Congestion prediction on motorways:a comparative analysis

The paper reports on the evaluation of the performance of various short-term congestion prediction methods, i.e. multi-linear regression, time series analysis, multi-layer perceptrons, radial basis function networks, self-organising systems, and fuzzy logic. Data were gathered through dual induction loops on a A10 motorway section in the Netherlands during a fourweek period. The data consist of 1 minute aggregated time bins of volume, occupancy, speed, and both a reliability and a congestion indicator. The method's results are similar, except for multi-linear regression. Self-organising systems were omitted due to huge error production

Mechanophysiological study on the lateral line of the ruff

This thesis describes the results of a study on the lateral line of the ruff. The lateral line organ is an organ, found in aquatic amphibians and fishes, used to detect water motions. The elementary detection units are neurornasts: groups of hair cells (depending on the species and the location of the neuromast from about ten to about ten thousand) and supporting cells, covered by a translucent structure, the so-called cupula. The mechanotransduction - the conversion of a mechanical signal into an electrical one - takes place in the hair cells. Tilting of the "hairs" (cilia), caused by cupular motion, results in a change of the spike rate in the afferent nerve fibre, which has a synapse at the basal end of the hair cell. The cupula couples the surrounding fluid to the hair bundles. (zie Summary

Blockchain For Food: Making Sense of Technology and the Impact on Biofortified Seeds

The global food system is under pressure and is in the early stages of a major transition towards more transparency, circularity, and personalisation. In the coming decades, there is an increasing need for more food production with fewer resources. Thus, increasing crop yields and nutritional value per crop is arguably an important factor in this global food transition. Biofortification can play an important role in feeding the world. Biofortified seeds create produce with increased nutritional values, mainly minerals and vitamins, while using the same or less resources as non-biofortified variants. However, a farmer cannot distinguish a biofortified seed from a regular seed. Due to the invisible nature of the enhanced seeds, counterfeit products are common, limiting wide-scale adoption of biofortified crops. Fraudulent seeds pose a major obstacle in the adoption of biofortified crops. A system that could guarantee the origin of the biofortified seeds is therefore required to ensure widespread adoption. This trust-ensuring immutable proof for the biofortified seeds, can be provided via blockchain technology