Enhancing corporate compliance with worksite safety and health legislation

Introduction: A 2-year prospective study evaluated the effectiveness of a managerial training program to enhance corporate compliance with statewide worksite safety and health regulations. The program offered participants information about regulatory requirements and emphasized organizational and environmental strategies for reducing occupational injuries and illnesses. Objectives: To assess the effects of a train-the-trainer program on business managers' knowledge of statewide occupational safety and health legislation and on levels of corporate compliance with regulatory requirements. Methods: Forty-eight small- and medium-sized companies participated in the training sessions during the first year of the study. These firms were compared with 46 control companies that did not receive the training until the conclusion of the study. Results: Participation in the program was associated with higher levels of corporate regulatory compliance 12 months after the training sessions were held (controlling for baseline levels of corporate compliance with the regulations). Program effects on compliance levels were mediated by posttraining changes in managers' knowledge of regulatory requirements. Conclusions: The REACH OUT training program raised managers' awareness of and corporate compliance with statewide worksite safety and health regulations. Impact on Industry: Smaller companies face greater challenges than larger ones in developing and maintaining worksite safety and health programs. Barriers to regulatory compliance, especially in small- and medium-size companies, should be identified and removed to enhance the efficacy of these programs.     

Biodegradation of an Epoxy-Based Thermoplastic Polyester, Poly(Hydroxy Ester Ether) in a Laboratory-Scale Compost System

An epoxy-based thermoplastic polyester, poly(hydroxy ester ether), was incubated under aerobic conditions in a laboratory-scale compost system for 168 days to evaluate its potential for biodegradation. Radiolabeled test polymer [uniformly ¹⁴C ring-labeled, poly(hydroxy ester ether)] was incorporated into a mature compost and a sludge-amended compost at a loading of 3 mg test polymer/g compost. ¹⁴C-Cellulose was used as the positive control and a biologically inhibited control reactor was used to assess abiotic degradation of the test polymer. Degradation of the test polymer was assessed by measuring the amount of ¹⁴C-CO₂ from each of the test reactors. In addition, at selected time intervals subsamples of the compost were collected and serially extracted with water, methanol, and dimethylformamide to monitor degradation of the ¹⁴C-test polymer and provide a partial characterization of the degradation intermediates. Extensive degradation of ¹⁴C-poly(hydroxy ester ether) was observed in the test reactors with degradation half-life of the parent polymer (t _1/2) of approximately 32 days. By the end of the study, only 2% of the total ¹⁴C activity in the test reactors was attributed to intact polymer, with most of the measurable ¹⁴C activity converted to either ¹⁴C-CO₂ (26% of total ¹⁴C activity) or nonextractable products (accounting for 60% of the total activity). In contrast to the test reactors, only 3% of the ¹⁴C-poly(hydroxy ester ether) added to the biologically inhibited control reactor was mineralized to ¹⁴C-CO₂. The results obtained from the microbially active and biologically inhibited compost systems indicate that the poly(hydroxy ester ether) polymer was degraded, at least in part, by a biologically mediated process.     

"It's not that simple": A collaborative comparison of sea ice environments, their uses, observed changes, and adaptations in Barrow, Alaska, USA, and Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada

The Arctic environment, including sea ice, is changing. The impacts of these changes to Inuit and I?upiat ways of life vary from place to place, yet there are common themes as well. The study reported here involved an exchange of hunters, Elders, and others from Barrow, Alaska, USA, and Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada, as members of a larger research team that also included visiting scientists. Although the physical environments of Barrow and Clyde River are strikingly different, the uses of the marine environment by residents, including sea ice, had many common elements. In both locations, too, extensive changes have been observed in recent years, forcing local residents to respond in a variety of ways. Although generally in agreement or complementary to one another, scientific and indigenous knowledge of sea ice often reflect different perspectives and emphases. Making generalizations about impacts and responses is challenging and should therefore be approached with caution. Technology provides some potential assistance in adapting to changing sea ice, but by itself, it is insufficient and can sometimes have undesirable consequences. Reliable knowledge that can be applied under changing conditions is essential. Collaborative research and firsthand experience are critical to generating such new knowledge.     

Retiring: Role identity processes in retirement transition

Retirement transition has become a prolonged process of adaptation, including changes in role identity. However, there is a dearth of research on the process by which retirees cope with the role transition, including how pre-retirement role identities shape the transition, the forms of identity work undertaken by retirees, and the unfolding nature of retirement transition. In an in-depth qualitative examination of the transition process, we identify pre-retirement role identity profiles based on work and nonwork role identities. We then examine how pre-retirement role identities influence the transition process, including the nature of identity work in transition and the transition pathways demonstrated by retirees. Our findings provide insights into strengths and limitations afforded by pre-retirement identities: They facilitate agentic coping in which retirees shed old and adopt new identities but also impose inertia and prolong the transition until identity crises force the retirees to undergo identity exploration and adoption of new identities.     

Prenatal detection of monosomy 21 mosaicism

We report a case of chromosomal mosaicism for monosomy 21 revealed in amniotic fluid cell culture. Ultrasound examination at 19 weeks' gestation showed in utero growth retardation and a complex cardiac malformation. A repeated amniocentesis confirmed the presence of monosomy 21 mosaicism. In view of the sonographically detected fetal abnormalities, termination of pregnancy was elected.     

Staying in place during times of change in Arctic Alaska: the implications of attachment,alternatives, and buffering

The relationship between stability and change in social-ecological systems has received considerable attention in recent years, including the expectation that significant environmental changes will drive observable consequences for individuals, communities, and populations. Migration, as one example of response to adverse economic or environmental changes, has been observed in many places, including parts of the Far North. In Arctic Alaska, a relative lack of demographic or migratory response to rapid environmental and other changes has been observed. To understand why Arctic Alaska appears different, we draw on the literature on environmentally driven migration, focusing on three mechanisms that could account for the lack of response: attachment, the desire to remain in place, or the inability to relocate successfully; alternatives, ways to achieve similar outcomes through different means; and buffering, the reliance on subsidies or use of reserves to delay impacts. Each explanation has different implications for research and policy, indicating a need to further explore the relative contribution that each makes to a given situation in order to develop more effective responses locally and regionally. Given that the Arctic is on the front lines of climate change, these explanations are likely relevant to the ways changes play out in other parts of the world. Our review also underscores the importance of further attention to the details of social dynamics in climate change impacts and responses.