Safety Of New Technologies Research Articles

What do surrogate safety metrics measure? Understanding driving safety as a continuum

Road safety is an important public health issue; technology, policy, and educational interventions to prevent crashes are of significant interest to researchers and policymakers. In particular, there is significant ongoing research to proactively evaluate the safety of new technologies, including autonomous vehicles, before enough crashes occur to directly measure their impact.We analyze the distributional form of five diverse datasets that approximate motor vehicle safety incident severity, including one dataset of hard braking events that characterizes the severity of non-crash incidents. Our empirical analysis finds that all five datasets closely fit a lognormal distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance < 0.013; significance of loglikelihood ratio with other distributions < 0.000029).We demonstrate a linkage between two well-known but largely qualitative safety frameworks and the severity distributions observed in the data. We create a formal model of the Swiss Cheese Model (SCM) and show through analysis and simulations that this formalization leads to a lognormal distribution of the severity continuum of safety–critical incidents. This finding is not only consistent with the empirical data we examine, but represents a quantitative restatement of Heinrich’s Triangle, another heretofore largely qualitative framework that hypothesizes that safety events of increasing severity have decreasing frequency.Our results support the use of more frequent, low-severity events to rapidly assess safety in the absence of less frequent, high-severity events for any system consistent with our formalization of SCM. This includes any complex system designed for robustness to single-point failures, including autonomous vehicles.

Estimation of chemical safety of environmental protection technologies for atmosphere pollution reduction (a case study of processess of laser treatment of polymer materials)

Introduction. One way to protect atmospheric air from industrial pollution is the use of environmental protection technologies aimed at emissions purification. As a result of the man-induced impact, the industrial emissions can change the composition of air medium, while the resulting products of physical and chemical transformations with other, sometimes more toxic properties, can influence on the quality and chemical safety of atmospheric air in comparison with the initial substances entering it as part of industrial emissions. Materials and methods. Studies of the impact of various technologies of treatment the industrial atmospheric emissions of organic glass and polymer materials processing plants with laser systems were carried out using a chromato-mass spectrometric system Focus GC with DSQ II (USA). Results. We have established the change in the qualitative-quantitative composition of emissions from organic glass laser treatment processes using various cleaning devices. Estimation of electrostatic purification technology efficiency based on plasma-catalytic oxidation with atomic oxygen revealed an increase in the transformation products - aldehydes. The cleaning devices seems ineffective and chemically unsafe concerning one of the primary pollutants included in the emissions of organic glass and polymer materials processing plants with laser systems - methyl methacrylate. Conclusion. The use of new environmental protection technologies for emissions purification can cause a change in their qualitative-quantitative composition, which requires chemical-analytical control. It is advisable to use chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify and quantify up to 100 substances simultaneously in the air with an unknown composition of pollutants to assess the efficiency and chemical safety of new technologies for emissions purification adequately. It will certainly reduce and minimize health risks and allow considering the possibility of man-induced formation of transformation by-products.

Establishment of transanal total mesorectal excision training system

Transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) is a hot topic in the field of colorectal surgery. After nearly ten years of development, it has entered a period of rapid deve-lopment. Due to the difference between the traditional surgical approach and the previous one, more sufficient preconditions are needed to carry out TaTME cautiously. Therefore, systematic and stan-dardized training is indispensable. Compared with the mature foreign cadaver training courses, the domestic cadaver training is limited, while the traditional laparoscopic animal training model has limited effects on the training of transanal endoscopic surgery. Therefore, how to use the existing domestic conditions to build a training system suitable for Chinese national conditions, so as to standardize the implementation of transanal total mesorectal excision, improve the safety of new technologies, has become an urgent problem to be solved. This article has reviewed deve-lopment history of TaTME training and investigated establishment of TaTME training system, intending to provide refe-rences for standardization of TaTME. Key words: Transanal total mesorectal excision; Training; Transanal endoscopic surgery

Правовой механизм обеспечения экологической безопасности при разработке и внедрении новых технологий: постановка вопроса

In modern conditions, the priority of state policy is becoming innovative development, the creation of new technologies and products that allow for economic growth while maintaining a favorable state of the environment. The article based on the analysis of strategic documents of the Russian Federation identifies priorities in the areas of socioeconomic and environmental development, ensuring environmental safety. A research of the legal regulation of social relations on the creation and introduction of new technologies is being conducted. The article concludes that there are separate norms in the Russian legislation aimed at ensuring the environmental safety of new technologies, justifies the need to create an effective legal mechanism for ensuring environmental safety when developing and introducing new technologies.

OP87 Nitrous Oxide As Sedation Regimen In Children—How To Assess Safety?

Introduction:Children who undergo short, painful procedures at hospitals are given different kinds of pain relief (analgesics), often in combination with drugs for relaxation (sedatives). Nitrous oxide (NO) is a drug administered for pain relief and relaxation, it is applied by inhalation and its effects are analgesic, anxiolytic and sedative. It is used in several countries, but is not normally used as a sedation method for children in Norwegian hospitals, although widely used in maternity wards during labor. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of this sedation regimen in children. However, we also wanted to assess safety for health personnel after repetitive or long-term exposure.Methods:We performed a systematic review on effectiveness and safety of nitrous oxide for sedation in children. For evidence on efficacy and safety in children, only randomized controlled trials (RCT) were included. For safety of health personnel we also accepted other study designs. For all endpoints, we presented the evidence in summary of finding tables.Results:We retrieved twenty-two randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness or safety in children undergoing sedation with nitrous oxide. Outcomes were hospital procedure satisfaction or characteristics, and pain relief. Safety was reported as acute adverse events. None of the RCTs reported evidence on safety for health personnel. We are currently exploring different ways to systematically assess safety for health personnel within the form of an HTA otherwise designed for a different population.Conclusions:Assessing safety of new technologies, methods or procedures through HTAs is a crucial point. However, assessing the long-term safety of the health personnel should also be included, but evidence will often not be retrieved through literature search designed for the patient group, and long-term safety data is in general difficult to retrieve for exposure to a novel technology. We will discuss our approach to this challenge.

Four types of complications in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation ablation

This editorial refers to ‘Pericardial effusion in atrial fibrillation ablation: a comparison between cryoballoon and radiofrequency pulmonary vein isolation’ by G.B. Chierchia et al., on page 337. A recent worldwide survey shows that radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with a success rate of 75% without antiarrhythmic drugs, with major complications still occurring in 4‐5% of the patients. 1 This drives a continuous quest for a more effective and safer ablation approach. Currently, the use of robotic navigation systems, alternative forms of energy (ultrasound, cryo-energy, laser, microwave, and infrared), and the use of ‘single-shot’ devices (e.g. cryoballoon, multi-electrode ablation catheters) are under investigation. In the present paper Chierchia et al. report on the safety of cryoballoon-based pulmonary vein isolation. 2 In general, it is hypothesized that cryoballoon ablation of AF is a safer approach, but neither survey nor large randomized trials are available. To address the safety of new technologies, we suggest classifying known AF complications (tamponade, radiation exposure, embolic events, pulmonary vein stenosis, atrio-oesophageal fistula, phrenic nerve palsy, and groin problems) into four partly overlapping categories (Figure 1). Operator experience and patient profile always act as modulating factors.

Zwischen "schwacher" und "starker" Interdisziplinarität - Die Notwendigkeit der Balance epistemischer Kulturen in der Sicherheitsforschung zu neuen Technologien

Research on risks and safety of new technologies like agrobiotechnology or mobile communication technology has become an important point of reference for technology policies, public opinion making and public deliberation. Unfortunately, such inter- and transdisciplinary research transcends the well established criteria and processes of disciplinary quality assurance. This paper aims at addressing this deficit and at discussing specific quality criteria in interdisciplinary research under conditions of uncertainty and contingency. It is argued that the epistemic cultures of the involved disciplines need to be assessed for their ability to handle different kinds of uncertainty and ignorance in a precautionary policy context; that the form and the amount of interdisciplinary integration has socio-political implications; and that scientific aims and societal ends cannot be entirely separated within safety research projects.

Case Study: A Request for ICSI

Jerry and Sandy Wilson are in their mid-thirties and have been married for ten years. Jerry tested HIV positive prior to their marriage and has been doing well on a multiple drug therapy. His CD4 counts are normal and tests reveal no detectable virus. He and his wife do not have intercourse to protect her from infection; however, they have decided to have a biological child. They sought advice from a maternal-fetal medicine specialist to determine the risk of infection to Sandy from unprotected intercourse and for information about how to improve their chances of conceiving. However, the specialist cautioned them against unprotected intercourse. Despite Jerry's good condition, his seminal fluid still could have a high viral load and pose a risk of infection to Sandy (which might be as high as 15 percent) and the potential baby (as high as 25 percent if Sandy became infected). Neither adoption nor donor insemination from an uninfected male was of interest to them. The specialist informed them of a reproductive technology whereby a single, washed sperm could be inserted into Sandy's extracted ovum, which would then be implanted, a procedure called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Though too few research studies have been done to know precisely what the risk of HIV transmission would be, what research exists suggests that the risk may be significantly lower. The only exposure that Sandy would have to her husband's virus would be via any viral particles clinging to that single, prepared spermatozoon. The specialist contacted several reproductive endocrine centers to see whether they would offer the technology to this couple. Each center refused due to liability risks. How ought this specialist to proceed? How ought one to frame the risks and benefits of this case? Does the man's disabled status alter how the case should be viewed? Should couples in these circumstances be denied access to reproductive services? commentary by Erika Blacksher This couple's situation is not uncommon today. National Public Radio recently reported that thousands of couples in which one or both partners are HIV positive have sought the assistance of infertility specialists in hopes of having biologically related children. Indeed, a new fertility program in Boston has been designed specifically to help HIV couples have children while greatly lowering the risk of HIV transmission to mother and baby. Reproductive technologies have been changing what is possible in human reproduction for at least fifteen years now. Otherwise infertile couples can create children using the gametes of one or both partners. And couples in which one or both partners are carriers for genetic disease for which there exists a diagnostic test can avoid having a child with that disease. The use of new technologies for these purposes is not uncontroversial, though some uses are considered less so than others. Individual commentators disagree about which practices are most controversial and why, though many of the concerns are symbolic in nature, such as the erosion of respect for procreative activity, nascent human life, and notions of family. While some commentators view these worries as too speculative to take seriously, all commentators take seriously concerns about the safety of new technologies. However, concerns that new reproductive technologies pose health risks to potential children have waned as they have produced tens of thousands of healthy babies over the last fifteen years. This distinction points to what is startling about this case and others like it: the willingness to risk the transfer of a dreaded and eventually lethal disease to mother and child. Jerry and Sandy's willingness to risk life in the name of creating it betrays the extent to which these technologies have begun to shape our reproductive hopes, desires, and even expectations. Both male and female commentators who have undergone treatment for infertility have suggested that they felt compelled, perhaps even coerced, to use these technologies. …

Ideology and Elites' Perceptions of the Safety of New Technologies

Theory: The policy learning and advocacy coalition framework emphasizes the importance of journalists and scientists, as well as policymakers, in models of the policy process. At the same time, research from several traditions suggests that elite opinion concerning the safety of nuclear energy, genetic engineering, and other new technologies derives primarily from political ideology. We examine the attitudes of three elite groups that influence policy governing new technologies. Hypotheses: Rothman and Lichter's provocative liberal bias theory suggests that environmental and technological issues are not, as they appear, technical policy issues, but proxies for older conflicts between left egalitarians and the corporate establishment. They expect journalists to be most skeptical of technological safety claims because they are especially liberal and, in contrast, scientists to be free of ideological bias. Alternatively, differences among elite groups could be due to more proximate beliefs, socialization or self-selection. Methods: A telephone survey of random samples of scientists, journalists, and federal government policymakers provides data on attitudes towards new technologies, political ideology, and other characteristics. Ordinary least squares is used to estimate models. Results: Members of all three elite groups are subject to ideological bias in their assessments of technological safety. Yet, the small effect of profession remains after controlling for a variety of variables.

Quality assurance and safety of new technologies for radiation oncology

This article reviews suggested recommendations and procedures for quality assurance and safety tests of computer-controlled medical accelerators and the associated high-tech ancillary devices such as asymmetric collimators, dynamic wedge, multileaf collimators, and on-line electronic portal imaging devices for treatment verification, and technologies such as dynamic therapy and beam intensity modulation that are just coming on line. These new technologies are likely to lead to improved therapeutic ratios through the use of conformal physical dose distributions that cannot be achieved using traditional planning, delivery, and verification methods and, at the same time, provide more complete and through safety systems. However, these devices are not yet fully developed and thus come with some limitations and an increased potential for patient treatment error. To insure optimum use, a rigorous quality assurance program specifically designed for these technologies must be in place and the radiation oncology team should be constantly vigilant. In addition, provision should be made to provide for increased continuing staff education in the use of these technologies and complementary safety and quality assurance devices such as a record and verify system should be considered essential.