Self-Organizing Traffic Flow Prediction with an Optimized Deep Belief Network for Internet of Vehicles

To assist in the broadcasting of time-critical traffic information in an Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and vehicular sensor networks (VSN), fast network connectivity is needed. Accurate traffic information prediction can improve traffic congestion and operation efficiency, which helps to reduce commute times, noise and carbon emissions. In this study, we present a novel approach for predicting the traffic flow volume by using traffic data in self-organizing vehicular networks. The proposed method is based on using a probabilistic generative neural network techniques called deep belief network (DBN) that includes multiple layers of restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) auto-encoders. Time series data generated from the roadside units (RSUs) for five highway links are used by a three layer DBN to extract and learn key input features for constructing a model to predict traffic flow. Back-propagation is utilized as a general learning algorithm for fine-tuning the weight parameters among the visible and hidden layers of RBMs. During the training process the firefly algorithm (FFA) is applied for optimizing the DBN topology and learning rate parameter. Monte Carlo simulations are used to assess the accuracy of the prediction model. The results show that the proposed model achieves superior performance accuracy for predicting traffic flow in comparison with other approaches applied in the literature. The proposed approach can help to solve the problem of traffic congestion, and provide guidance and advice for road users and traffic regulators

Azimuthal C/O variations in a planet-forming disk

The elemental carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) in the atmosphere of a giant planet is a promising diagnostic of that planet’s formation history in a protoplanetary disk. Alongside efforts in the exoplanet community to measure C/O in planetary atmospheres, observational and theoretical studies of disks are increasingly focused on understanding how the gas-phase C/O varies both with radial location and between disks. This is mostly tied to the icelines of major volatile carriers such as CO and H2O. Using ALMA observations of CS and SO, we have unearthed evidence for an entirely novel type of C/O variation in the protoplanetary disk around HD 100546: an azimuthal variation from a typical, oxygen-dominated ratio (C/O∼ 0.5) to a carbon-dominated ratio (C/O≳1.0). We show that the spatial distribution and peculiar line kinematics of both CS and SO molecules can be well-explained by azimuthal variations in the C/O ratio. We propose a shadowing mechanism that could lead to such a chemical dichotomy. Our results imply that tracing the formation history of giant exoplanets using their atmospheric C/O ratios will need to take into account time-dependent azimuthal C/O variations in a planet’s accretion zone

Azimuthal C/O variations in a planet-forming disk

The elemental carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) in the atmosphere of a giant planet is a promising diagnostic of that planet’s formation history in a protoplanetary disk. Alongside efforts in the exoplanet community to measure the C/O ratio in planetary atmospheres, observational and theoretical studies of disks are increasingly focused on understanding how the gas-phase C/O ratio varies both with radial location and between disks. This is mostly tied to the icelines of major volatile carriers such as CO and H2O. Using ALMA observations of CS and SO, we have found evidence for an entirely unexpected type of C/O variation in the protoplanetary disk around HD 100546: an azimuthal variation from a typical, oxygen-dominated ratio (C/O ≈ 0.5) to a carbon-dominated ratio (C/O ≳ 1.0). We show that the spatial distribution and peculiar line kinematics of both CS and SO molecules can be well explained by azimuthal variations in the C/O ratio. We propose a shadowing mechanism that could lead to such a chemical dichotomy. Our results imply that tracing the formation history of giant exoplanets using their atmospheric C/O ratios will need to take into account time-dependent azimuthal C/O variations in a planet’s accretion zone

Btn3 is a negative regulator of Btn2-mediated endosomal protein trafficking and prion curing in yeast

Btn2 is a Batten disease-related protein that mediates endosome-Golgi protein retrieval and prion curing in yeast. Here we characterize Btn3, a putative orthologue of a human complex I deficiency protein, as a Btn2-interacting protein and negative regulator. Thus endosomal proteins involved in disease onset may engage prion-clearing compartments

Epidemiological and Virological Characteristics of Influenza in the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization, 2006-2010

BACKGROUND: Influenza causes yearly seasonal epidemics and periodic pandemics. Global systems have been established to monitor the evolution and impact of influenza viruses, yet regional analysis of surveillance findings has been limited. This study describes epidemiological and virological characteristics of influenza during 2006-2010 in the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Region. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Influenza-like illness (ILI) and influenza virus data were obtained from the 14 countries with National Influenza Centres. Data were obtained directly from countries and from FluNet, the web-based tool of the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System. National influenza surveillance and participation in the global system increased over the five years. Peaks in ILI reporting appeared to be coincident with the proportion of influenza positive specimens. Temporal patterns of ILI activity and the proportion of influenza positive specimens were clearly observed in temperate countries: Mongolia, Japan and the Republic of Korea in the northern hemisphere, and Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and New Caledonia (France) in the southern hemisphere. Two annual peaks in activity were observed in China from 2006 through the first quarter of 2009. A temporal pattern was less evident in tropical countries, where influenza activity was observed year-round. Influenza A viruses accounted for the majority of viruses reported between 2006 and 2009, but an equal proportion of influenza A and influenza B viruses was detected in 2010. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Despite differences in surveillance methods and intensity, commonalities in ILI and influenza virus circulation patterns were identified. Patterns suggest that influenza circulation may be dependent on a multitude of factors including seasonality and population movement. Dominant strains in Southeast Asian countries were later detected in other countries. Thus, timely reporting and regional sharing of information about influenza may serve as an early warning, and may assist countries to anticipate the potential severity and burden associated with incoming strains

Search for supersymmetry in events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least one tau lepton in 20 fb−1 of √s= 8 TeV proton-proton collision data with the ATLAS detector

© 2014, The Author(s). A search for supersymmetry (SUSY) in events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, at least one hadronically decaying tau lepton and zero or one additional light leptons (electron/muon), has been performed using 20.3fb−1of proton-proton collision data at √ s= 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess above the Standard Model background expectation is observed in the various signal regions and 95% confidence level upper limits on the visible cross section for new phenomena are set. The results of the analysis are interpreted in several SUSY scenarios, significantly extending previous limits obtained in the same final states. In the framework of minimal gauge-mediated SUSY breaking models, values of the SUSY breaking scale Λ below 63 TeV are excluded, independently of tan β. Exclusion limits are also derived for an mSUGRA/CMSSM model, in both the R-parity-conserving and R-parity-violating case. A further interpretation is presented in a framework of natural gauge mediation, in which the gluino is assumed to be the only light coloured sparticle and gluino masses below 1090 GeV are excluded

Search for new phenomena in Dijet angular distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=8 TeV measured with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in LHC proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]=8 TeV was performed with the ATLAS detector using an integrated luminosity of 17.3 fb^{-1}. The angular distributions are studied in events with at least two jets; the highest dijet mass observed is 5.5 TeV. All angular distributions are consistent with the predictions of the standard model. In a benchmark model of quark contact interactions, a compositeness scale below 8.1 TeV in a destructive interference scenario and 12.0 TeV in a constructive interference scenario is excluded at 95% C.L.; median expected limits are 8.9 TeV for the destructive interference scenario and 14.1 TeV for the constructive interference scenario

Search for Higgs and ZZ Boson Decays to ϕ γ\phi\,\gamma with the ATLAS Detector

9 pages (plus author list + cover pages: 27 pages total), 3 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HIGG-2016-05/ ; See paper for full list of authorsInternational audienceA search for the decays of the Higgs and $Z$ bosons to a $\phi$ meson and a photon is performed with a $pp$ collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.7 fb$^{-1}$ collected at $\sqrt{s}=$13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No significant excess of events is observed above the background, and 95% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions of the Higgs and $Z$ boson decays to $\phi\,\gamma$ of 1.4$\times$10$^{-3}$ and 8.3$\times$10$^{-6}$, respectively, are obtained