Search results for " Structural"
showing 10 items of 1751 documents
Drivers of CO2 emissions in the former Soviet Union: A country level IPAT analysis from 1990 to 2010
2013
There are a small number of countries that have managed to decrease emissions over the last two decades e most of them emerged from the FSU (former Soviet Union ). CO2 emissions for these countries combined have decreased by 35% between 1990 and 2010, while global emissions increased by 44%. Most studies investigate the FSU as a single block ignoring the significant and persistent diversity among countries in the region. This study is the first providing detailed country by country analyses determining factors for changes in post-Soviet republics by applying a disaggregated version of the commonly used (IPAT) index decomposition analysis including energy intensity, affluence industrializati…
Validation of the F-DBQ: A short (and accurate) risky driving behavior questionnaire for long-haul professional drivers
2021
Abstract Although the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) remains the most known tool for assessing risky road behaviors among motor vehicle drivers, recent studies have raised several concerns on the specificity of both driving task conditions and behavioral repertory of certain segments of the driving population. Among them, long-haul (cargo) professional drivers constitute one of the “intensive driving” groups for which the existing adapted behavioral research tools are still very scarce. Purpose The aim of the present study was to test and validate the F-DBQ (or “Freight Driving Behavior Questionnaire”), a short version of the DBQ adapted to the occupational driving conditions and typi…
Validation of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (MDSI) in professional drivers: How does it work in transportation workers?
2019
Abstract The Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory or MDSI constitutes, perhaps, the most relevant tool for measuring driving styles. Since its releasing in 2004, it has been applied worldwide to different samples of drivers, showing an important value and utility for road safety. However, empirical studies using the MDSI on professional drivers are scarce and, to the date, there is no validated version of the instrument in this workforce yet. Objectives: This study had two aims. First, to describe in detail the validation of the Taubman-Ben-Ari’s MDSI among professional drivers and, second, to test its convergent validity with other key relevant factors present in the work environment o…
Towards a resilience management guideline — Cities as a starting point for societal resilience
2019
Unexpected crises and risks affect the urban population. Critical infrastructure dependency, climate change and social dynamics have captured the attention of city decision makers across different disciplines, sectors, and scales. Addressing these challenges mandates an increase in resilience. This article presents the development of the novel European Resilience Management Guideline (ERMG) developed by the European H2020 Smart Mature Resilience (SMR) project. It encompasses five supporting tools for city resilience. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, it describes the extensive co-creation methods used to establish, validate and test the five ERMG tools as collaborations among…
Generalized curved beam on elastic foundation solved by Transfer Matrix Method
2011
A solution of space curved bars with generalized Winkler soil found by means of Transfer Matrix Method is presented. Distributed, concentrated loads and imposed strains are applied to the beam as well as rigid or elastic boundaries are considered at the ends. The proposed approach gives the analytical and numerical exact solution for circular beams and rings, loaded in the plane or perpendicular to it. A well-approximated solution can be found for general space curved bars with complex geometry. Elastic foundation is characterized by six parameters of stiffness in different directions: three for rectilinear springs and three for rotational springs. The beam has axial, shear, bending and tor…
Bounds on plastic strains for elastic plastic structures in plastic shakedown conditions
2007
The problem related to the computation of bounds on plastic deformations for structures in plastic shakedown condition (alternating plasticity) is studied. In particular, reference is made to structures discretized by finite elements constituted by elastic perfectly plastic material and subjected to a special combination of fixed and cyclic loads. The load history is known during the steady-state phase, but it is unknown during the previous transient phase; so, as a consequence, it is not possible to know the complete elastic plastic structural response. The interest is therefore focused on the computation of bounds on suitable measures of the plastic strain which characterizes just the fir…
Modeling Employee Satisfaction in Relation to CSR Practices and Attraction and Retention of Top Talent
2013
In today's economy, companies must work harder than ever to attract, retain and motivate talented employees in order to foster employee satisfaction, and in order to do so, CSR practices can provide a strategic tool. A green company no longer denotes solely the promotion of green products or reduction of energy consumption, as it has to incorporate proactive and innovative means of tracking sustainability while involving employees in such corporate behavior. This paper highlights an empirical study of responses from 10 multinational companies regarding their corporate social responsibility initiatives as a way to attract and retain good employees, while providing an appropriate environment …
A Top-Down Approach Based on the Circularity Potential to Increase the Use of Reclaimed Asphalt
2023
Resource depletion and climate change, amongst others, are increasingly worrying environmental challenges for which the road engineering sector is a major contributor. Globally, viable solutions that comply with the principles of circular economy (CE) are being investigated that can replace conventional asphalt mixtures in a post-fossil fuel society. The use of reclaimed asphalt (RA) is a widely used and well-established method to reduce the environmental and economic impacts of asphalt mixtures while increasing their circularity. However, RA’s market supply and demand have not yet been systematically analyzed and established. Moreover, the actual circularity potential and the opportu…
Removal of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate at a sewage treatment plant
2003
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) concentrations were measured at different stages in a full-scale sewage treatment plant (STP) and mass balances were calculated. The DEHP load to treatment process coming from the sewer system and the internal load comprising returned supernatants and filtrate from sludge treatment and excess secondary sludge were at the same level. The DEHP removal efficiency from the water phase at the STP was on average 94% of sewage DEHP, the main removal process being sorption to primary and secondary sludges. On average 29% of DEHP was calculated to be removed in the biological nitrifying-denitrifying activated sludge process, which was much less than expected from l…
A New Solution for Sea Wave Energy Harvesting, the Proposal of an Ironless Linear Generator
2020
The paper investigates an innovative ironless linear generator, installable inside a wave energy converter, in order to produce electricity from sea waves. This energy source is considered strategic for the future, especially in small islands