Looking and learning: using participatory video to improve health and safety in the construction industry

Construction health and safety (H&S)is usually managed using a top-down approach of regulating workers' behaviour through the implementation and enforcement of prescriptive rules and procedures. This management approach privileges technical knowledge over knowledge based on workers' tacit and informal ways of knowing about H&S. The aim is to investigate the potential for participatory video to: (1) identify areas in which formal policies and procedures do not reflect as practised by workers; (2) encourage creative thinking and elicit workers' ideas for H&S improvements; and (3) provide an effective mechanism for capturing and sharing tacit H&S knowledge in construction organizations. Interviews were conducted in two case study organizations (CSOs) in the Australian construction industry. The results suggest reflexive participatory video enabled workers and managers to view their work practices from a different perspective. Workers identified new hazards, reflected about the practical difficulties in performing work in accordance with documented procedures and reframed their work practices and developed safer ways of working. Workers described how the participatory video capturing the way they work enabled them to have more meaningful input into H&S decision-making than they had previously experienced. Workers also expressed a strong preference for receiving H&S information in a visual format and commented that video was better suited to communicating H&S 'know how' than written documents. The research is significant in providing initial evidence that participatory video has the potential to improve H&S in construction

Monitoring neurotoxins in industry: development of a neurobehavioral test battery

Huguet Françoise. 104 - Elémens (Les) ou premières instructions de la jeunesse. In: , . Les Livres pour l'Enfance et la Jeunesse de Gutenberg à Guizot. Les collections de la Bibliothèque de l'Institut National de Recherche Pédagogique. Paris : Institut national de recherche pédagogique, 1997. p. 57. (Bibliothèque de l'Histoire de l'Education, 16

Occupational lead neurotoxicity: Improvement in behavioural effects after reduction of exposure.

To evaluate critical exposure levels and the reversibility of lead neurotoxicity a group of lead exposed foundry workers and an unexposed reference population were followed up for three years. During this period, tests designed to monitor neurobehavioural function and lead dose were administered. Evaluations of 160 workers during the first year showed dose dependent decrements in mood, visual/motor performance, memory, and verbal concept formation. Subsequently, an improvement in the hygienic conditions at the plant resulted in striking reductions in blood lead concentrations over the following two years. Attendant improvement in indices of tension (20% reduction), anger (18%), depression (26%), fatigue (27%), and confusion (13%) was observed. Performance on neurobehavioural testing generally correlated best with integrated dose estimates derived from blood lead concentrations measured periodically over the study period; zinc protoporphyrin levels were less well correlated with function. This investigation confirms the importance of compliance with workplace standards designed to lower exposures to ensure that individual blood lead concentrations remain below 50 micrograms/dl

Widespread CO2-rich cordierite in the UHT Bakhuis granulite belt, Surinam

The Bakhuis Granulite Belt, approx. 30 x 100 km, transects the large Paleoproterozoic greenstone belt along the north-eastern coast of South America. Part of the Granulite belt witnessed typical Ultrahigh-Temperature Metamorphism (UHTM). A metapelite area in the NE of the belt shows assemblages characteristic of UHTM: aluminous (up to 10 wt.%) orthopyroxene + sillimanite +/- sapphirine. Leucosomes commonly show mesoperthite or K-rich antiperthite. Ternary feldspar thermometry indicates a peak temperature of 1000-1050°C and pressure is estimated to have been around 9 kbar. Metapelites elsewhere in the belt lack mineral assemblages characteristic of UHTM. However, feldspar thermometry for these metapelites as well as for mesoperthite granulites indicates that peak temperatures were 900°C or higher throughout the belt and locally reached 1000-1050°C. It is, therefore, concluded that the other parts of the belt also witnessed UHTM, despite their lack of typical UHTM assemblages. Study of peak assemblages in metapelites in these parts is hampered by varying, but usually considerable retrograde metamorphism. The main mafic mineral in metapelites is coarse Mg-rich cordierite, accompanied by coarse sillimanite. Widespread occurrence of cordierite + sillimanite in metapelites is unusual for UHTM, the more so as UHTM assemblages are commonly formed at the expense of cordierite-bearing assemblages. In a small part of the metapelites cordierite is accompanied by coarse aluminous (up to 9 wt.%) orthopyroxene. Associated cordierite and orthopyroxene appear to have formed in equilibrium with each other. Only the presence of aluminous orthopyroxene (as well as the presence of mesoperthite) is typical for UHTM, but is limited to a small part of the metapelites. Peak P-T conditions for the cordierite-bearing part of the belt are estimated to have been similar to those in the NE area with its characteristic UHTM assemblages. Primary and secondary fluid inclusions in UHT quartz blebs in orthopyroxene consist of pure CO2 and have a high density. Raman spectroscopy indicated a considerable CO2 content in cordierite. Estimated from their birefringence, the CO2 content of most cordierites is in the range of 1-2 wt.% CO2. This corresponds to a substantial filling of the cordierite channels with CO2 and for the higher levels possibly near-saturation with CO2 according to the model of Harley and Thompson for the maximum level of CO2 in cordierite. Thermodynamic data for CO2-rich cordierite are poorly known. However, a high level of CO2 in cordierite has been considered to lead to a substantial expansion of its stability field, also into the field of UHTM, at T > 900°C. This is, therefore, assumed to be the explanation for the unusual, widespread occurrence of cordierite in the UHTM belt. A small part of the metapelite samples shows cordierite of a high birefringence, twice that of quartz. SIMS analysis of such cordierite showed 3.0 wt.% CO2, the highest level known from nature. The level is far too high to have formed at UHTM conditions according to the model of Harley and Thompson and would be possible only at conditions such as 700°C and 10 kbar. It is assumed that locally the CO2 level of cordierite changed after UHTM, by taking up additional CO2. Secondary fluid CO2 inclusions in UHT quartz have a higher density than the primary inclusions, indicating a near-isobaric cooling path down to 700-750°C. In these conditions cordierite probably could steadily re-equilibrate at decreasing temperature while taking up more and more CO2, up to 3 wt.% around 700°C. The heat source for the UHTM in the Bakhuis Granulite belt is considered to be asthenospheric upwelling or mafic underplating, but mafic magmatism of identical age to the UHTM has not yet been found. One mafic intrusion was found to be around 20 Ma older than the UHTM, whereas in the SW of the belt numerous mafic intrusions formed around 70 Ma after UHTM

Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral Histopathology II

The health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported worldwide, only a few etiological agents have been confirmed; most pathogens remain unknown and the dynamics of disease transmission, pathogenicity and mortality are not understood. Causal relationships have been documented for only a few of the coral diseases, while new syndromes continue to emerge. Extensive field observations by coral biologists have provided substantial documentation of a plethora of new pathologies, but our understanding, however, has been limited to descriptions of gross lesions with names reflecting these observations (e.g., black band, white band, dark spot). To determine etiology, we must equip coral diseases scientists with basic biomedical knowledge and specialized training in areas such as histology, cell biology and pathology. Only through combining descriptive science with mechanistic science and employing the synthesis epizootiology provides will we be able to gain insight into causation and become equipped to handle the pending crisis. One of the critical challenges faced by coral disease researchers is to establish a framework to systematically study coral pathologies drawing from the field of diagnostic medicine and pathology and using generally accepted nomenclature. This process began in April 2004, with a workshop titled Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Developing Diagnostic Criteria co-convened by the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC), a working group organized under the auspices of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, and the International Registry for Coral Pathology (IRCP). The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, Wisconsin and was focused on gross morphology and disease signs observed in the field. A resounding recommendation from the histopathologists participating in the workshop was the urgent need to develop diagnostic criteria that are suitable to move from gross observations to morphological diagnoses based on evaluation of microscopic anatomy. (PDF contains 92 pages

The effect of mixing entire male pigs prior to transport to slaughter on behaviour, welfare and carcass lesions

peer-reviewedData set for article is also provided.Research is needed to validate lesions recorded at meat inspection as indicators of pig welfare on farm. The aims were to determine the influence of mixing pigs on carcass lesions and to establish whether such lesions correlate with pig behaviour and lesions scored on farm. Aggressive and mounting behaviour of pigs in three single sex pens was recorded on Day −5, −2, and −1 relative to slaughter (Day 0). On Day 0 pigs were randomly allocated to 3 treatments (n = 20/group) over 5 replicates: males mixed with females (MF), males mixed with males (MM), and males unmixed (MUM). Aggressive and mounting behaviours were recorded on Day 0 at holding on farm and lairage. Skin/tail lesions were scored according to severity at the farm (Day −1), lairage, and on the carcass (Day 0). Effect of treatment and time on behaviour and lesions were analysed by mixed models. Spearman rank correlations between behaviour and lesion scores and between scores recorded at different stages were determined. In general, MM performed more aggressive behaviour (50.4 ± 10.72) than MUM (20.3 ± 9.55, P < 0.05) and more mounting (30.9 ± 9.99) than MF (11.4 ± 3.76) and MUM (9.8 ± 3.74, P < 0.05). Skin lesion scores increased between farm (Day −1) and lairage (P < 0.001), but this tended to be significant only for MF and MM (P = 0.08). There was no effect of treatment on carcass lesions and no associations were found with fighting/mounting. Mixing entire males prior to slaughter stimulated mounting and aggressive behaviour but did not influence carcass lesion scores. Carcass skin/tail lesions scores were correlated with scores recorded on farm (rskin = 0.21 and rtail = 0.18, P < 0.01) suggesting that information recorded at meat inspection could be used as indicators of pig welfare on farm.This study was part of the PIGWELFIND project funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Ireland

ATLAST detector needs for direct spectroscopic biosignature characterization in the visible and near-IR

Are we alone? Answering this ageless question will be a major focus for astrophysics in coming decades. Our tools will include unprecedentedly large UV-Optical-IR space telescopes working with advanced coronagraphs and starshades. Yet, these facilities will not live up to their full potential without better detectors than we have today. To inform detector development, this paper provides an overview of visible and near-IR (VISIR; $\lambda=0.4-1.8~\mu\textrm{m}$) detector needs for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST), specifically for spectroscopic characterization of atmospheric biosignature gasses. We also provide a brief status update on some promising detector technologies for meeting these needs in the context of a passively cooled ATLAST.Comment: 8 pages, Presented 9 August 2015 at SPIE Optics + Photonics, San Diego, C

Absence of the Rashba effect in undoped asymmetric quantum wells

To an electron moving in free space an electric field appears as a magnetic field which interacts with and can reorient the electron spin. In semiconductor quantum wells this spin-orbit interaction seems to offer the possibility of gate-voltage control in spintronic devices but, as the electrons are subject to both ion-core and macroscopic structural potentials, this over-simple picture has lead to intense debate. For example, an externally applied field acting on the envelope of the electron wavefunction determined by the macroscopic potential, underestimates the experimentally observed spin-orbit field by many orders of magnitude while the Ehrenfest theorem suggests that it should actually be zero. Here we challenge, both experimentally and theoretically, the widely held belief that any inversion asymmetry of the macroscopic potential, not only electric field, will produce a significant spin-orbit field for electrons. This conclusion has far-reaching consequences for the design of spintronic devices while illuminating important fundamental physics.Comment: 7 pages, 5 fig