Study of glucose homeostasis in burnout cases using an oral glucose tolerance test.

Burnout is caused by long term psychosocial stress and has, besides the fatigue and mental health burden, been associated with increased risk of adverse physical health, such as for example type 2 diabetes. This study aims to investigate the glucose and insulin levels in individuals with stress related burnout, by assessing these metabolic markers in response to a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). 38 cases with burnout (13 men and 25 women) and 35 healthy controls (13 men and 22 women) in the age 24-55 were included in the study.

A framework for countermeasures design to support professional drivers' fitness-to-drive.

This paper presents a new conceptual framework, and stepwise approach to populate it, for informing countermeasure development to support fitness-to-drive for professional drivers. Professional drivers are vital to the transport network; however, the job is demanding and drivers are vulnerable to impairments which may impact safe driving. Countermeasures are any action or activity that mitigates the impact or frequency of occurrence of driver impairment.

Assessing the Effect of Specimen Preparation Methods on DSR Test Results of Bitumen Using Factorial Design Analysis.

A two-level three-factor factorial design experiment was conducted to study the influences of three critical specimen preparation parameters on the measurement results of bitumen by a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). The investigated factors were (1) the pre-heating temperature (HT) for manufacturing the specimen, (2) the bonding temperature (BT) onto the rheometer, and (3) the trimming (Trim) operation for preparing the specimen after bonding. The analysed data were the measured shear modulus |*|, phase angle , and the characteristic temperatures of bitumen's specific stiffness with corresponding phase angle according to the European standard EN 14770:2023.

How do long combination vehicles perform in real traffic? A study using Naturalistic Driving Data.

This paper evaluates the performance of two different types of long combination vehicles (A-double and DuoCAT) using naturalistic driving data across four scenarios: lane changes, manoeuvring through roundabouts, turning in intersections, and negotiating tight curves. Four different performance-based standards measures are used to assess the stability and tracking performance of the vehicles: rearward amplification, high-speed transient offtracking, low-speed swept path, and high-speed steady-state offtracking. Also, the steering reversal rate metric is employed to estimate the cognitive workload of the drivers in low-speed scenarios.

Assessment of fine and coarse tyre wear particles along a highway stormwater system and in receiving waters: Occurrence and transport.

Tyre wear has been identified as a major road-related pollutant source, with road runoff transporting tyre wear particles (TWP) to adjacent soil, watercourses, or further through stormwater systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and transport of TWP along a stormwater system. Water and sediment have been sampled at selected points (road runoff, gully pots, wells, outlet to a ditch, and stream) through a stormwater system situated along a highway in Sweden during November and December 2022, and March 2023.

My Way to School Through a Camera Lens: Involving Children to Inform a Policy Recommendation on Active School Travel.

Active school travel (AST) is an effective approach for increasing children's physical activity and independent mobility, but policy supporting AST is lacking. This study aims to explore children's experiences of AST to inform a policy recommendation. Photovoice methodology with a qualitative approach was applied, with children taking pictures on their way to school.

Development of sleepiness in professional truck drivers: Real-road testing for driver drowsiness and attention warning (DDAW) system evaluation.

All new vehicle types within the European Union must now be equipped with a driver drowsiness and attention warning system starting from 2022. The specific requirements for the test procedure necessary for type approval are defined in the Annex of EU Regulation C/2021/2639. The objectives of this study were to: (i) investigate how sleepiness develops in professional truck drivers under real-road driving conditions; and (ii) assess the feasibility of a test procedure for validating driver drowsiness and attention warning systems according to the EU regulation.

Entangled in complexity: An ethnographic study of organizational adaptability and safe care transitions for patients with complex care needs.

Aim: The aim of this study was to visualize vulnerabilities and explore the dynamics of inter-professional collaboration and organizational adaptability in the context of care transitions for patients with complex care needs.

Design: An ethnographic design using multiple convergent data collection techniques.

Methods: Data collection involved document review, participant observations and interviews with healthcare and social care professionals (HSCPs).

Spot speed cameras in a series - Effects on speed and traffic safety.

Reduced speeds and increased speed compliance are crucial for achieving increased road traffic safety, cutting across most Safe System interventions. Speed cameras have been shown to be effective in increasing speed compliance and reducing the number of fatalities and seriously injured. The speed cameras system in Sweden is different compared to many other countries, spot speed cameras are almost always placed in series along a road stretch.

Comprehensive approach to national tire wear emissions: Challenges and implications.

The use of vehicle tires has been identified as a major source of microplastics in the environment and an increasing source of urban particulate air pollution. In light of increasing traffic volumes, increasingly heavier and more powerful vehicles due to trends and electrification, and the lack of tire wear regulation, methods to estimate and monitor changes in national emissions are needed as input for environmental impact assessments. Emission estimations of tire wear are made either based on the mileage approach or the sales approach.

Removal and release of microplastics and other environmental pollutants during the start-up of bioretention filters treating stormwater.

Untreated stormwater is a major source of microplastics, organic pollutants, metals, and nutrients in urban water courses. The aim of this study was to improve the knowledge about the start-up periods of bioretention filters. A rain garden pilot facility with 13 bioretention filters was constructed and stormwater from a highway and adjacent impervious surfaces was used for irrigation for ∼12 weeks.

The effects of electrochemical pretreatment and curing environment on strength and leaching of stabilized/solidified contaminated sediment.

Stabilization and solidification (S/S) is known to improve the structural properties of sediment and reduce contaminant mobility, enabling the utilization of dredged contaminated sediment. Further reduction of contaminants (e.g.

In-vehicle fragrance administration as a countermeasure for driver fatigue.

Driver fatigue is a contributing factor in about 10-30% of all fatal crashes. Prevention of fatigue-related crashes relies on robust detection of driver fatigue and application of effective countermeasures. A potential countermeasure is fragrance administration since odors can have alerting effects on humans.

Airway contraction and cytokine release in isolated rat lungs induced by wear particles from the road and tire interface and road vehicle brakes.

The dominant road traffic particle sources are wear particles from the road and tire interface, and from vehicle brake pads. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of road and brake wear particles on pulmonary function and biomarkers in isolated perfused rat lungs. Particles were sampled from the studded tire wear of three road pavements containing different rock materials in a road simulator; and from the wear of two brake pad materials using a pin-on-disk machine.

False Alarm Effects in Early Warnings for Emergency Vehicles: Exploring Drivers' Move-Over Behavior.

Objective: This study investigated drivers' move-over behavior when receiving an Emergency Vehicle Approaching (EVA) warning. Furthermore, the possible effects of false alarms, driver experience, and modality on move-over behavior were explored.

Background: EVA warnings are one solution to encourage drivers to move over for emergency vehicles in a safe and timely manner.

Injury risk functions for the four primary knee ligaments.

The purpose of this study was to develop injury risk functions (IRFs) for the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments (ACL and PCL, respectively) and the medial and lateral collateral ligaments (MCL and LCL, respectively) in the knee joint. The IRFs were based on post-mortem human subjects (PMHSs). Available specimen-specific failure strains were supplemented with statistically generated failure strains (virtual values) to accommodate for unprovided detailed experimental data in the literature.

How much does the injury risk between average female and average male anthropometry differ? - A simulation study with open source tools for virtual crash safety assessments.

Differences in injury risk between females and males are often reported in field data analysis. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in kinematics and injury risks between average female and male anthropometry in two exemplary use cases. A simulation study comprising the newly introduced VIVA+ human body models (HBM) was performed for two use cases.

Holistic pedestrian safety assessment for average males and females.

Objective: An integrated assessment framework that enables holistic safety evaluations addressing vulnerable road users (VRU) is introduced and applied in the current study. The developed method enables consideration of both active and passive safety measures and distributions of real-world crash scenario parameters.

Methods: The likelihood of a specific virtual testing scenario occurring in real life has been derived from accident databases scaled to European level.

Exploring interdependencies, vulnerabilities, gaps and bridges in care transitions of patients with complex care needs using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method.

Background: Hospital discharge is a complex process encompassing multiple interactions and requiring coordination. To identify potential improvement measures in care transitions for people with complex care needs, intra- and inter-organisational everyday work needs to be properly understood, including its interdependencies, vulnerabilities and gaps. The aims of this study were to 1) map coordination and team collaboration across healthcare and social care organisations, 2) describe interdependencies and system variability in the discharge process for older people with complex care needs, and 3) evaluate the alignment between discharge planning and the needs in the home.

Train Drivers' Work Related Stress and Job Satisfaction.

Objectives: This study investigated which work-related stressors are rated highest by train drivers and which are strongest correlated with consideration to change profession.

Methods: In a questionnaire, a total of 251 Swedish train drivers rated 17 work-related stressors, to which extent they had considered quitting their profession, and if they had experienced a PUT (person under train) accident.

Results: PUTs (when experienced) and irregular work hours are the main stressors, but the strongest predictors of consideration to change profession are those that are encountered often, and last over time (eg, irregular work hours, r = 0.

Seat belt usage in buses - An observation study of usage and travellers' perspectives.

This study aims to evaluate seat belt usage in buses and to understand travellers' incentives of seat belt usage. Methods used are observational studies (10 cities, with 328 bus observations), focus group discussion (7 groups with a total of 32 participants) and a web survey (n = 1737 respondents). The results show that the seat belt use among bus passengers can be improved especially in regional and commercial bus traffic.

Biomass valorization toward sustainable asphalt pavements: Progress and prospects.

To cope with the global climate crisis and assist in achieving the carbon neutrality, the use of biomass materials to fully or partially replace petroleum-based products and unrenewable resources is expected to become a widespread solution. Based on the analysis of the existing literature, this paper firstly classified biomass materials with potential application prospects in pavement engineering according to their application and summarized their respective preparation methods and characteristics. The pavement performance of asphalt mixtures with biomass materials was analyzed and summarized, and the economic and environmental benefits of bio-asphalt binder were evaluated.

Exploring patient flow management through a lens of cognitive systems engineering.

Hospitals work to provide quality, safety, and availability to patients with a wide variety of care needs, which makes efficient prioritisation and resource utilisation essential. Anticipation of each patients' trajectory, while monitoring available resources across the hospital, are major challenges for patient flow management. This study focuses on how hospital patient flow management is realised in situ with the help of concepts from cognitive systems engineering.