Freeway Performance Measurement in a Connected Vehicle Environment Utilizing Traffic Disturbance Metrics

The introduction of connected vehicles, connected and automated vehicles, and advanced infrastructure sensors will allow the collection of microscopic measures that can be used in combination with macroscopic measures for better estimation of traffic safety and mobility. This dissertation examines the use of microscopic measures in combination with the usually used macroscopic measures for traffic congestion evaluation, traffic state categorization, traffic flow breakdown prediction, and estimation of traffic safety. The considered macroscopic measures are the mean speed, traffic flow rate, and occupancy. The investigated microscopic measures for the stated purpose are: standard deviations of individual vehicle’s speeds, standard deviation of vehicles’ speed, and disturbance metrics. The utilized disturbance metrics to capture the stop-and-go operations are: the number of oscillations and a measure of disturbance durations in terms of the time exposed time–to–collision (TET), which has been used in other studies as a safety surrogate measure. However, this measure of disturbance duration requires the location and speed of both the leading and following vehicles and therefore cannot be measured accurately with low sample sizes of connected vehicles (CV). Thus, this study derived a model to estimate this measure based on speed parameters. The developed model was tested using real-world trajectory data from two locations that were not used in the development of the model. Moreover, the percentage of vehicles in the platoon and the platoon size distribution were evaluated as additional indicators of congestion. The relationship between the platooning and disturbance metrics and the speed parameters were further explored. It is recognized that the parameters required to identify the platoons, such as the time headway, will not be available based on data from low market penetrations of CV. Thus, a model was developed that utilize other measures for the estimation of the platooning measures at lower CV market penetrations. For the purpose of traffic state recognition and prediction, first, the study used a hybrid of two unsupervised clustering techniques to classify traffic states into “breakdown” and “non-breakdown”. The study found that adding the disturbance metrics in data clustering when identifying the traffic states will result in better traffic state recognition and traffic flow breakdown identification by capturing the disturbances in the traffic stream. The categorized traffic state was then used as a binary response to the macroscopic and microscopic measures, as features, to train supervised machine learning techniques for predicting traffic flow breakdown in the following 5-minute interval in real-time operations. The study found that utilizing disturbance and safety surrogate metrics in the real-time classification of traffic flow state increases the accuracy of prediction. Also, the study showed that the investigated disturbance metrics and associated models and thresholds are significantly related to crash frequencies and thus can be used in the activation of transportation management strategies to reduce the probability of unsafe traffic and ease traffic disturbances that have adverse impact on traffic safety

Relationship between Financial Disclosure and Trading Value - A Case Study: Tehran Securities Exchange

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the quality of information disclosure and Trading value that have taken place in six statistical models. In this study, the quality of information disclosure is considered as the independent variable, turnover and Trading value as dependent variables and the size of the company, the earnings per share, the market value to book value and return on assets are considered as control variables. The population chosen for the present study according to the subject and its application is the listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. This study used data from companies listed on Tehran Securities Exchange at the beginning of 2010 until the end of 2014 on an annual basis and at the beginning of 2012 until the end of 2014 on a seasonal basis to collect the information and likewise, results of testing the two hypotheses is presented in two sections. In this study, multivariate regression analysis by mixed data with fixed effects was used to test the hypothesis. Results of the study (2012-2014) shows that there is no significant relationship between the quality of information disclosure and turnover, the Trading value, the trading value of selling, the trading value of satins , the trading value of buying and the trading value of buying. while there is a significant relationship between the size of company and the turnover and also between the size of company, the return on assets and the market value to book value with the trading value, the trading value of selling, buying and buying. Also there is a significant between the size of company and the return on assets with the trading value of selling. Meanwhile, results of research in both methods of data collection, seasonal and annual, have been the same

cerebellar infarction in a 9 years old child presenting with fever and ataxia

Background: Cerebellar acute ischemic stroke (AIS) can be a complication of minor head trauma, vertebral artery dissection, vasospasm or systemic hypoperfusion. Computed Tomography (CT) scan usually is negative few hours after acute infarction. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is superior to CT scan for posterior fossa lesions and also in acute phase of cerebellar stroke specially in children. Case summary: The patient was a 9 years Old girl presenting with sudden onset of headache and recurrent vomiting, ataxia and history of 3 consecutive days of fever and malaise. In the report of MRI there were abnormal low T1 and high T2 signal intensity in left cerebellar hemisphere involving superior and middle cerebellar peduncles. After 4 days of admission, the patient became drowsy, symptoms progressed and transfered to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The patient underwent hemispherectomy surgery of the left cerebellar hemisphere because of acute obstructive hydrocephaly. After 5 months of occupational therapy the force of her extremities were normal and the ataxia completely disappeared. Conclusion: Childhood acute ischemic stroke although rare can happen with cerebellar involvement. Because in our patient the first brain CT scan was nearly normal and a false negative rate for initial computed tomography (CT) scanning of 60-80 percent also contributes to missed and delayed diagnosis of childhood AIS, we conclude that for every child presenting with acute ataxia without identified cause in addition to CT scan, MRI also being ordered and from the beginning beside other causes, stroke be contemplated as a cause of ataxia

The antimicrobial activity of probiotic bacteria Escherichia coli isolated from different natural sources against hemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7

Background: Diarrheal diseases have been seen in all geographical areas throughout the world. Therefore, considering treatment, could be deemed a necessary action. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial effect of probiotic bacterial strains isolated from different natural sources against 2 pathotypes of pathogenic E. coli. Methods: This cross-sectional study of Martyr Chamran University of Ahvaz was carried out from December 2013 to July 2014. A total of 13 probiotic colonies isolated from 20 samples of traditional dairy products including (yogurt, cheese, milk) and 20 samples of vegetables including carrots and cabbages (red and white) of which 5 isolates were selected to evaluate the antimicrobial effect against 2 Escherichia coli pathotypes, randomly. Antimicrobial effect was evaluated using two methods: disk diffusion and well diffusion tests and measuring growth inhibition zones of probiotics against 2 pathotypes of pathogenic E. coli. Results: Obtained results showed growth inhibition effects of all 5 probiotic strains against Escherichia coli pathotypes in both used methods. All selected strains showed considerable antimicrobial effect on Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain, but had no inhibitory effect against Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Conclusion: This study demonstrated considerable antimicrobial effect against E. coli O157:H7 strain. Due to this, characteristic and similar antimicrobial effects of probiotics bacteria, increasing use of the probiotics as a natural and modern method for prevention of different diseases is recommended

Reliability, Validity, and Factorial Analysis of a Short Version of the Self-Regulation Inventory

AbstractThe study examined psychometric properties of a short version of the Self-Regulation Inventory (SRI-S) including reliability, validity, and exploratory factor analysis of the SRI-S in an Iranian students. Six hundred and seventy six Iranian volunteers (294 \males, 382 females) from universities in Iran were included in this study. All participants were asked to complete the SRI-S (Marques, Ibanez, Ruiperez, Moya, & Ortet, 2005), the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale (EPQ-RS; Eysenck, Eysenck, & Barrett, 1985), and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-28; Besharat, 2009). The results of explarotary factor analysis supported a single general factor of self-regulation and a five factor structure including Positive Actions, Controllability, Expression of Feelings and Needs, Assertiveness, and Well-Being Seeking. The convergent and discriminant validity of the SRI-S were supported by an expected pattern of correlations between the scale and the measures of personality and mental health. All correlation coefficients between the mean scores on the SRI-S and scores of the extraversion, neuroticism, psychological well-being, and psychological distress were statistically significant

The risk of chronic kidney disease among women with polycystic ovary syndrome : A long‐term population‐based cohort study

acceptedVersio

Effects of Microbial Transglutaminase and Fermentation Type on Improvement of lysine Availability in Wheat Bread: A Response Surface Methodology

Background and objective: Lysine-glutamine crosslink formation catalyzed by microbial transglutaminase is supposed to affect improvement of lysine availability in wheat bread. Present study is done to investigate the effect of microbial transglutaminase and fermentation type in improvement of the lysine availability of wheat bread.Material and methods: Lysine-fortified wheat breads were formulated using response surface methodology with composite-face central design. Statistical models were used to predict the impact of defatted soy flour level (0-50% w w-1), microbial transglutaminase level (0-1.6% w w-1) and fermentation type (yeast or mixed fermentation based on sourdough). Further information was provided on the individual role of independent variables in nutritional and structural characteristics of optimized formulation and blank and control samples. Experiments were carried out in triplicate and the mean values were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s test.Results and conclusion: The suggested formula contained 26.64% w w-1 of defatted soy flour and 0.55% w w-1 of microbial transglutaminase, which was fermented using sourdough-based mixed fermentation and provided 0.16 mg 100 g-1 of available lysine and 2.09 cm3 g-1 of specific volume. The highest lysine chemical score (22.79±0.16), essential amino acid index (35.31±0.37) and biological value (26.79±0.02) and the lowest lysine loss during the baking process seen in optimized formulation verified the effectiveness of microbial transglutaminase in lysine fortification of defatted soy flour/wheat breads (P≤0.05). Considering rheology parameters and textural analysis, microbial transglutaminase treatment increased elastic modulus and β-sheet structure. These structural changes decreased final products digestibility, which can increase using mixed fermentation based on sourdough.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

The unfinished agenda of communicable diseases among children and adolescents before the COVID-19 pandemic, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

BACKGROUND: Communicable disease control has long been a focus of global health policy. There have been substantial reductions in the burden and mortality of communicable diseases among children younger than 5 years, but we know less about this burden in older children and adolescents, and it is unclear whether current programmes and policies remain aligned with targets for intervention. This knowledge is especially important for policy and programmes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to use the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019 to systematically characterise the burden of communicable diseases across childhood and adolescence. METHODS: In this systematic analysis of the GBD study from 1990 to 2019, all communicable diseases and their manifestations as modelled within GBD 2019 were included, categorised as 16 subgroups of common diseases or presentations. Data were reported for absolute count, prevalence, and incidence across measures of cause-specific mortality (deaths and years of life lost), disability (years lived with disability [YLDs]), and disease burden (disability-adjusted life-years [DALYs]) for children and adolescents aged 0-24 years. Data were reported across the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and across time (1990-2019), and for 204 countries and territories. For HIV, we reported the mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) as a measure of health system performance. FINDINGS: In 2019, there were 3·0 million deaths and 30·0 million years of healthy life lost to disability (as measured by YLDs), corresponding to 288·4 million DALYs from communicable diseases among children and adolescents globally (57·3% of total communicable disease burden across all ages). Over time, there has been a shift in communicable disease burden from young children to older children and adolescents (largely driven by the considerable reductions in children younger than 5 years and slower progress elsewhere), although children younger than 5 years still accounted for most of the communicable disease burden in 2019. Disease burden and mortality were predominantly in low-SDI settings, with high and high-middle SDI settings also having an appreciable burden of communicable disease morbidity (4·0 million YLDs in 2019 alone). Three cause groups (enteric infections, lower-respiratory-tract infections, and malaria) accounted for 59·8% of the global communicable disease burden in children and adolescents, with tuberculosis and HIV both emerging as important causes during adolescence. HIV was the only cause for which disease burden increased over time, particularly in children and adolescents older than 5 years, and especially in females. Excess MIRs for HIV were observed for males aged 15-19 years in low-SDI settings. INTERPRETATION: Our analysis supports continued policy focus on enteric infections and lower-respiratory-tract infections, with orientation to children younger than 5 years in settings of low socioeconomic development. However, efforts should also be targeted to other conditions, particularly HIV, given its increased burden in older children and adolescents. Older children and adolescents also experience a large burden of communicable disease, further highlighting the need for efforts to extend beyond the first 5 years of life. Our analysis also identified substantial morbidity caused by communicable diseases affecting child and adolescent health across the world. FUNDING: The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence for Driving Investment in Global Adolescent Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation