Scientific Models of Human Health Risk Analysis in Legal and Policy Decisions

The quality of scientific predictions of risk in the courtroom and policy arena rests in large measure on how the two differences between normal practice and the legal/policy practice of science are reconciled. This article considers a variety of issues that arise in reconciling these differences, and the problems that remain with scientific estimates of risk when these are used in decisions

A Framework for Assessing the Rationality of Judgments in Carcinogenicity Hazard Identification

Arguing that guidelines for identifying carcinogens now lack a philosophically rigorous framework, the authors present an alternative that draws clear attention to the process of reasoning towards judgments of carcinogenicity

Health, hygiene and biosecurity: tribal knowledge claims in the UK poultry industry

Since 1997 the world has been facing the threat of a human influenza pandemic that may be caused by an avian virus and the poultry industry around the globe has been grappling with the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza H5N1, or in more informal terms bird flu. The UK poultry industry has lived with and through this threat and its consequences since 2005. This study investigates knowledge claims about health, hygiene and biosecurity as tools to ward off the threat from this virus. It takes a semi-ethnographic and discourse analytic approach to analyse a small corpus of semi-structured interviews carried out in the wake of one of the most publicised outbreaks of H5N1 in Suffolk in 2007. It reveals that claims about what best to do to protect flocks against the risk of disease are divided along lines imposed on the one hand by the structure of the industry and on the other by more 'tribal' lines drawn by knowledge and belief systems about purity and dirt, health and hygiene

Application of Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Establishing Perchlorate and Goitrogen Risk Mitigation Strategies.

This paper applies probabilistic risk assessment in quantifying risks from cumulative and aggregate risk pathways for selected goitrogens in water and food. Results show that the percentages of individuals with a Hazard Index (HI) value above 1 ranges between 30% and 50% both with and without serum half-life correction when a traditional regulatory assessment approach based on establishment of a No Observed Effects Level (NOEL) is used. When an exposure-response curve is instead used and a threshold of 50% inhibition is assumed, 1.1% or less of the population exceeds an HI value of 1 with no serum half-life correction, rising to as high as 11% when serum half-life correction is applied. If 0% to 5% threshold for iodide uptake inhibition is assumed for production of adverse effects, the percentage of the population with an HI above 1 is 46.2% or less with no serum half-life correction, and 47.2% or less when serum half-life correction is applied. The probabilistic analysis shows that while there are exposed groups for whom perchlorate exposures are the primary cause of individuals having HI values above 1, these constitute significantly less than 1% of the population. Instead, the potential risk from exposure to goitrogens is dominated by nitrates without serum half-life correction and thiocyanates with serum half-life correction, suggesting public health protection is better accomplished by a focus on these and other goitrogens expect in highly limited cases where waterborne perchlorate is at unusually high concentrations.The author acknowledges funding contributions from the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research and the American Water Works Association Research Foundation.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from MDPI via http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph12091037

Structural modifications associated with the change in Ca2+ sensitivity on activation of m-calpain

AbstractAutolysis of the Ca2+-dependent cysteine protease m-calpain involves cleavage of the large (80 kDa) and small (30 kDa) subunits of the enzyme, and an increase in Ca2+ sensitivity. The appearance of increased Ca2+ sensitivity was found to correlate with the cleavage of the large subunit after residue 9

Reluctant borrowers? Examining the demand and supply of finance for high growth SMEs in the UK

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The geography of job creation in high-growth firms : the implications of ‘growing abroad’

The authors wish to thank Scottish Enterprise for funding the research reported in this paper.In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest by policy makers in high growth firms (HGFs). Interest in these dynamic firms has primarily been driven by their prodigious ability to create new employment. Despite this, very little is known about the complex corporate geographies of these firms and their internationalisation processes. Using quantitative and qualitative data, this paper explores this issue by examining Scottish HGFs. HGFs were found to adopt more aggressive forms of international expansion, such as overseas acquisitions, than their non-HGF counterparts. As a result of these complex growth processes, a large proportion of HGF employment growth is generated outside Scotland. The paper concludes that the regional development impact of HGFs for small peripheral economies in the UK is more limited than originally envisaged. The implications of the study for further research and public policy are examined.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Entrepreneurial uncertainty during the Covid-19 crisis : mapping the temporal dynamics of entrepreneurial finance

Funding: University of St Andrews.This paper illustrates how chronic uncertainty caused by crisis events affects the availability of entrepreneurial sources of finance for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To explore this line of argument, this paper examines Crunchbase real-time data examining entrepreneurial finance investments in China during unfolding Covid-19 crisis. The paper shows that these equity investments slumped dramatically in the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 virus, resulting in a year on year decrease of 60% in the total volume of investment raised between quarter 1 in 2019 and quarter 1 in 2020. Importantly, the paper found early-stage seed investments falling the steepest, suggesting nascent start-ups are those most heavily affected by the crisis. While the global financial crisis heavily hit debt markets, the relational nature of equity investments may mean entrepreneurial finance is even more susceptible to major upheaval caused by the Covid-19 crisis. Overall, enterprise policy makers need to become better attuned at monitoring real-time data sources to mitigate chronic entrepreneurial uncertainty via strategic policy responses.PostprintPeer reviewe

Employee voice through open-book accounting : the benefits of informational transparency

This paper explores the concept of open-book accounting. It illustrates the benefits of open-book reporting policies in terms of their potential ability to correct informational asymmetries, and it sets out some ideas for a future research agenda centred around the concept. The discussion is grounded in large part in the experiences of employee-owned businesses because such organisations are at the forefront of informational transparency innovations in social accounting. But the broader principle of sharing organisational information with employees and training them to process financial and strategic information is applicable to any organisation. It is argued that open-book accounting, especially in the context of employee-owned businesses, provides an exciting alternative to mainstream accounting and financial controls and a welcome addition to the social accounting literature.PostprintPeer reviewe