Ankle fracture patterns in drivers are associated with femoral fracture,higher BMI,and advanced age

Objective: Despite advances in vehicle safety systems, motor vehicle crashes continue to cause ankle fractures. This study attempts to provide insight into the mechanisms of injury and to identify the at-risk population groups.

Methods: A study was made of ankle fractures patients treated at an urban level 1 trauma center following motor vehicle crashes, with a concurrent analysis of a nationally representative crash data set. The national data set focused on ankle fractures in drivers involved in frontal crashes. Statistical analysis was applied to the national data set to identify factors associated with fracture risk.

Results: Malleolar fractures occurred most frequently in the driver's right foot due to pedal interaction. The majority of complex/open fractures occurred in the left foot due to interaction with the vehicle floor. These fractures occurred in association with a femoral fracture, but their broad injury pattern suggests a range of fracture causation mechanisms. The statistical analysis indicated that the risk of fracture increased with increasing driver body mass index (BMI) and age.

Conclusions: Efforts to reduce the risk of driver ankle injury should focus on right foot and pedal interaction. The range of injury patterns identified here suggest that efforts to minimize driver ankle fracture risk will likely need to consider injury tolerances for flexion, pronation/supination, and axial loading in order to capture the full range of injury mechanisms. In the clinical environment, physicians examining drivers after a frontal crash should consider those who are older or obese or who have severe femoral injury without concurrent head injury as highly suspicious for an ankle injury.     

An explanation of the behavioral origin of moderation in the use of natural resources: a meta-synthesis study

Environment Systems and Decisions - Natural resources are a type of good whose individual utility maximization is not desirable, as it could lead to their depletion. This problem, raised several...     

Hot Steam Transfer Through Heat Protective Clothing Layers

The aim of this study was to analyse the transfer of steam through different types of textile layers as a function of sample parameters such as thickness and permeability. In order to simulate the human body, a cylinder releasing defined amounts of moisture was also used. The influence of sweating on heat and mass transfer was assessed.

The results show that in general impermeable materials offer better protection against hot steam than semi-permeable ones. The transfer of steam depended on the water vapour permeability of the samples, but also on their thermal insulation and their thickness. Increasing the thickness of the samples with a spacer gave a larger increase in protection with the impermeable samples compared to semi-permeable materials. Measurements with pre-wetted samples showed a reduction in steam protection in any case. On the other hand, the measurements with a sweating cylinder showed a beneficial effect of sweating.     

Performance of Firefighters’ Protective Clothing After Heat Exposure

Heat and mechanical protection properties of 6 fabric combinations commonly used in firefighters’ protective clothing were assessed before and after different heat treatment. It was shown that after heat exposure, the values obtained were generally lower than in the original state. The mechanical properties of the materials were more affected by heat than by heat protective properties. In 2 cases, degradation started before a visible change in the material could be observed, which might be potentially dangerous for the end user who will not realize the alteration of the material.