Dangerous Spots Research Articles

Forecasting Nighttime Frost-induced Black Ice Formation on Bridges Using Atmospheric Data

Background Faced with the tragedies caused by black ice in winter, especially on bridges, it is imperative to forecast black ice for preventive maintenance and to notify drivers approaching the dangerous spots. Methods In this study, three different machine learning algorithms—Deep Neural Network (DNN), Random Forest (RF), and Support Vector Machine (SVM)—were employed to predict nighttime black ice induced by frost on three bridges in Korea. Input data consisted of atmospheric data (air temperature, relative humidity, dew point, and differences between air temperature and relative humidity over two consecutive days) provided by the weather agency. Results To assess the employed models, reference data were generated based on the physical principle that ice forms when the pavement temperature is lower than the dew point temperature and negative. The pavement temperature was obtained using an infrared surface temperature sensor mounted on a maintenance patrol vehicle. Consequently, DNN and RF showed higher performance with an accuracy of 95%, followed by SVM with an accuracy of 92.5%. Conclusion Due to the use of easily obtainable atmospheric data, the findings of this study can be practically applied to preventive maintenance and driver information, thereby enhancing traffic safety.

Estimation of landslide during heavy rainfall based on FEM-MPM model

In 2016, Typhoon No. 10 landed on Hokkaido, Japan and resulted in slope failures near Nissho Pass. The massive precipitation generated serious runoff within the catchment area, which accounted for the slope instability. Besides, the rainfall induced slope instability developed as landslide. However, the traditional slope instability analyses were often finished ignoring the transportation of instable soil. This study conducted soil runout analysis as well as slope instability analysis with a finite element method-material point method (FEM-MPM) model to catch the disaster area. In the slope instability analysis using three-dimensional (3D) FEM model, runoff and infiltration were considered at the same time to evaluate the slope instability during heavy rainfall. Here, the surface flow and subsurface flow were governed by shallow water equation, Richards’s equation and Green-Ampt infiltration capacity model. Then, based on the hydraulic field result, local factor of safety (LFS) distribution and dangerous spots were given by FEM model. Subsequently in the soil runout analysis using two-dimensional (2D) and 3D MPM model, large deformation part after failure and the soil transportation were examined to reveal the amount of soil that is risky to be washed away during heavy rainfall. The simulation results proved the appropriateness of this simulation method to reproduce the slope instability and landslide process during heavy rainfall.

TRAFFIC CONTROL AT PEDESTRIAN PRIORITY CROSSINGS WITH GUARANTEED LANE THROUGHPUT CAPACITY AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE LEGAL REGULATIONS APPLICABLE IN POLAND

The article describes the problem of excessive traffic concentration at signalized pedestrian crossings. The main drawback of such crossings is the inappropriate duration of green signals for vehicles. Too long green times for vehicular traffic significantly increase time lost by pedestrians, while too short ones cause short-term congestion, resulting in long queues of vehicles and a deteriorated level of service. The negative effects of both of these situations also include dangerous behavior of road users, such as red light running or crossing. Recent (June 2021) changes in the road traffic law in Poland have privileged unprotected road users at pedestrian crossings. New models and technical and design standards proposed in this country (March 2021) recommend the installation of pedestrian priority crossings at particularly dangerous spots and in urban areas with a high proportion of pedestrian traffic. All this is done mainly for traffic-calming purposes. However, previously these measures were not a common practice in Poland. Therefore, the objective of this article was to develop a simple method of green signal timing, ensuring, firstly, priority to pedestrian traffic at such places, and, secondly, sustained capacity of vehicular traffic lanes. The developed models are practical, universal and easy to adapt in other countries. They ensure a very good or good quality of vehicle traffic service, with average lost time not exceeding 25 s in a vast majority of analyzed traffic level cases. The article also describes a traffic control algorithm dependent on traffic detection.

Embodied experiences of (in)security and crime perceptions among undergraduate women students in Tucson, Arizona

Drawing from trauma-informed interviews with women undergraduate students, this article examines the ripple effects of sexual violence on student (in)security and mobility. Campus sexual violence is exceedingly common, with 1 in 5 women experiencing sexual assault during college. Young women and women of color also experience the highest rates of sexual harassment and fear of sexual violence. Yet, it is still not well understood how such experiences collectively impact women students’ notions of security, spatial mobility, and independence. Focusing on a small, diverse set of women undergraduate students at the University of Arizona in the Southwest U.S., I analyze how perceptions of sexual violence impact behavior and safety strategies. I describe the variety of prevention and safety methods women undergraduates utilize and how they shoulder the burden of safety and care in lieu of university action. Findings suggest that participants often built their spatial behavior around avoiding ‘danger spots’ or places they feared, regardless of whether those were places they had ever experienced harassment or violence. Some students of color also found themselves at the crossroads of experiencing sexual harassment and racial microaggressions and expressed an emotional drain of straddling multiple cultural worlds. Findings further complicate notions that women’s fear of public space is ‘irrational’. This article builds on and extends work in geographies of fear to demonstrate how women students’ safety behavior in the U.S. is informed by harassment, perceived crime, and secondary trauma.

Live Trials of Dynamic Geo-Fencing for the Tactical Avoidance of Hazard Areas

The project City-ATM, launched by the German Aerospace Center DLR in 2018, aims to integrate new airspace users like unmanned aerial vehicles into uncontrolled airspace. An air traffic management and traffic flow control concept were developed. The phase 1 demonstration in 2019 showed a bridge inspection featuring, amongst other elements, the flight of several drones in a limited area, beyond visual line of sight operation, strategic flight planning considering strategic geo-fences and tactical conflict detection. To enrich the base concept from phase 1 with more U-Space services, the concept has been extended for phase 2 by dynamic geo-fencing for the tactical avoidance of danger spots. This paper describes how dynamic geo-fences can be modeled around a hazard area, how the dynamic opening and closure of these fences can be distributed to relevant systems, and how the fences are considered by on-ground and already in air vehicles. The complete concept has been implemented and tested at the National Experimental Test Center in Cochstedt. Finally, the execution of successful flight trials is described.

Study on topographic features of land-sliding zone of Jammu –Kashmir National highway 44 (Nh-44) & finding some solutions to stop the threat of land-sliding

National highway 44 is the longest highway of our country connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari. This highway is part of NORTH-SOUTH & EAST-WEST CORRIDOR. The designing of this highway is quite satisfactory in every aspect. From Kanyakumari to Jammu this highway is quite safe and does not fall in prey of any Danger like land slidding. However the link of NH-44 from Jammu to Kashmir faces main natural dangers like land sliding. On this link there are the various dangerous spots of land sliding that makes this beautiful Highway dangerous for travel. Roads are known as the golden coins of economy of any nation and its responsibility of every individual related to this field to find some solutions for such kind of dangerous problems .BY studying the topography of the Land sliding zone we has come up with some solutions that can erase the threat of land sliding over this beautiful highway. The solution will not only enhance the stability of this highway but will also prevent lives of thousands of people that every year falls in the prey of land sliding. Almost every year thousands of people travelling from Jammu to Kashmir or vice versa on this beautiful highway falls in the prey of death because of dangerous land sliding. The solution we have come up with if implemented on this will boost our economy as well, as every day cores of rupees are being spent on the maintenance of this link of NH-44.

Wide / narrow-area slope stability analysis considering infiltration and runoff during heavy precipitation

Runoff generated by heavy rainfall in natural catchment area and caused by ditch clogging in artificial structure increases the instability of the slope. The effects of runoff are usually neglected in traditional rainfall-induced slope failure analysis. In order to consider the effects of runoff on the slope instability, this study attempts to simulate the runoff, infiltration and slope instabilities simultaneously on both wide/narrow area. For this purpose, this study firstly proposes a coupled model of surface flow, subsurface flow, and soil mechanics based on Diffusion wave equations, Richards’s equation, Green-Ampt infiltration capacity model, and local factor of safety approach in wide area simulation. Next, snowmelt and surface grass layer are additionally considered in narrow area simulation. Finally, the proposed coupled model is applied to two slopes at Nissho Pass and Kuromatsunai in Hokkaido, Japan. The slope instabilities assessment approach provides an effective method for simulating runoff and slope instabilities. In wide area, the distribution map of the factor of safety has significant implications for precisely determining the dangerous spots and accurately releasing the warning information. In narrow area, the slope disaster points caused by the ditch clogging are extracted and effect of grass layer on slope stability assessment is demonstrated. The construction and maintenance of the drainage system can be re-designed to ensure all the surface flow caused by the precipitation drain out smoothly.

Road Users’ Reports on Danger Spots: The Crowd as an Underestimated Expert?

As part of the project EDDA+ (Early Detection of Dangerous Areas in road traffic using smart data), a web-based crowdsourcing platform has been launched on which road users can report danger spots they face in everyday traffic. Whereas official police collision data can only be used reactively, these user reports are intended to warn other road users and provide road safety stakeholders with detailed information for proactive measures. Since this approach is relatively novel, the present pilot study aimed to evaluate the validity of these subjective road user reports. A quasi-randomized sample of N = 77 danger spots distributed over four major German cities was audited using a 70-item objective road safety deficit inventory to identify infrastructural deficits. Based on these items, an overall rating of objective hazardousness for each danger spot was derived. In more than half of the audited danger spots, infrastructural deficits were identified in the audit (=confirmed hazard). In another quarter of audited dangers spots, the reported hazard could not be identified without any doubt due to a lack of infrastructural deficit or detailed information about the nature of the hazard (=uncertain, no certain match between audit and report). Our analysis further revealed that an increased number of road user interactions for the respective danger spot yielded a higher likelihood of confirmation of a danger spot’s hazardousness. Descriptively, pedestrians and bicyclists were most often mentioned as exposed to danger, with the most prevalent nature of danger being areas with poor visibility and misconduct by drivers. The results were blended with police collision data in the next step. We did not find a significant relationship between our danger spots’ rating and the number of collisions at the respective spot. Our results indicate that reports of danger spots and the increased user related activity can serve as an indicator for the early detection of road traffic hazards.

Driving to safety: real-time danger spot and drowsiness monitoring system

Driving to safety: real-time danger spot and drowsiness monitoring system

Pavement slipperiness detection using wheel speed and acceleration sensor data

Faced with high rates of traffic accidents on slippery roads, it is recommended that road managers promptly identify the slippery spots, remove the slipperiness and inform drivers of the location of the dangerous spots on the route ahead, to allow them to prepare for the slipperiness. In this paper, the wheel slip-based and wheel acceleration-based approaches are suggested for detecting road slipperiness using sensor data from a digital tachograph (DTG), which is mandatory in commercial vehicles. Support vector machine algorithms were employed to categorize slippery and non-slippery states. The performances were outstanding (with accuracy more than 98%) when evaluated using experimental data, collected on a road weather-proving ground. Considering a large number of commercial vehicles equipped with DTG devices which are connected via cellular communications, the suggested methods could be practically applied to real-world DTG-based fleet management systems.

GULFA MARMA IN RELATION TO THE MODERN HUMAN ANATOMY

Marma is originated from the Sanskrit root word etymologically, ‘Mr’- Marne and the term ‘Sthana’ signi-fies the location. This jointly signifies the vitality of Marma in the human body. Any kind of injury to these parts of body may cause sensory or functional deformity or severe haemorrhage or even collapse and death instantaneously or lately. The Marma have been included as one of the important chapters in Sharir Sthana of Sushruta Samhita. In which Marma are categorized according to fatality, dimensions, integrity etc. Marma has a common factor as being a seat of Prana or seat of life in Ayurveda literature. Marma therapy focuses on stimulation of these points for activation of Prana factor in management of related dis-orders. But only described as danger spots of body Marma points have gained a lot of therapeutic im-portance nowadays. Considering present modern anatomy Marma being a physical entity also should be explored parallelly as it still lacks the adequate and comprehensive western science description. The meas-urements are given in Anguli Pramana of the person himself. Sushruta has described the anatomical classi-fication of Marma which makes it a little easier to explore them. This will lead to a proper understanding, for better learning and practice of Marma. Gulfa Marma is explored anatomically and in similarity to struc-ture and various other characteristics with modern anatomy.

Comparative analysis of methods to identify road sections with high accidents risk: a case study of E67 Estonia–Latvia–Lithuania corridor

E67 road is a strategically important part of a North Sea – Baltic Core Network Corridor, connecting the three Baltic States with Finland, on the one hand, and with North Eastern Poland, on the other. So-called Via Baltica corridor services more than 30 000 vehicles per day being one of the major arteries for transit and heavy good vehicles transport in the region. Annually around 8 000 road accidents with casualties occur in the three Baltic States with more than 500 fatalities a year. Relatively high road safety risk exposure requires more efficient management of infrastructure safety issues. The three Baltic States use either black spot management (BSM) or network safety management (NSM) or a combination of these two approaches to treat dangerous road sections of the network. In this article three methodologies used in the Baltic countries for dangerous road sections and spots identification were described. Quantitative analysis of dangerous sections/spots identified by the three methodologies was performed for the whole Via Baltica corridor to reveal the differences between the methods used.

Systematic experimental investigation of the obstacle effect during non-competitive and extremely competitive evacuations

Although some experimental evidence showed that an obstacle placed in front of a door allows making people’s evacuations faster, the efficacy of such a solution has been debated for over 15 years. Researchers are split between those who found the obstacle beneficial and those who could not find a significant difference without it. One of the reasons for the several conclusions lies in the variety of the experiments performed so far, both in terms of competitiveness among participants, geometrical configuration and number of participants. In this work, two unique datasets relative to evacuations with/without obstacle and comprising low and high competitiveness are analyzed using state-of-the-art definitions for crowd dynamics. In particular, the so-called congestion level is employed to measure the smoothness of collective motion. Results for extreme conditions show that, on the overall, the obstacle does not reduce density and congestion level and it could rather slightly increase it. From this perspective, the obstacle was found simply shifting the dangerous spots from the area in front of the exit to the regions between the obstacle and the wall. On the other side, it was however confirmed, that the obstacle can stabilize longitudinal crowd waves, thus reducing the risk of trampling, which could be as important (in terms of safety) as improving the evacuation time. However, under urgent, competitive, but non-extreme conditions, the obstacle generally had a positive effect, helping channeling the flow of pedestrians through the exit while facilitating their interactions.

Simultaneous analysis of slope instabilities on a small catchment-scale using coupled surface and subsurface flows

High-velocity runoff generated in hillslopes during heavy rainfall caused by typhoon increases chances of instability of the embankment slopes at the exit of the gully. Such effects of high-velocity runoff are usually neglected in conventional rainfall-induced slope failure analysis. In order to consider the effects of runoff on the slope instability, this study attempts to simulate the runoff, infiltration, seepage, and slope instabilities on a small catchment-scale simultaneously. For this purpose, this study firstly proposes a coupled model of surface flow, subsurface flow, and soil mechanics based on shallow water equations, Richards's equation, Green-Ampt infiltration capacity model, and local factor of safety (LFS) approach. Next, to make the proposed coupled model effective in the practical analysis of runoff, a diffusion wave approximation of shallow water equations is validated by numerical simulations, and then it is used to replace shallow water equations in the proposed coupled model. Finally, the proposed coupled model is verified by Abdul and Gillham system and applied to a natural slope in Hokkaido, Japan inside a small catchment with an area of 0.4675 km2. The numerical results highlight the influences of runoff from upstream on the embankment slope failure at the exit of the gully. Furthermore, the small catchment-scale slope instabilities assessment approach proposed in this study provides an effective approach for simulating heavy rainfall induced runoff and slope instabilities. The distribution map of the factor of safety (FOS) has significant implications for precisely determining the dangerous spots (instead of areas) on a small catchment-scale and accurately releasing early warning information to these dangerous spots.

Management of border zone forests of transmission line corridors

The resilience of power transmission has been required in Finland by the electricity market act since 2013. As a consequence, Finnish electricity companies began to manage border zone forests of transmission lines more extensively. Five years later, the experiences of experts representing different interest groups in border zone forest management projects along medium-voltage (MV) and high-voltage (HV) transmission lines were summed and analysed in this study utilising argument Delphi method. The first-round interview included 13 experts, and the second-round survey 33 experts representing electricity companies, forest management associations, forest companies and forest machine operators.
 According to the results, landowners’ knowledge of border zone forest management should be increased by video clips linked to electricity companies’ web-pages, project-specific work demonstrations and demonstrations in exhibitions and other events. Increased knowledge and activation of landowners is crucial when a new MV transmission line corridor is being built. This could offer cost-efficient possibilities to extend joint harvestings in the vicinity forests.
 Planning of border zone forest operations and marking estate borders, border zone forests and dangerous spots were found helpful and increase the safety and productivity of harvesting operators. Harvestings by cut-to-length harvesters in the vicinity of transmission lines require calm and experienced harvester operators.
 According to the experts, on MV transmission lines, the corridor should be utilised in harvesting operation if possible. If a strip road is needed, it should be placed next to the transmission line corridor, enabling felling away from the transmission line. In HV transmission line border forest operations, the closest strip road to transmission line should be placed on the border zone. Strip road planning of individual thinning nearby transmission lines should consider the need for strip road in the border zone as well.
 As a conclusion, information exchange between interest groups of border zone forest management projects and guidance for landowners is crucial for successful border zone forest management projects and needs to be further enhanced.

Reading Wittgenstein with Anscombe, Going onto Ethics by Cora Diamond

Reviewed by: Reading Wittgenstein with Anscombe, Going onto Ethics by Cora Diamond Peg O'Connor Cora Diamond. Reading Wittgenstein with Anscombe, Going onto Ethics. London and Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2019. Cloth, $39.95. In many ways, this is a difficult and important book about a difficult and important book (Anscombe's An Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractatus) about a difficult and important book (Wittgenstein's Tractatus). It is also much more, as Diamond highlights Anscombe's work on ethics and action as she moves to engage metaethical questions about relativism and truth. One of the unifying threads is the matter of thinking about thinking, especially the ways we respond to thinking that has gone astray (5). Thinking that does go astray traverses paths with "dangerous spots," as Wittgenstein says. The dangerous spots may be muddles and confusions. To avoid these paths, we need sign posts. Diamond's work provides a collection of sign posts constructed from her careful, critical, and charitable reading of Anscombe and Wittgenstein. It is a keen study and practice of a philosophical method that not only aims to clarify muddle and confusion but avoid them in the first place. This book will benefit not only philosophers of language, Wittgenstein, and Anscombe scholars, but also those working in metaethics. The book comprises seven essays divided into three sections. While six of these have been published previously, each has been revised and reconsidered. Each section has [End Page 412] a substantial introduction that situates the essays of that section both in terms of their relation to each other and to the trajectory of the book as a whole. In these introductions, Diamond often explains her motivation in revisiting a particular issue, framing a question differently, or explaining how her thinking has changed over time. These introductions are akin to an intellectual memoir in many ways. Diamond learned to read Wittgenstein through Anscombe's work. She is still learning from Anscombe, even as or because she disagrees with her in significant ways. Diamond displays an openness and humility about admitting where her own thinking was mistaken or where it might more productively go. Diamond tacks into and away from Anscombe's argument that there are some sentences that can only be true but are not allowed in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Anscombe's example is "'Someone' is not the name of someone." Anscombe takes this sentence to be obviously true. Its denial is not obviously false, but only confusion or muddle. Diamond makes a convincing argument that Anscombe is wrong, but in a way that is productive. Anscombe failed to see that Wittgenstein allows for more uses of language than Anscombe and other commentators have allowed. Some propositions block paths leading to confusion and muddle while other indicate clarifying or productive paths. Acknowledging and understanding the difference between such propositions is one crucial way to avoid dangerous spots in our thinking. The two essays in the final section, "Going on to Think about Ethics," are masterful. They are two of the most insightful essays on the metaethical issue of relativism available. David Wiggins argues there are some thinkables to which there is no alternative; there is no intelligible negation. Wiggins offers as a candidate that there is nothing else to think but that slavery is unjustified and unsupportable. This proposition is akin to "7+5=12." There is nothing else to think but that 7+5=12. Wiggins's claim also has at least a surface similarity to Anscombe's example of "'Someone' is not the name of someone." Diamond's criticism of Wiggins is that he failed to recognize the structural complexity of moral thinking. As a consequence, he failed to see the path-blocking moves made by both defenders and opponents of slavery. Diamond's discussion is rooted in careful readings of historical texts about slavery. She excavates texts for what they reveal about thinking about slavery. In the process, she reminds us of Wittgenstein's warning about the craving for generality. That craving may send us down paths riddled with confusions and muddle that have very real consequences. Particular cases with their richness and complexity may lead in much more fruitful directions. This warning is one...

Shifting Retroviral Vector Integrations Away from Transcriptional Start Sites via DNA-Binding Protein Domain Insertion into Integrase

The unique ability of retroviruses to integrate genes into host genomes is of great value for long-term expression in gene therapy, but only when integrations occur at safe genomic sites. To reap the benefit of using retroviruses without severe detrimental effects, we developed several murine leukemia virus (MLV)-based gammaretroviral vectors with safer integration patterns by perturbing the structure of the integrase via insertion of DNA-binding zinc-finger domains (ZFDs) into an internal position of the enzyme. ZFD insertion significantly reduced the inherent, strong MLV integration preference for genomic regions near transcriptional start sites (TSSs), which are the most dangerous spots. The altered retroviral integration pattern was related to increased formation of residual primer-binding site sequences at the 3′ end of proviruses. Several ZFD insertion mutants showed lower frequencies of integrations into the TSS genome regions when having the residual primer-binding site sequences in the proviruses. Our findings not only can extend the use of retroviruses in biomedical applications, but also provide a glimpse into the mechanisms underlying retroviral integration.

Chemists take on extreme sports

Surfing big waves and wave functions For some chemists, seeing the results of their latest experiments brings sufficient excitement into their lives. But others, like Sarah Gerhardt, seek out more extreme thrills to bring balance to their intellectual pursuits. When she’s not teaching chemistry at Cabrillo College, Gerhardt manages to carve out some time surfing at the legendary—and dangerous—spot known as Mavericks in Northern California. Mavericks is infamous for its frigid waters, jagged rocks, and great white sharks. If you watch the surfers from shore, Mavericks looks like an average surfing spot, but paddle out 3 km to where the waves are, and the swells can measure up to 18 meters high. Gerhardt describes the experience of surfing there as “kind of like jumping off a building and then having the building chase you.” The first time Gerhardt attempted to surf Mavericks, she was a graduate student “in the throes

Los libros de caza medievales y su interés para la historia natural

En la introducción se expondrán los tres tipos básicos de caza: defensiva, ofensiva y lúdica. Esta es la que desde antiguo ha sido codificada y registrada en los libros de caza, un género que nace en Grecia y que durante el período grecolatino tiene un mínimo cultivo. Será en la Edad Media cuando el género tenga un mayor desarrollo y surgirá un nuevo tipo de tratado: el de cetrería, un subgénero netamente medieval y que sucumbirá con la aparición de las armas de fuego. Tanto los libros de montería como de cetrería son una interesante fuente de información sobre el medio natural parcamente explorada, máxime cuando dos tratados medievales castellanos, escritos en la primera mitad del siglo XIV, el Libro de la caza de don Juan Manuel y el Libro de montería del rey Alfonso, se cierran con sendas guías de caza en las que se describen, a veces escuetamente a veces minuciosamente, los territorios en los que se podía cazar, en qué época y qué especies eran las más abundantes, e incluso, en el caso de la montería, cómo se debían de disponer las partidas de caza.

Risk assessment of exposure to released BTEX in district 12 of Tehran municipality for employees or shopkeepers and gas station customers

Owing to environmentally-destructive impact of aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, benzene ethyl, toluene, and xylenes or BTEXs, these materials are classified as hazardous pollutants in the air. This study studies cancer and non-cancer risk in District 12 of Tehran Municipality, through these components for two groups of employees or storekeepers and gas station customers. By measuring pollutant concentrations along with doing related calculations, the areas and gas stations of the study area with the highest risk have been found. Results show that Station 7, located in Zone 4, is one of the most dangerous spots in terms of cancer and non-cancer risk to employees or storekeepers in the area. Additionally, there is no risk of non-cancerous disease for the customers, using these stations, during their lifetime. Finally, the study proposes some solutions for making appropriate decisions, concerning the sustainable management plan.