Navigation apps are becoming a threat to road safety (beyond distraction)

Are verbal orders a threat to patient safety?

BACKGROUND The use of verbal orders has been identified as a potential contributor to poor quality and less safe care. As a result, many organisations have encouraged changing the verbal orders process and/or reducing/eliminating verbal orders altogether (Joint Commission (2005), Institute of Medicine (2001), Leapfrog organisation, Institute of Safe Medication Practices). Ironically there is a ...

The emotional side of cognitive distraction: Implications for road safety.

Driver distraction is estimated to be one of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents. However, little is known about the role of emotional distraction on driving, despite evidence that attention is highly biased toward emotion. In the present study, we used a dual-task paradigm to examine the potential for driver distraction from emotional information presented on roadside billboards. Thi...

Leading to distraction: Driver distraction, lead car, and road environment.

Driver distraction is strongly associated with crashes and near-misses, and despite the attention this topic has received in recent years, the effect of different types of distracting task on driving performance remains unclear. In the case of non-visual distractions, such as talking on the phone or other engaging verbal tasks that do not require a visual input, a common finding is reduced late...

Improving accuracy in road safety data exchange for navigation systems

A Threat to Food Safety BIOFILMS

What is causing the sticky film on that melon? Or the dull varnish of that apple? Might it be a layer of gooey goodness akin to that of a glazed donut? Not likely, but it could be a biofilm. A biofilm is a thin layer of densely packed microorganisms encapsulated within an aqueous matrix of proteins, nucleic acids, and polysaccharides. Microbes in biofilms tend to flourish on moist surfaces, agg...