An investigation of signs for median crossovers

“This paper describes a study of advance warning signs for median crossovers on divided highways. Candidate crossover signs were identified from a literature review, survey of current State practices and discussions with FHWA personnel. Seven of these signs were selected for further testing in a laboratory study for legibility, understanding and driver preference. Sixty subjects representing a cross-section of drivers took part in the study, thirty at the Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia and thirty at the University of Missouri--Rolla in Rolla, Missouri. Two of the seven signs were word messages and five were symbolic signs. The results from both groups of subjects showed that the most appropriate word message sign would appear to be Median Crossover . This sign was understood the best by the subjects to whom it was shown and Crossover was the word the majority of subjects thought best conveyed the intended meaning. The symbolic sign found to be the best out of those tested was one showing two median noses. This did well In legibility and understanding tests and was least confused with other signs. It was also the symbolic sign most preferred by the subjects and was the simplest of the symbolic designs. Legibility of the symbolic signs was much greater than that of the word messages and this symbolic design is the sign recommended to identify median crossovers”--Abstract, page ii

An investigation of signs for median crossovers

“This paper describes a study of advance warning signs for median crossovers on divided highways. Candidate crossover signs were identified from a literature review, survey of current State practices and discussions with FHWA personnel. Seven of these signs were selected for further testing in a laboratory study for legibility, understanding and driver preference. Sixty subjects representing a cross-section of drivers took part in the study, thirty at the Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia and thirty at the University of Missouri--Rolla in Rolla, Missouri. Two of the seven signs were word messages and five were symbolic signs. The results from both groups of subjects showed that the most appropriate word message sign would appear to be Median Crossover . This sign was understood the best by the subjects to whom it was shown and Crossover was the word the majority of subjects thought best conveyed the intended meaning. The symbolic sign found to be the best out of those tested was one showing two median noses. This did well In legibility and understanding tests and was least confused with other signs. It was also the symbolic sign most preferred by the subjects and was the simplest of the symbolic designs. Legibility of the symbolic signs was much greater than that of the word messages and this symbolic design is the sign recommended to identify median crossovers”--Abstract, page ii

Optical Diagnostics on Helical Flux Compression Generators

Explosively driven magnetic flux compression (MFC) has been object of research for more than three decades. Actual interest in the basic physical picture of flux compression has been heightened by a newly started Department of Defense (DoD) Multi-University Research Initiative. The emphasis is on helical flux compression generators comprising a hollow cylindrical metal liner filled with high explosives and at least one helical coil surrounding the liner. After the application of a seed current, magnetic flux is trapped and high current is generated by moving, i.e., expanding, the liner explosively along the winding of the helical coil. Several key factors involved in the temporal development can be addresses by optical diagnostics. 1) The uniformity of liner expansion is captured by framing camera photography and supplemented by laser illuminated high spatial and temporal resolution imaging. Also, X-ray flash photography is insensitive to possible image blur by shockwaves coming from the exploding liner. 2) The thermodynamic state of the shocked gas is assessed by spatially and temporally resolved emission spectroscopy. 3) The moving liner-coil contact point is a possible source of high electric losses and is preferentially monitored also by emission spectroscopy. Since optical access to the region between liner and coil is not always guaranteed, optical fibers can he used to extract light from the generator. The information so gained will give, together with detailed electrical diagnostics, more insight in the physical loss mechanisms involved in MFC

A preliminary approach for swimming performance analysis of FISDIR elite athletes with intellectual impairment using an inertial sensor

People with intellectual impairment show low performances in motor control, especially in complex movements. Performance analysis methods, based on wearable inertial sensor, are often used in typical developed swimmers but have never been used in swimmers with intellectual impairment, for whom the use of quantitative systems would be even more important. This paper presents a case study conducted on freestyle swimmers from the functional evaluation project of the Italian Sport Federation for athletes with Intellectual Impairment (FISDIR). The tests were conducted by five Italian elite swimmers with intellectual impairment using a structured experimental protocol which foresees an inertial sensor located on the wrist. Key freestyle temporal and kinematic parameters were assessed. A high-speed camera was used as a benchmark to validate the inertial-based parameters. The preliminary results indicate that the proposed inertial-based approach correlates over 90% with the performance indices obtained with the camera-based approach, and therefore it could represent a useful tool for monitoring and improving the training

Accuracy and repeatability of wrist joint angles in boxing using an electromagnetic tracking system

© 2019, The Author(s). The hand-wrist region is reported as the most common injury site in boxing. Boxers are at risk due to the amount of wrist motions when impacting training equipment or their opponents, yet we know relatively little about these motions. This paper describes a new method for quantifying wrist motion in boxing using an electromagnetic tracking system. Surrogate testing procedure utilising a polyamide hand and forearm shape, and in vivo testing procedure utilising 29 elite boxers, were used to assess the accuracy and repeatability of the system. 2D kinematic analysis was used to calculate wrist angles using photogrammetry, whilst the data from the electromagnetic tracking system was processed with visual 3D software. The electromagnetic tracking system agreed with the video-based system (paired t tests) in both the surrogate ( 0.9). In the punch testing, for both repeated jab and hook shots, the electromagnetic tracking system showed good reliability (ICCs > 0.8) and substantial reliability (ICCs > 0.6) for flexion–extension and radial-ulnar deviation angles, respectively. The results indicate that wrist kinematics during punching activities can be measured using an electromagnetic tracking system

Effect of carbon starvation on toluene degradation activity by toluene monooxygenase-expressing bacteria

Subsurface bacteria commonly exist in a starvation state with only periodic exposure to utilizable sources of carbon and energy. In this study, the effect of carbon starvation on aerobic toluene degradation was quantitatively evaluated with a selection of bacteria representing all the known toluene oxygenase enzyme pathways. For all the investigated strains, the rate of toluene biodegradation decreased exponentially with starvation time. First-order deactivation rate constants for TMO-expressing bacteria were approximately an order of magnitude greater than those for other oxygenase-expressing bacteria. When growth conditions (the type of growth substrate and the type and concentration of toluene oxygenase inducer) were varied in the cultures prior to the deactivation experiments, the rate of deactivation was not significantly affected, suggesting that the rate of deactivation is independent of previous substrate/inducer conditions. Because TMO-expressing bacteria are known to efficiently detoxify TCE in subsurface environments, these findings have significant implications for in situ TCE bioremediation, specifically for environments experiencing variable growth-substrate exposure conditions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45353/1/10532_2005_Article_9014.pd

An Explosive Experience at Missouri S&T

This issue of IEEE Potentials highlights elemental engineering, focusing on earth, wind, water, and fire, which makes the explosives engineering program at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) a perfect fit for this theme. First, over 97% of commercial explosives used in the United States are to break rock, according to the United States Geological Survey. In 2007, 85.5% of explosives were used in the mining industry, 11.5% in civil excavation, and the remaining 3% in everything else combined (the third and fourth users being forestry and the oil patch), with similar numbers reported in 2012. Explosives are used in mining to break and remove rock so that raw materials can be won from the earth to support our civilization. Everything from coal (to fuel our power stat ions), to copper (to transmit electricity), to gold and rare earth metals (for high-tech electronic products) is taken from the ground, using over 6 billion lb of explosives each year in the United States alone

Predicting Urban Accident Rates from Road and Traffic Characteristics

Traffic accidents can be considered to be the result of hazards resulting from a combination of three kinds of variables: those associated with the road, those concerned with the surrounding traffic, and those involved in the maneuver being carried out by the driver. Because of the complexity and number of relationships possible, accident rates vary widely between locations. The research described here attempted to provide a starting point for more disaggregate prediction of traffic accident rates in urban areas