MMM267 BUSINESS LOGISTICS T1 2025 Information Pertaining to the 60% Final Homework Assessment NATURE OF ASSESSMENT: an open-book homework heavily based on the selected end-of-chapter exercises covered in weekly seminars from Weeks 2 – 6 and Weeks 8 – 10. DUE DATE AND TIME: The homework document will appear on the Cloud site of the unit under Content -> Assessment Resources -> Assessment 2 (Homework, 60%) at 8AM on Friday, 30th May 2025 and students will have 5 CALENDAR DAYS to complete and submit it. The submission deadline is 8PM AEST on Wednesday, 4th June 2025. SUBMISSION FILE TYPES: The completed homework must be submitted as a single MS-Word file via the designated Cloud submissions folder by the deadline – NO EXCEPIONS. Students also need to separately upload the Excel solutions spreadsheet in addition to their main Word file to ensure a complete submission. EXTENSIONS: Please note that this submission deadline already includes a half- day ‘grace period’ (12 hours). Please be advised that being the final assessment task for the trimester, any request for extensions will impact the result finalization for the unit and timely release of results. Therefore, students who think they will be unable to submit by the deadline of 8PM AEST on 4th June 2025 are advised to apply in advance to the Faculty for a Special Consideration via StudentConnect. Students who apply for and are given a Special Consideration to submit their homework at a later date should please understand that they will be given a temporary “RI” (Result Incomplete) grade for this unit at the time of scheduled release of T1 results, as any extension to the submission deadline will lead to a delay in the processing of unit results for the concerned students. PERCENTAGE OF FINAL GRADE: 60% HURDLE: None Description/Requirements: - This is a take-home, open-book task along the lines of an elaborate homework exercise. There will be some Excel-based problems and also some discussion questions requiring written answers (please refer to the structure posted on Cloud). - The questions will very closely resemble some of the selected end-of-chapter discussion questions and Excel-based problems in the posted repository document (with somewhat different wordings and numerical information). Students are advised to use the solutions spreadsheet posted on Cloud as a ‘template’ for doing the Excel-based exercises on the homework. Students are expected to be able to come up with their own words in forming answers to the writing questions on the homework - these were all discussed in the weekly online/on-campus seminars. - All prescribed reading materials as well as the internet can be accessed while completing this task. Do note that the Cloud discussion forums will be locked (but still will remain visible), and students MUST complete the task individually. - The assessment comprises 5 parts of 12 marks each for a total of 60 marks. There will be a number of questions under each part. There is no choice of questions — all the questions have to be attempted. Further breakdown of the marks carried by the components of questions as well as best way to respond will be discussed by the in detail in the closing seminars (campus & Cloud), and further hints/clues provided. - The 5 calendar days’ submission time-period is an extremely generous time consideration. The homework should not normally take beyond a few hours at most to complete if students had been on top of the weekly end-of-chapter exercises & had diligently attended and engaged with the weekly seminar contents. - The reason for the extremely generous time to submit the assessment is to allow students to complete the task at a time that suits their personal circumstances. - On this basis, it is not anticipated that any adjustments will be needed to the 5 calendar days deadline also for students with a Learning Access Plan from DRC. - The 8PM AEST on Wednesday, 4th June 2025 deadline for the final assessment is an absolute deadline for submission. Student missing the submission deadline will have to apply to the Faculty for a Special Consideration by looking up and following the process described on the website given below: www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/assessment-and-results/special-consideration Please consider requesting for a Special Consideration as an absolute last resort as if approved, any extension will automatically mean that your unit result will be significantly delayed due to the very short turnaround time. How to complete the assessment: - Each discussion question on the assessment task has to be responded to as if answering an end-of-chapter exercise. Ideally students should have read through the prescribed parts of the relevant chapter and looked up the relevant week’s lecture slides to form. an answer in their minds before starting to write. - Students should use the marks allotted to a particular discussion question to decide on how much to write. A maximum of 300 words is allowed for each of the 6-mark discussion questions on the homework, marker may penalize extremely long answers. Furthermore, writing unnecessarily convoluted answers may also be counter-productive in terms of the lost time that could be usefully devoted elsewhere e.g., in preparing for an examination/assessment in another unit. - While no in-text citations or references need to be provided, please note that Turnitin will be activated for ALL submissions. Therefore, please do not copy large amounts of information from lecture slides, textbook or online sources as this may be picked up by the markers and reported as academic misconduct. It is vitally important that students respond to the assessment questions using their own words. - Students are strongly recommended to use the posted Excel solutions spreadsheet to complete the Excel-based exercises on the homework, and must then upload that solutions spreadsheet separately, in addition to the Word file containing the written responses to the discussion exercises on the homework. YOU MUST ALSO TYPE IN ONLY THE FINAL RESULTS OF ALL THE EXCEL EXERCISES ON THE HOMEWORK IN THE SAME MS WORD SUBMISSION DOCUMENT WHERE YOU RECORD YOUR RESPONSES TO THE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS. ALSO, YOU ARE ASKED TO INCLUDE JUST ONE OR TWO SENTENCES EXPLAINING THE BUSINESS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMERICAL RESULTS THAT YOU OBTAIN FOR THE EXCEL EXERCISES — PLEASE REFER TO THE EXAMPLE PROVIDED BELOW. YOU DO NOT NEED TO COPY AND PASTE ANY OF THE EXCEL WORKINGS INTO YOUR WORD FILE - JUST PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE NOTED THE CORRECT QUESTION NUMBERS FOR ALL THE EXERCISES. Example: Part A - Q1. DBS café purchases its takeaway containers from a third-party supplier. DBS delivers an average of 450 takeaway orders each month (assume demand is known and certain). Containers cost one dollar each, and each order costs $22.75 to process. Because of limited storage space, the DBS café manager wants to charge inventory holding at 15 percent of the cost. The lead time is 3 days, and the café is open for business 360 days per year, assuming 30 days per month. Determine the economic order quantity (EOQ) of number of containers to order, reorder point assuming no safety stock, and the annual total inventory cost. (Hint: Refer to Q67from Week 6 to work through this exercise) If you see an Excel-based homework exercise like the one above, all you will need to do in that case is open up the Excel solutions spreadsheet and look at the worksheet named “Week 6 – Chapter 12” to locate the solution for Q67. Then , simply replace the input data in that solution spreadsheet with the corresponding data from the homework exercise. If you can do so correctly, then the solution spreadsheet will straightaway give you the values for the EOQ and reorder point without needing you to do anything with the formula or Excel functions for either of those. Note that you do not necessarily need to use the Goal Seek part of the solution for EOQ calculation unless the homework problem specifically asks you. Once you have replaced the existing data in that Excel solution with the corresponding data in the homework exercise, you could then simply just copy in the EOQ number obtained from “EOQ (using formula)” into the blank cell next to “EOQ (using Goal Seek)” . As soon as you do that, all the “#DIV/0!” notifications will disappear and you will get the correct numbers for each of “Annual ordering cost”, “Annual holding cost” and “Annual total inventory cost” again without needing to know any of those formulae. If you have correctly inputted all the relevant data into the Q67 solution in Week 6, your solutions worksheet should straightaway yield the following numerical results: Demand/month 450 Annual demand 5400 Unit cost $1.00 Ordering cost per order $22.75 Inventory holding charge 15% Lead time (days) 3 Avg. no. of orders needed to be placed for the year 4.22 Average inventory held during the year 639.92 Annual ordering cost $95.99 Annual holding cost $95.99 Annual total inventory cost $191.98 Difference between annual ordering & holding costs 0.00 EOQ (using Goal Seek) 1280 EOQ (using formula) 1280 Reorder point 45 DO NOT COPY AND PASTE THE EXCEL SOLUTION INTO YOUR WORD FILE — type the numerical results only, with one or two lines of explanation. So, in the Word file (i.e., the same Word file that will contain your written responses to the discussion exercises in the homework), you only need to write as follows: Part A — Q1: EOQ = 1280 containers, Reorder point = 45 containers, ATIC ≈ $192 DBS café should order EOQ=1280 containers in each order, as that order quantity will optimize between the overall ordering and holding costs, thus yielding the lowest possible total inventory cost. Any other ordering quantity will result in either a higher ordering cost or a higher holding cost and hence, a higher total cost. DBS café should place its order every time the inventory position hits 45 containers as this is the minimum number of containers it must have at hand to get through the 3-day lead time without running out of containers to serve customers. Structure and formatting: - There is no strict guidance on formatting the answers to the assessment questions. Students will need to use their own discretion in ensuring readability of their work. Please therefore try and avoid unusual font styles, too big/too small font sizes etc. - While there is no word limit, please bear in mind the advice provided in the previous section regarding the need to avoid writing unnecessarily long answers. - For most of the Excel-based exercises on the homework, students will mainly just need to replace the existing data in the provided Excel solutions spreadsheet with the corresponding data from the homework exercise. Each homework exercise will clearly tell you which seminar exercise from which week to use as a template. For the Excel-based exercises on the homework, please note that the attempted answers will earn part-marks if and only if in the marker’s opinion, all data were correctly inputted into the relevant solved exercise in the Excel solutions spreadsheet.
Civil 791 Construction Management 2025 Semester 1 Assignment 2 (25% of total assessment) 1.0 General 1.1 Assignment Type Individual Assignment 1.2 Submission Date and Time Monday 26 May 11:59pm 1.3 Submission Method All work for this assignment is to be compiled into one pdf which shall be submitted to Canvas by the due date. 1.4 Penalties for late submission Time after Due Date Penalty 24 hours but 48 hours but 72 hours but 96 hours but 168 hours (7 days) -100% 2.0 Assignment Outline 2.1 Background Scenario A building is to be built which requires construction of a basement retaining wall along one side which backs onto an embankment. The basement retaining wall is 3.5 m high and 90m in total length and is founded on 400mm diameter, 35m deep bored piles. Bored piles have been selected by the engineer due to their high strength capacity, as well as their ability to be installed with minimal vibration, which is important as the site is located adjacent to a hospital which is sensitive to disturbance. Furthermore, this will minimise disturbance to any other works which are occurring on site at the same time. The piles are to be installed in stable soil and hence are unsupported, meaning that no casing is required. Your company had proposed Continuous Flight Auger (CFA) piling instead as CFA piling is considerably faster, however the engineer has insisted on bored piles, as the process of installing CFA piles would not give the engineer an opportunity to confirm the quality of soil during installation. The soil conditions at the site include slow draining silts and clays with a high but fluctuating ground water table. With stringent requirements regarding waterproofing and the ingress of moisture, monolithic in-situ reinforced concrete construction is proposed together with drainage and Nuralite Preprufe 3000 and Bituthene waterproofing products to the underside of foundations and the wall exterior respectively. The design details are shown in the engineer's sketches (refer Sketches 1 and 2). It is hoped that the project will commence on the 1 July 2025. It is noted that the Client would like this phase of the work to be completed as soon as possible. 2.2 Assignment Scope You are working for a construction company specialising in concrete construction and piling and as part of the contract management team, you are tasked with compiling information in a brief report addressing considerations for a tender submission for construction of the basement retaining wall. Your report should include the following: Part A Preliminary Project Programme A programme for the project is to be provided. You will need to determine a sequence which completes the work as efficiently as possible which is to be presented on a Gantt chart. It is recommended that this be produced using MSProject (which is available in the engineering computer labs) or Project Libre which is free for download https://www.projectlibre.com/). A step-by-step guide on how to use MS Project is available under the Lecture 6 materials. Information to be provided together with the schedule should include: a) A work breakdown structure. b) A list of any assumptions and rationale regarding the development of the schedule. This may include justification for durations as well as other considerations or approaches. c) Commentary on the critical path which should be highlighted on the programme provided. Considerations: 1. It is recommended that you explain in your report how you determined the duration of the piling work, taking into account the constraints given in Sketch 2. 2. It is suggested you make use of the recommended software. It may be necessary for you to experiment with different scheduling alternatives. If you feel some of this information is relevant in order to justify your chosen schedule, you might consider including it in an appendix. 3. Gantt charts should show sufficient information to illustrate the proposed schedule. This should include the critical path. 4. Note that you should not calculate the critical path by hand. Instead you should utilise functionalityofthe software. Avisualinspection ofthe taskswhichmake upthe critical path is also recommended. Part B Cost Estimate a. Use the bottom-up estimation method to estimate the overall project cost. The cost of various items should be estimated individually and then aggregated to determine the total project cost. You should include notes regarding • Any assumptions • Inclusions and exclusions b. Reassess your piling cost estimate by using the Rawlinsons 2014 Detailed Trade Rates for Insitu Concrete Piles – Bored. You must update the 2014 cost to reflect 2025 values using the Cost Fluctuation Adjustment equation found in NZS3910:2013 Appendix A, along with the appropriate indices from Statistics New Zealand. Once you have calculated the updated cost for 2025, briefly compare it with your original estimate. You do not need to revise your original calculations—simply note any differences. Considerations: 1. You should be able to build up a cost estimate with the information given in this Assignment brief alone, however if you wish, you may use additional cost information from other sources. Part C Weekly Cash Flow A weekly cashflow during the course of the project should be provided with reference to the the programme and the budget estimate you have provided. You should provide some commentary on this. Considerations: 1. If you are utilising MS Project you might consider utilising the Cash Flow reporting function. However, the use of MS project is optional for this task, you are free to generate your cash flow without using this tool.
CHNS1601 UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY CHINA 1. You are required to write an argumentative essay on one of the topics listed in the document entitled Essay Topics. 2. Your essay and presentation topics cannot be the same. 3. Your essay must have a title. A topic is not a title. 4. Any of the referencing styles recommended by the University is acceptable so long as only one is used consistently. 5. You are required to submit your essay in Canvas. What is an argumentative essay? An argumentative essay is a particular kind of academic writing that requires the author to investigate a topic; collect, generate and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner. A typical argumentative essay has the following structure: 1) introduction; 2) three sections with subheadings with one including discussion of opposing views, which demonstrate the originality of your essay; 3) conclusion. The introduction should include a summary of the thesis or main argument of the essay and a statement about the content and organization of the essay. The main body is made up of a series of sections that build up the argument, using facts and ideas from sources that you have identified. Each section contains a sub-theme of the essay and flows on logically from one to the next. The conclusion restates the main findings of the essay in summary form. but in different words to remind the reader and concludes with some brief statements about the (potential) implications of those findings. Use of sources: · A minimum of five academic sources in English should be included in the analysis and on the references list. The use of sources in other languages in addition to, but not instead of, English-language sources, is acceptable and encouraged. · While you can reference online sources (such as government statistics, opinion pieces, news articles, etc.), these should only be used to back an argument or to provide examples to illustrate the ideas and arguments discussed in academic sources. · The analysis should be relevant to your chosen essay topic; it should show a critical engagement with the literature, and express arguments with clarity. Jargon should be avoided. · Over-reliance on direct quotations should be avoided. If you cannot summarize the author’s ideas in his/her own words, it means you have not yet fully grasped their meaning. You should use direct quotes only when the exact words of the author are crucial to the argument one is making. · You should still make sure to acknowledge the authors’ ideas and specific data (e.g. statistical figures) by referencing sources appropriately, even when they have summarized or paraphrased their ideas. Essay Submission Checklist 1. Have you proof-read your essay carefully? 2. Have you cited all the sources from which you borrowed ideas? 3. Have you put in direct quotation marks all the phrases, clauses and sentences that you have used from other authors? 4. Have you given the details of all the works cited in your essay on the reference list at the end of your essay? Note that only works cited in your essay should be included. 5. Have you done a spell check of your essay? 6. Have you done a word count of your essay? 10% more or less is acceptable. Note that the word count excludes the reference list.
Course Name and Number: Pathophysiology SCI 225 Syllabus Disclosure Statement: This syllabus is the governing document for this course. Your decision to take this course means you consent to the conditions of the syllabus. By taking this course, you agree to the attendance and participation requirements of the course. Failure to participate in class activities may result in failure of the course. All learners must review the assigned canvas course andCollege Catalog: https://nightingale.edu/college-catalog-2/ Syllabus Change Policy: Information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policy, may be subject to change with advance notice. Semester Credit: 3 Contact Hours: 45 Prerequisites: SCI220 Human Anatomy, SCI221 Physiology Co-requisites: SCI220: Human Anatomy or equivalent Requisites: N/A Course Description: This course describes the general principles of disease and then presents information dealing with specific disorders of body systems or individual organs. The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a basic understanding of pathophysiology as a change from normal physiological functioning of the various systems of the human body. The course is based on illness and disease within a systems framework across the lifespan. Emphasis is put on select illnesses most often encountered by health professionals. The course focuses on critical thinking used to analyze the signs and symptoms based on the pathophysiology of these conditions. Course Outcomes: 1. Compare the pathologic effects of selected disease processes at the cellular and systemic levels. 2. Correlate internal/external environmental risk factors with disease development and progression. 3. Evaluate the presence and effects of compensatory mechanisms in response to major Physiologic alterations. 4. Discuss major variables affecting the healing process in primary tissues and organ systems and apply such concepts to the management and treatment of disease. 5. Describe the impact of pathophysiology -based knowledge on nursing practice within the context of a specific nursing model. 6. Apply the critical thinking process to the use of pathophysiologic principles as a basis for nursing practice. Instructional Resources and Materials: Huether, Sue E., McCance, Kathyrn L., Brashers, Valentina L., Methods of Evaluation (not all may apply to each course): 1. Online course work: Modules and quizzes to teach concepts throughout the course. Specific requirements for each assignment are posted in Canvas. All college catalog policies are in effect for this course. 2. Online courseware: Online resources dedicated to learning activities that contribute to course content engagement. 3. Standardized testing — All learners must take the HESI Standardized Examination assigned to their level. Please refer to the Grading System and Grading Scale section of the College Catalog for additional information about the HESI Standardized Examination, HESI remediation, and course progression process. 4. Live Webinars: Learners have the opportunity to demonstrate active participation by attending a weekly live webinar (via Microsoft Teams); multiple options are available throughout the week. 5. Attendance: Attendance is monitored each week in the online environment. Participation in learning activities is required each week. The online system measures time spent on task. Additional information is available in theCourse Catalog. Course Participation: (including webinars/discussion post requirements) For all assignments, please refer to the corresponding modules on Canvas for assignment instructions, rubrics, and due dates for performance evaluation assignments. Attendance at virtual and on-ground experiential learning activities are mandatory. Late Coursework Policy: Nightingale College has specific guidelines for the submission of late coursework. Please consult the College Catalog for this policy. Weekly Live Webinars: The purpose of the weekly live webinar is to demonstrate active participation and to develop engaging professional interactions between faculty and learners. Live virtual discussions create co-learning opportunities when conversations are centered around relevant topics and related concepts each week. Successful virtual contribution is dependent on the following: • Learners are required to virtually attend live webinar (via Microsoft Teams) each week. Multiple options may be available throughout the week. • Learners can attend any live webinar offered by any section of the course. • The live webinar will have interactive components and will be recorded. Recordings are only available to learners who cannot attend the live webinar session. • Learners not in attendance at a live webinar are required to participate in the weekly quiz. • There will be no live weekly webinar during week 16 of the term, rather a reflective discussion post. • To receive credit for attendance for any virtual ELA or webinar, learners must be present on time, professionally dressed in accordance with the Nightingale College Dress Code policy, with their cameras on at all times unless provided permission from their faculty. Grading Scale: ts25%Quizzes25%Exams20%LetterGradePercentageGrade PointsA93 —92%3.7B+87-89%3.3B83-86%3.0B-80-82%2.7C+77-79%2.3C73-76%2.0C-70-72%1.7D+67-69%1.3D63-66%1.0LetterStatusGrade PointsAUN/AI,IRN/ALN/ARN/ATCN/AWN/AXN/A
ELEC6252W1 SEMESTER 2 EXAMINATION 2021 - 2022 FUTURE WIRELESS TECHNIQUES Section A Question A1. (a) Figure 1 is a cooperative network, which uses a direct-link (S → D) and a relay-link (S → R → D) to send information from source node S to destination node D. The distance from node S to node R is d1 , that from node R to node D is d2, and that from node S to node D is d. Transmited signals experience both the propagation pathloss with a pathloss exponent of α, and the small-scale fading with the fading gains shown in the figure. Assume that the transmit power of node S is P1 and that of relay R is P2 , and all nodes are operated in half-duplex mode. Noise power is σ 2. Furthermore, assume that hSR is known to node R, and hD , hRD are known to node D. Based on the above settings/assumptions and assuming amplify-and- forward (AF) relaying at node R, provide an expression for the signal-to- noise ratio (SNR) achieved by node D for detecting the symbol x sent by node S. [5 marks] (b) Consider that nodes S1 (having data x1) and S2 (having data x2) use a two-way relaying network, as shown in Figure 2, to exchange x1 and x2 between S1 and S2. Assume that all nodes are operated in half-duplex mode. Based on the network coding principle, design a two-way relaying scheme for S1 and S2 to exchange x1 and x2. Explain the operations in details. [5 marks] (c) There is a sparse-spread CDMA system, which has the input-output relationships of Draw the factor graph of this sparse-spread CDMA system for operat- ing the message-passing algorithm, in order to detect the data symbols x1 , x2 , . . . , x8. [5 marks] (d) (i) Provide two application examples to explain the benefit of employing full-duplex instead of half-duplex. [2 marks] (ii) State three challenges for the implementation of full-duplex in prac- tice, and provide brief explanation for each of them. [3 marks] FIGURE 3: Capacity versus SNR for the MIMO (MN ≤ 4) systems operated under the CSI/CSI mode, when communicating over Rayleigh fading channels. (e) Consider a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system employing M transmit and N receive antennas. Draw and annotate the MIMO system model and write the received signal equation and explain the different terms used. [5 marks] (f) Figure 3 shows the capacity results for a MIMO system employing M transmit and N receive antennas operated under the channel state in- formation (CSI)/CSI mode, when communicating over Rayleigh fading channels. Analyse the plot and explain your understanding. [5 marks] (g) Explain the concept of massive MIMO and comment on the motivation for using massive MIMO from a channel capacity perspective. [5 marks] (h) Explain the reasons for using beamforming for communications at mil- limetre wave frequencies and also the reasons for the need to use hybrid beamforming for millimetre wave communications. [5 marks] Section B Question B1. (a) Assume that two base-stations (BSs) can conduct cooperation based on data exchange only. State three types of BS cooperative processing that the BSs may operate. [6 marks] (b) Figure 4 shows a three-hop communication link for node S to send infor- mation to node D with the help of two relay nodes R1 and R2. As shown in the figure, signals sent by node S can be received by relay R1 with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 01 and by relay R2 with the SNR of 02 ; signals sent by relay R1 can be received by relay R2 with the SNR of 12, and by node D with the SNR of 13 ; signals sent by relay R2 can be received by node D with the SNR of 23. Assume that all nodes are operated in half-duplex, and that both the re- lay nodes R1 and R2 use the AF relaying protocol. Furthermore, assume that relay node R2 uses the maximal ratio combining (MRC) scheme to combine the signals received from nodes S and R1, and that node D also uses the MRC scheme to combine the signals received from nodes R1 and R2. Based on the above settings and assumptions, (i) provide a formula for the SNR achieved by node D for detecting a symbol sent by node S; [4 marks] (ii) provide a formula for the spectral-efficiency achieved by this three- hop communication link. [2 marks] (c) Figure 5 represents a two-hop communication network, where node S (having one antenna) sends data to node D (having one antenna) with the aid of a relay node R, which employs L antennas for receiving and transmission. Assume that all nodes are operated in half-duplex mode, the transmit power of node S is P1 , the transmit power of the relay is P2, the distance between node S and the relay is d1 , and the distance between the relay and node D is d2. Assume that signals transmitted by node S and the relay experience the propagation path-loss with a path- loss exponent α, and the small-scale fading with the fading gains as shown in the figure. Furthermore, assume that the channel knowledge, i.e., {hij }, is only employed by the relay. (i) Consider a relay processing scheme in the principles of either AF or DF, describe in detail the operations carried out by the relay. [5 marks] (ii) Under the relay processing scheme considered in (c)(i), derive an expression for the spectral-efficiency achieved by the two-hop com- munication network. [5 marks] (d) Assume an extended Wyner’s system model, as shown in Fig. 6, where adjacent BSs conduct cooperation under ideal data exchange. (i) Assume optimum and/or minimum mean-square error (MMSE) mul- tiuser detection (MUD), suggest two multicell cooperation/ process- ing (MCCP) schemes. [2 marks] (ii) Describe in detail the operations of the MCCP schemes proposed in (d)(i). [4 marks] (iii) Analyse the advantages and disadvantages of the MCCP schemes proposed in (d)(i). [2 marks] Question B2. (a) The biggest challenge to implement full-duplex in practice is the self- interference cancellation (SIC), which may be implemented in propaga- tion domain, analog-circuit domain and digital domain. (i) State two SIC techniques operated in the propagation domain, and discuss respectively their operational principles, advantages and the challenges they may face in practice. [5 marks] (ii) State two SIC techniques operated in the analog-circuit domain, and discuss their operational principles, advantages and the challenges they may face in practice. [5 marks] (b) Assume that users 1; 2; . . . ; K simultaneously send x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xK , sat-isfying E[x 2 k ] = 1 , to a BS (with one antenna) using power P1 ; P2 ; . . . ; PK via one Gaussian channel. The channel gains from users 1; 2; . . . ; K to the BS are given by h1 ; h2; . . . ; hK , respectively. (i) Assuming that j h1 j 2 P1 ≥ j h2 j 2 P2 ≥ . . . ≥ jhK j 2 PK , describe the optimum detection scheme of the BS to achieve the sum rate of the NOMA system. [5 marks] (ii) In addition to the assumption in (b)(i), further assume that the noise variance is N0. Derive an expression for the sum rate achieved by the K users. [5 marks] (c) Assume that a BS (with one antenna) broadcasts x1 , x2 , . . . , xK , satisfy- ing E[xk(2)] = 1, via Gaussian channels to users 1, 2, . . . , K using power P1 , P2, . . . , PK , respectively. The channel gains from the BS to users 1, 2, . . . , K are h1 , h2, . . . , hK , respectively. (i) Assume that the transmit power of the BS satisfies P1 ≥ P2 ≥ . . . ≥ PK , which models that user 1 is the user furthest from BS, then user 2, and finally, user K is the one closest to BS. Describe the optimum detection scheme of user k , k = 1, 2, . . . , K, to achieve the sum rate of the NOMA system. [5 marks] (ii) In addition to the assumption in (c)(i), further assume that the noise variance is N0. Derive an expression for the sum rate achieved by the K users. [5 marks] Section C Question C1. (a) Consider a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system employing M transmit and N receive antennas. Let x = [x1 , x2 , · · · , xm] denote the signal transmitted from the M antennas and y = [y1 , y2 , · · · , yN ] denote the received signal vector. H represents the channel matrix between the transmitter and receiver of size N × M. When the receiver employs perfect channel knowledge, while the trans- mitter only knows the MIMO channel’s distribution and the transmitted signal vector x is independent of the channel matrix H, then the ergodic MIMO capacity can be evaluated as: (i) Derive the MIMO capacity using the above MIMO model and capac- ity equations (2) and (3), when M is fixed and N → ∞ and explain your observations on the derived capacity. (ii) Derive the MIMO capacity using the above MIMO model and capac- ity equations (2) and (3), when N is fixed and M → ∞ and explain your observations on the derived capacity. [15 marks] (b) Consider a uplink (UL) multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU- MIMO) system, where a base station (BS) equipped with N = 4 an- tennas is communicating with K = 2 number of users. User i, where i ∈ [1, K], is equipped with Nui = 2 antennas. Each user is equipped with only one radio frequency (RF) chain and employs spatial modula- tion for transmission. In a given channel use, each user selects any one of its Nui transmit an- tennas and transmits a symbol from a BPSK modulation on the selected antenna. (i) What is the number of bits conveyed per channel use per user. (ii) Draw a block diagram of the above described UL MU-MIMO system and write the mathematical representation of each user transmitted signal and the received signal. (iii) Describe how the maximum likelihood (ML) detection can be em- ployed to decode the received signal. [15 marks] Question C2. (a) Consider a single-user millimetre wave (mmWave) multiple input multi- ple output (MIMO) system that employs hybrid analog/digital precoding and combining as shown in Figure 7, where the transmitter is equipped with Nt antennas and the receiver with Nr antennas. The transmitter is assumed to have NR(t)F radio frequency (RF) chains, while the re-ceiver employs NR(r)F RF chains, where the number of RF chains is as- sumed to satisfy (NR(t)F ≤ Nt ) and (NR(r)F ≤ Nr ). As shown in Figure 7, the transmitter and receiver communicate via Ns data streams, where Ns ≤ min(NR(t)F , NR(r)F ). (i) Draw the block diagrams of the fully connected hybrid beamforming architectures and comment on the number of phase shifters. (ii) Write the mathematical representation of the received signal after RF and baseband combining in the fully connected and sub-array connected hybrid beamforming architectures, explicitly showing the structure of the baseband and RF precoder weight matrices and the structure of the channel matrix. Also, explain any differences in the design of the precoders and combiners for the two architectures. [15 marks] (b) Consider a massive MIMO system, where a base station equipped with M antennas is communicating with K users, each employing Nk anten- nas with k ∈ [1, 2, · · · , K]. (i) Explain the concept of channel hardening. (ii) Explain the concept of pilot contamination in massive MIMO. (iii) Explain the assumptions made for the number of transmit anten-nas and users in massive MIMO and describe the effect of antenna correlation on the performance and spectral efficiency of massive MIMOs. [15 marks]
Course Materials for CSc 335 in Spring 2025 We will require software and texts, as follows. 1. Software for Scheme Scheme is available via the Racket website, at http://racket-lang.org/. You want the latest version compatible with your hardware. The installation for all of Linux/Mac/Windows is described in detail on the website; the installation of Racket sets up an IDE (drracket) automatically. IMPORTANT: we will start the course using Scheme R5RS, which is just one of many languages offered by DrRacket. Once you open drracket, find the Languages tab, select Other Languages, and then select R5RS under Legacy Languages. You will need to do this for each document you create using DrRacket. I will demo this in class. 2. Course Texts 1. Essentials of Programming Languages, https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262062176/essentials-of-programming-languages 2. The Little Schemer, Friedman and Felleisen, https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/little-schemer Additional materials may be suggested as the course progresses.
ARCH221 URBAN STUDIES, 2024-2025 Essay Topics The essay accounts for 70% of your total module mark. Please choose one topic from the list below. Note that the bullet points under each topic are intended as prompts to help you develop your ideas, not as a suggested structure for the essay. You should not simply answer the questions in the bullet points; instead, use them to guide your thinking. Essay length: 2000 words including references (both in text information and reference list/bibliography at the end) (10% flexibility allowed). Online Submission Date: Friday 16th May 2024, 2.00pm via CANVAS. No Hard Copy required. For learning difficult students: Please include a cover sheet stating I confirm that I have a Student Support Information Sheet (SSIS) which recommends ‘Appropriate marking for spelling and written expression for students with Specific Learning Difficulties’. Topic 1: Explore the historical forces that have shaped an urban area and discuss how design can respond to this historical development in a positive manner · Investigate the natural, social, economic, and political factors that influenced the development of a specific urban area (e.g., a neighbourhood, district, or city) of your choice. · Discuss how these factors shaped the urban area and its main characteristics as a result; · Explore how urban design can respond to these characteristics and enhance the area’s identity; Draw lessons can be learnt. Topic 2: To what extend should a city be planned or not planned by architects/planners? · Choose a planned city or a planned district within a city by a particular architect/planner or a team of architects and planners as your case study; · Considering the arguments related to the top-down vs bottom-up; grand planning products vs piecemeal development. · Discuss how the planned city works for its residents in the long run; · Discuss the role of architects and planners in the design of cities and lessons can be learnt. Topic 3: Can an urban design principle be applied to a context different from where it originated? · Choose a specific urban design principle discussed in the lecture (e.g. mixed use, legibility, diversity, ease of movement, robustness) as the focus of your investigation; · Select a city or town you are familiar with as a case study. Investigate whether this urban design principle is relevant to the chosen city. If not, explain why; If yes, discuss how the principle can be applied to the local context. · Give your critical view on how the principle could better guide design and planning in the case study city or town. Topic 4: How to regenerate Liverpool’s Chinatown through urban design? · Explore Chinatown’s history and how urban design can celebrate its cultural heritage, focusing on landmarks, buildings, businesses, and festivals. · Discuss its public spaces and how to involve the local community in the design process. · Examine connectivity and accessibility of Chinatown, enhancing pedestrian, cycling, and public transport links. · Consider green design strategies to boost environmental sustainability of Chinatown. · Focus on one or two aspects (or a topic of your choice) and avoid covering everything. You may link your essay to your ARCH252 studio design. Topic 5: How does technology transform. urban spaces and exert changes on humankind? Amin and Nigel have explored this question in their book Seeing like a City (2016). However, as geographers, they adopted a more macroscopic view. How can we, as architects and urban designers, unpack this tension at a human scale and in a more visually engaging way? · You are invited to use a film or fiction to illustrate the exaggerated impact of urbanisation, technology and digitalisation on humankind. · Suggested films included, but not limited to: Matrix (1999-2003, 2021), Blade Runner (1982, 2017), Ghost in a Shell (1995, 2017), Aeon Flux (2005), Equilibrium (2002), Brazil (1985), Stalker (1979), or classics like Metropolis (1927). · Choose one or two scenes depicting urban spaces in these films as examples. Analyse these spaces and actions using the suggested text and other literature. Avoid attempting to cover the entire city featured in the films. The Prologue and Chapter 3 in Seeing like a City will be the particularly relevant. · Consider how the observations allow you to re-evaluate existing cities and urban life. Be speculative but also evidence-based. For example, could Blader Runner (set in a futuristic Los Angeles with its urban grid) be relevant for understanding Beijing, its urban structure, and its vast population today and in the future? You may refer to other lectures to address this part. Topic 6: What can we learn from the evolution of housing estate landscapes over time? · Select a post-war housing estate landscape in a city you know well and ideally can visit; · Research the history and changes to the post-war housing estate landscape. What were the main design elements and consideration? · Compare the historical ideas to today’s situation: What remains? What has been lost? How has the estate changed over time? · Compare and discuss the shifts between the original intentions and the current situation. Who were the intended audiences, and who lives there now? · Discuss critically what we can learn from the original design and subsequent evolution of your chosen landscape. Topic 7: How can we create inclusive public spaces for underrepresented social groups in our cities? · Focus on a specific social group in this essay, such as children, the elderly, women, ethic minorities or others. · Observe their use of public spaces on a daily basis or during events, and discuss how the physical and management features of the space affect their access and experience. · Choose one or two case studies that you can visit and analyse in detail. · Address the topic question and draw lessons from your findings. Topic 8: How can urban planning help mitigate the adverse effects of climate change in your city? · Focus on a specific aspect of the adverse effects of climate change, such as rising temperatures, urban heat island effect, flooding and sea level rise or others. · Choose a particular city or district to discuss how planning aims to mitigate these effects. Examine the strategies proposed, the extent of their implementation, and the reasons behind their success or limitations. · Evaluate how successful these planning strategies are and explain why. · What lessons can we learn from this case study? Topic 9: What impact does urban design have on energy consumption in the built environment, regarding climate change? · Consider the factors that contribute to urban heat islands. · Reflect on the combined future challenges posed by climate change and urban heat island effect. · Examine different urban layouts in various climatic regions and explore why they are designed as they are. · Use one or two case studies, inspired by the lecture but extending beyond the lecture, to demonstrate the effects of greening in city centres. · What lessons can we learn from the case study? Naming convention of your submitted file The essays will be marked anonymously by a group of assessors so please make sure you don’t present your personal information anywhere in the submitted file (you need to include a cover sheet if you have an appropriate marking arrangement in place). Please name your file in the following format ‘Topic x-your own short title’. In the file name, you must indicate which topic your essay addresses and give a short title for it. You need to upload the file in Word or PDF formats to CANVAS. Writing style. and referencing The essay should be written in an academic style, using clear language. It should have a clear structure that includes an introduction, background and literature review, analysis or case studies, discussion and conclusion (refer to the Marking Criteria document on CANVAS). All arguments should be well justified, and illustrations used as appropriate. There is no specific requirement for font, text size and figures. The format of the essay should be consistent and legible. Sources or citations from literature should be properly referenced in a consistent manner. Please consult the Code of Practice on assessment Appendix L Academic Integrity Policy for definitions of dishonest academic practice, plagiarism and relevant penalties https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/tqsd/code-of-practice-on-assessment/appendix_L_cop_assess.pdf . We suggest The Chicago Style. Author-Date system to be used as your reference style. The following examples illustrate citations using the author-date system. Each example of a reference list entry (the first line) is accompanied by an example of a corresponding parenthetical citation in the text (the following line). These examples are citations from book(s), book chapters, journal articles, and websites. For other types of citations, please refer to http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html . Book(s) Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. 2007. The War: An Intimate History, 1941–1945. New York: Knopf. (Ward and Burns 2007, 52) Books or articles with four or more authors List all of the authors in the reference list; in the text, list only the first author, followed by et al. (“and others”): (Barnes et al. 2010) Chapter or other part of a book Kelly, John D. 2010. “Seeing Red: Mao Fetishism, Pax Americana, and the Moral Economy of War.” In Anthropology and Global Counterinsurgency, edited by John D. Kelly, Beatrice Jauregui, Sean T. Mitchell, and Jeremy Walton, 67–83. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Kelly 2010, 77) Article in a print journal In the text, list the specific page numbers consulted, if any. In the reference list entry, list the page range for the whole article. Weinstein, Joshua I. 2009. “The Market in Plato’s Republic.” Classical Philology 104:439–58. (Weinstein 2009, 440) A citation to website Content can often be limited to a mention in the text (“As of July 19, 2008, the McDonald’s Corporation listed on its website . . .”). If a more formal citation is desired, it may be styled as in the examples below. Because such content is subject to change, include an access date or, if available, a date that the site was last modified. In the absence of a date of publication, use the access date or last-modified date as the basis of the citation. Google. 2009. “Google Privacy Policy.” Last modified March 11. http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html. McDonald’s Corporation. 2008. “McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy Safety Facts.” Accessed July 19. http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about/factsheets.html. (Google 2009) (McDonald’s 2008)
COMP3221 Assignment 2: Blockchain Due: Friday, Week 11 by 23:59 1 Introduction In this assignment, you will implement a peer-to-peer (P2P) blockchain system. A blockchain is a chain of blocks (like pages in a ledger), distributed across multiple nodes. Each block contains a set of transactions, which represent changes in ownership of digital assets or other logged information. By completing this project, you will create a network of blockchain nodes that communicate and cooperate to maintain a consistent distributed ledger. 1.1 Learning Objectives • Understand key blockchain concepts and terminology by implementing them in code. • Learn how a P2P network model operates and how to design communication between distributed nodes. • Gain experience in developing a concurrent networked application (with sockets and threads). • Apply principles of crash fault-tolerant consensus in a practical setting. • Improve programming skills in networking and distributed system design, with a focus on blockchain mechanics. 2 Program Structure and Implementation Requirements You may implement your solution in any programming language of your choice. However, your submission must include a wrapper script named Run .sh that serves as the single entry point. For example, if you choose Python, your wrapper script. might look as follows: 1 #!/bin/bash 2 python3 your_solution.py "$@" You are not permitted to use any libraries outside the core libraries provided for your pro- gramming language. For example, if you were to use Python, you may use libraries such as socket, but not networkx. Using any disallowed libraries will result in an immediate 0 for this assignment. If you are unsure if a specific library is allowed, please ask on Ed. You are also permitted to use a build script that compiles your program. This script must be called Build .sh, and will execute before any of the test cases are run on your program. You are permitted to use any libraries that come built into your chosen language, as well as a select range of extra libraries. For the list of allowed libraries, please see Appendix A. 3 Assignment Task You will implement the software for a single blockchain node (peer). Running multiple instances of your node program will form a P2P network. Each node must act both as a server (listening for incoming requests from peers) and as a client (initiating requests to other peers). Nodes communicate by exchanging structured network messages over TCP connections. The ultimate goal is for all non-faulty nodes in the network to reach consensus on a sequence of blocks, thereby maintaining a consistent blockchain. Every node will maintain a TCP server on a specified port to accept peer connections. It will also initiate outgoing connections to all other known peer nodes. The network topology is fully connected: each node should have an independent, long-lived TCP connection to every other node in the peer list. Nodes must handle connectivity issues gracefully – for example, if a connection drops or a peer crashes, the node should detect this (via timeouts) and continue operating with the remaining peers. Each node operates concurrently with multiple threads, for example: • Server Thread(s): Accept incoming TCP connections from peers. For each connected peer, use a dedicated handler (thread) to receive and process messages from that peer. • Consensus (Pipeline) Thread: Continuously monitor the node’s transaction pool and coordinate the block proposal and consensus process (detailed below in Section 8). All nodes in the network will run the same consensus protocol in synchronous rounds to agree on the next block to append. By the end of each consensus round, every correct node should have decided on the same new block to add to its blockchain (assuming not too many nodes have crashed). 3.1 Transaction Pool and Validation Incoming transactions (from clients or other nodes) are collected in a transaction pool (mempool). The node will store transactions in this pool temporarily until they are included in a new block via the consensus process. Each transaction is a JSON object containing spe- cific fields (see Section 5.2). Upon receiving a transaction (via a peer message), the node must validate it before adding it to its pool. Invalid transactions must be explicitly re- fused. The validation rules are: • Correct Nonce Sequence: Each transaction has a nonce field, which must equal the number of transactions from the same sender that have already been confirmed on the blockchain (i.e. the sender’s transaction count in the current chain state). For example, if a sender has 5 transactions in the blockchain (nonce 0 through 4), the next transaction’s nonce must be 5. If a received transaction’s nonce is not exactly one greater than the sender’s confirmed nonce (or 0 if the sender has none yet), then the transaction is out-of-order or duplicate and must be rejected. There must be no two different transactions with the same sender and same nonce in the pool. (The nonce is monotonically increasing per sender, starting from 0.) • Signature Verification: Every transaction is signed by its sender. The signature field must be a valid Ed25519 signature over the transaction’s contents, and it must correspond to the given sender public key. The node must verify the signature using the sender’s public key. If the signature is invalid, the transaction is invalid and should be rejected. • Field Formats: All transaction fields must adhere to the specified format. If any field is malformed (e.g. wrong length or containing non-alphanumeric characters), the trans- action is invalid. When a transaction is rejected due to any of the above rules, the node should not include it in its pool or any future block. Only transactions that pass all validation steps are pooled. 3.2 Block Creation and Addition Periodically, the node will create a new block containing a batch of pending transactions from its pool and attempt to append this block to the blockchain via the consensus protocol. A node proposes a new block when its transaction pool becomes non-empty (triggering an attempt to form. the next block). Each block is a JSON object with the following keys (see Section 5.2 for full schema): • index: The block’s position in the chain (1 for the genesis block, 2 for the first block after genesis, etc.). • transactions: A list of transaction objects, each containing the fields sender, message, nonce and signature. • previous_hash: The current_hash of the previous block in the chain (for the genesis block, a predefined value is used – see Appendix B). • current_hash: The SHA-256 hash of this block’s content (computed over the string representation of the block’s other fields, with keys sorted lexicographically for consis- tency). When a node creates a block proposal, it must set the index to (current blockchain length + 1), include a selection of transactions from its pool, and set previous_hash to the hash of its latest block. It then computes the current_hash for the new block. This block will then enter the consensus protocol to decide whether it will be the next block appended to the chain. After a consensus round (see Section 8), the nodes will have agreed upon one block to com- mit. When a node decides on a block for a given round, it appends that block to its local blockchain. The node should then update its state accordingly: • Execute/confirm the block’s transactions (e.g. increment nonce counters for senders). • Remove the block’s transactions from the transaction pool (since they are now con- firmed on-chain). • If any other pending transactions in the pool became invalid due to this new block, those should be removed as well. For example, if multiple transactions from the same sender were in the pool and one of them was included in the block, any other transaction from that sender with the same nonce or an out-of-order nonce should be dropped. The blockchain should always remain valid: a decided block’s previous_hash must match the hash of the previously decided block. All nodes start with the same genesis block, so if the consensus protocol works correctly, every node’s chain will evolve identically over time (aside from any blocks that crashed nodes failed to append). 4 Network Protocols and Message Formats All network communication between nodes uses a simple message protocol over TCP. Nodes exchange messages that are length-prefixed and encoded in JSON. Each message sent over the network is preceded by a 2-byte integer length field (unsigned, big-endian byte order) that specifies the number of bytes in the message body. The message body immediately follows the length field and consists of a JSON-encoded object. The maximum message length is 65535 bytes (0xFFFF), as the length is 16-bit. This framing allows the receiver to know how many bytes to read for each message from the continuous TCP stream. The message body is a JSON object with two top-level keys: "type" and "payload". The "type" field is a string indicating the kind of message, and "payload" contains the data relevant to that message. There are two types of messages in this protocol: • "transaction" — used to submit a transaction to a node. • "values" — used during consensus to exchange proposed block values (hence “val- ues” refers to proposed blocks). 4.1 Transaction Message Format A message with "type": "transaction" carries a single transaction to be processed. The payload in this case is a JSON object representing the transaction. The transaction JSON has the following keys: • sender (string): The hex-encoded 32-byte Ed25519 public key of the sender (i.e. the account initiating the transaction). This is a 64-character lowercase hexadecimal string. This public key uniquely identifies the user/account. • message (string): Arbitrary UTF-8 text authored by the sender. The consensus protocol treats this as opaque data. The message contains up to 70 alphanumeric characters and spaces. • nonce (integer): A number indicating how many transactions the sender has already had confirmed in the blockchain before this one. The nonce starts at 0 for each sender’s first transaction, and increments by 1 with each confirmed transaction. This field is used to ensure each transaction is unique, and for a given sender (preventing replay attacks or double-spending). • signature (string): The hex-encoded 64-byte Ed25519 signature of the transaction. This signature is generated by the sender’s private key over the contents of the transac- tion (the transaction fields sender, message and nonce concatenated in this order). It is 128 characters in hexadecimal. The signature proves the authenticity of the trans- action (that it was indeed created by the holder of the private key corresponding to sender). When a node receives a "transaction" message, it should parse the payload as a trans- action dictionary and run the validation rules (nonce check, signature verification, etc.) as described in Section 2.1. After processing, the node should return a response to the sender (outside the scope of this message format, a simple True or False as mentioned). The original message does not itself demand a response in JSON format, but the sending function will expect a boolean acknowledgement. Example — Transaction Message: Suppose a user with public key "a578 . . .5363b" wants to log the message "Never Gonna Give You Up" with nonce 0. The user signs the trans- action, producing signature "142e . . . 60c7fd0c". The network message sent to the node would have the following JSON body (length prefix omitted here for clarity of the output): 1 { 2 "type " : "transaction " , 3 "payload " : { 4 "sender " : " a57819938feb51bb3f923496c9dacde3e9f667b214a0fb1653b6bfc0f185363b " , 5 "message " : "Never Gonna Give You Up " , 6 "nonce " : 0 , 7 "signature " : " 142e395895e0bf4e4a3a7c3aabf2 ..... (and so on) " 8 } 9 } The first two bytes of the actual transmission would be the length of this JSON string in bytes (in big-endian). The node, upon receiving these bytes, will reconstruct the JSON and interpret it accordingly. The node’s response to this message (over the same TCP connection) should be a standalone JSON value true (if accepted) or false (if rejected), or simply the literal True/False as a Python boolean serialised. 4.2 Block (Values) Message Format During the consensus protocol, nodes exchange messages of "type": "values". These messages carry block proposals (or requests for them). The "payload" for a "values" message is a JSON structure that can vary depending on context: • In our implementation, every "values" message carries the sender’s own current block proposal (a list containing its block, or an empty list if it has none yet). Send- ing your proposal thus implicitly requests that the peer reply with its own "values" message containing that peer’s proposal. • When responding or broadcasting values, the payload is a list of block objects. Each block object in the list is a JSON dictionary with the fields described above (index, transactions, previous_hash, current_hash). In our consensus algorithm (a single round to decide one block), each node will have exactly one block proposal per round. Thus, you may often send or receive a "values" message where the payload list contains either one block (the peer’s proposal) or multiple blocks (if a node bundles all proposals it knows). In a fully synchronous broadcast approach, a node might send its own proposal to everyone (payload list of one), and also later send a list of all proposals it received (payload of many) — but our simplified approach mainly uses one exchange of single blocks. Every block in the payload list should be formatted as valid JSON with its keys and values as described. For completeness, here’s a breakdown of a block object (these apply whether the block is sent in a values message or printed to stdout): • index: (integer) Block’s position in chain. • transactions: (array) List of transaction objects included in the block. • previous_hash: (string) The hash of the previous block in hex. • current_hash: (string) The hash of this block in hex. Example — Values Request: Node A wants to request Node B’s proposed block for the current round. Node A sends a message to B: 1 { "type " : "values " , "payload " : [ Block_A ] } and receives the following response: 1 { "type " : "values " , "payload " : [ Block_B ] } This indicates a request. When a node receives a values request (empty list), it must respond with a values message whose payload is its own current proposal (or [] if it has none). Example — Values Response (Single Block): Node B has a block proposal (say Block_B) ready. It responds to A with: 1 { 2 "type " : "values " , 3 "payload " : [ 4 { 5 "index " : 2 , 6 "transactions " : [ 7 { 8 "sender " : "b1c22f...5d8e " , 9 "message " : "Touch grass " , 10 "nonce " : 0 , 11 "signature " : " 8f23ab...45d1 " 12 } 13 ] , 14 "previous_hash " : " " , 15 "current_hash " : " " 16 } 17 ] 18 } Here, the payload list contains one block object (Node B’s proposal for block #2). Example — Values Broadcast (Multiple Blocks): If Node A, after collecting proposals from B (and maybe others), decides to broadcast the full set, it might send: 1 { 2 "type " : "values " , 3 "payload " : [ 4 { ... Block_A ... } , 5 { ... Block_B ... } , 6 { ... Block_C ... } 7 ] 8 } with each block from a different node. In all messages, JSON syntax must be strictly followed. That means: • Keys and string values in quotes " ". • Lists [ . . . ] and objects { . . . } with commas between elements. • No trailing commas. • True/False in JSON should be lowercase true/false if they appear. • Numeric values (nonce, index) appear as numbers (no quotes). In summary, design your networking code such that: • Before sending, you prepend the 2-byte length. • You then send the JSON text of the message. • When receiving, you first read 2 bytes to get N, then read N bytes to get the JSON message.
Department of Infrastructure Engineering GEOM90038 Advanced Imaging Lab Assignment 4: Parking occupancy detection from CCTV images Due for submission at 10:00 pm on Friday of Week 12 Note: This is an individual assignment. The task With the availability of the inexpensive cameras (and CCTV camera that are used for surveillance), computer vision methods have developed over the years for automatic object detection and classification. The state-of-the-art methods have achieved remarkable performance for object detection and classification, and include machine learning algorithms, such as convolutional neural networks. The aim of the assignment is to perform automatic parking detection from images, and to delineate the parking spaces automatically using machine learning. You will be provided a dataset that contains images from a publicly available dataset (PKLot) including images of occupied and unoccupied parking spaces. Using this dataset, an object detector (FasterRCNN model) will be trained to detect cars in images. Subsequently, the trained model will be used to detect cars and delineate parking spaces in another dataset (Barry street) automatically. Your task will be to perform. evaluation of the object detection algorithm, improve the parking space detections and subsequently plot the final parking space delineations. Figure 1. A screenshot of the parking occupancy detection using birds eye view images captured in Barry Street. Resources required You will use MATLAB 2020a or newer for the assignment. You can download it using the link (https://au.mathworks.com/downloads/web_downloads/download_release?release=R2020a). Please make sure to install all the packages (except the Simulink and related packages). Or alternatively you can use myUniApps (MATLAB 2020b). An .mlx file (to be opened using MATLAB) is provided in the LMS that will download the data and other required files for the operations. You can browse the data from the link (https://rmit.figshare.com/ndownloader/files/24753887). Please make sure to increase the java heap memory of MATLAB as described in the .mlx file. Another document (part of a book chapter) containing the background and the description of the process (including the dataset) is available on LMS. The procedure You will use the provided MATLAB live script. that has two tutorials in it, and a tool for visualising the dataset. In the first tutorial you will be able to fine-tune a pre-trained network (see book chapter for details) as a car classifier that can be used to classify the occupied and empty parking slots. In the second tutorial you will be able delineate the parking spaces automatically using spatio-temporal reasoning and using a density-based clustering algorithm. Thereafter, you need to write a MATLAB code for performing evaluation (calculating precision and recall), and to improve the delineation accuracy by using the statistics of the detections and assumptions of parking spaces. Following are the steps: 1. Visualise dataset: After downloading the .mlx live script, run the first section to download the dataset and unzip. The second section will load the bounding boxes of PKLot dataset and will annotate a few occupied parking spaces and will show an example occupied and empty parking slot. In the next section of the code, you will be able to visualise Barry street dataset and the parking spaces. 2. Create a car classifier: This step corresponds to Tutorial 1 of the live script. where a pre-trained classifier is fine-tuned with PKLot dataset containing images and labels. The input to the model is an image and the output is a decision, whether the parking slot is occupied or empty. Note, in its default, the provided code does not fine-tune the model, instead it loads the fine-tuned model for the experiments. To run it on-line one can set the option “train” to “true”. You can use the trained car classifier to test with Barry street dataset, and subsequently can estimate the accuracy, and some of the wrong estimations. 3. Delineate the parking spaces automatically and visualise: This step corresponds to Tutorial 2 of the live script. where you will perform. automatic parking slot delineation. A pre-trained object detector is fine-tuned with PKLot containing images and bounding boxes. The input to the model is an image of the whole parking space, and the output is the bounding boxes of the cars on the image. Similar to the previous step, you can set the “train” option to “true” to fine-tune the model on-line, note, however, this needs a GPU for training, otherwise it might take a very long time. You can use this trained car detector to detect cars for Barry Street images. However, you might realise, not all cars are detected. Also, not all parking spaces are occupied for the car detector to delineate them into parking spaces. Therefore, you can run the trained car detector on all the images of Barry Street dataset, and create a cluster around each parking space. Later, you can use a density-based cluster algorithm (DBScan) to find the location of the parking spaces. Important note: For the next steps, the code for performing the step must be included in the submission, otherwise this will lead to a penalty. 4. Perform. evaluation To perform the evaluation, you should write a MATLAB code to plot the precision vs recall of detections. You might realise that the value of precision is very poor, and in the next task you will improve it by using the statistics of the detections, and assumptions related to parking of a vehicle. The pseudocode: i. Adjust the variable “classifiedMean” to take into account the shift of 141 pixels along X axis, and 58 pixels on Y axis. ii. Create a blank table in the format that is accepted by the function “evaluateDetectionPrecision” and copy the box and scores of the transformed classifiedMean variable to the new table. iii. Calculate average precision, recall and precision, and subsequently plot the precision- recall curve as shown above. iv. The ground truth bounding boxes can be found in the file “GroundTruthBarryStreet.mat” . 5. Improve the delineation accuracy Write a MATLAB code and perform. the following steps: 5.1 Plot the statistics of the bounding boxes: Plot the bounding boxes for visualisation. You can rotate the bounding boxes to create an aspect ratio > 1, where the aspect ratio is defined by length/width of the bounding boxes. For the rotated bounding boxes, the X and Y coordinates, and the length and width of the bounding boxes should be interchanged. You can use the “rectangle” function of MATLAB for the plot. 5.2 Calculate the average length and width of the parking slots: Subsequently, calculate the mean length and width of the parking spaces for the whole parking area. 5.3 Post process the length of the parking slots based on assumptions: Assume that: • The length and width of the parking slots remain constant throughout the image. Therefore, use the average length and width for all the parking spaces. • The cars take 80% of the length of the parking space, and therefore, increase the length of the detections by 25% of the original length. The pseudocode: 1. Adjust the variable “classifiedMean” to take into account the shift of 141 pixels along X axis, and 58 pixels on Y axis. 2. For each bounding box in the transformed “classifiedMean” variable do: a. Check if aspect ratio is greater than 1, then do i. Calculate DeltaX as the difference between the bounding box width and the calculated average width ii. Calculate DeltaY as the difference between the bounding box length and the calculated average length of the car times a factor of 1.25 iii. To calculate the new X coordinate of the bounding box DeltaX/2 should be added iv. To calculate the new Y coordinate of the bounding box DeltaY/2 should be added v. Allocate the average updated length (1.25*average length) and average width for the new bounding boxes Else do: i. Calculate “DeltaX” as the difference between the bounding box length and the calculated average length of the car times a factor of 1.25 ii. Calculate “DeltaY" as the difference between the bounding box width and the calculated average width iii. To calculate the new X coordinate of the bounding box DeltaX/2 should be added iv. To calculate the new Y coordinate of the bounding box DeltaY/2 should be added v. Allocate the average updated length (1.25*average length) and average width for the new bounding boxes 5.4 Recalculate the precision vs recall and show final bounding boxes: Subsequent to post-processing, plot the precision and recall values again to show the improvement. Follow steps ii-iv of Task 4 to plot the precision-recall curve. Use function “rectangle” to visualise the new bounding boxes, and you might need to reverse the Y axis of MATLAB in order to generate the above plot. Submission Write an individual report outlining the process and your results. Include the following content: 1. Introduction: Covering the motivation of the assignment, the history of machine learning, computer vision and object detectors, and the evaluation matrices used for accuracy assessment. 2. Methods and results: Describe the processes you performed for completing each task, including visualise dataset, create a car detector, delineate the parking spaces automatically, perform evaluation and improve the accuracy performance. Include the screenshots of each process and any intermediate results. 3. Discussion: Describe about the accuracy evaluation of the parking slots, and show the improvement based on the made assumptions. Also, describe the challenges and the shortcomings of the performed method and propose scopes of improvements. 4. Conclusions: Provide a summary of your findings, highlighting the accuracy gain achieved before and after the pre-processing, and how it can be further improved. 5. Include the code snippets used for the calculations. Submit a digital version of your report, via LMS and in PDF format only. Marking rubric Introduction and object detection review 10% Proper description of the method 10% • Visualise dataset • Create a car detector • Delineate the parking spaces automatically Results • Precision vs Recall 10% • Plot the statistics of the bounding boxes 10% • Calculate the average length and width of the parking slots and plot them 10% • Post process the length of the parking slots on the 80% assumption 10% • Recalculate the precision vs recall and visualise bounding boxes 10% Discussion 10% Conclusions 10% Code 10%
Department Of Management Science MSCI 231 Introduction to Operations Management Module Outline 2024-25 Pre-requisites and limitations The module is available to students who have taken MSCI 100 / 101 or equivalent. It cannot be taken by students who have taken MSCI 102. Term Taught Michaelmas, weeks 1 - 10 Contact Time Approx. 30 hours (20 lectures and 10 seminars) Credits 15 Why take this module? Operations Management is a core managerial discipline for all kinds of operations - from private sector manufacturing through to public sector services. It is applicable to any of the organized processes that underpin the modern world: transportation, the generation of energy, retailing, the production of goods, the provision of medical and educational services and so on. Many areas of management have strong connections with operations management, so an understanding of its main principles is relevant to all students on business and management programmes. The nature of the subject A large part of operations management is analytical: structuring, measuring and reaching logical conclusions about operations problems - such as congestion, shortage, error and failure. Part of it is constructive: being able to design processes and put together plans that systematize, coordinate and improve work. The module reflects this combination, and includes both qualitative and quantitative methods. It is, however, grounded in practical issues and the experiences of organizations that provide case studies for the module. Learning outcomes By the end of the module students should be able to engage competently in the kind of problem- solving characteristic of operations management, including demonstrating an understanding of: • entities like supply networks; • use of mathematical models such as those needed to optimize inventory; • basic principles of lean production; • systematic techniques of control such as those needed for quality and project management; • sustainability in an Operations Management context; and • use of forecasting models in business. Teaching methods The module will be taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. There will be two lecture hours each week throughout the term, and one seminar hour each week starting in the second week of term. The seminars will be based on set problems that arise from the lecture material of the previous week. Attendance is required at all lectures and seminars and will be recorded by the University. Outline topics The following is a list of indicative topics that will be taught: 1. Operations as systems 2. Supply chain management 3. Inventory optimisation 4. Capacity analysis 5. Forecasting demand 6. ERP and lean principles 7. Project planning & control 8. Quality management 9. Sustainable Operations Assessment Students will be assessed through a 50% group coursework assessment (CWA) which will be set in week 10 (mid-December). The deadline for submission of the CWA will be announced later in the term, both in lectures during the module and also on Moodle. The remaining 50% will be assessed through an open book multiple choice (MCQ) examination during the summer exam period next year (2025). This will be an online timed exam. Guidance will be provided in week 10 on both coursework and examination. Workload The total workload for the module depends on the capacities of individual students, but in addition to the time needed for attendance at lectures and seminars, students are expected to engage with: • weekly discussion forums • short set readings which will be posted on Moodle • preparation and solution of case problems set for the seminars • coursework assignments • revision for the examination Reading and lecture notes Materials will be posted to Moodle at least 24 hours in advance of the lectures. These are not intended to be self-explanatory and attendance at the lectures is strongly advised. Model solutions or solution guides to each case dealt with in the seminars and problem classes will be posted on Moodle after the seminar class in the following week. The core text is Operations Management by Slack et al, published by Pearson. The current edition is the 10th, but earlier editions will also be mostly applicable. An e-version is available from the library: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/lancaster/detail.action?docID=6977559&pq-origsite=primo. Regular access to the core text will be needed for the set reading, the set cases, and for the further development of understanding of topics. Further Information The Management Science Department undergraduate coordinator is based in D25, Charles Carter. All announcements relevant to the module, as well as module materials, will be posted to Moodle. There is a departmental Moodle page with useful information for students on all MSCI courses at https://modules.lancaster.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=40859 Students are strongly advised to take note of warnings about late work, plagiarism and collusion. If unsure, please read the department's teaching code of practice, which can be found on the FAQ board. Contacting Linda Hendry - the module convenor As module convenor, I will be happy to answer any general queries about the module. The best time to catch me is at the end of a lecture. We will need to clear the room for the next group, but I will wait outside the lecture theatre after each lecture until I am sure none of you have waited to talk to me. I have also set up a general questions forum on the MSCI231 Moodle site - please check out this forum if you have a question. I prefer to use this rather than emails as many of you will have the same questions, and so I can post answers in the forum for the benefit of all students. I work part-time on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays - and will aim to ensure that any questions on the forum are answered at the end of each of my working days. Of course, if your question is personal, you can email me. If so, please make sure you introduce yourself as being a student from this module, and I will answer as soon as possible on one of my working days. We hope that you enjoy the course and welcome feedback informally and via course reps.
CPT306 Individual Project Principles of Computer Games Design Coursework Assignment Specification 2024/25 Semester 2 Master’s Degree – Year 1 Coursework Assignment Number: 4 of 4 Method of Working: Individual Coursework Title: Creating a 3D Game Percentage (%) Weighting: 40% of the overall module marks Date and time of publication: 9:00 am on Tuesday, 15 April, Week 9 Date and time for submission: 11:59 pm on Sunday, 18 May, Week 13 General Instructions 1. One copy of this assignment should be handed via the module Learning Mall page at http://learningmall.xjtlu.edu.cn no later than the time and date shown above, unless an extension has been authorized by the module leader. 2. Before submission, each student must complete module coursework submission form obtainable from the module Learning Mall page. This assignment is being marked by student name and id, please ensure that you complete the correct coursework submission form. 3. Format of the coursework assignment submission: A ZIP file should be submitted via the Learning Mall module page, containing the deliverables outlined in the “What to Submit” section of the coursework assignment specification. 4. Use of unfair means: You are reminded of the University’s Code of Practice on the Use of Unfair Means and that the work you submit for assignment should contain no section copied in whole or in part from any other source unless where explicitly acknowledged by means of proper citation. 5. Late penalties: For work submitted late the penalty is loss of 5% marks per day. Work that is 5 or more days late will automatically be graded as FAIL, and no re-submission will be allowed. The story so far … An unknown entity forces the player into a gladiatorial arena. The player must overcome the gladiator creatures in order to earn the ability to escape the gladiator. Scenario, Player Movement, Release Skills, and Camera (30 points) A schematic diagram of the game scenario is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Concept of environments for survival game. The whole environment should achieve the following basic requirements (10 points): 1. Map and obstacle design . Map size: 35 x 35 units. . Obstacle Types: Obstacles contain two types, a base obstacle and a self-defined obstacle that is a patchwork stack of base obstacles. . Number of obstacles and height requirements: The map contains at least 15 base obstacles, each of which is a 1x1 unit square; the map contains at least 5 self-defined obstacles with a height of 2 units, i.e., a maximum of two 1x1 unit squares stacked vertically. . Obstacle Shapes: Obstacles may be shaped by combining one or more 1x1 unit squares into a custom shape, but may not exceed 2 units in height (i.e., a maximum of two 1x1 unit obstacles may be stacked vertically, no rules for horizontally). . Moveable Obstacles: Design at least 5 moveable obstacles to add a dynamic element. 2. Enemy design . There is only one enemy (Boss) in the game, excluding skill summoned enemies. . Boss Design: Boss can only move randomly within an 8x8 unit area and cannot leave the area.Boss movement can be as simple as randomly moving up and down or left and right. 3. Character Design . Boss Image: Boss image can be freely designed, but the size cannot exceed 4x4x4 units. . Hero Character: There can only be one Hero Character, and the image can be freely designed, but the size cannot exceed 1x1x1 units. 4. Skill Coin Designs . Maximum 3 Skill Coins: Each game can only have a maximum of 3 Skill Coins, which are used by players to unlock new skills. . How Skill Coins appear: Skill Coins appear randomly at certain locations on the map, and only one can appear at a time. . Skill Coin Image: Skill Coins can be freely designed, but cannot exceed 0.5x0.5 units in size. Note: If you fail to meet the above-mentioned requirements, it will affect the implementation and performance of subsequent functions, you will lose a significant number of points. The Hero’s movement control and release skills control should follow these methods (15 points): . Right mouse button clicks on the map (not on obstacles), the clicked place will appear a movement indicator (size not more than 1 * 1 unit), then the Hero will move to the indicator. Once the Hero moves to the indicator, the indicator will disappear. (5 points) . Left mouse button is used to release skills. Interaction methods can be freely designed. Potential interactions include, but are not limited to, the following: long-press to release a skill continuously, long-press and release to release a power-up skill, short-press to release a skill, and so on. The direction of the skill release and the target interaction can be freely designed based on the left mouse button interaction and the mouse position on the screen. (The Attack Indicator contains 5 points, with 5 points awarded for being easy to understand and creative; 2 points for each type of attack interaction, up to a maximum of 5 points) Camera of game scenes (5 points): . The center of the camera must always be aimed at the center of the map (Boss); . Press and hold Q and the camera will rotate clockwise around the map, press and hold E for counterclockwise. Skills Implementation (30 points) Both Boss and Hero in the game can release skills (they have the same selectable skills). The skills they carry in each game can be categorized into two types, attack skills and functional skills. Functional skills include defense skills and healing skills. Considering the different difficulties in implementing skills, we classify the difficulties into 5 levels as follows (when the implementation difficulty of a skill satisfies more than one level of difficulty determination, we will take the highest difficulty satisfied): Level 1. Release an entity that travels in a straight line (e.g. bullet). Level 2. Release a skill that moves along a certain trajectory (e.g., a parabola); Release a skill that requires energy storage; Release a skill that can add an effect to an entity directly (e.g. heals, invincibility, sustained damage). Level 3. Release an area-of-effect (AOE) skill; Release a skill that has an entity body and will self- destruct after a certain period of time. Level 4. Releases a skill that has an entity that can be attached to another entity (Boss, Hero, Floor, Obstacle, etc.) for a period of time. Eligible skills include, but are not limited to, mines, time-delayed bombs, etc. Level 5. The released skills have additional attributes and can interact with other objects. (For example, a flame skill can burn an enemy, a freeze skill can freeze an enemy, and an electric shock skill can paralyse an enemy for a short period of time.) The category of skills includes a total of 30 points. Achieving Level 5 directly earns 10 points. Achieving levels 1 and 2 awards 1 point. Achieving levels 3 and 4 awards 3 points. The highest cumulative score for Level 1-4 implementation is 20 points. It is important to note that the scores for Levels 1 through 4 above represent the base score only. If a demonstrated skill is not clear, scores will be deducted. Here is an example. If you implement an AOE skill without clearly indicating its range of effect, you may receive fewer than the full 3 points, potentially earning 2 or even 1 point instead. Additionally, there should not be the same skills appearing. Skills with the same effect but different numerical values are considered the same skill and should not be repeated. Skills Selection and Shopping System (15 points) The skill system in the game must meet the following requirements (6 points): . Hero and Boss both carry at least one attack skill and one functional skill; . Hero and Boss each carry a total of no more than 4 skills in the game; . In the game, players can switch the skill they want to release by using the four numeric buttons 1, 2, 3, and 4. In the main menu of the game, a Skill button needs to be included. After clicking to enter the Skill menu, players will be able to perform. the following operations (9 points): . Players can choose which skills to carry for the coming game (up to 4 skills); . Players can unlock the skills by using the Skill Coins obtain in the game; . The player's profile is automatically saved locally after exiting the game and can be automatically read when re-entering the game. User Interface and Gameplay (10 points) The user interface in the game needs to meet the following requirements (4 points): . Boss and Hero's health levels are clear; . Clearly display the currently selected skill in the game; . Clear display of skill cooldown time; . Display prompt messages correctly after Hero wins or is defeated. In addition, the default difficulty of the game needs to ensure that players can complete the game within 60-120 seconds (6 points). Training Ground (5 points) A training ground is accessible through the main menu of the game and consists of only two entities, the Hero and a Boss. In the training ground, the Boss does not have any skills but has an exceptionally high health level. Additionally, the player has the freedom to choose and release any skill for the Hero at any time, with the interaction/method of selection being freely designed. Note: As the training ground scenario can greatly assist you in testing your newly developed skills, it is strongly recommended to develop this scenario first. Functions that can help you hit high scores (10 points) Implementing the following requirements can help you achieve a perfect score for your assignment (4 points): 1. Has Background Music and Sounds Effect. 2. Contains a Difficulties Selection function. 3. Boss's skills are randomly selected, and Boss’s appearance is randomly generated. 4. Has a skill guidebook. In addition, an exquisite skill selection menu will help you earn up to 3 points, a well-made training ground can also contribute up to 3 points. Any requirements not mentioned will not help you earn more points. Implementation You have been asked to write your own code to implement the game using Unity and C#. The programming logic and environment for the game should be created by you. You can use materials from the web such as texture maps, models, bone animations. You may also use AI tools to help you implement simple features or to help you generate mapping material. Disallowed behaviors include, but are not limited to: extensive use of existing demos on the web, copying other people's assignments, assignments written by other people, game logic not written by yourself. Game specification After finishing the implementation of your game, you need to write a game description with document (.doc) file format. This document states the following information: . The version of Unity you used to develop the game. . The interactive methods of attacks in the game. . Skills Introduction. (Really Important) In this introduction, you need to provide the following information for each skill you have implemented: the difficulty level, specific numerical information, and the interaction method for releasing. . Whether you used AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to assist you in completing your assignment. If you used an AI tool, briefly state which AI tool you used and what problems you used the AI tool to help you solve. (Use AI tools will not influence your mark) If you have any special issues about the game, you can also write down in the game description. Some common questions Q1: Can obstacles be destroyed? A1: You can freely design. Q2: Can bullets / skill penetrate obstacles? A2: You can freely design. Q3: Can the Hero penetrate obstacles / Boss? A3: Under normal circumstances, it is not possible, but skills can be used to penetrate walls. Q4: Does the game have to end with either the Boss or the Player dying? A4: No. In order to fulfill the requirement of ending the game within 120s, you can add some game mechanics. These game mechanics include, but are not limited to, a 120 second countdown, where the game ends when the countdown reaches zero. Additionally, when the timer reaches the 90-second mark, the player's health gradually decreases, reaching zero by the 120-second mark. Furthermore, at the 90- second mark, the boss activates berserker skills, significantly increasing its damage output. It's important to make these effects as noticeable as possible in the game. If you have any further questions, please feel free to send an email. What to Submit Your ZIP file should include these files: . Submission form (.pdf). The submission form. should be properly completed with your signature. It is available on Learning Mall. Submission form. with incorrect information certainly will affect your marks, so carefully complete the submission form. The submission form. should be properly named as mentioned below. . The entire Unity project (folder). . Executable file of your game (.exe). Please build your game and include all the related built files in the submitted ZIP file. Note that, the target platform. should be Windows. . Game specification (.doc). This file is really important. . A skill demonstration video (.mp4). Display the release animation for each of your skills. Skill names and difficulty levels need to be marked. Up to 90 seconds. Please make sure all the required files can be opened and run properly on a Windows computer. Please use your First Name, Last Name and Student Number to name above mentioned files and the ZIP file—for example Xiaoming_Wang_999999 will be the name of the files module leader would be submitting, with 999999 being as his student number. Any submissions with improper or incomplete file names certainly will affect your marks, so carefully name your files.
Term Project Real Estate Finance STRUCTURING A HOTEL TRANSACTION FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT VEHICLE Spring Term 2025 CONTEXT TO AVOID MISTAKES AND WASTED TIME AND EFFORTS, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW THIS DOCUMENT and FAQ IN DETAIL BEFORE STARTING YOUR WORK. Over the past decade, the low-interest-rate environment has driven investors away from cash and bonds, making higher-yielding assets like real estate more attractive. However, the post-pandemic capital market has been challenging and volatile. In the U.S., the annual inflation rate peaked at 8.0% in 2022, leading to a rising interest rate environment. This has put pressure on real estate values, as commercial real estate transactions are typically financed with significant amounts of debt. By 2023, the inflation rate began to stabilize, averaging 4.1%. As of February 2025, the year-on-year inflation rate stands at 2.8%. Concurrently, the U.S. economy faces political uncertainty, increased energy prices, geopolitical tensions, and extreme weather events. Despite these challenges, global tourism is expected to remain a secular growth industry in the long run. At the right purchase price, the current capital market environment may still offer attractive hotel real estate investment opportunities. The aim of this term project is to analyse and structure a hotel investment opportunity on behalf of your real estate investment vehicle. Your group represents a team of real estate investment analysts, whose primary task is to examine hotel investment opportunities for your real estate investment vehicle. Your firm is well-connected with the industry and regularly receives investment proposals from commercial real estate agents and market intermediaries such as CBRE, Colliers, or Cushman & Wakefield. In most cases, your team can reject proposals as inadequate for your investment vehicle, or too expensive. However, a number of recent opportunities have caught your interest. The chief investment officer has asked your team to investigate one of the investment opportunities in detail. In particular, your team is tasked with: 1) Identifying a suitable hotel investment opportunity for your investment vehicle. 2) Estimating the market value of your chosen hotel. 3) Performing a leveraged (before-tax) investment analysis and recommend an optimal transaction structure. Your team’s mission is to write up the findings of your investment analysis as a report that will serve as a basis for the investment committee to make a final decision regarding whether or not to acquire the hotel under consideration. Supporting Materials This term project handout will refer to the following resources on LMS: STR Reports: Forecast Report Profitability Report Trend Report Additional Materials: CoStar Market Reports CBRE Cap Rate Survey 2024 H2 News & Research Articles Once you dive into this term project, you will find an abundance of information at your disposal. One of the key challenges lies in your ability to critically filter and employ only the most relevant data that will effectively inform. your analysis. At the same time, you are strongly encouraged to broaden your research scope by integrating additional relevant information from credible sources to enhance the depth and breadth of your analysis. Expanding your research beyond the provided materials will not only enrich your project but also demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. To uphold academic integrity and ensure clarity in your report, make sure to properly cite all sources of information, including those listed above and any additional resources you consult, following the APA reference style. Proper citation is essential for enabling readers to verify the information presented and comprehend the foundation of your analysis. Furthermore, both the written report and accompanying Excel file must be presented in a manner that is easily accessible and understandable to someone who may not be familiar with the intricacies of your project, such as your lecturer or a busy member of an investment committee. This requires careful attention to the organization, clarity, and presentation of your work to ensure it can be efficiently comprehended by readers with limited time. By adhering to these guidelines and expectations, you will not only fulfill the academic requirements of the project but also produce a professional-quality analysis capable of realistically informing investment decisions in a professional setting. 1.Hotel Choice When analysing potential investment opportunities, it is essential to consider the characteristics of your investment vehicle. Specifically, what risk-return profile is your investment vehicle targeting? This profile will not only influence whether you invest in core versus opportunistic opportunities but also affect the optimal amount of financial leverage to use when structuring the transaction with equity and debt. For this term project, your first task is to choose a hotel for your investment vehicle: Appendix 1 shows which group has which real estate investment vehicle allocated. Appendix 2 shows the list of hotels you may choose. Several hotels on this list could be suitable choices for your investment vehicle, with no definitive “wrong” options. The primary objective of this initial task is to demonstrate your understanding of your vehicle’s investment background and typical targets. Additionally, this task allows you the flexibility to select which hotel and sub-market you wish to analyse in detail. The aim is not to conduct a systematic or extensive preliminary analysis of all hotels. You should spend only a few hours making this selection. However, you will need to write one or two paragraphs in the executive summary of your report explaining why your chosen hotel is a suitable investment candidate, considering your investment vehicle’s background. 2.Market Valuation 2.1 Cash Flows This task involves estimating the market value of your chosen hotel as of June 1st, 2025, using a 10- year discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. The first step in the market valuation is to provide an overview of your hotel and its location. Describe the facilities, size, and scale of the hotel, the strength of the brand, and the micro-location. Analyse supply and demand in the local hotel market by considering the strength of the local economy and the area’s attractiveness to tourists. The STR trend report will be helpful in understanding the evolution of occupancy, supply, and demand in the market. This preliminary analysis will serve as a basis for estimating expected future cash flows and the property discount rate in the market valuation. You are encouraged to create graphics or tables (e.g., a map showing the micro-location of the hotel and its major competitors). Overall, the description of the hotel and its location should not exceed one page of text (excluding graphics or tables). The next step is to estimate the future cash flows of your hotel for the next ten years. Determine the average daily rate (ADR) of your hotel using current room price information available online. If the hotel has multiple room categories, calculate a weighted average ADR that reflects the number of rooms in each category. Additionally, consider seasonal variations in room prices to ensure your ADR is representative of the entire year. If you cannot find room rates for the whole year, use data from the STR Trend Report to extrapolate the missing figures. Note that hotel prices per room shown on the internet represent the so-called "rack rate." According to industry insiders, the ADR received by the hotels tends to be ~ 15% lower than the rack rate. Therefore, adjust your online prices downward accordingly. Another important factor to consider when estimating the ADR for your hotel is the value-added tax (VAT). In many countries, the room rate advertised online includes VAT, which is a tax paid by the guest to the government. However, this tax is not a revenue stream for the hotel and should be excluded from the calculation of the ADR. Therefore, it is important to divide the rack rate by (1+VAT rate) to obtain the pre-tax room rate, which is used to estimate the hotel's future cash flows. To calculate the ADR growth rate (for the stabilised phase), utilise the four-factor formula introduced in the lecture. This involves considering the historical ADR growth in the market, the depreciation rate, and both past and anticipated future inflation rates. Should your analysis determine that the market is currently undergoing a transition phase, it's crucial to model the ADR explicitly for the duration of this phase. The ADR growth rate derived from the four-factor formula should then be applied starting from the first-year post-stabilisation. Use the STR Trend Report to calculate the historical ADR growth rate in the market based on CAGR. Hint: Ideally, use a historical data period as long as possible to cover several market cycles. To estimate the depreciation rate, you should ideally use a simple linear regression model to determine a submarket-specific rate. The STR Profitability Report for your hotel’s scale includes an MS Excel sheet called “Participation Report,” which can serve as a starting point for building a relevant comp set. Gather data on the current ADR (sourced online) and the age of hotels from your selected comp set. Ensure your final depreciation rate estimate is realistic, which may involve eliminating outliers (e.g., an old hotel with a very high ADR due to its location). Your estimate may become more accurate as you increase the sample size by including relevant hotels not listed in the STR participation report. Ultimately, you may still choose to adjust your estimate manually. In the lecture, we discussed that the depreciation rate typically ranges from -0.5% to -1.5% per year. If your regression estimate is 0% (or even positive), consider it an indication that the depreciation rate in this market is likely at the lower end of the range (-0.5%). Use online resources to find the historical inflation rate for the same period. Develop a realistic estimate for the future inflation rate. In the lecture, we typically represented the future inflation rate as a single figure, resulting in one future ADR growth rate. However, given the current high inflationary environment, you might consider forecasting the inflation rate explicitly for each of the next 10 years, or at least until it stabilizes. Consequently, the ADR growth rate would vary for each year or phase Hint: Always carefully consider whether your inputs and estimations are realistic. Consistently sense-check inputs and results, as this applies to all aspects of your analysis. Avoid inputting your result from the four-factor formula into the DCF if you find the estimate unrealistic. Use your analytical judgment to determine if adjustments are necessary. Such adjustments may be warranted based on insights gained from analysing future supply and demand. To estimate a realistic current occupancy rate, start with the market-level occupancy rate provided in the STR Reports. Carefully assess whether your hotel’s occupancy rate might differ from the market average. For instance, hotel-specific occupancy rates may need to reflect the unique characteristics of the hotel’s submarket, micro-location, or other peculiarities. Ensure you account for any cycles and seasonality appropriately. When you forecast changes in the occupancy rate, be cautious not to end up with unrealistically high or low estimates for the final year. To estimate other segment revenues (e.g., F&B and Spa), use the benchmarks provided in the STR Profitability Report. In a real-world scenario, you would have access to the hotel’s historical revenues and expenses. For this term project, we will use the STR benchmarks as an approximation. Keep in mind that the figures in the STR Profitability Report represent the market average. State your assumptions for other revenue and cost items. Explain your choice of starting year values (e.g., as a percentage of revenue or in absolute terms) and their growth over time (e.g., in line with the expected inflation rate). The challenge is to make the market valuation as specific to your hotel as possible. While market averages can often serve as reasonable proxies, your hotel may differ from the market average in many cases. Customize the market valuation as much as possible. For instance, eliminate revenue and cost items for “F&B” if your hotel does not have a restaurant or bar. Clearly state the reasons for any upward or downward adjustments. If you find no reason to deviate from the STR benchmarks, mention this as well, providing a brief explanation. Critically analyse whether the reserve for capital replacement in the STR Profitability Report sufficiently approximates all actual future Capex requirements. Adjust it if necessary. Addtionally, evaluate if franchise, management, and incentive fees are appropriate for your hotel. Use the direct-capitalisation approach to estimate the expected sales price at the end of the 10th year. Start with the proxies provided in the lecture slides for estimating buyer and seller transaction costs, but also consider finding country-, sector-, or even city-specific proxies that are more realistic for the particular circumstances. Avoid being misled by data artifacts. For instance, if you estimate an extremely high or low depreciation rate, interpret it as an indication that the depreciation rate in this market is at the upper or lower end of a reasonable range, as discussed in the lecture. When encountering conflicting data from different sources, use your discretion to select the most realistic option and explain your choice. 2.2 Property Discount Rate Discount the expected future cash flows using a property discount rate that appropriately reflects the hotel's risk profile. Refer to market reports (such as the one mentioned below) and apply the cap rate approach taught in the REF lecture to estimate the property discount rate. Finding current market hotel cap rates can be complex, depending on your market. You are encouraged to seek out the best available information, with CoStar reports being particularly useful. Consider making further property-specific adjustments to account for factors such as micro-location, competitive situation, and other hotel-specific risks (e.g., building-related issues). Aim to account for these differences to the best of your knowledge and justify your reasoning. Consider whether current cap rates are in equilibrium or unusually high (low) due to the hotel market being in a crisis (boom). If you suspect this is the case, a complementary estimate of an appropriate property discount rate based on the risk-premium approach may be helpful. Ensure that your estimated cap rate and forecasted future growth rate are realistic. Emphasise making strong arguments to support your rationale. When estimating the growth component in the cap rate approach, you may use your result from the ADR growth rate analysis based on the 4-factor-formula. Finish your market valuation by stating the rounded market value of your hotel (rounded to full 100,000 $.) The following investment analysis requires a specific assumption for the purchase price. While the market value estimates the expected sales price under normal conditions, the actual transaction price is always the result of negotiations between the buyer and seller. For instance, a seller under financial distress may sell under time pressure, negatively impacting the sales price. Conversely, a buyer may identify defects in the building’s physical structure. A skillful negotiator can leverage such shortcomings to secure a lower purchase price than would otherwise be justified. For the investment analysis in the next step, assume that after a long, strenuous, but successful negotiation process, your investment vehicle (the buyer) has agreed with the seller on a transaction price 10% lower than your estimated market value. This discount was possible because the previous owner had excessive financial leverage and was forced to sell to improve liquidity and avoid bankruptcy. Overall, the market valuation section of your term project should not exceed four pages, excluding tables and figures. 3.Investment Analysis 3.1 Setting The primary objective of the term project is to assess whether the potential hotel acquisition target meets the risk-return requirements of your investment vehicle. This entails ensuring that the hotel has the potential to at least match, and ideally exceed, the minimum total return target after accounting for financial leverage. Additionally, the hotel should align with the risk tolerance of the typical investors in your investment vehicle. The investment analysis aims to determine whether the investment is financially advantageous and to propose a transaction structure that best aligns with your investment vehicle’s risk-return preferences. Consider the following minimum total return targets for the different investment vehicles. Simultaneously, ensure that the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratios are not exceeded to maintain controlled investment risk: For more information on the three investment vehicles, refer to the lecture slides "Real Estate as an Asset Class" and the short article "The Major Real Estate Investment Vehicles" on LMS. This part of the term project aims to structure the investment transaction using an optimal mix of equity and debt financing. Examine the following three alternative transaction structures with respect to the LTV ratio: Assume that the mortgage loan is an interest-only loan, fully repaid by the end of the final year of your investment analysis. For the interest rate assumption, which depends on the LTV ratio, refer to the instructions provided below. 3.2 Mortgage Loan Interest Rates as a Function of LTV When evaluating the optimal financial structure, consider the increased risk associated with higher financial leverage. As detailed in the lecture “The Effect of Leverage on Risk & Return,” both the expected return and risk for the equity investor rise with an increasing LTV ratio. Additionally, the interest rate on mortgage loans tends to increase with the LTV ratio, reflecting the heightened risk for the bank as financial leverage escalates. Therefore, as part of the investment analysis, it is essential to determine the cost of debt—or the mortgage interest rate for hotel loans—across various LTV scenarios. The HVS Report on hotel interest rates, published on May 30, 2024, provided estimates for a range of potential hotel interest rates in the coming years as follows: Given the uncertainties surrounding borrowing costs for hotel investments, and for the purposes of this project, refer to the table below for the borrowing rate to use in your hotel analysis. 3.3 Leveraged Investment Analysis Before Taxes The final step is to conduct the leveraged investment analysis before taxes. Calculate the leveraged cash flows for the three LTV scenarios (see above) depending on your investment vehicle. Afterwards, analyse the following three measures for each LTV scenario: Internal rate of return (IRR) Modified internal rate of return (M-IRR) Net present value (NPV) Which investment decision tool prefers which LTV scenario? Explain any potential differences in the rankings and come up with a final recommendation. The last paragraph of the investment analysis should conclude with a summary of the investment case. Provide a recommendation regarding whether or not to pursue the transaction and the optimal transaction structure. Overall, the investment analysis part of your case study should not exceed three pages (excluding figures and tables). 4.Deliverables 4.1 Professionally Formatted Report (PDF) The report must contain the following sections: 1. Executive Summary (about 1 page): A concise summary of the context, your findings, and your recommendation. o Brief explanation of why you chose the hotel and how it matches your investment vehicle. o Market value estimate from the DCF approach. o Optimal LTV structure and the corresponding interest rate. o A brief explanation of the final recommendation for the deal structure. 2. Market Valuation (about 3-4 pages): How did you develop your assumptions regarding growth rates, cash flows, cap rates, discount rates, capital reserves, etc.? 3. Investment Analysis (about 2-3 pages): Interpret the financial analysis results. Explain your recommended deal structure. Why did you choose this specific loan scenario, and how does it fit into the investment strategy? Requirements: Strictly within seven pages of text, i.e., excluding tables, figures, and the cover page. The more concise your report, the better. APA referencing is mandatory in the report but not in MS Excel. The report must be formatted in Times New Roman, with line spacing 1.5, a font size of 11, and standard top and bottom margins (circa 1 inch). Any violations of these rules result in a penalty. 4.2 Financial Model (MS Excel) The Excel file must contain the following tabs in the given sequence. Additional analyses could be added in the latter tabs: 1. Introduction: A short description of the MS Excel file. A layperson reviewing the file should be able to comprehend the nature of the contents included in the file. 100-150 words are ideal. 2. Preliminary Analysis: This part may contain the analysis of the cap rate and growth rate. The sheet may also include tables on other statistics such as ADRs, pipeline reports, occupancy ratios, or measures to assess the risk of the market. No extensive explanation is needed. 3. Assumptions: All assumptions and sources used in the DCF valuation method must be specified. The remaining tabs must use cell-referencing in calling these assumptions. The absence of cell-referencing may affect your grading if we cannot efficiently check your calculations. 4. Market Valuation: A complete DCF analysis. The final value should be provided in an easy-to-spot, specially formatted cell. 5. Investment Valuation: This sheet should contain the leveraged cash flows for three different LTV scenarios, as well as the calculation of the IRR, M-IRR, and NPV for all three scenarios. You can opt to show the different LTV scenarios in separate tabs. 10
Course: Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course Course Code: OLC4O Department: English Course Developer: Canada eSchool Development Date: 2012 Revision Dates: 2022 Grade: 12 Course Type: Open Credit Value: 1.0 Prerequisite / Eligibility: Students who have been eligible to write the OSSLT at least twice and who have been unsuccessful at least once are eligible to take the course. (Students who have already met the literacy requirement for graduation may be eligible to take the course under special circumstances, at the discretion of the principal.) (Ministry of Education [MOE], 2003, p. 19). Curriculum Policy Reference: The Ontario Curriculum, English: The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC), Grade 12, 2003 Course Description This course is designed to help students acquire and demonstrate the cross-curricular literacy skills that are evaluated by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Students who complete the course successfully will meet the provincial literacy requirement for graduation. Students will read a variety of informational, narrative, and graphic texts and will produce a variety of forms of writing, including summaries, information paragraphs, opinion pieces, and news reports. Students will also maintain and manage a portfolio containing a record of their reading experiences and samples of their writing (MOE, 2003, p.19). Overall Expectations Building Reading Skills By the end of this course, students will: • demonstrate the ability to read and respond to a variety of texts; • demonstrate understanding of the organizational structure and features of a variety of informational, narrative, and graphic texts, including information paragraphs, opinion pieces, textbooks, newspaper reports and magazine stories, and short fiction; • demonstrate understanding of the content and meaning of informational, narrative, and graphic texts that they have read using a variety of reading strategies; • use a variety of strategies to understand unfamiliar and specialized words and expressions in informational, narrative, and graphic texts. Building Writing Skills By the end of this course, students will: • demonstrate the ability to use the writing process by generating and organizing ideas and producing first drafts, revised drafts, and final polished pieces to complete a variety of writing tasks; • use knowledge of writing forms, and of the connections between form, audience, and purpose, to write summaries, information paragraphs, opinion pieces (i.e., series of paragraphs expressing an opinion), news reports, and personal reflections, incorporating graphic elements where necessary and appropriate. Understanding and Assessing Growth in Literacy By the end of this course, students will: • demonstrate understanding of the importance of communication skills in their everyday lives - at school, at work, and at home; • demonstrate understanding of their own roles and responsibilities in the learning process; • demonstrate understanding of the reading and writing processes and of the role of reading and writing in learning; • demonstrate understanding of their own growth in literacy during the course. (MOE, 2003, pp. 20 - 26) Outline of Course Content Title Time Module 1 Personal Choices 29.0 Hours Module 2 Community Voices 24.0 Hours Module 3 Community Action 26.5 Hours Module 4 Leading into the Future 20.0 Hours Independent Study Unit: Literacy Journal Portfolio 10.0 Hours OLC4O Final Examination 3.0 Hours Total Course Hours 112.5 Hours Resources Peterkin, P., ed. Literacy Power OSSLC. Toronto: Gage Learning, 2004. Topic specific websites and articles are listed when required. Teaching/Learning Strategies The strategies used are varied to meet the needs and the range of learning styles encountered in any group of students and include the following: • Problem Solving • Reports • Independent Study • Guided Internet Search • Group Discussions • Textbook Use • Email • Independent Reading • Direct Instruction • Instant Messaging/Chat Room • Research • Verbal Discussion Strategies for Assessment and Evaluation of Student Performance Assessment is a systematic process of collecting information or evidence from a variety of sources that accurately reflect how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a subject or course. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning. Assessment for the purpose of improving student learning is seen as both assessment for learning and assessment as learning. In assessment for learning, teachers provide students with descriptive feedback and coaching for improvement. Assessment as learning is achieved by helping all students develop as autonomous learners who are able to set individual goals, monitor their own progress and reflect on their thinking and learning. Information gathered through assessment helps teachers to determine a student’s strengths and weaknesses and serves to guide teacher feedback. (MOE, 2010, Ch. 4). Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of student work on the basis of established criteria. Student evaluations are an assessment of learning focusing solely on a student’s achievement of the overall curriculum expectations in his or her course. Student marks are not averaged; instead, a student’s final mark is based on their most consistent effort with special emphasis on their most recent work. CATEGORIES OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS Strategy Purpose Who Assessment tool Ongoing communications (between teacher and student) assessment for learning assessment as learning Self, Teacher Anecdotal records Asynchronous Discussions assessment for learning Self, Peer, Rubric assessment as learning Teacher Online Activities (questions, reflections, case studies, self-assessment quizzes, and/or research) assessment for learning assessment as learning Self, Teacher Rubric Asynchronous Discussions assessment of learning Teacher Rubric Online Activities (assignments) assessment of learning Teacher Rubric Unit tests and quizzes assessment of learning Teacher Marking Scheme Independent study unit assessment of learning Teacher Rubric Final exam assessment of learning Teacher Marking Scheme Considerations for Program Planning: Teaching Approaches Teachers will provide a wide range of activities and assignments that encourage understanding and mastery of the course curriculum. To make their programs interesting and relevant, they will help students to relate and apply the knowledge and skills gained in this course to issues and problems in the real world. Planning English Programs for Exceptional Students In planning courses for exceptional students, eSchool teachers will examine both the curriculum expectations for the course and the needs of the individual student to determine which of the following options is appropriate for the student: • no accommodations or modifications; or • accommodations only; or • modified expectations, with the possibility of accommodations If the student requires either accommodations or modified expectations, or both, the relevant Information must be recorded in his or her Individual Education Plan (IEP). Students Requiring Accommodations Only. With the aid of accommodations alone, some exceptional students are able to participate in the regular course curriculum and to demonstrate learning independently. (Accommodations do not alter the provincial curriculum expectations for the course.) The accommodations required to facilitate the student’s learning must be identified in his or her IEP. If a student requires “accommodations only”, assessment and evaluation of his or her achievement will be based on the appropriate course curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined in this document. English As a Second Language and English Literacy Development (ESL/ELD) Young people whose first language is not English enter Ontario secondary schools with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers will incorporate appropriate strategies for instruction and assessment to facilitate the success of the ESL and ELD students in their online course. These strategies include: 1. modification of some or all of the course expectations, based on the student’s level of English proficiency; 2. use of technology to provide a variety of instructional strategies 3. use of a variety of learning resources (e.g., visual material, simplified text, bilingual dictionaries, and culturally diverse materials); 4. use of assessment accommodations (e.g., granting of extra time, use of oral interviews) Antidiscrimination Education Learning activities and resources used to implement the course curriculum are inclusive in nature, reflecting diverse points of view and experiences. They enable students to become more sensitive to the experiences and perceptions of others. The Role of Technology Information and communications technology (ICT) provides a range of tools that can significantly extend and enrich teachers’ instructional strategies and support students’ learning. Teachers will use ICT tools and resources both for instruction and for the design of curriculum to meet diverse student needs. ICT may be used to connect students to other schools, locally and abroad, and to bring the global community into the local online classroom. Through internet websites and CD-ROM technology, students can now access primary resources held in museums, libraries, archives, and public institutions across the country and around the world. ICT resources allow secondary students to conduct more far-ranging and authentic research than ever before. Applications such as databases, spreadsheets, word processors, and presentation software can be used to support various methods of inquiry. The technology also makes possible simulations of complex systems that are useful for problem-solving purposes or when field studies on a particular topic are not feasible.
MATH2022: Linear and Abstract Algebra Semester 1, 2025 Assignment 2 1. Using the definition, carefully show that each of the following are subspaces of the given vector space. (a) W = {(a1, a2, . . . , an) ∈ Fn : a1 + a2 + · · · + an = 0} ⊆ Fn (b) Z = {f ∈ RR : f(a) = 0 for a fixed number a ∈ R} ⊆ RR (c) For L : Fn → Fm a linear map, the set Im(L) := { ∈ Fm : there exists some ∈ Fn such that = L()} ⊆ Fm 2. Give a proof for the following (unrelated!) statements about linear dependence and independence. (a) Let V be a vector space over a field F, and let be a collection of vectors. Suppose that Y ⊂ X is a nonempty subcollection of these vectors, and we know that Y is a linearly dependent in V . Show that the collection X is necessarily linearly dependent. (b) Let V be a vector space over a field F, and let be a basis for V . Let ∈ V be a nonzero vector, and suppose it has coordinate vector with µ1 ≠ 0. Prove that the set is also a basis of V . Remark: There is nothing special about µ1 here! What we’re really saying is that there is at least one of the basis vectors in B that we can swap out for a nonzero vector and still get a basis! I’ve just phrased it as above for clarity. 3. Let P2(R) be the vector space of all two-variable polynomials with real coefficients, in the variables x and y. For example, we have elements like (a) We define two maps where and are the partial derivatives with respect to the variables x and y, respectively. Show that E and F are both linear maps. Note: If you are not quite familiar with partial derivatives, fear not! They behave much like regular derivatives. Check out the many resources online or from friends about how partial derivatives work. The key idea is that “treats y like a constant,” and similarly for . So for example, if p(x, y) = x4 − 3x2y3 + 2y − 7, then taking the derivative of the x-variables and pretending y is a constant, we get and similarly treating y like a variable and x like a constant, we get (b) Let be the subspace of two variable polynomials of total degree three; that is, is the subspace spanned by the basis Show that in fact both E and F map P 2 3 (R) → P 2 3 (R). Do this by showing that E and F send each of the basis elements to elements in . (c) For a vector space V and a linear map T : V → V , we say that a vector ∈ V is an eigenvector of T if T() = λ for some scalar λ. Define the linear map H : → as the difference of the compositions H := E ◦ F − F ◦ E. Show that the given basis of are all eigenvectors of H, and find their eigen-values.
MAST10006 Calculus 2, Semester 1, 2025 Assignment 6 Due by: 12pm (midday) Monday 19 May 2025 ❼ Answer all questions. Of these questions, one will be chosen for marking. ❼ Submit your assignment in Canvas LMS as a single PDF file before the deadline above. ❼ Marks may be awarded for: ➒ Correct use of appropriate mathematical techniques. ➒ Accuracy and validity of any calculations or algebraic manipulations. ➒ Clear justification or explanation of techniques and rules used. ➒ Clear communication of mathematical ideas through diagrams. ➒ Use of correct mathematical notation and terminology. ❼ You must use methods taught in MAST10006 Calculus 2 to solve the assignment questions. ❼ Give any numerical answers as exact values. The Gompertz model for a population is where k and a are positive constants, and p(t) is the population size at time t. The Gompertz model was first studied by Benjamin Gompertz in 1825. Gompertz was an actuary who used the model to investigate human life expectancy. It has since been used by researchers from various fields to model the growth of different ‘populations’, including by market researchers to model the uptake of a new product amongst consumers, and by oncologists to model the growth of cancer tumours. Let Then the Gompertz model can be expressed as Question 1. You may use the following facts about f(p) in this question: ❼ f(p) = 0, and ❼ = 0 only when p = , and this point is a local maximum of f (where e = 2.71828 . . . is the usual exponential base). (a) Find the equilibrium solution(s) of the Gompertz model in terms of k and a, or show that it does not have any. (b) Draw a phase plot for the Gompertz model. Label all important features with their values, including any local maxima or minima. (c) Sketch the family of solutions for the Gompertz model. (d) Describe the long-term consequences for the population predicted by this model. (e) Suppose that initially the population is p(0) = . What is: (i) the initial rate of growth of the population? (ii) the maximum rate of growth of the population? Question 2. Suppose that a population is modelled by the Gompertz model with k = 2 and a = 10, and that initially the population has size p(0) = 0.1. Find p(t) in terms of t, and find how long it takes until the population reaches size p = 5. Question 3. Prove the two facts given in question 1: (a) Show that f(p) = 0 (b) Show that = 0 only when p = , and that p = is a local maximum of f.
Spring 2025 CS 14 Individual Project CSCI 14 Course Project, Baseball, 200 Points Draft on 5/2/25, Final Expected on May 6 or May 7. (This doc will be slightly revised after student feedback to include clarifications, improvements, and more defined grading criteria. Assignment to be fully launched on May 7.) Array of Struct with file input and output & Functions The local baseball team is computerizing its records. You were asked to write a program that computes batting averages and other statistics. There are 20 players on the team, identified by the numbers 1 through 20. You will have two input files: (find them in Canvas). You need to test run your program using those 2 files (1) A Roster File – A file contains 21 lines, first line is an integer indicating the season. The rest is in the format “last name first name” (separated by a space) for each player, as follows: 2022 Smith Sam Jones Bob Miller Miles (20 names for 20 players) and etc….. (The players’ ID are numbered 1-20 in the order listed in this file.) Noted: this file contains no player numbers, just their names. Assign the player ID while reading (2) A Statistic File – A separate file contains the game-by game statistics for the players as a “player ID number, hits, walks, outs” 3 4 3 0 9 7 3 0 11 4 2 2 9 1 1 1 3 5 2 8 and etc……. Here is an example: 20 2 1 1 The example above indicates that during a particular game in the season, player number 20 was at bat four times and made 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 out. There might be several lines in the file for a player. (a player can play more than one game in a season) The file is organized by the batting line-ups (it is not sorted by player number). Each player’s batting average is computed by adding the player’s total number of hits dividing by the total number of times at bat. A walk does not count as either a hit or a time at bat when the batting average is being calculated. When your statistics file contains no data, print message to the output file saying, “The [2025] baseball season was cancelled” and end the execution. [2025] is stored in a variable that was read from the Roster file. Create an array of PlayerInfo struct to hold the players’ data. The array is local to main function and passes to other functions as argument. struct PlayerInfo { int PlayerID; string LastName; //struct declared in global area (above main & function prototypes) string FirstName; int Hits, Walks, Outs; double Batting, OnBase; }; PlayerInfo Player[20]; //array declared inside main function and pass it to sub functions. GRADING POINTS will be given based largely on the BASE requirements and the PROGRAM EXECUTION requirements. BASE Requirements: (All Functions must Be below the main function!!!) Don’t use the following in your program at all: no vectors, no stacks, no multi-dimensional arrays, no parallel arrays or any other C++ coding techniques not covered by the Course. Significant number of points may be taken off No global variables allowed. Global area can only have function prototypes, named constants, and struct declaration. (your program must follow this logic) Functions must be called in this order inside the main function. 1. In the main function, you will call a function GetPlayer to read from Roster file and store the player names and id into the array and return the year for the season. int GetPlayer (PlayerInfo [ ] ); // function prototype (Be careful! The players’ identification numbers are 1 through 20, but C++ array index starts at 0). 2. Call a PrintRoster function to send the roster of the team with player ID in order to an output file 3. Call a SortPlayer function to sort players by last name. (i.e. Use Selection or Bubble Sort) NOTE: The (index + 1) of the array is no longer the player’s ID after sorting. 4. Then call a GetStatistics function to read the statistics file, updating each player’s statistics of hits, walks and outs. NOTE: – you need to keep the player identification numbers with the player names and the data in the struct. When you read a player’s game line, look up the player in the array of structs before you adding up the hits, walks and outs. Hints: use Linear (or Binary Search)Search to look up the player id, before adding hits, walks, and outs to that player. if (ID = = Player[index].PlayerID) { Player[index].Hits += H; Player[index].Walks += W; Player[index].Outs += O; } 5. A function to calculate each player’s batting average and on base average and store them into the array. (remember to do casting in order to retain the factional part) batting average = double (hits) / (hits + outs) on base average = double (hits + walks) / (hits + walks + outs) 6. A function to Send the players’ statistic to the output file including their Batting Average, On Base Average, in DL list, the best hitter, the worst hitter, the best base runner (based on OBA) and the worst base runner. Note: A player is in the DL (disabled list) if he didn’t play at all in the entire season. Sample of an output file: Baseball Season 2025 -------------------------------- Smith Sam Player 1 Jones Bob Player 2 Miller Miles Player 3 and etc…… Rutter Jack Player 20 Player Statistic with their total hits, total walks, total outs, batting and on base average for season 2025 Player Number Hits Walks Outs Batting Average On Base Average In Disable List ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apbee Cory 5 5 3 5 0.50 0.62 Buzz Bee 8 3 0 0 1.00 1.00 Carter John 4 Yes Crane David 19 3 4 4 0.43 0.64 and etc…… Give the name(s) and batting average of the best hitter (i.e. highest batting average). Give the name(s) and on-base average of the best base runner Give the name(s) and batting average of the worst hitter Give the name(s) and on-base average of the worst base runner If there is a tie for best or worst, Print all the players’ names. Just an Example: (might not be true for your input file) The best hitter with batting average of 0.68: Jones The worst hitter with batting average of 0.04: Miller, Smith 2) Program Execution Requirements: Possible adjustments to grade Points included in 200 points, fully or partially deducted if not done or done partially. You are required to use the provided dataset named statistic.txt and roster.txt and not only your own custom dataset, - 20 pts Attach documentation of a screenshot of program compilation and execution, your choice of dataset with date/time included, - 20 pts Attach the output file with the results of the program - 20 pts. If you only print it to the screen you can lose up to 20 pts If you provide any file names that have file paths (or are not just one filename), your program will be considered non-executable and you will receive a maximum of ONLY 100 points, with other possible deductions based on compilation and reviewing your code. Points possible that can be added to 200 points (Considered extra credit, where this can help offset other points off or allow to get more than 20 points) – there is some risk to choosing these options. If you don’t try this, it is ok, but you not received extra credit points. If you try and it is not done well, you can receive minimal extra credit points or worse yet it can impact points on the other grading criteria. Datasets Options: Encourages you to use the file naming convention or file name entry 1) Use the provided datasets and one other custom dataset, specify the file names in two different .cpp files a. Provided dataset file names are: statisticxx1.txt, rosterxx1.txt1 and resultsxx1 for the first .cpp file, +10 pts b. This can only be done if you choose to do a test run also with a Custom dataset file names are: statisticxx1.txt, rosterxx2.txt2 and resultsxx2 for the first .cpp file, +10 pts OR 2) Allows the user to enter the statistics, experts and output file names. +15 pts to +25 pt. You must attach all three files after the completion of each test run (for one test for the provided dataset +15 pts and two tests if you also run it for a custom dataset. +25 pts No need to test your program more than one test for the provided dataset and one test for the custom dataset. You will not receive additional extra credit points.
Assignment 3 FINC6024 Total Marks: 10 1) [2.5 Marks] Case 3: Executive Summary of the Case 3 Resolution (max 200 words). Provide an executive summary of your team's case 3 resolution. Your executive summary should focus on the macro-level reasoning and recommendations. It may help you to imagine that this ES will be the first thing (on your resolution) read by the CEO. 2) [5 Marks] Optimal Capital Structure of A-REITs & Stapled Securities Should A-REITs be highly leveraged, or lowly leveraged? Describe the optimal capital structure for a generic Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT). How does your answer change if the A-REIT is a stapled security? Please include discussion of target leverage, maturity, debt security and the influence of common debt covenants. (500 words max). 3) [2.5 Marks] The ABC Corporation is considering opening an office in a new market area that would allow it to increase its annual sales by $2.85 million. The cost of goods sold is estimated to be 45 percent of sales, and corporate overhead would increase by $297,000, not including the cost of either acquiring or leasing office space. The corporation will have to invest $2.3 million in office furniture, office equipment, and other up-front costs associated with opening the new office before considering the costs of owning or leasing the office space. A small office building could be purchased for sole use by the corporation at a total price of $4.1 million, of which $700,000 of the purchase price would represent land value, and $3.4 million would represent building value. The cost of the building would be depreciated over 42 years. The corporation is in a 30 percent tax bracket. An investor is willing to purchase the same building and lease it to the corporation for $467,000 per year for a term of 15 years, with the corporation paying all real estate operating expenses (absolute net lease). Real estate operating expenses are estimated to be 48 percent of the lease payments. Estimates are that the property value will increase over the 15-year lease term for a sale price of $5.2 million at the end of the 15 years. If the property is purchased, it would be financed with an interest-only mortgage for $2,870,000 at an interest rate of 10 percent with a balloon payment due after 15 years. a. What is the return from opening the office building under the assumption that it is leased? b. What is the return from opening the office building under the assumption that it is owned? c. What is the return on the incremental cash flow from owning versus leasing? d. In general, what other factors might the firm consider before deciding whether to lease or own?
22LLP207: Research Methods SPSS 2: Descriptives and Internal Reliability 1. Download the file “P2_career_interests.sav” from the LEARN and open it using SPSS software. • The dataset contains responses to a “career interests” questionnaire completed by 250 people. People were asked to rate how interested they were in pursuing a career in this job role using a sliding ‘visual analogue’ rating scale running from very low (0) to very high (8). Data source: http://psych.colorado.edu/~carey/courses/psyc7291/ClassDataSets.htm • There is no missing data or reverse-coded items in this particular dataset • Also fefer to your lecture slides from Lecture 5 for detailed guidance on performing the SPSS analyses requested below. • Although we will not be entering and labelling data in this practical exercise, look carefully at how the dataset is set up. Data is entered simply by clicking on a cell and typing it in, just like Excel software, via the “Data View” tab (see the bottom left corner of the screen). Labels are entered by typing in the appropriate cells via the “Variable View” tab (see bottom left corner of the screen). 2. Calculate the means and standard deviations of each of the following variables and write them in the table below to two decimal places. Carpenter Forest Ranger Mortician Police Officer Fire Fighter Sales Representative Teacher Business Executive Stockbroker Artist Social Worker Truck Driver Doctor Vicar Actor Lawyer Architect Landscaper 3. Download the file “Graphs_LLP207.xls” from the LEARN and open it using Excel 4. Draw a line graph of the mean interest rating for each job role, using the appropriate table and graph template in the Excel file. (You may, if you wish, sort the job roles into numerical order of their mean interest rating before graphing them.) Label the graph and its axes. 5. Calculate the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for each of these psychometric scales and write these in the table below. 6. Compute an overall psychometric scale score for each job family from the mean of the constituent item ratings and save these as new variables, naming each with the appropriate job family label. 7. Calculate the mean and standard deviation for each psychometric scale score and write these in the table below also. · Lawyer · Mortician · Doctor · Stockbroker · Architect · Sales Representative · Business Executive · Landscaper · Forest ranger · Truck driver · Carpenter · Social worker · Teacher · Vicar · Police Officer · Firefighter · Actor · Artist 8. Draw a bar graph of the mean psychometric scale score for each job family, using the appropriate table and graph template in the Excel file. Label the graph and its axes.
