Effects of smoking bans on passive smoking exposure at work and at home. The European Community respiratory health survey

This longitudinal study investigated whether smoking bans influence passive smoking at work and/or at home in the same subjects. Passive smoking at work and/or at home was investigated in random population samples (European Community Respiratory Health Survey) in 1990‐1995, with follow‐up interviews in 1998‐2003 and 2010‐2014. National smoking bans were classified as partial (restricted to public workplaces) or global (extended to private workplaces). Multivariable analysis was accomplished by three‐level logistic regression models, where level‐1, level‐2, and level‐3 units were, respectively, questionnaire responses, subjects, and centers. Passive smoking at work was reported by 31.9% in 1990‐1995, 17.5% in 1998‐2003, and 2.5% in 2010‐2014. Concurrently, passive smoking at home decreased from 28.9% to 18.2% and 8.8%. When controlling for sex, age, education, smoking status, and ECHRS wave, the odds of passive smoking at work was markedly reduced after global smoking bans (OR = 0.45, 95% CI 0.25‐0.81), particularly among non‐smokers, while the protective effect of global smoking bans on passive smoking at home was only detected in non‐smokers. Smoking bans both in public and private workplaces were effective in reducing passive smoking at work in Europe. However, given the inefficacy of smoking bans in current smokers’ dwellings, better strategies are needed to avoid smoking indoors.     

Flush Endplate Connections in Fire: Time-Dependent Behavior of Tension Bolts

Steel connections play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity and stability of steel building frames especially when exposed to fire temperatures. The behavior of flush endplate connections in fire is shown to be governed by tension bolt failure as bolts lose their strength and stiffness more rapidly at higher temperatures. As a result, the ability to predict the development of stresses in tension bolts of flush endplate connections at different stages of fire is of special importance. One of the factors influencing bolt stresses in fire is the thermal creep or time-dependent inelastic response of steel to elevated temperatures. Therefore, time- and temperature-dependent behavior of tension bolts of flush endplate connections in fire is the focus of this study. Stress-time histories in tension bolts are obtained by explicit consideration of thermal creep of steel in FE models of flush endplate connections at elevated temperatures. To better understand the effect of thermal creep on tension bolt behavior, the correlation between time-dependent rotational deformation of flush endplate connections and bolt stresses is also investigated. Further, the isochronous representation is utilized to study the rotational deformation and the tension bolt stresses under various applied moments ranging from 50% to 95% of the moment capacity and fire temperatures ranging from 450°C to 600°C with 25°C increment. Through such representation, it is indicated that the connection behavior is not only dependent on bolt strength degradation and applied moment, but also affected by the time duration of applied moments and temperatures. Also, with the inclusion of thermal creep of steel, the connection experiences higher rotation and excessive endplate deformation with stress relaxation leading to top tension bolt failure at earlier stages of fire. More specifically, for time exposure greater than or equal to 60 min, the failure temperature of the connection decreases from 600°C to around 550°C. Therefore, neglecting thermal creep of structural steel may result in an unsafe prediction of the overall response of flush endplate connections in fire.     

A new instrument for automated microcontact printing with stamp load adjustment

An instrument for automated microcontact printing (microCP) on microscope slides is described. The movement of the stamp, which is actuated by a computer controlled pneumatic actuator, is precisely guided until it makes contact with the substrate. As a consequence, the absolute position of the microprinted patterns is reproducible over a series of substrates with 1 mum standard deviation. Exchange of substrates and stamps is a quick and simple procedure. This makes possible the microprinting of adjacent or superimposable patterns, with different products, in a reproducible manner. Furthermore, a novel approach is described for adjusting the load on the stamp during contact. Two adjustable screws are set up so that their length (with reference to the substrate holder) limits the stamp compression during contact. The load on the stamp is proportional to the stamp compression and from the experimental point of view, this is controlled by the operator adjusting the screws. This makes possible the microCP with stamps incorporating large surface features as well as stamps with isolated features raised on the surface. For proof of concept, automated microCP of a single parallelepiped polydimethylsiloxane feature, with a surface of 2 cm x 30 microm and a height of 25 mum, is demonstrated inside a microfluidic channel without roof collapse. A second example is provided with a single cross feature, possessing an overall surface of 140 x 140 microm(2) and a height of 14 microm. Potential applications of this versatile, inexpensive and compact instrument are discussed. The machine's potential for high throughput also makes it suitable for mass production applications.     

Risk assessment after internal exposure to black sand from Camargue: uptake and prospective dose calculation

Some beaches in the south of France present high levels of natural radioactivity mainly due to thorium (Th) and uranium (U) present in the sand. Risk assessment after internal exposure of members of the public by either inhalation or ingestion of black sand of Camargue was performed. This evaluation required some information on the human bioavailability of U and Th from this sand. In vitro assays to determine the solubility of U, Th and their progeny were performed either in simulated lung fluid, with the inhalable fraction of sand, or in both simulated gastric and intestinal fluids with a sample of the whole sand. The experimental data show that the bioavailability of these radionuclides from Camargue sand is low in the conditions of the study. Prospective dose assessment for both routes of intake show low risk after internal exposure to this sand.     

Water conflicts in tropical watersheds: hydroeconomic simulations of water sharing policies between upstream small private irrigators and downstream large public irrigation schemes in Burkina Faso

A spatial hydroeconomic model was developed to analyze the competition between small private (SPIS) and large public (LPIS) irrigation systems for water control in tropical watersheds and applied to several water allocation policies in Kou watershed in Burkina Faso. Capital (cash and motorpumps) is the main constraining factor for SPIS expansion, and capital inflow accelerates SPIS development and reduces water flows for downstream LPIS users. As SPIS is more cost-effective and less water thirsty, LPIS needs to shift to less water-demanding and high-value crops or adopt more water-saving practices. Otherwise, only a sharp rice yield increase in LPIS can justify a reserved water quota for downstream users.     

Capillary-based static self-assembly in higher organisms

Organized structures produced by dynamic self-assembly are often observed in animal groups. Static self-assembly, however, has to date only been observed at the cellular and sub-cellular levels. The aim of this study was to analyse organized structures in immobile whirligig beetle groups on the water surface. We used theoretical and computational approaches to model the meniscus around whirligig beetles and to calculate the surface energy for configurations involving two beetles. Theoretical predictions were then tested using live insects and resin casts. Observations were also made for three and more casts. The meniscus of whirligig beetles had a bipolar shape with two concave parts. For two beetles, predicted configurations based on energy minima corresponded to beetles in contact by their extremities, forming lines and arrows, and agreed well with observations. Experimental results for three and more beetle casts revealed new geometrical arrangements similar to those obtained with colloids at interfaces. This study provides the first example of static self-assembly at the inter-organism level and shows the importance of capillary interactions in such formations. We identify the ecological context in which our findings are of relevance.     

A comprehensive evaluation of moisture damage of asphalt concrete mixtures

A comprehensive study was conducted to evaluate the impact of liquid and lime additives on the pavement performance of asphalt mixtures from five different sources around the USA. Three types of mixtures were evaluated from each source: untreated, liquid-treated and lime-treated. The measured properties of the 15 mixtures included the dynamic modulus master curves and their resistances to rutting and fatigue at the undamaged and moisture-damaged conditions. The moisture-damaged state consisted of subjecting the mixtures’ specimens to six freeze-thaw cycles. First the mixtures from each source were ranked based on their individual properties, i.e. dynamic modulus, permanent deformation and fatigue characteristics. Next, the measured properties of the mixtures were used in a mechanistic analysis to predict the rutting and fatigue lives of flexible pavements constructed with the evaluated mixtures. The estimated rutting and fatigue lives of the flexible pavements were ranked within each source. The analysis of the data showed that ranking of the mixtures within each source based on their individual properties significantly differs from the mixtures based on their rutting and fatigue lives estimated by the mechanistic analysis. This observation led to the conclusion that ranking hot mixed asphalt mixtures solely based on their independent properties provides unreliable recommendations concerning the relative performance of the mixtures. Finally, the performance of the mixtures was compared within each source and showed that lime-treated mixtures out-performed the liquid-treated mixtures for all sources regardless if the source required anti-strip additive or not.     

Delirium: prevention, treatment, and outcome studies

The purpose of this paper was to contribute to a new conceptual understanding of delirium by reviewing evidence related to its prevention, treatment, and outcome. The review process involved a systematic search of the literature on each topic, assessment of the validity of the studies retrieved, and examination of their results. The literature search identified 10 studies on prevention, 13 studies on treatment, and 15 studies on outcome. Most studies had methodological limitations. Abroad spectrum of interventions appeared to be modestly effective in preventing delirium in young and old surgical patients but not elderly medical patients; systematic detection and intervention programs and special nursing care appeared to add large benefits to traditional medical care in young and old surgical patients and modest benefits in elderly medical patients; haloperidol, chlorpromazine, and mianserin appeared to be useful in controlling the symptoms of delirium in both surgical and medical patients; and good levels of premorbid function seemed to be related to better outcomes. Although the above findings do not contribute to a new conceptual understanding of delirium, they do suggest directions for further research on the treatment of delirium.     

Focus of B-to-B e-commerce initiatives and related benefits in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises

Empirical research into business-to-business e-commerce issues involving manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is still embryonic. In an attempt to partially fill this gap, this paper presents empirical data from an electronic survey conducted among 96 manufacturing SMEs to investigate e-commerce initiatives and their related benefits. E-commerce initiatives are assessed using a set of 36 business processes that can be conducted electronically. These processes were classified according to their focus: customer (downstream), supplier (upstream) or in-house. The research findings point to four main profiles of manufacturing SMEs with different e-commerce focuses. The first group seems to lack any focus or may still be exploring e-commerce opportunities. The second and third groups are supplier- and customer-focused, respectively. The fourth group consists of the more involved SMEs that have leveraged their e-commerce initiatives with both their customers and their suppliers. Results also suggest the existence of a close alignment between e-commerce focus and related benefits.An earlier and much shorter version of this paper was published in the Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-37). Helpful comments from two anonymous reviewers were greatly appreciated. The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from SSHRC, FCAR and NSERC.     

Remote Usability Evaluation: Overview and Case Studies

Traditional laboratory-based usability evaluations have many costs associated with them: financial costs, temporary loss in participant productivity, travel issues. For this reason, many human-computer interaction practitioners cannot conduct as many test iterations as they would like or may fail to secure representative samples, especially as user groups become more global. In recent years, we have begun to use less expensive remote evaluation techniques to complement traditional methods. This article describes some collaborative software that allows remote evaluations, along with the necessary hardware, to reproduce, as closely as possible, traditional evaluation techniques. It also describes the types of activities that lend themselves to this sort of approach and provides tips for conducting these sorts of sessions. Finally, this article provides data that suggest remote techniques are not only effective at improving interface designs, but also produce results comparable to traditional approaches for typical measures.