Novice driver crashes: The relation between putative causal factors, countermeasures, real world implementations, and policy - A case study in simple, scalable solutions.

Novice drivers are at a greatly inflated risk of crashing. This led in the 20th century to numerous attempts to develop training programs that could reduce their crash risk. Yet, none proved effective.

Porcine endometrial heat shock proteins are differentially influenced by pregnancy status, heat stress, and altrenogest supplementation during the peri-implantation period.

Heat stress (HS) deleteriously affects multiple components of porcine reproduction and is causal to seasonal infertility. Environment-induced hyperthermia causes a HS response (HSR) typically characterized by increased abundance of intracellular heat shock proteins (HSP). Gilts exposed to HS during the peri-implantation period have compromised embryo survival, however if (or how) HS disrupts the porcine endometrium is not understood.

Impact of heat stress on prolactin-mediated ovarian JAK-STAT signaling in postpubertal gilts.

Heat stress (HS) compromises almost every aspect of animal agriculture including reproduction. In pigs, this infecundity is referred to as seasonal infertility (SI), a phenotype including ovarian dysfunction. In multiple species, HS-induced hyperprolactinemia has been described; hence, our study objectives were to characterize and compare HS effects on circulating prolactin (PRL) and ovarian Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling during the follicular (FOL) or luteal (LUT) phases of the estrous cycle in postpubertal gilts.

Effects of increased ambient temperature and supplemental altrenogest before pregnancy establishment in gilts.

Heat stress (HS) mitigation strategies are critically needed to combat the substantial economic effects on animal agriculture. The manifestations of seasonal infertility include delayed puberty onset, reduced conception rates, decreased litter size, and increased wean to estrus interval. To assess the effects of HS during early gestation and evaluate the benefit of supplemental altrenogest (ALT) as a mitigation strategy, 30 crossbred postpubertal gilts (157 ± 11 kg body weight) were subjected to estrous synchronization via 14 d oral administration of ALT.

Improving the tactical scanning of student pilots: A gaze-based training intervention for transition from visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions.

Eye tracking has been applied to train novice drivers and clinicians; however, such applications in aviation are limited. This study develops a gaze-based intervention using video-based, expert commentary, and 3M (Mistake, Mitigation, Mastery) training to instruct visual flight rule student pilots on an instrument cross-check to mitigate the risk of losing aircraft control when they inadvertently enter instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Twenty general aviation student pilots were randomized into control and experimental groups.

Evaluation of increased fiber, decreased amino acids, or decreased electrolyte balance as dietary approaches to slow finishing pig growth rates.

In swine production, pig movement restrictions or packing plant closures may create the need to slow growth rates of finishing pigs to ensure they remain at a marketable body weight when packing plant access is restored. Although dietary formulations can be successful at slowing pig growth, precision is needed regarding how to best formulate diets to achieve growth rate reductions. Thus, the objective was to evaluate three dietary experimental approaches aimed at slowing growth rates in finishing pigs.

Methods for reproductive tract scoring as a tool for improving sow productivity.

Improving sow lifetime productivity is essential for maximizing farm profitability. Study objectives were to determine the accuracy for different vulva scoring methods in a commercial production system and to assess whether gilt reproductive tract scoring [evaluated by vulva width (VW)] prior to puberty could serve as useful gilt selection criteria. To accomplish this objective, 958 prepubertal replacement gilts in a commercial system were evaluated at approximately 15 wk of age.

The impact of dietary supplementation of arginine during gestation in a commercial swine herd: II. Offspring performance.

Arginine (Arg) is an important amino acid of pig fetal development; however, whether Arg improves postnatal performance is ill-defined. Therefore, the influence of Arg supplementation at different gestational stages on offspring performance was evaluated in a commercial swine herd. Sows (n = 548) were allocated into 4, diet by stage of gestation treatments: Control (n = 143; 0% suppl.

Heat stress during the luteal phase decreases luteal size but does not affect circulating progesterone in gilts1.

Heat stress (HS) occurs when heat dissipation mechanisms are insufficient to maintain euthermia, and it is associated with seasonal infertility (SI), which manifests as smaller litters, longer wean-to-estrus interval, increased abortions, and reduced conception rates. To understand HS-induced mechanisms underlying SI, crossbred post-pubertal gilts (167 ± 10 kg; n = 14) experienced either thermal neutral (TN, 20 ± 1 °C, n = 7) or cyclical HS (35 ± 1 °C for 12 h and 31.6 °C for 12 h, n = 7) conditions from 2 to 12 d post-estrus (dpe).

The impact of dietary supplementation of arginine during gestation in a commercial swine herd: I. Gilt reproductive performance.

Supplemental arginine (Arg) during gestation purportedly benefits fetal development. However, the benefits of a gestational Arg dietary strategy in commercial production are unclear. Therefore, the objectives of this study examined Arg supplementation during different gestational stages and the effects on gilt reproductive performance.

Physiological mechanisms through which heat stress compromises reproduction in pigs.

Seasonal variations in environmental temperatures impose added stress on domestic species bred for economically important production traits. These heat-mediated stressors vary on a seasonal, daily, or spatial scale, and negatively impact behavior and reduce feed intake and growth rate, which inevitably lead to reduced herd productivity. The seasonal infertility observed in domestic swine is primarily characterized by depressed reproductive performance, which manifests as delayed puberty onset, reduced farrowing rates, and extended weaning-to-estrus intervals.

A Review of Hazard Anticipation Training Programs for Young Drivers.

Purpose: Poor hazard anticipation skills are a risk factor associated with high motor vehicle crash rates of young drivers. A number of programs have been developed to improve these skills. The purpose of this review was to assess the empirical literature on hazard anticipation training for young drivers.

The influence of clear zone size and roadside vegetation on driver behavior.

Introduction: Roadside vegetation provides numerous environmental and psychological benefits to drivers. Previous studies have shown that natural landscapes can effectively lower crash rates and cause less frustration and stress to the driver. However, run-off-the-road crashes resulting in a collision with a tree are twice as likely to result in a fatality, reinforcing the need to examine the placement of vegetation within the clear zone.

The long-term effects of active training strategies on improving older drivers' scanning in intersections: a two-year follow-up to Romoser and Fisher (2009).

Objective: To determine the long-term effects of active training on older drivers' scanning in intersections, the present article reports the results of a 2-year followup with drivers who had previously participated the older driver training study reported in Romoser and Fisher.

Background: Customized feedback coupled with active learning in a simulator has been shown to be an effective means of significantly improving the intersection scanning behavior of older drivers. However, the long-term effect of such training has not been established.

Comparing the Glance Patterns of Older versus Younger Experienced Drivers: Scanning for Hazards while Approaching and Entering the Intersection.

Older drivers are known to look less often for hazards when turning at T-intersections or at four way intersections. The present study is an extension of Romoser & Fisher (2009) and attempts to further analyze the differences in scanning behavior between older and experienced younger drivers in intersections. We evaluated four hypotheses that attempt to explain the older drivers' failure to properly scan in intersections: difficulty with head movements, decreases in working memory capacity, increased distractibility, and failure to recall specific scanning patterns.

Identifying and Remediating Failures of Selective Attention in Older Drivers.

Older drivers are primarily overinvolved in crashes at intersections, and failure to attend to regions that contain relevant information about potential hazards is a major contributor to this problem. Corroborating this, we have found that older drivers in both controlled scenarios on a driving simulator and somewhat less controlled situations on the road attend to (i.e.

Predicting Route Choices of Drivers Given Categorical and Numerical Information on Delays Ahead: Effects of Age, Experience, and Prior Knowledge.

In recent years there has been a considerable increase in the systems used to provide real-time traffic information to motorists. Examples of such systems include dynamic message signs and 511 travel information systems. However, such systems can be used to reduce congestion-one of their primary purposes-only if one can predict the route choices of drivers as a function of the information displayed.

Do Crashes and Near Crashes in Simulator-Based Training Enhance Novice Drivers' Visual Search for Latent Hazards?

Young drivers (younger than 25 years of age) are overrepresented in crashes. Research suggests that a relevant cause is inadequate visual search for possible hazards that are hidden from view. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a low-cost, fixed-base simulator training program that would address this failure.

Do Advance Yield Markings Increase Safe Driver Behaviors at Unsignalized, Marked Midblock Crosswalks? Driving Simulator Study.

In the United States, 78% of pedestrian crashes occur at noninter-section crossings. As a result, unsignalized, marked midblock crosswalks are prime targets for remediation. Many of these crashes occur under sight-limited conditions in which the view of critical information by the driver or pedestrian is obstructed by a vehicle stopped in an adjacent travel or parking lane on the near side of the crosswalk.

The effect of active versus passive training strategies on improving older drivers' scanning in intersections.

Objective: This study aimed (a) to determine whether older drivers looked less often for potential threats while turning than younger drivers and (b) to compare the effectiveness of active and passive training on older drivers' performance and evaluation of their driving skills in intersections.

Background: Age-related declines in vision, physical abilities, psychomotor coordination, and cognition combine to make it less likely that older drivers will look for potential threats during a turn. Research suggests that active training should be an effective means of improving older drivers' performance and self-awareness.