1,953 research outputs found
Smart Roadside System for Driver Assistance and Safety Warnings: Framework and Applications
The use of newly emerging sensor technologies in traditional roadway systems can provide real-time traffic services to drivers through Telematics and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITSs). This paper introduces a smart roadside system that utilizes various sensors for driver assistance and traffic safety warnings. This paper shows two road application models for a smart roadside system and sensors: a red-light violation warning system for signalized intersections, and a speed advisory system for highways. Evaluation results for the two services are then shown using a micro-simulation method. In the given real-time applications for drivers, the framework and certain algorithms produce a very efficient solution with respect to the roadway type features and sensor type use
Slim Body Weight Is Highly Associated With Enhanced Lipoprotein Functionality, Higher HDL-C, and Large HDL Particle Size in Young Women
There has been no information about the correlations between body weight distribution and lipoprotein metabolism in terms of high-density lipoproteins-cholesterol (HDL-C) and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). In this study, we analyzed the quantity and quality of HDL correlations in young women (21.5 Ā± 1.2-years-old) with a slim (n = 21, 46.2 Ā± 3.8 kg) or plump (n = 30, 54.6 Ā± 4.4 kg) body weight. Body weight was inversely correlated with the percentage of HDL-C in total cholesterol (TC). The plump group showed 40% higher body fat (26 Ā± 3 %) and 86% more visceral fat mass (VFM, 1.3 Ā± 0.3 kg) than the slim group, which showed 18 Ā± 2% body fat and 0.7 Ā± 0.2 kg of VFM. Additionally, the plump group showed 20% higher TC, 58% higher triglyceride (TG), and 12% lower HDL-C levels in serum. The slim group showed 34% higher apoA-I but 15% lower CETP content in serum compared to the plump group. The slim group showed a 13% increase in particle size and 1.9-fold increase in particle number with enhanced cholesterol efflux activity. Although the plump group was within a normal body mass index (BMI) range, its lipid profile and lipoprotein properties were distinctly different from those of the slim group in terms of CETP mass and activity, HDL functionality, and HDL particle size
Dependence of GCRs influx on the Solar North-South Asymmetry
We investigate the dependence of the amount of the observed galactic cosmic
ray (GCR) influx on the solar North-South asymmetry using the neutron count
rates obtained from four stations and sunspot data in archives spanning six
solar cycles from 1953 to 2008. We find that the observed GCR influxes at
Moscow, Kiel, Climax and Huancayo stations are more suppressed when the solar
activity in the southern hemisphere is dominant compared with when the solar
activity in the northern hemisphere is dominant. Its reduction rates at four
stations are all larger than those of the suppression due to other factors
including the solar polarity effect on the GCR influx. We perform the student's
t-test to see how significant these suppressions are. It is found that
suppressions due to the solar North-South asymmetry as well as the solar
polarity are significant and yet the suppressions associated with the former
are larger and more significant.Comment: 17 pages, 3figures, accepted to JAST
Real-Time Monitoring of Neural Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance Sensing
Stem cells are useful for cell replacement therapy. Stem cell differentiation must be monitored thoroughly and precisely prior to transplantation. In this study we evaluated the usefulness of electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) for in vitro real-time monitoring of neural differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). We cultured hMSCs in neural
differentiation media (NDM) for 6 days and examined the time-course of impedance changes with an ECIS array. We also
monitored the expression of markers for neural differentiation, total cell count, and cell cycle profiles. Cellular expression of
neuron and oligodendrocyte markers increased. The resistance value of cells cultured in NDM was automatically measured in real-time
and found to increase much more slowly over time compared to cells cultured in non-differentiation media. The relatively slow
resistance changes observed in differentiating MSCs were determined to be due to their lower growth capacity achieved by
induction of cell cycle arrest in G0/G1. Overall results suggest that the relatively slow change in resistance values measured by
ECIS method can be used as a parameter for slowly growing neural-differentiating cells. However, to enhance the competence
of ECIS for in vitro real-time monitoring of neural differentiation of MSCs, more elaborate studies are needed
Accelerating and Supersonic Density Fluctuations in Coronal Hole Plumes: Signature of Nascent Solar Winds
Slow magnetoacoustic waves in a static background provide a seismological
tool to probe the solar atmosphere in the analytic frame. By analyzing the
spatiotemporal variation of the electron number density of plume structure in
coronal holes above the limb for a given temperature, we find that the density
perturbations accelerate with supersonic speeds in the distance range from 1.02
to 1.23 solar radii. We interpret them as slow magnetoacoustic waves
propagating at about the sound speed with accelerating subsonic flows. The
average sonic height of the subsonic flows is calculated to be 1.27 solar
radii. The mass flux of the subsonic flows is estimated to be 44.1 relative
to the global solar wind. Hence, the subsonic flow is likely to be the nascent
solar wind. In other words, the evolution of the nascent solar wind in plumes
at the low corona is quantified for the first time from imaging observations.
Based on the interpretation, propagating density perturbations present in
plumes could be used as a seismological probe of the gradually accelerating
solar wind.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL, 11 pages, 5 figure
2D solar wind speeds from 6 to 26 solar radii in solar cycle 24 by using Fourier filtering
Measurement of the solar wind speed near the Sun is important for
understanding the acceleration mechanism of the solar wind. In this study, we
determine 2D solar wind speeds from 6 to 26 solar radii by applying Fourier
motion filters to \textit{SOHO}/LASCO C3 movies observed from 1999 to 2010. Our
method successfully reproduces the original flow speeds in the artificially
generated data as well as streamer blobs. We measure 2D solar wind speeds from
1-day to 1-year timescales and their variation in solar cycle 24. We find that
the solar wind speeds at timescales longer than a month in the solar maximum
period are relatively uniform in the azimuthal direction, while they are
clearly bimodal in the minimum period, as expected from the \textit{Ulysses}
observations and IPS reconstruction. The bimodal structure appears at around
2006, becomes most distinctive in 2009, and abruptly disappears in 2010. The
radial evolution of the solar wind speeds resembles the Parker's solar wind
solution.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; accepted by PR
Oscillation of a small HĪ± surge in a solar polar coronal hole
HĪ± surges (i.e. cool/dense collimated plasma ejections) may act as a guide for a propagation of magnetohydrodynamic waves. We report a high-resolution observation of a surge observed with 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) on 2009 August 26, from 18:20 UT to 18:45 UT. Characteristics of plasma motions in the surge are determined with the normalizing radial gradient filter and the Fourier motion filter. The shape of the surge is found to change from a āCā shape to an inverse āCā shape after a formation of a cusp, a signature of reconnection. There are apparent upflows seen above the cusp top and downflows below it. The upflows show rising and rotational motions in the right-hand direction, with the rotational speed decreasing with height. Near the cusp top, we find a transverse oscillation of the surge, with the period ofā¼2 min. There is no change of the oscillation phase below the cusp top, but above the top a phase change is identified, giving a vertical phase speed about 86 km sā1. As the height increases, the initial amplitude of the oscillation increases, and the oscillation damping time decreases from 5.13 to 1.18 min. We conclude that the oscillation is a propagating kink wave that is possibly excited by the repetitive spontaneous magnetic reconnection
Effect of 660ānm Light-Emitting Diode on the Wound Healing in Fibroblast-Like Cell Lines
Light in the red to near-infrared (NIR) range (630ā1000ānm), which is generated using low energy laser or light-emitting diode (LED) arrays, was reported to have a range of beneficial biological effects in many injury models. NIR via a LED is a well-accepted therapeutic tool for the treatment of infected, ischemic, and hypoxic wounds as well as other soft tissue injuries in humans and animals. This study examined the effects of exposure to 660ānm red LED light at intensities of 2.5, 5.5, and 8.5āmW/cm2 for 5, 10, and 20āmin on wound healing and proliferation in fibroblast-like cells, such as L929 mouse fibroblasts and human gingival fibroblasts (HGF-1). A photo illumination-cell culture system was designed to evaluate the cell proliferation and wound healing of fibroblast-like cells exposed to 600ānm LED light. The cell proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay, and a scratched wound assay was performed to assess the rate of migrating cells and the healing effect. Exposure to the 660ānm red LED resulted in an increase in cell proliferation and migration compared to the control, indicating its potential use as a phototherapeutic agent
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