Cycling risks communication using Web-GIS: different visualisation techniques and their effectiveness

Scottish Government has been committed for many years to encouraging cycling as main private means of transport, in 2008 1% of all Scottish travel were made by bicycle, the vision is to increase this rate to 10% by 2020. In 2012, 2% of travels between 3 and 5 km in Scotland were made by bicycle, the goal is actually far but in the meantime we are noticing that cycling has become more and more popular in daily commute, especially in urban environments where its rapid growth has usually been associated with safety problems. In Scotland and UK between 2011 and 2012 the number of people injured in accidents involving bicycles has raised. Reducing casualties is therefore a primary objective sought by public institutions at any levels. I will explore innovative visualisation techniques and I will elaborate a safe route planner able avoid critical areas where cycling accidents tend to cluster. Bicycles collisions data from 2005-2012 are provided by Department for Transport. A safe route choice model will make use of information derived from this dataset to optimise a least cost path algorithm for the route planner. Effectiveness of the route planner will be tested to assess the risk reduction and to evaluate how conceived risk communication techniques succeed at generating awareness in experienced and non-experienced cyclists. The first test will actually highlight the success of the model while users will responses will vary according to their cycling experience. The research will fill gaps regarding cyclist aimed web-GIS services and at the same time will point out how the communication and perception of risk might be taken into account for further research

Analysis of the thermal comfort in cycling athletes

Abstract This research presents a detailed analysis of thermal comfort in road cycling athletes. The data have been collected during experimental road test in prevision of the UCI Road World Championship 2013 (Florence-Tuscany, Italy), considering the different technical situations and the different environmental conditions expected as the most probable for the race's period. The analysis presented in this work is based on the in-situ measurements of both environmental and physiological parameters (i.e.: air temperature, relative humidity, true wind velocity, apparent wind velocity, skin temperature, clothing temperature, heat transfer resistance of the clothing, internal heat production) made over different athletes in different race conditions. The recorded data have been used as input for the model "RayMan" [1] , [2] for the assessment of the thermal comfort using thermal indices such as Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET). It should be noted that the apparent wind velocity, which is a fundamental parameter in this kind of analysis but often disregarded, is evaluated in relationship with the movement and the effort made by the cyclist. The results obtained by the comparison of the PET and PMV indices with the measured skin temperature confirm the importance of considering the variation of environmental parameters in both training and strategy assessment and provide a working method which is believed to be innovative for the applied sport research

The “Projection-by-Projection” (PbP) criterion for multiaxial random fatigue loadings: Guidelines to practical implementation

This work is motivated by the increasing interest towards the application of the “Projection-by-Projection” (PbP) spectral method in finite element (FE) analysis of components under multiaxial random loadings. To help users and engineers in developing their software routines, this paper presents a set of numerical case studies to be used as a guideline to implement the PbP method. The sequence of analysis steps in the method are first summarized and explained. A first numerical example is then illustrated, in which various types of biaxial random stress are applied to three materials with different tension/torsion fatigue properties. Results of each analysis step are displayed explicitly to allow a plain understanding of how the PbP method works. The examples are chosen with the purpose to show the capability of the method to take into account the effect of correlation degree among stress components, and the relationship between material and multiaxial stress in relation to the tension/torsion fatigue properties. A case study is finally discussed, in which the method is applied to a FE structural durability analysis of a simple structure subjected to random excitations. The example describes the flowchart and the program by which to implement the method through Ansys APDL software. This final example illustrates how the PbP method is an efficient tool to analyze multiaxial random stresses in complex structures

Analysis of navigation pattern in the sport of rowing

The effect of weather and environmental conditions on sports has been extensively studied over the last few years (Pezzoli et al., 2010). Based upon the studies of Lobozewicz (1981) and of Kay and Vamplew (2002), Pezzoli and Cristofori (2008) have studied the impact of some specific environmental parameters over different sports using a particular impact index divided into five classes. This analysis clearly shows that most of the outdoor sport activities are strongly influenced by the variation of meteorological parameters. However the impact of meteorological conditions on outdoor sport activities has not yet been extensively studied. The aim of this research is to show that an accurate assessment of wind and wave parameters enables decisive improvements in both training and race strategy planning. Furthermore this analysis provide a very innovative working method for the applied sport research. The work has been based on in-situ measurements of both environmental and performance parameters (wind direction, wind velocity, boat speed and stroke rate) made over different classes and in different race conditions during the 2009 FISA World Championship (Poznan, Poland). In particular a detailed environmental analysis was performed by measuring the wind direction, the wind speed and by evaluating the significant wave height and the wave peak period for each class during the semi-final phase and the final phase. It should be noted that, since wind is a key parameter affecting not only the boat speed but also the race strategy, the assessment of the wind velocity and of the wind direction has been made in connection with the boat movement. The comparison between coupled wind-wave data, boat speed and stroke rate evidently demonstrates that only crews that managed the adaption to changing in the environmental conditions from semi-final to final phase of the race, were able to get better results. References Kay, J., & Vamplew, W. (2002) Weather beaten: sport in the British climate. London: Ed. Mainstream Publishing. Lobozewicz, T. (1981) Meteorology in sport. Frankfurt: Ed. Sportverlag. Pezzoli, A,, Moncalero, M., Boscolo, A., Cristofori, E., Giacometto, F., Gastaldi, S., & Vercelli, G. (2010) The meteo-hydrological analysis and the sport performance: which are the connections? The case of the XXI Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010, Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 50: 19-20. Pezzoli, A., & Cristofori, E. (2008) Analisi, previsioni e misure meteorologiche applicate agli sport equestri, in: 10th Congress "New findings in equine practices, Druento: Centro Internazionale del Cavallo Ed., p.38-4

Il confine orientale d’Italia: realtà antiche e contemporanee a confronto. Un’introduzione

In this brief introduction, the three organisers of the conference The eastern border of Italy from Roman times to the Treaty of Osimo, between reality and ideology, which was held in Bologna on 5th November 2021, explain the reasons for the scientific meeting and identify some guidelines for interpreting the historical problem of Italy’s north-eastern border, with particular reference to the topics touched upon by the papers presented at the conference and published here

The meteo-hydrological analysis and the sport performance: which are the connections? The case of the XXI Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010

The main goal of this research is to show how the climatological and meteorological analysis, relatively to a determinate geographical zone and with reference to a specific period of interest, are able be used in sport area for the amelioration of the athlete’s performance

The meteo-hydrological analysis and the sport performance: which are the connections? The case of the XXI Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010

The main goal of this research is to show how the climatological and meteorological analysis, relatively to a determinate geographical zone and with reference to a specific period of interest, are able be used in sport area for the amelioration of the athlete's performanc