Conflict in pedestrian networks

Encouraging pedestrian activity is increasingly recognised as beneficial for public health, the environment and the economy. As our cities become more crowded, there is a need for urban planners to take into account more explicitly pedestrian needs. The term that is now in use is that a city should be ‘walkable’. For route planning, whereas much attention has been given to shortest path, in distance or time, much less attention has been paid to flow levels and the difficulties they pose on the route. This paper considers problems posed by conflicting paths, for example cross-traffic. We use network centrality measures to make a first estimate of differing levels of conflict posed at the network nodes. We take special note of the role of collective motion in determining network usage. A small case study illustrates the method

Effect of response format for clinical vignettes on reporting quality of physician practice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clinical vignettes have been used widely to compare quality of clinical care and to assess variation in practice, but the effect of different response formats has not been extensively evaluated. Our objective was to compare three clinical vignette-based survey response formats – open-ended questionnaire (A), closed-ended (multiple-choice) questionnaire with deceptive response items mixed with correct items (B), and closed-ended questionnaire with only correct items (C) – in rheumatologists' pre-treatment assessment for tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF) blocker therapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><b><it>Study design</it></b>: Prospective randomized study. <b><it>Setting</it></b>: Rheumatologists attending the 2004 French Society of Rheumatology meeting. Physicians were given a vignette describing the history of a fictitious woman with active rheumatoid arthritis, who was a candidate for therapy with TNF blocking agents, and then were randomized to receive questionnaire A, B, or C, each containing the same four questions but with different response formats, that asked about their pretreatment assessment. <b><it>Measurements</it></b>: Long (recommended items) and short (mandatory items) checklists were developed for pretreatment assessment for TNF-blocker therapy, and scores were expressed on the basis of responses to questionnaires A, B, and C as the percentage of respondents correctly choosing explicit items on these checklists. <b><it>Statistical analysis</it></b>: Comparison of the selected items using pairwise Chi-square tests with Bonferonni correction for variables with statistically significant differences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data for all surveys distributed (114 As, 118 Bs, and 118 Cs) were complete and available for analysis. The percentage of questionnaire A, B, and C respondents for whom data was correctly complete for the short checklist was 50.4%, 84.0% and 95.0%, respectively, and was 0%, 5.0% and 5.9%, respectively, for the long version. As an example, 65.8%, 85.7% and 95.8% of the respondents of A, B, and C questionnaires, respectively, correctly identified the need for tuberculin skin test (p < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In evaluating clinical practice with use of a clinical vignette, a multiple-choice format rather than an open-ended format overestimates physician performance. The insertion of deceptive response items mixed with correct items in closed-ended (multiple-choice) questionnaire failed to avoid this overestimation.</p

Bumblebee foraging rhythms under the midnight sun measured with radiofrequency identification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the permanent daylight conditions north of the Arctic circle, there is a unique opportunity for bumblebee foragers to maximise intake, and therefore colony growth, by remaining active during the entire available 24-h period. We tested the foraging rhythms of bumblebee (<it>Bombus terrestris </it>and <it>B. pascuorum</it>) colonies in northern Finland during the summer, when the sun stays above the horizon for weeks. We used fully automatic radio-frequency identification to monitor the foraging activity of more than 1,000 workers and analysed their circadian foraging rhythms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Foragers did not use the available 24-h foraging period but exhibited robust diurnal rhythms instead. A mean of 95.2% of the tested <it>B. terrestris </it>workers showed robust diurnal rhythms with a mean period of 23.8 h. Foraging activity took place mainly between 08:00 and 23:00, with only low or almost no activity during the rest of the day. Activity levels increased steadily during the morning, reached a maximum around midday and decreased again during late afternoon and early evening. Foraging patterns of native <it>B. pascuorum </it>followed the same temporal organisation, with the foraging activity being restricted to the period between 06:00 and 22:00.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of the present study indicate that the circadian clock of the foragers must have been entrained by some external cue, the most prominent being daily cycles in light intensity and temperature. Daily fluctuations in the spectral composition of light, especially in the UV range, could also be responsible for synchronising the circadian clock of the foragers under continuous daylight conditions.</p

Measurements of neutrino oscillation in appearance and disappearance channels by the T2K experiment with 6.6 x 10(20) protons on target

111 pages, 45 figures, submitted to Physical Review D. Minor revisions to text following referee comments111 pages, 45 figures, submitted to Physical Review D. Minor revisions to text following referee comments111 pages, 45 figures, submitted to Physical Review D. Minor revisions to text following referee commentsWe thank the J-PARC staff for superb accelerator performance and the CERN NA61/SHINE Collaboration for providing valuable particle production data. We acknowledge the support of MEXT, Japan; NSERC, NRC, and CFI, Canada; CEA and CNRS/IN2P3, France; DFG, Germany; INFN, Italy; National Science Centre (NCN), Poland; RSF, RFBR and MES, Russia; MINECO and ERDF funds, Spain; SNSF and SER, Switzerland; STFC, UK; and the U. S. Deparment of Energy, USA. We also thank CERN for the UA1/NOMAD magnet, DESY for the HERA-B magnet mover system, NII for SINET4, the WestGrid and SciNet consortia in Compute Canada, GridPP, UK, and the Emerald High Performance Computing facility in the Centre for Innovation, UK. In addition, participation of individual researchers and institutions has been further supported by funds from ERC (FP7), EU; JSPS, Japan; Royal Society, UK; and DOE Early Career program, USA

Measurement of the electron neutrino charged-current interaction rate on water with the T2K ND280 pi(0) detector

10 pages, 6 figures, Submitted to PRDhttp://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.112010© 2015 American Physical Society11 pages, 6 figures, as accepted to PRD11 pages, 6 figures, as accepted to PRD11 pages, 6 figures, as accepted to PR

Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing and Research

In 1959, William Russell and Rex Burch published the seminal book, The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, which emphasized reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use, principles which have since been referred to as the ‘‘3 Rs’’. These principles encouraged researchers to work to reduce the number of animals used in experiments to the minimum considered necessary, refine or limit the pain and distress to which animals are exposed, and replace the use of animals with non-animal alternatives when possible. Despite the attention brought to this issue by Russell and Burch and since, the number of animals used in research and testing has continued to increase, raising serious ethical and scientific issues. Further, while the ‘‘3 Rs’’ capture crucially important concepts, they do not adequately reflect the substantial developments in our new knowledge about the cognitive and emotional capabilities of animals, the individual interests of animals, or an updated understanding of potential harms associated with animal research. This Overview provides a brief summary of the ethical and scientific considerations regarding the use of animals in research and testing, and accompanies a Collection entitled Animals, Research, and Alternatives: Measuring Progress 50 Years Later, which aims to spur ethical and scientific advancement

TRAF-6 Dependent Signaling Pathway Is Essential for TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) Induces Osteoclast Differentiation

Human osteoclast formation from mononuclear phagocyte precursors involves interactions between tumor necrosis factor (TNF) ligand superfamily members and their receptors. Recent evidence indicates that in addition to triggering apoptosis, the TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces osteoclast differentiation. To understand TRAIL-mediated signal transduction mechanism in osteoclastogenesis, we demonstrated that TRAIL induces osteoclast differentiation via a Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF-6)-dependent signaling pathway. TRAIL-induced osteoclast differentiation was significantly inhibited by treatment with TRAF-6 siRNA and TRAF6 decoy peptides in both human monocytes and murine RAW264.7 macrophage cell lines, as evaluated in terms of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive multinucleated cells and bone resorption activity. Moreover, TRAIL-induced osteoclast differentiation was also abolished in TRAF6 knockout bone marrow macrophages. In addition to induction of NFATc1, treatment of TRAIL also induced ubiquitination of TRAF6 in osteoclast differentiation. Thus, our data demonstrate that TRAIL induces osteoclastic differentiation via a TRAF-6 dependent signaling pathway. This study suggests TRAF6-dependent signaling may be a central pathway in osteoclast differentiation, and that TNF superfamily molecules other than RANKL may modify RANK signaling by interaction with TRAF6-associated signaling

Locomotor recovery following contusive spinal cord injury does not require oligodendrocyte remyelination

The contribution of oligodendrocytes to remyelination in functional recovery after spinal cord injury is not fully understood. Here, the authors show that oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation is not required for functional recovery after spinal cord injury in mice