The impact of the new onboard technologies on maritime education and training schemes in Europe: some findings from the 'METHAR' project

The paper reports some analyses put forward in the context of the METHAR Project. The purpose is the evaluation of the impact of the new technologies used onboard ships on the Maritime Education and Training systems in Europe and the identification of the future training needs. This issue is tackled by developing an ad-hoc methodology based upon the analysis of the responses to questionnaires sent to a number of operators involved in the maritime sector all over Europe, specifically ship owners, marine equipment manufacturers, pilots and port managers. Results enable the identification of some types of impacts that are named 'organizational' and 'operational'. Moreover, a general evaluation scheme was developed as a tool for highlighting the structure and the characteristics of the impacts considered.     

Travel mode attitudes,urban context,and demographics: do they interact differently for bicycle commuting and cycling for other purposes?

This study examined whether interactions between travel mode attitudes, urbanization level, and socio-demographics were different for bicycle commuting and cycling for other purposes. Data were obtained from the 2014 wave of the Netherlands mobility panel (MPN). In total, 2673 respondents (18?+?years) who had recorded at least one trip on the days covered by the survey were included in the sample. Four outcomes were constructed, two of which concerned commuting-related cycling: any commuting-related bicycle usage (yes vs. no) and average cycling duration (in hours per weekday). Likewise, two similar outcome variables concerning cycling for other proposes were constructed. These outcomes were analyzed by means of Tobit regression models (cycling duration) and binary logistic models (any bicycle usage). Attitudinal factors concerning different travel modes, namely bus, car, cycling, and train, were constructed by means of factor analysis. The results showed that a positive attitude toward cycling was positively related to bicycle commuting duration, but this association was less strong among those with a positive attitude toward bus use. Having a positive cycling attitude had a weaker association with both bicycle commuting usage and duration in those who do not always have a car available. Regarding cycling for other purposes, cycling attitude had a stronger positive association with cycling duration among residents of very highly urbanized area, compared to residents of less urbanized areas. The available evidence, though limited, suggests that targeting attitudes can have a measurable impact on bicycling, but not to the same extend among all people.

     

High Speed Railway: Collecting Pantographs Active Control and Overhead Lines Diagnostic Solutions

The catenary-pantograph system and its dynamic behaviour play a decisive role for high speed trains from the power collecting point of view. The decisive criterion for assessing the contact quality is to reduce the contact force variability as far as possible. In this paper active pantograph elements are introduced in order to improve the system performance. The control strategy is based on Extended Kalman Filter technique, used to get a contact force estimation available for control feedback. The same estimation procedure based on the Extended Kalman Filter is also used to obtain some information useful to overhead line diagnostic purposes.     

Scaling up cycling or replacing driving? Triggers and trajectories of bike–train uptake in the Randstad area

Transportation - The combined use of the bicycle and the train in the Netherlands has risen steadily over the past decade. However, little is yet known about the underlying processes driving the...     

清洁动力又添生力军——康明斯全新ISF轻型发动机成功服务中国花博会

2009年10月9日．31辆配备康明斯全新ISF3．8升国IV排放发动机的公交车在第七届中国花卉博览会期间在北京顺义正式投入使用．承担了高负荷繁忙的运输任务，成功运送大批游客往返于顺义花博会展馆线路。除成功服务花博会，今年6月正式在北京投产的ISF3．8升环保发动机也在平谷和昌平批量投放到小公交客运市场，为北京郊区县区间公交运输提供高性能、低排放的环保动力支持。     

Network economies in liner shipping: the role of home markets

This paper deals with the measurement of the network complexity of some selected shipping groups, also identifying the contribution of co-operative agreements among carriers. The empirical investigation is focused on: (i) the analysis of the distribution of the carrying capacity per range; and (ii) the comparison of that capacity with the throughput handled in the port facilities of the group. These variables are interpreted in the light of the impact that alliances have on the geographical wideness of the services supplied by each partner. This factor also allows to depict how the cultural and political origin of shipping lines affects the decision of joining an alliance and the outcomes deriving from such co-operation.     

High downforce race car vertical dynamics: aerodynamic index

Race car performance is strongly affected by aerodynamics. Due to downforce generated by the vehicle floor (i.e. diffuser), vehicle ride heights are key parameters to improve performance, and the coupling of aerodynamics and suspension is one of the key points of race car setting. This work focuses on the suspension and aerodynamic coupling from the vertical dynamics point of view. Besides road holding performance, for race cars, aerodynamic performance and stability are major factors. Downforce decreases laptime (the main performance target) but pitch instability is a non-desired effect that can happen in high downforce race cars. A new vertical dynamic performance index is proposed through the use of simulation to improve aerodynamic performance and understand the pitch instability phenomenon. This new index uses all relevant vehicle nonlinearities related to vertical dynamics and can handle a specific track profile and vehicle speed range, allowing the analysis be conducted according to a circuit specification. A previously validated Formula 3 car model was used as an example.     

Development of a method for the identification and engineering design of endless fiber reinforced composites

The main objective of this paper is to introduce a novel method to develop a multi-material body-in-white concept with composite material or hybrid material system. A new method based on the work of Durst (2008) is presented, which works basically in three steps. In the first step, the anisotropy of the components is analyzed to pre-evaluate the potential of FRP-suitable parts. In the second step, the predominating orientation of every finite element is determined and clustered to get a first impression of an appropriate laminate architecture. In the last step, a suitable design with a preliminary stacking sequence is calculated. To prove the feasibility of this method, it has been applied to simple flat coupons and a body-in-white component to show that the method leads to reasonable results.     

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.