Book Reviews

Reviews of the books: Mark A. Rothstein, Medical Screening and the Employee Health Cost Crisis (BNA Books 1989). Foreword Edward L. Baker, MD, MPH. 296 pp. Notes, figures, tables, glossary of legal terms, glossary of medical and health care terms, table of cases and index. LC 89-977; ISBN 0-87179-628-7. Robert Decresce, Mark Lifshitz, Adrianne Mazura, & Joseph Tilson, Drug Testing In The Workplace (ASCP Press and BNA Books 1989). Forewords by Edward Miller, JD and George Lundberg, MD. 278 pp. Notes, figures, tables, table of cases and index. LC 88-39191; ISBN 0-89189-260-5 (ASCP), 0-87179-588-4 (BNA). Both of these books deal with the topic of medical screening of employees. As indicated by the titles, Rothstein\u27s book deals with various types of screening, with a focus on health costs, while DeCresce et al. focus on one specific type of screening. Both books are very well documented and should serve as good reference sources

Book Review

Review of the following book: ROBERT THOMPSON, JR., SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND EMPLOYEE REHABILITATION (BNA Books 1990) [485 pp.] Appendices, bibliography, index, table of cases. LC-90-2629; ISBN 0-87179-649-

The Decision to Reactivate a First-Generation Soviet Nuclear Power Plant: Conceptual and Decision-Analytic Frameworks

Explores a variety of factors that led to reopening the Armenian Metsamor facility notwithstanding general agreement that this is unwarranted technologically

Book Review of Alla Yaroshinskaya, Chernobyl: The Forbidden Truth

Review of the book: Alla Yaroshinskaya, Chernobyl: The Forbidden Truth (Michele Kahn & Julia Sallabank, trans. University of Nebraska Press 1995). Introduction, foreword, list of illustrations, photographs. ISBN 0-8032-4912-8. [136 pp. Cloth $25.00; Paper$10.00. 312 N. 14th Street, Lincoln NE 68588-0484.

Book Review

Review of: DADE W. MOELLER, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. (Harvard University Press 1992). [332 pp.] Abbreviations, credits, index, preface. LC 91-20836; ISBN 0-674-25858-4. [$39.95 cloth. 79 Garden Street; Cambridge MA 02138.

Predictive Probabilities In Employee Drug-Testing

Substance abuse in the U.S. has been estimated to cost $99 billion annually through lower productivity. Yet the authors urge caution in attempting to reduce these costs and health and safety Risks. In doing so, they cite commonly high frequencies of false negatives and false positives in employee drug tests - the latter having the potential to do great injustice to many drug-free employees

Performance Indicator Analysis of Proficiency Criteria in the Drug-Testing-Laboratory Certification Process of the DHHS

The authors highlight and propose remedies for problems in the proficiency criteria used in certifying laboratories for drug testing federal employees in the United States

Preparing composite materials from matrices of processable aromatic polyimide thermoplastic blends

Composite materials with matrices of tough, thermoplastic aromatic polyimides are obtained by blending semi-crystalline polyimide powders with polyamic acid solutions to form slurries, which are used in turn to prepare prepregs, the consolidation of which into finished composites is characterized by excellent melt flow during processing

Small Business Drug-Testing Strategy: Implications of Pre-Employment Testing

This paper identifies problems in drug testing accuracy that may arise in small business environments in which job applicants are subjected to drug tests, and suggests a method for dealing with the problems. Relevant concepts of drug-test accuracy are  reviewed  These concepts are incorporated in Bayesian analyses of data from specific workplace-applicant populations, and accuracy levels  to  be  expected  in  testing  of applicants  in  such  workplaces are identified The conclusion of this analysis is that seemingly accurate tests for abused drugs  can  be  inaccurate  to  a  disturbingly  high  degree,  particularly    under  circumstances   likely to be present in many small business drug-testing programs. A method by which these inaccuracies can be avoided is suggested

The roles of endolithic fungi in bioerosion and disease in marine ecosystems. I. General concepts

Endolithic true fungi and fungus-like microorganisms penetrate calcareous substrates formed by living organisms, cause significant bioerosion and are involved in diseases of many host animals in marine ecosystems. A theoretical interactive model for the ecology of reef-building corals is proposed in this review. This model includes five principle partners that exist in a dynamic equilibrium: polyps of a colonial coelenterate, endosymbiotic zooxanthellae, endolithic algae (that penetrate coral skeletons), endolithic fungi (that attack the endolithic algae, the zooxanthellae and the polyps) and prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms (which live in the coral mucus). Endolithic fungi and fungus-like boring microorganisms are important components of the marine calcium carbonate cycle because they actively contribute to the biodegradation of shells of animals composed of calcium carbonate and calcareous geological substrates