A radio-detected type Ia supernova with helium-rich circumstellar material.

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are thermonuclear explosions of degenerate white dwarf stars destabilized by mass accretion from a companion star1, but the nature of their progenitors remains poorly understood. A way to discriminate between progenitor systems is through radio observations; a non-degenerate companion star is expected to lose material through winds2 or binary interaction3 before explosion, and the supernova ejecta crashing into this nearby circumstellar material should result in radio synchrotron emission. However, despite extensive efforts, no type Ia supernova (SN Ia) has ever been detected at radio wavelengths, which suggests a clean environment and a companion star that is itself a degenerate white dwarf star4,5. Here we report on the study of SN 2020eyj, a SN Ia showing helium-rich circumstellar material, as demonstrated by its spectral features, infrared emission and, for the first time in a SN Ia to our knowledge, a radio counterpart. On the basis of our modelling, we conclude that the circumstellar material probably originates from a single-degenerate binary system in which a white dwarf accretes material from a helium donor star, an often proposed formation channel for SNe Ia (refs. 6,7). We describe how comprehensive radio follow-up of SN 2020eyj-like SNe Ia can improve the constraints on their progenitor systems.

Sustainable Healthy Working Life for All Ages-Work Environment, Age Management and Employability.

The proportion of elderly citizens is continuously increasing in most of the industrial world [...].

Parents' Risk Acceptance and Attitudes Toward the Use of Quad Bikes by Children and Young People in Sweden.

HIGHLIGHTS: Parents did not see themselves as role models for children regarding use of quad bikes. Parents seemed to misjudge their children's maturity and capabilities. Risk acceptance was a common issue, due to risk normalization. There is a need for an age limit for drivers of adult-size quad bikes. ABSTRACT: When seeking to explain the many accidents involving children on quad bikes, it is critical to understand the norms and risk perceptions of their parents, because parents are responsible for their children's safety. This study explored attitudes and behavior among parents of rural children using quad bikes and their experiences of incidents and injuries. Information obtained from two focus group discussions, one with young adults and one with parents, and an in-depth interview with a quad bike distributor was used to develop an interview guide. The guide was used in telephone interviews with Swedish parents (n = 41) and some children ages 5 to 14 (n = 9) between autumn 2015 and spring 2016. Analysis of the results revealed eight themes: (1) how quad bikes are used, (2) risk awareness, (3) safety information could help other parents, (4) parents' perception of children's abilities, (5) children's learning, (6) children`s perspective, (7) rules and responsibilities, and (8) risk acceptance. Major findings were that parents were aware of the risks and had a strong commitment to children's safety, but also showed risk acceptance. To increase the safety of quad bike use, recommendations to organizations and authorities are presented, such as an age limit for drivers of all adult-size quad bikes and safety labeling of quad bikes, with information clarifying the rules for specific vehicles.

A Scoping Review of Safety and Health Interventions in the High-Risk Dairy Industry: Gaps in Evidence Point to Future Directions in Research.

The occupational injury rate of the dairy industry (6.6 per 100 full-time workers) is twice that of the national average across all industries (3.3 per 100 full-time workers). While dairy farms are becoming larger in size and fewer in number, this rate has not changed. A scoping review was conducted to identify published reports of occupational safety interventions in the dairy industry. An additional criterion was that the study included an evaluation of the intervention. Out of 22 articles that met the first criterion (discussion of interventions specific to the dairy industry), 19 met the second of having an evaluative component. These 19 articles corresponded to 16 unique studies, because 4 articles corresponded to the same study. Of the 16 unique studies, only 3 had a comparison of treatment vs. control effects, and none measured the impact of the intervention on injuries and fatalities. Of the 16 interventions, 6 were focused on training or informational campaigns in which the evaluations primarily measured knowledge acquisition. Additionally, none of these studies had a sufficient sample size to compare injury rates as an outcome. Our study demonstrates that the literature lacks any rigorous evaluation of whether dairy safety interventions are making an impact on injury prevention. Given this, it is not possible to determine how work-related injuries and deaths can be prevented in the dairy industry. Recommendations for future research include incorporating rigorous evaluation into research designs and attempting to develop low-cost, unobtrusive methods for collecting data on intermediate and final outcomes.

Occupational health and safety in agriculture - a brief report on organization, legislation and support in selected European countries.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Agriculture and forestry are among the most dangerous professions in Europe, with a high level of accidents affecting the sustainability and viability of the sector. International conventions, EU directives and national legislation build the fundamental basis for prevention. The aim of the study is to describe and categorize national mechanisms of occupational safety and health (OSH) for agricultural workers in Europe, to assess the extent of implementing safety regulation, the body in charge, and to give examples of health and safety initiatives. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Results of a questionnaire-survey on basic safety regulations on farms sent by e-mail to the representatives of 30 participating European countries in the context of the Sacurima COST action network (CA 16123) are presented. Due to the complexity, only selected countries are described in this study highlighting the regulative bodies, occupational health services or specific training offers, as well as the complexity of the mechanisms. RESULTS: One of the most serious issues and deficits of EU OSH regulation is the exclusion of self-employed farmers who compose nearly 90% of the farming population. This leads to serious under-reporting of accidents, and because one of the most common measures for the performance of health and safety initiatives are the injury and ill health statistics, better registration systems are urgently needed in almost all countries as a basis for preventive efforts. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study provide a basis for raising awareness about the current OSH systems in Europe, and the importance of developing sector specific OSH strategies. The proposed activities should assist in tackling high accident rates and poor occupational health for self-employed farmers.

Safe Farmer Common Sense' - A National Five-Year Education-Based Program for Prevention of Occupational Injuries in Swedish Agriculture-Background, Process, and Evaluation.

Background: This paper provides background and a process description for a national initiative ('Safe Farmer Common Sense') on prevention of occupational injuries in Swedish agriculture.Methods: This initiative, which received investment funding of 65 million SEK (6.5 million USD) from the European Union (EU) over the 5-year period 2009-2013, was jointly developed by researchers, agricultural organizations, authorities, and politicians. The program had a farmer-centered perspective and included short courses, on-farm visits by supervisors, and a number of education events and awareness-promoting activities.Results: Our analysis showed that the concept was successful, since it involved farmers to a greater extent and prompted a high proportion of these to introduce injury prevention measures on their farms compared with a control group. The analysis also confirmed that these activities continued two-three years after participation in the program.Conclusion: The program was not found to have any major effect on the number of occupational injuries, although the level of occupational fatalities was lower during the intervention period. Thus the investment can be questioned as regards the limited impact on the number of work-related injuries in Swedish agriculture and may have been too short to have a lasting effect.

Evaluating The Swedish Approach to Motivating Improved Work Safety Conditions on Farms: Insights from Fear Appeals and the Extended Parallel Processing Model.

Farm work safety intervention programs based on educating and informing have been criticized for not demonstrably improving work safety. We argue that these criticisms are misplaced and that the problem with educating and informing lies not necessarily in the tool, but rather in its implementation. We arrive at this conclusion by systematically investigating eight of the largest farm work safety interventions in Sweden. In particular, we describe how they use fear and other emotional appeals in their communications in an attempt to motivate improved work safety. We then analyze their implementation using the extended parallel processing model (EPPM). We show that, although threat of injury and death is used in the majority of these interventions to motivate individuals, the threat is inconsistent with the behaviors targeted. Other shortcomings and implications for implementing wide-scale farm work safety interventions are discussed.

Machinery-Related Perceived Risks and Safety Attitudes in Senior Swedish Farmers.

OBJECTIVES: To perform an ergonomic analysis of work and machinery-related risks in a group of Swedish older farmers, investigating farmers' attitudes and perceptions about: 1) health status and work motivation, 2) physical and cognitive workload and difficulties in the interaction with machinery and technological innovations, and 3) risks and safety practices. METHODS: Nine Swedish male farmers aged 65+ were administered a semi-structured interview and a questionnaire. RESULTS: Participants perceived themselves as being in good health and considered farming as a good proxy of their health status. They reported an increased physical workload but did not describe any cognitive workload. Technology was reported to have low usability, and thus its benefits cannot be fully exploited. Older farmers acknowledged the existence of "new risks" related to the aging process and mainly referred to the common sense and previous experience as the best safety practices. CONCLUSION: Multilevel interventions focused on the capabilities and limits of the older farmers should be developed, involving both training activities and design solutions for the machinery that can support older farmers' health and safety.

Anxiety and Depression Symptoms Among Farmers: The HUNT Study, Norway.

Agriculture has undergone profound changes, and farmers face a wide variety of stressors. Our aim was to study the levels of anxiety and depression symptoms among Norwegian farmers compared with other occupational groups. Working participants in the HUNT3 Survey (The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, 2006-2008), aged 19-66.9 years, were included in this cross-sectional study. We compared farmers (women, n = 317; men, n = 1,100) with HUNT3 participants working in other occupational groups (women, n = 13,429; men, n = 10,026), classified according to socioeconomic status. We used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure anxiety and depression symptoms. Both male and female farmers had higher levels of depression symptoms than the general working population, but the levels of anxiety symptoms did not differ. The differences in depression symptom levels between farmers and the general working population increased with age. In an age-adjusted logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio (OR) for depression caseness (HADS-D ≥8) when compared with the general working population was 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-1.83) in men and 1.29 (95% CI: 0.85-1.95) in women. Male farmers had a higher OR of depression caseness than any other occupational group (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.52-2.49, using higher-grade professionals as reference). Female farmers had an OR similar to men (2.00, 95% CI: 1.26-3.17), but lower than other manual occupations. We found that farmers had high levels of depression symptoms and average levels of anxiety symptoms compared with other occupational groups.

The Effect of Stress, Attitudes, and Behavior on Safety during Animal Handling in Swedish Dairy Farming.

Working with livestock is a hazardous activity, and animals have been found to be the most frequent injury source on dairy farms. Understanding the risk factors for injury and the causal relationships related to injuries and animal handling is important for developing prevention strategies and effective safety interventions. This study examined stress and handler attitude as possible risk factors for animal handling injuries in dairy farming, in particular when moving cows. Twelve dairy farms were visited on two occasions representing different stress levels: when cows were being moved to milking (low stress) and to hoof trimming (high stress). Behavioral observations of handlers and cows were performed, and questionnaires were completed on attitudes (risk acceptance, safety locus of control, and attitudes toward cows) and stress (perceived stress/energy level and job strain). The injury risks were found to be higher when moving cows to hoof trimming compared with moving cows to milking and gentle, moderately forceful, and forceful interactions were more frequently used. When moving cows to milking, observed risk situations were related only to the perceived energy level of the handler. When moving cows to hoof trimming, injury risks were correlated to job strain and time spent in the risk zone (defined as the area where the handler could be hit by the cow's head or hind legs). The time spent in the risk zone was positively correlated with job strain, age, and experience. Attitudes were not found to have significant impact on safety but were to some extent indirectly involved. These results suggest that the main focus in injury reduction work should be on reducing the time the handler spends in close proximity to animals during aversive procedures and on minimizing cow fear and stress by proper handling techniques and appropriate design of handling facilities.

Gendered agricultural space and safety: towards embodied, situated knowledge.

The changing conditions, technologies, and labor markets have shifted the gender division of labor on the farm. Women have taken on off-farm labor, but also increased their involvement in agriculture. The work and occupational risks of women have received less attention and are to great extent invisible. The spatial division between on-farm, off-farm, and domestic work is one contributing factor to the situation. The different situations and contexts of agriculture increase the need for knowledge regarding the processes and positions of farming. Through analyzing the literature on the topic, this study examined the gendered understanding of occupational health and safety in Western agriculture and how the embodied positions on the farm can affect women's exposure to risks and their knowledge about injury prevention. The findings are being discussed and framed in a dialogue with a gender theoretical framework, with the aim to produce a more comprehensive understanding of health and safety in agriculture through improving and refining methods. The review stresses the need of further gender research and the incorporation of qualitative methods, to increase the knowledge and understanding of the gendered relations, bodies, and situated knowledge of agricultural spaces.

A retrospective comparison of oxidized and turned implants with respect to implant survival, marginal bone level and peri-implant soft tissue conditions after at least 5 years in function.

BACKGROUND: Long-term clinical follow-up studies comparing different implant surfaces with regard to survival and marginal conditions are rare. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to compare the clinical performance of turned and oxidized implants after more than 5 years of loading. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred three patients (43 men, 60 women; mean age 67.4 years, range 32-90) previously treated with 287 implants (Nobel Biocare AB, Gothenburg, Sweden), 133 with turned surface (MKIII, Nobel Biocare AB) and 154 with an oxidized surface (MKIII, TiUnite, Nobel Biocare AB) were examined after at least 5 years of loading (mean 82 months, range 60-93 months). The implants had been used for support of single crowns (33 patients/36 implants), partial bridges (39 patients/103 implants), or full bridges (31 patients/148 implants) following an early loading protocol (14 patients /54 implants), a one-stage protocol (32 patients/59 implants) or a two-stage protocol (57 patients/174 implants). Clinical examinations of bleeding on probing (BoP) and pocket depth (PD) were performed. Intraoral radiographs were used for assessments of marginal bone levels (MBLs). RESULTS: Seven turned implants and one oxidized implant failed, giving overall cumulative survival rates of 94.7 and 99.4%, respectively. There were no differences for BoP scores (0.5 ± 0.7 vs 0.4 ± 0.6) and PD measurements (1.7 ± 0.8 mm vs 1.8 ± 1.0 mm) parameters when comparing turned and oxidized implants, respectively. The mean MBL was 1.8 ± 0.8 mm and 2.0 ± 0.9 mm for turned and oxidized implants, respectively, after more than 5 years in function (NS). Frequency distribution of MBL loss showed no statistically significant differences between the two surfaces. A total of four implants (1.4%) (three oxidized and one turned) showed a PD > 3 mm, MBL > 4 mm, and BoP. However, none of these were associated with suppuration on examination. CONCLUSION: The present study does not state any differences in implant failure, MBL, presence of bleeding or PD around implants when comparing turned and oxidized titanium implants after at least 5 years of function.

Swedish strategies for health and safety in agriculture: a coordinated multiagency approach.

BACKGROUND: Occupational injuries are a major problem in agriculture world-wide. OBJECTIVE: Sweden is developing a national approach to scoordinate different stakeholders with the common goal of reducing injuries in the agricultural sector. METHOD: The Swedish strategy involves important factors, such as: 1) Collaboration between all stakeholders involved in health and safety in agriculture, 2) A national programme on injury prevention, 3) Coordination of actions and 4) Knowledge, attitude and behaviour in focus. PARTICIPANTS: This approach is being coordinated through the Swedish Committee on Working Environment (LAMK), a network acting to achieve a good, healthy and safe working environment in Swedish agriculture. The Committee consists of representatives of authorities, institutions, companies, research and education institutions and organisations working in the green sector. RESULTS: The Swedish model will be evaluated as a whole concept on its effect on the frequency of injuries in the agricultural industry in the beginning of 2014. Promising results has been shown in evaluations of minor parts. CONCLUSIONS: This coordinated approach has been applied in others countries (United States and New Zealand) as well and seems like an efficient way of using limited resources to achieve higher impact on a specific problems such as occupational injuries in agriculture.

Farm tractors on Swedish public roads--age-related perspectives on police reported incidents and injuries.

BACKGROUND: Agriculture consistently ranks as one of the highest risk industries in North America and Europe. In addition to vehicle injuries and other injuries that occur on farms, farm vehicle drivers are also involved in collisions involving tractors and other slow-moving vehicles (SMVs) on public roads. These collisions often lead to injuries among farmers, family members, farm workers, and other road users. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a demographic analysis of road traffic incidents involving tractors in Sweden during the time period 1992-2009, with special consideration of how incidents vary with driver age. METHODS: Statistics from 2,305 police reports describing tractor-related road traffic incidents in Sweden in 1992-2009 were analysed with respect to driver age, type of incident, severity of injury, type of road user and other circumstances at the accident site. RESULTS: Tractors of all kinds were involved in 128 road traffic incidents annually, with 7 people killed, 44 seriously injured and 143 suffering minor injuries each year. The annual number of fatalities represented 1.2% of all Swedish road fatalities. Most road traffic incidents with farm tractors involved people aged 25-55 years (mean 45 years). However, most farm tractor drivers killed or injured belonged to younger or older age groups. Drivers aged 12-16 years were over-represented in tractor incidents with no other vehicle involved. Older tractor drivers (> 55 years) were more often involved in incidents with passenger vehicles on entering traffic flows. The youngest tractor drivers aged 12-16 years were more often involved in road traffic incidents during school holidays, and both youngest and oldest drivers (>65 years) during harvest time. CONCLUSIONS: Sweden has an ageing fleet of tractors, so increased attention to vehicle maintenance is needed to improve road safety. The over-representation of young children in tractor incidents suggests that it is questionable whether they should be allowed to operate farm vehicles. Farm vehicle drivers suffering the inevitable effects of ageing need increase their awareness of added risks. As road traffic incidents with tractors often involve private vehicles, creating awareness among the public of slow-moving farm vehicles is essential for improving overall road safety.

International perspectives on psychosocial working conditions, mental health, and stress of dairy farm operators.

Dairy farm operators-farmers, workers, and family members-are faced with many demands and stressors in their daily work and these appear to be shared across countries and cultures. Dairy operators experience high psychosocial demands with respect to a hard work and production ethos, economic influences, and social and environmental responsibility. Furthermore, both traditional and industrial farms are highly dependent on external conditions, such as weather, fluctuating markets, and regulations from government authorities. Possible external stressors include disease outbreaks, taxes related to dairy production, and recent negative societal attitudes to farming in general. Dairy farm operators may have very few or no opportunities to influence and control these external conditions, demands, and expectations. High work demands and expectations coupled with low control and lack of social support can lead to a poor psychosocial work environment, with increased stress levels, ill mental health, depression, and, in the worst cases, suicide. Internationally, farmers with ill mental health have different health service options depending on their location. Regardless of location, it is initially the responsibility of the individual farmer and farm family to handle mental health and stress, which can be of short- or long-term duration. This paper reviews the literature on the topics of psychosocial working conditions, mental health, stress, depression, and suicide among dairy farm operators, farm workers, and farm family members in an international perspective.

Occupational health and safety regulations in the dairy industry.

The application of occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation in the dairy industry varies throughout the world. Generally there is no specific OHS legislation that applies to the dairy industry and mostly in countries the current OHS legislation applies to all workplaces with specific guidelines that apply to agricultural industries. The main difference between countries is in the application of OHS legislation specifically in relation to the size of the farms. In the USA, the OHS legislation, and therefore enforcement, does not, in most cases, apply to farms with less than 11 employees, whereas in other countries there is no minimum number of employees and in some cases such as the United Kingdom and Australia it covers all people who work on the farm. The other area of difference is in the use and publication of guidelines for the industry; some countries have a wide range of guidelines whereas other counties have few. Generally, this relates to the jurisdiction of the OHS legislation, which in several countries is not at a national level such as USA, Canada, and Australia. The main principal of OHS legislation is that all workplaces, including dairy farms, should be a safe and healthy place to work, and does not vary significantly between the countries reviewed even those with prescriptive legislation.

Occupational health and safety aspects of animal handling in dairy production.

Livestock handling in dairy production is associated with a number of health and safety issues. A large number of fatal and nonfatal injuries still occur when handling livestock. The many animal handling tasks on a dairy farm include moving cattle between different locations, vaccination, administration of medication, hoof care, artificial insemination, ear tagging, milking, and loading onto trucks. There are particular problems with bulls, which continue to cause considerable numbers of injuries and fatalities in dairy production. In order to reduce the number of injuries during animal handling on dairy farms, it is important to understand the key factors in human-animal interactions. These include handler attitudes and behavior, animal behavior, and fear in cows. Care when in close proximity to the animal is the key for safe handling, including knowledge of the flight zone, and use of the right types of tools and suitable restraint equipment. Thus, in order to create safe working conditions during livestock handling, it is important to provide handlers with adequate training and to establish sound safety management procedures on the farm.