119 research outputs found
Low-cost road marking measures for increasing safety in horizontal curves: A driving simulator study
No full textStatistics show that horizontal curves, especially those of radii less than 200 m, present an increased road ac-cident risk mainly due to inappropriate speed and failure to maintain proper lateral position. This simulator study aims to analyse how two low-cost road marking measures (red median and horizontal warning signs), alone or combined with a vertical warning sign, affect driver behaviour (driving speed, lateral movement, ac-celeration/deceleration) before and throughout dangerous horizontal curves on a two-way rural road. With GIS-supported mapping of traffic accidents, we identified the most dangerous curves on the main rural road in Croatia and replicated them on the driving simulator. Based on the driving runs of 43 participants, the study concluded that both measures, used either alone or combined with a vertical warning sign, significantly reduced the speed compared to the control condition (vertical warning sign alone). Additionally, the use of a red median prompted the lateral movement of the vehicle closer to the edge line. The paper also defines the potential use of the measures for dealing with specific types of curve-related accidents.This research was a part of the project entitled: "Understanding the impact of traffic signalling on the driver behaviour" and funded by a Unity Through Knowledge Fund "Gaining Experience Grant".Babic, D (corresponding author), Univ Zagreb, Fac Transport & Traff Sci, Zagreb, Croatia.
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10 Kritische Wertung der Netz-Augmentation am Hiatus: Probleme, Ergebnisse und Fallbeispiele
No full textElectroFlex : Concept design of a tool lanyard with integrated power cable.
No full textFor a company that focuses on the use of battery power, the integration into fossil fuel dominated markets can be challenging. In order to help with integration into new markets, Globe Group AB are developing job-essential accessories that are compatible with their tools and batteries. The purpose of the work done in this thesis was to develop a concept for a tool lanyard with an integrated electrical cable that is compatible with Globe Group AB’s current line of power tools. During this project it was decided that the research and testing would be conducted and analyzed based off high altitude tree work done by arborists. This thesis focuses on the evaluation of research and testing to aid in concept design. A large focus was laid on the implementation of physical testing into early research and development stages, in an attempt to increase the validity of design decisions. The project was carried out by doing preliminary research and testing in order to gain information and metrics that could be used in the concept and prototype design stages. The prototypes were tested and compared to data collected prior in the project, to make statements about the feasibility of the concept and it’s included features. The result of this project was a final concept that includes all features that were deemed necessary through research and testing, a physical prototype, and test data to offer proof of concept
Curriculum Learning Algorithms for Reward Weighting in Sparse Reward Robotic Manipulation Tasks
No full textRobotic learning from sparse rewards can be a considerable challenge due to large amounts of data required for mastering a task. We explore the application of curriculum learning (CL) algorithms for automatic reward weighting to tackle learning from sparse rewards in robotic pick-and-place and stacking tasks. We take several state-of-the-art CL algorithms that were originally designed to generate curriculum by manipulating the environment and appropriate them to weigh multiple sparse reward functions instead. The reward functions are chosen in a way that facilitates staged learning of the task, and the two robotic tasks are designed so that the agent learns to generalize to any initial and goal object position in the scene. The results of our three implemented CL algorithms show large improvement over the naive and state-of-the-art baselines in terms of speed of convergence to a successful policy in experiments with multiple task variations. Various generalization tests showcase some strengths and weaknesses of our approach. Inspection of changes in reward weight values during training further reveals varying curricula generated by the employed approaches, and showcases shifting emphasis from auxiliary to the main reward as the training progresses
CCL2 recruits inflammatory monocytes to facilitate breast-tumour metastasis
No full textMacrophages, which are abundant in the tumour microenvironment, enhance malignancy. At metastatic sites, a distinct population of metastasis-associated macrophages promotes the extravasation, seeding and persistent growth of tumour cells. Here we define the origin of these macrophages by showing that Gr1-positive inflammatory monocytes are preferentially recruited to pulmonary metastases but not to primary mammary tumours in mice. This process also occurs for human inflammatory monocytes in pulmonary metastases of human breast cancer cells. The recruitment of these inflammatory monocytes, which express CCR2 (the receptor for chemokine CCL2), as well as the subsequent recruitment of metastasis-associated macrophages and their interaction with metastasizing tumour cells, is dependent on CCL2 synthesized by both the tumour and the stroma. Inhibition of CCL2-CCR2 signalling blocks the recruitment of inflammatory monocytes, inhibits metastasis in vivo and prolongs the survival of tumour-bearing mice. Depletion of tumour-cell-derived CCL2 also inhibits metastatic seeding. Inflammatory monocytes promote the extravasation of tumour cells in a process that requires monocyte-derived vascular endothelial growth factor. CCL2 expression and macrophage infiltration are correlated with poor prognosis and metastatic disease in human breast cancer. Our data provide the mechanistic link between these two clinical associations and indicate new therapeutic targets for treating metastatic breast cancer
New approaches in esophageal carcinomas
No full textNew approaches in the treatment of esophageal cancer comprise endoscopy with refinements of esophagoscopic intraluminal resection by endoscopic submucosal dissection. Radical open surgery is more and more replaced by minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIO), especially in the hybrid technique with laparoscopic gastrolysis and transthoracic esophageal resection and gastric pull-up. Total MIO also in the robotic technique has not yet shown that it produces superior results than the hybrid technique. Fluorescent dye can improve the intraoperative visualization of the vascularization of the gastric conduit. The individualization of neoadjuvant therapy is the magic word in clinical research of multimodal treatment of esophageal cancer. This means response prediction based on molecular markers or clinical response evaluation. The documentation of the diversity of postoperative complications is now standardized by an international consensus. The value of enhanced recovery after surgery is not yet approved compared to conventional management
Branislav Nusic and X-rays in the story “Roentgen’s Photography”
No full textIntroduction. Shortly after the discovery of X-rays, their practical
application in the clinical practice became the object of interest of many
non-medical individuals. One of them was the famous Serbian writer,
Branislav Nusic. This paper presents the life and work of Branislav Nusic,
as well as his article: ?Roentgen?s Photography? which was published in the
journal ?Politics? (July 8, 1906; N? 892, p. 3), under the alias Ben Akiba,
in the Cyrillic script. The life and work of Branislav Nusic. Alchiviadi
Nu?a, later Branislav Nusic (1864 - 1938) was a great Serbian literate,
playwright, journalist, photographer, politician, diplomat, member of the
Serbian Royal Academy, President of the Association of Yugoslav Playwrights,
manager of the theaters in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Skopje and Sarajevo, and a
military volunteer in the Serbian - Bulgarian war (1885). ?Roentgen?s
Photography?. The author wrote this text in his own way, the only way he
could and knew, vividly and wittily. He knew about the great power and
strength of X-ray radiation, and he wrote of his knowledge in this short
story. Without Branislav Nusic, the history of Serbian radiology would be
poorer for not seeing the X-rays by the eyes of an educated, intelligent
and, above all, humorous writer. Conclusion. Branislav Nusic, alongside
Nikola Tesla, Mihajlo Pupin Idvorski, Dr. Abraham Vinaver, and all past and
present Serbian radiologists, has become an essential and memorable link in
the chain of the history of the Serbian radiology.</jats:p
Embodying Tool Use: from Cognition to Neurorehabilitation
No full textThis eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contac
EAES recommendations for the management of gastroesophageal reflux disease
No full textBACKGROUND:
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most frequent benign disorders of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Management of GERD has always been controversial since modern medical therapy is very effective, but laparoscopic fundoplication is one of the few procedures that were quickly adapted to the minimal access technique. The purpose of this project was to analyze the current knowledge on GERD in regard to its pathophysiology, diagnostic assessment, medical therapy, and surgical therapy, and special circumstances such as GERD in children, Barrett's esophagus, and enteroesophageal and duodenogastroesophageal reflux.
METHODS:
The European Association of Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) has tasked a group of experts, based on their clinical and scientific expertise in the field of GERD, to establish current guidelines in a consensus development conference. The expert panel was constituted in May 2012 and met in September 2012 and January 2013, followed by a Delphi process. Critical appraisal of the literature was accomplished. All articles were reviewed and classified according to the hierarchy of level of evidence and summarized in statements and recommendations, which were presented to the scientific community during the EAES yearly conference in a plenary session in Vienna 2013. A second Delphi process followed discussion in the plenary session.
RESULTS:
Recommendations for pathophysiologic and epidemiologic considerations, symptom evaluation, diagnostic workup, medical therapy, and surgical therapy are presented. Diagnostic evaluation and adequate selection of patients are the most important features for success of the current management of GERD. Laparoscopic fundoplication is the most important therapeutic technique for the success of surgical therapy of GERD.
CONCLUSIONS:
Since the background of GERD is multifactorial, the management of this disease requires a complex approach in diagnostic workup as well as for medical and surgical treatment. Laparoscopic fundoplication in well-selected patients is a successful therapeutic option
Ethnic identity, political identity and ethnic conflict: simulating the effect of congruence between the two identities on ethnic violence and conflict
No full textThis thesis outlines and presents an alternative hypothetical process to the emergence of ethnic conflict. Ethnic conflicts, rather than being dependent upon pre-existing 'ancient hatreds', are instead the result of a congruence between ethnic and political identity which grants individuals the ability to use ethnicity to identify and eliminate political threats. This hypothesis is formed by the examination of three case studies of ethnic conflict: Lebanon, Northern Ireland and Croatia. This hypothesis is then formalised and tested using an agent based simulation in which agent interactions are dependent upon ethnic and political identity and the congruence between the two. As predicted there was a strong positive correlation between how accurately ethnic identity reflected political identity and the level of ethnically motivated violence in the simulation, although the relationship was not linear. Furthermore the effect of a shift in congruence was found to be roughly comparable to the effect of initialising agents with a moderate level of pre-existing ethnic antagonism
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