scholarly journals Reporting measurement uncertainties with ethanol results

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-261
Author(s):  
Serpil Erdogan ◽  
Orhan Sen ◽  
Ceylan Bal ◽  
Dilek Oztas ◽  
Gamze Avcioglu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Uncertainty ◽  
Odds Ratio ◽  
Total Error ◽  
Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Electronic Patient Records ◽  
Impaired Driving ◽  
Ethanol Level ◽  
Alcohol Impaired Driving ◽  
Measurement Uncertainties ◽  
Country Specific

AbstractBackgroundAll measurements are affected by errors whose quantitative expressions are called measurement uncertainty. Blood, urine, breath or serum alcohol concentration is measured to assess if an offence has been committed. In this study, we aimed to calculate the measurement uncertainty for ethanol.Materials and methodsMeasurement uncertainty was calculated according to the Nordtest guidelines by tracking six steps. All of the patient ethanol results were scanned and recorded between October 2015 and March 2016 by using electronic patient records.ResultsThe measurement uncertainty value was calculated as ±12.25%. The results from 1178 patients referred to our hospital for serum ethanol level analyses were scanned. Of the 1178 ethanol results, 597 were driver. Male persons have higher probability of alcohol-impaired driving than female persons [p = 0.007; odds ratio was 2.239 (1.211–4.141 with 95% confidence interval)].ConclusionThe measurement uncertainty for ethanol concentrations measured in our laboratory was lower than the allowable total error (TEa) of the guidelines (20%). Laboratories that analyze ethanol have to be more transparent about measurement procedures when presenting their ethanol result. Measurement uncertainty should be limited with legislative regulations by country-specific scientific committees.

A Review of Alcohol-Impaired Driving: The Role of Blood Alcohol Concentration and Complexity of the Driving Task

2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 1238-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teri L. Martin ◽  
Patricia A. M. Solbeck ◽  
Daryl J. Mayers ◽  
Robert M. Langille ◽  
Yvona Buczek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Blood Alcohol ◽  
Impaired Driving ◽  
Alcohol Impaired Driving ◽  
Driving Task

Everything Is Bigger in Texas: Alcohol Impaired Driving in Houston (2014–2018)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corissa Rodgers ◽  
Melissa Lloyd ◽  
Peter Stout ◽  
Dayong Lee
Keyword(s):  
Public Safety ◽  
Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Driving Under The Influence ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Impaired Driving ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Drug Concentrations ◽  
Populations At Risk ◽  
Alcohol Impaired Driving

Abstract Driving while intoxicated (DWI) or driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) poses a continued public safety risk in Texas, which has one of the highest alcohol impaired traffic fatality rates. This study aimed to identify alcohol and drug use trends seen in DWI/DUID cases in the city of Houston from 2014 to 2018 to better understand the populations at risk. Blood samples submitted to the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) were evaluated for blood alcohol concentration (BAC), drug concentrations and demographics. During the 5-year period, 12,682 Houston driver blood samples had a mean (median) BAC of 0.151 g/dL (0.167 g/dL) and age of 36.3 (34) years. Fifty percent of samples were white males. Seventy-five percent of samples were individuals aged 21 to 44 years. Between 2014 and 2018, the number of cases submitted nearly doubled, from approximately 2,000 cases per year to over 3,700. In 2014, 23% of cases submitted required further analysis per HFSC testing policy (drug screen and confirmation for DWI/DUID cases when BAC < 0.100 g/dL), which rose to 27% by 2018. Of those, 36% were polydrug cases, requiring two or more confirmation tests. Cannabinoids was the most common drug class detected (34% of cases analyzed for drugs), followed by benzodiazepines (25%), phencyclidine (20%), cocaine/metabolites (15%) and opioids (12%). Phencyclidine rose from the fifth-most commonly detected drug in 2014 to the second-most drug in 2018. Only 3% of all cases (n = 408) were negative for both alcohol and drugs. Communication between law enforcement and laboratory management is recommended to address growing caseload more effectively. The study limitations (e.g., limited scope of analysis) suggest the present data underestimated the full extent of impaired driving in Houston, indicating even more urgent needs for increasing resources and efforts to reduce this serious threat to public safety.

scholarly journals Perceptions of alcohol-impaired driving and the blood alcohol concentration standard in the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Eby ◽  
Lisa J. Molnar ◽  
Lidia P. Kostyniuk ◽  
Renée M. St. Louis ◽  
Nicole Zanier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alcohol Concentration ◽  
Blood Alcohol ◽  
Impaired Driving ◽  
Alcohol Impaired Driving

scholarly journals Techniques for analyses of trends in GRUAN data

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1673-1684 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Bodeker ◽  
S. Kremser
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Uncertainty ◽  
Trend Analysis ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Target Uncertainty ◽  
Reference Quality ◽  
Measurement Uncertainties

Abstract. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) provides reference quality RS92 radiosonde measurements of temperature, pressure and humidity. A key attribute of reference quality measurements, and hence GRUAN data, is that each datum has a well characterized and traceable estimate of the measurement uncertainty. The long-term homogeneity of the measurement records, and their well characterized uncertainties, make these data suitable for reliably detecting changes in global and regional climate on decadal time scales. Considerable effort is invested in GRUAN operations to (i) describe and analyse all sources of measurement uncertainty to the extent possible, (ii) quantify and synthesize the contribution of each source of uncertainty to the total measurement uncertainty, and (iii) verify that the evaluated net uncertainty is within the required target uncertainty. However, if the climate science community is not sufficiently well informed on how to capitalize on this added value, the significant investment in estimating meaningful measurement uncertainties is largely wasted. This paper presents and discusses the techniques that will need to be employed to reliably quantify long-term trends in GRUAN data records. A pedagogical approach is taken whereby numerical recipes for key parts of the trend analysis process are explored. The paper discusses the construction of linear least squares regression models for trend analysis, boot-strapping approaches to determine uncertainties in trends, dealing with the combined effects of autocorrelation in the data and measurement uncertainties in calculating the uncertainty on trends, best practice for determining seasonality in trends, how to deal with co-linear basis functions, and interpreting derived trends. Synthetic data sets are used to demonstrate these concepts which are then applied to a first analysis of temperature trends in RS92 radiosonde upper air soundings at the GRUAN site at Lindenberg, Germany (52.21° N, 14.12° E).

scholarly journals Creation of a register on alcohol-impaired driving

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 430-430
Author(s):  
K Bartell ◽  
C Goss ◽  
C DiGuiseppi
Keyword(s):  
Impaired Driving ◽  
Alcohol Impaired Driving
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