Accurate extraction of rural roads from high-resolution remote sensing imagery is essential for infrastructure planning and sustainable development. However, this task presents unique challenges in rural settings due to several factors. These include high intra-class variability and low inter-class separability from diverse surface materials, frequent vegetation occlusions that disrupt spatial continuity, and narrow road widths that exacerbate detection difficulties. Existing methods, primarily optimized for structured urban environments, often underperform in these scenarios as they overlook such distinctive characteristics. To address these challenges, we propose DSFC-Net, a dual-encoder framework that synergistically fuses spatial and frequency-domain information. Specifically, a CNN branch is employed to capture fine-grained local road boundaries and short-range continuity, while a novel Spatial-Frequency Hybrid Transformer (SFT) is introduced to robustly model global topological dependencies against vegetation occlusions. Distinct from standard attention mechanisms that suffer from frequency bias, the SFT incorporates a Cross-Frequency Interaction Attention (CFIA) module that explicitly decouples high- and low-frequency information via a Laplacian Pyramid strategy. This design enables the dynamic interaction between spatial details and frequency-aware global contexts, effectively preserving the connectivity of narrow roads. Furthermore, a Channel Feature Fusion Module (CFFM) is proposed to bridge the two branches by adaptively recalibrating channel-wise feature responses, seamlessly integrating local textures with global semantics for accurate segmentation. Comprehensive experiments on the WHU-RuR+, DeepGlobe, and Massachusetts datasets validate the superiority of DSFC-Net over state-of-the-art approaches.
As the adverse effects of climate change intensify, numerous countries are making several efforts to reduce their carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions. One of the widely adopted strategies is the implementation of a carbon tax. This study analyzed the potential impact of a carbon tax on fuel usage on sectoral price changes and distributional impacts on households’ living expenses. Three types of simulations were employed: levying the tax only on the electricity sector, the top-10 emitter sectors, and all sectors. Using the Indonesian Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) 2015, as well as the price-multiplier matrix in the simulations, the results show that, of all production sectors, the carbon tax had the most substantial impact on the electricity sector, followed by energy-intensive sectors and rail transportation. We found that the impact of the carbon tax is more detrimental to urban households than rural households. In addition, regressiveness is stronger in urban households than in rural households. Different tax scenarios have varying impacts. Taxing all sectors leads to significant price increases across all sectors and higher living and labor costs for all groups. Government decisions on emissions taxes should carefully consider their economic effects on essential industries and vulnerable populations.
Marlene Graf, Rafael Achury, Isabelle Lanzrein
et al.
1. In recent years, climate change has led to drought and severe bark beetle infestations, affecting Norway spruce (Picea abies) across Europe, with detrimental consequences for forest owners, the forestry sector and associated industries. As a result, silviculture now faces the challenge of identifying tree species more resilient to these stressors to mitigate the impacts on forest management, forest-dependent economies and rural livelihoods. The North American Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) has emerged as a promising conifer species, better suited to future climate conditions and capable of producing high timber yields.2. Non-native tree species may affect native biodiversity, yet the impacts of Douglas-fir on native forest biodiversity are not clear. A comprehensive review evaluating the impact of Douglas-fir on faunal and floral biodiversity in European forests is lacking.3. Here, we present the results of a systematic literature review on Douglas-fir effects on native biodiversity, focusing on studies conducted in Europe. For arthropods, sufficient studies were found to do more detailed quantitative assessments. For fungi, birds, plants and soil fauna some studies existed, but only qualitative evaluations could be made. Other taxa were not investigated.4. In the present literature, the effects of Douglas-fir inclusion in stands on native biodiversity, compared to stands of solely native tree species, were mostly non-significant (78.6%, based on 32 studies). Positive effects were noted in 12% of cases, while negative effects were observed in 9.4% (total of 1,936 effects). Above-ground fauna was more extensively studied than below-ground fauna. Mechanisms proposed to explain taxa responses were often discussed but not always formally tested. For arthropods, there were varying effects on diversity between studies evaluating different scales (i.e., tree-scale vs. stand-scale). In general, differences in effects depended on a range of factors, including stand composition and structure, season, and sampling site and period.5. Our review indicates limited evidence of adverse effects of Douglas-fir on biodiversity in European forests, highlighting a significant knowledge gap due to the scarcity of studies. Douglas-fir's impact on biodiversity likely varies depending on the forest type and management practices. Further research in diverse contexts is crucial to determine optimal levels of admixture and guide forest management.
Marian-Gabriel Hâncean, Jürgen Lerner, Christopher McCarty
We conducted a two-wave personal network study in a rural Romanian community, interviewing the same participants (n = 68) using two name generators. Wave 1 employed a fixed-choice generator (n = 25) focused on emotional closeness; Wave 2 used a free-choice generator based on frequent interaction. We compared tie characteristics and assessed retention across waves. Alters who were kin, co-residents, or emotionally close were more likely to be retained, regardless of generator type. These findings underscore the role of relational attributes in personal network stability and highlight design considerations for network studies in resource-limited, culturally distinct settings.
Access to quality education remains unequal, particularly in rural areas where Internet connectivity is limited or nonexistent. This paper introduces a framework for a digital learning platform that uses Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) to extend educational opportunities to underserved communities. Unlike conventional models that rely on continuous Internet access, DTN offers an affordable and sustainable solution by leveraging existing transportation infrastructure. Beyond its technical contributions, the framework addresses ethical imperatives by promoting educational equity and digital inclusion. We present a prototype tested on a university campus, demonstrating the feasibility of DTN for educational delivery. By addressing the digital divide, this framework aligns with global goals of inclusive education and sustainable development.
Rapid advancements in autonomous vehicles (AVs) are poised to revolutionize transportation and communities, including disaster evacuations, particularly through the deployment of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs). Despite the potential, the use of SAVs in rural disaster evacuations remains an underexplored area. To address this gap, this study proposes a simulation-based framework that integrates both mathematical programming and SUMO traffic simulation to deploy SAVs in pre- and post-disaster evacuations in rural areas. The framework prioritizes the needs of vulnerable groups, including individuals with disabilities, limited English proficiency, and elderly residents. Sumter County, Florida, serves as the case study due to its unique characteristics: a high concentration of vulnerable individuals and limited access to public transportation, making it one of the most transportation-insecure counties in the state. These conditions present significant challenges for evacuation planning in the region. To explore potential solutions, we conducted mass evacuation simulations by incorporating SAVs across seven scenarios. These scenarios represented varying SAV penetration levels, ranging from 20% to 100% of the vulnerable population, and were compared to a baseline scenario using only passenger cars. Additionally, we examined both pre-disaster and post-disaster conditions, accounting for infrastructure failures and road closures. According to the simulation results, higher SAV integration significantly improves traffic distribution and reduces congestion. Scenarios featuring more SAVs exhibited lower congestion peaks and more stable traffic flow. Conversely, mixed traffic environments demonstrate reduced average speeds attributable to interactions between SAVs and passenger cars, while exclusive use of SAVs results in higher speeds and more stable travel patterns.
I study the impact of industrial policies on industrial development by considering an important episode during the East Asian miracle: South Korea's heavy and chemical industry (HCI) drive, 1973--1979. Based on newly assembled data, I use the introduction and termination of industrial policies to study their impacts during and after the intervention period. (1) I reveal that heavy-chemical industrial policies promoted the expansion and dynamic comparative advantage of directly targeted industries. (2) Using variation in exposure to policies through the input-output network, I demonstrate that the policy indirectly benefited downstream users of targeted intermediates. (3) The benefits of HCI persisted even after the policy ended, as some results were slower to appear. The findings suggest that the temporary drive shifted Korean manufacturing into more advanced markets and supported durable change. This study helps clarify the lessons drawn from the East Asian growth miracle. JEL Codes: L5, O14, O25, N6. Keywords: industrial policy, East Asian miracle, economic history, industrial development, Heavy-Chemical Industry Drive, Heavy and Chemical Industry Drive.
Vikram Kamath Cannanure, Sharon Wolf, Kaja Jasińska
et al.
Think-alouds are a common HCI usability method where participants verbalize their thoughts while using interfaces. However, their utility in cross-cultural settings, particularly in the Global South, is unclear, where cultural differences impact user interactions. This paper investigates the usability challenges teachers in rural Côte d'Ivoire faced when using a chatbot designed to support an educational program. We conducted think-aloud sessions with 20 teachers two weeks after a chatbot deployment, analyzing their navigation, errors, and time spent on tasks. We discuss our approach and findings that helped us identify usability issues and challenging features for improving the chatbot designs. Our note summarizes our reflections on using think-aloud and contributes to discussions on its culturally sensitive adaptation in the Global South.
Currently, the development of domestic tourism in Ukraine has now been officially recognized as a strategic priority. Statistics show that in many foreign countries, revenues from domestic tourism make up to 80% out of the total tourism type. Local tourism enhances domestic consumption and, as a result, it creates demand for local goods and services. Domestic tourism contributes to the development of related industries, even those considered unprofitable. The development of domestic tourism can become a source of financial income for the country’s economic system and stabilize the labour market. Therefore, the state and prospects of the development of the domestic tourism, the weekend tour, in particular, as a direction that will contribute to the development of rural areas in different regions of Ukraine, require detailed research. Khmelnytskyi region has prerequisites for the development of a weekend tour, namely: beautiful landscapes, unique flora and fauna, the presence of rivers, lakes and forests, protected areas, rich architectural heritage, low price for tourist services. In addition, there is a large number of tour operators in the region, developed infrastructure and repaired roads even in remote villages. The purpose of our article is to analyze the development of weekend tours as the prospective trend of domestic tourism development in the Khmelnytskyi region. The regional features of the development of weekend tours in Ukraine, in the Khmelnytskyi region, in particular, are revealed. An analysis of the level of implementation of weekend tours in the region is carried out. Recommendations for improving the organization of weekend tours in the Khmelnytskyi region have been developed. The authors of the article are convinced that the study and adopting the best practices of European countries in the context of a weekend tour will contribute to an increase in income from domestic tourism.
Abstract China’s rural reform is reliant on farmers' cooperatives as a key organization vehicle. It plays an important role in promoting rural revitalization. Such as, realizing the organic connection between small farmers and agricultural modernization. This study used the nearest neighbor index and kernel density estimation to analyze the spatial distribution and structural characteristics of farmer cooperatives in Hunan Province. It revealed the spatial differentiation law of cooperatives. Also using geographical detectors to figure out the main factors that affect the spatial distribution. The results show that: ① Hunan Farmers Cooperatives show significant spatial agglomeration. The overall spatial distribution shows the spatial characteristics of "one core, one circle, and multiple points". And the spatial distribution pattern of "large agglomeration, finger-shaped radiation distribution". Among them, the distribution of provincial demonstration cooperatives is relatively balanced. ② Cooperatives in six types of industries, such as planting, forestry, and feeding, showed agglomeration distribution. Different industrial cooperatives spread out in different ways, such as in an anti-"L" shape, a dual-core shape, or a one-center area. ③ The 24 influence factors selected from the five dimensions of the natural environment, social economic basis, production basis, output capacity, and facility basis have high, general, and weak influence on cooperatives' spatial distribution. The development and distribution of cooperatives mainly depend on resource endowment, social and economic development level, and market dependence. The spatial distribution heterogeneity of different professional cooperatives is mainly affected by slope, per capita disposable income of rural residents, road density, and other factors. ④ The progression of farmer cooperatives in Hunan Province should prioritize high-quality development, emphasizing the need for innovative approaches and transformative strategies within rural industrial organizations. It is imperative to optimize the spatial distribution of cooperatives, strategically contributing to the establishment of a novel framework for modern agricultural development in Hunan Province. Additionally, there is a critical emphasis on spearheading collaborative initiatives among cooperatives of varied industrial types, aimed at fostering the integrated development of rural primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.
Abstract This article, based on the study of cases involving the application of e-commerce technology in Chinese rural areas, discusses the basic conditions for developing e-commerce villages and proposes a mechanism for actualizing the benefits of e-commerce technology. This study shows that the rise of e-commerce villages is due to two factors: on the one hand, the “differentiated demand market” engendered by e-commerce technology itself, and, on the other hand, the three mechanisms that result from the integration of e-commerce technology with rural industrial practices. The externality mechanism aggregates differentiated demands and reshapes the sales process of rural industries; the visibility mechanism displays the potential benefits of products and stimulates the intertwining of online trading information with rural interpersonal relationships; the verification mechanism uses a coded business process to help rural merchants accumulate internet capital. This study provides a sociotechnical analytical framework for examining the logic of rural industrial development in the digital age.
Social Sciences, Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
IntroductionThe rapid advancement of digital technology has catalyzed the emergence of “digital villages,” presenting both new opportunities and challenges for the digital transformation of agriculture. This transformation has become a core driving force behind sustainable agricultural development. This paper utilizes panel data from 30 provincial-level administrative regions of mainland China (excluding Tibet) for the period 2011 to 2020 to explore how digital rural development (DRD) impacts agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) and examines its underlying mechanisms.MethodsRegarding variable measurement, the study employs the entropy weighting method to quantify the DRD and uses an extended Data Envelopment Analysis-Malmquist model to assess AGTFP. For the research approach, the study constructs a two-way fixed effects model to evaluate the impact of DRD on AGTFP and explores the underlying mechanisms. Specifically, the study conducts benchmark regression analysis, endogeneity tests, robustness tests, mechanism examinations, and heterogeneity tests.Results(1) DRD significantly enhances AGTFP, a conclusion that remains robust following the province-year clustering robust standard error estimates, winsorization tests, and excluding COVID-19-affected years. (2) Mechanistic analysis indicates that DRD primarily boosts AGTFP by promoting the development of digital inclusive finance (DIF) and facilitating the integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries (IPST). (3) Heterogeneity tests show that the positive impact of DRD on AGTFP is more pronounced in regions with higher levels of informatization and central regions of China.DiscussionTo harness DRD’s potential more effectively in fostering sustainable agricultural development, policymakers should concentrate on DIF and the IPST. Additionally, the government should pay close attention to disparities in informatization levels and resource allocation across regions and develop targeted strategies accordingly. Fundamentally, this study aims to elucidate China’s efficacy in rural digitalization and the green transformation of agriculture to an international audience. It seeks to provide insights and guidance on formulating more scientific, efficient, and sustainable strategies for agricultural development worldwide, thereby promoting green agricultural growth and supporting rural revitalization.
Nutrition. Foods and food supply, Food processing and manufacture
David Wichner, Jeffrey Wishart, Jason Sergent
et al.
Safety Management Systems (SMSs) have been used in many safety-critical industries and are now being developed and deployed in the automated driving system (ADS)-equipped vehicle (AV) sector. Industries with decades of SMS deployment have established frameworks tailored to their specific context. Several frameworks for an AV industry SMS have been proposed or are currently under development. These frameworks borrow heavily from the aviation industry although the AV and aviation industries differ in many significant ways. In this context, there is a need to review the approach to develop an SMS that is tailored to the AV industry, building on generalized lessons learned from other safety-sensitive industries. A harmonized AV-industry SMS framework would establish a single set of SMS practices to address management of broad safety risks in an integrated manner and advance the establishment of a more mature regulatory framework. This paper outlines a proposed SMS framework for the AV industry based on robust taxonomy development and validation criteria and provides rationale for such an approach. Keywords: Safety Management System (SMS), Automated Driving System (ADS), ADS-Equipped Vehicle, Autonomous Vehicles (AV)
Rodney Martinez Alonso, David Plets, Margot Deruyck
et al.
The radio spectrum is a limited resource. Demand for wireless communication services is increasing exponentially, stressing the availability of radio spectrum to accommodate new services. TV White Space (TVWS) technologies allow a dynamic usage of the spectrum. These technologies provide wireless connectivity, in the channels of the Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) television broadcasting bands. In this paper, we investigate and compare the coverage range, network capacity, and network energy efficiency for TVWS technologies and LTE. We consider Ghent, Belgium and Boyeros, Havana, Cuba to evaluate a realistic outdoor suburban and rural area, respectively. The comparison shows that TVWS networks have an energy efficiency 9-12 times higher than LTE networks.
Red sea bream (Pagrosomus major) is one of the most popular farmed marine teleost fish species. Fish cell lines are becoming important research tool in the aquaculture field, and they are suitable models to study fish virology, immunology and toxicology. To obtain a Pagrosomus major cell line for biological studies, a continuous cell line from brain of red sea bream (designated as RSBB cell line) was established and has been successfully subcultured over 100 passages. The RSBB cell line predominantly consisted of fibroblast-like cells and multiplied well in M199 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum at 28 °C. Karyotyping analysis indicated that the modal chromosome numbers of RSBB cells was 48. After transfection with pEGFP-N1, RSBB cells showed bright green fluorescence with a transfection efficiency approaching 8%. For toxicology study, it was demonstrated that metal Cd could induce cytotoxic effects of RSBB cells, accompanied with a dose-dependent MTT conversion capacity. Morphologically, cells treated with metal Cd produced rounding, shrinking and detaching and induced both cell apoptosis and necrosis. For virology study, the RSBB cells were highly susceptible to Nervous necrosis virus (NNV) and Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV) with steady titers (i.e., 108.0~8.3 TCID50 mL−1 and 107.0~7.2 TCID50 mL−1 respectively). Furthermore, an obvious cytopathic effect (CPE) could be observed in RSBB cells infected with Infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV) and Siniperca chuatsi rhabdoviruses (SCRV). Meanwhile, all the infections were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. The new brain cell line developed and characterized from red sea bream in this study could be used as an in vitro model for fish studies in the fields of toxicology and virology.
【Objective】Under the background of the transformation and upgrading of agricultural development, sorting out the characteristics reflected in the development and transformation of new urban agricultural business entities is condusive to finding the focus of solving the substantive difficulties faced by farmers in the production and operation process.【Method】The development characteristics and trends of rural household business income in Guangzhou in recent years were summarized by adopting data from statistical yearbooks, fixed observation points in rural areas of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and sampling survey of farmers; And family farm survey data was further analyzed to reveal the bottlenecks faced by the rural household management in urban areas.【Result】From 2000 to 2020, the income structure of rural residents in Guangzhou changed dramatically. The proportion of wage income increased from 40% to 73%, and the proportion of business income decreased from 50% to 11%. The overall dependence on business income has decreased; however, the net business income plays a relatively important role in increasing the income of middle and upper middle-income households. Rural family-run farms in Guangzhou are transitioning from "small, multiple, complete and scattered" to "large-scale, single and professional" and gradually showing a trend of integration of three industries. However, the proportion of farms using agricultural facilities or advanced machinery is low, and the awareness of green development is not strong enough.【Conclusion】The research reveals that the current household operation scale of farmers' family farms in Guangzhou has adapted tothe high cost and risk of urban agriculture. However, the business income of rural residents lacks endogenous power, and the labor efficiency of agricultural production needs to be improved. The long-term development still faces the problems of insufficient funds, backward social services, blocked sales channels, and poor basic conditions of villages. Therefore, it is necessary to stimulate the endogenous power of business income growth, formulate policies on talents, finance and skills services, industrial clusters, and green development, and push the sustainable growth of rural household business income.
Under the background of global urbanization, the continuous expansion and extensive utilization of urban and rural construction land has caused a large amount of arable land to be occupied, which seriously threatens national food security. This paper describes the spatio-temporal patterns of urban and rural construction land expansion and its occupation of arable land by using the urban and rural construction land expansion intensity, the urban and rural construction land expansion intensity difference index, and geo-detector model. It also explores the mechanisms through which the arable land was occupied. Results showed that construction land in both urban and rural areas expanded over the period 2009–2018 despite a large number of rural and urban migrants, and the major contributor to the rapid urbanization in China. This dual expansion could mainly be attributed to the tendency of these migrants to keep or even enlarge their rural construction land, which also resulted in a severer arable land loss than that caused by the expansion of urban construction land. Second, the rate of arable land occupied by urban and rural construction land in Henan province has been gradually slowing down, whereas the expansion of rural construction land is most dependent on arable land occupation. Third, according to the geo-detector model, the relationship between urbanization level and arable land occupied by urban and rural construction was the strongest, followed by the growth rate of fixed asset investment and the proportion of secondary and tertiary industries in GDP.
Religious tourism, a branch of cultural tourism, can stimulate development, especially in rural areas. This research was conducted to conceptualize a religious tourism development model emphasizing the holy sites of Kermanshah province. The research approach was of qualitative and Grounded Theory type; the research sample comprised experts in the field of religious tourism. Accordingly, 16 semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants using the purposeful sampling method. The four criteria of Lincoln and Guba, including credibility, transferability, reliability, and verifiability, were used to measure the validity and comply with the qualitative research features, validation, accuracy, and robustness of the data. The reliability of the research was also assessed using the test-retest reliability method, with 77% reliability. Strauss and Corbin’s systematic approach analyzed data. Through three open, central, and selective coding procedures, the content analysis results yielded 71 concepts, 14 sub-categories, and six main categories. Finally, the paradigmatic religious tourism development model was presented, in which the development of religious tourism was chosen as the central phenomenon affected by the causal conditions of the research. Contextual and intervening conditions and the central phenomenon formed religious tourism development strategies, and economic, cultural, and social development outcomes were obtained. In the end, practical suggestions were presented for developing religious tourism in Kermanshah province.Introduction"Religious tourism" is one of the oldest forms of tourism and plays an important role in the history of tourism development. Religious tourism includes people who travel for religious or spiritual purposes and visit religious places or participate in religious activities and festivals. In other words, religious tourism refers to all types of trips made with voluntary religious motivation, without pay, and for a limited period.Kermanshah province, with 16,550 sacred places and monuments, is one of the provinces with the potential to attract religious tourists. Despite the potential and attractions that Kermanshah province has in the field of tourism in general and religious tourism in particular, the category of religious tourism in this province should be addressed more. This matter has been neglected from the point of view of the trustees and planners of the matter.This research aims to develop a religious tourism development model with an emphasis on blessed and religious places and locations in Kermanshah province to creat employment and reduce the unemployment rate. So, the current study seeks to answer this question, what kind of model does Kermanshah province has for the development of religious tourism with an emphasis on blessed and religious places?Materials and MethodsThe current research is qualitative in terms of paradigm, developmental-applicative in terms of purpose, and exploratory and ground-theoretical in terms of method. The studied community of the research was made up of experts in the field of religious tourism. Based on this, 16 semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants using the purposeful sampling method. The data were analyzed using the systematic approach of Strauss and Corbin. In order to analyze the data, three types of coding were used, which include open coding (creating concepts and categories), axial coding (identifying the core category, causal conditions, contextual and environmental conditions, intervening conditions, strategies, and consequences) and selective coding (creation of theory). In order to measure the validity and comply with the qualitative features of the research, validation, accuracy, and robustness of the data, the four criteria of Lincoln and Goba, such as reliability, transferability and appropriateness, reliability and stability, and verifiability, were used. The reliability of the research was also calculated using the test-retest reliability method, and 77% was obtained.ResultsConclusions The resulting Paradigm Model identified welfare and religious attractions as "causal conditions." The mentioned factors are the factors that make the development of religious tourism necessary and inevitable. Religious tourism development strategies include promotional strategies, infrastructural strategies, collaborative strategies, and human resource strategies that are affected by factors such as advertising management and integrated tourism management as "intervening conditions" And "background conditions" such as residents' attitude about the consequences of tourism and residents' attitude towards religious and cultural responsibilities towards pilgrims and tourists. Finally, the development of religious tourism leads to the emergence of "consequences of the development of religious tourism," such as "economic development," such as an increase in rial and foreign exchange income and the prosperity of the tax system, creating job opportunities for the local people of the province, expanding commercial and welfare centers around religious attractions. The province, the prosperity of local industries and products of the province, the employment of women and students on a part-time basis, and the attraction of domestic and foreign capital to the province; and "cultural and social development" such as cultural interaction and expansion of cultural exchanges of the province, strengthening of religious thinking among the local community of the province, awareness of the local community of cultural-religious assets, sense of pride of the local community in cultural-religious assets, strengthening of cultural character and increasing respect pilgrims are given the opportunity to strengthen religious and Islamic culture and rites between guilds and trades, and to revive local-religious traditions and manners. Based on the research findings, somepractical suggestions are presented to develop religious tourism in Kermanshah province
Management. Industrial management, Management of special enterprises
Elahe Sherafat, Bilal Farooq, Amir Hossein Karbasi
et al.
Accurate traffic volume and speed prediction have a wide range of applications in transportation. It can result in useful and timely information for both travellers and transportation decision-makers. In this study, an Attention based Long Sort-Term Memory model (A-LSTM) is proposed to simultaneously predict traffic volume and speed in a critical rural road segmentation which connects Tehran to Chalus, the most tourist destination city in Iran. Moreover, this study compares the results of the A-LSTM model with the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model. Both models show acceptable performance in predicting speed and flow. However, the A-LSTM model outperforms the LSTM in 5 and 15-minute intervals. In contrast, there is no meaningful difference between the two models for the 30-minute time interval. By comparing the performance of the models based on different time horizons, the 15-minute horizon model outperforms the others by reaching the lowest Mean Square Error (MSE) loss of 0.0032, followed by the 30 and 5-minutes horizons with 0.004 and 0.0051, respectively. In addition, this study compares the results of the models based on two transformations of temporal categorical input variables, one-hot or cyclic, for the 15-minute time interval. The results demonstrate that both LSTM and A-LSTM with cyclic feature encoding outperform those with one-hot feature encoding.