How do children learn to cross the street? The process of pedestrian safety training

Objective: Pedestrian injuries are a leading cause of child death and may be reduced by training children to cross streets more safely. Such training is most effective when children receive repeated practice at the complex cognitive–perceptual task of judging moving traffic and selecting safe crossing gaps, but there is limited data on how much practice is required for children to reach adult levels of functioning. Using existing data, we examined how children's pedestrian skills changed over the course of 6 pedestrian safety training sessions, each composed of 45 crossings within a virtual pedestrian environment.

Methods: As part of a randomized controlled trial on pedestrian safety training, 59 children ages 7–8 crossed the street within a semi-immersive virtual pedestrian environment 270 times over a 3-week period (6 sessions of 45 crossings each). Feedback was provided after each crossing, and traffic speed and density were advanced as children's skill improved. Postintervention pedestrian behavior was assessed a week later in the virtual environment and compared to adult behavior with identical traffic patterns.

Results: Over the course of training, children entered traffic gaps more quickly and chose tighter gaps to cross within; their crossing efficiency appeared to increase. By the end of training, some aspects of children's pedestrian behavior was comparable to adult behavior but other aspects were not, indicating that the training was worthwhile but insufficient for most children to achieve adult levels of functioning.

Conclusions: Repeated practice in a simulated pedestrian environment helps children learn aspects of safe and efficient pedestrian behavior. Six twice-weekly training sessions of 45 crossings each were insufficient for children to reach adult pedestrian functioning, however, and future research should continue to study the trajectory and quantity of child pedestrian safety training needed for children to become competent pedestrians.     

Risk factors for the severity of injury incurred in crashes involving on-duty police cars

Objective: This article explores the risk factors associated with police cars on routine patrol and/or on an emergency run and their effects on the severity of injuries in crashes.

Methods: The binary probit model is used to examine the effects of important factors on the risk of injuries sustained in crashes involving on-duty police cars.

Results: Several factors significantly increase the probability of crashes that cause severe injuries. Among those causes are police officers who drive at excessive speeds, traffic violations during emergency responses or pursuits, and driving during the evening (6 to 12 p.m.) or in rainy weather. Findings also indicate some potential issues associated with an increase in the probability of crashes that cause injuries. Younger police drivers were found to be more likely to be involved in crashes causing injuries than middle-aged drivers were. Distracted driving by on-duty police officers as well as civilian drivers who did not pull over to let a police car pass in emergency situations also caused serious crashes.

Conclusions: Police cars are exempted from certain traffic laws under emergency circumstances. However, to reduce the probability of being involved in a crash resulting in severe injuries, officers are still obligated to drive safely and follow safety procedures when responding to emergencies or pursuing a car. Enhancement of training techniques for emergency situations or driving in pursuit of an offender and following the safety procedures are essential for safety in driving during an emergency run by police.     

Miscible fluid displacement stability in unconfined porous media:: Two-dimensional flow experiments and simulations

In situ flushing groundwater remediation technologies, such as cosolvent flushing, rely on the stability of the interface between the resident and displacing fluids for efficient removal of contaminants. Contrasts in density and viscosity between the resident and displacing fluids can adversely affect the stability of the displacement front. Petroleum engineers have developed techniques to describe these types of processes; however, their findings do not necessarily translate directly to aquifer remediation. The purpose of this laboratory study was to investigate how density and viscosity contrasts affected cosolvent displacements in unconfined porous media characterized by the presence of a capillary fringe. Two-dimensional flow laboratory experiments, which were partially scaled to a cosolvent flushing field experiment, were conducted to determine potential implications of flow instabilities in homogeneous sand packs. Numerical simulations were also conducted to investigate the differential impact of fluid property contrasts in unconfined and confined systems. The results from these experiments and simulations indicated that the presence of a capillary fringe was an important factor in the displacement efficiency. Buoyant forces can act to carry a lighter-than-water cosolvent preferentially into the capillary fringe during displacement of the resident groundwater. During subsequent water flooding, buoyancy forces can act to effectively trap the cosolvent in the capillary fringe, contributing to the inefficient removal of cosolvent from the aquifer.     

茚虫威对斑马鱼的急性毒性及遗传毒性

茚虫威属噁二嗪类新型广谱高效杀虫剂,在农业生产中有着重要作用,近年来随着用量的增加,由此产生的对水生生物的影响越来越受到重视。使用斑马鱼进行茚虫威的急性毒性作用实验,并采用微核试验、彗星试验、Annexin V-FITC/PI双染色检测观察染毒后的斑马鱼是否被诱导产生遗传毒性。结果表明:在24 h、48 h、72 h、96 h,茚虫威LC50值分别为2.263mg·L-1、2.184 mg·L-1、2.184 mg·L-1、2.133 mg·L-1。茚虫威对斑马鱼急性毒性属中等毒性。96 h茚虫威浓度为1.98 mg·L-1和2.16 mg·L-1时,斑马鱼的微核率与对照组相比达差异极显著水平(P0.01)。采用彗星试验检测斑马鱼肝脏DNA损伤,结果显示斑马鱼暴露于高浓度1.98 mg·L-1和2.16 mg·L-1茚虫威后,与对照组相比,斑马鱼的DNA损伤均表现为极显著差异(P0.01)。采用Annexin V-FITC/PI双染色流式细胞仪法检测,结果表明染毒后24 h斑马鱼肝细胞出现细胞凋亡现象。实验结果进一步表明,茚虫威对斑马鱼短期染毒后诱导细胞凋亡,表现出遗传毒性。     

云南曲靖地区铜的暴露与肺癌相关性研究

我国云南省曲靖的宣威和富源等地是全世界肺癌高发区,为了研究环境介质中铜(Cu)等重金属的暴露与体内分布特征,探讨Cu与肺癌的相关性,在当地开展肺癌环境流行病学调查,采集宣威和富源高发区人群饮食、饮水以及人体血浆和肺组织样品,微波消解ICP-MS法测定样品中Cu等元素.结果显示,当地居民使用燃料类型是影响肺癌高发的重要因素.高发区人群Cu的日摄入总量低于我国推荐的每日膳食中营养素供给量(RDA).肺癌组血液中Cu含量显著高于对照组,肺癌组织中Cu含量显著高于癌旁组织和正常组织,且肺癌患者的血浆和肺组织中Cu/Zn比值均升高.Pearson相关性分析结果表明,Cu和Ni、Cu和Pb呈显著正相关,提示在致癌作用上具有协同效应;Cu和Fe、Cu和Zn呈显著负相关,提示具有抑制或拮抗作用.多因素Logistic回归结果表明,Cu是肺癌发生的重要影响因素,人体中Cu含量和Cu/Zn比值可为肺癌的早期预防和诊断提供科学依据.     

受限空间煤尘爆炸毒害气体传播伤害研究

为减少煤矿煤尘爆炸后毒气对人的危害,为煤矿防爆、抑爆和安全评价,以及事故应急救援等提供理论依据,研究了煤尘爆炸后毒气的传播伤害规律。基于质量守恒定律与空气动力学理论,建立煤尘爆炸后风流作用下的毒害气体在受限空间内的数学传播模型,得到巷道内毒气传播的弥散系数,计算出沿爆炸传播方向毒气浓度随距离变化的关系,划分伤害三区并推导出相应的伤害范围计算公式。研究表明:毒气传播的峰值点随风流方向移动,其峰值点浓度逐渐变小。     

可离子化有机污染物对大型溞的毒性及QSAR研究

取代苯酚、苯胺和苯甲酸类化合物是在环境水体中具有较强生物毒性的芳香族可离子化有机化合物,它们在水体中对水生生物和水生生态系统都有较大危害。测定此类化合物在p H值为6、7.8和9的条件下对大型溞的24 h急性毒性,计算化合物在不同p H值条件下的中性态分子所占比例F0。研究毒性与F0的相关性,结果表明F0对取代苯酚和苯甲酸类化合物的毒性的影响较大而对取代苯胺毒性的影响很小。对于卤代苯甲酸类化合物,毒性与疏水性的相关性较好,但是羟基苯甲酸类化合物的毒性与疏水性参数的相关性很差,引入量子化学参数EHOMO和取代羟基个数NOH,可以改进苯甲酸类化合物的模型的质量。     

拟除虫菊酯杀虫剂对水生态系统的毒性作用

拟除虫菊酯杀虫剂主要用于防治棉田、菜地、果树和茶叶上的农业害虫以及卫生害虫,也用于渔业生产上杀灭寄生虫。近几年来其使用量越来越大,是传统有机磷农药的替代品。它具有高效广谱、低残留的特点,对光稳定,在哺乳动物体内代谢、排泄迅速,但是对水生态系统危害较大。报道了拟除虫菊酯杀虫剂对水生生物的急、慢性毒性和中毒机理的研究进展,阐述了有待研究的方向。     

利用人体肺部PM浓度模型定量评估广州市夏、冬季抽样人群PM2.5的暴露

为了定量评价细粒子PM2.5的人体肺部暴露水平,首先,对暴露、暴露量、剂量、暴露评价等多个概念进行了明确界定,在此基础上,重点引入国际辐射防护委员会(ICRP)的人体肺部PM浓度模型对人体肺部PM2.5的浓度进行了模拟,定量化研究了广州市抽样人群PM2.5的作用剂量,作用剂量直接反映了进入人体肺部污染物的量.结果表明,广州市抽样人群平均PM2.5的作用剂量在肺部咽喉以外部分(ET)、支气管部分(BB)、肺泡空隙区(AI)分别为576.8￣975.9μg·d-1、357.5￣619.8μg·d-1、154.4￣290.1μg·d-1.