Predicting real-time roadside CO and NO2 concentrations using neural networks

The main aim of this paper is to develop a model based on neural network (NN) theory to estimate real-time roadside CO and $hbox{NO}_{2}$ concentrations using traffic and meteorological condition data. The location of the study site is at a road intersection in Melton Mowbray, which is a town in Leicestershire, U.K. Several NNs, which can be classified into three types, namely, the multilayer perceptron, the radial basis function, and the modular network, were developed to model the nonlinear relationships that exist in the pollutant concentrations. Their performances are analyzed and compared. The transferability of the developed models is studied using data collected from a road intersection in another city. It was concluded that all NNs provide reliable estimates of pollutant concentrations using limited information and noisy data

Predicting real-time roadside CO and NO2 concentrations using neural networks

The main aim of this paper is to develop a model based on neural network (NN) theory to estimate real-time roadside CO and $hbox{NO}_{2}$ concentrations using traffic and meteorological condition data. The location of the study site is at a road intersection in Melton Mowbray, which is a town in Leicestershire, U.K. Several NNs, which can be classified into three types, namely, the multilayer perceptron, the radial basis function, and the modular network, were developed to model the nonlinear relationships that exist in the pollutant concentrations. Their performances are analyzed and compared. The transferability of the developed models is studied using data collected from a road intersection in another city. It was concluded that all NNs provide reliable estimates of pollutant concentrations using limited information and noisy data

An Analytic Hierarchy Process for The Evaluation of Transport Policies to Reduce Climate Change Impacts

Transport is the sector with the fastest growth of greenhouse gases emissions, both in developed and in developing countries, leading to adverse climate change impacts. As the experts disagree on the occurrence of these impacts, by applying the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we have faced the question on how to form transport policies when the experts have different opinions and beliefs. The opinions of experts have been investigated by a means of a survey questionnaire. The results show that tax schemes aiming at promoting environmental-friendly transport mode are the best policy. This incentives public and environmental-friendly transport modes, such as car sharing and car pooling.Analytic Hierarchy Process, Transport Policies, Climate Change

POTENTIAL DEMAND AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF DOOR TO DOOR DIAL A RYDE SYSTEMS

The paper aims to provide a framework for the preliminary design of dial a ride system. In this context we have carried out a stated preference survey to evaluate the potential demand of service, taking into account a sample of citizens with limited disability to move. Thus, we have submitted a questionnaire to users of some clinics of Palermo, considering in the choice competitive scenario the dial a ride system. Furthermore a multinomial logit model has been calibrated. Finally a preliminary design of service has been proposed

Finding Large Independent Sets in Line of Sight Networks

Line of Sight (LoS) networks provide a model of wireless communication which incorporates visibility constraints. Vertices of such networks can be embedded in finite d-dimensional grids of size n, and two vertices are adjacent if they share a line of sight and are at distance less tha

An Analytic Hierachy Process for Ranking Operating Costs of Low Cost and Full Service Airlines

This paper develops an application of the analytic hierarchy process to rank the operating cost components of full service and low cost airlines. It takes into account the financial balance sheets and answers to a questionnaire submitted to the managers of selected airlines. The results suggest that the analytic hierarchy process can be appropriately used to obtain the ranking of the costs taking into account different views: financial, management and operative. Rental, office equipment and other supplies costs show the highest importance in the cost ranking, both for full services and low cost airlines. The robustness of the results is tested by Monte Carlo analysis

Essential oil of Cyphostemma juttae (Vitaceae): chemical composition and antitumor mechanism in triple negative breast cancer cells

The genus Cyphostemma (Planch.) Alston (Vitaceae) includes about 150 species distrib- uted in eastern and southern Africa and Madagascar. Some species are used in traditional medicine and their biological activities, including antiproliferative effects against cancer cell lines, have been demonstrated. To date no investigations on Cyphostemma essential oils have been carried out. Essential oils, which play important roles in plant defenses have been demonstrated to be active in the treatment of several human diseases and to enhance bioavability of other drugs. The aim of this paper was to identify the chemical composition of the essential oil of the leaves of Cyphostemma juttae (Dinter & Gilg) Desc. and to verify some biological activities on two triple negative breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, SUM 149), characterized by the over-expression of the transcription factor NF-κB. In the essential oil, obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 39 compounds were detected and with phytol (30%) dominating the chemical composition. C. juttae essential oil reduced cell growth and showed a pro-oxidant activity in both cell lines. Moreover, C. juttae essential oil caused a substantial decrease of NF-κB activation and consequently a significant reduction of some NF-κB target genes. The present study shows for the first time the cytotoxic properties of C. juttae essential oil and highlight its avail- ability to interfere with NF-κB pathway, suggesting a potential therapeutic use in triple nega- tive breast cancers (TNBCs) of this essential oil

Effects of age and eccentricity on visual target detection

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of aging and target eccentricity on a visual search task comprising 30 images of everyday life projected into a hemisphere, realizing a ±90° visual field. The task performed binocularly allowed participants to freely move their eyes to scan images for an appearing target or distractor stimulus (presented at 10°; 30°, and 50° eccentricity). The distractor stimulus required no response, while the target stimulus required acknowledgment by pressing the response button. One hundred and seventeen healthy subjects (mean age = 49.63 years, SD = 17.40 years, age range 20–78 years) were studied. The results show that target detection performance decreases with age as well as with increasing eccentricity, especially for older subjects. Reaction time also increases with age and eccentricity, but in contrast to target detection, there is no interaction between age and eccentricity. Eye movement analysis showed that younger subjects exhibited a passive search strategy while older subjects exhibited an active search strategy probably as a compensation for their reduced peripheral detection performance

BAFF Index and CXCL13 levels in the cerebrospinal fluid associate respectively with intrathecal IgG synthesis and cortical atrophy in multiple sclerosis at clinical onset

Abstract Background B lymphocytes are thought to play a relevant role in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology. The in vivo analysis of intrathecally produced B cell-related cytokines may help to clarify the mechanisms of B cell recruitment and immunoglobulin production within the central nervous system (CNS) in MS. Methods Paired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum specimens from 40 clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of MS or early-onset relapsing-remitting MS patients (CIS/eRRMS) and 17 healthy controls (HC) were analyzed for the intrathecal synthesis of IgG (quantitative formulae and IgG oligoclonal bands, IgGOB), CXCL13, BAFF, and IL-21. 3D-FLAIR, 3D-DIR, and 3D-T1 MRI sequences were applied to evaluate white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) lesions and global cortical thickness (gCTh). Results Compared to HC, CIS/eRRMS having IgGOB (IgGOB+, 26 patients) had higher intrathecal IgG indexes ( p \u2009<\u20090.01), lower values of BAFF Index (11.9\u2009\ub1\u20096.1 vs 17.5\u2009\ub1\u20095.2, p \u2009<\u20090.01), and higher CSF CXCL13 levels (27.7\u2009\ub1\u200933.5 vs 0.9\u2009\ub1\u20091.5, p \u2009<\u20090.005). In these patients, BAFF Index but not CSF CXCL13 levels inversely correlated with the intrathecal IgG synthesis ( r \u2009>\u20090.5 and p \u2009<\u20090.05 for all correlations). CSF leukocyte counts were significantly higher in IgGOB+ compared to IgGOB\u2212 ( p \u2009<\u20090.05) and HC ( p \u2009<\u20090.01), and correlated to CSF CXCL13 concentrations ( r 0.77, p \u2009<\u20090.001). The gCTh was significantly lower in patients with higher CSF CXCL13 levels (2.41\u2009\ub1\u20090.1 vs 2.49\u2009\ub1\u20090.1\ua0mm, p \u2009<\u20090.05), while no difference in MRI parameters of WM and GM pathology was observed between IgGOB+ and IgGOB\u2212. Conclusions The intrathecal IgG synthesis inversely correlated with BAFF Index and showed no correlation with CSF CXCL13. These findings seem to indicate that intrathecally synthesized IgG are produced by long-term PCs that have entered the CNS from the peripheral blood, rather than produced by PCs developed in the meningeal follicle-like structures (FLS). In this study, CXCL13 identifies a subgroup of MS patients characterized by ..

The Effect of Advanced Traveller Information Systems (ATIS) on public transport demand and its uncertainty

Advanced Traveller Information Systems (ATISs) include a broad range of advanced computer and communication technologies. These systems are designed to provide transit riders pre-trip and real-time information, to make better informed decisions regarding their mode of travel, planned routes and travel times. ATISs include in-vehicle displays, terminal or wayside based information centres, information by phone or mobile and internet. In this article, a Stated Preference survey has been carried out in order to know the preferences of public transport\u2019s customers related to different ATISs and their willingness to pay in Palermo. An ordered probit demand model has been calibrated to determine the potential additional share of demand attracted by the adoption of ATISs. Finally, Monte Carlo simulation has been carried out to appraise the uncertainty on some parameters of the calibrated demand model. The results show that respondents give more importance to the type of information and its cost, whereas they are less interested in the system that provides the information