Service network design for emerging modes in air transport: autonomous airport inter-terminal bus shuttle and air metro

Emerging modes of air transport such as autonomous airport shuttle and air taxi are potentially efficient alternatives to current transport practices such as bus and train. This thesis examines bus shuttle service within an airport and air metro as two examples of network design. Within an airport, the bus shuttle serves passengers between the terminals, train stations, parking lots, hotels, and shopping areas. Air metro is a type of pre-planned service in urban air mobility that accommodates passengers for intra- or inter-city trips. The problems are to optimise the service, and the outputs including the optimal fleet size, dispatch pattern and schedule. Based on the proposed time-space networks, the service network design problems are formulated as mixed integer linear programs. The heterogeneous multi-type bus fleet case and stochastic demand case are extended for the airport shuttle case, while a rolling horizon optimisation is adopted for the air metro case. In the autonomous airport inter-terminal bus shuttle case, a Monte Carlo simulation-based approach is proposed to solve the case with demand stochasticity, which is then further embedded into an "effective" passenger demand framework. The "effective" demand is the summation of mean demand value and a safety margin. By comparing the proposed airport shuttle service to the current one, it is found that the proposed service can save approximately 27% of the total system cost. The results for stochastic problem suggest estimating the safety margin to be 0.3675 times of the standard deviation brings the best performance. For the second case, the service network design is extended with a pilot scheduling layer and simulation is undertaken to compare the autonomous (pilot-less) and piloted service design. The results suggest that an autonomous air metro service would be preferable if the price of an autonomous aircraft is less than 1.6 times the price of a human-driven one. The results for rolling horizon optimisation suggest to confirm the actual demand at least 45 minutes prior to departure. Based on data from the Sydney (Australia) region, the thesis provides information directly relevant for the service network design of emerging modes of air transport in the city

Evaluation of Effectiveness of Speed Reduction Markings on Driving Speed in Highway Tunnel Entrance and Exit Areas

Tunnels are critical areas for highway safety because the severity of crashes in tunnels tends to be more serious. Controlling vehicle speed is regarded as a feasible measure to reduce the accident rate in the tunnel entrance and exit areas. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of three types of speed reduction markings (SRMs) in tunnel entrance and exit zones by conducting a driving simulation experiment. For this study, 25 drivers completed the driving tasks in the day and night scenarios. The vehicle speed and acceleration data were collected for analysing and the relative speed contrast, time mean speed and acceleration were adopted as indices to evaluate the effectiveness of SRMs. The repeated ANOVA test results revealed that SRMs have a significant effect in reducing vehicle speed, especially in the exit zone. Colour Anti-skid Markings (CASMs) produced a more obvious deceleration in the entrance zone. In the entrance zone, a similar downward trend was performed in the situation of NSRMs and SRMs, but a lower speed occurred in case of SRMs. Besides, CASMs work better and cause an obvious gap of 10 km/h in daytime and 5 km/h at night compared to the speed without SRMs. In the exit zone, the present study supports the conclusion that the drivers are prone to accelerate. Our results showed that the drivers accelerated in case of NSRMs, while they slowed down in case of SRMs. Thus, SRMs are necessarily implemented in the highway tunnel entrance and exit zones. Our study also indicates that though CASMs result in lower speed at night, the Transverse Speed Reduction Markings(TSRMs) have a better performance than CASMs in daytime. The investigation provides essential information for developing a new marking design criterion and intelligent driver support systems in the highway tunnel zones.</p

Characterization of viral infections in children with influenza-like-illness during December 2018–January 2019

IntroductionRespiratory viral infection (RVI) is of very concern after the outbreak of COVID-19, especially in pediatric departments. Learning pathogen spectrum of RVI in children previous the epidemic of COVID-19 could provide another perspective for understanding RVI under current situation and help to prepare for the post COVID-19 infection control.MethodsA nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) assay, with 19 pairs of primers targeting various respiratory viruses, was used for multi-pathogen screening of viral infections in children presenting influenza-like illness (ILI) symptoms. Children with ILI at the outpatient department of Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital during the influenza epidemic from 12/2018 to 01/2019 were included. Throat swabs were obtained for both the influenza rapid diagnostic test (IRDT) based on the colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay and the NASBA assay, targeting various respiratory viruses with an integrated chip technology.Results and discussionOf 519 patients, 430 (82.9%) were positive in the NASBA assay. The predominant viral pathogens were influenza A H1N1 pdm1/2009 (pH1N1) (48.4%) and influenza A (H3N2) (18.1%), followed by human metapneumovirus (hMPV) (8.8%) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (6.1%). Of the 320 cases identified with influenza A by NASBA, only 128 (40.0%) were positive in the IRDT. The IRDT missed pH1N1 significantly more frequently than A (H3N2) (P&lt;0.01). Influenza A pH1N1 and A (H3N2) were the major pathogens in &lt;6 years and 6-15 years old individuals respectively (P&lt;0.05). In summary, influenza viruses were the major pathogens in children with ILI during the 2018-2019 winter influenza epidemic, while hMPV and RSV were non-negligible. The coexistence of multiple pathogen leading to respiratory infections is the normalcy in winter ILI cases

Effectiveness of intravenous r-tPA versus UK for acute ischaemic stroke: a nationwide prospective Chinese registry study

BACKGROUND Intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) and urokinase (UK) are both recommended for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) in China, but with few comparative outcome data being available. We aimed to compare the outcomes of these two thrombolytic agents for the treatment of patients within 4.5 hours of onset of AIS in routine clinical practice in China. METHODS A pre-planned, prospective, nationwide, multicentre, real-world registry of consecutive patients with AIS (age ≥18 years) who received r-tPA or UK within 4.5 hours of symptom onset according to local decision-making and guideline recommendations during 2017-2019. The primary effectiveness outcome was the proportion of patients with an excellent functional outcome (defined by modified Rankin scale scores 0 to 1) at 90 days. The key safety endpoint was symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage according to standard definitions. Multivariable logistic regression was used for comparative analysis, with adjustment according to propensity scores to ensure balance in baseline characteristics. RESULTS Overall, 4130 patients with AIS were registered but 320 had incomplete or missing data, leaving 3810 with available data for analysis of whom 2666 received r-tPA (median dose 0.88 (IQR 0.78-0.90) mg/kg) and 1144 received UK (1.71 (1.43-2.00)×10 international unit per kilogram). There were several significant intergroup differences in patient characteristics: r-tPA patients were more educated, had less history of stroke, lower systolic blood pressure, greater neurological impairment and shorter treatment times from symptom onset than UK patients. However, in adjusted analysis, the frequency of excellent outcome (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.40, p=0.052) and symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.33 to 1.47, p=0.344) were similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS UK may be as effective and carry a similar safety profile as r-tPA in treating mild to moderate AIS within guidelines in China. REGISTRATION: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. unique identifier: NCT02854592

Effects of 2'-O-methyl nucleotide substitution on EcoRI endonuclease cleavage activities.

To investigate the effect of sugar pucker conformation on DNA-protein interactions, we used 2'-O-methyl nucleotide (2'-OMeN) to modify the EcoRI recognition sequence -TGAATTCT-, and monitored the enzymatic cleavage process using FRET method. The 2'-O-methyl nucleotide has a C3'-endo sugar pucker conformation different from the C2'-endo sugar pucker conformation of native DNA nucleotides. The initial reaction velocities were measured and the kinetic parameters, Km and Vmax were derived using Michaelis-Menten equation. Experimental results showed that 2'-OMeN substitutions for the EcoRI recognition sequence decreased the cleavage efficiency for A2, A3 and T4 substitutions significantly, and 2'-OMeN substitution for T5 residue inhibited the enzymatic activity completely. In contrast, substitutions for G1 and C6 could maintain the original activity. 2'-fluoro nucleic acid (2'-FNA) and locked nucleic acid (LNA) having similar C3'-endo sugar pucker conformation also demonstrated similar enzymatic results. This position-dependent enzymatic cleavage property might be attributed to the phosphate backbone distortion caused by the switch from C2'-endo to C3'-endo sugar pucker conformation, and was interpreted on the basis of the DNA-EcoRI structure. These 2'-modified nucleotides could behave as a regulatory element to modulate the enzymatic activity in vitro, and this property will have potential applications in genetic engineering and biomedicine

Corrosion Resistance of Concrete Reinforced by Zinc Phosphate Pretreated Steel Fiber in the Presence of Chloride Ions

This paper aims to provide new insight into a method to improve the chloride ion corrosion resistance of steel fiber reinforced concrete. The steel fiber was pretreated by zinc phosphate before the preparation of the fiber reinforced concrete. Interfacial bond strength, micro-hardness and micro-morphology properties were respectively analyzed in the steel fiber reinforced concrete before and after the chloride corrosion cycle test. The results show that the chloride ion corrosion resistance of the steel fiber was enhanced by zinc phosphate treatment. Compared to plain steel fiber reinforced concrete under chloride ion corrosion, the interfacial bond strength of the concrete prepared by steel fiber with phosphating treatment increased by 15.4%. The thickness of the interface layer between the pretreated steel fiber and cement matrix was reduced by 50%. The micro-hardness of the weakest point in the interface area increased by 54.2%. The micro-morphology of the interface area was almost unchanged before and after the corrosion. The steel fiber reinforced concrete modified by zinc phosphate can not only maintain the stability of the microstructure when corroded by chloride ion but also presents good bearing capacity

Unreliable usage of a single influenza virus IgM antibody assay in influenza-like illness: A retrospective study of the 2016-2018 flu epidemic.

We retrospectively analyzed serum IgM antibodies (Abs) to influenza viruses from two tertiary hospitals in Beijing from December 2016 to February 2018. Samples from 36,792 patients, aged 0-98 years, were collected and tested. Among the patients, 923 children from two winter flu seasons were assayed with both antigens and IgM Abs to Flu A and Flu B and assigned as paired groups. Another 2,340 adults and 1,978 children with only antigen tested in the 2016 and 2017 winter flu seasons were named as unpaired groups. IgM Abs-positivity rates in children were 0.80% and 36.57% for Flu A and Flu B, respectively, peaking at 4-5 years of age. For adults, the Flu A and Flu B IgM Abs-positivity rates were 10.34% and 21.49%, respectively, peaking at 18-35 years of age. The trend of temporal distribution between the children and the adults was significantly correlated for IgM Abs to Flu B, but not for Flu A. Compared with unpaired groups, the detection rate of Flu A antigen was significantly higher than IgM Abs in children, whereas frequencies of IgM Abs were higher than antigen in adults. Incidence of Flu B antigen was sharply increased in 2017 winter than in the 2016 winter in both children and adults, but no concomitant increase was observed in IgM Abs to Flu B. For paired children groups, incidence of Flu B antigen in the 2017 flu season was significantly higher than that in the 2016 flu season; in contrast, positive rates of IgM Abs in the 2017 flu season were even lower than those in 2016. Considering antigen detection may reflect the Flu A/Flu B epidemic, our results indicate single-assayed IgM Abs were less effective in the diagnosis of acute influenza virus infection, and the use of this assay for epidemiology evaluations was not supported by these findings

Multivariate random regression analysis for body weight and main morphological traits in genetically improved farmed tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract Background Because of their high economic importance, growth traits in fish are under continuous improvement. For growth traits that are recorded at multiple time-points in life, the use of univariate and multivariate animal models is limited because of the variable and irregular timing of these measures. Thus, the univariate random regression model (RRM) was introduced for the genetic analysis of dynamic growth traits in fish breeding. Methods We used a multivariate random regression model (MRRM) to analyze genetic changes in growth traits recorded at multiple time-point of genetically-improved farmed tilapia. Legendre polynomials of different orders were applied to characterize the influences of fixed and random effects on growth trajectories. The final MRRM was determined by optimizing the univariate RRM for the analyzed traits separately via penalizing adaptively the likelihood statistical criterion, which is superior to both the Akaike information criterion and the Bayesian information criterion. Conclusions In the selected MRRM, the additive genetic effects were modeled by Legendre polynomials of three orders for body weight (BWE) and body length (BL) and of two orders for body depth (BD). By using the covariance functions of the MRRM, estimated heritabilities were between 0.086 and 0.628 for BWE, 0.155 and 0.556 for BL, and 0.056 and 0.607 for BD. Only heritabilities for BD measured from 60 to 140 days of age were consistently higher than those estimated by the univariate RRM. All genetic correlations between growth time-points exceeded 0.5 for either single or pairwise time-points. Moreover, correlations between early and late growth time-points were lower. Thus, for phenotypes that are measured repeatedly in aquaculture, an MRRM can enhance the efficiency of the comprehensive selection for BWE and the main morphological traits

Simulation-Based Research on Driver Visibility of Black-and-White Striped Vehicles

The vehicle color is considered to be a significant factor affecting driver visibility. The primary objective of this study is therefore to determine the impact of black-and-white striped vehicles (BWVs) on driver visibility through simulation-based experiments. In these experiments, subjects were asked to perform front and rear target identification tasks under daylight and twilight conditions. Then, a 2 (lighting conditions) × 2 (vehicle size) × 5 (vehicle color) analysisof variance was conducted for each task. Under the front identification scenario, the main factors affecting visibility were found to be lighting conditions, vehicle size, vehicle color, and the interactions between these factors. Under the rear identification scenario, lighting conditions and vehicle color were found to be the main factors. The results of this study demonstrate that driver visibility of BWVs is poorer than that of other colors of vehicles and that BWV visibility is susceptible to lighting conditions

Genetic Association Analysis for Relative Growths of Body Compositions and Metabolic Traits to Body Weights in Broilers

In animal breeding, body components and metabolic traits always fall behind body weights in genetic improvement, which leads to the decline in standards and qualities of animal products. Phenotypically, the relative growth of multiple body components and metabolic traits relative to body weights are characterized by using joint allometric scaling models, and then random regression models (RRMs) are constructed to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for relative grwoth allometries of body compositions and metabolic traits in chicken. Referred to as real joint allometric scaling models, statistical utility of the so-called LASSO-RRM mapping method is given a demonstration by computer simulation analysis. Using the F2 population by crossing broiler × Fayoumi, we formulated optimal joint allometric scaling models of fat, shank weight (shank-w) and liver as well as thyroxine (T4) and glucose (GLC) to body weights. For body compositions, a total of 9 QTLs, including 4 additive and 5 dominant QTLs, were detected to control the allometric scalings of fat, shank-w, and liver to body weights; while a total of 10 QTLs of which 6 were dominant, were mapped to govern the allometries of T4 and GLC to body weights. We characterized relative growths of body compositions and metabolic traits to body weights in broilers with joint allometric scaling models and detected QTLs for the allometry scalings of the relative growths by using RRMs. The identified QTLs, including their highly linked genetic markers, could be used to order relative growths of the body components or metabolic traits to body weights in marker-assisted breeding programs for improving the standard and quality of broiler meat products