Managing the cancer–work interface: the effect of cancer survivorship on unemployment

J Kathleen Tracy,1,2 Derek Falk,1,3 Rebecca J Thompson,4 Lily Scheindlin,1 Fiyinfolu Adetunji,1 Jennifer E Swanberg1–3,5 1Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 2University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA; 3University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD, USA; 4Management Department, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA; 5Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Professional Studies, Providence College, Providence, RI, USA Objective: This study assessed differences in employment outcomes among cancer survivors using data from a nationally representative sample.Methods: The 2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data and the 2011 MEPS Experiences with Cancer Survivorship Supplement representing 3,360,465 people in the US population were analyzed to evaluate factors associated with unemployment among cancer survivors during the 5 years following diagnosis and treatment. The sample included adults 1) diagnosed with cancer within 5 years prior to survey completion and 2) engaged in paid employment since diagnosis. Individuals diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancer (n=33) were excluded from analyses.Results: Data of 221 cancer survivors were used to identify factors associated with employment status at the time respondents were employed (n=155) vs unemployed (n=66). Results of bivariate analyses indicated that unemployed survivors were older, more likely to be women, more likely to be uninsured at the time of cancer diagnosis, and to report lower incomes than cancer survivors who continue to be employed. Unemployed survivors were more likely than employed survivors to have had anxiety about being forced to retire or quit early when they were employed because of cancer and to report cancer-related interference with physical and mental aspects of their job tasks; unemployed survivors also took less paid time off and were less likely to change to a flexible job schedule when they were employed. In multiple logistic regression analyses, worry about being forced to retire (protective), worry that cancer recurrence will interfere with home or work responsibilities (risk), and change to a flexible work schedule (risk) following cancer diagnosis were associated with unemployment after controlling for demographic differences between employed and unemployed cancer survivors.Conclusion: Findings of this study highlight the extent to which the challenges of managing the cancer–work interface create challenges to employment among cancer survivors and may lead to long-term unemployment among cancer survivors. Future studies should evaluate the strategies that the survivors could use to manage the cancer–work interface during cancer treatment to attain medical, psychological, social, and employment outcomes. Keywords: work, employment, cancer-work-management, survivor&nbsp

Characterisation of high temperature refractory ceramics for nuclear applications

The ternary oxide ceramic system UO 2-ZrO 2-FeO is a refractory system that is of great relevance to the nuclear industry as it represents one of the main systems resulting from the interaction of the Zircaloy cladding, the UO 2 fuel and the structural elements of a nuclear reactor. It is particularly the high temperature properties that require investigation; that is, when substantial overheating of the nuclear core occurs and interactions can lead to its degradation, melting and result in a severe nuclear accident. There has been much work on the UO 2-ZrO 2 system and also on the ternary system with FeO but there is still a need to examine 2 further aspects; firstly the effect of sub-oxidized systems, the UO 2-Zr and FeO-Zr systems, and secondly the effect of Fe/Zr or Fe/U ratios on the melting point of the U-Zr-Fe oxide system. Samples of UO 2-Zr and UO 2-ZrO 2-FeO were fabricated at ITU and then characterized by optical microscopy (OM) and X-ray diffraction to determine the ceramic's structure and verify the composition. Thereafter the samples are to be melted by laser flash heating and their liquidus and solidus temperatures determined by pyrometry. This programme is currently ongoing. The frozen samples, after testing, were then sectioned, polished and the molten zone micro-analytically examined by OM & SEM-EDS in order to determine its structure and composition and to compare with the existing phase diagrams. Examples of results from these systems will be given. Finally, a reacted Zr-FeO thermite mixture was examined, which had been used to generate high temperatures during tests of reactor melt-concrete interactions. The aim was to assess the reaction and estimate the heat generation from this novel technique. These results allow verification or improvement of the phase diagram and are of primary importance as input to models used to predict materials interactions in a severe nuclear accident