Accident statistics indicate that every year a significant number of casualties and extensive property losses occur due to traffic accidents. Consequently, efforts are directed towards developing passive and active safety systems that help reduce the severity of crashes, or prevent vehicles from colliding with one another. To develop these systems, technologies such as sensor systems, computer vision and vehicular communication have been proposed. Safety vehicular communication is defined as the exchange of data between vehicles with the goal of providing in-vehicle safety systems with enough information to permit detection of traffic dangers. Inter-vehicle communication is a key safety technology, especially as a complement to other technologies such as radar, as the information it provides cannot be gathered in any other way. However, due to the specifics of the traffic environment, the design of efficient safety communication systems poses a series of major technical challenges. In this thesis we focus on the design and development of a safety communication system that provides support for active safety systems such as collision warning and collision avoidance. We begin by providing a method for designing the support system for active safety systems. Within our study, we investigate different safety aspects of traffic situations. For performing traffic investigations, we have developed ECAM, a temporal reasoning system for modeling and analyzing accident scenarios. Next, we focus on the communication system design. We investigate approaches that can be applied to implement safety vehicular communication, as well as design aspects of such systems, including networking techniques and transmission procedures. We then propose a new solution for vehicular communication in the form of a distributed communication protocol that allows the vehicles to organize themselves in virtual clusters according to their common interest in traffic safety. To disseminate the information used for organizing the network and for assessing dangers in traffic, we develop an anonymous context-based broadcast protocol. This protocol requires the receivers to determine whether they are the intended destination for sent messages based on knowledge about their current situation in traffic. This communication system is then augmented with a reactive operation mode, where warnings can be issued and forwarded by vehicles. A vehicular communication platform that provides an implementation framework for the communication system, and integrates it within a vehicle, is also proposed. Experiments have been conducted, under various conditions, to test communication performance and the system’s ability to reduce accidents. The results indicate that that the proposed communication system can efficiently provide the exchange of safety information between vehicles.

The food-safety legislation in Sweden were changed and updated in 1996, much because of demands from the European Union for a common legislation regarding the food-safety issues in the EU. This report discusses how the Swedish authorities are dealing with the new legislation in Sweden. Further on the report presents how the food safety officers in the municipalities in Sweden are implementing this new legislation in their daily work, especially the requirements regarding the HACCP, Hazard Analysis Control and Checkpoints. The report shows that the implementation is quite slow and that many foodsafety-officers don’t implement the legislation in the same way all over the country. In some parts of Sweden the officers demands a complete Hazard-analysisplan with Critical checkpoints while in other parts of Sweden the are not the same demands. The reason to why this is possible may be the educational differences between the food safety officers in Sweden. In some municipalities the officers are well educated about the new legislation including HACCP while other municipalities don’t afford or take the time to educate their officers. The report also shows that the knowledge of the new legislation is poor among the people who work in the food-section.

Our thesis is made in collaboration with Autoliv Sweden and the department Global Development Seatbelt in Vårgårda. Autoliv was founded in 1953 by two brothers from Vårgårda. Since then, they have become world leading in automotive safety and cooperates with several major automotive companies.   The aim of the project was to evaluate a concept that Adrian Bud for Global Development Seatbelt department in Vårgårda had come up with. The concept aims to simplify the design and reduce the number of parts in an adaptive load limiter (LLA). With a reduction in the number of parts, the price for the LLA would decrease and also make assembly easier.   An LLA adjusts the chest compression from the seatbelt in a crash sequence. This helps reducing the injury that might result from such chest compressions in a crash. The load limiter ensures that the slowdown of the body is done in a smooth manner by adjusting the amount of belt released.   Our concept evaluation has included conceptual design, primary design, visualization of design in Catia V5 and FEM analysis. Finally prototypes were built with the help of Autolivs central workshop and tests were performed at Autoliv. The report also includes analyzes of the results, recommendations for the continuation of work and development and a critical review of the evaluation.

Listeria monocytogenes is the etiological agent of a life-threatening, opportunistic infection caused by the ingestion of contaminated foods. Although L. monocytogenes is divided into 13 serotypes, 98% of human illness is caused by serotype 1/2a, 1/2b and 4b strains, with serotype 4b accounting for almost all the major outbreaks of human listeriosis. The principle objective of this work was to develop surface-binding monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) highly specific for serotype 4b, as well as characterize their antigen targets to aid in the detection and isolation of serotype 4b strains using an antibody based procedure. To create such antibodies, mice were immunized with formalin killed whole cells of L. monocytogenes serotype 4b strain LI0521. A total of 15 MAbs reactive to serotype 4b isolates were shown to recognize a ~77 kDa surface antigen subsequently identified by mass spectrometry as surface associated autolysin, IspC. Epitope mapping experiments further revealed that each of the 15 MAbs bound to the cell wall binding GW domain of IspC and can be essentially divided into 4 major groups based on epitope localization. ELISA analysis of the reactivity of each of the MAbs with various L. monocytogenes serotypes indicated that several MAbs were 100% specific for serotype 4b isolates. Surface plasmon resonance experiments showed that the affinity constants for each of these MAbs fell within the range of 1.0 x 10-7 to 6.4 x 10-9 M. To determine whether IspC, shown to be well conserved among various serotype 4b strains, is a useful diagnostic marker with antibody-based methods, the expression of IspC was assessed in L. monocytogenes cultured under normal and stress conditions. A functional promoter directing the transcription of ispC gene was identified immediately upstream of the ispC open reading frame by constructing the promoterless lacZ gene fusion with the putative ispC promoter region and by 5'RACE analysis. Data obtained with the lacZ reporter gene system and immunofluorescent microscopy revealed that IspC is expressed on the cell surface under all growth conditions tested (temperature, osmotic stress, pH, ethanol, oxidative stress, anaerobic conditions, carbon source and enrichment media) that allow for cellular division, although the level of ispC gene expression varies. In addition, a significant effort were put into elucidating the hydrolytic bond specificity of IspC by HPLC and mass spectrometry analysis of muropeptides released from IspC-mediated hydrolysis of L. monocytogenes peptidoglycan (PG). The results demonstrated that IspC functions as an N-acetylglucosaminidase capable of cleaving the β-1,4-glycosidic bond of the PG glycan strand. Furthermore, IspC was more efficient at hydrolysing fully Nacetylated PG from a PG deacetylase gene (pgdA) deletion mutant of L. monocytogenes than partially de-N-acetylated wild-type PG, indicating that modification of PG by de-Nacetylation of GlcNAc residues renders PG resistant to IspC hydrolysis. In conclusion, the surface autolysin IspC with the N-acetylglucosaminidase activity is a novel diagnostic marker for the 4b serotype strains, which can be explored , in conjunction with specific MAbs developed here, for detection and isolation of L. monocytogenes serotype 4b strains directly from food, environmental and clinical samples with the need for minimal or no culture enrichment.

Women’s sexual victimization is perceived as a one sided problem that emphasizes women’s choices and neglect men’s accountability. Rape myths support an explanation of rape that allows women to remain fearful of sexual victimization. This thesis questions whether contemporary websites regarding women’s safety reinforce rape myths. Components of rape myths include the idea that women’s safety is her responsibility alone, echo traditional gender role expectations, perpetuate dependence on others and security products, and suggest that women’s fear of victimization is normal. A content analysis of thirteen websites regarding women’s safety is the subject of this study. Findings suggest that websites regarding women’s safety are perpetuating components of rape myths through safety suggestions. Key / UOIT

Agents with differential constraints, although common in the real world, pose a particular difficulty for motion planning algorithms. Methods for solving such problems are still relatively slow and inefficient. In particular, current motion planners generally can neither "see" the world around them, nor generalize from experience. That is, their reliance on collision tests as the only means of sensing the environment yields a tactile, myopic perception of the world. Such short-sightedness greatly limits any potential for detection, learning, or reasoning about frequently encountered situations. In result these methods solve each problem in exactly the same way, whether the first or the hundredth time they attempt it, each time none the wiser. The key component of this thesis proposes a general approach for motion planning in which local sensory information, in conjunction with prior accumulated experience, are exploited to improve planner performance. The approach relies on learning viability models for the agent's "perceptual space", and the use thereof to direct planning effort. In addition, a method is presented for improving runtimes of the RRT motion planning algorithm in heavily constrained search-spaces, a common feature for agents with differential constraints. Finally, the thesis explores the use of viability models for maintaing safe operation of user-controlled agents, a related application which could be harnessed to yield additional, more "natural" experience data for further improving motion planning.

Abstract Purpose: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with injury in professional ballet and modern dancers, to explore dancers’ attitudes and perceptions of injury, and to assess if dancers are reporting their injuries and reasons for not reporting injuries. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in professional ballet and modern dance companies in Canada, Denmark, Israel, and Sweden. Results: The point prevalence of injury in dancers is high (55% ballet; 46% modern) and most have chronic pain. Years dancing professionally and rank were associated with injury in ballet dancers. Attitudes towards injury vary and some dancers are continuing to dance when injured. Greater than 15% of all injured dancers have not reported their injury. Conclusions: Injury is common in dancers and there is an urgent need to investigate interventions to help control injury and understand the long-term implications of these conditions in this population.

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) affects up to 90% of pregnancies. Diclectin (doxylamine/pyridoxine) is the only anti-emetic approved in Canada for NVP, at a maximum dose of 4 tablets/day. However, some women receive higher doses, up to 12 tablets/day. In this study we compared the neurocognitive development of children from four mother-child groups: (1) NVP and >4 tablets Diclectin, (2) NVP and ≤ 4 tablets Diclectin, (3) NVP and no treatment and (4) no NVP. Children received a full age-appropriate psychological assessment. All groups scored in the normal range for IQ and cognition tests. The Diclectin-exposed groups scored significantly higher on a small number of subtests, but none of the differences could be considered clinically significant. No dose-dependent effects were observed. Above manufacturer recommended doses of Diclectin do not appear to harm neurodevelopment and should be considered safe for the treatment of NVP.

Safety is of paramount importance to manufacturers of roadway vehicles. Although in the past few years much progress has been made in the field of passenger safety in cars, there is still a strong need for the design of a more crashworthy vehicle in a frontal collision. Therefore, a vehicle crash test performance and how well the vehicle protects the front seat passengers in a head-on-collision is an essential part of the design of the vehicle. Over the past twelve years, the modeling of components and crash analysis of entire vehicles have become increasingly significant. In this thesis, a Ford Taurus model is analyzed in a frontal full-width and offset impact. This thesis describes the comparison of structural damage on a vehicle colliding with rigid pole as compared to the same vehicle model colliding with a barrier. The reason for selecting a rigid pole was to consider the worst-case scenario. The NHTSA has rules and regulations for barrier crashes; however it does not have any standards for pole crashes. In reality, there are many pole related vehicle crashes every year. Pole crashes involve vehicles colliding with utility and traffic light poles. Our purpose was to study the intrusion and injury values for the pole test and compare it with the barrier testing method of NHTSA. These simulations are carried under the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The simulations are obtained using LS-DYNA3D crash code. The rigid barrier, deformable barrier and pole are modeled in MSC/PATRAN. The accelerations at various points are recorded. The occupant compartment intrusions are compared between pole and barrier. Finally the responses of an occupant for the crash tests are studied in Mathematical Dynamical Models (MADYMO) by placing the dummy inside the dyna model. The dummy is placed in the car using extended coupling. A hybrid III 50th percentile male dummy model is used to study the occupant responses. The finite element shoulder and lap belts are modeled in MADYMO. The head accelerations are plotted and the HIC values are calculated. For the crash test the occupant foot injury during compartment intrusion is evaluated by calculating the tibia index and tibia forces. The barrier and the pole test results are compared and the results showed that the intrusions and injury values are more severe in the case of pole impact and in off-set crash there is a severe leg injury. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. / "December 2005."

Abstract Purpose: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with injury in professional ballet and modern dancers, to explore dancers’ attitudes and perceptions of injury, and to assess if dancers are reporting their injuries and reasons for not reporting injuries. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in professional ballet and modern dance companies in Canada, Denmark, Israel, and Sweden. Results: The point prevalence of injury in dancers is high (55% ballet; 46% modern) and most have chronic pain. Years dancing professionally and rank were associated with injury in ballet dancers. Attitudes towards injury vary and some dancers are continuing to dance when injured. Greater than 15% of all injured dancers have not reported their injury. Conclusions: Injury is common in dancers and there is an urgent need to investigate interventions to help control injury and understand the long-term implications of these conditions in this population.