Effect of Cargo Shifting on Vehicle Handling

DOT-FH-11-9195The objective of the program was to determine in full-scale testing how dynamic cargo shifting affects the stability of articulated trucks and establish the severity of the problem for two cases: (1) sloshing of liquid cargo and (2) swinging of hanging meat. Two tasks (A and B) were accomplished. Task A, Planning and Preparation, was devoted to obtaining information on hanging meat and liquid cargo loading procedures; identifying representative test vehicles on the basis of industry usage, accident exposure, and mileage accumulation; and developing the test plans, procedures, and instrumentation. Task B, Conduct of Tests, was devoted to preparing the vehicles and instrumentation; mounting the instrumentation and performing necessary calibrations; driver selection, training, and system orientation; conducting the tests; and data acquisition and analysis

Data from: State-dependent judgement bias in Drosophila: evidence for evolutionarily primitive affective processes

Affective states influence decision-making under ambiguity in humans and other animals. Individuals in a negative state tend to interpret ambiguous cues more negatively than individuals in a positive state. We demonstrate that the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, also exhibits state-dependent changes in cue interpretation. Drosophila were trained on a Go/Go task to approach a positive (P) odour associated with a sugar reward and actively avoid a negative (N) odour associated with shock. Trained flies were then either shaken to induce a purported negative state or left undisturbed (control), and given a choice between: air or P; air or N; air or ambiguous odour (1:1 blend of P:N). Shaken flies were significantly less likely to approach the ambiguous odour than control flies. This ‘judgement bias’ may be mediated by changes in neural activity that reflect evolutionarily primitive affective states. We cannot say whether such states are consciously experienced, but utilisation of this model organism’s versatile experimental tool kit may facilitate elucidation of their neural and genetic basis