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Sample records for road reconstruction oslo

  1. Computer Based Road Accident Reconstruction Experiences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milan Batista

    2005-03-01

    Full Text Available Since road accident analyses and reconstructions are increasinglybased on specific computer software for simulationof vehicle d1iving dynamics and collision dynamics, and forsimulation of a set of trial runs from which the model that bestdescribes a real event can be selected, the paper presents anoverview of some computer software and methods available toaccident reconstruction experts. Besides being time-saving,when properly used such computer software can provide moreauthentic and more trustworthy accident reconstruction, thereforepractical experiences while using computer software toolsfor road accident reconstruction obtained in the TransportSafety Laboratory at the Faculty for Maritime Studies andTransport of the University of Ljubljana are presented and discussed.This paper addresses also software technology for extractingmaximum information from the accident photo-documentationto support accident reconstruction based on the simulationsoftware, as well as the field work of reconstruction expertsor police on the road accident scene defined by this technology.

  2. 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...

  3. 3D road marking reconstruction from street-level calibrated stereo pairs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soheilian, Bahman; Paparoditis, Nicolas; Boldo, Didier

    This paper presents an automatic approach to road marking reconstruction using stereo pairs acquired by a mobile mapping system in a dense urban area. Two types of road markings were studied: zebra crossings (crosswalks) and dashed lines. These two types of road markings consist of strips having known shape and size. These geometric specifications are used to constrain the recognition of strips. In both cases (i.e. zebra crossings and dashed lines), the reconstruction method consists of three main steps. The first step extracts edge points from the left and right images of a stereo pair and computes 3D linked edges using a matching process. The second step comprises a filtering process that uses the known geometric specifications of road marking objects. The goal is to preserve linked edges that can plausibly belong to road markings and to filter others out. The final step uses the remaining linked edges to fit a theoretical model to the data. The method developed has been used for processing a large number of images. Road markings are successfully and precisely reconstructed in dense urban areas under real traffic conditions.

  4. Reconstruction of road defects and road roughness classification using vehicle responses with artificial neural networks simulation

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ngwangwa, HM

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available -1 Journal of Terramechanics Volume 47, Issue 2, April 2010, Pages 97-111 Reconstruction of road defects and road roughness classification using vehicle responses with artificial neural networks simulation H.M. Ngwangwaa, P.S. Heynsa, , , F...

  5. Oslo Epigenetics Symposium 2012. Oslo, Norway, 8-9 November 2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collas, Philippe; Eskeland, Ragnhild

    2013-02-01

    The Oslo Epigenetics Symposium 2012 held in Oslo, Norway, brought together ten speakers from several European countries and the USA for an evening public lecture and a full day of presentations on emerging topics in the field of epigenetics, gene regulation and organization of the cell nucleus.

  6. 36 CFR 294.23 - Road construction and reconstruction in Idaho Roadless Areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Road construction and..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL AREAS Idaho Roadless Area Management § 294.23 Road construction and... Significance, or Primitive. Road construction and reconstruction are prohibited in Idaho Roadless Areas...

  7. High-speed train Oslo-Berlin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jespersen, Per Homann

    Indlæggets baggrund og formål I det såkaldte COINCO-projekt, et INTERREG-projekt støttet af regioner og byer mellem Oslo og Berlin, er der udviklet en strategi for et tættere samarbejde i korridoren (Jespersen et al. 2007). Udbygning af infrastrukturen for passagerer og gods er en væsentlig del h...... Oslo - Göteborg". Sluttrapport. Jespersen, P. H., Jensen, A., Stroschein, C., & Lundgren, A. 2007, COINCO - Corridor of Innovation and Cooperation - Strategy 2025. Landex, A. 2006, Railway Capacity Oslo-Berlin, Center for Trafik og Transport, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Lyngby.  ...

  8. Epidemiology of distal forearm fractures in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lofthus, C M; Frihagen, F; Meyer, H E; Nordsletten, L; Melhuus, K; Falch, J A

    2008-06-01

    The population of Oslo has the highest incidence of hip fracture reported. The present study shows that the overall incidence of distal forearm fractures in Oslo is higher than in other countries and has not changed significantly when comparing the incidence of 1998/99 with 1979. The population of Oslo has the highest incidence of hip fracture reported. The present study reports the incidence of distal forearm fracture in Oslo and the fracture rates of immigrants. Patients aged > or = 20 years resident in Oslo sustaining a distal forearm fracture in a one-year period in 1998/99 were identified using electronic diagnosis registers, patient protocols, and/or X-ray registers of the clinics in Oslo. Medical records were obtained and the diagnosis verified. The age- and sex-specific incidence rates were calculated and compared with those for 1979. Data on immigrant category and country of origin of the patients were obtained. The age-adjusted fracture rates per 10,000 for the age group > or = 50 years were 109.8 and 25.4 in 1998/99 compared with 108.3 and 23.5 in 1979 for women and men, respectively (n.s.). The relative risk of fracture in Asians was 0.72 (95% CI 0.53-1.00) compared with ethnic Norwegians. The overall incidence of distal forearm fractures in Oslo is higher than in other countries and has not changed significantly when comparing the incidence of 1998/99 with 1979. Furthermore, the present data suggest that Asian immigrants in Oslo have a slightly lower fracture risk than ethnic Norwegians.

  9. Mulighetsstudie for urbant jordbruk ved Gaustadjordet i Oslo

    OpenAIRE

    Espeli, Marthe Bævre

    2017-01-01

    Thesis exploring possibilities for urban agriculture activities at Gaustadjordet, Oslo Gaustadjordet is located in Oslo Kommune, which holds 658 390 inhabitants. (https://www.oslo.kommune.no/politikk-og-administrasjon/statistikk/ befolkning/folkemengde-og-endringer/, 01.01.16) The area is located south of preserved forest areas surrounding the city, and the recreational area of of Sognsvann, northwest of Majorstua, between Blindern and Vinderen metro stations. The area has traditionally be...

  10. Seaside recreation in Oslo : bringing Bispevika closer to the city

    OpenAIRE

    Kloster-Jensen, Erlend Andre Borka

    2017-01-01

    Oslo is a growing city. Instead of letting the city expand beyond its borders, the municipality wants to use sites by the Oslo fjord for urban growth. The planning agency of Oslo is currently working on redefining the seaside, with the intent of making it more accessible to the public. One of the agency’s efforts in providing seaside recreation for Oslo’s citizens is called Havnepromenaden, which is to become a 9-kilometer long promenade along the Oslo fjord. This thesis treats the topi...

  11. 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

  12. Mälestustahvel Oslo valitsusele / Peep Pillak

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Pillak, Peep, 1957-

    2016-01-01

    Otsustati tähistada Oslos asuv hoone, kus 1953. aastal nimetati ametiise Eesti Vabariigi valitsus eksiilis. Sõjajärgsetel aastatel organiseerusid eestlased Rootsis. Kuna Rootsis oli pagulaste poliitiline tegevus keelatud, siis toimus eksiilvalitsuse ametisse määramine Oslos. Kui 20. augustil 1991 taastati iseseisev Eesti riik, siis tunnustas seda ka Eesti Vabariigi valitsus eksiilis. Vabariigi valitsus eksiilis lõpetas oma tegevuse 7. oktoobril 1992. aastal. 2. oktoobril 2015 toimunud mälestustahvli avamisest

  13. IFLA - Oslo 2005

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Burgetová, Jarmila

    2005-01-01

    Roč. 14, č. 3 (2005), s. 6-7 ISSN 1210-0927 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70830501 Keywords : International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) * IFLA World Library and Information Congress - Oslo Subject RIV: AF - Documentation, Librarianship, Information Studies

  14. Kohtumine Oslos / Andres Herkel

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Herkel, Andres, 1962-

    2009-01-01

    Autor kommenteerib Oslos toimunud Tšetšeenia eksiilvalitsuse juhi Ahmed Zakajevi ning praeguse Tšetšeenia valitseja Ramzan Kadõrovi esindaja ja parlamendijuhi Duhhvahha Abdurahmanovi kohtumist. Versioonid tulevikuks

  15. Recognition and Reconstruction of Zebra Crossings on Roads from Mobile Laser Scanning Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Li

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Zebra crossings provide guidance and warning to pedestrians and drivers, thereby playing an important role in traffic safety management. Most previous studies have focused on detecting zebra stripes but have not provided full information about the areas, which is critical to both driver assistance systems and guide systems for blind individuals. This paper presents a stepwise procedure for recognizing and reconstructing zebra crossings using mobile laser scanning data. First, we propose adaptive thresholding based on road surface partitioning to reduce the impact of intensity unevenness and improve the accuracy of road marking extraction. Then, dispersion degree filtering is used to reduce the noise. Finally, zebra stripes are recognized according to the rectangular feature and fixed size, which is followed by area reconstruction according to arrangement patterns. We test our method on three datasets captured by an Optech Lynx mobile mapping system. The total recognition rate of 90.91% demonstrates the effectiveness of the method.

  16. 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.

  17. [Untreated syphilis - from Oslo to Tuskegee].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandvik, Anniken; Lie, Anne Kveim

    2016-12-01

    In the period from 1891 - 1910, around 2000 patients with syphilis were admitted to the Department of Dermatology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet. The head of the department, Cæsar Boeck (1845 - 1917), believed in allowing the disease to take its natural course and withheld treatment. He made detailed notes of the diagnosis and the clinical course of the disease for all his patients. Boeck's material is unique, and forms the basis for our current knowledge about the prognosis and course of syphilis infections. In 1928, the patients were scrutinised by Boeck's successor in the Department of Dermatology, Edvin Bruusgaard (1869 - 1934), and later by Trygve Gjestland (1911 - 1993). Gjestland's doctoral thesis from 1955 has remained as «The Oslo study of untreated syphilis.» This article presents a medical historical background for the study. Bruusgaard's and Gjestland's research was important for the Tuskegee Study in the USA, and the Oslo study gave implicit support to this research project, which posterity has emphatically condemned as ethically unacceptable.

  18. Comparison of cardiovascular risk factors between Sri Lankans living in Kandy and Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tennakoon, Sampath U B; Kumar, Bernadette N; Nugegoda, Danasela B; Meyer, Haakon E

    2010-10-29

    South Asians living in western countries are known to have unfavourable cardiovascular risk profiles. Studies indicate migrants are worse off when compared to those living in country of origin. The purpose of this study was to compare selected cardiovascular risk factors between migrant Sri Lankans living in Oslo, Norway and Urban dwellers from Kandy, Sri Lanka. Data on non fasting serum lipids, blood pressure, anthropometrics and socio demographics of Sri Lankan Tamils from two almost similar population based cross sectional studies in Oslo, Norway between 2000 and 2002 (1145 participants) and Kandy, Sri Lanka in 2005 (233 participants) were compared. Combined data were analyzed using linear regression analyses. Men and women in Oslo had higher HDL cholesterol. Men and women from Kandy had higher Total/HDL cholesterol ratios. Mean waist circumference and body mass index was higher in Oslo. Smoking among men was low (19.2% Oslo, 13.1% Kandy, P = 0.16). None of the women smoked. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in Kandy than in Oslo. Our comparison showed unexpected differences in risk factors between Sri Lankan migrants living in Oslo and those living in Kandy Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans in Oslo had favorable lipid profiles and blood pressure levels despite being more obese.

  19. 36 CFR 212.5 - Road system management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... construction, reconstruction, decommissioning, and maintenance. (2) Identification of unneeded roads... share of the costs. (d) Maintenance and reconstruction of National Forest System roads by users—(1... to cover maintenance or reconstruction of roads shall be used for the purposes deposited, except that...

  20. The epidemiology of shoulder dislocations in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liavaag, S; Svenningsen, S; Reikerås, O; Enger, M; Fjalestad, T; Pripp, A H; Brox, J I

    2011-12-01

    There are few previous studies on the incidence of shoulder dislocation in the general population. The aim of the study was to report the incidence of acute shoulder dislocations in the capital of Norway (Oslo) in 2009. Patients of all ages living in Oslo, sustaining a dislocation of the glenohumeral joint, were identified using electronic diagnosis registers, patient protocols, radiological registers of the hospitals, and the Norwegian Patient Register (NPR). The overall incidence rate was 56.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) 50.2-62.4] per 100,000 person-years, with rates of 82.2 (95% CI 71.7-92.8) and 30.9 (95% CI 24.5-37.3) in men and women, respectively. The incidence of primary dislocations was 26.2 (95% CI 22.1-30.4). The overall incidence of shoulder dislocations in Oslo was higher than previously reported incidences. The incidence of primary dislocations was also higher than that in previously reported studies for the general population but it was close to the incidence reported in Malmø, Sweden. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  1. Four Days...Oslo 1976

    Science.gov (United States)

    Education and Culture, 1977

    1977-01-01

    Summarizes the four main themes dealt with at the Oslo Conference in 1976: the challenge to cultural policy in a changing society, cultural policy as an instrument for improving the quality of life, support and encouragement of artistic creation and cultural cooperation. Also considers four secondary themes: culture and the child, migrant workers,…

  2. 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.

  3. Uus ooperimaja Oslos / Priit Kuusk

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kuusk, Priit, 1938-

    2008-01-01

    Oslo uue ooperimaja (arhitektuurifirma Snohetta) ehitust alustati 2003. a., 505 miljonit eurot maksma minev hoone kesklinnas Björviki skvääri kaldal avatakse teatri personalile aprillis, avaetendus jääb aasta lõppu. Suures saalis on 1359 kohta, kammersaalis 400

  4. The geology and geophysics of the Oslo rift

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruder, M. E.

    1981-01-01

    The regional geology and geophysical characteristics of the Oslo graben are reviewed. The graben is part of a Permian age failed continental rift. Alkali olivine, tholefitic, and monzonitic intrusives as well as basaltic lavas outline the extent of the graben. Geophysical evidence indicates that rifting activity covered a much greater area in Skagerrak Sea as well as the Paleozoic time, possibly including the northern Skagerrak Sea as well as the Oslo graben itself. Much of the surficial geologic characteristics in the southern part of the rift have since been eroded or covered by sedimentation. Geophysical data reveal a gravity maximum along the strike of the Oslo graben, local emplacements of magnetic material throughout the Skagerrak and the graben, and a slight mantle upward beneath the rift zone. Petrologic and geophysical maps which depict regional structure are included in the text. An extensive bibliography of pertinent literature published in English between 1960 and 1980 is also provided.

  5. Attitudes toward female circumcision among Somali immigrants in Oslo: a qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gele AA

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abdi A Gele1,2, Bernadette Kumar3, Karin Harsløf Hjelde3, Johanne Sundby21The Department of Social Science, Oslo University College, 2Section for International Health, Department of General Practice and Community Medicine, University of Oslo, 3Norwegian Center for Minority Health Research, Oslo, NorwayAbstract: Due to its negative impact on public health, female circumcision (FC has gained increased attention from international communities and the Norwegian public in recent decades. In 1995, the Norwegian government outlawed the practice and simultaneously developed a package of measures aimed at preventing and ultimately eradicating FC in Norway. Like many other Western countries, immigrants of Somali descent constitute the largest immigrant group in Norway from countries with FC traditions. Although this immigrant group is often perceived as a cultural society that supports FC generally as a practice, there appears to be a lack of studies that explore the impact of acculturation and the Western social context on Somali immigrants’ attitudes toward the practice. Against this background, this paper explores the attitudes of Somalis living in Oslo, Norway to the practice of FC. Findings from this qualitative study indicate that Somalis in Oslo have, to a large extent, changed their attitude toward the practice. This was proven by the presence in Oslo of a large number of Somali parents who left their daughters uncut as well as Somali girls, boys, men, and women who attribute being uncircumcised a high status. This study adds to the knowledge of the process of abandonment of FC among immigrants in the Western countries. The study highlights the success that has been achieved in improving attitudes toward the practice of the Somali community in Oslo, Norway, as well as emerging challenges that need to be addressed further.Keywords: female circumcision, attitude, behavior, immigrants, Somalis

  6. [Cases of MRSA in nursing homes in Oslo 2005-11].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steen, Tore Wælgaard; Jørgensen, Silje Bakken; Garder, Kirsten Marie; Kollerud, Ruby del Risco; Kvalvaag, Gunnar; Blomfeldt, Anita

    2013-09-17

    The number of infections caused by MRSA has increased substantially in Norway in the past decade. It is an objective to prevent MRSA from becoming established in nursing homes and hospitals. The purpose of the article is to describe the features of the development of MRSA cases found in nursing homes in Oslo. We carried out a retrospective study of registered cases of MRSA (both sufferers and carriers) in Oslo in 2005-11. Data were obtained from the City of Oslo municipal health services' MRSA database and from genotyping carried out at Akershus University Hospital. The annual number of cases of MRSA found in Oslo increased during the period 2005-11 from 92 in 2005 to 268 in 2011, a total of 1198 cases. Of these, 224 cases (19%) were registered in nursing homes, distributed among 22 institutions, 158 residents and 66 staff, with an average of 32 cases annually (14-58 spread). Twenty-eight of 50 nursing homes had no cases of MRSA, while 159 of the cases were related to outbreaks of MRSA. Three of 20 outbreaks affected residents only. The nursing home isolates consisted of 40 different spa types, of which 160 (71%) of the isolates were clustered in three clonal complexes. The most common spa type t304 was found in 116 (52%) of the cases. Cases of MRSA in Oslo in total increased sharply from 2005 to 2011, while the number of cases in nursing homes was stable. It is, however, uncertain whether this reflects the actual incidence.

  7. Meetodist tulenev olukord. Bjaervika projekt, Oslo = Technique Driven Condition. Bjaervika project, Oslo / Danilo Dangubic, Gudjon Erlendsson, Jeffrey Turko

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Dangubic, Danilo

    2000-01-01

    Oslo kesklinna sadamaala tavakohase üldplaneeringu asemel pakuvad Londoni arhitektuuribüroo Urban Office arhitektid Danilo Dangubic, Gudjon Erlendsson ja Jeffrey Turko alternatiivprojekti, mis keskendub linnakeskonnale ja meetodile selle uurimiseks. 9 ill

  8. Evaluation of Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research (SKK), University of Oslo

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Elvbakken, Kari Tove; Katrine, Fangen; Lotte, Hedeager

    2007-01-01

    Evaluering af det tværfaglige forskningscenter "Senter for Kvinde og Kjønnsforskning" ved Oslo Universitet.......Evaluering af det tværfaglige forskningscenter "Senter for Kvinde og Kjønnsforskning" ved Oslo Universitet....

  9. Monitoring urban air quality using a high-density network of low-cost sensor nodes in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castell, Nuria; Schneider, Philipp; Vogt, Matthias; Dauge, Franck R.; Lahoz, William; Bartonova, Alena

    2017-04-01

    Urban air quality represents a major public health burden and is a long-standing concern to citizens. Air pollution is associated with a range of diseases, symptoms and conditions that impair health and quality of life. In Oslo, traffic, especially exhaust from heavy-duty and private diesel vehicles and dust resuspension from studded tyres, together with wood burning in winter, are the main sources of pollution. Norway, as part of the European Economic Area, is obliged to comply with the European air quality regulations and ensure clean air. Despite this, Oslo has exceeded both the NO2 and PM10 thresholds for health protection defined in the Directive 2008/50/EC. The air quality in the Oslo area is continuously monitored in 12 compliance monitoring stations. These stations provide reliable and accurate data but their density is too low to provide a detailed spatial distribution of air quality. The emergence of low-cost nodes enables observations at high spatial resolution, providing the opportunity to enhance existing monitoring systems. However, the data generated by these nodes is significantly less accurate and precise than the data provided by reference equipment. We have conducted an evaluation of low-cost nodes to monitor NO2 and PM10, comparing the data collected with low-cost nodes against CEN (European Standardization Organization) reference analysers. During January and March 2016, a network of 24 nodes was deployed in Oslo. During January, high NO2 levels were observed for several days in a row coinciding with the formation of a thermal inversion. During March, we observed an episode with high PM10 levels due to road dust resuspension. Our results show that there is a major technical challenge associated with current commercial low-cost sensors, regarding the sensor robustness and measurement repeatability. Despite this, low-cost sensor nodes are able to reproduce the NO2 and PM10 variability. The data from the sensors was employed to generate detailed

  10. En ganske god plan. Om pådrivere og bremser i byutvikling i Oslo og Bergen 1827-1875

    OpenAIRE

    Brække, Christoffer Cato Falsen

    2016-01-01

    Bergen var Norges største by helt frem til den ble forbigått av Oslo på 1830- og 1840-tallet. Etter at Oslo ble erklært hovedstad, opplevde Oslo en større befolkningsvekst enn de fleste byer i Europa, mens Bergen ble i samme tidsperiode kalt "stillstandsbyen, grunnet den relativt lave veksten. Oslo fikk sin første bygningslov i 1827, mens Bergen fikk sin basert på Oslos i 1830. Lovene skulle ha som funksjon å regulere byggingen i byene med spesielt fokus på å hindre...

  11. The Oslo Health Study: Is bone mineral density higher in affluent areas?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alver, Kari; Søgaard, Anne J; Falch, Jan A; Meyer, Haakon E

    2007-11-23

    Based on previously reported differences in fracture incidence in the socioeconomic less affluent Oslo East compared to the more privileged West, our aim was to study bone mineral density (BMD) in the same socioeconomic areas in Oslo. We also wanted to study whether possible associations were explained by socio-demographic factors, level of education or lifestyle factors. Distal forearm BMD was measured in random samples of the participants in The Oslo Health Study by single energy x-ray absorptiometry (SXA). 578 men and 702 women born in Norway in the age-groups 40/45, 60 and 75 years were included in the analyses. Socioeconomic regions, based on a social index dividing Oslo in two regions - East and West, were used. Age-adjusted mean BMD in women living in the less affluent Eastern region was 0.405 g/cm2 and significantly lower than in West where BMD was 0.419 g/cm2. Similarly, the odds ratio of low BMD (Z-score Oslo East compared to West. The same tendency, although not statistically significant, was also present in men. Multivariate analysis adjusted for education, marital status, body mass index, physical inactivity, use of alcohol and smoking, and in women also use of post-menopausal hormone therapy and early onset of menopause, did hardly change the association. Additional adjustments for employment status, disability pension and physical activity at work for those below the age of retirement, gave similar results. We found differences in BMD in women between different socioeconomic regions in Oslo that correspond to previously found differences in fracture rates. The association in men was not statistically significant. The differences were not explained by socio-demographic factors, level of education or lifestyle factors.

  12. Non-western immigrants' satisfaction with the general practitioners' services in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lien, Else; Nafstad, Per; Rosvold, Elin O

    2008-02-27

    Over the last few years the number of immigrants from the non-western parts of the world living in Oslo, has increased considerably. We need to know if these immigrants are satisfied with the health services they are offered. The aim of this study was to assess whether the immigrants' level of satisfaction with visits to general practitioners was comparable with that for ethnic Norwegians. Two population-based surveys, the Oslo Health Study and the Oslo Immigrant Health Study, were performed on selected groups of Oslo citizens in 2000 and 2002. The response rates were 46% and 33%, respectively. In all, 11936 Norwegians and 1102 non-western immigrants from the Oslo Health Study, and 1774 people from the Oslo Immigrant Health Study, were included in this analysis. Non-western immigrants' and ethnic Norwegians' level of satisfaction with visits to general practitioners were analysed with respect to age, gender, health, working status, and use of translators. Bivariate (Chi square) and multivariate analyses (logistic regression) were performed. Most participants were either moderately or very satisfied with their last visit to a general practitioner. Non-western immigrants were less satisfied than Norwegians. Dissatisfaction among the immigrants was associated with young age, a feeling of not having good health, and coming from Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, or Vietnam as compared to Sri Lanka. The attendance rates in the surveys were rather low and lowest among the non-western immigrants. Although the degree of satisfaction with the primary health care was relatively high among the participants in these surveys, the non-western immigrants in this study were less satisfied than ethnic Norwegians with their last visit to a general practitioner. The rather low response rates opens for the possibility that the degree of satisfaction may not be representative for all immigrants.

  13. The Oslo Health Study: Is bone mineral density higher in affluent areas?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Søgaard Anne J

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Based on previously reported differences in fracture incidence in the socioeconomic less affluent Oslo East compared to the more privileged West, our aim was to study bone mineral density (BMD in the same socioeconomic areas in Oslo. We also wanted to study whether possible associations were explained by socio-demographic factors, level of education or lifestyle factors. Methods Distal forearm BMD was measured in random samples of the participants in The Oslo Health Study by single energy x-ray absorptiometry (SXA. 578 men and 702 women born in Norway in the age-groups 40/45, 60 and 75 years were included in the analyses. Socioeconomic regions, based on a social index dividing Oslo in two regions – East and West, were used. Results Age-adjusted mean BMD in women living in the less affluent Eastern region was 0.405 g/cm2 and significantly lower than in West where BMD was 0.419 g/cm2. Similarly, the odds ratio of low BMD (Z-score ≤ -1 was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.22–2.87 in women in Oslo East compared to West. The same tendency, although not statistically significant, was also present in men. Multivariate analysis adjusted for education, marital status, body mass index, physical inactivity, use of alcohol and smoking, and in women also use of post-menopausal hormone therapy and early onset of menopause, did hardly change the association. Additional adjustments for employment status, disability pension and physical activity at work for those below the age of retirement, gave similar results. Conclusion We found differences in BMD in women between different socioeconomic regions in Oslo that correspond to previously found differences in fracture rates. The association in men was not statistically significant. The differences were not explained by socio-demographic factors, level of education or lifestyle factors.

  14. Muusikamaailm : Festival "Ultima" Oslos. Kaks juubilari šveitsist. Honeckil juba kaks orkestrit / Priit Kuusk

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kuusk, Priit, 1938-

    2001-01-01

    Nüüdismuusikafestivalist "Ultima" Oslos. šveitsi muusikategelased Tibor Varga ja Rudolf Kelterborn tähistasid juubelit. Noorel austria dirigendi Manfred Honeck'i juhatada on kaks orkestrit- Rootsi Raadio Sümfooniaorkester ja Oslo Filharmoonia Orkester

  15. 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...

  16. The effects of a driving mechanism on Oslo models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pan, Gui-Jun; Pan, Yong-Cai

    2010-01-01

    Isotropic and anisotropic Oslo models (IOM and AOM) under a bulk driving mechanism have been investigated. We apply the moment analysis to evaluate critical exponents and the finite size scaling method to consistently test the obtained results. We find that both types of Oslo model have different critical behaviour. However, the critical exponents are the same for deterministic and random IOMs, and are independent of the strength of the anisotropy for the AOM. In contrast to a boundary driving mechanism, we find that the critical exponents depend crucially on the driving mechanism for the IOM, and are independent of the driving mechanism for the AOM.

  17. Section for nuclear physics and energy physics. Annual report January 1 to December 31, 1998[Oslo Univ., Oslo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-08-01

    The SCANDITRONIX MC-35 cyclotron laboratory, including the Oslo Cyclotron, has been in operation since 1980. The main auxiliary equipment consists of the multi-detector system CACTUS. During the last years, new, high efficiency Ge(HP) detectors were purchased and integrated in the CACTUS detector array. In connection with that, the electronical setup was revised and altered. Several drawbacks of the old setup could be pointed out and eliminated. A test of the performance of all detector array elements was made with high accuracy. The total beamtime used for experiments in 1998 was 1051 hours. 52 days were used by the Nuclear Physics section, 70 days by the University of Oslo Nuclear Chemistry section and the Norwegian Cancer Hospital used the cyclotron for 12 days. 42 days were spent on maintenance. In experimental nuclear physics, the section members are engaged within three main fields of research: Nuclei at high temperature, high spin nuclear structure and high and intermediate energy nuclear physics.

  18. 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...

  19. Hip fracture incidence is decreasing in the high incidence area of Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Støen, R O; Nordsletten, L; Meyer, H E; Frihagen, J F; Falch, J A; Lofthus, C M

    2012-10-01

    This study reports a significant decrease in age-adjusted incidence rates of hip fracture for women in Oslo, Norway, even compared with data from 1978/1979. Use of bisphosphonate may explain up to one third of the decline in the incidence. The aims of the present study were to report the current incidence of hip fractures in Oslo and to estimate the influence of bisphosphonates on the current incidence. Using the electronic diagnosis registers and lists from the operating theaters of the hospitals of Oslo, all patients with ICD-10 codes S72.0 and S72.1 (hip fracture) in 2007 were identified. Medical records of all identified patients were reviewed to verify the diagnosis. Age- and gender-specific annual incidence rates were calculated using the population of Oslo on January 1, 2007 as the population at risk. Data on the use of bisphosphonates were obtained from official registers. A total number of 1,005 hip fractures, 712 (71%) in women, were included. The age-adjusted fracture rates per 10,000 for the age group >50 years were 82.0 for women and 39.1 for men in 2007, compared with 110.8 and 41.4 in 1996/1997, 116.5 and 42.9 in 1988/1989, and 97.5 and 34.5 in 1978/1979, respectively. It was estimated that the use of bisphosphonates may explain up to 13% of the decline in incidence in women aged 60-69 years and up to 34% in women aged 70-79 years. The incidence of hip fractures in women in Oslo has decreased significantly during the last decade and is now at a lower level than in 1978/1979. This reduction was not evident in men. The incidence of hip fractures in Oslo is, however, still the highest in the world.

  20. The beam handling system of the Oslo Cyclotron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Messelt, S.

    1985-11-01

    The beam optic system of the Oslo Cyclotron is described. A computer program for the calculation of optimal settings of quadropoles is presented. The reliability of the computer program is confirmed by experimental data

  1. Road traffic noise and children's inattention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weyde, Kjell Vegard; Krog, Norun Hjertager; Oftedal, Bente; Magnus, Per; Øverland, Simon; Stansfeld, Stephen; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J; Vrijheid, Martine; de Castro Pascual, Montserrat; Aasvang, Gunn Marit

    2017-11-21

    An increasing number of children are exposed to road traffic noise levels that may lead to adverse effects on health and daily functioning. Childhood is a period of intense growth and brain maturation, and children may therefore be especially vulnerable to road traffic noise. The objective of the present study was to examine whether road traffic noise was associated with reported inattention symptoms in children, and whether this association was mediated by sleep duration. This study was based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Parental reports of children's inattention at age 8 were linked to modelled levels of residential road traffic noise. We investigated the association between inattention and noise exposure during pregnancy (n = 1934), noise exposure averaged over 5 years (age 3 to 8 years; n = 1384) and noise exposure at age 8 years (n = 1384), using fractional logit response models. The participants were children from Oslo, Norway. An association with inattention at age 8 years was found for road traffic noise exposure at age 8 years (coef = .0083, CI = [.0012, .0154]; 1.2% point increase in inattention score per 10 dB increase in noise level), road traffic noise exposure average for the last 5 years (coef = .0090, CI = [.0016, .0164]; 1.3% point increase/10 dB), and for pregnancy road traffic noise exposure for boys (coef = .0091, CI = [.0010, .0171]), but not girls (coef = -.0021, CI = [-.0094, .0053]). Criteria for doing mediation analyses were not fulfilled. Results indicate that road traffic noise has a negative impact on children's inattention. We found no mediation by sleep duration.

  2. Hva påvirker krangling og slåssing i drikkesituasjoner? En sammenlignende studie av Oslos generelle befolkning og kafégjester i Oslo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bente Træen

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available  sAMMENDRAGFormålet med denne studien er, med utgangspunkt i to ulike materialer, å beskrive negative konsekvenser av egetalkoholbruk. Hva predikerer at urbane mennesker angrer på noe de har sagt eller gjort, kommer opp i krangel ellerhavner i slåsskamp under alkoholpåvirkning, og er det forskjeller i så henseende mellom de som er mye og liteeksponert for andre mennesker når de drikker? I det såkalte kafégjestmaterialet ble data innhentet ved hjelp avspørreskjemaer besvart av 1053 gjester på 41 offentlige skjenkesteder i Oslo. I tillegg er det benyttet data fra etrepresentativt utvalg av 297 personer i Oslo (Osloutvalget. Resultatene viste at andelen som rapporterte negativeerfaringer i samband med eget alkoholbruk var høyere i kafégjestmaterialet enn i Osloutvalget. I beggematerialene rapporterte yngre respondenter oftere enn eldre at de hadde angret på noe de hadde sagt eller gjort,kranglet med noen og kommet opp i slagsmål. Å angre på noe sagt eller gjort hadde ingen sammenheng medantallet timer tilbrakt ukentlig på kaféer i materialene. Blant kafégjestene, men ikke blant Oslofolk generelt, haddeantall timer tilbrakt ukentlig på kaféer sammenheng med å ha kranglet og å ha slåss med noen i en drikkesituasjon.Å havne i slåsskamp eller håndgripeligheter hadde sammenheng med antallet timer tilbrakt ukentlig på kaféer ibegge materialene. Korrelasjonen mellom antall dager med hardere drikkeepisoder på kafé, og antall timerukentlig på kafé, var sterk både i Osloutvalget og i kafégjestmaterialet. Det er sannsynlig at det er harderedrikking på utesteder som er avgjørende for å krangle eller slåss med noen i beruset tilstand, og ikke det åtilbringe tid på utesteder per se. Dette tyder på at større offentlig innsats for å kontrollere at de bestemmelsenesom gjelder for offentlig skjenking av alkohol overholdes, kan redusere voldsnivået på skjenkestedene.Træen B. What influences quarrelling and fighting in

  3. Sedimentation and chronology of heavy metal pollution in Oslo harbor, Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lepland, Aivo; Andersen, Thorbjorn J.; Lepland, Aave; Arp, Hans Peter H.; Alve, Elisabeth; Breedveld, Gijs D.; Rindby, Anders

    2010-01-01

    Stratigraphic profiles of Cu, Cd and Hg in ten sediment cores from the Oslo harbor, Norway, combined with results of radiometric dating demonstrate that pollution by these metals peaked between 1940 and 1970. Dating results indicate that Hg discharges peaked between 1940 and 1950, Cd reached maximum ca. 1955-1960, and Cu has the highest concentration in sediment interval corresponding to ca. 1970. Geochemical profiles and maxima of Cu, Cd and Hg concentrations can be used as chronostratigraphic markers for sediment cores from the Oslo harbor. Acoustic backscatter and sediment core data indicate that propeller wash affects the seabed in the Oslo harbor. The propeller-induced turbulence causes erosion, and in places exposes and remobilizes contaminated sediments that accumulated in the harbor during previous decades. Such re-exposure of contaminated sediments could be detrimental to local ecosystems and offset remediation efforts, warranting further impact studies and potential mitigation strategies to prevent redistribution.

  4. Sampling rare fluctuations of height in the Oslo ricepile model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pradhan, Punyabrata; Dhar, Deepak

    2007-01-01

    We describe a new Monte Carlo algorithm for studying large deviations of the height of the pile from its mean value in the Oslo ricepile model. We have used it to generate events which have probabilities of order 10 -1000 . These simulations check our qualitative argument (Pradhan P and Dhar D 2006 Phys. Rev. E 73 021303) that in the steady state of the Oslo ricepile model the probability of large negative height fluctuations Δh = -αL about the mean varies as exp(-κα 4 L 3 ) as L → ∞ with α held fixed and κ > 0

  5. Valve Janov ja Margus Meinart Oslos / Enn Lillemets

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Lillemets, Enn

    1999-01-01

    Tartu kunstnike Valve Janovi ja Margus Meinarti ühisnäitus 12. V-18. VI Oslo galeriis Rusticana. Eksponeeritud V. Janovi 19 õlimaali, kollaazhi ja monotüüpiat aastaist 1958-1994, M. Meinarti 24 õlimaali.

  6. [Use of lithium in the Norwegian counties Oslo and Sogn og Fjordane].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bramness, Jørgen G

    2009-04-30

    The Norwegian prescription database (NorPD) provides an opportunity to examine lithium consumption at an individual level. This article presents an assessment of lithium use (based on data from NorPD) in light of two population-based studies on prevalence of psychiatric illness in the counties Oslo and Sogn og Fjordane. All persons between 18 and 65 years who received at least one prescription for lithium between July 2005 and June 2006 were identified in NorPD. County and gender specific prevalence rates, incidence rates, and average dose were calculated. Some pharmacoepidemiological parameters were derived. The incidence of lithium users was 1.5 per 1000 inhabitants in Oslo and 5.5 in Sogn og Fjordane in the period assessed. The incidence was highest for men in Sogn og Fjordane. More lithium was prescribed to each patient in Oslo than in Sogn og Fjordane, and more was prescribed for men than women. Patients with bipolar disease are apparently much more likely to be treated with lithium in Sogn og Fjordane than in Oslo. Previous estimates of the prevalence of bipolar disorder in Sogn og Fjordane are probably too low. In addition, there might be a broader indication for the use of lithium in this county.

  7. E6 as biogas highway from Gothenburg to Oslo. Final report; E6 som biogassvei fra Goeteborg til Oslo. Sluttrapport

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Raadal, Hanne Lerche; Morken, John; Lileng, Knut

    2009-07-01

    The main goal of the project has been to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from road transport in the transition from fossil fuels to biogas. Biogas Fredrikstad AS has been the project owner, with FREVAR KF and Borgbuss AS as partners on the user side. Oestfold Research has been project manager with the University of Life Sciences (UMB) as part responsible for R&D efforts. Biogas Fredrikstad AS established in 2001 the first manufacturing plant and filling station for biogas as fuel. The project was supported by the Road Directorate through the support system for environmental friendly transport. The biogas produced from sewage sludge and biogas substrate (based on food waste). Based on the desire to establish a more accessible filling station in Fredrikstad, and to increase knowledge and competence in general about biogas as bio propellant, the project 'E6 as biogas highway from Gothenburg to Oslo' was granted as a RENERGI and SkatteFUNN project. The project started 1.1.2006 and ended 31.12.2008. The project has achieved useful synergies with relevant other projects that have taken place in parallel. Based on an overall assessment of costs, availability, opportunities for land area, etc, new filling station for biogas in Fredrikstad are planned and designed at the rotary intersection at the eastern bridgehead of Fredrikstad bridge. All permits in connection with the establishment of new filling station is available. In anticipation of the top financing, the start of the construction phase has been somewhat offset in time. It is applied for funds to support the establishment of the filling station from the newly created TransNova. The project has assessed and documented several conditions regarding use of biogas as a fuel, including: Environmental issues with the use of biogas as fuel; Potential and status of biogas production in Norway; Production of biogas in Fredrikstad and input to the optimization of the process of FREVAR KF; Driving

  8. The statistical properties of 111,112,113Sn studied with the Oslo method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tveten, G. M.; Bello Garrote, F. L.; Campo, L. C.; Eriksen, T. K.; Giacoppo, F.; Guttormsen, M.; Görgen, A.; Hagen, T. W.; Hadynska-Klek, K.; Klintefjord, M.; Larsen, A. C.; Maharromova, S.; Nyhus, H. T.; Renstrøm, T.; Rose, S.; Sahin, E.; Siem, S.; Tornyi, T. G.

    2015-05-01

    The γ-ray strength function and level density of 111, 112, 113Sn are being studied at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory (OCL) up to the neutron binding energy by applying the Oslo method to particle-γ coincidence data. The preliminary results for the γ-ray strength function are discussed in the context of the results for the more neutron-rich Sn-isotopes previously studied at OCL.

  9. Cyclotron to Oslo University

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sandstad, J.

    1978-01-01

    The new cyclotron was delivered to Oslo University on September 21st 1978, and was mannfactured by A/B Scandtronix of Uppsala, Sweden. The contract price was 6,8 million Norwegian kroner and installation will cost a further 4 million. The main specifications are given. The energy will be 36 MeV for protons and alpha particles, 18 MeV deuterons and 48 MeV for helium 3. The principle of a cyclotron is briefly described. While the primary purpose of the machine is nuclear research it is also planned to produce short-lived radioisotopes, primarily iodine 123. (JIW)

  10. Factors influencing safety in a sample of marked pedestrian crossings selected for safety inspections in the city of Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elvik, Rune; Sørensen, Michael W J; Nævestad, Tor-Olav

    2013-10-01

    This paper reports an analysis of factors influencing safety in a sample of marked pedestrian crossings in the city of Oslo, Norway. The sample consists of 159 marked pedestrian crossings where a total of 316 accidents were recorded during a period of five years. The crossings were selected for inspection because of they were, for various reasons, regarded as sub-standard. The sample of crossings is therefore not representative of all pedestrian crossings in Oslo. Factors influencing the number of accidents were studied by means of negative binomial regression. Factors that were studied included the volume of pedestrians and vehicles, the number of traffic lanes at the crossing, the location of the crossing (midblock or junction), the type of traffic control, the share of pedestrians using the crossing and the speed of approaching vehicles. The analysis confirmed the presence of a "safety-in-numbers" effect, meaning that an increase in the number of pedestrians is associated with a lower risk of accident for each pedestrian. Crossings located in four-leg junctions or roundabouts had more accidents than crossings located in three-leg junctions or on sections between junctions. A high share of pedestrians crossing the road outside the marked crossing was associated with a high number of accidents. Increased speed was associated with an increased number of accidents. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. The statistical properties of 111,112,113Sn studied with the Oslo method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tveten G. M.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The γ-ray strength function and level density of 111, 112, 113Sn are being studied at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory (OCL up to the neutron binding energy by applying the Oslo method to particle-γ coincidence data. The preliminary results for the γ-ray strength function are discussed in the context of the results for the more neutron-rich Sn-isotopes previously studied at OCL.

  12. [Living conditions and pattern of acute poisonings in Oslo].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolvik, Hallgeir Mæsel; Heyerdahl, Fridtjof; Bjørnaas, Mari Asphjell; Hovda, Knut Erik; Jacobsen, Dag; Ekeberg, Øivind

    2011-08-09

    Hospitalized patients with acute poisoning come from all classes of society. The relationship between living conditions and pattern of poisoning is, however, unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the connection between living conditions in Oslo and the pattern of acute poisonings, measured by incidence, main toxic agents and intention. A one-year multi-centre study with prospective inclusion of all patients ≥ 18 years of age with a registered address in Oslo admitted to an Oslo hospital with acute poisoning from 1 April 2003 through 31 March 2004. The 15 city districts were grouped into three, according to the official living conditions index in Oslo: city district group 1 (best living conditions), city district group 2 (average living conditions) and city district group 3 (most difficult living conditions). Of a total of 947 patients admitted with acute poisoning as their main diagnosis in the study period, 691 were included in the study, 660 of whom had self-inflicted poisoning. In city district group 3, the annual incidence of acute poisonings was 2.14 per 1000 inhabitants, significantly higher than city district group 2, with 1.50 (p < 0.001), and city district group 1, with 1.36 (p < 0.001). Measured as intention assessed by the treating physician, suicidal and drug related poisonings and those induced by a "cry for help" were more common in city district group 3 (0.74, 0.59 and 0.74 per 1000 inhabitants, respectively) than in city district group 2 (0.62, 0.40 and 0.41, respectively) and city district group 1 (0.52, 0.32 and 0.45, respectively). The main toxic agents were predominantly benzodiazepines (20 %), ethanol (18 %) and paracetamol (12 %). There were no statistically significant differences in the distribution of main toxic agents between the city district groups. The findings show a social gradient, with the highest incidence of poisonings in the city district group with the most difficult living conditions.

  13. Application of the Oslo method to high resolution gamma spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, A.; Guttormsen, M.; Larsen, A. C.; Beausang, C. W.; Humby, P.

    2015-10-01

    Hauser-Feshbach statistical model is a widely used tool for calculation of the reaction cross section, in particular for astrophysical processes. The HF model requires as an input an optical potential, gamma-strength function (GSF) and level density (LD) to properly model the statistical properties of the nucleus. The Oslo method is a well established technique to extract GSFs and LDs from experimental data, typically used for gamma-spectra obtained with scintillation detectors. Here, the first application of the Oslo method to high-resolution data obtained using the Ge detectors of the STARLITER setup at TAMU is discussed. The GSFs and LDs extracted from (p,d) and (p,t) reactions on 152154 ,Sm targets will be presented.

  14. Pakistanis living in Oslo have lower serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels but higher serum ionized calcium levels compared with ethnic Norwegians. The Oslo Health Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holvik, Kristin; Meyer, Haakon E; Søgaard, Anne Johanne; Haug, Egil; Falch, Jan A

    2007-01-01

    Background Persons of Pakistani origin living in Oslo have a much higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism but similar bone mineral density compared with ethnic Norwegians. Our objective was to investigate whether Pakistani immigrants living in Oslo have an altered vitamin D metabolism by means of compensatory higher serum levels of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (s-1,25(OH)2D) compared with ethnic Norwegians; and whether serum levels of ionized calcium (s-Ca2+) differ between Pakistanis and Norwegians. Methods In a cross-sectional, population-based study venous serum samples were drawn from 94 Pakistani men and 67 Pakistani women aged 30–60 years, and 290 Norwegian men and 270 Norwegian women aged 45–60 years; in total 721 subjects. Results Pakistanis had lower s-1,25(OH)2D compared with Norwegians (p Oslo with low vitamin D status and secondary hyperparathyroidism have lower s-1,25(OH)2D compared with ethnic Norwegians. However, the Pakistanis have higher s-Ca2+. The cause of the higher s-Ca2+ in Pakistanis in spite of their higher iPTH remains unclear. PMID:17945003

  15. Attitudes toward female circumcision among Somali immigrants in Oslo: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gele, Abdi A; Kumar, Bernadette; Hjelde, Karin Harsløf; Sundby, Johanne

    2012-01-01

    Due to its negative impact on public health, female circumcision (FC) has gained increased attention from international communities and the Norwegian public in recent decades. In 1995, the Norwegian government outlawed the practice and simultaneously developed a package of measures aimed at preventing and ultimately eradicating FC in Norway. Like many other Western countries, immigrants of Somali descent constitute the largest immigrant group in Norway from countries with FC traditions. Although this immigrant group is often perceived as a cultural society that supports FC generally as a practice, there appears to be a lack of studies that explore the impact of acculturation and the Western social context on Somali immigrants' attitudes toward the practice. Against this background, this paper explores the attitudes of Somalis living in Oslo, Norway to the practice of FC. Findings from this qualitative study indicate that Somalis in Oslo have, to a large extent, changed their attitude toward the practice. This was proven by the presence in Oslo of a large number of Somali parents who left their daughters uncut as well as Somali girls, boys, men, and women who attribute being uncircumcised a high status. This study adds to the knowledge of the process of abandonment of FC among immigrants in the Western countries. The study highlights the success that has been achieved in improving attitudes toward the practice of the Somali community in Oslo, Norway, as well as emerging challenges that need to be addressed further.

  16. Does Extended Preoperative Rehabilitation Influence Outcomes 2 Years After ACL Reconstruction? A Comparative Effectiveness Study Between the MOON and Delaware-Oslo ACL Cohorts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Failla, Mathew J; Logerstedt, David S; Grindem, Hege; Axe, Michael J; Risberg, May Arna; Engebretsen, Lars; Huston, Laura J; Spindler, Kurt P; Snyder-Mackler, Lynn

    2016-10-01

    Rehabilitation before anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) is effective at improving postoperative outcomes at least in the short term. Less is known about the effects of preoperative rehabilitation on functional outcomes and return-to-sport (RTS) rates 2 years after reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to compare functional outcomes 2 years after ACLR in a cohort that underwent additional preoperative rehabilitation, including progressive strengthening and neuromuscular training after impairments were resolved, compared with a nonexperimental cohort. We hypothesized that the cohort treated with extended preoperative rehabilitation would have superior functional outcomes 2 years after ACLR. Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. This study compared outcomes after an ACL rupture in an international cohort (Delaware-Oslo ACL Cohort [DOC]) treated with extended preoperative rehabilitation, including neuromuscular training, to data from the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network (MOON) cohort, which did not undergo extended preoperative rehabilitation. Inclusion and exclusion criteria from the DOC were applied to the MOON database to extract a homogeneous sample for comparison. Patients achieved knee impairment resolution before ACLR, and postoperative rehabilitation followed each cohort's respective criterion-based protocol. Patients completed the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective knee form and Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at enrollment and again 2 years after ACLR. RTS rates were calculated for each cohort at 2 years. After adjusting for baseline IKDC and KOOS scores, the DOC patients showed significant and clinically meaningful differences in IKDC and KOOS scores 2 years after ACLR. There was a significantly higher (P < .001) percentage of DOC patients returning to preinjury sports (72%) compared with those in the MOON cohort (63%). The cohort treated with additional preoperative

  17. Differences in selected lifestyle risk factors for cardiovascular disease between Sri Lankans in Oslo, Norway, and in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tennakoon, Sampath U B; Kumar, Bernadette N; Meyer, Haakon E

    2015-03-01

    Sri Lankans in Oslo have previously been shown to have lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with those in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Here we present lifestyle risk factors for cardiovascular diseases: frequency and type of fat consumed, frequency of fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol consumption, and leisure time physical activity between 1145 Sri Lankans living in Oslo and 678 Tamils and Sinhalese Sri Lankans living in Kandy as possible explanatory factors for the differences observed. Those in Oslo were consuming healthier fats and reported higher levels of physical activity but frequency of vegetable and fruit consumption was lower. Alcohol consumption among women was negligible. Type of fats consumed might be protective for Oslo group compared with predominantly saturated fat diet in Kandy. Higher leisure time physical activity may also be protective for the Oslo group. Higher frequency of consumption of vegetables and fruits may be beneficial in Kandy. © 2013 APJPH.

  18. Change in the use of hormone replacement therapy and the incidence of fracture in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, H E; Lofthus, C M; Søgaard, A J; Falch, J A

    2009-05-01

    Fracture incidence in Oslo decreased from the 1970s to the 1990s in younger postmenopausal women, but not in older women or in men. Concurrently, hormone replacement therapy increased considerably. Using data from the Oslo Health Study, we estimated that roughly half the decline might be attributed hormone replacement therapy. Between the late 1970s and the late 1990s, the incidence of hip fracture and distal forearm fracture decreased in younger postmenopausal women in Oslo, but not in elderly women or in men. The purpose of this report is to evaluate whether the decreased incidence was coherent with trends in use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Data on estrogens were collected from official drug statistics, data on fractures from published studies and data on bone mineral density (BMD) from the Oslo Health Study. The sale of all estrogens increased 22 times from 1979 to 1999, and the sub-category estradiol combined with progestin increased 35 times. In the corresponding period the incidence of distal forearm fracture in women aged 50-64 years decreased by 33% and hip fracture by 39%. Based on differences in BMD between users and non-users of HRT, we estimated that up to half of this decline might be due to HRT. The reduction in fracture incidence in postmenopausal women in Oslo occurred in a period with a substantial increase in the use of HRT. Future surveillance will reveal whether the last years' decline in use of HRT will be translated into increasing fracture rates.

  19. Overweight and obesity among African immigrants in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gele, Abdi A; Mbalilaki, Aneth J

    2013-03-26

    Norway is experiencing an increase in overweight/obese adults, with immigrants from developing countries carrying a heavy burden. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Somali immigrants in Oslo. A cross-sectional study involving 208 respondents aged 25 and over was conducted among Somali immigrants in Oslo, using a structured questionnaire. Prevalence of overweight/obesity varied by gender, with women having a significantly higher prevalence (66%) than men (28%). The mean BMI for females and males were 27.4 and 23.6, respectively. Similarly, 53% of women and 28% of men were abdominally obese. In a logistic regression analysis, both generalized and abdominal obesity were significantly associated with increasing duration of residence in Norway, and with being less physically active. Public health policymakers should facilitate an environment that enables Somali immigrants, particularly women, to lead healthy lifestyles. In this time of epidemiological transition, health education in the areas of physical exercise and healthy eating should be a major focus for working with new immigrants.

  20. 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.

  1. A new age model for the Late Ordovician bentonites in Oslo, Norway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gottschalk Ballo, Eirik; Eivind Augland, Lars; Hammer, Øyvind; Svensen, Henrik

    2017-04-01

    During the Late Ordovician, explosive volcanic eruptions led to the deposition of worldwide bentonites. Some of the largest of these eruptions took place in the Sandbian and produced the Milbrig and Deicke K-bentonites of North America and the Kinnekulle K-bentonite of Scandinavia. We have studied the classic locality of Hagemann and Spjeldnæs (1955) - one of the most complete sections of Ordovician bentonites in Europe. The bentonites are present in the Arnestad Formation comprising dark shale with carbonate nodule beds grading into an increasingly more carbonate rich environment. Through a 50-meter interval we have identified 33 bentonites of which 10 have not previously been reported from this locality. The bentonites have an average thickness of 4.9 cm with a few exceptions such as the Kinnekulle K-bentonite (35 cm) and the Grimstorp B (13 cm). We have measured magnetic susceptibility of two 2-3 meter intervals with a sampling distance of 5 cm, using a handheld magnetic susceptibility meter in the field. These data show significant periodicity peaks that correlate well with Milankovitch cycles and are suggested to represent astronomically forced changes in sediment supply. This study further presents high-precision U-Pb zircon ages of five bentonites from the section, including the Kinnekulle K-bentonite and Grimstorp B. These two beds were previously dated by Svensen et al. (2015) from a locality south of Oslo. Our new data improves the precision of the ages of these two key beds, and constrain the duration of the entire interval and thus the onset and termination of the late Ordovician volcanic system that deposited these tephras. We conclude that the Oslo section provides a high-resolution age model to understand one of the most intense volcanic periods of the Paleozoic by combining radiometric and cyclostratigraphic data. BIBLIOGRAPHY Hagemann, F. and Spjeldnæs, N. (1955). "The Middle Ordovician of the Oslo region, Norway. 6. Notes on bentonites (K

  2. Production of *sp67*Ga at the Oslo Cyclotron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjoernstad, T.; Holtebekk, T.

    1983-01-01

    A method for production of *sp67*Ga at the Oslo Cyclotron is described. The method is based on the nuclear reaction *sp68*Zn (p,2n)*sp67*Ga. The target is natural zinc metal of thickness 1.3 mm fixed by a thin alloy layer to a copper disc for efficient cooling during irradiation. By applying a beam of 29 MeV protons, a maximum production yield of approx. 1.8 mCi/*my*Ah was obtained. By demanding a contamination level of *sp66*Ga <=1%, the ''useful'' yield after a decaytime of 88 h is approx. 0.8 mCi/*my*Ah. Gallium has been separated carrierfree from the zinc matrix by cation exchange from 7.5M hydrocloric acid solutions and prepared as citrate complex at pH 5.5. After sterile filtering, autoclavation, pyrogene testing and analysis for iron and zinc, the *sp67*Ga-radiopharmaceutical has been applied in human investigations at the Ullevaal hospital in Oslo. (Auth.)

  3. CACTUS - a multidetector set-up at the Oslo Cyclotron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guttormsen, M.; Bjerke, B.; Messelt, S.; Olsen, E.A.; Ramsoey, T.; Rekstad, J.; Tveter, T.S.; Wikne, J.C.; Kownacki, J.

    1989-06-01

    The design and construction of the multidetector system CACTUS is discussed, and its operation in the context of the Oslo Cyclotron is described. The multidetector system has been initiated to meet the requirements at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory in the experimental work on nuclear structure at high intrinsic excitation energy. The laboratory has developed a promising technique based on measuring γ-decay after single nucleon transfer reactions with the use of pγ coincidences. However, a proper interpretation of the experimental results has often been difficult due to low counting rates. One of the most important aims for the new experimental set-up has been to obtain pγ as well as pγγ coincidence spectra with high statistics. The CACTUS detector system which is mounted on the 90 o beam line of the cyclotron, consists of 28 NaI and 2 Ge detectors in combination with 8 Si particle telescopes

  4. [Infection control and hand hygiene in nursing homes in Oslo].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sie, Ingrid; Thorstad, Margrete; Andersen, Bjørg Marit

    2008-06-26

    Nosocomial infections and transmission can be substantially reduced by good infection control. The laws and regulations for infection control in heath care institutions emphasize establishment of infection control programs and improved hand hygiene. Our study reviews some factors that are important for practicing adequate hand hygiene (knowledge about infection control and hand-washing facilities). Health care workers (HCW) in nursing homes in Oslo participated in this study in 2006-2007. A questionnaire was made and SPSS was used to analyse the data . 70.7% of 324 HCW (in 42 nursing homes) answered the questionnaires. Nearly all of the respondents (95.6%) knew about the written procedures for hygiene and infection control; 88.5% knew that an infection control program was in place and about 50% had received information through internal education. Three of four had read the National guidelines for hand hygiene, 77.5% thought that hand disinfection was more effective than hand washing, and 97% reported hand hygiene after contact with a patient having an infection. Dispensers for hand disinfection were situated at central work places. At the same time, 17.9% informed that they worked in more than one place at the same time. This study confirms that most nursing homes in Oslo have an infection control program and training that improves the knowledge and awareness of hand hygiene among HCWs. However, the fact that nursing homes in Oslo have the resources, knowledge and education, is not the same as compliance.

  5. Medical emergencies on large passenger ships without doctors: the Oslo-Kiel-Oslo ferry experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holt, Thor-Erik; Tveten, Agnar; Dahl, Eilif

    2017-01-01

    The Oslo-Kiel-Oslo route is currently the only direct ferry crossing between Norway and Germany, covered by 2 cruise-and-cars ferries carrying about 2,600 passengers each and sailing every day (20 h at sea, 4 h in port). Unlike most ocean going cruise vessels, they are not required to carry a physician but an on-board paramedic handles medical emergencies. The aim of the study was to provide data on medical emergencies leading to helicopter evacuations (helivacs) or other urgent transfers to facilities ashore from the two ferries during a 3-year period. Data about the ferries, passengers, crew, helivacs and other medical transfers were collected from official company statistics and the paramedics' transfer reports. A total of 169 persons, including 14 (8.3%) crewmembers, were transferred from the ferries to land-based facilities by ambulance while alongside (n = 80; 47.3%) or evacuated by helicopter (n = 85; 50.3%) and rescue boat (n = 4; 2.4%) during the 3-year period. Transfer destinations were Denmark (n = 53), Germany (n = 49), Norway (n = 48) and Sweden (n = 19). The passenger helivac rate was 2.4 per 100,000 passenger-days. One person was airlifted from a ferry every 2 weeks. Among helivacs, 40% were heart-related, and more cardiac cases were airlifted than transferred by ambulance in port. All helivac requests were made after discussion between the ferry's paramedic and telemedical doctors ashore and agreement that the medical challenge exceeded the ferry's capability. This close cooperation kept the threshold for arranging helivacs from the ferries low, enabling short transport times to land-based facilities for critically ill patients. Further studies, including feedback from the receiving hospitals, are needed to determine measures that can reduce possible helicopter overutilisation without compromising patient safety and outcome.

  6. Modelling road dust emission abatement measures using the NORTRIP model: Vehicle speed and studded tyre reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norman, M.; Sundvor, I.; Denby, B. R.; Johansson, C.; Gustafsson, M.; Blomqvist, G.; Janhäll, S.

    2016-06-01

    Road dust emissions in Nordic countries still remain a significant contributor to PM10 concentrations mainly due to the use of studded tyres. A number of measures have been introduced in these countries in order to reduce road dust emissions. These include speed reductions, reductions in studded tyre use, dust binding and road cleaning. Implementation of such measures can be costly and some confidence in the impact of the measures is required to weigh the costs against the benefits. Modelling tools are thus required that can predict the impact of these measures. In this paper the NORTRIP road dust emission model is used to simulate real world abatement measures that have been carried out in Oslo and Stockholm. In Oslo both vehicle speed and studded tyre share reductions occurred over a period from 2004 to 2006 on a major arterial road, RV4. In Stockholm a studded tyre ban on Hornsgatan in 2010 saw a significant reduction in studded tyre share together with a reduction in traffic volume. The model is found to correctly simulate the impact of these measures on the PM10 concentrations when compared to available kerbside measurement data. Importantly meteorology can have a significant impact on the concentrations through both surface and dispersion conditions. The first year after the implementation of the speed reduction on RV4 was much drier than the previous year, resulting in higher mean concentrations than expected. The following year was much wetter with significant rain and snow fall leading to wet or frozen road surfaces for 83% of the four month study period. This significantly reduced the net PM10 concentrations, by 58%, compared to the expected values if meteorological conditions had been similar to the previous years. In the years following the studded tyre ban on Hornsgatan road wear production through studded tyres decreased by 72%, due to a combination of reduced traffic volume and reduced studded tyre share. However, after accounting for exhaust

  7. Crustal structure and composition of the Oslo Graben, Norway

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stratford, Wanda Rose; Thybo, Hans

    2011-01-01

    across the southern Scandinavian Peninsula, with a focus on the Oslo Graben. Plutonic rocks are now exposed at the surface in the graben due to post rifting erosion and the corresponding low (5.5 km/s) P-wave velocities extend to depths of ~3 km. The Pwave velocity and Poisson's ratio between depths of 6...

  8. Is an increase of MRSA in Oslo, Norway, associated with changed infection control policy?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Bjørg Marit; Rasch, Mette; Syversen, Gaute

    2007-12-01

    The objective was to describe the prevalence of MRSA in Oslo, Norway, before and after introduction of a new National MRSA Control Guideline. From 1993 to 2006, we prospectively collected clinical and microbiological data on all MRSA cases in Oslo, Norway. Two MRSA guidelines; a strict Ullevål Standard MRSA Guideline and a less strict National MRSA Control Guideline were compared. During 1993-2006, 358 MRSA cases were registered in Oslo; 43.9% detected in Ullevål University Hospital, 21.2% in nursing homes, and 18.7% in primary healthcare. One out of three (30.4%) were import-associated, and one out of ten (11.2%) were healthcare personnel. From 2004 on, a new National MRSA Control Guideline was introduced in primary healthcare, served by the community infection control. From 2004 on, there was a 4-6-fold increase of MRSA in primary healthcare (p = 0.038) and nursing homes (p = 0.005). Increase of MRSA cases at Ullevål (p Norway may be associated with the 4-6-fold increase of MRSA cases in the community after 2003.

  9. DAISY - the Oslo Cyclotron data acquisition system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ramsoey, T.

    1991-08-01

    The new CACTUS multidetector system for the Oslo Cyclotron consists of 8 particle telescopes, 28 NAI detectors and 2 Ge detectors. Each detector gives rise to one energy parameter and one time parameter. Thus, a total of 80 parameters are present. The counting rate is 100 kByte/s for the highest beam intensities. A new data acquisition system, DAISY, satisfying these demands has been designed. The present report is intended as a complete technical manual for the new system. 24 refs

  10. 36 CFR 212.10 - Maximum economy National Forest System roads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Forest System roads. 212.10 Section 212.10 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... economy National Forest System roads. The Chief may acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, and maintain National Forest System roads within and near the National Forests and other lands administered by the...

  11. Road detection in SAR images using a tensor voting algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Dajiang; Hu, Chun; Yang, Bing; Tian, Jinwen; Liu, Jian

    2007-11-01

    In this paper, the problem of the detection of road networks in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images is addressed. Most of the previous methods extract the road by detecting lines and network reconstruction. Traditional algorithms such as MRFs, GA, Level Set, used in the progress of reconstruction are iterative. The tensor voting methodology we proposed is non-iterative, and non-sensitive to initialization. Furthermore, the only free parameter is the size of the neighborhood, related to the scale. The algorithm we present is verified to be effective when it's applied to the road extraction using the real Radarsat Image.

  12. Diversity and Educational Challenges in Oslo and Los Angeles - A Metropolitan Perspective nr 2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamil ÖZERK

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Receiving, accommodation and education of children with immigrant background is one of the challenging issues in almost all the metropolitan areas in many countries. In our study we are exploring the impact of demographic changes on political agendas, legal frames, educational approaches, research findings and student achievement in the field of education of linguistic minorities in Oslo, Norway and Los Angeles, USA. Although there are significant historical and socio economical differences between Los Angeles and Oslo, many of the educational challenges facing the educational policy makers and the linguistic minority students are quite similar.

  13. Inflammatory Response After Laparoscopic Versus Open Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastases Data From the Oslo-CoMet Trial: Erratum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-01

    In the article ''Inflammatory Response After Laparoscopic Versus Open Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastases Data From the Oslo-CoMet Trial'', which appeared in Volume 94, Issue 42 of Medicine, the University of Oslo was not credited as the affiliation for several authors. The article has since been corrected online.

  14. Dental arch relationship in children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate following Warsaw (one-stage repair) and Oslo protocols.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fudalej, Piotr; Hortis-Dzierzbicka, Maria; Dudkiewicz, Zofia; Semb, Gunvor

    2009-11-01

    To compare the dental arch relationship following one-stage repair of unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) in Warsaw with a matched sample of patients treated by the Oslo Cleft Team. Study models of 61 children (mean age, 11.2; SD, 1.7) with a nonsyndromic complete UCLP consecutively treated with one-stage closure of the cleft at 9.2 months (range, 6.0 to 15.8 months; SD, 2.0) by the Warsaw Cleft Team at the Institute of Mother and Child, Poland, were compared with a sample drawn from a consecutive series of patients with UCLP treated by the Oslo Cleft Team and matched for age, gender, and soft tissue band. The study models were given random numbers to blind their origin. Four examiners rated the dental arch relationship using the GOSLON Yardstick. The strength of agreement of rating was assessed with weighted Kappa statistics. An independent t-test was carried out to compare the GOSLON scores between Warsaw and Oslo samples, and Fisher's exact tests were performed to evaluate the difference of distribution of the GOSLON scores. The intrarater and interrater agreements were high (K > or = .800). No difference in dental arch relationship between Warsaw and Oslo groups was found (mean GOSLON score = 2.68 and 2.65 for Warsaw and Oslo samples, respectively). The distribution of the GOSLON grades was similar in both groups. The dental arch relationship following one-stage repair (Warsaw protocol) was comparable with the outcome of the Oslo Cleft Team's protocol.

  15. Geotechnical Monitoring of the Automobile Road

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsiy, Vladimir

    2017-12-01

    In the present article, the results of geotechnical monitoring of A-147 automobile road “Dzhubga-Sochi” are given. Some sections of the automobile road suffered from the landslide adjustment movements; it resulted in many deformations of the retaining structures, the damages of the roadbed and ground crawling over the retaining walls. The observation data made it possible to specify the borders of the active landslide and to form a forecast of the landslide activity in the sections of the automobile roads. Due to monitoring being carried out, there was substantiated the necessity to correct the service forms and records connected with the automobile road reconstruction.

  16. Learning medical history in Oslo: training for medical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, O

    1999-03-01

    The teaching in medical history at the University of Oslo, Norway, is given as an integrated part of the student training for practical work in health care and community health. I summarize here the underlying argumentation and the teaching experiences, concluding that this is felt as an effective way to convey relevant medical historical knowledge and skills to the future doctors.

  17. Analysis of possible systematic errors in the Oslo method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Larsen, A. C.; Guttormsen, M.; Buerger, A.; Goergen, A.; Nyhus, H. T.; Rekstad, J.; Siem, S.; Toft, H. K.; Tveten, G. M.; Wikan, K.; Krticka, M.; Betak, E.; Schiller, A.; Voinov, A. V.

    2011-01-01

    In this work, we have reviewed the Oslo method, which enables the simultaneous extraction of the level density and γ-ray transmission coefficient from a set of particle-γ coincidence data. Possible errors and uncertainties have been investigated. Typical data sets from various mass regions as well as simulated data have been tested against the assumptions behind the data analysis.

  18. The Laboratory for School Science at the University of Oslo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sjoberg, Svein

    1976-01-01

    Describes the purposes of the Center for Science Education at the University of Oslo as follows: to give help and advice to acting teachers; to make the staff at the university more aware of the needs and problems of the schools. Outlines the activities involved in fulfilling these purposes. (GS)

  19. Radon levels in Oslo schools

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Birovlev, A.

    2004-01-01

    Radon measurements using passive CR-39 detectors have been conducted in all schools in Oslo municipality during winter 2003/2004. Results are presented and discussed in the light of qualitative and quantitative factors, some of which are specific for schools as workplaces. Analysis is conducted with respect to factors relating to building construction type, ventilation principle, age of building, building size etc. The influence of ventilation type on radon levels is studied, and problems of investigations based purely on conventional passive radon detectors are noted. Over-estimation of radon concentration by passive detectors and day-night variations of indoor radon levels in buildings with mechanical ventilation systems are discussed. Several guiding principles for planning similar investigations based on above discussions are outlined. (author)

  20. One-stage (Warsaw) and two-stage (Oslo) repair of unilateral cleft lip and palate: Craniofacial outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fudalej, Piotr Stanislaw; Wegrodzka, Ewa; Semb, Gunvor; Hortis-Dzierzbicka, Maria

    2015-09-01

    The aim of this study was to compare facial development in subjects with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (CUCLP) treated with two different surgical protocols. Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 61 patients (42 boys, 19 girls; mean age, 10.9 years; SD, 1) treated consecutively in Warsaw with one-stage repair and 61 age-matched and sex-matched patients treated in Oslo with two-stage surgery were selected to evaluate craniofacial morphology. On each radiograph 13 angular and two ratio variables were measured in order to describe hard and soft tissues of the facial region. The analysis showed that differences between the groups were limited to hard tissues – the maxillary prominence in subjects from the Warsaw group was decreased by almost 4° in comparison with the Oslo group (sella-nasion-A-point (SNA) = 75.3° and 79.1°, respectively) and maxillo-mandibular morphology was less favorable in the Warsaw group than the Oslo group (ANB angle = 0.8° and 2.8°, respectively). The soft tissue contour was comparable in both groups. In conclusion, inter-group differences suggest a more favorable outcome in the Oslo group. However, the distinctiveness of facial morphology in background populations (ie, in Poles and Norwegians) could have contributed to the observed results. Copyright © 2015 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Volumetric fluorescence retinal imaging in vivo over a 30-degree field of view by oblique scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (oSLO).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lei; Song, Weiye; Shao, Di; Zhang, Sui; Desai, Manishi; Ness, Steven; Roy, Sayon; Yi, Ji

    2018-01-01

    While fluorescent contrast is widely used in ophthalmology, three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence retinal imaging over a large field of view (FOV) has been challenging. In this paper, we describe a novel oblique scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (oSLO) technique that provides 3D volumetric fluorescence retinal imaging with only one raster scan. The technique utilizes scanned oblique illumination and angled detection to obtain fluorescent cross-sectional images, analogous to optical coherence tomography (OCT) line scans (or B-scans). By breaking the coaxial optical alignment used in conventional retinal imaging modalities, depth resolution is drastically improved. To demonstrate the capability of oSLO, we have performed in vivo volumetric fluorescein angiography (FA) of the rat retina with ~25μm depth resolution and over a 30° FOV. Using depth segmentation, oSLO can obtain high contrast images of the microvasculature down to single capillaries in 3D. The multi-modal nature of oSLO also allows for seamless combination with simultaneous OCT angiography.

  2. Sedimentation and chronology of heavy metal pollution in Oslo harbor, Norway

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lepland, Aivo; Andersen, Thorbjørn Joest; Lepland, Aave

    2010-01-01

    Stratigraphic profiles of Cu, Cd and Hg in ten sediment cores from the Oslo harbor, Norway, combined with results of radiometric dating demonstrate that pollution by these metals peaked between 1940 and 1970. Dating results indicate that Hg discharges peaked between 1940 and 1950, Cd reached...

  3. Attitudes toward suicidal behaviour among professionals at mental health outpatient clinics in Stavropol, Russia and Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norheim, Astrid Berge; Grimholt, Tine K; Loskutova, Ekaterina; Ekeberg, Oivind

    2016-07-27

    Attitudes toward suicidal behaviour can be essential regarding whether patients seek or are offered help. Patients with suicidal behaviour are increasingly treated by mental health outpatient clinics. Our aim was to study attitudes among professionals at outpatient clinics in Stavropol, Russia and Oslo, Norway. Three hundred and forty-eight (82 %) professionals anonymously completed a questionnaire about attitudes. Professionals at outpatient clinics in Stavropol (n = 119; 94 %) and Oslo (n = 229; 77 %) were enrolled in the study. The Understanding Suicidal Patients (USP) scale (11 = positive to 55 = negative) and the Attitudes Towards Suicide Scale (ATTS) (1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree) were used. Questions about religious background, perceived competence and experiences of and views on suicidal behaviour and treatment (0 = totally disagree, 4 = totally agree) were examined. All groups reported positive attitudes, with significant differences between Stavropol and Oslo (USP score, 21.8 vs 18.7; p attitudes towards helping suicidal patients, with significant differences between cities. A need for further education was reported in both cities, but education was less integrated in mental health care in Stavropol than it was in Oslo. In both cities, psychiatric disorders were considered the major reasons for suicide, and psychotherapy was the most important treatment measure.

  4. Oslo börsi edu jätkub uuel aastal / Tarvo Vaarmets

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Vaarmets, Tarvo

    2006-01-01

    2006. aastal on Põhjamaade edukaim Oslo börs, mille kasv on olnud 30%, edukust prognoositakse ka 2007. aastaks. Vt. samas: Dagens Industri valis 2007. aasta parimaks Põhjamaade börsiks Norra; Põhjamaad jätkavad ka uuel aastal tugevalt

  5. Environmental investigations. Main road reconstruction Oslo East. Traffic pollution and noise and self reporting symptoms for health and well-being. Total results from the cross section investigations for 1987, 1994 and 1996; Miljoeundersoekelsene hovedveiomlegging Oslo Oest. Trafikkforurensning og stoey og selvrapporterende symptomer paa helse og trivsel. Samlede resultater fra tverrsnittundersoekelsene for 1987, 1994 og 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Clench-Aas, Jocelyne; Bartonova, Alena

    1999-07-01

    The report describes the effects of exposure to NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 2}.5 and PM{sub 1}0 -{sub 2}.5 on symptoms of reduced health and well-being in adults living in the Vaalerenga/Gamlebyen area in Oslo. Results for some chronic diseases are also reported. In connection with measures taken in order to reduce the environmental burden in the study area, we show that reduced exposure to air pollutants (NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 2}.5) decreased the reporting of symptoms in the upper and lower airways and symptoms of general bad health. For these symptoms, dose-response functions are quantified. The effect of exposure to coarse particles is small, compared to NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 2}.5. Noise perturbs sleep significantly and leads to fatigue.

  6. Living conditions in the districts of Oslo and poisonings by substances of abuse treated at casualty clinic level.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akopian, Maja; Vallersnes, Odd Martin; Jacobsen, Dag; Ekeberg, Øivind; Brekke, Mette

    2015-11-17

    Use of and acute poisoning by substances of abuse represent a major health problem and are often linked to social destitution. We describe associations between place of residence, living conditions and the incidence of poisoning by substances of abuse in Oslo. All patients who were 12 years of age or older and resident in Oslo and who were treated for acute poisoning by substances of abuse at the Oslo Accident and Emergency Outpatient Clinic (OAEOC) were included prospectively for a continuous period of one year, from October 2011 to September 2012. The 15 districts of Oslo were categorised into three groups of living conditions, from the best (I) to the poorest (III) living conditions, based on the City of Oslo's living conditions index. Homeless people were grouped separately. The incidence of poisoning by substances of abuse treated in the OAEOC was estimated. Of a total of 1,560 poisonings by substances of abuse, 1,094 cases (70%) affected men. The median age was 41 years. The most frequent toxic agents were ethanol, with 915 cases (59%), and heroin, with 249 cases (16%). The incidence of poisoning by substances of abuse treated in the OAEOC per year per 1,000 inhabitants amounted to 1.75 in living conditions group I, to 2.76 in living conditions group II and 3.41 in living conditions group III. Living conditions group III had a significantly higher incidence than living conditions group II (p < 0.001), and living conditions group II had a significantly higher incidence than living conditions group I (p < 0.001). The incidence of acute poisoning by substances of abuse was higher, the poorer the living conditions in the district.

  7. Open versus laparoscopic liver resection for colorectal liver metastases (the Oslo-CoMet Study): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fretland, Åsmund Avdem; Kazaryan, Airazat M; Bjørnbeth, Bjørn Atle; Flatmark, Kjersti; Andersen, Marit Helen; Tønnessen, Tor Inge; Bjørnelv, Gudrun Maria Waaler; Fagerland, Morten Wang; Kristiansen, Ronny; Øyri, Karl; Edwin, Bjørn

    2015-03-04

    Laparoscopic liver resection is used in specialized centers all over the world. However, laparoscopic liver resection has never been compared with open liver resection in a prospective, randomized trial. The Oslo-CoMet Study is a randomized trial into laparoscopic versus open liver resection for the surgical management of hepatic colorectal metastases. The primary outcome is 30-day perioperative morbidity. Secondary outcomes include 5-year survival (overall, disease-free and recurrence-free), resection margins, recurrence pattern, postoperative pain, health-related quality of life, and evaluation of the inflammatory response. A cost-utility analysis of replacing open surgery with laparoscopic surgery will also be performed. The study includes all resections for colorectal liver metastases, except formal hemihepatectomies, resections where reconstruction of vessels/bile ducts is necessary and resections that need to be combined with ablation. All patients will participate in an enhanced recovery after surgery program. A biobank of liver and tumor tissue will be established and molecular analysis will be performed. After 35 months of recruitment, 200 patients have been included in the trial. Molecular and immunology data are being analyzed. Results for primary and secondary outcome measures will be presented following the conclusion of the study (late 2015). The Oslo-CoMet Study will provide the first level 1 evidence on the benefits of laparoscopic liver resection for colorectal liver metastases. The trial was registered in ClinicalTrals.gov (NCT01516710) on 19 January 2012.

  8. Jeg overtrådte statens normer for normal opførelse, da jeg tog toget til Oslo

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Willig, Rasmus

    2017-01-01

    Du bliver ikke bare betragtet som dum, men også som en lidt mistænkelig type, hvis du vælger en dyr og langsom togtur frem for en billig, hurtig flybillet. Det skete for mig forleden på vej til Oslo......Du bliver ikke bare betragtet som dum, men også som en lidt mistænkelig type, hvis du vælger en dyr og langsom togtur frem for en billig, hurtig flybillet. Det skete for mig forleden på vej til Oslo...

  9. Dyslexia: Group Screening among 15-16-Year-Olds in Oslo, Norway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, K.; Tonnessen, F. E.; Tambs, K.; Thoresen, M.; Bjertness, E.

    2009-01-01

    In 15-16 year olds from Oslo, Norway, we investigated the occurrence of self-reported dyslexia and reading/writing difficulties (RWD), and we measured dyslexic symptoms using the "Duvan" dyslexia screening test. The prevalence of self-reported dyslexia was 8.2%, while 10.4% reported severe or moderate RWD. The group of self-reported…

  10. Very fast road database verification using textured 3D city models obtained from airborne imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulatov, Dimitri; Ziems, Marcel; Rottensteiner, Franz; Pohl, Melanie

    2014-10-01

    Road databases are known to be an important part of any geodata infrastructure, e.g. as the basis for urban planning or emergency services. Updating road databases for crisis events must be performed quickly and with the highest possible degree of automation. We present a semi-automatic algorithm for road verification using textured 3D city models, starting from aerial or even UAV-images. This algorithm contains two processes, which exchange input and output, but basically run independently from each other. These processes are textured urban terrain reconstruction and road verification. The first process contains a dense photogrammetric reconstruction of 3D geometry of the scene using depth maps. The second process is our core procedure, since it contains various methods for road verification. Each method represents a unique road model and a specific strategy, and thus is able to deal with a specific type of roads. Each method is designed to provide two probability distributions, where the first describes the state of a road object (correct, incorrect), and the second describes the state of its underlying road model (applicable, not applicable). Based on the Dempster-Shafer Theory, both distributions are mapped to a single distribution that refers to three states: correct, incorrect, and unknown. With respect to the interaction of both processes, the normalized elevation map and the digital orthophoto generated during 3D reconstruction are the necessary input - together with initial road database entries - for the road verification process. If the entries of the database are too obsolete or not available at all, sensor data evaluation enables classification of the road pixels of the elevation map followed by road map extraction by means of vectorization and filtering of the geometrically and topologically inconsistent objects. Depending on the time issue and availability of a geo-database for buildings, the urban terrain reconstruction procedure has semantic models

  11. Fatal poisonings in Oslo: a one-year observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjornaas, Mari A; Teige, Brita; Hovda, Knut E; Ekeberg, Oivind; Heyerdahl, Fridtjof; Jacobsen, Dag

    2010-06-06

    Acute poisonings are common and are treated at different levels of the health care system. Since most fatal poisonings occur outside hospital, these must be included when studying characteristics of such deaths. The pattern of toxic agents differs between fatal and non-fatal poisonings. By including all poisoning episodes, cause-fatality rates can be calculated. Fatal and non-fatal acute poisonings in subjects aged > or =16 years in Oslo (428 198 inhabitants) were included consecutively in an observational multi-centre study including the ambulance services, the Oslo Emergency Ward (outpatient clinic), and hospitals, as well as medico-legal autopsies from 1st April 2003 to 31st March 2004. Characteristics of fatal poisonings were examined, and a comparison of toxic agents was made between fatal and non-fatal acute poisoning. In Oslo, during the one-year period studied, 103 subjects aged > or =16 years died of acute poisoning. The annual mortality rate was 24 per 100 000. The male-female ratio was 2:1, and the mean age was 44 years (range 19-86 years). In 92 cases (89%), death occurred outside hospital. The main toxic agents were opiates or opioids (65% of cases), followed by ethanol (9%), tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs) (4%), benzodiazepines (4%), and zopiclone (4%). Seventy-one (69%) were evaluated as accidental deaths and 32 (31%) as suicides. In 70% of all cases, and in 34% of suicides, the deceased was classified as drug or alcohol dependent. When compared with the 2981 non-fatal acute poisonings registered during the study period, the case fatality rate was 3% (95% C.I., 0.03-0.04). Methanol, TCAs, and antihistamines had the highest case fatality rates; 33% (95% C.I., 0.008-0.91), 14% (95% C.I., 0.04-0.33), and 10% (95% C.I., 0.02-0.27), respectively. Three per cent of all acute poisonings were fatal, and nine out of ten deaths by acute poisonings occurred outside hospital. Two-thirds were evaluated as accidental deaths. Although case fatality rates were

  12. What's New in the Children's Corner in OF (Oslo Fengsel [Prison])?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haagensli, Anne Berte

    This paper examines two themes pertaining to children of incarcerated parents in Norway. The first is the visiting room of a Norwegian prison. The paper briefly describes conditions in and provides photographs of the children's corner of the visiting room at Norway's Oslo Fengsel Prison. The corner was established in 1998 with toys and fresh paint…

  13. Epidemiology of road traffic crashes among long distance drivers in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. 2. Anaesthetist, Emergency ... long-distance drivers studied. Reconstruction of bad roads and implementation of road safety education ... transport and occur on a traffic way or while the vehi- cle is still in motion after ...

  14. The Oslo definitions for coeliac disease and related terms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ludvigsson, Jonas F; Leffler, Daniel A; Bai, Julio; Biagi, Federico; Fasano, Alessio; Green, Peter HR; Hadjivassiliou, Marios; Kaukinen, Katri; Kelly, Ciaran; Leonard, Jonathan N; Lundin, Knut E; Murray, Joseph A; Sanders, David S; Walker, Marjorie M; Zingone, Fabiana; Ciacci, Carolina

    2012-01-01

    Background The literature suggests a lack of consensus on the use of terms related to coeliac disease (CD) and gluten. Methods A multi-disciplinary task force of 16 physicians from 7 countries used the electronic database PubMed to review the literature with regards to CD-related terms up to January 2011. Teams of physicians then suggested a definition for each term, followed by feedback of these definitions through a web survey on definitions, discussions during a meeting in Oslo, and phone conferences. We evaluated the following terms (in alphabetical order): Coeliac disease and the following descriptors of CD: asymptomatic, atypical, classical, latent, non-classical, overt, paediatric classical, potential, refractory, silent, subclinical, symptomatic, typical, CD serology, CD autoimmunity, genetically at risk of CD, dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten, gluten ataxia, gluten intolerance, gluten sensitivity, and gliadin-specific antibodies. Results CD was defined as “a chronic small intestinal immune-mediated enteropathy precipitated by exposure to dietary gluten in genetically predisposed individuals”. Classical CD was defined as “CD presenting with signs and symptoms of malabsorption. Diarrhoea, steatorrhoea, weight loss or growth failure is required.” We suggest that “gluten-related disorders” is the umbrella term for all diseases triggered by gluten and that the term gluten intolerance is not to be used. Other definitions are presented in the paper. Conclusion This paper presents the Oslo definitions for CD-related terms. PMID:22345659

  15. Training Programmes for Heads of Academic Departments at the University of Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knudsen, Lis

    1989-01-01

    A discussion of the University of Oslo's training programs for department heads describes their design, content, frequency, and methods. These administrators' roles are examined and the importance of higher level support of the programs is stressed. Reluctance to participate and special problems in applying content of the programs are discussed.…

  16. Structural strength assessment of the reconstructed road structure in terms of the loading time and yield criterion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazurek, Grzegorz; Iwański, Marek

    2018-05-01

    This article reports the results of numerical simulations of the stress-strain states in the rebuilt road structure compared to the solutions contained in the Polish Catalogue, with the true characteristics of the layer materials taken into account. In the case analysed, a cold-recycled base layer with foamed bitumen as a recycling agent was used. The presented analysis is complementary to the mandatory in Poland procedure of mechanistic pavement design based on a linear elastic model. The temperature distribution in the road structure was analysed at the reference temperature of 40°C on the asphalt layer surface. The loading time was included in the computer simulations through the use of the classic generalized Maxwell model and thus the stiffness-time history of the layers had to be determined. For this purpose, the dynamic modulus E* tests of the loading time frequency from 0.1 Hz to 20 Hz were carried out, and the yield point was modelled using the Coulomb-Mohr failure criterion calculated on the basis of triaxial compression tests. The analytical solution to the problem was found with ABAQUS. The results demonstrate that the high temperature of asphalt layers and long loading time noticeably reduces the stiffness modulus in those layers. That reduction changes the principal stress levels, which significantly influences the shear stress both in the recycled base layer and in the subgrade soil. Should the yield point be exceeded rapidly in the recycled layer, the horizontal stresses in the asphalt layers will increase and adversely affect the durability of the reconstructed road pavement structure, especially in the zones of slow heavy vehicle traffic.

  17. Strong regional links between socio-economic background factors and disability and mortality in Oslo, Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rognerud, Marit Aase; Krueger, Oystein; Gjertsen, Finn; Thelle, Dag Steinar

    1998-01-01

    Study objective: To study geographical differences in mortality and disability and sosio-economic status in Oslo, Norway. Setting: A total of 25 local authority districts within the city of Oslo. Design: Analysis of age adjusted mortality rates aged 0-74 in the period 1991-1994, and cross sectional data on disability pensioners aged 50-66 and socio-economic indicators (low education, single parenthood, unemployment, high income) in 1994. Main outcome measures: The levels of correlation between the health outcomes (mortality and disability) and sosio-economic exposure variables. Main results: The geographical patterns of mortality and disability display substantial similarities and show strong linear correlation with area measures of socio-economic deprivation. The ratios between the highest and lowest area mortality rates were 3.3 for men and 2.1 for women, while the high-low ratios of disability were 7.0 for men and 3.8 for women. For women deprivation measures are better correlated with disability than mortality. While disability and mortality display similar correlations with deprivation measures for men. Conclusions: The social gradients in health are substantial in Oslo. Further ecological analysis of cause specific morbidity and mortality and the distribution of risk factors ought to be done to identify problem areas suitable for interventions. However, to understand the mechanisms and the relative importance of each etiological factor, studies based on individual data have to be performed

  18. Outbreak of Salmonella Oslo Infections Linked to Persian Cucumbers - United States, 2016.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bottichio, Lyndsay; Medus, Carlota; Sorenson, Alida; Donovan, Danielle; Sharma, Reeti; Dowell, Natasha; Williams, Ian; Wellman, Allison; Jackson, Alikeh; Tolar, Beth; Griswold, Taylor; Basler, Colin

    2016-12-30

    In April 2016, PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, detected a multistate cluster of Salmonella enterica serotype Oslo infections with an indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern (XbaI PFGE pattern OSLX01.0090).* This PFGE pattern was new in the database; no previous infections or outbreaks have been identified. CDC, state and local health and agriculture departments and laboratories, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted epidemiologic, traceback, and laboratory investigations to identify the source of this outbreak. A total of 14 patients in eight states were identified, with illness onsets occurring during March 21-April 9, 2016. Whole genome sequencing, a highly discriminating subtyping method, was used to further characterize PFGE pattern OSLX01.0090 isolates. Epidemiologic evidence indicates Persian cucumbers as the source of Salmonella Oslo infections in this outbreak. This is the fourth identified multistate outbreak of salmonellosis associated with cucumbers since 2013. Further research is needed to understand the mechanism and factors that contribute to contamination of cucumbers during growth, harvesting, and processing to prevent future outbreaks.

  19. Organizing Capacities and Union Priorities in the Hotelsector in Oslo, Dublin, and Toronto

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ann Cecilie Bergene

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we draw international comparisons between industrial relations regimes in the hotel sector and compare relevant trade union experiences in the selected metropolitan areas of Oslo, Dublin, and Toronto. We ask how union strategies differ in these different hotel markets, and how strategic choices at a local level relate to industrial relations models, regulatory change, and corporate restructuring in the hotel market. The study is based on interviews with union representatives and key informants in Norway, Ireland, and Canada. The main argument we make is that the reorientation of union priorities and the willingness to engage in innovative strategies that has characterized hotel unionism in Toronto and Dublin is not detectable in the case of Oslo. This might be a result of the relatively strong position Norwegian trade unions have in national industrial relations, but can at the same time leave local hotel unions vulnerable as they are facing low unionization levels and corporate restructuring which they are unable to tackle effectively.

  20. Environmental comparison of marine and road transportation using LCA; Miljoemessig sammenligning av skips- og veitransport ved bruk av LCA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brekke, Andreas; Vold, Bjoern Ivar

    2011-07-01

    This report compares the transport by sea transport versus road for some selected scenarios that all end up in Oslo. Scenarios are chosen because they reflect realistic transportation options for products that consumers can relate to. It is therefore decided to look at the transportation of house modules from Estonia, kitchen units from Denmark, TVs from Germany and containers from Rotterdam. There are only examined some selected environmental stresses, including categories of climate change, acidification and eutrophication (excessive nutrients). Environmental impact categories are chosen for relevance (ie that transport contributes to such environmental stresses and that the environmental impact categories that may be important) and data availability (it's relevant categories for which data are lacking, such as noise and toxicity). Table A shows the results for all the examined scenarios of probable reservoir levels. One can see from the table that sea transport gives better environmental performance than the surface of all the scenarios in the categories climate change and eutrophication. For acidification is only one scenario where sea transport means less strain than land transport (transport of containers from Rotterdam). It should be emphasized that the relative contributions are greater climate change than to acidification and eutrophication for all options, and also the importance of climate change is considered to be greater than for acidification and eutrophication, Man may therefore conclude that sea transport is more environmentally friendly than road transport for all the investigated options. Underlying data are taken from real options for the transport ships and updated emissions data for trucks from environmental databases (EcoInvent). It is considered a completely new truck park in the comparisons presented above, the assumption is examined in sensitivity analyzes. With the Port as principal, it was important to have a conservative approach

  1. Underestimated impact of novel psychoactive substances: laboratory confirmation of recreational drug toxicity in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallersnes, Odd Martin; Persett, Per Sverre; Øiestad, Elisabeth Leere; Karinen, Ritva; Heyerdahl, Fridtjof; Hovda, Knut Erik

    2017-08-01

    Recreational drug toxicity is frequent. Availability of new psychoactive substances is steadily increasing. However, data with verified analyses from clinical settings are limited. To evaluate the impact of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) on recreational drug toxicity in Oslo, Norway, we analysed samples from a selection of patients. All the patients presenting with recreational drug toxicity at the Oslo Accident and Emergency Outpatient Clinic (OAEOC) and at the Oslo University Hospital (OUH) were registered from April through September 2014. Oral fluid samples were collected at the OAEOC. Blood samples were collected at the OUH. The samples were screened using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Nine hundred and sixty-four cases were included, 841 (87.2%) at the OAEOC and 123 (12.8%) at the OUH. A total of 55 oral fluid samples (OAEOC) and 103 blood samples (OUH) could be analysed. NPS were not clinically suspected in any of the screened cases. At the outpatient clinic, the most commonly found substances were clonazepam in 42/55 (76.4%) cases, amfetamines in 40/55 (72.7%) and heroin in 39/55 (70.9%). In seven (12.7%) cases NPS were detected: 4-methylamfetamine in three cases, dimethyltryptamine in two, methylone in one, and N,N-dimethyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamfetamine in one. Among the hospital patients, the most commonly found substances were clonazepam in 51/103 (49.5%) cases, amfetamines in 48/103 (46.6%), heroin in 31/103 (30.1%), and diazepam in 30/103 (29.1%). In five (4.9%) cases NPS were detected: JWH-210 in two cases, AM-2201 in two, and 5-EAPB in one. NPS were clinically not suspected, though found in eight percent of cases. Still, the vast majority of patients treated for recreational drug toxicity in Oslo have taken classical drugs. Management of these patients should be based on their clinical condition. However, it is highly important to be alert to atypical presentations possibly resulting from

  2. Children with low birth weight and low gestational age in Oslo, Norway: immigration is not the cause of increasing proportions.

    OpenAIRE

    Stoltenberg, C; Magnus, P

    1995-01-01

    STUDY OBJECTIVE--To determine the influence of children born to immigrant mothers on the total proportions of low birth weight and preterm deliveries in Oslo and to explain the increases in the proportions of children with low birth weight and low gestational age since 1980-1982. DESIGN--This was a cross sectional study based on Norwegian Medical Birth Registry data and information on mothers' country of birth from the Central Bureau of Statistics. SETTING--Oslo, Norway 1968-91. POPULATION--A...

  3. Air pollution and respiratory health of children: the PEACE study in Oslo, Norway.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Clench-Aas, J.; Bartonova, A.; Skjonsberg, O.H.; Leegaard, J.; Hagen, L.O.; Giaever, P.; Moseng, J.; Roemer, W.

    1998-01-01

    As a part of the Pollution Effects on Asthmatic Children in Europe (PEACE) investigation, a 10 week panel study was conducted in Oslo, Norway, from December 1, 1993 to February 14, 1994. Of the 180 children recruited, 125 satisfactorily filled out a daily diary for the entire period, in addition to

  4. Association between urban green space and self-reported lifestyle-related disorders in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camilla, Ihlebæk; Geir, Aamodt; Renata, Aradi; Bjørgulf, Claussen; Halvorsen, Thorén Kine

    2017-10-01

    The need for studies from more countries on the relationship between urban green space and health has been emphasized. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between two types of measurement of urban green space and self-reported lifestyle-related disorders in Oslo, Norway. Self-reported measures on mental disorders, asthma, type 2 diabetes and musculoskeletal pain of 8638 participants in the Oslo Health Study (HUBRO) were linked to two types of green space variables: the vegetation cover greenness derived from satellite data, which shows the city's vegetation cover regardless of property boundaries, and the land use greenness derived from municipal plans showing information about publicly accessible vegetation-covered areas. Associations between greenness and health measures were analysed by logistic regression models controlling for possible individual and contextual confounders. Increasing vegetation cover greenness was associated with fewer self-reported mental disorders for both men and women after controlling for possible confounders. The proportion of women who reported high levels of musculoskeletal pain increased with increasing degrees of both of the greenness measurements, but no significant association was observed for men. No association was found for asthma and diabetes type 2 for either men or women. Although there was a positive association between vegetation cover greenness and self-reported mental disorders, the main findings showed mixed results. The lack of clear associations between urban green space and lifestyle-related health disorders in Oslo might have been influenced by a large proportion of the inhabitants having easy access to green areas.

  5. Understanding Transportation Choice of Families with Small Children in Oslo

    OpenAIRE

    Miller, Scott Thomas

    2011-01-01

    This qualitative study took place in the Oslo area and focused on the transportation mode choices of parents with children in day care. Understanding why parents choose a certain mode of transport was the main objective of this research. Answers to the question of why were looked at in the context of theories stemming from urban planning, sociology, psychology amongst others. The findings show that while geographical distances did have the largest impact on how people travelled around work h...

  6. Světový knihovnický a informační kongres IFLA (Oslo 2005)

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Burgetová, Jarmila

    2005-01-01

    Roč. 2005, č. 4 (2005), s. 19-22 ISSN 1210-8502 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70830501 Keywords : IFLA Congress in Oslo * International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Subject RIV: AF - Documentation, Librarianship, Information Studies

  7. Comparison of solid waste management between Oslo (Norway) and Lahore (Pakistan)

    OpenAIRE

    Hafeez, Muhammad Shahzad

    2014-01-01

    The research is devised on two themes as; describe and compare solid waste management practices in Lahore (Pakistan) and Oslo (Norway). Solid Waste Management (SWM) is an important technique in the present times which works on the philosophy of Reuse, Reduce and Recycle and helps in containment of various environmental problems. In the developing countries waste contamination has become an important problem. My prime motive to select Lahore was due to the nature of environmenta...

  8. Statistical analysis and definition of blockages-prediction formulae for the wastewater network of Oslo by evolutionary computing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ugarelli, Rita; Kristensen, Stig Morten; Røstum, Jon; Saegrov, Sveinung; Di Federico, Vittorio

    2009-01-01

    Oslo Vann og Avløpsetaten (Oslo VAV)-the water/wastewater utility in the Norwegian capital city of Oslo-is assessing future strategies for selection of most reliable materials for wastewater networks, taking into account not only material technical performance but also material performance, regarding operational condition of the system.The research project undertaken by SINTEF Group, the largest research organisation in Scandinavia, NTNU (Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet) and Oslo VAV adopts several approaches to understand reasons for failures that may impact flow capacity, by analysing historical data for blockages in Oslo.The aim of the study was to understand whether there is a relationship between the performance of the pipeline and a number of specific attributes such as age, material, diameter, to name a few. This paper presents the characteristics of the data set available and discusses the results obtained by performing two different approaches: a traditional statistical analysis by segregating the pipes into classes, each of which with the same explanatory variables, and a Evolutionary Polynomial Regression model (EPR), developed by Technical University of Bari and University of Exeter, to identify possible influence of pipe's attributes on the total amount of predicted blockages in a period of time.Starting from a detailed analysis of the available data for the blockage events, the most important variables are identified and a classification scheme is adopted.From the statistical analysis, it can be stated that age, size and function do seem to have a marked influence on the proneness of a pipeline to blockages, but, for the reduced sample available, it is difficult to say which variable it is more influencing. If we look at total number of blockages the oldest class seems to be the most prone to blockages, but looking at blockage rates (number of blockages per km per year), then it is the youngest class showing the highest blockage rate

  9. Posttraumatic responses to the July 22, 2011 Oslo Terror among Norwegian high school students

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nordanger, Dag Ø; Hysing, Mari; Posserud, Maj-Britt; Lundervold, Astri Johansen; Jakobsen, Reidar; Olff, Miranda; Stormark, Kjell Morten

    2013-01-01

    The July 22, 2011, Oslo Terror was defined as a national disaster. Former studies on terror attacks and mass shootings have shown elevated levels of posttraumatic complaints both in direct victims and in general populations. Little is known about how such extreme events in a generally safe society

  10. Assessment of low impact development in road and street planning Case study at Telthusbakken in central Oslo

    OpenAIRE

    Hammerlid, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    Master thesis - Chalmers University of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Division of Geo and water Engineering. Climate change and urbanization puts heavy pressure on today’s water systems due to increased rain intensities and development of impervious surfaces. As a result, cities and their road and street environment in urban Norway is subject to more frequent flooding and water related damages. Moreover, the urban watersheds are subject to various p...

  11. What we know about Oslo meteorite from cosmogenic isotope analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tymiński, Z.; Stolarz, M.; Kubalczak, T.; Zaręba, P.; Burski, M.; Bilet, M.; Miśta, E.; Tymińska, K.; Kołakowska, E.; Burakowska, A.; Żołądek, P.; Olech, A.; Wiśniewski, M.; Listkowska, A.; Saganowski, P.

    2015-10-01

    The fragments of an asteroid that had crashed over Norway were found in a few locations in Oslo at the beginning of March 2012. Later on some pieces of meteorite from the most South area were collected by the Meteoritical Section members of Comet and Meteor Workshop (PKiM) with the help of local meteoritical authorities. One meteorite fragment of 32g was used to measure cosmogenic radionuclides using non-destructive high-resolution gamma spectrometry technique. Five radioisotopes such as Al-26, Na-22, Mn-54, Co-57 and Co-60 were detected

  12. Safer roads in Chad : recommendations for low-cost road safety measures in Chad. On behalf of The World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sluis, J. van der

    2002-01-01

    In the framework of the National Transport Support Project, SWOV provided local experts in Chad with technical assistance on road safety. The assistance focused on the development of a comprehensive road safety strategy and physical road safety improvements on urban and inter-urban roads. The

  13. Integrating Assessment for Learning in the Teacher Education Programme at the University of Oslo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brevik, Lisbeth M.; Blikstad-Balas, Marte; Engelien, Kirsti Lyngvaer

    2017-01-01

    This article provides an analysis of the integration of assessment for learning principles in the newly revised five-year Master of Education programme at the University of Oslo, Norway, across didactic subjects, pedagogy and school practice. The analysis draws on lecture notes, student videos and student exam papers among 143 student teachers,…

  14. It’s Nakba, Not a Party: Re-Stating the (Continued) Legacy of the Oslo Accords

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sen, Somdeep

    2015-01-01

    Two decades later, how should we conceptualize the relevance of the Oslo Accords today? This article reconstitutes our understanding of the Accords through three parameters and purports that the legacy of the Interim Agreement is one that oscillates between what it has failed to achieve with regard...

  15. Oslo traffic study - part 2: quantifying effects of traffic measures using individual exposure modeling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clench-Aas, J.; Bartonova, A.; Klaeboe, R.; Kolbenstvedt, M.

    2000-01-01

    In quantifying the benefits of air pollution reduction measures, it is desirable to compare the size of the benefits with the effects of other individual confounding factors such as smoking or passive smoking. The effect of pollution is rarely very large and in order to quantify it, exposure estimating procedures must be as accurate as possible. Dispersion models, run for hourly time intervals and controlled by measurements, are therefore used to provide estimates for specific receptor points. Results of three consecutive cross-sectional investigations in an area of Oslo characterized by heavy traffic are presented. The study was designed to provide repeated information on the effects of traffic diversion measures on the self-reporting of symptoms of reduced health of 1100 adults living in Oslo. The principal source of air pollution in Oslo is vehicular traffic. The primary pollutants of interest are nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and respirable particles (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ). The mean hourly concentration of exposure was estimated at each participant's home by means of a time-dependent finite dispersion model combined with subgrid models to describe the source contribution to the grid concentrations. The study controlled the confounding factors. Using the symptom fatigue, the study illustrates that by controlling the changes in population composition, estimated exposure-effect relationships for health symptoms allow the effect of the studied traffic measures on the population to be evaluated. Since the method is based on individual estimates of exposure to different pollutants, it allows standardizing the exposure to compare effects of different pollutants. The study offers a methodology that is useful in evaluating the benefits of measures by both being able to quantify and compare the effects of different compounds and effects on different population sub-groups. (author)

  16. Inequalities in health: a comparative study between ethnic Norwegians and Pakistanis in Oslo, Norway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claussen Bjorgulf

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The objective of the study was to observe the inequality in health from the perspective of socio-economic factors in relation to ethnic Pakistanis and ethnic Norwegians in Oslo, Norway. Method Data was collected by using an open and structured questionnaire, as a part of the Oslo Health Study 2000–2001. Accordingly 13581 ethnic Norwegians (45% of the eligible participated as against 339 ethnic Pakistanis (38% of the eligible. Results The ethnic Pakistanis reported a higher prevalence of poor self-rated health 54.7% as opposed to 22.1% (p Conclusion There is a large diversity of self-rated health, prevalence of diabetes and distress among the ethnic Pakistanis and Norwegians. Socio-economic status may partly explain the observed inequalities in health. Uncontrolled variables like genetics, lifestyle factors and psychosocial factors related to migration such as social support, community participation, discrimination, and integration may have contributed to the observed phenomenon. This may underline the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in future studies.

  17. Surface Reconstruction from Parallel Curves with Application to Parietal Bone Fracture Reconstruction.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Majeed

    Full Text Available Maxillofacial trauma are common, secondary to road traffic accident, sports injury, falls and require sophisticated radiological imaging to precisely diagnose. A direct surgical reconstruction is complex and require clinical expertise. Bio-modelling helps in reconstructing surface model from 2D contours. In this manuscript we have constructed the 3D surface using 2D Computerized Tomography (CT scan contours. The fracture part of the cranial vault are reconstructed using GC1 rational cubic Ball curve with three free parameters, later the 2D contours are flipped into 3D with equidistant z component. The constructed surface is represented by contours blending interpolant. At the end of this manuscript a case report of parietal bone fracture is also illustrated by employing this method with a Graphical User Interface (GUI illustration.

  18. New optimization strategies of pavement maintenance: A case study for national road network in Indonesia using integrated road management system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamdi, Hadiwardoyo, Sigit P.; Correia, A. Gomes; Pereira, Paulo

    2017-06-01

    A road network requires timely maintenance to keep the road surface in good condition onward better services to improve accessibility and mobility. Strategies and maintenance techniques must be chosen in order to maximize road service level through cost-effective interventions. This approach requires an updated database, which the road network in Indonesia is supported by a manual and visual survey, also using NAASRA profiler. Furthermore, in this paper, the deterministic model of deterioration was used. This optimization model uses life cycle cost analysis (LCCA), applied in an integrated manner, using IRI indicator, and allows determining the priority of treatment, type of treatment and its relation to the cost. The purpose of this paper was focussed on the aspects of road maintenance management, i.e., maintenance optimization models for different levels of traffic and various initial of road distress conditions on the national road network in Indonesia. The implementation of Integrated Road Management System (IRMS) can provide a solution to the problem of cost constraints in the maintenance of the national road network. The results from this study found that as the lowest as agency cost, it will affect the increasing of user cost. With the achievement of the target plan scenario Pl000 with initial value IRI 2, it was found that the routine management throughout the year and in early reconstruction and periodic maintenance with a 30 mm thick overlay, will simultaneously provide a higher net benefit value and has the lowest total cost of transportation.

  19. Overweight and weight dissatisfaction related to socio-economic position, integration and dietary indicators among south Asian immigrants in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Råberg, Marte; Kumar, Bernadette; Holmboe-Ottesen, Gerd; Wandel, Margareta

    2010-05-01

    To investigate how socio-economic position, demographic factors, degree of integration and dietary indicators are related to BMI/waist:hip ratio (WHR) and to weight dissatisfaction and slimming among South Asians in Oslo, Norway. Cross-sectional study consisting of a health check including anthropometric measures and two self-administered questionnaires. Oslo, Norway. Pakistanis and Sri Lankans (n 629), aged 30-60 years, residing in Oslo. BMI was positively associated with female gender (P = 0.004) and Pakistani origin (P integration (measured by a composite index, independent of duration of residence; P = 0.017). One-third of those with normal weight and most of those obese were dissatisfied with their weight. Among these, about 40 % had attempted to slim during the past year. Dissatisfaction with weight was positively associated with education in women (P = 0.006) and with integration in men (P = 0.026), and inversely associated with physical activity (P = 0.044) in men. Women who had made slimming attempts had breakfast and other meals less frequently than others (P < 0.05). Weight dissatisfaction exists among South Asian immigrants. More research is needed regarding bodily dissatisfaction and the relationship between perception of weight and weight-change attempts among immigrants in Norway, in order to prevent and treat both obesity and eating disorders.

  20. PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE OF ROAD-USER CHARGING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neil THORPE

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses upon public attitudes to and public acceptance of road-user charging as an effective means of managing travel demand, with the overall aim of identifying the characteristics of key interest groups, the kinds of attitudes they hold and their preferences for the distribution of the benefits of generated net revenues and released roadspace. It is argued that this knowledge can play a pivotal role in the design of road-user charging systems that satisfy two important criteria – namely, that they are capable of achieving their stated objectives and are generally acceptable to the public. A case-study of three toll-rings used for revenue generation by the Norwegian cities of Bergen, Oslo and Trondheim is selected, where a team of Norwegian interviewers administered a computer-based survey to a total of 756 respondents. Results of the analyses of the attitudinal data collected raise concerns about the approach of introducing initially low levels of road-use charge, designed to have negligible impacts on travel behaviour but to raise revenues to fund necessary improvements to public transport, both to familiarise private car-users with the principles of a pay-as-you-go system of charging and hopefully to reduce levels of public opposition prior to the introduction of the longer term objective of higher charges for traffic restraint. The timescale over which charges are increased may be crucial in terms of balancing a resistance to change in the longer term against the credibility of a system whose objectives are modified in the relatively short-term. The key conclusion from the first Stated Preference exercise is that there is a high degree of consensus among individuals on the importance of investing significant amounts of net revenues in new road infrastructure as well as improved public transport. The second Stated Preference exercise highlights respondents' concerns that the benefits in improved network performance achieved by a

  1. Soft structures of γ-ray strength functions studied with the Oslo method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Voinov A.

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available We present experimental γ-ray strength functions up to Eγ ∼ Sn measured at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory for several Sc, V, Mo, and Sn isotopes. For the lighter nuclei, an unexpected enhancement of the strength function at low γ-ray energies has been revealed. This enhancement could potentially have an impact on neutron-capture cross sections for unstable, neutron-rich nuclei. For the Sn isotopes, we observe increased strength around the neutron separation energy Sn.

  2. Atmospheric contribution of nutritional salts to the Inner Oslo fjord; Atmosfaerisk tilfoersel av naeringssalter til indre Oslofjord

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aas, Wenche

    1999-07-01

    The Norwegian Institute for Air Research has calculated how large the contribution of atmospheric total nitrogen and phosphorus is to the Inner Oslo fjord. It is possible to neglect the local contribution of nitrogen and suppose with great probability that the contribution is at the same level as the background level in the area, that is a contribution of 600-700 mg N/m2 a year for the period 1996-1998. This amounts to 66-77 tons of nitrogen a year or about 2 % of the total addition of nitrogen to the Inner Oslo fjord. As to phosphorus the estimates are more uncertain as relatively little is known about atmospheric phosphorus. Certain investigations indicate that the contribution level is about 30 mg P/m2 a year, that is about 3 tons or 3-4 % of the total phosphorus contribution.

  3. Survey of the technical-scientific research field in the Oslo district

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1975-12-01

    Organisations and institutes in the Oslo district which carry out research in the technical-scientific field are listed, with adress and telephone number. This includes a number of institutes whose activities are mainly or partly in the nuclear field. The list is subdivided into departments, with brief descriptions of their fields of activity, the scientific personnel with their special interests, and a detailed list of the special projects and activities of the departments. Special apparatus and equipment which the institutes have at their disposal are also mentioned with brief specifications. (JIW)

  4. Rifting in heterogeneous lithosphere inferences from numerical modeling of the northern North Sea and the Oslo Graben.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pascal Candas, C.; Cloetingh, S.A.P.L.

    2002-01-01

    Permian rifting and magmatism are widely documented across NW Europe. The different Permian basins often display contrasting structural styles and evolved in lithospheric domains with contrasting past evolution and contrasting thermotectonic ages. In particular, the Oslo Graben and the northern

  5. A Multi-stage Method to Extract Road from High Resolution Satellite Image

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhijian, Huang; Zhang, Jinfang; Xu, Fanjiang

    2014-01-01

    Extracting road information from high-resolution satellite images is complex and hardly achieves by exploiting only one or two modules. This paper presents a multi-stage method, consisting of automatic information extraction and semi-automatic post-processing. The Multi-scale Enhancement algorithm enlarges the contrast of human-made structures with the background. The Statistical Region Merging segments images into regions, whose skeletons are extracted and pruned according to geometry shape information. Setting the start and the end skeleton points, the shortest skeleton path is constructed as a road centre line. The Bidirectional Adaptive Smoothing technique smoothens the road centre line and adjusts it to right position. With the smoothed line and its average width, a Buffer algorithm reconstructs the road region easily. Seen from the last results, the proposed method eliminates redundant non-road regions, repairs incomplete occlusions, jumps over complete occlusions, and reserves accurate road centre lines and neat road regions. During the whole process, only a few interactions are needed

  6. Energy Analysis of Road Accidents Based on Close-Range Photogrammetry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Morales

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an efficient and low-cost approach for energy analysis of road accidents using images obtained using consumer-grade digital cameras and smartphones. The developed method could be used by security forces in order to improve the qualitative and quantitative analysis of traffic accidents. This role of the security forces is crucial to settle arguments; consequently, the remote and non-invasive collection of accident related data before the scene is modified proves to be essential. These data, taken in situ, are the basis to perform the necessary calculations, basically the energy analysis of the road accident, for the corresponding expert reports and the reconstruction of the accident itself, especially in those accidents with important damages and consequences. Therefore, the method presented in this paper provides the security forces with an accurate, three-dimensional, and scaled reconstruction of a road accident, so that it may be considered as a support tool for the energy analysis. This method has been validated and tested with a real crash scene simulated by the local police in the Academy of Public Safety of Extremadura, Spain.

  7. Projections of concentration levels of NO2 and PM10 for Oslo for 2005 and 2010. A sensitivity and initiative study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sloerdal, Leiv Haavard; Toennesen, Dag

    1999-10-01

    The Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) has performed model projections and calculated the effect of different abatement measures for the air quality of Oslo towards 2010. The calculations have been performed for the components of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and airborne particulate matter (PM 1 0). The aim of the work has been to find out what types of measures are needed in order to reach the National goals on future local air quality set by the authorities. The results of the model simulations reveal that substantial abatement measures are needed if all of the residential buildings in Oslo shall reach the proposed goals. (author)

  8. Sustainable stormwater management at Fornebu--from an airport to an industrial and residential area of the city of Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astebøl, Svein Ole; Hvitved-Jacobsen, Thorkild; Simonsen, Oyvind

    2004-12-01

    The Oslo Airport at Fornebu was closed in 1998 after 60 years of operation. An area of 3.1 km(2) was made available for one of Norway's biggest property development projects. Plans include 6000 residences and 20,000 workplaces. Fornebu is situated on a peninsula in the Oslo Fjord just outside the city of Oslo and is regarded as a very attractive area for both urbanisation and recreation. The residential area located centrally at Fornebu surrounds a centrally located park area. In the planning process, there was an expressed interest in using water as a life-giving element within the vegetation structure of the park. In Norway, stormwater in urban areas has traditionally been collected and transported in pipe systems to adjacent watercourses. However, there is an increasing interest in alternative "green" solutions for the management of stormwater. The paper presents a concept for sustainable stormwater management at Fornebu. A main objective is to improve the recreational and ecological value of stormwater while achieving a cost-effective solution. This objective is reached by replacing conventional urban drainage pipes with swales, filter strips, wetlands and ponds as collection, storage and treatment systems designed for natural processes. The paper thereby addresses integrated systems for stormwater management by approaching nature's way and sustainable development principles.

  9. A one-year observational study of all hospitalized and fatal acute poisonings in Oslo: epidemiology, intention and follow-up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lund, Cathrine; Teige, Brita; Drottning, Per; Stiksrud, Birgitte; Rui, Tor Olav; Lyngra, Marianne; Ekeberg, Oivind; Jacobsen, Dag; Hovda, Knut Erik

    2012-10-09

    Up to date information on poisoning trends is important. This study reports the epidemiology of all hospitalized acute poisonings in Oslo, including mortality, follow-up referrals, and whether the introduction of over-the-counter sales of paracetamol outside pharmacies had an impact on the frequency of poisonings. All acute poisonings of adults (≥16 years) treated at the five hospitals in Oslo from April 2008 to April 2009 were included consecutively in an observational cross-sectional multicentre study. A standardized form was completed by the treating physician, which covered the study aims. All deaths by poisoning in and outside hospitals were registered at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. There were 1065 hospital admissions of 912 individuals; 460 (50%) were male, and the median age was 36 years. The annual incidence was 2.0 per 1000. The most frequent toxic agents were ethanol (18%), benzodiazepines (15%), paracetamol (11%), and opioids (11%). Physicians classified 46% as possible or definite suicide attempts, 37% as accidental overdoses with substances of abuse (AOSA), and 16% as other accidents. Twenty-four per cent were discharged without any follow-up and the no follow-up odds were highest for AOSA. There were 117 deaths (eight in hospital), of which 75% were males, and the median age was 41 years. Thus, the annual mortality rate was 25 per 100 000 and the in-hospital mortality was 0.8%. Opioids were the most frequent cause of death. The incidence of hospitalized acute poisonings in Oslo was similar to that in 2003 and there was an equal sex distribution. Compared with a study performed in Oslo in 2003, there has been an increase in poisonings with a suicidal intention. The in-hospital mortality was low and nine out of ten deaths occurred outside hospitals. Opioids were the leading cause of death, so preventive measures should be encouraged among substance abusers. The number of poisonings caused by paracetamol remained unchanged after the

  10. Real-time 3D reconstruction of road curvature in far look-ahead distance from analysis of image sequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behringer, Reinhold

    1995-12-01

    A system for visual road recognition in far look-ahead distance, implemented in the autonomous road vehicle VaMP (a passenger car), is described. Visual cues of a road in a video image are the bright lane markings and the edges formed at the road borders. In a distance of more than 100 m, the most relevant road cue is the homogeneous road area, limited by the two border edges. These cues can be detected by the image processing module KRONOS applying edge detection techniques and areal 2D segmentation based on resolution triangles (analogous to a resolution pyramid). An estimation process performs an update of a state vector, which describes spatial road shape and vehicle orientation relative to the road. This state vector is estimated every 40 ms by exploiting knowledge about the vehicle movement (spatio-temporal model of vehicle dynamics) and the road design rules (clothoidal segments). Kalman filter techniques are applied to obtain an optimal estimate of the state vector by evaluating the measurements of the road border positions in the image sequence taken by a set of CCD cameras. The road consists of segments with piecewise constant curvature parameters. The borders between these segments can be detected by applying methods which have been developed for detection of discontinuities during time-discrete measurements. The road recognition system has been tested in autonomous rides with VaMP on public Autobahnen in real traffic at speeds up to 130 km/h.

  11. Road Construction Safety Audit for Interstate Reconstruction. Volume 1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-10-01

    Traffic control alternatives associated with reconstruction projects on a rural interstate have been investigated in this research. Slab replacement projects, milling/resurfacing projects, and traffic controls in the vicinity of interstate ramps were...

  12. Road Construction Safety Audit for Interstate Reconstruction. Volume 2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-10-01

    Traffic control alternatives associated with reconstruction projects on a rural interstate have been investigated in this research. Slab replacement projects, milling/resurfacing projects, and traffic controls in the vicinity of interstate ramps were...

  13. When female circumcision comes to the West: attitudes toward the practice among Somali Immigrants in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gele, Abdi A; Johansen, Elise B; Sundby, Johanne

    2012-08-27

    Female circumcision (FC) has lifelong adverse social and health consequences for women, and its abolition will not only enhance the health of children and women, but also promote gender equality. Like many other Western countries, Norway hosts a large proportion of immigrants from FC-practicing countries, though primarily from Somalia, which is the country with the highest prevalence of FC in the world. A behavioral change by the practicing communities has the best chance to successfully and sustainably eliminate this practice. However, FC prevention programs require a behavioral surveillance that monitors the process of change, with this being the first quantitative study since the major migration of the Somali community to Norway began in 1991 to investigate whether or not Somali immigrants' attitudes toward the practice has improved in favor of its abandonment. A cross-sectional study using a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was conducted in Oslo from April to June of 2011. A sample of 214 persons was interviewed, using structured questionnaires. The results show that 70% of Somalis in Oslo support the discontinuation of all forms of FC compared to 30% who support its continuation, with the latter group more likely to be people who lived in Norway ≤ 4 years. Of the 10 girls who came to Norway at the age of ≤ 7 years, only one was circumcised, though whether the circumcision occurred before or after the girl's arrival in Norway remains unclear. The perception that FC is required by religion was the sole factor to be significantly associated with an ongoing support of FC. The study reveals that Somalis in Oslo demonstrate a trend to abandon this practice over time. Nevertheless, the 30% of the people who still support its continuation, and who are primarily newly arrived immigrants, require a targeted intervention that is implemented in the early phase of the immigrants' arrival.

  14. Oslo Art and Design Education (University College 1966–1994 – An educational institution with corporate responsibility and sustainability in focus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Randi Veiteberg Kvellestad

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The artile chronicles the Department of Art, Design and Drama at Oslo and Akershus University College ca. 1950 to 1990. The school bore the name Oslo Art and Design Education College (SLFO from 1966 to 1975 and Oslo Art and Design Education University College from 1975 to 1994. The institution had a clear teaching focus while running extensive programs on professional training, pilot projects and guidance service. The tradition of quality in the choice of material as well as work with engineering and design was strong, but greater emphasis was eventually placed on experimentation with material, tools and techniques. The students were both encouraged and challenged to be creative and rely on their own ideas in experimentation. The article set its focus on change and training in textiles needlework teacher education. The source materials are annual reports, published texts found in the Institute's history collection and interviews of seven employees who worked at the school in part or the whole period. Informants’ arguments and the analysis of texts are related to recent research in Sweden and Norway. The article shows that the institution once stood for attitudes that one would today call sustainable, with strong quality requirements. Thus, the institution showed social responsibility through education and industrial initiatives.

  15. Oslo model, hyperuniformity, and the quenched Edwards-Wilkinson model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassberger, Peter; Dhar, Deepak; Mohanty, P. K.

    2016-10-01

    We present simulations of the one-dimensional Oslo rice pile model in which the critical height at each site is randomly reset after each toppling. We use the fact that the stationary state of this sand-pile model is hyperuniform to reach system of sizes >107 . Most previous simulations were seriously flawed by important finite-size corrections. We find that all critical exponents have values consistent with simple rationals: ν =4/3 for the correlation length exponent, D =9/4 for the fractal dimension of avalanche clusters, and z =10/7 for the dynamical exponent. In addition, we relate the hyperuniformity exponent to the correlation length exponent ν . Finally, we discuss the relationship with the quenched Edwards-Wilkinson model, where we find in particular that the local roughness exponent is αloc=1 .

  16. Health literacy: the missing link in improving the health of Somali immigrant women in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gele, Abdi A; Pettersen, Kjell Sverre; Torheim, Liv Elin; Kumar, Bernadette

    2016-11-03

    Existing studies report a positive association between inadequate health literacy and immigrant's adverse health outcomes. Despite substantial research on this topic among immigrants, little is known about the level of health literacy among Somali women in Europe, and particularly in Norway. A cross sectional study using respondent driven sampling was conducted in Oslo, Norway. A sample of 302 Somali women, 25 years and older, was interviewed using the short version of the European Health Literacy Questionnaire. Data was analysed using logistic regression. Findings revealed that 71 % of Somali women in Oslo lack the ability to obtain, understand and act upon health information and services, and to make appropriate health decisions. Being unemployed (OR 3.66, CI 1.08-12.3) and socially less integrated (OR 8.17, CI 1.21-54.8) were independent predictors of an inadequate health literacy among Somali women. Enhanced health literacy will most likely increase the chance to better health outcomes for immigrants, thereby moving towards health equity in the Norwegian society. Therefore, policies and programs are required to focus and improve health literacy of immigrant communities.

  17. Health literacy: the missing link in improving the health of Somali immigrant women in Oslo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdi A. Gele

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Existing studies report a positive association between inadequate health literacy and immigrant’s adverse health outcomes. Despite substantial research on this topic among immigrants, little is known about the level of health literacy among Somali women in Europe, and particularly in Norway. Methods A cross sectional study using respondent driven sampling was conducted in Oslo, Norway. A sample of 302 Somali women, 25 years and older, was interviewed using the short version of the European Health Literacy Questionnaire. Data was analysed using logistic regression. Results Findings revealed that 71 % of Somali women in Oslo lack the ability to obtain, understand and act upon health information and services, and to make appropriate health decisions. Being unemployed (OR 3.66, CI 1.08–12.3 and socially less integrated (OR 8.17, CI 1.21–54.8 were independent predictors of an inadequate health literacy among Somali women. Conclusions Enhanced health literacy will most likely increase the chance to better health outcomes for immigrants, thereby moving towards health equity in the Norwegian society. Therefore, policies and programs are required to focus and improve health literacy of immigrant communities.

  18. Planning for a sustainable Oslo: the challenge of turning urban theory into practice

    OpenAIRE

    Andersen, Bengt; Skrede, Joar

    2016-01-01

    Many cities today face challenges related to urban growth. This is also the case in Oslo, currently one of the fastest growing capitals in Europe. In order to prepare for the population growth, a new municipal master plan has been prepared. In this, sustainable development is a prominent concept, and the urban district is going to be densified as part of the strategy. This paper examines some obstacles of turning planning theory into practice. There is a lack of coherence between municipal...

  19. Study on Reverse Reconstruction Method of Vehicle Group Situation in Urban Road Network Based on Driver-Vehicle Feature Evolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoyuan Wang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Vehicle group situation is the status and situation of dynamic permutation which is composed of target vehicle and neighboring traffic entities. It is a concept which is frequently involved in the research of traffic flow theory, especially the active vehicle security. Studying vehicle group situation in depth is of great significance for traffic safety. Three-lane condition was taken as an example; the characteristics of target vehicle and its neighboring vehicles were synthetically considered to restructure the vehicle group situation in this paper. The Gamma distribution theory was used to identify the vehicle group situation when target vehicle arrived at the end of the study area. From the perspective of driver-vehicle feature evolution, the reverse reconstruction method of vehicle group situation in the urban road network was proposed. Results of actual driving, virtual driving, and simulation experiments showed that the model established in this paper was reasonable and feasible.

  20. Ethnic differences in obesity among immigrants from developing countries, in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, B N; Meyer, H E; Wandel, M; Dalen, I; Holmboe-Ottesen, G

    2006-04-01

    To compare ethnic and gender differences in generalized and central obesity and to investigate whether these differences persisted after adjusting for socio-demographic and lifestyle factors. In 2002, the population-based cross-sectional, Oslo Immigrant Health study was conducted. A total of 7890 Oslo residents, born between 1942 and 1971 in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, were invited and 3019 attended. Participants completed a health questionnaire and attended a clinical screening that included height, weight, waist and hip measurements. Generalized obesity (BMI> or =30 kg/m2) was greatest among women from Turkey (51.0%) and least among men from Vietnam (2.7%). The highest proportions of central obesity (waist hip ratio (WHR)>or =0.85) were observed among women from Sri Lanka (54.3%) and Pakistan (52.4%). For any given value of BMI, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis had higher WHR compared to the other groups. Despite a high mean BMI, Turkish men (27.9 kg/m2) and women (30.7 kg/m2) did not have a corresponding high WHR. Ethnic differences in BMI, waist circumference and WHR persisted despite adjusting for socio-demographic and lifestyle factors. We found large differences in generalized and central obesity between immigrant groups from developing countries. Our data find high proportions of overweight and obese subjects from Pakistan and Turkey, but low proportions among those from Vietnam. Subjects from Sri Lanka and Pakistan had the highest WHR for any given value of BMI. Our findings, in light of the burgeoning obesity epidemic, warrant close monitoring of these groups.

  1. Structure studies by electron microscopy and electron diffraction at Physics Department, University of Oslo, 1976-1985

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gjoennes, J.K.; Olsen, A.

    1985-08-01

    The paper describes the reasearch activities and plans at the electron microscopy laboratorium, Physics Departmen, University of Oslo. Since the first electron microscope was installed in 1968, the research has covered inorganic structures, physical metallurgy, as well as theory of electron scattering and the development of methods in this field. The current plans involve efforts in the development of crystallographic and spectroscopic methods

  2. Getting caught up in the game: managing non-formal dynamics in the remediation of contaminated sediments in Oslo harbor

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Duijn, M.; Buuren, A. van; Sparrevik, M.; Slob, A.; Ellen, G.J.; Oen, A.

    2016-01-01

    This study aims at describing, analyzing and evaluating the relation between management styles and process dynamics of a complex planning process confronted with unexpected dynamics. The development of an aquatic disposal site for dredged contaminated sediments in Oslo was managed by a project

  3. Evaluation of high-resolution forecasts with the non-hydrostaticnumerical weather prediction model Lokalmodell for urban air pollutionepisodes in Helsinki, Oslo and Valencia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Fay

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available The operational numerical weather prediction model Lokalmodell LM with 7,km horizontal resolution was evaluated for forecasting meteorological conditions during observed urban air pollution episodes. The resolution was increased to experimental 2.8 km and 1.1 km resolution by one-way interactive nesting without introducing urbanisation of physiographic parameters or parameterisations. The episodes examined are two severe winter inversion-induced episodes in Helsinki in December 1995 and Oslo in January 2003, three suspended dust episodes in spring and autumn in Helsinki and Oslo, and a late-summer photochemical episode in the Valencia area. The evaluation was basically performed against observations and radiosoundings and focused on the LM skill at forecasting the key meteorological parameters characteristic for the specific episodes. These included temperature inversions, atmospheric stability and low wind speeds for the Scandinavian episodes and the development of mesoscale recirculations in the Valencia area. LM forecasts often improved due to higher model resolution especially in mountainous areas like Oslo and Valencia where features depending on topography like temperature, wind fields and mesoscale valley circulations were better described. At coastal stations especially in Helsinki, forecast gains were due to the improved physiographic parameters (land fraction, soil type, or roughness length. The Helsinki and Oslo winter inversions with extreme nocturnal inversion strengths of 18°C were not sufficiently predicted with all LM resolutions. In Helsinki, overprediction of surface temperatures and low-level wind speeds basically led to underpredicted inversion strength. In the Oslo episode, the situation was more complex involving erroneous temperature advection and mountain-induced effects for the higher resolutions. Possible explanations include the influence of the LM treatment of snow cover, sea ice and stability-dependence of transfer

  4. Dynamic metabolism modelling of urban water services--demonstrating effectiveness as a decision-support tool for Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venkatesh, G; Sægrov, Sveinung; Brattebø, Helge

    2014-09-15

    Urban water services are challenged from many perspectives and different stakeholders demand performance improvements along economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In response, urban water utilities systematically give more attention to criteria such as water safety, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), total cost efficiency, and on how to improve their operations within the water-energy-carbon nexus. The authors of this paper collaborated in the development of a 'Dynamic Metabolism Model' (DMM). The model is developed for generic use in the sustainability assessment of urban water services, and it has been initially tested for the city of Oslo, Norway. The purpose has been to adopt a holistic systemic perspective to the analysis of metabolism and environmental impacts of resource flows in urban water and wastewater systems, in order to offer a tool for the examination of future strategies and intervention options in such systems. This paper describes the model and its application to the city of Oslo for the analysis time period 2013-2040. The external factors impacting decision-making and interventions are introduced along with realistic scenarios developed for the testing, after consultation with officials at the Oslo Water and Wastewater Works (Norway). Possible interventions that the utility intends to set in motion are defined and numerically interpreted for incorporation into the model, and changes in the indicator values over the time period are determined. This paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of the DMM, as a decision-support tool for water-wastewater utilities. The scenarios considered and interventions identified do not include all possible scenarios and interventions that can be relevant for water-wastewater utilities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Constraining the cross section of 82Se(n, γ)83Se to validate the β-Oslo method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Childers, K.; Liddick, S. N.; Crider, B. P.; Dombos, A. C.; Lewis, R.; Spyrou, A.; Couture, A.; Mosby, S.; Prokop, C. J.; Naqvi, F.; Larsen, A. C.; Guttormsen, M.; Campo, L. C.; Renstrom, T.; Siem, S.; Bleuel, D. L.; Perdikakis, G.; Quinn, S.

    2017-09-01

    Neutron capture cross sections of short-lived nuclei are important for a variety of basic and applied nuclear science problems. However, because of the short half-lives of the nuclei involved and the nonexistence of a neutron target, indirect measurement methods are required. One such method is the β-Oslo method. The nuclear level density and γ strength function of a nucleus are extracted after β-decay and used in a statistical reaction model to constrain the neutron capture cross section. This method has been used previously, but must be validated against a directly measured neutron capture cross section. The neutron capture cross section of 82Se has been measured previously, and 83Se can be accessed by the β-decay of 83As. The β-decay of 83As to 83Se was studied using the SuN detector at the NSCL and the β-Oslo method was utilized to constrain the neutron capture cross section of 82Se, which is compared to the directly measured value.

  6. Proximity to terror and post-traumatic stress: a follow-up survey of governmental employees after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansen, Marianne B; Nissen, Alexander; Heir, Trond

    2013-01-01

    To assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among governmental employees after the 2011 Oslo bombing attack targeted towards the Norwegian Ministries, and to explore the importance of proximity to the bomb explosion as a predictor of PTSD. A cross-sectional study. Data were collected from a survey 10 months after the Oslo bombing on 22 July 2011. A total of 3520 employees were invited to the study. Net samples comprised 1927 employees in 14 of the 17 Norwegian Ministries. The employees reported where they were at the time of the explosion. PTSD was assessed with the Norwegian version of the PTSD checklist (PCL). A total of 207 of the 1881 (11%) ministerial employees who completed the survey were present at work when the bomb exploded. Of these, a quarter (24%, 95% CI 18.4 to 30.0) had symptom levels equivalent to PTSD, while the prevalence was approximately 4% among those not present at work. In the latter group the prevalence was similar irrespective of whether their location was in Oslo, other places in Norway or abroad. Leadership responsibility was associated with lower risk for PTSD. The risk of PTSD is mainly associated with being present at work at the time of a terror attack. For those not present at work, the risk of PTSD is low and independent of proximity to the terror scene. The findings may have implications for planning and priority of healthcare services after a work place terror attack.

  7. The day Norway cried: Proximity and distress in Norwegian citizens following the 22nd July 2011 terrorist attacks in Oslo and on Utøya Island.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoresen, Siri; Aakvaag, Helene Flood; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Dyb, Grete; Hjemdal, Ole Kristian

    2012-01-01

    Terrorism may create fear and stress reactions not only in the direct victims, but also in the general population. This study investigated emotional responses in the Norwegian population following the 22nd July 2011 terrorist attacks. We hypothesized that Oslo residents would report a higher level of fear responses compared with people living outside Oslo and that proximity would be associated with early distress and later post-traumatic stress reactions. Representative samples were drawn from the Norwegian Population Registry. Telephone interviews were conducted 4-5 months after the attacks. The response rate for the Oslo sample (N=465) was 24% of the total sample, and 43% of those who were actually reached by phone and asked to participate. Corresponding figures for the sample living outside Oslo (N=716) were 19% and 30%. Our results show strong immediate emotional responses, particularly sadness and a feeling of unreality, in both samples. Jumpiness and other fear responses were significantly higher among Oslo residents. Current level of risk perception was low 4-5 months after the attacks; however, a significant minority reported to feel less safe than before. Geographical and psychological proximity were associated with early emotional responses. Psychological proximity was significantly associated with post-traumatic stress reactions, while measures of geographical proximity were not. Immediate emotional responses, first-week reactions, and first-week jumpiness were uniquely and significantly associated with post-traumatic stress reactions. Post-traumatic stress reactions were elevated in ethnic minorities. The terrorist attacks seem to have had a significant effect on the Norwegian population, creating sadness and insecurity, at least in the short term. Proximity to the terrorist attacks was strongly associated with distress in the population, and early distress was strongly related to later post-traumatic stress reactions. Our results indicate that

  8. Streetgen: In-Base Procedural-Based Road Generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cura, R.; Perret, J.; Paparoditis, N.

    2015-08-01

    Streets are large, diverse, and used for conflicting transport modalities as well as social and cultural activities. Proper planning is essential and requires data. Manually fabricating data that represent streets (street reconstruction) is error-prone and time consuming. Automatising street reconstruction is a challenge because of the diversity, size, and scale of the details (~ cm for cornerstone) required. The state-of-the-art focuses on roads and is strongly oriented by each application (simulation, visualisation, planning). We propose a unified framework that works on real Geographic Information System (GIS) data and uses a strong, yet simple hypothesis when possible to produce coherent street modelling at the city scale or street scale. Because it is updated only locally in subsequent computing, the result can be improved by adapting input data and the parameters of the model. We reconstruct the entire Paris streets in a few minutes and show how the results can be edited simultaneously by several concurrent users.

  9. Sob o signo do Acordos de Oslo: perspectivas diversas sobre o conflito israelo-palestino

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcos Chor MAIO

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo está dividido em duas partes: 1ª discorre sobre a relevância dos Acordos de Oslo para o processo de paz entre israelenses e palestinos nos anos 1990; 2ª aborda brevemente um conjunto de estudos históricos, sociológicos e políticos que versam sobre as relações entre Israel e Palestina em diferentes níveis, incluindo-se o papel da diplomacia brasileira neste domínio.

  10. When female circumcision comes to the West: Attitudes toward the practice among Somali Immigrants in Oslo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gele Abdi A

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Female circumcision (FC has lifelong adverse social and health consequences for women, and its abolition will not only enhance the health of children and women, but also promote gender equality. Like many other Western countries, Norway hosts a large proportion of immigrants from FC-practicing countries, though primarily from Somalia, which is the country with the highest prevalence of FC in the world. A behavioral change by the practicing communities has the best chance to successfully and sustainably eliminate this practice. However, FC prevention programs require a behavioral surveillance that monitors the process of change, with this being the first quantitative study since the major migration of the Somali community to Norway began in 1991 to investigate whether or not Somali immigrants’ attitudes toward the practice has improved in favor of its abandonment. Methods A cross-sectional study using a respondent-driven sampling (RDS was conducted in Oslo from April to June of 2011. A sample of 214 persons was interviewed, using structured questionnaires. Results The results show that 70% of Somalis in Oslo support the discontinuation of all forms of FC compared to 30% who support its continuation, with the latter group more likely to be people who lived in Norway ≤ 4 years. Of the 10 girls who came to Norway at the age of ≤ 7 years, only one was circumcised, though whether the circumcision occurred before or after the girl’s arrival in Norway remains unclear. The perception that FC is required by religion was the sole factor to be significantly associated with an ongoing support of FC. Conclusion The study reveals that Somalis in Oslo demonstrate a trend to abandon this practice over time. Nevertheless, the 30% of the people who still support its continuation, and who are primarily newly arrived immigrants, require a targeted intervention that is implemented in the early phase of the immigrants’ arrival.

  11. If it works there, will it work here? The effect of a multi-component responsible beverage service (RBS) programme on violence in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skardhamar, Torbjørn; Fekjær, Silje Bringsrud; Pedersen, Willy

    2016-12-01

    The Stockholm Prevents Alcohol and Drug Problems (STAD) programme has been regarded as one of the most successful programmes to date, in reducing alcohol-related violence. This multi-component Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) programme was implemented in Stockholm, Sweden, and has been documented to be extremely effective in reducing alcohol-related nightlife violence. The SALUTT programme in Oslo, Norway was carefully modelled on the STAD project. We investigate whether the results from STAD were replicated in the SALUTT intervention. Using geocoded data, the level of violence in the intervention area was compared with different control areas before and after the intervention. Autoregressive moving average models (ARIMA). The SALUTT programme had no statistically significant effect on violence. However, the level of violence in the different potential control areas of Oslo fluctuated without a clear common trend. Hence, it was difficult to establish proper control areas. The results from the Swedish STAD-intervention were not replicated in Oslo. Successful interventions are not necessarily replicated in other contexts, and the current literature does not shed sufficient light on the conditions under which such interventions actually work. Moreover, more attention should be devoted to the identification of adequate control areas in future research. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Outpatient treatment of acute poisonings in Oslo: poisoning pattern, factors associated with hospitalization, and mortality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lund Cathrine

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Most patients with acute poisoning are treated as outpatients worldwide. In Oslo, these patients are treated in a physician-led outpatient clinic with limited diagnostic and treatment resources, which reduces both the costs and emergency department overcrowding. We describe the poisoning patterns, treatment, mortality, factors associated with hospitalization and follow-up at this Emergency Medical Agency (EMA, "Oslo Legevakt", and we evaluate the safety of this current practice. Methods All acute poisonings in adults (> or = 16 years treated at the EMA during one year (April 2008 to April 2009 were included consecutively in an observational study design. The treating physicians completed a standardized form comprising information needed to address the study's aims. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with hospitalization. Results There were 2348 contacts for 1856 individuals; 1157 (62% were male, and the median age was 34 years. The most frequent main toxic agents were ethanol (43%, opioids (22% and CO or fire smoke (10%. The physicians classified 73% as accidental overdoses with substances of abuse taken for recreational purposes, 15% as other accidents (self-inflicted or other and 11% as suicide attempts. Most (91% patients were treated with observation only. The median observation time until discharge was 3.8 hours. No patient developed sequelae or died at the EMA. Seventeen per cent were hospitalized. Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, respiratory depression, paracetamol, reduced consciousness and suicidal intention were factors associated with hospitalization. Forty-eight per cent were discharged without referral to follow-up. The one-month mortality was 0.6%. Of the nine deaths, five were by new accidental overdose with substances of abuse. Conclusions More than twice as many patients were treated at the EMA compared with all hospitals in Oslo. Despite more than a doubling of

  13. Outpatient treatment of acute poisonings in Oslo: poisoning pattern, factors associated with hospitalization, and mortality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lund, Cathrine; Vallersnes, Odd M; Jacobsen, Dag; Ekeberg, Oivind; Hovda, Knut E

    2012-01-04

    Most patients with acute poisoning are treated as outpatients worldwide. In Oslo, these patients are treated in a physician-led outpatient clinic with limited diagnostic and treatment resources, which reduces both the costs and emergency department overcrowding. We describe the poisoning patterns, treatment, mortality, factors associated with hospitalization and follow-up at this Emergency Medical Agency (EMA, "Oslo Legevakt"), and we evaluate the safety of this current practice. All acute poisonings in adults (> or = 16 years) treated at the EMA during one year (April 2008 to April 2009) were included consecutively in an observational study design. The treating physicians completed a standardized form comprising information needed to address the study's aims. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with hospitalization. There were 2348 contacts for 1856 individuals; 1157 (62%) were male, and the median age was 34 years. The most frequent main toxic agents were ethanol (43%), opioids (22%) and CO or fire smoke (10%). The physicians classified 73% as accidental overdoses with substances of abuse taken for recreational purposes, 15% as other accidents (self-inflicted or other) and 11% as suicide attempts. Most (91%) patients were treated with observation only. The median observation time until discharge was 3.8 hours. No patient developed sequelae or died at the EMA. Seventeen per cent were hospitalized. Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, respiratory depression, paracetamol, reduced consciousness and suicidal intention were factors associated with hospitalization. Forty-eight per cent were discharged without referral to follow-up. The one-month mortality was 0.6%. Of the nine deaths, five were by new accidental overdose with substances of abuse. More than twice as many patients were treated at the EMA compared with all hospitals in Oslo. Despite more than a doubling of the annual number of poisoned patients treated at the EMA

  14. Materials and methods appendix for valuation of ecosystem services of green infrastructure in Oslo

    OpenAIRE

    Barton, David Nicholas; Vågnes Traaholt, Nora; Blumentrath, Stefan

    2015-01-01

    The material in this report constitutes a Methods and Materials appendix for two reports dis-seminating the results to a wider audience in English and Norwegian. We recommend that readers start with one of the cited reports below, using the appendix as a companion report to look up specifics: Barton, D.N. , N. Vågnes Traaholt, S. Blumentrath (2015) Naturen i Oslo verdt milliarder. Verd-setting av urbane økosystem-tjenester fra grønn infrastruktur. NINA Report 1113. Barton, D.N., E. Stan...

  15. Long-acting reversible contraception for adolescents and young adults - a cross-sectional study of women and general practitioners in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bratlie, Marte; Aarvold, Trine; Skårn, Elling Skeide; Lundekvam, Jonas Andre; Nesheim, Britt-Ingjerd; Askevold, Erik Tandberg

    2014-06-01

    To investigate awareness and use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) in the Norwegian primary care sector. We surveyed 359 women aged 16 to 23 years visiting a free sexual health clinic and 140 general practitioners (GPs) in Oslo, Norway, to assess contraceptive usage patterns, knowledge, opinions, and counselling content. Eighty-two percent (n = 295) of the female respondents were current contraceptive users and of this group, 12% (n = 34) were LARC users. Combined oral contraceptives (COCs, 56%) and condoms (20%) were the methods most commonly used. Apart from those two, the women considered themselves insufficiently knowledgeable about other family planning modalities. Knowledge was an independent predictor of current LARC use (p Oslo, Norway. These young women need better contraceptive counselling. Dispelling misconceptions and improved provider training could encourage GPs to cover LARCs when giving contraceptive guidance.

  16. Determination of forest road surface roughness by Kinect depth imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Marinello

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Roughness is a dynamic property of the gravel road surface that affects safety, ride comfort as well as vehicle tyre life and maintenance costs. A rapid survey of gravel road condition is fundamental for an effective maintenance planning and definition of the intervention priorities.Different non-contact techniques such as laser scanning, ultrasonic sensors and photogrammetry have recently been proposed to reconstruct three-dimensional topography of road surface and allow extraction of roughness metrics. The application of Microsoft Kinect™ depth camera is proposed and discussed here for collection of 3D data sets from gravel roads, to be implemented in order to allow quantification of surface roughness.The objectives are to: i verify the applicability of the Kinect sensor for characterization of different forest roads, ii identify the appropriateness and potential of different roughness parameters and iii analyse the correlation with vibrations recoded by 3-axis accelerometers installed on different vehicles. The test took advantage of the implementation of the Kinect depth camera for surface roughness determination of 4 different forest gravel roads and one well-maintained asphalt road as reference. Different vehicles (mountain bike, off-road motorcycle, ATV vehicle, 4WD car and compact crossover were included in the experiment in order to verify the vibration intensity when travelling on different road surface conditions. Correlations between the extracted roughness parameters and vibration levels of the tested vehicles were then verified. Coefficients of determination of between 0.76 and 0.97 were detected between average surface roughness and standard deviation of relative accelerations, with higher values in the case of lighter vehicles.

  17. PAH related effects on fish in sedimentation ponds for road runoff and potential transfer of PAHs from sediment to biota.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grung, Merete; Petersen, Karina; Fjeld, Eirik; Allan, Ian; Christensen, Jan H; Malmqvist, Linus M V; Meland, Sondre; Ranneklev, Sissel

    2016-10-01

    Road runoff is an important source of pollution to the aquatic environment, and sedimentation ponds have been installed to mitigate effects on the aquatic environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate if a) fish from sedimentation ponds were affected by road pollution and; b) the transfer of PAHs from road runoff material to aquatic organisms was substantial. Minnow from a sedimentation pond (Skullerud) near Oslo (Norway) had higher levels of CYP1A enzyme and DNA stand breaks than minnow from the nearby river, but high concentrations of PAH-metabolites in bile revealed that both populations were highly exposed. Principal component analysis revealed that CYP1A and age of fish were correlated, while levels of PAH-metabolites were not correlated to CYP1A or DNA damage. Minnow from a lake un-affected by traffic had much lower levels of PAH-metabolites than the exposed fish, and also an improved condition. The latter results indicate that fish health was affected by road runoff. A closer investigation of PAH levels of the ecosystems of two sedimentation ponds (Skullerud and Vassum) and nearby environments were conducted. The concentration of the 16 EPA PAHs in sediments of the sedimentation ponds were high (1900-4200ngg(-1)), and even higher levels were observed in plants. Principal component analysis of selected ion chromatograms of PAHs showed a clear separation of plants vs. sediments. The plants preferentially accumulated the high molecular PAHs, both from sedimentation ponds with a petrogenic PAH isomer ratio in sediments; and from a lake with pyrogenic PAH isomer ratio in sediments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Review of CD Rom: The Virtual Surgeon: ACL Reconstruction ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    THE VIRTUAL SURGEON: ACL RECONSTRUCTION Professor George Bentley ChM FRCS, Russell E LVindsor MD, Mr Andrew Williams FRCS(0rth); 4150 + VAT(UK) The Virtual Surgeon - 3D Anatomy of the Knee 469 + VAT(UK). TVF Multimedia Ltd, 375 City Road, London, EClV lNB, UK ...

  19. The Association between Residence Floor Level and Cardiovascular Disease: The Health and Environment in Oslo Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rohde, Mads K; Aamodt, Geir

    2016-01-01

    Background. Increasingly more people live in tall buildings and on higher floor levels. Factors relating to floor level may protect against or cause cardiovascular disease (CVD). Only one previous study has investigated the association between floor level and CVD. Methods. We studied associations between floor of bedroom and self-reported history of stroke, venous thromboembolism (VTE), and intermittent claudication (IC) among 12.525 inhabitants in Oslo, Norway. We fitted multivariate logistic regression models and adjusted for sociodemographic variables, socioeconomic status (SES), and health behaviors. Additionally, we investigated block apartment residents ( N = 5.374) separately. Results. Trend analyses showed that disease prevalence increased by floor level, for all three outcomes. When we investigated block apartment residents alone, the trends disappeared, but one association remained: higher odds of VTE history on 6th floor or higher, compared to basement and 1st floor (OR: 1.504; 95% CI: 1.007-2.247). Conclusion. Floor level is positively associated with CVD, in Oslo. The best-supported explanation may be residual confounding by building height and SES. Another explanation, about the impact of atmospheric electricity, is also presented. The results underline a need to better understand the associations between residence floor level and CVD and multistory housing and CVD.

  20. Psychosocial factors and distress: a comparison between ethnic Norwegians and ethnic Pakistanis in Oslo, Norway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hussain Akthar

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In the Norwegian context, higher mental distress has been reported for the non-Western immigrants compared to the ethnic Norwegians and Western immigrants. This high level of distress is often related to different socio-economic conditions in this group. No efforts have been made earlier to observe the impact of changed psychosocial conditions on the state of mental distress of these immigrant communities due to the migration process. Therefore, the objective of the study was to investigate the association between psychological distress and psychosocial factors among Pakistani immigrants and ethnic Norwegians in Oslo, and to investigate to what extent differences in mental health could be explained by psychosocial and socioeconomic conditions. Method Data was collected from questionnaires as a part of the Oslo Health Study 2000–2001. 13581 Norwegian born (attendance rate 46% and 339 ethnic Pakistanis (attendance rate 38% in the selected age groups participated. A 10-item version of Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL was used as a measure of psychological distress. Results Pakistanis reported less education and lower employment rate than Norwegians (p Conclusion Poor social support and economic conditions are important mediators of mental health among immigrants. The public health recommendations/interventions should deal with both the economic conditions and social support system of immigrant communities simultaneously.

  1. Attitudes toward suicidal behaviour among professionals at mental health outpatient clinics in Stavropol, Russia and Oslo, Norway

    OpenAIRE

    Norheim, Astrid Berge; Grimholt, Tine K.; Loskutova, Ekaterina; Ekeberg, Oivind

    2016-01-01

    Background Attitudes toward suicidal behaviour can be essential regarding whether patients seek or are offered help. Patients with suicidal behaviour are increasingly treated by mental health outpatient clinics. Our aim was to study attitudes among professionals at outpatient clinics in Stavropol, Russia and Oslo, Norway. Methods Three hundred and forty-eight (82?%) professionals anonymously completed a questionnaire about attitudes. Professionals at outpatient clinics in Stavropol (n?=?119; ...

  2. A one-year observational study of all hospitalized acute poisonings in Oslo: complications, treatment and sequelae

    OpenAIRE

    Lund Cathrine; Drottning Per; Stiksrud Birgitte; Vahabi Javad; Lyngra Marianne; Ekeberg Ivind; Jacobsen Dag; Hovda Knut

    2012-01-01

    Abstract Objectives Changes in poisoning trends may affect both complications and outcomes in patients with acute poisoning. This study reports the treatments given and the frequency of complications, also related to treatment, mortality and sequelae related to various toxic agents. Methods All acute poisonings in adults (≥16 years) admitted to the five hospitals in Oslo were included consecutively during one year (2008 to 2009) in an observational cross-sectional multicenter study. A standar...

  3. Operabygningen i Oslo: et økologisk paradoks

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    Elin Haugdal

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This essay discusses the Oslo Opera House building designed by Snøhetta (inaugurated 2008 as one of three monumental buildings in EU's Eco Culture Program and a so called demonstration building for ecological solutions in architecture. The most visible result in the Opera building is a large-scale glass wall with integrated solar cell panels, producing electricity as well as providing sun shading. The real ecological values, however, are hardly to be measured in money or watt, nor in reduced emissions or climatic change. This solar wall is first and foremost putting a strong ecological intention on display. With its giant ecological footprint Snøhetta's building can never be defended with­in a rational, environmental discourse. It is a contradictory example of sustainable architecture measured up against crucial factors like situatedness, construction and materials, energy consumption and costs. But this spectacular monumental construction which presents a new urban space in a former industrial part of the city, needs to be studied in accordance with deep ecology theories like Félix Guattari's Les trois écologies (1989. Guattari's extended definition of ecology, including sociocultural conditions and human mentality, gives an opportunity to discuss ecology not first and foremost as a rational and ethical challenge in architecture but as an aesthetical.

  4. Simple decision rules can reduce reinjury risk by 84% after ACL reconstruction: the Delaware-Oslo ACL cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grindem, Hege; Snyder-Mackler, Lynn; Moksnes, Håvard; Engebretsen, Lars; Risberg, May Arna

    2016-07-01

    Knee reinjury after ACL reconstruction is common and increases the risk of osteoarthritis. There is sparse evidence to guide return to sport (RTS) decisions in this population. To assess the relationship between knee reinjury after ACL reconstruction and (1) return to level I sports, (2) timing of RTS and (3) knee function prior to return. 106 patients who participated in pivoting sports participated in this prospective 2-year cohort study. Sports participation and knee reinjury were recorded monthly. Knee function was assessed with the Knee Outcome Survey-Activities of Daily Living Scale, global rating scale of function, and quadriceps strength and hop test symmetry. Pass RTS criteria were defined as scores >90 on all tests, failure as failing any. Patients who returned to level I sports had a 4.32 (p=0.048) times higher reinjury rate than those who did not. The reinjury rate was significantly reduced by 51% for each month RTS was delayed until 9 months after surgery, after which no further risk reduction was observed. 38.2% of those who failed RTS criteria suffered reinjuries versus 5.6% of those who passed (HR 0.16, p=0.075). More symmetrical quadriceps strength prior to return significantly reduced the knee reinjury rate. Returning to level I sports after ACL reconstruction leads to a more than 4-fold increase in reinjury rates over 2 years. RTS 9 months or later after surgery and more symmetrical quadriceps strength prior to return substantially reduce the reinjury rate. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  5. An Efficient Method for Automatic Road Extraction Based on Multiple Features from LiDAR Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Y.; Hu, X.; Guan, H.; Liu, P.

    2016-06-01

    The road extraction in urban areas is difficult task due to the complicated patterns and many contextual objects. LiDAR data directly provides three dimensional (3D) points with less occlusions and smaller shadows. The elevation information and surface roughness are distinguishing features to separate roads. However, LiDAR data has some disadvantages are not beneficial to object extraction, such as the irregular distribution of point clouds and lack of clear edges of roads. For these problems, this paper proposes an automatic road centerlines extraction method which has three major steps: (1) road center point detection based on multiple feature spatial clustering for separating road points from ground points, (2) local principal component analysis with least squares fitting for extracting the primitives of road centerlines, and (3) hierarchical grouping for connecting primitives into complete roads network. Compared with MTH (consist of Mean shift algorithm, Tensor voting, and Hough transform) proposed in our previous article, this method greatly reduced the computational cost. To evaluate the proposed method, the Vaihingen data set, a benchmark testing data provided by ISPRS for "Urban Classification and 3D Building Reconstruction" project, was selected. The experimental results show that our method achieve the same performance by less time in road extraction using LiDAR data.

  6. Dental arch relationship in children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate following warsaw (one-stage repair) and oslo protocols.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fudalej, P.S.; Hortis-Dzierzbicka, M.; Dudkiewicz, Z.; Semb, G.

    2009-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To compare the dental arch relationship following one-stage repair of unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) in Warsaw with a matched sample of patients treated by the Oslo Cleft Team. MATERIAL: Study models of 61 children (mean age, 11.2; SD, 1.7) with a nonsyndromic complete UCLP

  7. VECTORIZATION OF ROAD DATA EXTRACTED FROM AERIAL AND UAV IMAGERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Bulatov

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Road databases are essential instances of urban infrastructure. Therefore, automatic road detection from sensor data has been an important research activity during many decades. Given aerial images in a sufficient resolution, dense 3D reconstruction can be performed. Starting at a classification result of road pixels from combined elevation and optical data, we present in this paper a fivestep procedure for creating vectorized road networks. These main steps of the algorithm are: preprocessing, thinning, polygonization, filtering, and generalization. In particular, for the generalization step, which represents the principal area of innovation, two strategies are presented. The first strategy corresponds to a modification of the Douglas-Peucker-algorithm in order to reduce the number of vertices while the second strategy allows a smoother representation of street windings by Bezir curves, which results in reduction – to a decimal power – of the total curvature defined for the dataset. We tested our approach on three datasets with different complexity. The quantitative assessment of the results was performed by means of shapefiles from OpenStreetMap data. For a threshold of 6 m, completeness and correctness values of up to 85% were achieved.

  8. Prior adversities predict posttraumatic stress reactions in adolescents following the Oslo Terror events 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordanger, Dag Ø.; Breivik, Kyrre; Haugland, Bente Storm; Lehmann, Stine; Mæhle, Magne; Braarud, Hanne Cecilie; Hysing, Mari

    2014-01-01

    Background Former studies suggest that prior exposure to adverse experiences such as violence or sexual abuse increases vulnerability to posttraumatic stress reactions in victims of subsequent trauma. However, little is known about how such a history affects responses to terror in the general adolescent population. Objective To explore the role of prior exposure to adverse experiences as risk factors for posttraumatic stress reactions to the Oslo Terror events. Method We used data from 10,220 high school students in a large cross-sectional survey of adolescents in Norway that took place seven months after the Oslo Terror events. Prior exposure assessed was: direct exposure to violence, witnessing of violence, and unwanted sexual acts. We explored how these prior adversities interact with well-established risk factors such as proximity to the events, perceived life threat during the terror events, and gender. Results All types of prior exposure as well as the other risk factors were associated with terror-related posttraumatic stress reactions. The effects of prior adversities were, although small, independent of adolescents’ proximity to the terror events. Among prior adversities, only the effect of direct exposure to violence was moderated by perceived life threat. Exposure to prior adversities increased the risk of posttraumatic stress reactions equally for both genders, but proximity to the terror events and perceived life threat increased the risk more in females. Conclusions Terror events can have a more destabilizing impact on victims of prior adversities, independent of their level of exposure. The findings may be relevant to mental health workers and others providing post-trauma health care. PMID:24872862

  9. Body mass index and progressive hand osteoarthritis: data from the Oslo hand osteoarthritis cohort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magnusson, K; Slatkowsky-Christensen, B; van der Heijde, D; Kvien, T K; Hagen, K B; Haugen, I K

    2015-01-01

    Few longitudinal studies have studied the association between body mass index (BMI) and hand osteoarthritis (OA). We aimed to explore the association between BMI and progressive hand OA in a longitudinal study of the Oslo hand OA cohort. Participants with existing hand OA had hand radiographs and BMI data taken at baseline and 7-year follow-up (n = 103). The radiographs were read according to the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) scale. First, we examined the association between baseline BMI and incident OA (KL grade ≥ 2) in joints without OA at baseline (adjusted for age and sex) using generalized estimating equation (GEE) analyses. Second, we examined whether changes in BMI from baseline to follow-up were associated with increasing KL sum score from baseline to follow-up using linear regression. We repeated the analyses using changes in number of joints with symptomatic OA and patient-reported pain and physical function as the outcome. The mean (SD) age at baseline was 61.6 (5.6) years and 91 (94%) of the cohort were women. The mean (SD) BMI was 25.7 (4.0) kg/m(2) at baseline and the mean (SD) BMI change was 1.1 (2.0) kg/m(2). There was no relationship between baseline BMI and development of more joints with OA during follow-up. Similarly, there was no association between change in BMI and hand OA progression, increasing hand pain or disability. In the Oslo hand OA cohort, higher BMI was not related to hand OA progression.

  10. Prior adversities predict posttraumatic stress reactions in adolescents following the Oslo Terror events 2011.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordanger, Dag Ø; Breivik, Kyrre; Haugland, Bente Storm; Lehmann, Stine; Mæhle, Magne; Braarud, Hanne Cecilie; Hysing, Mari

    2014-01-01

    Former studies suggest that prior exposure to adverse experiences such as violence or sexual abuse increases vulnerability to posttraumatic stress reactions in victims of subsequent trauma. However, little is known about how such a history affects responses to terror in the general adolescent population. To explore the role of prior exposure to adverse experiences as risk factors for posttraumatic stress reactions to the Oslo Terror events. We used data from 10,220 high school students in a large cross-sectional survey of adolescents in Norway that took place seven months after the Oslo Terror events. Prior exposure assessed was: direct exposure to violence, witnessing of violence, and unwanted sexual acts. We explored how these prior adversities interact with well-established risk factors such as proximity to the events, perceived life threat during the terror events, and gender. All types of prior exposure as well as the other risk factors were associated with terror-related posttraumatic stress reactions. The effects of prior adversities were, although small, independent of adolescents' proximity to the terror events. Among prior adversities, only the effect of direct exposure to violence was moderated by perceived life threat. Exposure to prior adversities increased the risk of posttraumatic stress reactions equally for both genders, but proximity to the terror events and perceived life threat increased the risk more in females. Terror events can have a more destabilizing impact on victims of prior adversities, independent of their level of exposure. The findings may be relevant to mental health workers and others providing post-trauma health care.

  11. 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.

  12. Use of emergency care services by immigrants—a survey of walk-in patients who attended the Oslo Accident and Emergency Outpatient Clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruud, Sven Eirik; Aga, Ruth; Natvig, Bård; Hjortdahl, Per

    2015-10-07

    The Oslo Accident and Emergency Outpatient Clinic (OAEOC) experienced a 5-6% annual increase in patient visits between 2005 and 2011, which was significantly higher than the 2-3% annual increase among registered Oslo residents. This study explored immigrant walk-in patients' use of both the general emergency and trauma clinics of the OAEOC and their concomitant use of regular general practitioners (RGPs) in Oslo. A cross-sectional survey of walk-in patients attending the OAEOC during 2 weeks in September 2009. We analysed demographic data, patients' self-reported affiliation with the RGP scheme, self-reported number of OAEOC and RGP consultations during the preceding 12 months. The first approach used Poisson regression models to study visit frequency. The second approach compared the proportions of first- and second-generation immigrants and those from the four most frequently represented countries (Sweden, Pakistan, Somalia and Poland) among the patient population, with their respective proportions within the general Oslo population. The analysis included 3864 patients: 1821 attended the Department of Emergency General Practice ("general emergency clinic"); 2043 attended the Section for Orthopaedic Emergency ("trauma clinic"). Both first- and second-generation immigrants reported a significantly higher OAEOC visit frequency compared with Norwegians. Norwegians, representing 73% of the city population accounted for 65% of OAEOC visits. In contrast, first- and second-generation immigrants made up 27% of the city population but accounted for 35% of OAEOC visits. This proportional increase in use was primarily observed in the general emergency clinic (42% of visits). Their proportional use of the trauma clinic (29%) was similar to their proportion in the city. Among first-generation immigrants only 71% were affiliated with the RGP system, in contrast to 96% of Norwegians. Similar finding were obtained when immigrants were grouped by nationality. Compared to

  13. Patients presenting with acute poisoning to an outpatient emergency clinic: a one-year observational study in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vallersnes, Odd Martin; Jacobsen, Dag; Ekeberg, Øivind; Brekke, Mette

    2015-08-13

    In Oslo, the majority of patients with acute poisoning are treated in primary care, at an emergency outpatient clinic with limited diagnostic and treatment resources. We describe the poisonings currently seen in this setting. We compare our findings with previous studies, with special concern for the appearance of new toxic agents, and changes in overall numbers and patterns of poisoning. Observational study. Patients above the age of 12 years presenting at Oslo Accident and Emergency Outpatient Clinic (Oslo Legevakt) with acute poisoning were included consecutively from October 2011 through September 2012. Physicians and nurses registered data on preset forms. Main outcome measures were toxic agents, age, sex, intention, referral and time of presentation. There were 2923 episodes of acute poisoning in 2261 patients. Median age of the patients was 32 years, and 1430 (63%) were males. The most frequent toxic agents were ethanol in 1684 (58%) episodes, heroin in 542 (19 %), benzodiazepines in 521 (18%), amphetamine in 275 (9%), fire smoke in 192 (7%), gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in 144 (5%), and cannabis in 143 (5%). In 904 (31%) poisonings there were more than one toxic agent. In 493 episodes (17%), the patient was hospitalised, and in 60 episodes (2%) admitted to a psychiatric ward. Most poisonings, 2328 (80%), were accidental overdoses with substances of abuse, 276 (9%) were suicide attempts, and 312 (11%) were accidents. Among ethanol poisonings in patients above the age of 26 years, 685/934 (73%) were in males, and 339/934 (36%) presented during weekends. However, among ethanol poisonings in patients under the age of 26 years, 221/451 (49 ) were in females, and 297/451 (66%) presented during weekends. The poisonings treated in this primary care setting were mostly due to accidental overdoses with ethanol or other substances of abuse. There is a disconcerting weekend drinking pattern among adolescents and young adults, with young females presenting as often as

  14. 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.

  15. The Relationship between Port Stakeholders and their Supply Chain Strategies: Empirical Evidence from the Oslo Fjord Region

    OpenAIRE

    Busa, Laura

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the choice and the effect of port stakeholders’ supply chain strategies and their effect on port performance. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, a qualitative research methodology is applied. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from various port stakeholders (located in the Oslo Fjord region). The collected data was analyzed by using NVivo software. Findings: The findings of this study illustrate various port...

  16. Meeresschutzgebiete für den Nordost-Atlantik und die ostsee im Rahmen der Oslo-Paris-und der Helsinki-Übereinkommen

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Nordheim, Henning

    1999-12-01

    It has been common practice for decades, especially since the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted in Rio (1992), to protect certain marine areas, and the possibilities and scope of such marine protection measures have been widely discussed. The Helsinki and Oslo-Paris Conventions for the protection of the marine environment, which are relevant for Germany, provide a framework for the establishment of marine protected areas. As early as 1993, the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), in its Recommendation 15/5, decided to create a system of “Baltic Sea Protected Areas (BSPA)”, starting with 62 areas. More protected areas are being added to the system. The Oslo-Paris Commission (OSPARCOM), within the framework of the new 1998 Annex V of the Convention on the Protection and Conservation of the Ecosystems and Biological Diversity of the Maritime Area, has initiated the establishment of a system of protected areas in the North-East Atlantic under the guidance of Germany. Information on the current status of both marine environmental protection systems is provided in this paper.

  17. Asymmetric lithosphere as the cause of rifting and magmatism in the Permo-Carboniferous Oslo Graben, in Permo-Carboniferous Rifting and Magmatism in Europe.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pascal Candas, C.; Cloetingh, S.A.P.L.; Davies, G.R.

    2004-01-01

    Compared to other Permo-Carboniferous rift basins of NW Europe, the Oslo Graben has two distinct characteristics. First, it initiated inside cold and stable Precambrian lithosphere, whereas most Permo-Carboniferous basins developed in weaker Phanerozoic lithosphere, and second, it is characterized

  18. FROM THE ROAD SIGN TO THE MAP: 3D MODELING IN SUPPORT OF THE URBAN AND RURAL ROAD CONDITIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Palummo

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV, commonly known as a drone, and an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS have been spreading on a massive scale during the last few years, especially for civilian use. And this situation can have significant repercussions on the ways and purposes with which we make photogrammetry nowadays. In this brief article we take into account the italian road signs as a case study on which to apply the new potential of photogrammetry realized with the aid of drones. Our main purpose is to achieve a specific method which allows the calculation of centimeter precision measurements of solids reconstructed for a mapping of (public and private road signs which require verification or replacement in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. Our hope is that this new approach to photogrammetry may arise opportunities for dialogue with policy makers especially where the usefulness of mapping could also appear predictive with respect to recurrent issues before they become consolidated.

  19. Muusikamaailm : Uusooper täna Houstonis. Budapesti kevadfestivalil. Müncheni linna muusikapreemia. Lauljate "Orfeo" Hannoveris. Oslo saab uue ooperimaja / Priit Kuusk

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kuusk, Priit, 1938-

    2000-01-01

    G. Floydi ooperite "Cold Sassy Tree" ja "Susannah" lavastustest Houstonis USAs. Budapesti kevadfestivalil toimub P. Eötvösi ooperi "Kolm õde" esmalavastus Ungaris. Tänavu pälvis Müncheni linna muusikapreemia Müncheni Kammerorkester. Rahvusvahelise lauljate konkursi "Orfeo 2000" võitjatest. Oslo uus ooperimaja valmib kava kohaselt 2007. aastal

  20. Active numerical model of human body for reconstruction of falls from height.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milanowicz, Marcin; Kędzior, Krzysztof

    2017-01-01

    Falls from height constitute the largest group of incidents out of approximately 90,000 occupational accidents occurring each year in Poland. Reconstruction of the exact course of a fall from height is generally difficult due to lack of sufficient information from the accident scene. This usually results in several contradictory versions of an incident and impedes, for example, determination of the liability in a judicial process. In similar situations, in many areas of human activity, researchers apply numerical simulation. They use it to model physical phenomena to reconstruct their real course over time; e.g. numerical human body models are frequently used for investigation and reconstruction of road accidents. However, they are validated in terms of specific road traffic accidents and are considerably limited when applied to the reconstruction of other types of accidents. The objective of the study was to develop an active numerical human body model to be used for reconstruction of accidents associated with falling from height. Development of the model involved extension and adaptation of the existing Pedestrian human body model (available in the MADYMO package database) for the purposes of reconstruction of falls from height by taking into account the human reaction to the loss of balance. The model was developed by using the results of experimental tests of the initial phase of the fall from height. The active numerical human body model covering 28 sets of initial conditions related to various human reactions to the loss of balance was developed. The application of the model was illustrated by using it to reconstruct a real fall from height. From among the 28 sets of initial conditions, those whose application made it possible to reconstruct the most probable version of the incident was selected. The selection was based on comparison of the results of the reconstruction with information contained in the accident report. Results in the form of estimated

  1. 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.

  2. Bilismen er skadelig for miljoeet, men spiller jeg noen rolle : en studie av holdninger til og bruk av transportmidler blant ungdom i Oslo : summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-04-01

    The report throws light on attitudes toward environmental consequences of transport means among young people in Oslo. A central question is whether young people's use of transport modes is related to their attitudes toward the environmental consequen...

  3. Municipal consultation key to understanding haul road maintenance agreements for Saskatchewan rural municipalities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leibel, R.E.A.

    1998-01-01

    Current municipal perspectives regarding the oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan were described. Municipal jurisdiction and authority regarding road development and heavy haul road maintenance agreements were defined. Based on actual work experience, collaborative working relationships between the oil and gas industry and the municipal sector is well worth some industry time and effort since it will result in cost savings for the industry. In general, rural municipalities receive very limited tax benefits to recapture the costs of road reconstruction and maintenance caused by heavy industry traffic. Road servicing costs can be recaptured only if companies respect the weight limits, hauling regulations and road bans. On the whole, municipalities in Saskatchewan are favourably disposed towards the oil and gas industry, and have done well in the past to accommodate industry's needs. It is not unreasonable therefore to expect that industry show sensitivity to the impact of its activities on the local municipality, and does its level best to be on good terms with the municipalities through early two-way communication. Text of some relevant acts of the Legislature respecting the powers and authorities of rural municipalities are appended

  4. Bruk av analgetika og andre medikamenter blant gravide i Oslo - en spørreskjemaundersøkelse

    OpenAIRE

    Arntsen, Siri Annie; Wedding, Iselin Marie

    2005-01-01

    Background: There are few studies on the subject of drug use during pregnancy over the last decades. The aim of this study was to examine the self-reported prevalence of drug use among pregnant women in Oslo, which type of drugs are most frequently used and to describe changes in drug intake during the first 17-18 gestational weeks. Material and method: 1749 pregnant women, 86 % of the invited and 92 % of those who accepted the invitation, answered a self-completion questionnaire at the a...

  5. Prior adversities predict posttraumatic stress reactions in adolescents following the Oslo Terror events 2011

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dag Ø. Nordanger

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Former studies suggest that prior exposure to adverse experiences such as violence or sexual abuse increases vulnerability to posttraumatic stress reactions in victims of subsequent trauma. However, little is known about how such a history affects responses to terror in the general adolescent population. Objective: To explore the role of prior exposure to adverse experiences as risk factors for posttraumatic stress reactions to the Oslo Terror events. Method: We used data from 10,220 high school students in a large cross-sectional survey of adolescents in Norway that took place seven months after the Oslo Terror events. Prior exposure assessed was: direct exposure to violence, witnessing of violence, and unwanted sexual acts. We explored how these prior adversities interact with well-established risk factors such as proximity to the events, perceived life threat during the terror events, and gender. Results: All types of prior exposure as well as the other risk factors were associated with terror-related posttraumatic stress reactions. The effects of prior adversities were, although small, independent of adolescents’ proximity to the terror events. Among prior adversities, only the effect of direct exposure to violence was moderated by perceived life threat. Exposure to prior adversities increased the risk of posttraumatic stress reactions equally for both genders, but proximity to the terror events and perceived life threat increased the risk more in females. Conclusions: Terror events can have a more destabilizing impact on victims of prior adversities, independent of their level of exposure. The findings may be relevant to mental health workers and others providing post-trauma health care.

  6. Influence of Excessive Moisture in the Subgrade on the Durability and Load-Bearing Capacity of Road Pavements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mieczkowski, P.; Budziński, B.

    2018-05-01

    When well performed, pavement renewal or alteration shall ensure the desired properties of the road during the assumed period of operation. Presence of water in the subgrade can be one of the main factors affecting the structural capacity of pavement and can result in cracking of the bituminous layers, even after a very short period of trafficking. Reconstruction of one of regional roads in Poland has been chosen to serve as an example of inappropriate approach to the problem of the presence of water in the road structure. The project included construction of new layers of pavement and increasing the design life of the whole pavement structure to 4.06 million ESAL of 100 kN (as per the Standard Catalogue of Typical Flexible and Semi-rigid Road Pavement Structures, issue of 1997). After a relatively short period of trafficking (3-5 years) localised alligator cracking appeared on the surface along with structural deformations. The pavement condition assessment including FWD tests was carried out to reveal excessive deflections (over 500 μm) which classify the road for renewal. The analysis of data showed that the main cause of distress was softening of the subgrade caused by an ingress of precipitation water under the pavement layers through the roadway and shoulder edges. The deficiencies of the performed reconstruction occurred both in the roadway (including small step-outs in the cement-treated layer) and partly in the shoulders where the existing soil was in places replaced with impervious material, with the existing (cohesive) material left in place on a major part of the overall length.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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...

  10. 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.

  11. H2moves.eu Scandinavia. ''Experience from operating a 70 MPa hydrogen refuelling station in Oslo''. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sloth, M.

    2013-02-15

    As part of the H2MOVES Scandinavia project H2 Logic were to construct a large scale hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) in Oslo providing hydrogen for FCEV's from Daimler and Hyundai in the project. The effort has provided extensive results and lessons learned across the entire process from site selection, HRS design and manufacturing to the final installation and operation. An extensive site screening of more than 30 sites in Oslo was firstly conducted to identify the most optimal location for the HRS. A suitable site was identified at the research organisation SINTEF in Gaustad in the western part of Oslo. The location was strategically well located with regards to the other HRS's in the city ensuring good refuelling coverage in Oslo. The HRS was manufactured, installed and operated by H2 Logic based on the company's H2Station technology. The HRS provides 70MPa refuelling in accordance with the SAE J2601, and operation results have confirmed refuelling times consistently below four minutes for a full tank. The HRS includes onsite electrolysis production providing a 20kg/day base load supply, with potentially additional trucking-in of hydrogen up to a total capacity of 200kg/day. The installation of the HRS took in total 10 days, from arrival at site, until first refuelling was conducted. This included local inspection by third parties and authorities as well as several days of hydrogen production and compression to reach the necessary refuelling pressure. Before opening a refuelling recommendation process was successfully conducted by Daimler. The HRS opened on 21st November 2011 and has been operated for 13,5 months during the remainder project period (ending December 2012). The HRS is expected to continue operation beyond the project. Below are shown the major operation results from the HRS during the project: 1) 701 kg dispensed; 2) 313 refueling's conducted; 3) Average availability of 97% during first half of 2012; 4) 53% of all down

  12. Time Trends in School Well-Being Among Adolescents in Oslo: Can Trends be Explained by Social Relationships?

    OpenAIRE

    Wilhelmsen, Tiril

    2017-01-01

    Even though well-being in the domain of school is important for mental health, time trend research of this topic is limited. In particular, there is a lack of research investigating differences between ethnic minority and majority students, and there is a lack of literature empirically exploring possible explanations for the time trends in school well-being. The aims of this study were to investigate time trends in school well-being among adolescents in Oslo, explore moderations by gender and...

  13. PAH related effects on fish in sedimentation ponds for road runoff and potential transfer of PAHs from sediment to biota

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grung, Merete; Petersen, Karina; Fjeld, Eirik

    2016-01-01

    of the sedimentation ponds were high (1900-4200ngg(-1)), and even higher levels were observed in plants. Principal component analysis of selected ion chromatograms of PAHs showed a clear separation of plants vs. sediments. The plants preferentially accumulated the high molecular PAHs, both from sedimentation ponds......) the transfer of PAHs from road runoff material to aquatic organisms was substantial. Minnow from a sedimentation pond (Skullerud) near Oslo (Norway) had higher levels of CYP1A enzyme and DNA stand breaks than minnow from the nearby river, but high concentrations of PAH-metabolites in bile revealed that both...... populations were highly exposed. Principal component analysis revealed that CYP1A and age of fish were correlated, while levels of PAH-metabolites were not correlated to CYP1A or DNA damage. Minnow from a lake un-affected by traffic had much lower levels of PAH-metabolites than the exposed fish, and also...

  14. Design and testing of an innovative measurement device for tyre-road contact forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheli, F.; Braghin, F.; Brusarosco, M.; Mancosu, F.; Sabbioni, E.

    2011-08-01

    The measurement of tyre-road contact forces is the first step towards the development of new control systems for improving vehicle safety and performances. Tyre-road contact forces measurement systems are very expensive and significantly modify the unsprung masses of the vehicle as well as the rotational inertia of the tyres. Thus, vehicle dynamics results are significantly affected. As a consequence, the measured contact forces do not correspond to the contact forces under real working conditions. A new low-cost tyre-road contact forces measurement system is proposed in this paper that can be applied to passenger cars. Its working principle is based on the measurement of three deformations of the wheel rim through strain gauges. The tyre-rim assembly is thus turned into a sensor for tyre-road contact forces. The influence of the strain gauges position onto the measurement results has been assessed through finite element simulations and experimental tests. It has been proven that, for a large variety of rims, the strain gauge position that leads to high signal-to-noise ratios is almost the same. A dynamic calibration procedure has been developed in order to allow the reconstruction of contact force and torque components once per wheel turn. The capability of the developed device to correctly estimate tyre-road contact forces has been assessed, in a first stage, through indoor laboratory experimental test on an MTS Flat-Trac ® testing machine. Results show that the implemented measuring system allows to reconstruct contact forces once per wheel turn with a precision that is comparable to that of existing high-cost measurement systems. Subsequently, outdoor tests with a vehicle having all four wheels equipped with the developed measuring device have also been performed. Reliability of the measurements provided by the developed sensor has been assessed by comparing the global measured longitudinal/lateral forces and the product of the measured longitudinal

  15. Low level of alcohol drinking among two generations of non-Western immigrants in Oslo: a multi-ethnic comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amundsen, Ellen J

    2012-07-23

    Alcohol drinking is a risk factor for harm and disease. A low level of drinking among non-Western immigrants may lead to less alcohol-related harm and disease. The first aim of this study was to describe frequency of drinking in two generations of immigrants in Oslo, contrasting the result to drinking frequency among ethnic Norwegians. The second aim was to study how frequency of drinking among adult immigrants was associated with social interaction with their own countrymen and ethnic Norwegians, acculturation, age, gender, socioeconomic factors and the Muslim faith. The Oslo Health Study (HUBRO) was conducted during the period 2000 to 2002 and consisted of three separate surveys: a youth study (15-16-year-olds, a total of 7343 respondents, response rate 88.3%); adult cohorts from 30 to 75 years old (18,770 respondents, response rate 46%); the five largest immigrant groups in Oslo (aged 20-60 years, a total of 3019 respondents, response rate 39.7%). Based on these three surveys, studies of frequency of drinking in the previous year (four categories) were conducted among 15-16-year-olds and their parents' generation, 30-60-year-old Iranians, Pakistanis, Turks and ethnic Norwegians. A structural equation model with drinking frequency as outcome was established for the adult immigrants. Adults and youth of ethnic Norwegian background reported more frequent alcohol use than immigrants with backgrounds from Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. Iranians reported a higher drinking frequency than Turks and Pakistanis. In the structural equation model high drinking frequency was associated with high host culture competence and social interaction, while high own culture competence was associated with low drinking frequency. Adult first-generation immigrants with a longer stay in Norway, those of a higher age, and females drank alcohol less frequently, while those with a higher level of education and work participation drank more frequently. Muslim immigrants reported a significantly

  16. Localized real-time information on outdoor air quality at kindergartens in Oslo, Norway using low-cost sensor nodes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castell, Nuria; Schneider, Philipp; Grossberndt, Sonja; Fredriksen, Mirjam F; Sousa-Santos, Gabriela; Vogt, Mathias; Bartonova, Alena

    2018-08-01

    In Norway, children in kindergartens spend significant time outdoors under all weather conditions, and there is thus a natural concern about the quality of outdoor air. It is well known that air pollution is associated with a wide variety of adverse health impacts for children, with greater impact on children with asthma. Especially during winter and spring, kindergartens in Oslo that are situated close to streets with busy traffic, or in areas where wood burning is used for house heating, can experience many days with bad air quality. During these periods, updated information on air quality levels can help the kindergarten teachers to plan appropriate outdoor activities and thus protect children's health. We have installed 17 low-cost air quality nodes in kindergartens in Oslo. These nodes are smaller, cheaper and less complex to use than traditional equipment. Performance evaluation shows that while they are less accurate and suffer from higher uncertainty than reference equipment, they still can provide reliable coarse information about local pollution. The main challenge when using this technology is that calibration parameters might change with time depending on the atmospheric conditions. Thus, even if the sensors are calibrated a priori, once deployed, and especially if they are deployed for a long time, it is not possible to determine if a node is over- or under-estimating the concentration levels. To enhance the data from the sensors, we employed a data fusion technique that allows generating a detailed air quality map merging the data from the sensors and the data from an urban model, thus being able to offer air quality information to any location within Oslo. We arranged a focus group with the participation of local administration, kindergarten staff and parents to understand their opinion and needs related to the air quality information that was provided to the participant kindergartens. They expressed concern about the data quality but agree that

  17. Barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening among Pakistani and Somali immigrant women in Oslo: a qualitative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gele AA

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Abdi A Gele,1,2 Samera A Qureshi,1 Prabhjot Kour,1 Bernadette Kumar,1 Esperanza Diaz1,3 1Norwegian Center for Minority Health Research, 2Department of Health, Institute of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo and Akershus University College, Oslo; 3Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway Abstract: Norway has a low incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer, which is mainly due to the high participation rate of women in cervical cancer screening. However, the attendance of cervical cancer screening was reported to be low among immigrant women. For this reason, we conducted a qualitative study to obtain better insight into perceived barriers and challenges to cervical cancer screening among Somali and Pakistani women in the Oslo region. A convenient sample of 35 (18 Pakistani, 17 Somali women were recruited for the study in collaboration with Somali and Pakistani community partners. Focus group discussions were used to explore barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening, whereas the Ecological Model was used as the framework for the study. The study found three levels of barriers to cervical cancer screening. The individual level included a lack of understanding of the benefits of the screening. The sociocultural level included the stigma attached to the disease and the belief that women who are unmarried are sexually inactive. The system-related level included a lack of trust toward the health care system. Based on the study results, and using a common denominator approach for the immigrant groups included, the study recommends three communication strategies with the potential to improve women’s participation in cervical cancer screening: 1 in-person communication and information material at health centers; 2 verbal communication with women through seminars and workshops to educate them about their risk of cancer and the importance of screening and 3 the initiation of better recall

  18. 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

  19. Laparoscopic Versus Open Resection for Colorectal Liver Metastases: The OSLO-COMET Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fretland, Åsmund Avdem; Dagenborg, Vegar Johansen; Bjørnelv, Gudrun Maria Waaler; Kazaryan, Airazat M; Kristiansen, Ronny; Fagerland, Morten Wang; Hausken, John; Tønnessen, Tor Inge; Abildgaard, Andreas; Barkhatov, Leonid; Yaqub, Sheraz; Røsok, Bård I; Bjørnbeth, Bjørn Atle; Andersen, Marit Helen; Flatmark, Kjersti; Aas, Eline; Edwin, Bjørn

    2018-02-01

    To perform the first randomized controlled trial to compare laparoscopic and open liver resection. Laparoscopic liver resection is increasingly used for the surgical treatment of liver tumors. However, high-level evidence to conclude that laparoscopic liver resection is superior to open liver resection is lacking. Explanatory, assessor-blinded, single center, randomized superiority trial recruiting patients from Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway from February 2012 to January 2016. A total of 280 patients with resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer were randomly assigned to undergo laparoscopic (n = 133) or open (n = 147) parenchyma-sparing liver resection. The primary outcome was postoperative complications within 30 days (Accordion grade 2 or higher). Secondary outcomes included cost-effectiveness, postoperative hospital stay, blood loss, operation time, and resection margins. The postoperative complication rate was 19% in the laparoscopic-surgery group and 31% in the open-surgery group (12 percentage points difference [95% confidence interval 1.67-21.8; P = 0.021]). The postoperative hospital stay was shorter for laparoscopic surgery (53 vs 96 hours, P < 0.001), whereas there were no differences in blood loss, operation time, and resection margins. Mortality at 90 days did not differ significantly from the laparoscopic group (0 patients) to the open group (1 patient). In a 4-month perspective, the costs were equal, whereas patients in the laparoscopic-surgery group gained 0.011 quality-adjusted life years compared to patients in the open-surgery group (P = 0.001). In patients undergoing parenchyma-sparing liver resection for colorectal metastases, laparoscopic surgery was associated with significantly less postoperative complications compared to open surgery. Laparoscopic resection was cost-effective compared to open resection with a 67% probability. The rate of free resection margins was the same in both groups. Our results support the continued

  20. Calculation of exposure to NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} for Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim; Beregning av NO{sub 2} og PM{sub 10} eksponering for Oslo, Drammen, Bergen og Trondheim. Vinteren 1994-1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sloerdal, L H

    1998-12-31

    This report presents calculations of the human exposure to the air pollutants NO{sub 2} and PM{sub 10} in four Norwegian cities. The calculations are done for the winter 1994/1995. Data on the distribution of residences in a 1 km x 1 km model grid are used to calculate various measures of exposure. It is calculated that large parts of the population are at times subjected to exposures greater than the officially recommended limits. This is particularly the case with NO{sub 2} and for the cities Oslo and Trondheim. 2 refs., 9 tabs.

  1. The production of *sp81m*Kr generators at the Oslo cyclotron

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjroenstad, T.; Holtebekk, T.; Ruud, A.

    1984-01-01

    The techniques developed for the production of *sp81m*Kr(13s) ventilation generators at the Oslo cyclotron are described. The procedure is based on the reaction *sp82*Kr(p,2n)*sp81*Rb using krypton gas of natural composition as target. The target chamber is designed for a gas pressure of 10 bar. The production unit is dimensioned for a parallel production of five generators, but this number may easily be increased. Attention is drawn to the fact that *sp81m*Rb(31 min) is produced in about the same amount as the *sp81*Rb (4.57 h) ground state. The consequences for the calibration procedure is discussed. Routine production has been exerted without major difficulties for nearly 1.5 years. The procedure has proven to be inexpensive and reliable. (Auth.)

  2. Det skriftlige udtryk i bachelorprojekter ved Fysioterapeutuddannelserne i København og Oslo

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hovmand, Bente; Andersen, Bente; Sjöberg, Nils Erik

    2008-01-01

    . At both institutions the project is compulsory. The purpose was to learn more about Bachelor projects by comparing and contrasting Bachelor theses from the institutions, looking into structure, content and methods. Relevance: This study is in line with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA......): Transparency, coherence and tuning. The Bologna Declaration introduced the ECTS system, common grading system and common degree-system. Tuning of educational frames, content, and evaluation of Bachelor projects is important to clarify the level of the Bachelor project. Description: All abstracts from 2007 (86...... from Oslo and 51 from Oresund) and 7 bachelor theses from each institution of the 2 highest grades and of the 2 lowest grades of passed were included , as well as documents describing content and criteria. Each Education evaluated the theses using their own grading criteria. Written evaluations were...

  3. Simulating deforestation and carbon loss in Amazonia: impacts in Brazil's Roraima state from reconstructing Highway BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barni, Paulo Eduardo; Fearnside, Philip Martin; Graça, Paulo Maurício Lima de Alencastro

    2015-02-01

    Reconstruction of Highway BR-319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) would allow for access from the "arc of deforestation" in the southern part of Brazil's Amazon region to vast blocks of forests in central and northern Amazonia. Building roads is known to be a major driver of deforestation, allowing entry of squatters, and other actors. Rather than deforestation along the highway route, here we consider the road's potential for stimulating deforestation in a separate location, approximately 550 km north of BR-319's endpoint in Manaus. Reconstructing BR-319 has great potential impact to start a new wave of migration to this remote region. The southern portion of the state of Roraima, the focus of our study, is already connected to Manaus by Highway BR-174. We modeled deforestation in southern Roraima and simulated carbon emissions between 2007 and 2030 under four scenarios. Simulations used the AGROECO model in DINAMICA-EGO © software. Two scenarios were considered with reconstruction of BR-319 and two without this road connection. For each of the two possibilities regarding BR-319, simulations were developed for (1) a "conservation" (CONSERV) scenario that assumes the creation of a series of protected areas, and (2) a "business-as-usual" (BAU) scenario that assumes no additional protected areas. Results show that by 2030, with BR-319 rebuilt, deforestation carbon emissions would increase between 19% (CONSERV) and 42% (BAU) over and above those corresponding to no-road scenarios.

  4. 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.

  5. Jens Esmark's Christiania (Oslo) meteorological observations 1816-1838: the first long-term continuous temperature record from the Norwegian capital homogenized and analysed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hestmark, Geir; Nordli, Øyvind

    2016-11-01

    In 2010 we rediscovered the complete set of meteorological observation protocols made by Jens Esmark (1762-1839) during his years of residence in the Norwegian capital of Oslo (then Christiania). From 1 January 1816 to 25 January 1839, Esmark at his house in Øvre Voldgate in the morning, early afternoon and late evening recorded air temperature with state-of-the-art thermometers. He also noted air pressure, cloud cover, precipitation and wind directions, and experimented with rain gauges and hygrometers. From 1818 to the end of 1838 he twice a month provided weather tables to the official newspaper Den Norske Rigstidende, and thus acquired a semi-official status as the first Norwegian state meteorologist. This paper evaluates the quality of Esmark's temperature observations and presents new metadata, new homogenization and analysis of monthly means. Three significant shifts in the measurement series were detected, and suitable corrections are proposed. The air temperature in Oslo during this period is shown to exhibit a slow rise from 1816 towards 1825, followed by a slighter fall again towards 1838.

  6. Danish translation and validation of the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre questionnaires on overuse injuries and health problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jorgensen, J E; Rathleff, C R; Rathleff, M S; Andreasen, J

    2016-12-01

    The Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Overuse Injury Questionnaire (OSTRC-O) and the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre questionnaire on Health Problems (The OSTRC-H) make it possible to monitor illness and injury at regular intervals capturing prevalence and incidence of acute injury, overuse injury, and illnesses. The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and establish the face validity of the OSTRC-O and the OSTRC-H into a Danish context (DK) through cognitive interviews and the assessment of test-retest reliability. The OSTRC-O.DK was distributed to 57 heterogenous respondents; response rate was 89%. The OSTRC-H was distributed to 58 heterogenous respondents; response rate was 86%. No major disagreements were observed between the original and translated versions of the questionnaires. The OSTRC-O had high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.80-0.93). The primary reliability analyses including all participants, showed reliability ICC: 0.62 (95% CI: 0.42-0.77. The secondary reliability analyses that only included subjects who did not change injury region from the test to the retest showed an ICC of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.77-0.92).The questionnaires were found to be valid, reliable, and acceptable for use in a Danish population. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. A Norwegian speaks Norwegian : An analysis of categorization and identity construction in narratives of Latin American migrants in Oslo

    OpenAIRE

    Pajaro, Veronica

    2011-01-01

    This project seeks to trace how Latin American migrants residing in Oslo use group categories for self- and other-identification for the negotiation and construction of identities in interaction. Identity construction is an essential process for migration and resettlement, as the relocation of the self in a new context requires a constant process of redefinition of the self in relation to the new environment and community. I consider group categorization labels such as "foreigner," "Norweg...

  8. Quentin Skinner, Staten og friheten. Oslo: Res Publica, 2011. José Luis Martí and Philip Pettit, A Political Philosophy in Public Life. Civic Republicanism in Zapatero's Spain. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010 (Simon Laumann Jørgensen)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Simon Laumann

    2012-01-01

    Anmeldelse af Quentin Skinner, Staten og friheten, Oslo: Res Publica 2011, 199 NOK & José Luis Martí & Philip Pettit, A Political Philosophy in Public Life. Civic Republicanism in Zapatero’s Spain, Princeton: Princeton University Press 2010, $ 24.95......Anmeldelse af Quentin Skinner, Staten og friheten, Oslo: Res Publica 2011, 199 NOK & José Luis Martí & Philip Pettit, A Political Philosophy in Public Life. Civic Republicanism in Zapatero’s Spain, Princeton: Princeton University Press 2010, $ 24.95...

  9. 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.

  10. 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...

  11. En begivenhetsstudie av laksesektoren på Oslo Børs i perioden 2012-2016 : kvartalsresultat vs. analytikernes forventninger

    OpenAIRE

    Mellingen, Torstein Nyhammer

    2017-01-01

    In this master thesis I investigate three issues. First I start by analysing whether the analysts Henning Lund, Kjetil Lye and Kolbjørn Giskeødegård have been able to give their customers excess returns through trade recommendations for salmon stocks at Oslo Stock Exchange between 01.01.2012 – 31.12.2016. By conducting an event study I also analyse how the stock prices for eight salmon companies2 react before, during and after publication of quarterly reports, as well as how the stock prices ...

  12. Stock Price Performance Following Equity Offerings at Oslo Stock Exchange: Is Investing in SEO Companies Hazardous to Your Wealth?

    OpenAIRE

    Grieg, Benedicte Willumsen

    2012-01-01

    I examine the stock price performance following a seasoned equity offering at Oslo Stock Exchange. Through an empirical analysis I find that the existence of a negative announcement effect associated with issuing seasoned equity, as well as a long-run underperformance, is also applicable in the Norwegian market. The level of asymmetry can to a large extent explain the price drop and varies with characteristics like sector, offering size, floatation method, and pre-offer performance. The long-...

  13. 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...

  14. 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,

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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.

  18. ECONOMIC INDICATORS OF ROAD SURFACES RECONSTRUCTIONS IN THE WORLD USING NON-WASTE TECHNOLOGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dilyara Kyazymovna Izmaylova

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The article describes the cost formation of restoration of road surfaces using the methods of replacing and processing the damaged layers. There is a mathematical model of cost of the one unit of production including the cost of building materials with delivery. The estimation of the total cost of repairs in the variable amount using the technology of full replacement of the surface and processing technology of the 50% of the material on the site.

  19. 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

  20. 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,

  1. Professor Svein Stølen, Rector of the University of Oslo, Norway

    CERN Multimedia

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2070299

    2018-01-01

    Professor Svein Stølen, Rector of the University of Oslo, Norway, signing the CERN guestbook in the presence of Martin Steinacher, Director for Finance and Human Resources. The other members of the visiting Norwegian delegations were Prof. Per Morten Sandset (Vice Rector, UiO), Prof. Margareth Hagen (Vice rector, University of Bergen (UiB)), Prof. Morten Dæhlen (Dean, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, UiO), Prof. Helge K. Dahle (Dean, Department of Physics, UiB), Prof. Jøran I. Moen (Head, Department of Physics, UiO), Prof. Øyvind Frette (Head Department of Physics and Technology, UiB), Prof. Alexander L. Read (Chairperson, Norwegian CERN project leaders committee), Prof. Eivind Osnes (Norwegian CERN delegate), Dr Bjørg Mikalsen (Adviser, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, UiO), Dr Liv Furuberg (Norwegian CERN delegate; Special Adviser, Research Council of Norway) and Dr Hanne Hvatum (Senior Advisor, Ministry of Education and Research, Norway).

  2. Changes in food habits after migration among South Asians settled in Oslo: the effect of demographic, socio-economic and integration factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wandel, Margareta; Råberg, Marte; Kumar, Bernadette; Holmboe-Ottesen, Gerd

    2008-01-01

    The aim is to explore changes in food habits after migration, and the resultant present food consumption patterns, as well as the effect of demographic, socio-economic and integration factors on these changes. Analyses were based on data collected through the Oslo Immigrant Health study, from 629 persons 30-60 years of age, born in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and living in Oslo, Norway. A majority of the Sri Lankans reported increase in the consumption of meat, milk, butter, margarine and potatoes. Around half of those from Pakistan reported increased consumption of oil, meat, fish and potatoes. Both groups reported a decrease in bean and lentil consumption. Multivariate regression showed that age was negatively related to increases in butter and margarine consumption, and a good command of the Norwegian language reduced the likelihood of increased consumption of oil and butter. The likelihood of having present fat and sugar rich food patterns were reduced with age and years of education, whereas scoring high on an index of integration increased the likelihood of a fat rich food pattern. In conclusion, a number of demographic and socio-cultural factors may modify the changes in food habits after migration. Some of these may have substantial health implications.

  3. Air pollution and sick-leaves. A case study using air pollution data from Oslo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, A.C.; Selte, H.K.

    2000-01-01

    During the last decade an increasing amount of studies have investigated the relationship between air pollution and human health effects. In this study we investigate how these effects in turn induce reduced labour productivity in terms of sick-leaves, which is an important factor in assessment of air pollution costs in urban areas. For this purpose we employ a logit model along with data on sick-leaves from a large office in Oslo and different air pollutants. Our results indicate that sick-leaves are significantly associated with particulate matter (PM 1 0), while the associations with SO 2 and NO 2 are more ambiguous. We also try to estimate the induced social costs in terms of lost labour productivity and increased governmental expenditures, although these estimates are more uncertain. 17 refs

  4. 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.

  5. Track reconstruction of normal muon decays in the LAMPF TPC: one working scheme

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McKee, R.J.

    1983-01-01

    A working scheme for track reconstruction of normal muon decays in the LAMPF TPC is here outlined. Muon tracks stopping in the TPC and helical electron tracks from muon decay are both identified and fitted for complete event reconstruction. Because of certain geometrical characteristics of the TPC, novel techniques are deployed to find the tracks. Normal road tracing methods do not work reliably; they are replaced by, among other things, a random search technique that locates the helix's planar projection and a carefully worked-out method for correctly putting each coordinate on its proper turn in the helix

  6. 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...

  7. 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...

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. The Roman Road System in the Golan: Highways, Paths and Tracks in Quotidian Life

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pažout Adam

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Roman Imperial Roads (highways built, maintained and organized by the Roman army and provincial authorities were studied in the Golan Heights since Schumacher’s surveys in the 1880s. However, most of these were obliterated by building and agricultural activity since the beginning of the 20th century. Local ancient road system, linking individual communities and their agricultural land was never studied, since it barely leaves a trace in archaeological record. This paper presents reconstruction of inter-provincial highways passing through the southern Golan Heights, and local road system in GIS using cumulative focal mobility network (CFMN analysis. The CFMN provides outline of natural corridors of movement in the region. From CFMN it is possible to extract path with higher mobility potential which will be tested against present evidence for Roman Imperial Highways, since it is assumed that corridors with high mobility potential would be suitable place for construction of (inter-provincial road. Path with lower mobility potential might indicate local road system, so it would be possible to connect agricultural communities with the land they exploited; which in turn may have implications for site prediction and site-catchment analysis exploring quotidian movement of people and goods in the landscape. Two case studies in this respect are presented: the city of Hippos and settlement of es-Safuriyye.

  12. 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.

  13. 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

  14. Experimental research of vehicle traction properties for reconstruction of traffic accidents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dudziak Marian

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to broaden the database of motor vehicle traction properties in unusual conditions, the research team has performed experimental studies: on wet and snow-covered surfaces. Tests of vehicles equipped with winter tyres with non-skid snow chains have been performed on snow-covered surfaces. It has been shown that on snowy surface chains affect vehicle traction properties, mostly during acceleration. They increase the rate of acceleration up to 50% compared to a vehicle with winter tyres without chains. The results of the performed research can be the basis for the full reconstruction of road accidents under these conditions. Knowledge of traction properties of cars in difficult and unusual conditions is an important cognitive factor and serves to improve road safety.

  15. 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

  16. Binge Drinking, Cannabis and Tobacco Use Among Ethnic Norwegian and Ethnic Minority Adolescents in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abebe, Dawit S; Hafstad, Gertrud S; Brunborg, Geir Scott; Kumar, Bernadette Nirmal; Lien, Lars

    2015-08-01

    The aim of the study was to assess prevalence and factors associated with binge drinking, cannabis use and tobacco use among ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minority adolescents in Oslo. We used data from a school-based cross-sectional survey of adolescents in junior- and senior high schools in Oslo, Norway. The participants were 10,934 adolescents aged 14-17 years, and just over half were females. The sample was comprised of 73.2 % ethnic Norwegian adolescents, 9.8 % 1st generation immigrants, and 17 % 2nd generation adolescents from Europe, the US, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Logistic regression models were applied for the data analyses. Age, gender, religion, parental education, parent-adolescent relationships, depressive symptoms and loneliness were covariates in the regression models. Ethnic Norwegian adolescents reported the highest prevalence of binge drinking (16.1 %), whereas the lowest prevalence was found among 2nd generation adolescents from Asia (2.9 %). Likewise, the past-year prevalence for cannabis use ranged from 10.6 % among 2nd generation Europeans and those from the US to 3.7 % among 2nd generation Asians. For daily tobacco use, the prevalence ranged from 12.9 % among 2nd generation Europeans and the US to 5.1 % among 2nd generation Asians. Ethnicity, age, gender, religion, parental education, and parent-adolescent relationships and mental health status were significantly associated with binge drinking, cannabis and tobacco use. These factors partly explained the observed differences between ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minority adolescents in the current study. There are significant differences in substance use behaviors between ethnic Norwegian and immigrant youth. Factors like age, gender, religion, parental education and relationships and mental health status might influence the relationship between ethnicity and substance abuse. The findings have implications for planning selective- as well as universal prevention interventions.

  17. 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...

  18. 26 CFR 1.954-6 - Foreign base company shipping income.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... country. (ii) The term vessel includes all water craft and other artificial contrivances of whatever...: (1) Overland by road from Hamar, Norway, to Gothenburg, Sweden, by unrelated motor carriers via Oslo... within a single port area will be considered performed at a single facility. (iii) The application of...

  19. Glazed yard climate in the Kredittkassen office block in Middelthunsgt. 17. [Oslo, Norway]. Glassgaardsklima i Kredittkassens kontorbygg i Middelthunsgt. 17

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Novakovic, V; Harsem, T T

    1986-09-01

    The report deals with the glazed yard climate in the Kredittkassen head office block in Oslo (Norway). The climate has been simulated by means of the computer program Royal-DEBAK. Considered in particular are the summery and bright sunny day conditions together with the annual power required and energy consumption. The use of insulating glasses, indoor curtains, ventilation systems in the narrow zone of the glass roof, and cooling systems in the floor are important parts of the concept. 9 drawings.

  20. Five-year mortality after acute poisoning treated in ambulances, an emergency outpatient clinic and hospitals in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lund, Cathrine; Bjornaas, Mari A; Sandvik, Leiv; Ekeberg, Oivind; Jacobsen, Dag; Hovda, Knut E

    2013-08-21

    The long-term mortality after prehospital treatment for acute poisoning has not been studied previously. Thus, we aimed to estimate the five-year mortality and examine the causes of death and predictors of death for all acutely poisoned patients treated in ambulances, the emergency outpatient clinic, and hospitals in Oslo during 2003-2004. A prospective cohort study included all adults (≥16 years; n=2045, median age=35 years, male=58%) who were discharged after treatment for acute poisoning in ambulances, the emergency outpatient clinic, and the four hospitals in Oslo during one year. The patients were observed until the end of 2008. Standardized mortality rates (SMRs) were calculated and multivariate Cox regression analysis was applied. The study comprised 2045 patients; 686 treated in ambulances, 646 treated in the outpatient clinic, and 713 treated in hospitals. After five years, 285 (14%) patients had died (four within one week). The SMRs after ambulance, outpatient, and hospital treatment were 12 (CI 9-14), 10 (CI 8-12), and 6 (CI 5-7), respectively. The overall SMR was 9 (CI 8-10), while the SMR after opioid poisoning was 27 (CI 21-32). The most frequent cause of death was accidents (38%). In the regression analysis, opioids as the main toxic agents (HR 2.3, CI 1.6-3.0), older age (HR 1.6, CI 1.5-1.7), and male sex (HR 1.4, CI 1.1-1.9) predicted death, whereas the treatment level did not predict death. The patients had high mortality compared with the general population. Those treated in hospital had the lowest mortality. Opioids were the major predictor of death.

  1. Pavement Condition Assessment Using IRI from Roadroid and Surface Distress Index Method on National Road in Sumenep Regency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arianto, T.; Suprapto, M.; Syafi’i

    2018-03-01

    The pavement condition will decrease due to the influence of traffic and environment, so that the maintenance effort is needed to maintain the road condition during the service period. In order to carry out road maintenance activities right on target, there needs to be a plan based on accurate pavement condition data. Road roughness is the most commonly used condition parameter in evaluating pavement conditions objectively because road roughness data is relatively easy to obtain, well correlated with vehicle operating costs and the most relevant parameter in road functional performance measurement. The Roadroid is an Android-based application that measures road roughness by using vibration sensors on a smartphone so it is possible to get an International Roughness Index (IRI) value as an indicator of pavement conditions more easily and efficiently. Besides based on road roughness, pavement condition evaluation can also be done visually by using Surface Distress Index (SDI) method that uses the total crack area parameters, average crack width, total number of potholes and the average depth of rutting. This study attempts to assess the condition of Jenderal Sudirman-Kalianget road by combining IRI Roadroid value and SDI value which will be used as the basis to determine the required road maintenance. This road segment is one of the national strategic road connecting the center of Sumenep regency with the Kalianget harbor. Based on IRI measurement and SDI calculation, the pavement condition of Jenderal Sudirman-Kalianget road can be described 4.2 kilometers (37.17%) were good and 2.3 kilometers (20.35%) were fair that need routine maintenance. While 2.1 kilometers (18.58%) were bad and 2.7 kilometers (23.89%) were poor that need periodical maintenance and reconstruction.

  2. [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).

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Reconstruction of Facial Defect Using Deltopectoral Flap.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aldelaimi, Tahrir N; Khalil, Afrah A

    2015-11-01

    Reconstruction of the head and neck is a challenge for otolarygology surgeons, maxillofacial surgeons as well as plastic surgeons. Defects caused by the resection and/or trauma should be closed with flaps which match in color, texture and hair bearing characteristics with the face. Deltopectoral flap is a one such flap from chest and neck skin mainly used to cover the facial defects. This study report a patient presenting with tragic Road Traffic Accident (RTA) admitted to maxillofacial surgery department at Ramadi Teaching Hospital, Anbar province, Iraq. An incision, medially based, was done and deltopectoral fascio-cutaneous flap was used for surgical exposure and closure of defects after RTA. There was no major complication. Good aesthetic and functional results were achieved. Deltopectoral flap is an excellent alternative for the reconstruction of head and neck. Harvesting and application of the flap is rapid and safe. Only a single incision is sufficient for dissection and flap elevation.

  7. Stochastics of environmental and financial economics Centre of Advanced Study, Oslo, Norway, 2014-2015

    CERN Document Server

    Nunno, Giulia

    2016-01-01

    These Proceedings offer a selection of peer-reviewed research and survey papers by some of the foremost international researchers in the fields of finance, energy, stochastics and risk, who present their latest findings on topical problems. The papers cover the areas of stochastic modeling in energy and financial markets; risk management with environmental factors from a stochastic control perspective; and valuation and hedging of derivatives in markets dominated by renewables, all of which further develop the theory of stochastic analysis and mathematical finance. The papers were presented at the first conference on “Stochastics of Environmental and Financial Economics (SEFE)”, being part of the activity in the SEFE research group of the Centre of Advanced Study (CAS) at the Academy of Sciences in Oslo, Norway during the 2014/2015 academic year.

  8. 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...

  9. 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.

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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.

  13. Psychosocial factors and distress: a comparison between ethnic Norwegians and ethnic Pakistanis in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Syed, Hammad Raza; Dalgard, Odd Steffen; Dalen, Ingvild; Claussen, Bjørgulf; Hussain, Akthar; Selmer, Randi; Ahlberg, Nora

    2006-07-10

    In the Norwegian context, higher mental distress has been reported for the non-Western immigrants compared to the ethnic Norwegians and Western immigrants. This high level of distress is often related to different socio-economic conditions in this group. No efforts have been made earlier to observe the impact of changed psychosocial conditions on the state of mental distress of these immigrant communities due to the migration process. Therefore, the objective of the study was to investigate the association between psychological distress and psychosocial factors among Pakistani immigrants and ethnic Norwegians in Oslo, and to investigate to what extent differences in mental health could be explained by psychosocial and socioeconomic conditions. Data was collected from questionnaires as a part of the Oslo Health Study 2000-2001. 13581 Norwegian born (attendance rate 46%) and 339 ethnic Pakistanis (attendance rate 38%) in the selected age groups participated. A 10-item version of Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) was used as a measure of psychological distress. Pakistanis reported less education and lower employment rate than Norwegians (p < 0.005). The Pakistani immigrants also reported higher distress, mean HSCL score 1.53(1.48-1.59), compared to the ethnic Norwegians, HSCL score 1.30(1.29-1.30). The groups differed significantly (p < 0.005) with respect to social support and feeling of powerlessness, the Pakistanis reporting less support and more powerlessness. The expected difference in mean distress was reduced from 0.23 (0.19-0.29) to 0.07 (0.01-0.12) and 0.12 (0.07-0.18) when adjusted for socioeconomic and social support variables respectively. Adjusting for all these variables simultaneously, the difference in the distress level between the two groups was eliminated Poor social support and economic conditions are important mediators of mental health among immigrants. The public health recommendations/interventions should deal with both the economic conditions

  14. The Oslo Health Study: The impact of self-selection in a large, population-based survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Søgaard, Anne Johanne; Selmer, Randi; Bjertness, Espen; Thelle, Dag

    2004-01-01

    Background Research on health equity which mainly utilises population-based surveys, may be hampered by serious selection bias due to a considerable number of invitees declining to participate. Sufficient information from all the non-responders is rarely available to quantify this bias. Predictors of attendance, magnitude and direction of non-response bias in prevalence estimates and association measures, are investigated based on information from all 40 888 invitees to the Oslo Health Study. Methods The analyses were based on linkage between public registers in Statistics Norway and the Oslo Health Study, a population-based survey conducted in 2000/2001 inviting all citizens aged 30, 40, 45, 59–60 and 75–76 years. Attendance was 46%. Weighted analyses, logistic regression and sensitivity analyses are performed to evaluate possible selection bias. Results The response rate was positively associated with age, educational attendance, total income, female gender, married, born in a Western county, living in the outer city residential regions and not receiving disability benefit. However, self-rated health, smoking, BMI and mental health (HCSL) in the attendees differed only slightly from estimated prevalence values in the target population when weighted by the inverse of the probability of attendance. Observed values differed only moderately provided that the non-attending individuals differed from those attending by no more than 50%. Even though persons receiving disability benefit had lower attendance, the associations between disability and education, residential region and marital status were found to be unbiased. The association between country of birth and disability benefit was somewhat more evident among attendees. Conclusions Self-selection according to sociodemographic variables had little impact on prevalence estimates. As indicated by disability benefit, unhealthy persons attended to a lesser degree than healthy individuals, but social inequality in

  15. The Oslo Health Study: The impact of self-selection in a large, population-based survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bjertness Espen

    2004-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Research on health equity which mainly utilises population-based surveys, may be hampered by serious selection bias due to a considerable number of invitees declining to participate. Sufficient information from all the non-responders is rarely available to quantify this bias. Predictors of attendance, magnitude and direction of non-response bias in prevalence estimates and association measures, are investigated based on information from all 40 888 invitees to the Oslo Health Study. Methods The analyses were based on linkage between public registers in Statistics Norway and the Oslo Health Study, a population-based survey conducted in 2000/2001 inviting all citizens aged 30, 40, 45, 59–60 and 75–76 years. Attendance was 46%. Weighted analyses, logistic regression and sensitivity analyses are performed to evaluate possible selection bias. Results The response rate was positively associated with age, educational attendance, total income, female gender, married, born in a Western county, living in the outer city residential regions and not receiving disability benefit. However, self-rated health, smoking, BMI and mental health (HCSL in the attendees differed only slightly from estimated prevalence values in the target population when weighted by the inverse of the probability of attendance. Observed values differed only moderately provided that the non-attending individuals differed from those attending by no more than 50%. Even though persons receiving disability benefit had lower attendance, the associations between disability and education, residential region and marital status were found to be unbiased. The association between country of birth and disability benefit was somewhat more evident among attendees. Conclusions Self-selection according to sociodemographic variables had little impact on prevalence estimates. As indicated by disability benefit, unhealthy persons attended to a lesser degree than healthy individuals

  16. 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...

  17. Sensor data fusion for textured reconstruction and virtual representation of alpine scenes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Häufel, Gisela; Bulatov, Dimitri; Solbrig, Peter

    2017-10-01

    The concept of remote sensing is to provide information about a wide-range area without making physical contact with this area. If, additionally to satellite imagery, images and videos taken by drones provide a more up-to-date data at a higher resolution, or accurate vector data is downloadable from the Internet, one speaks of sensor data fusion. The concept of sensor data fusion is relevant for many applications, such as virtual tourism, automatic navigation, hazard assessment, etc. In this work, we describe sensor data fusion aiming to create a semantic 3D model of an extremely interesting yet challenging dataset: An alpine region in Southern Germany. A particular challenge of this work is that rock faces including overhangs are present in the input airborne laser point cloud. The proposed procedure for identification and reconstruction of overhangs from point clouds comprises four steps: Point cloud preparation, filtering out vegetation, mesh generation and texturing. Further object types are extracted in several interesting subsections of the dataset: Building models with textures from UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) videos, hills reconstructed as generic surfaces and textured by the orthophoto, individual trees detected by the watershed algorithm, as well as the vector data for roads retrieved from openly available shapefiles and GPS-device tracks. We pursue geo-specific reconstruction by assigning texture and width to roads of several pre-determined types and modeling isolated trees and rocks using commercial software. For visualization and simulation of the area, we have chosen the simulation system Virtual Battlespace 3 (VBS3). It becomes clear that the proposed concept of sensor data fusion allows a coarse reconstruction of a large scene and, at the same time, an accurate and up-to-date representation of its relevant subsections, in which simulation can take place.

  18. Air pollution exposure in Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim. Calculations of NO2, PM10 and PM2,5 for the winter 1995 to 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sloerdal, Leif Haavard

    1998-07-01

    The Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) commissioned by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (Statens forurensningstilsyn), has calculated human exposure values to NO 2 , PM 1 0 and PM 2 ,5 in the cities of Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim. In Oslo, Drammen and Bergen the calculations are made for the winter 1995 to 1996. For Trondheim the necessary meteorological data were missing and the calculations are therefore made for the winter of 1994 to 1995. In the project only simplified exposure calculations are carried out where estimated ground concentrations and population distribution information at the km 2 level are connected. The calculations are then made as if everyone have been outside at the home address during the entire estimation period, termed ''potential exposure''. The population exposure load is estimated for excesses of various air quality criteria and the results are presented. In addition values for the worst hour and/or the worst day of exposure for each of the four cities are presented. The term worst is defined as the hour or the day in the simulation period where the most number of people are exposed to concentrations exceeding the threshold values for air quality recommended by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. For NO 2 these threshold figures are 100 microgram/m 3 for hour values and 75 microgram/m 3 for day values. For PM 1 0 and PM 2 ,5 criteria for hour values do not exist while day values are now stipulated as 35 microgram/m 3 for PM 1 0 and 20 microgram/m 3 for PM 2 ,5. The calculated maximum concentrations may not coincide with these values. The report gives results for exposure estimates for NO 2 , PM 1 0 and PM 2 ,5 in the cities and evaluates the significance of regional background levels, traffic and heating emissions in contributions to the total population exposure load. The exposure to NO 2 is largest in Bergen. The PM 1 0 and PM 2 ,5 i.e. particle exposure, is greater than for NO 2 and is largest in Oslo

  19. 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

  20. 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...

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Concentration distribution of NO2, PM10 and PM2,5 in severe pollution episodes in Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sloerdal, Leiv Haavard; Toennesen, Dag

    1999-04-01

    Based on hourly model calculations of NO 2 , PM 1 0 and PM 2 ,5 through a 6 months winter season in the cities of Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim, the 10 most severe pollution episodes have been analysed. Concentration distributions, calculated as the average of these episodes have been combined with the population distribution in order to reveal the exposure levels in such episodes. The model calculations have only been performed for the city background, i.e. on a km 2 grid system. (author)

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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...

  8. Practical method for estimating road curvatures using onboard GPS and IMU equipment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamfir, S.; Drosescu, R.; Gaiginschi, R.

    2016-08-01

    This paper describes an experimental method to determine with high accuracy the curvature of a road segment, the turning radius of a car, and the discomfort level perceived by the passengers in the vehicle cabin when passing through a curve. For these experiments we used professional equipment provided with two GPS active antennas with 13 dB gain featuring non-contact 100 Hz speed and distance measurement, and a ten degree Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with dynamic orientation outputs. The same experimental measurements also usedthe low cost GPS equipment available on smartphones, domestic vehicle GPS devices, as well as an Arduino GPS shield in order to compare the results generated by professional equipment. The purpose of these experiments was also to establish if certain road curve sections were correctly executed in order to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers. Another use of the proposed method relates to the road accident reconstruction field, providing experts and forensics with an accurate method of measuring the roadway curvature at accident scenes or traffic events. The research and equipment described in this paper have been acquired and developed under a PhD studyand a European funded project won and elaborated by the authors.

  9. Antihydrogen annihilation reconstruction with the ALPHA silicon detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Andresen, G.B. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C (Denmark); Ashkezari, M.D. [Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6 (Canada); Bertsche, W. [Department of Physics, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP (United Kingdom); Bowe, P.D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C (Denmark); Butler, E. [European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Cesar, C.L. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-972 (Brazil); Chapman, S. [Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7300 (United States); Charlton, M.; Deller, A.; Eriksson, S. [Department of Physics, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP (United Kingdom); Fajans, J. [Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7300 (United States); Friesen, T. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4 (Canada); Fujiwara, M.C. [TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 2A3 (Canada); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4 (Canada); Gill, D.R. [TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 2A3 (Canada); Gutierrez, A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hangst, J.S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C (Denmark); Hardy, W.N. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4 (Canada); Hayden, M.E. [Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6 (Canada); Hayano, R.S. [Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Humphries, A.J. [Department of Physics, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8PP (United Kingdom); and others

    2012-08-21

    The ALPHA experiment has succeeded in trapping antihydrogen, a major milestone on the road to spectroscopic comparisons of antihydrogen with hydrogen. An annihilation vertex detector, which determines the time and position of antiproton annihilations, has been central to this achievement. This detector, an array of double-sided silicon microstrip detector modules arranged in three concentric cylindrical tiers, is sensitive to the passage of charged particles resulting from antiproton annihilation. This article describes the method used to reconstruct the annihilation location and to distinguish the annihilation signal from the cosmic ray background. Recent experimental results using this detector are outlined.

  10. Antihydrogen annihilation reconstruction with the ALPHA silicon detector

    CERN Document Server

    Andresen, G B; Bertsche, W; Bowe, P D; Butler, E; Cesar, C L; Chapman, S; Charlton, M; Deller, A; Eriksson, S; Fajans, J; Friesen, T; Fujiwara, M C; Gill, D.R; Gutierrez, A; Hangst, J S; Hardy, W N; Hayden, M E; Hayano, R S; Humphries, A J; Hydomako, R; Jonsell, S; Jorgensen, L V; Kurchaninov, L; Madsen, N; Menary, S; Nolan, P; Olchanski, K; Olin, A; Povilus, A; Pusa, P; Sarid, E; Seif el Nasr, S; Silveira, D M; So, C; Storey, J W; Thompson, R I; van der Werf, D P; Yamazaki, Y

    2012-01-01

    The ALPHA experiment has succeeded in trapping antihydrogen, a major milestone on the road to spectroscopic comparisons of antihydrogen with hydrogen. An annihilation vertex detector, which determines the time and position of antiproton annihilations, has been central to this achievement. This detector, an array of double-sided silicon microstrip detector modules arranged in three concentric cylindrical tiers, is sensitive to the passage of charged particles resulting from antiproton annihilation. This article describes the method used to reconstruct the annihilation location and to distinguish the annihilation signal from the cosmic ray background. Recent experimental results using this detector are outlined.

  11. Air pollution exposure in Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim. Calculations of NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 10} and PM{sub 2,5} for the winter 1995 to 1996; Eksponering til luftforurensing i Oslo, Drammen, Bergen og Trondheim. Beregninger av NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 10} og PM{sub 2,5} for vinteren 1995-1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sloerdal, Leif Haavard

    1998-07-01

    The Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) commissioned by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (Statens forurensningstilsyn), has calculated human exposure values to NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 1}0 and PM{sub 2},5 in the cities of Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim. In Oslo, Drammen and Bergen the calculations are made for the winter 1995 to 1996. For Trondheim the necessary meteorological data were missing and the calculations are therefore made for the winter of 1994 to 1995. In the project only simplified exposure calculations are carried out where estimated ground concentrations and population distribution information at the km{sub 2} level are connected. The calculations are then made as if everyone have been outside at the home address during the entire estimation period, termed ''potential exposure''. The population exposure load is estimated for excesses of various air quality criteria and the results are presented. In addition values for the worst hour and/or the worst day of exposure for each of the four cities are presented. The term worst is defined as the hour or the day in the simulation period where the most number of people are exposed to concentrations exceeding the threshold values for air quality recommended by the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority. For NO{sub 2} these threshold figures are 100 microgram/m{sup 3} for hour values and 75 microgram/m{sup 3} for day values. For PM{sub 1}0 and PM{sub 2},5 criteria for hour values do not exist while day values are now stipulated as 35 microgram/m{sup 3} for PM{sub 1}0 and 20 microgram/m{sup 3} for PM{sub 2},5. The calculated maximum concentrations may not coincide with these values. The report gives results for exposure estimates for NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 1}0 and PM{sub 2},5 in the cities and evaluates the significance of regional background levels, traffic and heating emissions in contributions to the total population exposure load. The exposure to NO{sub 2} is largest in Bergen. The PM{sub 1}0 and

  12. Concentration distribution of NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 10} and PM{sub 2,5} in severe pollution episodes in Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim; Konsentrasjonsfordelingen av NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 10} og PM{sub 2,5} i sterke forurensningsepisoder i Oslo, Drammen, Bergen og Trondheim

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sloerdal, Leiv Haavard; Toennesen, Dag

    1999-04-01

    Based on hourly model calculations of NO{sub 2}, PM{sub 1}0 and PM{sub 2},5 through a 6 months winter season in the cities of Oslo, Drammen, Bergen and Trondheim, the 10 most severe pollution episodes have been analysed. Concentration distributions, calculated as the average of these episodes have been combined with the population distribution in order to reveal the exposure levels in such episodes. The model calculations have only been performed for the city background, i.e. on a km{sub 2} grid system. (author)

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. Suboptimal Iodine Status among Pregnant Women in the Oslo Area, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henjum, Sigrun; Aakre, Inger; Lilleengen, Anne Marie; Garnweidner-Holme, Lisa; Borthne, Sandra; Pajalic, Zada; Blix, Ellen; Gjengedal, Elin Lovise Folven; Brantsæter, Anne Lise

    2018-02-28

    Norway has been considered iodine replete for decades; however, recent studies indicate reemergence of inadequate iodine status in different population groups. We assessed iodine status in pregnant women based on urinary iodine concentration (UIC), urinary iodine excretion (UIE), and iodine intake from food and supplements. In 804 pregnant women, 24-h iodine intakes from iodine-rich foods and iodine-containing supplements were calculated. In 777 women, iodine concentration was measured in spot urine samples by inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In addition, 49 of the women collected a 24-h urine sample for assessment of UIE and iodine intake from food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Median UIC was 92 µg/L. Fifty-five percent had a calculated iodine intake below estimated average requirement (EAR) (160 µg/day). Iodine intake from food alone did not provide the amount of iodine required to meet maternal and fetal needs during pregnancy. In multiple regression models, hypothyroidism, supplemental iodine and maternal age were positively associated with UIC, while gestational age and smoking were negatively associated, explaining 11% of the variance. This study clearly shows that pregnant women in the Oslo area are mild to moderate iodine deficient and public health strategies are needed to improve and secure adequate iodine status.

  16. 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...

  17. The URban Greenhouse gas Emissions assessment through inverse modeling (URGE) project: a pilot study in the Oslo area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pisso, I. J.; Lopez-Aparicio, S.; Schneider, P.; Schmidbauer, N.; Vogt, M.

    2017-12-01

    Norway has set the target of cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 40% compared to 1990 levels by 2030. This goal will require the implementation of policy measures aiming at strong reductions of GHGs emissions, especially in the urban environment. The implementation of urban policy measures is still a challenging task and it requires control and verification for success. The URGE project aims at assessing the emission flux of GHGs including comprehensive uncertainty estimates based on inverse transport modelling techniques and optimized use of measurements. The final goal is to establish a coherent and consistent GHG urban emission inventory. This will be carried out in a case study in Oslo (Norway), where CO2 will be the priority compound. The overall outcome of the project will provide support in the development of strategies to effectively reduce GHG emissions in the urban environment. The overall goal will be reached through establishing the baseline urban CO2 emission inventory for Oslo; determining the optimal measurement locations based on transport modelling (with flexpart-wrf); designing and carrying out a pilot measurement campaign of the CO2-rich air downwind of the city plume combining state-of-the-art instruments (Picarro) and small sensors; assessing the feasibility of determining the background concentration surrounding the city with satellite measurements (OCO2); and providing optimised estimates of the emissions and their uncertainties via inverse modelling (source-receptor relationship). One of our main interests is the interoperability and exchange of information with similar activities in other urban areas. We will present the overall project and the preliminary results of the network design. We will discuss the data exchange formats, the algorithms and data structures that could be used for results and methodology intercomparisons as well as the suitability to apply the same techniques to other atmospheric compounds.

  18. 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).

  19. 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

  20. 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...

  1. Monitoring snowmelt and solute transport at Oslo airport by combining time-lapse electrical resistivity, soil water sampling and tensiometer measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloem, E.; French, H. K.

    2013-12-01

    Monitoring contaminant transport at contaminated sites requires optimization of the configuration of a limited number of samplings points combined with heterogeneous flow and preferential flowpaths. Especially monitoring processes in the unsaturated zone is a major challenge due to the limited volume monitored by for example suction cups and their risk to clog in a highly active degradation zone. To make progress on soil contamination assessment and site characterization there is a strong need to integrate field-sale extensively instrumented tools, with non-invasive (geophysical) methods which provide spatially integrated measurements also in the unsaturated zone. Examples of sites that might require monitoring activities in the unsaturated zone are airports with winter frost where large quantities of de-icing chemicals are used each winter; salt and contaminant infiltration along roads; constructed infiltration systems for treatment of sewerage or landfill seepage. Electrical resistivity methods have proved to be useful as an indirect measurement of subsurface properties and processes at the field-scale. The non-uniqueness of the interpretation techniques can be reduced by constraining the inversion through the addition of independent geophysical measurements along the same profile. Or interpretation and understanding of geophysical images can be improved by the combination with classical measurements of soil physical properties, soil suction, contaminant concentration and temperatures. In our experiment, at the research field station at Gardermoen, Oslo airport, we applied a degradable de-icing chemical and an inactive tracer to the snow cover prior to snowmelt. To study the solute transport processes in the unsaturated zone time-lapse cross borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements were conducted at the same time as soil water samples were extracted at multiple depths with suction cups. Measurements of soil temperature, and soil tension were

  2. 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...

  3. Road dust emissions from paved roads measured using different mobile systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirjola, Liisa; Johansson, Christer; Kupiainen, Kaarle; Stojiljkovic, Ana; Karlsson, Hans; Hussein, Tareq

    2010-12-01

    Very few real-world measurements of road dust suspension have been performed to date. This study compares two different techniques (referred to as Sniffer and Emma) to measure road dust emissions. The main differences between the systems are the construction of the inlet, different instruments for recording particulate matter (PM) levels, and different loads on the wheel axes (the weight of Sniffer was much higher than that of Emma). Both systems showed substantial small-scale variations of emission levels along the road, likely depending on-road surface conditions. The variations observed correlated quite well, and the discrepancies are likely a result of variations in dust load on the road surface perpendicular to the driving direction that cause variations in the measurements depending on slightly different paths driven by the two vehicles. Both systems showed a substantial influence on the emission levels depending on the type of tire used. The summer tire showed much lower suspension than the winter tires (one nonstudded and one studded). However, the relative importance of the nonstudded versus studded tire was rather different. For the ratio of studded/nonstudded, Emma shows higher values on all road sections compared with Sniffer. Both techniques showed increased emission levels with increasing vehicle speed. When the speed increased from 50 to 80 km hr(-1), the relative concentrations increased by 30-170% depending on the tire type and dust load. However, for road sections that were very dirty, Sniffer showed a much higher relative increase in the emission level with the nonstudded tire. Sniffer's absolute concentrations were mostly higher than Emma's. Possible reasons for the differences are discussed in the paper. Both systems can be used for studying relative road dust emissions and for designing air quality management strategies.

  4. 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.

  5. 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...

  6. 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.

  7. 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...

  8. 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...

  9. 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...

  10. Reconstruction of soft tissue defects around the ankle and foot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bharat Bhushan Dogra

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Soft tissue defects over ankle and foot region are encountered quite frequently following road traffic trauma and surgery. Management of such cases is a challenging task for any reconstructive surgeon because of paucity of skin and relative poor vascular status of skin in this region. Hence, invariably such cases require microsurgical free flap coverage, expertise for which may not be available at all the centers, such procedures require long operating hours and suitable recipient vessel may not be available in crush injuries. Materials and Methods: Thirty consecutive patients having soft tissue defects around ankle and foot region who underwent various reconstructive procedures in a medical college hospital during last 2 years form the basis of this study. This study was carried out to enlist various etiological factors and reconstructive surgical procedures employed to manage such cases without microsurgery. Results: The age of these patients ranged from 9 to 72 years. Twenty-five patients were males while 05 were females, with a mean age of 25 years. Road traffic accidents happened to be the primary cause of such defects in as many as 15 patients, cycle spoke trauma in 02 patients, implant exposure following orthopedic surgery in 6 patients, diabetic angiopathy in 4 patients and chronic osteomyelitis in 3 patients. The site of the defect was lower fourth of tibia in 16 patients, dorsum of foot in 2 patients, sole in 5 patients, medial aspect of ankle in 02 cases, lateral aspect in 02 cases and retro calcaneal region in 03 cases. In 10 cases distally based superficial sural artery flap was used to reconstruct the defect. In step rotation flap was used to provide sensory flap cover in the weight bearing heel in 04 cases. Inferiorly based fasciocutanenous flaps in 09 cases and muscle flaps were used in 07 cases. Conclusion: Distally based sural artery based flaps are very handy to provide skin cover around ankle and malleolar

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. El Manual de Oslo y la innovación social

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Echevarría, Javier

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available The Oslo’s Handbook (2005 analyse four types of innovations: processes, goods, organization and marketing. However, there are social innovations not oriented to markets. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to identify good practices of social innovation, which is based on different kinds of values which are satisfied by innovation practices (axiological conception. The social acceptation and use of innovative proposals is the main criteria to construct systems of indicators of social innovation. Different sources, scopes and types of innovation should be distinguished. As a conclusion, a new research program is proposed for the studies of innovation.El Manual de Oslo (2005 distingue cuatro tipos de innovación: de bienes, de procesos, organizativa y de mercadotecnia. Sin embargo, hay innovaciones sociales no orientadas a los mercados. Este artículo propone un nuevo marco conceptual para identificar buenas prácticas de innovación social, que está basado en los diferentes tipos de valores que son satisfechos por las prácticas innovadoras (concepción axiológica. La aceptación social y el uso de las propuestas innovadoras constituyen los criterios principales para construir sistemas de indicadores de innovación social. Hay que distinguir entre diferentes fuentes, tamaños y tipos de innovación. Como conclusión, se propone un nuevo programa de investigación para los estudios de innovación.

  16. Usefulness of post mortem computed tomography versus conventional forensic autopsy of road accident victims (drivers and passengers).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moskała, Artur; Woźniak, Krzysztof; Kluza, Piotr; Romaszko, Karol; Lopatin, Oleksiy

    2017-01-01

    Aim of the study: Deaths of in-vehicle victims (drivers and passengers) of road accidents represent a significant group of issues addressed by forensic medicine. Expressing opinions in this regard involves first of all the determination of the cause of death and the forensic pathologist's participation in the process of road accident reconstruction through defining the mechanism of bodily harm. The scope of the opinion as well as its accuracy and degree of detail largely depend on the scope of forensic autopsy. In this context, techniques that broaden the capabilities of standard autopsy are of particular importance. This paper compares the results of post mortem computed tomography (PMCT) of road accident victims (drivers and passengers) against the results of standard examination in order to determine the scope to which PMCT significantly enhances autopsy capabilities. Material and methods: The analysis covers 118 in-vehicle victims (drivers and passengers) examined from 2012 to 2014. In each case, post-mortem examination was preceded by PMCT examination using Somatom Emotion 16 (Siemens AG, Germany). Results: The results are presented in a tabular form. Conclusions: In most road accident victims (drivers and passengers), post mortem computed tomography significantly increases the results' degree of detail, particularly with regard to injuries of bones and gas collections.

  17. Road grip test in Arjeplog

    OpenAIRE

    Engström, Niclas; Andrén, Henrik; Nybacka, Mikael; Fransson, Lennart; Larsson, Roland

    2008-01-01

    The Swedish road administration sees a need to improve the road grip estimation capacity for the Swedish road system. The challenge is to find methods to measure road grip fast and reliable. There where six different system types at the tests in Arjeplog, three continuous, two system measuring road grip through deceleration and one system based on GPS and accelerometers. Two system types used air craft runway tires. The other systems used either studded winter tires or friction winter tires. ...

  18. 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.

  19. Three-dimensional slum urban reconstruction in Envisat and Google Earth Egypt

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marghany, M.; Genderen, J. v.

    2014-02-01

    This study aims to aim to investigate the capability of ENVISAT ASAR satellite and Google Earth data for three-dimensional (3-D) slum urban reconstruction in developed country such as Egypt. The main objective of this work is to utilize 3-D automatic detection algorithm for urban slum in ENVISAT ASAR and Google Erath images were acquired in Cairo, Egypt using Fuzzy B-spline algorithm. The results show that fuzzy algorithm is the best indicator for chaotic urban slum as it can discriminate them from its surrounding environment. The combination of Fuzzy and B-spline then used to reconstruct 3-D of urban slam. The results show that urban slums, road network, and infrastructures are perfectly discriminated. It can therefore be concluded that fuzzy algorithm is an appropriate algorithm for chaotic urban slum automatic detection in ENVSIAT ASAR and Google Earth data.

  20. Three-dimensional slum urban reconstruction in Envisat and Google Earth Egypt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marghany, M; Genderen, J v

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to aim to investigate the capability of ENVISAT ASAR satellite and Google Earth data for three-dimensional (3-D) slum urban reconstruction in developed country such as Egypt. The main objective of this work is to utilize 3-D automatic detection algorithm for urban slum in ENVISAT ASAR and Google Erath images were acquired in Cairo, Egypt using Fuzzy B-spline algorithm. The results show that fuzzy algorithm is the best indicator for chaotic urban slum as it can discriminate them from its surrounding environment. The combination of Fuzzy and B-spline then used to reconstruct 3-D of urban slam. The results show that urban slums, road network, and infrastructures are perfectly discriminated. It can therefore be concluded that fuzzy algorithm is an appropriate algorithm for chaotic urban slum automatic detection in ENVSIAT ASAR and Google Earth data

  1. 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...

  2. 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.

  3. 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)

  4. Syntactic Reconstruction and Reanalysis, Semantic Dead Ends, and Prefrontal Cortex

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Ken Ramshøj

    2010-01-01

    have been to Paris than […] to Oslo), using pseudo-elliptical structures (‘dead ends’) as control (More people have been to Paris than I have). (ii) Reanalysis in the face of structural ambiguity in syntactic ‘garden paths’, where the parser initially assigns an incorrect structure and is forced...

  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria at Oslo University Hospital 2000-2010.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nissen-Meyer, Lise Sofie H; Tjønnfjord, Geir E; Golebiowska, Elzbieta; Kjeldsen-Kragh, Jens; Akkök, Çiğdem Akalın

    2015-06-16

    Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare haematological disease characterised by chronic haemolysis, pancytopenia and venous thrombosis. The condition is attributable to a lack of control of complement attack on erythrocytes, thrombocytes and leukocytes, and can be diagnosed by means of flow cytometry. In this quality assurance study, we have reviewed information from the medical records of all patients tested for PNH using flow cytometry at our laboratory over a ten-year period. In the period 2000-2010 a total of 28 patients were tested for PNH using flow cytometry at the Department of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Oslo University Hospital. We have reviewed the results of these examinations retrospectively together with information from medical records and transfusion data for the patients concerned. Flow cytometry identified 22 patients with PNH: four with classic disease and 18 with PNH secondary to another bone marrow disease. Five patients had atypical thrombosis. Seventeen patients received antithymocyte globulin or drug treatment; of these, six recovered from their bone marrow disease, while six died and five had a need for long-term transfusion. Five patients with life-threatening bone marrow disease underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation, three of whom died. Six of 22 patients received eculizumab; the need for transfusion has been reduced or eliminated in three patients treated with eculizumab over a longer period. Flow cytometry identified PNH in a majority of patients from whom we obtained samples. Most patients had a PNH clone secondary to bone marrow failure. Atypical thrombosis should be borne in mind as an indication for the test. Treatment with eculizumab is relevant for selected patients with PNH.

  8. 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.

  9. Non-invasive dendrochronology of late-medieval objects in Oslo: refinement of a technique and discoveries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daly, Aoife; Streeton, Noëlle L. W.

    2017-06-01

    A technique for non-invasive dendrochronological analysis of oak was developed for archaeological material, using an industrial CT scanner. Since 2013, this experience has been extended within the scope of the research project `After the Black Death: Painting and Polychrome Sculpture in Norway'. The source material for the project is a collection of late-medieval winged altarpieces, shrines, polychrome sculpture, and fragments from Norwegian churches, which are owned by the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. The majority cannot be sampled, and many are too large to fit into the CT scanner. For these reasons, a combined approach was adopted, utilizing CT scanning where possible, but preceded by an `exposed-wood' imaging technique. Both non-invasive techniques have yielded reliable results, and CT scanning has confirmed the reliability of the imaging technique alone. This paper presents the analytical methods, along with results from two of the 13 objects under investigation. Results for reliable dates and provenances provide new foundations for historical interpretations.

  10. 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...

  11. 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.

  12. The Importance of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis in the Investigation of Road Traffic Accidents: A Case Report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Younis M. Albalooshi

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Bloodstain pattern analysis has become a field of specialization in Forensic sciences and plays an important role in the reconstruction of events at a crime scene. Research, books, and articles have been published on the analysis and interpretation of bloodstain patterns We present a case study of a road traffic accident in which bloodstain pattern analysis helped us to solve the discrepancy between reports produced by forensic examiners and by the forensic biology department. The case was of a 22-year-old man who died immediately and a 31- year-old woman who survived a road traffic accident. They were both found outside their overturned car and it was impossible to ascertain from initial observations which of the victims was driving the car at the time of the accident. An external examination of the man revealed multiple injuries, and the cause of his death was severe brain injury. The woman survived with a fracture of the forearm, dislocated clavicle bone, and other minor injuries. After initial examination of the car and based on the pattern of injuries the deceased received, forensic examiner concluded that the man was the driving the car at the time of accident. On the other hand, the forensic DNA analysis of bloodstains obtained from the driver's seat matched that of the woman, suggesting that she was the driver. This apparent discrepancy directed the forensic examiner to carry out a bloodstain pattern analysis on the driver's seat. The bloodstain pattern analysis helped resolve the discrepancy and enabled the investigators to identify the driver correctly. This case report emphasizes the importance of bloodstain pattern analysis in the reconstruction of cases involving road traffic accidents.

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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,...

  16. 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.

  17. Vehicle Velocity and Roll Angle Estimation with Road and Friction Adaptation for Four-Wheel Independent Drive Electric Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linhui Zhao

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Vehicle velocity and roll angle are important information for active safety control systems of four-wheel independent drive electric vehicle. In order to obtain robustness estimation of vehicle velocity and roll angle, a novel method is proposed based on vehicle dynamics and the measurement information provided by the sensors equipped in modern cars. The method is robust with respect to different road and friction conditions. Firstly, the dynamic characteristics of four-wheel independent drive electric vehicle are analyzed, and a four-degree-of-freedom nonlinear dynamic model of vehicle and a tire longitudinal dynamic equation are established. The relationship between the longitudinal and lateral friction forces is derived based on Dugoff tire model. The unknown input reconstruction technique of sliding mode observer is used to achieve longitudinal tire friction force estimation. A simple observer is designed for the estimation of the roll angle of the vehicle. And then using the relationship, the estimated longitudinal friction forces and roll angle, a sliding mode observer for vehicle velocity estimation is provided, which does not need to know the tire-road friction coefficient and road angles. Finally, the proposed method is evaluated experimentally under a variety of maneuvers and road conditions.

  18. 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.

  19. Diabetes Risk by Length of Residence among Somali Women in Oslo Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gele, Abdi A; Pettersen, Kjell Sverre; Kumar, Bernadette; Torheim, Liv Elin

    2016-01-01

    Type 2 diabetes represents a major health problem worldwide, with immigrants strongly contributing to the increase in diabetes in many countries. Norway is not immune to the process, and immigrants in the country are experiencing an increase in the prevalence of diabetes after arrival. However, the dynamics of these transitions in relation to the duration of residence in the new environment in Norway are not clearly understood. From this background, a cross-sectional quantitative study using a respondent-driven sampling method was conducted among 302 Somali women living in Oslo area. The results show that 41% of the study participants will be at risk for developing diabetes in the coming 10 years, which coincides with 85% of the study participants being abdominally obese. Significant associations were found between years of stay in Norway and the risk for diabetes with those who lived in Norway >10 years, having twofold higher odds of being at risk for developing diabetes compared to those who lived in Norway ≤5 years (OR: 2.16, CI: 1.08-4.32). Understanding the mechanisms through which exposure to the Norwegian environment leads to higher obesity and diabetes risk may aid in prevention efforts for the rapidly growing African immigrant population.

  20. Diabetes Risk by Length of Residence among Somali Women in Oslo Area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdi A. Gele

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Type 2 diabetes represents a major health problem worldwide, with immigrants strongly contributing to the increase in diabetes in many countries. Norway is not immune to the process, and immigrants in the country are experiencing an increase in the prevalence of diabetes after arrival. However, the dynamics of these transitions in relation to the duration of residence in the new environment in Norway are not clearly understood. From this background, a cross-sectional quantitative study using a respondent-driven sampling method was conducted among 302 Somali women living in Oslo area. The results show that 41% of the study participants will be at risk for developing diabetes in the coming 10 years, which coincides with 85% of the study participants being abdominally obese. Significant associations were found between years of stay in Norway and the risk for diabetes with those who lived in Norway >10 years, having twofold higher odds of being at risk for developing diabetes compared to those who lived in Norway ≤5 years (OR: 2.16, CI: 1.08–4.32. Understanding the mechanisms through which exposure to the Norwegian environment leads to higher obesity and diabetes risk may aid in prevention efforts for the rapidly growing African immigrant population.

  1. The aftermath of terrorism: posttraumatic stress and functional impairment after the 2011 Oslo bombing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solberg, Øivind; Blix, Ines; Heir, Trond

    2015-01-01

    In the present study we wanted to investigate the link between exposure, posttraumatic stress symptomatology, and functional impairment in the aftermath of terrorism. Posttraumatic stress symptomatology and functional impairment related to the Oslo bombing 22nd of July, 2011, in directly and indirectly exposed individuals (N = 1927) were assessed together with demographics, exposure, peri-traumatic reactions, and event centrality approximately 1 year after the attack. Directly and indirectly exposed individuals qualifying for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reported similar peri-traumatic reactions, event centrality, and functional impairment. However, clusters within the PTSD symptomatology were differentially associated with impairment as a function of their exposure. In the directly exposed group, all clusters within the PTSD symptomatology were associated with impairment in function, while only emotional numbing was associated with impairment within the indirectly exposed group. Considering that terror attacks frequently involve directly exposed individuals and a larger population of indirectly exposed individuals, this finding is of importance, especially in the design of intervention programs and the development of treatment policies.

  2. Abscess infections and malnutrition--a cross-sectional study of polydrug addicts in Oslo, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saeland, Mone; Wandel, Margareta; Böhmer, Thomas; Haugen, Margaretha

    2014-06-01

    Injection drug use and malnutrition are widespread among polydrug addicts in Oslo, Norway, but little is known about the frequency of abscess infections and possible relations to malnutrition. To assess the prevalence of abscess infections, and differences in nutritional status between drug addicts with or without abscess infections. A cross-sectional study of 195 polydrug addicts encompassing interview of demographics, dietary recall, anthropometric measurements and biochemical analyses. All respondents were under the influence of illicit drugs and were not participating in any drug treatment or rehabilitation program at the time of investigation. Abscess infections were reported by 25% of the respondents, 19% of the men and 33% of the women (p = 0.025). Underweight (BMI 15 μmol/L) was 73% in the abscess-infected group and 41% in the non-abscess-infected group (p = 0.001). The concentrations of S-25-hydroxy-vitamin D3 was very low. The prevalence of abscess infections was 25% among the examined polydrug addicts. Dietary, anthropometric and biochemical assessment indicated a relation between abscess infections and malnutrition.

  3. Low level of objectively measured physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness, and high prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Pakistani male immigrants in Oslo, Norway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eivind Andersen

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: The level of physical fitness in south Asian immigrants living in Norway is largely unknown, but the level of physical activity seems to be low, possibly in part explaining their high prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, previous studies have used self-reported measures of physical activity, and it might be questioned whether the previous data reflect the true physical activity level.Aim: To describe objectively measured physical activity level, cardiorespiratory fitness and diabetes risk in a group of Pakistani immigrant men living in Oslo, Norway.Methods: One hundred and fifty Pakistani immigrant men in the age group 25-60 years were included. Physical activity level was assessed with an accelerometer. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured until exhaustion on a treadmill, and diabetes risk was evaluated with an oral glucose tolerance test.Results: Mean age was 37.3 years (SD=7.7. Total physical activity level was 308 counts/min (SD=131, and peak oxygen uptake was 34.2 ml·kg-1·min-1 (SD=5.6. Fifty percent of the participants had the metabolic syndrome, and 76% were obese. Physical activity level and cardiorespiratory fitness level were lower, and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome higher in a subgroup of taxi drivers as compared with those inother occupations (P<0.05.Conclusions: Physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness levels are low and diabetes risk high among Pakistani immigrant men living in Oslo, especially in taxi drivers

  4. 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...

  5. 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.

  6. Fish from Head to Tail: The 9th European Zebrafish Meeting in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griffiths, Gareth; Müller, Ferenc; Ledin, Johan; Patton, E Elizabeth; Gjøen, Tor; Lobert, Viola Hélène; Winther-Larsen, Hanne Cecilie; Mullins, Mary; Joly, Jean-Stephane; Weltzien, Finn-Arne; Press, Charles McLean; Aleström, Peter

    2016-04-01

    The 9th European Zebrafish Meeting took place recently in Oslo (June 28-July 2, 2015). A total of 650 participants came to hear the latest research news focused on the zebrafish, Danio rerio, and to its distant evolutionary relative medaka, Oryzias latipes. The packed program included keynote and plenary talks, short oral presentations and poster sessions, workshops, and strategic discussions. The meeting was a great success and revealed dramatically how important the zebrafish in particular has become as a model system for topics, such as developmental biology, functional genomics, biomedicine, toxicology, and drug development. A new emphasis was given to its potential as a model for aquaculture, a topic of great economic interest to the host country Norway and for the future global food supply in general. Zebrafish husbandry as well as its use in teaching were also covered in separate workshops. As has become a tradition in these meetings, there was a well-attended Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and ZFIN workshop focused on Zebrafish Genome Resources on the first day. The full EZM 2015 program with abstracts can be read and downloaded from the EZM 2015 Web site zebrafish2015.org .

  7. 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

  8. 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...

  9. Tenthaus Oslo – en inkluderende organisatorisk modell for framtidas kulturskoleelev

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gry O. Ulrichsen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to contribute more knowledge about how arts educational practice in the school context can be understood and developed. The cooperation between Tentahaus Oslo (TO, an initiative driven by artists, and the basic education section for minority students at an upper secondary school is brought forward as an alternative to more traditional forms of encounters with art and art communication in basic education and in the voluntary music and performing arts school. The article points out how the didactic thinking meets structural challenges and opens up spaces where participatory artistic processes and pedagogical processes are integrated. Didactic components like time, space and exchange, an extended time perspective, the placement of an atelier in school, a public exhibition space attached to the atelier, as well as exchange between teachers and the artist, appear as constitutive elements in the systematic cooperation between the fields. In a cross curricular perpsective on learning the article suggests that experiences from the cooperation might have transfer value to a more general school context and to the organization of the music and performing arts school and its teaching practice. The article also directs the attention to didactic arrangements that might increase the amount of students with a heterogenous cultural background in the music and performing arts school. In a larger perspective the importance of encounters with art in an educational context might enhance democratic thinking. The methodological approach is aletic hermeneutics, where empirical material is generated through narrative and critical dialogue.

  10. 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)

  11. 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

  12. Assessment of Road Infrastructures Pertaining to Malaysian Experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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

  15. Pre-hospital treatment of acute poisonings in Oslo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heyerdahl, Fridtjof; Hovda, Knut E; Bjornaas, Mari A; Nore, Anne K; Figueiredo, Jose CP; Ekeberg, Oivind; Jacobsen, Dag

    2008-01-01

    Background Poisoned patients are often treated in and discharged from pre-hospital health care settings. Studies of poisonings should therefore not only include hospitalized patients. Aims: To describe the acutely poisoned patients treated by ambulance personnel and in an outpatient clinic; compare patients transferred to a higher treatment level with those discharged without transfer; and study the one-week mortality after pre-hospital discharge. Methods A one-year multi-centre study with prospective inclusion of all acutely poisoned patients ≥ 16 years of age treated in ambulances, an outpatient clinic, and hospitals in Oslo. Results A total of 3757 health service contacts from 2997 poisoning episodes were recorded: 1860 were treated in ambulances, of which 15 died and 750 (40%) were discharged without transfer; 956 were treated in outpatient clinic, of which 801 (84%) were discharged without transfer; and 941 episodes were treated in hospitals. Patients discharged alive after ambulance treatment were mainly poisoned by opiates (70%), were frequently comatose (35%), had respiratory depression (37%), and many received naloxone (49%). The majority of the patients discharged from the outpatient clinic were poisoned by ethanol (55%), fewer were comatose (10%), and they rarely had respiratory depression (4%). Among the hospitalized, pharmaceutical poisonings were most common (58%), 23% were comatose, and 7% had respiratory depression. Male patients comprised 69% of the pre-hospital discharges, but only 46% of the hospitalized patients. Except for one patient, who died of a new heroin overdose two days following discharge from an ambulance, there were no deaths during the first week after the poisonings in the 90% of the pre-hospital discharged patients with known identity. Conclusion More than half of the poisoned patients treated in pre-hospital treatment settings were discharged without transfer to higher levels. These poisonings were more often caused by drug and

  16. Pre-hospital treatment of acute poisonings in Oslo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nore Anne K

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Poisoned patients are often treated in and discharged from pre-hospital health care settings. Studies of poisonings should therefore not only include hospitalized patients. Aims: To describe the acutely poisoned patients treated by ambulance personnel and in an outpatient clinic; compare patients transferred to a higher treatment level with those discharged without transfer; and study the one-week mortality after pre-hospital discharge. Methods A one-year multi-centre study with prospective inclusion of all acutely poisoned patients ≥ 16 years of age treated in ambulances, an outpatient clinic, and hospitals in Oslo. Results A total of 3757 health service contacts from 2997 poisoning episodes were recorded: 1860 were treated in ambulances, of which 15 died and 750 (40% were discharged without transfer; 956 were treated in outpatient clinic, of which 801 (84% were discharged without transfer; and 941 episodes were treated in hospitals. Patients discharged alive after ambulance treatment were mainly poisoned by opiates (70%, were frequently comatose (35%, had respiratory depression (37%, and many received naloxone (49%. The majority of the patients discharged from the outpatient clinic were poisoned by ethanol (55%, fewer were comatose (10%, and they rarely had respiratory depression (4%. Among the hospitalized, pharmaceutical poisonings were most common (58%, 23% were comatose, and 7% had respiratory depression. Male patients comprised 69% of the pre-hospital discharges, but only 46% of the hospitalized patients. Except for one patient, who died of a new heroin overdose two days following discharge from an ambulance, there were no deaths during the first week after the poisonings in the 90% of the pre-hospital discharged patients with known identity. Conclusion More than half of the poisoned patients treated in pre-hospital treatment settings were discharged without transfer to higher levels. These poisonings were more often

  17. “Crisis and Crisis Scenarios: Normativity, Possibilities and Dilemmas” (Lysebu Conference Centre in Oslo, Norway, April 9th — 12th, 2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Øjvind Larsen

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This special issue of Nordicum-Mediterraneum contains select proceedings from the third meeting of the Nordic Summer University research circle called “Crisis and Crisis Scenarios: Normativity, Possibilities and Dilemmas”, held April 9th — 12th, 2015 at the Lysebu Conference Centre in Oslo, Norway. The circle’s research program runs from 2014 to 2016 and is aimed at examining the concept of crisis as it is used today in academia and public discussion. In this collection of papers from the symposium we present some of the different ways in which the topic of the study group was addressed.

  18. 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

  19. 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.

  20. 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

  1. 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...

  2. 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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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...

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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.

  9. Mesa solución política al conflicto armado Oslo y la Habana 2: la imaginación pacificadora

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Humberto Vélez R

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available El presente texto realizado en razón del I Congreso regional de paz – Antioquia, se realiza una recopilación investigativa respecto de los temas tocados en la agenda de paz entre el gobierno y la guerrilla y sus posibles consecuencias, para ello se toman las diferentes publicaciones realizadas en el blog Atisbos, desarrollado por el autor y tomando como referencia el número 158, y la expectativa generada por los resultados del proceso Santos-Guerrillas, con el fin de darle un marco conceptual analítico adecuado al proceso de Oslo y de la Habana 2, y para lo cual se realiza en lenguaje crítico-político.

  10. 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...

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. Extended-Search, Bézier Curve-Based Lane Detection and Reconstruction System for an Intelligent Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoyun Huang

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available To improve the real-time performance and detection rate of a Lane Detection and Reconstruction (LDR system, an extended-search-based lane detection method and a Bézier curve-based lane reconstruction algorithm are proposed in this paper. The extended-search-based lane detection method is designed to search boundary blocks from the initial position, in an upwards direction and along the lane, with small search areas including continuous search, discontinuous search and bending search in order to detect different lane boundaries. The Bézier curve-based lane reconstruction algorithm is employed to describe a wide range of lane boundary forms with comparatively simple expressions. In addition, two Bézier curves are adopted to reconstruct the lanes' outer boundaries with large curvature variation. The lane detection and reconstruction algorithm — including initial-blocks' determining, extended search, binarization processing and lane boundaries' fitting in different scenarios — is verified in road tests. The results show that this algorithm is robust against different shadows and illumination variations; the average processing time per frame is 13 ms. Significantly, it presents an 88.6% high-detection rate on curved lanes with large or variable curvatures, where the accident rate is higher than that of straight lanes.

  14. 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...

  15. 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...

  16. 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...

  17. 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.

  18. Road Nail: Experimental Solar Powered Intelligent Road Marking System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samardžija, Dragan; Teslić, Nikola; Todorović, Branislav M.; Kovač, Erne; Isailović, Đorđe; Miladinović, Bojan

    2012-03-01

    Driving in low visibility conditions (night time, fog or heavy precipitation) is particularly challenging task with an increased probability of traffic accidents and possible injuries. Road Nail is a solar powered intelligent road marking system of wirelessly networked signaling devices that improve driver safety in low visibility conditions along hazardous roadways. Nails or signaling devices are autonomous nodes with capability to accumulate energy, exchange wireless messages, detect approaching vehicles and emit signalization light. We have built an experimental test-bed that consists of 20 nodes and a cellular gateway. Implementation details of the above system, including extensive measurements and performance evaluations in realistic field deployments are presented. A novel distributed network topology discovery scheme is proposed which integrates both sensor and wireless communication aspects, where nodes act autonomously. Finally, integration of the Road Nail system with the cellular network and the Internet is described.

  19. 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.

  20. 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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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:.

  3. 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...

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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...

  8. 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.

  9. 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...

  10. 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.

  11. 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

  12. Knowledge about Iodine in Pregnant and Lactating Women in the Oslo Area, Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garnweidner-Holme, Lisa; Aakre, Inger; Lilleengen, Anne Marie; Brantsæter, Anne Lise; Henjum, Sigrun

    2017-05-13

    Lack of knowledge about iodine may be a risk factor for iodine deficiency in pregnant and lactating women. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge about iodine and predictors of iodine knowledge scores among pregnant and lactating women. The study also examined whether iodine knowledge scores were associated with iodine status. A cross-sectional study was performed on 804 pregnant women and 175 lactating women from 18 to 44 years of age in 2016 in the Oslo area, Norway. Knowledge about iodine was collected through a self-administered, paper-based questionnaire. Iodine concentrations in urine and breast milk were measured using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS). 74% of the pregnant women and 55% of the lactating women achieved none to low iodine knowledge scores. Higher educated pregnant women and those who had received information about iodine had significantly higher knowledge scores. In lactating women, increased age was associated with higher knowledge scores. Knowledge scores were not associated with participants' iodine status. This study revealed a lack of knowledge about the importance of iodine in pregnant and lactating women, as well as about the most important dietary sources. Public education initiatives are required to increase the awareness about iodine in these population groups.

  13. 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

  14. Experience of dietary advice among Pakistani-born persons with type 2 diabetes in Oslo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fagerli, Rønnaug Aa; Lien, Marianne E; Wandel, Margareta

    2005-12-01

    Experience and implementation of dietary advice are influenced by various factors including ethnic, cultural and religious background. The aim is to explore how ethnic minority persons with diabetes experience dietary advice given by Norwegian health-workers, which strategies they have in response to the advice and how they explain their actions. In-depth interviews were performed with 15 Pakistani-born persons with type 2 diabetes living in Oslo. The analyses are based on the principles of Giorgi's interpretation of phenomenology. The participants expressed great concern to follow the advice. However, narratives about constraints were numerous. These concerned different life-situational factors, but more importantly they were related to communication problems arising from discontinuities between universalising medical knowledge and lay knowledge, as well as between different types of culturally defined lay knowledge. As a consequence, advice was generally experienced as inadequately based on the participant's food-cultural background, leaving the person with diabetes to do the translation between different levels of knowledge. In general health-workers would benefit from expanding their knowledge of the many positive aspects of their patients' cultural background, and apply their knowledge thereafter, whether it concerns (food)-culture or the impact of religion in everyday life.

  15. 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.

  16. Long-term survival in the randomized trial of drug treatment in mild to moderate hypertension of the Oslo study 1972-3.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holme, Ingar; Kjeldsen, Sverre E

    2015-03-01

    In the Oslo cardiovascular study of 1972-3 a 5-year randomized trial in mild to moderate hypertension was performed. Several changes in treatment practices have been recommended since that time. We followed the mortality patterns up to 40 years. Invited to the Oslo study screening were 25,915 middle-aged men and 16,203 (63%) participated. Reexaminations were done to select suitable participants into the trial. Men had blood pressure 150-179/95-109 mm Hg and the active group (n=406) was treated with thiazides, alpha-methyldopa and propranolol versus untreated controls (n=379). Cox regression analysis was used for statistical analyses. There was no trend towards reduction in total mortality by treatment. A nominally significant increase in risk of death at first myocardial infarction was observed in the trial treatment group across the follow-up period, HR=1.51 (1.01-2.25); (P=0.042). The excess risk developed rapidly during the first 15 years, but the gap between the groups diminished to a large extent during the next 15 years, but the curves stayed at a certain distance for the last 10 years. Cerebrovascular death tended to be non-significantly reduced, HR=0.85 (0.52-1.41). Drug treatment of mild hypertensive men initiated in the 1970s did not reduce mortality at first MI or total mortality. However, during the period (late 1980s and whole 1990s), when large changes in hypertension treatment practices occurred into regimes with more use of combination therapies including metabolically neutral drugs at lower doses, beneficial effects on MI mortality could be observed. Copyright © 2015 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. 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.

  18. 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

  19. 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.

  20. 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...

  1. 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.

  2. 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 : ...

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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.

  10. [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

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. 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 ...

  14. 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...

  15. 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

  16. 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.

  17. 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.

  18. Detection of latex allergens by immunoelectron microscopy in ambient air (PM10) in Oslo, Norway (1997-2003).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Namork, Ellen; Kurup, Viswanath P; Aasvang, Gunn Marit; Johansen, Bjørn V

    2004-11-01

    The authors collected ambient air along two highways in Oslo to investigate the annual variations in particulate matter (PM10) and the presence of latex as an outdoor allergen. PMI, was monitored for a period of five years, during which time the use of studded winter tires was reduced. The presence of latex and of common aeroallergens was examined directly on the collection filters with immunoelectron microscopy visualized in a scanning electron microscope. The annual variation in PM10 was similar over the five years of sampling, with increased mass concentrations in winter. Statistical analysis indicated no major effect from the change to nonstudded tires. The most important factors influencing the PM10 concentration were meteorological parameters like wind and rain. Immnunolabeling of the filters showed latex as an outdoor allergen that adhered to carbon aggregates from vehicle emission. The results also indicated cross-reactive epitopes among the common allergens investigated, which for sensitized subjects may add to the risk of developing latex allergy.

  19. Canon and archive in messages from Oslo Cathedral Square in the aftermath of July 22nd 2011

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sidsel Lied

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available In this article we ask if central values which people were in dialogue with in the memorial messages from Oslo Cathedral Square in the aftermath of July 22nd 2011, may be seen as a part of Norwegian cultural memory, and if so, how. We answer this question in the affirmative, by elaborating on presentations of the Norwegian flag as a symbol of the values unity and solidarity, and on presentations of love and roses as weapons promoting the values love, humanity and calmness. In our discussion we have drawn on theory of cultural memory and suggested that the use of the Norwegian flag in the messages may be understood in the frame of Assmann’s term “canon”, representing the active part of cultural remembrance, and that the message from the use of roses and hearts may be understood in the frame of the term “archive”, representing the passive part of remembrance

  20. Angiographyc and intraoperative assessment of the blood flow in infrainguinal arterial reconstruction; Angiografska i intraoperativna itsenka na kryvotoka pri arterialni rekonstruktsii pod ingvinalniya ligament

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheshmedzhiev, M; Jordanov, E; Yordanov, M; Kovacheva, N [Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital St. Marina, Varna (Bulgaria); Velinov, T [Department of Diagnostic Imaging, University Hospital St. Marina, Varna (Bulgaria)

    2011-07-01

    The aim of this study is to define the practical application of the modified system for angiographic assessment of the run-off arteries after reconstruction below the inguinal ligament suggested by Schwierz T. 137 patients with infrainguinal arterial reconstructions were followed up for a period of 1 year. The blood volume was measured distally from the distal graft anastomosis by means of flow meter (VeriQ, Medistim, Oslo, Norway). The flowmetry was performed before and after a 5-minute Prostavasin or llomedin intragraft infusion, causing peripheral vasodilatation. The data was compared with the minimal expected debit which was assessed according to the Schwirz system. During the follow up period in the group of the non properly functioning bypasses we registered lack of coincidence in 37% between the preoperatively assessed and the intraoperatively measured minimal blood flow concerning the compromised bypasses. In the group of the properly functioning bypasses the lack of coincidence was only 6% probably due to subjective false assessment of minor collaterals. Taking into consideration the subjective pattern of the angiographic assessment system and the importance of the high quality angiographic imaging we believe that the preoperatively assessed expected blood flow is not applicable in means of long term prognosis but may be used as an additional indicator for the condition of the run-off arteries as well as the short term results of the operative treatment.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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...

  4. Case study: the Argentina Road Safety Project: lessons learned for the decade of action for road safety, 2011-2020.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raffo, Veronica; Bliss, Tony; Shotten, Marc; Sleet, David; Blanchard, Claire

    2013-12-01

    This case study of the Argentina Road Safety Project demonstrates how the application of World Bank road safety project guidelines focused on institution building can accelerate knowledge transfer, scale up investment and improve the focus on results. The case study highlights road safety as a development priority and outlines World Bank initiatives addressing the implementation of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury's recommendations and the subsequent launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety, from 2011-2020. The case study emphasizes the vital role played by the lead agency in ensuring sustainable road safety improvements and promoting the shift to a 'Safe System' approach, which necessitated the strengthening of all elements of the road safety management system. It summarizes road safety performance and institutional initiatives in Argentina leading up to the preparation and implementation of the project. We describe the project's development objectives, financing arrangements, specific components and investment staging. Finally, we discuss its innovative features and lessons learned, and present a set of supplementary guidelines, both to assist multilateral development banks and their clients with future road safety initiatives, and to encourage better linkages between the health and transportation sectors supporting them.

  5. Dynamics of vehicle-road coupled system

    CERN Document Server

    Yang, Shaopu; Li, Shaohua

    2015-01-01

    Vehicle dynamics and road dynamics are usually considered to be two largely independent subjects. In vehicle dynamics, road surface roughness is generally regarded as random excitation of the vehicle, while in road dynamics, the vehicle is generally regarded as a moving load acting on the pavement. This book suggests a new research concept to integrate the vehicle and the road system with the help of a tire model, and establishes a cross-subject research framework dubbed vehicle-pavement coupled system dynamics. In this context, the dynamics of the vehicle, road and the vehicle-road coupled system are investigated by means of theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and field tests. This book will be a valuable resource for university professors, graduate students and engineers majoring in automotive design, mechanical engineering, highway engineering and other related areas. Shaopu Yang is a professor and deputy president of Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, China; Liqun Chen is a professor at Shanghai Univ...

  6. Pedestrian-Vehicle Accidents Reconstruction with PC-Crash®: Sensibility Analysis of Factors Variation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martinez Gala, F.

    2016-07-01

    This paper describes the main findings of a study performed by INSIA-UPM about the improvement of the reconstruction process of real world vehicle-pedestrian accidents using PC-Crash® software, aimed to develop a software tool for the estimation of the variability of the collision speed due to the lack of real values of some parameters required during the reconstruction task. The methodology has been based on a sensibility analysis of the factors variation. A total of 9 factors have been analyzed with the objective of identifying which ones were significant. Four of them (pedestrian height, collision angle, hood height and pedestrian-road friction coefficient) were significant and were included in a full factorial experiment with the collision speed as an additional factor in order to obtain a regression model with up to third level interactions. Two different factorial experiments with the same structure have been performed because of pedestrian gender differences. The tool has been created as a collision speed predictor based on the regression models obtained, using the 4 significant factors and the projection distance measured or estimated in the accident site. The tool has been used on the analysis of real-world reconstructed accidents occurred in the city of Madrid (Spain). The results have been adequate in most cases with less than 10% of deviation between the predicted speed and the one estimated in the reconstructions. (Author)

  7. CLEAN-ROADS project: air quality considerations after the application of a novel MDSS on winter road maintenance activities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pretto, Ilaria; Malloci, Elisa; Tonidandel, Gabriele; Benedetti, Guido; Di Napoli, Claudia; Piazza, Andrea; Apolloni, Roberto; Cavaliere, Roberto

    2016-04-01

    With this poster we present the environmental benefit on air quality derived by the application of the CLEAN-ROADS pilot project. The CLEAN-ROADS project addresses the problem of the environmental pollution caused by de-icing salts during winter road maintenance activities in the Province of Trento (Italy). A demonstrative Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) has been developed in order to improve the intervention procedures of the road management service. Specifically it aims to optimize the efficiency of how available resources (e.g., salt consumption) are currently used while guaranteeing the current level of road safety. The CLEAN-ROADS project has been tested and validated on a test area located in a valley bottom (Adige Valley), where the highest optimization margins are to be expected. The project supports current road maintenance practices, which has proved to be reliable and accurate, with a new scalable and energy-efficient road monitoring system. This system is based on a network of road weather stations (road weather information system, RWIS) installed on the test route. It is capable to collect real-time data about the road conditions and to perform short-term and now-cast road weather forecasts, which actively integrate weather data and bulletins covering the target area [1]. This poster presents the results obtained from a three-year monitoring activity with the aim to (1) determine the impact of de-icing salts on air quality and (2) quantify the improvements obtained by the application of the CLEAN-ROADS project on air quality. The Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe Directive (2008/50/EC) states that contributions to exceedances of particulate matter PM10 limit values that are attributable to road winter salting may be subtracted when assessing compliance with air quality limit values, once provided that reasonable measures have been taken to lower concentrations [2]. As the de-icing salts used in road maintenance are mainly based

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toan Minh Hoang

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available 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.

  9. Road Zone Effects in Small-Mammal Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John A. Bissonette

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Our study focused on the putative effects of roads on small-mammal communities in a high desert region of southern Utah. Specifically, we tested whether or not roads create adjacent zones characterized by lower small- mammal densities, abundance, and diversity. We sampled abundance of small mammals at increasing distances from Interstate 15 during two summers. We recorded 11 genera and 13 species. We detected no clear abundance, density, or diversity effects relative to distance from the road. Only two of 13 species were never captured near roads. The abundance of the remaining 11 small mammal species was either similar at different distances from the road or higher closer to the road. We conclude that although roads may act as barriers and possible sources of mortality, adjacent zones of vegetation often provide favorable microhabitat in the desert landscape for many small mammals.

  10. Response of moose to a high‐density road network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wattles, David W.; Zeller, Katherine A.; DeStefano, Stephen

    2018-01-01

    Road networks and the disturbance associated with vehicle traffic alter animal behavior, movements, and habitat selection. The response of moose (Alces americanus) to roads has been documented in relatively rural areas, but less is known about moose response to roads in more highly roaded landscapes. We examined road‐crossing frequencies and habitat use of global positioning system (GPS)‐collared moose in Massachusetts, USA, where moose home ranges have road densities approximately twice that of previous studies. We compared seasonal road‐crossing frequencies of moose with a null movement model. We estimated moose travel speeds during road‐crossing events and compared them with speeds during other home range movements. To estimate the extent of the road effect zone and determine how roads influenced moose habitat use, we fit a third‐order resource selection function. With the exception of the lowest use road class (roads less than expected based on the null movement model and frequency decreased with increasing road size and traffic. Moose crossed roads faster than they traveled during other times. This effect increased with increasing road use intensity. Overall, roads were a major factor determining what portions of Massachusetts moose used and how they moved among habitat patches. Our results suggest that moose in Massachusetts can adapt to a high‐density road network, but the road effect is still strongly negative and, in some cases, is more pronounced than in study areas with lower road densities. Future road construction and the expansion of road networks may have a large effect on moose and other wildlife.

  11. Road safety in Poland: magnitude, causes and injuries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goniewicz, Krzysztof; Goniewicz, Mariusz; Pawłowski, Witold; Fiedor, Piotr; Lasota, Dorota

    2017-01-01

    Road accidents are a serious problem of the modern world. They are one of the main causes of injuries and are the third most frequent cause of death. Every year, about one million people, adults and children, die on the roads and several millions get injured. Mortality rate due to injuries from road accidents amounts to 2.2% of all deaths in the world. The research presents epidemiology of road accidents in the period 2004-2015 with particular emphasis on the key issues of road safety in Poland, related to the dangerous behaviour of road users (disregard toward traffic rules). Between years 2004 and 2015 on Polish roads took place more than 508000 accidents with 53155 fatalities and more then 572000 casualties. Despite the various measures which are taken to improve safety on Polish roads, the number of dead and wounded in the vehicle mishap is still large, and losses borne by society are high. To improve safety on Polish roads, it is necessary to continue multi- action plan to systematically progress in the level of road safety.

  12. Factors contributing to amphibian road mortality in a wetland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haijun GU, Qiang DAI, Qian WANG, Yuezhao WANG

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available To understand road characteristics and landscape features associated with high road mortality of amphibians in Zoige Wetland National Nature Reserve, we surveyed road mortality along four major roads after rainfall in May and September 2007. Road mortality of three species, Rana kukunoris, Nanorana pleskei and Bufo minshanicus, was surveyed across 225 transects (115 in May and 110 in September. Transects were 100 m long and repeated every two kilometers along the four major roads. We used model averaging to assess factors that might determine amphibian road mortality. We recorded an average of 24.6 amphibian road mortalities per kilometer in May and 19.2 in September. Among road characteristics, road width was positively associated with road morality for R. kukunori and B. minshanicus. Traffic volume also increased the road mortality of B. minshanicus in September. Of the landscape features measured, area proportions of three types of grassland (wet, mesic and dry within 1 km of the roads, particularly that of wet grassland, significantly increased road mortality for R. kukunori and total mortality across all three species. To most effectively reduce road mortality of amphibians in the Zoige wetlands, we suggest better road design such as avoiding wet grasslands, minimizing road width, underground passes and traffic control measures. The implementation of public transit in the area would reduce traffic volume, and hence mortality [Current Zoology 57 (6: 768–774, 2011].

  13. Information technology road map 2015

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-09-01

    This book introduces information technology road map 2015 with presentation, process, plan and conclusion of it. It also has introduction of IT road map by field : information technology road map 2015 on the next-generation of semiconductor, display, light emitting diode and light industry, home network and home electronic appliances, digital TV and broadcasting, radio technology, satellite communications, mobile communication for the next-generation, BcN field, software, computer for the next-generation and security of knowledge information.

  14. Upon the reconstruction of accidents triggered by tire explosion. Analytical model and case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaiginschi, L.; Agape, I.; Talif, S.

    2017-10-01

    Accident Reconstruction is important in the general context of increasing road traffic safety. In the casuistry of traffic accidents, those caused by tire explosions are critical under the severity of consequences, because they are usually happening at high speeds. Consequently, the knowledge of the running speed of the vehicle involved at the time of the tire explosion is essential to elucidate the circumstances of the accident. The paper presents an analytical model for the kinematics of a vehicle which, after the explosion of one of its tires, begins to skid, overturns and rolls. The model consists of two concurent approaches built as applications of the momentum conservation and energy conservation principles, and allows determination of the initial speed of the vehicle involved, by running backwards the sequences of the road event. The authors also aimed to both validate the two distinct analytical approaches by calibrating the calculation algorithms on a case study

  15. Spatial Analysis Methods of Road Traffic Collisions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Loo, Becky P. Y.; Anderson, Tessa Kate

    Spatial Analysis Methods of Road Traffic Collisions centers on the geographical nature of road crashes, and uses spatial methods to provide a greater understanding of the patterns and processes that cause them. Written by internationally known experts in the field of transport geography, the book...... outlines the key issues in identifying hazardous road locations (HRLs), considers current approaches used for reducing and preventing road traffic collisions, and outlines a strategy for improved road safety. The book covers spatial accuracy, validation, and other statistical issues, as well as link...

  16. Investigation of road network features and safety performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xuesong; Wu, Xingwei; Abdel-Aty, Mohamed; Tremont, Paul J

    2013-07-01

    The analysis of road network designs can provide useful information to transportation planners as they seek to improve the safety of road networks. The objectives of this study were to compare and define the effective road network indices and to analyze the relationship between road network structure and traffic safety at the level of the Traffic Analysis Zone (TAZ). One problem in comparing different road networks is establishing criteria that can be used to scale networks in terms of their structures. Based on data from Orange and Hillsborough Counties in Florida, road network structural properties within TAZs were scaled using 3 indices: Closeness Centrality, Betweenness Centrality, and Meshedness Coefficient. The Meshedness Coefficient performed best in capturing the structural features of the road network. Bayesian Conditional Autoregressive (CAR) models were developed to assess the safety of various network configurations as measured by total crashes, crashes on state roads, and crashes on local roads. The models' results showed that crash frequencies on local roads were closely related to factors within the TAZs (e.g., zonal network structure, TAZ population), while crash frequencies on state roads were closely related to the road and traffic features of state roads. For the safety effects of different networks, the Grid type was associated with the highest frequency of crashes, followed by the Mixed type, the Loops & Lollipops type, and the Sparse type. This study shows that it is possible to develop a quantitative scale for structural properties of a road network, and to use that scale to calculate the relationships between network structural properties and safety. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Tailpipe, resuspended road dust, and brake-wear emission factors from on-road vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu-Allaban, Mahmoud; Gillies, John A.; Gertler, Alan W.; Clayton, Russ; Proffitt, David

    Intensive mass and chemical measurements were performed at roadside locations in Reno, Nevada, and Durham/Research Triangle Park), North Carolina to derive tailpipe, resuspended road dust, and brake-wear emission factors from in-use vehicles. Continuous particulate matter (PM) data were utilized to derive total emission factors while integrated PM data were used to attribute the calculated emission factors to different mechanisms using chemical mass balance receptor modeling and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Resuspended road dust and tailpipe emissions were found to be the dominant mechanisms that contribute significantly to the total PM 10 and PM 2.5 emission factors, respectively. Small contributions from brake-wear were observed at locations where strong braking occurs, but no tire-wear was seen at any sampling location. PM 10 emission rates from light-duty spark ignition (LDSI) vehicles ranged from 40 to 780 mg/km, 10 to 70 mg/km, and 0 to 80 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively. PM 10 emission rates from heavy-duty vehicles ranged from 230 to 7800 mg/km, 60 to 570 mg/km, and 0 to 610 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively. PM 2.5 emission rates from LDSI vehicles ranged from 2 to 25 mg/km, 10 to 50 mg/km, and 0 to 5 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively. PM 2.5 emission rates from heavy-duty vehicles ranged from 15 to 300 mg/km, 60 to 480 mg/km, and 0 to 15 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively.

  18. Distraction-related road traffic collisions

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    drivers involved in road traffic collisions (RTC) were using mobile phones. Our study supports ... while driving. Keywords: Distraction, prevention, road traffic collision, mobile phone. ..... keeps us connected with others with great advantages.

  19. Road icing forecasting and detecting system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Hongke; Zheng, Jinnan; Li, Peiqi; Wang, Qiucai

    2017-05-01

    Regard for the facts that the low accuracy and low real-time of the artificial observation to determine the road icing condition, and it is difficult to forecast icing situation, according to the main factors influencing the road-icing, and the electrical characteristics reflected by the pavement ice layer, this paper presents an innovative system, that is, ice-forecasting of the highway's dangerous section. The system bases on road surface water salinity measurements and pavement temperature measurement to calculate the freezing point of water and temperature change trend, and then predicts the occurrence time of road icing; using capacitance measurements to verdict the road surface is frozen or not; This paper expounds the method of using single chip microcomputer as the core of the control system and described the business process of the system.

  20. Road Safety Education in a Science Course: Evaluation of "Science and the Road."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, Paul L.

    1989-01-01

    A traffic safety instructional package--"Science and the Road"--was assessed. It was designed by the Road Traffic Authority of Victoria (Australia) for use in tenth-grade science courses. Evaluation findings resulted in revision of the unit and implementation of more inservice courses for teachers lacking relevant biology and physics…

  1. Kansas Road Centerline Fle (KRCF)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Kansas Data Access and Support Center — This version of the Kansas Road Centerline File (0801) represents the first effort to create a statewide roads layer from best available data sources. KGS integrated...

  2. 49 CFR 391.31 - Road test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Road test. 391.31 Section 391.31 Transportation... COMBINATION VEHICLE (LCV) DRIVER INSTRUCTORS Tests § 391.31 Road test. (a) Except as provided in subpart G, a person shall not drive a commercial motor vehicle unless he/she has first successfully completed a road...

  3. Use of wood ash for road stabilisation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lagerkvist, A.; Lind, B.

    2009-01-01

    Due to warmer winters in Sweden, the bearing capacity of forestry roads has become increasingly problematic in recent years. Road stabilization is needed in order to get timber out from the forests. This usually involves the addition of cement to the road body. However, wood ash is a possible substitute for cement because it has similar properties. Using wood ash has the added advantage of saving landfill space. This paper presented an ongoing laboratory study on leaching and mechanical stability, as well as frost-sensitivity using a 30 per cent ash addition to natural soils for reinforcing a forestry road near Timra in central Sweden. The road was being monitored with regard to environmental impact and mechanical properties. The paper discussed the potential of biofuel ashes and the increasing need to reinforce infrastructure due to climate change. The environmental impact from ash use in road constructions was then addressed. It was concluded that the application of ash in road construction would help to strengthen forest roads, make them more resistant to climatic change and render them accessible year-round. 32 refs., 3 tabs., 2 figs.

  4. Gender Stereotypes among Road Users

    OpenAIRE

    Kabalevskaya, Alexandra I.

    2013-01-01

    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 dr...

  5. Gender stereotypes among road users

    OpenAIRE

    Dontsov, Alexander; Kabalevskaya, Alexandra

    2013-01-01

    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 driv...

  6. Posttraumatic responses to the July 22, 2011 Oslo Terror among Norwegian high school students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nordanger, Dag Ø; Hysing, Mari; Posserud, Maj-Britt; Lundervold, Astri Johansen; Jakobsen, Reidar; Olff, Miranda; Stormark, Kjell Morten

    2013-12-01

    The July 22, 2011, Oslo Terror was defined as a national disaster. Former studies on terror attacks and mass shootings have shown elevated levels of posttraumatic complaints both in direct victims and in general populations. Little is known about how such extreme events in a generally safe society such as Norway would affect an adolescent population. This study examines posttraumatic stress reactions and changes in worldview in relationship to risk factors among 10,220 high school students using data from the ung@hordaland survey. One out of 5 respondents knew someone directly exposed, 55.7% experienced the events to some extent as threatening to their own or their close ones' lives, and 79.9% reported their worldview to be changed. For posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) DSM IV criteria, 0.8% reported substantial symptoms of reexperiencing (Criterion B), 4.9% of avoidance (Criterion C), and 1.1% of hyperarousal (Criterion D). Greater personal proximity to the events, higher levels of perceived life threat, and being a female or an immigrant predicted higher levels of PTSD symptom distress. Results indicate that the terror events made a deep impression on Norwegian adolescents, but without causing markedly elevated levels of PTSD symptomatology in the general young population. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

  7. Scaling roads and wildlife: The Cinderella principle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bissonette, J.A.

    2002-01-01

    It is clear that a reduction in both direct and indirect effects of roads and road networks must be the goal of management agencies. However, increased permeability of roaded landscapes can only be achieved by up-front planning and subsequent mitigative actions. The key is to understand that roads must be made permeable to the movement of animals. More profoundly, ecosystem services, i.e., clean water, clean air, uncontaminated soil, natural landscapes, recreation opportunities, abundant wildlife, and life sustaining ecological processes must not be seriously impacted. In other words, quality of life as measured by ecosystem services should be a major component of the planning process when roads are constructed or improved. Mitigative structures exist to increase permeability of roads. Wildlife overpasses and underpasses, often referred to as ecoducts or green bridges, with associated structures to enable larger animals to exit the road right of way, e.g., earthen escape ramps (BISSONETTE and HAMMER, 2001), various culvert designs for smaller animals including badger pipes and amphibian and reptile tunnels, and fish ladders are but a small sampling of the structures already in place around the world. What is needed is attention to the big picture. Landscapes need to be reconnected and made more permeable. Responsible agencies and organizations need to be aggressive about promoting mitigations and a conservation ethic into road planning. Only with a broad based effort between a concerned public, a database to work from, and a willingness of responsible agencies, will the now very large virtual footprint of roads and road networks be reduced to more closely approximate the physical footprint. By embracing the Cinderella Principle of making the virtual shoe fit more closely the actual physical footprint of roads, we will be able to achieve a closer connection with ecological harmony with its resultant effect of abundant wildlife.

  8. Global collaboration on road traffic injury prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peden, Margie

    2005-06-01

    Worldwide, nearly 1.2 million people are killed in road traffic crashes every year and 20 million to 50 million more are injured or disabled. These injuries account for 2.1% of global mortality and 2.6% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost. Low- and middle-income countries account for about 85% of the deaths and 90% of the DALYs lost annually. Without appropriate action, by 2020, road traffic injuries are predicted to be the third leading contributor to the global burden of disease. The economic cost of road traffic crashes is enormous. Globally it is estimated that US$518 billion is spent on road traffic crashes with low- and middle-income countries accounting for US$65 billion--more than these countries receive in development assistance. But these costs are just the tip of the iceberg. For everyone killed, injured or disabled by a road traffic crash there are countless others deeply affected. Many families are driven into poverty by the expenses of prolonged medical care, loss of a family breadwinner or the added burden of caring for the disabled. There is an urgent need for global collaboration on road traffic injury prevention. Since 2000, WHO has stepped up its response to the road safety crisis by firstly developing a 5-year strategy for road traffic injury prevention and following this by dedicating World Health Day 2004 to road safety and launching the WHO/World Bank World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention at the global World Health Day event in Paris, France. This short article highlights the main messages from the World Report and the six recommendations for action on road safety at a national and international level. It goes on to briefly discuss other international achievements since World Health Day and calls for countries to take up the challenge of implementing the recommendations of the World Report.

  9. The Relationship between Road Design and Driving Behavior

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abele, Liva; Møller, Mette

    2011-01-01

    Speed is a substantial factor contributing to road safety. Currently, speed reduction is mainly achieved through law enforcement and the implementation of traffic calming measures. An alternative speed reducing approach is to encourage drivers to voluntarily choose an appropriate driving speed....... Improving road infrastructure safety can be achieved by making roads forgiving and self-explaining. This could be done by clarifying the road design characteristics for each road category. The effect on driver behavior by varying road-shoulders and presence of roadside trees was tested by means of a fixed-driving...... simulator experiment. Speed and lateral position were used as performance indicators. The results indicated that shoulders might not be applied to decrease the speed on the experimental road stretch, but their presence cause drivers to drive closer to the road edge, hence eliminating the probability of head...

  10. 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

  11. Sediment deposition from forest roads at stream crossings as influenced by road characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    A.J. Lang; W.M. Aust; M.C. Bolding; K.J. McGuire

    2015-01-01

    Recent controversies associated with ditched forest roads and stream crossings in the Pacific Northwest have focused national attention on sediment production and best management practices (BMPs) at stream crossings. Few studies have quantified soil erosion rates at stream crossings as influenced by road characteristics and compared them to modeled rates. Soil erosion...

  12. Intermediate Volatility Organic Compound Emissions from On-Road Gasoline Vehicles and Small Off-Road Gasoline Engines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Yunliang; Nguyen, Ngoc T; Presto, Albert A; Hennigan, Christopher J; May, Andrew A; Robinson, Allen L

    2016-04-19

    Dynamometer experiments were conducted to characterize the intermediate volatility organic compound (IVOC) emissions from a fleet of on-road gasoline vehicles and small off-road gasoline engines. IVOCs were quantified through gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of adsorbent samples collected from a constant volume sampler. The dominant fraction (>80%, on average) of IVOCs could not be resolved on a molecular level. These unspeciated IVOCs were quantified as two chemical classes (unspeciated branched alkanes and cyclic compounds) in 11 retention-time-based bins. IVOC emission factors (mg kg-fuel(-1)) from on-road vehicles varied widely from vehicle to vehicle, but showed a general trend of lower emissions for newer vehicles that met more stringent emission standards. IVOC emission factors for 2-stroke off-road engines were substantially higher than 4-stroke off-road engines and on-road vehicles. Despite large variations in the magnitude of emissions, the IVOC volatility distribution and chemical characteristics were consistent across all tests and IVOC emissions were strongly correlated with nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), primary organic aerosol and speciated IVOCs. Although IVOC emissions only correspond to approximately 4% of NMHC emissions from on-road vehicles over the cold-start unified cycle, they are estimated to produce as much or more SOA than single-ring aromatics. Our results clearly demonstrate that IVOCs from gasoline engines are an important class of SOA precursors and provide observational constraints on IVOC emission factors and chemical composition to facilitate their inclusion into atmospheric chemistry models.

  13. Mayan Forest Road Projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Conde, Dalia Amor

    2008-01-01

    Road-building projects in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve to connect Mexico and Guatemala were subjected to a cost-benefit evaluation. Up to an estimated 311,000 hectares of jaguar habitat were found to be at risk of deforestation due to these projects. Some of the projects were shown to have negativ...... of continued conservation rather than road development....

  14. BRICS: opportunities to improve road safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyder, Adnan A; Vecino-Ortiz, Andres I

    2014-06-01

    Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa--the countries known as BRICS--are currently undergoing a deep epidemiological transition that is mainly driven by rapid economic growth and technological change. The changes being observed in the distribution of the burden of diseases and injuries--such as recent increases in the incidence of road traffic injuries--are matters of concern. BRICS may need stronger institutional capacity to address such changes in a timely way. In this paper, we present data on road traffic injuries in BRICS and illustrate the enormous challenge that these countries currently face in reducing the incidence of such injuries. There is an urgent need to improve road safety indicators in every country constituting BRICS. It is imperative for BRICS to invest in system-wide road safety interventions and reduce the mortality and morbidity from road traffic injuries.

  15. Roads Belong In the Urban Landscape

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clemmensen, Thomas Juel

    2012-01-01

    In spite of being an essential part of the system of automobility and as such playing an important role in the development of urban landscapes, road networks seldom attracts much attention among architects involved in the planning and design of urban landscapes. One reason is probably found...... in the dominance of the zoning approach to planning, where road planning easily becomes isolated and reduced to a matter of traffic regulation and transport economy. Another possible reason could be, as suggested by the Australian landscape architect Christopher Sawyer, that road networks like other...... as landscape architects engage with road networks in profound ways, which moves beyond the purely visual and pictorial? Is it possible to conceptually (re)locate road networks in the landscape? The paper will address these questions by discussing different understandings of landscape and its relation...

  16. A Fuel-Based Assessment of On-Road and Off-Road Mobile Source Emission Trends

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dallmann, T. R.; Harley, R. A.

    2009-12-01

    Mobile sources contribute significantly to emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the United States. These emissions lead to a variety of environmental concerns including adverse human health effects and climate change. In the electric power sector, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and NOx emissions from power plants are measured directly using continuous emission monitoring systems. In contrast for mobile sources, statistical models are used to estimate average emissions from a very large and diverse population of engines. Despite much effort aimed at improving them, mobile source emission inventories continue to have large associated uncertainties. Alternate methods are needed to help evaluate estimates of mobile source emissions and quantify and reduce the associated uncertainties. In this study, a fuel-based approach is used to estimate emissions from mobile sources, including on-road and off-road gasoline and diesel engines. In this approach, engine activity is measured by fuel consumed (in contrast EPA mobile source emission models are based on vehicle km of travel and total amount of engine work output for on-road and off-road engines, respectively). Fuel consumption is defined in this study based on highway fuel tax reports for on-road engines, and from surveys of fuel wholesalers who sell tax-exempt diesel fuel for use in various off-road sectors such as agriculture, construction, and mining. Over the decade-long time period (1996-2006) that is the focus of the present study, national sales of taxable gasoline and diesel fuel intended for on-road use increased by 15 and 43%, respectively. Diesel fuel use by off-road equipment increased by about 20% over the same time period. Growth in fuel consumption offset some of the reductions in pollutant emission factors that occurred during this period. This study relies on in-use measurements of mobile source emission factors, for example from roadside and tunnel studies, remote sensing, and

  17. Road geometry as a factor for musculoskeletal injuries due to road traffic accidents in Sub-Himalayan State of Himachal Pradesh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunil Kumar Raina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs kill 1.25 million people each year and injure between 20 and 50 million more people with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury. The road environment (design and geometry can affect driver speed choice, thereby increasing chances of accidents.Materials and Methods: Patients attending tertiary care center for musculoskeletal injuries after an RTA were enrolled in the study. The data were collected using a standard questionnaire. The details on the geometry of the road (type of road; highway or other, metaled or nonmetaled, straight, and curved were obtaine through inspection wherever possible. Results: Majority of the RTAs occurred on state highways (n = 154/313, 49.7% followed by national highways (NH (n = 94/313, 30%. Link roads account for comparatively less number (n = 65/313, 20.7% of cases. Majority of the accidents occurred on metaled road (n = 268, 85.6%; however, the association of different vehicles involved in RTA with the condition of road was not found to be significant statistically (P > 0.5. Further, the majority of the RTA occurred on straight roads (n = 204, 65.1%. Conclusion: Road geometry is an important factor in RTAs as drivers generally tend to choose their speed based on their perception of the appropriate speed for the road geometry.

  18. Who is in control of road safety? A STAMP control structure analysis of the road transport system in Queensland, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salmon, Paul M; Read, Gemma J M; Stevens, Nicholas J

    2016-11-01

    Despite significant progress, road trauma continues to represent a global safety issue. In Queensland (Qld), Australia, there is currently a focus on preventing the 'fatal five' behaviours underpinning road trauma (drug and drink driving, distraction, seat belt wearing, speeding, and fatigue), along with an emphasis on a shared responsibility for road safety that spans road users, vehicle manufacturers, designers, policy makers etc. The aim of this article is to clarify who shares the responsibility for road safety in Qld and to determine what control measures are enacted to prevent the fatal five behaviours. This is achieved through the presentation of a control structure model that depicts the actors and organisations within the Qld road transport system along with the control and feedback relationships that exist between them. Validated through a Delphi study, the model shows a diverse set of actors and organisations who share the responsibility for road safety that goes beyond those discussed in road safety policies and strategies. The analysis also shows that, compared to other safety critical domains, there are less formal control structures in road transport and that opportunities exist to add new controls and strengthen existing ones. Relationships that influence rather than control are also prominent. Finally, when compared to other safety critical domains, the strength of road safety controls is brought into question. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Trismus: An unusual presentation following road accident

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thakur Jagdeep

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Trismus due to trauma usually follows road accidents leading to massive faciomaxillary injury. In the literature there is no report of a foreign body causing trismus following a road accident, this rare case is an exception. We present a case of isolated presentation of trismus following a road accident. This case report stresses on the thorough evaluation of patients presenting with trismus following a road accident.

  20. Erosion and sediment delivery following removal of forest roads

    Science.gov (United States)

    Madej, Mary Ann

    2001-01-01

    Erosion control treatments were applied to abandoned logging roads in California, with the goal of reducing road-related sediment input to streams and restoring natural hydrologic patterns on the landscape. Treatment of stream crossings involved excavating culverts and associated road fill and reshaping streambanks. A variety of techniques were applied to road benches, which included decompacting the road surface, placing unstable road fill in more stable locations, and re-establishing natural surface drainage patterns. Following treatment and a 12-year recurrence-interval storm, some road reaches and excavated stream crossings showed evidence of mass movement failures, gullying, bank erosion and channel incision. Post-treatment erosion from excavated stream crossings was related to two variables: a surrogate for stream power (drainage area × channel gradient) and the volume of fill excavated from the channel. Post-treatment erosion on road reaches was related to four explanatory variables: method of treatment, hillslope position (upper, mid-slope or lower), date of treatment, and an interaction term (hillslope position × method of treatment). Sediment delivery from treated roads in upper, middle and lower hillslope positions was 10, 135 and 550 m3 of sediment per kilometre of treated roads, respectively. In contrast, inventories of almost 500 km of forest roads in adjacent catchments indicate that untreated roads produced 1500 to 4700 m3 of sediment per kilometre of road length. Erosion from 300 km of treated roads contributed less than 2 per cent of the total sediment load of Redwood Creek during the period 1978 to 1998. Although road removal treatments do not completely eliminate erosion associated with forest roads, they do substantially reduce sediment yields from abandoned logging roads.

  1. Innovation as Road Safety Felicitator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahoo, S.; Mitra, A.; Kumar, J.; Sahoo, B.

    2018-03-01

    Transportation via Roads should only be used for safely commuting from one place to another. In 2015, when 1.5 Million people, across the Globe started out on a journey, it was meant to be their last. The Global Status Report on Road Safety, 2015, reflected this data from 180 countries as road traffic deaths, worldwide. In India, more than 1.37 Lakh[4] people were victims of road accidents in 2013 alone. That number is more than the number of Indians killed in all the wars put together. With these disturbing facts in mind, we found out some key ambiguities in the Indian Road Traffic Management systems like the non-adaptive nature to fluctuating traffic, pedestrians and motor vehicles not adhering to the traffic norms strictly, to name a few. Introduction of simple systems would greatly erase the effects of this silent epidemic and our Project aims to achieve the same. It would introduce a pair of Barricade systems to cautiously separate the pedestrians and motor vehicles to minimise road mishaps to the extent possible. Exceptional situations like that of an Ambulance or any emergency vehicles will be taken care off by the use of RFID tags to monitor the movement of the Barricades. The varied traffic scenario can be guided properly by using the ADS-B (Automatic Detection System-Broadcast) for monitoring traffic density according to the time and place.

  2. Spatial variation of contaminant elements of roadside dust samples from Budapest (Hungary) and Seoul (Republic of Korea), including Pt, Pd and Ir.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sager, Manfred; Chon, Hyo-Taek; Marton, Laszlo

    2015-02-01

    Roadside dusts were studied to explain the spatial variation and present levels of contaminant elements including Pt, Pd and Ir in urban environment and around Budapest (Hungary) and Seoul (Republic of Korea). The samples were collected from six sites of high traffic volumes in Seoul metropolitan city and from two control sites within the suburbs of Seoul, for comparison. Similarly, road dust samples were obtained two times from traffic focal points in Budapest, from the large bridges across the River Danube, from Margitsziget (an island in the Danube in the northern part of Budapest, used for recreation) as well as from main roads (no highways) outside Budapest. The samples were analysed for contaminant elements by ICP-AES and for Pt, Pd and Ir by ICP-MS. The highest Pt, Pd and Ir levels in road dusts were found from major roads with high traffic volume, but correlations with other contaminant elements were low, however. This reflects automobile catalytic converter to be an important source. To interpret the obtained multi-element results in short, pollution index, contamination index and geo-accumulation index were calculated. Finally, the obtained data were compared with total concentrations encountered in dust samples from Madrid, Oslo, Tokyo and Muscat (Oman). Dust samples from Seoul reached top level concentrations for Cd-Zn-As-Co-Cr-Cu-Mo-Ni-Sn. Just Pb was rather low because unleaded gasoline was introduced as compulsory in 1993. Concentrations in Budapest dust samples were lower than from Seoul, except for Pb and Mg. Compared with Madrid as another continental site, Budapest was higher in Co-V-Zn. Dust from Oslo, which is not so large, contained more Mn-Na-Sr than dust from other towns, but less other metals.

  3. Improving road safety: Experiences from the Netherlands

    OpenAIRE

    Hagenzieker, M.P.

    2012-01-01

    Dr. Hagenzieker's research and education activities focus on the road safety effects of the transport system, with particular interest in road user behaviour aspects. Her PhD-research was on the effects of rewards on road user behaviour.

  4. [Effects of road construction on regional vegetation types].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shi-Liang; Liu, Qi; Wang, Cong; Yang, Jue-Jie; Deng, Li

    2013-05-01

    As a regional artificial disturbance component, road exerts great effects on vegetation types, and plays a substantial role in defining vegetation distribution to a certain extent. Aiming at the tropical rainforest degradation and artificial forest expansion in Yunnan Province of Southwest China, this paper analyzed the effects of road network extension on regional vegetation types. In the Province, different classes of roads had different effects on the vegetation types, but no obvious regularity was observed in the effects on the patch areas of different vegetation types due to the great variations of road length and affected distance. However, the vegetation patch number was more affected by lower class roads because of their wide distribution. As for different vegetation types, the vegetations on cultivated land were most affected by roads, followed by Castanopsis hystrix and Schima wallichii forests. Road network formation contributed most to the vegetation fragmentation, and there existed significant correlations between the human disturbance factors including village- and road distributions.

  5. Is female circumcision evolving or dissolving in Norway? A qualitative study on attitudes toward the practice among young Somalis in the Oslo area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gele, Abdi A; Sagbakken, Mette; Kumar, Bernadette

    2015-01-01

    Female genital mutilation or female circumcision (FC) is increasingly visible on the global health and development agenda - both as a matter of social justice and equality for women and as a research priority. Norway is one of the global nations hosting a large number of immigrants from FC-practicing countries, the majority from Somalia. To help counteract this practice, Norway has adopted a multifaceted policy approach that employs one of the toughest measures against FC in the world. However, little is known about the impact of Norway's approach on the attitudes toward the practice among traditional FC-practicing communities in Norway. Against this background, this qualitative study explores the attitudes toward FC among young Somalis between the ages of 16 to 22 living in the Oslo and Akershus regions of Norway. Findings indicate that young Somalis in the Oslo area have, to a large extent, changed their attitude toward the practice. This was shown by the participants' support and sympathy toward criminalization of FC in Norway, which they believed was an important step toward saving young girls from the harmful consequences of FC. Most of the uncircumcised girls see their uncircumcised status as being normal, whereas they see circumcised girls as survivors of violence and injustice. Moreover, the fact that male participants prefer a marriage to uncircumcised girls is a strong condition for change, since if uncut girls are seen as marriageable then parents are unlikely to want to circumcise them. As newly arrived immigrants continue to have positive attitudes toward the practice, knowledge of FC should be integrated into introduction program classes that immigrants attend shortly after their residence permit is granted. This study adds to the knowledge of the process of the abandonment of FC among immigrants in Western countries.

  6. Value of monitoring in road network management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zouch, M.; Courage, W.; Napoles-Morales, O.

    2014-01-01

    We present a framework for road network management to assist road authorities in maintenance budget estimations and long-term maintenance strategies definition. Information about road conditions is obtained from monitoring. Available data are used to estimate and update prediction of degradation

  7. road sector development and economic growth in ethiopia1

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Eyerusalem

    Regarding community roads, both the management and accountancy .... previous years and its impact on overall and sectoral economic growth. Descriptive analysis is deployed to capture the link between the road transport sector and performance indicators, like rural accessibility, road density, road network, road financing ...

  8. Birds and Roads: Reduced Transit for Smaller Species over Roads within an Urban Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher D. Johnson

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Roads provide humans with a means of mobility between destinations, be it for transportation of goods and services or as a means of connecting with others. However, roads are also known to contribute toward a number of deleterious landscape processes, such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, pollution (e.g., chemical, noise and light and animal mortality. Few studies however have investigated their effects on avifauna. We investigated the influence of road width on movements of nearby bird assemblages in Australia by comparing crossing counts of four species guilds and sizes over roads of varying widths in Southern Brisbane. In addition, we also sought to determine the association of seasonality with species crossing richness and abundance. Species guild affiliations were based on definitions from previous literature: small forest dependent, large forest dependent, honeyeater, and urban tolerant; whereas body size classifications were arbitrarily defined: small (< 20 cm, medium (20–29 cm, and large (>30 cm. Road sites were selected based on their vegetation likeness, both within and between sites, and this was assessed using the Specht classification system. We detected strong, negative correlations between road width and forest species richness, crossing species richness and species crossing abundance. In particular, analysis of species guild classifications revealed species richness and crossing likelihoods of the small forest dependent guild to be consistently lower than those of large forest dependent, honeyeater and urban tolerant guilds. Analysis of species by body size classification yielded similar outcomes: small birds were consistently less likely to be present nearby and cross over roads of all widths compared to medium and large birds. We believe gap permeability, particularly changes in vegetation structure and complexity that may restrict a species ability to access to the gap, as well as competition and predation, play an

  9. Distributed Road Grade Estimation for Heavy Duty Vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sahlholm, Per

    2011-07-01

    An increasing need for goods and passenger transportation drives continued worldwide growth in traffic. As traffic increases environmental concerns, traffic safety, and cost efficiency become ever more important. Advancements in microelectronics open the possibility to address these issues through new advanced driver assistance systems. Applications such as predictive cruise control, automated gearbox control, predictive front lighting control, and hybrid vehicle state-of-charge control decrease the energy consumption of vehicles and increase the safety. These control systems can benefit significantly from preview road grade information. This information is currently obtained using specialized survey vehicles, and is not widely available. This thesis proposes new methods to obtain road grade information using on-board sensors. The task of creating road grade maps is addressed by the proposal of a framework where vehicles using a road network collect the necessary data for estimating the road grade. The estimation can then be carried out locally in the vehicle, or in the presence of a communication link to the infrastructure, centrally. In either case the accuracy of the map increases over time, and costly road surveys can be avoided. This thesis presents a new distributed method for creating accurate road grade maps for vehicle control applications. Standard heavy duty vehicles in normal operation are used to collect measurements. Estimates from multiple passes along a road segment are merged to form a road grade map, which improves each time a vehicle retraces a route. The design and implementation of the road grade estimator are described, and the performance is experimentally evaluated using real vehicles. Three different grade estimation methods, based on different assumption on the road grade signal, are proposed and compared. They all use data from sensors that are standard equipment in heavy duty vehicles. Measurements of the vehicle speed and the engine

  10. Climate Projection Data base for Roads - CliPDaR: Design a guideline for a transnational database of downscaled climate projection data for road impact models - within the Conference's of European Directors of Roads (CEDR) TRANSNATIONAL ROAD RESEARCH PROG

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matulla, Christoph; Namyslo, Joachim; Fuchs, Tobias; Türk, Konrad

    2013-04-01

    The European road sector is vulnerable to extreme weather phenomena, which can cause large socio-economic losses. Almost every year there occur several weather triggered events (like heavy precipitation, floods, landslides, high winds, snow and ice, heat or cold waves, etc.), that disrupt transportation, knock out power lines, cut off populated regions from the outside and so on. So, in order to avoid imbalances in the supply of vital goods to people as well as to prevent negative impacts on health and life of people travelling by car it is essential to know present and future threats to roads. Climate change might increase future threats to roads. CliPDaR focuses on parts of the European road network and contributes, based on the current body of knowledge, to the establishment of guidelines helping to decide which methods and scenarios to apply for the estimation of future climate change based challenges in the field of road maintenance. Based on regional scale climate change projections specific road-impact models are applied in order to support protection measures. In recent years, it has been recognised that it is essential to assess the uncertainty and reliability of given climate projections by using ensemble approaches and downscaling methods. A huge amount of scientific work has been done to evaluate these approaches with regard to reliability and usefulness for investigations on possible impacts of climate changes. CliPDaR is going to collect the existing approaches and methodologies in European countries, discuss their differences and - in close cooperation with the road owners - develops a common line on future applications of climate projection data to road impact models. As such, the project will focus on reviewing and assessing existing regional climate change projections regarding transnational highway transport needs. The final project report will include recommendations how the findings of CliPDaR may support the decision processes of European

  11. Roads Belong in the Urban Landscape

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Clemmensen, Thomas Juel

    2013-01-01

    Roads are often associated with a fragmentation or splintering of landscapes and their natural connectivity; particularly in relation to ‘green infrastructure’ they are often considered problematic elements that rupture and barricade. Conversely, as part of larger networks, roads can be considered...... important elements in the creation of new, ‘green infrastructures’ that can qualify urban landscapes in terms of improving their overall porosity and connectivity. This argument will be unfolded and substantiated in this article through theoretical reflections which conceptually re-locate road networks...... in the urban landscape, supported by relevant reference projects that illustrate the potential of road networks as a platform for ‘green infrastructure’....

  12. Why Did the Snake Cross the Road? Effects of Roads on Movement and Location of Mates by Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Shine

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available If animals avoid road surfaces or are unable to follow conspecific trails across such surfaces, previously continuous populations may be fragmented. We gathered data on the effects of a small (4-m wide gravel road on the behavior and trail-following abilities of garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis in Manitoba, central Canada. As expected, the road surface had less vegetation cover, a more open canopy and, thus, higher incident radiation than did the surrounding grassland. Contrary to expectations, however, substrate temperatures were lower on the road than in its surrounds, because of the higher reflectivity of the road's surface. On a nearby asphalt road, substrate temperatures were relatively high on the road surface only in the evening, as surrounding areas cooled. Focal sampling showed that snakes avoided the gravel road, typically changing direction when they encountered it. If they crossed the road, they did so by the shortest possible route (straight across. Mate-searching male snakes were less able to follow substrate-deposited pheromonal trails left by females if those trails crossed a road than if the trails were entirely within the surrounding grassland. Thus, roads may significantly modify snake movement patterns, as well as the ability of males to locate reproductive females. Our study provides the first detailed information on the effects of roads on snake behavior.

  13. Functional classification of the Gauteng provincial road network ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The built environment consists of various land uses and activities connected by a road network. The efficiency and effectiveness of the road network directly impacts economic growth and societal movement. This study involved the functional classification of the Gauteng provincial road network using the South African Road ...

  14. Problematics of Reliability of Road Rollers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stawowiak, Michał; Kuczaj, Mariusz

    2018-06-01

    This article refers to the reliability of road rollers used in a selected roadworks company. Information on the method of road rollers service and how the service affects the reliability of these rollers is presented. Attention was paid to the process of the implemented maintenance plan with regard to the machine's operational time. The reliability of road rollers was analyzed by determining and interpreting readiness coefficients.

  15. Introducing Dual Suspension System in Road Vehicles

    OpenAIRE

    Imtiaz Hussain; Jawaid Daudpoto; Ali Asghar Memon

    2013-01-01

    The main objective of suspension system is to reduce the motions of the vehicle body with respect to road disturbances. The conventional suspension systems in road vehicles use passive elements such as springs and dampers to suppress the vibrations induced by the irregularities in the road. But these conventional suspension systems can suppress vibrations to a certain limit. This paper presents a novel idea to improve the ride quality of roads vehicles without compromising vehicle?s stability...

  16. Salt on roads and the environment (VB)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hessberg, Philipp von; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

    2000-01-01

    This report descripes the extent of use of salt on roads in Denmark and the environmental consequences of this. Alternative strategies for reducing the risk of greasy roads and different ways of alleviating the vegetation are also discussed.The different consequences for the environment...... that this report discusses are:- The ground water.- Lakes and streams.- Plants and trees along roads.The consequences for the economy through usage of salt on roads has not been carried out....

  17. The study of technological prevention method of road accident ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study of technological prevention method of road accident related to driver and vehicle. ... road accident prevention method based on the factors studied. The study of this paper can provide forceful data analysis support for the road traffic safety related research. Keywords: road accident; accident prevention; road safety.

  18. The scaling structure of the global road network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strano, Emanuele; Giometto, Andrea; Shai, Saray; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mucha, Peter J; Rinaldo, Andrea

    2017-10-01

    Because of increasing global urbanization and its immediate consequences, including changes in patterns of food demand, circulation and land use, the next century will witness a major increase in the extent of paved roads built worldwide. To model the effects of this increase, it is crucial to understand whether possible self-organized patterns are inherent in the global road network structure. Here, we use the largest updated database comprising all major roads on the Earth, together with global urban and cropland inventories, to suggest that road length distributions within croplands are indistinguishable from urban ones, once rescaled to account for the difference in mean road length. Such similarity extends to road length distributions within urban or agricultural domains of a given area. We find two distinct regimes for the scaling of the mean road length with the associated area, holding in general at small and at large values of the latter. In suitably large urban and cropland domains, we find that mean and total road lengths increase linearly with their domain area, differently from earlier suggestions. Scaling regimes suggest that simple and universal mechanisms regulate urban and cropland road expansion at the global scale. As such, our findings bear implications for global road infrastructure growth based on land-use change and for planning policies sustaining urban expansions.

  19. Dust emissions from unpaved roads on the Colorado Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duniway, M.; Flagg, C.; Belnap, J.

    2013-12-01

    On the Colorado Plateau, elevated levels of aeolian dust have become a major land management and policy concern due to its influence on climate, weather, terrestrial ecosystem dynamics, landscape development and fertility, melting of snow and ice, air quality, and human health. Most desert soil surfaces are stabilized by plants, rocks, and/or physical or biological soil crusts, but once disturbed, sediment production from these surfaces can increase dramatically. Road development and use is a common surface disturbing activity in the region. The extent and density of roads and road networks is rapidly increasing due to continued energy exploration, infrastructure development, and off-highway recreation activities. Though it is well known that unpaved roads produce dust, the relative contribution of dust from existing roads or the implications of future road development to regional dust loading is unknown. To address this need, we have initiated a multifaceted research effort to evaluating dust emissions from unpaved roads regionally. At 34 sites arranged across various road surfaces and soil textures in southeastern Utah, we are: 1) monitoring dust emissions, local wind conditions, and vehicle traffic and 2) evaluating fugitive dust potential using a portable wind tunnel and measuring road characteristics that affect dust production. We will then 3) develop a GIS-based model that integrates results from 1 & 2 to estimate potential dust contributions from current and future scenarios of regional road development. Passive, horizontal sediment traps were installed at three distances downwind from the road edge. One control trap was placed upwind of the samplers to account for local, non-road dust emissions. An electronic vehicle counter and anemometer were also installed at monitoring sites. Dust samples were collected every three months at fixed heights, 15 cm up to 100 cm above the soil surface, from March 2010 to the present. Threshold friction velocities (TFV

  20. Road safety policy of the European Union.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    2013-01-01

    The European Union (EU) is important for national road safety policies. The EU has several policymaking instruments, such as binding regulations and directives, and non-binding recommendations. An important element in the EU policy plans on road safety are the non-binding European road safety

  1. Road lighting fundamentals, technology and application

    CERN Document Server

    van Bommel, Wout

    2015-01-01

    This book outlines the underlying principles on which modern road lighting is based, and provides the reader with knowledge of how these principles should be applied in practice. It offers a completely fresh approach to the subject, reflecting how the technology of road lighting has progressed to keep up with the changes in lamp technology, especially in solid state light sources, and the increasing awareness of energy use and environmental issues. The book is divided into three parts. Part One describes lighting of open roads, with chapters discussing visual performance and comfort (including the effects of mesopic vision and age), and international standards and recommendations for road lighting. Lighting equipment is introduced; specifically lamps and luminaires in terms of their practical properties and features, but also the road surface and its characteristics. A chapter on Lighting Design makes the link between theory and practice, providing the reader with the knowledge needed for effective lighting d...

  2. Road safety in developing countries.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schreuder, D.A.

    1991-01-01

    This paper presents a classification of countries (developing and developed alike), divided into two main categories: an economical and historical entry. When road safety problems are placed into the economical context, it then appears that, among other things: (1) The road safety problem in the

  3. 5 CFR 930.107 - Waiver of road test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Waiver of road test. 930.107 Section 930....107 Waiver of road test. Under the following conditions, OPM or an agency head or his or her designated representative may waive the road test: (a) OPM waives the road test requirement for operators of...

  4. Guidelines for upgrading of low volume roads

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Division of Roads

    1993-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this manual is to provide guidelines on the upgrading of gravel low volume roads to roads and maintenance personnel of road authorities of all sizes. Low volume is, for the purpose of this document, defined to be less than 500...

  5. Traffic mortality and the role of minor roads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Langevelde, Frank; van Dooremalen, Coby; Jaarsma, Catharinus F

    2009-01-01

    Roads have large impacts on wildlife, as they form one of the principal causes of mortality, and disturbance and fragmentation of habitat. These impacts are mainly studied and mitigated on major roads. It is, however, a widespread misconception that most animals are killed on major roads. In this paper, we argue that minor roads have a larger impact on wildlife with respect to habitat destruction, noise load and traffic mortality. We use data on traffic related deaths in badgers (Meles meles) in The Netherlands to illustrate that traffic mortality is higher on minor roads. We ask for a more extensive investigation of the environmental impacts of minor roads. Moreover, we argue that the success of mitigation on roads drastically increases when both major and minor roads are integrated in the planning of traffic flows. Therefore, we propose a strategy based on the concept of a "traffic-calmed area". Traffic-calmed areas create opportunities for wildlife by decreasing limitations for animal movement. We ask for further studies to estimate what size traffic-calmed areas should be to maintain minimum viable animal populations.

  6. Extended investigation on road fatality in Brunei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yusof, N B; Hoque, M A; Steele, M C; Yong, S Y

    2018-06-08

    Road fatality is one of the leading causes of death in Brunei with 79 deaths in 1993, the highest ever recorded. The Brunei government has been trying to reduce this by implementing new traffic measures and successfully reduced fatalities to 24 fatalities in 2014. Yearly road fatality has been fluctuating, but there has been a declining tendency overall. The aim of this study is to investigate road fatality in Brunei by extending the research. We developed a multiple regression model and carried out an analysis on road fatality in Brunei. Our analysis indicates that the road fatality appears to rise depending on the increase in the number of young drivers between 15 to 24 years and the number of unemployed people. Comparisons of Brunei road fatality rate per 10,000 vehicles are made with some other countries and we conclude that Brunei has approximately the same rate as Australia in 2014.

  7. On-line monitoring of Escherichia coli in raw water at Oset drinking water treatment plant, Oslo (Norway).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tryland, Ingun; Eregno, Fasil Ejigu; Braathen, Henrik; Khalaf, Goran; Sjølander, Ingrid; Fossum, Marie

    2015-02-04

    The fully automated Colifast ALARM™ has been used for two years for daily monitoring of the presence/absence of Escherichia coli in 100 mL raw water at Oset drinking water treatment plant in Oslo, Norway. The raw water is extracted from 35 m depth from the Lake Maridalsvannet. E. coli was detected in 18% of the daily samples. In general, most samples positive for E. coli were observed during the autumn turnover periods, but even in some samples taken during warm and dry days in July, with stable temperature stratification in the lake, E. coli was detected. The daily samples gave useful additional information compared with the weekly routine samples about the hygienic raw water quality and the hygienic barrier efficiency of the lake under different weather conditions and seasons. The winter 2013/2014 was much warmer than the winter 2012/2013. The monitoring supported the hypothesis that warmer winters with shorter periods with ice cover on lakes, which may be a consequence of climate changes, may reduce the hygienic barrier efficiency in deep lakes used as drinking water sources.

  8. 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

  9. Large roads reduce bat activity across multiple species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitzes, Justin; Merenlender, Adina

    2014-01-01

    Although the negative impacts of roads on many terrestrial vertebrate and bird populations are well documented, there have been few studies of the road ecology of bats. To examine the effects of large roads on bat populations, we used acoustic recorders to survey bat activity along ten 300 m transects bordering three large highways in northern California, applying a newly developed statistical classifier to identify recorded calls to the species level. Nightly counts of bat passes were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models to determine the relationship between bat activity and distance from a road. Total bat activity recorded at points adjacent to roads was found to be approximately one-half the level observed at 300 m. Statistically significant road effects were also found for the Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), and silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans). The road effect was found to be temperature dependent, with hot days both increasing total activity at night and reducing the difference between activity levels near and far from roads. These results suggest that the environmental impacts of road construction may include degradation of bat habitat and that mitigation activities for this habitat loss may be necessary to protect bat populations.

  10. Roads at risk - the impact of debris flows on road network reliability and vulnerability in southern Norway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Nele Kristin; Schwanghart, Wolfgang; Korup, Oliver

    2014-05-01

    Norwegian's road network is frequently affected by debris flows. Both damage repair and traffic interruption generate high economic losses and necessitate a rigorous assessment of where losses are expected to be high and where preventive measures should be focused on. In recent studies, we have developed susceptibility and trigger probability maps that serve as input into a hazard calculation at the scale of first-order watersheds. Here we combine these results with graph theory to assess the impact of debris flows on the road network of southern Norway. Susceptibility and trigger probability are aggregated for individual road sections to form a reliability index that relates to the failure probability of a link that connects two network vertices, e.g., road junctions. We define link vulnerability as a function of traffic volume and additional link failure distance. Additional link failure distance is the extra length of the alternative path connecting the two associated link vertices in case the network link fails and is calculated by a shortest-path algorithm. The product of network reliability and vulnerability indices represent the risk index. High risk indices identify critical links for the Norwegian road network and are investigated in more detail. Scenarios demonstrating the impact of single or multiple debris flow events are run for the most important routes between seven large cities in southern Norway. First results show that the reliability of the road network is lowest in the central and north-western part of the study area. Road network vulnerability is highest in the mountainous regions in central southern Norway where the road density is low and in the vicinity of cities where the traffic volume is large. The scenarios indicate that city connections that have their shortest path via routes crossing the central part of the study area have the highest risk of route failure.

  11. EFFECT OF A ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION INTERVENTION ON ROAD SAFETY KNOWLEDGE OF UNIVERSITY DRIVERS IN IBADAN, NIGERIA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olumide, A O; Owoaje, E T

    2016-06-01

    It is essential for drivers employed in the formal sector to have good knowledge of road safety in order to safeguard their lives and those of the staff they are employed to drive. The study was conducted to determine the effect of a road safety education intervention on road safety knowledge of drivers employed in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental study of 98 intervention and 78 control drivers selected using a cluster sampling technique was conducted. The intervention comprised a two-day training on road safety and first aid. The drivers' knowledge of road safety was measured at baseline, immediately and 4-months post-intervention. Aggregate scores of road safety knowledge were computed giving minimum and maximum obtainable scores of 0 and 16 respectively. Change in mean scores over the three measurement periods was assessed using Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Independent t-test was used to compare the scores between intervention and control drivers at each of the assessment periods. Twenty-nine drivers did not complete the study (attrition rate = 16.5%). At baseline, mean road safety knowledge scores for the intervention and control drivers were 12.7±2.2 and 12.9± 2.3 (p = 0.510) respectively. Immediately and four months post intervention, the scores of the intervention drivers were 13.8±1.9 and 12.8±1.6; while scores for the controls were 13.3±2.0 and 13.2±1.8. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the increase in knowledge over the three assessment periods was not statistically significant. The intervention resulted in an initial increase in road safety knowledge of the intervention drivers. However, this was not sustained to the forth month post-intervention. This finding suggests periodic refresher trainings to sustain the knowledge acquired.

  12. The Use of Theatre Tours in Road Safety Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powney, Janet; And Others

    The Scottish Road Safety Campaign and the Road Safety Council of Wales have made a large investment in theater tours as a method of providing road safety education. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a road safety message delivered by a theater group, Road Safety Officers (RSOs), or, teachers for pupils in upper secondary classes.…

  13. Network Screening for Smarter Road Sites: A Regional Case

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Attila Grieco

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Road safety has been a main societal and policy issue in many European countries since the early years of last decade. After the 2000-2010 Road Safety Programme launched by the European Commission, in 2011 the Commission adopted the new 2020 programme, even more demanding than the previous. As the societal consequences of road casualties are increasingly perceived as a core dimension of smart mobility, road safety system is now facing new challenges. Current mobility shifts to softer and greener transportation means raise new safety concerns for an increasingly larger share of vulnerable road users. The need to integrate road safety requirements with other residential, mobility, and environmental policies calls for a more detailed understanding of the phenomenon at different spatial levels and with different observation lenses. The pilot study described in this paper is a contribution to this end. It aims at identifying the accident prone sites of the regional road network to help prioritizing safety interventions, by the regional administration having road planning responsibilities. The study develops a screening approach to select hazardous road locations, outside urban premises, from the Piedmont provincial and state roads. The most recent data for the 2010-2012 years were considered, drawn from the ISTAT road accident database, managed by the CMRSS. The procedure consists of the following steps: identification of the elementary road sections to be screened, through a GIS analysis; definition of the screening groups (road sections have been subdivided in 4 length classes; definition of the selection criteria, with two severity thresholds based on the crash density; classification of the elementary road sections by severity thresholds.

  14. Residential proximity to major roads and term low birth weight: the roles of air pollution, heat, noise, and road-adjacent trees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dadvand, Payam; Ostro, Bart; Figueras, Francesc; Foraster, Maria; Basagaña, Xavier; Valentín, Antònia; Martinez, David; Beelen, Rob; Cirach, Marta; Hoek, Gerard; Jerrett, Michael; Brunekreef, Bert; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J

    2014-07-01

    Maternal residential proximity to roads has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, there is no study investigating mediators or buffering effects of road-adjacent trees on this association. We investigated the association between mothers' residential proximity to major roads and term low birth weight (LBW), while exploring possible mediating roles of air pollution (PM(2.5), PM(2.5-10), PM(10), PM(2.5) absorbance, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxides), heat, and noise and buffering effect of road-adjacent trees on this association. This cohort study was based on 6438 singleton term births in Barcelona, Spain (2001-2005). Road proximity was measured as both continuous distance to and living within 200 m from a major road. We assessed individual exposures to air pollution, noise, and heat using, respectively, temporally adjusted land-use regression models, annual averages of 24-hour noise levels across 50 m and 250 m, and average of satellite-derived land-surface temperature in a 50-m buffer around each residential address. We used vegetation continuous fields to abstract tree coverage in a 200-m buffer around major roads. Living within 200 m of major roads was associated with a 46% increase in term LBW risk; an interquartile range increase in heat exposure with an 18% increase; and third-trimester exposure to PM(2.5), PM(2.5-10), and PM10 with 24%, 25%, and 26% increases, respectively. Air pollution and heat exposures together explained about one-third of the association between residential proximity to major roads and term LBW. Our observations on the buffering of this association by road-adjacent trees were not consistent between our 2 measures of proximity to major roads. An increased risk of term LBW associated with proximity to major roads was partly mediated by air pollution and heat exposures.

  15. Prioritizing Road Treatments using the Geomorphic Roads Analysis and Inventory Package (GRAIP) to Improve Watershed Conditions in the Wall Creek Watershed, Oregon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, K. T.; Black, T.; Clifton, C.; Luce, C.; McCune, S.; Nelson, N.

    2010-12-01

    Wall Creek, tributary to the North Fork John Day River in eastern Oregon, was identified as a priority watershed by the Umatilla National Forest for restoration in 2002. Most streams in this 518 km2 multi-ownership watershed are designated critical habitat for threatened steelhead. Eight streams are listed on the Oregon 303(d) list for elevated temperatures and excess sedimentation. Over 1000 km of public and private roads in the watershed present a major source of potential water quality and habitat impairment. We conducted a watershed-wide inventory of roads using the Geomorphic Roads Analysis and Inventory Package (GRAIP) in 2009 to quantify sediment contributions from roads to streams. GRAIP is a field and GIS-based model developed by the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station and Utah State University that georeferences and quantifies road hydrologic connectivity, sediment production and delivery, mass wasting, and risk of diversion and plugging at stream crossings. Field survey and modeling produced data for 6,473 drainage locations on 726 km of road (most of the publically owned roads) quantifying the location and mass of sediment produced and delivered to streams. Findings indicate a relatively small subset of roads deliver the majority of road-produced fine sediment; 12 percent of the road length delivers 90 percent of the total fine sediment to streams. Overall fine sediment production in the watershed is relatively low (with an estimated background erosion rate of 518,000 kg/yr for the watershed) and sediment produced and delivered from the road system appears to be a modest addition. Road surfaces produce approximately 81,455 kg of fine sediment per year, with 20,976 kg/year delivered to the stream network. Fifty-nine gullies were observed, 41 of which received road runoff. Sixteen road-related landslides were also observed. The excavated volume of these features totals 3,922,000 kg which is equivalent to 175 years of fine sediment delivery at

  16. Road safety and trade and industry.

    OpenAIRE

    2014-01-01

    Trade and industry mostly experience the negative consequences of crashes, but sometimes the consequences are positive. The negative consequences of road traffic crashes include loss of personnel and damage to vehicles. Some other industries, such as damage repair companies, on the other hand, derive income from road crashes. Trade and industry can also be of importance for road safety. Particularly the transport sector, the car industry and insurers take several initiatives which for example...

  17. Self regulation initiative in heavy vehicle transport to address road safety, accelerated road deterioration and transport productivity in South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Nordengen, Paul A

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Heavy vehicle overloading and road safety continue to be major problems in South Africa notwithstanding efforts at more effective enforcement by the road and traffic authorities. Overloading causes premature road deterioration and, together...

  18. Effects of roads on survival of San Clemente Island foxes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snow, N.P.; Andelt, William F.; Stanley, T.R.; Resnik, J.R.; Munson, L.

    2012-01-01

    Roads generate a variety of influences on wildlife populations; however, little is known about the effects of roads on endemic wildlife on islands. Specifically, road-kills of island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) on San Clemente Island (SCI), Channel Islands, California, USA are a concern for resource managers. To determine the effects of roads on island foxes, we radiocollared foxes using a 3-tiered sampling design to represent the entire population in the study area, a sub-population near roads, and a sub-population away from roads on SCI. We examined annual survival rates using nest-survival models, causes of mortalities, and movements for each sample. We found the population had high annual survival (0.90), although survival declined with use of road habitat, particularly for intermediate-aged foxes. Foxes living near roads suffered lower annual survival (0.76), resulting from high frequencies of road-kills (7 of 11 mortalities). Foxes living away from roads had the highest annual survival (0.97). Road-kill was the most prominent cause of mortality detected on SCI, which we estimated as killing 3-8% of the population in the study area annually. Based on movements, we were unable to detect any responses by foxes that minimized their risks from roads. The probabilities of road-kills increased with use of the road habitat, volume of traffic, and decreasing road sinuosity. We recommend that managers should attempt to reduce road-kills by deterring or excluding foxes from entering roads, and attempting to modify behaviors of motorists to be vigilant for foxes. ?? 2011 The Wildlife Society.

  19. 77 FR 53839 - Shasta-Trinity National Forest; California; East McCloud Plantations Thinning Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-09-04

    ... actions include road maintenance and reconstruction of National Forest System, new road construction and... maintenance and 36 miles of reconstruction on National Forest System (NFS) roads. Existing unauthorized routes... be rehabilitated when no longer needed for this project. Maintenance Level 1 (intermittent use) roads...

  20. Second-best Road Pricing through Highway Franchising

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoef, E.T.

    2007-01-01

    This paper considers the welfare impacts of a range of franchising regimes for congestible highways. For a single road in isolation, it is shown that a competitive auction with the level of road use as the decision criterion produces the socially optimal road (in terms of capacity and toll level),

  1. Quantification of Gravel Rural Road Sediment Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silliman, B. A.; Myers Toman, E.

    2014-12-01

    Unbound rural roads are thought to be one of the largest anthropogenic sources of sediment reaching stream channels in small watersheds. This sediment deposition can reduce water quality in the streams negatively impacting aquatic habitat as well as impacting municipal drinking water sources. These roads are thought to see an increase in construction and use in southeast Ohio due to the expansion of shale gas development in the region. This study set out to quantify the amount of sediment these rural roads are able to produce. A controlled rain event of 12.7 millimeters of rain over a half hour period was used to drive sediment production over a 0.03 kilometer section of gravel rural road. These 8 segments varied in many characteristics and produced from 2.0 to 8.4 kilograms of sediment per 0.03 kilometers of road with the average production over the 8 segments being 5.5 kilograms of sediment. Sediment production was not strongly correlated with road segment slope but traffic was found to increase sediment production from 1.1 to 3.9 times as much sediment after traffic use. These results will help inform watershed scale sediment budgeting, and inform best management practices for road maintenance and construction. This study also adds to the understanding of the impacts of rural road use and construction associated with the changing land use from agricultural to natural gas extraction.

  2. Major Roads

    Data.gov (United States)

    Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This data set contains roadway centerlines for major roads (interstates and trunk highways) found on the USGS 1:24,000 mapping series. These roadways are current...

  3. Optimal policies for aggregate recycling from decommissioned forest roads.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Matthew; Sessions, John

    2008-08-01

    To mitigate the adverse environmental impact of forest roads, especially degradation of endangered salmonid habitat, many public and private land managers in the western United States are actively decommissioning roads where practical and affordable. Road decommissioning is associated with reduced long-term environmental impact. When decommissioning a road, it may be possible to recover some aggregate (crushed rock) from the road surface. Aggregate is used on many low volume forest roads to reduce wheel stresses transferred to the subgrade, reduce erosion, reduce maintenance costs, and improve driver comfort. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential for aggregate to be recovered and used elsewhere on the road network, at a reduced cost compared to purchasing aggregate from a quarry. This article investigates the potential for aggregate recycling to provide an economic incentive to decommission additional roads by reducing transport distance and aggregate procurement costs for other actively used roads. Decommissioning additional roads may, in turn, result in improved aquatic habitat. We present real-world examples of aggregate recycling and discuss the advantages of doing so. Further, we present mixed integer formulations to determine optimal levels of aggregate recycling under economic and environmental objectives. Tested on an example road network, incorporation of aggregate recycling demonstrates substantial cost-savings relative to a baseline scenario without recycling, increasing the likelihood of road decommissioning and reduced habitat degradation. We find that aggregate recycling can result in up to 24% in cost savings (economic objective) and up to 890% in additional length of roads decommissioned (environmental objective).

  4. Mastectomy Skin Necrosis After Breast Reconstruction: A Comparative Analysis Between Autologous Reconstruction and Implant-Based Reconstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sue, Gloria R; Lee, Gordon K

    2018-05-01

    Mastectomy skin necrosis is a significant problem after breast reconstruction. We sought to perform a comparative analysis on this complication between patients undergoing autologous breast reconstruction and patients undergoing 2-stage expander implant breast reconstruction. A retrospective review was performed on consecutive patients undergoing autologous breast reconstruction or 2-stage expander implant breast reconstruction by the senior author from 2006 through 2015. Patient demographic factors including age, body mass index, history of diabetes, history of smoking, and history of radiation to the breast were collected. Our primary outcome measure was mastectomy skin necrosis. Fisher exact test was used for statistical analysis between the 2 patient cohorts. The treatment patterns of mastectomy skin necrosis were then analyzed. We identified 204 patients who underwent autologous breast reconstruction and 293 patients who underwent 2-stage expander implant breast reconstruction. Patients undergoing autologous breast reconstruction were older, heavier, more likely to have diabetes, and more likely to have had prior radiation to the breast compared with patients undergoing implant-based reconstruction. The incidence of mastectomy skin necrosis was 30.4% of patients in the autologous group compared with only 10.6% of patients in the tissue expander group (P care in the autologous group, only 3.2% were treated with local wound care in the tissue expander group (P skin necrosis is significantly more likely to occur after autologous breast reconstruction compared with 2-stage expander implant-based breast reconstruction. Patients with autologous reconstructions are more readily treated with local wound care compared with patients with tissue expanders, who tended to require operative treatment of this complication. Patients considering breast reconstruction should be counseled appropriately regarding the differences in incidence and management of mastectomy skin

  5. Small-scale geodiversity and dirt road management, Ede (NL)

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Ancker, Hanneke; Jungerius, Pieter Dirk

    2016-04-01

    A large part of the countryside roads on the Pleistocene sands of The Netherlands are dirt roads. Most are footpaths, but a small percentage are relatively heavily used by motorized vehicles. These latter roads are a cause subject of debate. Puddles and potholes develop during periods of wet weather, while dust whirls from the roads form during spells of dry weather as do washboard ripples. They cause problems for people living along these roads and tourists (walkers and bikers. The community of Ede (NL), like many other communities on the sand, wants to keep its 80 km of dirt roads because of the natural values they harbour as well as for their characteristic landscape quality and cultural heritage value. A part of the dirt roads in Ede is heavily used. In 2009, the community of Ede developed a decision model to support management of the dirt roads. Ede acknowledges that each dirt road is unique and asks for a tailor-made solution. Road maintenance measures include grading, making a camber, digging pits, applying loam or sandy loam. If problems become too large, one-way traffic can be an option. In more and more cases the dirt roads are barred for motorized through traffic (Gemeente Ede, 2009). As a reconnaissance we have studied the dirt roads of the Horabos/Horalaan over the last year. Incidentally we looked at other parts of the main Horalaan and the footpaths in the adjacent forest of Hoekelum. All dirt roads lie near the top of a Saalian push-moraine in which the upper course of dry valleys are present. Some results of the reconnaissance: - Most dirt roads sections in the Horabos lie lower than the surrounding terrain; - The problems develop in a short period of time during special weather conditions; - Certain dirt road sections e.g. those sections crossing a slight depression are quickly developing potholes; - Even a small slope of the road (differences that have consequences for its maintenance. Knowledge of geodiversity of the terrain and study of small

  6. Evaluation of Shortest Paths in Road Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farrukh Shehzad

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Optimization is a key factor in almost all the topics of operations research / management science and economics.The road networks can be optimized within different constraints like time, distance, cost and traffic running onthe roads.This study is based on optimization of real road network by means of distances. Two main objectives arepursued in this research: 1 road distances among different routes are composed in detail; 2 two standardalgorithms (Dijkstra and Floyd-Warshall algoritms are applied to optimize/minimize these distances for bothsingle-source and all-pairs shortest path problems.

  7. Overview of experimental progress on understanding photon strength functions with an emphasis of the Oslo method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krticka, Milan

    2015-10-01

    The so-called Photon Strength Functions (PSFs) for different multipolarities are, together with the Nuclear Level Density (NLD) the key entities describing the statistical γ-decay of nucleus. It is well known that PSFs at energies above the threshold for particle emission are well described by the Lorentzian shape of the Giant Electric Dipole Resonance (GEDR). On the other hand, shapes of RSFs at the low-energy tail of GEDR are known rather poorly. Information on the PSFs at the GEDR tail can be obtained from several different experimental techniques. They will be summarized and the most important ones briefly introduced in this contribution. Special emphasis will be put on the so-called Oslo method which allows simultaneous extraction of the NLD and the PSFs from particle- γ coincidence measurements. This method has been used for determining the NLD and the PSFs in many nuclei in A ~ 45- 240 range during past years. Examples of the most interesting results obtained with this method will be shown. The results will be compared to information on the PSFs available from other experimental techniques. The strengths and the weaknesses of the method will be thoroughly discussed.

  8. Amphibian and reptile road-kills on tertiary roads in relation to landscape structure: using a citizen science approach with open-access land cover data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heigl, Florian; Horvath, Kathrin; Laaha, Gregor; Zaller, Johann G

    2017-06-26

    Amphibians and reptiles are among the most endangered vertebrate species worldwide. However, little is known how they are affected by road-kills on tertiary roads and whether the surrounding landscape structure can explain road-kill patterns. The aim of our study was to examine the applicability of open-access remote sensing data for a large-scale citizen science approach to describe spatial patterns of road-killed amphibians and reptiles on tertiary roads. Using a citizen science app we monitored road-kills of amphibians and reptiles along 97.5 km of tertiary roads covering agricultural, municipal and interurban roads as well as cycling paths in eastern Austria over two seasons. Surrounding landscape was assessed using open access land cover classes for the region (Coordination of Information on the Environment, CORINE). Hotspot analysis was performed using kernel density estimation (KDE+). Relations between land cover classes and amphibian and reptile road-kills were analysed with conditional probabilities and general linear models (GLM). We also estimated the potential cost-efficiency of a large scale citizen science monitoring project. We recorded 180 amphibian and 72 reptile road-kills comprising eight species mainly occurring on agricultural roads. KDE+ analyses revealed a significant clustering of road-killed amphibians and reptiles, which is an important information for authorities aiming to mitigate road-kills. Overall, hotspots of amphibian and reptile road-kills were next to the land cover classes arable land, suburban areas and vineyards. Conditional probabilities and GLMs identified road-kills especially next to preferred habitats of green toad, common toad and grass snake, the most often found road-killed species. A citizen science approach appeared to be more cost-efficient than monitoring by professional researchers only when more than 400 km of road are monitored. Our findings showed that freely available remote sensing data in combination with a

  9. Mass-media information campaigns about road safety. [previously known as: Public information about road safety.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    2009-01-01

    In the Netherlands, public information is often used as an instrument to improve road safety. The purpose of each public information campaign is a voluntary and lasting change in traffic behaviour. This requires road users to have sufficient knowledge about a problem and to adapt their behaviour.

  10. Forest road erosion control using multiobjective optimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matthew Thompson; John Sessions; Kevin Boston; Arne Skaugset; David Tomberlin

    2010-01-01

    Forest roads are associated with accelerated erosion and can be a major source of sediment delivery to streams, which can degrade aquatic habitat. Controlling road-related erosion therefore remains an important issue for forest stewardship. Managers are faced with the task to develop efficient road management strategies to achieve conflicting environmental and economic...

  11. pXRF and IR Fluorescence Imaging Studies of CdS Alteration in Paintings by Edvard Munch and Henri Matisse in Oslo, Copenhagen, and San Francisco

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vila, Anna; Wadum, Jørgen; Mass, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    -induced visible fluorescence; ultraviolet-induced infrared fluorescence; multispectral imaging; and x-ray fluorescence. Questions addressed included: is the imaging method being tested comprehensive? Is it efficient at surveying an entire painting? Does it reveal the state of preservation of the pigment? Does...... for Kunst, Copenhagen. They were also tested on Edvard Munch’s The Scream (c. 1910, Munch Museum, Oslo). It was found that ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence has the best ability to discriminate between altered and unaltered cadmium yellow paints (even before alteration is visible to the unaided eye......), while multispectral imaging allows for the most efficient and comprehensive localization of the cadmium pigments in a work....

  12. Updating Road Networks by Local Renewal from GPS Trajectories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Wu

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The long production cycle and huge cost of collecting road network data often leave the data lagging behind the latest real conditions. However, this situation is rapidly changing as the positioning techniques ubiquitously used in mobile devices are gradually being implemented in road network research and applications. Currently, the predominant approaches infer road networks from mobile location information (e.g., GPS trajectory data directly using various extracting algorithms, which leads to expensive consumption of computational resources in the case of large-scale areas. For this reason, we propose an alternative that renews road networks with a novel spiral strategy, including a hidden Markov model (HMM for detecting potential problems in existing road network data and a method to update the data, on the local scale, by generating new road segments from trajectory data. The proposed approach reduces computation costs on roads with completed or updated information by updating problem road segments in the minimum range of the road network. We evaluated the performance of our proposals using GPS traces collected from taxies and OpenStreetMap (OSM road networks covering urban areas of Wuhan City.

  13. Vision Sensor-Based Road Detection for Field Robot Navigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keyu Lu

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Road detection is an essential component of field robot navigation systems. Vision sensors play an important role in road detection for their great potential in environmental perception. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical vision sensor-based method for robust road detection in challenging road scenes. More specifically, for a given road image captured by an on-board vision sensor, we introduce a multiple population genetic algorithm (MPGA-based approach for efficient road vanishing point detection. Superpixel-level seeds are then selected in an unsupervised way using a clustering strategy. Then, according to the GrowCut framework, the seeds proliferate and iteratively try to occupy their neighbors. After convergence, the initial road segment is obtained. Finally, in order to achieve a globally-consistent road segment, the initial road segment is refined using the conditional random field (CRF framework, which integrates high-level information into road detection. We perform several experiments to evaluate the common performance, scale sensitivity and noise sensitivity of the proposed method. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits high robustness compared to the state of the art.

  14. DNR State Forest Roads - WHEELS Database

    Data.gov (United States)

    Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — Roads administered by the Commissioner of Natural Resources to provide access to lands administered by the Division of Forestry. These roads are generally open to...

  15. An Efficient Framework for Road Sign Detection and Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Duanling Li

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Road sign detection and recognition is a significant and challenging issue not only for assisting drivers but also navigating mobile robots. In this paper, we propose a novel and fast approach for the automatic detection and recognition of road signs. First, we use Hue Saturation Intensity (HSI color space to segment the road signs color. And then we locate the road signs based on the geometry symmetry, as almost all the shapes of road sign shapes are symmetrical such circle, rectangle, triangle and octagon. The proposed shape feature is further applied to classify the shape initially. Finally, the road signs are exactly recognized by support vector machine (SVM classifiers. We test our proposed method on real road images and the experimental results show that it can detect and recognize road signs rapidly and accurately.

  16. Estimating incidence of problem drug use using the Horwitz-Thompson estimator - A new approach applied to people who inject drugs in Oslo 1985-2008.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amundsen, Ellen J; Bretteville-Jensen, Anne L; Kraus, Ludwig

    2016-01-01

    The trend in the number of new problem drug users per year (incidence) is the most important measure for studying the diffusion of problem drug use. Due to sparse data sources and complicated statistical models, estimation of incidence of problem drug use is challenging. The aim of this study is to widen the palette of available methods and data types for estimating incidence of problem drug use over time, and for identifying the trends. This study presents a new method of incidence estimation, applied to people who inject drugs (PWID) in Oslo. The method took into account the transition between different phases of drug use progression - active use, temporary cessation, and permanent cessation. The Horwitz-Thompson estimator was applied. Data included 16 cross-sectional samples of problem drug users who reported their onset of injecting drug use. We explored variation in results for selected probable scenarios of parameter variation for disease progression, as well as the stability of the results based on fewer years of cross-sectional samples. The method yielded incidence estimates of problem drug use, over time. When applied to people in Oslo who inject drugs, we found a significant reduction of incidence of 63% from 1985 to 2008. This downward trend was also present when the estimates were based on fewer surveys (five) and in the results of sensitivity analysis for likely scenarios of disease progression. This new method, which incorporates temporarily inactive problem drug users, may become a useful tool for estimating the incidence of problem drug use over time. The method may be less data intensive than other methods based on first entry to treatment and may be generalized to other groups of substance users. Further studies on drug use progression would improve the validity of the results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Does cheese intake blunt the association between soft drink intake and risk of the metabolic syndrome? Results from the cross-sectional Oslo Health Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Høstmark, Arne Torbjørn; Haug, Anna

    2012-01-01

    A high soft drink intake may promote, whereas intake of cheese may reduce risk of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), but will cheese intake blunt the soft drink versus MetS association? Cross-sectional study. The Oslo Health Study. Among the 18 770 participants of the Oslo Health Study there were 5344 men and 6150 women having data on cheese and soft drink intake and on risk factors for MetS, except for fasting glucose. The MetSRisk index=the weighted sum of triglycerides (TG), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) divided by high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were used as a combined risk estimate to examine the cheese/soft drink versus MetS interaction, and the SumRisk index was used to assess whether increasing intake of soft drinks/cheese would include an increasing number of MetS factors being above the cut-off values. We analysed the data using non-parametric correlation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). In all three groups of soft drink intake (seldom/rarely, 1-6 glasses/week, ≥1 glass/day), there was a negative cheese versus MetSRisk correlation (p≤0.003), but in the highest intake group the influence of cheese seemed to level off, suggesting interaction. However, there was no interaction between cheese and soft drinks within the fully adjusted models. Conversely, at all four levels of cheese intake, MetSRisk increased with an increasing intake of soft drinks (p≤0.001 at all cheese levels). Similar associations were found with the SumRisk index. When controlling for a large number of covariates (eg, sex, age group, smoking, education, physical activity, intake of fruits/berries and vegetables), the above associations prevailed. Cheese intake blunted the association between soft drink intake and MetS, an influence possibly related to fatty acid desaturation, or to undetected covariates.

  18. Head-on crashes on two-way interurban roads: a public health concern in road safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olabarria, Marta; Santamariña-Rubio, Elena; Marí-Dell'Olmo, Marc; Gotsens, Mercè; Novoa, Ana M; Borrell, Carme; Pérez, Katherine

    2015-09-01

    To describe the magnitude and characteristics of crashes and drivers involved in head-on crashes on two-way interurban roads in Spain between 2007 and 2012, and to identify the factors associated with the likelihood of head-on crashes on these roads compared with other types of crash. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the National Crash Register. The dependent variables were head-on crashes with injury (yes/no) and drivers involved in head-on crashes (yes/no). Factors associated with head-on crashes and with being a driver involved in a head-on crash versus other types of crash were studied using a multivariate robust Poisson regression model to estimate proportion ratios (PR) and confidence intervals (95% CI). There were 9,192 head-on crashes on two-way Spanish interurban roads. A total of 15,412 men and 3,862 women drivers were involved. Compared with other types of crash, head-on collisions were more likely on roads 7 m or more wide, on road sections with curves, narrowings or drop changes, on wet or snowy surfaces, and in twilight conditions. Transgressions committed by drivers involved in head-on crashes were driving in the opposite direction and incorrectly overtaking another vehicle. Factors associated with a lower probability of head-on crashes were the existence of medians (PR=0.57; 95%CI: 0.48-0.68) and a paved shoulder of less than 1.5 meters (PR=0.81; 95%CI: 0.77-0.86) or from 1.5 to 2.45 meters (PR=0.90; 95%CI: 0.84-0.96). This study allowed the characterization of crashes and drivers involved in head-on crashes on two-way interurban roads. The lower probability observed on roads with median strips point to these measures as an effective way to reduce these collisions. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  19. THE GREAT SILK ROAD BECOMES THE GREAT OIL AND GAS ROAD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. S. Zonn

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The Great Silk Road (GSR called so in the late 19th century by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen started shaping in the 2nd century B.C. In the minds of peoples the Silk Road is a generalized symbol of trade caravan routes crossing Central Asia, connecting until the 16th century the Far East, in particular Japan, China, with Middle Asia. Appearance in the early 21st century of new independent states in Central Asia along the GSR route was a powerful impetus for revival of the ancient trade route. In September 2013 Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, during his visit to the Central Asian countries offered the strategic concept of joint construction of the “economic corridor along the Silk Road” based on innovative cooperation in order to revive and consolidate the economic contacts among the Eurasian countries. Establishment of the modern analog of GSR, a powerful transport and pipeline corridor includes the integrated system of railroads and automobile roads, oil and gas pipelines, airlines, and sea lines.

  20. A theoretical perspective on road safety communication campaigns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elvik, Rune

    2016-12-01

    This paper proposes a theoretical perspective on road safety communication campaigns, which may help in identifying the conditions under which such campaigns can be effective. The paper proposes that, from a theoretical point of view, it is reasonable to assume that road user behaviour is, by and large, subjectively rational. This means that road users are assumed to behave the way they think is best. If this assumption is accepted, the best theoretical prediction is that road safety campaigns consisting of persuasive messages only will have no effect on road user behaviour and accordingly no effect on accidents. This theoretical prediction is not supported by meta-analyses of studies that have evaluated the effects of road safety communication campaigns. These analyses conclude that, on the average, such campaigns are associated with an accident reduction. The paper discusses whether this finding can be explained theoretically. The discussion relies on the distinction made by many modern theorists between bounded and perfect rationality. Road user behaviour is characterised by bounded rationality. Hence, if road users can gain insight into the bounds of their rationality, so that they see advantages to themselves of changing behaviour, they are likely to do so. It is, however, largely unknown whether such a mechanism explains why some road safety communication campaigns have been found to be more effective than others. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.