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Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper underscores the significance of safety and reliability in the realm of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies, and how regulations play a pivotal role in ensuring their responsible use. We have analyzed safety incidents and trends both in Canada and globally, noting a decline in incidents attributed to enhanced regulations. Our comparative analysis of different UAV technologies identified batteries as the most reliable power supply, Global Navigation Satellite System as the most effective navigation system, and light detection and ranging as the optimal optical sensor due to regulatory compliance and system redundancies. We also examined the regulatory framework in Canada, comparing it with the risk-based approach of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the efforts of Joint Authorities for Rule-making on Unmanned Systems towards global harmonization. Furthermore, we highlighted emerging trends in automation and flight control technologies, with a focus on European regulations shaping UAV automation trends. In conclusion, by adhering to best practices from other regulatory bodies, embracing emerging trends, and adopting a risk-based approach, Canada can promote the growth of the UAV industry while ensuring safety and reliability in UAV technologies.

According to the 2006 Canadian Red Cross Drowning Report, 2007 persons died of cold-water immersion in Canada between 1991 and 2000. These statistics indicate that prevention of cold-water immersion fatalities is a significant public health issue for Canadians. What should a person do after accidental immersion in cold water? For a long time, aquatic safety organizations and government agencies stated that swimming should not be attempted, even when a personal flotation device (PFD) is worn. The objective of the present paper is to present the recent scientific evidence making swimming a viable option for self-rescue during accidental cold-water immersion. Early studies in the 1960s and 1970s led to a general conclusion that "people are better off if they float still in lifejackets or hang on to wreckage and do not swim about to try to keep warm". Recent evidence from the literature shows that the initial factors identified as being responsible for swimming failure can be either easily overcome or are not likely the primary contributors to swimming failure. Studies over the last decade reported that swimming failure might primarily be related not to general hypothermia, but rather to muscle fatigue of the arms as a consequence of arm cooling. This is based on the general observation that swimming failure developed earlier than did systemic hypothermia, and can be related to low temperature of the arm muscles following swimming in cold water. All of the above studies conducted in water between 10 and 14 degrees C indicate that people can swim in cold water for a distance ranging between about 800 and 1500 m before being incapacitated by the cold. The average swimming duration for the studies was about 47 min before incapacitation, regardless of the swimming ability of the subjects. Recent evidence shows that people have a very accurate idea about how long it will take them to achieve a given swimming goal despite a 3-fold overestimation of the absolute distance to swim. The subjects were quite astute at deciding their swimming strategy early in the immersion with 86% success, but after about 30 min of swimming or passive cooling, their decision-making ability became impaired. It would therefore seem wise to make one's accidental immersion survival plan early during the immersion, directly after cessation of the cold shock responses. Additional recommendations for self-rescue are provided based on recent scientific evidence.

Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper evaluates the accuracy of three commonly used models that predict accidents on two-lane, rural, arterial highways. The retrospective evaluation compared model outputs with empirical collision results for a sample of highway sections in the Province of New Brunswick. The analysis determined historical accident rates, identified key predictive variables, and compared the observed results with estimates from each safety model. All three models were found to significantly overestimate accident frequencies on the highway sections under study. The model generally employed in New Brunswick, MicroBENCOST, was found to yield the highest errors in estimated collisions. These findings suggest that the benefits from accident reduction are generally overestimated on highway improvement projects analyzed with these accident prediction models. Cet article évalue la précision de trois modèles couramment utilisés pour la prédiction d'accidents sur les autoroutes à deux voies; rurales et les avenues. L’évaluation rétrospective à comparé les résultats des modèles aux résultats empirique de collision pour un échantillon de sections d'autoroutes dans la province du Nouveau-Brunswick. L’analyse a permis de déterminer le taux historique d'accidents, a identifié les principales variables prédictives et à comparé les résultats observés aux estimations de chaque modèle de sécurité. Il a été trouvé que les trois modèles sur-estiment significativement les fréquences d’accidents sur les sections d’autoroutes étudiées. Il a été trouvé que le modèle généralement employé au Nouveau-Brunswick, MicroBENCOST, produit les erreurs les plus élevées pour l’estimation des collisions. Ces résultats suggèrent que les avantages dûs à la réduction des accidents sont généralement sur-estimés dans les projets d'amélioration des routes analysés avec ces modèles de prédiction des accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental Reviews is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We describe the decision support system RuttOpt, which is developed for scheduling logging trucks in the forest industry. The system is made up of a number of modules. One module is the Swedish road database NVDB, which consists of detailed information of all of the roads in Sweden. This also includes a tool to compute distances between locations. A second module is an optimization routine that finds a schedule, i.e., set of routes for all trucks. This is based on a two-phase algorithm where linear programming and a standard tabu search method are used. A third module is a database storing all relevant information. At the center of the system is a user interface where information and results can be viewed on maps, Gantt schedules, and result reports. The RuttOpt system has been used in a number of case studies and we describe four of these. The case studies have been made in both forest companies and hauling companies. The cases range from 10 to 110 trucks and with a planning horizon ranging between 1 and 5 days. The results show that the system can be used to solve large case studies and that the potential savings are in the range 5%–30%. Nous décrivons le système d’aide à la décision RuttOpt, qui a été développé pour planifier le déplacement des grumiers dans l’industrie forestière. Le système est composé de plusieurs modules. La base de données des routes suédoises (NVDB), qui contient des informations détaillées sur toutes les routes de la Suède, est l’un de ces modules. Ce module contient également un outil qui permet de calculer la distance entre deux endroits. Un deuxième module est constitué d’un sous-programme d’optimisation qui permet de générer un calendrier de transport, c.-à-d. un ensemble de trajets pour tous les camions. Cette opération est réalisée à l’aide d’un algorithme à deux phases dans lequel la programmation linéaire et une méthode de recherche tabou standard sont utilisées. Le troisième module est une base de données qui permet d’emmagasiner toutes les informations pertinentes. Au cœur du système se trouve une interface utilisateur qui permet de visualiser les informations et les résultats par le biais de cartes, de graphiques de Gantt et de rapports des résultats. Le système RuttOpt a été utilisé dans le cadre de plusieurs études de cas et nous décrivons quatre de ces études. Les études de cas ont été réalisées chez des compagnies forestières et des entreprises de transport. Selon le cas, le nombre de camions varie de 10 à 110 et l’horizon de planification d’un à 5 jours. Les résultats montrent que le système peut être utilisé pour résoudre des études de cas de grande taille et que les économies potentielles sont de l’ordre de 5 % à 30 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Botany is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)