Using Causal Models for the Calculation of Direct and Indirect Effects: An Example From Occupational Health

International audience

Prevalence of thoracic spine pain in a surveillance network

International audience

An epidemiological surveillance network of lumbar disc surgery to help prevention of and compensation for low back pain

International audience

Lateral epicondylitis and physical exposure at work? A review of prospective studies and meta-analysis

International audience

HOLDING HANDS WHILE PARTING WAYS: EXAMINING ALLIANCE TREATY RENEGOTIATION

This study investigates the renegotiation of security alliances, specifically the structural conditions surrounding their revision. Although the field of international relations offers a rich discussion of the formation and violation of alliance treaties, few scholars have addressed the reasons why alliance members amend security obligations. After the formation of an alliance, a member may become dissatisfied owing to changes in the external and domestic security environments. A failure to address this discontent increases the risk of alliance breakdown. Members manage their alliance relationship through a negotiation process or intra-alliance bargaining in the search for a new arrangement that can endure. Factors that help to show commitment to the alliance and communicate a set of feasible solutions are crucial if members are to find a mutually acceptable arrangement. By taking these factors into account, allies are more likely to revise an existing treaty. Examining a set of bilateral alliances dating from 1945 to 2001, this research demonstrates that public requests for renegotiation compel allies to change the status quo. It is found that alliance-related fixed assets and the formation of external alliances increase the likelihood of treaty revision, though institutionalization of an alliance does not help to resolve interest divergence. In addition, this study examines the strategy of delay in intra-alliance bargaining. Allies may postpone a dispute by ignoring it while working to maintain the alliance. Tension among allies thus increases, but the alliance endures. I examine three alliances in order to illustrate this renegotiation process. Among these, the Anglo-Japanese alliance demonstrates two successful renegotiations that prolonged a wavering alliance relationship; the Sino-Soviet alliance is an example of failure owing to the lack of substantive cooperation; and the US-Taiwan alliance during the 1970s demonstrates successful use of a strategy of delay that appeases a dissatisfied member.

Europeanization beyond the EU: The case of Georgia.

320 p.

On the duration of negative surplus

Doutoramento em Matemática

Evaluating tests for convergence of economic series using Monte Carlo methods with an application to real GDP's per head.

Doutoramento em Economia.

Histopathological fish health index: a biomarker of pollution effect

 Changes in cellular structure in Antarctic Rock-cod signified biological impact of untreated human wastewater on the marine ecosystem at Davis Station, East Antarctica. Based on these alterations a Histological Health Index was developed to identify and compare changes in fish health correlated to the degree of wastewater exposure. The health index provides a risk assessment tool applicable for all Antarctic Treaty research stations.

Framing the EU’s policy towards the neighbourhood:the strategic approach of the Seventh European Parliament (2009–2014)

The Lisbon treaty afforded the European Parliament (EP) increased powers in foreign policy. These have included new legislative competences in the area of international agreements or the European Union’s (EU) relations with third party states. This article analyses the way the last mandate of the EP, which was the first to benefit from the changes introduced by the Lisbon treaty, framed EU foreign policy. More specifically, it explores the way in which the EP strategically framed the EU’s approach towards the neighbourhood countries. The focus on the neighbourhood is justified by the fact that it is the most salient area of the EU’s foreign policy. The article shows that the EP pushed for the EU to have a stronger presence in the neighbourhood. The EP also strategically aimed that it should have a more central role in shaping the EU’s approach towards the neighbourhood.

The environmental impact of sewage and wastewater outfalls in Antarctica: an example from Davis station, East Antarctica

We present a comprehensive scientific assessment of the environmental impacts of an Antarctic wastewater ocean outfall, at Davis station in East Antarctica. We assessed the effectiveness of current wastewater treatment and disposal requirements under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. Macerated wastewater has been discharged from an outfall at Davis since the failure of the secondary treatment plant in 2005. Water, sediment and wildlife were tested for presence of human enteric bacteria and antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Epibiotic and sediment macrofaunal communities were tested for differences between sites near the outfall and controls. Local fish were examined for evidence of histopathological abnormalities. Sediments, fish and gastropods were tested for uptake of sewage as measured by stable isotopes of N and C. Escherichia coli carrying antibiotic resistance determinants were found in water, sediments and wildlife (the filter feeding bivalve Laternula eliptica). Fish (Trematomus bernacchii) within close proximity to the outfall had significantly more severe and greater occurrences of histopathological abnormalities than at controls, consistent with exposure to sewage. There was significant enrichment of (15)N in T. bernacchii and the predatory gastropod Neobuccinum eatoni around the outfall, providing evidence of uptake of sewage. There were significant differences between epibiotic and sediment macrofaunal communities at control and outfall sites (<1.5 km), when sites were separated into groups of similar habitat types. Benthic community composition was also strongly related to habitat and environmental drivers such as sea ice. The combined evidence indicated that the discharge of wastewater from the Davis outfall is causing environmental impacts. These findings suggest that conditions in Antarctic coastal locations, such as Davis, are unlikely to be conducive to initial dilution and rapid dispersal of wastewater as required under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. Current minimum requirements for wastewater treatment and disposal in Antarctica are insufficient to ameliorate these risks and are likely to lead to accumulation of contaminants and introduction of non-native microbes and associated genetic elements. This new understanding suggests that modernised approaches to the treatment and disposal of wastewater are required in Antarctica. The most effective solution is advanced levels of wastewater treatment, which are now possible, feasible and a high priority for installation. As a direct outcome of the study, a new advanced treatment system is being installed at Davis, effectively avoiding environmental risks.

The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association

Annually, the association publishes a journal, The Proceedings, which consists of papers presented at the annual meeting. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty by Rebecca M. Anderson – Greenwood High School Notes on the History of Public Health in South Carolina, 1670-1800 by St. Julien Ravenel Childs – The Citadel Samuel Slater, Father of American Manufactures by D.H. Gilpatrick – Furman University William Prynne, A Portrait by Laura Ellen Howard – Coker College Some Observations of Travelers on South Carolina, 1820-1860 by J. Rion McKissick – University of South Carolina

The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association

Annually, the association publishes a journal, The Proceedings, which consists of papers presented at the annual meeting. The Protestant Missionary in China: Problems of the First Treaty Period, 1842-1860 by Gordon K. Harrington French Communism and the Non-Communist Intellectuals, 1949 by Frederick F. Ritsch The Charles Town Board of Police, 1780-1782: A Study in Civil Administration under Military Occupation by George S. McCowen, Jr. Racism in the Administrations of Governor Cole Blease by Ronald D. Burnside The Twentieth Century: Age of the Dictators by Preston W. Slosson