Protective factors associated with young passenger intervening in risky driving situations

IntroductionWhile the negative influence of passengers on driving is usually studied, young passengers may protect against young drivers' crash involvement by speaking out and trying to stop unsafe driving behavior. This study sought to examine psychosocial constructs of young passengers who are likely to intervene in their friends' risky driving.MethodUniversity students aged 17 to 25 years who were single (n = 123) or in a romantic relationship (n = 130) completed an online survey measuring protective factors.ResultsThe combination of individual, friend and (for participants in a relationship) romantic partner protective factors predicted self-reported passenger intervening intentions.Impact on IndustrySince peer passengers often increase young drivers' crash risk, research on passenger intervening has significant implications for road safety strategies. The findings provide support for the operationalization of protective factors in strategies that target passenger intervening behavior.     

Validation of the principles of injury risk zones for motorcycle protective clothing

IntroductionThe distributions of motorcycle crash impacts and injuries were compared to the four impact risk zones and protective performance specified in the European Standard for motorcycle clothing (EN 13595).MethodsCrashed motorcyclists' (n = 117) injuries and clothing damage were categorized by body area into the four risk zones. Three levels of protection were defined: protective clothing with impact protection, protective clothing only and non-protective clothing.ResultsThe distribution of impact/injury sites corresponded to the predictions of EN 13595, with the proportion of all injuries decreasing from 43.9% in Zone 1, to 18.0%, 16.7%, and 11.5% in Zones 2 to 4, respectively. Protective clothing modified the distribution of injuries with substantially more injuries (OR = 2.69, 95% CL: 20.1–3.59) at unprotected impact sites.Practical applicationThese findings support an appropriate framework for determining performance specifications for the manufacture of motorcycle clothing that will effectively reduce the risk of injury in crashes.     

Effect of spark duration on explosion parameters of methane/air mixtures in closed vessels

The paper outlines an experimental study on influence of the spark duration and the vessel volume on explosion parameters of premixed methane–air mixtures in the closed explosion vessels. The main findings from these experiments are: For the weaker ignition the spark durations in the range from 6.5 μs to 40.6 μs had little impact on explosion parameters for premixed methane–air mixtures in the 5 L vessel or 20 L vessel; For the same ignitions and volume fractions of methane in air the explosion pressures and the flame temperatures in both vessels of 5 L and 20 L were approximately the same, but the rates of pressure rises in both vessels of 5 L and 20 L were different; The explosion indexes obtained from the measured pressure time histories for both vessels of 5 L and 20 L were approximately equal; For the weaker ignition with the fixed spark duration 45 μs the ignition energies in the range from 54 mJ to 430 mJ had little impact on the explosion parameters; For the same ignition and the volume fractions of methane in air, the vessel volumes had a significant impact on the flame temperatures near the vessel wall; The flame temperatures near the vessel wall decreased as the vessel volumes increased.     

Simultaneous photocatalytic treatment of Cr(VI), Ni(II) and SDBS in aqueous solutions: Evaluation of removal efficiency and energy consumption

Simultaneous photocatalytic reduction of poisonous Cr(VI) and Ni(II) ions, coupled with photocatalytic oxidation of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) were studied with a trace amount of commercial titania nanoparticles and by means of a direct-photo-irradiation reactor. The co-presence of metal ions and SDBS causes metal ions reduction as well as SDBS oxidation to enhance and energy efficiency to improve. XRD, XPS and FTIR analysis were used to characterize TiO₂ particles before and after usage with the aim of evaluating the mechanism of reactions. The effect of major operating parameters, pH and temperature, was investigated. Under conditions of [Cr(VI)]₀ = [Ni(II)]₀ = 5 mg/L, [SDBS]₀ = 10 mg/L, [TiO₂] = 40 mg/L, pH 6 and T = 35 °C; the removal efficiencies of 55.4%, 71.2% and 57.2% were obtained, respectively, for Cr(VI) and Ni(II) reduction, as well as for SDBS oxidation, after 110 min operation. The relevant kinetic model jointed with the Arrhenius equation was introduced. Pseudo-first-order reactions are relevant. Energy consumption (electrical and thermal) evaluations revealed that operations at higher temperatures provide significant cost reduction. Meantime, a criterion was proposed for a consistent assessment of this kind of processes.     

Occupational stressors identified by small-scale,independent commercial crab pot fishermen

IntroductionWe interviewed fishermen to identify jobs and/or tasks of concern in order to guide and inform current ergonomic interventions.MethodsWe administered surveys to two groups of southeastern US commercial crab fishermen: a cohort contacted by telephone and fishermen recruited at 11 local fish houses. Fishermen were asked to rate physical stress of selected work tasks and conditions on a scale from 0 (no problem) to 10 (major problem). Fishermen were also asked open-ended questions about other work-issues of concern.ResultsFishermen who completed the survey (n = 91) were predominantly male (90%), white (96%), and over 40 years of age (71%). The five most physically strenuous tasks and conditions as rated by fishermen were pulling pots by hand (mean 6.4), rough weather (6.1) or rough water (6.2), unloading without mechanical assistance (5.8), and long work days (5.3). Task stress ratings with the most variability measured by the inter-quartile range (IQR) included: pulling pots by hand (IQR = 5), unloading without mechanical assistance (IQR = 5), gear maintenance (IQR = 4.5), and moving boxes and baskets on board (IQR = 4.5). Other situations that fishermen identified as a problem included: economic, off-shore work, declining industry, mental stress, environment, regulation, conflict with other commercial or recreational fishermen, issues with crew, sun (glare or burn), and breaking up frozen bait.ConclusionsIn general, stressful tasks identified from previous research were rated similarly by the fishermen surveyed. Development and testing of ergonomic interventions is ongoing.     

Prevalence of work-site injuries and relationship between obesity and injury among U.S. workers: NHIS 2004–2012

Introduction: Studies have reported associations between obesity and injury in a single occupation or industry. Our study estimated the prevalence of work-site injuries and investigated the association between obesity and work-site injury in a nationally representative sample of U.S. workers. Methods: Self-reported weight, height, and injuries within the previous three months were collected annually for U.S. workers in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2004–2012. Participants were categorized as normal weight (BMI: 18.5–24.9 kg/m²), overweight (BMI: 25.0–29.9), obese I (BMI: 30.0–34.9), and obese II (BMI: 35 +). The prevalence of injury and prevalence ratios from fitted logistic regression models was used to assess relationships between obesity and injury after adjusting for covariates. Sampling weights were incorporated using SUDAAN software. Results: During the 9-year study period from 2004 to 2012, 1120 workers (78 workers per 10,000) experienced a work-related injury during the previous three months. The anatomical sites with the highest prevalence of injury were the back (14.3/10,000 ± 1.2), fingers (11.5 ± 1.3), and knees (7.1 ± 0.8). The most common types of injuries were sprains/strains/twists (41.5% of all injuries), cuts (20.0%), and fractures (11.8%). Compared to normal weight workers, overweight and obese workers were more likely to experience work-site injuries [overweight: PR = 1.25 (95% CI = 1.04–1.52); obese I: 1.41 (1.14–1.74); obese II: 1.68 (1.32–2.14)]. These injuries were more likely to affect the lower extremities [overweight: PR = 1.48, (95% CI = 1.03–2.13); obese I: 1.70 (1.13–2.55); obese II: 2.91 (1.91–4.41)] and were more likely to be due to sprains/strains/twists [overweight: PR = 1.73 (95% CI = 1.29–2.31); obese I: PR = 2.24 (1.64–3.06); obese II: PR = 2.95 (2.04–4.26)]. Conclusions: Among NHIS participants, overweight and obese workers were 25% to 68% more likely to experience injuries than normal weight workers. Practical applications: Weight reduction policies and management programs may be effectively targeted towards overweight and obese groups to prevent or reduce work-site injuries.     

Synthesis of CuO nanoparticles through green route using Citrus limon juice and its application as nanosorbent for Cr(VI) remediation: Process optimization with RSM and ANN-GA based model

In present investigation, an attempt has been made for the synthesis of cupric oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) through a green route by utilizing lemon juice extract as a bioreductant. The synthesized CuONPs were characterized through UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The CuONPs were utilized for Cr(VI) removal from water through adsorption method in batch mode at different initial Cr(VI) concentration, pH, temperature and CuONPs dosage. The maximum uptake capacity of CuONPs was found to be 16.63 mg of Cr(VI)/g at pH 4.0. Implementation of response surface methodology (RSM) followed by artificial neural network hybridized with genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) approach has resulted maximum Cr(VI) adsorption of 98.8% under the optimized conditions of initial metal concentration 22.5 mg/L, pH 3.81, CuONPs dose 1.28 g/L and temperature 37.1 °C. Under optimum conditions, adsorption isotherm study was conducted, which showed that the fitness of experimental data was well achieved with Langmuir isotherm model illustrating monolayer pattern of adsorption. Thermodynamic study revealed that the process was spontaneous and endothermic in nature, while adsorption kinetics was best explained by pseudo-second order kinetic model.     

Experimental investigation of the flow characteristics of jettisoning in a CO2 carrier

This experimental study was performed to investigate the flow characteristics in the jettisoning flow line of a liquid CO₂ carrier. When a pressurized liquid CO₂ container loses mechanical integrity, possibly by material or mechanical defects, the liquid inventory should be drained out rapidly for safety reasons using the so-called jettisoning process. In the course of jettisoning, the liquid CO₂ undergoes two phase change stages, from liquid to liquid + vapor and from liquid + vapor to solid + vapor. Consequently, the jettisoning release rate is affected by the characteristics of these phase changes. In this study, liquid CO₂ was discharged through a small tube, representing a jettisoning flow line. The temperature and pressure were measured along the tube, and the locations of the phase changes were inferred from the measured data. The experimental results showed that active nucleation occurred near the tube tip and that the phase change into solid and vapor occurred just after leaving the pipe, irrespective of the tube length in this study.     

Magnetophoretic separation of Chlorella sp.: Role of cationic polymer binder

Cationic polyelectrolyte promoted effective attachment of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) onto microalgal cells through electrostatic attraction. Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) and chitosan (ChiL), both are cationic polymer, are feasible to act as binding agent to promote rapid magnetophoretic separation of Chlorella sp. through low gradient magnetic separation (LGMS) with field gradient ▿B less than 80 T/m in real time. Cell separation efficiency up to 98% for the case of PDDA and 99% for the case of ChiL can be achieved in 6 min when 3 × 10⁷ cells/mL Chlorella sp. are exposed to 300 mg/L surface functionalized-IONPs (SF-IONPs). Different polyelectrolytes do not give significant effect on cell separation efficiency as long as the particle attachment occurred. However, the PDDA is more preferable as the binder for all type of microalgae medium than the chitosan (ChiL) since it is not pH dependent. SF-IONPs coated with PDDA guarantee the cell separation performance for all pH range of cell medium, with 98.21 ± 0.40% at pH 8.84. On the other hand, the ChiL performance will be affected by the cell medium pH, with only 22.93 ± 31.03% biomass recovery at pH 9.25.     

Chemical conversion of paper industry effluents into carboxymethylcellulose

The synthesis of carboxymethylcellulose was investigated using effluents containing short cellulose fibers. Carboxymethylcellulose was synthesized according to the slurry process using different amount of sodium hydroxide and different incubation times at 30 °C after the etherification reaction as variables. Characterization of the product was conducted by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, degree of substitution, average degree of polymerization, water imbibing capacity, color, rheological properties, apparent viscosity and trace elements content. Incubation time slightly increased the yield of the reaction and the degree of substitution during the first 12 h. The reaction yield and degree of substitution both decreased when the initially concentration of NaOH was increased from 7.0 g/mL to 10.5 g/mL. The carboxymethylcellulose obtained was darker and had lower hydration properties than commercial samples. Trace elements content suggests that the product could be only used in paint factories or building materials industries.     

Evaluation of Abelmoschus esculentus (lady's finger) seed as a novel biosorbent for the removal of Acid Blue 113 dye from aqueous solutions

The use of a new biosorbent derived from Abelmoschus esculentus (A. esculentus) seed for the removal of Acid Blue 113 (AB113) in aqueous solutions was investigated in batch mode. Biosorption studies were carried out under varying operational parameters including initial pH, biosorbent dosage, contact time, initial dye concentration and temperature. The results indicated that the biosorption properties were strongly dependent on initial pH. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed that hydroxyl, carboxylic and amide functional groups present on the biosorbent surface were involved in the dye removal process. Equilibrium data were best fitted by the Langmuir model. The maximum biosorption capacity was 169.9 ± 3.1 mg g⁻¹ at 25 °C and initial pH 5.5. The kinetic data were in good agreement with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The process was controlled by diffusion through boundary layer at the initial stage followed by intra-particle diffusion at the later stage. Thermodynamic evaluation showed that the process was endothermic and spontaneous. The present study suggests that A. esculentus seed with maximum biosorption capacity which compared well with values reported in the literature can be a potential biosorbent for AB113 dye removal.     

Evaluation of beech for production of bio-char,bio-oil and gaseous materials

Evaluation of Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis L.) was investigated with aspect of thermo-chemical conversion to obtain bio-char, bio-oil and gaseous. When the pyrolysis temperature increased, the bio-char yield decreased. A high temperature and smaller particles increase the heating rate resulting in a decreased bio-char yield. The bio-char obtained are carbon rich, with high heating value and relatively pollution-free potential solid biofuel. The liquefaction yield sharply increased with increasing the temperature near critical temperature and after that. In the pyrolysis, increases of liquid yields are considerably sharply for all of the samples with increasing of pyrolysis temperature from 690 K to 720 K. The beechnut oil was converted to biodiesel in supercritical methanol without using the catalyst. Experiments have been carried out in an autoclave at 493, 523 and 593 K, and with molar ratios of 1:6–1:40 of the oil to methanol. The yield of alkyl ester increased with increasing the molar ratio of oil to alcohol.     

Stochastic modeling of accident risks associated with an underground coal mine in Turkey

In this study, a methodology is proposed towards development of an uncertainty model that includes randomness in the occurrence of days-lost accidents in a coal mine. The accident/injury data consists of 1390 days-lost accident cases recorded at GLI-Tuncbilek underground lignite mine from January 1994 to December 2002. In the first step of proposed methodology, the frequency and the severity of the accidents have been modeled statistically by fitting appropriate distributions. The test done by BestFit software yields a chi-square value of 21.53 (p = 0.089) with 14 degrees of freedom and estimates the parameter of lambda for Poisson distribution as 12.87 accidents/month. For the severity component, a lognormal distribution is fitted to days-lost data and chi-square goodness-of-fit test calculates a value of 40.44 (p = 0.097) with 30 degrees of freedom. The parameters of lognormal distribution are estimated as a mean of 14.3 days and standard deviation of 23.1 days, respectively. Then, two distributions are basically combined by Monte Carlo simulation in order to construct relative risk levels in yearly base referring to the final cumulative distribution. Finally, a simple forecasting modeling is carried out in order to quantitatively predict the expected risk levels by using decomposition technique in time series analysis. Stochastic model estimates that although, there would be substantial reduction in the expected number of accidents in the near future, the higher level of risks still should be a concern for the mine management.     

Association between safety leading indicators and safety climate levels

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate the association of leading indicators for occupational health and safety, particularly safety inspections and non-compliances, with safety climate levels.MethodsNordic Occupational Safety Climate Assessment Questionnaire was employed to evaluate safety climate in cross-sectional design. The geographically diverse population of the inspection body made it possible to conduct the survey across 10 provinces in Iran. 89 completed questionnaires were obtained with a response rate of 47%. Except for management safety justice, the internal consistency of other six dimensions was found to be acceptable (α ≥ 0.7).ResultsMean scores of dimensions ranged from 3.50 in trust in the efficacy of safety systems (SD = 0.38) to 2.98 in workers' safety priority and risk non-acceptance (SD = 0.47). Tukey HSD tests indicated a statistically significant difference of mean scores among groups undergoing different number of safety inspections and those receiving different number of non-compliances (p < 0.05), with no significant differences based on safety training man-hours and sessions (p > 0.05). Spearman's rank-order correlation showed no relationship between work experience and number of non-compliances (correlation coefficient = − 0.04, p > 0.05) and between safety training man-hours and number of non-compliances (correlation coefficient = − 0.15, p > 0.05).ConclusionsOur results indicate that safety climate levels are influenced by number of safety inspections and the resultant non-compliances.Practical applicationsFindings suggest that safety non-compliances detected as a result of conducting safety inspections could be used to monitor the safety climate state. Establishing plans to conduct scheduled safety inspections and recording findings in the form of safety non-compliance and monitoring their trend could be used to monitor levels of safety climate.     

Conscientious personality and young drivers' crash risk

Introduction: Personality characteristics are associated with many risk behaviors. However, the relationship between personality traits, risky driving behavior, and crash risk is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between personality, risky driving behavior, and crashes and near-crashes, using naturalistic driving research methods. Method: Participants' driving exposure, kinematic risky driving (KRD), high-risk secondary task engagement, and the frequency of crashes and near-crashes (CNC) were assessed over the first 18 months of licensure using naturalistic driving methods. A personality survey (NEO-Five Factor Inventory) was administered at baseline. The association between personality characteristics, KRD rate, secondary task engagement rate, and CNC rate was estimated using a linear regression model. Mediation analysis was conducted to examine if participants' KRD rate or secondary task engagement rate mediated the relationship between personality and CNC. Data were collected as part of the Naturalistic Teen Driving Study. Results: Conscientiousness was marginally negatively associated with CNC (path c = − 0.034, p = .09) and both potential mediators KRD (path a = − 0.040, p = .09) and secondary task engagement while driving (path a = − 0.053, p = .03). KRD, but not secondary task engagement, was found to mediate (path b = 0.376, p = .02) the relationship between conscientiousness and CNC (path c′ = − 0.025, p = .20). Conclusions: Using objective measures of driving behavior and a widely used personality construct, these findings present a causal pathway through which personality and risky driving are associated with CNC. Specifically, more conscientious teenage drivers engaged in fewer risky driving maneuvers, and suffered fewer CNC. Practical Applications: Part of the variability in crash risk observed among newly licensed teenage drivers can be explained by personality. Parents and driving instructors may take teenage drivers' personality into account when providing guidance, and establishing norms and expectations about driving.     

Velocity and number density profiles of particles across upward and downward flame propagating through iron particle clouds

Behaviors of particles across upward and downward flame propagating through iron particle clouds have been recorded on photomicrographs by using a high-speed video camera with a microscopic optical system. The velocity profiles of iron particles across flames were measured by using the high-speed photomicrographs, and the number density profiles of iron particles near the flames were calculated by using the velocity profiles. It is shown that the number density of iron particles changes in the range of x smaller than 11.0 mm, where x is the distance from the leading edge of the combustion zone. The number density increases with the decrease of x in the range 0<x<11.0 mm, reaches a maximum at leading edge of the combustion zone, and then decreases. For upward propagating flame, the maximum value of the number density is about 3.5 times larger than that at the region far ahead of the flame (x>10.0 mm), however, for downward propagating flame, it is only 2.3 times larger than that at the region far ahead of the flame.     

Decolorization of synthetic Methyl Orange wastewater by electrocoagulation with periodic reversal of electrodes and optimization by RSM

Treatment of Methyl Orange (MO), an azo dye, synthetic wastewater by electrocoagulation with periodic reversal of the electrodes (PREC) was examined. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the influence of experimental conditions for color removal (CR), energy consumption (ENC), electrode consumption (ELC) and sludge production (SP) per kg MO removed (kg(MO_r)) with optimal conditions being found to be pH 7.4, solution conductivity (к) 9.4 mS cm⁻¹, cell voltage (U) 4.4 V, current density (j) 185 mA cm⁻², electrocoagulation time (T) 14 min, cycle of periodic reversal of electrodes (t) 15 s, inter-electrode distance (d) 3.5 cm and initial MO concentration of 125 mg L⁻¹. Under these conditions, 97 ± 2% color was removed and ENC, ELC and SP were 44 ± 3 kWh kg(MO_r)⁻¹, 4.1 ± 0.2 kg(Al) kg(MO_r)⁻¹ and 17.2 ± 0.9 kg(sludge) kg(MO_r)⁻¹, respectively. With the enhanced electrochemical efficiency resulting from the periodic electrode reversal, the coefficients of increased resistance and decreased current density between the two electrodes in the PREC setup were 2.48 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm⁻² min⁻¹ and 0.29 mA cm⁻² min⁻¹, respectively, as compared to 7.72 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm⁻² min⁻¹ and 0.79 mA cm⁻² min⁻¹ as measured for the traditional electrocoagulation process. The rate constant of decolorization was also enhanced by 20.4% from 0.152 min⁻¹ in the traditional electrocoagulation process to 0.183 min⁻¹ in the PREC process. These performance characteristics indicate that the PREC approach may be more promising in terms of practical application, as a cost-effective treatment, than conventional electrocoagulation for textile dye removals.     

Electrowinning studies for metallic zinc production from double leached Waelz oxide

Waelz oxide is a zinc and lead concentrate pyrometallurgically derived from electric arc furnace dust. There are clear incentives to leaching and purify this oxide to produce liquors that can be electrowinned to obtain recycled metallic zinc. This study is focused on this electrolytic zinc production from previously obtained sulphuric liquor. This liquor was obtained from double leached Waelz oxide (DLWO) throughout a hydrometallurgical process. The electrolytic liquor, after the corresponding leaching and purification stages, contains around 49 kg/m³. This liquor was fed to an electrowinning process where platinum or lead anodes and aluminium cathodes were used. After optimizing the different electrowinning critical parameters, and working at these optimal conditions, almost 88 secondary zinc kg were precipitated per each initial DLWO tonne in one-through process. The zinc purity was higher than 99.5%. After some mass balance calculations, it can be concluded that, optimizing the process configuration through internal recycling, around 210 Zn kg/DLWO t with purity near to 100% could be achieved.     

The explosion overpressure field and flame propagation of methane/air and methane/coal dust/air mixtures

The explosion of the methane/air mixture and the methane/coal dust/air mixture under 40 J center spark ignition condition was experimentally studied in a large-scale system of 10 m³ vessel. Five pressure sensors were arranged in space with different distances from the ignition point. A high-speed camera system was used to record the growth of the flame. The maximum overpressure of the methane/air mixture appeared at 0.75 m away from the ignition point; the thickness of the flame was about 10 mm and the propagation speed of the flame fluctuated around 2.5 m/s with the methane concentration of 9.5%. The maximum overpressure of the methane/coal dust/air mixture appeared at 0.5 m. The flame had a structure of three concentric zones from outside were the red zone, the yellow illuminating zone and the bright white illuminating zone respectively; the thickness and the propagation speed of the flame increased gradually, the thickness of red zone and yellow illuminating zone reached 3.5 cm and 1 cm, the speed reached 9.2 m/s at 28 ms.     

Ion exchange membrane-assisted electro-activation of aqueous solutions: Effect of the operating parameters on solutions properties and system electric resistance

The properties of electro-activated (EA) aqueous solutions as well as the dynamics of their changes were considered in the current study using aqueous solutions of NaCl and NaHCO₃. The concentrations of the salt solutions were 0.5, 0.25, 0.125 and 0.05 M. The tests were performed at the DC current densities of 25, 37.5, and 50 Å/m². The electro-activation reactor consisted of three individual cells assembled together and separated by anion-exchange (AEM) and cation-exchange (CEM) membranes. During the experiments, four configurations of the membrane placements and solutions concentrations were studied. The obtained results showed the dynamics of the electro-activation process that allows obtaining electro-activated solutions with targeted properties such as pH and oxydo-reduction potential (ORP). It was possible to obtain electro-activated solutions at the anodic side (acid anolyte) with pH of 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 and ORP of +1100 ± 15 mV when NaCl solution was used as electrolyte. Furthermore, several types of electro-activated solutions with high redox potential (ORP = +921 ± 12 mV) and neutral pH (6.48 ± 0.05) were obtained on the anode side when sodium carbonate was used. At the same time, two types of solutions, one with acid pH (2.14 ± 0.14) and the other one with alkaline pH (10.46 ± 0.03) with ORP = +689 ± 10 and 110 ± 21 mV, respectively, were obtained in the central compartment which considered as electro-activated solutions obtained by means of noncontact electro-activation.