Lower Leg Injury Reference Values and Risk Curves from Survival Analysis for Male and Female Dummies: Meta-analysis of Postmortem Human Subject Tests

Objective: Derive lower leg injury risk functions using survival analysis and determine injury reference values (IRV) applicable to human mid-size male and small-size female anthropometries by conducting a meta-analysis of experimental data from different studies under axial impact loading to the foot–ankle–leg complex.

Methods: Specimen-specific dynamic peak force, age, total body mass, and injury data were obtained from tests conducted by applying the external load to the dorsal surface of the foot of postmortem human subject (PMHS) foot–ankle–leg preparations. Calcaneus and/or tibia injuries, alone or in combination and with/without involvement of adjacent articular complexes, were included in the injury group. Injury and noninjury tests were included. Maximum axial loads recorded by a load cell attached to the proximal end of the preparation were used. Data were analyzed by treating force as the primary variable. Age was considered as the covariate. Data were censored based on the number of tests conducted on each specimen and whether it remained intact or sustained injury; that is, right, left, and interval censoring. The best fits from different distributions were based on the Akaike information criterion; mean and plus and minus 95% confidence intervals were obtained; and normalized confidence interval sizes (quality indices) were determined at 5, 10, 25, and 50% risk levels. The normalization was based on the mean curve. Using human-equivalent age as 45 years, data were normalized and risk curves were developed for the 50th and 5th percentile human size of the dummies.

Results: Out of the available 114 tests (76 fracture and 38 no injury) from 5 groups of experiments, survival analysis was carried out using 3 groups consisting of 62 tests (35 fracture and 27 no injury). Peak forces associated with 4 specific risk levels at 25, 45, and 65 years of age are given along with probability curves (mean and plus and minus 95% confidence intervals) for PMHS and normalized data applicable to male and female dummies. Quality indices increased (less tightness-of-fit) with decreasing age and risk level for all age groups and these data are given for all chosen risk levels.

Conclusions: These PMHS-based probability distributions at different ages using information from different groups of researchers constituting the largest body of data can be used as human tolerances to lower leg injury from axial loading. Decreasing quality indices (increasing index value) at lower probabilities suggest the need for additional tests. The anthropometry-specific mid-size male and small-size female mean human risk curves along with plus and minus 95% confidence intervals from survival analysis and associated IRV data can be used as a first step in studies aimed at advancing occupant safety in automotive and other environments.     

水环境中不同形态氮对甲芬那酸光降解影响机制的研究

研究了紫外光照射下水环境中不同形态的无机氮(NO-3、NO-2和NH+4)对甲芬那酸(MEF)光解的影响.NO-3与NO-2均促进MEF的光解,NH+4对MEF的光解基本无影响;在NO-3、NO-2存在下添加适量异丙醇,显著抑制MEF的降解,实验表明NO-3、NO-2在光照下产生了·OH并参与对MEF的氧化降解.同时模拟研究了水体处于不同p E值下,水中存在的不同形态的无机氮对MEF光解的复合影响,其对MEF光解促进作用不是简单的叠加关系,增大p E值,MEF的光解速率先增大后减小.当NO-2和NH+4共存时,对MEF的光解主要表现为NO-2的影响;当NO-2和NO-3共存时,两者对MEF的光解存在拮抗作用.     

Seeing the wood for the trees: the role of woody resources for the construction of gender specific household cultural artefacts in non-traditional communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

There is a growing wealth of data capturing the direct-use values of the environment and recognition of forests and wild resources as representing “the poor manȁ9s overcoat”. This focus has however resulted in an emphasis on the utilitarian values of wild resources for rural livelihoods and has for the most part overlooked their cultural values. In tangent to these developments within the field of anthropology there has been increased attention directed towards the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity over the past decade. This has resulted in the recognition of what the Declaration of Belem calls an ȁ8inextricable linkȁ9 between biological and cultural diversity. The term bio-cultural diversity has been introduced as a concept denoting this link. Consequently there is a need for more elaborate assessments of the various ways in which different groups of people find value in biodiversity. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the cultural significance of wild harvested plant resources for the maintenance of two gender specific cultural artefacts for amaXhosa people in South Africa, to assess the persistence of these practices in rapidly modernizing communities. We demonstrate the endurance of these ancient cultural artefacts in present-day peri-urban communities and suggest that they point to the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity. The findings of the study should not be interpreted as illustrating stagnation in the traditional past, but rather as pointing at the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity in a dynamic sense.     

不同运行规则下区间列车运行安全性及效率研究

列车区间运行安全是列车运行安全中极为重要的部分,而列车在区间运行的安全性及效率与运行规则密切相关。将闭塞分区及与其配套的通过色灯信号机结合在一起,建立区间模型,给出列车在区间运行的安全性要求,定义列车在区间连续追踪运行的安全度,介绍列车在区间运行的全部3种运行规则及相应的区间阻塞状态。在此基础上,定量计算3种规则的安全度。基于安全性和效率,对列车运行规则进行深入研究,结果表明,3种规则效率相当,规则1安全性最优。     

天津市土壤元素背景值的地域差异及成因分析

论述了天津土壤中Cu,Pb等13种微量元素背景值在行政区，土壤类型中的差异规律，并分析了引起元素背景值地域差异的原因。     

Toxic metals status in human blood and breast milk samples in an integrated steel plant environment in Central India

Owing to its unique nutritional and immunological characteristics, human milk is the most important food source for infants. Breast milk can, however, also be a pathway of maternal excretion of toxic elements. Selected toxic elements (As, Pb, Mn,a Hg and Cd) were determined in human breast milk and blood samples obtained from 120 subjects related to an integrated steel plant environment located in central India. Samples of breast milk and blood from subjects living outside the steel plant environment were also analyzed for comparative study. Higher levels of these toxic elements were found in blood samples as compared to breast milk samples. Plant workers showed the higher presence of these metals in their breast milk and blood samples compared to the residents of the area and the subjects living outside the industrial environment, respectively. Mn, Pb and Hg have shown a higher tendency to associate with blood and breast milk than As and Cd. The order of occurrence of these metals in blood and milk samples thus found is Mn > Pb > Hg > As > Cd.     

Criteria for the evaluation of dioxins in the environment

In FRG and other countries unequivocal criteria for the limitation of dioxins (PCDD's/PCDF's) in food like vegetables and fruits are lacking. These have to be directly associated with the limitation of dioxins in the soil and the deposition of particulate matter as the two main pathways for plant contamination. Based on recent investigations in the vicinity of cable-waste incinerators in Northrhine-Westphalia with comparatively high contents of dioxins in garden plants and soils and other sources of dioxins, considerations are given for the establishment of the criteria urgently needed.     

草原生态价值观——保护呼伦贝尔草原生态环境的必由之路

呼伦贝尔草原是我国优质的天然牧场和重要的畜牧业生产基地,因自然植被保存较好,生物多样性丰富,区位优势显著,被誉为＂绿色净土＂和＂北国碧玉＂。然而近些年来,由于人为因素的影响,已使该草原大面积发生退化、沙化,湿地面积急剧缩减,水土流失现象不断加剧,草原的生态环境遭到严重的破坏。本文在分析呼伦贝尔草原生态环境现状的基础上,提出草原生态价值观的理念,并结合可持续发展的思想,对呼伦贝尔草原的生态环境的维护提出几点对策。     

基于响应面优化条件下柚皮对Pb2+的吸附

采用Plackett-Burman(P-B)法和中心复合设计(Central Composite Design,简称CCD)对影响柚皮吸附Pb2+的6个条件进行筛选优化.P-B实验设计与统计学分析表明:pH值、Pb2+初始浓度、吸附剂用量是影响吸附率的3个关键因素.以吸附率为响应目标,对3因素进行中心复合设计,并经响应面法优化分析得到影响吸附率的二阶模型,确定了Pb2+吸附实验的最优操作条件:pH值5.4.Pb2+初始浓度为265.86mg·L-1,吸附剂用量为2.56 g·L-1,实测吸附率达到92.47%,吸附量为96.01 mg·g-1;整个吸附过程吸附剂柚皮没有经过任何化学预处理.效果优于一般的天然吸附剂.研究结果表明,柚皮是一种很具潜力的环保型廉价吸附剂.