An evaluation scheme for assessing the effectiveness of intersection movement assist (IMA) on improving traffic safety

Objective: Intersection movement assist (IMA) has been recognized as one of the prominent countermeasures to reduce angle crashes at intersections, which constitute 22% of total crashes in the United States. Utilizing vehicle-based sensors, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, IMA offers extended vision to provide early warning for an imminent crash. However, most of IMA-related research implements their methods and strategies only in simulations, test tracks, or driving simulator studies that have quite a few assumptions and limitations and hence the effectiveness evaluations reported may not be transferable or comparable.

Methods: This study seeks to develop a generalized evaluation scheme that can be used not only to assess the effectiveness of IMA on improving traffic safety at intersections but to facilitate comparisons across similar studies. The proposed evaluation scheme utilizes the concepts of traffic conflict in terms of time-to-collision (TTC) as a crash surrogate. This approach avoids the issue of having insufficient crash frequency data for system evaluation. To measure the effectiveness of IMA on reducing traffic conflicts, a relative risk is calculated for comparing the risk of with/without using the IMA. As a proof-of-concept study, this study applied the proposed evaluation scheme and reported the effectiveness of IMA on improving traffic safety in a field operation test (FOT). Seven test scenarios were conducted at 4 intersections, and a total of 40 participants were recruited to use the IMA for 6 months.

Results: It was estimated that IMA users have 26% fewer conflicts with TTC less than 5 s and have 15% fewer conflicts with TTC less than 4 s. However, the results vary across different sites and different definitions of conflicts in terms of TTC.

Conclusions: Overall, IMA is promising to effectively reduce angle crashes related to sight obstruction and has potential to reduce not only crash frequency but crash severity.     

天津市地表水体与沉积物中7种高关注酚类化合物的污染特征与生态风险分析

为探究地表水体与沉积物中酚类化合物的污染分布特征和生态风险,选择天津市3个水源地与6条主要河流,采集了26个地表水样与6个沉积物样品,利用固相萃取与超声萃取、高效液相色谱-串联质谱法(HPLC-MS/MS)测定了水样及沉积物中1-萘酚(1-naphthol)、壬基酚(nonylphenol, NP)、双酚A(bisphenol A, BPA)、2-苯基苯酚(biphenyl-2-ol)、3,4-二氯酚(3,4-dichlorophenol)、四溴双酚A(tetrabromobisphenol A, TBBPA)和对叔丁基苯酚(p-tert-butylphenol, PTBP)等7种高关注酚类化合物的浓度水平,并应用物种敏感性分布(species sensitivity distribution, SSD)法和熵值法(ecological risk quotient, RQ)评估7种酚类化合物水环境和沉积物的生态风险。结果表明,地表水样中7种酚类化合物均全部检出;其中壬基酚的检出浓度最高,其次为四溴双酚A、对叔丁基苯酚、1-萘酚、2-苯基苯酚、3,4-二氯酚和双酚A。沉积物中酚类化合物的污染分布规律与水样相似,除双酚A外的目标物全部检出。其中,壬基酚浓度比其他物质浓度高2个数量级。风险评估结果显示,壬基酚对水环境与沉积物存在不可接受的风险;而四溴双酚A、对叔丁基苯酚、1-萘酚、2-苯基苯酚、3,4-二氯酚和双酚A则对环境具有较低风险或者存在一定的风险。     

考虑保护层响应的炼化过程系统风险动态转移模型

为适时、有效地控制炼化过程系统风险,以模糊Petri网(FPN)为基础,针对炼化系统动态退化性和系统中保护层对风险转移的干预性,建立考虑保护层响应的炼化过程系统风险动态转移模型。描述基于FPN的保护层作用动态机制,分析炼化系统在保护层干预下,从非正常干扰触发开始至炼化系统退化过程的风险变化趋势。最后通过正己烷缓冲罐案例分析验证模型。结果表明:正己烷缓冲罐在开始运行的30 000 h内,系统风险等级呈阶段性变化,在工作的前16 800 h,风险为Ⅰ级;第16 800~27 600 h,风险为Ⅱ级;第27 600~30 000 h,风险为Ⅲ级。     

Development and evaluation of RAMP I – a practitioner’s tool for screening of musculoskeletal disorder risk factors in manual handling

RAMP I is a screening tool developed to support practitioners in screening for work-related musculoskeletal disorder risk factors related to manual handling. RAMP I, which is part of the RAMP tool, is based on research-based studies combined with expert group judgments. More than 80 practitioners participated in the development of RAMP I. The tool consists of dichotomous assessment items grouped into seven categories. Acceptable reliability was found for a majority of the assessment items for 15 practitioners who were given 1?h of training. The usability evaluation points to RAMP I being usable for screening for musculoskeletal disorder risk factors, i.e., usable for assessing risks, being usable as a decision base, having clear results and that the time needed for an assessment is acceptable. It is concluded that RAMP I is a usable tool for practitioners.     

Determination of the residue dynamics and dietary risk of thiamethoxam and its metabolite clothianidin in citrus and soil by LC-MS/MS

A modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) method was developed for the determination of thiamethoxam and its metabolite clothianidin in citrus (including the whole citrus, peel and pulp) and soil samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The sample was extracted with acetonitrile and purified with octadecylsilane. The detection limits of both compounds were 0.0001–0.0002?mg kg^–1, while the limit of quantification of thiamethoxam was 0.002?mg kg^–1 and the limit of quantitation of metabolites was 0.001?mg kg^–1. The recovery was 70.37%–109.76%, with inter-day relative standard deviations (RSD) (n?=?15) values ≤9.46% for the two compounds in the four matrices. The degradation curve of thiamethoxam in whole citrus and soil was plotted using the first-order kinetic model. The half-life of the whole citrus was 1.9–6.2?days, and the half-life of the soil was 3.9–4.2?days. The terminal residue of thiamethoxam (the sum of thiamethoxam and clothianidin, expressed as thiamethoxam) was found to be concentrated on the peel. The final residual amount of thiamethoxam in the edible portion (pulp) was less than 0.061?mg kg^–1. The risk quotient values were all below 1, indicating that thiamethoxam as a citrus insecticide does not pose a health risk to humans at the recommended dosage.     

土壤污染风险规制中的行政裁量研究

我国土壤污染风险规制在专家遴选标准、建设用地和农用地污染风险管控要求，以及风险管控措施等方面存在不同程度的行政裁量。社会理性和科学理性的缺失形成了土壤污染风险行政裁量困局。土壤污染信息制度中“适时公开”的规定使得公众缺乏必要污染信息，弱化其参与程度，导致对行政决定合法性的质疑。此外，土壤污染风险管控标准中专家遴选标准和论证规则的欠缺导致土壤污染风险规制科学理性的缺失。为此，需要建构关照事实和规范的协商式行政裁量模式，强调公众的实质性参与以弥合技术理性和公众理性的鸿沟。同时，在程序上确定专家遴选标准和风险管控标准的论证规则以保证土壤污染风险管控的科学性和客观性。在不妨碍行政裁量权灵活性和能动性的前提下，规范行政裁量权的行使，控制行政裁量权的滥用。     

畜禽环境中抗生素的去除及其风险评估

抗生素作为饲料添加剂广泛应用于畜禽养殖业,造成养殖环境抗生素大量蓄积,尤其是在畜禽粪便中,长期的积累不仅污染养殖场内土壤环境,残留的抗生素还会随畜禽粪便进入周边水体及农田环境,威胁农作物及人体健康。目前,国内相关研究主要集中在抗生素的降解工艺及降解规律方面,而对其去除效率的影响因素及风险评价研究相对较少。笔者综述了国内外抗生素的降解转化及去除方式等的研究进展,并概述了抗生素在畜禽环境中的生态风险评估的研究现状,为抗生素的高效去除、风险预估及畜禽粪便资源化安全利用提供理论基础和技术支撑。     

铁路沿线可燃重气储罐最小隔离区域划分探讨*

为保护铁路线，以某化工厂距离高铁路线最近的丙烯球罐为例，提出丙烯球罐泄漏最小隔离区域划分方法以及2种保护高铁线路方案，利用重气扩散模型和定量风险评价（QRA）软件分别进行丙烯扩散模拟、爆炸模拟，并进行危险与可操作性分析（HAZOP）和保护层分析（LOPA）。结果表明:球罐发生泄漏及火灾爆炸等事故，会给附近铁路线带来严重破坏；丙烯泄漏或球罐因周围其他设备设施或可燃物质着火而温度升高时，保护措施不足；隧道的安全可靠性要高于仅设1道防爆墙，隧道长度需覆盖最小隔离区域的可及范围，在扩散区域内也需设立普通挡墙，在极度危险情况下，需要实施高铁停开等保护措施。     

交联剂TAIC反应风险评估分析

利用全自动反应量热仪和绝热加速量热仪等相关实验仪器检测出TAIC(三烯丙基异氰尿酸酯)合成反应的反应热、比热容及热稳定性等数据,依据绝热温升、工艺温度、技术最高温度、最大反应速率到达时间及失控体系可能达到的最高温度这5个温度参数按照评估标准从分解热、严重度、可能性、矩阵、工艺危险度这5个方面分别进行评估。通过对热参数及实验过程进行分析提出降低工艺危险等级的工艺优化方法。根据最终评估结果对TAIC生产装置的安全性进行评价,提出相应的整改措施及建议。     

脆弱性基本原理与控制方法

本文从社会进步导致自反性危机出发,通过对风险承载体脆弱性构成要素暴露度、敏感度、适应度的分析,提出了三特征要素递次演化的模型;并根据脆弱性的递次演化的特点,提出了对脆弱性的辨识和递次管控的基本思路;最后,依据对地铁运行安全管理脆弱性的研究,进行脆弱性管理的实证分析。