Toll-Managed Lanes: Benefit-Cost Analyses of Seven Projects. Year 25 Final Report

Toll managed lanes are expressway lanes where tolls are used--often in combination with preferred access for high occupancy vehicles and other special traffic management techniques-- to improve the highway’s capacity, speed or reliability. Such lanes, and particularly a variant called High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, have become popular with transportation policymakers as a way of maintaining free-flowing traffic on existing lanes while also, in some cases, financing the construction of new lanes in congested urban areas. This study examines whether toll-managed lanes are as beneficial as they are popular. The heart of the analysis is the application of a simplified social benefit-cost analysis to seven projects. In brief, the results suggest that toll-managed lanes, while promising, are not a surefire strategy for managing congestion. Only two of the seven projects have benefit-cost ratios above 1.0 using our base case assumptions about the value of travel time saved and the discount rate, although three others approach or exceed 1.0 with more optimistic but plausible assumptions. The most successful generate not only a significant savings of around 4 to 5 minutes per trip for motorists who switch to the managed lane but also smaller per-trip savings for the large majority of motorists who continue to use the general-purpose lanes. It is important to acknowledge, however, that these calculations depend upon some uncertain assumptions about the value of travel time savings and improved reliability

Using Hidden Markov Models for Land Surface Phenology: An Evaluation Across a Range of Land Cover Types in Southeast Spain

Land Surface Phenology (LSP) metrics are increasingly being used as indicators of climate change impacts in ecosystems. For this purpose, it is necessary to use methods that can be applied to large areas with different types of vegetation, including vulnerable semiarid ecosystems that exhibit high spatial variability and low signal-to-noise ratio in seasonality. In this work, we evaluated the use of hidden Markov models (HMM) to extract phenological parameters from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We analyzed NDVI time-series data for the period 2000–2018 across a range of land cover types in Southeast Spain, including rice croplands, shrublands, mixed pine forests, and semiarid steppes. Start of Season (SOS) and End of Season (EOS) metrics derived from HMM were compared with those obtained using well-established smoothing methods. When a clear and consistent seasonal variation was present, as was the case in the rice croplands, and when adjusting average curves, the smoothing methods performed as well as expected, with HMM providing consistent results. When spatial variability was high and seasonality was less clearly defined, as in the semiarid shrublands and steppe, the performance of the smoothing methods degraded. In these cases, the results from HMM were also less consistent, yet they were able to provide pixel-wise estimations of the metrics even when comparison methods did not.This research was funded by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad grant numbers CGL2017-89804-R, CGL2014-59074-R, and CGL2015-69773-C2-1-P

Modern microwave methods in solid state inorganic materials chemistry: from fundamentals to manufacturing

No abstract available

High temperature AlInP X-ray spectrometers

Two custom-made Al0.52In0.48P p+-i-n+ mesa photodiodes with different diameters (217 µm ± 15 µm and 409 µm ± 28 µm) and i layer thicknesses of 6 µm have been electrically characterised over the temperature range 0 °C to 100 °C. Each photodiode was then investigated as a high-temperature-tolerant photon counting X-ray detector by connecting it to a custom-made low-noise charge-sensitive preamplifier and illuminating it with an 55Fe radioisotope X-ray source (Mn Kα = 5.9 keV; Mn Kβ = 6.49 keV). At 100 °C, the best energy resolutions (full width at half maximum at 5.9 keV) achieved using the 217 µm ± 15 µm diameter photodiode and the 409 µm ±28 µm diameter photodiode were 1.31 keV ± 0.04 keV and 1.64 keV ±0.08 keV, respectively. Noise analysis of the system is presented. The dielectric dissipation factor of Al0.52In0.48P was estimated as a function of temperature, up to 100 °C. The results show the performance of the thickest Al0.52In0.48P X-ray detectors so far reported at high temperature. The work has relevance for the development of novel space science instrumentation for use in hot space environments and extreme terrestrial applications

Study of the therapeutic effects of an advanced hippotherapy simulator in children with cerebral palsy: a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although hippotherapy treatment has been demonstrated to have therapeutic effects on children with cerebral palsy, the samples used in research studies have been very small. In the case of hippotherapy simulators, there are no studies that either recommend or advise against their use in the treatment of children with cerebral palsy. The aim of this randomised clinical study is to analyse the therapeutic effects or the contraindications of the use of a commercial hippotherapy simulator on several important factors relating to children with cerebral palsy such as their motor development, balance control in the sitting posture, hip abduction range of motion and electromyographic activity of adductor musculature.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The study is a randomised controlled trial. It will be carried out with a sample of 37 children with cerebral palsy divided into two treatment groups. Eligible participants will be randomly allocated to receive either (a) Treatment Group with hippotherapy simulator, maintaining sitting posture, with legs in abduction and rhythmic movement of the simulator or (b) Treatment Group maintaining sitting posture, with legs in abduction and without rhythmic movement of the simulator. Data collection and analysis: all measurements will be carried out by a specially trained blind assessor. To ensure standardization quality of the assessors, an inter-examiner agreement will be worked out at the start of the study. The trial is funded by the Department of Research, Innovation and Development of the Regional Government of Aragon (Official Bulletin of Aragon 23 July 2007), project number PM059/2007.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Interest in this project is due to the following factors: Clinical originality (there are no previous studies analysing the effect of simulators on the population group of children with CP, nor any studies using as many variables as this project); Clinical impact (infantile cerebral palsy is a chronic multisystemic condition that affects not only the patient but also the patient's family and their close circle of friends); Practical benefits (the development of an effective treatment is very important for introducing this element into the rehabilitation of these children).</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN03663478.</p

Antibiotic use and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a population-based case–control study

Antibiotic use in 759 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients and 589 controls was compared. Neither total antibiotic use (odds ratio=0.7, 95% confidence interval=0.5–1.2), nor antibiotic use by site, was associated with total NHL, or NHL subtypes. There were no trends with frequency or age at first use (P trend=0.23 and 0.26, respectively)

Integrated motor drives: state of the art and future trends

With increased need for high power density, high efficiency and high temperature capabilities in Aerospace and Automotive applications, Integrated Motor Drives (IMD) offers a potential solution. However, close physical integration of the converter and the machine may also lead to an increase in components temperature. This requires careful mechanical, structural and thermal analysis; and design of the IMD system. This paper reviews existing IMD technologies and their thermal effects on the IMD system. The effects of the power electronics (PE) position on the IMD system and its respective thermal management concepts are also investigated. The challenges faced in designing and manufacturing of an IMD along with the mechanical and structural impacts of close physical integration is also discussed and potential solutions are provided. Potential converter topologies for an IMD like the Matrix converter, 2-level Bridge, 3-level NPC and Multiphase full bridge converters are also reviewed. Wide band gap devices like SiC and GaN and their packaging in power modules for IMDs are also discussed. Power modules components and packaging technologies are also presented