A dynamic link-based eco-indicator for supporting equitable traffic management strategies

This paper presents a methodology for building a link-based eco-indicator which includes different impacts of road traffic. The proposed traffic management tool can be updated in real-time through multiple information sources and translated into a cost factor to be straightforwardly applied into eco-routing algorithms and/or intelligent road pricing systems. The link-based eco-indicator has been tested in several urban and rural links of heterogeneous characteristics during peak and off-peak hours. It has been shown that both dynamic adjustment factors related to online background concentrations and/or citizen's activity may lead to different sustainable traffic management strategies. When evaluating and comparing costs of a single link-based eco-based indicator with National Average (without taking in account people exposure) and a Vulnerability Factor (VF), the total costs using VF increase 158%. In the origin-destination routing problem performed using the distance and travel time as criteria, the costs (for off-peak hours) using VF factor are 80% and 15% higher, respectively. The results achieved in this paper highlight the importance of taking into account vulnerability of people exposure when implementing eco traffic management measures.publishe

Adverse drug reaction monitoring with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors: A prospective, randomized, open-label, comparative study

Objectives : Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) are known to possess different chemical structures, and change in structure of a drug can bring about change in its adverse drug reaction (ADR) profile. The study aims to observe the incidence and severity of ADRs between the di-carboxyl group containing ACEIs (d-ACEIs) versus phosphonate group containing ACEIs (p-ACEIs), in patients suffering from essential hypertension. Materials and Methods : One hundred and twenty patients with essential hypertension were randomized into four groups receiving enalapril, lisinopril, ramipril, and fosinopril. They were followed up for four months, to observe the clinical efficacy along with the associated ADRs. Results : Mild, dry brassy cough (% incidence; 95% CI) was observed with d-ACEIs (6.6%; 0 to 15.6) versus p-ACEI (20%; 5.7 to 34.3), in which the cough observed was moderate-to-severe in intensity and two patients required treatment discontinuation (P < 0.05). No cases of hypotension were observed with the use of d-ACEIs, whereas, two patients on p-ACEI (6.6%; 0 to15.6) had hypotension (P < 0.05). Three patients (10%; 0 to 20.7) on d-ACEIs had nausea, which was not observed with p-ACEI treatment (0%) (P < 0.05). Conclusions : The phosphonate group in p-ACEIs may have a probable relationship with increase in the incidence and severity of ADRs such as dry brassy cough and hypotension. The di-carboxyl group in d-ACEIs may have a probable relationship with increase in the incidence of ADRs like nausea

Optimizing facility use restrictions for the movement of hazardous materials

The modeling tools that have been developed over the last 25 years for the identification of routes for hazmat shipments emphasize the tradeoffs between cost minimization to the shipper/carrier and controlling the "natural" consequences that would stem from an accident. As the terrorist threat has grown, it has become clear that a new perspective, which allows for the representation of the goals and activities of terrorists, must be incorporated into these routing models. Government agencies can determine which specific facilities to restrict for each class of material and for which times of the day and/or week. This paper develops a game-theoretic model of the interactions among government agencies, shippers/carriers and terrorists as a framework for the analysis. It also develops an effective solution procedure for this game. Finally, it illustrates the methodology on a realistic case study.Hazardous materials Routing Game theory

Identifying geographically diverse routes for the transportation of hazardous materials

Often, the carrier/shipper of hazardous materials is interested in a collection of routes with approximately the same performance so that they can switch between different routes to avoid exposing the same population and potentially as a security measure. We develop a K shortest path algorithm for which the performance of each highway facility, with respect to each objective, can be stochastic and can vary over time. We also devise a mixed integer program to identify a subset of paths, which represents an acceptable trade-off between geographic diversity and performance. These models are then applied to a realistic case study.Hazardous materials Stochastic dynamic network Routing K shortest path problem Genetic algorithm