A study of the bi-directional pedestrian flow characteristics at Hong Kong signalized crosswalk facilities

This paper investigates the bi-directional flow characteristics at signalized crosswalk facilities in Hong Kong. Pedestrian flow measurements were conducted at selected signalized crosswalks in Hong Kong urban area with and without the Light Rail Transit (LRT) railway tracks in the median of the carriageway. The pedestrian speed-flow functions for these crosswalk facilities were calibrated. The relationships between the walking speed at capacity and directional distribution of pedestrian flow (or flow ratio) are determined. The effects of different flow ratio on the effective capacity are also investigated. The bi-directional pedestrian flow effects on signalized crosswalk facilities with LRT tracks are found more significant than those without LRT tracks. The result could be used as a basis to improve the assessment of the crosswalk's capacity and to determine the design walking speeds under different flow ratios at signalized crosswalks in Hong Kong and in other Asian cities with similar environments.     

IMAGE SEGMENTATION BASED ON MARKOV RANDOM FIELD AND WATERSHED TECHNIQUES

IntroductionThere are many methods to perform imagesegmentation and edge detection tasks that incor-porate region- growing and edge detection tech-niques,for example,it is applying edge detectiontechniques to obtain Difference In Strength( DIS)map then employ region growing techniques towork on the map as in Refs.[1 ,2 ]. In the others,combining both special and intensity information inimage segmentation approach based on multi- reso-lution edge detection,region selection and intensi-ty thre…     

An activity-based approach for scheduling multimodal transit services

This paper proposes a new activity-based transit assignment model for investigating the scheduling (or timetabling) problem of transit services in multi-modal transit networks. The proposed model can be used to generate the short-term and long-term timetables of multimodal transit lines for transit operations and service planning purposes. The interaction between transit timetables and passenger activity-travel scheduling behaviors is captured by the proposed model, as the activity and travel choices of transit passengers are considered explicitly in terms of departure time choice, activity/trip chain choices, activity duration choice, transit line and mode choices. A heuristic solution algorithm which combines the Hooke–Jeeves method and an iterative supply–demand equilibrium approach is developed to solve the proposed model. Two numerical examples are presented to illustrate the differences between the activity-based approach and the traditional trip-based method, together with comparison on the effects of optimal timetables with even and uneven headways. It is shown that the passenger travel scheduling pattern derived from the activity-based approach is significantly different from that obtained by the trip-based method, and that a demand-sensitive (with uneven headway) timetable is more efficient than an even-headway timetable.     

Identifying the most critical transportation intersections using social network analysis

Traffic congestion negatively impacts our society. Most of the traditional transportation planning techniques – though effective – require rigorous amounts of data and analysis which consumes time and resources. This paper uses social network analysis (SNA) to analyze transportation networks, and consequently corroborate the effectiveness of SNA as a complementary tool for improved transportation planning. After creating the connection between the language and concepts of SNA and those of transportation systems – as well as developing a model that utilizes different SNA centrality measures within the transportation context – the authors utilize SNA to investigate traffic networks in three case studies in the state of Louisiana, analyze the results and draw conclusions. To this effect, with minimal cost and time, the model identifies the most critical intersections that should be further investigated using traditional techniques. These results are in agreement with the findings of Louisiana’s Department of Transportation and Development.     

三维波束成形麦克风阵列在风洞测试中的应用

得益于非常安静的背景噪声（风速 140 km/h,声压级小于 58 dBA）和优秀的低频压力脉动（Cp rms ＜ 0.005）,中国汽车工程研究院（CAERI）风洞中心的气动声学风洞为汽车空气动力学开发提供良好的声学测试平台。中国汽研风洞中心安装一套由 3 块麦克风阵列（3×168 通道）组成的三维麦克风阵列测试系统,对车外气动噪声源进行定位及分析。采用“声学照相机原理”,即噪声云图通过波束成形的高级算法投射到车身三维表面（3D）上进行定位显示。     

多桨（变距／定距） 主机遥控系统的研究设计

论述基于现场总线技术的标准化、模块化设计的主机遥控系统,对控制软、硬件进行了深入研究并详细剖析了ＬｏｎＷｏｒｋｓ神经元。     

粉尘爆炸及“杂混合物”对其特性的影响

在工业粉体加工、装卸、储运和处理的过程中,时有爆炸火灾的发生,因粉体静电,尤其是含不份较低的碳氢化合物粉体及绝缘性高的高分子化合物粉粒的静电引起的爆炸占有一定的比例。作者首先论述粉尘爆炸的特点及机理,接着论述“杂混合物”对粉尘爆炸特性的影响：介绍粉尘的爆炸特性,以试验数据描述“杂混合物”对爆炸极限、爆炸压力－强度的影响以及“杂混合物”中可燃气含量及其最低最小点火能量的关系。最后剖析ＬＤＰＥ粉粒在贮     

Hydrography, currents and distribution of suspended matter during a dumping experiment in the western Baltic Sea at a site near Warnemünde

During a dumping experiment on 20/21 June 2001, an extensive data record was collected to understand the dynamical processes in the water column of the investigation area and to validate model results. Weak westerly winds with strongly changing cloud coverage characterized the meteorological situation. During the second day the wind calmed down and moved shortly to easterly directions. The water column was characterized by a strong vertical stratification with discontinuity layers in temperature and salinity in 12 and 16 m. The current regime was dominated by outflow at the water surface and inflow along the German coast, with strong current shearing in the dumping area. The suspended matter clouds could be identified by optical methods and ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) scattering intensity. During the experiment the suspended matter plumes were only visible at the surface up to 1 h after the dumping. The aerial photographs document that the particle clouds at the surface drifted to the west and, after approximately 40 min, they were only weakly visible. The fine material was concentrated in the discontinuity layer leading to substantially higher values of optical parameters and suspended matter concentration than measured in the surface clouds. Due to the vertical current shears the material was transported in the water column in different directions. At the first day the maximum of the suspended matter in the discontinuity layer was in the north-western corner and in the bottom layer in the northeast corner of the dumping area. Strong wind conditions after the dumping led to periodical resuspension processes.     

Scientific requirements for an abyssal benthic laboratory

For over thirty years man has studied “outer space” and installed satellites which watch the surface of the Earth. The great depths of the world ocean are, however, practically unknown and there is an urgent need to put abyssal benthic laboratories into “inner space” in order to study basic phenomena of interest to marine science and climatology as well as man's impact on the oceans.In view of the numerous problems related to global change, as a first step emphasis should first be on the role of the oceans and their inherent processes, which are the focus of such international programmes as the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). Multi-disciplinary registration of key events at selected key sites investigating the variability in time and space are of the utmost importance. The same methods and techniques must be used for the study of human impacts on the deep oceans caused by mining of metalliferous resources and by waste disposal as well as in basic studies. However, the investigation of the inner space of our planet has certain requirements. As long-term and large-scale investigations become more and more important, development of automized systems, largely independent from research vessels will be required. This will demand high capacities of energy for all technical functions as well as high storage capacities for data and samples. As a consequence the needs for two different—although overlapping—functional approaches are defined for future deep-sea deployments.(A) A system for long-term registration of the natural variability and long-term monitoring of human impacts: (B) A system for short-term observations and short-time experimentations. This report summarizes their technological demands. The envisioned interdisciplinary technology should deliver information on physical, biological and geochemical processes and their variabilities in the deep oceans. The prospected systems need to have the ability for real time video observation, data transfer and experimental manipulation, as well as sensing and sampling facilities with large storage capacities for long-term deployments.Prospective costs of the described multipurpose abyssal benthic laboratory will presumably exceed the funds for deep-sea research of a single country. A joint European effort could solve this problem and help to manifest a leading role for European marine science in international deep-sea and global change research.