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Clinical usefulness of the IUD post insertion ultrasound in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients
Get PDFThe aim of this retrospective chart review study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of an ultrasound performed at the intrauterine device (IUD) post insertion visit in an otherwise asymptomatic patient. The data demonstrated that 18% of asymptomatic patients required an IUD removal based on an IUD post insertion ultrasound 4-8 weeks after insertion. This study does support the routine use of performing an ultrasound at the IUD post insertion visit in an otherwise asymptomatic patient
Getting to UI Biology Department\u27s Distinguished Faculty
Get PDFThis was a project meant to encompass the works of retired faculty in the Department of Biology at the University of Iowa through profile story writing and then an event for each professor to talk at. This project was designed to showcase some of the works of retired professors in an attempt to allure people by reading the profile stories of people with extraordinary backgrounds. I wanted people to understand how the Department of Biology came to be what it is today and inform them that things weren\u27t like they are today. To understand the history and progression behind something is to truly understand it. Not only that, I planned an event to give the individuals that read the profile stories an opportunity to meet and speak with the professors. Therefore, a meet-and-greet event was planned further away from when the profile stories were published so that students could first read the profile stories and have an idea of who these professors were. The purpose of this event was to make these retired professors and professors in general more approachable since there is sometimes a barrier of intimidation that comes into play when students may have to confront professors
The Impact of Crosswalk Design on Driver Performance: Implications for Pedestrian Safety
Get PDFCrosswalks are designed to enhance pedestrian visibility and right-ofway. This study examines driver performance at two different crosswalks with different pedestrian signal designs: (1) Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) and (2) Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (PHB). Mixed effects linear models showed that the drivers’ speed significantly decreased when a signal was activated, with a larger decrease observed at a PHB signal when there was no lead vehicle. Mixed effects logistic models showed that drivers’ likelihood to change distracting status was higher when a pedestrian signal was activated. The change could occur in both directions: from being engaged to not and from not engaged to distracted. Males and females responded differently to the RRFB in terms of speed differential and likelihood to engage in distractions from an undistracted state. In summary, PHB was able to decrease driver speed more effectively, while RRFB appeared to promote less travel delays for drivers
Hacking Nonverbal Communication between Pedestrians and Vehicles in Virtual Reality
Get PDFWe use an immersive virtual reality environment to explore the intricate social cues that underlie non-verbal communication involved in a pedestrian’s crossing decision. We “hack” non-verbal communication between pedestrian and vehicle by engineering a set of 15 vehicle trajectories, some of which follow social conventions and some that break them. By subverting social expectations of vehicle behavior we show that pedestrians may use vehicle kinematics to infer social intentions and not merely as the state of a moving object. We investigate human behavior in this virtual world by conducting a study of 22 subjects, with each subject experiencing and responding to each of the trajectories by moving their body, legs, arms, and head in both the physical and the virtual world. Both quantitative and qualitative responses are collected and analyzed, showing that, in fact, social cues can be engineered through vehicle trajectory manipulation. In addition, we demonstrate that immersive virtual worlds which allow the pedestrian to move around freely, provide a powerful way to understand both the mechanisms of human perception and the social signaling involved in pedestrian-vehicle interaction
Effect of Alert Presentation Mode and Hazard Direction on Driver Takeover from an Autonomous Vehicle
Get PDFAutonomous vehicles are becoming increasingly common. Although the level of automation varies between vehicles even the most advanced occasionally require driver input when the driving situation is complex, or the quality of the sensory data is poor. If driver input is needed the system must alert drivers that they will have to take over but these alerts may vary in their effectiveness in prompting rapid driver takeover (time to grip the steering wheel, percentage of appropriate takeover maneuvers) and situational awareness (driver attention to the threat that necessitated take over and understanding for why take over is necessary). In this study, we used a driving simulator operating in autonomous mode to compare 2 alert types (audio-visual, and audio alone) in 3 different takeover scenarios where hazards emerged from the front (a construction zone) or the left or right side (erratic behaviour in another driver: a rogue vehicle heading toward the drivers’ lane). We found that the takeover-time was faster after the audio-visual alert than the audio alert and situation awareness was better. The nature and direction of the hazard also had an effect. Situation awareness was poorer for hazards in front of the vehicle (a looming construction zone) as compared to the left and right of the driver (rogue vehicles heading toward the driver). These findings have important implications for interface design in autonomous vehicles
Can Virtual Reality Headsets be Used to Measure Accurately Drivers’ Anticipatory Behaviors?
Get PDFVR headsets are several orders of magnitude less expensive than driving simulators. Their use in research and clinical settings could explode were it shown that the results obtained with VR headsets were similar to those obtained with more standard driving simulators. Towards this end, the current study expands on a previous initial validation study of VR headsets. In particular, it has been shown in conventional driving simulation and on-road studies that middle-aged drivers glance longer at latent hazards than their younger counterparts. In this study the total time middle-aged drivers spend glancing at a latent hazard and the average duration of each glance were compared to these same times for younger drivers using a VR headset and fixed-based driving simulator. The results indicate that the middle-aged participants glanced longer than their younger counterparts on both platforms at latent hazards, as measured by the total glance duration but had no difference when measured by the average glance duration. Moreover, the magnitude of the difference between middle-aged and younger drivers was the same across the two platforms. These results are in line with previous simulator studies. There appears here a real opportunity to expand the powers of simulation using VR headsets, both for purposes of research and clinical practice
Comparison of Virtual Driving Test Performance and On-Road Examination for Licensure Performance: A Replication Study
Get PDFFor novice drivers, passing the on-road examination (ORE) for licensure marks the transition from supervised to unsupervised driving. However, the first months post-licensure pose the highest lifetime risk of crashing. In partnership with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (OBMV), we have developed a virtual driving test (VDT) to enhance new driver skills testing. Through simulation, license applicants were exposed to common serious crash scenarios too dangerous for inclusion in the ORE. In a previous study of an initial sample of 2,143 driver applicants in Ohio, the acceptability, feasibility and construct validity for the VDT was demonstrated: VDT performance variables (simulated traffic collisions and failing to stop at red lights and stop signs) were associated with failing the ORE (all