Impact of posture and upper-limb muscle activity on grip strength

Purpose. The current research was carried out to determine grip strength (GS) with change in posture and upper-limb muscle activity of manual workers and investigate the impacts of these changes. Methods. For the current research, 120 male and 80 female participants were selected and GS was assessed using a digital hand grip dynamometer in various conditions. Results. The outcomes showed that male participants had higher GS as compared to female participants. Maximum GS was found in a standing posture with the fixed forward shoulder at 45°, elbow at 90° and a neutral position of the wrist and forearm for all participants. Conclusions. Higher values of GS were attained in standing postures which may result in attainment of higher performance levels by the workers. The outcomes justify the importance of correct postures during manual work in industries employing traditional methods.     

Response of hydrogen peroxide scavenging system in two soybean cultivars exposed to SO2: experimental evidence for the detoxification of SO2 by enhanced H2O2 scavenging components

The impact of SO(2) on superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the ascorbate-glutathione cycle was investigated in a tolerant (cv. Punjab-1) and a sensitive (cv. JS 7244) cultivar of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). In spite of SO(2) stimulated SOD activities in both the cultivars, only cv. JS 7244 has significantly enhanced Malondialdehyde (MDA) contents. This differential response was attributed to the ability of cv. Punjab-1 to enhance glutathione reductase (GR) activity and to maintain high GSH/GSSG and ASA/DHA ratios. Post-fumigation analysis indicated the ability of cv. Punjab-1 to maintain SO(2)-enhanced antioxidants, whilst they declined in cv. JS 7244 the moment fumigation was terminated. Exposure of SO(2)-acclimated plants (cv. Punjab-1) with their enhanced antioxidants to 250 microg m(-3) SO(2) for 6 h exhibited no enhanced cellular injury (MDA content) when compared to that of control plants with their normal antioxidant levels. These results indicate a relation between the ability of a plant to maintain reduced glutathione (GSH) and ascorbate (ASA) and SO(2) tolerance, and they also present evidence for the ability of plants, with elevated antioxidants, to tolerate SO(2)-induced oxygen-free radical toxicity.     

Implications of Land Use Changes on Carbon Dynamics and Sequestration—Evaluation from Forestry Datasets, India

Forests and soils are a major sink of carbon, and land use changes can affect the magnitude of above ground and below ground carbon stores and the net flux of carbon between the land and the atmosphere. Studies on methods for examining the future consequences of changes in patterns of land use change and carbon flux gains importance, as they provide different options for CO₂ mitigation strategies. In this study, a simulation approach combining Markov chain processes and carbon pools for forests and soils has been implemented to study the carbon flows over a period of time. Markov chains have been computed by converting the land use change and forestry data of India from 1997 to 1999 into a matrix of conditional probabilities reflecting the changes from one class at time t to another class time t+1. Results from Markov modeling suggested Indian forests as a potential sink for 0.94 Gt carbon, with an increase in dense forest area of about 75.93 Mha and decrease of about 3.4 Mha and 5.0 Mha in open and scrub forests, if similar land use changes that occurred during 1997–1999 would continue. The limiting probabilities suggested 34.27 percent as dense forest, 6.90 as open forest, 0.4 percent mangrove forest, 0.1 percent scrub and 58 percent as non-forest area. Although Indian forests are found to be a potential carbon sink, analysis of results from transition probabilities for different years till 2050 suggests that, the forests will continue to be a source of about 20.59 MtC to the atmosphere. The implications of these results in the context of increasing anthropogenic pressure on open and scrub forests and their contribution to carbon source from land use change and forestry sector are discussed. Some of the mitigation aspects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land use change and forestry sector in India are also reviewed in the study.     

Current scenario of CNG vehicular pollution and their possible abatement technologies: an overview

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Compressed natural gas is an alternative green fuel for automobile industry. Recently, the Indian government is targeting to replace all the...     

Proteomic insights into Lysinibacillus sp.-mediated biosolubilization of manganese

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - There has been alarming depletion of manganese (Mn) reserves owing to the ongoing extensive mining operations for catering the massive industrial...     

Effect of spatial variation on salinity tolerance of macroinvertebrates in Eastern Australia and implications for ecosystem protection trigger values

Salinisation of freshwater has been identified as a serious environmental issue in Australia and around the world. Protective concentrations (trigger values) for salinity can be used to manage salinity impacts, though require locally relevant salinity tolerance information. 72-h acute salinity tolerance values were determined for 102 macroinvertebrates collected from 11 locations in four biologically distinct freshwater bio-regions in Northeast Australia and compared with sensitivities observed in Southeast Australia. The salinity tolerance of individual taxa was consistent across Northeast Australia and between Northeast and Southeast Australia. However, two distinct communities were identified in Northeast Australia using distributions of the acute tolerance values and a calculated index of salinity sensitivity. Salinity trigger values should therefore be representative of local or regionally relevant communities and may be adequately calculated using sensitivity values from throughout Eastern Australia. The results presented provide a basis for assessing salinity risk and determining trigger values for salinity in freshwater ecosystems at local and regional scales in Eastern Australia.     

Biosurfactant technology for remediation of cadmium and lead contaminated soils

This research focuses on column experiments conducted to evaluate the potential of environmentally compatible rhamnolipid biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain BS2 to remove heavy metals (Cd and Pb) from artificially contaminated soil. Results have shown that di-rhamnolipid removes not only the leachable or available fraction of Cd and Pb but also the bound metals as compared to tap water which removed the mobile fraction only. Washing of contaminated soil with tap water revealed that approximately 2.7% of Cd and 9.8% of Pb in contaminated soil was in freely available or weakly bound forms whereas washing with rhamnolipid removed 92% of Cd and 88% of Pb after 36 h of leaching. This indicated that di-rhamnolipid selectively favours mobilization of metals in the order of Cd>Pb. Biosurfactant specificity observed towards specific metal will help in preferential elution of specific contaminant using di-rhamnolipid. It was further observed that pH of the leachates collected from heavy metal contaminated soil column treated with di-rhamnolipid solution was low (6.60-6.78) as compared to that of leachates from heavy metal contaminated soil column treated with tap water (pH 6.90-7.25), which showed high dissolution of metal species from the contaminated soil and effective leaching of metals with treatment with biosurfactant. The microbial population of the contaminated soil was increased after removal of metals by biosurfactant indicating the decrease of toxicity of metals to soil microflora. This study shows that biosurfactant technology can be an effective and nondestructive method for bioremediation of cadmium and lead contaminated soil.     

Evaluation of methods for sorting CCA-treated wood

Construction and demolition (C&D) wood frequently contains treated wood including wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Many recycling options for such wood require that the product be essentially free of preservative chemicals. The objectives of this study were to document the characteristics of the wood waste stream and to evaluate the effectiveness of sorting methods for identifying treated wood. Sorting methods evaluated included visual sorting and visual sorting augmented with the use of PAN indicator stain and/or hand-held X-ray fluorescence (XRF) units. Experiments were conducted on two types of construction and demolition (C&D) wood: source separated loads containing only C&D wood and wood hand-picked from commingled loads of general C&D waste. Results showed that 77% of the treated wood was CCA-treated. For uncontaminated piles (<1% treated wood) of source separated C&D wood, visual sorting was found to effectively remove the small amounts of treated wood present. For piles of source separated wood that were contaminated (approximately 50% treated wood), visual sorts were not accurate and benefited from augmented sorting using PAN indicator stain. The handheld XRF devices were found to be effective for sorting commingled C&D wood, as PAN indicator stain was not as effective due to the excessive amount of surface dirt associated with commingled wood waste. Visual sorting of source separated wood was estimated to cost between US$21 to US$96 per metric ton. These costs depended upon the amount of treated wood and whether or not augmentation with PAN indicator was necessary. Visual sorting augmented with hand-held XRF units was estimated at US$113 per metric ton. The bulk of these costs were associated with labor. Future efforts should focus on reducing labor costs by mounting automated XRF units on conveyor systems.     

Evaluation of commercial landscaping mulch for possible contamination from CCA

Wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is found in construction and demolition (C&D) debris, and a common use for wood recycled from C&D debris is the production of mulch. Given the high metals concentrations in CCA-treated wood, a small fraction of CCA-treated wood can increase the metal concentrations in the mulch above regulatory thresholds. The objective of this study was to determine the extent of contamination of CCA-treated wood in consumer landscaping mulch and to determine whether visual methods or rapid X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology can be used to identify suspect mulch. Samples were collected throughout the State of Florida (USA) and evaluated both visually and chemically. Visual analysis focused on documenting wood-chip size distribution, whether the samples were artificially colored, and whether they contained plywood chips which is an indication that the sample was, in part, made from recycled C&D wood. Chemical analysis included measurements of total recoverable metals, leachable metals as per the standardized synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP), and XRF analysis. Visual identification methods, such as colorant addition or presence of plywood, were found effective to preliminarily screen suspect mulch. XRF analysis was found to be effective for identifying mulch containing higher than 75 mg/kg arsenic. For mulch samples that were not colored and did not contain evidence of C&D wood, none exceeded leachable metal concentrations of 50 microg/L and only 3% exceeded 10 mg/kg for recoverable metals. The majority of the colored mulch made from recycled C&D wood contained from 1% to 5% CCA-treated wood (15% maximum fraction) resulting in leachable metals in excess of 50 microg/L and total recoverable metals in excess of 10 mg/kg. The maximum arsenic concentration measured in the mulch samples evaluated was 230 mg/kg, which was above the Florida residential direct exposure regulatory guideline of 2.1 mg/kg.