Safety Control Mechanism Research Articles

Relationship network of safety management elements in the construction industry under the perspective of resilience

PurposeConstruction safety resilience is gradually gaining attention in the field of engineering construction as a new management concept and way to improve safety performance. However, how to cope with the dilemma of the unclear relationship of construction safety resilience elements at the practice level and promote the harmonization of construction safety goals and resilience enhancement paths has become an urgent challenge for safe construction.Design/methodology/approachThis study analyzes the components of construction safety resilience elements. A relationship network model of construction safety resilience elements is developed by using the social network analysis method. The location and influence of each element in the network and the interrelationships among the elements are explored in depth.FindingsThe findings reveal a robust interconnection among the elements of safety resilience in the construction industry. Key components such as safety behavior, risk prevention and control mechanisms, disaster prevention and mitigation technologies as well as information technology, are positioned at the core of the network. Notably, safety behavior exerts the most significant influence over the other elements, serving as the linchpin of safety management in the construction industry. Moreover, the interplay among safety resilience elements in the construction sector can alter the structure of the relationship network.Originality/valueThis study adopts the social network approach to solve the problem that it is difficult to quantitatively analyze the elements of construction safety resilience and their interrelationships and to clarify the interactions among the core elements, which can help to further assist the construction project manager to continuously optimize safety resilience and improve construction safety.

Report of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) on the programming of biological hazard sampling at official controls

Abstract The General State Administration establishes the food safety control and cooperation mechanisms with the competent authorities of the administrations responsible for official controls. In order to improve the quality and homogeneity of official controls related to biological hazards in food, the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) and the autonomous communities have a Guidance document for the scheduling of biological hazard sampling within the framework of the National Plan for Official Control of the Food Chain 2021‐2025, which establishes a semi‐quantitative model that takes into account, on the one hand, the impact on health, considering incidence and severity, and, on the other, the prevalence, composed of data from non‐compliant samples and alert notifications. At AESAN's request, the Scientific Committee has assessed this Guidance document, and the final conclusion is that this Guidance document is suitable at the present time, for the intended purpose. Specifically, the criteria based on the calculation of the health impact are considered valid for the biological hazards studied. Regarding the prevalence calculation, different percentile levels could be considered for the parameters of percentage of non‐compliant samples and number of alert notifications. The use of the correction factor for inactivating treatment for the correction of the score associated with prevalence is positively assessed. Regarding the distribution of food categories and hazards analysed, it is considered suitable and it is recommended to re‐evaluate this distribution considering average consumption data of the different food categories in each of the autonomous communities. The procedure to calculate the number of samples and the risk score intervals used for the different hazard‐food pairs is also considered suitable for the intended purpose. Finally, some suggestions are made for revising some criteria in the future in the event that information is available, and it is indicated that the Guidance document should be updated periodically in the light of the experience of its application, progress in scientific knowledge, changes in legislation and guidelines and tools on prioritisation and frequency of risk‐based inspection that may be developed at national or European Union level.

Research on the Risk of Inclusive Physical Education in Colleges and Universities and Construction of Safety Prevention and Control Mechanism

This study aims to promote the return of special physical education to the mainstream education system and ensure the normal advancement of inclusive physical education courses in colleges and universities. Consequently, all educatees can enjoy equal educational resources, obtain comprehensive development, and realize the fairness of education. Based on the grounded theory, the first-line physical education teachers from 6 inclusive and demonstrative colleges and universities in China were selected for in-depth interviews, and 20 pieces of interview materials were collected and sorted. The NVIVO12 software was employed to collate data and determine the risks of inclusive physical education. The results demonstrated that the factors causing school sports injury accidents mainly included human factors, material factors, and management factors. Under the guidance of the three-level prevention theory in the field of medical prevention and medicine, the three-level safety prevention and control concept of sports injury was introduced, and the theoretical model of the safety prevention and control mechanism of special physical education courses was constructed.

Health risk assessment for human exposure to mercury species and arsenic via consumption of local food in a gold mining area in Colombia

The risk to human health from exposure to certain pollutants through the consumption of fruits, tubers, and fish were evaluated in a settlement located in a Colombian area highly impacted by gold mining activities. The concentrations of mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) in edible food tissues and methylmercury (MeHg) in fish were determined for risk assessment. A questionnaire-based dietary survey was answered by 178 residents of three population groups: children (CHD), women of childbearing age (WCBA), and the rest of the population (RP). The estimated weekly intake (EWI) of MeHg presented values of 1.9 and 2.4 times higher than the provisional tolerable weekly intake (1.6 μg/kg BW/week) recommended by the FAO/WHO for CH and WCBA, respectively. The results of the HQ values of As and Hg for different food were above the safety level (HQ < 1) for most of the groups. For Hg, the highest HQ values correspond to fish, whereas for As in most of the food, but specially in fruits. The total target hazard quotients (HI) were higher than 1, in all the groups (except for CHD that consume tubers) indicating potential non-carcinogenic health risks. The values of carcinogenic risk (CR) for As through exposure to food ranged from 1.2·10−4 to 7.7·10−4, well above than the safety level of US EPA risk (10−4–10−6), suggesting the probability of carcinogenic risk for the entire population via ingestion. Therefore, safety control mechanisms and environmental education strategies should be applied to address food intake, associated with good agricultural practices to provide solutions to protect the health of the residents in areas affected by gold mining activities.

Suggestions on Relieving Physical Anxiety of Medical Workers and Improving Physical and Mental Health Under the COVID-19 Epidemic-A Case Study of Meizhou City.

The study examined the effects of swimming pools on healthcare professionals' willingness to engage in recreational activities, physical anxiety, and physical and mental well-being in the context of COVID-19. The research adopted the mixed research method, used SPSS 26.0 statistical software to test the reliability of the questionnaire, and then collected 840 valid questionnaires; first analyzed the data with basic statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and PPMCC test methods, and then used the interview method to collect expert opinions. A multi-check approach assembled all data and discussions. The study found that the use of personnel dynamic tracking systems or measures, combined with sodium hypochlorite and repeated filtration to stabilize water quality, could maintain the confidence of most medical workers in the swimming pool sports environment for epidemic prevention and avoid violations. The government could formulate safety prevention and control mechanisms in traffic and establish appropriate traffic routes. Next, formulated a prescription for swimming or other physical activity mechanisms for men aged 31–50 and redesigned measures for medical staff over 51 years old to have tense head issues and physical fatigue, promote blood circulation and improve sleep quality. This will promote the purpose of relieving stress and regulating the physical and mental health of medical staff after engaging in swimming.

Multi-class motor imagery EEG classification using collaborative representation-based semi-supervised extreme learning machine

Both labeled and unlabeled data have been widely used in electroencephalographic (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI). However, labeled EEG samples are generally scarce and expensive to collect, while unlabeled samples are considered to be abundant in real applications. Although the semi-supervised learning (SSL) allows us to utilize both labeled and unlabeled data to improve the classification performance as against supervised algorithms, it has been reported that unlabeled data occasionally undermine the performance of SSL in some cases. To overcome this challenge, we propose a collaborative representation-based semi-supervised extreme learning machine (CR-SSELM) algorithm to evaluate the risk of unlabeled samples by a new safety-control mechanism. Specifically, the ELM model is firstly used to predict unlabeled samples and then the collaborative representation (CR) approach is employed to reconstruct the unlabeled samples according to the obtained prediction results, from which the risk degree of unlabeled sample is defined. A risk-based regularization term is then constructed accordingly and embedded into the objective function of the SS-ELM. Experiments conducted on benchmark and EEG datasets demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the ELM and SS-ELM algorithm. Moreover, the proposed CR-SSELM even offers the best performance while SS-ELM yields worse performance compared with its supervised counterpart (ELM). Graphical abstract This paper proposes a collaborative representation-based semi-supervised extreme learning machine (CR-SSELM) algorithm to evaluate the risk of unlabeled samples by a new safety-control mechanism. It is aim to solve the safety problem of SS-ELM method that SS-ELM yields worse performance than ELM. With the help of safety mechanism, the performance of our method is still better than supervised ELM method.

Multiple control mechanisms for employee health and safety integration: effects and complementarity

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the extent to which health and safety action controls, results controls and informal controls affect the integration of health and safety issues into management actions, which in turn leads to improve health and safety performance. It also investigates the extent to which those health and safety control mechanisms contribute complementarily to the integration of health and safety issues.Design/methodology/approachA survey of 108 Italian non-listed firms tests a set of hypotheses based on complementarity theory and object of control framework.FindingsNot all the health and safety control mechanisms positively influence the integration of health and safety issues into business practices and external stakeholder relations. Complementarity between health and safety control mechanisms is significant only for higher health and safety performance companies, indicating that the health and safety control mechanisms operate as a package.Research limitations/implicationsThe health and safety performance measure could be replaced in future research by improved inter-subjectively testable information, although collecting health and safety quantitative data is difficult. An additional limitation is the response rate.Practical implicationsThe findings encourage companies to design and use a comprehensive set of health and safety control mechanisms to promote a healthy workplace.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the management control, sustainability management control and health and safety accounting literature. The paper provides an in-depth interdisciplinary analysis of the effectiveness of different control mechanisms in the context of health and safety that hitherto has rarely been investigated despite the multiple importance of the topic.

Прогнозирование несчастных случаев в горнодобывающей промышленности Зимбабве с целью разработки предупредительных мер их снижения

Introduction. Industrial accidents are associated with various factors: human, social and economic problems, which we must strive to eliminate, thereby ensuring a safe working environment. Statistics on occupational injuries are necessary to assess the degree of hazard and potential risks associated with occupational factors to protect workers. Labor inspectorate statistics play an important role in developing national policies, systems, programs and strategies to improve safety and working conditions for miners in Zimbabwe. Labor Inspection in Zimbabwe is one of the main safety control mechanisms. Labor inspection statistics enable the government to monitor the mining industry and better analyze mining safety compliance issues. Problem Statement. The article discusses the prediction of accidents in the mining industry of the Republic of Zimbabwe in order to reduce the incidence of injuries. Economic and social development in the mining industry requires reliable analysis of injury statistics. Statistics of injuries in various production processes are given. Theoretical Part. In the process of data analysis, interpolation algorithms are used embedded in mathematical software. Statistical reports on occupational injuries provided by the Federal State Statistics Service were used as basic information. Conclusion. Mathematical forecasting of industrial injuries in the mining industry in Zimbabwe allows us to determine the likely values of the predicted indicators.

Establishment of safety structure theory

In order to reveal the essence of “safety”, to realize the active identification of hazard and the active prevention and control of accidents, the safety structure theory (SST) is established in this paper. A new definition of “safety” is given from the view of the interaction between activities and environment. And the definition of the instability domain of safety events is given based on the definition of connotation in logic. According to the factor space theory (FST), factors are used to express activities and environment, then the environment factors space cane (EFSC) is developed to “bearing” the states of environment and safety events, and the atomic activity factor space (AAFS) is developed to “bearing” the states of activities. The mapping from EFSC × AAFS to EFSC is established to describe the interaction between the atomic activity factor (AAF) and atomic environment factor (AEF), then the safety structure consisting of AAF, AEF, and the interaction between the two is developed. The evolution mechanism and evolution process of safety issues are analyzed according to the changes of states of safety structures and the relationships between the states of simple environment factors (SEFs) and instability domain of safety events. Then the definition of hazard based on safety structures and the active identification method are given, and the guiding ideology for establishing dynamic risk measurement and prediction models of safety events is given. According to the risk assessment and prediction, a three-stage echelon active safety control mechanism for safety events consisting of advanced feedforward control, feedforward control and feedback control is established. SST is a new safety science theory, which can provide a new analysis method for revealing the essence of “safety” and the evolution mechanism of safety issues, and open up a new way for the development of active safety control.

Abstract LB-109: Adaptor controlled CAR-T cell immunotherapy for treatment of folate receptor-alpha/beta positive solid and liquid tumors

Abstract Personalized immunotherapy has reached a pivotal milestone with the recent approval of CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for certain B-cell malignancies. Other than on-target off-tumor autoimmunity, the commonly seen toxicity is severe cytokine release syndrome (sCRS) which is somewhat managed with tocilizumab and corticosteroids. Although the landscape of CAR-T cell development includes &amp;gt;200 clinical trials in various tumor types, success against solid tumors remains a significant challenge. Much of the unmet medical need has been attributed to limited “ideal” tumor-specific targets, tumor heterogeneity, CAR-T cell infiltration/survival, and the presence of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Due to frequent overexpression in many human cancers, the folate receptor (FR) has become an exploratory target for anti-FRα/β CAR-T cell therapies. We are developing a CAR-T adaptor molecule (CAM)-based therapy that uses the small-molecule bispecific ligand, EC17 (folate-FITC). In this setting, EC17 effectively “paints” FR+ tumors with the FITC antigen to attract anti-FITC CAR-T cells and induce an immune response. As previously confirmed in mice as well as in human clinical studies, EC17 penetrates solid tumors within minutes and is retained due to high affinity for the FR; whereas unbound EC17 rapidly clears from the blood and from receptor-negative tissues. When tested against human xenografts, EC17/CAR-T therapy showed consistent antitumor activity with low or no adverse reactions. However, sCRS was observed under defined experimental conditions. Further testing revealed that sCRS of grade ≥3 (out of a 0-5 scale) can be mitigated or even prevented using intermittent “on-and-off” dosing and/or dose titration of the EC17 CAM. But, under extreme conditions where dose cessation failed, we discovered that intravenous sodium fluorescein (NaFl) could be used as a fast-acting rescue agent to temporarily displace CAR-T cells from their targets and reverse the sCRS symptoms. For translation into first-in-human testing, we selected a high-affinity anti-FITC CAR construct comprising (i) a humanized FITC scFv (E2; 0.75 nM Kd), (ii) an IgG4 hinge-CH2-CH3 spacer fused to a CD28-transmemeber domain, (iii) a second-generation 4-1BB:zeta-endodomain, and (iv) a cell-surface human EGFRt tag. Co-culture experiments were performed using this construct to establish EC17-dependent dose response and confirm target specificity as well as FR expression threshold using a panel of FR-positive cancer cell lines. Clinically relevant EC17 dosing regimens were evaluated using tumor-free and tumor-bearing mice to study CAR-T cell proliferation, cytokine production and the onset/mitigation of sCRS. We confirmed that EC17 administration in the presence of FR+ tumors was the key to drive in vivo CAR-T cell proliferation towards a more persistent phenotype. In addition, higher levels of CAR-T cells were detected in metastatic tumors versus adjacent normal tissues. Finally, EC17/CAR-T cell therapy demonstrated remarkable efficacy against some of the more aggressive and chemo-resistant FR+ tumors of various histology. In summary, our CAM-driven CAR-T cell approach provides antitumor activity with multiple safety control mechanisms. Citation Format: Yingjuan June Lu, Haiyan Chu, Leroy W. Wheeler, Mellissa Nelson, Elaine M. Westrick, Marilynn R. Vetzel, Patrick J. Klein, Adam J. Johnson, Jason K. Yokoyama, Joshua A. Gustafson, Michael C. Jensen, Yong-Gu Lee, Philip S. Low, Christopher P. Leamon. Adaptor controlled CAR-T cell immunotherapy for treatment of folate receptor-alpha/beta positive solid and liquid tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-109.

Safe Semi-Supervised Extreme Learning Machine for EEG Signal Classification

One major challenge in the current brain–computer interface research is the accurate classification of time-varying electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. The labeled EEG samples are usually scarce, while the unlabeled samples are available in large quantities and easy to collect in real applications. Semi-supervised learning (SSL) methods can utilize both labeled and unlabeled data to improve performance over supervised approaches. However, it has been reported that the unlabeled data may undermine the performance of SSL in some cases. To improve the safety of SSL, we proposed a new safety-control mechanism by analyzing the differences between unlabeled data analysis in supervised and semi-supervised learning. We then develop and implement a safe classification method based on the semi-supervised extreme learning machine (SS-ELM). Following this approach, the Wasserstein distance is used to measure the similarities between the predictions obtained from ELM and SS-ELM algorithms, and a different risk degree is thereby calculated for each unlabeled data instance. A risk-based regularization term is then constructed and embedded into the objective function of the SS-ELM. Extensive experiments were conducted using benchmark and EEG datasets to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Experimental results show that the performance of the new algorithm is comparable to SS-ELM and superior to ELM on average. It is thereby shown that the proposed method is safe and efficient for the classification of EEG signals.

Community Safety in a Rural Housing Area

Objective - This study investigates the nature of community safety in a rural housing area. The types of home safety control mechanisms were also investigated. Methodology/Technique - Face-to-face interviews were conducted on a randomly selected sample of 87 residents in a rural area located in the Northern region of Malaysia. Findings - Results show that the feeling of safety is quite high. Females are found to be more fearful than men. The study also found that more than half of the residents used special window/door grills for home safety control. As expected, the level of feeling very unsafe living at home alone after dark was double when their home was not protected by special windows or door grills. Novelty - The results of this study are important and provide the police with information on how they can get involved to help improve community safety. Future studies should investigate the type of crimes and experiences of crime victimization using the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS). Type of Paper - Empirical Keywords: Community Safety; Fear of Crime; Feeling of Safety; Malaysia; Interview JEL Classification: H55, H83, O18.

Quality and safety management

The optical radiation emitted by lasers has the potential to damage the eyes and skin of patients and healthcare workers such as nurses, clinicians and medical technicians. Laser related accidents resulting in blindness and deaths have been reported. The EU directive 2006/25/EC “Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at work Regulations” aims to protect workers from the risk stated above by limiting the exposure levels to both eye and skin. Medical Physics departments in most hospitals are responsible for managing the safe use of lasers. A Laser Protection Advisor (similar to Radiation Protection Advisor) is responsible for implementing the safety control mechanisms, training staff on laser safety and investigating any adverse events when either patient or staff are injured. This talk will cover the quality and safety management of laser use. Delegates are advised to attend the topic on “Basic Physics and Technology of Medical Lasers” as a prerequisite. Basic principles of risk assessment, maximum permissible exposure (MPE) levels and laser classification are explained. Methods to keep exposure of unprotected skin and eyes below the MPE levels are demonstrated. Hazard control procedures such as controlled area access, written safe operating procedures, warning signs and lights, authorised use of equipment and the use of personal protection are explained. Principles and requirements of equipment quality assurance processes and procedures to maintain the quality of safety are demonstrated. Relevant legislations and standards are covered in this talk.

Basic physics and technology of medical lasers

Theodore Maiman created the first ruby laser in 1960. In 1962 Dr. Goldman, a dermatologist used a ruby laser to remove a tattoo. Medical lasers are now a multi-billion dollar industry. They are now commonly used in ophthalmology, dermatology, gynaecology and urology. Recent advances in very short pulse lasers are pushing their use in orthopaedics, dentistry and neurosurgery. The optical radiation emitted by lasers has the potential to damage the eyes and skin of patients and healthcare workers. There is also a risk of fires or explosions from lasers igniting flammable gases and the problem of inhalation of smoke with surgical lasers. The EU directive 2006/25/EC “Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at work Regulations” aims to detect adverse health effects and protect workers from the risk stated above by limiting the exposure levels to both eye and skin. Radiation Protection sections of Medical Physics departments in most hospitals are responsible for implementing the safety control mechanisms, training staff on laser safety and investigating any adverse events when either patient or staff are injured. This talk will cover the basic physics and technology of medical lasers. How different types of optical radiation are produced with different types of active media is explained. Further delivery methods to treat both soft and hard tissues are demonstrated. Delegates will be able to understand the characteristics of optical radiation emitted from different types of equipment and their effect on tissue. Delegates are advised to attend the next talk on quality and safety management.

Expression and purification of recombinant human serum albumin from selectively terminable transgenic rice

Human serum albumin (HSA) is widely utilized for medical purposes and biochemical research. Transgenic rice has proved to be an attractive bioreactor for mass production of recombinant HSA (rHSA). However, transgene spread is a major environmental and food safety concern for transgenic rice expressing proteins of medical value. This study aimed to develop a selectively terminable transgenic rice line expressing HSA in rice seeds, and a simple process for recovery and purification of rHSA for economical manufacture. An HSA expression cassette was inserted into a T-DNA vector encoding an RNA interference (RNAi) cassette suppressing the CYP81A6 gene. This gene detoxifies the herbicide bentazon and is linked to the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) cassette which confers glyphosate tolerance. ANX Sepharose Fast Flow (ANX FF) anion exchange chromatography coupled with Butyl Sepharose High Performance (Butyl HP) hydrophobic interaction chromatography was used to purify rHSA. A transgenic rice line, HSA-84, was obtained with stable expression of rHSA of up to 0.72% of the total dry weight of the dehusked rice seeds. This line also demonstrated high sensitivity to bentazon, and thus could be killed selectively by a spray of bentazon. A two-step chromatography purification scheme was established to purify the rHSA from rice seeds to a purity of 99% with a recovery of 62.4%. Results from mass spectrometry and N-terminus sequencing suggested that the purified rHSA was identical to natural plasma-derived HSA. This study provides an alternative strategy for large-scale production of HSA with a built-in transgene safety control mechanism.

Evaluation and Safety Control Mechanism of Endotoxin Detection in Whole Blood and Blood Components

Objective Through dynamic monitoring bacterial endotoxin and cultivating whole blood and blood components,consistence between endotoxin level and bacterial culture results,association between the clinic fever reaction and blood endotoxin were evaluated.Furthermore,the effectiveness of safety control mechanism on bacterium and endotoxin was assessed.Methods From March to April 2009,a total of 300 blood samples of volunteer donors from our blood center were included in this study.Based on the sample varieties,all of these samples were divided into 3 groups:the whole blood group (n=50),suspended red blood cell (RBC) components group (n=150) and platelet (PLT) components group (n=100).Meanwhile 361 healthy donors from the street during January to February 2009,were chosen as a control group,and their endotoxin results would be used as normal reference range.Dynamic turbidity was used as the quantitative detection method of bacterial endotoxin.Endotoxin content in each group was individually detected during their blood preservations.And the endotoxin content results of each group in different blood preservation period and their bacterial cultivating results were analyzed by variance of repeated measurement data.Moreover,the samples from clinical transfusion fever reaction were detected for endotoxin level.Results Normal blood endotoxin reference range from the control group was (0-0.193) EU/mL.PLT suspension group (W=0.635,P =0.0585),and suspended RBC group (W =0.334,P =0.583) had no significant differences in endotoxin concentration of three periods.There were significant differences in endotoxin in whole blood group of three periods (W=0.860,P=0.014).The endotoxin level of whole blood and blood components was (0.005-0.188) EU/mL,and all bacterial cultivating results were negative.Endotoxin concentration in blood samples of transfusion fever reaction was (0.023-0.145) EU/mL.Conclusions While cultivating results of whole blood and blood components were negative,their endotoxin levels were normal and endotoxin level and bacterial culture results were consistent.Normal endotoxin concentration in blood samples of fever reaction announced no association with transfusion fever reaction.It could be shown that these procedures including medical consumed material,blood donor screening,blood collection,preparation,preservation,transportation,etc,are effective for the safety control mechanism of blood bacterial and endotoxin in current blood transfusion services. Key words: whole blood; blood components; endotoxin detection; safety control

Biofilm formation and food safety in food industries

Biofilms are a self-protection growth pattern of bacteria, which are different from planktonic cells. They have been of considerable interest in food hygiene since biofilms may contain spoilage and pathogenic bacteria which increases post-processing contamination and risk to public health. In addition, biofilm cells are more resistant to cleaning and disinfection processes in the food industry. Biofilm formation is a complex process in which genetic mechanisms and numerous factors such as the properties of substratum and bacterial cell surfaces are involved. In order to further understand the intricate mechanisms behind biofilm formation, various techniques including physical, chemical and molecular methods have been used to establish the possible model of biofilm formation in food industry. Therefore, the importance of bacterial biofilms in food safety control and biofilm formation mechanisms will be discussed in this paper. The objective of all efforts is to provide new insights for developing biofilm-free food-processing systems.

Increased safety in robotic skull base surgery with redundant navigation and automated registration

At the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery in Erlangen, we developed the robotic system “A73” for endoscopic controlled skull base surgery. For better intraoperative surveillance, increased safety and automated referencing, we decided to integrate the CAPPA computer navigation system with the robot's control module and hereby achieving a redundant safety control mechanism. Furthermore, the concept of “tracked robotic” performance allows an automated patient registration, therefore minimizing errors caused by manually referencing. This presentation aims to outline the increased intraoperative safety as observed in accuracy as well as clinical applicability studies on cadaveric heads while performing automated and telemanipulatory robotic surgery.

Pre-requisites: a help or a hindrance to HACCP?

Formal pre-requisite programmes are increasingly and successfully used to support the implementation of HACCP in food processing. However, in many areas there is a lack of understanding of the pre-requisites concept, and even a fear in some sectors that pre-requisites might dilute the strength of HACCP, making it a less effective food safety control mechanism. This paper explores the concept of pre-requisite programmes and discusses whether they are of benefit to the HACCP approach or whether food safety is best managed through the HACCP plan alone, concluding that they are an essential element in the task of developing simple, effective HACCP systems

The BN-350 and the BOR fast reactors

The reloading system and the construction of the safety control mechanisms of the BN-350 reactor are described and problems of emergency cooling andtransient processes are discussed. The experimental BOR assembly is also discussed, a description is given of the reactor and engineering equipment, and the basic technical characteristics are cited.