AN INTELLIGENT PERSONAL NAVIGATOR INTEGRATING GNSS, RFID AND INS FOR CONTINUOUS POSITION DETERMINATION

Most of the developed pedestrian navigators rely on the use of satellite positioning (GNSS), sometimes also in combination with other sensors and positioning methods. In the project “Ubiquitous Cartography for Pedestrian Navigation” (UCPNAVI) we have integrated active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in combination with GNSS and Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) for continuous positioning. RFID can be employed in areas where no satellite positioning is possible due to obstructions, e.g. in urban canyons and indoor environments. In RFID positioning the location estimation  is based on Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) which is a measurement of the power present in a received radio signal. The receiver can compute its position using various methods based on RSSI. In total, three different methods have been developed and investigated, i.e., cell-based positioning, trilateration and RFID  location fingerprinting. These methods can be employed depending on the density of the RFID tags in the surrounding environment providing different levels of positioning accuracies. By integrating the three methods for positioning into an intelligent software package and developing a knowledge-based system it is possible  to determine the pedestrian position automatically and ubiquitously. The concept of the intelligent software package is presented and described in the paper. For improvement of the positioning accuracy of cell-based positioning a modification has been developed, the so-called time-ased Cell of Origin (CoO) positioning method. This method uses also the measured RSSI above a certain threshold which is measured only if the user is located very close to the RFID tag. The  test results showed  that the accuracy of positioning using time-based CoO is in the range of 1.30 m. For continuous positioning of the pedestrian user, a low-cost INS is employed in addition. Since the INS components produce small measurement errors that accumulate over time and cause drift errors, the positions determined by RFID would be needed regularly for update. For the combined positioning of  RFID and INS a time-varying Kalman filter is employed. The approach is tested in indoor environment in an office building of our university. For the combined positioning, an accuracy of around 1.00 m for continuous position determination is achieved. The new approach and the test results are also described in this paper.

Two-component model for the chemical evolution of the Galactic disk

In the present paper, we introduce a two-component model of the Galactic disk to investigate its chemical evolution. The formation of the thick and thin disks occur in two main accretion episodes with both infall rates to be Gaussian. Both the pre-thin and post-thin scenarios for the formation of the Galactic disk are considered. The best-fitting is obtained through $\chi^2$-test between the models and the new observed metallicity distribution function of G dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood (Hou et al 1998). Our results show that post-thin disk scenario for the formation of the Galactic disk should be preferred. Still, other comparison between model predictions and observations are given.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figure

Exposure to hazardous volatile organic compounds, PM 10 and CO while walking along streets in urban Guangzhou, China

Toxic air pollutants in street canyons are important issues concerning public health especially in some large Asian cities like Guangzhou. In 1998 <18% of Guangzhou citizens used public transportation modes, with a majority commuting on foot (42%) or by bicycle (22%). Of the pedestrians, 57% were either senior citizens or students. In the present study, we measured toxic air pollutants while walking along urban streets in Guangzhou to evaluate pedestrian exposure. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were collected with sorbent tubes, and PM 10 and CO were measured simultaneously with portable analyzers. Our results showed that pedestrian exposure to PM 10 (with an average of 303 μg m -3 for all samples) and some toxic VOCs (for example, benzene) was relatively high. Monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were found to be the most abundant VOCs, and 71% of the samples had benzene levels higher than 30 μg m -3. Benzene, PM 10 and CO in walk-only streets were significantly lower (p<0.05) than in traffic streets, and the differences in exposure levels between new urban streets and old urban streets were highly significant (p<0.01). Pedestrian exposure to toxic VOCs and PM 10 was higher than those reported in other public transportation modes (bus and subway). The good correlations between BTEX, PM 10 and CO in the streets indicated that automotive emission might be their major source. Our study also showed that the risk to pedestrians due to air pollution was misinterpreted by the reported air quality index based on measurement of SO 2, NO x and PM 10 in the government monitoring stations. An urban roadside monitoring station might be needed by air quality monitoring networks in large Asian cities like Guangzhou, in order to survey exposure to air toxics in urban roadside microenvironments. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Novel drug carriers: From grafted polymers to cross-linked vesicles

A simple and straightforward method of self-assembling grafted copolymers was developed to fabricate cross-linked polymer vesicles, which could conjugate anticancer drug cis-platinum and possess the capability of a high drug loading content, and a steady release rate

Impact of anthropogenic emission on air quality over a megacity – revealed from an intensive atmospheric campaign during the Chinese Spring Festival

The Chinese Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in China. The peak transport in the Spring Festival season (spring travel rush) provides a unique opportunity for investigating the impact of human activity on air quality in the Chinese megacities. Emission sources are varied and fluctuate greatly before, during and after the Festival. Increased vehicular emissions during the spring travel rush before the 2009 Festival resulted in high level pollutants of NOx (270 μg m−3), CO (2572 μg m−3), black carbon (BC) (8.5 μg m−3) and extremely low single scattering albedo of 0.76 in Shanghai, indicating strong, fresh combustion. Organics contributed most to PM2.5, followed by NO3−, NH4+, and SO42−. During the Chinese Lunar New Year\u27s Eve and Day, widespread usage of fireworks caused heavy pollution of extremely high aerosol concentration, scattering coefficient, SO2, and NOx. Due to the spring travel rush after the festival, anthropogenic emissions gradually climbed and mirrored corresponding increases in the aerosol components and gaseous pollutants. Secondary inorganic aerosol (SO42−, NO3−, and NH4+) accounted for a dominant fraction of 74% in PM2.5 due to an increase in human activity. There was a greater demand for energy as vast numbers of people using public transportation or driving their own vehicles returned home after the Festival. Factories and constructions sites were operating again. The potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis illustrated the possible source areas for air pollutants of Shanghai. The effects of regional and long-range transport were both revealed. Five major sources, i.e. natural sources, vehicular emissions, burning of fireworks, industrial and metallurgical emissions, and coal burning were identified using the principle component analysis. The average visibility during the whole study period was less than 6 km. It had been estimated that 50% of the total light extinction was due to the high water vapor in the atmosphere. This study demonstrates that organic aerosol was the largest contributor to aerosol extinction at 47%, followed by sulfate ammonium, nitrate ammonium, and EC at 22%, 14%, and 12%, respectively. Our results indicated the dominant role of traffic-related aerosol species (i.e. organic aerosol, nitrate and EC) on the formation of air pollution, and suggested the importance of controlling vehicle numbers and emissions in mega-cities of China as its population and economy continue to grow