User expectations of partial driving automation capabilities and their effect on information design preferences in the vehicle

Partially automated vehicles present interface design challenges in ensuring the driver remains alert should the vehicle need to hand back control at short notice, but without exposing the driver to cognitive overload. To date, little is known about driver expectations of partial driving automation and whether this affects the information they require inside the vehicle. Twenty-five participants were presented with five partially automated driving events in a driving simulator. After each event, a semi-structured interview was conducted. The interview data was coded and analysed using grounded theory. From the results, two groupings of driver expectations were identified: High Information Preference (HIP) and Low Information Preference (LIP) drivers; between these two groups the information preferences differed. LIP drivers did not want detailed information about the vehicle presented to them, but the definition of partial automation means that this kind of information is required for safe use. Hence, the results suggest careful thought as to how information is presented to them is required in order for LIP drivers to safely using partial driving automation. Conversely, HIP drivers wanted detailed information about the system’s status and driving and were found to be more willing to work with the partial automation and its current limitations. It was evident that the drivers’ expectations of the partial automation capability differed, and this affected their information preferences. Hence this study suggests that HMI designers must account for these differing expectations and preferences to create a safe, usable system that works for everyone

Using the ideas café to explore trust in autonomous vehicles

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019. Trust has been shown to play a key role in our ability to safely use autonomous vehicles; hence the authors used the Ideas Café to explore the factors affecting trust in autonomous vehicles. The Ideas Café is an informal collaborative event that brings the public together with domain experts for exploratory research. The authors structured the event around factors affecting trust in the technology, privacy and societal impact. The event followed a mixed methods approach using: table discussions, spectrum lines and line ups. 36 participants attended the Ideas Café event held at the Coventry Transport Museum in June 2017. Table discussions provided the key findings for Thematic Analysis as part of Grounded Theory; which found, contrary to current research trends, designing for the technology’s integration with society as equally important for trust as the vehicle design itself. The authors also reported on the emergent high level interface guidelines

Value chain report: How UK suppliers can support development and production of Connected Autonomous Vehicles

WMG at the University of Warwick undertook the Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) Value Chain Analysis project which completed in 2019. The project aimed to inform the Government and Zenzic’s understanding of the emerging CAV supply base and value chain in the UK. The study examined the technologies and services required to bring CAVs to the streets, potential future use and deployment, and the gaps in existing UK supply capability. The low-speed transport environment provided a case study to understand in detail the immediate and practical needs of innovation and deployment, and the current constraints on innovation. This report summarises the findings of this project and results in a series of practical recommendations for how the UK can seize the opportunities. </p

SMAD2 phosphorylation, and NOX4 expression and activity.

<p>Basal SMAD2 phosphorylation in untreated cells (Ctrl) is increased after 1 h, 2,5 h, and 5 h exposure to 100 nM tacrolimus (Tac). Preincubation with the TGF-β1-RI kinase inhibitors LY364947, or SB-431542 before exposure to tacrolimus (LY+Tac, and SB+Tac, resp.) ablates phosphorylation of SMAD2. 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 (TGF) served as a positive control. pSMAD2 band appeared at approx. 55 kD (A). Western blot for NOX4 protein in TK-173 fibroblasts treated over three days with 100 nM tacrolimus (Tac), 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 (TGF), and untreated control cells (Ctrl). A specific Nox4 band at 60 kD is present after stimulation of the cells with tacrolimus or TGF-β1, but undetectable in control cells (B). Intracellular H₂O₂ levels in TK-173 cells, expressed as relative DCF (dichlorofluorescin) fluorescence, were increased by tacrolimus in a concentration-dependent manner, following a sigmoid curve (C). Co-application of the TGF-β1-RI kinase inhibitor LY364947 significantly reduced intracellular H₂O₂ concentrations to control levels in cells treated with 100 nM tacrolimus (TAC), or 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 (D). Results were normalized to untreated control cells.</p

Identification of bioactive fractions of <i>N</i>. <i>mossambica</i> venom (1 mg/mL) by correlating bioactivity data with proteomics data.

i: bioactivity chromatograms obtained by plotting the results of three bioassays: cell surface area (grey); resazurin reduction (blue); live cell count (orange). The peaks with negative minima indicate the presence of bioactive fractions; ii: Graphs representing the protein score chromatograms (PSCs), showing the individual venom proteins found with Mascot database searching of the digested well fractions. iii: UV traces of the snake venoms at 220 nm obtained by RP-HPLC. The vertical outer lines mark the bioactivity window, which includes the main activity peaks and their corresponding PSC peaks and RP-HPLC-UV chromatogram peaks. Measurements are presented as the mean of three individual experiments (N = 3), error bars depict SD.</p

S8 Fig -

Bar graphs representing the time series data for the cell surface area in response to our panel of 10 snake species relative to the negative control (A) Time series data (3; 6; 12; 24; 48 hours) of six viper species at increasing venom concentrations (0; 1.2; 3.7; 11.1; 33.3; 100 μg/mL). (B) Time series data (3; 6; 12; 24; 48 hours) of four elapid species at increasing venom concentrations (0; 1.2; 3.7; 11.1; 33.3; 100 μg/mL). Venom concentrations on the X-axes (in μg/mL) and percentage relative to negative control on the Y-axes. Measurements are presented as the mean of three individual experiments (N = 3), error bars depict SD. (EPS)</p

Effect of siRNA-mediated Nox-4 knock-down in human TK-173 fibroblasts.

<p>Cells were transfected with Nox4-targeted siRNA (siNOX4), or non-target siRNA (si(-)) as a control, resp., and exposed to 100 nM tacrolimus, or control conditions, for three days. Transfection with Nox4-targeted siRNA reduced Nox4 mRNA expression by 61% (untreated control), and 64% (100 nM tacrolimus), resp., compared to non-target siRNA transfected cells (A). Nox4 knock-down did not have significant effects on transgelin (B), tropomyosin-1 (C), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (D) mRNA expression, but induced a significant up-regulation of mRNA for procollagen α1(V) in untreated cells, and a down-regulation to control levels in tacrolimus-treated cells (E). Results were normalized to control-transfected, untreated cells. (*) denotes significant (p≤0,05) differences between control-transfected and siRNA-transfected cells.</p

Effects of TGF-β1 signaling blockade.

<p>TK-173 cells exposed to 100 nM tacrolimus (TAC), or 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 (TGF) for three days showed increased expression of Nox4 (A), transgelin (B), and tropomyosin-1 (C). Blockade of TGF signaling by TGF-β1 RI inhibitor LY364947 inhibited both the reactions to TGF-β1 and tacrolimus [p≤0,05 (*), and p≤0,001 (**), resp.]. In contrast, application of anti-TGF-β antibody to the medium left the reaction to tacrolimus unaffected (E), but prevented the effects of 5 ng/ml TGF-β1 on the expression of procollagen α1(V) (Col5a1), Nox4, transgelin (Tagln), and tropomyosin-1 (Tmp1) almost completely (D). Antibodies had no effect in unstimulated control cultures (F). All values were normalized to untreated control cultures.</p

Comparison of the immunosuppressants cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, and rapamycin.

<p>Both tacrolimus (TAC; 100 nM) and rapamycin (RAPA, 100 nM) induced mRNA for Nox4, transgelin, and tropomyosin-1 after three days, although with a slightly different pattern. Cyclosporine A (CSA; 1 µM) had no effect on mRNA levels. All values normalized to untreated control. (*) denotes significance from untreated cells p≤0,05.</p

Induction of fibrosis-related genes in TK-173 fibroblasts by nanomolar levels of tacrolimus.

<p>Exposure to increasing concentrations of tacrolimus (0–1000 nM) induced mRNA expression in a concentration-dependent manner after three days for Nox4 (A), transgelin (B), tropomyosin-1 (C), procollagen α1(V) (D), and transforming growth factor β-1 (E). a-smooth muscle actin mRNA expression (F) was not affected. RT-qPCR results were standardized to 18S rRNA, linearized, and normalized to the control group (without tacrolimus). (*) indicates significance from untreated cells p≤0,05.</p