An explicit study on walking speeds of pedestrians on stairs

23-26 May, 200

Pedestrian speeds on stairs: an initial step for a simulation model

In order to predict a pedestrian’s walking speed on stairs from his/her characteristics of and those of the stairs, the relationship between the walking speed of a pedestrian on stairs and his/her characteristics, and the relationship between the pedestrians’ walking speeds on stairs and the stair-gradients were investigated. It is suggested that Leg Extensor Power shows a strong correlation to walking speeds of elderly people on stairs, the stair-gradient has a linear relationship with horizontal walking speeds on stairs, and Leg Extensor Power could be used to represent a unique walking speed of an elderly pedestrian on stairs

How do elderly pedestrians perceive hazards in the street? - An initial investigation towards development of a pedestrian simulation that incorporates reaction of various pedestrians to environments

In order to evaluate the accessibility of street and transport environments, such as railway stations, we are now developing a pedestrian simulation that incorporates elderly and disable pedestrians and their interaction with various environments including hazards on the street. For this development, it is necessary to understand how elderly and disabled pedestrians perceive hazards in the street and transport environments. Many elderly people suffer from some visual impairment. A study in the UK suggested 12% of people aged 65 or over have binocular acuity of 6/18 or less (Van der Pols et al, 2000). It should be noted that a quarter of the UK population will be aged 65 or over by 2031 (The Government Actuary's Department, 2004). Because of age-related changes of visual perception organs, elderly people suffer not only visual acuity problems but also other forms of visual disabilities, such as visual field loss and less contrast sensitivity. Lighting is considered to be an effective solution to let elderly and disable pedestrians perceive possible hazards in the street. Interestingly, British Standards for residential street lighting have not considered lighting needs of elderly pedestrians or pedestrians with visual disabilities (e.g. Fujiyama et al, 2005). In order to design street lighting that incorporates elderly and visually disabled pedestrians, it would be useful to understand how lighting improves the perception of hazards by elderly and disable pedestrians. The aim of this paper is to understand how elderly pedestrians perceive different hazards and to address issues to be investigated in future research. This paper focuses on fixation patterns of elderly pedestrians on different hazards in the street under different lighting conditions. Analysing fixation patterns helps us understand how pedestrians perceive environments or hazards (Fujiyama, 2006). This paper presents the initial results of our analysis of the eye tracker data of an ordinary elderly participant

Free walking speeds on stairs: Effects of stair gradients and obesity of pedestrians

Effects of stair gradients and obesity on walking speeds on stairs were empirically investigated. The participants included a group of elderly people (n=18) and a group of young people (n=15). They were asked to ascend/descend four staircases with different gradients, as well as to walk on a flat surface, at both normal and fast speeds. The study found the effects of stair gradients. When walking speeds on stairs are estimated, the gradient should be taken into account. In contrast, the study found no effect of overweight (or moderate obesity) on speeds

Investigation of Lighting Levels for Pedestrians - Some questions about lighting levels of current lighting standards

22-23 September, 200

Spin dynamics and antiferromagnetic order in PrBa2Cu4O8 studied by Cu nuclear respnance

Results of the nuclear resonance experiments for the planar Cu sites in PrBa2Cu4O8 are presented. The NMR spectrum at 1.5 K in zero magnetic field revealed an internal field of 6.1 T, providing evidence for an antiferromagnetic order of the planar Cu spins. This confirms that the CuO2 planes are insulating, therefore, the metallic conduction in this material is entirely due to the one-dimensional zigzag Cu2O2 chains. The results of the spin-lattice relaxation rates measured by zero field NQR above 245 K in the paramagnetic state are explained by the theory for a Heisenberg model on a square lattice.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Nuclear spin-spin coupling in La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} studied by stimulated echo decay

We have performed copper NQR experiments in high temperature superconductors YBa_{2}Cu_{4}O_{8}, YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7}, and La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} (x=0.12 and 0.15), using the stimulated echo technique. The stimulated echo intensity is analyzed by a model that includes the spin-lattice relaxation process (T_ {1 }-process) and the fluctuating local field due to nuclear spin-spin coupling. The model gives quantitative account of the experimental results in Y-based compounds using the known values of 1/T_{1} and 1/T_{2G}, the gaussian decay rate of the spin echo intensity. The same model applied to LSCO enables us to extract the value of T_{2G}. Our results indicate that T_{1}T/T_{2G} is independent of temperature, implying that the dynamic exponent is one in La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}.Comment: 14 pages, 11 fugures, The bibliography field is correcte

Charge order, superconductivity, and a global phase diagram of doped antiferromagnets

We investigate the interplay between lattice-symmetry breaking and superconducting order in a two-dimensional model of doped antiferromagnets, with long-range Coulomb interactions and Sp(2N) spin symmetry, in the large-N limit. Our results motivate the outline of a global phase diagram for the cuprate superconductors. We describe the quantum transitions between the phases, the evolution of their fermion excitation spectrum, and the experimental implications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figs, final version as publishe