Seismic safety assessment with non-Gaussian random processes for train-bridge coupled systems

Extensive high-speed railway(HSR)network resembled the intricate vascular system of the human body,crisscrossing mainlands.Seismic events,known for their unpredictability,pose a significant threat to both trains and bridges,given the HSR’s extended operational duration.Therefore,ensuring the running safety of train-bridge coupled(TBC)system,primarily composed of simply supported beam bridges,is paramount.Traditional methods like the Monte Carlo method fall short in analyzing this intricate system efficiently.Instead,efficient algorithm like the new point estimate method combined with moment expansion approximation(NPEM-MEA)is applied to study random responses of numerical simulation TBC systems.Validation of the NPEM-MEA’s feasibility is conducted using the Monte Carlo method.Comparative analysis confirms the accuracy and efficiency of the method,with a recommended truncation order of four to six for the NPEM-MEA.Additionally,the influences of seismic magnitude and epicentral distance are discussed based on the random dynamic responses in the TBC system.This methodology not only facilitates seismic safety assessments for TBC systems but also contributes to standard-setting for these systems under earthquake conditions.

Comparative Analysis of Pythagorean MCDM Methods for the Risk Assessment of Childhood Cancer

According to the World Health Organization(WHO),cancer is the leading cause of death for children in low and middle-income countries.Around 400,000 kids get diagnosed with this illness each year,and their survival rate depends on the country in which they live.In this article,we present a Pythagorean fuzzy model that may help doctors identify the most likely type of cancer in children at an early stage by taking into account the symptoms of different types of cancer.The Pythagorean fuzzy decision-making techniques that we utilize are Pythagorean Fuzzy TOPSIS,Pythagorean Fuzzy Entropy(PF-Entropy),and Pythagorean Fuzzy PowerWeighted Geometric(PFPWG).Ourmodel is fed with nineteen symptoms and it diagnoses the risk of eight types of cancers in children.We develop an algorithm for each method and calculate its complexity.Additionally,we consider an example to make a clear understanding of our model.We also compare the final results of various tests that prove the authenticity of this study.

Dynamic assessment method of air target threat based on improved GIFSS

As the air combat environment becomes more complicated and changeable, accurate threat assessment of air target has a significant impact on air defense operations. This paper proposes an improved generalized intuitionistic fuzzy soft set (GIFSS) method for dynamic assessment of air target threat. Firstly, the threat assessment index is reasonably determined by analyzing the typical characteristics of air targets. Secondly, after the GIFSS at different time is obtained, the index weight is determined by the intuitionistic fuzzy set entropy and the relative entropy theory. Then, the inverse Poisson distribution method is used to determine the weight of time series, and then the time-weighted GIFSS is obtained. Finally, threat assessment of five air targets is carried out by using the improved GIFSS (I-GIFSS) and comparison methods. The validity and superiority of the proposed method are verified by calculation and comparison.

STUDY ON METHOD OF QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT

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Seismic assessment of unanchored steel storage tanks by endurance time method

Liquid storage tanks are essential structures that are often located in residential and industrial areas; thus an assessment of their seismic performance is an important engineering issue. In this paper, the seismic response ofunanchored steel liquid storage tanks is investigated using the endurance time （ET） dynamic analysis procedure and compared to responses obtained for anchored tanks under actual ground motions and intensifying ET records. In most cases, the results from ground motions are properly obtained with negligible differences using ET records. It is observed that uplifting of the tank base, which is closely related to the tank aspect ratio, has the greatest significance in the responses of the tank and can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by using currently available ET records.

Research Progress in Occupational Health Risk Assessment Methods in China

Traditional occupational disease control and prevention has remained prevalent in China over recent decades. There are appropriately 30,000 new case reports of occupational diseases annually. Although China has already established a series of occupational disease prevention programs, occupational health risk assessment （OHRA） strategies continue to be a limitation.

Application of a Bayesian method to data-poor stock assessment by using Indian Ocean albacore (Thunnus alalunga) stock assessment as an example

It is widely recognized that assessments of the status of data-poor fish stocks are challenging and that Bayesian analysis is one of the methods which can be used to improve the reliability of stock assessments in data-poor situations through borrowing strength from prior information deduced from species with good-quality data or other known information. Because there is considerable uncertainty remaining in the stock assessment of albacore tuna（Thunnus alalunga） in the Indian Ocean due to the limited and low-quality data, we investigate the advantages of a Bayesian method in data-poor stock assessment by using Indian Ocean albacore stock assessment as an example. Eight Bayesian biomass dynamics models with different prior assumptions and catch data series were developed to assess the stock. The results show（1） the rationality of choice of catch data series and assumption of parameters could be enhanced by analyzing the posterior distribution of the parameters;（2） the reliability of the stock assessment could be improved by using demographic methods to construct a prior for the intrinsic rate of increase（r）. Because we can make use of more information to improve the rationality of parameter estimation and the reliability of the stock assessment compared with traditional statistical methods by incorporating any available knowledge into the informative priors and analyzing the posterior distribution based on Bayesian framework in data-poor situations, we suggest that the Bayesian method should be an alternative method to be applied in data-poor species stock assessment, such as Indian Ocean albacore.

Discussion on the Assessment Method of Wind Energy Resources by Using Regional Meteorological Data

The exploitation status of wind energy resources was analyzed, and the distribution of wind energy resources and regional meteorological stations were introduced, and then the assessment method of wind energy resources by using data from regional meteorological station was studied taking Huangjin Regional Meteorological Station in Xinning County in Hunan Province for example, besides, corresponding software was compiled. By means of SQL database and program, the method was used simply and easily and had positive meaning for the development of wind energy resources and excavation of wind farm in inland region.

Fatigue Assessment Method for Composite Wind Turbine Blade

Fatigue strength assessment of a horizontal axis wind turbine(HAWT)composite blade is considered.Fatigue load cases are identified,and loads are calculated by the GH Bladed software which is specified at the IEC61400 international specification and GL(Germanisher Lloyd)regulations for the wind energy conversion system.Stress analysis is performed with a 3-D finite element method(FEM).Considering Saint-Venant′s principle,a uniform cross section FEM model is built at each critical zone.Stress transformation matrixes(STM)are set up by applied six unit load components on the FEM model separately.STM can be used to convert the external load into stresses in the linear elastic range.The main material of composite wind turbine blade is fiber reinforced plastics(FRP).In order to evaluate the degree of fatigue damage of FRP,the stresses of fiber direction are extracted and the well-known strength criterion-Puck theory is used.The total fatigue damage of each laminate on the critical point is counted by the rain-flow counting method and Miner′s damage law based on general S-N curves.Several sections of a 45.3mblade of a 2 MW wind turbine are studied using the fatigue evaluation method.The performance of this method is compared with far more costly business software FOCUS.The results show that the fatigue damage of multi-axis FRP can be assessed conveniently by the FEM-STM method.And the proposed method gives a reliable and efficient method to analyze the fatigue damage of slender composite structure with variable cross-sections.

Monte-Carlo Method for Coalbed Methane Resource Assessment in Key Coal Mining Areas of China

Monte-Carlo method is used for estimating coalbed methane （CBM） resources in key coal mining areas of China. Monte-Carlo method is shown to be superior to the traditional volumetric method with constant parameters in the calculation of CBM resources. The focus of the article is to introduce the main algorithm and the realization of functions estimated by Monte-Carlo method, including selection of parameters, determination of distribution function, generation of pseudo-random numbers, and evaluation of the parameters corresponding to pseudo-random numbers. A specified software on the basis of Monte-Carlo method is developed using Visual C＋＋ for the assessment of the CBM resources. A case study shows that calculation results using Monte-Carlo method have smaller error range in comparison with those using volumetric method.

New Inclusion Assessment Method in Aluminum Alloys——Electrochemical Method for Inclusion Assessment

The existence of inclusion influences the properties of aluminum alloy castings,from which the castings will face scrapping under severe condition.Great efforts on the inclusions in aluminum alloy were made and many inclusion assessment methods were put forward.However,most of the current methods are characterized by time consuming and expensive equipment cost,which limits the application in aluminum industry.Since the aluminum properties are sensitive to the inclusion,this paper tries to establish a new kind of inclusion assessment method.The inclusions were introduced to aluminum melts by adding aluminum scraps.The samples with different inclusion contents were prepared.The microstructure contained inclusions was observed.The inclusion was automatically identified with an image analyzer by setting different grey threshold value,and the inclusion content was obtained.The image analysis shows that inclusions wreck the continuity of the alloy matrix seriously,and the inclusion area percentage increases with the increasing of aluminum scraps.The high and low polarization measurements were conducted in 3.5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution at the temperature of 25 ℃.The electrochemical parameters of the testing materials,such as corrosion potential E k,corrosion current density I k and the linear polarization resistance R p,were obtained.The polarization measurement results show that the linear polarization resistances decrease,the corrosion potentials move towards more negative direction,and the corrosion current densities increase with the increasing of inclusion content.The theoretical analysis of the inclusion content and the corrosion current density was performed.The existence of inclusions makes the microstructure form corrosion microcells between the alloy matrix and inclusions.The impressed current can accelerate the current velocity or corrosion current density.The regression model of the inclusion contents vs.the corrosion current density was obtained.This model can be used to quantitatively analyze the inclusion content in aluminum alloys on the basis of inclusion sensitivity to the inclusion content.It is confirmed that the electrochemical method for inclusion assessment （EcMIA） is simple and reliable,which can provide a new solution for inclusion assessment in aluminum alloy.

Blind Image Quality Assessment by Pairwise Ranking Image Series

Image quality assessment(IQA)is constantly innovating,but there are still three types of stickers that have not been resolved:the“content sticker”-limitation of training set,the“annotation sticker”-subjective instability in opinion scores and the“distortion sticker”-disordered distortion settings.In this paper,a No-Reference Image Quality Assessment(NR IQA)approach is proposed to deal with the problems.For“content sticker”,we introduce the idea of pairwise comparison and generate a largescale ranking set to pre-train the network;For“annotation sticker”,the absolute noise-containing subjective scores are transformed into ranking comparison results,and we design an indirect unsupervised regression based on EigenValue Decomposition(EVD);For“distortion sticker”,we propose a perception-based distortion classification method,which makes the distortion types clear and refined.Experiments have proved that our NR IQA approach Experiments show that the algorithm performs well and has good generalization ability.Furthermore,the proposed perception based distortion classification method would be able to provide insights on how the visual related studies may be developed and to broaden our understanding of human visual system.

Ecological impact assessment method of highways in Tibetan Plateau:A Case study of Gonghe-Yushu Expressway

In recent years,the ecological environment along highways in Tibetan Plateau has been severely affected due to the rapid construction of highways.In order to solve the problems of multiple indicators and inconsistent criteria in the ecological impact assessment of highways,and to scientifically screen assessment indicators,the paper proposes a multi-round indicator screening method,which combines literature analysis,expert rating,and statistical analysis.Based on this screening method,normalized difference vegetation index,land surface temperature,elevation,and normalized difference soil index are screened out.Combined with multiple linear regression,an ecological impact assessment model is established and applied to ecological impact assessment of Gonghe-Yushu Expressway.The results show that the expressway construction is the first driving force for the deterioration of the ecological environment along the roadside,and its interference range on the desert grassland ecosystem is greater than that on the agroforestry system.The ecological environment within 150 m on both sides of the expressway should be protected.

Safety Risk Assessment of Overturning Construction of Towering Structure Based on Cloud Matter–Element Coupled Model

Rapid urbanization has led to a surge in the number of towering structures,and overturning is widely used because it can better accommodate the construction of shaped structures such as variable sections.The complexity of the construction process makes the construction risk have certain randomness,so this paper proposes a cloudbased coupled matter-element model to address the ambiguity and randomness in the safety risk assessment of overturning construction of towering structures.In the pretended model,the digital eigenvalues of the cloud model are used to replace the eigenvalues in the matter–element basic element,and calculate the cloud correlation of the risk assessment metrics through the correlation algorithm of the cloud model to build the computational model.Meanwhile,the improved hierarchical analysis method based on the cloud model is used to determine the weight of the index.The comprehensive evaluation scores of the evaluation event are then obtained through the weighted average method,and the safety risk level is determined accordingly.Through empirical analysis,(1)the improved hierarchical analysis method based on the cloud model can incorporate the data of multiple decisionmakers into the calculation formula to determine theweights,which makes the assessment resultsmore credible;(2)the evaluation results of the cloud-basedmatter-element coupledmodelmethod are basically consistent with those of the other two commonly used methods,and the confidence factor is less than 0.05,indicating that the cloudbased physical element coupled model method is reasonable and practical for towering structure overturning;(3)the cloud-based coupled element model method,which confirms the reliability of risk level by performing Spearman correlation on comprehensive assessment scores,can provide more comprehensive information of instances compared with other methods,and more comprehensively reflects the fuzzy uncertainty relationship between assessment indexes,which makes the assessment results more realistic,scientific and reliable.

Hazard Assessment of Co-seismic Landslides Based on Information Value Method:A Case in 2018 MW6.6 Hokkaido Earthquake,Japan

An MW6.6 earthquake occurred in eastern Hokkaido,Japan on September 6th,2018.Based on the pre-earthquake image from Google Earth and the post-earthquake image from high resolution(3 m)planet satellite,we manually interpret 9293 coseismic landslides and select 7 influencing factors of seismic landslide,such as elevation,slope,slope direction,road distance,flow distance,peak ground acceleration(PGA)and lithology.Then,9293 landslide points are randomly divided into training samples and validation samples with a proportion of 7:3.In detail,the training sample has 6505 landslide points and the validation sample has 2788 landslide points.The hazard risk assessment of seismic landslide is conducted by using the information value method and the study area is further divided into five risk grades,including very low risk area,low risk area,moderate risk area high risk area and very high risk area.The results show that there are 7576 landslides in high risk area and very high risk area,accounting for81.52%of the total landslide number,and the landslide area is 22.93 km^2,accounting for 74.35%of the total area.The hazard zoning is in high accordance with the actual situation.The evaluation results are tested by using the curve of cumulative percentage of hazardous area and cumulative percentage of landslides number.The results show that the success rate of the information value method is 78.50%and the prediction rate is 78.43%.The evaluation results are satisfactory,indicating that the hazard risk assessment results based on information value method may provide scientific reference for landslide hazard risk assessment as well as the disaster prevention and mitigation in the study area.

Present state,basic theories,methods and progresses of investigation and assessment on marine hazardous geology in China

The achievement progresses of investigation and studies on marine hazardous geology are summarized and presentsd in the late 20 century in China. The importance, research value and present-day studies of marine hazardous geology, a newly developing branch of geoscience, are well expatiated. Several often confused concepts and theories are explained and redefined here. The comment on the means of investigations, assessment of marine hazardous geology, as well as its evolution, innovation, existing questions and future tasks are also introduced and presented. The concepts of 'hazard geology', geohazard', 'map of marine hazard geology', 'integrated evaluaton on seafloor stablity' are respectively discussed, including their definition, research objects, methods and contents. The types and classification of marine hazardous geology, principles and methods of marine hazardous geology map compilation, the assessment methods and models of marine hazardous geology environment and seafloor stability and so on are also discussed.

Transformer’s Condition Assessment Method Based on Combination of Cloud Matter Element and Principal Component Analysis

With the development of power grid, as one of the key equipment, the transformer’s condition assessment method has always receive attention from experts, scholars concern more and more about the method’s practicality and reliability. In the traditional condition assessment method, due to the characteristics of the transformer’s complex structure, the assessment system is not comprehensive enough, or the assessment system is too complex, the indexes are not easy to quantify, such problems are emerging. The traditional method is complex and the degree of quantification is not enough. Therefore it is necessary to propose a condition assessment method that is easy to carry out the condition assessment work and does not affect the assessment results. In this paper, we propose a method to assess the state of the transformer’s complex structure. First, we establish a comprehensive assessment system, then apply the method of principal component analysis to optimize the index system, and then use the theory of cloud-matter-element. Finally the reliability and rationality of the method are verified by an example.

Urban flood risk assessment under rapid urbanization in Zhengzhou City,China

With accelerated urbanization and climate change,urban flooding is becoming more and more serious.Flood risk assessment is an important task for flood management,so it is crucial to map the spatial and temporal distribution of flood risk.This paper proposed an urban flood risk assessment method that takes into account the influences of hazard,vulnerability,and exposure,by constructing a multi-index urban flood risk assessment framework based on Geographic Information System(GIS).To determine the weight values of urban flood risk index factors,we used the analytic hierarchy process(AHP).Also,we plotted the temporal and spatial distribution maps of flood risk in Zhengzhou City in 2000,2005,2010,2015,and 2020.The analysis results showed that,the proportion of very high and high flood risk zone in Zhengzhou City was 1.362%,5.270%,4.936%,12.151%,and 24.236%in 2000,2005,2010,2015,and 2020,respectively.It is observed that the area of high flood risk zones in Zhengzhou City showed a trend of increasing and expanding,of which Dengfeng City,Xinzheng City,Xinmi City,and Zhongmu County had the fastest growth rate and the most obvious increase.The flood risk of Zhengzhou City has been expanding with the development of urbanization.The method is adapted to Zhengzhou City and will have good adaptability in other research areas,and its risk assessment results can provide a scientific reference for urban flood management personnel.In the future,the accuracy of flood risk assessment can be further improved by promoting the accuracy of basic data and reasonably determining the weight values of index factors.The risk zoning map can better reflect the risk distribution and provide a scientific basis for early warning of flood prevention and drainage.

Prioritizing real estate enterprises based on credit risk assessment:an integrated multi‑criteria group decision support framework

Credit risk assessment involves conducting a fair review and evaluation of an assessed subject’s solvency and creditworthiness.In the context of real estate enterprises,credit risk assessment provides a basis for banks and other financial institutions to choose suitable investment objects.Additionally,it encourages real estate enterprises to abide by market norms and provide reliable information for the standardized management of the real estate industry.However,Chinese real estate companies are hesitant to disclose their actual operating data due to privacy concerns,making subjective evalu-ation approaches inevitable,occupying important roles in accomplishing Chinese real estate enterprise credit risk assessment tasks.To improve the normative and reliability of credit risk assessment for Chinese real estate enterprises,this study proposes an integrated multi-criteria group decision-making approach.First,a credit risk assessment index for Chinese real estate enterprises is established.Then,the proposed framework combines proportional hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets and preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation II methods.This approach is suitable for processing large amounts of data with high uncertainty,which is often the case in credit risk assessment tasks of Chinese real estate enterprises involving massive subjec-tive evaluation information.Finally,the proposed model is validated through a case study accompanied by sensitivity and comparative analyses to verify its rationality and feasibility.This study contributes to the research on credit assessment for Chinese real estate enterprises and provides a revised paradigm for real estate enterprise credit risk assessment.

Assessment Methods Used during Clinical Years of Undergraduate Medical Education at Moi University School of Medicine, Kenya

Background: Assessment is the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken to improve teaching and learning. It ensures quality in training programmes, motivates, and directs students’ learning. Assessment is also used for verification of achievement of objectives of training, feedback to students, licencing, certification, and screening of students for advanced training. It is guided by several principles, including the aims of the assessment (why assess), who to assess, timing (when to assess), what to assess, methods (how to assess), and the criteria for determining the usefulness of the assessment. Objective: To describe the assessment methods used during clinical years of the undergraduate programme at Moi University School of Medicine (MUSOM) and determine the student’s perspectives concerning the comprehensiveness, relevance, objectivity of various assessment methods and challenges faced. Methodology: The study was carried out at MUSOM and a cross-sectional study design was employed. Ten study participants were studied using convenience sampling. Data were collected using an interview guide and was analyzed using content analysis. An informed consent was obtained from the study participants. Results: The methods used during clinical years at MUSOM for assessing knowledge and its applications include multiple-choice questions (MCQ), short answer questions (SAQ), modified essay questions (MEQ), long essay questions (LEQ), and oral exam. Whereas the methods for assessing clinical competence include long case, short cases, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE), and logbook. Students felt that MCQs were comprehensive, objective, and relevant to the curriculum content. They reported that feedback was not provided after assessments. Conclusion: The assessment methods used at MUSOM during clinical years include MCQ, SAQ, MEQ, LEQ, Short cases, long cases, and OSCE. Students reported varied perceptions of the different assessment methods but favored MCQ and OSCE over other formats for assessing knowledge and clinical skills respectively.