Rail roughness and rolling noise in tramways

Companies which manage railway networks have to cope continually with the problem of operating safety and maintenance intervention issues related to rail surface irregularities. A lot of experience has been gained in recent years in railway applications but the case of tramways is quite different; in this field there are no specific criteria to define any intervention on rail surface restoration. This paper shows measurements carried out on some stretches of a tram network with the CAT equipment (Corrugation Analysis Trolley) for the principal purpose of detecting different states of degradation of the rails and identifying a level of deterioration to be associated with the need for maintenance through rail grinding. The measured roughness is used as an input parameter into prediction models for both rolling noise and ground vibration to show the potential effect that high levels of roughness can have in urban environment. Rolling noise predictions are also compared with noise measurements to illustrate the applicability of the modelling approach. Particular attention is given to the way the contact filter needs to be modelled in the specific case of trams that generally operate at low speed. Finally an empirical approach to assess vibration levels in buildings is presented

Web-Scale Discovery in an Academic Medical Library: Our Experience with EBSCO\u27s Discovery Service

This poster explores the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library\u27s steps to determine if a highly tailored version of EBSCO\u27s Discovery Service (EDS) aimed at an academic health sciences audience will be an appealing and effective tool for searching the library\u27s collections and to compare its use to that of the library\u27s current federated search tool

Successful Transitions of Runaway/Homeless Youth from Shelter Care

Previous research indicates that runaway and homeless youth often achieve positive outcomes after shelter stays however few studies have examined how these outcomes are achieved. This study employs qualitative methods to explicate this phenomenon. Twenty-five providers and 21 youth from four shelters participated in this study. Youth were recruited who had completed shelter care and returned home for minimally six months. Multiple raters identified themes and created a conceptual model. While in shelter, youths experienced structure and freedom, and the family experienced respite. Once youth became involved in treatment, the family re-connected and the youth returned home. After returning home, youth and family become involved in follow-up services. Results from our study provide insight into the process through which runaway/homeless youth return home after a shelter stay. Our findings emphasize the need for continued change by all members of the family system, highlighting the need for continued intervention to maintain positive changes

Cloning of the Complete Gene for Carcinoembryonic Antigen

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a widely used tumor marker, especially in the surveillance of colonic cancer patients. Although CEA is also present in some normal tissues, it is apparently expressed at higher levels in tumorous tissues than in corresponding normal tissues. As a first step toward analyzing the regulation of expression of CEA at the transcriptional level, we have isolated and characterized a cosmid clone (cosCEA1), which contains the entire coding region of the CEA gene. A close correlation exists between the exon and deduced immunoglobulin-like domain borders. We have determined a cluster of transcriptional starts for CEA and the closely related nonspecific cross-reacting antigen (NCA) gene and have sequenced their putative promoters. Regions of sequence homology are found as far as approximately 500 nucleotides upstream from the translational starts of these genes, but farther upstream they diverge completely. In both cases we were unable to find classic TATA or CAAT boxes at their expected positions. To characterize the CEA and NCA promoters, we carried out transient transfection assays with promoter-indicator gene constructs in the CEA-producing adenocarcinoma cell line SW403, as well as in nonproducing HeLa cells. A CEA gene promoter construct, containing approximately 400 nucleotides upstream from the translational start, showed nine times higher activity in the SW403 than in the HeLa cell line. This indicates that cis-acting sequences which convey cell type-specific expression of the CEA gene are contained within this region

Himmelfarb 911! Using LibGuides and Scenarios to Inform and Train Library Staff on Disaster Response

Objectives Create and update disaster planning and response materials so that they are accessible at time of need and educate the library\u27s staff on the library\u27s safety and emergency response policies and procedures. Introduction This urban health sciences library has experienced a number of potentially serious disaster incidents in the local region in the last fifteen years including terrorist attack, earthquake, fire, tornado, and hurricane. The library has a standing Disaster Planning committee which has produced extensive policy and planning documents for disaster response including a Disaster Planning and Response Manual, a Continuity of Operations Plan, a Pocket Response Plan, and a staff telephone tree. The accessibility and usability of these documents along with staff training on emergency policies and procedures are a high priority. Methods During the last two fiscal years, the standing committee has engaged in initiatives to educate staff members and provide a stable, cloud based, centralized platform for resources. A Himmelfarb911 LibGuide was established in fall of 2013 and includes all of the library\u27s disaster documents, links to outside resources, and photo documentation of facilities, collections, and art work in the Library. Online availability of resources complements printed copies which are held at key locations both on- and off-site. In addition, the committee has engaged staff in disaster scenarios (Snowmaggeddon, severe thunderstorm, active shooter, etc.) at meetings to discuss appropriate responses and resources. The committee has also organized training with the Univerisity\u27s Office of Safety and Security to brief staff on evacuation and shelter in place procedures, and other important safety information. Results The disaster scenarios elicited enthusiastic response and discussion among library staff members and provided an opportunity for staff to ask questions and help refine library policies. Both initiatives help ensure that staff will be well prepared for whatever disasters or emergencies they might face on the job

Discovery Assessment and Improvement at an Academic Health Sciences Library: Health Information @ Himmelfarb Five Years Later

Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library was an early health sciences library adopter of web scale discovery with introduction of a customized instance of EBSCO’s Discovery Service (EDS) in 2012. After three years with EDS, the library initiated an evaluation project involving two user surveys and a library staff focus group to assess user satisfaction with the service. Resulting changes included introduction of widgets to improve access to clinical content, addition of radio buttons to the search box to make defaults easier to enable and disable, and a custom course reserves search feature. The improvements launched fall semester 2016

Echolocation detections and digital video surveys provide reliable estimates of the relative density of harbour porpoises

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Erik Rexstad and Rob Williams for useful reviews of this manuscript. The collection of visual and acoustic data was funded by the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change, the Scottish Government, Collaborative Offshore Wind Research into the Environment (COWRIE) and Oil & Gas UK. Digital aerial surveys were funded by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd and additional funding for analysis of the combined datasets was provided by Marine Scotland. Collaboration between the University of Aberdeen and Marine Scotland was supported by MarCRF. We thank colleagues at the University of Aberdeen, Moray First Marine, NERI, Hi-Def Aerial Surveying Ltd and Ravenair for essential support in the field, particularly Tim Barton, Bill Ruck, Rasmus Nielson and Dave Rutter. Thanks also to Andy Webb, David Borchers, Len Thomas, Kelly McLeod, David L. Miller, Dinara Sadykova and Thomas Cornulier for advice on survey design and statistical approache. Data Accessibility Data are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cf04gPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Discovering Library Resources using WebFeat Express: Selection, Implementation, and Lessons Learned

In 2006, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library developed a task force to seek out a federated searching system. This poster presentation summarizes the process of selection and implementation of the chosen federated searching system, WebFeat Express