This paper studies the effects of queue formation in the bottlenecks at off-RAMPS on the capacity of the freeways. Six expressway EXIT-RAMPS throughout the city of Tehran, Iran were selected and their traffic flows were observed in thirty-minute intervals during which the queue formation and queue elimination occurred. Assuming that in the absence of the queue, the traffic flow is in its normal state, the changes in the volume of through vehicles has been modeled as an average estimator of the change in the expressway capacity.The developed models prove that the changes in freeway capacity are due to queue formation at the off-ramp sections. However, the estimated figures are different from those obtained from the theory of freeway capacity. The conclusion is that lane blockage is only one of many factors that affect the freeway capacity while the queue forms. Since it is not possible to quantify all those factors individually, the resulting models are macroscopic estimates of the phenomenon.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the side friction demand factor in the loop RAMPS of interchange facilities. The substantial exclusivity of these RAMPS is the existence of horizontal curves, combined with longitudinal grades. In this study, CarSim and TruckSim software packages, as simulation tools, are applied. Both passenger cars and heavy vehicles are used. The vehicles used in simulations were Hatchback and Sedan (as passenger cars) and Truck (as heavy vehicle). In addition, two various types of loop RAMPS, including Curve-Curve-Curve and Spiral-Curve-Spiral, in two different conditions (braking and no-braking) are examined. The results showed that the side friction demand factor values assumed by AASHTO Green book (as a main geometric design guideline) are uncertain. In the condition of no-braking, the differences between AASHTO values and the simulation results for uphill and downhill states are 24% and 18%, respectively. In braking condition, similar differences for uphill and downhill are 124% and 135%, respectively. Additionally, based on the regression analysis of the simulation results, the appropriate side friction demand factor models were achieved for different conditions. The findings of the study verify the necessity of revising the friction demand values, especially for the design of interchange loop RAMPS.

Antibiotic resistance has become a major public health concern worldwide. Treatment of humans and animals is becoming increasingly challenging due to antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can be transmitted from animals to humans by several routes, including direct contact, contaminated food or water, or environmental exposure. Various factors contribute to the rising problem, such as the widespread and indiscriminate exploitation of antimicrobials in both human and animal healthcare, over-prescription, misuse of antibiotics, the role of agriculture in spreading antibiotic resistance, and poor animal husbandry practices. According to the preliminary findings, recombinant antimicrobial peptides are an interesting novel area of biotechnology and medical innovation that might be employed as a secure and effective substitute for antibiotics. In this review study, we briefly examine the factors contributing to the rise of antibiotic resistance. We then introduce and discuss recombinant antimicrobial peptides as a promising strategy to address this growing problem.