Game-based learning for maritime education and training: the case of Trader of the World

For educational and/or training purposes, games are often described as multimodal texts, where signs, gestures, images, habits, behaviors, sounds, etc. have different meanings according to the way and the context they are represented. During their execution, a large variety of strategies can be employed; images, words, sounds, music, movement, and even bodily sensations can provide the necessary factors. More importantly, when games are integrated in an educational (or training) activity, it is essential to record solid evidence that the targeted learning outcome is achieved. Game-based learning (GBL) for seafarers is a multifactor domain combining educational psychology, learning theories, instructional design, computer game technology, and last but not least, research in the maritime field. In order to create the appropriate framework, there is a need to combine three different scientific areas (education design, computer science, and maritime education and training (MET)) towards the proper game design. In these types of games, the design process includes an extremely important task: embedding suitable educational approaches and instructional techniques for specific learning outcomes and student profiles into the scenario, so that the game will be played without losing the fun and attractive part of it. In the current analysis, a framework for GBL that is applicable for 200 maritime professionals is presented; the specific application is related to navigational safety training, and the respective framework is a 3D real-time strategy game called “Trader of the World” (TotW-alpha version). The game is designed for already competent adult seafarers as well as undergraduate students of maritime academies/institutions and it is applied in nonformal educational settings. A demonstration of this game has already taken place at the undergraduate level; results, evaluations, and opinions provided by the participants were used as the basis for discussion.     

Factors contributing to bicycle–motorised vehicle collisions: a systematic literature review

Bicycle–motorised vehicle (BMV) collisions account for the majority of the recorded bicyclists’ fatalities and serious injuries. This systematic review intends to examine the main factors contributing to BMV collisions. We performed a comprehensive literature review on Scopus, TRID, ProQuest, and Web of Science databases. Fifty-nine English-language peer-reviewed articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final analysis. The main factors contributing to BMV collisions identified were classified in accordance with a recently published conceptual framework for road safety. The majority of studies have identified factors related to road users’ behaviour (59.3%) and infrastructure characteristics (57.6%). A minority of studies identified variables related to exposure (40.7%) and vehicles (15.3%) as contributor factors to BMV collisions. A small but significant proportion of studies (20.3%) provided evidence that environmental factors may also play a role, although to a lesser extent, in determining BMV collisions. In addition to the three factors comprised in the applied conceptual framework for road safety, we identified environmental conditions as a category of factors contributing to BMV collisions.     

Analysis of the hydrophysical structure of the Sea of Azov in the period of the bottom anoxia development

The hydrophysical and hydrochemical structure of the Sea of Azov, with developed bottom anoxia, was studied during the RV “Akvanavt” cruise from July 31 to August 03, 2001. The anoxic zone with a thickness from 0.5 to 4 m above the bottom was found in all deep regions of the Sea. Concentrations of hydrochemical parameters were similar to the pronounced anoxic conditions (about 90 mmol m^− 3 of hydrogen sulfide, 17 mmol m^− 3 of ammonia, 6 mmol m^− 3 of phosphate, 7 mmol m^− 3 of total manganese). The hydrophysical structure was characterized by the uniform distribution of temperature in the upper 6–7 m mixed layer (UML). Below this a thin (0.4–0.8 m) thermocline layer was observed, just above the anoxic waters. Formation of this phenomenon was connected with that summer weather conditions. Intensive rains led to increased influx of river waters in June. That resulted in large input of allochtonous organic matter (OM) and inorganic nutrients; the latter were consumed on the additional autochthonous organic matter production. In July the weather was characterized by a significant rise in the daily averaged air temperature and large oscillations of temperature during the day. In this period a wind of constant direction was absent, but wind bursts were observed. The completed analyses showed that the formation of such a structure could be connected with the following factors: (i) positive growth trends of the daily averaged temperature and the daily oscillations of temperature, (ii) presence of wind bursts. The joint action of these factors resulted in the formation of the UML. The amplitude of wind bursts determined the depth of UML, and the value of trend determined the value of the temperature change in the thermocline. An initial presence of bottom halocline (caused by the Black Sea water influx to the bottom of the Sea of Azov) prevented the heating of the bottom layer and therefore led to an increase of vertical gradient of temperature in the thermocline. The spatial distribution of the turbulent exchange coefficient confirmed the existence of a “stagnation” area located above the anoxia zone, which is also, apparently, the reason for its occurrence.     

A model to identify airport hubs and their importance to tourism in Brazil

Air transportation in Brazil has been recently liberalized and one of the consequences of this process is the concentration of flights in a few hubs. During the years 2006-2007 two fatal accidents created unprecedented chaos in both land and air sides of the system with harmful consequences to tourism in Brazil. The consequences were more airport congestion and many episodes of flight delays and cancellations that lasted for several months. We argue that, among other factors, this state of blackout was a result of the increase in the degree of concentration in few airports, particularly Congonhas (in São Paulo) and Brasília. Using data obtained from a survey with Brazilian experts, a comparison was made with two existing methods (the one used by the US Federal Aviation Administration and the usual Herfindahl-Hirschman method) in order to calculate the number of hubs in Brazil. Due to the huge discrepancy obtained between data from the survey and the other two methods considered, a new mathematical method based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index was proposed to identify the number of hubs in a given network. Drawing from the examples of what happened to tourist destinations during and after the air transport crisis in Brazil, the article concludes discussing the need for a more accurate tool to identify and to monitor the concentration of flights at the Brazilian air transportation network and its importance to tourism.     

双向与单向道路网络:哪一个更高效?

为了改善机动车的可达性并避免驾驶人迷失,城市政府和规划师开始将中心城区传统的单向道路网络转换成双向行驶。双向道路网络可提升经济活力水平和中心城区的宜居性,而单向道路网络可提高通行能力。指出使用出行服务能力指标来衡量道路网络效率更适宜,将单向行驶与双向行驶道路网络的出行服务能力进行对比,后者交叉口的处理包括左转专用车道、左转渠化和禁止左转三种方式。结果显示,与传统认知和设计手册相反,双向道路网络通常比单向道路网络更有效率。在出行距离较短的情况下,允许转向的双向道路网络比单向道路网络的出行服务能力更高;禁止左转的双向道路网络比单向道路网络造成的绕行更少。     

Why are maritime ports (still) urban,and why should policy-makers care?

Despite ongoing transformations in the maritime transportation industry and the rise of global supply chain systems, most of the world's important container ports remain urban. Ports continue to occupy urban spaces, are embedded in localized knowledge systems, draw on urban labour markets and infrastructure and are subject to local politics and policy concerns. We identify contemporary geographic theories which help us understand the often increasingly urban attachment of core economic activities despite globalization. We explore how these theories may apply to port studies, highlighting both how they have been used by maritime scholars to this point and also why further development and application are warranted. We argue that a central concern of these geographic theories is the articulation of place- and sector-specific processes operating at a variety of spatial scales. This is in contrast to most maritime studies which continue to be dominated by perspectives which emphasize the global logic of the transportation industry and the analysis of space in generalized and abstract terms. We conclude that a re-appreciation in maritime studies of urban economic processes, informed by geographical theory, will provide policy-makers and others with more understanding of why deep connections between ports and urban places still matter.     

Testing a Framework for the Efficiency Assessment of Road Safety Measures

Abstract

The objective of this research is to develop and test a framework for efficiency assessment of road safety measures and evaluate its use in decision‐making. An exhaustive review of standard methodologies and practices related to cost‐effectiveness and cost–benefit analyses is carried out for that purpose. Moreover, a number of case studies are performed, concerning the efficiency assessment of various road safety measures in different countries, covering different types of road safety measures (user‐, vehicle‐ or infrastructure‐oriented, policy or enforcement, etc.), ranging from national to local levels of implementation and including both ex ante and ex post evaluations. From the results conclusions are drawn on the efficiency of different road safety measures and the related determinants. Furthermore, the case studies reveal a number of methodology and data issues for which further research is required. The procedures and barriers involved in the use of efficiency assessment techniques at different levels of decision‐making are also highlighted by means of feedback received during and after the various case studies. On the basis of these results, a framework for the promotion, implementation and evaluation of efficiency assessment in road safety decision‐making is proposed. A particular set of recommendations is also presented regarding the treatment of barriers (fundamental, institutional or technical) within the efficiency assessment itself and the related decision‐making process.     

Distribution of vehicle operating costs/benefits to a rural population

Assessment of economic benefits resulting from the provision of transportation projects are standard practice. However, the procedures seldom consider detailed distribution of benefits amongst the study area population. Distribution of vehicle operating cost benefits to rural population is presented for a road sealing project.     

Coupled renewal model of ocean viscous sublayer, thermal skin effect and interfacial gas transfer velocity

A previously developed renewal model included parameterizations for the thermal skin effect and interfacial gas transfer velocity. The more readily available cool skin data were used for an adjustment of the gas transfer parameterization. In this work, the renewal concept is extended to include the velocity difference across the viscous sublayer and to account for the stage of surface wave development. As a result, the empirical coefficients that enter the renewal model have been specified more accurately using laboratory data on the surface wind drift current. In addition, the coefficient linking the cool skin and gas transfer parameterization formulas has been determined from the probability distribution function for renewal events. A comparison of the upgraded renewal model with the thermal skin data collected during the COARE and more recent field programs and with gas transfer data collected during GasEx-01 experiment suggests that the renewal model can be a useful tool for producing a physically based parameterization for the interfacial CO₂ transfer velocity. Model uncertainties associated with the effect of surface films are discussed.     

THE LA ANTIGEN INHIBITS THE ACTIVATION OF THE INTERFERON－INDUCIBLE PROTEIN KINASE PKR BY SEQUESTERING AND UNWINDING DOUBLE－ST

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