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Satellite navigation in combination with affordable onboard sensors are key enabling technologies to support the digitalization in railway transport. However, the adoption of these technologies still requires common methodologies to evaluate anywhere the positioning performance. For this, the comparison with a reference ground truth as well as the availability of digital railway maps is necessary. However, the development of a reliable Ground Truth and Digital Map solutions based on affordable onboard sensors requires on its side first a rigorous characterization of each sensor technology. This paper provides with the most important aspects for the characterization of GNSS, IMU, Camera and LIDAR technologies for its use in railway environment within the context of the European RAILGAP project.

We designed a tightly-coupled integration between GNSS and inertial navigation systems (INS) where we modify the update step of a classical Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to consider different robust estimators [...]

The article examines the three processes by which the World Bank influences the proliferation and characterization of globalization: technical assistance, lending practices, and the publication of reports.

The purpose of the present investigation is the design and implementation of an on lineNumerical Methods course for the college level (undergraduate), to students from different areas of engineering.

Micronucleus (MN) expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes is well established as a standard method for monitoring chromosome damage in human populations. The first results of an analysis of pooled data from laboratories using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay and participating in the HUMN (HUman MicroNucleus project) international collaborative study are presented. The effects of laboratory protocol, scoring criteria, and host factors on baseline micronucleated binucleate cell (MNC) frequency are evaluated, and a reference range of “normal” values against which future studies may be compared is provided. Primary data from historical records were submitted by 25 laboratories distributed in 16 countries. This resulted in a database of nearly 7000 subjects. Potentially significant differences were present in the methods used by participating laboratories, such as in the type of culture medium, the concentration of cytochalasin-B, the percentage of fetal calf serum, and in the culture method. Differences in criteria for scoring micronuclei were also evident. The overall median MNC frequency in nonexposed (i.e., normal) subjects was 6.5‰ and the interquartile range was between 3 and 12‰. An increase in MNC frequency with age was evident in all but two laboratories. The effect of gender, although not so evident in all databases, was also present, with females having a 19% higher level of MNC frequency (95% confidence interval: 14–24%). Statistical analyses were performed using random-effects models for correlated data. Our best model, which included exposure to genotoxic factors, host factors, methods, and scoring criteria, explained 75% of the total variance, with the largest contribution attributable to laboratory methods. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 37:31–45, 2001 © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

This research introduces the design of a gas-diffusional cathode employing bilirubin oxidase (BOx) immobilized on a complex matrix composed of carbon nanotube (CNT) modified Toray paper (TP) and, encapsulated in silica-gel. The developed enzymatic cathode consists of two layers. One is the hydrophobic gas-diffusional layer (GDL) and the other a hydrophilic catalytic layer (CL) which were combined by pressing at 1000 psi for five minutes. The GDL (35% weight teflonized Vulcan carbon powder (XC35)) that is exposed to air has hydrophobic and porous properties that facilitate oxygen diffusion. The CL consists of a thin, high surface area, 3D CNT/silica-gel matrix where the 3D-enzymatic structure is immobilized and preserved. The nanostructured architecture of the CL was designed to improve conductivity and surface area. Such a design was achieved by modifying the TP surface with CNTs. CNTs are grown on TP by chemical vapor deposition which is possible by electrodepositing Ni seeds via pulse chronoamperometry. Entrapment of BOx was achieved by using tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS), a highly volatile compound that results in a polymeric condensation reaction with H2O at room temperature. TMOS polymerization of the cathode surface was performed in a chemical vapor deposition process to form a silica-gel matrix. The gas diffusional cathode was assembled to a capillary driven microfluidic system to be electrochemically characterized. The characterization was performed from electrolyte pH 5 to pH 8 with increments 0.5 in pH. The best performance was observed at pH 5.5 showing a current output of 655.07 ± 146.18 μA.cm−2and 345.36 ± 30.04 μA.cm−2at 0 V and 0.3 V, respectively. At a pH of 7.5 the current generated was 287.05 ± 20.37 μA.cm−2and 205.37 ± 1.57 μA.cm−2at 0 V and 0.3 V, respectively. The results show the stability of the enzymatic structure, subject to various pH, is maintained within the 3D-CNT silica-gel matrix for pH lower than 8. Future work will focus on storage life and stability over time.