Driving licensing renewal policy using neural network-based probabilistic decision support system

This paper investigates neural network-based probabilistic decision support system to assess drivers' knowledge for the objective of developing a renewal policy of driving licences. The probabilistic model correlates drivers' demographic data to their results in a simulated written driving exam (SWDE). The probabilistic decision support system classifies drivers' into two groups of passing and failing a SWDE. Knowledge assessment of drivers within a probabilistic framework allows quantifying and incorporating uncertainty information into the decision-making system. The results obtained in a Jordanian case study indicate that the performance of the probabilistic decision support systems is more reliable than conventional deterministic decision support systems. Implications of the proposed probabilistic decision support systems on the renewing of the driving licences decision and the possibility of including extra assessment methods are discussed.

Impact of driver behaviour on availability of electric vehicle stored energy for STOR

As take up of low carbon vehicles increase, there is interest in using the energy stored in the vehicles to help maintain system frequency through ancillary services on the electricity grid system. Research into this area is generally classed as vehicle-to-grid research. In theory, the energy available from electric vehicles could be directly correlated to the vehicle's state of charge (SoC) and battery capacity during the time the car is parked and plugged in. However, not all the energy in the vehicle may be used, as some capacity is required by the driver for their next journey. As such, this paper uses data captured as part of a large scale electric vehicle trial to investigate the effect of three different types of driver routine on vehicle-to-grid availability. Each driver's behaviour is analysed to assess the energy that is available for STOR, with follow on journey requirements also considered.

Business Models for Open Access. Copyright and Licensing under Open Access

The lecture analyses the traditional business model in scientific communication and describes the new emerging models in the context of Open Access. Copyright and licensing part provides an overview of the legal issues and copyright at the heart of Open Access.

Visual driver support system for traffic signs

It has been well documented that traffic accidents that can be avoided occur when the motorists miss or ignore traffic signs. With the attention of drivers getting diverted due to distractions like cell phone conversations, missing traffic signs has become more prevalent. Also, poor weather and other unfriendly driving conditions sometimes makes the motorists not to be alert all the time and see every traffic sign on the road. Besides, most cars do not have any form of traffic assistance. Because of heavy traffic and proliferation of traffic signs on the roads, there is a need for a system that assists the driver not to miss a traffic sign to reduce the probability of an accident. Since visual information is critical for driving, processed video signals from cameras have been chosen to assist drivers. These inexpensive cameras can be easily mounted on the automobile. The objective of the present investigation and the traffic system development is to recognize the traffic signs electronically and alert drivers. For the case study and the system development, five important and critical traffic signs have been selected. They are: STOP, NO ENTER, NO RIGHT TURN, NO LEFT TURN, and YIELD. The system was evaluated processing still pictures taken from the public roads, and the recognition results were presented in an analysis table to indicate the correct identifications and the false ones. The system reached the acceptable recognition rate of 80% for all five traffic signs. The processing rate was about three seconds. The capabilities of MATLAB, VLSI design platforms and coding have been used to generate a visual warning to complement the visual driver support system with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) on a XUP Virtex-II Pro Development System.

Disturbance Driven Colony Fragmentation as a Driver of a Coral Disease Outbreak

In September of 2010, Brewer's Bay reef, located in St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands), was simultaneously affected by abnormally high temperatures and the passage of a hurricane that resulted in the mass bleaching and fragmentation of its coral community. An outbreak of a rapid tissue loss disease among coral colonies was associated with these two disturbances. Gross lesion signs and lesion progression rates indicated that the disease was most similar to the Caribbean coral disease white plague type 1. Experiments indicated that the disease was transmissible through direct contact between colonies, and five-meter radial transects showed a clustered spatial distribution of disease, with diseased colonies being concentrated within the first meter of other diseased colonies. Disease prevalence and the extent to which colonies were bleached were both significantly higher on unattached colony fragments than on attached colonies, and disease occurred primarily on fragments found in direct contact with sediment. In contrast to other recent studies, disease presence was not related to the extent of bleaching on colonies. The results of this study suggest that colony fragmentation and contact with sediment played primary roles in the initial appearance of disease, but that the disease was capable of spreading among colonies, which suggests secondary transmission is possible through some other, unidentified mechanism.

Application of biomarkers and compound specific stable isotopes for the assessment of hydrology as a driver of organic matter dynamics in the Everglades ecosystem

The Everglades is a sub-tropical coastal wetland characterized among others by its hydrological features and deposits of peat. Formation and preservation of organic matter in soils and sediments in this wetland ecosystem is critical for its sustainability and hydrological processes are important divers in the origin, transport and fate of organic matter. With this in mind, organic matter dynamics in the greater Florida Everglades was studied though various organic geochemistry techniques, especially biomarkers, bulk and compound specific δ13C and δD isotope analysis. The main objectives were focused on how different hydrological regimes in this ecosystem control organic matter dynamics, such as the mobilization of particulate organic matter (POM) in freshwater marshes and estuaries, and how organic geochemistry techniques can be applied to reconstruct Everglades paleo-hydrology. For this purpose organic matter in typical vegetation, floc, surface soils, soil cores, and estuarine suspended particulates were characterized in samples selected along hydrological gradients in the Water Conservation Area 3, Shark River Slough and Taylor Slough. ^ This research focused on three general themes: (1) Assessment of the environmental dynamics and source-specific particulate organic carbon export in a mangrove-dominated estuary. (2) Assessment of the origin, transport and fate of organic matter in freshwater marsh. (3) Assessment of historical changes in hydrological conditions in the Everglades (paleo-hydrology) though biomarkes and compound specific isotope analyses. This study reports the first estimate of particulate organic carbon loss from mangrove ecosystems in the Everglades, provides evidence for particulate organic matter transport with regards to the formation of ridge and slough landscapes in the Everglades, and demonstrates the applicability of the combined biomarker and compound-specific stable isotope approach as a means to generate paleohydrological data in wetlands. The data suggests that: (1) Carbon loss from mangrove estuaries is roughly split 50/50 between dissolved and particulate carbon; (2) hydrological remobilization of particulate organic matter from slough to ridge environments may play an important role in the maintenance of the Everglades freshwater landscape; and (3) Historical changes in hydrology have resulted in significant vegetation shifts from historical slough type vegetation to present ridge type vegetation. ^

Harness race driver Patti Ahneman

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Janet Guthrie, professional race car driver

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Cab driver with Playboy magazine stops in front of Playboy Club while demonstration is taking place

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Harness race driver

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Professional race car driver Janet Guthrie

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Professional harness race driver

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Italian harness race driver Loredana Moretti

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First woman hired as a bus driver in NYC

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

UPS Driver

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.