Critical gap analysis of merging sections at Kuala Lumpur middle ring road

At merging sections, drivers normally slow down and sometimes need to stop while seeking a suitable gap before merging with the mainstream. Thus, there will always be several observed rejected gaps and an accepted gap which can be used to determine the smallest average gap, so-called critical gap. This study was carried out to determine critical gap values at selected merging sections at the Jalan Tun Razak and the DUKE Expressway uses the Maximum Likelihood method. Data were collected by using videotaping method and the gap acceptance data were extracted for analysis. A gap acceptance event at highway merging sections in this study was redefined due to unavailability of stopping vehicles at the ramp junction. Therefore, the gap data were estimated starting from a ramp’s vehicle passing the end of gore marking to where it merges with the mainstream. The analysis of the critical gap takes into consideration accepted gaps greater than 5 seconds to avoid forced entry due to lead impedance of successive vehicles on mainstream. The critical gap values obtained in this study, according to vehicle classification were ranged between 4.5 to 5.0 seconds, which are slightly smaller if compared to critical gap values for particularly left turn from minor movement at priority junction of the Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87 and the United States Highway Capacity Manual 2000. The findings shall help to study driving behavior of local drivers, especially at priority control facilities such as merging sections

Relationship between posterior permanent dentition pattern and radiographic changes of the mandibular condyle

This study assessed the relationship between posterior permanent dentition and radiographic changes of the mandibular condyle. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 panoramic radiographs of patients over 40 years of age (188 females and 112 males). Panoramic radiographs were evaluated for condylar changes such as flattening, subcortical sclerosis, subcortical cyst, erosion, osteophytes, and generalized sclerosis. Presence of muscle pain and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and sounds, and history of TMJ trauma were also assessed. The occlusal scheme of posterior teeth was analyzed according to the Eichner’s index. The frequency of condylar changes was calculated in the right and left sides, and their association with posterior permanent dentition was analyzed by the Chi-square test (alpha = 0.05). The frequency of flattening, muscle pain, TMJ sounds, and erosion was 11.7%, 9.7%, 5.7%, and 3.7% in the right side, respectively. The frequency of flattening, muscle pain, erosion, and subcortical cyst was 12%, 9.3%, 5%, and 5% in the left side, respectively. The frequency of bilateral muscle pain, flattening, TMJ sounds, and TMJ pain was 18%, 16.7%, 11.7%, and 9.3%, respectively. Cases with TMJ trauma, generalized sclerosis, and osteophytes were few. According to the Eichner’s index, most patients with condylar changes had classes A and B, and a smaller percentage had class C. No significant difference was noted between healthy individuals and those with condylar changes regarding dentition patterns. No relationship existed between condylar changes and posterior permanent dentition pattern

Long range correlation in cosmic microwave background radiation

We investigate the statistical anisotropy and Gaussianity of temperature fluctuations of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) data from {\it Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe} survey, using the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis, rescaled range and scaled windowed variance methods. The multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis shows that CMB fluctuations has a long range correlation function with a multifractal behavior. By comparing the shuffled and surrogate series of CMB data, we conclude that the multifractality nature of temperature fluctuation of CMB is mainly due to the long-range correlations and the map is consistent with a Gaussian distribution.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, V2: Added comments, references and major correction

Height Fluctuations and Intermittency of V2O5V_2 O_5 Films by Atomic Force Microscopy

The spatial scaling law and intermittency of the $V_2 O_5$ surface roughness by atomic force microscopy has been investigated. The intermittency of the height fluctuations has been checked by two different methods, first, by measuring scaling exponent of q-th moment of height-difference fluctuations i.e. $C_q =$ and the second, by defining generating function $Z(q,N)$ and generalized multi-fractal dimension $D_q$. These methods predict that there is no intermittency in the height fluctuations. The observed roughness and dynamical exponents can be explained by the numerical simulation on the basis of forced Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation.Comment: 6 pages (two columns), 11 eps. figures, late

Critical Gap Analysis Of Merging Sections At Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road

At merging sections, drivers normally slow down and sometimes need to stop while seeking a suitable gap before merging with the mainstream. Thus, there will always be several observed rejected gaps and an accepted gap which can be used to determine the smallest average gap, so-called critical gap. This study was carried out to determine critical gap values at selected merging sections at the Jalan Tun Razak and the DUKE Expressway uses the Maximum Likelihood method.  Data were collected by using videotaping method and the gap acceptance data were extracted for analysis. A gap acceptance event at highway merging sections in this study was redefined due to unavailability of stopping vehicles at the ramp junction. Therefore, the gap data were estimated starting from a ramp’s vehicle passing the end of gore marking to where it merges with the mainstream. The analysis of the critical gap takes into consideration accepted gaps greater than 5 seconds to avoid forced entry due to lead impedance of successive vehicles on mainstream. The critical gap values obtained in this study, according to vehicle classification were ranged between 4.5 to 5.0 seconds, which are slightly smaller if compared to critical gap values for particularly left turn from minor movement at priority junction of the Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87 and the United States Highway Capacity Manual 2000.  The findings shall help to study driving behavior of local drivers, especially at priority control facilities such as merging sections

Injecting drug use, the skin and vasculature

Damage to the skin, subcutaneous tissues and blood vessels are among the most common health harms related to injecting drug use. From a limited range of early reports of injecting-related skin and soft tissue damage there is now an increasing literature relating to new drugs, new contaminants and problems associated with unsafe injection practices. Clinical issues range from ubiquitous problems associated with repeated minor localised injection trauma to skin and soft tissue and infections around injection sites, to systemic blood infections and chronic vascular disease. The interplay of limited availability and access to sterile injecting equipment, poor injecting technique, compromised drug purity, drug toxicity and difficult personal and environmental conditions give rise to injection-related health harms. This review of injecting-related skin, soft tissue and vascular damage focuses on epidemiology and causation, clinical examination and investigation, treatment and prevention

Gridded and direct Epoch of Reionisation bispectrum estimates using the Murchison Widefield Array

We apply two methods to estimate the 21~cm bispectrum from data taken within the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) project of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). Using data acquired with the Phase II compact array allows a direct bispectrum estimate to be undertaken on the multiple redundantly-spaced triangles of antenna tiles, as well as an estimate based on data gridded to the $uv$-plane. The direct and gridded bispectrum estimators are applied to 21 hours of high-band (167--197~MHz; $z$=6.2--7.5) data from the 2016 and 2017 observing seasons. Analytic predictions for the bispectrum bias and variance for point source foregrounds are derived. We compare the output of these approaches, the foreground contribution to the signal, and future prospects for measuring the bispectra with redundant and non-redundant arrays. We find that some triangle configurations yield bispectrum estimates that are consistent with the expected noise level after 10 hours, while equilateral configurations are strongly foreground-dominated. Careful choice of triangle configurations may be made to reduce foreground bias that hinders power spectrum estimators, and the 21~cm bispectrum may be accessible in less time than the 21~cm power spectrum for some wave modes, with detections in hundreds of hours.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

Search for CP Violation in the decays D+ -> K_S pi+ and D+ -> K_S K+

A high statistics sample of photo-produced charm from the FOCUS(E831) experiment at Fermilab has been used to search for direct CP violation in the decays D+->K_S pi+ and D+ -> K_S K+. We have measured the following asymmetry parameters relative to D+->K-pi+pi+: A_CP(K_S pi+) = (-1.6 +/- 1.5 +/- 0.9)%, A_CP(K_S K+) = (+6.9 +/- 6.0 +/- 1.5)% and A_CP(K_S K+) = (+7.1 +/- 6.1 +/- 1.2)% relative to D+->K_S pi+. The first errors quoted are statistical and the second are systematic. We also measure the relative branching ratios: \Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}pi+)/\Gamma(D+->K-pi+pi+) = (30.60 +/- 0.46 +/- 0.32)%, \Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}K+)/\Gamma(D+->K-pi+pi+) = (6.04 +/- 0.35 +/- 0.30)% and \Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}K+)/\Gamma(D+->\bar{K0}pi+) = (19.96 +/- 1.19 +/- 0.96)%.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Dynamical Formation of Horizons in Recoiling D Branes

A toy calculation of string/D-particle interactions within a world-sheet approach indicates that quantum recoil effects - reflecting the gravitational back-reaction on space-time foam due to the propagation of energetic particles - induces the appearance of a microscopic event horizon, or `bubble', inside which stable matter can exist. The scattering event causes this horizon to expand, but we expect quantum effects to cause it to contract again, in a `bounce' solution. Within such `bubbles', massless matter propagates with an effective velocity that is less than the velocity of light in vacuo, which may lead to observable violations of Lorentz symmetry that may be tested experimentally. The conformal invariance conditions in the interior geometry of the bubbles select preferentially three for the number of the spatial dimensions, corresponding to a consistent formulation of the interaction of D3 branes with recoiling D particles, which are allowed to fluctuate independently only on the D3-brane hypersurface.Comment: 25 pages LaTeX, 4 eps figures include

A High Statistics Measurement of the Lambdac+ Lifetime

A high statistics measurement of the Lambdac+ lifetime from the Fermilab fixed-target FOCUS photoproduction experiment is presented. We describe the analysis technique with particular attention to the determination of the systematic uncertainty. The measured value of 204.6 +/- 3.4 (stat.) +/- 2.5 (syst.) fs from 8034 +/- 122 Lambdac -> pKpi decays represents a significant improvement over the present world average.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter