The commuter rail circulator network design problem: formulation, solution methods, and applications

Commuter rail is increasingly popular as a means to introduce rail transportation to metropolitan transportation systems. The long-term benefits of commuter rail include the addition of capacity to the transportation system, providing a quality commute alternative, and shifting land use toward transit-oriented development patterns. The success of a commuter rail system depends upon cultivating a ridership base upon which to expand and improve the system. Cultivating this ridership is dependent upon offering a quality transportation option to commuters. Characteristics of commuter rail systems in the United States present challenges to offering quality service that must be overcome. Commuter rail has been implemented only on existing rail right-of-way (ROW) and infrastructure (depending upon condition) in the United States. Existing rail ROW does not often coincide with current commercial and residential demand centers and necessitates the use of a circulator system to expand the service boundary of commuter rail to reach these demand centers. The commuter rail circulator network design problem (CRCNDP) addresses a particular aspect of the commuter rail trip, seeking to improve the performance of the entire system through accurately modeling the portion of the trip from rail station to the final destination. This final leg includes both the trip on the circulator vehicle and the walking trip from the circulator stop to the final destination. This dissertation seeks to provide an innovative mathematical programming formulation and solution methodology for the CRCNDP and apply this method to a case study.Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

A Bi-Objective Approach to Evaluate Highway Routing and Regulatory Strategies for Hazardous Materials Transportation

Hazardous materials (hazmat) transportation is of concern to policymakers because of the serious safety, health, and environmental risks associated with the release of hazmat. One effective approach to minimize risks associated with hazmat transport is the prohibition of hazmat transportation on higher risk links that either pose safety hazards or increased exposure by traversing densely populated areas. Because of high risk, there are multiple stakeholders involved in hazmat transportation. While shippers and carriers are directly involved in making routing decisions, regulatory agencies influence this decision by imposing routing restrictions. In this paper, we apply a bi-objective shortest path problem to evaluate routing and regulation plans for hazmat transportation. We characterize the cost objective as the shortest path between an origin and a destination. The risk objective is to minimize the risk of exposure by restricting the link with the highest risk on the best available path from an origin to a destination. We formulate the bi-objective model and apply it to a test network. Solutions consider multiple origin-destination pairs and present a non-dominated frontier to establish routing and regulatory strategies for hazmat transportation

An examination of how a composite novel can be used as a tool to explore social, moral and emotional effects of trauma from suicide loss

The aims of this creative project are to explore the effects of suicide trauma on survivors and to bring the taboo of men’s mental health and suicide to the fore through the creation of an historical composite novel entitled The Fallout. The driving force behind this project is the suicide of my husband and partner of twenty years. His mental health was a moot point for many years and the stigma surrounding it meant that he felt unable to ask for or seek help. It was most definitely a contributing factor to his suicide. The creative piece, The Fallout, is comprised of four independent stories that are linked through one event: the suicide of a Baron in the north of England in the twelfth century. The four stories are: ‘Ena’, the kitchen servant that finds the body, set the morning after the suicide; ‘Peter’, the brother of the Baron’s mistress, set early a month after the suicide; ‘Isolde’, the baron’s wife, set nearly three years after the suicide; and ‘Matthew’, the Baron’s heir, set fifteen years after the suicide. Each story has its own narrative arc and therefore can stand alone or they can be read together. The choice of a composite style was to reflect the effects of trauma: the fact that you are isolated. You may be part of a family or community but at the same time your trauma creates barriers that are difficult to break down or through. Each story focuses on a different person, thus I have the opportunity to explore how trauma affects different people in different ways regardless of age, gender or class. In this way I am attempting to normalise the diversity of trauma and its, often, devastating effects. Setting The Fallout in the twelfth century enables me to examine contemporary issues of mental health, suicide and trauma but through a lens. Setting it hundreds of years in the past means that it is so far removed from contemporary society that I can offer the reader security and perhaps limit the adverse triggers to their own mental health. The most important things for me when writing the creative piece was that I had a solid ethical underpinning and that there was a strong sense of realism. Realism needed to come from both the historical context and from the representation of trauma. The use of language used by the characters and details of the their surroundings are appropriate to the late twelfth century without being overwhelming. Representation of trauma is also factual and realistic both in accordance with trauma critics and also with a suicide survivor focus group that I set up. Ethically I knew that I needed to offer readers hope, something outlined by the WHO and The Samaritans. This is something that is encouraged through previous research into the effects of suicide in the media, on screen and on stage. It is referred to as the Papageno effect, the suggestion is that if hope is given alongside coping strategies and that resilient characters are drawn then this could in turn reduce suicidal ideation and behaviours

The Effect of Substrate Stiffness on Endothelial Cell Stiffness and Monolayer Permeability in Response to Inflammation

Cardiovascular diseases represent a major risk to global health, contributing to approximately one-third of all deaths worldwide. Inflammation and arterial stiffening are key in the pathogenesis of many cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension and atherosclerosis. However, little is known about their combined impact on vascular endothelial dysfunction. The central objective of this thesis is to investigate the contribution of arterial stiffness to endothelial cell stiffening and barrier loss in response to inflammation through actinomyosin contractility and reactive oxygen species. A novel dielectrophoretic (DEP) device for assessing deformability of micropatterned single attached cells was simulated, fabricated, and tested. The device was validated by showing that endothelial cells with cytoskeletal disruption and epithelial cells with induced tumorigenicity were softer by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and more deformable in response to directed DEP pushing force. Next, the effect of sub-endothelial stiffness on endothelial monolayer permeability in response to inflammation was explored ex vivo and in vitro. Elastin haploinsufficient (ELN+/-) mice exhibited stiffer sub-endothelium by AFM and increased vinculin at aortic endothelial cell-cell junctions. In vitro, porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC) on collagen-coated polyacrylamide gels of varying stiffness (6-50 kPa) showed increased vinculin localization to cell-cell junctions and junction loss in response to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and thrombin. These effects were abolished when cell contraction was inhibited. Substrate stiffness also enhanced functional barrier loss in response to thrombin, but not TNF-α; however, cells exhibited substrate-dependent stiffening following TNF-α exposure. Lastly, substrate stiffness enhanced endothelial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). On stiff substrates PMA-induced ROS elicited greater actin fiber formation and cell-cell junction loss, which was independent of cell contractility but prevented by ROS scavenging. Ex vivo, peripheral actin fiber formation was greater in the ELN+/- mouse abdominal aorta following exposure to PMA. These results demonstrate that sub-endothelial stiffness affects endothelial cell contractile and non-contractile (ROS-mediated) mechanisms of endothelial barrier dysfunction. This research supports studying the integrated effects of arterials stiffness and inflammation to develop new therapies to prevent endothelial dysfunction.Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics -- Drexel University, 201

The Ursinus Weekly, October 7, 1940

Johnson to head Old Timers\u27 dance • \u27Y\u27 organizations make plans for coming year at camp Arcola retreat • Director of college succumbs, was prominent Norristown physician • Carter heads delegation to debating conclave • Devils fight bears scoreless in home turf battle Saturday • Rev. Mr. Wentzel tells What it means to be religious at vespers • Fireside chats consider Ursinus students\u27 needs • Sherwood Messner to address YM-YWCA meeting Wednesday • Pre-meds see movies on anatomy at opening meeting • Executive board of IRC maps plans for coming year • Haines political society elects Dubuque and Adams officers • Benjamin calls special meeting of chemical group • Deardorff\u27s initial Gridder features article by Kellett • Dubuque tells Republicans of election\u27s meaning to youth • Jing Johnson, coach, and players speak at pep rally • Owlmen down booters by 6-1 score Friday • Pancoast drills bear cubs for opening game Oct. 19 • Alumnus speaks before Brotherhood of St.Paulhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1793/thumbnail.jp

On the Gromov-Witten Theory of P1-Bundles Over Ruled Surfaces

Let $C$ be a smooth, connected, complex, projective curve of genus $g$ and let $D_1,D_2$ be divisors of degree $k_1,k_2$ respectively. Let $S$ be the decomposable ruled surface given by the total space of the following $\mathbb{P}^1$-bundle over $C$: p_C: \PP(\mathcal{O}_C \oplus \mathcal{O}_C(-D_1))\rightarrow C. Let $C_0$ be the locus of $(1:0)$ in S \cong \PP(\mathcal{O}_C \oplus \mathcal{O}_C(-D_1)). Then let $X$ be the threefold given by the total space of the following \PP^1-bundle over $S$: $$p_S:\mathbb{P}(\mathcal{O}_S \oplus \mathcal{O}_S(-E)) \rightarrow S$$ where $E=aC_0+p_C^{-1}(D_2)$. This determines an $\mathcal{H}_a$-bundle over $C$ where $\mathcal{H}_a$ is a Hirzebruch surface. In this thesis we determine the equivariant Gromov-Witten partition function for all ``section classes'' of the form $s+m_1 f_1 + m_2 f_2$ where $s$ is a section of the map $X \rightarrow C$ and $f_1,f_2$ are fiber classes, in the case that $a=0,-1$. A class is Calabi-Yau if $K_X \cdot \beta=0$. For $a=0$, the partition function of Calabi-Yau section classes is given by $$Z(g|k_1,k_2)=\left\{ \begin{array}{cc}4^g \phi^{2g-2} v_1^{\frac{g-1+k_1}{2}} v_2^{\frac{g-1+k_2}{2}} & (g-1) \equiv k_1 \equiv k_2 \mod 2 \\ 0 & \text{otherwise} \end{array}\right.$$ where $v_1,v_2$ count the number of fibers and $\phi=2\sin{\frac{u}{2}}$. In the case that $a=-1$ the partition functions of Calabi-Yau section classes satisfy the following relations $$Z(g|k_1,k_2)=Z(g|k_1-2,k_2+1)$$ $$Z(g|k_1,k_2)=v_1^2 Z(g|k_1-3,k_2)+v_1^2v_2 Z(g|k_1-4,k_2)$$ $$Z(g|k_1,k_2)=-\phi^2v_1^2v_2^{-2}Z(g-1|k_1,k_2)$$ $$+6\phi^4v_1^2v_2^{-1}Z(g-2|k_1,k_2)+(256\phi^8v_1^2v_2+27\phi^8v_1^4v_2^{-2})Z(g-4|k_1,k_2)$$ which allow us to compute all the Calabi-Yau section class invariants from the following base cases: \begin{array}{ccccccc} & & & g=0 & 1 & 2 & 3 \vspace{0.2cm}\\ & k_1=0 & \hspace{0.5cm} & 0 & 4 & -\phi^2 v_1^2 v_2^{-2} & 12 \phi^4 v_1^2 v_2^{-1} + \phi^4 v_1^4 v_2^{-4} \\ & 1 & & \phi^{-2} & 0 & \phi^2 v_1^2 v_2^{-1} & 16 \phi^4 v_1^2 - \phi^4 v_1^4 v_2^{-3} \\ & 2 & & 0 & 0 & 8 \phi^2 v_1^2 & 64 \phi^4 v_1^2 v_2 + \phi^4 v_1^4 v_2^{-2} \\ & 3 & & 0 & 3 v_1^2 & 16 \phi^2 v_1^2 v_2 & -\phi^4 v_1^4 v_2^{-1} \end{array}\vspace{0.5cm} As a corollary, we establish the Gromov-Witten/Donaldson-Thomas/Stable Pairs correspondence for the Calabi-Yau section class partition functions for these families of non-toric threefolds

The Ursinus Weekly, November 4, 1940

Sen. Davis says New Deal exaggerates foreign affairs • Willkie elected president over Roosevelt, 265-139 • Johnson signs Mayfair for Old Timers\u27 dance • Alumnus considers role of Christianity at vespers • Anonymous philanthropist gives books to senior classmen • Panel talks on conscription held before women debaters • Cubs prove 14 points too much for Drexel • Bakermen add to win column by 2-1 victory at Swarthmore • Hockey team fails to break Swarthmore record; bows 2-0 • Box-hockey tournament for rec center • Founder\u27s daughter gives bushes for Bomberger site • Rev. Mr. Faye points to need for working on the individualhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1797/thumbnail.jp

Revisiting a game theoretic framework for the robust railway network design against intentional attacks

This paper discusses and extends some competitive aspects of the games proposed in an earlier work, where a robust railway network design problem was proposed as a non-cooperative zero-sum game in normal form between a designer/operator and an attacker. Due to the importance of the order of play and the information available to the players at the moment of their decisions, we here extend those previous models by proposing a formulation of this situation as a dynamic game. Besides, we propose a new mathematical programming model that optimizes both the network design and the allocation of security resources over the network. The paper also proposes a model to distribute security resources over an already existing railway network in order to minimize the negative effects of an intentional attack. For the sake of readability, all concepts are introduced with the help of an illustrative example.The research activities of the authors have been supported by the projects FQM-5849 (Junta de Andalucia\FEDER) and MTM2010-19576-C02-01 (MICINN, Spain). Special thanks are due to two anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions.Perea Rojas Marcos, F.; Puerto Albandoz, J. (2013). Revisiting a game theoretic framework for the robust railway network design against intentional attacks. European Journal of Operational Research. 226(2):286-292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2012.11.015S286292226

The Ursinus Weekly, October 14, 1940

Fighting bears eleven smothered by strong Bucknell squad, 33-7 • Louisiana senator to address Democratic rally next week; Republican senator Davis to follow, October 29 • Singers will appear in recital at Ursinus • Bowen will chairman senior ball on Dec.6 • McClure assails defeatism at local high school dedication • Mediation services arranged by religious organizations • Beardwood society presents film Water power tonight • Perpetuation of democracy is theme of vespers speaker • Regional secretary addresses Y\u27s first Wednesday program • Lesher and co. redecorate Highland • IRC suspends publication of quarterly; expense prohibitive • Johnson hearing orchestras for Old Timers\u27 Day choice • Campus artists display talent in first musical • Bone-breakers of gridiron are jaw-breakers for fans • Viennese frosh finds Paris wonderful, but America profuse with drug stores, vendors • New student writers sought for first issue of Lantern • Lafayette booters defeat bears, 1-0 • Hockeyites tie opening game at West Chester • Eleanor Frost Snell • Kellett eleven will travel to Newark for game with Hens • Women\u27s tournament in tennis opens October 10 • Republicans select college publicity head from Ursinus • Many; varied relationships to present and past Ursinus students found among freshmen • French Club bans English! • Snyder enters MIT as U.S. Army meteorological traineehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1794/thumbnail.jp

'This is what democracy looks like' : New Labour's blind spot and peripheral vision

New Labour in government since 1997 has been roundly criticized for not possessing a clear, coherent and consistent democratic vision. The absence of such a grand vision has resulted, from this critical perspective, in an absence of 'joined-up' thinking about democracy in an evolving multi-level state. Tensions have been all too apparent between the government's desire to exert central direction - manifested in its most pathological form as 'control freakery' - and its democratising initiatives derived from 'third-way' obsessions with 'decentralising', 'empowering' and 'enabling'. The purpose of this article is to examine why New Labour displayed such apparently impaired democratic vision and why it appeared incapable of conceiving of democratic reform 'in the round'. This article seeks to explain these apparent paradoxes, however, through utilising the notion of 'macular degeneration'. In this analysis, the perceived democratic blind spot of New Labour at Westminster is connected to a democratic peripheral vision, which has envisaged innovative participatory and decentred initiatives in governance beyond Westminster