Collaborative Management of Intermodal Mobility

Part 21: Mobility and Logistics

Social Mobility and Demand for Redistribution. A Comparative Analysis

The literature on preferences for redistribution has paid little attention to the effect of social mobility on the demand for redistribution, which is in contrast with the literature on class-voting, where studies on the effect of social mobility has been very common. Some works have addressed this issue but no systematic test of the hypotheses connecting social mobility and preferences has been done. In this paper we use the diagonal reference models to estimate the effect of origin and destination class on preferences for redistribution in a sample of European countries using data from the European Social Survey. Our findings indicate that social origin matters to a little extent to explain preferences, as newcomers tend to adopt the preferences of the destination class. Moreover, we have found only limited evidence supporting the acculturation hypothesis and not support for the status maximization hypothesis. Furthermore, the effect of social origin varies largely between countries. In a second step of the analysis we investigate what are the national factors explaining this variation. The empirical evidence we present leads to conclude that high rates of upward social mobility sharply reduce the effect of social origin on preferences for redistribution

Electroreflectance characterization of AlInGaN/GaN high-electron mobility heterostructures

Room temperature electroreflectance (ER) spectroscopy has been used to study the fundamental properties of AlxInyGa${}_{1-x-y}$N/AlN/GaN heterostructures under different applied bias. The (0001)-oriented heterostructures were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on sapphire. The band gap energy of the AlxInyGa${}_{1-x-y}{\rm{N}}$ layers has been determined from analysis of the ER spectra using Aspnes' model. The obtained values are in good agreement with a nonlinear band gap interpolation equation proposed earlier. Bias-dependent ER allows one to determine the sheet carrier density of the two-dimensional electron gas and the barrier field strength.

NEIGHBORHOOD PERCEPTION OF SAFETY AND THE MOBILITY GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN OLD AGE

Thesis (Master, Community Health & Epidemiology) -- Queen's University, 2016-10-02 21:02:07.735

A probabilistic approach to user mobility prediction for wireless services.

Mobile and wireless networks have long exploited mobility predictions, focused on predicting the future location of given users, to perform more efficient network resource management. In this paper, we present a new approach in which we provide predictions as a probability distribution of the likelihood of moving to a set of future locations. This approach provides wireless services a greater amount of knowledge and enables them to perform more effectively. We present a framework for the evaluation of this new type of predictor, and develop 2 new predictors, HEM and G-Stat. We evaluate our predictors accuracy in predicting future cells for mobile users, using two large geolocation data sets, from MDC [11], [12] and Crawdad [13]. We show that our predictors can successfully predict with as low as an average 2.2% inaccuracy in certain scenarios.

Mobility and satisfaction with lower-limb prostheses and orthoses among users in Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: To investigate patients' mobility and satisfaction with their lower-limb prosthetic or orthotic device and related service delivery in Sierra Leone; to compare groups of patients regarding type and level of assistive device, gender, area of residence, income; and to identify factors associated with satisfaction with the assistive device and service. Methods: A total of 139 patients answered questionnaires, including the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology questionnaire (QUEST 2.0). Results: Eighty-six percent of assistive devices were in use, but half needed repair. Thirty-three percent of patients reported pain when using their assistive device. Patients had difficulties or could not walk at all on: uneven ground (65%); hills (75%); and stairs (66%). Patients were quite satisfied with their assistive device and the service (mean 3.7 out of 5 in QUEST), but reported 886 problems. Approximately half of the patients could not access services. In relation to mobility and service delivery, women, orthotic patients and patients using above-knee assistive devices had the poorest results. The general condition of the assistive device and patients' ability to walk on uneven ground were associated with satisfaction with the assistive devices and service. Conclusion: Patients reported high levels of mobility while using their device although they experienced pain and difficulties walking on challenging surfaces. Limitations in the effectiveness of assistive devices and limited access to follow-up services and repairs were issues desired to be addressed.

Lineage, Marriage, and Social Mobility: the Teles de Meneses Family in the Iberian Courts (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries)

This article discusses the social mobility strategies of the Teles de Meneses family throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, seeking to understand their influence on the family’s social evolution and improved ranking at the court. Marriage policy and service in the Iberian courts are analyzed over three different generations and from two standpoints: first, the preservation of the family’s preacquired status; second, the diversification of the services performed in the various settings where its influence could be exercised. This will highlight the reasons behind the social evolution of this family and the subsequent granting of titles to some of its members.

Fluorescence of nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD)-labeled lipids in model membranes is connected not to lipid mobility but to probe location

Nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD)-labeled lipids are popular fluorescent membrane probes. However, the understanding of important aspects of the photophysics of NBD remains incomplete, including the observed shift in the emission spectrum of NBD-lipids to longer wavelengths following excitation at the red edge of the absorption spectrum (red-edge excitation shift or REES). REES of NBD-lipids in membrane environments has been previously interpreted as reflecting restricted mobility of solvent surrounding the fluorophore. However, this requires a large change in the dipole moment (Dm) of NBD upon excitation. Previous calculations of the value of Dm of NBD in the literature have been carried out using outdated semi-empirical methods, leading to conflicting values. Using up-to-date density functional theory methods, we recalculated the value of Dm and verified that it is rather small (B2 D). Fluorescence measurements confirmed that the value of REES is B16 nm for 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3- phospho-L-serine-N-(NBD) (NBD-PS) in dioleoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles. However, the observed shift is independent of both the temperature and the presence of cholesterol and is therefore insensitive to the mobility and hydration of the membrane. Moreover, red-edge excitation leads to an increased contribution of the decay component with a shorter lifetime, whereas time-resolved emission spectra of NBD-PS displayed an atypical blue shift following excitation. This excludes restrictions to solvent relaxation as the cause of the measured REES and TRES of NBD, pointing instead to the heterogeneous transverse location of probes as the origin of these effects. The latter hypothesis was confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations, from which the calculated heterogeneity of the hydration and location of NBD correlated with the measured fluorescence lifetimes/REES. Globally, our combination of theoretical and experiment-based techniques has led to a considerably improved understanding of the photophysics of NBD and a reinterpretation of its REES in particular.

Exploring chalcolithic diet and mobility of humans and animals from Perdigões site

Chalcolithic diet at Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz) was investigated using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bone collagen. Strontium isotopes of faunal dental enamel were used to establish the site local range and to distinguish the presence of non-local individuals. ATR-FTIR and EA analysis were used to determine the degree of bone diagenesis and to evaluate the reliability of the stable isotopic composition for paleodietary reconstruction. The individuals from which paleodietary results were obtained had a diet based on C3 terrestrial resources and some animal protein. Data from Perdigões site, was compared with the published data from other Iberian Chalcolithic populations. Site comparison revealed that diet through Iberian Peninsula have mainly maintained terrestrial dietary focus consistent with animal husbandry and farming on C3 plants with occasional intake of freshwater or marine resources. Strontium isotopic composition of enamel revealed that some of the individuals from Perdigões site were non-local; Resumo: A dieta de indivíduos do período Calcolítico dos Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz) foi investigada através de análise de isótopos estáveis de carbono e azoto no colagénio ósseo. Isótopos de estrôncio do esmalte dentário de fauna foram utilizados para estabelecer o sinal local dos Perdigões, permitindo distinguir a presença de alguns indivíduos e fauna não-locais. A avaliação da diagénese óssea foi efectuada através de análises realizadas com analisador elementar e com ATR-FTIR, de forma a validar dos resultados isotópicos obtidos. Os indivíduos para os quais foi possivel obter resultados isotópicos de carbono e azoto apresentam uma dieta baseada em recursos terrestres, plantas C3, e alguma proteína animal. A comparação efectuada com outros sitios arqueológicos da Peninsula Ibérica revelaram que a dieta das populações é sobretudo feita à base de plantas C3, com ingestão de alguma proteina animal e ingestão ocasional de produtos marinhos ou provenientes de água doce.

Carbonates and sulfides in orogenic garnet-bearing peridotites from the Ulten Zone as witnesses for Carbon and Sulfur mobility in orogenic settings

Convergent plate boundaries are sites of sustained chemical exchanges between the Earth’s surface and deep geochemical reservoirs, playing a major role in the global cycle of carbon and sulfur. However, carbon and sulfur recycling processes continue to be hotly debated. A critical gap in the knowledge of the whole subduction factory is given by the limited accessibility to the upper mantle residing above the subducting plate, the so-called mantle wedge. This thesis investigates the carbonate and sulfide metasomatism taking place during the whole metamorphic evolution of a mantle wedge involved in the Variscan continental collision. We integrate different detailed geochemical and petrological techniques to orogenic carbonated spinel and garnet peridotites from the Ulten Zone of the Eastern Italian Alps. Our data show that the Ulten Zone peridotite experienced multiple stages of addition and removal of carbon and sulfur throughout its metamorphic evolution, as follows: (1) The Variscan lithospheric mantle was initially depleted and sulfide-poor. It subsequently inherited a sulfur and carbon component during an early metasomatic stage, when hot, H2S-CO2-bearing melts leaving a subduction-modified source percolated the overlying spinel-facies peridotite in the mantle wedge; (2) Under peak eclogite-facies P-T conditions, pervasive carbonation and sulfidation occurred. Heterogeneous melt and fluid sources variably enriched in carbon, isotopically heavy sulfur and radiogenic Sr were involved; (3) Shortly after the attainment of peak-P conditions, peridotite bodies were incorporated in a tectonic mélange with the neighboring gneisses. Here, the Ulten Zone peridotite was exposed to channelized infiltration of hybridized C-O-H fluids that promoted the formation of veinlets of carbonates locally associated with sulfide grains. (4) Upon late retrogression, infiltration of serpentinizing fluids promoted C and S remobilization at shallow crustal levels.

Colocated multiple-input multiple-output radars for smart mobility

In recent years, radars have been used in many applications such as precision agriculture and advanced driver assistant systems. Optimal techniques for the estimation of the number of targets and of their coordinates require solving multidimensional optimization problems entailing huge computational efforts. This has motivated the development of sub-optimal estimation techniques able to achieve good accuracy at a manageable computational cost. Another technical issue in advanced driver assistant systems is the tracking of multiple targets. Even if various filtering techniques have been developed, new efficient and robust algorithms for target tracking can be devised exploiting a probabilistic approach, based on the use of the factor graph and the sum-product algorithm. The two contributions provided by this dissertation are the investigation of the filtering and smoothing problems from a factor graph perspective and the development of efficient algorithms for two and three-dimensional radar imaging. Concerning the first contribution, a new factor graph for filtering is derived and the sum-product rule is applied to this graphical model; this allows to interpret known algorithms and to develop new filtering techniques. Then, a general method, based on graphical modelling, is proposed to derive filtering algorithms that involve a network of interconnected Bayesian filters. Finally, the proposed graphical approach is exploited to devise a new smoothing algorithm. Numerical results for dynamic systems evidence that our algorithms can achieve a better complexity-accuracy tradeoff and tracking capability than other techniques in the literature. Regarding radar imaging, various algorithms are developed for frequency modulated continuous wave radars; these algorithms rely on novel and efficient methods for the detection and estimation of multiple superimposed tones in noise. The accuracy achieved in the presence of multiple closely spaced targets is assessed on the basis of both synthetically generated data and of the measurements acquired through two commercial multiple-input multiple-output radars.

Innovative Infrastructures for Sustainable Mobility in Urban Areas: Protective Asphalt to Prevent Vulnerable Road Users Injuries.

Nell’elaborato viene studiato il fenomeno dell’incidentalità singola delle utenze deboli sulla strada (perdita di controllo, scivolamento ecc..ecc..), con particolare enfasi nell’analizzare le conseguenze traumatiche dovute all’impatto con la superficie stradale. Una nuova tecnologia viene sviluppata per rendere le pavimentazioni di piste ciclabili, marciapiedi e zone pedonali con capacità di assorbimento degli impatti, prevenendo, o riducendo drasticamente, la probabilità e entità di eventi traumatici a seguito di una caduta. Attraverso una stesa di prova avvenuta ad Imola (BO), si sono analizzate e risolte le problematiche dovute alle discrepanze riscontrate fra “costruzione” in laboratorio e costruzione nella realtà urbana. La nuova tecnologia, infatti, è stata studiata come “construction-friendly”, permettendo alle società di costruzione e pavimentazione di stendere il nuovo manto protettivo con strumenti e macchinari tradizionali. Infine l’asfalto modificato è stato testato nei laboratori svedesi del KTH – Royal Institute of Technology per provarne l’efficacia in termini di assorbimento degli impatti. Nel “Drop Impact Test”, test specifico per l’approvazione dei caschi protettivi da bicicletta, l’asfalto modificato ha performato ben al di sotto della soglia di approvazione dei caschi da ciclista, e si colloca in un range di valore di accelerazione lineare perfino al di sotto della soglia di “Low Risk of Injuries”. La nuova tecnologia, inoltre, fa utilizzo di gomma granulata riciclata da pneumatici fuori uso. Tale dettaglio conferisce maggiore sostenibilità al progetto: oltre all’utilizzo di legante a freddo, che diminuisce le emissioni di CO2, e di incentivare l’utilizzo della mobilità dolce attraverso una più sicura rete infrastrutturale, l’utilizzo di gomma riciclata dà nuova vita al materiale che altrimenti andrebbe in discarica e prolunga, così, la vita utile del materiale.

Inclusion in an age of mobility

Learning with mobiles in UK universities is not new and is not novel. It is, in fact, at least 10 years old, well-documented and comparable to activity in universities elsewhere in Western Europe, America and Asia Pacific. Continued and dramatic changes in the ownership, access and expectations of mobiles amongst university students and equally across UK society have suddenly propelled learning with mobiles to centre-stage as a feasible proposition but, it is now argued, only if students can bring-your-own-device. This has already catalysed discussion about authority, agency and control within university settings but the equally significant and profound implications for the inclusion agenda have not been articulated. This paper begins that process. A theoretical framework for social inclusion in this context is considered, identified and discussed. The paper reviews the progress and problems of the substantial and unique programme of mobile learning across UK higher education since 2000 in relation to its stance on inclusion, where this is apparent. These are all well-documented in academic and official sources; the paper does however also draw on the author's involvement in many of the events and initiatives. The paper raises however significant questions about this programme's meaning and direction in a world where now there is more, better, cheaper, faster, newer but different digital technology in the hands of students, potential students and everyone else than there is routinely in the educational institutions themselves. This digital technology, mobile technology, now allows learners to create, own, transform, discuss, discard, share, store and broadcast ideas, opinions, images and information, and to create and transform identities and communities. The paper argues that this epistemological revolution may mean that universities and colleges are no longer credible and authoritative gatekeepers to knowledge and its technologies and so the meaning and relevance of inclusion are much less clear. The paper proposes a new stance on inclusion.