Sustainability Analysis Of Intelligent Transportation Systems

Commuters in urban areas suffer from traffic congestion on a daily basis. The increasing number of vehicles and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are exacerbating this congested roadway problem for society. Although literature contains numerous studies that strive to propose solutions to this congestion problem, the problem is still prevalent today. Traffic congestion problem affects society’s quality of life socially, economically, and environmentally. In order to alleviate the unsustainable impacts of the congested roadway problem, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) has been utilized to improve sustainable transportation systems in the world. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the sustainable impacts and performance of the utilization of ITS in the United States. This thesis advances the body of knowledge of sustainability impacts of ITS related congestion relief through a triple bottom line (TBL) evaluation in the United States. TBL impacts analyze from a holistic perspective, rather than considering only the direct economic benefits. A critical approach to this research was to include both the direct and the indirect environmental and socio-economic impacts associated with the chain of supply paths of traffic congestion relief. To accomplish this aim, net benefits of ITS implementations are analyzed in 101 cities in the United States. In addition to the state level results, seven metropolitan cities in Florida are investigated in detail among these 101 cities. For instance, the results of this study indicated that Florida saved 1.38 E+05 tons of greenhouse gas emissions (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent), $420 million of annual delay reduction costs, and$17.2 million of net fuel-based costs. Furthermore, to quantify the relative impact and sustainability performance of different ITS technologies, several ITS solutions are analyzed in terms of total costs (initial and operation & maintenance costs) and benefits (value of time, emissions, and safety). To account for the uncertainty in benefit and cost ii analyses, a fuzzy-data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology is utilized instead of the traditional DEA approach for sustainability performance analysis. The results using the fuzzy-DEA approach indicate that some of the ITS investments are not efficient compared to other investments where as all of them are highly effective investments in terms of the cost/benefit ratios approach. The TBL results of this study provide more comprehensive picture of socio-economic benefits which include the negative and indirect indicators and environmental benefits for ITS related congestion relief. In addition, sustainability performance comparisons and TBL analysis of ITS investments contained encouraging results to support decision makers to pursue ITS projects in the future

A System Dynamics Approach on Sustainability Assessment of the United States Urban Commuter Transportation

Transportation sector is one of the largest emission sources and is a cause for human health concern due to the high dependency on personal vehicle in the U.S. Transportation mode choice studies are currently limited to micro- and regional-level boundaries, lacking of presenting a complete picture of the issues, and the root causes associated with urban passenger transportation choices in the U.S. Hence, system dynamics modeling approach is utilized to capture complex causal relationships among the critical system parameters affecting alternative transportation mode choices in the U.S. as well as to identify possible policy areas to improve alternative transportation mode choice rates for future years up to 2050. Considering the high degree of uncertainties inherent to the problem, multivariate sensitivity analysis is utilized to explore the effectiveness of existing and possible policy implications in dynamic model in the terms of their potential to increase transit ridership and locating critical parameters that influences the most on mode choice and emission rates. Finally, the dissertation advances the current body of knowledge by integrating discrete event simulation (multinomial fractional split model) and system dynamics for hybrid urban commuter transportation simulation to test new scenarios such as autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption along with traditional policy scenarios such as limiting lane-mile increase on roadways and introducing carbon tax policy on vehicle owners. Overall, the developed simulation models clearly indicate the importance of urban structures to secure the future of alternative transportation modes in the U.S. as the prevailing policy practices fail to change system behavior. Thus, transportation system needs a paradigm shift to radically change current impacts and the market penetration of AVs can be one of the reforms to provoke this transition since it is expected to revolutionize mode choice, emission trends, and the built environment

New CagL amino acid polymorphism patterns of helicobacter pylori in peptic ulcer and non-ulcer dyspepsia

Background and Objectives: Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with chronic gastritis, ulcers, and gastric cancer. The H. pylori Type 4 secretion system (T4SS) translocates the CagA protein into host cells and plays an essential role in initiating gastric carcinogenesis. The CagL protein is a component of the T4SS. CagL amino acid polymorphisms are correlated with clinical outcomes. We aimed to study the association between CagL amino acid polymorphisms and peptic ulcer disease (PUD) and non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD). Materials and Methods: A total of 99 patients (PUD, 46; NUD, 53) were enrolled and screened for H. pylori by qPCR from antrum biopsy samples. The amino acid polymorphisms of CagL were analyzed using DNA sequencing, followed by the MAFFT sequence alignment program to match the amino acid sequences. Results: Antrum biopsy samples from 70 out of 99 (70.7%) patients were found to be H. pylori DNA-positive. A positive band for cagL was detected in 42 out of 70 samples (PUD, 23; NUD, 19), and following this, these 42 samples were sequenced. In total, 27 different polymorphisms were determined. We determined three CagL amino acid polymorphism combinations, which were determined to be associated with PUD and NUD. Pattern 1 (K35/N122/V134/T175/R194/E210) was only detected in PUD patient samples and was related to a 1.35-fold risk (p = 0.02). Patterns 2 (V41/I134) and 3 (V41/K122/A171/I174) were found only in NUD patient samples and were linked to a 1.26-fold increased risk (p = 0.03). Conclusions: We observed three new patterns associated with PUD and NUD. Pattern 1 is related to PUD, and the other two patterns (Patterns 2 and 3) are related to NUD. The patterns that we identified include the remote polymorphisms of the CagL protein, which is a new approach. These patterns may help to understand the course of H. pylori infection.Istanbul Aydin University Scientific Research Projects Uni

Volume CXIV, Number 4, November 7, 1996

Objective: Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder caused by complete or partial X chromosome monosomy that manifests various clinical features depending on the karyotype and on the genetic background of affected girls. This study aimed to systematically investigate the key clinical features of TS in relationship to karyotype in a large pediatric Turkish patient population.Methods: Our retrospective study included 842 karyotype-proven TS patients aged 0-18 years who were evaluated in 35 different centers in Turkey in the years 2013-2014.Results: The most common karyotype was 45,X (50.7%), followed by 45,X/46,XX (10.8%), 46,X,i(Xq) (10.1%) and 45,X/46,X,i(Xq) (9.5%). Mean age at diagnosis was 10.2±4.4 years. The most common presenting complaints were short stature and delayed puberty. Among patients diagnosed before age one year, the ratio of karyotype 45,X was significantly higher than that of other karyotype groups. Cardiac defects (bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta and aortic stenosis) were the most common congenital anomalies, occurring in 25% of the TS cases. This was followed by urinary system anomalies (horseshoe kidney, double collector duct system and renal rotation) detected in 16.3%. Hashimoto's thyroiditis was found in 11.1% of patients, gastrointestinal abnormalities in 8.9%, ear nose and throat problems in 22.6%, dermatologic problems in 21.8% and osteoporosis in 15.3%. Learning difficulties and/or psychosocial problems were encountered in 39.1%. Insulin resistance and impaired fasting glucose were detected in 3.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Dyslipidemia prevalence was 11.4%.Conclusion: This comprehensive study systematically evaluated the largest group of karyotype-proven TS girls to date. The karyotype distribution, congenital anomaly and comorbidity profile closely parallel that from other countries and support the need for close medical surveillance of these complex patients throughout their lifespa

On the Front Lines of a Sustainable Transportation Fleet: Applications of Vehicle-to-Grid Technology for Transit and School Buses

The electricity generation/supply and transportation sectors are the two largest contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S., and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is a rapidly emerging solution to reduce these emissions with the adoption of battery-electric (BE) vehicles. Deployments of BE transit and school buses are expected to have larger battery capacities than passenger vehicles, making them more feasible candidates for V2G service. Five electricity generation regions are considered for cash flow analysis of BE and diesel transit and school buses over their entire respective lifetimes with the allowance of V2G services’ net revenue. Besides, the environmental benefits of using the V2G system are studied in place of combustion power generation plants for the regulation services of each study region. Air emission externalities are another crucial issue for bus operations because buses are operated near highly populated areas, so these externalities are also studied in this research with the benefits of a V2G emission reduction potential taken into account. The analysis concluded that BE transit and school buses with V2G application have potential to reduce electricity generation related greenhouse-gas emissions by 1067 and 1420 tons of CO2 equivalence (average), and eliminate $13,000 and$18,300 air pollution externalities (average), respectively

A Hybrid Life Cycle Assessment Of Public Transportation Buses With Alternative Fuel Options

Purpose: Alternative fuel options are gaining popularity in the vehicle market. Adopting alternative fuel options for public transportation compared to passenger vehicles contributes exponentially to reductions in transportation-related environmental impacts. Therefore, this study aims to present total air pollutant emissions and water withdrawal impacts through the lifetime of a transit bus with different fuel options. Methods: In consideration of market share and future development trends, diesel, biodiesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hybrid (diesel-electric), and battery electric (BE) transit buses are analyzed with an input-output (IO)-based hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) model. In order to accommodate the sensitivity of total impacts to fuel economy, three commonly used driving cycles are considered: Manhattan, Central Business District (CBD), and Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA). Fuel economy for each of these driving cycles varies over the year with other impacts, so a normal distribution of fuel economy is developed with a Monte Carlo simulation model for each driving cycle and corresponding fuel type. Results and discussion: Impacts from a solar panel (photovoltaic, PV) charging scenario and different grid mix scenarios are evaluated and compared to the nation’s average grid mix impacts from energy generation to accommodate the lifetime electricity needs for the BE transit bus. From these results, it was found that the BE transit bus causes significantly low CO2 emissions than diesel and other alternative fuel options, while some of the driving cycles of the hybrid-powered transit bus cause comparable emissions to BE transit bus. On the other hand, lifetime water withdrawal impacts of the diesel and hybrid options are more feasible compared to other options, since electricity generation and natural gas manufacturing are both heavily dependent on water withdrawal. In addition, the North American Electricity Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) regional electricity grid mix impacts on CO2 emissions and water withdrawal are presented for the BE transit bus. Conclusions: As an addition of current literature, LCA of alternative fuel options was performed in this paper for transit buses with the consideration of a wide variety of environmental indicators. Although the results indicate that BE and hybrid-powered buses have less environmental emissions, the US’s dependency on fossil fuel for electricity generation continues to yield significant lifetime impacts on BE transit bus operation. With respect to water withdrawal impacts, we believe that the adoption of BE transit buses will be faster and more environmentally feasible for some NREC regions than for others

Life Cycle Based Multi-Criteria Optimization For Optimal Allocation Of Commercial Delivery Truck Fleet In The United States

Parcel delivery trucks, due to their intensive stop-and-go operational patterns, have relative lower fuel efficiency and higher environmental impacts to urban areas. The adoption of alternative fuel trucks may mitigate the environmental impacts, however, the first cost of these trucks is higher than those of traditional diesel trucks. To this end, based on environmental, social, and economic indicators, a model that provides optimized solutions for a fleet consists of 30 commercial delivery trucks is studied in this paper. An economic input–output based hybrid life cycle assessment is performed in conjunction with Multi-Objective Linear Programming to evaluate various delivery truck fleet combinations and to provide a comprehensive analysis of fleet performance. Furthermore, six specific scenarios, representing different utilization levels and fuel economy levels, have been taken into consideration to reflect the sensitivity of fleet performance with respect to real word operation. The performances of the vehicles are evaluated based on three criteria: economic aspects, environmental concerns, and public health impacts. Furthermore, the results are considered from two perspectives, the first being a case in which no constraints are taken into account, and the second case being considered under tailpipe emission constraints. The results indicate that when fuel economy is high and annual mileage is low, current diesel trucks are able to fulfill the requirement in both cases with reasonably low costs. Conversely, in scenarios with low fuel economy and high utilization levels, hybrid vehicles are preferred. However, the optimization model selects more electric trucks when tailpipe emission constraints are accounted

Does A Battery-Electric Truck Make A Difference? – Life Cycle Emissions, Costs, And Externality Analysis Of Alternative Fuel-Powered Class 8 Heavy-Duty Trucks In The United States

Attempting to gain insights from how alternative fuel technologies employed in heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) differ with respect to their life-cycle emissions, costs, and externalities presents an important opportunity to develop a more holistic overall analysis of future HDTs. To this end, this study uses a hybrid life-cycle assessment method to analyze and compare alternative fuel-powered Class 8 HDTs. To account for the uncertainty in the data a Monte Carlo simulation is also applied. The HDTs considered in this analysis (biodiesel (B20), compressed natural gas (CNG), hybrid, and BE HDTs) are compared to the diesel HDT (conventional HDT). The results show that BE HDTs outperform all other types of trucks overall, despite their incremental costs and electricity generation-related emissions. Furthermore, if such a BE truck were to run on electricity generated in the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) NERC region, fuel-consumption related GHGs emissions from BE HDTs could decrease by as much as 63 percent. It has also been found that, although there is a slight difference between the life-cycle costs (LCCs) of conventional HDTs and CNG-powered HDTs, the latter emits 33% more GHGs than the former. Moreover, this study concludes that CNG trucks yield no improvements in either HDT\u27s life-cycle environmental impacts or LCCs compared to their conventional counterparts. Providing that electricity is generated from renewable energy sources, the use of BE trucks would significantly improve the life-cycle performance of a truck as well as ambient air quality