Introduction: In an aging society that is more and more information-oriented, being able to replace human passengers' protective effects on vehicle drivers with those of social robots is both essential and promising. However, the effects of a social robot's presence on drivers have not yet been fully explored. Thus, using a driving simulator and a conversation robot, this experimental study had two main goals: (a) to find out whether social robots' anthropomorphic qualities (i.e., not the practical information the robot provides drivers) have protective effects by promoting attentive driving and alleviating crash risks; and (b) by what psychological processes such effects emerge.
Method: Participants were recruited from young (n = 38), the middle-aged (n = 39), and the elderly (n = 49) age groups. They were assigned to either the treatment group (simulated driving in a conversation robot's presence) or the control group (simulated driving alone), and their driving performance was measured. Mental states (peaceful, concentrating, and reflective) also were assessed in a post-driving questionnaire using our original scales.
Results: Although the group of older participants did not experience protective effects (perhaps due to motion sickness), the young participants drove attentively, with the robot enhancing peace of mind. The protective effect was also observed among the middle-aged participants, and the verbal data analysis ascribed this to the robot's role of expressing sympathy, especially when the middle-aged drivers nearly had not-at-fault crashes, which caused them to be stressed. In conclusion, we discuss the practical implications of the results.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2019.09.010 | DOI Listing |
Ann Biomed Eng
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, CCIT216, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Purpose: Simulation studies, such as finite element (FE) modeling, offer insights into knee joint biomechanics, which may not be achieved through experimental methods without direct involvement of patients. While generic FE models have been used to predict tissue biomechanics, they overlook variations in population-specific geometry, loading, and material properties. In contrast, subject-specific models account for these factors, delivering enhanced predictive precision but requiring significant effort and time for development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology Bengaluru, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
The increasing prevalence of network connections is driving a continuous surge in the requirement for network security and safeguarding against cyberattacks. This has triggered the need to develop and implement intrusion detection systems (IDS), one of the key components of network perimeter aimed at thwarting and alleviating the issues presented by network invaders. Over time, intrusion detection systems have been instrumental in identifying network breaches and deviations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Hubei Key Laboratory of Biologic Resources Protection and Utilization, Hubei Minzu University, Enshi, 445000, Hubei Province, China.
As a key food production base, land use changes in the Jianghan Plain (JHP) significantly affect the surface landscape structure and ecological risks, posing challenges to food security. Assessing the ecological risk of the JHP, identifying its drivers, and predicting the risk trends under different scenarios can provide strategic support for ecological risk management and safeguarding food security in the JHP. In this study, the landscape ecological risk (LER) index was constructed by integrating landscape indices from 2000 to 2020, firstly analyzing its spatiotemporal characteristics, subsequently identifying the key influencing factors by using the GeoDetector model, and finally, simulating the risk changes under the four scenarios by using the Markov-PLUS model.
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January 2025
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, NW, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Solar-driven CO reduction to value-added C chemicals is thermodynamically challenging due to multiple complicated steps. The design of active sites and structures for photocatalysts is necessary to improve solar energy efficiency. In this work, atomically dispersed Ru-O sites in RuInO are constructed by interior lattice anchoring of Ru.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleic Acids Res
January 2025
Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu - Paris Rive Gauche (IMJ-PRG), UMR 7586, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, 8, Pace Aurélie Nemours, 75013 Paris, France.
Accurate protein synthesis requires ribosomes to integrate signals from distant functional sites and execute complex dynamics. Despite advances in understanding ribosome structure and function, two key questions remain: how information is transmitted between these distant sites, and how ribosomal movements are synchronized? We recently highlighted the existence of ribosomal protein networks, likely evolved to participate in ribosome signaling. Here, we investigate the relationship between ribosomal protein networks and ribosome dynamics.
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