Effects of arsenic on reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense system in tomato plants

In this study, the generation of reactive oxygen species, the induction of oxidative stress, and the response of the antioxidative system in hydroponically grown tomato plants as the cause of arsenic-induced phytotoxicity are investigated. Reduction in plant growth was measured in terms of dry weight and length of roots and shoots, the latter accumulating more arsenic than the roots. The treatment resulted in increased formation of superoxide anion (O₂^.?), H₂O₂, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, which indicate augmented lipid peroxidation. Superoxide dismutase, catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase activities were increased in arsenic-treated tomato plants while CAT activity was insignificantly increased.     

Determination of F2-isoprostanes in cultured human lung epithelial cells after exposure to metal oxide and silica nanoparticles by high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

The environmental impact of nanotechnology has caused a great concern. Many in vitro studies showed that many types of nanoparticles were cytotoxic. However, whether these nanoparticles caused cell membrane damage was not well studied. F₂-isoprostanes are specific products of arachidonic acid peroxidation by nonenzymatic reactive oxygen species and are considered as reliable biomarkers of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. In this article, we investigated the cytotoxicity of different nanoparticles and the degree of cellular membrane damage by using F₂-isoprostanes as biomarkers after exposure to nanoparticles. The human lung epithelial cell line A549 was exposed to four silica and metal oxide nanoparticles: SiO₂ (15 nm), CeO₂ (20 nm), Fe₂O₃ (30 nm), and ZnO (70 nm). The levels of F₂-isoprostanes were determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The F₂-isoprostanes’ peak was identified by retention time and molecular ion m/z at 353. Oasis HLB cartridge was used to extract F₂-isoprostanes from cell medium. The results showed that SiO₂, CeO₂, and ZnO nanoparticles increased F₂-isoprostanes levels significantly in A549 cells. Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle also increased F₂-isoprostanes level, but was not significant. This implied that SiO₂, CeO₂, ZnO, and Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles can cause cell membrane damage due to the lipid peroxidation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the investigation of effects of cellular exposure to metal oxide and silica nanoparticles on the cellular F₂-isoprostanes levels.     

The Moderating Role of Hardiness and Social Support in the Relation Between Job Stressors and Well-Being. A Lesson From a Clerical Women Sample

The study concerns the moderating role of two variables—hardiness and social support—in the relation between job stressors and well-being. It was checked if there is a connection between hardiness and social support, and if these variables are directly related to the level of well-being. It was also hypothesized that hardiness and social support buffer the negative influence of stressors on well-being. The fact that social support and well-being are multidimensional variables was taken into account.

The cross-sectional study was conducted on a group of 200 women employed as office workers. The results showed that hardiness correlates with the indexes of emotional support as well as practical support coming from supervisors. The connection, however, was not strong. Hardiness and social support were directly connected with the level of well-being. Interaction of these two independent variables played a marginal role. As far as the buffering role of these variables was concerned, the results have shown that hardiness did not play a buffering role and social support did to a limited degree only.

The results of the study proved that it is justifiable to treat social support and well-being as multidimensional variables.     

Analytical Study of the Heat Loss Attenuation by Clothing on Thermal Manikins Under Radiative Heat Loads

For wearers of protective clothing in radiation environments there are no quantitative guidelines available for the effect of a radiative heat load on heat exchange. Under the European Union funded project ThermProtect an analytical effort was defined to address the issue of radiative heat load while wearing protective clothing. As within the ThermProtect project much information has become available from thermal manikin experiments in thermal radiation environments, these sets of experimental data are used to verify the analytical approach. The analytical approach provided a good prediction of the heat loss in the manikin experiments, 95% of the variance was explained by the model. The model has not yet been validated at high radiative heat loads and neglects some physical properties of the radiation emissivity. Still, the analytical approach provides a pragmatic approach and may be useful for practical implementation in protective clothing standards for moderate thermal radiation environments.     

Child Abuse Investigation: Police Officers and Secondary Traumatic Stress

Child protection is an area of police work which has expanded in the last decade, leading to an increase in the number of police officers working in departments which specialise in investigating cases of child abuse. Police officers in this field may be at greater risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress but there remains a paucity of research in this area of policing. Analogies can be drawn to existing research in policing and with social service workers involved in child protection. The paper finishes off with implications for police forces to ensure safe working environments and appropriate counselling for employees.     

Stress,coping and safety compliance in a multinational gold mining company

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the relationship of work stress, consisting of role stressors and job insecurity, with safety compliance at work. A secondary objective was to test for the possible moderating effect of individual employees’ coping behaviour between experienced work stress and job insecurity, and their safety compliance. A cross-sectional survey design was used (n?=?771). An electronic survey, with a biographical questionnaire and scales on role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, job insecurity, coping and safety compliance at work, was administered. The results indicated that specific aspects of work stress, notably role conflict, role ambiguity and quantitative job insecurity, and of coping, namely an avoidance style and changing the situation, were important in understanding safety compliance. A moderating effect of avoidance coping was also found.     

Application of mindfulness-based stress reduction to a stress management intervention in a study of a mining sector company

Purpose. The aim of this article was to check whether mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an effective intervention in reducing work-related stress in the case of workers in a copper mine. Methods. Sixty six employees were randomized to the experimental group (32 participants) or to the control group (34 participants). Work-related stress was measured using the job content questionnaire (JCQ) and mental health was measured using the general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) Experimental manipulation was 40-h MBSR training. Results. Multivariate repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a significant increase of JCQ decision latitude (F?=?17.36, p?<?0.001) and social support (supervisor F?=?9.00, p?<?0.004; coworker F?=?5.61, p?<?0.020), and a significant decrease in GHQ-28 anxiety (F?=?5.28, p?<?0.079) and depression (F?=?3.95, p?<?0.048) due to the intervention. Conclusions. The study confirms that MBSR can be effective in reducing stress resulting from the external risk (and/or imagined fear) of losing one’s health or life. The use of MBSR could be recommended in health and safety activities in difficult and dangerous work conditions, such as mining, to promote workers’ well-being.     

后张梁管道摩阻损失测试技术与数据处理

针对常规测试中存在的问题 ,改进了管道摩阻损失的测试方法 ,消除了喇叭口等因素影响 ,使得管道摩阻测试更加合理和准确。介绍了后张法预应力管道摩阻损失的计算 ,结合秦沈客运专线双线整孔简支箱梁的管道摩阻损失测试 ,利用最小二乘原理对测试数据进行处理 ,得到了摩阻系数 μ和k的计算公式 ,所得参数为施工提供了依据。最后讨论了摩阻系数对张拉控制应力的影响 ,提出现场测试的一般性原则和要求。     

预防煤炭自燃的注砂技术实验研究

山砂是我国西北部矿区地表的主要自然资源之一,但如用其直接作为煤矿注浆防灭火的原料,不仅会造成输送管路的堵塞,还会引起输送管路的严重磨损。为此,首先研究了常见增稠剂羧甲基纤维素、聚丙烯酰胺和聚丙烯酸钠等对砂粒的悬浮性能,实验结果表明它们只能延缓砂粒的沉降。进而从理论上分析了砂粒悬浮的条件,发现具有一定屈服应力的假塑性流体特性的液体才能悬浮砂粒;并且悬浮砂粒粒径越大,所需屈服应力也越大。基于理论分析,研制了具有该特性的浆液,山砂在该浆液中不仅具有良好的悬浮性能,浆液还具有输送阻力小的特性。管道输送试验表明,浆液稳定性和流动阻力符合实际要求。     

基于FLAC3D分析的某铁矿充填效果研究

为解决辽宁某铁矿开采后地表沉陷问题,验证自研的复合激发尾砂胶结充填体充填效果,运用FLAC3D模拟软件对铁矿二步骤充填开采和地表沉陷进行数值模拟计算研究.研究结果表明:采用3种胶结充填体分别进行二步骤充填后,盐基、碱基、水泥基胶结充填体内部的应力平均值分别为0.92,0.79,0.93 MPa,最大位移值分别为38,2...