Factors affecting color correction of retroreflective markings

A nighttime field study was conducted to assess the effects of retroreflective material area, distribution, and color on judgments of conspicuity. Participants, seated in a stationary vehicle, took part in a pairwise comparison of the stimuli. The independent variables included retroreflective power, area and distribution of the retroreflective material, color of the retroreflective material, participant age, and participant gender. The results indicate that color (white, fluorescent yellow-green, and fluorescent red-orange) was a significant factor in the judgment of conspicuity, as might be predicted from the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect. In addition, color interacted with the distribution of material at the high level of retroreflective power. The area of the retroreflective material was also significant. The present study, in agreement with a number of previous studies, indicates that color influences the conspicuity of retroreflective stimuli, but that the results are not always in agreement with color correction factors prescribed in ASTM E 1501. The discrepancy between empirically derived color correction factors seems to be attributable to an interaction of the stimulus size (subtended angle) and color, which previous studies have not extensively examined. To a lesser degree, the retroreflective power of a material also appears to influence conspicuity. While the ASTM correction factors may be appropriate for intermediate subtended solid angles, particularly for nonsaturated colors, smaller correction factors appear appropriate for markings subtending small angles (approaching point sources), and larger factors for larger subtended angles of saturated stimuli.The University of Michigan Industry Affiliation Program for Human Factors in Transportation Safetyhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91263/1/102869.pd

In Situ and Satellite Measured Temperature Comparability

Following the International Geophysical Year in the late 1950's, small meteorological rockets caught the interest of scientists as a potentially inexpensive method to obtain meteorological information (density, temperature, wind) above balloon-borne radiosonde altitudes. These small rocketsondes have served many important observational roles in terms of studies conducted of atmospheric structure and processes, enabling many new ideas about the atmosphere to emerge. Although no longer manufactured a small residual inventory of meteorological rocketsondes exist for specific research projects. The value of data from meteorological rocketsondes is without question but with their disappearance data from many different satellites are filling the need, some able to resolve high-altitude temperatures quite well. However, the rocketsonde vertical profile is more localized to the launch site whereas satellites move several kilometers per second. The objective of this presentation is to compare in situ temperature data with remotely measured/retrieved temperature data. There have been a number of U.S. conducted missions utilizing the passive falling sphere data that we use to verify the comparability of retrieved temperatures from these satellites. Missions, some as early as 1991, were conducted in polar, equatorial, and mid-latitude locations. An important aspect is that a single satellite profile compared to a falling sphere profile often does not agree while high density satellite measurements when averaged over an area near the rocketsonde data area seems to be in better agreement. Radiosonde temperature data are used in the analysis when appropriat

Driver Distraction: A Naturalistic Observation of Secondary Behaviors With the Use of Driver Assistance Systems

This report describes the naturalistic observation of secondary behaviors performed by 66 drivers who took part in the Automotive Collision Avoidance System Field Operational Test (ACAS FOT). The ACAS FOT included two driver assistance systems, adaptive cruise control (ACC) and forward collision warning (FCW). Each driver participated in both baseline (no driver assistance systems for one week) and treatment conditions (both ACC and FCW available for 3 weeks). The method employed was to sub-sample video data, and code drivers’ secondary behaviors using 4 s video clips of the driver, collected every 5 minutes. Eight-hundred and ninety video clips were reviewed and coded while participants drove manually, with conventional cruise control, ACC, and FCW. The results show that drivers who took part in the field test were no more likely to engage in secondary behaviors when driving with ACC and FCW in comparison to manual control. When the driver assistance systems became available to the participants, there was an increase in the number of conversations drivers had with passengers, probably related to the driver explaining the novel ACAS system to passengers. The results have important implications in that, at least for the duration of exposure examined, they counter the concern often raised that driver assistance systems will promote driver distraction, lapses in attention or modification in perceived risk

Instrument Development Measuring Critical Care Nurses' Attitudes and Behaviors with End-of-life Care

Although critical care nurses are expected to focus on providing life-sustaining measures, many intensive care patients actually receive end-of-life care

Field Test Results of a Road Departure Crash Warning System: Driver Acceptance, Perceived Utility and Willingness to Purchase

The road departure crash warning system field operational test (RDCW FOT) was conducted to assess the safety impacts, driver acceptance levels, and the maturity of road departure crash warning systems as installed on a light vehicle platform. This paper presents the results on driver acceptance and perceived utility of a road departure crash warning system

Seasonal variations in conspicuity of high-visibility garments

A naturalistic, daytime field study was conducted to investigate the effects of garment color, the amount of background material, driver age, and season on the conspicuity of high-visibility safety garments. Subjects drove an instrumented vehicle along a 29-km route once in the summer and again in the fall. Their task was to detect pedestrians wearing high-visibility garments. Distances at which pedestrians were first detected were recorded. All of the challenges normally encountered when driving on public roadways were present, thus providing a more ecologically valid level of workload than provided by test-track or static evaluations. The results show that the amount of background material and season significantly affected the detection distance of a pedestrian wearing a fluorescent-colored garment. There was no significant interaction of season and garment color. The analyses suggest that color contrast with natural backgrounds might contribute more to the conspicuity of fluorescent red-orange garments than the corresponding luminance contrast. On the other hand, luminance contrast might contribute more to the conspicuity of fluorescent yellow-green garments than color contrast.University of Michigan Industry Affiliation Program for Human Factors in Transportation Safetyhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58731/1/100249.pd

Tobacco and cigarette butt consumption in humans and animals

Discarded cigarette butts may present health risks to human infants and animals because of indiscriminate eating behaviours. Nicotine found in cigarette butts may cause vomiting and neurological toxicity; leachates of cigarette butts in aquatic environments may cause exposure to additional toxic chemicals including heavy metals, ethyl phenol and pesticide residues. This report reviews published and grey literature regarding cigarette butt waste consumption by children, pets and wildlife. Although reports of human and animal exposures number in the tens of thousands, severe toxic outcomes due to butt consumption are rare. Nonetheless, the ubiquity of cigarette butt waste and its potential for adverse effects on human and animal health warrants additional research and policy interventions to reduce the stream of these pollutants in the environment

Psychometric Evaluation of a New Instrument to Measure Uncertainty in Children and Adolescents With Cancer

Although uncertainty has been characterized as a major stressor for children with cancer, it has not been studied systematically

Approaches toward Sustainable Forage-Livestock Systems: Strip-Planting a Legume into a Warm-Season Perennial Grass Pasture

Despite the demonstrated potential of rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.; RP) for grazing in the southeastern USA (Ortega-S. et al. 1992), high establishment cost and removal of land from production during establishment have limited its use to primarily hay production systems. The premise of this experiment is that strip-planting RP in existing bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge) pastures offers the opportunity to use grass forage during the legume establishment phase so that land need not be totally removed from grazing, while allowing successful establishment of the legume