Formulation of Driver Judgment Process around Curves for Deviated State Detection

The objective of this study is to propose indices that detect deviated states of drivers during driving considering their judgment process and using a road environment and natural driving behavior database. To this end, we focus on curved roads because as road curvature changes continuously drivers need to adapt their behavior to not go wide of the lane or the road. The drivers’ speed choice behavior around curve situations was focused upon, and a speed choice process was formulated. Moreover, the validity of the formulated speed choice behavior in curve situations was examined using the real vehicle and the simulato

Place & Play SERS: sample collection and preparation-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The ability to perform sensitive, real-time, in situ, multiplex chemical analysis is indispensable for diverse applications such as human health monitoring, food safety testing, forensic analysis, environmental sensing, and homeland security. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an effective tool to offer the ability by virtue of its high sensitivity and rapid label-free signal detection as well as the availability of portable Raman spectrometers. Unfortunately, the practical utility of SERS is limited because it generally requires sample collection and preparation, namely, collecting a sample from an object of interest and placing the sample on top of a SERS substrate to perform a SERS measurement. In fact, not all analytes can satisfy this requirement because the sample collection and preparation process may be undesirable, laborious, difficult, dangerous, costly, or time-consuming. Here we introduce "Place & Play SERS" based on an ultrathin, flexible, stretchable, adhesive, biointegratable gold-deposited polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanomesh substrate that enables placing the substrate on top of an object of interest and performing a SERS measurement of the object by epi-excitation without the need for touching, destroying, and sampling it. Specifically, we characterized the sensitivity of the gold/PVA nanomesh substrate in the Place & Play SERS measurement scheme and then used the scheme to conduct SERS measurements of both wet and dry objects under nearly real-world conditions. To show the practical utility of Place & Play SERS, we demonstrated two practical applications: food safety testing and forensic analysis. Our results firmly verified the new measurement scheme of SERS and are expected to extend the potential of SERS by opening up untapped applications of sensitive, real-time, in situ multiplex chemical analysis.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Neuropsychological Predictors of Safety in Urban Left-Turn Scenarios

Left turns at urban intersections can be dangerous, especially when views are obstructed or pedestrians are present. Impairments in driver vision, motor, and cognition functions may further increase left-turn risk. We examined this problem in a simulated environment that included left-turn scenarios to study the driving behaviors of 28 drivers, ages 37 to 88 years, six of whom had “Useful Field of View” (UFOV) impairments. Subjects also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests. The simulated drive included an urban section with six left turns in three types of scenarios: 1) a semi truck blocking the view of oncoming traffic, 2) a lead vehicle obstruction, and 3) a pedestrian crossing ahead of the turning driver. Results showed a mean (SD) of 1.46 (1.60) collisions per driver (range 0 to 7), 83% of which occurred at intersections with semi trucks. Far visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, UFOV, Mini Mental State Examination, TrailMaking Test Part B, the Wisconsin Card Sort task, and age were all associated with the total number of collisions (Pearson correlation magnitudes between 0.37 to 0.77; p-values\u3c0.05). Spearman correlations were less significant. Findings indicate that visual obstruction by on oncoming semi-truck is a particularly dangerous left-turn situation

Purification and characterization of a novel incomplete-type vitellogenin protein (VgC) in Sakhalin taimen (Hucho perryi)

A novel, incomplete-type vitellogenin (VgC) and its derived yolk lipovitellin (LvC) were immunologically detected in female serum and egg extracts, respectively, of Sakhalin taimen (Hucho perryi) using a subtype-specific antiserum against LvC of grey mullet (Mugil cephalus). The taimen VgC was purified from the sera of vitellogenic females by a combination of gel filtration, anion exchange, and immunoadsorbent column chromatography. Gel filtration of the purified VgC revealed that it had an apparent native mass of ∼380 kDa, while the mass of the VgC polypeptide that appeared following SDS-PAGE was estimated to be ∼140 kDa. An antiserum was raised against the purified VgC and utilized for the development of a subtype-specific immunoassay for VgC. Levels of VgC in the serum of female taimen increased from 25 μg/mL to ∼1 mg/mL, with an increase of GSI. Levels of complete-type Vg and estradiol-17β (E2) in the serum of E2-administered juvenile taimen increased and reached peak levels similar to those found in vitellogenic females. Although VgC could be induced in the serum of E2-administered taimen, it stayed at levels (35.5-73 μg/mL) lower than those obtained in females. This is the first report on the presence of serum VgC and yolk LvC in a salmonid species; these findings indicate that for Sakhalin taimen, like other highly-evolved teleost species, this minor subtype of Vg is significant in the formation of egg yolk