Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for traumatic lumbar spondylolisthesis

To evaluate the clinical outcome, effectiveness and safety of the surgical management of traumatic lumbar spondylolisthesis with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) with short segmental instrumentation fixation. A retrospective review of a consecutive series of 24 patients with traumatic lumbar spondylolisthesis treated with TLIF procedure was carried out. Intraoperative spinal cord monitoring was used to confirm the peripheral neural function intact during the reduction of the spondylolisthesis. Preoperative clinical and radiographic evaluation of all cases were originally collected prospectively. Data regarding blood loss, operative time, duration of hospital stay, radiographic fusion, instrumentation failure and clinical result were collected and observed at regular follow-up periods. All patients were engaged in high-energy accidents in the lower back and 16 patients had concomitant injuries. The mean operative time was 124 min, mean blood loss was 350 mL, and mean hospital stay was 6.5 days. There were no complications such as incision infection, cerebrospinal fluide (CSF) leakage and nerve root injury and so on. All patients demonstrated a solid lumbar interbody fusion within 4 months, and no evidence of spondylolisthesis correction loss, instrumentation failure and loosing. They all were completely asymptomatic, with normal neurologic findings, and had resumed their previous level of physical activities on the final follow-up. Meticulous clinical examination and careful imaging assessment could assist an early diagonosis in cases of traumatic lumbar spondylolisthesis. Performing open reduction and the TLIF procedure as soon as possible could restore segmental stability and painless function. The TLIF procedure was a safe, effective technique to treat traumatic lumbar spondylolisthesis.     

Face recognition via adaptive image combination

Dimension reduction and manifold learning are the two most popular feature extraction methods. The two methods focus on spatial locality as a guiding principle to find a low-dimensional basis for describing high-dimensional data, but no bases or features are more spatially localized than the original image pixels. So, adaptive image combination is presented to represent a class by a combined sample. The combined sample is a linear combination of original samples in the same class. Adaptive image combination (AIC) find the best combination coefficients by minimizing the intrapersonal distance and maximizing the interpersonal distance. Experimental results show that AIC is effective.     

Parameter transfer of common-metric attributes in choice analysis: implications for willingness to pay

There is a growing literature that promotes the presence of a mix of compensatory and semi-compensatory processing strategies in the way that individuals evaluate packages of attributes in real or hypothetical markets, and make choices. This paper proposes a specification for the utility form in a choice model to test if, given a pair of attributes with a common-metric (e.g., components of travel time or cost), the attribute with the dominating level defines the marginal (dis)utility that is assigned to both attributes. We refer to this processing strategy as a parameter transfer rule. We use a stated choice data set, in the context of car driving individuals choosing between tolled and non-tolled routes, to estimate a mixed logit model which incorporates the presence of the parameter transfer rule and the conventional fully compensatory rule, both existing up to a probability. We find that if this parameter transfer heuristic is part of the mix, the WTP is more than 30% higher, on average, than when only a fully compensatory rule is imposed. We also contrast the parameter transfer rule with other semi-compensatory heuristics which have been investigated in other papers, and show that the finding adds further support to the accumulating evidence that a semi-compensatory attribute processing rules tend to result in higher mean WTP estimates compared to the fully compensatory attribute processing rule.     

钻爆法施工隧道噪声传播特性研究

钻爆法施工的隧道囿于半封闭环境和大功率高噪声机械分布集中的特点，施工噪声问题相比地面工程更加严峻。其中，尤以钻炮眼工序声压级最高。为研究隧道施工过程中工人接触的噪声大小和类型以及噪声在隧道内的传播规律，依托拉泽快速路圭嘎拉隧道工程，通过施工现场实测和Comsol Multiphysics软件声学数值模拟互相验证，发现掌子面工人工作区域的中高频噪声普遍达到105 dB(A)及以上，掌子面钻炮眼噪声传播至二次衬砌和仰拱区域后仍达到90 dB(A)，同时危害二次衬砌和仰拱区域施工人员健康。洞内空间声压级分布受洞内构筑物和边界条件影响，轴线方向衰减速率不均匀，同一断面内声能量由于拱形断面声聚焦效应，呈现同一断面内底板中线以上3～4 m局部声压级高于拱周的状态。     

高速公路岩堆边坡仿真分析与评价研究

在分析宜巴高速公路三里花岩堆边坡基本特征及破坏机理的基础上,基于FLAC3D理论,建立了山区高速公路岩堆边坡三维仿真分析模型,在此基础上,考虑岩堆天然自重、降雨、地震和人类活动等荷载组合作用,模拟分析了岩堆边坡在不同工况条件下的变形破坏机理和稳定性,并对岩堆边坡的稳定状态进行了评价。     

大型LNG船液舱晃荡载荷及响应模型试验研究

液舱晃荡是大型液化天然气船液舱设计中的重要问题之一,具有强非线性和离散性,很难确定其载荷值.为了研究大型液化天然气船液舱晃荡冲击载荷及其对结构的响应,文章开展了典型菱形液舱的三维晃荡模型试验,获得了大型LNG船液舱在各种运动模式下的流体拍击舱壁的冲击载荷特性以及液舱围护系统结构在晃荡冲击载荷作用下的动响应特征.     

The precautionary principle in maritime affairs

Since the 1980s, the precautionary principle has been drawing more and more international attention. This became particularly clear during the series of Conferences on the Protection of the North Sea, which addressed marine environmental protection, and initiated the application of the principle into maritime affairs. Although a unified concept of the precautionary principle is lacking, some typical formulations have been concluded in regional treaties and international documents, and components of the principle can be summarised (Part I and Part II). The precautionary principle has been adopted by international documents involving different fields of law of the sea, and been addressed by international courts and tribunals (Part III). While the precautionary principle is still not part of customary international law (Part IV), its increasing level of worldwide acceptance suggests that it will become a customary international law in the future.     

Large-scale application of MILATRAS: case study of the Toronto transit network

This paper documents the efforts to operationalize the conceptual framework of MIcrosimulation Learning-based Approach to TRansit Assignment (MILATRAS) and its component models of departure time and path choices. It presents a large-scale real-world application, namely the multi-modal transit network of Toronto which is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). This large-scale network is represented by over 500 branches with more than 10,000 stops. About 332,000 passenger-agents are modelled to represent the demand for the TTC in the AM peak period. A learning-based departure time and path choice model was adopted using the concept of mental models for the modelling of the transit assignment problem. The choice model parameters were calibrated such that the entropy of the simulated route loads was optimized with reference to the observed route loads, and validated with individual choices. A Parallel Genetic Algorithm engine was used for the parameter calibration process. The modelled route loads, based on the calibrated parameters, greatly approximate the distribution underlying the observed loads. 75% of the exact sequence of transfer point choices were correctly predicted by the off-stop/on-stop choice mechanism. The model predictability of the exact sequence of route transfers was about 60%. In this application, transit passengers were assumed to plan their transit trip based on their experience with the transportation network; with no prior (or perfect) knowledge of service performance.     

Simulating the impacts of household travel on greenhouse gas emissions,urban air quality,and population exposure

This paper establishes a link between an activity-based model for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), dynamic traffic assignment, emission modelling, and air quality simulation. This provides agent-based output that allows vehicle emissions to be tracked back to individuals and households who are producing them. In addition, roadway emissions are dispersed and the resulting ambient air concentrations are linked with individual time-activity patterns in order to assess population exposure to air pollution. This framework is applied to evaluate the effects of a range of policy interventions and 2031 scenarios on the generation of vehicle emissions and greenhouse gases in the GTA. Results show that the predicted increase of approximately 2.6 million people and 1.3 million jobs in the region by 2031 compared to 2001 levels poses a major challenge in achieving meaningful reductions in GHGs and air pollution.     

Analysis of the environmental benefits of a motorcycle idling stop policy at urban intersections

In an attempt to reduce CO₂ emissions from motorized transport, the Taiwanese government introduced an idling stop policy for vehicles in early 2007. This paper seeks to quantify the environmental benefits of the policy based on a stated preference analysis. Motorcyclists were surveyed at urban intersections in Taiwan, to identify the amount of time they would be willing to turn off their engines while waiting at traffic lights (the WTO). A contingent valuation framework based on stated preference questions was designed to determine the WTO. Results obtained from the Spike model showed that the average motorcyclist’s WTO is 82 s. In another analysis, in which other variables were taken into consideration, such as the possibility that the policy will be enacted as legislation, the expected WTO increased to 101 s. In both cases, an idling stop policy would have positive environmental effects, reducing gasoline usage by 1021 L per hour and reducing CO₂ emissions by 0.56 metric tons per hour at the intersection studied during peak periods.