Search results

This study aims to investigate the service performances of a new full-section asphalt concrete waterproof sealing structure (FSACWSS) for the high-speed railway subgrade through on-site tracking, monitoring and post-construction investigation.

Based on the working state of the waterproof sealing structure, the main functional characteristics were analyzed, and a kind of roller-compacted high elastic modulus asphalt concrete (HEMAC) was designed and evaluated by several groups of laboratory tests. It is applied to an engineering test section, and the long-term performance monitoring and subgrade dynamic performance testing system were installed to track and monitor working performances of the test section and the adjacent contrast section with fiber-reinforced concrete.

Results show that both the dynamic performance of the track structure and the subgrade in the test section meet the requirements of the specification limits. The water content in the subgrade of the test section is maintained at 8–18%, which is less affected by the weather. However, the water content in the subgrade bed of the contrast section is 10–35%, which fluctuates significantly with the weather. The heat absorption effect of asphalt concrete in the test section makes the temperature of the subgrade at the shoulder larger than that in the contrastive section. The monitoring value of the subgrade vertical deformation in the test section is slightly larger than that in the contrastive section, but all of them meet the limit requirements. The asphalt concrete in the test section is in good contact with the base, and there are no diseases such as looseness or spalling. Only a number of cracks are found at the joints of the base plates. However, there are more longitudinal and lateral cracks in the contrastive section, which seriously affects the waterproof and sealing effects. Besides, the asphalt concrete is easier to repair, featuring good maintainability.

This research can provide a basis for popularization and application of the asphalt concrete waterproof sealing structure in high-speed railways.

The estimation of market value of intangible benefits of afforestation has always been a challenging task, and the contingent valuation method is a popular method used in environmental assessment. The NTPC set up a coal-based power plant in Korba, India and planted 1.6 million trees on 19% of the project area.

The individual's mean and median willingness to pay (WTP) for four intangible benefits, namely, pollution control (PC), improvement in underground water level (IUGWL), soil conservation and remediation (SCR) in addition to total WTP from the afforestation program of NTPC were estimated using a customized procedure for logit model based upon respondent's age, education, occupation, income and bid amount asked to pay. Stratified multistage random sampling has been used to select the respondents.

The procedure increases the number of respondents who are willing to pay as compared to conventional CVM. The finding of the study shows that the highest WTP was observed for PC (Rs. 462.84 per month per household) followed by SCR and IUGWL, whereas for total WTP it was Rs. 972.60.

The proposed customized procedure and the results thereof would be useful in improving the WTP estimates for other similar studies in order to conserve the environment.

For the purpose of reducing the incidence of hazardous materials transport accident, eliminating the potential threats and ensuring their safety, aiming at the shortcomings in the process of current hazardous materials transportation management, this paper aims to construct the framework of hazardous materials transportation safety management system under the vehicle-infrastructure connected environment.

The system takes the intelligent connected vehicle as the main supporter, integrating GIS, GPS, eye location, GSM, networks and database technology.

By analyzing the transportation characteristics of hazardous materials, this system consists of five subsystems, which are vehicle and driver management subsystem, dangerous sources and hazardous materials management subsystem, route analysis and optimization subsystem, early warning and emergency rescue management subsystem, and basic information query subsystem.

Hazardous materials transportation safety management system includes omnibearing real-time monitoring, timely updating of system database, real-time generation and optimization of emergency rescue route. The system can reduce the transportation cost and improve the ability of accident prevention and emergency rescue of hazardous materials.

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of an integrated intervention program for alcoholism (IIPA) for improving verbal encoding and memory, visuospatial construction, visual memory and quality of life (QoL) in persons with alcohol dependence.

The sample comprised treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent persons (n = 50), allotted into two groups: (1) the treatment as usual (TAU) group (n = 25) and (2) the treatment group (n = 25)]. The groups were matched on age (±1 year) and education (±1 year). The TAU group received standard pharmacological treatment, psychotherapeutic sessions on relapse prevention and yoga for 18 days, while the treatment group received IIPA sessions in addition to the usual treatment. Auditory verbal learning test, complex figure test and QoL scale were administered at pre- and post-treatment along with screening measures.

The two groups were comparable on demographic variables, clinical characteristics and outcome measures at baseline. Pre- to post-treatment changes (gain scores) comparison between the treatment and TAU groups revealed a significant difference in verbal encoding, verbal and visual memory, verbal recognition, visuospatial construction and QoL.

This study suggests that IIPA is effective for improving learning and memory in both modality (verbal and visual) and QoL in persons with alcoholism. The IIPA may help in better treatment recovery.

The IIPA may help in treatment for alcoholism and may enhance treatment efficacy.

IIPA is effective for improving learning and memory in both modalities and QoL in persons with alcohol dependence. The IIPA may help in better treatment recovery.

This study aims to introduce the DoraHand, and the basic capability and performance have been verified in this paper. Besides the idea of sharing modular design and sensor design, the authors want to deliver an affordable and practical dexterous hand to the research area to contribute to the robotic manipulation area.

This paper introduced the DoraHand, a novel scalable and practical modular dexterous hand, which, adopting modular finger and palm design, fully actuated joint and tactile sensors, can improve the dexterity for robotic manipulation and lower the complexity of maintenance. A series of experiments are delivered to verify the performance of the hand and sensor module.

The parameters of the DoraHand are verified and suitable for the research of robotics manipulation area, the sensing capability has been tested with the static experiment and the slip prediction algorithm. And, the advantage of modular design and extensible interface have been verified by the real application.

The authors continue improving the DoraHand and extend it to more different applications. The authors want to make the DoraHand as a basic research platform in the robotic manipulation area.

The DoraHand has been sent to more than ten different research institutes for different research applications. The authors continue working on this hand for better performance, easier usage and more affordability.

This kind of dexterous hand can help researchers get rid of complex physical issues and pay more attention to the algorithm part; it can help to make robotic manipulation work more popular.

The key design in the DoraHand is the modular finger and sensing module. With the special design in mechanical and electrical parts, the authors build reliable hardware and can support the diversity requirement in the robotic manipulation area. The hand with tactile sensing capability can be used in more research and applications with its extensibility.