Road networks are monitored to evaluate their decay level and the performances regarding ride comfort, vehicle rolling noise, fuel consumption, etc. In this study, a novel inertial sensor-based system is proposed using a low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a global positioning system (GPS) module, which are connected to a Raspberry Pi Zero W board and embedded inside a vehicle to indirectly monitor the road condition. To assess the level of pavement decay, the comfort index a_wz defined by the ISO 2631 standard was used. Considering 21 km of roads with different levels of pavement decay, validation measurements were performed using the novel sensor, a high performance inertial based navigation sensor, and a road surface profiler. Therefore, comparisons between a_wz determined with accelerations measured on the two different inertial sensors are made; in addition, also correlations between a_wz, and typical pavement indicators such as international roughness index, and ride number were also performed. The results showed very good correlations between the a_wz values calculated with the two inertial devices (R² = 0.98). In addition, the correlations between a_wz values and the typical pavement indices showed promising results (R² = 0.83–0.90). The proposed sensor may be assumed as a reliable and easy-to-install method to assess the pavement conditions in urban road networks, since the use of traditional systems is difficult and/or expensive.

One of the first scientific maps of the Amazon region, The Course of the Amazon River (Le Cours de La Rivière des Amazones), was constructed by Nicolas Sanson, a French cartographer of the seventeenth century, and served as the prototype for many others. The evaluation of this chart, until now, has been that it is a very defective map, a sketch based on a historical account, according to the opinion of La Condamine. Thus, the aim of the present work was to prove that the map of the Amazon River traced by Nicolas Sanson is a scientific work, a map that presents precise geographic coordinates considering its time, shows a well-determined prime meridian, and also employs a creative methodology to deduce longitudes from latitudes and distances that had been covered. To show such characteristics, an analysis of the accuracy of the map was made by comparing its latitudes and longitudes with those of a current map. We determined the prime meridian of this map and analyzed the methodology used for the calculation of longitudes. The conclusion is that it is actually a good map for the time, particularly considering the technology and the limited information that Sanson had at his disposal. This proves that the negative assertion of La Condamine is unfounded.

O problema do posicionamento para transporte terrestre no ambiente urbano

The rapid cryospheric transformation of the Arctic presents complex challenges for global supply chains, necessitating data-driven decision-making frameworks to optimize route planning and resource allocation. Standard aggregate statistics fail to capture the structural nuances required for operational research models in this evolving landscape. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal dynamics of Arctic navigation intensity to determine the extent of the operational window expansion and the spatial displacement of shipping routes. We deployed the Arctic Traffic Intensity Framework (ATIF) to generate a high-resolution spatiotemporal dataset spanning 2012–2024. To address variance instability and inform strategic forecasting, a log-linear regression model was applied to calculate the Annual Percentage Change, allowing for a dual analysis of absolute linear trends (volume) versus relative growth (proportional intensity) across heterogeneous baselines. A bilateral expansion of the high-intensity window to nearly five months (June–October) was observed, driven by earlier spring break-up and delayed autumn freeze-up. Spatially, the geometric navigational centroid has shifted southwestward, highlighting a concentration of activity in the Barents and Kara Seas rather than a uniform Transpolar dispersion. It can be concluded that the Arctic shipping system has transitioned from a seasonally restricted frontier to a standardized resource extraction corridor. However, the traffic is heavily clustered in the western sector, creating high-density logistic bottlenecks rather than a homogenized international transit route.