Search results for "traffic"
showing 10 items of 598 documents
Host Cell Rab GTPases in Hepatitis B Virus Infection
2018
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a leading cause of liver disease and is presently estimated to infect more than 250 million humans. The extremely successful spread of this virus among the human population is explained by its effective transmission strategies and its manifold particle types, including virions, empty envelopes and naked capsids. Due to its tiny genome, HBV depends on cellular machineries to thrive in infected hepatocytes. To enter, traverse and exit the cell, HBV exploits host membrane trafficking pathways, including intracellular highways directed by Rab GTPases. Here, we review recent discoveries focused on how HBV co-opts and perturbs host Rab GTPase functions with an emphasis …
The integration of autophagy and cellular trafficking pathways via RAB GAPs.
2015
Macroautophagy is a conserved degradative pathway in which a double-membrane compartment sequesters cytoplasmic cargo and delivers the contents to lysosomes for degradation. Efficient formation and maturation of autophagic vesicles, so-called phagophores that are precursors to autophagosomes, and their subsequent trafficking to lysosomes relies on the activity of small RAB GTPases, which are essential factors of cellular vesicle transport systems. The activity of RAB GTPases is coordinated by upstream factors, which include guanine nucleotide exchange factors (RAB GEFs) and RAB GTPase activating proteins (RAB GAPs). A role in macroautophagy regulation for different TRE2-BUB2-CDC16 (TBC) dom…
The Adverse Effects of Environmental Noise Exposure on Oxidative Stress and Cardiovascular Risk
2018
Abstract Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that traffic noise exposure is linked to cardiovascular diseases such as arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, and stroke. Noise is a nonspecific stressor that activates the autonomous nervous system and endocrine signaling. According to the noise reaction model introduced by Babisch and colleagues, chronic low levels of noise can cause so-called nonauditory effects, such as disturbances of activity, sleep, and communication, which can trigger a number of emotional responses, including annoyance and subsequent stress. Chronic stress in turn is associated with cardiovascular risk factors, comprising increased blood pressure and …
“Minding the gap” in the research on human trafficking for sexual purposes
2017
Since the signature of the United Nations Trafficking Protocol in December 2000 that human trafficking has been labelled as a transnational, complex criminal phenomenon. However, despite the implementation of international soft law instruments to tackle the phenomenon, human trafficking is constantly evolving by the frequent changes of strategies, routes, types of exploitation and methodologies applied by the criminal networks. This flexibility of the phenomenon does not only difficult the implementation of effective tackling measures, but it also demonstrates to be an obstacle to produce accurate information on the subject (Cusick et al, 2009). Furthermore, due to the hidden nature of the …
Messages beyond the phone: Processing variable message signs while attending hands-free phone calls.
2021
We examined the effects of different types of cognitive distraction coming from a hands-free phone conversation on the processing of information provided by variable message signs (VMS), on driving performance indicators, and on a physiological index of mental effort (heart rate). Participants drove a route in a driving simulator and had to respond to VMS messages under three conditions: no-distraction, visuospatial distraction (attending phone calls with questions inducing visuospatial processing), and conceptual distraction (attending phone calls with questions requiring semantic memory). Results showed more errors responding to VMS messages in the visuospatial distraction condition. In a…
Relative Reachability Analysis as a Tool for Urban Mobility Planning
2019
There is a plethora of user-oriented route planning applications and systems that enable the computation of the fastest journey between two locations using different transportation modes, e.g., car, public transport, walking, bicycle. While useful for individuals, they are of limited interest to a class of users that may be interested in a more global and comparative view of transportation systems in general. In this context, we adopt the view of an urban planner. Urban planners may be interested in queries such as "if a new transit stop was to be introduced in a given location, would that bring the travel time to a given point-of-interest (POI) or area-of-interest (AOI) by bus closer to th…
Traffic Flow Variables Estimation: An Automated Procedure Based on Moving Observer Method. Potential Application for Autonomous Vehicles
2019
Abstract The estimation of traffic flow variables (flow, space mean speed and density) plays a fundamental role in highways planning and designing, as well as in traffic control strategies. Moving Observer Method (MOM) allows traffic surveys in a road, or in a road network. This paper proposes a novel automated procedure, called MOM-AP based on Moving Observer Method and Digital Image Processing (DIP) Technique able to automatically detect (without human observers) and calculate flow q, space mean speed vs and density k in case of stationary and homogeneous traffic conditions. In order to evaluate how reliable is the MOM-AP, an experiment has been carried out in a segment of one two-lane si…
How is the Driver's Workload Influenced by the Road Environment?
2017
Abstract This paper focuses on the study of the driver's workload while driving on a rural two-lane road with different traffic flows. The aim of the research is to examine a parameter that could be representative of the driving effort, quite sensible to the external factors that cause disturbance to the regular driving activity. To solve this problem, the authors used a specific instrumented vehicle for monitoring some physiological parameters of the driver (as the eye movements and the Galvanic Skin Resistance), referring their values to the road context. The results are very interesting and confirm that knowing the workload is useful to improve the road safety only if it is related to th…
Methodology and trends for an intelligent transport system in developing countries
2018
Abstract Increasingly, the technologies that are used in telecommunications contribute to improve intelligent transport systems. These technologies are systems that offer several concepts like vehicular ad hoc networks, which allow reduction of traffic accidents, traffic congestion and consequently increase road safety and the comfort of road users. Developing countries in general and those of sub-Sahara in particular do not have telecommunication infrastructures, even road infrastructures for the implementation of an intelligent transport system. Moreover, with the serious increase in vehicles in these countries, the problem of traffic regulation arise especially in the inter-urban context…
Spatial analysis of traffic accidents near and between road intersections in a directed linear network.
2019
Although most of the literature on traffic safety analysis has been developed over areal zones, there is a growing interest in using the specific road structure of the region under investigation, which is known as a linear network in the field of spatial statistics. The use of linear networks entails several technical complications, ranging from the accurate location of traffic accidents to the definition of covariates at a spatial micro-level. Therefore, the primary goal of this study was to display a detailed analysis of a dataset of traffic accidents recorded in Valencia (Spain), which were located into a linear network representing more than 30 km of urban road structure corresponding t…