Free-flow Data Research Articles

Probabilistic Modeling of Congested Traffic Scenarios on Long-Span Bridges

This paper aims to extend a previously developed probabilistic model for simulating extreme response scenarios to include congested traffic flow on long-span bridges, addressing the challenge of accurately modeling traffic loads under changing conditions. While the model was initially designed for free-flow traffic, this study demonstrates how it can be adapted for congested conditions, with the objective of improving the accuracy of traffic load models. To overcome the limitation of traditional Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems in capturing congested traffic, congested flow characteristics were inferred from available free-flow data. The cellular automata (CA) method was applied to generate realistic congested traffic scenarios, which were used as input for the probabilistic model. Key simulation parameters, such as cell length and vehicle weight distribution, were adjusted to reflect congested conditions. The results validate the model’s flexibility, showing how, with the adaptation of some parameters, it can simulate both free-flow and congested traffic patterns effectively. This research provides a basis for improving traffic load models used in the design and assessment of long-span bridges, addressing the current limitations in existing codes and standards.

What Is Next for Digital Trade in a Post‐Brexit Britain? – Examining the Regulation of Data Flows Under G.A.T.S. & Possible Implications of G.D.P.R. on Britain as a Third Country

Data, much like other currencies, flows cross-border -from one jurisdiction to the other. However, it is hard to regulate the privacy aspects surrounding such free-flowing data by rules strictly based on jurisdiction. This article thereby begins by discussing the importance of data protection regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (G.D.P.R.), followed by a brief analysis of the General Agreement on Trade in Services’ pivotal role in regulating data flows and digital trade, and how it can be further used in checking the World Trade Organisation consistency of various data protection requirements resorted by the European Union (E.U.) so far under the G.D.P.R.. Lastly, the note examines how, post the Brexit transition period, the situation will change for the United Kingdom (U.K.) as it has become a third country for the E.U. data protection regime, with the authors critiquing the various models, including the recent Draft U.K.-E.U. Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, that may help the U.K. in attaining an “adequacy” status, which is requisite for the continuation of an unconstrained digital trade with the E.U. .

Portability in Datasets under Intellectual Property, Competition Law, and Blockchain

In the Internet of Things, data and the transfer of data (the porting of data) will be important for competition and, generally, for Internet of Things to work and create interoperability, new services, wealth for society etc. While porting data can be excessively difficult in the current data and cloud environment, there is a discussion that also firms should be empowered by a right to transfer data or port data. Firms should have the right to transfer “its” data from platform to platform, cloud to cloud, or in-house. A mandatory right to port data could have several benefits; one being that it promotes competition between platforms, clouds and e-ecosystem providers. Several platforms collect data on the behalf of businesses making use of their platform services. Moreover, many firms use and will use “the cloud” to collect and store data in the upcoming Internet of Things paradigm, and they will make use and purchase both cloud space and data analytics. A right to port data enables firms to change platforms and cloud providers when they are not happy with the service received. A mandatory right to port datasets would create competition, and prevent markets otherwise “tip” in the favour of one monopolistic firm. A right to port data could be included in secondary legislation. The draft Free Flow Data Regulation only contains a call for self-regulation of the possibilty to port non-personal data. However, a possibility is also to update, modernise and amend the database directive to reflect the Internet of Things era. A third solution could be to create guidelines under competition law regarding collection and transfer of data under vertical or horizontal agreements. Platforms or Clouds that ‘hoard data’ under these agreements, by stipulating covenants that they (exclusively) collect and utilize the data from its business users, may risk violating competition law should they, for example, restrict the possibility to transfer or port data. Such clause should be considered in its fair light to be equivalent to a non-compete clause. Finally, after discussing these legal solutions, the article addresses whether we have a technical solution to the problem, while the blockchain technology could be a technical mean to port data without the use of legal systems.

Advanced firewall mechanism with OpenFlow in SDN

In recent years, penetration of Internet in the world is significantly increased due to technologies that enabled high speed broadband services, social networking and cloud based services. There is considerable increase in the number of users getting connected and hence large amount of user’s vital data are flowing over Internet attracting serious threats and possible attacks from malicious users. To secure this free-flowing data, many security solutions have been presented, validated and implemented. But the majority of them are implemented with traditional networking techniques which itself is complex and hard to manage. This techniques primarily relies on manual configuration of devices which often results in policy conflicts that compromises network’s security. This problem is addressed by Software Defined Networking, which breaks vertical integration by separating the control logic and data forwarding functionality, allowing flexible network architecture, network-wide visibility, simpler network management, etc. OpenFlow is the open standard that enables secure communication between controlling devices and data forwarding devices. In this paper, we propose and validate an approach to implement network-wide firewall in SDN by exploiting capabilities of OpenFlow standard to restrict flow of malicious and suspicious traffic flow in the network.

What shall we do? Challenges and opportunities of the coming changes in science publishing

First of all let me say what this talk is not going to be about, I’m not trying to persuade anybody that Open Access is a good thing or that it is necessary or even that it is possible. What I’m going to ask you to do, for the purposes of this talk, is to simply assume that it is the future and that it is going to happen. That may be easier for some of you than for others but let’s see where it takes us as a thought experiment. What does this mean for science publishing? One of the things it means is that, in a way, it’s the end of the easy life. Selling academic research is a pretty easy thing to do because the academic community needs that research. Essentially it sells itself. But in the short term, in a world where research flows freely, publishers will need to demonstrate much more clearly that they are adding value in the services they offer if they are to survive. Looking to the future, it may still be tempting for publishers to defend the attractive and profitable model of selling access to research, but that carries the very big danger of preventing them from moving forward, and may lead them to fall behind in terms of developing the services that will add value in the long term. So what do publishers need to do if Open Access is going to happen? They must re-invent the role of the publisher. And I think it’s interesting to look at the analogy of the internet as a general principle. What is special about the internet is not just the electronic transfer of data. We have known for many, many years how to send data from place to place electronically. But the birth of the internet provided a set of neutral standards which allowed data to flow in packets completely freely, whatever kind of information that data carried. And several things have resulted from that. One of them is the growth in the business of sending packets around, providing hardware to manage those packets of data. Companies like Cisco who make routers have done very well, but their business has become a kind of commodity business where it’s all about offering the best priced performance. On the other hand, those open standards have also created entire new markets offering the opportunity to add value in lots of different ways by building on the foundation of the free-flowing data. So you have companies like Ebay and Skype; entirely different services taking as their starting point the fact that data can flow freely whatever it carries, and using it for trading things or for having fun conversations. And what we at Science Navigation Group see in the future for publishing is a need to look at some of those higher level services where publishers can offer ongoing value to the scientific community and the research communities.

Regulation of proximal bicarbonate reabsorption.

Under free-flow conditions, alterations in acid-base and extracellular volume status affect absolute proximal bicarbonate reabsorption. Microperfusion studies have characterized the individual determinants of the active and passive components of proximal acidification. These determinants include luminal bicarbonate concentration, luminal flow rate, peritubular bicarbonate concentration, PCO2, extracellular volume status, and solute-solvent interactions. When these individual determinants are integrated into a computer-simulated model of absolute proximal bicarbonate reabsorption, the results agree well with the in vivo free-flow data.

Relationships between road accidents and hourly traffic flow—II: Probabilistic approach

This is a continuation of the investigation into relationships between accident rate and hourly traffic flow as outlined in Part I of the research. The underlying study attempts to determine appropriate models for single- and multi-vehicle accident rates in conjunction with free-flow and congested-flow conditions. For the free-flow data, the total accident rate-hourly flow curve follows the U-shaped configuration. This form is the result of a convex downward and a convex upward curve for single- and multi-vehicle accidents, respectively. For the congested-flow data (characterized by multi-vehicle accidents), the accident rate increases sharply with hourly flow. The models are applied to probabilistic aspects with consideration of a fitted, generalized (hourly flow dependent) headway model. The headway model represents the probability that two vehicles which are, even instantaneously, under a car-following mode are in a potentially hazardous situation. The approach investigated is believed to provide an essential input for both simulation studies and theoretical models of road traffic accidents.