Assessment of estrogenic activity of leachate from automobile tires with two in vitro bioassays

In this study, a combination of enzyme-linked receptor assay (ELRA) and yeast estrogen screen (YES) assay was firstly applied to determine whether automobile tires immersed in fresh water can leach chemicals, which display estrogenic activity. We optimized ELRA substituting the chromogene substrate by a luminescent one, and found that luminescent ELBA was more sensitive to 17 beta-estradiol (17 beta-E2) with a detection limit of 0.016 mu g/l, compared to 0.088 mu g/l in the chromogene version. In ELRA, all tire leachates obviously showed estrogenic activity, which was increased with duration of immersion. Moreover, the leachate from hackled tires showed more potent estrogenicity than that from the whole ones. In comparison to ELRA, no detectable estrogenic activity was found in all tire leachates with YES assay. The results from YES assay further evidenced that antiestrogenic compounds can be leached from tires. As tire leachates contain estrogenic compounds, they could be important pollution sources, potentially harmful to wildlife and human health. Thus, use of shredded tires as road fill or in landfill sites should arouse our attention.

CO2Y the intelligent green solution: minimising carbon emissions by maximising shared travel opportunity.

It is in the interests of everybody that the environment is protected. In view of the recent leaps in environmental awareness it would seem timely and sensible, therefore, for people to pool vehicle resources to minimise the damaging impact of emissions. However, this is often contrary to how complex social systems behave – local decisions made by self-interested individuals often have emergent effects that are in the interests of nobody. For software engineers a major challenge is to help facilitate individual decision-making such that individual preferences can be met, which, when accumulated, minimise adverse effects at the level of the transport system. We introduce this general problem through a concrete example based on vehicle-sharing. Firstly, we outline the kind of complex transportation problem that is directly addressed by our technology (CO2y™ - pronounced “cosy”), and also show how this differs from other more basic software solutions. The CO2y™ architecture is then briefly introduced. We outline the practical advantages of the advanced, intelligent software technology that is designed to satisfy a number of individual preference criteria and thereby find appropriate matches within a population of vehicle-share users. An example scenario of use is put forward, i.e., minimisation of grey-fleets within a medium-sized company. Here we comment on some of the underlying assumptions of the scenario, and how in a detailed real-world situation such assumptions might differ between different companies, and individual users. Finally, we summarise the paper, and conclude by outlining how the problem of pooled transportation is likely to benefit from the further application of emergent, nature-inspired computing technologies. These technologies allow systems-level behaviour to be optimised with explicit representation of individual actors. With these techniques we hope to make real progress in facing the complexity challenges that transportation problems produce.

Sustainable urban transport in Central America - a future without the car?

Is it conceivable to contemplate a future without the car as the center of an urban transportation system? Can emerging economies grow without concomitant growth in car usage? San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is one city at a critical decision point about the future of transportation and mobility. Will it be a sustainable transport future that balances economic, environmental and social needs or will it be the traditional “predict and provide” approach that attempts to expand the capacity of the road system to meet future travel demand. This paper provides some background into the issue for this Central American city by describing the current urban transport system, current plans for improvement and outlines a process for defining a vision for a sustainable transport future in San Pedro Sula. The paper concludes with a challenge to all cities that currently have low automobile ownership rates to consider a sustainable transport system in order to “thrive” with transport choices for all residents rather than “choke” on congestion and the negative side effects thereof.

An econometric analysis of international air travel demand in Saudi Arabia

Abed, S. Y., Ba-Fail, A. O., & Jasimuddin, S. (2001). An econometric analysis of international air travel demand in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Air Transport Management, 7(3), 143-148 RAE2008

Does the Fed Model travel well?

ap Gwilym, Owain, et al., 'Does the Fed Model travel well?', Journal of Portfolio Management (2006) 33(1) pp.68-75 RAE2008

By the equator's snowy peak a record of medical missionary work and travel in British East Africa by E May Crawford

http://www.archive.org/details/equatorssnowype00crawuoft

Ecosystem services : a travel through natural benefits

p.49-60

Ecosystem services : a travel through natural benefits

p.49-60

The role of evacuation and fire modelling in the development of safer air travel

Computer based mathematical models describing the aircraft evacuation process and aircraft fire have a role to play in the design and development of safer aircraft, in the implementaion of safer and more rigorous certification criteria and in post mortuum accident investigation. As the cost and risk involved in performing large-scale fire/evacuation experiments for the next generation 'Very Large Aircraft' (VLA) are expected to be high, the development and use of these modelling tools may become essential if these aircraft are to prove a viable reality. By describing the present capabililties and limitations of the EXODUS evacuation model and associated fire models, this paper will examine the future development and data requirements of these models.

The role of evacuation modelling in the development of safer air travel

Computer based mathematical models describing the aircraft evacuation process have a vital role to play in the design and development of safer aircraft, in the implementation of safer and more rigorous certification criteria and in post mortuuum accident investigation. As the risk of personal injury and costs involved in performing large-scale evacuation experiments for the next generation 'Ultra High Capacity Aircraft' (UHCA) are expected to be high, the development and use of these evacuation modelling tools may become essential if these aircraft are to prove a viable reality. In this paper the capabilities and limitation of the air-EXODUS evacuation model are described. Its successful application to the prediction of a recent certificaiton trial, prior to the actual trial taking place, is described. Also described is a newly defined parameter known as OPS which can be used as a measure of evacuation trial optimality. Finally, the data requirements of aircraft evacuation models is discussed along with several projects currently underway at the University of Greenwich designed to obtain this data. Included in this discussion is a description of the AASK - Aircraft Accident Statistics and Knowledge - data base which contains detailed information from aircraft accident survivors.

The UK WTC 9/11 evacuation study: an overview of the methodologies employed and some analysis relating to fatigue, stair travel speeds and occupant response times

This paper briefly describes the methodologies employed in the collection and storage of first-hand accounts of evacuation experiences derived from face-to-face interviews with evacuees from the World Trade Center (WTC) Twin Towers complex on 11 September 2001 and the development of the High-rise Evacuation Evaluation Database (HEED). The main focus of the paper is to present an overview of preliminary analysis of data derived from the evacuation of the North Tower.