scholarly journals Measuring the Safety Effect of Raised Bicycle Crossings Using a New Research Methodology

Author(s):  
Per Gårder ◽  
Lars Leden ◽  
Urho Pulkkinen

Before-and-after study methodology was developed and applied to evaluating the effect on bicyclists’ safety of raising urban bicycle crossings by 4 to 12 cm. In total, 44 junctions were reconstructed in this way in Gothenburg, Sweden. Four of these were studied in detail. Before the implementations, bicyclists were riding either in the roadway or on separate paths parallel to the roadway. The paths then ended with short ramps or curb cuts at each cross street, and bicyclists used nonelevated, marked bicycle crossings, similar to pedestrian crosswalks but delineated by white painted rectangles rather than zebra stripes. The results show that the paths with raised crossings attracted more than 50 percent more bicyclists and that the safety per bicyclist was improved by approximately 20 percent due to the increase in bicycle flow, and with an additional 10 to 50 percent due to the improved layout. However, the increased bicyclist volume means that the total number of bicycle accidents is expected to increase. Besides accident analysis, the change in risk was estimated using four different methods: surveys of bicyclists and experts, respectively; conflict data; and a quantitative expert model. Using a Bayesian approach for combining the results shows that the most likely effect of raising the bicycle crossing is a risk reduction of around 30 percent, compared with the before situation with a conventional bicycle crossing. Motorists and pedestrians also saw safety benefits from this traffic-calming measure.

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Buljan ◽  
Ružica Tokalić ◽  
Matko Marušić ◽  
Ana Marušić

Abstract Background Although numeracy, defined as understanding and handling numbers, is an important skill for the medical profession, it is not clear whether it changes during graduate medical education and whether it can be improved by specific interventions. The objective of this study was to assess objective and subjective numeracy levels at different stages of medical education and explore whether a research methodology/statistics course improves numeracy levels in a longer period. Methods We performed cross-sectional and controlled before-and-after studies. First-year sociology students and first- to sixth-year medical students from the in the cross sectional study and two groups of first-year medical students in a controlled before-and-after study. The intervention was a course on biostatistics and research methodology using blended approach. Numeracy was measured using Subjective Numeracy Scale (Cronbach α = 0.70) and Numeracy Understanding in Medicine instrument (Cronbach α = 0.75). Results Whereas first-year medical students did not differ from first-year sociology students in objective numeracy, medicine students had higher results on subjective numeracy. Students from higher years of medical school had generally higher subjective and objective numeracy scores. In the controlled before-and-after study, the intervention group improved more in subjective numeracy (median difference on a 0–8 scale = 0.5, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7 vs − 0.4, 95% CI − 0.4 to − 0.1, P < 0.001) but not in objective numeracy. Conclusions Although the numeracy levels at the beginning of the medical school are within the range of non-medical population, both objective and subjective numeracy improve during the higher years of medical school. Curriculum during medical school may help in numeracy increase, while research methodology training may help to increase subjective but not objective numeracy skills.


2020 ◽  
pp. 446-460
Author(s):  
Nadezhda N. Starikova ◽  

In 1920, the native Slovenian lands of southern Carinthia were included into the Austrian Republic, and the Slovenian population fell under the jurisdiction of the state, the official language of which was German. Under these conditions, literature in the native language became an important factor in the resistance against assimilation for the Carinthian Slovenes. However, decades later, the national protective function of the artistic word gradually came to naught. The contemporary literature of the Slovenian minority in Austria is a special phenomenon combining national and polycultural components and having two cultural and historical contexts, two identities - Slovenian and Austro-German. In aesthetic, thematic, linguistic terms, this literature is so diverse that it no longer fits into a literature of a national minority, and can no longer be automatically assigned to only one of the two literatures - Slovenian or Austrian. A variety of works, including proper Slovenian texts, hybrid bilingual forms, and compositions in German, of course, requires a new research methodology that would expand existing approaches and could cover the literary practice of those who create a panorama of Carinthian reality, which is in demand both in Slovenia and in Austria.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

Loot boxes are items in video games that may be paid for with real-world money, but which contain randomised contents. There is a reliable correlation between loot box spending and problem gambling severity: The more money gamers spend on loot boxes, the more severe their problem gambling tends to be. However, it is unclear whether this link represents a case in which loot box spending causes problem gambling; a case in which the gambling-like nature of loot boxes cause problem gamblers to spend more money; or whether it simply represents a case in which there is a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, nonspecific to loot boxes.The multiplayer video game Heroes of the Storm recently removed loot boxes. In order to better understand links between loot boxes and problem gambling, we conducted an analysis of players of Heroes of the Storm (n=112) both before and after the removal of loot boxes.There were a complex pattern of results. In general, when loot boxes were removed from Heroes of the Storm, problem gamblers appeared to spend significantly less money in-game in contrast to other groups. These results suggest that the presence of loot boxes in a game may lead to problem gamblers spending more money in-game. It therefore seems possible that links between loot box spending and problem gambling are not due to a general dysregulation in in-game spending amongst problem gamblers, but rather are to do with specific features of loot boxes themselves.


2013 ◽  
pp. 110-117
Author(s):  
Thi Tan Nguyen

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness neck shoulder pain treatment by acupuncture, massage and traditional medicine remedy. Materials and Methods: 42 patients included in the inpatient and outpatient at the Department of Traditional Medicine, Hue Central Hospital and Traditional Medicine Hospital of Thua Thien Hue, was diagnosed as neck shoulder pain. Patients were treated with acupuncture, massage and medicine, according to the research methodology, assessing the results before and after treatment. Results: The age accounted for the highest proportion of 31-45 (42.49%), the second is between the ages of 46-60 (26.18%) and> 60 (26.18%). Incidence in the city (66.67%) than rural (33.33%) (p <0:05). Patients presented with neck shoulder pain (100%), together with the head pain, pain in the shoulder, arm numbness, movement restrictions tilted head bowed. Conclusion: good variety and accounted for 71.42% of which are quite good account of 14.28%, only 2.38% is poor. Results of good, high aged 31-45 (35.72%) and in patients with a course of treatment (66.66%). Key words: neck shoulder pain, acupuncture, massage, traditional medicine remedy.


Author(s):  
Holy Greata

This study aims to look at the effectiveness of performance appraisal training programs to improve perceived organizational support and employee engagement among employees at YPTK educational institutions. This research uses a quantitative approach, with the before-and-after study design research design. The strength of this program is the ability to measure the impact of an intervention. Measuring devices perceived organizational support is an adaptation of the survey of perceived organizational support, while measuring instruments employee engagement is an adaptation of the Utrecht work engagement scale. The results of this study indicate the influence of perceived organizational support on employee engagement of 0.168 (p = 0.016 significant at l.o.s 0.05). Paired sample t-test results showed significant differences in perceived organizational support and employee engagement scores before and after the training and outreach of performance appraisal. Keywords: Perceived Organizational Suppor; Employee Engagement, Performance assessment   Penelitian ini bertujuan melihat efektifitas program pelatihan penilaian kinerja untuk meningkatkan perceived organizational support dan employee engagement pada karyawan di lembaga pendidikan YPTK. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif, dengan design penelitian the before-and-after study design. Kelebihan dari program ini adalah kemampuan untuk mengukur dampak dari sebuah intervensi. Alat ukur perceived organizational support merupakan adaptasi dari survey of perceived organizational support, sedangkan alat ukur employee engagement merupakan adaptasi dari Utrecht work engagement scale. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan adanya pengaruh perceived organizational support terhadap employee engagement sebesar 0.168 (p=0.016 signifikan pada l.o.s 0.05). Hasil uji paired sample t-test menunjukkan adanya perbedaan skor perceived organizational support dan employee engagement yang signifikan sebelum dan sesudah dilakukan pelatihan dan sosialisasi penilaian kinerja.   Kata Kunci: Perceived Organizational Suppor; Employee Engagement, Penilaian Kinerja.


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