Search Results (3)

Proper road network maintenance is essential for ensuring safety, reducing transportation costs, and improving fuel efficiency. Traditional pavement condition assessments rely on specialized equipment, limiting the frequency and scope of inspections due to technical and financial constraints. In response, crowdsourcing data from connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) offers an innovative alternative. CAVs, equipped with sensors and accelerometers by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), continuously gather real-time data on road conditions. This study evaluates the feasibility of using CAV data to assess pavement condition through the International Roughness Index (IRI). By comparing CAV-derived data with traditional pavement auscultation results, various thresholds were established to quantitatively and qualitatively define pavement conditions. The results indicate a moderate positive correlation between the two datasets, particularly in segments with good-to-satisfactory surface conditions (IRI 1 to 2.5 dm/km). Although the IRI values from CAVs tended to be slightly lower than those from auscultation surveys, this difference can be attributed to driving behavior. Nonetheless, our analysis shows that CAV data can be used to reliably identify pavement conditions, offering a scalable, non-destructive, and continuous monitoring solution. This approach could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of traditional road inspection campaigns. Full article

Sex identification through coelioscopy is a minimally invasive surgical technique used to determine the sex of chelonians by directly visualizing their internal reproductive organs. An adequate anaesthesiologic plan is essential to guarantee patient immobilization and proper analgesia during the entire surgical procedure. In this study, we evaluated the effects of a combination of dexmedetomidine (0.05 mg/kg), midazolam (1 mg/kg), ketamine (8 mg/kg), and morphine (1 mg/kg) (DMKM) randomly delivered intramuscularly (IM) or subcutaneously (SC) in twenty-one Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) into the right antebrachium for celioscopic sex identification. Heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), and body temperature (BT) were measured, along with the skeletal muscle tone of the thoracic and pelvic limbs, neck retraction reflex, palpebral reflex, and jaw tone every 15 min. The anaesthesiologic plan was considered to be adequate at the loss of the thoracic and pelvic limb retraction reflexes. After a 45 min interval, if the anaesthetic plan was deemed insufficient for the celioscopic procedure, a 5 mg/kg dose of propofol was administered intravenously into the subcarapacial venous plexus. At the end of the procedure, atipamezole (0.5 mg/kg) and flumazenil (0.05 mg/kg) were administered intramuscularly into the left antebrachium as reversal agents. Both HR and RR decreased from baseline to both 15 and 30 min. Due to the persistence of thoracic and pelvic limb retraction reflexes 45 min after DMKM administration, 6/11 (55%) cases in the SC group required the additional administration of propofol, in contrast to only 1/10 (10%) cases in the IM group (p = 0.05). The recovery times were comparable between the successfully induced animals in the IM and SC groups. In this study, the intramuscular administration of a DMKM combination quickly produced chemical restraint, suitable for celioscopic sex determination. Full article

The clinical application of different relative biological effectiveness (RBE) models for carbon ion RBE-weighted dose calculation hinders a global consensus in defining normal tissue constraints. This work aims to update the local effect model (LEM)-based constraints for the rectum using microdosimetric kinetic model (mMKM)-defined values, relying on RBE translation and the analysis of long-term clinical outcomes. LEM-optimized plans of treated patients, having suffered from prostate adenocarcinoma (n = 22) and sacral chordoma (n = 41), were recalculated with the mMKM using an in-house developed tool. The relation between rectum dose-volume points in the two RBE systems (D_LEM|v and D_MKM|v) was fitted to translate new LEM-based constraints. Normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) values, predicting late rectal toxicity, were obtained by applying published parameters. No late rectal toxicity events were reported within the patient cohort. The rectal toxicity outcome was confirmed using dosimetric analysis: D_MKMVHs lay largely below original constraints; the translated D_LEM|v values were 4.5%, 8.3%, 18.5%, and 35.4% higher than the nominal D_MKM|v of the rectum volume, v—1%, 5%, 10% and 20%. The average NTCP value ranged from 5% for the prostate adenocarcinoma, to 0% for the sacral chordoma group. The redefined constraints, to be confirmed prospectively with clinical data, are D_LEM|5cc ≤ 61 Gy(RBE) and D_LEM|1cc ≤ 66 Gy(RBE). Full article