A Functional Data Analysis Approach to Traffic Volume Forecasting

Traffic volume forecasts are used by many transportation analysis and management systems to better characterize and react to fluctuating traffic patterns. Most current forecasting methods do not take advantage of the underlying functional characteristics of the time series to make predictions. This paper presents a methodology that uses functional principal components analysis to create high-quality online traffic volume forecasts. The methodology is validated with a data set of 1755 days of 15 min aggregated traffic volume time series. Compared with 365 randomly selected days, the functional forecasts are found to outperform traditional seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average-based methods in both count deviation and root mean squared error. In addition, through the functional data analysis approach the full exploitation of the continuous nature of the data can be achieved

Complexes of Cu-II with mixed-donor phenanthroline-containing macrocycles: analysis of their structural, redox and spectral properties in the context of Type-1 blue copper proteins biomimetic models

The macrocycles L-1-L-3 having N2S2O-, N2S2-, and N2S3-donor sets, respectively, and incorporating the 1,10-phenanthroline unit interact in EtOH and MeCN solutions with Cu-II to give 1:1 [M(L)](2+) complex species. The compounds [Cu(L-1)(ClO4)]ClO4 (1), [Cu(L-2)(ClO4)]ClO(4)center dot 1/2H(2)O (2) and [Cu(L-3)](ClO4)(2) (3) were isolated at the solid state and the first two also characterised by X-ray diffraction studies. The conformation adopted by L-1 and L 2 in the cation complexes reveals the aliphatic portion of the rings folded over the plane containing the heteroaromatic moiety with the ligands encapsulating the metal centre within their cavity by imposing. respectively, a square-based pyramidal and a square planar geometry. In both complexes, the metal ion completes its coordination sphere by interacting with a ClO4- ligand. The compound [Cu(L-3)(2)](PF6)(2) (4) containing a 1:2 cation complex was also isolated at the solid state: EPR spectroscopy measurements suggest the presence of a CuN4 chromophore in this complex. The EPR and electronic spectral features of 1-4 have been studied and their redox properties examined in comparison with those observed for Type-1 blue copper proteins. The reactivity of L-1-L-3 has also been tested toward stoichiometric amounts of the Cut salt [CuCl(PPh3)(3)], (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Post weaning diarrhea in pigs: risk factors and non‑colistin‑based control strategies

Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) is one of the most serious threats for the swine industry worldwide. It is commonly associated with the proliferation of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in the pig intestine. Colistin, a cationic antibiotic, is widely used in swine for the oral treatment of intestinal infections caused by E. coli, and particularly of PWD. However, despite the effectiveness of this antibiotic in the treatment of PWD, several studies have reported high rates of colistin resistant E. coli in swine. Furthermore, this antibiotic is considered of very high importance in humans, being used for the treatment of infections due to multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB). Moreover, the recent discovery of the mcr-1 gene encoding for colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae on a conjugative stable plasmid has raised great concern about the possible loss of colistin effectiveness for the treatment of MDR-GNB in humans. Consequently, it has been proposed that the use of colistin in animal production should be considered as a last resort treatment only. Thus, to overcome the economic losses, which would result from the restriction of use of colistin, especially for prophylactic purposes in PWD control, we believe that an understanding of the factors contributing to the development of this disease and the putting in place of practical alternative strategies for the control of PWD in swine is crucial. Such alternatives should improve animal gut health and reduce economic losses in pigs without promoting bacterial resistance. The present review begins with an overview of risk factors of PWD and an update of colistin use in PWD control worldwide in terms of quantities and microbiological outcomes. Subsequently, alternative strategies to the use of colistin for the control of this disease are described and discussed. Finally, a practical approach for the control of PWD in its various phases is proposed