Anthropometric hand dimensions in a population of Iranian male workers in 2012

Background. The mismatch between the hand size of workers and the size of industrial instruments is a growing concern; it can lead to various musculoskeletal complications. Currently, there are few reliable studies available to address this concern in Iran. This study was conducted to measure 30 upper-extremity parameters in a group of Iranian industrial workers. Methods. This study is a cross-sectional study on 529 workers. The study population was randomly selected from male Iranian industrial workers who were referred to the Yazd hospital occupational medicine clinic for surveillance evaluations. Results. The M (SD) age of the participants was 30.13 (8.29) years. Statistical analysis was performed using the mean, standard deviation and 5th, 50th and 90th percentiles for each measured hand dimension. A considerable number of dimensions were significantly different between the measurements of right and left hands in each examinee. The results showed significant differences between Iranian hand size and that of other populations. Conclusion. This study provided a valuable databank of hand dimensions in a population of Iranian male workers. These data can be used by manufacturers in designing high-quality hand-tools and industrial gloves, taking into consideration Iranian worker characteristics.     

Establishing conversation spaces in hastily formed networks: the worst fire in modern Swedish history

In presenting examples from the most extensive and demanding fire in modern Swedish history, this paper describes challenges facing hastily formed networks in exceptional situations. Two concepts that have been used in the analysis of the socio‐technical systems that make up a response are conversation space and sensemaking. This paper argues that a framework designed to promote understanding of the sensemaking process must take into consideration the time and the location at which an individual is engaged in an event. In hastily formed networks, location is partly mediated through physical systems that form conversation spaces of players and their interaction practices. This paper identifies and discusses four challenges to the formation of shared conversation spaces. It is based on the case study of the 2006 Bodträskfors forest fire in Sweden and draws on the experiences of organised volunteers and firefighters who participated in a hastily formed network created to combat the fire.     

The association between air pollution and cancers: controversial evidence of a systematic review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - There are inconsistent reports on the association between air pollution and cancers. This systematic review was, therefore, conducted to ascertain the...     

Transformation of hydroxylated derivatives of 2,5-dichlorobiphenyl and 2,4,6-trichlorobiphenyl by Burkholderia xenovorans LB400

The polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-degrading bacterium, Burkholderia xenovorans LB400, was capable of transforming three hydroxylated derivatives of 2,5-dichlorobiphenyl (2,5-DCB) (2′-hydroxy- (2′-OH-), 3′-OH-, and 4′-OH-2,5-DCB) when biphenyl was used as the carbon source (i.e., biphenyl pathway-inducing condition), although only 2′-OH-2,5-DCB was transformed when the bacterium was growing on succinate (i.e., condition non-inductive of the biphenyl pathway). On the contrary, hydroyxlated derivatives of 2,4,6-trichlorobiphenyl (2,4,6-TCB) (2′-OH-, 3′-OH-, and 4′-OH-2,4,6-TCB) were not significantly transformed by B. xenovorans LB400, regardless of the carbon source used. Gene expression analyses showed a clear correlation between the transformation of OH-2,5-DCBs and expression of genes of the biphenyl pathway. The PCB metabolite, 2,5-dichlorobenzoic acid (2,5-DCBA), was produced following the transformation of OH-2,5-DCBs. 2,5-DCBA was not further transformed by B. xenovorans LB400. The present study is significant because it provides evidence that PCB-degrading bacteria are capable of transforming hydroxylated derivatives of PCBs, which are increasingly considered as a new class of environmental contaminants.     

Trophic transfer of CuO nanoparticles from brine shrimp (Artemia salina) nauplii to convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) larvae: uptake,accumulation and elimination

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We investigated the trophic transfer potential of CuO-NPs from Artemia salina to Amatitlania nigrofasciata. The Cu uptake was investigated by exposure...     

Hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls in the environment: sources,fate, and toxicities

Hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (OH-PCBs) are produced in the environment by the oxidation of PCBs through a variety of mechanisms, including metabolic transformation in living organisms and abiotic reactions with hydroxyl radicals. As a consequence, OH-PCBs have been detected in a wide range of environmental samples, including animal tissues, water, and sediments. OH-PCBs have recently raised serious environmental concerns because they exert a variety of toxic effects at lower doses than the parent PCBs and they are disruptors of the endocrine system. Although evidence about the widespread dispersion of OH-PCBs in various compartments of the ecosystem has accumulated, little is currently known about their biodegradation and behavior in the environment. OH-PCBs are, today, increasingly considered as a new class of environmental contaminants that possess specific chemical, physical, and biological properties not shared with the parent PCBs. This article reviews recent findings regarding the sources, fate, and toxicities of OH-PCBs in the environment.     

The use of artificial neural networks and multiple linear regression to predict rate of medical waste generation

Prediction of the amount of hospital waste production will be helpful in the storage, transportation and disposal of hospital waste management. Based on this fact, two predictor models including artificial neural networks (ANNs) and multiple linear regression (MLR) were applied to predict the rate of medical waste generation totally and in different types of sharp, infectious and general. In this study, a 5-fold cross-validation procedure on a database containing total of 50 hospitals of Fars province (Iran) were used to verify the performance of the models. Three performance measures including MAR, RMSE and R² were used to evaluate performance of models. The MLR as a conventional model obtained poor prediction performance measure values. However, MLR distinguished hospital capacity and bed occupancy as more significant parameters. On the other hand, ANNs as a more powerful model, which has not been introduced in predicting rate of medical waste generation, showed high performance measure values, especially 0.99 value of R² confirming the good fit of the data. Such satisfactory results could be attributed to the non-linear nature of ANNs in problem solving which provides the opportunity for relating independent variables to dependent ones non-linearly. In conclusion, the obtained results showed that our ANN-based model approach is very promising and may play a useful role in developing a better cost-effective strategy for waste management in future.     

Adsorptive removal of ibuprofen to binary and amine-functionalized UiO-66 in the aquatic environment: synergistic/antagonistic evaluation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The removal of ibuprofen (IBP) from the aqueous solution by metal–organic frameworks such as UiO-66, UiO-66-NH2, and a binary MOF...