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The progress of microtransit services across the world has been slower than expected due to institutional, operational, and financial barriers. However, how users' ride experiences and system attributes affects their future ride decisions remain an important issue for successful deployment. A Bayesian network approach is proposed to infer users' next ride decisions on a microtransit service based on historical ride data from Kussbus, a pilot microtransit system operating in the Belgium–Luxembourg cross-border areas in 2018. The results indicate that the proposed Bayesian network approach could reveal a plausible causal relationship between different dependent factors compared to the classical multinomial logit modeling approach. By examining public transport coverage in the study area, we find that Kussbus complements the existing public transport and provides an effective alternative to personal car use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerated electrification of transport systems with EVs has brought new challenges for charging scheduling, fleet management, and charging infrastructure location and configuration planning. In this review, we have provided a systematic review of the recent development in strategic, tactical, and operational decisions for demand responsive transport system planning using electric vehicles (EV-DRT). We have summarized recent developments in mathematical modeling approaches by focusing on the problems of dynamic EV-DRT optimization, fleet sizing, and charging infrastructure planning. A list of existing open-access datasets, numerical test instances, and software are provided for future research in EV-DRT and related problems. Current research gaps are identified and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous epidemiological studies have evaluated the association of Glutathione S-transferase P1 ( GSTP1) Ile105Val polymorphism with the risk of skin cancer. However, the results remain inconclusive. To derive a more precise estimation of the association between the GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism and skin cancer risk, a meta-analysis was performed. A comprehensive search was conducted to identify the eligible studies. We used odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the association of GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism with skin cancer risk. Thirteen case-control studies in nine articles, which included a total of 1504 cases and 2243 controls. Overall, we found that GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism was not associated with skin cancer risk. Furthermore, subgroup analysis by histological types showed that GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism was associated with risks of malignant melanoma under the dominant model (Val/Val + Val/Ile vs. Ile/Ile: OR 1.230, 95 % CI 1.017-1.488, P = 0.033). However, lack of association between GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism and BCC and SCC risk in all genetic models. Our meta-analysis suggested that the GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism might be associated with increased risk of malignant melanoma in Caucasian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new fluorimetric immunoassay for α-fetoprotein (AFP) has been developed using a novel promising mimetic peroxidase, iron(III) tetrasulfonatophthalocyanine (FeTSPc), as a labeling reagent to catalyze the fluorescence reaction of P- hydroxyphenylacetic acid ( P-HPA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). In the competitive immunoassay, anti-AFP antibody was coated on a 96-well plate (polystyrene) and a constant amount of FeTSPc-labeled AFP and a known amount of test solution were added. Non-labeled and FeTSPc-labeled AFP compete for binding to the plate-bound antibody. After the immunoreaction, the immunochemically adsorbed FeTSPc–AFP conjugate moiety was determined by measuring the fluorescence produced in a solution containing P-HPA and H2O2. AFP can be determined in the concentration range of 1–300 ng mL–1 with a detection limit of 0.5 ng mL–1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition energies and formation energies of N, C, F, Cl, and S as substitutional dopants in Ag3PO4 are studied using first-principles calculations based on the hybrid Hartree-Fock density functional, which correctly reproduces the band gap and thus provides the accurate defect states. Our results show that NO and CO act as deep acceptors, FO, ClO, and SP act as shallow donors. NO and CO have high formation energies under O-poor condition therefore they are not suitable for p-type doping Ag3PO4. Though FO, ClO, and SP have shallow transition energies, they have high formation energies, thus FO, ClO, and SP may be compensated by the intrinsic defects (such as Ag vacancy) and they are not possible lead to n-type conductivity in Ag3PO4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]