Public understanding of risk in health impact assessment: a psychosocial approach

Development projects inevitably pose risks to the health of humans and the planet. Health impact assessment (HIA) practitioners increasingly evaluate the mental health effects of development but have rarely considered those caused by public understanding of risk (‘risk perception’) itself a determinant of health. This paper proposes a new psychosocial model of public understanding of risk in response to the literature on perceived high risk developments. It exemplifies the psychosocial process that occurs when people respond to industrial threats to health. In doing this, it draws upon literature from psychology, social science and public health. The model is foregrounded in the context of psychosocial health in HIA. The paper also reviews the health and well-being effects that may result. Overall, it is argued that the philosophical and moral underpinnings of HIA compel practitioners and developers to understand the formation and ongoing development of public understandings of risk in light of the cultural, demographic, temporal and other contextual factors shaping them in unique development contexts where HIAs are undertaken, and how understandings of risk actually affect community health. We encourage them to propose mitigation measures and solutions that accord with the values of Planetary Health.     

Risk management framework for outsourcing in the defence sector: a case from India

A nation automatically becomes strong if it has self-sufficiency to fulfil its defence requirements. India is moving in the direction to attain self-reliance in the defence sector. The aim of this paper is to analyse the critical issues faced in outsourcing by an organisation in Indian Defence Sector and extend easy, quick, complete and practically implementable risk mitigation strategies for enabling better decision-making. In this research, a list of 20 risk criteria is finalised on the basis of the literature survey and expert’s opinion. Analysis in this research shows that, three criteria which can seriously affect the outsourcing are Material shortage risk, Quality Risk and On-time delivery risk. The paper employs an integrated framework which includes ‘Grey Theory, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and Risk Management Matrices’ for a comprehensive risk management in the defence sector. The paper delivers a 10-point risk management action plan to counter the various problems faced during outsourcing in the defence sector, especially in the Indian context. In brief, this paper investigates the various important issues related to outsourcing, which are faced by organisations working in Indian Defence Sector and extends a practically implementable methodology to derive a practically amicable solution for the case organisation.     

Management of climatic heat stress risk in construction: A review of practices,methodologies, and future research

Climatic heat stress leads to accidents on construction sites brought about by a range of human factors emanating from heat induced illness, and fatigue leading to impaired capability, physical and mental. It is an occupational characteristic of construction work in many climates and the authors take the approach of re-engineering the whole safety management system rather than focusing on incremental improvement, which is current management practice in the construction industry. From a scientific viewpoint, climatic heat stress is determined by six key factors: (1) air temperature, (2) humidity, (3) radiant heat, and (4) wind speed indicating the environment, (5) metabolic heat generated by physical activities, and (6) “clothing effect” that moderates the heat exchange between the body and the environment. By making use of existing heat stress indices and heat stress management processes, heat stress risk on construction sites can be managed in three ways: (1) control of environmental heat stress exposure through use of an action-triggering threshold system, (2) control of continuous work time (CWT, referred by maximum allowable exposure duration) with mandatory work-rest regimens, and (3) enabling self-paced working through empowerment of employees. Existing heat stress practices and methodologies are critically reviewed and the authors propose a three-level methodology for an action-triggering, localized, simplified threshold system to facilitate effective decisions by frontline supervisors. The authors point out the need for “regional based” heat stress management practices that reflect unique climatic conditions, working practices and acclimatization propensity by local workers indifferent geographic regions. The authors set out the case for regional, rather than international, standards that account for this uniqueness and which are derived from site-based rather than laboratory-based research.     

Intellectual contribution of Indian periodontists to world literature: a bibliometric evaluation of Pubmed database till 1st March, 2012

Scientifically liberated and developed countries produce huge amounts of cutting-edge publications in peer-reviewed impact-creating journals. These publications may become basis for various policies/other blueprints. There is no reported study regarding the publication trends of Periodontists from India. The aim of this study was to assess the trends of Indian Periodontist’s publications in Pubmed database till 1st March, 2012 by taking quantitative bibliometric approach. Studies were identified by running select search phrases on Pubmed search engine. Search inputs included, ‘dental’, ‘oral’, ‘periodontal’, ‘gingiva’, ‘gingival’, ‘periodontology’, ‘periodontics’, ‘periodontia’, ‘periodontitis’, ‘gingivitis’, and ‘dental implant’. A parallel search with above phrases along with ‘India’ also done to assess India-specific publications. All publications with or without available abstracts were analyzed for selected parameters. Analysis was performed to determine name of the journal, number of authors, year of publication, type of institute, statewide distribution, type of study etc. The approximate contribution of Indian Dental/Periodontal literature to Pubmed database is 1.45 % till 1st March 2012. The number of articles published by Indian Periodontists is 764 across 107 journals and starting from 1960. The number of original articles published were 510 (66.75 %) as opposed to 127 (16.62 %) each for review articles and case reports/case series. The average contribution of an Indian Periodontist to Pubmed database is 0.53 articles. The contribution of Indian Periodontists to world literature through Pubmed database is not voluminous but, the publications are multiplying every passing year almost in an exponential way. There is also an increasing trend towards original articles to be published.     

Human-autonomy teaming in military settings

ABSTRACT

In this Thematic Issue ‘Human-Autonomy Teaming’ of Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, five U.S. military-funded research efforts are presented to discuss human factors issues in a variety of military human-autonomy teaming mission environments: dismounted infantry working with a small ground robot; intelligence analysis; human working with an intelligent agent to manage a team of heterogeneous unmanned vehicles; vehicle-mounted ground penetrating radar. The research issues addressed in this Issue are diverse – from display designs to operator performance and trust in the systems. The results and insights documented in these five articles should provide useful resources to researchers and practitioners working on intelligent and autonomous systems.     

Analysis of complex team-based systems: augmentations to goal-directed task analysis and cognitive work analysis

Personality theory suggests that individuals can react differently to the same situation. The primary objective of this research was to study employees’ personality preferences as they related to manual materials handing jobs. The hypothesis tested was that those whose work preferences did not match the nature of their job requirements would report more psychosocial, physiological or psychological stress and strain compared with those whose personality preferences did match their jobs. A total of 133 employees from two distribution centres completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and other inventories pertaining to their work environments. The results showed that, when employees’ personalities were better matched with the nature of their work environment, they generally reported less anxiety and physical discomfort and more job satisfaction and social support than those having a mismatch. This relationship was more prominent in the less physically demanding jobs, suggesting an interaction between physical workload factors and psychosocial influences. This research suggests that integrating knowledge of one's personality preferences with the physical and psychosocial demands of a job may increase one's understanding of the causes of musculoskeletal discomfort in industrial workplaces and aid ergonomists in designing jobs to better match individuals’ capabilities, limitations and work preferences.     

Psychic Distance,its Business Impact and Modes of Coping: A Study of British and Indian Partner SMEs

This paper reports one of the first investigations to analyze inter-partner perceptions of psychic distance between two countries. Its empirical focus is British and Indian SMEs engaged in business with each other. It examines different dimensions of psychic distance, their impact and modes of coping with them. Potential firm-level and individual influences are also taken into account. The paper aims to transcend some of the conceptual and methodological limitations of previous research on the subject and to identify the theoretical and practical implications that arise. A ‘mirror’ approach is applied, accessing both partners’ perceptions. These are assessed through a ‘mixed’ method combining quantitative measurement with qualitative interpretations. Psychic distance dimensions are found to vary in their impact on doing business with the other country, and there is also variation according to the firm’s sector. There is considerable asymmetry in British and Indian partners’ perceptions of psychic distance but the degree of difference between their psychic distance evaluations lacks predictive power. Culturally embedded psychic distance dimensions tend to have less impact and to be easier to cope with than institutionally embedded dimensions. Four categories of coping are identified. The principal theoretical implication of this study is that a contingency perspective needs to be adopted in the field of ‘distance’ research, taking account of factors such as a firm’s sector, and that this will require a more complex analytical framework that hitherto.     

Crack initiation from micro surface holes in bearings under rolling contact fatigue

Investigations concerning surface crack growth are necessary for understanding the mechanism of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) of bearings because the surface defects cause flaking failures. In the present work, micro holes were artificially made prior to the RCF tests and the initiation of the surface cracks from the micro holes was observed in order to find the key factors for understanding their features. Crack initiation directions were compared to the stress intensity factors calculated by a simple method based on the theory. The extent to which ‘contact pressure (wedge effect)’ and ‘contact stresses’ are applicable for understanding the correlations between the crack initiation directions and stress intensity factors is discussed. The crack initiation directions are strongly correlated to the stress intensity factors caused by the contact stresses alone. We concluded that the crack growth and initiation are dominated by stress intensity factors caused by contact stresses rather than the wedge effect.     

Crushing behaviour of the energy absorbing 'tensor skin' panels

ABSTRACT Research results concerning the simulation of the crushing behaviour of composite systems with energy absorption characteristics are presented in the present work. The study is focused on the ‘tensor skin’ concept, an energy absorbing composite system that was originally developed to improve the crashworthiness of helicopters under water impact and which is promising for utilization in the construction of the lower part of composite fuselage aircraft. The ‘tensor skin’ concept comprises a folded or corrugated composite construction, which upon loading unfolds by forming ‘plastic hinges’, leading to an increase in the load bearing capability of the structure. The numerical modelling issues and the critical aspects of the simulation are discussed. Verification of the numerical simulation procedure is performed by experimental work. The experimental results utilized to assess and validate the numerical procedure were derived within the European Research Project ‘Design for Crash Survivability – CRASURV’ (BRITE – Aeronautics Area). The results of the simulations are generally in good agreement with experimental data.     

Failure of the bucket wheel excavator buckets

Buckets are a vital substructure of all digging machines, and are intended for the realisation of the fundamental machine function - soil excavation. This paper presents the results of the experimental-numerical investigation of the cause of the bucket wheel excavator SRs 470 buckets failure. The chemical composition and mechanical properties, the impact toughness, hardness, tendency to cracks and the microstructure were determined using appropriate tests. Experimental examinations of working and residual stresses were performed using strain gauges. The superposition of the experimentally determined working and residual stresses and the calculation of the total principal stresses were conducted using the originally developed procedure presented in this paper. The bucket working stress state was calculated by applying the linear finite element method. Conclusions based on the investigation results show that the main reasons for the buckets failure were the ‘design-in defects’ - oversights made during the procedures of geometrical shaping and material selection. Furthermore, high values of residual stresses, as well as the cold cracking observed on the welded joint of the knife and the bucket body, suggest that the ‘manufacturing-in defects’ also played a significant role in the failure. The superposition of influences of the ‘design-in defects’ and the ‘manufacturing-in defects’ has conditioned the appearance and propagation of long-term fatigue cracks, leading to the total destruction of the buckets. The fact that buckets' failure appeared due to oversights made during geometrical shaping, material selection and manufacturing further points to the importance of the critical approach implementation during the design phase of the earthmoving machines working devices.     

Prediction of Cardiovascular Disease Using Machine Learning Technique—A Modern Approach

Cardio Vascular disease (CVD), involving the heart and blood vessels is one of the most leading causes of death throughout the world. There are several risk factors for causing heart diseases like sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, smoking and consumption of alcohol, stress, hereditary factory etc. Predicting cardiovascular disease and improving and treating the risk factors at an early stage are of paramount importance to save the precious life of a human being. At present, the highly stressful life with bad lifestyle activities causes heart disease at a very young age. The main aim of this research is to predict the premature heart disease based on machine learning algorithms. This paper deals with a novel approach using the machine learning algorithm for predicting the cardiovascular disease at the premature stage itself. Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used for segregating the CVD patients based on their symptoms and medical observation. The experimentation results by using the proposed method will facilitate the medical practitioners to provide suitable treatment for the patients on time. A sophisticated model has been developed with the current approach to examine the various stages of CVD and the performance metrics used have given effective and fruitful results as compared to other machine learning techniques.     

General principles of the use of safety factors in design and assessment

Any structure or component can be made to fail if it is subjected to loadings in excess of its strength. Structural integrity is achieved by ensuring that there is an adequate safety margin or reserve factor between strength and loading effects. The basic principles of ‘allowable stress’ and ‘limit state’ design methods to avoid failure in structural and pressure vessel components are summarised. The use of risk as a means of defining adequate safety is introduced where risk is defined as the product of probability of failure multiplied by consequences of failure. The concept of acceptable ‘target’ levels of risk is discussed. The use of structural reliability theory to determine estimates of probability of failure and the use of the reliability index β are described. The need to consider the effects of uncertainties in loading information, calculation of stresses, input data and material properties is emphasised. The way in which the effect of different levels of uncertainty can be dealt with by use of partial safety factors in limit state design is explained. The need to consider all potential modes of failure, including the unexpected, is emphasised and an outline given of safety factor treatments for crack tip dependent and time dependent modes. The relationship between safety factors appropriate for the design stage and for assessment of structural integrity at a later stage is considered. The effects of redundancy and system behaviour on appropriate levels of safety factors are discussed.     

《西清砚谱》宋代文人砚纹样艺术风格探究

砚台的艺术风格可分为时代风格、地域风格与治砚艺术家的个人风格。由于宋代地域性的治砚艺术家群体并未产生,故宋砚的地域性风格并不明显。砚台艺术风格的形成与两大因素有关,一为在砚台的发展过程中所处的社会历史客观因素,二为治砚艺术家的主观因素。治砚艺术家的主观因素又包含艺术家的审美趣味、生活经验、文化修养、艺术修养、才能与个性,宋代文人砚的产生,标志着文人成为治砚艺术家的主体,于是文人的审美趣味、文化修养、艺术修养便成了影响文人砚艺术风格特征的重要因素。文章通过探析宋代文人砚中的三教纹饰、仿生砚形制、仿生纹饰与文人情趣题材纹饰、砚铭,结合宋代文人砚发展的社会历史背景,发掘其背后艺术风格转变的原因及文人砚所蕴含的人文精神。     

Influence of foreign object damage on fatigue crack growth of gas turbine aerofoils under complex loading conditions

Foreign object damage (FOD) has been identified as one of the main life limiting factors for aeroengine blades, with the leading edge of aerofoils particularly susceptible. In this work, a generic edge ‘aerofoil’ geometry was utilized in a study of early fatigue crack growth behaviour due to FOD under low cycle fatigue (LCF), high cycle fatigue (HCF) and combined LCF and HCF loading conditions. Residual stresses due to FOD were analyzed using the finite element method. The longitudinal residual stress component along the crack path was introduced as a nodal temperature distribution, and used in the correction of the stress intensity factor range. The crack growth was monitored using a nanodirect current potential drop (DCPD) system and crack growth rates were correlated with the corrected stress intensity factor considering the residual stresses. The results were discussed with regard to the role of residual stresses in the characterization of fatigue crack growth. Small crack growth behaviour in FODed specimens was revealed only after the residual stresses were taken into account in the calculation of the stress intensity factor, a feature common to LCF, HCF and combined LCF + HCF loading conditions.     

Evaluation of the environmental impact assessment system in Egypt

A formal environmental impact assessment (EIA) system was introduced in Egypt through Environmental Protection Law No. 4 of 1994. This paper evaluates the EIA system in Egypt by using both ‘systemic’ and ‘foundation’ evaluation criteria. The methodology is based on an investigation of EIA legislation, a review of guidelines and relevant documents, and interviews with EIA practitioners. The main factors affecting EIA best practice in Egypt are the limited numbers of local experts, inadequate public consultation, lack of environmental data, weak follow-up, and the absence of long- term land-use plans. Recommendations to strengthen the system include improving capacity building, implementing an effective EIA consultants' accreditation system, ensuring effective public participation and access to EIA reports, applying systematic environmental impact statement (EIS) review criteria and promoting environmental awareness.     

中国本土卫浴陶瓷行业在中国风格设计转化过程中的技术路径探究

目的 面向中国本土卫浴陶瓷行业,选取国内某龙头卫浴陶瓷企业的资深卫浴陶瓷设计师,探究中国风格在本土卫浴陶瓷设计转化过程中的设计层级及具体设计转化路径。方法 在扎根理论的研究框架下,通过半结构深度访谈的形式对14名一线设计专家展开深度访谈,经过对原始资料的编码归纳、合并整理,结合该企业曾发售过的中国风格卫浴陶瓷实际案例来展开中国风格设计转化路径探究。结果 最终得到包含中国风格卫浴陶瓷产品外观元素层、中国风格卫浴陶瓷产品及人的影响因素层、中国风格卫浴陶瓷产品深层文化观念层等三层设计转化路径,各层级内又包含不同的中国风格卫浴陶瓷具体设计手法。结论 明确中国风格在卫浴陶瓷设计转化过程中的具体设计路径有助于本土卫浴陶瓷行业从更整体视角展开中国风格卫浴陶瓷的设计制造,通过三层设计路径的联动配合,进一步提升中国美学风格在卫浴陶瓷设计中的有效传达,增强中国本土卫浴陶瓷的核心竞争力和文化辨识度。     

E. O. Hoppé’s Portraiture: The Maker,Patronage, the Public

Emil Otto Hoppé established himself as the leading producer of photographic portraits in Edwardian London, a position he augmented until the mid-1920s. Particular aesthetic, psychological and philosophical ideas undergirded his practices – practices which, in some respects, were then unconventional. His portrait work helped him to achieve some celebrity as an influential cultural figure, and this status in turn advanced his career as a portrait maker. Three important determinants of Hoppé’s portrait output are identified and elaborated upon: ‘The Maker’ (Hoppé himself); ‘Patronage’ (the actual or assumed demands of customers, including sitters); and – an entity that is less easy to define – ‘The Public’. Hoppé claimed, of certain eminent figures, that he had made ‘the recognised face’, and the sense of public recognition here implies that the likeness must combine intense insight with extensive circulation in the illustrated press. Viewed in retrospect, the range of Hoppé’s portraits – from such leading politicians as Philip Snowden, through such society beauties as Lady Hazel Lavery, to artists, including Jacob Epstein and Rudyard Kipling – punctuated a particular period of history, the cultural moment at which emerging aspects of twentieth-century modernity could be discerned. Exemplary in this respect, despite its unusual collage nature, is Hoppé’s depiction of the Italian Futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.     

An upside-down normal loss function-based method for quality improvement

Traditional measures of process quality do not offer much information on how much better or worse a process is when finding optimal settings of a given problem. The upside-down normal loss function (UDNLF) is a weighted loss function that provides a more reasonable risk assessment to the losses of being off-target in product engineering research. The UDNLF can be used in process design and optimization to accurately reflect and quantify the losses associated with the process in a way which minimizes the expected loss of the upside-down normal (UDN). The function has a scale parameter which can be adjusted by the practitioners to account for the actual percentage of materials failing to work at specification limits. In this article, the ‘target is best’ case is addressed to estimate the expected loss of UDN due to variation from target in the robust process design and response surface modelling context. An approach is proposed to find the control factor settings of a system by directly minimizing the expected loss. The procedure and its merits are illustrated through an example.