The philosophy and practice of Taktfahrplan: a case-study of the East Coast Main Line.

Executive Summary This Working Paper has three purposes, represented by three Parts: - to explain the principles of the Taktfahrplan approach to railway timetabling; - to summarise the implications of the background research on the structure of the network; and - to describe the exercise of constructing a Taktfahrplan for the East Coast Main Line that formed the case-study of the potential benefits of such a scheme compared with the existing timetable. In Part I the broad principles and objectives are first outlined, and the advantages and disadvantages discussed [§ 1.1,1.2]. A Taktfahrplan is based on standard hours and the careful, network-wide coordination of sewices. It is recognised that ultimately the choice between this and conventional timetabling methods must depend on an evaluation of the loss of present flexibility to adjust to time-specific market demands against the gains from enhanced connectivity and from the fact of regularity. Issues concerning resources and the management of peak periods are also explained. Terminology is then dealt with because words and phrases are being used with imprecise and various meanings [§1.3]. There follows a detailed account of the arithmetic rules through which the ideal relationships between train (and bus) sewices can be attained, together with an explanation of the measures that can be taken to make the best compromises in the face of the characteristics of the real network - or to adjust it over time [§ 1.4]. In Part 2 the research to highlight features of the underlying demand for travel is described. This is not a necessary component of strategic timetable planning, but it is argued that it is desirable in order both to break free from the historical baggage and to seize the business, environmental and social-policy opportunities that a 'clean- sheet' timetable would present [§2.1]. The provisional findings from this work (it was left incomplete for reasons that are explained) are then deployed to form the skeleton of a national network connecting 100 important centres with 158 links. This is followed by an analysis of the very variable standards of the rail timetable on those links and of the road competition and by an account of some first thoughts as to how a full-scale Taktfahrplan might start to be developed on this network [§2.2]. This emphasises the inter-relationships between sewices and the inescapable consequences for pathing trains, once it is accepted that sensible spacing of services and striving for good connectivity are more important than optimising routes on a self-contained basis. It was thought appropriate to include a summary of the findings regarding the low-density end of the current rail system in order to indicate the issues that Taktfahrplan might raise in this respect [§2.3]. The East Coast case-study is presented in Part 3. Some technical matters are explained first, including the key point that the exercise used the Viriato timetabling software employed by the Swiss Federal Railways (and many other systems) to construct Taktfahrpliine [§3.1]. Successive sub-parts then describe groups of services: long-distance [§3.2], services within Scotland [§3.3], services in North East England [§3.4], the trans-Pennine network [§3.5] and some of the Yorkshire services [§3.6]

Is breaking up hard to do? Exploring emerging adults’ beliefs about their abilities to end romantic relationships

Objective: We explored emerging adults’ beliefs about their ability to end romantic relationships (i.e., breakup beliefs) and identified demographic, personality, and romantic experience factors associated with breakup beliefs. Background: Emerging adulthood typically involves forming and dissolving multiple romantic unions. Thus, ending relationships is a key component of emerging adult romantic development. Method: 948 emerging adults, recruited from Qualtrics Panel Services, participated in a cross-sectional study of romantic experiences and health outcomes. Results: Most participants perceive they are able to carry out breakup related tasks. Most participants reported knowing when to break up, being able to do so appropriately, being able to accept it when someone breaks up with them, and not delaying breaking up. However, a sizable proportion of participants (23.5% to 47.1% depending upon the item) reported that they lacked the skills necessary to end romantic relationships. Beliefs about the ability to end relationships were most consistently associated with emerging adults’ general self-efficacy. Conclusions: Although most emerging adults in the sample appear confident in their abilities to break up, a sizeable minority of this sample may lack key skills to end relationships. Implications: Relationship education programs for emerging adults generally do not focus on relationship dissolution. Yet, the findings from this study suggest that some emerging adults may need opportunities to build skills that will help them exit relationships that are unhealthy, unsatisfying, or out of sync with their individual goals

Erica the Rhino: a case study in using Raspberry Pi Single Board Computers for interactive art

Erica the Rhino is an interactive art exhibit created by the University of Southampton, UK. Erica was created as part of a city wide art trail in 2013 called "Go! Rhinos", curated by Marwell Wildlife, to raise awareness of Rhino conservation. Erica arrived as a white fibreglass shell which was then painted and equipped with 5 Raspberry Pi Single Board Computers (SBC). These computers allowed the audience to interact with Erica through a range of sensors and actuators. In particular, the audience could feed and stroke her to prompt reactions, as well as send her Tweets to change her behaviour. Pi SBCs were chosen because of their ready availability and their educational pedigree. During the deployment, 'coding clubs' were run in the shopping centre where Erica was located, these allowed children to experiment with and program the same components used in Erica. The experience gained through numerous deployments around the country has enabled Erica to be upgraded to increase reliability and ease of maintenance, whilst the release of the Pi 2 has allowed her responsiveness to be improved

Concert recording 2017-10-12

[Track 1]. Concertino for trombone, op. 4. I. Allegro maestoso / Ferdinand David -- [Track 2]. Sonata for trombone and piano. II. Andante molto sostenuto I. Allegro / Kazimierz Serocki -- [Track 3]. Selections from Pictures at an exhibition. Bydlo Promenade / Modest Mussorgsky arranged by Kenneth Gehrs -- [Track 4]. A winter\u27s night / Kevin McKee -- [Track 5]. Sonata for bass trombone. II. Andantino I. Allegro non troppo / Patrick McCarty -- [Track 6]. Achieved is the glorious work from Creation / Franz Joseph Haydn -- [Track 7]. Etude no. 15 / Marco Bordogni -- [Track 8]. Suite for four trombones. I. Intrada VI. Arietta III. Interludium / Serocki

Social mobility across the lifecourse and DNA methylation age acceleration in adults in the UK

AbstractDisadvantaged socio-economic position (SEP) is associated with greater biological age, relative to chronological age, measured by DNA methylation (positive ‘age acceleration’, AA). Social mobility has been proposed to ameliorate health inequalities. This study aimed to understand the association of social mobility with positive AA. Diagonal reference modelling and ordinary least square regression techniques were applied to explore social mobility and four measures of age acceleration (first-generation: ‘Horvath’, ‘Hannum’ and second-generation: ‘Phenoage’, DunedinPoAm) in n = 3140 participants of the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Disadvantaged SEP in early life is associated with positive AA for three (Hannum, Phenoage and DunedinPoAm) of the four measures examined while the second generation biomarkers are associated with SEP in adulthood (p &lt; 0.01). Social mobility was associated with AA measured with Hannum only such that compared to no mobility, upward mobility was associated with greater age independently of origin and destination SEP. Compared to continuously advantaged groups, downward mobility was associated with positive Phenoage (1.06y [− 0.03, 2.14]) and DunedinPoAm assessed AA (0.96y [0.24, 1.68]). For these two measures, upward mobility was associated with negative AA (Phenoage, − 0.65y [− 1.30, − 0.002]; DunedinPoAm, − 0.96y [− 1.47, − 0.46]) compared to continually disadvantaged groups. While we find some support for three models of lifecourse epidemiology with early life as a sensitive period, SEP across the lifecourse and social mobility for age acceleration measured with DNA methylation, our findings suggest that disadvantaged SEP across the lifecourse is most consistently associated with positive AA.</jats:p

‘‘Epic ear defence’’—a game to educate children on the risks of noise-related hearing loss

Hearing loss resulting from overexposure to entertainment-related sounds is a modern concern. ‘‘Epic Ear Defence’’ places the player in the three-dimensional environment of the ear canal and challenges the player to defend the ear from various noises, to delay the onset of noise-related hearing loss.Chevron Australia provided funding through their Community Donations Schemehttp://www.liebertpub.com/g4ham201

Sheridan School of Architectural Technology Volume 1 [W2017]

Welcome to Sheridan’s School of Architectural Technician/Technology inaugural printed portfolio. This volume is a celebration of the architectural achievements of Sheridan students. Much of the content presented here has been incubated in CADD39788, Architectural Computer Visualisation. Inside you will find an amalgamation of student and faculty work put together into a publication that reflects the rich theatre of creativity and complexity that is architectural education here at Sheridan. Student work within the magazine is from the last year of studies in the Architectural Technology program. Each student has selected their best work to represent some of the skills that they have learned over the years as part of Sheridan. Faculty work is a selection of research, teaching, and professional projects that represents that quality and diversity of educators that serve not only as teachers, but also as mentors to our students. They showcase the talent and skill of some of the individuals that make the Sheridan program a reality.https://source.sheridancollege.ca/fast_books/1001/thumbnail.jp

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Development and validation of HERWIG 7 tunes from CMS underlying-event measurements

This paper presents new sets of parameters (“tunes”) for the underlying-event model of the HERWIG7 event generator. These parameters control the description of multiple-parton interactions (MPI) and colour reconnection in HERWIG7, and are obtained from a fit to minimum-bias data collected by the CMS experiment at s=0.9, 7, and 13Te. The tunes are based on the NNPDF 3.1 next-to-next-to-leading-order parton distribution function (PDF) set for the parton shower, and either a leading-order or next-to-next-to-leading-order PDF set for the simulation of MPI and the beam remnants. Predictions utilizing the tunes are produced for event shape observables in electron-positron collisions, and for minimum-bias, inclusive jet, top quark pair, and Z and W boson events in proton-proton collisions, and are compared with data. Each of the new tunes describes the data at a reasonable level, and the tunes using a leading-order PDF for the simulation of MPI provide the best description of the dat