Suchergebnisse

Clear and foreseeable danger -- Risk assessment-a simple tool? -- Is safety paramount? -- Risk and safety-a national philosophy -- What works in public life? -- Legal matters -- Advice-whose advice? -- A closer look at decision making -- Adventure activities-a hard case -- Risk-benefit assessment -- In search of a new agenda -- Final thoughts and resume.

AbstractThe increasing cost of water in public supply is providing renewed interest in groundwater from industry and other intensive water‐users. At present, groundwater in Scotland enjoys considerable advantages: over surface water. However, there are also disadvantages: in some areas groundwater quality is poor due either to anthropogenic activity or the natural occurrence of acidic groundwaters. The future groundwater development and management policy for Scotland is being formed around the Water Resources Framework Directive and the Groundwater Action Programme. However, there are several policy constraints which urgently need to be addressed; these include (a) the role of the Water Order and (b) the need for a licensing system to control abstraction from selected aquifer units.

Our tentative estimates indicate that total factor productivity growth in the agricultural sector advanced at a rate between 0.2 and 0.3 percent per year during the colonial period and then remained constant for the remainder of the century, while labor productivity advanced at an average rate of about 0.4 percent over the colonial period. We point out the many difficulties encountered in making such estimates and hope that our contribution will serve as a guide for further research in early American agricultural history as well as help to increase our understanding of the rate and trend in growth of the early American economy.

Abstract. Geotechnical hazards along linear transportation corridors are challenging to identify and often require constant monitoring. Inspecting corridors using traditional, manual methods requires the engineer to be unnecessarily exposed to the hazard. It also requires closure of the corridor to ensure safety of the worker from passing vehicles. This paper identifies the use of mobile terrestrial LiDAR data as a compliment to traditional field methods. Mobile terrestrial LiDAR is an emerging remote data collection technique capable of generating accurate fully three-dimensional virtual models while driving at speeds up to 100 km/h. Data is collected from a truck that causes no delays to active traffic nor does it impede corridor use. These resultant georeferenced data can be used for geomechanical structural feature identification and kinematic analysis, rockfall path identification and differential monitoring of rock movement or failure over time. Comparisons between mobile terrestrial and static LiDAR data collection and analysis are presented. As well, detailed discussions on workflow procedures for possible implementation are discussed. Future use of mobile terrestrial LiDAR data for corridor analysis will focus on repeated surveys and developing dynamic four-dimensional models, higher resolution data collection. As well, computationally advanced, spatially accurate, geomechanically controlled three-dimensional rockfall simulations should be investigated.

This study investigates changes in neuropsychological functioning during early abstinence from alcohol. 30 alcohol-dependent inpatients were tested at intake (day 4 of admission) and post detoxification (day 26), using a test-retest design. The neuropsychological battery included measures of pre-morbid IQ, full-scale IQ, verbal and non-verbal measures of memory and executive function. IQ was within the normal range at intake and comparable with age-adjusted normative values and there were some impairments in memory and executive function. There were significant increases in performance scores post detoxification in working memory, verbal fluency and verbal inhibition but not in non-verbal executive function tasks (mental flexibility and planning ability). Despite increased scores on tests of verbal and memory skills after 3 weeks of abstinence, complex executive abilities showed little change. These may have a negative impact on engagement and response to treatment and compromise clinical outcomes, heightening the risk of relapse.

Purpose Globally, lung cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death. Problematically, there is a wide variation in the management and survival for people with lung cancer and there is limited understanding of the reasons for these variations. To date, the views of health professionals across relevant disciplines who deliver such care are largely absent. The present study describes Australian health professionals' views about barriers to lung cancer care to help build a research and action agenda for improving lung cancer outcomes. Methods Qualitative semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a multidisciplinary group of 31 Australian health professionals working in lung cancer care for an average of 16 years (range 1–35 yrs.; SD = 10.2) seeing a mean of 116 patients annually. Results Three superordinate themes were identified: illness representations, cultural influences, and health system context. Illness representations included three themes: symptoms attributed as smoking-related but not cancer, health-related stigma, and therapeutic nihilism. Cultural influence themes included Indigenous health care preferences, language and communication, and sociodemographic factors. Health system context included lack of regional services and distance to treatment, poor care coordination, lack of effective screening methods, and health professional behaviours. Conclusions Fractured and locally isolated approaches routinely confound responses to the social, cultural and health system complexities that surround a diagnosis of lung cancer and subsequent treatment. Improving outcomes for this disadvantaged patient group will require government, health agencies, and the community to take an aggressive, integrated approach balancing health policy, treatment priorities, and societal values.