SIMULATION ANALYSIS OF INFLUENCE OF ROAD SURFACE ROUGHNESS ON TYRE DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE IN AUTOMOTIVE BRAKING

Using a nonlinear time varying tyre model, this paper simulatively analyzes the influence of road surface roughness amplitude and road spatial frequency on automobile ground adhesion ability. The result shows that with the increase of road surface roughness, the tyre adhesion ability declines, and the automotive braking distance increases. Moreover, the reliability of the nonlinear time varying tyre model in reflecting the influence of the road surface roughness is validated. It is testified that this model is an effective dynamic one in the simulation of automotive braking performance on uneven road.

Dynamic Mechanical Characterizations and Road Performances of Flame Retardant Asphalt Mortars and Concretes

To research the dynamic mechanical properties and road performances of flame retardant asphalt mortars and mixtures, four different asphalt mortars/mixtures were prepared: a reference group and three asphalt mortars/mixtures containing composite flame retardant materials(M-FRs) of different proportions. Temperature sweep, frequency sweep, repeated creep test, force ductility test and bending beam rheological test were carried out to research the dynamic mechanical properties of asphalt mortars containing M-FRs; wheeltracking test, low-temperature bending test and freeze-thaw split test were used to study the road performances of asphalt mixtures containing M-FRs. The results show that high-temperature performances of the three flame retardant asphalt mortars improve greatly, while low-temperature cracking resistances decline. Both hightemperature performances and water stabilities of asphalt mixtures containing M-FRs are quite good and exceed the specification requirements. However, their low-temperature performances decline in different degrees. In summary, besides their good flame retardancy, the flame retardant asphalt mortars and mixtures also exhibit acceptable road performance.

Contractor Monitoring and Performance of Road Infrastructure Projects in Uganda: A Management Model

An understanding of the influence of contractor monitoring on performance of road infrastructural projects in Uganda provided an impetus for this study. The objectives of the study were to: assess the relationship between contractors monitoring and performance of national road infrastructure projects and the relationship between contractor monitoring components and performance of national road infrastructure projects in Uganda. Purposive sampling was employed in selecting the procurement professionals, engineers and simple random sampling was adopted in selecting private consultants, members of parliament and respondents from the civil society organizations. Data for this study were collected using a closed ended questionnaire and interviews. Some of the major finding from this study include: weak procurement rules which lead to awarding road projects to incompetent contractors;contractor monitoring being handled by unqualified, incompetent and inexperienced professionals;lack of contractors and contract supervisors appraisal system;delay of contractors payments which affects timelines in services delivery;lack of a strong internal project monitoring and evaluation mechanism at the Uganda National Roads Agency (UNRA). The research therefore recommends the establishment of an Independent Public Infrastructure Development and Monitoring Unit by government and adoption of systems that appraise both contractors and contract supervisors with clear disciplinary actions for unsatisfactory performance by the UNRA.

Prediction of roadheaders' performance using artificial neural network approaches (MLP and KOSFM)

A pplication o f m echanical excavators is one o f th e m o st com m only used excavation m eth o d s because itcan bring th e p ro ject m ore productivity, accuracy and safety. A m ong th e m echanical excavators, roadhead ers are m echanical m iners w h ich have b een extensively u se d in tu n n elin g , m ining an d civil indu stries. Perform ance pred ictio n is an im p o rta n t issue for successful ro a d h e a d e r application andgenerally deals w ith m achine selection, p ro d u ctio n rate an d b it consu m p tio n . The m ain aim o f thisresearch is to investigate th e c u ttin g p erfo rm an ce （in stan tan eo u s c u ttin g rates （ICRs）） o f m ed iu m -d u tyro ad h ead ers by using artificial neural n etw o rk （ANN） approach. T here are d ifferent categories forANNs, b u t based o n train in g alg o rith m th e re are tw o m ain k in d s： supervised and u n su p erv ised . Them u lti-lay er p ercep tro n （MLP） an d K ohonen self-organizing feature m ap （KSOFM） are th e m o st w idelyused neu ral netw o rk s for supervised an d u n su p erv ised ones, respectively. For gaining this goal, ad atab ase w as prim arily provided from ro ad h e a d e rs＇ p erfo rm an ce an d geom echanical characteristics o frock form ations in tu n n els and d rift galleries in Tabas coal m ine, th e larg est an d th e only fullymech an ized coal m ine in Iran. T hen th e datab ase w as analyzed in o rd e r to yield th e m ost im p o rtan tfactor for ICR by using relatively im p o rta n t factor in w hich G arson eq u atio n w as utilized. The MLPn etw o rk w as train ed by 3 in p u t p ara m e te rs including rock m ass pro p erties, rock quality d esignation（RQD）, in tact rock p ro p erties such as uniaxial com pressive stre n g th （UCS） an d Brazilian ten sile stren g th（BTS）, and o n e o u tp u t p a ra m e te r （ICR）. In o rd e r to have m ore v alidation o n MLP o u tp u ts, KSOFM visualizationw as applied. The m ean square e rro r （MSE） an d regression coefficient （R ） o f MLP w e re found tobe 5.49 an d 0.97, respectively. M oreover, KSOFM n etw o rk has a m ap size o f 8 x 5 and final qu an tizatio nan d topographic erro rs w e re 0.383 an d 0.032, respectively. The results show th a t MLP neural n etw orkshave a strong capability to p red ict an d ev alu ate th e perfo rm an ce o f m ed iu m -d u ty ro ad h ead ers in coalm easu re rocks. Furtherm ore, it is concluded th a t KSOFM neural n etw o rk is an efficient w ay for u n d e rstand in g system beh av io r an d know ledge extraction. Finally, it is indicated th a t UCS has m ore influenceo n ICR b y applying th e b e st train ed MLP n etw o rk w eig h ts in G arson eq u atio n w h ich is also confirm ed byKSOFM.

Road Safety Performance Function Analysis With Visual Feature Importance of Deep Neural Nets

Road safety performance function(SPF) analysis using data-driven and nonparametric methods, especially recent developed deep learning approaches, has gained increasing achievements. However, due to the learning mechanisms are hidden in a"black box" in deep learning, traffic features extraction and intelligent importance analysis are still unsolved and hard to generate.This paper focuses on this problem using a deciphered version of deep neural networks(DNN), one of the most popular deep learning models. This approach builds on visualization, feature importance and sensitivity analysis, can evaluate the contributions of input variables on model's "black box" feature learning process and output decision. Firstly, a visual feature importance(Vi FI) method that describes the importance of input features is proposed by adopting diagram and numerical-analysis. Secondly,by observing the change of weights using Vi FI on unsupervised training and fine-tuning of DNN, the final contributions of input features are calculated according to importance equations for both steps that we proposed. Sequentially, a case study based on a road SPF analysis is demonstrated, using data collected from a major Canadian highway, Highway 401. The proposed method allows effective deciphering of the model's inner workings and allows the significant features to be identified and the bad features to be eliminated. Finally, the revised dataset is used in crash modeling and vehicle collision prediction, and the testing result verifies that the deciphered and revised model achieves state-of-theart performance.

A new model to predict roadheader performance using rock mass properties

Prediction of roadheader performance plays a significant role in the plan of tunnel construction, which is influenced by different key parameters, including rock strength, discontinuity in rock mass, type and specifications of roadheader machine, and brittleness. The main aim of this study is to build a robust empirical equation based on rock mass properties for the roadheader performance prediction. For achieving the aim, a dataset composed of roadheader performance rate and rock properties is established using the dataset compiled from an underground coal mine located in a remote rugged desert environment some 85 km south of Tabas City in mid east Iran. By using gathered data, the statistical analyses are conducted between rock mass properties and roadheader performance to find whether there is a significant relationship between input variables and roadheader performance. The results show that rock mass properties have a considerable impact on the rate of the roadheader performance. It is demonstrated that the proposed model can accurately predict the roadheader performance as a function of rock mass properties.

Bamboo Fiber Modified Asphalt Mixture Proportion Design and Road Performances Based on Response Surface Method

In order to comprehensively utilize the remaining bamboo residue of bamboo products,this paper presents a research on recycling the bamboo fibers from bamboo residue for improving the performance of the asphalt mixtures.First of all,the basic performance parameters of sinocalamus affinis fiber,phyllostachys pubescens fiber,green bamboo fiber were tested and analyzed,and the optimal content and length were put forward.Then,the mix ratio design of the bamboo fiber modified asphalt mixture was further designed through the response surface method,and was verified the rationality of the mix ratio.Finally,the mixture specimens were made according to the experimental design mix ratio,and the high temperature,low temperature performance and moisture susceptibility of the bamboo fiber modified mixtures asphalt were tested.The results showed that the high temperature performance,low temperature performance and moisture susceptibility of bamboo fiber modified asphalt mixtures were improved compared with the performance of SBS modified asphalt mixture.When the length of bamboo fiber is 7.25 mm and the content of 0.22%,the road performance of the asphalt mixture was optimal.Consequentially,the decomposition of bamboo residue into bamboo fiber and its application in asphalt pavement can improve the reuse of bamboo waste,with remarkable environmental benefits and great promotion value.

Traffic Incident Management Performance Measures: Ranking Agencies on Roadway Clearance Time

This study develops a procedure to rank agencies based on their incident responses using roadway clearance times for crashes. This analysis is not intended to grade agencies but to assist in identifying agencies requiring more training or resources for incident management. Previous NCHRP reports discussed usage of different factors including incident severity, roadway characteristics, number of lanes involved and time of incident separately for estimating the performance. However, it does not tell us how to incorporate all the factors at the same time. Thus, this study aims to account for multiple factors to ensure fair comparisons. This study used 149,174 crashes from Iowa that occurred from 2018 to 2021. A Tobit regression model was used to find the effect of different variables on roadway clearance time. Variables that cannot be controlled directly by agencies such as crash severity, roadway type, weather conditions, lighting conditions, etc., were included in the analysis as it helps to reduce bias in the ranking procedure. Then clearance time of each crash is normalized into a base condition using the regression coefficients. The normalization makes the process more efficient as the effect of uncontrollable factors has already been mitigated. Finally, the agencies were ranked by their average normalized roadway clearance time. This ranking process allows agencies to track their performance of previous crashes, can be used in identifying low performing agencies that could use additional resources and training, and can be used to identify high performing agencies to recognize for their efforts and performance.

Evaluating Contractors’ Safety Record and Its Influence on Performance of Road Infrastructural Projects

A number of studies conducted in Kenya and internationally indicated that most of the construction firms and contractors do not seem to strictly observe safety administration in construction industry, hence compromised performance at implementation stage of projects and even later in the post implementation or post-delivery stage. The study aimed to examine the influence of contractors’ safety record on road performance. This is to create better understanding of how the safety record of contractors could either positively or negatively influence performance of roads during post-delivery stage. The study used both descriptive survey research design and correlation design based on a pragmatic mixed method approach. Through stratified sampling and proportionate sampling, a sample of 210 was drawn from a population of 460 comprising of registered contractors and Public Service Vehicles (PSV) drivers within Nairobi County in Kenya. Questionnaires were distributed using simple random sampling. The questionnaires returned were 153 in total representing 72.8% of all questionnaires distributed to the respondents. Data was descriptively analyzed using percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviations for measuring central tendency and variability. Inferential analysis was done by use of correlation and regression. The descriptive analysis revealed that safety policy management system, insurance policy, and adequacy of standards in addressing safety outcome are to some extent practiced and adhered to. However, compliance behavior to safety procedures is still weak and requires improvement. The null hypothesis was tested and the results obtained from a simple linear regression indicated that, R = 0.657, R2 = 0.431, B = 0.359, t = 10.703, F (1,151) = 114.558, p = 0.000 < 0.05. This means that contractors’ safety record has a strong positive and significant relationship with road performance and that 43.1% of variation in performance is explained by safety record. This study recommends that contractors’ safety record should be part, and parcel of the evaluation criteria used in selection of a suitable road contractor to ensure road performance is achieved even after construction is completed. The study is significant in that it contributes to the body of knowledge by providing empirical data on the need for safety procedures in urban road construction and beyond.

RESEARCH ON THE HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPOSITE ROAD CONCRETE

Ordinary concrete presents short service life when used for building and repairing high-grade road with heavy traffic due to its large brittleness, poor bending flexibility and serious shrinkage on drying. In this paper, a new kind of high performance concrete has been designed by means of combination of organic, inorganic material as well as metal material. The research and application have shown that this new concrete can significantly counteract the deficiency of ordinary concrete and give excellent mechanical properties and pavement performances. The application of this new kind of concrete is of great social and economic significance.

Effects of thinning on the understory light environment of different stands and the photosynthetic performance and growth of the reforestation species Phoebe bournei

Light levels determine regeneration in stands and a key concern is how to regulate the light environment of different stand types to the requirements of the understory.In this study,we selected three stands typical in south China(a Cryptomeria japonica plantation,a Quercus acutissima plantation,and a mixed stand of both)and three thinning intensities to determine the best understory light environ-ment for 3-year-old Phoebe bournei seedlings.The canopy structure,understory light environment,and photosynthe-sis and growth indicators were assessed following thin-ning.Thinning improved canopy structure and understory light availability of each stand;species composition was the reason for differences in the understory light environ-ment.Under the same thinning intensity,the mixed stand had the greatest light radiation and most balanced spectral composition.P.bournei photosynthesis and growth were closely related to the light environment;all three stands required heavy thinning to create an effective and sustained understory light environment.In a suitable understory light environment,the efficiency of light interception,absorption,and use by seedlings was enhanced,resulting in a higher carbon assimilation the main limiting factor was stomatal conductance.As a shade-avoidance signal,red/far-red radia-tion is a critical factor driving changes in photosynthesis and growth of P.bournei seedlings,and a reduction increased light absorption and use capacity and height:diameter ratios.The growth advantage transformed from diameter to height,enabling seedlings to access more light.Our findings suggest that the regeneration of shade-tolerant species such as P.bournei could be enhanced if a targeted approach to thinning based on stand type was adopted.

The road towards sustainable control of schistosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo:Pre-assessment of staff performance and material resources in endemic regions

Objective: To improve knowledge and practice of health staff as well as the availability of material resources for diagnosis and management of schistosomiasis in two endemic provinces of DRC(Kinshasa and Bas-Congo).Methods: Structured interviews were performed using questionnaires with staff from 35 healthcare facilities in 9 health zones(HZ) of Kinshasa and 2 HZ in Bas-Congo.Results: Schistosomiasis was reported to be present in all the included HZ.Health staff knew the most important symptoms of schistosomiasis, but advanced symptoms were more accurately reported in Bas-Congo.Knowledge of symptoms related to schistosomiasis such as anemia(P = 0.0 115) and pollakiuria(P = 0.0 260) was statistically different in both two provinces.Kato-Katz technique and urine filtration were unavailable in both provinces.Parasitological diagnosis was mostly performed using the direct smear method.PZQ was available in 70% of the health facilities, all situated in Bas-Congo.Diagnosis and treatment mostly relied on symptoms and cost more in urban area than in rural.Conclusions: Though knowledge on schistosomiasis among health staff appears sufficient, substantial efforts still must be made to improve the availability of diagnostic tools and treatment in the health facilities in DRC.

Evaluation of Broadband Network Performance in Nigeria

Broadband provides high speed data transmission to Internet and 4G networks were developed to transform broadband technology with higher data rate and enhanced quality of service. The performance of broadband network in Nigeria in terms of type, purpose and speed was evaluated in this work. Some quarters at Ilesa and Oba-Ile in Akure were chosen as rural areas, while Abuja and Lagos represented the urban areas of the study. Questionnaires were administered among users in these areas randomly. Thereafter, data were analyzed and research questions answered from the analyzed results. The results showed that the majority of the respondents operated on wireless broadband technologies. The download speed is generally above 100 mbps in urban areas and below in rural areas, with MTN having the highest number of subscribers. In addition, most of the Internet surfers download files. With these characteristics, it was discovered that the network operators were deploying 3G systems as broadband instead of 4G systems.

Lithostab as Technique for Improving the Geotechnical Performance of a Lateritic Soil in Road Construction

This article focuses on a technique for shallow mechanical improvement of soil which deals with the utilization of crushed granite mixed in a certain percentage with lateritic soils during road construction in Burkina Faso.Lithostab is the simplified name for litho-stabilization,a technique for improving laterite by adding crushed granite that increases the CBR(California bearing ratio)of that material for being used in road construction.Class 0/25 of crushed granite added to a laterite in our case gives good performance in terms of CBR.Indeed,the CBR index which was initially 48 at 98%of the OMP(optimum modified Proctor)goes to 88.And from 84 at 98%of the OMP,it goes to 128 for 30%of class 0/25 of crushed granite added.This means that class 0/25 of crushed granite provides better CBR index to that material when it is incorporated at 30%.So,lithostab is an easy to implement eco-friendly material for road construction because of the utilization of local materials.Then,it contributes to the protection of the environment in the sense that its production does not require a lot of energy and does not release large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Risk assessment of oil and gas investment environment in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative

With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, China is deepening its cooperation in oil and gas resources with countries along the Initiative. In order to better mitigate risks and enhance the safety of investments, it is of significant importance to research the oil and gas investment environment in these countries for China's overseas investment macro-layout. This paper proposes an indicator system including 27 indicators from 6 dimensions. On this basis, game theory models combined with global entropy method and analytic hierarchy process are applied to determine the combined weights, and the TOPSIS-GRA model is utilized to assess the risks of oil and gas investment in 76 countries along the Initiative from 2014 to 2021. Finally, the GM(1,1) model is employed to predict risk values for 2022-2025. In conclusion, oil and gas resources and political factors have the greatest impact on investment environment risk, and 12 countries with greater investment potential are selected through cluster analysis in conjunction with the predicted results. The research findings may provide scientific decisionmaking recommendations for the Chinese government and oil enterprises to strengthen oil and gas investment cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

A Brief Discussion on the Development of the Silk-Weaving Industry Along the “Southern Silk Road” in Yunnan

Ancient Yunnan was one of the most significant regions along China’s ancient“Southern Silk Road.”During the Nanzhao period(738–902)of the late Tang Dynasty,Yunnan’s silk-weaving industry underwent a qualitative leap as skilled silk craftsmen from the Bashu area migrated to Yunnan and introduced mulberry planting,silkworm breeding,and advanced silk-weaving techniques from Sichuan to the region.Consequently,people in Yunnan gradually acquired expertise in brocade weaving and embroidery.Many even mastered complex silk-weaving techniques.The development and progress of the silk-weaving industry in the ancient Yunnan region were intricately linked to the economic function and value of silk as both a commodity and currency along the“Southern Silk Road.”The local government in ancient Yunnan was greatly motivated by the economic interests brought by the development of silk-related industries and recognized the significance of developing the local silk industry.They even initiated a campaign to capture skilled silk craftsmen from Sichuan,aiming to foster the growth of the silk-weaving industry in Yunnan.After years of dedicated efforts from the local government in ancient Yunnan,the region emerged as a significant hub for silk production along China’s ancient“Southern Silk Road.”Despite the devastation caused by the wars in other parts of the country,Yunnan’s silk industry continued to thrive and provide ample silk products to sustain trade along this renowned route.In the contemporary era,amidst the decline of the silk-weaving industry in eastern China,Yunnan has proposed an industrial development strategy known as“relocating the silk-weaving industry from east to west.”This involves introducing advanced silk production techniques from the eastern regions into Yunnan to enhance and enrich its local silk industry,thereby establishing it as a traditional national sector and securing a competitive position within the global silk market.The historical experience of Yunnan’s silk industry demonstrated that economic development opportunities can only be seized through proactive endeavors rather than passive anticipation.The modern Yunnan silk industry,which upholds its historical traditions,continues to actively engage in international high-end technical cooperation,thus ensuring the enduring vitality of the ancient“Southern Silk Road.”

基于ROAD的租车订购系统业务流程建模

基于业务架构为中心的企业架构开发思路,采用开放组架构框架(TOGAF)业务架构ACF元模型的划分,提出了一种ROAD架构迭代建模方法。针对目前ROAD元架构中业务活动模型采用IDEF0的活动模型导致的面向场景业务能力的不足,文中通过使用BPMN模型来覆盖IDEF0的活动建模,避免在描述复杂的业务过程时可能存在的局限性,并且更好地捕捉和表示所有的细节和关系,不会使得模型过于抽象。从而实现面向场景的系统建模和管理,提高业务架构设计的效率和精度。最后,文章中以旅游出行租车订购系统为例的方法,采用ROAD元架构方法建立场景化业务架构模型组,并对其进行讨论和改进,为现有架构体系提供一种面向场景的扩展思路。

The coordinated evolution of ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt,using the Dual-Carbon Targets

Carbon peak and carbon neutrality(dual-carbon)are important targets for the international response to climate change.The Silk Road Economic Belt is a strategic resource region and is important for future ecological environment and tourism development.Based on the“dual-carbon”targets,the Single index quantification,Multiple index synthesis,and Poly-criteria integration evaluation model were used in this study to measure the coordinated development index of the ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt and to analyze its spatial and temporal evolution.Further,it explores the dynamic evolution and development trend of the three systems using the Kernel Density and Grey Markov Prediction Model.The results show that the coordinated development index along this region needs to be improved during the study period.Furthermore,the coordinated development index of the Southwest region is relatively higher than that of the Northwest region.From the development trend of the three systems,all of them develop in a stable manner;however,the tourism economy system is easily affected by external disturbances.The coordinated development index of the three systems changes dynamically and tends to be in a good state of coordination.There is a certain spatial and temporal heterogeneity.The gravity center of the coordinated development index has been in the Southwest region.During the forecast period,the coordinated development index along this region will improve significantly,while insufficient and unbalanced development will continue.

Ag-integrated mixed metallic Co-Fe-Ni-Mn hydroxide composite as advanced electrode for high-performance hybrid supercapacitors

Direct growth of redox-active noble metals and rational design of multifunctional electrochemical active materials play crucial roles in developing novel electrode materials for energy storage devices.In this regard,silver(Ag)has attracted great attention in the design of efficient electrodes.Inspired by the house/building process,which means electing the right land,it lays a strong foundation and building essential columns for a complex structure.Herein,we report the construction of multifaceted heterostructure cobalt-iron hydroxide(CFOH)nanowires(NWs)@nickel cobalt manganese hydroxides and/or hydrate(NCMOH)nanosheets(NSs)on the Ag-deposited nickel foam and carbon cloth(i.e.,Ag/NF and Ag/CC)substrates.Moreover,the formation and charge storage mechanism of Ag are described,and these contribute to good conductive and redox chemistry features.The switching architectural integrity of metal and redox materials on metallic frames may significantly boost charge storage and rate performance with noticeable drop in resistance.The as-fabricated Ag@CFOH@NCMOH/NF electrode delivered superior areal capacity value of 2081.9μA h cm^(-2)at 5 mA cm^(-2).Moreover,as-assembled hybrid cell based on NF(HC/NF)device exhibited remarkable areal capacity value of 1.82 mA h cm^(-2)at 5 mA cm^(-2)with excellent rate capability of 74.77%even at 70 mA cm^(-2)Furthermore,HC/NF device achieved maximum energy and power densities of 1.39 mW h cm^(-2)and 42.35 mW cm^(-2),respectively.To verify practical applicability,both devices were also tested to serve as a self-charging station for various portable electronic devices.

Prescribed Performance Tracking Control of Time-Delay Nonlinear Systems With Output Constraints

The problem of prescribed performance tracking control for unknown time-delay nonlinear systems subject to output constraints is dealt with in this paper. In contrast with related works, only the most fundamental requirements, i.e., boundedness and the local Lipschitz condition, are assumed for the allowable time delays. Moreover, we focus on the case where the reference is unknown beforehand, which renders the standard prescribed performance control designs under output constraints infeasible. To conquer these challenges, a novel robust prescribed performance control approach is put forward in this paper.Herein, a reverse tuning function is skillfully constructed and automatically generates a performance envelop for the tracking error. In addition, a unified performance analysis framework based on proof by contradiction and the barrier function is established to reveal the inherent robustness of the control system against the time delays. It turns out that the system output tracks the reference with a preassigned settling time and good accuracy,without constraint violations. A comparative simulation on a two-stage chemical reactor is carried out to illustrate the above theoretical findings.