This study investigates the challenges and opportunities pertaining to transportation policies that may arise as a result of emerging autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies. AV technologies can decrease the transportation cost and increase accessibility to low-income households and persons with mobility issues. This emerging technology also has far-reaching applications and implications beyond all current expectations. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the relevant literature and explores a broad spectrum of issues from safety to machine ethics. An indispensable part of a prospective AV development is communication over cars and infrastructure (connected vehicles). A major knowledge gap exists in AV technology with respect to routing behaviors. Connectedvehicle technology provides a great opportunity to implement an efficient and intelligent routing system. To this end, we propose a conceptual navigation model based on a fleet of AVs that are centrally dispatched over a network seeking system optimization. This study contributes to the literature on two fronts: (i) it attempts to shed light on future opportunities as well as possible hurdles associated with AV technology; and (ii) it conceptualizes a navigation model for the AV which leads to highly efficient traffic circulations.
There are no standardized protocols for quantifying severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater to date, especially for population
normalization. Here, a pipeline was developed, applied, and assessed to quantify
SARS-CoV-2 and key variants of concern (VOCs) RNA in wastewater at Saskatoon, Canada.
Normalization approaches using recovery ratio and extraction efficiency, wastewater
parameters, or population indicators were assessed by comparing to daily numbers of new
cases. Viral load was positively correlated with daily new cases reported in the
sewershed. Wastewater surveillance (WS) had a lead time of approximately 7 days, which
indicated surges in the number of new cases. WS revealed the variant α and δ
driving the third and fourth wave, respectively. The adjustment with the recovery ratio
and extraction efficiency improved the correlation between viral load and daily new
cases. Normalization of viral concentration to concentrations of the artificial
sweetener acesulfame K improved the trend of viral load during the Christmas and New
Year holidays when populations were dynamic and variable. Acesulfame K performed better
than pepper mild mottle virus, creatinine, and ammonia for population normalization.
Hence, quality controls to characterize recovery ratios and extraction efficiencies and
population normalization with acesulfame are promising for precise WS programs
supporting decision-making in public health.
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