Cost-effective Countermeasures Research Articles

Investigating safety and cost-effectiveness of cable median barriers in Louisiana

Objectives Cable median barriers (CMBs) are installed on freeway medians to prevent cross-median crashes and reduce the severity of median-related crashes. Though CMBs are effective in preventing cross-median crashes, they are also known to increase the number of property damage–only (PDO) crashes. The higher frequency of PDO crashes could result in increased CMB maintenance and repair expenses. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety impact and economic justification of CMBs in Louisiana. Methods Initially, a flowchart was developed using Louisiana crash data to identify targeted crashes, such as median-related and cross-median crashes. This was followed by a 3-year observational before-and-after crash analysis with an emphasis on head-on collisions and crashes involving large trucks. Using a 4-step improved prediction method, crash modification factors were then developed to quantitatively assess the impact of CMBs on crash outcomes, accounting for and adjusting to changes in the annual average daily traffic (AADT) and relevant crash frequencies before and after CMB implementation. Finally, an exhaustive benefit–cost analysis was conducted to determine the cost-effectiveness of CMBs. Results The results revealed that CMBs significantly reduced cross-median crashes of all severities. However, an increase in PDO crashes was observed in both total and median-related crashes. Large truck cross-median crashes and head-on collisions also decreased significantly after CMB implementation. Testing Level 4 (TL-4) CMBs were found to be more effective in preventing vehicles from crossing the median and in reducing crashes of higher severity levels. The benefit–cost ratios, calculated using economic crash unit costs for both total and targeted crashes, were greater than 1. Notably, the estimated benefit–cost ratios were considerably higher, demonstrating that CMBs are cost-effective countermeasures for enhancing traffic safety. Conclusion This study contributes to the understanding of CMB performance from both traffic safety and economic perspectives. The findings may assist transportation agencies in making decisions regarding the management of CMB systems. Based on the comprehensive analysis of CMBs on Louisiana freeways, this project has revealed that CMBs are an effective and economically justified crash countermeasure. Thus, further implementation of CMBs is recommended until better alternatives are available.

Prediction of mechanical response of hexagonal honeycomb SPS blast wall under explosive loading: In-depth review and empirical formula

Despite comprehensive prevention strategies, offshore operations consistently grapple with health, safety, and environmental (HSE) challenges. Though explosions on offshore structures are rare, their devastating impact cannot be understated. Blast walls, functioning as pivotal passive barriers, play a crucial role in protecting the topsides of these structures by dissipating explosive energy. Sandwich panel structures (SPS), with their lightweight attributes, enhanced bending rigidity and exceptional energy absorption, are a cost-effective countermeasure. This study introduces a groundbreaking design guideline, anchored in the LS-Dyna nonlinear finite-element method (NLFEM), tailored for hexagonal SPS offshore blast walls under explosive strains. Our rigorous numerical simulations, encompassing 450 varied scenarios, meticulously evaluated an array of geometric configurations and explosive strengths (spanning from 1 kg to 3 kg of TNT). From these simulations, crucial parameters affecting maximum mid-span plate deflection were discerned. In addition to these simulations, our research offers in-depth technical reviews, shedding light on the nuances of the subject. An empirical formula was subsequently formulated to anticipate this deflection, corroborating its efficacy by FE simulation outcomes. This work provides invaluable guidance for refining early-stage offshore blast wall design.

Who Watches the Watchers: Attacking Glitch Detection Circuits

Over the last decades, fault injection attacks have been demonstrated to be an effective method for breaking the security of electronic devices. Some types of fault injection attacks, like clock and voltage glitching, require very few resources by the attacker and are practical and simple to execute. A cost-effective countermeasure against these attacks is the use of a detector circuit which detects timing violations - the underlying effect that glitch attacks rely on. In this paper, we take a closer look at three examples of such detectors that have been presented in the literature. We demonstrate four high-speed clock glitching attacks, which successfully inject faults in systems, where detectors have been implemented to protect. The attacks remain unnoticed by the glitch detectors. We verify our attacks with practical experiments on FPGA.

Potential Health Benefit of NO2 Abatement in China's Urban Areas: Inspirations for Source-specific Pollution Control Strategy

Potential Health Benefit of NO2 Abatement in China's Urban Areas: Inspirations for Source-specific Pollution Control Strategy

Use of UAS for damage inspection and assessment of bridge infrastructures

The present work focuses on the use of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), commonly known as drones, for the inspection and assessment of bridge infrastructures. Recent events, in Italy and abroad, have not only brought into question infrastructure behaviour but also reminded that many ordinarily used bridges and viaducts are reaching the end of their design service life. Lack of appropriate maintenance and monitoring could worsen the situation in many circumstances, further calling for cost-effective countermeasures and tools. With this in mind, a comprehensive UAS-based methodology for the inspection and damage assessment of bridges is proposed. Such approach is applicable not only in the aftermath of a disaster (e.g., after a seismic event) but also routinely, to support disaster risk reduction strategies towards resilient bridge infrastructures. In addition to routine inspections, fast UAS-based evaluation procedures of the extent and severity of damage are described with the objectives to determine whether the transportation infrastructure systems are safe and suitable to use or reopen. Thanks to aerial data acquired by means of remote-controlled multirotor UASs equipped with high-resolution cameras, data processing in the form of a 3D virtual model, as an example, allows useful virtual inspections and provides key input information to structural/numerical modelling and analysis, the latter being part of any quantitative risk analysis and loss assessment framework. The abovementioned aspects of the methodology are examined in detail with the support of in-situ applications and corresponding results meant to showcase lessons learnt and issues still open.

A sensitive visual method for onsite detection of quarantine pathogenic bacteria from horticultural crops using an LbCas12a variant system

Pre-planting testing of seeds and plantlets for the existence of quarantine pathogens is an important phytosanitary measure. The CRISPR-mediated molecular diagnostic methodologies are being developed for pathogens detection, but many challenges remain. Here, we profiled an engineered Crispr/LbCas12a variant (LbCas12a-5M) that has more robust trans-cleavage activity and a wider PAM sequences (TNTN) preference than wild type. We developed a procedure for screening specific sequences of bacterial plant pathogens, and the designed species-specific crRNA displayed no cross-reactions with other bacterial species. Combined with a simple extraction of bacterial DNA, an LbCas12a-5M-based visual detection technique was established and optimized for detecting quarantine pathogens Erwinia amylovora and Acidovorax citrulli with detection limits up to 40 CFU/reaction and a sensitivity consistent with qPCR assay. This protocol was faster and simpler than qPCR, requiring 40 min or less from sample preparation. We further validated the potential application of the method by showing that it can be used for rapid and accurate diagnosis of A. citrulli on seeds of watermelon, with 100% agreement with the results of qPCR assay. The developed method simplifies the detection of pathogens and provides cost-effective countermeasures to quarantine interventions.

Eavesdropping Vulnerability and Countermeasure in Infrared Communication for IoT Devices.

Infrared (IR) communication is one of the wireless communication methods mainly used to manipulate consumer electronics devices. Traditional IR devices support only simple operations such as changing TV channels. These days, consumer electronic devices such as smart TV are connected to the internet with the introduction of IoT. Thus, the user’s sensitive information such as credit card number and/or personal information could be entered with the IR remote. This situation raises a new problem. Since TV and the set-top box are visual media, these devices can be used to control and/or monitor other IoT devices at home. Therefore, personal information can be exposed to eavesdroppers. In this paper, we experimented with the IR devices’ reception sensitivity using remotes. These experiments were performed to measure the IR reception sensitivity in terms of distance and position between the device and the remote. According to our experiments, the transmission distance of the IR remote signal is more than 20 m. The experiments also revealed that curtains do not block infrared rays. Consequently, eavesdropping is possible to steal the user’s sensitive information. This paper proposes a simple, practical, and cost-effective countermeasure against eavesdropping, which does not impose any burden on users. Basically, encryption is used to prevent the eavesdropping. The encryption key is created by recycling a timer inside the microcontroller typically integrated in a remote. The key is regenerated whenever the power button on a remote is pressed, providing the limited lifecycle of the key. The evaluation indicates that the XOR-based encryption is practical and effective in terms of the processing time and cost.

Multiepitope Fusion Antigen: MEFA, an Epitope- and Structure-Based Vaccinology Platform for Multivalent Vaccine Development.

Vaccines are regarded as the most cost-effective countermeasure against infectious diseases. One challenge often affecting vaccine development is antigenic diversity or pathogen heterogeneity. Different strains produce immunologically heterogeneous virulence factors, therefore an effective vaccine needs to induce broad-spectrum host immunity to provide cross-protection. Recent advances in genomics and proteomics, particularly computational biology and structural biology, establishes structural vaccinology and highlights the feasibility of developing effective and precision vaccines. Here, we introduce the epitope- and structure-based vaccinology platform multiepitope-fusion-antigen (MEFA), and provide instructions to generate polyvalent MEFA immunogens for vaccine development. Conceptually, MEFA combines epitope vaccinology and structural vaccinology to enable a protein immunogen to present heterogeneous antigenic domains (epitopes) and to induce broadly protective immunity against different virulence factors, strains or diseases. Methodologically, the MEFA platform first identifies a safe, structurally stable and strongly immunogenic backbone protein and immunodominant (ideally neutralizing or protective) epitopes from heterogeneous strains or virulence factors of interest. Then, assisted with protein modeling and molecule dynamic simulation, MEFA integrates heterogeneous epitopes into a backbone protein via epitope substitution for a polyvalentMEFA protein and mimics epitope native antigenicity. Finally, the MEFA protein is examined for broad immunogenicity in animal immunization, and assessed for potential application for multivalent vaccine development in preclinical studies.

Terrorism Risks and Economic Assessment of Infrastructure Protection against Progressive Collapse

Existing infrastructure has proven to be resilient and robust against car and truck bombings. The impacts of terrorist attacks are often overstated, and the tragic events of 9/11 appear to be more of an aberration than a harbinger of worse to come. A case study describes fatality risks from progressive collapse caused by a large truck bomb, and then assesses probabilistic costs and benefits of design measures mandated by the United States to mitigate against progressive collapse for new federal government buildings. It was found that disproportionate collapse is a rare event, and there have been no fatalities from disproportionate collapse or other structural damage in Western countries in the 20 years since the tragic events of 9/11. Clearly, a specific threat involving a massive and larger than expected vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack can lead to blast-resistant strengthening for buildings to be justified and cost-effective. However, the likelihood of nonspecific threats will need to exceed 2.5×10−4 per building per year for structural strengthening against progressive collapse to be cost-effective. This is equivalent to an average of six VBIED threats against large federal buildings per year, and that the threat involves a VBIED large enough to potentially cause progressive collapse. Policing and intelligence measures to warn or prevent terrorist attacks are likely to be a more cost-effective countermeasure.

A Time Randomization-Based Countermeasure Against the Template Side-Channel Attack

The template attack is one of the most efficient attacks for exploiting the secret key. Template-based attack extracts a model for the behavior of side channel information from a device that is similar to the target device and then uses this model to retrieve the correct key on the target victim device. Until now, many researchers have focused on improving the performance of template attacks, but recently, a few countermeasures have been proposed to protect the design against these attacks. On the other hand, researches show that regular countermeasures against these attacks are costly. Randomized shuffling in the time domain is known as a cost-effective countermeasure against side-channel attacks that are widely used. In this article, we implemented an actual template attack and proposed an efficient countermeasure against it. We focus on the time shifting method against template attack. The results show that template attack is very susceptible to this method. The performance of attack on an AES algorithm is considerably reduced with this method. We reported the analysis results of our countermeasure.The performance of the attack can be determined according to various criteria. One of these criteria is the success rate of the attack. According to these results, template attack will be hardened significantly after the proposed protection such that the grade of the key recovery increases from 1 with 350K traces in unprotected design to 2100 with 700K traces in the protected circuit. This security improvement gains in the cost of about 7% delay overhead.

A Novel Integrated Scheme for Detection and Mitigation of Route Diversion Attack in MANET

With the involvement of Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET) in many upcoming technologies and applications, there is an increasing concern about secure data transmission. Until the last decade, various solutions have evolved to circumvent this threat; however, the security issue is still a more significant threat. The problems studied during the review are usage of Complex Cryptographic Usage, Less Energy Efficient, Fewer studies towards Route Diversion Attack, and Less Emphasis towards Securing Beacon. An analytical method has been used to study these problems. This paper introduces a novel scheme that carries out dual operation viz. i) assessing the link legitimacy for detection of route diversion attack, and ii) cost-effective countermeasures for the same attack. The key findings of proposed study is token generation process when associated with link legitimacy offers more routing security from various ranges of threats. The broader implication of this finding is that proposed system when characterized by lightweight encryption operation, it is capable of excelling better balance between data transmission and security performance unlike existing security solutions in MANET.

A Citywide Location-Allocation Framework for Driver Feedback Signs: Optimizing Safety and Coverage of Vulnerable Road Users

Driver feedback signs (DFSs) are being adopted increasingly by municipalities around the world, as they have been proven to be a cost-effective countermeasure that improves road safety. However, research is still needed on developing a location-allocation framework to determine the optimal implementation strategies for DFS placement. Hence, the main aim of this paper is to formulate a location-allocation optimization problem with the objective of reducing vehicular collisions (ΔC) while enhancing spatial coverage for vulnerable road users and facilities (Cov). Two distinct planning scenarios, namely, an all-new and expansion scenario, were proposed in the framework. It was found that ΔC and Cov can be improved by up to 149.44% and 69.27%, respectively, in the all-new scenario. Two expansion scenarios were done with 10 and 20 additional units into the system. It was found that ΔC can be improved by up to 30.22% and 51.61% for the additional 10 and 20 DFSs, respectively. Likewise, the Cov can be improved by up to 14.64% and 29.27%, respectively. This framework provides decision makers with the freedom to simulate and optimize their DFS network by balancing the needs of the road users, vulnerable facilities, and traffic safety in locating DFSs over an urban road network.

Hydraulic and sorption performances of soil amended with calcium-magnesium composite powder against natural arsenic contamination

Excavated soils and rocks, containing toxic metals and/or metalloids from geogenic sources, are usually generated in huge volumes at construction sites. And the post-excavation leaching of these toxic metals and/or metalloids with low concentrations, but higher than the environmental standards, is a major environmental concern. A sorption layer method was developed as a cost-effective countermeasure for treating and reusing such excavated soils and rocks. The method utilizes a permeable soil layer, with sorption capacity at the bottom of the embankment, to retain the chemicals of concern that have dissolved in the leachate. Clean host soil, amended with toxic metal-immobilizing agents, is often used as the sorption layer material to strengthen the sorption performance. This study examined the feasibility of applying decomposed granite soil, amended with calcium-magnesium (Ca-Mg) composite powder, as the sorption layer material against the natural contamination of arsenic (As). The hydraulic and sorption performances, along with the effect of the mix proportions and curing periods, were evaluated through batch sorption tests, hydraulic conductivity tests, and up-flow column percolation tests. The results showed that the sorption performance increased by 15 times when using an additive content of 5% Ca-Mg and that hydraulic conductivity was maintained at around 1 × 10−6 m/s. Neither the hydraulic nor the sorption performance was strongly affected by curing periods up to 28 days. The sorption performance increased with the addition of the Ca-Mg agent of up to 5% in the batch sorption tests. The permeable hydraulic property, with an improved sorption capacity due to the soil-agent mixture, indicated that it is a promising material for use with the sorption layer method for treating huge amounts of soils with low levels of contamination.

Reconfiguring Urban Undivided Four-Lane Highways to Five-Lane: A Nonideal but Very Effective Solution for Crash Reduction

AbstractAlthough a reconfiguration to three-lane with a left turn lane remains the most prevalent cost-effective countermeasure, some four-lane undivided highway segments in Louisiana have been rec...

Comparison of contributing factors for injury severity of large truck drivers in run-off-road crashes on rural and urban roadways: Accounting for unobserved heterogeneity

Abstract In spite of numerous efforts to quantitatively identify the factors contributing to the injury severity of different crash types in rural and urban settings, the distinction between rural and urban areas regarding the injury severity of run-off-road (ROR) crashes involving large trucks is still not clearly understood. As such, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of area type (i.e., urban vs. rural) on injury severity outcomes sustained by drivers in ROR crashes involving large trucks while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. To do this, the latent class ordered probit models with two classes are developed. The crash data pertaining to ROR crashes involving large trucks in Oregon between 2007 and 2014 were utilized. The estimation results reveal that the developed latent class ordered probit models (for urban and rural areas) are substantially distinct in terms of the contributing factors affect urban and rural ROR crash severities. The results indicate that female drivers and speed limit of 55 mph were associated with moderate injuries (non-incapacitating) in rural roadway ROR crashes while no injury outcome is most likely for crashes occurred in urban roadways with raised medians and on areas with a population density between 10,001 and 25,000. Also, the findings show that some factors increase the risk propensity of sustaining higher injury levels regardless of the land use setting such as crashes on horizontal curves, not wearing seatbelt, and driver fatigue. The findings of this study could benefit trucking industry, transportation agencies, and safety practitioners to prevent or alleviate the injury severity of ROR crashes involving large trucks by developing appropriate and cost-effective countermeasures.

Hematobium schistosomiasis control for health management of labor force generation at Nkhotakota and Lilongwe in the Republic of Malawi\u2014assumed to be related to occupational risk

BackgroundIn Malawi, hematobium schistosomiasis is highly endemic. According to previous studies, countermeasures have been conducted mainly in school-aged children. In this study, we focused on the age groups, which are assumed to be major labor force generation. Hematobium schistosomiasis is supposed to be related to occupational activities in schistosome-endemic countries because of its infectious route. We chronologically followed the transition of schistosome egg-positive prevalence before and after mass drug administration of praziquantel (MDA) by using a urine filtering examination. We also analyzed the effectiveness of urine reagent strips from the cost perspective.ResultsThe egg-positive prevalence was 34.3% (95% CI 28.5–40.5) just before MDA in June 2010 and the highest prevalence was in the age of twenties. The egg-positive prevalence reduced to 12.7% (95% CI 9.2–17.3, p < 0.01) 8 weeks after the first MDA and the prevalence reduced to 6.9% (95% CI 4.6–10.0, p < 0.01) after the second MDA in August 2011. The egg-positive prevalence after MDA in 2013 was reduced from 3.8% (95% CI 2.1–6.9) to 0.9% (95% CI 0.3–3.4) and p value was 0.050. Using urine reagent strips after MDA, the positive predictive value decreased, but the negative predictive value remained high. The cost of one urine reagent strip and one tablet of praziquantel were US$0.06 and US$0.125 in 2013 in Malawi. If the egg-positive prevalence is 40%, screening subjects for MDA using urine reagent strips, the cost reduction can be estimated to be about 24%, showing an overall cost reduction.ConclusionsMDA of praziquantel can assuredly reduce schistosome egg-positive prevalence. The combination of MDA and urine reagent strips could be both a practical and cost-effective countermeasure for hematobium schistosomiasis. It is key to recognize that hematobium schistosomiasis could be considered a disease that is assumed to have some concern with occupational risk at Nkhotakota and Lilongwe in Malawi. From this point of view, it is very important to manage workers’ health; the sound labor force generation is vital for economic growth and development in these areas and countries.

Analysis of software vulnerability classification based on different technical parameters

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a comprehensive analysis of software vulnerabilities based on different technical parameters. The taxonomy of vulnerabilities presented here offers an insight into their frequency; susceptibility; correlation with instances or events, exploits, and artifacts; and assessment of the successful countermeasures. Furthermore, this paper presents the current state-of-the-art in the domain of software threats and vulnerabilities. In addition, it highlights various methods for identification of different types of vulnerabilities. These methods have their own advantages, associated costs, and inherent risks. The current work would help analyze various threats that a system could face, and subsequently it could guide the security engineer to take quick and cost-effective countermeasures.

Economic Cost of Road Traffic Accidents in Twin Cities, Pakistan

Road Traffic Accidents in developing countries are a serious concern in terms of safety and economy. RTAs share a considerable amount of overall life, resource, and productivity losses. It has become essential to monetize RTAs to aid the policymakers, economists, and the state government to efficiently select the cost-effective countermeasure for the safety of road users. The costs can be utilized in framing cost-effective safety measures and policies. This paper focuses on estimating the overall costs of Road Traffic Accidents in the city of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan, by using the Human Capital Approach to estimate the monetary amount that the Road Traffic Accidents have cost to the cities in the year 2016. The research has categorized the costs into 5 main components, namely: medical costs, property damage costs, loss output, human loss, and administrative costs. A total of 10187 incidents have been recorded in the cities involving 12573 victims and 18136 vehicles. Results suggested that a total of pkr 2.183 billion has been incurred by the State of Pakistan with a loss of about 0.0074% to the GDP. The breakdown of the costs was as follows: Medical costs (pkr 93,898,640), and it comprises 4.26% of the total cost; Property damage costs include vehicular and property damage repair (pkr 214,840,463), and it comprises 9.84% of the total cost; Loss output (pkr 1,316,000,000), and it comprises 60.27% of the total cost; Human costs (pkr 473,584,345), and it comprise 21.69% of the total cost; Administrative costs (pkr 85,730,725), and it comprises 3.92% of the total cost.

Multivariate Poisson Lognormal Modeling of Weather-Related Crashes on Freeways

Adverse weather conditions are one of the primary causes of motor vehicle crashes. To identify the factors contributing to crashes during adverse weather conditions and recommend cost-effective countermeasures, it is necessary to develop reliable crash prediction models to estimate weather-related crash frequencies. To account for the variations in crash count among different adverse weather conditions, crash types, and crash severities for both rain- and snow-related crashes, crash data on freeways was collected from the State of Connecticut, and crash prediction models were developed to estimate crash counts by crash type and severity for each weather condition. To account for the potential correlations among crash type and severity counts due to the common unobserved factors, integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) multivariate Poisson lognormal (MVPLN) models were developed to estimate weather-related crashes counts by crash type and severity simultaneously (four MVPLN models were estimated in total). To verify the model prediction ability, univariate Poisson lognormal (UPLN) models were estimated and compared with the MVPLN models. The results show that the effects of factors contributing to crashes, including median width, horizontal curve, lane width, and shoulder width, vary not only among different adverse weather conditions, but also among different crash types and severities. The crash types and severities are shown to be highly correlated and the model comparison verifies that the MVPLN models significantly improve the model prediction accuracy compared with the UPLN models. Therefore, the MVPLN model is recommended to provide more unbiased parameter estimates when estimating weather-related crashes by crash type and severity.

Clinical Expectations for Better Influenza Virus Vaccines-Perspectives from the Young Investigators' Point of View.

The influenza virus is one of a few viruses that is capable of rendering an otherwise healthy person acutly bedridden for several days. This impressive knock-out effect, without prodromal symptoms, challenges our immune system. The influenza virus undergoes continuous mutations, escaping our pre-existing immunity and causing epidemics, and its segmented genome is subject to reassortment, resulting in novel viruses with pandemic potential. The personal and socieoeconomic burden from influenza is high. Vaccination is the most cost-effective countermeasure, with several vaccines that are available. The current limitations in vaccine effectivness, combined with the need for yearly updating of vaccine strains, is a driving force for research into developing new and improved influenza vaccines. The lack of public concern about influenza severity, and misleading information concerning vaccine safety contribute to low vaccination coverage even in high-risk groups. The success of future influeza vaccines will depend on an increased public awarness of the disease, and hence, the need for vaccination—aided through improved rapid diagnositics. The vaccines must be safe and broadly acting, with new, measurable correlates of protection and robust post-marketing safety studies, to improve the confidence in influenza vaccines.