Data Support of Advanced Traveler Information System Considering Connected Vehicle Technology

Traveler information systems play a significant role in most travelers’ daily trips. These systems assist travelers in choosing the best routes to reach their destinations and possibly select suitable departure times and modes for their trips. Connected Vehicle (CV) technologies are now in the pilot program stage. Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications will be an important source of data for traffic agencies. If this data is processed properly, then agencies will be able to better determine traffic conditions, allowing them to take proper countermeasures to remedy transportation system problems under different conditions. This research focuses on developing methods to assess the potential of utilizing CV data to support the traveler information system data collection process. The results from the assessment can be used to establish a timeline indicating when an agency can stop investing, at least partially, in traditional technologies, and instead rely on CV technologies for traveler information system support. This research utilizes real-world vehicle trajectory data collected under the Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) program and simulation modeling to emulate the use of connected vehicle data to support the traveler information system. NGSIM datasets collected from an arterial segment and a freeway segment are used in this research. Microscopic simulation modeling is also used to generate required trajectory data, allowing further analysis, which is not possible using NGSIM data. The first step is to predict the market penetration of connected vehicles in future years. This estimated market penetration is then used for the evaluation of the effectiveness of CV-based data for travel time and volume estimation, which are two important inputs for the traveler information system. The travel times are estimated at different market penetrations of CV. The quality of the estimation is assessed by investigating the accuracy and reliability with different CV deployment scenarios. The quality of volume estimates is also assessed using the same data with different future scenarios of CV deployment and partial or no detector data. Such assessment supports the identification of a timeline indicating when CV data can be used to support the traveler information system

Development of origin–destination matrices using mobile phone call data

In this research, we propose a methodology to develop OD matrices using mobile phone Call Detail Records (CDR) and limited traffic counts. CDR, which consist of time stamped tower locations with caller IDs, are analyzed first and trips occurring within certain time windows are used to generate tower-to-tower transient OD matrices for different time periods. These are then associated with corresponding nodes of the traffic network and converted to node-to-node transient OD matrices. The actual OD matrices are derived by scaling up these node-to-node transient OD matrices. An optimization based approach, in conjunction with a microscopic traffic simulation platform, is used to determine the scaling factors that result best matches with the observed traffic counts. The methodology is demonstrated using CDR from 2.87 million users of Dhaka, Bangladesh over a month and traffic counts from 13 key locations over 3 days of that month. The applicability of the methodology is supported by a validation study

Sonochemical Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Performance Evaluation of Au/ZnO Nanocomposite for Methyl Orange Degradation

This study examines the impact of gold (Au) incorporation on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. Both pure ZnO and Au/ZnO nanocomposite have been synthesized using a unique and environmentally friendly sonochemical approach. The as-synthesized Au/ZnO nanocomposite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopic techniques. Under UV-visible irradiation, the photocatalytic effectiveness of ZnO nanoparticles and Au/ZnO nanocomposites for the degradation of dye was examined. The results demonstrated that the nanocomposite has greater photocatalytic activity than ZnO nanoparticles. This is due to the effective electron transfer from ZnO to Au prolonging the lifetime of photogenerated holes, which play the most important role in the dye degradation process.&nbsp

Developing Guidelines for Implementing Transit Signal Priority and Freight Signal Priority Using Simulation Modeling and a Decision Tree Algorithm

Transit signal priority (TSP) and freight signal priority (FSP) allow transportation agencies to prioritize signal service allocations considering the priority of vehicles and, potentially, decrease the impact signal control has on them. However, there have been no studies to develop guidelines for implementing signal control considering both TSP and FSP. This paper reports on a study conducted to provide such guidelines that employed a literature review, a simulation study, and a decision tree algorithm based on the simulation results. The guideline developed provides recommendations in accordance with the signal timing slack time, the proportion of major to minor street hourly volume, hourly truck volume per lane for the major street, hourly truck volume per lane for the minor street, the proportion of major to minor street hourly truck volume, the proportion of major to minor street hourly bus volume, the volume-to-capacity ratio for the major street, and the volume-to-capacity ratio for the minor street. The guideline developed was validated by implementing it for a case study facility. The validation result showed that the guideline works correctly for both high and low traffic demand

New soliton solutions of the mZK equation and the Gerdjikov-Ivanov equation by employing the double G′/G,1/G-expansion method

In the electrical transmission lines, the processing of cable signals distribution, computer networks, high-speed computer databases and discrete networks can be investigated by the modified Zakharov-Kuznetsov (mZK) equation as a data link propagation control model in the study of nonlinear Schrödinger type equations as well as in the analysis of the generalized stationary Gardner equation. The proposed Gerdjikov–Ivanov model can be used in the field of nonlinear optics, weakly nonlinear dispersion water waves, quantum field theory etc. In this work, we developed complete traveling wave solutions with specific t-type, kink type, bell-type, singular solutions, and periodic singular solutions to the proposed mZK equation and the Gerdjikov-Ivanov equation with the aid of the double G′/G,1/G- expansion method. These settled solutions are very reliable, durable, and authentic which can measure the fluid velocity and fluid density in the electrically conductive fluid and be able to analysis of the flow of current and voltage of long-distance electrical transmission lines too. These traveling wave solutions are available in a closed format and make them easy to use. The proposed method is consistent with the abstraction of traveling wave solutions

New applications of the fractional derivative to extract abundant soliton solutions of the fractional order PDEs in mathematics physics

The motive of this research work is to unravel the mysteries of nature through fractional-order partial differential equations (PDEs). Here, we focus on two important fractional order nonlinear PDEs, namely the fractional order (4+1)-dimensional Fokas equation, which is used to give the model of many physical phenomena and dynamical processes, and the other one is the fractional order (2+1)-dimensional breaking soliton equation which is used to analyze the nonlinear problems like optical fiber communications, ocean engineering, etc. Recently, it has been an essential topic to extract the new soliton solutions which are used to investigate the hidden physical conditions of the nonlinear fractional PDEs. So, it is essential to solve those nonlinear fractional PDEs which have a physical impact in the fields of science and modern engineering. In our investigation, we attempt to provide nonlinear wave propagation patterns and investigate the equations, as mentioned earlier, through a computational method. A computing operating software called Mathematica has been applied to get a clear visualization of our gained outcomes, and we ascertain such types of shapes as the bell shape soliton, the anti-bell shape soliton, the singular bell shape soliton, the periodic solution, and the singular periodic solution. Our obtained results can keep an indispensable role in explaining various physical phenomena of nature shortly, and the applied method is the very cogent, efficient, and interesting to extract such types of solutions. Since we extract abundant solutions of these models, so we hope that this article is the best applications of mention method

Variation Theory in Teaching and Phenomenography in Learning : What’s Their Impact When Applied in Engineering Classrooms?

Although phenomenographic research approach has been widely used by education researchers to investigate students’ learning, little attention has been paid to the relationship between a pedagogical approach adopted by teachers and students’ learning outcomes, particularly in engineering education. This experimental study proposes integrating variation theory as a pedagogical approach to a face-to-face classroom environment for teaching complex engineering contents and adapting a phenomenographic approach to evaluate students’ learning outcomes. The teachers who participated in the experimental group incorporated the variation theory in their teaching process. In contrast, the teachers in the control group, being ignorant of the variation theory, taught the same content to achieve the same specific learning outcome. Drawing on data from students’ written responses both from experimental and control groups, this article illustrates how teachers implemented variation theory in the classroom and its impacts on student learning. The implementation of variation theory was confirmed by classroom observation, and the variation in understanding the topic was emerged from students’ written responses and interview data through phenomenographic analysis. The findings indicate that teachers informed by variation theory use variation and invariance that creates necessary conditions for learning. This study demonstrates how, by incorporating variation theory, a faculty member designed different pedagogical approaches, which helps students conceptualize complex engineering topics more systematically than those who do not discern variation. The study concludes with theoretical, empirical, and pedagogic implications for teacher education in engineering

Policy content and stakeholder network analysis for infant and young child feeding in Bangladesh

Abstract Background Appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are essential for nutrition of infants and young children. Bangladesh has one of the highest levels of malnutrition globally along with sub-optimal IYCF practices. A supportive policy environment is essential to ensure that effective IYCF interventions are scaled up. The objectives of our study were to assess the support for IYCF in the national policy environment through policy analysis and stakeholder analysis and in so doing identify opportunities to strengthen the policy environment. Methods We used a matrix developed by SAIFRN (the South Asian Infant Feeding Research Network) to systematically identify supportive national policies, plans and guidelines for IYCF. We adapted narrative synthesis and descriptive approaches to analyze policy content, based on four themes with a focus on support for mothers. We conducted three Net-Map interviews to identify stakeholders who influenced the policies and programs related to IYCF. Results We identified 19 national policy documents relevant to IYCF. Overall, there was good level of support for IYCF practices at policy level – particularly regarding general support for IYCF and provision of information to mothers – but these were not consistently supported at implementation level, particularly regarding specificity and population coverage. We identified gaps regarding the training of health workers, capacity building, the monitoring and targeting of vulnerable mothers and providing an enabling environment to mothers, specifically with respect to maternity leave for working women. Urban populations and providers outside the public sector remained uncovered by policy. Our stakeholder analysis identified government entities such as the National Nutrition Service, as the most influential in terms of both technical and funding support as they had the mandate for formulation and implementation of policies and national programs. Stakeholders from different sectors played important roles, demonstrating the salience of IYCF. Conclusions Although there is strong supportive policy environment for IYCF, it is important that policies cover all populations. Our analysis indicated that opportunities to strengthen the policy environment include: expanding population coverage, increasing inter-sector coordination, improving translation of policy objectives to implementation-level documents, and the engagement of non-public sectors. In addition, we recommend explicit strategies to engage diverse stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of IYCF policies