Walking when intoxicated: An investigation of the factors which influence individuals’ drink walking intentions

Annually, in Australia, 10-15% of all road-related fatalities involve pedestrians. Of those pedestrians fatally injured, approximately 45% were walking while intoxicated or ‘drink walking’. Drink walking is increasing in prevalence and younger persons may be especially prone to engage in this behaviour and, thus, are at heightened risk of being injured or killed. Presently, limited research is available regarding the factors which influence individuals to drink walk. This study explored young people’s (17-25 years) intentions to drink walk, using an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Participants (N = 215), completed a self-report questionnaire which assessed the standard TPB constructs (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control) as well as the extended constructs of risk perception, anticipated regret, and past behaviour. It was hypothesised that the standard TPB constructs would significantly predict individuals’ reported intentions to drink walk and that the additional constructs would predict intentions over and above the TPB constructs. The TPB variables significantly predicted 63.2% of the variance in individuals’ reported intentions to drink walk, and the additional variables, combined, explained a further 6.1% of the variance. Of the additional constructs, anticipated regret and past behaviour, but not risk perception, were significant predictors of drink walking intentions. As one of the first studies to provide a theoretically-based investigation of factors influencing individuals’ drink walking intentions, the current study’s findings have potentially significant implications for understanding young people’s decisions to drink walk and the design of future countermeasures to ultimately reduce this behaviour.     

A study on chest injury mechanism and the effectiveness of a headform impact test for pedestrian chest protection from vehicle collisions

This study was aimed at investigating the injury mechanism of pedestrian chests in collisions with passenger vehicles of various frontal shapes and examining the influence of the local structural stiffness on the chest injury risk by using the headform impact test at the chest contact area of the vehicle. Three simulations of vehicle to pedestrian collisions were conducted using three validated pedestrian finite element (FE) models of three pedestrian heights of 177 (AM50th), 165 and 150 cm and three FE vehicles models representing a one-box vehicle, a minicar and a medium car. The validity of the vehicle models was evaluated by comparing the headform acceleration against the measured responses from headform impact tests. The chest impact kinematics and the injury mechanisms were analyzed in terms of the distribution of the von Mises stress of the ribcage and in terms of the chest deflections. The chest contact locations on the front panel and the bonnet top were identified in connection to the causation of rib fractures. The risk of rib fractures was predicted by using the von Mises stress distribution. The headform impact tests were carried out at the chest contact area on the front panel and bonnet to examine the safety performance with respect to pedestrian chest protection. In simulations of the one-box vehicle to pedestrian collisions, the chest was struck directly by the frontal structure at a high velocity and deformed substantially, since a shear force was generated by the stiff windshield frame. The acceleration of the headform was related to the rib deflections. The injury threshold of the ribcage deflection (42 mm) corresponded to the headform average acceleration of 68 G. In the minicar collision, the chest was struck with the bonnet top and cowl area at a low velocity, and the deformation was small due to the distributed contact force between the chest and the bonnet top. Besides, the ribcage deformation was too small for bridging a relation between the headform accelerations and rib deflections. In the medium car collision, the deformation mode of the chest was similar to that in the minicar collision. The chest collided with the bonnet top at a low velocity and deformed uniformly. The deflection of the ribs had an observable correlation with the headform accelerations measured in the headform impact tests. The frontal shape of a vehicle has a large influence on a pedestrian’s chest loadings, and the chest deformation depends on the size of the pedestrian and the stiffness of the vehicle. The one-box passenger vehicle causes a high chest injury risk. The headform impactor test can be utilized for the evaluation of the local stiffness of a vehicle’s frontal structure. The reduction of the headform acceleration is an effective measure for pedestrian chest protection for specific shapes of vehicles by efficacy in modifying the local structural stiffness.     

房间开门形式对人员疏散的影响分析

采用计算机数值模拟软件FDS+Evac,对房间开门形式对人员疏散的影响进行分析。建立疏散模型,房间人员密度设置3种情况,着重研究了7种开门形式条件下人员疏散过程。研究表明,房间开门总宽度一定时,只设置一道门,疏散效率最高。当房间需要满足设置两道门时,门应尽量设置在房间的两对边墙上,这样疏散效率较高。两道门设置在房间相邻边墙上时最不利于人员疏散。研究结果为房间开门的设计提供了参考依据。     

走廊弯腰疏散行为试验研究

为研究走廊里人群弯腰疏散行为,组织45名学生进行6组不同初始密度疏散试验,通过录像分析得出不同密度时弯腰疏散基本图,将结果与行走及爬行疏散比较。试验结果表明:弯腰和行走疏散的速度分别是1.4 m/s和1.7 m/s,而爬行疏散速度为0.73 m/s;在密度小于0.5人/m2时,3种疏散方式的流动速度相当;在密度大于0.5人/m2时,3种移动方式速度有明显差异;得出弯腰疏散的速度频率分布图,速度均值为:女生1.02±0.16 m/s,男生1.09±0.2 m/s;在低速度区,女生占很大比重,男生在高速度区的频率较高。     

群体感应信号分子存在下磺胺对大肠杆菌生长、突变及R388质粒接合转移的影响

抗生素的滥用使细菌耐药性问题日益突出,给许多疾病的预防与控制增加了难度。基因突变和质粒接合转移是细菌获得抗生素抗性基因的主要方式,许多研究围绕抗性基因来展开,但是关于群体感应对于抗性基因产生和传播的影响鲜有报道。本文以大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)为模式生物,群体感应信号分子N-(β-酮己酰)-L-高丝氨酸内酯(3-oxo-C6-HSL,C6)和3种磺胺类抗生素(磺胺嘧啶、磺胺甲恶唑、磺胺氯哒嗪)为研究对象,测定了其对大肠杆菌生长效应、突变效应及接合转移效应的影响。结果表明:C6不影响磺胺对大肠杆菌的生长抑制率,但能够削弱磺胺对大肠杆菌突变的促进作用,并且能增强磺胺对大肠杆菌R388质粒接合转移的抑制作用。本文为从群体感应角度研究大肠杆菌耐药性的产生与传播提供新思路。     

硫化物测试条件的优化

针对硫化物从采样、运输、分析全过程中,特别是预处理阶段损失严重,导致测定结果经常为未测出,加标回收率低的问题,通过调查分析制定对策;对样品的采集固定、预处理吸收利用量、吹气速度等条件进行了优化选择,对硫化物预处理装置进行技术革新。减少了硫化物的吸收损失、逸散损失,提高了硫化物回收率和准确度。并通过多次实验及加标回收率的验证,取得了良好效果。     

电气设备火灾的特点与扑救

阐述电气设备火灾的特点与扑救方法,并提出火灾扑救中应注意的问题。     

V型滤池工艺设计的标准化和智能化探讨

针对V型滤池的设计特点,提出了设计的标准化方法。利用AutoCAD内嵌的Visual LISP语言编程,实现了计算机自动设计、计算及绘图的功能。程序具有人机对话的功能,从而实现了设计的智能化。     

Simulated Limnological Effects of the Shasta Lake Temperature Control Device

We estimated the effects of a temperature control device (TCD) on a suite of thermodynamic and limnological attributes for a large storage reservoir, Shasta Lake, in northern California. Shasta Dam was constructed in 1945 with a fixed-elevation penstock. The TCD was installed in 1997 to improve downstream temperatures for endangered salmonids by releasing epilimnetic waters in the winter/spring and hypolimnetic waters in the summer/fall. We calibrated a two-dimensional hydrodynamic reservoir water quality model, CE-QUAL-W2, and applied a structured design-of-experiment simulation procedure to predict the principal limnological effects of the TCD under a variety of environmental scenarios. Calibration goodness-of-fit ranged from good to poor depending on the constituent simulated, with an R ² of 0.9 for water temperature but 0.3 for phytoplankton. Although the chemical and thermal characteristics of the discharge changed markedly, the reservoir's characteristics remained relatively unchanged. Simulations showed the TCD causing an earlier onset and shorter duration of summer stratification, but no dramatic affect on Shasta's nutrient composition. Peak in-reservoir phytoplankton production may begin earlier and be stronger in the fall with the TCD, while outfall phytoplankton concentrations may be much greater in the spring. Many model predictions differed from our a priori expectations that had been shaped by an intensive, but limited-duration, data collection effort. Hydrologic and meteorological variables, most notably reservoir carryover storage at the beginning of the calendar year, influenced model predictions much more strongly than the TCD. Model results indicate that greater control over reservoir limnology and release quality may be gained by carefully managing reservoir volume through the year than with the TCD alone. RID=" ID=" Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: John_Bartholow@USGS.gov     

基于交通安全的交叉口倒计时信号灯设置研究

交通信号倒计时装置被国内一些城市广泛采用。在体现交通“以人为本”原则的同时,倒计时装置的应用也应注意其带来了一些交通安全和通行效率上的问题。倒计时会诱发一部分驾驶员在绿灯末尾时加速通过路口,和红灯变绿灯下一相时头车提前高速到达冲突点,可能引发重特大交通事故,因而需要更长的绿灯间隔时间保证信号换相时的交通安全。由于绿灯间隔时间增长,交通信号倒计时装置降低了交叉口的通行能力,且不当的绿间隔设置还会造成严重的交通冲突。因而应谨慎采用机动车交通信号灯倒计时装置,并应辅以绿灯间隔时间调整、交通安全宣传教育和明确交通规则等措施。