User's Views of an Outreaching Social Work Team in Hong Kong

This article reports the survey findings of a recent study on users’ views of the service provided by an outreaching social work team in Hong Kong. It attempts to explore how youth at risk can be jointly involved in evaluating the quality of the social service. Users appear to have favourable opinions towards the service received and would like to have greater involvement in programme planning, implementation and evaluation. Finally, recommendations on improving the understanding of the needs of users and encouraging greater user participation in future service delivery are suggested.

Analyzing the researcher's work in generating data: The case of complaints

This article investigates the researcher's work in the coproduction (or not) of complaint sequences in research interviews. Using a conversation analytic approach, we show how the interviewer's management of complaint sequences in a research setting is consequential for subsequent talk and thus directly affects the data generated. In the examples shown here, researchers sharing cocategorial incumbency with respondents may well provide spaces for research participants to formulate complaints. This article examines sequences of talk surrounding complaints to show how researchers generate complaints (or not) and handle unsafe complaints. Researchers are able to provoke specific types of accounts from respondents, whereas their respondents may actively resist the researchers' direction. For researchers using the interview as a method of data generation, examination of complaint sequences and how these appear in interview data provides insight into how interview talk is coproduced and managed within a socially situated setting.

Laboratory evaluation of the physicochemical properties of a new root canal sealer based on Copaifera multijuga oil-resin

Aim To compare a new root canal sealer based on Copaifera multijuga oil-resin (Biosealer) using three other established sealers (Sealer 26 (R), Endofill (R) and AH plus (R)) in terms of their physicochemical properties. Methodology The study was carried out according to the requirements of Specification Number 57 of the American Dental Association (ADA) and consisted of the following tests: setting time, flow, film thickness, dimensional stability, radiopacity and solubility/disintegration. Data were analysed statistically using anova and Tukey`s test for multiple comparisons. The significance level was set at 5% for all analyses. Results Sealer 26 (R) and AH Plus (R) had the longest setting time (P < 0.05). All materials presented flow in with the ADA`s guidelines. Regarding film thick-ness, Sealer 26 (R) did not have a satisfactory performance, as it had a higher mean value than the maximum allowed by the ADA (0.05 mm), being significantly different from the other materials (P < 0.05), which had mean values for film thickness in accordance with the ADA`s recommendations. Regarding the solubility and disintegration, only Endofill (R) did not meet the ADA`s specifications and presented the worst results of all materials (P < 0.05). Sealer 26 (R) presented the greatest dimensional changes and differed significantly from all other sealers (P < 0.05). Biosealer had the lowest radiopacity values and was significantly different from the other sealers (P < 0.05). Conclusion The experimental sealer based on Copaifera multijuga oil-resin presented satisfactory results in the physicochemical tests required by the ADA.

Examining the effects of work externalization through the lens of social identity theory

This study examines whether dissimilarity among employees that is based on their work status (i.e., whether they are temporary or internal workers) influences their organization-based self-esteem, their trust in and attraction toward their peers, and their altruism. A model that is based on social identity theory posits that work-status dissimilarity negatively influences each outcome variable and that the strength of this relationship varies depending on whether employees have temporary or internal status and the composition of their work groups. Results that are based on a survey of 326 employees (189 internal and 137 temporary) from 34 work groups, belonging to 2 organizations, indicate that work-status dissimilarity has a systematic negative effect only on outcomes related to internal workers when they work in temporary-worker-dominated groups.

Comparison between Eysenck's and Gray's models of personality in the prediction of motivational work criteria

Impulsivity based on Gray's [Gray, J. A. (1982) The neuropsychology of anxiety: an enquiry into the function of the septo-hippocampal system. New York: Oxford University Press: (1991). The neurophysiology of temperament. In J. Strelau & A. Angleitner. Explorations in temperament: international perspectives on theory and measurement. London. Plenum Press]. physiological model of personality was hypothesised to be more predictive of goal oriented criteria within the workplace than scales derived From Eysenck's [Eysenck. H.J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thompson.] physiological model of personality. Results confirmed the hypothesis and also showed that Gray's scale of Impulsivity was generally a better predictor than attributional style and interest in money. Results were interpreted as providing support for Gray's Behavioural Activation System which moderates response to reward. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Media stress intensity analysis for vertical stirred mills

Experimental work has been carried out to investigate the effect of major operating variables on milling efficiency of calcium carbonate in laboratory and pilot size Tower and Sala Agitated (SAM) mills. The results suggest that the stirrer speed, media size and slurry density affect the specific energy consumption required to achieve the given product size. Media stress intensity analysis developed for high-speed horizontal mills was modified to include the effect of gravitational force in the vertical stirred mills such as the Tower and SAM units. The results suggest that this approach can be successfully applied for both mill types. For a given specific energy input, an optimum stress intensity range existed, for which the finest product was achieved. Finer product and therefore higher milling efficiency was obtained with SAM in the range of operating conditions tested. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Process mineralogy of fluorosilicate minerals in OK Tedi ores

The impact of fluorine in copper flotation was relatively unknown until the introduction of skarn ores in the Ok Tedi concentrator. Fluorine in the copper concentrates reports to the gas phase during the smelting stage and forms a corrosive H2SO4-HCl-HF acid brine mixture which must be neutralised. This work was aimed at studying the mineralogy of the fluorosilicate minerals contained in the various oretypes present in the Ok Tedi porphyry copper deposit. The electron microprobe was used to analyse for fluorine and hence identify the fluorosilicate minerals in each oretype. This study revealed talc, phlogopite, biotite, clays, amphiboles, fluoroapatite and titanite to be the sources of fluorine in the orebody. Laboratory and plant investigations were conducted to study the flotation response of these minerals. Chemical assaying of the products of these tests was done to determine the bulk assay of fluorine, Using Rietveld analysis, quantitative estimates of the fluorosilicate minerals in these products were generated. Marrying of the bulk assay with the respective mineralogical assay enabled the understanding of the flotation behavior of fluorine and it's associated mineralogy. Talc and phlogopite were found to be the causes of the fluorine problem at Ok Tedi. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Work-related stress and occupational therapy

Occupational stress and burnout have been studied extensively in the human services. It has been suggested that healthcare professionals in particular are at risk of stress owing to the caring nature of their work. Articles related to occupational therapy and work-related stress were reviewed in regard to practice in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden. Although the empirical literature is relatively weak for occupational therapy, it has been argued that occupational therapists in health care share risk factors with other healthcare professionals. These risk factors include repeated exposure to distress and difficult behaviour, prolonged interventions and uncertain outcome. Issues such as professional status, staffing issues and the nature of the profession have been identified as additional risk factors for occupational therapists. However, empirical studies that enable burnout rates of occupational therapists to be compared with those of related occupational groups suggest that this may not be the case. Occupational therapists may in fact be protected from some stress and burnout factors. Further research is recommended to clarify the nature of stress experienced by occupational therapists and to identify both risk and protective factors characteristic of the profession. Copyright © 2001 Whurr Publishers Ltd.

Extraction and purification of the zwitterions cylindrospermopsin and deoxycylindrospermopsin from Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii

The hepatotoxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN) has been isolated from the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (C. raci.). Efforts to study this toxin have been hampered by the time-consuming requirement to extract it from cultures of the organism. It is usually extracted from lyophilized cells collected from a laboratory culture. Our preliminary work suggested far more of the toxin is available in solution in the culture media than in the cells collected. We have therefore investigated the use of commercially available solid phase extraction sorbents to extract CYN from culture media in which C. raci. has been grown. A range of reverse phase and ion-exchange sorbents were tested across a range of pHs for their ability to retain CYN without success. Subsequently, graphitized carbon cartridges were found to retain CYN strongly. Elution with 5% formic acid in methanol allowed the CYN to be regained for final purification by HPLC. Deoxy-CYN, an analog of CYN can also be extracted using this procedure. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Outcomes of cephalosporin treatment for serious infection due to apparently susceptible organisms producing extended-spectrum b-Lactamases: Implications for the clinical microbiology laboratory

Although extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) hydrolyze cephalosporin antibiotics, some ESBL-producing organisms are not resistant to all cephalosporins when tested in vitro. Some authors have suggested that screening klebsiellae or Escherichia coli for ESBL production is not clinically necessary, and when most recently surveyed the majority of American clinical microbiology laboratories did not make efforts to detect ESBLs, We performed a prospective, multinational study of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia and identified 10 patients who were treated for ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae bacteremia with cephalosporins and whose infecting organisms were not resistant in vitro to the utilized cephalosporin. In addition, we reviewed 26 similar cases of severe infections which had previously been reported. Of these 36 patients, 4 had to be excluded from analysis. Of the remaining 32 patients, 100% (4 of 4) patients experienced clinical failure when MICs of the cephalosporin used for treatment were in the intermediate range and 54% (15 of 28) experienced failure when MICs of the cephalosporin used for treatment were in the susceptible range, Thus, it is clinically important to detect ESBL production by klebsiellae or E, coli even when cephalosporin MICs are in the susceptible range (less than or equal to 8 mug/ml) and to report ESBL-producing organisms as resistant to aztreonam and all cephalosporins (with the exception of cephamycins).