Advanced Traffic Control Center and Research Institutes in Japan

The Japan trip has been made with the following aims: -- To study the most advanced Japanese traffic systems concerning the used concepts for computer control, the applied methodology and the results and experiences obtained in real applications, as well as expected from simulation studies. It was already well known that some of the most advanced traffic control systems are in operation in Japan. On the other hand, no detailed information has been published in English. Therefore, one purpose of the trip was to provide a possibility for personal discussions with leading scientists and engineers on the latest state-of-the-art and about Japanese answers to the questions: What contribution one expects in Japan from advanced computerized urban traffic control systems in the reduction of the serious present and future urban traffic problems, i.e. concerning congestion, accidents and fatalities, endangering of the urban environment (noise and air pollution) and resource consumption (energy, land)? -- The visit was to provide one essential part of the information needed for an international comparative analysis which shall result in a state-of-the-art report of the urban project, leading to a manuscript for a volume on Computerized Urban Traffic Control and Guidance Systems (CUTC) of IIASA's state-of-the-art series. -- One special aim of the trip was to have personal discussions with possible Japanese co-authors to that CUTC volume, who should be asked to prepare case descriptions on advanced Japanese systems. -- The trip should be used for asking some leading Japanese scientists for contributions to the IFAC Workshop "Optimization Applied to Transportation" (Vienna, February 1976), co-sponsored by IIASA

Transportation Systems Analysis

In 1975, IIASA decided to co-sponsor the IFAC Workshop on Optimization Applied to Transportation Systems, scheduled to take place in Vienna from 17 to 19 February, 1976. Professor Howard Raiffa, then Director of IIASA, proposed that the Institute take advantage of the presence in Vienna of transportation experts by holding a small meeting at IIASA. The meeting would identify possibilities for both future in-house transportation research activities and external cooperation with national research institutes in the countries of IIASA National Member Organizations (NMOS)

Evaluation of the toxicity of contaminated sediments in the James River, Virginia

The Virginia State Water Control.Board, in cooperation with the Department of Chemical Oceanography of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has recently conducted periodic chemical surveys of organic pollutants in the sediments of the upper James River. The August 1983 survey showed elevated concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) at Stations ·4 and 7 (Figure 1 and Table 1). Although the reported concentrations were approximately one order· of magnitude lower than those reported in contaminated areas of the Elizabeth River, they were deemed high enough to warrant_ further study based on reported toxicity of Elizabeth River sediments (Hargis et al. 1984; Roberts et al. 1985). The purpose of the present-study was to determine if the sediments from these two sites were contaminated to the extent that they would be acutely toxic to fish