A Sightseeing Planning Support System with Gamification

In recent years, as there has been a major change in the necessity and importance of sightseeing information, a platform to provide real-time sightseeing information according to the ever-changing circumstances is necessary. Additionally, it is effective to adopt gamification to increase users’ motivation to continuously utilize the system in order to provide them with more information. In the present study, in order to support users’ enjoyment in creating efficient and pleasant sightseeing plans, the system that incorporates gamification to increase motivation was developed combining with web-geographic information systems (Web-GIS) and sightseeing planning and sharing system. The system was operated over a period of 2 weeks in Chofu City, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Based on the results of a questionnaire survey for 51 users, though the operability of the 3 main functions incorporated with motivation by gamification was rated lower than those of the 2 basic functions, their usefulness was highly rated. Based on the results of the access log analysis, it was effective to design the system so that the same functions can be used regardless of the type of information terminal. Additionally, it was evident that the continuous utilization of the system could increase the number of sightseeing plans created by the users.

Application Strategies of Shotcrete Anchor Support Technology in Highway Bridge and Tunnel Engineering

This article analyzes the application strategies of shotcrete anchor support technology using a highway bridge-tunnel construction project as an example.The article covers various strategies,including support plan formulation,mortar shotcrete anchor construction,grid steel frame construction,steel mesh construction,and concrete support construction.This analysis aims to provide a guideline for those interested in applying this technology and improving the quality and safety of highway bridges and tunnels construction.

A robust approach to identify roof bolts in 3D point cloud data captured from a mobile laser scanner

Roof bolts such as rock bolts and cable bolts provide structural support in underground mines.Frequent assessment of these support structures is critical to maintain roof stability and minimise safety risks in underground environments.This study proposes a robust workflow to classify roof bolts in 3 D point cloud data and to generate maps of roof bolt density and spacing.The workflow was evaluated for identifying roof bolts in an underground coal mine with suboptimal lighting and global navigation satellite system(GNSS)signals not available.The approach is based on supervised classification using the multi-scale Canupo classifier coupled with a random sample consensus(RANSAC)shape detection algorithm to provide robust roof bolt identification.The issue of sparseness in point cloud data has been addressed through upsampling by using a moving least squares method.The accuracy of roof bolt identification was measured by correct identification of roof bolts(true positives),unidentified roof bolts(false negatives),and falsely identified roof bolts(false positives)using correctness,completeness,and quality metrics.The proposed workflow achieved correct identification of 89.27%of the roof bolts present in the test area.However,considering the false positives and false negatives,the overall quality metric was reduced to 78.54%.

Implementation issues of the planning support tool in Japan:Focusing on urban disaster mitigation

This study determined the issues of Planning Support System(PSS)implementation in the field of urban disaster mitigation in Japan by understanding its analytical perspective through a review of Western literature,a questionnaire survey of urban planning consultant companies,and PSS implementation for a practical project in a municipality.Regarding the instrum ental perspective,there was difficulty in conducting the simulationbased PSS due to the enormous simulation time required.Regarding the transfer perspective,the importance of the municipality^decision of adopting the PSS to a project,securing the budget and continuous running costs,track record of the practical project,and lack of human resource for the PSS use were clarified.Regarding the user perspective,the difficulty in data collection and update as well as im portance of the cooperative system/support from the developer in the initial period were clarified.Especially,considering the low number of implementations,a platform may be important for the promotion of PSS awareness.This may be also useful for the diffusion of PSS.It is necessary for the developers to fully comm unicate the benefits of PSS adoption.It is thought that a close cooperative system and support are required in the initial stage.For prom oting and understanding the benefits of PSS adoption,a guideline or manual seems to be useful.This is effective for ensuring the budget and providing an explanation to high-level members of the organizations about the effect of utilizing these tools.For the final implementation,the possibility of installation,maintenance,and operation of the PSS by the municipality was discussed.

Effect of dexamethasone on intelligence and hearing in preterm infants: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE： A meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials investigating the long- term effect of dexamethasone on the nervous system of preterm infants. DATA SOURCES： Online literature retrieval was conducted using The Cochrane Library （from January 1993 to June 2013）, EMBASE （from January 1980 to June 2013）, MEDLINE （from Janu- ary 1963 to June 2013）, OVID （from January 1993 to June 2013）, Springer （from January 1994 to June 2013） and Chinese Academic Journal Full-text Database （from January 1994 to June 2013）. Key words were preterm infants and dexamethasone in English and Chinese. STUDY SELECTION： Selected studies were randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of intravenous dexamethasone in preterm infants. The quality of the included papers was evaluated and those without the development of the nervous system and animal experiments were exclud- ed. Quality assessment was performed through bias risk evaluation in accordance with Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0 software in the Cochrane Collaboration. The homogeneous studies were analyzed and compared using Revman 5.2.6 software, and then effect model was selected and analyzed. Those papers failed to be included in the meta-analysis were subjected to descriptive analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Nervous system injury in preterm infants. RESULTS： Ten randomized controlled trials were screened, involving 1,038 subjects. Among them 512 cases received dexamethasone treatment while 526 cases served as placebo control group and blank control group. Meta-analysis results showed that the incidence of cerebral palsy, visual im- pairment and hearing loss in preterm infants after dexamethasone treatment within 7 days after birth was similar to that in the control group （RR = 1.47, 95%CI： 0.97-2.21; RR = 1.46, 95%CI： 0.97-2.20; RR = 0.80, 95%CI： 0.54-1.18; P 〉 0.05）, but intelligence quotient was significantly de- creased compared with the control group （MD = -3.55, 95%CI： -6.59 to -0.51; P = 0.02）. Prete rm infants treated with dexamethasone 7 days after birth demonstrated an incidence of cerebral palsy and visual impairment, and changes in intelligence quotient similar to those in the control group （RR = 1.26, 95%CI： 0.89-1.79; RR = 1.37, 95%CI： 0.73-2.59; RR = 0.53, 95%CI： 0.32-0.89; RR = 1.66, 95%CI： -4.7 to 8.01; P 〉 0.05）. However, the incidence of hearing loss was significantly increased compared with that in the control group （RR = 0.53, 95%CI： 0.32-0.89; P = 0.02）. CONCLUSION： Dexamethasone may affect the intelligence of preterm infants in the early stages after birth, but may lead to hearing impairment at later stages after birth. More reliable conclusions should be made through large-size, multi-center, well-designed randomized controlled trials.

Analysis of metropolis parking problems and solutions based on GIS

The rapid development of the social economy strongly promotes the urbanization and motorization.Meanwhile,parking problems become serious due to the long-term imbalance between parking demands and facility constructions.Thus there is an increasing urgency in finding solutions for parking problems.Based on the methodology framework of geographic information system（GIS）,the metropolis parking problems are discussed in this paper.The characteristics of parking demand and the reasons for parking problems are investigated in detail.Then,the basic parking principle and strategies for solving parking problems are suggested with the example of Beijing.The results are hoped to improve the parking environment in metropolis.

A support tool incorporating a district disaster mitigation performance evaluation method for the examination of improvement plans in built-up areas

Approximately 20,000 ha of densely built-up areas still remain in Japan. However, the advance of improvements in these areas has been very slow. Thus, making draft improvement plans through citizen-administration partnerships is indispensable to promote improvements. The planning support tool proposed in this study supports a consensus-building process during the creation of draft improvement plans. We develop a disaster mitigation performance evaluation method （DMPEM） for built-up areas at the district level and incorporate this method into a disaster mitigation support Web-GIS. However, DMPEM requires lengthy calculation time because it uses the probabilistic Monte Carlo computation method. Using this tool in realime planning is therefore difficult. In this study, we first develop a system that reduces the calculation time required by DMPEM. Second, the support tool is used to make draft plans through citizen-administration partnerships in districts where residents are conducting various disaster mitigation activities. Finally, we investigate the usefulness of the tool for consensus building through the promotion of lively discussions among residents and clarify the issues associated with practical use of the tool.

Can a Teacher Salary Increase Promote Students' Educational Performance?

Policymakers in China have attempted to improve the quality of rural education by investing in teacher salaries through initiatives like the Rural Teachers Support Plan(RTSP).This study estimates the efects of teacher salary increase on students'educational outcomes in rural China by utilizing the exogenous variations of rural teacher salaries induced by the RTSP.It employs an intensity-based difference-in-differences strategy and panel data from 2010 to 2018 with 3,351 rural children.The findings reveal that an increase in teacher salaries had a significant positive impact on students'examination results.Moreover the results of mechanism analysis indicate that salary increases could have both quality and quantity effects on students'outcomes by increasing the proportion of highly educated teachers and reducing the student-teacher ratio.Our findings contribute to the discussion on the importance of teacher salary incentives in education production functions and provide insights for other countries undertaking rural education reforms.