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In a bid to develop paper bricks as alternative masonry units, unmodified banana fibers (UMBF) and alkaline (1 Molar aqueous sodium hydroxide) modified banana fibers (AMBF), fine sand, and ordinary Portland cement were blended with waste paper pulp. The fibers were introduced in varying proportions of 0, 0.5, 1.0 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 wt% (by weight of the pulp) and curing was done for 28 and 56 days. Properties such as water and moisture absorption, compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strengths, thermal conductivity, and specific heat capacity were appraised. The outcome of the examinations carried out revealed that water absorption rose with fiber loading while AMBF reinforced samples absorbed lesser water volume than UMBF reinforced samples; a feat occasioned by alkaline treatment of banana fiber. Moisture absorption increased with paper bricks doped with UMBF, while in the case of AMBF-paper bricks, property value was noted to depreciate with increment in AMBF proportion. Fiber loading resulted in improvement of compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile strengths and it was noted that AMBF reinforced samples performed better. The result of the thermal test showed that incorporation of UMBF led to depreciation in thermal conductivity while AMBF infusion in the bricks initiated increment in value. Opposite behaviour was observed for specific heat capacity as UMBF enhanced heat capacity while AMBF led to depreciation. Experimental trend analysis carried out indicates that curing length and alkaline modification of fiber were effective in maximizing the properties of paperbricks for masonry construction.

This paper describes an experiment that determined the effect of some mixture and environmental variables on strain at failure (limiting strain) of some asphalt concretes. Cylindrical specimens were loaded to failure in direct tension and strain at failure was calculated from axial deformations. Independent variables of the experiment included asphalt type as described by nominal penetration and viscosity, aggregate gradation, temperature and strain rate. Analysis of variance was used to evaluate the effect of each of these parameters on limiting strain. Linear and non-linear regression equations are provided to relate the significant independent variables to limiting strain. Analysis of these data (or combinations of these data for each sequential step) resulted in the following conclusions: asphalt types that were used for this study have no significant effect on limiting strain when mixtures using these materials are loaded to failure in direct tension; fine-graded mixtures exhibit significantly greater strain at failure than dense- or coarse-graded mixtures; temperature is by far the most significant factor, of the parameters studied affecting limiting strain; and strain rate has an effect on limiting strain. Reasonable agreement between the values predicted by the Van der Poel nomograph and measured stiffness values was observed for most specimens tested.

Odors due to the emission of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) have been a concern in the sewage treatment plants over the last decades. H2S fate and emissions from extended aeration activated sludge (EAAS) system in Muharram Aisha-sewage treatment plant (MA-STP) were studied using TOXCHEM model. Sensitivity analysis at different aeration flowrate, H2S loading rate, wastewater pH, wastewater temperature and wind speed were studied. The predicted data were validated against actual results, where all the data were validated within the limits, and the statistical evaluation of normalized mean square error (NMSE), geometric variance (VG), and correlation coefficient (R) were close to the ideal fit. The results showed that the major processes occurring in the system were degradation and emission. During summer (27 °C) and winter (12 °C), about 25 and 23%, 1 and 2%, 2 and 2%, and 72 and 73% were fated as emitted to air, discharged with effluent, sorbed to sludge, and biodegraded, respectively. At summer and winter, the total emitted concentrations of H2S were 6.403 and 5.614 ppm, respectively. The sensitivity results indicated that aeration flowrate, H2S loading rate and wastewater pH highly influenced the emission and degradation of H2S processes compared to wastewater temperature and wind speed. To conclude, TOXCHEM model successfully predicted the H2S fate and emissions in EAAS system.

The application of photocatalyst in pavements has received comprehensive attention in recent years due to its ability to decontaminate nitrogen oxides (NOx). However, it's remarkable that NOx also accumulated extensively in parking lots. The purpose of this study is to develop a movable photocatalytic plate (remarked photocatalytic KT plates) coupled with high activity to purify NOx. Firstly, the type of photocatalytic KT plates was determined according to NO removal experiment in laboratory. Then the plates were employed in the parking lots for removing NOx. One sample T-test, normality test and paired sample T-test methods for NOx concentration variation were conducted to determine the appropriate comparative means of dates under both dark and illuminated conditions. The difference of NOX concentration between dark and illuminated conditions was obtained to evaluate the photocatalytic removal efficiency. The results indicated that NO removal efficiency in laboratory and parking lots were 51.31% and 9.2%, respectively.

Newsha Ghaeli reached down an open manhole one morning in April and grabbed a hose dangling in the rushing streams of the sewer below. As she pulled up the hose, she spotted a wad of toilet paper clinging to its end and recoiled in disgust, accidentally splashing a few drops of dirty water on strands of exposed hair sticking out from her face mask. A Cambridge, Mass., sanitation worker offered comfort: "A little caca won't hurt you," he said.

A new asbestos removal system called EnviroSystem(TM) has been developed by CUPS Systems, Inc., and GRI (Gas Research Institute). It basically comprises a portable line traveling system that is composed of a high-pressure water jet coating removal device, called HydroKleaner, a vacuum pump, a side boom, a pump sled, a process sled, and a 20 cu.yd. disposal container. The system is operated by workers wearing protective gear and clothing.

A model for dewaterability of conditioned sludge was derived based on data generated after dewaterability experiments using six sand drying beds. In these experiments, Six beds were used, the first bed contain no conditioner and served as control experiment. Ferric Chloride was added to the remaining five beds in the neighborhood of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% respectively, corresponding to 30g, 60g, 90g, 120g, and 150g of FeCl 3 Seepage (sg) was derived as a linear function of time. The coefficient of correlation obtained from the linear regression of seepage against time corresponding to 30g, 60g, 90g, 120g and 150g are 0.860, 0.844, 0.781, 0.722 and 0.535 respectively. Moisture content of sludge was 86.69% when no coagulant was added, it was 69.47%, 57.32%, 54.01%, 52.79% and 47.81% when 30g, 60g, 90g, 120g and 150g doses were used with a range of 38.88%. Dewaterability enhancement ratio was 1:1 for control experiment, 1:27.72, 1:46.59, 1:51.72, 1:53.62 and 1:61.34 for 30g, 60g, 90g, 120g, and 150g doses respectively. Statistical test parameter, “p-value” was computed for each coagulant dose and hypothesis tested at 95% level of significance. The “p-value” results corresponding to 30g, 60g, 90g, 120g and 150g are 0.000, 0.001, 0.003, 0.008 and 0.073. Based on the decision rule, it was concluded that the model is adequate. This model is good, but its deficiency lies in the fact that the coefficient of correlation between measured and calculated quantities of seepage at specified coagulant doses decrease with increase in coagulant dosage. Though, the higher the quantity of coagulant used, the higher the dewaterability of sewage sludge which is a big plus. The disadvantage of using coagulants in dewatering sludge lies in the fact that the effluent cannot be recycled for consumption because of the toxic Ferric Chloride that has been used as conditioner. It is recommended that further research be carried out to improve on this already existing model. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v33i3.24

An expansive black cotton soil was used to assess if ambient temperature influences the progress of lime-soil reactions. Lime-soil mixes containing lime additions above the Lime Modification Optimum (or Initial Consumption of Lime value) of the expansive black cotton soil was cured for periods ranging from 1 hour to 400 days at $25^0C$. The curing temperature of $25^0C$ is representative of mean temperatures occurring in semi-arid regions of Karnataka, India. The in situ progress of lime treatment was monitored by the use of electrical conductivity and pH measurements. The trend of decrease in conductivity and pH of the 4 and 7 lime-soil mixes suggested that pozzolanic activity commenced after 1 day of curing at $25^0C$. Comparatively, an earlier study by other researchers had reported that pozzolanic activity does not commence before 7 days of curing at $11.5^0C$ for lime additions above the Lime Modification Optimum value of swelling clay. Combining the results of studies at $25^0C$ and $11.5^0C$, it appears that higher ambient temperatures do accelerate the progress of lime-soil reactions.

This paper proposes a concept of soil shear strength exertion around an anchorage section to analyze and calculate the anchor’s force and displacement. First, based on the Mohr stress circle, the numerical relationship between the value of the internal friction angle exertion, the value of the cohesion exertion, and the displacement are established under the non-limit active state. According to the interaction mechanism between the anchorage section and the surrounding soil, this paper obtains the corresponding relationship between the value of the soil’s shear strength exertion and displacement under the non-limit active state. Then, according to the load transfer principle of the anchorage section, the basic differential equation is established. The differential equation of the relative displacement distribution along the length of the anchorage section under the non-limit active state is further derived. And the calculation and analysis formula of the shear stress and relative displacement in the anchorage section considering the process of the soil shear strength exertion is also obtained. Finally, this paper compares the calculation method with the hyperbolic model calculation method for the same example. The results verify the accuracy of the calculation method.

Frame protection is a commonly used solution to maintain the shallow stability of soil slope under rainfall seepage. Currently, the frame structure's design is empirical, and its theoretical analysis method considering the influence of seepage is scarce. Based on the instability model of the infinite slope, the shallow stability calculation model of soil slope under the rectangular frame protection is established in this paper. The calculation results show that it is beneficial to maintain the shallow slope stability by reducing the skeleton spacing and increasing the cross-sectional size of the frame structure. Also, geometric parameters' sensitivity analysis of the frame structure is carried out based on the orthogonal experimental design methods. Therein, an optimal scheme evaluation function was constructed to balance the relationship between the safety factor and the construction material consumption. The calculation model and results included in this paper can guide the design of the rectangular frame protection to soil slope under rainfall seepage.

The possibility of using local materials in the construction of structural layers of pavement is considered in the paper. The paper presents a method of technical and economic analysis, for which it is necessary to know the calculated deformation moduli of the materials being compared. Knowing the turnaround time for each of the options under consideration, it is possible, by comparing them with the payback periods, to more fully identify the technical and economic features of such options. The main criterion for the admissibility of the use of local material in the corresponding structural layer is the equal strength of pavement structures or individual structural layers made of local and imported materials. The criterion of economic feasibility of using local material can be written as an inequality. Using the principle of equivalence of systems, it is possible to replace individual structural layers of pavement, made of certain materials, with equivalent layers of stiffness from other materials, increasing or decreasing their thickness, depending on the strength characteristics of the materials themselves. The main condition for the technical feasibility of using local material has been determined on the basis of the condition of equal strength structures made from local and imported materials. A schedule for preliminary determination of the technical and economic feasibility of using local materials in the structural layers of road pavements has been built. The total value of the investment costs can be used as an additional criterion for the economic benefits of the compared options.

Longwall top coal caving technology is one of the main methods of thick coal seam mining in China, and the classification evaluation of top coal cavability in longwall top coal caving working face is of great significance for improving coal recovery. However, the empirical or numerical simulation method currently used to evaluate the top coal cavability has high cost and low-efficiency problems. Therefore, in order to improve the evaluation efficiency and reduce evaluation the cost of top coal cavability, according to the characteristics of classification evaluation of top coal cavability, this paper improved and optimized the fuzzy neural network developed by Nauck and Kruse and establishes the fuzzy neural network prediction model for classification evaluation of top coal cavability. At the same time, in order to ensure that the optimized and improved fuzzy neural network has the ability of global approximation that a neural network should have, its global approximation is verified. Then use the data in the database of published papers from CNKI as sample data to train, verify and test the established fuzzy neural network model. After that, the tested model is applied to the classification evaluation of the top coal cavability in 61,107 longwall top coal caving working face in Liuwan Coal Mine. The final evaluation result is that the top coal cavability grade of the 61,107 longwall top coal caving working face in Liuwan Coal Mine is grade II, consistent with the engineering practice.

Rolling stock connection systems are key to running longer and heavier trains as they provide both the connections of vehicles and the damping, providing the longitudinal suspension of the train. This paper focuses on the evolution of both connection and stiffness damping systems. Focus is on freight rolling stock, but passenger draw gears are also examined. It was found that connection systems have evolved from the buff and chain system used in the pioneer railways of the 1800s to the modern auto-coupler connection systems that are in-service worldwide today. Refined versions of the buff and chain coupling are, however, still in use in the EU, UK, South America and India. A wide range of auto-coupler systems are currently utilised, but the AAR coupler (Janney coupler) remains the most popular. A further variation that persists is the SA3 coupler (improved Wilson coupler) which is an alternative auto-coupler design used mainly throughout the former Soviet Union. Restricting the review to auto-coupler systems allowed the paper to focus on draft gears which revealed polymer, polymer-friction, steel spring-friction, hydraulic draft gears and sliding sill cushioning systems. Along with the single compressive draft gear units balanced and floating plate configurations are also presented. Typical draft gear acceptance standards are presented along with modelling that was included to aid in presentation of the functional characteristics of draft gears.

Filament-wound flexible pipes are widely used to transport fluid in pipeline systems, proved extremely useful in marine engineering. The hyperbolic flexible pipes have good vibration suppression performance, but they are easily deformed under internal pressure. This paper focuses on the stability of hyperbolic flexible pipes based on the composite Reissner shell theory and the transfer-matrix method. The nonlinear stretch of the reinforced filament and the fiber bridge effect are considered in the model. The calculation results show that a large winding angle reduces the deformation and the meridional stress. The available initial winding angle is limited by the geometry and the slippage coefficient of flexible pipe. The reinforced filament of high tensile modulus will reduce the deformation of the pipe. Compared with the geodesic winding trajectory, non-geodesic winding trajectories improves the stability of the pipe. The theoretical result is verified by the finite element analysis. The investigation method and results present in this paper will guide the design and optimization of more novel flexible pipes in the future.

Degradation of air quality level can affect human’s health especially respiratory and circulatory system. This is because the harmful particles will penetrate into human’s body through exposure to surrounding. The existence of air pollution event is one of the causes for air quality to be low in affected urban area. To monitor this event, a proper management of urban air quality is required to solve and reduce the impact on human and environment. One of the ways to manage urban air quality is by modelling ambient air pollutants. So, this paper reviews three modelling tools which are AERMOD, CALPUFF and CFD in order to visualise the air pollutants in urban area. These three tools have its own capability in modelling the air quality. AERMOD is better to be used in short range dispersion model while CALPUFF is for wide range of dispersion model. Somehow, it is different for CFD model as this model can be used in wide range of application such as air ventilation in clothing and not specifically for air quality modelling only. Because of this, AERMOD and CALPUFF model can be classified in air quality modelling tools group whereas CFD modelling tool is classified into different group namely a non-specific modelling tool group which can be implemented in many fields of study. Earlier air quality researches produced results in two-dimensional (2D) visualization. But there are several of disadvantages for this technique. It cannot provide height information and exact location of pollutants in three-dimensional (3D) as perceived in real world. Moreover, it cannot show a good representation of wind movement throughout the study area. To overcome this problem, the 3D visualization needs to be implemented in the urban air quality study. Thus, this paper intended to give a better understanding on modeling tools with the visualization technique used for the result of performed research.

Changing human lifestyle and increasing urbanisation are contributory factors to the high demand for concrete construction materials across the globe. With the imminent developments in the unpopulated marine/coastal zones, higher installation of concrete facilities is still expected. However, poor design and construction procedures coupled with inadequate materials selection and exposure to aggressive environmental conditions, such as chloride laden environments, often result in the reduced aesthetic and structural performance of concrete. Deterioration of reinforced concrete structures located in a coastal/marine setting can influence the safety, economic, and sustainability aspects of society. Hence, there is an increased need for alternate binder systems with the ability to reduce the effects of chloride attack in concrete. This paper presents a critical review of the engineering properties of metakaolin (MK) based concrete exposed to chloride attack. The key advantages and limitations of using MK for concrete production purposes were outlined and evaluated. Areas for future research were also highlighted in this paper. Based on the favourable 28-day compressive strength (73–84 MPa) and durability performance documented across the numerous past year studies that were reviewed, it can be concluded that MK is a viable alternate binder material for combatting chloride attack in coastal/marine concrete structures. This, in conjunction with its lack of chemical CO2 emissions, proves that MK can be used to improve the serviceability and sustainability states of marine structures. The viewpoint of this review will guide concrete constructors and researchers on a possible framework for the utilisation of metakaolin for enhancing durability concrete in aggressive environments.

This paper aims to identify the determinants of the length of stay (LoS) of international tourists in Norway. The paper reassesses the standard assumption related to tourists’ LoS; it refers to the travel industry’s current trends, and it postulates a more sustainable approach to analyzing tourists’ LoS at the destination level. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations. The data for this study were collected during 153 data collection days and among 5,300 travelers in Norway. The determinants of LoS were analyzed by means of an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The results indicate that tourists’ LoS is positively related to their age, interests (nature-based tourists), origin (German, Dutch tourists) and mode of travel organization (package tourists). A negative and significant effect on tourists’ LoS was found for tourists’ interests (urban-based tourists), spending, and origin (home market, long-haul tourists). No significant results were revealed for two covariates, namely, gender and repeat visitation.

Distracted driving behavior is one of the main factors of road accidents. Accurately predicting the risk of driving behavior is of great significance to the active safety of road transportation. The large amount of information collected by the sensors installed on the vehicle can be identified by the algorithm to obtain the distracted driving behavior data, which can be used to predict the driving behavior risk of the vehicle and the area. In this paper, a new neural network named Driving Behavior Risk Prediction Neural Network (DBRPNN) is developed for prediction based on the distracted driving behavior data. The network consists of three modules: the Feature Processing Module, the Memory Module, and the Prediction Module. In this process, attribute data (time in a day, daily driving time, and daily driving mileage) that can reflect external factors and driver statuses, are added to the network to increase the accuracy of the model. We predicted the driving behavior risk of different objects (Vehicle and Area). For the applicability improvement of the model, we further classify the distracted driving behavior categories, and DBRPNN can provide more accurate risk prediction. The results show that compared with traditional models (Classification and Regression Tree, Support Vector Machines, Recurrent Neural Network, and Long Short-Term Memory), DBRPNN has better prediction performance. The method proposed in this paper has been fully verified and may be transplanted into active safety early warning system for more accurate and flexible application.

Construction of not in my back yard (NIMBY) facility Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects are feasible measures to realize sustainable urbanization. In order to ensure the smooth development of the NIMBY facility PPP projects, the problem of choosing the most suitable operation mode among many PPP modes is still scarce and unscientific. In order to select the operation mode of the PPP projects that best fits the characteristics of the project, this paper constructs the operation mode selection of the NIMBY facility PPP project. Firstly, the index system of operation mode selection of the NIMBY facility PPP project is determined. G1 subjective weighting method and information entropy objective weighting method are introduced to solve the optimal weight of each index. Grey correlation theory is used to improve TOPSIS method, and the calculation form of relative proximity degree is optimized to determine the most suitable operation mode for the project. In this paper, combined weighting and TOPSIS method are applied to the research of NIMBY facility PPP project, and the operation mode selection of NIMBY facility PPP project is established, which makes up the blank of this part. Finally, a PPP project in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, is taken as an example to verify the applicability of the model. The effectiveness of this model was tested by comparing the results of TOPSIS method, Grey target model, Extended matter-element mode and GRA-TOPSIS. It is hoped to provide useful reference for the operation mode selection of NIMBY facility PPP project.

The canals are essential for agricultural irrigation, shipping and industry as important hydraulic infrastructure. In the seasonal freeze regions, the water conveyance canals are damaged due to the effects of freeze–thaw cycles. The freeze depth of soil in the water transfer canal varies considerably due to changes in temperature and water content. This paper compared the relationship of freeze depth, temperature and water content by field tests and numerical calculation methods by incorporating phase change. The results from present study showed that the decrease in temperature causes the water in the soil to freeze, the ice front migrated downwards, and the water in soil below ice front gradually migrated towards the ice front resulting in a large difference in water content of the soil before and after freezing. The Polyurethane insulation board + Concrete board slope structure (PC) as an insulation slope structure was proposed in this paper to mitigate the effect of freezing and thawing on the water conveyance canals. The freeze depth decreased significantly under the protective effect. In addition, this paper compared the anti-frost effect of different thicknesses of polyurethane insulation boards, and the results provided a reference for the anti-frost design of water conveyance canals.

As natural backwater structures, landslide dams both threaten downstream human settlement or infrastructure and contain abundant hydro-energy and tourism resources, so research on their development feasibility is of great significance for permanently remedying them and effectively turning disasters into benefits. Through an analysis of the factors influencing landslide dam development and utilization, an index system (consisting of target, rule, and index layers) for evaluating development feasibility was constructed in this paper. Considering uncertainty and randomness in development feasibility evaluation, a cloud model-improved evaluation method was proposed to determine membership and score clouds based on the uncertainty reasoning of cloud model, and a cloud model-improved analytic hierarchy process (AHP-Cloud Model) was introduced to obtain weights. Final evaluation results were obtained using a hierarchical weighted summary. The improved method was applied to evaluate the Hongshiyan and Tangjiashan landslide dams and the results were compared with the maximum membership principle results. The results showed that the cloud model depicted the fuzziness and uncertainty in the evaluation process. The improved method proposed in this paper overcame the loss of fuzziness in the maximum membership principle evaluation results, and was capable of more directly presenting evaluation results. The development feasibility of the Hongshiyan landslide dam was relatively high, while that of the Tangjiashan landslide dam was relatively low. As suggested by these results, the evaluation model proposed in this paper has great significance for preparing a long-term management scheme for landslide dams.

The trigonometric levelling using the simultaneous reciprocal method has been proved to meet the precision of second order levelling. But this method is invalid once the distance of river crossing is beyond 3.5 km due to the difficulty of target recognition at such a long distance. To expand the available range of this method, this paper focuses on solving the target aiming and distance observation over a long distance. A modular LED 5-prism (modified Leica GPR1 reflector) as an illuminated target instead of the common prism is introduced, and we adopt the sub-pixel image processing technique to recognize the center of the target image pictured by image assisted total station (Leica Nova TM50 I equipped with a coaxial camera). Based on the principle of precise trigonometric levelling, this paper utilizes two image assisted total stations using image processing technique to perform simultaneous reciprocal for zenith angle measurement and GNSS static measurement for slope distance measurement to determine the height difference of either river bank. And long-distance precise river-crossing levelling can be realized based on the mentioned above. Besides, it is successful to apply in the experiment of Fuzhou Bridge spanning 6.3 km in China. The result shows the standard deviation is ± 0.76 mm/km that is compatible with the precision of second order levelling has.

Recycled aggregate concrete is a solution used to minimize the environmental impact of the concrete industry. Notwithstanding research worldwide validating structural applications of recycled aggregate concrete, specific design guidelines are lacking and are needed to address reservations of construction agents. Design guidelines should be based on reliability concepts, including the stochastic modeling of material properties and the calibration of design clauses through reliability methods. This paper concerns the concrete cover design of recycled aggregate concrete elements exposed to chloride ingress. Only coarse recycled aggregates produced from concrete waste are studied. The paper describes the chloride ingress model of fib Bulletin 34, presents experiments on the chloride ion migration of several analogue natural and recycled aggregate concrete mixes, tackles the stochastic modeling of the chloride migration coefficient, and calibrates concrete cover design for recycled aggregate concrete using reliability methods. The concrete cover design followed the deemed-to-satisfy provisions of Eurocode 2 and EN 206. The case studies used in the reliability analyses covered several design situations. A 5 mm increase of concrete cover is recommended as a simple option that ensures that the probability of depassivation due to chloride ingress on recycled aggregate concrete elements is equivalent to that for analogue natural aggregate concrete elements.

During the development for railway, ballasted track is dominant structure and makes up more than 95% of the whole track modes. However, its shortage is considerable in high speed railway and heavy haul system. Regarding to the ballasted railway track's defects as particle breakage, settlement, and geometry irregularity which lead to enormous maintenance and cost. Polyurethane reinforced ballasted track has shown great application prospect. This reinforcement method can settle several problems, including stiffness adjustment, ballast flight prevention, and stability in specific zones, such as curve, tunnel line. This paper presents a comprehensive review of polyurethane research and application within ballasted track system. Besides, according to different usage, varies of bonding methods are also introduced in this paper. However, some challenges still exist such as maintenance and cost, potential solutions are put forward for further investigated and validated, consequently. Accordingly, an overall prospect of polyurethane reinforcement in railway system is presented.

Design of sewer line in flat terrain is a great challenge due to high excavation depth involved in laying a sewer line required for maintaining minimum velocity, slope and clear cover. Sewer design presented in this paper is result of sewer modelling software Bentley SewerCAD V8i. Estimation and cost analysis of a sewer system shows cost is directly related to the excavation depth. For economically efficient design of sewer line in a flat terrain of Rajapur-Bardia, sewer is designed in the gentle slope and flushing tanks are provided at sections where velocities are less than the minimum value recommended by Codes. Design and cost estimation of sewer network of 4.554 km with and without use of flushing tank are presented in this paper and two major benefits - cost and low invert level of outfall from ground surface elevation are achieved with flushing tank provision.

Evaluation of tourism competitiveness is useful for measuring the level of regional tourism development. It is of great importance to understand the advantages and disadvantages of tourism development correctly and formulate corresponding development strategies. To investigate tourism competitiveness, this paper established an evaluation index system, including tourism development competitiveness, tourism resource competitiveness, and tourism-support competitiveness, for 14 prefectures and cities in Xinjiang in China. The characteristics and laws of spatial differentiation were analyzed. Factor analysis was applied to examine the spatial differentiation of regional tourism competitiveness. The results showed an obvious spatial differentiation in tourism competitiveness among the 14 prefectures and cities. In terms of development competitiveness, Yili and Urumqi constituted the spatial center, followed by Changji, Altay, and Ba Prefecture. As the provincial capital, Urumqi has political, economic, cultural, transportation, and geographic advantages, but its competitiveness is not prominent in terms of monopoly and efficiency. In terms of resource competitiveness, Yili is the core attraction, while Urumqi, Kashgar, Altay, and Ba Prefecture are dominant attractions. With respect to supporting competitiveness, Bo Prefecture has high value, followed by Urumqi City and Aksu. Hetian and Ke Prefecture have the lowest values. The comprehensive competitiveness of tourism is centered on Yili. Urumqi and Bo Prefecture are subcenters, and Changji, Altay, Ba Prefecture, Aksu, and Kashgar are characterized as multi-polar competition areas. Using the KMO and Bartlett’s sphericity tests, the cumulative contribution variance of the eigenvalues of the eight factors extracted by the maximum variance rotation method was found to be 92.714%. Socio-economic conditions, tourism resources, infrastructure construction, regional cultural influence, ecological environment carrying capacity, tertiary industry development, tourism service level, and living security system are the main driving factors affecting the spatial differentiation of tourism competitiveness in Xinjiang. Analyzing the spatial evolution characteristics and the driving factors of the regional tourism competitiveness in Xinjiang, this paper seeks to promote the optimal allocation of tourism production factors in the macro regional system, and provide theoretical guidance and an empirical basis for the comprehensive and harmonic development of regional tourism.

In this paper, the authors use survey data from over 800 households to examine the impact of demonstration plots and associated activities (distribution of small packs of agricultural inputs) on smallholder farmers’ decisions to buy agricultural inputs in Tanzania. Using propensity score matching and inverse probability-weighted adjustment models, the authors estimated the effect of access to demonstration plots alone and demonstration plots combined with small packs of agricultural inputs on a household’s decision to purchase improved inputs. The results indicate that access to demonstration plots and demonstration plots with small packs increased the probability of purchasing improved inputs by 13–17 percentage points. This paper suggests that demonstration plots and demonstration plots with small packs are an effective model for enhancing improved technology adoption and are further increased when those inputs are available within a 5km radius. The results point to the importance of strengthening farmers’ organizations and last-mile agricultural input suppliers in order to enhance and facilitate access to information, appropriate production techniques, and improved inputs. The results also indicate the importance of investing in infrastructure to reduce transportation costs that limit market efficiency for appropriate technologies.

An effective traffic control strategy will improve travel reliability in urban transportation networks. Lack of coordination between vehicles, however, exacerbates congestion due mainly to frequent stops at unsignalized intersections. It is beneficial to develop a conflict-free cooperation method that collects basic safety message from multiple approaching Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (for short, CAVs) and guarantees efficient unsignalized intersection operations with safe and incident free vehicle maneuvers. This paper proposes an interspersed traffic organization method under controlled constraints. Firstly, relied on shared location technology and considered the operating characteristics of CAVs at unsignalized intersections to detect and analyze traffic conflicts to establish a right-of-way judgment model for CAVs. In order to further ensure the safety and operating efficiency of the vehicle, based on the judgment results of right-of-way judgment model, a vehicle speed guidance model is established for different traffic conditions. Taking the real city standard intersection as the experimental analysis object, through data collection and simulation experiment, the signal control method and the organization method proposed in this paper are compared and analyzed. The results showed that the traffic organization method proposed in this paper improves the operational efficiency of 46%, the average travel time is reduced by 6.54s, which is not only better than the signal control method, but also supports the development of car networking technology.

The 15-minute community life circle (15min-CLC) strategy is one of Shanghai’s important methods for building a global city and facing a society with a more diverse population structure in the future. In the existing research, the balance between the construction of the life circle and the needs of the people in the life circle still needs to be further fulfilled. This paper is based on the city’s multi-source large data set including 2018 AutoNavi POI (Point of Interests), OSM (OpenStreetMap) road network data and LandScan population data set, and evaluates the current status of Shanghai’s 15min-CLC through the fusion of kernel density estimation, service area analysis and other statistical models and proposes relevant optimization suggestions. The results show that there are the following shortcomings: (1) From the perspective of different types of infrastructure service facilities, the spatial construction of Shanghai’s overall life service facilities and shopping service facilities needs to be optimized. (2) From the perspective of comprehensive evaluation, the comprehensive service convenience of infrastructure service facilities in the downtown area is relatively high, while the comprehensive service convenience of urban infrastructure service facilities in the suburbs and outer suburbs is relatively low; The diversity of basic service facilities in the 15min-CLC in the downtown area is more consistent with the population distribution; However, in the peripheral areas of the urban area, too many infrastructure service facilities have been constructed. Based on the above shortcomings and the perspective of supply and demand matching, relevant optimization strategies are proposed in different regions and different types of infrastructure service facilities: (1) focus on the construction of basic service facilities in the urban fringe and urban-rural areas, improve the full coverage of the basic service facilities, and appropriately reduce the number of basic service facilities in the downtown area. (2) The development of community business models can be used to promote the development of new life service facilities and shopping service facilities. (3) Improve community medical institutions through facility function conversion, merger and reconstruction, etc. (4) Optimize the hierarchical basic service facility system and improve the population supporting facilities of basic service facilities in the 15min-CLC. This paper incorporates people’s needs and concerns on the living environment into the 15min-CLC evaluation model, and uses Shanghai as an example to conduct research, summarizes the existing shortcomings, and proposes corresponding optimization strategies based on the matching of supply and demand. This article attempts to explore a replicable 15min-CLC planning model, so that it can be extended to the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, to provide reference for further research on the 15min-CLC, and to promote urban construction under the concept of sustainable development.

Vegetation on the banks and flooding areas of watercourses significantly affects energy losses. To take the latter into account, computational models make use of resistance coefficients based on the evaluation of bed and walls roughness besides the resistance to flow offered by vegetation. This paper, after summarizing the classical approaches based on descriptions and pictures, considers the recent advancements related to the analytical methods relative both to rigid and flexible vegetation. In particular, emergent rigid vegetation is first analyzed by focusing on the methods for determining the drag coefficient, then submerged rigid vegetation is analyzed, highlighting briefly the principles on which the different models are based and recalling the comparisons made in the literature. Then, the models used in the case of both emergent and submerged rigid vegetation are highlighted. As to flexible vegetation, the paper reminds first the flow conditions that cause the vegetation to lay on the channel bed, and then the classical resistance laws that were developed for the design of irrigation canals. The most recent developments in the case of submerged and emergent flexible vegetation are then presented. Since turbulence studies should be considered as the basis of flow resistance, even though the path toward practical use is still long, the new developments in the field of 3D numerical methods are briefly reviewed, presently used to assess the characteristics of turbulence and the transport of sediments and pollutants. The use of remote sensing to map riparian vegetation and estimating biomechanical parameters is briefly analyzed. Finally, some applications are presented, aimed at highlighting, in real cases, the influence exerted by vegetation on water depth and maintenance interventions.

A detailed situation awareness of the local environment is essential for safe flight in General Aviation. When operating under Visual Flight Rules, eyesight is crucial for maintaining situation awareness and objects may be overlooked. Technical solutions such as Flarm have been sought, but they only work on a basis of co-operation: obstacles without the proper equipment are invisible. Recent developments in the field of radar technology, partly empowered by the demand for sensors for autonomous cars, have improved the size and power consumption of available hardware. Today, the hardware exists to build a portable primary radar system for situation awareness. In this paper the results are presented of efforts to build the first portable primary radar for general, which has to be lightweight, cheap and have a low power consumption. The focus in this paper is on the software design of such a radar system. The physical principles of radar sensing are described, as well as the scientific steps needed to provide situation awareness. The hardware and software for the radar are both built and tested, and the results of these tests are presented. A flight experiment is performed with a small aircraft flying past a stationary radar on a small hill. It is found that the radar is capable of detecting the aircraft up to a distance of at least 3 kilometers. 3D localization is performed and the location determined by the radar was on average 46 meters away from the aircraft position as measured by satellite navigation, relative to a total distance of about 1000 meters from the radar. A low-pass filter can be applied on the raw results in order to improve the location estimation further. Future research will focus on bringing the portable radar in motion while operating.

In recent years, China’s economic development has advanced by leaps and bounds, but the development of China’s rural logistics system is still at its primary stage. Some remote areas with inconvenient transportation are still in a state of serious lack or even blank, and due to the high cost of rural logistics delivery services, the rural logistics business of the enterprise also has a profit problem, which limits the development of rural logistics talent innovation to some extent. The purpose of this paper is to study a new influencing factor model of the Internet rural logistics talent innovation mechanism. This paper innovatively proposes countermeasures to improve the innovation of e-commerce practitioners in rural areas. Through research, the author finds that the innovation of rural e-commerce application talents in China is generally low. The key point of the solution lies in how to improve the level of innovation in rural e-commerce application talents. According to the status quo, identify the factors that hinder the innovation and improvement of rural e-commerce application talents. Combined with the great environment of the development of rural e-commerce industry in China, the paper proposes to improve the countermeasures for improving the innovation of rural e-commerce application talents. Improve the current situation of rural e-commerce application talents mediocrity and promote the innovation of rural e-commerce application talents. Fundamentally promote agricultural development and the building of a new socialist countryside. This paper adopts the literature research method based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, system analysis method and the combination of questionnaire survey and interview. Through big data and information science methods for data processing, using a company’s Internet rural talent data set to simulate, the results It shows that with the method of this paper, the recognition rate reaches 98%, the speed increases obviously, and it is 20% faster than others.

The aims of this study were to achieve a quantitative assessment of the severity of accidents involving roadside trees on highways and to propose corresponding safety measures to reduce accident losses. This paper used the acceleration severity index (ASI), head injury criteria (HIC) and chest resultant acceleration (CRA) as indicators of occupant injuries and horizontal radii, vehicle departure speeds, tree diameters and roadside tree spacing as research variables to carry out bias collision tests between cars, trucks and trees by constructing a vehicle rigid body system and an occupant multibody system in PC-crash 10.0® simulation software. A total of 2,256 data points were collected. For straight and curved segments of highways, the occupant injury evaluation models of cars were fitted based on the CRA, and occupant injury evaluation models of trucks and cars were fitted based on the ASI. According to the Fisher optimal segmentation method, reasonable classification standards of severities of accidents involving roadside trees and the corresponding ASI and CRA thresholds were determined, and severity assessment methods for accidents involving roadside trees based on the CRA and ASI were provided. Additionally, a new index by which to evaluate the accuracy of the accident severity classification and the degree of misclassification was built and applied for the validity verification of the proposed severity assessment methods. A proportion of trucks was introduced to further improve the ASI evaluation model. For the same simulation conditions, the results show that driver chest injuries are more serious than driver head injuries and that the average ASI of cars is greater than that of trucks. The CRA and ASI have a positive linear correlation with the departure speed and a logarithmic correlation with the roadside tree diameters. The larger the spacing of roadside trees is and the smaller the horizontal radius is, the smaller the chance that a vehicle will experience a second collision and the lower the risk of occupant injury. In method validation, the evaluation results from two proposed severity assessment methods based on the CRA and ASI are consistent, and the degrees of misclassification are 4.65% and 4.26%, respectively, which verifies the accuracy of the methods proposed in this paper and confirms that the ASI can be employed as an effective index for evaluating occupant injuries in accidents involving roadside trees.

Even if shared mobility services are encouraged by transportation policies, they remain underused and inefficient transportation modes because they struggle to find their customer base. This paper aims to estimate the potential demand for such services by focusing on individual trips and determining the number of passengers who perform similar trips. Contrary to existing papers, this study focuses on the demand without assuming any specific shared mobility system. The experiment performed on data coming from New York City conducts to cluster more than 85% of the trips. Consequently, shared mobility services such as ride-sharing can find their customer base and, at a long time, to a significantly reduce the number of cars flowing in the city. After a detailed analysis, commonalities in the clusters are identified: regular patterns from one day to the next exist in shared mobility demand. This regularity makes it possible to anticipate the potential shared mobility demand to help transportation suppliers to optimize their operations.

The local buckling behaviour and design of stainless steel plates in fire are investigated in this paper. Finite element models of stainless steel plates able to mimic their response in fire are created and validated against experimental results from the literature. Parametric studies are then performed and the results are utilised to assess the current design provisions set out in the European structural steel fire design code EN 1993-1-2; shortcomings in the prediction of the local buckling response of stainless steel plates in fire are revealed. A new effective width based design approach able to reflect the variation in strength and stiffness of stainless steel at different temperature levels in the determination of the local plate slenderness and thereby the ultimate resistances of stainless steel plates in fire is put forward. The proposed approach is shown to provide significantly higher levels of accuracy and reliability relative to the current provisions in EN 1993-1-2 for a wide range of plate slendernesses, elevated temperature levels, stainless steel grades and loading conditions. The design rules proposed for the local buckling assessment of stainless steel plates at elevated temperatures in this paper are due to be incorporated into the upcoming version of the European steel fire design standard EN 1993-1-2.

GOKASAR, ILGIN/0000-0001-9896-9220; Aydin, Omer Faruk/0000-0001-9345-3997 WOS:000535264000042 PubMed: 32130273 Increasing traffic congestion and the advancements in technology have fostered the growth of alternative transportation modes such as dynamic ride-sharing. Smartphone technologies have enabled dynamic ride-sharing to thrive, as this type of transportation aims to establish ride matches between people with similar routes and schedules on short notice. Many automated matching methods are designed to improve system performance; such methods include minimizing process time, minimizing total system cost or maximizing total distance savings. However, the results may not provide the maximum benefits for the participants. This paper intends to develop an algorithm for optimizing matches when considering participants' gender, age, employment status and social tendencies. The proposed matching algorithm also splits unmatched parts of drivers' routes and creates new travel requests to find additional matches using these unmatched parts. Accordingly, this paper performs an extensive simulation study to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results indicate that route splits may increase the number of matches significantly when there is a shortage of drivers. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates the effects and potential benefits of utilizing a social compatibility score in the objective function.

The Institute for Standardization of Serbia has adopted a large number of en standards in the field of bridges as Serbian standards. Unfortunately, technical regulations based on the implementation of the adopted en standards in the field of bridges are still not made. The paper presents requirements for railway bridges based on en standards, UIC leaflets and German technical regulations. The aspect of track/bridge interaction is primarily considered. The parameters of track/bridge interaction, principles of calculation, as well as the overview of open points are presented. As the most important parameters of the bridge structure were considered: bridge expansion length, stiffness of the bridge substructure, as well as the bending stiffness and height of the bridge deck. Further, the effects of vertical load, temperature changes, and acceleration/breaking of the vehicle on the mentioned interaction are especially analysed. In addition, the conclusions of the paper apply to both ballasted track and slab track. The aim of the paper is to create a basis for the harmonisation of technical regulations in Serbia with European regulations in order to meet the requirements of interoperability.

Drawing on Jakarta, Metro Manila and Singapore as case studies, we explore the paradox of slow political action in addressing subsiding land, particularly along high-density urban coastlines with empirical insights from coastal geography, geodesy analysis, geology, and urban planning. In framing land subsidence as a classic ‘wicked’ policy problem, and also as a hybrid geological and anthropogenic phenomenon that is unevenly experienced across urban contexts, the paper uses a three-step analysis. First, satellite-derived InSAR maps are integrated with Sentinel-1A data in order to reveal the socio-temporal variability of subsidence rates which in turn pose challenges in uniformly applying regulatory action. Second, a multi-sectoral mapping of diverse policies and practices spanning urban water supply, groundwater extraction, land use zoning, building codes, tenurial security, and land reclamation reveal the extent to which the broader coastal governance landscape remains fragmented and incongruous, particularly in arresting a multi-dimensional phenomenon such as subsidence. Finally, in reference to distinct coastal identities of each city–the ‘Sinking Capital’ (Jakarta), ‘Fortress Singapore’, and the ‘Disaster Capital’ (Manila) the paper illustrates how land subsidence is portrayed across the three metropolises in markedly similar ways: as a reversible, quasi-natural, and/or a highly individualized problem.

Eco-cities have witnessed rapid growth in these years worldwide. As the Eco-cities entering operation stage gradually, more and more researchers have found that users (who are living or working in the Eco-cities) satisfaction is one of the most important factors to determine the success or failure of Eco-cities. Therefore, it is very important to investigate the user demands to attract more citizens willing to live or work in the Eco-cities, which will make the development of Eco-cities more sustainable and solid. The recent researches on user demands investigation and analysis in the Eco-cities mainly focused on understanding the user need itself, yet lack of research on the relationship between the user demand and user satisfaction. This paper initially introduced the Kano model analysis method to the research field of user demands in Eco-city, to explore the relationship between the user demand and user satisfaction. After proposing user demands library in Eco-city (including Land use, Ecological environment, Green building, Energy utilization, etc.), the user demands classification and importance analysis methods of Eco-city were proposed based on Kano model. The questionnaire survey for users of two Eco-cities in China as case study was conducted, consisted of user demand items questionnaire based on the Kano model and a questionnaire on the importance of the user demand items. By utilizing the integration of quantitative analysis methods based on the Kano model and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, the final ranking of user demands importance was obtained. Comparing with the existing literatures in terms of user demands research for Eco-city, the user demands analysis method based on Kano model of this paper, is able to reveal the influence degree of user satisfaction towards the facilities and services provided in the Eco-city. The user demands analysis method can be used for other researchers worldwide to investigate and quantitively analyze user demands according to their local development situation and preference of Eco-city. The user demands analysis results obtained through this method, can benefit different stages of Eco-city.

Driver behavior is considered one of the most important factors in the genesis of dilemma zones and the safety of driver-vehicle-environment systems. An accurate driver behavior model can improve the traffic signal control efficiency and decrease traffic accidents in signalized intersections. This paper uses a mathematical modeling method to study driver behavior in a dilemma zone based on stochastic model predictive control (SMPC), along with considering the dynamic characteristics of human cognition and execution, aiming to provide a feasible solution for modeling driver behavior more accurately and potentially improving the understanding of driver-vehicle-environment systems in dilemma zones. This paper explores the modeling framework of driver behavior, including the perception module, decision-making module, and operation module. The perception module is proposed to stimulate the ability to perceive uncertainty and select attention in the dilemma zone. An SMPC-based driver control modeling method is proposed to stimulate decision-making behavior in the dilemma zone. The operation module is proposed to stimulate the execution ability of the driver. Finally, CarSim, the well-known vehicle dynamics analysis software package, is used to verify the proposed models of this paper. The simulation results show that the SMPC-based driver behavior model can effectively and accurately reflect the vehicle motion and dynamics under driving in the dilemma zone.

This paper analyses the selection of priorities in case of the rehabilitation of water distribution networks. The ranking of the technical solutions was performed using the Leader method. This paper also presents a case study regarding the rehabilitation of water distribution network in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The result of this study shows that the rehabilitation of water distribution network in Cluj-Napoca, Romania has to begin with the substitution of asbestos cement pipes.

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study into the response of bolted connections between Glulam timber beams and tubular steel columns. Six specimens involving two different connection types subjected to monotonically increasing bending action are examined. The first connection type incorporates top and seat angles blind-bolted to the column and jointed to the beam through long bolts. The second connection type is formed by a steel T-stub slotted into the timber beam and connected to it by means of transverse bolts. In addition, two reinforcing techniques aimed at enhancing the response of the slotted-in T-stub configuration are investigated. These include the provision of a bottom wedge angle between the beam and the column as well as the use of perpendicular-to-grain screws to delay wood splitting. The experimental set-up, connection configurations and material properties are introduced followed by a detailed account of the test results and observations. The main behavioural patterns are identified from the experiments and key response characteristics such as stiffness, capacity and failure mechanism are discussed. This paper shows that the use of bottom wedge angles leads to significant enhancement in the flexural yield strength of the T-stub connections, accompanied by a relatively small change in the location of the bolt-group point of rotation (monitored herein by means of Digital Image Correlation techniques). Besides, the use of reinforcing screws is shown to be an effective detail for substantially increasing the rotational ductility of the connections. Finite element simulations of the tests are also presented, together with a detailed description of the modelling approaches employed, in order to gain further insight into the behaviour of the connections. Finally, the applicability of simplified component-based expressions, which are suitable for practical design assessment procedures, for the estimation of the stiffness and capacity of the proposed hybrid glulam-to-tubular column connections are presented and discussed.

The fine particulate matter, generally known as PM2.5, has great impact on the air quality and human health. Although closing external windows can help prevent outdoor PM2.5 going into indoors, many studies have shown that a significant number of particles can still pass the building facade through the cracks around the window. In order to quantify the influence of the external window crack structure and some relevant parameters, such as room dimension, on the indoor PM2.5 mass concentration, this paper introduces an updated model from a previously published paper by the authors [18]. The model was developed based on two-month field measured data from five unoccupied offices located in the central area of Beijing (capital city located in northern China), and then was validated against a new dataset measured in Guangzhou (a major city located in southern China). The model can be used to quantify the indoor PM2.5 mass concentration based on the instant outdoor PM2.5 level, considering influences from external window crack structure, room dimension and outdoor meteorological conditions, i.e. outdoor wind speed and relative humidity.

Attempt to rehabilitate the degraded land has been made, and has evidenced many successful redevelopments atop of the land. This paper attempts to look into the specific role of landscape architects in remedying the former dump site. The conceptual design by using principles of the regenerative landscape has been experimented through the proposed remediation of ex-landfill in Mukim Krubong, Malacca. Utilisation of the tropical plant species as an adaptive mechanism to ecologically remedying the contaminated land has been identified. It is hoped that the findings of this paper could contribute to expanding knowledge for sustainable landscape regeneration.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Regenerative landscape design; urban dump site; rehabilitation; Mukim Krubong ex-landfill

This paper proposes and tests a multilayer framework for simulating the network dynamics of inter-organizational coordination among interdependent infrastructure systems (IISs) in resilience planning. Inter-organizational coordination among IISs (such as transportation, flood control, and emergency management) would greatly affect the effectiveness of resilience planning. Hence, it is important to examine and understand the dynamics of coordination in networks of organizations within and across various systems in resilience planning. To capture the dynamic nature of coordination frequency and the heterogeneity of organizations, this paper proposes a multilayer network simulation framework enabling the characterization of inter-organizational coordination dynamics within and across IISs. In the proposed framework, coordination probabilities are utilized to approximate the varying levels of collaboration among organizations. Based on these derived collaborations, the simulation process perturbs intra-layer or inter-layer links and unveils the level of inter-organizational coordination within and across IISs. To test the proposed framework, the study examined a multilayer collaboration network of 35 organizations from five infrastructure systems within Harris County, Texas, based on the data gathered from a survey in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The results indicate that prior to Hurricane Harvey: (1) coordination among organizations across different infrastructure systems is less than the coordination within the individual systems; (2) organizations from the community development system had a low level of coordination for hazard mitigation with organizations in flood control and transportation systems; (3) achieving a greater level of coordination among organizations across infrastructure systems is more difficult and would require a greater frequency of interaction (compared to within-system coordination). The results show the capability of the proposed multilayer network simulation framework to examine inter-organizational coordination dynamics at the system level (e.g., within and across IISs). The assessment of inter-organizational coordination within and across IISs sheds light on important organizational interdependencies in IISs and leads to recommendations for improving the resilience planning process.

Accurate Origin-Destination (OD) prediction is significant for effective traffic monitor, which can support operation decision in traffic planning and management field. The enclosed expressway network system like toll gates system in China can collect mounts of trip records which can be gathered for OD prediction. The paper develops a novel neural network, which is named Expressway OD Prediction Neural Network (EODPNN) for toll data-based prediction. The network consists of the following three modules: The Feature Extension Module, the Memory Module, and the Prediction Module. In the process, the attributes data which can reflect the city attribute such as GDP, population, and the number of vehicles are considered to embeded into the notwork to increase the accuracy of the model. For the applicability improvment of the model, we categorize the cities in multiple classes based on their economy and population scales in this paper, which can provide a higher accurate prediction of OD by EODPNN. The results shows that, comparing to the traditional model like ARIMA and SVM, or typical neural networks like Bidirectional Long Short-term Memory, the EODPNN delivers a better prediction performance. The method proposed in this paper has been fully verified and has a potential to transplant to the other OD data-based management systems for a more accurate and flexible prediction.

Empirical equations of natural time period of a framed building, provided in the Indian Seismic Design Code IS 1893, are primarily as a function of the height of the building without considering the effect of number of bays, stiffness of the structure, plan area of the building etc. It is observed through relevant literatures that there is scope for further improvement in these equations since the height alone seems to be inadequate to explain the period variability. Natural period predicted by these expressions are widely used in the practice. It is therefore, very important to use realistic values of the time period of the buildings in the seismic design.This paper deals with study of effects of various other parameters of the building along with its height on the natural time period of vibration. The paper discusses about revision of the equations of time period of the design code.Empirical equations of natural time period of a framed building, provided in the Indian Seismic Design Code IS 1893, are primarily as a function of the height of the building without considering the effect of number of bays, stiffness of the structure, plan area of the building etc. It is observed through relevant literatures that there is scope for further improvement in these equations since the height alone seems to be inadequate to explain the period variability. Natural period predicted by these expressions are widely used in the practice. It is therefore, very important to use realistic values of the time period of the buildings in the seismic design.This paper deals with study of effects of various other parameters of the building along with its height on the natural time period of vibration. The paper discusses about revision of the equations of time period of the design code.

[EN] Due to their simplicity and operating mode, magnetic loops are one of the most used traffic sensors in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). However, at this moment, their potential is not being fully exploited, as neither the speed nor the length of the vehicles can be surely ascertained with the use of a single magnetic loop. In this way, nowadays the vast majority of them are only being used to measure traffic flow and count vehicles on urban and interurban roads. This is the reason why we presented in a previous paper the double magnetic loop, capable of improving the features and functionalities of the conventional single loop without increasing the cost or introducing additional complexity. In that paper, it was introduced their design and peculiarities, how to calculate their magnetic field and three different methods to calculate their inductance. Therefore, with the purpose of improving the existing infrastructure and providing it with greater potential and reliability, this paper will focus on justifying and demonstrating the advantages offered by these double loops versus the conventional ones. This will involve analyzing the magnetic profiles generated by the passage of vehicles over double loops and comparing them with those already known. Moreover, it will be shown how the vehicle speed, the traffic direction and many other data can be obtained more easily and with less margin of error by using these new inductance signatures., This research has been funded by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia through its internal project 'Equipos de deteccion, regulacion e informacion en el sector de los sistemas inteligentes de transporte (ITS). Nuevos modelos y ensayos de compatibilidad y verificacion de funcionamiento', which has been carried out at the ITACA Institute