Synergistic Interactions of Dynamic Ridesharing and Battery Electric Vehicles Land Use, Transit, and Auto Pricing Policies

It is widely recognized that new vehicle and fuel technology is necessary, but not sufficient, to meet deep greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions goals for both the U.S. and the state of California. Demand management strategies (such as land use, transit, and auto pricing) are also needed to reduce passenger vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and related GHG emissions. In this study, the authors explore how demand management strategies may be combined with new vehicle technology (battery electric vehicles or BEVs) and services (dynamic ridesharing) to enhance VMT and GHG reductions. Owning a BEV or using a dynamic ridesharing service may be more feasible when distances to destinations are made shorter and alternative modes of travel are provided by demand management strategies. To examine potential markets, we use the San Francisco Bay Area activity based travel demand model to simulate business-as-usual, transit oriented development, and auto pricing policies with and without high, medium, and low dynamic ridesharing participation rates and BEV daily driving distance ranges. The results of this study suggest that dynamic ridesharing has the potential to significantly reduce VMT and related GHG emissions, which may be greater than land use and transit policies typically included in Sustainable Community Strategies (under California Senate Bill 375), if travelers are willing pay with both time and money to use the dynamic ridesharing system. However, in general, large synergistic effects between ridesharing and transit oriented development or auto pricing policies were not found in this study. The results of the BEV simulations suggest that TODs may increase the market for BEVs by less than 1% in the Bay Area and that auto pricing policies may increase the market by as much as 7%. However, it is possible that larger changes are possible over time in faster growing regions where development is currently at low density levels (for example, the Central Valley in California). The VMT Fee scenarios show larger increases in the potential market for BEV (as much as 7%). Future research should explore the factors associated with higher dynamic ridesharing and BEV use including individual attributes, characteristics of tours and trips, and time and cost benefits. In addition, the travel effects of dynamic ridesharing systems should be simulated explicitly, including auto ownership, mode choice, destination, and extra VMT to pick up a passenger

Exploring root rot pathogens in wheat-pea rotations in Kansas

In 2018, over 277,000 bushels of wheat were produced on 7.7 million acres of land in Kansas alone. Based on the price of wheat by the end of 2018, this accounted for $1.44 million. This wheat is normally rotated with soybeans or fallow, but recent interest has arisen regarding the growth of peas in northern Kansas. As of 2019, there are both research and commercial growing operations underway. Many plant diseases have been especially prevalent during the summer because of the high rainfall and heat. In order to assess the severity of pea disease in Kansas, as well as explore potential interconnectivity between wheat and pea pathogens, a survey was conducted, and efforts were made to isolate and culture fungal pathogens of both wheat and pea

Effects of Warm Up Intensity on Factors Related to Subsequent Performance of Submaximal Exercise

Introduction: Athletes often warm up (WU) prior to exercise to improve performance. However, there are no clear directives regarding the intensity of the WU that is most effective in improving physiological responses related to enhanced aerobic performance. Methods: Nine college-aged men (age, ht, mass, 20.6 yr, 1.7 m, 84.8 kg, respectively) performed WU of varying intensities, 60% ventilatory threshold (VT), 100%VT, and 120%VT prior to performing 5 min of steady state exercise at 80%VT on a cycle ergometer. O2 deficit, RPE, steady state heart rate (HRss), and steady state VO2 (VO2ss) were measured during the exercise bout. Results: There was a significant decrease in O2 deficit as WU intensity increased ((2,9)= 9.15, p = .002, 2=0.53) with the deficit being lowest after WU at 120%VT. RPE were significantly lower after WU at 120%VT than both 60% and 100%VT (=(2,9)=6.88, p=.007, 2=0.46). However, WU intensity did not significantly affect either HRss (F(2,9)=0.48, p=0.63) or VO2ss (F(2,9)=1.10, p=0.36) during the exercise bout. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a higher intensity WU improves factors related to improved aerobic performance, i.e. decreased O2 deficit and RPE, without adversely affecting factors that could lead to a decline in performance, i.e. increased HRss and VO2ss

Large-Scale Release of Campylobacter Draft Genomes: Resources for Food Safety and Public Health from the 100K Pathogen Genome Project.

Campylobacter is a food-associated bacterium and a leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide, being associated with poultry in the food supply. This is the initial public release of 202 Campylobacter genome sequences as part of the 100K Pathogen Genome Project. These isolates represent global genomic diversity in the Campylobacter genus

FGF-4 signaling is involved in mir-206 expression in developing somites of chicken embryos

The microRNAs (miRNAs) are recently discovered short, noncoding RNAs, that regulate gene expression in metazoans. We have cloned short RNAs from chicken embryos and identified five new chicken miRNA genes. Genome analysis identified 17 new chicken miRNA genes based on sequence homology to previously characterized mouse miRNAs. Developmental Northern blots of chick embryos showed increased accumulation of most miRNAs analyzed from 1.5 days to 5 days except, the stem cell-specific mir-302, which was expressed at high levels at early stages and then declined. In situ analysis of mature miRNAs revealed the restricted expression of mir-124 in the central nervous system and of mir-206 in developing somites, in particular the developing myotome. In addition, we investigated how miR-206 expression is controlled during somite development using bead implants. These experiments demonstrate that fibroblast growth factor (FGF) -mediated signaling negatively regulates the initiation of mir-206 gene expression. This may be mediated through the effects of FGF on somite differentiation. These data provide the first demonstration that developmental signaling pathways affect miRNA expression. Thus far, miRNAs have not been studied extensively in chicken embryos, and our results show that this system can complement other model organisms to investigate the regulation of many other miRNAs

EFFECT OF ZINC AND STRONTIUM DOPANTS ON THE STRUCTURE AND STABILITY OF HYDROXYAPATITE AT HIGH TEMPERATURES

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is a bioceramic that synthetically mimics human bone. It is commonly used in medical applications as a filler for damaged bone, and in procedures such as dental implants and hip replacements. Doping of HA with elements such as zinc and strontium is known to increase the bioactivity of HA, as well as increase the retention and adsorption of therapeutic molecules for drug delivery. High-temperature, in-situ X-ray diffraction data were measured on 10 at. % zinc-doped, 10 at. % strontium-doped, and undoped HA powders at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. This research studied the temporal and thermal evolution of these samples, which were prepared via wet synthesis. Two dimensional diffraction images were collected as the samples were heated from room temperature up to 800 °C. The crystallographic structures and phase transitions were determined from Rietveld analysis, using programs such as GSAS-II, the FullProf Suite, and Matlab scripts. The undoped HA powder remained single phase throughout the heating cycle. The zinc dopant greatly reduced the temperature for onset of decomposition into a- and b-tricalcium phosphate, which occurred at approximately 690 °C. The strontium-doped sample was more stable, but also exhibited a phase transition with decomposition into a-tricalcium phosphate occurring at 790 °C. Some applications prefer HA which is more biocompatible, while others prefer tricalcium phosphate which is more bioresorbable, in-vivo. It is then sometimes preferable to produce a biphasic material (HA +TCP) which can be obtained by high temperature annealing of Zn- and Sr-doped HA. In clinical applications, Zn and Sr doping amounts would be below 2 at. %, because higher levels could be toxic. Higher doping amounts reveal which phases form more quickly as a function of annealing temperature and provides important information about sample stability in general. Therefore these results provide useful insight on the optimization of Zn- and Sr-doped HA materials for biomedical applications