Use Of Pyrotechnics Research Articles

Civil obligations due to damage caused by the use of pyrotechnics at football matches

Civil obligations due to damage caused by the use of pyrotechnics at football matches

Hrvatski tradicijski čestitarski ophodi, pohodi i običaji od Božića do Sveta tri kralja

U hrvatskoj tradicijskoj kulturi božićno vrijeme obuhvaća blagdane: Božić, Sveti Stjepan, Sveti Ivan, Nevina dječica, Silvestrovo, Nova godina i Sveta tri kralja. U radu se navodi i multidisciplinarno interpretira stotinjak primjera čestitarskih ophoda, pohoda i običaja od Božića do Sveta tri kralja. Ti primjeri nalaze se u literaturi od 1846. godine do naših dana, a sedamdesetak je primjera suvremenih izvornih terenskih zapisa iz Republike Hrvatske i Bosne i Hercegovine. Ti zapisi nastajali su od 2004. do 2017. godine. Neki čestitarski ophodi, pohodi i običaji iščezli su, neki su se modificirali i reducirali. U čestitarskim ophodima, pohodima i običajima ogledaju se pretkršćanski elementi. Običaj posipanja položaja žitom i položajnikovo kresanje vatre i izgovaranje želja za nastupajuću godinu ima panspermijsku funkciju. Kada bi položaj nakon položajenja došao blizu kuće svoje djevojke ukućani bi ga pozdravili pucanjem iz pušaka. Taj običaj imao je apotropejsku funkciju. Simbolično šibanje djece na blagdan Nevine dječice također ima apotropejsku funkciju. Istu funkciju ima i upotreba pirotehničkih sredstava u dočeku Nove godine. Taj običaj u hrvatskoj tradicijskoj kulturi nastao je u drugoj polovici 20. stoljeća i najmlađi je običaj koji se interpretira u radu.

460 Preventing Mass Casualty Fires Caused by Pyrotechnics

Since the beginning of this millennium over 900 people have lost their lives and almost 3000 have been injured in at least 10 burn mass casualty incidents that occurred as a result of the use of pyrotechnics in crowded nightclubs. The latest of these events was the Bucharest “Colectiv” nightclub fire in October 2015.. The series of events that lead to this disaster are strikingly similar to many former events. As is commonly known, prevention is much more effective than any treatment. This fact is especially true in the case of burn mass casualty events with a common preventable cause. On the night of October 30th, 2015, pyrotechnics were activated during a music concert in the “Colectiv” nightclub in Bucharest, Romania. The sparks reached the acoustic foam on one of the building’s columns which caused it to ignite and quickly burn upwards where it continued to burn the wooden ceiling and the entire nightclub. The 300–400 people estimated to be in the nightclub tried to escape through the only exit that was open, stampeding on the way. The immediate result of this fire was 26 fatalities and 184 injured victims, of which an additional 38 died within the following weeks. The same mechanism of fire, pyrotechnics being activated in nightclubs, has lead to burn mass casualty incidents in the Netherlands and Brazil in 2001, in the US in 2003 (The Station nightclub fire), in Argentina in 2004, in Ecuador and China in 2008, in Thailand and Russia in 2009, and in Taiwan in 2011. Some of these incidents were also worsened by the tendency of nightclubs to lock emergency exits, thus leaving the huge crowds with only one exit, inevitably causing a stampede. The average victim counts of these “copycat killers” are ~90 fatalities and ~300 injured per incident. It is our duty as burn care providers to act in order to prevent such incidents from happening again. Burn care providers worldwide, fire departments and local and national authorities should be made aware of this danger, and legislation should ban the use of pyrotechnics in nightclubs, and enforce safety codes including existence of open emergency exits. The power of social media can also be harnessed for educating the public as to the dangers of the use of pyrotechnics indoors. We should strive to prevent further use of pyrotechnics in nightclubs and other indoor venues by communicating this to the community and authorities in every method we can.

Impact of Pyrotechnics over the Architectonic Heritage

The use of pyrotechnics near to the historical heritage such as walls, facades, church, or fortifications of a city is nowadays a topic of discussion. There is not a clear legislation about the use of pyrotechnics near to these buildings and how they can be affected by the expansive wave generated by the use of harquebusiers, fireworks, and cannons during the simulation of a battle. For this reason, this paper presents some practical tests that measure the vibroacoustic effect when these types of pyrotechnics are used near to the architectonical heritage. In order to collect these data, we have used several sound level meters and accelerometers placed on two different scenarios. The first one was placed near to the beach and the other one was placed in a building of a narrow alley. The tests were carried out during the festival of Moors and Christians of Villajoyosa (Spain) which is a famous festival. Along these tests, we reproduce the worse cases that may affect the building, using harquebusiers shots, fireworks, and cannons shots. Results show that the house placed near to the beach does not suffer important vibroacoustic impacts. However, the old building placed in the alley is very affected.

Escalation vs. non-escalation of fan violence in football? Narratives from ultra fans, police officers and security employees

Despite a large body of literature about fan violence issues, research investigating perceptions and dynamics in potentially violent situations, called critical incidents (CIs), is missing. This qualitative study examined the perceptions and dynamics of CIs involving ultra football fans. Fifty-nine semi-structured interviews with individuals (fans, police officers or security employees) involved in eight CIs were conducted and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The assessment of legitimacy of an out-group’s actions strongly influenced the perception of a CI, which is in line with the Elaborated Social Identity Model. Informative intergroup communication about the own intentions seemed to increase perception of legitimacy, while arrests of fans due to pyrotechnics were perceived by fans as illegitimate. The local fan culture, e.g. the fans’ use of pyrotechnics for their support, is relevant for the understanding of this assessment of legitimacy.

Effects of unregulated anthropogenic activities on mixing ratios of volatile organic air pollutants—A case study

During the months of October to November, many important festivals are celebrated in India. Celebration of these festivals are marked by extensive use of fireworks or pyrotechnics, bonfire, incense burning, open air community cooking, and temporary eateries using crude fuel such as coal, wood, kerosene, cow dung, burning of raw/semiwood, and coconut shells. The present study deals with the influence of these unregulated anthropogenic activities on ambient mixing level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), especially some carbonyl compounds. The study was undertaken in the metropolitan city of Kolkata, India, with very high population density, which is even higher during festival period. The average total carbonyl level at different sites in Kolkata varied from 134.8 to 516.5 μg m−3 in pre-festival season, whereas in post-festival season the same varied from 252.2 to 589.3 μg m−3. Formaldehyde to acetaldehyde ratio altered from 0.62 in pre-festival season to 1.78 in post-festival season. Diurnal variation also altered, indicating variation in source composition of carbonyls. The total ozone forming potential calculated for all 14 carbonyls in pre-festival season increased by 35% in post-festival season. The effect of anthropogenic activities typical to the event of Diwali night characterized by intense execution of pyrotechnics resulted in significantly high level of carbonyl VOCs. Principal component analysis study for the event of Diwali shows clear contribution of the event on certain carbonyl VOCs. The results indicate elevated primary emissions of these pollutants and also their effect on formation of secondary pollutants. The study emphasizes the need of generating awareness among the communities in society as well as need for regulations to minimize the emissions and related hazards to the extent possible.Implications: Altered anthropogenic activities typical of festival season including extensive use of pyrotechnics affect ambient level of volatile organic compounds, especially some carbonyls. Such activities have considerable effect on interspecies ratio and diurnal variation. They also affect formation of secondary pollutants such as tropospheric ozone. Principal component analysis (PCA) study shows clear contribution of the pyrotechnics execution on certain carbonyl VOCs. The findings emphasize the need of generating awareness in society and need for regulations to minimize the emissions.

Rubber shots not as effective as selective culling in deterring gulls from landfill sites

Landfill managers often need to implement scaring programmes to deter gulls from feeding at their sites because the birds can be a significant nuisance for both site employees and residents of the surrounding area. Our objective was to assess the efficiency of firing rubber shots, a method assumed to be non-lethal but never tested in a bird deterrence context. This method was compared to selective culling, a well-known lethal technique that some people find ethically unacceptable. Both methods were employed in combination with the use of pyrotechnics. Our study was conducted at the Ste-Sophie landfill site near Montreal (Canada) located 37km from a Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) colony supporting 48,000 pairs. Daily counts and behavioural observations were conducted throughout the breeding and post-breeding periods. Firing rubber shots was ineffective in deterring gulls as we observed the same number of birds at the landfill during periods with and without deterrence (P=0.949). However, we counted 38% less birds during the culling periods than during the rubber shot treatment (P=0.014). We detected no sign of habituation during the 7-day culling trials. Culling was also more effective in getting the gulls to leave the site than was rubber shots (47 vs. 11%; P<0.001) and the birds took longer before returning to the site (16 vs. 2min; P<0.001). Finally, the non-lethal method required an increased use of pyrotechnics to reduce the number of gulls to an acceptable level when compared to culling (P<0.001). The difference between culling and rubber shots may be related to the louder noise produced when firing steel shots and the view of dead or injured birds falling on the ground, which may be a deterrent factor for gulls. We also noted that the number of gulls was greater during the rearing stage when the birds have to feed their juveniles (P=0.005) and after 15:00h when the deterrence activities were adjourned (P=0.003). Our results clearly suggest that the deterrence efforts have to be adapted to seasonal variations in bird numbers as dietary needs are higher during the chicks’ rearing period. Any scaring programme should also be performed from dawn to dusk. In conclusion, the use of non-lethal rubber shots as applied in this study to deter gulls from feeding at landfill sites cannot be used as an effective alternative technique to culling.

Illicit utilization of arsenic compounds in pyrotechnics? An analysis of the suspended particle emission during Vienna’s New Year fireworks

In the course of an investigation of an electrostatic precipitation technique as a sampling method for airborne dust particles, elevated concentrations of As were found in the data collected during New Years Eve celebrations in Vienna. The original study confirmed the applicability of the new sampling device as a useful sampling method, showing elevated values for the elements Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, K, Cu, As, Br, Rb, Sr, Sb, Te and Ba, all associated with the use of pyrotechnics. The measured values for As could not be explained as a impurity in some other substances used. Thus, several unburned pyrotechnic products were investigated to find the source of As in the dust collected. The results showed only one product with higher than expected As contents (1.4 μg g−1), leading to the assumption of intentional—but illicit—use of arsenic compounds in pyrotechnics as a colouring agent for the production of blue light.

Management of corneal scarring secondary to explosion with excimer laser treatment

Background Improper use of pyrotechnics can result in ocular injuries producing severe vision loss. Case A 20-year-old man had a pyrotechnics device explode in his face, hospitalizing him for 4 days. He was told he needed a corneal transplant and that his vision would be impaired permanently. As an alternative, phototherapeutic keratectomy was performed on each eye to remove as much scar tissue as possible. Photorefractive keratectomy was then used to treat the residual hyperopia and remove more of the scarring. Conclusions The combination of phototherapeutic keratectomy/photorefractive keratectomy proved to be a safe and effective method to treat corneal scarring secondary to explosive trauma and to restore normal vision.

Managing Gulls to Reduce Fecal Coliform Bacteria in a Municipal Drinking Water Source

Author(s): Nugent, Benjamin; Gagne, Kevin; Dillingham, Mary Jane | Abstract: Large numbers of ring-billed gulls, herring gulls, and greater black-backed gulls roost each night on a municipal drinking water source in Maine and have been identified as the primary source of elevated fecal coliform bacteria levels. The lake has a resident gull population of approximately 800, while more than 3,000 gulls have been observed during seasonal migration. To alleviate this public health concern, the U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS Wildlife Services program implemented an Integrated Wildlife Damage Management program in 2005. The program included the use of pyrotechnics and watercraft to harass gulls, as well as shooting to reinforce and enhance the effectiveness of non-lethal methods. Management activities were effective in keeping gulls off the drinking water source and lowering coliform bacteria levels to within EPA water quality standards. Additionally, the integrated program also involves an ongoing survey in areas surrounding the lake to identify feeding, loafing, and roosting areas that may affect gull movement. Information collected from the survey will result in more effective management practices and contribute to the long-term goal of reducing gull use on the lake.