Effectiveness of a Technology-Based Injury Prevention Program for Enhancing Mothers’ Knowledge of Child Safety: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

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Interferences of using cell phones whilst driving and its legislation

Cell phone use has become one of the more common driver distractions. Investigation of the effects of engaging cell phone operations and conversations whilst driving in the relation to the degradation of driving performances and the likelihood of crash accident is an area in which an extensive study has been done to date. In the past few decades, this usage has been found to increase the risk and certain accident characteristics in fatal collisions. Indeed, the increase of the risk can be ascribed to the distraction of the cell phone tasks, the inattention to the driving task when the cell phone tasks are being performed, and the dual-task interference with consequent the deterioration of driving performance. Empirical research revealed that using a cell phone while in motion significantly intervene driver behaviors. Simultaneously presenting a driving and cell phone tasks to drivers limited their cognitive and physical capacity when the drivers concurrently perform both tasks. Another imperative concern regarding the use of the in-vehicle technology while driving is how this usage affects the ability of drivers in the judgment of road parameters and their mental workload. Using a cell phone while driving results in a detrimental effect on driving performance and impairs decision-making ability of the drivers. Driver impairment can attribute most vehicle-related accidents. Poorer judgment was made while the drivers simultaneously performed the mental task via an in-vehicle phone and driving. Redelmeier and Tibshirani [1] described that drivers' ability to detect deceleration of the lead car was impaired when a cell phone was being used while driving. Drivers failed to detect stop signal of a simulated traffic light when a conversation was being performed [2]. The failure of detecting stop signal, i.e. red light, could result in injurious or fatal collisions. McKnight and McKnight [3] investigated the impact of the usage on driver's mental workload and driving performance. The results indicated the increase of the subjective mental workload and the decrease of driving performance as engaging the intense conversation. Enacting law to ban on using cell phones when behind the wheel may be an effective way to obtain a higher degree of the compliance. The legislation was first enacted in the state of New York in November 2001. Researchers had measured the effectiveness of the legislation by observing drivers before and after the law took effect in New York. The results revealed that the law enactment resulted in a reduction of hand held phone use by drivers by 52%. This article intends to advocate the law enactment to ban the cell phone use behind the wheel. Further investigation of public acceptance and perceived effectiveness of the legislation will be performed.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Leptospirose Bovina

(Introdução): O presente relatório refere-se ao estágio curricular, de domínio fundamental, na área de clínica de espécies pecuárias, no âmbito da conclusão do mestrado integrado em medicina veterinária. Este foi realizado na Vet+ Serviços Veterinários Lda. (Vet+), em Montemor-o-Novo, sob a orientação do Dr. Manuel Evaristo Rodrigues da Silva. Decorreu no período compreendido entre 6 de Janeiro a 28 de Maio de 2010, com uma carga horária de cerca de 55 horas semanais. O estágio curricular de domínio fundamental assume especial importância no contacto com a realidade profissional, naqueles que são os principais objectivos associados. Assim sendo, pretende-se que este seja um complemento de formação académica, sedimentação e articulação prática de conhecimentos adquiridos ao longo do curso de medicina veterinária, assim como na aquisição de novos conhecimentos. Neste âmbito, o trabalho desenvolveu-se através do acompanhamento das actividades médico-veterinárias desenvolvidas pelos veterinários da Vet+, nomeadamente na colaboração activa em acções de saneamento, profilaxia, clínica e cirurgia em espécies pecuárias. Este relatório divide-se em duas partes principais. A primeira compreende a apresentação da casuística, detalhando as actividades médico-veterinárias desenvolvidas, bem como uma breve referência acerca das principais patologias observadas. A segunda parte consiste na revisão bibliográfica subordinada ao tema leptospirose bovina, onde são apresentados diversos casos, acompanhados durante o período de estágio

Development of a facial skin temperature-based methodology for non-intrusive mental workload measurement

The research aimed at developing a non-intrusive physiological measure for mental workload using human facial skin temperature change. It demonstrated initial results in two driving experiments that showed the potential of using this physiological parameter to infer mental workload. Participants completed driving tests in a simulator in the first experiment. Results of simulator and real vehicle testing were used in a second experiment. Forehead and nose temperature were obtained via thermography. Nose temperature dropped significantly after the drives for all conditions in the simulator tests. A secondary task during driving led to higher subjective workload score and a greater nose temperature drop. Simulator drives led to a higher subjective workload score and a greater nose temperature drop than the real driving task. A significant correlation between the nose skin temperature change and the subjective workload score was yielded in both experiments. Potential applications of this research include real-time, non-intrusive, and automated mental workload assessment for advanced human-system interface development and performance prediction. © 2007 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

The Patient Technology Acceptance Model (PTAM) for homecare patients with chronic illness

Health information technologies are increasingly being used to support patient self-management during the home recovery process for chronically ill homecare patients. While in theory these technologies may provide better access to information and resources to patients, thus possibly improving health outcomes, there is a risk that patients will not use the technology. As such, it is essential to understand what causes patients to accept technologies prior to implementation. Existing technology acceptance models may not apply to an elderly patient population because most models were developed studying healthy college students or healthy employees. The elderly, and specifically elderly with chronic illnesses, may accept or reject technology for reasons different from those previously identified. This study developed the patient technology acceptance model to better understand what key factors predict patient intention to use health information technologies.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Perception of safe robot idle time in virtual reality and real industrial environments

The main objective of this study was to investigate human perception of safe idle time of an industrial robot in a virtual reality environment. Studying operators' perception of robot operational characteristics such as safe robot idle time can help develop hazard prevention strategies, and ultimately improve robot safety. Results of data collected from 32 participants showed that robot size and speed had significant effects on the perception of safe robot idle time. This study also examined operators' perceived acceptability level for the robot speed, perceived level of hazard of robot motion, perceived chance of error, and self-reported mental workload. Results of this study were compared to the findings of Rahimi, M., Karwowski, W. [1990. Human perception of robot safe speed and idle time. Behaviour & Information Technology 9(5), 381-389], in which their experiment was conducted in a real industrial environment. This study demonstrated the feasibility of testing human perception of dynamic moving objects in a virtual reality environment. The virtual reality technology is believed to be capable of modeling a complex machinery system such as a robotic system. Relevance to industry: Human perception of the operational characteristics of industrial robots is an important concern for robot safety since misperception can cause robot operators to err, which in turn can cause injuries and fatalities. Through this study we (1) understand human perception, safety behavior, and decision making in a robotic system and (2) demonstrate the capability of modeling a complex machinery system using virtual reality technology. Our experiments designed to study human perception of safe robot idle time could lead to safety interventions and guidelines or hazard prevention strategy development. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Universal access and ATM design using the virtual build methodology

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