the spread of the virus within nursing homes. Awareness among nursing home professionals of their likely role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to increase vaccination coverage and prevent unnecessary deaths due to COVID-19.
Exploring collaborative learning: Experiences of a web 2.0 tool within a pre-service teacher education environment

The move to a Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) provided an opportunity for course instructors to use web 2.0 tools to create a web-enhanced learning community. This paper explores how a group of 18 first and second year pre-service primary education teachers adapted to using wiki as part of their online course work. Data was gathered using pre and post surveys that were composed of a combination of Likert scales and open-ended questions. The students’ contributions to the wiki and forums were also analysed. This study reports that although students were positive about the collaborative potential of wiki, several factors appeared to create barriers for students as they moved towards constructivist learning practices. Each of these factors ‐ Personal Feelings, Time and Purpose ‐ are discussed in terms of the implication for online course development. Results highlighted the need to provide students with a learning process that guides them towards effective collaborative work and contributes to the development of risk-taking attitudes and behaviours when writing in a public forum. The need to scaffold the development of both technological and collaborative skills through progressive wiki tasks was evident in aiming to meet the social, emotional and academic needs of students within a virtual learning environment.
A Birdie in the Hand: Asymmetry in Golf Risk Preferences

This study tested whether recreational golfers would prefer to take greater risk when faced with likely losses than with likely gains. Over 2100 avid golfers made choices where gains and losses were framed in reference to par. Based on Prospect Theory, it was predicted that golfers would choose to take more risk when faced with likely losses (bogeys) than likely gains (birdies). The study also tested whether player deliberation, trait risk-taking, and player ability would moderate the bias. Consistent with prediction, players were willing to take greater risk with bogeys than pars or birdies. When players were asked to identify the “smart” course of action, they chose the less risky option. Golfers scoring high on trait risk-taking were generally willing to accept more golf risk than players scoring low on the scale for birdies, pars and bogeys. Low handicap (high ability) players were willing to accept more risk playing for a likely bogey than were high handicap (low ability) players.
Transmission of Special Autonomic Funds in the Economy through Mediation Variables

This study analyzes the effect of special autonomy funds on physical infrastructure, education, health, and poverty as well as its effect on economic growth in Aceh Province. The effect seen is the direct or indirect effect that occurs between the realization of special autonomy funds on economic growth in Aceh Province. The physical infrastructure variables represented by the length of the road, education represented by the average length of schooling, health represented by life expectancy, and poverty represented by the percentage of poor population were intervening variables. The intervening variable is a variable that is considered capable of mediating between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The analysis model used in this study is path analysis so as to be able to see the direct and indirect effects of an independent variable on the dependent variable. The results found in this study are the realization of special autonomy funds has a direct effect on economic growth. While the indirect effect is given by the variable realization of special autonomy funds on economic growth through the length of the road, life expectancy, and the percentage of poor people. The variable of average length of schooling does not have an indirect effect between the realization of special autonomy funds on the economic growth of Aceh Province.
Segway running behavior focusing on riders' experience based on image-processing data

This paper analyzes the characteristics of the Segway's running behavior by means of experiments conducted on a test course, with a focus on the difference in the time that the participants had been riding the Segway. Trajectory data for the Segway were collected from 14 male subjects, with five running situations being assumed: acceleration, deceleration, slalom running, overtaking and passing pedestrians, and emergency braking. The experimental results show that there is a difference between beginners and experienced users in deceleration and rotational behavior. The emergency braking experiments showed that there is not much difference according to experience, and furthermore, they indicated that there was a similarity to the stopping behavior of a bicycle. These results are expected to be useful in designing a Segway training scheme and evaluating the use of the Segway on public roads as well as appropriate rules and regulations such as using a microscopic traffic simulation. Language: ja
Novel Deterministic Detection and Estimation Algorithms for Colocated Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Radars

In this manuscript, the problem of detecting multiple targets and estimating their spatial coordinates (namely, their range and the direction of arrival of their electromagnetic echoes) in a colocated multiple-input multiple-output radar system operating in a static or slowly changing two-dimensional or three-dimensional propagation scenario is investigated. Various solutions, collectively called range & angle serial cancellation algorithms, are developed for both frequency modulated continuous wave radars and stepped frequency continuous wave radars. Moreover, specific technical problems experienced in their implementation are discussed. Finally, the accuracy achieved by these algorithms in the presence of multiple targets is assessed on the basis of both synthetically generated data and of the measurements acquired through three different multiple-input multiple-output radars and is compared with that provided by other methods based on multidimensional Fourier analysis and multiple signal classification.
Serum Lysyl Oxidase Levels and Lysyl Oxidase Gene Polymorphism in Ovarian Cancer Patients of Eastern Indian Population

(1) Background: Lysyl oxidase (LOX) plays a dual role in carcinogenesis and studies show a higher risk of cancer in LOX G473A variants. The present study evaluated the pattern of LOX G473A polymorphism (rs1800449) and serum LOX levels in ovarian cancer patients. (2) Methods: Serum LOX levels were estimated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A polymorphism of rs1800449 of LOX gene was detected by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Selected samples were sequenced for external validation. (3) Results: A majority of study participants were from low socio-economic status. Serum LOX level was significantly higher in ovarian cancer patients as compared to control. Serum LOX level in early-stage ovarian cancer was significantly lower as compared to advanced stage (FIGO stage III & IV). Wild type GG genotype was used as reference. Genotypes AA were associated with a significant risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (OR 3.208; p value- 0.033). A allele of rs1800449 polymorphism of LOX gene, the odds ratio was 1.866 (95% Confidence Interval 1.112–3.16) p value = 0.017 (4) Conclusions: A allele of rs1800449 polymorphism of LOX gene presents an increased risk of ovarian cancer in East Indian population. Serum LOX levels could be a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of ovarian cancer.
High Gain Printed Monopole Antenna for Wireless Applications

It has been observed that printed monopole antennas are simple in design and fabrication because of high operating frequency, yielding very large bandwidths but the gain and directivity associated with these planar monopole antennas is still a topic of major research. This paper focuses on designing and simulating a high gain printed monopole antenna using the idea of increasing the antenna elements in a linear antenna array and studying the radiation patterns for the array of 5 elements, 9 elements and 16 elements to improve its directive gain. For many applications a high gain and directive antenna is required. We are using the rectangular shaped elements in our array as its performance is very good for applications in ISM band and multiband wireless applications.
Flow Physics and Profiling of Recessed Blade Tips: Impact on Performance and Heat Load

In axial turbine, the tip clearance flow occurring in rotor blade rows is responsible for about one-third of the aerodynamic losses in the blade row and in many cases is the limiting factor for the blade lifetime. The tip leakage vortex forms when the leaking fluid crosses the gap between the rotor blade tip and the casing from pressure to suction side and rolls up into a vortex on the blade suction side. The flow through the tip gap is both of high velocity and of high temperature, with the heat transfer to the blade from the hot fluid being very high in the blade tip area. In order to avoid blade tip burnout and a failure of the machine, blade tip cooling is commonly used. This paper presents the physical study and an improved design of a recessed blade tip for a highly loaded axial turbine rotor blade with application in high pressure axial turbines in aero engine or power generation. With use of three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the flow field near the tip of the blade for different shapes of the recess cavities is investigated. Through better understanding and control of cavity vortical structures, an improved design is presented and its differences from the generic flat tip blade are highlighted. It is observed that by an appropriate profiling of the recess shape, the total tip heat transfer Nusselt number was significantly reduced, being 15% lower than the flat tip and 7% lower than the base line recess shape. Experimental results also showed an overall improvement of 0.2% in the one-and-a-half-stage turbine total efficiency with the improved recess design compared to the flat tip case. The CFD analysis conducted on single rotor row configurations predicted a 0.38% total efficiency increase for the rotor equipped with the new recess design compared to the flat tip rotor.
Cutoff wavenumbers in truncated waveguides

Truncated waveguides are used in some microwave components. The cutoff wavenumbers in truncated circular waveguide and truncated square waveguide are desired but usually difficult to be computed. In this paper, they are efficiently determined using the unified method that we proposed earlier. Both TE-polarized and TM-polarized modes are studied. To demonstrate the applicability and correctness of this method, two practical examples are considered, one is a truncated circular waveguide and the other is a truncated square waveguide. Results obtained for the two cases are compared with existing data in literature and a good agreement is observed. A further extension of the work is made to compute cutoff wavenumbers of a truncated elliptical waveguide. It is found from the analysis that the cutoff wavenumbers in these irregular waveguides can be computed easily, rapidly, and accurately using the unified method.
Using behavioral data to understand shared mobility choices of electric and hybrid vehicles

Abstract Travel increases with urban sprawl leading to increased congestion and emissions. Advances in technologies provides new paradigms of transport such as mobility as a service (MaaS), which is a novel concept providing users with mobility services including ride-hailing, carsharing and bike sharing based on their needs. The goal of transitioning to a low carbon economy and recent development of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) including electric and hybrids offers a promising mobility option for MaaS. However, the use decisions of these vehicles, specifically the shared use for their role in MaaS is not well understood. Thus, the study is intended to provide information about travel choice of consumers and shared use of electric and hybrid vehicles for their role in MaaS. This article utilizes over 125,345 observations from the National Household Travel Survey 2017 to calibrate Heckman switching regime models for AFV travel choice decisions, accounting for self-selection and heterogeneity bias and Bayesian logistic regression with random parameter specifications to model the shared mobility decision of AFVs while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity and temporal/spatial variation. On average, 20% AFVs and 26% conventional vehicles are used for shared mobility in Uber and Lyft. Additional increase in ride-hailing involving AFVs are observed to substantially reduce net greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The use of AFVs for travel depends on factors such as personal interest in technologies. Furthermore, travelers using ride-hailing apps increase the likelihood of using AFVs for shared mobility purposes. This research has implications for making policy decisions and placing incentives to promote the purchase, and shared mobility use of AFVs for MaaS.
Religion as a Protective Factor Against Adolescent Smoking Habits: Evidence from Spain

Background: There are a wide number of assessments suggesting that being a member of a religious community inhibits adolescents’ risky behaviours and, consequently, can act as a protective factor against the consumption of smoking substances. Methods: We have analysed a structured questionnaire answered by 1935 adolescents from Tarragona (Spain). Results: We have found that variables linked to family were the principal explanatory factors of adolescents’ smoking habits. Living with two parents was a protective factor against tobacco and cannabis use since its Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) was clearly below 1 (p<0.01). So, whereas living with one parent showed an IRR>1 (p<0.05), adolescents that live without parents presented an IRR close 2 (p<0.05 for tobacco and p<0.01 for cannabis). However, having a religious confession also influence smoking substance use in adolescents (IRR close 0.85 with p<0.01). Conclusion: We found a clear preventive effect in belonging to a religious community. Moreover, this protective effect was less intense, but not statistically significant, for Catholics than for members of other confessions.
Metabolomics Coupled with Pathway Analysis Provides Insights into Sarco-Osteoporosis Metabolic Alterations and Estrogen Therapeutic Effects in Mice

Postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) and sarcopenia are common diseases that predominantly affect postmenopausal women. In the occurrence and development of these two diseases, they are potentially pathologically connected with each other at various molecular levels. However, the application of metabolomics in sarco-osteoporosis and the metabolic rewiring happening throughout the estrogen loss-replenish process have not been reported. To investigate the metabolic alteration of sarco-osteoporosis and the possible therapeutical effects of estradiol, 24 mice were randomly divided into sham surgery, ovariectomy (OVX), and estradiol-treated groups. Three-dimensional reconstructions and histopathology examination showed significant bone loss after ovariectomy. Estrogen can well protect against OVX-induced bone loss deterioration. UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS was preformed to profile semi- polar metabolites of skeletal muscle samples from all groups. Metabolomics analysis revealed metabolic rewiring occurred in OVX group, most of which can be reversed by estrogen supplementation. In total, 65 differential metabolites were identified, and pathway analysis revealed that sarco-osteoporosis was related to the alterations in purine metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, tryptophan metabolism, histidine metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and thermogenesis, which provided possible explanations for the metabolic mechanism of sarco-osteoporosis. This study indicates that an UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS-based metabolomics approach can elucidate the metabolic reprogramming mechanisms of sarco-osteoporosis and provide biological evidence of the therapeutical effects of estrogen on sarco-osteoporosis.
Detection of PD utilizing digital signal processing methods. Part 3: Open-loop noise reduction

The paper shows that open-loop noise reduction techniques can be effective in separating partial discharge (PD) signals from noise. Wavelet-based denoising through the use of thresholding of wavelet coefficients provides near optimal noise reduction for many classes of signals including PD signals in noise. The effectiveness of wavelet transform-based noise reduction depends on selection of an appropriate wavelet basis function as well as on careful selection of threshold function and levels.
Quantifying Effects of Particle Shape and Type and Amount of Fines on Unbound Aggregate Performance through Controlled Gradation

Construction of a pavement working platform often is needed on soft, unstable soils to provide sufficient stability and adequate, immediate support for equipment mobility and paving operations without excessive rutting. Standard specifications may allow the use of a wide range of aggregate materials for subgrade applications regardless of aggregate properties. The aggregate type and quality are important factors in determining the required treatment and replacement thicknesses. This paper describes laboratory findings from an ongoing research study at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign to evaluate aggregate cover thickness requirements on soft subgrade. Evaluation was accomplished by characterizing strength and deformation behavior of crushed limestone and dolomite and uncrushed gravel, commonly used in Illinois for subgrade replacement and subbase. The initial laboratory phase consisted of moisture–density, unsoaked California bearing ratio, imaging-based aggregate shape characterization, and shear strength tests. These were based on a comprehensive experimental test matrix, which considered both plastic and nonplastic fines (passing No. 200 sieve or 0.075 mm) blended in the engineered gradations at 4%, 8%, 12%, and 16% target fines contents. From the test results, the most important property at low fines contents (less than 8%) was the aggregate type governed by the angularity (i.e., crushed or uncrushed) and the amount of voids in the aggregate matrix. The uncrushed gravel more quickly filled the voids at lower fines percentages, thus making gravel less tolerable to negative effects of increasing fines. When plastic fines (with a plasticity index of 10 or higher) were included, the amount of fines had a drastic effect on aggregate performance.
Unified theory of torque production in switched reluctance and synchronous reluctance motors

A method is proposed for calculating the average and instantaneous torque of the synchronous reluctance motor from a knowledge of the trajectory of the phase flux-linkage versus phase current (i- Psi ) waveform, i.e., the same method as used with the switched reluctance motor. This allows a direct comparison between torque production in the two motors to be made. Analytical and finite-element analysis both show that the (i- Psi ) loci of the synchronous reluctance motor are ellipsoidal in shape and are not limited to the first and third quadrants as in the switched reluctance motor. <<ETX>>