The use of Open Data for estimating rail accessibility in Europe

Accessibility is a greatly significant concept for evaluating spatial interactions and transport systems attractiveness. The ability to accurately measure accessibility is becoming more and more crucial for setting up policies aimed to increase the competitiveness of a transport system by fostering resource efficient modes such as rail. Nevertheless, several rail accessibility studies consider only static variables, such as distance, average speed and travel time, neglecting the temporal components of the considered variables. These limitations are often due to the lack of detailed data. In order to overcome the mentioned weaknesses, this paper presents a comprehensive methodology aimed to evaluate passenger rail accessibility using open data from both time-based GTFS sources and Eurostat geographical layers. Based on passenger train timetable, a set of accessibility indicators are built for allowing a comprehensive analysis of railway connections. The analysis is performed taking into account the Eurostat Local Administrative Units (LAU level 2, municipalities or equivalent units) and the main urban centers definition based on the concept of Greater City established by EC DG REGIO and OECD. The developed methodology is then applied to three European countries (Netherlands, Great Britain and France) where GTFS data are currently available.JRC.J.1-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

Game Theoretic Strategies for Spacecraft Rendezvous and Motion Synchronization

The rendezvous problem between two active spacecraft is formulated as a two player nonzero-sum differential game. The local-vertical local-horizontal (LVLH) rotating reference frame is used to describe the dynamics of the game. Linear quadratic cooperative and noncooperative differential games are applied to obtain a feedback control law. A comparison between Pareto and Nash equilibria was then performed. The state-dependent Riccati equation (SDRE) method is applied to extend the Linear Quadratic differential game theory to obtain a feedback controller in the case of nonlinear relative motion dynamics. Finally, a multiplayer sequential game strategy is synthesized to extend the control law to the relative motion synchronization of multiple vehicles

Pianificare la mobilità urbana attraverso la cooperazione internazionale: l’esperienza del piano urbano della mobilità sostenibile di Herat

This paper deals with the planning process that led to the development of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) for the city of Herat, Afghanistan. Such planning experience is illustrated here with the aim of highlighting how the cooperative approach is applied to this case study, while trying to match the planning process to the local culture and to the essence of the Islamic city. If on one hand, the international cooperation brought a modern vision of urban mobility, aimed at increasing the levels of social, economic, and environmental sustainability, on the other hand the peculiarity of Herat’s urban context essentially influenced the planning process, for what concerned both methodology and results

Measuring the impact of institutional and territorial drivers for an efficient and smooth Mobility as a Service (MaaS) implementation : a global analysis

Published online: May 2024Urban mobility plays a key role for the promotion of the socio-economic development of a country. Particularly, MaaS platforms are important for those daily journeys made by travellers that must be in a place by a certain time. Although, MaaS is the natural evolution of older supply models, it has a revolutionary impact on people’s lives. MaaS can optimize resources, urban space, reduce time spent travelling, lower costs and pollution. The present study aims at estimating the impact of a set of political and territorial drivers on MaaS implementation. The research is carried out using a composite set of indicators – 70 MaaS platforms in over 30 countries – for measuring how MaaS platforms perform in different territories. Results demonstrate a positive relationship between policies incentivising mobility services and business performance on those territories, and string territorial differences across the regions analysed

User Satisfaction of Accessibility to Public Transportation

This study evaluates user satisfaction with the bus in urban areas to improve public transportation services. Thus, bus facilities, bus accessibility, safety, and fare are critical dimensions for investigating user satisfaction when accessing buses in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 450 questionnaires were collected using a descriptive design and quantitative approach. The results show that the factors that need to be emphasized are bus accessibility and public transport facility factors. This study assists transportation authorities in addressing low-satisfaction areas to improve bus services and enhance overall public transportation use

Downregulation of exosomal miR-204-5p and miR-632 as a biomarker for FTD: A GENFI study

Objective: To determine whether exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) can serve as diagnostic biomarkers, we assessed miRNA expression in the Genetic Frontotemporal Dementia Initiative (GENFI) cohort and in sporadic FTD. Methods: GENFI participants were either carriers of a pathogenic mutation in progranulin, chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 or microtubule-associated protein tau or were at risk of carrying a mutation because a first-degree relative was a known symptomatic mutation carrier. Exosomes were isolated from CSF of 23 presymptomatic and 15 symptomatic mutation carriers and 11 healthy non-mutation carriers. Expression of 752 miRNAs was measured using quantitative PCR (qPCR) arrays and validated by qPCR using individual primers. MiRNAs found differentially expressed in symptomatic compared with presymptomatic mutation carriers were further evaluated in a cohort of 17 patients with sporadic FTD, 13 patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 10 healthy controls (HCs) of similar age. Results: In the GENFI cohort, miR-204-5p and miR-632 were significantly decreased in symptomatic compared with presymptomatic mutation carriers. Decrease of miR-204-5p and miR-632 revealed receiver operator characteristics with an area of 0.89 (90% CI 0.79 to 0.98) and 0.81 (90% CI 0.68 to 0.93), respectively, and when combined an area of 0.93 (90% CI 0.87 to 0.99). In sporadic FTD, only miR-632 was significantly decreased compared with AD and HCs. Decrease of miR-632 revealed an area of 0.90 (90% CI 0.81 to 0.98). Conclusions: Exosomal miR-204-5p and miR-632 have potential as diagnostic biomarkers for genetic FTD and miR-632 also for sporadic FTD

Head-to-Head Comparison of Poxvirus NYVAC and ALVAC Vectors Expressing Identical HIV-1 Clade C Immunogens in Prime-Boost Combination with Env Protein in Nonhuman Primates.

UNLABELLED: We compared the HIV-1-specific cellular and humoral immune responses elicited in rhesus macaques immunized with two poxvirus vectors (NYVAC and ALVAC) expressing the same HIV-1 antigens from clade C, Env gp140 as a trimeric cell-released protein and a Gag-Pol-Nef polyprotein as Gag-induced virus-like particles (VLPs) (referred to as NYVAC-C and ALVAC-C). The immunization protocol consisted of two doses of the corresponding poxvirus vector plus two doses of a combination of the poxvirus vector and a purified HIV-1 gp120 protein from clade C. This immunogenicity profile was also compared to that elicited by vaccine regimens consisting of two doses of the ALVAC vector expressing HIV-1 antigens from clades B/E (ALVAC-vCP1521) plus two doses of a combination of ALVAC-vCP1521 and HIV-1 gp120 protein from clades B/E (similar to the RV144 trial regimen) or clade C. The results showed that immunization of macaques with NYVAC-C stimulated at different times more potent HIV-1-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses and induced a trend toward higher-magnitude HIV-1-specific CD8(+) T-cell immune responses than did ALVAC-C. Furthermore, NYVAC-C induced a trend toward higher levels of binding IgG antibodies against clade C HIV-1 gp140, gp120, or murine leukemia virus (MuLV) gp70-scaffolded V1/V2 and toward best cross-clade-binding IgG responses against HIV-1 gp140 from clades A, B, and group M consensus, than did ALVAC-C. Of the linear binding IgG responses, most were directed against the V3 loop in all immunization groups. Additionally, NYVAC-C and ALVAC-C also induced similar levels of HIV-1-neutralizing antibodies and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses. Interestingly, binding IgA antibody levels against HIV-1 gp120 or MuLV gp70-scaffolded V1/V2 were absent or very low in all immunization groups. Overall, these results provide a comprehensive survey of the immunogenicity of NYVAC versus ALVAC expressing HIV-1 antigens in nonhuman primates and indicate that NYVAC may represent an alternative candidate to ALVAC in the development of a future HIV-1 vaccine. IMPORTANCE: The finding of a safe and effective HIV/AIDS vaccine immunogen is one of the main research priorities. Here, we generated two poxvirus-based HIV vaccine candidates (NYVAC and ALVAC vectors) expressing the same clade C HIV-1 antigens in separate vectors, and we analyzed in nonhuman primates their immunogenicity profiles. The results showed that immunization with NYVAC-C induced a trend toward higher HIV-1-specific cellular and humoral immune responses than did ALVAC-C, indicating that this new NYVAC vector could be a novel optimized HIV/AIDS vaccine candidate for human clinical trials.This investigation was supported by the PTVDC/CAVD program with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Humoral immune monitoring data was supported by the BMGF CAVIMC 1032144 grant and the NIH/NIAID Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) 5P30 AI064518. Novartis Vaccines received support for this work under contract number HHSN266200500007C from DAIDS-NIAID-NIH.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://jvi.asm.org/content/early/2015/05/29/JVI.01265-15.abstract

Presymptomatic cognitive and neuroanatomical changes in genetic frontotemporal dementia in the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia Initiative (GENFI) study: A cross-sectional analysis

Background: Frontotemporal dementia is a highly heritable neurodegenerative disorder. In about a third of patients, the disease is caused by autosomal dominant genetic mutations usually in one of three genes: progranulin (. GRN), microtubule-associated protein tau (. MAPT), or chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (. C9orf72). Findings from studies of other genetic dementias have shown neuroimaging and cognitive changes before symptoms onset, and we aimed to identify whether such changes could be shown in frontotemporal dementia. Methods: We recruited participants to this multicentre study who either were known carriers of a pathogenic mutation in GRN, MAPT, or C9orf72, or were at risk of carrying a mutation because a first-degree relative was a known symptomatic carrier. We calculated time to expected onset as the difference between age at assessment and mean age at onset within the family. Participants underwent a standardised clinical assessment and neuropsychological battery. We did MRI and generated cortical and subcortical volumes using a parcellation of the volumetric T1-weighted scan. We used linear mixed-effects models to examine whether the association of neuropsychology and imaging measures with time to expected onset of symptoms differed between mutation carriers and non-carriers. Findings: Between Jan 30, 2012, and Sept 15, 2013, we recruited participants from 11 research sites in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada. We analysed data from 220 participants: 118 mutation carriers (40 symptomatic and 78 asymptomatic) and 102 non-carriers. For neuropsychology measures, we noted the earliest significant differences between mutation carriers and non-carriers 5 years before expected onset, when differences were significant for all measures except for tests of immediate recall and verbal fluency. We noted the largest Z score differences between carriers and non-carriers 5 years before expected onset in tests of naming (Boston Naming Test -0·7; SE 0·3) and executive function (Trail Making Test Part B, Digit Span backwards, and Digit Symbol Task, all -0·5, SE 0·2). For imaging measures, we noted differences earliest for the insula (at 10 years before expected symptom onset, mean volume as a percentage of total intracranial volume was 0·80% in mutation carriers and 0·84% in non-carriers; difference -0·04, SE 0·02) followed by the temporal lobe (at 10 years before expected symptom onset, mean volume as a percentage of total intracranial volume 8·1% in mutation carriers and 8·3% in non-carriers; difference -0·2, SE 0·1). Interpretation: Structural imaging and cognitive changes can be identified 5-10 years before expected onset of symptoms in asymptomatic adults at risk of genetic frontotemporal dementia. These findings could help to define biomarkers that can stage presymptomatic disease and track disease progression, which will be important for future therapeutic trials. Funding: Centres of Excellence in Neurodegenerati

Detecting the gravito-magnetic field of the dark halo of the Milky Way - the LaDaHaD mission concept

We propose to locate transponders and atomic clocks in at least three of the Lagrange points of the Sun-Earth pair, with the aim of exploiting the time of flight asymme- try between electromagnetic signals travelling in opposite directions along polygonal loops having the Lagrange points at their vertices. The asymmetry is due to the pres- ence of a gravito-magnetic field partly caused by the angular momentum of the Sun, partly originating from the angular momentum of the galactic dark halo in which the Milky Way is embedded. We list also various opportunities which could be associated with the main objective of this Lagrange Dark Halo Detector (LaDaHaD)