326 research outputs found
CARBOTRAF: A decision Support system for reducing pollutant emissions by adaptive traffic management
Traffic congestion with frequent “stop & go” situations causes substantial pollutant emissions. Black carbon (BC) is a good indicator of combustion-related air pollution and results in negative health effects. Both BC and CO2 emissions are also known to contribute significantly to global warming. Current traffic control systems are designed to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. The CARBOTRAF system combines real-time monitoring of traffic and air pollution with simulation models for emission and local air quality prediction in order to deliver on-line recommendations for alternative adaptive traffic management. The aim of introducing a CARBOTRAF system is to reduce BC and CO2 emissions and improve air quality by optimizing the traffic flows. The system is implemented and evaluated in two pilot cities, Graz and Glasgow. Model simulations link traffic states to emission and air quality levels. A chain of models combines micro-scale traffic simulations, traffic volumes, emission models and air quality simulations. This process is completed for several ITS scenarios and a range of traffic boundary conditions. The real-time DSS system uses all these model simulations to select optimal traffic and air quality scenarios. Traffic and BC concentrations are simultaneously monitored. In this paper the effects of ITS measures on air quality are analysed with a focus on BC
Unbounded representations of -deformation of Cuntz algebra
We study a deformation of the Cuntz-Toeplitz -algebra determined by the
relations . We define well-behaved unbounded
*-representations of the *-algebra defined by relations above and classify all
such irreducible representations up to unitary equivalence.Comment: 13 pages, Submitted to Lett. Math. Phy
Mean first-passage times of non-Markovian random walkers in confinement
The first-passage time (FPT), defined as the time a random walker takes to
reach a target point in a confining domain, is a key quantity in the theory of
stochastic processes. Its importance comes from its crucial role to quantify
the efficiency of processes as varied as diffusion-limited reactions, target
search processes or spreading of diseases. Most methods to determine the FPT
properties in confined domains have been limited to Markovian (memoryless)
processes. However, as soon as the random walker interacts with its
environment, memory effects can not be neglected. Examples of non Markovian
dynamics include single-file diffusion in narrow channels or the motion of a
tracer particle either attached to a polymeric chain or diffusing in simple or
complex fluids such as nematics \cite{turiv2013effect}, dense soft colloids or
viscoelastic solution. Here, we introduce an analytical approach to calculate,
in the limit of a large confining volume, the mean FPT of a Gaussian
non-Markovian random walker to a target point. The non-Markovian features of
the dynamics are encompassed by determining the statistical properties of the
trajectory of the random walker in the future of the first-passage event, which
are shown to govern the FPT kinetics.This analysis is applicable to a broad
range of stochastic processes, possibly correlated at long-times. Our
theoretical predictions are confirmed by numerical simulations for several
examples of non-Markovian processes including the emblematic case of the
Fractional Brownian Motion in one or higher dimensions. These results show, on
the basis of Gaussian processes, the importance of memory effects in
first-passage statistics of non-Markovian random walkers in confinement.Comment: Submitted version. Supplementary Information can be found on the
Nature website :
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v534/n7607/full/nature18272.htm
A Novel Antibody-Based Biomarker for Chronic Algal Toxin Exposure and Sub-Acute Neurotoxicity
The neurotoxic amino acid, domoic acid (DA), is naturally produced by marine phytoplankton and presents a significant threat to the health of marine mammals, seabirds and humans via transfer of the toxin through the foodweb. In humans, acute exposure causes a neurotoxic illness known as amnesic shellfish poisoning characterized by seizures, memory loss, coma and death. Regular monitoring for high DA levels in edible shellfish tissues has been effective in protecting human consumers from acute DA exposure. However, chronic low-level DA exposure remains a concern, particularly in coastal and tribal communities that subsistence harvest shellfish known to contain low levels of the toxin. Domoic acid exposure via consumption of planktivorous fish also has a profound health impact on California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) affecting hundreds of animals yearly. Due to increasing algal toxin exposure threats globally, there is a critical need for reliable diagnostic tests for assessing chronic DA exposure in humans and wildlife. Here we report the discovery of a novel DA-specific antibody response that is a signature of chronic low-level exposure identified initially in a zebrafish exposure model and confirmed in naturally exposed wild sea lions. Additionally, we found that chronic exposure in zebrafish caused increased neurologic sensitivity to DA, revealing that repetitive exposure to DA well below the threshold for acute behavioral toxicity has underlying neurotoxic consequences. The discovery that chronic exposure to low levels of a small, water-soluble single amino acid triggers a detectable antibody response is surprising and has profound implications for the development of diagnostic tests for exposure to other pervasive environmental toxins
Molecular crowding defines a common origin for the Warburg effect in proliferating cells and the lactate threshold in muscle physiology
Aerobic glycolysis is a seemingly wasteful mode of ATP production that is seen both in rapidly proliferating mammalian cells and highly active contracting muscles, but whether there is a common origin for its presence in these widely different systems is unknown. To study this issue, here we develop a model of human central metabolism that incorporates a solvent capacity constraint of metabolic enzymes and mitochondria, accounting for their occupied volume densities, while assuming glucose and/or fatty acid utilization. The model demonstrates that activation of aerobic glycolysis is favored above a threshold metabolic rate in both rapidly proliferating cells and heavily contracting muscles, because it provides higher ATP yield per volume density than mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. In the case of muscle physiology, the model also predicts that before the lactate switch, fatty acid oxidation increases, reaches a maximum, and then decreases to zero with concomitant increase in glucose utilization, in agreement with the empirical evidence. These results are further corroborated by a larger scale model, including biosynthesis of major cell biomass components. The larger scale model also predicts that in proliferating cells the lactate switch is accompanied by activation of glutaminolysis, another distinctive feature of the Warburg effect. In conclusion, intracellular molecular crowding is a fundamental constraint for cell metabolism in both rapidly proliferating- and non-proliferating cells with high metabolic demand. Addition of this constraint to metabolic flux balance models can explain several observations of mammalian cell metabolism under steady state conditions
Multiplicity and transverse momentum fluctuations in inelastic proton-proton interactions at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron
Measurements of multiplicity and transverse momentum fluctuations of charged
particles were performed in inelastic p+p interactions at 20, 31, 40, 80 and
158 GeV/c beam momentum. Results for the scaled variance of the multiplicity
distribution and for three strongly intensive measures of multiplicity and
transverse momentum fluctuations \$\Delta[P_{T},N]\$, \$\Sigma[P_{T},N]\$ and
\$\Phi_{p_T}\$ are presented. For the first time the results on fluctuations
are fully corrected for experimental biases. The results on multiplicity and
transverse momentum fluctuations significantly deviate from expectations for
the independent particle production. They also depend on charges of selected
hadrons. The string-resonance Monte Carlo models EPOS and UrQMD do not describe
the data. The scaled variance of multiplicity fluctuations is significantly
higher in inelastic p+p interactions than in central Pb+Pb collisions measured
by NA49 at the same energy per nucleon. This is in qualitative disagreement
with the predictions of the Wounded Nucleon Model. Within the statistical
framework the enhanced multiplicity fluctuations in inelastic p+p interactions
can be interpreted as due to event-by-event fluctuations of the fireball energy
and/or volume.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure
Pion emission from the T2K replica target: method, results and application
The T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan needs precise
predictions of the initial neutrino flux. The highest precision can be reached
based on detailed measurements of hadron emission from the same target as used
by T2K exposed to a proton beam of the same kinetic energy of 30 GeV. The
corresponding data were recorded in 2007-2010 by the NA61/SHINE experiment at
the CERN SPS using a replica of the T2K graphite target. In this paper details
of the experiment, data taking, data analysis method and results from the 2007
pilot run are presented. Furthermore, the application of the NA61/SHINE
measurements to the predictions of the T2K initial neutrino flux is described
and discussed.Comment: updated version as published by NIM
Measurements of , , , and proton production in proton-carbon interactions at 31 GeV/ with the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS
Measurements of hadron production in p+C interactions at 31 GeV/c are
performed using the NA61/ SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS. The analysis is
based on the full set of data collected in 2009 using a graphite target with a
thickness of 4% of a nuclear interaction length. Inelastic and production cross
sections as well as spectra of , , p, and are
measured with high precision. These measurements are essential for improved
calculations of the initial neutrino fluxes in the T2K long-baseline neutrino
oscillation experiment in Japan. A comparison of the NA61/SHINE measurements
with predictions of several hadroproduction models is presented.Comment: v1 corresponds to the preprint CERN-PH-EP-2015-278; v2 matches the
final published versio
Measurement of negatively charged pion spectra in inelastic p+p interactions at = 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c
We present experimental results on inclusive spectra and mean multiplicities
of negatively charged pions produced in inelastic p+p interactions at incident
projectile momenta of 20, 31, 40, 80 and 158 GeV/c ( 6.3, 7.7,
8.8, 12.3 and 17.3 GeV, respectively). The measurements were performed using
the large acceptance NA61/SHINE hadron spectrometer at the CERN Super Proton
Synchrotron.
Two-dimensional spectra are determined in terms of rapidity and transverse
momentum. Their properties such as the width of rapidity distributions and the
inverse slope parameter of transverse mass spectra are extracted and their
collision energy dependences are presented. The results on inelastic p+p
interactions are compared with the corresponding data on central Pb+Pb
collisions measured by the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS.
The results presented in this paper are part of the NA61/SHINE ion program
devoted to the study of the properties of the onset of deconfinement and search
for the critical point of strongly interacting matter. They are required for
interpretation of results on nucleus-nucleus and proton-nucleus collisions.Comment: Numerical results available at: https://edms.cern.ch/document/1314605
Updates in v3: Updated version, as accepted for publicatio
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