In lane departure warning systems (LDWS) it is important that the auditory warning triggers a fast and appropriate reaction from the driver. The rumble strip noise is a suitable warning to alert the driver of an imminent lane departure. A short reaction time is important in lane departure scenarios, where a late response may have fatal consequences. For abstract sounds an increase in intensity can influence the perceived urgency level of the warning, which may also trigger a faster reaction from the listener. In this thesis, the effect of a rumble strip warning with looming (increasing) intensity was analyzed by letting test persons drive a driving simulator and measuring how quickly they reacted to the auditory warning. These results were compared with those for a rumble strip warning with a constant intensity, and two versions of an abstract warning; constant intensity and looming intensity. A survey regarding the perceived urgency, annoyance and acceptance of the warnings was also carried out. The results show no differences in reaction time between the four warning signals. This may be because the test persons expected the warnings, or because of their limited experience. The survey suggests that adding a looming intensity to the rumble strip warning results in a higher urgency, while keeping the annoyance low, which could be of importance to avoid unwanted reactions from the driver. / I varningssystem för personbilar används ofta ett system som signalerar ett stundande ofrivilligt lämnande av körfältet, s.k. lane departure warning systems (LDWS), genom att en varningssignal ljuder. Det är viktigt att en sådan akustisk varningssignal frammanar en snabb och lämplig reaktion från föraren. Ljudet av en bullerräffla är en lämplig varningssignal för detta ändamål. En kort reaktionstid är viktig när fordon är på väg att ofrivilligt lämna körfältet, då en långsam reaktion kan ha förödande konsekvenser. Studier på abstrakta akustiska varningssignaler har visat att en ökande intensitet kan få en varning att verka mer brådskande, vilket i sin tur kan leda till att lyssnaren reagerar snabbare. I denna rapport analyseras hur ett bullerräffleljuds ökande intensitet påverkar förarens reaktionstid. Analysen gjordes genom att mäta reaktionstiden hos testpersoner som körde en bilsimulator med fyra olika varningssignaler; en bullerräffleljudsvarning och en abstrakt varning, båda med konstant intensitet och ökande intensitet. Reaktionstiderna för de olika signalerna jämfördes, varpå en enkät utfärdades där testpersonerna uppgav hur brådskande och irriterande de uppfattade varningarna, samt till vilken grad de skulle acceptera varningarna i ett verkligt körscenario. Resultaten visar inga skillnader i reaktionstid mellan varningarna, vilket kan bero på att testpersonerna förutsåg när varningarna skulle komma, eller på grund av deras begränsade erfarenhet av bullerräffleljud. Enkätens utfall antyder att bullerräffleljudsvarningen med ökande intensitet är mer brådskande än versionen med konstant intensitet, men att irritationsnivån inte påverkas när intensiteten ökar, vilket kan vara viktigt för att inte framkalla oönskade reaktioner hos föraren.

This research project is an attempt to determine how principals handle educator misconduct in public schools in a sample of both primary and secondary schools. Procedures on handling misconduct are still new to schools principals. The need to empower principals with knowledge and procedures to handle educator misconduct is the main concern of the study. The main aim of the study is to investigate how principals handle educator misconduct in public schools. It is revealed in the introductory orientation of this study that educator misconduct is one of major challenges in principals' management of schools. Educator misconduct is a continuous problem that principals experience in their management of schools. Principals being given legal authority to handle less serious misconduct at school level, have a mammoth task and responsibility to ensure that procedural requirements are met in such misconduct cases. The attempts to workshop train and educate principals on handling educator misconduct which all proved insufficient. Misconduct among educators is on the increase and principals seem to fall short of handling such misconduct cases properly. In this regard both the literature study and an empirical investigation through interviews are used in the study. Principals are involved because they have a duty to handle educator misconduct. Procedures handling misconduct also involve educators. These data collection methods are useful in providing insights into principals' handling of educator misconduct as well as getting educators' views on how principals handle misconduct cases. The findings and recommendations of this study are expected to improve principals' handling of educator misconduct. The findings are supposed to help principals to realise the need to follow procedural steps and to apply principles of handling misconduct fairly and consistently. Based on what the study will find, it is recommended that principals adhere to principles, rules and procedures of handling misconduct as they serve to empower principals in their management responsibilities. Principals support mechanisms in the form of workshops, seminars and training programme should be provided to ensure that principals are well trained and have clear knowledge in both theory and practice of handling educator misconduct. / Dissertation (MEd (Education Management and Policy Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

This study aims to examine the impact a released profit warning has on a company’s stock price. The effect will be examined using an event study. In addition, the market model will be applied to calculate the abnormal returns associated with the profit warning. Previous studies within the subject of profit warnings have shown that the abnormal return on the day of a published profit warning amounts to -14,72% (Jackson and Madura, 2003). Furthermore, the effect varies depending on the current state of the economy (Cox, Dayanandan, Donker and Nofsinger, 2017). The purpose of this study is to investigate the market response to a published profit warning on stocks associated with the Swedish all-share index OMXSPI. Calculations show that the abnormal returns on average totaled to about -8,3% during the first day of trading. In the longer perspective, up to 90 days following the profit warning, the study showed that stock prices recover the initial price fall. However, it should be noted that presented results are not statistically significant. / Studien avser att undersöka en negativ vinstvarnings effekt på aktuell aktiekurs. Effekten studeras genom en eventstudie som med hjälp av marknadsmodellen beräknar en akties överavkastning i samband med publicerad vinstvarning. Tidigare forskning inom området menar på att effekten är negativ om -14,72% (Jackson och Madura, 2003) samt att effekten är större ifall ekonomin befinner sig i en period präglad av tillväxt (Cox, Dayanandan, Donker och Nofsinger, 2017). Syftet med denna studie är att studera vinstvarningar hos företag som är en del av Stockholmsbörsens all-share index OMXSPI. Resultatet är att en vinstvarning i genomsnitt orsakade en överavkastning om ungefär -8,3% under den första handelsdagen efter offentliggörandet. På längre sikt, upp emot 90 dagar efter vinstvarning, har studien noterat att aktiekurserna återhämtar det initiala kursraset. Dock är resultaten inte statistiskt signifikanta.

The aim of this study is to examine how profit warnings affect company valuation on companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and what factors contribute to the valuation effects. Using an event study approach, we compute the cumulative abnormal returns following profit warnings between 2016 and 2022. Our findings show that companies issuing profit warnings experience substantial abnormal returns at the time of the announcement but that there are no cumulative abnormal returns the days after the issuance of profit warnings. Company-specific characteristics and properties of profit warnings do not explain the abnormal returns. However, the state of the business cycle does. The study provides insight into what factors mediate the market participants’ reaction to profit warnings. Also, it considers how current market contingencies impact abnormal returns the days after profit warnings are released. A key limitation is that the study does not consider the financial information disclosed in the profit warnings in any quantitative detail. The results of the study are partly inconsistent with previous studies on profit warnings regarding the effects of company-specific characteristics, properties of profit warnings, and abnormal returns after the issuance of profit warnings.

Effective risk communication in the weather enterprise requires deep knowledge about the communities that enterprise members serve. This includes knowledge of the atmospheric and climate conditions in these communities as well as knowledge about the characteristics of the people living in these communities. Enterprise members often have access to data that facilitate the first type of knowledge, but relatively little social or behavioral data on the populations they serve. This article introduces an effort to overcome these challenges by developing a database of community statistics and an interactive platform that provides dynamic access to the database. Specific emphasis is given to one set of statistics in the community database: estimates of tornado warning reception, comprehension, and response by county warning area in the contiguous United States. Exploration of these estimates indicates significant variation in reception and comprehension across communities. This variation broadly aligns with tornado climatology, but there are noticeable differences within climatologically comparable regions that underline the importance of community-specific information. Verification of the estimates using independent observations from a random sample of communities confirms that the estimates are largely accurate, but there are a few consistent anomalies that prompt questions about why some communities exhibit higher or lower levels of reception, comprehension, and response than models suggest. The article concludes with a discussion of next steps and an invitation to use and contribute to the project as it progresses.

The only way to simplify and promote the effective use of an alerting system that must be comprehensive in its coverage of hazardous or non-normal conditions is to convey top level information that provides an indication of criticality and identity. In order to prevent the continued proliferation of aural alerting signals presented in the flight deck, a simple aural alert categorization scheme that provides flight deck function and urgency level information was proposed and evaluated in this study. Specifically, the present investigation examined the ability of a population having "normal" hearing to: 1) distinguish among four sets of aural alerting signals having distinctive rhythmic patterns and pitch contours, 2) perceive three urgency levels having distinctive tempos within each alerting set, and 3) associate each alerting set and its related urgency levels with one of the four major flight deck functions. Magnitude estimation ratings revealed that subjects perceived differences between low urgency level alerts and moderate urgency level alerts and between low urgency level alerts and high urgency level alerts. Pair comparison ratings of similarity revealed that subjects differentiated among the four within of the alerting sets relatively well after participating in a brief training session. alerting sets. A sound identification task revealed that subjects were able to associate functional categories with four aural alerting sets and were also able to simultaneously distinguish among and perceive three urgency levels within each of the alerting sets relatively well after participating in a brief training session. / Master of Science

The increase in globalization and trade among larger industrialized countries and smaller developing countries has increased the awareness and need to better communicate risk and hazard information for consumer and manufacturing products. The purpose of this research was to examine cultural differences associated with risk communication and risk perception. The research observed cultural differences in hazard perception associated with color, signal words, and symbols among industry workers from the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana. The research also examined the perception of risk associated with general everyday statements as well as locus of control. A total of 96 industry workers from both the USA and the Republic of Ghana participated in this study (USA = 46, Ghana = 50). Four different hypotheses were tested in this research. The hypotheses that were tested focused on risk perception (21 items) and locus of control (9 items), hazard perception and attention-getting for 6 symbols (carefulness, severity of injury implied, and understanding were also measured for the symbols) and 16 hazard signs. A pair wise comparison was used in one portion of the study in which 120 different signal word and color combination hazard signs were used. A nine-point Likert-type scale was used to evaluate the risk perception items. A four point Likert-type scale was used to measure locus of control. The results from the study concluded that there are significant differences between the two cultures and the way individuals perceive risk, perceive hazards associated symbols, evaluate hazard signs, and locus of control. A total risk perception score as well as individual risk perception scores were calculated for the 21 items using an independent sample t-test. The results for the total risk perception revealed significant differences between the two groups (t (84) = 6.43, p < .0001) with the participants from the USA having an overall higher risk perception with the mean equaling 6.39 and the participants from Ghana equaling 5.28. Significant findings such as those from the risk perception portion of this study as well as other significant findings in this study will contribute to suggested guidelines and implications for safety training in a global work environment. Such guidelines and implications include using the SKULL symbol instead of the MR YUCK symbol to communicate hazard in Ghana and suggesting that the BOLT and ELECTRIC SHOCK symbol can be used interchangeably. / Master of Science

Man has a limited ability to accurately and continuously analyse large amounts of data. Observers are typically required to monitor displays over extended periods and to execute overt detection responses to the appearance of low probability critical signals. The signals are usually clearly perceivable when observers are alerted to them, but they can be missed in the operating environment. The challenge is to develop a computer application that will accumulate information on a variable, or several variables, over time and identify when the trend in observations has changed. In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in patient monitoring and medical data analysis using decision support systems, smart alarm monitoring systems, expert systems and many other computer aided protocols. The expert systems have the potential to improve clinician performance by accurately executing repetitive tasks, to which humans are ill-suited. Anaesthetists working in the operating theatre are responsible for carrying out a multitude of tasks which requires constant vigilance and thus a need for a smart decision support system has arisen. The decision support tools capable of detecting pathological events can enhance the anaesthetist’s performance by providing alternative diagnostic information. The main goal of this research was to develop a clinically useful diagnostic alarm system using two different techniques for monitoring a pathological event during anaesthesia. Several techniques including fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, control and monitoring techniques were explored. Firstly, an industrial monitoring system called Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software is used and implemented in the form of a prototype system called SCADA monitoring system (SMS). The output of the system in detecting hypovolaemia was classified into three levels; mild, moderate and severe using SCADA’s InTouch software. In addition, a new GUI display was developed for direct interaction with the anaesthetists. Secondly, a fuzzy logic monitoring system (FLMS) was developed using the fuzzy logic technique. New diagnostic rules and membership functions (MF) were developed using MATLAB. In addition, fuzzy inference system FIS, adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system ANFIS and clustering techniques were explored for developing the FLMS’s diagnostic modules. The raw physiological patient data acquired from an S/5 monitor were converted to a readable format using the DOMonitor application. The data was filtered, preprocessed, and analysed for detecting anaesthesia related events like hypovolaemia. The accuracy of diagnoses generated by SMS and FLMS was validated by comparing their diagnostic information with the one provided by the anaesthetist for each patient. Kappa-analysis was used for measuring the level of agreement between the anaesthetist’s, SMS’s, and FLMS’s diagnoses. In offline analysis both systems were tested with data from 15 patients. The SMS and FLMS achieved an overall agreement level of 87 and 88 percent respectively. It implies substantial level of agreement between SMS or FLMS and the anaesthetists. These diagnostic alarm systems (SMS and FLMS) have shown that evidence-based expert diagnostic systems can diagnose hypovolaemia, with a substantial degree of accuracy, in anaesthetized patients and could be useful in providing decision support to anaesthetists.

Man has a limited ability to accurately and continuously analyse large amounts of data. Observers are typically required to monitor displays over extended periods and to execute overt detection responses to the appearance of low probability critical signals. The signals are usually clearly perceivable when observers are alerted to them, but they can be missed in the operating environment. The challenge is to develop a computer application that will accumulate information on a variable, or several variables, over time and identify when the trend in observations has changed. In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in patient monitoring and medical data analysis using decision support systems, smart alarm monitoring systems, expert systems and many other computer aided protocols. The expert systems have the potential to improve clinician performance by accurately executing repetitive tasks, to which humans are ill-suited. Anaesthetists working in the operating theatre are responsible for carrying out a multitude of tasks which requires constant vigilance and thus a need for a smart decision support system has arisen. The decision support tools capable of detecting pathological events can enhance the anaesthetist’s performance by providing alternative diagnostic information. The main goal of this research was to develop a clinically useful diagnostic alarm system using two different techniques for monitoring a pathological event during anaesthesia. Several techniques including fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, control and monitoring techniques were explored. Firstly, an industrial monitoring system called Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software is used and implemented in the form of a prototype system called SCADA monitoring system (SMS). The output of the system in detecting hypovolaemia was classified into three levels; mild, moderate and severe using SCADA’s InTouch software. In addition, a new GUI display was developed for direct interaction with the anaesthetists. Secondly, a fuzzy logic monitoring system (FLMS) was developed using the fuzzy logic technique. New diagnostic rules and membership functions (MF) were developed using MATLAB. In addition, fuzzy inference system FIS, adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system ANFIS and clustering techniques were explored for developing the FLMS’s diagnostic modules. The raw physiological patient data acquired from an S/5 monitor were converted to a readable format using the DOMonitor application. The data was filtered, preprocessed, and analysed for detecting anaesthesia related events like hypovolaemia. The accuracy of diagnoses generated by SMS and FLMS was validated by comparing their diagnostic information with the one provided by the anaesthetist for each patient. Kappa-analysis was used for measuring the level of agreement between the anaesthetist’s, SMS’s, and FLMS’s diagnoses. In offline analysis both systems were tested with data from 15 patients. The SMS and FLMS achieved an overall agreement level of 87 and 88 percent respectively. It implies substantial level of agreement between SMS or FLMS and the anaesthetists. These diagnostic alarm systems (SMS and FLMS) have shown that evidence-based expert diagnostic systems can diagnose hypovolaemia, with a substantial degree of accuracy, in anaesthetized patients and could be useful in providing decision support to anaesthetists.

The 2019 Dallas Tornado struck a densely populated area, was the costliest tornado in Texas history, and had minimal warning lead time, yet there were no serious injuries or fatalities. To understand why, this study examines individuals' decision-making processes during this tornado using the protective action decision model (PADM). Specifically, it investigates the factors affecting threat belief and evaluation, the facilitators and impediments to protective action, and the effects on future risk perception and hazard adjustment measures. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 23 survivors to explore their experiences and decision-making processes during this tornado. Interviews were analyzed through inductive coding and a constant comparative approach. Key findings of this study suggest that clear and direct warning messages, coupled with rapid, heuristic-driven reactions, can overcome the impediment of a short-fuse warning time and motivate those at risk to take protective action. Additionally, this study identifies condominium owners as a housing population with unique needs and impediments in the tornado recovery process. Furthermore, results illustrate how the hazard scenario and contemporary technological culture nuance protective action decision-making and future hazard adjustment measures.