scholarly journals A Strategic Move for Long-Term Bridge Performance within a Game Theory Framework by a Data-Driven Co-Active Mechanism

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
O. Brian Oyegbile ◽  
Mi G. Chorzepa

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires that states have less than 10% of the total deck area that is structurally deficient. It is a minimum risk benchmark for sustaining the National Highway System bridges. Yet, a decision-making framework is needed for obtaining the highest possible long-term return from investments on bridge maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement (MRR). This study employs a data-driven coactive mechanism within a proposed game theory framework, which accounts for a strategic interaction between two players, the FHWA and a state Department of Transportation (DOT). The payoffs for the two players are quantified in terms of a change in service life. The proposed framework is used to investigate the element-level bridge inspection data from four US states (Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York). By reallocating 0.5% (from 10% to 10.5%) of the deck resources to expansion joints and joint seals, both federal and state transportation agencies (e.g., FHWA and state DOTs in the U.S.) will be able to improve the overall bridge performance. This strategic move in turn improves the deck condition by means of a co-active mechanism and yields a higher payoff for both players. It is concluded that the proposed game theory framework with a strategic move, which leverages element interactions for MRR, is most effective in New York where the average bridge service life is extended by 15 years. It is also concluded that the strategic move can lead to vastly different outcomes. Pennsylvania’s concrete bridge management strategy currently appears to leverage a co-active mechanism in its bridge MRR strategies. This is noteworthy because its bridges are exposed to similar environmental conditions to what is obtainable in Virginia and New York and are subjected to more aggressive weather conditions than those in Georgia. This study illustrates how a strategic move affects the payoffs of different players by numerically quantifying changes in service life from bridge time-dependent bridge performance relationships.

Author(s):  
P. D. Destefano ◽  
D. A. Grivas

A method for modeling the performance of large bridge components subjected to normal loading and deterioration effects using reliability engineering techniques is presented. Development of the method was motivated by the need to advance a practical performance model for large bridge rehabilitation decision analysis. The modeling scope includes three basic elements: performance assessment, system modeling, and failure rate analysis. Two fundamental assumptions of the developed performance model are that (a) bridge components are systems of independent critical elements and (b) each element’s failure rate is constant throughout its functional service life. The model is used to qualitatively assess the performance of bridge components with respect to reliability and enables the estimation of two important rehabilitation planning indices, functional service life and expected damage. An application of the model is illustrated in an example involving a comparative evaluation of the performance of two large bridge deck systems. The bridges selected have similar traffic, maintenance, and environmental conditions; however, they have significantly different design characteristics. It is concluded that the performance model provides a viable approach to qualitative and quantitative evaluation of bridge performance over time. The research efforts described are part of a larger, comprehensive project to develop and enhance the bridge management system of the New York State Thruway Authority.


2012 ◽  
Vol 204-208 ◽  
pp. 1980-1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo Ping Bu ◽  
Jae Ho Lee ◽  
Hong Guan ◽  
Yew Chaye Loo ◽  
Michael Blumenstein

Currently, probabilistic deterioration modeling techniques have been employed in most state-of-the-art Bridge Management Systems (BMSs) to predict future bridge condition ratings. As confirmed by many researchers, the reliability of the probabilistic deterioration models rely heavily on the sufficient amount of condition data together with their well-distributed historical deterioration patterns over time. However, inspection records are usually insufficient in most bridge agencies. As a result, a typical standalone probabilistic model (e.g. state-based or time-based model) is not promising for forecasting a reliable bridge long-term performance. To minimise the shortcomings of lacking condition data, an integrated method using a combination of state- and time-based techniques has recently been developed and has demonstrated an improved performance as compared to the standalone techniques. However, certain shortcomings still remain in the integrated method which necessities further improvement. In this study, the core component of the state-based modeling is replaced by an Elman Neural Networks (ENN). The integrated method incorporated with ENN is more effective in predicting long-term bridge performance as compared to the typical deterioration modeling techniques. As part of comprehensive case studies, this paper presents the deterioration prediction of 52 bridge elements with material types of Steel (S), Timber (T) and Other (O). These elements are selected from 94 bridges (totaling 4,115 inspection records). The enhanced reliability of the proposed integrated method incorporating ENN is confirmed.


Author(s):  
Federico Varese

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West. As this book explains, the truth is more complicated. The author has spent years researching mafia groups in Italy, Russia, the United States, and China, and argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonize new territories. Once there, they do not always succeed in establishing themselves. The book spells out the conditions that lead to their long-term success, namely sudden market expansion that is neither exploited by local rivals nor blocked by authorities. Ultimately the inability of the state to govern economic transformations gives mafias their opportunity. In a series of matched comparisons, the book charts the attempts of the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta to move to the north of Italy, and shows how the Sicilian mafia expanded to early twentieth-century New York, but failed around the same time to find a niche in Argentina. The book explains why the Russian mafia failed to penetrate Rome but succeeded in Hungary. A pioneering chapter on China examines the challenges that triads from Taiwan and Hong Kong find in branching out to the mainland. This book is both a compelling read and a sober assessment of the risks posed by globalization and immigration for the spread of mafias.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Kasten ◽  
Elizabeth Lewis ◽  
Sari Lelchook ◽  
Lynn Feinberg ◽  
Edem Hado

1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-159
Author(s):  
Edward F. Harris ◽  
Nicholas F. Bellantoni

Archaeologically defined inter-group differences in the Northeast subarea ate assessed with a phenetic analysis of published craniometric information. Spatial distinctions in the material culture are in good agreement with those defined by the cranial metrics. The fundamental dichotomy, between the Ontario Iroquois and the eastern grouping of New York and New England, suggests a long-term dissociation between these two groups relative to their ecologic adaptations, trade relationships, trait-list associations, and natural and cultural barriers to gene flow.


Author(s):  
Karen Ahlquist

This chapter charts how canonic repertories evolved in very different forms in New York City during the nineteenth century. The unstable succession of entrepreneurial touring troupes that visited the city adapted both repertory and individual pieces to the audience’s taste, from which there emerged a major theater, the Metropolitan Opera, offering a mix of German, Italian, and French works. The stable repertory in place there by 1910 resembles to a considerable extent that performed in the same theater today. Indeed, all of the twenty-five operas most often performed between 1883 and 2015 at the Metropolitan Opera were written before World War I. The repertory may seem haphazard in its diversity, but that very condition proved to be its strength in the long term. This chapter is paired with Benjamin Walton’s “Canons of real and imagined opera: Buenos Aires and Montevideo, 1810–1860.”


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1962
Author(s):  
Lingjun Li ◽  
Guangli Li ◽  
Yuliang Cao ◽  
Yvonne Yanwen Duan

High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) is a promising non-invasive neuromodulation technique, which has been widely used in the clinical intervention and treatment of neurological or psychiatric disorders. Sintered Ag/AgCl electrode has become a preferred candidate for HD-tDCS, but its service life is very short, especially for long-term anodal stimulation. To address this issue, a novel highly durable conductive carbon/silver/silver chloride composite (C/Ag/AgCl) electrode was fabricated by a facile cold rolling method. The important parameters were systematically optimized, including the conductive enhancer, the particle size of Ag powder, the C:Ag:PTFE ratio, the saline concentration, and the active substance loading. The CNT/Ag/AgCl-721 electrode demonstrated excellent specific capacity and cycling performance. Both constant current anodal polarization and simulated tDCS measurement demonstrated that the service life of the CNT/Ag/AgCl-721 electrodes was 15-16 times of that of sintered Ag/AgCl electrodes. The much longer service life can be attributed to the formation of the three-dimensional interpenetrating conductive network with CNT doping, which can maintain a good conductivity and cycling performance even if excessive non-conductive AgCl is accumulated on the surface during long-term anodal stimulation. Considering their low cost, long service life, and good skin tolerance, the proposed CNT/Ag/AgCl electrodes have shown promising application prospects in HD-tDCS, especially for daily life scenarios.


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