Associations of repeated high alcohol use with unsafe driving behaviors,traffic offenses,and traffic crashes among young drivers: Findings from the New Zealand Drivers Study

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe self-reported high alcohol use at each of the 3 licensing stages of graduated driver licensing and its relationship to drink-driving behaviors, intentional risky driving, aggressive driving, alcohol traffic offenses, non-alcohol traffic offenses, and traffic crashes.

Methods: The New Zealand Drivers Study (NZDS) is a multistage, prospective cohort study of newly licensed drivers interviewed at all 3 stages of the graduated driver licensing system: learner (baseline), restricted (intermediate), and full license. At each stage, alcohol use was self-reported using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C), with high alcohol use defined as a score of ≥4 for males and ≥3 for females. Sociodemographic and personality data were obtained at the baseline interview. Alcohol-related, intentional risky, and aggressive driving behaviors were self-reported following each license stage. Traffic crashes and offenses were identified from police records. Crashes were also self-reported.

Results: Twenty-six percent (n = 397) reported no high alcohol use, 22% at one license stage, 30% at 2 stages, and 22% at 3 stages. Poisson regression results (unadjusted and adjusted) showed that the number of stages where high alcohol use was reported was significantly associated with each of the outcomes. For most outcomes, and especially the alcohol-involved outcomes, the relative risk increased with the number of stages of high alcohol use.

Conclusions: We found that high alcohol use was common among young newly licensed drivers and those who repeatedly reported high alcohol use were at a significantly higher risk of unsafe driving behaviors. Recently introduced zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC) should help to address this problem, but other strategies are required to target persistent offenders.     

COMPARISON OF HSPF OUTPUTS USING FTABLES GENERATED WITH FIELD SURVEY AND DIGITAL DATA1

ABSTRACT: The Hydrological Simulation Program‐FORTRAN (HSPF) describes discharge from a stream reach based on function tables (FTABLES) that relate stream stage, surface area, volume, and discharge. For this study, five FTABLE scenarios were compared to assess their effect on daily discharge rates predicted using HSPF. Four “field‐based” FTABLE scenarios were developed using detailed cross section surveys collected at predefined intervals along 14 reaches in the study watershed. A fifth “digital‐based” scenario was developed using digital elevation models (DEMs) and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves. The Smirnov k‐sample test was used to compare average daily discharge rates simulated with HSPF using the five FTABLE scenarios. No significant difference in simulated stream discharge was found (p = 0.99) between the five FTABLE scenarios. Additional examination of the four field‐based scenarios revealed that the number of cross sections per stream reach used to generate FTABLES had little effect on the resulting stage discharge relationship. These findings suggest that FTABLES generated using digital data are a viable option when simulating stream discharge with HSPF and that if field data are used to generate FTABLES, using fewer cross sections will not adversely affect simulated discharge predictions.     

Why should I be generous when I have valued and accessible alternatives? Alternative exchange partners and OCB

An Erratum has been published for this article in Journal of Organizational Behavior 26(7) 2005, 873. Previous research on the relationship between alternative employment opportunities and cooperation has neglected the distinction between evaluations and restrictions. Thus, one cannot analyze the relationship between attractiveness of alternative employment opportunities and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) under different levels of perceived ease of finding alternative employment. In a pilot study with N = 149 German employees, we confirm the proposed distinction with confirmatory factor analyses. Based on power‐dependence theory and rational choice models, we predict that under high ease the relationship between attractiveness and OCB should be more strongly negative than under conditions of low ease. In addition, we hypothesize that the interaction between attractiveness and ease should be greater for OCB than for task performance because task performance is exchanged in a relationship with an enforceable, binding contract, while OCB is voluntarily. Results from moderated multiple regression analysis on N = 86 German professional–supervisor dyads support our prediction for a negative relationship between attractiveness and OCB under high ease. Under low ease, we find a positive relationship between attractiveness and OCB. Moreover, there was no relationship with the interaction and task performance. Implications of the findings both for extra‐role and job mobility theory formation and research are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring conservation success beyond the traditional biological criteria: the case of conservation projects in Costa Rica,Mekong Valley,and Cameroon

Traditionally, the criteria used to measure conservation success or failure are based on biological factors. Biological factors include changes in the amount of targeted conserved species, biodiversity, and total area conserved. However, conservation efforts are not simply a matter of biological concern; environmental, political, social, and conflict pressures on different scales (ranging from local to global) also have strong influences on the outcome of conservation. These other factors can either pose threats to or enhance conservation, but are not addressed by current criteria. Using a proposed holistic rubric that includes interdisciplinary fields, this paper examines a set of conservation factors on different scales – ranging from local to global – to determine their importance in conservation. The paper analyses positive factor influences with more successful conservation and negative factor influences with less successful, or failed, conservation attempts. Neutral and non‐applicable factor influences are also identified, defined, and ranked as a standardization mechanism. The determination of success changed when the holistic rubric was applied to conservation projects in Costa Rica, Mekong Valley, and Cameroon. In the Costa Rica case study, conservation success for Guanacaste and Talamanca national parks is rated ‘moderately low’. In the case of Mekong Valley, conservation success is rated ‘low’ for Lower Mekong, ‘moderately low’ for Greater Annamites, and ‘low’ for Phong Nha‐Ke Bang national parks. Cameroon's Congo Basin and Sangha Tri‐National conservation efforts are both rated ‘low’, while Dja Faunal is rated ‘very low’. We conclude that if conservation efforts are to attain a high level of success, the strategy for global conservation must move away from the traditional biological approach, which focuses mainly on biological concerns, and embrace a holistic approach, which in addition to biological concerns, addresses environmental, political, social, and conflict pressures, which have strong influences on the outcomes of conservation.     

Effects of Disturbance Associated With Seismic Exploration for Oil and Gas Reserves in Coastal Marshes

Anthropogenic disturbances in wetland ecosystems can alter the composition and structure of plant assemblages and affect system functions. Extensive oil and gas extraction has occurred in wetland habitats along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast since the early 1900s. Activities involved with three-dimensional (3D) seismic exploration for these resources cause various disturbances to vegetation and soils. We documented the impact of a 3D seismic survey in coastal marshes in Louisiana, USA, along transects established before exploration began. Two semi-impounded marshes dominated by Spartina patens were in the area surveyed. Vegetation, soil, and water physicochemical data were collected before the survey, about 6 weeks following its completion, and every 3 months thereafter for 2 years. Soil cores for seed bank emergence experiments were also collected. Maximum vegetation height at impact sites was reduced in both marshes 6 weeks following the survey. In one marsh, total vegetation cover was also reduced, and dead vegetation cover increased, at impact sites 6 weeks after the survey. These effects, however, did not persist 3 months later. No effects on soil or water properties were identified. The total number of seeds that germinated during greenhouse studies increased at impact sites 5 months following the survey in both marshes. Although some seed bank effects persisted 1 year, these effects were not reflected in standing vegetation. The marshes studied were therefore resilient to the impacts resulting from 3D seismic exploration because vegetation responses were short term in that they could not be identified a few months following survey completion.     

Artificial intelligence in obstetric ultrasound: A scoping review

The objective is to summarize the current use of artificial intelligence (AI) in obstetric ultrasound. PubMed, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched using the following keywords “neural networks”, OR “artificial intelligence”, OR “machine learning”, OR “deep learning”, AND “obstetrics”, OR “obstetrical”, OR “fetus”, OR “foetus”, OR “fetal”, OR “foetal”, OR “pregnancy”, or “pregnant”, AND “ultrasound” from inception through May 2022. The search was limited to the English language. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they described the use of AI in obstetric ultrasound. Obstetric ultrasound was defined as the process of obtaining ultrasound images of a fetus, amniotic fluid, or placenta. AI was defined as the use of neural networks, machine learning, or deep learning methods. The authors’ search identified a total of 127 papers that fulfilled our inclusion criteria. The current uses of AI in obstetric ultrasound include first trimester pregnancy ultrasound, assessment of placenta, fetal biometry, fetal echocardiography, fetal neurosonography, assessment of fetal anatomy, and other uses including assessment of fetal lung maturity and screening for risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. AI holds the potential to improve the ultrasound efficiency, pregnancy outcomes in low resource settings, detection of congenital malformations and prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes.     

Methodology for Comparison of Open-Path Monitors with Point Monitors

The first measurements of a dispersed secondary pollutant (O₃) using a CO₂ laser based, open-path monitor are compared to readings from a chemiluminescence point monitor which traverses a common measurement path of 0.67 km. A statistical treatment is given which establishes the accuracy of comparison. Meteorological conditions as reflected by changes in pollutant variability are shown to influence the accuracy of comparison. The essential equivalence of data obtained by the point monitor and the path monitor is confirmed for selected measurement sequences while other measurement sequences identify non-optimized performance of the path monitor.     

Toxicity biomarker expression in daphnids exposed to manufactured nanoparticles: Changes in toxicity with functionalization

In previous work we have shown that the toxicity of nanomaterials to Daphnia spp. differs with the type of nanoparticle either due to the core of the particle or to the way in which a particle suspension is prepared. The purpose of this study was to investigate the toxicity and antioxidant response of Daphnia pulex in relation to a change in surface functionalization of nanomaterials with the same core material, nC60. Despite the lack of acute toxicity for various nC60 suspensions up to 100 ppm concentration, there was a significant production of the toxicity biomarkers glutathione-S-transferase and catalase, at lower concentrations indicating changes in reactive oxygen species. Nanoparticle functionalization significantly affected this response. Oxidative stress markers appear to be a good predictor of potential future toxicity of nanomaterials. Functionalization alters both toxicity and oxidative stress in whole organism assays.