Informal Workers and Collective Action: A Global Perspective

[Excerpt] Around the world, in countries as far flung as Cambodia and Brazil and in industries as diverse as transportation and hospitality, workers in informal employment, who labor every day with no legal or social protection, are organizing and negotiating for better conditions. Some of them are self-employed; others work for wages in either formal or informal enterprises. Some used to have jobs in the formal sector with a union contract; others have always worked informally. To achieve their goals they are mounting collective action campaigns that draw on the repertoire of past generations of workers, but they often recombine them or innovate to fit their unique contexts. Informal workers, their organizations and their campaigns, represent the leading edge of the most significant change in the global labor movement in more than a century. This book tells the story of nine such campaigns

Evaluation of in-plant ergonomics training

Plant personnel involved in a joint labor-management Ergonomics Pilot Project attended an introductory ergonomics course. The training was developed to provide trainees with the ergonomic knowledge necessary to perform their functions as part of the Ergonomic Pilot Project. A Train-the-Trainer program for Introductory Ergonomics was developed and implemented to provide Pilot Project plants with in-plant Introductory Ergonomics trainers. Trainee course satisfaction, ergonomic knowledge, and performance did not differ significantly for those trained by in-plant trainers compared to those trained by University instructors. This suggests that the Train-the-Trainer approach is a viable way of meeting the increasing demand for ergonomics training in industry.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29101/1/0000137.pd

Messing with nature? Exploring public perceptions of geoengineering in the UK

Anthropogenic influence on the climate – and possible societal responses to it – offers a unique window through which to examine the way people think about and relate to the natural world. This paper reports data from four, one-day deliberative workshops conducted with members of the UK public during early 2012. The workshops focused on geoengineering – the deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment – as one of three possible responses to climate change (alongside mitigation and adaptation). Here, we explore one of the most pervasive and wide-ranging themes to emerge from the workshops: whether geoengineering represented an unprecedented human intervention into ‘nature’, and what the moral consequences of this might be. Using the concept of ‘messing with nature’ as an analytical lens, we explore public perceptions of geoengineering. We also reflect on why ‘messing with nature’ was such a focal point for debate and disagreement, and whether the prospect of geoengineering may reveal new dimensions to the way that people think about the natural world, and their relationship to it

Bone Mass and Strength in Older Men With Type 2 Diabetes: The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study

The effects of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on bone volumetric density, bone geometry, and estimates of bone strength are not well established. We used peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) to compare tibial and radial bone volumetric density (vBMD, mg/cm3), total (ToA, mm2) and cortical (CoA, mm2) bone area and estimates of bone compressive and bending strength in a subset (n = 1171) of men (≥65 years of age) who participated in the multisite Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study. Analysis of covariance–adjusted bone data for clinic site, age, and limb length (model 1) and further adjusted for body weight (model 2) were used to compare data between participants with (n = 190) and without (n = 981) T2DM. At both the distal tibia and radius, patients with T2DM had greater bone vBMD (+2% to +4%, model 1, p < .05) and a smaller bone area (ToA −1% to −4%, model 2, p < .05). The higher vBMD compensated for lower bone area, resulting in no differences in estimated compressive bone strength at the distal trabecular bone regions. At the mostly cortical bone midshaft sites of the radius and tibia, men with T2DM had lower ToA (−1% to −3%, p < .05), resulting in lower bone bending strength at both sites after adjusting for body weight (−2% to −5%, p < .05) despite the lack of difference in cortical vBMD at these sites. These data demonstrate that older men with T2DM have bone strength that is low relative to body weight at the cortical-rich midshaft of the radius despite no difference in cortical vBMD. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Researc

Development of a validated patient-reported symptom metric for pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis: qualitative methods

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous attempts to measure symptoms in pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) have not fully included patients and parents in the item development process. We sought to identify and validate key patient self-reported and parent proxy-reported outcomes (PROs) specific to EoE.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We developed methodology for focus and cognitive interviews based on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines for PROs, the validated generic PedsQL™ guidelines, and the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ). Both child (ages 8-12 and 13-18) and parent-proxy (ages 2-4, 5-7, 8-12, and 13-18) interviews were conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We conducted 75 interviews to construct the new instrument. Items were identified and developed from individual focus interviews, followed by cognitive interviews for face and content validation. Initial domains of symptom frequency and severity were developed, and open-ended questions were used to generate specific items during the focus interviews. Once developed, the instrument construct, instructions, timeframe, scoring, and specific items were systematically reviewed with a separate group of patients and their parents during the cognitive interviews.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To capture the full impact of pediatric EoE, both histologic findings and PROs need to be included as equally important outcome measures. We have developed the face and content validated Pediatric Eosinophilic Esophagitis Symptom Score (PEESS™ v2.0). The PEESS™ v2.0 metric is now undergoing multisite national field testing as the next iterative instrument development phase.</p

Management of toxic ingestions with the use of renal replacement therapy

Although rare, renal replacement therapy (RRT) for the treatment of the metabolic, respiratory and hemodynamic complications of intoxications may be required. Understanding the natural clearance of the medications along with their volume of distribution, protein binding and molecular weight will help in understanding the benefit of commencing RRT. This information will aid in choosing the optimal forms of RRT in an urgent setting. Overdose of common pediatric medications are discussed with suggestions on the type of RRT within this educational review

Outcome reporting in randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses of appendicitis treatments in children: a systematic review

Background: Acute appendicitis is the most common surgical emergency in children. Despite this, there is no core outcome set (COS) described for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in children with appendicitis and hence no consensus regarding outcome selection, definition and reporting. We aimed to identify outcomes currently reported in studies of paediatric appendicitis. / Methods: Using a defined, sensitive search strategy, we identified RCTs and systematic reviews (SRs) of treatment interventions in children with appendicitis. Included studies were all in English and investigated the effect of one or more treatment interventions in children with acute appendicitis or undergoing appendicectomy for presumed acute appendicitis. Studies were reviewed and data extracted by two reviewers. Primary (if defined) and all other outcomes were recorded and assigned to the core areas ‘Death’, ‘Pathophysiological Manifestations’, ‘Life Impact’, ‘Resource Use’ and ‘Adverse Events’, using OMERACT Filter 2.0. / Results: A total of 63 studies met the inclusion criteria reporting outcomes from 51 RCTs and nine SRs. Only 25 RCTs and four SRs defined a primary outcome. A total of 115 unique and different outcomes were identified. RCTs reported a median of nine outcomes each (range 1 to 14). The most frequently reported outcomes were wound infection (43 RCTs, nine SRs), intra-peritoneal abscess (41 RCTs, seven SRs) and length of stay (35 RCTs, six SRs) yet all three were reported in just 25 RCTs and five SRs. Common outcomes had multiple different definitions or were frequently not defined. Although outcomes were reported within all core areas, just one RCT and no SR reported outcomes for all core areas. Outcomes assigned to the ‘Death’ and ‘Life Impact’ core areas were reported least frequently (in six and 15 RCTs respectively). / Conclusions: There is a wide heterogeneity in the selection and definition of outcomes in paediatric appendicitis, and little overlap in outcomes used across studies. A paucity of studies report patient relevant outcomes within the ‘Life Impact’ core area. These factors preclude meaningful evidence synthesis, and pose challenges to designing prospective clinical trials and cohort studies. The development of a COS for paediatric appendicitis is warranted

Local spatial structure of forest biomass and its consequences for remote sensing of carbon stocks

Advances in forest carbon mapping have the potential to greatly reduce uncertainties in the global carbon budget and to facilitate effective emissions mitigation strategies such as REDD+. Though broad scale mapping is based primarily on remote sensing data, the accuracy of resulting forest carbon stock estimates depends critically on the quality of field measurements and calibration procedures. The mismatch in spatial scales between field inventory plots and larger pixels of current and planned remote sensing products for forest biomass mapping is of particular concern, as it has the potential to introduce errors, especially if forest biomass shows strong local spatial variation. Here, we used 30 large (8–50 ha) globally distributed permanent forest plots to quantify the spatial variability in aboveground biomass (AGB) at spatial grains ranging from 5 to 250m (0.025–6.25 ha), and we evaluate the implications of this variability for calibrating remote sensing products using simulated remote sensing footprints. We found that the spatial sampling error in AGB is large for standard plot sizes, averaging 46.3% for 0.1 ha subplots and 16.6% for 1 ha subplots. Topographically heterogeneous sites showed positive spatial autocorrelation in AGB at scales of 100m and above; at smaller scales, most study sites showed negative or nonexistent spatial autocorrelation in AGB. We further show that when field calibration plots are smaller than the remote sensing pixels, the high local spatial variability in AGB leads to a substantial “dilution” bias in calibration parameters, a bias that cannot be removed with current statistical methods. Overall, our results suggest that topography should be explicitly accounted for in future sampling strategies and that much care must be taken in designing calibration schemes if remote sensing of forest carbon is to achieve its promise