A Framework for Dynamic Traffic Monitoring Using Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

Traffic management centers (TMCs) need high-quality data regarding the status of roadways for monitoring and delivering up-to-date traffic conditions to the traveling public. Currently this data is measured at static points on the roadway using technologies that have significant maintenance requirements. To obtain an accurate picture of traffic on any road section at any time requires a real-time probe of vehicles traveling in that section. We envision a near-term future where network communication devices are commonly included in new vehicles. These devices will allow vehicles to form vehicular networks allowing communication among themselves, other vehicles, and roadside units (RSUs) to improve driver safety, provide enhanced monitoring to TMCs, and deliver real-time traffic conditions to drivers. In this dissertation, we contribute and develop a framework for dynamic trafficmonitoring (DTMon) using vehicular networks. We introduce RSUs called task organizers (TOs) that can communicate with equipped vehicles and with a TMC. These TOs can be programmed by the TMC to task vehicles with performing traffic measurements over various sections of the roadway. Measurement points for TOs, or virtual strips, can be changed dynamically, placed anywhere within several kilometers of the TO, and used to measure wide areas of the roadway network. This is a vast improvement over current technology. We analyze the ability of a TO, or multiple TOs, to monitor high-quality traffic datain various traffic conditions (e.g., free flow traffic, transient flow traffic, traffic with congestion, etc.). We show that DTMon can accurately monitor speed and travel times in both free-flow and traffic with transient congestion. For some types of data, the percentage of equipped vehicles, or the market penetration rate, affects the quality of data gathered. Thus, we investigate methods for mitigating the effects of low penetration rate as well as low traffic density on data quality using DTMon. This includes studying the deployment of multiple TOs in a region and the use of oncoming traffic to help bridge gaps in connectivity. We show that DTMon can have a large impact on traffic monitoring. Traffic engineers can take advantage of the programmability of TOs, giving them the ability to measure traffic at any point within several km of a TO. Most real-time traffic maps measure traffic at midpoint of roads between interchanges and the use of this framework would allow for virtual strips to be placed at various locations in between interchanges, providing fine-grained measurements to TMCs. In addition, the measurement points can be adjusted as traffic conditions change. An important application of this is end-of-queue management. Traffic engineers are very interested in deliver timely information to drivers approaching congestion endpoints to improve safety. We show the ability of DTMon in detecting the end of the queue during congestion

Urban Productivity & Spatial Patterns Across Scales

Understanding the nuances at play across different spatial scales is of crucial importance when considering urban economic-energetic size-cost performance, specifically when longer-term consequences are considered. Through the application of an allometric understanding of cities, a more nuanced narrative is offered highlighting the interplay of urban productivity and spatial configurations of human interactions across scales. This is presented in three parts. In the initial examination of the urban economic-energetic size-cost balance across spatial scales, we seek new insights on the effects of scale in relation to urban connectivity and density for maximizing urban size-cost balance. For this, we use the urban system in England and Wales as a topical testbed where agglomeration-based arguments have been used in support of better inter-city connectivity in order to address a historic North-South regional economic productivity divide. The inadequate connectivity thought to be affecting the economic performance across the urban network in England and Wales, however, is shown to permeate across spatial scales. More broadly, this points at a scale-induced hierarchy of urban connectivity concerning potential improvements needed at inter- and intra-city scales. This is followed by an examination of the universality and transferability of scaling insights, and their nuances, between different cities and systems of cities. Considering the current transport schemes designed to address the North-South economic gap, we examine the continental comparisons drawn specifically from the inter-city transport infrastructure connecting the Randstad in the Netherlands and Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region in Germany. Our examination points towards fundamental differences that exist in the structure and distribution of population density across the countries and their city-regions across various scales. Additionally, the cross comparison demonstrates that, although scaling insights are transferable between urban systems, a simple multi-scale assessment of individual systems of cities in isolation is sufficient when investigating urban connectivity from an urban allometric point of view. Finally, returning full circle to the effects of spatial scales and distance on the geographical patterns of urban connectivity, we review a mathematically grounded approach to sort and organize the intra- and inter-city connectivity hierarchy while matching complementary infrastructural needs based on size-cost balances for a number of different scenarios. Together, this narrative provides a somewhat enhanced and most crucially spatially multi-scale examination of the arguments regarding connectivity and agglomeration in an urban context

Health risk assessment of heavy metal intake due to fish consumption in the Sistan region, Iran

The heavy metal (Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni) content of a fish species consumed by the Sistan population and its associated health risk factors were investigated. The mean concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Cr were slightly higher than the standard levels. The Ni content of fish was below the maximum guideline proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The average estimated weekly intake was significantly below the provisional tolerable intake based on the FAO and WHO standards for all studied metals. The target hazard quotients (THQ) of all metals were below 1, showing an absence of health hazard for the population of Sistan. The combined target hazard quotient for the considered metals was 26.94 × 10â��3. The cancer risk factor for Pb (1.57 × 10â��7) was below the acceptable lifetime carcinogenic risk (10â��5). The results of this study reveal an almost safe level of Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni contents in the fish consumed by the Sistan population

Urban performance at different boundaries in England and Wales through the settlement scaling theory

The relationship between transport-led agglomeration and economic performance is evaluated in an English and Welsh context. We examine the effects of scale, i.e., inter- versus intra-city mobility infrastructure, on urban size–cost performance. An additional contribution of this paper lies in its use of power-law scaling models of urban systems, enabling an assessment of optimality in the trade-off between economic output and mobility costs accounting for ease of access within cities coupled with their built density. Findings suggest economic underperformance coincides with inadequate mobility at both inter- and intra-city scales, while overperformance is accompanied by overgrown urbanized area and escalating mobility costs

On the development logic of city-regions: inter- versus intra-city mobility in England and Wales

This paper combines an allometric urban model with a hierarchical clustering method in order to investigate the effects of distance and spatial scale on the geography of transport-led agglomerative strategies implemented to address comparative regional economic underperformance. The study is undertaken in the context of the urban system in England and Wales by constructing agglomerated city-regions using city units defined at different spatial scales. As is shown, a greater importance than is currently given lies in local and intra-city mobility as compared with longer distance transport schemes promoted using agglomeration theory principles. This signals a need for prioritization of mobility improvements at smaller intra-urban distances coupled with long-term densification efforts as integral to the performance of longer distance inter-city pairings

Channel Management in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

Motivated by the need to increase system capacity in the face of tight FCC regulations, modem cellular systems are under constant pressure to increase the sharing of the frequency spectrum among the users of the network. Key to increasing system capacity is an efficient channel management strategy that provides higher capacity for the system while, at the same time, providing the users with Quality of Service guarantees. Not surprisingly, dynamic channel management has become a high profile topic in wireless communications. Consider a highly populated urban area, where mobile traffic loads are increased due to highway backups or sporting events. Anxious mobile users are eager to call home or work creating hot spots in cellular areas. Furthermore, mobile service providers are highly competitive in their methods for rendering relief to spatially localized communication traffic overloads while satisfying their mobile users by providing a service with fewer dropped and (hopefully) blocked calls, all while maintaining high bandwidth utilization. This thesis investigates the topic of channel management m heterogeneous cellular networks where techniques such as cell division are being implemented and used to improve the system capacity. Specifically, in this thesis, assume a heterogeneous cellular system where each cell has an inner cell and a large number of channels can be used, albeit at low power. Furthermore, we investigate how various channel management algorithms can utilize such a system in an efficient way. We show that such a heterogeneous system can accommodate a large number of users at a small additional cost, namely overhead of supporting an additional level of internal handoffs within the cell. In order to mitigate the effect of these additional handoffs, the thesis introduces various strategies for handoff management. Our theoretical findings and experiments are supported by extensive simulation

The reflection of Sa’adi’s Boostan & Golestan in practical wisdom on Molavi Abdollah Ravanbod’s Baloochi poems

Introduction Didactic literature is a significant part of Persian literature, with edification and ethics playing a key role in all elements of ancient literary genres. Theological-educational literature grew and enriched in Islamic times as a result of writings influenced by the Holy Quran, hadiths, and other Islamic sources, and the bulk of these works were influenced by each other, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, and intertextually. In their respective artistic ways, great writers and orators have profited from these pure and transcendent principles. Most didactic and moral texts, as well as their themes, influenced Sheikh Ajal Sa'di, and he was innovative in integrating the perspectives of the past with the needs of his time. Many artists tried to imitate Sa’di's eloquence. As one of the most effective followers of Sa’di's school of thinking, Abdullah Ravanbod Pishini has duplicated didactic and moral notions and topics that existed before Sa’di's period and then surfaced in this talented poet's works in plain language.   Methodology This article is based on the French school of comparative literature. The researcher's job in this school is to identify sources of inspiration and thinking, as well as subjects and ways of expression, along with schools and literary genres. Historiography, differences in language and literature, and the existence of a historical relationship between the two types of literature are the principles of the French school. This research examines the extentto which Ravanbod was influenced from Sa'di, particularly in Boustan and Golestan, and the similarities between the poems of the two orators based on the "French School of Comparative Literature," while looking at the degree to which Sa'di's wisdom is reflected in Ravanbod's Balouchi poetry. Discussion Sa’di The wisdom poems, which are the result of Sheikh Ajal Sa’di’s personal meditation gained from his journeys, are the most prominent poetry in Boustan and Golestan. In these two writings, Sa’di strives to describe a civilisation founded on humanism, compassion, justice, and reality. Kindness and fairness, he believes, are the most important virtues. The Qur'an, Nahj al-Balagha, ancient Iranian memoirs (Andarz-nameh), Kelileh va demneh, Qabousnameh, Nasirean Ethics (Akhlaq-i Nasiri), and the Alchemy of Happiness (Kimiay-e-Sa’adat) have all been suggested as sources and foundations for Sa’di's moral point of view. Many scientific theories have affected him as a result of his many trips and education in Baghdad's Mustansiriyah and Nezamiyeh; yet, the wisdom and ideas of ancient Iran and Islamic wisdom form the foundation of his thoughts. Ravanbod In addition to wisdom, law, philosophy, theology, and religious sciences, Maulana Mohammad Abdullah Ravanbod Pishini (1926-1988) possessed a comprehensive command of literary sciences such as the science of prose, rhyme, innovation, and expressiveness, which he considered essential for every poet. He is the most well-known contemporary poet in Iran's Baluchistan province. Despite his wide understanding of Persian, Arabic, Urdu, and Baluchi literature, his manner of speech is basic and unpretentious. Ravanbod has been dubbed "Sa’di of Balochistan" by several critics and fans of his poetry. This term is usually attributed to him because his poetry influences Baluchi literature and language, as well as its simplicity. Ravanbod's Baluchi poems are the most essential, brilliant, and numerous of his poems. Baluchi poetry is written in the manner of traditional and classical Baluchi poetry or in the genres of Qasideh (ode), Qazal (lyric), and Mosammat, which are influenced by Persian poetry. The following are some of the most prevalent instructional concepts shared in the works of the two orators: God’s power, God’s transcendence of human intellect and imagination, purposefulness in the system of creation and the need to pay attention to every single being in the universe, humility due to being created out of the soil, God’s generosity to all human beings, the humans’ inability to thank God for all blessings, belief in fate and predestination, advising patience, seeking happiness in both worlds, avoiding worldy attachments, warning the harmful effects of persecution and scolding, criticizing the world, making the most of time in life, emphasizing the deeds rather than origin, highlighting the role of being a good person as an enduring legacy, not neglecting comeuppance, not belittling the enemy and sin, the immutability of the wicked principle, standing up to oppression and living and dying with honor rather than degradation and disgrace.   Conclusion The presence of common and similar topics in the works of Sa’di and Ravanbad suggests that both poets are interested in religious and didactic writing, according to this study. Wisdom and ethics are practically present in the lives of characters and heroes in both orators' works, to the point where many educational notions and moral themes in Ravanbad's and Sa’di's writings are similar, and in some cases merge into one. If there is a little discrepancy in interpretations or words, it is due to language differences, which have the same semantic relationship and message in any case. The majority of the subjects on which the two orators have voiced and agreed are related to how one obtains both earthly and otherworldly bliss. In order to attain happiness and salvation in the two worlds, the ideal human being, in Sa’di and Ravanbad’s terms, must "give up bad and reprehensible habits and thoughts, and adorn oneself with good morals and good deeds"; that is, one must purify his existence of reprehensible attributes.   The usage of verses and hadiths, myths and religious figures can be noticed with the use of similes and allegories in order to objectify the message in both orators’ poems. Ravanbod's poems in the Balochi language are known for their simplicity, earning him the title “Sa’di of Balochistan,” due to following Sheikh Ajal Sa’di Shirazi's statement

Monitoring Free Flow Traffic using Vehicular Networks

Abstract — We present DTMon, a dynamic traffic monitiroing system using vehicular networks, and analyze its performance in free flow (i.e., non-congested) traffic. DTMon uses roadside infrastructure to gather and report current traffic conditions to traffic management centers and equipped vehicles. We analyze how traffic characteristics such as speed, flow rate, percentage of communicating vehicles, and distance from the DTMon measurement point to the roadside infrastructure affects the amount and quality of data that can be gathered and delivered. We evaluate five different methods of delivering data from vehicles to the roadside infrastructure, including pure vehicle-tovehicle communication, store-and-carry, and hybrid methods. Methods that employ some amount of store-and-carry can increase the delivery rate, but also increase the message delay. We show that with just a few pieces of roadside infrastructure, DTMon can gather high-quality travel time and speed data even with a low percentage of communicating vehicles. I