On-road measures of pedestrians' estimates of their own nighttime conspicuity

PROBLEM: Most pedestrian fatalities occur at night. Although researchers have long understood that drivers have difficulty seeing pedestrians at night and that reflective clothing can dramatically enhance pedestrian conspicuity, the extent to which pedestrians understand these facts is unclear. This experiment quantified pedestrians' estimates of the ability of an approaching driver to recognize the presence of roadside pedestrians. METHOD: Ten younger and 10 older participants walked in place on the far shoulder of a closed-road circuit and pressed a button when they were confident that the approaching driver could first recognize that a pedestrian was present. RESULTS: Pedestrians overestimated their visibility and dramatically underestimated the benefit of conspicuity treatments. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that pedestrians fail to understand the magnitude of the nighttime conspicuity problem and the value of conspicuity treatments. Pedestrians may therefore unknowingly place themselves in danger at night. IMPACT: These results underscore the need to educate pedestrians about the dangers of interacting with traffic at night and about treatments that increase their safety.     

风险矩阵法在危险有害因素分级中的应用

为减少风险分级时产生的风险结,采用Borda序值法改进原有的风险矩阵法。改进后的风险矩阵法通过计算Borda数,依据Borda数的大小对风险进行排序,使得风险等级数量大量增加,从而减少风险矩阵中风险结的数量。将该方法应用于某烧碱装置危险有害因素分级管理,对生产过程中的9种主要危险有害因素进行排序,得出它们可以分为6级,而应用原始的风险矩阵法得到的分级数为3级。然后,依据分级结果提出针对性的安全对策措施。     

False-negative prenatal exclusion of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome by measurement of fetal platelet count and size

The study of the fetal platelet count and size can, according to the literature, be used for the prenatal diagnosis of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS). So far, no affected fetuses have been identified by this method. All pregnancies in which this method had been applied to resulted, as correctly predicted, in the birth of normal children. Here we report on a familial case of WAS where the haematological parameters failed to reveal the affected second child. Hence we assume that the platelet count and size of platelets remain normal in fetuses with WAS to the gestational age of 22 weeks and cannot be used for prenatal diagnosis.     

图书馆生物污染现状研究

在分析了图书馆生物污染原因的基础上,对部分馆舍的空气和纸质文献受生物污染状况进行了研究,结果表明:图书流通阅览室、期刊阅览室以及学生自习室的空气冬天比夏天细菌数量高,冬天全天平均细菌数量为8.9×104个/m3以上,而夏天则为6.0×104个/m3;典藏书库冬天全天平均细菌数量为5.2×104个/m3,夏天为6.3×104个/m3左右;纸质文献受微生物污染程度与借阅率基本上呈正比关系。     

水源水及底泥中细菌总数及其优势种群初探

经测定广州市西村水厂水源水及底泥中的细菌总数分别为2.3×10~3个/mL和2.7×10~6个/g。底泥中的NH_4-N降解菌总数为1.31×10~6个/g,占底泥中细菌总数的48.5％。从水中分离出优势菌41株,经鉴定分别为芽胞杆菌属(Bacillus)、假单胞杆菌属(Pseudomonas)、气单胞杆菌属(Aeromonas)、亚硝化杆菌属(Nitrosococcus)、硝化杆菌属(Nitrobacter)、黄单胞杆菌属(Xanthomonas)、棒状杆菌属(Corynebactertium)、产碱菌属(Alcaligener)等8个属。用亚硝化培养基从底泥中分离了NH_4-N降解优势菌20株,经鉴定,分别为Bacillus、节杆菌属(Arthrobacter)、Pseudomonas、Xanthomonas、Nitrosococcus和Nitrobacter等6个属。     

北京市模拟给水管网管壁微生物膜群落分析

以北京市模拟给水管网管壁微生物膜为研究对象,采用HPC(异养菌平板计数)和PCR-SSCP(单链构象多态性)方法,分析模拟给水管网管壁微生物膜异养菌数目和微生物群落结构.结果表明,在相同流速条件下,镀锌钢管的管壁微生物数量约为PVC管的5倍.在相同材质的镀锌钢管内,死水区的HPC计数量约为0.6m·s-1,是流速区的1/5.计数结果的差异可能与不同材质表面的光滑度及流速造成微生物生长所需的氧气和营养基质不同有关.而不同材质和不同流速区微生物群落的SSCP电泳图谱则显示为一样,均在相同位置出现同样条带.测序结果显示, SSCP电泳图中的3条带与蜡状芽孢杆菌(Bacillus cereus, GenBank登录号为AB190077)、假单胞菌(Peudomonas sp.yged143, GenBank登录号为EF419342)和未分类细菌(Bacterium UASWS0134, GenBank登录号为DQ190347)的同源性分别为100%、99%和94%.测序结果的一致性可能与取样点为同一模拟管网,距离比较接近,不同微生物容易在其中流动和转移有关.而潜在致病菌蜡状芽孢杆菌和假单胞菌的存在则提示应该更加重视饮用水的微生物安全性.     

Acute effects of low-dose cypermethrin on male rat cells

Effects of synthetic pyrethroid insecticide α-cypermethrin were investigated following intradermal dose (5–50 mM) of cypermethrin to male albino Wistar rats. Glucose, protein, cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, uric acid, creatinine, hemoglobin, blood RBC, and WBC content were determined 6 h after pesticide administration. Biochemical parameters and blood cell count changed significantly in treated rats at all doses. Low-dose cypermethrin affected early biochemical changes in rats.     

Investigation of head injuries by reconstructions of real-world vehicle-versus-adult-pedestrian accidents

A sizeable proportion of adult pedestrians involved in vehicle-versus-pedestrian accidents suffer head injuries, some of which can lead to lifelong disability or even death. To understand head injury mechanisms, in-depth accident analyses and accident reconstructions were conducted. A total of 120 adult pedestrian accident cases from the GIDAS (German in-depth accident study) database were analyzed, from which 10 were selected for reconstruction. Accident reconstructions initially were performed using multi-body system (MBS) pedestrian and car models, so as to calculate head impact conditions, like head impact velocity, head position and head orientation. These impact conditions then were used to set the initial conditions in a simulation of a head striking a windshield, using finite element (FE) head and windshield models. The intracranial pressure and stress distributions of the FE head model were calculated and correlated with injury outcomes. Accident analysis revealed that the windshield and its surrounding frames were the main sources of head injury for adult pedestrians. Reconstruction results indicated that coup/contrecoup pressure, Von Mises and shear stress were important physical parameters to estimate brain injury risks.     

Profiling unauthorized natural resource users for better targeting of conservation interventions

Unauthorized use of natural resources is a key threat to many protected areas. Approaches to reducing this threat include law enforcement and integrated conservation and development (ICD) projects, but for such ICDs to be targeted effectively, it is important to understand who is illegally using which natural resources and why. The nature of unauthorized behavior makes it difficult to ascertain this information through direct questioning. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, has many ICD projects, including authorizing some local people to use certain nontimber forest resources from the park. However, despite over 25 years of ICD, unauthorized resource use continues. We used household surveys, indirect questioning (unmatched count technique), and focus group discussions to generate profiles of authorized and unauthorized resource users and to explore motivations for unauthorized activity. Overall, unauthorized resource use was most common among people from poor households who lived closest to the park boundary and farthest from roads and trading centers. Other motivations for unauthorized resource use included crop raiding by wild animals, inequity of revenue sharing, and lack of employment, factors that created resentment among the poorest communities. In some communities, benefits obtained from ICD were reported to be the greatest deterrents against unauthorized activity, although law enforcement ranked highest overall. Despite the sensitive nature of exploring unauthorized resource use, management‐relevant insights into the profiles and motivations of unauthorized resource users can be gained from a combination of survey techniques, as adopted here. To reduce unauthorized activity at Bwindi, we suggest ICD benefit the poorest people living in remote areas and near the park boundary by providing affordable alternative sources of forest products and addressing crop raiding. To prevent resentment from driving further unauthorized activity, ICDs should be managed transparently and equitably.