Latent Hazards Research Articles

Experimental study on Fuel Heating of A Gas Turbine Engine

In order to mitigate the latent hazards caused by fuel retention in the gas turbine and ensure a higher ignition success rate, an investigation was conducted on the impact of fuel heating on the gas turbine. By incorporating a fuel heating device into the gas turbine, experiments were carried out to evaluate its heating performance at different positions within the fuel system. The objective was to elevate the temperature of the main fuel pipe prior to ignition, thereby reducing ignition success speed and guaranteeing successful combustion initiation. The findings revealed that placing the fuel heating device at the outlet of the fuel control device met all requirements; however, positioning it before this device failed to meet expectations. Furthermore, when subjected to heat, this particular heating device did not accurately reflect actual fuel temperature; additionally, relying solely on circulating heat within the existing fuel system proved inadequate. Consequently, based on these test results, an optimal solution involving supplementary heating devices was determined - a decision that holds immense significance for ensuring steady operation of gas turbines.

Evaluation of a Course to Teach Medical Students Latent Hazard Identification in the Operating Room.

To improve situational awareness in the operating room (OR), avirtual online operating room of hazards (ROH) with deliberately placed risks was created. We hypothesized that subjects first participating in the virtual online ROH would identify more hazards during an in-person ROH exercise in a physical OR than those in the control group who only received didactic training. We conducted a randomized controlled trial at a major academic medical center, enrolling 48 pre-clinical medical students with no previous OR exposure during their classes. Control and experimental group subjects participated in a brief, online didactic orientation session conducted live over Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc., San Jose, CA) to learn about latent hazards in the OR. Experimental group subjects further interacted with a virtual onlineoperating ROH in which latent hazards were present. The fraction of deliberately created latent hazards placed in a physical, in-person OR identified by subjects was calculated. Experimental group subjects identified a significantly larger fraction of the created hazards (41.3%) than the control group (difference = 16.4%, 95% CI: 11.3% to 21.4%, P < 0.0001). There was no difference in the number of non-hazards misidentified as hazards between the groups. Participation in the virtual online environment resulted in greater recognition of latent operating room hazards during a simulation conducted in a physical, in-person OR than in a didactic experience alone. Because creating an in-room experience to teach the identification of latent hazards in an OR is resource-intensive and requires removing the OR from clinical use, we recommend the virtual online approach described for training purposes. Adding items most misidentified as hazards is suggested for future implementation.

Analysis of landslide susceptibility prediction accuracy with an event-based inventory: The 6 February 2023 Turkiye earthquakes

Landslide susceptibility assessment is a complex challenge explored by various scientists, but not fully resolved. In this study, we produced the landslide susceptibility map of a large region covering 38,500 km2 area in South-East Turkiye severely affected by the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquakes (Mw 7.7 and Mw 7.6) using an inventory produced in previous years. We employed random forest regression with a total of nine geomorphological and environmental features and evaluated the results using the co-seismic inventory with 2611 landslides compiled here. Although high accuracy was obtained from pixel-based assessments of test data split from the learning set, the independent validation set of co-seismic landslides showed that attention needs to be paid unseen features such as rare lithological units. Given the significant damage caused by latent hazards with the Kahramanmaras earthquakes, producing reliable inventories and precise landslide susceptibility maps is crucial for risk reduction and minimizing damages.

Latent Class Proportional Hazards Regression with Heterogeneous Survival Data.

Heterogeneous survival data are commonly present in chronic disease studies. Delineating meaningful disease subtypes directly linked to a survival outcome can generate useful scientific implications. In this work, we develop a latent class proportional hazards (PH) regression framework to address such an interest. We propose mixture proportional hazards modeling, which flexibly accommodates class-specific covariate effects while allowing for the baseline hazard function to vary across latent classes. Adapting the strategy of nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation, we derive an Expectation-Maximization (E-M) algorithm to estimate the proposed model. We establish the theoretical properties of the resulting estimators. Extensive simulation studies are conducted, demonstrating satisfactory finite-sample performance of the proposed method as well as the predictive benefit from accounting for the heterogeneity across latent classes. We further illustrate the practical utility of the proposed method through an application to a mild cognitive impairment (MCI) cohort in the Uniform Data Set.

Balancing Sustainability of Environmental Impact of Nanomaterials: An Overview

Nanomaterials, with their exclusive properties and multipurpose applications, hold incredible potential across various industries, ranging from electronics to healthcare. However, the environmental impact of these materials remains a critical apprehension as their usage booms up. This overview explores the complex association between nanomaterials and sustainability, directing to unravel their environmental implications even though advocating for a balanced approach towards their utilization. The environmental footmark of nanomaterials integrates their entire lifecycle-from synthesis to discarding. Vibrant considerations encompass the energy-intensive production developments, the latent release of nanoparticles into the environment, and their persistence and bioaccumulation. Although nanomaterials offer pioneering solutions, their unchecked propagation could exaggerate ecological degradation and posture risks to human health. Achieving sustainability in nanomaterials necessitates a many-sided tactic. This imitates integrating environmental considerations into the design and synthesis stage, implementing green manufacturing practices, and employing robust regulations to lessen latent hazards. This overview provides new insights to establish a strong embracing sustainability principle that can reveal the wide-ranging potential of nanomaterials however shielding ecological integrity for future generations.

Tracking industry pollution sources and health risks in China

Agglomeration of firms significantly increases pollution emission intensity and brings unintended consequences to public health. We develop the pollution emission indices using the firm-level pollutant emission data in China to track pollution intensities at the source using the locally weighted regression approach. Our constant-quality pollutant emission indices for three pollutants (wastewater discharge, COD, and SO2) and the pollution emission heatmaps show decreasing trends for the three pollutants from 1998 to 2012. We also show significant spatial clustering and regional variations in pollution emission trends. Industrial pollution mitigations in China's Eastern and Central regions have been neglected for decades since 2021, when driving economic growth took priority. The regime shifts in pollution controls from the 10th (2000–2005) to the 11th (2006–2010) Five-Year Plan period show the effects of tightening pollution emission controls. Failure to cut pollution emissions at source causes health consequences to residents living and working in nearby polluting industries. The latent environmental hazard could be a ticking time bomb, which could not be delinked from the emergence of cancer villages in the regions. Therefore, enforcing strict and uniform pollution controls and setting clear emission limits at sources can eliminate free-rider problems by polluting firms.

Between Adat Law and National Law: The Resistance of Sasak Women to Their Inheritance Rights in Lombok Indonesia

This is a study of the conflict between customary law and national law in the Sasak community of Lombok, Indonesia, which focused on women's resistance to customary inheritance law which denies them inheritance rights. This research was conducted in several villages that are still strong in implementing customary inheritance law in the Sasak tribe; Sade hamlet, Teruwai village, Penujak village, and Bayan village. Data collection methods were conducted through documentation, observation, and interviews. In this study, it was discovered that the conflict originated from the patriarchal system of kinship and social relations in Sasak society. Sasak women, in a patriarchal system, did not receive fair rights in the distribution of inheritance. This is what triggers conflict between customary law and national law; inequality and injustice. For this reason, the resistance of Sasak women was carried out through the national legal process. This condition is a latent hazard that continues to threatens the stability of families and communities, and therefore requires a conceptual offer that can be accepted by all groups through a mediation process so that people continue to recognize their customary laws without having lost their national identity.

Semi-automated visualization method for visual inspection of buildings on BIM using 3D point cloud

Regular diagnosis of a building can identify structural safety and latent hazards and establish efficient maintenance strategies. Traditional diagnoses are based on personal perspectives or knowledge of experts; therefore, they are laborious, time-consuming, and subjective. Moreover, the results may be unreliable. In addition, an undefined data format makes its practical use difficult. This study proposes a visualized semi-automated approach to extract building condition data and integrate them with BIM using Dynamo. The proposed framework uses Python code to improve efficiency when extracting coordinates. First, 3D point cloud data on the external walls of buildings obtained using a laser scanner are processed, and the relevant information, such as coordinates, is extracted. Second, the BIM model is implemented based on a point cloud using supplementary modeling tools. Finally, the extracted defects are modeled as new objects, and each BIM object is colored according to the modified criteria. To validate the feasibility of the proposed method, it was applied to actual buildings, improving the efficiency and accuracy of building inspections. This is expected to facilitate a reduction in building maintenance work and the identification of deterioration patterns.

The effect of smoking on latent hazard classes of metabolic syndrome using latent class causal analysis method in the Iranian population

BackgroundThe prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing worldwide. Clinical guidelines consider metabolic syndrome as an all or none medical condition. One proposed method for classifying metabolic syndrome is latent class analysis (LCA). One approach to causal inference in LCA is using propensity score (PS) methods. The aim of this study was to investigate the causal effect of smoking on latent hazard classes of metabolic syndrome using the method of latent class causal analysis.MethodsIn this study, we used data from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Cohort Study (TLGS). 4857 participants aged over 20 years with complete information on exposure (smoking) and confounders in the third phase (2005–2008) were included. Metabolic syndrome was evaluated as outcome and latent variable in LCA in the data of the fifth phase (2014–2015). The step-by-step procedure for conducting causal inference in LCA included: (1) PS estimation and evaluation of overlap, (2) calculation of inverse probability-of-treatment weighting (IPTW), (3) PS matching, (4) evaluating balance of confounding variables between exposure groups, and (5) conducting LCA using the weighted or matched data set.ResultsBased on the results of IPTW which compared the low, medium and high risk classes of metabolic syndrome (compared to a class without metabolic syndrome), no association was found between smoking and the metabolic syndrome latent classes. PS matching which compared low and moderate risk classes compared to class without metabolic syndrome, showed that smoking increases the probability of being in the low-risk class of metabolic syndrome (OR: 2.19; 95% CI: 1.32, 3.63). In the unadjusted analysis, smoking increased the chances of being in the low-risk (OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.08) and moderate-risk (OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.40) classes of metabolic syndrome compared to the class without metabolic syndrome.ConclusionsBased on the results, the causal effect of smoking on latent hazard classes of metabolic syndrome can be different based on the type of PS method. In adjusted analysis, no relationship was observed between smoking and moderate-risk and high-risk classes of metabolic syndrome.

Latent Hazard Notification for Highly Automated Driving: Expected Safety Benefits and Driver Behavioral Adaptation

Although latent hazard notification for highly automated driving is expected to enhance traffic safety, its practical effects have yet to be verified. This study systemically investigated the expected safety benefits and driver behavioral adaptation based on structural equation modeling. First, we developed a notification system to inform drivers of latent hazards with auditory alerts and conducted a driving simulation experiment involving eyes-off-road situations. To test the system, we adopted two types of events (i.e., the collision avoidance function working or failure) in which latent hazards transform into immediate risks. Then, a measurement model was developed to evaluate driver trust, driver attention, and traffic safety. Subsequently, we examined the corresponding causal relationships. On the one hand, latent hazard notification significantly improves driver attention (i.e., more fixations on latent hazards, less engagement in non-driving-related tasks, and faster notice of immediate risks), which significantly enhances traffic safety. On the other hand, latent hazard notification significantly increases driver trust, which lowers driver attention and consequently impairs traffic safety. This causality reveals driver behavioral adaptation, although driver trust does not directly affect traffic safety. Overall, we find that latent hazard notification for highly automated driving can improve traffic safety, but the consequent driver behavioral adaptation impairs 15.12% of the expected safety benefits.

Impact of sertraline on biohydrogen production from alkaline anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge: Focusing on microbial community and metabolism

Nowadays, antidepressants are massively consumed worldwide, inevitably bringing about the concern for their latent hazard to the natural environment. This research focused on exploring the effect of sertraline (SET, a typical antidepressant) on hydrogen yields from alkaline anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge (WAS). The hydrogen accumulation reached the peak of 14.73 mL/g VSS (volatile suspended solids) at a SET dosage of 50 mg/kg TSS (total suspended solids), i.e., 1.90 times of that in the control fermenter. The data of Illumina high-throughput sequencing demonstrated that SET promoted the expression of genes regulating the membrane transport. Microbial community analysis suggested that some species that could degrade refractory substances were enriched after SET exposure. Finally, metabolic pathways of hydrogen production and consumption were found to be significantly affected with SET addition. This study would deepen the concept of typical antidepressants influencing energy recovery from WAS.

Research on assisting coal mine hazard investigation for accident prevention through text mining and deep learning

Hazard investigation, an effective means of preventing accidents in coal mines, is in a dilemma of “lack of understanding and management”, because the hazard data recorded and saved in text cannot be effectively used. Against this background, this research combines deep learning and text mining technologies to efficiently analyze hazard records for assisting hazard investigation: (1) 3900 historical hazard data from the Fenghuangtai coal mine are used for statistical analysis and text preprocessing; (2) Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic analysis is utilized to obtain dangerous topics and feature words; (3) The convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm is used to classify the danger automatically; (4) The rules between hazard categories and units are visually displayed through images. The findings demonstrate that this paper can effectively classify new text data and identify latent hazard themes that represent reality from coal mine data without relying on expert judgment. The visualization method is appropriate for translating the mining results into specific visual information, which is practical for worker safety education and training and managing hazard investigation. This study provides an innovative perspective on efficiently discovering and utilizing coal mine concealed danger information for accident prevention.

Conceptual and practical challenges associated with understanding patient safety within community-based mental health services.

Patient safety problems stemming from healthcare delivery constitute a global public health concern and represent a pervasive barrier to improving care quality and clinical outcomes. However, evidence generation into safety in mental health care, particularly regarding community-based mental health services, has long fallen behind that of physical health care, forming the focus of fewer research publicationsand developed largely in isolation from the wider improvement science discipline. We aimed to investigate the state of the field, along with key conceptual and empirical challenges to understanding patient safety in community-based mental health care. A narrative review surveyed the literature to appraise the conceptual obstacles to advancing the science of patient safety in community-based mental health services. Sources were identified through a combination of a systematic search strategy and targeted searches of theoretical and empirical evidence from the fields of mental health care, patient safetyand improvement science. Amongst available evidence, challenges in defining safety in the context of community mental health care, evaluating safety in long-term care journeysand establishing what constitutes a 'preventable' safety problem, were identified. A dominant risk management approach to safety in mental health care, positioning service users as the origin of risk, has seemingly prevented a focus on proactive safety promotion, considering iatrogenic harm and latent system hazards. We propose a wider conceptualization of safety and discuss the next steps for the integration and mobilization of disparate sources of 'safety intelligence', to advance how safety is conceived and addressed within community mental health care. This paper was part of a larger research project aimed at understanding and improving patient safety in community-based mental health care. Although service users, carers and healthcare professionals were not involved as part of this narrative review, the views of these stakeholder groups were central to shaping the wider research project. For a qualitative interview and focus group study conducted alongside this review, interview topic guides were informed by this narrative analysis, designed jointly and piloted with a consultation group of service users and carers with experience of community-based mental health services for working-age adults, who advised on key questioning priorities.

A conceptual framework for including “safety in design” in engineering training and design practise

Despite significant efforts taken to reduce hazards on the construction site, statistics across the globe suggest that construction-related fatalities remain high. While prevention through design gains momentum to eliminate latent health & safety hazards at the upfront design stage, designers often lack experience in recognising hazards that occur later on during the construction or operational stage. To fill this gap, this paper develops a conceptual framework to better communicate safety in design (SiD) to designers, thus raising their awareness of SiD and building their capability when considering appropriate design features. The conceptual framework embrace visualization, knowledge sharing, highly engagement and embedded-in questionnaire technologies. This research is part of a doctoral study, and it is hoped to lay a conceptual foundation for ongoing research that aims to enable designers to embrace SiD in their training and practice in the future.

Transfer and Retention: A Systematic Exploration of the Effect of a Driver Attention Training Program

Young drivers are found to be particularly poor at anticipating latent hazards compared to experienced drivers. Road Awareness and Perception Training (RAPT; Pradhan et al., 2009) is a PC-based driver training program that was designed and demonstrated to improve latent hazard anticipation in young drivers. The current longitudinal study aims to examine retention and transfer of RAPT. Participants will complete pre- and post-training evaluation of their latent hazard anticipation skills in both near- and far-transfer scenarios, and all participants will be randomly assigned to either a RAPT or Placebo training group. Two months later, they will be asked to return for the second evaluation session where their latent hazard anticipation skills will be measured again. We hypothesize that latent hazard anticipation performance will persist for the near-transfer scenarios but decay for the far-transfer scenarios.

Effects of Digital Media on Education (Meta-Thematic Analysis)

This study aims to combine studies examining the effects of heavily contacted digital media on education in digital gaming, social media, and digital addiction and conduct related research. For this purpose, meta-thematic analysis was employed, one of the qualitative research methods. In the study, the question 'What are the effects of digital media according to parents, teachers, and students?’ has been answered. The document analysis technique was adopted from qualitative methods as a data collection tool in the research. The data were analyzed according to the categories of ’parent, teacher, student, and socio-cultural reflections. It has been concluded that the tasks and responsibilities that students should perform in their daily lives reflect the negatives such as interaction, academic failure, waste of time, uncontrolled contact habits, perception disorder, and miscommunication in the educational process. According to the results obtained, the necessary precautions against the negativity of social media and digital games, digital literacy, and enhancing competencies of your family, individual students according to their degree of dependency on the type of digital media content and latent hazards be interfered with by experts on the implicit message to students which activities they will receive the satisfaction of daily living dependency oriented measures to the problem of design and digital boosting, etc. the recommendations are listed.&#x0D; &#x0D; Keywords—Social Media, Digital Game, Digital Addiction, Education, Meta-Thematic

On-road trust and perceived risk in Level 2 automation

To encourage appropriate use of driving automation, we need to understand and monitor driver’s trust and risk perception. We examined (1) how trust and perceived risk are affected by automation, driving conditions and experience and (2) how well perceived risk can be inferred from behaviour and physiology at three levels: over traffic conditions, aggregated risk events, and individual risk events.30 users with and without automation experience drove a Toyota Corolla with driving support. Safety attitude, subjective ratings, behaviour and physiology were examined.Driving support encouraged a positive safety attitude and active driver involvement. It reduced latent hazards while maintaining saliently perceived risks. Drivers frequently overruled lane centring (3.1 times/minute) and kept their feet on or above the pedals using ACC (65.8% of time). They comfortably used support on curvy motorways and monotonic and congested highways but less in unstable traffic and on roundabouts. They trusted the automation 65.4%, perceived 36.0% risk, acknowledged the need to monitor and would not engage in more secondary tasks than during manual driving.Trust-in situation reduced 2.0% when using automation. It was 8.2% higher than trust-in-automation, presumably due to driver self-confidence. Driving conditions or conflicts between driver and automation did not affect trust-in-automation.At the traffic condition level, physiology showed weak and partially counter-intuitive effects. For aggregated risk events, skin conductance had the clearest response but was discernible from baseline in < 50%. Pupil dilation and heart rate only increased with strong braking and active lane departure assist. For individual risk events, a CNN classifier could not identify risk events from physiology. We conclude that GSR, heart rate and pupil dilation respond to perceived risk, but lack specificity to monitor it on individual events.

Boiling sand, metallic fire

ABSTRACTIn April 2018 four drums of depleted uranium sludge burst open at a US Department of Energy facility at Idaho National Laboratory. This echoed a previous incident in 2014, when a drum erupted with fire and spewed radionuclides at a nuclear waste repository in New Mexico. Such “drum breach” accidents have been characterized in official reports as “isolated events,” and as “self‐initiated” and “spontaneous.” Yet these descriptions misrepresent a temporal tension at the heart of their causation: during the Cold War, nuclear weapons production created latent socioecological hazards that, decades later, too often manifest during waste cleanup. This tends to result from 21st‐century scheduling pressures, fraught labor relationships, and neoliberal subcontracting arrangements. Thus, if we examine the temporal form taken by US nuclear technopolitics, we can recast drum breach accidents not as stand‐alone events, but as outcomes of systemic incentives to speed up waste‐cleanup projects beyond their organizational capacity without commensurately expanding their safety or oversight mechanisms. [nuclear waste, technopolitics, accidents, neoliberalism, temporality, security, Idaho, United States]

Booster Dose of Attention Training Program for Young Novice Drivers: A Longitudinal Driving Simulator Evaluation Study.

We examined the effectiveness of a second exposure to ACCEL, a novel driving training program, on latent hazard anticipation (HA) performance several months after their first exposure. Past research has demonstrated that PC-based driver training programs can improve latent HA performance in young novice drivers, but these improvements are below the ceiling level. Twenty-five participants were randomly assigned to either the Placebo group, the ACCEL-1 group, or the ACCEL-2 group. Following the completion of the assigned training program, participants drove a series of eighteen scenarios incorporating latent hazards in a high-fidelity driving simulator with their eyes tracked. Participants returned two to six months following the first session and completed either the placebo program (ACCEL-1 and Placebo groups), or a second dose of training program (ACCEL-2 group), again followed by simulated evaluation drives. The ACCEL-2 group showed improved HA performance compared to the ACCEL-1 and Placebo groups in the second evaluation. ACCEL enhances young novice drivers' latent HA performance. The effectiveness of ACCEL is retained up to 6months, and a second dose further improves HA performance. Policy makers should consider requiring such training before the completion of graduate driver license programs. Young novice drivers that do not show successful latent HA performance could be required to complete additional training before being allowed to drive without restrictions.

Characterising the nature of the beast: Challenges associated with understanding patient safety within community-based mental health services

IntroductionPatient safety problems stemming from healthcare represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The evidence base on safety in mental healthcare, particularly regarding community-based mental health services, has long fallen behind that of physical healthcare, with fewer research publications, developed primarily in isolation from the wider improvement science discipline. This disconnect both yields, and stems from, conceptual and practical challenges which must be surmounted in order to advance the science and improvement of safety in mental healthcare.ObjectivesThe objectives of this research were to conduct a narrative review to provide an overview of conceptual issues in this area, their origins, and implications for patient safety science and clinical care. We also sought to identify approaches to overcoming these issues.MethodsWe examined theoretical and empirical evidence from the fields of patient safety, mental health, and improvement science to address this knowledge gap.ResultsWe identified challenges with defining safety in the context of community mental healthcare, ascertaining what constitutes a ‘preventable’ safety problem requiring intervention, and in finding relevant research evidence. The research indicated that risk management has taken precedence over proactive safety promotion in mental healthcare. This positions service users as the origin of safety risks, with iatrogenic harm and latent system hazards associated with mental healthcare widely overlooked.ConclusionsWe propose a broader conceptualisation of safety to advance the field and outline potential next steps for the integration and uptake of different sources of ‘safety intelligence’ within community mental health services.DisclosureNS is the director of London Safety and Training Solutions Ltd, which offers training in patient safety, implementation solutions and human factors to healthcare organisations and the pharmaceutical industry. The other authors have no competing interests.