269 research outputs found
Integrating a Simple Traffic Incident Model for Rapid Evacuation Analysis
Road transportation networks are a segment of society\u27s critical infrastructure particularly susceptible to service disruptions. Traffic incidents disrupt road networks by producing blockages and increasing travel times, creating significant impacts during emergency events such as evacuations. For this reason, it is extremely important to incorporate traffic incidents in evacuation planning models. Emergency managers and decision makers need tools that enable rapid assessment of multiple, varied scenarios. Many evacuation simulations require high-fidelity data input making them impractical for rapid deployment by practitioners. Since there is such variation in evacuation types and the method of disruption, evacuation models do not require the high-fidelity data needed by other types of transportation models. This paper\u27s purpose is to show that decision makers can gain useful information from rapid evacuation modeling which includes a simple traffic incident model. To achieve this purpose, the research team integrated a generic incident model into the Real-time Evacuation Planning Model (RtePM), a tool commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help emergency planners determine regional evacuation clearance times in the United States. RtePM is a simple, web-based tool that enables emergency planners to consider multiple evacuation plans at no additional cost to the user. Using this tool, we analyzed a simple scenario of the United States\u27 National Capital Region (NCR) to determine the impact of traffic incidents when different destination routes are blocked. The results indicate significant variations in evacuation duration when blockages are considered
A pharmacological approach using optical recording
ATP, acting through P2X 2/P2X 3 receptor-channel complexes, plays an important role in carotid body chemoexcitation in response to natural stimuli in the rat. Since the channels are permeable to calcium, P2X activation by ATP should induce changes in intracellular calcium ([Ca 2+] i). Here, we describe a novel ex vivo approach using fluorescence [Ca 2+] i imaging that allows screening of retrogradely labeled chemoafferent neurons in the petrosal ganglion of the rat. ATP-induced [Ca 2+] i responses were characterized at postnatal days (P) 5-8 and P19-25. While all labeled cells showed a brisk increase in [Ca 2+] i in response to depolarization by high KCl (60 mM), only a subpopulation exhibited [Ca 2+] i responses to ATP. ATP (250 -1,000 μM) elicited one of three temporal response patterns: fast (R1), slow (R2), and intermediate (R3). At P5-8, R2 predominated and its magnitude was attenuated 44% by the P2X 1 antagonist, NF449 (10 μM), and 95% by the P2X 1/P2X 3/P2X 2/3 antagonist, TNP-ATP (10 μM). At P19-25, R1 and R3 predominated and their magnitudes were attenuated 15% by NF449, 66% by TNP-ATP, and 100% by suramin (100 μM), a nonspecific P2 purinergic receptor antagonist. P2X 1 and P2X 2 protein levels in the petrosal ganglion decreased with development, while P2X 3 protein levels did not change significantly. We conclude that the profile of ATP-induced P2X-mediated [Ca 2+] i responses changes in the postnatal period, corresponding with changes in receptor isoform expression. We speculate that these changes may participate in the postnatal maturation of chemosensitivity.publishersversionpublishe
Design and Performance of a Silicon Tungsten Calorimeter Prototype Module and the Associated Readout
We describe the details of a silicon-tungsten prototype electromagnetic
calorimeter module and associated readout electronics. Detector performance for
this prototype has been measured in test beam experiments at the CERN PS and
SPS accelerator facilities in 2015/16. The results are compared to those in
Monte Carlo Geant4 simulations. This is the first real-world demonstration of
the performance of a custom ASIC designed for fast, lower-power,
high-granularity applications.Comment: 27 pages, 19 captioned figures, published versioi
Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world
Agricultural origins and dispersals are subjects of fundamental importance to archaeology as well as many other scholarly disciplines. These investigations are world-wide in scope and require significant amounts of paleobotanical data attesting to the exploitation of wild progenitors of crop plants and subsequent domestication and spread. Accordingly, for the past few decades the development of methods for identifying the remains of wild and domesticated plant species has been a focus of paleo-ethnobotany. Phytolith analysis has increasingly taken its place as an important independent contributor of data in all areas of the globe, and the volume of literature on the subject is now both very substantial and disseminated in a range of international journals. In this paper, experts who have carried out the hands-on work review the utility and importance of phytolith analysis in documenting the domestication and dispersals of crop plants around the world. It will serve as an important resource both to paleo-ethnobotanists and other scholars interested in the development and spread of agriculture
A Meta-analysis of Attachment to Parents and Delinquency
To investigate the link between attachment to parents and delinquency, and the potential moderating effects of age and sex, 74 published and unpublished manuscripts (N = 55,537 participants) were subjected to a multilevel meta-analysis. A mean small to moderate effect size was found (r = 0.18). Poor attachment to parents was significantly linked to delinquency in boys and girls. Stronger effect sizes were found for attachment to mothers than attachment to fathers. In addition, stronger effect sizes were found if the child and the parent had the same sex compared to cross-sex pairs of children and parents. Age of the participants moderated the link between attachment and delinquency: larger effect sizes were found in younger than in older participants. It can be concluded that attachment is associated with juvenile delinquency. Attachment could therefore be a target for intervention to reduce or prevent future delinquent behavior in juveniles
Particle identification studies with a full-size 4-GEM prototype for the ALICE TPC upgrade
A large Time Projection Chamber is the main device for tracking and
charged-particle identification in the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. After
the second long shutdown in 2019/20, the LHC will deliver Pb beams colliding at
an interaction rate of about 50 kHz, which is about a factor of 50 above the
present readout rate of the TPC. This will result in a significant improvement
on the sensitivity to rare probes that are considered key observables to
characterize the QCD matter created in such collisions. In order to make full
use of this luminosity, the currently used gated Multi-Wire Proportional
Chambers will be replaced. The upgrade relies on continuously operated readout
detectors employing Gas Electron Multiplier technology to retain the
performance in terms of particle identification via the measurement of the
specific energy loss by ionization d/d. A full-size readout chamber
prototype was assembled in 2014 featuring a stack of four GEM foils as an
amplification stage. The performance of the prototype was evaluated in a test
beam campaign at the CERN PS. The d/d resolution complies with both the
performance of the currently operated MWPC-based readout chambers and the
challenging requirements of the ALICE TPC upgrade program. Detailed simulations
of the readout system are able to reproduce the data.Comment: Submitted to NIM
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