Integrating perceptions of safety and bicycle theft risk in the analysis of cycling infrastructure preferences

Cycling infrastructure development is an effective but expensive urban policy to encourage people to use bicycles. Although people usually prefer infrastructure with high cycling priority, authorities in some cities have focused policies on adapting part of current motor vehicle infrastructure to increase the length and coverage of bicycle infrastructure at the road level, which can help to lower infrastructure investment costs. Perceptions are also important in developing programs to promote cycling and they may even be more important for cyclists than the reality itself. In this research, we integrated the perceptions of cycling safety and theft risk into a hybrid discrete choice model in order to better understand cycling infrastructure preferences, using Bogota, a bike-friendly city with security concerns, as a case study. We found that concerns about safety are a significant deterrent to using bike lanes at the road level in the city while perceptions of theft risk affect the value or importance that bicyclists place on travel time. Based on modeling findings we proposed hard and soft measures to encourage bicyclists to use bike lanes at the road level

Providing Diverse Trainees an Early and Transparent Introduction to Academic Appointment and Promotion Processes.

IntroductionThe growth in number of medical schools and increased numbers of faculty tracks have combined with evolving criteria for promotion to trigger a call for greater transparency of academic appointment and promotion processes. Most vulnerable to confusion about these changes are first-generation and diverse medical students and residents, the upstream pipeline of the academic medicine workforce. Diverse medical students have expressed diminished interest in academia because of perceived obstacles in appointment and promotion processes.MethodsThis workshop was designed to utilize didactics and career reflection exercises to help trainees learn: (1) how to define core terms related to academic appointment and promotion processes, (2) how to compare data elements for different CVs and portfolios, (3) common steps in submitting a promotion package, and (4) that they can immediately begin to document content for academic CVs, portfolios, and promotion packages.ResultsOne hundred forty-five diverse participants completed an evaluation at eight conferences across the U.S. More than 90% strongly agreed or agreed that the aforementioned objectives were met. Participants commented that the workshop was "illuminating," was "very informative," and "provided an inside look of how faculty are evaluated." Results showed an immediate impact on participants' self-reported confidence to negotiate appointment and promotion processes.DiscussionIncreases in self-rated confidence to negotiate appointment and promotion processes may help sustain trainees' interest in becoming future faculty. Further monitoring will be needed to determine if early exposure to these concepts improves probability of seeking, obtaining, and maintaining appointments

How do the affective and symbolic factors of private car driving influence car users’ travel behavior in a car restriction policy scenario?

The number of private car trips a person makes is usually linked to external factors such as economic incentives or disincentives, legislation, infrastructure, and the quality of transport systems, among others. The impact of these options are typically analyzed to evaluate urban transport policies and projects. However, internal factors related to an individuals' attitudes and perceptions also play an essential role in the amount of private car driving they do and on urban mobility as well. Therefore, insight into private car driving's affective and symbolic aspects is important in order to formulate appropriate transport policies and strategies to reduce car-use dependency and encourage private car drivers to use public transport. Congestion charging schemes make drivers pay the full social cost of driving, they achieve congestion reduction, pollution reduction, they make cities more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists, and help improve quality of life. Congestion charging schemes are often difficult to implement and expensive to administer. As a result of these reasons, several cities worldwide have adopted a variety of car restriction schemes that try to reduce air pollution and congestion as well, instead of establishing congestion charges. The effects of driving restrictions in the short term are positive, but in the medium and long term, there are unwanted consequences. However, by giving private car drivers the option to pay a toll so that their cars are exempted from the restriction, these perverse incentives could be eliminated. This paper analyzes the impacts of internal factors related to individuals' attitudes and perceptions about the travel behavior of car users affected by car restriction policies in urban areas. We designed a stated preference survey conducted among car owners in Cali, Colombia, where a License Plate Restriction Charging (LPRC) policy has been in place since January 2017. Through hybrid discrete choice modeling, we demonstrated that latent variables, such as the feelings of being in control, independence, and higher social status, positively influence the decision to use cars for daily trips, thus impacting the urban modal split. The heterogeneity captured through these latent variables allowed us to understand more deeply how individuals deal with the LPRC policy in order to travel to their destination

Analysing a license plate-based vehicle restriction policy with optional exemption charge: The case in Cali, Colombia

Several cities have restricted the use of private vehicles based on the last digit of a vehicle's license plate to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. However, the effectiveness of this measure has been questioned. In 2017, a hybrid scheme, License Plate Restriction Charging (LPRC), was implemented in Cali, Colombia. With this scheme, drivers can pay a charge (monthly, quarterly, or yearly) to circumvent the restriction, while the revenue is used to subsidise the BRT System. Cali was the first city in Latin America to implement such a scheme, while Colombia's capital, Bogota, adopted a similar policy in 2020. This article analyses the evolution of the measure using official information. In addition, we conducted a stated preferences survey and estimated a choice model to evaluate the behaviour of car owners to policy variables. Results show that LPRC price is the most relevant attribute in decision-making. Increasing the number of days with traffic restrictions and extending the hours of vehicle use restriction increases drivers' probability of paying for the LPRC. As currently implemented in Cali, the LPRC is a fixed cost that does not vary according to the car use level, encouraging users who pay for the exemption to use their car as much as possible to make the most out of the payment. Furthermore, the revenue from the charge contributes only marginally to financing the BRT. Finally, we propose several changes in the policy to improve its efficiency. Among them, consider a daily payment and hardening the current driving restriction. © 2023 The Author(s)APCs y acuerdos transformativos 2023, Elsevie

Reducing Unnecessary Alerts in Pedestrian Protection Systems Based on P2V Communications

There are different proposals in the literature on how to protect pedestrians using warning systems to alert drivers of their presence. They can be based on onboard perception systems or wireless communications. The evaluation of these systems has been focused on testing their ability to detect pedestrians. A problem that has received much less attention is the possibility of generating too many alerts in the warning systems. In this paper, we propose and analyze four different algorithms to take the decision on generating alerts in a warning system that is based on direct wireless communications between vehicles and pedestrians. With the algorithms, we explore different strategies to reduce unnecessary alerts. The feasibility of the implementation of the algorithms was evaluated with a deployment using real equipment, and tests were carried out to verify their behavior in real scenarios. The ability of each algorithm to reduce unnecessary alerts was evaluated with realistic simulations in an urban scenario, using a traffic simulator with vehicular and pedestrian flows. The results show the importance of tackling the problem of driver overload in warning systems, and that it is not straightforward to predict the load of alerts generated by an algorithm in a large-scale deployment, in which there are multiple interactions between vehicles and pedestrians

Influence of survey engagement and multiple-choice heuristics in the estimation of the value of a statistical life

Estimating the value of non-market goods, such as reductions in mortality risks due to traffic accidents or air pollution, is typically done using stated choice (SC) data. However, issues with potential estimation biases due to the hypothetical nature of SC experiments arise, as protest choices are common and survey engagement is not constant across respondents. Further, if respondents choose to use different choice mechanisms and this is not considered, the results may also be biased. We designed an SC experiment to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for mortality risk reductions, that allowed us to simultaneously estimate the WTP to reduce the risk of traffic accident deaths and cardiorespiratory deaths due to air pollution. We formulated and estimated a multiple heuristic latent class model that also considered two latent constructs: Institutional Belief, to consider protest responses, and survey Engagement as a class membership covariate. We found, first, that individuals with lower institutional belief gave a higher probability of choice to the status-quo alternative, shying away from programs involving governmental action. Second, that not identifying respondents who do not appropriately engage in the experiment, biased the WTP estimators. In our case WTP decreased up to 26% when two different choice heuristics were allowed for in the model. © 202

T35: a small automatic telescope for long-term observing campaigns

The T35 is a small telescope (14") equipped with a large format CCD camera installed in the Sierra Nevada Observatory (SNO) in Southern Spain. This telescope will be a useful tool for the detecting and studying pulsating stars, particularly, in open clusters. In this paper, we describe the automation process of the T35 and show also some images taken with the new instrumentation.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in the special issue "Robotic Astronomy" of Advances of Astronom

Proline derivatives incorporating hydrophobic long-chain derived from natural and synthetic fatty acids

The α-hydrophobic long chain-α-amino esters are prepared by α-hydroxylation of a series of fatty acid esters [derived from oleic acid (OA), linoleic acid (LA), arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] followed by Mitsunobu reaction and hydrazinolysis of the phthalimide. These amino esters are mixed with aldehydes and electrophilic alkenes to give very good chemical yields and diastereoselectivities of prolinate derivatives incorporating a hydrophobic long chain at the α-position. This multicomponent 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (1,3-DC) takes place at room temperature. The synthesis of the homologue hydrophobic chain of OA is performed by its oxidation to aldehyde/racemic N-tert-butylsulfinyl imine/Neff reaction. Final 1,3-DC with benzaldehyde and N-methylmaleimide affords homologue prolinate derivative in good yield.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministerio Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (projects CTQ2013-43446-P and CTQ2014-51912-REDC), the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, EU) (projects CTQ2016-76782-P and CTQ2016-81797-REDC), the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/017), Medalchemy, S. L. and the University of Alicante. E. S.-M. thanks Medalchemy, S. L./UA for a predoctoral fellowship

Environmental risk assessment of PPP application in European soils and potential ecosystem service losses considering impacts on non-target organisms

The use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) is leading to high exposure scenarios with potential risk to soil organisms, including non-target species. Assessment of the effects of PPPs on non-target organisms is one of the most important components of environmental risk assessment (ERA) since they play crucial functions in ecosystems, being main driving forces in different soil processes. As part of the framework, EFSA is proposing the use of the ecosystem services approach for setting specific protection goals. In fact, the services provided by soil organisms can be impacted by the misuse of PPPs in agroecosystems. The aim of this work was to assess PPPs potential risk upon ecosystem services along European soils, considering impacts on earthworms and collembola. Four well-known (2 insecticides-esfenvalerate and cyclaniliprole- and 2 fungicides - picoxystrobin and fenamidone-) worst case application (highest recommended application) were studied; exploring approaches for linked observed effects with impacts on ecosystem services, accounting for their mode of action (MoA), predicted exposure, time-course effects in Eisenia fetida and Folsomia sp. and landscape variability. The selected fungicides exerted more effects than insecticides on E. fetida, whereas few effects were reported for both pesticides regarding Folsomia sp. The most impacted ecosystem services after PPP application to crops appeared to be habitat provision, soil formation and retention, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, erosion regulation, soil remediation/waste treatment and pest and disease regulation. The main factors to be taken into account for a correct PPP use management in crops are discussed.This work has been partially funded by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) through the grant NP/EFSA/AFSCO/2016/03. The author Miguel J.G. Santos is employed with the EFSA in the PREV Unit. The author Jose V Tarazona was employed by EFSA until October 2022. The present article is published under the sole responsibility of the au thors and may not be considered as an EFSA scientific output. The po sitions and opinions presented in this article are those of the authors alone and do not represent the views of EFSA.S

The 2016 seismic series in the south Alboran Sea: Seismotectonics, Coulomb Failure Stress changes and implications for the active tectonics in the area

The Southern Alboran Sea, particularly the area offshore Al Hoceima Bay, presents moderate but continuous seismic activity since the Mw 6.0 1994 Al Hoceima earthquake. The maximum magnitude occurred in the area was a Mw 6.3 earthquake in the 2004 Al Hoceima – Tamasint seismic series. Since then, the seismicity in the Al Hoceima area has been usual, with maximum seismic magnitudes around 4. An increase in the seismic rate was registered during 2015, especially from May, culminating in the seismic series in January 2016. The mainshock occurred on January 25th 2016 with a magnitude Mw 6.3 and it was preceded by a Mw 5.1 foreshock on January 21st. The seismic series took place at the western end of the Alboran Ridge. Towards the northeast the Alboran Ridge bends, and seems to be connected with the NW-SE right-lateral transtensional Yusuf Fault. The recorded seismicity is mainly located in the Alboran Ridge area and along the N-S Al-Idrisi Fault that seems to continue southwards, towards the Al Hoceima Bay. The focal mechanisms calculated previously in the area showed a leftlateral strike-slip faulting with some normal component in the Alboran Ridge; but always within a complex system of diffuse deformation and high rupture type variability. We have used 41 computed focal mechanisms of this seismic series to analyze its seismotectonics and structural characteristics. To group the focal mechanisms we used a clustering algorithm using the spatial distribution of the events and also the type of rupture mechanism. For each cluster we have obtained the composed focal mechanism, associating it to a particular fault or family of structures. We have tested the mechanical compatibility of these structures by Coulomb Failure Stress transfer modeling. The mainshock of the series occurred in the Al Idrisi Fault intersecting the western Alboran Ridge. This event triggered aftershocks and independent series in left-lateral strike-slip faults associated with the Al Idrisi Fault System towards the south, but also in near pure reverse faults in the fault zone bounding the the Alboran Ridge. Both types of faults and rupture-mechanisms coexist, linked mechanically by stress transfer, being coeval the uplift of the Alboran Ridge and its northwestward displacement due to the left-lateral motion of the Al-Idrisi Fault. It is also discussed how the contrasting faulting processes and seismic ruptures are developed in two differentially oriented fault zones in the context the current NW-SE plate convergence between the African and Eurasian plates in the Westernmost Mediterranean