disAbility in Farm Households

[Excerpt] Recent information from the Census 2002 and a national survey conducted by the Teagasc National Farm Survey, indicates that disability affects a significant number of farm household members. Government through current and proposed legislation is in the process of developing both policy and practice to ensure that people with disability enjoy equality and full participation in society. Teagasc in the delivery of its services wishes to ensure that persons with disability are accommodated to the fullest possible extent. Teagasc plan to continue to investigate what services and supports are required by farm families related to disability. This booklet aims to inform the farming community about disability issues and to indicate how Teagasc services could be of assistance to farm households with a disabled member

Ireland

This report will focuses on the current innovations and the future development of the practices and approaches to the assessment of learning in the area of work-based Vocational Education & Training in Ireland. The report is written from the perspective of the Irish Partner (Dublin City University) of the Leonardo da Vinci QualPraxis Research Project. In Ireland Vocational Education and Training (VET) exists mainly in the further education sector and this report will focus on this area

Occupational fatalities amongst farm workers in Ireland, 1992 – 2008

working paperBackground: Whilst occupational fatalities amongst farm workers have been studied internationally little research has been published concerning farm fatalities or the demography farm fatalities in Ireland. Aims 1) To establish the incidence of farm fatalities during the 1992 – 2009 period in Ireland, 2) to explore the changing age profile of those experiencing fatal injuries on farms in Ireland. Methods: An official dataset containing the details of every fatal farm accident during the 1992 – 2009 period is used to evaluate changes in the number and age profile of farm fatalities in Ireland. Results: There were 304 deaths on farms during the 1992 – 2009 period in Ireland. The average number of annual fatalities is declining having fallen by 16% from 18 to 16 per year during this time. The fatality rate has however increased from 15 to 22 per 100,000 workers. This has been driven by a reduction in the number of workers employed on farms and, it is hypothesised, rapid ageing of the farm workforce. The demographic profile of those killed on farms changed significantly over the period. There are fewer deaths amongst younger cohorts. Older farmers, those over 55 years of age, now account for the vast majority of all fatal accidents. Conclusion: These findings highlight the changing nature of fatal farm incidents over the 1993 – 2009 period in Ireland. The increasing number of fatalities amongst older farmers suggests that Ireland’s Farm Safety Partnership needs to place greater emphasis of raising awareness amongst older farmers of fatality risks

Beowulf and Hygelac: Problems for Fiction in History

Paper by John McNamar

Novel Approaches to the Analysis of Localised Stress Concentrations in Deformed Elastomers

The research described here is concerned with improving finite element analysis (FEA) of rubber components subjected to dynamic loading, particularly in respect of accurate modelling of stress softening using standard software codes and phenomenological material models. The research required the design and implementation of a user subroutine capable of inclusion in standard highly nonlinear codes. Experimental methods were employed to corroborate the FEA simulations and so validate the subroutine. This was also achieved using 3D image correlation photogrammetry (ICP) and other novel experimental procedures. From this experimentation and modelling, the results for different rubber specimens and load cases were presented. The primary aim of the research was to provide a novel method for modelling stress softening for localised stress concentration at discontinuities in rubber components and to implement optimised stress softening subroutines for rubber into commercial software codes. As a consequence other novel research is presented in respect of: i) A semi empirical formula for elastomer stress softening. ii) Recommendations for improving ICP techniques applied to rubber. iii) A determination of the likelihood of large flaws causing premature failures in rubber specimens

The Fight to Bear Arms: Challenging the Second Amendment and the U.S. Constitution as a Sacred Text

This article examines the manner in which constitutional law in the United States serves to preserve, accentuate and institutionalise what Robert Bellah referred to as the ‘Civil Religion’ of the nation (1967). As the U.S. Supreme Court manages the evolution of the nation, it does so through an institutional deference to the authority of the nation’s founders. The United States is not unique in the glorification of the nation’s ‘Founding Fathers’. It does, however, stand alone in the manner it seeks to maintain a temporal connection with these iconic national figures through the law and the interpretation of that law. U.S. constitutional law seeks to reiterate and reproduce the principles of the Founding Fathers and the ideals that they espoused. This fact is explicated in this article through an examination of the case of the District of Columbia v Heller (2008). This article seeks to account for two key nationalistic phenomena in the United States relating to constitutional law and the U.S. Constitution’s infamous Second Amendment. Firstly, the profound institutional reverence for the national heroes that first begat the nation. And, secondly, a precise hermeneutical deference to those Founding Fathers - in law - that is largely unmatched in the developed world

Women\u27s risk perception and sexual victimization: A review of the literature

This article reviews empirical and theoretical studies that examined the relationship between risk perception and sexual victimization in women. Studies examining women\u27s general perceptions of risk for sexual assault as well as their ability to identify and respond to threat in specific situations are reviewed. Theoretical discussions of the optimistic bias and cognitive–ecological models of risk recognition are discussed in order to account for findings in the literature. Implications for interventions with women as well as recommendations for future research are provided