Road safety in a globalised and more sustainable world: Current issues and future challenges

Although many countries have had considerable success in reducing traffic injuries over recent decades, there are still some fundamental problems in this area. At the same time, there is increasing focus on road safety research and policy development in the context of globalisation, sustainability, liveability and health. This special section presents a selection of papers that were presented at the annual ICTCT workshop held on the 8th and 9th of November 2012 in Hasselt, Belgium, and accepted for publication in Accident Analysis and Prevention following the journal's reviewing procedure. The aim of the ICTCT workshop was to analyse road safety facts, data and visions for the future in the wider context of current issues and future challenges in road safety.     

Performance analysis of the IEEE 802.16e sleep mode for correlated downlink traffic

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the IEEE 802.16e sleep mode mechanism in wireless access networks. This mechanism reduces the energy consumption of a mobile station (MS) by allowing it to turn off its radio interface (sleep mode) when there is no traffic present at its serving base station (BS). After a sleep period expires, the MS briefly checks the BS for data packets and switches off for the duration of another sleep period if none are available. Specifically for IEEE 802.16e, each additional sleep period doubles in length, up to a certain maximum. Clearly, the sleep mode mechanism can extend the battery life of the MS considerably, but also increases the delay at the BS buffer. For the performance analysis, we use a discrete-time queueing model with general service times and multiple server vacations. The vacations represent the sleep periods and have a length depending on the number of preceding vacations. Unlike previous studies, we take the (short-range) traffic correlation into account by assuming a D-BMAP arrival process, i.e. the distribution of the number of packet arrivals per slot is modulated by the transitions in a Markov chain with N background states. As results, we obtain the distribution of the number of packets in the queue at various sets of time epochs, the distribution of the packet delay and the antenna activity rate. We apply these results to the IEEE 802.16e sleep mode mechanism with correlated downlink traffic. By means of some examples, we show the influence of both the configuration parameters and the traffic correlation on the delay and the energy consumption.     

An analytic study of a scalable video buffer

In this contribution, we investigate the performance of the output buffer of an ‘on-demand’ video streaming server. The server maintains a local database of stored video clips and movies which can be streamed to the users upon request. We assume that the stored video is encoded in a scalable way, which means that the data streams contain a base layer ensuring a minimum of guaranteed quality and a stack of additional enhancement layers progressively improving the quality of the video. For the purpose of performance analysis, we assume that a video stream is split up in logical units called frames. Every frame consists of a number of packets, each containing information of one layer only. When the output buffer gets congested, one may choose to drop the transmission of some of the layers in a frame, thus reducing the frame transmission time and expediting the restoration of the buffer size to normal levels. A discrete-time finite capacity queueing model with buffer size dependent transmission times is proposed. Using a probability generating function approach, we focus on the characteristics of idle and busy periods. We obtain performance measures such as the frame loss ratio and the average frame transmission time. The latter measure relates to the quality of the video stream. We conclude with some numerical examples, including a realistic case study.     

Effect of oxygen availability and pH on the furan concentration formed during thermal preservation of plant-based foods

Thermally treated fruit- and vegetable-based foods are important contributors to the furan exposure of children and adults. Furan reduction by adding or removing precursors from the product has proven to be challenging because of major food constituents and interactions involved in the reaction pathways leading to furan formation. Instead of intervening at the precursor level, it might be more feasible to influence these formation pathways by adjusting the matrix properties of the product. As opposed to many previous literature sources, the present study investigated the effects of oxygen availability (normal versus reduced) and pH (acid versus low acid) on the furan formation in a real food system. Different combinations of both matrix properties were prepared in a reconstituted potato purée and subjected to a thermal treatment with a pasteurisation or sterilisation intensity. Irrespective of the addition of the furan precursors ascorbic acid, fructose and fatty acids, a considerable furan reduction was observed for the sterilised purées (F₁₂₁¹⁰ = 15 min) with either a reduced oxygen availability (0.1–1.8 mg l^–1) or at pH 3. The effects of both matrix properties were less pronounced in the pasteurised purées (P₉₀¹⁰ = 10 min), because of the lower furan concentrations. Even though the mechanisms of furan reduction for both types of matrix properties could not be fully elucidated, the results showed that lowering the oxygen concentration or pH prior to thermal processing offers a powerful, additional strategy for furan mitigation in thermally treated plant-based foods.     

Stimulus Generalization in Two Associative Learning Processes.

Recent studies involving nonlinear discrimination problems suggest that stimuli in human associative learning are represented configurally with nairow generalization, such that presentation of stimuli that are even slightly dissimilar to stored configurations weakly activate these configurations. The authors note that another well-known set of findings in human associative learning, cue-interaction phenomena, suggest relatively broad generalization. Three experiments show that current models of human associative learning, which try to model both nonlinear discrimination and cue interaction as the result of 1 process, fail because they cannot simultaneously account for narrow and broad generalization. Results suggest that human associative learning involves (a) an exemplar-based process with configural stimulus representation and narrow generalization and (b) an adaptive learning process characterized by broad generalization and cue interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the stability of almost parallel boundary layer flows

The spatial stability of a two-dimensional boundary-layer flow along a flat plate, including its non-parallel character, is determined by means of a multiple scale approximation. This leads to inhomogeneous Orr-Sommerfeld equations for the corrections due to the non-parallel effect. These equations have been solved by the method of order reduction. A neutral curves of total amplifications have been calculated based on the kinetic energy of the disturbance. The non-parallel effect decreasesthe stability.     

Concrete Slabs Reinforced with FRP Grids. I: One-Way Bending

Currently, considerable interest exists in the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement for concrete structures. Due to the generally lower modulus of elasticity of FRP in comparison with steel and the linear behavior of FRP, certain aspects of the structural behavior of RC members reinforced with FRP may be substantially different from similar elements reinforced with steel reinforcement. In this two-part paper the use of different types of FRP grid reinforcement for concrete slabs is investigated, presenting detailed experimental and analytical work. In the first part, the structural behavior in one-way bending is considered. This paper shows which structural measures are needed to ensure acceptable serviceability behavior. The presented analysis and discussion of test results covers the ultimate state and the ultimate limit state for bending, serviceability limit states, ductility, deformability, and ultimate to service load ratio.     

Polyamide nanofiber membranes functionalized with zinc phthalocyanines

Electrospinning is an efficient method for the production of polyamide nanofiber membranes that are suitable for water filtration. Previous studies have shown that nanofiber membranes have high clean water permeability. The pathogen removal efficiency can be improved by functionalization with (organic) biocides. However, these membranes, like other membranes, are vulnerable to fouling which reduces the filtration efficiency. Therefore the present article investigates the potential of zinc phthalocyanines, which can produce singlet oxygen in the presence of visible light, as a functionalizing agent. The polyamide nanofiber membranes were functionalized with phthalocyanines using both a pre‐functionalizing and post‐functionalizing method. Only the post‐functionalization method shows to result in nanofiber membranes capable of producing singlet oxygen. After 30 min 45% of 1,2‐diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF), used as an oxygen quencher, was removed by reaction with singlet oxygen. This resulted in a removal rate of 0.33 mol DBPF mol^?1Zn min^?1. During short term leaching tests, phthalocyanines could not be detected. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40486.     

An experimental and kinetic modeling study of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran flames

Clean combustion processes are of paramount importance in the transition of the energy system towards increased sustainability. In an attempt to partially replace conventional fossil fuels, bio-derived oxygenates attract rising attention as alternative transportation fuels. Among this class of fuels, cyclic structures that can be derived from cellulosic biomass are particularly interesting. Here we present a study of premixed, laminar low-pressure flames of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MTHF) with an equivalence ratio of ? = 1.7 at 40 mbar. Time-of-flight molecular-beam mass spectrometry (MBMS) with electron ionization (EI) was used to analyze and quantify mole fraction profiles of reactants, products, and most intermediate species including radicals involved in the combustion process. As a valuable complement, MBMS using single-photon ionization (PI) by vacuum ultraviolet radiation permitted isomer identification as well as independent concentration information under similar flame conditions. A detailed combustion model for 2-MTHF was developed, and the flame structure and species information were examined in conjunction with these experiments.     

Losing the watershed focus: a look at complex community-managed irrigation systems in Bolivia

Water policies tend to misrecognize the complexity of community-managed irrigation systems. This paper focuses on water allocation practices in peasant communities of the Bolivian interandean valleys. These communities manage complex irrigation systems, and tap water from several surface sources, many of them located outside the watershed boundaries, resulting in complex hydro-social networks. Historical claims, organizational capacity, resources availability, and geographical position and infrastructure are identified as the main factors influencing current water allocation. Examining the historical background and context-based conceptualizations of space, place and water system development are crucial to understanding local management practices and to improving water policies.