An evaluation of health and safety management in small construction enterprises in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom (UK) construction industry has one of the best safety records within the European Union, with fatalities and serious injuries being about one third of the European average. However, despite a number of recent initiatives, accidents still regularly occur on UK construction sites. A disproportionate number of fatalities occur in small construction enterprises employing fifteen operatives or less. In 2007, a survey of small construction enterprises in Southern England was carried out to identify factors which contribute to this relatively poor safety record. The survey was based on prior research which had identified three interrelated factors that influence health and safety (H&S) management: the individual’s competence and attitude; the job tasks and environment; and the organisational culture and leadership. It was found that project managers on small construction sites had limited knowledge of H&S requirements which often resulted in a poor or potentially dangerous work environment and a poor safety attitude within the workforce. It was concluded that increased awareness and training of project managers in small construction enterprises should be a priority for all who seek to improve H&S on construction sites

Magnetoresistance of Three-Constituent Composites: Percolation Near a Critical Line

Scaling theory, duality symmetry, and numerical simulations of a random network model are used to study the magnetoresistance of a metal/insulator/perfect conductor composite with a disordered columnar microstructure. The phase diagram is found to have a critical line which separates regions of saturating and non-saturating magnetoresistance. The percolation problem which describes this line is a generalization of anisotropic percolation. We locate the percolation threshold and determine the t = s = 1.30 +- 0.02, nu = 4/3 +- 0.02, which are the same as in two-constituent 2D isotropic percolation. We also determine the exponents which characterize the critical dependence on magnetic field, and confirm numerically that nu is independent of anisotropy. We propose and test a complete scaling description of the magnetoresistance in the vicinity of the critical line.Comment: Substantially revised version; description of behavior in finite magnetic fields added. 7 pages, 7 figures, submitted to PR

Effect of Diurnal Convection on Trapped Thermal Plasma in the Outer Plasmasphere

A kinetic, multi‐species model of the plasmasphere is constructed that includes the effect of convection and corotation electric fields on trapped particles in drifting flux tubes. The resulting morphology of the outer plasmasphere is significantly different from the morphology obtained using the assumption of diffusive equilibrium. The difference is due primarily to the contraction and expansion of the region of velocity space accessible to the trapped particles, and has implications for the interpretation of remote sensing experiments

Thinking about growth : a cognitive mapping approach to understanding small business development

School of Managemen

Evaluation of a culture-based pathogen identification kit for bacterial causes of bovine mastitis

Accurate identification of mastitis-causing bacteria supports effective management and can be used to implement selective use of antimicrobials for treatment. The objectives of this study were to compare the results from a culture-based mastitis pathogen detection test kit (‘VetoRapid’, Vétoquinol) with standard laboratory culture and to evaluate the potential suitability of the test kit to inform a selective treatment programme. Overall 231 quarter milk samples from five UK dairy farms were collected. The sensitivity and specificity of the test kit for the identification of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, Streptococcus uberis and Enterococcus spp. ranged from 17 per cent to 84 per cent and 92 per cent to 98 per cent, respectively. In total, 23 of 68 clinical samples were assigned as meeting the requirement for antimicrobial treatment (Gram-positive organism cultured) according to standard culture results, with the test kit results having sensitivity and specificity of 91 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively. Several occurrences of misidentification are reported, including S. aureus being misidentified as coagulase-negative staphylococci and vice versa. The test kit provides rapid preliminary identification of five common causes of bovine mastitis under UK field conditions and is likely to be suitable for informing selective treatment of clinical mastitis caused by Gram-positive organisms

Characterization of metal ion-induced [3H]inositol hexakisphosphate binding to rat cerebellar membranes

The binding of [3H]inositol hexakisphosphate ([3H] InsP6) to rat cerebellar membranes has been characterized with the objective of establishing the role, if any, of a membrane protein receptor. In the presence of EDTA, we have previously identified an InsP6-binding site with a capacity of approximately 20 pmol/mg protein (Hawkins, P. T., Reynolds, D. J. M., Poyner, D. R., and Hanley, M. R. (1990) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 167, 819-827). However, in the presence of 1 mM Mg2+, the capacity of [3H]InsP6 binding to membranes was increased approximately 9-fold. This enhancing effect of Mg2+ was reversed by addition of 10 microM of several cation chelators, suggesting that the increased binding required trace quantities of other metal cations. This is supported by experiments where it was possible to saturate binding by addition of excess membranes, despite not significantly depleting radioligand, pointing to removal of some other factor. Removal of endogenous cations from the binding assay by pretreatment with chelex resin also prevents the Mg(2+)-induced potentiation. Consideration of the specificity of the chelators able to abolish this potentiation suggested involvement of Fe3+ or Al3+. Both these ions (but not several others) were able to increase [3H]InsP6 binding to chelex-pretreated membranes at concentrations of 1 microM. It is possible to demonstrate synergy between Fe3+ and Mg2+ under these conditions. We propose that [3H]InsP6 may interact with membranes through non-protein recognition possibly via phospholipids, in a manner dependent upon trace metals. The implications of this for InsP6 biology are considered

A high resolution imaging detector for TeV gamma-ray astronomy

Details are presented of an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope for use in very high energy gamma-ray astronomy which consists of a cluster of 109 close-packed photomultiplier tubes at the focus of a 10 meter optical reflector. The images of the Cherenkov flashes generated both by gamma-ray and charged cosmic-ray events are digitized and recorded. Subsequent off-line analysis of the images improves the significance of the signal to noise ratio by a factor of 10 compared with non-imaging techniques

Thermal Plasmaspheric Morphology: Effect of Geomagnetic and Solar Activity

A multispecies kinetic model of the thermal plasma in the plasmasphere is used to predict the spatial dependence of the hydrogen ion and helium ion density and temperature for different levels of geomagnetic and solar activity. The particular convection electric field model chosen is intended for the time intervals between substorms. The plasma density and temperature in the equatorial plane are found to exhibit a local-time variation that is sensitive to the details of the convection electric field. In particular, the parallel temperature increases with altitude and the perpendicular temperature decreases with altitude, except in the postmidnight sector, features that are only possible if kinetic effects are taken into account. In addition, the ratio of the helium ion density to the hydrogen ion density is found to agree with observations of the Dynamics Explorer 1 satellite. This behavior can be explained by the effects of convection on the thermal particles that are magnetically trapped on closed field lines. These results have implications for the interpretation and analysis of sunlight scattered by helium ions (He II) to be measured by future global imaging satellites