Differences in urban and rural accident characteristics and medical service utilization for traffic fatalities in less-motorized societies

Introduction

Fatalities from traffic accidents in less-motorized societies are an important global issue. We aimed to characterize the geographic differences of fatalities in such societies to facilitate the development of targeted interventions.

Method

This study linked police reports, hospital data, and vital registration data from Taiwan with special reference to accident factors in pre-hospital deaths and medical care in hospital deaths.

Results

A higher percentage of pre-hospital deaths were observed following rural as compared to urban traffic accidents. The deaths due to rural accidents can be attributed to lower use of restraints (i.e., helmets or seat belts), lower percentage of motorcyclists, and more highway accidents. A higher percentage of victims in rural accidents were transported to distant medical centers rather than to local hospitals.

Conclusion

Specific interventions, such as intelligent emergency medical systems, campaigns for helmets and seat belt usage, enforcement of helmets and seat belt use, and speed control measures should be targeted to rural areas.

Impact on industry

Cooperation between the vehicle industry and emergency medical providers in rural traffic accident rescue teams may decrease the numbers of deaths in these regions.     

Testing safety commitment in organizations through interpretations of safety artifacts

Problem

Safety culture relates to injuries and safety incidents in organizations, but is difficult to asses and measure. We describe a preliminary test of assessing an organization's safety culture by examining employee interpretations of organizational safety artifacts (safety signs).

Method

We collected data in three organizations using a new safety culture assessment tool that we label the Safety Artifact Interpretation (SAI) scale; we then crossed these data with safety climate and leadership evaluations.

Results

SAI were interpreted by employees in accordance with two conceptually distinct themes that are salient in the literature on organizational safety culture: safety compliance and commitment to safety. A significant correlation exists between SAI scores and the organizational safety climate. A similar (though insignificant) relationship was observed between SAI scores and leadership ratings.

Impact on industry

Employee perceptions and interpretations of safety artifacts can facilitate assessments of safety culture and can ultimately lead to understanding of and improvements in the level of organizational safety.     

Optimization of an artificial neural network for identifying fishing set positions from VMS data: An example from the Peruvian anchovy purse seine fishery

The spatial behavior of numerous fishing fleets is nowadays well documented thanks to satellite Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS). Vessel positions are recorded on a frequent and regular basis which opens promising perspectives for improving fishing effort estimation and management. However, no specific information is provided on whether the vessel is fishing or not. To answer that question, existing works on VMS data usually apply simple criteria (e.g. threshold on speed). Those simple criteria generally focus in detecting true positives (a true fishing set detected as a fishing set); conversely, estimation errors are given no attention. For our case study, the Peruvian anchovy fishery, those criteria overestimate the total number of fishing sets by 182%. To overcome this problem an artificial neural network (ANN) approach is presented here. In order to set both the optimal parameterization and use “rules” for this ANN, we perform an extensive sensitivity analysis on the optimization of (1) the internal structure and training algorithm of the ANN and (2) the “rules” used for choosing both the relative size and the composition of the databases (DBs) used for training and inferring with the ANN. The “optimized” ANN greatly improves the estimates of the number and location of fishing events. For our case study, ANN reduces the total estimation error on the number of fishing sets to 1% (in average) and obtains 76% of true positives. This spatially explicit information on effort, provided with error estimation, should greatly reduce misleading interpretations of catch per unit effort and thus significantly improve the adaptive management of fisheries. While fitted on Peruvian anchovy fishery data, this type of neural network approach has wider potential and could be implemented in any fishery relying on both VMS and at-sea observer data. In order to increase the accuracy of the ANN results, we also suggest some criteria for improving sampling design by at-sea observers and VMS data.     

Estimation of annual potential evapotranspiration at regional scale based on the effect of moisture on soil respiration

Potential evapotranspiration (PET) is an important component of water cycle. For traditional models derived from the principle of aerodynamics and the surface energy balance, its calculation always includes many parameters, such as net radiation, water vapor pressure, air temperature and wind speed. We found that it can be acquired in an easier way in specific regions. In this study, a new PET model (PETP model) derived from two empirical models of soil respiration was evaluated using the Penman-Monteith equation as a standard method. The results indicate that the PETP model estimation concur with the Penman-Monteith equation in sites where annual precipitation ranges from 717.71 mm to 1727.37 mm (R² = 0.68, p = 0.0002), but show large discrepancies in all sites (R² = 0.07, p = 0.1280). Then we applied our PETP model at the global scale to the regions with precipitation higher than 700 mm using 2.5° CMAP data to obtain the annual PET for 2006. As expected, the spatial pattern is satisfactory overall, with the highest PET values distributed in the lower latitudes or coastal regions, and with an average of 1292.60 ± 540.15 mm year⁻¹. This PETP model provides a convenient approach to estimate PET at regional scales.     

Engineered nanoparticles: safer substitutes for toxic materials, or a new hazard?

Nanotechnology has the potential for the development of new materials and processes that can substitute for toxic materials now used in industry. Excitement over this possibility is tempered, however, by the potential adverse environmental health and safety aspects of the new nanomaterials. Although a few examples from the literature are encouraging, e.g., wire and cable insulation, great care must be taken to perform complete alternatives assessment evaluations of any new nanotechnology-enabled product before its adoption.     

Linking corporate climate adaptation strategies with resilience thinking

Within modern society, business organizations have a co-evolutionary relationship with society and ecosystems. Business organizations face highly diverse risks which they have to recognize, reflect on and handle. Climate change and its impacts clarify the need for managing overall system risk. Research has shown that climate vulnerability of business organizations in the German food industry is characterized by impacts that, in particular, affect business organizations indirectly. Indirect climate change caused impacts are complex, uncertain and characterized by a high degree of unpredictability. They focus on the derived social, ecological, economic and cultural consequences of the direct physical impacts from a worldwide perspective. This paper shows that introducing resilience thinking helps to identify strategic risks and opportunities coping with climate change caused impacts in sense of corporate climate adaptation strategies. Furthermore, it is shown from a strategic management perspective that mitigation is a profound element of long term adaptation strategies.     

Forest biorefineries - A business opportunity for the Finnish forest cluster

Bioenergy and biomass-based products offer the greatest new opportunities for diversifying business in the forest cluster. In particular, biorefineries, which can be integrated into the pulp and paper industry, seem to have immense future potential. This article aims to explore the biorefinery concept and related new products and business operations, as well as new business strategies and company models, which are part of the biorefinery value chain. These factors, which contribute to the establishment and success of forest biorefineries, were examined using internet survey responses and compared between Scandinavia, North America and South America. This article looks at the results of the survey - primarily from the Finnish perspective - to help identify competitive advantages upon which successful business operations in the Finnish forest cluster can be built.According to the survey, the outlooks for technical and raw material choices, as well as barriers to biorefinery diffusion, are very similar in all the studied areas. Biorefineries and related energy products are considered the way to sustainably guarantee the forest cluster’s success. An increase in the price of oil motivates the development of forest biorefineries and wood-based biofuels; however, it is obvious that there is a need to revaluate from a fresh perspective the utilisation of wood and the wood-refining chain in the forest cluster.The survey respondents consider wood-based biofuel and chemical production a serious business opportunity for the forest cluster. In Finland, there is a strong confidence in the production of biofuels. However, all the countries included in the study trust in their own national strengths and in their chance to be a leading actor in the forest biorefinery business worldwide. The forest biorefinery business seems to have market potential, and global competition can thus be expected.     

Does the energy labelling system for domestic tumble dryers serve its purpose?

Tumble dryers sold on the market today are labelled according to their energy efficiency. This labelling system has primarily two purposes: to guide buyers to a product with low energy use, lower cost and lower environmental impact and to encourage producers to develop even more energy-efficient products. Tumble dryers are optimized for their maximum capacity, which is used as the standard load for determining the energy label. Three different tumble dryers have been tested with different drying loads. Results indicate that all the tested tumble dryers have significantly lower energy efficiency when drying small loads. In order to encourage the development of tumble dryers with high energy efficiency at drying loads used in ordinary households, the standards for the energy labelling system should be revised.     

Industrial symbiosis and the policy instruments of sustainable consumption and production

Industrial symbioses (ISs) and eco-industrial parks (EIPs) are key concepts of industrial ecology (IE). The aim of ISs and EIPs is to minimise inefficient material and energy use by utilising local by-product and energy flows. Industrial symbioses tend to develop through spontaneous action of economic actors, for gaining of economic benefit, but these systems can be designed and promoted via policy instruments as well. A literature review showed that national programmes for eco-industrial parks can be found in different parts of the world. In the action programmes and other sustainable consumption and production (SCP) policy documents of the EU, on the other hand, industrial symbioses gain less recognition as a path to enhanced sustainable production. In this article, we consider this and also analyse how the evolution and environmental performance of an industrial symbiosis system centred on a Finnish pulp and paper mill have been affected by SCP policy instruments. With regard to the system forming the subject of the case study, and Finnish industrial systems in general, policy instruments have succeeded in reducing emissions but not in systematically encouraging operators toward symbiosis-like activities. All in all, few studies exist on the overall impact of policy instruments promoting design of eco-industrial parks. It is not self-evident that symbiosis-like production systems would be sustainable in every case, as the background assumptions for political promotion of EIPs suggest. We concluded that industrial symbioses should be analysed and developed on a life cycle basis, with documentation of the real environmental benefits due to efficient resource use and decreased emissions in comparison to standalone production. ISs can then bring eco-competitiveness to companies in relation to SCP tools, such as environmental permits, ecolabels, and future product regulation based on the Ecodesign Directive in Europe. Indirect encouragement of symbiosis through land-use regulation and planning, in such a way that material fluxes between companies are possible both in operations and in financial terms, may prove effective. The same holds for waste policies that encourage increased reuse of a company’s waste by other enterprises.