Older drivers’ crashes in Queensland,Australia

Background

The growing proportion of older adults in Australia is predicted to comprise 23% of the population by 2030. Accordingly, an increasing number of older drivers and fatal crashes of these drivers could also be expected. While the cognitive and physiological limitations of ageing and their road safety implications have been widely documented, research has generally considered older drivers as a homogeneous group. Knowledge of age-related crash trends within the older driver group itself is currently limited.

Objective

The aim of this research was to identify age-related differences in serious road crashes of older drivers. This was achieved by comparing crash characteristics between older and younger drivers and between sub-groups of older drivers. Particular attention was paid to serious crashes (crashes resulting in hospitalisation and fatalities) as they place the greatest burden on the Australian health system.

Method

Using Queensland Crash data, a total of 191,709 crashes of all-aged drivers (17–80+) over a 9-year period were analysed. Crash patterns of drivers’ aged 17–24, 25–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, 70–79 and 80+ were compared in terms of crash severity (e.g., fatal), at fault levels, traffic control measures (e.g., stop signs) and road features (e.g., intersections). Crashes of older driver sub-groups (60–69, 70–79, 80+) were also compared to those of middle-aged drivers (40–49 and 50–59 combined, who were identified as the safest driving cohort) with respect to crash-related traffic control features and other factors (e.g., speed). Confounding factors including speed and crash nature (e.g., sideswipe) were controlled for.

Results and discussion

Results indicated that patterns of serious crashes, as a function of crash severity, at-fault levels, road conditions and traffic control measures, differed significantly between age groups. As a group, older drivers (60+) represented the greatest proportion of crashes resulting in fatalities and hospitalisation, as well as those involving uncontrolled intersections and failure to give way. The opposite was found for middle-aged drivers, although they had the highest proportion of alcohol and speed-related crashes when compared to older drivers. Among all older drivers, those aged 60–69 were least likely to be involved in or the cause of crashes, but most likely to crash at interchanges and as a result of driving while fatigued or after consuming alcohol. Drivers aged 70–79 represented a mid-range level of crash involvement and culpability, and were most likely to crash at stop and give way signs. Drivers aged 80 years and beyond were most likely to be seriously injured or killed in, and at-fault for, crashes, and had the greatest number of crashes at both conventional and circular intersections. Overall, our findings highlight the heterogeneity of older drivers’ crash patterns and suggest that age-related differences must be considered in measures designed to improve older driver safety.     

Constitution and morphology of hydroxyapatite whiskers prepared using amine additives

Currently-available HA particle-reinforced composites are not suitable for use in large stress-bearing restorations and biomedical substitution due to low strength and poor durability. HA is the most promising because of good biocompatibility and bioactivity, and since reinforcement efficacy is greatly affected by length and aspect ratio, the preparation of long HA whiskers could be important for biomedical applications. Acetamide, formamide, and carbonyl diamide were tested as precipitation agents to modify crystal growth habit. The morphology and composition of the whiskers showed a sensitive dependence on the additive used. Carbonyl diamide and formamide led to contaminated HA; crystals were needle-like but contained carbonate or formate, respectively. In comparison, acetamide showed a low hydrolysis rate under hydrothermal conditions, giving rise to a rapid growth of HA crystals at a low supersaturation. Furthermore, the hydrolysis products of AA affected neither the composition nor the growth habit of the HA.     

The effect of excess phosphate on the solubility of hydroxyapatite

The solubility of hydroxyapatite (HA) is critical in fields such as medicine, dentistry and geochemistry. Previously, it had been found that it was apparently slightly increased with 1 mmol/L excess phosphate present. This study was to determine the solubility of HA over the pH range 3.3–5.4 with a series of concentrations of such ‘excess’ phosphate with solid titration (ST), and to identify the precipitate formed at equilibrium with SEM, TEM, EDX, FTIR and XRD. For [PO₄]_XS=0–0.3 mmol/L, results followed closely the already-reported ST ‘low’ solubility isotherm. At [PO₄]_XS=0.5 mmol/L, the solubility surface switched abruptly to a ‘high’ position that could not be reconciled with either the ‘low’ isotherm or conventional calculations. Thus, HA solubility is critically dependent on the presence of excess phosphate. Such excess may account for the discrepancy between ST and excess-solid results, although the crystallographic explanation is as yet lacking.     

Optimization of the Electrical Performance of Polymeric Films

In the present study, an attempt is made to optimize the electrical performance of the thin polymeric films through optimization techniques. The study is conducted in two phases: (1) laboratory experiments and (2) through numerical optimization. For laboratory analysis, thin and transparent films are prepared using polyethersulfone (PES) as host material and meta-nitroaniline (MNA) as guest materials. A set of nine film samples are prepared by the solution casting method in the laboratory using different concentrations of MNA. The electrical properties capacitance, conductance, and dissipation factor of films are measured by Aligent Impedance Analyzer. These characteristics are then optimized mathematically. For this purpose, initially single-objectives are considered for optimizing the electrical properties individually, and later a multiobjective model is considered for analyzing the properties simultaneously. The algorithms employed are metaheuristics: genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, differential evolution, and its variant modified differential evolution along with fmincon (a MATLAB toolbox) for single-objective optimization and multiobjective differential evolution algorithm and nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II for multiobjective optimization.     

The relation between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and vegetation moisture content at three grassland locations in Victoria,Australia

The supposition that, for most practical purposes, a single, generic, widely applicable relation exists between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and grassland vegetation moisture content is tested. An experiment is described in which the vegetation moisture content at three Victorian grassland sites of varying composition is measured over the course of a complete curing episode. For each site, corresponding satellite radiation measurements are used to extract surface reflectances corrected for atmospheric and view-angle effects, and NDVI values based on these. On relating NDVI so obtained to the field measurements of vegetation moisture expressed in terms of a parameter commonly employed in assessing grassland fire risk, namely Fuel Moisture Content (FMC), separate relations for each site are clearly identified. When the relation appropriate to each site is used to derive FMC for that site, accurate estimates are obtained. Accuracy decreases markedly if the relation appropriate to one site is used to derive estimates of FMC at the other sites. When FMC values are transformed to another commonly employed parameter of grassland vegetation moisture content, namely Grassland Curing Index (GCI), the loss of accuracy becomes much greater. More accurate estimates of GCI are obtained using a direct relation between NDVI and GCI.     

Artificial bee colony optimized robust-reversible image watermarking

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The ownership verification of digital images is possible by the help of image watermarking. Watermarking make the image secure towards unlawful use; but at the...     

Additive Manufacturing of Catalyst Substrates for Steam–Methane Reforming

Steam–methane reforming is a highly endothermic reaction, which is carried out at temperatures up to 1100 °C and pressures up to 3000 kPa, typically with a Ni-based catalyst distributed over a substrate of discrete alumina pellets or beads. Standard pellet geometries (spheres, hollow cylinders) limit the degree of mass transfer between gaseous reactants and catalyst. Further, heat is supplied to the exterior of the reactor wall, and heat transfer is limited due to the nature of point contacts between the reactor wall and the substrate pellets. This limits the degree to which the process can be intensified, as well as limiting the diameter of the reactor wall. Additive manufacturing now gives us the capability to design structures with tailored heat and mass transfer properties, not only within the packed bed of the reactor, but also at the interface between the reactor wall and the packed bed. In this work, the use of additive manufacturing to produce monolithic-structured catalyst substrate models, made from acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene, with enhanced conductive heat transfer is described. By integrating the reactor wall into the catalyst substrate structure, the effective thermal conductivity increased by 34% from 0.122 to 0.164 W/(m K).     

Posttraumatic stress disorder and childhood abuse in battered women: Comparisons with maritally distressed women.

In the present study, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence rates were compared among 50 battered women and 37 maritally distressed women who had not experienced battering (N?=?87). Participants were administered R. Spitzer and I. B. S. Williams's (1985) Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-III—R (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [3rd ed., rev.]) to assess PTSD status and previous traumatic experiences in addition to other standardized measures of PTSD and violence exposure. Battered women exhibited significantly higher rates of PTSD than maritally distressed women (58% vs. 18.9%). Although both groups had similar rates of previous trauma experiences, women with a PTSD-positive status (both battered women and maritally distressed women) were significantly more likely to have experienced self-reported childhood sexual abuse and a higher overall number of previous traumas than those with a PTSD-negative status. Battering exposure and childhood sexual abuse predicted 37% of the variance in overall PTSD intensity levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimal coordination of over-current relays using modified differential evolution algorithms

Optimization of directional over-current relay (DOCR) settings is an important problem in electrical engineering. The optimization model of the problem turns out to be non-linear and highly constrained in which two settings namely time dial setting (TDS) and plug setting (PS) of each relay are considered as decision variables; the sum of the operating times of all the primary relays, which are expected to operate in order to clear the faults of their corresponding zones, is considered as an objective function. In the present study, three models are considered namely IEEE 3-bus model, IEEE 4-bus model and IEEE 6-bus model. To solve the problem, we have applied five newly developed versions of differential evolution (DE) called modified DE versions (MDE1, MDE2, MDE3, MDE4, and MDE5). The results are compared with the classical DE algorithm and with five more algorithms available in the literature; the numerical results show that the modified DE algorithms outperforms or perform at par with the other algorithms.     

Biomimetic synthesis of the composites of hydroxyapatite and chitosan–phosphorylated chitosan polyelectrolyte complex

A polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) composed of chitosan (CS) and phosphorylated chitosan (PCS) was used to encapsulate a calcium phosphate by a biomimetic method. An acidic CS (polycation) solution containing calcium and phosphate ions (Ca²⁺: 6 mM, Ca/P = 1.67) was added into a PCS (polyanion) solution leading to the formation of a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) with nanoscopic carbonate-containing, low-crystallinity hydroxyapatite (HA) distributed evenly in the fibrils of the PEC by controlled crystal growth. The resulting composite material, PEC–HA, has a complicated porous structure that is expected to have high biocompatibility and that may be of use as materials for bone replacement and a carrier for controlled-release therapeutic agents.