A comparative assessment of the impact of different occupations on workers' static musculoskeletal fitness.

An ergonomic assessment of the involvement of static muscular forces like back strength, grip strength and pinch strength in different occupations was made. A study was conducted on 45 normal adult males (15 subjects per group) which included video display terminal (VDT) operators, industrial workers and safety inspectors. Their maximum back strength, handgrip strength and pinch strength were measured with dynamometers. The observed values of back strength were significantly lower in VDT operators while significantly higher in safety inspectors and moderate in industrial workers. The values of grip strength and pinch strength of all sample groups were more or less similar. The findings clearly indicate that static muscular strength varies significantly in different occupations. Heavy static muscular load might lead to an accumulation of metabolic waste and toxins on the back resulting in lower back strength in VDT operators and industrial workers.     

Allelopathic response of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vetiveria zizanioides</Emphasis> (L.) Nash on members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas</Emphasis> spp.

The biological removal of phosphates was carried as a part of treatment strategy. Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash belonging to the family Poaceae was used for biological removal of biostimulants. Vetiver reportedly has mycorrhizal association; besides having potential for removal of PO₄ ⁻³ also showed allelopathic affect on the microorganisms present in the water. In fact after a period of 96 h old roots of this plant have been found to have killing effects on the E. coli, Enterobacter spp. Pseudomonas spp. belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. The paper is opening a new face of study.     

A study of the workload of underground trammers in the Ranigang coal field area of West Bengal, India.

Thirty healthy trammers were examined in underground haulage mines during their normal activity. Physiological strain in terms of heart rate (HR) varied between 101.6 and 104.7 beats/min with mean net cardiac cost of 33.06 and 34.06 beats/min for younger and older groups respectively. The average relative cardiac cost was lower for younger subjects than for older ones. Oxygen consumption (VO2) was measured with an Oxylog-II machine (UK); subsequently values were estimated. Maximum aerobic capacity was estimated with an indirect method following a standard step test protocol. The responses revealed that the average VO2 during the activity was 0.75 and 0.8 L/min, which corresponded to energy expenditure (EE) of 3.8 and 3.97 Kcal/min for younger and older subjects respectively. The workload in terms of HR and EE was moderate, whereas the aerobic strain experienced by aged workers was above the acceptable level.     

Emissions from burning biofuels in metal cookstoves

Promoting stoves that burn wood and other biofuels more efficiently is one of the means to reduce fuel consumption, but such efficient stoves may also emit more carbon monoxide and total suspended particulates. In an earlier study, a standard chamber method was proposed to estimate emission factors from burning fuelwood (Acacia nilotica). Here that methodology is extended to measure emission factors from burning of dungcakes and crop residues (Brassica or mustard stalks)—common fuels in many developing countries. The amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) and total suspended particulates (TSP) emitted by four different models of stoves, when using each of the three biofuels, are measured.The CO emission factors range from 13–68 (g/kg) for fuelwood to 26–67 g/kg for dungcakes and 20–114 g/kg for crop residues, for particulates they range from 1.1–3.8 to 4.1–7.8 and 2.1–12.0 g/kg for the three fuels, respectively. On a per unit heat delivered basis, the emissions of CO and TSP from both dungcakes and crop residues are two to three times higher compared to those from fuelwood. While for some improved stove-fuel combinations, the increase in emission factors was offset by the increase in thermal efficiency, this was not always so and causes a dilemma. The more efficient stoves are found to have higher emission factors of both CO and TSP for all three fuels. Emissions per standard task (i.e, on a unit heat delivered basis) is proposed as a criterion to evaluate cookstoves.     

Environmental and agronomic implications of water table and nitrogen fertilization management

Nitrate (NO3-) pollution of surface and subsurface waters has become a major problem in agricultural ecosystems. Field trials were conducted from 1996 to 1998 at St-Emmanuel, Quebec, Canada, to investigate the combined effects of water table management (WTM) and nitrogen (N) fertilization on soil NO3- level, denitrification rate, and corn (Zea mays L.) grain yield. Treatments consisted of a combination of two water table treatments: free drainage (FD) with open drains at a 1.0-m depth from the soil surface and subirrigation (SI) with a design water table of 0.6 m below the soil surface, and two N fertilizer (ammonium nitrate) rates: 120 kg N ha(-1) (N120) and 200 kg N ha(-1) (N200). Compared with FD, SI reduced NO3(-)-N concentrations in the soil profile by 37% in spring 1997 and 2% in spring 1998; and by 45% in fall 1997 and 19% in fall 1998 (1 mg NO3(-)-N L(-1) equals approximately 4.43 mg NO3- L(-1)). The higher rate of N fertilization resulted in greater levels of NO3(-)-N in the soil solution. Denitrification rates were higher in SI than in FD plots, but were unaffected by N rate. The N200 rate produced higher yields than N120 in 1996 and 1997, but not 1998. Corn yields in SI plots were 7% higher than FD plots in 1996 and 3% higher in 1997, but 25% lower in 1998 because the SI system was unable to drain the unusually heavy June rains, resulting in waterlogging. These findings suggest that SI can be used as an economical means of reducing NO3- pollution without compromising crop yields during normal growing seasons.     

Genetic diversity in some perennial plant species with-in short distances

Distinct morphophysiological variations observed for over 2 years with-in short distances among four perennial plants indicated genetic diversity among the lines growing at three places. The isozyme and SDS polyacrylamide gel banding patterns as genetic markers were used to investigate four perennial species, namely Dalbergia sissoo Roxb., Delonix regia (Boj.) Refin., Cassia fistula L. and Calotropis procera R. Br. Plant materials collected from three locations (Agra, Gwalior and Lucknow) differing in climo-edaphic variables were examined for 4 enzyme systems, viz., esterase, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (EST, PPO, PRX and SOD). Among the four isozymes SOD and PRX revealed best discriminating power. Protein banding patterns as well as zymogram revealed that Dalbergia sissoo growing at Gwalior was closer to that of Agra; Delonix regia depicted highest similarity between Lucknow and Agra and Calotropis procera of Lucknow location was more closer to Gwalior than Agra. The results confirm genetic diversity in the species as a means of adaptation to differing climo-edaphic variables.