Modelling Eco-Driving Support System for Microscopic Traffic Simulation

Microscopic traffic simulation is an ideal tool for investigating the network level impacts of eco-driving in different networks and traffic conditions, under varying penetration rates and driver compliance rates. The reliability of the traffic simulation results however rely on the accurate representation of the simulation of the driver support system and the response of the driver to the eco-driving advice, as well as on a realistic modelling and calibration of the driver’s behaviour. The state-of-the-art microscopic traffic simulation models however exclude detailed modelling of the driver response to eco-driver support systems. This paper fills in this research gap by presenting a framework for extending state-of-the-art traffic simulation models with sub models for drivers’ compliance to advice from an advisory eco-driving support systems. The developed simulation framework includes among others a model of driver’s compliance with the advice given by the system, a gear shifting model and a simplified model for estimating vehicles maximum possible acceleration. Data from field operational tests with a full advisory eco-driving system developed within the ecoDriver project was used to calibrate the developed compliance models. A set of verification simulations used to illustrate the effect of the combination of the ecoDriver system and drivers’ compliance to the advices are also presented

CART - a chemical annotation retrieval toolkit

MOTIVATION: Data on bioactivities of drug-like chemicals is rapidly accumulating in public repositories, creating new opportunities for research in computational systems pharmacology. However, integrative analysis of these data sets is difficult due to prevailing ambiguity between chemical names and identifiers and a lack of cross-references between databases. RESULTS: To address this challenge, we have developed CART, a Chemical Annotation Retrieval Toolkit. As a key functionality, it matches an input list of chemical names into a comprehensive reference space to assign unambiguous chemical identifiers. In this unified space, bioactivity annotations can be easily retrieved from databases covering a wide variety of chemical effects on biological systems. Subsequently, CART can determine annotations enriched in the input set of chemicals and display these in tabular format and interactive network visualizations, thereby facilitating integrative analysis of chemical bioactivity data

Novel drug candidates for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer through global inverse gene-expression profiling

Drug-induced gene-expression profiles that invert disease profiles have recently been illustrated to be a starting point for drug repositioning. In this study, we validate this approach and focus on prediction of novel drugs for colorectal cancer, for which there is a pressing need to find novel antimetastatic compounds. We computationally predicted three novel and still unknown compounds against colorectal cancer: citalopram (an antidepressant), troglitazone (an antidiabetic), and enilconazole (a fungicide). We verified the compounds by in vitro assays of clonogenic survival, proliferation, and migration and in a subcutaneous mouse model. We found evidence that the mode of action of these compounds may be through inhibition of TGF{beta} signaling. Furthermore, one compound, citalopram, reduced tumor size as well as the number of circulating tumor cells and metastases in an orthotopic mouse model of colorectal cancer. This study proposes citalopram as a potential therapeutic option for patients with colorectal cancer, illustrating the potential of systems pharmacology

A tilted interference filter in a converging beam

Context. Narrow-band interference filters can be tuned toward shorter wavelengths by tilting them from the perpendicular to the optical axis. This can be used as a cheap alternative to real tunable filters, such as Fabry-P\'erot interferometers and Lyot filters. At the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, such a setup is used to scan through the blue wing of the Ca II H line. Because the filter is mounted in a converging beam, the incident angle varies over the pupil, which causes a variation of the transmission over the pupil, different for each wavelength within the passband. This causes broadening of the filter transmission profile and degradation of the image quality. Aims. We want to characterize the properties of our filter, at normal incidence as well as at different tilt angles. Knowing the broadened profile is important for the interpretation of the solar images. Compensating the images for the degrading effects will improve the resolution and remove one source of image contrast degradation. In particular, we need to solve the latter problem for images that are also compensated for blurring caused by atmospheric turbulence. Methods. We simulate the process of image formation through a tilted interference filter in order to understand the effects. We test the hypothesis that they are separable from the effects of wavefront aberrations for the purpose of image deconvolution. We measure the filter transmission profile and the degrading PSF from calibration data. Results. We find that the filter transmission profile differs significantly from the specifications.We demonstrate how to compensate for the image-degrading effects. Because the filter tilt effects indeed appear to be separable from wavefront aberrations in a useful way, this can be done in a final deconvolution, after standard image restoration with MFBD/Phase Diversity based methods. We illustrate the technique with real data

Web-based participatory surveillance of infectious diseases: the Influenzanet participatory surveillance experience.

To overcome the limitations of the state-of-the-art influenza surveillance systems in Europe, we established in 2008 a European-wide consortium aimed at introducing an innovative information and communication technology approach for a web-based surveillance system across different European countries, called Influenzanet. The system, based on earlier efforts in The Netherlands and Portugal, works with the participation of the population in each country to collect real-time information on the distribution of influenza-like illness cases through web surveys administered to volunteers reporting their symptoms (or lack of symptoms) every week during the influenza season. Such a large European-wide web-based monitoring infrastructure is intended to rapidly identify public health emergencies, contribute to understanding global trends, inform data-driven forecast models to assess the impact on the population, optimize the allocation of resources, and help in devising mitigation and containment measures. In this article, we describe the scientific and technological issues faced during the development and deployment of a flexible and readily deployable web tool capable of coping with the requirements of different countries for data collection, during either a public health emergency or an ordinary influenza season. Even though the system is based on previous successful experience, the implementation in each new country represented a separate scientific challenge. Only after more than 5 years of development are the existing platforms based on a plug-and-play tool that can be promptly deployed in any country wishing to be part of the Influenzanet network, now composed of The Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, the UK, France, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, and Denmark

Magnetoacoustic shocks as driver of quiet Sun mottles

We present high spatial and high temporal resolution observations of the quiet Sun in H-alpha obtained with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope on La Palma. We observe that many mottles, jet-like features in the quiet Sun, display clear up- and downward motions along their main axis. In addition, many mottles show vigorous transverse displacements. Unique identification of the mottles throughout their lifetime is much harder than for their active region counterpart, dynamic fibrils. This is because many seem to lack a sharply defined edge at their top, and significant fading often occurs throughout their lifetime. For those mottles that can be reliably tracked, we find that the mottle tops often undergo parabolic paths. We find a linear correlation between the deceleration these mottles undergo and the maximum velocity they reach, similar to what was found earlier for dynamic fibrils. Combined with an analysis of oscillatory properties, we conclude that at least part of the quiet Sun mottles are driven by magnetoacoustic shocks. In addition, the mixed polarity environment and vigorous dynamics suggest that reconnection may play a significant role in the formation of some quiet Sun jets.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. ApJ Letters, in pres

Quiet-Sun imaging asymmetries in NaI D1 compared with other strong Fraunhofer lines

Imaging spectroscopy of the solar atmosphere using the NaI D1 line yields marked asymmetry between the blue and red line wings: sampling a quiet-Sun area in the blue wing displays reversed granulation, whereas sampling in the red wing displays normal granulation. The MgI b2 line of comparable strength does not show this asymmetry, nor does the stronger CaII 8542 line. We demonstrate the phenomenon with near-simultaneous spectral images in NaI D1, MgI b2, and CaII 8542 from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. We then explain it with line-formation insights from classical 1D modeling and with a 3D magnetohydrodynamical simulation combined with NLTE spectral line synthesis that permits detailed comparison with the observations in a common format. The cause of the imaging asymmetry is the combination of correlations between intensity and Dopplershift modulation in granular overshoot and the sensitivity to these of the steep profile flanks of the NaI D1 line. The MgI b2 line has similar core formation but much wider wings due to larger opacity buildup and damping in the photosphere. Both lines obtain marked core asymmetry from photospheric shocks in or near strong magnetic concentrations, less from higher-up internetwork shocks that produce similar asymmetry in the spatially averaged CaII 8542 profile.Comment: Accepted by Astron & Astrophys. In each in-text citation the year links to the corresponding ADS abstract pag

Spike-in SILAC proteomic approach reveals the vitronectin as an early molecular signature of liver fibrosis in hepatitis C infections with hepatic iron overload

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced iron overload has been shown to promote liver fibrosis, steatosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The zonal-restricted histological distribution of pathological iron deposits has hampered the attempt to perform large-scale in vivo molecular investigations on the comorbidity between iron and HCV. Diagnostic and prognostic markers are not yet available to assess iron overload-induced liver fibrogenesis and progression in HCV infections. Here, by means of Spike-in SILAC proteomic approach, we first unveiled a specific membrane protein expression signature of HCV cell cultures in the presence of iron overload. Computational analysis of proteomic dataset highlighted the hepatocytic vitronectin expression as the most promising specific biomarker for iron-associated fibrogenesis in HCV infections. Next, the robustness of our in vitro findings was challenged in human liver biopsies by immunohistochemistry and yielded two major results: (i) hepatocytic vitronectin expression is associated to liver fibrogenesis in HCV-infected patients with iron overload; (ii) hepatic vitronectin expression was found to discriminate also the transition between mild to moderate fibrosis in HCV-infected patients without iron overload. \uc2\ua9 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Spike-in SILAC proteomic approach reveals the vitronectin as an early molecular signature of liver fibrosis in hepatitis C infections with hepatic iron overload

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-induced iron overload has been shown to promote liver fibrosis, steatosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The zonal-restricted histological distribution of pathological iron deposits has hampered the attempt to perform large-scale in vivo molecular investigations on the comorbidity between iron and HCV. Diagnostic and prognostic markers are not yet available to assess iron overload-induced liver fibrogenesis and progression in HCV infections. Here, by means of Spike-in SILAC proteomic approach, we first unveiled a specific membrane protein expression signature of HCV cell cultures in the presence of iron overload. Computational analysis of proteomic dataset highlighted the hepatocytic vitronectin expression as the most promising specific biomarker for iron-associated fibrogenesis in HCV infections. Next, the robustness of our in vitro findings was challenged in human liver biopsies by immunohistochemistry and yielded two major results: (i) hepatocytic vitronectin expression is associated to liver fibrogenesis in HCV-infected patients with iron overload; (ii) hepatic vitronectin expression was found to discriminate also the transition between mild to moderate fibrosis in HCV-infected patients without iron overload. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

The second flight of the SUNRISE balloon-borne solar observatory: overview of instrument updates, the flight, the data and first results

The SUNRISE balloon-borne solar observatory, consisting of a 1~m aperture telescope that provided a stabilized image to a UV filter imager and an imaging vector polarimeter, carried out its second science flight in June 2013. It provided observations of parts of active regions at high spatial resolution, including the first high-resolution images in the Mg~{\sc ii}~k line. The obtained data are of very high quality, with the best UV images reaching the diffraction limit of the telescope at 3000~\AA\ after Multi-Frame Blind Deconvolution reconstruction accounting for phase-diversity information. Here a brief update is given of the instruments and the data reduction techniques, which includes an inversion of the polarimetric data. Mainly those aspects that evolved compared with the first flight are described. A tabular overview of the observations is given. In addition, an example time series of a part of the emerging active region NOAA AR~11768 observed relatively close to disk centre is described and discussed in some detail. The observations cover the pores in the trailing polarity of the active region, as well as the polarity inversion line where flux emergence was ongoing and a small flare-like brightening occurred in the course of the time series. The pores are found to contain magnetic field strengths ranging up to 2500~G and, while large pores are clearly darker and cooler than the quiet Sun in all layers of the photosphere, the temperature and brightness of small pores approach or even exceed those of the quiet Sun in the upper photosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa