Characterizing cycling traffic fluency using big mobile activity tracking data

Mobile activity tracking data, i.e. data collected by mobile applications that enable activity tracking based on the use of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), contains information on cycling in urban areas at an un-precedented spatial and temporal extent and resolution. It can be a valuable source of information about the quality of bicycling in the city. Required is a notion of quality that is derivable from plain GNSS trajectories. In this article, we quantify urban cycling quality by esti-mating the fluency of cycling traffic using a large set of GNSS trajectories recorded with a mobile tracking appli-cation. Earlier studies have shown that cyclists prefer to travel continuously and without halting, i.e. fluently. Our method extracts trajectory properties that describe the stopping behaviour and dynamics of cyclists. It aggre-gates these properties to segments of a street network and combines them in a descriptive index. The suitability of the data to describe the cyclists' behaviour with street-level detail is evaluated by comparison with various data from independent sources. Our approach to characterizing cycling traffic fluency offers a novel view on the cyclability of a city that could be valuable for urban planners, application providers, and cyclists alike. We find clear indications for the data's ability to estimate characteristics of city cycling quality correctly, despite behaviour patterns of cyclists not caused by external circumstances and the data's inher-ent bias. The proposed quality measure is adaptable for different applications, e.g. as an infrastructure quality measure or as a routing criterion

Quantifying cycling traffic fluency based on big mobile tracking data

Activity tracking data collected by mobile applications opens up a new, data-driven perspective on monitoring cycling in the city. In this work, we demonstrate how a large set of trajectories can be used to measure the cyclability of an urban infrastructure. We achieve this by defining the cycling traffic fuency index that describes the smoothness of cycling traffic on segments of a street network. Bias, uncertainty, and the divergence of infrastructure popularity presents challenges to the method, but within these limits, the index could be applied in city planning or as a routing criterion

The educational paradigm shift-a phenomenographic study of medical teachers' experiences of practices

BackgroundThis paper proposes a novel approach to the development of competence-oriented higher education, a national transformation aimed at harmonising and digitising undergraduate medical and dental education in Finland.MethodsWe apply phenomenography as a viable qualitative method for medical education research. To better understand medical teachers' expectations towards the change in the educational paradigm, we need to study teachers' experiences of the current practices in undergraduate medical and dental education. The phenomenographic approach facilitates solid links between research, educational development, and change.ResultsThe phenomenographic study maps the qualitatively different ways in which medical teachers experience undergraduate medical and dental education practices. The answers reflect the changing educational paradigm in medical schools, suggesting practical implications for further development of medical and dental education and training. Core content analysis is preferred instructional scaffold for both teachers and students to prioritise the extensive medical education objectives. The change towards competence-based orientation is in progress and national co-operation accelerates its impact.ConclusionThere is an obvious need to enrich the content of the current curriculum with national guidelines that aim for congruence in assessment and objectives. Our results suggest an assessment application for the theoretical concepts presented and promote the competence orientation of education throughout the curricula of medical and dental undergraduate education. Moreover, our results contribute to current European discourses on competence-based approaches in higher education. Up-to-date pedagogical faculty development programmes are a key prerequisite for teacher empowerment and future orientation in teaching and learning for healthcare professions.Peer reviewe

Collapsar R-Process Yields Can Reproduce [Eu/Fe] Abundance Scatter in Metal-Poor Stars

It is unclear if neutron star mergers can explain the observed r-process abundances of metal-poor stars. Collapsars, defined here as rotating massive stars whose collapse results in a rapidly accreting disk around a black hole that can launch jets, are a promising alternative. We find that we can produce a self-consistent model in which a population of collapsars with stochastic europium yields synthesizes all of the r-process material in metal-poor ([Fe/H] < -2.5) stars. Our model reproduces the observed scatter and evolution of scatter of [Eu/Fe] abundances. We find that if collapsars are the dominant r-process site for metal-poor stars, r-process synthesis may be linked to supernovae that produce long gamma-ray bursts. Our results also allow for the possibility that core-collapse supernovae beyond those that launch gamma-ray bursts also produce r-process material (e.g., potentially a subset of Type Ic-BL supernovae). Furthermore, we identify collapsar jet properties (isotropic energy, engine luminosity, or engine time) which may trace r-process yield and verify that the amount of r-process yield produced per collapsar in our model (~0.07 Msun) is consistent with other independent estimates. In the future, achieving 0.05 dex precision on distribution scatter or a reliable selection function would further constrain our probe of r-process production. Our model would also hold for another prompt r-process site with a power-law yield, and work is needed to determine if, for example, fast-merging neutron stars can also explain abundance scatter.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures. Accepted by Ap

Global variation of the dust-to-gas ratio in evolving protoplanetary discs

Recent theories suggest planetesimal formation via streaming and/or gravitational instabilities may be triggered by localized enhancements in the dust-to-gas ratio, and one hypothesis is that sufficient enhancements may be produced in the pile-up of small solid particles inspiralling under aerodynamic drag from the large mass reservoir in the outer disc. Studies of particle pile-up in static gas discs have provided partial support for this hypothesis. Here, we study the radial and temporal evolution of the dust-to-gas ratio in turbulent discs, that evolve under the action of viscosity and photoevaporation. We find that particle pile-ups do not generically occur within evolving discs, particularly if the introduction of large grains is restricted to the inner, dense regions of a disc. Instead, radial drift results in depletion of solids from the outer disc, while the inner disc maintains a dust-to-gas ratio that is within a factor of ~2 of the initial value. We attribute this result to the short time-scales for turbulent diffusion and radial advection (with the mean gas flow) in the inner disc. We show that the qualitative evolution of the dust-to-gas ratio depends only weakly upon the parameters of the disc model (the disc mass, size, viscosity, and value of the Schmidt number), and discuss the implications for planetesimal formation via collective instabilities. Our results suggest that in discs where there is a significant level of midplane turbulence and accretion, planetesimal formation would need to be possible in the absence of large-scale enhancements. Instead, trapping and concentration of particles within local turbulent structures may be required as a first stage of planetesimal formation.Comment: Accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on the 8th of March 2012. 20 pages. 16 figure

Low agreement among reviewers evaluating the same NIH grant applications

Obtaining grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is increasingly competitive, as funding success rates have declined over the past decade. To allocate relatively scarce funds, scientific peer reviewers must differentiate the very best applications from comparatively weaker ones. Despite the importance of this determination, little research has explored how reviewers assign ratings to the applications they review and whether there is consistency in the reviewers’ evaluation of the same application. Replicating all aspects of the NIH peer-review process, we examined 43 individual reviewers’ ratings and written critiques of the same group of 25 NIH grant applications. Results showed no agreement among reviewers regarding the quality of the applications in either their qualitative or quantitative evaluations. Although all reviewers received the same instructions on how to rate applications and format their written critiques, we also found no agreement in how reviewers “translated” a given number of strengths and weaknesses into a numeric rating. It appeared that the outcome of the grant review depended more on the reviewer to whom the grant was assigned than the research proposed in the grant. This research replicates the NIH peer-review process to examine in detail the qualitative and quantitative judgments of different reviewers examining the same application, and our results have broad relevance for scientific grant peer review

Clinical Follow-Up in Orofacial Clefts—Why Multidisciplinary Care Is the Key

(1) Background: Although most clinicians involved in the treatment of cleft patients agree upon the major importance of interdisciplinary cooperation and many protocols and concepts have been discussed in the literature, there is little evidence of the relevance of continuous interdisciplinary care. We aimed to objectify the type and number of therapeutic decisions resulting from an annual multidisciplinary follow-up. (2) Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of all 1126 patients followed up in the weekly consultation hours for cleft patients at university clinics in Leipzig for the years 2005–2020. We assessed the clinical data of every patient and specifically evaluated the treatment decisions taken at different points in time by the participating experts of different specialties. (3) Results: In total, 3470 consultations were included in the evaluation, and in 70% of those, a therapeutic recommendation was given. Each specialty showed certain time frames with intense treatment demand, which partially overlapped. Nearly all therapy recommendations were statistically attached to a certain age (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: There is an exceptionally high need for the interdisciplinary assessment of patients with cleft formation. Some developmental phases are of particular importance with regard to regular follow-up and initiation of different treatment protocols. The therapy and checkup of cleft patients should be concentrated in specialized centers

Intensity and risk of chemical pesticides when cultivating sugar beet, silage maize and winter wheat in crop rotations

Corrigendum Im Artikel „Intensität und Risiko des chemischen Pflanzenschutzes beim Anbau von Zuckerrüben, Silomais und Winterweizen in Fruchtfolgen“ von Brauer-Siebrecht, W., Jacobs, A., Koch H.-J., Strassemeyer, J. und Märländer, B., der auf den Seiten 184-195, Ausgabe 70, Nr. 6 erschien, wurden Korrekturen in Abb. 3 vorgenommen. In Abb. 3 wurde eine vertikale Strich-Punkt-Linie ergänzt, die eine Abgrenzung zwischen den Umweltkompartimenten Feld und Saumbiotop bzw. Boden ermöglicht. Weiterhin wurde im oberen und unteren Teil der Abbildung die Risikotoleranzgrenze als horizontale gepunktete (nicht gestrichelte) Linie dargestellt. Zuletzt wurde innerhalb der Boxplots neben dem Median auch der Mittelwert – dargestellt durch eine gestrichelte Linie – ergänzt. Die Änderungen beeinträchtigen nicht die Schlussfolgerungen des Artikels. Zusammenfassung Der Einsatz chemischer Pflanzenschutzmittel dient zum einen der Sicherstellung des Ertrages, steht jedoch auch aufgrund von möglichen ökologischen Risiken in der Kritik. Der Nationale Aktionsplan zur nachhaltigen Anwen­dung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln zielt auf die Redu­zierung dieser Risiken ab. In der vorliegenden Studie wurden chemische Pflanzenschutzmaßnahmen in Feldversuchen in den Jahren 2011–2014 in den Fruchtfolgen Zuckerrüben-Winterweizen-Winterweizen, Silo­mais-Win­ter­weizen-Winterweizen, Silomais-Zuckerrüben-Winterweizen und Silomais im Daueranbau an zwei Standorten untersucht. Als Indikator der Intensität diente der „Behandlungsindex“, das Umweltrisiko wurde mit dem Simulationsmodell „SYNOPS“ für Stellvertreterorganismen in den Nichtziel-Kompartimenten „Oberflächengewässer“, „Saumbiotope“ und „Boden“ kalkuliert. Der Behandlungsindex variierte zwischen den Fruchtfolgen von 5,1 bis 20,6 und das Umweltrisiko wurde überwiegend als sehr niedrig bis mittel kalkuliert. Es existierte keine Korrelation zwischen der Intensität und dem Umwelt­risiko über die Fruchtfolgen. Silomais im Daueranbau hatte die geringste Intensität, jedoch war das Umwelt­risiko höher. Für Silomais und Winterweizen existierten herbizide und fungizide Wirkstoffe, für die ein nicht tolerables Umweltrisiko kalkuliert wurde. Konsequenzen für den Integrierten Pflanzenschutz ergeben sich unter anderem aus der Wahl weniger toxischer Wirkstoffe, einer Reduktion der Gesamtaufwandmenge und nicht-chemischer Maßnahmen, wie mechanische Unkraut­­regulierung oder resistente Sorten. &nbsp;Corrigendum In the article „Intensity and risk of chemical pesticides when cultivating sugar beet, silage maize and winter wheat in crop rotations” by Brauer-Siebrecht, W., Jacobs, A., Koch H.-J., Strassemeyer, J. und Märländer, B., which was published on pages 184-195, issue 70, no. 6, corrections were made in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3 a vertical dashed/dotted line was added, which enables a distinction between the environment compartments field and ecoton and soil, respectively. Furthermore, the limit of risk tolerance is now shown as a horizontal dotted (not dashed) line in the upper and lower part of the figure. Finally, the mean was added within the box plots – shown as dashed line. This correction does not affect the conclusions of the paper. Abstract The use of chemical pesticides serves at reducing crop yield losses, but is also criticised because of possible ecological risks. The German national action plan on sustainable use of plant protection products aims at reduc­ing these risks. The current study investigated pesticide appli­cations on two sites in Germany in 2011–2014, comparing different crop rotations with sugar beet, silage maize and winter wheat as well as silage maize under continuous cultivation. The treatment index was used as an indicator for the pesticide application intensity. The environmental risk was calculated by the simulation model “SYNOPS” for reference orga­nisms in the non-target compartments “surface water”, “field margin biotope” and “soil”. The treatment index varied between crop rotations from 5.1 to 20.6 and the environmental risk was mostly calculated as very low to medium. No correlation between intensity and environmental risk of crop rotations was found. The lowest treatment index was calculated for silage maize in continuous cultivation, but, the environmental risk was higher. Some herbicidal and fungicidal active ingredients used in silage maize and winter wheat were identified for which non tolerable environmental risks were calculated. Consequences for the Integrated Pest Management result from the choice of active substances with lower toxicity, a reduction of the entire application rate and non-chemical measures like mechanical weed control or resistant varieties. &nbsp