Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A problem‐based learning approach to entrepreneurship education

– While it is generally acknowledged that entrepreneurship can be taught, many differ in their opinions about the appropriate methodologies to teach and equip students with the requisite entrepreneurial skills. This paper presents a case to suggest that a problem‐based learning (PBL) approach practised at the Republic Polytechnic in Singapore could be an effective pedagogical approach for entrepreneurship education. , – Using case study method, the performance of a pioneer batch of students who took up the entrepreneurship programme (designed using PBL) was monitored and documented. , – It is found that problems that simulate entrepreneurial situations within the classroom environment contribute to enhancing students' appreciation and capacity for entrepreneurship. The findings generally support the notion that PBL, premised upon an active learning and multi‐solution approach, shares many similar characteristics as the interdisciplinary and “learning‐by‐doing” approach of entrepreneurship education. , – Further, research to track and measure the post‐programme outcomes of the students' entrepreneurial development is needed to determine the efficacy of entrepreneurship education using the PBL approach. , – Pedagogical practices may not have been significantly considered as viable means of increasing the efficacy of entrepreneurship education. This case study signals to entrepreneurship educators and researchers that more emphasis could possibly be placed on developing innovative practices for entrepreneurship education.
Causal pathways to social and occupational functioning in the first episode of schizophrenia: uncovering unmet treatment needs

Abstract Background We aimed to identify unmet treatment needs for improving social and occupational functioning in early schizophrenia using a data-driven causal discovery analysis. Methods Demographic, clinical, and psychosocial measures were obtained for 276 participants from the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode Early Treatment Program (RAISE-ETP) trial at baseline and 6-months, along with measures of social and occupational functioning from the Quality of Life Scale. The Greedy Fast Causal Inference algorithm was used to learn a partial ancestral graph modeling causal relationships across baseline variables and 6-month functioning. Effect sizes were estimated using a structural equation model. Results were validated in an independent dataset (N = 187). Results In the data-generated model, greater baseline socio-affective capacity was a cause of greater baseline motivation [Effect size (ES) = 0.77], and motivation was a cause of greater baseline social and occupational functioning (ES = 1.5 and 0.96, respectively), which in turn were causes of their own 6-month outcomes. Six-month motivation was also identified as a cause of occupational functioning (ES = 0.92). Cognitive impairment and duration of untreated psychosis were not direct causes of functioning at either timepoint. The graph for the validation dataset was less determinate, but otherwise supported the findings. Conclusions In our data-generated model, baseline socio-affective capacity and motivation are the most direct causes of occupational and social functioning 6 months after entering treatment in early schizophrenia. These findings indicate that socio-affective abilities and motivation are specific high-impact treatment needs that must be addressed in order to promote optimal social and occupational recovery.
Mode choice for urban work-based daily trips: a multi-criteria decision making model using the Analytical Hierarchical Process

The research work attempts to gain an understanding of the importance of various parameters affecting the mode choice made by urban transport users e.g. time, fare, comfort, reliability and accessibility, etc. The research aims to understand the major influences on user behaviour in an environment where all modes are available for use. In order to find the optimal decision, attempts were made to develop a model using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). An eight by eight matrix of parameters was developed where the users were asked to rank the pairwise relative importance of the parameters. The users were then classified based on income, age, city, mode used, etc., and the relative importance of each parameter was calculated in order to identify the varying trends between users of different demographic and economic groups.
Closed‐form expression of RLCG transmission line and its application

In this paper, a closed-form expression and a macro model for simulation are proposed for the RLCG transmission line expressed in terms of the telegrapher's equation. First, the hyperbolic functions contained in the admittance matrix of the transmission line are analytically expanded in terms of poles and residues, deriving a close expression of the admittance matrix. Next, from the closed-form expression, rigorous poles of the admittance matrix are obtained. By using the closed-form expression, a macro model of the RLCG transmission line is obtained. The passivity of the macro model, a method for determination of the order, and a simulation method in the time domain are discussed. As a numerical example, a closed-form expression and a traditional discretized model of a transmission line are compared. In this way, the effectiveness of the macro model obtained from the closed-form expression is confirmed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 3, 87(4): 1–11, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjc.10155
Gear Fault Diagnosis Using Synchro-Squeezing Transform Based Feature Analysis

Synchro-squeezing transform has recently emerged as a powerful signal processing tool in non-stationary signal processing. Premised upon the concept of time-frequency (TF) reassignment, its basic objective is to provide a sharper representation of signals in the TF plane and extract the individual components of a non-stationary multi-component signal, akin to empirical mode decomposition (EMD). The rich mathematical structure based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) makes synchro-squeezing powerful for gear fault diagnosis, as faulty gear signal is frequently constituted out of multiple amplitude-modulated and frequency-modulated signals embedded in noise. This work utilizes the decomposing power of synchro-squeezing transform to extract the IMFs from a gear signal followed by the application of standard gearbox condition indicators which promises greater prognostic power than that can be achieved by applying condition indictors directly to the inherently complex gear signals. The efficacy and the robustness of the algorithm are demonstrated with the aid of practical experimental data obtained from a helicopter gear box.
Roadway congestion in major urban areas 1982 to 1987

The results of the third year of analysis of a 6-year research effort focused on quantifying urban mobility are described. Roadway information is provided for 39 urban areas representing a geographic cross section throughout the country. The data base used for this research contains vehicle travel, urban area information, facility mileage, and vehicle travel per lane-mile information. Various federal, state, and local information sources were used to develop and update the data base with the primary source being the FHWA's Highway Performance Monitoring System. Vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) and lane-mile data were used to develop roadway congestion index values for the 7 largest Texas and 32 other U.S. urban areas. These index values serve as indicators of the relative mobility level within an urban area. An analysis of the cost of congestion was performed using travel delay, increased fuel consumption, and increased automobile insurance premiums as the economic analysis factors. Congestion costs were estimated on urban-areawide, per-registered-vehicle, and per-capita bases. The 39 urban areas were categorized in five geographic regions: northeastern, midwestern, southern, southwestern, and western. Comparing the amount of VMT served by freeway and principal arterial street systems and roadway congestion index values, it was concluded that the amount of urban area VMT served by freeway and principal arterial street systems indicated which system urban areas relied on for mobility. Analyses indicated that the Northwestern and Southern regions tended to rely equally on both systems, whereas the remaining regions had a greater reliance on their freeway systems. A comparison of regional roadway congestion index values indicated that the northeastern area was the only region with increasing congestion growth rate. The largest decrease in congestion growth rate was exemplified by the Southwestern region. In 1988, the total annual cost of congestion exceeded $34 billion. The average annual congestion cost, studywide, was approximately $880 million; however, 10 of the urban areas had annual costs exceeding $1 billion. The largest contribution (65%) to congestion costs may be directly attributed to travel delay.
Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Public Health Components of Academic Programs in Homeland Security

The academic course requirements for 111 certificate and degree programs in emergency management and homeland security were reviewed to assess the degree to which the subject of public health has been incorporated into the overall curriculum of this broad and emerging field. Courses that were dedicated primarily to the field of public health comprised about 4% of the total number of courses taught in the curriculum, about the same percentage as taught in the fields of intelligence and planning. More courses were taught in the subjects of emergency management, terrorism, and legal issues associated with homeland security. Specific subject matter covered in public health courses included healthcare for mass casualties, pandemics, bioterrorism, preparedness and planning, diseases associated with disasters, and health care systems for emergency use. The author proposes a framework for further discussion on identifying critical education in public health within the context of homeland security.
Modeling innovation processes for decision support and management simulation

The article describes results from an ongoing research project that was started several years ago. It outlines the concepts of computer-based decision support and the role of management simulators for innovation management. It presents a modularly composed model of the innovation process which reflects the tight relationships between corporate actions and competitors' response. The model explains how the dynamics of a product life cycle are generated, and how the firm's performance influences market behavior. Different innovation strategies, such as pricing, capacity expansion and the role of effective quality control, are analyzed and evaluated. The model is then extended to include the processes of research and development and their relationships to resource allocation and market success. A management simulator—based on the comprehensive innovation model—is introduced which supports teaching and training and fosters organizational learning.
Model-Driven Engineering and Semantic Technologies for the Design of Cyber-Physical Systems

Rapid changes in product and system requirements force today's companies to cope with unforeseen adaptations of industrial plants. To enable the implementation of intelligent, self-adapting systems, manufacturing systems must be composed to Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) out of Cyber-Physical Modules (CPMs). However, cross-disciplinary design of CPS and the multitude of persons involved in this process increases complexity in (re-)engineering drastically. Identification and modeling of typical CPM types in a CPM library provides a first step towards enabling reuse of constructed and verified CPMs and, thus, a knowledge base making automatic composition of CPS out of CPMs possible. In this paper, a concept for retrieving existing automation software functionality from a given hardware description by means of model-driven engineering and semantic technologies is presented.
Mixed-initiative support for customizing graphical user interfaces

Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are becoming increasingly complex, motivating research into ways of providing users with interfaces that are customized or personalized to their individual needs. Two opposing approaches to interface customization that have received the most attention to date are adaptable and adaptive approaches. An adaptable approach places the user in charge of customizing the interface, whereas with an adaptive approach, the system performs the customization automatically. Since both the adaptive and adaptable approaches have unique advantages and disadvantages, this thesis investigates a mixed-initiative solution to interface customization that aims to maximize each of their advantages, while minimizing their disadvantages. As our first step, we conducted an exploratory experiment with simulated users. Using GOMS analysis, we evaluated the benefits of an appropriately customized interface. We also identified ways in which adaptive support could help users customize more efficiently, and identified user and task factors that impact effective customization. Based on the results of our simulation experiment, we designed and implemented the MICA (Mixed-Initiative Customization Assistance) system. MICA provides users with a facility to customize their interfaces according to their needs, but also provides them with system-controlled adaptive support to help them customize effectively. MICA's adaptive support relies on a novel application of GOMS analysis to reason about the potential performance implications of different customization decisions. Using this formal reasoning, MICA generates customization recommendations aimed at maximizing the user's performance with the interface. MICA also communicates predicted time savings to the user in its rationale component, which describes why and how MICA makes recommendations. We evaluated our mixed-initiative approach through two user studies. Study One examined the general benefits of MICA's approach in comparison to a purely adaptable alternative. The results indicate that users prefer MICA's support to customizing independently, that MICA's support positively impacts performance with the interface (in terms of time on task), and that MICA reduces customization time. Study Two explored the utility of MICA's rationale. With a focus on qualitative data, the study revealed that the majority of users wish to have access to the rationale for reasons such as increased understanding and predictability of MICA's recommendations and increased trust in the system. The study also indicated that not all users want access to the rationale, suggesting that fine-grained transparency and predictability may not be important to all users in all contexts. Since previous work has advocated the importance of interaction transparency and predictability, the results of Study Two suggest that it would be beneficial to gain a more general understanding of when and why rationale is useful.
Reference-free impedance-based crack detection in plate-like structures

Impedance-based structural health monitoring (SHM) has been of great interest to many researchers. In general, conventional impedance-based damage detection techniques identify damage by comparing "current" impedance signals with "baseline" ones obtained from the pristine condition of a structure. However, structures in field are often subject to changing environmental and operational conditions that affect the measured impedance signals and these ambient variations can often cause false-alarms. In this paper, a new reference-free impedance method, which does not require direct comparison with baseline impedance signals, is employed for crack detection in a plate-like structure. This method utilizes a single pair of PZTs collocated on the both surfaces of a structure to detect mode conversion caused by the presence of crack damage. A new statistical damage classifier is developed for instantaneous damage classification based on decomposed impedance signatures containing mode conversion information. Experimental tests, particularly under varying temperature and loading conditions are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method to crack detection.
Oral, but not rectal delivery of epigallocatechin-3-gallate alleviates colitis by regulating the gut microbiota, oxidative stress, inflammation, and barrier integrity

Background: Alteration of the gut microbiota may contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs). Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major bioactive constituent of green tea, is known to be beneficial in IBDs alleviation. However, it is unclear whether EGCG attenuates IBDs through direct improvement of gastrointestinal function or indirect alteration of the structure and function of the gut microbiota.Results: We first investigated the therapeutic effects of EGCG on disease severity, oxidative stress, inflammation, barrier function, and gut microbiota in murine colitis model, and further demonstrate it via EGCG pre-supplementation. We revealed that, oral, but not rectal, delivery of EGCG alleviated the severity of colitis through attenuation of anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory response. Mucin-secreting goblet cell number, barrier function gene expression levels, and the integrity of tight junctions in the colon were also enhanced by oral EGCG. Additionally, we observed distinct EGCG-mediated alternation in the gut microbiome, as highlighted by increased Akkermansia abundance and butyrate production. Furthermore, we revealed that prophylactic oral application of EGCG for 21 days prior to the onset of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis also ameliorated colonic damage, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response. Prophylactic EGCG significantly enriched Akkermansia, Faecalibaculum, and Bifidobacterium and enhanced acetate, propionate and butyrate production in DSS-treated mice. Moreover, scores of differential microbes, in particular Akkermansia, showed a strong positive correlation with short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and antioxidant enzyme levels in both the plasma and colon, but a negative association with inflammatory cytokines and malondialdehyde.Conclusions: EGCG is capable of treating DSS-induced colitis both therapeutically and prophylactically by inducing a pronounced anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory response. Attenuation of colitis by oral, but not rectal administration of, EGCG suggests an intimate involvement of the gut microbiota. Increased Akkermansia and subsequent protective SCFAs production may be largely responsible for the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative function of EGCG, leading to restoration of intestinal epithelial homeostasis of the host. These findings provide novel insights into EGCG-mediated remission of IBDs and the rationale for devising more effective therapeutic strategies for IBDs.
Industrial Process Control System Security

Process control systems that control the operation of industries are at risk because they were not designed with widespread connectivity in mind. Some lack even basic information security measures. These control systems are not only critical to specific industries but also to a nation's infrastructure because they control operations such as refineries, pipelines, manufacturing, power utilities, and water plants. This study illustrates control system cyber security risks and shows how an industry can work together with government, control system vendors, and security technology vendors to address common challenges. Linking Oil and Gas Industry to Improve Cyber security (LOGIIC) is a partnership of the Oil and Gas (O&G) Industry with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In a collaborative effort, participants from private industry, the government, vendors, and the research community all joined together to reach a common solution to cyber security issues in control system. ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI), a leading, global, nonprofit organization, is another industry partnership that plans to provide baseline security certifications and is helping to provide security compliance “out of the box”. LOGIIC and ISA will be referenced in many of the examples included in this article. Keywords: PCN; IACS; LOGIIC; ISCI; ISA; cyber security; oil and gas; SCADA; DHS; Department of Homeland Security; intrusion; events correlation
Analysis and Design of Semantic Web Services Using MDA and SBC Structure

The software analysis and design could be executed by Object Oriented architecture, but it might be unsuitable for Web Services due to their interoperability and transmission. Oppositely, the Service-Oriented and Resource-Oriented Architectures should allow of them. The software builds up a bridge between two Internet services or resources. This study has proposed what software analysis and design of Web Services can adopt the Structure-Behavior Coalescence Diagram and UML-like state and class diagrams as domain description language with Model-Driven Architecture development cycle. The case study of Plurk social website is successfully tested and verified.
A stakeholder approach to sustainable development in UK aviation

Aviation has become an integral component of a modern transportation system. The economic and social benefits of flight are numerous and extensive. Increasing concern about the negative environmental and social costs of aviation has begun to question projected growth of the industry. Sustainable development has become an accepted principle of development in both government policy and business. Aviation development involves the complex interaction of a wide network of stakeholders, and the resultant perceived socio-economic and environmental impacts. This complex interaction forms the basis of this thesis. The development of UK aviation is concerned with not just the development of new infrastructure and technology, but also the utilisation of existing infrastructure and technology. Future development could be by any number of alternative scenarios. However, which future scenario is superior to others? And, how should this comparison be assessed? Sustainable development evolved as a multi-disciplinary concept and this thesis draws from a wide variety of disciplines to explore the phenomenon. The stakeholder research tradition is utilised to develop a participatory stakeholder-based methodology to identify and measure the relevant impacts of sustainable development. This new ‘stakeholder-sustainable development framework’ can analyse and evaluate the current system and inform the selection and integration of assessment techniques, and the rationale behind their selection. This methodology is applied to UK aviation to identify perceived impacts and explore epistemological interpretations of sustainable development. Through semi-structured interviews, participants are invited to share the perceived impacts and their understanding of sustainable development in relation to aviation. Methods of assessment, for the identified impact of noise, are reviewed and one applied. The research proposes a network of stakeholder actors key to the future development of aviation in the UK, and whose needs should be considered. The make-up of stakeholder representation at the airport level is relatively consistent at different airport scales.