Search

Background: Malignant pleural effusion is a common problem in patients with solid tumours. It has a significant impact on quality of life, and, hence, there is a substantial need to investigate new agents to treat it. Patients and methods: This is a prospective randomised controlled study, including patients with symptomatic recurrent malignant pleural effusion of different primaries. Patients were randomised into two groups: the first group received five ampoules of mistletoe preparation with defined lectin content (Viscum Fraxini-2, ATOS Pharma) diluted in 10 cc glucose 5% solution. Re-instillation was repeated every week until complete dryness of the pleural fluid was achieved (the maximum duration of the therapy was eight weeks). The second group received 60 units of bleomycin once intrapleurally. Aims: The primary aim of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of mistletoe preparation as a palliative treatment for malignant pleural effusions in comparison with bleomycin. The secondary aim was to evaluate the tolerability of the mistletoe preparation. Results: A total of 23 patients were included and followed up during the study from December 2007 to January 2012: 13 patients received mistletoe preparation, and ten patients received bleomycin. Overall clinical response was reported in 61.5% of the mistletoe preparation arm versus 30% in bleomycin arm (p = 0.2138), 95% CI = (-0.1203, 0.6325). The toxicity of both arms was mild and manageable; the mistletoe preparation arm included fever, chills, headache, malaise, and, in two cases, allergic reaction, which was controlled by discontinuation of the drug and steroid injection. Conclusion: Mistletoe preparation is an efficient and well tolerated sclerosant agent which needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinization is one of the major challenges for modern agriculture, posing a great threat to soil health and food security. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of seed coating on soil environment and maize growth in saline soils. Three treatments were applied to maize seeds: coating with a microencapsulated microbial agent (ME), coating with microbial only (MB), and no coating (CK). High-throughput sequencing of soil bacterial and fungal 16S and ITS rRNA genes was performed using the Illumina HiSeq platform to analyze the effects of these treatments on soil bacterial and fungal diversity and community structure. Additionally, the influence of different treatments on endogenous hormones and yield of maize were investigated. It was found that the coating with a microencapsulated microbial agent led to decreases in pH and electrical conductivity (EC), while increasing the content of soil available phosphorus. This coating improved soil microbial diversity, significantly increasing the relative abundance of the main bacteria genera, Bacillus (34.9%), and the main fungal genera, Mortierella (190.4%). The treatment also significantly enhanced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) by 51.2%, contributing to improvements in resistance to salt stress. The germination rate increased by 22.9%, the 100-grain weight increased by 12.7%, and grain yield increased by 14.3%. The use of the microencapsulated microbial agent effectively mitigated the adverse effects of salt stress on maize plants. This approach is beneficial for promoting sustainable agriculture in saline soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mesopotamia Journal of Agriculture is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Salinity poses a significant challenge to tomato plant development and metabolism. This study explores the use of biostimulants as eco-friendly strategies to enhance tomato plant tolerance to salinity. Conducted in a greenhouse, the research focuses on the Solanum lycopersicum L. behavior under saline conditions. Tomato seeds were treated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), compost, and their combination under both non-saline and saline conditions (0 and 150 mM NaCl). Plant height, number of flowers and fruits, shoot fresh weight, and root dry weight were negatively impacted by salt stress. The supplementation with compost affected the colonization of AMF, but the application of stress had no effect on this trait. However, the use of compost and AMF separately or in combination showed positive effects on the measured parameters. At the physiological level, compost played a beneficial role in increasing photosynthetic efficiency, whether or not plants were subjected to salinity. In addition, the application of these biostimulants led to an increase in nitrogen content in the plants, irrespective of the stress conditions. AMF and compost, applied alone or in combination, showed positive effects on photosynthetic pigment concentrations and protein content. Under salt stress, characterized by an increase in lipid peroxidation and H2O2 content, the application of these biostimulants succeeded in reducing both these parameters in affected plants through exhibiting an increase in antioxidant enzyme activity. In conclusion, incorporating compost, AMF, or their combined application emerges as a promising approach to alleviate the detrimental impacts of salt stress on both plant performances. These findings indicate optimistic possibilities for advancing sustainable and resilient agricultural practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is the hope for the full optimization of drug therapy while minimizing the accompanying adverse drug events that cost billions of dollars annually. Since years before the century, it has been known that inter-individual variations contribute to differences in specific drug responses. It is the bridge to what is well-known today as "personalized medicine". Addressing the drug's pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics is one of the features of this science, owing to patient characteristics that vary on so many occasions. Mainly in the liver parenchymal cells, intricate interactions between the drug molecules and enzymes family of so-called "Cytochrome P450" occur which hugely affects how the body will react to the drug in terms of metabolism, efficacy, and safety. Single nucleotide polymorphisms, once validated for a transparent and credible clinical utility, can be used to guide and ensure the succession of the pharmacotherapy plan. Novel tools of pharmacoeconomics science are utilized extensively to assess cost-effective pharmacogenes preceding the translation to the bedside. Drug development and discovery incorporate a drug-gene perspective and save more resources. Regulations and laws shaping the clinical PGx practice can be misconceived; however, these pre-/post approval processes ensure the product's safety and efficacy. National and international regulatory agencies seek guidance on maintaining conduct in PGx practice. In this patient-centric era, social and legal considerations manifest in a way that makes them unavoidable, involving patients and other stakeholders in a deliberate journey toward utmost patient well-being. In this comprehensive review, we contemporarily addressed the scientific leaps in PGx, along with various challenges that face the proper implementation of personalized medicine in Egypt. These informative insights were drawn to serve what the Egyptian population, in particular, would benefit from in terms of knowledge and know-how while maintaining the latest global trends. Moreover, this review is the first to discuss various modalities and challenges faced in Egypt regarding PGx, which we believe could be used as a pilot piece of literature for future studies locally, regionally, and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connected and automated car-following model can provide a model reference for the queue control algorithm of connected and automated driving and has become a hot research topic in the field of connected vehicles and intelligent transportation. A queue of fast-moving vehicles on urban roads can cause traffic congestion when forced to slow down and, in serious cases, can cause rear-impact accidents. Therefore, this paper introduces information on the time delay of information reception and processing, a collision risk quantification factor reflecting the speed characteristics of the front vehicle, and the speed limit and proposes an improved intelligent driver collision quantification model that considers drastic changes in the speed of the front vehicle. Additionally, the model parameters are calibrated using real vehicle data from urban roads combined with an improved salp swarm algorithm. Finally, the evolution rule of disturbance in the traffic flow under different states is analyzed using a time-space diagram, and the DIDM-CSCL model is compared with the classical IDM. The results show that the improved IDM can better describe the following behavior at the microscopic level, which provides a basis for research related to connected and automated driving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fungal order Entomophthorales in the Zoopagomycota includes many fungal pathogens of arthropods. This review explores six genera in the subfamily Erynioideae within the family Entomophthoraceae, namely, Erynia, Furia, Orthomyces, Pandora, Strongwellsea, and Zoophthora. This is the largest subfamily in the Entomophthorales, including 126 described species. The species diversity, global distribution, and host range of this subfamily are summarized. Relatively few taxa are geographically widespread, and few have broad host ranges, which contrasts with many species with single reports from one location and one host species. The insect orders infected by the greatest numbers of species are the Diptera and Hemiptera. Across the subfamily, relatively few species have been cultivated in vitro, and those that have require more specialized media than many other fungi. Given their potential to attack arthropods and their position in the fungal evolutionary tree, we discuss which species might be adopted for biological control purposes or biotechnological innovations. Current challenges in the implementation of these species in biotechnology include the limited ability or difficulty in culturing many in vitro, a correlated paucity of genomic resources, and considerations regarding the host ranges of different species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel single-ring resonator design and experimentally demonstrates its dynamic behavior. The proposed ring resonator design is simple and has a solid anchor at its center connected to an outside ring via inner ring-shaped springs. The mode shapes and frequency of the ring resonator were determined numerically and compared with analytical approaches, and the minimum split frequency was observed for the n = 3 mode of vibration. Numerical and analytical methods were used to determine the resonance frequencies, pull-in voltage, resonance frequency shift and harmonic response of the ring resonator for different silicon orientations. The split frequency in the n = 3 mode of vibration increases by the applied DC bias voltage almost by the same amount for all types of silicon. When an AC voltage with a 180-degree phase is applied to two opposite electrodes, the ring has two resonance frequencies in mode n = 2, and when the AC voltage applied to two opposite electrodes is in the same phase, the ring has one resonance frequency regardless of the crystal orientation of silicon. Prototypes were fabricated using a double silicon-on-insulator-based wafer fabrication technique and were tested to verify the resonator performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document provides a summary of various scientific articles related to the drug ivermectin. The articles cover topics such as the solubility and dissolution enhancement of ivermectin, the development of topical formulations, the effects of polymers on drug solubility, and the potential anticancer properties of ivermectin. The articles also discuss the use of solid dispersion techniques to improve the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs and the application of biopharmaceutical classification systems in drug development. These articles offer valuable information for researchers and practitioners interested in the pharmacological effects and formulation strategies of ivermectin. [Extracted from the article]

The minimization of switching losses and the harmonic distortion of the output current are major challenges in high-power applications. This article validates the application of real-time simulation using Opal Real Time Simulation (OPAL-RT) to investigate the power quality of grid-connected photo voltaic (PV) system. The revamped hysteresis current controller (RHCC) for grid-tied inverter system is used for achieving nearly constant switching frequency, faster current tracking, and proper filtration of current in grid-connected PV systems. A hybrid method, combining arithmetic optimization algorithm and particle swarm optimization, is proposed for the first time in this article. Furthermore, it extracts global optima with less controlling parameters as it balances the exploitation and exploration stages. To improve the inverter's efficiency, the selection of an optimal switching frequency of RHCC plays a crucial role. The selection of switching frequency is considered as a trade-off between minimization of switching losses and reduction of harmonics. The duty cycle and inverter hysteresis bands are considered to be the design variables, whereas the current error and the switching frequency are assumed to be the objective functions to be minimized. The improved arithmetic optimization algorithm technique along with advanced controllers is compared with other algorithms by using Simulink/MATLAB environment and experimental setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel oxide (NiOx) is an optimum material for hole selective contacts and is extensively used in multiple photovoltaic technologies. The deposition of nickel oxide for photovoltaic applications is primarily performed with sputtering. In this paper, we will report on the deposition of nickel oxide thin film with aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD). Nickel nitrate hexahydrate was used as the nickel salt while the deposition was performed at 550 °C for a time of 15 min. The thin films as obtained showed a uniform surface morphology with a thickness of about 15 nm and a grain size of 40 nm. The AFM results showed a surface with a root-mean square surface roughness value varying between 1.69 to 2.23 nm. The XPS analysis showed that the NiOx layer is slightly non-stoichiometric with a slight excess of oxygen and can be denoted as NiO1.05. The current–voltage measurements showed a diode-like behaviour with a current density of 4.54 mA/cm2 obtained at 1 V. The combination of developing NiOx thin films with AACVD on silicon and using nickel nitrate as precursor along with showing the diode characteristics provide the novelty of this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultivated area of soybean has increased worldwide in past decades, including regions with saline soils, strongly decreasing growth and productivity. The use of amino acids (AAs) as buffering compounds against stressful conditions can be a useful strategy to mitigate salt stress in these regions. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of foliar application of AA mixtures on the growth, physiology, and biochemistry traits of salt-stressed soybean plants. A pot experiment was designed as a factorial scheme (4 × 3) in a randomized complete design (RCD). Treatments consisted of four concentrations of AA mixtures of a non-VA application, 0.4 mL L−1, 0.8 mL L−1, and 1.2 mL L−1 (VIUSID Agro® (VA) source), which were combined with non-salt stressed and salt-stressed groups (50 and 100 mmol L−1 NaCl), to analyze improvement in growth and potassium (K+) accumulation, maintenance of relative water content (RWC), net photosynthesis rate (A), transpiration (E), stomatal conductance (gs), and chlorophyll content, and increase of proline accumulation and water use efficiency (iWUE). Moderate and high salinity induced a notable increase in oxidative and ionic biomarkers, coupled with higher Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and Na+ accumulation. Alternatively, soybean growth, K+ accumulation, and physiological and biochemical parameters were decreased under salinity. Foliar spraying of AAs drastically increased osmolyte accumulation associated with sustained iWUE and RWC, increased proline accumulation, and improved A, E, gs, and chlorophyll content. Greater outcomes were achieved with the foliar spraying of amino acids at 1.2 mL L−1. Collectively, foliar application of AA mixtures plays an important role in salt stress remediation by modifying important physiological and biochemical processes, thereby resulting in a higher growth of soybean plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity is a severe abiotic problem that has harmful impacts on agriculture. Recently, biostimulants were defined as bioprotectant materials that promote plant growth and improve productivity under various stress conditions. In this study, we investigated the effect of Crataegus oxyacantha extract as a biostimulant on tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) grown under salt stress. Concentrations of 20 mg/L, 30 mg/L, and 70 mg/L of C. oxyacantha extract were applied to tomato plants that were grown under salt stress. The results indicated that plants that were treated with C. oxyacantha extract had a higher ability to tolerate salt stress, as demonstrated by a significant (p < 0.05) increase in plant growth and photosynthetic pigment contents, in addition to a significant increase in tomato soluble sugars and amino acids compared to the control plants. In the stressed tomato plants, malondialdehyde increased and then decreased significantly with the different concentrations of C. oxyacantha extract. Furthermore, there was a significant improvement in the antioxidant enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and glutathione reductase (GR) in the stressed plants, especially after treatment with 70 mg/L of the extract. Overall, our results suggest that C. oxyacantha extract could be a promising biostimulant for treating tomato plants under salinity stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor solubility is the major challenge involved in the formulation development of new chemical entities (NCEs), as more than 40% of NCEs are practically insoluble in water. Solid dispersion (SD) is a promising technology for improving dissolution and, thereby, the bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. This study investigates the influence of a pH-sensitive acrylate polymer, EPO, on the physicochemical properties of rosuvastatin calcium, an antihyperlipidemic drug. In silico docking was conducted with numerous polymers to predict drug polymer miscibility. The screened-out polymer was used to fabricate the binary SD of RoC in variable ratios using the co-grinding and solvent evaporation methods. The prepared formulations were assessed for physiochemical parameters such as saturation solubility, drug content and in vitro drug release. The optimized formulations were further ruled out using solid-state characterization (FTIR, DSC, XRD and SEM) and in vitro cytotoxicity. The results revealed that all SDs profoundly increased solubility as well as drug release. However, the formulation RSE-2, with a remarkable 71.88-fold increase in solubility, presented 92% of drug release in the initial 5 min. The molecular interaction studied using FTIR, XRD, DSC and SEM analysis evidenced the improvement of in vitro dissolution. The enhancement in solubility of RoC may be important for the modulation of the dyslipidemia response. Therefore, pharmacodynamic activity was conducted for optimized formulations. Our findings suggested an ameliorative effect of RSE-2 in dyslipidemia and its associated complications. Moreover, RSE-2 exhibited nonexistence of cytotoxicity against human liver cell lines. Convincingly, this study demonstrates that SD of RoC can be successfully fabricated by EPO, and have all the characteristics that are favourable for superior dissolution and better therapeutic response to the drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tracking of power in solar PV systems depends on controlling the voltage or current to the optimum level irrespective of changes in solar irradiation. There are two aspects of maximum power point tracking (MPPT), first is to control the voltage or current and second is to find the peak power with an algorithm. This work deals with both the aspects, using current control which provides fast control response and a momentum-based MPPT algorithm for improved peak tracking. Since current programmed control gives a simple implementation and fast response of converters, it would seem obvious to link it with current referenced MPPT but this method is prone to fail when irradiation drops suddenly, leading to control loss. Voltage oriented MPPT control (which has logarithmic dependance on irradiation), with an inner current control loop is used, as it maintains control even with step changes in irradiation. The second part of this work discusses the perturb and observe (hill climbing) algorithm for finding the power peak, which is known for its simple and effective implementation. A simple modification of this algorithm by adding momentum to the hill climbing is shown to improve the speed of tracking while maintaining the oscillations around maximum power point to acceptable levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is a crop that presents sensitivity to cold, especially in the germination phase, which leads to high economic losses. Alternative management forms are essential to increase tolerance to low temperatures, and seed priming represents a promising tool. The objective of this study was to investigate the priming effect of the aqueous extract of carrot roots on rice seeds to increase tolerance to low temperatures during germination. Seeds from cultivars BRS Querência (cold-susceptible) and Brilhante (cold-tolerant) were soaked for 24 h in concentrations of 0, 25, 50, and 100% carrot extract, sown on germitest paper and conditioned in BOD for 21 days at 15 °C. As a control, the seeds soaked in water were also germinated at 25 °C. They were evaluated for germination, first germination count, and germination speed index to calculate the stress indices: tolerance index, susceptibility index, and harmonic mean. They were also evaluated for the length and dry mass of shoot and root. The results showed that the rice seeds conditioning in carrot extract effectively reduces the damage caused by cold, significantly increasing the germination speed and the percentage of final germination and the growth evaluations, more expressive at 100% concentration. The stress indexes are efficient in estimating the tolerance of the cultivars and the effect of the different conditions in low-temperature conditions, highlighting the superiority of the Brilhante cultivar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discretionary lane change is an essential part of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) on freeway segments. Most existing studies were conducted to optimise the individual decision of discretionary lane change of CAVs. However, the effects of motion states and discretionary lane change decisions from the surrounding vehicles via vehicle to vehicle communication were ignored. To address such a problem, a game theory‐based lane change strategy is proposed to collaborate and optimise decisions of discretionary lane change between the CAVs. The payoff functions are formulated for three types of decision games and the payoff of each decision is quantitatively calculated considering the state information of surrounding vehicles. The Nash equilibrium is applied to find the optimal decision set for players. A simulation platform of a CAV environment built is used to conduct the simulation experiments. Various metrics are employed to evaluate the proposed strategy, such as total travel delay, surrogate safety measurement and wave number. The results show that the proposed lane change strategy using a game‐theoretical approach can effectively improve traffic operation, safety and oscillations compared to the baseline strategy. The proposed lane change strategy can further benefit the implementations of the CAVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The market penetration of intelligent vehicles is a long‐term process. In recent years, significant attention has been paid to the influence of technology market penetration rate (MPR) on efficiency at signalised intersections, but little attention has been given to such an influence on safety at non‐signalised intersections. In this study, the influence of the intersection collision warning (ICW) system MPR on safety at non‐signalised intersections is investigated. The authors built a Matlab‐based simulation platform where an ICW algorithm was implemented. The simulation was firstly conducted to verify their models. Then the simulation results of different MPRs were obtained and compared statistically. Collision probability, conflict index, and collision rate were analysed for safety evaluation. The overall results showed that vehicle safety at non‐signalised intersections improves with the increase of the ICW system MPR. Without considerations of inappropriateness and otherness of driver reaction to warnings, when the MPR is 20% and all vehicles are connected by vehicle‐to‐everything, the collision probability, conflict index, and collision rate can be reduced by around 20, 20, and 35%, respectively. The simulation method can establish a mapping relation between the ICW system MPRs and vehicle safety indices at non‐signalised intersections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoelectrochemical properties of p-nickel oxide (NiO) thin film deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) electrode, by combination of co-precipitation in aqueous media along with the dip-coating process, were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry techniques in sodium sulfate (NaSO) electrolyte solution. The electrochemical characterization measurements have shown that the FTO/p-NiO electrode presents sensitivity to UV light, as observed by the increased photo-induced current, exposed to a more negative potential. The photoelectrochemical parameters obtained were photocurrent response time (∆ t), photocurrent decay time (∆ t), and photocurrent density stability ( j, j − j). Besides, this electrode shows excellent performance for methylene blue degradation under UV light irradiation condition, with estimated k value of 170 × 10 min, which is nine times higher than the dark condition and about three times higher than NiO powder catalyst. Results presented here allow concluding that the p-NiO thin film stands as an important electrode material with technological potential to be used directly in environmental preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on medical topics discussed during the 2010 Gulf Thoracic Congress including the effect of antibiotic resistance on clinical outcomes, the impact of Ramadan fasting on the circadian sleep pattern, and the do not resuscitate (DNR) policy in Saudi Arabia.

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract  A nickel oxide film with a thickness of 445 nm was deposited from nickel acetate precursor using the sol–gel dip coating method. The NiO films exhibit optical transmission of 84% at 550 nm and direct energy gap (E gd) value is 3.64 eV. The FTIR spectrum of the films confirms the formation of Ni–O bond. XRD spectrum reveals the formation of nano crystallites along (111) and (200) planes with a particle size of 17 nm. The electrochromic properties have been studied using cyclic voltammetric (CV) technique. The optical transmission of a glass/FTO/NiO/ZrO2/FTO/glass EC device is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nickel oxide was prepared by anodic deposition in a basic solution comprising nickel chloride, ammonium chloride and ammonia. The influence of ammonia was investigated using galvanostatic reduction techniques and cyclic voltammetry (CV). It was found that the oxidization peak potentials shift positively with decreasing ammonia concentration, while the oxidization peak currents firstly increase with decreasing ammonia concentration and then decrease when the ammonia concentration is lower than 1.67 mol L−1. This is mainly attributed to the fact that the equilibrium concentration of Ni(OH)2(aq) varies with the ammonia concentration. A potential plateau at about 0.75 V was observed in galvanostatic reduction curves for nickel oxide, and the length of the potential plateau in solution with 1.67 mol L−1 ammonia concentration was longer than that in the other solutions, which agreed well with the CV results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fat grafting is considered one of the most precious armamentarium in the hand of plastic surgeons. The fat grafts consist of 2 components, adipocytes and stromal cells. The adipose tissue is a reserve of stem cells. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the adipocyte and stem cell viability in both mechanically processed and enzymatically digested fats. Patients and Methods: This in vitro study was conducted using 40 specimens collected from 20 patients who underwent liposuction procedures. Twenty specimens were mechanically processed (group A), whereas the remaining specimens were processed enzymetically (group B). Results: There were no statistically significant differences between fat cell viability between the 2 groups. On the contrary, there was statistically significant increase in stem cells in mechanically processed fat specimens (P = .001). Conclusion: Both the mechanically and chemically processed fat techniques are reliable techniques that provide fat and stem cells. Mechanical processing is easier and provides more stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected vehicles (CVs) are becoming increasingly prevalent in today's transportation systems, and understanding their behavior in mixed traffic flow is crucial for enhancing traffic efficiency and safety. This paper presents a comprehensive study investigating the impact of CV drivers' compliance and aggressiveness on mixed traffic flow through simulation experiments. The unique contribution of this research lies in the adoption of a clustering method to classify CV drivers' compliance and aggressiveness based on trajectory data captured by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This approach allows for the accurate calibration of car-following and lane-changing models, surpassing previous methodologies. The study outlines two primary methods: the intelligent driver model (IDM) with driver compliance (CVs-IDM) and the lane-change 2013 model with drivers' style. These methods are applied to simulate various scenarios of mixed traffic flow, considering different CV penetration rates and driver types. The pivotal findings reveal that higher CV penetration rates lead to reduced traffic flow disturbance, improved safety, and enhanced efficiency. Specifically, CV drivers exhibiting high compliance and normal aggressiveness demonstrate optimal performance in terms of disturbance reduction, safety, and overall efficiency. This research offers valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners. It recommends increasing the CV penetration rate in mixed traffic flow to enhance overall efficiency. Moreover, selecting the appropriate CV driver type based on the penetration rate can further optimize traffic flow, positively impacting transportation systems and promoting safer and more efficient mixed traffic environments., Author(s): Chenhao Qian [1]; Taojun Feng [2]; Zhiyuan Li [2]; Yanjun Ye [1]; Shengwen Yang (corresponding author) [1] 1. Introduction With the advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), it [...]

This study aims to estimate the severity of conflicts that may arise from the introduction of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) by examining the vehicle paths generated by microsimulations of mixed fleets of human-driven vehicles and CAVs with different levels of automation (L1-L4 vehicles). The study assesses the severity of conflicts using a holistic approach that considers three dimensions: (1) proximity to collision, via the time-to-collision (TTC) indicator; (2) potential consequences of a conflict, via single surrogate safety measures such as maximum speed (MaxS) and vehicle speed difference (DeltaS); and (3) a combination of both dimensions to assign severity scores, via TTC and velocity vectors. The study's findings suggest that moderate penetration rates of L3 and L4 vehicles (35-55%) show significant differences in the number of traffic conflicts with varying TTC values. Additionally, high penetration rates of L3 and L4 vehicles (above 55%) result in lower values of conflict consequences measures such as MaxS and DeltaS. Furthermore, the study shows that conflict consequences decrease if the follower is a L3 or L4 vehicle. The study's findings also reveal that there is a considerable reduction in high severity conflicts when the penetration rate of CAV levels reaches 50%, and the full operation of L4 vehicles results in a 75.5% reduction in high severity conflicts. Therefore, this study provides valuable insight into the potential severe conflicts during the transition period from manual vehicle operation to full CAV operation. Overall, the study's findings highlight the importance of assessing the severity of potential conflicts arising from the introduction of CAVs. By considering the proximity to collision and the potential consequences of conflicts, the study provides a comprehensive assessment of the severity of conflicts. This information can inform the development of policies and strategies to ensure the safe and responsible introduction of CAVs into our transportation systems., Author(s): Tasneem Miqdady [1]; Rocío de Oña (corresponding author) [1]; Juan de Oña [1] 1. Introduction The forthcoming introduction of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) on roads has motivated researchers [...]

Spatially aggregated data are prone to the effects of the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), which applies to built environments and traffic data. Although various studies have been carried out to explore the impact of built environment factors on traffic systems, few have considered MAUPs, which may result in statistical inconsistency. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of MAUPs on statistical variables and geographically weighted regression results when evaluating the influence of the built environment on the traffic system state. Fifty sets of spatial configurations were created using the different aggregation criteria. The variance inflation factor and spatial autocorrelation of the variables, as well as the R2 and root mean squared error of the GWR model, were used to assess the MAUP effect. The results show that the index variation is more dependent on the scale of the spatial unit than on zoning type. In the case study presented, based on the available dataset, the optimal spatial unit size for analyzing the influence of the built environment on Jinan's traffic system was 900m×900m., Author(s): Tian Li (corresponding author) [1,2,3]; Mengmeng Zhang [1,2]; Haobin Jiang [3]; Peng Jing [3] 1. Introduction Although increasing attention has been paid to the MAUP, it is still neglected [...]

As a primary stage of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), the cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) system takes some outstanding advantages such as accurate perception and timely reaction, which benefit from vehicular communication, over human-driven vehicles (HDVs). However, these advantages will turn into stability risks in case of communication failures caused by malicious attacks. Thus, this study aims at analyzing the stability of heterogeneous traffic flow with communication failures. We model two types of communication failures: bogus messages and transmission delay, and introduce drivers' takeovers to react to communication failures. As a result, heterogeneous traffic flow consists of normal CACC vehicles, CACC vehicles with communication failures, and HDVs. Then, a series of numerical analyses, including startup and braking analysis, incidents analysis, and density wave, are proposed to verify the theoretical models and demonstrate their major properties. Besides, a discussion on traffic capacity is presented to analyze the overall impact of communication failures on traffic flow characteristics. The findings can help to investigate the stability evolution of heterogeneous traffic flow and determine the appropriate traffic flow configuration under communication failures., Author(s): Xuedong Hua [1,2]; Weijie Yu (corresponding author) [1,2]; Wei Wang [1,2] 1. Introduction In recent years, intelligence agents with connection characteristics have attracted much attention, especially in the field [...]

One goal for large-scale deployment of connected and autonomous vehicles is to achieve the traffic safety benefit since connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) could reduce the collision risk by enhancing the driver's situation perception ability. Previous studies have analyzed the safety impact of CAVs involved in traffic, but only few studies examined the safety benefits brought by CAVs when approaching high-collision-risk road segments such as the freeway crash hotspots. This study chooses one freeway crash hotspot in Wuhan, China, as an instance and attempts to estimate the safety benefits for differential penetration rates (PRs) of CAVs using the surrogate safety assessment model (SSAM). First, the freeway crash hotspot is identified with kernel density estimation and simulated by VISSIM. Then, the intelligent driver model (IDM) and Wiedemann 99 (a car-following model) are adopted and calibrated to control the driving behaviors of CAVs and human-driven vehicles (HVs) in this study, respectively. The impact that rather CAVs are constrained with or without managed lanes on traffic safety is also discussed, and the PR of CAVs is set from 10% to 90%. The results of this study show that when the PR of CAVs is lower than 50%, there is no significant improvement on the safety measures such as conflicts, acceleration, and velocity difference, which are extracted from the vehicle trajectory data using SSAM. When the penetration rate is over 70%, the experiment results demonstrate that the traffic flow passing the freeway hotspot is with fewer conflicts, smaller acceleration, and smaller velocity difference in the scenario where CAVs are constrained with managed lane compared with the scenario without managed lane control. The safety benefit that CAVs bring needs to be discussed. The lane management of CAVs will also lead to distinct safety impact., Author(s): Hui Zhang [1,2]; Ninghao Hou [1,2]; Jianhua Zhang (corresponding author) [1,2,3]; Xuyi Li [1,2]; Yan Huang [1,2] 1. Introduction As vehicle-to-everything (V2X), vehicle sensors, on-board computers, and calculating efficiency [...]

Human error is one of the leading causes of accidents. Distraction, fatigue, poor visibility, speeding, and other such errors made by drivers can cause accidents. With the rapid advancements in automation technologies, transportation planners have strived to use Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to minimize human error. In this study, the effect of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) on the number of potential conflicts at two unsignalized intersections is investigated by using a microsimulation model in PTV Vissim software. For human-driven cars, the factor that is considered for calibration is driver distraction mainly caused by reading or writing text messages on a cellphone while driving. This factor can be estimated using driving simulators. In this paper, five different scenarios were defined for simulation, in addition to the primary state, according to the different market penetration rates of AVs in Vissim. Safety assessment was performed by the Surrogate Safety Assessment Model (SSAM) using Time to Collision (TTC) and Deceleration Rate to Avoid Crashes (DRAC) indicators to determine the number of accidents. It was concluded that the presence of 100% of AVs could reduce the potential for accidents by up to 93%., Author(s): Mohammad Khashayarfard [1]; Habibollah Nassiri (corresponding author) [1] 1. Introduction An autonomous vehicle (AV) does not require direct driver intervention for certain functions such as steering control, acceleration, and [...]

Vehicle platooning service through wireless communication and automated driving technology has become a reality. Vehicle platooning means that several vehicles travel like a train on the road with a minimum safety distance, which leads to the enhancement of safety, mobility, and energy savings. This study proposed a framework for exploring traffic mobility and safety performance due to the market penetration rate (MPR) of truck platoons based on microscopic traffic simulations. A platoon formation algorithm was developed and run on the VISSIM platform to simulate automated truck maneuvering. As a result of the mobility analysis, it was found that the difference in network mobility performance was not significant up to MPR 80%. Regarding the mobility performance of the truck-designated lane, it was found that the average speed was lower than in other lanes. In the truck-designated lane of the on-ramp section, the average speed was identified to be approximately 33% lower. From the viewpoint of network safety, increasing the MPR of the truck platoon has a positive effect on longitudinal safety but has a negative effect on lateral safety. The safety analysis of the truck-designated lane indicated that the speed difference by lane of MPR 100% is 2.5 times higher than that of MPR 0%. This study is meaningful in that it explores traffic flow performance on mobility and safety in the process of platoon formation. The outcomes of this study are expected to be utilized as fundamentals to support the novel traffic operation strategy in platooning environments., Author(s): Seolyoung Lee [1]; Cheol Oh (corresponding author) [2]; Gunwoo Lee [1] 1. Introduction The development of automated vehicles technology is expected to transform the roads now used as movement [...]