Snow accumulation and ice formation can significantly reduce pavement friction, posing a serious threat to traffic safety during winter. Traditional snow-removal methods, including mechanical removal, chemical de-icing agents, and heated pavement systems, suffer from several limitations such as low efficiency, environmental impacts, and high operational costs. Electrically conductive asphalt concrete (ECAC) has therefore emerged as a promising active snow-melting technology. When an electric current passes through the conductive network formed within the asphalt mixture, heat is generated through the Joule heating effect. After incorporating conductive fillers, the electrical resistivity of ECAC mixtures can be reduced from approximately 10<sup>6</sup>–10<sup>8</sup> Ω·cm for conventional asphalt mixtures to about 10<sup>−1</sup>–10<sup>2</sup> Ω·cm. Under an applied voltage typically ranging from 30 to 60 V, ECAC pavements can increase the surface temperature by 10–30 °C within 10–30 min, thereby enabling rapid snow melting and ice removal. Meanwhile, an optimized conductive network can maintain sufficient mechanical performance, with dynamic stability generally exceeding 3000 cycles/mm. When the conductive filler content is reasonably controlled, only a limited reduction in fatigue resistance is observed. This paper presents a comprehensive review of electrically conductive asphalt concrete technologies for snow-melting pavements. The background, underlying mechanisms, material development, system configuration, and field applications of ECAC are systematically summarized. Finally, the current challenges are discussed, including the stability of conductive networks, the trade-off between electrical conductivity and pavement performance, and electrical safety. Future research directions focusing on material optimization, intelligent power control, and long-term field performance evaluation are proposed to support the practical application of ECAC pavements in sustainable winter road maintenance.
The integration of orthogonal time frequency space signals into integrated sensing and communication systems has emerged as a highly promising approach for constructing intelligent transportation systems. Among these advancements, beamforming prediction techniques that incorporate multiple-input multiple-output technology have gained widespread attention. However, challenges remain in acquiring initial high-precision state parameters of vehicles and establishing continuous, reliable communication links in high-mobility scenarios. In this paper, we propose a novel MIMO-OTFS beamforming prediction scheme, leveraging a continuous-delay-and-Doppler-shift channel to facilitate information exchange between vehicles and the roadside unit. Furthermore, we develop a three-dimensional parameter estimation algorithm named orthogonal matching pursuit based on maximum likelihood dictionary correction, which offers high accuracy and low complexity. Utilizing this algorithm, we achieve precise multi-target beamforming prediction without approximation. Simulation results demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms the traditional unscented Kalman filter method based on matched filtering in terms of multi-target beamforming prediction in the ISAC system.
Tombak Mari-Liis, Zetterman Björn-Erik, Tapaninen Ulla Pirita
This paper focuses on assessing the cybersecurity risks associated with digital solutions used in ports. The assessment is conducted by using the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) guidelines for cybersecurity in the maritime sector in combination with guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the ENISA Threat Landscape (ETL) report. As a result, the risk assessment considering the impact and the likelihood of cybersecurity risks occurrence was developed, followed by risk mitigation possibilities for ports. The novelty of this paper lies in its analysis of potential risks to ports, incorporating perspectives from different ports in the Baltic Sea region. During the assessment, the analysis revealed the highest threat event is ransomware, followed by moderate-level threats such as denial of service, malware, and threats to data. To effectively mitigate risks, ports should develop and test incident response plans, implement secure backup strategies, conduct regular staff training, and collaborate with partners.
Linda Peng,1 Nicholas L Bormann,2 Stephan Arndt,3,4 Benjamin A Miskle,3,5 Andrea N Weber3,6 1Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA; 2Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA; 4Department of Biostatistics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA; 5College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA; 6Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USACorrespondence: Linda Peng, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, 375 Newton Road, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA, Tel +1 319-335-6707, Email linda-peng@uiowa.eduPurpose: Rapid access addiction medicine (RAAM) walk-in clinics offer low-barrier, prompt treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs). These models differ from bridge clinics, which primarily address the barriers of transitioning between inpatient and outpatient SUD treatment settings. Previous RAAM models have been shown to be effective in urban areas. Through patient interviews, this qualitative study sought to describe the unique challenges and successes of a RAAM clinic that serves a primarily rural area.Patients and Methods: Adult patients with a SUD who utilized a medication for addiction treatment (MAT) walk-in clinic participated in semi-structured, recorded interviews. Participants were asked about facilitators and barriers to attaining treatment, as well as their perspectives/experiences and unmet wants/needs. Interviewee responses were transcribed, qualitatively coded, and analyzed for prominent trends.Results: Twelve patients participated. Stigma, lack of rural treatment options, and accessibility concerns were identified as general barriers to receiving SUD care. MAT walk-in clinic specific barriers included distance to clinic, clinic hours, and transportation. Patients identified the clinic’s walk-in structure as a primary facilitator of receiving quality SUD care and felt the clinic offered a non-judgmental and accessible environment, differing positively from past treatments. Unmet wants and needs that patients identified included more extensive social services and communication after leaving the clinic.Conclusion: This MAT walk-in clinic is the only RAAM-style clinic offering same-day dual-diagnosis medication management in the state of Iowa. The walk-in structure was a key facilitator for patients accessing initial care. Expanding RAAM models in rural areas and incorporating telehealth may help address proximity barriers reported by patients.Keywords: substance use disorders, qualitative evaluation, rural health
To improve the accuracy of concrete crack measurement with a machine vision method in structural health monitoring and in technical status evaluation, a subpixel crack measurement method based on the partial area effect was proposed. (1) First, a pixelwise crack image segmentation method was established through a multi-step process of multi-threshold fusion and morphology operation, and a novel pixel degree crack width calculation method was developed with the extraction of the middle points, the center line and its normal, and the intersection of the center line normal and crack edges. (2) Then, a subpixel algorithm based on the partial area effect was introduced to locate vertical, horizontal, and oblique cracks in subpixel crack edges, and the subpixel crack width could be calculated along the crack center line pixelwise. (3) Finally, the proposed method was verified by indoor concrete beam crack measurement tests with a digital microscope, and the results show that the maximum relative errors of the subpixel width of the horizontal, vertical, and oblique straight cracks measured by the proposed method were 3.06%, 8.97%, and 5.16%, respectively. The absolute error of the crack length was less than 0.30 mm, and the measurement accuracy could reach 0.01 pixels. The subpixel crack measurement method provides a novel possible solution for structural health monitoring.
Fazlollah Nozari, Mohammad Ahadi, Majid Zeineddini
et al.
Objective: India and China are known as two powers with high geopolitical weight, whose geopolitical action is visible in other geographical areas as well. Meanwhile, one of the important geographical areas that is the scene of geopolitical competition between these two countries is the Southwest Asia region.Method: This research, with a qualitative method and a descriptive-analytical approach, and using library resources and a questionnaire, seeks to investigate the theoretical model governing the geopolitical competition of two countries in Southwest Asia. Then, by using the Delphi technique and using a questionnaire, the indicators affecting the geopolitical competition of the two countries were screened.Findings: The results of this research show that 15 influential indicators in the geopolitical competition of two countries in Southwest Asia are: strategic straits in the region, strategic positions, communication positions, mineral resource transmission lines, road maritime transportation, striving for regional sovereignty, gaining political position, strategic depth, geopolitical codes, geopolitics of energy, access to trade routes, securing and maintaining stable economic interests, competition for mineral resources, competition for military power and defense-security treaties with major and regional powers. In addition, the calculated indicators were placed in the four dimensions of access, political, economic and military geography.Conclusion: A detailed understanding of the geopolitical competition between India and China in Southwest Asia will determine the possibility of the correct policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the two mentioned powers in the region.
The purpose of this applied research is to present a model for determining the strategies and methods of developing Iran's transit and customs cooperation with other countries. Based on the purpose and nature of this research, a mixed research method was conducted by interviewing research experts; accordingly, the qualitative aspect of the research is based on a grounded theory approach. The statistical population and its data collection method in qualitative and quantitative sections include semi-structured interviews for 12 experts and closed questionnaires for 127 experts and customs managers respectively. Cronbach's alpha was used to test the reliability of the quantitative part of the questionnaire. The data analysis method included a t-test and structural equations, which were analyzed by SPSS and Smart PLS software. According to the findings, the t-statistics calculated is at the level of 0.001. The main categories of the strategic model of transportation, customs, and transit cooperation with other countries include internal organizational factors, knowledge and technology features, international standards, communication, management, gaining experience and training, innovation, strategies, and legislation and policy.
Gagan Deep Singh, Manish Prateek, Sunil Kumar
et al.
Vehicular Adhoc Networks (VANETs) are used for efficient communication among the vehicles to vehicle (V2V) infrastructure. Currently, VANETs are facing node management, security, and routing problems in V2V communication. Intelligent transportation systems have raised the research opportunity in routing, security, and mobility management in VANETs. One of the major challenges in VANETs is the optimization of routing for desired traffic scenarios. Traditional protocols such as Adhoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV), Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR), and Destination Sequence Distance Vector (DSDV) are perfect for generic mobile nodes but do not fit for VANET due to the high and dynamic nature of vehicle movement. Similarly, swarm intelligence routing algorithms such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) routing techniques are partially successful for addressing optimized routing for sparse, dense, and realistic traffic network scenarios in VANET. Also, the majority of metaheuristics techniques suffer from premature convergence, being stuck in local optima, and poor convergence speed problems. Therefore, a Hybrid Genetic Firefly Algorithm-based Routing Protocol (HGFA) is proposed for faster communication in VANET. Features of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) are integrated with the Firefly algorithm and applied in VANET routing for both sparse and dense network scenarios. Extensive comparative analysis reveals that the proposed HGFA algorithm outperforms Firefly and PSO techniques with 0.77% and 0.55% of significance in dense network scenarios and 0.74% and 0.42% in sparse network scenarios, respectively.
Andrea Timaran-Buchely, Silvio-Ricardo Timarán-Pereira, Arsenio Hidalgo-Troya
In Colombia, all undergraduate students, regardless of the professional training program they take, must complete the general competencies sections of the Saber Pro exam that include Critical Reading, Quantitative Reasoning, Citizen Competencies, Written Communication, and English. This paper presents the application of the classification technique based on decision trees in the prediction of the performance in the Critical Reading section presented by the students of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali in the years 2017 and 2018. The CRISP methodology was used. From the socioeconomic, academic and institutional data stored in the ICFES databases, a data repository was built, cleaned and transformed. A mineable view composed of 2052 records and 17 attributes was obtained. The J48 algorithm of the Weka tool was used to build the decision tree. The score obtained in the Critical Reading section of the Saber Pro exam was taken as a class. According to the results obtained, the Philosophy, Applied Mathematics, and Medicine programs stood out for having the best performance in this test. Among the predictive variables associated with performance in the Critical Reading skill are the faculty, the age group and the student's transportation index, as three important variables related to the good or low academic performance of the students of the Universidad Javeriana Cali. The knowledge generated in this research is constituted in quality information to support the decision-making process of the university directives in order to improve the quality of the higher education offered in this institution.
Introduction of a new transport product in urban agglomerations helps to attract additional passenger traffic by changing parameters of organizing the operation of suburban trains. Problem of determining the effective parameters of the route network of suburban-urban railway communication in order to achieve acceptable financial results for the owners of infrastructure and carriers is considered. Controlled variables are determined that characterize the route network of suburban-urban traffic and include the type of train schedule, the operation interval, the routes, the traffic volume of suburban-urban trains, the station of departure and arrival, the service class. It was also determined that the distribution of passenger traffic correspondence over the network of transport products depends both on a set of controllable variables and on the time of travel by rail when using a transport product, taking into account the execution of terminal operations at points of departure, destination, transfers, waiting for trains, and travel on trains. The objective function for the carrier and the owner of the infrastructure, which is identical for both participants of transportation, is considered, while the components of investment costs and direct production costs for transportation activities and income receipts that ensure the break-even of this activity are different for each participant in transport services. Relevant constraints for the task, due to the resources of the railway infrastructure and rolling stock, have been determined. Authors provides the principles of solving this multicriteria problem by finding a group of the best options by a directed enumeration of alternatives with the subsequent selection of the resulting solution by the methods of compromise control. The research results are intended for use in projects for the development of suburban-urban traffic in large urban agglomerations.
<i>Background</i>: To cope with the expected further growth in e-commerce and to be able to continue delivering at low costs, new concepts for the last-mile are needed. This paper reviews the literature and qualitatively investigates which factors influence the acceptance of four alternative place-of-delivery innovations in a business-to-consumer (B2C) context: (1) parcel lockers, (2) reception boxes, (3) trunk delivery, and (4) home access systems; <i>Methods</i>: The available literature was reviewed. Furthermore, 37 interviews were conducted and analyzed using the deductive category development method. In the following, abductive reasoning can derive detailed research models that may form the basis for future confirmative studies; <i>Results</i>: The research gains more detailed insights into how consumers perceive innovative last-mile place-of-delivery concepts. The study provides a clearer picture of what factors influence the intention to use such alternative services; <i>Conclusions</i>: The results can be used by logistics service providers and e-tailers through targeted communication efforts and lay the groundwork for further confirmatory research.
Transportation and communication, Management. Industrial management