Aging in China and its impact on vehicle design

This study contributes to the growth of design knowledge in China, where vehicle design for the local, older user is in its initial developmental stages. Therefore, this research has explored the travel needs of older Chinese vehicle users in order to assist designers to better understand users’ current and future needs. A triangulation method consisting of interviews, logbook and co-discovery was used to collect multiple forms of data and so explore the research question. Grounded theory has been employed to analyze the research data. This study found that users’ needs are reflected through various ‘meanings’ that they attach to vehicles – meanings that give a tangible expression to their experiences. This study identified six older-user need categories: (i) safety, (ii) utility, (iii) comfort, (iv) identity, (v) emotion and (vi) spirituality. The interrelationships among these six categories are seen as an interactive structure, rather than as a linear or hierarchical arrangement. Chinese cultural values, which are generated from particular local context and users’ social practice, will play a dynamic role in linking and shaping the travel needs of older vehicle users in the future. Moreover, this study structures the older-user needs model into three levels of meaning, to give guidance to vehicle design direction: (i) the practical meaning level, (ii) the social meaning level and (ii) the cultural meaning level. This study suggests that a more comprehensive explanation exists if designers can identify the vehicle’s meaning and property associated with the fulfilled older users’ needs. However, these needs will vary, and must be related to particular technological, social, and cultural contexts. The significance of this study lies in its contributions to the body of knowledge in three areas: research methodology, theory and design. These theoretical contributions provide a series of methodological tools, models and approaches from a vehicle design perspective. These include a conditional/consequential matrix, a travel needs identification model, an older users’ travel-related needs framework, a user information structure model, and an Older-User-Need-Based vehicle design approach. These models suggest a basic framework for the new design process which might assist in the design of new vehicles to fulfil the needs of future, aging Chinese generations. The models have the potential to be transferred to other design domains and different cultural contexts.

Identifying influences of driving behaviour : could the Australian work driving setting be unique?

Work-related driving safety is an emerging concern for Australian and overseas organisations. An in depth investigation was undertaken into a group of fleet drivers’ attitudes regarding what personal and environment factors have the greatest impact upon driving behaviours. A number of new and unique factors not previously identified were found including: vehicle features, vehicle ownership, road conditions, weather, etc. The major findings of the study are discussed in regards to practical solutions to improve fleet safety.

Promoting the use of cycling as an environmentally and socially sustainable form of transport.

Solar Cities Congress 2008 “Energising Sustainable Communities – Options for Our Future” THEME 3: Climate Change. Impact on Society and Culture. Sub Theme: planning and implementing holistic strategies for sustainable transport Abstract Promoting the use of cycling as an environmentally and socially sustainable form of transport. We need to reduce carbon emissions. We need to reduce fuel consumption. We need to reduce pollution. We need to reduce traffic congestion. As obesity levels and associated health problems in the developed nations continue to increase we need to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Few if any would argue with these statements. In fact many would consider these problems to be amongst the most urgent that our society faces. What if we had a vehicle that uses no fossil fuel to power it, creates no pollution, takes up far less space on the roads and promotes an active, healthy lifestyle. What if this machine would have energy efficiency levels 50 times greater than the car? This is a solution that is here, now and ready to go and many of us already own one. It is the humble bicycle. Although bicycle sales in Australia now outnumber car sales, bicycle use as a form of transport (as opposed to recreation) only constitutes around 3% to 4% of all trips. So, why are bicycles the forgotten form of transport if they promise to deliver the benefits that I have just outlined? This paper examines the underlying reasons for the relatively low use of bicycles as a means of transport. It identifies the areas of greatest potential for encouraging the use of the world’s most efficient form of transport. Tim Williams - May 2007

Sustainable transport and the impact on the built environment : Future trends and directions

We love the automobile and the independence that it gives us. We are more mobile than we have ever been before in recorded history. In Australia 80% of journeys are by private motor vehicle. But it is becoming increasingly obvious that this era has a very limited lifespan. Fuel prices have skyrocketed recently with no end in sight. In spite of massive amounts of road construction, our cities are becoming increasingly congested. We desperately need to address climate change and the automobile is a major contributor. Carbon trading schemes will put even more upward pressure on fuel prices. At some point in the near future, most of us will need to reconsider our automobile usage whether we like it or not. The time to plan for the future is now. But what will happen to our mobility when access to cheap and available petroleum becomes a thing of the past? Will we start driving electric/hydrogen/ethanol vehicles? Or will we flock to public transport? Will our public transport systems cope with a massive increase in demand? Will thousands of people take to alternatives such as bicycles? If so, where do we put them? How do we change our roads to cope? How do we change our buildings to suit? Will we need recharging stations in our car park for example? Some countries are less reliant on the car than others e.g. Holland and Germany. How can the rest of the world learn from them? This paper discusses many of the likely outcomes of the inevitable shift away from society’s reliance on petroleum and examines the expected impact on the built environment. It also looks at ways in which the built environment can be planned to help ease the transition to a fossil free world. 1.

Reduction of Secondary Degeneration after Spinal Cord Injury by Acute Delivery of Proinflammatory Growth Factors

INTRODUCTION Inflammation is a protective attempt to facilitate the removal of damaged tissue and to initiate the healing response in other tissues. However, after spinal cord injury (SCI), this response is prolonged leading to secondary degeneration and glial scarring. Here, we investigate the potential of sustained delivery of pro-inflammatory factors vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) to increase early inflammatory events and promote inflammatory resolution. Method Animal ethics approval was obtained from the Queensland University of Technology. Adult Wistar-Kyoto rats (12-16 weeks old) were subjected to laminectomies and T10 hemisections. Animals were then randomised to treatment (implantation of osmotic pump (Alzet) loaded with 5ug VEGF & 5 ug PDGF) or control groups (lesion control or lesion plus pump delivering PBS). Rats were sacrificed at one month and the spinal cords were harvested and examined by immunohistology, using anti-neurofilament-200(NF200) and anti- ionized calcium binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba1). One way ANOVA was used for statistic analysis. Results At 1 month, active pump-treated cords showed a high level of axonal filament throughout the defects as compared to the control groups. The mean lesion size, as measured by NF200, was 0.47mm2 for the lesion control, 0.39mm2 for the vehicle control and 0.078mm2 for the active pump group. Significant differences were detected between the active pump group and the two control groups (AP vs LC p= 0.017 AG vs VC p= 0.004). Iba-1 staining also showed significant differences in the post-injury inflammatory response. Discussion We have shown that axons and activated microglia are co-located in the lesion of the treated cord. We hypothesise the delivery of VEGF/PDGF increases the local vessel permeability to inflammatory cells and activates these along with the resident microglia to threshold population, which ultimately resolved the prolonged inflammation. Here, we have shown that maintaining the inflammatory signals for at least 7 days improved the morphology of the injured cord. Conclusion This study has shown that boosting inflammation, by delivery VEGF/PDGF, in the early phase of SCI helps to reduce secondary degeneration and may promote inflammation resolution. This treatment may provide a platform for other neuro-regenrative therapies.

Fusion of in-vehicle sensor data to develop Intelligent Driver Training System (IDTS)

The over represented number of novice drivers involved in crashes is alarming. Driver training is one of the interventions aimed at mitigating the number of crashes that involve young drivers. To our knowledge, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have never been comprehensively used in designing an intelligent driver training system. Currently, there is a need to develop and evaluate ADAS that could assess driving competencies. The aim is to develop an unsupervised system called Intelligent Driver Training System (IDTS) that analyzes crash risks in a given driving situation. In order to design a comprehensive IDTS, data is collected from the Driver, Vehicle and Environment (DVE), synchronized and analyzed. The first implementation phase of this intelligent driver training system deals with synchronizing multiple variables acquired from DVE. RTMaps is used to collect and synchronize data like GPS, vehicle dynamics and driver head movement. After the data synchronization, maneuvers are segmented out as right turn, left turn and overtake. Each maneuver is composed of several individual tasks that are necessary to be performed in a sequential manner. This paper focuses on turn maneuvers. Some of the tasks required in the analysis of ‘turn’ maneuver are: detect the start and end of the turn, detect the indicator status change, check if the indicator was turned on within a safe distance and check the lane keeping during the turn maneuver. This paper proposes a fusion and analysis of heterogeneous data, mainly involved in driving, to determine the risk factor of particular maneuvers within the drive. It also explains the segmentation and risk analysis of the turn maneuver in a drive.

New insights into rebound effects : theory and empirical evidence

The main objective of the thesis is to seek insights into the theory, and provide empirical evidence of rebound effects. Rebound effects reduce the environmental benefits of environmental policies and household behaviour changes. In particular, win-win demand side measures, in the form of energy efficiency and household consumption pattern changes, are seen as ways for households and businesses to save money and the environment. However, these savings have environmental impacts when spent, which are known as rebound effects. This is an area that has been widely neglected by policy makers. This work extends the rebound effect literature in three important ways, (1) it incorporates the potential for variation of rebound effects with household income level, (2) it enables the isolation of direct and indirect effects for cases of energy efficient technology adoption, and examines the relationship between these two component effects, and (3) it expands the scope of rebound effect analysis to include government taxes and subsidies. MACROBUTTON HTMLDirect Using a case study approach it is found that the rebound effect from household consumption pattern changes targeted at electricity is between 5 and 10%. For consumption pattern changes with reduced vehicle fuel use, the rebound effect is in the order of 20 to 30%. Higher income households in general are found to have a lower total rebound effect; however the indirect effect becomes relatively more significant at higher household income levels. In the win-lose case of domestic photovoltaic electricity generation, it is demonstrated that negative rebound effects can occur, which can potentially amplify the environmental benefits of this action. The rebound effect from a carbon tax, which occurs due to the re-spending of raised revenues, was found to be in the range of 11-32%. Taxes and transfers between households of different income levels also have environmental implications. For example, a more progressive tax structure, with increased low income welfare payments is likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions. Subsidies aimed at encouraging environmentally friendly consumption habits are also subject to rebound effects, as they constitute a substitution of government expenditure for household expenditure. For policy makers, these findings point to the need to incorporate rebound effects in the environmental policy evaluation process.’

At work or play : a comparison of private property vehicle crashes with those occurring on public roads in north Queensland.

Objective: To define characteristics of vehicle crashes occurring on rural private property in north Queensland with an exploration of associated risk factors. Design: Descriptive analysis of private property crash data collected by the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study. Setting: Rural and remote north Queensland. Participants: A total of 305 vehicle controllers aged 16 years or over hospitalised at Atherton, Cairns, Mount Isa or Townsville for at least 24 hours as a result of a vehicle crash. Main outcome measure: A structured questionnaire completed by participants covering crash details, lifestyle and demographic characteristics, driving history, medical history, alcohol and drug use and attitudes to road use. Results: Overall, 27.9% of interviewees crashed on private property, with the highest proportion of private road crashes occurring in the North West Statistical Division (45%). Risk factors shown to be associated with private property crashes included male sex, riding off-road motorcycle or all-terrain vehicle, first-time driving at that site, lack of licence for vehicle type, recreational use and not wearing a helmet or seatbelt. Conclusions: Considerable trauma results from vehicle crashes on rural private property. These crashes are not included in most crash data sets, which are limited to public road crashes. Legislation and regulations applicable to private property vehicle use are largely focused on workplace health and safety, yet work-related crashes represent a minority of private property crashes in north Queensland.

Growing demand for emergency health services in Queensland, Australia

Introduction: The demand for emergency health services (EHS), both in the prehospital (ambulance) and hospital (emergency departments) settings, is growing rapidly in Australia. Broader health system changes have reduced available health infrastructure, particularly hospital beds, resulting in reduced access to and congestion of the EHS as demonstrated by longer waiting times and ambulance “ramping”. Ambulance ramping occurring when patients have a prolonged wait on the emergency vehicle due to the unavailability of hospital beds. This presentation will outline the trends in EHS demand in Queensland compared with the rest of Australia and factors that appear to be contributing to the growth in demand. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using data from publicly available sources. Data from the Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Health Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) also were analyzed. Results: The demand for ambulance services and emergency departments has been increasing at 8% and 4% per year over the last decade, respectively; while accessible hospital beds have reduced by almost 10% contributing to the emergency department congestion and possibly contributing to the prehospital demand. While the increase in the proportion of the elderly population seems to explain a great deal of the demand for EHS, other factors also influence this growth including patient characteristics, institutional and societal factors, economic, EHS arrangements, and clinical factors. Conclusions: Overcrowding of facilities that provide EHS are causing considerable community concern. This overcrowding is caused by the growing demand and reduced access. The causes of this growing demand are complex, and require further detailed analysis in order to quantify and qualify these causes in order to provide a resilient foundation of evidence for future policy direction.

Determining heavy vehicle suspension health from vibratory wheel loads

A low-cost test bed was made from a modified heavy vehicle (HV) brake tester. By rotating a test HV’s wheel on an eccentric roller, a known vibration was imparted to the wheel under test. A control case for dampers in good condition was compared with two test cases of ineffective shock absorbers. Measurement of the forces at the bearings of the roller provided an indication of the HV wheel-forces. Where the level of serviceability of the shock absorbers varied, differences in wheel load provided a quality indicator corresponding to a change of damper characteristic. Conclusions regarding the levels of damper maintenance beyond which HV suspensions cause road damage and dynamic wheel forces at the threshold of tyre wear at which HV shock absorbers are normally replaced are presented.

All-terrain vehicle crashes and associated injuries in North Queensland : findings from the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study

Objective: To define characteristics of all-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes occurring in north Queensland from March 2004 till June 2007 with the exploration of associated risk factors. Design: Descriptive analysis of ATV crash data collected by the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study. Setting: Rural and remote north Queensland. Participants: Forty-two ATV drivers and passengers aged 16 years or over hospitalised at Atherton, Cairns, Mount Isa or Townsville for at least 24 hours as a result of a vehicle crash. Main outcome measures: Demographics of participants, reason for travel, nature of crash, injuries sustained and risk factors associated with ATV crash. Results: The majority of casualties were men aged 16–64. Forty-one per cent of accidents occurred while performing agricultural tasks. Furthermore, 39% of casualties had less than one year’s experience riding ATVs. Over half the casualties were not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Common injuries were head and neck and upper limb injuries. Rollovers tended to occur while performing agricultural tasks and most commonly resulted in multiple injuries. Conclusions: Considerable trauma results from ATV crashes in rural and remote north Queensland. These crashes are not included in most general vehicle crash data sets, as they are usually limited to events occurring on public roads. Minimal legislation and regulation currently applies to ATV use in agricultural, recreational and commercial settings. Legislation on safer design of ATVs and mandatory courses for riders is an essential part of addressing the burden of ATV crashes on rural and remote communities.

Assessment of Speech Dialog Systems using Multi-Modal Cognitive Load Analysis and Driving Performance Metrics

In this paper, cognitive load analysis via acoustic- and CAN-Bus-based driver performance metrics is employed to assess two different commercial speech dialog systems (SDS) during in-vehicle use. Several metrics are proposed to measure increases in stress, distraction and cognitive load and we compare these measures with statistical analysis of the speech recognition component of each SDS. It is found that care must be taken when designing an SDS as it may increase cognitive load which can be observed through increased speech response delay (SRD), changes in speech production due to negative emotion towards the SDS, and decreased driving performance on lateral control tasks. From this study, guidelines are presented for designing systems which are to be used in vehicular environments.

Increase in Body Mass Index decreases body satisfaction of their abdominal, arm and thigh regions in young Japanese women [in Japanese]

The aim of the present study was to examine body concern and satisfactions in 191 female university students and their relationships with measured body composition and circumferences of selected body parts. Body composition and circumference measurements of participants were conducted after obtaining their consent. Body concern and satisfaction were determined using the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Body parts and General subscales from the Body Satisfaction Scales (BSS). Increase in body composition and circumferences were associated with decrease in body concern and satisfaction. Increase in body size, including circumferences did not decrease whole body satisfaction but increased dissatisfaction at the abdominal, arm and thigh regions.

Correlating eye gaze direction, depth and vehicle information on an interactive map for driver training

The over represented number of novice drivers involved in crashes is alarming. Driver training is one of the interventions aimed at mitigating the number of crashes that involve young drivers. Experienced drivers have better hazard perception ability compared to inexperienced drivers. Eye gaze patterns have been found to be an indicator of the driver's competency level. The aim of this paper is to develop an in-vehicle system which correlates information about the driver's gaze and vehicle dynamics, which is then used to assist driver trainers in assessing driving competency. This system allows visualization of the complete driving manoeuvre data on interactive maps. It uses an eye tracker and perspective projection algorithms to compute the depth of gaze and plots it on Google maps. This interactive map also features the trajectory of the vehicle and turn indicator usage. This system allows efficient and user friendly analysis of the driving task. It can be used by driver trainers and trainees to understand objectively the risks encountered during driving manoeuvres. This paper presents a prototype that plots the driver's eye gaze depth and direction on an interactive map along with the vehicle dynamics information. This prototype will be used in future to study the difference in gaze patterns in novice and experienced drivers prior to a certain manoeuvre.

In-vehicle driver distractions : characteristics underlying drivers' risk perceptions

Driver distraction continues to receive considerable research interest but the drivers‟ perspective is less well documented. The current research focussed on identifying features that are salient to drivers in their risk perception judgements for 19 in-vehicle distractions. Both technological (e.g. mobile phones) and non technological (e.g. eating) distractions were considered. Analysis identified that males and females were rating 7 of the 19 distractions differently. The current paper presents the data for the female participants (n = 84). Multidimensional scaling analysis identified three main dimensions contributing to female drivers‟ risk perception judgements. Qualitative characteristics such as the level of exposure to a distraction were identified as significant contributors to drivers‟ risk perception as well as features inherent in the distractions such as distractions being related to communication. This exploratory work contributes to better understanding female drivers‟ perceptions of risk associated with in-vehicle distractions. Understanding the drivers‟ perspective can help guide the development of road safety messages and ultimately improve the impact of such messages.