•Behaviourally-consistent methodologies to study AV adoption decisions is needed.•Study advances and tests four conceptual models of AV adoption behaviour.•Models integrate latent socio-psychological ...and socio-demographic factors.•45 pairs of hypothesized relationships are validated in four measurement models.•Study captures behavioural antecedents to predict AV ownership, sharing and public transit.
Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) have the potential to make motorized transport safer and more sustainable, by integrating clean technologies and supporting flexible shared-mobility services. Leveraging this new form of transport to transform mobility in cities will depend fundamentally on public acceptance of AVs, and the ways in which individuals choose to use them, to meet their daily travel needs. Empirical studies exploring public attitudes towards automated driving technologies and interest in AVs have emerged in the last few years. However, within this strand of research there is a paucity of theory-driven and behaviourally consistent methodologies to unpack the determinants of user adoption decisions with respect to AVs. In this paper, we seek to fill this gap, by advancing and testing four conceptual frameworks which could be deployed to capture the range of possible behavioural influences on individuals’ AV adoption decisions. The frameworks integrate socio-demographic variables and relevant latent behavioural factors, including perceived benefits and perceived ease of use of AVs, public fears and anxieties regarding AVs, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and attitudinal factors covering the environment, technology, collaborative consumption, public transit and car ownership. We demonstrate the utility and validity of the frameworks, by translating the latent variables into indicator items in a structured questionnaire, and administering it online to a random sample of adult individuals (n = 507). Using the survey data in confirmatory factor analyses, we specify and demonstrate scale reliability of indicator items, and convergent and discriminant validity of relationships among latent variables. Ultimately, we advance four measurement models. These theory-grounded measurement models are intended for application in research aimed at understanding and predicting (a) AV interest and adoption intentions, and (b) user adoption decisions regarding three different AV modes: ownership, sharing and public transport.
Although adoptive transfer of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T cells has achieved unprecedented response rates in patients with certain hematological malignancies, this therapeutic ...modality is still far from fulfilling its remarkable potential, especially in the context of solid cancers. Antigen escape variants, off-tumor destruction of healthy tissues expressing tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), poor CAR-T cell persistence, and the occurrence of functional exhaustion represent some of the most prominent hurdles that limit CAR-T cell ability to induce long-lasting remissions with a tolerable adverse effect profile. In this review, we summarize the main approaches that have been developed to face such bottlenecks, including the adapter CAR (AdCAR) system, Boolean-logic gating, epitope editing, the modulation of cell-intrinsic signaling pathways, and the incorporation of safety switches to precisely control CAR-T cell activation. We also discuss the most pressing issues pertaining to the selection of co-stimulatory domains, with a focus on strategies aimed at promoting CAR-T cell persistence and optimal antitumor functionality.
Throughout the last century, the automobile industry achieved remarkable milestones in manufacturing reliable, safe, and affordable vehicles. Because of significant recent advances in computation and ...communication technologies, autonomous cars are becoming a reality. Already autonomous car prototype models have covered millions of miles in test driving. Leading technical companies and car manufacturers have invested a staggering amount of resources in autonomous car technology, as they prepare for autonomous cars' full commercialization in the coming years. However, to achieve this goal, several technical and nontechnical issues remain: software complexity, real-time data analytics, and testing and verification are among the greater technical challenges; and consumer stimulation, insurance management, and ethical/moral concerns rank high among the nontechnical issues. Tackling these challenges requires thoughtful solutions that satisfy consumers, industry, and governmental requirements, regulations, and policies. Thus, here we present a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art results for autonomous car technology. We discuss current issues that hinder autonomous cars' development and deployment on a large scale. We also highlight autonomous car applications that will benefit consumers and many other sectors. Finally, to enable cost-effective, safe, and efficient autonomous cars, we discuss several challenges that must be addressed (and provide helpful suggestions for adoption) by designers, implementers, policymakers, regulatory organizations, and car manufacturers.
The world continues to strive in the search for clean power sources to run the millions of different vehicles on the road on daily basis as they are the main contributors to toxic emissions releases ...from internal combustion engines to the atmosphere. These toxic emissions contribute to climate change and air pollution and impact negatively on people's health. Fuel cell devices are gradually replacing the internal combustion engines in the transport industry. Some notable challenges of the PEMFC technology are discussed in this paper. High costs, low durability and hydrogen storage problems are some of the major obstacles being examined in this investigation.
The paper explores the latest advances in electric cars technology and their design specifications. The study also compares the characteristics and the technologies of the three types of electric cars now available in the market.
•The work the latest advances in electric cars technology and their design specs.•The paper discusses the advances in the sources of energy for electric cars.•It explores the different propulsion systems currently available.•Control strategies for power management in electric cars are reviewed.•Issues impeding the wide adoption of electric cars by consumers are discussed.
In order to evaluate the current and future prospects of electric cars’ in Italy, we develop a probabilistic total cost of ownership (TCO) model, which includes stochastic and non-stochastic ...variables, vehicle usage and contextual assumptions. We find that electric cars are currently not cost-competitive in Italy with the conventional petrol or diesel cars. However, they are cost-competitive with the hybrid electric cars when more than 10,000 km are annually traveled. With incentivizing policies (a €5,000 subsidy and a €400 parking and access fee annual savings), currently in place in a limited number of Italian Regions and cities, electric cars perform in monetary terms better than hybrid electric cars and some diesel cars, especially if they are charged at home. However, electric cars are expected to gain market share in the year 2025 if fuel prices follow past trends, even without subsidies. The driving force could be a drop in their retail price, thanks to declining battery pack costs, and a possible revision of the taxes on diesel.
•Develops a probabilistic total cost of ownership model for Italy.•Electric cars are currently not cost-competitive with conventional cars.•With incentivizing policies electric cars perform better than hybrid electric cars.•Electric cars are expected to gain market share in 2025 without subsidies.
•We study the preferences between an electric and a petrol car in Italy and Slovenia.•We estimate a hybrid mixed logit model with two latent variables.•Higher electric car knowledge increases the ...utility to choose an electric car.•Ceteris paribus, environmentally concerned Italians prefer an electric car.•Informational campaigns on electric cars are recommended for both countries.
We report the results of a stated preference study (N = 1,934) carried out at the end of 2018 on consumers’ choices between electric cars and petrol cars in Italy and Slovenia. We estimate a hybrid mixed logit model that takes into account vehicle, infrastructure and policy attributes and two attitudinal attributes, i.e. environmental awareness and electric car knowledge. We find that purchase price and driving range play a crucial role in consumers’ decisions in both countries, whereas charging time is not statistically significant. Comparing the two countries, price sensitivity is relatively stronger in Italy, while the sensitivity for driving range and fuel economy is relatively stronger in Slovenia. Of the two latent variables we tested, we find that only environmental awareness has a statistically significant positive impact on the choice of electric cars and that it is stronger for Italians compared to Slovenians. The structural component of this latent variable indicates that women are more concerned about the environment than men, but only for the Slovenian subsample. Surprisingly, no statistically significant relationship is found between environmental awareness and age. Younger respondents are as concerned as older ones about the environment both in Italy and in Slovenia.
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