A commentary on decision-making and organisational legitimacy in the Risk Society

Key concepts of Risk Society as elaborated by Ulrich Beck and others (Beck, U., 1992 (trans. Mark Ritter). The Risk Society. Sage Publications, London. Beck, U., 1995, Ecological Politics in the Age of Risk. Polity Press, Cambridge. Beck, U., 1999, World Risk Society. Polity Press, Cambridge. Giddens, A., 1994, Beyond Left and Right. Polity Press, Oxford. Beck, U., Giddens, A. and Lash, S., 1994, Reflexive Modernisation: Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order. Stanford University Press, Stanford. Beck, U., Bonss, W. and Lau, C., 2003, Theory, Culture & Society 2003, Sage, London, 20(2), pp. 1-33.) are illuminated though a case study of managed environmental risk, namely the hexachlorobenzene (HCB) controversy at Botany, a southeast suburb of Sydney. We observe the way multiple stakeholder decision-making plays out a number of Risk Society themes, including the emergence of 'unbounded risk' and of highly 'individualised' and 'reflexive' risk communities. Across several decades, the events of the HCB story support Risk Society predictions of legitimacy problems faced by corporations as they harness technoscientific support for innovation in their products and industrial processes without due recognition of social and environmental risk. Tensions involving identity, trust and access to expert knowledge advance our understanding of democratic 'sub-political' decision-making and ways of distributing environmental risk. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Investigation of the physical parameters of duplex stainless steel (DSS) surface integrity after turning

The article presents the influence of machining parameters on the microhardness of surface integrity (SI) after turning by means of a coated sintered carbide wedge with a coating with ceramic intermediate layer. The investigation comprised the influence of cutting speed on the SI microhardness in dry machining. The material under investigation was duplex stainless steel with two-phase ferritic-austenitic structure. The results obtained allow for conclusions concerning the exploitation features of processed machine parts

Evaluation of creep properties of steel P92 and its welded joint

This work is focused on testing and evaluation of creep properties of P92 base material (BM) and welded joints (WJ) as well. Up to date results of creep rupture test of P92 base metal and welds are presented in this article. Creep rupture strength (CRS) of WJ initially reaches values close to the BM, with longer times to fracture and especially at higher temperatures, creep strength of WJ decreases and the data is closer to the lower 40 % tolerance band

ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY PRACTICE IN SERBIA TODAY

This is the first survey of the practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the Republic of Serbia. A retrospective chart review was undertaken including all patients having received ECT in Serbia in 2012. Only one center in Serbia offered ECT in 2012 to a total of 54 patients (54% women). Thirty-six (36) patients received acute ECT treatment and eighteen (18) patients maintenance ECT, yielding a ECT utilization rate of 0.05/100.000 population. ECT was delivered with a modern square-wave (brief pulse) machine with EEG and ECG monitoring. In all cases the electrode placement was bifrontal and treatment modified (with anesthesia). The most frequent indication was recurrent depressive disorder (66.7%) for both acute and maintenance treatment. The limited availability of ECT in Serbia raises serious concerns. Provision of updated and effective treatment modalities for severe psychiatric disorders is crucial and the need for additional ECT services in Serbia is urgent

Investigation of selected surface integrity features of duplex stainless steel (DSS) after turning

The article presents surface roughness profiles and Abbott - Firestone curves with vertical and amplitude parameters of surface roughness after turning by means of a coated sintered carbide wedge with a coating with ceramic intermediate layer. The investigation comprised the influence of cutting speed on the selected features of surface integrity in dry machining. The material under investigation was duplex stainless steel with two-phase ferritic-austenitic structure. The tests have been performed under production conditions during machining of parts for electric motors and deep-well pumps. The obtained results allow to draw conclusions about the characteristics of surface properties of the machined parts

Willingness to pay for lives saved by helicopter emergency medical services

Introduction. Currently, policy makers in the Netherlands are discussing the possibility to expand the availability of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) from 12 hours to 24 hours per day. For this, the preferences of the general public towards both the positive effects and negative consequences of HEMS should be taken into account. Therefore, the willingness to pay (WTP) for lives saved by HEMS was calculated. Methods. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was performed in order to explore the preferences of respondents towards (expansion of) HEMS availability. The attributes: costs (for HEMS) per household number of additional lives saved (by HEMS), number of noise disturbances (caused by HEMS) during day time or night time were used. A written questionnaire was presented to 150 individuals by convenience sampling. Result. One hundred and thirty-six (91%) of the 150 individuals completed the DCE questionnaire. The marginal WTP for one additional life saved (in a month) was 3.43 (95% CI; 2.96-3.90) per month per household. Overall, the WTP for expansion to a 24-hour availability of HEMS can therefore be estimated at 12.29 (∼ US$ 17.50) per household per month. Conclusion. The WTP derived from this study is by far exceeding the 1-1.5 Million-euro necessary per HEMS per year for the expansion from a daytime HEMS to a 24-h availability in the Netherlands. Respondents are willing to pay for lives saved by HEMS in spite of increases in flights and concurrent noise disturbances. These results may be helpful for the decision-making process,

Influence of argon pollution on the weld surface morphology

In this paper the surfaces of butt welded joints in steel tubes were analyzed using an optical 3D measurement system to determine the morphology and topographic parameters. It was established that pollution of the argon shield gas with oxygen did not influence the width of the heat-affected zone. However, the composition of the shield gas significantly influenced the surface asymmetry, Ssk, and its inclination Sku. The measurement of these parameters enabled the selection of a higher quality surface, which was visually proven by the reduction in discoloration of the surface of the weld joint. High quality surfaces eliminate a potential habitat for bacteria and a future source of corrosion as well as providing less resistance to fluid flow

Silencing and Nuclear Repositioning of the λ5 Gene Locus at the Pre-B Cell Stage Requires Aiolos and OBF-1

The chromatin regulator Aiolos and the transcriptional coactivator OBF-1 have been implicated in regulating aspects of B cell maturation and activation. Mice lacking either of these factors have a largely normal early B cell development. However, when both factors are eliminated simultaneously a block is uncovered at the transition between pre-B and immature B cells, indicating that these proteins exert a critical function in developing B lymphocytes. In mice deficient for Aiolos and OBF-1, the numbers of immature B cells are reduced, small pre-BII cells are increased and a significant impairment in immunoglobulin light chain DNA rearrangement is observed. We identified genes whose expression is deregulated in the pre-B cell compartment of these mice. In particular, we found that components of the pre-BCR, such as the surrogate light chain genes λ5 and VpreB, fail to be efficiently silenced in double-mutant mice. Strikingly, developmentally regulated nuclear repositioning of the λ5 gene is impaired in pre-B cells lacking OBF-1 and Aiolos. These studies uncover a novel role for OBF-1 and Aiolos in controlling the transcription and nuclear organization of genes involved in pre-BCR function

Enforced Expression of the Transcriptional Coactivator OBF1 Impairs B Cell Differentiation at the Earliest Stage of Development

OBF1, also known as Bob.1 or OCA-B, is a B lymphocyte-specific transcription factor which coactivates Oct1 and Oct2 on B cell specific promoters. So far, the function of OBF1 has been mainly identified in late stage B cell populations. The central defect of OBF1 deficient mice is a severely reduced immune response to T cell-dependent antigens and a lack of germinal center formation in the spleen. Relatively little is known about a potential function of OBF1 in developing B cells. Here we have generated transgenic mice overexpressing OBF1 in B cells under the control of the immunoglobulin heavy chain promoter and enhancer. Surprisingly, these mice have greatly reduced numbers of follicular B cells in the periphery and have a compromised immune response. Furthermore, B cell differentiation is impaired at an early stage in the bone marrow: a first block is observed during B cell commitment and a second differentiation block is seen at the large preB2 cell stage. The cells that succeed to escape the block and to differentiate into mature B cells have post-translationally downregulated the expression of transgene, indicating that expression of OBF1 beyond the normal level early in B cell development is deleterious. Transcriptome analysis identified genes deregulated in these mice and Id2 and Id3, two known negative regulators of B cell differentiation, were found to be upregulated in the EPLM and preB cells of the transgenic mice. Furthermore, the Id2 and Id3 promoters contain octamer-like sites, to which OBF1 can bind. These results provide evidence that tight regulation of OBF1 expression in early B cells is essential to allow efficient B lymphocyte differentiation