Driver Fatigue and the Vehicle Control Interface during long distance rallies

It is assumed that the interaction between a vehicle and its driver alters as that driver becomes fatigued. Using long distance rally driving as its context, this study based upon the analysis of in-car video recordings, investigates the changes in driver movement patterns over many hours at the wheel and draws conclusions as to the changing relationship between driver and the vehicle control interface (VCI). In a rally car there is the additional factor over a road car of a co-driver from whom the driver receives instructions as to the vehicle’s required direction and speed. Video capture reveals that as time at the wheel accumulates and the driver becomes fatigued essential actions are seemingly increasingly prioritised over inessential actions. Fewer inessential movements of the driver’s head and limbs are evident as fatigue builds up. Eventually only the essential actions needed to keep the vehicle on course are undertaken by the driver. In a rally driving situation where driver and codriver are both trained and experienced this prioritisation can result in the enhancing of concentration and an improvement in competitive result. It is concluded that this study offers reinforcing evidence for the location and prioritisation of major and minor items within the VCI

Gravimetry through non-linear optomechanics

We propose a new method for measurements of gravitational acceleration using a quantum optomechanical system. As a proof-of-concept, we investigate the fundamental sensitivity for a cavity optomechanical system for gravitational accelerometry with a light-matter interaction of the canonical `trilinear' radiation pressure form. The phase of the optical output of the cavity encodes the gravitational acceleration $g$ and is the only component which needs to be measured to perform the gravimetry. We analytically show that homodyne detection is the optimal readout in our scheme, based on the cyclical decoupling of light and matter, and predict a fundamental sensitivity of $\Delta g = 10^{-15}$ ms$^{-2}$ for currently achievable optomechanical systems which could, in principle, surpass the best atomic interferometers even for low optical intensities. Our scheme is strikingly robust to the initial thermal state of the mechanical oscillator as the accumulated gravitational phase only depends on relative position separation between components of the entangled optomechanical state arising during the evolution.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure

Effective interventions for working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness

This literature review was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). The aim of the review is to assess the current state of evidence about what interventions are most effective in working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This literature review was produced in order to inform a broader project that identifies the range of interventions and strategies that are applied by Reconnect services and situates these practices within the existing evidence base (see separate report, Reconnect: working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness). Reconnect is a community-based early intervention program for young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. It was established in 1998 as an early intervention response to youth homelessness. Reconnect uses early intervention strategies to help young people to stabilise and improve their housing, achieve family reconciliation, and improve their level of engagement with work, education, training and community. FaHCSIA funds Reconnect services to deliver services to young people aged 12–18 years (newly arrived young people 12–21 years) who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and their families. Some Reconnect services focus on working with specific population groups, for example: Indigenous young people (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people); young people experiencing mental health issues; and newly arrived young people. This review is guided by the key research question: ‘what are effective intervention strategies for working with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness?’ The literature review begins with a brief overview of youth homelessness as an issue of concern, its identified relevant risk and protective factors, and the relevance of early intervention. It then outlines the strategy for undertaking this literature review and presents the findings of the review

Reviews

Brian Clegg, Mining The Internet — Information Gathering and Research on the Net, Kogan Page: London, 1999. ISBN: 0–7494–3025–7. Paperback, 147 pages, £9.99

Quantum cooling and squeezing of a levitating nanosphere via time-continuous measurements

With the purpose of controlling the steady state of a dielectric nanosphere levitated within an optical cavity, we study its conditional dynamics under simultaneous sideband cooling and additional time-continuous measurement of either the output cavity mode or the nanosphere's position. We find that the average phonon number, purity and quantum squeezing of the steady-states can all be made more non-classical through the addition of time-continuous measurement. We predict that the continuous monitoring of the system, together with Markovian feedback, allows one to stabilize the dynamics for any value of the laser frequency driving the cavity. By considering state-of-the-art values of the experimental parameters, we prove that one can in principle obtain a non-classical (squeezed) steady-state with an average phonon number $n_{\sf ph}\approx 0.5$.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures; v2: close to published versio

Cost-based water prices

This paper attempts to discuss some of the major economic and financial issues and problems facing water supply companies, governments and consumers in the developing world. It will try to identify these issues and to suggest economic solutions and approaches. Where appropriate examples will be drawn from the authors’ working experience

³¹P Saturation Transfer and Phosphocreatine Imaging in the Monkey Brain

³¹P magnetic resonance imaging with chemical-shift discrimination by selective excitation has been employed to determine the phosphocreatine (PCr) distribution in the brains of three juvenile macaque monkeys. PCr images were also obtained while saturating the resonance of the {gamma}-phosphate of ATP, which allowed the investigation of the chemical exchange between PCr and the {gamma}-phosphate of ATP catalyzed by creatine kinase. Superposition of the PCr images over the proton image of the same monkey brain revealed topological variations in the distribution of PCr and creatine kinase activity. PCr images were also obtained with and without visual stimulation. In two out of four experiments, an apparently localized decrease in PCr concentration was noted in visual cortex upon visual stimulation. This result is interpreted in terms of a possible role for the local ADP concentration in stimulating the accompanying metabolic response