Vibrotactile pedals : provision of haptic feedback to support economical driving

The use of haptic feedback is currently an underused modality in the driving environment, especially with respect to vehicle manufacturers. This exploratory study evaluates the effects of a vibrotactile (or haptic) accelerator pedal on car driving performance and perceived workload using a driving simulator. A stimulus was triggered when the driver exceeded a 50% throttle threshold, past which is deemed excessive for economical driving. Results showed significant decreases in mean acceleration values, and maximum and excess throttle use when the haptic pedal was active as compared to a baseline condition. As well as the positive changes to driver behaviour, subjective workload decreased when driving with the haptic pedal as compared to when drivers were simply asked to drive economically. The literature suggests that the haptic processing channel offers a largely untapped resource in the driving environment, and could provide information without overloading the other attentional resource pools used in driving

Combined assessment of noise and air pollution caused by road traffic

C

Voedselveiligheid, ketens en toezicht op controle

This AFSG, RIKILT and LEI report reviews legislation and private quality control systems related to food safety. For the IKB Pigs case, it then investigates which legal requirements are also incorporated in this private regulation. The report further describes how compliance with this system is safeguarded in practice. Finally, in relation to 'Audit Monitoring', several conclusions and recommendations are made. In dit rapport van AFSG, RIKILT en LEI wordt een overzicht gegeven van de met het oog op voedselveiligheid relevante wet- en regelgeving en private kwaliteitsborgingsystemen. Vervolgens is voor de case IKB Varkens nagegaan welke wettelijke eisen ook in deze pri-vate regeling zijn opgenomen. Tevens is in beeld gebracht hoe de naleving van dit systeem in de praktijk wordt gewaarborgd. Ten slotte worden met het oog op 'Toezicht op Controle' enkele conclusies getrokken en aanbevelingen gedaan.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Attitudes toward integrative paediatrics: a national survey among youth health are physicians in the Netherlands

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Integrative Medicine (IM) is an emerging field in paediatrics, especially in the USA. The purpose of the present study was to assess the attitudes and beliefs of Youth Health Care (YHC) physicians in the Netherlands toward IM in paediatrics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In October 2010, a link to an anonymous, self-reporting, 30-item web-based questionnaire was mailed to all members of the Dutch Organisation of YHC physicians. The questionnaire included questions on familiarity with IM, attitudes towards Integrative Paediatrics (IP), use and knowledge of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), demographic and practice characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 276 YHC physicians (response rate of 27%) responded to the survey. Of the respondents, 52% was familiar with IM and 56% had used some kind of CAM therapy during the past 2 years, of which self-medicated herbal and/or homeopathic remedies (61%) and supplements (50%) were most frequently mentioned. Most of the YHC physicians (62%) seldom asked parents of clients about CAM use. One third of the YHC physicians recommended CAM to their clients. In general, about 50% or more of the respondents had little knowledge of CAM therapies. Predictors for a positive attitude towards IP were familiarity with IM, own CAM use, asking their clients about CAM use and practising one or more forms of CAM therapy. Logistic regression analysis showed that the following factors were associated with a higher recommendation to CAM therapies: own CAM use (odds ratio (OR) = 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.1-6.9, <it>p </it>= 0.001) and practising CAM (OR 4.4; 95% CI = 1.6-11.7, <it>p </it>= 0.003).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In general Dutch YHC physicians have a relative positive attitude towards IP; more than half of the respondents used one or more forms of CAM and one third recommended CAM therapies. However, the majority of YHC physicians did not ask their clients about CAM use and seemed to have a lack of knowledge regarding CAM.</p

Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Infants of Mothers with a Psychiatric History and the Role of Depression and Bonding

Objectives: Gastroesophageal reflux (GER), excessive crying, and constipation are common gastrointestinal symptoms in infancy of multifactorial origin in which psychosocial stress factors play an important role. The aims of this observational study were to investigate the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms in infants of mothers with or without a history of a psychiatric disorder, their association with maternal depressive symptoms, and the possible mediating role of bonding. Methods: 101 mothers with a history of a psychiatric disorder (“PD mothers”) and 60 control mothers were included. Infant gastrointestinal symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, and mother-infant bonding were assessed using validated questionnaires and diagnostic criteria at 1.5 month postpartum. Results: The mean total score on the Infant Gastroesophageal Reflux Questionnaire Revised (I-GERQ-R) reported in infants of PD mothers (13.4 SD 5.4) was significantly higher than in infants of control mothers (10.8 SD 5.4; P =.003). No significant differences were found in the presence of excessive crying (modified Wessel’s criteria and subjective experience) and constipation (ROME IV criteria) between both groups. Infant GER was associated with maternal depressive symptoms (P = 0.027) and bonding problems (P = <0.001). Constipation was related to maternal depressive symptoms (P = 0.045), and excessive crying (Wessel and subjective criteria) was associated with bonding problems (respectively P = 0.022 and P = 0.002). The effect of maternal depressive symptomatology on infant GER symptoms and excessive crying was mediated by bonding problems. Conclusion: Maternal psychiatric history is associated with infant gastrointestinal symptoms, in which mother-infant bonding is a mediating factor

Advances in structure elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry

The structural elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry plays an important role in modern life sciences and bioanalytical approaches. This review covers different soft and hard ionization techniques and figures of merit for modern mass spectrometers, such as mass resolving power, mass accuracy, isotopic abundance accuracy, accurate mass multiple-stage MS(n) capability, as well as hybrid mass spectrometric and orthogonal chromatographic approaches. The latter part discusses mass spectral data handling strategies, which includes background and noise subtraction, adduct formation and detection, charge state determination, accurate mass measurements, elemental composition determinations, and complex data-dependent setups with ion maps and ion trees. The importance of mass spectral library search algorithms for tandem mass spectra and multiple-stage MS(n) mass spectra as well as mass spectral tree libraries that combine multiple-stage mass spectra are outlined. The successive chapter discusses mass spectral fragmentation pathways, biotransformation reactions and drug metabolism studies, the mass spectral simulation and generation of in silico mass spectra, expert systems for mass spectral interpretation, and the use of computational chemistry to explain gas-phase phenomena. A single chapter discusses data handling for hyphenated approaches including mass spectral deconvolution for clean mass spectra, cheminformatics approaches and structure retention relationships, and retention index predictions for gas and liquid chromatography. The last section reviews the current state of electronic data sharing of mass spectra and discusses the importance of software development for the advancement of structure elucidation of small molecules

Emissions of maritime transport: a European reference system

Emissions from ships have recently received more attention since they have become a significant concern for air quality in harbours and port cities. This paper presents the methodology for a comprehensive maritime transport database of activity data, specific energy consumption, emission factors, and total emissions that have been developed within the European EX-TREMIS project. The model is built upon 3 modules: the fleet module, the transport activity module, and the emission module.The fleet module defines the ship categories, the loading capacities, and the engine characteristics of the different vessels by using EUROSTAT data, Sea Web Lloyd's database, and international literature. The transport activity module transforms total cargo handled (mainly based on EUROSTAT data and CEMT statistics) into ship-equivalents. These ship-equivalents are further transformed into ship-hours. The emission module calculates energy uses and CO2, NOX, SO2, CO, HC, CH4, NMHC, PM emissions from the resulting maritime activities. We have used technology based emission factors to take into account the technological evolution of vessels.To illustrate this new methodology, we present some results (emissions, fuel consumption and emission factors) for different countries. The overall methodology as well as the results and the country specific energy consumption and emission factors per ship type and size class can be extracted from the EX-TREMIS website (www.ex-tremis.eu). Our results contribute to more accurate estimates of emissions and air quality assessments in coastal cities and ports