Young drivers’ pedestrian anti-collision braking operation data modelling for ADAS development

Smart cities and smart mobility come from intelligent systems designed by humans. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is contributing significantly to the development of these systems, and the automotive industry is the most prominent example of "smart" technology entering the market: there are Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), Radar/LIDAR detection units and camera-based Computer Vision systems that can assess driving conditions. Actually, these technologies have become consumer goods and services in mass-produced vehicles to provide human drivers with tools for a more comfortable and safer driving. Nevertheless, they need to be further improved for progress in the transition to fully automated driving or simply to increase vehicle automation levels. To this end, it becomes imperative to accurately predict driver’s decisions, model human driving behaviors, and introduce more accurate risk assessment metrics. This paper presents a system that can learn to predict the future braking behavior of a driver in a typically urban vehicle-pedestrian conflict, i.e., when a pedestrian enters a zebra crossing from the curb and a vehicle is approaching. The algorithm proposes a sequential prediction of relevant operational indicators that continuously describe the encounter process. A car driving simulator was used to collect reliable data on braking behaviours of a cohort of 68 licensed university students, who faced the same urban scenario. The vehicle speed, steering wheel angle, and pedal activity were recorded as the participants approached the crosswalk, along with the azimuth angle of the pedestrian and the relative longitudinal distance between the vehicle and the pedestrian: the proposed system employs the vehicle information as human driving decisions and the pedestrian information as explanatory variables of the environmental state. In fact, the pedestrian’s polar coordinates are usually calculated by an on-board millimeter-wave radar which is typically used to perceive the environment around a vehicle. All mentioned information is represented in the form of time series data and is used to train a recurrent neural network in a supervised machine learning process. The main purpose of this research is to define a system of behavioral profiles in non-collision conditions that could be used for enhancing the existing intelligent driving systems, e.g., to reduce the number of warnings when the driver is not on a collision course with a pedestrian. Preliminary experiments reveal the feasibility of the proposed system

Road Pavement Asphalt Concretes for Thin Wearing Layers: A Machine Learning Approach towards Stiffness Modulus and Volumetric Properties Prediction

In this study a novel procedure is presented for an efficient development of predictive models of road pavement asphalt concretes mechanical characteristics and volumetric properties, using shallow artificial neural networks. The problems of properly assessing the actual generalization feature of a model and avoiding the effects induced by a fixed training-test data split are addressed. Since machine learning models require a careful definition of the network hyperparameters, a Bayesian approach is presented to set the optimal model configuration. The case study covered a set of 92 asphalt concrete specimens for thin wearing layers

Evidence for RNA transport in rat optic nerve

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66066/1/j.1471-4159.1969.tb08995.x.pd

Genome Sequences of Rare Human Enterovirus Genotypes Recovered from Clinical Respiratory Samples in Bern, Switzerland.

We report on genomic sequences of human enteroviruses (EVs) that were identified in respiratory samples in Bern, Switzerland, in 2018 and 2019. Besides providing sequences for coxsackievirus A2, echovirus 11, and echovirus 30, we determined the sequences of rare EV-D68 and EV-C105 genotypes circulating in Switzerland

A high accuracy computed water line list

A computed list of H$_{2}$$^{16}$O infra-red transition frequencies and intensities is presented. The list, BT2, was produced using a discrete variable representation two-step approach for solving the rotation-vibration nuclear motions. It is the most complete water line list in existence, comprising over 500 million transitions (65% more than any other list) and it is also the most accurate (over 90% of all known experimental energy levels are within 0.3 cm$^{-1}$ of the BT2 values). Its accuracy has been confirmed by extensive testing against astronomical and laboratory data. The line list has been used to identify individual water lines in a variety of objects including: comets, sunspots, a brown dwarf and the nova-like object V838 Mon. Comparison of the observed intensities with those generated by BT2 enables physical values to be derived for these objects. The line list can also be used to provide an opacity for models of the atmospheres of M-dwarf stars and assign previously unknown water lines in laboratory spectra.Comment: 8 Pages, zero figures. Submitted to MNRAS. On line data at: ftp://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/cats/VI/11

Adaptation of an amphibian mucociliary clearance model to evaluate early effects of tobacco smoke exposure

RATIONALE: Inhaled side-stream tobacco smoke brings in all of its harmful components impairing mechanisms that protect the airways and lungs. Chronic respiratory health consequences are a complex multi-step silent process. By the time clinical manifestations require medical attention, several structural and functional changes have already occurred. The respiratory system has to undergo an iterative process of injury, healing and remodeling with every exposure. METHODS: To have a better understanding of the initial changes that take place when first exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, we have developed an exposure model, using the frog palate that closely represents the features of obstructive airways where ciliary dysfunction and mucus hypersecretion occur. RESULTS: Mucus transport was significantly reduced, even after exposure to the smoke of one cigarette (p < 0.05) and even further with 4-cigarettes exposure (p < 0.001). Morphometric and ultrastructural studies by SEM show extensive areas of tissue disruption. Gelatinase zymography shows activation of MMP9 in mucus from palates exposed to tobacco smoke. CONCLUSIONS: The clearance of mucus on the frog palate is significantly reduced after exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Cilia and the extracellular matrix are anatomically disrupted. Tobacco smoke triggers an increased activity of matrix metalloproteinases associated with a substantial defoliation of ciliated epithelium. These studies enhance the knowledge of the changes in the mucociliary apparatus that occur initially after exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, with the goal of understanding how these changes relate to the genesis of chronic airway pathologies in humans

Characterization of Large Volume 3.5″ x 8″ LaBr3:Ce Detectors for the HECTOR+ array

A selection of the properties of large volume, cylindrical 3.5" x 8" LaBr 3 :Ce scintillation detectors coupled to a 3.5" PMT (model R10233-1000SEL from HAMAMATSU) and a special designed Voltage Divider (LABRVD) will be discussed. A number of 10 of such detectors constitute the HECTOR + array which, in fall 2012, measured at GSI coupled to the AGATA DEMOSTRATOR at the PRESPEC experimental setup. These crystals are among the largest ever produced and needed to be characterized. We have performed several tests and here we discuss, in particular, the energy resolution measured using monochromatic γ −ray sources and in-beam reactions producing γ −rays up to 22.6 MeV. As already measured in two previous works a saturation in the energy resolution was observed in case of high energy gamma rays. Crystal non-homogeneities and PMT gain drifts can affect the resolution of measurements especially in case of high energy γ −rays

Low-energy unphysical saddle in polynomial molecular potentials

Vibrational spectra of polyatomic molecules are often obtained from a polynomial expansion of the adiabatic potential around a minimum. For several molecules, we show that such an approximation displays an unphysical saddle point of comparatively small energy, leading to a region where the potential is negative and unbounded. This poses an upper limit for a reliable evaluation of vibrational levels. We argue that the presence of such saddle points is general.Comment: The preprint version of the published Mol. Phys. paper, 19 pages, 3 figure

The Distribution of Dengue Virus Serotype in Quang Nam Province (Vietnam) during the Outbreak in 2018

Objectives: Quang Nam province in the Centre of Vietnam has faced an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in 2018. Although DHF is a recurrent disease in this area, no epidemiological and microbiological reports on dengue virus serotypes have been conducted mainly due to lack of facilities for such a kind of advanced surveillance. The aim of this study was to detect different dengue virus serotypes in patients’ blood samples. Design and Methods: Suspected cases living in Quang Nam province (Vietnam) and presenting clinical and hematological signs of dengue hemorrhagic fever were included in the study. The screening was performed, and the results were compared by using two methodologies: RT real-time PCR (RT-rPCR) and the Dengue NS1 rapid test. Results: From December 2018 to February 2019, looking both at RT-rPCR [+] and NS1 [+] methodologies, a total of 488 patients were screened and 336 were positive for dengue virus detection (74 children and 262 adults); 273 of these patients (81.3%) underwent viral serotype identification as follows: 12.82% (35/273) D1 serotype, 17.95% (49/273) D2, 0.37% (1/273) D3, 68.50 (187/283) D4, and 0.37% (1/273) D2+D4 serotypes. The RT-rPCR outcomes showed higher sensitivity during the first three days of infection compared to NS1 (92.3% vs. 89.7%). The NS1 increased sensitivity after the first 3 days whilst the RT-rPCR decreased. Conclusions: Advanced surveillance with dengue virus serotypes identification, if performed routinely, may help to predict and prevent further DHF epidemics based on the exposure of the different serotypes during different periods that lead to the intensification of disease severity as a consequence of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)

Regional differences in the quality of maternal and neonatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: results from the IMAgiNE EURO study

Objective: To compare women's perspectives on the quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) around the time of childbirth across Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 2 (NUTS-II) regions in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Women participating in the cross-sectional IMAgiNE EURO study who gave birth in Portugal from March 1, 2020, to October 28, 2021, completed a structured questionnaire with 40 key WHO standards-based quality measures. Four domains of QMNC were assessed: (1) provision of care; (2) experience of care; (3) availability of human and physical resources; and (4) reorganizational changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Frequencies for each quality measure within each QMNC domain were computed overall and by region. Results: Out of 1845 participants, one-third (33.7%) had a cesarean. Examples of high-quality care included: low frequencies of lack of early breastfeeding and rooming-in (8.0% and 7.7%, respectively) and informal payment (0.7%); adequate staff professionalism (94.6%); adequate room comfort and equipment (95.2%). However, substandard practices with large heterogeneity across regions were also reported. Among women who experienced labor, the percentage of instrumental vaginal births ranged from 22.3% in the Algarve to 33.5% in Center; among these, fundal pressure ranged from 34.8% in Lisbon to 66.7% in Center. Episiotomy was performed in 39.3% of noninstrumental vaginal births with variations between 31.8% in the North to 59.8% in Center. One in four women reported inadequate breastfeeding support (26.1%, ranging from 19.4% in Algarve to 31.5% in Lisbon). One in five reported no exclusive breastfeeding at discharge (22.1%; 19.5% in Lisbon to 28.2% in Algarve). Conclusion: Urgent actions are needed to harmonize QMNC and reduce inequities across regions in Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio