A Classification System for Characterization of Physical and Non-Physical Work Factors

A comprehensive evaluation of work-related perfomance factors is a prerequisite to developing integrated and long-term solutions to workplace performance improvement. This paper describes a work-factor classification system that categorizes the entire domain of workplace factors impacting performance. A questionnaire-based instrument was developed to implement this classification system in industry. Fifty jobs were evaluated in 4 different service and manufacturing companies using the proposed questionnaire-based instrument. The reliability coefficients obtained from the analyzed jobs were considered good (.589 to .862). In general, the physical work factors resulted in higher reliability coefficients (.847 to .862) than non-physical work factors (.589 to .768). performance work-factor system classification     

Antibacterial activity of soil-bound antibiotics

There is some concern that antibiotic residues in land-applied manure may promote the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the environment. The goal of this study was to determine whether or not soil bound antibiotics are still active against bacteria. The procedure involved sorbing various amounts of tetracycline or tylosin on two different textured soils (Webster clay loam [fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Endoaquolls] and Hubbard loamy sand [sandy, mixed, frigid Entic Hapludolls]), incubating these soils with three different bacterial cultures (an antibiotic resistant strain of Salmonella sp. [Salmonella(R)], an antibiotic sensitive strain of Salmonella sp. [Salmonella(S)], and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922), and then enumerating the number of colony forming units relative to the control. Incubation was done under both static and dynamic conditions. Soil-adsorbed antibiotics were found to retain their antimicrobial properties since both antibiotics inhibited the growth of all three bacterial species. Averaged over all other factors, soil adsorbed antimicrobial activity was higher for Hubbard loamy sand than Webster clay loam, most likely due to higher affinity (higher clay content) of the Webster soil for antibiotics. Similarly, there was a greater decline in bacterial growth with tetracycline than tylsoin, likely due to greater amounts of soil-adsorbed tetracycline and also due to lower minimum inhibitory concentration of most bacteria for tetracycline than tylosin. The antimicrobial effect of tetracycline was also greater under dynamic than static growth conditions, possibly because agitation under dynamic growth conditions helped increase tetracycline desorption and/or increase contact between soil adsorbed tetracycline and bacteria. We conclude that even though antibiotics are tightly adsorbed by clay particles, they are still biologically active and may influence the selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the terrestrial environment.     

Capital assets and institutional constraints to implementation of greenhouse gas mitigation options in agriculture

Agriculture is one of the major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. It accounts for approximately 15% of the total global anthropogenic emissions of GHGs. Emissions could be twice as much if indirect emissions are also taken into the consideration. However, unlike other high emitting sectors such as transport or energy, agriculture is potentially a significant carbon “sink”. It has high technical potential as a carbon sink and if tapped, can substantially enhance global sequestration efforts. The technical potential, however, may not translate into actual GHG reduction because of the capital assets and institutional constraints faced by the smallholder farmers in the developing countries. In this paper we develop a capital assets based framework of physical, financial, social, human and natural barriers to agricultural carbon mitigation initiatives and through analysis of current initiatives, we set out policy based options to reduce each of these barriers. Fundamentally, barrier removal will entail designing agricultural carbon mitigation initiatives in collaboration with farmer communities, through strengthening local institutions, understanding land tenure and natural resource cultures, ensuring legitimacy and equity in payments and fast tracking training and information. We provide a framework that simultaneously aids the dual objectives of alleviating poverty in the poor farming communities of developing countries and lowering global greenhouse gas emissions.     

Prediction of methanol loss in vapor phase during gas hydrate inhibition using Arrhenius-type functions

Gas hydrate formation in natural gas and NGL systems can block pipelines, equipment, and instruments, restricting or interrupting flow leading to safety hazards to production/transportation systems and to substantial economic risks. The amount of hydrate inhibitor to be injected not only must be sufficient to prevent freezing of the inhibitor water phase, but also must be sufficient to provide for the equilibrium vapor phase content of the inhibitor. The vapor pressure of methanol must be high enough so that significant quantities will vaporize. Therefore to estimate methanol vaporization losses, it is necessary to develop a new predictive tool. In this work, a simple correlation, which is a mathematically compact and reasonably accurate equation containing few tuned coefficients, is presented here for the prediction of methanol vaporization loss and vapor pressures of aqueous methanol solutions as a function of temperature and methanol mass fraction in aqueous solutions using a novel and theoretically meaningful Arrhenius-type asymptotic exponential function and Vandermonde matrix. The proposed correlation predicts the vapor pressures of aqueous methanol solutions for temperatures up to 100 °C and methanol vaporization loss for temperature between ?16 and 16 °C. Estimations are found to be in excellent agreement with the reliable data in the literature where the average absolute deviation from data is less than 1.5%. The tool developed in this study can be of immense practical value for the engineers and scientists to have a quick check on the methanol vaporization loss and vapor pressures of aqueous methanol solutions at various conditions without opting for any experimental measurements. In particular, chemical and process engineers would find the approach to be user-friendly with transparent calculations involving no complex expressions.     

Understanding Urban Vehicular Pollution Problem Vis-a-Vis Ambient Air Quality – Case Study of a Megacity (Delhi, India)

Air pollution has become a growing problem in megacities and large urban areas through out the globe, and transportation is recognized as the major source of air pollution in many cities, especially in developing countries. Contribution of automobiles is reported in the range of 40 to 80% of the total air pollution. The challenge facing megacities is how to reduce the adverse environmental impacts and other negative effects of transportation without giving up the benefits of mobility. The dilemma becomes most pressing under conditions of rapid urban growth, which is likely to increase travel demand significantly.The paper is aimed at understanding the problem of vehicular pollution vis-a-vis ambient air quality for a highly traffic affected megacity, Delhi, wherein, the contribution of transport sector was estimated to be as high as 72%. An effort has been made to review and evaluate the benefits (in terms of improved air quality) of the technological interventions/policies adopted for vehicular pollution control in Delhi. It also highlights the outcome of the efforts and suggests further improvements thereon. The importance of public participation and awareness are also discussed. The paper focuses on deriving the benefits of the implementation of management strategies, supported by scientific and technical data/interpretation, so that the people can realize and participate in the government's endeavor for clean city drive in a more effective manner.     

Characterization of Super Paramagnetic Nanoparticles Coated with a Biocompatible Polymer Produced by Dextransucrase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Weissella cibaria</Emphasis> JAG8

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) synthesised by chemical co-precipitation method was subjected to dextran coating by sonication method. The dextran was enzymatically synthesised by extracellular dextransucrase isolated from Weissella cibaria JAG8. The crystalline nature of MNPs and dextran coated MNPs were confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies with average particle size of 25 nm, which was confirmed further by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The surface morphology of MNPs and dextran coated MNPs were monitored by scanning electron microscopy studies. The vibrating sample magnetometer investigation displayed the super paramagnetic nature of MNPs and dextran coated MNPs. FT-IR analysis of MNPs and dextran coated MNPs, displayed characteristic band of Fe–O bond at 582 cm^?1. Thermo-gravimetric analysis of MNPs and dextran coated MNPs (1:1) ratio displayed a weight loss of 15 and 18 %, which clearly indicated 3.0 % of dextran was coated on to the MNPs. The elemental composition study by scanning electron microscopy confirmed the association of dextran with MNPs. The in vitro effect of MNPs and dextran coated MNPs was performed on human colon cancer (HT-29) cell lines and the results showed that dextran coated: MNPs (2:1) displayed good biocompatibility results over dextran coated: MNPs (1:1) and un-coated MNPs.     

Sampling Duration Calculations

ABSTRACT

Routine air quality monitoring produces filter samples that, when analyzed, yield the total amount of the aerosol present in the volume of air drawn by the pump in the monitoring device during the given sampling period. From this we obtain an average concentration of the aerosol for the given duration. The samples are therefore really aggregate samples. A natural question then is “what is the effect of the duration of aggregation on the accuracy and precision of the estimate of the quantity of interest?” The answer depends on a number of factors, such as the quantity that is being estimated: a mean, or an extreme value, or some other quantity; the nature of the measurement error—additive versus multiplicative; the costs of laboratory analyses, and so on. In this paper, we investigate these issues when the interest is in estimating the mean concentration of a specified aerosol species over a fixed time period. In particular, we propose a method for determining a sampling duration that will yield the “best estimate” of the mean concentration for a given cost whenever appropriate statistical assumptions hold.     

Geospatial assessment and monitoring of historical forest cover changes (1920–2012) in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve,Western Ghats,India

Deforestation in the biosphere reserves, which are key Protected Areas has negative impacts on biodiversity, climate, carbon fluxes and livelihoods. Comprehensive study of deforestation in biosphere reserves is required to assess the impact of the management effectiveness. This article assesses the changes in forest cover in various zones and protected areas of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the first declared biosphere reserve in India which forms part of Western Ghats-a global biodiversity hotspot. In this study, we have mapped the forests from earliest available topographical maps and multi-temporal satellite data spanning from 1920’s to 2012 period. Mapping of spatial extent of forest cover, vegetation types and land cover was carried out using visual interpretation technique. A grid cell of 1 km?×?1 km was generated for time series change analysis to understand the patterns in spatial distribution of forest cover (1920–1973–1989–1999–2006–2012). The total forest area of biosphere reserve was found to be 5,806.5 km² (93.8 % of total geographical area) in 1920. Overall loss of forest cover was estimated as 1,423.6 km² (24.5 % of the total forest) with reference to 1920. Among the six Protected Areas, annual deforestation rate of >0.5 was found in Wayanad wildlife sanctuary during 1920–1973. The deforestation in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is mainly attributed to conversion of forests to plantations and agriculture along with submergence due to construction of dams during 1920 to 1989. Grid wise analysis indicates that 851 grids have undergone large-scale negative changes of >75 ha of forest loss during 1920–1973 while, only 15 grids have shown >75 ha loss during 1973–1989. Annual net rate of deforestation for the period of 1920 to 1973 was calculated as 0.5 followed by 0.1 for 1973 to 1989. Our analysis shows that there was large-scale deforestation before the declaration of area as biosphere reserve in 1986; however, the deforestation has drastically reduced after the declaration due to high degree of protection, thus indicating the secure future of reserve in the long term under the current forest management practices. The present work will stand as the most up-to-date assessment on the forest cover of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve with immediate applications in monitoring and management of forest biodiversity.     

Common property resources in drylands of India

Common property resources are areas of land or water being used by a community or a group of communities. These have special significance to peoples and communities who depend on them for their livelihood. The commons in all arid districts of India include village pastures, community forests, wasteland, common threshing grounds, waste dumps, watershed drainage, village baoris¹, talabs², nadis³ and ponds, and tanks, rivers, rivulets, wetlands, riverbeds, community conserved areas, protected areas, Dhaam⁴ or Dhooni⁵, culturable wastelands, barren & un-culturable land, etc. The area under commons often ranged from 9 to 28% of total village area. Appropriation of the commons by the state for building essential infrastructure such as schools, clinics, veterinary hospitals, housing for government functionaries, SEZ and industrial corridors, etc. is a cause of serious concern. Presently the ownership rights over CPRs are not clear and there are many who claim ownership, some at State level but also like local bodies. The 12^th plan of the Planning Commission of India recognized and highlighted the need for favourable land tenure arrangements, institutional design and programme architecture in order to achieve effective governance and management of the commons. The revitalization of CPRs is crucial for protecting livelihoods, as well as for biodiversity conservation and for the improvement in arid microclimatic conditions. Dialogue continues on the status of common property resources, the available legal framework and some policy related issues for its conservation through strengthening of local institutions and capacity building for stakeholders.