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Many cities in Iran, including the metropolis of Shiraz, are increasingly car-oriented, resulting in traffic congestion and related issues. Considering the current conditions of Iran, an automated transit network (ATN) can be one of the available solutions to this problem. ATN is an advanced type of public transit consisting of automated vehicles moving passengers on a network of dedicated guideways. As a combination of public, personal, and private transport, ATNs may decrease the use of cars and address related problems. In order to design effective policies aimed at achieving the benefits of ATN, it is necessary to have a better understanding of how people accept an ATN system, especially car users. This research aims at advancing future research on the effects of ATNs on travel behavior through identifying the characteristics of users who are likely to accept ATN services, by examining the heterogeneity in the preferences of these people. To achieve this goal, a stated choice survey was conducted and analyzed using multinomial logit (MNL) and mixed logit (ML) models. The results showed that the parameters of trip purpose, owning a hybrid car, and the level of education affect the preferences toward the ATN system. Additionally, from the comparison of the results of the MNL and ML models, it was found that despite the greater ability of the ML model in estimating possible heterogeneities, likely the MNL model can also help to record some heterogeneities more realistically. In the end, the methodological limitations of the study were also acknowledged. Despite the potential hypothesis bias and the status quo bias, the results captured the directionality and relative importance of the attributes of interest., Author(s): Ardeshir Kohandel Shirazi (corresponding author) [1]; Ingmar Andreasson [2]; Farshid Afshar [3]; Ashkan Kohandel Shirazi [4]; Hamidreza Mokhtarian [1] 1. Introduction Many cities in Iran are facing the problem [...]

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system. Except tremor, other movement disorders such as Parkinsonism are less frequent in MS. However, some investigations have shown inflammatory and autoimmune aspects of Parkinson’s disease. In this study, we report eight new cases of MS who present Parkinson’s disease. Methods: This retrospective population-based study was carried out on Isfahan MS society between April 2003 and July 2012. A total of 3792 patients with MS were surveyed for Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease was approved according to “UK Parkinson disease Brain Bank” criteria. Eligible cases were invited to have an interview with a neurologist. MRI was carried out according to the baseline. Results: We identified eight patients (three men and five women) who present MS and Parkinson’s disease. The mean (±SD) age of onset was 33.3 ± 6.5 (range: 24–42) years for MS and 39.5 ± 8.6 (range: 30–55) years for Parkinson’s disease patients. In all patients, MS was preceded Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease was developed within mean duration of 6.1 ± 3.4 (range 2–13) years after MS. Focal lesions was shown in six cases, lesions of basal ganglia (BG) in four, lesions of the thalamus in two and lesions of mid-brain in five of cases. In four cases, Parkinsonism occurred before age 40 that is considered as Young-Onset Parkinson’s disease. Conclusion: We reported eight patients with MS and Parkinson’s disease. To the best of our knowledge, 34 cases of Parkinsonism associating with MS are reported so far. Parkinsonism is a movement disorder, defines as deep gray matter disorder which lead to dopamine deficiency in BG. Investigations have shown that MS could affect deep gray matter structures. Demyelinated lesions in MS and consequence axonal loss in BG and/or nigrostriatal pathway may be responsible for Parkinsonism manifestations in such cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]