Pedestrian Conspicuity: The Effects of Retroreflector Placement and Retroreflectivity

One factor that has been causally linked to nighttime pedestrian-vehicle collisions is pedestrians being insufficiently conspicuous to drivers. Pedestrian conspicuity can be enhanced by use of retroreflective material, and this on-road experiment investigated the influence of retroreflector configuration, the coefficient of retroreflection (RsubA) of those retroreflectors, and pedestrian motion on conspicuity. There were two retroreflector configurations, three levels of RsubA, and the test pedestrian either walked or stood in place. Data from 121 participants are reported. The pedestrian was detected by more participants and at greater distances when the pedestrian was walking and wearing retroreflectors on the wrists and ankles (W+A). Response distances to the walking pedestrian wearing the W+A configuration increased as RsubA increased. Increasing RA did not, however, increase response distances to the standing pedestrian wearing the W+A configuration, the standing pedestrian wearing the torso configuration, or the walking pedestrian wearing the torso configuration. These results suggest that RsubA may increase pedestrian conspicuity when biological motion information is present but RsubA may not increase pedestrian conspicuity when biological information is not presen

Is the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act Potentially Unconstitutional? If So, Should the Texas Cure Be Adopted Elsewhere?

Recent political events of historic and global proportion afford a wealth of challenge and opportunity for international legal practice. The breakup of the former Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, and, in general, the collapse of command-style central planning as a viable approach to economic organization seem certain to expedite globalization of markets and increase the volume of international business transactions. An increase in transactions means an increase in disputes. While arbitration is generally considered the preferred device for resolving transnational business disputes, litigation is frequently unavoidable, either as a substitute for arbitration or as a consequence of it. As international disputes are litigated and reduced to judgments in the national courts of various countries, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments will present an expanded challenge to international legal practice. This Article addresses one aspect of that challenge: the recognition and enforcement of foreign country money judgments in the United States

Is the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act Potentially Unconstitutional? If So, Should the Texas Cure Be Adopted Elsewhere?

Recent political events of historic and global proportion afford a wealth of challenge and opportunity for international legal practice. The breakup of the former Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, and, in general, the collapse of command-style central planning as a viable approach to economic organization seem certain to expedite globalization of markets and increase the volume of international business transactions. An increase in transactions means an increase in disputes. While arbitration is generally considered the preferred device for resolving transnational business disputes, litigation is frequently unavoidable, either as a substitute for arbitration or as a consequence of it. As international disputes are litigated and reduced to judgments in the national courts of various countries, the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments will present an expanded challenge to international legal practice. This Article addresses one aspect of that challenge: the recognition and enforcement of foreign country money judgments in the United States

Development of site fidelity in the nocturnal amblypygid, \u3ci\u3ePhrynus marginemaculatus\u3c/i\u3e

Amblypygids are capable of navigation in the complex terrain of rainforests in near complete darkness. Path integration is unnecessary for successful homing, and the alternative mechanisms by which they navigate have yet to be elucidated. Here, our aims were to determine whether the amblypygid Phrynus marginemaculatus could be trained to reliably return to a target shelter in a laboratory arena—indicating goal recognition—and to document changes in behavior associated with the development of fidelity. We recorded nocturnal movements and space use by individuals over five nights in an arena in which subjects were provided with two shelters that differed in quality. The target shelter, unlike the alternative shelter, shielded subjects from light in daylight hours. Individuals consistently exited and returned to a shelter each night and from the third night onward chose the target shelter more often than the alternative shelter. Indeed, on the fifth night, every subject chose the target shelter. This transition was associated with changes in movement and space use in the arena. Notably, the movement features of outbound and inbound paths differed but did not change across nights. Individuals were also characterized by distinct behavioral strategies reflecting candidate homing mechanisms

Quantifying the Subjective Brightness of Retroreflective Material Using Magnitude Estimations

Ten small patches of retroreflective material were evaluated using a method of magnitude estimation to quantify the effect of changing the coefficient of retroreflection (RA) on brightness perception. Seventeen undergraduates participated. The results show that brightness is tightly linked with RA. Brightness was influenced more by changes in lower RA than changes in higher RA and follows Steven’s power law for brightness. Practical and theoretical implications are discusse

Importance of the antenniform legs, but not vision, for homing by the neotropical whip spider \u3ci\u3eParaphrynus laevifrons\u3c/i\u3e

Amblypygids, or whip spiders, are nocturnal, predatory arthropods that display a robust ability to navigate to their home refuge. Prior field observations and displacement studies in amblypygids demonstrated an ability to home from distances as far away as 10 m. In the current study, micro-transmitters were used to take morning position fixes of individual Paraphrynus laevifrons following an experimental displacement of 10 m from their home refuge. The intention was to assess the relative importance of vision compared with sensory input acquired from the antenniform legs for navigation as well as other aspects of their spatial behavior. Displaced individuals were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: (i) control individuals; (ii) visiondeprived individuals, VD; and (iii) individuals with sensory input from the tips of their antenniform legs compromised, AD. Control and VD subjects were generally successful in returning home, and the direction of their movement on the first night following displacement was homeward oriented. By contrast, AD subjects experienced a complete loss of navigational ability, and movement on the first night indicated no hint of homeward orientation. The data strongly support the hypothesis that sensory input from the tips of the antenniform legs is necessary for successful homing in amblypygids following displacement to an unfamiliar location, and we hypothesize an essential role of olfaction for this navigational ability