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Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are a fundamental component of intelligent transportation systems in smart cities. With the support of open and real-time data, these networks of inter-connected vehicles constitute an 'Internet of vehicles' with the potential to significantly enhance citizens' mobility and last-mile delivery in urban, peri-urban, and metropolitan areas. However, the proper coordination and logistics of VANETs raise a number of optimization challenges that need to be solved. After reviewing the state of the art on the concepts of VANET optimization and open data in smart cities, this paper discusses some of the most relevant optimization challenges in this area. Since most of the optimization problems are related to the need for real-time solutions or to the consideration of uncertainty and dynamic environments, the paper also discusses how some VANET challenges can be addressed with the use of agile optimization algorithms and the combination of metaheuristics with simulation and machine learning methods. The paper also offers a numerical analysis that measures the impact of using these optimization techniques in some related problems. Our numerical analysis, based on real data from Open Data Barcelona, demonstrates that the constructive heuristic outperforms the random scenario in the CDP combined with vehicular networks, resulting in maximizing the minimum distance between facilities while meeting capacity requirements with the fewest facilities.

We use real-time time-dependent density functional theory simulations to numerically demonstrate that resonantly enhanced difference-frequency generation (re-DFG) involving intense ultrashort coherent X-ray pulses can selectively excite core states of atoms in molecules. As a model case, we evaluate the spectral selectivity of re-DFG excitation of the oxygen K-edge by illumination of a single gas-phase water molecule with two-color X-ray pulses of different photon energies and durations. The re-DFG excitation is further probed by a small delayed pulse with central photon energy resonant with the oxygen K-edge peak absorption line. Based on these results, we anticipate that highly selective excitation by re-DFG X-ray nonlinear processes might be achieved in more complex molecular systems and bulk materials by using highly penetrating two-color hard X-ray pulses, with extensive applications.

Using the Kohn-Sham density functional theory, we numerically study the four-wave mixing response of a carbon atom model system exposed to a train of femtosecond two color ω-3ω random phase coherent X-ray pulses near the K-edge. The phase-sensitivity cancellation of the 5ω anti-Stokes component previously described in two- and three-level systems in the infrared and optical regions is extended into the X-ray. Resonances with the absorption lines in the XANES and EXAFS regions produce 5ω peak intensities that increase near the phase-sensitivity cancellation frequencies. Based on this effect, we predict that highly selective intense X-ray 5ω photon energies can be achieved in real systems. The high localization of the ω-3ω four-wave mixing nonlinear technique that we address entails a new valuable tool in X-ray spectroscopies of chemical species as it can readily be extended to different photon energies in other atomic absorption edges, with broad applications.

Applying extreme ultraviolet (XUV) transient absorption spectroscopy, the dynamics of the two laser dressed transitions 3d 5/2 -to-5p 3/2 and 3p 3/2 -to-5s 1/2 at photon energies of 91.3 eV and 210.4 eV were examined with attosecond temporal resolution. The dressing process was modeled with density matrix equations which are found to describe very accurately both the experimentally observed transmission dynamics and the linear and nonlinear dressing oscillations at 0.75 PHz and 1.5 PHz frequencies. Furthermore, using Fourier transform XUV spectroscopy, quantum beats from the 3d 5/2 -3d 3/2 and 3p 3/2 -3p 1/2 sublevels at 0.3 PHz and 2.0 PHz were experimentally identified and resolved.

Optical amplifiers in all ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum exhibit an essential characteristic, namely the input signal during the propagation in the amplifier medium is multiplied by the avalanche effect of the stimulated emission to produce exponential growth. We perform a theoretical study motivated and supported by experimental data on a He gas amplifier driven by intense 30-fs-long laser pulses and seeded with attosecond pulse trains generated in a separated Ne gas jet. We demonstrate that the strong-field theory in the frame of high harmonic generation fully supports the appearance of the avalanche effect in the amplification of extreme ultraviolet attosecond pulse trains. We theoretically separate and identify different physical processes taking part in the interaction and we demonstrate that X-ray parametric amplification dominates over others. In particular, we identify strong-field mediated intrapulse X-ray parametric processes as decisive for amplification at the single-atom level. We confirm that the amplification takes place at photon energies where the amplifier is seeded and when the seed pulses are perfectly synchronized with the driving strong field in the amplifier. Furthermore, propagation effects, phase matching and seed synchronization can be exploited to tune the amplified spectral range within the seed bandwidth.

We theoretically study the response of He atoms exposed simultaneously to an intense IR pulse and a weak extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulse with photon energies far from the principal atomic He resonances. We find that XUV forward scattering from the nonstationary electronic wave packet promoted by the intense IR driving field is strongly enhanced as compared with the normal weak scattering from bound or free electrons. Based on this effect, we predict that large amplification of XUV radiation can be achieved in the cutoff spectral region of high-harmonic generation in He gas.

Brucella melitensis is a major human and animal pathogen, with a wide host range that includes all domestic ruminant species, although small ruminants are its preferred hosts. Outbreaks in cattle due to B. melitensis have become a worldwide emerging problem particularly difficult to control due to the lack of knowledge on the epidemiology in this host species and of an effective vaccine. However, combination of molecular tools and strict biosecurity measures can help to solve these difficulties and eventually eradicate the disease from infected herds. In the present report, management of an outbreak in Spain involving four farms, more than 2000 cattle and several human cases is described. Application of Multiple Locus VNTR Analysis (MLVA) allowed identifying the most likely source of infection. Stamping out and test-and-slaughter strategies were applied, proving their usefulness to control the outbreak depending on infection level, and without the need of other alternative measures., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Simulations show that a static electric field periodically distributed in space can be used to control the production of coherent light by high-order harmonic generation in a wide spectral range covering extreme-ultraviolet and soft x-ray radiation. The radiation yield is selectively enhanced due to symmetry breaking induced by a static electric field on the interaction between the driving laser and the medium. The spectral position of the enhancement is tuned by varying the periodicity of the static electric field which matches twice the coherence length of the harmonics in the desired region. We find that the static electric field strength inducing enhancement decreases for shorter wavelengths and predict an increase of more than two orders of magnitude for harmonics in the water window spectral range with a static electric field as weak as 1.12 MV/cm.

We investigate a method for complete population inversion in three level systems through pi-pulse bichromatic two-photon coherent excitation and study the dependence on the chirp of the laser pulses. We observe that the population inversion does not monotonously decrease with increasing the time-bandwidth product, and that the excitation depends on the sign of the chirp of the individual pulses. Our results evidence a strategy for coherent population transfer which is energetically superior to adiabatic methods and opens the door for real-world applications, since it alleviates the need for challenging generation of transform-limited pulses at arbitrary wavelengths.