bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multiple Traits-based Analysis of Tartary Buckwheat Landraces Using GGE-Biplot
Authors: Joshi Bal K
Published: January 2013

Selection of landraces using multiple traits can be considered more effective in crop breeding program. The objective was to enhance the yield performance of landraces of Tartary buckwheat through pure line selection method. Seven landraces were selected from the evaluation trials of 105 accessions in 2007 and 2008 based on the grain yield per plant and analyzed by genotype by trait (GT) biplot using seven quantitative traits: plant height, grain yield, number of leaves, number of grains, days to maturity, 500-grain weight and number of primary branches. The landrace, Ghyuri was found to be the best landrace based on the multiple traits analysis and it produced the highest grain yield (5.36 g per plant) and had the highest number of grains (276). The weight of 500-grain was the lowest (8.08 g) in check variety, i.e., Kabre Tite. Ghyuri followed by MY-2-33-1 had higher values for all these traits, where as Kabre Tite had below average values for all traits. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 1-6 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7392
Influence of Intervarietal and Interspecific Crosses on Seed Set of Gladiolus under Mid- hill Environments of Dailekh Condition
Authors: Poon Tul Bahadur , Pokhrel Anil , Shrestha Subash , Sharma Shasi R , Sharma Khem R , Dev Maha BL
Published: January 2013

Twelve intervarietal crosses and ten interspecific crosses of gladiolus were tested separately in RCBD, each with 4 replications in the field of Agriculture Research Station, Dailekh from 2010 to 2011.The objective of the study was to find the potentiality of seed set in different crosses within and between the species. Under intervarietal crosses, high pooled capsule set per spike resulted in ‘Ginger Red x G-4’ (95.0 %), ‘G-4 x American Beauty’ (92.5%), ‘Intrepid x G-4’(92.5%), ‘G-4 x Intrepid’ (91.7%), ‘American Beauty x G-4’(88.5%) and ‘Intrepid x American Beauty’(83.15%),but ‘Ginger Red x American Beauty’ and ‘Ginger Red x Intrepid’ produced the lowest pooled capsule set per spike with 50.1% and 53.8% respectively. ‘Intrepid x G-4’ produced the highest pooled number of seed sets with 66.0 per capsule followed by ‘G-4 x American Beauty’ with 44.0 and ‘G-4 x Intrepid’ with 44.0 while both ‘Ginger Red x American Beauty’ and ‘Ginger Red x Intrepid’ produced the lowest pooled number of seeds with 2.0 per capsule. Under the interspecific crosses, Pooled number of seed set per capsule was inconsequentially high in ‘Psittacinus hybrid x G-4’ with 56.0, ‘Intrepid x Psittacinus hybrid’ with 54.0 and ‘White Prosperity x Psittacinus hybrid’ with 52.0. The seed set due to the effects of present crosses of gladiolus are more satisfactorily successful than those in the previous studies. Incorporation of genotype ‘G-4’ and ‘Intrepid’ both as female and male parents have contributed to high number of seeds per capsule presumably due to inherent varietal trait coupled with favorable environment for triggering seed set. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 17-24 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7394
Wild Vegetables Used by Local Community of Makawanpur District and Their Contribution to Food Security and Income Generation
Authors: Joshi Nirmala , Siwakoti Mohan
Published: January 2013

Wild vegetables were collected from forests, home gardens, road sides, fallow lands and farmers’ fields of Makawanpur district. Information regarding local names, seasonal availability, mode of consumption and priority for utilization were gathered by interviews with key informants, traders’ interviews and market survey of study sites. Some of nutritive values including relative importance of wild vegetables were recorded from literature. A total of 68 wild plant species belonging to 58 genera and 40 families were identified as wild vegetables. Of these, 53 species were herbs, 5 climbers, 4 species shrubs, 4 species trees, and 2 species aquatic runners. The wild vegetables were harvested mainly from March to July by women for household consumption and were also sold in the market. Amaranthus lividus, Bambusa tulda, Bauhinia purpurea, Chenopodium album, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii, Diplazium esculentum, Dryopteris cochleata, Ficus lacor, Ipomoea aquatica, Macropanax dispermus, Phytolacca acinosa, Rorripa nasturtium-aquaticum, Tectaria coduanata, were frequently used as wild vegetables. About 16 wild vegetables were sold in the market. Thus, wild vegetables not only contributed to subsistence and nutritional security of the local people, but also a source of income generation. Despite their importance, these plants have been threatened. The utilization and cultivation of these vegetables should be promoted to maintain the dietary needs of the household in Nepal. This paper attempts to highlight the use and priority of wild vegetables mainly leafy and tender shoot vegetables of Makawanpur district. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 59-66 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7442
Estimation of Alkaloids and Antibacterial Activity of Aconitum spicatum Bruhl Stapf from Manaslu Conservation Area
Authors: Shyaula Sajan L , Ngakushi Ash B , Maharjan Bijaya L , Manandhar Mangala D
Published: January 2013

Aconitum spicatum is one of the deadly poisonous and highly valued medicinal plant. It is a national prioritized herb among 30 national priority herbs listed by the government of Nepal for their development, research and cultivation. The acute toxicity of the extract of this plant appeared to be directly related to the alkaloid content. The amount of total alkaloid of A. spicatum collected from Manaslu conservation area was calculated to be 1.7% by spectrophotometric method based on Dragendorff’s reagent. In-vitro evaluation of the crude extract of plant rhizomes using agar well diffusion assay against eight bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Schigella flexneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella typhimurium and Klebsiella pneumonia, displayed potential antibacterial activity. The diethyl ether fraction was the most effective against all pathogenic microbes with minimum bacterial concentration value 3.125-6.25 mg/ml. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 67-71 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7443
Effect of Ketuki Fiber on Morphology and Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastics Composites
Authors: Giri Jyoti , Le Hong Hai , Radusch Hans-Joachim , Lach Ralf , Grellmann Wolfgang , Lebek Werner , Adhikari Rameshwar
Published: January 2013

Different amount of raw Ketuki powder (average diameter: 60 – 120 ?m) was mixed with the thermoplastic polymers such as ethylene-1–octene copolymer (EOC) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP). The melt mixing was performed using an internal mixture and resulting composites were studied for the effect on morphology and mechanical behavior using electron microscopy, tensile testing and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The microscopic results showed that the polymer matrix is not compatible with filler resulting in worsening of mechanical properties especially in case of the iPP-based composites. For the EOC composites the rubbery nature of the matrix material remains still visible. The TGA analysis revealed slightly worsened thermal stability of composites, while tensile properties were found to be deteriorated as well. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 73-79 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7444
Seasonal Contrast in Precipitation Mechanisms over Nepal Deduced from Relationship with the Large-Scale Climate Patterns
Authors: Sigdel Madan , Ikeda Motoyoshi
Published: January 2013

Summer precipitation dominates over winter one for the annual total in south Asia, while the winter condition is still important for agricultural productions. Rain gauge data over Nepal were analyzed with large-scale atmospheric patterns such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). In the period of June to September, summer monsoon rainfall over Nepal (SMRN) is generally higher in the eastern region along with a peak in the central region associated with the local orography. Its interannual variability was found to be correlated with the southern oscillation index (SOI): i.e., when La Niña occurs, eastward moisture flux is blocked over Bay of Bengal (BOB) by the anomalous Walker circulation extending from the Pacific. The local-scale condition for higher SMRN is implied by a main moisture route along the eastern arm of the low pressure in northeastern India, as proved by a significant correlation between SMRN and the northward moisture flux. In winter (DJFM), precipitation occurs more in the western region. The higher winter precipitation over Nepal (WPN) was correlated almost equally with positive Dipole Mode Index (DMI) over the Indian Ocean and also SOI, while the relationship with SOI is reversed from summer. A clear linkage was suggested with moisture flux from the Arabian Sea and the further western region. Thus, possible impacts of anomalous precipitation have to be predicted under the relationship with the large-scale indices depending on seasons. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 115-123 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7450
Water Quality Parameters and Bird Diversity in Jagdishpur Reservoir, Nepal
Authors: Thapa Jham Bahadur , Saund Tej Bahadur
Published: January 2013

Water quality parameters were analyzed seasonally to examine relationships with bird numbers and species richness in Jagdishpur reservoir. This wetland is a Ramsar site and an important bird area (IBA) of Nepal. The trophic status of the reservoir was categorized as eutrophic as assessed by Secchi disk transparency (1.45 ± 0.53 m), total alkalinity (220.94 ± 85.52 mg/l) and total nitrogen (884.19 ± 291.61 ?g/l) concentrations. Direct count method detected a total of 77 bird species belonging to 8 orders and 31 families of which 40 species were resident and 37 migrants. Species richness ranged from 21(summer) to 74 species (winter). Secchi disk transparency showed a significant positive correlation with bird numbers ((r = 1.00, p < 0.01) whereas significant negative correlation was found between water temperature and species richness (r = - 0.97, p < 0.05). Absolute positive correlation between species richness and seasons was established (r = 0.74). The seasonal distribution pattern showed two peaks of species richness, Shannon diversity, equitability and evenness index, one in winter and the other in autumn. Fulica atra (30.53%), Dendrocygna javanica (15.88%) and Anas strepera (9.58%) were the three most dominant bird species. Fourteen CITES species, 8 globally and 14 nationally threatened species were recorded. Conservation action plan for threatened species that focuses on population monitoring, protecting key habitats and habitat enhancement is urgently needed. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 143-155 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7453
Joint Model of Residential Relocation Choice and Underlying Causal Factors
Authors: Kortum Katherine , Paleti Rajesh , Bhat Chandra R. , Pendyala Ram M.
Published: January 2013

Residential location choice is a key determinant of activity–travel behavior, yet little is known about the reasons why people choose to move or not move residences. Such understanding is critical to being able to model residential location choices over time and design built environments that people find appealing. This paper attempts to fill this gap by developing a joint model of the choice to move residence and the primary reason behind the move. The model is estimated on the Florida subsample of the 2009 U.S. National Household Travel Survey. Model results shed considerable light on the socioeconomic and demographic variables that affect a household's decision whether to move residence and the primary reason underlying that decision.
Application of Socioeconomic Model System for Activity-Based Modeling: Experience from Southern California
Authors: Pendyala Ram M. , Bhat Chandra R. , Goulias Konstadinos G. , Paleti Rajesh , Konduri Karthik C. , Sidharthan Raghu , Hu Hsi-Hwa , Huang Guoxiong , Christian Keith P.
Published: January 2013

This paper presents results from the application of a comprehensive socioeconomic and demographic model system in conjunction with a continuous-time, activity-based microsimulation model of travel demand developed for the Southern California Association of Governments. The socioeconomic model system includes two major components. The first is a synthetic population generator that is capable of synthesizing a representative population for the entire region while controlling for both household- and person-level marginal distributions. The second is an econometric microsimulator that models various socioeconomic and demographic attributes for each person in the synthetic population with a view to developing a rich set of input data for the activity-based microsimulation model system. The results show that the socioeconomic model system is capable of replicating known distributions of demographic attributes in the population and can be easily scaled for implementation in large regions such as the Southern California area, which includes a population of more than 18 million people in its model boundaries.
Outcome of Transportation Projects under Uncertainty: Examination of Benefit–Cost Ratios and Other Impacts
Authors: Fagnant Daniel J. , Kockelman Kara M.
Published: January 2013

Budget constraints and competing opportunities demand thoughtful evaluation of projects before investment. Significant uncertainty surrounds travel choices, demographic futures, project costs, and model parameters. The impact of this uncertainty was explored with the use of hundreds of sensitivity test runs conducted across 28 random parameter sets to evaluate highway capacity expansion and toll project scenarios in Austin, Texas. The effects of different parameter sets on project benefit–cost ratios, crash counts, emissions, traffic volumes, and tolling revenues were examined in detail. Linear regression results showed that link capacity, link performance parameters, and their covariation were key to the results, followed by the elasticity of demand, trip growth rates, and values of travel time.
Building a Better Plan: Costs and Benefits of Transportation Alternatives
Authors: Kitchen Matthew
Published: January 2013

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) in Washington State has developed a set of procedures and methods for project and program evaluation that generally fall into the category of transportation benefit–cost analysis. The purpose of these methods is to be able to produce information about project or program performance relative to performance under a baseline set of conditions in which the project or program has not been implemented. PSRC used these benefit–cost analysis methods to develop and evaluate regional transportation planning alternatives during its most recent planning process. The creation of alternative regional transportation plans for analysis is not entirely unlike the development of investment portfolios. Acceptance of the findings of a comprehensive benefit–cost analysis as the appropriate analytical framework solves many, but not all, of the problems of practical implementation of a framework for evaluation of a scenario. Performance of a truly comprehensive benefit–cost analysis in a complex practical setting, however, introduces some empirical and policy challenges. PSRC has taken practical steps toward a more systematic approach to an alternative method of analysis. Incorporation of user benefit analysis into the process of evaluation of a scenario produces a natural shift toward consideration of development and selection of a scenario as an investment optimization problem. The paper explores additional approaches that might further advance the state of the practice in regional transportation planning.
Effect of Pedestrian Impedance on Vehicular Capacity at Multilane Roundabouts with Consideration of Crossing Treatments
Authors: Schroeder Bastian , Rouphail Nagui M. , Salamati Katayoun , Bugg Zachary
Published: January 2013

Past research has documented that pedestrian crossings at modern roundabouts can result in an impedance effect on the available capacity of entering traffic. The magnitude of this impedance effect is intuitively linked to the allocation of rights-of-way at the crosswalk, where a greater likelihood of driver yielding is expected to affect capacity more severely. However, existing pedestrian impedance models in the 2010 Highway Capacity Manual and the FHWA Roundabout Guide are not sensitive to yielding rates. The principal objective of this paper is to quantify pedestrian impedance effects on the vehicular entry capacity at multi-lane roundabouts as a function of driver yielding behavior. A calibrated microsimulation model is used to develop the relationships and explore changes in volume and yielding parameters. Impedance models are further developed for the pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB) treatment, which is gaining increasing attention at multi-lane roundabouts across the United States. The results confirm the expected effects that the pedestrian impedance is more severe with higher pedestrian flow rates but decreases in severity with greater conflicting flows. The results further show that the effect of varying yielding rates on the impedance effect is minimal for congested roundabout approaches, because the relative effect of yielding is small compared with that of pedestrian volumes and conflicting circulating flow. The analysis of the PHB treatment shows that the impedance effect of the same pedestrian flows is generally less than that for an unsignalized crossing environment.
Empirical Estimation of Capacity for Roundabouts Using Adjusted Gap-Acceptance Parameters for Trucks
Authors: Dahl Jason , Lee Chris
Published: January 2013

This study examines the effect of heavy vehicles (trucks) on the entry capacity of roundabouts. Vehicle movements were observed at 11 roundabouts in Vermont, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada, and gap-acceptance parameters were estimated for cars and trucks separately. Consistent with previous studies, it was found that the critical headway and the follow-up time were longer for trucks than for cars. It was also found that the follow-up times for truck-involved vehicle-following cases were associated with the central island diameter and the entry angle. The gap-acceptance parameters for all entering vehicles were adjusted to a volume-weighted average of the gap-acceptance parameters for cars and trucks. The capacity was estimated with the existing capacity models with the adjusted gap-acceptance parameters and compared with the observed capacity at three roundabouts. It was found that the rate of reduction in the observed capacity with an increase in the circulating flow was lower at the roundabouts with a higher truck percentage. Also, the capacity models with the adjusted gap-acceptance parameters estimated the capacity more accurately than did the models with the unadjusted parameters. The study underscores the importance of considering the effect of trucks on capacity for the roundabouts with a high truck volume.
Optimization of Vehicle Travel Position on Roundabouts in Snowy Cold Regions
Authors: Takemoto Azuma , Munehiro Kazunori , Takahashi Naoto , Watanabe Masayoshi , Murakami Mutsumi , Kawamura Masahiro
Published: January 2013

Recently, modern roundabouts have been actively introduced in various countries. Single-lane roundabouts help to prevent serious accidents because vehicles tend to slow down as a result of the transverse acceleration that acts on them during movement on the circulatory roadway. However, as the boundary between the circulatory roadway and the truck apron becomes unclear during winter in snowy cold regions, it is necessary to verify the practicality of roundabouts in consideration of winter road surface and meteorological conditions. This study examined a method of guiding vehicles on circulatory roadways in winter. Driving experiments were conducted at a roundabout with different road surface conditions and central-island diameters to allow analysis of the positions of vehicles traveling under each set of conditions. The results indicated that vehicles were able to stay on course regardless of the central-island diameter in dry road surface conditions. With winter road surface conditions, however, the number of vehicles mounting the truck apron increased when the island diameter was small, whereas a large diameter helped them to stay on course and reduced travel position variance. An examination of driving behavior under different road surface conditions and with different central-island diameters revealed that surface conditions affected travel speed and transverse acceleration, whereas the island diameter had a smaller effect. However, it was found that the adoption of a large central-island diameter in a constant inscribed circle diameter was effective in reducing travel position deviation and helped vehicles to stay on the circulatory roadway even during the winter in snowy cold regions.
Simulator Study of Driver Responses to Pedestrian Treatments at Multilane Roundabouts
Authors: Salamati Katayoun , Schroeder Bastian , Rouphail Nagui M. , Cunningham Christopher , Zhang Yu , Kaber David
Published: January 2013

Previous studies have shown that roundabouts, especially multilane roundabouts, pose accessibility challenges to pedestrians with vision impairments, in part because of a lack of yielding by drivers, especially on multilane roundabout exit legs. In this study, a driving simulator was used to assess three different treatments in regard to their propensity for increasing the driver yielding rate. These treatments were the relocation of the stop bar and crosswalk away from the beginning of the exit leg and two types of beacons, namely a pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB) and a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB). The study showed that the installation of any kind of beacon (PHB or RRFB), with or without crosswalk relocation, increased driver yielding rates significantly. Relocating the crosswalk did not provide a significant increase in the driver yielding rate for the base case, but appeared to enhance further the effectiveness of the PHB and RRFB treatments. The results of using an eye tracker on drivers to track their gaze pattern while exiting the roundabout showed that having a beacon installed with crosswalk relocation increased drivers’ attention on the beacon and on the pedestrian along the road. However, some of the participants failed to see and react to the pedestrian treatments and thus caused concern about the visibility of these treatments at the roundabout exit leg.
Use of Regional Transportation Planning Tool for Modeling Emergency Evacuation: Case Study of Northern New Jersey
Authors: Ozbay Kaan , Yazici M. Anil , Iyer Shrisan , Li Jian , Ozguven Eren Erman , Carnegie Jon A.
Published: January 2013

Evacuation modeling and analysis are concerned primarily with identifying the types of traffic movements associated with a disaster evacuation, as well as the estimation of evacuation and clearance times. Thus, an efficient evacuation planning model is important in determining evacuation times, identifying critical locations in the transportation network, and assessing traffic operations strategies and evacuation policies. In this paper various scenarios, including a hurricane, a toxic chemical leak, dirty bombs, and a nuclear event, are studied to understand the evacuation and highway network effects of the evacuating population. Unlike corridor studies or bottleneck studies found in the literature, a network model with equilibrium assignment is used. The scenarios are tested with a case study of Northern New Jersey, modeled with the North Jersey Regional Transportation Model–Enhanced, a large-scale travel demand model of the region. The results presented in this paper focus on the effect of several assumptions and input data on the evacuation estimates, giving planners an idea of the necessary considerations for evacuation planning with a modeling context. The experience with this study shows that regional planning models are suitable tools to model evacuation; however, the modeler must be careful in their use. Multiple methodologies can be used, and assumptions, such as time of day, notice or no-notice, passengers per car, and background traffic in the network, have wide-ranging effects.
Changes in Evacuation Decisions between Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina
Authors: Murray-Tuite Pamela , Yin Weihao , Ukkusuri Satish V. , Gladwin Hugh
Published: January 2013

Hurricanes cause some of the worst traffic conditions, affecting evacuees’ ability to reach safety before they are subjected to high winds, heavy rain, and flooding. This paper is one of the few to use a panel survey to examine similar household decisions over consecutive hurricanes. The study focuses on Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, which were of similar strength and followed similar paths, and is fairly comprehensive in the number of traffic-related decisions considered. Contingency tables, binary logit models, and Goodman and Kruskal's gamma measure were used to examine the effects of previous decisions on (a) whether to evacuate, (b) day of departure, (c) destination type and location, (d) number of household vehicles taken, and (e) reason for route selection. Through the statistical analyses, it was discovered that (a) to a great extent, citizens made the same decision to evacuate or stay for Katrina as they did for Ivan, and higher incomes were not significant in changing that decision; (b) some evacuees departed earlier, but most evacuees departed on the last day possible; (c) most evacuees selected the same type of accommodations and made the same inside-the-county-or-parish or out-of-the-county-or-parish decisions in consecutive evacuations; (d) the number of household vehicles used in the evacuation did not decrease; and (e) route guidance as a selection criterion did not depend on previous evacuation experience.
Dynamic Traffic Assignment Evaluation of Hurricane Evacuation Strategies for the Houston–Galveston, Texas, Region
Authors: Songchitruksa Praprut , Henk Russell , Venglar Steven , Zeng Xiaosi
Published: January 2013

The Houston–Galveston, Texas, region has experienced several major hurricanes in recent years. During the evacuation for Hurricane Rita in 2005, the Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) decided to implement contraflow operations on I-45 to relieve massive evacuee congestion departing Houston to the north. The decision to implement contraflow was a difficult one because it involved multiple jurisdictions and required extensive coordination of manpower and resources from various entities. After the Hurricane Rita experience, the Texas DOT implemented a new strategy, referred to as “evaculane,” in which evacuation traffic could use the outside paved shoulder as a traveling lane when an evacuation was under way and evaculane signing beacons were activated. The objective is to increase capacity along key evacuation routes while avoiding the need for full-scale contraflow operation whenever possible. The evaculane on I-10 was successfully put into use during the Hurricane Ike evacuation in 2008. With the widening and completion of evaculanes on I-10 and US-290 as well as a partial contraflow plan for the I-45 corridor, the Texas DOT sponsored a study to develop a decision support tool to help determine whether these strategies would adequately handle the evacuation demand for various Houston–Galveston region evacuation scenarios. This paper describes the quantitative assessment of the performance of alternative evacuation strategies using a dynamic traffic assignment model, DynusT. The evaluation results indicated the evaculanes on I-10 and US-290 can sufficiently handle high evacuation demand on both routes without contraflow operation. In addition, a partial contraflow plan for I-45 was shown to provide sufficient capacity to handle high evacuation demand in lieu of full-scale contraflow operation.
Travel Time Reliability during Evacuation: Impact of Heterogeneous Driving Behavior
Authors: Tu Huizhao , Pel Adam J. , Li Hao , Sun Lijun
Published: January 2013

Earlier studies have shown that driving behavior differs strongly in emergency conditions compared with behavior in normal traffic conditions. In this paper, these findings are followed up with an investigation of how these differences in driving behavior affect travel time reliability. In particular, the focus is on the effect of relatively strong heterogeneity in driving behavior. The microscopic simulation framework S-PARAMICS is adapted accordingly and applied to the emergency evacuation network of the Dutch city of Almere. This experimental setup allows a structured and in-depth analysis of the relationship between a number of driving behavior parameters and the emergent travel time reliability. The main findings from this study are thus insightful and directly applicable to evacuation planning and management studies. For instance, it is found that although a reduction in drivers’ mean time headway and minimum gap acceptance typically improves the overall evacuation time, travel times are simultaneously less reliable. Also, the reliability of travel times decreases over time and results in much less reliable travel times for those travelers who depart later. And finally, in general, heterogeneity in driving behavior strongly reduces travel time reliability.
Bus Contraflow Lane: Improved Contraflow Approach in Freeway Evacuation
Authors: Ren Gang , Hua Jingyi , Cheng Yang , Zhang Yong , Ran Bin
Published: January 2013

The contraflow operation, defined as the use of one or more lanes of inbound travel for traffic movement in the outbound direction during an evacuation, is a widely accepted and adopted strategy for evacuation planning. To reduce the evacuation time of the population with low personal car ownership, a new contraflow approach, named bus contraflow, is proposed in this paper. This approach transforms contraflow lanes into exclusive bus lanes during evacuation. A person-based measure of effectiveness model was developed to assess the evacuation performance of different contraflow approaches. And a simulation road network was then used to compare the performance of the proposed bus contraflow approach with the noncontraflow and conventional contraflow approaches, in three scenarios and five groups of assumptions. The simulation results and following efficiency analysis indicate the potential benefits and widespread applicability of the proposed bus contraflow approach.
New Measure of Inattentiveness to Forward Roadway
Authors: Pollatsek Alexander , Divekar Gautam , Fisher Donald L.
Published: January 2013

Long glances inside a vehicle when driving are predictive of crashes on the road. Laboratory studies have shown that novice drivers are more likely to make such long in-vehicle glances than are more experienced drivers. Moreover, a training program for novice drivers, FOCAL, has been shown to reduce the number of long glances. However, it is not clear what the best measure is for assessing how risky the pattern of glances is. This paper proposes a new measure, summed excess glance durations, to assess the glance behavior in an interval of time in which the participant is attempting to do a task within the vehicle while driving. This measure gives a plausible estimate of the likelihood of a crash and is not subject to the same problems as are extant measures. Moreover, the measure can be used to estimate the threshold above which glance durations become unsafe, confirming previous, complementary, work on a driving simulator. Although the analyses suggest that approximately a 1.5-s threshold for evaluating excess glances appears to be best, any excess glance threshold between 1.0 and 2.5 s is a good discriminator between novice and experienced drivers. The authors also discuss how one can bridge the gap between laboratory observations and crash rates and argue that the threshold value for predicting crash rates is likely to depend on driving situations. The authors argue that the measure proposed, when suitably adjusted for driving conditions, is likely to be an excellent predictor of crash rates.
Dynamic Maximum Speed Limits
Authors: Hoogendoorn R. G. , Harms I. M. , Hoogendoorn S. P. , Brookhuis K. A.
Published: January 2013

Application of dynamic maximum speed limits may lead to positive effects for the environment, safety, and traffic flows. However, the efficacy of this dynamic traffic management measure depends largely on the behavior of drivers (i.e., compliance). In this paper, it is conjectured that compliance does not depend solely on attitudes of drivers but also depends on drivers’ perceptions of the dynamic maximum speed limit signs and mental workload. It is assumed that characteristics of the dynamic maximum speed limit signs influence the perceptions of drivers as well as their mental workload. It is, however, not yet clear to what extent characteristics of the signs influence perception, mental workload, and compliance of drivers. Therefore, two driving simulator experiments were performed to investigate the influence of four factors on drivers’ perception, mental workload, and compliance. The factors studied were the signs’ content, implementation, location, and frequency. From the results, it followed that different effects of these factors could be observed. For example, it was observed that the frequency with which dynamic maximum speed limit signs were provided to the drivers had a significant influence on perception and compliance, although a significant effect on mental workload could not be established. The paper concludes with a discussion of results and recommendations for future research.
Automatic Calibration of Behavioral Parameters for Variable Message Sign–Based Route Guidance Consistent with Driver Behavior
Authors: Xu Tiandong , Hao Yuan , Peng Zhongren , Sun Lijun
Published: January 2013

Variable message signs (VMSs) can be used to divert traffic to less congested areas of road networks and to enhance network performance. Central to these goals are increasing the acceptability of the suggested guidance and improving the credibility of VMS information among drivers. This study develops a new model for quantifying the effect of VMS messages on drivers’ en route diversion behavior for real-time VMS-based route guidance that is consistent with driver behavior. The model incorporates attributes that can be obtained online, including traffic information, traffic flow, weather, and incident duration. The parameters, observation noise, and system noise characterizing this model are calibrated dynamically according to real-time detected traffic data and adaptive Kalman filtering theory. In the calibration, the consistency between time-dependent actual and predicted traffic states is verified. The results indicate that the calibration model enhances the accuracy of traffic state prediction and thereby increases the effectiveness of the proposed route guidance. The model is also suitable for application to real-world situations because it can more accurately estimate and predict the likely route choices of drivers using aggregate-level traffic data. Such data can be used to track the evolutionary process of en route diversion behavior, as well as design meaningful route guidance control goals and strategies for traffic decision makers.
Driver Performance at High Speeds Using a Simulator
Authors: Fitzpatrick Kay , Chrysler Susan T. , Park Eun Sug , Iragavarapu Vichika , Nelson Alicia A.
Published: January 2013

The goal of a Texas Department of Transportation project was a better understanding of driver performance at high speeds. Because of limited opportunity to study high-speed driving, one of the approaches used in the study was a driving simulator. The objective of the study was to measure how long drivers took to notice and react to a lead vehicle decelerating. Conditions that varied were initial speed, lead vehicle type, lead vehicle deceleration rate, and workload level. The recorded simulator data provided the research team with the driver's actual proximity to the lead vehicle at each time increment. Findings from this study included the following: higher initial speeds were associated with statistically significant longer reaction times; reaction times when following a smaller vehicle (a car in this experiment) were longer than those when following a large vehicle (a truck); brake reaction times were shorter with faster deceleration rates; and greater headways present at the start of a deceleration event were associated with longer reaction times.
Effects of gibberellic acid and Kn on seed germination and accumulation of Na+ and K+ in the seedlings of triticale-I under salinity stress
Authors: Samad Rifat , Karmoker JL
Published: January 2013

Effects of GA and Kn on seed germination and accumulation of Na+ and K+ in the seedlings of Triticale cultivar was investigated under salinity stress. Salinity decreased the rate of seed germination and ion accumulation in the seedlings but both GA and Kn stimulated these processes under stress. Salinity increased the accumulation of Na+ in radicles and plumules with concomitant inhibition of that of K+, GA and Kn, on the other hand, reduced the rate of Na+ accumulation and increased that of K+ in the seedlings. The interrelationship between the effect of salinity and growth regulators on seed germination and the accumulation of Na+ and K+ in the seedlings is discussed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v41i2.13435 Bangladesh J. Bot. 41(2): 123-129, 2012 (December)
Morphometric analysis of Desmodium Desv. in Bangladesh
Authors: Rahman Md Zahidur , Rahman M Oliur
Published: January 2013

Phenetic analysis based on morphological characters is presented for 14 species of Desmodium Desv. in Bangladesh. This study examines patterns of morphological similarity and variation within Desmodium using 36 floral and vegetative characters. D. heterophyllum shows highest similarity with D. triflorum among the species employed. UPGMA dendrogram is constructed based on cluster analysis which reveals two major clusters, the first of which consists of seven species while the second cluster comprises six species, and D. microphyllum is found far from all other species. The presence of winged petioles distinguishes D. alatum and D. auriculatum from the other species. The present study shows the application of morphometric analysis for understanding the phenetic relationships among the species of Desmodium. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v41i2.13438 Bangladesh J. Bot. 41(2): 143-148, 2012 (December)
Comparative karyotype and RAPD analysis for characterizing three varieties of Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
Authors: Alam Sheikh Shamimul , Ishrat Elham , Zaman Md Yahia , Habib Md Ahashan
Published: January 2013

Three tomato varieties (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) viz. BARI tomato-11, BARI tomato-2 and BARI tomato-3 released from Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) were characterized by karyotype analysis and RAPD markers. BARI tomato-11 and BARI tomato-2 were found to possess 2n = 24 metacentric chromosomes. On the other hand, 2n = 25 metacentric chromosomes were observed in BARI tomato-3 revealing a trisomic variety. The karyotype of the three varieties was very symmetric and each of the varieties showed specific and unique RAPD fingerprinting. Therefore, based on karyotype and RAPD analysis the three tomato varieties could be characterized. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v41i2.13439 Bangladesh J. Bot. 41(2): 149-154, 2012 (December)
Genetic diversity analysis of thirteen mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) cultivars using RAPD markers
Authors: Sony Sonia Khan , Habib Md Ahashan , Islam Mohammad Nurul
Published: January 2013

Genetic diversity analysis among 13 mungbean cultivars from Bangladesh was performed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Out of 20 arbitrary decamer oligonucleotide primers used, 10 produced a total of 379 different bands with an average of 37.9 bands per primer. Based on the observed banding pattern all the primers were found to be 100% polymorphic. Band size of the amplicons ranged from 250 - 5000 bp. A total of 10 unique DNA fragments was amplified from the 13 mungbean cultivars genome. The values of pair-wise genetic distances ranged from 0.0700 - 1.0852, indicating the presence of wide genetic diversity. The highest genetic distance (1.0852) was found between cultivar BARI Mung-2 and 6 while the lowest (0.0700) between cultivar BINA Mung-2 and 7. Dendogram based on Neis genetic distance using Unweighted Pair Group Method of Arithmetic Means (UPGMA) has segregated the 13 mungbean cultivars into two major clusters. BARI Mung-1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 formed cluster 1 and BARI Mung-6, BINA Mung-1, 2, 7, 6, 4, 5 and 8 have made cluster 2. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v41i2.13444 Bangladesh J. Bot. 41(2): 169-175, 2012 (December)
Morphological characterization of lentil accessions: Qualitative characters
Authors: Roy S , Islam MA , Sarker A , Ismail MR , Rafii MY , Mondal MMA , Malek MA
Published: January 2013

Wide variability was observed for all the characters among 110 lentil accessions. Stem colour varied from normal green (45%) to purple (55%). Prominent and rudimentary tendrils were found in 60% and 40% of the accessions, respectively. Among the characters, flower colour showed the highest variation. White flower colour was observed in 49%, violet in 28%, white with blue veins in 20% accessions and the rest 3% were with blue flowers. Red cotyledon was shown by 90% while with yellow was shown by 10% of the accessions. Green, grey and brown seed coat was observed in 10, 66 and 24% of the accessions, respectively. Seed coat pattern with dots was found in 70% accessions and marbled seed coat pattern was shown by 15.5% while 14.5% did not show any seed coat pattern. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v41i2.13447 Bangladesh J. Bot. 41(2): 187-190, 2012 (December)
Propagation of papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. Shahi through in vitro culture
Authors: Roy Protul Kumar , Roy Shyamal Kumar , Hakim Md Lokman
Published: January 2013

A large number of shoots regenerated from lateral buds and young leaves of Carica papaya L. cv. Shahi on MS supplemented with 1.0 mg/l zeatin and 0.2 mg/l NAA. Addition of 200 mg/l casein hydrolysate (CH) to the medium increased the number of shoots per culture and incorporation of 2.0 g/l activated charcoal (AC) to the medium resulted effective shoot growth with healthy leaf. While addition of 100 mg/l urea and 2.0 g/l activated charcoal to the medium showed proper shoot elongation. Best rooting was obtained from shoots cultured on half-strength of MS fortified with 4.0 mg/l IBA.Within four weeks of transfer to the rooting medium, 90% microcuttings produced 12 - 14 roots. The regenerated plantlets were successfully transferred to potted soil. About 84% plantlets survived in the experimental field. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjb.v41i2.13448 Bangladesh J. Bot. 41(2): 191-195, 2012 (December)
Technique of Endoscopic Biopsy of Islet Allografts Transplanted into the Gastric Submucosal Space in Pigs
Authors: Fujita Minoru , McGrath Kevin M. , Bottino Rita , Dons Eefje M. , Long Cassandra , Kumar Goutham , Ekser Burcin , Echeverri Gabriel J. , Hata,‡‡ Jiro , Haruma Ken , Cooper David K. C. , Hara Hidetaka
Published: January 2013

Currently, islet cells are transplanted into the liver via portal vein infusion. One disadvantage of this approach is that it is not possible to adequately biopsy the islets in the liver to assess for rejection. Islet transplantation (Tx) into the gastric submucosal space (GSMS) can be performed endoscopically and has the potential advantage of histological evaluation by endoscopic biopsy. The aim of this study was to determine whether a representative allograft sample could be obtained endoscopically. We performed islet Tx into the GSMS in nonimmunosup-pressed pigs using simple endoscopic submucosal injection. Islets were transplanted at four sites. Endoscopic ultrasonography and biopsy of the transplanted islets at two sites by modified endoscopic submucosal dissection were carried out successfully in all pigs 5 days after islet Tx. Tissue obtained at both biopsy and necropsy (including full-thickness sections of the gastric wall around the sites of the remaining islets and biopsies) were examined by histology and immunohistochemistry to confirm the presence of the islet grafts and any features of rejection. Representative allograft sampling was successfully obtained from all biopsy sites. All biopsies included islets with insulin-positive staining. There was significant CD3+ and CD68+ cell infiltration in the islet masses obtained at biopsy and from sections taken at necropsy, with similar histopathological features. Endoscopic biopsy of islet allografts in the GSMS is feasible, provides accurate histopathological data, and would provide a significant advance if translated into clinical practice.
Le système Fairtrade : une garantie pour les consommateurs ?
Authors: Balineau Gaëlle , Dufeu Ivan
Published: January 2013

Le système de certification Fairtrade , à l’origine de la majorité des ventes de produits équitables, repose essentiellement sur les activités de la Fondation internationale FLO eV, qui édite le cahier des charges, et de FLO-Cert, qui contrôle son respect. Nous montrons dans le présent article que ce système ne réduit que partiellement les deux formes d’incertitude auxquelles sont confrontés les consommateurs de produits équitables.
Les labels au sein du commerce équitable : entre délégation et démission du consommateur
Authors: Pouchain Delphine
Published: January 2013

Le commerce équitable part du principe que le consommateur veut être juste. Le consommateur doit donc repérer les produits dont le prix est juste. Pour cela, il s'appuie sur les labels qui sont théoriquement au service de la justice. Pourtant, les labels commerce équitable sont plutôt vus comme un gage de qualité. De plus, s'en remettre aux labels évite au consommateur de s'interroger sur son sens de la justice. En cela, les labels ne sont pas vecteurs de justice mais deviennent un obstacle à sa mise en œuvre.
Quels critères environnementaux pour le commerce équitable ? Croyances et attentes chez les consommateurs
Authors: Pernin Jean-Louis , Carimentrand Aurélie
Published: January 2013

Cet article questionne la tendance au renforcement des critères environnementaux dans les cahiers des charges des principaux acteurs du commerce équitable au regard des croyances et des attentes des consommateurs. Sont analysées en parallèle les règles environnementales du commerce équitables avec les résultats d’une enquête sur les croyances et les attentes des consommateurs français de café. Certaines règles bien fondées dans les standards du commerce équitable comme l’interdiction des organismes génétiquement modifiés et la limitation de l’usage de pesticides et d’engrais chimiques sont peu connues des consommateurs. D’autres, paradoxalement, faisant partie de leurs principales croyances, comme « favoriser les cultures vivrières et limiter la monoculture », sont peu présentes dans les standards actuels et paraissent difficile à imposer, compte-tenu de la configuration actuelle du marché de l’équitable, dominé par les marques de distributeur.
L'économie politique du brevet au Sud : dimensions industrielle et sanitaire
Authors: Guennif Samira
Published: January 2013

Depuis la ratification de l’accord sur les Aspects de Droits de Propriété Intellectuelle touchant au Commerce en 1994, on n’a cessé de questionner ses effets possibles au Sud. Face aux promesses et aux risques formulés tant en matière de développement industriel que de développement sanitaire, cet article propose d’éclairer l’économie politique du brevet au Sud à travers une analyse comparative des trajectoires brésilienne, indienne et thaïlandaise. Cette analyse permet de montrer que le renforcement du brevet peut nuire au développement de capacités industrielles dans la pharmacie et à l’accessibilité des médicaments dans les pays en développement.