Reliability evaluation of the Swedish version of Transsexual Voice Questionnaire Male-to-Female (TVQMtF)

There is no validated self-evaluation form in Swedish for male-to- female transsexuals regarding their voice function. The purpose with the present study was to evaluate the reliability of the Swedish version of Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for Male-to-Female (Swe-TVQMtF). Swe- TVQ MtF contains 30 items about voice function. The responses were converted into scores, with a maximum of 120 (highest grade of impairment). Thirty MtF transsexuals filled out the Swe-TVQ MtF two times, with four to seven weeks in between. The results showed that Swe-TVQ MtF had high reliability, as the internal consistency was very high both times (Cronbach’s α= 0,97 and α= 0,98) and the test-retest was excellent (ICC= 0,95; 95% confidence interval 0,90-0,98). A high homogeneity on the ITC analysis of the items was found. Due to the sample size, a factor division could not be confirmed. It was concluded that the Swe-TVQ MtF is a robust instrument in terms of reliability and could be used in speech-language pathology clinics.Det saknas ett validitets- och reliabilitetsprövat självskattningsformulär på svenska gällande röstfunktion för transsexuella män-till-kvinnor. Syftet med denna studie var att reliabilitetspröva den svenska versionen av Transsexual Voice Questionnaire for Male-to-Female Transsexuals (Swe-TVQMtF). Formuläret innehåller 30 påståenden om röstfunktion. Svaren räknas om till poäng där maximal totalpoäng är 120 (hög grad av besvär). Deltagarna var 30 transsexuella män-till-kvinnor som vid två tillfällen, med fyra till sju veckors mellanrum, besvarade Swe- TVQ MtF. Resultaten visade att Swe-TVQ MtF hade hög reliabilitet då den interna konsistensen var mycket hög vid båda tillfällena (Cronbach’s α = 0,97 och α = 0,98) och tillförlitligheten över tid var mycket god (ICC= 0,95; 95% konfidensintervall 0,90-0,98). ITC-analysen visade också att påståendena hade hög homogenitet. Någon tydlig faktorindelning kunde inte bekräftas utifrån studiens urvalsstorlek. Slutsatsen var att Swe-TVQ MtF är ett robust instrument vad gäller reliabilitet och bör kunna användas i logopedisk verksamhet

Robust methods and conditional expectations for vehicular traffic count analysis

We study the problem of making algorithmic statistical inferences about the dynamics of city traffic. Our data is based on loop detector counts of observed vehicles in various roads in the city of Tampere, Finland. We show that meaningful correlations can be found between traffic asymmetries at different measurement locations. The traffic asymmetry is the difference of the traffic counts of the opposite directions of a road. The correlations can be further quantified by estimating how much they effect on the average values of the traffic asymmetries at the neighbouring locations. Conditional expectations, both sample and binormal model-based versions are useful tools for quantifying this effect. The uncertainty bounds of conditional expectations of the binormal model distribution are extremely useful for outlier detection. Furthermore, conditional expectations of the multinormal distribution model can be used to recover missing data with bounds to uncertainty.Peer reviewe

Liukastumistapaturmat ja niiden ehkäisy toiminnallisen tasa-arvon ja yhdenvertaisuuden näkökulmasta

Tämän tutkimuksen päätavoitteena oli selvittää liukastumis- ja kaatumistapaturmien yleisyyttä, taustaa ja ehkäisytyötä toiminnallisen tasa-arvon ja yhdenvertaisuuden näkökulmasta. Tavoitteina oli myös tarkastella talvikunnossapidon ja jalankulkusääpalveluiden merkitystä liukastumistapaturmien ehkäisytyössä ja kävelyn huomioonottamista kuntatason liikennejärjestelmäsuunnittelussa. Liukastumis- ja kaatumistapaturmien vuosittaista lukumäärää, kustannuksia ja riskiä selvitettiin eri aineistoja yhdistävällä tilastoanalyysillä. Liukastumistapaturmien piirteitä, kokemuksia talvikunnossapidosta sekä jalankulkusääpalveluista kerättiin kyselyllä. Kävelyn huomioonottamista kuntatason liikennejärjestelmäsuunnittelussa tarkasteltiin sisällön- ja paikkatietoanalyysillä. Tuloksia täydennettiin asiantuntijakyselyllä sekä -työpajalla. Tulokset osoittivat, että liukastumis- ja kaatumistapaturmat ovat hyvin yleisiä. Lisäksi tapaturmista kertyy vuosittain merkittäviä kustannuksia. Liukastumistapaturman taustalla vaikuttavat tyypillisesti liukkaat olosuhteet, talvikunnossapidon puutteet tai keliin sopimattomat kengät, ja niiden seuraukset jakautuvat väestöryhmille epätasaisesti. Tulokset osoittavat, että jalankulun turvallisuus talviolosuhteilla on edelleen huolestuttavalla tasolla. Ilmastonmuutoksen myötä yleistyvien liukkaiden kelien ja väestön ikääntymisen myötä liukastumistapaturmia on todennäköisesti jatkossa enemmän, ja niiden seuraukset voivat olla entistä vakavampia. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella on mahdollista suositella, että liukastumis- ja kaatumistapaturmien tilastointia tulisi parantaa. Lisäksi liikenneturvallisuustyötä tulisi laajentaa sisältämään jalankulkijoiden yksittäisonnettomuudet. Myös Ilmatieteen laitoksen viranomaistoimintana toteutetun liukkaan jalankulkusään varoittamisen näkyvyyttä tulisi nostaa mediassa samalle tasolle muun säävaroittamisen kanssa

Why would people want to travel more with automated cars?

The use of automated vehicles (AVs) may enable drivers to focus on non-driving related activities while travelling and reduce the unwanted efforts of the driving task. This is expected to make using a car more attractive, or at least less unpleasant compared to manually driven vehicles. Consequently, the number and length of car trips may increase. The aim of this study was to identify the main contributors to travelling more by AV. We analysed the L3Pilot project’s pilot site questionnaire data from 359 respondents who had ridden in a conditionally automated car (SAE level 3) either as a driver or as a passenger. The questionnaire queried the respondents’ user experience with the automated driving function, current barriers of travelling by car, previous experience with advanced driving assistance systems, and general priorities in travelling. The answers to these questions were used to predict willingness to travel more or longer trips by AV, and to use AVs on currently undertaken trips. The most predictive subset of variables was identified using Bayesian cumulative ordinal regression with a shrinkage prior (regularised horseshoe). The current study found that conditionally automated cars have a substantial potential to increase travelling by car once they become available. Willingness to perform leisure activities during automated driving, experienced usefulness of the system, and unmet travel needs, which AVs could address by making travelling easier, were the main contributors to expecting to travel more by AV. For using AVs on current trips, leisure activities, trust in AVs, satisfaction with the system, and traffic jams as barriers to current car use were important contributors. In other words, perceived usefulness motivated travelling more by AV and using AVs on current trips, but also other factors were important for using them on current trips. This suggests that one way to limit the growth of traffic with private AVs could be to address currently unmet travel needs with alternative, more sustainable travel modes

Are multimodal travellers going to abandon sustainable travel for L3 automated vehicles?

Reducing car dependency supports the creation of a more sustainable transport system. However, automated vehicles (AVs) are predicted to increase the attractiveness of car travel and decrease the use of public transport and active travel. This current study explored how travellers’ intention to use AVs and their current travel behaviour influence their expectations of how they will use public transport and active travel, once conditionally automated (SAE L3) vehicles (L3 AVs) are available.Survey data (collected during the EU H2020 L3Pilot project) from among current car users from eight European countries (n = 9118) was used. Respondents were asked about their current travel mode usage, intention to use L3 AVs, and expected changes in the use of public transport and active travel once L3 AVs are available. The respondents were divided into nine user segments based on their level of intention to use L3 AVs and multimodality.Most respondents did not foresee changes in their use of public transport (62%) or active travel (67%). A higher intention to use L3 AVs increased the probability of a traveller expecting to decrease their use of public transport and, to a lesser extent, active travel. Multimodal travellers used public transport and active travel regularly and were also more likely to see a change, either up or down, in their use of public transport and active travel. The results suggest that L3 AVs may pose a challenge to the sustainability by encouraging current users of public transport and active travel to switch to personal AVs