Optimization of security check efficiency in subway station based on Anylogic: A case study of Nanchang Metro

Rational and orderly passenger organization in subway station can improve travel efficiency and safety. How to improve the efficiency of security check, which has a significant impact on the passenger organization, to reduce passengers staying time in the terminal level has the potential to improve service satisfaction. The Weidong Station of Line 1 of Nanchang Metro was selected as the research object. Anylogic software was used to simulate the process of arrival, ticket purchase, security check, gate-crossing machine etc. The results indicate that the dynamic adjustment of security checkpoints and fast passage for passengers without luggage can improve the security efficiency and relieve the congestion in the station hall.

Evaluation of the Practical Implications of the ESL Curriculum at Intermediate Level

Curriculum is the basic tool used in the pedagogical process. Every education system fails if it is not developed to meet the needs of those for whom it is designed. In this research, it has been observed that the existing National Curriculum for the English Language (2006) is not fulfilling the language-based needs of the Pakistani learners. The intermediate level is the terminal level for students to discontinue education and get a job or continue learning in various advanced fields. The existing theoretical curriculum is different in terms of the practical application of English in a real-life situation. Paulo Freire’s theory of problem-posing education supports the present study. Data was collected through teacher and student questionnaires filled by intermediate students of both the public and private sectors and for the analysis of collected data CIPP model of Stufflebeam was used. For computational analysis, MS Excel was used. The results showed that learners’ creative writing skills and verbal skills are not improving satisfactorily and a gap was also found in teaching methodologies that are being currently used for teaching English. The present study is beneficial for providing the ground realities and practical needs of teachers and students in teaching and learning process. It would be helpful also for the stakeholders while designing the curriculum and syllabus.

A terminal level analysis of service quality at Nigerian seaports

Seaport terminals are major facilitators of international trade. One issue that is very crucial to the performance and survival of seaport terminals is the quality of service provided. However, in order to enhance the quality of service provided at these terminals, it is important to know customers’ expectations and perceptions about service quality. Notwithstanding, very little is known about customers’ expectations and perceptions on the service quality of seaport terminals in Africa. This paper therefore provides a comparative analysis of service quality of Nigerian seaport terminals with the aid of the gap score technique of the service quality (SERVQUAL) model. It is found that generally, all the selected terminals studied have low service quality. With regard to the average gap score per service quality dimension for all the selected terminals, transparency has the best service quality (least gap score) whiles responsiveness has the least service quality (highest gap score). The implication is that, in seaport terminals quest to enhance service quality, more attention should be paid towards enhancing responsiveness by providing prompt services, helping customers and informing them when exactly services will be performed.

Methodology for Tuning MTDC Supervisory and Frequency-Response Control Systems at Terminal Level under Over-Frequency Events

This paper proposes a methodology for tuning a supervisory and frequency-response outer loop control system of a multi-terminal direct current (MTDC) grid designed to transmit offshore wind energy to an onshore AC grid, and to provide frequency support during over-frequency events. The control structure is based on a master–slave scheme and ensures the achievement of frequency response, with specific implementation of the UK national grid code limited-frequency sensitive (LFSM) and frequency-sensitive (FSM) modes. The onshore AC grid is modelled with an equivalent frequency-response model to simulate the onshore AC grid dynamics under frequency deviations. The main innovation of this paper is the development of a methodology for tuning simultaneously two hierarchical levels of a MTDC coordinated control structure, i.e., the MTDC supervisor, given by the active power set point for slave terminal, and the slope of frequency-response functions at onshore terminals. Based on these two hierarchical levels, different strategies are evaluated in terms of frequency peak reductions and change of the frequency order type. Moreover, tuning guidance is given when a different MTDC control structure or different synchronous generator characteristics of the onshore AC grid are considered.

Extracting Global Shipping Networks from Massive Historical Automatic Identification System Sensor Data: A Bottom-Up Approach

The increasing availability of big Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) sensor data offers great opportunities to track ship activities and mine spatial-temporal patterns of ship traffic worldwide. This research proposes a data integration approach to construct Global Shipping Networks (GSN) from massive historical ship AIS trajectories in a completely bottom-up way. First, a DBSCAN (Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) algorithm is applied to temporally identify relevant stop locations, such as marine terminals and their associated events. Second, the semantic meanings of these locations are obtained by mapping them to real ports as identified by the World Port Index (WPI). Stop events are leveraged to develop travel sequences of any ship between stop locations at multiple scales. Last, a GSN is constructed by considering stop locations as nodes and journeys between nodes as links. This approach generates different levels of shipping networks from the terminal, port, and country levels. It is illustrated by a case study that extracts country, port, and terminal level Global Container Shipping Networks (GCSN) from AIS trajectories of more than 4000 container ships in 2015. The main features of these GCSNs and the limitations of this work are finally discussed.

Resin Based Materials used to Observing the Variations of the Origin of the Superior Thyroid Artery with Importance in Cervical and Cranial Pathology

The superior thyroid artery shows a great variability in what concerns its origin. Most often, it appears as an independent branch of the external carotid artery, as its first collateral branch, or directly from the common carotid or at its terminal level. The superior thyroid artery origin was evaluated on 144 cases, using as study methods the dissection (39 cases), the plastic injection (22 cases) and the CT angiography evaluation (83 cases). It was studied, by percentage, the originating artery of the superior thyroid artery, the relation to the bifurcation of the common carotid artery, the neighboring arterial branches and the surface of the external carotid on which originated, the caliber of the external carotid artery before and after the origin of the superior thyroid artery. Most commonly, in 89 cases (61.80%), we describe the origin of the superior thyroid artery from the external carotid artery; from the common carotid artery originated 31 superior thyroid arteries (21.53%); at the level of the bifurcation of the common carotid artery, the superior thyroid artery had its origin in 21 cases (14.58%); in 2 cases (1.39%) we encountered the superior thyroid artery originating from a thyro-lingual trunk and in one case (0.69%), we met a thyro-linguo-facial trunk. The superior thyroid arteries may originate as an independent artery or as arterial trunks in varying proportions. When the origin of the superior thyroid artery is from the terminal common carotid, we propose to use the expression of terminal branching or the common carotid artery trifurcation. The results of our study are similar to those found in international literature, with statistical differences that may be attributed primarily to the total number of cases on which we worked and also working methods or may be attributed to other causes, such as the geographic area where the study was conducted and the amount of time the results were obtained.

Collapse of particle-laden buoyant plumes

Particle loading affects the dynamics of buoyant plumes, since the difference between particle and fluid densities is much greater than that in the fluid alone. In stratified environments, plume rise is density limited; after initial overshoot, the plume reaches a terminal level and spreads radially. Particles dropping from this horizontal intrusion may be re-entrained. This recycling of dense matter reduces plume buoyancy and intrusion height and, for sufficient load, can lead to plume collapse. Entrainment-based formulae yield a steady-state plume rise. We identify a new conserved quantity for such plumes. Integrating paths of particles dropping from the intrusion yields the fraction re-entrained. A simple mathematical model predicts from buoyancy ratio at source ($P=$ negative particle buoyancy divided by positive fluid buoyancy) whether a particle-laden plume will collapse. Under this model, for small settling velocity, a particle-laden plume will not collapse if $P<0.368$. Above this, collapse depends also on the amount of particle-free ambient fluid entrained in the overshoot region. For pure plumes, experimental evidence suggests that this is small. For forced plumes, more substantial overshoot and entrainment is shown to increase the critical ratio. An extension, based on successive recycling, estimates time to collapse. To investigate further we develop a simple computational model, coupling a ‘top-hat’ plume model, an analytical formula for radially decaying concentrations in the intrusion and an axisymmetric finite-volume solution for time-dependent settling and entrainment. The model can predict the impact of particle load on final rise, as well as the occurrence and time scales of plume collapse.

LINKING METAPHORS AND ARGUMENTS TO SEMANTIC PROSODIES: A CASE STUDY OF VICTORY VERBS IN INDONESIAN ONLINE FOOTBALL NEWS

The use of hyperbolic victory verbs such as menghancurkan to destroy, menekuk to fold, menggunduli to shave bald characterizes football news report in Indonesia. These verbs are used in the specific domain; therefore, suggesting that they need further examination. The objectives of this research are 1) to map metaphor classes and the arguments of these verbs and 2) to confirm whether the metaphor classes and the arguments are determinant to the semantic prosody of these verbs. Texts under football domainthat contain victory verbs were collected from different online news portals. The examination of victory verbs resulted on 10 affix formations and 10 different metaphor classes. Of these victory verbs, the frequent semantic roles are (the victors), (the defeated teams) and (the victories). The identification of the semantic prosody has shown that affix formation is fairly distributed and not significantly correlate to prosody. However, there is a strong tendency that metaphor class with negative nuance (like +DESTRUCTION, +WAR, +FIGHT) and the presence of an argument that takes semantic role suggests negative semantic prosody. They might be major cues to prosody in this data, but reexamination on a terminal level is still required to formalize this description, as some exceptions and irregularities are also present.