Is science driven by principal investigators?

Scientometrics - In this paper we consider the question what is the scientific and career performance of principal investigators (PI’s) of publicly funded research projects compared to...     

Is road safety management linked to road safety performance?

This research aims to explore the relationship between road safety management and road safety performance at country level. For that purpose, an appropriate theoretical framework is selected, namely the ‘SUNflower’ pyramid, which describes road safety management systems in terms of a five-level hierarchy: (i) structure and culture, (ii) programmes and measures, (iii) ‘intermediate’ outcomes’ – safety performance indicators (SPIs), (iv) final outcomes – fatalities and injuries, and (v) social costs. For each layer of the pyramid, a composite indicator is implemented, on the basis of data for 30 European countries. Especially as regards road safety management indicators, these are estimated on the basis of Categorical Principal Component Analysis upon the responses of a dedicated road safety management questionnaire, jointly created and dispatched by the ETSC/PIN group and the ‘DaCoTA’ research project. Then, quasi-Poisson models and Beta regression models are developed for linking road safety management indicators and other indicators (i.e. background characteristics, SPIs) with road safety performance. In this context, different indicators of road safety performance are explored: mortality and fatality rates, percentage reduction in fatalities over a given period, a composite indicator of road safety final outcomes, and a composite indicator of ‘intermediate’ outcomes (SPIs). The results of the analyses suggest that road safety management can be described on the basis of three composite indicators: “vision and strategy”, “budget, evaluation and reporting”, and “measurement of road user attitudes and behaviours”. Moreover, no direct statistical relationship could be established between road safety management indicators and final outcomes. However, a statistical relationship was found between road safety management and ‘intermediate’ outcomes, which were in turn found to affect ‘final’ outcomes, confirming the SUNflower approach on the consecutive effect of each layer.     

Is hydraulic retention time an essential parameter for MBR performance?

The effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on membrane bioreactors (MBR) operation is discussed. A brief literature review on this topic indicates that biased conclusions can be drawn if data is obtained under non steady-state conditions. Another relevant aspect regarding steady-state operation includes activated sludge adaptation to bioreactor running conditions. In addition, wastewater components also have influence on steady-state achievement and MBR performance.     

Is there a correlation between journal impact factor and researchers’ performance? A study comprising the fields of clinical nephrology and neurosciences

Quantifying the scientific performance of investigators has become an integral part of decision-making in research policy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if there is a correlation between journal impact factor (IF) and researchers’ influence among a selected group of Brazilian investigators in the fields of clinical nephrology and neurosciences. This study was based on 94 senior investigators (36 in clinical nephrology and 58 in clinical neurosciences) receiving productivity scholarships from the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) according to a list provided by the agency in February 2009. Scientific performance indicators included in the analysis were: number of papers indexed by the Web of Science and Scopus databases, number of citations, h- and m-index. IFs were analyzed as (1) cumulative IF (∑IF), (2) IF adjusted by time (IF/t), and (3) average IF. There was a moderate positive correlation only between ∑IF and two indicators: total number of citations (P < 0.001) and h-index (P < 0.001). There was also a positive correlation between IF/t and m-index (P < 0.001). There was an agreement in these correlations between both groups (clinical nephrology and neurosciences). No significant correlation between the average IF and any of the scientific indicators was detected. A cut-off of 10.53 for IF/t showed the best performance in predicting researchers with m-index equal to or greater than 1. According to our findings, other qualitative and quantitative instruments rather than IF are clearly needed for identifying researchers with outstanding scientific output.     

Driving avoidance by older adults: Is it always self-regulation?

Self-regulation shows promise as a means by which older adults can continue to drive at some level without having to stop altogether. Self-regulation is generally described as the process of modifying or adjusting one's driving patterns by driving less or intentionally avoiding driving situations considered to be challenging, typically in response to an awareness that driving skills have declined. However, most studies asking older adults whether they avoid certain driving situations or have reduced the amount of driving they do under certain circumstances have not delved deeper into the motivations for such avoidance or driving reduction. There are many reasons for modifying driving that have nothing to do with self-regulation, such as no longer needing to take trips at certain times of day because of changes in preferences or lifestyles. The purpose of this study was to examine self-regulatory practices among older adults at multiple levels of driver performance and decision making, taking into account the specific motivations for avoiding particular driving situations or engaging in other driving practices. Study participants completed a computer-based questionnaire on driving self-regulation. Results suggest that self-regulation is a complex process that cannot be defined simply by the reported driving modifications made by drivers. Understanding the motivations for these behaviors is necessary and the study showed that they are varied and differ considerably across driving situations. Reasons for driving avoidance or other practices were often more closely related to lifestyle or preferences than to self-regulation. Based on these findings, three distinct groups were identified with regard to whether and for what reasons participants modified their driving.     

Is the Kanizsa illusion triggered by the simultaneous contrast mechanism?

Current illusory contour models do not predict the disappearance of the Kanizsa illusion due to specific spatial luminance distributions within the inducers. We suggest that these stimulus conditions are characterized by an insufficient amount of induced brightness. Our model's core assumption is that contour edge detection of the Kanizsa illusion and the simultaneous contrast (brightness induction) effect are triggered by the same mechanism. The simultaneous contrast can immunize the occlusion detection mechanism against spatial and temporal noise. Our model contains physiologically inspired building blocks that detect the oriented contour edges, complete the illusory contours, and enhance them. The model succeeds in predicting the appearance and the disappearance of many different Kanizsa illusion variants.     

Whiplash injury--are current head restraints doing their job?

It is generally accepted that the incidence of whiplash associated disorders is increasing in all industrialised countries, despite the almost universal fitment of head restraints in at least the front seats of cars. This is usually attributed to the fact that few people can be observed to follow the standard recommendations as regards head restraint positioning, that is, level with the head vertically and as close to the head as possible horizontally. This study set out to determine whether any other factors, in addition to head restraint adjustment, could be found which would influence the severity of whiplash injury. This was done by linking medical assessment of real-world accident victims with engineering assessment of the accident vehicles. A random sample of road accident victims suffering from whiplash associated disorder was studied. The vehicles they had been travelling in were examined to assess impact severity and, where possible, measurements were made of seat and head restraint adjustment with the subject sitting in the vehicle. All subjects were interviewed to assess the disability resulting from their injuries, and their progress was followed for 12 months. The results were subjected to statistical analysis to try to determine relationships between severity of injury (as measured by resultant disability) and a number of occupant- and vehicle-related factors. A significant proportion of the sample had suffered lumbar strain injury in addition to whiplash, and these were excluded from the present analysis. Frontal impact victims suffered symptoms indistinguishable from those of rear impact victims. The beneficial effects of good head restraint adjustment could not be clearly demonstrated, and some trends, especially in rear impacts, where the benefits of a well-adjusted restraint should have been very clear, indicated that larger distances from head to restraint were associated with lower disability. The paper discusses these counter-intuitive results and their implications.     

Injuries and Safe Communities Accreditation: Is there a link?

Safe Communities (SC) is a global movement that brings together community stakeholders to collaboratively address injury concerns. SC accreditation is a formal process through which communities are recognized for strengthening local injury prevention capacity. Six million Americans live in 25 SC sites, but no research has been done to understand the model’s potential impact on this population. This study explored the temporal relationship between SC accreditation and injury trends in three SC sites from the state of Illinois—Arlington Heights, Itasca, and New Lenox. Hospitalization data, including patient demographics, exposure information, injury outcomes, and economic variables, were obtained from a statewide hospital discharge database for a 12-year period (1999–2011). Joinpoint regression models were fitted to identify any periods of significant change, examine the direction of the injury trend, and to estimate monthly percent changes in injury counts and rates. Poisson random-intercept regression measured the average total change since the official SC accreditation for the three communities combined and compared them to three matched control sites. In joinpoint regression, one of the SC sites showed a 10-year increase in hospitalization cases and rates followed by a two-year decline, and the trend reversal occurred while the community was pursuing the SC accreditation. Injury hospitalizations decreased after accreditation compared to the pre-accreditation period when SC sites were compared to their control counterparts using Poisson modeling. Our findings suggest that the SC model may be a promising approach to reduce injuries. Further research is warranted to replicate these findings in other communities.     

Is your valley as green as it should be? Incorporating economic development into environmental performance indicators

Sustainability rankings are receiving increasing attention by the academic and the policymaking communities because of their potential to influence environmental legislation and reshape competitive landscapes. Unfortunately, most of the indicators used to produce these rankings do not take into account economic development and tend to be biased in favor of richer countries. To circumvent this limitation, we develop a novel, rigorous and simple metric that ranks countries by their potential environmental performance relative to their wealth; in other words, by the degree of sustainability that a country should achieve, given its level of affluence. We apply our approach to measure the sustainability level of 15 developed economies with respect to the share of renewable energy sources in their electricity-generating portfolios. The resulting ranking produces changes in the perceived greenness of certain countries. If adopted, it would allow these countries to increase their bargaining power in international negotiations. It would also alter the pressure faced by their governments to implement or discontinue environmental policies such as feed-in tariffs. Although we applied it at the country level and in the context of renewable energy, the method has far-reaching implications and it can also be used to compare corporate sustainability levels.