Multibody model of the human upper extremity for fracture simulation

About 3.8 million people are injured in accidents at work in Europe every year. The resulting high costs are incurred by the victims themselves, their families, employers and society. We have used a numerical simulation to reconstruct accidents at work for several years. To reconstruct these accidents MADYMO R7.5 with a numerical human model (pedestrian model) is used. However, this model is dedicated to the analysis of car-to-pedestrian accidents and thus cannot be fully used for reconstructing accidents at work. Therefore, we started working on the development of a numerical model of the human body for the purpose of simulating accidents at work. Developing a new numerical model which gives an opportunity to simulate fractures of the upper extremity bones is a stage of that work.     

Traffic accident reconstruction and an approach for prediction of fault rates using artificial neural networks: A case study in Turkey

Objective: Currently, in Turkey, fault rates in traffic accidents are determined according to the initiative of accident experts (no speed analyses of vehicles just considering accident type) and there are no specific quantitative instructions on fault rates related to procession of accidents which just represents the type of collision (side impact, head to head, rear end, etc.) in No. 2918 Turkish Highway Traffic Act (THTA 1983). The aim of this study is to introduce a scientific and systematic approach for determination of fault rates in most frequent property damage–only (PDO) traffic accidents in Turkey.

Methods: In this study, data (police reports, skid marks, deformation, crush depth, etc.) collected from the most frequent and controversial accident types (4 sample vehicle–vehicle scenarios) that consist of PDO were inserted into a reconstruction software called vCrash. Sample real-world scenarios were simulated on the software to generate different vehicle deformations that also correspond to energy-equivalent speed data just before the crash. These values were used to train a multilayer feedforward artificial neural network (MFANN), function fitting neural network (FITNET, a specialized version of MFANN), and generalized regression neural network (GRNN) models within 10-fold cross-validation to predict fault rates without using software. The performance of the artificial neural network (ANN) prediction models was evaluated using mean square error (MSE) and multiple correlation coefficient (R).

Results: It was shown that the MFANN model performed better for predicting fault rates (i.e., lower MSE and higher R) than FITNET and GRNN models for accident scenarios 1, 2, and 3, whereas FITNET performed the best for scenario 4. The FITNET model showed the second best results for prediction for the first 3 scenarios. Because there is no training phase in GRNN, the GRNN model produced results much faster than MFANN and FITNET models. However, the GRNN model had the worst prediction results. The R values for prediction of fault rates were close to 1 for all folds and scenarios.

Conclusions: This study focuses on exhibiting new aspects and scientific approaches for determining fault rates of involvement in most frequent PDO accidents occurring in Turkey by discussing some deficiencies in THTA and without regard to initiative and/or experience of experts. This study yields judicious decisions to be made especially on forensic investigations and events involving insurance companies. Referring to this approach, injury/fatal and/or pedestrian-related accidents may be analyzed as future work by developing new scientific models.     

湖南慈利马尾松树轮宽度对气候的响应及1854年以来冬季极端低温重建

利用采自湖南慈利的马尾松树轮样本,建立研究区的标准树轮宽度年表。树轮气候响应分析发现:马尾松径向生长与月最大日降水量在生长季之前部分月份显著负相关(p0.05),在生长季之内部分月份显著正相关(p0.05),与月平均温度、月平均最低温度、月极端最低温度在生长季之前和之内大多月份均显著正相关(p0.05),其中与上一年11月到当年2月(冬季)的平均极端最低温度相关最好(r=0.62,p0.01)。重建了湖南慈利地区1854年以来冬季极端最低温度,重建气温在十年尺度上表现出明显的反"S"型,1854—1916年和1981—2015年处于暖冬时期,1917—1980年处于寒冬时期。此外,共发现29个寒冬年,其中包括3个寒冬时段,分别为1922—1925年、1927—1930年和1953—1960年,其中1953—1960年是自1854年以来最冷的时段。空间相关性分析表明重建序列可以指示我国中东部的冬季低温变化,而冬季低温可能与热带印度洋、西太平洋海温变化异常有关。     

Tsunami survivors' perspectives on vulnerability and vulnerability reduction: evidence from Koh Phi Phi Don and Khao Lak, Thailand

This paper presents the results of primary research with 40 survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in two communities: Khao Lak (n=20) and Koh Phi Phi Don (n=20), Thailand. It traces tsunami survivors' perceptions of vulnerability, determines whether residents felt that the tsunami affected different communities differently, identifies the populations and sub-community groups that survivors distinguished as being more vulnerable than others, highlights community-generated ideas about vulnerability reduction, and pinpoints a range of additional vulnerability reduction actions. Tsunami survivors most consistently identified the 'most vulnerable' community sub-populations as women, children, the elderly, foreigners, and the poor. In Khao Lak, however, respondents added 'Burmese migrants' to this list, whereas in Koh Phi Phi Don, they added 'Thai Muslims'. Results suggest that the two case study communities, both small, coastal, tourism-dominated communities no more than 100 kilometres apart, have differing vulnerable sub-groups and environmental vulnerabilities, requiring different post-disaster vulnerability reduction efforts.     

A TREE‐RING RECONSTRUCTION OF STREAMFLOW FOR THE COLORADO FRONT RANGE1

ABSTRACT: Water resource planning is based primarily on 20th century instrumental records of climate and streamflow. These records are limited in length to approximately 100 years, in the best cases, and can reflect only a portion of the range of natural variability. The instrumental record neither can be used to gage the unusualness of 20th Century extreme low flow events, nor does it allow the detection of low‐frequency variability that may underlie short‐term variations in flow. In this study, tree rings are used to reconstruct mean annual streamflow for Middle Boulder Creek in the Colorado Front Range, a semi‐arid region of rapid growth and development. The reconstruction is based on a stepwise regression equation that accounts for 70 percent of the variance in the instrumental record, and extends from 1703–1987. The reconstruction suggests that the instrumental record of streamflow for Middle Boulder Creek is not representative of flow in past centuries and that several low flow events in the 19th century were more persistent than any in the 20th century. The 1840s to early 1850s period of low flow is a particularly notable event and may have coincided with a period of low flow in the Upper Colorado River Basin.     

甜菜制糖生产废水提标改造设计分析

食品废水处理对我国的经济发展以及环境业提高具有重要的推动作用。本文以某制糖厂为例,对甜菜制糖废水处理站的提标改造工程进行详细分析,在此基础上进行合理设计。     

适宜性评价视角下的煤矿土地复垦技术措施研究——以白山市道清沟煤矿为例

基于土地适宜性评价方法,着重选取极限值条件法、AHP层次分析法、加权指数和法对白山市道清沟煤矿区的土地适宜类和土地质量等进行系统综合的分析,判定道清沟煤矿待复垦土地的类型、数量和质量。基于土地破坏现状和适宜性评价结果,提出以工程措施为主、生物化学措施为辅助的土地生态重构对策。     

后重建时代汶川大地震极重灾区旅游发展策略探析

2008年汶川大地震给四川省旅游业发展在短期内造成了极大困难,但也给当地遗留了大量的地震遗存,拥有重要的科学考查、科普教育和纪念价值。后重建时代极重灾区面临的旅游发展问题大同小异,虽然开发了许多新项目,但问题并没有从根本上解决。从当地自然环境禀赋各异、少数民族文化开发程度低、旅游商品外来化严重、旅游安全等方面分析了面临的各种问题,提出了具有针对性的对策和建议。     

中国农村环境问题的法律思考

改革开放以来,随着中国农村经济的快速发展,农村环境问题也日益突出,严重影响了社会主义新农村建设的“生产发展、生活宽裕、乡风文明、村容整洁、管理民主”目标和要求的实现,阻碍了农村乃至全国经济、社会和环境的协调发展。加强农村环境保护,是新农村建设的当务之急,是全面建设小康社会和构建和谐社会的迫切要求。文中在现有研究的基础上,考察农村环境问题之现状,从法律视角,深入分析农村环境的问题之所在,提出解决农村环境问题的对策,努力探寻一条与中国农村实际相适合的生态环境保护道路。     

环评中不同性质项目工程分析内容的探讨

根据环境影响评价中工程分析篇章的目的及要求,探讨了新建、改扩建、技术改造三种不同建设性质项目的定义,分析了这三类项目工程分析篇章应编写的内容,并重点论述了其中的区别。