Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Occupational health issue'

Although skin disease and musculoskeletal disorders are believed to be common among nursing home workers, to date there have been no coordinated international studies of these occupational issues. Therefore, it was considered appropriate to conduct one of the first cross-cultural investigations of occupational dermatology and ergonomic complaints among nursing home workers in Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan using a standardised methodology. This thesis documents a 4-year investigation of skin disease and musculoskeletal disorders conducted among 465 nursing home staff in Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Skin diseases were diagnosed by specialist physicians during medical examinations, while information on musculoskeletal disorders was collected by means of a self-reported questionnaire. There were major differences in both the location and type of skin disease between the 4 groups. Overall, the Australian group suffered a generally higher prevalence of skin disease than in the other three countries investigated, most likely due to their significantly higher rate of sun-induced skin damage. The high prevalence of cutaneous fungal disease seen within the Taiwanese subjects most probably arose from the comparatively higher temperature and relative humidity of Taiwan. Other potentially important skin disease risk factors included previous skin disease and a history of allergy, both of which are consistent with current knowledge. Although musculoskeletal disorders were found to be most prevalent among the Japanese nursing home staff at almost all body sites, the reasons for this are not clear. It may have related to a generally higher musculoskeletal rate, or a higher degree of self-reporting on their questionnaires. Individual MSD risk factors included moving patients, washing patients, working as an assistant nurse and daily alcohol consumption. Interestingly, MSD was found to be a co-factor for current skin disease. Overall, this study indicated that certain occupational health issues consistently affect nursing home staff in the 4 countries, but the prevalence and rank order varies from nation to nation. It was also shown that nursing home work incurs a reasonable degree of risk and that skin disease and musculoskeletal disorders are important occupational issues within these facilities.

The thesis examines the system of occupational health and safety in France. It analyses the use of expert manpJwer in the field with a view to establishing the pJssibility of a profession in health and safety. An input-output model is developed to bring together the necessary elements of prevention of accidents and occupational diseases. The role of institutions concerned with health and safety is analysed with reference to this model. The research establishes the need for a health and safety specialist role. The recognition and status of this role are found to be subject to other criteria including the acceptance by institutions of such a specialist role. The model is also used to define the role of this specialist as expected by the various institutions intervening in the field.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of actinide minerals that have been widely used in many areas of industry, such as: electronics, petro-chemistry, metallurgy, and defense. They will continue to become a dominant contributor to global economic development. In the wake of REE exploration, mining and processing, concern has grown over potential associated occupational and community health issues and risks. There has traditionally been little specific health and safety guidance associated with REE mining to date. The motivation of this research is to raise an awareness of known REE mining occupational and community health risks. This aims to contribute to a sound foundation for the development of effective occupational and community health and safety management as part of sustainable REE mining. The thesis addresses four objectives: 1) to characterize the geological characteristics, current global production, uses and recycling of REEs, especially for the dominant producer: China; 2) to review the REE life cycle and identify key activities, contaminants, tailings, water management and closure processes that present potential occupational and community health and safety risks; 3) to present the results of a literature review, particularly focused on REE mining and occupational and community health in China that identifies issues and risks; and 4) to review policy and governance strategies adopted by key producing countries, particularly the USA, Canada and China. This work has sought to assemble and analyze prior Chinese REE research and governance literature reviews and translation. The findings relate to REE’s characteristics, toxicity, the routes and mechanism of inducing contaminates into the environment. Major known occupational health issues relate to lung/ liver/ bone/ brain/ blood diseases, skin disorders, and reproductive health issues. Major community health issues relate to indigestion, diarrhea, abdominal distension, anorexia, and low IQ in children. This thesis makes an original contribution in presenting what are considered to be a clearly justified and comprehensive set of occupational and community health indicators. The priority and considerations for future research on occupational and community health and safety management associated with REE mining have also been recommended, particularly for control measures and health impacts assessment.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of
Graduate

A prominent theme emerging in Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) is the development of management systems. A range of interventions, according to a prescribed route detailed by one of the management systems, can be introduced into an organisation with some expectation of improved OSH performance. This thesis attempts to identify the key influencing factors that may impact upon the process of introducing interventions, (according to B88800: 1996, Guide to Implementing Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems) into an organisation. To help identify these influencing factors a review of possible models from the sphere of Total Quality Management (TQM) was undertaken and the most suitable TQM model selected for development and use in aSH. By anchoring the aSH model's development in the reviewed literature a range ofeare, medium and low level influencing factors were identified. This model was developed in conjunction with the research data generated within the case study organisation (rubber manufacturer) and applied to the organisation. The key finding was that the implementation of an OSH intervention was dependant upon three broad vectors of influence. These are the Incentive to introduce change within an organisation which refers to the drivers or motivators for OSH. Secondly the Ability within the management team to actually implement the changes refers to aspects, amongst others, such as leadership, commitment and perceptions of OSH. Ability is in turn itself influenced by the environment within which change is being introduced. TItis aspect of Receptivity refers to the history of the plant and characteristics of the workforce. Aspects within Receptivity include workforce profile and organisational policies amongst others. It was found that the TQM model selected and developed for an OSH management system intervention did explain the core influencing factors and their impact upon OSH performance. It was found that within the organisation the results that may have been expected from implementation of BS8800:1996 were not realised. The OSH model highlighted that given the organisation's starting point, a poor appreciation of the human factors of OSH, gave little reward for implementation of an OSH management system. In addition it was found that general organisational culture can effectively suffocate any attempts to generate a proactive safety culture.

Abstracts Data and information accumulated during several years of questionnaire and checklist surveys; site visits and walk-thorough investigations in some small and medium-sized enterprises provided the basis of this thesis. Seven articles are included in this thesis, dealing with workers' physical, physiological, cognitive and psychosocial issues. The data were collected on the target group of workers from different work sites in Bangladesh for a comprehensive assessment of tasks, jobs and ergonomic issues. Jobs and tasks were classified according to the job content and task activity they performed. Most of the subjects were interviewed and some of them volunteered for physiological tests to bring attention to their occupational exposure to potentially strenuous activities in a hot and humid climate. The results showed that their working environment was non-ergonomic, not only because of the work-related problems themselves but also because of stressful tasks, extensive use of muscle force, old machinery, economic constraints, and a lack of enforcement of work regulations and labour legislation. The findings also demonstrated that the workers were associated with an increased risk of occupational hazards due to various local reasons. The results of the case studies give some insight towards a better understanding of health, safety and ergonomics applications that may contribute to bring working society together and initiate a broad-based improvement of the working environment in many developing countries like Bangladesh. The practical concern of this thesis is to improve the design of the workstation as well as to improve a worker's safe manipulation of tools and equipment and control of machinery, critical posture, and so on. This thesis also attempts to contribute the author's own views and suggestions with the hope of drawing workers' and employers' awareness and public attention towards unsafe acts and conditions, and for increasing the implementation of work regulations and labour legislation. In order to discern probable solutions, this thesis implies a prerequisite of low cost engineering solutions in the small and medium-sized enterprises. As such, it outlines applications of locally available technology utilising practical knowledge, which also provide practical approaches so that work-tasks are less stressful but productive, and safe. So, to help ergonomic application to be effective, some technical measures appropriate for local environments are thus illustrated that can be directly implemented in the developing countries like Bangladesh to prevent and control work-related problems. However, the ultimate improvement will depend on the attitude of the people involved at all levels of an interactive system, while health and safety measures are introduced in synchronisation with local systems and/or existing environments. Emphasising the workers' cognitive, psychosocial and socio-economic improvement through self-help and self-care strategies, this thesis also concludes with the belief that the attitude of the local workers, and an indifferent working culture are the arbiters of work-related problems. It is therefore essential that a concrete implementation of locally available measures be made, establishing ergonomic changes in collaboration with all the parties concerned for particular job-tasks and work processes. To help initiate this process, a more work-thorough investigation is necessary through the guidance of co-ordinated research and studies. For this, an understanding of employers' attitudes and workers' involvement is essential; as well as having a grasp of the logic and reasoning behind workplace survey and the need for adequate injury records and work-related information
Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjaan sisältyy seitsemän artikkelia, jotka käsittelevät työntekijöiden fyysisiä, fysiologisia, kognitiivisia ja psykososiaalisia asioita. Tiedot kerättiin eri kohteista Bangladeshissa keskittyen työtehtävien arviointiin ja ergonomiaan liittyviin tekijöihin. Aineisto on kerätty useiden vuosien ajan kyselykaavakkeiden ja tarkastuslistojen avulla; vierailut ja tutkimukset paikan päällä pienissä ja keskisuurissa yrityksissä muodostivat perustan tälle väitöskirjalle. Työtehtävät jaettiin sisällön ja aktiviteetin mukaan. Tutkimukseen osallistuneita työntekijöitä haastateltiin ja jotkut heistä olivat vapaaehtoisia fysiologisiin testeihin, joilla selvitettiin heidän altistumistaan mahdollisesti rasittaviin töihin kuumassa ja kosteassa ympäristössä. Tulokset osoittivat, että tutkittujen henkilöiden työympäristö oli epäergonominen, ei ainoastaan työhön liittyvien ongelmien takia, vaan myös stressin, liiallisen voimankäytön, vanhojen koneiden, taloudellisten tekijöiden sekä työhön liittyvien säännösten ja lainsäädännön puutteiden vuoksi. Tulokset osoittivat myös, että työntekijöiden riski työtapaturmiin oli kasvanut paikallisten syiden takia. Tulokset auttavat paremmin ymmärtämään terveys-, turvallisuus- ja ergonomiasovelluksia, joiden avulla työyhteisöjen osapuolet voivat käynnistää laaja-alaisen työympäristön parantamisen monissa kehitysmaissa kuten Bangladeshissä. Väitöskirjan käytännöllisen puolen tarkoituksena on työpisteiden ja -paikkojen suunnittelu ja työkalujen turvallisen käytön ja koneiden hallinnan sekä työasentojen edistäminen. Väitöskirja tuo myös esille kirjoittajan omia ehdotuksia ja näkökantoja mahdollisuuksiin lisätä työntekijöiden sekä työnantajien että julkista huomiota, vaarallisiin työtehtäviin ja -oloihin. Väitöstyö pyrkii lisäämään työn säännösten ja työvoimalainsäädännön huomioon ottoa. Työ esittelee myös teknisiä ratkaisuja pieniin ja keskisuuriin yrityksiin. Väitöskirja esittelee sovelluksia, joita paikallisen teknologian puitteissa voidaan käyttää hyväksi. Lisäksi se tarjoaa ergonomisia malleja, jotta työt olisivat vähemmän rasittavia ja sekä tuottavia että turvallisia. Ergonomisen toimenpiteen tehokkuus on pyritty nojaamaan myös paikallisuuteen. Ne voidaan suoraan toteuttaa kehitysmaassa, kuten Bangladeshissä estämään ja kontrolloimaan työperäisiä ongelmia. Kuitenkin lopulliset parannukset riippuvat paikallisten ihmisten asenteista, joita on vuorovaikutteisen järjestelmäkokonaisuuden kaikkien osapuolien tasoilla. Terveys- ja turvallisuustekijät esitetään liitettyinä paikalliseen kulttuuriin ja yhteiskuntaan tai olemassa olevaan ympäristöön. Painottaen työntekijöiden kognitiivisia, psykososiaalisia ja sosioekonomisia parannuksia oman avun kautta tämä väitöskirja myös päätyy siihen, että paikallisten työntekijöiden asenteet ja välinpitämätön työkulttuuri voivat olla työperäisten ongelmien alkusyitä. Sen tähden on olennaista, että paikallisten toimenpiteiden konkreettinen toteutus saadaan aikaan. Ergonomiset muutokset tehdään yhteistyössä kaikkien työprosessin osapuolten kanssa. Jotta tätä kehitysprosessia helpotettaisiin, on tehtävä enemmän toimenpiteitä myös tutkimuksen ja opiskelun alueilla. Tämän takia työnantajien asenteiden ymmärtäminen ja työntekijöiden osallistuminen on olennaista; sekä se, että löydetään käsitys toimenpiteiden logiikasta ja seurauksista työpaikalla. Näiden lisäksi tarvitaan myös onnettomuusrekisteri sekä työtä koskevaa informaatiota

This study focuses on computer workers with repetitive strain injury (RSI) that lead to chronic pain, interference with daily activities (work and leisure), getting a night's sleep, and pain-related mental health issues (e.g., anxiety and depression). People take their hands for granted, and when they suddenly lose the use of them and are unable to perform basic daily activities (bathing, dressing, feeding ourselves), may develop anxiety and depression. This research examines how physical pain caused by RSI affects computer workers as a whole, and how workers use exercise/physical activity participation and health professionals use exercise/physical activity prescription to alleviate the accompanying pain, anxiety and depression, interviews were conducted with eight RSI-injured computer workers from the public service and eight health professionals who treat this type of injury. The results show that regular exercise/physical activity is seen to be a weapon in combating pain and pain-related mental health issues in RSI-injured computer workers. An improved understanding of the benefits of exercise/physical activity for RSI-injured computer workers living with chronic pain and pain-related mental health issues will provide them with more effective coping strategies, ameliorate their emotional/psychological recovery, facilitate their active return to the workforce, and enhance their overall quality of life.

The purpose of this essay is to describe the legal conditions of the two legal rights the safety representatives upholds, the right to suspend work and the right to request investigations. Furthermore, it should be investigated and explained what obstacles and problems the safety representatives may face when it comes to exercising these rights. The aim is also to give the essay a diversity perspective with the help of a study of language problems among migrated workers and if this can be a safety hazard in the work and how it then can be related to the safety representatives legal rights mentioned above. As occupational health and safety issues also are regulated by EU law, the purpose of this essay is also to give a brief account of how EU bodies affects the law concerning occupational health and safety issues. In order to answer the essays research questions and to achieve its purpose, I have worked with the legal method and also performed a qualitative research interview.   I have concluded that the right to request investigations and the right to suspend work are two powerful tools that a safety representative has at its disposal. However, there are several aspects that can affect how they can be used and for what. Furthermore, I also came to the conclusion that there are certain obstacles affecting safety representatives possibilities  to work with its right, in the form of knowledge, time for education and also fear from negative consequences applied from the employer. Finally, I would like to present my conclusions concerning language problems and that they could be considered a safety hazard in the work and that the right to request investigations and the right to suspend work could be relevant in the particular case.

Cette thèse étudie les mobilisations contre les risques du travail dans l’industrie nucléaire en France entre 1968 et 2018. Elle éclaire la dynamique des actions syndicales et des processus d’alertes internes aux exploitants nucléaires. L’enquête s’articule autour de deux séquences impulsées respectivement depuis le Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA) et l’entreprise Électricité de France (EDF).La controverse autour des conditions de travail dans l’industrie nucléaire et du recours à des salariés d’entreprises sous-traitantes pour les opérations les plus exposées aux dangers de la radioactivité remonte aux années 1970. Elle ne cesse, depuis cette époque pionnière, de revenir sur le devant de la scène, sans toutefois susciter d’action publique à même de résoudre les problèmes soulevés. Cette controverse est alimentée par les enquêtes menées directement par les travailleurs de ce secteur et certains de leurs représentants syndicaux de la CFDT et de la CGT, avec le relais de médecins du travail, de scientifiques, de journalistes d’investigation et d’élus politiques. La thèse décrit les activités de problématisation du travail et du recours à la sous-traitance dans le nucléaire et rend compte de leur infélicité récurrente. Elle entend contribuer à mieux comprendre la faible visibilité sociale des enjeux de santé au travail et, plus largement, les processus d’émergence de publics mobilisés en démocratie et les logiques qui leur font obstacle.La démarche est d’ethnographie historique. Elle combine des observations et des entretiens, avec une plongée dans les archives. Elle étudie l’expérience du travail exposé aux risques dans cette industrie, la constitution du problème de la santé au travail sur différentes scènes, les parcours de personnes affectées ou concernées par ce problème et les phases successives de sa dynamique de publicisation et de confinement
This thesis studies the mobilizations against occupational risks in the French nuclear industry between 1968 and 2018. It sheds light on the dynamics of trade union actions and warning processes among the nuclear operators. The survey focuses on two episodes fostered by the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique for the first one, and by the company Électricité de France (EDF) for the second one.In the 1970's, a controversy arose about working conditions in nuclear industry and the using of employees of subcontracting companies for the operations that were most exposed to radioactive hazards. Since then, it has been constantly re-appearing but has never generated public action able to solve the problem. Surveys done directly by workers of this industry and some of their union representatives (of the CFDT and CGT trade unions) contribute to this controversy. They find support from labour doctors, scientists, investigative journalists, and elected politicians. The thesis describes the processes of problematization of labour and recourse to subcontractors in nuclear industry. It depicts its recurring failures. It helps understanding why the issues in occupational health do not gain more social visibility and, more broadly, how do mobilized publics emerge in democracies and which kind of hurdles does this emergence have to face.Historical ethnography is the chosen approach. It combines observations, interviews and work in the archives. It studies the experience of working with the radioactive hazards in this industry, the formation of the public issue of occupational health in several landscapes, life paths of affected or involved persons. It sheds light on the dynamics of the problem, that is gradually publicized and then confined

博士
國立臺灣大學
職業醫學與工業衛生研究所
93
The thesis demonstrates that studies of occupational health practice should deal with different issues of occupational health, ranging from occupational disease prevention and epidemiology study, to workplace health promotion, health management and health policy implementation. There are three studies included in the thesis: the increased morbidity from nasopharyngeal carcinoma among workers of a newspaper printing company, the effectiveness of workplace influenza vaccination program and the determinants of employee turnover in a high tech company. Occupational health professionals should identify occupational health problems and health needs of each workplace and conduct studies before proposing recommendations or preventive measures. Recommendations of occupational health intervention should be based on the result of occupational health studies or finding from hazard assessment. Demonstrating the effectiveness of each intervention is as important as conducting occupational health programs. It is also important to integrate with occupational health and safety and human resources management to propose health policy to improve workers’ satisfaction. The study is expected to demonstrate the benefit of the studies of occupational health practice. These benefits might include reducing the incidence of occupational diseases and injuries, control of sickness absence and reducing employee turnover. The result also supports that health consultation and psychological counseling to assist employees dealing with work life issues should contribute to employees’ physical and mental well-being and quality of work life.

碩士
嘉南藥理大學
職業安全衛生系
104
In recent years, numerous seriously industrial accidents have happened. Nowadays social security disaster for the post of labor much attention, and rising awareness of labor. Although Occupational Safety and Health Act wasimplemented on July 3rd 2014, was these enough to bring about a comprehensive safeguard to the rights of labor force and the industry owners? This study focuses on the issues of worker’s compensation that result from the Occupational Safety and Health Act afore mentioned-above. This study concluded from the responses of 150 surveys distributed to Property and Casualty insurance practitioners. The collective result of these surveys provides knowledge of how these practitioners perceive and comprehend the new Act. How have they set plan for the insurance policy and responded to the issues resulted from the introduction of this amended Act? According to the result, most practitioners have vague understanding of this Act, and not paid adequate attention to it. This indicates that the government has not provided sufficient awareness and education to introduce this Act. This study recommends that the industry should coordinate the effort at introducing the Act. That would help to increase the professional knowledge among their employees. The implementation of this Act also imposed significant impact to the planning aspects of insurance policies. It increased the responsibilities to industry owners and resulted in greater business operation risks. The study shown that the new Act does not help to mitigate the risks to obtain a more comprehensive safeguard. On the contrary, it resulted in some situation that the business owners facing difficulties in purchasing the occupational safety and health insurance. This study recommends that insurance company should increase varieties of insurance policies in accordance to the introduced Act. It will help to satisfy their customers on one end and increase operation growth on the other, to gain a win-win solution for both sides.

碩士
國立中興大學
法律學系碩士在職專班
102
Once an employee sustains injuries or suffers from diseases, occupational accidents could be confirmed if two criteria “performing work” and “arising from work” are met simultaneously. The affected employee could seek for two legal remedies which include compensation and damages. The former could be achieved through Labor Standards Act, Labor Insurance Act and Act for Protecting Worker of Occupational Accidents. The latter is centered on the obligation of employers’ protection and care. The affected employee could claim damages against the employer based on the law of tort and non-performance of the obligation. This study aims to discover the specialty of applicable laws on occupational accidents occurring in the health care system. Occupational accident is a broad concept which could be divided into occupational injury and occupational disease. In order to precisely depict occupational accidents in the health care system, occupational injuries and occupational diseases have been further classified into four types respectively. On one hand, occupational injuries are sorted into energy-facility damage, radiation exposure, general accident, and others. On the other hand, occupational diseases are sorted into contact, inhaled type, physical type, and other types. Judgments about occupational accidents occurring in the health care system are the core of this study. Additionally, other occupational accidents for which there have never been any suits filed and potential problems were discussed in this study as well. Legal remedies for occupational accidents were specified to find out whether there were any unreasonable situations in the health care system. The researcher has found that there are many ambiguities when the Labor Standards Act is applied in the health care system. For instance, a player is doubling as the referee when Article 59 is applied in the health care system. Considering that a health care worker needs to work shifts, the maximum working hour per month regulated in the Labor Standards Act might be too much to reduce fatigue. Furthermore, the employer is under an obligation to provide protection and care for employees, and the obligation could be fulfilled by implementing statistics of occupational accidents in the health care system and reviewing the situation annually. Everyone’s lives are interlocked in the health care system; therefore, any violation of employers’ protection and care obligation could further involve employers’ torts. However, the courts have taken strict assessments toward deciding whether employers had violated their protection and care obligation; thus, affected workers could hardly demand for damages in connection with the aforementioned obligation. The researcher has referred to foreign legislation and made suggestions on the aspects of legislature, administration and justice in the end of this study.

Purpose. To determine the extent to which the MOR and PMR correctly identify true underlying associations between certain occupations/industries and mortality from specific cancers and what the important determinants are that contribute towards valid estimation of risk when they are employed Methodology. A literature review of relevant occupational risk factors for lung cancer, pleural cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and soft tissue sarcoma was conducted to determine the extent to which the study findings were supported by other studies. Death certificate data from 26 states in the United States that routinely code occupation and industry on the death certificates of decedents between 1985 and 1998 were used for this study. Both proportionate mortality and case-control studies were used to investigate the extent to which PMR and MOR were influenced by: (1) the choice of three different reference populations; and (2) reliability of the cause of death information as measured by detection and confirmation rates. It also determined whether the direction of bias remained consistent for cancers with well established (asbestos, benzene) and those with less established (solvents, diesel) carcinogens in certain occupations. Finally, similar but limited analyses were made using industry rather than occupation to determine whether estimates of the MOR and PMR differed Results. The results from the MOR and PMR investigation correctly identified risks for lung cancer, mesothelioma and acute myeloid leukemia, although they did not reflect the estimates published in the literature. An improvement in the odds ratio was observed for only lung and pleural/peritoneal cancer and soft tissue neoplasms when cancers caused by the same exposure under investigation were removed from the control group. In the case of the PMR, the proportionate cancer mortality ratio (PMCR) was an improvement over the PMR since it was possible to control for the healthy worker effect Both the MOR and PMR were influenced by the use of different measures of exposure (occupation titles, industry titles and a combination of both) Conclusions. The choice of reference diseases, type of exposure coding and confirmation and detection rates determines whether the MOR and PMR reliably identify associations between certain occupations and industries and mortality from specific cancers. Investigations based on exclusively on death certificate data ought not to be interpreted without substantial support of other rigorous investigations such as cohort studies, but are a valuable tool in epidemiological investigations for hypothesis generating
acase@tulane.edu

The Missouri Poultry Cohort is a historical cohort investigation of mortality among workers highly exposed to the poultry oncogenic viruses which are suspected cancer causing agents in humans. Workers were also exposed to fumes from PVC-wrapping activities that contain chemicals known or suspected to produce cancer in humans The cohort mortality pattern is similar to what is often observed in occupational studies, where the healthy worker effect takes place As a group, cancer mortality also does not shows excess. However, cancer of bronchus, trachea & lung and cancer of kidney present statistically significant excess when the plants are introduced in the analysis. A positive dose response relationship was found for cancer of bronchus, trachea & lung, and cancer of kidney by means of latency and duration of employment analysis. In lesser extent, some cancers of the lymphopoietic system are also excessive: Lymphosarcoma & Reticulosarcoma, Leukemia & Aleukemia, and Cancer of All Other Lymphopoietic Tissues. Several other cancers also are excessive as cancer of stomach, cancer of large intestine, cancer of pancreas, cancer of bladder, cancer of cervix, cancer of thyroid, and cancer of central nervous system The cohort experienced an excessive mortality of Non-Malignant Respiratory Diseases. From the external causes of death, Motor Vehicle Accidents and Homicides & Other External Causes are also in excess. All other causes of death, covering a broad spectrum of diseases, also presents excess By taking race into consideration in the PMR analysis it was identified that the cancer of bronchus, trachea & lung excess is greater in the nonwhite female group. In lesser extent, it also suggests nonwhite-male excess of cancer of bronchus, trachea & lung The major limitations of this investigation are the relative short time of follow-up, the potential role of confounding factors that were not taken into account in the assessment of risk, and the small number of observed deaths in the cancers of interest The major strengths are the high intensity of chicken oncogenic viruses exposure in a homogeneous population, the assessment of missing information in the SMR analysis, and the consistency of the positive cancer results of this investigation with previous findings from occupational investigations in the Chicken Slaughtering/Processing Industry
acase@tulane.edu

The land-grant university system was founded in the 19th century as a public means to help improve people’s everyday lives. A century and a half later, the challenges that the public faces to live a quality life are constantly changing, creating a need for the land-grant system to respond and adapt to continue to fulfill its mission. While the literature contains a wealth of conceptual papers addressing the role and mission of land-grant universities, relatively few papers could be found that reported empirical data or proposed and tested metrics for public engagement constructs. The current study sought to address this void in the literature through the investigation of factors influencing Indiana residents’ level of interest in engaging with Purdue University. Mail survey methods were used in which up to three contacts were made with adult members of 4,500 Indiana households identified through address-based sampling. Stratified random sampling was employed to ensure adequate rural household participation for other project purposes. Usable responses were received from 1,003 households representing 87 Indiana counties for a total response rate of 26%.