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Purpose: This paper examines the evolution and impact of property development activities on REIT performance. The paper provides insights on whether REITs should venture into property development in addition to their core-business of holding income producing properties. Design/methodology/approach: This paper charts and highlights the evolution of development activities of US REITs from 1992 to 2020. The Tobin's Q of property developing REITs and non-property developing REITs are compared using univariate analysis. Findings: Development activities of US REITs grew dramatically during the run up to global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008. The level of development activities has dropped since the GFC and it has not return to its pre-crisis peak. In comparison, development activities of listed property investment companies and homebuilders are less volatile over the same period. The data reveals that property developing REITs enjoy significantly higher Tobin's Q as compared to their non-developing counterparts. Practical implications: Our graphical evidence from a market without development restriction suggests that development restriction in other REIT regimes has it value in limit REITs' excessive risk-taking tendency during a booming property market. The positive relationship between Tobin's Q and the existence of property development activity support the value creation of this business activity to REITs. Originality/value: This paper raises overbuilding as a potential cause of the underperformance of the REIT sector during the GFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflecting on the question of media, this paper attempts to bridge the gap between attention and distraction in Bernard Stiegler and Walter Benjamin's respective philosophies. Based on Stiegler's philosophical theory, this paper will demonstrate, on the one hand, how harmful the destruction of attention, i.e. deficit hyperactivity disorder (Mattew, 2012), can be to intergenerational relationships which is constructed of retentions including tertiary retention, and the other hand, how Stiegler's theory is too exclusively focused upon 'Generation M,' that is children with hyper attention. We shall also analyze Benjamin's arguments regarding distraction, a state he never condemns because he finds new political possibilities there. Based on them, this paper focuses on German educator's arguments on film in 1910s–1920s and Azuma's arguments regarding Otaku. German educators find distraction and deep attention in film for education. This coexistence of distraction and deep attention in film has the political potential to overcome aestheticization of politics by totalitarian Fascist regimes. As Lee argued, attention gives children unexpected creativity for teachers (Lee, 2018). On the other hand, Azuma analyzes Otaku's work as a new type of subjectivity through the consideration of new media, Nico Nico douga. For Azuma, Otaku is inescapably linked to media such as anime, video games, and social media. From this perspective, he describes how blind identification with deep attention is destroyed by a mixture of commentators on the screen and comments that criticize the commentators. In Nico Nico douga, distraction is not disorder but self-reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects patients and their family members, but most reviews have focused only on patients themselves. This review synthesises evidence on the impact of IBD on family members. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken, searching six bibliographic databases, focusing on the impact of IBD on family members, coping strategies, and interventions. A narrative synthesis was conducted. This review was reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA). Results: 3258 records were identified; 33 papers (2748 participants) were included. Three themes were identified: impact of IBD on family members; coping strategies for family members to overcome the impact of IBD; and the support needed by family members. IBD affects family members' well‐being in many ways, including their emotional well‐being, relationship with the patient, social life, work and finances, and leisure time and travel. Family members use adaptive coping patterns such as acceptance, developing resilience, and emotional support from others. Maladaptive coping patterns such as denial of diagnosis, self‐distraction, and self‐blame were also evident. Family members reported that they needed better information about IBD, support groups, and better access to a counsellor or psychologist. No studies assessed interventions to relieve family members' burden. Conclusions: Family members of IBD patients require psychosocial support to facilitate better family function, cohesion, and enhanced coping strategies. Healthcare services should adopt a multidisciplinary care model with a bio‐psycho‐social approach including an IBD nurse, family therapist, and psychologist, to improve quality of life for patients and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: The aim of this integrative review was to assess how emergency nurses cope and motivate themselves to sustain their caring work. Background: The need to enhance sustainability of the workforce creates a demand to consolidate contemporary evidence related to emergency nurses' motivations, how they cope and sustain themselves for caring work. Design and methods: The integrative literature review informed by Whittemore and Knafl involved searching four databases, which yielded 977 published research papers (2008–2021). A total of 33 studies met the inclusion and quality assessment criteria. The PRISMA checklist for review was followed. Results: No studies addressing all three areas (motivations, coping and caring sustainability) together were identified. Integration of evidence from quantitative and qualitative research was achieved in three categories: (1) emergency nurses' motivations to sustain their work, (2) emergency nurses' coping strategies and (3) sustaining care as emergency nurses. Conclusion: To sustain themselves in caring work, emergency nurses need to be intrinsically and extrinsically motivated and know how to cope effectively with stressors and work demands. There is need for research examining the relationships between these aspects of emergency nursing work. Relevance to clinical practice: To ensure the sustainability of emergency nurses' work and careers understanding of the factors that influence and sustain their motivations and coping strategies is important for nurses and their clinical leaders and managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Drivers on slip roads want vehicles on the target lane to decelerate. • Drivers in target lanes rate the behaviour of vehicles on slip roads ambiguously. • AVs are rated identically or even more positively than MVs with identical behaviour. • No different safety distance is kept from automated vehicles. • Results show that cross-border traffic between Germany and UK with AVs is feasible. • Intercultural aspects must still be considered in the development of AVs. To ensure safe and uninterrupted traffic flow, (semi-)automated vehicles must be capable of providing comprehensible and agreeable implicit communication cues to human drivers. This driving simulator study investigated the assessment of implicit communication at a motorway slip road through longitudinal driving dynamics (acceleration, deceleration, and maintaining speed). The second aim of the study was to determine whether expectations of automated vehicles are different from those of human drivers. And thirdly, we investigated whether these findings are country-specific or can be (partially) generalised to other countries. The perception of three means of communication in connection with the presence of a labelling as an automated vehicle (eHMI) was examined in two samples in Germany and England. 27 participants drove from a slip road onto the motorway and interacted with another vehicle. After a stretch on the motorway, they passed a second slip road on which there was a vehicle merging onto the participants lane. This was repeated six times to test all variables. After each situation, the perceived cooperativity and criticality was recorded, as well as the time headway (THW) to the other vehicle. This paper presents the findings from the UK sample and compares them with the German results, which were previously published. Results show, that when the cooperating vehicles are on the slip road, participants from both countries prefer this vehicle to decelerate. However, when participants themselves are on the slip road, expectations for vehicles on the target lane are ambiguous in the UK sample. Except for one aspect (perceived cooperativity of decelerating vehicles on the slip road), the perception of automated vehicles is similar to those of manual drivers. Also, UK participants do not maintain a different safety distance from these vehicles, while this is the case in the German sample. This paper contributes valuable insights into the cross-cultural evaluation of driving dynamics, shedding light on implications for the development and acceptance of automated vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting the factors affecting drivers' safe driving and taking early warning measures can effectively reduce the probability of automobile safety accidents and improve vehicle driving safety. Considering the two factors of driver fatigue and distraction state, their influences on driver behavior are elaborated from both experimental data and an accident library analysis. Starting from three modes and six types, intelligent detection methods for driver fatigue and distraction detection from the past five years are reviewed in detail. Considering its wide range of applications, the research on machine vision detection based on facial features in the past five years is analyzed, and the methods are carefully classified and compared according to their innovation points. Further, three safety warning and response schemes are proposed in light of the development of autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit technology. Finally, the paper summarizes the current state of research in the field, presents five conclusions, and discusses future trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presented introduces an innovative accident prevention system that employs deep learning models and sensors to identify and alert drivers who lose concentration while driving for a variety of reasons. The system targets drowsiness, cell phone use, and alcohol consumption, which are among the leading causes of automobile accidents. The proposed solution employs neural networks to identify specific patterns associated with driver inattention and generates an audible alert to refocus the driver's attention on the road. In addition, the system utilizes alcohol-detection sensors, as alcohol consumption is another significant cause of accidents. This system seeks to reduce the number of casualties by enhancing road safety considering the high number of daily collisions, which are primarily caused by speeding. The paper describes the design, architecture, and implementation of the system on a modest scale to provide a lifesaving, cost-effective solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by Said's concept of exile, Camus' 1947 novel The Plague, and testimonies from our students, this paper explores the striking similarities between experiences of exile and the COVID-19 pandemic. Both exile and the pandemic are seen as intrusive forces causing rupture and discontinuity in one's life at the physical, psychological and socio-cultural levels. This paper demonstrates that for many Palestinians – including us and our students – the pandemic manifests what Freud termed 'repetition compulsion'. That is, many of our students interpret the detrimental and precarious impact of the pandemic as a complex form of exile, a nuanced understanding that blends a historical, communal memory of displacement with a present, universal crisis. This paper further explains that the themes of exile and displacement in Camus' The Plague provide us and our students with a focal point to examine the striking, albeit anachronistic, similarities between the pandemic caused by Israeli occupation and the COVID-19 virus. This uncanny relationship between the pandemic and exile is further substantiated by the fact that the pandemic has provided cover, or at least distraction, for the escalation of oppressive political actions, thus deepening the entrenchment of a physical and psychological 'exile' for Palestinians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distraction osteogenesis is utilized to increase intracranial volume in the treatment of restrictive pathologies, most commonly syndromic synostosis. Children too young for open calvarial vault expansion or other systemic or local contraindications to a direct reconstructive approach benefit greatly from distraction osteogenesis, typically addressing posterior vault expansion. Wound infection, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak, device failure, need for a second surgery for removal, and cost, are issues that can limit the use of this approach. These challenges are more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to lack of access to the device, the financial burden of the need for a second surgery, and the severity of the implications of infection and CSF leak. Over the last five decades, there has been an increased acceptance of bioresorbable instrumentation in craniofacial surgery. Poly L-lactic acid, polyglycolic acid, and polydioxanone are the most commonly used polymers. New resorbable fixation tools such as ultrasound-activated pins and heat-activated pins are superior to conventional bioresorbable screws in allowing attachment to thinner bone plates. In this paper, we present a review of the literature on cranial vault distraction and the use of bioresorbable materials and propose a novel design of a fully absorbable cranial distractor system using external magnetic distraction control, eliminating the need for external activation ports and a second surgery to remove the hardware. The application of this technology in LMIC settings could advance access to care and treatment options for patients with syndromic synostosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine how a practice-theoretical perspective may complement and expand the central tenet of the attention-based view (ABV) that attention is contextually situated. We put forward three main arguments. First, the components that make a practice possible and that locate it in history and context (practice architecture) also prefigure a situated horizon of relevance and possibilities (pragmatic field of attention). Attention thus often befalls organizational members outside the realm of discursive consciousness as a consequence of being engaged in socio-material practices. Second, attention is situated at the crossroads of multiple practices, each with its practice architecture and local pragmatic field of attention. Organizational attention implies tensions, conflict, and contradictions and emerges from the interaction and negotiation of multiple individual and group pragmatic fields of attention. Finally, attention is situated in the temporal dynamics of sustaining and turning attention. This allows us to distinguish between inattention, dysfunctional distraction, and potentially productive attention turning. We argue that by focusing on the ordinary and routinized nature of attention, a theoretical practice view complements and enriches the ABV by offering a less voluntarist and top-down view and proposing a richer view of situatedness. A practice-theoretical approach also distributes attention among a broader set of elements, offering resources to theorize how these elements are connected. The approach also establishes a link between paying attention and caring, thus bringing emotions back into the study of organizational attention. In turn, the ABV helps the practice-theoretical perspective to recognize the central role of attention in organizational matters and the importance of engaging in full with the organizational unit of analysis when dealing with attention-related issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computerised rehabilitation programs can be used to address cognitive deficits typically caused by multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there are still doubts on their effectiveness, due to mixed results obtained in clinical trials. The objective of this paper is to improve cognitive rehabilitation (CR) practices in MS, by presenting and assessing a MS-specific cognitive rehabilitation software. We conducted a detailed analysis of how CR is carried out in practice in MS rehabilitation centres. From the analysis, we elicited a reference CR process, and identified the essential features a software supporting the process should have. We designed and implemented MS-rehab, a novel MS-specific computerised rehabilitation system having the identified features. We experimented MS-rehab in a pilot study involving eight MS patients. To highlight the improvement with respect to the state of the art, we compared MS-rehab with available professional tools selected using well defined criteria. This paper has three main contributions: (1) the identification of a set of essential features a computerised tool for CR in MS should provide; (2) MS-rehab, a novel CR system designed for MS therapists and patients, which embodies innovative MS specific features; (3) the assessment of MS-rehab efficacy in a pilot study with MS patients. The availability of a MS-specific CR system like MS-rehab fosters the design of more rigorous clinical studies on the effectiveness of computerised rehabilitation in MS. MS-rehab demonstrated its potential and innovativeness as a tool for cognitive rehabilitation in MS. Computerized tools for cognitive rehabilitation (CR) in multiple sclerosis (MS) can be improved by a set of MS-specific features. The availability of advanced home-based cognitive rehabilitation mechanisms is fundamental for supporting standardized cognitive rehabilitation protocols in MS. A MS-specific CR system has given promising results in a pilot study involving MS patients. Hardly do state-of-the-art professional tools include all the required MS specific features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, e-learning has changed the way students' study by providing high-quality education that is not restricted by place or time. Mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers are some of the products that make online learning easier. These devices were used for mandatory online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, because the e-learning approach prevents an instructor from actively observing a group of students, they may become distracted for many reasons, significantly reducing their learning potential. This paper proposes an intelligent system called the Intelligent E-Learning Monitoring System (IELMS) that helps faculty members keep track of such students and supports them in improving their performance. Convolutional neural network (CNN) techniques are utilized to detect emotions, and once the optimum algorithm for detecting emotions has been identified, it is fused into the model that detects an online learner's distraction. The fused model produces logs of distraction and emotion. These logs will assist the teaching community in identifying underperforming online learners and facilitating counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facial expressions exhibit inherent similarities, variability, and complexity. In real-world scenarios, challenges such as partial occlusions, illumination changes, and individual differences further complicate the task of facial expression recognition (FER). To further improve the accuracy of FER, a Multi-head Attention Affinity and Diversity Sharing Network (MAADS) is proposed in this paper. MAADS comprises a Feature Discrimination Network (FDN), an Attention Distraction Network (ADN), and a Shared Fusion Network (SFN). To be specific, FDN first integrates attention weights into the objective function to capture the most discriminative features by using the proposed sparse affinity loss. Then, ADN employs multiple parallel attention networks to maximize diversity within spatial attention units and channel attention units, which guides the network to focus on distinct, non-overlapping facial regions. Finally, SFN deconstructs facial features into generic parts and unique parts, which allows the network to learn the distinctions between these features without having to relearn complete features from scratch. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, extensive experiments were conducted on several widely used in-the-wild datasets including RAF-DB, AffectNet-7, AffectNet-8, FERPlus, and SFEW. MAADS achieves the accuracy of 92.93%, 67.14%, 64.55%, 91.58%, and 62.41% on these datasets, respectively. The experimental results indicate that MAADS not only outperforms current state-of-the-art methods in recognition accuracy but also has a relatively low computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study focuses on investigating the acceptance of an adaptive warning-monitoring system by conducting an experiment in a car driving simulator context. • The analysis included questionnaire data from 60 participants, focusing on the system's ease of use and usefulness. • Findings revealed that the system acceptance could be represented by a technology acceptance model, in which external variables included driving license duration, which could significantly impact driver perceptions of the system ease of use. • The study contributes to expanding knowledge on ADAS acceptance but also on potentials driving simulators can have to test new technologies. Private vehicles are nowadays often equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that aim to assist drivers in maintaining safe driving behavior. Understanding users' acceptance and perceptions towards them is therefore crucial, mostly before developing or implementing additional assistance features. Driving simulators provide a unique opportunity to test ADAS in a controlled environment, in particular when safety–critical situations need to be replicated in a way that is not possible on real roads. In this study, an advanced warning–monitoring system, developed in the context of the recent European–wide naturalistic driving study (i–DREAMS 1 For more info on the project, please see: https://idreamsproject.eu/wp/. 1), is implemented in a driving simulator environment, so that is tested before it is then deployed in vehicles on real roads. For this purpose, a driving simulator study was conducted in Germany, in which 60 drivers participated. The study included three drives: the first was a baseline drive in which in–vehicle warnings were not activated, the second included real–time warnings (interventions), and the third had an additional distraction component, introduced by means of a mobile phone texting task (imposed on participants). Drivers were also asked to fill various questionnaires focusing on their perceptions towards general ADAS and driving, but also towards the implemented system (the i–DREAMS system 2 In the remainder of this paper, the tested system would be referred to as the "i–DREAMS system". 2). A statistical analysis of the questionnaire results led to the partial validation of the technology acceptance model (TAM) for the i–DREAMS system, for which perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) of the system, both of which resulted from a factor analysis of the attitudinal questions, were found to be crucial factors for the behavioral intention to use it. In the validated TAM, PU of the i–DREAMS system was found to be positively impacted by external variables, namely PU of similar ADAS systems, whereas PEU was found to be positively influenced by driving experience. While the system was overall positively received, findings and lessons learned from the experiment were transferred to future field experiments conducted within the same project, and suggested more generally that driving simulator studies could be very beneficial for testing newly developed in–vehicle technologies, leading on the long run to safer roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the student experience of online learning, distraction during video lectures, acceptance of ICT policies, serious games and competition preferences, mobile games, soft skills in problem-based learning environments, wearable technologies and ubiquitous communication. It outlines the medical education, software, autism, language and entrepreneurship from primary to higher education, and the papers utilize a range of research methods.

Presenteeism (or lost productivity due to work distraction) represents a major cost to businesses. One set of painful conditions that leads to presenteeism is temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs), and this paper measures the per-person six-month cost of work distraction due to TMD symptoms. This study determined that per person over a six-month period, it costs employers an average of $2,649 for women and $2,342 for men for TMD-related work distraction. Findings reveal the effect of painful symptoms greatly outweighs the effect of nonpainful symptoms in influencing work distraction. This study finds that the intervention of an effective novel method of treating TMD has important implications for businesses and employers through cost savings due to a reduction in painful TMD symptoms, with per-person savings of $1,775 for women and $1,748 for men. This paper contributes to the literature on pain and work by quantifying productivity costs for those with painful TMD symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driver distraction is one of the significant causes of traffic accidents. To improve the accuracy of accident occurrence prediction under driver distraction and to provide graded warnings, it is necessary to classify the level of driver distraction. Based on naturalistic driving study data, distraction risk levels are classified using the driver's gaze and secondary driving tasks in this paper. The classification results are then combined with road environment factors for accident occurrence prediction. Two ways are suggested to classify driver distraction risk levels in this study: one is to divide it into three levels based on the driver's gaze and the AttenD algorithm, and the other is to divide it into six levels based on secondary driving tasks and odds ratio. Random Forest, AdaBoost, and XGBoost are used to predict accident occurrence by combining the classification results, driver characteristics, and road environment factors. The results show that the classification of distraction risk levels helps improve the model prediction accuracy. The classification based on the driver's gaze is better than that based on secondary driving tasks. The classification method can be applied to accident risk prediction and further driving risk warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Busy life as well as the prevalence of infotainment is increasingly making people more occupied even during tasks that require serious attention. One such task is driving and at the same time getting involved in activities that may distract drivers cognitively from watching the road and cause fatal accidents. This paper presents a method that is capable of monitoring different types of distractions, such as talking and texting on cell phone, casual eating, and operating cabin equipment while driving, so that a driver can be assisted to remain cautious on the road. The proposed method automatically detects and tracks fiducial body parts of a driver from video captured by a camera mounted on the front windshield inside a vehicle. Relative distances between the tracking trajectories are used as features that represent actions of the driver. Then, the well-known kernel support vector machine is applied for recognizing a particular distraction from the features extracted from body parts. The proposed feature is also compared with previously employed features for tracking-based human action recognition schemes to substantiate its better result in terms of mean accuracy and robustness for distraction recognition. The effectiveness of the proposed method of distraction recognition is also analyzed with respect to tracking errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distracted behavior detection is an important task in computer-assisted driving. Although deep learning has made significant progress in this area, it is still difficult to meet the requirements of the real-time analysis and processing of massive data by relying solely on local computing power. To overcome these problems, this paper proposes a driving distraction detection method based on cloud–fog computing architecture, which introduces scalable modules and a model-driven optimization based on greedy pruning. Specifically, the proposed method makes full use of cloud–fog computing to process complex driving scene data, solves the problem of local computing resource limitations, and achieves the goal of detecting distracted driving behavior in real time. In terms of feature extraction, scalable modules are used to adapt to different levels of feature extraction to effectively capture the diversity of driving behaviors. Additionally, in order to improve the performance of the model, a model-driven optimization method based on greedy pruning is introduced to optimize the model structure to obtain a lighter and more efficient model. Through verification experiments on multiple driving scene datasets such as LDDB and Statefarm, the effectiveness of the proposed driving distraction detection method is proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' 2021 decision to approve the use of a smartphone missal app, this article considers the effects of this new medium on Catholic worship. Relative to its long-standing predecessor – the paper-based missal – the new medium deserves analysis. As a faithful Catholic and media scholar, Marshall McLuhan is a fitting guide. McLuhan's transformation theory reveals the fullness of communication by attending to the medium of communication and its transformation of persons and culture. McLuhan's ideas on perception and media affirm current brain research on the effect of the smartphone – distraction. In contrast, research shows that a print-based medium fosters the opposite cognitive state – attentiveness. In the final analysis, this article reveals the essence of a distractive versus attentive medium in the context of Catholic worship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drowsy driving is a major cause of road accidents worldwide, necessitating the development of effective drowsiness detection systems. Each year, there are more accidents and fatalities than ever before for a variety of causes. For instance, there were 22,952 fatalities and 79,545 injuries as a result of nearly 66,500 vehicle accidents in the last 10 years. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for detecting drowsiness based on behavioral cues captured by a digital camera and utilizing the multi-task cascaded convolutional neural network (MTCNN) deep learning algorithm. A high-resolution camera records visual indications like closed or open eye movement to base the technique on the driver's behavior. In order to measure a car user's weariness in the present frame of reference, eyes landmarks are evaluated, which results in the identification of a fresh constraint known as "eyes aspect ratio." A picture with a frame rate of 60 frames per second (f/s) and a resolution of 4,320 eyeballs was used. The accuracy of sleepiness detection was more than 99.9% in excellent lighting and higher than 99.8% in poor lighting, according to testing data. The current study did better in terms of sleepiness detection accuracy than a lot of earlier investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attention mechanism empowers deep learning to a broader range of applications, but the contribution of the attention module is highly controversial. Research on modern Hopfield networks indicates that the attention mechanism can also be used in shallow networks. Its automatic sample filtering facilitates instance extraction in Multiple Instances Learning tasks. Since the attention mechanism has a clear contribution and intuitive performance in shallow networks, this paper further investigates its optimization method based on the recurrent neural network. Through comprehensive comparison, we find that the Synergetic Neural Network has the advantage of more accurate and controllable convergences and revertible converging steps. Therefore, we design the Syn layer based on the Synergetic Neural Network and propose the novel invertible activation function as the forward and backward update formula for attention weights concentration or distraction. Experimental results show that our method outperforms other methods in all Multiple Instances Learning benchmark datasets. Concentration improves the robustness of the results, while distraction expands the instance observing space and yields better results. Codes available at https://github.com/wzh134/Syn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Being familiar with a road scene is the default mode of how we behave in traffic. • Four consecutive empirical studies revealed a pattern of increased automaticity. • Familiarity led to disengagement, monitoring rather than attending the road. • When studying what is seen this common cognitive mode impacts research methodology. • It is proposed to regard route familiarity as a context that enables distraction. Most trips are made, and most travel is done on roads and paths well-known. To provide insight in the cognitive processes involved in visual information processing of familiar traffic environments this paper considers a series of four consecutive empirical studies. The aim of this paper is 1) to discuss the implications of these insights on research methodologies used to measure driver attention and distraction and 2) to provide recommendations for policymaking, road design and vehicle design. This line of work consists of three studies on car driver behaviour (two driving simulator studies and a video-based study) and an observational study on pedestrian behaviour. The recurring theme in the results of these studies is that the progressive exposure to the same traffic environment enables participants to automatise their behavioural performance in traffic up to the point that it could be executed at skill-based level. As a result, attention is easily diverted away from traffic participation, while participating in traffic. Participants could act without thinking about it, so they didn't always even remember what they had done. People get used to familiar traffic environments so much that they don't have to think about walking or driving with much conscious focus. Hence, when studying road user behaviour and particularly driver distraction, it is crucial to mimic these natural circumstances as closely as possible. It is therefore proposed that within driver distraction research, route familiarity should be regarded as a context that enables distraction. What is more, is that the results point in the direction of a familiarity paradox : deviating from what is very familiar likely results in involuntary distraction, but being very familiar may lead to underload resulting in (voluntarily) diverting attention elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note revisits a 2009 essay by William Gibson on a proposal to appoint an Anglican bishop for Virginia in 1672. The essay indicated how advanced the planning for the project was and gave information from an archival source of a meeting of five bishops to plan the funding and powers of the bishop. What was not clear was why the project failed. This note, using manuscripts from the Huntington Library, uses letters written in the mid-eighteenth century to explain the reasons for the failure of the project. Principal among these was the distraction of one of the major proposers of the plan, Alexander Murray, by Irish entanglements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies reveal two different opinions about the relationship between distractibility and media multitasking, which is the simultaneous use of different media at the same time. Some studies suggest that media multitasking is associated with increased distraction, while in contrast, other studies found there is no significant correlation. The aim of this paper is to examine whether there is correlation between distractibility and different website layouts of a virtual classroom for online education, a form of media multitasking. This is achieved through the use of eye tracking technology to record scanpaths and analyze eye tracking metrics through a spatial scale with the principle of visual saliency, Graph-Based Visual Salience (GBVS), between different areas of interest (AOI). This paper found that visual distraction is significantly correlated between online learning performance and six typical website layouts of virtual classrooms. These layouts were classified through 30 existing online learning platforms, according to the different locations of the chat room, instructor, main display area, navigation tabs, as well as participant list in the interface. The results show that the value of visual distraction is negatively correlated with academic performance (r = −0.666, P <.001). The research from the perspective of visual saliency can provide valuable support for physiological indicator testing tools of visual distraction, and highlights the application of eye tracking metrics in behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem identification: In the operating room (OR), distractions and interruptions are frequent, impacting patient safety, coordination and efficiency and causing errors and patient harm. The OR team is impacted while attempting to perform critical work. This review explores the impact of distractions and interruptions in the OR on patient safety and the OR team. Literature search: Inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined. Six databases were searched with the search criteria for inclusion being in English, peer-reviewed and published between 2014 and 2019. In total 296 papers were identified. Data evaluation synthesis: Duplicates were removed, and 195 papers were screened using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Fourteen studies were included in the review: 12 were quantitative reviews and two were mixedmethod reviews. Methodological quality was assessed using the mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT), with scores between 60 and 90 per cent. A thematic analysis revealed observational study themes of types, frequency and severity of distractions and interruptions, and impacts upon mental workload, patient safety and the OR team. Simulation study themes included types of distractions and interruptions, and impact on mental workload, clinical decision-making, surgical performance and nurses. Implications for practice or research: The heterogeneity of the literature and paucity of recent nursing and anaesthetic studies highlights that further research is necessary. Nurses can educate and develop policies and interventions to reduce distractions, enhancing patient safety and decreasing the negative impact upon their colleagues and teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper explores how the implementation of performance budgeting unfolds public managers' attention and responses to competing accountability demands over time. Design/methodology/approach: This is a longitudinal study of one Russian municipality's implementation of PB under central government pressures during 2013–2017. Using triangulation of 25 interviews, documentary analysis and field observations, we employed institutional logics to guide the study. Findings: The paper demonstrates the dynamic properties of PB construction under competing accountability demands via the "creative distraction" metaphor. PB was a "distraction" mechanism, which, on one hand, strengthened external accountability, while, on the other, distracting the municipality from internal municipal demands. Nevertheless, this "distraction" was also "creative," as it produced proactive responses to competing accountability demands and creative effects over time. Specifically, PB also led to elements of creative PB negotiations between departments when managers started cooperating with redirecting the irrelevant constraints of performance information in budgeting into necessary manipulations for municipal survival. The demonstrated "creative distraction" is explained by the changing institutional logics of public managers supplemented by a set of individual factors. Originality/value: The paper responds to the recent calls to study PB practice under several accountability demands over time. In this regard, we show the value of public managers' existing institutional logics as they shape PB's capacity to balance competing accountability demands. As we revealed, this capacity can be limited, due to possible misalignment between managers' attention toward "what to give an account for" during budget formation (input orientation driven by OPA logic) and "what is demanded" with the introduction of PB (output orientation driven by NPM logic). Yet, the elements of proactive managerial responses are still evident over time, explained by a set of individual factors within the presented case, namely: learning NPM logic, strengthened informal relationships and a common saturation point reflected by managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected vehicle technology relying on Human Machine Interface (HMI) achieve a dominant position in the overall safety improvement. However, the impact of HMI on the driver's visual attention cannot be ignored, especially on the accident-prone foggy freeway. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the level of distraction caused by HMI in data analysis of drivers' visual characteristics and to establish a generic evaluation methodology. A connected vehicle test platform has been established based on the driving simulator, in which visibility was set to the level of heavy fog and the technical condition was set in two conditions (with or without HMI). Measurement of driving behavior parameters include frequency of fixations and saccades and the proportion of fixation. The researchers compared and analyzed the driver's visual characteristics and the degree of distraction in a combination of indices based on the AttenD algorithm, setting two technical conditions in a heavy fog. Drivers suffering more visual distraction and interference with HMI may have an impact on the driver's driving safety. The results provide a generic approach to evaluate the HMI of a connected vehicle system and a safety assessment methodology for the connected vehicle system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the rapid advancement of digital technology, student teachers must be proficient in evaluating digital information, resilient to digital distractions, and able to discern the usefulness of Information and Communication Technology. Objectives: This study investigates the relationships between these concepts at two points in time. Methods: The sample includes 153 student teachers from a Norwegian university. Results and conclusion: Factor analysis supports a model with three unique concepts at both T1 and T2, maintaining an identical factor structure. However, five out of nine items display low levels of test–retest reliability, coupled with inadequate measurement invariance across time for the concepts. A consistent factor structure is necessary before checking for variations in items and concepts. Therefore, longitudinal studies are required for both methodological and substantive purposes. Resilience to digital distractions (T1) exhibits a positive relationship with the evaluation of digital information (T2). Further studies exploring this relationship over time appear crucial. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: It is important that student teachers can evaluate digital information both during their teacher studies and as future teachers.Student teachers need to solve situations with potential digital distractions.Student teachers need to know about the usefulness of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to be professional teachers for the 21st century.The emergence of digital technology has the potential to differentiate and motivate learners in schools. What this paper adds: The factor structure appears to be equal when measuring the concepts at two points of time.The factor loadings and item variation appear to be inequal across time.Student teachers reported being concerned about evaluating digital information they encounter throughout their studies.Yet, student teachers reported being able to deal with potential digital distractions.More longitudinal studies are required both for methodological and substantial purposes. Implications for practice and/or policy: It is important to maintain the emphasis on source criticism in teacher education programmes.It is crucial that teacher education programmes provide examples of how ICT can contribute to improve teaching.It is essential to adopt evidence‐based strategies to develop resilience to digital distractions.Resilience to digital distractions (T1) has a positive relationship with evaluation of digital information (T2).More research is needed on how to support resilience to digital distractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAuthentic assessment is often positioned as an educational panacea, invoked in response to a broad range of complex problems. This paper considers authentic assessment in relation to three key challenges: preparing graduates for the future, cheating, and inclusion. Despite literature supporting its potential benefits, there is limited evidence on the relationship between authentic assessment and these challenges. Through an uncritical blending of authenticity with broader educational goals, the label ‘authentic assessment’ risks becoming a distraction or a thought-terminating cliché, impeding deeper conversation and interrogation. We argue that authenticity should be considered as a set of aspirational principles within a broader pedagogical framework. Authenticity in assessment requires thoughtful and contextualised design, and the negotiation of trade-offs with other educational goals. The concept of authenticity, if used judiciously, can foster critical conversations and meaningful interrogation of educational practices, rather than serving as an oversimplified solution to complex problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we introduce the concept of attentional scaffolds and show the resemblance between social media platforms and slot machines, both functioning as hostile attentional scaffolds. The first section establishes the groundwork for the concept of attentional scaffolds and draws parallels to the mechanics of slot machines, to argue that social media platforms aim to capture users' attention to maximize engagement through a system of intermittent rewards. The second section shifts focus to the interplay between emotions and attention, revealing how online attentional capture through emotionally triggering stimuli leads to distraction. The final section elucidates the collective implications of scaffolding attention through social media platforms. The examination of phenomena such as emotional contagion and the emergence of group emotions underscores the transition from individual experiences to shared collective outcomes. Employing online moral outrage as a case study, we illustrate how negative emotions serve as scaffolds for individuals' attention, propagate within social groups, and give rise to collective attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]