The Impact of Contract Operations on Safety in Underground Coal Mines

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test for differences in injury rates for contractor-operated underground coal mines relative to owner-operated mines in Kentucky, controlling for other covariates. METHODS: We used disparities between MSHA contractor data and surface reclamation permit data to identify mines operated by contractors. We then used negative binomial regression to estimate injury rates from 1999 to 2013, controlling for mine and controller characteristics available from MSHA and the Energy Information Administration (EIA). RESULTS: Contractor-operated mines with 15 or fewer full-time equivalent workers (FTEs) had a statistically significant 57% higher covariate-adjusted reported traumatic injury rate than similar mines without contract operators. Larger contractor-operated mines did not have a statistically significant elevated rate. CONCLUSIONS: We detected a significant elevation of traumatic injury rates only among the smallest contractor-operated mines. This increase appears substantial enough to warrant attention

The role of location and contracts in firm governance and labor: an examination of the US coal industry

This dissertation explores empirically how external factors can influence the organizational structure of firms and how the structure a firm chooses can affect worker outcomes. The first chapter examines how a policy reform affected the organizational choices of firms. The MINER Act of 2006 resulted in increased scrutiny and penalties for underground coal mining operations relative to surface operations. In turn, this changed the incentives for coal preparation facilities to own these mines. Particularly, markets most affected by the reform saw an increase in ownership along an extensive margin and markets already integrated saw a decrease along an intensive margin. I argue these results reflect the competing incentives created by the policy. The increased riskiness of shut downs and flows in production resulted in preparation plants integrating with at least one mine to assure a basic level of supply. The increased regulatory liability of ownership induced by the new regulatory structure resulted in a countervailing force, reducing the intensity of integration in markets that were integrated prior to the reform. The second chapter (with David Weil) studies the prevalence of contractor utilization in the mining industry. Outsourcing of tasks has increased significantly in the underground coal mining industry over the last two decades. We hypothesize that the market and organizational incentives facing contractors increase the likelihood of injuries and fatalities to their workforce. Our results suggest increased risk exposure for mines with high contractor utilization. These findings have important implications for enforcement and public policies and extend the evidence of the adverse impact of forms of subcontracting on health and safety to the mining sector. Finally, the third chapter provides a case study of two major actors in the industry, Alpha Natural Resources and Massey Energy Company. It looks at the ownership choices the two companies have made in the past decade. Looking at these different decisions allows for the identification of contract operations that are of concern from a regulatory standpoint in this industry. This paper provides a blueprint for future research in determining the prevalence of these particular contracting arrangements in US coal mining

Energy from olive mill waste: Pyrolysis and oxidation kinetics of olive mill waste

This study investigates the utilization of the olive mill waste stream before and after the removal of entrained phenolic compounds. The kinetics of pyrolysis and oxidation were analyzed via thermogravimetric analysis. Particle size, heating rate, and extraction process of the phenolic compounds affected the apparent activation energies. The pits and pulp in the olive mill waste had apparent activation energies ranging for pyrolysis from 91-137 kJ/mol and 72-87 kJ/mol, respectively. The analysis of the oxidation of olive mill waste was divided into two distinct zones: the devolatilization and oxidation of volatiles zone and the char oxidation zone. The oxidation had very high apparent activation energies ranging from 221-338 kJ/mol and 191-238 kJ/mol for pits and pulp, respectively. The specific surface areas of the pit bio-chars (\u3e420m²/g) were much higher than the pulp bio-chars (\u3c15m²/g). The extraction of the phenolic compounds resulted in higher surface areas of the bio-chars

Spiritual Dryness as a Measure of a Specific Spiritual Crisis in Catholic Priests: Associations with Symptoms of Burnout and Distress

Spirituality/religiosity is recognized as a resource to cope with burdening life events and chronic illness. However, less is known about the consequences of the lack of positive spiritual feelings. Spiritual dryness in clergy has been described as spiritual lethargy, a lack of vibrant spiritual encounter with God, and an absence of spiritual resources, such as spiritual renewal practices. To operationalize experiences of ``spiritual dryness'' in terms of a specific spiritual crisis, we have developed the ``spiritual dryness scale'' (SDS). Here, we describe the validation of the instrument which was applied among other standardized questionnaires in a sample of 425 Catholic priests who professionally care for the spiritual sake of others. Feelings of ``spiritual dryness'' were experienced occasionally by up to 40%, often or even regularly by up to 13%. These experiences can explain 44% of variance in daily spiritual experiences, 30% in depressive symptoms, 22% in perceived stress, 20% in emotional exhaustion, 19% in work engagement, and 21% of variance of ascribed importance of religious activity. The SDS-5 can be used as a specific measure of spiritual crisis with good reliability and validity in further studies

Evaluation of Implants, Clover, and Fescue Variety on Stocker Steers

Sixty-four growing steers were used in a split-plot experiment, where the whole plot was pasture, and the split-plot was implants. Whole plot treatment was a 4 × 2 facto­rial with four levels of fescue (High Endophyte, Low Endophyte, Novel, or Endophyte Free) and two levels of legume (Legumes or No Legumes). The split-plot included four implant levels (No Implant, Synovex One Grass, Revalor-G, Ralgro). Data collected were weights, hair coat scores, hair length, rectal temperature (every 28 days), and ultrasound carcass characteristics coming off grass. Steers on High Endophyte had the lowest average daily gain (ADG), longest hair, and highest temperature as compared to steers on all other fescue types. The gain differentiation was observed beginning at day 56 through the end of the study. Overall, ADG was not impacted by the addition of legume nor implant type. Steers that were not implanted had a longer hair length throughout many measurement dates. Steers grazing pastures with legumes tended to have a higher ultrasound-measured marbling score and less muscle depth. This study found that the best management strategy for fescue toxicity is to use non-endophyte or non-toxic varieties of fescue pasture. Contrary to previous research, the addition of implants and legumes for this project showed no improvement in cattle gains

An integrated biorefinery concept for olive mill waste management : Supercritical CO2 extraction and energy recovery

Commercial production of olive oil generates four times the amount of waste as it does oil, along with a number of environmental issues. We propose an integrated biorefinery concept for the management of pomace, i.e. solid Olive Mill Waste (OMW), that utilizes supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2), coupled with a polar co-solvent (Ethanol), for extracting value-added polyphenols and mono/poly-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA/PUFA), followed by thermochemical (oxidation or pyrolysis) recovery of energy, biofuels and materials. The SCO2 + EtOH extraction recovered 77.6 g of freeze-dried extract per kg of raw OMW, with relatively high concentrations in polyphenols (10.9 g kg 121 of which 60.1% of di-hydroxytyrosol), PUFA (20 g kg 121), MUFA (601 g kg 121) and other valuable compounds, such as squalene (10 g kg 121). All these substances are of extreme interest in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical market, for their antioxidant, anticancer, functional, anti-bacterial and nutritional properties. The SCO2 + EtOH flux acted as physical/ chemical carrier for over 85% of humidity, leaving the exhaust OMW almost dry, with evident advantages for downstream. Using nonisothermal thermogravimetric analysis, the apparent activation energies required to pyrolyze OMW to produce fuel and biochar ranged from 20 to 140 kJ mol 121 depending on heating ramp rate and temperature regime. BET analysis of unactivated biochars show increased (+25%) mesopore surface areas after SCO2 extractions (up to 500 m2 g 121). A more in-depth view on the proposed biorefinery is needed, to consider the overall energy balance, as well as possible market values of the obtained extract, and evaluate the real feasibility of the proposed concept

Evaluation of Warm Season Annual Forages for Livestock: Biomass and Cost of Production

Seventeen warm season annual forage options were evaluated as livestock feed to be grazed, hayed, ensiled, or left as a cover crop. Treatments were planted in mid-May and terminated in late September with one harvest for silage, two hay cuttings, and three grazing rotations. One additional treatment was unharvested to serve as a cover crop. Biomass production and cost to produce final outputs were determined. Even with restricted rainfall during the summer months in 2020, the growth for the chosen forage options was at least 1,500 lb of dry matter (DM) per acre, with the exception of sun­flowers that had the lowest biomass production. Biomass production was the greatest for the forages that were left in the field as cover crop, followed by hay, then grazed, with the lowest biomass measured for the silage harvest. Monocultures of grass and sunn hemp produced as much biomass as multi-species blends that included grass or sunn hemp. Adding a high-producing grass species to sunflower and cowpeas increased biomass production compared to the respective monoculture. Regardless of harvest method, monocultures of cowpea and the blend of pearl millet + cowpea cost the most per unit of production. The lowest costs per unit of production for all harvest methods were found in three treatments: a monoculture of sorghum-sudan, the low seeding rate of pearl millet, and the blend of sorghum-sudan + sunn hemp

CAMbase – A XML-based bibliographical database on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

The term "Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)" covers a variety of approaches to medical theory and practice, which are not commonly accepted by representatives of conventional medicine. In the past two decades, these approaches have been studied in various areas of medicine. Although there appears to be a growing number of scientific publications on CAM, the complete spectrum of complementary therapies still requires more information about published evidence. A majority of these research publications are still not listed in electronic bibliographical databases such as MEDLINE. However, with a growing demand by patients for such therapies, physicians increasingly need an overview of scientific publications on CAM. Bearing this in mind, CAMbase, a bibliographical database on CAM was launched in order to close this gap. It can be accessed online free of charge or additional costs. The user can peruse more than 80,000 records from over 30 journals and periodicals on CAM, which are stored in CAMbase. A special search engine performing syntactical and semantical analysis of textual phrases allows the user quickly to find relevant bibliographical information on CAM. Between August 2003 and July 2006, 43,299 search queries, an average of 38 search queries per day, were registered focussing on CAM topics such as acupuncture, cancer or general safety aspects. Analysis of the requests led to the conclusion that CAMbase is not only used by scientists and researchers but also by physicians and patients who want to find out more about CAM. Closely related to this effort is our aim to establish a modern library center on Complementary Medicine which offers the complete spectrum of a modern digital library including a document delivery-service for physicians, therapists, scientists and researchers

Impacts of a Post-Transport/Pre-Processing Rest Period on the Growth Performance and Serum Metabolites of Cattle Entering a Feedlot

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a post-transport rest period on receiving calf growth performance and blood serum metabolites as indicators of immune function. Study Description: Eighty heifers were purchased from a sale barn and transported 6 hours to the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Research Center where they were processed at one of four times: immediately upon arrival or after a 6-, 24-, or 48-hour rest period. Cattle were then fed for 35 days with growth performance data collected weekly. Blood samples were also collected and analyzed for serum infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) titer and biochemical parameters. Results: Processing time did not impact (P \u3e 0.05) heifer average daily gain. Overall, dry matter intake (DMI) decreased linearly (P = 0.027) as the rest time increased. The number of days for heifers to reach a targeted DMI of 2.5% body weight was linearly increased (P = 0.023) as time of rest increased. Serum IBR titer for heifers processed at either 0 or 6 hours upon arrival was higher (P \u3c 0.01) on day 35 compared to day 0. This response was expected, as these cattle were vaccinated immediately or shortly after arrival. Interestingly, no difference in IBR titer was observed (P \u3e 0.05) between day 0 and day 35 for heifers processed at either 24 or 48 hours upon arrival, indicating potential seroconversion of IBR antibodies before vaccination. The Bottom Line: These results indicate that rest time after arrival and prior to processing may not affect calf growth performance, but there is evidence that a 6-hour rest period could maximize DMI upon arrival to a feedlot. Additional research with greater replication and more industry-standard experimental conditions should be conducted to further evaluate these parameters