Modelling the Network Effects of Road User Charging: Results from a SATURN Study.

The aim of this research has been to investigate the modelled effects of alternative road user charging systems upon an existing road network using the congested assignment models SATURN and CONTRAM applied to the city of Cambridge. Four road user charging systems which are being considered for practical application have been tested. These are toll cordons, time-based charging, a congestion charging system similar to that proposed in Cambridge and distance-based charging. Tests have been conducted using current morning peak travel demand patterns both with a fixed trip matrix, to isolate rerouteing issues and using the SATURN elastic assignment program, SATEASY, in order to address the effects of charging upon the frequency, timing and distribution of trips. Network impacts have been assessed using a series global indicators, in particular effects on vehicle-km, vehicle-hours and the resulting average network speeds. In addition, results have been obtained for total delay times, cordon crossing flows and revenues generated from charging. These results are presented and their implications discussed

Implementing Road User Charging in SATURN

This working paper details modifications carried out to the congested assignment traffic network model SATURN in order to represent mad user charging. The work was undertaken as part of an SERC funded study to investigate the network effects of a series of alternative road user charging systems upon an existing road network. Four road user charging systems which were tested during the study have been represented in SATURN. These are toll cordons, time-based charging, congestion charging and distance-based charging

Newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism and congenital adrenal hyperplasia : the balance of benefits and costs of a public health success

Version anglaise de : Van Vliet, G. Grosse, S. D., Dépistage néonatal de l’hypothyroïdie congénitale et de l’hyperplasie congénitale des surrénales : Bénéfices et coûts d’un programme de santé publique à succès. Médecine/Sciences n° 4, vol. 37, avril 2021. doi:10.1051/medsci/2021053.Newborn screening is an important public health program and a triumph of preventive medicine. Economic analyses show that the benefits of newborn screening clearly outweigh the costs for certain diseases but not necessarily for other ones. This is due to the great diversity of the natural history of the diseases detected, to the fact that each of these diseases considered individually is rare, and to differences in the effectiveness of interventions. In addition, the benefit cost ratio of screening for a particular disorder may differ between countries, specifically between high-income and low- and middle-income countries. The burden of a disorder may also be alleviated by increased clinical awareness and effective clinical services, even in the absence of newborn screening. In this article, the authors focus on economic analyses of newborn screening for primary congenital hypothyroidism, which has been in place in high-income countries for roughly 40 years, and for classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Screening for the latter is not yet universal, even in high-income countries, although the lack of universal implementation may reflect factors other than economic considerations

Water constraints on European power supply under climate change: Impacts on electricity prices

Recent warm, dry summers showed the vulnerability of the European power sector to low water availability and high river temperatures. Climate change is likely to impact electricity supply, in terms of both water availabilty for hydropower generation and cooling water usage for thermoelectric power production. Here, we show the impacts of climate change and changes in water availability and water temperature on European electricity production and prices. Using simulations of daily river flows and water temperatures under future climate (2031-2060) in power production models, we show declines in both thermoelectric and hydropower generating potential for most parts of Europe, except for the most northern countries. Based on changes in power production potentials, we assess the cost-optimal use of power plants for each European country by taking electricity import and export constraints into account. Higher wholesale prices are projected on a mean annual basis for most European countries (except for Sweden and Norway), with strongest increases for Slovenia (12-15%), Bulgaria (21-23%) and Romania (31-32% for 2031-2060), where limitations in water availability mainly affect power plants with low production costs. Considering the long design life of power plant infrastructures, short-term adaptation strategies are highly recommended to prevent undesired distributional and allocative effects

SATURN – A User’s Manual. AMDAHL V7 Version.

SATURN is a detailed traffic simulation and assignment model intended for use in the evaluation of traffic management schemes. This document describes the preparation of the required input data and gives information on how to run the model on the Leeds University Amdhal V7 computer. Also included here are details on how to update a trip matrix from traffic counts using the ME2 program in conjunction with SATURN. Other facilities available for use with the mode1,such as network plotting and matrix manipulation,are also described

Observations of the J = 2→1 transitions of ¹²C¹⁶O and ¹²C¹⁸O towards galactic H II regions

Observations are reported of the J = 2→1 transitions of CO and 12C18O at 230 and 219 GHz respectively from a number of galactic sources. A map of the central 1/2° × 1/2° of the Orion A molecular cloud is presented. The spectra are interpreted to derive molecular densities and abundance ratios in the molecular clouds observed

A method to simulate incentives for cost containment under various cost sharing designs: an application to a first-euro deductible and a doughnut hole

Many health insurance schemes include deductibles to provide consumers with cost containment incentives (CCI) and to counteract moral hazard. Policymakers are faced with choices on the implementation of a specific cost sharing design. One of the guiding principles in this decision process could be which design leads to the strongest CCI. Despite the vast amount of literature on the effects of cost sharing