Time allocation between work and recreation and the associated injury risks among young people

PROBLEM: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between overall risk of injury and time use patterns between work and active recreation among adolescents and young adults. METHODS: Using a representative sample of 9,795 Canadians aged 15-24 years, a multivariate logistic regression on the likelihood of any medically attended injury was conducted, including sociodemographic, individual, and time factors. RESULTS: Young people who engaged in a combination of high work and high activity hours were twice as likely to sustain a medically attended injury compared to those who worked low hours, but did not participate in any recreational activity. Those respondents who were not in school had a 43% increase in injury risk compared to full-time students. SUMMARY: Our findings suggest that injury risk was not a simple function of fatigue and cumulative exposure time. Our findings suggest the importance of considering time use and the associated injury risk tradeoffs. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Relevant to state and federal work safety policy makers, our findings suggest the importance of understanding where youth might otherwise spend their time if constraint were placed on their employment opportunities, and the associated injury risk tradeoffs must be taken into consideration.     

Characterisation of PM10, PM2.5 and Benzene Soluble Organic Fraction of Particulate Matter in an Urban Area of Kolkata, India

In this study, the relationship between inhalable particulate (PM₁₀), fine particulate (PM_2.5), coarse particles (PM_{2.5 – 10}) and meteorological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind speed were statistically analyzed and modelled for urban area of Kolkata during winter months of 2003–2004. Ambient air quality was monitored with a sampling frequency of twenty-four hours at three monitoring sites located near traffic intersections and in an industrial area. The monitoring sites were located 3–5 m above ground near highly trafficked and congested areas. The 24 h average PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 samples were collected using Thermo-Andersen high volume samplers and exposed filter papers were extracted and analysed for benzene soluble organic fraction. The ratios between PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ were found to be in the range of 0.6 to 0.92 and the highest ratio was found in the most polluted urban site. Statistical analysis has shown a strong positive correlation between PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 and inverse correlation was observed between particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) and wind speed. Statistical analysis of air quality data shows that PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 are showing poor correlation with temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation. Regression equations for PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 and meteorological parameters were developed. The organic fraction of particulate matter soluble in benzene is an indication of poly aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration present in particulate matter. The relationship between the benzene soluble organic fraction (BSOF) of inhalable particulate (PM₁₀) and fine particulate (PM_2.5) were analysed for urban area of Kolkata. Significant positive correlation was observed between benzene soluble organic fraction of PM₁₀ (BSM10) and benzene soluble organic fraction of PM_2.5 (BSM2.5). Regression equations for BSM10 and BSM2.5 were developed.     

Attraction of the potential biocontrol agent <Emphasis Type="Italic">Galerucella placida</Emphasis> (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to the volatiles of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Polygonum orientale</Emphasis> (Polygonaceae) weed leaves

Galerucella placida Baly (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a potential biocontrol agent of the rice-field weed Polygonum orientale L. (Polygonaceae). The volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles from undamaged and mechanically damaged plants, and from plants 12- and 36-h following continuous feeding of female G. placida adults and 2nd instar larvae were identified and quantified by GC–MS and GC-FID analyses. Twenty-four and 21 compounds were identified in volatiles of undamaged and insect feeding plants, respectively; whereas 22 compounds were detected in volatiles of mechanically damaged plants. Decanal and 1-dodecanol were unique to undamaged plants, and linalool was detected in volatiles of undamaged and mechanically damaged plants, but not in volatiles of insect damaged plants. However, the beetles are not attracted by none of these volatile components, when tested individually in Y-shaped glass tube olfactometer bioassays. In all plants, methyl jasmonate was predominant. 1-Undecanol was the least amount in undamaged plants, and plants 12-h after feeding by G. placida adults and larvae; whereas 1-tridecanol was the least abundant in plants 36-h after feeding by G. placida adults and larvae, and mechanically damaged plants. The beetles showed significant preference to the whole volatile blends from plants 12-h after feeding by larvae and plants 36-h after feeding by either larvae or adults compared to those of undamaged plants. Further, G. placida responded to individual synthetic compounds, 3-hexanol, 1-octen-3-ol, nonanal, and geraniol at 7, 1.38, 3.75 and 4.5 µg/25 µL CH₂Cl₂, respectively, and provide a basis for attraction of the potential biocontrol agent in the field.     

Method development,validation, monitoring,seasonal effect and risk assessment of multiclass multi pesticide residues in surface and ground water of new alluvial zone in eastern India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) method was validated as per SANTE/12682/2019 guidelines for gas chromatography–mass spectrometric...     

Kinetics and mechanism of the hydrolysis of thiamethoxam

The degradation of thiamethoxam [(EZ)-3-(2-chloro-1,3-thiazol-5-yl-methyl)-5-methyl-1,3,5-oxadiazinan-4-ylidene (nitro) amine] insecticide in buffers at different pH and temperature levels was investigated in laboratory studies. Acidic hydrolysis under conventional heating conditions and alkaline hydrolysis under both conventional heating and microwave conditions were carried out. Different hydrolysis products were found to form under alkaline and acidic conditions. Hydrolysis of thiamethoxam in acidic, neutral and alkaline buffers followed first-order reaction rate kinetics at pH 4, 7 and 9.2, respectively. Thiamethoxam readily hydrolyzed in alkaline buffer but was comparatively stable in neutral buffer solution. The main products formed under different conditions were characterized on the basis of infrared (IR), ¹H-NMR and Mass spectroscopy. The possible mechanisms for the formation of these hydrolysis products have also been proposed.     

Current understanding of the influence of environmental factors on SARS-CoV-2 transmission,persistence, and infectivity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a significant public health emergency in recent times. It is a respiratory illness caused by the...     

Greenhouse gas emission from rice fields: a review from Indian context

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Agricultural soil acts as a source and sink of important greenhouse gases (GHGs) like methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2)....     

An inexact optimization approach for river water-quality management

A previously developed fuzzy waste load allocation model (FWLAM) for a river system is extended to address uncertainty involved in fixing the membership functions for the fuzzy goals of the pollution control agency (PCA) and the dischargers using the concept of grey systems. The model provides flexibility for the PCA and the dischargers to specify their goals independently, as the parameters for membership functions are considered as interval grey numbers instead of deterministic real numbers. An inexact or a grey fuzzy optimization model is developed in a multiobjective framework, to maximize the width of the interval valued fractional removal levels for providing latitude in decision-making and to minimize the width of the goal fulfillment level for reducing the system uncertainty. The concept of an acceptability index for order relation between two partially or fully overlapping intervals is used to get a deterministic equivalent of the grey fuzzy optimization model developed. The improvement of the optimal solutions over a previously developed grey fuzzy waste load allocation model (GFWLAM) is shown through an application to a hypothetical river system. The fuzzy multiobjective optimization and fuzzy goal programming techniques are used to solve the deterministic equivalent of the GFWLAM.