Globalization and the health of Canadians: ‘Having a job is the most important thing’

Background Globalization describes processes of greater integration of the world economy through increased flows goods, services, capital and people. Globalization has undergone significant transformation since the 1970s, entrenching neoliberal economics as the dominant model of global market integration. Although this transformation has generated some health gains, since the 1990s it has also increased health disparities. Methods As part of a larger project examining how contemporary globalization was affecting the health of Canadians, we undertook semi-structured interviews with 147 families living in low-income neighbourhoods in Canada’s three largest cities (Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver). Many of the families were recent immigrants, which was another focus of the study. Drawing on research syntheses undertaken by the Globalization Knowledge Network of the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health, we examined respondents’ experiences of three globalization-related pathways known to influence health: labour markets (and the rise of precarious employment), housing markets (speculative investments and affordability) and social protection measures (changes in scope and redistributive aspects of social spending and taxation). Interviews took place between April 2009 and November 2011. Results Families experienced an erosion of labour markets (employment) attributed to outsourcing, discrimination in employment experienced by new immigrants, increased precarious employment, and high levels of stress and poor mental health; costly and poor quality housing, especially for new immigrants; and, despite evidence of declining social protection spending, appreciation for state-provided benefits, notably for new immigrants arriving as refugees. Job insecurity was the greatest worry for respondents and their families. Questions concerning the impact of these experiences on health and living standards produced mixed results, with a majority expressing greater difficulty ‘making ends meet,’ some experiencing deterioration in health and yet many also reporting improved living standards. We speculate on reasons for these counter-intuitive results. Conclusions Current trends in the three globalization-related pathways in Canada are likely to worsen the health of families similar to those who participated in our study

Experimental Parameter Study and Inherent Scattering of Safety Characteristics of Dusts

Safety characteristics are widely used in industrial processes to avoid explosive atmospheres (primary explosion protection) or to mitigate the consequences of an explosion (constructive explosion protection). Several laboratory parameters influence the determined values when performing the test series such as the beginning pressure and the pre-ignition pressure rise, the ignition source, the ignition energy, the burning duration and volume or the concentration of the combustible substance. In the different standards for the determination of safety characteristics of dusts there is no statement about the scattering or the deviation when parameters are chosen or occur on the borders of their allowed range. Thus, two laboratories might determine values that are hardly comparable for the same given substance. This article summarizes some of the influential factors that cause a deviation and shows the inherent scattering of dust tests when all other parameters are kept constant. It also provides some advice how to minimize the deviation and the scattering with little effort

Retinal Vascular Occlusion after COVID-19 Vaccination : More Coincidence than Causal Relationship? Data from a Retrospective Multicentre Study

Background: To investigate whether vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the onset of retinal vascular occlusive disease (RVOD). Methods: In this multicentre study, data from patients with central and branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO and BRVO), central and branch retinal artery occlusion (CRAO and BRAO), and anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (AION) were retrospectively collected during a 2-month index period (1 June–31 July 2021) according to a defined protocol. The relation to any previous vaccination was documented for the consecutive case series. Numbers of RVOD and COVID-19 vaccination were investigated in a case-by-case analysis. A case– control study using age- and sex-matched controls from the general population (study participants from the Gutenberg Health Study) and an adjusted conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted. Results: Four hundred and twenty-one subjects presenting during the index period (61 days) were enrolled: one hundred and twenty-one patients with CRVO, seventy-five with BRVO, fifty-six with CRAO, sixty-five with BRAO, and one hundred and four with AION. Three hundred and thirty-two (78.9%) patients had been vaccinated before the onset of RVOD. The vaccines given were BNT162b2/BioNTech/Pfizer (n = 221), followed by ChadOx1/AstraZeneca (n = 57), mRNA1273/Moderna (n = 21), and Ad26.COV2.S/Johnson & Johnson (n = 11; unknown n = 22). Our case–control analysis integrating population-based data from the GHS yielded no evidence of an increased risk after COVID-19 vaccination (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.60–1.45, p = 0.75) in connection with a vaccination within a 4-week window. Conclusions: To date, there has been no evidence of any association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and a higher RVOD risk

Experimental investigation of the consequences of acetylene pressure cylinder failure under fire conditions

Acetylene pressure cylinders are widely used in the industrial sector for welding, flame cutting, or heating. Sometimes during work, not only with acetylene cylinders, fires occur and in this case the risk of destruction increases and the behavior of such an exposed cylinder is unpredictable. The purpose of this study is to identify those critical conditions when acetylene cylinders burst and explode in fires. In the present study, acetylene cylinders were exposed to fire conditions. For this purpose, a woodpile as a source of fire was chosen, tested, and evaluated. In addition to the fire condition, this option guaranteed reproducibility and similar conditions for all tests. The individual cylinders were equipped with thermocouples measuring the shell temperature, and half of them were prepared in order to measure the temperatures inside the cylinder. An important factor was the measurement of the amount of pressure that was achieved during the destruction of the cylinder. For this purpose, a pressure transducer was attached to the outlet of the cylinder valve. Exposed to direct fire, they can explode in 10 min, which was confirmed. The critical pressure of 40 bar has been reached in 6 min, followed by destruction after 7 min in fire. Cylinders with internal thermocouples were destroyed when lower pressure was achieved. This confirms the fact that any change of the pressure cylinder affects the original properties. After the tests, the fragments of the selected cylinders were subjected to material tests. The results obtained in these tests are the main source of information for understanding the behavior of acetylene cylinders in fire and the possi-bility of increasing the safety of intervening rescue services in an emergency.Web of Science80art. no. 10487

Vliv před-iniciačního nárůstu tlaku na bezpečnostní charakteristiky prachů a hybridních směsí

For the determination of the safety characteristics of dusts it is necessary to disperse the dust in the oxidating atmosphere (usually air). In the standard procedures for dusts this is realized by a partially evacuated explosion vessel (20L-sphere) in which the dust gets injected from a dust chamber pressurized with air. Shortly after that injection (60 ms) the dust cloud gets ignited under turbulent conditions, that are otherwise seen as almost ambient with 20 degrees C and about 1 bar (abs). While there has been a lot of research about the influence of the ignition delay time and the level of turbulence in the recent years little attention was paid to the pre-ignition pressure rise and the allowed variations in the standards. In the following work we showed that the allowed ranges for the pressures in the different dust standards influence the safety characteristics of dust alone severely. Even though hybrid mixtures are an emerging risk problem in an interconnected industry there is no standard for the determination of their safety characteristics. In this work it is shown that especially for the preparation of hybrid mixtures of flammable dust and gas the pressures after injection of the dust and the mixing procedure have a large influence on the composition of the tested mixtures and therefore on the safety characteristics. Considering both effects, wrong concentration of gas and wrong initial pressure, the discrepancy of safety characteristics from different facilities will be too big to applicable. The methods to overcome these weaknesses are also presented.Pro určení bezpečnostních charakteristik prachů je nezbytné rozprášit prach v oxidační atmosféře (obvykle vzduchu). Ve standardní proceduře pro prach je toto realizováno částečně evakuovanou výbuchovou nádobou (20L-koule), ve které je prach rozprášen z prachové komory natlakované vzduchem. Krátce po tomto rozvíření (60 ms) je oblak prachu iniciován za turbulentních podmínek, které jsou jinak považovány za téměř okolní s teplotou 20 °C a okolo 1 bar (abs). Zatímco bylo v současné době věnováno hodně pozornosti věnováno době zpoždění iniciace a stupni turbulence, jen málo pozornosti bylo věnováno před-iniciačnímu nárůstu tlaku a odchylkám povoleným normou. V následující práci je ukázáno, že povolené rozsahy tlaku v různých standardech ovlivňují bezpečnostní charakteristiky samotných prachů závažně. Přestože jsou hybridní směsi rizikem v propojeném průmyslu, neexistuje norma pro určení jejich bezpečnostních charakteristik. V této práci je ukázáno, že speciálně pro přípravu hybridních směsí hořlavého prachu a plynu má tlak po rozvíření prachu a proces mísení velký vliv na složení testované směsi a proto na bezpečnostní charakteristiky. Za předpokladu obou efektů, špatné koncentrace plynu a špatného počátečního tlaku, budou rozdíly v bezpečnostních charakteristikách z různých zařízení příliš velké pro aplikaci. Metody pro překonání těchto slabin jsou také uvedeny

Experimental Validation of Formula for Calculation Thermal Diffusivity in Superlattices Performed Using a Combination of Two Frequency-Domain Methods: Photothermal Infrared Radiometry and Thermoreflectance

In this paper, we validate two theoretical formula used to characterize thermal transport of superlattices at different temperatures. These formulas are used to measure cross-plane thermal conductivity and thermal boundary resistance, when it is not possible to obtain heat capacity or thermal diffusivity and in-plane thermal conductivity. We find that the most common formula for calculating thermal diffusivity and heat capacity (and density) can be used in a temperature range of −50 °C to 50 °C. This confirms that the heat capacity in the very thin silicon membranes is the same as in bulk silicon, as was preliminary investigated using an elastic continuum model. Based on the obtained thermal parameters, we can fully characterize the sample using a new procedure for characterization of the in-plane and cross-plane thermal transport properties of thin-layer and superlattice semiconductor samples

Requirements for a Hybrid Dust-Gas-Standard: Influence of the Mixing Procedure on Safety Characteristics of Hybrid Mixtures

While developing a standard for the determination of safety characteristics for hybrid mixtures the authors discovered, that, beside the ignition source, the mixing procedure is the main difference between the single-phase standards for dusts and gases. The preparation of hybrid mixtures containing a flammable gas and a flammable dust in the 20 L-sphere can be realized in different ways. Either the flammable gas is filled only in the sphere or only in the dust container or in both. In previous works, almost always the first method is applied, without giving any information on the accuracy of the gas mixtures. In this work the accuracy of the gas mixtures and the results of the tests applying two methods of mixing were studied. No significant influence of the mixing method itself on the safety characteristics explosion pressure pex and the normalized rate of pressure rise (K-value) was found. Obviously, homogenization of the gas mixtures can be obtained sufficiently by the turbulence that is caused during the injection from the dust container into the explosion chamber within a short time. However, the mixing procedure has a great influence on the accuracy of the gas amount of the mixtures obtained. Without modifying the 20 L-sphere by installing precise pressure sensors, assuring its tightness and performing gas analysis, it must be expected, that the accuracy of the gas mixtures is very low. This has a significant influence on the measured safety characteristics and may lead to unsafe facilities or unnecessary expensive safety measures

Requirements for a Hybrid Dust-Gas-Standard: Influence of the Mixing Procedure on Safety Characteristics of Hybrid Mixtures

While developing a standard for the determination of safety characteristics for hybrid mixtures the authors discovered, that, beside the ignition source, the mixing procedure is the main difference between the single-phase standards for dusts and gases. The preparation of hybrid mixtures containing a flammable gas and a flammable dust in the 20 L-sphere can be realized in different ways. Either the flammable gas is filled only in the sphere or only in the dust container or in both. In previous works, almost always the first method is applied, without giving any information on the accuracy of the gas mixtures. In this work the accuracy of the gas mixtures and the results of the tests applying two methods of mixing were studied. No significant influence of the mixing method itself on the safety characteristics explosion pressure pex and the normalized rate of pressure rise (K-value) was found. Obviously, homogenization of the gas mixtures can be obtained sufficiently by the turbulence that is caused during the injection from the dust container into the explosion chamber within a short time. However, the mixing procedure has a great influence on the accuracy of the gas amount of the mixtures obtained. Without modifying the 20 L-sphere by installing precise pressure sensors, assuring its tightness and performing gas analysis, it must be expected, that the accuracy of the gas mixtures is very low. This has a significant influence on the measured safety characteristics and may lead to unsafe facilities or unnecessary expensive safety measures

Wafer-scale emission energy modulation of indium flushed quantum ots

Semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) have garnered immense attention for their potential in various quantum technologies and photonics applications. Here, we explore a novel approach for fine-tuning the emission wavelength of QDs by building upon the indium flush growth method: Submonolayer variations in the capping thickness reveal a non-monotonic progression, where the emission energy can decrease even though the capping thickness decreases. indium flush, a well-known technique for inducing blue shifts in quantum dot emissions, involves the partial capping of QDs with GaAs followed by a temperature ramp-up. However, our findings reveal that the capping layer roughness, stemming from fractional monolayers during overgrowth, plays a pivotal role in modulating the emission energy of these QDs. We propose increased indium interdiffusion between the QDs and the surrounding GaAs capping layer for a rough surface surrounding the QD as the driving mechanism. This interdiffusion alters the indium content within the QDs, resulting in an additional emission energy shift, counterintuitive to the capping layer’s thickness increase. We utilize photoluminescence spectroscopy to generate wafer maps depicting the emission spectrum of the QDs. Using thickness gradients, we produce systematic variations in the capping layer thickness on 3″ wafers, resulting in modulations of the emission energy of up to 26 meV