Measuring the Impact of Bicycle Marketing Messages

3,674 responses were received from a survey with several opinion questions on the four transportation modes: bicycle, car, bus and train. Seven different pictures representing marketing messages appeared in the survey. Each of the respondents saw only one picture. The picture was displayed twice on every page of the survey. Respondents were from major Danish cities. Opinions were found to depend on the picture shown, and average opinion scores did in many cases depend on the picture shown in a statistical significant way. A picture of a bicycle accident did increase the average opinion score of cyclists’ general risk as well as the respondents’ experienced self-risk when cycling. The average score of the experienced self-risk was notably lower than the average score of cyclists’ general risk. A picture of a smiling leisure cyclist did raise the average score of cycling experience (enjoyment) and did – to a greater extent – lower the average score of the experience (enjoyment) of the alternatives: car, bus and train. A picture of a bicycle accident and a picture of a cyclist wearing a helmet did raise the average opinion score of other transportation modes (car, bus, train) significantly. This indicates that typical bicycle safety messages has a negative marketing effect on cycling. Opinions on appearance of users of different transportation modes and whether a given transportation mode strengthens or hurts one’s image showed that cyclists are found to look better and that the bicycle gives a better image than any other transportation mode. Pictures also had an impact on opinions here, but the tendencies differed from the opinions on cycling experience, as a picture of a cyclist wearing a helmet did raise average opinion scores of appearance and image for cyclists. A final part of the survey asked directly for opinions on values related to the different pictures. The helmet picture scored higher on all opinions, even on comfort, than a picture of the same cyclist without a helmet. When asked directly respondents are thus in favor of bicycle helmets, but they seem to prefer not using helmets themselves. Further analysis of the data may give deeper insight into this paradox

Recharge variability and sensitivity to climate: The example of Gidabo River Basin, Main Ethiopian Rift

AbstractStudy regionGidabo River Basin, located in the south eastern Main Ethiopian Rift (MER).Study focusThe focus is to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater recharge, identify the drivers that govern its distribution, and to improve the understanding of its sensitivity to precipitation and temperature in the MER by applying the semi-distributed hydrological model, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT).New hydrological insights for the regionThe average annual recharge for 1998–2010 reveals a remarkable decrease from the highland (410mm/year) towards the rift floor (25mm/year). Both the spatial and temporal recharge variability is mainly controlled by the climate. In the rift floor, recharge is found to occur only when annual precipitation exceeds a threshold of approximately 800mm. A sensitivity analysis reveals that annual recharge is very sensitive to variations in precipitation and moderately sensitive to temperature changes. The relative sensitivity increases from the highland to the rift floor across the watershed. Increases in both precipitation and temperature, as suggested by climate change projections for Ethiopia, appear to have an overall positive impact on recharge in the majority of the catchment. These findings have implications also for other catchments where recharge is spatially nonuniform and provide a basis for further investigations into the assessment of groundwater resources and their vulnerability to climate change at the watershed and sub-watershed scale

Development of an Online Digital Multimedia Library and Database for Medical Education

At the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), the Departments of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics in the College of Medicine teamed with Information Technology Services (ITS) and Library Services to create an online retrieval and repository system for sharing digital medical multimedia objects among health care practitioners, educators and students. A pilot launch of the system was done within the above three primary care departments. This presentation will focus on how the website structure and database structure were determined, what programming techniques and software were involved and the results of the pilot of this initiative. We will also discuss the next steps involved in expanding use of the system across other departments and colleges at UNMC

cyclo-Tetra-μ-fluorido-1:2κ2 F;2:3κ2 F;3:4κ2 F;1:4κ2 F-octa­nitrato-1κ8 O,O′;3κ8 O,O′-tetra­kis­(1,10-phenanthroline)-2κ4 N,N′;4κ4 N,N′-2,4-dichromium(III)-1,3-dineodymium(III) methanol tetra­solvate monohydrate

In the title compound, [Cr2Nd2F4(NO2)8(C12H8N2)4]·4CH3OH·H2O, two cis-difluoridobis(1,10-phenanthroline)chromium(III) fragments containing octa­hedrally coordinated chromium(III) bridge via fluoride ions to two tetra­nitratoneodymate(III) fragments, forming an uncharged tetra­nuclear square-like core. The fluoride bridges are fairly linear, with Cr—F—Nd angles of 168.74 (8)°. Cr—F bond lengths are 1.8815 (15) Å, slightly elongated compared to those of the parent chromium(III) complex, which has bond lengths ranging from 1.8444 (10) to 1.8621 (10) Å. The tetra­nuclear complex is centered at a fourfold rotoinversion axis, with the Cr and Nd atoms situated on two perpendicular twofold rotation axes. The uncoordinated water mol­ecule resides on a fourfold rotation axis. The four methanol solvent mol­ecules are located around this axis, forming a cyclic hydrogen-bonded arrangement. The title compound is the first structurally characterized example of unsupported fluoride bridges between lanthanide and transition metal ions

Assessment of the National Test Strategy on the Development of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Denmark has pursued a mass testing strategy culminating in the testing of 12.167 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants per day during the spring of 2021. The strategy included free access to COVID-19 testing, and since 2021, compulsory documentation for negative tests or vaccination has been required for access to workplace, educational institutions, restaurants, and many other places. Testing and subsequent isolation if testing was positive were voluntary. The present study provides an analysis of whether testing frequency in Denmark showed any correlation to hospitalizations throughout the relevant stages of the pandemic. Mass testing was found not to correlate significantly with the number of hospitalizations during the pandemic. Interestingly, during the highest level of testing in spring 2021 the fraction of positive tests increased slightly; thus, the Danish mass testing strategy, at its best, failed to reduce the prevalence of COVID-19. Furthermore, the relationship between positives in antigen testing and in rt-PCR testing indicated that many patients were not tested early in their infection when the risk of transmission was at the highest. In conclusion, the Danish mass testing strategy for COVID-19 does not appear to have a detectable correlation to the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19

Influencing factors on the retrospective analysis of variation shares with C&C²A-based criteria in Product Generation Engineering

New technical systems are created on the basis of existing systems by different extent of taken over and newly developed and/or adapted subsystems and their linkage. Various approaches aim to characterize these different forms of technical adaptation and to make them formally measurable. The calculation of variation shares according to the model of the PGE is based on the determination of variation types with the help of the C&C²-A modelling of subsystems and the associated reference system element as well as the subsystem structure. Both can generally be selected variably. This contribution investigates the influence of these two parameters on the retrospective analysis of variation shares, using a test bench probe and an actuator in a tooling machine as examples. Variation shares are calculated for different levels of detail of the underlying C&C²-A modelling and subsystem structures with different numbers of subsystems. Observed effects regarding the identification of the variation type of a subsystem as well as regarding the calculation of variation shares for the whole system are discussed. A major conclusion of the investigation is that retrospective analyses of variation shares depend strongly on the two investigated parameters and are mostly not unambiguous

Remote Sensing of Stratospheric Trace Gases by TELIS

TELIS (TErahertz and submillimeter LImb Sounder) is a balloon-borne cryogenic heterodyne spectrometer with two far infrared and submillimeter channels (1.8 THz and 480--650 GHz developed by DLR and SRON, respectively). The instrument was designed to investigate atmospheric chemistry and dynamics with a focus on the stratosphere. TELIS participated in three scientific campaigns in Kiruna, Sweden between 2009 and 2011. The recent campaign took place in 2014 over Ontario, Canada. During previous campaigns, TELIS shared a balloon gondola with MIPAS-B and mini-DOAS. The primary scientific goal of these campaigns has been to monitor the time-dependent chemistry of chlorine and bromine, and to achieve the closure of chemical families inside the polar vortex. In this work, we present retrieved profiles of ozone (O3), hydrogen chlorine (HCl), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydroxyl radical (OH) obtained by the 1.8 THz channel from the polar winter flights during 2009--2011. Furthermore, the corresponding retrieval algorithm is described. The quality of the retrieval products is analyzed in a quantitative manner including: error characterization, internal comparisons of the two different channels, and external comparisons with coincident spaceborne observations. The errors due to the instrument parameters and pressure dominate in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, while the errors at higher altitudes are mainly due to the spectroscopic parameters and the radiometric calibration. The comparisons with other limb sounders help us to assess the measurement capabilities of TELIS, thereby establishing the instrument as a valuable tool to study the chemical interactions in the stratosphere