Influence of crossfall on road pavement surface skid resistance

Prometno varnost lahko zagotavljamo le ob celovitem razumevanju sistema voznik - vozilo - cesta z okoljem. Nesreče so lahko posledica voznikovih dejanj, napak ali težav z vozili, ali zaradi voznega okolja. Svoj del k prometni varnosti vsekakor prispeva tudi vozna površina, po kateri se premikajo vozila. Pri tem so posebej pomembne torne lastnosti, s čimer opisujemo torno sposobnost ter grobo hrapavost vozišč oz. njihovih voznih površin. V magistrski nalogi sem določal vpliv prečnega in vzdolžnega nagiba na izmerjeno torno sposobnost. Ta vpliv je lahko velik in precej vpliva na izračun končnih značilnih vrednosti koeficientov bočnega trenja - pogojne, mejne in prevzemne vrednosti, ki so uporabne za presojo ustreznosti voznih površin na cestah v Sloveniji. Za analize sem uporabil rezultate meritev tornih lastnosti, ki smo jih na avtocestah v letu 2008 izvedli z napravo SCRIMTEXrezultate meritev sem primerjal z geometrijskimi podatki avtocest, s starostjo vgrajenih asfaltnih zmesi, in s prometnimi obremenitvami obravnavanih odsekov. Preveril sem večje število različnih kombinacij vplivov na torno sposobnost. Med njimi sem ugotovil malo takih, ki nakazujejo šibko povezanost torna sposobnost/vplivni parameter, in zelo malo takih, ki nakazujejo zmerno povezanost. Velika večina povezanosti ne kaže. To pa zaenkrat še ne predstavlja dovolj močne podlage za spremembo oziroma dopolnitev zgoraj navedenih značilnih vrednosti koeficientov bočnega trenja SR.Traffic safety can be ensured only with a comprehensive understanding of the system driver - vehicle - road environment. Accidents on roads happen due to the driver\u27s actions, errors and problems with the vehicles or happen on account of adverse events in the driving environment. A part of the road safety can certainly be attributed to the pavement surface and its own performance. Particularly important contributing properties are skid resistance and macrotexture. The aim of the work for this thesis was to determine the influence of crossfall and slope on the results of skid resistance measurements. This impact can be notable and may significantly affect the calculation of the characteristic skid resistance values – the limit, minimal and acceptance values - which are used in the assessement of pavement performance of roads in Slovenia. The results of the skid resistance measurements on motorways in 2008, performed with the SCRIMTEX device, served as a basis of the work. These results were compared with the pavement geometric datawith age of asphalt mixtures, built-in the pavement surfaceand with traffic load of concerned road sections. A high number of different combinations of influence on skid resistance for the motorway\u27 pavements were examined. Among them some indicate a weak correlation between skid resistance/influential parameter, and only few indicate a moderate correlation. For vast majority the relationship was found to be insignificant. As such, the results don\u27t represent a momentum strong enough to change or adapt the above-mentioned skid resistance characteristic values

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE USE OF CONVENTIONAL PARENTERAL ANALGESIA AND PATIENT CONTROLLED ANALGESIA

Akutna pooperativna bolečina po operativnem posegu lahko prizadene vsakega pacienta in vpliva na njegovo fizično, psihično in duševno stanje. Učinkovitost lajšanja bolečine je odvisna od pacienta samega, zdravnika in medicinske sestre. Danes obstajajo številni pristopi k zdravljenju bolečine vendar niti ena metoda ni popolna. V diplomskem delu smo opisali in primerjali dve metodi, ki veljata za zelo učinkoviti v procesu lajšanja bolečine V slovenskem prostoru je se še vedno najbolj uporabljena konvencionalna parenteralna analgezija, v tujini pa se je pokazala kot učinkovitejša in bolj razširjena metoda analgezije, pri kateri pacient aktivno sodeluje pri lajšanju bolečine »patient controlled analgezija« (PCA). Namen diplomske naloge je predstaviti, opisati in primerjati ti dve metodi, in ugotoviti katera je najučinkovitejša, ima manj slabosti in stranskih učinkov. V diplomskem delu smo opisali in definirali kaj je bolečina, mehanizme bolečine, akutno pooperativno bolečino, konvencionalno parenteralno analgezijo in »patient controlled analgezijo«, se poglobili in raziskali njihove prednosti in slabosti ter jih primerjali. Ugotovili smo, da se je v številnih raziskavah »patient controlled analgezija« pokazala kot metoda, ki ima več prednosti od konvencionalne parenteralne analgezije.Acute postoperative pain after a surgery can affect every patient and affect its physical, psychological and mental state. The effectiveness of pain relief depends on the doctor, nurses and on the patient himself. Today, there exist many approaches to defuse the pain but not a single method is perfect. In the thesis, we describe and compare two methods which are considered to be very effective in the process of pain relief. In the Slovenian territory the most used method is still conventional parenteral analgesia and abroad there exists a method of analgesia, in which the patient takes a part in the relief of pain "Patient Controlled Analgesia" (PCA). This method has proven to be more effective and widely used. The purpose of my thesis is to introduce, describe and compare these two methods, and determine which method is more effective, with fewer drawbacks and side effects. In the thesis, we described and defined what pain is, mechanisms of pain, acute postoperative pain, conventional parenteral analgesia and "Patient Controlled Analgesia". We explored their strengths and weaknesses and compared them. We found out that in many studies "Patient Controlled Analgesia" has more advantages than the conventional parenteral analgesia

Improving the mechanical properties of a low noise section

The goal of this innovation initiated in a later phase of NR2C WP2 activities was to evaluate (and eventually to improve) the functional and the mechanical properties (durability) of low-noise poroelastic layers built on cement concrete blocks. Laboratory and site tests were performed for the evaluation of these properties. So, it contributes to the concept "green infrastructure", by the reduction of noise nuisance coming from traffic

Overall road asset performance

The HeRoad project has investigated the road asset management situation and what practises exist to collect performance measurements in Europe. This has been done in a view from the operational level using a holistic perspective, in the sense that multiple assets and the cross relation between those are included. HeRoad’s approach by addressing the need for condition performance measurements can be justified with some words from (AASHTO, 2011); “What´s measured gets done; if you do not measure results, you cannot tell success from failure.” This implies that the view of investigation has been from the operational level more than from the strategic level (bottom–up).HeRoad - Holistic Evaluation of Road Assessmen

Asset Management and Social Effects - CEDR-Project ISABELA

Social aspects in form of social effects, benefit and risk become more and more important in the context of assessing different maintenance strategies and policies on the road infrastructure networks. The decision makers need to present the consequences of their strategies and policies on both, the technical level and more and more the social level."br" The main objective of the CEDR-project ISABELA was the definition of a holistic asset management framework for social key performance indicators and social benefit modeling in form of social effects (monetary and non-monetary), social backlog and social risk. ISABELA takes into account maintenance aspects such as traffic availability, disturbance and efficiency, road safety, environment and socio economy. The results of the project provide a clear and reproducible definition of the necessary basics for social benefit calculation within life-cycle-assessment (LCA), life-cycle-cost-analysis (LCCA) and risk assessme

Report on state-of-the-art data assessment and visualisation methods : Deliverable D3.1

Effective analysis and visualisation of data is critical for the efficient application of the data provided by carriageway and bridge condition monitoring technologies. It supports better decisions in relation to asset reliability, availability, safety, economy and environment. This report discusses the link between the data provided by monitoring technologies on the properties of assets and how the collected data can be analysed and visualised to provide value in decision support. The next step in the report is to use this understanding to develop an appraisal system which could enable technologies in the INFRACOMS technology database to be appraised (scored) in relation to their abilities for data analysis, visualisation, integration and use in decision support. The presented system is referred to as the D3.1 scoring system. It consists of four components covering data visualisation, data analysis, integration within current data architectures and potential for practical decision-making. The present D3.1 report primarily examines the components pertaining to data visualisation and data analysis, while the exploration of the other two components, data architecture and decision support, will be carried out in the D3.2 report. It is proposed that the D3.1 scoring system could be used to appraise the capability of monitoring technologies to support asset management decisions, and would become an integral component of the INFRACOMS Appraisal Toolkit. It will also be used to further filter the current INFRACOMS Technology Database 2.0 technologies as part of the Appraisal Toolkit as INFRACOMS completes the development of the toolkit/database within WP2

Appraisal methodology : Deliverable D2.1

This report represents INFRACOMS deliverable D2.1 Appraisal Methodology. It builds upon the deliverables of INFRACOMS Work Package 1 which identified the information needs, gaps and priorities of NRAs in terms of their approach to data collection and monitoring, and a list of current and emerging measurement technologies. This report includes a review of several commonly-used appraisal methodologies that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness, suitability and potential impact of new technologies for an organisation. These methodologies include Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), Risk Assessment, and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Elements of these commonly used methodologies are included in the INFRACOMS Appraisal Methodology. The report also includes key highlights from a workshop with NRAs conducted in January 2023 which also fed into the design of the appraisal methodology. The INFRACOMS Appraisal Methodology described here is designed around the technology use case, that is, a particular application of a technology by a NRA. It incorporates three core processes for Pre-Evaluation, Evaluation and Case Studies of technology use cases. It also includes processes for NRAs to define their strategic and technical priorities so that the appraisal process can be tailored to addressing their individual requirements, as identified from Work Package 1

Current Practice, Future need and Gap Analysis : Deliverable D1.1

This report is INFRACOMS first deliverable D1.1. It addresses the “Understanding of information needs and gaps” component of the project. The aim has been to identify the current priorities and future needs of NRAs for the management of carriageway and bridge assets, specifically in terms of their approach to data collection and monitoring. The approach has been to establish existing knowledge via a review of previous projects, current best practices and standards in data collection and inspection, and a review of current business processes, NRA strategies around data collection and digitalisation etc. The report identifies a set of key imperatives for carriageway and bridge assets covering Availability, Reliability, Environment, Economy and Safety. Each of these is supported by the collection of key condition data, which is used to report technical parameters and performance indicators that can be combined to assess the ability of the asset to meet its key imperatives. A wide range of technologies are identified, which are currently applied to collect the data that supports this assessment. The consultation shows that there are also gaps between the desired and the current capability for the assessment of these assets. These include gaps in the data, challenges in the ability to collect the data, gaps in the application of the data that is already collected etc. A review of emerging technologies shows that there are tools and technologies that could help to fill these gaps. These could overcome the limitations of current technologies, better integrate new data sources, provide greater flexibility in using current and new data, and provide better analysis. They include remote sensing, Internet of Things (IoT), crowdsourcing, and advanced data processing/visualisation

Integration of New and Emerging Technologies into Data Architectures : Deliverable D3.2

To appraise the ability to integrate the data provided by a specific technology into an existing data architecture this report commences with the development of an approach to describe the "ideal" data architecture, that can integrate various types of data from new and emerging technologies to facilitate decision making. The data architecture forms a pipeline from raw data creation/delivery to data ingestion, data organization, data analysis and visualisation, until information that is useful for decision making. We then review two existing data architectures as examples in the context of the proposed data architecture pipeline. From the understanding of the two sides – the data properties of technologies and the capabilities of data architectures – we develop an appraisal scoring process to evaluate the ability to integrate the new data into the existing data architecture. To generalize this approach, the report presents a list of questions that can be used by stakeholders to help understand the data architecture used by any NRA (not only limited to the selected examples) when conduct the appraisal. We also develop an appraisal scoring process to evaluate the potential of the technologies to support practical decision making.The outcomes in this report (D3.2) and the previous one (D3.1), complete the INFRACOMS appraisal (scoring) system for the aspects of: data analysis, visualisation, integration into data architecture and potential support for decision making (forming part of the overall appraisal process). An example application of the process is presented for the case of acoustic emission monitoring the wire break in steel cables. In addition, the process has been applied to further technologies in the INFRACOMS database 1.0, and provided in the appendix. It is anticipated that refinement, and further guidanc

BPC 157, L-NAME, L-Arginine, NO-Relation, in the Suited Rat Ketamine Models Resembling “Negative-Like” Symptoms of Schizophrenia

We attempted throughout the NO-system to achieve the particular counteraction of the ketamine-induced resembling "negative-like" schizophrenia symptoms in rats using pentadecapeptide BPC 157, and NO-agents, NG-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME), and/or L-arginine, triple application. This might be the find out the NO-system organized therapy (i.e., simultaneously implied NO-system blockade (L-NAME) vs. NO-system over-stimulation (L-arginine) vs. NO-system immobilization (L-NAME+L-arginine)). The ketamine regimen (intraperitoneally/kg) included: 3 mg (cognitive dysfunction, novel object recognition test), 30 mg (anxiogenic effect (open field test) and anhedonia (sucrose test)), and 8 mg/3 days (social withdrawal). Medication (mg/kg intraperitoneally) was L-NAME (5), L-arginine (100), and BPC 157 (0.01), alone and/or together, given immediately before ketamine (L-NAME, L-arginine, and combination) or given immediately after (BPC 157 and combinations). BPC 157 counteracted ketamine-cognition dysfunction, social withdrawal, and anhedonia, and exerted additional anxiolytic effect. L-NAME (antagonization, social withdrawal) and L-arginine (antagonization, cognitive dysfunction, anhedonia) both included worsening cognitive dysfunction, anhedonia, and anxiogenic effect (L-NAME), social withdrawal, and anxiogenic effect (L-arginine). Thus, ketamine-induced resembling "negative-like" schizophrenia symptoms were "L-NAME non-responsive, L-arginine responsive" (cognition dysfunction), "L-NAME responsive, L-arginine non-responsive" (social withdrawal), "L-NAME responsive, L-arginine responsive, opposite effect" (anhedonia) and "L-NAME responsive, L-arginine responsive, parallel effect" (both anxiogening). In cognition dysfunction, BPC 157 overwhelmed NO-agents effects. The mRNA expression studies in brain tissue evidenced considerable overlapping of gene overexpression in healthy rats treated with ketamine or BPC 157. With the BPC 157 therapy applied immediately after ketamine, the effect on Nos1, Nos2, Plcg1, Prkcg, and Ptgs2 (increased or decreased expression), appeared as a timely specific BPC 157 effect on ketamine-specific targets