A Methodology for Seismic Risk Analysis of Nuclear Power Plants

This methodology begins by quantifying the fragility of all key components and structures in the plant. By means of the logic encoded in the plant event trees and fault trees, the component fragilities are combined to form fragilities for the occurrence of plant damage states or release categories. Combining these, in turn, with the seismicity curves yields the frequencies of those states or releases. Uncertainty is explicitly included at each step of the process.     

How Close Is Close Enough: Public Perceptions of the Risks of Industrial Facilities

Public opinion poll data have consistently shown that the proportion of respondents who are willing to have a nuclear power plant in their own community is smaller than the proportion who agree that more nuclear plants should be built in this country. Respondents' judgments of the minimum safe distance from each of eight hazardous facilities confirmed that this finding results from perceived risk gradients that differ by facility (e.g., nuclear vs. natural gas power plants) and social group (e.g., chemical engineers vs. environmentalists) but are relatively stable over time. Ratings of the facilities on thirteen perceived risk dimensions were used to determine whether any of the dimensions could explain the distance data. Because the rank order of the facilities with respect to acceptable distance was very similar to the rank order on a number of the perceived risk dimensions, it is difficult to determine which of the latter is the critical determinant of acceptable distance if, indeed, there is only one. There were, however, a number of reversals of rank order that indicate that the respondents had a differentiated view of technological risk. Finally, data from this and other studies were interpreted as suggesting that perceived lack of any other form of personal control over risk exposure may be an important factor in stimulating public opposition to the siting of hazardous facilities.     

U.K. competition policy evaluated

This paper surveys the application of U.K. monopoly policy and examines its general impact on industrial structure and market processes. It considers the effects of the Competition Act 1980 in relation to U.K. monopoly control and concludes that unless further measures are introduced, competitive pressures are likely to be weakened over the longer term.     

QALYs versus WTP.

Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) and willingness to pay (WTP) are alternative measures of the value of reductions in health risk that are often used in evaluating environmental, health, and safety practices. Although both methods are based on individual preferences, the underlying assumptions differ. The different bases yield systematically different conclusions about the relative value of reducing health and mortality risks to individuals that differ in age, preexisting health conditions, income, and other factors. The choice of which method to use depends on judgments about what constraints should be placed on individual preferences and what factors should be considered in aggregating preferences across people.     

Psychiatric hospitalization and process description: what will nursing add?

1. Inpatient treatment programs operating in the managed care environment must clearly articulate their treatment outcomes and the processes of care that are connected to these outcomes. 2. The work of inpatient psychiatric nurses can be organized and articulated through the therapeutic processes of the Four S Model: Safety, Structure, Support, and Symptom Management. 3. Nurses are vital contributors to the inpatient treatment process, but will be marginalized if they are unable to articulate how their interventions contribute to the positive treatment outcomes.     

Suicide ideation among US college students. Associations with other injury risk behaviors

Suicide, the endpoint of a continuum that begins with suicide ideation, is the third leading cause of death among the US college-aged population. The first and second leading causes of death among this age group, unintentional injury and homicide, may also be linked to suicide ideation. We used data from the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey to examine the association between suicide ideation and injury-related behaviors among 18- to 24-year-old college students. Students who reported suicide ideation were significantly more likely than students who did not report considering suicide to carry a weapon, engage in a physical fight, boat or swim after drinking alcohol, ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, drive after drinking alcohol, and rarely or never used seat belts. Given this clustering of injury-related risk behaviors, college prevention programs should aim to reduce risks for injuries comprehensively, rather than addressing each risk behavior separately.     

IntroductionExposing Misinformation Concerning Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Survivors

This article introduces a special volume on misinformation about child sexual abuse. Despite extensive research findings on the long-term effects and consequences of child sexual abuse, misinformation on this topic is widespread. Several forces have worked to support and disseminate this erroneous information. Because it is difficult to comprehend the horror of sexual crimes against children, society's denial and disbelief have often unwittingly supported the agendas of those who want to discount or minimize the impact of these crimes. The media has also contributed to the aura of skepticism surrounding claims of sexual abuse and its mental health impact, and has reported favorably on controversial and unproven claims such as the “false memory syndrome.” In the hope of countering misinformation and thus raising the level of discourse to the engagement of real scientific issues, a number of well known and respected researchers and clinicians examine various facets of the problem.     

Effectiveness of an educational intervention to increase knowledge and reduce use of risky behaviors associated with cumulative trauma in office workers

OBJECTIVE: This pilot project assessed the effectiveness of an intervention to increase knowledge and reduce risky behaviors related to cumulative trauma disorders (CTD) in office workers. STUDY DESIGN: All 124 employees from the administrative offices of a health maintenance organization were invited to participate. Subjects were followed across time using an identification number. Data were collected via questionnaire in June 1994 (pretest1) (N=84), August 1994 (pretest II) (N= 63) and September 1995 (posttest) (N=40). The yearlong intervention focused on functional activities to prevent CTD. RESULTS: of chi-square analyses for the 40 subjects who completed all surveys indicated this intervention significantly increased overall knowledge of CTD (p =.002). Significant changes in self-reported hand/wrist (p =.016) and neck/shoulder (p =.003) posture were also found. CONCLUSIONS: This study is a first step in identifying effective educational interventions to increase knowledge and reduce risk factors related to CTD in office workers.