The potential implications of autonomous vehicles in and around the workplace

The advent of autonomous vehicles is forecast to bring enormous changes to the workplace as positions primarily involving driving become progressively redundant. Little is known about public awareness of these impending changes and the potential impacts on society and individuals. This study involved a national survey of Australians and interviews with key stakeholders across multiple countries to identify major potential issues associated with vehicle automation, including in and around the workplace. Most survey respondents had concerns relating to job losses in driving occupations, while almost half anticipated increased employment in technology-related areas. Three primary themes were evident in the data from the stakeholder interviews: (1) the inevitability of the universal use of AVs and hence the immediate need for labour market planning, (2) associated potential effects on occupations that are not primarily structured around driving, and (3) the possibility of increased worker safety and enhanced commuting opportunities

A randomized trial assessing the effects of health claims on choice of foods in the presence of front-of-pack labels

Background: As a public health intervention, front-of-pack labels (FoPLs) have the potential to reach large numbers of consumers and promote healthier food choices. Of the different FoPLs, those that summarize a product's overall nutritional profile tend to be most effective in guiding healthier choices. However, information is lacking as to whether FoPLs are as effective when nutrient or health claims also appear on-pack. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine how the choice of foods of varying levels of healthfulness (less healthy, moderately healthy, and healthier) is affected by the appearance of various FoPLs (Daily Intake Guide, Multiple Traffic Lights, Health Star Rating) when shown in combination with different claim conditions (no claim, nutrient claim, general-level health claim, and higher-level health claim). Design: Adults and children (n = 2069) completed a discrete-choice experiment online. Respondents were shown 8 choice sets, each containing 4 alternatives of the same food type (cookies, cornflakes, pizza, or yogurt) of varying levels of healthfulness and were asked which product they would likely purchase (or they could select none). Respondents were randomly assigned to view 1 of the 3 FoPLs across all choice sets. Claim type and healthfulness varied within choice sets in accordance with a D-efficient design. Results: The probability of choosing a healthy product and avoiding an unhealthy product was greatest when only an FoPL (especially the Health Star Rating) appeared on-pack. The addition of a nutrient or health claim did not affect the likelihood of picking healthier products but did increase the likelihood of selecting less healthy foods across all FoPL conditions. Conclusions: FoPLs are most effective in helping consumers make better food choices when nutrient and health claims are not present. Policies are required to control how nutrient and health claims are applied to less healthy foods. This trial was registered as ACTRN12617000015347 (www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Resgistration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372055&isReview=true)

Real-time PCR complements immunohistochemistry in the determination of HER-2/neu status in breast cancer

BACKGROUND: The clinical benefit of determining the status of HER-2/neu amplification in breast cancer patients is well accepted. Although immunohistochemistry (IHC) is the most frequently used method to assess the over-expression of HER-2 protein, fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) is recognized as the "gold standard" for the determining of HER-2/neu status. The greatest discordance between the two methods occurs among breast tumors that receive an indeterminate IHC score of 2+. More recently, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using the LightCycler(® )has been developed for quantifying HER-2/neu gene amplification. In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of a commercially available LightCycler assay as it compares to FISH. To determine whether this assay provides an accurate alternative for the determination of HER-2/neu status, we focused primarily on tumors that were deemed indeterminate or borderline status by IHC. METHODS: Thirty-nine breast tumors receiving an IHC score of 2+ were evaluated by both FISH and LightCycler(® )technologies in order to determine whether quantitative real-time PCR provides an accurate alternative for the determination of HER-2/neu status. RESULTS: We found a high concordance (92%) between FISH and real-time PCR results. We also observed that 10% of these tumors were positive for gene amplification by both FISH and real-time PCR. CONCLUSION: The data show that the results obtained for the gene amplification of HER-2/neu by real-time PCR on the LightCycler(® )instrument is comparable to results obtained by FISH. These results therefore suggest that real-time PCR analysis, using the LightCycler(®), is a viable alternative to FISH for reassessing breast tumors which receive an IHC score of 2+, and that a combined IHC and real-time PCR approach for the determination of HER-2 status in breast cancer patients may be an effective and efficient strategy

Whole-Cell Fluorescent Biosensors for Bioavailability and Biodegradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls

Whole-cell microbial biosensors are one of the newest molecular tools used in environmental monitoring. Such biosensors are constructed through fusing a reporter gene such as lux, gfp or lacZ, to a responsive promoter. There have been many reports of the applications of biosensors, particularly their use in assaying pollutant toxicity and bioavailability. This paper reviews the basic concepts behind the construction of whole-cell microbial biosensors for pollutant monitoring, and describes the applications of two such biosensors for detecting the bioavailability and biodegradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

Personality traits and mental disorders

Peer reviewe

Clusters of potential autonomous vehicles users according to propensity to use individual versus shared vehicles

© 2019 As the widespread use of autonomous vehicles (AVs) becomes increasingly likely, an important consideration is the extent to which individuals prefer either private ownership or shared use modes. Both modes are currently evolving, each with distinct but overlapping challenges. Understanding the preferences of different population segments can provide insights into where to focus initial efforts to attract individuals into the market, especially in terms of promoting the uptake of shared AVs to optimise the potential positive outcomes of AVs (e.g., crash reduction) while reducing possible negative outcomes (e.g., increased congestion). The results from a sample of 1345 Australians aged 16+ years (97% of whom were drivers) were analysed using latent profile analysis. Five discrete classes were identified on the basis of their (i) self-reported knowledge of AVs; (ii) perceptions of the positive and negative outcomes of AVs; and (iii) AV usage intentions. The classes were titled Non-adopters (29% of the sample), Ride-sharing (20%), AV ambivalent (19%), Likely adopters (17%), and First movers (14%). The results indicate the types of individuals who may be most likely to be early adopters and the implications for public policies designed to encourage socially optimal forms of adoption

Early development of X-cells in kitten lateral geniculate nucleus

Lateral geniculate nucleus cells of the kitten were classified as X-cells or Y-cells with a contrast reversal test and their latencies to optic chiasm shock were measured. X-cells with mature latencies were found as early as 21 days. Y-cells did not have adult latencies at 40 days. The early development of some X-cells may be due to differential rates of fiber myelination and synaptic maturation within the lateral geniculate nucleus