Particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure season-dependently induces neuronal apoptosis and synaptic injuries

Epidemiological studies have shown that particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5) not only increases the incidence of cardiopulmonary illnesses but also relates to the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Considering that PM_2.5 is highly heterogeneous with regional disparity and seasonal variation, we investigated whether PM_2.5 exposure induced neuronal apoptosis and synaptic injuries in a season-dependent manner. The results indicated that PM_2.5 altered the expression of apoptosis-related proteins (mainly bax and bcl-2), activated caspase-3 and caused neuronal apoptosis. Additionally, PM_2.5 decreased the levels of synaptic structural protein postsynaptic density (PSD-95) and synaptic functional protein N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunit (NR2B) expression. These effects occurred in a season-dependent manner, and PM_2.5 collected from the winter showed the strongest changes. Furthermore, the effect was coupled with the inhibition of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2) and phosphorylated cAMP-response element binding protein (p-CREB). Based on the findings, we analyzed the correlations between the chemical composition of PM_2.5 samples and the biological effects, and confirmed that winter PM_2.5 played a major role in causing neuronal apoptosis and synaptic injuries among different season samples.     

Organizational networks in road safety: Case studies of U.S. Vision Zero cities

Objective: Each year, more than 30,000 deaths occur on U.S. roads. Recognizing the magnitude and persistence of this public health problem, a number of U.S. cities have adopted a relatively new approach to prevention, termed Vision Zero (VZ). VZ has been adopted by more than 30?U.S. cities and calls for creating a transportation system that ensures that no road traffic crash results in death or serious injury. A core component of VZ is strong multidisciplinary and multisector stakeholder engagement, and cities adopting VZ often establish a VZ coalition to foster stakeholder collaboration. However, there is little information on the structure, development, and functioning of coalitions working to achieve VZ and on tools available to study and evaluate such coalition functioning. We sought to describe the characteristics of prominent U.S. VZ city coalitions and context surrounding VZ uptake and advancement in these cities. Moreover, we demonstrate use of network analysis as one tool for exploring the structure of interorganizational relationships in coalitions.

Methods: We conducted case studies of 4 prominent U.S. VZ city coalitions in 2017–2018. We summarized coalition members’ characteristics and responses to questions about their cities’ VZ adoption, planning, and implementation. We asked each coalition member to provide information on their contact frequency, perceived productivity, and resource sharing with every other coalition member in their city and used network analysis techniques in 2 cities to understand the structures and relationships in coalitions.

Results: Findings indicated that government agencies generally constituted the majority of coalition members and often played central roles in terms of coalition network contact, productivity, and resource flow. Other emerging similarities regarding coalition establishment and VZ implementation included the need for political support, the importance of formal plan development, and increased collaboration and cooperation among partners.

Conclusions: Organizational network analyses, enriched with coalition member interviews, can elucidate key aspects of coalition creation, attributes, and relationship structure. The case studies of leading VZ coalition networks presented here highlight the use of these tools. Ultimately, understanding associations between VZ network structures and attributes and road safety outcomes could help inform effective coalition adoption, implementation, and maintenance to optimize safety outcomes.     

汽油车尾气亚慢性暴露对小鼠肺的损伤作用

机动车尾气是我国大气细颗粒物PM_(2.5)污染的主要来源之一,长期暴露于机动车尾气对动物呼吸系统及其他多种脏器造成损害。为探索长期暴露于汽油燃烧的汽车尾气对小鼠肺组织的损伤作用,将51只雄性8周龄SPF级ICR小鼠随机分为7个处理。其中,空气对照组1个(6只);箱体对照组3个:0.5 h对照组(5只)、1 h对照组(8只)、2 h对照组(8只);汽油车尾气暴露组3个:0.5 h暴露组(8只)、1 h暴露组(8只)、2 h暴露组(8只)。小鼠每天在自制染毒箱中暴露0.5 h、1 h、2 h。95 d的暴露实验后,处死实验鼠,测定其肺组织的炎症因子白介素-6(IL-6)、乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)、肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、转化生长因子β(TGF-β),并制作小鼠肺部病理学切片进行HE染色。暴露实验过程中,观察记录小鼠行为特征,测定箱体内O_2、NO_x、NO_2、NO、SO_2和CO的浓度。采集汽油车尾气的PM2.5,对其水溶性阴离子(F~-、Cl~-、NO_2~-、NO_3~-、SO_4~(2-))、水溶性阳离子(Na~+、NH_4~+、Ca~(2+)、K~+、Mg~(2+))、有机碳(OC)和元素碳(EC)、7种重金属元素(Cu、Ni、Mn、Zn、Pb、As、Cr)、16种多环芳烃(PAHs)浓度等进行了测定。结果表明:(1)亚慢性染毒箱内汽油车尾气PM2.5所分析的化学物质中,OC浓度最高,占PM2.5中总化学物质浓度的75.5%;其次是EC,占22.9%;再次是阴离子和阳离子,分别占1.11%和0.27%。(2)3个暴露组小鼠活跃程度降低,暴露5～8 min后进入睡眠或休息状态,呼吸频率降低,小鼠通过这些行为来减少汽油车尾气的伤害。(3)汽油车尾气长期暴露组的体重增长率与各自对照组之间不存在显著差异,但2 h暴露组体重增长率明显小于2 h对照组,且2 h暴露组在第14周开始体重有下降的趋势。(4)与对照组相比,1 h暴露组的IL-6和0.5 h暴露组的TNF-α显著升高,说明汽油车尾气暴露造成小鼠肺炎症损伤,使IL-6、TNF-α的分泌增加。随着暴露时间的延长,IL-6和TNF-α表现为2 h暴露组分别显著低于1 h暴露组和0.5 h暴露组,意味长期暴露后小鼠肺部受到严重伤害,免疫力严重下降,不再有积极的抗炎性反应。(5)组织病理观察表明,与开放对照组比较,3个汽油车尾气暴露组小鼠肺部组织充血较为严重,大量淋巴细胞、中性粒细胞浸润,肺泡间质增生明显,呈现出随时间延长损伤加重的梯度差异。(6)汽油车尾气长期暴露可致实验鼠肺脏损伤,且随着暴露时间的增加,对肺组织造成的损伤程度增加。     

坍塌事故已成为建筑施工中又一重大伤害事故

近年来在工程施工中因坍塌事故而造成的重大伤亡事故屡有发生。文章根据工程事故实例，对坍塌事故进行了分类剖析，探讨导致各类坍塌伤亡事故发生的原因并提出相应的预防措施。     

电视机和有线通讯设备流水线作业工人慢性肌肉骨骼损伤调查研究

电视机和有线通讯设备的生产，均采用流水线作业方式，３９０名生产工人的主要慢性肌肉骨骼损伤有手疲劳、右臂疲劳及肩痛，与对照人群比较，Ｐ〈０．０５差异显著。手痛、腕痛、颈痛及上下背痛虽多于对照人群，但无统计学意义，这与Ｌａｏｐａｊａｒｒｉ和ｓｈｉｈａｎ 等报告不同，这可能与当时工厂定额相对较低，全天纯劳动工时相对短有关     

火灾烟气伤害机理和伤害模型

建筑物发生火灾时，燃烧产生的烟气对人构成主要威胁。本文分析火灾烟气的伤害机理，提出烟气伤害指数概念及其计算方法，探讨它在材料防火性能评价和建筑物火灾安全评价方面的应用可能性。     

邮局分拣工慢性肌肉骨骼损伤调查研究

对２７５名邮局分拣工的调查发现，其慢性肌肉骨骼损伤主要涉及手、腕、臂、肩、上背及下背，与对照人群比较，Ｐ〈０．０５，差别显著。另外腱鞘囊肿的检出率达４．７３％ ，明显高于对照人群     

The effectiveness of lane departure warning systems—A reduction in real-world passenger car injury crashes

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the safety benefits of in vehicle lane departure warning (LDW) and lane keeping aid (LKA) systems in reducing relevant real-world passenger car injury crashes.

Methods: The study used an induced exposure method, where LDW/LKA-sensitive and nonsensitive crashes were compared for Volvo passenger cars equipped with and without LDW/LKA systems. These crashes were matched by car make, model, model year, and technical equipment; that is, low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) called City Safety (CS). The data were extracted from the Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition database (STRADA) and consisted of 1,853 driver injury crashes that involved 146 LDW-equipped cars, 11 LKA-equipped cars, and 1,696 cars without LDW/LKA systems.

Results: The analysis showed a positive effect of the LDW/LKA systems in reducing lane departure crashes. The LDW/LKA systems were estimated to reduce head-on and single-vehicle injury crashes on Swedish roads with speed limits between 70 and 120 km/h and with dry or wet road surfaces (i.e., not covered by ice or snow) by 53% with a lower limit of 11% (95% confidence interval [CI]). This reduction corresponded to a reduction of 30% with a lower limit of 6% (95% CI) for all head-on and single-vehicle driver injury crashes (including all speed limits and all road surface conditions).

Conclusions: LDW/LKA systems were estimated to lower the driver injury risk in crash types that the systems are designed to prevent; that is, head-on and single-vehicle crashes. Though these are important findings, they were based on a small data set. Therefore, further research is desirable to evaluate the effectiveness of LDW/LKA systems under real-world conditions and to differentiate the effectiveness between technical solutions (i.e., LDW and LKA) proposed by different manufacturers.     

How motorcycle helmets affect trauma mortality: Clinical and policy implications

Background: Motorcycles are the most popular vehicles in Taiwan, where more than 14.8 million motorcycles (1 motorcycle per 1.6 people) are in service. Despite the mandatory helmet law passed in 1997, less than 80% of motorcyclists in Taiwan wear helmets.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of using motorcycle helmets on fatality rates.

Methods: A clinical data set including 2,868 trauma patients was analyzed; the cross-sectional registration database was administered by a university medical center in Central Taiwan. A path analysis framework and multiple logistic regressions were used to estimate the marginal effect of helmet use on mortality.

Results: Using a helmet did not directly reduce the mortality rate but rather indirectly reduced the mortality rate through intervening variables such as the severity of head injuries, number of craniotomies, and complications during therapeutic processes. Wearing a helmet can reduce the fatality rate by 1.3%, the rate of severe head injury by 34.5%, the craniotomy rate by 7.8%, and the rate of complications during therapeutic processes by 1.5%. These rates comprise 33.3% of the mortality rate for people who do not wear helmets, 67.3% of the severe head injury rate, 60.0% of the craniotomy rate, and 12.2% of the rate of complications during therapeutic processes.

Discussion: Wearing a helmet and trauma system designation are crucial factors that reduce the fatality rate.