The European bus system of the future: Research and innovation

The development of a new generation of bus systems was the goal of the European Bus System of the Future (EBSF) project, funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Program. To accomplish this, a series of very different innovative solutions for buses (such as new vehicle layouts, advanced remote maintenance systems, improved on-board communication systems, more performing bus stops and eco-efficient engines) were simultaneously tested in seven Use Cases (UCs) in Europe (Bremerhaven, Brunoy, Budapest, Gothenburg, Madrid, Rome and Rouen). All the tested measures had to increase the attractiveness and improve the image of the mode. The efficiency of all of them was assessed as well as their transferability to other European contexts. The paper describes the tested solutions and focuses on the assessment methodology, the main results achieved and the drivers and barriers for the transfer of such solutions across Europe

An analysis on health care costs due to accidents involving powered two wheelers to increase road safety

Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) provide a convenient mode for a large portion of population in many cities. At the same time PTWs present serious system problems, the most important being poorer safety if compared to other motorized modes. But even when lower safety levels are acknowledged, problems behind are far from being solved. Rome is an example: although PTWs accidents rates are not negligible, the need for a specific safety policy is still unmet. Therefore the local Mobility Agency appointed the authors of this paper for a study of PTWs accidents occurring in the urban area. An assessment of the associated health care costs was also required. The objective of the paper is to report the main outcomes of this study highlighting recurring features of PTWs accidents, the high health care costs and how to quantify the economic resources to improve safety. The methodology was based on three steps: i) an analysis of the causes of PTWs accidents, which resulted into the location of black spots and assessment of the severity of the events; ii) the estimation of health care costs after a scientific literature review; iii) the association of health care costs to black spots and accidents severity to rank interventions to improve PTWs safety. This led to a final list of roads where PTWs accidents of the highest severity occurred and the required economic resources to improve their safety level. This stressed, for the first time, the unaffordable expenditures due to PTWs accidents. In conclusion, the issue whether the awareness of such costs can be used as leverage for more mindful behaviors among the riders is addressed

Car Sharing in Rome: a Case Study to Support Sustainable Mobility

AbstractAlthough a “niche” measure, Car Sharing (CS) in Rome proved to be popular and worthy of a city-wide upscale. This prompted the municipality to develop an expansion plan. The authors, responsible for this plan, had to appraise whether CS could be successfully transferred to other locations and assess the environmental benefits thus far achieved as a way to increase CS attractiveness. The paper describes the methodology used and the main results i.e., the operational thresholds and the quality of the built environment required to start operating the service successfully in new districts of the city, along with the benefits for the community, especially under the environmental point of view

Decentralizing Electric Vehicle Supply Chains: Value Proposition and System Design

Distributed ledger technologies are transforming existing business models and business relationships. In particular, blockchain allows non-trusting parties to manage a shared database in a decentralized way and improve the transparency, authenticity, and reliability of the exchanged data. Nonetheless, decentralized paradigms are not yet well established, resulting in only a fraction of blockchain-based applications being successful in the long term.In this paper, we present a blockchain-based solution for the electric vehicle supply chain that we designed in the context of the CONCORDIA project of the European Cybersecurity Competence Network. We describe the goals, the value proposition, the main design choices, and the architecture of our system. Moreover, we discuss the electric vehicle supply chain, analyzing the improvements and limitations introduced by our blockchain-based solution. We analyze our solution from the managerial and technical points of view through a lean business methodology for blockchain solutions. In particular, we developed an economic impact assessment to evaluate the potential costs and revenues of the application of blockchain technology in a supply chain context. Although the blockchain system is inspired by the supply chain of a multinational automotive company, it can be applied to any other multi-actor supply chain

Novel access to epilupeol through chemoselective hydrogenation of lupenone using platinum-based organotin catalysts

Catalytic hydrogenation of terpenes constitutes one of the most interesting reactions in the transformation of natural products. One of the key goals in this synthesis is the selective hydrogenation of the CO bond for obtaining biologically active epimeric alcohols. In the present work, the use of Pt and PtSn catalysts supported on silica was studied as an alternative to the chemoselective hydrogenation of lupenone. It was observed that Sn produces geometric and electronic modifications that lead to improvement in the chemo- and stereoselectivity of the desired product.Fil: Castro, Maria Julia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Musso, Florencia Antonella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Vetere, Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas "Dr. Jorge J. Ronco". Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Faraoni, María Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; Argentin

Solvation Structure around the Li+ Ion in Mixed Cyclic/Linear Carbonate Solutions Unveiled by the Raman Noncoincidence Effect

The solvation structure around the Li+ ion in a mixed cyclic/linear carbonate solution, an important factor for the performance of lithium-based rechargeable batteries, is examined by measuring and analyzing the noncoincidence effect observed for the C═O stretching Raman band. This technique has the advantage of perceiving relative distances and orientations of solvent molecules clustering around an ion in the first solvation shell and, hence, of developing information on the solvation structure along the wavenumber axis rather than along the intensity axis of the spectra. It is shown that, taking the solution of Li+ClO4– in the 1:1 mixed solvent of propylene carbonate (PC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC) as an example case, the Li+ ion is preferentially solvated by PC molecules [primarily as (PC)3(DEC)1Li+] and is totally protected from direct interaction (contact ion pairing) with the ClO4– ion. The solvation structures in neat PC and neat DEC solvents are also discussed