Occupational Safety and Health Management in Selected Industrial Sectors in Sudan

Introduction: Since Heinrich's early studies, work has been recognized as a substantial contributor to psychological and physical illness. Fast technological, economic, and social advancements have increased the number of occupational fatalities and illnesses in developing nations. Nonetheless, it is demonstrated that the creation, application, and enforcement of Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (OSHMS) reduce accidents and enhance employees' well-being. This study aims to understand Sudan's current occupational safety and health situation and identify any challenges or gaps in the current system. Methods: A mixed methods approach deploying a literature review and secondary data was adopted to answer the research question about the status of occupational health and safety in Sudan. Results: A comparison of the artisanal and organized gold mining sectors over the years 2018-2020 shows an increase in the number of accidents in the artisanal sector but a sharp decrease in both the number and severity of accidents in the organized sector. The frequency rate declined in the organized sector but fluctuated in the artisanal sector. It was also found that many OSH incidents of different types and levels of severity occurred. In 2020, the Fatal Accident Rate (FAR) was 66.48 in artisanal gold mining, 0.55 in organized gold mining, and 0.01 in oil and gas. However, calculating and comparing other sectors' performance indicators to evaluate OSH's status was not possible for many reasons. Conclusion: Findings were constrained, possibly due to the limited occupational health and safety data. There is an urgent need to strengthen and improve the governance of occupational safety and health in Sudan. A more comprehensive study needs to be undertaken to assess the status of the OSH in formal and non-formal sectors and investigate the correlation of OSH to workers’ well-being and the Sudanese economy

Borehole Seismic Monitoring at Otway Using the Naylor-1 Instrument String

The Naylor-1 monitoring completion, a unique and innovative instrumentation package, was designed and fabricated in FY 2007 at Berkeley Laboratory. Tom Daley, Barry Freifeld and Duo Wang (all from Berkeley Lab) were on site at the Otway Project between September 26 and October 14, 2007, working with CO2CRC and their subcontractors, AGR Asia Pacific and Eastern Well Services to complete Naylor-1 and initiate baseline data collection. Figure 1 shows a schematic of Naylor-1's sensor layout. There are three U-tube geochemical samplers, with one located near the top of the residual CH{sub 4} gas cap and two located beneath the gas-water contact. The 21 geophones are used for performing three distinct seismic measurements, high resolution travel time (HRTT), walkaway vertical seismic profiling (WVSP), and microseismic monitoring. These activities are separated in to active source seismic and microseismic monitoring, and will be described separately

\u3ci\u3eA Pictorial History of Bryant University: 1989-2018 An Era of Transformation\u3c/i\u3e

https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/bryantuniversity1989-2018/1000/thumbnail.jp

Association of Accelerometry-Measured Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Events in Mobility-Limited Older Adults: The LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) Study.

BACKGROUND:Data are sparse regarding the value of physical activity (PA) surveillance among older adults-particularly among those with mobility limitations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between objectively measured daily PA and the incidence of cardiovascular events among older adults in the LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) study. METHODS AND RESULTS:Cardiovascular events were adjudicated based on medical records review, and cardiovascular risk factors were controlled for in the analysis. Home-based activity data were collected by hip-worn accelerometers at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months postrandomization to either a physical activity or health education intervention. LIFE study participants (n=1590; age 78.9±5.2 [SD] years; 67.2% women) at baseline had an 11% lower incidence of experiencing a subsequent cardiovascular event per 500 steps taken per day based on activity data (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.96; P=0.001). At baseline, every 30 minutes spent performing activities ≥500 counts per minute (hazard ratio, 0.75; confidence interval, 0.65-0.89 [P=0.001]) were also associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events. Throughout follow-up (6, 12, and 24 months), both the number of steps per day (per 500 steps; hazard ratio, 0.90, confidence interval, 0.85-0.96 [P=0.001]) and duration of activity ≥500 counts per minute (per 30 minutes; hazard ratio, 0.76; confidence interval, 0.63-0.90 [P=0.002]) were significantly associated with lower cardiovascular event rates. CONCLUSIONS:Objective measurements of physical activity via accelerometry were associated with cardiovascular events among older adults with limited mobility (summary score >10 on the Short Physical Performance Battery) both using baseline and longitudinal data. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01072500

Integrated Insulation System for Automotive Cryogenic Storage Tanks

No abstract availabl

A case-only study to identify genetic modifiers of breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

In-Orbit Performance of the GRACE Follow-on Laser Ranging Interferometer

The Laser Ranging Interferometer (LRI) instrument on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Follow-On mission has provided the first laser interferometric range measurements between remote spacecraft, separated by approximately 220 km. Autonomous controls that lock the laser frequency to a cavity reference and establish the 5 degrees of freedom two-way laser link between remote spacecraft succeeded on the first attempt. Active beam pointing based on differential wave front sensing compensates spacecraft attitude fluctuations. The LRI has operated continuously without breaks in phase tracking for more than 50 days, and has shown biased range measurements similar to the primary ranging instrument based on microwaves, but with much less noise at a level of 1 nm/Hz at Fourier frequencies above 100 mHz. © 2019 authors. Published by the American Physical Society

Fine scale mapping of the 17q22 breast cancer locus using dense SNPs, genotyped within the Collaborative Oncological Gene-Environment Study (COGs)

Genome-wide association studies have found SNPs at 17q22 to be associated with breast cancer risk. To identify potential causal variants related to breast cancer risk, we performed a high resolution fine-mapping analysis that involved genotyping 517 SNPs using a custom Illumina iSelect array (iCOGS) followed by imputation of genotypes for 3,134 SNPs in more than 89,000 participants of European ancestry from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). We identified 28 highly correlated common variants, in a 53 Kb region spanning two introns of the STXBP4 gene, that are strong candidates for driving breast cancer risk (lead SNP rs2787486 (OR = 0.92; CI 0.90–0.94; P = 8.96 × 10−15)) and are correlated with two previously reported risk-associated variants at this locus, SNPs rs6504950 (OR = 0.94, P = 2.04 × 10−09, r2 = 0.73 with lead SNP) and rs1156287 (OR = 0.93, P = 3.41 × 10−11, r2 = 0.83 with lead SNP). Analyses indicate only one causal SNP in the region and several enhancer elements targeting STXBP4 are located within the 53 kb association signal. Expression studies in breast tumor tissues found SNP rs2787486 to be associated with increased STXBP4 expression, suggesting this may be a target gene of this locus