Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Hazards
Kinds of Hazards Terms modified by Hazards Selected AbstractsMORAL HAZARD AND LABOUR-MANAGED FIRMS IN ITALY AFTER THE LAW N. 142/2001ANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2008Francesco REITO ABSTRACT,:,Instead of focusing on the difference between a labour-managed (LMF) and a profit maximizing firm (PMF) in terms of final out-come and occupation, this paper considers the actual possibility for a firm to be financed from outside. A simple case of moral hazard in the credit market is analyzed. A bank, for limited funds, can finance one of two potential firms, a LMF or a PMF, both with similar project size. The Italian case is taken into account: the law n. 142/2001 has equalized the position of workers and members of a LMF as (own) firm creditors during a liquidation. This has an effect on the structure of creditors priorities in case a firm goes bankrupt and, in particular, on money-lenders likelihood of getting their loans back. It is argued that, before the law, the LMF had in general an advantage on the PMF, from banks viewpoint, for it faced a lower moral hazard problem on effort contribution. After the law, even though the direct consequence seems to be a draw back in LMF credit-worthiness, the model shows that, on given conditions, this type of firm remains more competitive as a bank borrower. [source] NONPARAMETRIC ESTIMATION OF CONDITIONAL CUMULATIVE HAZARDS FOR MISSING POPULATION MARKSAUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF STATISTICS, Issue 1 2010Dipankar Bandyopadhyay Summary A new function for the competing risks model, the conditional cumulative hazard function, is introduced, from which the conditional distribution of failure times of individuals failing due to cause,j,can be studied. The standard Nelson,Aalen estimator is not appropriate in this setting, as population membership (mark) information may be missing for some individuals owing to random right-censoring. We propose the use of imputed population marks for the censored individuals through fractional risk sets. Some asymptotic properties, including uniform strong consistency, are established. We study the practical performance of this estimator through simulation studies and apply it to a real data set for illustration. [source] Supply chain risk identification using a HAZOP-based approachAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 6 2009Arief Adhitya Abstract Risk management has become imperative for today's complex supply chains. Most approaches reported in the literature have been ad-hoc and specific to certain risks; a general and comprehensive approach is lacking. To address this, we present a structured methodology for risk identification. Supply chain networks are in many ways similar to chemical plants, therefore well-established methods and concepts from chemical process risk management can be adapted to supply chains. Drawing from this analogy, we propose to represent supply chain structure and operations using flow and work-flow diagrams, equivalent to process flow diagrams (PFDs) and operating procedures. Following the HAZard and OPerability (HAZOP) analysis method common in process safety, risk identification can be performed by systematically generating deviations in different supply chain parameters and identifying their possible causes, consequences, safeguards, and mitigating actions. The application and benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated using a refinery supply chain case study. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source] Accounting Recognition, Moral Hazard, and Communication,CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 3 2000PIERRE JINGHONG LIANG Abstract Two complementary sources of information are studied in a multiperiod agency model. One is an accounting source that partially but credibly conveys the agent's private information through accounting recognition. The other is an unverified communication by the agent (i.e., a self-report). In a simple setting with no communication, alternative labor market frictions lead to alternative optimal recognition policies. When the agent is allowed to communicate his or her private information, accounting signals serve as a veracity check on the agent's self-report. Finally, such communication sometimes makes delaying the recognition optimal. We see contracting and confirmatory roles of accounting as its comparative advantage. As a source of information, accounting is valuable because accounting reports are credible, comprehensive, and subject to careful and professional judgement. While other information sources may be more timely in providing valuation information about an entity, audited accounting information, when used in explicit or implicit contracts, ensures the accuracy of the reports from nonaccounting sources. [source] Community Resilience and Volcano Hazard: The Eruption of Tungurahua and Evacuation of the Faldas in EcuadorDISASTERS, Issue 1 2002Graham A. Tobin Official response to explosive volcano hazards usually involves evacuation of local inhabitants to safe shelters. Enforcement is often difficult and problems can be exacerbated when major eruptions do not ensue. Families are deprived of livelihoods and pressure to return to hazardous areas builds. Concomitantly, prevailing socioeconomic and political conditions limit activities and can influence vulnerability. This paper addresses these issues, examining an ongoing volcano hazard (Tungurahua) in Ecuador where contextual realities significantly constrain responses. Fieldwork involved interviewing government officials, selecting focus groups and conducting surveys of evacuees in four locations: a temporary shelter, a permanent resettlement, with returnees and with a control group. Differences in perceptions of risk and health conditions, and in the potential for economic recovery were found among groups with different evacuation experiences. The long-term goal is to develop a model of community resilience in long-term stress environments. [source] Dividend Initiations and Asymmetric Information: A Hazard ModelFINANCIAL REVIEW, Issue 3 2003Sanjay Deshmukh G35 Abstract This paper investigates the dynamics of dividend policy using a hazard model. Specifically, the paper examines dividend initiations for a sample of firms that went public between 1990 and 1997. These dividend initiations are examined in the context of an alternative explanation based on the pecking order theory. The results indicate that the probability or the hazard rate of a dividend initiation is negatively related to both the level of asymmetric information and growth opportunities and positively related to the level of cash flow. These results are consistent with a pecking order explanation but inconsistent with a signaling explanation. [source] An evaluation of the self-heating hazards of cerium(IV) nitrated treated towels using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysisFIRE AND MATERIALS, Issue 6 2007J. R. Hartman Abstract This study measured the Arrhenius kinetic parameters and heat of reaction using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) for the combustion of untreated towels and towels treated with cerium(IV) nitrate. These parameters were used to calculate the self-heating parameters, M and P (Self-heating: Evaluating and Controlling the Hazard. Her Majesty's Stationery Office: London, 1984) and the critical pile sizes of the towels at several temperatures. The results from the TGA/DSC experiments support the conclusions by Beyler et al. (Fire and Materials 2005; 30:223,240) that the cerium(IV) nitrate treatment of towels significantly enhances the ignitability of the towels but that self-heating is not a hazard for normal temperature storage scenarios other than bulk storage. It was found that the kinetic reaction data measured by TGA and DSC are only useful for predicting the specific reaction hazard for materials stored above 100°C. A comparison of the self-heating parameters measured by oven and kinetic reaction data methods for a number of materials suggests that the kinetic reaction data overestimate the critical pile size at temperatures below 100°C. In addition, it was found that the kinetic reaction data measured by TGA can be used to determine the relative self-heating hazards for modified materials. TGA testing with towels saturated with a 0.5 N solution of cerium(IV) nitrate (Ce(NO3)4) in a 2.0 N solution of nitric acid, a 2.0 N solution of sodium nitrate in 2.0 N nitric acid and simple 2.0 N nitric acid, showed that the sodium nitrate and nitric acid treated samples reacted at the same temperatures as the untreated towels, while cerium(IV) nitrate markedly reduced the reaction temperature. These tests clearly point to the importance of the cerium(IV) ion as an oxidizing agent. Thus, the TGA testing provided in a matter of days, insights that would have required months of oven testing. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Japan's strategic contributions to hydro-meteorological disaster mitigation in the world: planning to establish the UNESCO,PWRI CentreHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 6 2006Tetsuya Ikeda Hydro-meteorological disasters such as floods are major challenges that need to be overcome in order to realize sustainable development and poverty alleviation for humankind. Devastating flood disasters have occurring in various locations throughout the world, and there has recently been rising concern that the intensity and frequency of catastrophic floods may be increasing. Being located on the eastern edge of monsoonal Asia and having climatic variations according to the seasonal and regional conditions, Japan has long suffered from numerous flood disasters, and thus has developed advanced flood management policies. This paper aims to discuss flood disasters in Japan and the recently improved flood management policies. In addition, this paper introduces a new plan attempted by the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) of Japan that takes advantage of the wealth of long accumulated experience and knowledge in the hydro-meteorological field. The PWRI is now working toward the establishment of an International Centre on Water-related Hazard and Risk Management by acquiring UNESCO's auspices. In order to contribute to the global challenge of reducing devastating hydro-meteorological disasters all over the world, this centre aims to conduct research, capacity-building and training programmes, and information networking activities at the local, national, regional and global levels. The aim is to prevent and mitigate hydro-meteorological disasters from the viewpoint of sustainable and integrated river basin management. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] International Financial Rescues and Debtor-Country Moral Hazard,INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 3 2004Prasanna Gai This paper examines whether recent international policy initiatives to facilitate financial rescues in emerging market countries have influenced debtors' incentives to access official sector resources. The paper highlights a country's systemic importance as a key characteristic that drives access to official sector finance. It estimates the effect of these financial rescue initiatives on IMF programme participation using a pooled probit model. The safety net permitting exceptional access is shown to have a greater marginal impact on official sector resource usage, the more systemically important the debtor country. The results can be interpreted as offering some support for the presence of debtor-country moral hazard. [source] Identifying the Role of Moral Hazard in International Financial MarketsINTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2004Steven B. Kamin Abstract Considerable attention has been paid to the possibility that large-scale IMF-led financing packages may have distorted incentives in international financial markets, leading private investors to provide more credit to emerging market countries, and at lower interest rates, than might otherwise have been the case. Yet, prior attempts to identify such distortions have yielded mixed evidence, at best. This paper makes three contributions to our ability to assess the empirical importance of moral hazard in international financial markets. First, it is argued that, because large international ,bail-outs' did not commence until the 1995 Mexican crisis, financial indicators prior to that time could not have reflected a significant degree of this type of moral hazard. Therefore, one test for the existence of moral hazard is that the access of emerging markets to international credit is significantly easier than it was prior to 1995. Second, the paper argues that because private investors expect large-scale IMF-led packages to be extended primarily to economically or geo-politically important countries, moral hazard, if it exists, should lead these countries to have easier terms of access to credit than smaller, non-systemically important countries. Finally, in addition to looking at bond spreads, the focus of earlier empirical analyses of moral hazard, the paper also examines trends in capital flows to gauge the access of emerging market countries to external finance. Looking at the evidence in light of these considerations, the paper concludes that there is little support for the view that moral hazard is significantly distorting international capital markets at the present time. [source] Health Insurance, Moral Hazard, and Managed CareJOURNAL OF ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT STRATEGY, Issue 1 2002Ching-To Albert Ma If an illness is not contractible, then even partially insured consumers demand treatment for it when the benefit is less than the cost, a condition known as moral hazard. Traditional health insurance, which controls moral hazard with copayments (demand management), can result in either a deficient or an excessive provision of treatment relative to ideal insurance. In particular, treatment for a low-probability illness is deficient if illness per se has little effect on the consumer's marginal utility of income and if the consumer's price elasticity of expected demand for treatment is large relative to the risk-spreading distortion when these are evaluated at a copayment that brings forth the ideal provision of treatment. Managed care, which controls moral hazard with physician incentives, can either increase or decrease treatment delivery relative to traditional insurance, depending on whether demand management results in deficient or excessive treatment. [source] An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of Increasing Deductibles on Moral HazardJOURNAL OF RISK AND INSURANCE, Issue 3 2008Jennifer L. Wang Using information on timing and number of claims in a unique data set pertaining to comprehensive automobile insurance with the increasing deductible provision in Taiwan, the authors provide new evidence for moral hazard. Time-varying correlations between the choice of the insurance coverage and claim occurrence are significantly positive and exhibit a smirk pattern across policy months. This empirical finding supports the existence of asymmetric information. A subsample estimation depicts insured drivers' significant responses to increasing deductibles, which implies the existence of moral hazard. According to the probit regression results, the increasing deductible makes policyholders who have ever filed claims less likely to file additional claims later in the policy year. The empirical findings strongly support the notion that the increasing deductible provision helps control moral hazard. [source] Moral Hazard in Reinsurance MarketsJOURNAL OF RISK AND INSURANCE, Issue 3 2005Neil Doherty This article attempts to identify moral hazard in the traditional reinsurance market. We build a multiperiod principal,agent model of the reinsurance transaction from which we derive predictions on premium design, monitoring, loss control, and insurer risk retention. We then use panel data on U.S. property liability reinsurance to test the model. The empirical results are consistent with the model's predictions. In particular, we find evidence for the use of loss-sensitive premiums when the insurer and reinsurer are not affiliates (i.e., not part of the same financial group), but little or no use of monitoring. In contrast, we find evidence for the extensive use of monitoring when the insurer and reinsurer are affiliates, where monitoring costs are lower. [source] Overcompensation as a Partial Solution to Commitment and Renegotiation Problems: The Case of Ex Post Moral HazardJOURNAL OF RISK AND INSURANCE, Issue 4 2004M. Martin Boyer In a Costly State Verification world, an agent who has private information regarding the state of the world must report what state occurred to a principal, who can verify the state at a cost. An agent then has what is called ex post moral hazard: he has an incentive to misreport the true state to extract rents from the principal. Assuming the principal cannot commit to an auditing strategy, the optimal contract is such that: (1) the agent's expected marginal utility when there is an accident (high- and low-loss states) is equal to his marginal utility when there is no accident; (2) the lower loss is undercompensated, while the higher loss is overcompensated; and (3) the welfare of the agent is greater under commitment than under no-commitment. Result 2 is contrary to the results obtained if the principal can commit to an auditing strategy (higher losses underpaid and lower losses overpaid). The reason is that by increasing the difference between the high and the low indemnity payments, the probability of fraud is reduced. [source] Emotional Hazard Exemplified by Taxation-Induced AngerKYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 2-3 2001Frans Van Winden First page of article [source] Improved integration of LOPA with HAZOP analyses,PROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2009Dick Baum Abstract Integrating Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) with Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP) has many advantages over performing these studies separately. The merits include: fewer actions from the combined effort compared to performing only a HAZOP; team continuity resulting from the combined effort as opposed to two separate teams having possibly differing points of view; and, ultimately, a time and cost savings realized by the combination. This integration defines the risk associated with a given scenario, enabling better decisions that impact business assurance. By using the Center for Chemical Process Safety guidelines to define the independent protection layers upfront, the gray areas can often be reduced or eliminated; thereby enabling a more thorough LOPA. Examples include taking credit if a unit has two independent operators (outside and inside) responding to critical alarms, or taking credit for centralized control rooms that may allow immediate operator interaction and response. This article shows how the guidelines have been used successfully in joint HAZOP/LOPA studies, and describes an initial preparation protocol that can ensure high-quality results. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2009 [source] Evaluation of available indices for inherently safer design optionsPROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 2 2003Faisal I. Khan Inherent safety is a proactive approach for loss prevention during process plant design. It has been proven that, considering the lifetime costs of a process and its operation, an inherent safety approach can lead to a cost-optimal option. Application of inherent safety at the early stages of process design yields the best results with respect to process selection, conceptual design, and engineering design. However, in spite of being an attractive and cost-effective approach to loss prevention, it is not widely used. Reasons have been suggested for this lack of widespread use, but the lack of systematic tools to apply inherent safety principles is perhaps the most important one. A detailed study was conducted to analyze the performance of available hazard indices with reference to various inherent safety principles (guidewords). The performance of four main indices (Dow, Mond, Inherent Safety, and Safety Weighted Hazard [SweHI] indices) was studied for five inherent safety guidewords. None of the indexing procedures can capture all of the inherent safety guidewords, although the SWeHI and Dow Index were found to be robust on many accounts. It is recommended that a new specific index be developed for inherently safer design evaluation. The SWeHI and Dow indexing procedures may be a good basis on which to build. [source] Major hazards analysis: An improved method for process hazard analysisPROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 1 2003Paul Baybutt Process hazard analyses (PHAs) usually focus on major hazards,fires, explosions, and toxic releases. Traditional PHA methods, such as the Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study and What-If analysis, often include scenarios for other hazard types, such as operability problems. Sometimes, this may be desired, but not always. There is a need for a PHA technique that directly and exclusively addresses major process hazards. Such hazards are realized when process containment is lost. Therefore, the method proposed here uses a categorization scheme to guide brainstorming of initiating events that can result in fires, explosions, or toxic releases. It provides a more efficient and, likely, more complete, identification of major hazard scenarios than current PHA methods. [source] From Mass Production to Mass Customization: Hindrance Factors, Structural Inertia, and Transition HazardPRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008M. Johnny Rungtusanatham Research on mass customization has largely overlooked the issue of organizational change associated with the mass production-to-mass customization transition. To address this gap in the literature, we conduct a longitudinal case study of a manufacturing facility belonging to a division of a Fortune 1000 discrete manufacturing firm as it seeks to transition from mass production to mass customization. We empirically identify five factors hindering the mass production-to-mass customization transition within the research site and articulate five corresponding generalizations explaining how and why these hindrance factors relate to the mass production-to-mass customization transition hazard beyond the research site (i.e., how and why the five hindrance factors, in general, threaten the likelihood of a successful mass production-to-mass customization transition). We then theoretically validate the five hindrance factors and corresponding generalizations by mapping them onto the antecedents and tenets of structural inertia theory. We conclude with a brief discussion of the scientific and pragmatic significance of the findings and highlight opportunities for future research. [source] Co-ordination Failure, Moral Hazard and Sovereign Bankruptcy Procedures*THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 487 2003Sayantan Ghosal We study a model of sovereign debt crisis that combines problems of creditor co-ordination and debtor moral hazard. In the face of sovereign default, the need to give appropriate incentives to the debtor leads to excessive ,rollover failure' by creditors. We discuss how the incidence of crises might be reduced by international sovereign bankruptcy procedures , involving increased ,contractibility' of sovereign debtor's payoffs, suspension of convertibility in a ,discovery' phase and penalties in case of malfeasance. In relation to the current debate, this is more akin to the IMF's Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism than the Collective Action Clauses promoted by others. [source] Moral Hazard and Other-Regarding PreferencesTHE JAPANESE ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2004Hideshi Itoh The paper aims at obtaining new theoretical insights by combining the standard moral hazard models of principal,agent relationships with theories of other-regarding preferences, in particular inequity aversion theory. The principal is in general worse off, as the agent cares more about the wellbeing of the principal. When there are multiple symmetric agents who care about each other's wellbeing, the principal can optimally exploit their other-regarding nature by designing an appropriate interdependent contract such as a "fair" team contract or a relative performance contract. The approach taken in this paper can shed light on issues on endogenous preferences within organizations. [source] Moral Hazard and Optimal Subsidiary Structure for Financial InstitutionsTHE JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Issue 6 2004CHARLES KAHN ABSTRACT Banks and related financial institutions often have two separate subsidiaries that make loans of similar type but differing risk, for example, a bank and a finance company, or a "good bank/bad bank" structure. Such "bipartite" structures may prevent risk shifting, in which banks misuse their flexibility in choosing and monitoring loans to exploit their debt holders. By "insulating" safer loans from riskier loans, a bipartite structure reduces risk-shifting incentives in the safer subsidiary. Bipartite structures are more likely to dominate unitary structures as the downside from riskier loans is higher or as expected profits from the efficient loan mix are lower. [source] Export Credit Guarantees, Moral Hazard and Exports QualityBULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 4 2004María del Carmen García-Alonso F12; H56; L10 Abstract We analyse the role played by export credit guarantees (ECGs) in encouraging exports to developing countries. The existence of moral hazard on the side of the firm is introduced. We show that the inability of the exporter's government to verify the actual quality of the product will limit its ability to encourage trade through ECGs, once the coverage provided goes beyond a certain threshold. This result provides a rationale behind the limited coverage on ECGs. [source] Well to Monitor Ground Water, Assess Santa Clara Quake HazardsGROUND WATER MONITORING & REMEDIATION, Issue 4 2000Article first published online: 22 FEB 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] Principal-Agent Problems in Humanitarian Intervention: Moral Hazards, Adverse Selection, and the Commitment DilemmaINTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2009Robert W. Rauchhaus A number of recent studies have concluded that humanitarian intervention can produce unintended consequences that reduce or completely undermine conflict management efforts. Some analysts have argued that the incentive structure produced by third parties is a form of moral hazard. This paper evaluates the utility of moral hazard theory and a second type of principal-agent problem known as adverse selection. Whereas moral hazards occur when an insured party has an opportunity to take hidden action once a contract is in effect, adverse selection is the result of asymmetric information prior to entering into a contract. Failing to distinguish between these two types of principal-agent problems may lead to policy advice that is irrelevant or potentially harmful. Along with introducing the concept of adverse selection to the debate on humanitarian intervention, this study identifies a commitment dilemma that explains why third parties operating in weakly institutionalized environments may be unable to punish groups that take advantage of intervention. [source] Beyond the Hazards of OccupationINTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 2 2009Alex Braithwaite No abstract is available for this article. [source] Water resource hazard management system: assessing sustainable practices at the farm and catchment scales,IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE, Issue 3 2002W. O. Ochola qualité de l'eau; gestion des risques; pratique de la gestion des eaux; système d'aide a la decision Abstract Water quality is a pivotal environmental indicator of sustainable land management and environmental ,health'. Hazards to water resource use at the farm and catchment scales have far-reaching physical, biological, environmental and socio-economic impacts. These impacts are exacerbated by on-site and off-site agricultural and non-agricultural activities. A prototype water hazard management decision support system that uses an integrated framework to identify, by origin, hazards and related best water management practices guidelines is proposed. The system recommends best management guidelines with respect to the inherent water resource use mitigations. The system has been calibrated by and applied to expert knowledge and experimental and survey data from Kiumbu Catchment in central Kenya. Suggestions are made for the inclusion of GIS capabilities for the production of water resource assessment maps and other spatial water quality indicators. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. RÉSUMÉ La qualité de l'eau est un indice fondamental pour l'estimation de l'aménagement territorial et de la ,santé' environnementale. Les risques dus à l'utilisation des ressources hydriques au niveau des exploitations agricoles et des bassins versants ont de grands impacts physiques, biologiques, environnementaux et socio-économiques. Ces impacts sont de plus en plus accentuées par des activités aussi bien agricoles que non-agricoles. On propose ici un prototype de système d'aide à la décision pour la gestion des risques qui, utilisant une structure integrée, permettra d'identifier les risques selon leur origine et de proposer les grands axes d'une meilleure gestion des ressources hydriques. Le système recommande des directives en rapport avec les mesures environnementales inhérentes au site. Le système a été calibré par des données provenant d'une connaisaance théorique et expérimentale dans le bassin versant Kiumbu du Kenya central. Des suggestions ont été faites afin d'inclure des capacités GIS pour la production des cartes d'estimation des ressources hydriques mais aussi d'autres indicateurs de la qualité de l'eau. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Hazards with cracked eggs and their relationship to egg shell strengthJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 2 2009Joanne P Widdicombe Abstract BACKGROUND: This study examined the relationship between egg shell strength and the prevalence of cracked shells, plus the relationship between egg shell cracks and the presence of bacteria in the albumen of retail eggs. A total of 500 eggs was sampled from five supermarket stores. Each egg was assessed for shell cracks using a candling method. The strength of the shells was assessed using a penetrometer. Bacteria from the egg albumen were recovered on blood agar. RESULTS: The proportion of eggs that were cracked was on average 9%, and at one of the stores it was 17%. Albumen from eggs with gross cracks produced more abundant bacterial growth on blood agar compared to non-cracked eggs, and contained a higher incidence of Gram negative bacteria. Campylobacter spp. were not recovered from any eggs. The shells in cracked eggs had lower Shore D durometer values indicating that they were physically weaker than non-cracked eggs. CONCLUSIONS: Weaker shells were more prone to developing cracks, and cracked eggs were more likely to contain bacteria. There were substantial differences between supermarkets in the prevalence of eggs with cracked shells. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Common Health Hazards in French Pilgrims During the Hajj of 2007: A Prospective Cohort StudyJOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2009Philippe Gautret MD Background. The majority of published studies on Hajj-related diseases were based on hospitalized patient cohorts. Methods. A total of 545 Hajj pilgrims from Marseille were enrolled in a prospective epidemiological study to evaluate the incidence of common health hazards. They were administered a questionnaire before traveling addressing demographic factors and health status indicators and a post-travel questionnaire about travel-associated diseases. Results. Respondents had a median age of 61 years and originated mainly from North Africa (81%). A significant proportion of individuals had chronic medical disorders such as walking disability (26%), diabetes mellitus (21%), and hypertension (21%). A total of 462 pilgrims were administered a questionnaire on returning home. A proportion of 59% of travelers presented at least one health problem during the pilgrimage and 44% of the cohort attended a doctor during travel; 3% were hospitalized. Cough was the main complaint among travelers (attack rate of 51%), followed by headache, heat stress, and fever. Few travelers suffered diarrhea and vomiting. Cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, trauma, skin and gastrointestinal problems were not frequently observed in our survey, suggesting that their prevalence among the causes of admission to Saudi hospitals reflects a bias of selection. Cough episodes were significantly more frequent in individuals >55 years. We also evidenced that women were more likely to present underlying chronic cardiovascular disorder and diabetes compared to men and that they more frequently suffered from cough episodes associated with fever during the Hajj. Conclusions. Health risks associated with the Hajj in our experience are much more related to crowding conditions than to travel. Our work suggests that the studies performed in Saudi specialized units probably overestimate the part of certain diseases within the spectrum of Hajj-associated diseases. Our results also suggest that old female Hajjes should be considered as a high-risk population and that preventive measures should be reinforced before departing for Saudi Arabia. [source] Environmental Hazards in Nepal: Altitude Illness, Environmental Exposures, Injuries, and Bites in Travelers and ExpatriatesJOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2007Andrea K. Boggild MSc Background Adventure travel necessarily places travelers at risk of environmental hazards. We assessed the burden of "environmental" hazards among a cohort of travelers and expatriates presenting to a large travel clinic in Nepal. Methods Data on travelers and expatriates seen at the Canadian International Water and Energy Consultants (CIWEC) clinic in Kathmandu were prospectively collected and entered into the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network database. Data on individuals receiving predefined diagnoses related to environmental hazards were extracted and analyzed. Results Of 10,499 travelers and 4,854 expatriates in the database, 2,160 were diagnosed with 2,533 environment-related illnesses. Injuries were common among both travelers and expatriates [N= 788 (6.1%) and 328 (4.9%), respectively], while altitude illness was seen almost exclusively in travelers [N= 611 (4.7%) vs N= 8 (0.1%)]. Factors independently associated with environmental diagnoses include male gender (p < 0.001), traveling for tourism (p < 0.001), and lack of pre-travel advice (p= 0.043). Three percent of travelers and 2% of expatriates presenting to CIWEC sustained a bite wound or required rabies postexposure prophylaxis. Injured travelers were less likely than others to have obtained pre-travel advice (p= 0.003), while those who sustained bite wounds were more likely to have received pre-travel advice (p < 0.001). Conclusions Environmental hazards are important causes of morbidity and potential mortality among adventure travelers and expatriates. Current pre-travel interventions are missing certain risk groups entirely and failing to have the desired educational impact in others. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||