Increasing self-awareness among older drivers: The role of self-screening

Introduction

Self-screening by older drivers has shown considerable promise for increasing self-awareness about functional abilities associated with safe driving. The purpose of this study was to improve upon existing self-screening instruments by focusing entirely on “health concerns” that affect driving - that is, the symptoms that people experience due to medical conditions and the medications used to treat them - rather than the medical conditions or medications themselves.

Method

A computer-based, easy-to-use self-screening instrument for older drivers was developed to provide individualized feedback intended to increase self-awareness about declines in driving-related abilities, as well as suggestions for behavioral changes or safety tips to maintain safe driving, further evaluation from a physician/health professional, and vehicle modifications to help compensate for driving-related declines.

Results

This paper describes the development of the self-screening instrument and summarizes findings relative to increasing self-awareness among older drivers. This research represents an important first step in improving self-awareness among older drivers through self-screening.     

Management priorities for Magdalena Bay, Baja California, Mexico

The current lack of a working resource management plan Magdalena Bay (southern Baja California, Mexico) has weakened attempts to set priorities among resource users and has contributed to: reduced fish stocks, land and marine contamination, and declines in the ecological integrity of the bay of 170 000 ha and its vast mangrove lagoon systems. The government agencies responsible for maintaining ecological integrity and managing marine resource use have not been successful in addressing these problems due to jurisdictional ambiguities, lack of community support, and lack of manpower for monitoring and enforcing policies. A framework was designed by the authors to work toward an approach for balancing between community development and conserving ecological integrity at the local level in the peripheral and central zones of the Magdalena Bay system. The goal of this framework was to suggest a basis for setting management priorities that included the perceptions and preferences of stakeholder groups with regard to direct threats to the environmental health of the study areas. To achieve this goal a crossdisciplinary study of the central and peripheral zones was used to examine factors that influence current resource use and the environmental state in these two regions of the bay system. Insights into the preferences and perceptions of stakeholder groups with regard to management priorities were acquired using the key informant technique. The results revealed potential conflicts with regard to preferred management priorities between stakeholder groups, as well as polarities within stakeholder groups themselves.     

An environmental sustainability based budget allocation system for regional water quality management

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基于遥感与GIS的海口市土地利用结构动态变化研究

利用1986、1996和2000年三期TM遥感图像,得到海口市1986～1996和1996～2000年土地变化情况及土地利用转移矩阵。海口市的土地变化规律表现为耕地、林地、滩涂及未利用地转化为城镇、农村居民点和独立工矿建设用地。通过分维度的分析可以看出,海口市林地、水体等自然景观随着人类的干扰,分维度降低;耕地面积大量减少,分维数降低;城镇扩大,斑块数量减小,用地趋于集中;农村居民点和工矿建设用地增加,用地趋于分散,复杂度增加。海口市土地结构变化的主导因素是城镇面积的扩大,其次是农村居民点和工矿建设用地的扩大。随着城市化的发展和农村用地扩大,海口市土地结构表现为利用程度逐渐深化的趋势。     

基于信息熵的武汉城市土地利用空间结构变动分析

借助城市土地利用空间结构的信息熵和均衡度概念,揭示了武汉城市在20世纪90年代土地利用结构的空间变化规律,得出土地利用职能类型收缩、城市用地趋向不均衡发展态势的结论.利用主成分与灰色关联相结合的方法找出影响武汉城市土地利用空间结构变动的主要动力因子,它们分别是城市福利和城市社会结构变化推动因子、城市产业结构变化拉动因子和城市建设与改造压力因子,其中后两个因子是驱动城市土地利用空间发生变化的最显著性因子.     

广州市不同产业阶段的耕地变化与驱动力

广州市1980-2002年间产业发展可分为两个阶段，即工业化中期（1980-1993年）和工业化后期（1994-2002年）。在这两个产业发展阶段，耕地数最变化存在较大差异：耕地年均减少工业化中期大于后期，变化速度则是后期大于中期，利用效益后期明显优于中期。利用相关分析和主成分分析方法，得出人口增长、经济发展、城市化进程、农业产业结构调整、交通发展是广州市1980-2002年间耕地数量变化的主要驱动力，在不同产业阶段各驱动因子存在差异，其中农业比重、实际利用外资、城市化、客运量等因子差异较为明显，从而导致了不同时期耕地数量变化的差异性。     

基于Gompertz曲线的石油库罐区火灾灭火剂供应量预测

石油库罐区火灾的成功扑救依赖于灭火剂量的充足供应。结合火灾发展阶段特点,发现火灾中灭火剂供应量发展规律基本符合Gompertz曲线。于是,在对火场扑救力量作战能力分析的基础上,以灭火剂使用量为标准,对作战能力进行量化分析,将量化数值和时间段编号作为基础数据,建立Gompertz趋势预测模型。利用预测模型对石油库罐区类火灾灭火剂供应量进行预测,排除了人为估算的盲目性,避免灭火剂调用“供过于求”的现象。     

基于改进模拟退火算法的社会力量救灾派遣模型

为提高社会救援力量参与救灾的效率,针对社会力量参与灾后救援的派遣问题,提出最优化派遣模型及其求解算法.根据"量力而行、就近就便"等原则,综合考虑社会力量的救援技能掌握程度和灾区的救援需求情况,将最大化救援效益作为目标函数,以抵达灾区时间和救灾经济成本作为约束条件建立模型;采用模拟退火算法对模型进行求解,根据模型改进Me...     

Household hazardous waste quantification,characterization and management in China’s cities: A case study of Suzhou

A four-stage systematic tracking survey of 240 households was conducted from the summer of 2011 to the spring of 2012 in a Chinese city of Suzhou to determine the characteristics of household hazardous waste (HHW) generated by the city. Factor analysis and a regression model were used to study the major driving forces of HHW generation. The results indicate that the rate of HHW generation was 6.16 (0.16–31.74, 95% CI) g/person/day, which accounted for 2.23% of the household solid waste stream. The major waste categories contributing to total HHW were home cleaning products (21.33%), medicines (17.67%) and personal care products (15.19%). Packaging and containers (one-way) and products (single-use) accounted for over 80% of total HHW generation, implying a considerable potential to mitigate HHW generation by changing the packaging design and materials used by manufacturing enterprises. Strong correlations were observed between HHW generation (g/person/day) and the driving forces group of “household structure” and “consumer preferences” (among which the educational level of the household financial manager has the greatest impact). Furthermore, the HHW generation stream in Suzhou suggested the influence of another set of variables, such as local customs and culture, consumption patterns, and urban residential life-style. This study emphasizes that HHW should be categorized at its source (residential households) as an important step toward controlling the HHW hazards of Chinese cities.     

Modeling and predicting low-speed vehicle emissions as a function of driving kinematics

An instantaneous emission model was developed to model and predict the real driving emissions of the low-speed vehicles. The emission database used in the model was measured by using portable emission measurement system (PEMS) under actual traffic conditions in the rural area, and the characteristics of the emission data were determined in relation to the driving kinematics (speed and acceleration) of the low-speed vehicle. The input of the emission model is driving cycle, and the model requires instantaneous vehicle speed and acceleration levels as input variables and uses them to interpolate the pollutant emission rate maps to calculate the transient pollutant emission rates, which will be accumulated to calculate the total emissions released during the whole driving cycle. And the vehicle fuel consumption was determined through the carbon balance method. The model predicted the emissions and fuel consumption of an in-use low-speed vehicle type model, which agreed well with the measured data.