Triton Green: Using Digital Technologies to Promote Sustainable Travel Behavior

Human activities are changing the earth’s natural greenhouse effect. Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuel combustion has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere. Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide have already caused approximately 1.0 °C of global warming above pre-industrial levels. To avoid the most devastating consequences of anthropogenic climate change, universities, businesses, governments, states, and countries have made ambitious commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This capstone project offers a potential solution an app called Triton Green, to aid UC San Diego in meeting its carbon neutrality goals. The app employs a bottom-up approach, by encouraging individuals to switch to sustainable travel behaviors by using an interactive game with variable rewards. Triton Green applies digital technologies to integrate a range of sustainable modes of transportation into daily life. As part of the project, a commuter behavior survey was conducted among graduate students at UC San Diego to get a solid understanding of the current commuter habits, climate change attitudes, and motivations to take green travel options. The survey shows an inconsistency in personal climate change beliefs and daily commuter behavior. Based on the survey results, a blueprint of Triton Green was designed. Even though Triton Green could eventually help to reduce transportation emissions, combating anthropogenic climate change requires everyone, every state, and every nation to work together

Modified cam-clay model with dynamic shear modulus under cyclic loads

In order to study the dynamic characteristics of clay under metro loads, a dynamic triaxial test for clay was conducted. The function formula between the dynamic shear modulus and the number of oscillation periods was presented to calculate and analyze the dynamic characteristics of clay, then the function formula applicability was verified for different regional clays. In addition, the relationship between dynamic shear modulus and the parameters of cam-clay was established. The function formula for calculating dynamic shear modulus can be generalized to apply to the cam-clay model. The results show that the dynamic shear modulus function formula can be well applied. This modified cam-clay model can not only describe hysteresis loops, but also consider the effects of loading frequency on the dynamic characteristics of clay. Therefore, it is convenient to study the dynamic characteristics of clay under metro loads for theoretical analysis and verification

cRVR: A Stackelberg Game Approach for Joint Privacy-Aware Video Requesting and Edge Caching

As users conveniently stream their favored online videos, video request records will be automatically seized by video content providers, which may leak users' privacy. Unfortunately, most existing privacy-enhancing approaches are not applicable for protecting users' privacy in requests, which cannot be easily altered or distorted by users and must be visible for content providers to stream correct videos. To preserve request privacy in online video services, it is possible to request additional videos irrelevant to users' interests so that content providers cannot precisely infer users' interest information. However, a naive redundant requesting approach will significantly degrade the performance of edge caches and increase bandwidth overhead accordingly. In this paper, we are among the first to propose a Cache-Friendly Redundant Video Requesting (cRVR) algorithm for User Devices (UDs) and its corresponding caching algorithm for the Edge Cache (EC), which can effectively mitigate the problem of request privacy leakage with minimal impact on the EC's performance. To solve the problem, we develop a Stackelberg game to analyze the dedicated interaction between UDs and EC and obtain their optimal strategies to maximize their respective utility. For UDs, the utility function is a combination of both video playback utility and privacy protection utility. We theoretically prove the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium of the Stackelberg game. In the end, extensive experiments are conducted with real traces to demonstrate that cRVR can effectively protect video request privacy by reducing up to 57.96\% of privacy disclosure compared to baseline algorithms. Meanwhile, the caching performance of ECs is only slightly affected

Development and verification of time-dependent bounding surface model under metro dynamic loads

To study the dynamic characteristics of soft soil foundation under the long-term metro dynamic loads, modified model based on the bounding surface model was presented. The Mesri creep formula was introduced into the bounding surface model, then it could not only consider the effects of time but also could describe the soil’s arbitrary shear stress levels. The modified bounding surface model was derived using the Newton-Raphson method and the secondary development of the model was conducted. Meanwhile, in order to verify the model, the dynamic triaxial tests of the soft soil were conducted by GDS dynamic triaxial equipment and the metro dynamic loads were simulated during dynamic triaxial tests. Then, the numerical simulation of modified bounding surface model was carried out for soft soil and the numerical results were compared with the test results. The results show that the time-dependent bounding surface model provides a more accurate calculation for the dynamic strain, and establishes a theoretical foundation for predicting the settlement of the soft soil

Modified cam-clay model with dynamic shear modulus under cyclic loads

In order to study the dynamic characteristics of clay under metro loads, a dynamic triaxial test for clay was conducted. The function formula between the dynamic shear modulus and the number of oscillation periods was presented to calculate and analyze the dynamic characteristics of clay, then the function formula applicability was verified for different regional clays. In addition, the relationship between dynamic shear modulus and the parameters of cam-clay was established. The function formula for calculating dynamic shear modulus can be generalized to apply to the cam-clay model. The results show that the dynamic shear modulus function formula can be well applied. This modified cam-clay model can not only describe hysteresis loops, but also consider the effects of loading frequency on the dynamic characteristics of clay. Therefore, it is convenient to study the dynamic characteristics of clay under metro loads for theoretical analysis and verification

A comparative analysis of aerosol microphysical, optical and radiative properties during the Spring Festival holiday over Beijing and surrounding regions

Using ground-based data, meteorological observations, and atmospheric environmental monitoring data, a comparative analysis of the microphysical and optical properties, and radiative forcing of aerosols was conducted between three stations in different developed environments during a severe air pollution episode during the Spring Festival over Beijing. During the most polluted period, the daily peak values of the aerosol optical depth were ~1.62, ~1.73, and ~0.74, which were about 2.6, 2.9, and 2.1 times higher than the background levels at the CAMS, Xianghe, and Shangdianzi sites, respectively. The daily peak values of the single scattering albedo were ~0.95, ~0.96, and ~0.87. The volume of fine-mode particles varied from 0.04 to 0.21 µm3 µm-2, 0.06 to 0.17 µm3 µm-2, and 0.01 to 0.10 µm3 µm-2, which were about 0.3 to 5.8, 1.1 to 4.7, and 1.2 to 8.9 times greater than the background values, respectively. The daily absorption aerosol optical depth was ~0.01 to ~0.13 at CAMS, ~0.03 to ~0.14 at Xianghe, and ~0.01 to ~0.09 at Shangdianzi, and the absorption Ångström exponents reflected a significant increase in organic aerosols over CAMS and Xianghe and in black carbon over Shangdianzi. Aerosol radiative forcing at the bottom of the atmosphere varied from -20 to -130, -40 to -150, and -10 to -110 W m-2 for the whole holiday period, indicating the cooling effect. The potential source contribution function and concentration-weighted trajectory analysis showed that Beijing, the southern parts of Hebei and Shanxi, and the central northern part of Shandong contributed greatly to the pollution

Cortico-basal ganglia networks dysfunction associated with disease severity in patients with idiopathic blepharospasm

BackgroundStructural changes occur in brain regions involved in cortico-basal ganglia networks in idiopathic blepharospasm (iBSP); whether these changes influence the function connectivity patterns of cortico-basal ganglia networks remains largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the global integrative state and organization of functional connections of cortico-basal ganglia networks in patients with iBSP.MethodsResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and clinical measurements were acquired from 62 patients with iBSP, 62 patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS), and 62 healthy controls (HCs). Topological parameters and functional connections of cortico-basal ganglia networks were evaluated and compared among the three groups. Correlation analyses were performed to explore the relationship between topological parameters and clinical measurements in patients with iBSP.ResultsWe found significantly increased global efficiency and decreased shortest path length and clustering coefficient of cortico-basal ganglia networks in patients with iBSP compared with HCs, however, such differences were not observed between patients with HFS and HCs. Further correlation analyses revealed that these parameters were significantly correlated with the severity of iBSP. At the regional level, the functional connectivity between the left orbitofrontal area and left primary somatosensory cortex and between the right anterior part of pallidum and right anterior part of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was significantly decreased in patients with iBSP and HFS compared with HCs.ConclusionDysfunction of the cortico-basal ganglia networks occurs in patients with iBSP. The altered network metrics of cortico-basal ganglia networks might be served as quantitative markers for evaluation of the severity of iBSP

CRISPR-Cas13a-Based Detection for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus

Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) is the main pathogen of bovine viral diarrhea disease (BVD), which leads to enormous economic losses in the cattle industry. A sensitive and specific detection for BVDV is advantageous to the control of BVDV. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas systems have been used for detecting virus RNA. In this study, the expression and purification of LwCas13a protein was optimized and the RNase activity of LwCas13a in vitro was verified. CRISPR-LwCas13a system could detect BVDV virus and BVDV RNA with high specificity and simplicity. The detection limit of the LwCas13a system was 103 pM, and there were no cross-reactions with HEK293T and MDBK. In summary, a sensitive, specific, and simple nucleic acid detection method based on CRISPR-Cas13a was developed for BVDV. This method provides a new detection strategy for early diagnosis of BVDV

Triton Green: Using Digital Technologies to Promote Sustainable Travel Behavior

Human activities are changing the earth’s natural greenhouse effect. Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuel combustion has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere. Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide have already caused approximately 1.0 °C of global warming above pre-industrial levels. To avoid the most devastating consequences of anthropogenic climate change, universities, businesses, governments, states, and countries have made ambitious commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This capstone project offers a potential solution an app called Triton Green, to aid UC San Diego in meeting its carbon neutrality goals. The app employs a bottom-up approach, by encouraging individuals to switch to sustainable travel behaviors by using an interactive game with variable rewards. Triton Green applies digital technologies to integrate a range of sustainable modes of transportation into daily life. As part of the project, a commuter behavior survey was conducted among graduate students at UC San Diego to get a solid understanding of the current commuter habits, climate change attitudes, and motivations to take green travel options. The survey shows an inconsistency in personal climate change beliefs and daily commuter behavior. Based on the survey results, a blueprint of Triton Green was designed. Even though Triton Green could eventually help to reduce transportation emissions, combating anthropogenic climate change requires everyone, every state, and every nation to work together