Ex-ante assessment of the safety effects of intelligent transport systems

There is a need to develop a comprehensive framework for the safety assessment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This framework should: (1) cover all three dimensions of road safety—exposure, crash risk and consequence, (2) cover, in addition to the engineering effect, also the effects due to behavioural adaptation and (3) be compatible with the other aspects of state of the art road safety theories. A framework based on nine ITS safety mechanisms is proposed and discussed with regard to the requirements set to the framework. In order to illustrate the application of the framework in practice, the paper presents a method based on the framework and the results from applying that method for twelve intelligent vehicle systems in Europe. The framework is also compared to two recent frameworks applied in the safety assessment of intelligent vehicle safety systems.     

Framework for Sustainable Food Packaging Design

The environmental impacts of packages have been found to be relatively small compared with the food items they contain. Furthermore, from the environmental and operational point of view, the most significant task of the package is to protect the product, which is important to acknowledge in the packaging design process. This study introduces a guiding framework for designing sustainable food packaging. In this approach, the entire life cycle of the product–package combination is taken into consideration. The emphasis is on the prevention of food losses in packaging design as a major environmental criterion. Consideration of the properties of both the package and the product itself when designing the final package will lead to a better end result with smaller product losses and environmental impacts. By using different assessment methods in the different stages of the packaging design, the sustainability of the package can be enhanced. The decision making of the packaging designer is facilitated with methods that are introduced step by step and in a certain order that will also allow for corrective measures through back‐loops in the design process. The purpose is to integrate sustainability aspects at all stages firmly into the design process. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supporting driver headway choice: The effects of discrete headway feedback when following headway instructions

With specific headway instructions drivers are not able to attain the exact headways as instructed. In this study, the effects of discrete headway feedback (and the direction of headway adjustment) on headway accuracy for drivers carrying out time headway instructions were assessed experimentally. Two groups of each 10 participants (one receiving headway feedback; one control) carried out headway instructions in a driving simulator; increasing and decreasing their headway to a target headway of 2 s at speeds of 50, 80, and 100 km/h. The difference between the instructed and chosen headway was a measure for headway accuracy. The feedback group heard a sound signal at the moment that they crossed the distance of the instructed headway. Unsupported participants showed no significant difference in headway accuracy when increasing or decreasing headways. Discrete headway feedback had varying effects on headway choice accuracy. When participants decreased their headway, feedback led to higher accuracy. When increasing their headway, feedback led to a lower accuracy, compared to no headway feedback. Support did not affect driver's performance in maintaining the chosen headway. The present results suggest that (a) in its current form discrete headway feedback is not sufficient to improve the overall accuracy of chosen headways when carrying out headway instructions; (b) the effect of discrete headway feedback depends on the direction of headway adjustment.     

Generation of urban road dust from anti-skid and asphalt concrete aggregates

Road dust forms an important component of airborne particulate matter in urban areas. In many winter cities the use of anti-skid aggregates and studded tires enhance the generation of mineral particles. The abrasion particles dominate the PM10 during springtime when the material deposited in snow is resuspended. This paper summarizes the results from three test series performed in a test facility to assess the factors that affect the generation of abrasion components of road dust. Concentrations, mass size distribution and composition of the particles were studied. Over 90% of the particles were aluminosilicates from either anti-skid or asphalt concrete aggregates. Mineral particles were observed mainly in the PM10 fraction, the fine fraction being 12% and submicron size being 6% of PM10 mass. The PM10 concentrations increased as a function of the amount of anti-skid aggregate dispersed. The use of anti-skid aggregate increased substantially the amount of PM10 originated from the asphalt concrete. It was concluded that anti-skid aggregate grains contribute to pavement wear. The particle size distribution of the anti-skid aggregates had great impact on PM10 emissions which were additionally enhanced by studded tires, modal composition, and texture of anti-skid aggregates. The results emphasize the interaction of tires, anti-skid aggregate, and asphalt concrete pavement in the production of dust emissions. They all must be taken into account when measures to reduce road dust are considered. The winter maintenance and springtime cleaning must be performed properly with methods which are efficient in reducing PM10 dust.     

Specifying Cash-Point with DisCo

We describe how the cash-point service problem of Formal Methods ’99 is specified using DisCo [Dis, JKS91]. Received January 2000 / Accepted in revised form December 2000     

Potentiometrische Titration des Gesamts?uregehaltes von Weinen und Lik?ren

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine potentiometrische Methode für die Bestimmung des Gesamtsäuregehaltes der Weine und Liköre beschrieben und auf Grund experimenteller Versuche der Einfluß verschiedener Faktoren auf die Resultate diskutiért.     

A probiotic, Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3, has antioxidative capacity in soft cheese spreads with different fats

Our aim was to develop a prototype of a functional spread cheese containing both a specific probiotic and n-3 fatty acids and to analyze the viability of the probiotic and stability of n-3 fatty acids during 4 wk of shelf life. Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 (Lf ME-3) isolated from a healthy Estonian child has been shown to have probiotic and antioxidative properties in several recent studies. In the current study this promising bacterial strain was combined with vegetable oils rich in nutritionally important α-linolenic acid and with unflavored cheese to obtain soft cheese spreads with different fat contents. Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 survived well in all cheeses although the viable count did not increase during 4 wk of storage. The fatty acid composition of cheese triacylglycerols remained stable, whereas the profile of volatile compounds changed: hexanal and pentanal disappeared and the proportion of some alcohols increased. The changes in the profile of volatile compounds show the reductive power of Lf ME-3. A functional spread cheese containing n-3 fatty acids can be prepared with the probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 strain leading to a reduced need for chemical anti-oxidants.     

Volatile compounds of Baltic herring analysed by dynamic headspace sampling–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

European Food Research and Technology - The effect of storage time at 6&;nbsp;°C on the volatile compounds of Baltic herring was studied using the dynamic headspace–gas...     

Comparison of the characteristics of bottom ash and fly ash from a medium-size (32 MW) municipal district heating plant incinerating forest residues and peat in a fluidized-bed boiler

In this study, the physical and chemical properties of bottom ash and fly ash originating from the co-combustion of biomass-derived fuels (i.e. wood chips, sawdust, bark, and peat) from a 32 MW fluidized bed boiler at a municipal district heating plant were investigated. Silicate minerals were predominant in the bottom ash and calcium minerals in the fly ash, with most of the inorganic nutrients and heavy metals being enriched in the fly ash. The enrichment factors for heavy metals in the fly ash varied between 0.2 for silicon and 16.3 for lead, and for plant nutrients, between 1.5 for phosphorous and 108 for potassium. However, all heavy metal concentrations in both the bottom ash and fly ash were significantly lower than the current Finnish limit for maximum allowable heavy metal concentrations for forest fertilizers, which came into force in March 2007. According to the particle size distribution, the mass loadings of heavy metals in the fly ash were more than 90% contributed by the smallest particle size fraction lower than 0.074 mm. In the bottom ash, between 83.6 and 91.9% of the mass loadings of heavy metals were contributed by the particle size fraction between 0.5 and 2.0 mm.     

Testing activity‐based costing to large‐scale combined heat and power plant using bioenergy

This paper deals with the energy production and economics of a large‐scale biomass‐based combined heat and power (CHP) plant. An activity‐based costing model was developed for estimating the production costs of the heat and power of the bio‐CHP. A 100 MW plant (58 MW heat, 29 MW electricity) was used as reference. The production process was divided into four stages: fuel handling, fluidized bed boiler, turbine plant, and flue gas cleaning. The boiler accounted for close to 50% of the production costs. The interest rates and the utilization rate of the CHP had a significant effect on the profitability. We found that below 4000–4500 h per year utilization, the electricity production turned unprofitable. However, the heat production remained profitable with high interest rate (10%) and a low utilization rate (4000 h). The profitability also depended on the type of biomass used. We found that, e.g. with moderate interest rates and high utilization rate of the plant, the bio‐CHP plant could afford wood and Reed canary grass as fuel sources. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.