Clarifying and simplifying the management of environmental exposures under different exposure situations

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J. Pentreath

The International Commission on Radiological Protection recognises three different exposure situations: planned, existing, and emergency. In all three situations, the release of radionuclides into the natural environment leads to exposures of non-human species, as well as having the potential for exposures of the general public. Each release may therefore need separate evaluations of these two consequences in order to clarify the relevant objectives of protection, their compliance with various legal requirements, and how these objectives can be achieved. However, the need to meet more than one objective should not necessarily lead to a more complicated regulatory system. Indeed, with regard to low-level routine discharges from most nuclear plants, there would appear to be scope for simplifying the entire system, to protect both humans and biota, by using discharge consent and specified radionuclide environmental quality standards for water, soil, and air in a manner similar to that used to regulate other major, non-nuclear industries. In contrast, different objectives for humans and the environment need to be set and evaluated independently for existing exposure situations. For emergency situations, the separate consequences of different management options for humans and the environment should be made clear. Should an emergency occur, it is important to have meaningful environmental criteria in order to communicate clearly with the public at large as events unfold.

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
D. Copplestone ◽  
G.A. Hirth ◽  
T. Cresswell ◽  
M.P. Johansen

The International Commission on Radiological Protection’s (ICRP) system to protect the living components of the environment is designed to provide a broad and practical framework across different exposure situations. The framework recognises the need to be able to demonstrate an adequate level of protection in relation to planned exposure situations, whilst also providing an ability to manage existing and emergency situations in an appropriate way. In all three exposure situations, the release of radionuclides into the natural environment leads to exposures of non-human biota (wildlife), as well as having the potential for exposures of the public. How the key principles of the ICRP system of radiological protection apply in each of these exposure situations will be discussed. Using examples, we will demonstrate how the overall approach provides a mechanism for industry to assess and demonstrate compliance with the environmental protection objectives of relevant (national) legislation, and to meet stakeholder expectations that radiological protection of the environment is taken into consideration in accordance with international best practice. However, several challenges remain, and these will be discussed in the context of the need for additional guidance on the protection of the environment.


1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 517-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecil Lue-Hing ◽  
Peter Matthews ◽  
Juraj Nàmer ◽  
Nagaharu Okuno ◽  
Ludovico Spinosa

The management of sewage sludge is becoming of even greater concern since the generated volumes are increasing as a result of extended sewerage and advanced wastewater treatments. Agricultural use and landfilling face growing difficulties due to sludge increased contamination observed and stricter disposal criteria introduced, while incineration continues to be undesirable by the public, although technology is available today to meet extremely stringent air quality standards and guarantee a safe and convenient operation. Sludge management is particularly problematic in highly urbanized areas because of the large volumes in one location and the lack of suitable sites at convenient distance. In this paper, management options applicable to large urban centers are outlined and several case histories in Western and Eastern Europe, N. America and Asia described.


Author(s):  
Robert Leckey

Through the narrow entry of property disputes between former cohabitants, this chapter aims to clarify thinking on issues crucial to philosophical examination of family law. It refracts big questions—such as what cohabitants should owe one another and the balance between choice and protection—through a legal lens of attention to institutional matters such as the roles of judges and legislatures. Canadian cases on unjust enrichment and English cases quantifying beneficial interests in a jointly owned home are examples. The chapter highlights limits on judicial law reform in the face of social change, both in substance and in the capacity to acknowledge the state's interest in intimate relationships. The chapter relativizes the focus on choice prominent in academic and policy discussions of cohabitation and highlights the character of family law, entwined with the general private law of property and obligations, as a regulatory system.


2000 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. O'Toole

The public schools must follow laws that deal with services for children who meet the legal requirements for having a disability. Children who have swallowing disorders that require the services of a speech-language pathologist typically meet the definition of a child with a disability. This article addresses the importance of the speech-language pathologist being aware of legal requirements for the provision of services as well as liability, ethical, and risk management issues related to the provision of such services. Financial considerations relating to service provision are also described.


2011 ◽  
Vol 77 (20) ◽  
pp. 7227-7235 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Driscoll ◽  
John W. Pepper ◽  
Leland S. Pierson ◽  
Elizabeth A. Pierson

ABSTRACTBacteria rely on a range of extracellular metabolites to suppress competitors, gain access to resources, and exploit plant or animal hosts. The GacS/GacA two-component regulatory system positively controls the expression of many of these beneficial external products in pseudomonad bacteria. Natural populations often contain variants with defective Gac systems that do not produce most external products. These mutants benefit from a decreased metabolic load but do not appear to displace the wild type in nature. How could natural selection maintain the wild type in the presence of a mutant with enhanced growth? One hypothesis is that Gac mutants are “cheaters” that do not contribute to the public good, favored within groups but selected against between groups, as groups containing more mutants lose access to ecologically important external products. An alternative hypothesis is that Gac mutants have a mutualistic interaction with the wild type, so that each variant benefits by the presence of the other. In the biocontrol bacteriumPseudomonas chlororaphisstrain 30-84, Gac mutants do not produce phenazines, which suppress competitor growth and are critical for biofilm formation. Here, we test the predictions of these alternative hypotheses by quantifying interactions between the wild type and the phenazine- and biofilm-deficient Gac mutant within growing biofilms. We find evidence that the wild type and Gac mutants interact mutualistically in the biofilm context, whereas a phenazine-defective structural mutant does not. Our results suggest that the persistence of alternative Gac phenotypes may be due to the stabilizing role of local mutualistic interactions.


2020 ◽  
Vol V (III) ◽  
pp. 54-72
Author(s):  
Qaisar Khan ◽  
Syed Inam Ur Rahman ◽  
Amna Nudrat

The study analyses strategies and persuasive appeals in the public service messages aired on Pakistani TV channels during 2016-2018, that measures the effects of PSMs on audience behaviour. The PSMs fails to deliver messages due to dissimilar socio-economic backdrop and scope of the audience understanding. The purposive sampling of six selected PSM is on the bases of health themed PSM’s. Objective is to investigate the characteristics of ads, role of the message, major health issues, sources of the message and appeals. The AIDA model, persuasion theory and social responsibility theory used to filter the textual analysis of the selected PSMs. It was found that the PSMs presented health issues while using celebrity endorsement and persuasive message appeals as persuasive techniques. The PSMs such as breast cancer persuaded women for self-care, calcium deficiency PSM to calcium intakes, heat stroke PSM to precautionary measures during emergency situations, the malnutrition PSM to women healthy diet during pregnancy. The study recommends that advertisers, producers and TV channels should adopt audience perception based important strategies for social welfare, while the state must promote them.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Juliane Lopes Ferreira dos Santos ◽  
Denise Silva Matias ◽  
Nauana Nascimento Novais

Introduction: In 2015 Brazil was surprised by an increase in the incidence of microcephaly, related by the Ministry of Health to Zika virus infection during pregnancy. This theme, which was notorious for public health, reached wide popular repercussion through the media. Objectives: To describe the presence of the scientific paradigm in the discourse of health professionals, researchers or journalists who inform the lay public about biological causation. Methodology: All the news made available on the digital platform of the Folha de São Paulo newspaper, containing the key term "Zika and microcephalia" and published between November 11, 2015 and March 4, 2016, was performed. Scientific elucidation on the subject. The news items were classified as to the presence of certainty or uncertainty about the relationship between Zika and microcephaly in their content and the central idea in the subject titles. Results: Of the 387 reports analyzed, 51.4% related Zika as a causal factor of microcephaly, while 32.8% considered the presence of uncertainty in the relationship. It was verified that the newspaper privileged subjects related to the repercussions due to the diseases, being predominant the report of control measures. Considering the origin of the news, it was significant the use of official sources, presented in 82% of the news. Conclusion: The scientific paradigm was disregarded, ignoring the uncertainty principle and the scientific debate. The limitations of both journalists and health managers were also demonstrated in the elaboration of an effective communication with the public in emergency situations.


Law and World ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 14-39

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the world and accelerated processes that could have taken decades without a pandemic. In this paper, the authors discuss the public and government responses to the new normal, nowadays reality, and most importantly, the legal regulations that have been enacted in different countries in response to the challenges. The paper discusses in detail issues related to security measures, social distance, gender issues, abortion, education and student mobility, employment, and entrepreneurship. A pandemic that has survived more than a year needs to be addressed. The decision-makers made efforts to create a provision for the influenza virus after it became prominent in society. The intention is not to be pessimistic but to be optimistic enough to create provisions for the future. Countries are aiming to achieve their commitments to recover from the pandemic. A pandemic demands a legal response as well as a social response. The research paper aimed to divert the attention of the readers to the untouched aspects of the law that are related to emergency situations, including pandemics. In the paper, we discuss the paradox of the pandemic, lockdown, and post-lock- down situations, as well as protests/riots, gender-based violence, healthcare, and education topics related to the changes that have taken place due to the pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (9) ◽  
pp. 868-874
Author(s):  
O. A. Kochetkov ◽  
A. P. Panfilov ◽  
V. Yu. Usoltsev ◽  
Vladimir N. Klochkov ◽  
S. M. Shinkarev ◽  
...  

This article covers basic issues of the radiation protection in nuclear industry. It contains an overview of history of the national nuclear industry including the creation of industry-specific facilities (research centers, medical units etc.). Main stages of the creating the regulatory system for radiation protection, starting from the beginning of the industrial radiation protection, stages of introducing exposure limits and implementation of the radiation protection system in international documents are described. In 1996, for the first time, radiation protection requirements in Russia were documented in the form of the Federal Law 3-FZ of 09.01.1996 “Radiation Protection of the Public". A new stage of updating the global methodological foundation of radiation protection began in 2007. IRCP recommendations of 2007 moved from the legacy practice and intervention approach focused on the process to the approach based on characteristics of exposure situation. The evolvement of new technologies (specifically, in the field of reactor engineering and used nuclear fuel) in recent years requires a special focus on the safety of the personnel and the public. This stipulates the necessity of the appropriate radiation protection support of activities for the safe implementation of modern technologies. Handling of spent nuclear fuel and generated radioactive wastes, safe decommissioning of radiation hazardous facilities, radiation protection during operation of radiation facilities in nonstandard conditions are all the issues requiring specific examination. Regulatory and procedural documents on radiation protection of the personnel and the public during development and implementation of new technologies have been developed and approved as a result of long-term work of scientists and other professionals.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0241845
Author(s):  
Thabiso Rafaki Petrus Mofokeng ◽  
Kwazi Celani Zwakele Ndlovu ◽  
Salem A. Beshyah ◽  
Ian L. Ross

Objective We wished to determine the prevalence, etiology, presentation, and available management strategies for primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) in South Africa (SA), hypothesizing a prevalence greater than the described 3.1 per million. There is great inequity in healthcare allocation, as two parallel healthcare systems exist, potentially modifying PAI patients’ clinical profiles, private being better resourced than public healthcare. Methods An online survey of physicians’ experience relating to PAI. Results The physicians were managing 811 patients, equal to a prevalence of 14.2 per million. Likely causes of PAI in public/ academic vs private settings included: AIDS-related [304 (44.8%) vs 5 (3.8%); p<0.001], tuberculosis [288 (42.5%) vs 8 (6.0%); p<0.001], autoimmune disease [50 (7.4%) vs 88 (66.2%); p<0.001], malignancy [27 (4.0%) vs 7 (5.3%); p = 0.500], genetic including adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) [5 (0.7%) vs 16 (12.0%); p<0.001], respectively. Overall, more patients presented with nausea [101 (74.3%) and vomiting 89 (65.9%), than diarrhoea 76 (58.9%); p = 0.008 and 126 (15.5%) in adrenal crisis. Features suggestive of a crisis were hypoglycaemia [40 (78.4%) vs 42 (48.8%); p = 0.001], shock [36 (67.9%) vs 31(36.9%); p<0.001], and loss of consciousness [25 (52.1%) vs 27 (32.9%); p = 0.031]. Greater unavailability of antibody testing in the public vs. the private sector [32 (66.7%) vs 30 (32.1%); p = 0.001], [serum-ACTH 25 (52.1%) vs 16 (19.5%); p<0.001] and glucocorticoids were [26 (54.2%) vs 33 (40.2%); p = 0.015]. Many patients, 389(66.7%) were not using identification, indicating that they need steroids in an emergency. Conclusion A survey of South African physicians suggests a higher prevalence than previously reported. Patients presented with typical symptoms, and 15.5% presented in adrenal crisis. Significant disparities in the availability of physicians’ expertise, diagnostic resources, and management options were noted in the public versus private settings. Greater awareness among health practitioners to timeously diagnose PAI is required to prevent a life-threatening outcome.


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