Driver beliefs regarding the benefits of reduced speeds

Despite many studies of the benefits of reducing driving speeds for safety, vehicular emissions, and stress in driving, little is known regarding how drivers perceive these benefits and the factors influencing their beliefs. This paper examines the factors influencing driver perceptions of the benefits attainable by reducing travel speeds. Driver perceptions of the extent to which reducing speed would lead to improved safety, lower emissions, and reduced stress and road rage were collected in an online survey of 3538 drivers in Queensland, Australia. An analysis using seemingly unrelated regression showed that drivers of automatic cars and bicycle commuters more strongly agreed that lower speeds would provide these benefits than other drivers, while drivers who used premium fuel thought otherwise. Users of ethanol blended fuel believed more strongly that reductions in speeds would reduce emissions. Young drivers less strongly agreed regarding both emissions and stress than older. Females, drivers of small cars, and those who drive frequently with passengers agreed more strongly that speed reductions would improve safety and reduce stress and road rage. These findings indicate a need to develop targeted educational and training programs to help drivers better understand these benefits to improve their willingness to reduce speeds

The use of C-reactive protein in case of preterm labor with intact membranes

Background: Preterm labor, defined as delivery between 22 and 37WA, is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Through this study, we wanted to know if the high CRP rate in preterm labor with intact membranes could be a risk factor for poor prognosis on pregnancy and the newborn.Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study from November 1, 2018 to April 31, 2019 at Befelatanana University Hospital of Gynecology-Obstetrics on singleton pregnancies with preterm labor and intact membranes. The population is divided in two groups according to the rate of CRP and we have chosen as a pathological threshold a CRP ≥7 mg/l.Results: We included 71 cases of MAP over 1735 births, or 4.09%, of which 47% had a CRP≥7mg / l (group I) and 51% a CRP <7mg / l (group II). There was a significant difference in the persistence of uterine contraction after 48h of tocolysis in group I and II [p = 0.0013, RR 5.20 (1.63-16.55)] as well as within of delivery (7.68±5.33 versus 21.36±11.30 days, p <0.05). There was no difference in the occurrence of neonatal asphyxia and neonatal infection between the 2 groups. However, the risk of prematurity is high in the group with a high CRP level [RR 1.34 (1.06-1.70)] (p = 0.02).Conclusions: In the case of preterm labor with intact membrane, CRP is a determinant of delivery delay, failure of tocolysis, and occurrence of preterm delivery

Epidemiology of maternal mortality in Befelatanana maternity during 2016-2017

Background: Maternal mortality remains a permanent obsession for the pregnant woman and her entourage, and is still one of the topical issues faced by a developing country, such as Madagascar. Our study aims to determine the epidemiological and etiological profile.Methods: We conducted a descriptive retrospective study over a 2-year period from January 1st, 2016 to December 31st, 2017 at the Befelatanana Gynecology-Obstetrics Hospital on maternal deaths.Results: We had 76 maternal deaths out of 5430 births, or 1.39%. The average age was 31.18±8.38 years with extremes of 14 and 49 years. The average parity was 2.67±1.85. The majority of pregnancies were poorly followed with a mean ANC of 2.18±1.85. The referred patients predominated at 68.42%. Women living in the urban area had a 57.89% majority. Among the etiology, hypertensive complications predominated at 42.11% followed by hemorrhagic (38.16%) and infectious (19.14%) complications. The patients who underwent surgery predominated at 78.94% and 59.21% were transfused.Conclusions: Maternal mortality remains a major concern at the Befelatanana Obstetrics Gynecology Hospital. During our study, hypertensive complications were found to be the most common causes requiring adequate management. For this, an awareness of pregnant women for the standardization of ANC, as well as regular training of health actor are necessary

A psycho-Geoinformatics approach for investigating older adults’ driving behaviours and underlying cognitive mechanisms

Introduction: Safe driving constantly challenges the driver’s ability to respond to the dynamic traffic scene under space and time constraints. It is of particular importance for older drivers to perform sufficient visual and motor actions with effective coordination due to the fact of age-related cognitive decline. However, few studies have been able to integrate drivers’ visual-motor behaviours with environmental information in a spatial-temporal context and link to the cognitive conditions of individual drivers. Little is known about the mechanisms that underpin the deterioration in visual-motor coordination of older drivers. Development: Based on a review of driving-related cognitive decline in older adults and the context of driver-vehicle-environment interactions, this paper established a conceptual framework to identify the parameters of driver’s visual and motor behaviour, and reveal the cognitive process from visual search to vehicle control in driving. The framework led to a psycho-geoinformatics approach to measure older drivers’ driving behaviours and investigate the underlying cognitive mechanisms. The proposed data collection protocol and the analysis and assessments depicted the psycho-geoinformatics approach on obtaining quantified variables and the key means of analysis, as well as outcome measures. Conclusions: Recordings of the driver and their interactions with the vehicle and environment at a detailed scale give a closer assessment of the driver’s behaviours. Using geoinformatics tools in driving behaviours assessment opens a new era of research with many possible analytical options, which do not have to rely on human observations. Instead, it receives clear indicators of the individual drivers’ interactions with the vehicle and the traffic environment. This approach should make it possible to identify lower-performing older drivers and problematic visual and motor behaviours, and the cognitive predictors of risky driving behaviours. A better targeted regulation and tailored intervention programs for older can be developed by further research

On the dynamics of the adenylate energy system: homeorhesis vs homeostasis.

Biochemical energy is the fundamental element that maintains both the adequate turnover of the biomolecular structures and the functional metabolic viability of unicellular organisms. The levels of ATP, ADP and AMP reflect roughly the energetic status of the cell, and a precise ratio relating them was proposed by Atkinson as the adenylate energy charge (AEC). Under growth-phase conditions, cells maintain the AEC within narrow physiological values, despite extremely large fluctuations in the adenine nucleotides concentration. Intensive experimental studies have shown that these AEC values are preserved in a wide variety of organisms, both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Here, to understand some of the functional elements involved in the cellular energy status, we present a computational model conformed by some key essential parts of the adenylate energy system. Specifically, we have considered (I) the main synthesis process of ATP from ADP, (II) the main catalyzed phosphotransfer reaction for interconversion of ATP, ADP and AMP, (III) the enzymatic hydrolysis of ATP yielding ADP, and (IV) the enzymatic hydrolysis of ATP providing AMP. This leads to a dynamic metabolic model (with the form of a delayed differential system) in which the enzymatic rate equations and all the physiological kinetic parameters have been explicitly considered and experimentally tested in vitro. Our central hypothesis is that cells are characterized by changing energy dynamics (homeorhesis). The results show that the AEC presents stable transitions between steady states and periodic oscillations and, in agreement with experimental data these oscillations range within the narrow AEC window. Furthermore, the model shows sustained oscillations in the Gibbs free energy and in the total nucleotide pool. The present study provides a step forward towards the understanding of the fundamental principles and quantitative laws governing the adenylate energy system, which is a fundamental element for unveiling the dynamics of cellular life

Drivers’ inability to assess their level of alertness on monotonous highways

Decline of alertness constitutes a normal physiological phenomenon but could be aggravated when drivers operate in monotonous environments, even in rested individuals. Driving performance is impaired and this increases crash risk due to inattention. This paper aims to show that road characteristics - namely road design (road geometry) and road side variability (signage and buildings) – influence subjective assessment of alertness by drivers. This study used a driving simulator to investigate the drivers’ ability to subjectively detect periods of time when their alertness is importantly reduced by varying road geometry and road environment. Driver’s EEG activity is recorded as a reference to evaluate objectively driver's alertness and is compared to self-reported alertness by participants. Twenty-five participants drove on four different scenarios (varying road design and road environment monotony) for forty minutes. It was observed that participants were significantly more accurate in their assessment before the driving task as compared to after (90% versus 60%). Errors in assessment were largely underestimations of their real alertness rather than over-estimations. The ability to detect low alertness as assessed with an EEG was highly dependent on the road monotony. Scenarios with low roadside variability resulted in high overestimation of the real alertness, which was not observed on monotonous road design. The findings have consequences for road safety and suggest that countermeasures to lapses of alertness cannot rely solely on self-assessment from drivers and road design should reduce environments with low variability

Simple architecture description model

This paper presents a simple composable architecture description model. Components are core modeling concepts. Components describe their relationship with other components by means of interface provision and requirement descriptions. These interfaces define the connectors that structure and compose components together