Logit Regression Model to Predict Driver Left Turn Destination Lane Choice Behavior at Urban Intersections

As autonomous vehicles become more prevalent during daily commutes, there will be an increased need to predict the driving behavior of humans behind the wheel. As this increase in prevalence will not be immediate, this human behavior prediction will be vital to minimize the number of traffic incidents between human-controlled and autonomous vehicles. One of the most unpredictable driving behaviors that can be observed is the destination lane choice of a driver turning left at an intersection. If this destination lane choice behavior can be predicted, then the introduction of autonomous vehicles can occur in a safer, more controlled manner. This research builds off of previous research by making use of two Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) arterial street data sets in order to attempt to predict the turning behavior of human-controlled vehicles using real-world field data. This prediction can then be used in addition to the technology already in place in autonomous vehicles to decrease the risk of a collision at an intersection with a concurrently turning human-driven vehicle. Currently, there is no existing model that can accurately predict driver behavior due to the unpredictability of human-controlled vehicles. The resulting model will allow for a safer transition from human-controlled vehicles to autonomous vehicles. In addition to the safety benefits, this model could also be incorporated into popular microscopic traffic simulation tools, in order to improve the overall accuracy and efficiency of these tools

Decision Support Tools for Parking Management on University Campuses

University campuses generate and attract trips with unique characteristics. Most universities are constantly challenged by the parking congestion issues. To manage campus parking infrastructure, most universities have established parking departments. This department is referred as the University Parking Office (UPO) in this dissertation. There is no methodology or tool to assist the UPOs in their decision-making process. This dissertation focuses on student parking and has developed models and methodologies as decision support tools to assist UPOs in managing student parking on campuses. This dissertation answers six Research Questions related to parking management on university campuses: (1) How many students are expected to buy parking permits in an academic year? (2) What is a reasonable “base” price for an annual student parking permit? (3) How should the parking lots be grouped into different student parking zones and what should be the annual student permit prices for these zones? (4) If the student parking zones and annual student permit prices have been decided, how many students are expected to park in each zone? (5) If the class schedule of the future semester has been fixed but students have not registered for the courses, how to estimate the temporal variation of student parking demand in each zone? (6) How should the performance of a university campus parking system in serving its students be evaluated? To answer each of these questions, new methods or methodologies have been proposed in corresponding Chapters of this dissertation. The responses to the first and second Research Questions resulted in a total (student parking permit) demand model and a (student parking permit) base permit price model, both developed using regression analyses based on the data gathered from 208 university campuses. A parking survey was conducted to gather data from 1022 students necessary for the development of models and methodologies to answer to Research Questions three to six. The third Research Question has led to the development of the Zoning and Zone Permit Pricing (Z2P2) model, which incorporates the concept of the value of time. To answer the fourth Research Question, two discrete choice models have been constructed to predict the probabilities of student parking in various zones. A methodology based heavily on the class schedule has been proposed to provide answers to the fifth Research Question which is to estimate the hourly occupancy variations in a parking lot. In response to the last Research Question, the average search time for a parking stall has been selected as the performance measure of a parking lot and Level of Service (LOS) criteria proposed and tested. All models and methodologies developed in this dissertation can be implemented by any UPO in the United States

Safety and pulmonary function impact of surgical mask usage in stable COPD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

There are hesitations about the use of surgical face masks, which are the main tools in protection from the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest disasters of our age, in chronic airway diseases. The purpose of the study was to examine how stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) responded to short-term surgical mask use in terms of in-mask air quality, oxygen saturation, and pulmonary function. Forty-one patients with stable COPD, by clinical presentation and pulmonary function tests (PFTs), were included in a quasi-experimental study. Stable COPD patients' PFTs, in-mask air quality, and pollution measures were collected before and after wearing surgical masks for two hours at rest. The findings of simultaneous tests of peripheral-blood-oxygen saturation were also recorded. The mean age of participants was 67.1 years and 87.8% were male. The pre- and post-mask PFTs parameters for GOLD (A+B) group were FEV1 (ml), FEV1 (%), FVC (ml), FVC (%), FEV1/FVC (%) and DLCO (%) (p=0.067, p=0. 065, p=0.062, p=0.083, p=0.083, p=0.269, p=0.956, respectively), whereas in GOLD (C+D) group (p=0.340, p=0.538, p=0.728, p=0.044, p=0.105, p=0.054, respectively). In post-mask measurements, the respiratory function was not impaired in GOLD-2022 (A-B-C-D) COPD subgroups. Oxygen and carbon-monoxide concentrations in exhaled air and oxygen saturation decreased after surgical mask use. The difference was statistically significant, but the difference was unimportant in terms of clinical implications. Surgical masks don't appear to have a negative effect on pulmonary function and clinical parameters in stable COPD. This study may help provide evidence-based data to overcome hesitations in use of surgical masks in chronic airway diseases. [Med-Science 2023; 12(3.000): 865-71

Characterization of University Parking System

Final ReportMost universities are constantly challenged by the parking congestion problem. As one of the initial steps towards finding the solutions, this research set out to: (1) understand the parking demand and management strategies at four different university campuses; (2) identify innovative solutions to manage parking demand and supply on university campuses; and (3) propose a framework to analyze the relationship between parking management on a university campus with the environment and community health. To meet the first objective, the parking demand and supply managements at four selected universities, namely Cornell University (Cornell), The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), University of California at Davis (UCD) and University of South Florida (USF) were reviewed, analyzed and compared. For the second objective, this report surveyed the parking management practices in more than 300 universities and summarized innovative implementations of zoning, permit sales, pricing, access control, visitor payment, data collection, guidance, enforcement and multimodal integration. For the third objective, a framework based on the VISSIM microscopic traffic simulation followed by emission estimation using the CMEM emission estimation model has been proposed. A case study was performed, using UTEP campus as an example, to illustrate the application of the proposed framework. The VISSIM-CMEM framework estimated that the vehicle headed to UTEP parking lots between from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. contributed 248,707 kg of CO2.U.S. Department of Transportation 69A355174711

Comparison of ultrasound and dorsal horizon radiographic view for the detection of dorsal screw penetration

WOS: 000422850300004PubMed ID: 29092760Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of dorsal tangential fluoroscopy and ultrasonography in detecting dorsal screw penetration in distal radius volar locking plate applications. Methods: Ten cadaveric forearms were operated. The distal four screws were protruded 0, 1 and 2 mm into each of the second, third and fourth dorsal compartments of distal radius. Dorsal horizon views were taken using fluoroscopy. Each radiographic image was evaluated by two orthopedic surgeons who are blinded to procedure. Sonographic evaluations were performed by an orthopedic surgeon blinded to the procedure. Both dorsal horizon view and ultrasonography assessments were noted by the evaluators whether the tip of the screw penetrated or not the dorsal cortex for each compartment. Results: No significant difference was observed on correct detection of 0 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm screw penetrations at second and third compartments. In the fourth compartment, there was no difference with 0 mm and 2 mm penetrations but correct detection accuracy of 1 mm screw penetration was 87% in ultrasonography group and 71% in dorsal horizon view group. Conclusions: The accuracy of ultrasonography on 1 mm penetration at the fourth compartment is better than dorsal horizon view. However, dorsal horizon view and ultrasonography accuracy is similar for the other compartments and penetration levels. Ultrasonography is a reliable and effective procedure for detection of dorsal screw penetrations. (c) 2017 Turkish Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V

Real-life comparison of the afatinib and first-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors in nonsmall cell lung cancer harboring EGFR exon 19 deletion: a Turk Oncology Group (TOG) study

Background The new second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have superior survival outcome and worse toxicity profile when compared with first-generation TKIs according to the results of clinical trials. However, there are limited studies that investigate the efficacy and safety of the new generation TKIs in real-world patients. Thus, we aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of the afatinib, an irreversible inhibitor of ErbB family receptor, and first-generation TKIs in real-world patients

Dealing with the gray zones in the management of gastric cancer: The consensus statement of the Istanbul Group

The geographical location and differences in tumor biology significantly change the management of gastric cancer. The prevalence of gastric cancer ranks fifth and sixth among men and women, respectively, in Turkey. The international guidelines from the Eastern and Western countries fail to manage a considerable amount of inconclusive issues in the management of gastric cancer. The uncertainties lead to significant heterogeneities in clinical practice, lack of homogeneous data collection, and subsequently, diverse outcomes

Worldwide trends in population-based survival for children, adolescents, and young adults diagnosed with leukaemia, by subtype, during 2000–14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual data from 258 cancer registries in 61 countries

Background: Leukaemias comprise a heterogenous group of haematological malignancies. In CONCORD-3, we analysed data for children (aged 0–14 years) and adults (aged 15–99 years) diagnosed with a haematological malignancy during 2000–14 in 61 countries. Here, we aimed to examine worldwide trends in survival from leukaemia, by age and morphology, in young patients (aged 0–24 years). Methods: We analysed data from 258 population-based cancer registries in 61 countries participating in CONCORD-3 that submitted data on patients diagnosed with leukaemia. We grouped patients by age as children (0–14 years), adolescents (15–19 years), and young adults (20–24 years). We categorised leukaemia subtypes according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC-3), updated with International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, third edition (ICD-O-3) codes. We estimated 5-year net survival by age and morphology, with 95% CIs, using the non-parametric Pohar-Perme estimator. To control for background mortality, we used life tables by country or region, single year of age, single calendar year and sex, and, where possible, by race or ethnicity. All-age survival estimates were standardised to the marginal distribution of young people with leukaemia included in the analysis. Findings: 164 563 young people were included in this analysis: 121 328 (73·7%) children, 22 963 (14·0%) adolescents, and 20 272 (12·3%) young adults. In 2010–14, the most common subtypes were lymphoid leukaemia (28 205 [68·2%] patients) and acute myeloid leukaemia (7863 [19·0%] patients). Age-standardised 5-year net survival in children, adolescents, and young adults for all leukaemias combined during 2010–14 varied widely, ranging from 46% in Mexico to more than 85% in Canada, Cyprus, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Australia. Individuals with lymphoid leukaemia had better age-standardised survival (from 43% in Ecuador to ≥80% in parts of Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia) than those with acute myeloid leukaemia (from 32% in Peru to ≥70% in most high-income countries in Europe, North America, and Oceania). Throughout 2000–14, survival from all leukaemias combined remained consistently higher for children than adolescents and young adults, and minimal improvement was seen for adolescents and young adults in most countries. Interpretation: This study offers the first worldwide picture of population-based survival from leukaemia in children, adolescents, and young adults. Adolescents and young adults diagnosed with leukaemia continue to have lower survival than children. Trends in survival from leukaemia for adolescents and young adults are important indicators of the quality of cancer management in this age group