Effects of occupational exposure in pesticide plant on workers' serum and erythrocyte cholinesterase activity

Objectives: The determination of cholinesterase activity has been commonly applied in the biomonitoring of exposure to organophosphates and carbamates and in the diagnosis of poisoning with anticholinesterase compounds. One of the groups who are at risk of pesticide intoxication are the workers engaged in the production of these chemicals. Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of pesticides on erythrocyte and serum cholinesterase activity in workers occupationally exposed to these chemicals. Methods: The subjects were 63 workers at a pesticide plant. Blood samples were collected before they were employed (phase I) and after 3 months of working in the plant (phase II). Cholinesterase level in erythrocytes (EChE) was determined using the modified Ellman method, and serum cholinesterase (SChE) by butyrylthiocholine substrate assay. Results: The mean EChE levels were 48±11 IU/g Hb in phase I and 37±17 IU/g Hb in phase II (paired t-test, mean = -29; 95% CI = -43-14), p < 0.001). The mean SChE level was 9569±2496 IU/l in phase I, and 7970±2067 IU/l in phase II (paired t-test, mean = 1599; 95% CI = 1140-2058, p < 0.001). There was a significant increase in ALT level (p < 0.001) and a decrease in serum albumin level (p < 0.001). Conclusion: In view of the significant decrease in EChE and SChE levels among pesticide workers, it seems that routine assessment of cholinesterase level in workers employed in such occupations and people handling pesticides should be made obligatory

The Hasty Pees in Sicily

Account given by Major A.R. Campbell Officer Commanding ‘A’ Company and Captain N.R. Waugh, MC, Officer Commanding ‘D’ Company, Hastings & Prince Edward Regiment, on 18 August 1943, at Battalion Rest Area near MILITELLO in val di CATANIA, SICILY

Of executive preferences and societal constraints: the domestic politics of the transatlantic GMO dispute

When the transatlantic trade dispute over genetically modified organisms came to a boil in the late 1990s and early 2000s it was widely expected to be highly conflictual. The United States was, almost universally, expected to challenge fundamentally the European Union’s regulatory system for GMOs before the World Trade Organisation and was equally universally expected to win the case. The EU was widely, albeit not universally, expected to refuse to comply with the ruling. In keeping with most of the international political economy literature on trade disputes, both of these expectations were rooted in assessments of societal demands for action and resistance. Both expectations, however, were confounded; the US (and its co-complainants) filed a narrow challenge focusing on the EU’s failure to apply its own procedures; and the EU, somewhat falteringly, has resumed approvals of GMOs. Applying a two-level-game framework, this article argues that this relatively cooperative outcome is explained by the executives of both polities exercising their autonomy to pursue policies closer to the preferences of the other polity than their median domestic constituents would have preferred. This article, therefore, makes the case for taking government preferences and autonomy seriously when analysing the outcomes of trade disputes. Moreover, it emphasises that compliance with international rules engages with on-going internal policy processes and debate

Cosmological Models with Fractional Derivatives and Fractional Action Functional

Cosmological models of a scalar field with dynamical equations containing fractional derivatives or derived from the Einstein-Hilbert action of fractional order, are constructed. A number of exact solutions to those equations of fractional cosmological models in both cases is given.Comment: 14 page

Long-Term Contracts and the Principal-Agent Problem

This paper examines the principal-agent problem within professional sports. Imperfect information between managers and players, as well as the guaranteed income a long-term contract provides, are predicted to provide players with the incentive to alter effort over the length of a contract – especially during the first year of a long-term contract. Regression analysis indicates that players’ performance levels decline during the first year of a long-term contract, suggesting that the effects of the principal-agent problem may outweigh competing effects. The study does not, however, suggest that players increase performance in the final year of a contract

Recovery at Morvin: SERPENT final report

Recovery from disturbance is poorly understood in deep water, but the extent of anthropogenic impacts is becoming increasingly well documented. We used Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) to visually assess the change in benthic habitat after exploratory hydrocarbon drilling disturbance around the Morvin well located at 380m depth in the Norwegian Sea.An ROV, launched directly from the rig drilling the well in 2006 was used to carry out video transects around the well before drilling and immediately after. On a return to the site three years after disturbance a larger survey was conducted with a ship-launched ROV in 2009. Transects were repeated at the disturbed area and random background transects were taken. Visible drill cuttings were mapped for each survey, and positions and counts of epibenthic invertebrate megafauna were determined, revealing a fauna dominated by Cnidaria (45% of total observations) and Porifera (33%).Immediately after disturbance a visible cuttings pile extended to over 100m from the well and megafaunal density was significantly reduced (0.07 individuals m-2) in comparison to pre-drill data (0.23 ind. m-2). Three years later the visible extent of the cuttings pile had reduced in size, reaching 60m from the well and considerably less in some headings. In comparison to background transects (0.21 ind. m-2), megafaunal density was significantly reduced on the remaining cuttings (0.04m-2), but beyond the visible disturbance there was no significant difference (0.15m-2). The investigation at this site shows a return to background densities of megafaunal organisms over a large extent of the area previously disturbed. However a central area, where the initial cuttings pile was deepest, demonstrated reduced sessile megafaunal density which persisted three years after disturbance. Elevated Barium concentration and reduced sediment grain size suggests persistence of disturbance beyond the remaining visibly impacted area which may result in changes to the infaunal communities undetectable by ROV video survey

Wake dynamics and rotor-fuselage aerodynamic interactions

The unsteady loads experienced by a helicopter are known to be strongly influenced by aerodynamic interactions between the rotor and fuselage; these unsteady loads can lead to deficiencies in handling qualities and unacceptable vibratory characteristics of the rotorcraft. This work uses a vorticity-based computational model to study the governing processes that underpin this aerodynamic interaction and aims to provide greater understanding of the wake dynamics in the presence of a fuselage, as well as an appreciation of how the geometry of the wake affects the loading on the fuselage. The well-known experiments using NASA's ROBIN fuselage are used to assess the accuracy of the computations. Comparisons of calculations against results from smoke visualization experiments are used to demonstrate the ability of the model to reproduce accurately the geometry of the rotor wake, and comparisons with inflow data from the experiments show the method to capture well the velocity field near to the rotor. The fuselage model is able to predict accurately the unsteady fuselage loading that is induced by blade passage and also by the inviscid interaction between the main rotor wake and fuselage