Assessing visual fields for driving in patients with paracentral scotomata

Background: The binocular Esterman visual field test (EVFT) is the current visual field test for driving in the UK. Merging of monocular field tests (Integrated Visual Field, IVF) has been proposed as an alternative for glaucoma patients. Aims: To examine the level of agreement between the EVFT and IVF for patients with binocular paracentral scotomata, caused by either ophthalmological or neurological conditions, and to compare outcomes with useful field of view (UFOV) performance, a test of visual attention thought to be important in driving. Methods: 60 patients with binocular paracentral scotomata but normal visual acuity (VA) were recruited prospectively. Subjects completed and were classified as “pass” or “fail” for the EVFT, IVF and UFOV. Results: Good agreement occurred between the EVFT and IVF in classifying subjects as “pass” or “fail” (kappa?=?0.84). Classifications disagreed for four subjects with paracentral scotomata of neurological origin (three “passed” IVF yet “failed” EVFT). Mean UFOV scores did not differ between those who “passed” and those who “failed” both visual field tests (p?=?0.11). Agreement between the visual field tests and UFOV was limited (EVFT kappa?=?0.22, IVF kappa 0.32). Conclusions: Although the IVF and EVFT agree well in classifying visual fields with regard to legal fitness to drive in the UK, the IVF “passes” some individuals currently classed as unfit to drive due to paracentral scotomata of non-glaucomatous origin. The suitability of the UFOV for assessing crash risk in those with visual field loss is questionable.

Perceptions of technological change : the attitude of managers towards group technology in the United States food equipment industry

In the center of today's continued and rapid technological change and ever competitive environment of the next millennium, manufacturers must realize that unless they are ready to consider and evaluate new technologies brought onto them, they may fail to adequately respond to the challenges that lie ahead of them. This research was designed to determine the consistency of the perceptions of technical and non-technical administrators, in manufacturing environment, towards technological change and group technology as an advanced manufacturing system. This research has included a review of literature with references to technological change, justification and implementation processes, and various manufacturing systems including group technology and its benefits. This research has used the research method of empirical analysis (quantitative) and case studies (qualitative) to research perceptions of technical and non-technical administrators towards technological change and group technology. Sixty-four (64) technical and fifty-one (51) nontechnical administrators from fifty (50) manufacturing organizations in the United States of America responded to the mail survey questionnaire used in this research. Responses were analyzed using the Repeated Measures ANOVA procedure to compare mean responses of each group. Two correlation analyses, Cronback Coefficient Alpha and Pearson Correlation Coefficient, were also performed to determine the reliability of the questionnaire as well as the degree of correlation of perceptions between these two groups. This research, through the empirical analysis, has found that perceptions of the technical and non-technical administrators towards group technology were not consistent. In other words, they did not perceive the benefits of group technology in the same manner to the overall organizational performance. This finding was significant since it provided the first clear and comprehensive view of the technical and non-technical administrators' perception towards group technology and technological change, in Food Equipment Manufacturer Industry, in United States of America. In addition, a number of cases were analyzed and the results have supported those of the quantitative analysis. Therefore, this research not only has provided basic data, which was unavailable prior to this investigation, but it also provided a basis for future studies.

Individual and group differences in driving behaviour

Road traffic accident involvement rates show that younger males are over represented in accidents. A number of studies have shown individual differences in accident involvement. Questionnaire-based methods to investigate individual and group differences in driver stress and risk perceptions reported in chapter 2 and 3 revealed that neuroticism was associated with; heightened perception of personal risk, driver stress, and inefficient coping strategies. Younger drivers and female drivers reported higher levels of stress. Young male drivers assessed their personal risk and driving abilities less realistically than did other age and sex groups. Driving simulator-based methods reported in chapter 4 revealed that young drivers and male drivers; drive faster, overtake more often, and commit more `high risk' overtakes than do other age and sex groups. Middle-aged and elderly drivers were poorer at maintaining a fixed distance from a lead `vehicle'. Older drivers adopt a slower, more cautious driving style, but appear to be worse at controlling distance from a `lead' vehicle. Results are consistent with individual and group differences in accident involvement rates. Findings are discussed with reference to the implementation of driver education programs to reduce stress, the adoption of more realistic perceptions of risk among younger drivers, and the training of compensation strategies to counteract age-related changes in older drivers.

Morningness-eveningness orientation and attitude change:evidence for greater systematic processing and attitude change at optimal time-of-day

This study examines the relationship between morningness-eveningness orientation and time-of day on attitude change, and tests the hypothesis that people will be more persuaded when tested at their optimal time-of-day (i.e., morning for M-types and evening for E-types) than non-optimal time-of-day (i.e., evening for M-Types and morning for E-types). Two hundred and twenty participants read a message that contained either strong vs. weak quality counter-attitudinal arguments (anti-voluntary euthanasia) in the morning (9.00. a.m.) or in the evening (7.00. p.m.). When tested at their respective optimal time-of-day (for both M- and E-types) there was a reliable difference in attitude change between the strong vs. weak messages (indicating message processing had occurred) while there was no difference between strong vs. weak messages when tested at their non-optimal time-of-day. In addition, the amount of message-congruent thinking mediated the attitude change. The results show that M- and E-types pay greater attention to and elaborate on a persuasive message at their optimal time-of-day, and this leads to increased attitude change, compared to those tested at their non-optimal time-of-day. © 2012.

A critical evaluation of contrast susceptibility as a predictor of driving accident involvement

Contrast susceptibility is defined as the difference in visual acuity recorded for high and low contrast optotypes. Other researchers refer to this parameter as "normalised low contrast acuity". Pilot surveys have revealed that contrast susceptibility deficits are more strongly related to driving accident involvement than are deficits in high contrast visual acuity. It has been hypothesised that driving situation avoidance is purely based upon high contrast visual acuity. Hence, the relationship between high contrast visual acuity and accidents is masked by situation avoidance whilst drivers with contrast susceptibility deficits remain prone to accidents in poor visibility conditions. A national survey carried out to test this hypothesis provided no support for either the link between contrast susceptibility deficits and accidents involvement or the proposed hypothesis. Further, systematically worse contrast susceptibility scores emerged from vision screeners compared to wall mounted test charts. This discrepancy was not due to variations in test luminance or instrument myopia. Instead, optical imperfections inherent in vision screeners were considered to be responsible. Although contrast susceptibility is unlikely to provide a useful means of screening drivers' vision, previous research does provide support for its ability to detect visual deficits that may influence everyday tasks. In this respect, individual contrast susceptibility variations were found to reflect variations in the contrast sensitivity function - a parameter that provides a global estimate of human contrast sensitivity.

A comparison between static and kinetic visual attention as a means of detecting age-related deterioration of the visual system and driving performance

A critical review of previous research revealed that visual attention tests, such as the Useful Field of View (UFOV) test, provided the best means of detecting age-related changes to the visual system that could potentially increase crash risk. However, the question was raised as to whether the UFOV, which was regarded as a static visual attention test, could be improved by inclusion of kinetic targets that more closely represent the driving task. A computer program was written to provide more information about the derivation of UFOV test scores. Although this investigation succeeded in providing new information, some of the commercially protected UFOV test procedures still remain unknown. Two kinetic visual attention tests (DRTS1 and 2), developed at Aston University to investigate inclusion of kinetic targets in visual attention tests, were introduced. The UFOV was found to be more repeatable than either of the kinetic visual attention tests and learning effects or age did not influence these findings. Determinants of static and kinetic visual attention were explored. Increasing target eccentricity led to reduced performance on the UFOV and DRTS1 tests. The DRTS2 was not affected by eccentricity but this may have been due to the style of presentation of its targets. This might also have explained why only the DRTS2 showed laterality effects (i.e. better performance to targets presented on the left hand side of the road). Radial location, explored using the UFOV test, showed that subjects responded best to targets positioned to the horizontal meridian. Distraction had opposite effects on static and kinetic visual attention. While UFOV test performance declined with distraction, DRTS1 performance increased. Previous research had shown that this striking difference was to be expected. Whereas the detection of static targets is attenuated in the presence of distracting stimuli, distracting stimuli that move in a structured flow field enhances the detection of moving targets. Subjects reacted more slowly to kinetic compared to static targets, longitudinal motion compared to angular motion and to increased self-motion. However, the effects of longitudinal motion, angular motion, self-motion and even target eccentricity were caused by target edge speed variations arising because of optic flow field effects. The UFOV test was more able to detect age-related changes to the visual system than were either of the kinetic visual attention tests. The driving samples investigated were too limited to draw firm conclusions. Nevertheless, the results presented showed that neither the DRTS2 nor the UFOV tests were powerful tools for the identification of drivers prone to crashes or poor driving performance.

Teacher participation in school management : an analysis of some major issues, background factors, and the use of an attitude scale to study and compare teacher attitudes to participation

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Consumer responses to really new products: examining the impacts of learning strategies and presentation formats on product comprehension and attitude formation

Mental simulations and analogies have been identified as powerful learning tools for RNPs. Furthermore, visuals in advertising have recently been conceptualized as meaningful sources of information as opposed to peripheral cues and thus may help consumers learn about RNPs. The study of visual attention may also contribute to understanding the links between conceptual and perceptual analyses when learning for a RNP. Two conceptual models are developed. the first model consists of causal relationships between the attributes of advertising stimuli for RNPs and consumer responses, as well as mediating influences. The second model focuses on the role of visual attention in product comprehension as a response to advertising stimuli. Two experiments are conducted: a Web-Experiment and an eye-tracking experiment. The first experiment (858 subjects) examines the effect of learning strategies (mental simulation vs. analogy vs. no analogy/no mental simulation) and presentation formats (words vs. pictures) on individual responses. The mediating role of emotions is assessed. The second experiment investigates the effect of learning strategies and presentation formats on product comprehension, along with the role of attention (17 subjects). The findings from experiment 1 indicate that learning strategies and presentation formats can either enhance or undermine the effect of advertising stimuli on individual responses. Moreover, the nature of the product (i.e. hedonic vs. utilitarian vs. hybrid) should be considered when designing communications for RNPs. The mediating role of emotions is verified. Experiment 2 suggests that an increase in attention to the message may either reflect enhanced comprehension or confusion.

40-Gbaud 16-QAM transmitter using tandem IQ modulators with binary driving electronic signals

We propose a novel 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transmitter based on two cascaded IQ modulators driven by four separate binary electrical signals. The proposed 16-QAM transmitter features scalable configuration and stable performance with simple bias-control. Generation of 16-QAM signals at 40 Gbaud is experimentally demonstrated for the first time and visualized with a high speed constellation analyzer. The proposed modulator is also compared to two other schemes. We investigate the modulator bandwidth requirements and tolerance to accumulated chromatic dispersion through numerical simulations, and the minimum theoretical insertion attenuation is calculated analytically.

A comparative study in attitude variations between two groups of motor vehicle assembly workers

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The success of technical college students in relation to scores on attitude, personality and intelligence tests

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Purchasing green transport and logistics services:implications from the environmental sustainability attitude of 3PLs

Environmental sustainability is an area of increasing importance for third party logistics (3PL) companies. As the design and implementation of services requires interaction between buyer and 3PL, the 3PLs are in a critical position to support the efforts towards greening operations of different supply chain participants. However the literature in this field reflects a gap between the perspectives of buyers and 3PLs. This chapter attempts to fill this void through an explorative case study analysis on the environmental attitude of 3PLs in order to derive implications for buyers’ behavior. The results indicate that the buyer’s role is critical in different ways in the development of green initiatives among 3PLs. An increased orientation towards longer-term contracts and joint development would likely enhance the level of green initiatives. Indirectly, the buyer has the opportunity to influence its 3PLs through interaction with employees on different levels in the company, including top management.

Feelings of vulnerability and effects on driving behaviour:a qualitative study

Feelings of vulnerability in driving can be considered an emotional response to risk perception and the coping strategies adopted could have implications for continued mobility. In a series of focus groups with 48 licensed drivers aged 18-75 years, expressions of vulnerability in driver coping behaviours were examined. Despite feelings of vulnerability appearing low, qualitative thematic analysis revealed a complex array of coping strategies in everyday driving including planning, use of 'co-pilots', self-regulation, avoidance and confrontive coping, i.e. intentional aggression toward other road users. The findings inform future intervention studies to enable appropriate coping strategy selection and prolong independent mobility in older adults. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.