The influence of a real job on upper limb performance in motor skill tests: which abilities are transferred?

To investigate whether the specificities of real jobs create distinctions in the performance of workers in different motor tests for the upper limbs, 24 participants were divided into two groups according to their specific job: fine and repetitive tasks and general tasks. Both groups reproduced tasks related to aiming movements, handling and strength of the upper limbs. There were no significant differences between groups in the dexterity and performance of aiming movements. However, the general tasks group had higher grip strength than the repetitive tasks group, demonstrating differences according to job specificity. The results suggest that a particular motor skill in a specific job cannot improve performance in other tasks with the same motor requirements. The transfer of the fine and gross motor skills from previous experience in a job-specific task is the basis for allocating training and guidance to workers.     

Binary mixtures of diclofenac with paracetamol,ibuprofen, naproxen,and acetylsalicylic acid and these pharmaceuticals in isolated form induce oxidative stress on Hyalella azteca

Toxicity in natural ecosystems is usually not due to exposure to a single substance, but is rather the result of exposure to mixtures of toxic substances. Knowing the effects of contaminants as a mixture compared to their effects in isolated form is therefore important. This study aimed to evaluate the oxidative stress induced by binary mixtures of diclofenac with paracetamol, ibuprofen, naproxen, and acetylsalicylic acid and by these nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in isolated form, using Hyalella azteca as a bioindicator. The median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) and the lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) of each NSAID were obtained. Amphipods were exposed for 72 h to the latter value in isolated form and as binary mixtures. The following biomarkers were evaluated: lipid peroxidation (LPX), protein carbonyl content (PCC), and activity of the antioxidant enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Significant increases in LPX and PCC with respect to the control group (p?≤?0.05) were induced by NSAIDs both in isolated form and as binary mixtures. Changes in SOD, CAT, and GPx activity likewise occurred with NSAIDs in isolated form and as binary mixtures. In conclusion, NSAIDs used in this study induce oxidative stress on H. azteca both in isolated form and as binary mixtures, and the interactions occurring between these pharmaceuticals are probably antagonistic in type.     

Assessing and Monitoring the Health of Western Rangeland Watersheds

The most important function of watersheds in the western U.S. is the capacity to retain soil and water, thereby providing stability in hydrologic head and minimizing stream sediment loads. Long-term soil and water retention varies directly with vegetation cover. Data on ground cover and plant species composition were collected from 129 sites in the Rio Grande drainage of south-central New Mexico. This area was previously assessed by classification of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometry (AVHRR) imagery. The classification of irreversibly degraded sites failed to identify most of the severely degraded sites based on size of bare patches and 35% of the sites classified as degraded were healthy based on mean bare patch size and vegetation cover. Previous research showed that an index of unvegetated soil (bare patch size and percent of ground without vegetative cover) was the most robust indicator of the soil and water retention function. Although the regression of mean bare patch size on percent bare ground was significant (p < 0.001), percent bare ground accounted for only 11% of the variability in bare patch size. Therefore bare patch size cannot be estimated from data on percent bare ground derived from remote sensing. At sites with less than 25% grass cover, and on sites with more than 15% shrub cover, there were significant relationships between percent bare soil and mean bare patch size (p < 0.05). Several other indicators of ecosystem health were related to mean bare patch size: perennial plant species richness (r = 0.6, p < 0.0001), percent cover of increaser species (r = 0.5, p < 0.0001) and percent cover of forage useable by livestock (r = 0.62, p < 0.0001). There was no relationship between bare patch size and cover of species that are toxic to livestock. In order to assess the ability of western rangeland watersheds to retain soil and water using remote sensing, it will be necessary to detect and estimate sizes of bare patches ranging between at least 0.5 m in diameter to several meters in diameter.     

Assessment of liquid disposal originated by uranium enrichment at Aramar Experimental Center São Paulo--Brazil

This work presents a liquid disposal monitoring originated from uranium enrichment process at Aramar Experimental Center from 1990 to 1998. Assessment of uranium, fluorides, ammoniacal nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand, and pH measurements were made in water samples and compared with results achieved in other countries, as North America and India. The liquid disposal evaluation, generated by uranium enrichment process, showed low levels, considering most parameters established by Federal and State Legislation, aiming environmental pollution control. However, uranium levels were above the limits established by Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente, Environment Protection Agency and mainly by the World Health Organization.     

Metal and hydrocarbon behavior in sediments from Brazilian shallow waters drilling activities using nonaqueous drilling fluids (NAFs)

The impact of drilling oil activities in the Brazilian Bonito Field/Campos Basin (Rio de Janeiro) shell drilling (300 m) using nonaqueous fluids (NAFs) was investigated with respect to Al, Fe, Mn, Ba, Co, Pb, Cu, As, Hg, Cr, Ni, Zn, Cd, V, and aliphatic and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons concentrations in the sediment. Sampling took place in three different times during approximately 33 months. For the metals Al, As, Co, Cr, Cu, Cd, Fe, Ni, Mn, V, and Zn, no significant variation was observed after drilling activities in most of the stations. However, an increase was found in Ba concentration—due to the drilling activity—without return to the levels found 22 months after drilling. High Ba contents was already detected prior to well drilling, probably due to drilling activities in other wells nearby. Hydrocarbon contents also suggest previous anthropogenic activities. Aliphatic hydrocarbon contents were in the range usually reported in other drilling sites. The same behavior was observed in the case of polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Nevertheless, the n-alkane concentration increased sharply after drilling, returning almost to predrilling levels 22 months after drilling activities.     

What Drives Accelerated Land Cover Change in Central Argentina? Synergistic Consequences of Climatic,Socioeconomic, and Technological Factors

Synergistic combinations of climatic and land use changes have the potential to produce the most dramatic impacts on land cover. Although this is widely accepted, empirical examples, particularly involving deforestation in Latin America, are still very few. The geographic extent and causes of deforestation in subtropical seasonally dry forests of the world have received very little attention. This is especially true for the Chaco forests in South America, which are being lost at an alarming rate, sometimes higher than those reported for tropical forests. On this basis, the aims of this study were to analyze the changes in land cover that have occurred during the last three decades of the 20th century in the Chaco forests of central Argentina, and to explain the factors that have driven those changes. Results show major land cover changes. Approximately 80% of the area that was originally undisturbed forest is now occupied by crops, pastures, and secondary scrub. The main proximate cause of deforestation has been agricultural expansion, soybean cultivation in particular. This appears as the result of the synergistic convergence of climatic, technological, and socioeconomic factors, supporting the hypothesis of a multiple-factor explanation for forest loss, while providing one of the very few existing analyses of changes in subtropical forests of the world.     

Domestic sampling: exposure assessment to moth repellent products using ultrasonic extraction and capillary GC-MS

Moth repellent agents are considered major contributors to indoor air pollution. In this study, the chemical contamination of clothes due to their direct or indirect exposure to moth repellent agents such as p-dichlorobenzene, naphthalene and camphor were investigated. Cotton cloths were used as clothing simulant. They were analyzed using ultrasonic extraction followed by GC-MS analysis. Extrapolated results indicate that a regular cotton shirt indirectly exposed to these chemicals in a storage cabinet can contain up to 7, 3 and 7.5mg of p-dichlorobenzene, naphthalene and camphor, respectively, even after one-hour of airing. Passive sorptive sampling using polydimethylsiloxane-coated stir-bars and ultrasonic extraction followed by GC-MS analysis was used to monitor the concentration distribution in a wardrobe.     

Potentials for the prevention of municipal solid waste

Waste prevention has been assigned the highest priority under European waste management law. However, the initiatives which have been taken so far have not reduced the regular annual increase in total waste arising across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to quantify and analyze in depth the prevention potential for selected case studies (advertising material, beverage packaging, diapers, food waste, waste from events). Only such measures are considered, which do not require a reduction of consumption. The prevention potentials for household waste in theory are exemplified for the city of Vienna, also with a view to barriers that may reduce the achievable prevention potential. The results show that the prevention potentials for the analyzed individual measures can reach an order of magnitude of some 10% of the relevant waste stream (e.g., advertising material, beverage packaging), or rather 1-3% of municipal solid waste. The prevention potentials appear to be relatively small in relation to the total municipal waste quantities. Methodological shortcomings, such as the missing availability of basic data, make it difficult to exactly estimate the impact of waste prevention measures on waste quantities, which is only one of the effects of waste prevention among other ecological, social and economic aspects.     

Spectroscopic changes on fulvic acids from a kraft pulp mill effluent caused by sun irradiation

Large volumes of wastewater with a high organic load are generated by the pulp and paper industry that negatively affect the quality of receiving waters. The main waste products in the pulp mill effluents are lignin derived macromolecular compounds, which are similar to natural humic substances and very resistant to wastewater treatments. Fulvic acids (FA) represent the higher percentage of these humic substances and it was observed that solar irradiation modify their properties. Several analytic tools, namely, UV–Visible, molecular fluorescence and FTIR spectroscopies, were used to assess the effect of solar exposition on fulvic acids from a kraft pulp mill effluent. It may be concluded that sun irradiation may alter to a high extent the physicochemical properties of macromolecular organic matter, namely fulvic acids, released by kraft pulp mill effluents. After solar exposition, the aromaticity decreases, the aliphatic structures become more oxygenated, and the fulvic acids from the pulp mill effluent remaining in solution are more similar to aquatic fulvic acids from non polluted sites.     

Antimony leaching in plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) with various acids and gamma irradiation

There has been a recent interest in antimony since the availability in readily mined areas is decreasing compared to the amounts used. It is important in many applications such as flame retardants and in the production of polyester, which can trigger an investigation of the leachability of antimony from plastics using different acids. In this paper, different types of acids are tested for their ability to leach antimony from a discarded computer housing, made of poly(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), which is a common plastic type used in electrical and electronic equipment. The acid solutions included sodium hydrogen tartrate (0.5 M) dissolved in either dimethyl sulfoxide or water (at ca. 23 °C and heated to ca. 105 °C). The metal content after leaching was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. The most efficient leaching medium was the heated solution of sodium hydrogen tartrate in dimethyl sulfoxide, which leached almost half of the antimony from the poly(acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). Gamma irradiation, which is proposed to improve the mechanical properties in plastics, was used here to investigate the influence of antimony leaching ability. No significant change in the amount of leached antimony could be observed.