Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Punctuality of railway operations and timetable stability analysis

Reliability of railway operations becomes more and more demanding with increasing train traffic, which asks for stable and robust timetables capable of neutralizing deviations from scheduled time-distance paths and stabilizing delay propagation. Timetable performance evaluation is thus a crucial aspect in the railway timetable design process to guarantee and maintain reliability of operations. Feedback from realized railway operations is essential to evaluate the performance of the timetable in practice and to find and improve structural shortcomings in the timetable design. This thesis presents the developed software TNV-Prepare which recovers the infrastructure utilization of train traffic from train detection data of the safety and signalling systems based on daily records of the train describer systems, the so-called TNV-logfiles. A case-study at the Dutch railway station Eindhoven demonstrates the potential of a statistical analysis of this train traffic data to identify structural sources of delays. Railway operations are characterized by many network interdependencies resulting from the timetable and shared usage of railway infrastructure. Therefore, a railway timetable must be carefully tested on stability and robustness before implementation using a mathematical model of the scheduled railway operations. This thesis proposes an analytical model for evaluating timetable stability and robustness based on max-plus algebra. The max-plus linear system approach gives a formal stability test based on a max-plus eigenvalue problem, identifies critical events and processes, quantifies robustness in terms of recovery times, and computes the propagation of delays over time and space. The method has been implemented in the software PETER (Performance Evaluation of Timed Events in Railways) which enables users to analyse large-scale network timetables in real-time. A case-study of the Dutch national railway timetable illustrates the developed methodology.
EXERCISE INTERVENTION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF VENOUS LEG ULCERS: A REVIEW

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are the most common etiology of lower extremity ulceration, with approximately 70 to 80 percent of leg ulcers developing from venous insufficiency or disease. The financial burden of VLUs on society, increase in prevalence with age, the chronic nature of the disorder, and high recidivism rate are, in part, the driving forces behind efforts to determine the most effective management options to achieve complete wound healing in a timely and efficient manner. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to describe the etiology, diagnosis, and management of VLUs, with a particular emphasis on exercise intervention. While medical treatment of VLUs include wound debridement, infection control, and proper wound dressing, compression therapy and elevation are the most common and effective treatment option for VLUs. When combined with routine compression therapy, exercise intervention (e.g., aerobic, resistance, and flexibility exercises) significantly improves the healing of VLUs in a cost efficient manner and should be strongly considered in the routine management of patients with VLUs. Article visualizations:
Ground noise minimization in integrated circuit packages through pin assignment optimization

Due to suboptimal assignment of pins to grounds and signals, the ground noise problem in integrated circuit (ICs) packages either persists or compromises the design by forcing too many pins to be wasted carrying ground reference. This paper proposes a new CAD technique for optimizing pin assignment in IC packages to minimize ground noise using simulated annealing. Optimization techniques are used in which the objective function is the ground noise as determined by simulation of the IC package leadframe. However, modeling and simulation methods currently employed are prohibitively expensive in terms of CPU time. For this reason, two circuit models of the leadframe are developed and used concurrently: one to provide accuracy and the other to ensure fast execution. Using simulated annealing with a ground noise cost function has provided an observed 26-fold reduction in ground noise in a 208-pin IC quad flat pack (QFP) from a poor initial configuration. In addition, the same process was able to produce a 2.2-fold improvement when an intelligent initial pin assignment was used. Furthermore, these results came at a CPU cost of about 1200 s each on a SUN SPARC10 workstation.
Pulse Waveform Degradation Due to Dispersion in Waveguide

Phase velocity in a waveguide is a nonlinear function of frequency and thus causes dispersion of the spectral components in a pulse waveform. For most practical cases, it is a good assumption to consider the phase constant to be a quadratic function of frequency. An expression can then be derived for the exit waveform shape as a function of guide length, dispersion, and width of the input rectangular pulse. The derived expression is given in terms of tabulated error functions and Fresnel integrals. It is universal in form and applicable to a wide range of practical problems, A family of degraded shapes has been computed from this expression and is presented graphically. The results apply for any mode in a straight waveguide of arbitrary but constant cross section.
Screening the Road Network for Sites with Promise

Network screening is the first step in the site safety improvement process. The product of network screening is a list of sites that are ranked by priority for the conduct of detailed engineering studies. In turn, cost-effective projects are formulated from the studies. With the purpose of laying the foundation for improved network screening, the role of network screening is clarified, and how project cost and safety benefit can be anticipated at the time of screening is examined. The strengths and weaknesses of alternative assumptions on which the anticipation of safety benefit can be based are discussed. A way to guard against misallocation of resources due to the randomness of accident counts is suggested, and a method for finding peak sites within road sections is proposed.
Spatial refinement grillage model of box-girder bridges

Abstract The objective of this study was to overcome the shortcomings of the current analysis and calculation methods of the spatial bar system model, plane beam grillage model and solid element model in the design of the box-girder bridge. For example, the spatial bar system model lacks refined analysis of spatial effects, such as the shear lag effect, effective distribution width problem, and eccentric load coefficient problem. The similarity of the plane beam grillage model on the principle of equivalence cannot accurately reflect the shear stress distribution of the box-shaped composite beam and the local force on the top and bottom plates. The solid element and shell element models cannot directly calculate the internal force of the cross section. The calculation efficiency is low, and it is difficult to combine with the overall calculation. This paper proposes a spatial grid element analysis model suitable for fine analysis of box-girder bridges, which has the completeness and reliability of the analysis results and makes up for the shortcomings of the current box-girder bridge analysis methods. Firstly, the stiffness matrix of the spatial grid element is deduced, and the analysis program of the combined box girder based on the spatial grid element is written using MATLAB software. Then an actual calculation example is analyzed, and the difference between the calculation result of the spatial grid element and the result of the literature is compared and analyzed. The correctness and applicability of the spatial grid element model is verified.
Enhancing the 'Virtual Computer Laboratory' (VCL) Concept through the Use of External Cloud Resources to Offer Distance Learning Laboratory Environments in an 'Anywhere and Anytime' Capacity Anglia Ruskin Funded Learning and Teaching Project Reports, 2013

This project aims to further develop a proof of concept solution for a cloud-based distance-learning capability, offering virtual laboratory environments (also called Laboratory as a Service (LaaS)) rather than relying on traditional computing resources owned by the host organisation (i.e. Anglia Ruskin University). The service is intended to be ‘on demand’ irrespective of where the physical resources for the virtual laboratory are located or where the end user is situated (which are key characteristics of services commissioned within the cloud). A primary objective is to demonstrate that an existing open source solution can be used to enhance software access (offered online as a service rather than installed on individual computers) through the use of typical cloud provision such as Amazon Web Service’s Elastic Cloud (EC2) which will extend both the functionality and scalability of the virtual laboratory. Key factors for the user would include ensuring that users can ‘save’ their work and return to it (i.e. ‘persistence’), and also reload previously saved versions (i.e. ‘revert to snapshot’).
Aviation on the Ground: Safety Culture in a Ground Handling Company

Abstract Ground handling work performance is an important part of the civil aviation flight cycle. Well-functioning safety management for minimizing the risk for accidents is vital and dependent on the safety culture. This article reports on a safety culture assessment of a ground handling company using a multiplex approach method. The study is included in the establishment of reference data concerning safety culture aspects in different transport branches. The results of the assessment reveal a generally good existing safety culture. However, the safety culture is somewhat poorer than that estimated and desired by the managers and that in other transport branches.
Morpho-Physiological and Biochemical Changes in Syzygium cumini and Populus deltoides: A Case Study on Young Saplings under Water Stress

Drought is one of the most devastating climate factors in terms of its spatial extent and intensity. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate the water stress tolerance in young saplings of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels and Populus deltoides Marchall that are cultivated in the rain fed areas of Pakistan. Plants were subjected to three levels of moisture regimes: well-watered (WW, 90% of field capacity), mild stress (MS, 60% field capacity), and severe stress (SS, 30% of field capacity). Results showed that dry biomass production (leaf, stem, and root), chlorophyll a, b and carotenoid contents decreased significantly while osmolyte accumulation increased in both species, with the highest increase was evidenced in Populus deltoides saplings. A significant decrease was evidenced in CO2 assimilation rate and stomatal conductance that resulted in a significant increase in intrinsic water use efficiency in both species under MS and SS. In both the species, along with a significant increase in the production of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide radical, the antioxidants enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase also increased significantly in both species under MS and SS with highest activity evidenced in Syzygium cumini. The results suggest that Syzygium cumini saplings showed better a tolerance mechanism to water stress.
Essential Oil from Hedyotis chrysotricha: Chemical Composition, Cytotoxic, Antibacterial Properties and Synergistic Effects with Streptomycin

: Hedyotis chrysotricha (Palib.) Merr. is a traditional Chinese herb that has been used to treat multiple ailments. In this study, we extracted and characterized the essential oil of H. chrysotricha for the first time and assessed its in vitro cytotoxic, antibacterial activities and the synergistic interaction with Streptomycin. Chemical constituents were determined using GC-FID/MS, which showed 37 components constituted 94.7% of the total oil; borneol (32.7%), linalool (7.5%), isobornyl formate (5.4%) and α -terpineol (4.8%) were the dominant components. The essential oil of H. chrysotricha inhibited strongly the growth of Gram-positive bacteria and possessed a significant cytotoxic activity towards LO2, HepG2 and MCF-7 cells. Besides, the checkerboard assay revealed that the H. chrysotricha essential oil exhibited synergistic potential with Streptomycin. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the H. chrysotricha essential oil exhibits interesting bioactivities, and could be used as a source of natural antibacterial and anti-tumor compounds.
Computational Prediction of the Effect of Microcavitation on an Atomization Mechanism in a Gasoline Injector Nozzle

The effect of microcavitation on the 3D structure of the liquid atomization process in a gasoline injector nozzle was numerically investigated and visualized by a new integrated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique for application in the automobile industry. The present CFD analysis focused on the primary breakup phenomenon of liquid atomization which is closely related to microcavitation, the consecutive formation of liquid film, and the generation of droplets by a lateral flow in the outlet section of the nozzle. Governing equations for a high-speed lateral atomizing injector nozzle flow taking into account the microcavitation generation based on the barotropic large eddy simulation-volume of fluid model in conjunction with the continuum surface force model were developed, and then an integrated parallel computation was performed to clarify the detailed atomization process coincident with the microcavitation of a high-speed nozzle flow. Furthermore, data on such factors as the volume fraction of microcavities, atomization length, liquid core shapes, droplet-size distribution, spray angle, and droplet velocity profiles, which are difficult to confirm by experiment, were acquired. According to the present analysis, the atomization rate and the droplets-gas atomizing flow characteristics were found to be controlled by the generation of microcavitation coincident with the primary breakup caused by the turbulence perturbation upstream of the injector nozzle, hydrodynamic instabilities at the gas-liquid interface, and shear stresses between the liquid core and periphery of the jet. Furthermore, it was found that the energy of vorticity close to the gas-liquid interface was converted to energy for microcavity generation or droplet atomization.
The Design and Implementation of Revise System on Frequency Response about Power Amplifier of Shortwave Transmitter

A revise system on frequency response based on power amplifier of shortwave transmitter is designed to solve the problem of nonlinear response at different frequencies on power amplifier. This system is able to guarantee the output of power amplifier to fluctuate slightly around the rated power though the two processes named pre-revise on frequency response of power amplifier and current revise on frequency response of power amplifier. A modified variable step and multi-rate updated LMS algorithm is put into use to reduce the calculated amount and boost the rate of the revise. It is demonstrated by experiment that the revise system of this paper is able to guarantee the output of power amplifier around the rated power with the deviation of dB at a high convergence rate.
Roadmap to Early Implementation of Passenger Air Mobility: Findings from a Delphi Study

Urban air mobility (UAM) has recently increased in popularity as an emerging mode of transportation, covering a wide range of applications, for on-demand or scheduled operations of smaller aircraft, in and around metropolitan areas. Due to its novelty and as it has not yet been implemented, UAM research still faces uncertainties. In particular, there is a need to develop a roadmap for the early implementation of passenger air mobility, aiming to identify the most prominent challenges, opportunities, hazards, and risks, but also to highlight the most promising use cases, or on the contrary, the ones associated with the least benefits compared to the risks or complexity they entail. To answer the previous questions, and therefore address this research gap, this study used a two-round Delphi questionnaire, targeting various stakeholder groups (product owners, policymakers, researchers, consultants, investors), leading to a total of 51 experts, out of which 34 also participated in the second round. In the first round, the main challenges, opportunities, and hazards facing the implementation of passenger UAM were identified. Findings on challenges and opportunities that were dependent on use cases only (as opposed to being dependent on technology or external factors) were then fed back into the second round, which helped evaluate the use cases based both on their complexities, as well as the associated benefits. Accordingly, medical/emergency was identified as the best use case and intracity transport as the worst (in terms of complexity vs. benefits). Similarly, a risk analysis evaluated the potential hazards associated with the implementation of UAM and their impacts on the system viability. Community backlash was found to be the most hazardous one, while malicious passenger behavior and improperly designed infrastructure as the least. Findings from this study can help better understand stakeholders’ opinions, highlighting promising use cases, but also risks to be aware of, constituting therefore a roadmap for future implementation.
Leadership styles and teacher job satisfaction in Ethiopian schools

This quantitative study investigated the relationship between leadership styles and teacher job satisfaction in Ethiopia, based on teacher perceptions. The multifactor leadership theory also known as full range leadership theory and work adjustment theory provided the theoretical framework to explore the relationship. Analysis of data yielded three major findings: (1) while the practice of transformational leadership was significantly lower, the practice of laissez-faire was significantly higher than international benchmarks; (2) teacher job satisfaction was low and significantly lower among males; and (3) there were low to moderate correlations between leadership styles and teacher job satisfaction with aspects of transformational and transactional leadership predicting job satisfaction, a trend similar to studies in other African countries. This study suggests that practicing principals, leadership preparation programs, and reform initiatives for school success in Ethiopia, consider providing professional development that includes predictors of teacher job satisfaction—inspirational motivation and contingency reward among other things.
Ethical Challenges for Palestinian Social Workers During Corona Pandemic

The aim of this study was to focus specifically on the ethical challenges of social workers’ practice their works in quarantine centers during corona pandemic. This study reports objective results for purposive sampling selected, (142) social workers in five governorates in the Gaza Strip-Palestine. After reviewing the literature, the researcher constructed a survey four question; two of which are open-ended while the other two are closed-ended. Social workers were recruited by e-mail in May 2020 after providing their consent. Results: The most important ethical challenges facing social workers in their work during the corona pandemic are: risk faced while moving in public transportations, poor prevention and safety measures for social workers such as sterilizers, masks and gloves. 67.6% of social workers responded that their institutions developed policy protocols to help them work safely during the Coved-19 while 75.4% of social workers responded that they had access to protection measures to make their communication safer with their clients. The most important way in which social workers were involved in their professional interventions with clients was: communicating with clients by phone or SMS, but also through social networks, or communicating directly with the need to observe social distancing.
Impact of Leverage and Firm Size on Earnings Persistence with Managerial Ownership as Moderating Variables

This study aims to examine and analyze the effect of leverage and firm size on earnings persistence with managerial ownership as a moderating variable. The population in this study is manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2016-2019. The sample selection method used purposive sampling criteria, while the data analysis methods used in this study were multiple regression analysis and moderated regression analysis. Before analysing the data, first perform the classical assumption test, after the data is declared to meet the test criteria, then a hypothesis test is carried out consisting of multiple regression analysis, coefficient of determination test (R-squares), simultaneous significance test (F-test), significance test partial test (t-test) and moderated regression analysis (MRA). The results showed that leverage had a positive effect on earnings persistence, and firm size had no effect on earnings persistence, while managerial ownership was unable to moderate the effect of leverage and firm size on earnings persistence.
A DDoS defence framework in software defined network using ensemble classifier with rough set theory based feature selection

The network traffic is getting increased day by day with the increase in the usage of the internet and related technologies such as cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and big data. However, the traditional Internet Protocol (IP) based network struggles with adopting the huge network traffic through scalability, controllability as well as manageability for which software defined network has become an alternative. It meets the requirements of modern technologies in which the control is centralized over the network. Due to the increased popularity and usage, the security of the Software Defined Networking (SDN) is often compromised. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a major threat that suppresses the service of the SDN network. This paper focuses on providing a defence framework for SDN against DDoS attacks with two main phases. The DDoS prevention phase implemented at the data plane is responsible for preventing attacks packets through simple flow analysis. The DDoS detection phase at the control plane extracts the features from the incoming packets on which the rough set theory-based entropy is applied to select the significant features. Later ensemble classifier categorizes the flow as normal or attack. The flow rules are updated based on the obtained results. The proposed model has experimented with two publicly available datasets and the analysis are made with the obtained results. The proposed model has better precision values in predicting the flow as benign or attack with the values 96.3% and 96.12% respectively. The result analysis proves that the proposed model outperforms various other existing models in classifying DDoS attacks.
DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL LEVEL OF GRADUATE EDUCATION FOR NAVAL OFFICERS.

Abstract : This report explores ways to measure the marginal benefits and marginal costs of graduate education to help allocate the Navy's educational resources. A major portion of the analysis deals with the difficult problems that arise in the measurement of the marginal benefits. It also discusses the components and measurement of the marginal cost and concludes with a brief analysis of the way in which the Navy currently allocates its graduate education resources. Keywords: Cost analysis, Mathematical analysis, Mathematical models, Naval personnel, Naval training, Officer personnel, Productivity.