An Agent Based Model for the Simulation of Transport Demand and Land Use

Agent based modelling has emerged as a promising tool to provide planners with insights on social behaviour and the interdependencies characterising urban system, particularly with respect to transport and infrastructure planning. This paper presents an agent based model for the simulation of land use and transport demand of an urban area of Sydney, Australia. Each individual in the model has a travel diary which comprises a sequence of trips the person makes in a representative day as well as trip attributes such as travel mode, trip purpose, and departure time. Individuals are associated with each other by their household relationship, which helps define the interdependencies of their travel diary and constrains their mode choice. This allows the model to not only realistically reproduce how the current population uses existing transport infrastructure but more importantly provide comprehensive insight into future transport demands. The router of the traffic micro-simulator TRANSIMS is incorporated in the model to inform the actual travel time of each trip and changes of traffic density on the road network. Simulation results show very good agreement with survey data in terms of the distribution of trips done by transport modes and by trip purposes, as well as the traffic density along the main road in the study area

Analysis of export market structure for Acacia wooden furniture in Vietnam

The paper aims to identify the structure of export market for Acacia wooden furniture products, simultaneously determine the fundamentals forming the market structure and propose marketing solutions for market development. The inequality index (GINI) and concentration ratio (CR) were used to analyze market structure. GINI coefficients calculated over transaction value of sellers and buyers were 0.63 and 0.60 while the concentration ratios (CR5) were respectively 33.18% and 39.24%. The results reflected the market's situation as monopolistic competition with high concentration level from both sellers and buyers. Large population of sellers and buyers filled the market. However, economic efficiency in terms of scale was a primary barrier creating restriction when entering the market. Market development solutions include: improve capacity on design; develop standards and brands for wood materials and products; certification of goods according to international standards and regulations; restriction towards export of low-pricing products; sustain existing markets and exploit new markets; support enterprises to implement the B2C trading model by Vietnamese Furniture associations; establish a specialized center of information and exhibitions for Vietnam's wooden furniture

Experimental Evaluation on Engineering Properties and Drying Shrinkage of No-Cement Mortar Produced by Alkaline Activation of Fly Ash-Slag Mixtures

Turning locally available industrial by-products such as fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) into cement-free materials has been recently received much attention from researchers. Following this trend, the present study produces alkali-activated mortars (AAFS) using a mixture of FA and GGBFS as a precursor activated by an alkaline solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. Five AAFS mixtures were prepared for the evaluation of engineering properties, drying shrinkage, and microstructural observation using various FA/GGBFS ratios of 30/70, 40/60, 50/50, 60/40, and 70/30. The experimental results show that the proportions of FA and GGBFS significantly affected the performance of the AAFS in both fresh and hardened stages. Higher GGBFS content resulted in a reduction in flowability and higher fresh unit weight. The GGBFS-rich AAFS developed its mechanical strength faster than the FA-rich AAFS and the strength gain of the GGBFS-rich AAFS was significantly higher than that of the cement-based mortar at only 1-day old, confirming the applicability of AAFS as a structural material and its potential to replace cement in the no-cement mortar production. The AAFS sample incorporating 60% of GGBFS and 40% of FA exhibited the highest strength, lowest water absorption, and less drying shrinkage with a relatively dense microstructure among the AAFS samples

Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from leaf callus with genetic stability validation using SCoT markers in Paramignya trimera, a medicinal plant native to Vietnam

Xao tam phan (Paramignya trimera (Oliv.) Guillaum) is a medicinal plant native to Vietnam, that is renowned for its therapeutic properties, particularly for the treatment of various ailments, including cancer. This study investigated in vitro propagation of P. trimera through somatic embryogenesis and shoot organogenesis using leaf callus. Various culture media, plant growth regulators, malt extract, and carbon sources were evaluated to optimize callus induction and somatic embryo formation from leaf explants. DNA barcoding confirmed 96.96% to 100% homology with P. trimera specimens from Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The highest callus formation rate, reaching 100%, was observed in one-year-old explants cultured in Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with 2.0 mg L-1 naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 0.2 mg L-1 benzylaminopurine (BAP) in the dark for over six weeks. In WPM supplemented with 30 g L-1 sucrose, 4.0 mg L-1 BAP, and 500 mg L-1 malt extract, globular stage embryos developed into embryoids and shoots and buds clumped at 10 and 18 weeks, respectively. Shoot organogenesis was observed in WPM supplemented with 30 g L-1 sucrose and 0.07 mg L-1 thidiazuron (TDZ) after 18 weeks of culture. Genetic fidelity assessments using 12 SCoT markers indicated that in vitro plantlets were homologous to the mother plant. This study provides a viable method for the conservation and sustainable cultivation of Xao tam phan, ensuring a stable supply of this valuable medicinal resource

Stimulation of shoot regeneration through leaf thin cell layer culture of Passiflora edulis Sims.

Passiflora edulis Sims. belonged to the genus Passiflora, is one of the important economic crops of the world as well as Vietnam. Nowadays, the commercial P. edulis is mainly propagated by seeds, cuttings and grafting; however, these methods still have some limitations such as genetic degradation and heterogeneity and the spread of pathogenic viruses. Micro-propagation has been used for clonal breeding and disease-free plant breeding, as well as providing a source of materials for Passiflora breeding. In this study, leaf explants of P. edulis Sims. (2.0-month-old) excised from the in vitro culture of ex vitro axillary buds cut longitudinally and transversally into thin cell layers (lTCL and tTCL) were used as plant materials to evaluate the shoot regeneration. In addition, the effects of explant age and lighting condition on shoot regeneration were also investigated. After 8 weeks of culture, the results showed that shoot regeneration rate (100%) and shoot multiplication coefficient (13.33) of the in vitro leaf-tTCL-4 were higher than those of other treatments and control. The shoot regeneration rate of P. edulis Sims. also varied with the change of explant age. The highest shoot regeneration rate (100%) was obtained from leaf explants of 1.5-month-old shoots after 8 weeks of culture. Moreover, the light (fluorescent lamps with photoperiod of 16 hours/day and lighting intensity of 40 - 45 μmol.m-2.s-1) improved not only morphogenesis rate, but also shoot regeneration rate (100%) of leaf explants after 8 weeks of culture. This study provided a novel method for rapid micro-propagation of P. edulis Sims

Dataset of the phospholipidome and transcriptome of Campylobacter jejuni under different growth conditions

The membrane phospholipid composition is not a stable bacterial characteristic but can change in response to altered environmental conditions. Here we provide the dataset of the phospholipidome and transcriptome of the microaerophilic human pathogen Campylobacter jejuni under different environmental conditions. These data have been used in Cao (2020), The unique phospholipidome of the enteric pathogen C. jejuni: Lysolipids are required for motility at low oxygen availability. Here the abundance of each phospholipid is shown during the growth of C. jejuni for 0-108 h under low and high oxygen conditions (0.3 vs 10% O2). The phospholipid data were obtained by applying high performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The transcriptomic data obtained by RNA-seq show the differential expressed genes between logarithmic and stationary grown bacteria. In addition, our data might serve as a reference information for further in-depth investigation to understand the relation between specific phospholipids and the activity of membrane associated proteins

Multi modes coupling galloping of slender structures

The paper presents a general theoretical framework for galloping analysis of slender structures, taking into account the coupling among modes, the modes shapes, and the variation along the structure of mass per unit length and mean wind velocity. The theory is then applied to a real structure. In the galloping analysis, aerodynamic coefficients are obtained from wind tunnel tests. The results of the analysis show crucial points different from conventional analysis

The Synthesis and Photoluminescence of 3C-SiC Nanorods

The 3C-SiC nanorods were grown by using carbothermal reduction of SiO$_{2}$ without any catalyst. The intensive broad photoluminescence peak around 480-500 nm was observed at room temperature. The 3C-SiC nanorods with green -- blue emitting light may have great application in display devices and light emitting diodes

Porphysome nanovesicles generated by porphyrin bilayers for use as multimodal biophotonic contrast agents

Optically active nanomaterials promise to advance a range of biophotonic techniques through nanoscale optical effects and integration of multiple imaging and therapeutic modalities. Here, we report the development of porphysomes; nanovesicles formed from self-assembled porphyrin bilayers that generated large, tunable extinction coefficients, structure-dependent fluorescence self-quenching and unique photothermal and photoacoustic properties. Porphysomes enabled the sensitive visualization of lymphatic systems using photoacoustic tomography. Near-infrared fluorescence generation could be restored on dissociation, creating opportunities for low-background fluorescence imaging. As a result of their organic nature, porphysomes were enzymatically biodegradable and induced minimal acute toxicity in mice with intravenous doses of 1,000 mg kg^(−1). In a similar manner to liposomes, the large aqueous core of porphysomes could be passively or actively loaded. Following systemic administration, porphysomes accumulated in tumours of xenograft-bearing mice and laser irradiation induced photothermal tumour ablation. The optical properties and biocompatibility of porphysomes demonstrate the multimodal potential of organic nanoparticles for biophotonic imaging and therapy