6,020 research outputs found
Optimizing Traffic Lights in a Cellular Automaton Model for City Traffic
We study the impact of global traffic light control strategies in a recently
proposed cellular automaton model for vehicular traffic in city networks. The
model combines basic ideas of the Biham-Middleton-Levine model for city traffic
and the Nagel-Schreckenberg model for highway traffic. The city network has a
simple square lattice geometry. All streets and intersections are treated
equally, i.e., there are no dominant streets. Starting from a simple
synchronized strategy we show that the capacity of the network strongly depends
on the cycle times of the traffic lights. Moreover we point out that the
optimal time periods are determined by the geometric characteristics of the
network, i.e., the distance between the intersections. In the case of
synchronized traffic lights the derivation of the optimal cycle times in the
network can be reduced to a simpler problem, the flow optimization of a single
street with one traffic light operating as a bottleneck. In order to obtain an
enhanced throughput in the model improved global strategies are tested, e.g.,
green wave and random switching strategies, which lead to surprising results.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure
A (Running) Bolt for New Reasons
We construct a four-parameter family of smooth, horizonless, stationary
solutions of ungauged five-dimensional supergravity by using the
four-dimensional Euclidean Schwarzschild metric as a base space and
"magnetizing" its bolt. We then generalize this to a five-parameter family
based upon the Euclidean Kerr-Taub-Bolt. These "running Bolt" solutions are
necessarily non-static. They also have the same charges and mass as a
non-extremal black hole with a classically-large horizon area. Moreover, in a
certain regime their mass can decrease as their charges increase. The existence
of these solutions supports the idea that the singularities of non-extremal
black holes are resolved by low-mass modes that correct the singularity of the
classical black hole solution on large (horizon-sized) scales.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX; v2: minor changes, references adde
Automated quantification of penile curvature using artificial intelligence
Objective: To develop and validate an artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm for capturing automated measurements of Penile curvature (PC) based on 2-dimensional images.
Materials and methods: Nine 3D-printed penile models with differing curvature angles (ranging from 18 to 88°) were used to compile a 900-image dataset featuring multiple camera positions, inclination angles, and background/lighting conditions. The proposed framework of PC angle estimation consisted of three stages: automatic penile area localization, shaft segmentation, and curvature angle estimation. The penile model images were captured using a smartphone camera and used to train and test a Yolov5 model that automatically cropped the penile area from each image. Next, an Unet-based segmentation model was trained, validated, and tested to segment the penile shaft, before a custom Hough-Transform-based angle estimation technique was used to evaluate degree of PC.
Results: The proposed framework displayed robust performance in cropping the penile area [mean average precision (mAP) 99.4%] and segmenting the shaft [Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) 98.4%]. Curvature angle estimation technique generally demonstrated excellent performance, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of just 8.5 when compared with ground truth curvature angles.
Conclusions: Considering current intra- and inter-surgeon variability of PC assessments, the framework reported here could significantly improve precision of PC measurements by surgeons and hypospadiology researchers.Special thanks for Dr. Carlos Villanueva for providing us with the 3D printed penile models with pre-defined angulations utilized in -. Open Access Fund fees were supported by Qatar National Library.Scopu
Intelligent Controlling Simulation of Traffic Flow in a Small City Network
We propose a two dimensional probabilistic cellular automata for the
description of traffic flow in a small city network composed of two
intersections. The traffic in the network is controlled by a set of traffic
lights which can be operated both in fixed-time and a traffic responsive
manner. Vehicular dynamics is simulated and the total delay experienced by the
traffic is evaluated within specified time intervals. We investigate both
decentralized and centralized traffic responsive schemes and in particular
discuss the implementation of the {\it green-wave} strategy. Our investigations
prove that the network delay strongly depends on the signalisation strategy. We
show that in some traffic conditions, the application of the green-wave scheme
may destructively lead to the increment of the global delay.Comment: 8 pages, 10 eps figures, Revte
Streptococcus pneumoniae Septic Arthritis in adults in Bristol and Bath, United Kingdom, 2006-2018:a 13-year retrospective observational cohort study
Few studies on adult pneumococcal septic arthritis are sufficiently large enough to assess both epidemiological trends following routine pneumococcal immunization and clinical disease. With major shifts in serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), we wanted to determine the clinical phenotype of adult septic arthritis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of pneumococcal infections in Bristol and Bath, UK, 2006–2018. We defined pneumococcal septic arthritis as adults with clinically-confirmed septic arthritis, with pneumococcus isolated from sterile-site culture or urinary antigen test positivity. Clinical records were reviewed for each patient in the cohort. Septic arthritis accounted for 1.7% of all IPD cases. 45 cases of adult pneumococcal septic arthritis occurred, with disease typically affecting older adults and those with underlying comorbidity. 67% patients had another focus of infection during their illness. 66% patients required increased care on discharge and 43% had reduced range of movement. In-hospital case fatality rate was 6.7%. One-year patient mortality was 31%. Currently most cases of adult pneumococcal septic arthritis are due to non-PCV13 serotypes which are associated with more severe disease. Non-PCV-13 serotypes had higher prevalence of concomitant pneumococcal infection at another site (73.7% versus 36.6%), increased intensive care or high-dependency unit requirement (32.4% versus 0%), and increased inpatient and 1-year case fatality rate (8.8% versus 0%, and 32.4% versus 27.4% respectively) compared to PCV-13 serotypes. Pneumococcal septic arthritis remains a small proportion of IPD. However, there is significant associated morbidity and mortality, and pneumococcal septic arthritis requires monitoring in coming years
Wang-Landau study of the 3D Ising model with bond disorder
We implement a two-stage approach of the Wang-Landau algorithm to investigate
the critical properties of the 3D Ising model with quenched bond randomness. In
particular, we consider the case where disorder couples to the nearest-neighbor
ferromagnetic interaction, in terms of a bimodal distribution of strong versus
weak bonds. Our simulations are carried out for large ensembles of disorder
realizations and lattices with linear sizes in the range . We apply
well-established finite-size scaling techniques and concepts from the scaling
theory of disordered systems to describe the nature of the phase transition of
the disordered model, departing gradually from the fixed point of the pure
system. Our analysis (based on the determination of the critical exponents)
shows that the 3D random-bond Ising model belongs to the same universality
class with the site- and bond-dilution models, providing a single universality
class for the 3D Ising model with these three types of quenched uncorrelated
disorder.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Eur. Phys. J.
Macroscopic traffic models from microscopic car-following models
We present a method to derive macroscopic fluid-dynamic models from
microscopic car-following models via a coarse-graining procedure. The method is
first demonstrated for the optimal velocity model. The derived macroscopic
model consists of a conservation equation and a momentum equation, and the
latter contains a relaxation term, an anticipation term, and a diffusion term.
Properties of the resulting macroscopic model are compared with those of the
optimal velocity model through numerical simulations, and reasonable agreement
is found although there are deviations in the quantitative level. The
derivation is also extended to general car-following models.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Precision mass measurements of magnesium isotopes and implications on the validity of the Isobaric Mass Multiplet Equation
If the mass excess of neutron-deficient nuclei and their neutron-rich mirror
partners are both known, it can be shown that deviations of the Isobaric Mass
Multiplet Equation (IMME) in the form of a cubic term can be probed. Such a
cubic term was probed by using the atomic mass of neutron-rich magnesium
isotopes measured using the TITAN Penning trap and the recently measured
proton-separation energies of Cl and Ar. The atomic mass of
Mg was found to be within 1.6 of the value stated in the Atomic
Mass Evaluation. The atomic masses of Mg were measured to be both
within 1, while being 8 and 34 times more precise, respectively. Using
the Mg mass excess and previous measurements of Cl we uncovered a
cubic coefficient of = 28(7) keV, which is the largest known cubic
coefficient of the IMME. This departure, however, could also be caused by
experimental data with unknown systematic errors. Hence there is a need to
confirm the mass excess of S and the one-neutron separation energy of
Cl, which have both come from a single measurement. Finally, our results
were compared to ab initio calculations from the valence-space in-medium
similarity renormalization group, resulting in a good agreement.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Can cells solve mazes? Understanding cells responses to wound healing
Wound healing is a complex process that occurs after the body\u27s tissue has been damaged or impaled by a foreign object. Cells must travel from all over the body to the site of injury. The goal of this project is to understand what affects the migration of fibroblast cells in order to develop more effective wound treatments. Our research has aimed to develop a way to map the decision-making processes of fibroblasts that drive their migration to a wound site. We have addressed this by asking the question: can cells solve mazes? Our team has developed several methodologies by which we have been able to study the responsiveness of fibroblasts to certain cues. Specifically the migration of the cells has been tracked relative to physical barriers created by the walls of the maze and chemical concentration gradients. Preliminary results have demonstrated the feasibility of this apparatus for a mode of studying cell proliferation and migration
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