Do drivers change their manual car-following behaviour after automated car-following?

There is evidence that drivers’ behaviour adapts after using different advanced driving assistance systems. For instance, drivers’ headway during car-following reduces after using adaptive cruise control. However, little is known about whether, and how, drivers’ behaviour will change if they experience automated car-following, and how this is affected by engagement in non-driving-related tasks (NDRT). The aim of this driving simulator study, conducted as part of the H2020 L3Pilot project, was to address this topic. We also investigated the effect of the presence of a lead vehicle during the resumption of control, on subsequent manual driving behaviour. Thirty-two participants were divided into two experimental groups. During automated car-following, one group was engaged in an NDRT (SAE Level 3), while the other group was free to look around the road environment (SAE Level 2). Both groups were exposed to Long (1.5 s) and Short (.5 s) Time Headway (THW) conditions during automated car-following, and resumed control both with and without a lead vehicle. All post-automation manual drives were compared to a Baseline Manual Drive, which was recorded at the start of the experiment. Drivers in both groups significantly reduced their time headway in all post-automation drives, compared to a Baseline Manual Drive. There was a greater reduction in THW after drivers resumed control in the presence of a lead vehicle, and also after they had experienced a shorter THW during automated car-following. However, whether drivers were in L2 or L3 did not appear to influence the change in mean THW. Subjective feedback suggests that drivers appeared not to be aware of the changes to their driving behaviour, but preferred longer THWs in automation. Our results suggest that automated driving systems should adopt longer THWs in car-following situations, since drivers’ behavioural adaptation may lead to adoption of unsafe headways after resumption of control.

     

Selenium contents of Portuguese commercial and wild edible mushrooms

The selenium contents of 66 mushroom samples, wild growing or commercially available in Portugal, fresh, canned or dried, were determined. The samples consisted of 18 mushroom species, mainly selected in accordance with their availability and consumer preference. The selenium contents varied considerably between different mushroom species. The highest selenium contents were found in the wild species Boletus aestivalis (48.5 mg/kg dry weight, DW), Boletus pinophilus (19.9 mg/kg DW), Boletus edulis (14.9 mg/kg DW), Boletus aereus (12.3 mg/kg DW), Boletus fragans and Boletus spretus (∼2 mg/kg DW). Other mushrooms having considerable selenium contents included Marasmius oreades (1.5 mg/kg DW), Agaricus bisporus “Portobello” (1.25 mg/kg DW), A. bisporus (1.0 mg/kg DW) and Russula cyanoxantha (0.72 mg/kg DW). The selenium contents of these mushrooms are sufficient to provide nutritionally significant amounts in relation to the total daily intake of selenium. Other edible mushrooms, such as Lentinula edodes, Pleurotus ostreatus, Cantharellus cibarius,Craterellus cornucopioides and Lepista nuda, contained only small amounts of selenium. The importance of these mushrooms as a source of selenium is therefore marginal.     

Electrosteric colloidal stabilization for obtaining SrTiO3/TiO2 heterojunction: Microstructural evolution in the interface and photonics properties

Researches on solids heterojunctions has proven to be an important field for technological applications due to synergism achieved by interface phenomena. In this work, we present an understanding of SrTiO₃/TiO₂ interface and its effects on structural and microstructural characteristics, and relate them to photoluminescence properties of heterojunctions obtained by a simple method. It was observed that SrTiO₃ proportion directly influences the structural order-disorder, as observed by X-Ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscopy. Photoluminescence behavior of heterojunction with 1% of SrTiO₃ showed a shift to blue emission region compared to TiO₂, and enhanced of emission intensity compared to SrTiO₃, resulted from defects generated by interface effects, attracting possible applications on selective color emitter. Therefore, we conclude that in same materials phases, nature and concentration of structural defects has strong dependence of SrTiO₃ concentration, which leads to different photoluminescence properties.     

Nanotechnology in automotive industry: research strategy and trends for the future-small objects, big impacts

The goal of this paper is to emphasize and present briefly the nanotechnology science and its potential impact on the automotive industry in order to improve the production of recent models with an optimization of the safety performance and a reduction in the environmental impacts. Nanomaterials can be applied in car bodies as light weight constructions without compromising the stiffness and crashwortiness, which means less material and less fuel consumption. This paper outlines the progress of nanotechnology applications into the safety features of more recent vehicle models and fuel efficiency, but also emphasis the importance of sustainable development on the application of these technologies and life cycle analysis of the considered materials, in order to meet the society trends and customers demands to improve ecology, safety and comfort.