Accidents In Areas Research Articles

Exposure to sewage water and the development of allergic manifestations in Finnish children.

BackgroundThe hygiene hypothesis suggests that a decreased microbial load contributes to an increased risk of allergies. In the Finnish municipality of Nokia, sewage water was accidentally mixed with drinking water for 2 days. We studied the association between exposure and the emergence of allergies in children.MethodsChildren aged 2‐5 years living in the accident area and an age‐matched cohort from the control municipality were recruited. Based on the questionnaires, we identified 139 children exposed to the contaminated water and selected age‐ and sex‐matched controls for them (mean age 16.59 months at the time of the accident). Allergic symptoms and diseases were recorded by ISAAC questionnaires and skin prick tests (SPTs) performed 2 and 5 years after the accident.ResultsSPT positivity at 5 years of follow‐up was decreased in the children exposed to the sewage water below 1 year of age (OR 0.311, 95% CI 0.118‐0.820; P = 0.019), particularly in children who did not develop gastroenteritis at exposure. In contrast, the children over 1 year of age at the exposure tended more likely to be SPT‐positive at 5 years of follow‐up (OR 1.997, 95% CI 0.963‐4.143; P = 0.070).ConclusionsSewage water exposure during the first year of life, but not later, decreased the risk of IgE sensitization emphasizing the importance of age as a modulator. The modulation of IgE sensitization by the presence of clinical gastroenteritis at the exposure suggests that the nature of microbial load may have importance or alternatively shared host defense mechanisms protect from infection and atopic sensitization.

The role of the safety climate in the successful implementation of safety management systems

Occupational accidents have a significant human cost and negatively affect construction companies’ productivity, financial results, and public image. To control occupational accidents and injuries, construction companies develop safety management and integrate it into their policies, strategies, and procedures. Although the last decades have witnessed significant improvement in the area of construction safety, on-site injuries and accidents are considered to be unavoidable. This study aims to explore the interaction effects of safety management and the causes of safety climate on safety performance. We test the proposed model on a sample of 349 construction companies in Singapore, using partial least squares. The findings show that safety management systems have a positive effect on safety performance. Furthermore, the interactions of safety incentives, subcontractor involvement, and safety accountability with safety management systems have significant positive effects on safety performance. Therefore, in order to successfully implement safety management systems and enhance safety performance, construction companies need to provide safety incentives and connect them to all aspects of their safety management systems, involve subcontractors in safety meetings and training, and give responsibility and authority to anyone involved in construction project implementation.

Use of everyday materials in retrospective nuclear accident dosimetry

Following a large-scale nuclear event, a quantitative estimate of the radiation dose to the general population necessitates the availability of adequate procedures for the assessment of doses. The main objectives of dose reconstruction, namely retrospective dosimetry can be synoptically stated as in the following: a) To guide the provision of proper protection for the population that had been exposed to radiation, b) To provide assuring information to the worrying public and c) To provide input data for epidemiological studies. Amongst the methods used for dose estimation are the Thermoluminescence (TL) and the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). Methods based on TL and OSL have the advantage that they allow the measurement of the integrated absorbed dose. When the irradiation comes from external sources, materials found within the perimeter of the accident area such as bricks, tiles and pottery and certain household chemicals, can be used. The absorbed dose may be evaluated many years after the accident.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPERTENSION DISEASE AND ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE IN EMERGENCY WORKERS OF THE CHORNOBYL ACCIDENT AND INFLUENCE ON IT CONDITIONS OF BEING UNDER RADIATION.

During the period from 2012 to 2018, 483 male EW (EW-m) and 134 female EW (EW-f), who worked in the accident zone over 1986-1987, were examined. All EW of both gender at the time of emergency works had no signs of cardiac pathology. The diagnosis of cardiovascular disease was established in accordance with the diagnostic standards adopted in Ukraine [2964], on the basis of clinical and laboratory examination. EW could be divided into the following categories according to their occupational membership and nature of performed job: (1) ChNPP staff, (2) persons engaged in construction works (builders), (3) drivers, (4) engineers and technicians, (5) Soviet Army (SA) personnel, policemen and firemen served in Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), officers of Interior Troops (IT), (6) low skilled laborers (LSL), (7) medical staff (doctors, nurses, paramedics) and (8) service staff. Among all examined men and women who took part in emergency work, the overwhelming majority stood in the accident area from the end of April to the end of December 1986: 440 men and 111 women. Others were involved to work during 1987. Most men and women worked on liquidation of the accident from April 26, 1986 to the end of May (349 and 71 persons respectively), with the proportion of men was significantly higher. In the rest months of 1986 and the beginning of 1987, on the contrary, the relative number of women involved in the accident exceeded the proportion of men.The EW-m of all occupations were in the risk zone of the cardiovascular diseases, and the HHD development truly correlated with service in MIA, SA and IT, CHD development with profession of engi- neer and technician, and builder as well, and MI development with driver job. The risk of HHD development during the first 10 years after the accident was 4.6 times higher among officers of MIA, SA and IT who had non-shift work in Prypiat and/or at the ChNPP comparing with persons of other occupations and working conditions. The risk of CHD development during the first 15 years was 8.2 times higher in the engineers and technicians who worked in the 30-km zone, compared with other EW and risk of MI throughout the observation period was 6.4 times higher in the drivers, who had shift work in a 30-km zone. In EW-f the risk of HHD developing during the first 10 years after the accident was 2.1 times lower than those who worked in the service sector (kitchen, trade, economists and account- ants, communications, etc.) compared with the representatives of any other profession, and the risk of CHD devel- oping during the first 15 years after the accident was higher in medical staff and EW of other occupational cate- gories that had shift work. Women who worked with shifts had a 4.8-fold higher risk of MI developing than those who had limited terms of work with the subsequent withdrawal from the accident area. For more accurately assess the radiation effects on the cardiovascular system of persons who took part in the emergency works at the ChNPP, it should not be limited by comparing the effects of unexposed populations, but to take into account the EW professional affiliation, the terms of stay in the accident area and the nature of performed work.

A Multistory Building Evacuation Model Based on Multiple‐Factor Analysis

Emergency evacuation is an important issue in public security. To make a considerate plan, various situations are presented including blocking the accident area and letting the emergency access path available. In order to offer dynamic evacuation routes due to different circumstances, a multistory building evacuation model is proposed. Firstly, to analyse the patency of the building, an evacuation formula is applied after binary processing. The function of evacuation time and some other parameters is given by means of regression analysis. Secondly, the cellular automata (CA) algorithm was applied to illustrate the effect of the bottleneck. The response of evacuation time could be approximately optimized through calculating time step of the CA simulation. Finally, the value of maximum evacuation population density could be determined according to the analysis of CA simulation results, which was related to the switch state of the emergency channel. The emergency evacuation model was simulated by using the Louvre museum as an example. The results of the simulation presented some feasible evacuation routes in all kinds of situations. Furthermore, the functional relationship would also be given among evacuation time with the diversity of tourists, pedestrian density, and width of exits. It can give a different perspective that the multistory building evacuation model shows excellent adaptability to different circumstances.

Nordic research and development cooperation to strengthen nuclear reactor safety after the Fukushima accident

Abstract NKS (Nordic Nuclear Safety Research) is a forum for Nordic cooperation and competence sharing within nuclear safety and emergency preparedness, serving as an umbrella for Nordic initiatives and interests. An overview of the funded activities within the nuclear safety program (NKS-R) during the last few years is presented in this article. The presented research covers the areas of thermal hydraulics, severe accidents, risk analysis and probabilistic methods, organisational issues and safety culture, decommissioning and plant life management and extension. Activities are focused towards practical and directly applicable scientific results and competence building. NKS-R funds research activities with particular relevance for the development of Nordic reactor safety research, and promotes participation of young scientists in the activities. The activities involve experimental and analytical studies, workshops, case studies and seminars, and bring together technical research organisations, universities, authorities, industries and consultant companies from the Nordic countries. As exemplified in this report, The NKS-R program provides support with high additionality particularly in smaller R&D projects and pilot projects, and offers the opportunity for network building and valuable collaborations between experts at the leading Nordic research facilities within reactor safety.

Studies on Securing Mobility Considering Supply Bottlenecks of Regional Public Transport in the Evacuation Ordered Areas of the Nuclear Accident

Studies on Securing Mobility Considering Supply Bottlenecks of Regional Public Transport in the Evacuation Ordered Areas of the Nuclear Accident

Monosodium glutamate for accidental, retrospective, and medical dosimetry using electron spin resonance.

The risk of a radiation episode has increased in the last years due to several reasons. In case of a nuclear incident, as with the use of an improvised nuclear device, determination of the radiation doses received by the victims is of utmost importance to define the appropriate medical treatment or to monitor the late effects of radiation. Dose assessment in case of accidents can be performed using commonplace materials found in the accident area. In this paper, the dosimetric properties of monosodium glutamate are investigated by electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR), for retrospective and accidental dosimetry. The spectroscopic parameters were optimized to achieve higher signal intensity and better signal-to-noise ratio. As a result, the lowest detectable dose was 0.1Gy, and monosodium glutamate showed a linear dose-response curve for doses ranging from 0.1Gy to 10kGy. The dosimetric signal was monitored from minutes right after irradiation, until 1year. No changes in the signal intensity were observed over this period, meaning that doses could be assessed immediately after radiation exposure and can still be reconstructed long after the accident. This property also implies that late effects due to victim's radiation exposure could be better monitored and understood. ESR signal intensity for samples irradiated with a photon energy below 100keV was decreased by only 27% and no dose-rate dependence was noticed. Therefore, the ability to measure doses as low as 0.1Gy, the high stability of the dosimetric signal, as well as independence on dose rate, tissue equivalence, low-cost, and wide commercial availability make monosodium glutamate a very good dosimetric material not only for retrospective and accidental but also for medical dosimetry.

Maturidade da Cultura de Segurança no Trabalho: Aplicação do Modelo de Hudson em um Laticínio no Sudoeste do Paraná

O estudo buscou analisar o grau de maturidade da cultura de segurança no trabalho do setor operacional de um laticínio localizado no Sudoeste do Paraná. A abordagem quantitativa fez uso de questionário fechado, baseado no modelo de análise da maturidade da cultura de segurança proposto por Hudson (2001 apud Gonçalves, 2011). A pesquisa foi feita junto a uma amostra de 47 funcionários operacionais e três gestores da empresa responsáveis pela área de segurança e prevenção de acidentes de trabalho do laticínio. Como principais resultados, os funcionários operacionais atribuem grau de maturidade da cultura de segurança no trabalho no estágio “sustentável”, enquanto, para a gerência, a maturidade da cultura de segurança encontra-se no estágio “proativo”. O estudo aponta os fatores “envolvimento” e “aprendizagem organizacional” como demandantes de ações de melhoria, visando reposicionamento entre os estágios de maturidade da cultura de segurança no trabalho na empresa.

SAINT+: Self-Adaptive Interactive Navigation Tool+ for Emergency Service Delivery Optimization

This paper proposes an evolved Self-Adaptive Interactive Navigation Tool (SAINT+) to reduce the delivery time of emergency services and to improve navigation efficiency for the vehicles influenced by accidents. To the best of our knowledge, SAINT+ is the first attempt to optimize the delivery of emergency services as well as the navigation routes of vehicles around accident areas. Based on the congestion contribution model of SAINT and aggregated information from vehicles in the vehicular cloud, we propose a virtual path reservation strategy for emergency vehicles to guarantee a fast emergency service delivery. We also develop an accident area protection scheme based on an adjusted congestion contribution matrix and protection zones to evacuate vehicles in the accident area. To further reduce travel delay of neighbor vehicles in the accident area, we also present a dynamic traffic flow control model. Through extensive simulations with a real-world map, SAINT+ outperforms other state-of-the-art schemes for the travel delay of emergency vehicles. In scenarios with a high vehicle density, SAINT+ reduces the travel delay of emergency vehicles by 42.2%.

Survivability of occupants in commercial passenger aircraft accidents

Globally, the risk of a commercial aircraft accident is low. The fatal accident rate of about 0.65 per million flights at the start of the 1990 s decreased to an average of one per 2.75 million flights for the five-year period 2010–2015. Research related to factors that can impact the health outcomes of occupants and the preparedness and response to aviation mass casualty accidents is rather limited. The aim of the study was to expand this knowledge and to determine the impact of maximum take-off weight (MTOW), flight phases and aircraft damage on the survivability of occupants in commercial passenger aircraft accidents. Two thousand one hundred accidents from the period 1990–2014, included in the accident database of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), met the inclusion criteria of the study. Results of the study showed that the survivability was lower and the casualty rate and the rate of seriously and fatally injured was higher in accidents that occurred during the approach phase, involving smaller aircrafts and in which the aircraft was destroyed. Approximately two-thirds of the accidents happened at the airport or in its immediate vicinity. Empirical data on the casualty rate, the rate of seriously and fatally injured and the survivability of occupants involved in commercial passenger aircraft accidents can help to optimize the preparedness and response of emergency medical services and hospitals in the accident area.

Chemical accident area reconnaissance by unmanned aircraft

Chemical accidents, as unexpected events, occur in contemporary society relatively often, and the resulting consequences can be different - from very small to catastrophic. Within the integrated response to chemical accidents, chemical reconnaissance of the accident area takes a significant place. This paper presents the possibility of prioritizing the criteria and attributes of the criterion for selecting unmanned aircraft for reconnaissance of the chemical accident area. By analyzing the content of the available literature, the criteria for evaluating the alternatives of the offered 'miniunmanned aircraft' are set out. This paper deals with testing using the questionnaire, processing the obtained data and prioritization of the criteria and attributes using the fuzzy AHP method and examination of the results consistency by the consistency degree. Testing of the obtained results and selection of optimal unmanned aircraft using the TOPSIS method has been carried out, as well. Due to the extreme danger that personnel are exposed to during the chemical reconnaissance of the accident area (high concentrations of dangerous chemicals, long-term wearing of protective equipment, increased psychophysical stress, etc.), this paper considers the possibility of using unmanned aircraft. Furthermore, this paper suggests the way of selecting optimal UA as an element for reconnaissance in a particular chemical accident.

Research on the Drunk Driving Traffic Accidents Based on Logistic Regression Model

Most of the current studies on drunk driving accidents focus on law making and public education. However, especially in China, there is less statistical analysis on the severity of drunk driving accidents between driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and driving while intoxicated (DWI). 3368 drunk driving related crashes were collected from the blood-alcohol test report in a city of China at 2012 and 2013. After data pre-processing, Chi-square tests were used to analyze the association between different variables and the type of drunk driving. The logistic regression model is conducted to estimate the effect of the variables under DUI and DWI. The results show that Hour of the day, Driver’s age, Driver’s casualties and Accident area have significant correlation with drunk driving. There was a slightly decrease by 0.995 per year with age and a slightly increase by 1.014 with time in the possibility of DWI. DWI is more likely to cause death in traffic accidents (OR = 1.316) than DUI. Driver’s deaths (OR = 2.346) is more likely to happen than the injuries (OR = 1.910) under DWI cases. These findings show that more attention should be paid to strengthen controls on the DWI. It also can provide important basis for accident prevent, traffic law enforcement and traffic management.

An Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling Microservice for HazMat Transportation

In most hazardous materials (Hazmat for short) transportation systems, the purpose is to reduce the risk-cost from origins to destinations. This makes the hazmat system more complicated when compared to many other transportation systems. There are different models for considering risk in a hazmat transportation, the most broadly used is the so-called “traditional risk model”, through which the risk is defined as the product of two parameters: (a) the probability of an accident; and (b) the consequences of the accident. The consequences depend on other factors such the threat zone, which indicates the geographical area in which an atmospheric release of a substance would affect a given area during a specified time period. Moreover, the dispersion of pollutants within the accident area is a function of weather parameters such as wind direction, wind speed, atmospheric stability, which changes instantly in the real world. Thus, the weather system changes the risk parameters by changing the area impacted by a hazmat accident. Hence, it is difficult to identify and to tell the dispersion of a substance. The aim of this work is to develop the microservice that focuses on the computation of dispersion model and to identify the coverage of the affected area through the simulation software Areal location of Hazardous Atmosphere (ALOHA). The proposed microservice uses emission source, accident location and real-time meteorological data near to the sources, to provide necessary and accurate results rapidly. It can be used to more accurately simulate the atmospheric evolution of the released material in both time and space, for decision making and real-time response to save lives and to evacuate peoples to safety during a disaster release.

Risk Assessment of Pedestrian Accident Area Using Spatial Analysis and Deep Learning

Risk Assessment of Pedestrian Accident Area Using Spatial Analysis and Deep Learning

A Network Coding-Aware Directional Broadcast Routing Scheme for VANET

Recent technological advancements in wireless communications are fundamentally changing the manner by which devices communicates with one another. Modern wireless devices build networks on their own and aid each other in passing information to any device in the network. The aim of this research is to design and develop a robust routing protocol using network coding technique for Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET). The purpose of the protocol is to disseminate vehicular traffic to the vehicles approaching the problem area, rather than those leaving the problem area. The designed protocol during the research will be more robust, reliable, and efficient with topology change. In this research, network coding and geographical routing models will be used to develop network coding based VANET routing protocol for alerting vehicles approaching the accident area and emergency message dissemination. The network coding model assumed will serve to increase throughput, in this sense reducing packet loss which will provide a robust broadcast routing protocol.

36. Selective internal radiation therapy with yttrium-90: Optimization of pre-therapeutic dosimetry

Introduction During the simulation step of a selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT) with yttrium-90, SPECT/CT images using 99mTc-MAA (macroaggregated human albumin) are acquired in order to assess the lung shunt and the MAA biodistribution in the healthy liver and the tumour. A predictive dosimetry is then usually performed in order to estimate the mean absorbed dose delivered to the lungs, the healthy liver and the tumour during the treatment. The aim of this study was to find a simple and quantitative segmentation method that can easily be transferred to clinical routine. We chose to use 99mTc-MAA SPECT images alone and we compared this method with two other historically methods used in this procedure: anatomical segmentation obtained from CT alone and from co-registered SPECT/CT images. Methods The dosimetric reconstruction tool currently in development uses the Geant4 and the GATE Monte Carlo codes to provide dose maps in the area of an irradiation accident. An important feature of the simulation Two calibration curves were obtained from phantom studies using a NEMA/IEC phantom. The first curve was used to determine which threshold (SPECTthres) should be applied to match the actual organs volumes according to measured the signal to noise ratio (SNR) in the images. The second curve enabled the user to get quantitative data from the chosen threshold. This method was validated using the Stratos software with an anthropomorphic torso phantom: the mean absorbed doses to the tumour and the healthy liver were estimated by Voxel Dose Kernel (VDK) dosimetry and compared to the theoretical mean absorbed doses calculated with the MIRD formalism. The method was then compared with two other segmentation techniques and retrospectively applied to 5 patients. Results In phantom studies, the image derived characteristics of the healthy liver were preserved (volume deviation Conclusion Besides its ease of implementation in clinical routine, the SPECTthres technique allows operators to estimate accurately the volume and activity of 3D delineated object in the framework of SIRT with yttrium-90.

35. Conception of a numerical simulation tool for the deployable expert team CReDO (Operational Dose Reconstruction Cell)

Introduction In the context of a nuclear or radiological accident involving high doses of ionizing radiation, the treatment of the victims faces two different situations: – For contaminated patients, the priority goes to the treatment, which can often be “blindly” administered to reduce the committed dose as the main molecules don’t engage any harmful side effects. This therapeutic must take place early, before and during a precise assessment of the involved radionuclides. – For irradiated patients, priority goes to the diagnosis because it is essential to know how the dose is distributed among the organs in order to sort the victims according to the severity of the exposure. The victims can consequently be lead to the most appropriate health structures. At present there is yet only very few field techniques that are capable of rapidly characterizing an external radiation exposure in case of an accident involving a large amount of victims. Nevertheless scientific, industrial and military applications as well as terrorist menace generate a significant probability of such an event. Methods The dosimetric reconstruction tool currently in development uses the Geant4 and the GATE Monte Carlo codes to provide dose maps in the area of an irradiation accident. An important feature of the simulation device is to be able to operate in highly degraded situations. As it is integrated in a militarized and hardened case, it can be freed from any link to a remote computer cluster thanks to a powerful multicore calculator that allows performing dose simulations with total autonomy. Results Using a simple and intuitive graphical user interface, trained users will be able to quickly design the whole scene of the accident using mostly the mouse and navigate in this 3D virtual world with a first person camera. This simulation tool is also compatible to work with libraries of sources, voxel phantoms and shielding materials that can be quickly integrated into the modeled scene of the radiation accident. Numerical filters are currently in development to target the most exposed areas to help medical teams to guide victims through appropriate medical care management solutions. Conclusions This numerical simulation tool based on modern technologies for dose calculation is aimed to strengthen the current diagnostic arsenal by meeting the need of on-field dosimetric triage for radiation-exposed victims. Through a validation phase on standardized scenarios the relevance of this dosimetric solution is currently being tested for different type of possible external exposure situations.

Unmanned aerial vehicles as a tool to support aerodrome services

The aim of this paper is to show the possibility of using UAV by airport managers. With a few exceptions, there are no studies on this issue. This article is an attempt to fill these research gap. This article is based on the results of studies of the Department of Air Technologies of the Silesian University of Technology, Civil Aviation Personnel Education Centre of Central and Eastern Europe Silesian University of Technology, RPAS TEAM functioning within the Centre. It has been reported that the airport’s UAV may serve such services as: Airport Protection Service (patrolling and protecting area near aerodrome), Rescue and Fire Fighting Services (accident area monitoring), airport maintenance and infrastructure services (monitoring and inspection of buildings, pavements, roads, installations), operational departments or duty departments (better visualization of the operational situation).

CHOICE OF REACTION TIME ON DANGER OF THE DRIVER WHO OPERATES THE CAR, MOVING WITH EXCEEDING OF THE ESTABLISHED RESTRICTION ON THE TRAVERSE SPEED

Today in the expert practice of carrying out forensic autotechnical examination on choosing ofsituational reaction time on danger of the driver the methodical recommendations, accepted in 1987, and being entered into expert practice in 1988, are used. After this time in expert practice there were no attempts on more precise definitions or expansions of typical situations when determining differentiated value of reaction time on danger of the driver. In these recommendations for different characteristics of road- traffic situations there were listed typical variants of the development mechanism of the traffic accident at the stage of approaching participants to the point of impact (running- down). Typical variants which are shown in the methodical recommendations, on determination of the differentiated values of reaction time on danger of the driver, not in a full extent cover possible mechanisms of traffic accident development. In particular, reaction time on danger of the driver is not defined when exceeding speed mode by him which was introduced in the area of road-traffic accident, during running-down on the pedestrian or vehicles collisions. Expert practice of carrying outforensic autotechnical examination has shown that almost in 30 % of all appointed examinations by judicial-investigative bodies there are the subjects of research running-downs of vehicles on pedestrians or vehicles collisions when drivers who had the prevailing right to passage, moved with exceeding traverse speed. Nowadays there is a need of changing approach to the definition ofsituational reaction time of the driver when there is the data that by the time of collision the car moved with exceeding of the established restriction of traverse speed by means of its decrease to 0.6 sec. from relatively typical variants given in the methodical recommendations.