Evaluation of Alternative Guided Bus Designs: Results for Kingston Upon Hull.

This paper describes the background and methodology employed in research funded by the EPSRC to assess the traffic management implications of guided bus schemes. One central aim of the project is to demonstrate how simulation tools can be adapted to account for the special features of guided bus schemes and demonstrate their applicability on an actual planned scheme. Traditional bus priority measures are first assessed for their benefits and these are contrasted with those from the planned guided bus scheme. Variations to the planned scheme are also considered. A sophisticated microsimulation model is used to assess the impact of incorporating guided bus infrastructure into three planned schemes. Two of these are from Leeds and Kingston-upon-Hull and are largely within the existing Road infrastructure, whilst the third is from Chester and is largely segregated from the existing road infrastructure. This paper deals exclusively with the Kingston-upon-Hull scheme. The network under consideration is due north of Hull city center and contains two main arterials, the Beverley Road and Stoneferry Road, together with a network of connecting roads. The traditional bus priority measures are concentrated on the Beverley Road, which is currently the main bus arterial of the two roads. When the guideways are constructed the intention is that the Stoneferry Road would become a more important bus arterial than it currently is. The planned guided bus scheme exists in four variants: two-way at the kerb; two-way in the median; tidal in the median and an elevated section located in the median. This paper describes the evaluation of the base network; the individual traditional priority measures; the combined traditional priority measures and the four planned guided bus schemes

ERM Quarterly, Quarter 3, October 2016

In this issue • Support instruments in focus: innovative business transfer measures • Case in focus: Major overhaul in Polish mining sector • Case in focus: Planned Caterpillar closure at Gosselie

Alternatives to Fiscal Austerity in Spain

This paper looks at the planned austerity measures in Spain, the rationale for the spending cuts and tax increases, likely outcomes for future debt-to-GDP ratios, and the probable results of alternative policies

Imperfect Knowledge, Retirement and Saving

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, this paper measures knowledge about future social security and pension benefits by comparing respondent reports of their expected benefits with benefits calculated from social security earnings records and employer provided descriptions of pension plans. The knowledge measures suggest that misinformation or lack of information about retirement benefits is the norm. Those who are most dependent on social security are the least well informed, while the opposite is true for pensions. Women and minorities are also less well informed about their retirement benefits. Those who engage in planning activities are somewhat better informed than those who do not, but with the exception of having requested a social security earnings record, the effects of planning activities on knowledge are modest. In descriptive and reduced form equations for planned and actual retirement saving, there is at best a modest relation of knowledge measures to planned and actual retirement and to nonpension, nonsocial security wealth as a share of lifetime earnings. Individuals who over estimate their benefits are likely to retire sooner than they planned, but the measured effects are again relatively modest.

Quasi-monotonic segmentation of state variable behavior for reactive control

Real-world agents must react to changing conditions as they execute planned tasks. Conditions are typically monitored through time series representing state variables. While some predicates on these times series only consider one measure at a time, other predicates, sometimes called episodic predicates, consider sets of measures. We consider a special class of episodic predicates based on segmentation of the the measures into quasi-monotonic intervals where each interval is either quasi-increasing, quasi-decreasing, or quasi-flat. While being scale-based, this approach is also computational efficient and results can be computed exactly without need for approximation algorithms. Our approach is compared to linear spline and regression analysis

The VOICE Study: Valuing Opinions, Individual Communication and Experience: Building the evidence base for undertaking patient-centred family meetings in palliative care - a mixed methods study

Background: Despite family meetings being widely used to facilitate discussion among patients, families, and clinicians in palliative care, there is limited evidence to support their use. This study aims to assess the acceptability and feasibility of Patient-Centred Family Meetings in specialist inpatient palliative care units for patients, families, and clinicians and determine the suitability and feasibility of validated outcome measures from the patient and family perspectives. Methods: The study is a mixed-methods quasi-experimental design with pre-planned Patient-Centred Family Meetings at the intervention site. The patient will set the meeting agenda a priori allowing an opportunity for their issues to be prioritised and addressed. At the control site, usual care will be maintained which may include a family meeting. Each site will recruit 20 dyads comprising a terminally ill inpatient and their nominated family member. Pre- and post-test administration of the Distress Thermometer, QUAL-EC, QUAL-E, and Patient Health Questionnaire-4 will assess patient and family distress and satisfaction with quality of life. Patient, family, and clinician interviews post-meeting will provide insights into the meeting feasibility and outcome measures. Recruitment percentages and outcome measure completion will also inform feasibility. Descriptive statistics will summarise pre- and post-meeting data generated by the outcome measures. SPSS will analyse the quantitative data. Grounded theory will guide the qualitative data analysis. Discussion: This study will determine whether planned Patient-Centred Family Meetings are feasible and acceptable and assess the suitability and feasibility of the outcome measures. It will inform a future phase III randomised controlled trial. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12616001083482 on 11 August 201

Alternatives to Fiscal Austerity in Spain

This paper looks at the planned austerity measures in Spain, the rationale for the spending cuts and tax increases, likely outcomes for future debt-to-GDP ratios, and the probable results of alternative policies.IMF, Spain, EU, European Central Bank, deficit spending, budget deficits, fiscal policy, monetary policy

The theory of planned behaviour predicts self-reports of walking, but does not predict step count

Objectives This paper compares multiple measures of walking in two studies, and the second study compares how well Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) constructs perform in predicting these different measures. Methods In Study 1, 41 participants wore a New Lifestyles NL-2000 pedometer for 1 week. Subsequently, participants completed a questionnaire containing measures of the TPB constructs and two self-report measures of walking, followed by two interview measures of walking. For Study 2, 200 RAF trainee aircraftsmen wore pedometers for 2 weeks. At the end of each week, participants completed the questionnaire and interview measures of walking. Results Both studies found no significant association between questionnaire measures of walking and pedometer measures. In Study 1, the interview measures produced significant, large correlations with the pedometer measure, but these relationships were markedly weaker in the second study. TPB variables were found to explain 22% of variance in intention to walk in Study 1 and 45% of the variance in Study 2. In Study 2, prediction of subsequent measures of behaviour was found to be weak, except when using a single-item measure of walking. Conclusions Recall of walking is poor, and accurate measurement by self-report is problematic. Although the TPB predicts intentions to walk well, it does not predict actual amount of walking, as assessed by pedometer. Possible reasons for these findings include the unique nature of walking as an activity primarily used to facilitate higher order goals. The use of single-item measures may exaggerate the effectiveness of the TPB model for walking, and possibly other forms of physical activity.</p

Local readout enhancement for detuned signal-recycling interferometers

Motivated by the optical-bar scheme of Braginsky, Gorodetsky and Khalili, we propose to add to a high power detuned signal-recycling interferometer a local readout scheme which measures the motion of the arm-cavity front mirror. At low frequencies this mirror moves together with the arm-cavity end mirror, under the influence of gravitational waves. This scheme improves the low-frequency quantum-noise-limited sensitivity of optical-spring interferometers significantly and can be considered as a incorporation of the optical-bar scheme into currently planned second-generation interferometers. On the other hand it can be regarded as an extension of the optical bar scheme. Taking compact-binary inspiral signals as an example, we illustrate how this scheme can be used to improve the sensitivity of the planned Advanced LIGO interferometer, in various scenarios, using a realistic classical-noise budget. We also discuss how this scheme can be implemented in Advanced LIGO with relative ease

How Effective are Toll Roads in Improving Operational Performance?

The main focus of this research is to develop a systematic analytical framework and evaluate the effect of a toll road on region’s traffic using travel time and travel time reliability measures. The travel time data for the Triangle Expressway in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States was employed for the assessment process. The spatial and temporal variations in the travel time distributions on the toll road, parallel alternate route, and near-vicinity cross-streets were analyzed using various travel time reliability measures. The results indicate that the Triangle Expressway showed a positive trend in reliability over the years of its operation. The parallel route reliability decreased significantly during the analysis period, whereas the travel time reliability of cross-streets showed a consistent trend. The stabilization of travel time distributions and the reliability measures over different years of toll road operation are good indicators, suggesting that further reduction in performance measures may not be seen on the near vicinity corridors. The findings from link-level and corridor-level analysis may help with transportation system management, assessing the influence of travel demand patterns, and evaluating the effect of planned implementation of similar projects