Commentary: Status of road safety in Asia

Objectives: The objective of this article is to assess the status of road safety in Asia and present accident and injury prevention strategies based on global road safety improvement experiences and discuss the way forward by indicating opportunities and countermeasures that could be implemented to achieve a new level of safety in Asia.

Methods: This study provides a review and analyses of data in the literature, including from the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank, and a review of lessons learned from best practices in high-income countries. In addition, an estimation of costs due to road transport injuries in Asia and review of future trends in road transport is provided.

Results: Data on the global and Asian road safety problem and status of prevention strategies in Asia as well as recommendations for future actions are discussed. The total number of deaths due to road accidents in the 24 Asian countries, encompassing 56% of the total world population, is 750,000 per year (statistics 2010). The total number of injuries is more than 50 million, of which 12% are hospital admissions. The loss to the economy in the 24 Asian countries is estimated to around US$800 billion or 3.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Conclusions: This article clearly shows that road safety is causing large problems and high costs in Asia, with an enormous impact on the well-being of people, economy, and productivity. In many Asian low- and middle-income countries, the yearly number of fatalities and injuries is increasing. Vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists combined) are particularly at risk. Road safety in Asia should be given rightful attention, including taking powerful, effective actions. This review stresses the need for reliable accident data, because there is considerable underreporting in the official statistics. Reliable accident data are imperative to determine evidence-based intervention strategies and monitor the success of these interventions and analyses. On the other hand, lack of good high-quality accident data should not be an excuse to postpone interventions. There are many opportunities for evidence-based transport safety improvements, including measures concerning the 5 key risk factors: speed, drunk driving, not wearing motorcycle helmets, not wearing seat belts, and not using child restraints in cars, as specified in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020. In this commentary, a number of additional measures are proposed that are not covered in the Decade of Action Plan. These new measures include separate roads or lanes for pedestrians and cyclists; helmet wearing for e-bike riders; special attention to elderly persons in public transportation; introduction of emerging collision avoidance technologies, in particular automatic emergency braking (AEB) and alcohol locks; improved truck safety focusing on the other road user (including blind spot detection technology; underride protection at the front, rear, and side; and energy-absorbing fronts); and improvements in motorcycle safety concerning protective clothing, requirements for advanced braking systems, improved visibility of motorcycles by using daytime running lights, and better guardrails.     

Application of high silica zeolite ZSM-5 in a hybrid treatment process based on sequential adsorption and ozonation for VOCs elimination

In this study, a hydrophobic synthetic zeolite, namely ZSM-5 is chosen as an adsorbent/catalyst for toluene removal. Experimental results showed that toluene adsorption onto ZSM-5 was favourable, following a Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. ZSM-5 zeolite was regenerated using gaseous ozone at low temperature. Adsorbed toluene was oxidised, releasing mainly CO₂ and H₂O. Traces of oxidation by-products such as acetic acid and acetaldehyde were formed and remained adsorbed after the oxidativate regeneration with ozone. After four successive cycles of adsorption/ozonation, the adsorption efficiency was not affected (92%–99%). These results showed that volatile organic compound (VOC) removal by adsorption onto ZSM-5 zeolite followed by ozone regeneration could be used as a promising hybrid process for the control of VOC emissions in terms of efficiency.     

The Effect of Heat on the Physicochemical Properties of Bacteriophage MS2

The differences in physicochemical characteristics between infectious and non-infectious viral particles are poorly known. Even for heat, which is known as one of the most efficient treatments to inactivate enteric viruses, the global inactivation mechanisms have not been described yet. Such knowledge would help distinguish between both types of particles and therefore clarify the interpretation of the presence of viral genomes in food after heat treatment. In this study, we examined in particular the differences in electrostatic charge and hydrophobicity between the two particle types. MS2 phage, a common surrogate for enteric viruses, was used as a model virus. The heat-induced inactivation process of the infectious phages caused hydrophobic domains to be transiently exposed and their charge to become less negative. The particles also became progressively permeable to small molecules such as SYPRO Orange dye. The presence of non-infectious phage particles in which the genome was not accessible to RNases has been clearly demonstrated. These observations were done for MS2 phages exposed to a temperature of 60 °C. When exposed to a temperature higher than their critical temperature (72 °C), the particles were disrupted and the genome became available for RNases. At lower temperatures, 60 °C in this study, the transient expression of hydrophobic domains of remaining infectious phages appeared as an interesting parameter for improving their specific detection.     

Spatiotemporal dynamics of habitat use by koalas: the checkerboard model

Animal movement patterns and use of space depend upon food and nonfood resources, as well as conspecific and heterospecific interactions, but models of habitat use often neglect to examine multiple factors and rarely include marsupials. We studied habitat use in an Australian population of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) over a 6-year period in order to determine how koalas navigate their environment and partition limited patchy food and nonfood resources. Tree selection among koalas appears to be mediated by folar chemistry, but nonfood tree selection exerts a major impact on home range use due to thermoregulatory constraints. Koalas moved on a daily basis, during both day and night, but daytime resting site was not necessarily in the same location as nighttime feeding site. Koalas had substantial home range overlap in the near absence of resource sharing with less than 1% of trees located in areas of overlap used by multiple koalas. We suggest that koala spatiotemporal distribution and habitat use are probably based upon a community structure of individuals, with a checkerboard model best describing overlap in home range area but not in resource use. Nonfood refugia and social networks should be incorporated into models of animal range and habitat use.     

Evaluation of recycling waste materials and by-products in highway construction

SUMMARY

The generation, handling, and safe disposal of waste materials has become a major concern in North America. Approval of facilities for waste processing and proper disposal is becoming more difficult to obtain. Furthermore, there is a growing public awareness of the importance of conserving and preserving our valuable natural resources. This expanding awareness has given rise to the trend towards recycling or reuse of awide variety of solid wastes. Experiences with using waste materials in highway construction can vary considerably, depending on material characteristics, construction processes, and climatic differences. A number of waste materials may be suitable for use in highway construction, but others may not. The objective of this paper is introduced in two tasks. The first is to include a survey of the waste materials and by-products that have been used successfully, or may be used, as materials for highway construction or maintenance work. This also includes determination of the state of practice concerning economic and technical factors for these wastes. The second is to rank these materials based on three criteria: number of uses by State agencies, economic uses and performance aspects.     

Persistent near-bottom aggregations of mesopelagic animals along the North Carolina and Virginia continental slopes

Submersible observations during four missions over the North Carolina and Virginia continental slopes (184–900 m) documented the occurrence of large aggregations of mesopelagic fishes and macronektonic invertebrates near or on the bottom. Aggregated mesopelagics formed a layer up to tens of meters deep positioned from a few centimeters to 20 m, usually <10 m, above the substrate. Aggregations were numerically dominated by microvores, notably the myctophid fish Ceratoscopelus maderensis and the penaeid shrimp Sergestes arcticus. Consistently present but in relatively lower numbers, were mesopelagic predators, including the paralepidids Notolepis rissoi and Lestidium atlanticum, the eel Nemichthys scolopaceus, the stomiid fishes Chauliodus sloani and Stomias boa ferox, and squids Illex spp. Near-bottom aggregations do not appear to be an artifact due to attraction to the submersible. Based on submersible observations in three areas in 4 years spanning a decade, near-bottom aggregations of midwater organisms appear to be a geographically widespread and persistent phenomenon along the continental slope of the southeastern US Aggregations may exploit areas of enhanced food resources at the bottom.     

Technical Manual onSingle Retort Underfeed Stokers

Most of the recent work on the effects of cement-kiln dust has been confined to Germany and results differ considerably. There appears to be little doubt that naturally deposited dust from certain cement plants is responsible for leaf injury to deciduous and coniferous species and occasionally for death of the latter. Injury results from the combination of a relatively thick crust deposit and the toxicity of alkaline solutions formed when dusts are deposited in the presence of free moisture. The results of several hand-dusted field experiments, however, are not so conclusive; dusts are reported as either harmful, harmless, or even indirectly beneficial. In the present laboratory investigation, the comparison of CO₂ exchange in the leaf between dusted and nondusted leaves, as well as occurrence of obvious tissue damage, were used as the criteria of dust effects in short term experiments. The results demonstrated that the finer particles of certain cement-kiln dusts collected from electrostatic precipitators do interfere with CO₂ exchange and in some cases cause considerable leaf injury. The results further suggest that calcium content alone may not be the only indicator of whether a dust might be injurious, and that much more needs to be known about the effects of the interaction of chemical composition, particle size, and deposition rate.