Surface monitoring of road pavements using mobile crowdsensing technology

Pavement-surface characteristics should be considered during road maintenance for safe and comfortable driving. A detailed and up-to-date report of road-pavement network conditions is required to optimize a maintenance plan. However, manual road inspection methods, such as periodic visual surveys, are time-consuming and expensive. A common technology used to address this issue is SmartRoadSense, a collaborative system for the automatic detection of road-surface characteristics using Global Positioning System receivers and triaxial accelerometers contained in mobile devices. In this study, the results of the SmartRoadSense surveys conducted on Provincial Road 2 (SP2) in Salerno, Italy, were compared with the Distress Cadastre data for the same province and the pavement condition indices of different sections of the SP2. Although the effectiveness of the crowdsensing-based SmartRoadSense was found to vary with the distress type, the system was confirmed to be very efficient for monitoring the most critical road failures

Increased functional connectivity within alpha and theta frequency bands in dysphoria: A resting-state EEG study

Background: The understanding of neurophysiological correlates underlying the risk of developing depression may have a significant impact on its early and objective identification. Research has identified abnormal resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) power and functional connectivity patterns in major depression. However, the entity of dysfunctional EEG dynamics in dysphoria is yet unknown. Methods: 32-channel EEG was recorded in 26 female individuals with dysphoria and in 38 age-matched, female healthy controls. EEG power spectra and alpha asymmetry in frontal and posterior channels were calculated in a 4-minute resting condition. An EEG functional connectivity analysis was conducted through phase locking values, particularly mean phase coherence. Results: While individuals with dysphoria did not differ from controls in EEG spectra and asymmetry, they exhibited dysfunctional brain connectivity. Particularly, in the theta band (4-8 Hz), participants with dysphoria showed increased connectivity between right frontal and central areas and right temporal and left occipital areas. Moreover, in the alpha band (8-12 Hz), dysphoria was associated with increased connectivity between right and left prefrontal cortex and between frontal and central-occipital areas bilaterally. Limitations: All participants belonged to the female gender and were relatively young. Mean phase coherence did not allow to compute the causal and directional relation between brain areas. Conclusions: An increased EEG functional connectivity in the theta and alpha bands characterizes dysphoria. These patterns may be associated with the excessive self-focus and ruminative thinking that typifies depressive symptoms. EEG connectivity patterns may represent a promising measure to identify individuals with a higher risk of developing depression

White matter integrity as a predictor of response to treatment in first episode psychosis

The integrity of brain white matter connections is central to a patient's ability to respond to pharmacological interventions. This study tested this hypothesis using a specific measure of white matter integrity, and examining its relationship to treatment response using a prospective design in patients within their first episode of psychosis. Diffusion tensor imaging data were acquired in 63 patients with first episode psychosis and 52 healthy control subjects (baseline). Response was assessed after 12 weeks and patients were classified as responders or non-responders according to treatment outcome. At this second time-point, they also underwent a second diffusion tensor imaging scan. Tract-based spatial statistics were used to assess fractional anisotropy as a marker of white matter integrity. At baseline, non-responders showed lower fractional anisotropy than both responders and healthy control subjects (P < 0.05; family-wise error-corrected), mainly in the uncinate, cingulum and corpus callosum, whereas responders were indistinguishable from healthy control subjects. After 12 weeks, there was an increase in fractional anisotropy in both responders and non-responders, positively correlated with antipsychotic exposure. This represents one of the largest, controlled investigations of white matter integrity and response to antipsychotic treatment early in psychosis. These data, together with earlier findings on cortical grey matter, suggest that grey and white matter integrity at the start of treatment is an important moderator of response to antipsychotics. These findings can inform patient stratification to anticipate care needs, and raise the possibility that antipsychotics may restore white matter integrity as part of the therapeutic response

Role of the Cysteine in R3 Tau Peptide in Copper Binding and Reactivity

Tau is a widespread neuroprotein that regulates the cytoskeleton assembly. In some neurological disorders, known as tauopathies, tau is dissociated from the microtubule and forms insoluble neurofibrillary tangles. Tau comprises four pseudorepeats (R1-R4), containing one (R1, R2, R4) or two (R3) histidines, that potentially act as metal binding sites. Moreover, Cys291 and Cys322 in R2 and R3, respectively, might have an important role in protein aggregation, through possible disulfide bond formation, and/or affecting the binding and reactivity of redox-active metal ions, as copper. We, therefore, compare the interaction of copper with octadeca-R3-peptide (R3C) and with the mutant containing an alanine residue (R3A) to assess the role of thiol group. Spectrophotometric titrations allow to calculate the formation constant of the copper(I) complexes, showing a remarkable stronger interaction in the case of R3C (log K-f = 13.4 and 10.5 for copper(I)-R3C and copper(I)-R3A, respectively). We also evaluate the oxidative reactivity associated to these copper complexes in the presence of dopamine and ascorbate. Both R3A and R3C peptides increase the capability of copper to oxidize catechols, but copper-R3C displays a peculiar mechanism due to the presence of cysteine. HPLC-MS analysis shows that cysteine can form disulfide bonds and dopamine-Cys covalent adducts, with potential implication in tau aggregation process

Blood cyanide determination in two cases of fatal imtoxication: comparison between headspace gas chromatography and a spectrophotometric method

Blood samples of two cases were analyzed preliminarily by a classical spectrophotometric method (VIS) and by an automated headspace gas chromatographic method with nitrogen-phosphorus detector (HS-GC \u2044 NPD). In the former, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) was quantitatively determined by measuring the absorbance of chromophores forming as a result of interaction with chloramine T. In the automated HS-GC \u2044NPD method, blood was placed in a headspace vial, internal standard (acetonitrile) and acetic acid were then added. This resulted in cyanide being liberated as HCN. The spectrophotometric (VIS) and HS-GC\u2044NPD methods were validated on postmortem blood samples fortified with potassium cyanide in the ranges 0.5\u201310 and 0.05\u20135 lg \u2044 mL, respectively. Detection limits were 0.2 lg \u2044mL for VIS and 0.05 lg \u2044mL for HS-GC\u2044NPD. This work shows that results obtained by means of the two procedures were insignificantly different and that they compared favorably. They are suitable for rapid diagnosis of cyanide in postmortem cases

Building A High Performance Parallel File System Using Grid Datafarm and ROOT I/O

Sheer amount of petabyte scale data foreseen in the LHC experiments require a careful consideration of the persistency design and the system design in the world-wide distributed computing. Event parallelism of the HENP data analysis enables us to take maximum advantage of the high performance cluster computing and networking when we keep the parallelism both in the data processing phase, in the data management phase, and in the data transfer phase. A modular architecture of FADS/ Goofy, a versatile detector simulation framework for Geant4, enables an easy choice of plug-in facilities for persistency technologies such as Objectivity/DB and ROOT I/O. The framework is designed to work naturally with the parallel file system of Grid Datafarm (Gfarm). FADS/Goofy is proven to generate 10^6 Geant4-simulated Atlas Mockup events using a 512 CPU PC cluster. The data in ROOT I/O files is replicated using Gfarm file system. The histogram information is collected from the distributed ROOT files. During the data replication it has been demonstrated to achieve more than 2.3 Gbps data transfer rate between the PC clusters over seven participating PC clusters in the United States and in Japan.Comment: Talk from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP03), La Jolla, Ca, USA, March 2003, 4 pages, PDF. PSN TUDT01

Mass closure on the chemical species in size-segregated atmospheric aerosol collected in an urban area of the Po Valley, Italy

International audienceA complete size segregated chemical characterisation was carried out for aerosol samples collected in the urban area of Bologna over a period of one year, using five-stage low pressure Berner impactors. An original dual-substrate technique was adopted to obtain samples suitable for a complete chemical characterisation. Total mass, inorganic, and organic components were analysed as a function of size, and a detailed characterisation of the water soluble organic compounds was also performed by means of a previously developed methodology, based on HPLC separation of organic compounds according to their acid character and functional group analysis by Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Chemical mass closure of the collected samples was reached to within a few percent on average in the submicron aerosol range, while a higher unknown fraction in the coarse aerosol range was attributed to soil-derived species not analysed in this experiment. Comparison of the functional group analysis results with model results simulating water soluble organic compound production by gas-to-particle conversion of anthropogenic VOCs showed that this pathway provides a minor contribution to the organic composition of the aerosol samples in the urban area of Bologna

Chemical mass balance of size-segregated atmospheric aerosol in an urban area of the Po Valley, Italy

International audienceA complete size segregated chemical characterisation was carried out for aerosol samples collected in the urban area of Bologna over a period of one year, using five-stage low pressure Berner impactors. An original dual-substrate technique was adopted to obtain samples suitable for a complete chemical characterisation. Total mass, inorganic, and organic components were analysed as a function of size, and a detailed characterisation of the water soluble organic compounds was also performed by means of a previously developed methodology, based on HPLC separation of organic compounds according to their acid character and functional group analysis by Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Chemical mass closure of the collected samples was reached to within a few percent on average in the submicron aerosol range, while a higher unknown fraction in the coarse aerosol range was attributed to soil-derived species not analysed in this experiment. Comparison of the functional group analysis results with model results simulating water soluble organic compound production by gas-to-particle conversion of anthropogenic VOCs showed that this pathway provides a minor contribution to the organic composition of the aerosol samples in the urban area of Bologna

Multiobjective railway alignment optimization using ballastless track and reduced cross-section in tunnel

The increasing need for railway planning and design to connect growing cities in inland mountainous areas has pushed engineering efforts toward the research of railway tracks that must comply with more restrictive constraints. In this study, a multiobjective alignment optimization (HAO), commonly used for highway projects, was carried out to identify a better solution for constructing a high-speed railway track considering technical and economic feasibilities. Then, two different and innovative scenarios were investigated: an unconventional ballastless superstructure, which is more environment-friendly than a gravel superstructure, and a reduced cross-section in a tunnel, which enables a slower design speed and then, less restrictive geometric constraints and earthmoving. The results showed that the first solution obtained a better performance with a slight increase in cost. Moreover, both scenarios improved the preliminary alignment optimization, reducing the overall cost by 11% for the first scenario and 20% for the second one

Size-segregated aerosol mass closure and chemical composition in Monte Cimone (I) during MINATROC

International audiencePhysical and chemical characterizations of the atmospheric aerosol were carried out at Mt. Cimone (Italy) during the 4 June-4 July 2000 period. Particle size distributions in the size range 6nm-10µm were measured with a differential mobility analyzer (DMA) and an optical particle counter (OPC). Size-segregated aerosol was sampled using a 6-stage low pressure impactor. Aerosol samples were submitted to gravimetric and chemical analyses. Ionic, carbonaceous and refractory components of the aerosol were quantified. We compared the sub- and superµm aerosol mass concentrations determined by gravimetric measurements (mGM), chemical analyses (mmCA), and by converting particle size distribution to aerosol mass concentrations (mmSD). Mean random uncertainties associated with the determination of mmGM, mmCA, and mmSD were assessed. The three estimates of the sub-µm aerosol mass concentration agreed, which shows that within experimental uncertainty, the sub-µm aerosol was composed of the quantified components. The three estimates of the super-µm aerosol mass concentration did not agree, which indicates that random uncertainties and/or possible systematic errors in aerosol sampling, sizing or analyses were not adequately accounted for. Aerosol chemical composition in air masses from different origins showed differences, which were significant in regard to experimental uncertainties. During the Saharan dust advection period, coarse dust and fine anthropogenic particles were externally mixed. No anthropogenic sulfate could be found in the super-µm dust particles. In contrast, nitrate was shifted towards the aerosol super-µm fraction in presence of desert dust