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In this paper, a high-frequency radar test system was used to collect the data of clean ballast bed and fouled ballast bed of ballasted tracks, respectively, for a quantitative evaluation of the condition of railway ballast bed.

Based on original radar signals, the time–frequency characteristics of radar signals were analyzed, five ballast bed condition characteristic indexes were proposed, including the frequency domain integral area, scanning area, number of intersections with the time axis, number of time-domain inflection points and amplitude envelope obtained by Hilbert transform, and the effectiveness and sensitivity of the indexes were analyzed.

The thickness of ballast bed tested at the sleep bottom by high-frequency radar is up to 55 cm, which meets the requirements of ballast bed detection. Compared with clean ballast bed, the values of the five indexes of fouled ballast bed are larger, and the five indexes could effectively show the condition of the ballast bed. The computational efficiency of amplitude envelope obtained by Hilbert transform is 140 s·km⁻¹, and the computational efficiency of other indexes is 5 s·km⁻¹. The amplitude envelopes obtained by Hilbert transform in the subgrade sections and tunnel sections are the most sensitive, followed by scanning area. The number of intersections with the time axis in the bridge sections was the most sensitive, followed by the scanning area. The scanning area can adapt to different substructures such as subgrade, bridges and tunnels, with high comprehensive sensitivity.

The research can provide appropriate characteristic indexes from the high-frequency radar original signal to quantitatively evaluate ballast bed condition under different substructures.

This chapter analyses the relationship between individuals’ poverty situation and conjugal status (divorced, separated, in a free union, or legally married) from 1996 to 2014. It describes different marriage property regimes that exist in state laws in Mexico. Couples living in free union are found to be poorer than those legally married, indicating that marriage may help to protect families more than cohabitation laws. When comparing divorced men and women, women show higher signs of being poorer than men; this could be because the law establishes that the assets in case of divorce accrue to whoever works and pays for them, and given that many women work in the unpaid sectors, men are the owners of the assets. Having no consideration of these facts in the law may create poverty with gender bias in the case of divorce. Additionally, there is lack of data in administrative records of marriage and divorce about couples’ assets, children, and employment status before and after the marriage, so we discuss the importance that in a near future this could be register to facilitate law and policy-makers identifying what contributes to create poverty with gender bias as a results of family laws, and correct them.

This paper aims to analyse the Sharī'ah premises of classical waqf doctrines followed by critically analysing the framework of waqf jurisprudence (fiqh al-awqāf) from a Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah (the higher objectives of Islamic law) perspective. The objective of examining the jurisprudential framework of waqf from a maqāṣid perspective is to contextualise the scope of dynamism and innovation in the modern waqf structure.

For examining the jurisprudential aspects of classical fiqh al-awqāf with a special reference to Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah, the paper analyses the classical waqf books and treatises from the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence by employing a textual analysis method.

The paper finds that the key constituents of maqāṣid are interwoven in the classical discourse of waqf rulings. It finds that in deriving the principles of waqf, the jurists ensured that the essentialities of Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah are subtly intermingled with the necessary components of fiqhī principles. Deconstructing the applied analogical reasoning of the classical jurists in deriving the waqf rulings, this paper provides recommendations for maqāṣid-oriented application of waqf in the modern context.

This study does not cover either the historical contribution of waqf among the Muslim societies nor does it touch on the empirical aspects of modern waqf. Rather, the focus of the study is limited to analysing the classical jurisprudential rulings of waqf and their distillation process from a Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah perspective. The study has good implication for modern awqāf, which need to be created, managed and directed in the spirit of Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah.

The key objective of adopting the maqāṣid framework for the analysis of fiqh al-awqāf in its classical permutations is to learn how to utilise the maqāṣid approach as a baseline for the deduction of new waqf rulings in a contextualised term.

The novelty of the paper lies in its examination of the classical waqf rulings distillation process, and the cogent intersection of Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah with the principles of fiqh. By delving into the Sharī'ah premises of classical waqf jurisprudence through the lens of maqāṣid, the paper adds an original value and fills an existing gap in the available literature.

Using micro data from CPS for the period 1995–2011 we investigate effects of Common Law Marriage (CLM) on labor outcomes and using the ATUS for the period 2003–2011 we study its effects on household production and leisure. Identification of CLM effects arises through cross-state variation and variation over time, as three states abolished CLM over the period examined in the CPS data. Labor supply effects of CLM availability are negative for married women: for instance, weekly hours of work are reduced by 1–2 hours. In addition, some CLM effects on married men’s labor supply are positive. Consequently, the abolition of CLM in some states helps explain the convergence of men and women’s labor supply. Negative CLM effects on married women’s labor supply are limited to white, Hispanic, college-educated women, and women with children. There is little evidence of effects of CLM on leisure and household production. A conceptual framework based on the concept of Work-In-Household, marriage market analysis, and the assumption of traditional gender roles helps explain gender differentials in the effects of CLM on labor supply and why these effects are larger for white and college-educated women.

The purpose of this paper is to look at adequacy or inadequacy of budgets for University of Malawi Libraries (UML) from financial years 2004 to 2009.

A case study design was used to collect quantitative data. University budget estimate from 2003/2004 to 2009/2010 financial years were used.

The results of the study show that of five constituent colleges of the University of Malawi, four (80 per cent) of their college libraries are inadequately funded below 6 per cent. The average funding as a percentage of the total college funding for the five UML in the six‐year financial period from 2004 to 2010 are as follows: Bunda College Library 2.7 per cent; Chancellor College Library 3.72 per cent; College of Medicine Library 3.52 per cent; Kamuzu College of Nursing Library 6.27 per cent; and the Polytechnic Library 3.43 per cent. Only Kamuzu College of Nursing Library received a minimum average of 6 per cent of the total college funding.

The study recommends that college librarians should lobby for increased budgets for UML. College librarians should also consider income‐generating activities as a means to supplement funding through government subvention.

There is very little researched information on inadequacy or adequacy of budgeting and funding on UML. This research adds some information on UML budgeting and financing.

THE use of an analytic method of aircraft performance calculation allows certain calculation facilities denied to normal graphical method. The analytic method has to make certain basic assumptions but justification for these can be claimed in that at the design stage the overall drag can never be exactly summed from the individual component drags and in the ‘flown’ stage a normal scatter of results always occurs, the analysis values should always lie within such scatter. Analytical methods have been put forward in the past by Bailey Oswald and R. M. Clarkson amongst others for the airscrew propulsion type aircraft and recently by R. K. Page for use with turbine jet propulsion. The airscrew propulsion case is more difficult to deal with than the turbine jet case as the level speed is derived from the solution of a cubic equation of the powers involved. At the higher speeds possible with jets, compressibility effects may be involved, in which case an analytical approach is not practical.

The purpose of this study is for examining the evolution of stakeholder influence and the trans-period effect (TPE) of process performance of public–private partnerships (PPPs). TPE refers to the ripple effect of project performance across different phases of a PPP.

Social network analysis is used to analyze each stakeholder’s influence on PPP performance. For examining the TPE, partial least squares structural equation modelling is conducted.

The performance in the five phases (e.g. initiation and planning, procurement, construction, operation and transition) of PPPs exhibits significant TPE. The stakeholder network varies in different phases. The most influential stakeholder is a public authority, followed by a public initiator and a private consortium.

The project type of PPPs is not considered in the stakeholder network analysis. Future work should focus on developing a multidimensional stakeholder network by considering the typology of the project. Moreover, the TPE cannot reflect the relationships between the KPIs in the different phases, and thus, further study is required.

This research provides a useful tool for measuring the life cycle outputs and outcomes of PPPs through enhanced process-oriented performance measurement. The developed PMS enable practitioners to have a better understanding of the process performance of the projects and then ensure informed decision-making about actions to be required and taken to improve future performance.

This study contributes to knowledge of performance management by simultaneously addressing the process and stakeholder management theories within the context of PPPs. The proposed PMS provides an insight into managing stakeholders’ influences to enhance the life cycle performance of PPPs.

As the world's largest emerging market, the evidence of momentum effect in China is also mixed. Meanwhile, prior studies mainly examined individual stock momentum in China, with little concern for industry momentum and its relationship with trading volume. The motivation of this study is to investigate industry momentum in China and examine whether trading volume can enhance its profitability.

Firstly, the authors test the existence of industry momentum in China; secondly, the authors test the correlation between trading volume and momentum returns using the double ranking method; finally, the authors test whether trading volume enhances the momentum returns using Fama–French five-factor model.

The authors find that there is a significant industry momentum effect in China, and the momentum returns jointly come from winner and loser portfolios. The intervals between the formation and holding periods have an impact on the performance of momentum portfolios. In terms of trading volume, the authors find that high-volume industries have industry momentum effects while low-volume industries do not. The industry momentum strategies achieve higher excess returns in high-volume industries.

Prior literature found higher momentum returns in low-volume stocks in China, but the research in this study suggests that implementing an industry momentum strategy in low-volume industries will miss out on higher returns or even bring losses, and instead the investors should invest in high-volume industries to get the best performance.

This study extends existing research by focusing on industry momentum and its relationship with trading volume in the Chinese stock market and finds an interesting relationship between industry momentum returns and trading volume, which is different from related studies.