Fuel injection is one of the most important processes in compression-ignition internal combustion engines owing to its significant impact on the exhaust emissions and thermal efficiency. In this study, experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of injection pressure and injection timing on the temporal evolution of the injection rate and injection duration in a specially designed ex

Sequencing of immunoglobulin germline gene loci is a challenging process, e.g. due to their repetitiveness and complexity, hence limiting the insight in the germline gene repertoire of humans and other species. Through next generation sequencing technology, it is possible to generate immunoglobulin transcript data sets large enough to computationally infer the germline genes from which the transcr

Background: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) carries risk of sudden death. We hypothesize that the S-wave angle differentiates ARVD/C with otherwise normal electrocardiograms from controls. Materials and methods: All patients met Task Force 2010 definite ARVD/C criteria. ARVD/C patients without Task Force depolarization/repolarization criteria (−ECG) were compared

Fundamental to regulatory guidelines is to identify chemicals that are implicated with adverse human health effects and inform public health risk assessors about “acceptable ranges” of such environmental exposures (e.g., from consumer products and pesticides). The process is made more difficult when accounting for complex human exposures to multiple environmental chemicals. Herein we propose a new

Cell line-based proteomics studies are susceptible to intrinsic biological variation that contributes to increasing false positive claims; most of the methods that follow these changes offer a limited understanding of the biological system. We applied a quantitative proteomic strategy (iTRAQ) to detect intrinsic protein variation across SH-SY5Y cell culture replicates. More than 95% of the quantif

Results of a search for gluino pair production with subsequent R-parity-violating decays to quarks are presented. This search uses 36.1 fb−1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV at the LHC. The analysis is performed using requirements on the number of jets and the number of jets tagged as containing a b-hadron as well as a top

We propose a formulation of the Network Design Problem (NDP) to support transport planners in dealing with multimodal networks in contexts characterised by different (and sometimes conflicting) interests and limited resources in a transparent way. We expect that the implementation of the method can increase the acceptability of transport schemes. The proposed formulation expands the scope of tradi

Over the past decade, the number of ongoing bike-sharing programs has remarkably risen. In this framework, operators need appropriate methodologies to support them in optimizing the allocation of their resources to globally enhance the bike-sharing program, even without massive and costly interventions on the existing configuration of the system. In this paper, we propose an optimization model abl

Given the growing importance of bike-sharing systems nowadays, in this paper we suggest an alternative approach to mitigate the most crucial problem related to them: the imbalance of bicycles between zones owing to one-way trips. In particular, we focus on the emerging free-floating systems, where bikes can be delivered or picked-up almost everywhere in the network and not just at dedicated dockin

In the transportation literature, equity has been and is still used with a variety of meanings and purposes. Traditionally, equity has been considered in strategic transport planning but very few works have been addressing it in a quantitative way, detailing how to explicitly consider it at a transportation design level (tactical and/or operational) focusing on the consequent social role of transp

Free-floating bike sharing systems are an emerging new generation of bike rentals, that eliminates the need for specific stations and allows to leave a bicycle (almost) everywhere in the network. Although free-floating bikes allow much greater spontaneity and flexibility for the user, they need additional operational challenges especially in facing the bike relocation process. Then, we suggest a m

In transportation planning, solutions designed to meet objectives of equity and social inclusion have to be achieved. From this standpoint, most of Network Design Problem (NDP) models aim at identifying the optimal layout of transportation networks by deterministic bi-level problems formulation to reflect the different goals of at least two decision makers (the network users and the planner). Cons

Recently, vehicle sharing emerged as a new type of mobility service. In particular, if these systems happen to be free-floating, their operating area is typically located within the city and vehicles could be picked-up and parked in any permitted spot, and not only at predetermined stations. This specific feature enables everyone to pick-up and drop-off a rented vehicle close to his demand points,

Equity refers to a fair sharing of costs or resources. Horizontal equity concerns distribution among individuals or groups with the same necessities, whereas vertical equity should be considered in situations with different levels of needs. This paper deals with transit service, looking at how to make it equitable from a spatial and social point of view. Traditionally equity has been neglected in

Promoting a more sustainable development of urban realities is one of the most important goals of the recent decades. One possible strategy to undertake in order to achieve this objective is the implementation of a road pricing: tolling private cars when passing by certain roads of the network could be a way to tone down the traffic congestion and, at the same time, encourage the shifting towards

Most of the models for solving the transportation Network Design Problem (NDP) often neglect equity goals that, assuming the societal function of transportation systems, should play an important role. The NDP should be addressed to solutions in which the outcomes of the design (costs and/or benefits) are distributed as fairly as possible among the potential users or class of users. In this paper,

The attractiveness of cycling-and in particular of bike-sharing systems-as a sustainable alternative of transportation is constantly growing, given the undeniable benefits associated with it. The aim of this paper is to present a multi-objective model based on a Fuzzy Inference System to be embedded in a mobile application that could assist cyclists in the selection of the smartest route to follow

Background: Geraniol is a widely used fragrance terpene, and is included in fragrance mix I. Geraniol is prone to autoxidation, forming the skin sensitizers geranial, neral, and geraniol-7-hydroperoxide. Oxidized geraniol has previously been patch tested in 1 clinic, giving 1% to 4.6% positive reactions in consecutive patients when tested at 2% to 11%. Aim: To compare test reactions to pure and ox

Paleogeographic proximity of Baltica and Laurentia in the supercontinent Rodinia has been widely accepted. However, robust paleomagnetic poles are still scarce, hampering quantitative tests of proposed relative positions of the two cratons. A recent paleomagnetic study of the early Neoproterozoic Blekinge-Dalarna dolerite (BDD) dykes in Sweden provided a 946–935 Ma key pole for Baltica, but earlie

The Archean Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia hosts at least five generations of Proterozoic mafic dykes, the oldest previously identified dykes belonging to the ca. 2408–2401 Ma Widgiemooltha Supersuite. We report here the first known Archean mafic dyke dated at 2615 ± 6 Ma by the ID-TIMS U-Pb method on baddeleyite and at 2610 ± 25 Ma using in situ SHRIMP U-Pb dating of baddeleyite. Aeromagneti