Assessment and control of fetal exposure

The assessment and control of fetal exposure to radiation in the workplace is an issue that is complicated by both biological and political/social ramifications. As a result of the dramatic increase in the number of women employed as radiation workers during the past 10 years, many facilities using radioactive materials have instituted fetal protection programs with special requirements for female radiation workers. It is necessary, however, to ensure that any fetal protection program be developed in such a way as to be nondiscriminatory. A study has been initiated whose purpose is to balance the political/social and the biological ramifications associated with occupational protection of the developing embryo/fetus. Several considerations are involved in properly balancing these factors. These considerations include appropriate methods of declaring the pregnancy, training workers, controlling the dose to the embryo/fetus, measuring and calculating the dose to the embryo/fetus, and recording the pertinent information. Alternative strategies for handling these factors while ensuring maximum protection of the embryo/fetus and the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers are discussed

High throughput dimensional measurements with electro-optics

A dimensional measuring system, the profile monitor, has been developed to measure part dimensions with a standard deviation of 0.0001 inch at a throughput rate of 1200 parts/minute. The monitor is one measurement system on an advanced high speed inspection system designed to monitor the production of cartridge cases. The complete system includes a mechanical handler, measurement instruments (which make five measurements), system monitoring instruments and a dedicated minicomputer. This paper describes the profile monitor and its performance. The profile monitor is an electro-optic system that utilizes fiber optics to project an image of the case onto charged-coupled device image sensors. Measurements are made for five different case dimensions: (1) head thickness, (2) head diameter, (3) extractor groove diameter, (4) gas seal length, and (5) total length. The profile monitor consists of five major elements: the case gauging fixture, the optical system including an illumination source and computer. Electronics consist of the diode array and driver, thresholding circuit, measurement timing logic and data buffers. The square image conduit (six micron fibers) is structured to take the edges of the projected case image and transfer the image to a 0.125 inch linear charge coupled device (CCD) sensor. Logic is employed to detect the shadowed edges of the case and count the number of elements darkened by the shadow

Assistive technology assessment and planning for children with multiple disabilities in educational settings

A number of critical elements have been identified in assistive technology assessment and planning to optimise its integration into the educational environments of children and hence address their functional goals. These elements are as follows: adopting a collaborative think-tank team approach to which all educational team members contribute equally and where technology experts are consulted once the need for specific technical support or training is identified; involving the family by establishing mutual expectations and using effective communication strategies; and conducting in-depth assessment that identifies clear goals, includes task analysis within daily environments, examines the child-device interaction closely and investigates the resources available to implement assistive technology use. With this backdrop, this paper reviews existing assessments and proposes that the Lifespace Access Profile (LAP) (Williams et al 1993) and Lifespace Access Profile (Upper Extension) (LAPUE) (Williams et al 1994) satisfy many of the criteria for effective assessment and planning advocated in the literature

Family Businesses and Globalization in Finland

This paper studies whether family businesses (FBs) differ from non-family businesses (non-FBs) in various dimensions of globalization with a representative sample of businesses in Finnish manufacturing and private services. FBs and non-FBs are not so different when it comes to export and off-shore (includes both in-house moves and outsourcing) probabilities and intensities. After controlling for other relevant factors, however, family businesses are less likely to have employment abroad and their shares of foreign employment are likely to be lower than their non-family counterparts. FBs’ foreign employment may also be qualitatively different: Compared to non-FBs, FBs seem to be more prone to have employment in the neighboring country rather than in ones geographically more distant. The strategic role of FBs’ foreign employment also seems to be different, although due to data limitations we are unable to pin down exactly how. FBs are somewhat more likely to increase their overall Finnish employment in the course of the next few years. This overall observation is largely because family businesses are particularly more likely to hire those with somewhat lower levels of formal education, who also initially tend to command a relatively larger share of their employment

Assessment and control of fetal exposure

The assessment and control of fetal exposure to radiation in the workplace is an issue that is complicated by both biological and political/social ramifications. As a result of the dramatic increase in the number of women employed as radiation workers during the past 10 years, many facilities using radioactive materials have instituted fetal protection programs with special requirements for female radiation workers. It is necessary, however, to ensure that any fetal protection program be developed in such a way as to be nondiscriminatory. A study has been initiated whose purpose is to balance the political/social and the biological ramifications associated with occupational protection of the developing embryo/fetus. Several considerations are involved in properly balancing these factors. These considerations include appropriate methods of declaring the pregnancy, training workers, controlling the dose to the embryo/fetus, measuring and calculating the dose to the embryo/fetus, and recording the pertinent information. Alternative strategies for handling these factors while ensuring maximum protection of the embryo/fetus and the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers are discussed