Regulation of the informal transport sector in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil: welfare impacts and policy analysis

In Brazil, the explosion of informal transport activity during the past decade has had profound effects on formal public transport systems and is a source of great controversy in the urban transportation sector. A variety of policies have been proposed to manage the growth of the sector. This study seeks to understand how proposed policies will impact the users of these systems. A corridor in Rio de Janeiro with substantial informal activity was used as a case study. Measures of welfare changes in a discrete choice framework were used to estimate proposed policies’ impacts on users. Eleven candidate policies were evaluated, ranging from the eradication of the informal modes and investment in formal modes, to the legalization of the informal modes. Benefits were compared with costs and the distribution of benefits across income classes was explored. Net benefits from some policies were found to be substantial. Legalizing the informal sector was found to benefit users slightly but further investments in the sector are probably inefficient. Users benefited most from improvements in formal mass transit modes, at roughly 100–200 dollars per commuter per year. Finally, policies to foster a competitive environment for the delivery of both informal and formal services were shown to benefit users about 100 dollars per commuter per year. Together, the regulation of the informal sector and investments in the formal sector serve to reinforce the movement towards competitive concessions for services and help reduce the impacts of cartelization and costly in-road competition.

Tool for Predicting the Ultimate Bending Moment of Ship and Ship-Shaped Hull Girders

The present paper presents a historical review associated with the research works on hull girder strength of ship and ship-shaped structures. Then, a new program is developed to determine the ultimate vertical bending moment of hull girder by applying direct method, stress distribution method, and progressive collapse analysis method. Six ships and ship-shaped structures used in the benchmark study of International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress (ISSC) in 2012 are adopted as examples. The calculation results by applying the developed program are analyzed and compared with the existing results. Finally, the roles of the developed program and its further development are discussed.     

Real-Time Fault Diagnosis for Gas Turbine Blade Based on Output-Hidden Feedback Elman Neural Network

In order to remotely monitor and maintain large-scale complex equipment in real time, China Telecom plans to create a total solution that integrates remote data collection, transmission, storage, analysis and prediction. This solution can provide manufacturers with proactive, systematic, integrated operation and maintenance service, and the data analysis and health forecasting are the most important part. This paper conducts health management for the turbine blades. Elman neural network, and improved Elman neural network, i.e., outputhidden feedback (OHF) Elman neural network are studied as the main research methods. The results verify the applicability of OHF Elman neural network.     

Review of Secure Communication Approaches for In-Vehicle Network

In the connected vehicles, connecting interfaces bring threats to the vehicles and they can be hacked to impact the vehicles and drivers. Compared with traditional vehicles, connected vehicles require more information transfer. Sensor signals and critical data must be protected to ensure the cyber security of connected vehicles. The communications among ECUs, sensors, and gateways are connected by in-vehicle networks. This paper discussed the state-of-art techniques about secure communication for in-vehicle networks. First, the related concepts in automotive secure communication have been provided. Then we have compared and contrasted existing approaches for secure communication. We have analyzed the advantages/disadvantages of MAC and digital signatures for message authentication and compared the performance and limitations of different cryptographic algorithms. Firewall and intrusion detection system are introduced to protect the networks. The constraints and features of different intrusion detection approaches are presented. After that, the technical requirements for cryptographic mechanism and intrusion detection policy are concluded. Based on the review of current researches, the future development directions of the automotive network security have been discussed. The purpose of this paper is to review current techniques on automotive secure communication and suggest suitable secure approaches to implement on the in-vehicle networks.     

Creep Life Prediction of Alloy 718 for Automotive Engine Materials

This study was carried out to investigate the creep life at the high temperature of the Alloy 718 for automotive engine components using the initial strain parameter method (ISPM). Creep tests have performed at elevated temperatures in the range of 550 oC to 700 oC in this work. We also carried out constant stress creep tests. The initial strains were measured during 1 minute after loading. Both the creep stress and rupture time depend on the initial strain. We calculated the creep life of Alloy 718 by using the creep life prediction equations obtained from the ISPM. Then, we compared the creep life predicted by the ISPM to the Larson-Miller parameter (LMP). The experimental rupture time and the calculated rupture time by using the ISPM agreed with a confidence level of 95 %. The creep life predicted by using the ISPM was in very good agreement with the creep life predicted using the LMP method.     

Crew resource management training in the maritime industry: a literature review

The study is based on a literature review of recent empirical research on crew resource management (CRM) training in the maritime industry, organised around what non-technical skills to learn and how. The review indicates that existing work is dominated by individualistic theories of learning with less focus on learning as a social process. Five main categories of skills that need to be trained are identified: assertiveness, decision-making, communication, situation awareness and team coordination. We argue that it is necessary to operationalise these broad concepts further, emphasising the work context and crew-specific needs. The review also shows that a combination of classroom lectures and simulator-based exercises is commonly used in maritime education and training in these skills. The learning effect seems to be suffering from training programmes that are exported ‘as is’ from aviation and not adjusted to the maritime domain or to operation-specific needs. This paper examines maritime crew resource management training from a social learning perspective, involving the view that learning is a context bound, social process that might take place in communities of practice (CoP). A CoP is a group (e.g. a crew) wherein members share an activity and learn from each other. It is argued that CRM training programmes will benefit from including a social learning perspective. Factors that enable the assessment of teams are discussed, and it is argued that the training should be tailored to existing crews, emphasising a learning environment as close to reality as possible.     

粉煤灰地层浅埋大断面连拱隧道预加固方式研究

由于粉煤灰地层本身工程性质较差,隧道开挖时不同工序及支护方式的变化也极易影响掌子面的稳定及支护结构的安全.本文结合盐坪坝隧道埋深浅、跨度大、穿越不良地层粉煤灰地层的特点,对浅埋暗挖大断面隧道工程中常用的地层预加固方式做简要介绍并分析其适用性,结合现场实际,提出了一种适用于粉煤灰地层大断面连拱隧道的预加固技术,主要采用高压旋喷桩对穿越粉煤灰地段实施地表加固,从现场施工情况来看,盐坪坝隧道现已成功贯通,期间没有发生掌子面坍塌、地表沉陷等情况.     

采用X形桩的遮帘式板桩码头结构静力分析

X形桩是一种反拱曲面异型桩,相比于同等截面积的矩形桩和圆形桩,X形桩具有更大的截面周长和惯性矩,受力性能更好。结合京唐港32#泊位遮帘式板桩码头结构,以X形桩代替传统的矩形桩,研究其对结构静力的影响。结果表明:相同桩间中心距时,以X形桩替代后可减小前墙弯矩;在同等桩间净距1.75 m下,两类模型的前墙最大弯矩基本相同。相同荷载作用下,前墙位移主要受桩间中心距影响,X形桩形状影响效应很小;锚碇墙水平位移受桩间中心距和遮帘桩形状的影响均很小。桩间中心距、净距与桩间土体土拱效应直接相关,对前墙弯矩、土压力、遮帘桩弯矩等有显著影响。桩间中心距为4.05 m或桩间净距为1.75 m时,结构内力改善效果较优,可采用该间距的X形桩替代矩形桩,节约工程造价。