Obtaining device parameters of thermal microsensors is essential for evaluating their performances and simulation modeling. We report an ac electrical method for extracting these parameters experimentally with relatively simple instrumentation. The basic parameters of resistive microsensors, the resistance, temperature coefficient of resistance, thermal capacitance, and conductance, are derivab...

This paper presents a new competitive learning algorithm for data clustering, named the dynamically penalized rival competitive learning algorithm (DPRCA). It is a variant of the rival penalized competitive algorithm [1] and it performs appropriate clustering without knowing the clusters number, by automatically driving extra seed points far away from the input data set. It doesn’t have the "de...

OBJECTIVE To find an association between cognitive-perceptual problems of older drivers and unsafe driving performance during simulated automobile driving in a virtual environment. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING A driver evaluation clinic in a rehabilitation hospital. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-five drivers aged 65 years or older and 48 drivers in their late twenties to early forties. ME...

OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS, MAJOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE PREVALENCE OF SLEEPINESS AND SLEEP DISORDERS AMONG general population.1-3 Sleepiness at the wheel2,4 has been identified as one of the major reasons for highway accidents and fatal crashes. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) have a much higher risk of accidents than drivers without nocturnal breathing ...

Gear-position-decision (GPD) tactics strongly affect the performances of automatic transmissions (AT) and, therefore, the performance of the vehicle. Since the electronic control methods were introduced into ATs, many advanced techniques have been raised tomakeAT vehiclesmore human friendly and better in fuel economy and dynamic behaviors. As a type of emerging AT, the automated manual transmis...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate driving performance, cognition, and balance in patients with chronic nonmalignant pain before and after the addition of transdermal fentanyl to their treatments. DESIGN Prospective, one-group pretest-posttest design. SETTING Outpatient pain center associated with a large, urban medical school. INTERVENTIONS Patients taking less than a 15-mg equivalent of oxycodone pe...

In this article a quantitative analysis was devised assessing driver's cognition responses by exploring the neurobiological information underlying electroencephalographic (EEG) brain signals in a left and right turning experiment on simulator environment. Driving brain signals have been collected by a 19-channel electroencephalogram recording system. The driving pathway has been selected with n...

The objective of the current study was to assess the separate and combined effects of marijuana and alcohol on actual driving performance. Eighteen subjects were treated with drugs and placebo according to a balanced, 6-way, crossover design. On separate evenings they were given weight calibrated Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) doses of 0, 100 and 200 &mgr;g/kg with and without an alcohol d...

The situational factors associated with youthful driving while intoxicated (DWI) and riding with an impaired driver (RWID) are examined. Data were collected from separate samples of youth who had driven while impaired by alcohol and who had ridden with an alcohol-impaired driver. The purpose of the study was to determine whether there are consistent situational factors associated with DWI and R...

The TiO 2 support phase composition (anatase/rutile ratio) directly impacts key factors such as the metal–support interaction and nanoparticle size driving Co catalyst performances in ?-valerolactone hydrogenation to 2-methyltetrahydrofuran.