Objective: Our study measured the change in head injuries and deaths among motorcycle users in Cu Chi district, a suburban district of Ho Chi Minh City.
Methods: Hospital records for road traffic injuries (RTIs) were collected from the Cu Chi Trauma Centre and motorcycle-related death records were obtained from mortality registries in commune health offices. Head injury severity was categorized using the Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS). Rate ratios (RRs) were used to compare rates pre- and post-law (2005/2006–2009/2010). Cu Chi's population, stratified by year, age, and sex, was used as the denominator.
Results: Of records identifying the transportation mode at the time of injury, motorcyclists accounted for most injuries (3,035, 87%) and deaths (238, 90%). Head injuries accounted for 70% of motorcycle-related hospitalizations. Helmet use was not recorded in any death records and not in 97% of medical records. Males accounted for most injuries (73%) and deaths (88%). The median age was 28 years and 32 years for injuries and deaths, respectively. Compared to the pre-law period, rates of motorcycle injuries (RR = 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49–0.58), head injuries (RR = 0.35; 95% CI, 0.31–0.39), severe head injuries (RR = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.34–0.63), and deaths (RR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.53–0.89) significantly decreased in the post-law period.
Conclusions: Rates of head injuries and deaths among motorcycle riders decreased significantly after implementation of the mandatory helmet law in Vietnam. To further examine the impact of the motorcycle helmet law, including compliance and helmet quality, further emphasis should be placed on gathering helmet use data from injured motorcyclists. 相似文献
Explosion indices and explosion behaviour of Al dust/H2/air mixtures were studied using standard 20 l sphere. The study was motivated by an explosion hazard occurring at some accidental scenarios considered now in ITER design (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). During Loss-of-Vacuum or Loss-of-Coolant Accidents (LOCA/LOVA) it is possible to form inside the ITER vacuum vessel an explosible atmosphere containing fine Be or W dusts and hydrogen. To approach the Be/H2 explosion problem, Be dust is substituted in this study by aluminium, because of high toxicity of Be dusts. The tested dust concentrations were 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1200 g/m3; hydrogen concentrations varied from 8 to 20 vol. % with 2% step. The mixtures were ignited by a weak electric spark. Pressure evolutions were recorded during the mixture explosions. In addition, the gaseous compositions of the combustion products were measured by a quadruple mass-spectrometer. The dust was involved in the explosion process at all hydrogen and dust concentrations even at the combination ‘8%/100 g/m3’. In all the other tests the explosion overpressures and the pressure rise rates were noticeably higher than those relevant to pure H2/air mixtures and pure Al dust/air mixtures. At lower hybrid fuel concentrations the mixture exploded in two steps: first hydrogen explosion followed by a clearly separated Al dust explosion. With rising concentrations, the two-phase explosion regime transits to a single-phase regime where the two fuel components exploded together as a single fuel. In this regime both the hybrid explosion pressures and pressure rise rates are higher than either H2 or Al ones. The two fuels compete for the oxygen; the higher the dust concentration, the more part of O2 it consumes (and the more H2 remains in the combustion products). The test results are used to support DUST3D CFD code developed at KIT to model LOCA or LOVA scenarios in ITER. 相似文献
To reveal clearly the effects of particle thermal characteristics on flame microstructures during organic dust explosions, three long-chain monobasic alcohols, solid at room temperature and similar in physical-chemical properties, were chosen to conduct experiments in a half-closed chamber. In the experiments, the dust materials were dispersed into the chamber by air to form dust clouds and the hybrids were ignited by an electrical spark. A high-speed optical schlieren system was used to record the flame propagation behaviors. A fine thermocouple and an ion current probe were respectively used to measure the flame temperature profile and the reaction behaviors of the combustion zone. Based on the experimental results, combustion behaviors and flame microstructures in dust clouds with different thermal characteristics were analyzed in detail. As a result, it was found that the dust flame surfaces were completely covered by cellular structures that significantly increased the flame frontal areas. Flame propagated more quickly and the number of the cellular cells increased as increasing the volatility of the particles. On the contrary, maximum temperature and the thickness of the preheated zone decreased as increasing the volatility of the particles. According to the ion current profile, the particles in the preheat zone were pyrolyzed to intermediate radicals and the radicals' fraction in the higher volatile dust flame was higher than that in the lower volatile dust flame. 相似文献