A systematic review of physiological signals based driver drowsiness detection systems.

Driving a vehicle is a complex, multidimensional, and potentially risky activity demanding full mobilization and utilization of physiological and cognitive abilities. Drowsiness, often caused by stress, fatigue, and illness declines cognitive capabilities that affect drivers' capability and cause many accidents. Drowsiness-related road accidents are associated with trauma, physical injuries, and fatalities, and often accompany economic loss. Drowsy-related crashes are most common in young people and night shift workers. Real-time and accurate driver drowsiness detection is necessary to bring down the drowsy driving accident rate. Many researchers endeavored for systems to detect drowsiness using different features related to vehicles, and drivers' behavior, as well as, physiological measures. Keeping in view the rising trend in the use of physiological measures, this study presents a comprehensive and systematic review of the recent techniques to detect driver drowsiness using physiological signals. Different sensors augmented with machine learning are utilized which subsequently yield better results. These techniques are analyzed with respect to several aspects such as data collection sensor, environment consideration like controlled or dynamic, experimental set up like real traffic or driving simulators, etc. Similarly, by investigating the type of sensors involved in experiments, this study discusses the advantages and disadvantages of existing studies and points out the research gaps. Perceptions and conceptions are made to provide future research directions for drowsiness detection techniques based on physiological signals. [Abstract copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

National geological screening : East Anglia region

This report is the published product of one of a series of studies covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland commissioned by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) Ltd. The report provides geological information about the East Anglia region to underpin the process of national geological screening set out in the UK’s government White Paper Implementing geological disposal: a framework for the long-term management of higher activity radioactive waste (DECC, 2014). The report describes geological features relevant to the safety requirements of a geological disposal facility (GDF) for radioactive waste emplaced onshore and up to 20 km offshore at depths between 200 and 1000 m from surface. It is written for a technical audience but is intended to inform RWM in its discussions with communities interested in finding out about the potential for their area to host a GDF

Neutron cross-sections for advanced nuclear systems : The n-TOF project at CERN

© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2014 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedThe study of neutron-induced reactions is of high relevance in a wide variety of fields, ranging from stellar nucleosynthesis and fundamental nuclear physics to applications of nuclear technology. In nuclear energy, high accuracy neutron data are needed for the development of Generation IV fast reactors and accelerator driven systems, these last aimed specifically at nuclear waste incineration, as well as for research on innovative fuel cycles. In this context, a high luminosity Neutron Time Of Flight facility, n-TOF, is operating at CERN since more than a decade, with the aim of providing new, high accuracy and high resolution neutron cross-sections. Thanks to the features of the neutron beam, a rich experimental program relevant to nuclear technology has been carried out so far. The program will be further expanded in the near future, thanks in particular to a new high-flux experimental area, now under construction.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Association of Epigenetic Age Acceleration with Incident Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia among Older Women

Background: Epigenetic age acceleration (AgeAccel), which indicates faster biological aging relative to chronological age, has been associated with lower cognitive function. However, the association of AgeAccel with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia is not well-understood. We examined associations of 4 AgeAccel measures with incident MCI and dementia. Methods: This prospective analysis included 578 older women from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study selected for a case-cohort study of coronary heart disease (CHD). Women were free of CHD and cognitive impairment at baseline. Associations of AgeAccel measures (intrinsic AgeAccel [IEAA], extrinsic AgeAccel [EEAA], AgeAccelPheno, and AgeAccelGrim) with risks for incident adjudicated diagnoses of MCI and dementia overall and stratified by incident CHD status were evaluated. Results: IEAA was not significantly associated with MCI (HR, 1.23; 95% CI, 0.99-1.53), dementia (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.88-1.38), or cognitive impairment (HR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.99-1.40). In stratified analysis by incident CHD status, there was a 39% (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.07-1.81) significantly higher risk of MCI for every 5-year increase in IEAA among women who developed CHD during follow-up. Other AgeAccel measures were not significantly associated with MCI or dementia. Conclusions: IEAA was not significantly associated with cognitive impairment overall but was associated with impairment among women who developed CHD. Larger studies designed to examine associations of AgeAccel with cognitive impairment are needed, including exploration of whether associations are stronger in the setting of underlying vascular pathologies

1000 Genomes-based meta-analysis identifies 10 novel loci for kidney function.

HapMap imputed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed >50 loci at which common variants with minor allele frequency >5% are associated with kidney function. GWAS using more complete reference sets for imputation, such as those from The 1000 Genomes project, promise to identify novel loci that have been missed by previous efforts. To investigate the value of such a more complete variant catalog, we conducted a GWAS meta-analysis of kidney function based on the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in 110,517 European ancestry participants using 1000 Genomes imputed data. We identified 10 novel loci with p-value < 5 × 10(-8) previously missed by HapMap-based GWAS. Six of these loci (HOXD8, ARL15, PIK3R1, EYA4, ASTN2, and EPB41L3) are tagged by common SNPs unique to the 1000 Genomes reference panel. Using pathway analysis, we identified 39 significant (FDR < 0.05) genes and 127 significantly (FDR < 0.05) enriched gene sets, which were missed by our previous analyses. Among those, the 10 identified novel genes are part of pathways of kidney development, carbohydrate metabolism, cardiac septum development and glucose metabolism. These results highlight the utility of re-imputing from denser reference panels, until whole-genome sequencing becomes feasible in large samples

Multiethnic meta-analysis identifies ancestry-specific and cross-ancestry loci for pulmonary function

Nearly 100 loci have been identified for pulmonary function, almost exclusively in studies of European ancestry populations. We extend previous research by meta-analyzing genome-wide association studies of 1000 Genomes imputed variants in relation to pulmonary function in a multiethnic population of 90,715 individuals of European (N = 60,552), African (N = 8429), Asian (N = 9959), and Hispanic/Latino (N = 11,775) ethnicities. We identify over 50 additional loci at genome-wide significance in ancestry-specific or multiethnic meta-analyses. Using recent fine-mapping methods incorporating functional annotation, gene expression, and differences in linkage disequilibrium between ethnicities, we further shed light on potential causal variants and genes at known and newly identified loci. Several of the novel genes encode proteins with predicted or established drug targets, including KCNK2 and CDK12. Our study highlights the utility of multiethnic and integrative genomics approaches to extend existing knowledge of the genetics of l

Genetic determinants of heel bone properties: genome-wide association meta-analysis and replication in the GEFOS/GENOMOS consortium

Quantitative ultrasound of the heel captures heel bone properties that independently predict fracture risk and, with bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by X-ray (DXA), may be convenient alternatives for evaluating osteoporosis and fracture risk. We performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association (GWA) studies to assess the genetic determinants of heel broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA; n = 14 260), velocity of sound (VOS; n = 15 514) and BMD (n = 4566) in 13 discovery cohorts. Independent replication involved seven cohorts with GWA data (in silico n = 11 452) and new genotyping in 15 cohorts (de novo n = 24 902). In combined random effects, meta-analysis of the discovery and replication cohorts, nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) had genome-wide significant (P < 5 × 10(-8)) associations with heel bone properties. Alongside SNPs within or near previously identified osteoporosis susceptibility genes including ESR1 (6q25.1: rs4869739, rs3020331, rs2982552), SPTBN1 (2p16.2: rs11898505), RSPO3 (6q22.33: rs7741021), WNT16 (7q31.31: rs2908007), DKK1 (10q21.1: rs7902708) and GPATCH1 (19q13.11: rs10416265), we identified a new locus on chromosome 11q14.2 (rs597319 close to TMEM135, a gene recently linked to osteoblastogenesis and longevity) significantly associated with both BUA and VOS (P < 8.23 × 10(-14)). In meta-analyses involving 25 cohorts with up to 14 985 fracture cases, six of 10 SNPs associated with heel bone properties at P < 5 × 10(-6) also had the expected direction of association with any fracture (P < 0.05), including three SNPs with P < 0.005: 6q22.33 (rs7741021), 7q31.31 (rs2908007) and 10q21.1 (rs7902708). In conclusion, this GWA study reveals the effect of several genes common to central DXA-derived BMD and heel ultrasound/DXA measures and points to a new genetic locus with potential implications for better understanding of osteoporosis pathophysiology