Objectives: Although obesity and permanent work disability impose a great burden on the individual and are very costly for society, data on the impact of being overweight on occupational disability are sparse, especially in men who work hard physically. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of body mass index (BMI) with work disability among construction workers. Methods: The association between BMI and work disability was examined during a mean follow-up period of 10.8 years in a cohort of 16 875 male construction workers in Wurttemberg, Germany, who participated in routine occupational health examinations from 1986 to 1992. Hazard ratios were calculated with normal weight (20.0–22.4 kg/m 2 ) as reference using the Cox proportional hazards model, after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Results: Overall, a U-shaped association of BMI with all-cause work disability (total number = 3064 cases) was observed, with the lowest risk of disabilities at BMI levels between 25 and 27.4 kg/m 2 . Strong positive associations were observed between BMI and work disability due to osteoarthritis or cardiovascular diseases, whereas BMI was inversely related to work disability due to cancer, even after exclusion of the first 3 years of follow-up. Conclusions: Moderate overweight is not associated with increased risk of work disability among construction workers, but obesity increases the risk of work disability due to osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease.

Overweight, obesity and risk of work disability: a cohort study of construction workers in Germany.

Racial/ethnic discrimination and alcohol use disorder severity among United States adults

This project sets out to scrutinize three decades of feature length fiction films about
the British Empire produced by American and British filmmakers beginning in the
1930s through to the end of the 1950s. It compares British and American film in these
three decades because such a comparative study has yet to be done and situating such
a study within the changing historical contexts is important to chart shifting patterns
in filmmaking in these two cultures. Focusing on film narratives that favour sites of
modern colonial conflict as setting, namely India, the African colonies and Ireland,
the project will chart how American and British filmmakers started from significantly
different positions regarding the British imperial project but came to share increasing
homogeneity of approach during and after the Second World War. This thesis shows
that the relationship of American and British filmmakers to the British Empire
changed dramatically after the Second World War and followed political
developments. The new special relationship which grew strong after the war had far
reaching consequences to the colonial and former colonial nations: the way in which
American and British filmmakers portrayed this transition has important implications
within film history.

A special relationship : the British Empire in British and American cinema, 1930-1960

During World War II, the Hollywood studios produced an unprecedented number of warthemed films in order to help prepare American audiences for what was to come, as well as to profit from the popularity of anything pertaining to the war. As a result, soldiers were the predominant representation of masculinity from 1942 to 1945. The war's biggest influence on Hollywood, however, was the increasing freedom studios were given to portray violence onscreen in order to reflect the bloodshed of the war itself. Using the existing literature about Hollywood during the war, as well as primary sources from the period, this thesis examines the impact that the war had on violence in film with a focus on how Hollywood influenced the portrayal of masculinity through combat films. In order to illustrate how violence changed during the war years I begin my thesis by establishing the state of film censorship prior to the war. I make use of the gangster films as they were the most violent films produced during the 1930's and led directly to the censorship of film violence. The majority of my thesis focuses on film violence between 1942 and 1945, arguing that the war dramatically influenced censorship in the United States, and also that Hollywood helped to redefine masculinity through the combat films. I finish my thesis with an examination of films released between 1946 and 1950 that prove film violence continued after the war had ended and in genres other than the combat films. List of Abbreviations HUAC House Un-American Activities Committee MPAA Motion Picture Association of America OOC Office of Censorship OWI Office of War Information RAF Royal Air Force PCA Production Code Administration WACMPI War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry WASP White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant

Violence and masculinity in Hollywood war films during World War II

___________________________________________________________________________ A common theme that pervades America’s view of its past is the idea that the American nation is exceptional. The term “American Exceptionalism” encompasses this notion or belief and sees common usage in both popular and scholarly contexts. This work deals with the essential themes of American Exceptionalism as they appear and evolve through the American film industry. Specifically, it follows the film industry through the momentous conflicts of the middle 20th century. Within this context, it examines the role played by the film industry in perpetuating and shaping exceptionalist ideology in the public sphere. Though a relatively new form of media by the middle 20th century, cinema played an integral role in shaping and affecting the opinions of the American public. The control of narrative and information was a crucial factor in fostering and maintaining public support for American engagement in foreign conflicts. Exceptionalism is a broad and somewhat abstract concept that requires specific definition for any useful analysis. To put it succinctly, American Exceptionalism refers to the idea of American superiority, specifically moral superiority as evidenced through a conception of the world in terms of racial hierarchy, as well as the superiority of American political ideology. Moral superiority encompasses Christian religious ideology and associated virtues such as duty, strength of character, and ethical integrity. Additionally, it involves an understanding of the world in terms of racial hierarchy and America’s place as a racially superior agent of paternal guidance for inferior peoples and

https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=histphil_etd

American Exceptionalism in the Film Industry of the Middle Twentieth Century

http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780813171371/9780813171371-1.pdf

We'll Always Have the Movies

American Men and Women

Before Pearl Harbor

Abstract We collectively face a constellation of complex and interconnected problems that threaten human and planetary wellbeing now and into the future. Holistic, multidisciplinary education that integrates the social, environmental and economic pillars of sustainability and enables learners to contribute to more sustainable societies are widely expected to play a crucial role in addressing these challenges. However, transformative learning to foster more sustainable ways of living cannot take place without teachers, who serve as role models for students and are widely acknowledged as key agents of social change. Teachers are called upon to translate international policies for sustainability education into classroom practice, but research shows that many practicing educators feel unprepared to help learners develop the competencies needed to forge more sustainable paths forward. In this commentary, the reflections of a British science teacher provide a first-hand account of the disconnect between international policy on sustainability education and the lived experiences of a classroom teacher and serve as a launch point for comparison with other teachers’ perspectives on teaching and learning for sustainability as documented in the literature. Despite significant context-based differences in how sustainability education is implemented, teachers’ voices from across the world reveal several common obstacles to multidisciplinary, learner-centered education for sustainability, including disciplinary silos, a focus on high stakes assessments, and inadequate professional learning opportunities for future and practicing educators. These hurdles persist despite repeated calls from policy-makers and researchers to better prepare and support educators as the facilitators of learning for sustainability, underscoring the need to more closely connect top-down Education for Sustainable Development policy to teachers’ needs and classroom experiences. 

/pdf/barriers-to-learning-for-sustainability-a-teacher-1jopwgq2.pdf

Barriers to learning for sustainability: a teacher perspective

Despite the pandemic, scholars have been expanding our understanding of fiction from the first part of the 20th century. Gertrude Stein’s Jewish identity has become a fruitful new approach for examining both her aesthetics and her writing. There is significant writing on Sinclair Lewis, with a new biography of his early life as well as a special issue of Midwestern Miscellany to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Main Street. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance are increasingly being read as part of the African diaspora, especially Claude McKay, whose second unpublished novel since his death, Romance in Marseille, has just been printed. The work of W. E. B. Du Bois continues to be a touchstone for African American literature and culture, made especially clear by Lavelle Porter in The Blackademic Life. Abraham Cahan’s tales of Jewish immigrants are receiving new attention, as is Michael Gold, with the first new biography of him since 1979. H. P. Lovecraft’s theory of the weird continues to attract scholars not only to his fiction but also to his influence on films, gaming, and philosophy.

Sally E. Parry

Papers

We'll Always Have the Movies

American Men and Women

Before Pearl Harbor

Barriers to learning for sustainability: a teacher perspective

Fiction: 1900 to the 1930s