Driving Simulator Study for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Virtual Warnings to Improve the Safety of Interaction Between Cyclists and Vehicles

Globally, cyclists account for 3% of all road traffic deaths, with the highest percentage occurring in Europe (8%) where the bicycle is considered a true alternative mode of transport. Among the causes of crashes are vehicles overtaking cyclists, especially on rural roads. In this study, a new application of augmented reality (AR) warnings for connected vehicles is tested by means of a driving simulator. The overall objective of the study consists in assessing the effectiveness of three proposed AR systems in improving the safety of interactions between vehicles and cyclists, especially during overtaking maneuvers. The AR systems were tested on a sample of 46 drivers and provided them with additional virtual visual information aimed at improving the driver’s risk perception and assessment of safe distance from a cyclist. The virtual warning configurations were: (i) a yellow safety zone around the cyclist; (ii) a color-changing safety zone that changes from red to green when the driver has safe lateral space to overtake the cyclist; (iii) the same color-changing security zone but with an additional acoustic warning. The AR warnings were found to be quite effective as they helped drivers overtake cyclists more safely. With AR warnings (especially with the additional audio), it was found that drivers adopted longer distances from cyclists and entered the oncoming lane less frequently, thus lowering the risk of collision with cyclists as well as the risk of head-on collision with oncoming vehicles.

Integrated Physiological, Biomechanical, and Subjective Responses for the Selection of Assistive Level in Pedelec Cycling

In recent decade, pedelec has become one of the most popular transportation modes due to its effectiveness in reducing physical effort. The effects of using pedelec as an alternative mode of exercise were explored in previous studies. However, the effects of pedelec parameters were not quantified for the self-selected gear ratio, random riding speed, and varied road slopes, which restricted its application. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of gear ratio and assistive torque and to determine the optimum riding condition regarding physiological, biomechanical, and subjective responses of the rider. The riding tests consisted of simulated slope (1.0 vs. 2.5% grade), gear ratio (light vs. heavy), and assistive levels (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2), and the tests were conducted in a randomized order. A total of 19 non-athletes completed the riding tests to evaluate physiological [metabolic equivalent of task (MET), heart rate, and gross efficiency (GE)], biomechanical [muscle activity (expressed as reference voluntary contraction, RVC) and power output], and subjective responses [rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and sense of comfort (SC)]. The test conditions induced moderate to vigorous intensities (3.7–7.4 METs, 58.5–80.3% of maximal heart rate, 11.1–29.5% of RVC rectus femoris activity, and 9.4–14.2 RPEs). The effects of gear ratio and assistive level on the physiological responses were significant. Riding with the heavy gear ratio showed advantages in METs and GE. For the optimum assistive level selection, low GE and limited improvement in subjective responses suggested the impact of low-power output conditions. Overall, for the health pedelec commuters, riding with 0.75 W/kg power output with 50 rpm cadence is recommended to obtain the moderate intensity (4.7 METs) and the advantages in GE and subjective feelings. Moreover, the findings can be applied to exercise intensity control and save battery energy effectively in varying riding conditions.

Long-Term Patterns of Change in the Commercialisation of Cocoa in Ghana: Forest Frontiers and Technological Transformation

The commercialisation of cocoa production in Ghana has a long history dating back to the nineteenth century. The process of commercial development in cocoa is well documented and provides an alternative mode to contemporary models of commercialisation rooted in the adoption of modern technology and integration of farmers into markets. This working paper critically analyses frameworks for agricultural commercialisation in cocoa through intensification based on the uptake of synthetic inputs and hybrid seeds, by placing agricultural development within a broader framework of the historical development of the frontier in Ghana, and the related problems of ecological and economic crises. The study examines access to land, labour and technology, and how the complex interactions of scarcity of access to physical resources and labour influence farmers’ farming strategies and adoption of technology.

Active Coastlines: Implementing a sustainable transport scheme for Evans Bay, Wellington

<p>With the rise of popularity in cars and the decrease of public open space in our urban centres, there is an increasing pressure to find alternative modes of transportation. Human powered transport in New Zealand is becoming more popular over the last decade, however it is often let down by the isolation and functionality of the existing infrastructure. Active transport can be understood as an alternative mode that is strictly human powered - whether it be cycling, walking, jogging, scootering or other modes allowing for a more sustainable network. The current infrastructure development is evolved around vehicular transport and other modes are considered secondary, further highlighting our cultural reliance on the motor vehicle. This research aims to reconfigure how sustainable transport is considered, in order to promote and implement active transport into our cities. Creating a sustainable link with the exclusion of cars, offers the opportunity to establish a unique sequence of spaces that is responsive to the human scale and environment. Landscape Architecture has the ability to adapt and restore natural systems in conjunction with public spaces to build healthier and environmentally conscious communities. The proposed site for this research is Evans Bay, located in the centre of the harbour in Wellington, New Zealand. The public spaces following the bay suffer intense degradation to the natural ecologies, due to urban development and weather conditions. The current cycleway is a disconnected and unsafe path for local commuters to travel through. The research aims to re-develop the Evans Bay esplanade into a diverse active highway, offering all active modes a safer path. The design will be responsive and inclusive to ecological and communal factors producing a multitude of spaces for Wellington’s sustainable network.</p>

Active Coastlines: Implementing a sustainable transport scheme for Evans Bay, Wellington

<p>With the rise of popularity in cars and the decrease of public open space in our urban centres, there is an increasing pressure to find alternative modes of transportation. Human powered transport in New Zealand is becoming more popular over the last decade, however it is often let down by the isolation and functionality of the existing infrastructure. Active transport can be understood as an alternative mode that is strictly human powered - whether it be cycling, walking, jogging, scootering or other modes allowing for a more sustainable network. The current infrastructure development is evolved around vehicular transport and other modes are considered secondary, further highlighting our cultural reliance on the motor vehicle. This research aims to reconfigure how sustainable transport is considered, in order to promote and implement active transport into our cities. Creating a sustainable link with the exclusion of cars, offers the opportunity to establish a unique sequence of spaces that is responsive to the human scale and environment. Landscape Architecture has the ability to adapt and restore natural systems in conjunction with public spaces to build healthier and environmentally conscious communities. The proposed site for this research is Evans Bay, located in the centre of the harbour in Wellington, New Zealand. The public spaces following the bay suffer intense degradation to the natural ecologies, due to urban development and weather conditions. The current cycleway is a disconnected and unsafe path for local commuters to travel through. The research aims to re-develop the Evans Bay esplanade into a diverse active highway, offering all active modes a safer path. The design will be responsive and inclusive to ecological and communal factors producing a multitude of spaces for Wellington’s sustainable network.</p>

Reflections on an academic life

David Harvey traces his intellectual journey reflecting on what he calls “the central animating theme of his thinking” starting from his days as a positivist geographer and the publication of Explanation. Harvey clarifies that his transition from Explanations to Social Justice, which has often been touted as a radical-epistemological break in his work should actually be seen as a complimentary productive tension. In making this transition, Harvey decided to reject the scientific orthodoxy of positivist science and instead, use dialectics derived from Marx as alternative mode of scientific inquiry. Harvey narrates his Baltimore experience of combatting local racial discrimination as formative in his understandings of the motions of capital and dynamics of uneven development thus imbricating personal politics and Marx's theory of capitalism in his work ever after. Harvey also recalls how teaching of Capital furthered his exploration of the urban condition and accumulation of capital, ultimately leading to the concept of “spatial fix.” Conditions of Postmodernity contends Harvey, taught him the importance of gender and feminist perspective and Justice, Nature written under extreme physical, professional, intellectual duress was intended to bring the “metabolic relation to nature” at the forefront. Economic liberalism propelled Harvey to introspect on his many volumes on the global neoliberal conditions, which he argues is now imbricated with issues of identity and intersectionality involving Black Lives and Me too. Harvey concludes that his intellectual journey has been a preoccupation to understand “contradictory unity between social relations in constant transformation” through Marx's power of abstraction to imagine an “anti-capitalist” future.

Sexual Reproduction in Dinoflagellates—The Case of Noctiluca scintillans and Its Ecological Implications

Noctiluca scintillans is a larger, bioluminescent red-tide dinoflagellate (400–1,000 μm in diameter) that reproduces by sexual or asexual reproduction (binary fission). The process of sexual reproduction in N. scintillans has been thoroughly studied, but the ecological role and the mechanism of shifting from asexual to sexual reproduction have not been fully elucidated. It is believed, however, that sexual reproduction occurs when N. scintillans faces environmental stress. In this study, we tried to determine which factors drive N. scintillans to undergo sexual reproduction and we considered sexual reproduction’s ecological role. We cultured N. scintillans under different conditions of temperature, N. scintillans cell concentration, prey concentration, cultivation time, cultivation volume, light exposure time and physical vibration (simulated wave motion), and counted gametocyte mother cells every 24 h to calculate how the sexual reproduction rate changed over the experimental period. Rises in the sexual reproduction rate or the concentration of gametocyte mother cells only occurred in response to large variations in prey concentration, typically after the exponential phase of N. scintillans population growth. A noticeable upsurge in gametocyte mother cells, from 1% or less to nearly 10% of the total N. scintillans population, occurred when the prey concentration fell below ∼400 cells/mL. This implies that a sudden decrease in prey concentration induces more N. scintillans to shift from trophonts to gametocyte mother cells. We suggest that sexual reproduction may occur in N. scintillans as a response to the post-bloom situation when the dinoflagellate’s food supply has been dramatically depleted, producing large numbers of gametes for an alternative mode of survival after the end of each bloom.

Is Cycling an Attractive Transport Solution in a Mediterranean City?

By exploiting the opinion of the society in a Mediterranean city, this paper identifies the mechanisms behind utility cycling and determines the aspects of using the bike in cities for daily commuting. This study focused on the assessment of biking as an alternative mode of transport within a typical Mediterranean city in Crete. Limited road safety is the principal reason that hinders 60% of respondents from cycling, and 41% from riding more frequently. The survey results are congruent with this statement, provided a significant difference in the ratios of actual recreational cyclists (39%) and those who like to ride for entertainment, but they hesitate (71%). In order to quantify this, the attitude of the bikers was grouped in two fact factors influencing: the clothing and the technological one. Based on the opinion of the local society, high priority policies are recommended, such as proper infrastructure, sensitization campaigns, and education programs.

[18F]Fluoromethylcholine PET/CT for CNS lymphoma assessment: a new tool

Background Central nervous system (CNS) lymphomas are a rare subset of lymphoma, which are associated with a poor outcome. The gold standard for CNS imaging is with gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, there are a number of limitations, including some patients with small persistent abnormalities from scarring due to focal haemorrhage or from a previous biopsy, which can be difficult to discern from residual tumour. [18F]Fluoromethylcholine positron emission tomography–computed tomography (FCH-PET/CT) uses an analogue of choline, which due to the upregulation of choline kinase in tumour cells, allows increased uptake of FCH. As there is minimal background grey matter uptake of FCH, FCH-PET/CT can be used in CNS imaging and provide a useful tool for response assessment. Methods This is a cohort study, where we identified 40 patients with a diagnosis of primary or secondary CNS lymphoma between 1st November 2011 and 10th October 2019. Results 26 of the 40 patients (65%) had concordant results. Of the discordant results, 11 out of 14 had partial response (PR) on MRI but showed a metabolic complete response (mCR) on FCH-PET. The overall response rates (ORR) were similar between the two modalities (90% for MRI versus 95% with FCT-PET/CT). Conclusion We conclude that FCH-PET/CT is a reasonable alternative mode of imaging to gadolinium-enhanced MRI brain imaging, providing a new tool for assessment of CNS lymphoma.

Critical Institutions: Alternative Modes of Institutionalisation in Derrida's Engagements

In this article, I consider the role of institutions in Jacques Derrida's political engagement. In spite of Derrida's significant involvement with political causes throughout his life, his engagements have received little sustained attention, and this is particularly true of his work with institutions. I turn to two such cases, the Collège international de philosophie and the Parlement international des écrivains and argue that these represent an alternative mode of institutionalisation. These institutions seek to destabilise other institutions as well as themselves. Looking closely at the institutions that Derrida founded, we see three common characteristics emerge. These institutions are anti-hegemonic, self-reflexive and international. I then connect these to Derrida's thought, offering a reading of the undecidable, which brings forth the importance of conventions in the decision. Finally, I demonstrate that the three shared characteristics of Derrida's institutions form part of an effort to open up space for the possibility of alterity. Through this, and beyond a distinction between theory/practice, we come to see Derrida's institutional engagements as an active form of critique, both of other institutions and themselves.