Overcoming the barriers to implementing urban road user charging schemes

Urban road user charging offers the potential to achieve significant improvements in urban transport, but is notoriously difficult to implement. Cities need guidance on the range of factors to be considered in planning and implementing such schemes. This paper summarises the results of a 3 year programme which has collated evidence on the issues of most concern to cities. A state of the art report has provided evidence on 14 themes, ranging from objectives and design to implementation and evaluation. A set of 16 case studies has reviewed experience in design and implementation across Europe. The paper summarises their findings, provides references to more detailed information, presents the resulting policy recommendations to European, national and local government, and outlines the areas in which further research is needed

A generalized empirical interpolation method : application of reduced basis techniques to data assimilation

In an effort to extend the classical lagrangian interpolation tools, new interpolating methods that use general interpolating functions are explored. The method analyzed in this paper, called Generalized Empirical Interpolation Method (GEIM), belongs to this class of new techniques. It generalizes the plain Empirical Interpolation Method by replacing the evaluation at interpolating points by application of a class of interpolating linear functions. The paper is divided into two parts: first, the most basic properties of GEIM (such as the well-posedness of the generalized interpolation problem that is derived) will be analyzed. On a second part, a numerical example will illustrate how GEIM, if considered from a reduced basis point of view, can be used for the real-time reconstruction of experiments by coupling data assimilation with numerical simulations in a domain decomposition framework

Damping of liquid sloshing by foams

When a container is set in motion, the free surface of the liquid starts to oscillate or slosh. Such effects can be observed when a glass of water is handled carelessly and the fluid sloshes or even spills over the rims of the container. However, beer does not slosh as readily as water, which suggests that foam could be used to damp sloshing. In this work, we study experimentally the effect on sloshing of a liquid foam placed on top of a liquid bath. We generate a monodisperse two-dimensional liquid foam in a rectangular container and track the motion of the foam. The influence of the foam on the sloshing dynamics is experimentally characterized: only a few layers of bubbles are sufficient to significantly damp the oscillations. We rationalize our experimental findings with a model that describes the foam contribution to the damping coefficient through viscous dissipation on the walls of the container. Then we extend our study to confined three-dimensional liquid foam and observe that the behavior of 2D and confined 3D systems are very similar. Thus we conclude that only the bubbles close to the walls have a significant impact on the dissipation of energy. The possibility to damp liquid sloshing using foam is promising in numerous industrial applications such as the transport of liquefied gas in tankers or for propellants in rocket engines.Comment: 17 pages, accepted in Physics of Fluid

Expression of Distal-less, dachshund, and optomotor blind in Neanthes arenaceodentata (Annelida, Nereididae) does not support homology of appendage-forming mechanisms across the Bilateria

The similarity in the genetic regulation of arthropod and vertebrate appendage formation has been interpreted as the product of a plesiomorphic gene network that was primitively involved in bilaterian appendage development and co-opted to build appendages (in modern phyla) that are not historically related as structures. Data from lophotrochozoans are needed to clarify the pervasiveness of plesiomorphic appendage forming mechanisms. We assayed the expression of three arthropod and vertebrate limb gene orthologs, Distal-less (Dll), dachshund (dac), and optomotor blind (omb), in direct-developing juveniles of the polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata. Parapodial Dll expression marks premorphogenetic notopodia and neuropodia, becoming restricted to the bases of notopodial cirri and to ventral portions of neuropodia. In outgrowing cephalic appendages, Dll activity is primarily restricted to proximal domains. Dll expression is also prominent in the brain. dac expression occurs in the brain, nerve cord ganglia, a pair of pharyngeal ganglia, presumed interneurons linking a pair of segmental nerves, and in newly differentiating mesoderm. Domains of omb expression include the brain, nerve cord ganglia, one pair of anterior cirri, presumed precursors of dorsal musculature, and the same pharyngeal ganglia and presumed interneurons that express dac. Contrary to their roles in outgrowing arthropod and vertebrate appendages, Dll, dac, and omb lack comparable expression in Neanthes appendages, implying independent evolution of annelid appendage development. We infer that parapodia and arthropodia are not structurally or mechanistically homologous (but their primordia might be), that Dll’s ancestral bilaterian function was in sensory and central nervous system differentiation, and that locomotory appendages possibly evolved from sensory outgrowths

Drosophila errantiviruses

Retroelements with long-terminal repeats (LTRs) inhabit nearly all eukaryotic genomes. During the time of their rich evolutionary history they have developed highly diverse forms, ranging from ordinary retrotransposons to complex pathogenic retroviruses such as HIV-I. Errantiviruses are a group of insect endogenous LTR elements that share structural and functional features with vertebrate endogenous retroviruses. The errantiviruses illustrate one of the evolutionary strategies of retrotransposons to become infective, which together with their similarities to vertebrate retroviruses make them an attractive object of research promising to shed more light on the evolution of retroviruses

Reduced basis approximation and a posteriori error estimation for the time-dependent viscous Burgers’ equation

In this paper we present rigorous a posteriori L 2 error bounds for reduced basis approximations of the unsteady viscous Burgers’ equation in one space dimension. The a posteriori error estimator, derived from standard analysis of the error-residual equation, comprises two key ingredients—both of which admit efficient Offline-Online treatment: the first is a sum over timesteps of the square of the dual norm of the residual; the second is an accurate upper bound (computed by the Successive Constraint Method) for the exponential-in-time stability factor. These error bounds serve both Offline for construction of the reduced basis space by a new POD-Greedy procedure and Online for verification of fidelity. The a posteriori error bounds are practicable for final times (measured in convective units) T≈O(1) and Reynolds numbers ν[superscript −1]≫1; we present numerical results for a (stationary) steepening front for T=2 and 1≤ν[superscript −1]≤200.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR Grant FA9550-05-1-0114)United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR Grant FA-9550-07-1-0425)Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technolog

In- and out-plane transport properties of chemical vapor deposited TiO2 anatase films

Due to their polymorphism, TiO2 films are quintessential components of state-of-the-art functional materials and devices for various applications from dynamic random access memory to solar water splitting. However, contrary to other semiconductors/dielectric materials, the relationship between structural/morphological and electrical properties at the nano and microscales remains unclear. In this context, the morphological characteristics of TiO2 films obtained by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), the latter including nitrogen doping, are investigated and they are linked to their in- and out-plane electrical properties. A transition from dense to tree-like columnar morphology is observed for the MOCVD films with increasing deposition temperature. It results in the decrease in grain size and the increase in porosity and disorder, and subsequently, it leads to the decrease in lateral carrier mobility. The increase in nitrogen amount in the PECVD films enhances the disorder in their pillar-like columnar morphology along with a slight increase in density. A similar behavior is observed for the out-plane current between the low temperature MOCVD films and the undoped PECVD ones. The pillar-like structure of the latter presents a lower in-plane resistivity than the low temperature MOCVD films, whereas the out-plane resistivity is lower. The tree-like columnar structure exhibits poor in- and out-plane conductivity properties, whereas pillar-like and dense TiO2 exhibits similar in- and out-plane conductivities even if their morphologies are noticeably different

Why do we need a theory and metrics of technology upgrading?

This paper discusses why we need theory and metrics of technology upgrading. It critically reviews the existing approaches to technology upgrading and motivates build-up of theoretically relevant but empirically grounded middle level conceptual and statistical framework which could illuminate a type of challenges relevant for economies at different income levels. It conceptualizes technology upgrading as three dimensional processes composed of intensity and different types of technology upgrading through various types of innovation and technology activities; broadening of technology upgrading through different forms of technology and knowledge diversification, and interaction with global economy through knowledge import, adoption and exchange. We consider this to be necessary first step towards theory and metrics of technology upgrading and generation of more relevant composite indicator of technology upgrading

Approaches and challenges to the study of loess—Introduction to the LoessFest Special Issue

In September 2016, the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research's Loess and Pedostratigraphy Focus Group, traditionally referred to as a LoessFest, met in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. The 2016 LoessFest focused on thin loess deposits and loess transportation surfaces. This LoessFest included 75 registered participants from 10 countries. Almost half of the participants were from outside the United States, and 18 of the participants were students. This review is the introduction to the special issue for Quaternary Research that originated from presentations and discussions at the 2016 LoessFest. This introduction highlights current understanding and ongoing work on loess in various regions of the world and provides brief summaries of some of the current approaches/strategies used to study loess deposits

Synthesis and solution properties of a temperature-responsive PNIPAM–b-PDMS–b-PNIPAM triblock copolymer

In this paper, we report the synthesis and self-assembly of a novel thermoresponsive PNIPAM60–b-PDMS70–b-PNIPAM60 triblock copolymer in aqueous solution. The copolymer used a commercially available precursor modified with an atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiator to produce an ABA triblock copolymer via ATRP. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was used to shed light on the structures of nanoparticles formed in aqueous solutions of this copolymer at two temperatures, 25 and 40 °C. The poly(dimethylsiloxane) block is very hydrophobic and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) is thermoresponsive. SANS data at 25 °C indicates that the solutions of PNIPAM–b-PDMS–b-PNIPAM copolymers form well-defined aggregates with presumably core–shell structures below cloud point temperature. The scattering curves originating from nanoparticles formed at 40 °C in 100% D2O or 100% H2O were successfully fitted with the Beaucage model describing aggregates with hierarchical structure