3,803 research outputs found
Constant net-time headway as key mechanism behind pedestrian flow dynamics
We show that keeping a constant lower limit on the net-time headway is the
key mechanism behind the dynamics of pedestrian streams. There is a large
variety in flow and speed as functions of density for empirical data of
pedestrian streams, obtained from studies in different countries. The net-time
headway however, stays approximately constant over all these different data
sets. By using this fact, we demonstrate how the underlying dynamics of
pedestrian crowds, naturally follows from local interactions. This means that
there is no need to come up with an arbitrary fit function (with arbitrary fit
parameters) as has traditionally been done. Further, by using not only the
average density values, but the variance as well, we show how the recently
reported stop-and-go waves [Helbing et al., Physical Review E, 75, 046109]
emerge when local density variations take values exceeding a certain maximum
global (average) density, which makes pedestrians stop.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Betamethasone in prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting following breast surgery.
To investigate whether betamethasone decreases the incidence of postoperative nausea/vomiting (PONV) and reduces postoperative pain following partial mastectomy
Analytical Modelling of the Spread of Disease in Confined and Crowded Spaces
Since 1927, until recently, models describing the spread of disease have
mostly been of the SIR-compartmental type, based on the assumption that
populations are homogeneous and well-mixed. The focus of these models have
typically been on large-scale analysis of scenarios such as cities, nations or
even world scale. SIR models are appealing because of their simplicity, but
their parameters, especially the transmission rate, are complex and depend on a
number of factors, which makes it hard to predict how a change of a single
environmental, demographic, or epidemiological factor will affect the
population. Therefore, in this contribution we start to unpick the
transmission-rate parameter. Analysing the implications that arise when taking
crowd behaviour explicitly into account, we show how both the rate of infection
as well as the walking speed depend on the local crowd density around an
infected individual. The combined effect is that the rate of infection at a
population scale has an analytically tractable non-linear dependency on crowd
density. We model the spread of a hypothetical disease in a corridor and
compare our new model with a typical compartmental model, which highlights the
regime in which current models may not produce credible results
Gravity vs radiation model: on the importance of scale and heterogeneity in commuting flows
We test the recently introduced radiation model against the gravity model for
the system composed of England and Wales, both for commuting patterns and for
public transportation flows. The analysis is performed both at macroscopic
scales, i.e. at the national scale, and at microscopic scales, i.e. at the city
level. It is shown that the thermodynamic limit assumption for the original
radiation model significantly underestimates the commuting flows for large
cities. We then generalize the radiation model, introducing the correct
normalisation factor for finite systems. We show that even if the gravity model
has a better overall performance the parameter-free radiation model gives
competitive results, especially for large scales.Comment: in press Phys. Rev. E, 201
Fall risk assessment predicts fall-related injury, hip fracture, and head injury in older adults
Objectives To investigate the role of a fall risk assessment, using the Downton Fall Risk Index (DFRI), in predicting fallârelated injury, fallârelated head injury and hip fracture, and death, in a large cohort of older women and men residing in Sweden. Design Cross sectional observational study. Setting Sweden. Participants Older adults (mean age 82.4 ± 7.8) who had a fall risk assessment using the DFRI at baseline (N = 128,596). Measurements Information on all fallârelated injuries, all fallârelated head injuries and hip fractures, and allâcause mortality was collected from the Swedish Patient Register and Cause of Death Register. The predictive role of DFRI was calculated using Poisson regression models with age, sex, height, weight, and comorbidities as covariates, taking time to outcome or end of study into account. Results During a median followâup of 253 days (interquartile range 90â402 days) (>80,000 patientâyears), 15,299 participants had a fallârelated injury, 2,864 a head injury, and 2,557 a hip fracture, and 23,307 died. High fall risk (DFRI â„3) independently predicted fallârelated injury (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.39â1.49), hip fracture (HR = 1.51, 95% CI =1.38â1.66), head injury (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.03â1.22), and allâcause mortality (HR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.35â1.43). DFRI more strongly predicted head injury (HR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.21â1.36 vs HR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.04â1.11) and hip fracture (HR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.30â1.53 vs HR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.05â1.11) in 70âyear old men than in 90âyear old women (P < .001). Conclusion Fall risk assessment using DFRI independently predicts fallârelated injury, fallârelated head injury and hip fracture, and allâcause mortality in older men and women, indicating its clinical usefulness to identify individuals who would benefit from interventions
Realtime implementation of a particle filter with integrated voice activity detector for acoustic speaker tracking
Abstract-In noisy and reverberant environments, the problem of acoustic source localisation and tracking (ASLT) using an array of microphones presents a number of challenging difficulties. One of the main issues when considering real-world situations involving human speakers is the temporally discontinuous nature of speech signals: the presence of silence gaps in the speech can easily misguide the tracking algorithm, even in practical environments with low to moderate noise and reverberation levels. This work focuses on a realtime implementation of the ASLT algorithm proposed in [1], which circumvents this problem by integrating measurements from a voice activity detector (VAD) within the tracking algorithm framework. The algorithm is here optimized for low computational complexity, and is implemented on a PC based real-time system. The resulting computational load is calculated and is presented along with real measurements of the true execution speed for the considered algorithm implementation. The results show that the algorithm is suitable for implementation in currently existing low-power embedded systems
Ability of tropical forest soils of French Guiana and Reunion to depollute woods impregnated with biocides
Our study sought to fine-tune knowledge about those microorganisms, particularly wood-decaying fungi degrading pollutants in situ. With a view to the depollution or bioremediation of treated woods, wood-decaying microorganisms from tropical forest soils in French Guiana and the island of Reunion were assessed for their ability to degrade toxic biocides such as pentachlorophenol (PCP) or copper chromium arsenic compounds (CCA). The degradation of red pine (Pinus resinosa) test pieces was monitored and it was found that the soil from French Guiana was more efficient than the soil from Reunion in terms of microbial activity in relation to these two biocides. A significant difference in weight loss was found for the red pinetest pieces treated with CCA and PCP, varying in a ratio of one to two (18% and 30%, respectively). In addition, a study of wood and soil fungus communities using D-HPLC and CE-SSCP, then analysed by a PCA, showed that biocide products leached into the soil had an impact on the fungus communities, which differed depending on the sampling time and on the wood treatment. Lastly, these results confirmed that CCA was less leachable and less degradable by microorganisms in these soils than PCP. (Résumé d'auteur
Criminal Law: Customerâs Permanent Exclusion From Retail Store Due to Prior Shoplifting Arrests Held Enforceable Under Criminal Trespass Statute
In interpretive research, trustworthiness has developed to become an important alternative for measuring the value of research and its effects, as well as leading the way of providing for rigour in the research process. The article develops the argument that trustworthiness plays an important role in not only effecting change in a research projectâs original setting, but also that trustworthy research contributes toward building a body of knowledge that can play an important role in societal change. An essential aspect in the development of this trustworthiness is its relationship to context. To deal with the multiplicity of meanings of context, we distinguish between contexts at different levels of the research project: the domains of the researcher, the collective, and the individual participant. Furthermore, we argue that depending on the primary purpose associated with the collective learning potential, critical potential, or performative potential of phenomenographic research, developing trustworthiness may take different forms and is related to aspects of pedagogical legitimacy, social legitimacy, and epistemological legitimacy. Trustworthiness in phenomenographic research is further analysed by distinguishing between the internal horizon â the constitution of trustworthiness as it takes place within the research project â and the external horizon, which points to the impact of the phenomenographic project in the world mediated by trustworthiness
- âŠ