13,129 research outputs found
SUN GLARE: NETWORK CHARACTERIZATION AND SAFETY EFFECTS
No full textVisibility is one of the basic requirements for safe driving. Any type of vision obstruction can interfere with the driver’s ability to operate a vehicle and thus poses a significant risk to road traffic safety. In addition to widely investigated adverse weather conditions such as rain, fog, and snow, which can reduce visibility, bright sunny days may also bring challenges to safe driving due to the phenomenon of sun glare. Although much evidence has been found to support that sun glare can highly impair one’s visual performance, there are significant gaps in the knowledge and methodology dedicated to examining and quantifying the sole effects of sun glare on road safety. The overall objective of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the risks on the road network posed by sun glare and evaluate its safety effects in the city of Edmonton. To achieve this objective, a two-stage analysis was conducted. The first stage developed a methodology to model sun glare occurrence for the road network in the city, aiming to identify when and where a driver would be exposed to the risk of sun glare by considering different factors associated with the sun’s position and road geographical conditions. Consequently, potential sun glare time windows were demarcated for each month over a typical year and corresponding glare prone locations were identified and plotted in a series of visualization maps, which can provide a reference to the public for identifying locations where sun glare is most prominent in the city of Edmonton. After identifying the glare prone locations, the safety risks at those locations during sun glare periods were assessed in the second stage. By contrasting the number of collisions during glare and non-glare conditions, this second stage aimed to quantify the sole effects of sun glare on road collisions. A case-control design method was used to control for potential confounding factors related to weather condition, collision time/location, and travel direction. To test the significance of the differences in collision numbers, several statistical techniques were employed and included: chi-square test of independence, configural frequency analysis, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Ultimately, three major findings were concluded from the results of the collision analysis. First, sun glare was found to significantly contribute to collision occurrence, especially at road intersections. Quantitative assessments showed that collisions were expected to increase by about 30% under the condition of sun glare. Second, sun glare effects during mornings and evenings were observed to be especially worse in the months of spring and fall. Also, most of the daytimes in January, November, and December, traffic safety in the southbound direction was significantly affected by sun glare. Lastly, certain collision maneuver types were over-presented during sun glare. It was found that the collisions due to signal violations and failing to yield to pedestrians and cyclist were over-presented at intersections. At mid-block locations, the proportions of collisions due to improper turning and lane changes were observed to be significantly higher. Overall, the approaches proposed and developed in this thesis provide a new and innovative method to quantify the effects of sun glare on road safety. By linking sun glare exposure modeling with a thorough glare related collision assessment, this research helps to provide additional insights about the extent by which sun glare affects road safety. The findings from this thesis can be used to assist in alleviating the risks associated with sun glare in the planning and designing of future roads
Design of the future bird repelling laser aiming device: A 2DOF laser aiming solution
No full textIn this MSc thesis report, the process of developing a laser aiming solution for the purpose of bird repelling will be described. This process consists roughly of five phases: Setting up requirements, generating concepts, picking and developing a single concept, building and finally testing this concept.The current laser aiming solution is not satisfactory for many applications where safety is critical. The laser technology used by Bird Control Group to repel the birds can be dangerous to the human eye under certain circumstances. Therefore, a more accurate aiming solution is required.A concept where the source is stationary and the laser beam is reflected with a mirror is chosen over a moving source configuration, as the moving mass in that configuration is much lower (around 4% of the moving source configuration). This means the system can reach much higher speeds and react to higher frequency input signals due to the higher eigenfrequencies of the system.The completed prototype proved to be two orders of magnitude more accurate than the current solution, while also being much faster when required. Both of these factors and other factors contributed to the success of this project.Mechanical Engineering | Mechatronic System Design (MSD
Cwbr Author Interview: Aiming For Pensacola: Fugitive Slaves On The Atlantic And Southern Frontiers
Get PDFInterview with Matthew J. Clavin, author of Aiming for Pensacola: Fugitive Slaves on the Atlantic and Southern Frontiers Interviewed by Tom Barber Civil War Book Review (CWBR): Today the Civil War Book Review is happy to speak with Matthew J. Clavin, associate professor of history at the U...
Seventy Years of Passing on the Torch， Striving Forward in the New Era — Thoughts on the Construction of Forensic Medicine at Sun Yat-sen University
No full textThe forensic medicine discipline of Sun Yat-sen University is one of the important origins of modern and contemporary forensic medicine education in China, and it is a microcosm of the development of forensic medicine education, research and identification practice in the People’s Republic of China. This paper introduces the historical evolution, current situation, opportunities and challenges faced by the forensic medicine discipline of Sun Yat-sen University. Based on the historical new starting point of forensic medicine becoming a first-level discipline, it analyzes the construction goals and measures of the forensic medicine discipline of Sun Yat-sen University in the new era, aiming to reach consensus and promote the high-quality development of forensic medicine
Sun-health behaviours and attitudes towards sun safety amongst Australian teenagers: a qualitative update
No full textObjective: This study aimed to explore current attitudes towards sun protection, and sun-seeking behaviour among young Australian adolescents. It was done as part of a larger project aiming to develop a digital resource to support young people in making informed sun-health decisions. Results: Ten (4 male, 6 female) adolescents (12–13 years of age) living in Perth (Western Australia) were recruited through a social media-based strategy. Each participant engaged in a semi-structured telephone interview which explored their sun-health decision-making, with interview transcripts assessed qualitatively using NVivo. Three major themes (and eight sub-themes) were identified: (1) ‘personal sun health considerations’; (2) ‘attitudes towards sun protection’; and (3) ‘recommendations’. The importance of sun protection was appreciated by participants. However, females were more diligent in the use of sun protection while males were indifferent. Behaviours were influenced by parental input, the school environment and engagement in sport. Adolescents had limited knowledge of the UV Index and its implications for sun protection, and the health importance of sun-derived vitamin D. Overall, the importance of sun protection was acknowledged but did not consistently translate into sun protective behaviours.This research was supported by Healthway (Health Department of Western Australia) via a Health Promotion Exploratory Research Grant (31971)
Genomic advancement: Aiming to affirm and improve human life
No full textChallenges to improving human health and well being are both within and outside our control despite the best of scientific advances. While advances continue to offer improved technologies, and thus our ability to not only improve detection and treatment of disease, preventing the roots of illness from taking hold involves environmental and social factors. For example, climate and politics can aid or abet the best of health improvement strategies yielding untoward consequences for those in need who lack substantial control over their access to food and healthcare. In this issue, we present a collection of articles that contribute to our understanding of genomics, ethical and policy factors necessary to improving health. We start with a special section on the genomics of plant breeding and move to translational genomics and health improvement
Promoting sun safety in the workplace – what works?
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Australia has one of the highest skin cancer incidence and mortality rates in the world. Outdoor workers are a high risk group. Australian workplaces are undergoing large scale safety related changes, yet the mandate to provide specific sun safe practices remains absent. With much of the previous research aiming to improve sun safety in the workplace being quantitative in nature, relatively little is known about why certain sun safe strategies will or will not be successful in workplaces. \ud
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This qualitative article explores the enablers and barriers identified during an 18-month mixed methods project conducted in Queensland, Australia which aimed to improve workplace sun safe interventions. \ud
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A variety of key enablers and barriers to implementing sun safe interventions in the workplace were identified, including presence of an engaged workplace champion, ownership and innovation by the workers. \ud
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Conclusions\ud
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These findings were part of a broader integration of interlinked qualitative and quantitative methods to yield a more complete picture of the determinants of the issue, implementation process and likelihood of changes at the workplace. \ud
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Implications\ud
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The paper provides guidance for public and occupational health practitioners on the selection of the most promising strategies when assisting workplaces to become sun safe
La Trobe eBureau author kit
No full textAuthor kit for La Trobe academics aiming to publish open educational resources with the La Trobe eBureau.
Includes:
* expression of interest form
* author proposal template
* author copyright agreement
* overview of eBureau publishing process
https://library.latrobe.edu.au/ebureau/ </p
Facial ageing model considering sun exposure effects
No full textInternational audienceVery few things in life are as certain as ageing. Although it is a definite and imminent process, it is neither uniform nor linear, and its pattern varies in different individuals. The pattern of facial ageing in each individual is linked with several intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may change the ageing pattern. Since sun exposure can be referred as the most important environmental factor influencing the facial ageing, having visual representation of its irreparable effects on the face appearance can push tan seeking people to stop extensive exposures to the sun. Unlike numerous studies dealing with the natural ageing process, in this work, we propose a behavioural facial ageing model aiming at presenting the harmful effects of sun exposure on an individual's apparent age. First, a predictive ageing model has been made according to the natural aging process. Then, based on a statistical study one coefficient is obtained that shows the difference in the apparent age of sun phobic and sun seeking people. The final model will be built on the basis of these two, which shows that sun seeking people look older than their natural age
Comparison of Different Strategies for Heliostats Aiming Point in Cavity and External Tower Receivers
No full textThis paper investigates different strategies for the reduction of peak heat fluxes on the receiver of a solar tower plant through the variation of the heliostats aiming points. The analysis is performed for two different solar tower receivers and heliostat field layouts. The innovative aspect of the work is in the methodology proposed: the effect of different aiming points is evaluated at different sun positions, and the yearly optical efficiency is calculated to determine drawbacks in terms of energy production. The optical simulation of the solar plant is performed with delsol through a matlab suite to easily manage the input and output. Preliminary assessments showed that the most important displacement is the vertical one, and the variation of the aiming point is important for the rows that are closer to the tower. With the appropriate strategy, the peak heat flux can be reduced by about 40% with limited spillage increase compared to the reference case. This result is similar for the two investigated plants, and it is confirmed also at different sun positions. The yearly optical efficiency with the optimal aiming strategy is reduced by less than 0.5% points. Future analysis will assess potential cost reductions and thermal efficiency increase brought about by the proposed strategies. Copyright © 2016 by ASME
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