Urban mobility transitions through GDP growth: Policy choices facing cities in developing countries

This paper analyses the factors associated with the private transport modal share in cities of different wealth. We use the 1995 UITP Millennium Cities dataset and smaller samples of matching cities in the 2012 UITP Mobility in Cities dataset. Segmented bivariate analysis using the 1995 data showed that the associations between the private transport share and various socio-economic, transport, and land use variables are mostly non-linear or moderated by third variables. K-means clustering of the same 1995 variables then revealed three distinct groups of cities. Cluster 1 contains cities in developing countries with low private transport share and poor provision for both private and public transport. Cluster 2 contains high-income cities with high private transport share, low population density, and better relative provision and quality of private transport. Cluster 3 also contains high-income cities but with a moderate private transport share, higher population density, and better relative provision and quality of public transport. The evolution of cities from 1995 to 2012 showed that, as cities grow in wealth, they either move from Cluster 1 to Cluster 2 or from Cluster 1 to Cluster 3. Regression analysis provided further confirmation that the private transport share is explained by the variables that define the three clusters. Overall, the paper provides information for cities in developing countries to formulate combinations of transport and land use policies that can contribute to a transition towards sustainable transport systems

The M, E, and N structural proteins of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus are required for efficient assembly, trafficking, and release of virus-like particles

Copyright @ 2008 American Society for Microbiology.The production of virus-like particles (VLPs) constitutes a relevant and safe model to study molecular determinants of virion egress. The minimal requirement for the assembly of VLPs for the coronavirus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome in humans (SARS-CoV) is still controversial. Recent studies have shown that SARS-CoV VLP formation depends on either M and E proteins or M and N proteins. Here we show that both E and N proteins must be coexpressed with M protein for the efficient production and release of VLPs by transfected Vero E6 cells. This suggests that the mechanism of SARS-CoV assembly differs from that of other studied coronaviruses, which only require M and E proteins for VLP formation. When coexpressed, the native envelope trimeric S glycoprotein is incorporated onto VLPs. Interestingly, when a fluorescent protein tag is added to the C-terminal end of N or S protein, but not M protein, the chimeric viral proteins can be assembled within VLPs and allow visualization of VLP production and trafficking in living cells by state-of-the-art imaging technologies. Fluorescent VLPs will be used further to investigate the role of cellular machineries during SARS-CoV egress.The University of Hong Kong and the French Ministry of Health

Cognitive Style as a Factor in Accounting Students\u27 Performance on Multiple Choice Examinations

Using 59 final year accounting students as subjects and multiple regression analysis, this paper tests the hypothesis that accounting students\u27 performance on multiple choice examinations is related to field dependence cognitive style. Results support the hypothesis and suggest that in evaluating student performances in multiple choice examinations, accounting academics should bear in mind that the scores on these examinations may be partly a function of students\u27 cognitive style. This finding has implications for the use of multiple choice examinations in classroom evaluations

Recent Advances in 3D printing for in vitro cancer models

This paper is part of the special topic, Physics of 3D Printing.3D printing techniques allow for the precise placement of living cells, biological substances, and biochemical components, establishing themselves as a promising approach in bioengineering. Recently, 3D printing has been applied to develop human-relevant in vitro cancer models with highly controlled complexity and as a potential method for drug screening and disease modeling. Compared to 2D culture, 3D-printed in vitro cancer models more closely replicate the in vivo microenvironment. Additionally, they offer a reduction in the complexity and ethical issues associated with using in vivo animal models. This focused review discusses the relevance of 3D printing technologies and the applied cells and materials used in cutting-edge in vitro cancer models and microfluidic device systems. Future prospective solutions were discussed to establish 3D-printed in vitro models as reliable tools for drug screening and understanding cancer disease mechanisms.Brunel Research Interdisciplinary Labs (BRIL) and Brief Award (BRIEF

Opinion diversity and community formation in adaptive networks

It is interesting and of significant importance to investigate how network structures co-evolve with opinions. The existing models of such co-evolution typically lead to the final states where network nodes either reach a global consensus or break into separated communities, each of which holding its own community consensus. Such results, however, can hardly explain the richness of real-life observations that opinions are always diversified with no global or even community consensus, and people seldom, if not never, totally cut off themselves from dissenters. In this article, we show that, a simple model integrating consensus formation, link rewiring and opinion change allows complex system dynamics to emerge, driving the system into a dynamic equilibrium with co-existence of diversified opinions. Specifically, similar opinion holders may form into communities yet with no strict community consensus; and rather than being separated into disconnected communities, different communities remain to be interconnected by non-trivial proportion of inter-community links. More importantly, we show that the complex dynamics may lead to different numbers of communities at steady state with a given tolerance between different opinion holders. We construct a framework for theoretically analyzing the co-evolution process. Theoretical analysis and extensive simulation results reveal some useful insights into the complex co-evolution process, including the formation of dynamic equilibrium, the phase transition between different steady states with different numbers of communities, and the dynamics between opinion distribution and network modularity, etc.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, Journa

Gender Dependence in Mouth Opening Dimensions in Normal Adult Malaysians Population

While measurement of mouth opening is an important clinica examination in diagnosis and management of oral disease, data on non-Western populations are limited. This study was therefore conducted to determine the range of mouth opening in normal Malaysian male and female adults. A total of 34 dental students of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) were chosen randomly and their maximum mouth opening was measured after being asked to open their mouth sufficiently to accommodate three fingers. Measurement was performed from the edge of the upper incisor to the lower incisor using a caliper divider. The difference of median values between male (47.6 mm) and female (40.8 mm) were significant respectively (p<0.05). Thus the width of mouth opening in Malaysian student population is gender dependent although further study with a larger sample size and with other ethnic groups should be carried out, focusing on age

Cardiovascular disease biomarkers are associated with declining renal function in type 2 diabetes

Aims/hypothesis: We investigated whether biochemical cardiovascular risk factors and/or markers of subclinical cardiovascular disease were associated with the development of reduced renal function in people with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A cohort of 1066 Scottish men and women aged 60–74 years with type 2 diabetes from the Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study were followed up for a median of 6.7 years. New-onset reduced renal function was defined as two eGFRs &#60;60 ml−1 min−1 (1.73 m)−2 at least 3 months apart with a &#62; 25% decline from baseline eGFR. Ankle brachial pressure index (ABI), N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT) were measured at baseline. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) and carotid intima media thickness were measured 1 year into follow-up. Data were analysed using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: A total of 119 participants developed reduced renal function during follow-up. ABI, PWV, NT-proBNP and hsTnT were all associated with onset of decline in renal function following adjustment for age and sex. These associations were attenuated after adjustment for additional diabetes renal disease risk factors (systolic BP, baseline eGFR, albumin:creatinine ratio and smoking pack-years), with the exception of hsTnT which remained independently associated (HR 1.51 [95% CI 1.22, 1.87]). Inclusion of hsTnT in a predictive model improved the continuous net reclassification index by 0.165 (0.008, 0.286). Conclusions/interpretation: Our findings demonstrate an association between hsTnT, a marker of subclinical cardiac ischaemia, and subsequent renal function decline. Further research is required to establish the predictive value of hsTnT and response to intervention

Ion trap long-range XY model for quantum state transfer and optimal spatial search

Linear ion trap chains are a promising platform for quantum computation and simulation. The XY model with long-range interactions can be implemented with a single side-band Mølmer–Sørensen scheme, giving interactions that decay as 1/r α, where α parameterises the interaction range. Lower α leads to longer range interactions, allowing faster long-range gate operations for quantum computing. However, decreasing α causes an increased generation of coherent phonons and appears to dephase the effective XY interaction model. We characterise and show how to correct for this effect completely, allowing lower α interactions to be coherently implemented. Ion trap chains are thus shown to be a viable platform for spatial quantum search in optimal O( √ N) time, for N ions. Finally, we introduce a O( √ N) quantum state transfer protocol, with a qubit encoding that maintains a high fidelity