Applicability of boosting techniques in calibrating safety performance functions for freeways.

Safety performance functions (SPFs) are indispensable analytical tools that usually play a crucial role in estimating crash frequencies, identifying hotspots, analyzing crash contributing factors, and assessing the effectiveness of safety countermeasures. Due to the limited availability of safety data, municipalities tended to adopt SPFs from Highway Safety Manual or other neighboring jurisdictions. Recently, boosting algorithms have been frequently exploited for data analysis and statistical regression modeling problems.

One-session laparoscopic management of Mirizzi syndrome: feasible and safe in specialist units.

Background: To evaluate the laparoscopic management of Mirizzi syndrome, seldom diagnosed preoperatively causing difficulty when performing cholecystectomy and increasing complication risks.

Methods: Analysis of a prospective single-surgeon database of 5700 laparoscopic cholecystectomies found 58 Mirizzi syndrome cases. They were managed with an intention to treat during the index admission according to protocol of single-session management of bile duct stones.