Effective exposure to solar UV in building workers: influence of local and individual factors.

Excessive exposure to solar UV light is the main cause of skin cancers in humans. UV exposure depends on environmental as well as individual factors related to activity. Although outdoor occupational activities contribute significantly to the individual dose received, data on effective exposure are scarce and limited to a few occupations. A study was undertaken in order to assess effective short-term exposure among building workers and characterize the influence of individual and local factors on exposure. The effective exposure of construction workers in a mountainous area in the southern part of Switzerland was investigated through short-term dosimetry (97 dosimeters). Three altitudes, of about 500, 1500 and 2500 m were considered. Individual measurements over 20 working periods were performed using Spore film dosimeters on five body locations. The postural activity of workers was concomitantly recorded and static UV measurements were also performed. Effective exposure among building workers was high and exceeded occupational recommendations, for all individuals for at least one body location. The mean daily UV dose in plain was 11.9 SED (0.0-31.3 SED), in middle mountain 21.4 SED (6.6-46.8 SED) and in high mountain 28.6 SED (0.0-91.1 SED). Measured doses between workers and anatomical locations exhibited a high variability, stressing the role of local exposure conditions and individual factors. Short-term effective exposure ranged between 0 and 200% of ambient irradiation, indicating the occurrence of intense, subacute exposures. A predictive irradiation model was developed to investigate the role of individual factors. Posture and orientation were found to account for at least 38% of the total variance of relative individual exposure, and were also found to account more than altitude on the total variance of effective daily exposures. Targeted sensitization actions through professional information channels and specific prevention messages are recommended. Altitude outdoor workers should also benefit from preventive medical examination.

Building Capacity in Developing Countries : OER for Food Safety

The Food Safety Knowledge Network (FSKN) was developed through the collaboration of Michigan State University and a professional network of international food industry retailers and manufacturers. The key objective of the FSKN project is to provide technical resources, in a cost effective way, in order to promote food safety in developing countries and for small and less developed companies. FSKN uses a competency based model including a framework, OERs, and assessments. These tools are being used to support face-to-face training, fully online training, and to gauge the learning outcomes of a series of pilot groups which were held in India, Egypt, and China.

AgShare : Building Community and Content with Multiple Partners

Michigan State University and OER Africa are creating a win-win collaboration of existing organizations for African publishing, localizing, and sharing of teaching and learning materials that fill critical resource gaps in African MSc agriculture curriculum. By the end of the 18-month planning and pilot initiative, African agriculture universities, faculty, students, researchers, NGO leaders, extension staff, and farmers will participate in building AgShare by demonstrating its benefits and outcomes and by building momentum and support for growth.

Building a Manifesto for OER sustainability : UK experiences

Evidence of sustainability, or the potential to achieve this, is increasingly a pre-requisite for OER activity, whether imposed by funders, by institutions requiring a 'business case' for OER, or practitioners themselves - academics, educational technologists and librarians, concerned about how to justify engagement with a unfamiliar, and unproven practices, in today's climate of limited resource. However, it is not clear what is meant by 'sustainability' in relation to OER, what will be needed to achieve or demonstrate this, nor who the expectation of sustainability relates to. This paper draws on experiences of UK OER projects to identify aspirations that those involved in delivering OER activity have for OER sustainability ¿ what a 'manifesto' for OER sustainability beyond project funding, based on OER use, might look like.

Monitorización de estructuras y gestión de edificios: Building Management

El objetivo del proyecto es realizar un sistema de monitorizacion de estructuras y gestión de edificios para controlar en todo momento el estado de los mismos. Se controlará cualquier aspecto que pueda afectar al edificio, como es la temperatura, la humedad, la oscilación del edificio; además de otros aspectos que ayuden a que el edificio se mantenga seguro y en perfecto estado como alarmas de seguridad, luminosidad, etc.

Building energy saving techniques and indoor air quality : a dilemma

In European countries and North America, people spend 80 to 90% of time inside buildings and thus breathe indoor air. In Switzerland, special attention has been devoted to the 16 stations of the national network of observation of atmospheric pollutants (NABEL). The results indicate a reduction in outdoor pollution over the last ten years. With such a decrease in pollution over these ten years the question becomes: how can we explain an increase of diseases? Indoor pollution can be the cause. Indoor contaminants that may create indoor air quality (IAQ) problems come from a variety of sources. These can include inadequate ventilation, temperature and humidity dysfunction, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The health effects from these contaminants are varied and can range from discomfort, irritation and respiratory diseases to cancer. Among such contaminants, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) could be considered the most important in terms of both health effects and engineering controls of ventilation. To perform indoor pollution monitoring, several selected ETS tracers can be used including carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), respirable particles (RSP), condensate, nicotine, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitrosamines, etc. In this paper, some examples are presented of IAQ problems that have occurred following the renewal of buildings and energy saving concerns. Using industrial hygiene sampling techniques and focussing on selected priority pollutants used as tracers, various problems have been identified and solutions proposed. [Author]

The building blocks of international ecological footprint inequality: a regression-based decomposition

This paper performs an empirical Decomposition of International Inequality in Ecological Footprint in order to quantify to what extent explanatory variables such as a country’s affluence, economic structure, demographic characteristics, climate and technology contributed to international differences in terms of natural resource consumption during the period 1993-2007. We use a Regression-Based Inequality Decomposition approach. As a result, the methodology extends qualitatively the results obtained in standard environmental impact regressions as it comprehends further social dimensions of the Sustainable Development concept, i.e. equity within generations. The results obtained point to prioritizing policies that take into account both future and present generations.

Academic Building Revenue Bond Funds, June 30, 2002

State University Audit Report

Forensic intelligence framework. Part II: study of the main generic building blocks and challenges through the examples of illicit drugs and false identity documents monitoring

The development of forensic intelligence relies on the expression of suitable models that better represent the contribution of forensic intelligence in relation to the criminal justice system, policing and security. Such models assist in comparing and evaluating methods and new technologies, provide transparency and foster the development of new applications. Interestingly, strong similarities between two separate projects focusing on specific forensic science areas were recently observed. These observations have led to the induction of a general model (Part I) that could guide the use of any forensic science case data in an intelligence perspective. The present article builds upon this general approach by focusing on decisional and organisational issues. The article investigates the comparison process and evaluation system that lay at the heart of the forensic intelligence framework, advocating scientific decision criteria and a structured but flexible and dynamic architecture. These building blocks are crucial and clearly lay within the expertise of forensic scientists. However, it is only part of the problem. Forensic intelligence includes other blocks with their respective interactions, decision points and tensions (e.g. regarding how to guide detection and how to integrate forensic information with other information). Formalising these blocks identifies many questions and potential answers. Addressing these questions is essential for the progress of the discipline. Such a process requires clarifying the role and place of the forensic scientist within the whole process and their relationship to other stakeholders.

Building for the Future, Annual Report, 2003

2003 Annual Report of the Iowa Lottery

The Building Blocks of International Ecological Footprint inequality: A Regression-Base Decomposition

This paper performs an empirical Decomposition of International Inequality in Ecological Footprint in order to quantify to what extent explanatory variables such as a country’s affluence, economic structure, demographic characteristics, climate and technology contributed to international differences in terms of natural resource consumption during the period 1993-2007. We use a Regression- Based Inequality Decomposition approach. As a result, the methodology extends qualitatively the results obtained in standard environmental impact regressions as it comprehends further social dimensions of the Sustainable Development concept, i.e. equity within generations. The results obtained point to prioritizing policies that take into account both future and present generations. Keywords: Ecological Footprint Inequality, Regression-Based Inequality Decomposition, Intragenerational equity, Sustainable development.

Report on Special Investigation of Building Stronger Families, January 1, 2000 through May 14th, 2003

Other Audit Reports - Special Investigation

Academic Building Revenue Bond Funds, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Independent Auditor's Report Financial Statements and Supplemental Information, June 30, 2004

State University Audit Report