In-car cell phone use and hazards following hands free legislation

OBJECTIVE: A new law took effect in Finland at the beginning of 2003 which prohibits the handheld use of mobile phones while driving a motor vehicle. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the law on phone usage and self-reported safety during the first few months and 16 months later to determine whether the initial level of compliance with the law had been sustained. METHODS: Data were collected by Gallup home poll before (spring 2002) and after legislation took effect (spring 2003 and 2004). A representative sample of drivers who owned a cell phone (n = 836 to 966) was interviewed each time. On-road observations were also collected in four cities for 2003 and 2004. RESULTS: Just after the law, 97% of drivers were aware of the new hands free legislation. In sharp contrast to the pre-law rate of 16%, 43% reported not using the phone while driving immediately after the law and 41% one year later. The occasional users especially reduced their use of phones while driving. The law was correlated to reductions in self-reported handheld use of cell phones while driving, from 55.6% pre-law to 15.2% immediately after passage. In spite of this change, however, the hands free legislation did not reduce self-reported involvement of Finnish drivers in phone-related hazards. Handheld usage was still lower in 2004 than pre-law (20.0%), but the 32% increase from 2003 was significant. Observational data collected in Finland in 2003 and 2004 showed an even higher upward trend in handheld use (87% increase, from 3.1% to 5.8%; pre-law data were not available), and matched a similar increase reported by McCartt and Geary (2004) in their observational evaluation of New York's handheld mobile phone law. CONCLUSION: The self-reports indicate that the hands-free law reduced handheld phone use, among occasional users especially, but did not reduce phone-related hazards. The effect of the law on phone use substantially declined within one year.     

介绍一种含油污水处理新工艺

介绍了燃机电厂含油污水的来源、水质特性,说述了福州明达电厂采用的隔油-混凝沉淀-重力分离-粗粒化分离处理工艺的技术原理、工艺流程及运行效果。     

Progress in used tyres management in the European Union: A review

The dynamic increase in the manufacture of rubber products, particularly those used in the automobile industry, is responsible for a vast amount of wastes, mostly in the form of used tyres, of which more than 17 million tonnes are produced globally each year. The widely differing chemical compositions and the cross-linked structures of rubber in tyres are the prime reason why they are highly resistant to biodegradation, photochemical decomposition, chemical reagents and high temperatures. The increasing numbers of used tyres therefore constitute a serious threat to the natural environment. The progress made in recent years in the management of polymer wastes has meant that used tyres are starting to be perceived as a potential source of valuable raw materials. The development of studies into their more efficient recovery and recycling, and the European Union's restrictive legal regulations regarding the management of used tyres, have led to solutions enabling this substantial stream of rubber wastes to be converted into energy or new polymer materials. In this article we present the relevant literature describing innovative organizational approaches in the management of used tyres in the European Union member countries and the possible uses of waste tyres as a source of raw materials or alternative fossil fuels.     

集成DEMATEL/ISM的高校消防安全管理影响因素研究

为研究高校消防安全管理影响因素间的关系,构建高校消防安全管理体系,用集成决策试验和评价实验室(DEMATEL)和解释结构模型(ISM)法计算各因素影响度、被影响度、中心度和原因度,建立多层次递阶解释结构模型,并考虑各影响因素在消防安全管理体系结构中的位置。结果表明:消防安全组织人员、消防安全教育、消防安全组织机构及职责、消防安全管理制度及操作规程属于原因因素,对其他因素影响逐渐增大;非消防安全组织人员、建筑火灾风险、消防设施、电气设施属于结果因素,受其他因素影响较大。消防安全检查及隐患整改、消防安全文化、消防安全教育、消防安全管理制度及操作规程、消防安全组织人员在整个消防安全管理体系中重要度依次增大,对重要度大的因素须加强管控。     

The effect of a campus-community environmental alcohol prevention initiative on student drinking and driving: results from the "a matter of degree" program evaluation

OBJECTIVE: Motor vehicle crashes involving alcohol are a major contributor to morbidity and mortality among college students in the United States. This study evaluates the effect on drinking and driving outcomes of the "A Matter of Degree" program, a campus-community coalition initiative to reduce college binge drinking. METHODS: We used a quasi-experimental longitudinal study design that compared student responses at 10 colleges participating in the program and students attending 32 similar colleges that did not participate in the program. We also divided the program sites into two groups of five according to their level of program implementation and compared each with the non-program colleges. We examined driving after any alcohol consumption and driving after five or more drinks among drinkers who drove one or more times a week per month and riding with a high or drunk driver among all students at these colleges beginning in 1997 through 2001. Outcomes were based on data collected from repeated cross-sectional surveys using the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study. Analyses were conducted using MLwiN multilevel statistical software. RESULTS: We found significant reductions in driving after drinking, driving after five or more drinks and riding with a high or drunk driver at the program colleges relative to the comparison colleges. Further analyses indicated that these reductions among the AMOD program colleges occurred at the sites with high program implementation relative to comparison sites, while no statistically significant change was noted at the program sites with low implementation. The program effect on the two drinking and driving outcomes appeared to be mediated by frequent binge drinking, while significant decline in the riding with an intoxicated driver outcome was not mediated by the individual's drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Campus-community based environmental alcohol prevention is a promising approach for reducing alcohol-impaired motor vehicle crashes among this population.