bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
nestor Guideline for Preservation Planning – a Process Model
Authors: Schrimpf Sabine , Keitel Christian
Published: December 2015

The nestor guideline for preservation planning is the latest in a series of nestor publications. nestor is the German competence network for digital preservation and it offers all interested parties from the private and public domains the possibility to participate in working groups. The guideline for preservation planning is the result of such a working group, which discussed the conceptual and practical issues of implementing the OAIS Functional Entity “Preservation Planning”.The guideline describes a process model and offers some guidance on potential implementations. It integrates and builds on recognized community concepts like Significant Properties, the OAIS Designated Community, the National Archives of Australia’s Performance Model, the PREMIS concept of Intellectual Entities and Representations, and the PLANET’s approach to preservation planning. Furthermore, it introduces the concepts “intended use” (Nutzungsziele), “information type” (Informationstyp) and “preservation group” (Erhaltungsgruppe). The purpose of these new categories is that information objects shall be grouped by information type (e.g., audio, video, text…) and intended use (e.g., reading for pleasure, search for specific information…) to preservation groups for automatic processing. Significant properties can then be derived for whole preservation groups. The file format alone is considered as not completely sufficient for such categorisation. Some exemplary implementation solutions of the new concepts are presented in an annex.The guideline takes into account that resources for preservation planning and preservation actions are limited and has therefore adopted 4 premises: adequacy, financial viability, automation, and authenticity of archived objects. Its pragmatic approach becomes apparent in the definition and explanation of these dimensions. The guideline is written from the point of view of representatives of memory institutions, i.e., libraries, archives, museums, and is primarily targeted at this context although it may be useful for other information preserving institutions too.This contribution introduces the nestor guideline for preservation planning (for now only available in German; English translation envisaged for 1st half of 2014) to an international audience for the first time. It also matches the process model and the new concepts intended use, information type and preservation group to the collection and preservation reality of the German National Library.
Research Libraries’ New Role in Research Data Management, Current Trends and Visions in Denmark
Authors: Kruse Filip , Thestrup Jesper Boserup
Published: December 2015

The amount of research data is growing constantly, due to new technology with new potentials for collecting and analysing both digital data and research objects. This growth creates a demand for a coherent IT-infrastructure. Such an infrastructure must be able to provide facilities for storage, preservation and a more open access to data in order to fulfil the demands from the researchers themselves, the research councils and research foundations.This paper presents the findings of a research project carried out under the auspices of DEFF (Danmarks Elektroniske Fag- og Forskningsbibliotek - Denmark’s Electronic research Library)[i] to analyse how the Danish universities store, preserve and provide access to research data. It shows that they do not have a common IT-infrastructure for research data management. This paper describes the various paths chosen by individual universities and research institutions, and the background for their strategies of research data management. Among the main reasons for the uneven practices are the lack of a national policy in this field, the different scientific traditions and cultures and the differences in the use and organization of IT-services.This development contains several perspectives that are of particular relevance to research libraries. As they already curate digital collections and are active in establishing web archives, the research libraries become involved in research and dissemination of knowledge in new ways. This paper gives examples of how The State and University Library’s services facilitate research data management with special regard to digitization of research objects, storage, preservation and sharing of research data.This paper concludes that the experience and skills of research libraries make the libraries important partners in a research data management infrastructure.
The Ph.D.-candidate as an information literate resource: developing research support and information literacy skills in an informal setting
Authors: Daland Hilde
Published: December 2015

This article aims at suggesting a new way of developing research support for PhD-candidates. Previous research on the field of research support greatly focuses on the librarians’ competencies and how to assist researchers with what they lack in information literacy (IL) skills. There is little focus on collaboration with researchers to achieve a mutual learning outcome in regard to developing research support and IL skills. A socio-cultural view on IL indicates that IL skills are developed in a context, and therefore are situated. A high level of IL in one situation could be regarded as insufficient in another. Therefore, a librarian’s view on IL could be incomparable to a PhD-student’s everyday information needs. Many liaison librarians do not have a PhD, but are still expected to provide PhD-candidates with research support of high quality. How can we do so if we only see the librarian’s perspective? Can informal settings and user involvement be a productive way of developing research support and IL skills? As librarians it is not always easy to know what researchers need. However, if the threshold has been lowered, in an informal setting, one might obtain the questions that reveal difficulties for researchers when it comes to library services and resources. Also, through user involvement, the researchers can teach librarians about the research process. This study includes an anonymous survey among PhD-candidates at the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of Agder (UoA) and interviews with two of the PhD-candidates in addition to interviews with all of Agder University Library’s (AUL) liaison librarians. In general, PhD-candidates that interact informally with their liaison librarian have a higher confidence in their own overview when it comes to library resources. They do not have problems contacting their librarians for help, but they do not expect the librarians to do their searching for them.
Piloting a National Programme for the Digitization of Medieval Manuscripts in Germany
Authors: Fabian Claudia , Schreiber Carolin
Published: December 2015

An initiative to develop a concerted national programme for the digitization of medieval manuscripts in Germany was launched by five German manuscript centres in January 2013. This new proposal aims at the development of a master plan for the digitization of nearly all surviving medieval manuscripts in Germany and at the establishment of a new funding programme of the DFG (German Research Foundation), the largest research funding organization in Germany.Besides this fundamental financial aspect, other objectives are the diffusion of technical standards and know-how to less experienced cultural heritage institutions and the creation of a nationwide network of competent partners, e.g. in the areas of digitization itself, long-term storage of digital data, the administration of persistent identifiers, and the internet presentation of digital collections. An important role will be played by the German manuscripts portal, Manuscripta Mediaevalia, which is intended as the central hub for both the presentation of digital collections of German manuscripts, but also of the relevant metadata, that is, digital and ideally searchable full-text versions of scholarly, in-depth manuscript descriptions. Of course, this centralization and aggregation will also facilitate the exchange of data with other institutions.The pilot phase will lead to the definition of a national digitization strategy with a clear prioritization of projects to be approached. It also aims at the creation of a sustainable technical infrastructure for the integration of both primary and secondary digital data. In this way, the current fragmentation of information in a plethora of local digitization projects is to be superseded by a unitary and complete virtual research environment for all those interested in medieval manuscripts from Germany.
Changing the Rules? RDA and cataloguing in Europe
Authors: Danskin Alan , Gryspeerdt Katharine
Published: December 2015

This paper provides an overview of plans to implement RDA: Resource Description & Access in Europe to replace existing cataloguing rules.  It is based on survey information gathered by EURIG and CILIP CIG.  It includes background on the development of RDA as a replacement for AACR2.
Colombia y el cumplimiento del Objetivo de Desarrollo del Milenio a la salud materna
Authors: Ortiz Lizcano Edgar Iván
Published: December 2015

En el año 2000, Colombia refrendó la Declaración del Milenio de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, en donde 189 Estados se comprometieron en el cumplimiento de los "Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio" (ODM). Estos ODM están soportados en los principios de equidad, igualdad y humanización como bases para el desarrollo humano como fin y medio de las políticas del Estado. Con respecto al cumplimiento del objetivo 5: "Mejorar la salud materna", que fijó la meta universal de reducir la mortalidad materna en tres cuartas partes en el periodo 1990-2015, Colombia definió como propósito reducirla a 45 defunciones maternas por cien mil nacidos vivos usando como base la tasa registrada en el año 1998 (1).
El acceso abierto al conocimiento: un derecho consecuencia de la globalización
Authors: Gaitán-Duarte Hernando
Published: December 2015

La globalización es un concepto que ha afectado nuestra manera de ver el mundo, se caracteriza por una menos clara delimitación de las fronteras entre los países, una menor autonomía del control que ejerce el Estado sobre sus ciudadanos (1) y un tiempo menor efectivo entre la ocurrencia de un evento y su difusión en la sociedad (2). Las razones para el surgimiento de este paradigma son varias, entre ellas: los adelantos tecnológicos, como la Internet, que permite la creación de redes sociales tipo Facebook, que difícilmente obedecen a fronteras físicas; el acceso inmediato a la información, ya sea por los medios de comunicación tradicionales como la televisión o la prensa, o por los nuevos como twitter o YouTube-como ejemplo recordamos las imágenes del ataque a las torres gemelas, transmitidas en directo por la televisión-, y, por último, la creación de organismos supranacionales que vigilan el respeto de los derechos humanos, como la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI) (3).

Algunos autores explican que la globalización tiene origen en los conceptos económicos dominantes hoy en día: el capitalismo y la economía de mercado. Se busca que cada vez haya mercados más grandes para el consumo de bienes y servicios, y que haya menos controles a las transacciones internacionales de dineros o a las inversiones (4). De esta manera, se habla de compañías globales como Coca-cola, de tratados de libre comercio, de flujos de capitales entre países (1).

Bajo este nuevo escenario, las economías débiles quedan a merced de las presiones de las empresas transnacionales o sus representantes (5). Esto, además de consecuencias económicas, también tiene consecuencias sociales: se afectan las condiciones laborales de los trabajadores y hay migraciones de poblaciones, no vistas desde hace tiempo, como las que ocurren en la actualidad desde Siria y el norte de África hacia Europa.
Desenlaces materno-fetales de los embarazos gemelares atendidos en el Hospital Universitario de Santander, Bucaramanga (Colombia), 2007-2011. Estudio de cohorte
Authors: Becerra-Mojica Carlos Hernán , Díaz-Martínez Luis Alfonso , Contreras-García Gustavo Adolfo , Beltrán-Avendaño Mónica Andrea , Salazar-Martínez Hernando Augusto , Gutiérrez-Sánchez Luz Angela , Otero-Pinto Juan Carlos , Montezuma-Niño Laura Constanza
Published: December 2015

Objetivo: los embarazos gemelares implican mayor riesgo de complicaciones materno-fetales que los embarazos únicos, particularmente en los monocoriales. El objetivo del trabajo fue describir las características clínicas y los desenlaces materno-fetales, por tipo de placenta (monocorial o bicorial), de los embarazos gemelares atendidos en el Hospital Universitario de Santander (HUS), institución de tercer nivel de complejidad localizada en Bucaramanga (Colombia).

Materiales y métodos: estudio descriptivo de cohorte, se incluyeron las pacientes que terminaron un embarazo gemelar entre 2007 y 2011 en el HUS, hospital general de referencia de la región centro-oriental del país. Muestreo consecutivo. Se evaluó la edad gestacional en la primera consulta al hospital, los hallazgos clínicos en la evaluación inicial, la terminación del parto y los resultados perinatales. Se hace análisis descriptivo por tipo de corionicidad.
Resultados: se incluyeron un total de 248 gestantes con embarazo gemelar en el periodo de estudio. La mediana de la edad gestacional en la primera atención en el hospital en fue de 34 semanas. Al ingreso, 127 (51,2 %) pacientes se diagnosticaron con embarazo monocorial, pero solo en dos terceras partes coincidió el diagnóstico prenatal de corionicidad con el del posparto. Se diagnosticó RCIU con más frecuencia en embarazos monocoriales que en bicoriales (22,3 vs. 7,5 %), y el doppler se encontró alterado con mayor frecuencia en fetos de  embarazo monocorial (7,8 vs. 1,1 %). Los neonatos > 24 semanas de edad gestacional de embarazo monocorial pesaron, en promedio, 109 g (IC 95 %: 34-184) menos que los bicoriales.
Conclusiones: los resultados de este estudio sugieren un problema de salud pública en este grupo de pacientes, con inicio tardío de control prenatal, de remisión tardía a centros especializados y capacidad insuficiente para definir corionicidad. Se requiere plantear estrategias de atención que incluyan considerar los embarazos gemelares como alto riesgo y garantizar la atención oportuna y adecuada, orientada por una guía de cuidado diferencial para este grupo de gestantes.
Climate alters intraspecific variation in copepod effect traits through pond food webs
Authors: Charette Cristina , Derry Alison M.
Published: December 2015

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are primarily generated by phytoplankton in aquatic ecosystems, and can limit the growth, development, and reproduction of higher consumers. Among the most critical of the EFAs are highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs), which are only produced by certain groups of phytoplankton. Changing environmental conditions can alter phytoplankton community and fatty acid composition and affect the HUFA content of higher trophic levels. Almost no research has addressed intraspecific variation in HUFAs in zooplankton, nor intraspecific relationships of HUFAs with body size and fecundity. This is despite that intraspecific variation in HUFAs can exceed interspecific variation and that intraspecific trait variation in body size and fecundity is increasingly recognized to have an important role in food web ecology (effect traits). Our study addressed the relative influences of abiotic selection and food web effects associated with climate change on intraspecific differences and interrelationships between HUFA content, body size, and fecundity of freshwater copepods. We applied structural equation modeling and regression analyses to intraspecific variation in a dominant calanoid copepod, Leptodiatomus minutus, among a series of shallow north‐temperate ponds. Climate‐driven diurnal temperature fluctuations favored the coexistence of diversity of phytoplankton groups with different temperature optima and nutritive quality. This resulted in unexpected positive relationships between temperature, copepod DHA content and body size. Temperature correlated positively with diatom biovolume, and mediated relationships between copepod HUFA content and body size, and between copepod body size and fecundity. The presence of brook trout further accentuated these positive effects in warm ponds, likely through nutrient cycling and stimulation of phytoplankton resources. Climate change may have previously unrecognized positive effects on freshwater copepod DHA content, body size, and fecundity in the small, shallow bodies of inland waters that are commonly found in north‐temperate landscapes.
Life history traits and exploitation affect the spatial mean‐variance relationship in fish abundance
Authors: Kuo Ting‐Chun , Mandal Sandip , Yamauchi Atsushi , Hsieh Chih‐hao
Published: December 2015

Fishing is expected to alter the spatial heterogeneity of fishes. As an effective index to quantify spatial heterogeneity, the exponent b in Taylor's power law (V = aMb) measures how spatial variance (V) varies with changes in mean abundance (M) of a population, with larger b indicating higher spatial aggregation potential (i.e., more heterogeneity). Theory predicts b is related with life history traits, but empirical evidence is lacking. Using 50‐yr spatiotemporal data from the California Current Ecosystem, we examined fishing and life history effects on Taylor's exponent by comparing spatial distributions of exploited and unexploited fishes living in the same environment. We found that unexploited species with smaller size and generation time exhibit larger b, supporting theoretical prediction. In contrast, this relationship in exploited species is much weaker, as the exponents of large exploited species were higher than unexploited species with similar traits. Our results suggest that fishing may increase spatial aggregation potential of a species, likely through degrading their size/age structure. Results of moving‐window cross‐correlation analyses on b vs. age structure indices (mean age and age evenness) for some exploited species corroborate our findings. Furthermore, through linking our findings to other fundamental ecological patterns (occupancy‐abundance and size‐abundance relationships), we provide theoretical arguments for the usefulness of monitoring the exponent b for management purposes. We propose that age/size‐truncated species might have lower recovery rate in spatial occupancy, and the spatial variance‐mass relationship of a species might be non‐linear. Our findings provide theoretical basis explaining why fishery management strategy should be concerned with changes to the age and spatial structure of exploited fishes.
Direct and indirect effects of environmental factors on dietary niches in size‐structured populations of a wild salmonid
Authors: Musseau Camille , Vincenzi Simone , Jesenšek Dušan , Cantera Isabel , Boulêtreau Stéphanie , Santoul Frédéric , Crivelli Alain J.
Published: December 2015

Dietary plasticity of populations can be associated to ontogenetic diet preferences and depends on the size‐structure of populations. Dietary niche characterizes the functional role of organisms in a food web, as it reflects both resources' diversity used by a consumer and trophic interactions in the system. Dietary niches are controlled both by biotic and abiotic factors, but their interactions in natural systems remain poorly studied. Here, we investigated the variability of dietary niche in salmonid wild populations focusing both on inter‐population and intra‐population (through time) trophic changes, using marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) living in Slovenian headwater streams as a model system. Stable isotope analysis showed high variability of dietary niche and trophic diversity among six of the seven remnant marble trout populations. We observed substantial differences in dietary niche width among populations and within populations through time. Results of partial least square path modelling highlighted opposite effects of immature and mature trout on trophic niche structure. Direct effects of temperature and slope (stream and watershed) were opposite; temperature narrowed dietary niches while slope increased them. Environmental factors (e.g., temperature, stream and watershed slope) had indirect effects on trophic niches after accounting for fish density. Our results showed that size‐distribution and sexual maturity are key determinants of the dietary niche width in a population. Increasing density of immature trout tended to widen the dietary niche while increasing density of mature trout tended to narrow it. Environmental factors had direct effects both on resources and consumers densities and indirect effects. Direct and indirect effects were often antagonistic.
Competitive effects of fire‐resistant saplings on their fire‐sensitive neighbors are greater than the reverse
Authors: Brewer J. Stephen
Published: December 2015

Although repeated fires are generally thought to reduce competition, direct tests of this hypothesis are rare. Furthermore, recent theory predicts that fires can increase competitive effects of fire‐resistant species on fire‐sensitive species and thus create stable assemblages dominated by the former. In this study, I quantified competition between saplings of fire‐resistant oaks and their fire‐sensitive non‐oak neighbors in adjacent, repeatedly‐burned and unburned 1‐ha plots following damage by a tornado that reduced canopy cover to 60%. Using field experiments with established in situ saplings, I tested the hypothesis that competition was greater in an unburned plot than in a repeatedly burned plot by examining both the effects of sapling neighbor identity and experimental sapling neighbor reduction (repeated clipping) on the growth of fire‐resistant oak saplings. To test whether competition was increased by fire, I measured diameter growth responses of fire‐sensitive non‐oaks to repeated clipping and topkill of neighbors by fire. Oaks, which generally had higher diameter:height ratios, were more resistant to topkill than were non‐oaks. Although diameter growth of both oaks and non‐oaks was greater in the burned than in the unburned plot, growth of oak saplings was not influenced by neighbors in either plot in a year with or without fire. In contrast, competitive effects of non‐topkilled saplings (the vast majority of which were oaks) on topkilled non‐oaks were significant in the burned plot in 2014. Growth of topkilled non‐oak saplings was significantly greater in pairs in which the neighbor had been clipped or topkilled by fire than in pairs in which the neighbor had neither been clipped nor topkilled. Hence, the lower incidence of topkill in oaks in the burned plot after repeated fires increased their competitive effects on their non‐oak neighbors in the burned plot. Growth of non‐oaks did not increase with oak neighbor reduction in a year without fire. Because avoidance of topkill by fire was positively related to diameter, results suggest that repeated fires could generate a positive feedback between greater fire tolerance by oak saplings and increased competitive effects on their non‐oak sapling neighbors.
Conspecific negative density dependence decreases with increasing species abundance
Authors: Xu Meng , Wang Yongfan , Yu Shixiao
Published: December 2015

Conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) is often involved in explaining the maintenance of species diversity in forest communities given that it may suppress the common species. Recent studies, in contrast, suggested that CNDD had a stronger effect on rare species than on common species and thus shaped the current tree abundance pattern. However, this finding was obtained mainly in the tropical forest and mixed results also occurred in the similar area. In addition, experimental test of the role of soil biota in maintaining this relationship is rare. In this study, two parallel manipulative shade‐house and field experiments were conducted in a subtropical evergreen broad‐leaved forest to test whether abundant species showed weaker CNDD than rarer species and whether susceptibility to soil biota was sufficient to maintain this relationship. The shade‐house experiment provided strong evidence for negative density‐dependent effects, and the strength of the density effect was significantly decreased along with the increase of the tree abundance. In the field experiment, a similar result was obtained. The density effect did not correlate with tree abundance after the sterilized treatment in the shade‐house experiment and the fungicide treatment in the field. Our results indicated that CNDD was negatively corrected with tree abundance in this subtropical forest and that soil biota played an important role in maintaining the relationship.
Biogeochemical consequences of regional land use change to a biofuel crop in the southeastern United States
Authors: Duval Benjamin D. , Hartman Melannie , Marx Ernest , Parton William J. , Long Stephen P. , DeLucia Evan H.
Published: December 2015

The United States has mandated the production of 80 billion liters of second‐generation biofuel by 2022, and several approaches to meet this target focus on using ligno‐cellulosic ethanol from perennial grasses and non‐food crops. The large‐scale deployment of biofuel agronomy should consider high‐yielding crops that meet ethanol production goals, choose appropriate landscapes for biofuel crops from a climate and food production standpoint, and a full consideration of the environmental impact of large‐scale land use change. The southeastern United States has a long growing season conducive for producing high‐yielding crops, and is relatively less important to US food production than the rain‐fed Midwestern states that have been extensively studied for biofuel crops. We use the DayCent biogeochemical model to run simulation experiments to test the hypotheses that converting a large swath of traditional agriculture in the southeastern United States that is already utilized for bioenergy production (assuming 35% of current corn‐soy, and 10% of grazed pasture hectares; ~950,000 ha) to energy cane will result in greater biomass production, increased soil C storage, decreased soil N losses and lower greenhouse gas emissions than a landscape of corn‐soy rotations and interspersed grazed pasture. Our simulations suggest that energy cane above‐ground productivity on former pasture and corn‐soy fields would be between 52‐59 million Mg dry mass per year, resulting in 21.1–23.7 billion liters of ligno‐cellulosic ethanol, or ~28% of the 2022 US government mandate. DayCent did not predict significant changes in soil C flux from land conversion to energy cane, but simulations predicted lower rates of N loss compared to current agriculture. GHG emissions from energy cane landscapes were substantially higher on former pasture, but an order of magnitude lower when compared to corn‐soy hectares. While further study is needed to ascertain the full economic and industrial feasibility of converting nearly 1,000,000 ha of land to energy cane production, our results suggest that such an undertaking could meet a sizeable fraction of the US ethanol mandate, reduce N pollution and GHG emissions, and avoid compromising land devoted to food production in the southeastern United States.
IT Governance Landscape: Toward Understanding the Effective IT Governance Decision-Making
Authors: ALTEMIMI MOHAMMED ALAA H. , ZAKARIA MOHAMAD SHANUDIN
Published: December 2015

In recent years, IT governance has made it possible for organizations to meet and realize their IT business value, and mitigate the risk associated with IT to fulfill different strategic objectives. However, the challenges for effectively governing an organization’s Information Technology (IT) remain a major concern for the Board and executive management in many organizations today. A number of researchers have attempted to develop holistic IT governance frameworks but there is still much room for improvement in fusing IT governance into one process. More considerable work is needed to further the understanding of IT governance, and to develop a successful holistic instrument of IT governance. The aim of this paper is to provide an understanding of IT/ Business decision-making based on IT governance perspective and offers more precise insights into how the decision of IT and IT governance correlate to investment. Most organizations are currently searching for methods and practices for the solution of decision-making, optimization of IT processes with a key of IT governance component. We proposed an instrument of ITG decision-making called ‘Effective ITG landscape’. It can help managers to have a good understanding of IT governance and provides guidance for IT governance implementing.
Accord on “Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh”: A Breakthrough Agreement?
Authors: Rahman Zillur
Published: December 2015

This discussion aims to review the emergence of the “Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh” signed on May 13, 2013, and evaluate if it is an international agreement “breakthrough”. The Accord is signed not only by the global clothing brands and national garment unions but also by international trade union organizations, which is a new development. This raises a question: could this agreement set a new international negotiating precedence in industrial relations between transnational corporations and international trade union organizations? In Bangladesh, globalization has played an important role for booming garment industries. Yet, lack of workers’ rights, weak safety situations, and poor working conditions have continuously been reported. Local and international solidarity movements and garment workers’ welfare associations have been emphasizing workers’ rights and better and safer working environments in workplaces since the beginning of the 1990s. However, their voices were not highly considered even there were some initiatives. Following the ‘Rana Plaza’ garment factory building collapse in April 2013, one of the world’s worst industrial accidents, with more than 1,100 dead workers, some strong measures have been taken—one of these, signing the ‘Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh’. This is a strong achievement of a long struggle to take collective action for improving the safety in garment factories in Bangladesh. Although the Accord is understood as a game changer or breakthrough in relation to national and international agreements, do we really know yet if it is a breakthrough or not when it comes to its implementation?
Sexual Harassment of Newcomers in Elder Care. An Institutional Practice?
Authors: Krøjer Jo , Lehn-Christiansen Sine , Nielsen Mette Lykke
Published: December 2015

Sexual harassment is illegal and may have very damaging effects on the people exposed to it. One would expect organizations, employers, and institutions to take very good care to prevent employees from exposure to sexual harassment from anyone in their workplace. And yet, many people, mostly women, are exposed to sexual harassment at work. In care work, such behaviour is often directed toward their female caregiver by elderly citizens in need of care. Contemporary Nordic studies of working life and work environment have primarily investigated the interpersonal dimensions of sexual harassment, thus focusing on the relation between elderly citizens in need of care and their professional caregivers. In this article, we argue that sexual harassment from the elderly toward newcomers in elder care should also be seen as an effect of institutional practices. Based upon a Foucauldianinspired notion of practice-making, the article carries out a secondary analysis of three different empirical studies in order to explore how sexual harassment is produced and maintained through institutional practices in elder care. The term institution in this perspective includes three dimensions; a political, an educational (educational institutions in health and elder care), and a work organizational dimension. By examining elder care in these different dimensions, we identify how sexual harassment of professional caregivers is produced and maintained through institutional practice-making in elder care. The article thus contributes to our knowledge on working life by expanding and qualifying the understanding of the problematic working environment in care work, and by offering an alternative theoretical and analytical approach to the study of sexual harassment. Together, these insights suggest how elder care institutions might act to prevent sexual harassment toward caregivers.
Former Glory and Challenges Ahead: The Definition of Working Life Research in Sweden
Authors: Håkansta Carin
Published: December 2015

This conceptual paper looks into the definition of “working life research” in Sweden and poses two questions: (1) How has the definition of the concept working life research changed over time? (2) Why has it changed? The paper is based on two studies using two different empirical sources. The first source consists of government documents related to science policy in general and working life research in particular. The second source consists of interviews with Swedish researchers. According to the results of the first study, there has been a gradual decrease in attention to working life research in government science science policy documents since the 1990s. Furthermore, there was a conceptual change in the early 1990s when working life research went from referring to work organization research to a broader definition also including work environment and labor market research. The results from the second study show that work science decreasingly appears in university curricula and in titles of university departments. They also show that currently active researchers, especially the younger ones, tend not to refer to themselves as “work scientists” and “working life researchers.” The author argues that the root cause of the apparent disappearance of the concept working life research has been the influence of neoliberalism, which, since the 1980s–1990s, has affected science policy as well as labor market policy. The effects of policy change on working life research are the loss of its previously so privileged position in the public science system and the weakening of what used to be its most important political ally: the trade unions.
Hard Work in Soft Regulation: A Discussion of the Social Mechanisms in OHS Management Standards and Possible Dilemmas in the Regulation of Psychosocial Work Environment
Authors: Hohnen Pernille , Hasle Peter , Jespersen Anne Helbo , Madsen Christian Uhrenholdt
Published: December 2015

Certified occupational health and safety (OHS) management systems have become a global instrument in regulation of the work environment. However, their actual impact on OHS—in particular on softer psychosocial issues in the work environment—has been questioned. The most important standard of OHS management is OHSAS 18001, which has recently been supplemented with a British publically available guideline (PAS 1010) focusing specifically on psychosocial risk management. On the basis of the international literature on management standards, the present paper analyses OHSAS 18001 and PAS 1010 in order to understand the mechanism by which they work. The paper takes a social constructionist approach conceptualizing standards and their expected mechanisms as socially constructed—based on a particular kind of knowledge and logic—although they are presented as objective. Such a constructionist approach also emphasizes how standards transform specific work environment problems into generic procedures that can be audited. In the case of OHS standards, both the work environment in general and the psychosocial risks in particular are transformed into simple monocausal auditable relations whereby the complexity of psychosocial work environment issues seems to disappear. The new PAS 1010 guideline, which is particularly focusing on regulation of the psychosocial work environment, only partly succeeds in solving these shortcomings of OHSAS 18001.
How do Restructuring Processes Influence Low- and Unskilled Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Workers and their Managers in a Norwegian Hospital?
Authors: Enehaug Heidi , Mamelund Svenn-Erik
Published: December 2015

It is a well-known fact that workplace restructuring has undesirable effects on the psychosocial work environment, health, and sick leave, but no attention has been given to the health effects of work environments characterized by restructuring, a multicultural staff, and a strong socioeconomic occupational hierarchy. In this casestudy, we examine a large Norwegian hospital in which all of these features are present. Through in-depth interviews with employees and their managers we investigate the healthiness of the restructuring process, and the consequences of the restructuring process on the work environment, subjective health, and sick leave. Results show that immigrant workers received less information, had higher level of frustration and less control over work, and experienced a decrease in well-being, autonomy, and social support. Immigrant worker vulnerability, that is, the handicap of poor understanding of the Norwegian language and a lack of understanding of general and local organizational norms and practices in the Norwegian workplace, is an important explanation. Immigrant workers with a poor Norwegian language understanding are even worse off. We conclude that a strong occupational hierarchy within the hospital exerts an overall influence on the position of low/unskilled employees in the restructuring process as well as their perception of and involvement in it.
Do Crop Rotation and Tillage Influence Soybean Seed‐Applied Inoculant Decisions?
Authors: Marburger David A. , Mourtzinis Spyridon , Gaska John M. , Conley Shawn P.
Published: December 2015

Seed‐applied inoculants containing Bradyrhizobium japonicum are commonly used in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] to promote biological N fixation, but the interactive effects of crop rotation or tillage system by inoculant use have not been well examined. Field research trials were conducted in a long‐term crop rotation experiment during 2009–2011 to measure soybean yield and grain composition response to seed‐applied inoculants as influenced by crop rotation and tillage system. Main plots were two tillage treatments (no‐till and conventional). Subplots consisted of seven crop rotation sequences involving corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean. Sub‐subplots consisted of three rhizobia treatments: Optimize, Excalibre, and a control. The results showed that crop rotation and tillage practice did not interact (P > 0.05) with inoculant use to affect seed yield but inoculant treatment response was dependent on the crop rotation sequence when this interaction was sliced. Inoculant use increased yield by 8 and 10% and 7 and 9% within the third year soybean after 5 yr of corn and fourth year soybean after 5 yr of corn rotations, respectively. Seed treated with Optimize yielded 130 kg ha−1 (4%) more than the control. Crop rotation and tillage practice also did not interact (P > 0.05) with inoculant use to influence grain composition (i.e., protein and oil content and yield). The data from this study, alongside previously published research results, suggest that growers need to consider product cost and efficacy, probability of return on investment, and other individual risk factors when making inoculant use decisions.
Phenolic Compounds Affect Bloat Potential of Wheat Forage
Authors: Malinowski Dariusz P. , Pinchak William E. , Min Byeng R. , Rudd Jackie C. , Baker Jason
Published: December 2015

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the major source of high‐quality winter forage for grazing cattle (Bos taurus L.) in the southern Great Plains of the United States. High concentrations of crude protein and soluble nitrogen fractions in wheat forage are often associated with frothy bloat conditions in cattle. The death loss of stocker cattle grazing wheat due to bloat ranges 2 to 3% in the southern Great Plains each year. The occurrence of frothy bloat in cattle grazing on wheat forage is affected by a number of factors, including complex relationships among wheat plant metabolism, cattle genetics, environmental conditions, and ruminal microbial activity. Traditional approaches to control frothy bloat rely on feed supplements such as surfactants and ionophores, grass hay, and condensed tannins. In a series of experiments conducted at Vernon and Chillicothe, TX, during 2004 to 2006, we determined correlations between total phenolic concentrations in wheat forage and foam strength (an estimate of the bloat potential) in a range of wheat breeding lines and commercial cultivars evaluated by the Wheat Breeding Program of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Total phenolic concentration was inversely correlated with foam strength in each growing season. Wheat cultivars and experimental breeding lines differed in total phenolic concentration in forage, suggesting a potential for development of cultivars with higher phenolic content in forage as a measure to decrease bloat occurrences in grazing cattle.
Well water quality in rural Nicaragua using a low-cost bacterial test and microbial source tracking
Authors: Weiss Patricia , Aw Tiong Gim , Urquhart Gerald R. , Galeano Miguel Ruiz , Rose Joan B.
Published: December 2015

Water-related diseases, particularly diarrhea, are major contributors to morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Monitoring water quality on a global scale is crucial to making progress in terms of population health. Traditional analytical methods are difficult to use in many regions of the world in low-resource settings that face severe water quality issues due to the inaccessibility of laboratories. This study aimed to evaluate a new low-cost method (the compartment bag test (CBT)) in rural Nicaragua. The CBT was used to quantify the presence of Escherichia coli in drinking water wells and aimed to determine the source(s) of any microbial contamination. Results indicate that the CBT is a viable method for use in remote rural regions. The overall quality of well water in Pueblo Nuevo, Nicaragua was deemed unsafe, and results led to the conclusion that animal fecal wastes may be one of the leading causes of well contamination. Elevation and depth of wells were not found to impact overall water quality. However rope-pump wells had a 64.1% reduction in contamination when compared with simple wells.
Health impact assessment of wastewater reuse for replenishing an urban landscape lake by disability-adjusted life year
Authors: Chen Rong , Gao Tingting , Wang Xiaochang , Zhou Jinhong , Xu Limei
Published: December 2015

Wastewater reuse for landscape water replenishment has raised severe public concerns over potential health hazards. Thus, this study aims to quantify the health impacts due to the replenishment of Lake Cui in Kunming with reclaimed water. Based on experimental analyses, Escherichia coli and norovirus were determined as the major pathogens in Lake Cui. Three typical exposure routes, namely river cleaning, boating and road flushing were identified during a field investigation. The disease burden, expressed by disability-adjusted life year (DALY) was evaluated and compared with the infection risk obtained by quantitative microbial risk assessment. Findings showed that the disease burden due to road flushing was highest compared to the other pathways. For the different pathogens, E. coli was the leading cause of DALYs. As well, infection risk for the two pathogens exceeded the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) risk level of 10−4, while the disease burdens were below the WHO threshold of 10−6 DALYs. Thus, infection risk should not be regarded as the endpoint for health impact assessment. By contrast, the disease burden is much more suitable for quantifying the health hazard due to environmental pollution. The methodology introduced in this study provides new directions for the evaluation of health impacts related to water reuse for landscape ecology.
Baseline groundwater quality in unconventional oil and gas fields
Authors: Levine Audrey D. , Benotti Mark J.
Published: December 2015

In recent years, expansion of unconventional oil and gas production has prompted significant interest in potential impacts on drinking water resources. In many cases, water quality investigations rely on access to landowner water wells to develop baseline data prior to drilling; respond to spills, complaints, or incidents; or evaluate potential impacts due to drilling, completion, hydraulic fracturing, water management, or well operation. However, differences in water well construction, operation, maintenance, and wellhead protection practices can complicate sampling efforts and introduce artifacts that might confound interpretation of results and definition of baseline conditions. The frequency of sampling and the types of analyses also vary from site to site, ranging from basic field parameters such as conductivity, pH, and water level to comprehensive analyses of organics, inorganics, radionuclides, gases, stable isotopes, and microorganisms. Regulatory agencies may also specify required analytical parameters and monitoring frequency. This paper highlights some of the challenges associated with deriving baseline data from different types of wells and provides preliminary data on the use of chemical fingerprinting to differentiate sources of waterborne contaminants.
Affinity adsorption for the removal of organic micropollutants in drinking water sources; proof of principle
Authors: Hofman-Caris C. H. M. , Bäuerlein P. S. , Siegers W. G. , Ziaie J. , Tolkamp H. H. , de Voogt P.
Published: December 2015

Sources for drinking water (DW) production contain increasing concentrations of organic micropollutants, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Traditional purification processes are not suitable for their removal or conversion, but even sophisticated technologies, like advanced oxidation processes and membrane filtration, are not able to efficiently remove all compounds from DW. For recalcitrant compounds, affinity adsorption, based on a specific interaction of the adsorbent surface with functional groups in the compounds' molecular structure, may be an effective alternative or addition. It can either be applied as a polishing step in DW purification or for removal of compounds directly at the source.
ANN-based approach for the estimation of aquifer pollutant source behaviour
Authors: Foddis Maria Laura , Ackerer Philippe , Montisci Augusto , Uras Gabriele
Published: December 2015

The problem of identifying an unknown pollution source in polluted aquifers, based on known contaminant concentration measurements, is part of the broader group of issues called inverse problems. This paper investigates the feasibility of solving the groundwater pollution inverse problem by using artificial neural networks (ANNs). The approach consists first in training an ANN to solve the direct problem, in which the pollutant concentration in a set of monitoring wells is calculated for a known pollutant source. Successively, the trained ANN is frozen and is used to solve the inverse problem, where the pollutant source is calculated which corresponds to a set of concentrations in the monitoring wells. The approach has been applied for a real case which deals with the contamination of the Rhine aquifer by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) due to a tanker accident. The obtained results are compared with the solution obtained with a different approach retrieved from literature. The results show the suitability of ANN-based methods for solving inverse non-linear problems.