The Çevre Kale fortress and the outer enclosure on the Karacadağ at Yaraşlı

In 1992 an aerial survey of the Iron Age fortress of Çevre Kale was made using a tethered helium-filled blimp. This fortress is located on the slopes of the Karacadağ above the large village of Yaraşlı, close to the northeast corner of Tuz Gölü, the Salt Lake (Fig. 1). That brief survey was focussed on the highly visible fortress together with the obvious traces of extra mural settlement that lay immediately to the southwest. At that time the southwestern stretch of the huge, 11 km long, wall..

Peoples’ use of, and concerns about, green space networks: A case study of Birchwood, Warrington New Town, UK

Cultural services provided by green space networks and in particular leisure and recreational opportunities are central to the quality of life of those living in urban areas. However, the literature concerned with green space networks has mainly focussed on planning aspects rather than on recreational use. The aim of this study was to evaluate the recreational use of, and concerns about, a naturalistic green space network. The case study location was the naturalistic woodland framework in Birchwood, Warrington, UK, known as Birchwood Forest Park. Non-participant observation and content analysis of local archives were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Birchwood Forest Park was used more for leisure activities (52.8%, N = 1,825; i.e. recreation, sports or play) than for utilitarian purposes (47.2%, N = 1,825; i.e. as walking or cycling thoroughfare). However, utilitarian walking (30%, N = 1,825) was the most frequent type of activity observed. The maintenance of the naturalistic woodland framework was the most frequent concern mentioned in the local archives (33.3%, N = 234). This case study suggests that the recreational patterns in, as well as peoples’ concerns about, naturalistic urban landscapes may be a factor of high quality maintenance and associated local aesthetic and cultural perceptions. In developing, planning or managing comprehensive urban green space networks it is important to ensure that natural looking scenes are well maintained and that the local community is culturally connected to such scenes

Dynamic Eco-Driving\u27s Fuel Saving Potential in Traffic: Multi-Vehicle Simulation Study Comparing Three Representative Methods

Dynamic eco-driving is a well-known umbrella term describing speed control schemes that utilize connected and automated vehicle technology for the purpose of saving fuel. If dynamic eco-driving is to be widely prescribed as an integral part of widespread fuel-saving endeavors, its expected performance as part of the overall traffic system must be analyzed. Specifically, it must be determined to what extent this type of control remains effective in the presence of dense traffic. This paper presents a series of multi-vehicle traffic simulations, which begin to answer important questions surrounding the effects of dynamic eco-driving on traffic and its potential for fuel savings in a mixed traffic environment. Three representative methods of dynamic eco-driving are tested in various high traffic scenarios and the estimated fuel economy, trip time, and average speed results are compared. Independent variables include technology penetration rate and amount of traffic, quantified by the delay level of service of the road network\u27s traffic light facility. It is shown that, for the given test cases, average mpg increases linearly with technology penetration rate and dynamic eco-driving causes an average increase in mpg regardless of traffic amount. Overall results are promising for the usefulness of this clever class of fuel-saving technologies, in high traffic as well as low

Swarm-Inspired Modeling of a Highway System With Stability Analysis

Naturally occurring flocks and swarms have long commanded human attention, with much engineering inspiration drawn from the beauty, order, and capability of these highly decentralized systems. More recent simulation and modeling of swarms has given rise to interesting mathematical problems as well as useful control strategies for machine applications. Although highway systems are sometimes mentioned in the literature as a possible swarm theory application, a microscopic, decentralized model of vehicle interactions based on swarming philosophy does not exist to our knowledge. In this paper, a decentralized model made up of ordinary differential equations and smooth functions is developed. It is designed to describe the interactions of vehicles on a two-lane highway. The purpose of this new model is not primarily traffic simulation, but rather cooperative control design. The philosophy behind the modeling is borrowed from work on swarm theory, especially those simulations employing the motion control ideas known as Reynolds\u27 Rules. Vehicles in the swarm have different desired speeds, which can be maintained by changing lanes to avoid slower-moving lead vehicles, while also avoiding both frontal and side collisions. Stability analysis of the proposed model has been presented, as well as simulation results and possible uses

Development of a UDDS-Comparable Framework for the Assessment of Connected and Automated Vehicle Fuel Saving Techniques

Since the mid-seventies, the trend toward the development and adoption of fuelefficient light-duty vehicles has become well established. As part of this trend, many complex strategies for powertrain efficiency have been evaluated and successfully marketed in the form of electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EVs and HEVs), among others. More recently, interest in connected and automated vehicle (CAV) eco-driving strategies as a means to reduce fuel consumption has increased. Despite these trends, assessments of even the simplest eco-driving concepts against existing vehicle powertrain measurement techniques have been hampered by the lack of a unified comparative baseline, owing to the disparity between each technologys approach. On the one hand, powertrain engineering focuses on the efficient response to a controlled driving profile, while on the other hand, eco-driving focuses on modifying the driving profile itself as a means to efficiency. In an effort to resolve this disconnect, the authors present the development of a simplified methodology for ensuring that eco-driving scenarios are contextualized against traditional drive-cycle based text techniques, in this case, the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS). To accomplish this, a simulated road network is developed such that normal, non-automated driving results in a good approximation to the UDDS. The simulation environment is then used to demonstrate the fuel savings possible by the application of a representative eco-driving technique in a way that maintains context with traditional drive-cycle based fuel saving technologies. Using this technique, researchers will be able to directly compare the fuel savings of CAV and established powertrain technologies

Intelligent Vehicle Fuel Saving Technologies: Comparing Three Primary Categories of Methods

In recent years, numerous control algorithms for connected and automated vehicles have emerged which focus on modifying driving strategy in order to reduce fuel usage. Referred to as “dynamic eco-driving,” these technologies have realized the possibility for additional fuel savings by utilizing information technologies rather than mechanics. The exact methodologies, however, are diverse. Three primary categories of dynamic eco-driving methodologies are identified and described: 1) ad-hoc methods, designed for the purpose of saving fuel but not considering optimality, 2) classical optimization methods, which use fuel usage modeling to solve an optimal control problem forwards in time, whether numerically or analytically, and 3) optimization by dynamic programming, in which a fuel usage-oriented cost function is minimized but solved backwards in time in discrete steps. Representatives from each of these categories are studied and implemented in simulation for comparison. Advantages and disadvantages of each relative to multiple performance measures are discussed

Lisinopril attenuates renal oxidative injury in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats

PubMed: 21479940Hypertension and related oxidative stress are involved in the pathogenesis of any renal diseases. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors have multi-directional renoprotective effects. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether lisinopril treatment has any biochemical alterations on renal tissue in l-NAME (N?-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester) induced hypertension model. Twenty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats were included in this study and divided into four equal groups (n = 7): control group, l-NAME treated group (75 mg/kg/day), l-NAME plus lisinopril treated group and only lisinopril treated group (10 mg/kg/day). l-NAME and lisinopril were continued for 6 weeks. Systolic blood pressures were measured by using tail cuff method. In biochemical analysis, malondialdehyde (MDA, an index of lipid peroxidation) levels, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in renal tissues were used as markers of oxidative stress-induced renal impairment. Microalbumin and N-acetyl-?-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) in urine were determined as markers of renal tubular damage related to hypertension. Chronic l-NAME administration resulted in a significant depletion of serum nitric oxide (NO). When compared with control group, serum creatinine, microalbumin, urine NAG, renal tissue MDA level, and CAT activities were significantly high, while renal tissue SOD and GSH-Px activities low in l-NAME group. In the l-NAME plus lisinopril treated group, serum creatinine, microalbumin and urine NAG, renal MDA level and CAT activity decreased, whereas SOD, GSH-Px activities in renal tissue and serum NO levels were increased. Thus, lisinopril treatment reversed these effects. There were not any significant difference between l-NAME plus lisinopril treated group and control group concerning serum creatinine, renal tissue MDA level and SOD, GSH-Px, CAT activities. These results suggest that lisinopril could diminish biochemical alterations in l-NAME induced hypertensive renal damage that occurs by oxidative stress. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Learning-Based testing of cyber-physical systems-of-systems : A platooning study

Learning-based testing (LBT) is a paradigm for fully automated requirements testing that combines machine learning with model-checking techniques. LBT has been shown to be effective for unit and integration testing of safety critical components in cyber-physical systems, e.g. automotive ECU software. We consider the challenges faced, and some initial results obtained in an effort to scale up LBT to testing co-operative open cyber-physical systems-of-systems (CO-CPS). For this we focus on a case study of testing safety and performance properties of multi-vehicle platoons.QC 20171020</p