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Remedial Measures (remedial + measure)
Selected AbstractsA study of electrical pitting of journal bearings with water-contaminated lubricantLUBRICATION SCIENCE, Issue 2 2000Har Prashad Abstract The investigations reported in this paper concern the effect of the use of a degraded lubricant on bearing life. A diagnosis of the premature failure of the hydrodynamic journal bearings of a synchronous condenser has been carried out. The surface of the failed bearings has been examined and the cause of the failure investigated. A theoretical analysis has also been undertaken to calculate the number of cycles that take place before failure occurs. The number of cycles thus established matched that of the cycles/duration of operation before the premature failure of the bearings. The process leading to the premature failure and the role of the degraded lubricant have been identified. Remedial measures have been successfully implemented to reuse the existing bearings. Measures have been suggested to avoid repeated failures. The theoretical analysis has the potential to ascertain the shaft voltage once the severity of the physical damage on the liner surface of the bearing and the duration of its operation have been established. [source] An integrated hydrological model for rain-induced landslide predictionEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 12 2002P. L. Wilkinson Abstract This paper describes an extension to the Combined Hydrology And Stability Model (CHASM) to fully include the effects of vegetation and slope plan topography on slope stability. The resultant physically based numerical model is designed to be applied to site-specific slopes in which a detailed assessment of unsaturated and saturated hydrology is required in relation to vegetation, topography and slope stability. Applications are made to the Hawke's Bay region in New Zealand where shallow-seated instability is strongly associated with spatial and temporal trends in vegetation cover types, and the Mid-Levels region in Hong Kong, an area subject to a variety of landslide mechanisms, some of which may be subject to strong topographic control. An improved understanding of process mechanism, afforded by the model, is critical for reliable and appropriate design of slope stabilization and remedial measures. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Summary findings of the fourth international radiocarbon intercomparison (FIRI)(1998,2001)JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 7 2002Elisabetta Boaretto Abstract Interlaboratory comparisons have been widely used in applied radiocarbon science. These are an important part of ongoing quality assurance (QA) programmes, which are vital to the appropriate interpretation of the evidence provided by the 14C record in Quaternary applications (including climate change and environmental reconstruction). International comparisons of laboratory performance are an essential component of the quality assurance process in radiocarbon dating. If the user community is to have confidence in radiocarbon results, it needs to be assured that laboratories world wide are producing measurements that are reliable and in accordance with ,good practice'. The findings from the most recent (completed in 2001) and extensive (more than 90 participating laboratories) radiocarbon intercomparison (FIRI) are reported here. This study was designed (i) to assess comparability, or otherwise, of the results from different laboratories and (ii) to quantify the extent and possible causes of any interlaboratory variation. The results demonstrate that there are no significant differences amongst the main measurement techniques (gas proportional counting, liquid scintillation counting and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)) but there is evidence of small laboratory offsets relative to known age samples for some laboratories. There is also evidence in some cases of underestimation of measurement precision. Approximately 10% of all results were classified as extreme (outliers) and these results were generated by 14% of the laboratories. Overall, the evidence supports the fact that radiocarbon laboratories are generally accurate and precise but that, notwithstanding internal QA procedures, some problems still occur, which can best be detected by participation in independent intercomparisons such as FIRI, where the results allow individual laboratories to assess their performance and to take remedial measures where necessary. The results from FIRI are significant in that they show a broad measure of agreement between measurements made in different laboratories on a wide range of materials and they also demonstrate no statistically significant difference between measurements made by radiometric or AMS techniques. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Vladimir Putin on Raising Russia's Birth RatePOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2006Article first published online: 26 JUN 200 The total fertility rate in what is now the Russian Federation has been below replacement level during much of the last 40 years. By the late 1990s it was barely above 1.2 children per woman. There may have been some recovery since: the United Nations estimate for 2000,05 is 1.33. Other reports set the 2004 rate at 1.17. Countries elsewhere in Europe have fertility levels that are equally low or even lower, but the Russian demographic predicament is aggravated by mortality that is exceptionally high by modern standards. Thus, despite large-scale net immigration (mostly due to return of ethnic Russians from other republics of the former Soviet Union), the population in the last decade-and-a-half has been shrinking: of late by some 700,000 persons per year. The United Nations medium estimate assumes a steady recovery of the total fertility rate to reach a level of 1.85 by 2050 and a considerable improvement in survival rates during that period,notably an increase in male life expectancy at birth of more than ten years. It also assumes further modest net immigration at a steady rate, amounting to a total of somewhat over 2 million by midcentury. Under these stipulations the projected population of Russia in 2050 would be 112 million,some 31 million below its present size. By that time, 23 percent of the population would be aged 65 and older. The government's concern with the demographic situation of the country and its intent to improve it have been manifest in various official statements, notably in the annual State of the Nation Address given by the president to the Federal Assembly (or State Duma). Formerly a subordinate theme (see the Documents item in the June 2005 issue of PDR), the issue constituted the centerpiece of the 2006 Address, delivered on 10 May in the Kremlin by President Vladimir Putin. Policies regarding health and mortality were given short shrift in the speech,road safety, bootleg alcohol, and cardiovascular diseases being singled out as areas of special concern. The president's remarks on immigration are of greater interest: immigration of skilled persons is to be encouraged. They must be educated and law-abiding and must treat the country's culture and national tradition with respect. The main focus of the address, however, was on the birth rate and policies to be introduced to raise it. (The need for an "effective demographic policy" as seen from the Kremlin was of course also voiced in the later stages of the Soviet era. See, for example, the excerpts from the addresses delivered by then Party Chairman Leonid Brezhnev and Premier Nikolai Tikhonov to the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in February 1981 that appear in the Documents item in the June 1981 issue of PDR.) In detail and specificity, and also in terms of the economic cost of the measures envisaged, Putin's speech is without parallel in addressing population policy matters by a head of state in Europe. The demo graphically relevant portion of the address is reproduced below in the English translation provided by the website of the president's office «http://www.kremlin.ru/eng». Calling Russia's demographic situation "the most acute problem facing our country today," Putin terms its causes as "well known," but lists only economic factors, presumably because these, at least in principle, lend themselves to remedial measures that the Russian government, its coffers now swollen with petrodollars, should be able to provide. His starkly economic interpretation of the problem of low fertility (in Russia apparently taking the form of convergence to a single-child pattern) may be overly optimistic. Causes of electing to have only one child may lie deeper than those Putin names: low incomes, inadequate housing, poor-quality health care and inadequate educational opportunities for children, and even lack of food. Putin's proposed policies to attack these problems in part consist of a major upgrading of existing child care benefits: to 1,500 roubles a month for the first child and 3,000 roubles for the second. The latter amount is roughly equivalent to US$113, a significant sum given Russian income levels. Maternity leave for 18 months at 40 percent of the mother's previous wage (subject to a ceiling) and compensation for the cost of preschool childcare round out the basic package proposed. Benefits are to be parity-dependent, highlighting the pronatalist intent of the measures. Thus the child benefit for the second child is to be twice as large as for the first, and payment for preschool childcare is to cover 20 percent of parental costs for the first, 50 percent for the second, and 70 percent for the third child. Putin mentions "young families" as recipients, but the payments are clearly directed to mothers. (Even the usually obligatory reference to western European,style paternity leave is missing.) The most innovative element of the proposed measures, however, is support for women who have a second birth. The state should provide such women (not the child, as called for in some European precedents) "with an initial maternity capital that will raise their social status and help resolve future problems." Citing expert opinion, Putin says that such support "should total at least 250,000 roubles [about $9,300] indexed to annual inflation." Evidently assuming, optimistically, that there will be many takers, Putin says that carrying out all these plans will require not only a lot of work but also "an immense amount of money." The measures are to be launched starting January 2007. [source] Government perspective, statutory protection and the direction of future research and co-operation in the context of the marine environmentAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2002T.W. Eggeling Abstract 1.The Falkland Islands Government is proud of the successful development of its commercial fishery and sees no reason why it should not continue to be managed in a responsible and sustainable way. However, it recognizes that the fishery is vulnerable to over-fishing, changes in the migration patterns of the principal commercial species and the health of world markets. 2.To widen its economic base, the Falkland Islands Government is seeking to promote farm diversification and eco-tourism, to further develop its commercial fishery, and to encourage offshore oil exploration and development in areas under its jurisdiction. 3.It recognizes the value and importance of its wildlife populations and habitats but sees no reason why economic development and environmental protection should be mutually exclusive, provided that suitable measures are adopted to control development and protect the environment, a precautionary approach is applied, all potential risks to the environment are carefully assessed and remedial measures taken to avoid or minimize any adverse impacts. Extensive new legislation has already been enacted, baseline survey work undertaken and further environmental research commissioned. 4.The Government accepts that additional wildlife habitats and populations need to be afforded environmental protection through designation as National Nature Reserves (NNR) and Marine Nature Reserves (MNR) and thereafter managed effectively. It recognizes that much more environmental research needs to be carried out and, to that end, is willing to seek expert guidance on the future direction of that research, to co-operate with other governments or organisations in the carrying out of that research and to contribute financially to further environmental research in and around the Falkland Islands. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Occupational injuries by hour of day and day of week: a 20-year studyAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 6 2006Eric Wigglesworth Objective: To examine by hour of day and day of week the 750,000 compensation claims that were lodged by male workers in Queensland, Australia, during the 20-year period from 1968 to 1988, including an investigation into some possible reasons for the increased number of claims on Mondays and the reduced number of claims on Fridays. Method: The study was based on the collection entitled Industrial Accident Statistics (Bulletin 79), published annually by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Queensland office. This was the only State collection to include data on compensated injuries categorised by hour of day and day of week. There was no Australia-wide dataset of compensated occupational injuries. Results: Compensation claims were not evenly distributed through the working week. There were more injuries on Mondays (23.6% of the total) than on Tuesdays (21.8%), than on Wednesdays (20.3%), than on Thursdays (18%), than on Fridays (16.3%). There were more injuries in the mornings than in the afternoons for every day of the working week. Conclusions and Implications: This study confirms the existence of a steady reduction in workers' compensation injury claims on successive days of the working week. One possible explanation for this finding is offered as a basis for further research into the reasons for this trend. Hopefully, the results of these and later studies may suggest remedial measures that will help reduce the number of occupational injuries. [source] | ||||||||||