Are airbags a dangerous safety measure? A meta-analysis of the effects of frontal airbags on driver fatalities

A meta-analysis has been conducted of the effectiveness of frontal airbags in reducing driver fatalities, and some potential moderator variables for airbag effectiveness have been investigated. The results confirm the assumption that airbags reduce accident fatalities among belted drivers, but the results are too heterogeneous for drawing conclusions about the size of the overall effect. No support has been found for the hypothesis that airbags increase overall fatality risk, as has been found in the study by Meyer and Finney (Meyer, M., Finney, T., 2005. Who wants Airbags? Chance, 18 (19) 3–16). The results do not seem to be affected by publication bias, and no indications of confounding effects of vehicle characteristics or impact velocity have been found. In frontal collisions belted driver fatalities were found to be reduced by about 22% when all types of airbags are regarded together. The revision of the test criteria for airbags in the USA in 1997 has improved airbag effectiveness. For unbelted drivers airbags are neither effective nor counterproductive, but may increase fatality risk in single vehicle accidents. The results show that there is a lack of knowledge about the effects of airbags in accidents that are not frontal collisions.     

Are partwise comparisons reliable?

It is not unusual for decisions in engineering or customer surveys to compare pairs or subsets of alternatives. Surprisingly, this standard, natural approach can cause valued information to be lost: a loss so severe that it can cause demonstrably incorrect decisions. By understanding why these errors occur, we identify an alternative, closely related decision approach that eliminates these problems. Also, we identify the nature of the lost information, and we show how to compute the likelihood that an incorrect outcome will occur.

Talking about automated vehicles: What do levels of automation do?

Automated vehicles have become a popular topic of conversation. Initially, these conversations were limited to technology developers, innovators and engineers, as they worked to progressed the various technologies and systems that are required to create automated vehicles. Then, over time, these conversations extended to other communities; lawyers, insurers, planners, policymakers, social scientists, and various publics all began hearing, and talking about automated vehicles – also known as ‘driverless’, ‘self-driving’, and ‘autonomous’ vehicles. Levels of automation emerged as a way to depict gradations or categories of autonomy, with tasks divided between those for the machine and those for humans. In this paper, we critically reflect upon the dominance of levels of automation – up to seven sequential ‘steps’ - proposed by a number of industry organisations. Focusing on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Standard J3016, we signal the intended and unintended performative effects of these levels. We argue that current discourses on automated vehicles have been underpinned by a techno-centric, expert-dominated logic, and point to the benefits of more dispersed, geographically contingent, and socio-technical perspectives in re-framing the dominant discourse and allowing for more nuanced spatial and temporal understandings on future systems of (automated) mobility.     

Are significant inventions more diversified?

This study aims at exploring whether significant inventions are more technologically diversified or have more diverse applications, investigating whether there are any innovation laws existing in R&D activities. Based on technology co-classification analysis, we select patent dataset meets the specific standard from the worldwide patent database named Derwent Innovations Index as sample dataset. Three indicators out of four verify the proposed hypotheses, i.e., significant inventions are more diversified in terms of individual invention. The fourth indicator implies that focusing on some core technology domains maybe better for creating significant inventions when R&D activities are considered as a whole. The results are of great theoretical significance by helping us identifying the diversified characteristic laws of significant inventions; moreover, they are of crucial practical meanings to R&D work and technology innovation activities etc.     

Where Are We in HTCS?

Address given at the closing of the conference on Major Trends in Superconductivity in the New Millennium, MTSC 2000 and the opening of the Symposium on Itinerant and Localized States in HTCS SILS in HTCS.     

Are nanoporous materials radiation resistant?

The key to perfect radiation endurance is perfect recovery. Since surfaces are perfect sinks for defects, a porous material with a high surface to volume ratio has the potential to be extremely radiation tolerant, provided it is morphologically stable in a radiation environment. Experiments and computer simulations on nanoscale gold foams reported here show the existence of a window in the parameter space where foams are radiation tolerant. We analyze these results in terms of a model for the irradiation response that quantitatively locates such window that appears to be the consequence of the combined effect of two length scales dependent on the irradiation conditions: (i) foams with ligament diameters below a minimum value display ligament melting and breaking, together with compaction increasing with dose (this value is typically ～5 nm for primary knock on atoms (PKA) of ～15 keV in Au), while (ii) foams with ligament diameters above a maximum value show bulk behavior, that is, damage accumulation (few hundred nanometers for the PKA's energy and dose rate used in this study). In between these dimensions, (i.e., ～100 nm in Au), defect migration to the ligament surface happens faster than the time between cascades, ensuring radiation resistance for a given dose-rate. We conclude that foams can be tailored to become radiation tolerant.     

Are Virtual Conferences Here to Stay?

Driven by concerns about the carbon footprint of air travel,time taken away from family and work duties,and ever-tightening bud-gets,many science and engineerin...     

Are Some Pneumatic Conveying Problems Wicked?

Wicked problems are some of the most challenging in the world. World health, global warming, and the energy challenge are some that quickly come to mind. Wicked problems are problems that do not have right and wrong solutions but rather have degrees of good and bad. These problems can be tamed but never totally conquered. Some may say that dilute pneumatic phase conveying is totally solved but some would indicate that there is a subset that is still a big challenge. Dense phase conveying issues are more wicked than dilute phase conveying issues. One can probably take a closer look at such parameters as size, distribution, shape, abrasiveness, hardness, environmental condition, densities, tackiness, and others and define what properties or conditions cause the conveying problem to turn wicked. Industry is always developing new materials and processes that often lessen our confidence in being able to design conveying systems without problems. More stringent conditions are placed on the system whether it is the change in the character of the material to the size of the system, large or minute. This work will address the general field of pneumatic conveying and explore the character of wickedness and suggest some strategies to tame wicked problems. Previously solved problems will be explored as methods of taming the issues. There are some suggested strategies to tame wicked problems. Most of these involve getting expert teams or groups together and to begin to communicate and discuss and brainstorm.     

Are highly cited papers more international?

Several bibliometric studies have shown that international or multicountry papers are generally more cited than domestic or single country papers. Does this also hold for the most cited papers? In this study, the citation impact of domestic versus international papers is analyzed by comparing the share of international papers among the hundred most cited papers in four research specialities, from three universities, four cities and two countries. It is concluded that international papers are not well represented among high impact papers in research specialities, but dominate highly cited papers from small countries, and from cities and institutions within them. The share of international papers among highly cited papers is considerably higher during 2001–2008 compared to earlier years for institutions, cities and countries, but somewhat less for two of the research fields and slightly higher for the other two. Above all, domestic papers from the USA comprise about half of the highly cited papers in the research specialities.     

Will automated vehicles solve the truck driver shortages? Perspectives from the trucking industry

The United States (U.S.) has experienced persistent truck driver shortages for the past several decades, as demand for truckers has increased while individuals willing to fill driving jobs have decreased. Studies in the transportation literature have not examined industry views on driver shortages, which are expected to become more severe, in combination with trucking industry perspectives on the impact of automated vehicles (AVs) on driving jobs. This study addresses these knowledge gaps through focus groups with trucking industry participants (N = 67) working in three organizational levels (25 upper-level management or owners, 20 supervisors or dispatchers, and 22 drivers) and a supplemental online survey. Using an inductive thematic analysis approach, findings indicate that companies struggle to address driver shortages because of difficulties recruiting younger workers related to quality-of-life issues, job requirements, and low rates of pay. AVs were thought to be a potential solution to the driver shortage, although there will be a continued need for drivers to perform certain tasks. The potential changes in industry positions could attract new workers but would require older workers to adapt to using new technology. From a workforce development perspective, training programs targeting technicians and drivers can help prepare the trucking workforce for an autonomous future.     

Is China's industrial policy effective? An empirical study of the new energy vehicles industry

China's traditional automobile industry lags behind that of the developed countries, but the development of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) is an opportunity to catch up with the global automobile industry. In China, there has been a widespread attempt to “overtake on the curve” by developing cleaner technology for NEVs. To help with this transition, the Chinese government has introduced a large number of policies to promote the development of the NEV industry. In this study, we examined whether these policies have been effective by analyzing data about policies for China's NEV industry from 2006 to 2018, as well as the NEV patents filed in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Korea, and China from 1988 to 2018. This paper uses quantitative analysis of policies and factor analysis. The results of the policy quantification regression analysis show that China's industrial policy has a significant influence on the number of patents. For example, China's aim to promote technological progress has been effective in developing an indigenous NEV industry, but whether China will succeed in “overtaking on the curve” is still unclear. The current state of development of NEV patents does not show China have a leading edge in NEV technology. China's NEV industry policies should be further strengthened, especially the core policies on technological innovation.     

Are Portable Personnel Portal Monitors too sensitive?

The Human Monitoring Laboratory has field tested its Portable Personnel Portal (P3) Monitors using sources up to 1700 MBq (47 mCi) to determine the alarm distance as a function of activity. The results show that the P3 monitors are highly sensitive, so much so that siting will be a problem for multiple units if multiple alarms are to be avoided. Building materials will shield the monitors allowing units to be placed closer together than in the open where there is no shielding, but windows and doors reduce shielding and complicate the siting of multiple units. In either situation, careful prior thought should be given to siting the monitors and the logistics of the crowd control techniques.     

Are all-terrain vehicle injuries becoming more severe?

BACKGROUND: There are several reasons to suspect that injuries from all-terrain vehicles (ATV) have become both more serious and frequent in recent years. These reasons include increasing engine power, younger age of operators and inconsistent enforcement of helmet laws. The purpose of this study was to determine if the increase in ATV injuries was out of proportion to the increase in ATV usage and whether ATV injuries have increased in severity. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ATV injury data and the Pennsylvania Trauma System Foundation (PTSF) database from 1989 to 2002 was performed. ATV use, sales, deaths, trauma center admissions, Injury Severity Score (ISS), hospital length of stay (LOS) and Glascow Coma Score (GCS) were reviewed. RESULTS: ATV sales increased to 316%. In the decade prior to 2003, reported deaths nationally increased from 183 to 357 (95%) nationally and from 5 to 10 (100%) in Pennsylvania (PA). Admissions to trauma centers in PA increased 240%, yet the percentage of deaths to trauma center admissions remained constant at 2.6% during this period (p>.50). ISS and LOS from 1989 to 2002 did not significantly change (all p>.05) and GCS improved significantly. CONCLUSION: Despite concerns regarding the increasing dangers associated with ATVs, it appears that the severity of injuries from ATV use has not increased.     

Are scientific memes inherited differently from gendered authorship?

This study sought to explore the existing academic literature on female entrepreneurship to assess how this field of research is organized in terms of publications, authors, and periodicals and/or sources. In addition, the research focused on mapping knowledge networks through citation and co-citation analysis and identifying natural clusters of the main keywords used. The study also examined the challenges (i.e., opportunities and difficulties) the literature reveals for the study of female entrepreneurship. That is, the knowledge gained from the bibliometric study (i.e., what has already been researched and the limits of these studies) was used to identify what research opportunities are present in this area. The articles gathered in the search were submitted to a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and TreeCloud software. The results obtained from the analysis of document citations reveal three clusters: (1) entrepreneurial profile, (2) gender identity and theoretical conceptualizations, and (3) the entrepreneurial process context. By studying the articles’ citation profile, this study’s findings contribute to a better understanding of the flow of production and research-related practices in this stimulating area of research, which is still in its infancy phase.