Choice of teenagers' vehicles and views on vehicle safety: survey of parents of novice teenage drivers

Objective

To examine parental decisions about vehicles driven by teenagers and parental knowledge of vehicle safety.

Methods

About 300 parents were interviewed during spring 2006 in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Rhode Island while teenagers took their first on-road driving tests.

Results

Fewer than half of parents surveyed said teenagers would be the primary drivers of the chosen vehicles. Parents most often cited safety, existing family vehicle, and reliability when explaining the choices for their teenagers’ vehicles. About half of the vehicles intended for teenagers were small/mini/sports cars, pickups, or SUVs — vehicles considered less safe for teenagers than midsize/large cars or minivans. A large majority of vehicles were 2001 models or earlier. Vehicles purchased in anticipation of adding a new driver to the family were more likely to be the sizes/types considered less safe than vehicles already owned. Few parents insisted on side airbags or electronic stability control, despite strong evidence of their safety benefits. Even when asked to identify ideal vehicles for their teenagers to drive, about half of parents identified less safe vehicle sizes/types. Most parents knew that midsize/large vehicles are safer than small vehicles, and at least half of parents said SUVs and pickups are not safe for teenage drivers, citing instability.

Conclusions

The majority of parents understood some of the important criteria for choosing safe vehicles for their teenagers. However, parents actually selected many vehicles for teenagers that provide inferior crash protection.

Impact on industry

Vehicle safety varies substantially by vehicle size, type, and safety features. Many teenagers are driving inferior vehicles in terms of crashworthiness and crash avoidance.     

Secondary analysis of time of day on simulated driving performance

PROBLEM: Age and gender are frequently controlled for in studies of driving performance, but the effects of time of day or circadian cycles on performance are often not considered. Previous research on time of day effects of simulated driving is contradictory and provides little guidance for understanding the impact of these variables on results. METHODS: Using driving simulator data from 79 subjects ages 18 to 65, this paper focuses on the impact of age, gender, and time of day on the simulated driving performance of subjects who self-selected the time of participation. RESULTS: Time of day effects were consistently evident for drivers' speed overall and across different simulated environments. Drivers in the late afternoon period consistently drove significantly slower than drivers in other time periods. Age and gender affected speed such that women and those participants 50 and older tended to drive more slowly. Time of day also had an effect on reaction time and on speed variability measures. Gender did not have significant effects on reaction time or variability measures, but age effects were present. SUMMARY: Taken together, the results suggest that time of day effects should be considered as part of simulated driving performance, and that interactions between time of day and other variables, notably age, should be controlled for as part of future research. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Implications of these findings on current efforts for older driver testing are discussed.     

沸石强化生化装置脱氮功能的效果及机理初探

针对石化工业废水开展沸石强化脱氮处理试验研究,通过比较沸石浓度25mg/L与空白,以及沸石浓度25 mg/L与50mg/L两阶段脱氮效果,探讨沸石促进脱氮功能的机理,结果表明,曝气池中投加沸石可明显提高氨氮和总氮的去除率,硝化细菌总数和硝化功能也得到增强。与空白对照组相比, 沸石浓度25mg/L的试验组运行稳定后,氨氮去除率提高约10%~13%,总氮去除率约提高13%,出水中NO3--N含量约提高100%,氨氮与总氮之比下降6%,内源硝化耗氧呼吸速率可提高138%,硝化细菌总数是空白对照组2.2folds。沸石浓度提高到50mg/L后,试验组的脱氮效果略有增加,但效果不明显。通过对试验结果的关联分析,认为沸石提高系统脱氮能力的原因一方面是因为沸石对NH4+及硝态氮的交换吸附,另一方面NH4+离子富集于沸石表面及内部、沸石颗粒独特的好氧-缺氧微环境,以及沸石离解出CO32- 或HCO3-增加碱度等条件,促进了硝化细菌和反硝化细菌的生长,从而提高了系统脱氮能力。     

Review of the remediation strategies for soil water repellency

Many regions of the world are predicted to experience water scarcity due to more frequent and more severe droughts and increased water demands. Water use efficiency by plants can be negatively affected by soil water repellency (SWR). It is timely to review existing techniques to remedy SWR. Ideally remediation addresses the origins of a problem. However, the fundamental mechanisms of how and why SWR develops are still poorly understood. In this review it was hypothesized that SWR occurs where the balance of input-decomposition of organic matter is impaired, due to either increased input or decreased decomposition rates of hydrophobic substances. Direct and indirect strategies to remedy SWR were distinguished. While direct remediation aims at abolishing the causes of SWR, indirect strategies seek to manage sites with SWR by treating its symptoms. The 12 reviewed strategies include applying surfactants, clay, slow-release fertilizers, lime, and fungicides, bioremediation of SWR through stimulating earthworms, choosing adapted vegetation, irrigation, cultivation, soil aeration and compaction. Some of the techniques have been applied successfully only in laboratory experiments. Our review highlights that it is not straightforward to cure SWR based on easily measurable and site-specific soil and vegetation properties, and that long-term, large-scale field experiments are required to improve the understanding of the evolution of SWR as cornerstone to develop cost-effective and efficient remediation strategies. We also identified current research gaps around the diagnosis and prevention of SWR.     

水钠锰矿的Mn（Ⅲ）分布及Na4P2O7溶液处理对其铅吸附性能的影响

以深入理解水钠锰矿结构中低价锰离子的含量及分布对其铅吸附性能的影响为目的,通过不同pH（pH为2、4、5）的焦磷酸钠溶液络合浸提酸性水钠锰矿结构中的Mn（Ⅱ）和Mn（Ⅲ）,研究了浸提锰离子的形态、含量、矿物的锰平均氧化度和Pb2＋的吸附量及其伴随Mn2＋、H＋释放量的变化.结果表明,锰平均氧化度为3.670的酸性水钠锰...     

城镇污水处理排放标准改革的费效分析

从费用效果角度对提高城镇污水处理排放标准的科学性和可实施性进行探讨,利用污染源普查数据,通过城镇污水治理投资和运行函数的构建,计算不同处理规模和排放标准下的污水处理投资和运行费用,在全国层面上计算提高污水处理排放标准所需费用和污染物的减排效果.研究表明：污水处理厂的投资和运行费用的增加随着污水处理规模的增加而递减.以污...     

荧光桃红-溴化十六烷基三甲基铵检测有机磷农药残留总量

在pH为6.40的B-R缓冲溶液中,荧光桃红与一定浓度的溴化十六烷基三甲基胺发生荧光增强反应,加入有机磷农药后,体系的荧光强度降低,且降低程度与有机磷农药的加入量呈良好的线性关系,建立了用此荧光法来测定有机磷农药残留总量的新方法.在优化试验条件下,线性范围为0.008-0.72 mg·L-1,检出限为0.05 mg·L...     

Towards a capability approach of sustainability

Despite having a strong influence on development policies, theories of sustainability have not paid much attention to the capability approach (CA) thus far. Against this backdrop, the present paper argues for the CA’s usefulness of sustainability. In order to avoid just an additional contribution to the already confusing theoretical situation as well as to rely our exploration of the CA’s aptness for a conception of sustainability on a transparent and comparable basis, we will first identify six adequacy conditions for concepts of sustainability. We will then work out a categorial framework for conceptions of sustainability. Finally we will demonstrate how the CA is a promising candidate for filling in the demands of this framework and what further research will be needed.     

A new process of combined pretreatment and dyeing: REST

Use of enzymes in textile processes has many advantages as far as the environmentally friendly processes are concerned. These advantages include water and energy savings, less chemical use, less fabric damage, mild and environmentally friendly process conditions. In this work, C.I. Reactive Yellow 15, C.I. Reactive Red 21 and C.I. Reactive Blue 19 were used to dye untreated woven cotton fabric in a laboratory scale dyeing machine, on a pilot scale jig and on a pilot scale winch by using a single bath combined process, in which various enzymes, namely, amylase, pectinase, and catalase were employed. This new process was named as the “Rapid Enzymatic Single-bath Treatment” (REST), since it was completed almost in half of the conventional dyeing time, and all of the stages, namely, desizing, scouring, bleaching and dyeing were carried out in a single bath without replacing the process water with fresh water until the end of the dyeing. In the REST process, the untreated, starch-sized fabric was first desized by amylase enzyme, and this was followed by a pectinase treatment in the same bath. The fabric was then bleached by H₂O₂ in the same bath, and after the hydrogen peroxide bleaching; the catalase enzyme was added to the bath to remove H₂O₂ residues before reactive dyeing. Without carrying out intermediate washings/rinsings between these processes, the reactive dyeing was carried out in a conventional way in the same bath, and finally, the fabric was taken from the bath and washed out. The colour yield was compared with the dyeings which were carried out conventionally in separate baths. Finally, the REST has many benefits in terms of water saving, reduced process time and energy consumptions compared to the conventional preparatory and dyeing process of cotton fabrics.     

Carbon footprint of food - approaches from national input-output statistics and a LCA of a food portion

The aim of the study, on which this paper is based, was to provide guidance to consumers to make environmentally responsible choices in their food consumption, to assist food supply chain stakeholders to identify the key areas for environmental improvements, and to provide policy makers with a tool for monitoring the potential impacts on climate change resulting from developments within the food sector. At the macro level, the EIO-LCA model was developed specifically for the Finnish food chain; at the micro level, LCAs were performed on 30 lunch portions. The contribution of the Finnish food chain to climate change was 14%, which comprised 40% CO₂ emissions, 25% CH₄ emissions, and 34% N₂O emissions. The share of impacts from domestic agricultural processes was the highest, at 69%. The impact of a single lunch portion ranged between 0.65 and 3.80 kg of equivalent CO₂. According to the EIO-LCA model, the average impact was 7.7 kg CO₂ eq/person daily. The consumer phase accounted for between 8 and 47% of the climate change impacts for homemade portions. In ready-to-eat portions industry and retail phases were emphasized, representing 25-38% of climate change impacts. We present an approach to steer the Finnish food sector onto an environmentally sustainable path; practical tools for consumers and farmers will especially need to be developed further.