Large area noise evaluation

A software tool (DRONE) has been developed to evaluate road traffic noise in a large area with the consideration of network dynamic traffic flow and the buildings. For more precise estimation of noise in urban network where vehicles are mainly in stop and go running conditions, vehicle sound power level (for acceleration/deceleration cruising and ideal vehicle) is incorporated in DRONE. The calculation performance of DRONE is increased by evaluating the noise in two steps of first estimating the unit noise database and then integrating it with traffic simulation. Details of the process from traffic simulation to contour maps are discussed in the paper and the implementation of DRONE on Tsukuba city is presented.

The dual orexin/hypocretin receptor antagonist, almorexant, in the ventral tegmental area attenuates ethanol self-administration

Recent studies have implicated the hypocretin/orexinergic system in reward-seeking behavior. Almorexant, a dual orexin/hypocretin R1 and R2 receptor antagonist, has proven effective in preclinical studies in promoting sleep in animal models and was in Phase III clinical trials for sleep disorders. The present study combines behavioral assays with in vitro biochemical and electrophysiological techniques to elucidate the role of almorexant in ethanol and sucrose intake. Using an operant self-administration paradigm, we demonstrate that systemic administration of almorexant decreased operant selfadministration of both 20% ethanol and 5% sucrose. We further demonstrate that intraventral tegmental area (VTA) infusions, but not intra substantia nigra infusions, of almorexant reduced ethanol self-administration. Extracellular recordings performed in VTA neurons revealed that orexin-A increased firing and this enhancement of firing was blocked by almorexant. The results demonstrate that orexin/hypocretin receptors in distinct brain regions regulate ethanol and sucrose mediated behaviors.

One-year delayed effect of fog on malaria transmission : a time-series analysis in the rain forest area of Mengla County, south-west China

Background: Malaria is a major public health burden in the tropics with the potential to significantly increase in response to climate change. Analyses of data from the recent past can elucidate how short-term variations in weather factors affect malaria transmission. This study explored the impact of climate variability on the transmission of malaria in the tropical rain forest area of Mengla County, south-west China. Methods: Ecological time-series analysis was performed on data collected between 1971 and 1999. Auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were used to evaluate the relationship between weather factors and malaria incidence. Results: At the time scale of months, the predictors for malaria incidence included: minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and fog day frequency. The effect of minimum temperature on malaria incidence was greater in the cool months than in the hot months. The fog day frequency in October had a positive effect on malaria incidence in May of the following year. At the time scale of years, the annual fog day frequency was the only weather predictor of the annual incidence of malaria. Conclusion: Fog day frequency was for the first time found to be a predictor of malaria incidence in a rain forest area. The one-year delayed effect of fog on malaria transmission may involve providing water input and maintaining aquatic breeding sites for mosquitoes in vulnerable times when there is little rainfall in the 6-month dry seasons. These findings should be considered in the prediction of future patterns of malaria for similar tropical rain forest areas worldwide.

Comparing the availability, price, variety and quality of fruits and vegetables across retail outlets and by area level socioeconomic position

Abstract Objective: To explore whether area-level socioeconomic position or the form of retail stream (conventional versus farmers’ market) are associated with differences in the price, availability, variety and quality of a range of fresh fruit and vegetables. Design: A multi-site cross-sectional pilot study of farmers’ markets, supermarkets and independent fruit and vegetable retailers. Each was surveyed to assess the price, availability, variety and quality of 15 fruit and 18 vegetable items. Setting: Retail outlets were located in South-East Queensland. Subjects: Fifteen retail outlets were surveyed (five of each retail stream). Results: Average basket prices were not significantly different across the socioeconomic spectrum however prices in low socioeconomic areas were cheapest. Availability, variety, and quality did not differ across levels of socioeconomic position however the areas with the most socioeconomic disadvantage scored poorest for quality and variety. Supermarkets had significantly better fruit and vegetable availability than farmers’ markets however price, variety and quality scores were not different across retail streams. Results demonstrate a trend to fruit and vegetable prices being more expensive at farmers’ markets, with the price of the Fruit basket being significantly greater at the organic farmer’s market compared with the non-organic farmers’ markets. Conclusions: Neither area-level socioeconomic position nor the form of retail stream was significantly associated with differences in the availability, price, variety and quality of fruit and vegetables, except for availability which was higher in supermarkets than farmers’ markets. Further research is needed to determine what role farmers’ markets can play in affecting fruit and vegetable intake.

Dynamic equivalent state estimation for multi-area power systems with synchronized phasor measurement units

This paper proposes a new approach for state estimation of angles and frequencies of equivalent areas in large power systems with synchronized phasor measurement units. Defining coherent generators and their correspondent areas, generators are aggregated and system reduction is performed in each area of inter-connected power systems. The structure of the reduced system is obtained based on the characteristics of the reduced linear model and measurement data to form the non-linear model of the reduced system. Then a Kalman estimator is designed for the reduced system to provide an equivalent dynamic system state estimation using the synchronized phasor measurement data. The method is simulated on two test systems to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method.

An ingenuous Decision Support System (iDSS) approach for remote area pregnant women

This paper addresses development of an ingenious decision support system (iDSS) based on the methodology of survey instruments and identification of significant variables to be used in iDSS using statistical analysis. A survey was undertaken with pregnant women and factorial experimental design was chosen to acquire sample size. Variables with good reliability in any one of the statistical techniques such as Chi-square, Cronbach’s α and Classification Tree were incorporated in the iDSS. The ingenious decision support system was implemented with Visual Basic as front end and Microsoft SQL server management as backend. Outcome of the ingenious decision support system include advice on Symptoms, Diet and Exercise to pregnant women.

Managing intensified urban development and industrial uses in Qld : affected area notations

The Queensland government planning policies actively encourage increased dwelling density, sustainable infill development and transit oriented development to maximise land use and minimise urban sprawl. One of the detriments of such a policy is the potential for intensified residential development to create conflict between lawfully operating existing industrial uses and residences. In particular the government is concerned that intensified urban development will increase the risk of litigation from landowners and tenants detrimentally affected by the emission of aerosols, fumes, light, noise, odour, particles or smoke from existing industrial premises.

Multi-area reliability assessment of interconnected generating systems using hybrid approach

This paper present an efficient method using system state sampling technique in Monte Carlo simulation for reliability evaluation of multi-area power systems, at Hierarchical Level One (HLI). System state sampling is one of the common methods used in Monte Carlo simulation. The cpu time and memory requirement can be a problem, using this method. Combination of analytical and Monte Carlo method known as Hybrid method, as presented in this paper, can enhance the efficiency of the solution. Incorporation of load model in this study can be utilised either by sampling or enumeration. Both cases are examined in this paper, by application of the methods on Roy Billinton Test System(RBTS).

Targeted flight opportunities with large area collectors

A major factor in the stratospheric collection process is the relative density of particles at the collection altitude. With current aircraft-borne collector plate geometries, one potential extraterrestrial particle of about 10 micron diameter is collected approximately every hour. However, a new design for the collector plate, termed the Large Area Collector (LAC), allows a factor of 10 improvement in collection efficiency over current conventional geometry. The implementation of LAC design on future stratospheric collection flights will provide many opportunities for additional data on both terrestrial and extraterrestrial phenomena. With the improvement in collection efficiency, LAC's may provide a suitable number of potential extraterrestrial particles in one short flight of between 4 and 8 hours duration. Alternatively, total collection periods of approximately 40 hours enhance the probability that rare particles can be retrieved from the stratosphere. This latter approach is of great value for the cosmochemist who may wish to perform sophisticated analyses on interplanetary dust greater than a picogram. The former approach, involving short duration flights, may also provide invaluable data on the source of many extraterrestrial particles. The time dependence of particle entry to the collection altitude is an important parameter which may be correlated with specific global events (e.g., meteoroid streams) provided the collection time is known to an accuracy of 2 hours.

Multilevel determinants of breast cancer survival : association with geographic remoteness and area-level socioeconomic disadvantage

A major priority for cancer control agencies is to reduce geographical inequalities in cancer outcomes. While the poorer breast cancer survival among socioeconomically disadvantaged women is well established, few studies have looked at the independent contribution that area- and individual-level factors make to breast cancer survival. Here we examine relationships between geographic remoteness, area-level socioeconomic disadvantage and breast cancer survival after adjustment for patients’ socio- demographic characteristics and stage at diagnosis. Multilevel logistic regression and Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation were used to analyze 18 568 breast cancer cases extracted from the Queensland Cancer Registry for women aged 30 to 70 years diagnosed between 1997 and 2006 from 478 Statistical Local Areas in Queensland, Australia. Independent of individual-level factors, area-level disadvantage was associated with breast-cancer survival (p=0.032). Compared to women in the least disadvantaged quintile (Quintile 5), women diagnosed while resident in one of the remaining four quintiles had significantly worse survival (OR 1.23, 1.27, 1.30, 1.37 for Quintiles 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively).) Geographic remoteness was not related to lower survival after multivariable adjustment. There was no evidence that the impact of area-level disadvantage varied by geographic remoteness. At the individual level, Indigenous status, blue collar occupations and advanced disease were important predictors of poorer survival. A woman’s survival after a diagnosis of breast cancer depends on the socio-economic characteristics of the area where she lives, independently of her individual-level characteristics. It is crucial that the underlying reasons for these inequalities be identified to appropriately target policies, resources and effective intervention strategies.

Factors affecting the stability analysis of earth dam slopes subjected to reservoir drawdown

The drawdown of reservoirs can significantly affect the stability of upstream slopes of earth dams. This is due to the removal of the balancing hydraulic forces acting on the dams and the undrained condition within the upstream slope soils. In such scenarios, the stability of the slopes can be influenced by a range of factors including drawdown rates, slope inclination and soil properties. This paper investigates the effects of drawdown rate, saturated hydraulic conductivity and unsaturated shear strength of dam materials on the stability of the upstream slope of an earth dam. In this study, the analysis of pore-water pressure changes within the upstream slope during reservoir drawdown was coupled with the slope stability analysis using the general limit equilibrium method. The results of the analysis suggested that a decrease in the reservoir water level caused the stability of the upstream slope to decrease. The dam embankment constructed with highly permeable soil was found to be more stable during drawdown scenarios, compared to others. Further, lower drawdown rates resulted in a higher safety factor for the upstream slope. Also, the safety factor of the slope calculated using saturated shear strength properties of the dam materials was slightly higher than that calculated using unsaturated shear strength properties. In general, for all the scenarios analysed, the lowest safety factor was found to be at the reservoir water level of about 2/3 of drawdown regime.