Investigation of helmet use behavior of motorcyclists and effectiveness of enforcement campaign using CART approach

Use of the helmet is beneficial in reducing the severity of injuries and avoiding fatalities for motorcyclists, therefore, legislation exists in almost all countries. In practice, the situation is different regarding the helmet use, especially in the developing countries. This paper investigates the helmet use behavior of motorcyclists in Karachi, Pakistan. It determines the significant factors affecting the helmet use in Karachi (Pakistan) and recommending effective campaign measures to promote helmet use. It is vital in relation to the exponential growth of motorcycle users and poor enforcement of traffic rules. Repeated cross-sectional data collected before (n = 226) and after (n = 277) the helmet use enforcement campaign is analyzed using univariate and non-parametric classification and regression tree (CART) techniques. A significant number of motorcyclists do not hold a driving license and CART analysis highlighted the significance of this variable along with exposure to the road environment (measured as daily usage of motorcycle) to explain helmet use. Campaign effects are found temporary, therefore, serious efforts are required to design coherent and structured awareness and enforcement programs.     

New Iris Localization Method Based on Chaos Genetic Algorithm

This paper present a new method based on Chaos Genetic Algorithm (CGA) to localize the human iris in a given image. First, the iris image is preprocessed to estimate the range of the iris localization, and then CGA is used to extract the boundary of the iris. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithms is efficient and robust, and can achieve sub pixel precision. Because Genetic Algorithms (GAs) can search in a large space, the algorithm does not need accurate estimation of iris center for subsequent localization, and hence can lower the requirement for original iris image processing. On this point, the present localization algirithm is superior to Daugman‘s algorithm.     

Gender inequality in mobility and mode choice in Pakistan

Using the nationally representative dataset of the 2007 Pakistan Time-Use Survey, this paper examines gender differences in daily trip rate, mode choice, travel duration, and purpose of travel, which are previously unreported because of limited data availability. Wide gender mobility gaps are observed in the country, where women are less likely to travel, are half as mobile as men and may rely heavily on walking. The particular social and cultural context of the country, that renders women as private, secluded and family honor, seems influential in shaping their mobility and choice of activities. Demographic factors such as age, household income, and marital status significantly decrease female mobility levels. Hence, these findings call for a gender-based culturally responsive transportation policy in the country.     

Spatio-Temporal Population Density and Spatial Dynamic Spectrum Allocation

Introduction The scarcity of available radio spectrum limits theextension of the modern wireless communication. Oneapproach to alleviate this limitation is the dynamicspectrum allocation (DSA) at network level, which isable to adapt to the spatial and temporal variation intraffic load[1]. The concept of DSA was first presentedin the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency) XG Program[2], with the aim to increase thespectral efficiency by spectrum sharing among radios.Due to the…     

Behavioral factors of motorcyclists in right-turn movements at unsignalized intersections: An insight from Yogyakarta,Indonesia

Conflicting actions of motorcyclists making right-turn movements (RTM) pose a considerable risk of accidents, which is of great concern when attempting to augment the level of safety at unsignalized intersections. This study was conducted to identify the habits of motorcyclists in RTMs, including normal RTM, weaving/merging RTM, and opposite indirect RTM when crossing unsignalized intersections. The behavioral factors were affected by gender, passenger status, motorcycle type, STOP factor, speed, travel time, and lane width of major and minor roads, which were tested using multinomial and nested logit models on 2358 motorcyclists. The results indicated that all of the observed variables significantly influenced motorcyclists' behaviors at unsignalized intersections, excepting the variable of travel time. The factors of speed and lane width on minor roads significantly correlated to motorcyclist behaviors during weaving and merging RTM only. The logit model reveals that female motorcyclists tend to make normal RTMs. The study also proposes ideal and practical recommendations, such as stop and speed regulations, channelization, number of lanes and lane widths, and maneuver markers, in order to address dangerous behaviors, in particular weaving and merging and opposite indirect-type RTMs.     

Review of magnetorheological （MR） fluids and its applications in vibration control

1 Introduction1 Magnetorheological is a branch of Rheology that deals with the flow and deformation of the materials under an applied magnetic field. The discovery of MR fluids is credited to Jacob Rabinow[2,3] in 1949. Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are …     

Development of 19-plex Y STR system and polymorphism studies in Pakistani population

For the development of 19-plex Y STR system and polymorphism studies in locl ethnic populations sixteen markers of non-recombining regions (NRY) of Y chromosome, which show high power of discrimination among individuals, were selected in this study. Blood samples (600) were e.ollected from the males of three most common castes of Pakistani population (Arnin, Awan and Rajput) with different parent lineages. Three markers (DYS385a/b, DYS389Ⅰ/Ⅱ and YCAⅡa/b) among 16 Y STRs are double-targeted regions of the Y chromosome and thus provide two polymorphie peaks for each respective primer set. These 16 Y-STRs were developed into Megaplex system for simultaneous amplification of all markers within the population. The overall power of discrimination observed in focused populations was 60.5%, 66.5% and 55% in Rajput, Awan and Arain casts respectively. This discrimination power will be helpful in haman identification for forensic casework studies including sexual assaults and paternity testing.     

The Asian economic crisis and the aviation industry: Impacts and response strategies

Most airlines across Asia are struggling to cope with an unprecedented economic crisis which they have very little control over, and the survival of some remains in doubt. The continuing uncertainty generated by the crisis has accelerated the process of change in the aviation industry and has highlighted the need for adaptability, and its effects have been deeper and longer lasting than previously anticipated. After a year-long slump in the Asian travel market, airlines are now considering a range of options and rehabilitation programmes including a series of cost-cutting measures. There appears to be a trend towards the extension and consolidation of strategic alliances, structural and operational reorganization, and the application of new technologies. The success of these measures will become apparent over time, but action is necessary to minimize the adverse consequences of the crisis which has dominated the region since 1997.     

某护卫舰的结构再分析

本文研究了某护卫舰的再设计和再分析，用有限元法计算了舰船船体中剖面构件的应力，用修正缩减基法对护卫舰进行了结构再分析。