MMAS in Fiji

This article is part of a special issue that provides insight into global conservation science by analyzing a 5-year, $12.5 million global marine conservation science and policy program. In this article, we summarize the development of the program in Fiji. In Fiji, the development of marine managed areas was based on the historical system of Qoli-qoli, moderated by the history of British colonialism, wherein local chiefs and villages controlled access to, and rules for the use of, nearshore marine environments.     

Lessons Learned from the Marine Management Area Science Program: Insights for Global Conservation Science Programs

Drawing on experiences from the four regions and the overall conduct of the Marine Management Area Science (MMAS) program, this concluding article highlights emergent cross-cutting themes that affected MMAS programs across the regions, summarizes the important conservation outcomes of the MMAS program, and then discusses lessons gained from the actual process of conducting the MMAS program. Based on these insights, particularly the last section, this article concludes with recommendations for other conservation programs, specifically those that are global in scope and are science-based with a specific intent to apply that science to conservation action.     

Elliptical splats based isosurface visualization for volume data

Elliptical splats are used to represent and render the isosurface of volume data. The method consists of two steps. The first step is to extract points on the isosurface by looking up the case table. In the second step, properties of splats are computed based on local geometry. Rendering is achieved using surface splatting algorithm. The obtained results show that the extraction time of isosurfaces can be reduced by a factor of three. So our approach is more appropriate for interactive visualization of large medical data than the classical marching cubes (MC) technique.     

Numerical modeling of hollow-cone fuel atomization,vaporization and wall impingement processes under high ambient temperatures

In the following paper, a numerical study of the atomization, vaporization and wall impingement processes of hollow-cone fuel spray from high-pressure swirl injectors under various ambient temperature conditions was carried out. Also, the availability of applied models and the effect of ambient temperature on spray characteristics is discussed. The Linearized Instability Sheet Atomization (LISA) model combined with the Aerodynamically Progressed Taylor Analogy Breakup (APTAB) model, the improved Abramzon model and the Gosman model are used to calculate the atomization, vaporization and wall impingement processes of hollow-cone fuel spray, respectively. Spray models are implemented with the modified KIVA code. The calculation results of the spray characteristics under two ambient temperatures, including spray tip penetration, spray structure and radial distance after spray-wall impingement are compared to the experimental results obtained by the Laser Induced Exciplex Fluorescence (LIEF) technique. The droplet size distribution, ambient gas velocity field, vapor phase distribution and fuel film mass generated by spray-wall impingement, measurements which are generally difficult to obtain by experimental methods, are also calculated and discussed. Quantitative discussions on the effect of the ambient temperature on the spray development process are conducted. It is shown that the applied models are applicable even in the high ambient temperature condition.     

URANS prediction of roll damping for a ship hull section at shallow draft

It is analytically difficult to calculate roll damping of ships due to the effects of viscosity. Therefore, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become a powerful tool in predicting roll damping recently. The unsteady flow around a forced rolling hull section with bilge keels can be calculated using a commercial URANS code which includes the viscous effects. In this study, two-dimensional (2D) roll damping calculations for a S60 midsection with bilge keels including free surface effects are performed for shallow draft case. The first objective of the study is to show whether the URANS code can be used to predict roll damping coefficient correctly. The second one is to show why Ikeda’s estimation method is insufficient at shallow draft case. Sinusoidal forced roll motion calculation method of roll damping moment with the help of a sliding interface and a fixed roll axis is successfully applied to predict roll damping coefficient. The calculations are carried out for different roll motion periods and amplitudes to validate the accuracy of the URANS code for different cases. Numerical results are compared with experiments, which were carried out at the towing tank facility of Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), and Ikeda’s estimation method. The results show that the URANS code is capable of predicting roll damping coefficients in a good agreement with experimental results and can be used further to develop a better model for prediction of roll damping.     

Activity space estimation with longitudinal observations of social media data

In this paper, we demonstrate the use of an inexpensive and easy-to-collect long-term dataset to address the problems caused by basing activity space studies off short-term data. In total, we use 63,114 geo-tagged tweets from 116 unique users to create individuals’ activity spaces based on minimum bounding geometry (convex hull). By using polygon density maps of activity space, we found clear differences between weekday and weekend activity spaces, and were able to observe the growth trajectory of activity space over 17 weeks. In order to reflect the heterogeneous nature of spatial behavior and tweeting habits, we used Latent Class Analysis twice. First, to identify five unique patterns of location-based activity spaces that are different in shape and anchoring. Second, we identify three unique growth trajectories. The comparison among these latent growth trajectories shows that in order to capture the extent of activity spaces we need long time periods for some individuals and shorter periods of observation for others. We also show that past studies using a single digit number of weeks may not be sufficient to capture individuals’ activity space. The major activity locations identified using a multilevel latent class model, do not appear to be statistically related to the growth patterns of Twitter users activity spaces. The evidence here shows Twitter data can be a valuable complementary source of information for heterogeneity analysis in activity-based modeling and simulation.     

Partial-profilogram reconstruction method to measure the geometric parameters of wheels in dynamic condition

The present work poses a method for the measurement of geometric parameters of rail wheels in a dynamic condition, by reconstructing the profilogram from a portion of the wheel surface wear with artificial vision. The suggested procedure can work with a two-dimensional laser displacement transducer or by processing a sole image from a single camera with a structured light source. These two procedures require fewer devices and simpler implementation processes and allow the use of mathematical algorithms that demand less information processing, thus generating more accurate results. Railway operators may implement this method to perform predictive maintenance to their rolling stock at a fraction of the regular cost; thus achieving better precision, availability, maintenance performance and improving safety. Results were compared to those given by commercial equipment, showing similar precision but a better cost–benefit relation.     

Cooperative control for friction and regenerative braking systems considering dynamic characteristic and temperature condition

The braking system of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is composed of friction and regenerative braking system, meaning that braking torque is generated by the collaboration of the friction and regenerative braking system. With the attributes, there are two problems in the HEV braking system. First, rapid deceleration occurs due to dynamic characteristic difference when shifting the friction and regenerative braking systems. Second, the friction braking torque alters with temperature because the friction coefficient changes with the temperature. These problems cause the vehicle to be unstable. In this paper, the concurrence control and compensation control were proposed to solve these problems. And also, the concurrence control and compensation control were combined for the stability of the braking system. In order to confirm the effect of these control algorithms, the experiment and simulation were conducted. Consequently, it was confirmed that the control algorithm of this study improved the vehicle safety and stability.     

Safety benefits of integrated pedestrian protection systems

This study developed a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of an integrated pedestrian protection system (IPPS) based on simulations. The proposed IPPS consists of active and passive vehicular systems for protecting pedestrians, including a pedestrian warning information system (PWIS), an active hood lift system (AHLS), and pedestrian airbag system (PAS). Two simulation methods were applied in the proposed methodology: a driving simulation and a finite element simulation. A driving simulator was used to obtain the change in collision speed, which is a key parameter for evaluating driving behavior when a PWIS is applied. In addition, a well-known simulator for finite element analysis, LSDYNA was used to simulate the impact of a pedestrian on a vehicle hood in a pedestrian-vehicle collision. The head injury criterion (HIC), which is an outcome of LS-DYNA simulations, is a major parameter for evaluating passive safety systems. The probability of pedestrian fatalities by collision speeds and HICs were estimated to quantify the safety benefits of an IPPS based on the statistical analyses. The results showed that an IPPS is capable of reducing pedestrian fatalities by approximately 90 % associated with jaywalking in the midblock and walking on the roadside. The findings of this study can be used to boost the development of various vehicular technologies for pedestrians. The results can be effectively used for policy making and deriving legislative requirements associated with advanced vehicular technologies for enhancing pedestrian safety.     

Pivot point-based control for active rear-wheel steering in passenger vehicles

This paper presents a new application of active rear-wheel steering control to improve the lateral vehicle behaviour. In the state of the art, yaw or lateral velocity is used as control variable that means one degree of freedom being not directly controlled. A worse subjective impressions due to movements in the rear end of the vehicle during strong counter-steering are a consequence. To avoid this effect in urban surroundings, an innovative structure to control the pivot point distance of the vehicle is proposed. In this case the coupled elementary states yaw and lateral velocity can be influenced based on a higher level criteria. Analysis show that pivot point fixing provides a comprehensible reference behaviour. Solving the issue of singularity during disappearing yaw movement is the basis to design a performant modified feedforward input–output linearisation. An analytic stability analysis of the internal dynamics shows system immanent limitations which do not influence the target of improving the lateral vehicle dynamics in urban manoeuvres. Finally, the advantages of pivot-based control are highlighted by a comparison with state of the art rear axle control.