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Emissive compounds with long emission lifetimes (μs to ms) in the visible region are of interest for a range of applications, from oxygen sensing to cellular imaging. The emission behavior of Ir(ppy)2(acac) complexes (where ppy is the 2-phenylpyridyl chelate and acac is the acetylacetonate chelate) with an oligo(para-phenyleneethynylene) (OPE3) motif containing three para-rings and two ethynyl bridges attached to acac or ppy is examined here due to the accessibility of the long-lived OPE3 triplet states. Nine Ir(ppy)2(acac) complexes with OPE3 units are synthesized where the OPE3 motif is at the acac moiety (aOPE3), incorporated in the ppy chelate (pOPE3) or attached to ppy via a durylene link (dOPE3). The aOPE3 and dOPE3 complexes contain OPE3 units that are decoupled from the Ir(ppy)2(acac) core by adopting perpendicular ring–ring orientations, whereas the pOPE3 complexes have OPE3 integrated into the ppy ligand to maximize electronic coupling with the Ir(ppy)2(acac) core. While the conjugated pOPE3 complexes show emission lifetimes of 0.69–32.8 μs similar to the lifetimes of 1.00–23.1 μs for the non-OPE3 Ir(ppy)2(acac) complexes synthesized here, the decoupled aOPE3 and dOPE3 complexes reveal long emission lifetimes of 50–625 μs. The long lifetimes found in aOPE3 and dOPE3 complexes are due to intramolecular reversible electronic energy transfer (REET) where the long-lived triplet-state metal to ligand charge transfer (3MLCT) states exchange via REET with the even longer-lived triplet-state localized OPE3 states. The proposed REET process is supported by changes observed in excitation wavelength-dependent and time-dependent emission spectra from aOPE3 and dOPE3 complexes, whereas emission spectra from pOPE3 complexes remain independent of the excitation wavelength and time due to the well-established 3MLCT states of many Ir(ppy)2(acac) complexes. The long lifetimes, visible emission maxima (524–526 nm), and photoluminescent quantum yields of 0.44–0.60 for the dOPE3 complexes indicate the possibility of utilizing such compounds in oxygen-sensing and cellular imaging applications.

The smartphone has become nearly indispensable in people’s daily lives. Prevalent smartphone usage can be observed on various occasions, even during walking. However, pedestrians’ perception of their surroundings may decline because they are absorbed by using the smartphone. The behavior of pedestrians using smartphones while walking at transit stations can be viewed as disturbance to pedestrian flows, thereby reducing the efficiency of station operation or even creating safety problems. This study seeks to describe such behavioral features mathematically and provide relevant implications for transit station design. Based on the social force model, the parameters reflecting the effect of smartphone usage on the perceived driving and repulsive forces are added and calibrated. By extracting trajectory data from the videos filmed in the field, the genetic algorithm is employed for the calibration process to minimize the gaps between the actual and projected trajectories. Two sets of parameter settings, for pedestrians with and without using smartphones, are determined and further applied to microscopic pedestrian simulation for a transfer station of the metro system in Taipei, Taiwan. The results indicate that pedestrians using smartphones are more prone to being affected by other pedestrians, revealing that their velocities are relatively unstable, while they need longer relaxation time to attain their desired walking statuses. The simulation results also visualize the potential bottlenecks in the station, where smartphone users may become obstacles to other pedestrians and increase the congestion level, highlighting the importance of incorporating the behavior modeling of pedestrians using smartphones into transit station design.

Bis-heteroleptic cyclometalated iridium complexes of the form Ir(La)2(acac), where La is a substituted 2-phenylpyridine derivative and acac is an acetylacetonato ligand, are a useful class of luminescent organometallic complexes for a range of applications. Related tris-heteroleptic complexes of the form Ir(La)(Lb)(acac) offer the potential advantage of greater functionality through the use of two different cyclometalated ligands but are, in general, more difficult to obtain. We report the synthesis of divergent bis- and tris-heteroleptic triisopropylsilylethynyl-substituted intermediate complexes that can be diversified using a "chemistry-on-the-complex" approach. We demonstrate the methodology through one-pot deprotection and Sonogashira cross-coupling of the intermediate complexes with para-R-aryliodides (R = H, SMe, and CN). The photophysical and electrochemical behaviors of the resultant bis- and tris-heteroleptic complexes are compared, and it is shown that the tris-heteroleptic complexes exhibit subtly different emission and redox properties to the bis-heteroleptic complexes, such as further red-shifted emission maxima and lower extinction coefficients, which can be attributed to the reduced symmetry. It is demonstrated, supported by DFT and time-dependent DFT calculations, that the charge-transfer character of the emission can be altered via variation of the terminal substituent; the introduction of an electron-withdrawing cyano group in the terminal position leads to a significant red shift, while the introduction of an SMe group can substantially increase the emission quantum yield. Most notably, this convenient synthetic approach reduces the need to perform the often challenging isolation of tris-heteroleptic complexes to a single divergent intermediate, which will simplify access to families of complexes of the form Ir(La)(Lb)(acac).

A 75-year-old previously healthy female became severely ill, functionally dependent, and required long-term home oxygen therapy, after recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with acute respiratory failure and extensive pulmonary fibrosis. After two months of respiratory muscle training and a comprehensive cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program, her dyspnea, physical performance, pulmonary function parameters, and activities of daily living rapidly improved. This Case highlights the importance of a timely active rehabilitation program for COVID-19 survivors experiencing the long-term effects of coronavirus (long COVID).

Smartphones and relevant mobile service have greatly influenced people’s daily lives, and intense smartphone users can be commonly seen at transit stops/stations, playing with their smartphones while waiting for buses/trains. This research presents a holistic perspective for analyzing the effects of smartphone usage on transit passengers, which also considers the effects at a psychological level. Such effects may be manifested as the reduction of perceived waiting time at stops/stations against the negative emotionality induced by long waiting, such as boredom and tediousness, so as to result in improved travel experience. An on-site survey is designed and implemented over the bus system in Taipei, Taiwan, to collect the revealed responses of bus passengers in regard to waiting time perception and smartphone usage, particularly for travel-irrelevant mobile service. The survey data are modeled and analyzed in both numerical and verbal representation of perceived waiting time by using a multiple linear regression model and a cumulative proportional odds logistic model, respectively. A finite mixture model is further employed to investigate the potential heterogeneity of waiting time perception related to using smartphones for travel-irrelevant mobile service. The analysis results highlight that travel-irrelevant smartphone usage may lead to the reduction of perceived waiting, and the effect can be more significant for young passengers and those without receiving bus arrival information, especially when waiting time is prolonged. Such findings can contribute to the comprehensive consideration of passenger behavior in transit system planning and associated information/service provision strategies.

Background The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a mandibular advancement device (MAD) for increasing patient safety during sedated total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip replacement (THR). Methods Forty patients undergoing TKA or THR surgery in the supine or lateral recumbent positions under spinal anesthesia were enrolled. Sedation and oxygenation were administered. The MAD (Sweet Sleep Anti-Snoring Device®) was then placed after 15 min of observation. SpO2, PetCO2, blood pressure, and respiratory rate were recorded. Results Sedated patients in the decubitus position had higher saturation nadirs, shorter desaturation durations, shorter airway obstruction durations, and fewer rescue events than those in the supine position. In patients at a high risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), desaturation duration, obstruction duration, apnea duration, desaturation duration, and rescue events were significantly lower after MAD placement. However, the saturation nadir did not improve after MAD placement. Conclusion The MAD may shorten the duration of desaturation events during spontaneous breathing sedative procedures in the lateral recumbent position but not in the supine position. Breathing patterns did not change from nasal breathing to oral breathing or vice versa between pre- and post-placement of the MAD. Sedation score evaluation affects breathing pattern changes from oral breathing to nasal breathing and vice versa.

Typhoid toxin is an essential virulence factor for Salmonella Typhi, the cause of typhoid fever in humans. This toxin has an unusual biology in that it is produced by Salmonella Typhi only when located within host cells. Once synthesized, the toxin is secreted to the lumen of the Salmonella-containing vacuole from where it is transported to the extracellular space by vesicle carrier intermediates. Here, we report the identification of the typhoid toxin sorting receptor and components of the cellular machinery that packages the toxin into vesicle carriers, and exports it to the extracellular space. We found that the cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptor serves as typhoid toxin sorting receptor and that the coat protein COPII and the GTPase Sar1 mediate its packaging into vesicle carriers. Formation of the typhoid toxin carriers requires the specific environment of the Salmonella Typhi-containing vacuole, which is determined by the activities of specific effectors of its type III protein secretion systems. We also found that Rab11B and its interacting protein Rip11 control the intracellular transport of the typhoid toxin carriers, and the SNARE proteins VAMP7, SNAP23, and Syntaxin 4 their fusion to the plasma membrane. Typhoid toxin’s cooption of specific cellular machinery for its transport to the extracellular space illustrates the remarkable adaptation of an exotoxin to exert its function in the context of an intracellular pathogen.

One of the major causes of non-recurrent traffic congestion in urban areas is the implementation of transport infrastructure projects on city roads. The seeming ubiquity of work zones in cities causes road user frustration and safety hazards, and public relations problems for the transport agency. For this reason, transport agencies seek strategic ways to not only select urban projects but also schedule them in a manner that minimizes the effort associated with these functions. In other words, they seek to exploit the synergies between the tasks of project selection and project scheduling while duly accommodating the project interdependencies. This study introduces a general framework that simultaneously and optimally selects and schedules urban road projects subject to budgetary constraints over a given planning horizon. The project classes considered in this study are lane addition, new road construction, and road maintenance. Through a mimicry of the classic Stackelberg leader-follower game, this problem is formulated herein as a bi-level program. In the upper level, the leader (transport agency decision-makers) determines an optimal set of projects from a larger pool of candidate projects and decides an optimal schedule for their implementation. In the lower level, the followers (road users) seek to minimize their travel delays based on the two decisions made by the leader in the upper level. The numerical experiments show that if the decision-makers do not consider the peri-implementation capacity reduction, the resulting set of selected projects and their construction schedule can lead to significant travel delay cost for the road users.

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system can be a cost-effective alternative to foster public transportation. However, the delay in signalized intersections is critical to the stable progression of BRT o...

Intercity railway system operation on national holidays can be challenging because of possible surging demand. This study proposes an analysis framework to investigate railway system ridership data on national holidays, seeking to attain better understanding of relevant intercity trip patterns, so as to enable enhanced preparation and response before and during national holidays. The ridership data are analyzed in the form of Origin–Destination (O-D) tables and regarded as pictures of N × N pixels, where N is the number of the considered stations/cities in a railway system. The framework primarily adopts a deep auto-encoder to process these pictures to reduce data dimensions and abstracting key features within these pictorial data. Based on the abstracted features, k-means clustering is then conducted to categorize the O-D tables with similar trip patterns into the same group. Further, a discrete outcome model based on logistic regression is developed on the clustering results to enhance the interpretation of the trip pattern in each group and identify the significant holiday-related characteristics and external factors that can affect the trip pattern generation. The ridership data of Taiwan Railways Administration associated with 38 national holidays from January 2014 to August 2018 are analyzed. The analysis results highlight insightful interpretation in relation to clustered trip patterns and relevant trip characterization relative to various national holidays. The proposed framework and developed discrete outcome model are also validated, showing 85% correct assignments of O-D tables to the groups of relevant trip patterns.

Purpose. This study is aimed at investigating the effect of low-intensity electrical stimulation on the voluntary activation level (VA) and the cortical facilitation/inhibition of quadriceps in people with chronic anterior cruciate ligament lesion. Methods. Twenty former athletes with unilateral ACL deficiencies (ACL group) and 20 healthy subjects (healthy control group) participated in the study. The quadriceps VA level, motor-evoked potential (MEP), short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and intracortical facilitation (ICF) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation were tested before and after 30 minutes of low-intensity electrical stimulation (ES). Results. Before ES, the quadriceps VA in the ACL lesion legs of the ACL group was lower compared to the legs of the healthy control group (P<0.05). The MEP sizes in the ACL lesion legs and the healthy control were not significantly different. The ACL lesion legs showed lower SICI and higher ICF compared to the healthy control group (P<0.05). After ES, the quadriceps VA level increased and the SICI-ICF was modulated only in the ACL lesion legs (P<0.05) but not in the healthy controls. Conclusions. Low-intensity ES can normalize the modulation of intracortical inhibition and facilitation, thereby ameliorating the activation failure in individuals with ACL lesion.

Background. Increasing attention has been paid to the predictive power of different prognostic scoring systems for decades. In this study, we compared the abilities of three commonly used scoring systems to predict short-term and long-term mortalities, with the intention of building a better prediction model for critically ill patients. We used the data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan, which included information on patient age, comorbidities, and presence of organ failure to build a new prediction model for short-term and long-term mortalities.Methods. We retrospectively collected the medical records of patients in the intensive care unit of a regional hospital in 2012 and linked them to the claims data from the NHIRD. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI), and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) were compared for their predictive abilities. Multiple logistic regression tests were performed, and the results were presented as receiver operating characteristic curves and C-statistic.Results. The APACHE II score has the best predictive power for inhospital mortality (0.79;C−statistic=0.77−0.83) and 1-year mortality (0.77;C−statistic=0.74−0.79). The ECI and CCI alone have poorer predictive power and need to be combined with other variables to be comparable to the APACHE II score, as predictive tools. Using CCI together with age, sex, and whether or not the patient required mechanical ventilation is estimated to have a C-statistic of 0.773 (95% CI 0.744-0.803) for inhospital mortality, 0.782 (95% CI 0.76-0.81) for 30-day mortality, and 0.78 (95% CI 0.75-0.80) for 1-year mortality.Conclusions. We present a new prognostic model that combines CCI with age, sex, and mechanical ventilation status and can predict mortality, comparable to the APACHE II score.

Typhoid toxin is an essential virulence factor for

Background Pectus excavatum (PE) negatively impacts psychological function, but its effect on autonomic nervous system (ANS) function has not been investigated. We evaluated ANS function following postural changes in patients with PE. Methods The participants were 14 healthy men (control group) and 20 men with PE (study group). Psychological function was assessed using the visual analog scale for pain, Brief Symptom Rating Scale-5, and Beck Depression Inventory-II. Sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). ANS regulation in response to postural change was measured in the supine position and immediately after sitting. All measurements were compared between the control and study groups at baseline and between the study groups before and after Nuss surgery. Results At baseline, upon postural change, symptomatic activity increased in the control group (50.3–67.4%, p = 0.035) but not in the study group (55.0–54.9%, p = 0.654); parasympathetic activity decreased in the control group (49.7–32.6%, p = 0.035) but not in the study group (45.1–45.1%, p = 0.654); and overall ANS regulation increased in the control group (1.02–2.08, p = 0.030) but not in the study group (1.22–1.22, p = 0.322). In response to postural change after Nuss surgery in the study group, sympathetic activity increased (48.7–70.2%, p = 0.005), parasympathetic activity decreased (51.3–29.8%, p = 0.005), and overall ANS regulation increased (0.95–2.36, p = 0.012). Conclusion ANS function in response to postural change is dysregulated in patients with PE, which improved after Nuss surgery. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03346876, November 15, 2017, retrospectively registered, https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/app/action/SelectProtocol?sid=S0007KGI&selectaction=Edit&uid=U0003JZU&ts=2&cx=cstxeg

A series of layered double hydroxides (MgxAl-LDHs) catalysts is successfully prepared and effectively transesterificated triglycerides to produce biodiesel and glycerol carbonate, respectively. MgxAl-LDHs catalysts are synthesized by changing the Mg/Al ratio of the LDH hosts and fully characterized by several techniques, including XRD, N2 adsorption, SEM. The effects of ratios of Mg/Al catalyst, reaction temperature, catalyst dosage are thoroughly investigated to determine the optimal reaction conditions. A yield of biodiesel and glycerol carbonate could reach up to 87.5% and 93.4%, respectively, over Mg5Al-LDHs catalyst under batch condition. The transesterification glycerol for glycerol carbonate is successfully carried out in a stirring packed-bed reactor with MgxAl-LDHs coating on the spherical α-Al2O3 catalysts. Additionally, extra-particle mass transfer and intra-particle diffusion do not control the reaction rate. The yield of glycerol carbonate could reach up to 80.2% over Mg5Al-LDHs/α-Al2O3 catalyst.

Mixed-integer linear programming models and a heuristic algorithm are proposed for the transfer synchronization planning of bus timetables. The most important novelty of the proposed methodology is that the bus timetables and passenger choices of travel paths are simultaneously optimized in the model. The possibilities of transfer synchronization are fully explored in the timetable optimization because passengers select their paths to the destination in response to the timetables. Hence, bus timetables can be planned with high precision, and bus timetabling can be improved.

Facing the rapidly growing popularity of bike-sharing systems worldwide, this study explores the trip characteristics of using public bikes at the level of zonal Origin-Destination (O-D) pairs, particularly with respect to the effect of pricing scheme change. Based on the transaction records of Youbike, a bike-sharing system in Taipei, Taiwan, which contain data before and after an increase of the rental fee (as the cancellation of a free-usage period for the first 30-minute), the associated demand-side responses are studied in the context of multivariate analysis. Two regression models are developed thereupon to investigate the effect of the change on the O-D demand associated various land-use patterns. A multiple linear regression model is developed for direct before-after analysis on the variation of zonal O-D demand. A finite mixture model is further constructed, which identifies three usage groups with different levels of sensitivity toward the price change. Both models suggest that the pricing scheme change have greater impact on short-distance trips and O-D pairs where alternative transit services are provided; these affected trips can be generally related to frequent users. Such research findings enable better understanding of the usage pattern of bike-sharing systems, which can benefit the associated planning and operation. They also imply the trade-off between the perspective of encouraging greener mobility and other managerial principles regarding public transportation and government subsidy. Keywords: Bike sharing system, Pricing scheme, Land use pattern, User-pays principle, Before-after analysis

Background Pectus excavatum (PE) reduces the dynamics of the thoracic cage, with a negative impact on exercise capacity. We aimed to evaluate the effects of Nuss repair for PE on the dynamics of the thoracic cage and exercise capacity in adults. Methods This was a prospective observational study of 46 adults (mean age, 26.2 years) who underwent PE correction using the Nuss procedure between September 2016 and August 2017. Cirtometry was used to obtain measures of thoracic cage circumference at two levels (axillary level [AL] and xyphoid level [XL]), at the end points of inspiration and expiration. Circumference measures were obtained before surgery and at 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. Exercise capacity was also evaluated using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT). The association between the 6MWT data and cirtometry measures was evaluated using Pearson's correlation. Results The circumference at maximum inspiration increased from baseline to 3 months after surgery (p Conclusion Improved dynamics of the thoracic cage were achieved after Nuss repair for PE in adults. This increase in thoracic circumference at maximum inspiration was associated with an improvement in exercise capacity at 3 months after surgery.

This paper proposed a vehicle monitoring system for low-emission zone application based on OBD (on-board diagnostics) technology. The proposed system is composed of OBD, GPS, 4G mobile communication, and Internet cloud computing technologies. The proposed system could implement in real time the function of vehicle status surveillance and could be applied to low-emission zone (LEZ) application. The monitored features cover vehicle identification number (VIN), malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) status, and number of diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs). These vehicle information, i.e., VIN, MIL, and DTC, as well as GPS data will be sent to the Internet cloud computing server using 4G mobile network for LEZ application. Once the system discovers the vehicle does not meet the LEZ standards and drives into LEZ, the proposed system could inform the user and management department to deal with this violation situation. The system presented in this paper provides a new way to control the LEZ and has high potential for the applications of vehicle monitoring management.

This study was to examine the airborne particulates/dusts and worker exposures in electro-static powder coating operations. Temporal variation and size distribution of dusts were assessed using direct-reading instrument, while the worker task-specific dust exposures (n = 41) were measured in three factories using conventional filter method. Additionally, toxic metal levels in the coating powder (n = 27) were analyzed to assess hazard potentials. Continuous monitoring of airborne respirable dust levels indicated large temporal variation across a normal working day. The particulate levels outside spraying booths were generally low (below 0.10 mg m−3) during normal spraying operation, but short-term level may reach as high as 21.8 mg m−3 (averaged at 4–5 mg m−3) when specific task such as cleaning the pipelines and spraying booth, was performed. Exploratory assessment on particle size distribution at four major working zones, administration, uploading, spraying, and baking, indicated no major difference among the zones, and between factories. The particle count median aerodynamic diameter was 0.88–1.69 µm, while the mean number concentrations were 10.97, 15.17, 18.49, and 27.03 (# cm−3) for zones administration, uploading, spraying, and baking, respectively. The worker task-specific dust exposures were found low during normal spraying, with the mean short-term total and respirable dust concentrations being 0.88 and 0.41 mg m−3, respectively. Both levels increased to 3.48 and 5.19 mg m−3, respectively (P < 0.05), if powder changing and system cleaning were done. Short-term total and respirable dust concentrations were 94.2 and 56.1 mg m−3, respectively, when complete cleaning process was performed inside spraying booth. Both levels exceeded the short-term exposure limits. The mean concentration of metals in the powder samples were 6.78, 9.52, 10 717, 2805, 1020, and 1361 µg g−1 for Pb, Cr (total), Al, Fe, Cu, and Sr, respectively. This study demonstrated that cleaning of spraying booth resulted in high dust exposures well exceeding the exposure limit. Toxic metals, particularly Pb, Cd, and Cr (total), levels measured in the powder samples were found low, and the resulting exposures were below the exposure limits, indicating relative low risks associated with the exposure at current dust levels.

In this manuscript, a series of amine tagged short cyclic molecules (cyclopropylamine, cyclobutylamine, cyclopentylamine and cyclohexylamine) were thermally grafted onto p-type silicon (111) hydride surfaces via nucleophilic addition. The chemistries of these grafting were verified via XPS, AFM and sessile droplet measurements. Confocal microscopy and cell viability assay was performed on these surfaces incubated for 24 hours with triple negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB 231), gastric adenocarcinoma cells (AGS) endometrial adenocarcinoma (Hec1A). All cell types had shown a significant reduction when incubated on these ring-strain cyclic monolayer surfaces than compared to standard controls. The expression level of focal adhesion proteins (vinculin, paxilin, talin and zyxin) were subsequently quantified for all three cell types via qPCR analysis. Cells incubate on these surface grafting were observed to have reduced levels of adhesion protein expression than compared to positive controls (collagen coating and APTES). A potential application of these anti-adhesive surfaces is the maintenance of the chondrocyte phenotype during in-vitro cell expansion. Articular chondrocytes cultured for 6 days on ring strained cyclopropane-modified surfaces was able to proliferate but had maintained a spheroid/aggregated phenotype with higher COL2A1 and ACAN gene expression. Herein, these findings had help promote grafting of cyclic monolayers as an viable alternative for producing antifouling surfaces.

In this study, a series of 2,2′ and 3,3′ substituted thienoisoindigo (TII)-based small molecules (H3–H7) were synthesized by using 1,3-di(9H-carbazol-9-yl) benzene, N-phenylcarbazole, triphenylamin...

Capturing the dynamics in passenger flow and system utilization over time and space is extremely important for railway operators. Previous studies usually estimated passenger flow using aut...

Pyridine-2-carboxylate (pic) has been employed extensively as a blue-shifting ancillary ligand in the production of cyclometalated iridium complexes used in OLEDs, but surprisingly, further elaboration of this ligand has largely been unexplored. In this work we demonstrate a simple and versatile route for modifying picolinate ligands coordinated to iridium. Reacting a μ-chloro iridium(C∧N) dimer (where C∧N is a phenylpyridine-based ligand) with 4-bromopicolinic acid (HpicBr) yields the corresponding iridium(C∧N)2(picBr) complexes, which were readily modified by a Suzuki–Miyaura reaction to give the corresponding aryl-substituted picolinate complexes. The luminescent behavior of these complexes shows that by restricting the torsional angle between the substituent and pic the emission can be shifted by up to 77 nm.

The implementation of electronic toll collection (ETC) over freeways not only enables nonstop traffic flows through toll collection zones but also facilitates more flexible schemes for road pricing, such as distance-based and time-based schemes, as both the on-ramp and off-ramp time stamps of a trip can be detected. Based on such an ETC environment, this study develops a road pricing model which considers the perspectives of road users, the government, and the ETC agent, seeking to attain greener transportation by leveraging the external costs related to environmental impact and accident potential. Thereupon, a Green Safety Indicator (GSI) is proposed to comprehensively account for the service level of freeway traffic. The optimal solution for the benefits generated from three scenarios are determined against GSI-based equilibria, which can maintain the revenue for the government, offer the ETC agent higher profits, and allow road users off-peak discounts, thereby promoting a tripartite win–win situation among stakeholders.

The transition from diesel-consuming buses to electric ones entails the problem of determining the locations of bus depots, charging and maintenance stations, which can directly affect the operating cost and efficiency of a bus system. The problem also involves practical concerns, including the selection of fleet size (of electric buses), land acquisition, bus allocation, and the associated deadhead mileage. This study develops an optimization model to systematically locate depots and relevant facilities for deploying mixed types of vehicles. Further, a decomposition-based heuristic algorithm is proposed to enhance computational efficiency. A case study is performed using the data of a bus operator in Taiwan. Sensitivity and scenario analyses are conducted, evaluating major cost components and identifying the factors that affect the trade-offs between them. The proposed methodology enables bus operators/planners to closely and holistically examine their decisions during the transition toward electric bus systems.

A series of thienoisoindigo (TII)-based dyes (TII 1–4) using different electron-donating moieties (D) and π-linkers were synthesized. The experimental results show that the maximum absorption band of TII 1–4 was located at 611–749 nm. Moreover, their absorption onset was extended to 741–901 nm that covers the near infrared (NIR) region. The bulk-heterojunction solar cell device fabricated by using TII 3/PC61BM as the active layer exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.82%, showing the potential of TII-based dyes for NIR organic photovoltaics (OPVs). In order to study the structural effect of dyes on the PCE of solar cells, we further designed four TII-based dyes (TII 5–8) and the photophysical and photovoltaic properties for TII 1–8 were investigated through theoretical calculations. Calculated results demonstrate that carbazole group, whose has strong electron-donating ability than D moieties in this study, leads to generate long lifetime of the first excited state and whose generate large short-circuit current (Jsc). Thiophene group, whose has weak resonance energy than other π-linkers, can improve the π delocalization effect throughout whole molecule and generate large open-circuit voltage (Voc). According to these results, TII 3 and TII 8 with the carbazole as D moiety and thiophene as π-linker should be useful in development of a new SM-OPV device.

A simple and versatile route for modifying picolinate ligands coordinated to iridium is described. Reacting a μ-chloro iridium(C∧N) dimer (where C∧N is a phenylpyridine-based ligand) with bromopicolinic acid (HpicBr) yields the corresponding iridium(C∧N)2(picBr) complexes (1–4 and 11), which were readily modified by a Sonogashira reaction to give eight alkyne-substituted picolinate complexes (5–10, 12, and 13). The luminescent behavior of these complexes shows that the position of substitution about the picolinate ring has an effect on both photophysical behavior as well as the reactivity.

After the Fukushima Daichii accidents, Taiwan Power Company developed a strategy to cope with such extended SBO (Station Blackout) cases at nuclear power plants, which called URG. The MAAP and PCTRAN were used to perform the study for Kuosheng BWR/6 nuclear power plant (NPP) ultimate response guideline (URG). The main actions of URG are the depressurization and low pressure water injection of the reactor and the venting of the containment. This study focuses to confirm the URG efficiency. The analysis results depict that following the URG, the fuel can be covered by the coolant, no exposure. It can also prevent the radiation release and the large evacuation. It indicated that Kuosheng NPP was at the safe situation. It shows that the two-step depressurizations can extend the time of the preparation of alternate water source. The minimum injection rate to prevent the fuel to expose is 192 gpm in MAAP.

The economics research suggests that firms can use trade-ins as a revenue management device for price discrimination between new and replacement buyers of durabprle goods. Offering different prices to different groups of customers creates a market segmentation effect. This study examines such an effect by considering trade-ins and certified pre-owned options for a durable goods firm, where certified pre-owned (CPO) represents the used goods market generated from the return flow of trade-in transactions. The optimal pricing and/or trade-in rebate is determined, and the strategic choice between the two options is examined. An analytical model is developed that incorporates the key durable goods features into model formulation, specifically the deterioration rate (or durability in a reverse measure) and the variation in quality of the used goods. Our research findings indicate that: (i) the magnitude of trade-in rebates increases with the deterioration rate and quality variation; (ii) the segmentation effect outweighs the cannibalization effect when the deterioration rate is moderately high; (iii) the strategic choice of trade-ins and CPO options is critically dependent on these two features; and (iv) the majority of profit improvement is generated from trade-in provisions, although the CPO option can serve as a second profit boosting device.

Patients with kidney failure rely on life-saving peritoneal dialysis to facilitate waste exchange and maintain homeostasis of physical conditions. However, peritoneal dialysis often results in peritoneal fibrosis and organ adhesion that subsequently compromise the efficiency of peritoneal dialysis and normal functions of visceral organs. Despite rodent models provide clues on the pathogenesis of peritoneal fibrosis, no current large animal model which shares high degree of physiological and anatomical similarities to human is available, limiting their applications on the evaluation of pre-clinical therapeutic efficacy. Here we established for the first time, hypochlorite-induced porcine model of peritoneal fibrosis in 5-week-old piglets. We showed that administration 15–30 mM hypochlorite, a dose- and time-dependent severity of peritoneal fibrosis characterized by mesothelium fragmentation, αSMA+ myofibroblasts accumulation, organ surface thickening and type I collagen deposition were observed. We also demonstrated in vitro using human mesothelial cells that hypochlorite-induced fibrosis was likely due to necrosis, but not programmed apoptosis; besides, overexpression of IL1β, CX3CL1 and TGFβ on the peritoneal mesothelium in current model was detected, similar to observations from peritoneal dialysis-induced peritoneal fibrosis in human patients and earlier reported mouse model. Moreover, our novel antemortem evaluation using laparoscopy provided instant feedback on the progression of organ fibrosis/adhesion which allows immediate adjustments on treatment protocols and strategies in alive individuals that can not and never be performed in other animal models.

Household chores service is one of the desirable functions for a service robot. Object classification is the most important function when searching for objects. We consider that the major concern is that the robot should not misclassify the object. If the robot misclassifies household object images, it will then perform the household tasks with the wrong object. This may cause serious damages to a service robot and to the user. This concept gives us the insight that the precision of the classification must be very high by setting a confidence threshold so that it then can claim a reliable service robot. By exploring this concept, we develop a more convincing indicator, Classification Reliability, to reveal the reliability of deep learning model. Moreover, we develop a fine-tune rule base to continuously regenerate more proper training dataset for the CNN model to increase reliability. Experimental results demonstrate that the CNN model fine-tuned by our closed-loop system achieves the reliability which is higher than the other similar effects such as DenseNet on the CIFAR-10 dataset.

Image captioning is a high-level task that generates the context scenario descriptions from an image. There are many ways to implement such kinds of ability that can generate a smooth sentence about the context scenario. Because of the open and extensive domain of the dataset, seldom of them can really help people to get the meaningful information of a specified scenario. In this paper, we propose a novel framework called Human-Aware Context Generator (HACG). We adopt the concept of dividing and conquer, which combines the ability of face recognition and facial expression recognition while retaining the capability of image caption model. This model aims to offer a significant context scenario sentence to the people, especially for those who are urgent to master the overall situation.

Image caption generation is a task that generates a sentence from a raw image, which is mimicking the intelligence of human that can acquire knowledge from the view. The difficulty of this task is the combination of multimodal knowledge learning, i.e. recognition of objects, actions, scenes, human, etc. In order to perform semantic understanding for service robotics or other industrial applications, the caption must be enhanced for recognition of the objects in the confined environment. We propose a template-based augmentation method for improving the capability of object recognition while retaining the other capability of the image caption model. This work opens a new era of image caption generation training procedure that the caption dataset and the classification dataset can be combined to train the deep captioning model. We show in our experiments that our improved model outperforms the original model in SPICE metrics by 4 times.

Unpredictable and no-notice disasters such as flash floods and wildfires, have been increasing. Under such circumstances, large-scale evacuation is required and the population may not be able to be effectively relocated in time from the disaster-threatened zone. The evacuees may be risking their lives during evacuation traveling toward the designated shelters/safety zones. A Shelter-In-Place (SIP) strategy is proposed to provide immediate avoidance of hazards for communities. This study develops the optimization models to determine SIP deployment and evacuee assignment for the case of vertical evacuation (VE) in response to dam-break floods. Compared with general shelters located outside evacuation areas, SIPs are designed to be reachable on foot upon the occurrence of sudden disasters. Accessibility of SIPs is one of the primary concerns in the problem context of determining their locations. Multi-class evacuees are addressed in the SIP strategy, particularly for the elderly in consideration of their vulnerability in disasters and heterogeneous walking speed across different classes. Additionally, the spatially-varying risk over the disaster-threatened areas is also considered in the model. A dam failure scenario causing flooding is studied for Tucheng District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The case study illustrates the effects of spatial risk consideration, elderly priority, and coverage distance on the optimal solution of shelter locations. The extent of improvement in emergency planning is also fundamentally related to the population distribution in the study area.

Summary Over the last decades, several approaches have been proposed in the literature to incorporate users' perceptions of travel costs, their bounded rationality, and risk-taking behaviors into network equilibrium modeling for traffic assignment problem. While theoretically advanced, these models often suffer from high complexity and computational cost and often involve parameters that are difficult to estimate. This study proposes an alternative approach where users' imprecise perceptions of travel times are endogenously constructed as fuzzy sets based on the probability distributions of random link travel times. Two decision rules are proposed accordingly to account for users' heterogeneous risk-taking behaviors, that is, optimistic and pessimistic rules. The proposed approach, namely, the multiclass fuzzy user equilibrium, can be formulated as a link-based variational inequality model. The model can be solved efficiently, and parameters involved can be either easily estimated or treated as factors for calibration against observed traffic flow data. Numerical examples show that the proposed model can be solved efficiently even for a large-scale network of Mashhad, Iran, with 2538 links and 7157 origin–destination pairs. The example also illustrates the calibration capability of the proposed model, highlighting that the model is able to produce much more accurate flow estimates compared with the Wardropian user equilibrium model. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Summary This study seeks to online calibrate the parameters of aggregate evacuee behavior models used in a behavior-consistent information-based control module for determining information strategies for real-time evacuation operations. It enables the deployment of an operational framework for mass evacuation that integrates three aspects underlying an evacuation operation: demand (evacuee behavior), supply (network management), and disaster characteristics. To attain behavior-consistency, the control module factors evacuees' likely responses to the disseminated information in determining information-based control strategies. Hence, the ability of the behavior models to predict evacuees' likely responses is critical to the effectiveness of traffic routing by information strategies. The mixed logit structure is used for the aggregate behavior models to accommodate the behavioral heterogeneity across the population. An online calibration problem is proposed to calibrate the random parameters in the behavior models by using the least square estimator to minimize the gap between the predicted network flows and unfolding traffic dynamics. Background traffic, an important but rarely studied issue for modeling evacuation traffic, is also accounted for in the proposed problem. Numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate the importance of the calibration problem for addressing the system consistency issues and integrating the demand, supply, and disaster characteristics for more efficient evacuation operations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Travel time prediction has been the fundamental brick for developing both Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) and Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS). The problem of travel time prediction is primarily shaped by the data available for model development and the needs from the perspectives of both travelers and operators. A distance-based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system over the freeway system in Taiwan has been fully implemented since December 2013, which provides more comprehensive online data acquisition of freeway traffic conditions, thereby enabling the capability to more reliably predict of travel time over freeway segments. Based on the data from both the ETC system and traditional Vehicle Detectors (VDs), this research proposes a travel time prediction approach whose core technique of data fusion seeks to seamlessly capture the spatio-temporal pattern of freeway traffic flows by matching traffic dynamics revealed from the ETC and VD data. Further, prediction models are constructed thereupon, where the Kalman filter is employed for short-term prediction and the Fourier transform for long-term prediction based on the continuous parameterized modeling of spot travel speed. The proposed approach is implemented as an online deployable system using Java, together with real-world data collected from the freeway in Taiwan, for the numerical experiments. The prediction errors are no greater than 10% in most cases, which illustrates the high accuracy of prediction capability of the model. The encouraging results also highlight the benefits of the pre-processing of data and data fusion in improving data quality and applicability.

Bikesharing systems have been expanding rapidly. They are recognized as a strategic tool to integrate transit and to foster sustainable transportation in urban areas. A critical problem that arises in the planning and deployment of a bikesharing system lies in demand–supply imbalance as the result of the spatiotemporal dynamics of demand patterns. The problem manifests itself in situations in which no bikes are available to rent and no docks are available for bike return at certain popular stations. This study developed a framework for modeling user behavior in response to such situations. Particular emphasis was placed on user on-site choice behavior and the behavioral aspect related to wait time if a decision to wait for the next bike or dock was made. These behaviors were approached with the use of a discrete choice model and a duration model, respectively. Further, a discrete-continuous process was proposed to address the potential interrelation that existed between the choice to wait and the length of waiting time to be endured. Within the developed framework, the models were estimated on the basis of the data from a revealed preference–stated preference survey conducted on the YouBike system in Taipei, Taiwan. The estimation results provided insights into user familiarity and uncertainty toward the system, travel situation, or environment and the associated effects on user behavior of a bikesharing system under a demand–supply imbalance.

In this study, the spray pyrolysis method was used to prepare unintentionally doped and nitrogen-doped calcium zinc oxide films by using zinc acetate, calcium nitrate precursor, and ammonium acetate precursor. Morphological and structural analyses were conducted using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that film grain size decreased as the nitrogen doping was increased. Both calcium oxide and zinc oxide structures were identified in the unintentionally doped calcium zinc oxide. When nitrogen doping was introduced, the film mainly exhibited a zinc oxide structure with preferred (002) and (101) orientations. The concentration and mobility were investigated using a Hall measurement system. P-type films with a mobility and concentration of 10.6 cm 2 V −1 s −1 and 2.8×10 17 cm −3 , respectively, were obtained. Moreover, according to a temperature-dependent conductivity analysis, an acceptor state with activation energy 0.266 eV dominated the p-type conduction for the unintentionally doped calcium zinc oxide. By contrast, a grain boundary with a barrier height of 0.274–0.292 eV dominated the hole conduction for the nitrogen-doped calcium zinc oxide films.

A study of the dark-blue insoluble precipitate that makes up gall ink using bamboo nib-spray mass spectrometry (PS-MS) is described. A ferrous tannate complex is formed, i.e. an insoluble organic metal complex - iron gallate ink (IGI) is produced when tannin is mixed with iron sulfate. Since it is not possible to detect this IGI precipitate by conventional electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry, we report on an attempt to resolve this problem by a new method in this study in an. The method involved “two steps” using bamboo nib-spray/MS. A gallic acid solution was initially used as a model sample and the ESI mode was operated under a negative voltage. This approach permitted the optimized position between the spray-tip and the mass inlet (either distance or angle) to be determined. Following this, the ESI applied voltage was changed to positive and, at this moment, a ferrous sulfate solution was added to the spray-tip, both reactants are sprayed out immediately and are simultaneously ionized while a complex binding reaction occurs. This permits the IGI dark-blue insoluble precipitate to be ionized and detected. As a result, several specific peaks could be observed. The resulting m/z = 153, 225, 243, 431 peaks are assigned to [C7H5O4]+, [C7H5O5Fe]+, [C7H5O5Fe‧H2O]+, and [(C6H3O3) (C6H4O3)Fe2‧4H2O]+, respectively.

Diodes with an erbium and nitrogen codoped magnesium zinc oxide (MgZnO:Er,N) active layer were fabricated by spray pyrolysis on Si substrate with aqueous solutions including magnesium nitrate, zinc acetate, erbium acetate, ammonium acetate, and indium nitrate precursors. Diodes with different nitrogen content in their precursor were prepared and their properties were investigated. With scanning electron microscopy, film surface with mixed hexagonal flakes and tiny blocks was characterized for all samples. Certain morphologies varied for samples with different N contents. In the photoluminescence analyses, the intensity of the oxygen-related defects peak increased with the increasing of nitrogen content. The diodes were fabricated with an Au and In deposition on the top and backside. The diode current&ndash, voltage as well as capacitance&ndash, voltage characteristics were examined. An ununiformed n-type concentration distribution with high concentration near the interface in the MgZnO:Er,N layer was characterized for all samples. Diodes with high nitrogen content exhibit reduced breakdown voltage and higher interface concentration characteristics. Under reversed bias conditions with an injection current of 50 mA, a light spectrum with two distinct green emissions around wavelengths 532 and 553 nm was observed. A small spectrum variation was characterized for diodes prepared from different nitrogen content. The diode luminescence characteristics were examined and the diode prepared from N/Zn=1 in the precursor showed an optimal injection current-to-luminescence property. The current and luminescence properties of the diode were characterized and discussed.