American Conference Research Articles

Coming Up…

The 2023 American Psychiatric Association conference will be held May 20‐24 in San Francisco, California. For more information, go to https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/meetings/annual‐meeting

Coming Up…

The 2023 American Psychiatric Association conference will be held May 20‐24 in San Francisco, California. For more information, go to https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/meetings/annual‐meeting

Coming Up…

The 2023 American Psychiatric Association conference will be held May 20‐24 in San Francisco, California. For more information, go to https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/meetings/annual‐meeting

Forum: The Death of Queen Elizabeth II: Meaning and Media

AbstractThis is the revised transcript of a roundtable on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, presented at the North American Conference on British Studies in Chicago in November 2022. It includes an account of the many meanings of Queen Elizabeth II for her subjects and discussion of why so many at home and in the Commonwealth were devoted to her. The panel also touches on the significance for the monarchy of Elizabeth's passing, the meaning of queenship, and the importance of Elizabeth's gender for British women. An account of the queen and the Commonwealth focuses particularly on imperial optics and the queen's desire to be seen as the ruler of the Commonwealth. The panel concludes with the personalized account of a transnational scholar regarding the degree to which the media manufactured the appearance of grief over the queen's passing.

Alterations to biomarkers related to long-term exposure to diesel exhaust at concentrations below occupational exposure limits in the European Union and the USA

BackgroundWe previously found that occupational exposure to diesel engine exhaust (DEE) was associated with alterations to 19 biomarkers that potentially reflect the mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Whether DEE is associated with...

Evaluation of Seasonal Variation on the Health Risks Using the Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Approach in a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Hamadan, Iran.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a source of airborne bacterial contamination that can pose health risks to staff. The aim of this study was to evaluate seasonal variations in the health risks of exposure to Staphylococcus aureus bioaerosols using the quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) approach in a WWTP in Hamadan, Iran. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. This study determined the emission concentrations of S. aureus bioaerosols in summer and winter. Then, the health risks of three exposure scenarios (the worker, field engineer, and laboratory technician) were evaluated using the QMRA approach. The bioaerosol samples were collected every 12 days in both summer and winter of 2021 with a nutrient agar using a single-stage cascade impactor (Quick Take 30, SKC Inc.) in both outdoor and indoor environments. The results demonstrated that in both seasons, S. aureus bioaerosol concentrations in outdoor and indoor environments were below the standard established by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (500 CFU/m3 ). While in summer, the annual infection risks and the disease burden for the three exposure scenarios in both outdoor and indoor environments were higher than the United States Environmental Protection Agency (≤10-4 pppy) and the World Health Organization (WHO) (≤10-6 DALYs pppy-1) benchmarks, respectively. The findings provided high health risks for staff in the three exposure scenarios of an indoor environment, which should not be ignored, as well as emphasizing the use of the QMRA approach to estimate health risks caused by occupational exposure to bioaerosols and taking executive measures to protect staff working in the WWTPs.

Chromium toxicity among leather industry workers in Kolkata-A pilot Study

Introduction: Chromium (Cr) exposure is known to cause various health issues such as cancer, dermatitis, respiratory problems, etc. The recent exposure of Cr can be determined by analysis of Cr either in blood/urine/plasma, Cr (III) ions cannot permeate through cell membranes of red blood cells (RBC) because their ionic radii are bigger as compared to Cr (VI), and hence Cr in RBC is an indicator for exposure to Cr (VI) ions. The purpose of this study was to investigate chromium exposure, hygienic habits and the occurrence of dermatological problems with leather industry workers in Kolkata. Methods: A total of 68 leather industry workers with minimum work exposure of five years and aged between 18-60 years were recruited for this study. The study protocol included a questionnaire and analysis of Cr in blood and urine samples by GF-AAS. Results: All values were under the Biological Exposure Index (BEI) of 25µg /L at the end of the shift of a five-day work week recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (AcGIH). 15.2% of subjects suffered from dermatological problems at least once in the last year during work in the leather industry. Conclusion: It was found that leather industry workers were not using personal protective equipment and it must be promoted to them for occupational health and safety.

Eudora Welty Society

Eudora Welty Society Donnie McMahand and Kevin Murphy After two years of virtual events during the height of the COVID pandemic, the Eudora Welty Society made a much-anticipated return to inperson conferences in 2022. At the May conference of the American Literature Association (ALA) in Chicago, the Society met and conducted its annual business meeting with current officers presiding: Donnie McMahand and Kevin Murphy, Presidents; Rebecca Harrison, Vice President; and Laura Wilson, Treasurer. Additionally, the society sponsored two panels, a roundtable, and a reprised dramatic reading of Welty's "Moon Lake," led by adaptor and director Brenda Currin and performed by Welty scholars. (Thereafter, Laura Wilson interviewed Brenda Currin for the Eudora Welty Review volume 14, 2022.) In June, the society sponsored two panels at the biennial conference for the Society for the Study of Southern Literature (SSSL). The Society also presented a roundtable in October at the ALA Symposium "The Historical Imagination in American Literature" in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The year 2022 marked a transition to a new listserv for the Society, replacing the old listserv hosted by Emory University. All future Society correspondence should be directed to our new listserv at eudorawelty society@baylor.edu. Society members are also eligible for numerous awards sponsored by the EWS. The Society regularly supports young Welty scholars by awarding travel grants to graduate students presenting at ALA. Recipients for 2022 included Jacob Agner, Summer Delgado, Nathaniel Hawlish, and Grace McCright, who each received $100. In conjunction with the Eudora Welty Review, the Society awards the annual Ruth Vande Kieft prize for an outstanding essay on Welty. The 2022 prize of $150 went to Judy Butterfield for her essay "'An Is Different from My Is': The Lost Mother and the Subjectivity of the Motherless Child in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and Welty's Delta Wedding," which appeared in volume 14 of this journal. At the 2022 SSSL conference, the society [End Page 193] honored two recipients of the biennial Phoenix Award given to a scholar who has made considerable contributions to Welty studies. Since the pandemic precluded public recognition of the 2019–2020 winner, David McWhirter, the Society recognized both David and the 2021–2022 winner, Mae Miller Claxton. The Critical Perspectives on Eudora Welty series published by the University Press of Mississippi released three new volumes in 2022: Eudora Welty and Mystery: Hidden In Plain Sight (Dec. 2022), edited by Jacob Agner and Harriet Pollack; The Eye That Is Language: A Transatlantic View of Eudora Welty (May 2022) by Danièle Pitavy-Souques and editor Pearl Amelia McHaney; and Exposing Mississippi: Eudora Welty's Photographic Reflections (Mar. 2022) by Annette Trefzer, which won the 2022 Eudora Welty Prize. All three volumes can be purchased on the University Press of Mississippi's website: upress.state.ms.us. For further information about these volumes' contents and contributors, see the Checklist of Welty Scholarship elsewhere in this issue. The Eudora Welty Society will host two panels and a roundtable at the 2023 American Literature Association Conference in Boston. Topics include 1) Material Welty Roundtable, 2) Gender, Objects, and Welty, and 3) The Sensual, Sexual, and Erotic Welty. Below is a detailed list of the conference panels hosted by the Eudora Welty Society in 2022: American Literature Association Conference, May 26–28, 2022, Chicago, Illinois Eudora Welty and Performance Chair: Harriet Pollack, College of Charleston 1. "Stagestruck: Eudora Welty and the Theater," Suzanne Marrs, Millsaps College 2. "'That's me': Eudora Welty and the Performative Self," Katie Berry Frye, Pepperdine University 3. "The (Cinematic) Eye of Her Story: Eudora Welty and Film," Jacob Agner, University of Mississippi 4. "Eudora Welty's Cinematic Spaces: Inhabiting 'Why I live at the P.O,'" Dina Smith, Drake University 5. "On the Process of Adapting Eudora Welty for Performance," Brenda Currin, Independent Scholar, Actress, and Adaptor [End Page 194] Eudora Welty and Ecology Chair: Sarah Ford, Baylor University 1. "'It was said she believed in evolution': An Ecogothic Reading of 'Moon Lake,'" Grace McCright, Baylor University 2. "Eudora Welty's Dual Vision of Arcadia," Pearl McHaney, Georgia State University 3. "Laurel's Influx and Efflux: Reading the Non-human in The Optimist's Daughter," Nathaniel...

Assessment of safety control measures for centralized Chlorine gas system

As a glove manufacturing plant, the chemical is one of the most highly used materials. Some chemicals impact human health, environmental aspects, and physical hazards such as highly flammable gas. Chlorine gas is one of them. Besides the accidental release of chlorine gas incidents, ill-health issues are another aspect that should be taken care of. This study aims to determine the current chlorine concentration at a centralized chlorine gas manifold system in a rubber glove manufacturing plant and evaluate the existing safety control measures. A concept of safety by design, inherently safety, and the fail-safe system was considered during the study. The results show that the chlorine concentration level during drum replacement by the crew is at an average of 1.154 ppm and the standard deviation at 0.3478. The highest concentration was at 1.8 ppm. The wet scrubber assessment was done using the Industrial Ventilation and visual assessments and measurements within the system, including capture velocity, face velocity, and duct velocity or transport velocity. Other assessed parameters are total pressure, static pressure, and velocity pressure. The assessment found that the duct performance for all parameters complies with a minimum requirement of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) guidelines.

Bayesian Causal Forests & the 2022 ACIC Data Challenge: Scalability and Sensitivity

We demonstrate how Hahn et al.'s Bayesian Causal Forests model (BCF) can be used to estimate conditional average treatment effects for the longitudinal dataset in the 2022 American Causal Inference Conference Data Challenge. Unfortunately, existing implementations of BCF do not scale to the size of the challenge data. Therefore, we developed flexBCF—a more scalable and flexible implementation of BCF— and used it in our challenge submission. We investigate the sensitivity of our results to the choice of propensity score estimation method and the use of sparsity-inducing regression tree priors. While we found that our overall point predictions were not especially sensitive to these modeling choices, we did observe that running BCF with flexibly estimated propensity scores often yielded better-calibrated uncertainty intervals.

English Laws, Global Histories; or, What Makes a Court Supreme?

AbstractThis paper was presented as the Presidential Address at the North American Conference on British Studies in Atlanta in November 2021.

Research on the relationship between the centerline velocity, aspect ratio and exhaust airflow rate for a slot and a rectangular capture hood in an local exhaust ventilation system.

When using a local exhaust hood to remove harmful substances from the production process, the exhaust airflow rate must be calculated according to the capturing velocity specified by the relevant regulations. The Numano and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) equations are used in Japan and the US, respectively, for estimating the exhaust airflow rate of slot hoods. However, these equations differ from each other, and when using these equations to calculate the exhaust airflow rate of the capture hood, whether using Japan's equation or ACGIH, the hood type (slot or rectangular hood) should be distinguished at first. Therefore, this study performs experiments and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to investigate the relationship between the centerline velocity and the aspect ratio for five types of capture hoods. The results showed good agreement between simulated and experimental centerline velocities when the distance from the hood face. A dimensionless velocity was introduced and a significant difference in the relationship between the centerline velocity and the distance from the hood face with different aspect ratios was found. A unified equation was obtained that can express the relationship between exhaust airflow rate and centerline velocity regardless of the aspect ratio of the hood face of the free-standing capture hood.

Exposures to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Their Mitigation in Wildland Firefighters in Two Canadian Provinces.

We aimed to characterize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the breathing zone and on the skin of wildland firefighters and to assess their contribution to urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-HP) over repeated firefighting rotations. We asked if improved skin hygiene or discretionary use of an N95 mask would reduce absorption. In collaboration with wildfire services of two Canadian provinces, Alberta and British Columbia (BC), we recruited wildland firefighters from crews willing to be followed up over successive rotations and to be randomly assigned to normal practice, enhanced skin hygiene (ESH), or ESH plus discretionary use of an N95 mask. We collected spot urine samples at the beginning and end of up to four rotations/firefighter. On designated fire days, as close as possible to the end of rotation, we collected skin wipes from the hands, throat, and chest at the beginning and end of the fire day and, in BC, start of fire-day urine samples. Volunteers carried air monitoring pumps. Participants completed questionnaires at the beginning and end of rotations. Exposure since the start of the fire season was estimated from fire service records. Urinary 1-HP was analyzed by LC-MS-MS. Analysis of 21 PAHs on skin wipes and 27 PAHs from air sampling was done by GC-MS-MS. Statistical analysis used a linear mixed effects model. Firefighters in Alberta were recruited from five helitack crews and two unit crews, and in BC from two unit crews with 80 firefighters providing data overall. The fire season in BC was very active with five monitored fire days. In Alberta, with more crews, there were only seven fire days. Overall, log 1-HP/creatinine (ng/g) increased significantly from the start (N = 145) to end of rotation (N = 136). Only three PAHs (naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene) were found on >20% of skin wipes. PAHs from 40 air monitoring pumps included 10 PAHs detected on cassette filters (particles) and 5 on sorbent tubes (vapor phase). A principal component extracted from air monitoring data represented respiratory exposure and total PAH from skin wipes summarized skin exposure. Both routes contributed to the end of rotation urinary 1-HP. The ESH intervention was not demonstrated to effect absorption. Allocation of an N95 mask was associated with lower 1-HP when modeling respiratory exposure (β = -0.62, 95% CI -1.15 to -0.10: P = 0.021). End of rotation 1-HP was related to 1-HP at the start of the next rotation (β = 0.25, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.39: P < 0.001). Exposures to PAHs during firefighting were significant, with samples exceeding the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Biological Exposure Index for 1-HP suggesting a need for control of exposure. PAH exposure accumulated during the rotation and was not fully eliminated during the break between rotations. Both respiratory and skin exposures contributed to 1-HP. While improved skin hygiene may potentially reduce dermal absorption, that was not demonstrated here. In contrast, those allocated to discretionary use of an N95 mask had reduced 1-HP excretion. Wildland firefighters in North America do not use respiratory protection, but the results of this study support more effective interventions to reduce respiratory exposure.

2022 American Control Conference [Conference Reports

2022 American Control Conference [Conference Reports

Potential harm to the skin from unfiltered krypton chloride ‘far-ultraviolet-C’ lamps, even below an occupational exposure limit

Ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiation can effectively inactivate pathogens on surfaces and in the air. Due to the potential for harm to skin and eyes, human exposure to UVC should be limited within the guideline exposure limits produced by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) or the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIHs). Both organisations state an effective spectrally weighted limit of 3 mJ cm−2, although the spectral weighting factors of the two organisations diverged following a revision of the ACGIH guidelines in 2022. Using existing published human exposure data, the effective spectrally weighted radiant exposure was calculated for both unfiltered and filtered (to reduce UV emissions above 230 nm) krypton chloride (KrCl*) excimer lamps. The effective radiant exposure of the filtered KrCl* lamp was greater than 3 mJ cm−2 when applying ICNIRP or either of the revised ACGIH spectral weightings. This indicates that both guidelines are appropriately conservative for this specific lamp. However, the effective radiant exposure of the unfiltered KrCl* lamp was as low as 1 mJ cm−2 with the revised ACGIH weighting function that can be applied to the skin if the eyes are protected. Erythema has therefore been directly observed in a clinical study at an exposure within the revised ACGIH guideline limits. Extrapolating this information means that a mild sunburn could be induced in Fitzpatrick skin types I and II if that particular ACGIH weighting function were applied and an individual received an effective exposure of 3 mJ cm−2. Whilst it is improbable that such an effect would be seen in current deployment of KrCl* lamp technology, it does highlight the need for further research into skin sensitivity and irradiance–time reciprocity for UVC wavelengths.

Engineered Stone Fabrication Work Releases Volatile Organic Compounds Classified as Lung Irritants.

Engineered stones are often characterized for their crystalline silica content. Their organic composition, particularly that of the emissions generated during fabrication work using hand-held power tools, is relatively unexplored. We forensically screened the emissions from dry-cutting 12 engineered stone products in a test chamber for their organic composition by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) plus selected traditional capture and analysis techniques. Phthalic anhydride, which has a Respiratory Sensitization (RSEN) Notation by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), was the most common and abundant compound, at 26-85% of the total organic composition of engineered stone emissions. Benzaldehyde and styrene were also present in all twelve samples. During active cutting, the predominant volatile organic compound (VOC) emitted was styrene, with phthalic anhydride, benzene, ethylbenzene, and toluene also detected. These results have important health implications as styrene and phthalic anhydride are irritants to the respiratory tract. This study suggests a risk of concurrent exposure to high levels of respirable crystalline silica and organic lung irritants during engineered stone fabrication work.

"Blood lead level among battery factory workers in low and middle-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis".

IntroductionLead is one of the most health-hazardous causes of acute and chronic poisoning at workplaces. A limited study was conducted on the blood lead concentration among battery factory workers in low and middle-income countries. Therefore, this study will improve workplace health and safety conditions of workers in this sector and serve as baseline data for further studies in this segment of the working setup.ObjectiveThis review aims to identify the pooled mean blood lead level among battery factory workers in low and middle-income countries.MethodsThe search methods considered the following electronic bibliographic databases: google scholar, PubMed, and other gray literature. A funnel plot and Begg test were used to see the publication bias. The heterogeneity of studies was checked using I-square statistics with a cut of point 75% and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) quality assessment tool was applied to ensure the quality of the included articles. A random-effect model was applied to pool the blood lead level intoxication. The sub-group analysis and Meta-regression analysis were conducted by country and year of publication to control heterogeneity and to show variation. We included the articles published from 2000 to 2021 year in the English language.ResultsThrough the search strategies, 135 articles were identified and 43 full-text articles were selected for evaluation, and finally, eighteen (18) articles fit the inclusion criteria. From the 18 studies included in the meta-analysis, the mean pooled blood lead level of workers was 37.996 μg/dl (95% CI: 30.680–45.312) which is higher than the threshold limit value set by American conference of governmental industrial hygienists (20 μg/dl). In subgroup analysis by year in the random effect model, the pooled mean of blood lead level from 2006 to 2011= 43.20 μg/dL (35.91–50.50), 2012–2015 = 37.78 μg/dl (25.23–50.29), and 2016–2020 = 36.53 μg/dl (19.44–53.62).ConclusionsThis review showed that the pooled mean blood lead level of workers exposed to lead battery factories was (37.996 μg/dl) which is above the threshold limit value (20 μg/dl). Therefore, attention should be given by employers, government, and researchers to improve the health of working populations exposed to lead exposure in low and middle-income countries through the provision of occupational health and safety services like periodical medical checkups, treatments, and provision of training and adequate and appropriate personal protective equipment.Systematic review registration: Identifier: CRD42022322827.

2022 North American Baroque Trumpet Competition and Conference

2022 North American Baroque Trumpet Competition and Conference

Mechanized Wood Extraction: Impacts on Operators’ Hearing Health

The activity of the mechanized extraction of wood, carried out by means of self-propelled forest machines, consists of moving the wood cut inside the forest stand from the planted forests to the roadside. During displacements, these machines normally travel over forest residues and stumps, which can demand greater motor power from the engine, in addition to the possible increase in occupational noise levels. In this context, we evaluated whether, when operating different self-propelled forest machines in the wood extraction of planted Eucalyptus forests, operators are exposed to different levels of occupational noise, especially to thresholds above those established for prevention purposes. Occupational noise data were collected during the workday, weighing six self-propelled forest machine operators who performed the wood-extraction operation, performed by two forwarders, two self-loading tractors, and two grapple skidders, in three areas with Eucalyptus plantations located in the southeastern region of Brazil. The sound-pressure level was collected using two integrative meters following the strategic measurement criterion recommendation for the whole day in the guidelines of the acoustic determination of occupational noise exposure and analyzed according to the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists. Operators of forest machines for the mechanized extraction of wood were exposed to occupational noise levels above the recommended level, which can affect health and well-being; this occupation also required above-average levels of attention during the execution of work activities.

MONTEVIDEO DECLARATION 2020

Resulting from the 8th International Congress, 6th Latin American Conference and 2nd Uruguayan Meeting of Person Centered Medicine carried out as a virtual event from Montevideo, Uruguay, from December 18 to 20, 2020. Organized by the Latin American Network of Medicine Centered on the Person (RLMCP), the International College of Person Centered Medicine (ICPCM) and the Representation in Uruguay of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO / WHO), under the auspices of the Latin American Association of National Academies of Medicine, the Peruvian and Uruguayan Associations of Person Centered Medicine, and the National University of San Marcos (particularly the Hipólito Unanue Chair of Person Centered Medicine and the Health Ethics Institute of the San Fernando School of Medicine).