06-06 “European Chemical Policy and the United States: The Impacts of REACH”

The European Union is moving toward adoption of its new Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) policy, an innovative system of chemicals regulation that will provide crucial information on the safety profile of chemicals used in industry. Chemicals produced elsewhere, such as in the United States, and exported to Europe will have to meet the same standards as chemicals produced within the European Union. What is at stake for the U.S. is substantial: we estimate that chemical exports to Europe that are subject to REACH amount to about $14 billion per year, and are directly and indirectly responsible for 54,000 jobs. Revenues and employment of this magnitude dwarf the costs of compliance with REACH, which will amount to no more than$14 million per year. Even if, as the U.S. chemicals industry has argued, REACH is a needless mistake, it will be far more profitable to pay the modest compliance costs than to lose access to the enormous European market.

Designing an Instrument to Assess School-Based Peer-to-Peer Heroin and Opioid Prevention Program Outcomes

This study examines the issue of adolescent heroin and opioid use in New Hampshire and reviews interventions that positively change adolescent knowledge and perception of use. Prior studies indicate that peer-to-peer storytelling formats have a positive impact on adolescent knowledge and perception of substance use. We identified the Communities for Alcohol and Drug-free Youth’s (CADY) Alex’s Story, a school-based peer-to-peer storytelling prevention program addressing adolescent heroin and opioid use. To assist CADY in analyzing the programmatic impact of “Alex’s Story” on students, we designed a survey instrument to assess students’ understanding about substance use and addiction, and perception of harm associated with heroin and opioid use. We propose CADY use the designed instrument as a pre- and post-survey to measure students’ beliefs and perception of harm. It is hypothesized that by doing so, students who view Alex’s Story will have 1) an increased understanding about substance use and addiction, and 2) an increase in perception of harm related to heroin and opioid use when compared to students who do not view Alex’s Story. The implementation process for the survey instrument will be discussed

Outcomes of Individualized Personal Training Programs for Three Adult Siblings with Autism

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of three 6-week individualized personal training programs for three adult brothers who have autism. Using a single subject design, physical activity levels, basic fitness measures, and interviews were used to construct three individualized training programs to fit the subjects needs. Findings from this study can guide professionals in the adapted physical activity field who work with adults who have autism. Individualized personal training programs may provide an avenue for treatment or behavior modification for adults with autism. In conclusion, the benefits of individualized personal training programs for adults with autism are not well established. However, the results of this study indicated that providing adults with autism with an individualized training program can be beneficial for the individual in more ways than one way. All three subjects saw improvements upon starting the program

A public health framework for legalized retail marijuana based on the US experience:Avoiding a new tobacco industry

Rachel Barry and Stanton Glantz argue that a public health framework that prioritizes public health over business interests should be used by US states and countries that legalize retail marijuana

True value: Calculating and communicating the value of library labor

We have seen a multitude of methods used to calculate and communicate the value of libraries to society. However, most of the existing techniques—such as return on investment or individual receipts that provide cost savings information to patrons—focus on the value of resources and services: that is, the products provided to library users and related stakeholders. None of these calculations quantitatively consider the value inherent in the labor necessary to provide those resources and services and make them available. This project draws on critical design (Dunne 1999; Bardzell & Bardzell 2013)—a specific form of activist research inquiry that uses the creation of provocative artifacts to challenge established assumptions, shift perspectives, and think in new ways—to uncover and communicate the value of library labor. Using the results of a nationwide survey distributed to librarians and library workers in varying contexts, we are creating an interactive website that will allow library users and other stakeholders to calculate the value of library services, including the value of labor. Without this fundamental consideration, librarianship will always lack successful communication of true calculation of value—one that may lead to increased understanding of the full range of what libraries offer society

Rarely acknowledged and often unrecognized: Exploring emotional labor across library work tasks

In the seminal work on emotional labor (EL), Arlie Hochschild (1983, 2012) defines EL as “the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display.” EL is “sold for a wage” (Hochschild, 2012). To date, there have been a few studies on emotional labor in librarianship. Julien and Genuis (2009) found EL to have a central place in the experiences of instructional librarians. Shuler and Morgan (2013) interviewed reference librarians, finding they are expected to perform EL yet are not formally trained to do so. Matteson and Miller (2013) surveyed librarians nationwide, with statistical analysis confirming EL present in librarianship. Matteson et al. (2015) asked MLIS holders to reflect via diary entries on performed EL. The results of these studies have clearly demonstrated EL as a part of librarianship. To further advance the study of EL in librarianship, our work offers a quantitative perspective on EL across different types of library labor. We used a nationwide survey, recording types of library work performed, EL labor relative to task performed, with a section for open-ended comments. We sought to include all library workers, with a shorter questionnaire that still covers the established components of EL, such as hiding negative emotion. We will discuss how EL happens across the librarianship, with specific attention to differences to EL amongst various library tasks and between academic and public libraries based on the results of the survey, and implications for future studies

Volunteer mentors as informal educators in a youth physical activity program

This discussion reports data from a 4-year longitudinal evaluation of a project from the United Kingdom. The project focused on outdoor activities as a vehicle for enhancing the personal and social development of disaffected youth with the researchers specifically examining the role played by volunteer learning mentors. Following a summary of relevant literature and an overview of the project design and evaluation strategy, data are reported on the impact and effectiveness of these mentors. The findings suggest the potential for mentors to function as informal educators in such youth programs. However, a lack of preparation and the considerable challenges faced in establishing and maintaining mentoring relationships with young people in schools can restrict their impact. It is argued that similar future initiatives would benefit from greater pre-planning and an improved understanding of how mentors and other youth professionals can work with each other. © 2010 Taylor & Francis

Freshwater and airborne textile fibre populations are dominated by ‘natural’, not microplastic, fibres

The potential role of natural textile fibres as environmental pollutants has been speculated upon by some environmental scientists, however, there is a general consensus that their biodegradability reduces their environmental threat. Whilst the risks that they pose remain poorly understood, their environmental prevalence has been noted in several recent microplastic pollution manuscripts. Here we highlight the extent to which natural textile fibres dominate fibre populations of upstream reaches of the River Trent, UK, as well as the atmospheric deposition within its catchment, over a twelve month microplastic sampling campaign. Across 223 samples, natural textile fibres represented 93.8% of the textile fibre population quantified. Moreover, though microplastic particles including synthetic fibres are known to be pervasive environmental pollutants, extruded textile fibres were absent from 82.8% of samples. Natural textile fibres were absent from just 9.7% of samples

Exploring the Efficacy of Nile Red in Microplastic Quantification: A Costaining Approach

The presence of microplastic particles ([less than]5 mm) in the environment has generated considerable concern across public, political, and scientific platforms. However, the diversity of microplastics that persist in the environment poses complex analytical challenges for our understanding of their prevalence. The use of the dye Nile red to quantify microplastics is increasingly common. However, its use in microplastic analysis rarely accounts for its affinity with the breadth of particles that occur in environmental samples. Here, we examine Nile red’s ability to stain a variety of microplastic particles and common natural and anthropogenic particles found in environmental samples. To better constrain microplastic estimates using Nile red, we test the coapplication of a second stain that binds to biological material, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). We test the potential inflation of microplastic estimates using Nile red alone by applying this costaining approach to samples of drinking water and freshwater. The use of Nile red dye alone resulted in a maximum 100% overestimation of microplastic particles. These findings are of particular significance for the public dissemination of findings from an emotive field of study

A New Approach toward Transition State Spectroscopy

Chirped-Pulse millimetre-Wave (CPmmW) rotational spectroscopy provides a new class of information about photolysis transition state(s). Measured intensities in rotational spectra determine species-isomer-vibrational populations, provided that rotational populations can be thermalized. The formation and detection of S0 vinylidene is discussed in the limits of low and high initial rotational excitation. CPmmW spectra of 193 nm photolysis of Vinyl Cyanide (Acrylonitrile) contain J=0-1 transitions in more than 20 vibrational levels of HCN, HNC, but no transitions in vinylidene or highly excited local-bender vibrational levels of acetylene. Reasons for the non-observation of the vinylidene co-product of HCN are discussed.Comment: Accepted by Faraday Discussion