Including congestion effects in urban road traffic CO2 emissions modelling: Do Local Government Authorities have the right options?

Tailpipe emissions from vehicles on urban road networks have damaging impacts, with the problem exacerbated by the common occurrence of congestion. This article focuses on carbon dioxide because it is the largest constituent of road traffic greenhouse gas emissions. Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are typically responsible for facilitating mitigation of these emissions, and critical to this task is the ability to assess the impact of transport interventions on road traffic emissions for a whole network.This article presents a contemporary review of literature concerning road traffic data and its use by LGAs in emissions models (EMs). Emphasis on the practicalities of using data readily available to LGAs to estimate network level emissions and inform effective policy is a relatively new research area, and this article summarises achievements so far. Results of the literature review indicate that readily available data are aggregated at traffic level rather than disaggregated at individual vehicle level. Hence, a hypothesis is put forward that optimal EM complexity is one using traffic variables as inputs, allowing LGAs to capture the influence of congestion whilst avoiding the complexity of detailed EMs that estimate emissions at vehicle level.Existing methodologies for estimating network emissions based on traffic variables typically have limitations. Conclusions are that LGAs do not necessarily have the right options, and that more research in this domain is required, both to quantify accuracy and to further develop EMs that explicitly include congestion, whilst remaining within LGA resource constraints.     

Local joint flexibility of tubular X-joints stiffened with external ring or external plates

In the present paper, the Local Joint Flexibility (LJF) of the ring-stiffened X-joints and plate-stiffened X-joints under compressive load is investigated. In the first phase, a finite element (FE) model was generated and verified with the results of available experimental tests and equations. In the next phase, a set number of 234 FE models were created to evaluate the role of the external ring size (β_r and τ_r), the external plate size (β_p and τ_p), and the connection geometry (γ, τ, and β) on the LJF factor (f_LJF). In these FE models, the weld connecting the chord and brace members was generated. The results indicated that the f_LJF of a plate stiffened joint can be down to 76% of the f_LJF of the corresponding un-stiffened joint. Also, the effect of the ring size on the f_LJF was more than the effect of the plate size on the f_LJF, because of the stiffener position. Despite the notable effect of the ring and the plate on the f_LJF, there is not any study or formula on tubular connections stiffened with ring or plate. Therefore, the FE results were used to propose two parametric formulas for determining the f_LJF in X-joints with external ring or external plate under brace compressive load. Moreover, the derived formulas were checked based on the UK DoE acceptance criteria.     

Assessment of fatigue strength of steel butt-welded joints in as-welded condition – Alternative approaches for curve fitting and mean stress effect analysis

Experimental fatigue data for butt-welded joints in as-welded condition and under constant amplitude tensile loading (secondary bending included) were analyzed using the nominal stress system and the notch stress system. Two approaches were used; a standard fitting procedure and minimization of the sum of squared perpendicular distances from a line with a fixed and free slope. In all cases, the latter method gave better agreement between the experimental and predicted fatigue life and fatigue strength. The analyses showed both with all broken specimen data included and with reduced data that the FAT225 curve, as recommended by IIW, might be too optimistic for the notch stress approach in the case of butt-welded joints in as-welded condition. It was also found that use of the local stress ratio instead of the applied stress ratio might explain many issues concerning current observations and apparent inconsistencies in reported literature.     

Dynamic demand estimation and prediction for traffic urban networks adopting new data sources

Nowadays, new mobility information can be derived from advanced traffic surveillance systems that collect updated traffic measurements, both in fixed locations and over specific corridors or paths. Such recent technological developments point to challenging and promising opportunities that academics and practitioners have only partially explored so far.The paper looks at some of these opportunities within the Dynamic Demand Estimation problem (DDEP). At first, data heterogeneity, accounting for different sets of data providing a wide spatial coverage, has been investigated for the benefit of off-line demand estimation. In an attempt to mimic the current urban networks monitoring, examples of complex real case applications are being reported where route travel times and route choice probabilities from probe vehicles are exploited together with common link traffic measurements.Subsequently, on-line detection of non-recurrent conditions is being recorded, adopting a sequential approach based on an extension of the Kalman Filter theory called Local Ensemble Transformed Kalman Filter (LETKF).Both the off-line and the on-line investigations adopt a simulation approach capable of capturing the highly nonlinear dependence between the travel demand and the traffic measurements through the use of dynamic traffic assignment models. Consequently, the possibility of using collected traffic information is enhanced, thus overcoming most of the limitations of current DDEP approaches found in the literature.     

A new model for temporal–spatial stochastic analysis of vehicle–track coupled systems

The vehicle–track coupled system has a random nature in the time–space domain. This paper proposes a computational model to analyse the temporal–spatial stochastic vibrations of vehicle–track systems, where the vehicle–track system is divided into a vehicle subsystem, track subsystem, and interfacial subsystem between the wheel and rail. In this model, the time-varying randomicity of dynamical parameters of the vehicle system, correlation, and randomness of the track structural parameters in the time–space joint dimensions, and randomness of the track random irregularities are considered. A probability dimension-reduction method was used to randomly combine different random variables. Furthermore, the probability density evolution method was applied to solve the delivery problem of probabilities between excitation inputs and response outputs. The temporal–spatial stochastic vibrations of the vehicle–track system with different coefficients of variation were studied, in which we assumed that the dynamic parameters obeyed the normal distribution, and the stochastic simulation method of the track random irregularities is probed into. The calculated results from this model are consistent with the actual measured results and physical conceptions. Thus, the temporal–spatial stochastic evolutionary mechanism can be explored, and the limits of dynamic indices can be formulated by using this developed model.     

关于公交停靠站影响区范围的研究

随着城市公共交通系统的发展,公交停靠站对道路交通流的影响已逐渐引起人们的注意。分析公交停靠站的影响首先应该对停靠站的影响区范围进行界定。在分析前人研究成果的基础上,基于交通波理论,按考虑超车与否,分析公交停靠站的影响区范围长度,得到不同交通流密度条件下公交停靠站影响区长度的计算公式。     

Effect of ABCA1-V771M polymorphism on plasma lipid levels and its relationship with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease

Objective To explore the risk association of ABCA1-V771M polymorphism with coronary heart disease (CHD) in Hart nationality in Northwest of China. Methods With case-control study, ABCA1-V771M polymorphism was detected in 204 unrelated Hart nationality people in Northwest of China, and all the subjects by coronary angiography were grouped into 106 cases and 98 controls. The genotypes and alleles frequency distribution of ABCA1-V771M polymorphisms were analyzed by PCR-RFLP analysis, and the clinical statistics of serum lipids were compared and its effects of ABCA1-V771M polymorphism on the plasma lipid levels and coronary atherosclerotic heart disease were analyzed. Results The genotypic frequencies of ABCA1-V771M polymorphism matched well under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P>0.05), V and M allelic frequencies were 33.3% and 66.7%. In comparison with VV VM genotype carriers, MM genotypes carriers had much lower plasma levels of HDL-C (P<0. 001) and much higher plasma levels of TG (P<0. 05). M allelic frequency in CHD group was significantly higher than V allelic frequency (P<0. 05). M allele was related with more severity of atherosclerosis in the coronary artery than V allele (P<0.05). However, there was no obvious difference in the incidence of AMI among carriers with three genotypes of ABCA1-V771M polymorphism (P>0.05). Conclusion ABCA1-V771M polymorphism was not only associated with the plasma levels of HDL-C and TG, but also related to the susceptibility and severity of coronary atheroselerotic heart disease. Moreover, M771 allele appeared to be atherogenie among Han population in Northwest of China.     

饲料加硼对摄入过量氟的实验大鼠骨损伤的预防作用

目的探讨饲料加硼对过量氟摄入的大鼠骨损伤的预防作用。方法24只4-5周龄Sprague-Dawley(SD)大鼠分为:对照组(喂饲基础饲料,饮蒸馏水)、过量氟组[喂饲基础饲料,饮含100mg/LF-(氟化钠221mg/L的蒸馏水)]、硼预防组(喂饲加硼饲料,饮含100mg/LF-的蒸馏水)。实验3月后测量大鼠血清氟、硼含量及血清碱性磷酸酶(alkaline phosphatase,AKP)活性、骨氟和骨总RNA含量、胫骨纵径横径和干重及骨密度(bone mineral density,BMD),并检测大鼠股骨生物力学特性。结果和对照组比较,过量氟组大鼠血清氟、骨氟含量和血清AKP活性显著增高;骨总RNA含量、全身骨骼平均BMD和胫骨BMD降低;胫骨纵径、横径和干重减小;股骨最大负荷减低,最大形变增加。相比过量氟组,硼预防组大鼠血清氟和骨氟含量及AKP活性明显下降;骨总RNA含量、全身骨骼平均BMD、腰椎和胫骨BMD显著增高;胫骨纵径、横径和干重,股骨最大负荷明显增加。3组大鼠血清硼含量无显著性差异。结论大鼠摄入过量氟可出现明显的骨损伤,饲料加硼对此有一定的预防作用。     

Moiré条纹密度对条纹图噪声及相位混频的影响

分析了Moiré条纹密度对条纹图噪声及相位混频的影响,提出了一种调整Moiré条纹密度的方法以有效减少条纹图噪声与包裹相位图噪声,并消除条纹过密产生的相位混频。试验测量表明,该方法能够获得可靠的测量结果,具有较好的测量精度。     

基于Femap的风帆基座局部强度分析

以上海海事大学教学实习船"育明"轮为对象,研究船舶加装风帆装置的船体结构强度问题,通过局部加强风帆基座和船体连接部分来保证风帆安装部位的结构稳定性。利用Solidworks和Femap软件建立了风帆基座和船体的有限元模型,计算得到该模型在10级风载荷下受风角度从0°~60°的应力和应变。最终结果表明,在10级风载荷下,该船风帆基座和局部加强后的船体的强度符合要求。