Autonomous emergency braking systems adapted to snowy road conditions improve drivers' perceived safety and trust

Objective: This study investigated drivers' evaluation of a conventional autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system on high and reduced tire–road friction and compared these results to those of an AEB system adaptive to the reduced tire–road friction by earlier braking. Current automated systems such as the AEB do not adapt the vehicle control strategy to the road friction; for example, on snowy roads. Because winter precipitation is associated with a 19% increase in traffic crashes and a 13% increase in injuries compared to dry conditions, the potential of conventional AEB to prevent collisions could be significantly improved by including friction in the control algorithm. Whereas adaption is not legally required for a conventional AEB system, higher automated functions will have to adapt to the current tire–road friction because human drivers will not be required to monitor the driving environment at all times. For automated driving functions to be used, high levels of perceived safety and trust of occupants have to be reached with new systems. The application case of an AEB is used to investigate drivers' evaluation depending on the road condition in order to gain knowledge for the design of future driving functions.

Methods: In a driving simulator, the conventional, nonadaptive AEB was evaluated on dry roads with high friction (μ = 1) and on snowy roads with reduced friction (μ = 0.3). In addition, an AEB system adapted to road friction was designed for this study and compared with the conventional AEB on snowy roads with reduced friction. Ninety-six drivers (48 males, 48 females) assigned to 5 age groups (20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and 60–75 years) drove with AEB in the simulator. The drivers observed and evaluated the AEB's braking actions in response to an imminent rear-end collision at an intersection.

Results: The results show that drivers' safety and trust in the conventional AEB were significantly lower on snowy roads, and the nonadaptive autonomous braking strategy was considered less appropriate on snowy roads compared to dry roads. As expected, the adaptive AEB braking strategy was considered more appropriate for snowy roads than the nonadaptive strategy. In conditions of reduced friction, drivers' subjective safety and trust were significantly improved when driving with the adaptive AEB compared to the conventional AEB. Women felt less safe than men when AEB was braking. Differences between age groups were not of statistical significance.

Conclusions: Drivers notice the adaptation of the autonomous braking strategy on snowy roads with reduced friction. On snowy roads, they feel safer and trust the adaptive system more than the nonadaptive automation.     

Organizational embeddedness,turnover intentions,and voluntary turnover: The moderating effects of employee demographic characteristics and value orientations

To explain why some employees who experience high embeddedness contemplate leaving their organizations and others do not, we examined the moderating effects of employee demographic characteristics (age and gender) and value orientations (individualism and risk aversion) between organizational embeddedness and turnover intentions. Turnover intentions were further expected to increase voluntary turnover. Data were collected from 643 full‐time employees at three points in time over a 12‐month time period in a wide range of organizations in Japan, a relatively low turnover context with little prior embeddedness research. Findings show that gender and risk aversion moderate the relationship between organizational embeddedness and turnover intentions, which in turn predict voluntary turnover. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three lessons for gender equity in biodiversity conservation

Amid a growing global agenda, biodiversity conservation has embraced gender equity as a pillar of equitable and effective practice. Gender equity has become enshrined in the global environment and development agenda through global commitments, policy and funding. However, for various reasons, conservation biodiversity often takes a simplistic view of gender as synonymous with women or as a dualism between women and men. This narrow view risks promoting inequitable processes and ineffective outcomes. Deeper engagement with feminist theory, and feminist political ecology in particular, could help advance biodiversity conservation's approach to how gender is understood, framed and integrated. Engaging with lessons from feminist political ecology can help advance gender equity in conservation through attention to power dynamics, intersectionality, and subjectivity.     

Gender differences in public office workers’ satisfaction,subjective symptoms and musculoskeletal complaints in workplace and office environments

This study investigates differences between male and female public office workers’ satisfaction levels, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) complaints in workplace and office environments. Questionnaire surveys were performed in 30 offices from 15 public institutions. Male and female workers of the same age were coupled and selected from each office, gathering a total of 120 male and 120 female subjects. The results show that differences exist between genders in noise and lighting satisfaction levels, SBS-related symptoms (eye, nose, skin) and MSD complaints of hand/wrist/finger, while there is no difference in overall satisfaction level of office environments. The study also suggests that office design for public office workers should take into account gender differences in preventing MSDs and also SBS. The findings of this study are expected to serve as basic data for designing effective public office environments.     

重庆市居民头发重金属富集特征及相关性分析

本研究利用火焰原子吸收法测定了重庆主城与郊区居民头发中镉、铜、镍、铅和锌等5种重金属的浓度水平,比较分析了人发中5种重金属含量水平及与年龄、性别和吸烟与否的关系,最后通过相关性分析和主成分分析初步了解重庆居民人发中重金属可能的来源.结果表明,重庆主城人发中Cd、Cu、Ni、Pb和Zn的平均含量分别为3.1、24.3、9.7、42.8和209.6 μg·g^-1,郊区居民人发的平均含量分别为0.9、15.8、5.6、15.2和173.4 μg·g^-1;5种重金属在主城居民头发中的含量均显著高于郊区居民头发中含量（t-检验,P<0.01）,并且其组成与居民附近土壤样品的组成基本一致;5种重金属的含量在不同年龄段人群中的分布没有明显趋势,只是在郊区居民头发中的Cu和Zn含量随着年龄增长而减少;主城和郊区男性头发中Cd和Pb含量均显著高于女性（P<0.01）,并且在主城和郊区吸烟者头发中的Cd和Pb显著高于非吸烟者（P<0.01）;通过相关性分析发现主城和郊区中Cd、Cu、Ni和Pb之间具有相似的相关性模式,并且主成分分析结果显示,在主城中,人发Cu、Ni和Pb具有相似的来源,而在郊区中,人发Cd、Ni和Pb具有相似的来源.     

我国城镇居民环保事务参与的性别差异分析

从行为参与、管理参与和环境意识三个方面阐述了当前环保事务参与中存在的性别差异问题；从社会结构的视角分析了性别化对环保参与现状的影响。针对存在的问题和制约因素，从社会系统、社会资源和环境意识三个方面提出发展建议。     

Politicisation of Humanitarian Aid and Its Consequences for Afghans

This paper outlines the implications of international approaches to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, focusing in particular on the period since the Taliban assumed power. It argues that international efforts to use conditionality on humanitarian assistance have proved ineffective in influencing the Taliban's policies, and have been implemented despite the negative impact on the welfare of the whole population. Efforts to adopt a principled approach to aid programming in this environment have also raised many ethical dilemmas which are likely to remain major challenges in that country and elsewhere.     

“New roads – new goals. Positions of feminist planning”. Frei.Räume no. 10, edited by the German FOPA (feminist organisation of (female) planners and architects) in 1998

This Translations contribution presents the 10th issue of the series Frei.Räume (in English: Free spaces), edited by the German Feminist Organisation of (female) Planners and Architects (FOPA) in 1998. The issue was titled “New roads – new goals. Positions of feminist planning” and reflected the contemporary discussions on the state of the art of feminism, gender and planning. While progress was recognized, many authors felt uncomfortable with the ways that feminist concerns had been implemented into planning, and they were looking for ways forward. Among the authors were the most important protagonists of the debates at the time. Looking at the issue today, it becomes clear that many concerns are as up to date as they were in the late 1990s, although circumstances have changed. The paper argues that it is worthwhile to pay attention to these feminist debates in order to develop future strategies for feminism in planning.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Thomas Drabek, Disaster-induced Employee Evacuation
Hugh Brammer, Agricultural Disaster Management in Bangladesh
Boris Porfiriev, Disaster Planning and Emergency Management in Russia
Patrick Bracken and Celia Petty, eds, Rethinking the Trauma of War
R. Cohen and F. M. Deng, eds, The Forsaken People: Case Studies of the Internally Displaced
Tom Trier and Lars Funch Hansen, eds, Conflict and Forced Displacement in the Caucasus: Perspectives, Challenges and Responses