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Analysis of traffic conflicts with right-turning vehicles at unsignalized intersections in suburban areas
Get PDFRight-turn collisions at intersections are one of the most dominant crash types in suburban areas, especially at unsignalized intersections. There is, however, a lack of comprehensive research on the speed patterns of vehicles during right-turn manoeuvres and their impact on crashes. To provide an in-depth investigation of the factors determining the safety of right-turn manoeuvres, driving behaviour data were collected through an instrumented vehicle study. Using this data, binary logistic regression models were developed to identify the factors affecting the probability of Vehicle-Vehicle (V-V) and Vehicle-Pedestrian (V-P) conflicts at six suburban intersections in Babol, Iran, during right-turn stage manoeuvres. In total, 1,456 V-V and V-P conflicts were identified from the data analysis. The results from the logistic regression model showed that the vehicle speed, the distance between road users, as well as driver and pedestrian distractions were associated with higher risk for vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-pedestrian conflicts. To estimate the safe right-turn speeds to be selected by the drivers at different stages of the right turn, i.e., at the start, during, and end of the movement, linear regression models were developed. The results showed that participants adjust their driving behaviour the same way toward pedestrians as they do toward vehicles. The findings of this study can be leveraged for the development of a robust advanced driving assistance system, the use of which can further improve the safety performance of right-turn manoeuvres
‘Naming and faming’ maternity care providers: A mixed-methods study
Get PDFBackground: Positive benchmarking can serve as a catalyst for maternity care improvement. Aim: To retrospectively benchmark Flemish maternity care providers’ qualities, based on women’s positive care experiences, and to explore which attributes of the different care providers contribute to these experiences. Methods: A sequential, two-phased mixed-methods study benchmarking the qualities of the community midwife, the hospital midwife, and the obstetrician. An online questionnaire was used to collect the data among pregnant and postpartum women, who rated their care experiences with the various care providers using the Net Promoter Score. Non-parametric and post hoc tests established the differences between types of clinicians and between antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum Net Promoter Score mean scores. Content analysis was used to construct a final pool of keywords representing attributes of care professionals, accumulated from the promoters’ free text responses. Ranks were assigned to each keyword based on its frequency. Findings: A total of 2385 Net Promoter Scale scores and 1856 free-text responses of 1587 responders were included. The community midwife received the overall highest NPS scores (p < .001). The promoters (n = 1015) assigned community midwives the highest NPS scores (9.67), followed by obstetricians (9.57) and hospital-based midwives (9.51). The distinct benchmarking attributes of community midwives were availability (p < .001), supportiveness (p = .04) and personalised care (p < .001). Being honest (p < .001), empathic (p < .001) and inexhaustible (p = .04) benchmarked hospital midwives. Calmness (p < .001), a no-nonsense approach (p <.001), being humane (p = .01) and comforting (p = .02) benchmarked obstetricians. Discussion/Conclusion: The findings indicate that all care providers are highly valued, but community midwives are ranked the highest. The distinct differences between the care professionals can serve as exemplary performance for professional development and shape the profiles of maternity care professionals
Research recipes for midwives: 16-step guide to writing a research proposal
No full textResearch Recipes for Midwives A 16-step guide to writing a research proposal Development of a research question, identification of a research method, and working through the steps to build a sample are complex and hugely important stages in the career of a student midwife. A good research ‘recipe’—a specific method geared to address a certain kind of question—can be critical to the creation of a successful proposal. Research Recipes for Midwives offers a selection of thoroughly tested research methods from which student midwives can choose in developing their own projects, expertly directing the reader through a 16-step process for applying a ‘recipe’ to their own proposal. Reader will also find: Information regarding the relationship between midwifery research and practice A thorough introduction to research methods built around clear concepts Tools for making a complex and challenging process manageable and exciting Research Recipes for Midwives is the ideal resource for student midwives developing research proposals, particularly those enrolled in research methods modules, providing readers with an edge in this foundational element of the research process
What can online reviews reveal about Tourism Destination Image? A netnographic approach to a pilgrim destination in India
No full textThe purpose of this study is to examine the destination image of Tirumala Tirupati as one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in India using three Tourism Destination Image (TDI) components namely cognitive, affective, and conative. Netnography was selected as a research method, where data were collected online via a Google Review website. A total of 925 online reviews posted between 2018 and 2022 were analysed using content analysis. Results of the study reveal that Tirumala Tirupati’s destination image consists of both positive and negative comments on all three components. Visitors were particularly impressed by the cognitive components of Tirumala Tirupati as a pilgrimage tourism destination, in particular the natural attributes, the general and tourist infrastructure, and cultural and historical attributes. The visitors also evaluated the overall experience on the affective level as highly positive due to the religious characteristics of the site. Despite the negative comments regarding the management of the institution, the overall conative image attributes were positive. Visitors’ intention to revisit and recommends were high. This paper ends with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications
Challenges and opportunities for sacred journeys: a media representation of the impact of COVID-19
No full textPilgrimage is a common phenomenon in all the major religions. Earlier studies showed that the pilgrimage sector has high resilience to crises. However, COVID-19 has affected and continues to have adverse impacts on pilgrimage tourism. Recognising the dearth of research addressing this developing crisis and its impact on pilgrimage tourism, this research note aims to explore the challenges and opportunities pilgrims face due to COVID-19. Hundred and fifty media articles from thirty countries are thematically analysed to address the aim of this research. The results indicate nine challenges and five opportunities for pilgrims due to COVID-19, which have varied implications for the pilgrimage sector as a whole
Using digital technology to reduce drug-related harms: a targeted service users’ perspective of the Digital Lifelines Scotland programme
Get PDFBackground: Deaths due to drug overdose are an international issue, causing an estimated 128,000 global deaths in 2019. Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, with those in the most deprived areas at greater risk than those in affluent areas. There is a paucity of research on digital solutions, particularly from the perspective of those who use drugs who additionally access harm reduction and homelessness support services. The Digital Lifelines Scotland programme (DLS) provides vulnerable people who use/d drugs with digital devices to connect with services.Methods: This paper reports on the evaluation of the DLS from the perspective of service users who accessed services for those at risk of drug-related harms. A mixed methods approach was used including an online-survey (n = 19) and semi-structured interviews (n = 21). Survey data were analysed descriptively and interview data through inductive coding, informed by the Technology, People, Organisations and Macroenvironmental factors (TPOM) framework, to investigate the use, access, and availability of devices, and people’s experiences and perceptions of them.Results: Most participants lived in social/council housing (63.2%, n = 12), many lived alone (68.4%, n = 13). They were mainly over 40 years old and lived in a city. Participants described a desire for data privacy, knowledge, and education, and placed a nascent social and personal value on digital devices. Participants pointed to the person-centred individuality of the service provision as one of the reasons to routinely engage with services. Service users experienced an increased sense of value and there was a palpable sense of community, connection and belonging developed through the programme, including interaction with services and devices.Conclusions: This paper presents a unique perspective which documents the experiences of service users on the DLS. Participants illustrated a desire for life improvement and a collective and individual feeling of responsibility towards themselves and digital devices. Digital inclusion has the potential to provide avenues by which service users can safely and constructively access services and society to improve outcomes. This paper provides a foundation to further cultivate the insight of service users on digital solutions in this emerging area
CEO hubris and corporate carbon footprint: The role of gender diversity
Get PDFThis paper investigates the effect of an overconfident CEO on firm greenhouse gas emissions. Using panel data of 160,115 firm-year observations from 41 countries for 2000–2021, we find a negative relationship between CEO overconfidence and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, drawing on the theories of gender socialisation and diversity, we find that great representation of females on the board further compels overconfident CEOs to reduce firm carbon emissions. Our findings are robust to varying estimation techniques and identification strategies. These findings offer important insights to green investors, corporate boards, managers and policymakers on the role of overconfident CEOs and female leadership in the carbon abatement efforts of public companies
Oxygen supersaturation adds resistance to a cnidarian: Symbiodiniaceae holobiont under moderate warming in experimental settings
Get PDFOcean warming reduces O2 solubility and increases organismal O2 demand, endangering marine life. Coastal ecosystems, however, experience O2 supersaturation during peak daytime temperatures due to metabolic cycles. Recent discoveries show that this environmental supersaturation can reduce the vulnerability of tropical species to warming by satisfying their oxygen requirements. To test whether this also occurs within the cnidarian holobiont, we elevated internal O2 in Cassiopea andromeda at nighttime (i.e. holobiont respiration prevails on Symbiodniaceae O2 production) relying on bell pulsation for ventilation, then experimentally subjected them to thermal stress (+1°C day-1). Though ecologically unrealistic, this approach verified our hypothesis and eliminated confounding factors. Holobionts were exposed to either constant levels of 100% air saturation (100AS) or nighttime supersaturation (NSS; where 100% air saturation transitioned to O2 supersaturation at nighttime). At sublethal temperatures, supersaturation mitigated reductions in holobiont size of ~ 10.37% (-33.418% ± 0.345 under 100AS vs -23.039% ± 0.687 under NSS). Supersaturation alleviated chlorophyll-a loss by 42.73% until 34°C, when counteraction of this process could not be sustained due to excessive thermal stress. Supersaturation also enriched potentially beneficial bacterial taxa of the microbiome and selected a more consistent bacterial community. Although modest, the detected effects show that a O2 surplus increased the resistance of the holobionts to thermal stress
Event-Triggered Distributed Data-Driven Iterative Learning Bipartite Formation Control for Unknown Nonlinear Multiagent Systems
Get PDFIn this study, we investigate the event-triggering time-varying trajectory bipartite formation tracking problem for a class of unknown nonaffine nonlinear discrete-time multiagent systems (MASs). We first obtain an equivalent linear data model with a dynamic parameter of each agent by employing the pseudo-partial-derivative technique. Then, we propose an event-triggered distributed model-free adaptive iterative learning bipartite formation control scheme by using the input/output data of MASs without employing either the plant structure or any knowledge of the dynamics. To improve the flexibility and network communication resource utilization, we construct an observer-based event-triggering mechanism with a dead-zone operator. Furthermore, we rigorously prove the convergence of the proposed algorithm, where each agent’s time-varying trajectory bipartite formation tracking error is reduced to a small range around zero. Finally, four simulation studies further validate the designed control approach’s effectiveness, demonstrating that the proposed scheme is also suitable for the homogeneous MASs to achieve time-varying trajectory bipartite formation tracking
Unlocking dynamic capabilities in the Scotch whisky industry, 1945–present
Get PDFIn this article we examine the development of the Scotch whisky industry since 1945 through the lens of dynamic capabilities. We explain how sui generis acts—novel initiatives outwith the established repertoire of practices of a firm or industry—by external actors joining the industry helped unlock dynamic capabilities at the firm level in the industry which in turn drove change across the sector after a series of takeovers. We detail the key structural changes in the Scotch whisky industry and demonstrate how important external actors can be in effecting sector level change by extending and connecting our analysis to existing debates in business history and strategy research
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