Agent-based simulation framework for airport collaborative decision making

Airport Collaborative Decision Making is based on information sharing. A better use of resources can be attained when the different stakeholders at airport operations share their more accurate and updated information. One of the main difficulties when dealing with this information sharing concept is the number of stakeholders involved and their different interest and behaviour: aircraft operators, ground handling companies, airport authority, air traffic control and the Central Flow Management Unit. It is paramount to quantify the benefit of an airport collaborative decision making strategy in order to involve all these different organisations. Simulations are required to analyse the overall system and its emerging behaviour. This paper presents the development and initial testing of an agent-based framework, which allows this behavioural analysis to be done. The simulator explicitly represents the different stakeholders involved in the A-CDM and the interactions between them from milestone 1 to 7. This framework allows independent gradual development of local behaviours and optimisation, and a gradual increase on complexity and fidelity on the simulations

On-the-go yield and sugar sensing in grape harvester

This paper summarises the results of a joint R+D project between university and industry. The study was developed at the Alt Penedès region, in Barcelona, during the 2006 and 2007 (on 3, 22, 69 fields respectively). The quality sensors set-up in year 2007, mounted on a New Holland SB55 grape harvester, were: two load cells, one refractometer, an ambient temperature prove and a GPS antenna, while in 2006 only the load cells and the GPS performed properly. The method used for this study is as follows: 1. Data recording from GPS and Logger (the latter is use for according and digitalising the sensor signal); 2. Wireless download of data to a PC; 3. Automatic data integration in a single file; 4. Lane automatic identification based on trajectory angles, machine forward speed determination, effective time calculation, masic flow, kg/m, and total amount harvested, kg/hopper, computation of characteristic soluble solid content and temperature during harvest; 5. Data broadcasting through GPRS to the winery; 6. Comparison of transmitted data with the invoice of the winery containers. After the season was finished, a data post processing was performed in order to a assess the causes of isolated incidences that were registered in 10 fields. Also a recalibration of the sensors for future seasons was performed. At current stage R 2 of 0.9547 is found between winery and in field yield data. Beside georeference data were gathered and compare to the remote photos in “Instituto Cartográfico de Cataluña”. Site-specific yield maps and speed maps have been computed while broad soluble solid information is not available due to slight dysfunctions of the grape juice pumping system towards to the refractometer

Detecting series periodicity with horizontal visibility graphs

The horizontal visibility algorithm has been recently introduced as a mapping between time series and networks. The challenge lies in characterizing the structure of time series (and the processes that generated those series) using the powerful tools of graph theory. Recent works have shown that the visibility graphs inherit several degrees of correlations from their associated series, and therefore such graph theoretical characterization is in principle possible. However, both the mathematical grounding of this promising theory and its applications are on its infancy. Following this line, here we address the question of detecting hidden periodicity in series polluted with a certain amount of noise. We first put forward some generic properties of horizontal visibility graphs which allow us to define a (graph theoretical) noise reduction filter. Accordingly, we evaluate its performance for the task of calculating the period of noisy periodic signals, and compare our results with standard time domain (autocorrelation) methods. Finally, potentials, limitations and applications are discussed.Comment: To be published in International Journal of Bifurcation and Chao

Self-supported polypyrrole/polyvinylsulfate films: electrochemical synthesis, characterization, and sensing properties of their redox reactions

Thick films of polypyrrole/polyvinylsulfate (PPy/PVS) blends were electrogenerated on stainless‐steel electrodes under potentiostatic conditions from aqueous solution. The best electropolymerization potential window was determined by cyclic voltammetry. After removing the film from the back metal, self‐supported electrodes were obtained. Voltammetric, coulovoltammetric, and chronoamperometric responses from a LiClO4 aqueous solution indicated the formation of an energetically stable structure beyond a reduction threshold of the material. Its subsequent oxidation required higher anodic voltammetric overpotentials or longer chronoamperometric oxidation times. This structure was attributed to the formation of lamellar or vacuolar structures. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the films under different oxidations states revealed that the electrochemical reactions drive the reversible exchange of cations between the film and the electrolyte. The electrical energy and the charge consumed by the reversible reaction of the film under voltammetric conditions between the constant potential limits are a function of the potential scan rate, that is, they sense the working electrochemical conditions.This project was supported by the Marie‐Sklodowska‐Curie Innovative Training Network MICACT‐H2020‐MSCA‐ITN‐2014 and by the Séneca Foundation project 19253/PI/14

On the use of fast blue, fluoro-gold and diamidino yellow for retrograde tracing after peripheral nerve injury: uptake, fading, dye interactions, and toxicity

The usefulness of three retrograde fluorescent dyes for tracing injured peripheral axons was investigated. The rat sciatic was transected bilaterally and the proximal end briefly exposed to either Fast Blue (FB), Fluoro-Gold (FG) or to Diamidino Yellow (DY) on the right side, and to saline on the left side, respectively. The nerves were then resutured and allowed to regenerate. Electrophysiological tests 3 months later showed similar latencies and amplitudes of evoked muscle and nerve action potentials between tracer groups. The nerves were then cut distal to the original injury and exposed to a second (different) dye. Five days later, retrogradely labelled neurones were counted in the dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) and spinal cord ventral horn, The number of neurones labelled by the first tracer was similar for all three dyes in the DRG and ventral horn except for FG, which labelled fewer motoneurones. When used as second tracer, DY labelled fewer neurones than FG and FB in some experimental situations. The total number of neurotics labelled by the first and/or second tracer was reduced by about 30% compared with controls. The contributions of cell death as well as different optional tracer combinations for studies of nerve regeneration are discussed

A unified definition of clinical anthracycline resistance breast cancer

The purpose of the study was to determine the response rates (RR) and duration to second- and third-line chemotherapy programmes in patients with anthracycline-resistant breast cancer, utilizing various definitions of anthracycline resistance. This was a retrospective analysis performed on 1335 patients with metastatic breast cancer who participated in consecutive clinical trials of first line, anthracycline-containing combination chemotherapy (ACCC) at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center between July 1973 and April 1980. Anthracycline-resistant groups were identified using definitions of anthracycline resistance found in the literature: progressive disease as best response to ACCC (Group 1, n = 56 patients); progressive disease while receiving ACCC after an intervening response to the drug (Group 2, n = 84); progressive disease within 6 months of last dose of ACCC (Group 3, n = 233); and progressive disease within 12 months of last dose of ACCC (Group 4, n = 272). Second- and third-line therapies administered to these patients included methotrexate, doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, bisantrene, vinblastine, vindesine, melphalan, mitomycin, cisplatin, etoposide and others, but not taxanes. The distribution of patients' characteristics was similar between the four groups, as was the use of second- and third-line regimens. Response rate (RR) to second-line chemotherapy were 5% and 7.7% for Group 1 and Group 2 respectively. In contrast, RR to second-line chemotherapy were 21.6% and 15% for Group 3 and 4. The differences in response rate between the combination of Groups 1 and 2 and Groups 3 or 4 were significant (P = 0.005 and P = 0.04 respectively). These results indicate that strictly defined anthracycline resistance as defined in Groups 1 and 2 is associated with resistance to many other cytotoxic drugs. The definitions used in Groups 3 and 4 include many patients with responsive tumours, and a more favourable prognosis. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig