Marine Protected Area Management Effectiveness: Progress and Lessons in the Philippines

Quantifying progress in management of marine protected areas (MPAs) is crucial to marine conservation and fisheries management in the Philippines. This study compiles data on the status, occurrence, and management gaps of MPAs through coordination with multiple organizations supporting and guiding MPAs in the Philippines. MPA management effectiveness was measured using a MPA Rating System. Since 2002 the modal MPA rating levels increased from level 1 (initiated) to level 4 (sustained) in 2008/9. This upward trend is attributed to factors that promoted both the establishment and improved management of MPAs. Analysis indicated that: (1) most MPAs struggle with budgetary constraints or lack of sustainable financing and (2) overall the MPAs are being maintained and progressing with notable improvement in management despite a range of difficulties encountered during the implementation process. For MPAs in the Visayan Region for which biophysical data were available, the MPA Rating System was used to assess the effectiveness of local government capacity building on MPA coral reef health. Our results suggest that MPAs with higher ratings are likely to have better reef health conditions.     

Flame propagation model for a rotary Atkinson cycle SI engine

The rotary Atkinson cycle engine includes two modes of combustion: combustion initiation and propagation in ignition chamber and then flame jet entrainment and propagation in expansion chamber. The turbulent flame propagation model is a predictive model for SI engines which could be developed for this type of combustion for the rotary Atkinson engine similar to the congenital engine with pre-chamber; in split combustion chamber SI engines, small amount of fuel is burned in pre-chamber while the fuel burned in ignition chamber of rotary Atkinson cycle is considerable. In this study a mathematical modeling of spherical flame propagation inside ignition chamber and new combined conical flame and spherical flame propagation model of a new two-stroke Atkinson cycle SI engine will be presented. The mathematical modeling is carried out using two-zone combustion analysis and the model also is validated against experimental tests and compared with previous study using non-predictive Weibe function model.     

Automated driving recognition technologies for adverse weather conditions

During automated driving in urban areas, decisions must be made while recognizing the surrounding environment using sensors such as camera, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), millimeter-wave radar (MWR), and the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The ability to drive under various environmental conditions is an important issue for automated driving on any road. In order to introduce the automated vehicles into the markets, the ability to evaluate various traffic conditions and navigate safely presents serious challenges. Another important challenge is the development of a robust recognition system can account for adverse weather conditions. Sun glare, rain, fog, and snow are adverse weather conditions that can occur in the driving environment. This paper summarizes research focused on automated driving technologies and discuss challenges to identifying adverse weather and other situations that make driving difficult, thus complicating the introduction of automated vehicles to the market.     

Mooring Damage Identification of Floating Wind Turbine Using a Non-Probabilistic Approach Under Different Environmental Conditions

This paper discusses the damage identification in the mooring line system of a floating wind turbine (FWT) exposed to various environmental loads. The proposed ...     

Resistance analysis of a semi-SWATH design concept in shallow water

Resistance analysis is an important analytical method used to evaluate the hydrodynamic performance of High Speed Craft (HSC). Analysis of multihull resistance in shallow water is essential to the performance evaluation of any type of HSC. Ships operating in shallow water experience increases in resistance because of changes in pressure distribution and wave pattern. In this paper, the shallow water performance of an HSC design concept, the semi-Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (semi-SWATH) form, is studied. The hull is installed with fin stabilizers to reduce dynamic motion effects, and the resistance components of the hull, hull trim condition, and maximum wave amplitude around the hull are determined via calm water resistance tests in shallow water. These criteria are important in analyzing semi-SWATH resistance in shallow water and its relation to flow around hull. The fore fin angle is fixed to zero degrees, while the aft fin angle is varied to 0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°. For each configuration, investigations are conducted with depth Froude numbers (Fr _H ) ranging from 0.65 to 1.2, and the resistance tests are performed in shallow water at the towing tank of UTM. Analysis results indicate that the resistance, wave pattern, and trim of the semi-SWATH hull form are affected by the fin angle. The resistance is amplified whereas the trim and sinkage are reduced as the fin angle increases. Increases in fin angle contribute to seakeeping and stability but affect the hull resistance of HSCs.     

Telecommuting Suitability Modeling: An Approach Based on the Concept of Abstract job

A new approach to modeling telecommuting suitability is proposed in this paper. The approach, based on the concept of abstract job, can be employed to assess the level of suitability for telecommuting of the bundle of tasks comprising a job. By abstract job is meant a way of considering jobs on the basis of their elements and tasks, representing the general structure of the job. In this study, the basic tasks a job is composed of, pertaining to telecommuting suitability, are identified. To show the applicability of the approach, discrete choice models are calibrated, based on a sample of 245 employees in Tehran, Iran, indicating that from among the 6 tasks identified, 5 tasks are significantly associated with the level of telecommuting suitability.     

Polycentricity and transit service

This paper focuses on the two related issues of employment distribution and access to transit services. Using the 2001 census tract level economic activities and transit routes within the county, a number of analyses were performed to determine the location of major employment centers in Los Angeles County and how these localities may be understood within the context of a transit service operation in a polycentric metropolitan area. The identified economic subcenters contain one-third of the county employment and its firms, collectively. While these economic nodes are networked by the existing bus routes, the connection between employees and their place of work appears to be inadequate. This has created a less than optimal condition in many sections of the metropolitan area. This paper suggests methodologies for encountering this shortcoming.     

Freeway path travel time prediction based on heterogeneous traffic data through nonparametric model

Providing reliable travel time prediction is very much needed for commuters for their upcoming trips to reduce travel time and relieve traffic congestion. This article proposes an integrated model for path and multi-step-ahead travel time prediction on freeways using both historical and real-time heterogeneous traffic and weather data. The model's performance is investigated in a case study under various traffic scenarios. Results indicate that the proposed model provides satisfactory prediction results in various performance tests. For practical purposes, general guidelines for selecting the model's parameter sets as well as the efficient size of historical data are also presented.     

A new method for calibration of unidirectional double-peak spectra

This study aims at presenting a new approach in calibrating standard two-peak design spectra for specific regions in absence of wind data. The main principle in these kinds of fitting for a new area is to minimize the least square error between measured and fitted spectra and there has been less attention to double-peak spectra individual characteristic as co-existence of wind-sea and swell parts in one spectrum. Here, separation frequency, approximately dividing such parts, is implemented to virtually extract wind-sea and swell components of a measured spectrum considering their intrinsic overlap near the separation frequency. Then, they have been easily utilized to calibrate two parts of standard double-peak spectrum in a revisory manner. To verify benefits of this new methodology, it has been applied on Ochi-Hubble as well as Torsethaugen spectra regarding field measurements in a coastal region at Gulf of Oman, Chabahar bay. Results obviously show a better adjustment of formula to field spectrum using this simple approach when compared with output of calibration on integrated field spectrum irrespective of its main characteristic such as availability of two-wave systems.