130,099 research outputs found
Laser Scanning Systems in Highway and Safety Assessment Analysis of Highway Geometry and Safety Using LiDAR
No full textAnalysis of Highway Geometry and Safety Using LiDAR Biswajeet Pradhan,
Maher Ibrahim Sameen. fusion and optimization. ISPRS Journal of
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 118, 22–36. Idrees, M. O., & Pradhan, B. (
2016). A decade ..
An Integrated Machine Learning Approach for Automatic Highway Extraction from Airborne LiDAR Data and Orthophotos
No full textAutomatic extraction of highways from airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging) has been a long-standing active research topic in remote sensing (Idrees and Pradhan 2016, 2018;Idrees et al 2016; Fanos et al. 2016, 2018; Fanos and Pradhan 3; Abdulwahid and Pradhan 2017; Pradhan et al. 2016; Sameen et al. 2017; Sameenand Pradhan 2017a, b). Accurate and computationally useful extraction of highway information from remote sensing data is significant for various applications such as traffic accident modeling (Bentaleb et al. 2014), navigation (Kim et al. 2006), intelligent transportation systems (Vaa et al. 2007), and natural hazard assessments (Jebur et al. 2014)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
IP-OOP interaction in URM infilled frame structures: A new macro-modelling proposal
No full textReinforced concrete frame structures with unreinforced masonry (URM) infills represent a common construction practice all over the world. To correctly assess the seismic performance of these structures, prediction of the behaviour of masonry infills under in-plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP) loading, as well as their interaction, is of primary importance. Different approaches are available in the literature with different levels of approximation for assessment of the IP-OOP infill response, showing increasing interest in this field. In this context, this paper presents a new macro-element model which can simulate the behaviour of URM infill walls under seismic IP and OOP actions. The model is the evolution of an approach based on a 4-strut configuration characterized by one horizontal strut, one vertical strut and two diagonal struts representing the infill wall. The struts are modelled by fibre-section beam-column elements and their compressive behaviour is defined by empirical strength and strain parameters. The paper also presents some equations to obtain the empirical parameters mentioned, based on the actual mechanical properties of infill walls. In the paper, the validation of the proposed model with the experimental results available in the literature is discussed. Further, the improved capacity to simulate the arching mechanism in infill walls under OOP loads and the better reliability in capturing the interaction between the IP and OOP behaviours are described
Road Geometric Modeling Using Laser Scanning Data: A Critical Review
No full textRoad transportation is critical to economic activities and plays a dynamic role in marketing products and providing citizens with easy access to points of contact for business activities, health, education, and agriculture. Road geometric features, such as horizontal and vertical alignments, gradients, and superelevation rate, are essential data for transportation studies. Recently, laser scanning systems or LiDAR (Idrees and Pradhan 2016, 2018; Idrees et al. 2016; Fanos et al. 2016, 2018; Fanos and Pradhan 2018; Abdulwahid and Pradhan 2017; Pradhan et al. 2016; Sameen et al. 2017; Sameen and Pradhan 2017a, b) have been identified to be the most efficient way of road corridor surveying and extracting geometric road features. Unlike satellite and aerial images, LiDAR provides accurate and dense point clouds that allow the rapid mapping of the topography of a given area in a relatively short time
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Managing the effects of tax expenditures on the national budget
No full textTax expenditures, in the form of tax provisions, are government expenditures. They are conceptually and functionally distinct from those tax provisions whose purpose is to raise revenue. Tax expenditure programs are comparable to entitlement programs. Therefore, tax expenditures must be analyzed in spending terms and integrated into the budgetary process to ensure fiscal accountability. In addition, tax expenditures must be audited for performance and the information must be published (with comprehensive analysis) to ensure fiscal transparency. The author analyzes the concept and definition, size, and effects of tax expenditures, as well as the fiscal accountability and transparency of tax expenditure spending. In short, tax expenditures affect (1) the budget balance,(2) budget prioritization in allocation, (3) the effectiveness and efficiency of fiscal resources, and (4) the scope for abuse by taxpayers, government officials and legislators. While reviewing the current practices in tax expenditures against the requirements of fiscal accountability and transparency, she finds that this fiscal area must be strengthened. The author sketches four building blocks to strengthen tax expenditures toward fiscal accountability and transparency, based on the literature developed by Surry and McDaniel, the practices from industrial and developing countries, the Campos and Pradhan fiscal accountability model, and the International Monetary Fund's fiscal transparency code. The author argues that normative/benchmark tax structure, a revenue-raising component of the tax system, should be formalized. The normative/benchmark tax structure should be legally defined in the tax law and should be transparent. The tax receipts from this normative/benchmark tax structure should be quantified and published. Presently, many countries could publish imputed tax revenue from normative/benchmark tax structures because such data is available. Only if imputed tax revenue is published in the same way as the other budget components-tax revenue received, tax expenditures, direct expenditures, and fiscal balance-will a budget system be truly transparent in terms of revenue-raising activities and expenditure activities. In addition, when the tax revenue-raising activity is formalized, the inherent spending nature of tax expenditures is further exposed. Therefore, tax expenditures should be added to direct expenditures forming total government expenditures. Furthermore, the conventional concept of the size of government should be remedied by including both direct expenditures and tax expenditures.Public Sector Economics&Finance,Tax Law,Fiscal Adjustment,Public Sector Fiscal Adjustment,Economic Theory&Research
Artificial intelligence and spatial Modelling in natural hazards and environmental applications
No full textModeling and predicting geohazards is extremely difficult due to their complex behavior in the real-world. In fact, several aspects of these environmental applications are considered in computer-based modeling to accurately estimating real-world phenomena. Till date, none of the proposed methods have reached to zero uncertainties or errors to recognize the entire disaster’s events. Globally, many people have lost their lives due to various types of natural hazards. Therefore, it is important to detect, monitor and predict them to protect the inhabitants against the potential natural hazards that threaten human lives and properties. Recently, artificial intelligent (AI) methods have received a great deal of attraction due to their precision to model the complex problems such as natural hazards. AI can see different aspects of a complex problem with sufficient iteration and details. In recent years, implementation of AI models coupled with geospatial information systems (GIS) are the most efficient and accurate approach to model natural disasters i.e. flooding, earthquake, landslides, forest fire and drought rather than other existing methods. This gives an insight into the ability of applied AI models in some natural hazards applications
Out-of-Plane Behavior of URM Infill: Accuracy of Available Capacity Models
No full textThe aim of this paper is to check the accuracy of analytical capacity models available for the prediction of out-of-plane strength of unreinforced masonry (URM) infill walls. The accuracy of the available models is checked by detailed comparison with the existing experimental results. In doing so, both types of capacity models are evaluated: Type I for the prediction of the strength in the undamaged state, and Type II for the prediction of strength reduction in the in-plane damaged state. Results from the calculations are discussed, and the best among the available models are recommended. Furthermore, the influence of orthotropy of the infill masonry in the out-of-plane capacity predicted by the models is discussed. The paper also highlights the prospect of using the capacity models in the cases of infill-beam gap and infill with openings. In the paper, the best pairs of models (composed by a model for the prediction of the out-of-plane strength in the undamaged state and a model for the prediction of the reduction of the out-of-plane strength in the damaged state, not necessarily provided by the same author) for URM infill walls, are suggested for the first time
Women passengers' opinion on transportation scenarios, challenges, ride hailing services and taxis in Nepal
No full textThe dataset includes survey data and interview data from the study area, Kathmandu, Nepal. The survey data is collected through a close ended questionnaire using 5-point Likert scale. The sample group contained students, working women, elderly women and homemakers. Both online forms and paper forms were used to collect the data.
Interview data was collected from practitioners and academicians in transportation, travel and hospitality and food delivery business. Transcripts were generated for recordings. 4 interviews were conducted in English and 2 interviews conducted in a mix of English and Nepalese language was translated to English. The contents were categorised into themes
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