The effect of information redundancy and format upon comprehensibility of consent information to chronic alcoholics

This study investigated the effect of information repetition and media format upon comprehension and recall of consent information in a sample of chronic alcoholics. Subjects were 80 patients in treatment for chronic alcoholism in one of five treatment centers in the state of Iowa;Information about the study, itself, was presented to subjects in either printed or video format. Half of the subjects were presented each element of salient information only once (simple condition). The other half of the subjects were presented a reworded version of each element of salient information immediately following the initial presentation of the element (redundant condition);Analyses of variance were used to determine the effect upon comprehension of the independent variables. Relationships between several other variables and information comprehension were also examined, through the use of several statistical procedures;The findings did not support the effectiveness of redundant information presentation to increase comprehension of consent material in the sampled population. Neither did they support the effectiveness of video format over print format in the presentation of consent information. No significant interactive effects were noted. A small, but significant, relationship between reading level and comprehension, regardless of format of presentation, was noted;The implications of these findings, including the equivalency of print and video format in the consent process, were discussed

Light Scattering From Periodic, Conducting Nanostructures

A material with broadband light absorbing capabilities has the potential for much usefulness in devices such as photovoltaics and thermoelectrics. By energy conservation, a non-transparent material with low reflectance will be highly absorbing. Thus, much research has been devoted to understanding what makes material having low reflectance across a wide wavelength spectrum. The importance of a material’s electronic structure in determining reflectance is well-established. Current research is revealing the additional importance of surface architecture in the reflective properties of a material. A metasurface is a two-dimentional material with physical features at or smaller than the wavelength of light considered. These wavelength-scale features allow metasurfaces to exhibit uncommon light-matter interactions, such as having a negative index of refraction or generating light beams with orbital angular momentum. Natural or man-made metasurfaces with periodic or quasi-periodic surface features have been found to have extremely low reflectance, but the underlying mechanism has not been clearly established. Here, mode matching at the boundaries is used to solve a plane wave of light scattering from an array of apertures in a perfectly conducting metal. This approach provides numerical solutions of Maxwell’s equations, instead of the commonly used finite-difference-time-domain simulations which provide solutions but can vary with the setup parameters involved in the simulation. My results indicate that interference effects are the primary cause behind the dark nature of periodic meta surfaces. These results provide guidelines to design subwavelength structures that can achieve low reflectance over a broader range of wavelengths. Furthermore, this technique can be extended to quasi-periodic surfaces. Similar to Fourier analysis, the surface structure could be represented by a distribution of periodic structures where reflectance from each periodic structure can be solved as detailed in this study. These quasi-periodic structures are closer to many ultra-dark surfaces found in nature, such as the dark patches on the wings of some butterfly species. Thus, being able to analyze aperiodic structures could further advance our design of broadband absorbers

Social group effects on the emergence of communicative conventions and language complexity

Languages differ in their complexity. One possible explanation for this observation is that differences in social factors influence linguistic complexity: languages which are used for communication in small-scale "societies of intimates" exhibit greater complexity as a result of the communicative contexts in which they are typically employed. We used the techniques from referential communication studies across three experiments to assess the effects of two social group factors — group size and amount of communally-shared knowledge — on the brevity and transparency of linguistic conventions. In Experiment 1 we explored the effects of a manipulation of group size, comparing the conventions which develop from the interaction of two speakers, with those which develop between three speakers. In Experiment 2 we manipulated the extent to which groups of three speakers share talk-relevant contextual information. While we found the conditions which involve larger groups and less shared background information initially resulted in longer labels and a greater reliance on more literal descriptive terms, there was no effect of either factor in the longer term. In Experiment 3 we investigated the transparency of the conventions of Experiments 1 and 2 by assessing how well they could be matched to their intended referents by naive individuals. We found no evidence to support the claims that communicative contexts involving communicating with more individuals, or individuals with whom less relevant information is shared, produce more transparent conventions. Our experiments ultimately provide no support for the idea that the structure of linguistic conventions is shaped by the groups in which they develop

The Relationship Between Collision History and a Computerized Assessment of Visual and Cognitive Skills in a Sample of School Bus Drivers

The objective of this study was to explore whether measures of visual and cognitive performance in a safe computerized driving environment were associated with collision involvement and the cost of collisions in a sample of professional motor vehicle operators. One hundred and nine (109) school bus drivers in a large metropolitan area were asked to take a 15-minute interactive computer-based driving assessment. The skills included visual target identification, scanning in four directions, divided-attention, reaction time, steering smoothness, false positive responses, and evasive maneuvers. An overall score validated in previous research summarized each driver’s performance. Each driver’s collision history over the last three years was then compared to the driving assessment scores. Collision data included collision type, frequency, and damage cost associated with each incident. Drivers with collisions (n = 27) were compared to drivers with no collisions (n = 82). Drivers with collisions had significantly lower overall scanning and steering smoothness scores than drivers without collisions. Drivers with collisions also had significantly higher braking and target false-positive scores, indicating disorientation. The total cost of collisions for the lower 40th percentile test scores was $42,261, whereas the cost for the upper 60th percentile was$10,314. The results indicate that drivers who are prone to become disoriented and overwhelmed in a high-demand computerized assessment were more likely to have had collisions on the road. The relationship between collision cost/incidence and test scores suggests that a sufficiently complex and rapidly paced computerized assessment has utility in identifying drivers who would benefit from remedial training

The Relationship Between Collision History and a Computerized Assessment of Visual and Cognitive Skills in a Sample of School Bus Drivers

The objective of this study was to explore whether measures of visual and cognitive performance in a safe computerized driving environment were associated with collision involvement and the cost of collisions in a sample of professional motor vehicle operators. One hundred and nine (109) school bus drivers in a large metropolitan area were asked to take a 15-minute interactive computer-based driving assessment. The skills included visual target identification, scanning in four directions, divided-attention, reaction time, steering smoothness, false positive responses, and evasive maneuvers. An overall score validated in previous research summarized each driver’s performance. Each driver’s collision history over the last three years was then compared to the driving assessment scores. Collision data included collision type, frequency, and damage cost associated with each incident. Drivers with collisions (n = 27) were compared to drivers with no collisions (n = 82). Drivers with collisions had significantly lower overall scanning and steering smoothness scores than drivers without collisions. Drivers with collisions also had significantly higher braking and target false-positive scores, indicating disorientation. The total cost of collisions for the lower 40th percentile test scores was $42,261, whereas the cost for the upper 60th percentile was$10,314. The results indicate that drivers who are prone to become disoriented and overwhelmed in a high-demand computerized assessment were more likely to have had collisions on the road. The relationship between collision cost/incidence and test scores suggests that a sufficiently complex and rapidly paced computerized assessment has utility in identifying drivers who would benefit from remedial training

Quantifying The Predator-Prey Relationship: Lessons Learned From A Multiple-Prey, Wolf-Hybrid Zone In Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

We studied winter kill rates and prey selection in an eastern wolf/moose/white-tailed deer system in Algonquin Park, Ontario Canada. Eastern wolves (Canis lycaon) are a distinct species, known to hybridize with both gray wolves and eastern coyotes, resulting in genetic variation within the study area. Deer in Algonquin are seasonally migratory, and accessibility of deer shifts significantly over winter. Some wolf packs migrate off territory to forage on deer, while others remain on territory, relying on moose. Our objectives were to 1) identify factors influencing variation in prey use, and 2) compare methodologies for quantifying prey use in a multiple prey system. We used fine scale GPS collar data to identify kill sites, and calculated relative use of moose and deer for each pack using several measures, including prey biomass/wolf/day, days/kill/pack and a newly developed method of time spent at kill sites from GPS data. We also conducted stable isotope analysis to compare with field collected prey-use data. Variation in prey use among wolf packs was most influenced by accessibility to deer, vulnerability of moose, and genetic admixture, and mediated by winter progression. Methodological comparisons showed that prey biomass/wolf/day tended to overestimate large prey items, while days/kill/pack overestimated the importance of small prey. Stable isotope results were inconsistent, revealing some possible weaknesses of this approach. We found wide variation in kill rates and relative prey use with winter progression, and spatial variation in age-specific predation associated with differences in hunter harvest pressure