Economic Impacts of Bus Rapid Transit in Southeast Michigan

In recent years, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has generated great interest across the United States. There are more than 20 BRT systems in existence, and more are in the planning stage (including in Detroit). Within the next few years, BRT will be planned and implemented phase by phase in various parts of Southeast Michigan. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to identify probable economic impacts of BRT in Southeast Michigan. Taxable real estate values, injury and fatal crash data, and selected demographics of BRT users, including employment sector, age group, median income, and daily vehicle miles traveled were reviewed to identify Southeast Michigan’s current and future trends. The project team also performed shift-share analysis using Cleveland and Kansas City data to determine the BRT-advantaged age group. The authors recommended a number of action items to attract choice riders and gratify riders who must rely on BRT, such as tax incentives, branding, guaranteed levels of service, etc. Based on the literature review and analysis of existing BRT-related data by the project team, BRT-advantaged job sectors and age groups within the Southeast Michigan region were identified. BRT will be implemented in phases. This will affect the amount, type, and timing of investments in BRT. Considering this uncertainty, the potential economic impacts as a function of type and amount of investment were discussed. It is to be noted that in order to achieve the projected results, the BRT system must be planned, designed, and implemented based on the unique attributes of the Southeast Michigan region rather than by copying a system that has achieved success in another region

An empirical analysis of Delhi's air quality throughout different COVID-19 pandemic waves

Delhi was one of India's COVID-19 hotspots, with significant death rates during the year 2021. This study looked at the link between COVID-19 cases in Delhi, and key meteorological variables. The study found that COVID-19 cases during the second wave (P2-March- May 2021) were much higher than during the first wave (P1-Jan-Feb 2021) in Delhi. During P1 (Jan-Feb 2021) the mean PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and CO concentrations were greater than that of P2 (March-May 2021) while the reverse happened for SO2 and O3.  Spearman correlation test indicated that COVID-19 cases maintained a significant positive correlation with the high temperature of P2 (March-May 2021) and high humidity of P1 (Jan-Feb 2021) in line with the accepted notion that COVID-19 transmitted favourably in hot and humid climates.  The Multilayer perceptron (MLP) model indicated that COVID-19 spread was supported by air pollutants and climate variables like PM2.5, NO2, RH, and WS in P1(Jan-Feb 2021) and PM2.5 and O3 in P2 (March-May 2021).  Owing to chemical coupling, across all six monitoring stations, O3 maintained an inverse relationship with NO2 throughout the COVID-19 phases in Delhi.  The city dwellers had health risks also due to PM pollution at varying degrees, indicated by high hazard quotients (HQs), requiring lowering of air pollution concentrations on an urgent basis

Retention of ß-carotene in frozen carrots under varying conditions of temperature and time of storage

Carrots were blanched and stored in a freezer to study the retention of β-carotene. Retention was found to be better in 3 min blanched samples than in 5 min ones. There was an increase in β-carotene content in carrots after 5 days at all storage temperatures: 0, –8, –14, and –18oC. Decrease was found to be insignificant compared to the initial value even after 80 days of storage time at –18oC and for 3 min blanch time. Key Words: Carrots, β-carotene, blanching, freezing, activation energy, storage time. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.4(1) 2005: 102-10

Comparative Evaluation of Taper Preparation Variability of Three Different Niti Files- An In Vitro CBCT Study

The ultimate goal of an endodontic treatment is to achieve the fluid tight seal particularly at the apex as well as in coronal aspect of the root canal system. This is mainly influenced by the cleaning and shaping of root canal system and it has been recognized as an important phase of endodontic therapy. Cleaning and shaping as well as obturation are best accomplished when the file taper claimed by the manufacturer is accurate and the taper of the canal following instrumentation corresponds to the taper of the file. Despite the most advanced technology in manufacturing of dental instruments, variations in endodontic file tapers still exist. Therefore the purpose of this study is to compare the taper variation in root canal preparations among the three different NiTi files using CBCT. Methods: 24 upper 1st molar tooth with mesiobuccal root curvature 15-30 degree were selected and divided into three groups. Mesiobuccal roots (MB1) of three groups were prepared by three different NiTi file system respectively up to size25 taper.06 and CBCT were done separately for each group. The diameter was measured at 1, 3, and orifice in mm and canal taper preparation was calculated using CBCT. Result: Of the 3 file systems, fell within the ±.05 taper variability. All preparations demonstrated variability when compared to the nominal taper .06. Conclusion: Taper preparations of the investigated size 25 taper .06 were favorable but different from the nominal taper

Assessment of virulence potential of uncharacterized Enterococcus faecalis strains using pan genomic approach – Identification of pathogen–specific and habitatspecific genes

Enterococcus faecalis, a leading nosocomial pathogen and yet a prominent member of gut microbiome, lacks clear demarcation between pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains at genome level. Here we present the comparative genome analysis of 36 E. faecalis strains with different pathogenic features and from different body-habitats. This study begins by addressing the genome dynamics, which shows that the pan-genome of E. faecalis is still open, though the core genome is nearly saturated. We identified eight uncharacterized strains as potential pathogens on the basis of their co-segregation with reported pathogens in gene presence-absence matrix and Pathogenicity Island (PAI) distribution. A ~7.4 kb genomic-cassette, which is itself a part of PAI, is found to exist in all reported and potential pathogens, but not in commensals and other uncharacterized strains. This region encodes four genes and among them, products of two hypothetical genes are predicted to be intrinsically disordered that may serve as novel targets for therapeutic measures. Exclusive existence of 215, 129, 4 and 1 genes in the blood, gastrointestinal tract, urogenital tract, oral cavity and lymph node derived E. faecalis genomes respectively suggests possible employment of distinct habitat-specific genetic strategies in the adaptation of E. faecalis in human hos

Effects of Permafrost and Seasonally Frozen Ground on the Seismic Response of Transportation Infrastructure Sites

INE/AUTC 11.0

Livelihoods in coastal fishing communities, and the marine fish marketing system of Bangladesh. Synthesis of participatory rural appraisals in six villages, and assessment of the marketing system (NRI report no. 2712)

This report is an output ofthe DFID funded research project "Fish Distribution from Coastal Communities- Credit and Market Access Issues". The field research was carried out between July 2001 and April2002. In addition to the inception workshop in Chittagong in March 2001 consultation workshops were held in July 2002 in Dhaka and Chittagong, where project findings were presented to stakeholders from the fishing communities, the trading sector, the Government of Bangladesh, NGOs, and members of the donor community

Switching of the topologically trivial and non-trivial quantum phase transitions in compressed 1T-TiTe2: Experiments and Theory

We report the structural, vibrational and electrical transport properties up to 16 GPa of the 1T-TiTe2, a prominent layered 2D system, which is predicted to show a series of topologically trivial - nontrivial transitions under hydrostatic compression. We clearly show signatures of two iso-structural transition at 2 GPa and 4 GPa obtained from the minima in c/a ratio concomitant with the phonon linewidth anomalies of Eg and A1g modes at around the same pressures, providing strong indication of unusual electron-phonon coupling associated to these transitions. Resistivity presents nonlinear behavior over similar pressure ranges providing a strong indication of the electronic origin of these pressure driven isostructural transitions. Our data thus provide clear evidences of topological changes at A and L point of the Brillouin zone predicted to be present in the compressed 1T-TiTe2. Between 4 GPa and 8 GPa, the c/a ratio shows a plateau suggesting a transformation from an anisotropic 2D layer to a quasi 3D crystal network. First principles calculations suggest that the 2D to quasi 3D evolution without any structural phase transitions is mainly due to the increased interlayer Te-Te interactions (bridging) via the charge density overlap. In addition to the pressure dependent isostructural phase transitions, our data also evidences the occurrence of a first order structural phase transition from the trigonal (P-3m1) phase at higher pressures. We estimate the start of this structural phase transition to be 8 GPa and the symmetric of the new high-pressure phase to be monoclinic (C2/m).Comment: 22 pages, 11 Figures, 2 Table

An Overview of the Genus Nardostachys

Nardostachys jatamansi, a medicinally important herb of Nepalese origin, has been used for centuries in the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine. In combination with Marsilea minuta it is being used as an antistress and anticonvulsant drug and also finds use in the treatment of epilepsy. Recently, it has been reported that N. jatamansi, which plays an important role in protecting from cerebral ischemia and liver damage, is also used for the treatment of osteoporosis and hypercalcemia. The other member of the genus Nardostachys, N. chinensis, possesses antifungal and antimalarial properties. It is also used in the treatment of skin dysfunction. A short summary of the chemical constituents of the two species along with their physical and biological properties is reported