ARTICLES

2/14/2014· Accident Investigation & Reconstruction

Automated Retrieval System Failure Results in Catastrophic Fire at Storage Facility

By: Bill O'Donnell

The largest storage rack/ retrieval system, larger than two football fields and eighty feet wide was constructed to store 108 million pounds of paper products. On July, 2002, after two months of use, the facility collapsed and sparked a fire that destroyed the entire structure and 45 million pounds of paper. Nearly 50 fire departments responded to the inferno, which burned for three weeks. The owner of the facility sued a number of companies that included the contractor that designed and built the structure, a subcontractor, and the company that supplied the 110 foot steel columns.

2/13/2014· Accident Prevention & Safety

Air Bag Deployment Criteria

By: Dr. Kenneth Solomon

Air bag control modules utilize complex algorithms to make air bag deployment decisions based on crash severity related to the change in vehicle speed or deceleration over time. Due to the proprietary nature of air bag deployment algorithms, the velocity, acceleration, or displacement thresholds for air bag deployment during a collision are not easily obtained; however, a range of frontal barrier impact speeds and corresponding deceleration and displacement threshold values for air bag deployment can be approximated using known vehicle stiffness-to-weight ratios.

2/10/2014· Finance

General Motors Joins Yogi Berra

By: Dr. Kenneth E. Lehrer

Even with creative financing, accounting techniques and decreased profit margins, the American automobile industry appears unable to sustain itself and has suffered significant losses, especially in recent years. Given these realities, it would seem prudent to rely upon baseball and the one special feature they have enjoyed via compliments of a United States Supreme Court Decision in 1922, namely exemption under the Antitrust Laws, basically Sherman and Clayton Acts.

2/10/2014· Spirituality

The Soul

By: Peter H. Dennis

We often hear people use the word "soul." They talk about "mind-body-soul", they might state that someone "has soul," they can point to a "poor soul," they may designate certain individuals as "soul mates," and they could talk about operating on a "soul level." What exactly are they talking about? Do they really know themselves? Are we a soul or do we have a soul? What then, is a soul?

2/6/2014· Medical - Medicine

Supramalleolar Wedge Osteotomy: a Method of Correcting Fixed Equinus and Associated Deformities in Children

By: Dr. John Handelsman

Patients with fixed equinus and associated angular and rotational deformities, who have had multiple previous surgeries, present a significant challenge to the orthopaedic surgeon. We chose to correct these deformities with supramalleolar extension wedge osteotomies in 21 feet in 13 patients between 1991 and 2002. The median age at presentation was 11 years (range: 2-17 years). An average correction of 20" of extension (range: 10-33") was required to achieve a plantigrade foot. Fourteen of 20 feet (70%) remained plantigrade at a mean follow-up of 6 years.

2/6/2014· Expert Witnessing

Go Forth and Testify

By: Joe Samnik

At first blush you may think that this article is about a small, albeit ugly armored animal and you would be justified in doing so. After all, the name Armadillo Partners conjures up a mental image of a corporate holding of armadillos, presumably for sale. Such would not be the case however. In fact, this article is about an arbor area and trees located at a shopping center called Armadillo Square in Broward County, Florida.

2/6/2014· Automotive - Vehicular

Connected Vehicles and Autonomous Vehicles: Where Do ITE Members Stand?

By: Richard Beaubien

The topic of Connected Vehicles and Autonomous Vehicles is not new, yet advances in computing power, wireless capabilities, and soft ware development are taking implementation predictions from the not-too-distance future and placing them in the here and now. Emerging vehicle technologies foreshadow a world in which sensors and soft ware will replace humans in the driver's seat.

2/3/2014· Failure Analysis

Failure Analysis: Manufacturing Engineer Examines the Root Cause of Automobile Rear View Mirror Failures

By: Dr. Thomas Read

The root cause of the failure of customer returns of heated automobile rear view mirrors was investigated.

1/31/2014· Transportation

Buses and Motorcoaches: Humps and Bumps

By: Ned Einstein

I have often written about the impacts of overly-tight schedules as the primary causative factor in incidents - in fact, the underlying cause of perhaps half of them. Because speeding is one of the "cures" to this problem, one of its characteristics is the failure to slow down when the roadway surface is not, as jazz musicians say, "melody." One of the most common scenarios is to cruise over speed bumps and speed humps. Another is to fail to slow over rugged terrain, particularly potholes and the often dysfunctional patches that sloppy road crews create to "repair" them.

1/29/2014· Warnings & Labels

Warning: Obesity Rates In America Will Soar By 2030

By: Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber

As we approach the holiday season this year, we should keep in mind a new study released last month warns that 42% of Americans could be obese by 2030 (up from 36% in 2010) and 11% could be severely obese, which means about 100 pounds overweight (vs. 6% in 2010). The study, done by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects that in every state the rate of obesity could reach 42% and in thirteen states, that number could exceed 60% of the population. Mississippi, which currently leads the nation in obesity rates, could have as many as 2/3 of its population obese by 2030.