Evaluating the efficiency of local municipalities in providing traffic safety using the Data Envelopment Analysis

The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative efficiency of 197 local municipalities in traffic safety in Israel during 2004–2009, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). DEA efficiency is based on multiple inputs and multiple outputs, when their weights are unknown. We used here inputs reflecting the resources allocated to the local municipalities (such as funding), outputs include measures that reflect reductions in accidents (such as accidents per population), and intermediate variables known as safety performance indicators (SPI): measures that are theoretically linked to crash and injury reductions (such as use of safety belts). Some of the outputs are undesirable. Using DEA, the local municipalities were rank-scaled from the most efficient to the least efficient and required improvements for inefficient municipalities were calculated. We found that most of the improvements were required in two intermediate variables related to citations for traffic violations. Several DEA versions were used including a two-stage model where in the first stage the intermediate variables are the outputs, and in the second stage they are the inputs. Further analyses utilizing multiple regressions were performed to verify the effect of various demographic parameters on the efficiency of the municipalities. The demographic parameters tested for each local municipality were related to the size, age, and socio-economic level of the population. The most significant environmental variable affecting the efficiency of local municipalities in preventing road accidents is the population size of the local authority; the size has a negative effect on the efficiency. As far as we could determine, this is the first time that the DEA is used to measure the efficiency of local municipalities in improving traffic safety.     

Core–periphery dynamics in the Portland, Oregon, region: 1982–2006

The relative strength of positive and negative spillovers of urban development is a long-standing and contested issue in regional and development economics, and the search for spread and backwash effects of development in urban core economies goes back at least 50 years. Using data from IMPLAN and the Bureau of Economic Analysis to develop multiregional input–output models, we developed estimates of core–periphery economic interdependence (sales and purchases of goods and services and commuting of workers between the core and the periphery) of the Portland, Oregon, region for 1982 and 2006. We explored whether the changing flows of sales and purchases, spillovers and commuting between 1982 and 2006 suggested a dominance of spread effects or backwash effects. We found increased commuting between periphery and core, decreased core–periphery transactions, and smaller core-to-periphery spillovers and periphery-to-core spillovers in both goods and services. Our findings do not point to a clear dominance of spread or backwash effects. Results showing smaller core-to-periphery and periphery-to-core multipliers/spillovers suggest that spread effects related to trade in goods and services weakened between 1982 and 2006. Our findings of increased commuting are consistent with enhanced spread effects in labor markets.     

Land Use Planning and Bushfire Risk: CFA Referrals and the February 2009 Victorian Fire Area

The Victoria Planning Provisions (VPPs) include siting and design regulations incorporated into local government planning schemes to mitigate risk in areas prone to bushfires. Introduced in 1997, these provisions were previously called the Wildfire Management Overlay (WMO). Now updated and renamed the Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO), the provision's ongoing development has been informed by fire behaviour and how houses ignite. The aim of the research reported here, conducted following the catastrophic February 2009 Victorian fires, was to review dwelling losses in terms of the WMO's effectiveness. Empirical evidence compares house losses of dwellings referred to the Country Fire Authority (CFA) via the WMO, with overall house losses. The results suggest that proportionately fewer houses referred to the CFA were lost, compared with those not assessed under the WMO. It should be noted that other factors influenced the results, such as the houses assessed under the WMO being generally newer.     

In Vitro Selection of a Single-Stranded DNA Molecular Recognition Element against Atrazine

Widespread use of the chlorotriazine herbicide, atrazine, has led to serious environmental and human health consequences. Current methods of detecting atrazine contamination are neither rapid nor cost-effective. In this work, atrazine-specific single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) molecular recognition elements (MRE) were isolated. We utilized a stringent Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) methodology that placed the greatest emphasis on what the MRE should not bind to. After twelve rounds of SELEX, an atrazine-specific MRE with high affinity was obtained. The equilibrium dissociation constant (K_d) of the ssDNA sequence is 0.62 ± 0.21 nM. It also has significant selectivity for atrazine over atrazine metabolites and other pesticides found in environmentally similar locations and concentrations. Furthermore, we have detected environmentally relevant atrazine concentrations in river water using this MRE. The strong affinity and selectivity of the selected atrazine-specific ssDNA validated the stringent SELEX methodology and identified a MRE that will be useful for rapid atrazine detection in environmental samples.     

Next‐generation DNA sequencing reveals that low fungal diversity in house dust is associated with childhood asthma development

Dampness and visible mold in homes are associated with asthma development, but causal mechanisms remain unclear. The goal of this research was to explore associations among measured dampness, fungal exposure, and childhood asthma development without the bias of culture‐based microbial analysis. In the low‐income, Latino CHAMACOS birth cohort, house dust was collected at age 12 months, and asthma status was determined at age 7 years. The current analysis included 13 asthma cases and 28 controls. Next‐generation DNA sequencing methods quantified fungal taxa and diversity. Lower fungal diversity (number of fungal operational taxonomic units) was significantly associated with increased risk of asthma development: unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 4.80 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–22.1). Control for potential confounders strengthened this relationship. Decreased diversity within the genus Cryptococcus was significantly associated with increased asthma risk (OR 21.0, 95% CI 2.16–204). No fungal taxon (species, genus, class) was significantly positively associated with asthma development, and one was significantly negatively associated. Elevated moisture was associated with increased fungal diversity, and moisture/mold indicators were associated with four fungal taxa. Next‐generation DNA sequencing provided comprehensive estimates of fungal identity and diversity, demonstrating significant associations between low fungal diversity and childhood asthma development in this community.     

An extension of first-order LTL with rules with application to runtime verification

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - Linear temporal logic (LTL) is extensively used in formal methods, in particular in runtime verification (RV) and in model...     

Tracking Twin Boundary Jerky Motion at Nanometer and Microsecond Scales

The jerky motion of twin boundaries in the ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni-Mn-Ga is studied by simultaneous measurements of stress and magnetic emissions (ME). A careful design of the experimental conditions results in an approximately linear relationship between the measured ME voltage and the nm-scale volumes exhibiting twinning transformation during microsecond-scale abrupt “avalanche” events. This study shows that the same distributions of ME avalanches, related to features of jerky twin boundary motion, are found both during and between stress drop events. Maximum likelihood analysis of statistical distributions of several variables reveals a good fit to power laws truncated by exponential functions. Interestingly, the characteristic cutoffs described by the exponential functions are in the middle of the distribution range. Further, the cutoff values can be related to the physical characteristics of the studied problem. Particularly, the cutoff of amplitudes of ME avalanches matches the value predicted by high rate magnetic pulse tests performed under much larger driving force values. This observation implies that avalanches during slow rate twin boundary motion and velocity changes observed by high rate tests represent the same behavior and can be described by the same theory.