Reduced-speed school zones greatly improve the safety of young children commuting to and from school and provide larger gaps in traffic for children to cross the street. The main focus of this study was to determine effective methods for increasing speed compliance in reduced-speed school zones. This objective was accomplished through an in-depth literature review, a public opinion survey of Utah drivers, and an evaluation of the effects of speed monitoring displays (SMDs) in school zones. The main focus of the literature review was to determine how to increase and maintain speed limit compliance within school zones. Information about the following topics with respect to school zones was researched and compiled: traffic control devices, SMDs, law enforcement, and other speed influences. A public survey was developed and implemented to evaluate the feelings and concerns of Utah drivers with respect to school-zone safety and school-zone traffic control devices. The survey was conducted in various locations throughout the state of Utah and proved to be an effective tool. The majority of those surveyed felt there was a need to improve school-zone safety in Utah. An evaluation of SMDs in four school zones throughout the state was performed. The results concluded that the SMDs analyzed in this study proved to increase speed compliance in most cases. In some cases, the SMDs maintained their effectiveness at increasing speed compliance over time; on the other hand, others lost some of their effectiveness over time, possibly due to higher percentages of commuter traffic. For the most part, speed compliance increased as manifested by the decrease in mean speed, standard deviation, 10 mph pace range, and the percentage of vehicles exceeding the 20 mph school-zone speed limit. In summary, the results of this study suggest that a combination of effective traffic control devices, public education, and appropriate law enforcement are all necessary to improve speed-limit compliance in school zones.

The purpose of the following report is to account for and summarize the authority and tasks that municipalities, authorities and contractors have in the implementation of temporary traffic diversions. In addition to this, the cooperation between all actors has also been investigated with the aim of finding out what types of routines and potential tools are used in connection with the work. The implementation of the report is based on a qualitative study, for which relevant people with different tasks have been interviewed or answered questionnaires. Furthermore, governing documents for relevant parties have been studied with the intention of describing the requirements that apply to work adjacent to or on the road. The results have subsequently been compiled in an account of the work parties' tasks, views and suggestions for improvement. In this it appears that the road maintenance authorities have an examinative responsibility and has the authority to approve the work carried out on its behalf. For and in particular all road works, of which the diversion is a part, traffic device plans must also be drawn up and describe solutions for traffic-related problems. These are the tasks of the executing contractor to draft with regard to the requirements of the road maintenance authority. It also appears that the majority of the interviewees consider the cooperation to be satisfactory, but state how interpretation of the governing documents can result in conflicts between the parties. In addition, significant differences for the systems used in the coordination can be noted for each municipality and authority.

The Flashing Yellow Arrow Left Turn signal is quickly becoming prominent in Central Florida as a new method of handling left turns at traffic signals. While the concept of a protected-permitted left turn is not groundbreaking, the departure from the typical display of a five-section signal head is, for this type of operation. The signal head introduced is a four-section head with a flashing yellow arrow between the yellow and green arrows. With this signal head quickly becoming the standard, there is a need to re-evaluate the operational characteristics of the left turning vehicle and advance the knowledge of the significant parameters that may affect the ability for a driver to make a left turn at a signalized intersection. With previous research into the behavioral and operational characteristics of the flashing yellow arrow conducted, there is more information becoming available about the differences between this signal and the previously accepted method of allowing left turns at an intersection. The protected-permitted signal is typically displayed at an intersection with up to two through lanes and generally a protected signal is installed when the number of through lanes increases above two unless specific criteria is met. With the advent of larger arterials and more traffic on the highway networks, the push to operate these intersections at their maximum efficiency has resulted in more of these protected-permitted signals being present at these larger intersections, including the flashing yellow arrow. The core of the research that follows is a comparative analysis of the operation and parameters that affect the left turn movement of the intersection with larger geometry to that of the smaller geometry. The significant parameters of the left turn movement were examined through means of collecting, organizing and analyzing just over 68 hours of field data. This research details the determining of the significant parameters based on the generation of a simulation model of the protected left turn using Synchro, a traffic simulation package, and regression models using field driven data to determine the significant parameters for predicting the number of left turns that can be made in the permitted phase under specific operating conditions. Intuitively, there is an expectation that a larger intersection will not allow for as many permitted lefts as a smaller intersection with all conditions remaining the same. The conclusions drawn from this analysis provide the framework to understanding the similarities and the differences that are encountered when the intersection geometry differs and help to more efficiently manage traffic at signalized intersections. The work of this field promises to enhance the operations of the left turning movement for traffic control devices. With an understanding of the statistical models generated, a broader base of knowledge is gained as to the significant parameters that affect a driver's ability to make the left turn. A discussion of the statistical differences and between the models generated from the small and large geometry intersections is critical to drive further research into standards being developed for the highway transportation network and the treatment of these large signalized intersections. The exploration of specific parameters to predict the number of permitted left turns will yield results as to if there is more to be considered with larger intersections moving forward as they become a standard sight on the roadway network.

The presented research investigated the viability of a double-braided synthetic fiber rope for providing improved performance of steel moment frames subjected to earthquake-induced ground motions. A series of experimental tests, including a 1:3-scale dynamic test and 1:6-scale shaking table tests, was conducted using Northridge ground-motion input. A series of nonlinear dynamic analytical studies, using DRAIN-2DX, was conducted to develop the experimental tests. Throughout experimental testing, the ropes exhibited a hyper-elastic loading response and a reduced-stiffness unloading response. A conditioning cycle was defined as a loading cycle induced in the rope above the highest load expected to be experienced by the rope, and was determined to be requisite for ropes intended to be used for the stated objectives of the research program. After experiencing a conditioning cycle, the rope response returned to initial conditions without permanent deformation, demonstrating repeatability of response through several loading cycles below the conditioning load. In the 1:6-scale shaking-table experiments, the ropes drastically improved the performance of the steel moment frames. Maximum and residual drift were reduced significantly, with a corresponding minimal increase to the maximum base shear. Base shear was reduced at several peaks subsequent to the initial pulse of the Northridge ground-motion input. The analytical model developed was excellent for predicting elastic response of the 1:6-scale shaking table experiments and adequate for the purpose of planning shaking table studies. Correlation of peak rope forces between the analytical model and experimental results was poor, and was attributed to limitations of the pre-defined elements used to represent the rope devices in the software program. The inability of the elements to capture the complex unloading response of the rope was specifically noted. / Ph. D.

Thesis (D.Tech (Engineering Electrical)) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2005 / When Thomas Edison invented his carbon filament lamp in 1879, gas shares fell overnight. A committee of inquiry was set up to examine the future possibilities of the new method of lighting, and had reached the conclusion that electric light in the home was fanciful and absurd. Today electric light burns in practically every house in the civilised world, with many great advances in the production and use of electricity and electric power supplied by various utilities. The objective of the electric utility to deliver pure sinusoidal voltage at fairly constant magnitude throughout their system is complicated by the fact that there are currently loads on the system that produce harmonic voltages, which result in distorted voltages and currents that can adversely impact on the system performance in different ways. Because the numbers of harmonic producing loads have increased over the years, it has become necessary to address their influence, when making any additions or changes to an installation. Quality of supply measurements have long been used to characterise non-linearity on the power system, and have traditionally been measured with expensive portable analysers. A potentially faster, more integrated, and more flexible solution to measure the harmonics with a Supervisory System is accomplished by this research. Any script which aspired to cover in full detail the whole field of a subject so enormous as techniques to measure the quality of electricity supply on a SCADA system, would hardly be practical in less than a few volumes. The pretensions of this research are both modest and of a more immediate value to the reader.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Noonan, Douglas; Committee Member: Castillo, Marco; Committee Member: Chang, Michael; Committee Member: Cozzens, Susan; Committee Member: Rodgers, Michael. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Sediment control devices (SCDs) are critical to reducing the contamination of waterways from adjacent construction sites. Perimeter sediment controls retard the flow of surface runoff water originating on site and subsequently reduce solid, nutrient, and metal concentrations suspended in the flowing water. Silt fence is a commonly used SCD comprised of geotextile filter fabric, steel or wood support posts, and wire mesh reinforcement. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) uses an extensive amount of silt fence every year, and because of high degradation of geotextile in the field, the silt fence installations are rarely recycled. This research measures the performance of five SCDs (two types of silt fence, mulch berm, compost sock, and straw bales) at suspended solid, turbidity, nutrient, and metal reduction. A life cycle analysis (LCA) is performed to identify environmental impacts associated with material production, assembly, installation, use on site, and disposal. An impact analysis is performed according to for each SCD. Results of the impact analysis are compared to determine the SCD with lowest overall environmental impact. Results of the SCD performance study show that silt fence installations performed the best at reducing suspended solids and turbidity, mulch was best at reducing nutrients, and compost was the best at reducing metal concentrations. The life cycle impact analysis indicates that a mulch berm is the SCD with the lowest overall environmental impact. The impact analysis included global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, and aquatic toxicity.

No description available.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The fairly recent introduction of low-cost depth sensors such as Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect has encouraged a large amount of research on the use of depth sensors for many common Computer Vision problems. Depth images are advantageous over normal colour images because of how easily objects in a scene can be segregated in real-time. Microsoft used the depth images from the Kinect to successfully separate multiple users and track various larger body joints, but has difficulty tracking smaller joints such as those of the fingers. This is a result of the low resolution and noisy nature of the depth images produced by the Kinect. The objective of this project is to use the depth images produced by the Kinect to remotely track the user’s hands and to recognise the static hand poses in real-time. Such a system would make it possible to control an electronic device from a distance without the use of a remote control. It can be used to control computer systems during computer aided presentations, translate sign language and to provide more hygienic control devices in clean rooms such as operating theatres and electronic laboratories. The proposed system uses the open-source OpenNI framework to retrieve the depth images from the Kinect and to track the user’s hands. Random Decision Forests are trained using computer generated depth images of various hand poses and used to classify the hand regions from a depth image. The region images are processed using a Mean-Shift based joint estimator to find the 3D joint coordinates. These coordinates are finally used to classify the static hand pose using a Support Vector Machine trained using the libSVM library. The system achieves a final accuracy of 95.61% when tested against synthetic data and 81.35% when tested against real world data. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die onlangse bekendstelling van lae-koste diepte sensors soos Microsoft se Xbox Kinect het groot belangstelling opgewek in navorsing oor die gebruik van die diepte sensors vir algemene Rekenaarvisie probleme. Diepte beelde maak dit baie eenvoudig om intyds verskillende voorwerpe in ’n toneel van mekaar te skei. Microsoft het diepte beelde van die Kinect gebruik om verskeie persone en hul ledemate suksesvol te volg. Dit kan egter nie kleiner ledemate soos die vingers volg nie as gevolg van die lae resolusie en voorkoms van geraas in die beelde. Die doel van hierdie projek is om die diepte beelde (verkry vanaf die Kinect) te gebruik om intyds ’n gebruiker se hande te volg oor ’n afstand en die statiese handgebare te herken. So ’n stelsel sal dit moontlik maak om elektroniese toestelle oor ’n afstand te kan beheer sonder die gebruik van ’n afstandsbeheerder. Dit kan gebruik word om rekenaarstelsels te beheer gedurende rekenaargesteunde aanbiedings, vir die vertaling van vingertaal en kan ook gebruik word as higiëniese, tasvrye beheer toestelle in skoonkamers soos operasieteaters en elektroniese laboratoriums. Die voorgestelde stelsel maak gebruik van die oopbron OpenNI raamwerk om die diepte beelde vanaf die Kinect te lees en die gebruiker se hande te volg. Lukrake Besluitnemingswoude ("Random Decision Forests") is opgelei met behulp van rekenaar gegenereerde diepte beelde van verskeie handgebare en word gebruik om die verskeie handdele vanaf ’n diepte beeld te klassifiseer. Die 3D koördinate van die hand ledemate word dan verkry deur gebruik te maak van ’n Gemiddelde-Afset gebaseerde ledemaat herkenner. Hierdie koördinate word dan gebruik om die statiese handgebaar te klassifiseer met behulp van ’n Steun-Vektor Masjien ("Support Vector Machine"), opgelei met behulp van die libSVM biblioteek. Die stelsel behaal ’n finale akkuraatheid van 95.61% wanneer dit getoets word teen sintetiese data en 81.35% wanneer getoets word teen werklike data.

Submitted by Pedro Silva Filho (pfsilva@ipen.br) on 2017-11-17T17:27:31Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-17T17:27:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Os elementos de combustível de um reator nuclear de pesquisa tipo MTR (\"Material Testing Reactor\") são, em sua grande maioria, formados por placas de combustível revestidas com alumínio contendo no cerne silicileto de urânio (U3Si2) disperso em matriz de alumínio. Essas placas possuem espessura da ordem de milímetros e comprimentos muito maiores em relação à sua espessura. Elas são dispostas paralelamente no conjunto que forma o elemento combustível, de maneira a formar canais entre elas com poucos milímetros de espessura, por onde escoa o fluido de refrigeração (água leve ou água pesada). Essa configuração, associada à necessidade de um escoamento com altas vazões para garantir o resfriamento das placas em operação, pode gerar problemas de falhas mecânicas das placas de combustível devido às vibrações induzidas pelo escoamento nos canais e, consequentemente, acidentes de proporções graves no caso de velocidade crítica que possa gerar o colapso das placas. Embora não haja ruptura das placas de combustível durante o colapso, as deflexões permanentes excessivas das placas podem causar bloqueio do canal de escoamento no núcleo do reator e levar ao superaquecimento nas placas. Para este trabalho, foram desenvolvidas uma bancada experimental com capacidade para altas vazões volumétricas (Q=100 m3/h) e uma seção de testes que simula um elemento combustível do tipo placa com três canais de resfriamento. A seção de testes foi construída com placas de alumínio e acrílico e foi instrumentada com sensores de deformação, sensores de pressão, um acelerômetro e um tubo de pitot. As dimensões da seção de testes foram baseadas nas dimensões do Elemento Combustível do Reator Multipropósito Brasileiro (RMB), cujo projeto está sendo coordenado pela Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear - CNEN. Os experimentos realizados alcançaram o objetivo de chegar à condição de velocidade crítica de Miller com o colapso das placas. A velocidade crítica foi atingida com 14,5 m/s levando a consequente deformação plástica das placas que formam o canal do escoamento. O canal central na entrada da seção de testes apresentou uma abertura de 3 mm em seu centro, causando um grande bloqueio do escoamento nos canais laterais. Este comportamento foi v constatado visualmente durante a desmontagem da seção de testes, ilustrado e discutido na análise de resultados apresentado neste trabalho. O bloqueio dos canais também foi observado por meio de gráficos de queda de pressão e por gráficos das deformações da entrada, centro e saída das placas contra a velocidade média da seção de testes. Observou-se uma queda da resistência hidráulica da seção de testes devido ao aumento da seção transversal de escoamento no canal central e um aumento exponencial das deformações quando da ocorrência da velocidade crítica. Comparativamente, o valor experimental obtido para velocidade crítica na seção de testes foi da ordem de 85% do valor obtido por cálculo com a expressão teórica de Miller. Os experimentos realizados permitiram um melhor entendimento da interação fluido estrutura em elementos de combustível tipo placa como: valores de frequências de vibrações naturais, instabilidade fluido elástica e desenvolvimento de técnicas para a detecção de valores de velocidade crítica. / Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP / CNPq:481193/2012-0