Worker Exposure Standard for Phosphine Gas

The 1998 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) re-registration eligibility decision (RED) for phosphine fumigants has generated much interest in defining safe levels of exposure for workers and worker bystanders. This report summarizes the pertinent literature on phosphine toxicity, including animal inhalation studies and human epidemiology studies, and also describes a margin-of-exposure (MOE) analysis based on available worker exposure data. In addition, a safe occupational exposure limit is estimated using typical OPP assumptions, after determination of appropriate uncertainty factors, based on quality of data in the principal study and pharmacokinetic considerations. While a conservative 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 0.1 ppm was calculated, the overall weight of evidence, from a risk-management perspective, supports a conclusion that an occupational TWA of 0.3 ppm provides adequate health protection. In addition, a 15-minute short-term exposure limit (STEL) of 3 ppm was estimated. Finally, in contrast to the MOE analysis described in the OPP's phosphine RED, the MOE analysis described herein does not indicate that fumigation workers are currently being exposed to unacceptable levels of phosphine. Collectively, these findings support the occupational exposure limits of 0.3 ppm (8-hour TWA) and 1 ppm (STEL) established in the updated applicator's manuals for phosphine-generating products, which recently received approval from OPP.     

Alternative and Conventional Agricultural Paradigms: Evidence From Farming in Southwest Saskatchewan*

Abstract Agricultural analysts have suggested that the emergence of an alternative agriculture system represents more than changes in practices; it is also thought to represent a shift in environmental beliefs, values, attitudes, and norms. This means that conventional and alternative systems of agriculture represent distinct paradigms which are informed by two contradictory worldviews. Insofar as this claim is correct, it is possible to delineate, target, and promote one paradigm, depending on the system of agriculture that policy makers wish to encourage. In this paper we seek to clarify the practical application of the two agricultural paradigms by examining the practices, beliefs, values, norms, and attitudes of farmers in southwest Saskatchewan, part of the semi‐arid section of the North American Great Plains. Findings support the view that different farming systems correspond to different worldviews. Strong confidence in the market, however, is not limited to conventional farmers, as suggested by the literature.     

Ageism and Age Categorization

Two approaches to defining ageism are discussed. The significance of chronological age, both for bureaucratic procedures and for research, is considered. This demonstrates how birthdays are associated not just with changing status regarding employment and retirement, but also cultural transformations. The relevance of research based on age categories is critically discussed. It is argued that, while such research provides essential evidence of ageism, it inevitably tends to homogenize, particularly when open-ended "oldest" categories are used. The article concludes with a discussion of four alternative frameworks.     

Social Inclusion and Place‐Focused Initiatives in Western Sydney: A Review of Current Practice

This paper presents a review of the range of policies and programs that currently direct resources to disadvantaged communities in New South Wales, with a specific focus on the western Sydney region. These ‘place‐focused initiatives’ are the main sources of funding for community renewal from a range of government agencies at federal, state and local government levels. The research on which this paper is based identified thirty‐six programs administered or managed through thirteen government agencies or departments with a combined budget in excess of $163m in 2000/2001. It is argued that this diverse range of programs, while important, is highly fragmented, lacks a coherent spatial targeting framework, is poorly related to either local social or physical planning processes, and is poorly integrated in terms of its local outcomes. Moreover, beyond the public housing estates, existing policies lack the capacity to address the poor housing market conditions that generate local concentrations of disadvantage. A number of alternative policy ideas are presented that, if developed, might offer a better framework for the delivery of integrated policies to address the problems of social disadvantage and exclusion at the local level.     

Cooperation among competitors as status-seeking behavior: Network ties and status differentiation

Status-based affiliation represents a valuable resource in economic exchange. However, affiliation strategies introduce a status ordering paradox: whereas higher status actors seek to maintain status hierarchies, lower status actors strive to affiliate with more prestigious actors. In this paper, using original data on the network of social and professional ties among 72 hotel managers clustered in an Italian hotel district, we develop a theory of status-seeking behavior that involves the exchange of status for valued resources.     

Selectivity Of Migrants To A Metropolis In A Developing Country: A Mexican Case Study

A proper evaluation of native-migrant differences requires information on migrant selectivity. Are migrants positively or negatively selective or are they representative of the populations from which they originate? This question was posed for a sample of male migrants to Monterrey, Mexico, a rapidly growing metropolis in a developing country. A comparison was made between the characteristics of migrants and census information for the origin populations for 1940 and 1960. Overall, in terms of education and occupational position, migrants are positively selective. However, using three time-of-arrival cohorts, it is shown that migrants have become less selective over time. There has been a shift from a “pioneer” to a “mass” pattern of migration, with the latter group more closely approximating the characteristics of the origin population. Besides having lower educational and skill levels, the “mass” migrants are more likely to be made up of married men and their families. To the extent that the Monterrey pattern will be encountered in other large and fast-growing urban areas in Latin America, it suggests that the assimilation of migrants in these places will become more rather than less difficult.     

Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in the Measurement of Rural Poverty: The Case of Iran

Poverty reduction is one of the major challenges confronting mankind and a principal obstacle to well-being for a large proportion of the world’s population. New paradigms of development as advocated by Chambers and others focus strongly on poverty reduction. Poverty is increasingly recognised as a multifaceted concept that can be elucidated through both qualitative and quantitative analysis. In researching poverty it is desirable to recognise both the value position of researchers and the values of local people. This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data and considers both outsiders’ and insiders’ views through the use of participatory approaches in selected rural areas of Iran. A poverty index is constructed and validated in a six-stage process. On the basis of the findings, a number of recommendations are made about appropriate approaches to the investigation of poverty.     

Qur’anic education and non-confessional RE: an intercultural perspective

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the reported experiences of Muslim students that regularly shift between Muslim ‘supplementary education’ (including its traditional confessional focus on learning to read Arabic and then memorise and recite the Qur’an) and mainstream school education (including its ‘inclusive’ form of religious education’). The aim has been to better comprehend how these students make sense of this dual educational experience while negotiating the knowledge, skills, and values that are taught to them by two often seemingly disparate institutions. A further aim is to place our findings within the growing field of intercultural education. Though both types of education are often thought to be distinct and oppositional – the former as non-confessional and ‘modern’, the latter as confessional and ‘outmoded’ – both English and Swedish students were able to identify a degree of symbiosis between the two, particularly in relation to the process of memorisation. Thus, it became increasingly clear to the researchers that Muslim student reflection on their participation in both traditions of education had an intercultural dimension in the sense of encouraging dialogue and discussion across educational cultures prompting new knowledge and understanding. This article lays out some of the evidence for this conclusion.