Daily Transport Research Articles

Investigating age and regional effects on the relation between the incidence of heat-related ambulance transport and daily maximum temperature or WBGT

BackgroundAlthough age and regional climate are considered to have effects on the incidence ratio of heat-related illness, quantitative estimation of age or region on the effect of occurring temperature for heat stroke is limited.MethodsBy utilizing data on the number of daily heat-related ambulance transport (HAT) in each of three age groups (7–17, 18–64, 65 years old, or older) and 47 prefectures in Japan, and daily maximum temperature (DMT) or Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (DMW) of each prefecture for the summer season, the effects of age and region on heat-related illness were studied. Two-way ANOVA was used to analyze the significance of the effect of age and 10 regions in Japan on HAT. The population-weighted average of DMT or DMW measured at weather stations in each prefecture was used as DMT or DMW for each prefecture. DMT or DMW when HAT is one in 100,000 people (T1 and W1, respectively) was calculated for each age category and prefecture as an indicator of heat acclimatization. The relation between T1 or W1 and average DMT or DMW of each age category and prefecture were also analyzed.ResultsHAT of each age category and prefecture was plotted nearly on the exponential function of corresponding DMT or DMW. Average R2 of the regression function in 47 prefectures in terms of DMW was 0.86, 0.93, and 0.94 for juveniles, adults, and elderly, respectively. The largest regional difference of W1 in 47 prefectures was 4.5 and 4.8 °C for juveniles and adults, respectively between Hokkaido and Tokyo, 3.9 °C for elderly between Hokkaido and Okinawa. Estimated W1 and average DMT or DMW during the summer season for 47 prefectures was linearly related. Regarding age difference, the regression line showed that W1 of the prefecture for DMW at 30 °C of WBGT was 31.1 °C, 32.4 °C, and 29.8 °C for juveniles, adults, and elderly, respectively.ConclusionsAge and regional differences affected the incidence of HAT. Thus, it is recommended that public prevention measures for heat-related disorders take into consideration age and regional variability.

COVID-19 pandemic modifies temperature and heat-related illness ambulance transport association in Japan: a nationwide observational study

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, several illnesses were reduced. In Japan, heat-related illnesses were reduced by 22% compared to pre-pandemic period. However, it is uncertain as to what has led to this reduction. Here, we model the association of maximum temperature and heat-related illnesses in the 47 Japanese prefectures. We specifically examined how the exposure and lag associations varied before and during the pandemic.MethodsWe obtained the summer-specific, daily heat-related illness ambulance transport (HIAT), exposure variable (maximum temperature) and covariate data from relevant data sources. We utilized a stratified (pre-pandemic and pandemic), two-stage approach. In each stratified group, we estimated the 1) prefecture-level association using a quasi-Poisson regression coupled with a distributed lag non-linear model, which was 2) pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. The difference between pooled pre-pandemic and pandemic associations was examined across the exposure and the lag dimensions.ResultsA total of 321,655 HIAT cases was recorded in Japan from 2016 to 2020. We found an overall reduction of heat-related risks for HIAT during the pandemic, with a wide range of reduction (10.85 to 57.47%) in the HIAT risk, across exposure levels ranging from 21.69 °C to 36.31 °C. On the contrary, we found an increment in the delayed heat-related risks during the pandemic at Lag 2 (16.33%; 95% CI: 1.00, 33.98%).ConclusionThis study provides evidence of the impact of COVID-19, particularly on the possible roles of physical interventions and behavioral changes, in modifying the temperature-health association. These findings would have implications on subsequent policies or heat-related warning strategies in light of ongoing or future pandemics.

Estimation of greenhouse gas emission from household activities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Binjai City, North Sumatera

Household activities have the potential to produce greenhouse gas emissions. The government’s policy to work and study from home during the COVID-19 pandemic affects greenhouse gas emissions produced by household activities, starting from energy and waste and liquid waste produced, so it is necessary to carry out an emission inventory. The purpose of this study is to calculate greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and CH4) from household activities in Binjai City during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine emission reduction scenarios that can be carried out in Binjai City. The calculation method used is based on the 2006 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel in Climate Change) guidelines. CO2 emissions resulting from the use of LPG are 2025.80 tons CO2e/month, the use of fuel for daily transportation activities is 3484.84 tons CO2e/month, and electricity usage is 14956.66 Ton CO2e/month. CH4 emissions produced from domestic liquid waste are 417.14 tons CO2e/month, and household waste is 27.54 tons CO2e/month. The COVID-19 pandemic increases GHG emissions from household electricity consumption in Binjai City by ± 7% and reduces GHG emissions from fuel consumption by 3.5%.

Predicting the least air polluted path using the neural network approach

Air pollution exposure during daily transportation is becoming a critical issue worldwide due to its adverse effect on human health. Predicting the least air polluted healthier path is the best alternative way to mitigate personal air pollution exposure risk. Computing the least polluted path for th

Patient Perceptions and Expectations of Radiation Therapy

<h3>Purpose/Objective(s)</h3> While patients obtain information about radiation therapy (RT) from their physician, they may receive information from multiple other sources. There is currently limited data regarding patient expectations related to RT. This study sought to identify expectations regarding RT and to determine the potential value of assessing these expectations prior to initial consultation. <h3>Materials/Methods</h3> Patients with no prior history of RT were invited to complete an investigator-developed anonymous electronic survey. Patients were queried about their perceptions of RT and potential fears/concerns. The content validity index for survey items were scored with adequate construct validity. Survey items were scored descriptively through summary statistics. Relationships between respondent variables and responses to survey questions were analyzed by univariate logistic regression. <h3>Results</h3> From September 2020 through January 2021, 117 patients completed the survey. The most common cancer diagnoses were hematologic malignancies (20%), breast cancer (15%), and lung cancer (12%). 35% percent of patients reported having read or heard stories about "bad side effects" from RT. 22% percent of patients identified friends/family as their main source of information about RT, while 20% reported the internet, 14% physicians, and 1% scientific articles. 41% percent of patients reported a complete lack of knowledge about RT. Common misconceptions included beliefs that they could only receive RT once (46%), they will give off radiation (38%), and radiation will be excreted in their urine/stool (33%). The most commonly reported fears/concerns included RT-induced pain (71%), risk of infection (71%), and memory loss (61%). Related to quality of life (QOL), patients were most concerned about RT-induced fatigue and inability to conduct routine daily activities (62%). Females were more likely to be concerned about RT-induced pain (OR = 2.58, <i>P</i> = 0.03), "skin burn" (OR = 2.31, <i>P</i> = 0.03), and infections (OR = 2.58, <i>P</i> = 0.03). Age > 81 yrs and being unmarried are associated with increased concern for daily transportation (OR = 25, <i>P</i> = 0.03 and OR = 2.86, <i>P</i> = 0.02, respectively). College educated or beyond individuals were less likely to be concerned about excreting radiation in urine/stool (OR = 0.12, <i>P</i> < 0.01). Individuals who identified as Hispanic were more concerned about giving off radiation (OR = 4.6, <i>P</i> < 0.01), secondary malignancies (OR = 4.56, <i>P</i> < 0.01), and memory loss (OR = 5.13, <i>P</i> < 0.01) compared to Caucasians. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Prior to initial consultation, a majority of patients acquire information about RT from non-physician sources, which results in misconceptions. Fears/concerns related to RT toxicities and impact on QOL were common. Routine pre-consultation assessment on patients' expectations regarding RT may help physicians address misconceptions and fears/concerns early, as well as potentially identify needs.

Spatial patterns and inequity of urban green space supply in China

Urban green space (UGS) is essential to the improvement of human well-being and health, and the inequity of UGS supply has received widespread concern. The urban green space availability (UGSA) can effectively evaluate UGS supply. However, the UGSA under different daily transportation patterns has not received enough attention, as well as the potential of UGS that is not available by transportation patterns. Meanwhile, the inequity of UGS supply between cities with different economic development levels at the regional or national scale is still unclear. So, we constructed seven UGS indicators to represent the UGS supply: UGSA considering four kinds of daily transportation patterns (UGSA0.5 km, UGSA2.5 km, UGSA10km, and UGSA30km), the potential of UGS (PUGS), the proportion of PUGS (PPUGS), and stock of UGS indicator (SUGS). The spatial patterns of availability, potential, and stock of UGS in 366 cities on the Chinese mainland in 2015 were captured. Then, the concentration curve and concentration index (CI) were applied to describe the inequity of UGS supply between the cities. Finally, we used correlation analysis, regression analysis, and GeoDetector techniques to explore the driving factors of the spatial pattern of availability and potential of UGS. The results showed that: (1) The SUGS, PUGS, and PPUGS were lower in the southeastern region indicated by the Hu Huanyong Line than that in the northwestern region. Only 44.11% of China's UGS were available through the daily transportation patterns. The spatial patterns of the four UGSA were similar, while the UGSA30km’s hot spots appeared in Southwest China. (2) Less developed cities occupied more SUGS, PUGS, and PPUGS. With the increase of buffer radius, the equity of UGSA among cities was gradually improved, while developed cities always possessed more UGSA. (3) With the increase of buffer radius, the dominant driving factors of UGSA indicators gradually changed from social economy and infrastructure variables to physical geography variables. Our study provides new evidence for a comprehensive understanding of UGSA, and the results of UGS supply and its inequity will contribute to sustainable UGS development in targeting cities or regions in China.

7 Impact of a Hospital Cyberattack on EMS Arrivals at Neighboring Emergency Departments

Cyber attacks, including ransomware on health care delivery organizations (HDO), are increasing in severity and frequency. Emergency medical services (EMS) plays a significant role in emergency care and disaster response, including the rapid transport of acute patients to receiving emergency departments (EDs). EMS ambulance diversion from one facility to another is a common occurrence with ED crowding, but it can be a result of internal or external disasters as well. The effects of health care cyber attacks on EMS transports and census has yet to be reported in the literature. The purpose of this study is to report regional EMS census impacts during an active cyber-attack on a neighboring HDO. We performed a retrospective analysis of the daily combined EMS transport census of two large urban academic EDs in San Diego, CA during the first week of a ransomware cyber-attack on a nearby multi-hospital HDO (May 2nd - 8th 2021). We then compared the mean to the previous 4 weeks. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test were used to compare EMS transport numbers by week. The mean combined daily EMS census for weeks 1 - 4 (no cyber-attack) were: week 1 (April 4th – 10th) – 69 (SD 10), week 2 (April 11th – 17th) – 68 (SD 5), week 3 (April 18th – 24th) – 71 (SD 7), and week 4 (April 25th – May 1st) – 75 (SD 9). For week 5 (week of the cyber-attack) the mean was 116 (SD 24). There was a statistically significant higher EMS census during the cyber-attack when compared to the 4 weeks prior (Table 1), with most days experiencing double the normal volume (Range 78 -144). This study reports a significant increase in EMS ambulance arrivals at two EDs in proximity to a multi-hospital HDO under active cyber-attack. This result suggests cyber-attacks can have significant regional impacts on EMS volumes, and therefore, cyber disaster planning should take into consideration potentially large diversions of patients to other facilities via EMS.

Operational Considerations to Manage Quarantine Facility: Lessons Learnt in Setting-up the First Quarantine Centre in India for Evacuees from Wuhan (The epicentre of COVID-19 Outbreak), China

Background: On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a “public health emergency of international concern.” In order to contain the outbreak, China used quarantine measures. India was among the first few to evacuate its citizens. Methods: It is a retrospective cohort study of Indian evacuees who returned from Wuhan, China. Standard operative procedures were developed for daily screening, sample collection, medical management, transport and referral, biomedical waste management, food safety, etc. Lessons learned were incorporated in subsequent trainings to improve effectiveness. Results: India evacuated 647 nationals including seven Maldivian citizens from Wuhan, China in many batches (with first two batches having 104 and 302 evacuees respectively) during the consecutive days of February 1st and 2nd, 2020. These 2 batches of evacuees including seven Maldivian citizens were stationed at Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Chhawla Camp, Delhi; the first quarantine facility in India for novel Coronavirus. Rest of the spassenger were sheltered at a military quarantine facility at Manesar. Conclusion: Developing standard procedures/checklist for routine activities and effective trainings were key to successful quarantining the evacuees in the initial phase of outbreak of COVID-19.

Incentives and concerns on vehicle-to-grid technology expressed by Australian employees and employers

• Commuters are willing to reduce their upfront costs on electric vehicles and the associated vehicle to grid technology. • Respondents want to reduce their daily transport costs on transportation by using the vehicle to grid technology. • Employers are concerned with the cost of the vehicle to grid technology. Electromobility options, especially electric vehicles (EVs) are more environmentally friendly, efficient and economical than conventional vehicles (CVs). There is a low market penetration of EVs and associated vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies in Australia compared to some European countries like Norway. Thus, transport planners and electrical grid policymakers need to investigate commuters’ perceptions and behaviours related to EVs and V2G and the effects of incentives, as commuters will eventually switch from CVs to EVs. Our study investigated commuters’ perceptions of and attitudes to V2G technology adoption at workplaces. The main findings are: 1) Commuters are willing to reduce their upfront costs when adopting EVs and associated V2G technologies. 2) Commuters want to reduce their daily transportation costs by using V2G technologies and care less about transport sustainability . 3) The greatest concerns of employers are that the cost of the V2G technology which could be too high and that its internal rate of return is unclear.

Quantification on fuel cell degradation and techno-economic analysis of a hydrogen-based grid-interactive residential energy sharing network with fuel-cell-powered vehicles

Hydrogen-based (H2-based) interactive energy networks for buildings and transportations provide novel solutions for carbon-neutrality transition, regional energy flexibility and independence on fossil fuel consumption, where vehicle fuel cells are key components for H2-electricity conversion and clean power supply. However, due to the complexity in thermodynamic working environments and frequent on/off operations, the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) suffer from performance degradation, depending on cabin heat balance and power requirements, and the ignorance of the degradation may lead to the performance overestimation. In order to quantify fuel cell degradation in both daily cruise and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) interactions, this study firstly proposes a two-space cabin thermal model to quantify the ambient temperature of vehicle PEMFCs and the power supply from PEMFCs to vehicle HVAC systems. Afterwards, a stack voltage model is proposed to quantify the fuel cell degradation for multiple purposes, such as daily transportation and V2G interactions. Afterwards, the two models are coupled in a community-level based building-vehicle energy network, consisting of twenty single residential buildings, rooftop PV systems, four hydrogen vehicles (HVs), a H2 station, community-served micro power grid, local main power grid, and local H2 pipelines, located in California, U.S.A. Comparative analysis with and without fuel cell degradation is conducted to study the impact of dynamic fuel cell degradation on the energy flexibility and operating cost. Furthermore, a parametrical analysis is conducted on the integrated HV quantity and the grid feed-in tariff to reach trade-off strategies between associated fuel cell degradation costs and grid import cost savings. The results indicate that, in the proposed hydrogen-based building-vehicle energy network, the total fuel cell degradation is 3.16% per vehicle within one year, where 2.50% and 0.66% are caused by daily transportation and V2G interactions, respectively. Furthermore, in the H2-based residential community, the total fuel cell degradation cost is US$6945.2, accounting for 33.4% of the total operating cost at $20770.61. The sensitivity analysis results showed that, when the HV quantity increases to twenty, the fuel cell degradation of each HV decreases to 2.50%, whereas the total fuel cell degradation cost increases to 42.8% of the total operating cost. Last but not the least, the cost saving by V2G interactions can compensate the fuel cell degradation cost when the grid feed-in tariff is reduced by 40%. Research results can provide basic modelling tools on dynamic fuel cell degradation, in respect to vehicle power supply, vehicle HVAC and V2G interactions, together with techno-economic feasibility analysis, paving path for the development of hydrogen energy for the carbon-neutrality transition.

Carjacking: A Comparison Between Campinas, Brazil and Detroit, Michigan

Carjacking calls for a specialized analysis because it occurs at lightning speed within very brief windows of opportunity. This article describes the geographic distribution of carjacking in Campinas, Brazil, and then compares this pattern with Detroit, Michigan. We learn that raw numbers of carjackings are widely dispersed in both cities. Although these cities differ greatly in daily transportation systems, in both cities the carjacking risk estimate is greatest where motorists stop for other reasons—at gas stations or corners (Detroit); on short street blocks (Campinas). We make very limited inferences about carjacking around the world due to the limited number of cities studied thus far. However, we do suggest that carjacking reduction is most amenable to product-based forms of situational crime prevention.

How The Covid-19 Pandemic Affected The Physical Activity Of Different Members Of A University Community

Adequate physical activity (PA) is important factor for improving or maintaining health and preventing chronic disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a large scale transition to remote learning and working, which may have an impact on the daily PA that individuals obtain, potentially impacting their health. PURPOSE: To examine how the shutdown of a University due to COVID-19 impacted the PA habits of students and faculty/staff, and to explore whether either group was impacted to a greater extent. METHODS: Individuals who wore a commercial PA monitoring device for 30 days prior to, and after, the James Madison University (JMU) spring break in March 2020 were recruited from the JMU community. Spring break is when JMU transitioned from in-person to online instruction. Subjects completed an anonymous survey and input step data from their PA device. RESULTS: Eighty subjects (age = 32.2 ± 13.6, BMI = 26.3 ± 6.8, 62 females, 17 males) completed the survey. 42 were students and 38 were faculty/staff. For the 7 days prior to spring break compared to the 7 days after spring break, there was a main effect for time for steps per day (8688.7 ± 3365.3 vs. 7128.2 ± 3365.3, respectively; P < 0.001), but no difference between students and faculty/staff. 30 days prior to spring break compared to 30 days after, there was a group x time interaction, with the students decreasing their steps after spring break (8307.4 ± 3128.3 vs. 6159.7 ± 2737.6) to a greater extent than faculty/staff (8760.4 ± 3366.5 vs. 8109.8 ± 4160.7; P = 0.002). A group x time interaction was also seen for weekend days (P = 0.01). Students decreased their weekend steps after spring break (7543.6 ± 3291.6 vs. 6391.4 ± 3149.3) whereas faculty/staff did not (8750.0 ± 4305 vs. 8876.1 ± 4874.1). Finally, there was a group x time interaction for weekday steps (P = 0.003) with students decreasing (8621.6 ± 3225.9 vs. 6076.4 ± 2722.4) to a greater extent than faculty/staff (8741.8 ± 3212.6 vs. 7817.2 ± 4015.9). CONCLUSION: Results suggest that when JMU transitioned to online learning, students decreased their daily PA more than faculty/staff. This is likely due to the elimination of daily transport based PA that students would normally participate in, such as walking to classes, etc., whereas faculty/staff likely did less of this type of PA during a regular work day.

Detailed investigation of vegetation effects on microclimate by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in a tropical urban environment

In light of globally increasing temperatures, accentuated in cities by the urban heat island effect, urban planners and designers are looking for new, quantitative methods to assess the performance of their designs in terms of ecosystem services provided by vegetation. Among these ecosystem services, improved microclimate conditions are particularly important for human thermal comfort and health. In this study, an urban scene in the tropical city of Singapore is numerically investigated with a fully-integrated, three-dimensional urban microclimate model implemented in OpenFOAM. Mass and heat transport in air and storage effect in the urban environment are coupled so that the daily turbulent transport in air using steady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) can be solved iteratively with the unsteady heat and moisture transfer from urban surfaces. Vegetation is modeled as a porous medium for the flow of moist air and a leaf energy balance model is used to determine the heat fluxes and transpiration at leaf surfaces. The analysis shows the influence of an urban park upon air temperatures and thermal comfort. Cooling intensity of 1 °C is observed downwind of the park within a region of 27 m for an incoming wind speed of 2.3 m s−1, which reduces to 0.6 °C at a distance of 117 m from the park. The Universal Thermal Comfort Index (UTCI) shows a reduction in thermal stress in and around the park. The approach presented here can provide specific guidelines for urban planners and frame expectations on magnitude and spatial extent of local microclimate modifications generated by an urban park in a tropical city.

Note from the Editors

Note from the Editors

Initial Study of Arterial Road Traffic and Socio-Economic Characteristics in Malang Regency

Malang Regency is an area with the second busiest road traffic after Surabaya. The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of the movement of speed and volume of traffic and performance on arterial roads in Malang Regency. The data collection technique used literature study, conducted a survey at each location point of the research area with the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT). The analysis technique used the Highway Capacity Manual Indonesia (MKJI) 2017. The results showed that the level of road service with category B was in Wonosari District with a saturation degree of 0.372, the level of road service category C was in Wagir, Gedangan, Ngajum and Tirtoyudo Districts with saturation degrees between 0.565-0.678 and the level of road service category D in Wajak District with degree of saturation 0.798. Meanwhile, 27 roads have a poor service level which is included in the E and F categories with the degree of saturation > 0.850. Recommend policies regarding restrictions on the use of private vehicles and alternative traffic engineering to divert transportation routes to new land uses and to more intensively disseminate information to the public on using public transportation as a means of daily transportation.

Factors affecting bike-sharing system demand by inferred trip purpose: Integration of clustering of travel patterns and geospatial data analysis

Cycling is a sustainable form of transportation that can reduce car usage and benefit both individuals and society. Bike-sharing systems (BSSs) help to position cycling as a daily transportation option and have been widely established in many countries. Previous studies have investigated the association between urban environmental factors and BSSs’ demand to promote the broader use of BSSs and determine whether demand is affected by various factors. However, research on the effects of the urban environment on BSS demand according to the trip purpose (e.g., commuting and leisure) is rare due to the difficulty in understanding users’ trip purposes. In this regard, recent advancements in big data technologies make massive BSSs trip data available to the public, which is useful for in-depth analyzing BSS travel patterns and inferring the trip purposes. This study thus analyzes to what extent demand is affected by urban environmental factors for different trip purposes, focusing on Seoul Bike, through the integration of clustering users’ travel patterns and analyzing geospatial data affecting demand. By observing trip data, BSS trips were clustered into short-distance travel for utilitarian purposes and longer-distance roaming for recreational purposes. The utilitarian trips were more affected by the large floating population and high land-use mix, and they were more concentrated during the rush hours in the crowded areas, while the leisure trips were more concentrated in secluded residential areas and were close to the waterfront. This study can contribute to establishing plans to increase the demand for and optimize the operation of BSSs.

A Study on the Market Environment and Characteristics of Japan’s Mini Vehicles Industry

Purpose: In this paper, we analyzed the secrets of popularity, characteristics of users, usage status, and social utility of mini vehicles in Japan. The key points revealed on this basis are as follows. Research design, data, and methodology: Japan’s auto sales market was about 40% for mini vehicles, 55% for general cars and 5% for imported cars. Sales of mini vehicles were also in high demand, accounting for one-third of the global market. The number of mini vehicles owned exceeded 30 million units as of 2019, accounting for about 40% of the total number of cars owned. The main owner of the mini vehicles was “Women” and was an important means of daily transportation such as commuting and shopping. Results: Japan’s mini vehicles were manufactured to reflect social and cultural characteristics, making them a “non-tariff barriers” for foreign car makers. The biggest factor in the popularity of mini vehicles was “economic feasibility.” The cost of maintenance (taxes) and purchase of vehicles was lower than that of general cars. The next most important thing for consumers was the convenience of use, such as the convenience of driving narrow roads and parking. For people living in rural areas, mini vehicles were replacing public transportation. Therefore, mini vehicles were a valuable life line in rural areas. Implications: Mini vehicles were making huge contributions to employment. About 20% of the total auto production was mini vehicles, all of which were produced in Japan. The impact on road damage was also much smaller than that of general cars, contributing to social cost savings.

Recognition of human locomotion on various transportations fusing smartphone sensors

Recognition of daily human activities in various locomotion and transportation modes has numerous applications like coaching users for behavior modification and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Besides, applications and user interfaces aware of user mobility through their smartphones can also aid in urban transportation planning, smart parking, and vehicular traffic monitoring. In this paper, we explored smartphone sensor-based two benchmark datasets (Sussex Huawei Locomotion (SHL) and Transportation Mode Detection (TMD)). Firstly, we demonstrated preprocesssing of sensor data, window length optimization based on Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), and introduced smartphone orientation independent features. We also provided an in-depth analysis of different smartphone sensors’ importance for classifying daily activities and transportation modes. We justified the sensor relevance by showing the variation of performances with the number of sensors explored. For refining classifier predictions, we also proposed a post-processing approach named “Mode technique”. This method primarily concentrates on the statistical analysis of transportation modes and improves the activity recognition rate in statistical classifiers: Decision Tree, K-Nearest Neighbors, Linear Discriminant Analysis, Logistic Regression, Support Vectors Machine with RBF kernel, Random Forest, and deep learning-based methods: Artificial Neural Network and Recurrent Neural Network by smoothing the outputs of these classifiers. Besides, we showed the use of magnitude and jerk-based features to overcome the overfitting problem due to smartphone orientation. We obtained 97.2% accuracy in the SHL dataset and 99.13% accuracy in the TMD dataset. These results demonstrate that our approach can profoundly recognize various activities in advanced locomotion and transportation modes compared to existing methods in two large-scale datasets.

Multi‐Year Estimates of Daily Heat Transport by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 34.5°S

AbstractVariations in the mass and heat transported by the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) have important, well‐documented, influences on global and regional climate, weather, ecosystems, and coastal sea levels. However, continuous, high‐frequency, observations of these quantities have been limited to date. Multiple years of full‐depth daily observations from moored instruments in the South Atlantic at 34.5°S are combined with satellite observations to resolve the volume transports in both the upper and abyssal MOC cells, and the associated full‐depth meridional heat transport (MHT), on daily to interannual timescales. A newly developed method for combining satellite sea level observations with historical hydrographic measurements was used to estimate daily full‐depth ocean profiles of temperature in the ocean interior where mooring coverage is sparse. The average MHT during 2013–2017 is 0.5 PW, with a daily standard deviation of 0.8 PW. The MHT variability is most strongly driven by the geostrophic relative velocity contributions (horizontal density‐gradient changes). This variability is highly correlated with the volume transport variability of the MOC upper cell (r = 0.96) and modestly anti‐correlated (r = −0.52) with the abyssal cell variations. An empirical relationship between the MHT and MOC values was developed allowing the reconstruction of a longer MHT time series including the pilot array period (2009–2010). Seasonal variation of the MHT is significant, and results from strong variations of all terms (Ekman, barotropic, and baroclinic). Although the 2013–2017 shows an increasing MHT trend (0.14 PW/year), the longer time period record suggests that the apparent trend may simply be interannual modulation of MHT at 34.5°S.

Abnormal reverse intrusion of the Kuroshio Branch Current induced by super typhoon soudelor

The Kuroshio Current has a considerable impact on the environmental characteristics and dynamic of the East China Sea (ECS). On the ECS continental shelf within the study area of (124°E-126°E, 25°N-27°N), the Kuroshio Branch Current (KBC) exists in a stable state and flows towards the main Kuroshio axis. The significant difference in potential vorticity is on both sides of the Kuroshio main axis, which makes it difficult for the seawater on the right side of the Kuroshio main axis to intrude the ECS continental shelf. Based on Argo data, satellite data and reanalysis data, an abnormal reverse intrusion of the KBC was observed during the passage of super typhoon Soudelor in 2015. The mean reverse volume transport during the period of Soudelor reached about 0.56 Sv, and the daily mean volume transport on August 9 reached up to 1.29 Sv. Soudelor inputted additional positive potential vorticity fluxes on the right side of the Kuroshio main axis and counteracted the significant potential vorticity difference on both sides of the Kuroshio main axis, which provided a channel for the apparently reverse enhanced ocean current. The significant Ekman downwelling and changes of the upper ocean stratification also promoted the reverse intrusion of KBC. This study offers new insights into the influence of typhoons on the intrusion of the Kuroshio onto the ECS continental shelf.