Modeling an Elastic-Demand Bimodal Transport Network with Park-and-Ride Trips

This paper presents a network equilibrium formulation for modeling commuters＇ travel choices in a bimodal transport system with park-and-ride （P＆R） trips while the total demand is elastic to the congestion level of the network. A super-network approach is adopted in the proposed model. It is assumed that commuters＇ trips are categorized into two types, auto mode only and a combined mode with both auto and transit modes. The former is referred to as the pure mode trip and the latter as the P＆R mode trip. The proposed model simultaneously considers the commuter＇s choice of the pure mode versus the P＆R mode, the choice of parking location for the pure mode, the choice of transfer point for the P＆R mode, as well as the route choice for each mode. The demand elasticity of transport system, the capacity constraints of transport facilities, and the congestion interaction throughout the super-network are also explicitly incorporated into the proposed model. The results of the numerical experiment show the following key findings： （i） traditional parking/P＆R models may overestimate or underestimate travel demand distribution over network; （ii） parking/P＆R, transit scheduling, and carpooling schemes bring significant impacts on commuters＇ travel behavior and network performance; and （iii） different transport policies may be to some extent mutually substituted .     

Surface plasmon subwavelength optics

Surface plasmons are waves that propagate along the surface of a conductor. By altering the structure of a metal's surface, the properties of surface plasmons--in particular their interaction with light--can be tailored, which offers the potential for developing new types of photonic device. This could lead to miniaturized photonic circuits with length scales that are much smaller than those currently achieved. Surface plasmons are being explored for their potential in subwavelength optics, data storage, light generation, microscopy and bio-photonics.     

Ecosystem carbon loss with woody plant invasion of grasslands

The invasion of woody vegetation into deserts, grasslands and savannas is generally thought to lead to an increase in the amount of carbon stored in those ecosystems. For this reason, shrub and forest expansion (for example, into grasslands) is also suggested to be a substantial, if uncertain, component of the terrestrial carbon sink. Here we investigate woody plant invasion along a precipitation gradient (200 to 1,100 mm yr(-1)) by comparing carbon and nitrogen budgets and soil delta(13)C profiles between six pairs of adjacent grasslands, in which one of each pair was invaded by woody species 30 to 100 years ago. We found a clear negative relationship between precipitation and changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen content when grasslands were invaded by woody vegetation, with drier sites gaining, and wetter sites losing, soil organic carbon. Losses of soil organic carbon at the wetter sites were substantial enough to offset increases in plant biomass carbon, suggesting that current land-based assessments may overestimate carbon sinks. Assessments relying on carbon stored from woody plant invasions to balance emissions may therefore be incorrect.     

Designing metallic glass matrix composites with high toughness and tensile ductility

The selection and design of modern high-performance structural engineering materials is driven by optimizing combinations of mechanical properties such as strength, ductility, toughness, elasticity and requirements for predictable and graceful (non-catastrophic) failure in service. Highly processable bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are a new class of engineering materials and have attracted significant technological interest. Although many BMGs exhibit high strength and show substantial fracture toughness, they lack ductility and fail in an apparently brittle manner in unconstrained loading geometries. For instance, some BMGs exhibit significant plastic deformation in compression or bending tests, but all exhibit negligible plasticity (<0.5% strain) in uniaxial tension. To overcome brittle failure in tension, BMG-matrix composites have been introduced. The inhomogeneous microstructure with isolated dendrites in a BMG matrix stabilizes the glass against the catastrophic failure associated with unlimited extension of a shear band and results in enhanced global plasticity and more graceful failure. Tensile strengths of approximately 1 GPa, tensile ductility of approximately 2-3 per cent, and an enhanced mode I fracture toughness of K(1C) approximately 40 MPa m(1/2) were reported. Building on this approach, we have developed 'designed composites' by matching fundamental mechanical and microstructural length scales. Here, we report titanium-zirconium-based BMG composites with room-temperature tensile ductility exceeding 10 per cent, yield strengths of 1.2-1.5 GPa, K(1C) up to approximately 170 MPa m(1/2), and fracture energies for crack propagation as high as G(1C) approximately 340 kJ m(-2). The K(1C) and G(1C) values equal or surpass those achievable in the toughest titanium or steel alloys, placing BMG composites among the toughest known materials.     

An asymmetric solar wind termination shock

Voyager 2 crossed the solar wind termination shock at 83.7 au in the southern hemisphere, approximately 10 au closer to the Sun than found by Voyager 1 in the north. This asymmetry could indicate an asymmetric pressure from an interstellar magnetic field, from transient-induced shock motion, or from the solar wind dynamic pressure. Here we report that the intensity of 4-5 MeV protons accelerated by the shock near Voyager 2 was three times that observed concurrently by Voyager 1, indicating differences in the shock at the two locations. (Companion papers report on the plasma, magnetic field, plasma-wave and lower energy particle observations at the shock.) Voyager 2 did not find the source of anomalous cosmic rays at the shock, suggesting that the source is elsewhere on the shock or in the heliosheath. The small intensity gradient of Galactic cosmic ray helium indicates that either the gradient is further out in the heliosheath or the local interstellar Galactic cosmic ray intensity is lower than expected.     

Therapy with monoclonal antibodies by elimination of T-cell subsets in vivo

A major aim in immunology has been to understand how the immune system evokes characteristic responses to infection, foreign tissue grafts and tumours. The current view of immunoregulation is based mainly on studies of lymphocyte subsets, either in vitro or by adoptive transfer to irradiated recipients. Many reagents are available for defining T-cell subsets, but only recently have there been helper T-cell-specific antibodies against the mouse equivalent of the Leu3/T4 (man) and W3/25 (rat) antigens. It is clear that monoclonal antibodies will eventually replace antilymphocyte globulin for immunosuppression in organ grafting, but although there has been some clinical success, most monoclonal reagents cause only transient reductions in their target cells in vivo. This uncertainty in the potency of monoclonal antibodies has led some workers to consider them as targeting agents for such highly cytotoxic drugs as ricin A (ref. 21). We show here that unmodified monoclonal antibodies can be extremely effective at depleting cells in vivo and can be used for the selective manipulation of different aspects of the immune response.     

Small-amplitude cycles emerge from stage-structured interactions in Daphnia-algal systems

A long-standing issue in ecology is reconciling the apparent stability of many populations with robust predictions of large-amplitude population cycles from general theory on consumer-resource interactions. Even when consumers are decoupled from dynamic resources, large-amplitude cycles can theoretically emerge from delayed feedback processes found in many consumers. Here we show that resource-dependent mortality and a dynamic developmental delay in consumers produces a new type of small-amplitude cycle that coexists with large-amplitude fluctuations in coupled consumer-resource systems. A distinctive characteristic of the small-amplitude cycles is slow juvenile development for consumers, leading to a developmental delay that is longer than the cycle period. By contrast, the period exceeds the delay in large-amplitude cycles. These theoretical predictions may explain previous empirical results on coexisting attractors found in Daphnia-algal systems. To test this, we used bioassay experiments that measure the growth rates of individuals in populations exhibiting each type of cycle. The results were consistent with predictions. Together, the new theory and experiments establish that two very general features of consumers--a resource-dependent juvenile stage duration and resource-dependent mortality--combine to produce small-amplitude resource-consumer cycles. This phenomenon may contribute to the prevalence of small-amplitude fluctuations in many other consumer-resource populations.