Use of Singapore's "Standard Details of Road Elements" for distance estimation in traffic crash reconstruction: A comparison with onsite measurements and Google Earth Pro.

We report the use of the geometric design standard for road markings published in the "Standard Details of Road Elements" ('SDRE') by the Land Transport Authority ('LTA') of Singapore as a convenient and sufficiently accurate means of estimating distances between features of the roadway, particularly useful for performing speed analysis based on videos. In this study, onsite measurements (by measuring tape, total station or 3D laser scanner) from various locations in Singapore, as well as the corresponding distances based on Google Earth Pro, were compared with those estimated using the SDRE. We demonstrate herein that the SDRE estimated 85.7% of all corresponding onsite measurements to within ±5%, and can thus be relied upon for crash reconstruction. This study also evaluated the distance accuracies associated with using the geometric design standard (the SDRE) and Google Earth Pro, and determined that both methods were robust and accurate, with overall average absolute percentage errors of less than 1% and would be beneficial for obtaining measurements for crash reconstruction, especially when the site of interest is not accessible.

In situ photo-assisted deposition of MoS2 electrocatalyst onto zinc cadmium sulphide nanoparticle surfaces to construct an efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen generation.

We reported herein a facile and scalable preparation process for MoS(2)-decorated Zn(x)Cd(1-x)S hybrid photocatalysts for hydrogen generation. Zn(x)Cd(1-x)S nanopowder was first prepared from commercially available precursors employing a solution based process. MoS(2) hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst was then loaded onto the Zn(x)Cd(1-x)S nanopowder via a photo-assisted deposition process which employed mild conditions (room temperature, atmospheric pressure and visible light illumination). Thus, this process represents an important advantage in the large scale production of semiconductor/MoS(2) hybrid photocatalysts in comparison to the conventional method relying on thermal decomposition of (NH(4))(2)[MoS(4)] precursor at high temperature and under H(2)S pressure. The best Zn(0.2)Cd(0.8)S/MoS(2) 3% showed two hundred-and-ten times (210 times) faster hydrogen generation rate on visible light illumination compared with that obtained for un-treated Zn(0.2)Cd(0.8)S. That was the most impressive catalytic enhancement ever recorded for a semiconductor photocatalyst decorated with a noble metal free electrocatalyst.