Safety Level of Acrobatic Work: A Probabilistic Study

Acrobatic work constitutes an activity during which individuals intervene on buildings, cliffs, towers, and so forth, through the use of mountaineering or speleological techniques. The most dangerous situations occur particularly when ascending a rope with ascenders or roping with a descender. Any free fall or false manoeuvre will result in a strong shock on the belaying system that may cause its rupture. The fatal accident rate (FAR) of a given occupation is defined as the average number of fatal accidents per 10⁸ hrs of exposure to a given hazard. In this study it is assumed that the FAR is proportional to the average number of fall-initiating events, η, per worker and per hour of exposure to the fall hazard. η is estimated to be between 10^-3 and 3 × 10^-3. The maximum values of the rupture probability of the securing systems are calculated for the FAR of acrobatic work to be smaller than the FAR of the three most dangerous activity groups of the construction industry in France. These values allow the varying ranges of the parameters that influence this rupture probability to be determined.     

A discourse-analytical perspective on sustainability assessment: interpreting sustainable development in practice

Sustainable development is a ubiquitously used concept in public decision-making: it refers to an ideal vision of global society where human development and environmental quality go hand in hand. Logically, any decision-supporting process aiming at facilitating and steering society toward a sustainable future then seems desirable. Assessing the sustainability of policy decisions is, however, influenced by what sustainable development is believed to entail, as different discourses coexist under the umbrella of the sustainable development meta-discourse. This paper proposes a typology of sustainable development discourses, and, subsequently, applies a discourse-analytical lens on two practical cases of sustainability assessment in different institutional and geographical contexts (in Belgium and in Benin). The results indicate that sustainability assessments tend to be influenced mainly by the consensual ‘sustainable development as integration’ discourse, while also providing a forum for dialogue between different discourses. The results shed light on context-specific discursive and institutional dynamics for the development and application of sustainability assessment. Acknowledging these dynamics as well as sustainable development’s inherent interpretational limits can lead to an improved use of sustainable development as a decision-guiding strategy.     

Evaluation of the Effect of Chemical or Enzymatic Synthesis Methods on Biodegradability of Polyesters

This work compares the biodegradability of polyesters produced by an esterification reaction between glycerol and oleic di-acid (D 18:1) issued from green chemical pathways, via either classical thermo-chemical methods, or an enzymatic method using the immobilized lipase of Candida antartica B (Novozym 435). An elastomeric polymer synthesized by enzymatic catalysis is more biodegradable than an elastomeric thermo-chemical polyester synthesized by a standard chemical procedure. This difference lies in percentage of the dendritic motifs, in values of the degree of substitution, and certainly in cross-links inducing an hyper-branched structure less accessible to the lipolytic enzymes in a waste treatment plant. However, when the elastomeric polymer synthesized by enzymatic catalysis is processed at high temperature as required for certain industrial applications, it presents an identical rate of biodegradation than the chemical polyester. The advantages of the thermo-chemical methods are greater speed and lower cost. Enzymatic synthesis appears be suited to producing polyesters, devoid of metallic catalysts, which must be used without processing at high temperature to keep a high biodegradability.     

Heavy metal contamination from mining sites in South Morocco: 2. Assessment of metal accumulation and toxicity in plants

Metalliferous soils cover a relatively large surface area in Morocco, and up to now no hyperaccumulating plants have been identified on these mining or these industrial sites. The aim of this work was to assess the extent of metal accumulation by plants found in three mining areas in southern Morocco with the ultimate goal of finding metal hyperaccumulating species by using the MetPAD biotest. The biotest helps to obtain information on the selective metal toxicity of aqueous extracts from the plants. A strong metal toxicity, as revealed by the biotest is an indication of a hyperaccumulating plant. Toxicity tests were run concurrently with chemicals analyses of metals in plants and their water extracts. The chemical analyses allow the determination of the hyperaccumulated metal(s). Specimens of the plant species mainly growing on and in the vicinity of the three mines were sampled with their corresponding soils. The results show that all plants analyzed had lower heavy metal content and toxicity despite the relatively very high soil concentrations. A comparison of our results with the criterion used to classify the hyperaccumulator plants indicates that plants we collected from mining sites were hypertolerant but not hyperaccumulators. This was confirmed by transfer factors generally lower than 1. Nevertheless, these tolerant plants species can be used as tools for revegetation for erosion control in metals-contaminated sites (phytostabilization).     

The role of personality characteristics in young adult driving

BACKGROUND: Motor vehicle injury is the major cause of mortality among young adults. Information about the individual characteristics of those who drive dangerously could enhance traffic safety programs. The goal of this research was to examine the association between various personality-related characteristics and risky driving behaviors. METHODS: Young adults in Michigan, USA (n = 5,362) were surveyed by telephone regarding several personality factors (risk-taking, hostility, aggression, tolerance of deviance, achievement expectations) and driving behaviors (competitive driving, risk-taking driving, high-risk driving, aggressive driving, and drink/driving). Michigan driver records were obtained to examine offenses, serious offenses, driving offense points, crashes and serious crashes in the three pre-interview years. Multivariate regression analyses, adjusting for age, race, and marital status were conducted separately by sex to identify personality factors related to driving. RESULTS: For men and women, greater risk-taking propensity, physical/verbal hostility, aggression, and tolerance of deviance were significant predictors of a competitive attitude toward driving, risk-taking driving, high-risk driving, driving aggression, and drink/driving. Greater risk-taking propensity, physical/verbal hostility, aggression, and to a small degree, expectations for achievement predicted higher numbers of offenses, serious offenses, and points. CONCLUSION: Traffic safety policies and programs could be enhanced through recognition of the role personality factors play in driving behavior and the incorporation of this knowledge into the design and implementation of interventions that modify the behaviors associated with them.     

Entwicklung und Einsatz eines standardisierten Labortests für Dungkäfer (Aphodius constans) zur Prüfung der Ökotoxizität von Veterinärpharmaka

Goal, Scope, and Background

According to European legislation, an environmental risk assessment of veterinary pharmaceuticals for dung beetles is required if the substance is a parasiticide for the treatment of pasture animals. However, the demonstration of the environmental safety of those substances for dung beetles is strongly hampered by the fact that no standardized test system is available so far. Therefore, starting with recommendations from the SETAC advisory group DOTTS (Dung Organism Toxicity Test Standardization), a test system using the widespread temperate dung beetle species Aphodius constans was developed.

Methods

Using experiences gained at the University of Montpellier (e.g. in field studies) and in other terrestrial tests, details of culturing and testing of A. constans were investigated in a project sponsored by the German Environment Protection Agency (UBA). Basically, the survival of young larvae of A. constans exposed to the test substance spiked into formulated (i.e. dried, grounded and re-wetted) or fresh dung is measured over a period of three weeks. Using the model substance dimethoate (an insecticide required as positive control in tests with the predatory mite Hypoaspis aculeifer) the suitability of the new test was checked. Afterwards, the new test method was used to determine the toxicity of four common veterinary pharmaceuticals (ivermectin, dicyclanil, moxidectin, praziquantel) in formulated and fresh dung. Finally, the effects of ivermectin on the dung beetles were determined in a test using fresh dung from treated cattle.

Results and Conclusions

For Dmethoate LC₅₀-values were found in a range of 1–3 mg a.s./kg dung (dew.), depending on the dung type. Praziquantel did not show eirecis in the tested concentration range (i.e. up to 1000 mg a.s./kg Dung (DW). The LC₅₀-values of the other three pharmaceuticals were very low (<6 mg a.s./kg dung (DW)). With the exception of Dicyclanil no differences between formulated and fresh dung were identified. In the case of ivermectin the LC₅₀-value were even lower: about 0.5 mg a.s./kg dung (DW). No differences between the results of test in which the substance was spiked into dung and those tests which were performed with dung from treated cattle were found. These results prove the sensitivity as well as the robustness of this test method.

Recommendations and Perspectives

Based on the experiences reported here, it is recommended to standardize this test in an international ring test so that it can be incorporated in the risk assessment process for veterinary pharmaceuticals as described in the currently developed international registration guidelines.     

Persistence of Violation and Crash Behavior Over Time

This analysis examines the ability of previous offenses to predict future high-risk offenses, and similarly, the ability of crashes to predict future high-risk crashes, using the complete driver history data (up to 9 years) for a set of young Michigan subjects. As expected, those with previous ticketed offenses or reported crashes are at greater risk for future offenses or crashes; with a previous-year serious offense doubling the odds of serious offenses during the subsequent year, and a previous-year at-fault crash increasing the odds of subsequent-year at-fault crashes by nearly 50%. There is modest evidence that serious offenses and at-fault crashes may better predict subsequent behavior in females and in more experienced drivers. This latter finding is also evidenced by the fact that records of these young drivers are less predictive of subsequent driving history than is true for records of all drivers in general found in other studies. This suggests that, in the early stages of driving, offenses and crashes are, at least in part, attributable to inexperience, and hence, characteristic of all beginning drivers.