An examination of billboard impacts on crashes on a suburban highway: Comparing three periods-Billboards present, removed, and restored.

Advertisement billboards on roadsides distract drivers from driving tasks and may increase the risk of crashes. Yet, empirical evidence on the direct impact of advertisement signs on crashes is scarce. The Ayalon Highway in Israel is a suburban highway crossing the greater Tel Aviv-Yafo metropolitan area.

The influence of shoulder characteristics on the safety level of two-lane roads: A case-study.

Constructing proper shoulders may improve road safety on two-lane roads. Previous research reported crash reductions following shoulder widening. This study aimed to examine the relationship between shoulder characteristics and crash occurrences on two-lane rural roads in Israel.

Central tendency and matched difference approaches for assessing interrater agreement.

In Study 1 of this two-part investigation, we present a "central tendency approach" and procedures for assessing overall interrater agreement across multiple groups. We define parameters for mean group agreement and construct bootstrapped confidence intervals around the mean population parameters for r, AD, and ICC(1). In Study 2, we extend assessments of overall interrater agreement by developing a "matched difference approach" and procedures for assessing real versus pseudo agreement in a sample of groups.

Assisting upon entry: Helping type and approach as moderators of how role conflict affects newcomer resource drain.

We extend recent research on the costs and benefits of helping to help providers by asking whether and under what conditions newcomer help giving may amplify or mitigate the role-conflict-based resource drain such individuals may experience in the context of their initial socialization. Drawing from conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that whether providing assistance to peers enhances or weakens newcomer help providers' resilience to such conflict-based resource drain (i.e.

Exploring safety impacts of pedestrian-crossing configurations at signalized junctions on urban roads with public transport routes.

This study explored the impacts of pedestrian-crossing configurations and other design features, on accident occurrences at signalized junctions situated on central public transport routes (PTRs) of urban arterials. Statistical tests and negative-binomial regression models were applied to identify factors affecting accidents and to examine accident numbers of the PTR junctions as opposed to comparison-sites. At the PTR junctions, a consistent impact of pedestrian-crossing configurations on accidents was found, where a gradated-crossing with mixed-shifting is the least safe.

De-freezing frozen patient management.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of two methods in encouraging the consideration of a leap from one patient management routine to another: (i) real-time review of the facts by an external medical team (ii) implementation of the 're-thinking-protocol' ('de-Freezing') by both treating and external medical teams.

Design: Students accompanied doctors, nurses and patients as non-interrupting observers. When an obvious gap between the expected and actual findings occurred, it was discussed four times: by two teams (treating team, external medical team) in two discussion modes (real-time review, de-Freezing-questionnaire).

Efficacy of oral methotrexate in paediatric Crohn's disease: a multicentre propensity score study.

Background: Oral methotrexate (MTX) administration avoids weekly injections, reduces costs and may improve quality of life of patients with Crohn's disease (CD), especially children. Routes of administration have never been systematically compared in CD. We aimed to compare effectiveness and safety of orally (PO) versus subcutaneously (SC) administered MTX in paediatric CD.

Statistical significance criteria for the rWG and average deviation interrater agreement indices.

Despite the widespread use of interrater agreement statistics for multilevel modeling and other types of research, the existing guidelines for inferring the statistical significance of interrater agreement are quite limited. They are largely relevant only under conditions that numerous researchers have argued rarely exist. Here we address this problem by generating guidelines for inferring statistical significance under a number of conditions via a computer simulation.

Detection of subclinical keratoconus using an automated decision tree classification.

Purpose: To develop a method for automatizing the detection of subclinical keratoconus based on a tree classification.

Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Methods: setting: University Hospital of Bordeaux.

Establishment of fetal biometric charts using quantile regression analysis.

Objectives: Fetal growth evaluation is an essential component of pregnancy surveillance. There have been several methods used to construct growth charts. The conventional charts used in current daily practice are based on small numbers and traditional statistical methods.

Screening for sleep disordered breathing among applicants for a professional driver's license.

Objectives: Individuals with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) are at high risk for falling asleep while driving. The aim of this study was to identify variables that would predict SDB among healthy young applicants for a professional driver's license.

Method: A total of 301 applicants for a driver's license completed self-administered questionnaires.

Development of road safety performance indicators for trauma management in Europe.

Trauma management (TM) covers two types of medical treatment: the initial one provided by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and a further one provided by permanent medical facilities. There is a consensus in the professional literature that to reduce the severity and the number of road crash victims, the TM system should provide rapid and adequate initial care of injury, combined with sufficient further treatment at a hospital or trauma centre. Recognizing the important role of TM for reducing road crash injury outcome, it was decided, within the EU funded SafetyNet project, to develop road safety performance indicators (SPIs) which would characterize the level of TM systems' performance in European countries and enable country comparisons.

Further Insight and Additional Inference Methods for Polynomial Regression Applied to the Analysis of Congruence.

In their seminal paper, Edwards and Parry (1993) presented the polynomial regression as a better alternative to applying difference score in the study of congruence. While this method is increasingly applied in congruence research, its complexity relative to other methods for assessing congruence (e.g.

Firefighters, critical incidents, and drinking to cope: the adequacy of unit-level performance resources as a source of vulnerability and protection.

The authors investigated the moderating role of unit-level performance resources on the distress-mediated relationship between the intensity of involvement in workplace critical incidents and problematic drinking behavior (i.e., drinking to cope).