Drivers’ Age, Gender, Driving Experience, and Aggressiveness as Predictors of Aggressive Driving Behaviour

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Perepjolkina Viktorija

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Recent years have seen a growing interest in the problem of aggressive driving. In the presentstudy two demographic variables (gender and age, two non-psychological driving-experiencerelated variables (annual mileage and legal driving experience in years and aggressiveness asa personality trait (including behavioural and affective components as psychological variableof individual differences were examined as potential predictors of aggressive driving. The aimof the study was to find out the best predictors of aggressive driving behaviour. The study wasbased on an online survey, and 228 vehicle drivers in Latvia participated in it. The questionnaireincluded eight-item Aggressive Driving Scale (Bone & Mowen, 2006, short Latvian versionof the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; Buss & Perry, 1992, and questions gainingdemographic and driving experience information. Gender, age and annual mileage predictedaggressive driving: being male, young and with higher annual driving exposure were associatedwith higher scores on aggressive driving. Dispositional aggressiveness due to anger componentwas a significant predictor of aggressive diving score. Physical aggression and hostility wereunrelated to aggressive driving. Altogether, the predictors explained a total of 28% of thevariance in aggressive driving behaviour. Findings show that dispositional aggressiveness,especially the anger component, as well as male gender, young age and higher annual mileagehas a predictive validity in relation to aggressive driving. There is a need to extend the scope ofpotential dispositional predictors pertinent to driving aggression.

Developing a driving Safety Index using a Delphi stated preference experiment.

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Jamson, Samantha; Wardman, Mark; Batley, Richard; Carsten, Oliver

2008-03-01

Whilst empirical evidence is available concerning the effect of some aspects of driving behaviour on safety (e.g. speed choice), there is scant knowledge about safety thresholds, i.e. the point at which behaviour can be considered unsafe. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to ascertain the interaction between various aspects of driving behaviour. For example, how might drivers' lateral control of a vehicle be mediated by their speed choice-are the effects additive or do they cancel each other out. Complex experimental or observational studies would need to be undertaken to establish the nature of such effects. As an alternative, a Delphi study was undertaken to use expert judgement as a way of deriving a first approximation of these threshold and combinatory effects. Using a stated preference technique, road safety professionals make judgements about drivers' safe or unsafe behaviour. The aim was to understand the relative weightings that are assigned to a number of driver behaviours and thereby to construct a Safety Index. As expected, experts were able to establish thresholds, above (or below) which changes to the behavioural parameters had minimal impact on safety. This provided us with a Safety Index, based on a model that had face validity and a convincing range of values. However, the experts found the task of combining these driver behaviours more difficult, reflecting the elusive nature of safety estimates. Suggestions for future validation of our Safety Index are provided.

Driving Behaviour and Sustainable Mobility—Policies and Approaches Revisited

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Ali Keyvanfar

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Climate change is receiving increasing attention in recent years. The transportation sector contributes substantially to increased fuel consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG emissions, and poor air quality, which imposes a serious respiratory health hazard. Road transport has made a significant contribution to this effect. Consequently, many countries have attempted to mitigate climate change using various strategies. This study analysed and compared the number of policies and other approaches necessary to achieve reduced fuel consumption and carbon emission. Frequency aggregation indicates that the mitigation policies associated with driving behaviours adopted to curtail this consumption and decrease hazardous emissions, as well as a safety enhancement. Furthermore, car-sharing/carpooling was the least investigated approach to establish its influence on mitigation of climate change. Additionally, the influence of such driving behaviours as acceleration/deceleration and the compliance to speed limits on each approach was discussed. Other driving behaviours, such as gear shifting, compliance to traffic laws, choice of route, and idling and braking style, were also discussed. Likewise, the influence of aggression, anxiety, and motivation on driving behaviour of motorists was highlighted. The research determined that driving behaviours can lead to new adaptive driving behaviours and, thus, cause a significant decrease of vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Dialling and driving: factors influencing intentions to use a mobile phone while driving.

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Walsh, Shari P; White, Katherine M; Hyde, Melissa K; Watson, Barry

2008-11-01

Despite being identified as an unsafe (and, in some jurisdictions, illegal) driving practice, the psychological factors underlying people's decision to use their mobile phone while driving have received little attention. The present study utilised the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to examine the role of attitudes, norms, control factors, and risk perceptions, in predicting people's intentions to use their mobile phone while driving. We examined the predictors of intentions to use a mobile phone while driving in general, and for calling and text messaging in 4 scenarios differing in descriptions of vehicle speed and time pressure. There was some support for the TPB given that attitudes consistently predicted intentions to drive while using a mobile phone and that pressure from significant others (norms) determined some phone use while driving intentions, although less support was found for the role of perceptions of control. Risk was not generally predictive of safer driving intentions. These findings indicate that different factors influence each form of mobile phone use while driving and, hence, a multi-strategy approach is likely to be required to address the issue.

An examination of the relationship between measures of impulsivity and risky simulated driving amongst young drivers.

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Hatfield, Julie; Williamson, Ann; Kehoe, E James; Prabhakharan, Prasannah

2017-06-01

The risky driving of young drivers may owe in part to youthful motivations (such as experience-seeking, authority rebellion, desire for peer approval) combined with incompletely developed impulse control. Although self-reported impulsiveness has been positively associated with self-reports of risky driving, results based on objective measures of response inhibition (e.g., Go/No-go tasks) have been inconclusive. The present study examined interrelationships between measures of response inhibition, self-report impulsiveness scales, and responses to events during a simulated drive that were designed to detect impulsive, unsafe behaviours (e.g., turning across on-coming traffic). Participants were 72 first-year Psychology students. More speeding and "Unsafe" responding to critical events during simulated driving were associated with poorer impulse control as assessed by commission errors during a Go/No-Go task. These results consolidate evidence for a relationship between impulse control and risky driving amongst young drivers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In Patients With Cirrhosis, Driving Simulator Performance Is Associated With Real-life Driving.

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Lauridsen, Mette M; Thacker, Leroy R; White, Melanie B; Unser, Ariel; Sterling, Richard K; Stravitz, Richard T; Matherly, Scott; Puri, Puneet; Sanyal, Arun J; Gavis, Edith A; Luketic, Velimir; Siddiqui, Muhammad S; Heuman, Douglas M; Fuchs, Michael; Bajaj, Jasmohan S

2016-05-01

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) has been linked to higher real-life rates of automobile crashes and poor performance in driving simulation studies, but the link between driving simulator performance and real-life automobile crashes has not been clearly established. Furthermore, not all patients with MHE are unsafe drivers, but it is unclear how to distinguish them from unsafe drivers. We investigated the link between performance on driving simulators and real-life automobile accidents and traffic violations. We also aimed to identify features of unsafe drivers with cirrhosis and evaluated changes in simulated driving skills and MHE status after 1 year. We performed a study of outpatients with cirrhosis (n = 205; median 55 years old; median model for end-stage liver disease score, 9.5; none with overt hepatic encephalopathy or alcohol or illicit drug use within previous 6 months) seen at the Virginia Commonwealth University and McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center, from November 2008 through April 2014. All participants were given paper-pencil tests to diagnose MHE (98 had MHE; 48%), and 163 patients completed a standardized driving simulation. Data were collected on traffic violations and automobile accidents from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and from participants' self-assessments when they entered the study, and from 73 participants 1 year later. Participants also completed a questionnaire about alcohol use and cessation patterns. The driving simulator measured crashes, run-time, road center and edge excursions, and illegal turns during navigation; before and after each driving simulation session, patients were asked to rate their overall driving skills. Drivers were classified as safe or unsafe based on crashes and violations reported on official driving records; simulation results were compared with real-life driving records. Multivariable regression analyses of real-life crashes and violations was performed using data on

In Patients with Cirrhosis, Driving Simulator Performance is Associated With Real-life Driving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauridsen, Mette Enok Munk; Thacker, Leroy R; White, Melanie B

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) has been linked to higher real-life rates of automobile crashes and poor performance in driving simulation studies, but the link between driving simulator performance and real-life automobile crashes has not been clearly established. Further......, not all patients with MHE are unsafe drivers, but it is unclear how to distinguish them from unsafe drivers. We investigated the link between performance on driving simulators and real-life automobile accidents and traffic violations. We also aimed to identify features of unsafe drivers with cirrhosis...... and evaluated changes in simulated driving skills and MHE status after 1 year. METHODS: We performed a study of outpatients with cirrhosis (n=205; median 55 years old; median model for end-stage liver disease score, 9.5; none with overt hepatic encephalopathy or alcohol or illicit drug use within previous 6...

Current Behaviours and Attitudes Towards Texting While Driving in Australia

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Adamsen, Jannie Mia; Beasley, Keiran

confined to people in this age bracket. Findings from an anonymous online survey show that the practice of texting and driving is widespread in Australia and not just confined to the younger demographic. Additionally, evidence suggests smart phone users are more likely to engage in texting while driving......This paper aims to understand the behaviour of texting and driving among the broader driving public in Australia and uncover whether attitudes are congruent with behaviours. Recent studies have generally been focussing on the behaviours of 18-24 year olds suggesting that the practice is mainly....... The paper also reveals that a majority of people continue to text and drive despite having strong views on the dangers associated with the practice....

Driving with intelligent vehicles: driving behaviour with Adaptive Cruise Control and the acceptance by individual drivers

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Hoedemaeker, D.M.

1999-01-01

This thesis focuses on the following research questions: What are the effects of driver support systems on driving behaviour? To what extent will driver support systems be accepted by individual drivers? To what extent will driving behaviour and acceptance be determined by individual differences?

Psychosocial function of driving as redictor of risk-taking behaviour

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Møller, Mette; Gregersen, Nils Petter

2008-01-01

This study examined the relation between risk-taking behaviour while driving, the psychosocial function of driving, leisure time activities, car oriented peer group interaction and educational attainment. Two thousand four hundred seventeen drivers aged 18-25, randomly selected from the Danish...... Driving Licence Register, participated in the study. Data was colleted through a mail survey. The response rate was 60,4%. A positive significant effect on risk-taking behaviour based on the score on the psychosocial function of driving was found (p...

Predicting drive for muscularity behavioural engagement from body image attitudes and emotions.

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Tod, David; Edwards, Christian

2013-01-01

We examined the potential moderating effects of appearance investment, body image disturbance, and situational body image dysphoria on the drive for muscularity attitude-behaviour relationship. Participants (339 British college men, M(AGE)=20.00 years, SD=2.59) completed drive for muscularity attitude and behaviour, appearance investment, body image disturbance, and situational body image dysphoria measures. Results indicated higher levels of appearance investment, body image disturbance, and situational body image dysphoria were associated with increases in the drive for muscularity attitude's relationship with physique-enhancing behavioural engagement. Results help extend recent research that has moved beyond identifying correlates to examining ways that groups of variables interact to predict drive for muscularity behavioural engagement and may contribute to theory development. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Glaucoma and quality of life: fall and driving risk.

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Montana, Cynthia L; Bhorade, Anjali M

2018-03-01

Numerous population-based studies suggest that glaucoma is an independent risk factor for falling and motor vehicle collisions, particularly for older adults. These adverse events lead to increased healthcare expenditures and decreased quality of life. Current research priorities, therefore, include identifying factors that predispose glaucoma patients to falling and unsafe driving, and developing screening strategies and targeted rehabilitation. The purpose of this article is to review recent studies that address these priorities. Studies continue to support that glaucoma patients, particularly those with advanced disease, have an increased risk of falling or unsafe driving. Risk factors, however, remain variable and include severity and location of visual field defects, contrast sensitivity, and performance on divided attention tasks. Such variability is likely because of the multifactorial nature of ambulating and driving and compensatory strategies used by patients. Falls and unsafe driving remain a serious public health issue for older adults with glaucoma. Ambulation and driving are complex tasks and there is no consensus yet, regarding the best methods for risk stratification and targeted interventions to increase safety. Therefore, comprehensive and individualized assessments are recommended to most effectively evaluate a patient's risk for falling or unsafe driving.

Driving Behaviour Profile of Drivers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

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Chee, Derserri Y.; Lee, Hoe C.; Patomella, Ann-Helen; Falkmer, Torbjörn

2017-01-01

The symptomatology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can make driving risky, but little is known about the on-road driving behaviour of individuals with ASD. This study assessed and compared the on-road driving performance of drivers with and without ASD, and explored how the symptomatology of ASD hinders or facilitates on-road driving…

Sensorimotor and postural control factors associated with driving safety in a community-dwelling older driver population.

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Lacherez, Philippe; Wood, Joanne M; Anstey, Kaarin J; Lord, Stephen R

2014-02-01

To establish whether sensorimotor function and balance are associated with on-road driving performance in older adults. The performance of 270 community-living adults aged 70-88 years recruited via the electoral roll was measured on a battery of peripheral sensation, strength, flexibility, reaction time, and balance tests and on a standardized measure of on-road driving performance. Forty-seven participants (17.4%) were classified as unsafe based on their driving assessment. Unsafe driving was associated with reduced peripheral sensation, lower limb weakness, reduced neck range of motion, slow reaction time, and poor balance in univariate analyses. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified poor vibration sensitivity, reduced quadriceps strength, and increased sway on a foam surface with eyes closed as significant and independent risk factors for unsafe driving. These variables classified participants into safe and unsafe drivers with a sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 70%. A number of sensorimotor and balance measures were associated with driver safety and the multivariate model comprising measures of sensation, strength, and balance was highly predictive of unsafe driving in this sample. These findings highlight important determinants of driver safety and may assist in developing efficacious driver safety strategies for older drivers.

Behavioural Comparison of Driverswhen Driving a Motorcycle or a Car: A Structural Equation Modelling Study

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Darja Topolšek

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of the study was to investigate if the drivers behave in the same way when they are driving a motorcycle or a car. For this purpose, the Motorcycle Rider Behaviour Questionnaire and Driver Behaviour Questionnaire were conducted among the same drivers population. Items of questionnaires were used to develop a structural equation model with two factors, one for the motorcyclist’s behaviour, and the other for the car driver’s behaviour. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were also applied in this study. Results revealed a certain difference in driving behaviour. The principal reason lies probably in mental consciousness that the risk-taking driving of a motorbike can result in much more catastrophic consequences than when driving a car. The drivers also pointed out this kind of thinking and the developed model has statistically confirmed the behavioural differences. The implications of these findings are also argued in relation to the validation of the appropriateness of the existing traffic regulations.

An explorative study of the relationship between lifestyle and driving behaviour among young drivers

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Møller, Mette

2004-01-01

The high accident risk among young drivers is a well-known and well-documented fact in most countries, including Denmark. Lifestyle has proven to be related to driving behaviour as well as accident risk among young drivers. However, the underlying process through which the relationship between...... the lifestyle and the driving behaviour is established is not yet fully understood. Using focus group interviews divided by sex and education this study explores the psychosocial function of driving as well as the process through which a relationship between lifestyle and driving behaviour is established....... Twenty-nine young drivers living in the Copenhagen area participated in the study. Data were analysed using a modified version of the Editing Analysis Style. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

Relationship Between Driving-violation Behaviours and Risk Perception in Motorcycle Accidents

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Andy S.K. Cheng

2015-06-01

Conclusion: This study could assist occupational-therapy practitioners involved in driving rehabilitation and training to identify strategies to deal with drivers' violation behaviours and risk perception. It could also provide evidence-based recommendations for drivers' education, driving-safety campaigns, or even licensing policies.

Risk of unsafe abortion associated with long-term contraception behaviour: a case control study from Sri Lanka.

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Arambepola, Carukshi; Rajapaksa, Lalini C

2017-06-29

When faced with an unintended pregnancy, some women choose to undergo an unsafe abortion, while others do not. This choice may depend on long-term contraception that shapes the fertility goals of women, along with many other risk factors. We assessed the risk for unsafe abortion associated with contraceptive practices based on women's long-term behaviour, and its likely modification by the use of different types of contraceptives among women in Sri Lanka. An unmatched case-control study was conducted in nine hospitals among 171 women admitted for care following an unsafe abortion (Cases) and 600 women admitted to same hospitals for delivery of an unintended term pregnancy (Controls). Interviewer-administered-questionnaires assessed their socio-economic, reproductive and fertility (decisions on family size, family completion) characteristics, contraceptive method last used (traditional, modern), reasons for discontinuation/never-use, and contraceptive practices assessed at different time points. Using several regression models, the risk of abortion was assessed for 'non-use' of contraception against 'ineffective use' at conception; for non-use further categorised as 'never-use', 'early-discontinuation' (discontinued before last birth interval) and 'late-discontinuation' (discontinued during last birth interval); and for any interaction between the contraceptive practice and contraceptive method last used among the ever-users of contraception. At conception, 'non-use' of contraception imparted a two-fold risk for abortion against ineffective use (adjusted-OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.2-3.2). The abortion risk on 'non-use' varied further according to 'early' (adjusted-OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-3.1) and 'late' (adjusted-OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.5-3.6) discontinuation of contraception, but not with 'never-use' (crude-OR = 1.1; 95% CI: 0.6-2.3). Among the ever-users, the risk of abortion varied within each contraceptive practice by their last used contraceptive method and

Unsafe Disposal of Child Faeces: A Community-based Study in a Rural Block in West Bengal, India

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Preeti PS

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Objectives A clean India is the responsibility of all Indians. One of the objectives of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Initiative is to bring about behavioural changes regarding healthy sanitation practices. While large-scale programs in India have increased latrine coverage, they have to some extent failed to bring behavioural changes ensuring optimal latrine use, including the safe disposal of child faeces, which is a significant source of exposure to faecal pathogens. Hence, this study was done to explore child faeces disposal practices in rural West Bengal and to elicit the determinants of unhygienic faeces disposal. Methods Data collection was done using an interview method among the mothers of 502 under-5 children, following a pre-designed, semi-structured schedule during house-to-house visits in a set of villages in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. Results The prevalence of unsafe disposal of child faeces was 72.4%, and maternal education, per capita income, and water source were found to be significantly associated with unsafe child faeces disposal. Conclusions This study draws attention to the unsafe disposal of child faeces in this area of India and raises questions about the efficiency of sanitation campaigns in rural India that focus on expanding coverage rather than emphasizing behavioural changes, which are crucial to ensure the safe disposal of child faeces. Thus, it is urgently necessary to strengthen efforts focusing on behavioural changes regarding the safe disposal of child faeces in order to minimise adverse health outcomes.

The Wechsler Digit Symbol Substitution Test as the best indicator of the risk of impaired driving in Alzheimer disease and normal aging.

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Lafont, Sylviane; Marin-Lamellet, Claude; Paire-Ficout, Laurence; Thomas-Anterion, Catherine; Laurent, Bernard; Fabrigoule, Colette

2010-01-01

Our purpose was to identify cognitive tools associated with unsafe driving among elderly drivers of varying cognitive levels. Twenty drivers with early-stage dementia of the Alzheimer type and 56 nondemented drivers aged 65-85 were recruited. Various cognitive processes were measured and unsafe driving was evaluated during an in-traffic road test with 3 different indicators and a composite indicator. The Wechsler Digit Symbol Substitution Test score was the best cognitive measure to detect unsafe drivers using the composite driving indicator. The Digit Symbol Substitution Test may be used by physicians for the evaluation and follow-up of older patients, with or without Alzheimer-type dementia, as a screening tool of unsafe driving.

Driving behaviour in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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Groom, Madeleine J; van Loon, Editha; Daley, David; Chapman, Peter; Hollis, Chris

2015-07-28

Little is known about the impact of cognitive impairments on driving in adults with ADHD. The present study compared the performance of adults with and without ADHD in a driving simulator on two different routes: an urban route which we hypothesised would exacerbate weak impulse control in ADHD and a motorway route, to challenge deficits in sustained attention. Adults with (n = 22, 16 males) and without (n = 21, 18 males) ADHD completed a simulated driving session while eye movement data were recorded simultaneously. Participants also completed the Manchester Driving Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) and the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS). Measures of driving performance included average speed, proportion distance travelled over speed limit (speeding) and lane deviation. These variables and the eye movement measures (spread of fixations, mean fixation duration) were compared between groups and routes. Also, driving behaviours, including responses to programmed events, were categorised and the frequencies within categories were compared between groups. Finally, speech analysis was performed to compare emotional verbal expressions during driving between groups. ADHD participants reported significantly more Violations and Lapses on the DBQ than control participants and significantly more accidents. Average speed and speeding were also higher but did not interact with route type. ADHD participants showed poorer vehicle control, greater levels of frustration with other road users (including greater frequencies of negative comments) and a trend for less safe driving when changing lanes/overtaking on the motorway. These effects were predicted by hyperactive/impulsive CAARS scores. They were also more likely to cause a crash/near miss when an event occurred on the urban route. The results suggest that difficulty regulating and controlling impulsive behavior, reflected in speeding, frustration with other road users, less safety when changing lanes on the

Unsafe Abortion- A Tragic Saga of Maternal Suffering

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M C Regmi

2010-03-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Unsafe abortion is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in developing countries despite provision of adequate care and legalization of abortion. The aim of this study was to find out the contribution of unsafe abortion in maternal mortality and its other consequences. METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in BPKIHS between 2005 April to 2008 September analyzing all the unsafe abortion related admissions. RESULTS: There were 70 unsafe abortion patients. Majority of them (52.8% were of high grade. Most of them recovered but there were total 8maternal deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Unsafe abortion is still a significant medical and social problem even in post legalization era of this country. Keywords: abortion, legalization, maternal death, unsafe.

Comparing the driving behaviours of individuals with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and those with Alzheimer's disease.

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Fujito, Ryoko; Kamimura, Naoto; Ikeda, Manabu; Koyama, Asuka; Shimodera, Shinji; Morinobu, Shigeru; Inoue, Shimpei

2016-01-01

Assessing driving aptitude in dementia patients is critically important for both patient and public safety. However, there have been only a few reports on the driving behaviours and accident risk of patients with dementia, especially frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Therefore, we compared the characteristics of driving behaviours in patients with FTLD and those with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The subjects were 28 FTLD and 67 AD patients who visited the Department of Psychiatry, Kochi Medical School Hospital. We conducted semi-structured interviews with their families and caregivers about traffic accident history and changes in patient driving behaviours after dementia onset and then compared the findings between the two groups. Overall changes in driving behaviours were reported in 89% (25/28) and 76% (51/67) of the FTLD and AD patients, respectively (P = 0.17). In the FTLD group, difficulty in judging inter-vehicle distances, ignoring road signs and traffic signals, and distraction were reported in 50% (14/28), 61% (17/28), and 50% (14/28) of patients, respectively, and 75% (21/28) patients had caused a traffic accident after dementia onset. The risk of causing an accident was higher in the FTLD group than in the AD group (odds ratio = 10.4, 95% confidence interval = 3.7-29.1). In addition, the mean duration between dementia onset and a traffic accident was 1.35 years in the FTLD group compared with 3.0 years in the AD group (P driving behaviours than those with AD, and the risk of causing a traffic accident may be higher in patients with FTLD from an early disease stage. © 2015 The Authors. Psychogeriatrics © 2015 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.

Unsafe abortion: a tragic saga of maternal suffering.

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Regmi, M C; Rijal, P; Subedi, S S; Uprety, D; Budathoki, B; Agrawal, A

2010-01-01

Unsafe abortion is a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in developing countries despite provision of adequate care and legalization of abortion. The aim of this study was to find out the contribution of unsafe abortion in maternal mortality and its other consequences. A retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in BPKIHS between 2005 April to 2008 September analyzing all the unsafe abortion related admissions. There were 70 unsafe abortion patients. Majority of them (52.8%) were of high grade. Most of them recovered but there were total 8 maternal deaths. Unsafe abortion is still a significant medical and social problem even in post legalization era of this country.

The Drive-Wise Project: Driving Simulator Training increases real driving performance in healthy older drivers

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Gianclaudio eCasutt

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Age-related cognitive decline is often associated with unsafe driving behavior. We hypothesized that 10 active training sessions in a driving simulator increase cognitive and on-road driving performance. In addition, driving simulator training should outperform cognitive training.Methods: Ninety-one healthy active drivers (62 – 87 years were randomly assigned to either (1 a driving simulator training group, (2 an attention training group (vigilance and selective attention, or (3 a control group. The main outcome variables were on-road driving and cognitive performance. Seventy-seven participants (85% completed the training and were included in the analyses. Training gains were analyzed using a multiple regression analysis with planned comparisons.Results: The driving simulator training group showed an improvement in on-road driving performance compared to the attention training group. In addition, both training groups increased cognitive performance compared to the control group. Conclusion: Driving simulator training offers the potential to enhance driving skills in older drivers. Compared to the attention training, the simulator training seems to be a more powerful program for increasing older drivers’ safety on the road.

Return to driving after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: patient-reported safety and maneuverability.

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Gholson, J Joseph; Lin, Albert; McGlaston, Timothy; DeAngelis, Joseph; Ramappa, Arun

2015-01-01

This survey investigated patients' return to driving after rotator cuff surgery, to determine whether pain, weakness, sling use, and narcotics correlate with self-assessed safety and maneuvering. Fifty-four patients (80.6% of those eligible) were surveyed 4 months after surgery. Return to driving ranged widely from same day to 4 months, with two not driving at 4 months; 12% reported narcotics use and 33% reported sling use. Drivers reporting weakness were more likely to feel unsafe (p = .02) and more likely to report difficulty maneuvering (p driving does not correspond to perceived safety; pain and weakness correspond with feeling unsafe and difficulty maneuvering. Although subjective, clinicians may find these self-assessments predictive when counseling patients on return to driving.

The effects of anti-speeding advertisements on the simulated driving behaviour of young drivers.

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Plant, Bernice R C; Irwin, Julia D; Chekaluk, Eugene

2017-03-01

Recent examinations of road safety communications, including anti-speeding advertisements, have considered the differential effects of positive and negative emotional appeals on driver behaviour. However, empirical evaluations of anti-speeding messages have largely relied on measures of viewers' reported intentions to comply with speed limits and the self-reported driving behaviour of viewers post-exposure, which might not be indicative of the direct effects that these messages have on real-world driving behaviour. The current research constitutes a first empirical evaluation of different real-world anti-speeding advertisements, as measured by their effects on young drivers' speeding behaviour, using a driving simulator. Licensed drivers (N=116) aged 17-25 years completed driving measures prior to, immediately following, and 7-10days after viewing one of four social marketing advertisements. Results indicated that young drivers' average driving speeds were modestly reduced immediately after they viewed an anti-speeding advertisement that depicted social consequences for speeding and employed a positive emotional appeal when compared to an emotion-matched control advertisement; however, this effect was not found for the anti-speeding advertisement depicting a crash. Interestingly, the results based on reported intentions to reduce speeding predicted the opposite pattern of results. However, there was no evidence that the immediate changes to speeding were maintained 7-10days later, and prompts during Phase 2 did not appear to have an effect. The implications of these findings for road safety advertisements targeting young drivers are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associations of repeated high alcohol use with unsafe driving behaviors, traffic offenses, and traffic crashes among young drivers: Findings from the New Zealand Drivers Study.

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Begg, Dorothy; Brookland, Rebecca; Connor, Jennie

2017-02-17

The objective of this study was to describe self-reported high alcohol use at each of the 3 licensing stages of graduated driver licensing and its relationship to drink-driving behaviors, intentional risky driving, aggressive driving, alcohol traffic offenses, non-alcohol traffic offenses, and traffic crashes. The New Zealand Drivers Study (NZDS) is a multistage, prospective cohort study of newly licensed drivers interviewed at all 3 stages of the graduated driver licensing system: learner (baseline), restricted (intermediate), and full license. At each stage, alcohol use was self-reported using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C), with high alcohol use defined as a score of ≥4 for males and ≥3 for females. Sociodemographic and personality data were obtained at the baseline interview. Alcohol-related, intentional risky, and aggressive driving behaviors were self-reported following each license stage. Traffic crashes and offenses were identified from police records. Crashes were also self-reported. Twenty-six percent (n = 397) reported no high alcohol use, 22% at one license stage, 30% at 2 stages, and 22% at 3 stages. Poisson regression results (unadjusted and adjusted) showed that the number of stages where high alcohol use was reported was significantly associated with each of the outcomes. For most outcomes, and especially the alcohol-involved outcomes, the relative risk increased with the number of stages of high alcohol use. We found that high alcohol use was common among young newly licensed drivers and those who repeatedly reported high alcohol use were at a significantly higher risk of unsafe driving behaviors. Recently introduced zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC) should help to address this problem, but other strategies are required to target persistent offenders.

Perceptual and Cognitive Impairments and Driving

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Korner-Bitensky, Nicol; Coopersmith, Henry; Mayo, Nancy; Leblanc, Ginette; Kaizer, Franceen

1990-01-01

Perceptual and cognitive disorders that frequently accompany stroke and head injury influence an individual's ability to drive a motor vehicle. Canadian physicians are legally responsible for identifying patients who are potentially unsafe to drive and, if they fail to do so, may be held liable in a civil action suit. The authors review the guidelines for physicians evaluating a patient's fitness to drive after brain injury. They also examine the actions a physician should take when a patient with perceptual and cognitive problems wants to drive. Ultimately, by taking these actions, physicians will help to prevent driving accidents. PMID:21234047

Tackling unsafe abortion in Mauritius.

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Nyong'o, D; Oodit, G

1996-01-01

Despite a contraceptive prevalence rate of 75% Mauritius has a high incidence of unsafe abortions because of unprotected intercourse experienced by many young women in a rapidly industrializing environment. The Mauritius Family Planning Association (MFPA) tackled the issue of unsafe abortion in 1993. Abortion is illegal in the country, and the Catholic Church also strongly opposes modern family planning methods, thus the use of withdrawal and/or calendar methods have been increasing. The MFPA organized an advocacy symposium in 1993 on unsafe abortion with the result of revealing the pressure the Church was exerting relative to abortion and contraceptives. The advocacy campaign of the MFPA consists of having abortion legalized on health grounds and improving family planning services, especially for young unmarried women and men. The full support of the media was secured on the abortion issue: articles appeared, meetings were attended by the press, and public relations support was also received from them. The MFPA worked closely with parliamentarians. A motion was tabled in 1994 in the National Assembly which called for legalization of abortion on health grounds, but the Church squelched its debate. In March 1994 MFPA hosted the IPPF African Regional Conference on Unsafe Abortion in Mauritius with the participation of over 100 representatives from 20 countries, and subsequently a second motion was tabled without parliamentary debate. The deliberations were covered by the media and the Ministry of Women's Rights recognized abortion as an urgent issue as outlined in a white paper prepared for the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The campaign changed the policy climate favorably making the public more conscious of unsafe abortion. The Ministry of Health decided to collect more data and the newly elected government seems to be more open about this issue.

Risk factors for adverse driving outcomes in Dutch adults with ADHD and controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Bron, Tannetje I; Bijlenga, Denise; Breuk, Minda; Michielsen, Marieke; Beekman, Aartjan T F; Kooij, J J Sandra

2018-02-01

To identify risk factors for adverse driving outcomes and unsafe driving among adults with and without ADHD in a Dutch sample. In this cross-sectional study, validated self-report questionnaires were used to compare driving history and current driving behavior between 330 adults diagnosed with ADHD and 330 controls. Adults with ADHD had significantly more adverse driving outcomes when compared to controls. Having an ADHD diagnosis significantly increased the odds for having had 3 or more vehicular crashes (OR = 2.72; p = .001). Driving frequency, male gender, age, high anxiety levels, high hostility levels, and alcohol use all significantly influenced the odds for unsafe driving behavior, for having had 12 or more traffic citations, and/or for having had 3 or more vehicular crashes. Alcohol use, and high levels of anxiety and hostility are highly prevalent among adults with ADHD, and they mediate the risk for negative driving outcomes in this group. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maternal near-miss in a great grandmultipara following unsafe ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Unsafe abortion and its complications have been limited to adolescents lacking family and partner support without attention to older, married women and their peculiarities regarding unsafe abortions. Main objective of the study was to focus on uncommon contributing factors to unsafe abortion in older women. A 40year old ...

Ugandan opinion-leaders' knowledge and perceptions of unsafe abortion.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Ann M; Kibombo, Richard; Cats-Baril, Deva

2014-10-01

While laws in Uganda surrounding abortion remain contradictory, a frequent interpretation of the law is that abortion is only allowed to save the woman's life. Nevertheless abortion occurs frequently under unsafe conditions at a rate of 54 abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age annually, taking a large toll on women's health. There are an estimated 148,500 women in Uganda who experience abortion complications annually. Understanding opinion leaders' knowledge and perceptions about unsafe abortion is critical to identifying ways to address this public health issue. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 41 policy-makers, cultural leaders, local politicians and leaders within the health care sector in 2009-10 at the national as well as district (Bushenyi, Kamuli and Lira) level to explore their knowledge and perceptions of unsafe abortion and the potential for policy to address this issue. Only half of the sample knew the current law regulating abortion in Uganda. Respondents understood that the result of the current abortion restrictions included long-term health complications, unwanted children and maternal death. Perceived consequences of increasing access to safe abortion included improved health as well as overuse of abortion, marital conflict and less reliance on preventive behaviour. Opinion leaders expressed the most support for legalization of abortion in cases of rape when the perpetrator was unknown. Understanding opinion leaders' perspectives on this politically sensitive topic provides insight into the policy context of abortion laws, drivers behind maintaining the status quo, and ways to improve provision under the law: increase education among providers and opinion leaders. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2013; all rights reserved.

Prediction of safe driving Behaviours based on health belief model: the case of taxi drivers in Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Razmara, Asghar; Aghamolaei, Teamur; Madani, Abdoulhossain; Hosseini, Zahra; Zare, Shahram

2018-03-20

Road accidents are among the main causes of mortality. As safe and secure driving is a key strategy to reduce car injuries and offenses, the present research aimed to explore safe driving behaviours among taxi drivers based on the Health Belief Model (HBM). This study was conducted on 184 taxi drivers in Bandar Abbas who were selected based on a multiple stratified sampling method. Data were collected by a questionnaire comprised of a demographic information section along with the constructs of the HBM. Data were analysed by SPSS ver19 via a Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regressions. The mean age of the participants was 45.1 years (SD = 11.1). They all had, on average, 10.3 (SD = 7/5) years of taxi driving experience. Among the HBM components, cues to action and perceived benefits were shown to be positively correlated with safe driving behaviours, while perceived barriers were negatively correlated. Cues to action, perceived barriers and perceived benefits were shown to be the strongest predictors of a safe drivers' behaviour. Based on the results of this study in designing health promotion programmes to improve safe driving behaviours among taxi drivers, cues to action, perceived benefits and perceived barriers are important. Therefore, advertising, the design of information campaigns, emphasis on the benefits of safe driving behaviours and modification barriers are recommended.

Predicting drunk driving: contribution of alcohol use and related problems, traffic behaviour, personality and platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Eensoo, Diva; Paaver, Marika; Harro, Maarike; Harro, Jaanus

2005-01-01

The aim of the study was to characterize the predictive value of socio-economic data, alcohol consumption measures, smoking, platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, traffic behaviour habits and impulsivity measures for actual drunk driving. Data were collected from 203 male drunk driving offenders and 211 control subjects using self-reported questionnaires, and blood samples were obtained from the two groups. We identified the combination of variables, which predicted correctly, approximately 80% of the subjects' belonging to the drunk driving and control groups. Significant independent discriminators in the final model were, among the health-behaviour measures, alcohol-related problems, frequency of using alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed and smoking. Predictive traffic behaviour measures were seat belt use and paying for parking. Among the impulsivity measures, dysfunctional impulsivity was the best predictor; platelet MAO activity and age also had an independent predictive value. Our results support the notion that drunk driving is the result of a combination of various behavioural, biological and personality-related risk factors.

Heavy-duty mentor : Inthinc's trucker-coaching software reinforces best-practices driving

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menzies, J.

2010-12-15

This article described Inthinc's tiwi and waySmart driver mentoring systems and how they are being put to use in the Canadian oil patch. The automated monitoring system for truck drivers generates audible alerts for unsafe practices, including verbal warnings. The use of the technology in the United States resulted in substantial improvements in seat-belt use, speeding violations, aggressive driving behaviours, and crash rates. The resulting safety improvements result in cost savings that justify the cost of the system. The system can also monitor and reduce vehicle idle-time and electronically log driver hours of service, including changes from vehicle to vehicle, which provides particularly useful data for the oil industry. Accelerometers are used to detect aggressive driving maneuvers, and the system can be customized with different degrees of leeway. The system is designed to be corrective rather than punitive. Drivers are given time to adjust their behaviour. Only repeated failure results in notification to the designated supervisor. In the future, the system will be able to prevent calling and texting from cell phones while the vehicle is in motion and provide instruction for walk-around, pre-trip truck inspections. The mentoring capability is the key distinction system, as the focus is on changing the behaviour of the driver in the vehicle. 1 fig.

Dimensions of driving anger and their relationships with aberrant driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Tingru; Chan, Alan H S; Zhang, Wei

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between driving anger and aberrant driving behaviours. An internet-based questionnaire survey was administered to a sample of Chinese drivers, with driving anger measured by a 14-item short Driving Anger Scale (DAS) and the aberrant driving behaviours measured by a 23-item Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). The results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated that the three-factor model (hostile gesture, arrival-blocking and safety-blocking) of the DAS fitted the driving anger data well. The Exploratory Factor Analysis on DBQ data differentiated four types of aberrant driving, viz. emotional violation, error, deliberate violation and maintaining progress violation. For the anger-aberration relation, it was found that only "arrival-blocking" anger was a significant positive predictor for all four types of aberrant driving behaviours. The "safety-blocking" anger revealed a negative impact on deliberate violations, a finding different from previously established positive anger-aberration relation. These results suggest that drivers with different patterns of driving anger would show different behavioural tendencies and as a result intervention strategies may be differentially effective for drivers of different profiles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors driving public tolerance levels and information-seeking behaviour concerning insects in the household environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoelitsz, Bruce; Poortvliet, P Marijn; Takken, Willem

2018-06-01

The public's negative attitudes towards household insects drive tolerance for these insects and their control. Tolerance levels are important in integrated pest management (IPM), as are pest knowledge and information. The risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model describes the relationships between personal factors and information-seeking behaviour. We combined IPM and RISP to determine important relationships between factors driving insect tolerance levels and information-seeking behaviour through an online survey and tested whether this model is valid and generally applicable. Relationships between variables from both IPM and RISP models were tested for seven insect species. Tolerance levels were measured with two factors: willingness to pay for pest control and whether insects are tolerated. Willingness to pay for control was positively affected by age, experience, risk perception, insect characteristics, and negative emotions and affected behavioural intention, by influencing information sufficiency and information-seeking behaviour. Tolerability was influenced by perception of insect characteristics and determines whether control measures are taken. It was possible to combine the RISP and IPM models. Relevant driving factors were a person's age, experience, risk perception, negative affective responses, tolerance levels, relevant channel beliefs about online forums, information sufficiency and information-seeking behaviour. There was, however, variation in important factors between different insects. © 2017 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Changes in glance behaviour when using a visual eco-driving system - A field study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlstrom, Christer; Kircher, Katja

2017-01-01

While in-vehicle eco-driving support systems have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save fuel, they may also distract drivers, especially if the system makes use of a visual interface. The objective of this study is to investigate the visual behaviour of drivers interacting with such a system, implemented on a five-inch screen mounted above the middle console. Ten drivers participated in a real-world, on-road driving study where they drove a route nine times (2 pre-baseline drives, 5 treatment drives, 2 post-baseline drives). The route was 96 km long and consisted of rural roads, urban roads and a dual-lane motorway. The results show that drivers look at the system for 5-8% of the time, depending on road type, with a glance duration of about 0.6 s, and with 0.05% long glances (>2s) per kilometre. These figures are comparable to what was found for glances to the speedometer in this study. Glance behaviour away from the windscreen is slightly increased in treatment as compared to pre- and post-baseline, mirror glances decreased in treatment and post-baseline compared to pre-baseline, and speedometer glances increased compared to pre-baseline. The eco-driving support system provided continuous information interspersed with additional advice pop-ups (announced by a beep) and feedback pop-ups (no auditory cue). About 20% of sound initiated advice pop-ups were disregarded, and the remaining cases were usually looked at within the first two seconds. About 40% of the feedback pop-ups were disregarded. The amount of glances to the system immediately before the onset of a pop-up was clearly higher for feedback than for advice. All in all, the eco-driving support system under investigation is not likely to have a strong negative impact on glance behaviour. However, there is room for improvements. We recommend that eco-driving information is integrated with the speedometer, that optional activation of sound alerts for intermittent information is made

Unsafe sex in regular partnerships among heterosexual persons living with HIV: evidence from a large representative sample of individuals attending outpatients services in France (ANRS-EN12-VESPA Study).

Science.gov (United States)

Bouhnik, Anne-Déborah; Préau, Marie; Lert, France; Peretti-Watel, Patrick; Schiltz, Marie-Ange; Obadia, Yolande; Spire, Bruno

2007-01-01

Risky sexual behaviour remains frequent among people living with HIV. We analysed factors associated with unsafe sex within serodiscordant couples among heterosexual individuals living with HIV in France. In 2003, a face-to-face survey was conducted among individuals selected in a random stratified sample of 102 French hospital departments delivering HIV care. This analysis included adults heterosexual participants in a regular partnership for at least 12 months with a seronegative/unknown serostatus partner, HIV-diagnosed for at least 12 months. Unsafe sex was defined as reporting inconsistent condom use in the prior 12 months. Among men and women, participants who reported unsafe sex were compared with those who did not. 663 heterosexual adults reported being in a serodiscordant regular partnership. Women accounted for 41% of participants and 26% of the sample were immigrants. Unsafe sex with the steady partner was reported by 26% of men and 34% of women (p=0.024). For men, factors independently associated with unsafe sex were being in a relationship for more than 10 years, being in a difficult financial situation and reporting regular consumption of alcohol to excess. Among women, having a history of drug use, not being aware of partner's serostatus, and reporting a difficult financial situation were independently associated with unsafe sex. In addition, immigrant women were associated with safer sex. A high number of serodiscordant couples continue to report risky sexual behaviour, and related factors are gender-specific. Couple-level interventions are essential in order to prevent HIV-transmission and to encourage negotiation within couples.

Radiation dose, driving performance, and cognitive function in patients with head and neck cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuen, Hon K.; Sharma, Anand K.; Logan, William C.; Gillespie, M. Boyd; Day, Terry A.; Brooks, Johnell O.

2008-01-01

Seven head and neck cancer patients participated in a driving evaluation in a driving simulator. Radiation dose on the temporal lobes was moderately associated with time to complete a cognitive test and with driving performance. Results indicated that incidental irradiation may contribute to a decrease in cognition and in unsafe driving performance, which seems to be time-dependent

Unsafe abortion: a cruel way of birth control

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sir,. Unsafe abortion refers to a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy performed either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both.1 Although definition refers to the process, unsafe abortion actually reflects unsuitable situations ...

Implicit attitudes towards risky and safe driving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Sømhovd, Mikael Julius; Møller, Mette

; further, self-reports of the intention to drive safely (or not) are socially sensitive. Therefore, we examined automatic preferences towards safe and risky driving with a Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). The results suggest that (1) implicit attitudes towards driving behavior can be measured reliably...... with the GNAT; (2) implicit attitudes towards safe driving versus towards risky driving may be separable constructs. We propose that research on driving behavior may benefit from routinely including measures of implicit cognition. A practical advantage is a lesser susceptibility to social desirability biases......, compared to self-report methods. Pending replication in future research, the apparent dissociation between implicit attitudes towards safe versus risky driving that we observed may contribute to a greater theoretical understanding of the causes of unsafe and risky driving behavior....

Driver headway choice : A comparison between driving simulator and real-road driving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Risto, M.; Martens, M.H.

2014-01-01

Driving simulators have become an established tool in driver behaviour research by offering a controllable, safe and cost-effective alternative to real world driving. A challenge for using driving simulators as a research tool has been to elicit driving behaviour that equals real world driving. With

Driver headway choice: a comparison between driving simulator and real-road driving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Risto, Malte; Martens, Marieke Hendrikje

2014-01-01

Driving simulators have become an established tool in driver behaviour research by offering a controllable, safe and cost-effective alternative to real world driving. A challenge for using driving simulators as a research tool has been to elicit driving behaviour that equals real world driving. With

Correlates of Marijuana Drugged Driving and Openness to Driving While High: Evidence from Colorado and Washington.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin C Davis

Full Text Available A potential unintended consequence of legalizing recreational marijuana is increased marijuana-related driving impairment. Some states where recreational marijuana is legal have begun implementing interventions to mitigate driving under the influence (DUI of marijuana, including media campaigns to increase knowledge about DUI laws. However, little is known about the associations between knowledge of DUI laws and marijuana DUI behavior. In this study, we provide new data from a survey of marijuana users in Colorado and Washington to examine associations between marijuana drugged driving and two potential behavioral precursors of marijuana DUI. We also explore other factors that may influence marijuana DUI.Data are from an online survey of marijuana users in Colorado and Washington. Respondents who reported any marijuana use in the past 30 days (n = 865 served as the analytic sample. We examined prevalence of two behavioral outcomes: (1 any driving of a motor vehicle while high in the past year and (2 driving a motor vehicle within 1 hour of using marijuana 5 or more times in the past month. Additional outcomes measuring willingness to drive while high were also assessed. Logistic regressions were used to estimate each outcome as a function of two multi-item scales measuring knowledge of the legal consequences of driving high and perceptions that driving while high is not safe. Additional covariates for potential confounders were included in each model.Prevalence of past-year driving while under the influence of marijuana was 43.6% among respondents. The prevalence of driving within 1 hour of using marijuana at least 5 times in the past month was 23.9%. Increased perception that driving high is unsafe was associated with lower odds of past-year marijuana DUI (OR = 0.31, P < 0.01 and lower past-month odds of driving 5 or more times within 1 hour of using marijuana (OR = 0.26, P < 0.01. Increased knowledge of marijuana DUI laws was also associated

Acculturation and HIV-related sexual behaviours among international migrants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Hongfei; Li, Xiaoming

2015-01-01

This review examines the global literature regarding the relationship between acculturation and HIV-related sexual behaviours among international migrants. Seventy-nine articles published in English-language journals prior to July 2012 met the criteria for inclusion. We conducted a systematic review and subset meta-analysis of correlations between acculturation and five types of sexual behaviours including condom use, multiple partnerships, early sexual initiation, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and other unsafe sexual practices. Immigrants high in mainstream acculturation were more likely to have multiple partnerships, early sexual initiation, STDs and unsafe sex (rs ranged from 0.10 to 0.16), but acculturation was not associated with condom use (r = 0.02). Gender moderated the relationships between acculturation and multiple partnerships, STDs and unsafe sex. The relationship between acculturation and unsafe sex also varied across ethnicity. These findings suggest that acculturation may serve as a risk factor towards immigrants' HIV-related sexual health. We offered a theoretical framework and suggested applying cross-cultural and longitudinal designs in future research on acculturation and health behaviours.

Unsafe abortion and postabortion care-An overview

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Vibeke

2011-01-01

countries where women do not have legal access to abortion. Postabortion care focuses on treatment of incomplete abortion and provision of postabortion contraceptive services. To enhance women's access to postabortion care, focus is increasingly being placed on upgrading midlevel providers to provide......Forty percent of the world's women are living in countries with restrictive abortion laws, which prohibit abortion or only allow abortion to protect a woman's life or her physical or mental health. In countries where abortion is restricted, women have to resort to clandestine interventions to have...... an unwanted pregnancy terminated. As a consequence, high rates of unsafe abortion are seen, such as in sub-Saharan Africa where unsafe abortion occurs at rates of 18-39/1 000 women. The circumstances under which women obtain unsafe abortion vary and depend on traditional methods known and type of providers...

Know Before You Do: Anticipating Maneuvers via Learning Temporal Driving Models

Science.gov (United States)

2015-04-01

features/index.htm. Accessed: 2014-09-30. [3] Google self driving car . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Google driverless car . Accessed: 2014-10-11. [4...and outside the car , GPS, and speed information, with lane and driving maneuver annotations. II. RELATED WORK Assistive features for vehicles . Recent...made driving safer over the last decade. They prepare vehicles for unsafe road conditions and alert drivers if they perform a dangerous maneuver

Youth often risk unsafe abortions.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, B

1993-10-01

The topic of this article is the use of unsafe abortion for unwanted pregnancies among adolescents. The significance of unsafe abortion is identified as a high risk of serious health problems, such as infection, hemorrhage, infertility, and mortality, and as a strain on emergency room services. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 33% of all women seeking hospital care for abortion complications are aged under 20 years. 50 million abortions are estimated to be induced annually, of which 33% are illegal and almost 50% are performed outside the health care system. Complications are identified as occurring due to the procedure itself (perforation of the uterus, cervical lacerations, or hemorrhage) and due to incomplete abortion or introduction of bacteria into the uterus. Long-term complications include an increased risk of ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic infection, and infertility. Mortality from unsafe abortion is estimated at 1000/100,000 procedures. Safe abortion mortality is estimated at 0.6/100,000. When infertility results, some cultures ascribe an outcast status or marriages are prevented or prostitution is assured. The risk of complications is considered higher for adolescents. Adolescents tend to delay seeking an abortion, lack knowledge on where to go for a safe procedure, and delay seeking help for complications. Peer advice may be limited or inadequate knowledge. Five studies are cited that illustrate the impact of unsafe abortion on individuals and health care systems. Abortions may be desired due to fear of parental disapproval of the pregnancy, abandonment by the father, financial and emotional responsibilities of child rearing, expulsion from school, or inability to marry if the child is out of wedlock. Medical, legal, and social barriers may prevent women and girls from obtaining safe abortion. Parental permission is sometimes a requirement for safe abortion. Fears of judgmental or callous health personnel may be barriers to

Usual water-related behaviour and 'near-drowning' incidents in young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Gulliver, Pauline; Begg, Dorothy

2005-06-01

To describe usual water-related behaviour and 'near-drowning' incidents in a cohort of young New Zealand adults. This was a cross-sectional study based on data collected as part of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, which is the study of a cohort (n = 1,037) born between 1 April 1972 and 31 March 1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand. The data analysed were collected at age 21 (1993/94). Each study member was given a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. Males reported a higher level of water confidence, exposure to risk behaviours, and exposure to unsafe locations, and more 'near-drowning' incidents, than the females, but protective behaviour did not differ. Males and females who were 'confident' in the water were more likely to be exposed to unsafe water locations, and water-confident males were more likely to drink alcohol before water activities, but not boating. A total of 169 'near-drowning' incidents were reported by 141 study members (63% males). 'Near-drowning' incidents were associated with unsafe swimming environments for males (p near-drowning' incidents among a high-risk age group. Larger case-control studies are required to further investigate risk factors for 'near-drowning'. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS: Further investigation is required to determine the effectiveness of providing water skills acquisition in both safe and unsafe environments on 'near-drowning' experience.

Dementia and driving.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neill, D; Neubauer, K; Boyle, M; Gerrard, J; Surmon, D; Wilcock, G K

1992-04-01

Many European countries test cars, but not their drivers, as they age. There is evidence to suggest that human factors are more important than vehicular factors as causes of motor crashes. The elderly also are involved in more accidents per distance travelled than middle-aged drivers. As the UK relies on self-certification of health by drivers over the age of 70 years, we examined the driving practices of patients with dementia attending a Memory Clinic. Nearly one-fifth of 329 patients with documented dementia continued to drive after the onset of dementia, and impaired driving ability was noted in two-thirds of these. Their families experienced great difficulty in persuading patients to stop driving, and had to invoke outside help in many cases. Neuropsychological tests did not help to identify those who drove badly while activity of daily living scores were related to driving ability. These findings suggest that many patients with dementia drive in an unsafe fashion after the onset of the illness. The present system of self-certification of health by the elderly for driver-licensing purposes needs to be reassessed.

Older drivers' self-assessed driving skills, driving-related stress and self-regulation in traffic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siren, Anu Kristiina; Meng, Annette

2013-01-01

Previous research on older drivers has indicated connections between self-rated driving ability, confidence in their own driving, driving-related stress, and self-regulatory behaviour. However, more systematic associations between older drivers' perceptions on their own driving and self......-regulation or driver stress and self-regulation behaviour, and possible gender differences in these, have not been obtained in previous studies. The aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of older drivers' self-regulatory driving and the motivators behind this behaviour, by placing this behaviour...... and avoidance than situations related to infrastructure, and women were more likely to report discomfort and avoidance of driving situations. The results suggest that older drivers generally show good self-judgement of changes in their driving skills and acknowledge the different types of skills comprised...

Real-world driving behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rijkeboer, R.C.; Hendriksen, P.; Gense, N.L.J.

2001-01-01

With increasing complexity of engine management system there is a tendency for traditional driving cyles to become further and further removed from reality. So for a sensible evaluation of emissions and fuel consumption of road vehicles in the field there is an urgent need for 'real-world' driving

Road Safety Data, Collection, Transfer and Analysis DaCoTa. Workpackage 6, Driver Behaviour Monitoring through Naturalistic Driving: Deliverable 6.3: Report on small scale naturalistic driving pilot.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pilgerstorfer, M. Runda, K. Brandstätter, C. Christoph, M. Hakkert, S. Ishaq, R. Toledo, T. & Gatscha, M.

2012-01-01

WP6 of DaCoTA, Driver Behaviour Monitoring through Naturalistic Driving, aims to develop an implementation plan for a large scale activity that uses Naturalistic Driving (ND) Observations to continuously monitor relevant road safety data within the framework of the European Road Safety Observatory.

The relation between working conditions, aberrant driving behaviour and crash propensity among taxi drivers in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yonggang; Li, Linchao; Prato, Carlo G

2018-04-03

Although the taxi industry is playing an important role in Chinese everyday life, little attention has been posed towards occupational health issues concerning the taxi drivers' working conditions, driving behaviour and road safety. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 1021 taxi drivers from 21 companies in four Chinese cities and collected information about (i) sociodemographic characteristics, (ii) working conditions, (iii) frequency of daily aberrant driving behaviour, and (iv) involvement in property-damage-only (PDO) and personal injury (PI) crashes over the past two years. A hybrid bivariate model of crash involvement was specified: (i) the hybrid part concerned a latent variable model capturing unobserved traits of the taxi drivers; (ii) the bivariate part modelled jointly both types of crashes while capturing unobserved correlation between error terms. The survey answers paint a gloomy picture in terms of workload, as taxi drivers reported averages of 9.4 working hours per day and 6.7 working days per week that amount on average to about 63.0 working hours per week. Moreover, the estimates of the hybrid bivariate model reveal that increasing levels of fatigue, reckless behaviour and aggressive behaviour are positively related to a higher propensity of crash involvement. Lastly, the heavy workload is also positively correlated with the higher propensity of crashing, not only directly as a predictor of crash involvement, but also indirectly as a covariate of fatigue and aberrant driving behaviour. The findings from this study provide insights into potential strategies for preventive education and taxi industry management to improve the working conditions and hence reduce fatigue and road risk for the taxi drivers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitating improved road safety based on increased knowledge about driving behaviour and profiling sub-groups of drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne

The aim of the Ph.D. study presented in this thesis was to facilitate improved road safety through increased understanding of methods used to measure driving behaviour, and through increased knowledge about driving behaviour in sub-groups of drivers. More specifically, the usefulness of the Driver...... with underlying mechanisms of lack of focus, emotional stress, recklessness and confusion, and hence it is highly important to further explore means to making drivers become more focused or attentive when driving, and to deal with emotional responses in traffic like impatience and frustration (Article 1). 2......, indicating that the problem lies in the drivers’ attitudes towards safety (Article 3). 6. It is indicated that rather than viewing safety and risk as two ends of a continuum, safety and risk should be understood as two separate constructs, with different underlying motives. Therefore it is suggested...

12 CFR 563g.10 - Unsafe or unsound practices.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Unsafe or unsound practices. 563g.10 Section 563g.10 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY SECURITIES OFFERINGS § 563g.10 Unsafe or unsound practices. (a) No person shall directly or indirectly, (1) Employ any device...

The effects of diabetes and low blood sugar levels on driving behaviour : Comparison of diabetics and non-diabetics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martens, M.; Janssen, W.H.; Stork, A.

2001-01-01

Under contract with the University Medical Centre, Utrecht, TNO Human Factors has conducted research to investigate the effect of diabetes on driving behaviour. In a driving simulator experiment, patients with diabetes and non-diabetics were confronted with various trafßc situations. The subject

Health risk behaviours of high school learners and their perceptions ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Adolescence spans nearly a decade in which young people may initiate health risk behaviours such as unsafe sexual practices and the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD use). Most adolescent mortality and morbidity, attributable to such health risk behaviours, are preventable. Managing the ...

Unsafe abortion: the silent scourge.

Science.gov (United States)

Grimes, David A

2003-01-01

An estimated 19 million unsafe abortions occur worldwide each year, resulting in the deaths of about 70,000 women. Legalization of abortion is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women's health. Without skilled providers, adequate facilities and easy access, the promise of safe, legal abortion will remain unfulfilled, as in India and Zambia. Both suction curettage and pharmacological abortion are safe methods in early pregnancy; sharp curettage is inferior and should be abandoned. For later abortions, either dilation and evacuation or labour induction are appropriate. Hysterotomy should not be used. Timely and appropriate management of complications can reduce morbidity and prevent mortality. Treatment delays are dangerous, regardless of their origin. Misoprostol may reduce the risks of unsafe abortion by providing a safer alternative to traditional clandestine abortion methods. While the debate over abortion will continue, the public health record is settled: safe, legal, accessible abortion improves health.

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to unsafe water and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to unsafe water and lack of sanitation and hygiene in South Africa in 2000. ... Disease burden from diarrhoeal diseases, intestinal parasites and schistosomiasis, measured by deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Results. 13 434 deaths were attributable to unsafe ...

The Unsafe Acts and the Decision-to-Err Factors of Thai Construction Workers

OpenAIRE

Thanet Aksorn; B.H.W. Hadikusumo

2007-01-01

The unsafe acts of workers are considered as major contributors of work-related accidents and injuries on construction sites. However, not much work has been done to address the reasons why unsafe acts of workers occur particularly in construction industry. The aim of this paper therefore, is to investigate the major unsafe acts (i.e., at-risk behavior), and the decision-to-err factors causing unsafe acts. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from a total of 214 workers from 2...

Evaluation of the relationship between unsafe acts and occupational accidents in a vehicle manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Fatemi

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Background and aims   Vehicle manufacturing industries are as critical sites from points of safety. Unsafe acts and unsafe conditions have been recognized as effective factors in increasing the risk of occupational accidents. In order to promote of safety conditions, it's necessary to evaluate unsafe acts of workers as the main reason of accidents. The main goal of research is evaluation of relationship between unsafe Acts with occupational accidents.   Methods   Safety behavior sampling (SBS technique was employed to conduct this study. After doing a pilot study, the number of samples and views were determined 195 and 3456  respectively. The information was then analyzed using Excel, SPSS and statistic tests.   Results   The results of the study showed that the rate of unsafe acts of studying workers was  35.4% .The study of the relationship between unsafe acts and occupational accidents via Regression Logistic test showed that if one percent increases on unsafe acts, the rate of accidents  multiply three.   Conclusion   Therefore in view of this significant correlation between unsafe acts and  occupational accidents and kind of unsafe acts, reducing or eliminating requires the investment and implementation of a program. It should be associated with behavioral safety principles and emphasis should be placed on implementing safety culture fundamentals at all organizational levels.

South African novice driver behaviour: findings from a naturalistic driving study

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Venter, Karien

2014-07-01

Full Text Available experienced drivers in similar circumstances;  Informing the development of approaches that could improve driver training methods and systems in South Africa. 4. METHODOLOGY 4.1. Naturalistic Driving Studies NDS is a fairly new methodology... important that novice drivers should be able to not only obey the law, but should be able to recognise hazards associated with stop streets. Scan behaviour especially to the left and the right is considered important to cross and clear the intersection...

A qualitative exploration of driving stress and driving discourtesy.

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Scott-Parker, B; Jones, C M; Rune, K; Tucker, J

2018-05-31

Driving courtesy, and conversely driving discourtesy, recently has been of great interest in the public domain. In addition, there has been increasing recognition of the negative impact of stress upon the individual's health and wellbeing, with a plethora of interventions aimed at minimising stress more generally. The research literature regarding driving dis/courtesy, in comparison, is scant, with a handful of studies examining the dis/courteous driving behaviour of road users, and the relationship between driving discourtesy and driving stress. To examine courteous and discourteous driving experiences, and to explore the impact of stress associated with such driving experiences. Thirty-eight drivers (20 females) from the Sunshine Coast region volunteered to participate in one of four 1-1.5 h focus groups. Content analysis used the verbatim utterances captured via an Mp3 device. Three themes pertaining to stressful and discourteous interactions were identified. Theme one pertained to the driving context: road infrastructure (eg, roundabouts, roadwork), vehicles (eg, features), location (eg, country vs city, unfamiliar areas), and temporal aspects (eg, holidays). Theme two pertained to other road users: their behaviour (eg, tailgating, merging), and unknown factors (eg, illicit and licit drug use). Theme three pertained to the self as road user: their own behaviours (eg, deliberate intimidation), and their emotions (eg, angry reaction to other drivers, being in control). Driving dis/courtesy and driving stress is a complex phenomenon, suggesting complex intervention efforts are required. Driving discourtesy was reported as being highly stressful, therefore intervention efforts which encourage driving courtesy and which foster emotional capacity to cope with stressful circumstances appear warranted. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Application of dotmocracy technique in assessment and management of unsafe behaviors

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2013-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Industrial accident is one of the most minatory elements for worker’s health, productivity and organizational performance. Unsafe behavior is the main reason associated with occurrence of accidents. The main goal of this study was application of participatory techniques to achieve control measures of these behaviors. .Material and Method: Using safety behavior sampling technique in this study, behaviors of staffs were evaluated and then the most risky behaviors were determined by paired comparison method. By application of participatory approach of dotmocracy in six steps, controlling ideas were derived by participation of operators, supervisors, engineers, HSE team and managers. .Result: 48.8% of the behaviors were unsafe. Misuse or notusing of the personal protective equipments with 63.4% was the most frequent unsafe behavior. Awkward postures, aggregation or passing under suspended loads were also followed by the unsafe behaviors. By application of participatory approach of dotmocracy, several applicable ideas in personal protective equipment, education, reinforcementand punishment, aggregation or passing under suspended loads and other ideas were achieved. . Conclusion: Dotmocracy participatory technique is an effective way to achieve various practical solutions in control of worker’s unsafe behaviors.

The Unsafe Acts and the Decision-to-Err Factors of Thai Construction Workers

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Thanet Aksorn

2007-06-01

Full Text Available The unsafe acts of workers are considered as major contributors of work-related accidents and injuries on construction sites. However, not much work has been done to address the reasons why unsafe acts of workers occur particularly in construction industry. The aim of this paper therefore, is to investigate the major unsafe acts (i.e., at-risk behavior, and the decision-to-err factors causing unsafe acts. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from a total of 214 workers from 20 building construction projects in Thailand. The findings revealed that the failure of workers to wear personal protective equipment (PPE, improper lifting or handling of materials, and keeping sharp objects in dangerous locations, are the major unsafe acts which frequently occur on construction sites in Thailand. In addition, the paper reported that the top three most frequent unsafe acts are statistically associated with several decision-to-err factors, including lack of management support, management pressure, group norms, overconfidence, being uncomfortable, past experience and laziness.

Maternal Near-Miss Due to Unsafe Abortion and Associated Short ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. Little is known about maternal near-miss (MNM) due to unsafe abortion in Nigeria. We used the WHO criteria to identify near-miss events and the proportion due to unsafe abortion among women of childbearing age in eight large secondary and tertiary hospitals across the six geo-political zones. We also explored ...

Demographic and clinical profile of patients with complicated unsafe abortion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siddique, S.; Hafeez, M.

2007-01-01

To describe the demographic and clinical profile of patients admitted as a result of complicated unsafe abortion. The study was carried out in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from August 2001 to July 2002. Patients admitted with complicated unsafe abortion were evaluated regarding age, parity, marital and educational status, indication for abortion, method used, qualification of abortion providers, contraceptive usage, complications and death rate in abortion seekers. Descriptive statistics was used for describing variables. Fiftynine patients were admitted with complicated unsafe abortion. The mean age was 29 years, 95% were married and multiparous, 40% had secondary and higher education, 85% approached unqualified abortion providers who used instrumentation in more than 40% of cases for termination of pregnancy resulting in visceral trauma. More than 50% were using contraception and 5% died due to postabortion complications. Unsafe abortion is a major health problem. The associated morbidity is much higher than mortality. This study focus on the need of postabortion care and easy accessibility to contraception to improve quality of health. (author)

Influence of the medication environment on the unsafe medication behavior of nurses: A path analysis.

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Yu, Xi; Li, Ce; Gao, Xueqin; Liu, Furong; Lin, Ping

2018-04-20

To explore the relationship between the medication environment and the unsafe medication behavior of nurses and to analyze its influence path. Unsafe medication behavior is the direct cause of medication error. The organizational environment is the foundation of and plays a guiding role in work behavior. Whether the medication environment correlates with the unsafe medication behavior of nurses remains unclear. This study used a correlative design with self-administered questionnaires, and the SHEL model, an acronym of its elements of software, hardware, environment, and liveware, was used as the framework for the medication environment. A survey was conducted among 1012 clinical nurses from five tertiary hospitals in China using the nurse unsafe medication behavior scale (NUMBS) and the nurses' perceptions of the medication environment scale (NPMES). Data were collected from January to February 2017. Path analyses were used to examine the hypothesized model. The medication environment correlated negatively with unsafe medication behavior (r=-0.48, pbehavior. Software, hardware and the environment indirectly influenced unsafe medication behavior, and nurses' personal factors played a mediating role in the relationships of unsafe medication behavior with software, hardware, and the environment. The unsafe medication behavior of nurses should be further improved. The medication environment was a predictor of unsafe medication behavior. Care managers should actively improve the medication environment to reduce the incidence of unsafe medication behaviors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Study of unsafe behaviors among city bus drivers in Hamadan, 2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2012-01-01

Conclusion: Because of high percent of unsafe acts and considering importance of its consequences in drivers, reducing unsafe acts trough investment and utilization of behavioral safety principles is required. In this regard, holding educational careers are suggested to increasing driver’s awareness.

Driving under the influence behaviours among high school students who mix alcohol with energy drinks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Maria N; Cumming, Tammy; Burkhalter, Robin; Langille, Donald B; Ogilvie, Rachel; Asbridge, Mark

2018-06-01

Alcohol and energy drinks are commonly used substances by youth in Canada, and are often mixed (AmED). While several studies have shown that AmED can have dangerous effects, less well understood is how AmED is associated with driving under the influence of either alcohol or drugs. This study sought to determine whether youth who use AmED were more likely to engage in driving, or being a passenger of a driver, under the influence of alcohol or cannabis compared to youth who use either alcohol or energy drinks alone. This study used data from grade 10-12 students who took part in the 2014/2015 Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (N=17,450). The association of past-year AmED use with past-30day: driving under the influence of alcohol or cannabis, and riding with an alcohol- or cannabis-influenced driver, was assessed using logistic regression. One in four youth had consumed AmED in the previous 12months. AmED users were more likely to engage in all risk behaviours except riding with a drinking driver, relative to youth who only consumed alcohol. No association was observed for youth who consumed alcohol and energy drinks on separate occasions. Youth who use AmED demonstrate a higher risk profile for driving under the influence of alcohol or cannabis, than youth who use alcohol alone. Future research should explore the biopsychosocial pathways that may explain why using energy drinks enhances the already heightened risk posed by alcohol on other health-related behaviours such as driving under the influence. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Implicit attitudes towards risky and safe driving in a Danish sample

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne

; further, self-reports of the intention to drive safely (or not) are socially sensitive. Therefore, we examined automatic preferences towards safe and risky driving with a Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). The results suggest that (1) implicit attitudes towards driving behavior can be measured reliably...... with the GNAT; (2) implicit attitudes towards safe driving versus towards risky driving may be separable constructs. We propose that research on driving behavior may benefit from routinely including measures of implicit cognition. A practical advantage is a lesser susceptibility to social desirability biases......, compared to self-report methods. Pending replication in future research, the apparent dissociation between implicit attitudes towards safe versus risky driving that we observed may contribute to a greater theoretical understanding of the causes of unsafe and risky driving behavior....

Sexual risk behaviours associated with unlicensed driving among young adults in Miami's electronic dance music nightclub scene.

Science.gov (United States)

Buttram, Mance E; Kurtz, Steven P; Paul, Roddia J

2017-11-01

Literature indicates that unlicensed driving (UD) offenders report substance use risk behaviours, yet data related to sexual risk behaviours is unknown. This study examined sexual and other risk behaviours among young adults in Miami, Florida, comparing UD and non-UD offenders (n=498). Compared with others, UD offenders were more likely to report group sex history, being high for sex half the time or more, purchasing sex and sexually transmissible infection history. Results suggest that locating sexual risk reduction interventions inside of the justice system would benefit UD offenders.

Understanding abortion-related stigma and incidence of unsafe abortion: experiences from community members in Machakos and Trans Nzoia counties Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Yegon, Erick Kiprotich; Kabanya, Peter Mwaniki; Echoka, Elizabeth; Osur, Joachim

2016-01-01

The rate of unsafe abortions in Kenya has increased from 32 per 1000 women of reproductive age in 2002 to 48 per 1000 women in 2012. This is one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2010, Kenya changed its Constitution to include a more enabling provision regarding the provision of abortion services. Abortion-related stigma has been identified as a key driver in silencing women's ability to reproductive choice leading to seeking to unsafe abortion. We sought to explore abortion-related stigma at the community level as a barrier to women realizing their rights to a safe, legal abortion and compare manifestations of abortion stigma at two communities from regions with high and low incidence of unsafe abortion. A qualitative study using 26 focus group discussions with general community members in Machakos and Trans Nzoia Counties. We used thematic and content analysis to analyze and compare community member's responses regarding abortion-related stigma. Although abortion is recognized as being very common within communities, community members expressed various ways that stigmatize women seeking an abortion. This included being labeled as killers and are perceived to be a bad influence for women especially young women. Women reported that they were poorly treated by health providers in health facilities for seeking abortion especially young unmarried women. Institutionalization of stigma especially when Ministry of Health withdrew of standards and guidelines only heightened how stigma presents at the facilities and drives women seeking an abortion to traditional birth attendants who offer unsafe abortions leading to increased morbidity and mortality as a result of abortion-related complications. Community members located in counties in regions with high incidence of unsafe abortion also reported higher levels of how they would stigmatize a woman seeking an abortion compared to community members from counties in low incidence region. Young unmarried women bore the

Post-concussion driving behaviors and opinions: A survey of collegiate student-athletes.

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Schmidt, Julianne D; Lynall, Robert C; Lempke, Landon Bryce; Weber, Michelle L; Devos, Hannes

2018-05-08

Post-concussion driving restrictions are eminent, but we lack understanding of current behaviors and opinions about driving following concussion among populations at risk of concussion. We aimed to describe post-concussion driving behaviors and opinions among collegiate student-athletes. Student-athletes completed a survey (response rate=45.3%, 223/492) regarding their post-concussion driving behaviors and opinions. Response frequencies and percentages are presented. Student-athletes self-reported a total of 169 lifetime concussions (0.76±1.02 each). Of the 169 concussions, 52.1% (88/169) were diagnosed and 52.7% (89/169) occurred while the student-athlete possessed a valid driver's license. Student-athletes refrained from driving following 43.8% (39/89) of the concussive events. Student-athletes that refrained most commonly did so for only 24-48 hours (20.5%, 8/39) and because a health care provider advised them to (33.3%: 13/39). Student-athletes most commonly reported that they would feel "very unsafe" driving a car immediately following injury (38.4%, 84/219). When asked whether driving restrictions would influence your decision to report the injury to a health care provider, 7.9% reported that it "definitely would" (17/214), 26.6% "probably would" (57/214), 17.8% "neutral" (38/214), 24.8% "probably would not" (53/214), and 22.9% "definitely would not" (49/214). Despite generally believing that driving immediately following a concussion is unsafe, a majority of student-athletes did not refrain from driving at any point following their previous concussions. Post-concussion driving restrictions may have some influence on student-athletes' decisions to report the injury to a health care provider. Health care providers play a critical role in post-concussion driving restriction, but lack standardized recommendations to guide their care.

Motion perception tasks as potential correlates to driving difficulty in the elderly

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Raghuram, A.; Lakshminarayanan, V.

2006-09-01

Changes in the demographics indicates that the population older than 65 is on the rise because of the aging of the ‘baby boom’ generation. This aging trend and driving related accident statistics reveal the need for procedures and tests that would assess the driving ability of older adults and predict whether they would be safe or unsafe drivers. Literature shows that an attention based test called the useful field of view (UFOV) was a significant predictor of accident rates compared to any other visual function tests. The present study evaluates a qualitative trend on using motion perception tasks as a potential visual perceptual correlates in screening elderly drivers who might have difficulty in driving. Data was collected from 15 older subjects with a mean age of 71. Motion perception tasks included—speed discrimination with radial and lamellar motion, time to collision using prediction motion and estimating direction of heading. A motion index score was calculated which was indicative of performance on all of the above-mentioned motion tasks. Scores on visual attention was assessed using UFOV. A driving habit questionnaire was also administered for a self report on the driving difficulties and accident rates. A qualitative trend based on frequency distributions show that thresholds on the motion perception tasks are successful in identifying subjects who reported to have had difficulty in certain aspects of driving and had accidents. Correlation between UFOV and motion index scores was not significant indicating that probably different aspects of visual information processing that are crucial to driving behaviour are being tapped by these two paradigms. UFOV and motion perception tasks together can be a better predictor for identifying at risk or safe drivers than just using either one of them.

Special Considerations in Distracted Driving with Teens

Science.gov (United States)

Durbin, Dennis R; McGehee, Daniel V; Fisher, Donald; McCartt, Anne

2014-01-01

Novice teen drivers have long been known to have an increased risk of crashing, as well as increased tendencies toward unsafe and risky driving behaviors. Teens are unique as drivers for several reasons, many of which have implications specifically in the area of distracted driving. This paper reviews several of these features, including the widespread prevalence of mobile device use by teens, their lack of driving experience, the influence of peer passengers as a source of distraction, the role of parents in influencing teens’ attitudes and behaviors relevant to distracted driving and the impact of laws designed to prevent mobile device use by teen drivers. Recommendations for future research include understanding how engagement in a variety of secondary tasks by teen drivers affects their driving performance or crash risk; understanding the respective roles of parents, peers and technology in influencing teen driver behavior; and evaluating the impact of public policy on mitigating teen crash risk related to driver distraction. PMID:24776228

Patients' identification and reporting of unsafe events at six hospitals in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Tomonori; Fujita, Shigeru; Seto, Kanako; Kitazawa, Takefumi; Matsumoto, Kunichika

2011-11-01

Hospitals and other health care organizations have increasingly recognized the need to engage patients as participants in patient safety. A study was conducted to compare patients' and health care staff's identification and reporting of such events. A questionnaire was administered at six hospitals in Japan to outpatients and inpatients from November 2004 through February 2007. Patients were asked to respond to questions about experiences of possibly unsafe events. Patients experiencing such events were then asked about the events and whether they had reported their experience to health care staff. A specialist panel classified reported events as "uneasy-dissatisfying" or "unsafe." The response rates of outpatients and inpatients were 85.4% (1,506/1,764) and 54.3% (1,738/3,198), respectively. Among the respondents (> or = 20 years of age), 125 (8.7%) of the outpatients and 185 (10.9%) of the inpatients experienced uneasy-dissatisfying or unsafe events; 35 (2.4%) of the outpatients and 67 (4.0%) of the inpatients experienced unsafe events, the percent increasing with hospital stay. Only 38 (30.4%) of the outpatients and 62 (33.5%) of the inpatients reported the unsafe events to health care staff Only 17.1% of unsafe events reported by inpatients were identified by the in-house reporting systems of adverse events and near misses. For the uneasy-dissatisfying or unsafe events that patients did not think necessary to report, the patients often felt they were self-evident or easily identifiable by health care staff, had difficulty evaluating the event, did not expect their report to bring any improvement, or even felt that reporting it would create some disadvantage in their medical treatment. Patient reporting programs and in-house reporting systems, among other detection methods, should be regarded as complementary sources of information.

Driving behaviours, traffic risk and road safety: comparative study between Malaysia and Singapore.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Saif ur Rehman; Khalifah, Zainab Binti; Munir, Yasin; Islam, Talat; Nazir, Tahira; Khan, Hashim

2015-01-01

The present study aims to investigate differences in road safety attitude, driver behaviour and traffic risk perception between Malaysia and Singapore. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among a sample of Singaporean (n = 187) and Malaysian (n = 313) road users. The data was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling applied to measure comparative fit indices of Malaysian and Singaporean respondents. The results show that the perceived traffic risk of Malaysian respondents is higher than Singaporean counterparts. Moreover, the structural equation modelling has confirmed perceived traffic risk performing the role of full mediation between perceived driving skills and perceived road safety for both the countries, while perceived traffic skills was found to perform the role of partial mediation between aggression and anxiety, on one hand, and road safety, on the other hand, in Malaysia and Singapore. In addition, in both countries, a weak correlation between perceived driving skills, aggression and anxiety with perceived road safety was found, while a strong correlation exists with traffic risk perception. The findings of this study have been discussed in terms of theoretical, practical and conceptual implications for both scholars and policy-makers to better understand the young drivers' attitude and behaviour relationship towards road safety measures with a view to future research.

Predictors of risky sexual behaviour among young people in the era ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJRH Managing Editor

people's practicing risky sexual behaviour in the era of HIV/AIDS. Data used in ... pregnancies, unsafe induced abortion and HIV .... additional selection criteria. ...... India. International. Family. Planning. Perspectives 1999; 25(3): 139-146. 18.

Relationship of family formation characteristics with unsafe abortion: is it confounded by women's socio-economic status? - A case-control study from Sri Lanka.

Science.gov (United States)

Arambepola, Carukshi; Rajapaksa, Lalini C; Attygalle, Deepika; Moonasinghe, Loshan

2016-06-17

Literature shows that choice for unsafe abortion is often driven by poverty. However, factors related to the family formation behaviour of women are also implied as determinants of this decision. This study assessed which family formation characteristics of women are associated with the risk of unsafe abortion, without being confounded by their low socio-economic status among Sri Lankan women admitted to hospital following post-abortion complications. An unmatched case-control study was conducted in nine hospitals in eight districts in Sri Lanka among 171 women with post-abortion complications following unsafe abortion (Cases) and 600 postpartum mothers admitted to same hospitals during the same period for delivery of term unintended pregnancies (Controls). Interviewer-administered-questionnaires obtained demographic, socio-economic and family formation related characteristics. Risk factors of abortion were assessed by odds-ratio (OR), adjusted for their socio-economic status in logistic regression analysis. Low socio-economic status, characterised by low-education (adjusted OR = 1.5; 95 % CI = 1.1-2.4) and less/unskilled occupations (2.3; 1.4-3.6) was a significant risk factor for unsafe abortion. Independent of this risk, being unmarried (9.3; 4.0-21.6), failure in informed decisions about desired family size (2.2; 1.4-3.5), not having a girl-child (2.2; 1.4-3.4) and longer average birth intervals (0.7 years; 0.6-0.8) signified the vulnerability of women for unsafe abortion. Cases were as fast as the controls in their family completion (4.3 versus 4.5 years; p = 0.4), but were at increased risk for abortion, if their average birth intervals (including the last one) were longer. Previous contraceptive use, age at reproductive events or partners' characteristics did not impart any risk for abortion. Low socio-economic status is not the most influencing risk factor for unsafe abortions leading to complications, but many other factors in relation to

Road Safety Data, Collection, Transfer and Analysis DaCoTa. Workpackage 6, Driver Behaviour Monitoring through Naturalistic Driving: Deliverable 6.5: Naturalistic Driving for cross-national monitoring of SPIs and Exposure : an overview.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wegman, R.W.N. & Bos, N.M.

2015-01-01

WP6 of DaCoTA, Driver Behaviour Monitoring through Naturalistic Driving, focuses on the usefulness and feasibility of applying the Naturalistic Driving method for monitoring within the framework of ERSO. The aim is to continuously collect comparable information about the road safety level in EU

Changes in self-reported driving intentions and attitudes while learning to drive in Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Helman, S; Kinnear, N A D; McKenna, F P; Allsop, R E; Horswill, M S

2013-10-01

Novice drivers are overrepresented in traffic collisions, especially in their first year of solo driving. It is widely accepted that some driving behaviours (such as speeding and thrill-seeking) increase risk in this group. Increasingly research is suggesting that attitudes and behavioural intentions held in the pre-driver and learning stage are important in determining later driver behaviour in solo driving. In this study we examine changes in several self-reported attitudes and behavioural intentions across the learning stage in a sample of learner drivers in Great Britain. A sample of 204 learner drivers completed a self-report questionnaire near the beginning of their learning, and then again shortly after they passed their practical driving test. Results showed that self-reported intentions regarding speed choice, perceptions regarding skill level, and intentions regarding thrill-seeking (through driving) became less safe over this time period, while self-reported intentions regarding following distance and overtaking tendency became safer. The results are discussed with reference to models of driver behaviour that focus on task difficulty; it is suggested that the manner in which behind-the-wheel experience relates to the risk measures of interest may be the key determining factor in how these change over the course of learning to drive. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Do management practices support or constrain safe driving behaviour? A multi-level investigation in a sample of occupational drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Newnam, Sharon; Warmerdam, Amanda; Sheppard, Dianne; Griffin, Mark; Stevenson, Mark

2017-05-01

It has been estimated that one-third of all work-related deaths occur while driving for work-related purposes. Despite this, many organisations are unaware of the practices, beyond those that identify and control the impact of unforeseen events (i.e., risk management), that predispose drivers to risk. This study addresses the issue by identifying the management practices operationalised as, High Performance Workplace Systems (HPWS) that influence safe driver behaviour. The study also explores the value given to safety by senior level management as a moderator of the relationship between HPWS practices and driver behaviour. Each factor was tested within a two level hierarchical model consisting of 911 drivers, nested within 161 supervisors and 83 organisations. The findings highight that under conditions of high investment in job and work design, communication and selection practices, drivers reported poorer driving behaviour. An interaction effect also demonstrated that under conditions of high investment in remuneration, drivers reported safer behaviour, but only when they perceived that managers valued and prioritised safety. The findings challenge current thinking in the management of workplace road safety. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sex, price and preferences: accounting for unsafe sexual practices in prostitution markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Adriaenssens, Stef; Hendrickx, Jef

2012-06-01

Unsafe sexual practices are persistent in prostitution interactions: one in four contacts can be called unsafe. The determinants of this are still matter for debate. We account for the roles played by clients' preferences and the hypothetical price premium of unsafe sexual practices with the help of a large dataset of clients' self-reported commercial sexual transactions in Belgium and The Netherlands. Almost 25,000 reports were collected, representing the whole gamut of prostitution market segments. The first set of explanations consists of an analysis of the price-fixing elements of paid sex. With the help of the so-called hedonic pricing method we test for the existence of a price incentive for unsafe sex. In accordance with the results from studies in some prostitution markets in the developing world, the study replicates a significant wage penalty for condom use of an estimated 7.2 per cent, confirmed in both multilevel and fixed-effects regressions. The second part of the analysis reconstructs the demand side basis of this wage penalty: the consistent preference of clients of prostitution for unsafe sex. This study is the first to document empirically clients' preference for intercourse without a condom, with the help of a multilevel ordinal regression. © 2011 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2011 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Health literacy of older drivers and the importance of health experience for self-regulation of driving behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Sargent-Cox, K A; Windsor, T; Walker, J; Anstey, K J

2011-05-01

This study provides much needed information on the education level of older drivers regarding the impact of health conditions and medications on personal driving safety, where they source this information, and how this knowledge influences self-regulation of driving. Random and convenience sampling secured 322 Australian drivers (63.9% males) aged 65 years and over (M = 77.35 years, SD = 7.35) who completed a telephone interview. The majority of respondents (86%) had good knowledge about health conditions (health knowledge) and driving safety, however more than 50% was classified as having poor knowledge on the effects of certain medications (medication knowledge) and driving safety. Poorer health knowledge was associated with a reduced likelihood of driving over 100 km in adjusted models. Being older and having more than one medical condition was found to increase the likelihood of self-regulation of driving. Results indicate that health knowledge was less important for predicting driving behaviour than health experience. Of great interest was that up to 85.7% of respondents reported not receiving advice about the potential impact of their medical condition and driving from their doctor. The findings indicate a need for improved dissemination of evidence-based health information and education for older drivers and their doctors. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cell phone users, reported crash risk, unsafe driving behaviors and dispositions: a survey of motorists in Maryland.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Kenneth H; Yan, Fang; Wang, Min Qi

2007-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to identify risky driving behaviors and dispositions that distinguish drivers who use a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle from non-cell phone using drivers. Annual telephone surveys were used to identify drivers who reported using a cell phone while driving in the last month (n=1803) and were compared to those who said they did not use cell phones while driving (n=1578). Cell phone using drivers were more likely to report driving while drowsy, going 20 mph over the speed limit, driving aggressively, running a stop sign or red light, and driving after having had several drinks. They were also more likely to have had a prior history of citation and crash involvement than non-cell phone using drivers. Cell phone using drivers also reported they were less careful and more in a hurry when they drive than non-cell phone using drivers. Cell phone using drivers report engaging in many behaviors that place them at risk for a traffic crash, independent of the specific driving impairments that cell phone usage may produce. Strategies that combine coordinated and sustained enforcement activities along with widespread public awareness campaigns hold promise as effective countermeasures for these drivers, who resemble aggressive drivers in many respects.

Processes that influence noncondom use behaviour of adolescents ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Results: Characteristics of condom use behaviour in five types emerged. The types were: i) Strong intention to have safer sex - due to parents, fear, future plans or self-respect; ii) Strong intention to have safer sex - learning through experience and bad examples; iii) Unsafe sex - impact of male dominance and sexual power; ...

The Risk-as-feelings hypothesis in a Theory-of-planned-behaviour perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Therese Kobbeltvedt

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TpB: Ajzen, 1985; 1991 is based on a utility framework, and the Risk-as-Feelings hypothesis (RaF: Loewenstein, Weber, Hsee, and Welch, 2001 is a feelings-based behavioural model. The TpB and RaF are first compared and contrasted. Two empirical studies investigated the predictive power of consequence-based vs. affect-based evaluative judgements for behavioural intentions: Study 1 (extit{n} = 94 applied a regression model to examine the predictive value of a subset of shared variables, unique TpB variables, and unique RaF variables for intentions to have unsafe sex. Study 2 (extit{n} = 357 experimentally examined whether intentions are driven by consequences or feelings, in two decision vignettes with opposite qualities: A positive hedonic experience with potential negative consequences (unsafe sex vs. a negative hedonic experience with potential positive consequences (back surgery. The results supported the TpB by emphasising the role of outcome-expectations in the construction of intentions, and the RaF by showing the importance of affective subcomponents in attitudes. % Behavioural % decision models need to capture the general, the individual, and the % dynamic. The inclusion of contextual and individual trends may % facilitate behavioural predictions. % unclear

Understanding farmers' safety behaviour towards pesticide exposure and other occupational risks: The case of Zanjan, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Rezaei, Rohollah; Damalas, Christos A; Abdollahzadeh, Gholamhossein

2018-03-01

Preventive interventions for reducing occupational risks and health problems among farmers require the identification of factors contributing to unsafe behaviour, but research on this topic is rather limited. A theoretical model for studying factors affecting farmers' use of occupational safety and health (OSH) practices in Iran was developed. The model was empirically tested using data collected from a survey of 301 tomato farmers of Zanjan Province of Iran. The examined OSH practices encompassed a wide range of behaviours, grouped in four categories, i.e., use of pesticides, use of machinery, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and applying ergonomic principles (i.e., fitting the task to the individual, designing the workplace based on human factors, taking into account the interaction between the workplace and the workers, exercising during work or rest). Almost half of the farmers (49.5%) showed unsafe behaviour in the use of PPE. Moreover, significant proportions of the farmers showed potentially unsafe behaviour in the use of pesticides (42.2%), in applying ergonomic principles (40.2%) and in the use of machinery (35.9%). Attitude towards OSH practices, knowledge on OSH practices, and self-efficacy in safety had a direct positive effect on farmers' use of OSH practices, explaining 73% of the variance in farmers' safety behaviour. Overall, findings contribute to a better understanding of the use of OSH practices among farmers, providing empirical evidence in the cognitive processing of farmers' with respect to safety behaviour in farming and offering practical information that can be incorporated into OSH intervention programs in Iran and other developing countries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

49 CFR 396.7 - Unsafe operations forbidden.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS INSPECTION, REPAIR, AND MAINTENANCE § 396.7 Unsafe operations forbidden. (a) General. A motor vehicle shall not be operated in such a condition as to likely cause an accident or a breakdown of the vehicle. (b) Exemption. Any motor vehicle...

When we should worry more: using cognitive bias modification to drive adaptive health behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Notebaert, Lies; Chrystal, Jessica; Clarke, Patrick J F; Holmes, Emily A; MacLeod, Colin

2014-01-01

A lack of behavioural engagement in health promotion or disease prevention is a problem across many health domains. In these cases where people face a genuine danger, a reduced focus on threat and low levels of anxiety or worry are maladaptive in terms of promoting protection or prevention behaviour. Therefore, it is possible that increasing the processing of threat will increase worry and thereby enhance engagement in adaptive behaviour. Laboratory studies have shown that cognitive bias modification (CBM) can increase or decrease anxiety and worry when increased versus decreased processing of threat is encouraged. In the current study, CBM for interpretation (CBM-I) is used to target engagement in sun protection behaviour. The goal was to investigate whether inducing a negative rather than a positive interpretation bias for physical threat information can enhance worry elicited when viewing a health campaign video (warning against melanoma skin cancer), and consequently lead to more adaptive behaviour (sun protection). Participants were successfully trained to either adopt a positive or negative interpretation bias using physical threat scenarios. However, contrary to expectations results showed that participants in the positive training condition reported higher levels of worry elicited by the melanoma video than participants in the negative training condition. Video elicited worry was, however, positively correlated with a measure of engagement in sun protection behaviour, suggesting that higher levels of worry do promote adaptive behaviour. These findings imply that more research is needed to determine under which conditions increased versus decreased processing of threat can drive adaptive worry. Various potential explanations for the current findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Preceptorship: using an ethical lens to reflect on the unsafe student.

Science.gov (United States)

Earle-Foley, Vicki; Myrick, Florence; Luhanga, Florence; Yonge, Olive

2012-01-01

Patient safety has become a worldwide health concern, and health care professionals have a moral and ethical responsibility to promote patient safety. The clinical education of many health care professionals often involves a preceptorship or field experience wherein students are assigned to work one-to-one with a preceptor or field educator so that they can be socialized into the profession and receive a reality-oriented experience. Health care professionals who accept the responsibility of being a preceptor face additional workload and stress, especially when the students to whom they are assigned are not meeting the expectations of safe, professional practice. Taking a stand against unsafe students is an important way for preceptors to promote patient safety. Given the nature of the stress and the inherent ethical issues associated with precepting an unsafe student, it is useful to examine this experience through an ethical lens. Included in this article is a brief overview of preceptorship as a model of clinical education, together with a discussion of the nature of the ethical decisions that preceptors face when precepting an unsafe student. Ethical theories, namely, virtue ethics and utilitarianism, are also explored and serve to provide the ethical lens through which preceptors can reflect upon their experiences with unsafe students. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Model of relationship between personal factors and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management toward unsafe actions: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Syamtinningrum, M. D. P.; Partiwi, S. G.; Dewi, D. S.

2018-04-01

One indicator of a good company is when a safe business environment can be well maintained. In this work environment, the number of industrial accidents is minimum. Industrial accidents are the incidents that occurred in the workplace, especially in industrial area. Industrial accidents are generally caused by two main reasons, unsafe actions & unsafe conditions. Some research indicates that unsafe actions significantly affect the incidence in the workplace. Unsafe action is a failure to follow the proper procedures and requirements, which is led into accidents. From several previous studies it can be concluded that personal factors & OHS management are two most influential factors that affect unsafe actions. However, their relationship in influencing unsafe actions is not fully understood. Based on this reason the authors want to investigate the effect of personal factors and OHS management toward unsafe actions to workers. For this purpose, a company is selected as a case study. In this research, analyses were done by using univariate test, bivariate correlation and linear regression. The results of this study proves that two indicators of personal factors (i.e. knowledge of OHS & OHS training) and OHS management have significant effect on unsafe actions but in negative direction, while two indicators of personal factors (i.e. workload & fatigue) have positive direction of effect on unsafe actions. In addition, this research has developed a mathematical model that can be used to calculate and predict the value of unsafe actions performed by the worker. By using this model, the company will able to take preventive actions toward unsafe actions to reduce workers accidents.

Visual and cognitive predictors of driving safety in Parkinson's disease patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Amick, M M; Grace, J; Ott, B R

2007-11-01

This study assessed the clinical utility of contrast sensitivity (CS) relative to attention, executive function, and visuospatial abilities for predicting driving safety in participants with Parkinson's disease (PD). Twenty-five, non-demented PD patients completed measures of contrast sensitivity, visuospatial skills, executive functions, and attention. All PD participants also underwent a formal on-road driving evaluation. Of the 25 participants, 11 received a marginal or unsafe rating on the road test. Poorer driving performance was associated with worse performance on measures of CS, visuospatial constructions, set shifting, and attention. While impaired driving was associated with a range of cognitive and visual abilities, only a composite measure of executive functioning and visuospatial abilities, and not CS or attentional skills, predicted driving performance. These findings suggest that neuropsychological tests, which are multifactorial in nature and require visual perception and visual spatial judgments are the most useful screening measures for hazardous driving in PD patients.

Factors influencing the detection of unsafe hangingwall conditions.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Peake, AV

1996-10-01

Full Text Available This project reports on the findings of an investigation into reasons why hanging wall examination procedures fail to prevent fall of ground accidents on gold and platinum mines. Ideally, these procedures should identify every unsafe hanging wall...

Crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy differ in relation to unsafe sex among young gay men.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilder, Arn J; Lampinen, Thomas M; Miller, Mary Lou; Hogg, Robert S

2005-01-01

Poly-substance use in gay social ('club') settings is common. Recent studies suggest a link between 'club' drug use and sexual risk behaviours. In this qualitative study, we compare and contrast two 'club' drugs: crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy (MDMA). Life history interviews were conducted with 12 HIV seroconverters and 12 age-matched controls recruited from a prospective cohort study of young gay and bisexual men in Vancouver, British Columbia. Textual data concerning illicit substance use and unsafe sex were analyzed using NUDIST software. Most men related a substantial knowledge of and experience with crystal and ecstasy. Both drugs had attributes that enhanced gay socialization and were used in the same venues. Crystal was used to remain awake and increase energy. Ecstasy was used to induce euphoria and group connectedness. However, unlike ecstasy, crystal was associated with a distinct pattern of sexual arousal that frequently included unprotected (sometimes group) sex, was more likely to be used regularly by HIV-positive men, and was reportedly highly addictive and problematic. Crystal and ecstasy are used in the same social venues but differ markedly in relation to sexual risk behaviour.

Perceived descriptive safety-related driving norms within and outside Arab towns and villages in Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Baron-Epel, Orna; Obid, Samira; Fertig, Shahar; Gitelman, Victoria

2016-01-01

Involvement in car crashes is higher among Israeli Arabs compared to Jews. This study characterized perceived descriptive driving norms (PDDNs) within and outside Arab towns/villages and estimated their association with involvement in car crashes. Arab drivers (594) living in 19 towns and villages were interviewed in face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire included questions about involvement in car crashes, PDDNs within and outside the towns/villages, attitudes toward traffic safety laws, traffic law violations, and socioeconomic and demographic variables. PDDNs represent individuals' perceptions on how safe other people typically drive. The low scores indicate a low percentage of drivers performing unsafe behaviors (safer driving-related norms). A structural equation modeling analysis was applied to identify factors associated with PDDNs and involvement in car crashes. A large difference was found in PDDNs within and outside the towns/villages. Mostly, the respondents reported higher rates of unsafe PDDNs within the towns/villages (mean = 3.76, SD = 0.63) and lower rates of PDDNs outside the towns/villages (mean = 2.12, SD = 0.60). PDDNs outside the towns/villages were associated with involvement in a car crash (r = -0.12, P driving and involvement in car crashes in Arab Israelis. Because PDDNs outside towns/villages were better, increased law enforcement within towns/villages may improve these norms and decrease involvement in car crashes.

33 CFR 177.07 - Other unsafe conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... discretion, the continued operation of the vessel would create an unsafe condition. (c) Has a fuel leakage... applies to boats built after July 31, 1980); (e) Does not meet the requirements for backfire flame control... from the lowest point along the upper strake edge to the surface of the water. W=Maximum wave height in...

Recognizing pedestrian's unsafe behaviors in far-infrared imagery at night

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eun Ju; Ko, Byoung Chul; Nam, Jae-Yeal

2016-05-01

Pedestrian behavior recognition is important work for early accident prevention in advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). In particular, because most pedestrian-vehicle crashes are occurred from late of night to early of dawn, our study focus on recognizing unsafe behavior of pedestrians using thermal image captured from moving vehicle at night. For recognizing unsafe behavior, this study uses convolutional neural network (CNN) which shows high quality of recognition performance. However, because traditional CNN requires the very expensive training time and memory, we design the light CNN consisted of two convolutional layers and two subsampling layers for real-time processing of vehicle applications. In addition, we combine light CNN with boosted random forest (Boosted RF) classifier so that the output of CNN is not fully connected with the classifier but randomly connected with Boosted random forest. We named this CNN as randomly connected CNN (RC-CNN). The proposed method was successfully applied to the pedestrian unsafe behavior (PUB) dataset captured from far-infrared camera at night and its behavior recognition accuracy is confirmed to be higher than that of some algorithms related to CNNs, with a shorter processing time.

[Role of some psycho-physiological factors on driving safety].

Science.gov (United States)

Bergomi, M; Vivoli, G; Rovesti, S; Bussetti, P; Ferrari, A; Vivoli, R

2010-01-01

Within a research project on the role played by human factors on road accidents, the aim of the present study is to evaluate, in young adults, the relationships between driver behaviour and personality factors as well as to assess the neuroendocrine correlates of psychological and behavioural factors investigated. Another aim is to estimate in what measure the performance levels are affected by demographic, psychological and chronobiological variables. It has been found a positive relation between highway code violations, extroversion trait of personality and Sensation Seeking scores, so confirming that this component of personality can affect risky behaviour. Furthermore the subjects more oriented to morningness chronotype were found to be prone to adopt safe driving behaviour. Regarding the relations of the neuroendocrine parameters and driving behaviour a positive correlation was observed between dopamine levels and frequency of driving violations while a negative relationship was found between adrenaline levels and frequency of driving errors. In conclusion the identification of psycho-physiological variables related to driving risky behaviour might be a useful instrument to design traffic safety programs tailored to high risk subjects.

Examining signs of driver sleepiness, usage of sleepiness countermeasures and the associations with sleepy driving behaviours and individual factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Watling, Christopher N; Armstrong, Kerry A; Radun, Igor

2015-12-01

The impairing effect from sleepiness is a major contributor to road crashes. The ability of a sleepy driver to perceive their level of sleepiness is an important consideration for road safety as well as the type of sleepiness countermeasure used by drivers as some sleepiness countermeasures are more effective than others. The aims of the current study were to determine the extent that the signs of driver sleepiness were associated with sleepy driving behaviours, as well as determining which individual factors (demographic, work, driving, and sleep-related factors) were associated with using a roadside or in-vehicle sleepiness countermeasure. A sample of 1518 Australian drivers from the Australian State of New South Wales and the neighbouring Australian Capital Territory took part in the study. The participants' experiences with the signs of sleepiness were reasonably extensive. A number of the early signs of sleepiness (e.g., yawning, frequent eye blinks) were related with continuing to drive while sleepy, with the more advanced signs of sleepiness (e.g., difficulty keeping eyes open, dreamlike state of consciousness) associated with having a sleep-related close call. The individual factors associated with using a roadside sleepiness countermeasure included age (being older), education (tertiary level), difficulties getting to sleep, not continuing to drive while sleepy, and having experienced many signs of sleepiness. The results suggest that these participants have a reasonable awareness and experience with the signs of driver sleepiness. Factors related to previous experiences with sleepiness were associated with implementing a roadside countermeasure. Nonetheless, the high proportions of drivers performing sleepy driving behaviours suggest that concerted efforts are needed with road safety campaigns regarding the dangers of driving while sleepy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on safety educations against individual causal factors of unsafe acts and specification of target trainees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirose, Ayako; Takeda, Daisuke

2016-01-01

Many accidents and incidents are caused by unsafe acts. It is important to reduce these unsafe acts for preventing the accidents. The countermeasures for each causal factor behind unsafe acts are needed, however, comparing with improvement of facilities, workers-oriented measures such as safety educations are not sufficient. Then the purposes of this study are as follows: 1) to investigate the individual factors which have great impact of unsafe acts and the existing safety educations which aim to mitigate the impact of these factors, 2) to specify the target trainees to perform these safety educations. To identify common factors that affect unsafe act significantly, a web survey was conducted to 500 workers who have regularly carried out accident prediction training (i.e. Kiken-Yochi training). They were asked the situation which they were apt to act unsafely by free description. As the result, the following three main factors were extracted: impatience, overconfidence, and bothersome. Also, it was found that there were few existing safety educations which aim to mitigate the impact of these factors except for overconfidence. To specify the target trainees to perform safety educations which aim to mitigate the impact of these three factors, another web survey was conducted to 200 personnel in charge of safety at the workplace. They were asked the features of workers who tended to act unsafely by age group. The relationship between the factor that need to mitigate and the trainee who need to receive the education were clarified from the survey. (author)

Enhancing global control of alcohol to reduce unsafe sex and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rees Helen V

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Sub-Saharan Africa carries a massive dual burden of HIV and alcohol disease, and these pandemics are inextricably linked. Physiological and behavioural research indicates that alcohol independently affects decision-making concerning sex, and skills for negotiating condoms and their correct use. More than 20 studies in Africa have reported higher occurrence of HIV among people with problem drinking; a finding strongly consistent across studies and similar among women and men. Conflation of HIV and alcohol disease in these setting is not surprising given patterns of heavy-episodic drinking and that drinking contexts are often coterminous with opportunities for sexual encounters. HIV and alcohol also share common ground with sexual violence. Both perpetrators and victims of sexual violence have a high likelihood of having drunk alcohol prior to the incident, as with most forms of violence and injury in sub-Saharan Africa. Reducing alcohol harms necessitates multi-level interventions and should be considered a key component of structural interventions to alleviate the burden of HIV and sexual violence. Brief interventions for people with problem drinking (an important component of primary health care, must incorporate specific discussion of links between alcohol and unsafe sex, and consequences thereof. Interventions to reduce alcohol harm among HIV-infected persons are also an important element in positive-prevention initiatives. Most importantly, implementation of known effective interventions could alleviate a large portion of the alcohol-attributable burden of disease, including its effects on unsafe sex, unintended pregnancy and HIV transmission.

Pattern of Complicated Unsafe Abortions in Niger Delta University ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Alasia Datonye

of cases of complicated unsafe abortion managed at the. Niger Delta University ... previous termination of pregnancy and 87.3% of the patients had ... and outcome were obtained. ... life-threatening complications, post- abortion family planning.

12 CFR 1731.3 - Unsafe and unsound conduct.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... DEVELOPMENT SAFETY AND SOUNDNESS MORTGAGE FRAUD REPORTING § 1731.3 Unsafe and unsound conduct. An Enterprise may not require the repurchase of or may not decline to purchase a mortgage, mortgage backed security, or similar financial instrument because of possible mortgage fraud without promptly reporting to the...

Statistical and time domain signal analysis of the thermal behaviour of wind turbine drive train components under dynamic operation conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nienhaus, K; Baltes, R; Bernet, C; Hilbert, M

2012-01-01

Gearboxes and generators are fundamental components of all electrical machines and the backbone of all electricity generation. Since the wind energy represents one of the key energy sources of the future, the number of wind turbines installed worldwide is rapidly increasing. Unlike in the past wind turbines are more often positioned in arctic as well as in desert like regions, and thereby exposed to harsh environmental conditions. Especially the temperature in those regions is a key factor that defines the design and choice of components and materials of the drive train. To optimize the design and health monitoring under varying temperatures it is important to understand the thermal behaviour dependent on environmental and machine parameters. This paper investigates the behaviour of the stator temperature of the double fed induction generator of a wind turbine. Therefore, different scenarios such as start of the turbine after a long period of no load, stop of the turbine after a long period of full load and others are isolated and analysed. For each scenario the dependences of the temperature on multiple wind turbine parameters such as power, speed and torque are studied. With the help of the regression analysis for multiple variables, it is pointed out which parameters have high impact on the thermal behaviour. Furthermore, an analysis was done to study the dependences in the time domain. The research conducted is based on 10 months of data of a 2 MW wind turbine using an adapted data acquisition system for high sampled data. The results appear promising, and lead to a better understanding of the thermal behaviour of a wind turbine drive train. Furthermore, the results represent the base of future research of drive trains under harsh environmental conditions, and it can be used to improve the fault diagnosis and design of electrical machines.

Support Vector Machine Classification of Drunk Driving Behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Huiqin; Chen, Lei

2017-01-23

Alcohol is the root cause of numerous traffic accidents due to its pharmacological action on the human central nervous system. This study conducted a detection process to distinguish drunk driving from normal driving under simulated driving conditions. The classification was performed by a support vector machine (SVM) classifier trained to distinguish between these two classes by integrating both driving performance and physiological measurements. In addition, principal component analysis was conducted to rank the weights of the features. The standard deviation of R-R intervals (SDNN), the root mean square value of the difference of the adjacent R-R interval series (RMSSD), low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), the ratio of the low and high frequencies (LF/HF), and average blink duration were the highest weighted features in the study. The results show that SVM classification can successfully distinguish drunk driving from normal driving with an accuracy of 70%. The driving performance data and the physiological measurements reported by this paper combined with air-alcohol concentration could be integrated using the support vector regression classification method to establish a better early warning model, thereby improving vehicle safety.

Support Vector Machine Classification of Drunk Driving Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huiqin Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Alcohol is the root cause of numerous traffic accidents due to its pharmacological action on the human central nervous system. This study conducted a detection process to distinguish drunk driving from normal driving under simulated driving conditions. The classification was performed by a support vector machine (SVM classifier trained to distinguish between these two classes by integrating both driving performance and physiological measurements. In addition, principal component analysis was conducted to rank the weights of the features. The standard deviation of R–R intervals (SDNN, the root mean square value of the difference of the adjacent R–R interval series (RMSSD, low frequency (LF, high frequency (HF, the ratio of the low and high frequencies (LF/HF, and average blink duration were the highest weighted features in the study. The results show that SVM classification can successfully distinguish drunk driving from normal driving with an accuracy of 70%. The driving performance data and the physiological measurements reported by this paper combined with air-alcohol concentration could be integrated using the support vector regression classification method to establish a better early warning model, thereby improving vehicle safety.

[Heavy episodic drinking, cannabis use and unsafe sex among university students].

Science.gov (United States)

Moure-Rodríguez, Lucía; Doallo, Sonia; Juan-Salvadores, Pablo; Corral, Montserrat; Cadaveira, Fernando; Caamaño-Isorna, Francisco

To determine the incidence of unsafe sex among university students and its association with heavy episodic drinking (HED) and cannabis use. A cohort study was carried out from 2005 to 2011 among university students of the Compostela Cohort (n=517). HED was measured using the third question of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Unsafe sex was considered to be sex under the influence of alcohol (SUA) and sex without a condom (SWC). Logistic regression models were created. The incidence of SUA was 40.9% for women and 53.0% for men, while the SWC incidence ranged from 13.7% for women to 25.7% for men. HED and cannabis use were associated with SUA in both women (OR=2.08, 95% CI: 1.03-4.21; OR=2.78, 95%CI: 1.57-4.92) and men (OR=4.74 (95%CI: 1.49-15.09; OR=4.37, 95%CI: 1.17- 16.36). Moreover, cannabis use in women was associated with SWC (OR=2.96, 95%CI: 1.52-5.75). The population attributable fractions of SUA for HED were 24.7% and 52.9% for women and men, respectively. HED and cannabis use represent a public health problem due to their association with a variety of problems, including engagement in unsafe sex. Our results suggest that a significant proportion of unsafe sex could be avoided by reducing this consumption pattern of alcohol. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Driver's behavioural changes with new intelligent transport system interventions at railway level crossings--A driving simulator study.

Science.gov (United States)

Larue, Grégoire S; Kim, Inhi; Rakotonirainy, Andry; Haworth, Narelle L; Ferreira, Luis

2015-08-01

Improving safety at railway level crossings is an important issue for the Australian transport system. Governments, the rail industry and road organisations have tried a variety of countermeasures for many years to improve railway level crossing safety. New types of intelligent transport system (ITS) interventions are now emerging due to the availability and the affordability of technology. These interventions target both actively and passively protected railway level crossings and attempt to address drivers' errors at railway crossings, which are mainly a failure to detect the crossing or the train and misjudgement of the train approach speed and distance. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of three emerging ITS that the rail industry considers implementing in Australia: a visual in-vehicle ITS, an audio in-vehicle ITS, as well as an on-road flashing beacons intervention. The evaluation was conducted on an advanced driving simulator with 20 participants per trialled technology, each participant driving once without any technology and once with one of the ITS interventions. Every participant drove through a range of active and passive crossings with and without trains approaching. Their speed approach of the crossing, head movements and stopping compliance were measured. Results showed that driver behaviour was changed with the three ITS interventions at passive crossings, while limited effects were found at active crossings, even with reduced visibility. The on-road intervention trialled was unsuccessful in improving driver behaviour; the audio and visual ITS improved driver behaviour when a train was approaching. A trend toward worsening driver behaviour with the visual ITS was observed when no trains were approaching. This trend was not observed for the audio ITS intervention, which appears to be the ITS intervention with the highest potential for improving safety at passive crossings. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Examining the predictive utility of an extended theory of planned behaviour model in the context of specific individual safe food-handling.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullan, Barbara; Allom, Vanessa; Sainsbury, Kirby; Monds, Lauren A

2015-07-01

In order to minimise the occurrence of food-borne illness, it is recommended that individuals perform safe food-handling behaviours, such as cooking food properly, cleaning hands and surfaces before preparing food, keeping food at the correct temperature, and avoiding unsafe foods. Previous research examining the determinants of safe food-handling behaviour has produced mixed results; however, this may be due to the fact that this research examined these behaviours as a totality, rather than considering the determinants of each behaviour separately. As such, the objective for the present study was to examine the predictors of the four aforementioned safe food-handling behaviours by applying an extended theory of planned behaviour to the prediction of each distinct behaviour. Participants were 170 students who completed theory of planned behaviour measures, with the addition of moral norm and habit strength at time 1, and behaviour measures one week later. While the influence of injunctive and descriptive norm and perceived behavioural control differed between behaviours, it appeared that moral norm was an important predictor of intention to engage in each of the four behaviours. Similarly, habit strength was an important predictor of each of the behaviours and moderated the relationship between intention and behaviour for the behaviour of avoiding unsafe food. The implication of these findings is that examining safe food-handling behaviours separately, rather than as a totality, may result in meaningful distinctions between the predictors of these behaviours. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigating driver willingness to drive through flooded waterways.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, Marti; Hamilton, Kyra

2014-11-01

Approximately 40% of all drowning deaths involve a motor vehicle. Regardless of its significance as a cause of flood-related mortality, there is continued prevalence of driving through flooded waterways in Australia and worldwide. We aimed to understand the motivational determinates of driving through flooded waterways in low and high-risk scenarios by utilizing an augmented theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with behavioural willingness as the outcome variable as well as the influence of additional predictors; namely perceived risk and past behaviour. Participants (n=174; Mage=27.43, SD=10.76) answered standard TPB-based questions in regards to attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control (PBC), as well as additional variables of perceived risk (i.e., perceived susceptibility and perceived severity) and past behaviour. Support was found for the augmented TPB as attitude, subjective norm, and PBC predicted behavioural willingness. Support was also found for perceived severity in the high-risk but not the low-risk scenario. No support was found for perceived susceptibility. Past behaviour emerged as a significant predictor of willingness in the low and high-risk scenario. The findings provide support for an augmented TPB in understanding individuals' willingness to drive through flooded waterways, suggesting that a multi-strategy approach may be critical in attempts to reduce the incidence of such risky driving behaviour. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maternal mortality and morbidity of unsafe abortion in a university teaching hospital of Karachi, Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, N.; Hossain, N.; Khan, N.H.

2011-01-01

Objective: To study the mortality and morbidity of unsafe abortion in a University Teaching Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Unit III, Dow Medical College and Civil Hospital Karachi from January 2005 to December 2009. Data regarding the socio demographic characteristics, reasons and methods of abortion, nature of provider, complications and treatment were collected for 43 women, who were admitted with complications of unsafe abortion, and an analysis was done. Results: The frequency of unsafe abortion was 1.35% and the case fatality rate was 34.9%. Most of the women belonged to a very poor socioeconomic group (22/43; 51.2%) and were illiterate (27/43; 62.8%). Unsafe abortion followed an induced abortion in 29 women and other miscarriages in 14 women. The majority of women who had an induced abortion were married (19/29, 65.5%). A completed family was the main reason for induced abortion (14/29; 48.2%) followed by being unmarried (8/29, 27.5%) and domestic violence in 5/29 cases (17.2%). Instruments were the commonest method used for unsafe abortion (26/43;68.4%).The most frequent complication was septicaemia (34; 79%) followed by uterine perforation with or without bowel perforation (13, 30.2%) and haemorrhage (9; 20.9%). Majority of induced abortions were performed by untrained providers (22/26; 84.6%) compared to only 3/14 cases (21.4%) of other miscarriages (p=0.0001). Conclusion: The high maternal mortality and morbidity of unsafe abortion in our study highlights the need for improving contraceptive and safe abortion services in Pakistan. (author)

An objective assessment of safety to drive in an upper limb cast.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, H L; Peterson, N; Talbot, C; Dalal, S; Watts, A C; Trail, I A

2013-03-01

Patients managed with upper limb cast immobilization often seek advice about driving. There is very little published data to assist in decision making, and advice given varies between healthcare professionals. There are no specific guidelines available from the UK Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Agency, police, or insurance companies. Evidence-based guidelines would enable clinicians to standardize the advice given to patients. Six individuals (three male, three female; mean age 36 years, range 27-43 years) were assessed by a mobility occupational therapist and driving standards agency examiner while completing a formal driving test in six different types of upper limb casts (above-elbow, below-elbow neutral, and below-elbow cast incorporating the thumb [Bennett's cast]) on both left and right sides. Of the 36 tests, participants passed 31 tests, suggesting that most people were able to safely drive with upper limb cast immobilization. However, driving in a left above-elbow cast was considered unsafe.

Modeling the factors affecting unsafe behavior in the construction industry from safety supervisors' perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Khosravi, Yahya; Asilian-Mahabadi, Hassan; Hajizadeh, Ebrahim; Hassanzadeh-Rangi, Narmin; Bastani, Hamid; Khavanin, Ali; Mortazavi, Seyed Bagher

2014-01-01

There can be little doubt that the construction is the most hazardous industry in the worldwide. This study was designed to modeling the factors affecting unsafe behavior from the perspective of safety supervisors. The qualitative research was conducted to extract a conceptual model. A structural model was then developed based on a questionnaire survey (n=266) by two stage Structural Equation Model (SEM) approach. An excellent confirmed 12-factors structure explained about 62% of variances unsafe behavior in the construction industry. A good fit structural model indicated that safety climate factors were positively correlated with safety individual factors (Pconstruction workers' engagement in safe or unsafe behavior. In order to improve construction safety performance, more focus on the workplace condition is required.

Understanding abortion-related stigma and incidence of unsafe ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Young unmarried women bore the brunt of being stigmatized. They reported a lack of a supportive environment that provides guidance on correct information on how to prevent unwanted pregnancy and where to get help. Abortion-related stigma plays a major role in women's decision on whether to have a safe or unsafe ...

Intimacy and sexual risk behaviour in serodiscordant male couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Remien, R H; Carballo-Diéguez, A; Wagner, G

1995-01-01

Several studies have demonstrated individual-level determinants of HIV sexual risk behaviour. Very little research has been conducted to identify couple-level factors associated with unsafe sexual behaviour. As part of a three-year study of more than 100 serodiscordant male couples, we conducted an in-depth qualitative study of 15 Latino and non-Latino male couples via focus groups and a follow-up telephone survey. We identified the sexual risk behaviour that occurs in these male couples, their perceptions of susceptibility for HIV transmission, and numerous couple-level and intrapsychic factors associated with their risk behaviour. We also describe the challenges confronted by these couples and barriers to emotional intimacy and couple satisfaction. Finally, we provide suggestions for ways of intervening to facilitate improved couple functioning, pleasure, satisfaction, and communication, and ways of reducing sexual risk behaviour without loss of emotional intimacy.

Automatic discrimination between safe and unsafe swallowing using a reputation-based classifier

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikjoo Mohammad S

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Swallowing accelerometry has been suggested as a potential non-invasive tool for bedside dysphagia screening. Various vibratory signal features and complementary measurement modalities have been put forth in the literature for the potential discrimination between safe and unsafe swallowing. To date, automatic classification of swallowing accelerometry has exclusively involved a single-axis of vibration although a second axis is known to contain additional information about the nature of the swallow. Furthermore, the only published attempt at automatic classification in adult patients has been based on a small sample of swallowing vibrations. Methods In this paper, a large corpus of dual-axis accelerometric signals were collected from 30 older adults (aged 65.47 ± 13.4 years, 15 male referred to videofluoroscopic examination on the suspicion of dysphagia. We invoked a reputation-based classifier combination to automatically categorize the dual-axis accelerometric signals into safe and unsafe swallows, as labeled via videofluoroscopic review. From these participants, a total of 224 swallowing samples were obtained, 164 of which were labeled as unsafe swallows (swallows where the bolus entered the airway and 60 as safe swallows. Three separate support vector machine (SVM classifiers and eight different features were selected for classification. Results With selected time, frequency and information theoretic features, the reputation-based algorithm distinguished between safe and unsafe swallowing with promising accuracy (80.48 ± 5.0%, high sensitivity (97.1 ± 2% and modest specificity (64 ± 8.8%. Interpretation of the most discriminatory features revealed that in general, unsafe swallows had lower mean vibration amplitude and faster autocorrelation decay, suggestive of decreased hyoid excursion and compromised coordination, respectively. Further, owing to its performance-based weighting of component classifiers, the static

Unsafe and violent behavior in commercials aired during televised major sporting events.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamburro, Robert F; Gordon, Patricia L; D'Apolito, James P; Howard, Scott C

2004-12-01

Injuries are the leading cause of death in children, and media exposure seems to increase children's risk-taking behavior. Televised sports are commonly viewed by children. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of commercials that depict violence or other unsafe behavior during major televised sporting events that are aired before 9:00 pm. We obtained a list of the 50 sports programs that were most highly rated by Nielsen Media Research and that were televised between September 1, 2001, and September 1, 2002. These 50 programs included Winter Olympics events (n = 15), National Football League (NFL) regular season games (n = 14), NFL playoff games (n = 10), Major League Baseball World Series and playoff games (n = 7), the NFL Super Bowl (n = 1), the National Basketball Association Western Conference Final Game (n = 1), the College Football Rose Bowl (n = 1), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Basketball Championship game (n = 1). Two other events were reviewed as well: the final round of the Masters Golf Championship, because it was the only sporting event rated in the top 50 of the previous year that was not represented by a similar sporting event in the study year, and the Daytona 500 National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing race, because it was the only event rated among the top 75 of the study year that was not represented by a similar event (ie, there were no other golfing or auto racing events reviewed). These events were included because different sporting events may attract different viewers and different advertisements; thus, their inclusion provides a more comprehensive evaluation of the topic. For sporting events with >3 programs in the top 50 (NFL regular season games, NFL playoff games, Winter Olympic events, and Major League Baseball World Series), representative samples of events were assessed. Surrogate events were analyzed for programs that were aired after 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) to control for the reduced

Sociotechnical factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems: A qualitative study in Malaysian government hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Salahuddin, Lizawati; Ismail, Zuraini; Hashim, Ummi Rabaah; Raja Ikram, Raja Rina; Ismail, Nor Haslinda; Naim Mohayat, Mohd Hariz

2018-03-01

The objective of this study is to identify factors influencing unsafe use of hospital information systems in Malaysian government hospitals. Semi-structured interviews with 31 medical doctors in three Malaysian government hospitals implementing total hospital information systems were conducted between March and May 2015. A thematic qualitative analysis was performed on the resultant data to deduce the relevant themes. A total of five themes emerged as the factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system: (1) knowledge, (2) system quality, (3) task stressor, (4) organization resources, and (5) teamwork. These qualitative findings highlight that factors influencing unsafe use of a hospital information system originate from multidimensional sociotechnical aspects. Unsafe use of a hospital information system could possibly lead to the incidence of errors and thus raises safety risks to the patients. Hence, multiple interventions (e.g. technology systems and teamwork) are required in shaping high-quality hospital information system use.

Time to unsafe sexual practice among cross-border female sex workers in Metemma Yohannes, North West Ethiopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gezie, Lemma Derseh; Taye, Belaynew Wassie; Ayele, Tadesse Awoke

2015-07-28

Because of the nature of their work, female sex workers are at risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Cross-border areas are places where this situation becomes worse. In Ethiopia, there has been a serious scarcity of studies on the time at which unsafe sexual practice starts and on factors which determine the practice among female sex workers there. Therefore, this study aimed to fill this identified gap. A total of 467 women who had been sex workers at least for three months prior to the resumption of the study were included. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from July-August, 2010. Descriptive statistics was used to explore the data, and the Extended Cox-Regression model was employed to identify the predictors of time-to-unsafe sexual practice. The study participants were followed for 6, 643 person-months. The overall incidence density of unsafe sexual practice was 44.71 persons per 1000 persons-months. The hazard of unsafe sexual practice increased by 3.0 % every month (p-value =0.040) due to problem-drinking. Those female sex workers with familiarized clients had a two-fold hazard of practicing unsafe sex compared to their counterparts (AHR = 1.94 95 % CI 1.49, 2.53). The predominant sexual client type and the work place of sex workers were the other significant predictors of unsafe sexual practice. The incidence of unsafe sexual practice was found to be high among sex workers in the cross-border area. Time-to-unsafe sexual practice was significantly associated with female sex workers' status of familiarity with their clients, predominant sexual client type, their work place, and the interaction term of time and problem-drinking. Interventions need to be made on these controllable social and behavioral characteristics to help sex workers extend the duration of their safe sexual practice beyond the time they will quit sex work.

Unsafe Abortion and its Ethical, Sexual and Reproductive Rights ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Unsafe abortion is an important cause of maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly marked in developing countries with restrictive abortion laws. It has both bioethical and human rights implications, violating their key principles and components. Objective: To highlight the magnitude of complications of ...

Near misses and unsafe conditions reported in a Pediatric Emergency Research Network

Science.gov (United States)

Ruddy, Richard M; Chamberlain, James M; Mahajan, Prashant V; Funai, Tomohiko; O'Connell, Karen J; Blumberg, Stephen; Lichenstein, Richard; Gramse, Heather L; Shaw, Kathy N

2015-01-01

Objective Patient safety may be enhanced by using reports from front-line staff of near misses and unsafe conditions to identify latent safety events. We describe paediatric emergency department (ED) near-miss events and unsafe conditions from hospital reporting systems in a 1-year observational study from hospitals participating in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). Design This is a secondary analysis of 1 year of incident reports (IRs) from 18 EDs in 2007–2008. Using a prior taxonomy and established method, this analysis is of all reports classified as near-miss (events not reaching the patient) or unsafe condition. Classification included type, severity, contributing factors and personnel involved. In-depth review of 20% of IRs was performed. Results 487 reports (16.8% of eligible IRs) are included. Most common were medication-related, followed by laboratory-related, radiology-related and process-related IRs. Human factors issues were related to 87% and equipment issues to 11%. Human factor issues related to non-compliance with procedures accounted for 66.4%, including 5.95% with no or incorrect ID. Handoff issues were important in 11.5%. Conclusions Medication and process-related issues are important causes of near miss and unsafe conditions in the network. Human factors issues were highly reported and non-compliance with established procedures was very common, and calculation issues, communications (ie, handoffs) and clinical judgment were also important. This work should enable us to help improve systems within the environment of the ED to enhance patient safety in the future. PMID:26338681

Students' Perceptions of Unsafe Schools: An Ecological Systems Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Jun Sung; Eamon, Mary Keegan

2012-01-01

In the aftermath of several school shooting incidents in recent years, students' perceptions of unsafe schools has been a major concern for parents, teachers, school officials, school practitioners, and policy-makers. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems framework, we examined the micro-, meso-, and exosystem level factors associated with…

ECO-DRIVING Europe - building the frame for a European market for eco-driving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raimund, Willy; Fickl, Stephan

2003-01-01

Due to rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions, the transport sector is a key issue in any sustainability and climate strategy. Still, it is the one most difficult to deal with because of it's complexity and direct impact on everybody's life. Innovative transport technologies can significantly contribute to reducing emissions and energy use, but there is also a need for behavioural changes to turn down energy demand, especially in individual motorised transport. One of the most cost-effective measures in this field is Ecodriving, an energy efficient and road safety improving driving style. Nowadays, there are several stand-alone initiatives in Europe. But to strengthen Ecodriving and increase its market share it needs: - an overview of existing offers and facilities, - pilot projects with different target groups, - training courses (both for novice drivers and experienced road users), - quality standards, - scientific proof of the various benefits, - awareness raising and marketing. That's why ECO-DRIVING Europe has been initiated by the main stakeholders in Europe. It aims to change the behaviour of drivers by using technological developments, influencing legislation and supporting long term driving and mobility culture change. The Europe-wide ECO-DRIVING project (www.ecodrive.org ) tries to reach this goal by integrating Ecodriving into various policy fields such as energy, climate change, road safety, local environment, sustainable transport and legislation for driver licence procedures. By decreasing greenhouse gas emission by 10-20% compared to normal driving, Ecodriving can considerably contribute to reduce energy demand in transport and fight climate change. Keywords ECO-DRIVING, sustainable transport, energy efficiency, behavioural change, market penetration, environmental and economic benefits, road safety

Testing advanced driver assistance systems with the interactive driving simulator; Erprobung von Fahrerassistenzsystemen mit dem Interactive Driving Simulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Friedrichs, A.; Grosse-Kappenberg, S.; Happe, J. [Zentrum fuer Lern- und Wissensmanagement und Lehrstuhl Informatik im Maschinenbau ZLW/IMA der RWTH Aachen (Germany)

2005-07-01

The Centre for Learning and Knowledge Management and Department of Computer Science in Engineering of the Technical University Aachen has developed a truck driving simulator which combines a driving simulation as well as traffic flow calculations to the interactive Driving Simulator (InDriveS). In real-time the effects of the driver's behaviour on the surrounding traffic are considered and vice versa. The integrative part of InDriveS is a software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop development environment. By means of this tool, all phases of development (Analysis, Design, Modelling, Simulation, Implementation as well as Testing and Evaluation) of new vehicle technologies, e.g. Information and Assistance Systems, can be realised in consideration of the road traffic and the driver's behaviour. (orig.)

Influence of management behavior on the skilled labor migrations’ unsafe behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu Chen

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this study was to summarize safety management of manager into two aspects (design behavior and management behavior and to figure out the different impact these two behaviors might have. Design/methodology/approach: In order to verify the reasonableness of the assumptions, expert investigation was used by the means of semi-structured interview. And the Structural Equation Modeling?SEM? is estimated using 850 individual questionnaire responses from five companies in the form of Likert-type scale. What’s more, taking the measurement error causing by common method biases into consideration, Univariate Testing was taken to measure the deviation effect. Findings: The results obtained with this description showed that certain measures should be adopt by managers to develop purposively the safety knowledge and safety motivation of the skilled labor migrations (SLMs. Research limitations/implications: Unsafe behavior, which has aroused extensive concern in recent years, is the subject of many safety management studies. However, there have not been any studies on the influence of management behavior on SLMs unsafe behavior. Practical implications: As the unsafe behavior of SLMs is the most important accident reason, this paper may help reduce the incidence of accidents. Originality/value: The conclusion of this study will certainly provide the beneficial reference views on the management behavior.

Factors influencing unsafe behaviors and accidents on construction sites: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Khosravi, Yahya; Asilian-Mahabadi, Hassan; Hajizadeh, Ebrahim; Hassanzadeh-Rangi, Narmin; Bastani, Hamid; Behzadan, Amir H

2014-01-01

Construction is a hazardous occupation due to the unique nature of activities involved and the repetitiveness of several field behaviors. The aim of this methodological and theoretical review is to explore the empirical factors influencing unsafe behaviors and accidents on construction sites. In this work, results and findings from 56 related previous studies were investigated. These studies were categorized based on their design, type, methods of data collection, analytical methods, variables, and key findings. A qualitative content analysis procedure was used to extract variables, themes, and factors. In addition, all studies were reviewed to determine the quality rating and to evaluate the strength of provided evidence. The content analysis identified 8 main categories: (a) society, (b) organization, (c) project management, (d) supervision, (e) contractor, (f) site condition, (g) work group, and (h) individual characteristics. The review highlighted the importance of more distal factors, e.g., society and organization, and project management, that may contribute to reducing the likelihood of unsafe behaviors and accidents through the promotion of site condition and individual features (as proximal factors). Further research is necessary to provide a better understanding of the links between unsafe behavior theories and empirical findings, challenge theoretical assumptions, develop new applied theories, and make stronger recommendations.

Structural behaviour of pipe umbrellas in tunnel drives in granular soils; Tragverhalten von Rohrschirmdecken beim Tunnelbau im Lockergestein

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eckl, Michael

2012-11-01

An increase in the use of pipe umbrellas made of long piles or self drilling injection anchors can be seen in conventional tunnel drives. They are used as reinforcement ahead of the face. This paper consists of investigations concerning the structural and geotechnical behaviour of such umbrellas in granular soils. The research is based on finite element method calculations using a diverse range of essential influencing factors. From the evaluation of the calculations, conclusions can be drawn about the load bearing behaviour of the umbrellas and their interaction with the surrounding ground. A forecasting model is derived in order to predict the internal forces of the umbrella elements and a design methodology is presented. (orig.)

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Unsafe Abortion and Alternative First ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

To explore the policy implications of increasing access to safe abortion in Nigeria and Ghana, we developed a computer-based decision analytic model which simulates induced abortion and its potential complications in a cohort of women, and comparatively assessed the cost-effectiveness of unsafe abortion and three ...

Poor, Unsafe, and Overweight: The Role of Feeling Unsafe at School in Mediating the Association Among Poverty Exposure, Youth Screen Time, Physical Activity, and Weight Status

Science.gov (United States)

Côté-Lussier, Carolyn; Fitzpatrick, Caroline; Séguin, Louise; Barnett, Tracie A.

2015-01-01

This study applied socioecological and cumulative risk exposure frameworks to test the hypotheses that 1) the experience of poverty is associated with feeling less safe at school, and 2) feeling less safe is associated with engaging in poorer weight-related behaviors, as well as an increased probability of being overweight or obese. Data were from the ongoing Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, initiated in 1998 with a population-based cohort of 2,120 Québec (Canada) infants 5 months of age and their parent or primary caregiver. Measures of youths' (age, 13 years) self-reported feelings of safety, screen time, physical activity, and objectively assessed not overweight/obese (70%), overweight (22%), and obese (8%) weight status were collected in 2011. Family poverty trajectory from birth was assessed by using latent growth modeling. As hypothesized, exposure to poverty was associated with feeling less safe at school and, in turn, with an increased probability of being overweight or obese. The association was most pronounced for youths who experienced chronic poverty. Compared with youths who experienced no poverty and felt unsafe, those who experienced chronic poverty and felt unsafe were nearly 18% more likely to be obese (9.2% vs. 11.2%). Although feeling unsafe was associated with screen time, screen time did not predict weight status. PMID:25921649

Electronic Medical Record Documentation of Driving Safety for Veterans with Diagnosed Dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Vair, Christina L; King, Paul R; Gass, Julie; Eaker, April; Kusche, Anna; Wray, Laura O

2018-01-01

Many older adults continue to drive following dementia diagnosis, with medical providers increasingly likely to be involved in addressing such safety concerns. This study examined electronic medical record (EMR) documentation of driving safety for veterans with dementia (N = 118) seen in Veterans Affairs primary care and interdisciplinary geriatrics clinics in one geographic region over a 10-year period. Qualitative directed content analysis of retrospective EMR data. Assessment of known risk factors or subjective concerns for unsafe driving were documented in fewer than half of observed cases; specific recommendations for driving safety were evident for a minority of patients, with formal driving evaluation the most frequently documented recommendation by providers. Utilizing data from actual clinical encounters provides a unique snapshot of how driving risk and safety concerns are addressed for veterans with dementia. This information provides a meaningful frame of reference for understanding potential strengths and possible gaps in how this important topic area is being addressed in the course of clinical care. The EMR is an important forum for interprofessional communication, with documentation of driving risk and safety concerns an essential element for continuity of care and ensuring consistency of information delivered to patients and caregivers.

46 CFR 167.65-70 - Reports of accidents, repairs, and unsafe boilers and machinery by engineers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Reports of accidents, repairs, and unsafe boilers and... of accidents, repairs, and unsafe boilers and machinery by engineers. (a) Before making repairs to a boiler of a nautical school ship the engineer in charge shall report, in writing, the nature of such...

Hypnotics and driving safety: meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials applying the on-the-road driving test.

Science.gov (United States)

Verster, Joris C; Veldhuijzen, Dieuwke S; Patat, Alain; Olivier, Berend; Volkerts, Edmund R

2006-01-01

Many people who use hypnotics are outpatients and are likely to drive a car the day after drug intake. The purpose of these meta-analyses was to determine whether or not this is safe. Placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trials were selected if using the on-the-road driving test to determine driving ability the day following one or two nights of treatment administration. Primary outcome measure of the driving test was the Standard Deviation of Lateral Position (SDLP); i.e., the weaving of the car. Fixed effects model meta-analyses were performed. Effect size (ES) was computed using mean standardized (weighted) difference scores between treatment and corresponding placebo SDLP values. Ten studies, published from 1984 to 2002 (207 subjects), were included in the meta-analyses. The morning following bedtime administration, i.e. 10-11 hours after dosing, significant driving impairment was found for the recommended dose of various benzodiazepine hypnotics (ES=0.42; 95% Confidence Interval (CI)=0.14 to 0.71). Twice the recommended dose impaired driving both in the morning (ES=0.68; CI=0.39 to 0.97) and afternoon, i.e. 16-17 hours after dosing (ES=0.57; CI=0.26 to 0.88). Zopiclone 7.5 mg also impaired driving in the morning (ES=0.89; CI=0.54 to 1.23). Zaleplon (10 and 20 mg) and zolpidem (10 mg) did not affect driving performance the morning after dosing. Following middle-of-the-night administration, significantly impaired driving performance was found for zopiclone 7.5 mg (ES=1.51, CI=0.85 to 2.17), zolpidem 10 mg (ES=0.66, CI=0.13 to 1.19) and zolpidem 20 mg (ES=1.16, CI=0.60 to 1.72). Zaleplon (10 and 20 mg) did not affect driving performance. The analyses show that driving a car the morning following nocturnal treatment with benzodiazepines and zopiclone is unsafe, whereas the recommended dose of zolpidem (10 mg) and zaleplon (10 mg) do not affect driving ability.

A method to join data from a National Travel Survey of individuals into travel behaviour of families – with the driving pattern of the household cars as an example

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Linda

2014-01-01

of the household car(s). In some NTS a special interview is conducted about the driving pattern of the car. This is however not the case of the Danish NTS. The driving pattern has to be derived from the travel behaviour of the respondents, which is a problem if more than one household member drive the car....

The relative impact of work-related stress, life stress and driving environment stress on driving outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowden, Peter; Matthews, Gerald; Watson, Barry; Biggs, Herbert

2011-07-01

Previous research has shown the association between stress and crash involvement. The impact of stress on road safety may also be mediated by behaviours including cognitive lapses, errors, and intentional traffic violations. This study aimed to provide a further understanding of the impact that stress from different sources may have upon driving behaviour and road safety. It is asserted that both stress extraneous to the driving environment and stress directly elicited by driving must be considered part of a dynamic system that may have a negative impact on driving behaviours. Two hundred and forty-seven public sector employees from Queensland, Australia, completed self-report measures examining demographics, subjective work-related stress, daily hassles, and aspects of general mental health. Additionally, the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) and the Driver Stress Inventory (DSI) were administered. All participants drove for work purposes regularly, however the study did not specifically focus on full-time professional drivers. Confirmatory factor analysis of the predictor variables revealed three factors: DSI negative affect; DSI risk taking; and extraneous influences (daily hassles, work-related stress, and general mental health). Moderate intercorrelations were found between each of these factors confirming the 'spillover' effect. That is, driver stress is reciprocally related to stress in other domains including work and domestic life. Structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that the DSI negative affect factor influenced both lapses and errors, whereas the DSI risk-taking factor was the strongest influence on violations. The SEMs also confirmed that daily hassles extraneous to the driving environment may influence DBQ lapses and violations independently. Accordingly, interventions may be developed to increase driver awareness of the dangers of excessive emotional responses to both driving events and daily hassles (e.g. driving fast to 'blow off steam

Effect of tailored on-road driving lessons on driving safety in older adults: A randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Anstey, Kaarin J; Eramudugolla, Ranmalee; Kiely, Kim M; Price, Jasmine

2018-06-01

We evaluated the effectiveness of individually tailored driving lessons compared with a road rules refresher course for improving older driver safety. Two arm parallel randomised controlled trial, involving current drivers aged 65 and older (Mean age 72.0, 47.4% male) residing in Canberra, Australia. The intervention group (n = 28) received a two-hour class-based road rules refresher course, and two one-hour driving lessons tailored to improve poor driving skills and habits identified in a baseline on-road assessment. The control group (n = 29) received the road rules refresher course only. Tests of cognitive performance, and on-road driving were conducted at baseline and at 12-weeks. Main outcome measure was the Driver safety rating (DSR) on the on-road driving test. The number of Critical Errors made during the on-road was also recorded. 55 drivers completed the trial (intervention group: 27, control group: 28). Both groups showed reduction in dangerous/hazardous driver errors that required instructor intervention. From baseline to follow-up there was a greater reduction in the number of critical errors made by the intervention group relative to the control group (IRR = 0.53, SE = 0.1, p = .008). The intervention group improved on the DSR more than the control group (intervention mean change = 1.07 SD = 2.00, control group mean change = 0.32 SD = 1.61). The intervention group had 64% remediation of unsafe driving, where drivers who achieved a score of 'fail' at baseline, 'passed' at follow-up. The control group had 25% remediation. Tailored driving lessons reduced the critical driving errors made by older adults. Longer term follow-up and larger trials are required. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Research on the Impact of Management Level's Charismatic Leadership Style on Miners' Unsafe Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hongxia; Di, Hongxi; Tian, Shuicheng; Li, Jian

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is research the impact of management level's charismatic leadership style on miners' unsafe behavior by using the questionnaires on charismatic leadership style, safety attitude and the miners' unsafe behavior measurement to investigate 200 employees in Shen Dong Company. The research results suggest that management level's charismatic leadership style have very important influence on miners' unsafe behavior and the influence is affected by the safety attitude which is the intermediary function. In the end, this study propose advice on how to improve the coal mine enterprise managers charismatic leadership style in the coal mine enterprise's safety management work, including attach great importance to a variety of incentive methods, set up safety moral models, practice of inductive leadership concept, create a good atmosphere of safety, etc for reference for coal mining enterprises.

Investigating social consequences of unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion in Malawi: the role of stigma.

Science.gov (United States)

Levandowski, Brooke A; Kalilani-Phiri, Linda; Kachale, Fannie; Awah, Paschal; Kangaude, Godfrey; Mhango, Chisale

2012-09-01

Malawian women in all sectors of society are suffering from social implications of unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. Unwanted pregnancies occur among women who have limited access to family planning and safe abortion. A legally restrictive setting for safe abortion services leads many women to unsafe abortion, which has consequences for them and their families. In-depth interviews were conducted with 485 Malawian stakeholders belonging to different political and social structures. Interviewees identified the impact of unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion to be the greatest on young women. Premarital and extramarital pregnancies were highly stigmatized; stigma directly related to abortion was also found. Community-level discussions need to focus on reduction of stigma. Copyright © 2012 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Older adult opinions of "advance driving directives".

Science.gov (United States)

Betz, Marian E; Lowenstein, Steven R; Schwartz, Robert

2013-01-01

Discussions about driving cessation are difficult. "Advance driving directives" (ADDs), like advance directives for end-of-life care, would allow drivers to designate someone to help make driving decisions for them in the future. It is not known if older drivers support the concept of ADDs. Cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of English-speaking drivers (55+ years) at 2 independent living facilities and 2 community centers who completed anonymous surveys. Of 168 participants, 80% were female; the median age was 76.5 years (range = 56-93 years). Most (74%) drove daily or almost daily, and 7% reported a crash in the past year. Few had spoken with someone about driving safety (5%) or their wishes when driving skills decline (21%). Of the few who had discussed this topic, 83% had spoken with a family member; only 17% had spoken with a health care provider. However, participants were open to driving discussions, and 54% said they would be willing to complete an ADD if recommended. Of these, 79% said it was "likely" or "very likely" they would comply with the directive in the future. Most (73%) supported mandatory, age-based retesting; the median recommended testing age suggested was 80 years. More participants thought the driver (71%), a family member (61%), or a physician (59%) should determine license revocation for an unsafe driver, rather than the department of motor vehicles (32%). Many older drivers may be open to discussing their driving plans with physicians and family members. ADDs may facilitate these discussions in the present and help define driving-related wishes in the future.

Frequency of unsafe storage, use, and disposal practices of opioids among cancer patients presenting to the emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Silvestre, Julio; Reddy, Akhila; de la Cruz, Maxine; Wu, Jimin; Liu, Diane; Bruera, Eduardo; Todd, Knox H

2017-12-01

Approximately 75% of prescription opioid abusers obtain the drug from an acquaintance, which may be a consequence of improper opioid storage, use, disposal, and lack of patient education. We aimed to determine the opioid storage, use, and disposal patterns in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) of a comprehensive cancer center. We surveyed 113 patients receiving opioids for at least 2 months upon presenting to the ED and collected information regarding opioid use, storage, and disposal. Unsafe storage was defined as storing opioids in plain sight, and unsafe use was defined as sharing or losing opioids. The median age was 53 years, 55% were female, 64% were white, and 86% had advanced cancer. Of those surveyed, 36% stored opioids in plain sight, 53% kept them hidden but unlocked, and only 15% locked their opioids. However, 73% agreed that they would use a lockbox if given one. Patients who reported that others had asked them for their pain medications (p = 0.004) and those who would use a lockbox if given one (p = 0.019) were more likely to keep them locked. Some 13 patients (12%) used opioids unsafely by either sharing (5%) or losing (8%) them. Patients who reported being prescribed more pain pills than required (p = 0.032) were more likely to practice unsafe use. Most (78%) were unaware of proper opioid disposal methods, 6% believed they were prescribed more medication than required, and 67% had unused opioids at home. Only 13% previously received education about safe disposal of opioids. Overall, 77% (87) of patients reported unsafe storage, unsafe use, or possessed unused opioids at home. Many cancer patients presenting to the ED improperly and unsafely store, use, or dispose of opioids, thus highlighting a need to investigate the impact of patient education on such practices.

Effects of Tunnel Design Characteristics on Driving Behaviour and Traffic Safety: A Literature Review (Effecten van tunnelontwerpkenmerken op rijgedrag en verkeersveiligheid: Een literatuurstudie)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Martens, M

1997-01-01

.... This may affect the level of driving safety. This literature review provides an overview of the effect of tunnel design characteristics on road user behaviour, and can serve as a basis for recommendations on specific tunnel design standards...

Injury-related unsafe behavior among households from different socioeconomic strata in Pune city

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirkazemi Roksana

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Behavior pattern influences the risk of unintentional injuries. This study was conducted to identify the pattern of household unsafe behavior in different socioeconomic strata, in Pune city, India. Materials and Method: Population-based, cross-sectional study. Behaviors influencing the risk of burn, poisoning, drowning, and road traffic injuries were questioned from 200 randomly selected households. Results: Nearly 28% of the households did not have a separate kitchen, 37.5% cooked at the ground level, 33.5% used a kerosene pressure stove, 12% used unprotected open fire as a source of warmth in winter, and 34.5% stored inflammable substances at home. Ninety one percent of the households reported storing poisonous chemicals in places that could not be locked. In 68.3% of the households with children below five years, these chemicals were kept in places accessible to children. Nearly 21% of the individuals, who could swim, did so in unsafe places and 25.2% of them were not trained in swimming. In 35.5% of the households, children used streets as playgrounds. Among all two-wheeled vehicle riders, 35.6% reported not having a helmet and 57.7% of those who had a helmet did not use it regularly. Socioeconomic status was strongly associated with the unsafe behaviors related to burns, drowning, and road traffic injuries. Conclusion: The study identifies the sociocultural and behavioral factors leading to unsafe behaviors, placing individuals at risk of unintentional injuries, which can be used as a first step toward prevention.

Distracted driving: prevalence, problems, and prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Overton, Tiffany L; Rives, Terry E; Hecht, Carrie; Shafi, Shahid; Gandhi, Rajesh R

2015-01-01

While the number of motor vehicle crashes has declined over the years, crashes resulting from distracted driving are increasing in the United States resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. The national public seems to be aware of the dangers associated with using technology while driving, but continues to engage in this dangerous behaviour, and may be unaware of or underestimate the impact of cell phone use on their own driving performance. Problems associated with distracted driving are not limited to novice or teenage drivers; multifaceted universal prevention efforts aimed at impacting large segments of the population may have the greatest impact. Legislation limiting drivers' cell phone use has had little impact, possibly due to low regulation and enforcement. Behaviour change programmes, improved vehicle safety, and public awareness campaigns have been developed as potential preventive efforts to reduce accidents caused by distracted drivers.

Jerky driving--An indicator of accident proneness?

Science.gov (United States)

Bagdadi, Omar; Várhelyi, András

2011-07-01

This study uses continuously logged driving data from 166 private cars to derive the level of jerks caused by the drivers during everyday driving. The number of critical jerks found in the data is analysed and compared with the self-reported accident involvement of the drivers. The results show that the expected number of accidents for a driver increases with the number of critical jerks caused by the driver. Jerk analyses make it possible to identify safety critical driving behaviour or "accident prone" drivers. They also facilitate the development of safety measures such as active safety systems or advanced driver assistance systems, ADAS, which could be adapted for specific groups of drivers or specific risky driving behaviour. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding young and older male drivers' willingness to drive while intoxicated: the predictive utility of constructs specified by the theory of planned behaviour and the prototype willingness model.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivis, Amanda; Abraham, Charles; Snook, Sarah

2011-05-01

The present study examined the predictive utility of constructs specified by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and prototype willingness model (PWM) for young and older male drivers' willingness to drive while intoxicated. A cross-sectional questionnaire was employed. Two hundred male drivers, recruited via a street survey, voluntarily completed measures of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, prototype perceptions, and willingness. Findings showed that the TPB and PWM variables explained 65% of the variance in young male drivers' willingness and 47% of the variance in older male drivers' willingness, with the interaction between prototype favourability and similarity contributing 7% to the variance explained in older males' willingness to drive while intoxicated. The findings possess implications for theory, research, and anti-drink driving campaigns. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Speeding driving behaviour: Age and gender experimental analysis

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Teo Sir Hiang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Road safety is a substantial issue worldwide. Speeding contributed to one-third of all the fatal crashes reported from year 2002 to 2011 with young drivers reported to have the highest fatality and injury rates. This paper studied on the speeding driving behavior of 10 teenagers and 10 adults, from both genders. The aim was to investigate the relationship between age and gender with speeding driving behavior. The drivers were required to drive within an enclosed compound by using a test car. Results showed young and male drivers averagely travelled at higher velocity before entering the roundabout and at the same time accelerate to higher velocity upon exiting the roundabout compared to old and female drivers.

Entero-utero-vaginal fistula: a rare complication of unsafe abortion ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Pregnancy whether wanted or not poses significant risks for women especially in developing countries with wide spread ignorance, poverty and limited facilities. Unsafe abortion exposes them to increased morbidity and mortality. Aim: To report a case of entero-utero-vaginal fistula in a teenager following ...

The influence of cognitive impairment with no dementia on driving restriction and cessation in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kowalski, Kristina; Love, Janet; Tuokko, Holly; MacDonald, Stuart; Hultsch, David; Strauss, Esther

2012-11-01

Cognitively impaired older adults may be at increased risk of unsafe driving. Individuals with insight into their own impairments may minimize their risk by restricting or stopping driving. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of cognitive impairment on driving status and driving habits and intentions. Participants were classified as cognitively impaired, no dementia single (CIND-single), CIND-multiple, or not cognitively impaired (NCI) and compared on their self-reported driving status, habits, and intentions to restrict or quit driving in the future. The groups differed significantly in driving status, but not in whether they restricted their driving or reduced their driving frequency. CIND-multiple group also had significantly higher intention to restrict/stop driving than the NCI group. Reasons for restricting and quitting driving were varied and many individuals reported multiple reasons, both external and internal, for their driving habits and intentions. Regardless of cognitive status, none of the current drivers were seriously thinking of restricting or quitting driving in the next 6 months. It will be important to determine, in future research, how driving practices change over time and what factors influence decisions to restrict or stop driving for people with cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Maternal Near-Miss Due to Unsafe Abortion and Associated Short ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJRH Managing Editor

of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, ... induced abortion procedures. ... cases of MNM were identified through a ... system was put in place in each hospital to help ... that were due to unsafe abortion we used a variant ... based on 13 cases that had provider's information.

Why Women are dying from unsafe Abortion: Narratives of Ghanaian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In Ghana, despite the availability of safe, legally permissible abortion services, high rates of morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion persist. Through interviews with Ghanaian physicians on the front lines of abortion provision, we begin to describe major barriers to widespread safe abortion. Their stories illustrate the ...

Estimating the burden of disease attributable to unsafe water and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objectives. To estimate the burden of disease attributable to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene (WSH) by age group for South Africa in 2000. Design. World Health Organization comparative risk assessment methodology was used to estimate the disease burden attributable to an exposure by comparing the observed risk ...

Wealth and sexual behaviour among men in Cameroon

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Nana Philip

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The 2004 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS in Cameroon revealed a higher prevalence of HIV in richest and most educated people than their poorest and least educated compatriots. It is not certain whether the higher prevalence results partly or wholly from wealthier people adopting more unsafe sexual behaviours, surviving longer due to greater access to treatment and care, or being exposed to unsafe injections or other HIV risk factors. As unsafe sex is currently believed to be the main driver of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, we designed this study to examine the association between wealth and sexual behaviour in Cameroon. Methods We analysed data from 4409 sexually active men aged 15–59 years who participated in the Cameroon DHS using logistic regression models, and have reported odds ratios (OR with confidence intervals (CI. Results When we controlled for the potential confounding effects of marital status, place of residence, religion and age, men in the richest third of the population were less likely to have used a condom in the last sex with a non-spousal non-cohabiting partner (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.32–0.56 and more likely to have had at least two concurrent sex partners in the last 12 months (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.12–1.19 and more than five lifetime sex partners (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.60–2.43. However, there was no difference between the richest and poorest men in the purchase of sexual services. Regarding education, men with secondary or higher education were less likely to have used a condom in the last sex with a non-spousal non-cohabiting partner (OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.16–0.38 and more likely to have started sexual activity at age 17 years or less (OR 2.73, 95% CI 2.10–3.56 and had more than five lifetime sexual partners (OR 2.59, 95% CI 2.02–3.31. There was no significant association between education and multiple concurrent sexual partnerships in the last 12 months or purchase of sexual services

Evolution of the global burden of viral infections from unsafe medical injections, 2000-2010.

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Jacques Pépin

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: In 2000, the World Health Organization estimated that, in developing and transitional countries, unsafe injections accounted for respectively 5%, 32% and 40% of new infections with HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV and hepatitis C virus (HCV. Safe injection campaigns were organized worldwide. The present study sought to measure the progress in reducing the transmission of these viruses through unsafe injections over the subsequent decade. METHODS: A mass action model was updated, to recalculate the number of injection-related HIV, HCV and HBV infections acquired in 2000 and provide estimates for 2010. Data about the annual number of unsafe injections were updated. HIV prevalence in various regions in 2000 and 2010 were calculated from UNAIDS data. The ratio of HIV prevalence in healthcare settings compared to the general population was estimated from a literature review. Improved regional estimates of the prevalence of HCV seropositivity, HBsAg and HBeAg antigenemia were used for 2000 and 2010. For HIV and HCV, revised estimates of the probability of transmission per episode of unsafe injection were used, with low and high values allowing sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Despite a 13% population growth, there was a reduction of respectively 87% and 83% in the absolute numbers of HIV and HCV infections transmitted through injections. For HBV, the reduction was more marked (91% due to the additional impact of vaccination. While injections-related cases had accounted for 4.6%-9.1% of newly acquired HIV infections in 2000, this proportion decreased to 0.7%-1.3% in 2010, when unsafe injections caused between 16,939 and 33,877 HIV infections, between 157,592 and 315,120 HCV infections, and 1,679,745 HBV infections. CONCLUSION: From 2000 to 2010, substantial progress was made in reducing the burden of HIV, HCV and HBV infections transmitted through injections. In some regions, their elimination might become a reasonable public health goal.

Comb-drive actuators for large displacements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Legtenberg, Rob; Legtenberg, R.; Groeneveld, A.W.; Elwenspoek, Michael Curt

The design, fabrication and experimental results of lateral-comb-drive actuators for large displacements at low driving voltages is presented. A comparison of several suspension designs is given, and the lateral large deflection behaviour of clamped-clamped beams and a folded flexure design is

In-car usage-based insurance feedback strategies. A comparative driving simulator study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dijksterhuis, Chris; Lewis-Evans, Ben; Jelijs, Bart; Tucha, Oliver; de Waard, Dick; Brookhuis, Karel

2016-09-01

Usage-Based Insurances (UBI) enable policyholders to actively reduce the impact of vehicle insurance costs by adopting a safer and more eco-friendly driving style. UBI is especially relevant for younger drivers, who are a high-risk population. The effectiveness of UBI should be enhanced by providing in-car feedback optimised for individual drivers. Thirty young novice drivers were therefore invited to complete six experimental drives with an in-car interface that provided real-time information on rewards gained, their driving behaviour and the speed limit. Reward size was either displayed directly in euro, indirectly as a relatively large amount of credits, or as a percentage of the maximum available bonus. Also, interfaces were investigated that provided partial information to reduce the potential for driver distraction. Compared to a control no-UBI condition, behaviour improved similarly across interfaces, suggesting that interface personalisation after an initial familiarisation period could be feasible without compromising feedback effectiveness. Practitioner Summary: User experiences and effects on driving behaviour of six in-car interfaces were compared. The interface provided information on driving behaviour and rewards in a UBI setting. Results suggest that some personalisation of interfaces may be an option after an initial familiarisation period as driving behaviour improved similarly across interfaces.

Unsafe abortion: A cruel way of birth control | Shrivastava | African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Unsafe abortion refers to a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy performed either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards, or both. Objectives: The objectives of the study are to assess the factors attributing to practice of ...

Prediction of Driving Safety in Individuals with Homonymous Hemianopia and Quadrantanopia from Clinical Neuroimaging

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Michael S. Vaphiades

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. This study aimed to determine whether it is possible to predict driving safety of individuals with homonymous hemianopia or quadrantanopia based upon a clinical review of neuroimages that are routinely available in clinical practice. Methods. Two experienced neuroophthalmologists viewed a summary report of the CT/MRI scans of 16 participants with homonymous hemianopic or quadrantanopic field defects which indicated the site and extent of the lesion and they made predictions regarding whether participants would be safe/unsafe to drive. Driving safety was independently defined at the time of the study using state-recorded motor vehicle crashes (all crashes and at-fault for the previous 5 years and ratings of driving safety determined through a standardized on-road driving assessment by a certified driving rehabilitation specialist. Results. The ability to predict driving safety was highly variable regardless of the driving safety measure, ranging from 31% to 63% (kappa levels ranged from −0.29 to 0.04. The level of agreement between the neuroophthalmologists was only fair (kappa = 0.28. Conclusions. Clinical evaluation of summary reports of currently available neuroimages by neuroophthalmologists is not predictive of driving safety. Future research should be directed at identifying and/or developing alternative tests or strategies to better enable clinicians to make these predictions.

Prediction of driving safety in individuals with homonymous hemianopia and quadrantanopia from clinical neuroimaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaphiades, Michael S; Kline, Lanning B; McGwin, Gerald; Owsley, Cynthia; Shah, Ritu; Wood, Joanne M

2014-01-01

Background. This study aimed to determine whether it is possible to predict driving safety of individuals with homonymous hemianopia or quadrantanopia based upon a clinical review of neuroimages that are routinely available in clinical practice. Methods. Two experienced neuroophthalmologists viewed a summary report of the CT/MRI scans of 16 participants with homonymous hemianopic or quadrantanopic field defects which indicated the site and extent of the lesion and they made predictions regarding whether participants would be safe/unsafe to drive. Driving safety was independently defined at the time of the study using state-recorded motor vehicle crashes (all crashes and at-fault) for the previous 5 years and ratings of driving safety determined through a standardized on-road driving assessment by a certified driving rehabilitation specialist. Results. The ability to predict driving safety was highly variable regardless of the driving safety measure, ranging from 31% to 63% (kappa levels ranged from -0.29 to 0.04). The level of agreement between the neuroophthalmologists was only fair (kappa = 0.28). Conclusions. Clinical evaluation of summary reports of currently available neuroimages by neuroophthalmologists is not predictive of driving safety. Future research should be directed at identifying and/or developing alternative tests or strategies to better enable clinicians to make these predictions.

Unsafe abortion in urban and rural Tanzania: method, provider and consequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Vibeke; Kipingili, Rose

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe unsafe abortion methods and associated health consequences in Tanzania, where induced abortion is restricted by law but common and known to account for a disproportionate share of hospital admissions. METHOD: Cross-sectional study of women admitted with alleged miscarriage...

The influence of anger, impulsivity, sensation seeking and driver attitudes on risky driving behaviour among post-graduate university students in Durban, South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Bachoo, Shaneel; Bhagwanjee, Anil; Govender, Kaymarlin

2013-06-01

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) constitute a serious global health risk, and evidence suggests that young drivers are significantly overrepresented among those injured or killed in RTAs. This study explores the role of anger, impulsivity, sensation seeking and driver attitudes as correlates for risky driving practices among drivers, drawing comparisons between age and gender. The study used a cross-sectional survey design, with a sample of 306 post-graduate university students from two universities in Durban, South Africa, who completed the self-administered questionnaire. The results indicate that drivers with higher driver anger, sensation seeking, urgency, and with a lack of premeditation and perseverance in daily activities were statistically more likely to report riskier driving acts. Males reported significantly more acts of risky driving behaviour (RDB) than females. Driver attitudes significantly predicted self-reported acts of RDB on most indicators. Older drivers (25 years and older) had safer driver attitudes and a lower sense of sensation seeking and urgency in life. Interventions targeting young drivers, which focus on impeding the manifestation of anger, impulsivity and sensation seeking are recommended. Also, the empirical support for the attitude-behaviour hypothesis evidenced in this study vindicates the development or continuation of interventions that focus on this dynamic. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Go/No-go approach to uncovering implicit attitudes towards safe and risky driving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Sømhovd, Mikael J.; Møller, Mette

2015-01-01

Self-report measures of driving-related attitudes and beliefs miss potentially important precursors of driving behaviour, namely, automatic and implicit thought processes. The present study used an adapted Go/No-go Association Task to measure implicit thought without relying on the participants......' self-reports. Implicit attitudes towards safe and risky driving were measured in 53 Danish drivers (31 female, 22 male). Further, we explored the relationship between implicit attitudes towards risky and safe driving, and self-reported driving behaviour and skills. The results suggest that implicit...... attitudes were significantly related to self-reported driving behaviour and skills for male (but not female) drivers. Pending future research with larger sample sizes, the difference between implicit attitudes towards safe versus risky driving that we observed may contribute to a greater theoretical...

Recording and automated analysis of naturalistic bioptic driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Gang; Peli, Eli

2011-05-01

People with moderate central vision loss are legally permitted to drive with a bioptic telescope in 39 US states and the Netherlands, but the safety of bioptic driving remains highly controversial. There is no scientific evidence about bioptic use and its impact on safety. We propose searching for evidence by recording naturalistic driving activities in patients' cars. In a pilot study we used an analogue video system to record two bioptic drivers' daily driving activities for 10 and 5 days, respectively. In this technical report, we also describe our novel digital system that collects vehicle manoeuvre information and enables recording over more extended periods, and discuss our approach to analyzing the vast amount of data. Our observations of telescope use by the pilot subjects were quite different from their reports in a previous survey. One subject used the telescope only seven times in nearly 6 h of driving. For the other subject, the average interval between telescope use was about 2 min, and Mobile (cell) phone use in one trip extended the interval to almost 5 min. We demonstrate that computerized analysis of lengthy recordings based on video, GPS, acceleration, and black box data can be used to select informative segments for efficient off-line review of naturalistic driving behaviours. The inconsistency between self reports and objective data as well as infrequent telescope use underscores the importance of recording bioptic driving behaviours in naturalistic conditions over extended periods. We argue that the new recording system is important for understanding bioptic use behaviours and bioptic driving safety. © 2011 The College of Optometrists.

Assessment of driving after stroke--a pluridisciplinary task.

Science.gov (United States)

Ponsford, A-S; Viitanen, M; Lundberg, C; Johansson, K

2008-03-01

The aim of the study was to analyze the assessment procedure and identify predictors for the team decision when assessing fitness to drive a car after stroke. The material used was a retrospective data set with 200 stroke clients from Queen Elisabeth's Foundation Mobility Centre at Banstead UK. Fifty-four percent of clients were considered fit to continue driving where 9% could resume driving after car adaptation and training. Important factors for the outcome were vision (acuity and field), neuropsychological functions (divided attention), and track and/or on road test (reaction time, anticipation, speed, and positioning). Cognitive impairment was the main problem in those who failed the driving test and judged not fit for continued driving. Car adaptation, mainly comprising infrared transmitted secondary controls together with automatic transmission was recommended in 35% of the cases. The contribution of different specialist groups appears to be necessary for an effective evaluation, but the assessment procedure can be done more cost-effectively by dividing it into two separate parts and removing certain subtests. The in-car track test is an important part of the assessment procedure with a high face validity and could in many cases make it unnecessary to perform in-traffic tests with unsafe drivers. Car adaptation is often necessary for a client with pronounced hemi-paresis and a full road test can for those only be performed after training the use of car controls.

Safe and unsafe duration of fasting for children with MCAD deficiency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Derks, Terry G J; van Spronsen, Francjan J; Rake, Jan Peter; van der Hilst, Christian S; Span, Mark M; Smit, G Peter A

OBJECTIVE: To study the safe and unsafe duration of fasting in children with medium chain acyl-Coenzyme A dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency, the literature and the database on Dutch MCAD-deficient patients were searched for data on fasting studies in patients with MCAD deficiency. MATERIALS AND

Naturalistic validation of an on-road driving test of older drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ott, Brian R; Papandonatos, George D; Davis, Jennifer D; Barco, Peggy P

2012-08-01

The objective was to compare a standardized road test to naturalistic driving by older people who may have cognitive impairment to define improvements that could potentially enhance the validity of road testing in this population. Road testing has been widely adapted as a tool to assess driving competence of older people who may be at risk for unsafe driving because of dementia; however, the validity of this approach has not been rigorously evaluated. For 2 weeks, 80 older drivers (38 healthy elders and 42 with cognitive impairment) who passed a standardized road test were video recorded in their own vehicles. Using a standardized rating scale, 4 hr of video was rated by a driving instructor. The authors examine weighting of individual road test items to form global impressions and to compare road test and naturalistic driving using factor analyses of these two assessments. The road test score was unidimensional, reflecting a major factor related to awareness of signage and traffic behavior. Naturalistic driving reflected two factors related to lane keeping as well as traffic behavior. Maintenance of proper lane is an important dimension of driving safety that appears to be relatively underemphasized during the highly supervised procedures of the standardized road test. Road testing in this population could be improved by standardized designs that emphasize lane keeping and that include self-directed driving. Additional information should be sought from observers in the community as well as crash evidence when advising older drivers who may be cognitively impaired.

Clock drawing as a screen for impaired driving in aging and dementia: is it worth the time?

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, Kevin J; Davis, Jennifer D; Papandonatos, George D; Ott, Brian R

2014-02-01

Clock drawing is recommended by medical and transportation authorities as a screening test for unsafe drivers. The objective of the present study was to assess the usefulness of different clock drawing systems as screening measures of driving performance in 122 healthy and cognitively impaired older drivers. Clock drawing was measured using four different scoring systems. Driving outcomes included global ratings of safety and the error rate on a standardized on-road test. Findings revealed that clock drawing was significantly correlated with the driving score on the road test for each of the scoring systems. However, receiver operator curve analyses showed limited clinical utility for clock drawing as a screening instrument for impaired on-road driving performance with the area under the curve ranging from 0.53 to 0.61. Results from this study indicate that clock drawing has limited utility as a solitary screening measure of on-road driving, even when considering a variety of scoring approaches.

Household and caregiver characteristics and behaviours as predictors of unsafe exposure of children to paraffin appliances.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Niekerk, A; Govender, R; Hornsby, N; Swart, L

2017-06-01

This study examines adult safety knowledge and practices regarding the use of paraffin cooking appliances. The use of these is common in South Africa with injury risks that are poorly understood. This cross-sectional study was in an informal settlement in Johannesburg, South Africa, where children were reportedly at high risk for burns. This study sought to clarify relationships between key risks and developed individual and composite variables from theoretical constructs and operational definitions of risks for burns. Risks included Child Use of Paraffin Appliances, Child Proximity to Cooking, Risky Stove Use, Caregiver's Burn Treatment Knowledge, Children Locked in House, Children Alone in House. Number of children remains as in proof as this was not a composite scale. Child Proximity to Cooking was associated with more children in the home. Households where children were in greater proximity to cooking were 6 times more likely to be left alone at home, with caregivers with no education over 100 times more likely to lock their children at home. Children locked in were often from homes where caregivers used appliances unsafely. In settings with hazardous energy use, compressed household configurations, and families with multiple children, Risky Stove Use and the practice of locking children in the home may be catastrophic. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Cognitive, sensory and physical factors enabling driving safety in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Anstey, Kaarin J; Wood, Joanne; Lord, Stephen; Walker, Janine G

2005-01-01

We reviewed literature on cognitive, sensory, motor and physical factors associated with safe driving and crash risk in older adults with the goal of developing a model of factors enabling safe driving behaviour. Thirteen empirical studies reporting associations between cognitive, sensory, motor and physical factors and either self-reported crashes, state crash records or on-road driving measures were identified. Measures of attention, reaction time, memory, executive function, mental status, visual function, and physical function variables were associated with driving outcome measures. Self-monitoring was also identified as a factor that may moderate observed effects by influencing driving behavior. We propose that three enabling factors (cognition, sensory function and physical function/medical conditions) predict driving ability, but that accurate self-monitoring of these enabling factors is required for safe driving behaviour.

Environmental determinants of celeration behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

af Wåhlberg, Anders E

2015-01-01

Celeration (speed change) behaviour of drivers has been posited to be the best predictor of their traffic accident involvement. The origins of this behaviour, however, have not been specified. A model is therefore introduced, where celeration is partly due to the individual disposition of the driver (i.e., driving style), and partly to the environment (road layout, rules and traffic density). Three measurement problems for celeration were studied; the effect of traffic density, of regular versus irregular routes, and weight of the vehicle (loaded/unloaded) on celeration behaviour. Two small samples of truck drivers in Sweden were measured for several months each. There was a strong effect of vehicle load, with behaviour being more cautious with increased weight. Driving on different roads also yielded differences in behaviour, although the design used did not permit conclusions about what caused these. Traffic volume was not found to have any reliable effect on celeration.

Do in-car devices affect experienced users' driving performance?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knapper, A.S.; Hagenzieker, M.P.; Brookhuis, K.A.

2014-01-01

Distracted driving is considered to be an important factor in road safety. To investigate how experienced user's driving behaviour is affected by in-vehicle technology, a fixed-base driving simulator was used. 20 participants drove twice in a rich simulated traffic environment while performing

Do in-car devices affect experienced users' driving performance?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knapper, A.S. Hagenzieker, M.P. & Brookhuis, K.A.

2015-01-01

Distracted driving is considered to be an important factor in road safety. To investigate how experienced user's driving behaviour is affected by in-vehicle technology, a fixed-base driving simulator was used. 20 participants drove twice in a rich simulated traffic environment while performing

Measurement of the driving behaviour of vehicle owners in a tunnel for the determination of the CO-emission. Messung des Fahrverhaltens eines Verkehrskollektivs in einem Strassentunnel zwecks Bestimmung der CO-Emission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eberan-Eberhorst, R.; Lenz, H.P.; Bruner-Newton, I.

1978-01-01

During the summer of 1977, the speeds of 5742 motor vehicles were registered in the Katschbergtunnel. On the basis of the average speed, the frequency distribution of the speed increases and decreases of the individual vehicles between the loops, the reference distance, the reference time and the average maximum speed difference in the tunnel, a tunnel cycle was elaborated, reproducing the representative driving behaviour of the individual vehicle in the Katschbergtunnel. The tunnel cycle shows a driving behaviour with speeds fluctuating around the average speed of 74 km/h (46 m.p.h.) and corresponds to a steady traffic flow. The CO-emission during constant driving at 74 km/h (46 m.p.h.) and the CO-emission in the tunnel cycle were measured during test drives with eight test vehicles on the dynamometer of the Institute for Internal Combustion Engines and Automotive Engineering (Institut fuer Verbrennungskraftmaschinen und Kraftfahrwesen) of the Technical University Vienna.

Unsafe abortion in Tanzania and the need for involving men in postabortion contraceptive counseling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Vibeke; Lyaruu, Mathias A

2005-01-01

Targeting male partners involved in unsafe abortions for contraceptive counseling could be an important strategy for decreasing the incidence of unwanted pregnancies, yet few postabortion-care programs have attempted to involve these men. To assess the need for and determine the content of postab......Targeting male partners involved in unsafe abortions for contraceptive counseling could be an important strategy for decreasing the incidence of unwanted pregnancies, yet few postabortion-care programs have attempted to involve these men. To assess the need for and determine the content...... counseling, which should be sensitive to the nature of the partners' relationship, the risk of HIV transmission, and the importance of promoting gender...

MANAGEMENT OF UNSAFE FOOD RECALL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justyna Górna

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present the essence of eff ective management to recall unsafe food. The implementation of the development is refl ected in its individual parts. Legal requirements oblige companies to take immediate action when an available product poses a threat to the consumer’s health or life. These actions imply blocking of a suspicious batch or a possible product recall, as well as eff ective communication with supervisory authorities and consumers, if a product has already been available to them. The scope of these regulations is scrupulously listed in private safety standards and food quality, such as BRC, IFS, or in an international norm ISO 22000. The article emphasized the importance of the traceability system to ensure eff ective recall, also analysed the results of the research into the causes and evaluated the eff ectiveness of the food recall.

A framework for safer driving in Mauritius

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V. Bassoo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available According to the National Transport Authority (NTA, there were 493,081 registered vehicles in Mauritius in April 2016, which represents a 1.4% annual increase compared to 2015. Despite the sensitization campaigns and the series of measures setup by the Minister of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport, the number of road accidents continues to rise. The three main elements that contribute to accidents are: road infrastructure, vehicle and driver. The driver has the highest contribution in collisions. If the driver is given the right information (e.g. driving behaviour, accident-prone areas and vehicle status at the right time, he/she can make better driving decisions and react promptly to critical situations. This paper proposes a framework for safer driving in Mauritius that uses an on-board car diagnostic module (OBDII to collect data such as vehicle average speed, engine revolution and acceleration. This module relays the data to a cloud environment where an adaptive algorithm analyses the data and predicts driver behaviour in real-time. Based on driving behaviour, mobile alerts can be sent to the driver in the form of messages, voice commands or beeps. A survey was also carried out to evaluate the acceptance rate of such a framework by people of different age groups in Mauritius.

Effects of MDMA (ecstasy), and multiple drugs use on (simulated) driving performance and traffic safety

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brookhuis, KA; de Waard, D; Samyn, N

Rationale. The effects of MDMA on driving behaviour are not clear, since the direct effects of MDMA on cognitive performance are reported as not generally negative. Objectives. To assess in an advanced driving simulator acute effects on simulated driving behaviour and heart rate of MDMA, and effects

Use of the mobile phone while driving.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2008-01-01

Using a mobile phone while driving has negative effects on driving behaviour. This is the case for conducting a conversation, dialling a number, and sending text messages as well as for using the extra functions that smartphones offer, like accessing internet or social networking sites. An elaborate

Reciprocal relationships between behaviour and parasites suggest that negative feedback may drive flexibility in male reproductive behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Ezenwa, Vanessa O; Snider, Matthew H

2016-05-25

Parasites are ubiquitous components of the environment that contribute to behavioural and life-history variation among hosts. Although it is well known that host behaviour can affect parasite infection risk and that parasites can alter host behaviour, the potential for dynamic feedback between these processes is poorly characterized. Using Grant's gazelle (Nanger granti) as a model, we tested for reciprocal effects of behaviour on parasites and parasites on behaviour to understand whether behaviour-parasite feedback could play a role in maintaining variation in male reproductive behaviour. Adult male gazelles either defend territories to attract mates or reside in bachelor groups. Territoriality is highly variable both within- and between-individuals, suggesting that territory maintenance is costly. Using a combination of longitudinal and experimental studies, we found that individual males transition frequently between territorial and bachelor reproductive status, and that elevated parasite burdens are a cost of territoriality. Moreover, among territorial males, parasites suppress aspects of behaviour related to territory maintenance and defence. These results suggest that territorial behaviour promotes the accumulation of parasites in males, and these parasites dampen the very behaviours required for territory maintenance. Our findings suggest that reciprocal feedback between host behaviour and parasitism could be a mechanism maintaining variation in male reproductive behaviour in the system. © 2016 The Author(s).

A thermodynamic approach to compare the performance of rhombic-drive and crank-drive mechanisms for a beta-type Stirling engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aksoy, F.; Solmaz, H.; Karabulut, H.; Cinar, C.; Ozgoren, Y.O.; Polat, Seyfi

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Rhombic drive and crank drive mechanisms of a beta type engine were compared. • Nodal analysis method was used to compare engines having different drive mechanism. • Maximum specific power was 1410 W/L for rhombic-drive engine. • Heat transfer coefficient was determined as 475 W/m"2K for rhombic-drive engine. • Rhombic drive provided higher efficiency because of its better kinematic behaviours. - Abstract: In this study, the effect of rhombic drive and crank drive mechanisms on the performance of a beta-type Stirling engine was investigated by nodal analysis. Kinematic and thermodynamic relations for both drive mechanisms were introduced and a Fortran code was written for the solution. Piston strokes, cylinder and displacer diameters, hot and cold end temperatures, regenerator volumes and heat transfer surface areas were taken equal for both engines with two different drive mechanisms. In the analysis, air was used as the working gas. Engine power and efficiency were compared for different charge pressure values, working gas mass values, heat transfer coefficients and hot end temperatures. Maximum specific engine power was 1410 W/L for the engine with rhombic drive mechanism and 1200 W/L for the engine with crank drive mechanism at 4 bars of charge pressure and 500 W/m"2K heat transfer coefficient. Rhombic drive mechanism was relatively advantageous at low working gas mass values and high hot end temperatures. In comparison with the engine having rhombic drive mechanism, the relatively poor kinematic behaviour of the engine having crank drive mechanism caused lower engine efficiency and performance. Heat transfer coefficient was also predicted by using an experimental pressure trace.

Assessment of Driving Safety in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

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Anstey, Kaarin J; Eramudugolla, Ranmalee; Chopra, Sidhant; Price, Jasmine; Wood, Joanne M

2017-01-01

With population aging, drivers with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are increasing; however, there is little evidence available regarding their safety. We aimed to evaluate risk of unsafe on-road driving performance among older adults with MCI. The study was a cross-sectional observational study, set in Canberra, Australia. Participants were non-demented, current drivers (n = 302) aged 65 to 96 years (M = 75.7, SD = 6.18, 40% female) recruited through the community and primary and tertiary care clinics. Measures included a standardized on-road driving test (ORT), a battery of screening measures designed to evaluate older driver safety (UFOV®, DriveSafe, Multi-D), a neurocognitive test battery, and questionnaires on driving history and behavior. Using Winblad criteria, 57 participants were classified as having MCI and 245 as cognitively normal (CN). While the MCI group had a significantly lower overall safety rating on the ORT (5.61 versus 6.05, p = 0.03), there was a wide range of driving safety scores in the CN and MCI groups. The MCI group performed worse than the CN group on the off-road screening tests. The best fitting model of predictors of ORT performance across the combined sample included age, the Multi-D, and DriveSafe, classifying 90.4% of the sample correctly. Adults with MCI exhibit a similar range of driving ability to CN adults, although on average they scored lower on off-road and on-road assessments. Driving specific tests were more strongly associated with safety ratings than traditional neuropsychological tests.

Naturalistic Validation of an On-Road Driving Test of Older Drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Ott, Brian R.; Papandonatos, George D.; Davis, Jennifer D.; Barco, Peggy P.

2013-01-01

Objective The objective was to compare a standardized road test to naturalistic driving by older people who may have cognitive impairment to define improvements that could potentially enhance the validity of road testing in this population. Background Road testing has been widely adapted as a tool to assess driving competence of older people who may be at risk for unsafe driving because of dementia; however, the validity of this approach has not been rigorously evaluated. Method For 2 weeks, 80 older drivers (38 healthy elders and 42 with cognitive impairment) who passed a standardized road test were video recorded in their own vehicles. Using a standardized rating scale, 4 hr of video was rated by a driving instructor. The authors examine weighting of individual road test items to form global impressions and to compare road test and naturalistic driving using factor analyses of these two assessments. Results The road test score was unidimensional, reflecting a major factor related to awareness of signage and traffic behavior. Naturalistic driving reflected two factors related to lane keeping as well as traffic behavior. Conclusion Maintenance of proper lane is an important dimension of driving safety that appears to be relatively underemphasized during the highly supervised procedures of the standardized road test. Application Road testing in this population could be improved by standardized designs that emphasize lane keeping and that include self-directed driving. Additional information should be sought from observers in the community as well as crash evidence when advising older drivers who may be cognitively impaired. PMID:22908688

Driving Competence in Mild Dementia with Lewy Bodies: In Search of Cognitive Predictors Using Driving Simulation

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Stephanie Yamin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Driving is a multifactorial behaviour drawing on multiple cognitive, sensory, and physical systems. Dementia is a progressive and degenerative neurological condition that impacts the cognitive processes necessary for safe driving. While a number of studies have examined driving among individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, less is known about the impact of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB on driving safety. The present study compared simulated driving performance of 15 older drivers with mild DLB with that of 21 neurologically healthy control drivers. DLB drivers showed poorer performance on all indicators of simulated driving including an increased number of collisions in the simulator and poorer composite indicators of overall driving performance. A measure of global cognitive function (i.e., the Mini Mental State Exam was found to be related to the overall driving performance. In addition, measures of attention (i.e., Useful Field of View, UFOV and space processing (Visual Object and Space Perception, VOSP, Test correlated significantly with a rater’s assessment of driving performance.

12 CFR 16.32 - Fraudulent transactions and unsafe and unsound practices.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... operates as a fraud or deceit upon any person, in connection with the purchase or sale of any security of a... SECURITIES OFFERING DISCLOSURE RULES § 16.32 Fraudulent transactions and unsafe and unsound practices. (a) No person in the offer or sale of bank securities shall directly or indirectly: (1) Employ any device...

Effect of the teen driving plan on the driving performance of teenagers before licensure: a randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirman, Jessica H; Curry, Allison E; Winston, Flaura K; Wang, Wenli; Elliott, Michael R; Schultheis, Maria T; Fisher Thiel, Megan C; Durbin, Dennis R

2014-08-01

Many studies have failed to show an effect of parent-supervised practice driving on the driving performance of teenagers; nevertheless, most Graduated Driver Licensing programs have provisions that require supervised practice. To determine whether a web-based intervention, the Teen Driving Plan (TDP), can improve the driving performance of teenagers before licensure as measured by the Teen On-road Driving Assessment (tODA). Randomized, single-blind, clinical trial among 217 dyads (1 parent: 1 teenaged learner's-permit holder) to test TDP effectiveness on increasing the quantity and diversity of supervised practice and improving the teenagers' prelicensed driving performance. The study was conducted from December 2011 through January 2013 in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Dyads were randomized (3:2) to receive the TDP or the Pennsylvania driver's manual (control group). The TDP is a psychoeducational intervention designed to increase the quantity and diversity of parent-supervised practice. Materials are grouped by the following driving environments: empty parking lots, suburban residential streets, intermediate (1- or 2-lane) roads, highways, rural roads with curves and elevation changes, and commercial districts. The main outcomes were self-reported practice driving across 6 environments and 2 conditions and driving performance as measured by the teenagers' completion of the standardized and validated tODA 24 weeks after enrollment. Certified professional driving evaluators blinded to randomization status terminated the tODA if they determined that the teenager could not safely complete it. We examined mean differences in the quantity of supervised practice, differences in the overall proportion of teenagers in each group that had assessments terminated for unsafe driving, and the point of termination during the assessment. The TDP dyads reported more practice in 5 of the 6 environments and at night and in bad weather compared with the control dyads. Overall, 5 of 86

Psychological factors associated with indices of risky, reckless and cautious driving in a national sample of drivers in the Republic of Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarma, Kiran M; Carey, Rachel N; Kervick, Aoife A; Bimpeh, Yaw

2013-01-01

This paper presents the results of a national survey of drivers in the Republic of Ireland that sought to examine psychological predictors of specific driving behaviours. 1638 respondents attending National Car Testing (NCT) centres nationwide completed a questionnaire battery that included personality, attitudinal, locus of control and social influence measures. The driving behaviours examined were drawn from a Driving Behaviour Scale (Iversen, 2004) and included Speeding and Rule Violation, Reckless Driving, Wearing of Seat Belts, Cautious Driving and Drink Driving. Cross-group comparisons suggested that males engaged in more risky and less cautious driving behaviours than females, and participants under the age of 25 were more risky and less cautious than those 25 years or older. Statistically significant models of each driving outcome emerged. The best model fit was for speeding and rule violation, which was predicted by a model including positive attitudes towards speeding, greater normative influences of friends and higher perceived behavioural control, extraversion and driving anger. These findings offer important insights into the correlates of different driving behaviours and can help inform the work of road safety practitioners. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A qualitative exploration of the relationship between racism and unsafe sex among Asian Pacific Islander gay men.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Chong-suk

2008-10-01

Although reported cases of HIV/AIDS among gay Asian Pacific Islander (API) American men and API men who have sex with men (MSM) are still relatively low, current research findings indicate that incidences of unsafe sexual activity may be higher for this group than for any other group. Among the explanations offered to explain the levels of increasing unsafe sex among gay API men have been sexual norms found in Asian cultures, the lack of culturally relevant and/or linguistically appropriate intervention material, lack of integration into the mainstream gay community, and internalized homophobia. What are often ignored in these analyses are the contextual norms in which sexual behavior for gay API men occur. In this article, I develop the argument that racism within the gay community leads to socially and contextually prescribed sexual roles for gay API men that may also contribute to the practice of unsafe sex among this group.

USE OF UNSAFE COOKING FUELS AND BOILING PRACTICE AMONG INDONESIAN HOUSEHOLDS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE 2012 DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sri Irianti

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Improved drinking-water sources need not be microbiologically safe. Hence, households usually boil their water prior to drinking. However, this practice can potentially harm health when households rely on unsafe cooking fuels. In Indonesia, little is known about the association of use of unsafe fuels with boiling practice. Hence, an analysis was carried out to elicit information regarding boiling practice using unsafe fuels. Such information would be useful in determining appropriate household water treatments. Data from the 2012 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS were analysed to examine the relationship between the use of unsafe cooking fuel and choosing boiling as household water treatment. Bivariate and multivariate probit regression models (PRM were fitted and compared using average marginal effects (AME and its respective 95 per cent confidence interval (95% CI as measures of association. The results suggest that using kerosene as cooking fuel is positively significantly associated with higher probability of practicing boiling (p = 0.006; AME: 0.019; 95% CI: 0.0056, 0.0333. This is also true for use of solid fuel (p< 0.001; AME: 0.3115; 95% CI: 0.3026, 0.3203. These association holds, albeit attenuated (Kerosene, p< 0.001; AME: 0.02706; 95% CI: 0.0186, 0.0355; Solid fuel, p< 0.001; AME: 0.0373; 95% CI: 0.02839, 0.0463, after the control variables are included. The authors suggest that stakeholders should promote the use of other household water treatment technologies to reduce the boiling practice using unsafe cooking fuels as to minimize the risk of smoke related infections. Moreover, universal access and equity to safe drinking water and sanitation facility in Indonesia should be realised to reduce demand of boiling water using unsafe cooking fuels.

Traffic accidents involving fatigue driving and their extent of casualties.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guangnan; Yau, Kelvin K W; Zhang, Xun; Li, Yanyan

2016-02-01

The rapid progress of motorization has increased the number of traffic-related casualties. Although fatigue driving is a major cause of traffic accidents, the public remains not rather aware of its potential harmfulness. Fatigue driving has been termed as a "silent killer." Thus, a thorough study of traffic accidents and the risk factors associated with fatigue-related casualties is of utmost importance. In this study, we analyze traffic accident data for the period 2006-2010 in Guangdong Province, China. The study data were extracted from the traffic accident database of China's Public Security Department. A logistic regression model is used to assess the effect of driver characteristics, type of vehicles, road conditions, and environmental factors on fatigue-related traffic accident occurrence and severity. On the one hand, male drivers, trucks, driving during midnight to dawn, and morning rush hours are identified as risk factors of fatigue-related crashes but do not necessarily result in severe casualties. Driving at night without street-lights contributes to fatigue-related crashes and severe casualties. On the other hand, while factors such as less experienced drivers, unsafe vehicle status, slippery roads, driving at night with street-lights, and weekends do not have significant effect on fatigue-related crashes, yet accidents associated with these factors are likely to have severe casualties. The empirical results of the present study have important policy implications on the reduction of fatigue-related crashes as well as their severity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

29 CFR 1960.28 - Employee reports of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... make a report of the unsafe or unhealthful working condition to an appropriate agency safety and health... conditions, and within 20 working days for other than serious safety and health conditions. However, an... conditions. 1960.28 Section 1960.28 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND...

Prevalence and trends of drugged driving in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Robyn D; Mainegra Hing, Marisela; Pashley, Charlotte R; Brown, Steve W; Vanlaar, Ward G M

2017-02-01

This study evaluates prevalence and trends in drugged driving in Canada based on multiple indicators collected from the Road Safety Monitor (RSM) and Canada's National Fatality Database maintained by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF). The objective of this paper is to identify the state of drug-positive driving in Canada, as well as to make comparisons with data from previous years to determine whether changes have occurred. Available data from the RSM on self-reported drugged driving behaviours were collected and analyzed using multivariate techniques in various years spanning from 2002 to 2015. Data from TIRF's National Fatality Database from 2000 to 2012 were also analyzed to evaluate trends and prevalence of drugs in fatally injured drivers across Canada. Additionally, differences among drugged drivers with respect to gender and age were studied. Analyses of the RSM data and of the National Fatality Database showed that, as a whole, the prevalence of drugged driving has remained relatively stable over the past decade, with some changes noticed in specific years for some drug types. Specifically from the RSM, there was a 62.5% increase from the 1.6% of drivers reporting driving within two hours of using marijuana in 2013 to 2.6% in 2015. The analyses of the fatality data revealed a 16.9% increase in the percentage of fatally injured drivers testing positive for drugs between 2000 and 2012 (from 33.56% to 39.24%). Cocaine-positive fatally injured drivers increased from 3.6% in 2000 to 6.2% in 2012. Similarly, marijuana-positive fatally injured drivers increased from 12.8% in 2000 to 19.7% in 2012. Results showed varying characteristics with respect to gender and age among self-reported and fatally injured drugged drivers. Drugged driving behaviours remain prevalent among Canadian drivers and drugs continue to be found in over one-third of tested fatally injured drivers. Although self-reported behaviours have neither decreased nor increased overall in

CORELATION BETWEEN PORNOGRAPHIC MEDIA AND INFLUENCE OF PEERS WITH UNSAFE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENT OF SOUTH SUMATERA

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Murdiningsih Murdiningsih

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background: The problems associated with unsafe sexual behavior in adolescents are caused by premarital sexual intercourse with a partner of their own age. One of the problems caused by premarital sex is a pregnancy outside of marriage. Increased incidence of premarital sex is caused by the development through media depictions of sex scenes in the form of television, magazines, video clips, online media, and films. In Musi Banyuasin there are 7754 high school students, many students have dropped out of school because they get pregnant before marriage so that in adolescence their parents are forced to marry or have abortions. The aim study is determined the factors associated with unsafe sexual behavior in adolescents in high school. Method: Observational research with cross sectional and quantitative approach. The population is high school students. Sampling technique was using multistage random sampling obtained 393 samples. Bivariate analysis, chi-square Result: the result showed a correlation between the influence of peers with adolescent sexual behavior has p-value (0,000. There was no relationship between media pornography with sexual behavior because the result more than p-value (0,05. Conclusion: Necessary to be given knowledge and assistance to adolescents about positively and creatively thing and supervision of parents to their children in order to have a friends and avoid unsafe sexual behavior.   Key words: The Influence of Peers, Pornographic Media, Unsafe Sexual, Adolescent

How accurately do drivers evaluate their own driving behavior? An on-road observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Amado, Sonia; Arıkan, Elvan; Kaça, Gülin; Koyuncu, Mehmet; Turkan, B Nilay

2014-02-01

Self-assessment of driving skills became a noteworthy research subject in traffic psychology, since by knowing one's strenghts and weaknesses, drivers can take an efficient compensatory action to moderate risk and to ensure safety in hazardous environments. The current study aims to investigate drivers' self-conception of their own driving skills and behavior in relation to expert evaluations of their actual driving, by using naturalistic and systematic observation method during actual on-road driving session and to assess the different aspects of driving via comprehensive scales sensitive to different specific aspects of driving. 19-63 years old male participants (N=158) attended an on-road driving session lasting approximately 80min (45km). During the driving session, drivers' errors and violations were recorded by an expert observer. At the end of the driving session, observers completed the driver evaluation questionnaire, while drivers completed the driving self-evaluation questionnaire and Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ). Low to moderate correlations between driver and observer evaluations of driving skills and behavior, mainly on errors and violations of speed and traffic lights was found. Furthermore, the robust finding that drivers evaluate their driving performance as better than the expert was replicated. Over-positive appraisal was higher among drivers with higher error/violation score and with the ones that were evaluated by the expert as "unsafe". We suggest that the traffic environment might be regulated by increasing feedback indicators of errors and violations, which in turn might increase the insight into driving performance. Improving self-awareness by training and feedback sessions might play a key role for reducing the probability of risk in their driving activity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The correlates and course of multiple health risk behaviour in adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hale, Daniel R; Viner, Russell M

2016-05-31

Health risk behaviours often co-occur in adolescence. This may be partially explained by a set of common risk and protective factors. The current study examines the association between risk behaviours throughout adolescence and identifies common risk factors for multiple risk behaviour in late adolescence. We use data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. We examined the association between risk behaviours at age 14 (n = 15,588), age 16 (n = 12,416) and age 19 (n = 9,548). The associations between age 19 risk behaviour and earlier risk behaviours and risk and protective factors were assessed longitudinally. Health risk behaviours included smoking, alcohol use, illicit drug use, delinquency and unsafe sexual behaviour. All risk behaviours were found to be associated with other risk behaviours with associations weakening through adolescence. A number of sociodemographic, interpersonal, school and family factors at age 14 predicted risk behaviour and multiple risk behaviour at 19, though predictors for heavy alcohol use often differed from other health risk behaviours. Past risk behaviour was a strong predictor of age 19 risk behaviour though many involved in only one form of risk behaviour in mid-adolescence do not progress to multiple risk behaviour. Our findings reaffirm the links between health risk behaviours, but these diminish throughout adolescence with multiple risk behaviour usually initiated in mid-adolescence. Multiple risk behaviour is initiated in early or mid adolescence with a number of common risk factors explaining the co-occurrence of risk behaviours.

Semiclassical instability of warp drives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barcelo, C [Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, IAA-CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomia s/n, 18008 Granada (Spain); Finazzi, S; Liberati, S, E-mail: carlos@iaa.e, E-mail: finazzi@sissa.i, E-mail: liberati@sissa.i

2010-05-01

Warp drives, at least theoretically, provide a way to travel at superluminal speeds. However, even if one succeeded in providing the necessary exotic matter to construct them, it would still be necessary to check whether they would survive to the switching on of quantum effects. In this contribution we will report on the behaviour of the Renormalized Stress-Energy Tensor (RSET) in the spacetimes associated with superluminal warp drives. We find that the RSET will exponentially grow in time close to the front wall of the superluminal bubble, hence strongly supporting the conclusion that the warp-drive geometries are unstable against semiclassical back-reaction.

Effects of an educational patient safety campaign on patients' safety behaviours and adverse events.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwappach, David L B; Frank, Olga; Buschmann, Ute; Babst, Reto

2013-04-01

Rationale, aims and objectives  The study aims to investigate the effects of a patient safety advisory on patients' risk perceptions, perceived behavioural control, performance of safety behaviours and experience of adverse incidents. Method  Quasi-experimental intervention study with non-equivalent group comparison was used. Patients admitted to the surgical department of a Swiss large non-university hospital were included. Patients in the intervention group received a safety advisory at their first clinical encounter. Outcomes were assessed using a questionnaire at discharge. Odds ratios for control versus intervention group were calculated. Regression analysis was used to model the effects of the intervention and safety behaviours on the experience of safety incidents. Results  Two hundred eighteen patients in the control and 202 in the intervention group completed the survey (75 and 77% response rates, respectively). Patients in the intervention group were less likely to feel poorly informed about medical errors (OR = 0.55, P = 0.043). There were 73.1% in the intervention and 84.3% in the control group who underestimated the risk for infection (OR = 0.51, CI 0.31-0.84, P = 0.009). Perceived behavioural control was lower in the control group (meanCon  = 3.2, meanInt  = 3.5, P = 0.010). Performance of safety-related behaviours was unaffected by the intervention. Patients in the intervention group were less likely to experience any safety-related incident or unsafe situation (OR for intervention group = 0.57, CI 0.38-0.87, P = 0.009). There were no differences in concerns for errors during hospitalization. There were 96% of patients (intervention) who would recommend other patients to read the advisory. Conclusions  The results suggest that the safety advisory decreases experiences of adverse events and unsafe situations. It renders awareness and perceived behavioural control without increasing concerns for safety and

Paradoxical risk perception and behaviours related to Avian Flu outbreak and education campaign, Laos.

Science.gov (United States)

Barennes, Hubert; Harimanana, Aina N; Lorvongseng, Somchay; Ongkhammy, Somvay; Chu, Cindy

2010-10-12

In Laos, small backyard poultry systems predominate (90%). The first lethal human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) occurred in 2007. Few studies have addressed the impact of outbreaks and education campaigns on a smallholder producer system. We evaluated awareness and behaviours related to educational campaigns and the 2007 HPAI outbreaks. During a national 2-stage cross-sectional randomised survey we interviewed 1098 households using a pre-tested questionnaire in five provinces representative of the Southern to Northern strata of Laos. We used multivariate analysis (Stata, version 8; Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA) to analyse factors affecting recollection of HPAI educational messages, awareness of HPAI, and behaviour change. Of the 1098 participants, 303 (27.6%) received training on HPAI. The level of awareness was similar to that in 2006. The urban population considered risk to be decreased, yet unsafe behaviours persisted or increased. This contrasted with an increase in awareness and safe behaviour practices in rural areas. Reported behaviour changes in rural areas included higher rates of cessation of poultry consumption and dead poultry burial when compared to 2006. No participants reported poultry deaths to the authorities. Overall, 70% could recall an educational message but the content and accuracy differed widely depending on training exposure. Washing hands and other hygiene advice, messages given during the HPAI educational campaign, were not recalled. Trained persons were able to recall only one message while untrained participants recalled a broader range of messages. Factors associated with an awareness of a threat of AI in Laos were: having received HPAI training, literacy level, access to TV, recent information, living in rural areas. We report a paradoxical relationship between unsafe behaviours and risk perception in urban areas, as well as exposure to HPAI training and message misinterpretation. Future educational

The Agony of Unsafe Abortion in A Teenager: A Case Report | Akani ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This report represents a rare case of omental prolapse through posterior vaginal fornix laceration following an induced unsafe abortion. Miss T.R, a 14 year old orphan and junior secondary school 3 student had three different attempts at termination of 15 weeks pregnancy by a medical doctor in a private clinic. Physical ...

Predicting intentions not to "drink and drive" using an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Moan, Inger Synnøve; Rise, Jostein

2011-07-01

The aim of this study was to determine to what extent the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) extended with moral norm and descriptive norm is able to predict intentions not to drink and drive. We also wanted to examine whether different processes guide intentions among young drivers (35 years and below) versus drivers aged above 35 years, and women's versus men's intentions. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of 4000 people in Norway aged between 18 and 70 years, and were completed by 1025 respondents. Analyses were conducted among those who had a driver's licence and who reported drinking at least 1-2 times per year, resulting in a sample of 879 individuals (46.6% were men, 30.3% were 35 years and younger, M=43.9 years). The results showed that the TPB variables explained 10% of the variance in intentions in the sample as a whole, and that the extension variables added 2% to the explained variance after controlling for the impact of the TPB components. Perceived behavioural control was the strongest predictor of intentions (β=0.24, pdrive will be outlined. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Study of the Unsafe Actions of Staff in the Maintenance and Overhaul Unit at a Petrochemical Complex and the Presentation of Control Strategies

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Mousavipour

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background Today, oil, gas, and petrochemical industries are of strategic significance in the macro-development of oil-rich countries. These industries, given the nature of the work and the technical complexity of the various processes, are hazardous and susceptible to occupational accidents. More than 90% of the accidents are related to the faults and unsafe actions of personnel, either directly or indirectly. Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the unsafe actions of staff working in the maintenance unit of a petrochemical complex. Materials and Methods This is a descriptive and analytical study conducted on 167 morning-shift workers at the Mahshahr petrochemical complex. The data were collected based on a checklist of unsafe actions prepared through a direct observation of their activities and an analysis of work instructions, documents, and incident reports. SPSS statistical software was also used for data analysis and relevant testing. Results According to the results of this study, the mean number of unsafe actions performed by the employees was 42%. The highest number of unsafe actions achieved in the maintenance mechanical unit was 52.8%, 47.1% in repair services, and 43.8% in machinery. The highest frequency of unsafe actions were caused by indiscretion and negligence, a failure to use a face shield and goggles, and non-compliance with safety principles. Conclusions According to the findings, there has been a rise in the number of unsafe actions in machinery and maintenance service units compared to other maintenance units. As such, training courses based on the behavior-based safety principles at the beginning of employment, close monitoring of health safety environment (HSE officials on the implementation of regulations, and provision of appropriate scheduling based on weather conditions and the nature of maintenance services are recommended. In addition, a refrainment from hastiness in performing duties, enhanced

Self-assessed driving behaviors associated with age among middle-aged and older adults in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Arai, Asuna; Arai, Yumiko

2015-01-01

With the increasing number of older drivers, road traffic safety is an urgent public health issue. It is not easy for older drivers or their relatives to detect early signs of dangerous driving behaviors. We examine the types of driving behavior that increase in frequency with age. We surveyed people aged 40 and over among the general public in Japan using a self-administered questionnaire on sociodemographic factors, driving status, frequency of driving, 12-items on physical symptoms possibly related to driving performance, and 28-items on driving behaviors. Multiple logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) of occurrence of each of the 28 driving behaviors for a 5-year increase in age. Significant associations with a 5-year increase in age after adjusting for confounding factors were found for the following directly unsafe driving behaviors: (1) little or no sign of attempts to avoid dangerous situations (OR for a 5-year increase in age=1.38, 95% CI: 1.18-1.63); (2) lack of attention to other people and cars (1.33, 1.12-1.60); (3) improper maneuvering around curves (1.33, 1.09-1.65); and (4) improper or no turn signals (1.33, 1.06-1.69). Information about these driving behaviors should be given to drivers and their stakeholders and used to caution participants when implementing educational programs for older drivers. Self-assessment of driving ability in older drivers provides useful information to raise awareness of their driving performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Continuing to drive while sleepy: the influence of sleepiness countermeasures, motivation for driving sleepy, and risk perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Watling, Christopher N; Armstrong, Kerry A; Obst, Patricia L; Smith, Simon S

2014-12-01

Driver sleepiness is a major contributor to road crashes. The current study sought to examine the association between perceptions of effectiveness of six sleepiness countermeasures and their relationship with self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy among 309 drivers after controlling for the influence of age, sex, motivation for driving sleepy, and risk perception of sleepy driving. The results demonstrate that the variables of age, sex, motivation, and risk perception were significantly associated with self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy and only one countermeasure was associated with self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy. Further, it was found that age differences in self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy was mediated by participants' motivation and risk perception. These findings highlight modifiable factors that could be focused on with interventions that seek to modify drivers' attitudes and behaviours of driving while sleepy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Part-time farmers and accidents with agricultural machinery: a moderated mediated model on the role played by frequency of use and unsafe beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Caffaro, Federica; Roccato, Michele; Micheletti Cremasco, Margherita; Cavallo, Eugenio

2018-01-25

We aimed at testing a model of the direct and indirect effects of being a part-time farmer on the probability of being involved in an agricultural machinery-related accident, considering the role played by unsafe beliefs and the frequency of use of machinery. Two-hundred and fifty-two Italian men, regular users of agricultural machinery (age: Mean = 45.1 years, standard Deviation = 17.5), were administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire addressing their relation with work, unsafe beliefs, and previous experience of machinery-related accidents. Being a part-time farmer showed a positive association with unsafe beliefs only among occasional machinery users. Unsafe beliefs in turn showed a positive association with accidents. The study gave a novel contribution to the knowledge of the chain of events connecting part-time farmers with machinery-related accidents. Preventive training interventions targeting part-timer farmers using agricultural machinery just occasionally should be developed.

Videosensor for the detection of unsafe driving behavior in the proximity of black spots.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuentes, Andres; Fuentes, Ricardo; Cabello, Enrique; Conde, Cristina; Martin, Isaac

2014-10-24

This paper discusses the overall design and implementation of a video sensor for the detection of risky behaviors of car drivers near previously identified and georeferenced black spots. The main goal is to provide the driver with a visual audio alert that informs of the proximity of an area of high incidence of highway accidents only if their driving behavior could result in a risky situation. It proposes a video sensor for detecting and supervising driver behavior, its main objective being manual distractions, so hand driver supervision is performed. A GPS signal is also considered, the GPS information is compared with a database of global positioning Black Spots to determine the relative proximity of a risky area. The outputs of the video sensor and GPS sensor are combined to evaluate a possible risky behavior. The results are promising in terms of risk analysis in order to be validated for use in the context of the automotive industry as future work.

Videosensor for the Detection of Unsafe Driving Behavior in the Proximity of Black Spots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andres Fuentes

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the overall design and implementation of a video sensor for the detection of risky behaviors of car drivers near previously identified and georeferenced black spots. The main goal is to provide the driver with a visual audio alert that informs of the proximity of an area of high incidence of highway accidents only if their driving behavior could result in a risky situation. It proposes a video sensor for detecting and supervising driver behavior, its main objective being manual distractions, so hand driver supervision is performed. A GPS signal is also considered, the GPS information is compared with a database of global positioning Black Spots to determine the relative proximity of a risky area. The outputs of the video sensor and GPS sensor are combined to evaluate a possible risky behavior. The results are promising in terms of risk analysis in order to be validated for use in the context of the automotive industry as future work.

Phenomenology and treatment of behavioural addictions.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, Jon E; Schreiber, Liana R N; Odlaug, Brian L

2013-05-01

Behavioural addictions are characterized by an inability to resist an urge or drive resulting in actions that are harmful to oneself or others. Behavioural addictions share characteristics with substance and alcohol abuse, and in areas such as natural history, phenomenology, and adverse consequences. Behavioural addictions include pathological gambling, kleptomania, pyromania, compulsive buying, compulsive sexual behaviour, Internet addiction, and binge eating disorder. Few studies have examined the efficacy of pharmacological and psychological treatment for the various behavioural addictions, and therefore, currently, no treatment recommendations can be made.

Driving behavioural change towards ecodesign integration: Nudging experiment in industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brones, Fabien; Gyldendal Melberg, Morten; Monteiro de Carvalho, Marly

2014-01-01

This paper describes a research study conducted at Natura, a large Brazilian cosmetic company, in order to stimulate more systematic sustainable innovation practices by means of behavioural change. Within the “soft side” of ecodesign implementation, “nudging” is a novel approach brought from soci...... systemically consider individuals’ engagement, including behavioural aspects, interaction with project teams and higher level business organisations.......This paper describes a research study conducted at Natura, a large Brazilian cosmetic company, in order to stimulate more systematic sustainable innovation practices by means of behavioural change. Within the “soft side” of ecodesign implementation, “nudging” is a novel approach brought from social...... sciences and policy making. An empirical experiment identified and tested employee motivations in combination with behavioural influences, in order to positively affect employees’ intention to practice ecodesign. This original experience of green nudging in a private company context supported the diffusion...

Effects of personality on risky driving behavior and accident involvement for Chinese drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jiaoyan; Du, Feng; Qu, Weina; Gong, Zhun; Sun, Xianghong

2013-01-01

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of injury-related fatalities in China and pose the most serious threat to driving safety. Driver personality is considered as an effective predictor for risky driving behavior and accident liability. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between personality and risky driving behavior, but only a few of them have explored the effects of personality variables on accident involvement. In addition, few studies have examined the effects of personality on Chinese drivers' risky driving and accident involvement. The present study aimed to examine the effects of personality variables on Chinese drivers' unsafe driving behaviors and accident involvement. Two hundred and twenty-four Chinese drivers aged 20 to 50 were required to complete questionnaires assessing their personality traits (anger, sensation-seeking, altruism, and normlessness), risky driving behaviors (aggressive violations, ordinary violations), and accident involvement (all accidents, serious accidents, at-fault accidents). Multivariate regression analyses, adjusting for gender, age, and overall mileage, were conducted to identify the personality traits related to risky driving behaviors and accident involvement. Participants' personality traits were found to be significantly correlated with both risky driving behavior and accident involvement. Specifically, the traits of anger and normlessness were effective predictors for aggressive violations. The traits of anger, sensation-seeking, normlessness, and altruism were effective predictors for ordinary violations. Moreover, altruism and normlessness were significant predictors for the total number of accidents participants had during the past 3 years. Consistent with previous studies, the present study revealed that personality traits play an important role in predicting Chinese drivers' risky driving behaviors. In addition, Chinese drivers' personality characteristics were also associated with accident

Driver's views and behaviors about safety in China--what do they NOT know about driving?

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Roetting, Matthias; Wang, Ying; Wei, Hua

2006-01-01

Driving safety has become an extremely severe problem in China due to rapid motorization. Unless more effective measures are taken, the fatality risk and the total fatalities due to road traffic accidents are expected to continue to increase. Therefore, focus group discussions were conducted to explore driver attitudes and safe driver characteristics. The results were then compared with a similar study conducted with US drivers. Although similarities were found, differences were of more importance. The Chinese drivers concentrate more on driving skills and capabilities, whereas the US drivers concentrate more on practical safe driving guidelines. Then direct field observations were conducted for the Chinese drivers to empirically investigate the issues discovered. The use of safety belts, running lights, headlights, and turn signals were observed to investigate the drivers' behaviors. Results show that the safety belt use ratio is about 64%, running light use is nearly zero during rainy and snowy weather, headlights use after sunset is substantially delayed, and only about 40% of drivers use turn signals to indicate their intention to change lanes. These findings indicate that the authorities need to take appropriate countermeasures to change the views of the Chinese drivers regarding driving safety and their unsafe driving behaviors. Improvement of training content and methods as well as police enforcement would be recommended.

Accident history, risk perception and traffic safe behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngueutsa, Robert; Kouabenan, Dongo Rémi

2017-09-01

This study clarifies the associations between accident history, perception of the riskiness of road travel and traffic safety behaviours by taking into account the number and severity of accidents experienced. A sample of 525 road users in Cameroon answered a questionnaire comprising items on perception of risk, safe behaviour and personal accident history. Participants who reported involvement in more than three accidents or involvement in a severe accident perceived road travel as less risky and also reported behaving less safely compared with those involved in fewer, or less severe accidents. The results have practical implications for the prevention of traffic accidents. Practitioner Summary: The associations between accident history, perceived risk of road travel and safe behaviour were investigated using self-report questionnaire data. Participants involved in more than three accidents, or in severe accidents, perceived road travel as less risky and also reported more unsafe behaviour compared with those involved in fewer, or less severe accidents. Campaigns targeting people with a less serious, less extensive accident history should aim to increase awareness of hazards and the potential severity of their consequences, as well as emphasising how easy it is to take the recommended preventive actions. Campaigns targeting those involved in more frequent accidents, and survivors of serious accidents, should address feelings of invulnerability and helplessness.

Performance in normal subjects on a novel battery of driving-related sensory-motor and cognitive tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Innes, Carrie R H; Jones, Richard D; Anderson, Tim J; Hollobon, Susan G; Dalrymple-Alford, John C

2009-05-01

Currently, there is no international standard for the assessment of fitness to drive for cognitively or physically impaired persons. A computerized battery of driving-related sensory-motor and cognitive tests (SMCTests) has been developed, comprising tests of visuoperception, visuomotor ability, complex attention, visual search, decision making, impulse control, planning, and divided attention. Construct validity analysis was conducted in 60 normal, healthy subjects and showed that, overall, the novel cognitive tests assessed cognitive functions similar to a set of standard neuropsychological tests. The novel tests were found to have greater perceived face validity for predicting on-road driving ability than was found in the equivalent standard tests. Test-retest stability and reliability of SMCTests measures, as well as correlations between SMCTests and on-road driving, were determined in a subset of 12 subjects. The majority of test measures were stable and reliable across two sessions, and significant correlations were found between on-road driving scores and measures from ballistic movement, footbrake reaction, hand-control reaction, and complex attention. The substantial face validity, construct validity, stability, and reliability of SMCTests, together with the battery's level of correlation with on-road driving in normal subjects, strengthen our confidence in the ability of SMCTests to detect and identify sensory-motor and cognitive deficits related to unsafe driving and increased risk of accidents.

Impact of mobile phone use on car-following behaviour of young drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Saifuzzaman, Mohammad; Haque, Md Mazharul; Zheng, Zuduo; Washington, Simon

2015-09-01

Multitasking, such as the concurrent use of a mobile phone and operating a motor vehicle, is a significant distraction that impairs driving performance and is becoming a leading cause of motor vehicle crashes. This study investigates the impact of mobile phone conversations on car-following behaviour. The CARRS-Q Advanced Driving Simulator was used to test a group of young Australian drivers aged 18-26 years on a car-following task in three randomised phone conditions: baseline (no phone conversation), hands-free and handheld. Repeated measure ANOVA was applied to examine the effect of mobile phone distraction on selected car-following variables such as driving speed, spacing, and time headway. Overall, drivers tended to select slower driving speeds, larger vehicle spacings, and longer time headways when they were engaged in either hands-free or handheld phone conversations, suggesting possible risk compensatory behaviour. In addition, phone conversations while driving influenced car-following behaviour such that variability was increased in driving speeds, vehicle spacings, and acceleration and decelerations. To further investigate car-following behaviour of distracted drivers, driver time headways were modelled using Generalized Estimation Equation (GEE). After controlling for various exogenous factors, the model predicts an increase of 0.33s in time headway when a driver is engaged in hands-free phone conversation and a 0.75s increase for handheld phone conversation. The findings will improve the collective understanding of distraction on driving performance, in particular car following behaviour which is most critical in the determination of rear-end crashes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of Conflict Management Strategies on the Generation Mechanism of Miners' Unsafe Behavior Tendency

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ji-Zu; Zhang, Ya-Ping; Liu, Xiao-Guang; Liu, Yao-Long; Wang, Tian-Ri

2017-01-01

In this paper, we examine the relationship between the generation mechanism of miners' unsafe behavior tendency and conflict management strategies, including cooperative conflict management strategy, competitive conflict management strategy and avoidant conflict management strategy. Miners from 3 collieries in Shanxi province completed a…

Acceptance of contraceptives among women who had an unsafe abortion in Dar es Salaam

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Vibeke; Massawe, Siriel; Yambesi, Fortunata

2004-01-01

. Of these, 86% stated they were still using contraception 1-6 months after discharge. Initially, 55% of the women accepted to use condoms either alone or as part of double protection. After 1-6 months this proportion had dropped to 18%. Single women were significantly more likely to use condoms. CONCLUSION......OBJECTIVE: To assess the need for post-abortion contraception and to determine if women who had an unsafe abortion will use a contraceptive method to avoid repeated unwanted pregnancies and STDs/HIV. METHOD: Women attending Temeke Municipal Hospital, Dar es Salaam, after an unsafe abortion...... or an induced abortion performed at the hospital (n=788) were counselled about contraception and the risk of contracting STDs/HIV. A free ward-based contraceptive service was offered and the women were asked to return for follow-up. RESULTS: Participants (90%) accepted the post-abortion contraceptive service...

Injecting behaviour and service use among young injectors in Albania, Moldova, Romania and Serbia.

Science.gov (United States)

Busza, Joanna; Douthwaite, Megan; Bani, Roland; Scutelniciuc, Otilia; Preda, Marian; Simic, Danijela

2013-09-01

This study examines socio-demographic profiles, injecting risk and use of health services among young injectors (15-24) in Albania, Moldova, Romania and Serbia. The objective was to provide age-disaggregated data to identify differences between adolescents (Romania, surveys were conducted in the capitals, respectively, Bucharest and Tirana. Respondents were recruited from 3 cities in Moldova (Chisinau, Balti and Tiraspol) and Serbia (Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis). Data were collected on risk behaviours, service use and contact with police and other authorities. Analysis focused on associations between unsafe injecting behaviour and key determinants including demographic background, source of needles/syringes, use of harm reduction services and interactions with law enforcement. Although drug use and health-seeking varied across settings, sources of injecting equipment were significantly associated with sharing needles and syringes in Moldova, Romania and Serbia. Obtaining equipment from formal sources (pharmacies, needle-exchange programmes) reduced likelihood of sharing significantly, while being stopped by the police or incarcerated increased it. Adolescents relied on pharmacies more than public sector services to obtain equipment. Adolescents comprise a small proportion of PWID in this region, but have poorer access to harm reduction services than older peers. Engaging young PWID through private and public sector outlets might reduce unsafe practices, while use of the justice system to address drug use complicates efforts to reach this population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Target detection and driving behaviour measurements in a driving simulator at mesopic light levels

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alferdinck, J.W.A.M.

2006-01-01

During night-time driving hazardous objects often appear at mesopic light levels, which are typically measured using light meters with a spectral sensitivity that is only valid for photopic light levels. In order to develop suitable mesopic models a target detection experiment was performed in a

Music mood induction and maintenance while driving : A simulator study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijksterhuis, Chris; van der Zwaag, Marjolein; de Waard, Dick; Westerink, Joyce; Brookhuis, Karel; Mulder, Ben L. J. M.

2010-01-01

It is common knowledge that mood can influence our everyday behaviour and people often seek to reinforce, or to alter their mood, for example by turning on music. Music listening while driving is a common activity. However, the actual impact of music listening while driving on physical state and

In vivo charge injection limits increased after 'unsafe' stimulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meijs, Suzan; Sørensen, Søren; Rechendorff, Kristian

2015-01-01

was not observed with any of the stimulation protocols and no tissue damage was observed for the 20 mA – 200 Hz stimulation group. This indicates that the ‘safe potential window’ may not be applicable in vivo, as no damage was done stimulating with 20 mA at 200 Hz, while damage was done using the same current......The effect of unsafe stimulation on charge injection limits (Qinj) and pulsing capacitance (Cpulse) was investigated. Four stimulation protocols were applied: 20 mA – 200 and 400 Hz, 50 mA – 200 and 400 Hz. Increasing Qinj and Cpulse were observed for all stimulation protocols. Corrosion...

Driver support and automated driving systems : Acceptance and effects on behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Waard, D.; Brookhuis, K.A.; Scerbo, MW; Mouloua, M

1999-01-01

Automation in driving ranges from simple in-vehicle information systems to completely automated driving in the Automated Highway System (AHS). An increased level of automation and increased restriction in behavioural freedom, as well as decreased control over tasks, have serious consequences for

Thirty-day self-reported risky driving behaviors of ADHD and non-ADHD drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbloom, Tova; Wultz, Boaz

2011-01-01

The present study aims to compare differences in reported risky driving behaviors of drivers - males and females - having and not having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), by using a checklist of driving behaviors based on the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ). Unlike the studies which employ the DBQ by asking the subjects to fill the questionnaire once, in this present study, the participants were asked to report their behaviors on a daily basis for 30 consequent days. The checklist included two factors of risky driving behavior: Violation and Faults. Thirty-eight drivers - 10 males and 9 females with ADHD, and 9 males and 10 females without ADHD (N-ADHD) as control groups - participated in the study. The results showed that the mean of the unsafe behaviors of ADHD was higher, i.e., less safe driving, compared to that of N-ADHD. However, a statistically significant effect was found only between male ADHD and male N-ADHD for the Faults. In order to check the effect of the length of the study, the 30 days duration of the research was divided into three consecutive periods. The reported driving habits of the female ADHD showed safer behaviors than those of the males. Unlike the findings of N-ADHD of both genders, which showed a tendency towards safer driving reports in the three periods, both genders of the ADHD showed higher rates of Faults, i.e., a decrease in safety driving reports, in the three periods. The findings suggest that ADHD drivers differ from the N-ADHD drivers in making driving mistakes, i.e., Faults, due to their lack of sustained attention, but not in making Violations. However, some of the results in the present study were not very strong. Possible explanations for this as well as methodological considerations are discussed, and further research is suggested. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What you may not see might slow you down anyway: masked images and driving.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben Lewis-Evans

Full Text Available Many theories of driver behaviour suggest that unconscious or implicit emotions play a functional role in the shaping and control of behaviour. This has not been experimentally tested however. Therefore, in this study the effects of emotive masked images on driver behaviour were examined. While driving a simulator, participants were repeatedly exposed to negative or neutral emotionally laden target images that were sandwich masked by emotionally neutral images. These images were encountered across two different trials each of which consisted of 3-4 minutes of driving on a rural road. The results indicate an effect of the negative target images primarily in reducing the extent of familiarisation occurring between the first and second experimental drives. This is evident in a reduced decrease in heart rate and a reduced increase in high band heart rate variability and actual travelling speed from the first to second drives if the negative target image was presented in the second drive. In addition to these findings there was no clear effect of the target image on subjective ratings of effort or feelings of risk. There was however an effect of gender, with the majority of the effects found in the study being limited to the larger female dataset. These findings suggest that unconscious or implicit emotional stimuli may well influence driver behaviour without explicit awareness.

Paradoxical risk perception and behaviours related to Avian Flu outbreak and education campaign, Laos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorvongseng Somchay

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Laos, small backyard poultry systems predominate (90%. The first lethal human cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI occurred in 2007. Few studies have addressed the impact of outbreaks and education campaigns on a smallholder producer system. We evaluated awareness and behaviours related to educational campaigns and the 2007 HPAI outbreaks. Methods During a national 2-stage cross-sectional randomised survey we interviewed 1098 households using a pre-tested questionnaire in five provinces representative of the Southern to Northern strata of Laos. We used multivariate analysis (Stata, version 8; Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA to analyse factors affecting recollection of HPAI educational messages, awareness of HPAI, and behaviour change. Results Of the 1098 participants, 303 (27.6% received training on HPAI. The level of awareness was similar to that in 2006. The urban population considered risk to be decreased, yet unsafe behaviours persisted or increased. This contrasted with an increase in awareness and safe behaviour practices in rural areas. Reported behaviour changes in rural areas included higher rates of cessation of poultry consumption and dead poultry burial when compared to 2006. No participants reported poultry deaths to the authorities. Overall, 70% could recall an educational message but the content and accuracy differed widely depending on training exposure. Washing hands and other hygiene advice, messages given during the HPAI educational campaign, were not recalled. Trained persons were able to recall only one message while untrained participants recalled a broader range of messages. Factors associated with an awareness of a threat of AI in Laos were: having received HPAI training, literacy level, access to TV, recent information, living in rural areas. Conclusion We report a paradoxical relationship between unsafe behaviours and risk perception in urban areas, as well as exposure to

Prevalence and attitude of university students towards mobile phone use while driving in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Baig, Mukhtiar; Gazzaz, Zohair Jamil; Atta, Hazem; Alyaseen, Mujtaba Ahmed; Albagshe, Ammar Jameel; Alattallah, Haidar Ghalib

2018-02-08

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and attitude of university students towards mobile phone use while driving. The present study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Five hundred and ninety-three participants were recruited for this study. Attitude, consequences and their involvement in various reckless behaviours pertaining to the use of mobile phone while driving were checked by a questionnaire. Overall, the majority of the respondents (90%) use a mobile phone while driving. About half of the participants had experienced consequences regarding texting while driving and had engaged in reckless behaviour. The majority of the students of Faculty of Medicine, Engineering Sciences, Earth Sciences, Administration and Economics and Orientation Classes were more frequently texting while driving (p mobile phone while driving.

The lifetime of the control rod drives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avet, B.; Cauquelin, C.

1989-01-01

The lifetime of the control rod drives is studied. Their function is to take out or to pull in the control rods. The drive and the experiments carried out, are described. The analysis of the behaviour under operation, the drive inspections and surveyance, are also considered. The results are obtained from: the investigations performed on the fatigue strength of the 900 MW and 1300 MW drives, which allowed to deduce a low of wear and to identify the important aspects to be studied, the measurements of the dynamical stresses of mobile elements and a dynamical calculation model. The study leads to the conclusion that a probabilistic approach is needed for the fatigue damage analysis of some elements. Moreover, a systematic examination is also needed, to verify the agreement betwem the drives calculated aging values and the measured ones [fr

Driving behavioural change towards ecodesign integration: Nudging experiment in industry

OpenAIRE

Brones, Fabien; Gyldendal Melberg, Morten; Monteiro de Carvalho, Marly; Pigosso, Daniela Cristina Antelmi; McAloone, Tim C.

2014-01-01

This paper describes a research study conducted at Natura, a large Brazilian cosmetic company, in order to stimulate more systematic sustainable innovation practices by means of behavioural change. Within the “soft side” of ecodesign implementation, “nudging” is a novel approach brought from social sciences and policy making. An empirical experiment identified and tested employee motivations in combination with behavioural influences, in order to positively affect employees’ intention to prac...

Heavy consumption and drink driving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fynbo, Lars

2010-01-01

This paper is part of an ongoing mixed methods project about untreated heavy alcohol consumption amongst adult Danes. It is based upon 21 in-depth qualitative interviews with convicted drink drivers. All interviewees were contacted while attending mandatory courses in “Alcohol and Traffic safety...... on the interviewee’s risk behaviour, especially in relation to driving. The interviewees are first divided into 1) a group of young “edgeworkers” with pronounced general risk behaviour, 2) a group of middle-aged “post-edgeworkers”, most with criminal records, and 3) a group of middle-aged and older heavy consumers...

Effects of dexamphetamine with and without alcohol on simulated driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, Ries; Martens, Marieke; Ramaekers, Jan; Krul, Arno; Klöpping-Ketelaars, Ineke; Skopp, Gisela

2012-08-01

In party circuits dexamphetamine is frequently used in combination with alcohol. It is hypothesized that co-administration of dexamphetamine to alcohol might reduce the sedative effects of alcohol, but may potentiate risk-taking behaviour. The study was aimed at assessing the effects of alcohol, dexamphetamine and the combination of both on simulated driving and cognitive performance. Eighteen subjects participated in a randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled study employing four conditions: 10 mg dexamphetamine, 0.8 g/kg alcohol, 10 mg dexamphetamine + 0.8 g/kg alcohol, and placebo. Fundamental driving skills and risk-taking behaviour were assessed in a driving simulator. Subjects also completed vigilance and divided attention tasks, and subjective ratings. Mean BAC levels during simulated driving were between 0.91‰ and 0.64‰. Subjects using alcohol showed a significantly larger mean standard deviation of lateral position and shorter accepted gap time and distance. Use of alcohol or dexamphetamine + alcohol was associated with a higher frequency of red light running and collisions than the dexamphetamine or placebo conditions. Performance of vigilance and divided attention tasks was significantly impaired in the alcohol condition and, to a lesser degree, in the dexamphetamine + alcohol condition. Single doses of 0.8 g/kg alcohol increased risk-taking behaviours and impaired tracking, attention and reaction time during a 3-h period after drinking when BACs declined from 0.9 to 0.2 mg/ml. The stimulatory effects of co-administration of dexamphetamine 10 mg were not sufficient to overcome the impairing effects of alcohol on skills related to driving.

Accuracy of young male drivers’ self-assessments of driving skill

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Møller, Mette; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

2017-01-01

Accurate self-assessment of skill is important because it creates an appropriate level of confidence and hence behaviour. Inaccurate self-assessment of driving ability has been linked to reckless driving and accidents. Inaccurate self-assessment of driving skills may be a contributing factor...... to the over-representation of young male drivers in accident statistics. Most previous research on self-assessment of driving skills did not compare self-reported skills to objectively measured driving skills, so the aims of this study were: (1) to test the accuracy of young male drivers’ self......-assessments of specific driving skills by comparing them with performance in a driving simulator; (2) to test whether self-assessment accuracy varied with driving skill, driving experience and sensation-seeking propensity. We found that young male drivers’ self-assessments were inconsistent with their driving performance...

Identifying beliefs underlying pre-drivers' intentions to take risks: An application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, Richard; Andrews, Elizabeth; Harris, Peter R; Armitage, Christopher J; McKenna, Frank P; Norman, Paul

2016-04-01

Novice motorists are at high crash risk during the first few months of driving. Risky behaviours such as speeding and driving while distracted are well-documented contributors to crash risk during this period. To reduce this public health burden, effective road safety interventions need to target the pre-driving period. We use the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to identify the pre-driver beliefs underlying intentions to drive over the speed limit (N=77), and while over the legal alcohol limit (N=72), talking on a hand-held mobile phone (N=77) and feeling very tired (N=68). The TPB explained between 41% and 69% of the variance in intentions to perform these behaviours. Attitudes were strong predictors of intentions for all behaviours. Subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were significant, though weaker, independent predictors of speeding and mobile phone use. Behavioural beliefs underlying these attitudes could be separated into those reflecting perceived disadvantages (e.g., speeding increases my risk of crash) and advantages (e.g., speeding gives me a thrill). Interventions that can make these beliefs safer in pre-drivers may reduce crash risk once independent driving has begun. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring associations between self-regulatory mechanisms and neuropsychological functioning and driver behaviour after brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Rike, Per-Ola; Johansen, Hans J; Ulleberg, Pål; Lundqvist, Anna; Schanke, Anne-Kristine

2018-04-01

The objective of this prospective one-year follow-up study was to explore the associations between self-regulatory mechanisms and neuropsychological tests as well as baseline and follow-up ratings of driver behaviour. The participants were a cohort of subjects with stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were found fit to drive after a multi-disciplinary driver assessment (baseline). Baseline measures included neuropsychological tests and ratings of self-regulatory mechanisms, i.e., executive functions (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version; BRIEF-A) and impulsive personality traits (UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale). The participants rated pre-injury driving behaviour on the Driver Behaviour Qestionnaire (DBQ) retrospectively at baseline and after one year of post-injury driving (follow-up). Better performance on neuropsychological tests was significantly associated with more post-injury DBQ Violations. The BRIEF-A main indexes were significantly associated with baseline and follow-up ratings of DBQ Mistakes and follow-up DBQ Inattention. UPPS (lack of) Perseverance was significantly associated with baseline DBQ Inattention, whereas UPPS Urgency was significantly associated with baseline DBQ Inexperience and post-injury DBQ Mistakes. There were no significant changes in DBQ ratings from baseline (pre-injury) to follow-up (post-injury). It was concluded that neuropsychological functioning and self-regulatory mechanisms are related to driver behaviour. Some aspects of driver behaviour do not necessarily change after brain injury, reflecting the influence of premorbid driving behaviour or impaired awareness of deficits on post-injury driving behaviour. Further evidence is required to predict the role of self-regulatory mechanisms on driver behaviour and crashes or near misses.

Driving behaviors in early stage dementia: a study using in-vehicle technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Eby, David W; Silverstein, Nina M; Molnar, Lisa J; LeBlanc, David; Adler, Geri

2012-11-01

According to the Alzheimer's Association (2011), (1) in 8 people age 65 and older, and about one-half of people age 85 and older, have Alzheimer's disease in the United States (US). There is evidence that drivers with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are at an increased risk for unsafe driving. Recent advances in sensor, computer, and telecommunication technologies provide a method for automatically collecting detailed, objective information about the driving performance of drivers, including those with early stage dementia. The objective of this project was to use in-vehicle technology to describe a set of driving behaviors that may be common in individuals with early stage dementia (i.e., a diagnosis of memory loss) and compare these behaviors to a group of drivers without cognitive impairment. Seventeen drivers with a diagnosis of early stage dementia, who had completed a comprehensive driving assessment and were cleared to drive, participated in the study. Participants had their vehicles instrumented with a suite of sensors and a data acquisition system, and drove 1-2 months as they would under normal circumstances. Data from the in-vehicle instrumentation were reduced and analyzed, using a set of algorithms/heuristics developed by the research team. Data from the early stage dementia group were compared to similar data from an existing dataset of 26 older drivers without dementia. The early stage dementia group was found to have significantly restricted driving space relative to the comparison group. At the same time, the early stage dementia group (which had been previously cleared by an occupational therapist as safe to drive) drove as safely as the comparison group. Few safety-related behavioral errors were found for either group. Wayfinding problems were rare among both groups, but the early stage dementia group was significantly more likely to get lost. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Divided-attention task on driving simulator: comparison among three groups of drivers

OpenAIRE

FREYDIER, Chloé; PAXION, Julie; BERTHELON, Catherine; Bastien-Toniazzo, Mireille

2013-01-01

Introduction: Driving is a complex and dynamic task that requires performing simultaneously several sub-tasks, as traffic management and vehicle control. Driving involves both automatic and controlled processing depending on situation met and drivers’ experience. Method: Three groups of drivers with different driving experience were submitted to a divided-attention task in order to assess the interference linked to a secondary task on driving behaviour. The main task was a car-following...

Worldwide application of prevention science in adolescent health

Science.gov (United States)

Catalano, Richard F; Fagan, Abigail A; Gavin, Loretta E; Greenberg, Mark T; Irwin, Charles E; Ross, David A; Shek, Daniel T L

2015-01-01

The burden of morbidity and mortality from non-communicable disease has risen worldwide and is accelerating in low-income and middle-income countries, whereas the burden from infectious diseases has declined. Since this transition, the prevention of non-communicable disease as well as communicable disease causes of adolescent mortality has risen in importance. Problem behaviours that increase the short-term or long-term likelihood of morbidity and mortality, including alcohol, tobacco, and other drug misuse, mental health problems, unsafe sex, risky and unsafe driving, and violence are largely preventable. In the past 30 years new discoveries have led to prevention science being established as a discipline designed to mitigate these problem behaviours. Longitudinal studies have provided an understanding of risk and protective factors across the life course for many of these problem behaviours. Risks cluster across development to produce early accumulation of risk in childhood and more pervasive risk in adolescence. This understanding has led to the construction of developmentally appropriate prevention policies and programmes that have shown short-term and long-term reductions in these adolescent problem behaviours. We describe the principles of prevention science, provide examples of efficacious preventive interventions, describe challenges and potential solutions to take efficacious prevention policies and programmes to scale, and conclude with recommendations to reduce the burden of adolescent mortality and morbidity worldwide through preventive intervention. PMID:22538180

Identification and modelling of travel behaviour determinants in order to find succesful interventions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonkers, E.; Martens, Marieke Hendrikje; Vonk, T.; van der Lindt, M.

2012-01-01

To ease some of the major problems in the field of mobility and transport a change in travel and driving behaviour is needed. At this moment, too many travellers use the car and drive at the same moment in time. In order to change travel behaviour various measures can be taken. However, often one

Functional architecture of behavioural thermoregulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Flouris, Andreas D

2011-01-01

The human thermoregulatory system relies primarily on behavioural adaptation and secondarily on autonomic and endocrine responses for thermal homeostasis. This is because autonomic and endocrine responses have a limited capacity in preventing hyper/hypothermia in extreme environments. Until recently, the neuroanatomy of behavioural thermoregulation as well as the neuroanatomic substrate of the various thermoregulatory behaviours remained largely unknown. However, this situation has changed in recent years as behavioural thermoregulation has become a topic of considerable attention. The present review evaluates the current knowledge on behavioural thermoregulation in order to summarize the present state-of-the-art and to point towards future research directions. Findings on the fundamental distinction between thermal (dis)comfort and sensation are reviewed showing that the former drives behaviour while the latter initiates autonomic thermoregulation. Moreover, the thermosensitive neurons and thermoeffector functions of behavioural thermoregulation are presented and analysed in a detailed discussion.

The effects of a driving mechanism on Oslo models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, Gui-Jun; Pan, Yong-Cai

2010-01-01

Isotropic and anisotropic Oslo models (IOM and AOM) under a bulk driving mechanism have been investigated. We apply the moment analysis to evaluate critical exponents and the finite size scaling method to consistently test the obtained results. We find that both types of Oslo model have different critical behaviour. However, the critical exponents are the same for deterministic and random IOMs, and are independent of the strength of the anisotropy for the AOM. In contrast to a boundary driving mechanism, we find that the critical exponents depend crucially on the driving mechanism for the IOM, and are independent of the driving mechanism for the AOM.

The influence of perceived behaviour control, attitude and empowerment on reported condom use and intention to use condoms among adolescents in rural Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalolo, Albino; Kibusi, Stephen Matthew

2015-11-13

Despite the declining trends of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), unsafe sexual behaviours among adolescents still represent a public health challenge. It is important to understand factors acting at different levels to influence sexual behaviour among adolescents. This study examined the influence of perceived behaviour control, subjective norms, attitudes and empowerment on intention to use condoms and reported use of condoms among adolescents in rural Tanzania. We used a questionnaire to collect data from 403 adolescents aged 14 through 19 years from nine randomly selected secondary schools in the Newala district located in the Southern part of Tanzania. The self-administered questionnaire collected information on sexual practices and factors such as attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control and empowerment. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with intention to use and reported use of condoms. Sexually active adolescents constituted 40.6 % of the sample, among them 49.7 % did not use a condom at last sexual intercourse and 49.8 % had multiple sex partners. Many (85 %) of sexually active respondents had their sexual debut between the ages of 14 to 17 years. Girls became sexually active earlier than boys. Perceived behaviour control predicted intentions to use condoms (AOR = 3.059, 95 % CI 1.324-7.065), thus demonstrating its importance in the decision to use a condom. Empowerment (odds ratio = 3.694, 95 % CI 1.295-10.535) and a positive attitude (AOR = 3.484, 95 % CI 1.132-10.72) predicted reported condom use, thus turning the decision to actions. Subjective norms had only indirect effects on intention and reported use of condoms. The findings suggest that unsafe sex practices are prevalent among school adolescents in rural areas of Tanzania. Perceived behaviour control and positive attitudes predict intensions to use condoms whereas empowerment

Behavioural effects of advanced cruise control use : a meta-analytic approach.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dragutinovic, N. Brookhuis, K.A. Hagenzieker, M.P. & Marchau, V.A.W.J.

2006-01-01

In this study, a meta-analytic approach was used to analyse effects of Advanced Cruise Control (ACC) on driving behaviour reported in seven driving simulator studies. The effects of ACC on three consistent outcome measures, namely, driving speed, headway and driver workload have been analysed. The

Econometric Studies of Stock Market Behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Anne-Sofie Reng

This thesis consists of three sefcontained essays, all centering around the topic of stock market behaviour. The papers focus on the empirical performance of a number of asset pricing models, all attempting to quantify and price asset risk. We look at how well these models actually do in describing...... the historic behaviour of the stock market, allowing us to get further insight into what drives the markes....

Young novice drivers and the risky behaviours of parents and friends during the provisional (intermediate) licence phase: a brief report.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott-Parker, Bridie; Watson, Barry; King, Mark J; Hyde, Melissa K

2014-08-01

While there is research indicating that many factors influence the young novice driver's increased risk of road crash injury during the earliest stages of their independent driving, there is a need to further understand the relationship between the perceived risky driving behaviour of parents and friends and the risky behaviour of drivers with a Provisional (intermediate) licence. As part of a larger research project, 378 drivers aged 17-25 years (M=18.22, SD=1.59, 113 males) with a Provisional licence completed an online survey exploring the perceived riskiness of their parents' and friends' driving, and the extent to which they pattern (i.e. base) their driving behaviour on the driving of their parents and friends. Young drivers who reported patterning their driving on their friends, and who reported they perceived their friends to be risky drivers, reported more risky driving. The risky driving behaviour of young male drivers was associated with the perceived riskiness of their fathers' driving, whilst for female drivers the perceived riskiness of their mothers' driving approached significance. The development and application of countermeasures targeting the risky behaviour of same-sex parents appears warranted by the robust research findings. In addition, countermeasures need to encourage young people in general to be non-risky drivers; targeting the negative influence of risky peer groups specifically. Social norms interventions may minimise the influence of potentially-overestimated riskiness. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An empirical assessment of driver motivation and emotional states in perceived safety margins under varied driving conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yu; Kaber, David B

2013-01-01

Motivation models in driving behaviour postulate that driver motives and emotional states dictate risk tolerance under various traffic conditions. The present study used time and driver performance-based payment systems to manipulate motivation and risk-taking behaviour. Ten participants drove to a predefined location in a simulated driving environment. Traffic patterns (density and velocity) were manipulated to cause driver behaviour adjustments due to the need to conform with the social norms of the roadway. The driving environment complexity was investigated as a mediating factor in risk tolerance. Results revealed the performance-based payment system to closely relate to risk-taking behaviour as compared with the time-based payment system. Drivers conformed with social norms associated with specific traffic patterns. Higher roadway complexity led to a more conservative safety margins and speeds. This research contributes to the further development of motivational models of driver behaviour. This study provides empirical justification for two motivation factors in driver risk-taking decisions, including compliance with social norm and emotions triggered by incentives. Environment complexity was identified as a mediating factor in motivational behaviour model. This study also recommended safety margin measures sensitive to changes in driver risk tolerance.

Horizontal information drives the behavioural signatures of face processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerie Goffaux

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Recent psychophysical evidence indicates that the vertical arrangement of horizontal information is particularly important for encoding facial identity. In this paper we extend this notion to examine the role that information at different (particularly cardinal orientations might play in a number of established phenomena each a behavioural “signature” of face processing. In particular we consider (a the face inversion effect (FIE, (b the facial identity after-effect, (c face-matching across viewpoint, and (d interactive, so-called holistic, processing of face parts. We report that filtering faces to remove all but the horizontal information largely preserves these effects but conversely, retaining vertical information generally diminishes or abolishes them. We conclude that preferential processing of horizontal information is a central feature of human face processing that supports many of the behavioural signatures of this critical visual operation.

Influence of approaching tram on behaviour of pedestrians in signalised crosswalks in Poland.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruszyna, Maciej; Rychlewski, Jeremi

2013-06-01

Research done in two Polish cities has uncovered an influence of an approaching tram on pedestrian behaviour. The measurements were done by counting pedestrians waiting for a green signal, crossing on red signal safely, or crossing on red signal taking a risk of being hit by a car, differentiating between pedestrians attempting to board a public transport vehicle and other pedestrians. It was expected, that pedestrian behaviour might be influenced by traffic control predictability, therefore two cities were chosen for the task: Wrocław with fixed time traffic control and Poznań with a majority of traffic responsive traffic signals. Data from the measurements was compared in order to find behaviour patterns - the comparison led to a conclusion, that an attempt to get on board of an incoming public transport vehicle can be a major cause for pedestrians to violate a red signal, including an increase of unsafe behaviour. These pedestrians may provoke other pedestrians to cross on a red signal. On the other hand if traffic control guarantees boarding the public transport vehicle, passengers-to-be may be even more obedient than other pedestrians. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Naturalistic driving studies: The effectiveness of the methodology in monitoring driver behaviour

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Muronga, Khangwelo

2017-07-01

Full Text Available methodologies were applied in a mixed method approach (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003; Ross & Israel, 2002). A combination of two data collection methods was used, in other words, a questionnaire for quantitative data collection and content analysis for qualitative... therefore preferred the elements of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (see Figure 1) as a suitable framework to explain and monitor driver behaviour and behavioural changes. The TPB was developed by Ajzen in 1988, and its constructs have been used before...

Measuring risky adolescent cycling behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Feenstra, Hans; Ruiter, Robert A C; Schepers, Jan; Peters, Gjalt-Jorn; Kok, Gerjo

2011-09-01

Adolescents are at a greater risk of being involved in traffic accidents than most other age groups, even before they start driving cars. This article aims to determine the factor structure of a self-report questionnaire measuring adolescent risky cycling behaviour, the ACBQ (Adolescent Cycling Behaviour Questionnaire). The questionnaire's structure was based on the widely used Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ). A sample of secondary school students (N = 1749; age range: 13-18 years) filled out the questionnaire. Factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure underlying the questionnaire, which was confirmed on two equally large portions of the entire sample. These three underlying factors were identified as errors, common violations and exceptional violations. The ACBQ is a useful instrument for measuring adolescents' risky cycling behaviour.

Testing Mechanisms for Philanthropic Behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekkers, R.H.F.P.; Wiepking, P.

2011-01-01

This special issue of the International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing presents a collection of nine papers testing mechanisms that drive philanthropic behaviour. By testing one or more specific mechanisms that were derived from the philanthropic literature, the authors of the

Effect of ethylic alcohol on attentive functions involved in driving abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Bivona, Umberto; Garbarino, Sergio; Rigon, Jessica; Buzzi, Maria Gabriella; Onder, Graziano; Matteis, Maria; Catani, Sheila; Giustini, Marco; Mancardi, Giovanni Luigi; Formisano, Rita

2015-01-01

The burden of injuries due to drunk drivers has been estimated only indirectly. Indeed, alcohol is considered one of the most important contributing cause of car crash injuries and its effect on cognitive functions needs to be better elucidated. Aims of the study were i) to examine the effect of alcohol on attentive abilities involved while driving, and ii) to investigate whether Italian law limits for safe driving are sufficiently accurate to prevent risky behaviours and car crash risk while driving. We conducted a cross-over study at IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia Rehabilitation Hospital in Rome. Thirty-two healthy subjects were enrolled in this experiment. Participants were submitted to an attentive test battery assessing attention before taking Ethylic Alcohol (EA-) and after taking EA (EA+). In the EA+ condition subjects drank enough wine until the blood alcohol concentration, measured by means of Breath Analyzer, was equal to or higher than 0.5 g/l. Data analysis revealed that after alcohol assumption, tonic and phasic alertness, selective, divided attention and vigilance were significantly impaired when BAC level was at least 0.5 g/l. These data reveal that alcohol has a negative effect on attentive functions which are primarily involved in driving skills and that Italian law limits are adequate to prevent risky driving behaviour.

Influence of driving cycles on Euro 3 scooter emissions and fuel consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prati, Maria V.; Zamboni, Giorgio; Costagliola, Maria A.; Meccariello, Giovanni; Carraro, Chiara; Capobianco, Massimo

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Fuel consumption and emissions of Euro 3 scooters defined on different driving cycles. → Comparison of standard, real world driving cycles and measured urban speed patterns. → Statistical analysis of kinematic parameters to group driving cycle in clusters. → Clusters can explain pollutant and fuel consumption behaviour in hot conditions. → Cold start mixture enrichment strategy has a major influence on extra-emissions. - Abstract: Regulated pollutant emissions and fuel consumption were characterized at the exhaust of two Euro 3 4-stroke medium-size motorcycles during the execution of both standard and real world driving cycles. A principal component analysis was carried out to group in a cluster the driving cycles with similar kinematic parameters. Hot start results, analysed according to this cluster grouping, show that the main differences are explained by overall mean speed and high positive acceleration of driving cycles. Lower mean speeds produce higher CO 2 emission factors, while the influence on CO and HC is more complex. NO X are not significantly affected by the driving pattern. Inside the same cluster, the whole duration of the acceleration phases could discriminate emission behaviour. In-depth analysis of cold start results was conducted in order to assess the influence of the driving cycle and vehicle characteristics on cold start duration. Cold start extra emissions are more influenced by the duration of the enrichment phase than by the catalyst light-off. The larger number of accelerations occurring during real world driving cycles produces higher variability of air fuel ratio and hence higher cold start extra emissions.

Age and inconsistency in driving performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunce, David; Young, Mark S; Blane, Alison; Khugputh, Priya

2012-11-01

Research in cognitive neuropsychology suggests that investigation of the within-person variability, or inconsistency, of cognitive performance may provide valuable insights into ageing mental processes. It is rare though, for this interest in intraindividual variability to extend to everyday activities. As this may provide important information about driving behaviour, we therefore assessed age differences in driving inconsistency in younger (n=24, M age=21.29 years) and older (n=21, M age=71.24 years) persons who drove in residential, urban and motorway conditions in a fully immersive driving simulator. In measures of headway (maintaining a safe distance to a preceding vehicle) and lateral lane position, older drivers exhibited significantly greater performance inconsistency, and this was particularly marked in the faster motorway condition. Older drivers also recorded greater perceived mental demands associated with driving, and greater within-person variability across a range of cognitive measures. The findings suggest that age-related deficits in attentional and executive control may affect the consistency of driving performance in older persons. Discussion considers interventions to introduce in-vehicle systems to help maintain attention in older drivers, and to intervene when safety-critical boundaries are exceeded. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Personality, Executive Control, and Neurobiological Characteristics Associated with Different Forms of Risky Driving.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas G Brown

Full Text Available Road crashes represent a huge burden on global health. Some drivers are prone to repeated episodes of risky driving (RD and are over-represented in crashes and related morbidity. However, their characteristics are heterogeneous, hampering development of targeted intervention strategies. This study hypothesized that distinct personality, cognitive, and neurobiological processes are associated with the type of RD behaviours these drivers predominantly engage in.Four age-matched groups of adult (19-39 years males were recruited: 1 driving while impaired recidivists (DWI, n = 36; 2 non-alcohol reckless drivers (SPEED, n = 28; 3 drivers with a mixed RD profile (MIXED, n = 27; and 4 low-risk control drivers (CTL, n = 47. Their sociodemographic, criminal history, driving behaviour (by questionnaire and simulation performance, personality (Big Five traits, impulsivity, reward sensitivity, cognitive (disinhibition, decision making, behavioural risk taking, and neurobiological (cortisol stress response characteristics were gathered and contrasted.Compared to controls, group SPEED showed greater sensation seeking, disinhibition, disadvantageous decision making, and risk taking. Group MIXED exhibited more substance misuse, and antisocial, sensation seeking and reward sensitive personality features. Group DWI showed greater disinhibition and more severe alcohol misuse, and compared to the other RD groups, the lowest level of risk taking when sober. All RD groups exhibited less cortisol increase in response to stress compared to controls.Each RD group exhibited a distinct personality and cognitive profile, which was consistent with stimulation seeking in group SPEED, fearlessness in group MIXED, and poor behavioural regulation associated with alcohol in group DWI. As these group differences were uniformly accompanied by blunted cortisol stress responses, they may reflect the disparate behavioural consequences of dysregulation of the stress system. In sum, RD

True or False Customer Engagement Behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haurum, Helle; Beckmann, Suzanne C.

2014-01-01

Customers’ engagement behaviours are considered an important source of value to the company. So far, the discussion has mainly been conceptual and focused on the company’s perspective. By adopting the customer’s perspective we investigated how customers perceive their service relationship...... encounters with a company, using in-depth interviews. We found the following key factors driving and explaining customers’ engagement behaviours: (1) transactions matter and inconsistent engagement behaviours are a reality, (2) mundane products and services are still highly relevant for customers, and (3......) different degrees of customer experience alignment with services and products exist. Moreover, the distinction between true and false engagement behaviours we suggest indeed is relevant and we could establish their mediating capabilities....

The association between pediatric injury risks and parenting behaviours.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaques, M L; Weaver, T L; Weaver, N L; Willoughby, L

2018-03-01

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in children ages 1-18 years. Many of these injuries to young children occur in their own homes. Although research has explored injury risk prevention strategies, historically, much of this research has focused on environmental changes and teaching safety practices. Currently, there appears to be a gap in current research exploring how parenting influences children's risk of injury. Mothers (n = 119) of children 5 years and younger were recruited from a paediatric clinic as a part of a larger study and completed measures of parenting challenges, developmentally sensitive parenting, child neglect, parental efficacy, and risk of potential injury situations. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to explore the extent to which developmentally insensitive parenting behaviours put parents at higher risk for behaviours that lead to unintentional injury in children and whether developmentally sensitive parenting behaviours protects children from injury. The association between demographic characteristics and injury risk behaviours was also examined. Parents who reported more frequent insensitive parenting behaviours (i.e., yelling, spanking, and putting child in time out) were more likely to report putting their child in an incorrect car seat or taking their child out of a car seat while the car is still moving. In addition, younger parents were at greater risk of storing cleaners and medications unsafely. Results from this study highlight the importance of supporting younger mothers and educating parents on effective parenting strategies when trying to prevent unintentional injury risks. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Driver behaviour in motorway car-following transitions and driver support systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Feenstra, P.; Horst, A.R.A. van der

2006-01-01

Co-operative driving with speed adaptation functionality has great potential to improve traffic-throughput, traffic-safety, and environmental-impact on heavily used traffic-infrastructures. A driving-simulator study was performed to investigate the driver behaviour with respect to such

An investigation of r.f. travelling wave current drive using the model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertram, W.K.

1988-01-01

Previous experimental investigations in the use of travelling r.f. waves to drive steady toroidal currents in a toroidal plasma have shown that I t , the amount of current driven, is strongly dependent on the ratio of the static toroidal magnetic field B z , to the strength of the r.f. magnetic field B ω . This dependence is characterised by an initial increase and subsequent decrease of I t when B t /B ω increases. It is shown that this observed behaviour is entirely consistent with the behaviour predicted by the current drive model. Results from numerical computations using the model show good quantitative agreement with the published experimental results

Uncovering high rates of unsafe injection equipment reuse in rural Cameroon: validation of a survey instrument that probes for specific misconceptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reid Savanna R

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Unsafe reuse of injection equipment in hospitals is an on-going threat to patient safety in many parts of Africa. The extent of this problem is difficult to measure. Standard WHO injection safety assessment protocols used in the 2003 national injection safety assessment in Cameroon are problematic because health workers often behave differently under the observation of visitors. The main objective of this study is to assess the extent of unsafe injection equipment reuse and potential for blood-borne virus transmission in Cameroon. This can be done by probing for misconceptions about injection safety that explain reuse without sterilization. These misconceptions concern useless precautions against cross-contamination, i.e. "indirect reuse" of injection equipment. To investigate whether a shortage of supply explains unsafe reuse, we compared our survey data against records of purchases. Methods All health workers at public hospitals in two health districts in the Northwest Province of Cameroon were interviewed about their own injection practices. Injection equipment supply purchase records documented for January to December 2009 were compared with self-reported rates of syringe reuse. The number of HIV, HBV and HCV infections that result from unsafe medical injections in these health districts is estimated from the frequency of unsafe reuse, the number of injections performed, the probability that reused injection equipment had just been used on an infected patient, the size of the susceptible population, and the transmission efficiency of each virus in an injection. Results Injection equipment reuse occurs commonly in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, practiced by 44% of health workers at public hospitals. Self-reported rates of syringe reuse only partly explained by records on injection equipment supplied to these hospitals, showing a shortage of syringes where syringes are reused. Injection safety interventions could

Employment and contextual impact of safe and unsafe sexual practices for STI and HIV: the situation in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, S M; Gao, M Y

2000-08-01

China's dual employment system plays a crucial role in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV-related safe and unsafe sexual practices among young Chinese people. Social and psychological determinants of safe and unsafe sexual practices for HIV infection among young people in Sichuan, China were examined. Our findings indicate that changes in China's social structure and employment system impact upon the social contextual involvement and socio-sexual practice of young Chinese people. The findings in the study suggest that the employment-related contextual involvement was a major predictor in the relationships between demography, information, and psychological risk-taking factors on one hand and the people's safe and unsafe sexual practices on the other. Self-employed people (officially called 'getihu') were more likely than the state-employed people to engage in unprotected sex with casual sexual partners. As China undergoes social restructuring and many state-employed people are laid off, the risk may also extend into the broader non-self-employed population as more state-employed people become involved not only in the self-employed getihu's socioeconomic activities but also in their unconventional socio-sexual practices. Collective vulnerability to STI and HIV, due to the current socio-sexual practices of the getihu young people, has created a new frontier for STI and HIV prevention in today's China, as well as demonstrating the importance of collective action with STI and AIDS prevention strategies within relevant social and sub-cultural contexts.

The horror of unsafe abortion: case report of a life threatening complication in a 29-year old woman.

Science.gov (United States)

Naqvi, Kaniz Zehra; Edhi, Muhammad Muzzammil

2013-10-16

Every year 42 million women with unintended pregnancies choose abortion, and fifty percent of these procedures, 20 million are unsafe. An unsafe abortion is defined as a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy carried out either by person lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards or both.Pakistan is the one of the six countries where more than 50% of the world's all maternal deaths occur. It is estimated that 890,000 induced abortions are performed annually in Pakistan, and estimate an annual abortion rate of 29 per 1000 women aged 15-49. Here we present a case report of a 29-year old woman who underwent an unsafe abortion for unintended pregnancy resulting in uterine perforation. The unskilled provider pulled out her bowel through vagina after perforating the uterus, as a result she lost major portion of her small intestine resulting in short bowel syndrome. The law of Pakistan only allows abortion during early stages of pregnancy for purpose of saving the life of a mother but does not cater for cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormalities or social reasons.Only legalization of abortion is not sufficient, preventing unintended pregnancy should be the priority of all the nations and for this reason contraception should be widely accessible.Practitioners need to become better trained in safer abortion methods and be to able transfer the patient to health facility when complications occur.

Mechanisms of change in human behaviour

OpenAIRE

Marchal, Paul; Bartelings, Heleen; Bastardie, François; Batsleer, Jurgen; Delaney, Alyne; Girardin, Raphael; Gloaguen, Pierre; Hamon, Katell; Hoefnagel, Ellen; Jouanneau, Charlène; Mahevas, Stephanie; Nielsen, Rasmus; Piwowarczyk, Joanna; Poos, Jan-jaap; Schulze, Torsten

2014-01-01

The scope of this report is to present the science developed within the VECTORS project to improve the understanding of the key processes driving the behaviour of human agents utilising a variety of EU maritime domains. While particular attention has been paid to the spatial interactions between fishing activities and other human uses (e.g., maritime traffic, offshore wind parks, aggregate extractions), the behaviour of non-fishing sectors of activity has also been considered. Various quantit...

Do in-car devices affect experienced users' driving performance?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allert S. Knapper

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Distracted driving is considered to be an important factor in road safety. To investigate how experienced user's driving behaviour is affected by in-vehicle technology, a fixed-base driving simulator was used. 20 participants drove twice in a rich simulated traffic environment while performing secondary, i.e. mobile phone and navigation system tasks. The results show that mean speed was lower in all experimental conditions, compared to baseline driving, while subjective effort increased. Lateral performance deteriorated only during visual–manual tasks, i.e. texting and destination entry, in which the participants glanced off the forward road for a substantial amount of time. Being experienced in manipulating in-car devices does not solve the problem of dual tasking when the primary task is a complex task like driving a moving vehicle. The results and discussion may shed some light on the current debate regarding phone use hazards.

Multi-lane Changing Model with Coupling Driving Intention and Inclination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiangfeng Wang

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Considering the impact of drivers’ psychology and behaviour, a multi-lane changing model coupling driving intention and inclination is proposed by introducing two quantitative indices of intention: strength of lane changing and risk factor. According to the psychological and behavioural characteristics of aggressive drivers and conservative drivers, the safety conditions for lane changing are designed respectively. The numerical simulations show that the proposed model is suitable for describing the traffic flow with frequent lane changing, which is more consistent with the driving behaviour of drivers in China. Compared with symmetric two-lane cellular automata (STCA model, the proposed model can improve the average speed of vehicles by 1.04% under different traffic demands when aggressive drivers are in a higher proportion (the threshold of risk factor is 0.4. When the risk factor increases, the average speed shows the polarization phenomenon with the average speed slowing down in big traffic demand. The proposed model can reflect the relationship among density, flow, and speed, and the risk factor has a significant impact on density and flow.

A meta-analysis of the effects of measuring theory of planned behaviour constructs on behaviour within prospective studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mankarious, Evon; Kothe, Emily

2015-01-01

Measurement reactivity effects, such as the mere measurement effect, have been proposed as a reason for behavioural changes in a number of theory of planned behaviour intervention studies. However, it is unclear whether such changes are the result of the mere measurement effect or of other artefacts of intervention study design. The aim of this study is to determine the size and direction of changes in health behaviours from baseline to follow-up in prospective studies using the theory of planned behaviour. Electronic databases were searched for the theory of planned behaviour studies which measured health behaviours at two or more time points. Change in behaviour was calculated for all studies. Sixty-six studies were included. Mean effect sizes across all studies were small and negative (d = -.03). Effect size was moderated by behaviour, behaviour type and follow-up length. Subgroup analyses showed significant decreases in socially undesirable behaviour (d = -.28), binge drinking (d = -.17), risk driving (d = -.20), sugar snack consumption (d = -.43) and sun-protective behaviour (d = -.18). Measurement of intention at baseline resulted in significant decreases in undesirable behaviour. Changes in undesirable behaviours reported in other studies may be the result of the mere measurement effect.

Student motorcyclists' mobile phone use while driving in Vientiane, Laos.

Science.gov (United States)

Phommachanh, Sysavanh; Ichikawa, Masao; Nakahara, Shinji; Mayxay, Mayfong; Kimura, Akio

2017-06-01

To investigate mobile phone use while driving among student motorcyclists in Laos, we conducted a school-based questionnaire survey in central Vientiane in May 2014. Of the 883 high school students who reported to drive motorcycles at least once a week, 40% have ever used phones while driving motorcycles in both sexes. Those phone users had longer driving exposures than non-users, with about half engaging in phone use while driving at least 2 days a week and 70% engaging for 1 min or longer on an average day. They reported not just talking on the phone while driving but operating the phone such as dialling and text-messaging. In some instances, phone use was reportedly involved in their past crash experiences. To formulate a sound policy on this emerging distracting behaviour among motorcyclists, its contribution to the occurrence of overall crashes among motorcyclists should be investigated.

Medium and long-term adherence to postabortion contraception among women having experienced unsafe abortion in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Vibeke; Yambesi, Fortunata; Massawe, Siriel

2008-01-01

postabortion contraception. Follow-up information was obtained 12 months after the abortion among 59 percent of the women. Among these, 79 percent of the married women and 84 percent of the single women stated they were using contraception at 12 months. Condom use among the single women increased significantly...... contraceptive service intervention among women admitted with complications from unsafe abortions and to explore the women's long-term contraceptive adherence. METHODS: 392 women having experienced unsafe abortion were identified by an empathetic approach and offered postabortion contraceptive service, which...... included counselling on HIV and condom use. Questionnaire interviews about contraceptive use were conducted at the time of inclusion and 12 months after the abortion. Additionally, in-depth interviews were performed 6-12 months after the abortion. RESULTS: Eighty-nine percent of the women accepted...

Barriers to safe abortion access: uterine rupture as complication of unsafe abortion in a Ugandan girl.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Rose McKeon; Kamurari, Solomon

2017-10-20

A 15-year-old girl at 18 weeks gestation by the last menstrual period presented to a rural Ugandan healthcare facility for termination of her pregnancy as a result of rape by her uncle. Skilled healthcare workers at the facility refused to provide the abortion due to fear of legal repercussions. The patient subsequently obtained an unsafe abortion by vaginal insertion of local herbs and sharp objects. She developed profuse vaginal bleeding and haemorrhagic shock. She was found to have uterine rupture and emergent hysterectomy was performed. Young and poor women are at high risk of unplanned pregnancy and subsequent mortality during pregnancy and childbirth. Unsafe abortion is a leading and entirely preventable cause of maternal mortality worldwide. Multiple barriers restrict access to safe abortions including social and moral stigma, gender-based power imbalances, inadequate contraceptive use and sexual education, high cost and poor availability, and restrictive abortion laws. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Driver education: Enhancing knowledge of sleep, fatigue and risky behaviour to improve decision making in young drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvaro, Pasquale K; Burnett, Nicole M; Kennedy, Gerard A; Min, William Yu Xun; McMahon, Marcus; Barnes, Maree; Jackson, Melinda; Howard, Mark E

2018-03-01

This study assessed the impact of an education program on knowledge of sleepiness and driving behaviour in young adult drivers and their performance and behaviour during simulated night driving. Thirty-four participants (18-26 years old) were randomized to receive either a four-week education program about sleep and driving or a control condition. A series of questionnaires were administered to assess knowledge of factors affecting sleep and driving before and after the four-week education program. Participants also completed a two hour driving simulator task at 1am after 17 h of extended wakefulness to assess the impact on driving behaviour. There was an increase in circadian rhythm knowledge in the intervention group following the education program. Self-reported risky behaviour increased in the control group with no changes in other aspects of sleep knowledge. There were no significant differences in proportion of intervention and control participants who had microsleeps (p ≤ .096), stopped driving due to sleepiness (p = .107), recorded objective episodes of drowsiness (p = .455), and crashed (p = .761), although there was a trend towards more control participants having microsleeps and stopping driving. Those in the intervention group reported higher subjective sleepiness at the end of the drive [M = 6.25, SD = 3.83, t(31) = 2.15, p = .05] and were more likely to indicate that they would stop driving [M = 3.08, SD = 1.16, t(31) = 2.24, p = .04]. The education program improved some aspects of driver knowledge about sleep and safety. The results also suggested that the education program lead to an increased awareness of sleepiness. Education about sleep and driving could reduce the risk of drowsy driving and associated road trauma in young drivers, but requires evaluation in a broader sample with assessment of real world driving outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teen Drivers' Perceptions of Inattention and Cell Phone Use While Driving.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Catherine C; Sommers, Marilyn S

2015-01-01

attention away from the roadway. Cell phone use while driving is a contributor to motor vehicle crashes in teens, and effective interventions to decrease risks are needed. Teens viewed some types of cell phone use as unsafe and describe methods in which they control their behaviors. However, some of their methods still take attention off the primary task of driving. Teens could benefit from behavior change interventions that propose strategies to promote focused attention on the roadway at all times during the driving trip.

Opportunities and challenges of smart mobile applications in transportation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saidi Siuhi

2016-12-01

Significant usage of smart mobile applications can be potentially very beneficial, particularly in automobile travel mode to reduce travel time, cost, and vehicle emissions. In the end this would make travel safer and living environments greener and healthier. However, road users' interactions with these applications could manually, visually, and cognitively divert their attention from the primary task of driving or walking. Distracted road users expose themselves and others to unsafe behavior than undistracted. Road safety education and awareness programs are vital to discourage the use of applications that stimulate unsafe driving/walking behaviors. Educating the traveling public about the dangers of unsafe driving/walking behavior could have significant safety benefits to all road users. Future research needs to compare accuracies of the applications and provide guidelines for selecting them for certain transportation related applications.

Animal emotions, behaviour and the promotion of positive welfare states.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellor, D J

2012-01-01

This paper presents a rationale that may significantly boost the drive to promote positive welfare states in animals. The rationale is based largely, but not exclusively, on an experimentally supported neuropsychological understanding of relationships between emotions and behaviour, an understanding that has not yet been incorporated into animal welfare science thinking. Reference is made to major elements of the neural/cognitive foundations of motivational drives that energise and direct particular behaviours and their related subjective or emotional experiences. These experiences are generated in part by sensory inputs that reflect the animal's internal functional state and by neural processing linked to the animal's perception of its external circumstances. The integrated subjective or emotional outcome of these inputs corresponds to the animal's welfare status. The internally generated subjective experiences represent motivational urges or drives that are predominantly negative and include breathlessness, thirst, hunger and pain. They are generated by, and elicit specific behaviours designed to correct, imbalances in the animal's internal functional state. Externally generated subjective experiences are said to be integral to the operation of interacting 'action-orientated systems' that give rise to particular behaviours and their negative or positive emotional contents. These action-orientated systems, described in neuropsychological terms, give rise to negative emotions that include fear, anger and panic, and positive emotions that include comfort, vitality, euphoria and playfulness. It is argued that early thinking about animal welfare management focused mainly on minimising disturbances to the internal functional states that generate associated unpleasant motivational urges or drives. This strategy produced animal welfare benefits, but at best it could only lift a poor net welfare status to a neutral one. In contrast, strategies designed to manipulate the

New active machine tool drive mounting on the frame

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Švéda J.

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the new active mounting of the machine tool drives. The commonly used machine tools are at this time mainly equipped with fix-mounting of the feed drives. This structure causes full transmission of the force shocks to the machine bed and thereby restricts the dynamic properties of the motion axis and the whole machine. The spring-mounting of the feed drives is one of the possibilities how to partially suppress the vibrations. The force that reacts to the machine tool bed is transformed thereby the vibrations are lightly reduced. Unfortunately the transformation is not fully controlled. The new active mounting of the machine tool drives allows to fully control the force behaviour that react to the machine body. Thereby the number of excited frequencies on the machine tool bed is significantly reduced. The active variant of the feed drive mounting is characterized by the synergistic cooperation between two series-connected actuators (“motor on motor”. The paper briefly describes design, control techniques and optimization of the feed drives with the new active mounting conception.

Examining the process of driving cessation in later life.

Science.gov (United States)

Musselwhite, Charles B A; Shergold, Ian

2013-06-01

Driving cessation for many older people is associated with a poorer quality of life and can lead to health problems such as depression. This paper aims to reveal the process of giving-up driving, examining in particular triggers for giving-up driving, how information on alternative modes of transport is sought and how new transport and travel behaviour is integrated into older people's lives. It examines the challenges faced and how these are overcome and what impact the process has on self-reported quality of life, as articulated by the participants themselves. To this end, twenty-one individuals from three locations in the United Kingdom (UK) were followed over a period of 10 months, through five waves of data collection. Each participant took part in three interviews, a focus group and completed a diary of travel behaviour. Findings suggest that although a similar pattern was found between the trigger and life post-car, not all older people go through the stages of giving-up driving in the same way. Instead, a range of responses are seen, from contemplation of gradually reducing driving, through to stopping abruptly, with the route taken having consequences for the eventual outcome for any individual. Triggers for contemplating driving cessation could be varied and often involved health and social factors. Importantly, people who engaged in pre-planning reported a relatively higher quality of life beyond the car, whilst for those who were more reactive and engaged in little or no pre-planning a poorer quality of life resulted. In addition (and in conjunction with planning), other factors, such as flexibility in travel destinations, the role of family and friends, and wider support networks are also seen as important. With such evidence of the importance of pre-planning it is suggested that more could be done to support giving-up driving and encouraging contemplation at a younger age to mitigate the negative effects experienced by some.

Longitudinal control behaviour: Analysis and modelling based on experimental surveys in Italy and the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Pariota, Luigi; Bifulco, Gennaro Nicola; Galante, Francesco; Montella, Alfonso; Brackstone, Mark

2016-04-01

This paper analyses driving behaviour in car-following conditions, based on extensive individual vehicle data collected during experimental field surveys carried out in Italy and the UK. The aim is to contribute to identify simple evidence to be exploited in the ongoing process of driving assistance and automation which, in turn, would reduce rear-end crashes. In particular, identification of differences and similarities in observed car-following behaviours for different samples of drivers could justify common tuning, at a European or worldwide level, of a technological solution aimed at active safety, or, in the event of differences, could suggest the most critical aspects to be taken into account for localisation or customisation of driving assistance solutions. Without intending to be exhaustive, this paper moves one step in this direction. Indeed, driving behaviour and human errors are considered to be among the main crash contributory factors, and a promising approach for safety improvement is the progressive introduction of increasing levels of driving automation in next-generation vehicles, according to the active/preventive safety approach. However, the more advanced the system, the more complex will be the integration in the vehicle, and the interaction with the driver may sometimes become unproductive, or risky, should the driver be removed from the driving control loop. Thus, implementation of these systems will require the interaction of human driving logics with automation logics and then an enhanced ability in modelling drivers' behaviour. This will allow both higher active-safety levels and higher user acceptance to be achieved, thus ensuring that the driver is always in the control loop, even if his/her role is limited to supervising the automatic logic. Currently, the driving mode most targeted by driving assistance systems is longitudinal driving. This is required in various driving conditions, among which car-following assumes key importance

Unsafe abortion in rural Tanzania ¿ the use of traditional medicine from a patient and a provider perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasch, Vibeke; Sørensen, Pernille H; Wang, Anna R

2014-01-01

BackgroundThe circumstances under which women obtain unsafe abortion vary and depend on the traditional methods known and the type of providers present. In rural Tanzania women often resort to traditional providers who use plant species as abortion remedies. Little is known about how these plants...

Children: a critical link for changing driving behaviour

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Brien, C. [York Univ., Toronto, ON (Canada)

2001-08-01

Sustainable transportation is a pressing issue, according to Transport Canada, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, the Centre for Sustainable Transportation and several others. To meet Canada's commitment to reducing the carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2005, reducing the number of kilometres driven seems to be the only viable solution. Improving air quality by reducing the use of cars will lessen the negative impact in children. Some of the strategies proposed include compact, mixed-use communities, user fees, increased use of public transit are combined with a requirement for greater public education and awareness. Several studies have demonstrated that increased knowledge of an issue alone does not lead to changes in behaviour. One strategy recommended is called social marketing, by fostering changes in norms, providing prompts, obtaining public commitments and the removal of barriers. Raising the profile of children in sustainable transportation makes parents more receptive to information about child-friendly transportation. Some of the impacts of cars on children are: traffic fatalities, less than 50 per cent of children now walk to school, the average physical activity guidelines for children are not met in two thirds of children, obesity, reduced independent mobility of children, emotional distress following an involvement in a traffic accident and more. Some programs such as Way to Go, Walking School Bus, and Active and Safe Routes to School have been implemented in many communities and were found to be successful and additional funding to these programs might be more efficient than conventional education programs to alter behaviour toward sustainable transportation. Get the children to influence their parents. 25 refs., 4 figs.

Bullying Victimization Type and Feeling Unsafe in Middle School.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowser, John; Larson, James D; Bellmore, Amy; Olson, Chelsea; Resnik, Felice

2018-01-01

Given their significance to school violence, this study quantifies the association between bullying victimization and perceptions of safety separately for victimization where the type is not specified versus victimization that is physical in nature. Generalized liner mixed modeling was employed with 5,138 sixth- to eighth-grade students in 24 schools who self-reported on their bullying victimization and perceptions of school safety on an anonymous survey in fall 2015. Results indicate a multiplicative interaction exists with regard to the odds of feeling unsafe at school among those who were bullied at all (odds ratio [ OR] = 3.1) compared to those who were bullied physically ( OR = 9.12). For school nurses who work with students with a variety of concerns and health issues, this research indicates that the use of bullying victimization as an outcome, proxy and/or predictor, requires inquiry into the type of bullying experienced to aid in the care and support received.

Drinking and driving and other risk taking behaviors among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study assesses the relationship between drinking and driving and other risk taking behaviours among university students in Limpopo, South Africa aged 17 to 24 years old. A purposive sample of 111 undergraduate university student drivers participated in the study after they had consented to participate. More than ...

The effects of using a portable music player on simulated driving performance and task-sharing strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Kristie L; Mitsopoulos-Rubens, Eve; Rudin-Brown, Christina M; Lenné, Michael G

2012-07-01

This study examined the effects of performing scrollable music selection tasks using a portable music player (iPod Touch™) on simulated driving performance and task-sharing strategies, as evidenced through eye glance behaviour and secondary task performance. A total of 37 drivers (18-48 yrs) completed the PC-based MUARC Driver Distraction Test (DDT) while performing music selection tasks on an iPod Touch. Drivers' eye glance behaviour was examined using faceLAB eye tracking equipment. Results revealed that performing music search tasks while driving increased the amount of time that drivers spent with their eyes off the roadway and decreased their ability to maintain a constant lane position and time headway from a lead vehicle. There was also evidence, however, that drivers attempted to regulate their behaviour when distracted by decreasing their speed and taking a large number of short glances towards the device. Overall, results suggest that performing music search tasks while driving is problematic and steps to prohibit this activity should be taken. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

An Extended Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour to Predict the Usage Intention of the Electric Car: A Multi-Group Comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Moons

2015-05-01

Full Text Available An Extended Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB is developed that integrates emotions towards car driving and electric cars as well as car driving habits of the DTPB, and is empirically validated in a Belgian sample (n = 1023. Multi-group comparisons explore how the determinants of usage intention are different between groups of consumers differing in environmentally-friendly behaviour, environmental concern, innovativeness and personal values. Besides attitudes, media, perceived complexity, compatibility and relative advantage, emotions towards the electric car and reflective emotions towards car driving have a strong effect on usage intention. Car driving habits and perceived behavioural control (facilitators and constraints do not substantially affect usage intention. Only people differing in personal values show a different motivational structure for a number of important drivers of usage intention.

The development, factor structure and psychometric properties of driving self-regulation scales for older adults: Has self-regulation evolved in the last 15 years?

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Ides Y; Smith, Simon S; Sullivan, Karen A

2015-07-01

The term driving self-regulation is typically used to describe the practice of drivers who avoid driving in situations that they regard as unsafe because of perceived physical impairment. Older adults report using this strategy to improve safety while retaining mobility. Self-regulation is typically assessed using the driving avoidance items from the driving habits questionnaire (DHQ) and the driver mobility questionnaire (DMQ-A). However, the psychometric properties of these measures are not well understood. Using data from 277 older drivers, exploratory factor analysis was used to test the homogeneity of three driving self-regulation scales: the DHQ, DMQ-A, and an extended DMQ-A. Good internal consistency for each of the scales was identified (all αs≥.9). A one factor solution was identified for two of the measures (DHQ, DMQ-A) and a two factor solution accounting for over 70% of the score variance was identified for the third measure. The two factors assessed situations that may be avoided while driving because of the "external" (e.g., weather-related) or "internal" (e.g., passenger-related) driving environments, respectively. The findings suggest that the interpretation of an overall summated scale score, or single-item interpretations, may not be appropriate. Instead, driving self-regulation may be a multifaceted construct comprised of distinct dimensions that have not been identified previously but can be reliably measured. These data have implications for our understanding of driving self-regulation by older adults and the way in which this behavior is measured. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dating Violence Victimization Among High School Students in Minnesota: Associations With Family Violence, Unsafe Schools, and Resources for Support.

Science.gov (United States)

Earnest, Alicia A; Brady, Sonya S

2016-02-01

The present study examines whether being a victim of violence by an adult in the household, witnessing intra-familial physical violence, and feeling unsafe at school are associated with physical dating violence victimization. It also examines whether extracurricular activity involvement and perceived care by parents, teachers, and friends attenuate those relationships, consistent with a stress-buffering model. Participants were 75,590 ninth-and twelfth-grade students (51% female, 77% White, 24% receiving free/reduced price lunch) who completed the 2010 Minnesota Student Survey. Overall, 8.5% of students reported being victims of dating violence. Significant differences were found by gender, grade, ethnicity, and free/reduced price lunch status. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that being a victim of violence by an adult in the household, witnessing intra-familial physical violence, feeling unsafe at school, and low perceived care by parents were strongly associated with dating violence victimization. Associations of moderate strength were found for low perceived care by teachers and friends. Little to no extracurricular activity involvement was weakly associated with dating violence victimization. Attenuating effects of perceived care and extracurricular activity involvement on associations between risk factors (victimization by a family adult, witnessing intra-familial violence, feeling unsafe at school) and dating violence victimization were smaller in magnitude than main effects. Findings are thus more consistent with an additive model of risk and protective factors in relation to dating violence victimization than a stress-buffering model. Health promotion efforts should attempt to minimize family violence exposure, create safer school environments, and encourage parental involvement and support. © The Author(s) 2014.

Green Eco-Driving Effects in Non-Congested Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Francisco Coloma

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Despite technological advances in engines and fuels, the transportation sector is still one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG. Driving patterns, including eco-driving techniques, are a complementary measure for saving GHG emissions. Most eco-driving studies so far have been conducted in large cities suffering chronic congestion problems. The aim of this research is therefore to analyse the potential of driver behaviour for reducing emissions in a small non-congested city. Driver performance parameters such as travel speeds, number of stops, revolutions per minute, and maximum acceleration-deceleration are also studied. The methodology is designed to measure the effect of both eco-driving and eco-routing under real traffic conditions. A campaign was carried out in the city of Caceres (Spain to collect data on various types of roads under different traffic conditions. This research concludes that eco-driving leads to CO2 savings on all routes and road types of 17% in gasoline engines and 21% in diesel, although travel times are increased by 7.5% on average. The shortest route is also the most ecological, regardless of the traffic volume and characteristics, implying that consumption in non-congested cities depends mainly on distance travelled rather than driving patterns in terms of number of stops, speed and acceleration.

Stress-related psychosocial factors at work, fatigue, and risky driving behavior in bus rapid transport (BRT) drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Useche, Sergio A; Ortiz, Viviola Gómez; Cendales, Boris E

2017-07-01

There is consistent scientific evidence that professional drivers constitute an occupational group that is highly exposed to work related stressors. Furthermore, several recent studies associate work stress and fatigue with unsafe and counterproductive work behaviors. This study examines the association between stress-related work conditions of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) drivers and risky driving behaviors; and examines whether fatigue is a mechanism that mediates the association between the two. A sample of 524 male Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operators were drawn from four transport companies in Bogotá, Colombia. The participants answered a survey which included an adapted version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) for BRT operators, as well as the Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Content Questionnaires, the Subjective Fatigue subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) and the Need for Recovery after Work Scale (NFR). Utilizing Structural Equation Models (SEM) it was found that risky driving behaviors in BRT operators could be predicted through job strain, effort-reward imbalance and social support at work. It was also found that fatigue and need for recovery fully mediate the associations between job strain and risky driving, and between social support and risky driving, but not the association between effort/reward imbalance (ERI) and risky driving. The results of this study suggest that a) stress related working conditions (Job Strain, Social Support and ERI) are relevant predictors of risky driving in BRT operators, and b) that fatigue is the mechanism which links another kind of stress related to working conditions (job strain and low social support) with risky driving. The mechanism by which ERI increases risky driving in BRT operators remains unexplained. This research suggests that in addition to the individual centered stress-reduction occupational programs, fatigue management interventions aimed to changing some working conditions may reduce

Proceedings of the driving safety technology forum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

This one day forum focused on improving driving safety in the petroleum industry by introducing new technologies and strategies. The forum featured several keynote addresses on driving safety as well as the Government of Alberta's Tactical Plan and Alberta Road Safety at Work Strategy. Presentations consisted of success stories of new technology or process applications or proposed technology demonstration projects followed by question and answer panels around the following topics: industry and government strategies; driver fatigue management and prevention; driver behaviour and culture change; vehicle monitoring systems and innovative wildlife avoidance techniques. Specific presentations addressed BP's driving safety strategy, in-cabin air quality and truck drivers' health and safety and how Talisman Energy implemented oilfield fleet safety using event driven automated vehicle location technologies. A total of 3 keynote addresses, 3 panel question and answer sessions and 11 presentations were presented at the conference, of which 3 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.

Generating Geospatially Realistic Driving Patterns Derived From Clustering Analysis Of Real EV Driving Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Anders Bro; Aabrandt, Andreas; Østergaard, Jacob

2014-01-01

In order to provide a vehicle fleet that realistically represents the predicted Electric Vehicle (EV) penetration for the future, a model is required that mimics people driving behaviour rather than simply playing back collected data. When the focus is broadened from on a traditional user...... scales, which calls for a statistically correct, yet flexible model. This paper describes a method for modelling EV, based on non-categorized data, which takes into account the plug in locations of the vehicles. By using clustering analysis to extrapolate and classify the primary locations where...

Linking roadside communication and intelligent cruise control ; effects on driving behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hogema, J.H.; Horst, A.R.A. van der; Janssen, W.H.

1995-01-01

This paper describes a driving simulator experiment in which an Intelligenr Cruise Control (ICC) was combined with short-range communication (SRC) with the road side. This offers the possibility to obtain in-car preview information about relevant conditions on the road ahead. ICCs studied varied in

Investigating personal, cognitive and organizational variables as predictors of unsafe behaviors among line workers in an industrial company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Neissi

2013-08-01

 .Conclusion: The results of this study showed the importance of safety competency, prevention focus, safety rules and procedures, safety efficiency and consciousness as predictors of unsafe work behaviors. Therefore, it is recommended to rely on these variables in the safety training courses and also in selecting people for high risk environments.

Teen Drivers’ Perceptions of Inattention and Cell Phone Use While Driving

Science.gov (United States)

Sommers, Marilyn S.

2015-01-01

behaviors, although some still drew attention away from the roadway. Conclusions Cell phone use while driving is a contributor to motor vehicle crashes in teens and effective interventions to decrease risks are needed. Teens viewed some types of cell phone use as unsafe and describe methods in which they control their behaviors. However, some of their methods still take attention off the primary task of driving. Teens could benefit from behavior change interventions that propose strategies to promote focused attention on the roadway at all times during the driving trip. PMID:26436243

Minoxidil topical solution: an unsafe product for children.

Science.gov (United States)

Claudet, Isabelle; Cortey, Caroline; Honorat, Raphaele; Franchitto, Nicolas

2015-01-01

Minoxidil hair formulation is commonly used for the treatment of male or female androgenic alopecia. This over-the-counter product is wrongly considered safe. The ingestion of a few milliliters by a child can lead to significant intoxication. We report a case of significant intoxication after the ingestion of topical minoxidil (Alopexy; Pierre Fabre Laboratoires, SA, Switzerland). A 7-year-old girl, who accidentally ingested a teaspoon of minoxidil hair solution, presented to the pediatric emergency department for emesis. At admission, she had a blood pressure of 86/56 mm Hg and a pulse of 149 beats per minute. Hypotension lasted 40 hours with the lowest value 24 hours after ingestion (79/33 mm Hg). She presented electrocardiogram changes (sinus tachycardia and flattening T-waves) but normal cardiac enzymes. Infusion of 20 mL/kg of normal saline fluid had no hemodynamic effect. Her blood pressure normalized on day 2. Minoxidil topical solution is an unsafe product for children. This formulation should be strictly kept out of reach of children and manufacturers should enhance child-resistance security of packaging. The over-the-counter availability must be questioned.

Mobile phone use while driving in a sample of Spanish university workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gras, M Eugenia; Cunill, Monica; Sullman, Mark J M; Planes, Montserrat; Aymerich, Maria; Font-Mayolas, Silvia

2007-03-01

A number of epidemiological studies have reported drivers who use a mobile phone while driving have an elevated risk of being involved in a crash. This is particularly concerning as a survey of drivers in the Spanish region of Catalunya found that approximately 87% own mobile phones. The present study investigated the reported frequency of mobile phone use on Spanish roads (for talking and using SMS), the characteristics of the drivers who use mobile phones while driving and whether they altered their driving behaviour when using a mobile phone. The research found that more than 60% use a mobile phone while driving and that the phone is mostly used for making calls, rather than using SMS. In general, males and females use mobile phones about the same reported frequency, although males were more likely to use a mobile phone to talk on the highway. The pattern for age was the same for both male and female participants, with the younger drivers using SMS more frequently than older drivers. On urban roads almost half of the drivers reported changing their driving behaviour when using a mobile phone, while on the highway this figure was slightly over 41%. The reported frequency of using a mobile phone to talk on urban roads was significantly correlated with crash involvement. However, this affect disappeared once the contributions of the demographic and descriptive variables had been partialled out.

The effect of varying levels of vehicle automation on drivers' lane changing behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Madigan, Ruth; Louw, Tyron; Merat, Natasha

2018-01-01

Much of the Human Factors research into vehicle automation has focused on driver responses to critical scenarios where a crash might occur. However, there is less knowledge about the effects of vehicle automation on drivers' behaviour during non-critical take-over situations, such as driver-initiated lane-changing or overtaking. The current driving simulator study, conducted as part of the EC-funded AdaptIVe project, addresses this issue. It uses a within-subjects design to compare drivers' lane-changing behaviour in conventional manual driving, partially automated driving (PAD) and conditionally automated driving (CAD). In PAD, drivers were required to re-take control from an automated driving system in order to overtake a slow moving vehicle, while in CAD, the driver used the indicator lever to initiate a system-performed overtaking manoeuvre. Results showed that while drivers' acceptance of both the PAD and CAD systems was high, they generally preferred CAD. A comparison of overtaking positions showed that drivers initiated overtaking manoeuvres slightly later in PAD than in manual driving or CAD. In addition, when compared to conventional driving, drivers had higher deviations in lane positioning and speed, along with higher lateral accelerations during lane changes following PAD. These results indicate that even in situations which are not time-critical, drivers' vehicle control after automation is degraded compared to conventional driving.

The effect of varying levels of vehicle automation on drivers’ lane changing behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Louw, Tyron; Merat, Natasha

2018-01-01

Much of the Human Factors research into vehicle automation has focused on driver responses to critical scenarios where a crash might occur. However, there is less knowledge about the effects of vehicle automation on drivers’ behaviour during non-critical take-over situations, such as driver-initiated lane-changing or overtaking. The current driving simulator study, conducted as part of the EC-funded AdaptIVe project, addresses this issue. It uses a within-subjects design to compare drivers’ lane-changing behaviour in conventional manual driving, partially automated driving (PAD) and conditionally automated driving (CAD). In PAD, drivers were required to re-take control from an automated driving system in order to overtake a slow moving vehicle, while in CAD, the driver used the indicator lever to initiate a system-performed overtaking manoeuvre. Results showed that while drivers’ acceptance of both the PAD and CAD systems was high, they generally preferred CAD. A comparison of overtaking positions showed that drivers initiated overtaking manoeuvres slightly later in PAD than in manual driving or CAD. In addition, when compared to conventional driving, drivers had higher deviations in lane positioning and speed, along with higher lateral accelerations during lane changes following PAD. These results indicate that even in situations which are not time-critical, drivers’ vehicle control after automation is degraded compared to conventional driving. PMID:29466402

The effect of varying levels of vehicle automation on drivers' lane changing behaviour.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth Madigan

Full Text Available Much of the Human Factors research into vehicle automation has focused on driver responses to critical scenarios where a crash might occur. However, there is less knowledge about the effects of vehicle automation on drivers' behaviour during non-critical take-over situations, such as driver-initiated lane-changing or overtaking. The current driving simulator study, conducted as part of the EC-funded AdaptIVe project, addresses this issue. It uses a within-subjects design to compare drivers' lane-changing behaviour in conventional manual driving, partially automated driving (PAD and conditionally automated driving (CAD. In PAD, drivers were required to re-take control from an automated driving system in order to overtake a slow moving vehicle, while in CAD, the driver used the indicator lever to initiate a system-performed overtaking manoeuvre. Results showed that while drivers' acceptance of both the PAD and CAD systems was high, they generally preferred CAD. A comparison of overtaking positions showed that drivers initiated overtaking manoeuvres slightly later in PAD than in manual driving or CAD. In addition, when compared to conventional driving, drivers had higher deviations in lane positioning and speed, along with higher lateral accelerations during lane changes following PAD. These results indicate that even in situations which are not time-critical, drivers' vehicle control after automation is degraded compared to conventional driving.

Estimating the number of secondary Ebola cases resulting from an unsafe burial and risk factors for transmission during the West Africa Ebola epidemic.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amanda Tiffany

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Safely burying Ebola infected individuals is acknowledged to be important for controlling Ebola epidemics and was a major component of the 2013-2016 West Africa Ebola response. Yet, in order to understand the impact of safe burial programs it is necessary to elucidate the role of unsafe burials in sustaining chains of Ebola transmission and how the risk posed by activities surrounding unsafe burials, including care provided at home prior to death, vary with human behavior and geography.Interviews with next of kin and community members were carried out for unsafe burials in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, in six districts where the Red Cross was responsible for safe and dignified burials (SDB. Districts were randomly selected from a district-specific sampling frame comprised of villages and neighborhoods that had experienced cases of Ebola. An average of 2.58 secondary cases were potentially generated per unsafe burial and varied by district (range: 0-20. Contact before and after death was reported for 142 (46% contacts. Caregivers of a primary case were 2.63 to 5.92 times more likely to become EVD infected compared to those with post-mortem contact only. Using these estimates, the Red Cross SDB program potentially averted between 1,411 and 10,452 secondary EVD cases, reducing the epidemic by 4.9% to 36.5%.SDB is a fundamental control measure that limits community transmission of Ebola; however, for those individuals having contact before and after death, it was impossible to ascertain the exposure that caused their infection. The number of infections prevented through SDB is significant, yet greater impact would be achieved by early hospitalization of the primary case during acute illness.

A new approach to assessing self-regulation by older drivers : development and testing of a questionnaire instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-01

Appropriate self-regulation of driving; that is, adjusting ones driving patterns by driving less or avoiding specific : situations in which one feels unsafe or uncomfortable, shows considerable promise as a strategy for compensating for : function...

Comparing treatment effects of oral THC on simulated and on-the-road driving performance: testing the validity of driving simulator drug research.

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Veldstra, J L; Bosker, W M; de Waard, D; Ramaekers, J G; Brookhuis, K A

2015-08-01

The driving simulator provides a safe and controlled environment for testing driving behaviour efficiently. The question is whether it is sensitive to detect drug-induced effects. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate the sensitivity of the driving simulator for detecting drug effects. As a case in point, we investigated the dose-related effects of oral ∆(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), i.e. dronabinol, on simulator and on-the-road driving performance in equally demanding driving tasks. Twenty-four experienced driver participants were treated with dronabinol (Marinol®; 10 and 20 mg) and placebo. Dose-related effects of the drug on the ability to keep a vehicle in lane (weaving) and to follow the speed changes of a lead car (car following) were compared within subjects for on-the-road versus in-simulator driving. Additionally, the outcomes of equivalence testing to alcohol-induced effects were investigated. Treatment effects found on weaving when driving in the simulator were comparable to treatment effects found when driving on the road. The effect after 10 mg dronabinol was however less strong in the simulator than on the road and inter-individual variance seemed higher in the simulator. There was, however, a differential treatment effect of dronabinol on reactions to speed changes of a lead car (car following) when driving on the road versus when driving in the simulator. The driving simulator was proven to be sensitive for demonstrating dronabinol-induced effects particularly at higher doses. Treatment effects of dronabinol on weaving were comparable with driving on the road but inter-individual variability seemed higher in the simulator than on the road which may have potential effects on the clinical inferences made from simulator driving. Car following on the road and in the simulator were, however, not comparable.

Preventing unsafe abortion and limiting its consequences: what can be done?

Science.gov (United States)

Misago, C

1994-12-01

The continued illegality of induced abortion in Latin America has led to substantial, preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. The first strategy for preventing unsafe clandestine abortion is to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancy through measures such as improved access to effective contraception, post-abortion family planning counseling, health education campaigns aimed at promoting condom use among young people, involvement of men in family planning decision making, biomedical research on safer and more effective male and female contraceptive methods, and empowering women to demand the use of condoms or avoid unwanted intercourse. The second strategy is to reduce abortion-related mortality and morbidity through more effective clinical management of incomplete illegal abortions, introduction of menstrual regulation services, formation of women's solidarity groups aimed at discouraging the practice of self-induced abortion, and, ultimately, abortion legalization.

A New Approach to Assessing Self-Regulation by Older Drivers: Development and Testing of a Questionnaire Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-01

Appropriate self-regulation of driving; that is, adjusting ones driving patterns by driving less or avoiding specific situations in which one feels unsafe or uncomfortable, shows considerable promise as a strategy for compensating for functional d...

Occupational driver safety: conceptualising a leadership-based intervention to improve safe driving performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Newnam, Sharon; Lewis, Ioni; Watson, Barry

2012-03-01

Occupational driving crashes are the most common cause of death and injury in the workplace. The physical and psychological outcomes following injury are also very costly to organizations. Thus, safe driving poses a managerial challenge. Some research has attempted to address this issue through modifying discrete and often simple target behaviours (e.g., driver training programs). However, current intervention approaches in the occupational driving field generally consider the role of organizational factors in workplace safety. This study adopts the A-B-C framework to identify the contingencies associated with an effective exchange of safety information within the occupational driving context. Utilizing a sample of occupational drivers and their supervisors, this multi-level study examines the contingencies associated with the exchange of safety information within the supervisor-driver relationship. Safety values are identified as an antecedent of the safety information exchange, and the quality of the leader-member exchange relationship and safe driving performance is identified as the behavioural consequences. We also examine the function of role overload as a factor influencing the relationship between safety values and the safety information exchange. Hierarchical linear modelling found that role overload moderated the relationship between supervisors' perceptions of the value given to safety and the safety information exchange. A significant relationship was also found between the safety information exchange and the subsequent quality of the leader-member exchange relationship. Finally, the quality of the leader-member exchange relationship was found to be significantly associated with safe driving performance. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anthropogenic noise pollution from pile-driving disrupts the structure and dynamics of fish shoals.

Science.gov (United States)

Herbert-Read, James E; Kremer, Louise; Bruintjes, Rick; Radford, Andrew N; Ioannou, Christos C

2017-09-27

Noise produced from a variety of human activities can affect the physiology and behaviour of individual animals, but whether noise disrupts the social behaviour of animals is largely unknown. Animal groups such as flocks of birds or shoals of fish use simple interaction rules to coordinate their movements with near neighbours. In turn, this coordination allows individuals to gain the benefits of group living such as reduced predation risk and social information exchange. Noise could change how individuals interact in groups if noise is perceived as a threat, or if it masked, distracted or stressed individuals, and this could have impacts on the benefits of grouping. Here, we recorded trajectories of individual juvenile seabass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) in groups under controlled laboratory conditions. Groups were exposed to playbacks of either ambient background sound recorded in their natural habitat, or playbacks of pile-driving, commonly used in marine construction. The pile-driving playback affected the structure and dynamics of the fish shoals significantly more than the ambient-sound playback. Compared to the ambient-sound playback, groups experiencing the pile-driving playback became less cohesive, less directionally ordered, and were less correlated in speed and directional changes. In effect, the additional-noise treatment disrupted the abilities of individuals to coordinate their movements with one another. Our work highlights the potential for noise pollution from pile-driving to disrupt the collective dynamics of fish shoals, which could have implications for the functional benefits of a group's collective behaviour. © 2017 The Authors.

A Review of Intelligent Driving Style Analysis Systems and Related Artificial Intelligence Algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Meiring, Gys Albertus Marthinus; Myburgh, Hermanus Carel

2015-12-04

In this paper the various driving style analysis solutions are investigated. An in-depth investigation is performed to identify the relevant machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms utilised in current driver behaviour and driving style analysis systems. This review therefore serves as a trove of information, and will inform the specialist and the student regarding the current state of the art in driver style analysis systems, the application of these systems and the underlying artificial intelligence algorithms applied to these applications. The aim of the investigation is to evaluate the possibilities for unique driver identification utilizing the approaches identified in other driver behaviour studies. It was found that Fuzzy Logic inference systems, Hidden Markov Models and Support Vector Machines consist of promising capabilities to address unique driver identification algorithms if model complexity can be reduced.

The potential benefits of naturalistic driving for road safety research : theoretical and empirical considerations and challenges for the future.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schagen, I.N.L.G. van & Sagberg, F.

2012-01-01

Naturalistic driving (ND) is a research method that provides insight in everyday driver behaviour. Typically, in an ND study vehicles are equipped with several small cameras and sensors, which continuously and inconspicuously register vehicle manoeuvres, driver behaviour, and external conditions.

Growing with Driving Leadership Style in School: A Case Study on Leadership of Finnish Elementary Schools in Tampere

Science.gov (United States)

Rajbhandari, Mani Man Singh

2012-01-01

"Driving leadership style" of the school leadership proclaims to be important in bringing about changes in behavioural aspect of the followers. The hallmark of driving leadership style illustrated the characteristic of teaming, toning, tasking, timing and transforming with realistic view to subjective approach. This allowed the…

Estimates of the Incidence of Induced Abortion And Consequences of Unsafe Abortion in Senegal

Science.gov (United States)

Sedgh, Gilda; Sylla, Amadou Hassane; Philbin, Jesse; Keogh, Sarah; Ndiaye, Salif

2015-01-01

CONTEXT Abortion is highly restricted by law in Senegal. Although women seek care for abortion complications, no national estimate of abortion incidence exists. METHODS Data on postabortion care and abortion in Senegal were collected in 2013 using surveys of a nationally representative sample of 168 health facilities that provide postabortion care and of 110 professionals knowledgeable about abortion service provision. Indirect estimation techniques were applied to the data to estimate the incidence of induced abortion in the country. Abortion rates and ratios were calculated for the nation and separately for the Dakar region and the rest of the country. The distribution of pregnancies by planning status and by outcome was estimated. RESULTS In 2012, an estimated 51,500 induced abortions were performed in Senegal, and 16,700 (32%) resulted in complications that were treated at health facilities. The estimated abortion rate was 17 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 and the abortion ratio was 10 per 100 live births. The rate was higher in Dakar (21 per 1,000) than in the rest of the country (16 per 1,000). Poor women were far more likely to experience abortion complications, and less likely to receive treatment for complications, than nonpoor women. About 31% of pregnancies were unintended, and 24% of unintended pregnancies (8% of all pregnancies) ended in abortion. CONCLUSIONS Unsafe abortion exacts a heavy toll on women in Senegal. Reducing the barriers to effective contraceptive use and ensuring access to postabortion care without the risk of legal consequences may reduce the incidence of and complications from unsafe abortion. PMID:25856233

Estimates of the incidence of induced abortion and consequences of unsafe abortion in Senegal.

Science.gov (United States)

Sedgh, Gilda; Sylla, Amadou Hassane; Philbin, Jesse; Keogh, Sarah; Ndiaye, Salif

2015-03-01

Abortion is highly restricted by law in Senegal. Although women seek care for abortion complications, no national estimate of abortion incidence exists. Data on postabortion care and abortion in Senegal were collected in 2013 using surveys of a nationally representative sample of 168 health facilities that provide postabortion care and of 110 professionals knowledgeable about abortion service provision. Indirect estimation techniques were applied to the data to estimate the incidence of induced abortion in the country. Abortion rates and ratios were calculated for the nation and separately for the Dakar region and the rest of the country. The distribution of pregnancies by planning status and by outcome was estimated. In 2012, an estimated 51,500 induced abortions were performed in Senegal, and 16,700 (32%) resulted in complications that were treated at health facilities. The estimated abortion rate was 17 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 and the abortion ratio was 10 per 100 live births. The rate was higher in Dakar (21 per 1,000) than in the rest of the country (16 per 1,000). Poor women were far more likely to experience abortion complications, and less likely to receive treatment for complications, than nonpoor women. About 31% of pregnancies were unintended, and 24% of unintended pregnancies (8% of all pregnancies) ended in abortion. Unsafe abortion exacts a heavy toll on women in Senegal. Reducing the barriers to effective contraceptive use and ensuring access to postabortion care without the risk of legal consequences may reduce the incidence of and complications from unsafe abortion.

Chaotic, informational and synchronous behaviour of multiplex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Baptista, M. S.; Szmoski, R. M.; Pereira, R. F.; Pinto, S. E. De Souza

2016-03-01

The understanding of the relationship between topology and behaviour in interconnected networks would allow to charac- terise and predict behaviour in many real complex networks since both are usually not simultaneously known. Most previous studies have focused on the relationship between topology and synchronisation. In this work, we provide analytical formulas that shows how topology drives complex behaviour: chaos, information, and weak or strong synchronisation; in multiplex net- works with constant Jacobian. We also study this relationship numerically in multiplex networks of Hindmarsh-Rose neurons. Whereas behaviour in the analytically tractable network is a direct but not trivial consequence of the spectra of eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix, where behaviour may strongly depend on the break of symmetry in the topology of interconnections, in Hindmarsh-Rose neural networks the nonlinear nature of the chemical synapses breaks the elegant mathematical connec- tion between the spectra of eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix and the behaviour of the network, creating networks whose behaviour strongly depends on the nature (chemical or electrical) of the inter synapses.

Medication impairing safe driving: knowledge, attitude and behaviour of consumers and patients.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vervloet, M.; Dijk, L. van

2007-01-01

Background: Promoting road safety is one of the aims of the Dutch road safety policy. The role of medication impairing safe driving (tranquilizers, sleep medication, tricyclic antidepressants and first generation antihistamines) in traffic accidents is underexposed and not well known. Previous

Pre-licensed driving experience and car crash involvement during the learner and restricted, licence stages of graduated driver licensing: Findings from the New Zealand drivers study.

Science.gov (United States)

Begg, Dorothy J; Langley, John D; Brookland, Rebecca L; Ameratunga, Shanthi; Gulliver, Pauline

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether pre-licence driving experiences, that is driving before beginning the licensing process, increased or decreased crash risk as a car driver, during the learner or the restricted licence stages of the graduated driver licensing system (GDLS). Study participants were 15-24 year old members of the New Zealand Drivers Study (NZDS) - a prospective cohort study of newly licensed car drivers. The interview stages of the NZDS are linked to, the three licensing stages of the GDLS: learner, restricted and full. Baseline demographic (age, ethnicity, residential location, deprivation), personality (impulsivity, sensation seeking, aggression) and, behavioural data, (including pre-licensed driving behaviour), were obtained at the learner licence interview. Data on distance driven and crashes that occurred at the learner licence and restricted licence stages, were reported at the restricted and full licence interviews, respectively. Crash data were also obtained from police traffic crash report files and this was combined with the self-reported crash data. The analysis of the learner licence stage crashes, when only supervised driving is allowed, was based on the participants who had passed the restricted licence test and undertaken the NZDS, restricted licence interview (n=2358). The analysis of the restricted licence stage crashes, when unsupervised driving is first allowed, was based on those who had passed the full licence test and completed the full licence interview (n=1428). After controlling for a range of demographic, personality, behavioural variables and distance driven, Poisson regression showed that the only pre-licence driving behaviour that showed a consistent relationship with subsequent crashes was on-road car driving which was associated with an increased risk of being the driver in a car crash during the learner licence period. This research showed that pre-licensed driving did not reduce crash risk among learner or

Sociotechnical attributes of safe and unsafe work systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleiner, Brian M; Hettinger, Lawrence J; DeJoy, David M; Huang, Yuang-Hsiang; Love, Peter E D

2015-01-01

Theoretical and practical approaches to safety based on sociotechnical systems principles place heavy emphasis on the intersections between social-organisational and technical-work process factors. Within this perspective, work system design emphasises factors such as the joint optimisation of social and technical processes, a focus on reliable human-system performance and safety metrics as design and analysis criteria, the maintenance of a realistic and consistent set of safety objectives and policies, and regular access to the expertise and input of workers. We discuss three current approaches to the analysis and design of complex sociotechnical systems: human-systems integration, macroergonomics and safety climate. Each approach emphasises key sociotechnical systems themes, and each prescribes a more holistic perspective on work systems than do traditional theories and methods. We contrast these perspectives with historical precedents such as system safety and traditional human factors and ergonomics, and describe potential future directions for their application in research and practice. The identification of factors that can reliably distinguish between safe and unsafe work systems is an important concern for ergonomists and other safety professionals. This paper presents a variety of sociotechnical systems perspectives on intersections between social--organisational and technology--work process factors as they impact work system analysis, design and operation.

Sociotechnical attributes of safe and unsafe work systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kleiner, Brian M.; Hettinger, Lawrence J.; DeJoy, David M.; Huang, Yuang-Hsiang; Love, Peter E.D.

2015-01-01

Theoretical and practical approaches to safety based on sociotechnical systems principles place heavy emphasis on the intersections between social–organisational and technical–work process factors. Within this perspective, work system design emphasises factors such as the joint optimisation of social and technical processes, a focus on reliable human–system performance and safety metrics as design and analysis criteria, the maintenance of a realistic and consistent set of safety objectives and policies, and regular access to the expertise and input of workers. We discuss three current approaches to the analysis and design of complex sociotechnical systems: human–systems integration, macroergonomics and safety climate. Each approach emphasises key sociotechnical systems themes, and each prescribes a more holistic perspective on work systems than do traditional theories and methods. We contrast these perspectives with historical precedents such as system safety and traditional human factors and ergonomics, and describe potential future directions for their application in research and practice. Practitioner Summary: The identification of factors that can reliably distinguish between safe and unsafe work systems is an important concern for ergonomists and other safety professionals. This paper presents a variety of sociotechnical systems perspectives on intersections between social–organisational and technology–work process factors as they impact work system analysis, design and operation. PMID:25909756

Association between firearm ownership, firearm-related risk and risk reduction behaviours and alcohol-related risk behaviours.

Science.gov (United States)

Wintemute, Garen J

2011-12-01

Alcohol use and firearm ownership are risk factors for violent injury and death. To determine whether firearm ownership and specific firearm-related behaviours are associated with alcohol-related risk behaviours, the author conducted a cross-sectional study using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for eight states in the USA from 1996 to 1997 (the most recent data available). Altogether, 15 474 respondents provided information on firearm exposure. After adjustment for demographics and state of residence, firearm owners were more likely than those with no firearms at home to have ≥5 drinks on one occasion (OR 1.32; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.50), to drink and drive (OR 1.79; 95% CI 1.34 to 2.39) and to have ≥60 drinks per month (OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.14 to 1.83). Heavy alcohol use was most common among firearm owners who also engaged in behaviours such as carrying a firearm for protection against other people and keeping a firearm at home that was both loaded and not locked away. The author concludes that firearm ownership and specific firearm-related behaviours are associated with alcohol-related risk behaviours.

Systematic mapping review of the factors influencing dietary behaviour in ethnic minority groups living in Europe: a DEDIPAC study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osei-Kwasi, Hibbah Araba; Nicolaou, Mary; Powell, Katie; Terragni, Laura; Maes, Lea; Stronks, Karien; Lien, Nanna; Holdsworth, Michelle

2016-01-01

Europe has a growing population of ethnic minority groups whose dietary behaviours are potentially of public health concern. To promote healthier diets, the factors driving dietary behaviours need to be understood. This review mapped the broad range of factors influencing dietary behaviour among

The role of interpersonal communication in preventing unsafe abortion in communities: the dialogues for life project in Nepal.

Science.gov (United States)

Bingham, Allison; Drake, Jennifer Kidwell; Goodyear, Lorelei; Gopinath, C Y; Kaufman, Anne; Bhattarai, Sanju

2011-03-01

Legal, procedural, and institutional restrictions on safe abortion services-such as laws forbidding the practice or policies preventing donors from supporting groups who provide legal services-remain a major access barrier for women worldwide. However, even when abortion services are legal, women face social and cultural barriers to accessing safe abortion services and preventing unwanted pregnancy. Interpersonal communication interventions play an important role in overcoming these obstacles, including as part of broad educational- and behavioral-change efforts. This article presents results from an interpersonal communication behavior change pilot intervention, Dialogues for Life, undertaken in Nepal from 2004 to 2006, after abortion was legalized in 2002. The project aimed to encourage and enable women to prevent unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions and was driven by dialogue groups and select community events. The authors' results confirm that a dialogue-based interpersonal communication intervention can help change behavior and that this method is feasible in a low-resource, low-literacy setting. Dialogue groups play a key role in addressing sensitive and stigmatizing health issues such as unsafe abortion and in empowering women to negotiate for the social support they need when making decisions about their health.

On the road again after traumatic brain injury: driver safety and behaviour following on-road assessment and rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Pamela; Ponsford, Jennie L; Di Stefano, Marilyn; Charlton, Judith; Spitz, Gershon

2016-01-01

To examine pre- and post-injury self-reported driver behaviour and safety in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who returned to driving after occupational therapy driver assessment and on-road rehabilitation. A self-report questionnaire, administered at an average of 4.5 years after completing an on-road driver assessment, documenting pre- and post-injury crash rates, near-crashes, frequency of driving, distances driven, driving conditions avoided and navigation skills, was completed by 106 participants, who had either passed the initial driver assessment (pass group n = 74), or required driver rehabilitation, prior to subsequent assessments (rehabilitation group n = 32). No significant difference was found between pre- and post-injury crash rates. Compared to pre-injury, 36.8% of drivers reported limiting driving time, 40.6% drove more slowly, 41.5% reported greater difficulty with navigating and 20.0% reported more near-crashes. The rehabilitation group (with greater injury severity) was significantly more likely to drive less frequently, shorter distances, avoid: driving with passengers, busy traffic, night and freeway driving than the pass group. Many drivers with moderate/severe TBI who completed a driver assessment and rehabilitation program at least 3 months post-injury, reported modifying their driving behaviour, and did not report more crashes compared to pre-injury. On-road driver training and training in navigation may be important interventions in driver rehabilitation programs. Driver assessment and on-road retraining are important aspects of rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury. Many drivers with moderate/severe TBI, reported modifying their driving behaviour to compensate for ongoing impairment and continued to drive safely in the longer term. Navigational difficulties were commonly experienced following TBI, suggesting that training in navigation may be an important aspect of driver rehabilitation.

A Review of Intelligent Driving Style Analysis Systems and Related Artificial Intelligence Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gys Albertus Marthinus Meiring

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper the various driving style analysis solutions are investigated. An in-depth investigation is performed to identify the relevant machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms utilised in current driver behaviour and driving style analysis systems. This review therefore serves as a trove of information, and will inform the specialist and the student regarding the current state of the art in driver style analysis systems, the application of these systems and the underlying artificial intelligence algorithms applied to these applications. The aim of the investigation is to evaluate the possibilities for unique driver identification utilizing the approaches identified in other driver behaviour studies. It was found that Fuzzy Logic inference systems, Hidden Markov Models and Support Vector Machines consist of promising capabilities to address unique driver identification algorithms if model complexity can be reduced.

Cell phone conversing while driving in New Zealand: prevalence, risk perception and legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallett, Charlene; Lambert, Anthony; Regan, Michael A

2011-05-01

This study investigated (i) the prevalence of conversing on a cell phone while driving in New Zealand, (ii) respondents' perception of risk regarding this behaviour and (iii) attitudes towards legislation banning cell phone use while driving. In addition, the study examined the association between the prevalence of conversing on a cell phone and risk perception. Anonymous, self-reported, survey data was collected via the internet from 1057 drivers nationwide regarding the frequency of conversing on a cell phone, including hands-free and hand-held conversing, risk perception, views on legislation, and demographic information. A positive relationship was found between the frequency of conversing on a cell phone and risk perception; that is, as the frequency of conversing on a cell phone increased, the perceived risk of this behaviour decreased. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maternal conceptions of the parenting role and mother-child collaborative behaviours in at-risk context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodriguez, G.; Rodrigo Lopez, M.J.; Janssens, J.M.A.M.; Triana, B.

2011-01-01

This study investigated to what extent mothers' conceptions of the parenting role drive mother–child collaborative behaviour as well as expert ratings on maternal practices. It also investigated whether there is any direct link between mother and child behaviours and expert ratings. Self-report

Gender roles, sex and the expression of driving anger.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullman, M J M; Paxion, J; Stephens, A N

2017-09-01

The present study investigated the validity of the 25-item Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX) as well as the role of sex and gender-roles in relation to the expression of driving anger in a sample of 378 French drivers (males=38%, M=32.9years old). Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the four-factor structure of the 25-item DAX (Adaptive/Constructive Expression; Use of the Vehicle to Express Anger; Verbal Aggressive Expression and Personal Physical Aggressive Expression) and two of the three aggressive factors were found to have significant positive relationships with driving anger, while adaptive/constructive expression was negatively related to driving anger. Use of the vehicle to express anger was not significantly related to crash involvement, but was significantly related to all other crash-related conditions (traffic tickets, loss of concentration, loss of control of the vehicle, near crash). The presence of feminine traits, but not sex, was predictive of adaptive/constructive behaviours, while masculine traits predicted more frequent verbal aggressive expression, use of the vehicle to express anger, personal physical aggressive expression and total aggressive expression. This finding may account for the inconsistent relationship found between driving anger and sex in previous research. This research also found that the 25-item DAX is a valid tool to measure the expression of driving anger and that the endorsement of masculine traits are related to more aggressive forms of driving anger expression. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why Do Drivers Use Mobile Phones While Driving? The Contribution of Compensatory Beliefs

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Ronggang; Yu, Mengli; Wang, Xinyi

2016-01-01

The current study is the first to investigate the contribution of compensatory beliefs (i.e., the belief that the negative effects of an unsafe behavior can be "neutralized" by engaging in another safe behavior; e.g., "I can use a mobile phone now because I will slow down ") on drivers’ mobile phone use while driving. The effects of drivers’ personal characteristics on compensatory beliefs, mobile phone use and self-regulatory behaviors were also examined. A series of questions were administered to drivers, which included (1) personal measures, (2) scales that measured compensatory beliefs generally in substance use and with regard to driving safety, and (3) questions to measure drivers’ previous primary mobile phone usage and corresponding self-regulatory actions. Overall, drivers reported a low likelihood of compensatory beliefs, prior mobile phone use, and a strong frequency of self-regulatory behaviors. Respondents who had a higher tendency toward compensatory beliefs reported more incidents or crash involvement caused by making or answering calls and sending or reading messages. The findings provide strong support for the contribution of compensatory beliefs in predicting mobile phone usage in the context of driving. Compensatory beliefs can explain 41% and 43% of the variance in the active activities of making calls and texting/sending messages compared with 18% and 31% of the variance in the passive activities of answering calls and reading messages. Among the regression models for predicting self-regulatory behaviors at the tactical or operational level, compensatory beliefs emerge as significant predictors only in predicting shorter conversations while on a call. The findings and limitations of the current study are discussed. PMID:27494524

Why Do Drivers Use Mobile Phones While Driving? The Contribution of Compensatory Beliefs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronggang Zhou

Full Text Available The current study is the first to investigate the contribution of compensatory beliefs (i.e., the belief that the negative effects of an unsafe behavior can be "neutralized" by engaging in another safe behavior; e.g., "I can use a mobile phone now because I will slow down " on drivers' mobile phone use while driving. The effects of drivers' personal characteristics on compensatory beliefs, mobile phone use and self-regulatory behaviors were also examined. A series of questions were administered to drivers, which included (1 personal measures, (2 scales that measured compensatory beliefs generally in substance use and with regard to driving safety, and (3 questions to measure drivers' previous primary mobile phone usage and corresponding self-regulatory actions. Overall, drivers reported a low likelihood of compensatory beliefs, prior mobile phone use, and a strong frequency of self-regulatory behaviors. Respondents who had a higher tendency toward compensatory beliefs reported more incidents or crash involvement caused by making or answering calls and sending or reading messages. The findings provide strong support for the contribution of compensatory beliefs in predicting mobile phone usage in the context of driving. Compensatory beliefs can explain 41% and 43% of the variance in the active activities of making calls and texting/sending messages compared with 18% and 31% of the variance in the passive activities of answering calls and reading messages. Among the regression models for predicting self-regulatory behaviors at the tactical or operational level, compensatory beliefs emerge as significant predictors only in predicting shorter conversations while on a call. The findings and limitations of the current study are discussed.

Why Do Drivers Use Mobile Phones While Driving? The Contribution of Compensatory Beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Ronggang; Yu, Mengli; Wang, Xinyi

2016-01-01

The current study is the first to investigate the contribution of compensatory beliefs (i.e., the belief that the negative effects of an unsafe behavior can be "neutralized" by engaging in another safe behavior; e.g., "I can use a mobile phone now because I will slow down ") on drivers' mobile phone use while driving. The effects of drivers' personal characteristics on compensatory beliefs, mobile phone use and self-regulatory behaviors were also examined. A series of questions were administered to drivers, which included (1) personal measures, (2) scales that measured compensatory beliefs generally in substance use and with regard to driving safety, and (3) questions to measure drivers' previous primary mobile phone usage and corresponding self-regulatory actions. Overall, drivers reported a low likelihood of compensatory beliefs, prior mobile phone use, and a strong frequency of self-regulatory behaviors. Respondents who had a higher tendency toward compensatory beliefs reported more incidents or crash involvement caused by making or answering calls and sending or reading messages. The findings provide strong support for the contribution of compensatory beliefs in predicting mobile phone usage in the context of driving. Compensatory beliefs can explain 41% and 43% of the variance in the active activities of making calls and texting/sending messages compared with 18% and 31% of the variance in the passive activities of answering calls and reading messages. Among the regression models for predicting self-regulatory behaviors at the tactical or operational level, compensatory beliefs emerge as significant predictors only in predicting shorter conversations while on a call. The findings and limitations of the current study are discussed.

Impact of social and technological distraction on pedestrian crossing behaviour: an observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Leah L; Rivara, Frederick P; Ayyagari, Rajiv C; Ebel, Beth E

2013-08-01

The objective of the present work was to study the impact of technological and social distraction on cautionary behaviours and crossing times in pedestrians. Pedestrians were observed at 20 high-risk intersections during 1 of 3 randomly assigned time windows in 2012. Observers recorded demographic and behavioural information, including use of a mobile device (talking on the phone, text messaging, or listening to music). We examined the association between distraction and crossing behaviours, adjusting for age and gender. All multivariate analyses were conducted with random effect logistic regression (binary outcomes) and random effect linear regression (continuous outcomes), accounting for clustering by site. Observers recorded crossing behaviours for 1102 pedestrians. Nearly one-third (29.8%) of all pedestrians performed a distracting activity while crossing. Distractions included listening to music (11.2%), text messaging (7.3%) and using a handheld phone (6.2%). Text messaging, mobile phone use and talking with a companion increased crossing time. Texting pedestrians took 1.87 additional seconds (18.0%) to cross the average intersection (3.4 lanes), compared to undistracted pedestrians. Texting pedestrians were 3.9 times more likely than undistracted pedestrians to display at least 1 unsafe crossing behaviour (disobeying the lights, crossing mid-intersection, or failing to look both ways). Pedestrians listening to music walked more than half a second (0.54) faster across the average intersection than undistracted pedestrians. Distracting activity is common among pedestrians, even while crossing intersections. Technological and social distractions increase crossing times, with text messaging associated with the highest risk. Our findings suggest the need for intervention studies to reduce risk of pedestrian injury.

Gender effects in young road users on road safety attitudes, behaviours and risk perception

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierluigi Cordellieri

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the present study, we investigated gender-related effects on road safety attitudesin 2,681 young drivers (1,458 males, 54.4%; aged 18-22 who filled out several scales assessing attitudes towards road safety issues, driving behaviour in specific hypothetical situations, accident risk perception, and concerns about such a risk. We focused only on young drivers to better understand the role of gender in road safety attitudes in a period of life in which risky behaviours are widespread for males and females. Indeed, there is still no agreement as to the nature of these gender differences. According to some authors, the effects of gender on being involved in a crash due to driving skills are either non-existent or largely explained by differences in alcohol consumption. In our study, we found gender differences in road safety attitudes (i.e., negative attitude toward traffic rules and risky driving; negative attitude towards drugs and alcohol and tolerance toward speeding and in driver behaviour (i.e., errors in inattentive driving and driving violations. This result is consistent in all drivers coming from nine different European countries. Our analyses yielded an important finding concerning risk perception. The results indicate that the level of risk perception during driving is the same for males and females. However, these two groups differ in the level of concern about this risk, with males being less concerned about the risk of a road accident. This suggests that the main difference between these two groups is not strictly related to judgment of the perceived risk probability but rather to the level of concern experienced about the consequences of the risk. This difference between risk perception and worry could explain differences in the frequency of car accidents in the two groups. The present findings may provide new insights for the development of gender-based prevention programs.

PERBEDAAN UNSAFE ACTIONS ANTAR SHIFT KERJA PADA BAGIAN THREADING UNIT PRODUKSI I PT X DI SURABAYA

OpenAIRE

Insanno, Jenius Setio

2017-01-01

PT. X is one of the companies that produces iron pipe in Indonesia. Unit of production I PT. X threading part used work shift system. Few months ago there was an accident happened to a night shift workers threading part, and it caused them to be rushed to the hospital and got medical help. The purpose of this research was to analyze the difference between unsafe action on work shifts threading of PT. X. This research was an observational descriptive study that used crossectional approach. The...

Perbedaan Unsafe Actions Antar Shift Kerja pada Bagian Threading Unit Produksi I PT X di Surabaya

OpenAIRE

Insanno, Jenius Setio

2016-01-01

PT. X is one of the companies that produces iron pipe in Indonesia. Unit of production I PT. X threading part used work shift system. Few months ago there was an accident happened to a night shift workers threading part, and it caused them to be rushed to the hospital and got medical help. The purpose of this research was to analyze the difference between unsafe action on work shifts threading of PT. X. This research was an observational descriptive study that used crossectional approach. The...

Extended driving impairs nocturnal driving performances.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Sagaspe

Full Text Available Though fatigue and sleepiness at the wheel are well-known risk factors for traffic accidents, many drivers combine extended driving and sleep deprivation. Fatigue-related accidents occur mainly at night but there is no experimental data available to determine if the duration of prior driving affects driving performance at night. Participants drove in 3 nocturnal driving sessions (3-5 am, 1-5 am and 9 pm-5 am on open highway. Fourteen young healthy men (mean age [+/-SD] = 23.4 [+/-1.7] years participated Inappropriate line crossings (ILC in the last hour of driving of each session, sleep variables, self-perceived fatigue and sleepiness were measured. Compared to the short (3-5 am driving session, the incidence rate ratio of inappropriate line crossings increased by 2.6 (95% CI, 1.1 to 6.0; P<.05 for the intermediate (1-5 am driving session and by 4.0 (CI, 1.7 to 9.4; P<.001 for the long (9 pm-5 am driving session. Compared to the reference session (9-10 pm, the incidence rate ratio of inappropriate line crossings were 6.0 (95% CI, 2.3 to 15.5; P<.001, 15.4 (CI, 4.6 to 51.5; P<.001 and 24.3 (CI, 7.4 to 79.5; P<.001, respectively, for the three different durations of driving. Self-rated fatigue and sleepiness scores were both positively correlated to driving impairment in the intermediate and long duration sessions (P<.05 and increased significantly during the nocturnal driving sessions compared to the reference session (P<.01. At night, extended driving impairs driving performances and therefore should be limited.

Energy drink consumption among New Zealand adolescents: Associations with mental health, health risk behaviours and body size.

Science.gov (United States)

Utter, Jennifer; Denny, Simon; Teevale, Tasileta; Sheridan, Janie

2018-03-01

With the increase in popularity of energy drinks come multiple concerns about the associated health indicators of young people. The current study aims to describe the frequency of consumption of energy drinks in a nationally representative sample of adolescents and to explore the relationship between energy drink consumption and health risk behaviours, body size and mental health. Data were collected as part of Youth'12, a nationally representative survey of high school students in New Zealand (2012). In total, 8500 students answered a comprehensive questionnaire about their health and well-being, including multiple measures of mental well-being, and were weighed and measured for height. More than one-third (35%) of young people consumed energy drinks in the past week, and 12% consumed energy drinks four or more times in the past week. Energy drink consumption was significantly associated with greater depressive symptoms, greater emotional difficulties and lower general subjective well-being. Frequent energy drink consumption was also associated with binge drinking, smoking, engagement in unsafe sex, violent behaviours, risky motor vehicle use and disordered eating behaviours. There was no association between consumption of energy drinks and student body size. Consumption of energy drinks is associated with a range of health risk behaviours for young people. Strategies to limit consumption of energy drinks by young people are warranted. © 2017 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Observation of unsafe behavior at work: A methodological analysis [Observación de conductas inseguras en el trabajo: una reflexión metodológica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orquidea Castilla Ramos

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Observation of unsafe and safe behaviors at work is used in many companies, to known unsafe acts related with personal or industrial accidents and to design improvement or prevention strategies. This technique at natural contexts requires as much rigor in the design of the behavioral inventory or checklist as in its application. Methodological problems, as well as advantages and disadvantages to use this technique at organizational contexts are analyzed. How the results from to apply observations affect organizational psychosocial interventions, are discussed too. Observations could use with other techniques from another approaches. Probably technique utility depends somehow to the organizational safety culture, culture that itself procedure promote to prevent and to control the occurrence of future accidents in the companies.

Young Danes' experiences with unsafe sex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Marianne Johansson; Andersen, Berit; Olesen, Frede

2013-01-01

were identified: 1) alcohol consumption which was associated with lack of condom use, 2) one-night stands after a night out partying, at festivals or on vacations, 3) low self-esteem which increased the risk of pushing one's personal boundaries, thus resulting in promiscuous sexual behaviour, 4...... pregnancies among adolescents and young adults....

Traffic Offences: Planned or Habitual? Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour and habit strength to explain frequency and magnitude of speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Science.gov (United States)

Lheureux, Florent; Auzoult, Laurent; Charlois, Colette; Hardy-Massard, Sandrine; Minary, Jean-Pierre

2016-02-01

This study addresses the socio-cognitive determinants of traffic offences, in particular of speeding and drinking and driving. It has two aims: (1) to test the hypothesis of a direct effect of habits on offences (i.e., independent of intentions) by employing a specific measure of habits (i.e., the SRIH) and (2) to analyse the offences by taking account of three distinct parameters: Frequency, usual magnitude (i.e., the most frequent deviation from the law) and maximal magnitude (i.e., the greatest deviation occasionally adopted) in order to represent more accurately the variability of the offending behaviours. A total of 642 drivers replied to a questionnaire. The results corroborate the idea that intention and habit are distinct and direct determinants of offences. The use of the SRIH dismisses the criticisms made with regard to the measure of past behaviour. The distinction between the three behavioural parameters proves to be relevant, as their determinants are not exactly similar. Finally, attitude and subjective norm had direct effects on the maximal magnitude and/or on the frequency of the offence. The discussion concerns the contribution of this study to the analysis of offences as well as its limitations and addresses the theoretical plausibility of the direct effects of attitude and the subjective norm. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Engagement with the TeenDrivingPlan and diversity of teens' supervised practice driving: lessons for internet-based learner driver interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Winston, Flaura K; Mirman, Jessica H; Curry, Allison E; Pfeiffer, Melissa R; Elliott, Michael R; Durbin, Dennis R

2015-02-01

Inexperienced, less-skilled driving characterises many newly licensed drivers and contributes to high crash rates. A randomised trial of TeenDrivingPlan (TDP), a new learner driver phase internet-based intervention, demonstrated effectiveness in improving safety relevant, on-road driving behaviour, primarily through greater driving practice diversity. To inform future learner driver interventions, this analysis examined TDP use and its association with practice diversity. Posthoc analysis of data from teen/parent dyads (n=107), enrolled early in learner phase and assigned to treatment arm in randomised trial. Inserted software beacons captured TDP use data. Electronic surveys completed by parents and teens assessed diversity of practice driving and TDP usability ratings at 24 weeks (end of study period). Most families (84%) used TDP early in the learner period; however, the number of TDP sessions in the first week was three times higher among dyads who achieved greater practice diversity than those with less. By week five many families still engaged with TDP, but differences in TDP use could not be detected between families with high versus low practice diversity. Usability was not a major issue for this sample based on largely positive user ratings. An engaging internet-based intervention, such as TDP, can support families in achieving high practice diversity. Future learner driver interventions should provide important information early in the learner period when engagement is greatest, encourage continued learning as part of logging practice drives, and incorporate monitoring software for further personalisation to meet family needs. NCT01498575. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Difficulties in emotion regulation and risky driving among Lithuanian drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Šeibokaitė, Laura; Endriulaitienė, Auksė; Sullman, Mark J M; Markšaitytė, Rasa; Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė, Kristina

2017-10-03

Risky driving is a common cause of traffic accidents and injuries. However, there is no clear evidence of how difficulties in emotion regulation contribute to risky driving behavior, particularly in small post-Soviet countries. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and self-reported risky driving behavior in a sample of Lithuanian drivers. A total of 246 nonprofessional Lithuanian drivers participated in a cross-sectional survey. Difficulties in emotion regulation were assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer 2004), and risky driving behavior was assessed using the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ; Lajunen et al. 2004). Males scored higher than females in aggressive violations and ordinary violations. Females scored higher for the nonacceptance of emotional responses, whereas males had more difficulties with emotional awareness than females. More difficulties in emotion regulation were positively correlated with driving errors, lapses, aggressive violations, and ordinary violations for both males and females. Structural equation modeling showed that difficulties in emotion regulation explained aggressive and ordinary violations more clearly than lapses and errors. When controlling for interactions among the distinct regulation difficulties, difficulties with impulse control and difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior predicted risky driving. Furthermore, nonacceptance of emotional responses and limited access to emotion regulation strategies were related to less violations and more driving errors. Emotion regulation difficulties were associated with the self-reported risky driving behaviors of Lithuanian drivers. This provides useful hints for improving driver training programs in order to prevent traffic injuries.

Dynamics of non-Markovianity in the presence of a driving field

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

In some conditions, it is shown that in the presence of a driving field, the $N_{\\rm BLP} increases in the resonance and non-resonance limits. We have also found the exact solution of the master equation in order to investigate the effect of temperature- and environment excited states. We have shown that the behaviour of ...

The theory of planned behaviour and discrete food choices: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OpenAIRE

McDermott, M?irt?n S.; Oliver, Madalyn; Svenson, Alexander; Simnadis, Thomas; Beck, Eleanor J.; Coltman, Tim; Iverson, Don; Caputi, Peter; Sharma, Rajeev

2015-01-01

The combination of economic and social costs associated with non-communicable diseases provide a compelling argument for developing strategies that can influence modifiable risk factors, such as discrete food choices. Models of behaviour, such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) provide conceptual order that allows program designers and policy makers to identify the substantive elements that drive behaviour and design effective interventions. The primary aim of the current review was to ...

Linking mind wandering tendency to risky driving in young male drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Albert, Derek A; Ouimet, Marie Claude; Jarret, Julien; Cloutier, Marie-Soleil; Paquette, Martin; Badeau, Nancy; Brown, Thomas G

2018-02-01

Risky driving is a significant contributor to road traffic crashes, especially in young drivers. Transient mind wandering states, an internal form of distraction, are associated with faster driving, reduced headway distance, slower response times, reduced driver vigilance, and increased crash risk. It is unclear whether a trait tendency to mind wander predicts risky driving, however. Mind wandering is also associated with poor executive control, but whether this capacity moderates the putative link between mind wandering tendency and risky driving is uncertain. The present study tested whether mind wandering tendency predicts risky driving behaviour in young male drivers aged 18-21 (N=30) and whether this relationship is mediated by driver vigilance and moderated by executive control capacity. Mind wandering was measured with the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) and the Daydreaming Frequency Scale (DDFS). Risky driving was assessed by mean speed in a driving simulator and driver vigilance was quantified by horizontal eye movements measured with eye tracking. Results showed that greater mind wandering tendency based on SART performance significantly predicts faster mean speed, confirming the main hypothesis. Neither driver vigilance mediated nor executive control capacity moderated this relationship as hypothesized. These findings speak to the complexity of individual differences in mind wandering. Overall, mind wandering tendency is a significant marker of risky driving in young drivers, which could guide the development of targeted interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benzodiazepines, opioids and driving: an overview of the experimental research.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Stefanie Y

2011-05-01

Road crashes contribute significantly to the total burden of injury in Australia, with the risk of injury being associated with the presence of drugs and/or alcohol in the driver's blood. Increasingly, some of the most commonly detected drugs include prescription medicines, the most notable of these being benzodiazepines and opioids. However, there is a paucity of experimental research into the effects of prescribed psychoactive drugs on driving behaviours. This paper provides an overview of experimental studies investigating the effects of prescribed doses of benzodiazepines and opioids on driving ability, and points to future directions for research. There is growing epidemiological evidence linking the therapeutic use of benzodiazepines and opioids to an increased crash risk. However, the current experimental literature remains unclear. Limitations to study methodologies have resulted in inconsistent findings. Limited experimental evidence exists to inform policy and guidelines regarding fitness-to-drive for patients taking prescribed benzodiazepines and opioids. Further experimental research is required to elucidate the effects of these medications on driving, under varying conditions and in different medical contexts. This will ensure that doctors prescribing benzodiazepines and opioids are well informed, and can appropriately advise patients of the risks associated with driving whilst taking these medications. © 2011 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Simple gaze-contingent cues guide eye movements in a realistic driving simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Pomarjanschi, Laura; Dorr, Michael; Bex, Peter J.; Barth, Erhardt

2013-03-01

Looking at the right place at the right time is a critical component of driving skill. Therefore, gaze guidance has the potential to become a valuable driving assistance system. In previous work, we have already shown that complex gaze-contingent stimuli can guide attention and reduce the number of accidents in a simple driving simulator. We here set out to investigate whether cues that are simple enough to be implemented in a real car can also capture gaze during a more realistic driving task in a high-fidelity driving simulator. We used a state-of-the-art, wide-field-of-view driving simulator with an integrated eye tracker. Gaze-contingent warnings were implemented using two arrays of light-emitting diodes horizontally fitted below and above the simulated windshield. Thirteen volunteering subjects drove along predetermined routes in a simulated environment popu­ lated with autonomous traffic. Warnings were triggered during the approach to half of the intersections, cueing either towards the right or to the left. The remaining intersections were not cued, and served as controls. The analysis of the recorded gaze data revealed that the gaze-contingent cues did indeed have a gaze guiding effect, triggering a significant shift in gaze position towards the highlighted direction. This gaze shift was not accompanied by changes in driving behaviour, suggesting that the cues do not interfere with the driving task itself.

Three experiments exploring how preferences, motivations and incentives influence behaviour

OpenAIRE

ZACHARY JAMES MOAR DORNER

2018-01-01

We can make better choices with a deeper understanding of what drives our behaviours. This thesis uses economic experiments to shed light on health and environmental behaviours. The first paper identifies that risk averse people care about the security of supply of city water. The second paper finds that small monetary payments can work better than high monetary payments for motivating people because large incentives can significantly reduce intrinsic motivation. The third paper shows that mo...

Child pedestrian safety knowledge, behaviour and road injury in Cape Town, South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Koekemoer, Karin; Van Gesselleen, Megan; Van Niekerk, Ashley; Govender, Rajen; Van As, Arjan Bastiaan

2017-02-01

Pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of death among South African children, and young children residing in low-income communities are more at risk, due to various factors such as inadequate road infrastructure, exposure to traffic due to reliance on walking as a means of transport, and lack of supervision. This study used a cross-sectional, non-randomized self-report survey to assess pedestrian safety knowledge, road-crossing behaviour and pedestrian injuries of primary school children in selected low-income settings in Cape Town. The survey focused on three primary schools that had joined the Safe Kids Worldwide Model School Zone Project and was administered to 536 children aged 6-15 years, in their home language of isiXhosa. Descriptive and bivariate analyses as well as multivariate regression analyses were conducted to investigate potential predictor variables for pedestrian collision severity and unsafe road-crossing behaviour. Walking was the sole form of travel for 81% of the children, with a large proportion regularly walking unsupervised. Children who walk to or from school alone were younger and reported riskier road-crossing behaviour, although children who walk accompanied tended to have higher pedestrian collision severity. "Negligent Behaviour" related to road-crossing was significantly associated with higher pedestrian collision severity, with predictors of "Negligent Behaviour" including the lack of pedestrian safety knowledge and greater exposure to traffic in terms of time spent walking. More than half of the reported pedestrian collisions involved a bicycle, and older boys (10-15 years) were most at risk of experiencing a severe pedestrian injury. The findings substantiate emerging evidence that children in low-income settings are at greater risk for child pedestrian injury, and emphasise the need for evidence-based safety promotion and injury prevention interventions in these settings. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Use of mobile phones while driving : effects on road safety : a literature review.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dragutinovic, N. & Twisk, D.A.M.

2006-01-01

The use of mobile phones while driving has become a road safety concern and has been the focus of various behavioural studies. This literature review analyses studies published in the period 1999-2005, and include simulator studies, closed-track studies and studies on the real road. Although studies

A positive view on road safety: Can 'car karma' contribute to safe driving styles?

Science.gov (United States)

Kleisen, Lucienne M B

2013-01-01

Many studies in the field of road safety are occupied with studying road unsafety since it generally concentrates on traffic crashes, crash, risk, and aberrant driving behaviour, especially in relation to young drivers. However, this study shows there is scope for thinking about driving and driver training from a different vantage point, that is in terms of safe or normal driving. The findings are reported from four group interviews with young drivers (18-25 years of age); the young drivers discussed their ideas of safe driving and their reasons for using (or not using) safe driving styles. The data show a type of optimistic thinking among young drivers which they call 'car karma'. This finding offers an opportunity to reconceptualise driving in a way that is focused on normal, safe driving styles, a topic that has received less attention in the past. The paper argues that greater focus on safe driving styles could be more conducive to young drivers actually driving safely than focusing on, for instance, crashes, which on an individual level are relatively rare (Elander et al., 1993, p. 277). Based on empirical research, the first positively stated definition of road safety is proposed based on the notion of 'car karma'. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Young Danes' experiences with unsafe sex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Marianne J; Andersen, Berit; Olesen, Frede

2013-01-01

were identified: 1) alcohol consumption which was associated with lack of condom use, 2) one-night stands after a night out partying, at festivals or on vacations, 3) low self-esteem which increased the risk of pushing one's personal boundaries, thus resulting in promiscuous sexual behaviour, 4...... pregnancies among adolescents and young adults. FUNDING: Not relevant. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not relevant....

Velocity, safety, or both? How do balance and strength of goal conflicts affect drivers' behaviour, feelings and physiological responses?

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt-Daffy, Martin; Brandenburg, Stefan; Beliavski, Alina

2013-06-01

Motivational models of driving behaviour agree that choice of speed is modulated by drivers' goals. Whilst it is accepted that some goals favour fast driving and others favour safe driving, little is known about the interplay of these conflicting goals. In the present study, two aspects of this interplay are investigated: the balance of conflict and the strength of conflict. Thirty-two participants completed several simulated driving runs in which fast driving was rewarded with a monetary gain if the end of the track was reached. However, unpredictably, some runs ended with the appearance of a deer. In these runs, fast driving was punished with a monetary loss. The ratio between the magnitudes of gains and losses varied in order to manipulate the balance of conflict. The absolute magnitudes of both gains and losses altered the strength of conflict. Participants drove slower, reported an increase in anxiety-related feelings, and showed indications of physiological arousal if there was more money at stake. In contrast, only marginal effects of varying the ratio between gains and losses were observed. Results confirm that the strength of a safety-velocity conflict is an important determinant of drivers' behaviour, feelings, and physiological responses. The lack of evidence for the balance of conflict playing a role suggests that in each condition, participants subjectively weighted the loss higher than the gain (loss aversion). It is concluded that the interplay of the subjective values that drivers attribute to objective incentives for fast and safe driving is a promising field for future research. Incorporating this knowledge into motivational theories of driving behaviour might improve their contribution to the design of adequate road safety measures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Driving performance on the descending limb of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in undergraduate students: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tremblay, Mathieu; Gallant, François; Lavallière, Martin; Chiasson, Martine; Silvey, Dustin; Behm, David; Albert, Wayne J; Johnson, Michel J

2015-01-01

Young drivers are overrepresented in collisions resulting in fatalities. It is not uncommon for young drivers to socially binge drink and decide to drive a vehicle a few hours after consumption. To better understand the risks that may be associated with this behaviour, the present study has examined the effects of a social drinking bout followed by a simulated drive in undergraduate students on the descending limb of their BAC (blood alcohol concentration) curve. Two groups of eight undergraduate students (n = 16) took part in this study. Participants in the alcohol group were assessed before drinking, then at moderate and low BAC as well as 24 hours post-acute consumption. This group consumed an average of 5.3 ± 1.4 (mean ± SD) drinks in an hour in a social context and were then submitted to a driving and a predicted crash risk assessment. The control group was assessed at the same time points without alcohol intake or social context.; at 8 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 8 a.m. the next morning. These multiple time points were used to measure any potential learning effects from the assessment tools (i.e. driving simulator and useful field of view test (UFOV)). Diminished driving performance at moderate BAC was observed with no increases in predicted crash risk. Moderate correlations between driving variables were observed. No association exists between driving variables and UFOV variables. The control group improved measures of selective attention after the third assessment. No learning effect was observed from multiple sessions with the driving simulator. Our results show that a moderate BAC, although legal, increases the risky behaviour. Effects of alcohol expectancy could have been displayed by the experimental group. UFOV measures and predicted crash risk categories were not sensitive enough to predict crash risk for young drivers, even when intoxicated.

Glaucoma and Driving: On-Road Driving Characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Joanne M.; Black, Alex A.; Mallon, Kerry; Thomas, Ravi; Owsley, Cynthia

2016-01-01

Purpose To comprehensively investigate the types of driving errors and locations that are most problematic for older drivers with glaucoma compared to those without glaucoma using a standardized on-road assessment. Methods Participants included 75 drivers with glaucoma (mean = 73.2±6.0 years) with mild to moderate field loss (better-eye MD = -1.21 dB; worse-eye MD = -7.75 dB) and 70 age-matched controls without glaucoma (mean = 72.6 ± 5.0 years). On-road driving performance was assessed in a dual-brake vehicle by an occupational therapist using a standardized scoring system which assessed the types of driving errors and the locations where they were made and the number of critical errors that required an instructor intervention. Driving safety was rated on a 10-point scale. Self-reported driving ability and difficulties were recorded using the Driving Habits Questionnaire. Results Drivers with glaucoma were rated as significantly less safe, made more driving errors, and had almost double the rate of critical errors than those without glaucoma. Driving errors involved lane positioning and planning/approach, and were significantly more likely to occur at traffic lights and yield/give-way intersections. There were few between group differences in self-reported driving ability. Conclusions Older drivers with glaucoma with even mild to moderate field loss exhibit impairments in driving ability, particularly during complex driving situations that involve tactical problems with lane-position, planning ahead and observation. These results, together with the fact that these drivers self-report their driving to be relatively good, reinforce the need for evidence-based on-road assessments for evaluating driving fitness. PMID:27472221

Glaucoma and Driving: On-Road Driving Characteristics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanne M Wood

Full Text Available To comprehensively investigate the types of driving errors and locations that are most problematic for older drivers with glaucoma compared to those without glaucoma using a standardized on-road assessment.Participants included 75 drivers with glaucoma (mean = 73.2±6.0 years with mild to moderate field loss (better-eye MD = -1.21 dB; worse-eye MD = -7.75 dB and 70 age-matched controls without glaucoma (mean = 72.6 ± 5.0 years. On-road driving performance was assessed in a dual-brake vehicle by an occupational therapist using a standardized scoring system which assessed the types of driving errors and the locations where they were made and the number of critical errors that required an instructor intervention. Driving safety was rated on a 10-point scale. Self-reported driving ability and difficulties were recorded using the Driving Habits Questionnaire.Drivers with glaucoma were rated as significantly less safe, made more driving errors, and had almost double the rate of critical errors than those without glaucoma. Driving errors involved lane positioning and planning/approach, and were significantly more likely to occur at traffic lights and yield/give-way intersections. There were few between group differences in self-reported driving ability.Older drivers with glaucoma with even mild to moderate field loss exhibit impairments in driving ability, particularly during complex driving situations that involve tactical problems with lane-position, planning ahead and observation. These results, together with the fact that these drivers self-report their driving to be relatively good, reinforce the need for evidence-based on-road assessments for evaluating driving fitness.

Glaucoma and Driving: On-Road Driving Characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Joanne M; Black, Alex A; Mallon, Kerry; Thomas, Ravi; Owsley, Cynthia

2016-01-01

To comprehensively investigate the types of driving errors and locations that are most problematic for older drivers with glaucoma compared to those without glaucoma using a standardized on-road assessment. Participants included 75 drivers with glaucoma (mean = 73.2±6.0 years) with mild to moderate field loss (better-eye MD = -1.21 dB; worse-eye MD = -7.75 dB) and 70 age-matched controls without glaucoma (mean = 72.6 ± 5.0 years). On-road driving performance was assessed in a dual-brake vehicle by an occupational therapist using a standardized scoring system which assessed the types of driving errors and the locations where they were made and the number of critical errors that required an instructor intervention. Driving safety was rated on a 10-point scale. Self-reported driving ability and difficulties were recorded using the Driving Habits Questionnaire. Drivers with glaucoma were rated as significantly less safe, made more driving errors, and had almost double the rate of critical errors than those without glaucoma. Driving errors involved lane positioning and planning/approach, and were significantly more likely to occur at traffic lights and yield/give-way intersections. There were few between group differences in self-reported driving ability. Older drivers with glaucoma with even mild to moderate field loss exhibit impairments in driving ability, particularly during complex driving situations that involve tactical problems with lane-position, planning ahead and observation. These results, together with the fact that these drivers self-report their driving to be relatively good, reinforce the need for evidence-based on-road assessments for evaluating driving fitness.

Impact of alcohol checks and social norm on driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).

Science.gov (United States)

Meesmann, Uta; Martensen, Heike; Dupont, Emmanuelle

2015-07-01

This study investigated the influence of alcohol checks and social norm on self-reported driving under the influence of alcohol above the legal limit (DUI). The analysis was based on the responses of 12,507 car drivers from 19 European countries to the SARTRE-4 survey (2010). The data were analysed by means of a multiple logistic regression-model on two levels: (1) individual and (2) national level. On the individual level the results revealed that driving under the influence (DUI) was positively associated with male gender, young age (17-34), personal experience with alcohol checks, the perceived likelihood of being checked for alcohol, perceived drunk driving behaviour of friends (social norm) and was negatively associated with higher age (55+). On a national level, the results showed a negative association with a lower legal alcohol limit (BAC 0.2g/l compared with BAC 0.5g/l) and the percentage of drivers checked for alcohol. DUI was positively associated with the percentage of respondents in the country that reported that their friends drink and drive (social norm). The comparison of the results obtained on national and individual levels shows a paradoxical effect of alcohol checks: Countries with more alcohol checks show lower DUI (negative association) but respondents who have been personally checked for alcohol show a higher chance of DUI (positive association). Possible explanations of this paradox are discussed. The effects of the social norm variable (perceived drunk driving behaviour of friends) are positively associated with DUI on both levels. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

What Drives Private and Public Merger Waves in Europe?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bartholdy, Jan; Blunck, Benjamin

What drives merger waves? Harford 2005 argues that mergers are an efficient response to economic shocks to an industry, whereas Rhodes-Kropf, Robinson & Viswanathan 2005 argues that merger waves are driven by overvaluation of the acquiring firm, and to a lesser extent, the target firm. Both paper...... significant differences between driving forces for listed firms and for private firms. Public or listed firm mergers and acquisitions are primarily driven by overvaluation or behavioural factors, whereas private transactions are driven by economic factors.......What drives merger waves? Harford 2005 argues that mergers are an efficient response to economic shocks to an industry, whereas Rhodes-Kropf, Robinson & Viswanathan 2005 argues that merger waves are driven by overvaluation of the acquiring firm, and to a lesser extent, the target firm. Both papers...... are based on empirical analyses of listed US firms. This paper presents additional evidence of merger waves in the European Union (EU). The use of European data allows a more detailed analysis, since firm level data is available for both listed as well as private transactions. This analysis reveals...

Explicit and implicit processes in behavioural adaptation to road width.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis-Evans, Ben; Charlton, Samuel G

2006-05-01

The finding that drivers may react to safety interventions in a way that is contrary to what was intended is the phenomenon of behavioural adaptation. This phenomenon has been demonstrated across various safety interventions and has serious implications for road safety programs the world over. The present research used a driving simulator to assess behavioural adaptation in drivers' speed and lateral displacement in response to manipulations of road width. Of interest was whether behavioural adaptation would occur and whether we could determine whether it was the result of explicit, conscious decisions or implicit perceptual processes. The results supported an implicit, zero perceived risk model of behavioural adaptation with reduced speeds on a narrowed road accompanied by increased ratings of risk and a marked inability of the participants to identify that any change in road width had occurred.

Remark on the role of the driving force in BWR instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dykin, V.; Pazsit, I.

2009-01-01

Simple models of BWR instability, used e.g. in understanding the role of the various oscillation modes in the overall stability of the plant, assume that each oscillation mode can be described by a second order system (a damped harmonic oscillator) driven by a white noise driving force. Change of the decay ratio (DR) of the observed signal is, as a rule, associated with the changing of the parameters of the damped oscillator, mainly its damping coefficient, and is interpreted in terms of the change of the stability of the system. However, conceptually, one cannot exclude cases when the change of the response of a driven damped oscillator is due to the change of the properties of the driving force. In this work we investigate the effect of a non-white driving force on the behaviour of the system. A question of interest is how changes of the spectrum of the driving force influence the observed autocorrelation function (ACF) of the resulting signal. Hence we calculate the response of a damped harmonic oscillator driven by a non-white driving force, corresponding to the reactivity effect of propagating density fluctuations in two-phase flow. It is shown how in some special cases such a driving force, when interpreting the neutron noise as if induced by a white noise driving source, can lead to an erroneous conclusion regarding the stability of the system. It is also concluded that in the practically interesting cases the effect of the coloured driving force, arising from propagating density fluctuations, is negligible.

Effects of mood induction via music on cardiovascular measures of negative emotion during simulated driving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fairclough, S.H.; Zwaag, van der M.D.; Spiridon, E.; Westerink, J.H.D.M.

2014-01-01

A study was conducted to investigate the potential of mood induction via music to influence cardiovascular correlates of negative emotions experience during driving behaviour. One hundred participants were randomly assigned to one of five groups, four of whom experienced different categories of

The power dynamics perpetuating unsafe abortion in Africa: a feminist perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Braam, Tamara; Hessini, Leila

2004-04-01

Tens of thousands of African women die every year because societies and governments either ignore the issue of unsafe abortion or actively refuse to address it. This paper explores the issue of abortion from a feminist perspective, centrally arguing that finding appropriate strategies to reclaim women's power at an individual and social level is a central lever for developing effective strategies to increase women's access to safe abortion services. The paper emphasises the central role of patriarchy in shaping the ways power plays itself out in individual relationships, and at social, economic and political levels. The ideology of male superiority denies abortion as an important issue of status and frames the morality, legality and socio-cultural attitudes towards abortion. Patriarchy sculpts unequal gender power relationships and takes power away from women in making decisions about their bodies. Other forms of power such as economic inequality, discourse and power within relationships are also explored. Recommended solutions to shifting the power dynamics around the issue include a combination of public health, rights-based, legal reform and social justice approaches.

Factors Associated with Alcohol Consumption: A Survey of Women ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJRH Managing Editor

intellectual deficiency in childhood7,11 and fetal alcohol exposure .... learning disabilities, behavioural problems and attention deficit ..... angry (24.1%). The intensity of feelings were high .... mellitus20. Through risky behaviour such as unsafe.

Cypriot Consumer Behaviour Towards Luxury Brands

OpenAIRE

Archeou, Maria

2008-01-01

This study has been concentrating on the Cypriot market to discover the various factors that drives consumers to purchase luxury brands. A qualitative approach was used to conduct this research in order to gain insights over consumers' purchasing behaviour. Therefore, an interview method was chosen to gather the data needed.Initially, an interview with few managers of luxury brands in Cyprus was made to gather some information about the Cyprus market, their target segments profile and the ...

Gender difference in safe and unsafe practice of pesticide handling in tobacco farmers of malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Bin Nordin, R; Araki, S; Sato, H; Yokoyama, K; Bin Wan Muda, W A; Win Kyi, D

2001-01-01

To identify gender difference in safe and unsafe practice of pesticide handling in tobacco farmers of Malaysia, we conducted a 20-item questionnaire interview on storage of pesticide (4 questions), mixing of pesticide (3 questions), use of personal protective equipment and clothing while spraying pesticide (7 questions), activities during and after spraying of pesticide (5 questions), and maintenance of pesticide sprayer (1 question) in 496 tobacco farmers (395 males and 101 females) in Bachok District, Kelantan, Malaysia. Duration of employment was significantly longer in females than those in males (pwork habit, (3) reading and following instructions on pesticide label, (4) security, storage and disposal of pesticide container, (5) safe work habit, (6) proper handling of pesticide and maintenance of pesticide sprayer, (7) use of personal protective clothing, and (8) safe handling of pesticide. Results of analysis of covariance for the eight factor scores of all male and female farmers, controlling for educational level and duration of employment, showed that: (1) factor scores for use of personal protective equipment (pwork habit (p0.05). We therefore conclude that: (1) for female tobacco farmers, choice of personal attire tend to result in lower scores on use of personal protective equipment and personal protective clothing while personal hygiene practices result in lower score on safe work habit; and, (2) for male tobacco farmers, the lower scores on reading and following instruction on pesticide label and mixing pesticide and maintenance of pesticide sprayer in good condition suggests that they were not primarily involved in these activities. It is postulated that these differences in safe and unsafe practices of pesticide handling across gender is related to the choice of personal attire, personal hygiene practices and division of labour within farming households which in turn is influenced by prevailing sociocultural norms in the community.

SafeNet: a methodology for integrating general-purpose unsafe devices in safe-robot rehabilitation systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Vicentini, Federico; Pedrocchi, Nicola; Malosio, Matteo; Molinari Tosatti, Lorenzo

2014-09-01

Robot-assisted neurorehabilitation often involves networked systems of sensors ("sensory rooms") and powerful devices in physical interaction with weak users. Safety is unquestionably a primary concern. Some lightweight robot platforms and devices designed on purpose include safety properties using redundant sensors or intrinsic safety design (e.g. compliance and backdrivability, limited exchange of energy). Nonetheless, the entire "sensory room" shall be required to be fail-safe and safely monitored as a system at large. Yet, sensor capabilities and control algorithms used in functional therapies require, in general, frequent updates or re-configurations, making a safety-grade release of such devices hardly sustainable in cost-effectiveness and development time. As such, promising integrated platforms for human-in-the-loop therapies could not find clinical application and manufacturing support because of lacking in the maintenance of global fail-safe properties. Under the general context of cross-machinery safety standards, the paper presents a methodology called SafeNet for helping in extending the safety rate of Human Robot Interaction (HRI) systems using unsafe components, including sensors and controllers. SafeNet considers, in fact, the robotic system as a device at large and applies the principles of functional safety (as in ISO 13489-1) through a set of architectural procedures and implementation rules. The enabled capability of monitoring a network of unsafe devices through redundant computational nodes, allows the usage of any custom sensors and algorithms, usually planned and assembled at therapy planning-time rather than at platform design-time. A case study is presented with an actual implementation of the proposed methodology. A specific architectural solution is applied to an example of robot-assisted upper-limb rehabilitation with online motion tracking. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying Method of Drunk Driving Based on Driving Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohua Zhao

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Drunk driving is one of the leading causes contributing to traffic crashes. There are numerous issues that need to be resolved with the current method of identifying drunk driving. Driving behavior, with the characteristic of real-time, was extensively researched to identify impaired driving behaviors. In this paper, the drives with BACs above 0.05% were defined as drunk driving state. A detailed comparison was made between normal driving and drunk driving. The experiment in driving simulator was designed to collect the driving performance data of the groups. According to the characteristics analysis for the effect of alcohol on driving performance, seven significant indicators were extracted and the drunk driving was identified by the Fisher Discriminant Method. The discriminant function demonstrated a high accuracy of classification. The optimal critical score to differentiate normal from drinking state was found to be 0. The evaluation result verifies the accuracy of classification method.

Factors Shaping the Decision of College Students to Walk or Drive under the Influence of Alcohol: A Test of Rational Choice Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Ashley; Monk-Turner, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

Aims: Rational Choice theory was tested to better understand the differences in behaviour regarding walking and driving under the influence of alcohol. Methods: Students at a residential college campus in Virginia were surveyed. Findings: Results show that students were less likely to walk or drive while intoxicated if they believed such behaviour…

Optimal stomatal behaviour around the world

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yan-Shih; Medlyn, Belinda E.; Duursma, Remko A.; Prentice, I. Colin; Wang, Han; Baig, Sofia; Eamus, Derek; de Dios, Victor Resco; Mitchell, Patrick; Ellsworth, David S.; de Beeck, Maarten Op; Wallin, Göran; Uddling, Johan; Tarvainen, Lasse; Linderson, Maj-Lena; Cernusak, Lucas A.; Nippert, Jesse B.; Ocheltree, Troy W.; Tissue, David T.; Martin-Stpaul, Nicolas K.; Rogers, Alistair; Warren, Jeff M.; de Angelis, Paolo; Hikosaka, Kouki; Han, Qingmin; Onoda, Yusuke; Gimeno, Teresa E.; Barton, Craig V. M.; Bennie, Jonathan; Bonal, Damien; Bosc, Alexandre; Löw, Markus; Macinins-Ng, Cate; Rey, Ana; Rowland, Lucy; Setterfield, Samantha A.; Tausz-Posch, Sabine; Zaragoza-Castells, Joana; Broadmeadow, Mark S. J.; Drake, John E.; Freeman, Michael; Ghannoum, Oula; Hutley, Lindsay B.; Kelly, Jeff W.; Kikuzawa, Kihachiro; Kolari, Pasi; Koyama, Kohei; Limousin, Jean-Marc; Meir, Patrick; Lola da Costa, Antonio C.; Mikkelsen, Teis N.; Salinas, Norma; Sun, Wei; Wingate, Lisa

2015-05-01

Stomatal conductance (gs) is a key land-surface attribute as it links transpiration, the dominant component of global land evapotranspiration, and photosynthesis, the driving force of the global carbon cycle. Despite the pivotal role of gs in predictions of global water and carbon cycle changes, a global-scale database and an associated globally applicable model of gs that allow predictions of stomatal behaviour are lacking. Here, we present a database of globally distributed gs obtained in the field for a wide range of plant functional types (PFTs) and biomes. We find that stomatal behaviour differs among PFTs according to their marginal carbon cost of water use, as predicted by the theory underpinning the optimal stomatal model and the leaf and wood economics spectrum. We also demonstrate a global relationship with climate. These findings provide a robust theoretical framework for understanding and predicting the behaviour of gs across biomes and across PFTs that can be applied to regional, continental and global-scale modelling of ecosystem productivity, energy balance and ecohydrological processes in a future changing climate.

Ocean acidification impairs crab foraging behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Dodd, Luke F; Grabowski, Jonathan H; Piehler, Michael F; Westfield, Isaac; Ries, Justin B

2015-07-07

Anthropogenic elevation of atmospheric CO2 is driving global-scale ocean acidification, which consequently influences calcification rates of many marine invertebrates and potentially alters their susceptibility to predation. Ocean acidification may also impair an organism's ability to process environmental and biological cues. These counteracting impacts make it challenging to predict how acidification will alter species interactions and community structure. To examine effects of acidification on consumptive and behavioural interactions between mud crabs (Panopeus herbstii) and oysters (Crassostrea virginica), oysters were reared with and without caged crabs for 71 days at three pCO2 levels. During subsequent predation trials, acidification reduced prey consumption, handling time and duration of unsuccessful predation attempt. These negative effects of ocean acidification on crab foraging behaviour more than offset any benefit to crabs resulting from a reduction in the net rate of oyster calcification. These findings reveal that efforts to evaluate how acidification will alter marine food webs should include quantifying impacts on both calcification rates and animal behaviour. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Self-rated driving and driving safety in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Lesley A; Dodson, Joan E; Edwards, Jerri D; Ackerman, Michelle L; Ball, Karlene

2012-09-01

Many U.S. states rely on older adults to self-regulate their driving and determine when driving is no longer a safe option. However, the relationship of older adults' self-rated driving in terms of actual driving competency outcomes is unclear. The current study investigates self-rated driving in terms of (1) systematic differences between older adults with high (good/excellent) versus low (poor/fair/average) self-ratings, and (2) the predictive nature of self-rated driving to adverse driving outcomes in older adults (n=350; mean age 73.9, SD=5.25, range 65-91). Adverse driving outcomes included self-reported incidences of (1) being pulled over by the police, (2) receiving a citation, (3) receiving a recommendation to cease or limit driving, (4) crashes, and (5) state-reported crashes. Results found that older drivers with low self-ratings reported more medical conditions, less driving frequency, and had been given more suggestions to stop/limit their driving; there were no other significant differences between low and high self-raters. Logistic regression revealed older drivers were more likely to have a state-reported crash and receive a suggestion to stop or limit driving. Men were more likely to report all adverse driving outcomes except for receiving a suggestion to stop or limit driving. Regarding self-rated driving, older adults with high ratings were 66% less likely (OR=0.34, 95% CI=0.14-0.85) to have received suggestions to limit or stop driving after accounting for demographics, health and driving frequency. Self-ratings were not predictive of other driving outcomes (being pulled over by the police, receiving a citation, self-reported crashes, or state-reported crashes, ps>0.05). Most older drivers (85.14%) rated themselves as either good or excellent drivers regardless of their actual previous citation or crash rates. Self-rated driving is likely not related to actual driving proficiency as indicated by previous crash involvement in older adults

Low Power DEAP Actuator Drive for Heating Valves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huang, Lina

predict the behaviour and efficiency in both charging and discharging mode. The system level energy consumption is relatively low when the burst mode control scheme is applied. If 2.5 Ah batteries are employed, the high voltage driving system with bidirectional converter can run for around 2.1 years....... efficiency analysis has been carried out to achieve efficiency calculation model. Moreover, two system level control schemes are proposed to achieve the corresponding temperature control. The functionality and energy consumption of the high voltage driver have been verified through the test in the practical...

Electrical drives for direct drive renewable energy systems

CERN Document Server

Mueller, Markus

2013-01-01

Wind turbine gearboxes present major reliability issues, leading to great interest in the current development of gearless direct-drive wind energy systems. Offering high reliability, high efficiency and low maintenance, developments in these direct-drive systems point the way to the next generation of wind power, and Electrical drives for direct drive renewable energy systems is an authoritative guide to their design, development and operation. Part one outlines electrical drive technology, beginning with an overview of electrical generators for direct drive systems. Principles of electrical design for permanent magnet generators are discussed, followed by electrical, thermal and structural generator design and systems integration. A review of power electronic converter technology and power electronic converter systems for direct drive renewable energy applications is then conducted. Part two then focuses on wind and marine applications, beginning with a commercial overview of wind turbine drive systems and a...

Self-rated Driving and Driving Safety in Older Adults

OpenAIRE

Ross, Lesley A.; Dodson, Joan; Edwards, Jerri D.; Ackerman, Michelle L.; Ball, Karlene

2012-01-01

Many U.S. states rely on older adults to self-regulate their driving and determine when driving is no longer a safe option. However, the relationship of older adults’ self-rated driving in terms of actual driving competency outcomes is unclear. The current study investigates self-rated driving in terms of (1) systematic differences between older adults with high (good/excellent) versus low (poor/fair/average) self-ratings, and (2) the predictive nature of self-rated driving to adverse driving...

The energy efficiency behaviour of individuals in large organisations: A case study of a major UK infrastructure operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zierler, Rupert; Wehrmeyer, Walter; Murphy, Richard

2017-01-01

Energy consumption behaviours are gradually becoming better-understood. However, there is still a deficit in terms of knowledge of individuals’ energy-use behaviours in organisations, despite a variety of available theories. This paper addresses this need in three main stages, based on a survey among mid-level managers at a major infrastructure operator in Great Britain. Firstly, a principal components analysis is performed to identify key determinant constructs driving energy-efficient behaviours in organisations, revealing the importance of perceived benefit to the organisation and flexibility of existing performance goals and targets. Secondly, cluster analysis is undertaken, in an effort to identify differences in behavioural influences between demographic groups. These clusters highlight the heterogeneity of employee populations’ energy behaviours, demonstrating that assumptions cannot be made about these based on single responses to cross-industry surveys. Finally, a structural equation model of individuals’ energy use intentions and behaviours using the newly-identified constructs is developed, revealing some similarities with existing behavioural frameworks such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991). Implications for policymakers are then discussed, in terms of encouraging individual employees’ curtailment of energy consumption in organisations through tailored engagement programmes. - Highlights: • Individuals’ attitudes to energy use are observed in a rail infrastructure operator. • Principal components analysis identified 10 antecedent factors driving behaviour. • Cluster analysis identified 5 groups of staff with similar characteristics. • A new framework for understanding energy behaviours is proposed. • Employee engagement on energy issues should take a market segmentation approach.

Going home after a C-section

Science.gov (United States)

... weeks. It is OK to ride in a car, but make sure you wear your seat belt. DO NOT drive if you are taking narcotic pain medicine or if you feel weak or unsafe driving. Other Self-care Try eating smaller meals than normal and ...

Chained learning architectures in a simple closed-loop behavioural context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kulvicius, Tomas; Porr, Bernd; Wörgötter, Florentin

2007-01-01

are very simple and consist of single learning unit. The current study is trying to solve this problem focusing on chained learning architectures in a simple closed-loop behavioural context. METHODS: We applied temporal sequence learning (Porr B and Wörgötter F 2006) in a closed-loop behavioural system...... where a driving robot learns to follow a line. Here for the first time we introduced two types of chained learning architectures named linear chain and honeycomb chain. We analyzed such architectures in an open and closed-loop context and compared them to the simple learning unit. CONCLUSIONS...

EEG potentials predict upcoming emergency brakings during simulated driving

Science.gov (United States)

Haufe, Stefan; Treder, Matthias S.; Gugler, Manfred F.; Sagebaum, Max; Curio, Gabriel; Blankertz, Benjamin

2011-10-01

Emergency braking assistance has the potential to prevent a large number of car crashes. State-of-the-art systems operate in two stages. Basic safety measures are adopted once external sensors indicate a potential upcoming crash. If further activity at the brake pedal is detected, the system automatically performs emergency braking. Here, we present the results of a driving simulator study indicating that the driver's intention to perform emergency braking can be detected based on muscle activation and cerebral activity prior to the behavioural response. Identical levels of predictive accuracy were attained using electroencephalography (EEG), which worked more quickly than electromyography (EMG), and using EMG, which worked more quickly than pedal dynamics. A simulated assistance system using EEG and EMG was found to detect emergency brakings 130 ms earlier than a system relying only on pedal responses. At 100 km h-1 driving speed, this amounts to reducing the braking distance by 3.66 m. This result motivates a neuroergonomic approach to driving assistance. Our EEG analysis yielded a characteristic event-related potential signature that comprised components related to the sensory registration of a critical traffic situation, mental evaluation of the sensory percept and motor preparation. While all these components should occur often during normal driving, we conjecture that it is their characteristic spatio-temporal superposition in emergency braking situations that leads to the considerable prediction performance we observed.

A change in behaviour: getting the balance right for research and policy.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Sullivan, Maureen; Ryan, Cristín; Downey, Damian G; Hughes, Carmel M

2016-10-01

Behaviour change interventions offer clinical pharmacists many opportunities to optimise the use of medicines. 'MINDSPACE' is a framework used by a Government-affiliated organisation in the United Kingdom to communicate an approach to changing behaviour through policy. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) organises constructs of psychological theories that are most relevant to behaviour change into 14 domains. Both frameworks offer a way of identifying what drives a change in behaviour, providing a target for an intervention. This article aims to compare and contrast MINDSPACE and the TDF, and serves to inform pharmacy practitioners about the potential strengths and weaknesses of using either framework in a clinical pharmacy context. It appears that neither framework can deliver evidence-based interventions that can be developed and implemented with the pace demanded by policy and practice-based settings. A collaborative approach would ensure timely development of acceptable behaviour change interventions that are grounded in evidence.

Factors driving behavioural intentions: Study of Serbian mobile operator customers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Senić Vladimir

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of perceived value is increasingly becoming a subject of interest for authors and researchers in the field of services marketing. Perceived value represents a multi-dimensional concept that consists of a number of components. In the conducted study, four key components were analyzed: emotional value, social value, functional value and monetary value. The objective of the study was to determine the impact of four identified components of value on customer satisfaction, as well as to test impact of customer satisfaction, corporate social responsibility and corporate reputation on behavioural intentions among Serbian mobile operator customers. Research originates from the assumption that to establish long-term relationships with customers, apart from generating customer satisfaction, issues like customer perception of corporate reputation and corporate responsibility are also of great significance.

Road rage: an exploratory study on aggressive driving experience on Indian roads.

Science.gov (United States)

Sagar, Rajesh; Mehta, Manju; Chugh, Geetanjali

2013-06-01

Driving on Indian roads is a stressful experience. A lacuna of research on aggressive driving experiences in the Indian set-up highlights the need to address this growing concern for individuals, society and mental health professionals. To explore and compare driving-related anger triggers and anger expression among high- and low-angry Indian drivers. Two hundred randomly chosen drivers from the city of Delhi were administered a semi-structured questionnaire intended to understand driving-related aggression. Honking, overtaking from the wrong side, loud music in other cars and hot and humid climate significantly increased the risk of experiencing anger among high-angry drivers. High-angry drivers were significantly more likely to engage in direct and aggressive expression of anger, including overtaking, verbal abuse, yelling and arguing, not giving space to other drivers, fighting, and hitting and bumping other cars in protest. Passive anger expressions such as holding grudges against other drivers and eating or drinking something to cool down were significantly more likely to be used by low-angry drivers. Drivers who are high on anger have a significantly higher risk of experiencing anger triggered by a variety of individual and environmental factors on Indian roads and are more susceptible to engage in aggressive driving behaviour.

Awareness of driving while sleepy and road traffic accidents: prospective study in GAZEL cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Nabi, Hermann; Guéguen, Alice; Chiron, Mireille; Lafont, Sylviane; Zins, Marie; Lagarde, Emmanuel

2006-07-08

To examine the association between self assessed driving while sleepy and the risk of serious road traffic accidents (RTAs). Prospective cohort study. France. 13 299 of the 19 894 living members of the GAZEL cohort, workers and recent retirees of a French national utility company followed up since 1989. Frequency of driving while sleepy in the previous 12 months, reported in 2001; rate ratios for serious RTAs in 2001-3, estimated by using generalised linear Poisson regression models with time dependent covariates. The risk of serious RTAs increased proportionally with the frequency of self reported driving while sleepy. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, driving behaviour variables, work conditions, retirement, medical conditions and treatments, depressive symptoms, and sleep disorders, the adjusted rate ratios of serious RTAs for participants who reported driving while sleepy in the previous 12 months "a few times" or "once a month or more often" were 1.5 (95% confidence interval 1.2 to 2.0) and 2.9 (1.3 to 6.3) respectively compared with those who reported not driving while sleepy over the same period. These associations were not explained by any reported sleep disorders. Self assessed driving while sleepy was a powerful predictor of serious RTAs, suggesting that drivers' awareness of their sleepiness while driving is not sufficient to prevent them from having RTAs. Messages on prevention should therefore focus on convincing sleepy drivers to stop driving and sleep before resuming their journey.

Success in behaviour-based safety at Los Alamos National Laboratory's plutonium facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wieneke, R E [Los Alamos National Laboratory, NMT Division, Los Alamos, NM (United States); Balkey, J J; Kleinsteuber, J F [Los Alamos National Laboratory, NMT Division, Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2001-07-01

Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL's) Plutonium Facility is responsible for a wide variety of actinide processing operations in support of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) stockpile stewardship of the nation's nuclear arsenal. Both engineered and administrative controls are used to mitigate hazards inherent in these activities. Nuclear facilities have engineered safety systems that are extensively evaluated and documented, and are monitored regularly for operability and performance. Personnel undergo comprehensive training, including annual recertification of their operations. They must thoroughly understand the hazards involved in their work and the controls that are in place to mitigate those hazards. A series of hazard-control plans and work instructions are used to define and authorize the work that is done. Primary hazards associated with chemicals and radioactive materials are well controlled with minimal risk to the workforce and public. The majority of injuries are physical or ergonomic in nature. In an effort to increase safety awareness and to decrease accidents and incidents, a program focusing on the identification and elimination of unsafe behaviours was initiated. Workers are trained on how to conduct safety observations and given guidance on specific behaviours to note. Observations are structured to have minimal impact upon workload and are shared by the entire workforce. This program has effectively decreased a low accident rate and will make long-term sustainability possible. (author)

Success in behaviour-based safety at Los Alamos National Laboratory's plutonium facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wieneke, R.E.; Balkey, J.J.; Kleinsteuber, J.F.

2001-01-01

Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL's) Plutonium Facility is responsible for a wide variety of actinide processing operations in support of the United States Department of Energy's (DOE's) stockpile stewardship of the nation's nuclear arsenal. Both engineered and administrative controls are used to mitigate hazards inherent in these activities. Nuclear facilities have engineered safety systems that are extensively evaluated and documented, and are monitored regularly for operability and performance. Personnel undergo comprehensive training, including annual recertification of their operations. They must thoroughly understand the hazards involved in their work and the controls that are in place to mitigate those hazards. A series of hazard-control plans and work instructions are used to define and authorize the work that is done. Primary hazards associated with chemicals and radioactive materials are well controlled with minimal risk to the workforce and public. The majority of injuries are physical or ergonomic in nature. In an effort to increase safety awareness and to decrease accidents and incidents, a program focusing on the identification and elimination of unsafe behaviours was initiated. Workers are trained on how to conduct safety observations and given guidance on specific behaviours to note. Observations are structured to have minimal impact upon workload and are shared by the entire workforce. This program has effectively decreased a low accident rate and will make long-term sustainability possible. (author)

Eco-driving: behavioural pattern change in Polish passenger vehicle drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Czechowski, Piotr Oskar; Oniszczuk-Jastrząbek, Aneta; Czuba, Tomasz

2018-01-01

In Poland, as in the rest of Europe, air quality depends primarily on emissions from municipal, domestic and road transport sources. The problems of appropriate air quality are especially important within urban areas due to numerous sources of emissions being concentrated in relatively small spaces in both large cities and small/medium-sized towns. Due to the steadily increasing share of urban population in the overall number of population, the issue of providing clean air will over the years become a more significant problem for human health, and therefore a stronger incentive to intensify research. The key challenge faced by a modern society is, therefore, to limit harmful substance emissions in order to minimise the contribution of transport to pollution and health hazards. Increasingly stringent emission standards are being imposed on car manufacturers; on the other hand, scant regard is paid to the issue of drivers, i.e. how they can help reduce emissions and protect their life and health by applying eco-driving rules.

Visual behaviour analysis and driver cognitive model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baujon, J.; Basset, M.; Gissinger, G.L. [Mulhouse Univ., (France). MIPS/MIAM Lab.

2001-07-01

Recent studies on driver behaviour have shown that perception - mainly visual but also proprioceptive perception - plays a key role in the ''driver-vehicle-road'' system and so considerably affects the driver's decision making. Within the framework of the behaviour analysis and studies low-cost system (BASIL), this paper presents a correlative, qualitative and quantitative study, comparing the information given by visual perception and by the trajectory followed. This information will help to obtain a cognitive model of the Rasmussen type according to different driver classes. Many experiments in real driving situations have been carried out for different driver classes and for a given trajectory profile, using a test vehicle and innovative, specially designed, real-time tools, such as the vision system or the positioning module. (orig.)

Modeling switching behaviour of direct selling customers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P Msweli-Mbanga

2004-04-01

Full Text Available The direct selling industry suffers a high turnover rate of salespeople, resulting in high costs of training new salespeople. Further costs are incurred when broken relationships with customers cause them to switch from one product supplier to another. This study identifies twelve factors that drive the switching behaviour of direct sales customers and examines the extent to which these factors influence switching. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the validity of these factors. The factors were represented in a model that posits that an interpersonal relationship between a direct sales person and a customer moderates the relationship between switching behaviour and loyalty. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model. The author then discusses the empirical findings and their managerial implications, providing further avenues for research.

Active Inference, homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control.

Science.gov (United States)

Pezzulo, Giovanni; Rigoli, Francesco; Friston, Karl

2015-11-01

We review a theory of homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control within the Active Inference framework. Our aim is to connect two research streams that are usually considered independently; namely, Active Inference and associative learning theories of animal behaviour. The former uses a probabilistic (Bayesian) formulation of perception and action, while the latter calls on multiple (Pavlovian, habitual, goal-directed) processes for homeostatic and behavioural control. We offer a synthesis these classical processes and cast them as successive hierarchical contextualisations of sensorimotor constructs, using the generative models that underpin Active Inference. This dissolves any apparent mechanistic distinction between the optimization processes that mediate classical control or learning. Furthermore, we generalize the scope of Active Inference by emphasizing interoceptive inference and homeostatic regulation. The ensuing homeostatic (or allostatic) perspective provides an intuitive explanation for how priors act as drives or goals to enslave action, and emphasises the embodied nature of inference. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Dementia & Driving

Science.gov (United States)

... have to give up driving. Many people associate driving with self-reliance and freedom; the loss of driving privileges ... familiar roads and avoid long distances. Avoid heavy traffic and heavily traveled roads. Avoid driving at night and in bad weather. Reduce the ...

Why do drivers become safer over the first three months of driving? A longitudinal qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Day, Marianne R; Thompson, Andrew R; Poulter, Damian R; Stride, Christopher B; Rowe, Richard

2018-08-01

Drivers are at high crash risk when they begin independent driving, with liability decreasing steeply over the first three months. Their behavioural development, and other changes underlying improved safety are not well understood. We adopted an innovative longitudinal qualitative design, with thirteen newly qualified drivers completing a total of 36 semi-structured interviews, one, two and three months after acquiring a full UK driving license. The interviews probed high-risk factors for new drivers, as well as allowing space for generating novel road safety issues. Analysis adopted a dual deductive and inductive interpretative thematic approach, identifying three super-ordinate themes: (1) Improvements in car control skills and situation awareness; (2) A reduction in the thrill of taking risks when driving against a background of generally increasing driving speed; (3) Early concerns about their social status in the eyes of other road users during the early stages of driving, which may put pressure on them to drive faster than they felt comfortable with. The study provides important new leads towards understanding how novice driving becomes safer over the first few months of driving, including how well-studied concepts of driving skill and style may change during development of independent driving, and bringing the less rigorously studied concept of social status into focus. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Beslissingsprocessen van verkeersdeelnemers : covernota bij de rapporten van W.H. Janssen: "Risk compensation and the effect of an incentive : a laboratory study" (IFZ 1988 C-26), "An experimental evaluation of safety incentive schemes" (IZF 1989 C-19), en "Seat belt wearing and driving behaviour : an empirical investigation" (IZF 1991 C-15).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Levelt, P.B.M.

1993-01-01

This cover note comments on the following three TNO Institute for Perception (IZF) Reports: (1) "Risk compensation and the effect of an incentive: a laboratory study"; (2) "An experimental evaluation of safety incentive schemes"; and (3) "Seat belt wearing and driving behaviour: an empirical

Investigations dealing with variable-speed drives of belt conveyor systems; Untersuchungen an drehzahlstellbaren Antrieben von Gurtbandfoerderanlagen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heuvel, B. van den [RWE Power AG, Technikzentrum Tagebaue/Hauptwerkstatt, Versuchsabteilung, Frechen (Germany)

2006-04-15

Safe and faultless operation of belt conveyor systems is a crucial factor in maintaining the availability of interlinked conveying systems employed in mining operations; the use of components with a high efficiency or low energy consumption and energy-conserving plant operation modes allow economic efficiency to be enhanced. With the power increase of single drives to 2500 kW the static design is gaining significance and - with the introduction of variable-speed conveyor drives - particular importance is also to be attached to the proper dynamic design and adjustment of the drive units. Comprehensive measurement and computational studies made of different conveyor drive units in the 900 to 2500 kW power range revealed that excitations of torsional natural frequencies caused by the drives' tooth contact frequencies were the reason for the damage that had occurred; remedial measures were developed the efficacy of which was demonstrated in practice. Moreover, investigations aimed at precautionary damage prevention are described which were performed with newly designed gears prior to the conversion of proven conveyor drives to variable-speed drive units. When designing new gears in the future, we recommend to also investigate them with regard to their dynamic behaviour in the drive train during the design phase by performing appropriate torsional vibration analyses. (orig.)

An analytical and experimental study of the behaviour of redundant controllers applied to a nuclear plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawrence, L.A.J.

1964-02-01

The behaviour of a number of configurations of redundant controllers is examined and the design problems discussed in relation to the engineering of reliable control rod drive systems for nuclear plant. (author)

Modifying behaviour to reduce over-speeding in work-related drivers: an objective approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Newnam, Sharon; Lewis, Ioni; Warmerdam, Amanda

2014-03-01

The goal of this study was to utilise an objective measurement tool, via an on-board Diagnostic tool (OBDII), to explore the effectiveness of a behaviour modification intervention designed to reduce over-speed violations in a group of work-related drivers. It was predicted that over-speed violations would be decreased following participation in a behaviour modification intervention where drivers received weekly feedback on their speeding performance and goal setting exercises. The final analysis included the on-road behaviour of 16 drivers, all of whom completed each stage of the intervention programme. As predicted, over-speed violations significantly decreased from pre-test to post-test, after controlling for kilometres driven. These findings offer practical guidance for industry in developing interventions designed to improve work-related driving behaviour. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electric drives

CERN Document Server

Boldea, Ion

2005-01-01

ENERGY CONVERSION IN ELECTRIC DRIVESElectric Drives: A DefinitionApplication Range of Electric DrivesEnergy Savings Pay Off RapidlyGlobal Energy Savings Through PEC DrivesMotor/Mechanical Load MatchMotion/Time Profile MatchLoad Dynamics and StabilityMultiquadrant OperationPerformance IndexesProblemsELECTRIC MOTORS FOR DRIVESElectric Drives: A Typical ConfigurationElectric Motors for DrivesDC Brush MotorsConventional AC MotorsPower Electronic Converter Dependent MotorsEnergy Conversion in Electric Motors/GeneratorsPOWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTERS (PECs) FOR DRIVESPower Electronic Switches (PESs)The

Ondersteuning van de rijtaak door nieuwe technologie [Supporting the driving task by means of new technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, W.H.

1999-01-01

After giving a description of the way in which the driving task can be supported by (partial) automation this paper considers the behavioural and motivational responses that automation will induce in users. It is concluded that it is at present impossible to estimate what the safety consequences of

Sexual behaviour related to psycho-social factors in a population of Danish homosexual and bisexual men.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, K W; Fouchard, J R; Krasnik, A; Zoffmann, H; Jacobsen, H L; Kreiner, S

1992-05-01

An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was distributed to (1) male members of the Danish Gay and Lesbian Association (2) through a gay magazine and (3) to readers of a gay pornographic magazine. For the purpose of this study sexual practices were classified into three categories taking into account the HIV-status of the respondent and his partner(s): safe sex (mutual masturbation, sex with condoms, sex without condoms between two HIV-positives), potentially safe sex (oral-genital sex without condoms irrespective of HIV-status, anal-genital sex without condoms between two HIV-negatives), unsafe sex (anal-genital sex without condoms between discordant partners or partners of unknown HIV status). Of the 2058 respondents 29.7% had had unsafe sex in the last 12 months. Multivariate analysis by recursive graphical models showed that sexual practice was directly related (that is conditionally dependent given the rest of the variables) to having a steady partner. Among men without a steady partner sexual practice was also directly related to age and number of partners showing an increase in unsafe sex with number of partners and a decrease with age. Thus of the men 16-19 years of age 43.5% had had unsafe sex irrespective of number of partners vs 5.7% of men older than 44 years and with one to two partners. Sexual practice was not directly related to any other demographic or psychosocial factor in the study. The adopted classification of sexual practice preclude that the high occurrence of unsafe sex could be explained by unsafe sex taking place among partners of concordant HIV status. The results emphasize the need for further preventive efforts to reduce transmission of HIV among homosexual men.

How psychology affects decisions in corporate finance: Traditional vs. behavioural approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Piras

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to draw a theoretical line to connect on a common conceptual base, behavioural fi-nance with what is internationally known as Modern Fi-nance. The debate often involves discussions about the prevalence of rationality over irrationality. This paper will address mainly two questions: as an economist, should I propend for traditional or for behavioural finance? And, perhaps more important, are they in opposition to each other? Linking the principles upon which the traditional theory of finance is based to behavioural finance appears also to be useful to better understand recent global turmoil in the world financial system. In finding such links, behavioural finance studies will help on driving research to define market models much closer to reality than they are today. Thus literature recognition will be carried out, starting from the most important contribution to fundamental analysis, value theory, going through modern portfolio theory and efficient market hypothesis to seminal contributions on behavioural finance, reaching recent findings of Neuronomics, in order to establish some common theoretical base in corporate finance studies.

Addressing the road trauma burden in China: Exploring attitudes, behaviours, risk perceptions and cultural uniqueness.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleiter, Judy J; Watson, Barry

2016-10-01

As China continues to motorise rapidly, solutions are needed to reduce the burden of road trauma that is spread inequitably across the community. Little is currently known about how new drivers are trained to deal with on-road challenges, and little is also known about the perceptions, behaviours and attitudes of road users in China. This paper reports on a pilot study conducted in a driver retraining facility in one Chinese city where people who have had their licence suspended for accrual of 12 demerit points in a one year period must attend compulsory retraining in order to regain their licence. A sample of 239 suspended drivers responded to an anonymous questionnaire that sought information about preferred driving speeds and perceptions of safe driving speeds across two speed zones. Responses indicated that speeds higher than the posted limits were commonly reported, and that there was incongruence between preferred and safe speeds, such that a greater proportion of drivers reported preferred speeds that were substantially faster than what were reported as safe speeds. Participants with more driving experience reported significantly fewer crashes than newly licensed drivers (less than 2 years licensed) but no differences were found in offences when compared across groups with different levels of driving experience. Perceptions of risky behaviours were assessed by asking participants to describe what they considered to be the most dangerous on-road behaviours. Speeding and drink driving were the most commonly reported by far, followed by issues such as fatigue, ignoring traffic rules, not obeying traffic rules, phone use while driving, and non-use of seatbelts, which attracted an extremely low response which seems consistent with previously reported low belt wearing rates, unfavourable attitudes towards seatbelt use, and low levels of enforcement. Finally, observations about culturally specific considerations are made from previous research conducted by the

Older drivers with cognitive impairment: Perceived changes in driving skills, driving-related discomfort and self-regulation of driving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meng, A.; Siren, A.; Teasdale, Thomas William

2013-01-01

The results of a previous study indicate that in general, older drivers who recognise cognitive problems show realistic self-assessment of changes in their driving skills and that driving-related discomfort may function as an indirect monitoring of driving ability, contributing to their safe...... drivers may recognise cognitive problems, they tend not to recognise changes to their driving, which may reflect reluctance to acknowledge the impact of cognitive impairment on their driving. Furthermore, the results suggest that driving-related discomfort plays an important role in the self......-regulation of driving among cognitively impaired older drivers. However, it is less clear what triggers driving-related discomfort among cognitively impaired older drivers indicating that it may be a less reliable aspect of their self-monitoring of driving ability....

Factors driving public tolerance levels and information-seeking behaviour concerning insects in the household environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schoelitsz, Bruce; Poortvliet, P.M.; Takken, Willem

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: The public's negative attitudes towards household insects drive tolerance for these insects and their control. Tolerance levels are important in integrated pest management (IPM), as are pest knowledge and information. The risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model describes the

Drive Stands

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Electrical Systems Laboratory (ESL)houses numerous electrically driven drive stands. A drive stand consists of an electric motor driving a gearbox and a mounting...

Comparing Expert and Novice Driving Behavior in a Driving Simulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiran B. Ekanayake

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a study focused on comparing driving behavior of expert and novice drivers in a mid-range driving simulator with the intention of evaluating the validity of driving simulators for driver training. For the investigation, measurements of performance, psychophysiological measurements, and self-reported user experience under different conditions of driving tracks and driving sessions were analyzed. We calculated correlations between quantitative and qualitative measures to enhance the reliability of the findings. The experiment was conducted involving 14 experienced drivers and 17 novice drivers. The results indicate that driving behaviors of expert and novice drivers differ from each other in several ways but it heavily depends on the characteristics of the task. Moreover, our belief is that the analytical framework proposed in this paper can be used as a tool for selecting appropriate driving tasks as well as for evaluating driving performance in driving simulators.

Goal-Role Integration as Driver for Customer Engagement Behaviours across Touch-points

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haurum, Helle; Beckmann, Suzanne C.

Customers and firms interact at many different touch-points that enable customer engagement behaviour. By adopting a customer-centric approach we investigated through 20 in-depth interviews what drives service customers’ CEB manifestations in touch-points, which the firm either manages, monitors......, or manoeuvres between. The key findings are that (a) CEBs are driven by different forms of goal-role integration across touch-points, (b) customers’ goal-directedness determines the touch-points where CEBs are manifested, (c) customers’ role-playing behaviours determine the nature of CEBs, and (d) customers......’ role-playing behaviours can change across touch-points, contingent upon goal-directedness. Hence, this study provides rich insights into customer-firm encounters at touch-points, which subsequently define and shape the relation over time....

Incidental Laparoscopic Discovery of an Intraperitoneal Plastic Catheter 16 Years after an Unsafe Abortion: A Case Report from the Gynecologic, Obstetric, and Pediatric Hospital of Yaoundé (Cameroon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ngandji Andre

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In many developing countries like Cameroon, unsafe abortion is a major public health problem. It can be responsible for severe complications including damage to the digestive and/or urinary tract, sepsis, and uterine perforation. Uterine perforation could be caused by most of the instruments that are used to evacuate the uterus. We report a case of apparent uterine perforation and subsequent migration of the plastic or rubber catheter into the peritoneal cavity during an abortion procedure performed in a setting that may have been unsafe. The discovery was made during a diagnostic laparoscopy indicated for secondary infertility of tubal origin 16 years after the abortion procedure. This is a rare clinical finding which is of therapeutic and diagnostic importance. To the best of our knowledge, a single similar case has been reported so far in the literature.

Associations between socioeconomic position and correlates of sedentary behaviour among youth: a systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gebremariam, M. K.; Altenburg, T. M.; Lakerveld, J.; Andersen, L. F.; Stronks, K.; Chinapaw, M. J.; Lien, N.

2015-01-01

Existing research evidence indicates that children and adolescents of parents with a low socioeconomic position spend more time on sedentary behaviour than their counterparts. However, the mechanisms driving these differences remain poorly understood. The main aim of this systematic review was to

Cognitive problems, self-rated changes in driving skills, driving-related discomfort and self-regulation of driving in old drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meng, Annette; Siren, Anu Kristiina

2012-01-01

Ageing in general is associated with functional decline that may have an adverse effect on driving. Nevertheless, older drivers have been found to show good judgement and to self-regulate their driving, which may enable them to continue driving safely despite functional decline. The process...... of the self-monitoring of driving ability and the awareness of functional decline, and its association with the self-regulation of driving is, however, not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to examine the perceived changes in driving skills, the discomfort experienced in driving, and the self......-related discomfort is an important factor affecting the self-regulation of driving. Finally, the findings indicate that driving-related discomfort functions as an indirect self-monitoring of driving ability and may contribute to the safe driving performance of Danish older drivers....

Prediction for driving behaviour in connection with socio – demographic characteristics and individual value system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lazdins K.J.

2018-01-01

The results can serve as the basis to create new driving behavior interventions and also applicable to psychologist's professional work, when counseling individuals of this group, as well as can be used in the future development of the field, science and research.

The causing model of accidents and preventing system of small mines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cao, S.; Zhang, L.; Liu, Y.; Li, Y. [Chongqing University, Chongqing (China)

2008-06-15

From an analysis of data on fatal accidents in small coal mines in a southern region of China over a period of three years, the time and type of accidents was discussed by applying statistical methods. It is shown that accidents frequently occur at the end of spring and all through summer. Roof accidents and gas disasters constitute severe accidents and traffic accidents are also important. It was found that most accidents are caused by dangerous behaviour of personnel and the unsafe state of equipment combined with economic interest. The three-factor causing model (TFC model) was proposed. Unsafe behaviour is a direct cause influenced by staff and workers while the unsafe nature of equipment is an indirect cause of accidents influence by natural conditions and the level of technical equipment in the mines. A system of accident prevention in small coal collieries was established with the TFC model. In this, scientific management is an important factor. 13 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.

The effects of momentary visual disruption on hazard anticipation and awareness in driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Borowsky, Avinoam; Horrey, William J; Liang, Yulan; Garabet, Angela; Simmons, Lucinda; Fisher, Donald L

2015-01-01

Driver distraction is known to increase crash risk, especially when a driver glances inside the vehicle for especially long periods of time. Though it is clear that such glances increase the risk for the driver when looking inside the vehicle, it is less clear how these glances disrupt the ongoing processing of information outside the vehicle once the driver's eyes return to the road. The present study was aimed at exploring the effect of in-vehicle glances on the top-down processes that guide the detection and monitoring of hazards on the forward roadway. Using a driving simulator, 12 participants were monitored with an eye-tracking system while they navigated various hazardous scenarios. Six participants were momentarily interrupted by a visual secondary task (simulating a glance inside the vehicle) prior to the occurrence of a potential hazard and 6 were not. Eye movement analyses showed that interrupted drivers often failed to continue scanning for a potential hazard when their forward view reappeared, especially when the potential threat could not easily be localized. Additionally, drivers' self-appraisal of workload and performance of the driving task indicated that, contrary to what one might expect, drivers in the interruption condition reported workload levels lower than and performance equal to drivers in the no interruption condition. Drivers who are momentarily disrupted even for a brief duration are at risk of missing important information when they return their gaze to the forward roadway. In addition, because they are not aware of missing this information they are likely to continue engaging in in-vehicle tasks even though they are demonstrably unsafe. The implications for safety, calibration, and targeted remediation are discussed.

HIV/AIDS-related sexual behaviour among commercial motorcyclists ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

McRoy

psychoactive drugs, alcohol, cigarette and unsafe sexual behaviors. ... active is important in eradicating HIV. According to Kaiser ... Knowledge and attitude towards HIV/AIDS and the practice or ..... Banjo T, Nwaze E, Aja GND. Perceptions.

Dynamic performances analysis of a real vehicle driving

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, M. A.; Jamil, J. F.; Salim, M. A.

2015-12-01

Vehicle dynamic is the effects of movement of a vehicle generated from the acceleration, braking, ride and handling activities. The dynamic behaviours are determined by the forces from tire, gravity and aerodynamic which acting on the vehicle. This paper emphasizes the analysis of vehicle dynamic performance of a real vehicle. Real driving experiment on the vehicle is conducted to determine the effect of vehicle based on roll, pitch, and yaw, longitudinal, lateral and vertical acceleration. The experiment is done using the accelerometer to record the reading of the vehicle dynamic performance when the vehicle is driven on the road. The experiment starts with weighing a car model to get the center of gravity (COG) to place the accelerometer sensor for data acquisition (DAQ). The COG of the vehicle is determined by using the weight of the vehicle. A rural route is set to launch the experiment and the road conditions are determined for the test. The dynamic performance of the vehicle are depends on the road conditions and driving maneuver. The stability of a vehicle can be controlled by the dynamic performance analysis.

Novel Observer Scheme of Fuzzy-MRAS Sensorless Speed Control of Induction Motor Drive

Science.gov (United States)

Chekroun, S.; Zerikat, M.; Mechernene, A.; Benharir, N.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a novel approach Fuzzy-MRAS conception for robust accurate tracking of induction motor drive operating in a high-performance drives environment. Of the different methods for sensorless control of induction motor drive the model reference adaptive system (MRAS) finds lot of attention due to its good performance. The analysis of the sensorless vector control system using MRAS is presented and the resistance parameters variations and speed observer using new Fuzzy Self-Tuning adaptive IP Controller is proposed. In fact, fuzzy logic is reminiscent of human thinking processes and natural language enabling decisions to be made based on vague information. The present approach helps to achieve a good dynamic response, disturbance rejection and low to plant parameter variations of the induction motor. In order to verify the performances of the proposed observer and control algorithms and to test behaviour of the controlled system, numerical simulation is achieved. Simulation results are presented and discussed to shown the validity and the performance of the proposed observer.

Relationships Between Self-Reported and Observed Parenting Behaviour, Adolescent Disordered Eating Attitudes and Behaviours, and the 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism: Data From the Australian Temperament Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozenblat, Vanja; Ryan, Joanne; Wertheim, Eleanor; King, Ross; Olsson, Craig A; Letcher, Primrose; Krug, Isabel

2017-09-01

This study examined whether self-reported and observationally measured parental behaviours were associated with disordered eating, and investigated possible moderation by a serotonin-transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR). Study 1 included 650 adolescents from the Australian Temperament Project who completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 Drive for Thinness and Bulimia scales at 15/16 years and were genotyped for 5-HTTLPR. Parents completed an Australian Temperament Project-devised measure of parental warmth and harsh punishment. Study 2 included a subgroup of 304 participants who also engaged in a video-recorded family interaction, with observed parental warmth and hostility coded by the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scale. Greater self-reported parental warmth was associated with lower bulimia scores. Conversely, observationally measured parental warmth was associated with lower drive for thinness, but not bulimia. Self-reported parental harsh punishment was associated with bulimia only, with observed parental hostility associated with neither outcome. 5-HTTLPR genotype did not moderate the relationship between parent behaviours and adolescent disordered eating. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Segregation in ternary alloys: an interplay of driving forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luyten, J.; Helfensteyn, S.; Creemers, C.

2003-01-01

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations combined with the constant bond energy (CBE) model are set up to explore and understand the general segregation behaviour in ternary alloys as a function of composition and more in particular the segregation to Cu-Ni-Al (1 0 0) surfaces. Besides its simplicity, allowing swift simulations, which are necessary for a first general survey over all possible compositions, one of the advantages of the CBE model lies in the possibility to clearly identify the different driving forces for segregation. All simulations are performed in the Grand Canonical Ensemble, using a new algorithm to determine the chemical potential of the components. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the CBE model, one extra feature is evidenced: depending on the values of the interatomic interaction parameters, in some regions of the ternary diagram, a single solid solution becomes thermodynamically unstable, leading to demixing into two conjugate phases. The simulations are first done for three hypothetical systems that are however representative for real alloy systems. The three systems are characterised by different sets of interatomic interaction parameters. These extensive simulations over the entire composition range of the ternary alloy yield a 'topographical' segregation map, showing distinct regions where different species segregate. These distinct domains originate from a variable interplay between the driving forces for segregation and attractive/repulsive interactions in the bulk of the alloy. The results on these hypothetical systems are very helpful for a better understanding of the segregation behaviour in Cu-Ni-Al and other ternary alloys

Absorption solar cooling systems using optimal driving temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lecuona, Antonio; Ventas, Rubén; Vereda, Ciro; López, Ricardo

2015-01-01

The optimum instantaneous driving temperature of a solar cooling facility is determined along a day. The chillers compared use single effect cycles working with NH 3 /LiNO 3 , either conventional or hybridised by incorporating a low pressure booster compressor. Their performances are compared with a H 2 O/LiBr single effect absorption chiller as part of the same solar system. The results of a detailed thermodynamic cycle for the absorption chillers allow synthesizing them in a modified characteristic temperature difference model. The day accumulated solar cold production is determined using this optimum temperature during two sunny days in mid-July and mid-September, located in Madrid, Spain. The work shows the influences of operational variables and a striking result: selection of a time-constant temperature during all the day does not necessarily imply a substantial loss, being the temperature chosen a key parameter. The results indicate that the NH 3 /LiNO 3 option with no boosting offers a smaller production above-zero Celsius degrees temperatures, but does not require higher hot water driving temperatures than H 2 O/LiBr. The boosted cycle offers superior performance. Some operational details are discussed. - Highlights: • Instantaneous optimum driving temperature t g,op for solar cooling in Madrid. • 3 absorption cycles tested: H 2 O/LiBr and NH 3 /LiNO 3 single effect and hybrid. • The t g,op of the hybrid cycle is 16 °C lower than both single effect cycles. • The best fixed driving temperature can reach almost the same behaviour than t g,op

DrivingSense: Dangerous Driving Behavior Identification Based on Smartphone Autocalibration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunmei Ma

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Since pervasive smartphones own advanced computing capability and are equipped with various sensors, they have been used for dangerous driving behaviors detection, such as drunk driving. However, sensory data gathered by smartphones are noisy, which results in inaccurate driving behaviors estimations. Some existing works try to filter noise from sensor readings, but usually only the outlier data are filtered. The noises caused by hardware of the smartphone cannot be removed from the sensor reading. In this paper, we propose DrivingSense, a reliable dangerous driving behavior identification scheme based on smartphone autocalibration. We first theoretically analyze the impact of the sensor error on the vehicle driving behavior estimation. Then, we propose a smartphone autocalibration algorithm based on sensor noise distribution determination when a vehicle is being driven. DrivingSense leverages the corrected sensor parameters to identify three kinds of dangerous behaviors: speeding, irregular driving direction change, and abnormal speed control. We evaluate the effectiveness of our scheme under realistic environments. The results show that DrivingSense, on average, is able to detect the driving direction change event and abnormal speed control event with 93.95% precision and 90.54% recall, respectively. In addition, the speed estimation error is less than 2.1 m/s, which is an acceptable range.

Effects of Anticipation in Individually Motivated Behaviour on Survival and Control in a Multi-Agent Scenario with Resource Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Guckelsberger

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Self-organization and survival are inextricably bound to an agent’s ability to control and anticipate its environment. Here we assess both skills when multiple agents compete for a scarce resource. Drawing on insights from psychology, microsociology and control theory, we examine how different assumptions about the behaviour of an agent’s peers in the anticipation process affect subjective control and survival strategies. To quantify control and drive behaviour, we use the recently developed information-theoretic quantity of empowerment with the principle of empowerment maximization. In two experiments involving extensive simulations, we show that agents develop risk-seeking, risk-averse and mixed strategies, which correspond to greedy, parsimonious and mixed behaviour. Although the principle of empowerment maximization is highly generic, the emerging strategies are consistent with what one would expect from rational individuals with dedicated utility models. Our results support empowerment maximization as a universal drive for guided self-organization in collective agent systems.

Wheels, skills and thrills: a social marketing trial to reduce aggressive driving from young men in deprived areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Tapp, Alan; Pressley, Ashley; Baugh, Mike; White, Paul

2013-09-01

Young men from poorer backgrounds are associated with high road traffic collision levels. However, solving this problem has proven very difficult. Hence this paper summarises the findings of a UK government funded two-year trial of a cross-discipline intervention to reduce aggressive driving amongst this group. The intervention reported on here departed from traditional approaches such as fear appeals, stand-alone educational approaches, or punitive measures. Instead, the discipline of social marketing was used to provide overarching direction and structure for the trial, with a key focus on motivation and engagement. The project rested on a strong education and training platform and included a bespoke coaching programme, incentives, and an in-vehicle measurement and feedback device. The project had three development phases leading to the final trial. First, a literature and case study review identified possible design strategies. Second, these strategies were explored using primary research in the form of a qualitative inquiry. Third, a pre-trial design phase sought to introduce key components of the intervention to the trial cohort, retaining some flexibility before committing to the final design. Young males with a history of challenging behaviour (e.g. criminal records, driving convictions) from an economically deprived area within a UK city were recruited. Of 42 recruits, 23 successfully completed the trial. Behaviour changes were measured pre-, during and post-trial through a combination of driver performance data measured by in-vehicle data recorders (IVDRs), assessments of driving undertaken by trained observers, and self-assessment surveys and interviews with trial participants. Results indicate a significant average improvement in driving skills amongst participants who completed the trial. Given the difficulty in engaging and changing behaviour of this specific group, this is regarded as a significant finding. In summary the study provides an indication

Quantifying the role of risk-taking behaviour in causation of serious road crash-related injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Cathy; McClure, Rod

2004-05-01

This study was designed to quantify the increased risk of road crash-related injury, which can be attributed to risk-taking behaviour. A case-control study was conducted to compare motor vehicle drivers (car and bike) who had been hospitalised for injuries following crashes with population-based controls. Cases were recruited prospectively over 12 months and controls were randomly selected from license holders (car and bike) living in the same geographical location as cases. A self-administered questionnaire was used to ascertain participants' driving behaviour, general risk-taking behaviour and selected demographic characteristics. After adjusting for demographic variables, number of years of driving and total distance driven per week, logistic regression analysis showed that a high risk acceptance was associated with an eight-fold increased risk of having a crash that resulted in serious injury (OR 7.8, 95% CI 4.2-15.8). The findings of this study support the suggestion that certain host factors increase the risk of crash-related serious injury. There would appear to be a reasonable argument for persisting with injury prevention programmes, which concentrate on host as well as environment risk factor reduction.

Driving Style Analysis Using Primitive Driving Patterns With Bayesian Nonparametric Approaches

OpenAIRE

Wang, Wenshuo; Xi, Junqiang; Zhao, Ding

2017-01-01

Analysis and recognition of driving styles are profoundly important to intelligent transportation and vehicle calibration. This paper presents a novel driving style analysis framework using the primitive driving patterns learned from naturalistic driving data. In order to achieve this, first, a Bayesian nonparametric learning method based on a hidden semi-Markov model (HSMM) is introduced to extract primitive driving patterns from time series driving data without prior knowledge of the number...

Control rod drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okutani, Tetsuro.

1988-01-01

Purpose: To provide a simple and economical control rod drive using a control circuit requiring no pulse circuit. Constitution: Control rods in a BWR type reactor are driven by hydraulic pressure and inserted or withdrawn in the direction of applying the hydraulic pressure. The direction of the hydraulic pressure is controlled by a direction control valve. Since the driving for the control rod is extremely important in view of the operation, a self diagnosis function is disposed for rapid inspection of possible abnormality. In the present invention, two driving contacts are disposed each by one between the both ends of a solenoid valve of the direction control valve for driving the control rod and the driving power source, and diagnosis is conducted by alternately operating them. Therefore, since it is only necessary that the control circuit issues a driving instruction only to one of the two driving contacts, the pulse circuit is no more required. Further, since the control rod driving is conducted upon alignment of the two driving instructions, the reliability of the control rod drive can be improved. (Horiuchi, T.)

The impact of texting on driver behaviour at rail level crossings.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Kristie L; Lenné, Michael G; Salmon, Paul M; Stanton, Neville A

2018-05-21

A driver text messaging in the vicinity of a rail level crossing represents the merging of a high-risk, high-workload driving environment with a highly distracting secondary task. In this simulator study, we examined how texting impacts driver behaviour on approach to actively controlled urban rail level crossings. Twenty-eight participants drove a series of simulated urban routes containing rail level crossings, while sending text messages and while driving without performing a secondary task. At half of the crossings, drivers were required to respond to the crossing warnings as a train approached. Results revealed that texting on approach to rail level crossings had a detrimental impact on a range of driver behaviour measures. Specifically, texting more than doubled the amount of time spent with eyes off the forward roadway, resulting in drivers spending more than half of their approach time to rail level crossings looking away from the road. This lack of visual attention to the roadway was associated with a range of decrements in driving that may be indicative of a loss of situation awareness, including increased brake reaction time to the crossing warnings and a reduction in lateral position control. The findings have safety implications, not only for urban level crossings, but also for passive level crossings where no warnings are present to re-orient the distracted driver's attention toward an approaching train. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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