City of Henderson v. Spangler, 136 Nev. Adv. Op. 25 (May 14, 2020)

City of Henderson Police Officer Jared Spangler sought workers’ compensation benefits, alleging that workplace conditions aggravated his significant loss of hearing. Multiple medical experts opined that Spangler’s hearing loss likely preexisted his employment, but that the workplace conditions increased his symptoms. However, the City’s compensation administrator denied Spangler’s claim because Spangler failed to show that his symptoms arose out of his employment. The appeals officer affirmed the decision, but the district court reversed. On review, the Nevada Court of Appeals first determined that Spangler alleged an “occupational disease” and not an “accidental injury.” Second, they clarified two historical uses of the word “preexisting”—one meaning preexisting the claim, the other meaning preexisting the employment. Third, they discovered that Spangler’s claim was governed by NRS 617.366(1), which provides that a preexisting condition could be compensable if an occupational disease aggravates the condition. Finally, they determined that the appeals officer’s decision to deny the claim was based on (1) an erroneous interpretation of the relevant statutes, and (2) a failure to apply NRS 617.366(1). Spangler needed only to show that his preexisting condition was aggravated by an occupational disease. Thus, the court affirmed the district court’s reversal and remanded for further proceedings

Tearing Out the Income Tax by the (Grass)Roots

Landscapes are increasingly fragmented, and conservation programs have started to look at network approaches for maintaining populations at a larger scale. We present an agent-based model of predator–prey dynamics where the agents (i.e. the individuals of either the predator or prey population) are able to move between different patches in a landscaped network. We then analyze population level and coexistence probability given node-centrality measures that characterize specific patches. We show that both predator and prey species benefit from living in globally well-connected patches (i.e. with high closeness centrality). However, the maximum number of prey species is reached, on average, at lower closeness centrality levels than for predator species. Hence, prey species benefit from constraints imposed on species movement in fragmented landscapes since they can reproduce with a lesser risk of predation, and their need for using anti-predatory strategies decreases.authorCount :

Open-Source ANSS Quake Monitoring System Software

ANSS stands for the Advanced National Seismic System of the U.S.A., and ANSS Quake Monitoring System (AQMS) is the earthquake management system (EMS) that most of its member regional seismic networks (RSNs) use. AQMS is based on Earthworm, but instead of storing files on disk, it uses a relational database with replication capability to store pick, amplitude, waveform, and event parameters. The replicated database and other features of AQMS make it a fully redundant system. A graphical user interface written in Java, Jiggle, is used to review automatically generated picks and event solutions, relocate events, and recalculate magnitudes. Add‐on mechanisms to produce various postearthquake products such as ShakeMaps and focal mechanisms are available as well. It provides a configurable automatic alarming and notification system. The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, one of the Tier 1 ANSS RSNs, has modified AQMS to be compatible with a freely available, capable, open‐source database system, PostgreSQL, and is running this version successfully in production. The AQMS Software Working Group has moved the software from a subversion repository server hosted at the California Institute of Technology to a public repository at gitlab.com. The drawback of AQMS as a whole is that it is complex to fully configure and comprehend. Nevertheless, the fact that it is very capable, documented, and now free to use, might make it an attractive EMS choice for many seismic networks

Low Frequency Tilt Seismology with a Precision Ground Rotation Sensor

We describe measurements of the rotational component of teleseismic surface waves using an inertial high-precision ground-rotation-sensor installed at the LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO). The sensor has a noise floor of 0.4 nrad$/ \sqrt{\rm Hz}$ at 50 mHz and a translational coupling of less than 1 $\mu$rad/m enabling translation-free measurement of small rotations. We present observations of the rotational motion from Rayleigh waves of six teleseismic events from varied locations and with magnitudes ranging from M6.7 to M7.9. These events were used to estimate phase dispersion curves which shows agreement with a similar analysis done with an array of three STS-2 seismometers also located at LHO

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING A SELECTION SCRENE: SOME PROPOSALS

It is possible to describe a realized selection by means of an indicator, f(x): probability for an individual of value x to be selected. Various models for this indicator are proposed, in the univariate case, and on the assumption that individuals are ranked on a linear index of measured variables. Estimators are defined on the basis of these models for rating traits controlled during selection. A numeric example with ewes is given

Employment and occupational outcomes of workers with musculoskeletal pain in a French region

OBJECTIVES: To study the employment and occupational outcomes of workers who were diagnosed with upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (UL-MSDs) or had complained of upper limb musculoskeletal pain a few years before compared with workers who had no upper limb pain. METHODS: In 2002-2005, an epidemiological surveillance system was set up. Occupational physicians examined 3710 randomly selected workers. It focused on six UL-MSDs: rotator cuff syndrome, lateral epicondylitis, flexor-extensor peritendinitis of the hands and fingers, de Quervain\u27s disease, carpal tunnel syndrome and ulnar tunnel syndrome. Three groups were constituted: a \u27UL-MSD\u27 group (workers with a clinically diagnosed UL-MSD at baseline, 13% of the cohort); a \u27PAIN\u27 group (workers with pain in the previous 7 days at baseline and without any clinically diagnosed form, 38%); and a \u27HEALTHY\u27 group (workers with no disorder or upper limb pain in the previous 7 days, 49%). They completed a questionnaire between 2007 and 2009. RESULTS: A total of 2332 responded. Fewer subjects were still in work in the \u27UL-MSD\u27 group (79.3%) than in the \u27PAIN\u27 (85.9%) and \u27HEALTHY\u27 (90.4%) groups, the difference remaining significant after adjusting for gender, age, occupational category, type of company and comorbidities. Of the subjects still in work, 24% had changed their work station in the same company in the \u27PAIN\u27 group compared with 19% in the \u27HEALTHY\u27 group and 21% in the \u27UL-MSD\u27 group. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the impact of musculoskeletal pain on employment outcome and the difficulty of keeping workers with musculoskeletal problems at work

Devenir professionnel de salariés des Pays de la Loire souffrant de troubles musculo-squelettiques

The objective was to study the employment and occupational outcomes of workers who were diagnosed with upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (UL-MSDs) or had complained of upper limb musculoskeletal pain a few years before, compared to workers without upper limb pain. In 2002-2005, 83 occupational physicians examined 3,710 randomly selected workers. Three groups were constituted between 2007 and 2009: a “UL-MSD” group (workers with a clinically diagnosed UL-MSD); a “MS PAIN” group (workers with pain in the previous seven days and without any clinically diagnosed form); and a “HEALTHY” group (workers with no disorder or upper limb pain). A total of 2,287 responded to a questionnaire. Fewer subjects were still working in the “UL-MSD” group (79.3%) than in the “MS PAIN” (85.9%) and “HEALTHY” (90.4%) groups. Among the subjects still working, 24% had changed their position in the same company in the “MS PAIN” group, compared to 21% in the “UL-MSD” group, and 19% in the “HEALTHY” group. This study showed the impact of UL-MSDs on employment outcome and of musculoskeletal pain on occupational outcome

Interest of the Ergo-Kit(®) for the clinical practice of the occupational physician. A study of 149 patients recruited in a rehabilitation program

OBJECTIVE: Functional capacity evaluation is commonly used to assess the abilities of patients to perform some tasks. Ergo-Kit(®) is a validated tool assessing both functional capacities of patients and workplace demands. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relevance of the Ergo-Kit(®) data for occupational physicians during the return-to-work process. METHODS: A retrospective and monocenter study was conducted on all patients included in a rehabilitation program and assessed with the Ergo-Kit(®) tool between 2005 and 2014. Workplace demands and patients\u27 functional capacities were evaluated and confronted. Self-beliefs and perceived disability were also assessed and compared to the functional capacity evaluation. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-nine working-age patients (85 men, 64 women; 39±12 years) suffering from musculoskeletal disorders or other diseases were included. Main causes of mismatch between workplace demands and functional capacities were manual handling of loads, postures with arms away from the body and repetitive motions at work; sitting posture was correlated with a lesser physical workload; and Oswestry score was correlated with functional capacities evaluated by the Ergo-Kit(®). CONCLUSION: Ergo-Kit(®) is a relevant tool to assess the multidimensional aspects of workplace demands and functional capacities. It could be very helpful for occupational physicians to manage return-to-work

Effect of wing-mounted nacelles on a 42 deg swept supercritical wing configuration at near-sonic speeds

An investigation was made to assess the effect of wing-mounted nacelles on a supercritical wing configuration at near-sonic Mach numbers. The investigation was made by utilizing the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory 8-foot transonic tunnel and covered a Mach number range from 0.90 to 0.99. Force data and pressure measurements at selected locations were obtained. The investigation with the nacelles on included the effect of spanwise location of the nacelle (semispan locations of 35 and 70 percent) and the effect of area ruling for the nacelles located at the 35 percent semispan station. Tests were also made with the outboard nacelle extended forward so that it was directly adjacent to the inboard nacelle location. These tests provided a direct assessment of the extent of the nacelle interference flow field in a lateral direction