Shared Design Framework for Autonomous Vehicles and Land Use Interface

Technologies around Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) have improved enormously in the last decade. Autonomous vehicles are increasingly being tested on roads around the world. While the commercialisation of AVs seems imminent and researchers have explored various scenarios on the impact of driverless cars, trucks and buses on urban planning, the research around how AVs interface with land use and buildings remains scarce. This means that AVs may not be ready for full end-to-end transportation of passengers in high-density cities where drop off points are built within the buildings. This research study aims to fill the gap by examining the issues around the AV interface with land use and buildings, before these vehicles can become a viable option for commuters. Further research is required to investigate how these vehicles can navigate away from the roads into buildings, navigate within buildings, and then navigate out of buildings back onto the roads. This paper reviews current literature on the subject of autonomous vehicles and how they interact with and impact on the built environment. The findings identified a knowledge gap on how autonomous vehicles interface with buildings. The scant research in this area could slow the adoption of autonomous vehicles in a city like Singapore. Thus, this paper proposes a novel shared design framework plan for stakeholders, such as commuters, car manufacturers, building owners and design consultants, etc., to adopt so that building owners may enhance their assets for smoother access by autonomous vehicles. The inputs from a range of stakeholders could steer the formulation of guidelines for upgrading existing buildings to be AV-friendly and introduce relevant design considerations for new buildings to be AV-read

Do English and Chinese EQ-5D versions demonstrate measurement equivalence? an exploratory study

BACKGROUND: Although multiple language versions of health-related quality of life instruments are often used interchangeably in clinical research, the measurement equivalence of these versions (especially using alphabet vs pictogram-based languages) has rarely been assessed. We therefore investigated the measurement equivalence of English and Chinese versions of the EQ-5D, a widely used utility-based outcome instrument. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, either EQ-5D version was administered to consecutive outpatients with rheumatic diseases. Measurement equivalence of EQ-5D item responses and utility and visual analog scale (EQ-VAS) scores between these versions was assessed using multiple regression models (with and without adjusting for potential confounding variables), by comparing the 95% confidence interval (95%CI) of score differences between these versions with pre-defined equivalence margins. An equivalence margin defined a magnitude of score differences (10% and 5% of entire score ranges for item responses and utility/EQ-VAS scores, respectively) which was felt to be clinically unimportant. RESULTS: Sixty-six subjects completed the English and 48 subjects the Chinese EQ-5D. The 95%CI of the score differences between these versions overlapped with but did not fall completely within pre-defined equivalence margins for 4 EQ-5D items, utility and EQ-VAS scores. For example, the 95%CI of the adjusted score difference between these EQ-5D versions was -0.14 to +0.03 points for utility scores and -11.6 to +3.3 points for EQ-VAS scores (equivalence margins of -0.05 to +0.05 and -5.0 to +5.0 respectively). CONCLUSION: These data provide promising evidence for the measurement equivalence of English and Chinese EQ-5D versions

Photoluminescent and superparamagnetic reduced graphene oxide-iron oxide quantum dots for dual-modality imaging, drug delivery and photothermal therapy

Reduced graphene oxide–iron oxide quantum dots (QDs) with intrinsic photoluminescent and superparamagnetic properties were synthesized through a green, hydrothermal method that simultaneously reduced and shattered graphene nanosheets to form the dots. The structure, morphology, properties and cell viability of these QDs were investigated. The QDs emitted violet light when excited at 320 nm, possessed no residual magnetization upon magnetic hysteresis tests, and had low cytotoxicity to healthy cells at low concentrations. The suitability of the QDs for fluorescent and magnetic resonance dual-modality imaging was shown by in vitro imaging with dermal fibroblast cells and T2 relaxation time. A drug could be loaded onto the surface of the QDs, with a loading ratio of drug to QD of 0.31:1. The drug achieved a steady but full release from the QDs over 8 h: these drug-loaded QDs could be manipulated by an external magnetic stimulation for targeted drug delivery. The potential for use as a cancer photothermal therapy was demonstrated by both a rapid, ∼50 °C temperature increase by a suspension of 100 μg ml−1 of QDs and the photothermal ablation of HeLa cells in vitro under near infrared irradiation. The stability of the MGQDs in fetal calf serum was shown to improve when an ionic drug was coated on the surface

What Stimulates Researchers to Make Their Research Usable? Towards an Openness Approach

Ambiguity surrounding the effect of external engagement on academic research has raised questions about what motivates researchers to collaborate with third parties. We argue that what matters for society is research that can be absorbed by users. We define openness as a willingness by researchers to make research more usable by external partners by responding to external influences in their own research practices. We ask what kinds of characteristics define those researchers who are more open to creating usable knowledge. Our empirical study analyses a sample of 1583 researchers working at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). Results demonstrate that it is personal factors (academic identity and past experience) that determine which researchers have open behaviours. The paper concludes that policies to encourage external engagement should focus on experiences which legitimate and validate knowledge produced through user encounters, both at the academic formation career stage as well as through providing ongoing opportunities to engage with third parties.The data used for this study comes from the IMPACTO project funded by the Spanish Council for Scientific Research - CSIC (Ref. 200410E639). The work also benefited from a mobility grant awarded by Eu-Spri Forum to Julia Olmos Penuela & Paul Benneworth for her visiting research to the Center of Higher Education Policy Studies. Finally, Julia Olmos Penuela also benefited from a post-doctoral grant funded by the Generalitat Valenciana (APOSTD-2014-A-006).Olmos-Peñuela, J.; Benneworth, P.; Castro-Martínez, E. (2015). What Stimulates Researchers to Make Their Research Usable? Towards an Openness Approach. 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Physicochemical characteristics of Brazilian green propolis evaluated during a six-year period.

Background: Propolis has been used as a natural health product mainly due to the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids, phenolic aldehydes, amino acids, vitamins and others bioactive constituents. To this natural substance are attributed different biological and pharmacological properties which are influenced by its chemical composition and organoleptic properties. The aim of this work was to evaluate the physicochemical properties and parameters of green propolis collected during a period of six years (2008-2013) in the state of Minas Gerais, located at the southeastern region of Brazil. Methods: The methodology were in accordance with Brazilian legislation on the identity and quality standards of propolis. The evaluated parameters of hydroalcoholic from green propolis were total flavonoids, antioxidant activity - DPPH method, oxidation index, wax content, humidity and insoluble impurities. Results: Propolis samples collected in different seasons during the years 2008 to 2013 presented mean values of total flavonoids (3.4 ? 0.11 mg/g), antioxidant activity DPPH (4.76 ? 0.16 ?g/mL), oxidation index (3, 4 ? 0.33 seconds) and wax (15.14 ? 0.78% m/m), which are in accordance with Brazilian legislation. Conclusion: Green propolis did not show abrupt seasonal changes during the six years of investigation, and may be considered as an adequate functional ingredient

A Novel, Non-Apoptotic Role for Scythe/BAT3: A Functional Switch between the Pro- and Anti-Proliferative Roles of p21 during the Cell Cycle

BACKGROUND: Scythe/BAT3 is a member of the BAG protein family whose role in apoptosis has been extensively studied. However, since the developmental defects observed in Bat3-null mouse embryos cannot be explained solely by defects in apoptosis, we investigated whether BAT3 is also involved in cell-cycle progression. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a stable-inducible Bat3-knockdown cellular system, we demonstrated that reduced BAT3 protein level causes a delay in both G1/S transition and G2/M progression. Concurrent with these changes in cell-cycle progression, we observed a reduction in the turnover and phosphorylation of the CDK inhibitor p21, which is best known as an inhibitor of DNA replication; however, phosphorylated p21 has also been shown to promote G2/M progression. Our findings indicate that in Bat3-knockdown cells, p21 continues to be synthesized during cell-cycle phases that do not normally require p21, resulting in p21 protein accumulation and a subsequent delay in cell-cycle progression. Finally, we showed that BAT3 co-localizes with p21 during the cell cycle and is required for the translocation of p21 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus during the G1/S transition and G2/M progression. CONCLUSION: Our study reveals a novel, non-apoptotic role for BAT3 in cell-cycle regulation. By maintaining a low p21 protein level during the G1/S transition, BAT3 counteracts the inhibitory effect of p21 on DNA replication and thus enables the cells to progress from G1 to S phase. Conversely, during G2/M progression, BAT3 facilitates p21 phosphorylation by cyclin A/Cdk2, an event required for G2/M progression. BAT3 modulates these pro- and anti-proliferative roles of p21 at least in part by regulating cyclin A abundance, as well as p21 translocation between the cytoplasm and the nucleus to ensure that it functions in the appropriate intracellular compartment during each phase of the cell cycle.Dissertatio

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

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of 21,000 cases and 95,000 controls identifies new risk loci for atopic dermatitis

Genetic association studies have identified 21 loci associated with atopic dermatitis risk predominantly in populations of European ancestry. To identify further susceptibility loci for this common, complex skin disease, we performed a meta-analysis of >15 million genetic variants in 21,399 cases and 95,464 controls from populations of European, African, Japanese and Latino ancestry, followed by replication in 32,059 cases and 228,628 controls from 18 studies. We identified ten new risk loci, bringing the total number of known atopic dermatitis risk loci to 31 (with new secondary signals at four of these loci). Notably, the new loci include candidate genes with roles in the regulation of innate host defenses and T cell function, underscoring the important contribution of (auto)immune mechanisms to atopic dermatitis pathogenesis

A global analysis of Y-chromosomal haplotype diversity for 23 STR loci

In a worldwide collaborative effort, 19,630 Y-chromosomes were sampled from 129 different populations in 51 countries. These chromosomes were typed for 23 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, GATAH4, DYS481, DYS533, DYS549, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS643) and using the PowerPlex Y23 System (PPY23, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI). Locus-specific allelic spectra of these markers were determined and a consistently high level of allelic diversity was observed. A considerable number of null, duplicate and off-ladder alleles were revealed. Standard single-locus and haplotype-based parameters were calculated and compared between subsets of Y-STR markers established for forensic casework. The PPY23 marker set provides substantially stronger discriminatory power than other available kits but at the same time reveals the same general patterns of population structure as other marker sets. A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study. Interestingly a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.Peer reviewe