冬季颗粒物暴露对体育教师自觉症状及肺功能健康影响的研究

拟通过对比冬季雾霾天气颗粒物对户外体育教师和室内教师的自觉症状及肺功能的影响,为高污染天气下室外体育教师的个人防护提供理论参考,为完善颗粒物的人体健康暴露风险评估提供方法支持和理论依据。通过问卷调查和个体颗粒物暴露的研究方法,对80名室外体育教师和80名室内教师的个体呼吸机能状况、自觉症状评价、用力呼气肺活量(FVC)、第1秒用力呼气容量(FEV_1)、FEV_1/FVC、峰流速值(PEF)、肺活量(VC)和每分钟最大通气量(MVV)进行调查和测定,比较户外教师和室内教师、不同教龄和日工作时长以及吸烟史对颗粒物暴露的易感性及在呼吸系统症状、肺通气功能上的差异。研究结果表明,同样的工作时间内,室内和室外教师在个人的颗粒物暴露浓度和剂量上呈现出差异显著性;教龄、日工作时间和吸烟史与个人的自觉症状评价和肺功能指标之间存在着显著的相关关系,具有显著性差异(P 0.05或P 0.01)。以上研究表明,冬季雾霾天气下教师的健康状况受到一定的负面影响,户外体育教师肺功能和自我症状评价状况劣于室内教师;雾霾天气下教龄和日工作时长、肺功能和吸烟史与自我症状评价状况呈负相关。     

五氯苯酚对淡水双壳类背角无齿蚌 ρ 型谷胱甘肽S-转移酶表达的影响

谷胱甘肽S-转移酶(GST)在机体抗击氧化应激中发挥重要作用。前期研究表明,五氯苯酚(PCP)处理对背角无齿蚌(Anodonta woodiana)具有显著的氧化应激和急性毒性效应。为了探讨PCP慢性毒性效应,本研究将背角无齿蚌随机分为对照组和PCP处理组,PCP处理组和对照组分别用13.9 mg·L~(-1)和相同体积二甲亚砜处理;同时,克隆出ρ型谷胱甘肽S-转移酶并命名为ρ-GST,分析PCP对ρ-GST表达的影响。ρ-GST全长c DNA包含一个57 bp的5’端非编码区,291 bp的3’端非编码区和678 bp的开放阅读框。ρ-GST在背角无齿蚌斧足、外套膜、闭壳肌、心脏、肝胰腺、血淋巴和鳃中广泛表达。与对照组相比,PCP处理后肝胰腺ρ-GST mRNA在第1天、第3天和第15天分别增加18.18%、82.88%(P<0.05)和2.43倍(P<0.01); PCP处理后鳃中ρ-GST mRNA水平增加1.44倍以上(P<0.05); PCP处理后血淋巴中ρ-GST mRNA水平显著上调。背角无齿蚌ρ-GST表达水平上调有助于对抗PCP处理所产生的应激效应,提高动物环境耐受能力。     

Anaerobic biodegradation of trimethoprim with sulfate as an electron acceptor

Anaerobic biodegradation of trimethoprim (TMP) coupled with sulfate reduction. Demethylation of TMP is the first step in the acclimated microbial consortia. The potential degraders and fermenters were enriched in the acclimated consortia. Activated sludge and river sediment had similar core microbiomes. Trimethoprim (TMP) is an antibiotic frequently detected in various environments. Microorganisms are the main drivers of emerging antibiotic contaminant degradation in the environment. However, the feasibility and stability of the anaerobic biodegradation of TMP with sulfate as an electron acceptor remain poorly understood. Here, TMP-degrading microbial consortia were successfully enriched from municipal activated sludge (AS) and river sediment (RS) as the initial inoculums. The acclimated consortia were capable of transforming TMP through demethylation, and the hydroxyl-substituted demethylated product (4-desmethyl-TMP) was further degraded. The biodegradation of TMP followed a 3-parameter sigmoid kinetic model. The potential degraders (Acetobacterium, Desulfovibrio, Desulfobulbus, and unidentified Peptococcaceae) and fermenters (Lentimicrobium and Petrimonas) were significantly enriched in the acclimated consortia. The AS- and RS-acclimated TMP-degrading consortia had similar core microbiomes. The anaerobic biodegradation of TMP could be coupled with sulfate respiration, which gives new insights into the antibiotic fate in real environments and provides a new route for the bioremediation of antibiotic-contaminated environments.     

An examination of beliefs about older workers: Do stereotypes still exist?

This study examined individuals' beliefs about older workers. Of particular interest was the relationship between those beliefs and individuals' (a) interactions with older workers, (b) supervisory status, and (c) demographic variables. Findings indicated that although older workers hold more positive beliefs about older workers than younger workers hold, even younger workers tended to have generally positive beliefs. Chronological age was found to moderate two relationships. First, the number of younger workers' interactions with older workers significantly, positively affected younger workers' beliefs about older workers. Second, an examination of the interaction between supervisory status and age found that older supervisors hold more negative beliefs about older workers than younger supervisors.     

The interdependence of work and family roles

The circumstances of the lack of attention to the interdependence of family functions and external employment in the research to date are considered. Major problems and barriers to progress are noted. One problem is the conceptual-theoretical barrier of viewing work as masculine and family responsibility as feminine. A second problem is a differential focus in the research to date in which either the family is studied with inadequate attention given to work, or the work setting is studied with insufficient consideration of family responsibilities. Research strategies are reviewed and discussed, including the need to identify combinations of types of occupations and family situations. Five work-family groups are identified. One of the five groups, single parent is used to illustrate policies pertaining to the interdependence of work and family roles. The relevance of research on role interdependence for both governmental policy and organizational policy is considered in a discussion of the effects of policy on effective integration of work and family roles.     

Chick-a-dee call syntax,social context,and season affect vocal responses of Carolina chickadees (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Poecile carolinensis</Emphasis>)

Chick-a-dee calls in many chickadee (Poecile) species are common vocal signals used in a diversity of social contacts. The calls consist of four notes, A, B, C, and D, which follow simple rules of syntax (note ordering and composition) to generate many unique call types. We used field playbacks with Carolina chickadees, P. carolinensis, to ask whether violations of a syntactical rule affected their vocal responses. We show that chickadee responses to typical calls (e.g. AAAACCCC and CCCCDDDD) differ from responses to atypical calls (e.g. CACACACA and DCDCDCDC) depending on playback note composition, season, and social context (presence of heterospecifics). In the fall/winter, playbacks of typical calls with A and C notes elicited the greatest number of A and B notes in chick-a-dee call responses and typical calls with D notes elicited the greatest number of C notes, when in the presence of heterospecifics. In contrast, the corresponding atypical calls did not elicit similar responses. This suggests communicative significance is lost in calls that violate a rule of syntax in the fall/winter. In the spring, neither chickadee feebeefeebay song rate nor chick-a-dee calls responses differed by playback type. We suggest that call syntax is less salient for mated pairs in the spring than it is for fall/winter flocks that rely more on conspecific communication for foraging success and flock cohesion. This study represents the first experimental evidence that chickadees attend to both note composition and ordering in chick-a-dee calls.Communicated by W.A. Searcy     

Strategies of international cooperation in an international project: advantages and pitfalls.

The MEPS (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress) study involved an extensive degree of multidisciplinary and multicultural cooperation. The objective was to examine the effects of multiple ergonomic interventions on visual, musculoskeletal, postural, and psychosocial outcomes amongst operators of visual display terminals (VDTs). The inherent complexity of a comprehensive ergonomic investigation requires participation of researchers from a variety of disciplines, as well as comparisons among populations with different geographical and cultural backgrounds. The design and execution of the resulting research protocol presents a number of challenges. This paper discusses the advantages and pitfalls associated with multidisciplinary multinational cooperation. Advantages include the necessity for development of a common language and perspective providing a basis for future collaboration. Pitfalls include logistic and coordination difficulties associated with conducting standardized procedures in different locations, as well as the inherent potential for professional conflict. It is argued that such pitfalls ought to be understood and integrated into the project planning process.     

The effect of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal, psychosocial and visual strain of VDT entry work: organization and methodology of the international study.

This special issue of the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) reports the results from an extensive multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation of the impacts on visual display terminal (VDT) work of musculoskeletal, visual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. For brevity, this effort has been referred to as the MEPS project (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress). This paper lays out the basic methodological structure of the study. The study was conducted in 4 countries utilizing VDT data entry workers as the primary subject population. A battery of objective and subject assessment measures, including muscle load, visual function, physical and visual strain, postural, ergonomic and psychosocial factors, were assessed at 3 different points in time. A pre-test was given prior to an ergonomic intervention. Two post-tests were given 1 month and 1 year after the ergonomic intervention.     

Attracting retirees to apply: desired organizational characteristics of bridge employment

This research examined the impact of three organizational policies on applicant attraction of 120 older workers with an interest in bridge employment (i.e., work after formal retirement). Using a mock newspaper ad to manipulate policies, scheduling flexibility, and a targeted equal employment opportunity (EEO) statement positively influenced older workers' attraction to the organization, while opportunities to transfer knowledge had little impact. A significant and positive three‐way interaction suggested that older workers are sensitive to the strength of the overall message such that the effects of all three policies when seen together were greater than the sum of their individual effects. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Knowledge and Power: A Critique of an International Relief Operation

Exploring an alternative way to approach famine relief interventions, this paper draws on the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault and David Keen's recent work on south-west Sudan. It suggests that different discourses on 'famine' can lead to the dominance of certain kinds of institutional practices, and the prioritisation of special kinds of knowledge, at the expense of other modes of understanding and action. Using the case of the relief operation to Tigrayan refugees in eastern Sudan in 1984/5, the paper examines the specific ways in which 'power' was elaborated in the midst of the operation, and the manner in which institutional practices — designed to save as many lives as possible — influenced the reaction of international agencies to the spontaneous repatriation of the Tigrayans back to Ethiopia.