Search

Precrash scenario analysis for autonomous vehicles (AVs) is critical for improving the safety of autonomous driving, yet the scenario differences between different driving modes are unexplored. Using the precrash scenario typology of the USDOT, this study classified 484 AV crash reports from the California DMV from 2018 to 2022, revealing the differences in the scenario proportions of the three modes of autonomous driving, driving takeover, and conventional driving in 34 types of scenarios. The results showed that there were significant differences in the proportion of six scenarios such as "Lead AV stopped" and "Lead AV decelerating" among different driving modes p < 0.05 . To analyze the relative risk of different driving modes in specific scenarios, an evaluation model of the risk level of AV precrash scenarios was established using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The findings indicated that ​ autonomous driving has the highest risk rating and poses the greatest danger in Scenario 1, while conventional driving is associated with Scenario 2b, and driving takeover corresponds to Scenario 3, respectively. In-depth analysis of the crash characteristics and causes of these three typical scenarios was conducted, and suggestions were made from the perspectives of autonomous driving system (ADS) and drivers to reduce the severity of crashes. This study compared precrash scenarios of AV by different driving modes, providing references for the optimization of ADS and the safety of human-machine codriving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe the microtrajectory change behavior of two-wheeled vehicles when encountering nonrigid obstacles, this paper proposes an obstacle avoidance model of two-wheeled vehicles for nonrigid obstacles based on the improved social force method. In the model, the obstacle avoidance characteristics of two-wheeled vehicles for nonrigid obstacles and the safety operation requirements of two-wheeled vehicles are considered. The calculation methods of the minimum boundary distance of avoidance and the boundary avoidance force range edge function are proposed based on the ultimate turning angle and boundary avoidance characteristics, respectively. The speed control and direction control behavior of the rider to the vehicle is abstracted as the form of social force, and the two-wheeled vehicle/rider individual is subjected to the avoidance force and correction force perpendicular to the direction of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle body. The centrifugal trajectory obstacle avoidance motion obeying the Newtonian mechanics is studied based on the characteristics of the vehicle body turning angle change. Different traffic environments are constructed by MATLAB software and simulated according to the model running logic, and sensitivity analysis is performed based on the actual data collected in the survey. The simulation results show that, under the same conditions, compared with μ i = 50N, when μ i = 200N, the X-axis displacement of the simulated vehicle in the avoidance process is shortened by 26.31%, and the body deflection angle increases by 50.75% at the end moment of the avoidance process. Compared with electric motorcycles, the displacement of the X-axis in the avoidance process of the electric bicycle is shortened by 16.92%, and the body deflection angle at the end moment of the avoidance process is increased by 13.68%. The simulation results show that the model can well describe the trajectory change behavior characteristics of two-wheeled vehicles/riders encountering nonrigid obstacles in real situations, and the obstacle avoidance model of two-wheeled vehicles proposed in this paper is considered to be traffic justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The folate‐mediated one‐carbon metabolism pathway is thought to play an important role in the etiology of non‐syndromic oral clefts (NSOFC), although none of the genes in this pathway has shown significant signals in genome‐wide association studies (GWAS). Recent evidence indicated that enhanced understanding could be gained by aggregating multiple SNPs effect simultaneously into polygenic risk score (PRS) to assess its association with disease risks. This study is aimed to assess the association between the genetic effect of folate‐mediated one‐carbon metabolism pathway and NSOFC risks using PRS based on a case–parent trio design. A total of 297 SNPs mapped from 18 genes in the folate‐mediated one‐carbon metabolism pathway were aggregated from a GWAS of 2458 case–parent trios recruited from an international consortium. We found a PRS based on the folate‐mediated one‐carbon metabolism pathway was significant among all NSOFC trios (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.66–2.28, p = 2.39 × 10−16), as well as two major subtypes, non‐syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) trios (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.50–1.96, p = 7.66 × 10−15) and non‐syndromic cleft palate only (NSCPO) trios (OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.36–1.68, p = 2.1 × 10−14). Similar results were also observed in further subgroup analyses stratified into Asian and European trios. The averaged PRS of the folate‐mediated one‐carbon metabolism pathway varied between the NSOFC case group and its comparison group (p < 0.05) with higher average PRS in the cases. Moreover, the top 5% pathway PRS group had 2.25 (95% CI: 1.85–2.73) times increased NSOFC risk, also 3.09 (95% CI: 2.50–3.81) and 2.06 (95% CI: 1.39–3.02) times increased risk of NSCL/P and NSCPO compared to the remainder of the distribution. The results of our study confirmed the folate‐mediated one‐carbon metabolism pathway was important in controlling risk to NSOFC and this study enhanced evidence towards understanding the genetic risks of NSOFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The results of associations between new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) and wound complications after total joint arthroplasty remain inconsistent. We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials to make comparisons with low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) on the clinical outcomes of total wound complications, together with other efficacy and safety endpoints to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of NOACs. Methods: This meta‐analysis was conducted based on a published protocol (PROSPERO: CRD42019140841). We searched for available articles in PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library through Jun 62 021. Random‐effects meta‐analyses, including subgroup analyses, were conducted to estimate the pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for specific doses of NOACs. Results: We retrieved 1683 studies, of which 20 were eligible for inclusion. We found that apixaban was associated with a lower incidence of total wound complications compared with LMWH (RR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.65–1.00), while dabigatran and rivaroxaban did not increase the risk of total wound complications. In addition, apixaban was associated with a reduction in the risk of major/clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding events compared to LMWH (RR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65–0.99), while rivaroxaban increased the risk for major/clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding events (RR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.02–1.50). Moreover, all 4 NOACs were associated with lower incidences of major venous thromboembolism compared with LMWH. Conclusion: A lower risk of wound complications was detected for apixaban, while dabigatran and rivaroxaban did not increase the risk when compared with LMWH. The efficacy of 4 NOACs was broadly similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracting species calls from passive acoustic recordings is a common preliminary step to ecological analysis. For many species, particularly those occupying noisy, acoustically variable habitats, the call extraction process continues to be largely manual, a time‐consuming and increasingly unsustainable process. Deep neural networks have been shown to offer excellent performance across a range of acoustic classification applications, but are relatively underused in ecology. We describe the steps involved in developing an automated classifier for a passive acoustic monitoring project, using the identification of calls of the Hainan gibbon Nomascus hainanus, one of the world's rarest mammal species, as a case study. This includes preprocessing—selecting a temporal resolution, windowing and annotation; data augmentation; processing—choosing and fitting appropriate neural network models; and post‐processing—linking model predictions to replace, or more likely facilitate, manual labelling. Our best model converted acoustic recordings into spectrogram images on the mel frequency scale, using these to train a convolutional neural network. Model predictions were highly accurate, with per‐second false positive and false negative rates of 1.5% and 22.3%. Nearly all false negatives were at the fringes of calls, adjacent to segments where the call was correctly identified, so that very few calls were missed altogether. A post‐processing step identifying intervals of repeated calling reduced an 8‐h recording to, on average, 22 min for manual processing, and did not miss any calling bouts over 72 h of test recordings. Gibbon calling bouts were detected regularly in multi‐month recordings from all selected survey points within Bawangling National Nature Reserve, Hainan. We demonstrate that passive acoustic monitoring incorporating an automated classifier represents an effective tool for remote detection of one of the world's rarest and most threatened species. Our study highlights the viability of using neural networks to automate or greatly assist the manual labelling of data collected by passive acoustic monitoring projects. We emphasize that model development and implementation be informed and guided by ecological objectives, and increase accessibility of these tools with a series of notebooks that allow users to build and deploy their own acoustic classifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transgenic system of noninvasive cytosolic transport based on exogenous plasmid DNA (pIRES2−EGFP) loading on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated with polyethyleneimine (PEI) was successfully constructed, which can remove the technical threshold and possible damage of microinjection to oocytes and embryo development. In this study, mouse zygotes were cultured in KSOM medium containing the complex of AuNPs−PEI−DNA (APD) until formation of blastocyts, and then transferred into pseudopregnant female mice for obtaining transgenic offspring. Fluorescence observations confirm the expression of GFP in early embryos; importantly, data from identifying experiments by genotyping, immunofluorescence and DNA sequencing show that the GFP sequence indeed integrates into the chromosome of offspring individuals and is expressed. Furthermore, TUNEL test and analysis on cell differentiation of blastocysts indicate an excellent safety of APD to the development of embryos. All these results suggested that AuNPs, being an alternative technique to traditional microinjection, can efficiently introduce biomolecules into early embryonic cells without the prerequisite of expensive micromanipulators and skilled technicians, which will greatly promote study of life sciences in various aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is a common birth defect. Genetic variants causing syndromic orofacial clefts can also contribute to the etiology of NSCL/P. The purpose of the present study was to explore gene–gene (G × G) interaction using common single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers in fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family and its receptors and T‐box genes, which were associated with syndromic orofacial clefts. Our study was conducted in 806 Chinese NSCL/P case‐parent trios drawn from an international consortium. A total of 252 SNPs in FGF8, FGF10, FGFR1, FGFR2, and TBX5 passed the quality control criteria and were included in the analysis. The interactions between SNPs in different genes were assessed using Cordell's method, which fitted a conditional logistic regression model. The analysis was performed using the R‐package trio (Version 3.8.0). Bonferroni correction was used to adjust for multiple comparisons, and the overall significance threshold was set as P = 1.98 × 10−4 (0.05/252). Conditional logistic regression revealed the most significant interaction between rs2330542 in FGF10 and rs1946295 in TBX5, which remained significant (P = 9.63 × 10−6) after Bonferroni correction. The relative risk of allele C in rs2330542 (FGF10) was 1.02 (95%CI 0.81–1.28), while the relative risk was 1.42 (95%CI 1.03–1.97) when the exposure was a combination of allele C in rs2330542 and allele A in rs1946295 (TBX5). Our findings confirmed the importance of considering G × G interaction when exploring the genetic risk factors of NSCL/P. Further investigations are warranted to validate the potential interaction and reveal the biological function of FGF10/FGFR2/TBX5. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of iron accumulation is crucial in diagnosing the occurrence and progression of many liver‐ and iron‐related diseases. Thus far, little is known about the profiles of iron deposition in different liver zones, particularly under conditions with disordered iron homeostasis. Here, uneven iron distribution in livers of patients with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is uncovered, showing the region with the highest iron concentration near the entrance site of the portal vein and hepatic artery in contrast to the sites with the lowest iron concentration close to the distal edge. Distinct iron distribution profiles are also found throughout liver zones in wild‐type mice and various mouse models with iron metabolism disorders, including hemochromatosis (Hfe−/−), iron deficiency, and inflammation. Of note, similar findings observed in HH patients are further demonstrated in Hfe−/− mice. Moreover, the zones with greater iron accumulation appear to be more sensitive to iron changes, e.g., there is iron increase upon iron overload and iron loss in response to iron deficiency. Mechanistic investigation manifests that these differential iron changes in liver zones are subjected to the regulation by the hepcidin–ferroportin axis. Additionally, the data corroborate the reliability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in recognizing the differential iron deposition profiles among liver zones. This study unearths the uneven iron distribution pattern in the liver, showing the regions with the higher iron mass near the entrance site of the hepatic portal vein and artery in contrast to the regions with the lower iron close to the distal edges of the liver. This pattern is demonstrated in various models with disordered iron homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]