Detecting Distracted Driving with Deep Learning

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017Driver distraction is the leading factor in most car crashes and near-crashes. This paper discusses the types, causes and impacts of distracted driving. A deep learning approach is then presented for the detection of such driving behaviors using images of the driver, where an enhancement has been made to a standard convolutional neural network (CNN). Experimental results on Kaggle challenge dataset have confirmed the capability of a convolutional neural network (CNN) in this complicated computer vision task and illustrated the contribution of the CNN enhancement to a better pattern recognition accuracy.Peer reviewe

Service Equity, Satisfaction, and Loyalty: From Transaction-Specific to Cumulative Evaluations

Perceived equity is a key psychological reaction to the value that a service company provides. Yet equity research has focused on a customer’s satisfaction with relatively well-defined service episodes or transactions. The authors argue and show that equity plays a very different role in affecting customer loyalty as one moves from transaction-specific to cumulative evaluations. Whereas equity is an important driver of transaction-specific satisfaction, equity is more of a post-satisfaction evaluation when modeling cumulative satisfaction. The research also demonstrates the superiority of cumulative evaluations toward explaining service loyalty and providing a balanced view of loyalty drivers. The results have important implications for how equity, satisfaction, and loyalty are modeled and managed in a service context

Managing Ambidexterity in Startups Pursuing Digital Innovation

With the current pace of digital innovation, corporations and startups alike are experiencing the challenge of surviving in hypercompetitive environments. Accordingly, the management literature proposes “organizational ambidexterity”, the ability to balance exploitative and exploratory efforts, as a means of survival. Based on observations and interviews with startups and investors affiliated with the entrepreneurial educational program SCALEit, this study investigates how startups can manage ambidexterity in pursuing digital innovation. Our study concludes that startups conducting digital innovation manage to attain organizational ambidexterity through internal and external adaptation by combining and enacting competencies. The startups have access to a competency portfolio that comprises eight core competencies across organizational boundaries. The startup CEO, team members, and individuals in the ecosystem that surround the startup provide these competencies, which reveals a new perspective on how to achieve organizational ambidexterity through leveraging both internal and external competencies

The Relationship Between Castor Bean Stem Diameter and Extrafloral Nectary Gland Size

This project sought to characterize plant defense investment in the castor bean (Ricinus communis L.), an exotic myrmecophyte in southern California, with respect to life history strategies. Experimental evidence suggests that exotic myrmecophytes can form mutually beneficial associations with exotic ants regardless of the differences in shared evolutionary histories. Castor bean plant investment in defense was evaluated by measuring the area on extra-floral nectary (EFN) glands. Life history strategies may change with respect to plant size and was therefore evaluated in terms of basal stem diameter

Voluntary, Chronic Dehydration in Adolescent American Football Players

The purpose of the study was to determine whether voluntary acute or chronic dehydration occurs in a male adolescent athletic population during twicea- day American football practice sessions. We conclude that participants will voluntarily rehydrate themselves between practice sessions and will begin to acclimate within three to four days

Hepatic caveolin-1 is enhanced in Cyp27A1/ApoE double knockout mice

Sterol 27-hydroxylase (CYP27A1) is involved in bile acid synthesis and cholesterol homoeostasis. Cyp27a1(−/−)/Apolipoprotein E(−/−) double knockout mice (DKO) fed a western diet failed to develop atherosclerosis. Caveolin-1 (CAV-1), the main component of caveolae, is associated with lipid homoeostasis and has regulatory roles in vascular diseases. We hypothesized that liver CAV-1 would contribute to the athero-protective mechanism in DKO mice. Cyp27a1(+/+)/ApoE(−/−) (ApoE KO), Cyp27a1(+/−)/ApoE(−/−) (het), and DKO mice were fed a western diet for 2 months. Atherosclerotic plaque and CAV-1 protein were quantified in aortas. Hepatic Cav-1 mRNA was assessed using qPCR, CAV-1 protein by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. Total hepatic and plasma cholesterol was measured using chemiluminescence. Cholesterol efflux was performed in RAW264.7 cells, using mice plasma as acceptor. CAV-1 protein expression in aortas was increased in endothelial cells of DKO mice and negatively correlated with plaque surface (P < 0.05). In the liver, both CAV-1 protein and mRNA expression doubled in DKO, compared to ApoE KO and het mice (P < 0.001 for both) and was negatively correlated with total hepatic cholesterol (P < 0.05). Plasma from DKO, ApoE KO and het mice had the same efflux capacity. In the absence of CYP27A1, CAV-1 overexpression might have an additional athero-protective role by partly overcoming the defect in CYP27A1-mediated cholesterol efflux

Risk Factors for High Early Mortality in Patients on Antiretroviral Treatment in a Rural District of Malawi.

OBJECTIVES: Among adults started on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in a rural district hospital (a) to determine the cumulative proportion of deaths that occur within 3 and 6 months of starting ART, and (b) to identify risk factors that may be associated with such mortality. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional analytical study set in Thyolo district, Malawi. METHODS: Over a 2-year period (April 2003 to April 2005) mortality within the first 3 and 6 months of starting ART was determined and risk factors were examined. RESULTS: A total of 1507 individuals (517 men and 990 women), whose median age was 35 years were included in the study. There were a total of 190 (12.6%) deaths on ART of which 116 (61%) occurred within the first 3 months (very early mortality) and 150 (79%) during the first 6 months of initiating ART. Significant risk factors associated with such mortality included WHO stage IV disease, a baseline CD4 cell count under 50 cells/mul and increasing grades of malnutrition. A linear trend in mortality was observed with increasing grades of malnutrition (chi for trend = 96.1, P </= 0.001) and decreasing CD4 cell counts (chi for trend = 72.4, P </= 0.001). Individuals who were severely malnourished [body mass index (BMI) < 16.0 kg/m] had a six times higher risk of dying in the first 3 months than those with a normal nutritional status. CONCLUSIONS: Among individuals starting ART, the BMI and clinical staging could be important screening tools for use to identify and target individuals who, despite ART, are still at a high risk of early death