A passenger flow oriented security and safety approach in international railway stations

TRA 2018, 7th Transport Research Arena, Vienne, AUTRICHE, 16-/04/2018 - 19/04/2018; In the context of the Franco-German research project Re(h)strain, this work focuses on a global system analysis integrating both safety and security analysis of international and/or urban railway stations. The Re(h)strain project focuses on terrorist attacks on high speed train systems and investigates prevention and mitigation measures to reduce the overall vulnerability and strengthen the system resilience. One main criterion regarding public transport issues is the number of passengers. For example, the railway station of Paris 'Gare du Nord' deals with a bigger number of passengers than the biggest airport in the world (SNCF open Data 2014), the Atlanta airport, but in terms of passengers, it is only around the 23rd rank railway station in the world. Due to the enormous mass of people, this leads to the system approach of breaking out the station into several classes of zones, e.g. entrance, main hall, quays, trains, etc. All classes are analysed considering state-of-the-art parameters, like targets attractiveness, feasibility of attack, possible damage, possible mitigation and defences. Then, safety incidence of security defence is discussed in order to refine security requirement with regard to the considered zone. Finally, global requirements of security defence correlated to the corresponding class of zones are proposed. A case study based on the works in Re(h)strain is used as an illustration to demonstrate how the above-mentioned security and safety requirements may be implemented and handled at train stations. Therefore, the different security measures proposed for an unaffected flow of passengers are correlated to existing ones, such as video surveillance and security personal patrolling. The results of sensor set-ups realised within the project and tested in real environment show new ways of implementing innovative techniques to security applications. Depending on the technology, sensor portals at the entrances of train stations or sensor nodes distributed throughout the station increase the level of protection achievable for the detection of threats as part of preventive security concepts. The fusion of data gained by different sensor systems, including person-tracking by non-visual object recognition and trailing, enables a core function of a security assistance system. This assistance system makes security personnel aware of threats and the location of possible carriers of suspicious material as a prior condition to successful intervention measures. The high level of automation reduces human intervention to a minimum. In the conclusion it will be recommended to think of international railway stations as complex interconnected systems which are made for sharing traffic flows. It means that thinking about local solutions may produce safety problems to connected zones due to possible overcrowding. Document type: Conference objec

secondary results of a randomized phase III trial (SAKK 10/94)

Background To analyze the impact of weight loss before and during chemoradiation on survival outcomes in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. Methods From 07/1994-07/2000 a total of 224 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were randomized to either hyperfractionated radiation therapy alone or the same radiation therapy combined with two cycles of concomitant cisplatin. The primary endpoint was time to any treatment failure (TTF); secondary endpoints were locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS). Patient weight was measured 6 months before treatment, at treatment start and treatment end. Results The proportion of patients with >5% weight loss was 32% before, and 51% during treatment, and the proportion of patients with >10% weight loss was 12% before, and 17% during treatment. After a median follow-up of 9.5 years (range, 0.1 – 15.4 years) weight loss before treatment was associated with decreased TTF, LRRFS, DMFS, cancer specific survival and OS in a multivariable analysis. However, weight loss during treatment was not associated with survival outcomes. Conclusions Weight loss before and during chemoradiation was commonly observed. Weight loss before but not during treatment was associated with worse survival

Understanding and Visualizing Droplet Distributions in Simulations of Shallow Clouds

Thorough analysis of local droplet-level interactions is crucial to better understand the microphysical processes in clouds and their effect on the global climate. High-accuracy simulations of relevant droplet size distributions from Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of bin microphysics challenge current analysis techniques due to their high dimensionality involving three spatial dimensions, time, and a continuous range of droplet sizes. Utilizing the compact latent representations from Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), we produce novel and intuitive visualizations for the organization of droplet sizes and their evolution over time beyond what is possible with clustering techniques. This greatly improves interpretation and allows us to examine aerosol-cloud interactions by contrasting simulations with different aerosol concentrations. We find that the evolution of the droplet spectrum is similar across aerosol levels but occurs at different paces. This similarity suggests that precipitation initiation processes are alike despite variations in onset times.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted at NeurIPS 2023 (Machine Learning and the Physical Sciences Workshop

Beyond Einstein-Cartan gravity: Quadratic torsion and curvature invariants with even and odd parity including all boundary terms

Recently, gravitational gauge theories with torsion have been discussed by an increasing number of authors from a classical as well as from a quantum field theoretical point of view. The Einstein-Cartan(-Sciama-Kibble) Lagrangian has been enriched by the parity odd pseudoscalar curvature (Hojman, Mukku, and Sayed) and by torsion square and curvature square pieces, likewise of even and odd parity. (i) We show that the inverse of the so-called Barbero-Immirzi parameter multiplying the pseudoscalar curvature, because of the topological Nieh-Yan form, can only be appropriately discussed if torsion square pieces are included. (ii) The quadratic gauge Lagrangian with both parities, proposed by Obukhov et al. and Baekler et al., emerges also in the framework of Diakonov et al.(2011). We establish the exact relations between both approaches by applying the topological Euler and Pontryagin forms in a Riemann-Cartan space expressed for the first time in terms of irreducible pieces of the curvature tensor. (iii) Only in a Riemann-Cartan spacetime, that is, in a spacetime with torsion, parity violating terms can be brought into the gravitational Lagrangian in a straightforward and natural way. Accordingly, Riemann-Cartan spacetime is a natural habitat for chiral fermionic matter fields.Comment: 12 page latex, as version 2 an old file was submitted by mistake, this is now the real corrected fil

Theoretical upper bound on the mass of the LSP in the MNSSM

We study the neutralino sector of the Minimal Non-minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MNSSM) where the $\mu$ problem of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is solved without accompanying problems related with the appearance of domain walls. In the MNSSM as in the MSSM the lightest neutralino can be the absolutely stable lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) providing a good candidate for the cold dark matter component of the Universe. In contrast with the MSSM the allowed range of the mass of the lightest neutralino in the MNSSM is limited. We establish the theoretical upper bound on the lightest neutralino mass in the framework of this model and obtain an approximate solution for this mass.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, references adde

Lower Fasting Muscle Mitochondrial Activity Relates to Hepatic Steatosis in Humans

OBJECTIVE Muscle insulin resistance has been implicated in the development of steatosis and dyslipidemia by changing the partitioning of postprandial substrate fluxes. Also, insulin resistance may be due to reduced mitochondrial function. We examined the association between mitochondrial activity, insulin sensitivity, and steatosis in a larger human population. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We analyzed muscle mitochondrial activity from ATP synthase flux (fATP) and ectopic lipids by multinuclei magnetic resonance spectroscopy from 113 volunteers with and without diabetes. Insulin sensitivity was assessed from M values using euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamps and/or from oral glucose insulin sensitivity (OGIS) using oral glucose tolerance tests. RESULTS Muscle fATP correlated negatively with hepatic lipid content and HbA1c. After model adjustment for study effects and other confounders, fATP showed a strong negative correlation with hepatic lipid content and a positive correlation with insulin sensitivity and fasting C-peptide. The negative correlation of muscle fATP with age, HbA1c, and plasma free fatty acids was weakened after adjustment. Body mass, muscle lipid contents, plasma lipoproteins, and triglycerides did not associate with fATP. CONCLUSIONS The association of impaired muscle mitochondrial activity with hepatic steatosis supports the concept of a close link between altered muscle and liver energy metabolism as early abnormalities promoting insulin resistance

Comparative analysis of the lambda-interferons IL-28A and IL-29 regarding their transcriptome and their antiviral properties against hepatitis C virus.

Specific differences in signaling and antiviral properties between the different Lambda-interferons, a novel group of interferons composed of IL-28A, IL-28B and IL-29, are currently unknown. This is the first study comparatively investigating the transcriptome and the antiviral properties of the Lambda-interferons IL-28A and IL-29. Expression studies were performed by microarray analysis, quantitative PCR (qPCR), reporter gene assays and immunoluminometric assays. Signaling was analyzed by Western blot. HCV replication was measured in Huh-7 cells expressing subgenomic HCV replicon. All hepatic cell lines investigated as well as primary hepatocytes expressed both IFN-λ receptor subunits IL-10R2 and IFN-λR1. Both, IL-28A and IL-29 activated STAT1 signaling. As revealed by microarray analysis, similar genes were induced by both cytokines in Huh-7 cells (IL-28A: 117 genes; IL-29: 111 genes), many of them playing a role in antiviral immunity. However, only IL-28A was able to significantly down-regulate gene expression (n = 272 down-regulated genes). Both cytokines significantly decreased HCV replication in Huh-7 cells. In comparison to liver biopsies of patients with non-viral liver disease, liver biopsies of patients with HCV showed significantly increased mRNA expression of IL-28A and IL-29. Moreover, IL-28A serum protein levels were elevated in HCV patients. In a murine model of viral hepatitis, IL-28 expression was significantly increased. IL-28A and IL-29 are up-regulated in HCV patients and are similarly effective in inducing antiviral genes and inhibiting HCV replication. In contrast to IL-29, IL-28A is a potent gene repressor. Both IFN-λs may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of chronic HCV

Randomized Comparison of a Polymer-Free Sirolimus-Eluting Stent Versus a Polymer-Based Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus The LIPSIA Yukon Trial

ObjectivesThe objective of the study was to assess noninferiority of the polymer-free sirolimus-eluting Yukon Choice stent (Translumina GmbH, Hechingen, Germany) compared with the polymer-based Taxus Liberté stent (Boston Scientific, Natick, Massachusetts) with regard to the primary endpoint, in-stent late lumen loss, at 9 months in patients with diabetes mellitus.BackgroundThe Yukon Choice stent has been evaluated in several randomized controlled trials before, albeit to date, there has been no trial that exclusively enrolled patients with diabetes mellitus.MethodsPatients with diabetes mellitus undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for clinically significant de novo coronary artery stenosis were randomized 1:1 to receive either the polymer-free sirolimus-eluting Yukon Choice stent or the polymer-based paclitaxel-eluting Taxus Liberté stent.ResultsA total of 240 patients were randomized. Quantitative coronary angiography was available for 79% of patients. Mean in-stent late lumen loss was 0.63 ± 0.62 mm for the Yukon Choice stent and 0.45 ± 0.60 mm for the Taxus Liberté stent. Based on the pre-specified margin, the Yukon Choice stent failed to show noninferiority for the primary endpoint. During follow-up, there were no significant differences between groups regarding death, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, target lesion revascularization, target vessel revascularization, or nontarget vessel revascularization.ConclusionsCompared with the Taxus Liberté stent, the polymer-free sirolimus-eluting Yukon Choice stent failed to show noninferiority with regard to the primary endpoint, in-stent late lumen loss, in patients with diabetes mellitus after 9-month follow-up. Both stents showed comparable clinical efficacy and safety. (Yukon Choice Versus Taxus Liberté in Diabetes Mellitus; NCT00368953

The Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We review the theoretical and phenomenological aspects of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model: the Higgs sector including radiative corrections and the 2-loop beta-functions for all parameters of the general NMSSM; the tadpole and domain wall problems, baryogenesis; NMSSM phenomenology at colliders, B physics and dark matter; specific scenarios as the constrained NMSSM, Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking, U(1)'-extensions, CP and R-parity violation.Comment: 144 pages, 11 figures, corrections in Eqs.(2.2), (2.21), (B.9