Extended suicide using an atypical stud gun.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagemeier, L; Schyma, C; Madea, B

2009-08-10

Suicides with stud guns are uncommon, but are well documented in the literature. On rare occasions, stud guns are also used as a homicide weapon. This case report describes an extended suicide in which a husband killed his wife and their two dogs, which lived on the property. The husband then committed suicide with a shot from the stud gun into his skull. He was a 70-year-old pensioner, a retired butcher, who was found by his son. He was lying in a supine position on a carpet in the living room, with the stud gun stuck in his skull. During autopsy, high concentrations of an antihistamine were found in the blood of each corpse; this drug is used as a soporific. In contrast to the literature, which mainly describes powder deposits due to the use of conventional stud guns, in this case a stud gun was used in which the expanding gases and powder escaped together with the central bolt at the front of the device; powder drains were not involved. Detailed findings of the autopsy are given with reference to this type of stud gun.

In-situ testing of BWR closure head studs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

deRaad, J.A.; Wolters, J.T.

1988-01-01

Mechanized ultrasonic inspection of closure head studs often is on the critical path. In German BWR's, a floodcompensator is used which allows human access to the studs despite the water is up to a much higher level. For stud inspection this provides a potential solution to get out of the critical path. However, the space restrictions around the studs due to the geometry of the floodcompensator did not allow the use of the existing manipulators. This paper describes the design of a dedicated compact manipulator of a construction which copes with the restricted space available around the studs

A generic model for camera based intelligent road crowd control ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This research proposes a model for intelligent traffic flow control by implementing camera based surveillance and feedback system. A series of cameras are set minimum three signals ahead from the target junction. The complete software system is developed to help integrating the multiple camera on road as feedback to ...

Straight studs from southern pine veneer cores and cordwood

Science.gov (United States)

Peter Koch

1968-01-01

An economically feasible system has been developed for converting southern pine veneer cores into straight 8-foot studs (2). Prototype studs - two per core - were 100 percent SPIB stud grade and better.

Lower limb and associated injuries in frontal-impact road traffic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. Objectives: To study the relationship between severity of injury of the lower limb and severity of injury of the head, thoracic, and abdominal regions in frontal-impact road traffic collisions. Methods: Consecutive hospitalised trauma patients who were involved in a frontal road traffic collision were prospectively stud-.

Monitoring of Double-Stud Wall Moisture Conditions in the Northeast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueno, K. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-03-01

Double-stud walls insulated with cellulose or low-density spray foam can have R-values of 40 or higher. However, double-stud walls have a higher risk of interior-sourced condensation moisture damage when compared with high-R approaches using exterior insulating sheathing. Moisture conditions in double-stud walls were monitored in Zone 5A (Massachusetts); three double-stud assemblies were compared.

Monitoring of Double Stud Wall Moisture Conditions in the Northeast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueno, K. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-03-01

Double-stud walls insulated with cellulose or low-density spray foam can have R-values of 40 or higher. However, double stud walls have a higher risk of interior-sourced condensation moisture damage, when compared with high-R approaches using exterior insulating sheathing.; Moisture conditions in double stud walls were monitored in Zone 5A (Massachusetts); three double stud assemblies were compared.

Failure Analysis of Main Flame Deflector Nelson Studs

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Victoria

2009-01-01

NASA Structures engineers submitted two Nelson refractory studs from the main flame deflector at Launch Complex (LC) 39 A for analysis when they were observed to be missing a significant amount of material after launch. The damaged stud and an unused comparative stud were analyzed by macroscopic and microscopic examination along with metallographic evaluation of the microstructure. The stud lost material due to a combination of erosion and corrosion. Plain carbon steel readily forms an oxide layer in the coastal launch environment at Kennedy Space Center. The blast during a launch removes this brittle oxide layer, which then forms again post-launch, thereby further removing material. No indications of melting were observed.

Lane Changing Trajectory Planning and Tracking Controller Design for Intelligent Vehicle Running on Curved Road

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lie Guo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available To enhance the active safety and realize the autonomy of intelligent vehicle on highway curved road, a lane changing trajectory is planned and tracked for lane changing maneuver on curved road. The kinematics model of the intelligent vehicle with nonholonomic constraint feature and the tracking error model are established firstly. The longitudinal and lateral coupling and the difference of curvature radius between the outside and inside lane are taken into account, which is helpful to enhance the authenticity of desired lane changing trajectory on curved road. Then the trajectory tracking controller of closed-loop control structure is derived using integral backstepping method to construct a new virtual variable. The Lyapunov theory is applied to analyze the stability of the proposed tracking controller. Simulation results demonstrate that this controller can guarantee the convergences of both the relative position tracking errors and the position tracking synchronization.

Process and apparatus for optimizing screwing position for closure stud

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bourdonne, J.C.; Briand, A.

1987-01-01

The stud is fixed to a screwing and unscrewing device. The vertical position and alignment of the stud with the axis of the threated hole is checking. The stud is descended into the hole and rotated in the unscrewing direction. After detection of the point of engagement, the stud is rotated in the screwing direction. When a gamming is detected the descent is stopped and the screwing device is positioned in a new position. When the screwing couple returns below the disconnection couple, the stud is rotated with a reduced speed and then with a normal speed until the end [fr

Road dust from pavement wear and traction sanding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kupiainen, K.

2007-07-01

Vehicles affect the concentrations of ambient airborne particles through exhaust emissions, but particles are also formed in the mechanical processes in the tire-road interface, brakes, and engine. Particles deposited on or in the vicinity of the road may be re-entrained, or resuspended, into air through vehicle-induced turbulence and shearing stress of the tires. A commonly used term for these particles is 'road dust'. The processes affecting road dust emissions are complex and currently not well known. Road dust has been acknowledged as a dominant source of PM10 especially during spring in the sub-arctic urban areas, e.g. in Scandinavia, Finland, North America and Japan. The high proportion of road dust in sub-arctic regions of the world has been linked to the snowy winter conditions that make it necessary to use traction control methods. Traction control methods include dispersion of traction sand, melting of ice with brine solutions, and equipping the tires with either metal studs (studded winter tires), snow chains, or special tire design (friction tires). Several of these methods enhance the formation of mineral particles from pavement wear and/or from traction sand that accumulate in the road environment during winter. When snow and ice melt and surfaces dry out, traffic-induced turbulence makes some of the particles airborne. A general aim of this study was to study processes and factors underlying and affecting the formation and emissions of road dust from paved road surfaces. Special emphasis was placed on studying particle formation and sources during tire road interaction, especially when different applications of traction control, namely traction sanding and/or winter tires were in use. Respirable particles with aerodynamic diameter below 10 micrometers (PM10) have been the main concern, but other size ranges and particle size distributions were also studied. The following specific research questions were addressed: (i) How do traction

Lane changing trajectory planning and tracking control for intelligent vehicle on curved road.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lukun; Zhao, Xiaoying; Su, Hao; Tang, Gongyou

2016-01-01

This paper explores lane changing trajectory planning and tracking control for intelligent vehicle on curved road. A novel arcs trajectory is planned for the desired lane changing trajectory. A kinematic controller and a dynamics controller are designed to implement the trajectory tracking control. Firstly, the kinematic model and dynamics model of intelligent vehicle with non-holonomic constraint are established. Secondly, two constraints of lane changing on curved road in practice (LCCP) are proposed. Thirdly, two arcs with same curvature are constructed for the desired lane changing trajectory. According to the geometrical characteristics of arcs trajectory, equations of desired state can be calculated. Finally, the backstepping method is employed to design a kinematic trajectory tracking controller. Then the sliding-mode dynamics controller is designed to ensure that the motion of the intelligent vehicle can follow the desired velocity generated by kinematic controller. The stability of control system is proved by Lyapunov theory. Computer simulation demonstrates that the desired arcs trajectory and state curves with B-spline optimization can meet the requirements of LCCP constraints and the proposed control schemes can make tracking errors to converge uniformly.

Properties and toxicological effects of particles from the interaction between tyres, road pavement and winter traction material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustafsson, Mats [Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), SE-581 95 Linkoeping (Sweden)], E-mail: mats.gustafsson@vti.se; Blomqvist, Goeran [Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), SE-581 95 Linkoeping (Sweden); Gudmundsson, Anders; Dahl, Andreas [Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden); Swietlicki, Erik [Division of Nuclear Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden); Bohgard, Mats [Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden); Lindbom, John; Ljungman, Anders [Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, SE-581 85 Linkoeping (Sweden)

2008-04-15

In regions where studded tyres and traction material are used during winter, e.g. the Nordic countries, northern part of USA, Canada, and Japan, mechanically generated particles from traffic are the main reason for high particle mass concentrations in busy street and road environments. In many Nordic municipalities the European environmental quality standard for inhalable particles (PM{sub 10}) is exceeded due to these particles. In this study, particles from the wear of studded and studless friction tyres on two pavements and traction sanding were generated using a road simulator. The particles were characterized using particle sizers, Particle Induced X-Ray Emission Analysis and electron microscopy. Cell studies were conducted on particles sampled from the tests with studded tyres and compared with street environment, diesel exhaust and subway PM{sub 10}, respectively. The results show that in the road simulator, where resuspension is minimized, studded tyres produce tens of times more particles than friction tyres. Chemical analysis of the sampled particles shows that the generated wear particles consist almost entirely of minerals from the pavement stone material, but also that Sulfur is enriched for the submicron particles and that Zink is enriched for friction tyres for all particles sizes. The chemical data can be used for source identification and apportionment in urban aerosol studies. A mode of ultra-fine particles was also present and is hypothesised to originate in the tyres. Further, traction material properties affect PM{sub 10} emission. The inflammatory potential of the particles from wear of pavements seems to depend on type of pavement and can be at least as potent as diesel exhaust particles. The results imply that there is a need and a good potential to reduce particle emission from pavement wear and winter time road and street operation by adjusting both studded tyre use as well as pavement and traction material properties.

Properties and toxicological effects of particles from the interaction between tyres, road pavement and winter traction material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gustafsson, Mats; Blomqvist, Goeran; Gudmundsson, Anders; Dahl, Andreas; Swietlicki, Erik; Bohgard, Mats; Lindbom, John; Ljungman, Anders

2008-01-01

In regions where studded tyres and traction material are used during winter, e.g. the Nordic countries, northern part of USA, Canada, and Japan, mechanically generated particles from traffic are the main reason for high particle mass concentrations in busy street and road environments. In many Nordic municipalities the European environmental quality standard for inhalable particles (PM 10 ) is exceeded due to these particles. In this study, particles from the wear of studded and studless friction tyres on two pavements and traction sanding were generated using a road simulator. The particles were characterized using particle sizers, Particle Induced X-Ray Emission Analysis and electron microscopy. Cell studies were conducted on particles sampled from the tests with studded tyres and compared with street environment, diesel exhaust and subway PM 10 , respectively. The results show that in the road simulator, where resuspension is minimized, studded tyres produce tens of times more particles than friction tyres. Chemical analysis of the sampled particles shows that the generated wear particles consist almost entirely of minerals from the pavement stone material, but also that Sulfur is enriched for the submicron particles and that Zink is enriched for friction tyres for all particles sizes. The chemical data can be used for source identification and apportionment in urban aerosol studies. A mode of ultra-fine particles was also present and is hypothesised to originate in the tyres. Further, traction material properties affect PM 10 emission. The inflammatory potential of the particles from wear of pavements seems to depend on type of pavement and can be at least as potent as diesel exhaust particles. The results imply that there is a need and a good potential to reduce particle emission from pavement wear and winter time road and street operation by adjusting both studded tyre use as well as pavement and traction material properties

A Synthesis on the Evolution of the Studded Tire

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Angerinos, Michael

1998-01-01

Ever since studded tires were flrst introduced, the advantages, disadvantages, and effects of studded tires on vehicles, drivers and pavement systems has been the center of research and controversy...

Design Procedure on Stud Bolt for Reactor Vessel Assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong-Wook; Lee, Gyu-Mahn; Jeoung, Kyeong-Hoon; Kim, Tae-Wan; Park, Keun-Bae; Kim, Keung-Koo

2008-10-01

The reactor pressure vessel flange is welded to the upper part of reactor pressure vessel, and there are stud holes to mount the closure head with stud bolts. The surface mating the closure head is compressed with O-ring, which acts as a sealing gasket to prevent coolant leakage. Bolted flange connections perform a very important structural role in the design of a reactor pressure vessel. Their importance stems from two important functions: (a) maintenance of the structural integrity of the connection itself, and (b) prevention of leakage through the O-ring preloaded by stud bolts. In the present study, an evaluation procedure for the design of stud bolt is developed to meet ASME code requirements. The developed design procedure could provide typical references in the development of advanced reactor design in the future

Safety, mobility and comfort assessment methodologies of intelligent transport systems for vulnerable road users

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malone, K.; Silla, A.; Johanssen, C.; Bell, D.

2017-01-01

Introduction: This paper describes the modification and development of methodologies to assess the impacts of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) applications for Vulnerable Road users (VRUs) in the domains of safety, mobility and comfort. This effort was carried out in the context of the VRUITS

Application of Artificial Intelligence in Prediction of Road Freight Transportation

OpenAIRE

Bogna Mrowczynska; Maria Ciesla; Aleksander Krol; Aleksander Sladkowski

2017-01-01

Road freight transport often requires the prediction of volume. Such knowledge is necessary to capture trends in the industry and support decision making by large and small trucking companies. The aim of the presented work is to demonstrate that application of some artificial intelligence methods can improve the accuracy of the forecasts. The first method employed was double exponential smoothing. The modification of this method has been proposed. Not only the parameters but also the initial ...

Straight studs are produced from southern pine cordwood

Science.gov (United States)

Peter Koch

1967-01-01

A Process for converting southern pine veneer cores into 8-foot 2 by 4's of SPIB Stud grade and better has been developed at the Alexandria, Louisiana, Utilization Laboratory of the Southern Forest Experiment Station. The research leading to this development suggests that a similiar process would be practical for converting 8-foot southern pine cordwood into studs...

Pull-out strength of a headed stud in cracked concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takiguchi, K.; Hotta, H.

1995-01-01

Pull-out strength of a headed stud due to cone failure of concrete with/without cracks were examined. This paper presents empirical data basis to decide the criteria for designing a headed stud embedded in a shear wall under earthquake. As a result, it is known that cracks running through the stud reduce the pull-out strength, but it almost recovers when the cracks are closed again by an external compressive load. (author). 2 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab

Enhancement of crack detection in stud bolts of nuclear reactor by ultrasonic technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Joon-Hyun; Choi, Sang-Woo; Oh, Won-Deok

2004-01-01

The stud bolt is one of crucial parts for safety of reactor vessels in nuclear power plants. Crack initiation and propagation were reported in stud bolts using closure of reactor vessel and head. Stud bolts are inspected by ultrasonic technique during overhaul periodically for the prevention of stud bolt failure and radioactive leakage from nuclear reactor. In conventional ultrasonic testing for inspection of stud bolts, crack was detected by using shadow effect. It takes too much time to inspect stud bolt by using conventional ultrasonic technique. In addition, there were numerous spurious signals reflected from every oblique surfaces of thread. In this study, the signal processing technique for enhancing conventional ultrasonic technique and the advanced ultrasonic phased array technique were introduced for inspect stud bolts. The signal processing technique provides removing spurious signal reflected from every oblique surfaces of thread and enhances detectability of defects. The phased array technique provides fast inspection and can be applied for structure of complex shape. There are sector scanning and linear scanning methods in phased array technique, and these scanning methods were applied to inspect stud bolt and detectability was investigated. (author)

Hydraulic stud-tensioning machines in reactor technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lachner, H.

1978-01-01

Hydraulic multiple stud tensioner (MST) for the simultaneous prestressing of all the stud bolts is make it possible to achieve highly accurate prestress levels in the highly stressed bolts holding down the top head of reactor pressure vessels. These machines can remove and replace the nuts and studs, and can rotate these components upwards and downwards, during the operation of opening and closing the reactor pressure vessel. In order to reduce the radiation exposure of the service personnel, and also to reduce the time required for this work which may lie in the critical path of the refuelling time schedule, it is desirable to achieve complete mechanisation of these machines, including remote control and remote monitoring. The devices and components required for this purpose are without precedent in machine construction with respect to their functions and to the load range involved. The reported operating experience therefore also covers some points of general interest while the data on maintenance reflect the known status of the technology. (orig.) [de

Roll forming of eco-friendly stud

Science.gov (United States)

Keum, Y. T.; Lee, S. Y.; Lee, T. H.; Sim, J. K.

2013-12-01

In order to manufacture an eco-friendly stud, the sheared pattern is designed by the Taguchi method and expanded by the side rolls. The seven geometrical shape of sheared pattern are considered in the structural and thermal analyses to select the best functional one in terms of the durability and fire resistance of dry wall. For optimizing the size of the sheared pattern chosen, the L9 orthogonal array and smaller-the-better characteristics of the Taguchi method are used. As the roll gap causes forming defects when the upper-and-lower roll type is adopted for expanding the sheared pattern, the side roll type is introduced. The stress and strain distributions obtained by the FEM simulation of roll-forming processes are utilized for the design of expanding process. The expanding process by side rolls shortens the length of expanding process and minimizes the cost of dies. Furthermore, the stud manufactured by expanding the sheared pattern of the web is an eco-friend because of the scrapless roll-forming process. In addition, compared to the conventionally roll-formed stud, the material cost is lessened about 13.6% and the weight is lightened about 15.5%.

A Preliminary Study of the Core Catcher System on Various Stud Shapes using FLUENT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, Uiju; Seo, Gwang Hyeok; Jeun, Gyoodong; Kim, Sung Joong [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

As a kind of in-vessel retention (IVR) strategies, reactor cavity flooding is used for Westinghouse's AP1000 and South Korea's OPR1000. Moreover, the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) has adopted an ex-vessel core catcher strategy rather than the IVR strategy. Although the mitigation strategies suggested are vigorously considered, there are still various issues due to its uncertainties and complex phenomena during severe accidents. In this study, to assess the effect of studs installed on the core catcher body, a CFD analysis for coolant channels having rectangular or cylinder shaped studs is carried out. In this study, numerical simulations for the different stud shapes of the core catcher system were carried out using ANSYS FLUENT. For a comparison work, the rectangular and cylinder shaped stud were modeled with the same initial and boundary conditions. The major findings observed from this study can be summarized as follows. - The simulation results showed the 31% reduced amount of pressure drop for the case of the cylinder shaped studs as compared with the reference case, which is for the rectangular studs. - The tendency of reduced pressure drop is well in accord with the flow distribution. The fluid velocities around the studs were greatly distorted for the rectangular studs than those around the cylinder studs. - The distorted stream of fluid could affect heat transfer from core catcher body, and result in locally additional damages. This result may suggest the necessity of finding an optimized stud shape. For more improved comparison work, an additional simulation is planned including different stud shapes.

Application of ultrasonic phased array technique for inspection of stud bolts in nuclear reactor vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Sang Woo; Lee, Joon Ho; Park, Min Su; Cho, Youn Ho; Park, Moon Ho

2004-01-01

The stud bolt is one of crucial parts for safety of reactor vessels in nuclear power plants. Cracks initiation and propagation were reported in stud bolts using closure of reactor vessel and head. Stud bolts are inspected by ultrasonic technique during overhaul periodically for the prevention of stud bolt failure and radioactive leakage from nuclear reactor. In conventional ultrasonic testing for inspection of stud bolts, crack was detected by using shadow effect. It take too much time to inspect stud bolt by using conventional ultrasonic technique. In addition, there were numerous spurious signal reflected from every thread. In this study, the advanced ultrasonic phased array technique was introduced for inspect stud bolts. The phased array technique provide fast inspection and high detectability of defects. There are sector scanning and linear scanning method in phased array technique, and these scanning methods were applied to inspect stud bolt and detectability was investigated.

The corrosion resistance of materials used for the manufacture of ear piercing studs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Correa, O. V.; Saiki, M.; Rogero, S. O.; Costa, I.

2003-01-01

Nickel containing alloy shave been widely used as substrates for the manufacture of studs used for ear piercing. Unfortunately, nickel has also been related to the development of allergic contact dermatitis caused by skin sensitization due to Ni''2+ ions. Nickel ions can be leached out into the body fluids due to corrosion reactions. Defect free coatings are very difficult to produce, and therefore nickel free materials should be used as substrates of ear piercing studs, although the commercial alloys used usually contain this element. In this study, the corrosion resistance of two kinds of commercial studs prepared with nickel containing substrates and a titanium laboratory made stud was determined in a culture medium. The corrosion resistance of the studs was investigated by means of potentiodynamic polarization tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as a function of immersion time in the culture medium. The elements that leached out into the medium due to corrosion reactions were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The surfaces of the commercial gold-coated studs were examined by scanning electron microscopy and analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy, both before and after exposure to the culture medium. The cytotoxicity of the tested studs was also determined in the culture medium. (Author) 10 refs

Joint and column behaviour of slotted cold-formed steel studs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreassen, Michael Joachim; Jönsson, Jeppe

2015-01-01

the behaviour of the studs and the track joints. The experiments include a joint design with a special web stiffener used in practice. The studs are made of C-profiles and the tracks of U-profiles. Eight different test series are performed. The test series each have different column lengths, thicknesses...

Joint and column behaviour of slotted cold-formed steel studs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreassen, Michael Joachim; Jönsson, Jeppe

2015-01-01

the behaviour of the studs and the track joints. The experiments included a joint design with a special web stiffener used in practice. The studs were C-sections and the tracks were U-sections. Eight different test series were performed. Each test series had different column lengths and thicknesses, both...

Application of Wireless Intelligent Control System for HPS Lamps and LEDs Combined Illumination in Road Tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Jinxing; Qiu, Junling; Chen, Jianxun; Wang, Yaqiong; Fan, Haobo

2014-01-01

Because of the particularity of the environment in the tunnel, the rational tunnel illumination system should be developed, so as to optimize the tunnel environment. Considering the high cost of traditional tunnel illumination system with high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps as well as the effect of a single light source on tunnel entrance, the energy-saving illumination system with HPS lamps and LEDs combined illumination in road tunnel, which could make full use of these two kinds of lamps, was proposed. The wireless intelligent control system based on HPS lamps and LEDs combined illumination and microcontrol unit (MCU) Si1000 wireless communication technology was designed. And the remote monitoring, wireless communication, and PWM dimming module of this system were designed emphatically. Intensity detector and vehicle flow detector can be configured in wireless intelligent control system, which gather the information to the master control unit, and then the information is sent to the monitoring center through the Ethernet. The control strategies are got by the monitoring center according to the calculated results, and the control unit wirelessly sends parameters to lamps, which adjust the luminance of each segment of the tunnel and realize the wireless intelligent control of combined illumination in road tunnel. PMID:25587266

Experimental Study for Effects of the Stud shape of the Core Catcher System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Kyusang; Son, Hong Hyun; Jeong, Uiju; Seo, Gwang Hyeok; Shin, Doyoung; Jeun, Gyoodong; Kim, Sung Joong [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

In preparation of potential severe accidents, a nuclear power plant is equipped with diverse systems of engineering safety features or mitigation system dedicated to the severe accidents conditions. As a common strategy, a number of nuclear power plants adopt the in-vessel retention (IVR) and/or external reactor vessel cooling (ERVC) strategies. With the ERVC strategy, an additional system (core catcher system) to catch molten core penetrating the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was proposed for advanced light water reactor. The core catcher system is for Ex-vessel in the European Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (EU-APR1400) to acquire a European license certificate. It is to confine molten materials in the reactor cavity while keeping coolable geometry in case that the RPV failure occurs. The system consists of a carbon steel body, sacrificial material, protection material and engineered cooling channel. As shown in Fig 1, the engineered cooling channel of the ex-vessel core catcher was adopted to remove sensible heat and decay heat of the molten corium using cooling water flooded from the In-Containment Refueling Water Storage Tank (IRWST) by gravity. A large number of studs are placed in the cooling channel to support the core catcher body. While installation of the studs is unavoidable, the studs tend to interfere in the smooth streamline of the core catcher channel. The distorted streamline could affect the temperature distribution and overall coolability of the system. Thus, it is of importance to investigate the effects of studs on the coolability of the core catcher system. In the current research, to evaluate the effect of a stud on the streamline and natural convective boiling performance, numerical and experimental approaches were taken. As a part of numerical approach, CFD simulation using ANSYS/FLUENT was carried out. The objective was to predict disturbance of the streamline and temperature distribution due to the interference of the studs. Through the CFD

Implementation of STUD Pulses at the Trident Laser and Initial Results

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, R. P.; Shimada, T.; Montgomery, D. S.; Afeyan, B.; Hüller, S.

2012-10-01

Controlling and mitigating laser-plasma instabilities such as stimulated Brillouin scattering, stimulated Raman scattering, and crossed-beam energy transfer is important to achieve high-gain inertial fusion using laser drivers. Recent theory and simulations show that these instabilities can be largely controlled using laser pulses consisting of spike trains of uneven duration and delay (STUD) by modulating the laser on a picosecond time scale [1,2]. We have designed and implemented a STUD pulse generator at the LANL Trident Laser Facility using Fourier synthesis to produce a 0.5-ns envelope of psec-duration STUD pulses using a spatial light modulator. Initial results from laser propagation tests and measurements as well as initial laser-plasma characterization experiments will be presented.[4pt] [1] B. Afeyan and S. H"uller, ``Optimal Control of Laser Plasma Instabilities using STUD pulses,'' IFSA 2011, P.Mo.1, to appear in Euro. Phys. J. Web of Conf. (2012).[2] S. H"uller and B. Afeyan, ``Simulations of drastically reduced SBS with STUD pulses,'' IFSA 2011, O.Tu8-1, to appear in Euro. Phys. J. Web of Conf. (2012).

Application of an Intelligent Fuzzy Regression Algorithm in Road Freight Transportation Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pooya Najaf

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Road freight transportation between provinces of a country has an important effect on the traffic flow of intercity transportation networks. Therefore, an accurate estimation of the road freight transportation for provinces of a country is so crucial to improve the rural traffic operation in a large scale management. Accordingly, the focused case study database in this research is the information related to Iran’s provinces in the year 2008. Correlation between road freight transportation with variables such as transport cost and distance, population, average household income and Gross Domestic Product (GDP of each province is calculated. Results clarify that the population is the most effective factor in the prediction of provinces’ transported freight. Linear Regression Model (LRM is calibrated based on the population variable, and afterwards Fuzzy Regression Algorithm (FRA is generated on the basis of the LRM. The proposed FRA is an intelligent modified algorithm with an accurate prediction and fitting ability. This methodology can be significantly useful in macro-level planning problems where decreasing prediction error values is one of the most important concerns for decision makers. In addition, Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN is developed to evaluate the prediction capability of the models and to be compared with FRA. According to the final results, the modified FRA estimates road freight transportation values more accurately than the BPNN and LRM. Finally, in order to predict the road freight transportation values, the reliability of the calibrated models is analyzed using the information of the year 2009. Results show higher reliability for the proposed modified FRA.

Allergy adjuvant effect of particles from wood smoke and road traffic.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuelsen, Mari; Nygaard, Unni Cecilie; Løvik, Martinus

2008-04-18

There is growing evidence that in addition to augmenting the severity of asthma and allergic diseases, particulate air pollution also increases the incidence of allergy and asthma. We studied the adjuvant effect of particles from wood smoke and road traffic on the immune response to the allergen ovalbumin (OVA). OVA with and without particles was injected into one hind footpad of Balb/cA mice. All particles together with OVA significantly increased the level of OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) in serum, compared to groups given OVA or particles alone. Reference diesel exhaust particles (DEP) with OVA induced the highest levels of IgE, whereas no clear difference was observed between particles from road traffic and wood smoke. Road traffic particles collected in the autumn induced higher IgE values with OVA than corresponding particles collected during the winter season when studded tires are used, suggesting that studded tire-generated road pavement particles have less allergy adjuvant activity than exhaust particles. Compared to OVA or particles alone, all particles with OVA increased popliteal lymph node cell numbers, cell proliferation, ex vivo secretion of IL-4 and IL-10 after ConA stimulation, and the expression of several cell surface molecules (CD19, MHC class II, CD86 and CD23). Wood smoke particles with OVA induced somewhat higher cellular responses than road traffic particles, but less than DEP with OVA which seemed to be the most potent particle in inducing cellular as well as antibody responses. Thus, wood smoke particles had about the same capacity to enhance allergic sensitization as road traffic particles, but less than diesel exhaust particles.

Allergy adjuvant effect of particles from wood smoke and road traffic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samuelsen, Mari; Nygaard, Unni Cecilie; Lovik, Martinus

2008-01-01

There is growing evidence that in addition to augmenting the severity of asthma and allergic diseases, particulate air pollution also increases the incidence of allergy and asthma. We studied the adjuvant effect of particles from wood smoke and road traffic on the immune response to the allergen ovalbumin (OVA). OVA with and without particles was injected into one hind footpad of Balb/cA mice. All particles together with OVA significantly increased the level of OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) in serum, compared to groups given OVA or particles alone. Reference diesel exhaust particles (DEP) with OVA induced the highest levels of IgE, whereas no clear difference was observed between particles from road traffic and wood smoke. Road traffic particles collected in the autumn induced higher IgE values with OVA than corresponding particles collected during the winter season when studded tires are used, suggesting that studded tire-generated road pavement particles have less allergy adjuvant activity than exhaust particles. Compared to OVA or particles alone, all particles with OVA increased popliteal lymph node cell numbers, cell proliferation, ex vivo secretion of IL-4 and IL-10 after ConA stimulation, and the expression of several cell surface molecules (CD19, MHC class II, CD86 and CD23). Wood smoke particles with OVA induced somewhat higher cellular responses than road traffic particles, but less than DEP with OVA which seemed to be the most potent particle in inducing cellular as well as antibody responses. Thus, wood smoke particles had about the same capacity to enhance allergic sensitization as road traffic particles, but less than diesel exhaust particles

Reactor pressure vessel stud management automation strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biach, W.L.; Hill, R.; Hung, K.

1992-01-01

The adoption of hydraulic tensioner technology as the standard for bolting and unbolting the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) head 35 yr ago represented an incredible commitment to new technology, but the existing technology was so primitive as to be clearly unacceptable. Today, a variety of approaches for improvement make the decision more difficult. Automation in existing installations must meet complex physical, logistic, and financial parameters while addressing the demands of reduced exposure, reduced critical path, and extended plant life. There are two generic approaches to providing automated RPV stud engagement and disengagement: the multiple stud tensioner and automated individual tools. A variation of the latter would include the handling system. Each has its benefits and liabilities

Design, Modelling, and Implementation of a Fuzzy Controller for an Intelligent Road Signaling System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Manuel Lozano Domínguez

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Crossing points are not always 100% visible for drivers due to different factors (e.g., poor road maintenance, occlusion of vertical signs, and adverse weather conditions. USA estimated in 2015 the number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles in 70,000 of whom 5,376 resulted in deceased people. To contribute in this field, this paper presents the design, implementation, and testing of a smart prototype system applied to pedestrian crossings—not regulated by semaphores—which try to reduce the accident rate on roads. The hardware and software system consists of a set of autonomous, intelligent, and wireless low-cost devices that generate a visual warning barrier perceived by drivers from a suitable distance when pedestrians traverse a crosswalk. In this way, drivers can reduce the speed of their vehicles and stop safely. The system’s intelligence is carried out by a fuzzy controller that performs sensory fusion at both low level and high level with various types of sensors from local and neighboring devices. The tests conducted have determined an average success of 94.64% and a precision of 100%, thus corresponding with a very good test according to a ROC analysis. As a result, the system proposed has been patented and extended to international PCT.

Experimental Autonomous Road Vehicle with Logical Artificial Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Sergeevich Shadrin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article describes some technical issues regarding the adaptation of a production car to a platform for the development and testing of autonomous driving technologies. A universal approach to performing the reverse engineering of electric power steering (EPS for the purpose of external control is also presented. The primary objective of the related study was to solve the problem associated with the precise prediction of the dynamic trajectory of an autonomous vehicle. This was accomplished by deriving a new equation for determining the lateral tire forces and adjusting some of the vehicle parameters under road test conductions. A Mivar expert system was also integrated into the control system of the experimental autonomous vehicle. The expert system was made more flexible and effective for the present application by the introduction of hybrid artificial intelligence with logical reasoning. The innovation offers a solution to the major problem of liability in the event of an autonomous transport vehicle being involved in a collision.

Ultrasonic Phased Array Techniques for Detection of Flaws of Stud Bolts in Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Joon Hyun; Choi, Sang Woo

2006-01-01

The reactor vessel body and closure head are fastened with the stud bolt that is one of crucial parts for safety of the reactor vessels in nuclear power plants. It is reported that the stud bolt is often experienced by fatigue cracks initiated at threads. Stud bolts are inspected by the ultrasonic technique during the overhaul periodically for the prevention of failure which leads to radioactive leakage from the nuclear reactor. The conventional ultrasonic inspection for stud bolts was mainly conducted by reflected echo method based on shadow effect. However, in this technique, there were numerous spurious signals reflected from every oblique surfaces of the thread. In this study, ultrasonic phased array technique was applied to investigate detectability of flaws in stud bolts and characteristics of ultrasonic images corresponding to different scanning methods, that is, sector and linear scan. For this purpose, simplified stud bolt specimens with artificial defects of various depths were prepared

Causes of Failure of High-Tensile Stud Bolts Used for Joining Metal Parts of Tower Crane

Science.gov (United States)

Tingaev, A. K.; Gubaydulin, R. G.; Shaburova, N. A.

2017-11-01

The causes of the failure of a high-tensile stud 2M48-6gx500 10.9 made from steel grade 30HGSA which led to a temporary inoperability of a tower crane were investigated. The bolts were used to assemble the tower sections and collapsed after 45 days from the moment the crane was commissioned. The cracks in the fracture are identified as fatigue with the characteristic sites of nucleation, sustainable development and static dolomite. To determine the possible causes of stud bolts destruction, metallographic, durometric and mechanical tests were carried out from which it follows that the stud bolt material in its original state corresponded to the delivery conditions. The destruction of the stud bolt appears to have resulted from a combination of several unfavorable factors: uncertainty about the actual tension of the stud bolt due to the lack of information about the magnitude of the twist factor; partial displacement of the centers of the brackets holes and rotation of the stud bolt axis during the sections’ assembly; no tight contact on the support surfaces of the section brackets. All this led to a discrepancy between the actual design of the stud bolt, the appearance of additional forces and the destruction of the stud bolt.

Artificial Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Information Technology Quarterly, 1985

1985-01-01

This issue of "Information Technology Quarterly" is devoted to the theme of "Artificial Intelligence." It contains two major articles: (1) Artificial Intelligence and Law" (D. Peter O'Neill and George D. Wood); (2) "Artificial Intelligence: A Long and Winding Road" (John J. Simon, Jr.). In addition, it contains two sidebars: (1) "Calculating and…

Responsible vendors, intelligent consumers: Silk Road, the online revolution in drug trading.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hout, Marie Claire; Bingham, Tim

2014-03-01

Silk Road is located on the Deep Web and provides an anonymous transacting infrastructure for the retail of drugs and pharmaceuticals. Members are attracted to the site due to protection of identity by screen pseudonyms, variety and quality of product listings, selection of vendors based on reviews, reduced personal risks, stealth of product delivery, development of personal connections with vendors in stealth modes and forum activity. The study aimed to explore vendor accounts of Silk Road as retail infrastructure. A single and holistic case study with embedded units approach (Yin, 2003) was chosen to explore the accounts of vendor subunits situated within the Silk Road marketplace. Vendors (n=10) completed an online interview via the direct message facility and via Tor mail. Vendors described themselves as 'intelligent and responsible' consumers of drugs. Decisions to commence vending operations on the site centred on simplicity in setting up vendor accounts, and opportunity to operate within a low risk, high traffic, high mark-up, secure and anonymous Deep Web infrastructure. The embedded online culture of harm reduction ethos appealed to them in terms of the responsible vending and use of personally tested high quality products. The professional approach to running their Silk Road businesses and dedication to providing a quality service was characterised by professional advertising of quality products, professional communication and visibility on forum pages, speedy dispatch of slightly overweight products, competitive pricing, good stealth techniques and efforts to avoid customer disputes. Vendors appeared content with a fairly constant buyer demand and described a relatively competitive market between small and big time market players. Concerns were evident with regard to Bitcoin instability. The greatest threat to Silk Road and other sites operating on the Deep Web is not law enforcement or market dynamics, it is technology itself. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier

Thermal-Hydraulic Effects of Stud Shape and Size on the Safety Margin of Core Catcher System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Kyusang; Son, Hong Hyun; Jeong, Uiju; Kim, Sung Joong [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

With the ERVC strategy, an additional system (core catcher system) to catch molten core penetrating the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was proposed for advanced light water reactor. The newly engineered corium cooling system, that is, an ex-vessel core catcher system has been designed and adapted in some nuclear power plants such as VVER-1000, EPR, ESBWR, EU-APR1400 to mention a few. For example, Russia adopted a crucible-type core catcher for VVER-1000. On the other hand, a way to catch melt spreading is adopted by several countries, such as EPR in France, ESBWR in USA, ABWR in japan, and EU-APR1400 in Korea In Korea, the core catcher system has been designed and implemented for the European Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (EU-APR1400) to acquire a European license certificate. It is to confine molten materials in the reactor cavity while maintaining a coolable geometry in case that RPV failure occurs. The core catcher system consists of a carbon steel body, sacrificial material, protection material and engineered cooling channel. While installation of the studs is unavoidable, the studs tend to interfere in the smooth streamline of the core catcher channel. The distorted streamline could affect the overall thermal-hydraulic performance including two-phase heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux (CHF) of the system. Thus, it is of importance to investigate the thermal-hydraulic effects of studs on the coolability, especially the CHF of the core catcher system. With aforementioned importance, pool boiling experiments were carried out with stud shape of, rectangular, cylinder, and elliptic and for stud sizes of 10, 15, 20, and 25 mm under the condition of atmospheric saturated water. A particular attention was focused on observing local vapor behavior around the studs and finding any hot spots, where the vapors are accumulated. The occurrence of the CHF is anticipated at the back side of the studs. The visual observation and CHF measurements indicate that the

Thermal-Hydraulic Effects of Stud Shape and Size on the Safety Margin of Core Catcher System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Kyusang; Son, Hong Hyun; Jeong, Uiju; Kim, Sung Joong

2015-01-01

With the ERVC strategy, an additional system (core catcher system) to catch molten core penetrating the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) was proposed for advanced light water reactor. The newly engineered corium cooling system, that is, an ex-vessel core catcher system has been designed and adapted in some nuclear power plants such as VVER-1000, EPR, ESBWR, EU-APR1400 to mention a few. For example, Russia adopted a crucible-type core catcher for VVER-1000. On the other hand, a way to catch melt spreading is adopted by several countries, such as EPR in France, ESBWR in USA, ABWR in japan, and EU-APR1400 in Korea In Korea, the core catcher system has been designed and implemented for the European Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (EU-APR1400) to acquire a European license certificate. It is to confine molten materials in the reactor cavity while maintaining a coolable geometry in case that RPV failure occurs. The core catcher system consists of a carbon steel body, sacrificial material, protection material and engineered cooling channel. While installation of the studs is unavoidable, the studs tend to interfere in the smooth streamline of the core catcher channel. The distorted streamline could affect the overall thermal-hydraulic performance including two-phase heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux (CHF) of the system. Thus, it is of importance to investigate the thermal-hydraulic effects of studs on the coolability, especially the CHF of the core catcher system. With aforementioned importance, pool boiling experiments were carried out with stud shape of, rectangular, cylinder, and elliptic and for stud sizes of 10, 15, 20, and 25 mm under the condition of atmospheric saturated water. A particular attention was focused on observing local vapor behavior around the studs and finding any hot spots, where the vapors are accumulated. The occurrence of the CHF is anticipated at the back side of the studs. The visual observation and CHF measurements indicate that the

Intelligent tires for identifying coefficient of friction of tire/road contact surfaces using three-axis accelerometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuzaki, Ryosuke; Kamai, Kazuto; Seki, Ryosuke

2015-01-01

Intelligent tires equipped with sensors as well as the monitoring of the tire/road contact conditions are in demand for improving vehicle control and safety. With the aim of identifying the coefficient of friction of tire/road contact surfaces during driving, including during cornering, we develop an identification scheme for the coefficient of friction that involves estimation of the slip angle and applied force by using a single lightweight three-axis accelerometer attached on the inner surface of the tire. To validate the developed scheme, we conduct tire-rolling tests using an accelerometer-equipped tire with various slip angles on various types of road surfaces, including dry and wet surfaces. The results of these tests confirm that the estimated slip angle and applied force are reasonable. Furthermore, the identified coefficient of friction by the developed scheme agreed with that measured by standardized tests. (paper)

Stud-bolts strength for cell-liner design under shearing deformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watashi, Katsumi; Nakanishi, Seiji

1991-01-01

This paper presents experimental and analytical stud-bolt strength subjected to large shearing deformation at high temperature. Tensile test result of the material, SM41B, was shown in the range of room temperature to 550degC at 10 -3 and 10 -4 m/m/s in strain rate. Shearing fracture test result of the stud-bolt is shown at room temperature and 530degC. Shearing fracture criterion was discussed based on both test results and FEM analysis result. (author)

Detection of stress corrosion cracks and wastage in reactor pressure vessels and primary coolant system studs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Light, G.M.; Joshi, N.R.

1986-01-01

Over the last few years, nuclear plants have experienced stud bolt failures due to stress corrosion cracking and corrosion wastage. Many of these stud bolts were over 1 m long and had no heater hole. The use of conventional longitudinal wave inspection for bolts longer than 1 m has shown inconsistent results. A nondestructive testing technique was needed to inspect the stud bolts in place. The cylindrically guided wave technique was developed to inspect stud bolts of various lengths (up to 3 m) and various diameters. This technique is based on the fact that an ultrasonic wave traveling in a long cylinder becomes guided by the geometry of the cylinder. The wave begins to spread in the cylinder as interaction with the outer wall produces mode conversions. A large number of model stud bolts were tested to verify that the cylindrically guided wave technique could be used to detect crack-like defects and simulated corrosion wastage. This work shows that the cylindrically guided wave technique can be used on a wide variety of stud bolt configurations, and that the technique can be used to effectively detect the two most common modes of stud bolt failure (corrosion cracking and corrosion wastage) at early stages of development

Ultrasonic Inspection of Cracks in Stud Bolts of Reactor Vessels in Nuclear Power Plants by Signal Processing of Differential Operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Sang Woo; Lee, Joon Hyun; Oh, Won Deok

2005-01-01

The stud bolt is one of crucial parts for safe operation of reactor vessels in nuclear power plants, Crack initiation and propagation were reported in stud bolts that arc used for closure of reactor vessel and head, Stud bolts are inspected by ultrasonic technique during overhaul periodically for the prevention of stud bolt failure which could induce radioactive leakage from nuclear reactor, In conventional ultrasonic testing for inspection of stud bolts, cracks are detected by using shadow effect It takes too much time to inspect stud bolts by using conventional ultrasonic technique. In addition, there were numerous spurious signals reflected from every oblique surfaces of thread, In this study, the signal processing technique for enhancing conventional ultrasonic technique was introduced for inspecting stud bolts. The signal processing technique provides removing spurious signal reflected from every oblique surfaces of thread and enhances detectability of defects. Detectability for small crack was enhanced by using this signal processing in ultrasonic inspection of stud bolts in Nuclear Power Plants

A Location Intelligence System for the Assessment of Pluvial Flooding Risk and the Identification of Storm Water Pollutant Sources from Roads in Suburbanised Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szymon Szewrański

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The interplay of an ever-growing number of inhabitants, sprawl development, soil sealing, changes in urban traffic characteristics, as well as observed climate trends gives rise to more frequent pluvial flooding in cities, a higher run-off of water, and an increasing pollution of surface water. The aim of this research is to develop a location intelligence system for the assessment of pluvial flooding risks and the identification of storm water pollutant sources from roads in newly-developed areas. The system combines geographic information systems and business intelligence software, and it is based on the original Pluvial Flood Risk Assessment tool. The location intelligence system effectively identifies the spatial and temporal distribution of pluvial flood risks, allows to preliminarily evaluate the total run-off from roads, and helps localise potential places for new water management infrastructure. Further improvements concern the modelling of a flow accumulation and drainage system, the application of weather radar precipitation data, and traffic monitoring and modelling.

Investigation of Shear Stud Performance in Flat Plate Using Finite Element Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.S. Viswanathan

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Three types of shear stud arrangement, respectively featuring an orthogonal, a radial and a critical perimeter pattern, were evaluated numerically. A numerical investigation was conducted using the finite element software ABAQUS to evaluate their ability to resist punching shear in a flat plate. The finite element analysis here is an application of the nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete structures using three-dimensional solid finite elements. The nonlinear characteristics of concrete were achieved by employing the concrete damaged plasticity model in the finite element program. Transverse shear stress was evaluated using finite element analysis in terms of shear stress distribution for flat plate with and without shear stud reinforcement. The model predicted that shear studs placed along the critical perimeter are more effective compared to orthogonal and radial patterns.

Study on Shear Performance of Cold-formed Steel Composite Wall with New Type of stud

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chungang; Yue, Sizhe; Liu, Hong; Zhang, Zhuangnan

2018-03-01

The shear resistance of single oriented-strand board wall and single gypsum board wall can be improved in different degrees by increasing strength of steel. The experimental data of literatures were used, and the test specimens had been simulated and validated by ABAQUS finite element analysis. According to the research, it showed that the compressive bearing capacity of the new stud composite wall was much better than the common stud composite wall, so the establishment and research of all models had been based on the new section stud. The analysis results show that when using new type of stud the shear resistance of the single oriented-strand board wall can be improved efficiently by increasing strength of steel, but the shear resistance of the single gypsum wall can be increased little.

Pull-out test of stud bolts embedded in concrete under an in-plane force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inada, Y.; Saito, H.; Torita, H.; Takiguchi, K.; Ibe, Y.; Taira, T.

1995-01-01

There are many steel plates with stud bolts embedded in the R C walls of a nuclear reactor building to support equipment and piping. Under a earthquake, the steel plates are submitted to an out-of-plane force due to the inertia force acting upon equipment and piping. Furthermore, the walls are submitted to an in-plane force, and cracks may occur. A large number of experimental studies have been carried out on the pull-out strength of stud bolts embedded in concrete. Few studies have been performed to understand the strength of stud bolts embedded in concrete under an in-plane force and, further, not any one on the strength for concrete under in-plane force simultaneously to stud bolts under out-of-plane force. This paper describes a test performed to understand the pull-out strength determined by this interaction of in-plane and out-of-plane forces. (author). 5 refs., 9 figs., 5 tabs

Reduction of Biomechanical and Welding Fume Exposures in Stud Welding.

Science.gov (United States)

Fethke, Nathan B; Peters, Thomas M; Leonard, Stephanie; Metwali, Mahmoud; Mudunkotuwa, Imali A

2016-04-01

The welding of shear stud connectors to structural steel in construction requires a prolonged stooped posture that exposes ironworkers to biomechanical and welding fume hazards. In this study, biomechanical and welding fume exposures during stud welding using conventional methods were compared to exposures associated with use of a prototype system that allowed participants to weld from an upright position. The effect of base material (i.e. bare structural beam versus galvanized decking) on welding fume concentration (particle number and mass), particle size distribution, and particle composition was also explored. Thirty participants completed a series of stud welding simulations in a local apprenticeship training facility. Use of the upright system was associated with substantial reductions in trunk inclination and the activity levels of several muscle groups. Inhalable mass concentrations of welding fume (averaged over ~18 min) when using conventional methods were high (18.2 mg m(-3) for bare beam; 65.7 mg m(-3) for through deck), with estimated mass concentrations of iron (7.8 mg m(-3) for bare beam; 15.8 mg m(-3) for through deck), zinc (0.2 mg m(-3) for bare beam; 15.8 mg m(-3) for through deck), and manganese (0.9 mg m(-3) for bare beam; 1.5 mg m(-3) for through deck) often exceeding the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values (TLVs). Number and mass concentrations were substantially reduced when using the upright system, although the total inhalable mass concentration remained above the TLV when welding through decking. The average diameters of the welding fume particles for both bare beam (31±17 nm) through deck conditions (34±34 nm) and the chemical composition of the particles indicated the presence of metallic nanoparticles. Stud welding exposes ironworkers to potentially high levels of biomechanical loading (primarily to the low back) and welding fume. The upright system used in this study improved exposure

Measure Guideline: Deep Energy Enclosure Retrofit for Double-Stud Walls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loomis, H. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States); Pettit, B. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-06-01

This Measure Guideline describes a deep energy enclosure retrofit (DEER) solution that provides insulation to the interior of the wall assembly with the use of a double stud wall. The guide describes two approaches to retrofitting the existing the walls: one involving replacement of the existing cladding, and the other that leaves the existing cladding in place. It discusses the design principles related to the use of various insulation types, and provides strategies and procedures for implementing the double stud wall retrofit. It also evaluates important moisture-related and indoor air quality measures that need to be implemented to achieve a durable, high performance wall.

Measure Guideline: Deep Energy Enclosure Retrofit for Double-Stud Walls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loomis, H. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States); Pettit, B. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-06-22

This Measure Guideline describes a deep energy enclosure retrofit solution that provides insulation to the interior of the wall assembly with the use of a double-stud wall. The guide describes two approaches to retrofitting the existing walls—one that involves replacing the existing cladding and the other that leaves the cladding in place. This guideline also covers the design principles related to the use of various insulation types and provides strategies and procedures for implementing the double-stud wall retrofit. It also includes an evaluation of important moisture-related and indoor air quality measures that need to be implemented to achieve a durable high-performance wall.

Application of neutron activation analysis to the corrosion study of gold coated studs used for piercing ears

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saiki, M.; Rogero, S.O.; Costa, I.; Correa, O.V.; Higa, O.Z.

1998-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. Gold is known as a metal having little or no toxicity and it has been widely used for coating studs for ear piercing. However, for some people gold coated studs have caused serious allergy and inflammation problems. After piercing, the studs are usually kept in the ear lobes for at least one week, and during this period the stud surfaces in contact with the body fluids have caused swelling, pain and redness of the skin. Consequently, it is of great interest to evaluate if elements from the metallic substrate underneath the gold coatings migrate to the body fluids due to the corrosion and the presence of defects in gold coatings. The solutions for corrosion test were obtained by placing the gold coated studs in contact with the solutions of NaCl and of culture medium. Elemental analyses of these solutions by radioanalytical method of neutron activation analysis indicated the occurrence of substrate corrosion since the elements Cr, Fe, Ni and Zn were found in these solutions. These elements are substrate material components of alloys used to make the studs and they were quantified by X-ray fluorescence analysis. The defects of the coatings were also detected by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis of the gold coated studs before and after the corrosion tests. Cytotoxicity studies indicated that after corrosion test the solution used was toxic in the culture cell assay. Among the elements quantified in the test solutions, Ni is considered responsible for most of allergic reactions. Results obtained in this work indicated the necessity to improve quality control of the coating process of studs and in the appropriate choice of material used as substrate

Development of plastic media blasting device for stud bolt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshihisa, Y.; Miyashita, T.

1999-01-01

Plastic media blasting is a mechanical cleaning method for removing paint, rust and/or anti-galling material etc on the surface of metal without damaging the metal surface. The method is suitable for cleaning the surface of reusable elements and parts such as bolts and nuts. Anti-galling material such as molybdenum disulfide is applied to fastening stud bolts used for the steam turbine rotor casing. It is necessary to remove this material when new anti-galling material is to be applied. Genden Engineering Services and Construction Co., and Morikawa Industries Corp., have developed a plastic media blasting device to clean the surface of stud bolt screw threads installed in the facility such as lower casing of the turbine. This paper reports the outline of the results. (author)

Enhancement of crack detection in stud bolts of nuclear reactor by ultrasonic signal processing technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J.H.; Oh, W.D.; Choi, S.W.; Park, M.H.

2004-01-01

'Full-text:' The stud bolts is one of the most critical parts for safety of reactor vessels in the nuclear power plants. However, in the application of ultrasonic technique for crack detection in stud bolt, some difficulties encountered are classification of crack signal from the signals reflected from threads part in stud bolt. In this study, shadow effect technique combined with new signal processing method is Investigated to enhance the detectability of small crack initiated from root of thread in stud bolt. The key idea of signal processing is based on the fact that the shape of waveforms from the threads is uniform since the shape of the threads in a bolt is same. If some cracks exist in the thread, the flaw signals are different to the reference signals. It is demonstrated that the small flaws are efficiently detected by novel ultrasonic technique combined with this new signal processing concept. (author)

Generation of urban road dust from anti-skid and asphalt concrete aggregates.

Science.gov (United States)

Tervahattu, Heikki; Kupiainen, Kaarle J; Räisänen, Mika; Mäkelä, Timo; Hillamo, Risto

2006-04-30

Road dust forms an important component of airborne particulate matter in urban areas. In many winter cities the use of anti-skid aggregates and studded tires enhance the generation of mineral particles. The abrasion particles dominate the PM10 during springtime when the material deposited in snow is resuspended. This paper summarizes the results from three test series performed in a test facility to assess the factors that affect the generation of abrasion components of road dust. Concentrations, mass size distribution and composition of the particles were studied. Over 90% of the particles were aluminosilicates from either anti-skid or asphalt concrete aggregates. Mineral particles were observed mainly in the PM10 fraction, the fine fraction being 12% and submicron size being 6% of PM10 mass. The PM10 concentrations increased as a function of the amount of anti-skid aggregate dispersed. The use of anti-skid aggregate increased substantially the amount of PM10 originated from the asphalt concrete. It was concluded that anti-skid aggregate grains contribute to pavement wear. The particle size distribution of the anti-skid aggregates had great impact on PM10 emissions which were additionally enhanced by studded tires, modal composition, and texture of anti-skid aggregates. The results emphasize the interaction of tires, anti-skid aggregate, and asphalt concrete pavement in the production of dust emissions. They all must be taken into account when measures to reduce road dust are considered. The winter maintenance and springtime cleaning must be performed properly with methods which are efficient in reducing PM10 dust.

Computerized UT system for stud bolt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisanuki, T.; Uchida, K.; Fushimi, T.; Onda, K.

1988-01-01

Cracking of stud bolts used in steam turbine casing, valve and pressure vessel has caused concern regarding the safety and reliability of power plants. In order to detect harmful cracks in early state, the improvement of UT technique is required. As regarding the ultrasonic inspection technique, a longitudinal beam technique and/or an angle beam technique are generally used. The authors report their development of a computerized UT system for bolt inspection and improvement of the angle beam technique

Outage performance improvement by state of the art reactor stud tensioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oehler, Horst Werner; Vervliet, Herman

2006-01-01

Actual methods of reactor closing, i.e. cover to vessel sealing, is based on the creation of an equal load to the sealing circumference by tensioning all reactor studs with an equal force. This method ensures leak tightness through equal compression of the reactor seal in normal circumstances and is largely applied for all types of reactors throughout many generations and designs of nuclear power stations. The tension generated in each reactor stud is controlled indirectly by measuring the reactor stud elongation while under stress. Most studs are designed to measure this elongation easily by conventional or more advanced systems (from individual clock gauge to integrated digital transmission to a computer screen). It is this elongation value, prescribed by the reactor vessel/cover manufacturer which must be respected and demonstrated during all reactor closing operations, weather they take place for initial hydro testing, refuelling operations or periodical hydraulic tests of the primary circuit. Closing (and re-opening) of reactor vessels has become a routine operation as it is required for fuel reloading of the reactor core. This operation is performed on all PWR and BWR type of reactors with a large variety of tooling. As most of the utilities have implemented maintenance optimisation programs, the refuelling outage is reduced to a sequence of activities that allow quick and efficient refuelling of the core. The performance and efficiency of instrumentation and tooling deployed during these essential activities are of the utmost importance to minimise the critical path of the refuelling outage. Today, in support of outage performance, many utilities have invested in new and refurbished tooling to allow quick and efficient opening and closing of the reactor vessel. The features and properties of the most performing multi stud tensioning machines currently in service in nuclear power stations world wide (Africa, Europe, Asia and USA) are presented in the paper

High-temperature drying of 7/4 yellow-poplar flitches for S-D-R studs

Science.gov (United States)

R. Sidney Boone; Robert R. Maeglin

1980-01-01

Yellow-poplar was dried as 7/4 flitches at high temperatures and subsequently ripped into studs to meet National Grading Rule Standards for STUD grade. The effects of growth stresses in these flitches from smaller logs appear to be minimized by this process. Dry bulb temperatures from 235° to 295° F were explored in five drying trials. Best results were by drying for...

Effects on accidents of changes in the use of studded tyres in major cities in Norway

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elvik, Rune; Fridstrøm, Lasse; Kaminska, Joanna

2013-01-01

This paper reports the findings of two studies made eleven years apart in Norway (0035 and 0025) to evaluate effects on accidents of changes in the use of studded tyres in major cities in Norway. The first study covered the period from 1991 to 2000, the second study covered the period from 2002...... to 2009. In both these periods, large changes in the percentage of cars using studded tyres were found in the cities that were included in the study. There was, in most cities, a tendency for the use of studded tyres to go down. Effects of these changes on injury accidents were evaluated by means...... of negative binomial regression models, using city and day as the unit of analysis, and including more than twenty explanatory variables in order to control for confounding factors. The effects of changes in the percentage of cars using studded tyres were well described by an accident modification function...

Failure analysis of the stud bolt of a canned motor pump of heavy water plant, Talcher

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Sunil; Sethumadhavan, V.; Sah, D.N.; Sivaramakrishnan, K.S.; Kain, Vivekanand; Gadiyar, H.S.

1990-01-01

Detailed investigations have been carried out on the failed stud bolts (made of DIN 1.4021 X 20Cr 13) of a canned motor pump of Heavy Water Plant, Talcher, using metallographic, microhardness testing, scanning electron microscopy and electron probe micro-analysis(EPMA) techniques. The studs had failed in a brittle manner in the mid-length portion. The origin of the fracture has been identified to be a corroded region on the stud surface. Branching cracks propagating through silicon rich inclusions have been noted. Two types of inclusions, one containing Mn and S and other containing S, Mn and O 2 have been found in the material. Clusters of large and small inclusions of the above types have been found near the origin of the fracture. It has been concluded that the fracture was caused by corrosion fatigue, initiating at the cluster of inclusions present on the surface of the stud bolts. (author). 7 refs., 5 figs

[Energy intake and body weight development of Warmblood foals that changed stud at weaning].

Science.gov (United States)

Mack, J K; Remler, H P; Senckenberg, E; Kienzle, E

2014-01-01

This study investigated the energy requirements of Warmblood foals with a change of the stud at weaning. Nine colts purchased at weaning participated in the study aged approximately 6 months to 1 year. They were transported to the stud by their breeders either having been separated from their dams in their home stable or upon arrival at the stud. The foals were offered a late first cut of haylage, oats and foal starter feed. To ensure individual feeding of concentrates, the foals were tethered twice daily. The total combined haylage intake of all foals per day was recorded. Individual concentrate intake, body weight and body condition score (BCS) were documented at 4-week intervals. The total energy intake was 74 MJ digestible energy (68 MJ metabolisable energy) per animal per day. The foals had been delivered at the stud with a comparably low body weight (285 ± 30 kg) and BCS (4.2 ± 0.4 on a scale from 1 to 9). At the end of the study, aged 319 ± 22 days, they attained an average body weight of 326 ± 24 kg and a BCS of 4.2 ± 0.4. The energy intake of the foals of this study was higher and their body weight development slower than in foals of a parallel study, which were born and raised in the stud and therefore exposed to less stressful weaning conditions. Foals with a comparatively low body weight and BCS at weaning in combination with further stressors need considerably more energy than foals that undergo less stressful weaning conditions.

Ultrasonic measurement on RPV stud-bolt loading under hot transient of Qinshan NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qu Jiadi; Dou Yikang; Zhu Shiming; Lu Jie; Wang Yingguan

1994-01-01

It is a continuation of research work for sealing analysis and tests on the PRV of PWR. It expounds that the key of solving thermal transient sealing problem lies in giving the thermal increment of stud-bolt fatigue life and transient loading spectrum for vessel analysis. The authors recounted the fundamental works and main results of ultrasonic measurement on RPV stud-bolt loading on the reactor of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant. The measuring capability exceeds 1 m length and 300 degree C temperature. Therefore, it is possible to be used in the field of NPP

Calcification of intervertebral discs in the dachshund: a radiographic study of 21 stud-dogs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stigen, O.

1995-01-01

The vertebral columns of 21 clinically normal, 4.9 to 13.2 year old dachshunds were x-rayed. This sample represented 55.3% of all male dachshunds with 20 or more offspring registered with the Norwegian Kennel Club in the period 1985-1989. Calcified intervertebral discs were identified in 9 (42.9%) of the stud-dogs, and the number of calcified discs in each individual varied from 2 to 5 with a mean of 3.7. The frequency of stud-dogs with 1 or more calcified discs was compared with the corresponding frequency in a material of 327 one-year-old dachshunds. In this comparison, the relative risk was estimated with 95% confidence bounds. When the different composition of size and coat varieties in the 2 materials was not considered, the relative risk of calcified discs was found to be 1.77 (0.99-3.2) times higher in stud-dogs than in young dogs. When the different composition of varieties in the 2 materials was considered, the relative risk was found to be 1.9 (1.1-3.4) times higher in stud-dogs than in young dogs. The results of the present study strongly suggest that an increase in the frequency of dachshunds with 1 or more calcified intervertebral discs occurs after 1 year of age

IMPROVEMENT OF TRAFFIC SAFETY BY ROAD-VEHICLE COOPERATIVE SMART CRUISE SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akio HOSAKA

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Hopes have been pinned on the development of intelligent systems for road traffic as a way of solving road traffic safety and other such issues. To be sure, work is moving ahead with the incorporation of intelligent systems into automobiles but, with automobiles alone, there are limits in areas such as environment recognition. Compensation for the limits imposed by automobiles can be provided by the support given to environment recognition and related areas of road infrastructure. This paper examines the special features of vehicles and road infrastructure, and describes what role is played by roads and what role is played by vehicles. On the basis of the observations made, road-vehicle cooperative support systems called “smart cruise systems”, which are currently being developed, will be introduced and the expected effects of these systems will be outlined.

Map Matching for Intelligent Speed Adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tradisauskas, Nerius; Juhl, Jens; Lahrmann, Harry

2007-01-01

The availability of Global Navigation Satellite Systems enables sophisticated vehicle guidance and advisory systems such as Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) systems. In ISA systems, it is essential to be able to position vehicles within a road network. Because digital road networks as well as G...

Common Cause Case Study: An Estimated Probability of Four Solid Rocket Booster Hold-Down Post Stud Hang-ups

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Robert

2005-01-01

Until Solid Rocket Motor ignition, the Space Shuttle is mated to the Mobil Launch Platform in part via eight (8) Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) hold-down bolts. The bolts are fractured using redundant pyrotechnics, and are designed to drop through a hold-down post on the Mobile Launch Platform before the Space Shuttle begins movement. The Space Shuttle program has experienced numerous failures where a bolt has hung up. That is, it did not clear the hold-down post before liftoff and was caught by the SRBs. This places an additional structural load on the vehicle that was not included in the original certification requirements. The Space Shuttle is currently being certified to withstand the loads induced by up to three (3) of eight (8) SRB hold-down experiencing a "hang-up". The results of loads analyses performed for (4) stud hang-ups indicate that the internal vehicle loads exceed current structural certification limits at several locations. To determine the risk to the vehicle from four (4) stud hang-ups, the likelihood of the scenario occurring must first be evaluated. Prior to the analysis discussed in this paper, the likelihood of occurrence had been estimated assuming that the stud hang-ups were completely independent events. That is, it was assumed that no common causes or factors existed between the individual stud hang-up events. A review of the data associated with the hang-up events, showed that a common factor (timing skew) was present. This paper summarizes a revised likelihood evaluation performed for the four (4) stud hang-ups case considering that there are common factors associated with the stud hang-ups. The results show that explicitly (i.e. not using standard common cause methodologies such as beta factor or Multiple Greek Letter modeling) taking into account the common factor of timing skew results in an increase in the estimated likelihood of four (4) stud hang-ups of an order of magnitude over the independent failure case.

Ultrasonic evaluation of friction stud welded AA 6063/AISI 1030 steel joints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hynes, N. Rajesh Jesudoss; Nagaraj, P.; Sujana, J. Angela Jennifa

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Friction stud welding of AA 6063 and AISI 1030 was done successfully. • Ultrasonic evaluation of interfacial properties. • EDX analysis confirms intermetallic compound (FeAl) in the interfacial region. - Abstract: Friction stud welding is a promising technique in many applications related to oil and gas industries. It is used to attach grating to offshore oil platforms in areas where arc welding is not permitted because of the risk of causing a fire or explosion. Attachment of anodes inside seawater discharge pipelines in a gas processing plant is performed by this process. This solid state joining process permits metal combinations such as welding of aluminum studs to steel which would be problematic with arc welding because of the formation of thick and brittle inter-metallic compounds. In the present work, AA 6063 is joined to AISI 1030 steel using friction stud welding machine. Properties that are of interest to manufacturing applications such as Young’s modulus, longitudinal velocity, bulk modulus and shear modulus are evaluated by means of an ultrasonic flaw detector. At the interface of the joint, there is an increase of 4.4%, 1.8%, 1.15% and 4.42% is observed for the properties Young’s modulus, longitudinal velocity, bulk modulus and shear modulus respectively. This is due to the formation of intermetallic compound and increase in hardness at the interfacial region. Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis confirms the presence of FeAl as the intermetallic compound. Scanning Electron Microscope evaluation shows the presence of an unbound zone at the center of the inner region which is due to the minimum rotational speed and low axial load experienced at that point. In the unbound zone, there is an incomplete bond between dissimilar metals and it is detrimental to joint strength. Optimum value of friction time and usage of pure aluminum interlayer during the friction stud welding process hinders the formation of unbound zone and enhances the

Research Algorithm on Building Intelligent Transportation System based on RFID Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuanqi Chen

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Intelligent transportation system to all aspects of organic integration of human, vehicle, road and environment of the transport system, so that the operation of functional integration and intelligent vehicle, road. Intelligent transportation system (ITS to improve the efficiency of traffic system by increasing the effective use and management of traffic information is mainly composed of information collection and input, output, control strategy, implementation of the subsystems of data transmission and communication subsystem. The RFID reader to wireless communication through the antenna and RFID tag can achieve a write operation on the tag identification codes and memory read data. The paper proposes research on building intelligent transportation system based on RFID technology. Experimental results show that ITS system can effectively improve the traffic situation, improve the utilization rate of the existing road resource and save social cost.

The corrosion resistance of materials used for the manufacture of ear piercing studs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Correa, O. V.

2003-12-01

Full Text Available Nickel containing alloys have been widely used as substrates for the manufacture of studs used for ear piercing. Unfortunately, nickel has also been related to the development of allergic contact dermatitis caused by skin sensitization due to Ni²⁺ ions. Nickel ions can be leached out into the body fluids due to corrosion reactions. Defect free coatings are very difficult to produce, and therefore nickel free materials should be used as substrates of ear piercing studs, although the commercial alloys used usually contain this element. In this study, the corrosion resistance of two kinds of commercial studs prepared with nickel containing substrates and a titanium laboratory made stud was determined in a culture medium. The corrosion resistance of the studs was investigated by means of potentiodynamic polarization tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as a function of immersion time in the culture medium. The elements that leached out into the medium due to corrosion reactions were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The surfaces of the commercial gold-coated studs were examined by scanning electron microscopy and analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy, both before and after exposure to the culture medium. The cytotoxicity of the tested studs was also determined in the culture medium.

Aleaciones conteniendo níquel se han utilizado como substratos para la fabricación de aretes perforantes para orejas. Desafortunadamente, el níquel ha sido relacionado con el desarrollo de una reacción alérgica conocida como dermatitis de contacto, causada por la sensibilización debido a los iones de Ni²⁺. Estos iones pueden ser liberados hacia los fluidos corporales debido a las reacciones de corrosión. Los aretes, habitualmente, se revisten con películas de oro. Sin embargo, es muy difícil hacer los revestimientos libres de defectos superficiales. Por lo tanto, materiales sin níquel deber

Modelling and use of the STUDS nuclear power plant simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blomberg, P.E.; Espefaelt, R.; Josefsson, R.; Schuch, N.

1979-02-01

The simulator models, belonging to the STUDS-family, which have been developed at Studsvik in cooperation with the Swedish utilities, are briefly described. The scope of the simulation is presented and the fundamental equations used are indicated. Different needs have led to a number of STUDS-versions for BWR and PWR type plants, primarily intended for application in the following fields: 1) transient analysis, 2) system design verification, 3) control system development, 4) testing of new on-line techniques for disturbance analysis, noise analysis, man-machine communication, etc, 5) training of power plant operators, 6) operational planning. The simulator was initially implemented on a hybrid computer system but more recent work has led to pure digital simulations maintaining the real time feature and adding features like snapshot and backtrack. The latest version for PWR is used at the Halden Project and in the general purpose COMPACT SIMULATOR: developed at Studsvik and made commercially available. (author)

Genetic diversity in selected stud and commercial herds of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Afrikaner is one of three indigenous cattle breeds found in South Africa. Afrikaner cattle were originally extensively used for crossbreeding purposes and breed development. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of selected stud and commercial herds from the whole South African Afrikaner ...

Stud arc welding in a magnetic field – Investigation of the influences on the arc motion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartz-Behrend, K; Forster, G; Schein, J; Marqués, J L; Jenicek, A; Müller, M; Cramer, H; Jilg, A; Soyer, H

2014-01-01

Stud arc welding is widely used in the construction industry. For welding of studs with a diameter larger than 14 mm a ceramic ferrule is usually necessary in order to protect the weld pool. Disadvantages of using such a ferrule are that more metal is molten than necessary for a high quality welded joint and that the ferrule is a consumable generally thrown away after the welding operation. Investigations show that the ferrule can be omitted when the welding is carried out in a radially symmetric magnetic field within a shielding gas atmosphere. Due to the Lorentz force the arc is laterally shifted so that a very uniform and controlled melting of the stud contact surface as well as of the work piece can be achieved. In this paper a simplified physical model is presented describing how the parameters welding current, flux density of the magnetic field, radius of the arc and mass density of the shielding gas influence the velocity of the arc motion. The resulting equation is subsequently verified by comparing it to optical measurements of the arc motion. The proposed model can be used to optimize the required field distribution for the magnetic field stud welding process

A case study of intelligent compaction used in road upgrades

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Leyland, R

2014-08-01

Full Text Available to traditional testing methods. In a field study numerous different IC systems where used during construction of a number of experimental road sections in South Africa. These sections formed part of a road upgrade project typical of most road construction...

Computational Intelligence for Engineering Systems

CERN Document Server

Madureira, A; Vale, Zita

2011-01-01

"Computational Intelligence for Engineering Systems" provides an overview and original analysis of new developments and advances in several areas of computational intelligence. Computational Intelligence have become the road-map for engineers to develop and analyze novel techniques to solve problems in basic sciences (such as physics, chemistry and biology) and engineering, environmental, life and social sciences. The contributions are written by international experts, who provide up-to-date aspects of the topics discussed and present recent, original insights into their own experien

Study on road sign recognition in LabVIEW

Science.gov (United States)

Panoiu, M.; Rat, C. L.; Panoiu, C.

2016-02-01

Road and traffic sign identification is a field of study that can be used to aid the development of in-car advisory systems. It uses computer vision and artificial intelligence to extract the road signs from outdoor images acquired by a camera in uncontrolled lighting conditions where they may be occluded by other objects, or may suffer from problems such as color fading, disorientation, variations in shape and size, etc. An automatic means of identifying traffic signs, in these conditions, can make a significant contribution to develop an Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) that continuously monitors the driver, the vehicle, and the road. Road and traffic signs are characterized by a number of features which make them recognizable from the environment. Road signs are located in standard positions and have standard shapes, standard colors, and known pictograms. These characteristics make them suitable for image identification. Traffic sign identification covers two problems: traffic sign detection and traffic sign recognition. Traffic sign detection is meant for the accurate localization of traffic signs in the image space, while traffic sign recognition handles the labeling of such detections into specific traffic sign types or subcategories [1].

ATTEMPTS FOR OPTIMIZATION THE GENETIC IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS IN HORSE POPULATIONS OF NONIUS VARIETY AND ARDENNES BREED FROM THE IZVIN STUD, TIMIŞ COUNTY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. DRONCA

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Researches were carried out on horse populations of Nonius variety and Ardennes breedfrom Izvin Stud, farm that belongs to the Forestry Direction Timiş. In Romania, Noniusvariety built up at the Mezohegyes Stud in Hungary was imported at Bonţida and Ruşeţu inyear 1920. In year 1940, the two types of Nonius were blended and were raised together atthe Parţa Stud, called later Pădureni Stud. There stayed until year 1967 when the horsepopulation was moved to the Izvin Stud, where is raised together with the Ardennes horseimported from Hungary as well. The aim of the present study was to attempt to optimize thegenetic improvement actions of the horse population from Nonius variety and Ardennesbreed raised at the Izvin Stud. For Nonius variety the main genetic improvement objectiveswere set up as being the improvement of the reproduction traits, correction of the gait inhorses, increasing the energetic capacity, temperament and nervous impulse, as well asother conformation traits. For the Ardennes breed the main genetic improvement objectiveswere considered to be the increase of the constitutional strength, correction of the gait andimprovement of the reproduction indices. The study was ended with a number ofconclusions and recommendations.

THE RELATION BETWEEN DRIVER BEHAVIOR AND INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alica Kalašová

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The main objective of Slovakia’s transport policy is to reduce the number of traffic accidents and increase safety on our roads. Implementation of intelligent transport systems presents one of the possibilities how to meet this goal. Acceptance of these systems by motor vehicle drivers and other road traffic participants is necessary in order for them to fulfill their purpose. Only if the drivers will accept intelligent transport systems, it is possible to flexibly and effectively manage road traffic flexibly and effectively. From the perspective of a driver it concerns, in particular, the possibility of using alternative routes when traffic accidents or other obstacles occurs on the route that would significantly affect the continuity and safety of road traffic. Thanks to these technologies, it is possible to choose the appropriate route while driving, of course based on the criterion, which the driver considers the most important during the transport from origin to destination (driving time, distance from origin to destination, fuel consumption, quality of infrastructure. Information isare provided to the driver through variable message signs or directly in the vehicle (RDS-TMC. Another advantage of intelligent transport systems is a positive impact on psychological well-being of the driver while driving. Additional information about the possible obstacles, weather conditions and dangerous situations that occur on the roads as well as alternative routes are provided to the driver well in advance. This paper is mainly focused on how the drivers perceive the influence of intelligent transport systems in Žilina region.

Site ultrasonic measurement on RPV stud-bolt loading under hot transient of Qinshan NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qu Jiadi; Dou Yikang; Zhu Shiming

1994-08-01

It expounds that the key of solving thermal transient sealing problem is to obtain the thermal increment of stud-bolt loading. This loading, as a primary stress loading, is directly related to the bolt fatigue life and transient loading spectrum for vessel analysis. The fundamental works and main results of ultrasonic measurement on RPV stud-bolt loading on Qinshan site are also presented. The measuring capability has exceeded 1 m in length and temperature of 280 degree C, therefore, it is possible to be used in the field of NPP. The paper is the continuation of research work for sealing analysis and tests on the RPV (see SMiRT-9, 10)

Shear Resistance Capacity of Interface of Plate-Studs Connection between CFST Column and RC Beam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qianqian Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The combination of a concrete-filled steel tube (CFST column and reinforced concrete (RC beam produces a composite structural system that affords good structural performance, functionality, and workability. The effective transmission of moments and shear forces from the beam to the column is key to the full exploitation of the structural performance. The studs of the composite beam transfer the interfacial shear force between the steel beam and the concrete slab, with the web bearing most of the vertical shear force of the steel beam. In this study, the studs and vertical steel plate were welded to facilitate the transfer of the interfacial shear force between the RC beam and CFST column. Six groups of a total of 18 specimens were used to investigate the shear transfer mechanism and failure mode of the plate-studs connection, which was confirmed to effectively transmit the shear forces between the beam and column. The results of theoretical calculations were also observed to be in good agreement with the experimental measurements.

Development of Automatic Ultrasonic Testing Equipment for Pressure-Retaining Studs and Bolts in Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, D. M.; Park, M. H.; Hong, S. S.

1989-01-01

Bolting degradation problems in primary coolant pressure boundary applications have become a major concern in the nuclear industry. In the bolts concerned, the failure mechanism was either corrosion wastage(loss of bolt diameter) or stress-corrosion cracking. Here the manual ultrasonic testing of RPV(Reactor Pressure Vessel) and RCP(Reactor Coolant Pump) stud has been performed. But it is difficult to detect indications because examiner can not exactly control the rotation angle and can not distinguish the indication from signals of bolt. In many cases, the critical sizes of damage depth are very small(1-2 mm order). At critical size, the crack tends to propagatecompletly through the bolt under stress, Resulting in total fracture. Automatic stud scanner for studs(bolts) was developed because the precise measurement of bolt diameter is required in this circumstance. By use of this scanner, the rotation angle of probe was exactly controlled and the exposure time of radiations was reduced

Application of Artificial Intelligence in Prediction of Road Freight Transportation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogna Mrowczynska

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Road freight transport often requires the prediction of volume. Such knowledge is necessary to capture trends in the industry and support decision making by large and small trucking companies. The aim of the presented work is to demonstrate that application of some artificial intelligence methods can improve the accuracy of the forecasts. The first method employed was double exponential smoothing. The modification of this method has been proposed. Not only the parameters but also the initial values were set in order to minimize the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE using the artificial immune system. This change resulted in a marked improvement in the effects of minimization, and suggests that the variability of the initial value of S2 has an impact on this result. Then, the forecasting Bayesian networks method was applied. The Bayesian network approach is able to take into account not only the historical data concerning the volume of freight, but also the data related to the overall state of the national economy. This significantly improves the quality of forecasting. The application of this approach can also help in predicting the trend changes caused by overall state of economy, which is rather impossible when analysing only the historical data.

Innovation on structure of all automatic multi-studs four synchronous installing machine used in PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Qirong; Zou Xiyang

2002-01-01

First of all from structure bring forth many new ideas. New stud, nut and a brand-new installing machine have been designed. In main machine, the integrated gear mechanism simple in structure achieves synchronous turning function, instead of the precision, complicated, expensive manipulator or robot. In aspect of supervising and controlling, computer electro-hydraulic proportional control and advanced examine measure system have been designed to measure stress and extension of stud as tensioning. Mathematics model and transmit function have been built using theory of modern times fluid transmission and control. As a result four synchronous installing has been achieved

Effects of herd origin, AI stud and sire identification on genetic evaluation of Holstein Friesian bulls

OpenAIRE

Giovanni Bittante; Paolo Carnier; Luigi Gallo Gallo; Riccardo Dal Zotto; Martino Cassandro

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of herd origin of bull, AI stud and sire identification number (ID)  on official estimated breeding values (EBV) for production traits of Holstein Friesian proven bulls. The data included 1,005  Italian Holstein-Friesian bulls, sons of 76 sires, born in 100 herds and progeny tested by 10 AI studs. Bulls were required  to have date of first proof between September 1992 and September 1997, to be born in a herd with at least on...

Measured effect of emotional intelligence education in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the effects of Emotional Intelligence education in the remediation of aggressive behaviours among the members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ibadan metropolis. Eighty-nine (89) member of the NURTW who were randomly selected from Gate, Molete and Iwo Road ...

The Application of The Double Queue Asymmetric Gated Service Polling Control Theory in Intelligent Traffic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Yi Fan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available paper presents a new use of double queues asymmetric gated service polling system in the intelligent traffic light control system.Usually there are more vehicles in main road than minor road,so there are more green light time be needed in the main road.From the computer simulation and theory analysis,we can find that the application of double queues asymmetric gated service polling theory in intelligent traffic system can balance intersections load and set suitable passing time for vehicles to assure the roads open.

Changes in United States Advertising 1976-1986 (a la Studs Terkel).

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, DeForrest; Lamb, Christopher J.

To examine the most important changes in marketing and advertising of the decade from 1976 to 1986, more than 100 people were interviewed, and their responses were fashioned into an oral history modeled on the technique used in Studs Terkel's popular books. Among those interviewed were advertising and marketing professionals, as well as casual…

Examination of failed studs from No. 2 steam generator at the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czajkowski, C.

1983-02-01

Three studs removed from service on the primary manway cover from steam generator No. 2 of the Maine Yankee station were sent to Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for examination. The examination consisted of visual/dye penetrant examination, optical metallography and Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) evaluation. One bolt was through cracked and its fracture face was generally transgranular in nature with numerous secondary intergranular cracks. The report concludes that the environmenally assisted cracking of the stud was due to the interaction of the various lubricants used with steam leaks associated with this manway cover

Screwing or unscrewing device for studs or bolls of big dimension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sevelinge, G.; Bourdonne, J.C.

1988-01-01

The device for screwing or unscrewing large studs or bolts has a system determining the optimun screwing position and orientation of the bolt, a variable speed bidirectional drive a pin holding the bolt axially and system compensating the weight of the bolt with an hydraulic jack with a pressure detector to which the drive is slaved [fr

Model architecture of intelligent data mining oriented urban transportation information

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bogang; Tao, Yingchun; Sui, Jianbo; Zhang, Feizhou

2007-06-01

Aiming at solving practical problems in urban traffic, the paper presents model architecture of intelligent data mining from hierarchical view. With artificial intelligent technologies used in the framework, the intelligent data mining technology improves, which is more suitable for the change of real-time road condition. It also provides efficient technology support for the urban transport information distribution, transmission and display.

Detection of stress corrosion cracks in reactor pressure vessel and primary coolant system anchor studs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Light, G.M.; Joshi, N.R.

1987-01-01

Under Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) contract No. 2179-2, southwest Research Institute is continuing work on the use of the cylindrically guided wave technique (CGWT) for inspecting stud bolts. Also being evaluated is the application of the CGWT to the inspection of reactor coolant pump shafts. Data have been collected for stud bolts ranging from 16 to 112 inches (40.6 to 285 cm) in length, and from 1 to 4.5 inches (2.54 to 11.4 cm) in diameter. For each bolt size, tests were conducted to determine the smallest detectable notch, the effect of thread noise, and the amount of detectable simulated corrosion. The ratio of reflected longitudinal signals to mode-converted signals was analyzed with respect to bolt diameter, bolt length, and frequency parameters. The results of these test showed the following: (1) The minimum detectable notch in the threaded region was approximately 0.05 inch (1.3 mm) for all stud bolts evaluated. (2) Thread noise could easily be detected, but the level of noise was below the minimum detectable notch signal. (3) For carbon steel, optimum transducer frequency was 5 MHz, using a transducer whose face had an impedance that matched the steel surface. (4) Simulated corrosion of 15% reduced diameter could be detected

Assessing Road Traffic Expression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fábio Silva

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Road traffic is a problem which is increasing in cities with large population. Unrelated to this fact the number of portable and wearable devices has also been increasing throughout the population of most countries. With this advent, the capacity to monitor and register data about people habits and locations as well as more complex data such as intensity and strength of movements has created an opportunity to contribute to the general wealth and comfort within these environments. Ambient Intelligence and Intelligent Decision Making processes can benefit from the knowledge gathered by these devices to improve decisions on everyday tasks such as deciding navigation routes by car, bicycle or other means of transportation and avoiding route perils. The concept of computational sustainability may also be applied to this problem. Current applications in this area demonstrate the usefulness of real time system that inform the user of certain conditions in the surrounding area. On the other hand, the approach presented in this work aims to describe models and approaches to automatically identify current states of traffic inside cities and use methods from computer science to improve overall comfort and the sustainability of road traffic both with the user and the environment in mind. Such objective is delivered by analyzing real time contributions from those mobile ubiquitous devices to identifying problematic situations and areas under a defined criteria that have significant influence towards a sustainable use of the road transport infrastructure.

Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction (IMRCP)

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-17

Intelligent transportation system deployments have enabled great advances in operational awareness and response based on the data they gather on the current state of the roadways. The next step in decision support is to forecast road conditions and b...

Remote controlled stud bolt handling device for reactor pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shindo, Takenori; Shigehiro, Katsuya; Ito, Morio; Okada, Kenji

1988-01-01

In nuclear power stations, at the time of regular inspection, the works of opening and fixing the upper covers of reactor pressure vessels are carried out for inspecting the inside of reactor pressure vessels and exchanging fuel rods. These upper covers are fastened with many stud bolts, therefore, the works of opening and fixing require a large amount of labor, and are done under the restricted condition of wearing protective clothings and masks. Babcock Hitachi K.K. has completed the development of a remotely controlled automatic bolt tightenig device for this purpose, therefore, its outline is reported. The conventional method of these works and the problems in it are described. The design of the new device aimed at the parallel execution of cleaning screw threads, loosening and tightening nuts, and taking off and putting on nuts and washers, thus contributing to the shortening of regular inspection period, the reduction of the radiation exposure of workers, and the decrease of the number of workers. The function, reliability and endurance of the new device were confirmed by the verifying test using a device made for trial. The device is composed of a stand, a rail and four stations each with a cleaning unit, a stud tensioner and a nut handling unit. (K.I.)

VIPEN - Vehicle induced particulate emissions from non-exhaust sources; Katupoelypaeaestoejen ajoneuvomittaukset. VIPEN-projekti

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kupiainen, K.; Tervahattu, H. [Nordic Envicon Oy, Helsinki (Finland); Pirjola, L.; Perhoniemi, P. [Stadia Helsinki Polytechnic, Helsinki (Finland); Vesala, H. [VTT Processes, Espoo (Finland)

2006-10-15

In the VIPEN-project the measurement set up of the mobile laboratory Sniffer (see project LIPIKA) was extended to include on-line measurements of non-exhaust particles. The test measurements showed that the system is a good tool for studying emissions of respirable particles from street surface. Valuable information about emission levels in different situations has been gathered. So far Sniffer has measured spring-time road dust in Helsinki on a route set in urban environment. PM levels in Helsinki were observed to decline towards beginning of May. Hot spot street sections with higher emission levels could be identified. Also the effect of studded tires and road sanding has been studied in Nokia. Both studs and traction sanding increased emission levels. Emission levels from studs varied with stud design and amount of studs per tire. The direct emission increase from traction sanding was larger than from studded tires but the levels started to decline immediately after dispersion as passing traffic swept the material aside. (orig.)

INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES FOR MONITORING AND INTELLECTUAL ROAD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

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G. Belov

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Review of automatic management of road traffic technologies in major cities of Ukraine is carried out in the given article. Priority directions of studies are determined for producing modern and perspective technologies in the given area. The facilities for monitoring and intelligence management of the road traffic on the basis of the programmed logical controller, using the device of fuzzy logic are considered.

Identification of magnetic particulates in road dust accumulated on roadside snow using magnetic, geochemical and micro-morphological analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bucko, Michal S.; Magiera, Tadeusz; Johanson, Bo; Petrovsky, Eduard; Pesonen, Lauri J.

2011-01-01

The aim of this study is to test the applicability of snow surveying in the collection and detailed characterization of vehicle-derived magnetic particles. Road dust extracted from snow, collected near a busy urban highway and a low traffic road in a rural environment (southern Finland), was studied using magnetic, geochemical and micro-morphological analyses. Significant differences in horizontal distribution of mass specific magnetic susceptibility (χ) were noticed for both roads. Multi-domain (MD) magnetite was identified as the primary magnetic mineral. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses of road dust from both roads revealed: (1) angular-shaped particles (diameter ∼1-300 μm) mostly composed of Fe, Cr and Ni, derived from circulation of motor vehicles and (2) iron-rich spherules (d ∼ 2-70 μm). Tungsten-rich particles (d < 2 μm), derived from tyre stud abrasion were also identified. Additionally, a decreasing trend in χ and selected trace elements was observed with increasing distance from the road edge. - Highlights: → Snow surveying is an effective method in studies of vehicle-derived particles. → Multi-domain (MD) magnetite was identified as the primary magnetic mineral. → Particles mostly composed of Fe, Cr and Ni were identified in the roadside snow. → Snow located near the road is contaminated by heavy metals. - Snow surveying is an effective method in detailed studies of vehicle-derived magnetic particles.

Neuro-Fuzzy Prediction of Cooperation Interaction Profile of Flexible Road Train Based on Hybrid Automaton Modeling

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Banjanovic-Mehmedovic Lejla

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate prediction of traffic information is important in many applications in relation to Intelligent Transport systems (ITS, since it reduces the uncertainty of future traffic states and improves traffic mobility. There is a lot of research done in the field of traffic information predictions such as speed, flow and travel time. The most important research was done in the domain of cooperative intelligent transport system (C-ITS. The goal of this paper is to introduce the novel cooperation behaviour profile prediction through the example of flexible Road Trains useful road cooperation parameter, which contributes to the improvement of traffic mobility in Intelligent Transportation Systems. This paper presents an approach towards the control and cooperation behaviour modelling of vehicles in the flexible Road Train based on hybrid automaton and neuro-fuzzy (ANFIS prediction of cooperation profile of the flexible Road Train. Hybrid automaton takes into account complex dynamics of each vehicle as well as discrete cooperation approach. The ANFIS is a particular class of the ANN family with attractive estimation and learning potentials. In order to provide statistical analysis, RMSE (root mean square error, coefficient of determination (R2 and Pearson coefficient (r, were utilized. The study results suggest that ANFIS would be an efficient soft computing methodology, which could offer precise predictions of cooperative interactions between vehicles in Road Train, which is useful for prediction mobility in Intelligent Transport systems.

Particles from wood smoke and road traffic differently affect the innate immune system of the lung.

Science.gov (United States)

Samuelsen, Mari; Cecilie Nygaard, Unni; Løvik, Martinus

2009-09-01

The effect of particles from road traffic and wood smoke on the innate immune response in the lung was studied in a lung challenge model with the intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Female Balb/cA mice were instilled intratracheally with wood smoke particles, particles from road traffic collected during winter (studded tires used; St+), and during autumn (no studded tires; St-), or diesel exhaust particles (DEP). Simultaneously with, and 1 or 7 days after particle instillation, 10(5) bacteria were inoculated intratracheally. Bacterial numbers in the lungs and spleen 1 day after Listeria challenge were determined, as an indicator of cellular activation. In separate experiments, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was collected 4 h and 24 h after particle instillation. All particles tested reduced the numbers of bacteria in the lung 24 h after bacterial inoculation. When particles were given simultaneously with Listeria, the reduction was greatest for DEP, followed by St+ and St-, and least for wood smoke particles. Particle effects were no longer apparent after 7 days. Neutrophil numbers in BAL fluid were increased for all particle exposed groups. St+ and St- induced the highest levels of IL-1beta, MIP-2, MCP-1, and TNF-alpha, followed by DEP, which induced no TNF-alpha. In contrast, wood smoke particles only increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, indicating a cytotoxic effect of these particles. In conclusion, all particles tested activated the innate immune system as determined with Listeria. However, differences in kinetics of anti-Listeria activity and levels of proinflammatory mediators point to cellular activation by different mechanisms.

Road traffic safety in conjunction with in-vehicle ITS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darja TOPOLŠEK

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Interest in Intelligent Transportation Systems comes from the problems caused by traffic congestion, road accidents and air pollution. Traffic congestion continues to grow worldwide as a result of increased motorization, population growth, changes in population density and urbanization. Interest in ITS can also be attributed to reducing road accidents and increasing traffic safety. The most common causes for road accidents are excessive speed, inattentive driving and ignorance of the right-of-way rules. To eliminate these causes, experience, knowledge of traffic regulations and a new car are not enough – vehicle safety systems have to take part as well. Therefore, the European Union issued a directive on the installation of intelligent systems, whose functions are active support during driving, warning the driver in dangerous situations and alerting passengers of the car in case of irregularities in motor function or actions carried out by the driver that may cause danger, such as swerving while falling asleep. These systems help drivers to avoid accidents, and in the event of a collision, an emergency call is automatically made. Furthermore, they can be used to regulate traffic patterns or to reduce engine performance, which would reduce pollution. With these benefits in mind, the EU has indicated to the automotive industry that installation of these new Intelligent Transportation Systems should be mandatory in their new vehicles.

Economic and cultural correlates of road-traffic accident fatality rates in OECD countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaygisiz, Esma

2009-10-01

The relationships between economic conditions, cultural characteristics, personality dimensions, intelligence scores, and road-traffic accident mortality rates were investigated in 30 member and five accession countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Economic indicators included the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, the unemployment rate, and the Gini index. Cultural variables included five Hofstede's cultural dimensions, seven Schwartz cultural value dimensions, NEO-PI-R scales, and the intelligence quotient (IQ). The results showed positive associations between favorable economic conditions (high income per capita, high employment rate, and low income inequality) and high traffic safety. Countries with higher road-traffic accident fatality rates were characterized by higher power distance and uncertainty avoidance as well as embeddedness and emphasis on social hierarchy. Countries with lower road-traffic accident fatality rates were more individualistic, egalitarian, and emphasized autonomy of individuals. Conscientiousness (from NEO-PI-R) and IQ correlated negatively with road-traffic accident fatalities.

Beyond Artificial Intelligence toward Engineered Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Bozinovski, Stevo; Bozinovska, Liljana

This paper addresses the field of Artificial Intelligence, road it went so far and possible road it should go. The paper was invited by the Conference of IT Revolutions 2008, and discusses some issues not emphasized in AI trajectory so far. The recommendations are that the main focus should be personalities rather than programs or agents, that genetic environment should be introduced in reasoning about personalities, and that limbic system should be studied and modeled. Engineered Psychology is proposed as a road to go. Need for basic principles in psychology are discussed and a mathematical equation is proposed as fundamental law of engineered and human psychology.

Improvement in or relating to bolts or studs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seward, W.H.

1977-01-01

Reference is made to anti-seize bolts or studs for use in extreme conditions, such as in nuclear power plants. A number of methods have been proposed for avoiding seizure, but have met with limited success. One approach to this problem is to coat the surfaces of the steel bolt in such a way that the contacting surfaces of the bolt and its associated nut are sufficiently dissimilar for molecular seizure to be avoided. It has been discovered that greatly improved resistance to seizing can be obtained by hard plating the entire thread of an alloy steel bolt with Cr. After Cr plating the bolt is de-embrittled by suitable heat treatment. (U.K.)

Providing an efficient intelligent transportation system through ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

present view point, analysis of traffic signs are first considered via intelligence based ... colour information has been only used in segmentation, once detection .... Because number of road sign shapes is more than two classes, multi-class ...

Ultrasonic inspection of studs (bolts) using dynamic predictive deconvolution and wave shaping.

Science.gov (United States)

Suh, D M; Kim, W W; Chung, J G

1999-01-01

Bolt degradation has become a major issue in the nuclear industry since the 1980's. If small cracks in stud bolts are not detected early enough, they grow rapidly and cause catastrophic disasters. Their detection, despite its importance, is known to be a very difficult problem due to the complicated structures of the stud bolts. This paper presents a method of detecting and sizing a small crack in the root between two adjacent crests in threads. The key idea is from the fact that the mode-converted Rayleigh wave travels slowly down the face of the crack and turns from the intersection of the crack and the root of thread to the transducer. Thus, when a crack exists, a small delayed pulse due to the Rayleigh wave is detected between large regularly spaced pulses from the thread. The delay time is the same as the propagation delay time of the slow Rayleigh wave and is proportional to the site of the crack. To efficiently detect the slow Rayleigh wave, three methods based on digital signal processing are proposed: wave shaping, dynamic predictive deconvolution, and dynamic predictive deconvolution combined with wave shaping.

INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY ON THE STUDDED AGARICUS BLAZEI MURRILL MUSHROOM COMPOST

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Sándor Rózsa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Almond mushroom, Agaricus blazei Murrill, is the so-called secondary saprophyte, developing on partially processed substrate, in which microorganisms reduced complex ligno-cellulose compounds. Numerous authors have shown that due to the similar life cycle in the cultivation of almond mushroom technologies developed for white button mushroom may be applied. However, almond mushroom requires high temperature and high humidity as well as access to light to form fruiting bodies. In Brazil, due to the advantageous climatic conditions this species is frequently grown outdoors; however, in other countries - mainly due to its high temperature requirements - such cultivation system is risky and may only be successful during very warm summers. In this study, we analyzed four kind of compost studded by Agaricus blazei Murrill mushroom mycelium. We recorded every hour the air and compost temperature and the air relative humidity. The best studded compost was the classical, followed by synthetic and then by the mixt compost.

Anthelmintic efficacy on Parascaris equorum in foals on Swedish studs

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Christensson Dan

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the last few years stud farms have experienced increasing problems with Parascaris equorum infections in foals despite intensive deworming programs. This has led to the question as to whether the anthelmintic drugs used against this parasite are failing. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of ivermectin, fenbendazole and pyrantel on the faecal output of ascarid eggs of foals. Methods A Faecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT was performed on nine large studs in Sweden. Anthelmintic drugs were given orally and faecal samples were examined for ascarid eggs on the day of deworming and 14 days later. Faecal Egg Count Reductions (FECRs were calculated on arithmetic means of transformed individual FECRs and on arithmetic means of individual FECRs. Results Seventy-nine (48% out of a total of 165 foals sampled were positive for P. equorum eggs before deworming and 66 of these met the criteria for being used in the efficacy assessment. It was shown that there was no, or very low activity of ivermectin on the output of ascarid eggs in the majority of the foals, whereas for fenbendazole and pyrantel it was >90%. Conclusion Ivermectin resistance was shown in 5 out of 6 farms. Therefore, ivermectin should not be the drug of choice in the control of P. equorum infections in foals. According to the results of this study, fenbendazole or pyrantel are still effective and should be used against this parasite.

Research on architecture of intelligent transportation cloud platform for Guangxi expressway

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Pan; Huang, Zhongxiang; He, Zengzhen

2017-04-01

In view of the practical needs of the intelligent transportation business collaboration, a model on intelligent traffic business collaboration is established. Aarchitecture of intelligent traffic cloud platformfor high speed road is proposed which realizes the loose coupling of each intelligent traffic business module. Based on custom technology in database design, it realizes the dynamic customization of business function which means that different roles can dynamically added business functions according to the needs. Through its application in the development and implementation of the actual business system, the architecture is proved to be effective and feasible.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUTOMATED ROAD TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS IN MINSK AS PART OF THE INTELLECTUAL CITY TRANSPORT SYSTEM

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D. V. Kapskiy

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The results of the analysis of Minsk city transport system performance. It is shown that the growth of car ownership has caused a number of problems, among which the low-speed communication, bad driving modes, the presence of elevated levels of congestion and accidents. The corresponding figures for accidents in Minsk and some cities in the world that allow to characterize the transport system of the city of Minsk, as satisfactory. To improve the system and improve the quality of traffic necessary to create intelligent transport system of the city of Minsk. Intelligent Transportation System, being a global trend, enables dramatically improve road quality. Automated traffic control system and other subsystems as part of the Intelligent Transportation Systems are tools for achieving the goals for improving the safety and comfort of road users. It is proposed as a base for its creation to choose an automated traffic control system, which has a corresponding functional, structural, organizational and institutional provisions for its development. The technological requirements for the functioning of an integrated system, which relate to the level of efficiency, including accidents on sections of the road network included in the created system. Modernization of the automated traffic control system and its transformation into an intelligent transport system will reduce emergency, economic and environmental, and social costs in the road traffic is not less than 15 % from their current level, despite the steady growth of car ownership in the city. It is planned to create a complete intelligent transportation system.

Simulations of drastically reduced SBS with laser pulses composed of a Spike Train of Uneven Duration and Delay (STUD pulses)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hueller, S.; Afeyan, B.

2013-01-01

By comparing the impact of established laser smoothing techniques like Random Phase Plates (RPP) and Smoothing by Spectral Dispersion (SSD) to the concept of 'Spike Trains of Uneven Duration and Delay' (STUD pulses) on the amplification of parametric instabilities in laser-produced plasmas, we show with the help of numerical simulations, that STUD pulses can drastically reduce instability growth by orders of magnitude. The simulation results, obtained with the code Harmony in a nonuniformly flowing mm-size plasma for the Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) instability, show that the efficiency of the STUD pulse technique is due to the fact that successive re-amplification in space and time of parametrically excited plasma waves inside laser hot spots is minimized. An overall mean fluctuation level of ion acoustic waves at low amplitude is established because of the frequent change of the speckle pattern in successive spikes. This level stays orders of magnitude below the levels of ion acoustic waves excited in hot spots of RPP and SSD laser beams. (authors)

Ex-ante assessment of the safety effects of intelligent transport systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulmala, Risto

2010-07-01

There is a need to develop a comprehensive framework for the safety assessment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This framework should: (1) cover all three dimensions of road safety-exposure, crash risk and consequence, (2) cover, in addition to the engineering effect, also the effects due to behavioural adaptation and (3) be compatible with the other aspects of state of the art road safety theories. A framework based on nine ITS safety mechanisms is proposed and discussed with regard to the requirements set to the framework. In order to illustrate the application of the framework in practice, the paper presents a method based on the framework and the results from applying that method for twelve intelligent vehicle systems in Europe. The framework is also compared to two recent frameworks applied in the safety assessment of intelligent vehicle safety systems. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and anti-swing control of an automated measurement robot system for multi-stud tensioning machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Haoyuan; Li Meng; Duan Xingguang; Gao Liang; Cui Tengfei; Guo Yanjun

2017-01-01

During nuclear power plant maintenance, the multi-stud tensioning machine is used to perform opening/sealing the cap of the reactor pressure vessel. This process incorporates elongations of 58 studs, whose extension values are monitored in real time by measurement meters. Conventionally, the placements of the meters are performed by human labor, which is time consuming and radioactively hazardous. In this paper, we introduce an automated measurement robot system, consisting of 58 node robots and multiple field bus based distributed control devices, to complete meter placement and data acquisition tasks without human involvement in the hazardous working site. In order to eliminate the swing phenomenon of the wire-driven meter adaptor on the robot distal end, extra-insensitive input shaper is employed for robot motion control, thus saving the overall operation time from traditionally over 10 minutes to less than 22 s. (author)

Road identification for its-integrated systems of automotive active safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Ivanov

2005-04-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses several aspects of active safety control for automotive application. Particular emphasis is placed on the fuzzy logic determination of friction properties of a tyre-road contact. An example of vehicle control systems equipped with off-board sensors of road roughness, temperature, moisture and rain intensity demonstrates the implementation of this approach. The paper proposes conceptual solutions for preventive active safety control applied to vehicles which are integrated in an intelligent transportation system.

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Friction Tapered Stud Overlap Welding for X65 Pipeline Steel Under Wet Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Y. C.; Jing, H. Y.; Han, Y. D.; Xu, L. Y.

2017-08-01

This paper exhibits a novel in situ remediation technique named friction tapered stud overlap welding (FTSOW) to repair a through crack in structures and components in extremely harsh environments. Furthermore, this paper presents variations in process data, including rotational speed, stud displacement, welding force, and torque for a typical FTSOW weld. In the present study, the effects of welding parameters on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the welding joints were investigated. Inapposite welding parameters consisted of low rotational speeds and welding forces, and when utilized, they increased the occurrence of a lack of bonding and unfilled defects within the weld. The microstructures with a welding zone and heat-affected zone mainly consisted of upper bainite. The hardness value was highest in the welding zone and lowest in the base material. During the pull-out tests, all the welds failed in the stud. Moreover, the defect-free welds broke at the interface of the lap plate and substrate during the cruciform uniaxial tensile test. The best tensile test results at different depths and shear tests were 721.6 MPa and 581.9 MPa, respectively. The favorable Charpy impact-absorbed energy was 68.64 J at 0 °C. The Charpy impact tests revealed a brittle fracture characteristic with a large area of cleavage.

Effects of commercial selenium products on glutathione peroxidase activity and semen quality in stud boars

Science.gov (United States)

The aim of this study was to determine how dietary supplementation of inorganic and organic selenium affects selenium concentration and glutathione peroxidase activity in blood and sperm of sexually mature stud boars. Twenty-four boars of the Large White, Landrace, Pietrain, and Duroc breeds of opt...

The Application of the Exhaustive Polling Theory in Intelligent Traffic System

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Wang Meng Yao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new use of exhaustive service polling system in the intelligent traffic light control system.Vehicles arrival rate is measured in the system. Through the relationship between arrival rate and mean waiting time ,mean queue length in exhaustive service polling system, achieved an technology that intelligent adjust the length of traffic light time according to the arrive rate.The more arrive rate the longer green light time. With the intelligent control, the road capacity is more.

Detection of atypical porcine pestivirus in semen from commercial boar studs in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Gatto, I R H; Arruda, P H; Visek, C A; Victoria, J G; Patterson, A R; Krull, A C; Schwartz, K J; de Oliveira, L G; Arruda, B L

2018-04-01

Atypical porcine pestivirus (APPV) has recently been identified as a cause of congenital tremor (CT) in pigs and has been detected in semen and preputial swabs from boars that were known to be clinically affected with CT. Accordingly, the objectives of this study were to 1) detect the presence of APPV in semen, preputial fluids and preputial swabs from adult boars by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and 2) genetically characterize a subset of positive samples to better understand the ecology of APPV in commercial boar studs and the potential risk of transmission of APPV via semen. A total of 597 samples of semen, preputial fluid and preputial swabs each representing a different boar were obtained from four commercial boar studs located in three different states in the United States. Viral RNA was detected by qRT-PCR in 90 samples (15.08%; 90/597), with the greatest per cent positive from preputial swabs (23.81%; 5/21) followed by preputial fluid (22.81%; 26/114) and semen (12.91%; 59/457). The mean cycle quantification (Cq) between sample types was similar while eleven semen samples had Cq values lower than 27.0 corresponding to approximately 2 × 10 6  copies/ml. Based on phylogenetic analysis of the Npro gene, different viral strains can be on the same farm at the same and different times. This is the first report of detection of APPV in semen from commercial boar studs. Studies investigating the role of semen in the transmission of APPV and production of CT are needed. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Remote monitoring of air movement through a high-rise, brick veneer and steel-stud wall system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Niemeyer, T.A.; Genge, G.R. [GRG Building Consultants Inc. (Canada)

2011-07-01

Since the early 20th century, research on building enclosures has been going on in the form of field investigations and laboratory testing, but real-time monitoring of buildings is relatively new. Compact sensors and programmable data logging equipment have allowed thorough, real-time trend analysis of occupied buildings. This paper discusses the remote monitoring of air movement using a high-rise brick veneer and steel-stud wall system. This equipment was installed across the exterior wall assembly. Temperature and air moisture content within the stud cavity and outdoor to indoor air pressure difference was measured across the entire assembly and in series across the various components of the wall. For outdoor conditions, local airport weather records were used. Comparing collected temperature data and the theoretical thermal model, it was concluded that there was air leakage. From the overall project, lessons learned included that is was important to minimize discomfort, both in aesthetics and in the number of requests for access to homes for analyses.

Intelligent transport systems (UTS) and driving behaviour: setting the agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijden, R.E.C.M. van der; Marchau, V.A.W.J.; Thissen, W.A.H.; Wieinga, P.; Pantic, M.; Ludema, M.

2004-01-01

The application of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), in particular advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), is expected to improve the performance of road transportation significantly. Public policy makers, among others, are therefore increasingly interested in the implementation

Application of Artificial Intelligence for Optimization in Pavement Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reus Salini

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Artificial intelligence (AI is a group of techniques that have quite a potential to be applied to pavement engineering and management. In this study, we developed a practical, flexible and out of the box approach to apply genetic algorithms to optimizing the budget allocation and the road maintenance strategy selection for a road network. The aim is to provide an alternative to existing software and better fit the requirements of an important number of pavement managers. To meet the objectives, a new indicator, named Road Global Value Index (RGVI, was created to contemplate the pavement condition, the traffic and the economic and political importance for each and every road section. This paper describes the approach and its components by an example confirming that genetic algorithms are very effective for the intended purpose.

Self-organized natural roads for predicting traffic flow: a sensitivity study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Bin; Zhao, Sijian; Yin, Junjun

2008-01-01

In this paper, we extended road-based topological analysis to both nationwide and urban road networks, and concentrated on a sensitivity study with respect to the formation of self-organized natural roads based on the Gestalt principle of good continuity. Both annual average daily traffic (AADT) and global positioning system (GPS) data were used to correlate with a series of ranking metrics including five centrality-based metrics and two PageRank metrics. It was found that there exists a tipping point from segment-based to road-based network topology in terms of correlation between ranking metrics and their traffic. To our great surprise, (1) this correlation is significantly improved if a selfish rather than utopian strategy is adopted in forming the self-organized natural roads, and (2) point-based metrics assigned by summation into individual roads tend to have a much better correlation with traffic flow than line-based metrics. These counter-intuitive surprising findings constitute emergent properties of self-organized natural roads, which are intelligent enough for predicting traffic flow, thus shedding substantial light on the understanding of road networks and their traffic from the perspective of complex networks

Use of the cylindrically guided wave technique for the inspection of stud bolts, valve stems and pump shafts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Light, G.M.; Bloom, E.A.; Ruescher, E.H.; Lui, S.N.

1989-01-01

Over the last several years, nuclear power plants have expressed concern about failures of bolting, valve stems, and pump shafts. This paper reports on the development of an ultrasonic technique to inspect these components. The authors have successfully demonstrated the cylindrically guided wave technique (CGWT) on a wide range of stud bolts. The CGWT employs zero-degree longitudinal waves constrained to travel within the boundary of the cylindrically shaped components during inspection. Theoretically explained, mode conversion occurs because the ultrasonic wave is guided down the length of the component. These mode-converted signals are dependent upon the diameter of the component under inspection and the longitudinal- and shear-wave velocities of the component material. This technique has also been successfully used on valve stems in the field. The geometry of the valve stem is very similar to that of the stud bolt

VIRMS: A VEHICLE INFORMATION AND ROAD MONITORING SYSTEM

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Fabio Arnéz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS are emerging technologies for building collaborative vehicular networks to increase road safety and to improve driver’s experience. Unfortunately these technologies require heavy infrastructure to be deployed inside and outside the vehicle that is difficult to extend. In this article we present VIRMS (Vehicle Information and Road Monitoring System, an ITS that is based on low-cost and small footprint client and server infrastructure that was designed to increase vehicular security and reduce accident rates along highways. The VIRMS remote client device is an on board vehicle electronic device that gathers data from sensors and processes the collected data that is sent to the VIRMS server in order to keep drivers informed with precise context information through the detection and identification of events (accidents, traffic jams, bad weather conditions, etc. along the roads. A prototype running tests on Bolivian highways show that VIRMS can give a technological answer to a real problem where road safety is one of the highest issues and cause of mortality.

Fixed Point Learning Based Intelligent Traffic Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Zongyao, Wang; Cong, Sui; Cheng, Shao

2017-10-01

Fixed point learning has become an important tool to analyse large scale distributed system such as urban traffic network. This paper presents a fixed point learning based intelligence traffic network control system. The system applies convergence property of fixed point theorem to optimize the traffic flow density. The intelligence traffic control system achieves maximum road resources usage by averaging traffic flow density among the traffic network. The intelligence traffic network control system is built based on decentralized structure and intelligence cooperation. No central control is needed to manage the system. The proposed system is simple, effective and feasible for practical use. The performance of the system is tested via theoretical proof and simulations. The results demonstrate that the system can effectively solve the traffic congestion problem and increase the vehicles average speed. It also proves that the system is flexible, reliable and feasible for practical use.

THE ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTION INDICES IN THE TRANSYLVANIAN HALF-HEAVY HORSE BREED IN BECLEAN STUD FARM

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IOANA CAMELIA LUDU

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The values of the main reproduction indices for the Transylvanian half-heavy horsematerial from Beclean stud farm are presented and analysed in this paper. Theanalysis is based on the data obtained from the evidence of the reproduction activityof 126 mother mares, data recorded in the period between 2000 and 2006. The mostsignificant indices have been rated, as the number of cycles/gestation, the number ofmatings/gestation, service-period (SP, gestation period (GP and the periodbetween bringing forth. The studied indices have been determined based on thenumber of bringing forth, on genealogical lines and on the entire population andaccording to the male stud used for mating. The connection between the puerperalperiod and the main reproduction indices has also been estimated. The averagevalues of the analysed reproduction indices show a normal evolution of thereproduction function for the Transylvanian half-heavy mother mares, a value that can behighlighted by creating some absolute accordance between the biological requests of thisbreed and the technological conditions which are provided for them.

The place of digital technology on the IEA's energy road-maps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben-Naceur, Kamel

2017-01-01

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has drafted road-maps for the next four decades in collaboration with public and private producers and consumers of energy. For each type of energy, these road-maps indicate the key elements for compliance with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. They emphasize the role of digital technology, in particular smart grids, in the transition toward a more digital and more intelligent energy system. The conditions necessary for successfully transforming this sector are mapped out, while attention is called to the risks inherent in this transition

Towards a reference architecture for a collaborative intelligent transport system infrastructure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osório, A.L.; Afsarmanesh, H.; Camarinha-Matos, L.M.

2010-01-01

The intelligent transport systems, which aim at providing smarter transport infrastructures and sustainable mobility, are deeply grounded on the Information and Communication Technologies. Current trends in the development of integrated complex systems, such as integrated road/highway concessions

2015 International Conference on Information Technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems

CERN Document Server

Jain, Lakhmi; Zhao, Xiangmo

2017-01-01

This volume includes the proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Information Technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITITS 2015) which was held in Xi’an on December 12-13, 2015. The conference provided a platform for all professionals and researchers from industry and academia to present and discuss recent advances in the field of Information Technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems. The presented information technologies are connected to intelligent transportation systems including wireless communication, computational technologies, floating car data/floating cellular data, sensing technologies, and video vehicle detection. The articles focusing on intelligent transport systems vary in the technologies applied, from basic management systems to more application systems including topics such as emergency vehicle notification systems, automatic road enforcement, collision avoidance systems and some cooperative systems. The conference hosted 12 invited speakers and over 200 part...

An RFID-Based Intelligent Vehicle Speed Controller Using Active Traffic Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshué Pérez

2010-06-01

Full Text Available These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS. One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC, which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver’s attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results.

An RFID-Based Intelligent Vehicle Speed Controller Using Active Traffic Signals

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Joshué; Seco, Fernando; Milanés, Vicente; Jiménez, Antonio; Díaz, Julio C.; de Pedro, Teresa

2010-01-01

These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC), which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver’s attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V) communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results. PMID:22219692

An RFID-based intelligent vehicle speed controller using active traffic signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Joshué; Seco, Fernando; Milanés, Vicente; Jiménez, Antonio; Díaz, Julio C; de Pedro, Teresa

2010-01-01

These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC), which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver's attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V) communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results.

Artificial intelligence and visco-elastic analyses for modelling of pavement structures

OpenAIRE

CHABOT, Armelle

2009-01-01

Since January 1, 2009, Maryam Miradi is working as a software engineer at Logica, Rotterdam. Before that she was working as a PhD student at the department of Road and Railway Engineering of the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology. In 1998 she graduated in software engineering at the Mashad University in Iran. In 2003 she became PhD student at the Road and Railway Engineering Department. The objective of her study was to use Artificial Intelligence (AI...

Public road infrastructure inventory in degraded global navigation satellite system signal environments

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolova, N.; Morrison, A.; Haakonsen, T. A.

2015-04-01

Recent advancement of land-based mobile mapping enables rapid and cost-effective collection of highquality road related spatial information. Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS) can provide spatial information with subdecimeter accuracy in nominal operation environments. However, performance in challenging environments such as tunnels is not well characterized. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) manages the country's public road network and its infrastructure, a large segment of which is represented by road tunnels (there are about 1 000 road tunnels in Norway with a combined length of 800 km). In order to adopt mobile mapping technology for streamlining road network and infrastructure management and maintenance tasks, it is important to ensure that the technology is mature enough to meet existing requirements for object positioning accuracy in all types of environments, and provide homogeneous accuracy over the mapping perimeter. This paper presents results of a testing campaign performed within a project funded by the NPRA as a part of SMarter road traffic with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) (SMITS) program. The testing campaign objective was performance evaluation of high end commercial MMSs for inventory of public areas, focusing on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal degraded environments.

Developing a 3D Road Cadastral System: Comparing Legal Requirements and User Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Gristina, S.; Ellul, C.; Scianna, A.

2016-10-01

Road transport has always played an important role in a country's growth and, in order to manage road networks and ensure a high standard of road performance (e.g. durability, efficiency and safety), both public and private road inventories have been implemented using databases and Geographical Information Systems. They enable registering and managing significant amounts of different road information, but to date do not focus on 3D road information, data integration and interoperability. In an increasingly complex 3D urban environment, and in the age of smart cities, however, applications including intelligent transport systems, mobility and traffic management, road maintenance and safety require digital data infrastructures to manage road data: thus new inventories based on integrated 3D road models (queryable, updateable and shareable on line) are required. This paper outlines the first step towards the implementation of 3D GIS-based road inventories. Focusing on the case study of the "Road Cadastre" (the Italian road inventory as established by law), it investigates current limitations and required improvements, and also compares the required data structure imposed by cadastral legislation with real road users' needs. The study aims to: a) determine whether 3D GIS would improve road cadastre (for better management of data through the complete life-cycle infrastructure projects); b) define a conceptual model for a 3D road cadastre for Italy (whose general principles may be extended also to other countries).

Intelligent energy management control of vehicle air conditioning system coupled with engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khayyam, Hamid; Abawajy, Jemal; Jazar, Reza N.

2012-01-01

Vehicle Air Conditioning (AC) systems consist of an engine powered compressor activated by an electrical clutch. The AC system imposes an extra load to the vehicle's engine increasing the vehicle fuel consumption and emissions. Energy management control of the vehicle air conditioning is a nonlinear dynamic system, influenced by uncertain disturbances. In addition, the vehicle energy management control system interacts with different complex systems, such as engine, air conditioning system, environment, and driver, to deliver fuel consumption improvements. In this paper, we describe the energy management control of vehicle AC system coupled with vehicle engine through an intelligent control design. The Intelligent Energy Management Control (IEMC) system presented in this paper includes an intelligent algorithm which uses five exterior units and three integrated fuzzy controllers to produce desirable internal temperature and air quality, improved fuel consumption, low emission, and smooth driving. The three fuzzy controllers include: (i) a fuzzy cruise controller to adapt vehicle cruise speed via prediction of the road ahead using a Look-Ahead system, (ii) a fuzzy air conditioning controller to produce desirable temperature and air quality inside vehicle cabin room via a road information system, and (iii) a fuzzy engine controller to generate the required engine torque to move the vehicle smoothly on the road. We optimised the integrated operation of the air conditioning and the engine under various driving patterns and performed three simulations. Results show that the proposed IEMC system developed based on Fuzzy Air Conditioning Controller with Look-Ahead (FAC-LA) method is a more efficient controller for vehicle air conditioning system than the previously developed Coordinated Energy Management Systems (CEMS). - Highlights: ► AC interacts: vehicle, environment, driver components, and the interrelationships between them. ► Intelligent AC algorithm which uses

High Resolution Trichromatic Road Surface Scanning with a Line Scan Camera and Light Emitting Diode Lighting for Road-Kill Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gil Lopes

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a road surface scanning system that operates with a trichromatic line scan camera with light emitting diode (LED lighting achieving road surface resolution under a millimeter. It was part of a project named Roadkills—Intelligent systems for surveying mortality of amphibians in Portuguese roads, sponsored by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation. A trailer was developed in order to accommodate the complete system with standalone power generation, computer image capture and recording, controlled lighting to operate day or night without disturbance, incremental encoder with 5000 pulses per revolution attached to one of the trailer wheels, under a meter Global Positioning System (GPS localization, easy to utilize with any vehicle with a trailer towing system and focused on a complete low cost solution. The paper describes the system architecture of the developed prototype, its calibration procedure, the performed experimentation and some obtained results, along with a discussion and comparison with existing systems. Sustained operating trailer speeds of up to 30 km/h are achievable without loss of quality at 4096 pixels’ image width (1 m width of road surface with 250 µm/pixel resolution. Higher scanning speeds can be achieved by lowering the image resolution (120 km/h with 1 mm/pixel. Computer vision algorithms are under development to operate on the captured images in order to automatically detect road-kills of amphibians.

High Resolution Trichromatic Road Surface Scanning with a Line Scan Camera and Light Emitting Diode Lighting for Road-Kill Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Gil; Ribeiro, A Fernando; Sillero, Neftalí; Gonçalves-Seco, Luís; Silva, Cristiano; Franch, Marc; Trigueiros, Paulo

2016-04-19

This paper presents a road surface scanning system that operates with a trichromatic line scan camera with light emitting diode (LED) lighting achieving road surface resolution under a millimeter. It was part of a project named Roadkills-Intelligent systems for surveying mortality of amphibians in Portuguese roads, sponsored by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation. A trailer was developed in order to accommodate the complete system with standalone power generation, computer image capture and recording, controlled lighting to operate day or night without disturbance, incremental encoder with 5000 pulses per revolution attached to one of the trailer wheels, under a meter Global Positioning System (GPS) localization, easy to utilize with any vehicle with a trailer towing system and focused on a complete low cost solution. The paper describes the system architecture of the developed prototype, its calibration procedure, the performed experimentation and some obtained results, along with a discussion and comparison with existing systems. Sustained operating trailer speeds of up to 30 km/h are achievable without loss of quality at 4096 pixels' image width (1 m width of road surface) with 250 µm/pixel resolution. Higher scanning speeds can be achieved by lowering the image resolution (120 km/h with 1 mm/pixel). Computer vision algorithms are under development to operate on the captured images in order to automatically detect road-kills of amphibians.

Evolution Engines and Artificial Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Hemker, Andreas; Becks, Karl-Heinz

In the last years artificial intelligence has achieved great successes, mainly in the field of expert systems and neural networks. Nevertheless the road to truly intelligent systems is still obscured. Artificial intelligence systems with a broad range of cognitive abilities are not within sight. The limited competence of such systems (brittleness) is identified as a consequence of the top-down design process. The evolution principle of nature on the other hand shows an alternative and elegant way to build intelligent systems. We propose to take an evolution engine as the driving force for the bottom-up development of knowledge bases and for the optimization of the problem-solving process. A novel data analysis system for the high energy physics experiment DELPHI at CERN shows the practical relevance of this idea. The system is able to reconstruct the physical processes after the collision of particles by making use of the underlying standard model of elementary particle physics. The evolution engine acts as a global controller of a population of inference engines working on the reconstruction task. By implementing the system on the Connection Machine (Model CM-2) we use the full advantage of the inherent parallelization potential of the evolutionary approach.

Integrity evaluation for stud female threads on pressure vessel according to ASME code using FEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Moon Young; Chung, Nam Yong

2003-01-01

The extension of design life among power plants is increasingly becoming a world-wide trend. Kori no.1 unit in Korea is operating two cycle. It has two man-ways for tube inspection in a steam generator which is one of the important components in a nuclear power plant. Especially, stud bolts for man-way cover have damaged by disassembly and assembly several times and degradation for bolt materials for long term operation. It should be evaluated and compared by ASME code criteria for integrity evaluation. Integrity evaluation criteria which has been made by the manufacturer is not applied on the stud bolts of nuclear pressure vessels directly because it is controlled by the yield stress of ASME code. It can apply evaluation criteria through FEM analysis to damaged female threads and to evaluated safety for helical-coil method which is used according to code case-N-496-1. From analysis results, we found that it is the same results between stress intensity which got from FEM analysis on damaged female threads over 10% by manufacture integrity criteria and 2/3 yield strength criteria on ASME code. It was also confirmed that the helical-coil repair method would be safe

What have we learned about intelligent transportation systems? Chapter 2, What have we learned about freeway incident and emergency management and electronic toll collection?

Science.gov (United States)

2000-12-01

The intelligent infrastructure is often the most visible manifestation of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) along with roads, freeways, and incident management is often among the first ITS elements implemented. They can significantly contribut...

Multispectral Image Road Extraction Based Upon Automated Map Conflation

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bin

Road network extraction from remotely sensed imagery enables many important and diverse applications such as vehicle tracking, drone navigation, and intelligent transportation studies. There are, however, a number of challenges to road detection from an image. Road pavement material, width, direction, and topology vary across a scene. Complete or partial occlusions caused by nearby buildings, trees, and the shadows cast by them, make maintaining road connectivity difficult. The problems posed by occlusions are exacerbated with the increasing use of oblique imagery from aerial and satellite platforms. Further, common objects such as rooftops and parking lots are made of materials similar or identical to road pavements. This problem of common materials is a classic case of a single land cover material existing for different land use scenarios. This work addresses these problems in road extraction from geo-referenced imagery by leveraging the OpenStreetMap digital road map to guide image-based road extraction. The crowd-sourced cartography has the advantages of worldwide coverage that is constantly updated. The derived road vectors follow only roads and so can serve to guide image-based road extraction with minimal confusion from occlusions and changes in road material. On the other hand, the vector road map has no information on road widths and misalignments between the vector map and the geo-referenced image are small but nonsystematic. Properly correcting misalignment between two geospatial datasets, also known as map conflation, is an essential step. A generic framework requiring minimal human intervention is described for multispectral image road extraction and automatic road map conflation. The approach relies on the road feature generation of a binary mask and a corresponding curvilinear image. A method for generating the binary road mask from the image by applying a spectral measure is presented. The spectral measure, called anisotropy-tunable distance (ATD

Finite element modelling for thermal analysis of stud-to-plate laser brazing for a dissimilar metal joint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jun Soo; Kim, Jong Min

1996-06-01

A finite element model was developed for the thermal analysis of a stud-to-plate laser brazing joint, and the transient temperature fields were analysed by using a three-dimensional model. The finite element program ABAQUS, together with a few user subroutines, was employed to perform the numerical approximation. Temperature-dependent thermal properties, effect of latent heat, and the convection and radiative heat losses were considered. The brazing parts used were AISI 304 stainless steel stud and aluminium A1 5052 plate, and the brazing alloy 88 A1-12 Si was used as filler metal. A pseudo-TM 01 mode of the cw CO 2 laser beam was used as heat source, for which TM 00 mode generated by beam oscillator was optically modulated using axicon lens. Re-location of the filler metal during the brazing process including its wetting and spreading was examined by using a high speed motion analyser, and the results were incorporated inn the FEM modelling for defining the solution domain and boundary conditions. The numerical results were obtained for typical process parameters, and were compared with experimental ones determined by using the infrared and thermocouple measurements. 11 figs., 30 refs. (Author)

Intelligent robot trends for 1998

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Ernest L.

1998-10-01

An intelligent robot is a remarkably useful combination of a manipulator, sensors and controls. The use of these machines in factory automation can improve productivity, increase product quality and improve competitiveness. This paper presents a discussion of recent technical and economic trends. Technically, the machines are faster, cheaper, more repeatable, more reliable and safer. The knowledge base of inverse kinematic and dynamic solutions and intelligent controls is increasing. More attention is being given by industry to robots, vision and motion controls. New areas of usage are emerging for service robots, remote manipulators and automated guided vehicles. Economically, the robotics industry now has a 1.1 billion-dollar market in the U.S. and is growing. Feasibility studies results are presented which also show decreasing costs for robots and unaudited healthy rates of return for a variety of robotic applications. However, the road from inspiration to successful application can be long and difficult, often taking decades to achieve a new product. A greater emphasis on mechatronics is needed in our universities. Certainly, more cooperation between government, industry and universities is needed to speed the development of intelligent robots that will benefit industry and society.

Autonomous Driver Based on an Intelligent System of Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Czubenko, Michał; Kowalczuk, Zdzisław; Ordys, Andrew

The paper presents and discusses a system ( xDriver ) which uses an Intelligent System of Decision-making (ISD) for the task of car driving. The principal subject is the implementation, simulation and testing of the ISD system described earlier in our publications (Kowalczuk and Czubenko in artificial intelligence and soft computing lecture notes in computer science, lecture notes in artificial intelligence, Springer, Berlin, 2010, 2010, In Int J Appl Math Comput Sci 21(4):621-635, 2011, In Pomiary Autom Robot 2(17):60-5, 2013) for the task of autonomous driving. The design of the whole ISD system is a result of a thorough modelling of human psychology based on an extensive literature study. Concepts somehow similar to the ISD system can be found in the literature (Muhlestein in Cognit Comput 5(1):99-105, 2012; Wiggins in Cognit Comput 4(3):306-319, 2012), but there are no reports of a system which would model the human psychology for the purpose of autonomously driving a car. The paper describes assumptions for simulation, the set of needs and reactions (characterizing the ISD system), the road model and the vehicle model, as well as presents some results of simulation. It proves that the xDriver system may behave on the road as a very inexperienced driver.

Detection of the local sliding in the tyre-road contact by measuring vibrations on the inner liner of the tyre

Science.gov (United States)

Niskanen, Arto J.; Tuononen, Ari J.

2017-04-01

Intelligent tyres can provide vital information from the tyre-road contact, especially for autonomous cars and intelligent infrastructure. In this paper, the acceleration measured on the inner liner of a tyre is used to detect the local sliding in the tyre-road contact. The Hilbert-Huang transform is utilized to extract the relevant vibration components and localize them in the wheel rotation angle domain. The energy of the vibration in the trailing part of the contact is shown to increase in low-friction conditions which can be related to the sliding of the tread part as a result of the shear stresses exceeding the local friction limit. To separate the effect of the surface roughness and the friction, different road surfaces were used in the measurements. In addition, the effects of different driving manoeuvres on the measured accelerations and the propagation of the sliding zone in the contact patch during braking are illustrated.

Detection of the local sliding in the tyre-road contact by measuring vibrations on the inner liner of the tyre

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niskanen, Arto J; Tuononen, Ari J

2017-01-01

Intelligent tyres can provide vital information from the tyre-road contact, especially for autonomous cars and intelligent infrastructure. In this paper, the acceleration measured on the inner liner of a tyre is used to detect the local sliding in the tyre-road contact. The Hilbert–Huang transform is utilized to extract the relevant vibration components and localize them in the wheel rotation angle domain. The energy of the vibration in the trailing part of the contact is shown to increase in low-friction conditions which can be related to the sliding of the tread part as a result of the shear stresses exceeding the local friction limit. To separate the effect of the surface roughness and the friction, different road surfaces were used in the measurements. In addition, the effects of different driving manoeuvres on the measured accelerations and the propagation of the sliding zone in the contact patch during braking are illustrated. (paper)

VEHIL: a full-scale test methodology for intelligent transport systems, vehicles and subsystems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeff, L.; Verburg, D.J.; Lupker, H.A.; Kusters, L.J.J.

2000-01-01

To enhance the efficiency and safety of today's road transport, the application of driver support systems and fully automated, intelligent transport systems becomes increasingly important. The safety and reliability requirements of these systems and their complexity are high, which results in a

A research of road centerline extraction algorithm from high resolution remote sensing images

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yushan; Xu, Tingfa

2017-09-01

Satellite remote sensing technology has become one of the most effective methods for land surface monitoring in recent years, due to its advantages such as short period, large scale and rich information. Meanwhile, road extraction is an important field in the applications of high resolution remote sensing images. An intelligent and automatic road extraction algorithm with high precision has great significance for transportation, road network updating and urban planning. The fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering segmentation algorithms have been used in road extraction, but the traditional algorithms did not consider spatial information. An improved fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm combined with spatial information (SFCM) is proposed in this paper, which is proved to be effective for noisy image segmentation. Firstly, the image is segmented using the SFCM. Secondly, the segmentation result is processed by mathematical morphology to remover the joint region. Thirdly, the road centerlines are extracted by morphology thinning and burr trimming. The average integrity of the centerline extraction algorithm is 97.98%, the average accuracy is 95.36% and the average quality is 93.59%. Experimental results show that the proposed method in this paper is effective for road centerline extraction.

AUTOMATIC ROAD GAP DETECTION USING FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Hashemi

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Automatic feature extraction from aerial and satellite images is a high-level data processing which is still one of the most important research topics of the field. In this area, most of the researches are focused on the early step of road detection, where road tracking methods, morphological analysis, dynamic programming and snakes, multi-scale and multi-resolution methods, stereoscopic and multi-temporal analysis, hyper spectral experiments, are some of the mature methods in this field. Although most researches are focused on detection algorithms, none of them can extract road network perfectly. On the other hand, post processing algorithms accentuated on the refining of road detection results, are not developed as well. In this article, the main is to design an intelligent method to detect and compensate road gaps remained on the early result of road detection algorithms. The proposed algorithm consists of five main steps as follow: 1 Short gap coverage: In this step, a multi-scale morphological is designed that covers short gaps in a hierarchical scheme. 2 Long gap detection: In this step, the long gaps, could not be covered in the previous stage, are detected using a fuzzy inference system. for this reason, a knowledge base consisting of some expert rules are designed which are fired on some gap candidates of the road detection results. 3 Long gap coverage: In this stage, detected long gaps are compensated by two strategies of linear and polynomials for this reason, shorter gaps are filled by line fitting while longer ones are compensated by polynomials.4 Accuracy assessment: In order to evaluate the obtained results, some accuracy assessment criteria are proposed. These criteria are obtained by comparing the obtained results with truly compensated ones produced by a human expert. The complete evaluation of the obtained results whit their technical discussions are the materials of the full paper.

Automatic Road Gap Detection Using Fuzzy Inference System

Science.gov (United States)

Hashemi, S.; Valadan Zoej, M. J.; Mokhtarzadeh, M.

2011-09-01

Automatic feature extraction from aerial and satellite images is a high-level data processing which is still one of the most important research topics of the field. In this area, most of the researches are focused on the early step of road detection, where road tracking methods, morphological analysis, dynamic programming and snakes, multi-scale and multi-resolution methods, stereoscopic and multi-temporal analysis, hyper spectral experiments, are some of the mature methods in this field. Although most researches are focused on detection algorithms, none of them can extract road network perfectly. On the other hand, post processing algorithms accentuated on the refining of road detection results, are not developed as well. In this article, the main is to design an intelligent method to detect and compensate road gaps remained on the early result of road detection algorithms. The proposed algorithm consists of five main steps as follow: 1) Short gap coverage: In this step, a multi-scale morphological is designed that covers short gaps in a hierarchical scheme. 2) Long gap detection: In this step, the long gaps, could not be covered in the previous stage, are detected using a fuzzy inference system. for this reason, a knowledge base consisting of some expert rules are designed which are fired on some gap candidates of the road detection results. 3) Long gap coverage: In this stage, detected long gaps are compensated by two strategies of linear and polynomials for this reason, shorter gaps are filled by line fitting while longer ones are compensated by polynomials.4) Accuracy assessment: In order to evaluate the obtained results, some accuracy assessment criteria are proposed. These criteria are obtained by comparing the obtained results with truly compensated ones produced by a human expert. The complete evaluation of the obtained results whit their technical discussions are the materials of the full paper.

An intelligent IoT emergency vehicle warning system using RFID and Wi-Fi technologies for emergency medical services.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Yeong-Lin; Chou, Yung-Hua; Chang, Li-Chih

2018-01-01

Collisions between emergency vehicles for emergency medical services (EMS) and public road users have been a serious problem, impacting on the safety of road users, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and the patients on board. The aim of this study is to develop a novel intelligent emergency vehicle warning system for EMS applications. The intelligent emergency vehicle warning system is developed by Internet of Things (IoT), radio-frequency identification (RFID), and Wi-Fi technologies. The system consists of three major parts: a system trigger tag, an RFID system in an emergency vehicle, and an RFID system at an intersection. The RFID system either in an emergency vehicle or at an intersection contains a controller, an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID reader module, a Wi-Fi module, and a 2.4-GHz antenna. In addition, a UHF ID antenna is especially designed for the RFID system in an emergency vehicle. The IoT system provides real-time visual warning at an intersection and siren warning from an emergency vehicle in order to effectively inform road users about an emergency vehicle approaching. The developed intelligent IoT emergency vehicle warning system demonstrates the capabilities of real-time visual and siren warnings for EMS safety.

Development of a Techno-economic Model of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) for Deployment in Ghana

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adjin, Daniel Michael Okwabi; Tadayoni, Reza

2011-01-01

The concept of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is about the development and deployment of advanced Traffic Management Systems, Traveler Information Systems, Commercial Vehicle Operations, Public and Private Transportation Systems, and Rural Transportation Systems. Several key technologies....... The results show that deployment of Intelligent Vehicle Tracking Technology (IVTT) will address the problems of inefficiencies experienced in the Ghanaian road transport haulage tracking industry. Research for ITS development and eployment in these countries should be cost effective....

Using Probe Vehicle Data for Automatic Extraction of Road Traffic Parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roman Popescu Maria Alexandra

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Through this paper the author aims to study and find solutions for automatic detection of traffic light position and for automatic calculation of the waiting time at traffic light. The first objective serves mainly the road transportation field, mainly because it removes the need for collaboration with local authorities to establish a national network of traffic lights. The second objective is important not only for companies which are providing navigation solutions, but especially for authorities, institutions, companies operating in road traffic management systems. Real-time dynamic determination of traffic queue length and of waiting time at traffic lights allow the creation of dynamic systems, intelligent and flexible, adapted to actual traffic conditions, and not to generic, theoretical models. Thus, cities can approach the Smart City concept by boosting, efficienting and greening the road transport, promoted in Europe through the Horizon 2020, Smart Cities, Urban Mobility initiative.

A new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, L; Han, X B; Ding, R; Li, G; Lu, Steven C-Y; Hong, Q

2005-01-01

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is a valid approach to solve the increasing transportation issue in cities. Vehicle detection is one of the key technologies in ITS. The ITS collects and processes traffic data (vehicle flow, vehicular speed, vehicle density and occupancy ratios) from vehicle detection sensors buried under the road or installed along the road. Inductive loop detector as one type of the vehicle detector is applied extensively, with the characters of stability, high value to cost ratio and feasibility. On the other hand, most of the existing inductive loop vehicle detection sensors have some weak points such as friability of detective loop, huge engineering for setting and traffic interruption during installing the sensor. The design and reality of a new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor is presented in this paper against these weak points existing now. The sensor consists of the inductive loop detector, the rechargeable batteries, the MCU (microcontroller) and the transmitter. In order to reduce the installing project amount, make the loop durable and easily maintained, the volume of the detective loop is reduced as much as we can. Communication in RF (radio frequency) brings on the advantages of getting rid of the feeder cable completely and reducing the installing project amount enormously. For saving the cable installation, the sensor is supplied by the rechargeable batteries. The purpose of the intelligent management of the energy and transmitter by means of MCU is to minimize the power consumption and prolong the working period of the sensor. In a word, the new sensor is more feasible with smaller volume, wireless communication, rechargeable batteries, low power consumption, low cost, high detector precision and easy maintenance and installation

A new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, L [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Han, X B [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Ding, R [Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Tianjin 300222 (China); Li, G [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Lu, Steven C-Y [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Hong, Q [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

2005-01-01

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is a valid approach to solve the increasing transportation issue in cities. Vehicle detection is one of the key technologies in ITS. The ITS collects and processes traffic data (vehicle flow, vehicular speed, vehicle density and occupancy ratios) from vehicle detection sensors buried under the road or installed along the road. Inductive loop detector as one type of the vehicle detector is applied extensively, with the characters of stability, high value to cost ratio and feasibility. On the other hand, most of the existing inductive loop vehicle detection sensors have some weak points such as friability of detective loop, huge engineering for setting and traffic interruption during installing the sensor. The design and reality of a new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor is presented in this paper against these weak points existing now. The sensor consists of the inductive loop detector, the rechargeable batteries, the MCU (microcontroller) and the transmitter. In order to reduce the installing project amount, make the loop durable and easily maintained, the volume of the detective loop is reduced as much as we can. Communication in RF (radio frequency) brings on the advantages of getting rid of the feeder cable completely and reducing the installing project amount enormously. For saving the cable installation, the sensor is supplied by the rechargeable batteries. The purpose of the intelligent management of the energy and transmitter by means of MCU is to minimize the power consumption and prolong the working period of the sensor. In a word, the new sensor is more feasible with smaller volume, wireless communication, rechargeable batteries, low power consumption, low cost, high detector precision and easy maintenance and installation.

Determination of the Main Influencing Factors on Road Fatalities Using an Integrated Neuro-Fuzzy Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Masoud Rahimi

Full Text Available Abstract This paper proposed an integrated algorithm of neuro-fuzzy techniques to examine the complex impact of socio-technical influencing factors on road fatalities. The proposed algorithm could handle complexity, non-linearity and fuzziness in the modeling environment due to its mechanism. The Neuro-fuzzy algorithm for determination of the potential influencing factors on road fatalities consisted of two phases. In the first phase, intelligent techniques are compared for their improved accuracy in predicting fatality rate with respect to some socio-technical influencing factors. Then in the second phase, sensitivity analysis is performed to calculate the pure effect on fatality rate of the potential influencing factors. The applicability and usefulness of the proposed algorithm is illustrated using the data in Iran provincial road transportation systems in the time period 2012-2014. Results show that road design improvement, number of trips, and number of passengers are the most influencing factors on provincial road fatality rate.

Road traffic management based on self-load-balancing approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnane Ahmed

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Traffic congestion is one of the most challenging problems for nowadays cities. Several contributions mainly based on V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication have been published, but most of them have never been applied due to their communication related problems and costs. In this article, a novel cost-effective approach is introduced inspired by social life of insects where direct (V2V communication does not exist anymore. Vehicles are equipped with devices that perform simple tasks, but their interactions with the environment through RSUs (Road Side Units allow the creation of an intelligence which notifies drivers about congested road segments to avoid them. We call this emerging behavior self-load balancing. Description of the fundamentals of this approach and its performance are detailed in this work.

Image-Based Pothole Detection System for ITS Service and Road Management System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seung-Ki Ryu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Potholes can generate damage such as flat tire and wheel damage, impact and damage of lower vehicle, vehicle collision, and major accidents. Thus, accurately and quickly detecting potholes is one of the important tasks for determining proper strategies in ITS (Intelligent Transportation System service and road management system. Several efforts have been made for developing a technology which can automatically detect and recognize potholes. In this study, a pothole detection method based on two-dimensional (2D images is proposed for improving the existing method and designing a pothole detection system to be applied to ITS service and road management system. For experiments, 2D road images that were collected by a survey vehicle in Korea were used and the performance of the proposed method was compared with that of the existing method for several conditions such as road, recording, and brightness. The results are promising, and the information extracted using the proposed method can be used, not only in determining the preliminary maintenance for a road management system and in taking immediate action for their repair and maintenance, but also in providing alert information of potholes to drivers as one of ITS services.

Automatic Extraction of Road Markings from Mobile Laser-Point Cloud Using Intensity Data

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, L.; Chen, Q.; Qin, C.; Wu, H.; Zhang, S.

2018-04-01

With the development of intelligent transportation, road's high precision information data has been widely applied in many fields. This paper proposes a concise and practical way to extract road marking information from point cloud data collected by mobile mapping system (MMS). The method contains three steps. Firstly, road surface is segmented through edge detection from scan lines. Then the intensity image is generated by inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation and the road marking is extracted by using adaptive threshold segmentation based on integral image without intensity calibration. Moreover, the noise is reduced by removing a small number of plaque pixels from binary image. Finally, point cloud mapped from binary image is clustered into marking objects according to Euclidean distance, and using a series of algorithms including template matching and feature attribute filtering for the classification of linear markings, arrow markings and guidelines. Through processing the point cloud data collected by RIEGL VUX-1 in case area, the results show that the F-score of marking extraction is 0.83, and the average classification rate is 0.9.

The simulation of emergent dispatch of cars for intelligent driving autos

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Ziao

2018-03-01

It is widely acknowledged that it is important for the development of intelligent cars to be widely accepted by the majority of car users. While most of the intelligent cars have the system of monitoring itself whether it is on the good situation to drive, it is also clear that studies should be performed on the way of cars for the emergent rescue of the intelligent vehicles. In this study, writer focus mainly on how to derive a separate system for the car caring teams to arrive as soon as they get the signal sent out by the intelligent driving autos. This simulation measure the time for the rescuing team to arrive, the cost it spent on arriving on the site of car problem happens, also how long the queue is when the rescuing auto is waiting to cross a road. This can be definitely in great use when there are a team of intelligent cars with one car immediately having problems causing it's not moving and can be helpful in other situations. Through this way, the interconnection of cars can be a safety net for the drivers encountering difficulties in any time.

Operational monitoring of temperature and state of stress of primary collectors, their stud bolts and cover and temperatures of steam generator's pressure vessel at the nuclear power unit WWER 440

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matal, O.; Simo, T.; Holy, F.; Vejvoda, S.

1992-01-01

Both primary collectors of the WWER 440 steam generator (STGE) are vertically positioned inside the STGE pressure vessel and connected in their lower part to the primary piping and closed at their upper part by primary covers. The primary cover is pushed against the primary collector flange by 20 stud bolts. Two nickel packing rings are fitted between the primary cover and collector. A leakage in the collector-cover junction could cause flow of the radioactive water into the clean secondary water. If the junction is made in accordance with the Soviet standard design the computed stresses exceed the allowable value in the stud bolts by a factor of 1.5. Therefore an improved design of the primary collector - primary cover flange joint was designed and tested on one STGE at a WWER 440 nuclear power unit in Czechoslovakia. The paper describes the system of joint properties measurement, gives some substantial characteristics of the new stud bolts and primary cover design and comments on significant measured results of state of stress and temperatures in comparison with the operational regime of the STGE. (orig.)

The road safety audit and road safety inspection.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2007-01-01

A road safety audit (RSA) and a road safety inspection (RSI) are used to test the safety level of the road infrastructure. The RSA tests the design of new roads or the reconstruction of existing roads, whereas the RSI is used for testing existing roads. An RSA, therefore, aims to 'improve' the road

Speed regulating Effects of Incentive-based Intelligent Speed Adaptation in the short and medium term

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerholm, Niels

Speed regulating Effects of Incentive-based Intelligent Speed Adaptation in the short and medium term Despite massive improvements in vehicles’ safety equipment, more information and safer road network, inappropriate road safety is still causing that more than 250 people are killed and several...... thousands injured each year in Denmark. Until a few years ago the number of fatalities in most countries had decreased while the amount of traffic increased. However, this trend has been replaced by a more uncertain development towards a constant or even somewhat increasing risk. Inappropriate speeding...... is a central cause for the high number of fatalities on the roads. Despite speed limits, speed limit violating driving behaviour is still widespread in Denmark. Traditional solutions to prevent speed violation have been enforcement, information, and enhanced road design. It seems, however, hard to achieve...

Research on the Application of Wireless Network in Collecting Road Traffic Information

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DU Hui-jiang

2015-01-01

Due to the characteristics of variability and dispersion in traffic information, to get the reliable real-time traffic information has been a bottleneck in the development of intelligent transportation systems. However, with the development of wireless network technology and mobile Internet, the mobile phones are rapidly developed and more popular, so it is possible to get road traffic information by locating the mobile phones in vehicles. The system structure for the road traffic information collection is designed based on wireless network and mobile phones in vehicles, and the vehicle recognition and its information computation methods are given and discussed. Also the simulation is done for vehicle recognition and computation based on fuzzy cluster analysis method and the results are obtained and analyzed.

Blockchain-Based Dynamic Key Management for Heterogeneous Intelligent Transportation Systems

OpenAIRE

Lei, Ao; Cruickshank, Haitham; Cao, Y; Asuquo, Philip; Anyigor Ogah, Chibueze Pascal; Sun, Zhili

2017-01-01

As modern vehicle and communication technologies advanced apace, people begin to believe that Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) would be achievable in one decade.\\ud ITS introduces information technology to the transportation infrastructures and aims to improve road safety and traffic efficiency. However, security is still a main concern in Vehicular Communication Systems (VCS). This can be addressed through secured group broadcast. Therefore, secure key management schemes are considere...

SNMS: an intelligent transportation system network architecture based on WSN and P2P network

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Li; LIU Yuan-an; TANG Bi-hua

2007-01-01

With the development of city road networks, the question of how to obtain information about the roads is becoming more and more important. In this article, sensor network with mobile station (SNMS), a novel two-tiered intelligent transportation system (ITS) network architecture based on wireless sensor network (WSN) and peer-to-peer (P2P) network, is proposed to provide significant traffic information about the road and thereby, assist travelers to take optimum decisions when they are driving. A detailed explanation with regard to the strategy of each level as well as the design of two main components in the network, sensor unit (SU) and mobile station (MS), is presented. Finally, a representative scenario is described to display the operation of the system.

Trajectory of a road vehicle during road maintenance

OpenAIRE

Stachová Darina

2017-01-01

Consider a vehicle moving on a road whose usage over time creates an uneven surface on the road. Road unevenness that we encounter on surface communications often arises as a consequence of dynamical effects of moving vehicles, of weather changes, and due to road construction works. This article concerns with mathematical modeling of the trajectory of a road vehicle moving on such a surface during the course of road maintenance.

Investigation of the Weld Properties of Dissimilar S32205 Duplex Stainless Steel with AISI 304 Steel Joints Produced by Arc Stud Welding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aziz Barış Başyiğit

2017-03-01

Full Text Available UNS S32205 duplex stainless steel plates with a thickness of 3 mm are arc stud welded by M8 × 40 mm AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel studs with constant stud lifts in order to investigate the effects of welding arc voltages on mechanical and microstructural behaviors of the joints. As the welding arc voltage increases starting from 140 V, the tensile strength of the weldment also increases but the higher arc values results in more spatters around the weld seam up to 180 V. Conversely, the lower arc voltages causes poor tensile strength values to weldments. Tensile tests proved that all of the samples are split from each other in the welding zone but deformation occurs in duplex plates during the tensile testing of weldments so that the elongation values are not practically notable. The satisfactory tensile strength and bending values are determined by applying 180 volts of welding arc voltage according to ISO 14555 standard. Peak values of micro hardness occurred in weld metal most probably as a consequence of increasing heat input decreasing the delta ferrite ratios. As the arc voltage increases, the width of the heat affected zone increases. Coarsening of delta-ferrite and austenite grains was observed in the weld metal peak temperature zone but it especially becomes visible closer to the duplex side in all samples. The large voids and unwelded zones up to approximately 1 mm by length are observed by macro-structure inspections. Besides visual tests and micro-structural surveys; bending and microhardness tests with radiographic inspection were applied to samples for maintaining the correct welding parameters in obtaining well-qualified weldments of these two distinct groups of stainless steel materials.

Country roads, take me home… to my friends: How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Norman P; Kanazawa, Satoshi

2016-11-01

We propose the savanna theory of happiness, which suggests that it is not only the current consequences of a given situation but also its ancestral consequences that affect individuals' life satisfaction and explains why such influences of ancestral consequences might interact with intelligence. We choose two varied factors that characterize basic differences between ancestral and modern life - population density and frequency of socialization with friends - as empirical test cases. As predicted by the theory, population density is negatively, and frequency of socialization with friends is positively, associated with life satisfaction. More importantly, the main associations of life satisfaction with population density and socialization with friends significantly interact with intelligence, and, in the latter case, the main association is reversed among the extremely intelligent. More intelligent individuals experience lower life satisfaction with more frequent socialization with friends. This study highlights the utility of incorporating evolutionary perspectives in the study of subjective well-being. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Safer Roads: Comparisons Between Road Assessment Program and Composite Road Safety Index Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Razelan Intan Suhana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In most countries, crash statistics have becoming very crucial in evaluating road’s safety level. In Malaysia, these data are very important in deciding crash-prone areas known as black spot where specific road improvements plan will be proposed. However due to the unavailability of reliable crash data in many developing countries, appropriate road maintenance measures are facing great troubles. In light of that, several proactive methods in defining road’s safety level such as Road Assessment Program (RAP have emerged. This research aim to compare two proactive methods that have been tested in Malaysian roads ; road assessment program and road environment risk index which was developed based on composite index theory in defining road’s safety level. Composite road environment risk index was combining several crucial environment indicators, assigning weight and aggregating the individual index together to form a single value representing the road’s safety level. Based on the results, it can be concluded that both road assessment program and composite road environment risk index are contradicted in six different ways such as type of speed used, type of analysis used and their final outcomes. However, with an aim to promote safer roads, these two methods can be used concurrently as the outcomes in both methods seems to fulfil each other’s gap very well.

Automatic Road Centerline Extraction from Imagery Using Road GPS Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuqing Cao

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Road centerline extraction from imagery constitutes a key element in numerous geospatial applications, which has been addressed through a variety of approaches. However, most of the existing methods are not capable of dealing with challenges such as different road shapes, complex scenes, and variable resolutions. This paper presents a novel method for road centerline extraction from imagery in a fully automatic approach that addresses the aforementioned challenges by exploiting road GPS data. The proposed method combines road color feature with road GPS data to detect road centerline seed points. After global alignment of road GPS data, a novel road centerline extraction algorithm is developed to extract each individual road centerline in local regions. Through road connection, road centerline network is generated as the final output. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed method can rapidly and accurately extract road centerline from remotely sensed imagery.

Resource-efficient intelligent transportation systems as a basis for sustainable development. Overview of initiatives and strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuriy Vovk

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Intelligent transportation systems mostly operate on information exchange principle between vehicles and roadside infrastructure. They are commonly regarded as a base technology for persistent diminution of road accidents and traffic efficiency increase. However, intelligent transportation systems can also be used at all levels of transportation systems as a basis for stable development of cities, enterprises, regions, states, continents. According to the research, the existing intelligent transportation systems not only provide the considerable reduction of greenhouse gases emissions, fuel saving, time of travel cutting, but they don’t marginalize citizens’ mobility as well. Thus, the further development and introduction of modern transportation innovative technologies will allow to guarantee the energy- and resources efficiency and, therefore, the sustainable development of the whole society.

Comparing Different Versions of Road to Mental Readiness to Determine Optimal Content: Testing Instruction Type, Homework, and Intelligence Effects at Two Timepoints

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

intelligence including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS III, Wechsler , 1997) and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence ...is there a resolution? Chest 2011,140(1), 16-18. Wechsler , D. (1997). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale , Third Edition. San Antonio, TX...Psychological Corporation. Wechsler , D. (1999). Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence . San Antonio, TX: Psychological

Improving mechanical grip on winter tires. Finite element analysis on pressure profile of airless tire compared to conventional tire using ANSYS workbench

OpenAIRE

Ludvigsen, Sondre

2017-01-01

The harsh climate of the arctic has always been one of the most difficult areas to drive cars in. The severe loss in traction due to snow and icing on the roads, has led to an increased risk of collisions. The winter tires for cars has developed through the years after their introduction in the 1930’s. There have been three revolutionary changes made since then; implement of studs, changing in tread pattern and optimizing rubber characteristics. The implementation of studs is being shied away...

An Intelligent V2I-Based Traffic Management System

OpenAIRE

Milanés , Vicente; Villagra , Jorge; Godoy , Jorge; Simó , Javier; Pérez Rastelli , Joshué; Onieva , Enrique

2012-01-01

International audience; Vehicles equipped with intelligent systems designed to prevent accidents, such as collision warning systems (CWSs) or lane-keeping assistance (LKA), are now on the market. The next step in reducing road accidents is to coordinate such vehicles in advance not only to avoid collisions but to improve traffic flow as well. To this end, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications are essential to properly manage traffic situations. This paper describes the AUTOPIA approach ...

Ontology-Based Architecture for Intelligent Transportation Systems Using a Traffic Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susel Fernandez

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Intelligent transportation systems are a set of technological solutions used to improve the performance and safety of road transportation. A crucial element for the success of these systems is the exchange of information, not only between vehicles, but also among other components in the road infrastructure through different applications. One of the most important information sources in this kind of systems is sensors. Sensors can be within vehicles or as part of the infrastructure, such as bridges, roads or traffic signs. Sensors can provide information related to weather conditions and traffic situation, which is useful to improve the driving process. To facilitate the exchange of information between the different applications that use sensor data, a common framework of knowledge is needed to allow interoperability. In this paper an ontology-driven architecture to improve the driving environment through a traffic sensor network is proposed. The system performs different tasks automatically to increase driver safety and comfort using the information provided by the sensors.

Intelligence in Artificial Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Datta, Shoumen Palit Austin

2016-01-01

The elusive quest for intelligence in artificial intelligence prompts us to consider that instituting human-level intelligence in systems may be (still) in the realm of utopia. In about a quarter century, we have witnessed the winter of AI (1990) being transformed and transported to the zenith of tabloid fodder about AI (2015). The discussion at hand is about the elements that constitute the canonical idea of intelligence. The delivery of intelligence as a pay-per-use-service, popping out of ...

Influence of modern studded and bladed soccer boots and sidestep cutting on knee loading during match play conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaila, Rajiv

2007-09-01

The influence of modern studded and bladed soccer boots and sidestep cutting on noncontact knee loading during match play conditions is not fully understood. Modern soccer boot type and sidestep cutting compared with straight-ahead running do not significantly influence knee internal tibia axial and valgus moments, anterior joint forces, and flexion angles. Controlled laboratory study. Fifteen professional male outfield soccer players undertook trials of straight-ahead running and sidestep cutting at 30 degrees and 60 degrees with a controlled approach velocity on a Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) approved soccer surface. Two bladed and 2 studded soccer boots from 2 manufacturers were investigated. Three-dimensional inverse dynamics analysis determined externally applied internal/external tibia axial and valgus/varus moments, anterior forces, and flexion angles throughout stance. The soccer boot type imparted no significant difference on knee loading for each maneuver. Internal tibia and valgus moments were significantly greater for sidestep cutting at 30 degrees and 60 degrees compared with straight-ahead running. Sidestep cutting at 60 degrees compared with straight-ahead running significantly increased anterior joint forces. Varying soccer boot type had no effect on knee loading for each maneuver, but sidestep cutting significantly increased internal tibia and valgus moments and anterior joint forces. Sidestep cutting, irrespective of the modern soccer boot type worn, may be implicated in the high incidence of noncontact soccer anterior cruciate ligament injuries by significantly altering knee loading.

Road user behaviour changes following a self-explaining roads intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackie, Hamish W; Charlton, Samuel G; Baas, Peter H; Villasenor, Pablo C

2013-01-01

The self-explaining roads (SER) approach uses road designs that evoke correct expectations and driving behaviours from road users to create a safe and user-friendly road network. Following the implementation of an SER process and retrofitting of local and collector roads in a suburb within Auckland City, lower speeds on local roads and less variation in speed on both local and collector roads were achieved, along with a closer match between actual and perceived safe speeds. Preliminary analyses of crash data shows that the project has resulted in a 30% reduction crash numbers and an 86% reduction in crash costs per annum, since the road changes were completed. In order to further understand the outcomes from this project, a study was carried out to measure the effects of the SER intervention on the activity and behaviour of all road users. Video was collected over nine separate days, at nine different locations, both before and after SER construction. Road user behaviour categories were developed for all potential road users at different location types and then used to code the video data. Following SER construction, on local roads there was a relatively higher proportion of pedestrians, less uniformity in vehicle lane keeping and less indicating by motorists along with less through traffic, reflecting a more informal/low speed local road environment. Pedestrians were less constrained on local roads following SER construction, possibly reflecting a perceptually safer and more user-friendly environment. These behaviours were not generally evident on collector roads, a trend also shown by the previous study of speed changes. Given that one of the objectives of SER is to match road user behaviour with functionally different road categories, the road user behaviour differences demonstrated on different road types within the SER trial area provides further reinforcement of a successful SER trial. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Verification of road databases using multiple road models

Science.gov (United States)

Ziems, Marcel; Rottensteiner, Franz; Heipke, Christian

2017-08-01

In this paper a new approach for automatic road database verification based on remote sensing images is presented. In contrast to existing methods, the applicability of the new approach is not restricted to specific road types, context areas or geographic regions. This is achieved by combining several state-of-the-art road detection and road verification approaches that work well under different circumstances. Each one serves as an independent module representing a unique road model and a specific processing strategy. All modules provide independent solutions for the verification problem of each road object stored in the database in form of two probability distributions, the first one for the state of a database object (correct or incorrect), and a second one for the state of the underlying road model (applicable or not applicable). In accordance with the Dempster-Shafer Theory, both distributions are mapped to a new state space comprising the classes correct, incorrect and unknown. Statistical reasoning is applied to obtain the optimal state of a road object. A comparison with state-of-the-art road detection approaches using benchmark datasets shows that in general the proposed approach provides results with larger completeness. Additional experiments reveal that based on the proposed method a highly reliable semi-automatic approach for road data base verification can be designed.

Strabo's roads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bekker-Nielsen, Tønnes

2017-01-01

in the Geography, and the world-view, of Strabo. Strabo did not take much interest in roads as artefacts or monuments, in the technology of road construction, or in the mythological and historical background of individual roads. He is primarily interested in roads from a functional point of view. For the general......To ancient geographers, roads were important not only as arteries of communication, but also as sources of information, since mileages measured along the Roman highways were among the very few precise distances available to the ancient geographer. This chapter explores the place of roads...... or the statesman, roads provide routes of communication; for the systematic geographer, they provide measured distances and directions. Through case studies of Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece and Anatolia, this chapter attempts to reach a better understanding of the place of roads in Strabo’s universe, especially two...

Road profile estimation of city roads using DTPS

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qi; McDaniel, J. Gregory; Sun, Nian X.; Wang, Ming L.

2013-04-01

This work presents a non-destructive and non-contact acoustic sensing approach for measuring road profile of road and bridge deck with vehicles running at normal speed without stopping traffic. This approach uses an instantaneous and real-time dynamic tire pressure sensor (DTPS) that can measure dynamic response of the tire-road interaction and increases the efficiency of currently used road profile measuring systems with vehicle body-mounted profilers and axle-mounted accelerometers. In this work, a prototype of real-time DTPS system has been developed and demonstrated on a testing van at speeds from 5 to 80 miles per hour (mph). A data analysis algorithm has been developed to remove axle dynamic motions from the measured DTPS data and to find the transfer function between dynamic tire pressure change and the road profile. Field test has been performed to estimate road profiles. The road profile resolution is approximately 5 to 10 cm in width and sensitivity is 0. 3 cm for the height road surface features at driving speeds of 5 to 80 mph.

The IPERMOB System for Effective Real-Time Road Travel Time Measurement and Prediction

OpenAIRE

Martelli, Francesca; Renda, Maria Elena; Santi, Paolo

2010-01-01

Accurate, real-time measurement and estimation of road travel time is considered a central problem in the design of advanced Intelligent Transportation Systems. In particular, whether eective, real-time collection of travel time measurements in a urban area is possible is, to the best of our knowledge, still an open problem. In this paper, we introduce the IPERMOB system for efficient, real-time collection of travel time measurements in urban areas through vehicular networks. We demonstrate t...

An Intelligent Broadcasting Algorithm for Early Warning Message Dissemination in VANETs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ihn-Han Bae

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Vehicular ad hoc network (VANET has gained much attention recently to improve road safety, reduce traffic congestion, and enable efficient traffic management because of its many important applications in transportation. In this paper, an early warning intelligence broadcasting algorithm is proposed, EW-ICAST, to disseminate a safety message for VANETs. The proposed EW-ICAST uses not only the early warning system on the basis of time to collision (TTC but also the intelligent broadcasting algorithm on the basis of fuzzy logic. Thus, the EW-ICAST resolves effectively broadcast storm problem and meets time-critical requirement. The performance of EW-ICAST is evaluated through simulation and compared with that of other alert message dissemination algorithms. From the simulation results, we know that EW-ICAST is superior to Simple, P-persistence, and EDB algorithms.

Efficiency promotion for an on-ramp system based on intelligent transportation system information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong-Fan, Xie; Zi-You, Gao; Xiao-Mei, Zhao

2010-01-01

The effect of cars with intelligent transportation systems (ITSs) on traffic flow near an on-ramp is investigated by car-following simulations. By numerical simulations, the dependences of flux on the inflow rate are investigated for various proportions of cars with ITSs. The phase diagrams as well as the spatiotemporal diagrams are presented to show different traffic flow states on the main road and the on-ramp. The results show that the saturated flux on the main road increases and the free flow region is enlarged with the increase of the proportion of cars with ITS. Interestingly, the congested regions of the main road disappear completely when the proportion is larger than a critical value. Further investigation shows that the capacity of the on-ramp system can be promoted by 13% by using the ITS information, and the saturated flux on the on-ramp can be kept at an appropriate value by adjusting the proportion of cars with ITS. (general)

Artificial Intelligence and Moral intelligence

OpenAIRE

Laura Pana

2008-01-01

We discuss the thesis that the implementation of a moral code in the behaviour of artificial intelligent systems needs a specific form of human and artificial intelligence, not just an abstract intelligence. We present intelligence as a system with an internal structure and the structural levels of the moral system, as well as certain characteristics of artificial intelligent agents which can/must be treated as 1- individual entities (with a complex, specialized, autonomous or selfdetermined,...

DESIGN AN INTELLIGENT CONTROLLER FOR FULL VEHICLE NONLINEAR ACTIVE SUSPENSION SYSTEMS

OpenAIRE

Aldair, A. A.; Wang, W. J.

2011-01-01

The main objective of designed the controller for a vehicle suspension system is to reduce the discomfort sensed by passengers which arises from road roughness and to increase the ride handling associated with the pitching and rolling movements. This necessitates a very fast and accurate controller to meet as much control objectives, as possible. Therefore, this paper deals with an artificial intelligence Neuro-Fuzzy (NF) technique to design a robust controller to meet the control objectives....

Effect of production management on semen quality during long-term storage in different European boar studs.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, M; Kuster, C; Schäfer, J; Jung, M; Grossfeld, R

2018-03-01

The processing of ejaculates is a fundamental step for the fertilizing capacity of boar spermatozoa. The aim of the present study was to identify factors that affect quality of boar semen doses. The production process during 1 day of semen processing in 26 European boar studs was monitored. In each boar stud, nine to 19 randomly selected ejaculates from 372 Pietrain boars were analyzed for sperm motility, acrosome and plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial activity and thermo-resistance (TRT). Each ejaculate was monitored for production time and temperature for each step in semen processing using the special programmed software SEQU (version 1.7, Minitüb, Tiefenbach, Germany). The dilution of ejaculates with a short-term extender was completed in one step in 10 AI centers (n = 135 ejaculates), in two steps in 11 AI centers (n = 158 ejaculates) and in three steps in five AI centers (n = 79 ejaculates). Results indicated there was a greater semen quality with one-step isothermal dilution compared with the multi-step dilution of AI semen doses (total motility TRT d7: 71.1 ± 19.2%, 64.6 ± 20.0%, 47.1 ± 27.1%; one-step compared with two-step compared with the three-step dilution; P < .05). There was a marked advantage when using the one-step isothermal dilution regarding time management, preservation suitability, stability and stress resistance. One-step dilution caused significant lower holding times of raw ejaculates and reduced the possible risk of making mistakes due to a lower number of processing steps. These results lead to refined recommendations for boar semen processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Is road safety management linked to road safety performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Papadimitriou, Eleonora; Yannis, George

2013-10-01

This research aims to explore the relationship between road safety management and road safety performance at country level. For that purpose, an appropriate theoretical framework is selected, namely the 'SUNflower' pyramid, which describes road safety management systems in terms of a five-level hierarchy: (i) structure and culture, (ii) programmes and measures, (iii) 'intermediate' outcomes'--safety performance indicators (SPIs), (iv) final outcomes--fatalities and injuries, and (v) social costs. For each layer of the pyramid, a composite indicator is implemented, on the basis of data for 30 European countries. Especially as regards road safety management indicators, these are estimated on the basis of Categorical Principal Component Analysis upon the responses of a dedicated road safety management questionnaire, jointly created and dispatched by the ETSC/PIN group and the 'DaCoTA' research project. Then, quasi-Poisson models and Beta regression models are developed for linking road safety management indicators and other indicators (i.e. background characteristics, SPIs) with road safety performance. In this context, different indicators of road safety performance are explored: mortality and fatality rates, percentage reduction in fatalities over a given period, a composite indicator of road safety final outcomes, and a composite indicator of 'intermediate' outcomes (SPIs). The results of the analyses suggest that road safety management can be described on the basis of three composite indicators: "vision and strategy", "budget, evaluation and reporting", and "measurement of road user attitudes and behaviours". Moreover, no direct statistical relationship could be established between road safety management indicators and final outcomes. However, a statistical relationship was found between road safety management and 'intermediate' outcomes, which were in turn found to affect 'final' outcomes, confirming the SUNflower approach on the consecutive effect of each layer

Intelligence Naturelle et Intelligence Artificielle

OpenAIRE

Dubois, Daniel

2011-01-01

Cet article présente une approche systémique du concept d’intelligence naturelle en ayant pour objectif de créer une intelligence artificielle. Ainsi, l’intelligence naturelle, humaine et animale non-humaine, est une fonction composée de facultés permettant de connaître et de comprendre. De plus, l'intelligence naturelle reste indissociable de la structure, à savoir les organes du cerveau et du corps. La tentation est grande de doter les systèmes informatiques d’une intelligence artificielle ...

Clinical, serological and virological characteristics of an outbreak of paresis and neonatal foal disease due to equine herpesvirus-1 on a stud farm.

Science.gov (United States)

McCartan, C G; Russell, M M; Wood, J L; Mumford, J A

1995-01-07

An outbreak of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) occurred on a large stud farm with 133 mares, 54 foals and four stallions, and at least 85 mares, 22 foals and three stallions were infected. Clinical disease was observed in 16 mares, two stallions and 13 foals and the predominant clinical signs were scrotal oedema, ataxia and loss of libido in the stallions, ataxia and recumbency in the mares and uveitis and nasal discharge in the foals, although pneumonia and colic with intussusception were also recorded at autopsy. Neurological disease was more common in the mares nursing foals (12 of 38 infected) than in barren mares (one of 46 infected). Three mares died during the outbreak and no mares that had been recumbent bred again. Control procedures were based on virological and serological testing and stringent management practices to limit the spread of infection between groups of mares and foals and away from the stud farm. There were marked antibody responses in the adult horses, but they were generally poor in the foals; three of the nine viraemic foals did not develop significant increases in the levels of circulating antibody. Recommendations are made for the management of future outbreaks.

Distributed road assessment system

Science.gov (United States)

Beer, N. Reginald; Paglieroni, David W

2014-03-25

A system that detects damage on or below the surface of a paved structure or pavement is provided. A distributed road assessment system includes road assessment pods and a road assessment server. Each road assessment pod includes a ground-penetrating radar antenna array and a detection system that detects road damage from the return signals as the vehicle on which the pod is mounted travels down a road. Each road assessment pod transmits to the road assessment server occurrence information describing each occurrence of road damage that is newly detected on a current scan of a road. The road assessment server maintains a road damage database of occurrence information describing the previously detected occurrences of road damage. After the road assessment server receives occurrence information for newly detected occurrences of road damage for a portion of a road, the road assessment server determines which newly detected occurrences correspond to which previously detected occurrences of road damage.

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE FOREST ROAD PLANNING AND ROAD GROUND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hafız Hulusi ACAR

2001-01-01

Full Text Available It is required that the capital used for construction of road must be technical, economical and used in its location. For this reason, the projects must be prepared for forest roads and all operations belong to roads must be guided according to these projects. In this investigation, available forest road network plan and constructed forest roads were investigated at the point of view technical and forest transportation. After this, it were studied to reach the highest exploitation rate as can as possible. Available forest road density were found as 11.9 m/ha in forest areas for Yesiltepe District. In this condition, exploitation rate was 78 %. After that, optimum forest road network were planned and road density were reached to 22 m/ha and exploitation rate to 86 %. Directed sample method were used from taking soil sample methods and samples were took in mixed system. According to results of the experiments, available forest roads were found in a good degree at the point of view endurance, pressing and transportation capacity. With these results, it is aimed to reach higher exploitation rate with given attention to landslide areas during planning of forest roads on the mountain areas such as Black Sea Region. For this reason, required importance must be given to planning of truck and logging roads. Ground analysis must be done and took care before during planning process of forest road network.

Miscellaneous Roads

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This data set contains roadway centerlines for miscellanous roads, a catch-all category for all road types not present in the other DNR derived products. These road...

[Particle numbers in classified sizes of roadside dust caused by studded tires in the air at different heights from the pavement surface].

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, T; Niioka, T; Kurasaki, M; Kojima, Y

1996-07-01

Increased use of motor vehicles has produced various risks to human health due to air pollution by noxious gases, heavy metals and roadside dust. Since the late 1970s, the wide spread use of studded tires for cars has caused pavement wear, resulting in not only economic losses, but also roadside air pollution in cold and snowy regions in Japan. The most serious environmental problem in Sapporo, a city with heavy snowfall, in the 1980s, was roadside dust derived from studded tires. The inhabitants suffered from this dust in the early winter and in the early spring when the streets were not covered with snow. To investigate the influence of such roadside dust upon human health, particle numbers in classified sizes of roadside dust were counted after the roadside dust in the air was collected with a device we constructed at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 cm above the pavement surface. The results indicated that the concentration of roadside dust in the air did not greatly vary according to the height from the pavement surface. The results also suggested that xenogranuloma, reported in lungs of stray dogs, under roadside dust-pollution conditions such as those examined here, may occur in humans in the future.

Invasive Brown Treesnake movements at road edges indicate road-crossing avoidance

Science.gov (United States)

Siers, Shane R.; Savidge, Julie S; Reed, Robert N.

2014-01-01

Roads have significant impacts on the dispersal of wildlife. Although this poses a threat to the abundance and diversity of desirable flora and fauna, it also affords some opportunity for enhancing control of invasive species. Roads are the most common terrain features that may affect the rate of landscape-scale movements of invasive Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) throughout Guam. We radio tracked 45 free-ranging Brown Treesnakes in close proximity to two roads in Guam and recorded instances where daily relocations of snakes spanned roads. Then we reconstructed observed movement histories with randomized turning angles, which served as a useful null hypothesis for assessing the effect of roads or road edge habitat on Brown Treesnake movement patterns. Random walk simulations demonstrated that Brown Treesnakes crossed these roads at a rate far lower than would be expected if snake movement was random with respect to roads and road edge habitat. We discuss two alternative hypotheses for these results: 1) habitat gaps posed by roads physically or behaviorally restrict snake movement; or 2) road edges provide preferred foraging habitat from which snakes are reluctant to depart. Because roads often form the boundaries of jurisdictional and management units, the effects of roads on the movement of invasive Brown Treesnakes will influence the prospects for success of future landscape-level suppression efforts.

The comparing analysis of simulation of emergent dispatch of cars for intelligent driving autos in crossroads

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Ziao

2018-03-01

It is widely acknowledged that it is important for the development of intelligent cars to be widely accepted by the majority of car users. While most of the intelligent cars have the system of monitoring itself whether it is on the good situation to drive, it is also clear that studies should be performed on the way of cars for the emergent rescue of the intelligent vehicles. In this study, writer focus mainly on how to derive a separate system for the car caring teams to arrive as soon as they get the signal sent out by the intelligent driving autos. This simulation measure the time for the rescuing team to arrive, the cost it spent on arriving on the site of car problem happens, also how long the queue is when the rescuing auto is waiting to cross a road. This can be definitely in great use when there are a team of intelligent cars with one car immediately having problems causing its not moving and can be helpful in other situations. Through this way, the interconnection of cars can be a safety net for the drivers encountering difficulties in any time.

Logistics Road map for Smart SeaPorts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khaled Gaber EL Sakty

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In the digital world, a smart concept became an essential feature for port organizations to serve as intelligent hubs in the world transport networks.  Smart ports are the trend for the future long-term strategies. Henceforth, ports aims at contributing to sustainable growth by establishing the appropriate conditions for the adoption of new management energy models based on low environmental impact and triggering innovation of both technologies and processes. The scope of this paper is to examine three main issues of smart ports; smart port arctic logistics roadmap, smart port challenges and obstacles in arctic port areas, and the criteria and Key Performance Indicators guiding the assessment of ports against this concept. The main purpose is to develop a smart arctic logistics road map for the future.

Road Service Performance Based On Integrated Road Design Consistency (IC) Along Federal Road F0023

OpenAIRE

Zainal Zaffan Farhana; Prasetijo Joewono; Musa Wan Zahidah

2017-01-01

Road accidents are one of the world’s largest public health and injury prevention problems. In Malaysia, the west coast area of Malaysia been stated as the highest motorcycle fatalities and road accidents are one of the factors that cause of death and injuries in this country. The most common fatal accident is between a motorcycle and passenger car. The most of the fatal accidents happened on Federal roads with 44 fatal accidents reported, which is equal to 29%. Lacks of road geometric design...

Predictability by recognizable road design. [previously called: Recognizable road design.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2007-01-01

One of the Sustainable Safety principles is that a road should have a recognizable design and a predictable alignment. If this is the case, road users know how they are expected to behave and what they can expect from other road users, so that crashes may be prevented. For roads to be recognizable,

Road analysis: a tool for cost-effective rehabilitation measures for Finnish roads

Science.gov (United States)

Roimela, Petri; Salmenkaita, Seppo; Maijala, Pekka; Saarenketo, Timo

2000-04-01

Public funding for road network maintenance has decreased 30% during the last few years in Finland. Reduced resources, together with the current rehabilitation strategies, will in the long term result in increasing deterioration of the Finnish road network. For this reason road rehabilitation funding should be focused more specifically on those roads and road sections requiring measures and these measures should be optimized to ensure that only the specific problem structure will be repaired. Roadscanners Oy, in cooperation with the Finnish National Road Administration (Finnra), has developed a new and effective Road Analysis technique to survey the condition of roads and road networks. Road Analysis is based on the integrated analysis of the measured data collected from the road under survey. The basic survey methods used in Road Analysis include Ground Penetrating Data (GPR), falling weight deflectometer (FWD), roughness and rutting measurements, pavement distress mapping and GPS-positioning, as well as reference drilling based on preliminary GPR data analysis. The collected road survey data is processed, interpreted, analyzed and classified using Road Doctor software, specifically developed for this purpose. GPR measurements in road analysis are carried out using a 400 MHz ground-coupled antenna and a 1.0 GHz horn antenna. Horn antenna data is used to measure the thickness of the pavement and base course layers, as well as to evaluate their quality based on their dielectric properties. The 400 MHz ground-coupled data is used to estimate the thickness of the pavement structure and embankment. Ground-coupled antenna data is used for subgrade quality estimations and in evaluating the causes of subgrade- related frost defects. GPR data also provides important location information about special structures, such as steel reinforcements, cables and pipelines. Road Analysis includes a classification of the critical elements affecting the lifetime of the road: (1

Intelligent transportation systems dependable vehicular communications for improved road safety

CERN Document Server

Ferreira, Joaquim; Fonseca, José

2016-01-01

This book presents cutting-edge work on the most challenging research issues concerning intelligent transportation systems (ITS), introducing selected, highly relevant advanced research on scheduling and real-time communication for vehicular networks, as well as fault tolerance, test beds and simulations for ITS. The authors define new architectures that support cooperative sensing in ITS and offer guidance for the development of a reference end-to-end implementation. The presented results allow advanced traffic and travel management strategies to be formulated on the basis of reliable and real-time input data. The effectiveness of these new strategies, together with the proposed systems, is assessed in field trials and via simulations. The chapters in this book detail new research findings, algorithms, protocols, and the development of an implementation platform for ITS that merges and integrates heterogeneous data sources into a common system. In addition, they provide a set of advanced tools for the contro...

Road pricing and road safety : possible effects on road safety of 23 variants of road pricing.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eenink, R.G. Dijkstra, A. Wijnen, W. & Janssen, S.T.M.C.

2007-01-01

The Nouwen Committee (National Platform Paying Differently for Mobility) advised the Cabinet in 2005 about the introduction of a system of road pricing. Part of this advice consisted of a calculation of the expected road safety effects of such a system. In a letter to the Minister of Transport, SWOV

Road Service Performance Based On Integrated Road Design Consistency (IC Along Federal Road F0023

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zainal Zaffan Farhana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Road accidents are one of the world’s largest public health and injury prevention problems. In Malaysia, the west coast area of Malaysia been stated as the highest motorcycle fatalities and road accidents are one of the factors that cause of death and injuries in this country. The most common fatal accident is between a motorcycle and passenger car. The most of the fatal accidents happened on Federal roads with 44 fatal accidents reported, which is equal to 29%. Lacks of road geometric designs consistency where the drivers make mistakes errors due to the road geometric features causes the accident kept rising in Malaysia. Hence, models are based on operating speed to calculate design consistency of road. The profiles were obtained by continuous speed profile using GPS data. The continuous operating speed profile models were plotted based on operating speed model (85th percentile. The study was conduct at F0023 from km 16 until km 20. The purpose of design consistency is to know the relationship between the operating speed and elements of geometric design on the road. As a result, the integrated design consistency motorcycle and cars along a segment at F0023, the threshold shows poor design quality for motorcycles and cars.

Road safety performance indicators for the interurban road network.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yannis, G. Weijermars, W.A.M. Gitelman, V. Vis, M. Chazirisa, A. Papadimitriou, E. & Lima Azevedo, C.

2013-01-01

Various road safety performance indicators (SPIs) have been proposed for different road safety research areas, mainly as regards driver behaviour (e.g. seat belt use, alcohol, drugs, etc.) and vehicles (e.g. passive safety); however, no SPIs for the road network and design have been developed. The

Effects of herd origin, AI stud and sire identification on genetic evaluation of Holstein Friesian bulls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Bittante

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to estimate the effects of herd origin of bull, AI stud and sire identification number (ID  on official estimated breeding values (EBV for production traits of Holstein Friesian proven bulls. The data included 1,005  Italian Holstein-Friesian bulls, sons of 76 sires, born in 100 herds and progeny tested by 10 AI studs. Bulls were required  to have date of first proof between September 1992 and September 1997, to be born in a herd with at least one other  bull and to have sire and dam with official EBV when bull was selected for progeny testing. Records of sires with only one  son were also discarded. The dependent variable analyzed was the official genetic evaluation for a “quantity and quality  of milk” index (ILQ. The linear model to predict breeding values of bulls included the fixed class effects of herd origin of  bull, AI testing organization, birth year of bull, and estimated breeding values of sire and dam, both as linear covariates.  The R2of the model was 45% and a significant effect was found for genetic merit of sire (P   for herd origin of bull (P   nificant. The range of herd origin effect was 872 kg of ILQ. However, in this study, the causes of this result were not  clear; it may be due to numerous factors, one of which may be preferential treatment on dams of bulls. Analyses of resid-  uals on breeding value of proven bulls for ILQ showed a non significant effect of sire ID, after adjusting for parent aver-  age, herd origin effect and birth year effect. Although the presence of bias in genetic evaluation of dairy bulls is not evi-  dent, further research is recommended firstly to understand the reasons of the significant herd origin effect, secondly to  monitor and guarantee the greatest accuracy and reliability of genetic evaluation procedures. 

How effective is road mitigation at reducing road-kill? A meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A.G.; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C.S.; Houlahan, Jeff; Ree, van der Rodney; Grift, van der Edgar A.

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners,

Contribution of Road Grade to the Energy Use of Modern Automobiles Across Large Datasets of Real-World Drive Cycles: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, E.; Burton, E.; Duran, A.; Gonder, J.

2014-01-01

Understanding the real-world power demand of modern automobiles is of critical importance to engineers using modeling and simulation to inform the intelligent design of increasingly efficient powertrains. Increased use of global positioning system (GPS) devices has made large scale data collection of vehicle speed (and associated power demand) a reality. While the availability of real-world GPS data has improved the industry's understanding of in-use vehicle power demand, relatively little attention has been paid to the incremental power requirements imposed by road grade. This analysis quantifies the incremental efficiency impacts of real-world road grade by appending high fidelity elevation profiles to GPS speed traces and performing a large simulation study. Employing a large real-world dataset from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Transportation Secure Data Center, vehicle powertrain simulations are performed with and without road grade under five vehicle models. Aggregate results of this study suggest that road grade could be responsible for 1% to 3% of fuel use in light-duty automobiles.

Mycotoxins in horse feed: Incidence of deoxynivalenol in oat samples from stud farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Urošević Miroslav I.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Reports concerning mycotoxins in horse feed are very rare and are typically restricted to fumonisins. As a non-ruminant monogastric species, horses may be more sensitive to adverse effects of mycotoxins, but the most severe effect of fumonisin B1 (FB1 in equines is that it causes fatal leucoencephalomalacia. In recent years, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA has evaluated several mycotoxins as “undesirable substances in animal feed” with the aim of establishing guidance values for the feed industry. In its evaluation of deoxynivalenol (DON, EFSA concluded that this toxin exhibited toxic effects in all species, but that horses were more tolerant towards this toxin than pigs. According to the available data, a systematic survey on mycotoxins in horse feed in Serbia has not been published. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of mycotoxins in horse feed in Vojvodina. Samples of oats for horse consumption, collected in 2010, were analyzed by enzyme immunoassays (ELISA for deoxynivalenol contamination. Twelve samples of oats were taken from twelve horse studs, with sport, school and hobby horses.

Security of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems: Standards, Threats Analysis and Cryptographic Countermeasures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elyes Ben Hamida

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Due to the growing number of vehicles on the roads worldwide, road traffic accidents are currently recognized as a major public safety problem. In this context, connected vehicles are considered as the key enabling technology to improve road safety and to foster the emergence of next generation cooperative intelligent transport systems (ITS. Through the use of wireless communication technologies, the deployment of ITS will enable vehicles to autonomously communicate with other nearby vehicles and roadside infrastructures and will open the door for a wide range of novel road safety and driver assistive applications. However, connecting wireless-enabled vehicles to external entities can make ITS applications vulnerable to various security threats, thus impacting the safety of drivers. This article reviews the current research challenges and opportunities related to the development of secure and safe ITS applications. It first explores the architecture and main characteristics of ITS systems and surveys the key enabling standards and projects. Then, various ITS security threats are analyzed and classified, along with their corresponding cryptographic countermeasures. Finally, a detailed ITS safety application case study is analyzed and evaluated in light of the European ETSI TC ITS standard. An experimental test-bed is presented, and several elliptic curve digital signature algorithms (ECDSA are benchmarked for signing and verifying ITS safety messages. To conclude, lessons learned, open research challenges and opportunities are discussed.

Joint road safety operations in tunnels and open roads

Science.gov (United States)

Adesiyun, Adewole; Avenoso, Antonio; Dionelis, Kallistratos; Cela, Liljana; Nicodème, Christophe; Goger, Thierry; Polidori, Carlo

2017-09-01

The objective of the ECOROADS project is to overcome the barrier established by the formal interpretation of the two Directives 2008/96/EC and 2004/54/EC, which in practice do not allow the same Road Safety Audits/Inspections to be performed inside tunnels. The projects aims at the establishment of a common enhanced approach to road infrastructure and tunnel safety management by using the concepts and criteria of the Directive 2008/96/CE on road infrastructure safety management and the results of related European Commission (EC) funded projects. ECOROADS has already implemented an analysis of national practices regarding Road Safety Inspections (RSI), two Workshops with the stakeholders, and an exchange of best practices between European tunnel experts and road safety professionals, which led to the definition of common agreed safety procedures. In the second phase of the project, different groups of experts and observers applied the above common procedures by inspecting five European road sections featuring both open roads and tunnels in Belgium, Albania, Germany, Serbia and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This paper shows the feedback of the 5 joint safety operations and how they are being used for a set of - recommendations and guidelines for the application of the RSA and RSI concepts within the tunnel safety operations.

Vehicular-networking- and road-weather-related research in Sodankylä

Science.gov (United States)

Sukuvaara, Timo; Mäenpää, Kari; Ylitalo, Riika

2016-10-01

Vehicular-networking- and especially safety-related wireless vehicular services have been under intensive research for almost a decade now. Only in recent years has road weather information also been acknowledged to play an important role when aiming to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities via intelligent transport systems (ITSs). Part of the progress can be seen as a result of the Finnish Meteorological Institute's (FMI) long-term research work in Sodankylä within the topic, originally started in 2006. Within multiple research projects, the FMI Arctic Research Centre has been developing wireless vehicular networking and road weather services, in co-operation with the FMI meteorological services team in Helsinki. At the beginning the wireless communication was conducted with traditional Wi-Fi type local area networking, but during the development the system has evolved into a hybrid communication system of a combined vehicular ad hoc networking (VANET) system with special IEEE 802.11p protocol and supporting cellular networking based on a commercial 3G network, not forgetting support for Wi-Fi-based devices also. For piloting purposes and further research, we have established a special combined road weather station (RWS) and roadside unit (RSU), to interact with vehicles as a service hotspot. In the RWS-RSU we have chosen to build support to all major approaches, IEEE 802.11, traditional Wi-Fi and cellular 3G. We employ road weather systems of FMI, along with RWS and vehicle data gathered from vehicles, in the up-to-date localized weather data delivered in real time. IEEE 802.11p vehicular networking is supported with Wi-Fi and 3G communications. This paper briefly introduces the research work related to vehicular networking and road weather services conducted in Sodankylä, as well as the research project involved in this work. The current status of instrumentation, available services and capabilities are presented in order to formulate a clear general view of

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis

OpenAIRE

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A. G.; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C. Scott; Houlahan, Jeff; van der Ree, Rodney; van der Grift, Edgar A

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these...

Tire-road noise: an experimental study of tire and road design parameters

OpenAIRE

Bekke, Dirk; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; Weegerink, Thijs; de Boer, Andries

2013-01-01

It is widely known that road traffic noise has negative influences on human health. Hence, as tire-road noise is considered to be the most dominant cause of road traffic noise above 30-50 km/h, a lot of research is performed by the two involving industries: road authorities/manufacturers and tire manufacturers. Usually, the parameters influencing exterior tire-road noise are often examined separately, whereas it is the tire-road interaction which obviously causes the actual noise. An integral...

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A G; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C Scott; Houlahan, Jeff; van der Ree, Rodney; van der Grift, Edgar A

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these measures vary greatly. We conducted a meta-analysis using data from 50 studies that quantified the relationship between road-kill and a mitigation measure designed to reduce road-kill. Overall, mitigation measures reduce road-kill by 40% compared to controls. Fences, with or without crossing structures, reduce road-kill by 54%. We found no detectable effect on road-kill of crossing structures without fencing. We found that comparatively expensive mitigation measures reduce large mammal road-kill much more than inexpensive measures. For example, the combination of fencing and crossing structures led to an 83% reduction in road-kill of large mammals, compared to a 57% reduction for animal detection systems, and only a 1% for wildlife reflectors. We suggest that inexpensive measures such as reflectors should not be used until and unless their effectiveness is tested using a high-quality experimental approach. Our meta-analysis also highlights the fact that there are insufficient data to answer many of the most pressing questions that road planners ask about the effectiveness of road mitigation measures, such as whether other less common mitigation measures (e.g., measures to reduce traffic volume and/or speed) reduce road mortality, or to what extent the attributes of crossing structures and fences influence their effectiveness. To improve evaluations of mitigation effectiveness, studies should incorporate data collection before the mitigation is applied, and we recommend a

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trina Rytwinski

Full Text Available Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill. For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these measures vary greatly. We conducted a meta-analysis using data from 50 studies that quantified the relationship between road-kill and a mitigation measure designed to reduce road-kill. Overall, mitigation measures reduce road-kill by 40% compared to controls. Fences, with or without crossing structures, reduce road-kill by 54%. We found no detectable effect on road-kill of crossing structures without fencing. We found that comparatively expensive mitigation measures reduce large mammal road-kill much more than inexpensive measures. For example, the combination of fencing and crossing structures led to an 83% reduction in road-kill of large mammals, compared to a 57% reduction for animal detection systems, and only a 1% for wildlife reflectors. We suggest that inexpensive measures such as reflectors should not be used until and unless their effectiveness is tested using a high-quality experimental approach. Our meta-analysis also highlights the fact that there are insufficient data to answer many of the most pressing questions that road planners ask about the effectiveness of road mitigation measures, such as whether other less common mitigation measures (e.g., measures to reduce traffic volume and/or speed reduce road mortality, or to what extent the attributes of crossing structures and fences influence their effectiveness. To improve evaluations of mitigation effectiveness, studies should incorporate data collection before the mitigation is applied, and we

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A. G.; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C. Scott; Houlahan, Jeff; van der Ree, Rodney; van der Grift, Edgar A

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these measures vary greatly. We conducted a meta-analysis using data from 50 studies that quantified the relationship between road-kill and a mitigation measure designed to reduce road-kill. Overall, mitigation measures reduce road-kill by 40% compared to controls. Fences, with or without crossing structures, reduce road-kill by 54%. We found no detectable effect on road-kill of crossing structures without fencing. We found that comparatively expensive mitigation measures reduce large mammal road-kill much more than inexpensive measures. For example, the combination of fencing and crossing structures led to an 83% reduction in road-kill of large mammals, compared to a 57% reduction for animal detection systems, and only a 1% for wildlife reflectors. We suggest that inexpensive measures such as reflectors should not be used until and unless their effectiveness is tested using a high-quality experimental approach. Our meta-analysis also highlights the fact that there are insufficient data to answer many of the most pressing questions that road planners ask about the effectiveness of road mitigation measures, such as whether other less common mitigation measures (e.g., measures to reduce traffic volume and/or speed) reduce road mortality, or to what extent the attributes of crossing structures and fences influence their effectiveness. To improve evaluations of mitigation effectiveness, studies should incorporate data collection before the mitigation is applied, and we recommend a

Road Network Selection Based on Road Hierarchical Structure Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HE Haiwei

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A new road network selection method based on hierarchical structure is studied. Firstly, road network is built as strokes which are then classified into hierarchical collections according to the criteria of betweenness centrality value (BC value. Secondly, the hierarchical structure of the strokes is enhanced using structural characteristic identification technique. Thirdly, the importance calculation model was established according to the relationships among the hierarchical structure of the strokes. Finally, the importance values of strokes are got supported with the model's hierarchical calculation, and with which the road network is selected. Tests are done to verify the advantage of this method by comparing it with other common stroke-oriented methods using three kinds of typical road network data. Comparision of the results show that this method had few need to semantic data, and could eliminate the negative influence of edge strokes caused by the criteria of BC value well. So, it is better to maintain the global hierarchical structure of road network, and suitable to meet with the selection of various kinds of road network at the same time.

Road pricing policy implementation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vonk Noordegraaf, D.M.

2016-01-01

Urban areas suffer from the negative externalities of road transport like congested road networks, air pollution and road traffic accidents. A measure to reduce these negative externalities is road pricing, meaning policies that impose direct charges on road use (Jones and Hervik, 1992). Since the

Effect of the Road Environment on Road Safety in Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Budzynski, Marcin; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Antoniuk, Marcin

2017-10-01

Run-off-road accidents tend to be very severe because when a vehicle leaves the road, it will often crash into a solid obstacle (tree, pole, supports, front wall of a culvert, barrier). A statistical analysis of the data shows that Poland’s main roadside hazard is trees and the severity of vehicles striking a tree in a run-off-road crash. The risks are particularly high in north-west Poland with many of the roads lined up with trees. Because of the existing rural road cross-sections, i.e. having trees directly on road edge followed immediately by drainage ditches, vulnerable road users are prevented from using shoulders and made to use the roadway. With no legal definition of the road safety zone in Polish regulations, attempts to remove roadside trees lead to major conflicts with environmental stakeholders. This is why a compromise should be sought between the safety of road users and protection of the natural environment and the aesthetics of the road experience. Rather than just cut the trees, other road safety measures should be used where possible to treat the hazardous spots by securing trees and obstacles and through speed management. Accidents that are directly related to the road environment fall into the following categories: hitting a tree, hitting a barrier, hitting a utility pole or sign, vehicle rollover on the shoulder, vehicle rollover on slopes or in ditch. The main consequence of a roadside hazard is not the likelihood of an accident itself but of its severity. Poland’s roadside accident severity is primarily the result of poor design or operation of road infrastructure. This comes as a consequence of a lack of regulations or poorly defined regulations and failure to comply with road safety standards. The new analytical model was designed as a combination of the different factors and one that will serve as a comprehensive model. It was assumed that it will describe the effect of the roadside on the number of accidents and their consequences

On the Deployment and Noise Filtering of Vehicular Radar Application for Detection Enhancement in Roads and Tunnels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Young-Duk Kim

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Recently, radar technology has attracted attention for the realization of an intelligent transportation system (ITS to monitor, track, and manage vehicle traffic on the roads as well as adaptive cruise control (ACC and automatic emergency braking (AEB for driving assistance of vehicles. However, when radar is installed on roads or in tunnels, the detection performance is significantly dependent on the deployment conditions and environment around the radar. In particular, in the case of tunnels, the detection accuracy for a moving vehicle drops sharply owing to the diffuse reflection of radio frequency (RF signals. In this paper, we propose an optimal deployment condition based on height and tilt angle as well as a noise-filtering scheme for RF signals so that the performance of vehicle detection can be robust against external conditions on roads and in tunnels. To this end, first, we gather and analyze the misrecognition patterns of the radar by tracking a number of randomly selected vehicles on real roads. In order to overcome the limitations, we implement a novel road watch module (RWM that is easily integrated into a conventional radar system such as Delphi ESR. The proposed system is able to perform real-time distributed data processing of the target vehicles by providing independent queues for each object of information that is incoming from the radar RF. Based on experiments with real roads and tunnels, the proposed scheme shows better performance than the conventional method with respect to the detection accuracy and delay time. The implemented system also provides a user-friendly interface to monitor and manage all traffic on roads and in tunnels. This will accelerate the popularization of future ITS services.

On the Deployment and Noise Filtering of Vehicular Radar Application for Detection Enhancement in Roads and Tunnels

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Duk; Son, Guk-Jin; Song, Chan-Ho

2018-01-01

Recently, radar technology has attracted attention for the realization of an intelligent transportation system (ITS) to monitor, track, and manage vehicle traffic on the roads as well as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and automatic emergency braking (AEB) for driving assistance of vehicles. However, when radar is installed on roads or in tunnels, the detection performance is significantly dependent on the deployment conditions and environment around the radar. In particular, in the case of tunnels, the detection accuracy for a moving vehicle drops sharply owing to the diffuse reflection of radio frequency (RF) signals. In this paper, we propose an optimal deployment condition based on height and tilt angle as well as a noise-filtering scheme for RF signals so that the performance of vehicle detection can be robust against external conditions on roads and in tunnels. To this end, first, we gather and analyze the misrecognition patterns of the radar by tracking a number of randomly selected vehicles on real roads. In order to overcome the limitations, we implement a novel road watch module (RWM) that is easily integrated into a conventional radar system such as Delphi ESR. The proposed system is able to perform real-time distributed data processing of the target vehicles by providing independent queues for each object of information that is incoming from the radar RF. Based on experiments with real roads and tunnels, the proposed scheme shows better performance than the conventional method with respect to the detection accuracy and delay time. The implemented system also provides a user-friendly interface to monitor and manage all traffic on roads and in tunnels. This will accelerate the popularization of future ITS services. PMID:29534483

On the Deployment and Noise Filtering of Vehicular Radar Application for Detection Enhancement in Roads and Tunnels.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Young-Duk; Son, Guk-Jin; Song, Chan-Ho; Kim, Hee-Kang

2018-03-11

Recently, radar technology has attracted attention for the realization of an intelligent transportation system (ITS) to monitor, track, and manage vehicle traffic on the roads as well as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and automatic emergency braking (AEB) for driving assistance of vehicles. However, when radar is installed on roads or in tunnels, the detection performance is significantly dependent on the deployment conditions and environment around the radar. In particular, in the case of tunnels, the detection accuracy for a moving vehicle drops sharply owing to the diffuse reflection of radio frequency (RF) signals. In this paper, we propose an optimal deployment condition based on height and tilt angle as well as a noise-filtering scheme for RF signals so that the performance of vehicle detection can be robust against external conditions on roads and in tunnels. To this end, first, we gather and analyze the misrecognition patterns of the radar by tracking a number of randomly selected vehicles on real roads. In order to overcome the limitations, we implement a novel road watch module (RWM) that is easily integrated into a conventional radar system such as Delphi ESR. The proposed system is able to perform real-time distributed data processing of the target vehicles by providing independent queues for each object of information that is incoming from the radar RF. Based on experiments with real roads and tunnels, the proposed scheme shows better performance than the conventional method with respect to the detection accuracy and delay time. The implemented system also provides a user-friendly interface to monitor and manage all traffic on roads and in tunnels. This will accelerate the popularization of future ITS services.

eRoads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Connolly, David

vehicles enable more renewable electricity to be integrated onto the electricity grid. This is particularly evident in 2050, since the price of fossil fuels increases while the price of renewable electricity and batteries decreases. Finally, the electric road scenarios can facilitate more reductions......This study compares electric roads with oil (petrol and diesel) and battery electric vehicles, using Denmark as a case study. Electric roads can reduce the cost of electric vehicles by supplying them with electricity directly from the road rather than via a battery for long-distance journeys....... In this paper, an electric road scenario is compared to both an oil and battery electric vehicle scenario using the 2010 Danish energy system, but for two sets of costs: one set based on historical costs from the year 2010 and one based on projected costs for the year 2050. The results indicate that electric...

A New Dimension of Business Intelligence: Location-based Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Zeljko Panian

2012-01-01

Through the course of this paper we define Locationbased Intelligence (LBI) which is outgrowing from process of amalgamation of geolocation and Business Intelligence. Amalgamating geolocation with traditional Business Intelligence (BI) results in a new dimension of BI named Location-based Intelligence. LBI is defined as leveraging unified location information for business intelligence. Collectively, enterprises can transform location data into business intelligence applic...

Intelligence analysis – the royal discipline of Competitive Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

František Bartes

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to propose work methodology for Competitive Intelligence teams in one of the intelligence cycle’s specific area, in the so-called “Intelligence Analysis”. Intelligence Analysis is one of the stages of the Intelligence Cycle in which data from both the primary and secondary research are analyzed. The main result of the effort is the creation of added value for the information collected. Company Competiitve Intelligence, correctly understood and implemented in business practice, is the “forecasting of the future”. That is forecasting about the future, which forms the basis for strategic decisions made by the company’s top management. To implement that requirement in corporate practice, the author perceives Competitive Intelligence as a systemic application discipline. This approach allows him to propose a “Work Plan” for Competitive Intelligence as a fundamental standardized document to steer Competitive Intelligence team activities. The author divides the Competitive Intelligence team work plan into five basic parts. Those parts are derived from the five-stage model of the intelligence cycle, which, in the author’s opinion, is more appropriate for complicated cases of Competitive Intelligence.

[Prevention of road accidents in the road haulage field].

Science.gov (United States)

Rosso, G L; Zanelli, R; Corino, P; Bruno, S

2007-01-01

Every year many traffic accidents with fatal outcomes occur in our Country. According to the recent indications of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the Piedmont region has financed the plan: Prevention of road accidents in the road haulage field. The aims of the plan are to stimulate transport companies to the target of road safety and to improve and enforce sanitary surveillance, in order to improve the safety on road haulage and to prevent traffic injuries. the plan foresees, over a period of two years, a few encounters with all the interested parties (companies, police forces, labour unions etc). During those encounters we have to give a questionnaire for evaluating the companies' knowledge about the problem and we have to choose a common plan with the aim of improving road safety. The Piedmont regional plan recalls the need to increase the attention to numerous and diversified hazards for safety on road haulage. It also imposes the choice of measures that include: risk assessment, health education, technical and environmental prevention, sanitary surveillance and clinical interventions (diagnosis and rehabilitation of occupational accidents).

Spiritual Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence and Auditor’s Performance

OpenAIRE

Hanafi, Rustam

2010-01-01

The objective of this research was to investigate empirical evidence about influence audi-tor spiritual intelligence on the performance with emotional intelligence as a mediator variable. Linear regression models are developed to examine the hypothesis and path analysis. The de-pendent variable of each model is auditor performance, whereas the independent variable of model 1 is spiritual intelligence, of model 2 are emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence. The parameters were estima...

All-terrain vehicle fatalities on paved roads, unpaved roads, and off-road: Evidence for informed roadway safety warnings and legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Denning, Gerene M; Jennissen, Charles A

2016-05-18

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are designed for off-highway use only, and many of their features create increased risk with roadway travel. Over half of all ATV-related fatalities occur on roadways, and nonfatal roadway crashes result in more serious injuries than those off the road. A number of jurisdictions have passed or have considered legislation allowing ATVs on public roadways, sometimes limiting them to those unpaved, arguing that they are safe for ATVs. However, no studies have determined the epidemiology of ATV-related fatalities on different road surface types. The objective of the study was to compare ATV-related deaths on paved versus unpaved roads and to contrast them with off-road fatalities. Retrospective descriptive and multivariable analyses were performed using U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission fatality data from 1982 through 2012. After 1998, ATV-related deaths increased at twice the rate on paved versus unpaved roads. Still, 42% of all roadway deaths during the study period occurred on unpaved surfaces. States varied considerably, ranging from 18% to 79% of their ATV-related roadway deaths occurring on unpaved roads. Paved road crashes were more likely than those on unpaved surfaces to involve males, adolescents and younger adults, passengers, and collisions with other vehicles. Both the pattern of other vehicles involved in collisions and which vehicle hit the other were different for the 2 road types. Alcohol use was higher, helmet use was lower, and head injuries were more likely in paved versus unpaved roadway crashes. However, head injuries still occurred in 76% of fatalities on unpaved roads. Helmets were associated with lower proportions of head injuries among riders, regardless of road surface type. Relative to off-road crashes, both paved and unpaved roads were more likely to involve collisions with another vehicle. The vast majority of roadway crashes, however, did not involve a traffic collision on either paved or unpaved roads

A Parameter Study of Coupling Properties in Finite Element Models of Single-Stud Double-Plate Panels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dickow, Kristoffer Ahrens; Domadiya, Parthkumar Gandalal; Andersen, Lars Vabbersgaard

2011-01-01

Lightweight building techniques are currently progressing fast and using such structures for multi-storey multi-family dwellings is becoming part of the industry standard. Partitions in lightweight buildings are often constructed as plates on frame structures made of either wood or steel. In any...... case the low frequency sound transmission is often an issue that needs attention. The present paper utilizes a finite element model of a single-stud double-plate panel structure to investigate how different couplings between the plates and the frame structure affect the direct sound transmission. Four...... different coupling configurations are considered: 1) All structural contact points are completely tied; 2) only nodes on the centre lines of the structure are tied; 3) a narrow strip of tied elements connect the frame to the plates; 4) evenly spaced discrete elements are tied. In all cases the interaction...

Using endemic road features to create self-explaining roads and reduce vehicle speeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Charlton, Samuel G; Mackie, Hamish W; Baas, Peter H; Hay, Karen; Menezes, Miguel; Dixon, Claire

2010-11-01

This paper describes a project undertaken to establish a self-explaining roads (SER) design programme on existing streets in an urban area. The methodology focussed on developing a process to identify functional road categories and designs based on endemic road characteristics taken from functional exemplars in the study area. The study area was divided into two sections, one to receive SER treatments designed to maximise visual differences between road categories, and a matched control area to remain untreated for purposes of comparison. The SER design for local roads included increased landscaping and community islands to limit forward visibility, and removal of road markings to create a visually distinct road environment. In comparison, roads categorised as collectors received increased delineation, addition of cycle lanes, and improved amenity for pedestrians. Speed data collected 3 months after implementation showed a significant reduction in vehicle speeds on local roads and increased homogeneity of speeds on both local and collector roads. The objective speed data, combined with residents' speed choice ratings, indicated that the project was successful in creating two discriminably different road categories. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genotyping in the Brazilian Criollo Horse Stud Book: resources and perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, M A P; Bressel, R M C; Almeida, D B; Oliveira, P A; Bassini, L N; Moreira, C G A; Manzke, V H B; Siewerdt, F; Moreira, H L M

2010-08-24

The goal of this research was to evaluate the ability of the genotyping information available in the Brazilian Criollo Horse Stud Book to describe the genetic variability of the breed and the exclusion probability determined in comparative tests. Altogether, two softwares were used in the analyses of the available genotypes: Cervus 3.0.3 and Genepop 4.0. Eight microsatellite markers totaled 109 alleles, with an average of 13.6 +/- 0.6 alleles per locus. Large differences between expected and observed heterozygosity were ubiquitous (0.821 +/- 0.07 and 0.470 +/- 0.17, respectively). Although the estimated null allele frequency caused initial concern (0.284 +/- 0.199), it is likely that it was a reflection of the inbreeding coefficients found (0.432 +/- 0.184). All loci showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, with heterozygote deficit (P < 0.0001) and genotypic linkage disequilibrium with at least one marker. The high polymorphic information content (0.798 +/- 0.088) could not warrant exclusion power for three loci (HMS7, HMS6 and HTG4) above 50% (0.491 +/- 0.158). However, combined exclusion probability reached 99.61%, a level close to ideal. The results demonstrate the excellent performance of the markers assessed in describing the genetic status of the breed and suggest the considerable ability to establish parentage.

Road safety performance indicators for the interurban road network.

Science.gov (United States)

Yannis, George; Weijermars, Wendy; Gitelman, Victoria; Vis, Martijn; Chaziris, Antonis; Papadimitriou, Eleonora; Azevedo, Carlos Lima

2013-11-01

Various road safety performance indicators (SPIs) have been proposed for different road safety research areas, mainly as regards driver behaviour (e.g. seat belt use, alcohol, drugs, etc.) and vehicles (e.g. passive safety); however, no SPIs for the road network and design have been developed. The objective of this research is the development of an SPI for the road network, to be used as a benchmark for cross-region comparisons. The developed SPI essentially makes a comparison of the existing road network to the theoretically required one, defined as one which meets some minimum requirements with respect to road safety. This paper presents a theoretical concept for the determination of this SPI as well as a translation of this theory into a practical method. Also, the method is applied in a number of pilot countries namely the Netherlands, Portugal, Greece and Israel. The results show that the SPI could be efficiently calculated in all countries, despite some differences in the data sources. In general, the calculated overall SPI scores were realistic and ranged from 81 to 94%, with the exception of Greece where the SPI was relatively lower (67%). However, the SPI should be considered as a first attempt to determine the safety level of the road network. The proposed method has some limitations and could be further improved. The paper presents directions for further research to further develop the SPI. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Road density

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Road density is generally highly correlated with amount of developed land cover. High road densities usually indicate high levels of ecological disturbance. More...

Road accident rates: strategies and programmes for improving road traffic safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Goniewicz, K; Goniewicz, M; Pawłowski, W; Fiedor, P

2016-08-01

Nowadays, the problem of road accident rates is one of the most important health and social policy issues concerning the countries in all continents. Each year, nearly 1.3 million people worldwide lose their life on roads, and 20-50 million sustain severe injuries, the majority of which require long-term treatment. The objective of the study was to identify the most frequent, constantly occurring causes of road accidents, as well as outline actions constituting a basis for the strategies and programmes aiming at improving traffic safety on local and global levels. Comparative analysis of literature concerning road safety was performed, confirming that although road accidents had a varied and frequently complex background, their causes have changed only to a small degree over the years. The causes include: lack of control and enforcement concerning implementation of traffic regulation (primarily driving at excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, and not respecting the rights of other road users (mainly pedestrians and cyclists), lack of appropriate infrastructure and unroadworthy vehicles. The number of fatal accidents and severe injuries, resulting from road accidents, may be reduced through applying an integrated approach to safety on roads. The strategies and programmes for improving road traffic should include the following measures: reducing the risk of exposure to an accident, prevention of accidents, reduction in bodily injuries sustained in accidents, and reduction of the effects of injuries by improvement of post-accident medical care.

Tire-road noise: an experimental study of tire and road design parameters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekke, Dirk; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; Weegerink, Thijs; de Boer, Andries

2013-01-01

It is widely known that road traffic noise has negative influences on human health. Hence, as tire-road noise is considered to be the most dominant cause of road traffic noise above 30-50 km/h, a lot of research is performed by the two involving industries: road authorities/manufacturers and tire

Intelligence analysis – the royal discipline of Competitive Intelligence

OpenAIRE

František Bartes

2011-01-01

The aim of this article is to propose work methodology for Competitive Intelligence teams in one of the intelligence cycle’s specific area, in the so-called “Intelligence Analysis”. Intelligence Analysis is one of the stages of the Intelligence Cycle in which data from both the primary and secondary research are analyzed. The main result of the effort is the creation of added value for the information collected. Company Competiitve Intelligence, correctly understood and implemented in busines...

Demonstrating a correlation between the maturity of road safety practices and road safety incidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Amador, Luis; Willis, Christopher Joseph

2014-01-01

The objective of this study is to demonstrate a correlation between the maturity of a country's road safety practices and road safety incidents. Firstly, data on a number of road injuries and fatalities for 129 countries were extracted from the United Nations Global Status on Road Safety database. These data were subdivided according to road safety incident and accident causation factors and normalized based on vehicular fleet (per 1000 vehicles) and road network (per meter of paved road). Secondly, a road safety maturity model was developed based on an adaptation of the concept of process maturity modeling. The maturity of countries with respect to 10 road safety practices was determined through the identification of indicators recorded in the United Nations Global Status of Road Safety Database. Plots of normalized road safety performance of the 129 countries against their maturity scores for each road safety practice as well as an aggregation of the road safety practices were developed. An analysis of variance was done to determine the extent of the correlation between the road safety maturity of the countries and their performance. In addition, a full Bayesian analysis was done to confirm the correlation of each of the road safety practices with injuries and fatalities. Regression analysis for fatalities, injuries, and combined accidents identified maturity with respect to road safety practices associated with speed limits and use of alternative modes as being the most significant predictors of traffic fatalities. A full Bayesian regression confirms that there is a correlation between the maturity of road safety practices and road safety incidents. Road safety practices associated with enforcement of speed limits and promotion of alternative modes are the most significant road safety practices toward which mature countries have concentrated their efforts, resulting in a lower frequency of fatalities, injury rates, and property damage accidents. The authors

Road traffic injury on rural roads in Tanzania: measuring the effectiveness of a road safety program.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Karen; Jinadasa, Deepani; Maegga, Bertha; Guerrero, Alejandro

2015-01-01

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a major public health burden, especially in low- and middle-income countries. There is limited data on RTIs in low-volume, rural African settings. This study attempted to survey all individuals living in households within 200 m of two low-volume rural roads in Tanzania and to collect data on RTIs. Local communities and users of the Bago to Talawanda road (intervention site) and Kikaro to Mihuga road (control site) were targeted and received an intensive program of road safety measures tailored using the crash characteristics of the baseline sample. Demographic data on all household members were collected, and those individuals who suffered an RTI in the previous 3 months had comprehensive information collected about the crash characteristics and the socioeconomic impact. The follow-up data collection occurred nine months after the baseline data were collected. The majority of crashes that caused an RTI involved a motorcycle (71%) and the majority of victims were male (82%) with an average age of 27. Injuries to the legs (55%) were most common and the average length of time away from normal activity was 27 (±33) days. RTI incidence at the intervention site increased during the course of the study (incidence before vs. incidence after) and was unchanged in the community control (incidence before vs. incidence after). The incidence of RTIs in the low-volume rural setting is unacceptably high and most commonly associated with motorcycles. The change in incidence is unreliable due to logistic restraints of the project and more research is needed to quantify the impact of various RTI prevention strategies in this setting. This study provides insight into road traffic injuries on low-volume rural roads, areas where very little research has been captured. Additionally, it provides a replicable study design for those interested in collecting similar data on low-volume rural roads.

Gravel roads management : volume 1, gravel roads management.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

This report establishes procedures for managing dirt and gravel roads, with a primary focus on smaller agencies, such as Wyoming counties, that must manage their roads with very limited resources. The report strives, first, to guide and assist smalle...

Sustainable road safety: a new (?) neighbourhood road pattern that saves VRU lives.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Vicky Feng; Lovegrove, Gord

2012-01-01

Both the UN (2007) and World Health Organizations (2004) have declared the enormous social and economic burden imposed on society by injuries due to road collisions as a major global problem. While the road safety problem is not new, this prominent global declaration sends an important signal of frustration regarding progress to date on reducing road collisions. It is clear that governments, communities, businesses and the public must discover ways of reducing this burden, especially as it relates to vulnerable road users (VRUs), typically meaning pedestrian and bicyclist road users. Recent comparisons of global VRU collisions statistics suggest that, in addition to mixed land use density, the layout of neighbourhood roads plays a vital role in the encouragement of walkable, safe and quiet, yet accessible and sustainable communities. The purpose of this paper was to: The Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) Program has produced a number of innovative land use and transportation initiatives for vehicular road users as well as non-vehicular VRUs. Following from the Dutch initiatives, these new 3-way offset, and fused grid neighbourhood patterns appear to not only have positive effects in encouraging mode split (i.e. increasing walking and bicycling, and transit), slowing traffic, and reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions; but also, to hold potential to improve road safety. To test the road safety hypothesis, UBCO researchers evaluated the level of road safety relative to five neighbourhood patterns - grid, culs-de-sac, and Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) (or limited access), 3-way offset, and fused grid networks. Analysis using standard transportation planning methodology revealed that they would maintain both mobility and accessibility. Analysis using standard road safety analysis methodology further revealed that these 3-way offset, and fused grid patterns would significantly improve road safety levels by as much as 60% compared to prevalent patterns (i

Road Closures

Data.gov (United States)

Montgomery County of Maryland — This is an up to date map of current road closures in Montgomery County.This dataset is updated every few minutes from the Department of Transportation road closure...

Intelligent battery energy management and control for vehicle-to-grid via cloud computing network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khayyam, Hamid; Abawajy, Jemal; Javadi, Bahman; Goscinski, Andrzej; Stojcevski, Alex; Bab-Hadiashar, Alireza

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The intelligent battery energy management substantially reduces the interactions of PEV with parking lots. • The intelligent battery energy management improves the energy efficiency. • The intelligent battery energy management predicts the road load demand for vehicles. - Abstract: Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) provide new opportunities to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emission. PEVs need to draw and store energy from an electrical grid to supply propulsive energy for the vehicle. As a result, it is important to know when PEVs batteries are available for charging and discharging. Furthermore, battery energy management and control is imperative for PEVs as the vehicle operation and even the safety of passengers depend on the battery system. Thus, scheduling the grid power electricity with parking lots would be needed for efficient charging and discharging of PEV batteries. This paper aims to propose a new intelligent battery energy management and control scheduling service charging that utilize Cloud computing networks. The proposed intelligent vehicle-to-grid scheduling service offers the computational scalability required to make decisions necessary to allow PEVs battery energy management systems to operate efficiently when the number of PEVs and charging devices are large. Experimental analyses of the proposed scheduling service as compared to a traditional scheduling service are conducted through simulations. The results show that the proposed intelligent battery energy management scheduling service substantially reduces the required number of interactions of PEV with parking lots and grid as well as predicting the load demand calculated in advance with regards to their limitations. Also it shows that the intelligent scheduling service charging using Cloud computing network is more efficient than the traditional scheduling service network for battery energy management and control

Intelligent robot trends and predictions for the first year of the new millennium

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Ernest L.

2000-10-01

An intelligent robot is a remarkably useful combination of a manipulator, sensors and controls. The current use of these machines in outer space, medicine, hazardous materials, defense applications and industry is being pursued with vigor. In factory automation, industrial robots can improve productivity, increase product quality and improve competitiveness. The computer and the robot have both been developed during recent times. The intelligent robot combines both technologies and requires a thorough understanding and knowledge of mechatronics. Today's robotic machines are faster, cheaper, more repeatable, more reliable and safer than ever. The knowledge base of inverse kinematic and dynamic solutions and intelligent controls is increasing. More attention is being given by industry to robots, vision and motion controls. New areas of usage are emerging for service robots, remote manipulators and automated guided vehicles. Economically, the robotics industry now has more than a billion-dollar market in the U.S. and is growing. Feasibility studies show decreasing costs for robots and unaudited healthy rates of return for a variety of robotic applications. However, the road from inspiration to successful application can be long and difficult, often taking decades to achieve a new product. A greater emphasis on mechatronics is needed in our universities. Certainly, more cooperation between government, industry and universities is needed to speed the development of intelligent robots that will benefit industry and society. The fearful robot stories may help us prevent future disaster. The inspirational robot ideas may inspire the scientists of tomorrow. However, the intelligent robot ideas, which can be reduced to practice, will change the world.

Construction of Three-Dimensional Road Surface and Application on Interaction between Vehicle and Road

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Yongjie

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The quantitative description is given to three-dimensional micro and macro self-similar characteristics of road surface from the perspective of fractal geometry using FBM stochastic midpoint displacement and diamond-square algorithm in conjunction with fractal characteristics and statistical characteristics of standard pavement determined by estimation method of box-counting dimension. The comparative analysis between reconstructed three-dimensional road surface spectrum and theoretical road surface spectrum and correlation coefficient demonstrate the high reconstruction accuracy of fractal reconstructed road spectrum. Furthermore, the bump zone is taken as an example to reconstruct a more arbitrary 3D road model through isomorphism of special road surface with stochastic road surface model. Measurement is taken to assume the tire footprint on road surface to be a rectangle, where the pressure distribution is expressed with mean stiffness, while the contact points in the contact area are replaced with a number of springs. Two-DOF vehicle is used as an example to analyze the difference between three-dimensional multipoint-and-plane contact and traditional point contact model. Three-dimensional road surface spectrum provides a more accurate description of the impact effect of tire on road surface, thereby laying a theoretical basis for studies on the dynamical process of interaction of vehicle-road surface and the road friendliness.

Sensor Systems for Vehicle Environment Perception in a Highway Intelligent Space System

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xiaofeng; Gao, Feng; Xu, Guoyan; Ding, Nenggen; Cai, Yao; Ma, Mingming; Liu, Jianxing

2014-01-01

A Highway Intelligent Space System (HISS) is proposed to study vehicle environment perception in this paper. The nature of HISS is that a space sensors system using laser, ultrasonic or radar sensors are installed in a highway environment and communication technology is used to realize the information exchange between the HISS server and vehicles, which provides vehicles with the surrounding road information. Considering the high-speed feature of vehicles on highways, when vehicles will be passing a road ahead that is prone to accidents, the vehicle driving state should be predicted to ensure drivers have road environment perception information in advance, thereby ensuring vehicle driving safety and stability. In order to verify the accuracy and feasibility of the HISS, a traditional vehicle-mounted sensor system for environment perception is used to obtain the relative driving state. Furthermore, an inter-vehicle dynamics model is built and model predictive control approach is used to predict the driving state in the following period. Finally, the simulation results shows that using the HISS for environment perception can arrive at the same results detected by a traditional vehicle-mounted sensors system. Meanwhile, we can further draw the conclusion that using HISS to realize vehicle environment perception can ensure system stability, thereby demonstrating the method's feasibility. PMID:24834907

Distribution of dilemma zone after intelligent transportation system established

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Yuanchang; Yang, Huiqin; Wu, Linying

2017-03-01

Dilemma zone refers to an area where vehicles can neither clear the intersection during the yellow interval nor stop safely before the stop line. The purpose of this paper is to analyzing the distribution of two types of dilemma zone after intelligent transportation system (ITS) established at Outer Ring Roads signalized intersections in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center. To collect field data a drone aircraft was used. When calculating the type II dilemma zone's distribution, we considered the information of drivers' aggressiveness, which was classified by driving speed and type I dilemma zone as well. We also compared the two types dilemma zone's distribution before and after ITS established and analyzed the changes, which was brought by ITS.

Road rage and road traffic accidents among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, M A; Shaikh, I A; Siddiqui, Z

2012-04-01

Road rage and road traffic accidents increase the burden of morbidity and mortality in a population. A cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan (n = 901) to record their behaviours/experiences regarding road rage and road traffic accidents. Respondents were asked about incidents of shouting/cursing/rude gestures or threats to physically hurt the person/vehicle, by others or themselves, in the previous 24 hours or 3 months, and their involvement in road traffic accidents in the previous 12 months. Auto-rickshaw drivers were significantly more likely to report various road rage experiences/behaviours and involvement in accidents compared with bus and wagon drivers. A total of 112 respondents (12.4%) reported being involved in a road traffic accident in the previous 12 months but traffic police did not record the accident in 52.7% of cases. The results of this study underline the need to improve road safety in Pakistan.

Web Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Devedzic, Vladan

2004-01-01

This paper surveys important aspects of Web Intelligence (WI) in the context of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) research. WI explores the fundamental roles as well as practical impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced Information Technology (IT) on the next generation of Web-related products, systems, services, and…

ENHANCEMENT OF ROAD SAFETY THROUGH MORE EFFECTIVE ROAD AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz SZCZURASZEK

2016-07-01

Full Text Available To make the policy aimed at mitigating the risk of road incidents more effective, Poland should see the introduction of the more efficient road and traffic management. In November 2008 the European Parliament and the European Council published the Directive on "infrastructure safety management" which provides guidance on the procedures for carrying impact assessments of traffic safety, traffic safety audits, safety management on the road network and monitoring traffic safety in Member States. In this article, the authors have proposed a systemic approach to road and traffic management, involving the implementation of consistent procedures that should include regular revisions of roads, eliminating hazardous sites, speed management, as well as the approval and implementation of traffic organization designs.

Artificial Intelligence and Moral intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Pana

2008-07-01

Full Text Available We discuss the thesis that the implementation of a moral code in the behaviour of artificial intelligent systems needs a specific form of human and artificial intelligence, not just an abstract intelligence. We present intelligence as a system with an internal structure and the structural levels of the moral system, as well as certain characteristics of artificial intelligent agents which can/must be treated as 1- individual entities (with a complex, specialized, autonomous or selfdetermined, even unpredictable conduct, 2- entities endowed with diverse or even multiple intelligence forms, like moral intelligence, 3- open and, even, free-conduct performing systems (with specific, flexible and heuristic mechanisms and procedures of decision, 4 – systems which are open to education, not just to instruction, 5- entities with “lifegraphy”, not just “stategraphy”, 6- equipped not just with automatisms but with beliefs (cognitive and affective complexes, 7- capable even of reflection (“moral life” is a form of spiritual, not just of conscious activity, 8 – elements/members of some real (corporal or virtual community, 9 – cultural beings: free conduct gives cultural value to the action of a ”natural” or artificial being. Implementation of such characteristics does not necessarily suppose efforts to design, construct and educate machines like human beings. The human moral code is irremediably imperfect: it is a morality of preference, of accountability (not of responsibility and a morality of non-liberty, which cannot be remedied by the invention of ethical systems, by the circulation of ideal values and by ethical (even computing education. But such an imperfect morality needs perfect instruments for its implementation: applications of special logic fields; efficient psychological (theoretical and technical attainments to endow the machine not just with intelligence, but with conscience and even spirit; comprehensive technical

Intelligible Artificial Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Weld, Daniel S.; Bansal, Gagan

2018-01-01

Since Artificial Intelligence (AI) software uses techniques like deep lookahead search and stochastic optimization of huge neural networks to fit mammoth datasets, it often results in complex behavior that is difficult for people to understand. Yet organizations are deploying AI algorithms in many mission-critical settings. In order to trust their behavior, we must make it intelligible --- either by using inherently interpretable models or by developing methods for explaining otherwise overwh...

Naturalist Intelligence Among the Other Multiple Intelligences [In Bulgarian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Genkov

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The theory of multiple intelligences was presented by Gardner in 1983. The theory was revised later (1999 and among the other intelligences a naturalist intelligence was added. The criteria for distinguishing of the different types of intelligences are considered. While Gardner restricted the analysis of the naturalist intelligence with examples from the living nature only, the present paper considered this problem on wider background including objects and persons of the natural sciences.

Artificial intelligence

CERN Document Server

Hunt, Earl B

1975-01-01

Artificial Intelligence provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of artificial intelligence. This book presents the basic mathematical and computational approaches to problems in the artificial intelligence field.Organized into four parts encompassing 16 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the various fields of artificial intelligence. This text then attempts to connect artificial intelligence problems to some of the notions of computability and abstract computing devices. Other chapters consider the general notion of computability, with focus on the interaction bet

Intelligence Ethics:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rønn, Kira Vrist

2016-01-01

Questions concerning what constitutes a morally justified conduct of intelligence activities have received increased attention in recent decades. However, intelligence ethics is not yet homogeneous or embedded as a solid research field. The aim of this article is to sketch the state of the art...... of intelligence ethics and point out subjects for further scrutiny in future research. The review clusters the literature on intelligence ethics into two groups: respectively, contributions on external topics (i.e., the accountability of and the public trust in intelligence agencies) and internal topics (i.......e., the search for an ideal ethical framework for intelligence actions). The article concludes that there are many holes to fill for future studies on intelligence ethics both in external and internal discussions. Thus, the article is an invitation – especially, to moral philosophers and political theorists...

#%Applications of artificial intelligence in intelligent manufacturing: a review

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

#

2017-01-01

#%Based on research into the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the manufacturing industry in recent years, we analyze the rapid development of core technologies in the new era of 'Internet plus AI', which is triggering a great change in the models, means, and ecosystems of the manufacturing industry, as well as in the development of AI. We then propose new models, means, and forms of intelligent manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing system architecture, and intelligent man-ufacturing technology system, based on the integration of AI technology with information communications, manufacturing, and related product technology. Moreover, from the perspectives of intelligent manufacturing application technology, industry, and application demonstration, the current development in intelligent manufacturing is discussed. Finally, suggestions for the appli-cation of AI in intelligent manufacturing in China are presented.

Investigation of the influence of vertical force on the contact between truck tyre and road using finite element analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Moisescu, Alexandra-Raluca; Anghelache, Gabriel

2017-10-01

In the modern context of automobile integration with the emerging technologies of the interconnected society, the interaction between tyre and road is an element of major importance for automobile safety systems such as the intelligent tyres, as well as for passenger comfort, fuel economy, environmental protection, infrastructure and vehicle durability. The tyre-road contact generates the distribution of forces exerted on each unit area in the contact patch, therefore the distribution of contact stresses on three orthogonal directions. The numerical investigation of stresses distribution in the contact patch requires the development of finite element models capable of accurately describing the interaction between tyre and rolling surface. The complex finite element model developed for the 11R22.5 truck tyre has been used for investigating the influence of vertical force on the distributions of contact stresses. In addition to these contributions, the paper presents aspects related to the simulation of truck tyre radial stiffness. The influence of tyre rolling has not been taken into consideration, as the purpose of the current research is the investigation of tyre-road contact in stationary conditions.

Wildlife friendly roads: the impacts of roads on wildlife in urban areas and potential remedies

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Seth P D; Brown, Justin L.; Sikich, Jeff A.; Schoonmaker, Catherine M.; Boydston, Erin E.

2014-01-01

Roads are one of the most important factors affecting the ability of wildlife to live and move within an urban area. Roads physically replace wildlife habitat and often reduce habitat quality nearby, fragment the remaining habitat, and cause increased mortality through vehicle collisions. Much ecological research on roads has focused on whether animals are successfully crossing roads, or if the road is a barrier to wildlife movement, gene flow, or functional connectivity. Roads can alter survival and reproduction for wildlife, even among species such as birds that cross roads easily. Here we examine the suite of potential impacts of roads on wildlife, but we focus particularly on urban settings. We report on studies, both in the literature and from our own experience, that have addressed wildlife and roads in urban landscapes. Although road ecology is a growing field of study, relatively little of this research, and relatively few mitigation projects, have been done in urban landscapes. We also draw from the available science on road impacts in rural areas when urban case studies have not fully addressed key topics.

Visibility of road markings on wet road surfaces : a literature study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schreuder, D.A.

1981-01-01

The English version of B 14153 is presented. Road markings, notably lane markers, are often only poorly visible when the road is wet. This is particularly a problem at night on unlit roads. A study is made of whether a solution for this problem can be found on the basis of the known, published

Access road reclamation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manson, T.; Blok, M.

1997-01-01

A general review of the measures involved in restoring abandoned access road sites in British Columbia was presented. Permits and licences are needed for the use of crown land for roads used by the petroleum and natural gas industry for exploration activities. However, the regulatory framework for road site reclamation is not well developed. The nature of access road reclamation is very site-specific. Some of the issues that are considered for all reclamation projects include slope stability, water control, revegetation, soil rehabilitation, access management and monitoring. The primary objective of reclaiming access road sites is to return the site to conditions that are equal or better than pre-disturbance conditions. Restoration measures must be approved by BC Environment and by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans where federal fisheries responsibilities are involved. 54 refs., 5 tabs., 3 figs

Armenia - Rural Road Rehabilitation

Data.gov (United States)

Millennium Challenge Corporation — The key research questions guiding our design of the RRRP evaluation are: • Did rehabilitating roads affect the quality of roads? • Did rehabilitating roads improve...

Experimental Study on Welded Headed Studs Used In Steel Plate-Concrete Composite Structures Compared with Contactless Method of Measuring Displacement

Science.gov (United States)

Kisała, Dawid; Tekieli, Marcin

2017-10-01

Steel plate-concrete composite structures are a new innovative design concept in which a thin steel plate is attached to the reinforced concrete beam by means of welded headed studs. The comparison between experimental studies and theoretical analysis of this type of structures shows that their behaviour is dependent on the load-slip relationship of the shear connectors used to ensure sufficient bond between the concrete and steel parts of the structure. The aim of this paper is to describe an experimental study on headed studs used in steel plate-concrete composite structures. Push-out tests were carried out to investigate the behaviour of shear connectors. The test specimens were prepared according to standard push-out tests, however, instead of I-beam, a steel plate 16 mm thick was used to better reflect the conditions in the real structure. The test specimens were produced in two batches using concrete with significantly different compressive strength. The experimental study was carried out on twelve specimens. Besides the traditional measurements based on LVDT sensors, optical measurements based on the digital image correlation method (DIC) and pattern tracking methods were used. DIC is a full-field contactless optical method for measuring displacements in experimental testing, based on the correlation of the digital images taken during test execution. With respect to conventional methods, optical measurements offer a wider scope of results and can give more information about the material or construction behaviour during the test. The ultimate load capacity and load-slip curves obtained from the experiments were compared with the values calculated based on Eurocodes, American and Chinese design specifications. It was observed that the use of the relationships developed for the traditional steel-concrete composite structures is justified in the case of ultimate load capacity of shear connectors in steel plate-concrete composite structures.

Social intelligence, human intelligence and niche construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Sterelny, Kim

2007-04-29

This paper is about the evolution of hominin intelligence. I agree with defenders of the social intelligence hypothesis in thinking that externalist models of hominin intelligence are not plausible: such models cannot explain the unique cognition and cooperation explosion in our lineage, for changes in the external environment (e.g. increasing environmental unpredictability) affect many lineages. Both the social intelligence hypothesis and the social intelligence-ecological complexity hybrid I outline here are niche construction models. Hominin evolution is hominin response to selective environments that earlier hominins have made. In contrast to social intelligence models, I argue that hominins have both created and responded to a unique foraging mode; a mode that is both social in itself and which has further effects on hominin social environments. In contrast to some social intelligence models, on this view, hominin encounters with their ecological environments continue to have profound selective effects. However, though the ecological environment selects, it does not select on its own. Accidents and their consequences, differential success and failure, result from the combination of the ecological environment an agent faces and the social features that enhance some opportunities and suppress others and that exacerbate some dangers and lessen others. Individuals do not face the ecological filters on their environment alone, but with others, and with the technology, information and misinformation that their social world provides.

Trends in ambient intelligent systems the role of computational intelligence

CERN Document Server

Khan, Mohammad; Abraham, Ajith

2016-01-01

This book demonstrates the success of Ambient Intelligence in providing possible solutions for the daily needs of humans. The book addresses implications of ambient intelligence in areas of domestic living, elderly care, robotics, communication, philosophy and others. The objective of this edited volume is to show that Ambient Intelligence is a boon to humanity with conceptual, philosophical, methodical and applicative understanding. The book also aims to schematically demonstrate developments in the direction of augmented sensors, embedded systems and behavioral intelligence towards Ambient Intelligent Networks or Smart Living Technology. It contains chapters in the field of Ambient Intelligent Networks, which received highly positive feedback during the review process. The book contains research work, with in-depth state of the art from augmented sensors, embedded technology and artificial intelligence along with cutting-edge research and development of technologies and applications of Ambient Intelligent N...

Road Infrastructure Safety Management in Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Budzynski, Marcin; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Kustra, Wojciech; Michalski, Lech; Gaca, Stanislaw

2017-10-01

The objective of road safety infrastructure management is to ensure that when roads are planned, designed, built and used road risks can be identified, assessed and mitigated. Road transport safety is significantly less developed than that of rail, water and air transport. The average individual risk of being a fatality in relation to the distance covered is thirty times higher in road transport that in the other modes. This is mainly because the different modes have a different approach to safety management and to the use of risk management methods and tools. In recent years Poland has had one of the European Union’s highest road death numbers. In 2016 there were 3026 fatalities on Polish roads with 40,766 injuries. Protecting road users from the risk of injury and death should be given top priority. While Poland’s national and regional road safety programmes address this problem and are instrumental in systematically reducing the number of casualties, the effects are far from the expectations. Modern approaches to safety focus on three integrated elements: infrastructure measures, safety management and safety culture. Due to its complexity, the process of road safety management requires modern tools to help with identifying road user risks, assess and evaluate the safety of road infrastructure and select effective measures to improve road safety. One possible tool for tackling this problem is the risk-based method for road infrastructure safety management. European Union Directive 2008/96/EC regulates and proposes a list of tools for managing road infrastructure safety. Road safety tools look at two criteria: the life cycle of a road structure and the process of risk management. Risk can be minimized through the application of the proposed interventions during design process as reasonable. The proposed methods of risk management bring together two stages: risk assessment and risk response occurring within the analyzed road structure (road network, road

Road safety analysis on Achmad Yani frontage road Surabaya

Science.gov (United States)

Machsus; Prayogo, I.; Chomaedhi; Hayati, D. W.; Utanaka, A.

2017-11-01

This research discusses road safety analysis on the operation of frontage road on the west side of Achmad Yani Road Surabaya. This research began by conducting survey on secondary data of traffic accidents. In addition, primary data survey was conducted to obtain traffic data, geometric road data, and other supporting data at the study site along the west side frontage of Ahmad Yani Road Surabaya. Devices used in this research include camera, handy cam, speed gun, counters of vehicles, rolling meter, computer and others. In outline, the stages to conduct this research are divided into 4 stages, namely 1.the preparation stage, 2.data collection and processing, 3. analysis and discussion, and 4. conclusion. The results of this study showed that the accident characteristics of the frontage road are (i) 3 accidents occured per month, (ii) motorcycles was accounted for the largest proportion of accidents which amounted to 74.6 percent, (iii) there were 3 accident victims per month, and (iv) material losses per month worths 1.2 million. The accident rate in 2016 was 0.04 crashes per one million vehicle travels per kilometer, while during 2 months in 2017 it was 0.15 accidents per one million vehicle travels per kilometer. Black spot area of accident is located on Sta 2 + 800 to 2 + 900 which is in front of Graha Pena building and DBL Arena. The high rate of accidents is influenced by the speed of the vehicle which 85 percentile exceeds the speed limit of 40km per hour.

Road Accidents and Road Fatalities in Denmark from 1968 to 2004

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Orozova-Bekkevold, Ivanka; Hels, Tove; Bernhoft, Inger Marie

2008-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the road accidents and road fatalities in Denmark in the period 1968-2004. Only accidents registered by the police were used. Crude and gender & age specific fatality rates (counts per 1,000,000 inhabitants) were estimated for all road users...... and for bicyclists. The accident and fatality rates have decreased by around 70% from 1968 to 2004, while the motorisation rate has increased by approximately 90%. The sharpest decrease in the fatality rate was observed among the youngest (below 18 years old) and the older (above 64) road users. Gender related...... and actions targeted to improve road safety have indeed led to a significant reduction in injury accidents and fatalities. Further research and more detailed data, especially on traffic volume and individual exposure are necessary in order to investigate properly a causal relation between the number...

Epidemiologic study of road traffic injuries by road user type characteristics and road environment in Iran: a community-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatamabadi, Hamidreza; Vafaee, Reza; Hadadi, Mashyaneh; Abdalvand, Ali; Esnaashari, Hamidreza; Soori, Hamid

2012-01-01

Crash injuries in traffic accidents are affected by a variety of factors. In this study we analyzed road user type information based on different contributing factors. Data from all of the road traffic victims on a road extending from the east of the city of Tehran to Mazandaran province were included prospectively over a one-year period (May 2008 to May 2009). Data collected included the crash time, patient's age and sex, road user category, helmet or seat belt use, anatomical site of injury, Injury Severity Score (ISS), and mortality. Prevalence and cross-tabulations were included in the analysis. There were 433 patients, of whom 345 were hospitalized and 33 died either before or after arriving at the hospital. Sixty-nine percent of injured patients were vehicle occupants. Mean and median of ISS were higher for pedestrians, who accounted for 49 percent of the deaths. Head injury was the most common injury and injury to upper and lower extremities was the most common cause of admission. A significant difference in lower extremity injuries between vehicle occupants and nonoccupants was found. Sex and age group did not have a significant effect on mortality. Mortality was significantly higher in pedestrians (P road user type. Because pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users, stricter legislation and law enforcement should be used to protect them. Greater protection can also be reached by holding effective public awareness campaigns on how to use different roads safely. On the other hand, because rear seat passengers are at the same risk for road traffic injuries as front seat passengers, employment of newer laws and preventive measures targeting this group of occupants can prevent many road traffic injuries (RTIs).

Use of fatal real-life crashes to analyze a safe road transport system model, including the road user, the vehicle, and the road.

Science.gov (United States)

Stigson, Helena; Krafft, Maria; Tingvall, Claes

2008-10-01

To evaluate if the Swedish Road Administration (SRA) model for a safe road transport system, which includes the interaction between the road user, the vehicle, and the road, could be used to classify fatal car crashes according to some safety indicators. Also, to present a development of the model to better identify system weakness. Real-life crashes with a fatal outcome were classified according to the vehicle's safety rating by Euro NCAP (European Road Assessment Programme) and fitment of ESC (Electronic Stability Control). For each crash, the road was also classified according to EuroRAP (European Road Assessment Programme) criteria, and human behavior in terms of speeding, seat belt use, and driving under the influence of alcohol. Each crash was compared with the model criteria, to identify components that might have contributed to fatal outcome. All fatal crashes where a car occupant was killed that occurred in Sweden during 2004 were included: in all, 215 crashes with 248 fatalities. The data were collected from the in-depth fatal crash data of the Swedish Road Administration (SRA). It was possible to classify 93% of the fatal car crashes according to the SRA model. A number of shortcomings in the criteria were identified since the model did not address rear-end or animal collisions or collisions with stationary/parked vehicles or trailers (18 out of 248 cases). Using the further developed model, it was possible to identify that most of the crashes occurred when two or all three components interacted (in 85 of the total 230 cases). Noncompliance with safety criteria for the road user, the vehicle, and the road led to fatal outcome in 43, 27, and 75 cases, respectively. The SRA model was found to be useful for classifying fatal crashes but needs to be further developed to identify how the components interact and thereby identify weaknesses in the road traffic system. This developed model might be a tool to systematically identify which of the components are

Advanced intelligent systems

CERN Document Server

Ryoo, Young; Jang, Moon-soo; Bae, Young-Chul

2014-01-01

Intelligent systems have been initiated with the attempt to imitate the human brain. People wish to let machines perform intelligent works. Many techniques of intelligent systems are based on artificial intelligence. According to changing and novel requirements, the advanced intelligent systems cover a wide spectrum: big data processing, intelligent control, advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning. This book focuses on coordinating intelligent systems with highly integrated and foundationally functional components. The book consists of 19 contributions that features social network-based recommender systems, application of fuzzy enforcement, energy visualization, ultrasonic muscular thickness measurement, regional analysis and predictive modeling, analysis of 3D polygon data, blood pressure estimation system, fuzzy human model, fuzzy ultrasonic imaging method, ultrasonic mobile smart technology, pseudo-normal image synthesis, subspace classifier, mobile object tracking, standing-up moti...

Overload road damage model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Roux, MP

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Not only do overloaded vehicles pose an increased safety risk on the road (reduced stability and braking efficiency etc.), but they also accelerate the rate of deterioration of the road network and increase road maintenance costs, which in turn...

Competitive Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergeron, Pierrette; Hiller, Christine A.

2002-01-01

Reviews the evolution of competitive intelligence since 1994, including terminology and definitions and analytical techniques. Addresses the issue of ethics; explores how information technology supports the competitive intelligence process; and discusses education and training opportunities for competitive intelligence, including core competencies…

The impact of road improvements on road safety and related characteristics

OpenAIRE

Francis John Gichaga

2017-01-01

This paper presents the historical and cultural background relating to road improvement and road safety characteristics in Kenya, a developing country in East Africa. Some who come from low-developed areas of developing countries often take time to comprehend the modern transportation infrastructure, especially roads, and have difficulty assimilating and customizing the same to their culturally tailored modes. This paper discusses two case studies: one on the socio-economic impact followin...

Characteristics of public roads operation

OpenAIRE

Pryimak, V.; Kyiashko, I.

2009-01-01

Characteristics of public roads operation have been considered and factors influencing TEC of public roads that go via urban areas have been determined. There have been revealed contradictions in the normative-legal base concerning maintenance of public roads and municipal roads that merge into them.

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC TECHNIQUES FOR ROAD SURFACE ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Knyaz

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The quality and condition of a road surface is of great importance for convenience and safety of driving. So the investigations of the behaviour of road materials in laboratory conditions and monitoring of existing roads are widely fulfilled for controlling a geometric parameters and detecting defects in the road surface. Photogrammetry as accurate non-contact measuring method provides powerful means for solving different tasks in road surface reconstruction and analysis. The range of dimensions concerned in road surface analysis can have great variation from tenths of millimetre to hundreds meters and more. So a set of techniques is needed to meet all requirements of road parameters estimation. Two photogrammetric techniques for road surface analysis are presented: for accurate measuring of road pavement and for road surface reconstruction based on imagery obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle. The first technique uses photogrammetric system based on structured light for fast and accurate surface 3D reconstruction and it allows analysing the characteristics of road texture and monitoring the pavement behaviour. The second technique provides dense 3D model road suitable for road macro parameters estimation.

Future Road Density

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Road density is generally highly correlated with amount of developed land cover. High road densities usually indicate high levels of ecological disturbance. More...

Challenges of raising road maintenance funds in developing countries: An analysis of road tolling in Zimbabwe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. C. Mbara

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The condition of Zimbabwe's roads has been declining due to insufficient maintenance and rehabilitation. Year on year, budget allocations have compared unfavourably with funding considered adequate to maintain highway networks and conduct modest construction work. Road infrastructure shortcomings have manifested themselves in the form of high vehicle operating costs and rampant potholes, leading to a decline in road safety and a deterioration of service levels for those who use roads to deliver goods or connect to international markets. In order to try and stop this vicious cycle of decline, the Government of Zimbabwe, on 8 August 2009, introduced a new policy of road-user charges, which involved the setting-up of 22 toll gates on the trunk road network. The overall objective was to raise revenue in order to close the funding gap, blamed for declining road quality. Although alternative methods of financing road maintenance have been debated for years, a generally accepted understanding is that road users should pay costs for road provisioning. This paper assesses the implementation of a road tolling system in Zimbabwe and describes matters relating to, inter alia, implementation strategy, initial performance outcomes and sustainability.

Gravel roads management : volume 2, gravel roads management : implementation guide.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-01

This report establishes procedures for managing dirt and gravel roads, with a primary focus on smaller agencies, such as Wyoming counties, that must manage their roads with very limited resources. The report strives, first, to guide and assist smalle...

Gravel roads management : volume 3, gravel roads management : programming guide.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

This report establishes procedures for managing dirt and gravel roads, with a primary focus on smaller agencies, such as Wyoming counties, that must manage their roads with very limited resources. The report strives, first, to guide and assist smalle...

VT Road Centerline

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — (Link to Metadata)(User Guide)(Symbology layer files: aotclass_only.lyr aotclass_surfacetyp.lyr)The Vermont Road Centerline data layer (TransRoad_RDS) contains all...

RoADS: A road pavement monitoring system for anomaly detection using smart phones

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seraj, Fatjon; van der Zwaag, B.J.; Dilo, Arta; Luarasi, Tamara; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Atzmueller, Martin; Chin, Alvin; Janssen, Frederik; Schweizer, Immanuel; Trattner, Christoph

2016-01-01

Monitoring the road pavement is a challenging task. Authorities spend time and finances to monitor the state and quality of the road pavement. This paper investigate road surface monitoring with smartphones equipped with GPS and inertial sensors: accelerometer and gyroscope. In this study we

RoADS: A road pavement monitoring system for anomaly detection using smart phones

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seraj, Fatjon; van der Zwaag, B.J.; Dilo, Arta; Luarasi, Tamara; Havinga, Paul J.M.

2014-01-01

Monitoring the road pavement is a challenging task. Authorities spend time and finances to monitor the state and quality of the road pavement. This paper investigate road surface monitoring with smartphones equipped with GPS and inertial sensors: accelerometer and gyroscope. In this study we

Performance standards of road safety management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čabarkapa Milenko R.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Road safety management controlling means the process of finding out the information whether the road safety is improving in a measure to achieve the objectives. The process of control consists of three basic elements: definition of performances and standards, measurement of current performances and comparison with the set standards, and improvement of current performances, if they deviate from the set standards. The performance standards of road safety management system are focused on a performances measurement, in terms of their design and characteristics, in order to support the performances improvement of road safety system and thus, ultimately, improve the road safety. Defining the performance standards of road safety management system, except that determines the design of the system for performances measurement, directly sets requirements whose fulfillment will produce a road safety improvement. The road safety management system, based on the performance standards of road safety, with a focus on results, will produce the continuous improvement of road safety, achieving the long-term 'vision zero', the philosophy of road safety, that human life and health take priority over mobility and other traffic objectives of the road traffic.

Estimation of Road Friction Coefficient in Different Road Conditions Based on Vehicle Braking Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, You-Qun; Li, Hai-Qing; Lin, Fen; Wang, Jian; Ji, Xue-Wu

2017-07-01

The accurate estimation of road friction coefficient in the active safety control system has become increasingly prominent. Most previous studies on road friction estimation have only used vehicle longitudinal or lateral dynamics and often ignored the load transfer, which tends to cause inaccurate of the actual road friction coefficient. A novel method considering load transfer of front and rear axles is proposed to estimate road friction coefficient based on braking dynamic model of two-wheeled vehicle. Sliding mode control technique is used to build the ideal braking torque controller, which control target is to control the actual wheel slip ratio of front and rear wheels tracking the ideal wheel slip ratio. In order to eliminate the chattering problem of the sliding mode controller, integral switching surface is used to design the sliding mode surface. A second order linear extended state observer is designed to observe road friction coefficient based on wheel speed and braking torque of front and rear wheels. The proposed road friction coefficient estimation schemes are evaluated by simulation in ADAMS/Car. The results show that the estimated values can well agree with the actual values in different road conditions. The observer can estimate road friction coefficient exactly in real-time and resist external disturbance. The proposed research provides a novel method to estimate road friction coefficient with strong robustness and more accurate.

[Discussion on exploitation of foreign traditional chinese medicine resources based on "the Belt and Road"].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Lyu, Dong-Mei; Huang, Lu-Qi; Li, Meng; Guo, Lan-Ping; Peng, Hua-Sheng

2018-04-01

At the beginning of the ancient "Silk Road", traditional Chinese medicine resources (TCM resources) have long been integrated into it, and it was once the "important part" of the ancient "Silk Road" in Chinese history, benefited from this, the political connections was strengthened, the economic and trade was developed, and Chinese medicine culture was spread. Before Qing Dynasty, people took out the "silk" and brought back "herbs" on the "Silk Road", which enriched China's medicinal resources. While in the later Qing Dynasty and the period of the Republic of China, more scientific and technological methods were brought back from abroad, and this in turn enriched the medical research methods. With more than 2 000 years' development, China's boundaries have changed countless times, therefore the word "Foreign" has different meanings in different historical periods. The import, development and utilization of foreign TCM resources is different in different historical periods, at present, with the continuous enhancement of China's comprehensiv national strength，especially the "Belt And Road" strategy, the communication and import of TCM resources with countries that participating in the "Belt and Road" initiativ became much easier. In order to actively respond to the "Belt and Road" initiative promote the development and utilization of foreign medicinal resources; serve people from the countries participating in the "Belt and Road" initiative we sorted out the foreign TCM resources from different periods in ancient and modern China, and based on this, we proposed the strategy of import of foreign TCM resources under the new situation, those are: "three levels, four steps, one support and one key". And "three levels" refers to intelligence collection level, field investigation level, scientific research level, "Four steps" refers to the original identification research, safety evaluation research, functional positioning research and medicinal properties research; "One

Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Sternberg, Robert J

2012-03-01

Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience and to adapt to, shape, and select environments. Intelligence as measured by (raw scores on) conventional standardized tests varies across the lifespan, and also across generations. Intelligence can be understood in part in terms of the biology of the brain-especially with regard to the functioning in the prefrontal cortex-and also correlates with brain size, at least within humans. Studies of the effects of genes and environment suggest that the heritability coefficient (ratio of genetic to phenotypic variation) is between .4 and .8, although heritability varies as a function of socioeconomic status and other factors. Racial differences in measured intelligence have been observed, but race is a socially constructed rather than biological variable, so such differences are difficult to interpret.

Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Sternberg, Robert J.

2012-01-01

Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience and to adapt to, shape, and select environments. Intelligence as measured by (raw scores on) conventional standardized tests varies across the lifespan, and also across generations. Intelligence can be understood in part in terms of the biology of the brain—especially with regard to the functioning in the prefrontal cortex—and also correlates with brain size, at least within humans. Studies of the effects of genes and environment suggest that the heritability coefficient (ratio of genetic to phenotypic variation) is between .4 and .8, although heritability varies as a function of socioeconomic status and other factors. Racial differences in measured intelligence have been observed, but race is a socially constructed rather than biological variable, so such differences are difficult to interpret. PMID:22577301

Conceptual design and analysis of roads and road construction machinery for initial lunar base operations

Science.gov (United States)

Sines, Jeffrey L.; Banks, Joel; Efatpenah, Keyanoush

1990-01-01

Recent developments have made it possible for scientists and engineers to consider returning to the Moon to build a manned lunar base. The base can be used to conduct scientific research, develop new space technology, and utilize the natural resources of the Moon. Areas of the base will be separated, connected by a system of roads that reduce the power requirements of vehicles traveling on them. Feasible road types for the lunar surface were analyzed and a road construction system was designed for initial lunar base operations. A model was also constructed to show the system configuration and key operating features. The alternate designs for the lunar road construction system were developed in four stages: analyze and select a road type; determine operations and machinery needed to produce the road; develop machinery configurations; and develop alternates for several machine components. A compacted lunar soil road was selected for initial lunar base operations. The only machinery required to produce this road were a grader and a compactor. The road construction system consists of a main drive unit which is used for propulsion, a detachable grader assembly, and a towed compactor.

Roads Near Streams

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Roads are a source of auto related pollutants (e.g. gasoline, oil and other engine fluids). When roads are near streams, rain can wash these pollutants directly into...

Combined Intelligent Control (CIC an Intelligent Decision Making Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moteaal Asadi Shirzi

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The focus of this research is to introduce the concept of combined intelligent control (CIC as an effective architecture for decision-making and control of intelligent agents and multi-robot sets. Basically, the CIC is a combination of various architectures and methods from fields such as artificial intelligence, Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI, control and biological computing. Although any intelligent architecture may be very effective for some specific applications, it could be less for others. Therefore, CIC combines and arranges them in a way that the strengths of any approach cover the weaknesses of others. In this paper first, we introduce some intelligent architectures from a new aspect. Afterward, we offer the CIC by combining them. CIC has been executed in a multi-agent set. In this set, robots must cooperate to perform some various tasks in a complex and nondeterministic environment with a low sensory feedback and relationship. In order to investigate, improve, and correct the combined intelligent control method, simulation software has been designed which will be presented and considered. To show the ability of the CIC algorithm as a distributed architecture, a central algorithm is designed and compared with the CIC.

Intelligence and negotiating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

George, D.G.

1990-01-01

This paper discusses the role of US intelligence during arms control negotiations between 1982 and 1987. It also covers : the orchestration of intelligence projects; an evaluation of the performance of intelligence activities; the effect intelligence work had on actual arms negotiations; and suggestions for improvements in the future

Driving and off-road impairments underlying failure on road testing in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Devos, Hannes; Vandenberghe, Wim; Tant, Mark; Akinwuntan, Abiodun E; De Weerdt, Willy; Nieuwboer, Alice; Uc, Ergun Y

2013-12-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects driving ability. We aimed to determine the most critical impairments in specific road skills and in clinical characteristics leading to failure on a road test in PD. In this cross-sectional study, certified driving assessment experts evaluated specific driving skills in 104 active, licensed drivers with PD using a standardized, on-road checklist and issued a global decision of pass/fail. Participants also completed an off-road evaluation assessing demographic features, disease characteristics, motor function, vision, and cognition. The most important driving skills and off-road predictors of the pass/fail outcome were identified using multivariate stepwise regression analyses. Eighty-six (65%) passed and 36 (35%) failed the on-road driving evaluation. Persons who failed performed worse on all on-road items. When adjusted for age and gender, poor performances on lateral positioning at low speed, speed adaptations at high speed, and left turning maneuvers yielded the best model that determined the pass/fail decision (R(2) = 0.56). The fail group performed poorer on all motor, visual, and cognitive tests. Measures of visual scanning, motor severity, PD subtype, visual acuity, executive functions, and divided attention were independent predictors of pass/fail decisions in the multivariate model (R(2) = 0.60). Our study demonstrated that failure on a road test in PD is determined by impairments in specific driving skills and associated with deficits in motor, visual, executive, and visuospatial functions. These findings point to specific driving and off-road impairments that can be targeted in multimodal rehabilitation programs for drivers with PD. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society.

Road pricing, air pollution and external costs; Road pricing, luftforurening og eksternalitetsomkostninger

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solvang Jensen, S.; Ketzel, M. (Aarhus Univ., Danmarks Miljoeundersoegelser, Afd. for Atmosfaerisk Miljoe, Roskilde (Denmark)); Skou Andersen, M. (Aarhus Univ., Danmarks Miljoeundersoegelser, Afd. for Systemanalyse, Roskilde (Denmark))

2010-06-15

The objective of this assessment is to improve the foundation for decision-making about introduction of a road pricing system that aims to reduce the health impacts and social costs of traffic-related air pollution. The analysis focuses on how road emissions, air quality, population exposure, and social costs of air pollution depend on geography (different city sizes and rural areas) and time of the day (rush hours versus non-rush hours). A review of Danish studies related to road pricing has also been carried out to assess the expected effect of road pricing on traffic performance (km travelled), vehicle composition and speed that are factors affecting air pollution. (LN)

Intelligence and childlessness.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanazawa, Satoshi

2014-11-01

Demographers debate why people have children in advanced industrial societies where children are net economic costs. From an evolutionary perspective, however, the important question is why some individuals choose not to have children. Recent theoretical developments in evolutionary psychology suggest that more intelligent individuals may be more likely to prefer to remain childless than less intelligent individuals. Analyses of the National Child Development Study show that more intelligent men and women express preference to remain childless early in their reproductive careers, but only more intelligent women (not more intelligent men) are more likely to remain childless by the end of their reproductive careers. Controlling for education and earnings does not at all attenuate the association between childhood general intelligence and lifetime childlessness among women. One-standard-deviation increase in childhood general intelligence (15 IQ points) decreases women's odds of parenthood by 21-25%. Because women have a greater impact on the average intelligence of future generations, the dysgenic fertility among women is predicted to lead to a decline in the average intelligence of the population in advanced industrial nations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceived intelligence is associated with measured intelligence in men but not women.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleisner, Karel; Chvátalová, Veronika; Flegr, Jaroslav

2014-01-01

The ability to accurately assess the intelligence of other persons finds its place in everyday social interaction and should have important evolutionary consequences. We used static facial photographs of 40 men and 40 women to test the relationship between measured IQ, perceived intelligence, and facial shape. Both men and women were able to accurately evaluate the intelligence of men by viewing facial photographs. In addition to general intelligence, figural and fluid intelligence showed a significant relationship with perceived intelligence, but again, only in men. No relationship between perceived intelligence and IQ was found for women. We used geometric morphometrics to determine which facial traits are associated with the perception of intelligence, as well as with intelligence as measured by IQ testing. Faces that are perceived as highly intelligent are rather prolonged with a broader distance between the eyes, a larger nose, a slight upturn to the corners of the mouth, and a sharper, pointing, less rounded chin. By contrast, the perception of lower intelligence is associated with broader, more rounded faces with eyes closer to each other, a shorter nose, declining corners of the mouth, and a rounded and massive chin. By contrast, we found no correlation between morphological traits and real intelligence measured with IQ test, either in men or women. These results suggest that a perceiver can accurately gauge the real intelligence of men, but not women, by viewing their faces in photographs; however, this estimation is possibly not based on facial shape. Our study revealed no relation between intelligence and either attractiveness or face shape.

Cylindrically guided wave technique for detection of stress corrosion cracking and corrosion wastage in long stud-bolts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Light, G.M.; Joshi, N.R.

1986-01-01

The authors discuss how, when performing an ultrasonic inspection of a cylindrical body, the sound waves, or pulses, will interact with the boundaries of the cylinder and produce mode-converted as well as normal longitudinal waves. The elastic energy of the wave propagating along the length of the cylinder is concentrated and produces strong echoes from shallow defects in the specimen. In threaded specimens, the guided wave produces signals from the threads that can be differentiated from defects in the cylinder. This paper reports on a study using the guided wave theory conducted to determine the optimum inspection transducer size and frequency relative to stud-bolt diameter and length. Bolts ranging from 25 to 285 cm (10 to 112 in.) in length and 2.5 to 11.5 cm (1 to 4.5 in.) in diameter were tested. For all cases, theoretical predictions agreed well with the experimental data. In this paper, the theory, experimental apparatus, and testing results are discussed

Road safety and road traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Mansuri, Farah A.; Al-Zalabani, Abdulmohsen H.; Zalat, Marwa M.; Qabshawi, Reem I.

2015-01-01

Objectives: To identify the changing trends and crucial preventive approaches to road traffic accidents (RTAs) adopted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over the last 2.5 decades, and to analyze aspects previously overlooked. Methods: This systematic review was based on evidence of RTAs in KSA. All articles published during the last 25 years on road traffic accident in KSA were analyzed. This study was carried out from December 2013 to May 2014 in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, KSA. Results: Road traffic accidents accounted for 83.4% of all trauma admissions in 1984-1989, and no such overall trend was studied thereafter. The most frequently injured body regions as reported in the latest studies were head and neck, followed by upper and lower extremities, which was found to be opposite to that of the studies reported earlier. Hospital data showed an 8% non-significant increase in road accident mortalities in contrast to police records of a 27% significant reduction during the years 2005-2010. Excessive speeding was the most common cause reported in all recent and past studies. Conclusion: Disparity was common in the type of reporting of RTAs, outcome measures, and possible causes over a period of 2.5 decade. All research exclusively looked into the drivers’ faults. A sentinel surveillance of road crashes should be kept in place in the secondary and tertiary care hospitals for all regions of KSA. PMID:25828277

Road traffic noise: self-reported noise annoyance versus GIS modelled road traffic noise exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Birk, Matthias; Ivina, Olga; von Klot, Stephanie; Babisch, Wolfgang; Heinrich, Joachim

2011-11-01

self-reported road traffic noise annoyance is commonly used in epidemiological studies for assessment of potential health effects. Alternatively, some studies have used geographic information system (GIS) modelled exposure to road traffic noise as an objective parameter. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between noise exposure due to neighbouring road traffic and the noise annoyance of adults, taking other determinants into consideration. parents of 951 Munich children from the two German birth cohorts GINIplus and LISAplus reported their annoyance due to road traffic noise at home. GIS modelled road traffic noise exposure (L(den), maximum within a 50 m buffer) from the noise map of the city of Munich was available for all families. GIS-based calculated distance to the closest major road (≥10,000 vehicles per day) and questionnaire based-information about family income, parental education and the type of the street of residence were explored for their potential influence. An ordered logit regression model was applied. The noise levels (L(den)) and the reported noise annoyance were compared with an established exposure-response function. the correlation between noise annoyance and noise exposure (L(den)) was fair (Spearman correlation r(s) = 0.37). The distance to a major road and the type of street were strong predictors for the noise annoyance. The annoyance modelled by the established exposure-response function and that estimated by the ordered logit model were moderately associated (Pearson's correlation r(p) = 0.50). road traffic noise annoyance was associated with GIS modelled neighbouring road traffic noise exposure (L(den)). The distance to a major road and the type of street were additional explanatory factors of the noise annoyance appraisal.

Self-Assessing of the Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Intelligence in Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Dagiene, Valentina; Juškeviciene, Anita; Carneiro, Roberto; Child, Camilla; Cullen, Joe

2015-01-01

The paper presents the results of an evaluation of the Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Organisational Intelligence (OI) competences self-assessment tools developed and applied by the IGUANA project. In the paper Emotional Intelligence and Organisational Intelligence competences are discussed, their use in action research experiments to assess and…

FEATURES ROAD SAFETY AUDIT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Abramova

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Development of the road network, increasing motorization of the population significantly increase the risk of accidents. Experts in the field of traffic are developing methods to reduce the probability of accidents. The ways of solving the problems of road safety audit at various stages of the «life» of roads are considered.

Perceived Intelligence Is Associated with Measured Intelligence in Men but Not Women

Science.gov (United States)

Kleisner, Karel; Chvátalová, Veronika; Flegr, Jaroslav

2014-01-01

Background The ability to accurately assess the intelligence of other persons finds its place in everyday social interaction and should have important evolutionary consequences. Methodology/Principal Findings We used static facial photographs of 40 men and 40 women to test the relationship between measured IQ, perceived intelligence, and facial shape. Both men and women were able to accurately evaluate the intelligence of men by viewing facial photographs. In addition to general intelligence, figural and fluid intelligence showed a significant relationship with perceived intelligence, but again, only in men. No relationship between perceived intelligence and IQ was found for women. We used geometric morphometrics to determine which facial traits are associated with the perception of intelligence, as well as with intelligence as measured by IQ testing. Faces that are perceived as highly intelligent are rather prolonged with a broader distance between the eyes, a larger nose, a slight upturn to the corners of the mouth, and a sharper, pointing, less rounded chin. By contrast, the perception of lower intelligence is associated with broader, more rounded faces with eyes closer to each other, a shorter nose, declining corners of the mouth, and a rounded and massive chin. By contrast, we found no correlation between morphological traits and real intelligence measured with IQ test, either in men or women. Conclusions These results suggest that a perceiver can accurately gauge the real intelligence of men, but not women, by viewing their faces in photographs; however, this estimation is possibly not based on facial shape. Our study revealed no relation between intelligence and either attractiveness or face shape. PMID:24651120

Nexus between Intelligence Education and Intelligence Training: A South African Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. van den Berg

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the nexus of intelligence education and training from a South African perspective with the focus on current practices in light of the country’s transition towards democracy. A brief overview is provided on the history and development of the South African intelligence community with specific focus on the civilian intelligence services from the period prior 1994 to date (2015. The main focus, however, is on intelligence education that is currently available from training institutions and universities in South Africa as registered with the Department of Higher Education as well as private training institutions on the one hand, and the intelligence training practices within the statutory intelligence environment on the other. To this extent, the relations between academic institutions and the intelligence structures in terms of education and training within South Africa are perused against other practices within the African continent and internationally. The approaches to the study of intelligence are also addressed within this paper. Likewise, the how, what as well as to whom – pertaining to intelligence education and training availability and accessibility to students and practitioners within South Africa, is reviewed and analysed with the focus on making recommendations for the enhancement and improvement thereof to enable a focus on preparing the next generation of professional intelligence officers.

Identifying unstable sites on logging roads

Science.gov (United States)

R. M. Rice; J. Lewis

1986-01-01

Logging roads are an important source of forestry-related erosion. The amount of erosion on a forest road is determined by the interaction between how the road is constructed and maintained and the environment in which it is built. The roads in this study were constructed with large bulldozers, and most excavated material was sidecast. The roads studied were...

Resource Roads demonstration project : final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-15

British Columbia's vast network of resource roads are considered to be amongst the most dangerous, high-risk workplaces in the province. Resource roads, also known as industrial roads, forest service roads, or petroleum development roads, present several unique safety challenges as workplaces. They are built for the purpose of access, egress and transport of materials, resources, equipment and people. However, the lack the same diligence of enforcement and a consistent design, construction, maintenance and standard for use as public highways or municipal roads. There are also safety challenges related to public use of resource roads. This report presented a project, called ResourceRoads by WorkSafe BC that focused on the organization and implementation of a management structure that would provide a system of coordination and a process of compliance for the users of the defined road systems. The project was based on information gathered in two forest districts of Prince George and the South Peace Forest Districts. A committee consisting of the actual owner of the road and other users was formed. The report presented a history of British Columbia's resource road system, and discussed resource roads as industrial workplaces and worksites, as well as resource road fatality statistics. The demonstration project was outlined in terms of project leadership; scope; strategic objectives; project purpose; performance objectives; project communication; demonstration areas; and project stages. Project fundamentals and project findings were also presented along with recommendations and responses to the Auditor General report and the Forest Safety Ombudsman report. It was concluded that potential uses of new technologies for resource road vehicles should be reviewed. tabs., figs.

TRUPACT-I over-the-road test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glass, R.E.; Gwinn, K.W.

1987-10-01

The TRUPACT-I was subjected to an over-the-road test to determine the package response to normal road environments. This test consisted of six road events: a rough primary road, a railroad grade crossing, an asphalt primary road, a concrete primary road, a bridge approach, and a rough secondary road. The package was instrumented with four vertical accelerometers to determine the package response to road vibration and shock. The results are given in the form of time histories, spectral densities, root mean square, and maximum accelerations for all accelerometers during each event. The results indicated that the railroad grade crossing produced the maximum average vertical accelerations. The maximum accelerations for all events were less than 1 g, and the root mean square loads remained below 0.25 g. 4 refs., 57 figs., 7 tabs

Road deaths in the Netherlands. [Previously known as: Road fatalities in The Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2011-01-01

This fact sheet outlines the development of the number of road deaths in the Netherlands since 1950. After a rise in the 1950s and 1960s, the number of road deaths in the Netherlands has shown a gradual decline since 1973. In 2016, there were 629 road deaths in the Netherlands. After the years of

What is vision Hampton Roads?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

What is Vision Hampton Roads? : Vision Hampton Roads is... : A regionwide economic development strategy based on the collective strengths of all : localities of Hampton Roads, created with the input of business, academia, nonprofits, : government,...

A Study on the Influence of Speed on Road Roughness Sensing: The SmartRoadSense Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giacomo Alessandroni

2017-02-01

Full Text Available SmartRoadSense is a crowdsensing project aimed at monitoring the conditions of the road surface. Using the sensors of a smartphone, SmartRoadSense monitors the vertical accelerations inside a vehicle traveling the road and extracts a roughness index conveying information about the road conditions. The roughness index and the smartphone GPS data are periodically sent to a central server where they are processed, associated with the specific road, and aggregated with data measured by other smartphones. This paper studies how the smartphone vertical accelerations and the roughness index are related to the vehicle speed. It is shown that the dependence can be locally approximated with a gamma (power law. Extensive experimental results using data extracted from SmartRoadSense database confirm the gamma law relationship between the roughness index and the vehicle speed. The gamma law is then used for improving the SmartRoadSense data aggregation accounting for the effect of vehicle speed.

Road Infrastructure and Road User’s Satisfactions: A Case Study of Motorway Route 7, Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suanmali Suthathip

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The development of tourism in Thailand relies on the development of appropriate infrastructure. Road access is the key infrastructure issue for tourist destinations throughout Thailand. Each year Thailand has welcomed over 15 million travelers, accounted approximately 7% of GDP. To support tourist activities, variety types of transportation modes have designed. However, road transportation is one of the most effective modes that connect most places together. Beside high-standard vehicles, road is another mechanism that derive comfort and safety of travelling. For this reason, Motorway networks were initiated and constructed to support high speed traffic with high safety and standard. Motorway route 7 is one of major motorway networks that lies between major cities and tourist landmarks. To raise the road standard could be the key to support tourist industry and economic growth. The road developments may not be precise and accurate without knowing the needs from road users’. Therefore, a questionnaire is developed and distributed to 890 randomly selected road users along Motorway route 7. Factor analysis and t-test are employed to analyze the factors affecting road users’ satisfaction and to compare the satisfaction level between both inbound and outbound travelers.

THE ABSOLUTE GROWTH AND THE GROWTH COEFFICIENTS OF THE MAIN CORPORAL SIZES ON ACTUAL YOUTH ARDENEZ MALE COMPARED WITH THE YOUTH ARDENEZ MALE BREED IN 2002 ON IZVIN STUD, TIMIS DISTRICT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. TĂPĂLAGĂ

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to observe the development degree under the morphological aspect at Ardenez horses from Izvin Stud. For this we have observed 8 exterior indicators on horses starting from 0-6 months to adult ones.The research was made on strength of 49 horses Ardenez thoroughbred, where absolute growth and the growth coefficients of the main corporal dimensions were calculated for the actual young Ardenez horses, compared with the absolute growth and the growth coefficients of the main corporal dimensions for young Ardenez horses raised in 2002 at Izvin Stud.As a result of the research, we’ve find that the growth of the main corporal dimensions on young horses is influenced by internal and external factors.From the internal factors, the precocity specific for the heavy thoroughbred, has influence upon the growth of the main corporal dimensions, thus at the age of 3, some of this dimensions stop their growth.A special influence upon the growth is exerted by the appearance of the sexual maturity, factor that makes corporal dimensions to vary between sexes, after the installation of the secondary sexual characters.

The relationship of Emotional Intelligence with Academic Intelligence and the Big Five

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Zee, K.I.; Thijs, Melanie; Schakel, Lolle

The present study examines the relationship of self- and other ratings of emotional intelligence with academic intelligence and personality, as well as the incremental validity of emotional intelligence beyond academic intelligence and personality in predicting academic and social success. A sample

The relationship of emotional intelligence with academic intelligence and the Big Five

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Zee, K; Thijs, M; Schakel, L

2002-01-01

The present study examines the relationship of self- and other ratings of emotional intelligence with academic intelligence and personality, as well as the incremental validity of emotional intelligence beyond academic intelligence and personality in predicting academic and social success. A sample

Louisiana ESI: ROADS (Road Lines)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains the state maintained primary and secondary road network of Louisiana. Vector lines in the data set represent Interstates, U.S. Highways, and...

The safe road transport system approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vollpracht Hans-Joachim

2016-07-01

Full Text Available More than 1,24 million people die each year on the worlds roads and between 20 to 50 million suffer from nonfatal injuries. The UN Road Safety Collaboration Meetings under the leadership of WHO developed the Programme for the Decade of Actions for road safety taking nations into the responsibility of improving their accident figures by the five pillars of a national Road Safety Policy, safer Roads, safer Vehicles, safer Road Users and Post Crash Care. It is this Safe System Approach that takes into consideration the land use, infrastructure and transport planning, road user’s abilities and limitations and the close cooperation of all governmental and none governmental stakeholders involved.

Reflection properties of road surfaces. Contribution to OECD Scientific Expert Group AC4 on Road Surface Characteristics.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schreuder, D.A.

1983-01-01

Photometric characteristics of road surfaces are dealt with. Representation of reflection properties in public lighting; quality criteria of road lighting installations; classification of road surfaces; the relation between reflection characteristics and other properties of road pavements in public

Road safety audits: The way forward

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Labuschagne, FJJ

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The South African Road Safety Manual (SARSM) was published in 1999 and includes guidelines on road safety audits (RSA). The development of SARSM was a proactive process for improving the road environment with respect to road safety but was never...

Parameterizing road construction in route-based road weather models: can ground-penetrating radar provide any answers?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammond, D S; Chapman, L; Thornes, J E

2011-01-01

A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of a 32 km mixed urban and rural study route is undertaken to assess the usefulness of GPR as a tool for parameterizing road construction in a route-based road weather forecast model. It is shown that GPR can easily identify even the smallest of bridges along the route, which previous thermal mapping surveys have identified as thermal singularities with implications for winter road maintenance. Using individual GPR traces measured at each forecast point along the route, an inflexion point detection algorithm attempts to identify the depth of the uppermost subsurface layers at each forecast point for use in a road weather model instead of existing ordinal road-type classifications. This approach has the potential to allow high resolution modelling of road construction and bridge decks on a scale previously not possible within a road weather model, but initial results reveal that significant future research will be required to unlock the full potential that this technology can bring to the road weather industry. (technical design note)

The importance of accurate road data for spatial applications in public health: customizing a road network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laraia Barbara A

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health researchers have increasingly adopted the use of geographic information systems (GIS for analyzing environments in which people live and how those environments affect health. One aspect of this research that is often overlooked is the quality and detail of the road data and whether or not it is appropriate for the scale of analysis. Many readily available road datasets, both public domain and commercial, contain positional errors or generalizations that may not be compatible with highly accurate geospatial locations. This study examined the accuracy, completeness, and currency of four readily available public and commercial sources for road data (North Carolina Department of Transportation, StreetMap Pro, TIGER/Line 2000, TIGER/Line 2007 relative to a custom road dataset which we developed and used for comparison. Methods and Results A custom road network dataset was developed to examine associations between health behaviors and the environment among pregnant and postpartum women living in central North Carolina in the United States. Three analytical measures were developed to assess the comparative accuracy and utility of four publicly and commercially available road datasets and the custom dataset in relation to participants' residential locations over three time periods. The exclusion of road segments and positional errors in the four comparison road datasets resulted in between 5.9% and 64.4% of respondents lying farther than 15.24 meters from their nearest road, the distance of the threshold set by the project to facilitate spatial analysis. Agreement, using a Pearson's correlation coefficient, between the customized road dataset and the four comparison road datasets ranged from 0.01 to 0.82. Conclusion This study demonstrates the importance of examining available road datasets and assessing their completeness, accuracy, and currency for their particular study area. This paper serves as an example for assessing

Artificial Intelligence Project

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

Symposium on Aritificial Intelligence and Software Engineering Working Notes, March 1989. Blumenthal, Brad, "An Architecture for Automating...Artificial Intelligence Project Final Technical Report ARO Contract: DAAG29-84-K-OGO Artificial Intelligence LaboratO"ry The University of Texas at...Austin N>.. ~ ~ JA 1/I 1991 n~~~ Austin, Texas 78712 ________k A,.tificial Intelligence Project i Final Technical Report ARO Contract: DAAG29-84-K-0060

Assessment of Road Infrastructures Pertaining to Malaysian Experience

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Samsuddin Norshakina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Road Infrastructures contribute towards many severe accidents and it needs supervision as to improve road safety levels. The numbers of fatalities have increased annually and road authority should seriously consider conducting programs or activities to periodically monitor, restore of improve road infrastructure. Implementation of road safety audits may reduce fatalities among road users and maintain road safety at acceptable standards. This paper is aimed to discuss the aspects of road infrastructure in Malaysia. The research signifies the impact of road hazards during the observations and the impact of road infrastructure types on road accidents. The F050 (Jalan Kluang-Batu Pahat road case study showed that infrastructure risk is closely related with number of accident. As the infrastructure risk increase, the number of road accidents also increase. It was also found that different road zones along Jalan Kluang-Batu Pahat showed different level of intersection volume due to number of road intersection. Thus, it is hoped that by implementing continuous assessment on road infrastructures, it might be able to reduce road accidents and fatalities among drives and the community.

Tools for road infrastructure safety management in poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kustra Wojciech

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Road safety can be improved by implementing principles of road safety infrastructure management (RIS on the network of European roads as adopted in the Directive. The document recommends that member states should use tried and tested tools for road safety management such as: road safety impact assessment (RIA, road safety audit (RSA, safety management on existing road networks including road safety ranking (RSM and road safety inspection (RSI. The objective of the methods is to help road authorities to take rational decisions in the area of road safety and road infrastructure safety and understand the consequences occurring in the particular phases of road life cycle. To help with assessing the impact of a road project on the safety of related roads, a method was developed for long-term forecasts of accidents and accident cost estimation as well as a risk classification to identify risks that are not acceptable risks. With regard to road safety audits and road safety inspection, a set of principles was developed to identify risks and the basic classification of mistakes and omissions.

Ranking EU progress on road safety : 11th road safety Performance Index (PIN) report.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Adminaite, D. Jost, G. Stipdonk, H. & Ward, H.

2017-01-01

In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to improve road safety by setting a target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels. This target followed an earlier target set in 2001 to halve road deaths by 2010. Since 2014, progress has virtually ground to a halt. 2016

Red light crossing, transportation time and attitudes in crossing with intelligent green light for pedestrians

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Øhlenschlæger, Rasmus; Tønning, Charlotte; Andersen, Camilla Sloth

2018-01-01

In order to increase mobility and promote modal shift to walking, intersections in the city of Aarhus, Denmark, have been equipped with intelligent management of green light for pedestrians. This allows adjustment of green time based on radar detection of pedestrians in the crossing...... and prolongation of the green time for the pedestrians if required. The effect is examined in a before/after study of a two-stage pedestrian crossing with a centre refuge island in an intersection of four-lane roads. The data consists of responses from an on-site questionnaire including 72+53 individuals and 266...

A combined road weather forecast system to prevent road ice formation in the Adige Valley (Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Di Napoli, Claudia; Piazza, Andrea; Antonacci, Gianluca; Todeschini, Ilaria; Apolloni, Roberto; Pretto, Ilaria

2016-04-01

Road ice is a dangerous meteorological hazard to a nation's transportation system and economy. By reducing the pavement friction with vehicle tyres, ice formation on pavements increases accident risk and delays travelling times thus posing a serious threat to road users' safety and the running of economic activities. Keeping roads clear and open is therefore essential, especially in mountainous areas where ice is likely to form during the winter period. Winter road maintenance helps to restore road efficiency and security, and its benefits are up to 8 times the costs sustained for anti-icing strategies [1]. However, the optimization of maintenance costs and the reduction of the environmental damage from over-salting demand further improvements. These can be achieved by reliable road weather forecasts, and in particular by the prediction of road surface temperatures (RSTs). RST is one of the most important parameters in determining road surface conditions. It is well known from literature that ice forms on pavements in high-humidity conditions when RSTs are below 0°C. We have therefore implemented an automatic forecast system to predict critical RSTs on a test route along the Adige Valley complex terrain, in the Italian Alps. The system considers two physical models, each computing heat and energy fluxes between the road and the atmosphere. One is Reuter's radiative cooling model, which predicts RSTs at sunrise as a function of surface temperatures at sunset and the time passed since then [2]. One is METRo (Model of the Environment and Temperature of Roads), a road weather forecast software which also considers heat conduction through road material [3]. We have applied the forecast system to a network of road weather stations (road weather information system, RWIS) installed on the test route [4]. Road and atmospheric observations from RWIS have been used as initial conditions for both METRo and Reuter's model. In METRo observations have also been coupled to

Routledge companion to intelligence studies

CERN Document Server

Dover, Robert; Hillebrand, Claudia

2013-01-01

The Routledge Companion to Intelligence Studies provides a broad overview of the growing field of intelligence studies. The recent growth of interest in intelligence and security studies has led to an increased demand for popular depictions of intelligence and reference works to explain the architecture and underpinnings of intelligence activity. Divided into five comprehensive sections, this Companion provides a strong survey of the cutting-edge research in the field of intelligence studies: Part I: The evolution of intelligence studies; Part II: Abstract approaches to intelligence; Part III: Historical approaches to intelligence; Part IV: Systems of intelligence; Part V: Contemporary challenges. With a broad focus on the origins, practices and nature of intelligence, the book not only addresses classical issues, but also examines topics of recent interest in security studies. The overarching aim is to reveal the rich tapestry of intelligence studies in both a sophisticated and accessible way. This Companion...

Road Map For Diffusion Of Innovation In Health Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Balas, E Andrew; Chapman, Wendy W

2018-02-01

New scientific knowledge and innovation are often slow to disseminate. In other cases, providers rush into adopting what appears to be a clinically relevant innovation, based on a single clinical trial. In reality, adopting innovations without appropriate translation and repeated testing of practical application is problematic. In this article we provide examples of clinical innovations (for example, tight glucose control in critically ill patients) that were adopted inappropriately and that caused what we term a malfunction. To address the issue of malfunctions, we review various examples and suggest frameworks for the diffusion of knowledge leading to the adoption of useful innovations. The resulting model is termed an integrated road map for coordinating knowledge transformation and innovation adoption. We make recommendations for the targeted development of practice change procedures, practice change assessment, structured descriptions of tested interventions, intelligent knowledge management technologies, and policy support for knowledge transformation, including further standardization to facilitate sharing among institutions.

30 CFR 816.151 - Primary roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Primary roads. 816.151 Section 816.151 Mineral... roads. Primary roads shall meet the requirements of section 816.150 and the additional requirements of this section. (a) Certification. The construction or reconstruction of primary roads shall be certified...

Road Artery Traffic Light Optimization with Use of the Reinforcement Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rok Marsetič

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The basic principle of optimal traffic control is the appropriate real-time response to dynamic traffic flow changes. Signal plan efficiency depends on a large number of input parameters. An actuated signal system can adjust very well to traffic conditions, but cannot fully adjust to stochastic traffic volume oscillation. Due to the complexity of the problem analytical methods are not applicable for use in real time, therefore the purpose of this paper is to introduce heuristic method suitable for traffic light optimization in real time. With the evolution of artificial intelligence new possibilities for solving complex problems have been introduced. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the use of the Q learning algorithm for traffic lights optimization is suitable. The Q learning algorithm was verified on a road artery with three intersections. For estimation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm comparison with an actuated signal plan was carried out. The results (average delay per vehicle and the number of vehicles that left road network show that Q learning algorithm outperforms the actuated signal controllers. The proposed algorithm converges to the minimal delay per vehicle regardless of the stochastic nature of traffic. In this research the impact of the model parameters (learning rate, exploration rate, influence of communication between agents and reward type on algorithm effectiveness were analysed as well.

Road Anomalies Detection System Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Nuno; Shah, Vaibhav; Soares, João; Rodrigues, Helena

2018-06-21

Anomalies on road pavement cause discomfort to drivers and passengers, and may cause mechanical failure or even accidents. Governments spend millions of Euros every year on road maintenance, often causing traffic jams and congestion on urban roads on a daily basis. This paper analyses the difference between the deployment of a road anomalies detection and identification system in a “conditioned” and a real world setup, where the system performed worse compared to the “conditioned” setup. It also presents a system performance analysis based on the analysis of the training data sets; on the analysis of the attributes complexity, through the application of PCA techniques; and on the analysis of the attributes in the context of each anomaly type, using acceleration standard deviation attributes to observe how different anomalies classes are distributed in the Cartesian coordinates system. Overall, in this paper, we describe the main insights on road anomalies detection challenges to support the design and deployment of a new iteration of our system towards the deployment of a road anomaly detection service to provide information about roads condition to drivers and government entities.

Road design, human behaviour, and road accidents : towards a `learning design community'. Paper presented at the international conference `Road safety in Europe', Birmingham, England, September 9-11, 1996.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wegman, F.C.M.

1996-01-01

This paper discusses a number of unsolved problems in the field of road design (i.e. geometric design), human behaviour and road safety, particularly concerning the operationalisation of the existing design principles for a safe road network in terms of concrete road design in existing

78 FR 90 - Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors Closed Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-02

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors Closed Meeting AGENCY: National Intelligence University, Defense Intelligence... hereby given that a closed meeting of the National Intelligence University Board of Visitors has been...

The Development of child road safety competence : the new approach tо road safety education

OpenAIRE

Vilkonis, Rytis

2005-01-01

The education and information are the strategies of the Road safety. However, some of the documents and scientific findings revealed the chaotic, desultory and theoretically groundless Road safety education and it can be stated that Road safety education system in Lithuania is still being established. The shortage of the theoretical and empirical base of Road safety education is slowing down the process of the system development. Aim of the research is to disclose the assumptions for developm...

Road crash costs.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2010-01-01

Road crashes result in all kinds of social costs, such as medical costs, production loss, human losses, property damage, settlement costs and costs due to congestion. Studies into road crash costs and their trends are carried out quite regularly. In 2009, the costs amounted to € 12.5 billion, or

Tyre and road wear prediction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lupker, H.A.

2003-01-01

Both tyre wear and road polishing are complex phenomenon, which are obviously strongly related; the energy that polishes the road is the energy that wears the tyre. The both depend non-linearly on numerous parameters, like materials used, vehicle and road usage, environmental conditions (i.e.

30 CFR 817.151 - Primary roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Primary roads. 817.151 Section 817.151 Mineral... roads. Primary roads shall meet the requirements of § 817.150 and the additional requirements of this section. (a) Certification. The construction or reconstruction of primary roads shall be certified in a...

Intelligent Method for Identifying Driving Risk Based on V2V Multisource Big Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinshuan Peng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Risky driving behavior is a major cause of traffic conflicts, which can develop into road traffic accidents, making the timely and accurate identification of such behavior essential to road safety. A platform was therefore established for analyzing the driving behavior of 20 professional drivers in field tests, in which overclose car following and lane departure were used as typical risky driving behaviors. Characterization parameters for identification were screened and used to determine threshold values and an appropriate time window for identification. A neural network-Bayesian filter identification model was established and data samples were selected to identify risky driving behavior and evaluate the identification efficiency of the model. The results obtained indicated a successful identification rate of 83.6% when the neural network model was solely used to identify risky driving behavior, but this could be increased to 92.46% once corrected by the Bayesian filter. This has important theoretical and practical significance in relation to evaluating the efficiency of existing driver assist systems, as well as the development of future intelligent driving systems.

In–Service Road Safety Audits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Mendoza–Díaz

2009-04-01

Full Text Available A road safety audit is a formal analysis that seeks to guarantee that an existing or future road fulfills optimal safety criteria, conducted by a team of experts who se members are independent of the road project. It can be carried out in one, several or all of the stages of the project (planning, design, construction, before opening the road to traffic, and operation. The development and implementation of a road safety audit process is one of the strategies that have been applied in Mexico in recent years to reduce road accidents and their associated consequences. The objective of this work is to present the procedures that have been developed and applied in Mexico, as well as the benefits and problems that have been encountered. The application of those procedures to a specific case is also shown. Emphasis is made in the audit of high ways in the operation stage, which is the type that greater application and development has had in Mexico.

Road weather information for travelers : improving road weather messages and dissemination methods.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) recently completed a study titled Human Factors Analysis of Road Weather Advisory and Control Information (Publication No. FHWAJPO- 10-053). The goal of the study was to...

How long do the dead survive on the road? Carcass persistence probability and implications for road-kill monitoring surveys.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara M Santos

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Road mortality is probably the best-known and visible impact of roads upon wildlife. Although several factors influence road-kill counts, carcass persistence time is considered the most important determinant underlying underestimates of road mortality. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and also to assess the effect of sampling frequency on the relative variation in road-kill estimates registered within a survey. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Daily surveys of road-killed vertebrates were conducted over one year along four road sections with different traffic volumes. Survival analysis was then used to i describe carcass persistence timings for overall and for specific animal groups; ii assess optimal sampling designs according to research objectives; and iii model the influence of road, animal and weather factors on carcass persistence probabilities. Most animal carcasses persisted on the road for the first day only, with some groups disappearing at very high rates. The advisable periodicity of road monitoring that minimizes bias in road mortality estimates is daily monitoring for bats (in the morning and lizards (in the afternoon, daily monitoring for toads, small birds, small mammals, snakes, salamanders, and lagomorphs; 1 day-interval (alternate days for large birds, birds of prey, hedgehogs, and freshwater turtles; and 2 day-interval for carnivores. Multiple factors influenced the persistence probabilities of vertebrate carcasses on the road. Overall, the persistence was much lower for small animals, on roads with lower traffic volumes, for carcasses located on road lanes, and during humid conditions and high temperatures during the wet season and dry seasons, respectively. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The guidance given here on monitoring frequencies is particularly relevant to provide

How long do the dead survive on the road? Carcass persistence probability and implications for road-kill monitoring surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Sara M; Carvalho, Filipe; Mira, António

2011-01-01

Road mortality is probably the best-known and visible impact of roads upon wildlife. Although several factors influence road-kill counts, carcass persistence time is considered the most important determinant underlying underestimates of road mortality. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and also to assess the effect of sampling frequency on the relative variation in road-kill estimates registered within a survey. Daily surveys of road-killed vertebrates were conducted over one year along four road sections with different traffic volumes. Survival analysis was then used to i) describe carcass persistence timings for overall and for specific animal groups; ii) assess optimal sampling designs according to research objectives; and iii) model the influence of road, animal and weather factors on carcass persistence probabilities. Most animal carcasses persisted on the road for the first day only, with some groups disappearing at very high rates. The advisable periodicity of road monitoring that minimizes bias in road mortality estimates is daily monitoring for bats (in the morning) and lizards (in the afternoon), daily monitoring for toads, small birds, small mammals, snakes, salamanders, and lagomorphs; 1 day-interval (alternate days) for large birds, birds of prey, hedgehogs, and freshwater turtles; and 2 day-interval for carnivores. Multiple factors influenced the persistence probabilities of vertebrate carcasses on the road. Overall, the persistence was much lower for small animals, on roads with lower traffic volumes, for carcasses located on road lanes, and during humid conditions and high temperatures during the wet season and dry seasons, respectively. The guidance given here on monitoring frequencies is particularly relevant to provide conservation and transportation agencies with accurate numbers of road

Solutions to Improve Road Circulation in the Pitesti City Based on Analysis-Diagnostics of Road Traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Vîlcan, A.; Neagu, E.; Badarau Suster, H.; Boroiu, A. A.

2017-10-01

Road traffic congestion has become a daily phenomenon in the central area of Pitesti in the peak traffic periods. In order to achieve the mobility plan of Pitesti, an important stage is the diagnostic analysis of the road traffic. For this purpose, the urban road network was formalized through a graph containing the most important 40 intersections and traffic measurements were made at all these intersections and on the main roads connecting the peri-urban area. The data obtained by traffic macrosimulation confirmed the overloading of the street network during peak traffic hours and the analyzes made for various road traffic organization scenarios have shown that there are sustainable solutions for urban mobility only if the road network is fundamentally reconfigured (a belt outside the city and a median ring). Thus, the necessity of realizing the road passage in the Prundu neighbourhood and the finishing of the city belt by realizing the “detour West” of the city is argued. The importance of the work is that it brings scientific arguments for the realization of these road infrastructure projects, integrated in the urban mobility plan, which will base the development strategy of the Pitesti municipality.

Intelligent products : A survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meyer, G.G.; Främling, K.; Holmström, J.

This paper presents an overview of the field of Intelligent Products. As Intelligent Products have many facets, this paper is mainly focused on the concept behind Intelligent Products, the technical foundations, and the achievable practical goals of Intelligent Products. A novel classification of

25 CFR 265.3 - Roads prohibited.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Roads prohibited. 265.3 Section 265.3 Indians BUREAU OF... ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS § 265.3 Roads prohibited. (a) Within the boundaries of this officially... highways, roads, truck trails, work roads, and all other types of ways constructed to make possible the...

Benefits of collective intelligence: Swarm intelligent foraging, an ethnographic research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sivave Mashingaidze

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Wisdom of crowds; bees, colonies of ants, schools of fish, flocks of birds, and fireflies flashing synchronously are all examples of highly coordinated behaviors that emerge from collective, decentralized intelligence. This article is an ethnographic study of swarm intelligence foraging of swarms and the benefits derived from collective decision making. The author used using secondary data analysis to look at the benefits of swarm intelligence in decision making to achieve intended goals. Concepts like combined decision making and consensus were discussed and four principles of swarm intelligence were also discussed viz; coordination, cooperation, deliberation and collaboration. The research found out that collective decision making in swarms is the touchstone of achieving their goals. The research further recommended corporate to adopt collective intelligence for business sustainability.

Intelligence: Real or artificial?

OpenAIRE

Schlinger, Henry D.

1992-01-01

Throughout the history of the artificial intelligence movement, researchers have strived to create computers that could simulate general human intelligence. This paper argues that workers in artificial intelligence have failed to achieve this goal because they adopted the wrong model of human behavior and intelligence, namely a cognitive essentialist model with origins in the traditional philosophies of natural intelligence. An analysis of the word “intelligence” suggests that it originally r...

Opportunities of forest roads usage as emergency access road for natural disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Can Vatandaşlar

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study was carried out to examine the applicability of forest roads as emergency access and evacuation corridor for an alternative to motorways following a prospective earthquake in İstanbul. For this purpose, various disaster scenarios were created in the district of Beykoz and the shortest routes between critical points were determined through network analysis in Geographic Information System (GIS. Results indicated that access was possible between Beykoz city center and shelter, hospital, fire station, disaster management center, and military area via forest roads even if motorways became unusable. However, distance generally got longer and time of arrival increased on the routes of forest road. The increase in time of arrival was attributed to decrease in average cruising speed in addition to the increase in distance. This limitation can be overcome by enhancing the geometric standards of forest roads and completing superstructure operations. Results are important for revealing that forest roads can be used in other fields besides forestry activities, they can strengthen decision support system of managers, and enable first aid crew to reach the scene in the minimal time.

Noise Costs from Road Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Margorínová, Martina; Trojanová, Mária; Decký, Martin; Remišová, Eva

2018-06-01

Building and improving road infrastructure in Slovakia is currently influenced by the amount of state funding. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the effectiveness of each proposed solution of road project, which is based on life-cycle costs. Besides capital costs, social costs are also important, which valued the negative impacts due to road construction and operation on road users, the environment, and the population living in the affected area. Some components of social costs have shortcomings in quantifying and valuating, which need to be resolved. The one of important components which affects human health and the value of an area, and have some shortcomings are noise costs. Improvement of this component will lead to more accurate valuation of economic efficiency of roads.

24 CFR 1710.210 - Roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Roads. 1710.210 Section 1710.210... (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements § 1710.210 Roads. (a) State the estimated cost to the developer of the proposed road system. (b) If the developer is to...

14 CFR 151.89 - Roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Roads. 151.89 Section 151.89 Aeronautics... AID TO AIRPORTS Project Programming Standards § 151.89 Roads. (a) Federal-aid Airport Program funds may not be used to resolve highway problems. Only those airport entrance roads that are definitely...

24 CFR 1710.110 - Roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Roads. 1710.110 Section 1710.110... (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements § 1710.110 Roads. (a) Access to the subdivision. (1) Is access to the subdivision provided by public or private roads? What...

Re-utilization by '' Stud Welding'' of capsules charpy-V belonged to surveillance programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lapena, J.; Perosanz, F. J.; Gachuz, M.

1998-01-01

The perspectives of nuclear plants life extension that are approximating to their end of design life compels to make new surveillance programs. The re-utilization of specimens belonging to surveillance capsules already tested in these new surveillance programs seems be a solution worldwide accepted. The two possible re-utilization processes of this irradiated material are: Subsized specimens and Reconstitution. While the first alternative (Subsized specimens) outlines serious problems for apply the results, the reconstitution eliminates this problem, since the resulting specimens after of the reconstruction procedure would be of the same dimensions that the original. The reconstruction process involves welds, and therefore it has associated the specific problems of this type of joints. Furthermore, by be tried to material irradiated with certain degree of internal damage, that is the variable to evaluate, requires that the heat contribution to the piece not originate local thermal treatments that alter its mechanical qualities. In this work has been followed the evolution by the variables of the weld process and their influence on the quality by the union from metallographic al point of view as well as mechanical for a weld procedure by Stud Welding. The principal objective is to optimize said parameters to assure a good mechanical continuity, without detriment of the microstructural characteristics of the original material. To verify this last have been accomplished with metallographical tests, temperature profile, hardness and will be carried out also Charpy tests. (Author)

Kilburn High Road Revisited

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Capineri

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Drawing on John Agnew’s (1987 theoretical framework for the analysis of place (location, locale and sense of place and on Doreen Massey’s (1991 interpretation of Kilburn High Road (London, the contribution develops an analysis of the notion of place in the case study of Kilburn High Road by comparing the semantics emerging from Doreen Massey’s interpretation of Kilburn High Road in the late Nineties with those from a selection of noisy and unstructured volunteered geographic information collected from Flickr photos and Tweets harvested in 2014–2015. The comparison shows how sense of place is dynamic and changing over time and explores Kilburn High Road through the categories of location, locale and sense of place derived from the qualitative analysis of VGI content and annotations. The contribution shows how VGI can contribute to discovering the unique relationship between people and place which takes the form given by Doreen Massey to Kilburn High Road and then moves on to the many forms given by people experiencing Kilburn High Road through a photo, a Tweet or a simple narrative. Finally, the paper suggests that the analysis of VGI content can contribute to detect the relevant features of street life, from infrastructure to citizens’ perceptions, which should be taken into account for a more human-centered approach in planning or service management.

PROPOSAL OF VOIVODESHIP ROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz SZCZURASZEK

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The article presents a proposal of the ‘GAMBIT KUJAWSKO-POMORSKI’ Road Safety Improvement Programme. The main idea of the Programme is to establish and initiate systems that will be responsible for the most important areas of activity within road safety, including road safety control, supervision, and management systems in the whole Voivodeship. In total, the creation and start of nine such systems has been proposed, namely: the Road Safety Management, the Integrated Road Rescue Service, the Personnel Continuing Education, the Hazardous Road Behaviour Monitoring, the Social Education for Safe Behaviour on Road, the Teaching Personnel Improvement, the Area Development and Planning Process Improvement, the Road Infrastructure Design Quality Improvement, and the Road and Traffic Management Process Efficiency Improvement. The basic aim of each system has been discussed as well as the most important tasks implemented as its part. The Road Safety Improvement Programme for the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship presented in this article is a part of the National Road Safety Programme 2013-2020. Moreover, it is not only an original programme in Poland, but also a universal project that may be adapted for other voivodeships as well.

Do roads reduce painted turtle (Chrysemys picta populations?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Dorland

Full Text Available Road mortality is thought to be a leading cause of turtle population decline. However, empirical evidence of the direct negative effects of road mortality on turtle population abundance is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the prediction that roads reduce turtle population abundance. While controlling for potentially confounding variables, we compared relative abundance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta in 20 ponds in Eastern Ontario, 10 as close as possible to high traffic roads (Road sites and 10 as far as possible from any major roads (No Road sites. There was no significant effect of roads on painted turtle relative abundance. Furthermore, our data do not support other predictions of the road mortality hypothesis; we observed neither a higher relative frequency of males to females at Road sites than at No Road sites, nor a lower average body size of turtles at Road than at No Road sites. We speculate that, although roads can cause substantial adult mortality in turtles, other factors, such as release from predation on adults and/or nests close to roads counter the negative effect of road mortality in some populations. We suggest that road mitigation for painted turtles can be limited to locations where turtles are forced to migrate across high traffic roads due, for example, to destruction of local nesting habitat or seasonal drying of ponds. This conclusion should not be extrapolated to other species of turtles, where road mortality could have a larger population-level effect than on painted turtles.

Do roads reduce painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) populations?

Science.gov (United States)

Dorland, Alexandra; Rytwinski, Trina; Fahrig, Lenore

2014-01-01

Road mortality is thought to be a leading cause of turtle population decline. However, empirical evidence of the direct negative effects of road mortality on turtle population abundance is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the prediction that roads reduce turtle population abundance. While controlling for potentially confounding variables, we compared relative abundance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) in 20 ponds in Eastern Ontario, 10 as close as possible to high traffic roads (Road sites) and 10 as far as possible from any major roads (No Road sites). There was no significant effect of roads on painted turtle relative abundance. Furthermore, our data do not support other predictions of the road mortality hypothesis; we observed neither a higher relative frequency of males to females at Road sites than at No Road sites, nor a lower average body size of turtles at Road than at No Road sites. We speculate that, although roads can cause substantial adult mortality in turtles, other factors, such as release from predation on adults and/or nests close to roads counter the negative effect of road mortality in some populations. We suggest that road mitigation for painted turtles can be limited to locations where turtles are forced to migrate across high traffic roads due, for example, to destruction of local nesting habitat or seasonal drying of ponds. This conclusion should not be extrapolated to other species of turtles, where road mortality could have a larger population-level effect than on painted turtles.

EDITORIAL ROAD SAFETY IN KENYA

African Journals Online (AJOL)

data for the purpose of legal prosecution and insurance claims. The accident data P41 form filled at the Police Stations are collated and forwarded to the Roads Department, Ministry of Roads and Public. Works for further processing and analysis (1, 12). The. Roads Department analyses the information in order to determine:.

Quality control of intelligence research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Yan; Xin Pingping; Wu Jian

2014-01-01

Quality control of intelligence research is the core issue of intelligence management, is a problem in study of information science This paper focuses on the performance of intelligence to explain the significance of intelligence research quality control. In summing up the results of the study on the basis of the analysis, discusses quality control methods in intelligence research, introduces the experience of foreign intelligence research quality control, proposes some recommendations to improve quality control in intelligence research. (authors)

Intelligence Issues for Congress

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-23

open source information— osint (newspapers...by user agencies. Section 1052 of the Intelligence Reform Act expressed the sense of Congress that there should be an open source intelligence ...center to coordinate the collection, analysis, production, and dissemination of open source intelligence to other intelligence agencies. An Open Source

Future Roads Near Streams

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Roads are a source of auto related pollutants (e.g. gasoline, oil and other engine fluids). When roads are near streams, rain can wash these pollutants directly into...

Orchestrating Multiple Intelligences

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Seana; Kornhaber, Mindy; Gardner, Howard

2006-01-01

Education policymakers often go astray when they attempt to integrate multiple intelligences theory into schools, according to the originator of the theory, Howard Gardner, and his colleagues. The greatest potential of a multiple intelligences approach to education grows from the concept of a profile of intelligences. Each learner's intelligence…

Road Maintenance in Africa: Approaches and Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Mostafa Hassan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In Africa, roads are the dominant mode of passenger and freight transport, for which the need is growing rapidly. It is noticeable that most of the African countries do not do enough to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure as it has been widely reported that roads are affected, to varying degrees, by premature deterioration. Most of the African countries have adopted institutional reforms, notably entailing the creation of road funds and road agencies, and made significant progress on road maintenance. However, many challenges remain to be addressed in all of them to ensure appropriate maintenance. Although spending on road maintenance has increased over time in all African countries it remains insufficient to cover the needs. Poorly maintained roads constrain mobility, significantly raise vehicle operating costs, increase accident rates and their associated human and property costs, and aggravate isolation, poverty, poor health, and illiteracy in rural communities. This paper focuses, in particular, on road maintenance in some African countries considering types of road maintenance and the different approaches aiming at a comparison to reflect on similarities and differences.

Road Maintenance in Africa: Approaches and Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

M, Mostafa Hassan

2018-06-01

In Africa, roads are the dominant mode of passenger and freight transport, for which the need is growing rapidly. It is noticeable that most of the African countries do not do enough to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure as it has been widely reported that roads are affected, to varying degrees, by premature deterioration. Most of the African countries have adopted institutional reforms, notably entailing the creation of road funds and road agencies, and made significant progress on road maintenance. However, many challenges remain to be addressed in all of them to ensure appropriate maintenance. Although spending on road maintenance has increased over time in all African countries it remains insufficient to cover the needs. Poorly maintained roads constrain mobility, significantly raise vehicle operating costs, increase accident rates and their associated human and property costs, and aggravate isolation, poverty, poor health, and illiteracy in rural communities. This paper focuses, in particular, on road maintenance in some African countries considering types of road maintenance and the different approaches aiming at a comparison to reflect on similarities and differences.

Rapid road repair vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Mara, Leo M.

1998-01-01

Disclosed is a rapid road repair vehicle capable of moving over a surface to be repaired at near normal posted traffic speeds to scan for and find an the high rate of speed, imperfections in the pavement surface, prepare the surface imperfection for repair by air pressure and vacuum cleaning, applying a correct amount of the correct patching material to effect the repair, smooth the resulting repaired surface, and catalog the location and quality of the repairs for maintenance records of the road surface. The rapid road repair vehicle can repair surface imperfections at lower cost, improved quality, at a higher rate of speed than was was heretofor possible, with significantly reduced exposure to safety and health hazards associated with this kind of road repair activities in the past.

Competitiveness in Road Transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borgström, Benedikte; Gammelgaard, Britta; Bruun, Poul

Road transport is an important sector, connecting time and space of production and consumption. Its market conditions has changed. The EU single market implementation has increased price pressure due to supply of low cost road freight transport from counties with lower cost structures. Changes...... in the market also encourage strategic development of some road hauliers into providers of unique services. Such road haulier strategic development contributes to efficiency and effectiveness in basically all business sectors of EU. Little research is available of such strategic and operational management....... In this paper we will explore that knowledge gap and analyze what value proposition(s) and capabilities can transform potential cost disadvantages of acting in a market that includes both high- and low-cost-country actors? And in conceptual terminology, how are capabilities deployed and developed to construct...

Semantic Business Intelligence - a New Generation of Business Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dinu AIRINEI

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Business Intelligence Solutions represents applications used by companies to manage process and analyze data to provide substantiated decision. In the context of Semantic Web develop-ment trend is to integrate semantic unstructured data, making business intelligence solutions to be redesigned in such a manner that can analyze, process and synthesize, in addition to traditional data and data integrated with semantic another form and structure. This invariably leads appearance of new BI solution, called Semantic Business Intelligence.

An Evaluation of Forest Road Standards and Road Gradients in Turkey in View of FAO Criteria and Some EU Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadık Çağlar

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Forest roads are one of the inevitable infrastructures in conducting forestry operations. Around 1000 km under standardized forest roads have been largely repaired in addition to construction of 1000 km new forest roads in Turkey. Implementing uniform road gradient along the road sections is very important in terms of transportation techniques and safety, as well as the geometrical standardizations of the forest road. In this study, current road standards, longitudinal gradient values and their limitations in forest road constructions recommended by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO and some Europe Union (EU countries were examined. Firstly, the forest road standards and their gradient values have been defined in Turkish forest road construction practices. Afterwards, the forest road standards and the gradient values applied by FAO and some EU countries were presented, and finally, the specifications were examined by comparing them with the current practices in Turkish forestry.

Road safety and road traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia

OpenAIRE

Mansuri, Farah A.; Al-Zalabani, Abdulmohsen H.; Zalat, Marwa M.; Qabshawi, Reem I.

2015-01-01

Objectives: To identify the changing trends and crucial preventive approaches to road traffic accidents (RTAs) adopted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over the last 2.5 decades, and to analyze aspects previously overlooked. Methods: This systematic review was based on evidence of RTAs in KSA. All articles published during the last 25 years on road traffic accident in KSA were analyzed. This study was carried out from December 2013 to May 2014 in the Department of Family and Community Med...

Research of Classical and Intelligent Information System Solutions for Criminal Intelligence Analysis

OpenAIRE

Šimović, Vladimir

2001-01-01

The objective of this study is to present research on classical and intelligent information system solutions used in criminal intelligence analysis in Croatian security system theory. The study analyses objective and classical methods of information science, including artificial intelligence and other scientific methods. The intelligence and classical software solutions researched, proposed, and presented in this study were used in developing the integrated information system for the Croatian...

Drawing Road Networks with Mental Maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shih-Syun; Lin, Chao-Hung; Hu, Yan-Jhang; Lee, Tong-Yee

2014-09-01

Tourist and destination maps are thematic maps designed to represent specific themes in maps. The road network topologies in these maps are generally more important than the geometric accuracy of roads. A road network warping method is proposed to facilitate map generation and improve theme representation in maps. The basic idea is deforming a road network to meet a user-specified mental map while an optimization process is performed to propagate distortions originating from road network warping. To generate a map, the proposed method includes algorithms for estimating road significance and for deforming a road network according to various geometric and aesthetic constraints. The proposed method can produce an iconic mark of a theme from a road network and meet a user-specified mental map. Therefore, the resulting map can serve as a tourist or destination map that not only provides visual aids for route planning and navigation tasks, but also visually emphasizes the presentation of a theme in a map for the purpose of advertising. In the experiments, the demonstrations of map generations show that our method enables map generation systems to generate deformed tourist and destination maps efficiently.

Artificial Consciousness or Artificial Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Spanache Florin

2017-01-01

Artificial intelligence is a tool designed by people for the gratification of their own creative ego, so we can not confuse conscience with intelligence and not even intelligence in its human representation with conscience. They are all different concepts and they have different uses. Philosophically, there are differences between autonomous people and automatic artificial intelligence. This is the difference between intelligence and artificial intelligence, autonomous versus a...

Road accident fatality risks for "vulnerable" versus "protected" road users in northern Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Damsere-Derry, James; Palk, Gavan; King, Mark

2017-10-03

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a serious epidemic that claims more than a million lives across the globe each year. The burden of RTIs is particularly pronounced in Africa and other low- and middle-income countries. The unfavorable disparity of the burden of road trauma in the world is largely attributable to unsafe vehicles, lack of appropriate road infrastructure, and the predominance of vulnerable road users (VRUs) in developing countries. However, little research exists in northern Ghana to highlight the scale and risk of death among road users. The objective of this research was to establish the relative risk of death among road users in northern Ghana. Crash data from police reports between 2007 and 2011 were analyzed for the Upper Regions of Ghana. Conditional probabilities and multivariable logistic regression techniques were used to report proportions and adjusted odds ratios (AORs), respectively. Generally, crashes in northern Ghana were extremely severe; that is, 35% of all injury related collisions were fatal. The proportion of fatal casualties ranged between 21% among victims of sideswipe collisions and 41% among pedestrians and victims of rear-end collisions. Though males were 6 times more likely to die than females overall, females were more likely to die as pedestrians (90% of all female casualty deaths) and males were more likely to die as riders/drivers (78% of all male casualty deaths). Pedestrians were 3 times more likely to die (odds ratio [OR] = 3.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4 to 4.1) compared with drivers/riders. Compared with drivers, the odds of death among cyclists was about 4 times higher (AOR = 3.6; 95% CI, 2.3 to 5.6) and about 2 times higher among motorcyclists (AOR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.2). Compared with casualties aged between 30 and 59 years, children under 10 years and those aged 60 years and above were independently 2 times more likely to die in traffic collisions. Provision of requisite road infrastructure is vital

Intelligent mechatronics; Intelligent mechatronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashimoto, H. [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan). Institute of Industrial Science

1995-10-01

Intelligent mechatronics (IM) was explained as follows: a study of IM essentially targets realization of a robot namely, but in the present stage the target is a creation of new values by intellectualization of machine, that is, a combination of the information infrastructure and the intelligent machine system. IM is also thought to be constituted of computers positively used and micromechatronics. The paper next introduces examples of IM study, mainly those the author is concerned with as shown below: sensor gloves, robot hands, robot eyes, tele operation, three-dimensional object recognition, mobile robot, magnetic bearing, construction of remote controlled unmanned dam, robot network, sensitivity communication using neuro baby, etc. 27 figs.

Overview of the neural network based technique for monitoring of road condition via reconstructed road profiles

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ngwangwa, HM

2008-07-01

Full Text Available on the road and driver to assess the integrity of road and vehicle infrastructure. In this paper, vehicle vibration data are applied to an artificial neural network to reconstruct the corresponding road surface profiles. The results show that the technique...

Road design and environment : best practice on self-explaining and forgiving roads. Deliverable D3 of the RiPCORD-iSEREST project (Road Infrastructure Safety Protection - Core-Research and Development for Road Safety in Europe; Increasing safety and reliability of secondary roads for a sustainable Surface Transport).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Matena, S. Louwerse, W. Schermers, G. Vaneerdewegh, P. Pokorny, P. Gaitanidou, L. Elvik, R. & Cardoso, J.

2009-01-01

Main objective of work-package 3 of Ripcord-lserest was to collect information on best practices concerning the design of self-explaining and forgiving roads. In order to gain an overview on existing practises on road categorisation and the layout of typical rural roads a questionnaire survey had

Brain Intelligence: Go Beyond Artificial Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Lu, Huimin; Li, Yujie; Chen, Min; Kim, Hyoungseop; Serikawa, Seiichi

2017-01-01

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an important technology that supports daily social life and economic activities. It contributes greatly to the sustainable growth of Japan's economy and solves various social problems. In recent years, AI has attracted attention as a key for growth in developed countries such as Europe and the United States and developing countries such as China and India. The attention has been focused mainly on developing new artificial intelligence information communication ...

Business Intelligence Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan NEDELCU

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to show the importance of business intelligence and its growing influence. It also shows when the concept of business intelligence was used for the first time and how it evolved over time. The paper discusses the utility of a business intelligence system in any organization and its contribution to daily activities. Furthermore, we highlight the role and the objectives of business intelligence systems inside an organization and the needs to grow the incomes and reduce the costs, to manage the complexity of the business environment and to cut IT costs so that the organization survives in the current competitive climate. The article contains information about architectural principles of a business intelligence system and how such a system can be achieved.

New innovative educational method to prevent accidents involving young road users (aged 15-24 – European Road Safety Tunes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jankowska-Karpa Dagmara

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents a new teaching method designed to improve road safety among young road users. Developed under “European Road Safety Tunes”, this international project was cofunded by EU DG MOVE. Its main aim is to improve road safety and minimize the number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities among road users who are 15-24 years old. The Safety Tunes method contains a series of workshops addressed to young vocational school students: cyclists, moped and motor riders and car drivers. The workshops incorporate peer and emotive education, and delivery of road safety related messages through different types of artistic forms. The topics tackled during class address awareness of possible risks and risk-behaviour, prevention of distraction and reduction in young fatalities and serious injuries on the road. All actions within the project are evaluated, both in terms of the impact of the workshops on students’ attitudes towards road safety problems and in terms of process assessment.

Analysis of Individual and Environmental Factors for Road Traffic Accidents in Sirjan-Bandarabbas Road between 2010 and 2011, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghorbanali Mohammadi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Sirjan -Bandarabbas road is one of the important commercial roads in Iran and for Sirjan’s area situation and relevance between Sirjan and other states in Iran so high percentage of goods that forwarded from Bandarabbas to other states transit from Sirjan .Therefore this road is as one important transition road and traffic road too .This study analyzed road traffic accidents were occurred between 2010 and 201in Sirjan- Bandarabbas road. Individual and demographic factors include Time of accidents, Drivers age, time of the days, seat belt and safety laws, Guilty vehicle, Mode of accident and education Level. Time of day analyses suggested that the highest percentage of road traffic injuries occurred in the time group between 12-18 hours. Drivers with the age group of 36-50 had more involvement in death accidents. The findings of this study also revealed that most of the collisions was front to back and front to side. Female drivers were found to be generally safer drivers than their male counterparts; male drivers had a higher involvement rate in road traffic accidents. This study indicated that Observe safety laws, Guilty vehicle and Mode of accidents have a meaningful relationship with Type of accidents in road traffic accidents in Sirjan Bandarabbas road.

Professionalizing Intelligence Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James B. Bruce

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This article examines the current state of professionalism in national security intelligence analysis in the U.S. Government. Since the introduction of major intelligence reforms directed by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA in December, 2004, we have seen notable strides in many aspects of intelligence professionalization, including in analysis. But progress is halting, uneven, and by no means permanent. To consolidate its gains, and if it is to continue improving, the U.S. intelligence community (IC should commit itself to accomplishing a new program of further professionalization of analysis to ensure that it will develop an analytic cadre that is fully prepared to deal with the complexities of an emerging multipolar and highly dynamic world that the IC itself is forecasting. Some recent reforms in intelligence analysis can be assessed against established standards of more fully developed professions; these may well fall short of moving the IC closer to the more fully professionalized analytical capability required for producing the kind of analysis needed now by the United States.

Revolutionary Intelligence: The Expanding Intelligence Role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Udit Banerjea

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC is a military and paramilitary organization that is meant to defend the ideals of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. Since its formation, the IRGC has grown in influence and its intelligence role has expanded. This paper examines the role of the IRGC in Iran’s intelligence system through a comprehensive analysis of the organization of the IRGC’s intelligence arm, along with its operations and capabilities. In doing so, the scope, objectives, resources, customers, and sponsors of the IRGC’s intelligence activities are also analyzed. Additionally, this paper explores how the IRGC interacts with the government of Iran, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS, other key internal stakeholders, and foreign client organizations. A key focus of this analysis is the evolution of the relationship between the IRGC and the MOIS and the growing influence of the IRGC in Iran’s intelligence community over the last decade. The paper concludes that the IRGC has now eclipsed the MOIS within Iran’s intelligence community and is one of the most powerful institutions in Iranian politics today, using its intelligence activities as its key means of maintaining power and influence within the country.

77 FR 32952 - Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors Closed Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-04

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors Closed Meeting AGENCY: Department of Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Intelligence University. ACTION: Notice of closed meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of...

Intelligent playgrounds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Lasse Juel

2009-01-01

This paper examines play, gaming and learning in regard to intelligent playware developed for outdoor use. The key questions are how does these novel artefacts influence the concept of play, gaming and learning. Up until now play and game have been understood as different activities. This paper...... examines if the sharp differentiation between the two can be uphold in regard to intelligent playware for outdoor use. Play and game activities will be analysed and viewed in conjunction with learning contexts. This paper will stipulate that intelligent playware facilitates rapid shifts in contexts...

Artificial intelligence

CERN Document Server

Ennals, J R

1987-01-01

Artificial Intelligence: State of the Art Report is a two-part report consisting of the invited papers and the analysis. The editor first gives an introduction to the invited papers before presenting each paper and the analysis, and then concludes with the list of references related to the study. The invited papers explore the various aspects of artificial intelligence. The analysis part assesses the major advances in artificial intelligence and provides a balanced analysis of the state of the art in this field. The Bibliography compiles the most important published material on the subject of

Development and enhancement of road lighting principles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ekrias, A.

2010-07-01

The work starts with a short introduction concerning the history of road lighting, outlining the trends and changes that have taken place in road lighting research during the past century. The introduction is followed by a review of trends, directions, and problems in current road lighting research and practice. The following part of the work introduces an advanced approach to road lighting measurements and calculations, based on the use of an imaging luminance photometer and the Road LumiMeter v2.0 computer program. The work sets out to investigate the variations in the characteristics of the quality of the road lighting at the same pilot locations in relation to the calculation methods used. In the work mesopic visual performance and the effects of the spectral transmittance of the vehicle windshield on the visibility conditions of the driver are also analysed. The work continues with road lighting measurements in various weather conditions in order to study the effects of snowy and wet road surface conditions on road lighting luminances. The results show that in Finland, snowy conditions offer very good opportunities to save electricity without adversely affecting either the safety of driving or the quality of road lighting. The following measurements set out to investigate the contribution of halogen and high-intensity discharge headlights to road lighting and whether this has a conflicting effect on the luminance contrasts of various targets located on the road or at the side of the road. The results indicate that, in general, the use of vehicle headlights in the presence of road lighting reduces the luminance contrasts of targets. The work continues with road lighting visibility experiments which study the visibility of achromatic and coloured targets in MH lamp and HPS lamp installations. The results show that colours have a major effect on target visibility if the road is illuminated with a light source with adequate colour rendering properties. Finally

Advanced intelligence and mechanism approach

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHONG Yixin

2007-01-01

Advanced intelligence will feature the intelligence research in next 50 years.An understanding of the concept of advanced intelligence as well as its importance will be provided first,and detailed analysis on an approach,the mechanism approach.suitable to the advanced intelligence research will then be flolowed.And the mutual relationship among mechanism approach,traditional approaches existed in artificial intelligence research,and the cognitive informatics will be discussed.It is interesting to discover that mechanism approach is a good one to the Advanced Intelligence research and a tmified form of the existed approaches to artificial intelligence.

Tourist Assessment of Croatian Roads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joso Vurdelja

2012-10-01

Full Text Available As environmentally clean industry and as the most significantworld industry regarding the number of employees and theimpact on the social and economic development of a countTy,tourism represents an extremely important social and economicbranch for Croatia.As a functional unit of the mutually interweaving socialand economic relations, tourism is a complex phenomenonwhose development depends on a number of compatible factorsout of which the transport infrastructure is considered to bethe most obvious and almost the most significant one, i.e. thefirst among the equal. This is primarily true for road traffic infrastructure,since road trai!Sportation of tourists by passengercars, buses and motorcycles accounts for more than 90 percentof the overall tourist journeys in Croatia.The topic of this paper is precisely, among other things, thetourist assessment of the Croatian road network by means ofthe so-called econometric model regarding the contribution ofa certain road route to the overall tourist traffic.Practical implementation of the elaborated problematicshould result in the improvement of road infrastructure eitherby constructing new motonvays and/or roads, or by reconstructionand/or modernisation of the existing traffic routes.

How Long Do the Dead Survive on the Road? Carcass Persistence Probability and Implications for Road-Kill Monitoring Surveys

OpenAIRE

Santos, Sara; Carvalho, Filipe; Mira, António

2011-01-01

Background: Road mortality is probably the best-known and visible impact of roads upon wildlife. Although several factors influence road-kill counts, carcass persistence time is considered the most important determinant underlying underestimates of road mortality. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and also to assess the eff...

Using CART to segment road images

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Bob; Lienhart, Rainer

2006-01-01

The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge is a 132 mile race through the desert with autonomous robotic vehicles. Lasers mounted on the car roof provide a map of the road up to 20 meters ahead of the car but the car needs to see further in order to go fast enough to win the race. Computer vision can extend that map of the road ahead but desert road is notoriously similar to the surrounding desert. The CART algorithm (Classification and Regression Trees) provided a machine learning boost to find road while at the same time measuring when that road could not be distinguished from surrounding desert.

Computational Intelligence in Intelligent Data Analysis

CERN Document Server

Nürnberger, Andreas

2013-01-01

Complex systems and their phenomena are ubiquitous as they can be found in biology, finance, the humanities, management sciences, medicine, physics and similar fields. For many problems in these fields, there are no conventional ways to mathematically or analytically solve them completely at low cost. On the other hand, nature already solved many optimization problems efficiently. Computational intelligence attempts to mimic nature-inspired problem-solving strategies and methods. These strategies can be used to study, model and analyze complex systems such that it becomes feasible to handle them. Key areas of computational intelligence are artificial neural networks, evolutionary computation and fuzzy systems. As only a few researchers in that field, Rudolf Kruse has contributed in many important ways to the understanding, modeling and application of computational intelligence methods. On occasion of his 60th birthday, a collection of original papers of leading researchers in the field of computational intell...

Road diet informational guide.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-11-01

A classic Road Diet converts an existing four-lane undivided roadway segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two : through lanes and a center two-way left turn lane (TWLTL). A Road Diet improves safety by including a protected left-turn lane : ...

ERGONOMICS AND ROAD SAFETY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BROOKHUIS, K; BROWN, [No Value

1992-01-01

Modifications to the design of vehicles and road infrastructures have improved road safety significantly over the past decades, but all such developments depend upon user acceptance and institutional backing for their success. New R&D programmes combining ergonomic and engineering approaches are

Design of Intelligent Transportation Inquiry System Based on MapX in the Environment of VC++

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Juan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper applied MapInfo, the professional soft ware tool of GIS, integrated secondary exploiture combining with elctronic maps, and made use of the exploiture flat roof Visual C++ as the tool of visualize development, transferred MapX, a control of MapInfo, integrated them. The paper designed the Inquiry System in Intelligent Transportation, which including query system of road information, query system of bus information, query system of district information. It can be carried out space analysis and query function based on GIS. Adopted SQL Server manage attribute data, by data binding, attribute data in SQL Server and victor picture data were combined.

Exploring schema-driven differences in situation awareness between road users: an on-road study of driver, cyclist and motorcyclist situation awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, Paul M; Lenne, Michael G; Walker, Guy H; Stanton, Neville A; Filtness, Ashleigh

2014-01-01

Collisions between different road users make a substantial contribution to road trauma. Although evidence suggests that different road users interpret the same road situations differently, it is not clear how road users' situation awareness differs, nor is it clear which differences might lead to conflicts. This article presents the findings from an on-road study conducted to examine driver, motorcyclist and cyclist situation awareness in different road environments. The findings suggest that, in addition to minor differences in the structure of different road users' situation awareness (i.e. amount of information and how it is integrated), the actual content of situation awareness in terms of road user schemata, the resulting interaction with the world and the information underpinning situation awareness is markedly different. Further examination indicates that the differences are likely to be compatible along arterial roads, shopping strips and at roundabouts, but that they may create conflicts between different road users at intersections. Interventions designed to support compatible situation awareness and behaviour between different road users are discussed.

Before and Beyond Anticipatory Intelligence: Assessing the Potential for Crowdsourcing and Intelligence Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Halman

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Crowdsourcing is a new tool for businesses, academics, and now intelligence analysts. Enabled by recent technology, crowdsourcing allows researchers to harness the wisdom of crowds and provide recommendations and insight into complex problems. This paper examines the potential benefits and limitations of crowdsourcing for intelligence analysis and the intelligence community beyond its primary use: anticipatory intelligence. The author constructs a model and compares it to existing crowdsourcing theories in business, information science, and public policy. Finally, he offers advice for intelligence analysis and public policy.

Construction and maintenance of underground mine roads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Logan, A.S.; Seedsman, R.W. [Coffey Partners International Pty. Ltd. (Australia)

1995-12-31

Good roads are essential in moving men and materials to and from the underground workplace. An underground coal industry funded project was recently completed on underground mine road construction and maintenance. This paper discusses practical approaches to construction and maintenance of underground mine roads using transferable civil technologies and innovative techniques. Mine pavements are generally low-cost (relative to civil roads), constructed to varying standards using locally available materials to best meet the mobility needs of the mine. Performance of pavements is thus largely dependent on the environmental conditions, quality of the available road making materials, maintenance policies and available resources. This paper explains the causes of bad roads in various underground environments. It details available management strategies, construction and water control techniques, road maintenance and vehicle considerations. It concludes that the trend to larger rubber tires mining equipment needs to be matched with construction and maintenance of high quality road surfaces. For large operations, the total cost due to poor roads may equate to in excess of $A1 million per annum. The strategies outlined in this paper provide the basis for construction and maintenance of underground mine roads to help achieve desired production targets. (author). 2 tabs., 4 figs., 7 refs.

Seismic risk assessment for road in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Toyfur, Mona Foralisa; Pribadi, Krishna S.

2016-05-01

Road networks in Indonesia consist of 446,000 km of national, provincial and local roads as well as toll highways. Indonesia is one of countries that exposed to various natural hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc. Within the Indonesian archipelago, several global tectonic plates interact, such as the Indo-Australian, Pacific, Eurasian, resulting in a complex geological setting, characterized by the existence of seismically active faults and subduction zones and a chain of more than one hundred active volcanoes. Roads in Indonesia are vital infrastructure needed for people and goods movement, thus supporting community life and economic activities, including promoting regional economic development. Road damages and losses due to earthquakes have not been studied widely, whereas road disruption caused enormous economic damage. The aim of this research is to develop a method to analyse risk caused by seismic hazard to roads. The seismic risk level of road segment is defined using an earthquake risk index, adopting the method of Earthquake Disaster Risk Index model developed by Davidson (1997). Using this method, road segments' risk level can be defined and compared, and road risk map can be developed as a tool for prioritizing risk mitigation programs for road networks in Indonesia.

Vehicle speed control using road bumps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. O. Salau

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Road bumps play a crucial role in enforcing speed limits, thereby preventing overspeeding of vehicles. It significantly contributes to the overall road safety objective through the prevention of accidents that lead to deaths of pedestrians and damage of vehicles. Despite the importance of road bumps, very little research has been done to investigate into their design. While documentation exists on quantitative descriptions of road bumps, they offer little guidance to decision making. This work presents a unique approach to solving road bumps design problems. The results of our study reveal three important road bumps variables that influence the control of vehicle speeds. The key variables are bump height, bump width, and effective distance between two consecutive road bumps. Since vehicle speed control is the ultimate aim of this study the relationship between vehicle speed and other variables earlier mentioned is established. Vehicle speed is defined as the product of frequency at which a vehicle is moving over road bumps and the sum of effective distance between two consecutive road bumps. In the determination of bump height we assume a conical shaped curve for analysis as a matter of research strategy. Based on this, two stages of motion were analysed. The first concerns the motion over the bump itself while the second relates to the motion between two consecutive road bumps. Fourier series was then used to formulate a holistic equation that combines these two stages. We used trigonometric functions to model the behaviour of the first stage while with the second stage giving a functional value of zero since no changes in height are observed. We carried out vibration analysis to determine the effect of road bumps on a vehicular system. Arising from this a model component is referred to as an isolation factor. This offers guidance to the safe frequency at which vehicles could travel over road bumps. The work appears to contribute to knowledge

2015 Chinese Intelligent Systems Conference

CERN Document Server

Du, Junping; Li, Hongbo; Zhang, Weicun; CISC’15

2016-01-01

This book presents selected research papers from the 2015 Chinese Intelligent Systems Conference (CISC’15), held in Yangzhou, China. The topics covered include multi-agent systems, evolutionary computation, artificial intelligence, complex systems, computation intelligence and soft computing, intelligent control, advanced control technology, robotics and applications, intelligent information processing, iterative learning control, and machine learning. Engineers and researchers from academia, industry and the government can gain valuable insights into solutions combining ideas from multiple disciplines in the field of intelligent systems.

Recognizablility of rural roads in the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aarts, L.T. & Davidse, R.J.

2008-01-01

In the Netherlands, the Sustainable Safety vision is an important guide in improving road safety. It is considered that the road environment shouldconform to the expectations of road users in order to prevent errors thatcould lead to road crashes. These expectations are based on the characteristics

SmartRoads: training Indonesian workers to become road safety ambassadors in industrial and community settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Montero, Kerry; Spencer, Graham; Ariens, Bernadette

2012-06-01

This paper reports on a programme to improve road safety awareness in an industrial community in the vicinity of Jakarta, in Indonesia. Adapting the model of a successful community and school-based programme in Victoria, in Australia, and using a peer education approach, 16 employees of a major manufacturing company were trained to implement road safety education programmes amongst their peers. Specific target groups for the educators were colleagues, schools and the local community. Over 2 days the employees, from areas as diverse as production, public relations, personnel services, administration and management, learned about road safety facts, causes of traffic casualties, prevention approaches and peer education strategies. They explored and developed strategies to use with their respective target groups and practised health education skills. The newly trained workers received certificates to acknowledge them as 'SmartRoads Ambassadors' and, with follow-up support and development, became road safety educators with a commitment and responsibility to deliver education to their respective work and local communities. This paper argues that the model has potential to provide an effective and locally relevant response to road safety issues in similar communities.

Intelligence and the machinery of government: conceptualizing the intelligence community

OpenAIRE

Davies, PHJ

2010-01-01

This article argues that the failure to address intelligence agencies as public organizations part and parcel with the overt machinery of government constitutes a significant lacuna both in the specialist study of intelligence and the broader discipline of public administration studies. The role and status of intelligence institutions as aspects of the machinery of central government is examined, along with the prospects of certain key paradigms in the field for understanding those institutio...

[Accidents on Iceland's most dangerous roads].

Science.gov (United States)

Bjarnason, Thóroddur; Arnarsson, Sveinn

2012-02-01

The objective of this paper was to identify the most dangerous segments of the Icelandic road system in terms of the number of accidents pr km and the rate of accidents pr million km travelled. First to identify the segments where the number of accidents is highest and where the risk of the individual traveller is the greatest. Second to evaluate if the association between the number and the rate of accidents is positive or negative. Third to identify the road segments that are the most dangerous in the sense of many accidents and great risk to individual travellers. Main roads outside urban centers were divided into 45 segments that were on average 78 km in length. Infrequently travelled roads and roads within urban centers were omitted. Information on the length of roads, traffic density and number of accidents was used to calculate the number of accidents per km and the rate of accidents per million km travelled. The correlation between the number and rate of accidents was calculated and the most dangerous road segments were identified by the average rank order on both dimensions. Most accidents pr km occurred on the main roads to and from the capital region, but also east towards Hvolsvöllur, north towards Akureyri and in the Mideast region of the country. The rate of accidents pr million km travelled was highest in the northeast region, in northern Snæfellsnes and in the Westfjords. The most dangerous roads on both dimensions were in Mideast, northern Westfjords, in the north between Blönduós and Akureyri and in northern Snæfellsnes. Most accidents pr km occurred on roads with a low accident rate pr million km travelled. It is therefore possible to reduce accidents the most by increasing road safety where it is already the greatest but that would however increase inequalities in road safety. Policy development in transportation is therefore in part a question of priorities in healthcare. Individual equality in safety and health are not always fully

Secular gains in fluid intelligence: evidence from the Culture-Fair intelligence test.

Science.gov (United States)

Colom, Roberto; García-López, Oscar

2003-01-01

There is no doubt about the reality of the secular increase in cognitive test scores. However, there is disagreement about a key issue: does the observed increase reflect a genuine upward trend in intelligence? Evidence from the Raven test is clear, although there are some doubts about its adequacy as a fine-grained measure of fluid intelligence. Evidence from the so-called 'method of correlated vectors' is much less clear. When a crystallized battery is considered, the results leave little doubt: the increase does not reflect gains in general intelligence. However, when a fluid battery is analysed, the increase does reflect gains in general intelligence. The present study uses one of the best available measures of fluid intelligence (the Culture-Fair intelligence test) to provide new evidence for the secular increase in fluid intelligence, beyond the findings from the Raven test and the method of correlated vectors. A total of 4498 Spanish high school students and high school graduates were tested within a time interval of 20 and 23 years, respectively. The results show that there is a clear upward trend in intelligence. Moreover, students show an average increase equivalent to 6 IQ points, while graduates show an average increase of 4 IQ points. Therefore, more selected people (graduates) show a smaller increase than less selected people (students). Some implications are discussed.

Scholastic Success: Fluid Intelligence, Personality, and Emotional Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Downey, Luke A.; Lomas, Justine; Billings, Clare; Hansen, Karen; Stough, Con

2014-01-01

The aim of the current study was to examine the role of fluid intelligence, personality traits, and emotional intelligence (EI) in predicting female Year 9 students' grade point average (GPA) and to determine whether any differences in scholastic performance were related to differences in EI or Personality. Two-hundred and forty-three female…

Perceived emotional intelligence, general intelligence and early professional success: predictive and incremental validity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José-Manuel de Haro

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Although the study of factors affecting career success has shown connections between biographical and other aspects related to ability, knowledge and personality, few studies have examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and professional success at the initial career stage. When these studies were carried out, the results showed significant relationships between the dimensions of emotional intelligence (emotional self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness or social skills and the level of professional competence. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence, measured by the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24 questionnaire, general intelligence assessed by the Cattell factor "g" test, scale 3, and extrinsic indicators of career success, in a sample of 130 graduates at the beginning of their careers. Results from hierarchical regression analysis indicate that emotional intelligence makes a specific contribution to the prediction of salary, after controlling the general intelligence effect. The perceived emotional intelligence dimensions of TMMS repair, TMMS attention and sex show a higher correlation and make a greater contribution to professional success than general intelligence. The implications of these results for the development of socio-emotional skills among University graduates are discussed.

Gender Stereotypes among Road Users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kabalevskaya, Alexandra I.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the mechanism of stereotyping as exemplified by gender stereotypes of road users. Gender stereotypes are not only viewed as an a priori image of a percept, but also examined ‘in action’ — at the very moment of their actualization with road users. In the paper we have identified the content of road users’ gender stereotypes; analyzed the behaviour of male and female drivers, pinpointing a number of gender-specific behavioural features; demonstrated that male and female driving differ from each other in terms of speed, intensity and roughness; and identified the conditions and mechanisms underlying the actualization of gender stereotypes. Based on video and audio materials, we have found that drivers’ gender-specific behavioural features are perceivable to road users: such features trigger the actualization of gender stereotypes as attributive schemes, which determine the interaction between road users, while also laying the foundation for gender stereotypes.

Road Transport Entrepreneurs and Road Transportation Revolution ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Toshiba

upon a massive road-building programme throughout the colony. The rapid expansion ..... transportation problems of his textile customers and palm produce producers and ... unflinching loyalty and solidarity with their illustrious son, General.

PROPOSAL OF VOIVODESHIP ROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

OpenAIRE

Tomasz SZCZURASZEK; Jan KEMPA

2016-01-01

The article presents a proposal of the ‘GAMBIT KUJAWSKO-POMORSKI’ Road Safety Improvement Programme. The main idea of the Programme is to establish and initiate systems that will be responsible for the most important areas of activity within road safety, including road safety control, supervision, and management systems in the whole Voivodeship. In total, the creation and start of nine such systems has been proposed, namely: the Road Safety Management, the Integrated Road Rescue Service, the ...

Complementary Machine Intelligence and Human Intelligence in Virtual Teaching Assistant for Tutoring Program Tracing

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Chih-Yueh; Huang, Bau-Hung; Lin, Chi-Jen

2011-01-01

This study proposes a virtual teaching assistant (VTA) to share teacher tutoring tasks in helping students practice program tracing and proposes two mechanisms of complementing machine intelligence and human intelligence to develop the VTA. The first mechanism applies machine intelligence to extend human intelligence (teacher answers) to evaluate…

A Belief-Space Approach to Integrated Intelligence - Research Area 10.3: Intelligent Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-05

A Belief-Space Approach to Integrated Intelligence- Research Area 10.3: Intelligent Networks The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this...Technology (MIT) Title: A Belief-Space Approach to Integrated Intelligence- Research Area 10.3: Intelligent Networks Report Term: 0-Other Email: tlp...students presented progress and received feedback from the research group . o wrote papers on their research and submitted them to leading conferences

Safety impacts of rural road construction

Science.gov (United States)

2001-02-01

Crash data in Kentucky show that the fatal crash rate on two-lane rural roads is substantially higher than on any other type of road. Improvements have been proposed at some locations on this type of road which involve either upgrading the existing t...

Psychological aspects of road user behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rothengatter, J.A.

The behaviour of road users is an important factor in accident causation. Traffic psychology, defined as ''the study of the behaviour of road users and the psychological processes underlying that behaviour'', attempts to identify the determinants of road user behaviour with the aim of developing

Artificial Intelligence

CERN Document Server

Warwick, Kevin

2011-01-01

if AI is outside your field, or you know something of the subject and would like to know more then Artificial Intelligence: The Basics is a brilliant primer.' - Nick Smith, Engineering and Technology Magazine November 2011 Artificial Intelligence: The Basics is a concise and cutting-edge introduction to the fast moving world of AI. The author Kevin Warwick, a pioneer in the field, examines issues of what it means to be man or machine and looks at advances in robotics which have blurred the boundaries. Topics covered include: how intelligence can be defined whether machines can 'think' sensory

Nonfatal road traffic injuries: can road safety campaigns prevent hazardous behavior? An Italian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Zampetti, R; Messina, G; Quercioli, C; Vencia, F; Genco, L; Di Bartolomeo, L; Nante, N

2013-01-01

Road traffic injuries are a widespread problem and are very difficult to prevent. The purpose of this study was to verify whether intensive versus basic road safety education programs are associated with different incidence and severity of nonfatal road injuries. The study had an ecological design and involved Local Health Authority One (LHA1) in Salerno, Italy, which includes 20 municipalities. Data on nonfatal road injuries occurring in the periods June to August 2003 and June to August 2008 were obtained from trained operators through the information system of the emergency department. All 20 municipalities received a basic community road safety education program (publicity campaign using bill-posting, brochures, mass media communication with press conferences, articles in local papers, radio and television interviews, and a dedicated LHA1 web site), and 12 municipalities also received an intensive education campaign (in secondary schools, community conferences, and activities organized by police and firefighters). The incidence and severity of nonfatal road traffic injuries were compared between June to August 2003 (before the campaign) and June to August 2008. The total number of injuries in all 20 municipalities in 2003 and 2008 was 907 and 755, respectively. The incidence of injuries decreased in the study period both in the 8 municipalities where only the basic campaign was run (difference in incidence = -0.4; P = .053) and in the 12 municipalities where the intensive campaign was implemented (difference in incidence = -0.5; P road safety education. This does not mean that such campaigns are useless (they are important to raise awareness) but that they should be supplemented with complementary activities in order to be really effective.

Intelligence of programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Novak, D

1982-01-01

A general discussion about the level of artificial intelligence in computer programs is presented. The suitability of various languages for the development of complex, intelligent programs is discussed, considering fourth-generation language as well as the well established structured COBOL language. It is concluded that the success of automation in many administrative fields depends to a large extent on the development of intelligent programs.

Road Lane Detection by Discriminating Dashed and Solid Road Lanes Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, Toan Minh; Hong, Hyung Gil; Vokhidov, Husan; Park, Kang Ryoung

2016-08-18

With the increasing need for road lane detection used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles, many studies have been conducted to turn road lane detection into a virtual assistant to improve driving safety and reduce car accidents. Most of the previous research approaches detect the central line of a road lane and not the accurate left and right boundaries of the lane. In addition, they do not discriminate between dashed and solid lanes when detecting the road lanes. However, this discrimination is necessary for the safety of autonomous vehicles and the safety of vehicles driven by human drivers. To overcome these problems, we propose a method for road lane detection that distinguishes between dashed and solid lanes. Experimental results with the Caltech open database showed that our method outperforms conventional methods.

Relationships between the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Walters, Steven O; Weaver, Kenneth A

2003-06-01

The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test detects learning problems of young students and is a screen for whether a more comprehensive test of intelligence is needed. A study to assess whether this test was valid as an adult intelligence test was conducted with 20 undergraduate psychology majors. The correlations between the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test's Composite, Vocabulary, and Matrices test scores and their corresponding Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition test scores, the Full Scale (r=.88), Verbal (r=.77), and Performance scores (r=.87), indicated very strong relationships. In addition, no significant differences were obtained between the Composite, Vocabulary, and Matrices means of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and the Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance means of the WAIS-III. The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test appears to be a valid test of intelligence for adults.

Global patterns of current and future road infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Meijer, Johan R.; Huijbregts, Mark A. J.; Schotten, Kees C. G. J.; Schipper, Aafke M.

2018-06-01

Georeferenced information on road infrastructure is essential for spatial planning, socio-economic assessments and environmental impact analyses. Yet current global road maps are typically outdated or characterized by spatial bias in coverage. In the Global Roads Inventory Project we gathered, harmonized and integrated nearly 60 geospatial datasets on road infrastructure into a global roads dataset. The resulting dataset covers 222 countries and includes over 21 million km of roads, which is two to three times the total length in the currently best available country-based global roads datasets. We then related total road length per country to country area, population density, GDP and OECD membership, resulting in a regression model with adjusted R 2 of 0.90, and found that that the highest road densities are associated with densely populated and wealthier countries. Applying our regression model to future population densities and GDP estimates from the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios, we obtained a tentative estimate of 3.0–4.7 million km additional road length for the year 2050. Large increases in road length were projected for developing nations in some of the world’s last remaining wilderness areas, such as the Amazon, the Congo basin and New Guinea. This highlights the need for accurate spatial road datasets to underpin strategic spatial planning in order to reduce the impacts of roads in remaining pristine ecosystems.

Ultra Low Noise Poroelastic Road Surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerzy A. Ejsmont

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Noise is one of the most important environmental problems related to road traffic. During the last decades, the noise emitted by the engines and powertrains of vehicles was greatly reduced and tires became a clearly dominant noise source. The article describes the concept of low noise poroelastic road surfaces that are composed of mineral and rubber aggregate bound by polyurethane resin. Those surfaces have a porous structure and are much more flexible than standard asphalt or cement concrete pavements due to high content of rubber aggregate and elastic binder. Measurements performed in several European countries indicate that such surfaces decrease tire/road noise between 7 dB and 12 dB with respect to reference surfaces such as dense asphalt concrete or stone matrix asphalt. Furthermore, poroelastic road surfaces ascertain the rolling resistance of car tires, which is comparable to classic pavements. One of the unforeseen properties of the poroelastic road surfaces is their ability to decrease the risks related to car fires with fuel spills. The article presents the road and laboratory results of noise, rolling resistance, and fire tests performed on a few types of poroelastic road surfaces.

Fluid intelligence: A brief history.

Science.gov (United States)

Kent, Phillip

2017-01-01

The concept of fluid and crystallized intelligence was introduced to the psychological community approximately 75 years ago by Raymond B. Cattell, and it continues to be an area of active research and controversy. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the origin of the concept, early efforts to define intelligence and uses of intelligence tests to address pressing social issues, and the ongoing controversies associated with fluid intelligence and the structure of intelligence. The putative neuropsychological underpinnings and neurological substrates of fluid intelligence are discussed.

23 CFR 660.517 - Maneuver area roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Maneuver area roads. 660.517 Section 660.517 Highways... PROGRAMS (DIRECT FEDERAL) Defense Access Roads § 660.517 Maneuver area roads. (a) Claims by a highway agency for costs incurred to restore, to their former condition, roads damaged by maneuvers involving a...