Tracking the Deployment of the Integrated Metropolitan Intelligent Transportation Systems Infrastructure in the USA: FY2000 Results

DTFH61-00-Y-30014This report describes the results of a major data gathering effort aimed at tracking deployment of nine infrastructure components of the metropolitan ITS infrastructure in 78 of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation. The nine components are: Freeway Management, Incident Management, Arterial Management, Electronic Toll Collection, Electronic Fare Payment, Transit Management, Highway-Rail Intersections, Emergency Management, and Regional Multimodal Traveler Information. Deployment is tracked through the use of indicators tied to the major functions of each component. In addition, integration of components is tracked through examining the transfer of information between components and the use of that information, once transferred. The report summarizes results at a national level and includes information on the number of metropolitan areas deploying selected technologies related to the indicators

Tracking the Deployment of the Integrated Metropolitan Intelligent Transportation Systems Infrastructure in the USA: FY2004 Results

DTFH61-00-Y-30014This report describes the results of a major data gathering effort carried out in the spring and summer of 2004 aimed at tracking deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology in metropolitan areas in the United States. Metropolitan ITS is defined in terms of nine infrastructure components: Freeway Management, Incident Management, Arterial Management, Electronic Toll Collection, Electronic Fare Payment, Transit Management, Highway-Rail Intersections, Emergency Management, and Regional Multimodal Traveler Information. Deployment is tracked through the use of indicators tied to the major functions of each component. In addition, integration of components is tracked, the measure being based on a comparison of the reported extent of the transfer of information between components to the maximum possible. The report summarizes results at a national level and includes information on the number of metropolitan areas deploying selected technologies related to the indicators. Two separate metropolitan surveys are included in this report: a survey of 78 major metropolitan areas, and one of 30 medium-sized metropolitan areas

Demonstration of the self-magnetic-pinch diode as an X-ray source for flash core-punch radiography.

Minimization of the radiographic spot size and maximization of the radiation dose is a continuing long-range goal for development of electron beam driven X-ray radiography sources. In collaboration with members of the Atomic Weapons Establishment(AWE), Aldermaston UK, the Advanced Radiographic Technologies Dept. 1645 is conducting research on the development of X-ray sources for flash core-punch radiography. The Hydrodynamics Dept. at AWE has defined a near term radiographic source requirement for scaled core-punch experiments to be 250 rads{at}m with a 2.75 mm source spot-size. As part of this collaborative effort, Dept. 1645 is investigating the potential of the Self-Magnetic-Pinched (SMP) diode as a source for core-punch radiography. Recent experiments conducted on the RITS-6 accelerator [1,2] demonstrated the potential of the SMP diode by meeting and exceeding the near term radiographic requirements established by AWE. During the demonstration experiments, RITS-6 was configured with a low-impedance (40 {Omega}) Magnetically Insulated Transmission Line (MITL), which provided a 75-ns, 180-kA, 7.5-MeV forward going electrical pulse to the diode. The use of a low-impedance MITL enabled greater power coupling to the SMP diode and thus allowed for increased radiation output. In addition to reconfiguring the driver (accelerator), geometric changes to the diode were also performed which allowed for an increase in dose production without sacrificing the time integrated spot characteristics. The combination of changes to both the pulsed power driver and the diode significantly increased the source x-ray intensity

The PRO-AGE study: an international randomised controlled study of health risk appraisal for older persons based in general practice

BACKGROUND: This paper describes the study protocol, the recruitment, and base-line data for evaluating the success of randomisation of the PRO-AGE (PRevention in Older people – Assessment in GEneralists' practices) project. METHODS/DESIGN: A group of general practitioners (GPs) in London (U.K.), Hamburg (Germany) and Solothurn (Switzerland) were trained in risk identification, health promotion, and prevention in older people. Their non-disabled older patients were invited to participate in a randomised controlled study. Participants allocated to the intervention group were offered the Health Risk Appraisal for Older Persons (HRA-O) instrument with a site-specific method for reinforcement (London: physician reminders in electronic medical record; Hamburg: one group session or two preventive home visits; Solothurn: six-monthly preventive home visits over a two-year period). Participants allocated to the control group received usual care. At each site, an additional group of GPs did not receive the training, and their eligible patients were invited to participate in a concurrent comparison group. Primary outcomes are self-reported health behaviour and preventative care use at one-year follow-up. In Solothurn, an additional follow-up was conducted at two years. The number of older persons agreeing to participate (% of eligible persons) in the randomised controlled study was 2503 (66.0%) in London, 2580 (53.6%) in Hamburg, and 2284 (67.5%) in Solothurn. Base-line findings confirm that randomisation of participants was successful, with comparable characteristics between intervention and control groups. The number of persons (% of eligible) enrolled in the concurrent comparison group was 636 (48.8%) in London, 746 (35.7%) in Hamburg, and 1171 (63.0%) in Solothurn. DISCUSSION: PRO-AGE is the first large-scale randomised controlled trial of health risk appraisal for older people in Europe. Its results will inform about the effects of implementing HRA-O with different methods of reinforcement

Scandinavian dreams

In the last years of the 18th century, as revolution raged in France, feminist writer and radical pamphleteer Mary Wollstonecraft embarked alone on a journey to the wilds of Scandinavia to recover her husband's lost treasure ship. This daring and dangerous journey was undertaken as much for reasons of the heart as for those of commerce, but her brilliant triumph failed to recover the thing she wanted most of all

The ice factory

This highly acclaimed original drama examines the contradictions of modern Newcastle inherent in its renaissance as a world cultural venue. It features a successful ‘Geordie’ gangster at the height of his powers who suffers from recurrent nightmares and paranoia and who discovers solace from his demons in art. In an attempt to take control of his world, he opens his own art gallery but this ultimately leads to his downfall

The recall man: Best forgotten

Episode 3 of the second series of the BBC radio 4 drama 'The Recall Man'

To make the people smile again

This highly acclaimed new play about the Spanish Civil War was commissioned by BBC World Service to mark the seventieth anniversary of the incorporation of the British Battalion into the International Brigades. Set against the backdrop of the battle of the River Ebro, the last great battle of the civil war, together with research gained from a tour of the battlefield, the drama incorporates contemporary interviews with brigade survivors from Spain, the US and the UK