Contributing Factors for Delays during the Morning Commute Hours and the Impact of the Spread of COVID-19 for Metropolitan Train Lines in Japan

The present study aims to conduct 2 types of statistical analysis to reveal the impact of the spread of COVID-19 on train delays by comparing the potential contributing factors before, during and after the outbreak of the virus in the metropolitan train lines in Japan. First of all, the result of the present study clearly revealed the changes in contributing factors for train delays caused by the spread of COVID-19. Specifically, the contributing factors for train delays changed due to the decrease of passengers by the effect of the outbreak of the virus. Additionally, though large terminal stations were considered to be a major contributing factor in causing and increasing train delays in the past, this was not the case after the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, under such conditions, it is more effective to make improvements in small to medium stations and tracks rather than terminal stations. Furthermore, as the decrease in passengers also decreased train delays in commuter lines going to the suburbs due to the spread of COVID-19, the contributing factor for such lines is the excessive number of passengers. Therefore, as for countermeasures for train delays after the effects of COVID-19, it is necessary to disperse passengers in order to avoid passengers concentrating in the same time zones and train lines.

Avian-power line interactions in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia:are mitigation actions effective?

Background:Electrocution and collisions on power lines are among the leading causes of non-natural mortality for birds.Power lines are exponentially increasing,particularly in developing countries,but mitigation strategies to prevent bird mortality are questionable.Mongolia combines a recently increased power line network,an abundant raptor population,a dangerous crossarm configuration and a habitat with no natural perches,producing many bird-power line interactions.Our aim is to assess the bird mortality caused by power lines in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia,to determine the factors increasing the risk of bird electrocution,and to evaluate the effectiveness of used retrofitting measures.Methods:In July 2019 we covered 132.9 km of 15 kV power lines checking 1092 poles.We also conducted bird tran-sects to record raptor and corvid richness and abundance,to assess species vulnerability to electrocution.Results:We recorded 76 electrocuted birds of 7 species.Electrocution rate was 6.96 birds/100 poles.The most affected species were Common Raven(Corvus corax)and Upland Buzzard(Buteo hemilasius),highlighting the electro-cution of 5 endangered Saker Falcons(Falco cherrug).By contrast,we only recorded 8 individuals of 5 species collid-ing with wires,the most affected being Pallas’s Sandgrouse(Syrrhaptes paradoxus).About 76.1%of sampled poles had some mitigation measure.Of these,96.6%were brush perch deflectors and 3.4%rotating-mirrors perch deter-rents.We found differences in electrocution rates among crossarm configurations,with the strain insulator with one jumper being the most lethal.Additionally,we found no correlation between bird abundance and electrocution rates,suggesting that some species are more sensitive to electrocution.Although no differences in total bird electrocu-tion rates were detected between poles with and without perch deterrents,when bird size is considered,deterrents reduced the mortality rate of small birds,while they were ineffective for medium-sized birds.Conclusions:Despite the widespread use of perch deterrents in the Mongolian power line network,there is still an alarming electrocution rate.This strategy is ineffective and some mechanisms,such as brush perch deflectors,may increase the electrocution rate for some medium-sized birds.Finally,we propose strategies to minimize the avian electrocution rate in the Gobi Desert.

On the Strong Approximation for a Simple Reentrant Line in Light Traffic Under First-buffer First-served Service Discipline

For a 2-station and 3-class reentrant line under first-buffer first-served(FBFS)service discipline in light traffic,we firstly construct the strong approximations for performance measures including the queue length,workload,busy time and idle time processes.Based on the obtained strong approximations,we use a strong approximation method to find all the law of the iterated logarithms(LILs)for the above four performance measures,which are expressed as some functions of system parameters:means and variances of interarrival and service times,and characterize the fluctuations around their fluid approximations.

A new adaptive nonuniformity correction algorithm for infrared line scanner based on neural networks

The striping pattern nonuniformity of the infrared line scanner （IRLS） severely limits the system performance. An adaptive nonuniformity correction （NUC） algorithm for IRLS using neural network is proposed. It uses a one-dimensional median filter to generate ideal output of network and can complete NUC by a single frame with a high correction level. Applications to both simulated and real infrared images show that the algorithm can obtain a satisfactory result with low complexity, no need of scene diversity or global motion between consecutive frames. It has the potential to realize real-time hardware-based applications.