Small target visibility is widely used to evaluate the quality of road lighting. It provides a link between lighting design and driving performance. However, it is based on a strong simplification of the driving task using psychophysical data from laboratory conditions. Using a driving simulator to mimic the real driving environment, the impact of driving workload on target detection performance in mesopic vision conditions has been evaluated. The target visibility level is studied with and without driving workload together with different luminance contrasts and target positions, with reference to the small target visibility scenario. The results show that the driving workload significantly reduces the target detection performance. Consequently, the visibility level value for driving conditions should be much higher (visibility level ≥21) than some currently recommended ones (visibility level = 7) to achieve the same detection rates. Effects of target position and contrast are found in a way consistent with the literature. In addition, results indicate that the small target visibility model used for road lighting is limited and needs to be improved for a reliable prediction of visual performance with driving workload.

We have previously demonstrated that both age-related and noise-induced hearing loss are reduced in transgenic mice that ubiquitously overexpress X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP). In view of the therapeutic implications of these findings, we have developed a minimally invasive surgical method to deliver adenoid-associated virus (AAV) across the round window membrane (RWM) of the cochlea, enabling efficient gene transfer to hair cells and sensory neurons in this enclosed structure. This RWM approach was used in the present study to evaluate the effectiveness of AAV-mediated XIAP overexpression in protecting against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity. Two weeks following surgery, AAV-derived XIAP was detected in the majority of inner and outer hair cells, resulting in a threefold elevation of this antiapoptotic protein in the cochlea. The protection of AAV-mediated XIAP overexpression was evaluated in animals treated with cisplatin at a dose of 4 mg kg(-1) per day for 4-7 consecutive days. The XIAP overexpression was found to attenuate cisplatin-induced hearing loss by ~22 dB. This was accompanied by a reduction of the loss of vulnerable hair cells and sensory neurons in the cochlea by 13%.

Direct air capture (DAC) represents a promising technology for mitigating climate change by extracting CO 2 from the atmosphere. This study introduces a novel application for effective CO 2 capture from dispersed emission sources, integrated with a liquid electrolysis system to improve capture cycle efficiency. By focusing on distributed sources, the DAC application overcomes the constraints of traditional stationary CO 2 capture methods. It employs a thin-layer moving bed spray and air convection to capture CO 2 in lean liquid, which converts into rich trap liquid when the carbonate concentration exceeds a certain threshold. Electrolysis is then used to recover the lean liquid. This design allows for quick, energy-efficient CO 2 absorption even under low partial pressure conditions (462 ppm). The technology is designed to facilitate significant CO 2 capture while concurrently generating high-purity hydrogen and collecting carbon dioxide. By reusing the capture liquid, an integrated capture and desorption process is realized. In a test with 1 M KOH as a lean trap solution and a wind speed of 9 m/s, a rich trap solution was obtained after 13 h, lowering the CO 2 concentration at the outlet by 97 ppm compared to the input air, demonstrating the device's effectiveness.

This article concerns driving after dark. Control of driving speed, being one aspect of the cognitive load of driving, is an important factor which influences visual performance when driving. However, it is not included as a parameter in the widely used models, such as small target visibility and relative visual performance. A driving simulation platform was established to enable investigation of the effect of driving speed on target detection performance. In addition, the effects of target contrast, position and the initial target appearance distance were also evaluated. The results show that increasing driving speed leads to a significant reduction in both the detection rate and the detection distance. The effect of speed was characterised using the Visibility Level model, by calculating two boundary values of Visibility Level for different speeds. The results show that driving speed has an impact on target visibility. A new model is proposed, the Simulator-based Visual Performance model, the metric for which is the product of detection rate and detection distance. It describes the effect on visual performance of driving speed, target contrast, distance and their interactions. The Simulator-based Visual Performance model predicts the experimental results well.

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