Search Results (54)

Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UCMSCs)-derived small extracellular vehicles (sEVs) are reported to offer therapeutic effects in regenerative medicine, but they lack safety and biodistribution profiles to support smooth translation at the clinical stage and regulatory requirements. Our study aimed to determine the safety and biodistribution profile in a healthy animal model before application in the metabolic syndrome model. Method: Healthy male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were given an intravenous (IV) injection of normal saline (control group) or pooled fetal UCMSCs-derived sEVs (treated group) every three weeks for 90 days. Morbidity and mortality observation (daily), physical measurements (weekly), selected serum biochemistry (every three weeks), and hematology (every three weeks) were performed for 90 days. Acute toxicity (on day 14) and sub-chronic toxicity (on day 90) were assessed for gross necropsy, relative organ weight, and histopathological assessment of lungs, liver, spleen, kidney, and lymph nodes. Separately, a biodistribution study was conducted with the sEVs preparations labeled with PKH26 fluorescent dye, given intravenously to the rats. The organs were harvested 24 h post-injection. There were no drastic changes in either group’s morbidity or mortality, physical, hematological, and biochemistry evaluation. The histopathological assessment concluded moderate (focal) inflammation in the treated group’s kidneys and signs of recovery from the inflammation and vascular congestion in the liver. A biodistribution study revealed a higher accumulation of sEVs in the spleen. Multiple IV injections of the pooled fetal UCMSCs-derived sEVs in healthy male SD rats were deemed safe. The sEVs were abundantly distributed in the spleen 24 h post-injection. Full article

In structural and bridge engineering, the axle weights and interaxle spacings of heavy trucks are useful for assessing the capacity of existing bridges, developing live load models, and other issues. Weigh-in-motion data have become the most common source for recording axle weights and interaxle spacings; however, information is not as direct and may not be as precise as that from static surveys. Surveying vehicles by stopping them beside the highway is not common nowadays; nevertheless, surveys provide very reliable information on truck axle weights and interaxle spacing. In this study, data from three surveys on two Mexican highways recorded in 2016 and 2018 are provided. The data contain the gross vehicular weights, axle weights, and interaxle spacings of heavy trucks. The discussion is given as to how the provided information can be useful for the bridge and transportation engineering community and for reliability and code calibration tasks for Mexican bridges and a future design code for bridges in Mexico City. It is concluded that statistical values are consistent with WIM data, with differences due to different methods used, recording time, samples size and others, and that trucks heavier than the legal weight circulate in Mexican highways; static surveys are useful to strongly support this important issue. Further research to compare samples from different surveying techniques, as well as the use of the information to investigate load effects on bridges, is recommended. Full article

The eradication of poliovirus remains a global health priority, with inactivated polio vaccines (IPVs) playing a pivotal role in immunization strategies. Over the past decades, advancements in IPV production have focused on optimizing safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity while addressing vaccine production and logistical challenges. This paper discusses a novel IPV candidate, ultraIPV^TM, which departs from conventional formalin inactivation and uses a modern ultraviolet C (UVC) inactivation technology that includes a powerful antioxidant that protects virus epitopes from damage during and after irradiation. The potential of UVC inactivation to maintain structural integrity and immunogenicity of viral antigens, while circumventing safety issues with conventional vaccines, could bolster global polio eradication efforts and holds promise for applications to numerous other viral pathogens. Wistar rats were immunized with three dosages of ultraIPV^TM, IPOL^R, or vehicle alone. Immune responses were analyzed by whole-virus ELISA and antiviral neutralizing responses. Toxicity was analyzed primarily by increases in body weight and cytokine ELISA. Tolerability was analyzed by gross pathological and histological examinations. ultraIPV^TM was determined to be immunogenic and non-toxic. No pathological or histological abnormalities related to the vaccine were observed. The data suggest that ultraIPV^TM is immunogenic and well-tolerated in rats. Full article

In vehicle GNSS/INS integrated navigation, robust and adaptive algorithms have become one of the key technologies for achieving a comprehensive PNT due to their ability to control the gross errors of the observation model and dynamic model. The Sage–Husa algorithm is widely used in optimizing the Kalman filter due to its ability to estimate the observation or state covariance without prior information. However, the quality of observations in complex environments is prone to large fluctuations, so the averaging method is not suitable for dynamic navigation. To solve this problem, this article designs a double window structure and introduces a time-dependent fading weighted factor. At the same time, a logarithmic form factor constructor is proposed in order to avoid anomalies in the robust and adaptive factor. The traditional innovation adaptive filter is improved and turned into a multi-factor adaptive filter. In this paper, an improved fault detection algorithm is used to combine a robust algorithm with an adaptive algorithm to adapt to different gross errors in different scenarios. The experimental results of complex scenarios show that the position RMSE of the improved algorithm in the east, north, and height directions is 0.68 m, 0.71 m, and 1.05 m, respectively, which are reduced by 39.3%, 39.3%, and 70.3% compared to the EKF. Full article

This paper presents an improved model of the interaction among transport system elements, which identifies six levels of interaction and their analysis. A framework of eight factors (criteria) and their interactions that improve the quality of life is developed. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, Average Rank Transformation into Weight, and rank correlation methods were used to calculate the normalized weights and compatibility indicators of the 54 expert criteria. The results show that the most significant improvements in quality of life are the development of transport infrastructure and its quality, the reduction of road traffic accidents, and the reduction of environmental pollution caused by the transport sector, all of which directly contribute to a sustainable urbanized society. The improvement in quality of life is least affected by the increase in the number of vehicles and their technical parameters, as well as by the increase in the share of the country’s Gross Domestic Product generated in the transport sector. The variance of the weights of the criteria was shown to depend on the different magnitudes of the fundamental scale of the pairwise comparison chosen by the experts, the variance (stability) of the experts’ personal opinions, and the net variance of the weights assigned to the criteria by the expert team. The results of this study can be used to develop a national or regional transport sector development strategy that takes into account the factors that have the greatest impact on quality of life. Full article

Weigh-in-motion systems can measure the number of axles to obtain a vehicle’s type and upper limit of weight, which, combined with the weight measured by the system, can be used for highway toll collection and overload management. This paper proposes a new modular system based on multi-sensor fusion and neural network axle recognition to address issues concerning the high failure rate of axle recognition devices and low weighing accuracy. We use a modular system consisting of multiple weighing platforms, enabling whole-vehicle-load weighing with multiple vehicles traveling through platforms. In addition, we propose a sequential generation model based on a Transformer and Gated Recurrent Unit to calculate the weighing signal generated by the weighing sensors, and then obtain the number of axles and the gross vehicle weight. Finally, the axle recognition algorithm and modular systems are tested in multiple scenarios. The accuracy of the axle recognition is 99.51% and 99.84% in the test set and the toll station, respectively. The weighing error of the modular system in the test field is less than 0.5%, and 99.18% of vehicles had an error of less than 5% at the toll station. The modular system has the advantages of high accuracy, consistent performance, and high traffic efficiency. Full article

Weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems aim to estimate a vehicle’s weight by measuring static wheel loads as it passes at highway speed over roadway-embedded sensors. Vehicle oscillations and the resulting dynamic load components are critical factors affecting measurements and limiting accuracy. As of now, a satisfactory solution has yet to be found. This paper discusses a novel correction approach that fuses WIM sensor data with wheel oscillation captured by cameras. In an experiment, a hard plastic speed bump was placed ahead of a piezoelectric WIM sensor to induce oscillation in trucks crossing the WIM sensor. Three high-speed cameras captured the motion of the wheels. The results show that the proposed method improved the accuracy of the measured gross weight for significant wheel oscillations, while no improvement is observed for smaller oscillation amplitudes. Full article

The development of systems for weighing vehicles in motion aims to introduce systems allowing automatic enforcement of regulations. HSWIM (high speed weight-in-motion) systems enable measurement of a mass of vehicles passing through a measurement station without disturbing the traffic flow. This article focuses on the calibration of a weighing station for moving vehicles, where strain gauge sensors are used to measure pressures. A solution was proposed to replace the calibration coefficients with calibration functions. The analysis was performed for two methods of determining wheel loads: based on the maximum of the signal from strain gauge sensors and on a method using the field under the signal and the vehicle’s speed. Calibration functions were determined jointly for all test vehicles and separately for each of them. The use of a calibration function for a specific vehicle type made it possible to determine wheel pressure and gross weight with a level of accuracy that allowed the weigh-in-motion station to be classified as a direct enforcement system. The achieved improvement in the accuracy of weighing in motion did not require any interference with the measurement station. The proposed change in the method of calibration and, ultimately, determination of wheel loads required only a change in the algorithm for determining wheel loads. Full article

This research presents an approach to the hybrid energy harvesting paradigm (HEHP) based on suspended energy harvest. It uses a harvesting vibration absorber (HVA) with an SC/NMC-lithium battery hybrid energy storage paradigm (SCB-HESP) equipped regenerative braking system (SCB-HESP-RBS) for electric vehicles 2 tons in gross weight (MEVs) driven by a 30 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). During regenerative braking, the ANN mechanism controls the RBS to adjust the switching waveform of the three-phase power inverter, and the braking energy transfers to the energy storage device. Additionally, a supercapacitor (SC) equipped with HVA can absorb energy from vehicle vibrations and convert it into electrical energy. The energy-harvesting efficiency of MEV based on SCB-HESP-RBS using HVA suspended energy harvesting enhances the efficiency maximum to 50.58% and 15.36% in comparison to MEV with only-HVA and SCB-HESP-RBS, respectively. Further, the MEV with SCB-HESP-RBS using HVA has a driving distance of up to 247.34 km (22.5 cycles) when compared with SCB-HESP-RBS (214.40 km, 19.5 cycles) and only-HVA (164.25 km, 15 cycles). Full article

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is widely used for its high accuracy, wide coverage, and strong real-time performance. However, limited by the navigation signal mechanism, satellite signals in urban canyons, bridges, tunnels, and other environments are seriously affected by non-line-of-sight and multipath effects, which greatly reduce positioning accuracy and positioning continuity. In order to meet the positioning requirements of human and vehicle navigation in complex environments, it was necessary to carry out this research on the integration of multiple signal sources. The Fifth Generation (5G) signal possesses key attributes, such as low latency, high bandwidth, and substantial capacity. Simultaneously, 5G Base Stations (BSs), serving as a fundamental mobile communication infrastructure, extend their coverage into areas traditionally challenging for GNSS technology, including indoor environments, tunnels, and urban canyons. Based on the actual needs, this paper proposes a system algorithm based on 5G and GNSS joint positioning, aiming at the situation that the User Equipment (UE) only establishes the connection with the 5G base station with the strongest signal. Considering the inherent nonlinear problem of user position and angle measurements in 5G observation, an angle cosine solution is proposed. Furthermore, enhancements to the Sage–Husa Adaptive Kalman Filter (SHAKF) algorithm are introduced to tackle issues related to observation weight distribution and adaptive updates of observation noise in multi-system joint positioning, particularly when there is a lack of prior information. This paper also introduces dual gross error detection adaptive correction of the forgetting factor based on innovation in the iterative Kalman filter to enhance accuracy and robustness. Finally, a series of simulation experiments and semi-physical experiments were conducted. The numerical results show that compared with the traditional method, the angle cosine method reduces the average number of iterations from 9.17 to 3 with higher accuracy, which greatly improves the efficiency of the algorithm. Meanwhile, compared with the standard Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the proposed algorithm improved $48.66\%$, $35.17\%$, and $38.23\%$ at $1\sigma /2\sigma /3\sigma$, respectively. Full article

In recent years, bridge collapses resulting from vehicle overloading have underscored the crucial necessity for real-time monitoring of traffic conditions on bridges, making pavement-based weigh-in-motion systems indispensable for large bridges. However, these systems usually have poor durability and will cause traffic interruptions during their installation and maintenance processes. This paper addresses the challenge of recognizing vehicle loads by proposing a vehicle load identification method based on machine vision and displacement influence lines. The technology consists of three essential steps. Firstly, machine vision technology is utilized to identify vehicle trajectories. Following this, the displacement response, monitored by millimeter-wave radar, is integrated to calculate the influence lines of the structure’s displacement. Lastly, an overall least squares method incorporating a regularization term is applied to calculate axle weights. The efficacy of the proposed method is validated within the monitoring system of a specific continuous beam. Importantly, the calibration of vehicles and the validation dataset rely on information monitored by the pavement-based weigh-in-motion system of adjacent arch bridges, serving as ground truth. Results indicate that the identification errors for gross vehicle weight do not exceed 25%. This technology holds significant importance for identifying vehicle weights on small to medium-span bridges. Due to its cost-effectiveness, easy installation, and maintenance, it possesses a high potential for widespread adoption. Full article

Salt brine is routinely used by transportation agencies to pre-treat critical infrastructure such as bridges, ramps, and underpasses in advance of winter storms. This requires an operator turning on and off brine controls while driving at highway speeds, introducing driver distraction and consistency challenges. In urban areas, such as Indianapolis, a 5500-gallon tractor trailer with a gross vehicle weight of 80,000 pounds is typically used and the driver may have 1200 on/off activations while covering 318 miles during a pre-treatment shift. This study conducted in collaboration with Indiana Department of Transportation has worked with their truck upfitters to adapt geo-fenced agriculture spraying controls to seven trucks that use the Global Positioning System (GPS) position of the truck to activate the sprayer valves when the trucks enter and exit geo-fenced areas that require pre-treatment. This automated brine system enhances safety, reduces driver workload, and ensures the consistent application of brine in designated areas. Furthermore, as additional environmental constraints and reporting requirements evolve, this system has the capability of reducing application rates in sensitive areas and provides a comprehensive geo-coded application history. The Indiana Department of Transportation has scaled deployment for treating interstates and major arterials with brine. This deployment on 5500-gallon tankers, used on I-64/65/69/70/74, and 465, eliminates over 10,000 driver distraction events during every statewide pre-treatment event. Full article

This paper addresses the challenges associated with steel pipes used for transporting liquid fluids within buried sections of mining facilities, specifically in areas with heavy mining vehicles. While existing design standards, such as AW-WA M11, and manufacturer recommendations largely consider loads from vehicles like the AASHTO HS20 or Cooper E-80, both weighing below 35 tons, these guidelines inadequately represent the actual loads experienced on certain mining roads, notably those accommodating heavy vehicles, like haul roads. The research presented here focuses on the interaction between soil and buried steel pipes under the substantial loads exerted by mining vehicles with a maximum gross load of up to 612 tons, inclusive of hauled material weight. Utilizing a parametric study with the finite element method, the paper identifies critical variables influencing efforts and deflections calculations in these facilities. The analysis of 108 models, varying parameters related to trench pipe installation conditions, offers insights that empower designers to refine soil trench parameters in mining facilities, mitigating pipe failures and optimizing installation costs. Ultimately, the key influential variables affecting pipe deflection and stress are identified as the trench backfill height and the elasticity modulus of the trench lateral fill. Full article

Biogas from lignocellulosic feedstock is a promising energy source for decentralized renewable electricity, heat, and/or vehicle fuel generation. However, the selection of a suitable energy crop should be based on several factors such as biomass yields and characteristics or biogas yields and economic returns if used in biorefineries. Furthermore, the food-to-fuel conflict for the use of a specific energy crop must be mitigated through smart cropping techniques. In this study, the potential use of sweet sorghum as an energy crop grown during the fallow periods of sugarcane cultivation was evaluated. Nine sweet sorghum cultivars were grown on sandy loam soil during September 2020 in North Queensland, Australia. The overall results showed that the crop maturity had a profound influence on chemical composition and biomass yields. Further, the total insoluble and soluble sugar yields varied among the tested cultivars and were dependent on plant height and chemical composition. The biomass yields ranged from 46.9 to 82.3 tonnes/hectare (t/ha) in terms of the wet weight (w/w) of the tested cultivars, with the SE-81 cultivar registering the highest biomass yield per hectare. The gross energy production was determined based on the chemical composition and methane yields. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) studies in batch experiments at 37 °C showed that methane yields of 175 to 227.91 NmL CH₄/gVS_added were obtained from the tested cultivars. The maximum methane yield of 227.91 NmL CH₄/gVS_added was obtained for cultivar SE-35. However, SE-81 produced the highest methane yields on a per hectare basis (3059.18 Nm³ CH₄/ha). This is equivalent to a gross energy value of 761.74 MWh/year or compressed biomethane (BioCNG) as a vehicle fuel sufficient for 95 passenger cars travelling at 10,000 km per annum. Overall, this study demonstrated that sweet sorghum is a potential energy crop for biogas production that could be cultivated during the fallow period of sugarcane cultivation in Queensland. Full article

The parking generating rate model is commonly used in parking demand forecasting. However, the key indicators of the parking generating rate are generally difficult to determine, especially its future annual value. The parking generating rate is affected by many factors. In order to more accurately predict the urban parking generating rate, this paper establishes a parking generating rate prediction model based on grey correlation analysis and a generalized regression neural network (GRNN) optimized by a sparrow search algorithm (SSA). Gross domestic product (GDP), urban area, urban population, motor vehicle ownership, and land use type are selected as input variables of the GRNN via grey correlation analysis. The SSA is used to optimize network weights and thresholds, and a model based on the SSA to optimize the GRNN is constructed to predict the parking generating rate of different cities. The results show that, after SSA optimization, the maximum absolute error of the GRNN model in predicting the parking generating rate is reduced, and the prediction accuracy of the model is effectively improved. This model can provide technical support for solving urban parking problems. Full article