Growing Plants and Minds

Science.gov (United States)

Presser, Ashley Lewis; Kamdar, Danae; Vidiksis, Regan; Goldstein, Marion; Dominguez, Ximena; Orr, Jillian

2017-01-01

Many preschool classrooms explore plant growth. However, because many plants take a long time to grow, it is often hard to facilitate engagement in some practices (i.e., since change is typically not observable from one day to another, children often forget their prior predictions or cannot recall what plants looked like days or weeks earlier).…

Growth and flowering of Helleborus argutifolius (Viviani grown in pots depending on substrate type

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monika Henschke

2014-09-01

Full Text Available An experiment was conducted on the effect of substrate type on growth of Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius Viviani. Plants were grown for two years in pots with substrates whose components included Klasmann highmoor peat and Hartmann highmoor peat, mineral soil, expanded clay and perlite at various volumetric ratios. Vegetative growth and flowering were observed in hellebores. It was shown that substrates exhibited a varied effect on plant growth. Corsican hellebore in a substrate with a considerable addition of mineral soil was lower, but more branched, and it did not form inflorescences. An optimal medium for growing H. argutifolius in pots was Hartmann’s de-acidified peat + mineral soil (1:1 v:v. In this medium vegetative growth of plants was extensive, flowering was early and abundant, and long peduncles were produced.

Soil to plant transfer factor of radiocesium by pot experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jalil, A.; Rahman, M.M.; Koddus, A.; Chand, M.M.; Zaman, M.A.; Ahmad, G.U.

2002-01-01

This paper deals with the soil to plant transfer factor (TF) of radiocesium (Cs 137 ) considered to be an important parameter while calculating radiological doses due to the potential release of radionuclides into the environment. In the present work, TF values were measured for the main foodstuffs in Bangladesh such as leafy vegetables (Lalshak, Palangshak), Ladyfinger, Radish, Potato, Potato Plant, Paddy, Paddy plant, Grass, Ginger, Ginger plant, Turmeric, and Turmeric plant by pot experiments grown in the AERE soil. Soil characteristics have also been investigated to assist the measured values of the corresponding radionuclide. TF values of the leafy parts and products of the corresponding plants were found in the range of 2.02x10 -1 to 1.8x10 -2 , which are reasonably comparable with the value found in the literature. It has been observed that the TF values in the leafy part of the plants are higher than the products. (author)

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brinth, Louise; Pors, Kirsten; Spahic, Jasmina Medic

2018-01-01

" 1997-2014 was retrieved from PubMed and related to yearly POTS incidence. RESULTS: Eight-hundred-and-seventy-five tests with suspected POTS were thoroughly evaluated. The reclassification of test results yielded 243 POTS diagnoses (age, 27.0 ± 11.8 years). An increase in total number of POTS diagnoses...... was observed but the proportion of POTS-positive tests per year was relatively constant (≈2-3%) except for the period 2013-2014 (≈7%). The increase in POTS diagnoses was preceded by an increase in number of POTS-related papers in PubMed. CONCLUSION: The proportion of POTS diagnoses among patients investigated...... for suspected syncope and/or orthostatic intolerance was relatively constant 1997-2012. The growing number of POTS-related publications in PubMed preceded the steep increase in diagnostic rate of POTS observed after 2012....

Limitations to CO2-induced growth enhancement in pot studies.

Science.gov (United States)

McConnaughay, K D M; Berntson, G M; Bazzaz, F A

1993-07-01

Recently, it has been suggested that small pots may reduce or eliminate plant responses to enriched CO 2 atmospheres due to root restriction. While smaller pot volumes provide less physical space available for root growth, they also provide less nutrients. Reduced nutrient availability alone may reduce growth enhancement under elevated CO 2 . To investigate the relative importance of limited physical rooting space separate from and in conjunction with soil nutrients, we grew plants at ambient and double-ambient CO 2 levels in growth containers of varied volume, shape, nutrient concentration, and total nutrient content. Two species (Abutilon theophrasti, a C 3 dicot with a deep tap root andSetaria faberii, a C 4 monocot with a shallow diffuse root system) were selected for their contrasting physiology and root architecture. Shoot demography was determined weekly and biomass was determined after eight and ten weeks of growth. Increasing total nutrients, either by increasing nutrient concentration or by increasing pot size, increased plant growth. Further, increasing pot size while maintaining equal total nutrients per pot resulted in increased total biomass for both species. CO 2 -induced growth and reproductive yield enhancements were greatest in pots with high nutrient concentrations, regardless of total nutrient content or pot size, and were also mediated by the shape of the pot. CO 2 -induced growth and reproductive yield enhancements were unaffected by pot size (growth) or were greater in small pots (reproductive yield), regardless of total nutrient content, contrary to predictions based on earlier studies. These results suggest that several aspects of growth conditions within pots may influence the CO 2 responses of plants; pot size, pot shape, the concentration and total amount of nutrient additions to pots may lead to over-or underestimates of the CO 2 responses of real-world plants.

Spatial and temporal dynamics of water in the root environment of potted plants on a flooded bench fertigation system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Otten, W.; Raats, P.A.C.; Baas, R.; Challa, H.; Kabat, P.

1999-01-01

The relationship between evapotranspiration of potted Ficus benjamina plants on a flooded bench fertigation system and the distribution of water in the root zone was studied in detail for a range of fertigation schedules. The physical characteristics of the peat-based potting medium were described

Application of neutron radiography and tomography for analysis of root morphology of growing ginseng

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyun Ho; Sung, Bong Jae; Park, Jong Yoon [Geumsan Agricultural Development and Technology Center, Geumsan (Korea, Republic of); Sim, Cheul Muu; Kim, Young Jin; Lee, Seung Wook [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2005-07-01

The shape of main root of ginseng is very important for its commercial value. The morphology of main root is predominantly determined by the root-growing pattern in one year after transplantation of ginseng seedling(one years root). There are many factors affecting the root growing of young ginseng but no systematic approach has been applied to find the effects of various factors. The main reason for this was no method was sought to see the root shapes non-destructively. Neutron radiography is thought to be an appropriate NDT method for root morphology examination in ginseng and a study on using NR for the research on ginseng is being conducted. Considering that the live plants should be moved to the reactor site for their examination of four or five times per year at least, the pot growing method is indispensable. The pot should contain enough soils for growing-up of ginseng and its maximum size is limited to have good contrast in neutron radiography image of ginseng root. Thus, a preliminary radiographic study was performed to find the proper size of ginseng pot using the NR facility of HANARO. Several pots will be prepared for young ginsengs and they will be examined for about one year.

Application of neutron radiography and tomography for analysis of root morphology of growing ginseng

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun Ho; Sung, Bong Jae; Park, Jong Yoon; Sim, Cheul Muu; Kim, Young Jin; Lee, Seung Wook

2005-01-01

The shape of main root of ginseng is very important for its commercial value. The morphology of main root is predominantly determined by the root-growing pattern in one year after transplantation of ginseng seedling(one years root). There are many factors affecting the root growing of young ginseng but no systematic approach has been applied to find the effects of various factors. The main reason for this was no method was sought to see the root shapes non-destructively. Neutron radiography is thought to be an appropriate NDT method for root morphology examination in ginseng and a study on using NR for the research on ginseng is being conducted. Considering that the live plants should be moved to the reactor site for their examination of four or five times per year at least, the pot growing method is indispensable. The pot should contain enough soils for growing-up of ginseng and its maximum size is limited to have good contrast in neutron radiography image of ginseng root. Thus, a preliminary radiographic study was performed to find the proper size of ginseng pot using the NR facility of HANARO. Several pots will be prepared for young ginsengs and they will be examined for about one year

137Cs absorption by growing rice planted in pot soil from Qinshan and Daya Bay area

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shang Zhaorong; Yu Fengyi; Lu Zixian

1999-01-01

The pot experiment of growing rice contaminated with 137 Cs solution was designed as follows. (1) The same volume of 137 Cs solution was irrigated into rice soil from Guantang District around Qinshan NPP in seedling stage, booting stage and milk stage respectively with the same Specific Activity (SA) of 370 Bq/g soil , and the rice was sampled after maturity. (2) In the seedling stage, the rice cultured in the soil from Guantang District was irrigated by four different SA of 0.37, 3.7, 37 and 370 Bq/g soil respectively, and sampled after 30, 60 and 90 d. (3) Transfer Factors (TF) of edible parts of rice on five different soils were calculated for three different stage and four different 137 Cs levels. The results show that: 1) TF of Shenzhen soil is the highest with 1.86 in seed and 2.22 in stem and 4.05 in leaf, Changchuanba soil is the lowest with 0.09 in seed and 0.20 in stem and 0.20 in leaf, among the five different soils. 2) TF in milk stage is the highest with 0.46 in seed and 2.29 in stem and 2.87 in leaf, and booting stem is lowest with 0.09 in seed and 0.17 in stem and 0.17 in leaf, among the three different stage. 3) TF of soil with contamination in 0.37 Bq/g soil is the highest with 1.08 in seed and 3.70 in stem and 4.32 in leaf, and the contamination in 37 Bq/g soil is the lowest with 0.06 in seed and 0.10 in stem and 0.14 in leaf, among four different contamination levels

Dynamics of water and nutrients for potted plants induced by flooded bench fertigation : experiments and simulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Otten, W.

1994-01-01

Dynamics of water and nutrients as affected by physical and chemical characteristics of a substrate, fertigation method and schedule, and plant uptake were studied for a flooded bench fertigation system for potted plants, through a detailed experimental study of the root environment and a

Linking soil permeability and soil aggregate stability with root development: a pots experiment (preliminary results)

Science.gov (United States)

Vergani, Chiara; Graf, Frank; Gerber, Werner

2015-04-01

humidity of 75%, and at a night temperature of 17°C and relative humidity of 55% , with 15 hours of light per day. Four different growing periods have been distinguished (1, 2, 4 and 8 months). For each growing period 7 planted replicates have been set up, as well as 3 control pots with only bare soil treated the same way as the planted pots. After each growing period, the soil permeability was measured by means of a falling head procedure (Bagarello and Iovino, 2010) directly in the pots. Furthermore, soil aggregate stability was determined on soil samples applying a wet sieving method (Graf and Frei, 2013). Subsequently, root systems were collected and analyzed using different image software (Smartroot and Winrhizo). The permeability and soil aggregate stability values were finally linked with the root development stage and compared with field data coming from long-term stabilized slopes. Preliminary analysis reveals no significant influence of alder roots on both soil aggregate stability and hydraulic conductivity of soil after the one month growing period compared to the control. However, after two months we observed a decrease in the hydraulic conductivity values.

Effect of sowing date and plant density on grain and flower yield of Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

mohamad javad seghatol eslami

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L. is a medicinal herb whose dried flower heads are used to heal wounds. In order to study the effects of sowing dates and plant density on grain and flower yield of pot marigold, an experiment was conducted at Agricultural Research Center of Islamic Azad University, Birjand Branch in 2005. Three sowing dates (30 March, 14 April and 30 April and three plant densities (plant distances on row were 10, 20 and 30 centimeters were compared in a split- plot experiment based on a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Seed and flower yields were significantly different at planting dates and plant densities. Sowing date had significant effects on flower and seed harvest index. The latest sowing dates had the highest flower and seed harvest index. Plant density had not significant effect on flower harvest index, but the effect on seed harvest index, was significant. In total our result showed that the first sowing date with 25 plants/m2 had the highest grain and flower yield. Keywords: Marigold, sowing date, plant density, medicinal plant.

THE BIODEGRADABILITY AND MECHANICAL STRENGTH OF NUTRITIVE POTS FOR VEGETABLE PLANTING BASED ON LIGNOCELLULOSE COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petronela Nechita

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Considering the mild degradation strength and the fact that it may be an organic matter reserve for the soil, in the past years lignocellulosic materials have been used as fibrous raw materials in the manufacture of biodegradable nutritive pots for the seedling in vegetable containerized production. This paper analyses the behavior of the nutritive pots made from biodegradable composites for the vegetable seedling production process, focusing on their mechanical strength properties and biodegradability. It was found that the biodegradability of composite materials obtained from a mixture of secondary cellulosic fibers, peat, and additives, is strongly influenced by the presence or absence of the rhizosphere effect and the synergistic relations set in the culture substrate between the plant roots and microorganisms, which develop permanently the recycling and solubilization of mineral nutrients. The results showed that the presence in the substrate of some complex populations made by heterotrophic bacteria favors full degradation of the pulp and lignin contained in the substrate and pots composition. Therefore, unlike the reference sample (plant-free, cultivated versions exhibited an intense biodegradation on the account of rhizosphere effect.

A concept of a component based system to determine pot-plant shelf-life

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Körner, Oliver; Skou, Anne-Marie Thonning; Aaslyng, Jesper Peter Mazanti

2006-01-01

to calculate the expected keeping quality, or it will be able to apply the system as decision support during plant cultivation. In the latter case, the model-based system can be implemented in a greenhouse climate computer. The concept contains information on climate control strategies, controlled stress......, the keeping quality of a plant after removal from the greenhouse could be estimated. A concept of a system that describes a model based knowledge system aiming at determination of the last selling date for pot plants is presented. The core of the conceptual system is a tool that can either be used......, diseases, nutrient management and substrates....

Symbiotic N2 fixation by legumes growing in pots. 2. Uptake of VN-labelled NO3 , C2H2 reduction and H2 evolution by Trifolium subterraneum L. , Medicago truncatula Gaertn. and Acacia dealbata Link

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hopmans, P.; Chalk, P.M.; Douglas, L.A.

1983-01-01

The objectives of this study were to estimate symbiotic nitrogen fixation by two common pasture legumes, Trifolium subterraneum L. and Medicago truncatula Gaertn., and an Australian native legume, Acacia dealbata Link, growing in pots using an indirect isotopic method. This method was also used to calibrate the C2H2 reduction assay of the intact plants. In addition, hydrogen evolution was measured in an attempt to explain the variations in C2H2:N2 ratios between the species. 25 refs.; 1 figure; 4 tabs.

The detection of stress in pot plants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Harbinson, J.

1995-01-01

Stress is considered to be major problem for plants, wether they are in cultivation or growing in natural settings. Consequently there is a need to have some means of identifying stress. Recently developed techniques for measuring photosynthetic processes using non-destructive biophysical

Comparison of Manual and Automatic Irrigation of Pot Experiments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haahr, Vagner

1975-01-01

An air-lift principle for transport of water was adapted for automatic irrigation of experimental pots originally constructed for manual irrigation by the weighing method. The two irrigation techniques were compared in an experiment with increasing amounts of nitrogen fertilizer to spring barley....... Productions of grain and straw and chemical composition were almost the same after the two irrigation methods, and it was concluded that the laborious manual watering could be replaced by automatic irrigation. Comparison of the yield from individual plants in the pots showed a large difference between centre...... plants and border plants independent of irrigation principle. The increase in yield per pot with increasing N fertilization was at the highest N level caused only by an increase in yield of the border plants....

60Co, 63Ni and 94Nb soil-to-plant transfer in pot experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerzabek, M.H.; Mohamad, S.A.; Mueck, K.; Horak, O.

1995-01-01

Soil-to-plant transfer factors for 60 Co, 63 Ni and 94 Nb were obtained via pot experiments with a Dystric Cambisol and a Calcic Chernozem, both from Lower Austria. Investigated plants were greenrape (Brassica napus oleifera L.), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The soil-to-plant transfer factors decreased from 63 Ni to 60 Co and 94 Nb. Mean values from all experiments ranged from 1.12 ( 63 Ni) to 0.0045 ( 94 Nb). The transfer values obtained for 60 Co and 63 Ni are comparable to literature values, but 94 Nb-transfer seems to be lower than previous estimates. All radionuclides showed differences between plant species and plant organs. Transfer values were also dependent on the soil type. (author)

Methods for growth regulation of greenhouse produced ornamental pot- and bedding plants – a current review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bergstrand Karl-Johan I.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Chemical plant growth regulators (PGRs are used in the production of ornamental potted and bedding plants. Growth control is needed for maximizing production per unit area, reducing transportation costs and to obtain a desired visual quality. However, the use of PGRs is associated with toxicity risks to humans and the environment. In many countries the availability of PGRs is restricted as few substances are registered for use. A number of alternative methods have been suggested. The methods include genetic methods (breeding and crop cultivation practices such as fertigation, temperature and light management. A lot of research into “alternative” growth regulation was performed during the 1980-1990s, revealing several possible ways of using different climatic factors to optimize plant growth with respect to plant height. In recent years, the interest in climatic growth regulation has been resurrected, not least due to the coming phase-out of the plant growth regulator chlormequat chloride (CCC. Today, authorities in many countries are aiming towards reducing the use of agrochemicals. At the same time, there is a strong demand from consumers for products produced without chemicals. This article provides a broad overview of available methods for non-chemical growth control. It is concluded that a combination of plant breeding and management of temperature, fertigation and light management has the potential of replacing chemical growth regulators in the commercial production of ornamental pot- and bedding plants.

Making Plant-Support Structures From Waste Plant Fiber

Science.gov (United States)

Morrow, Robert C.; < oscjmocl. < attjew K/; {ertzbprm. A,amda; Ej (e. Cjad); Hunt, John

2006-01-01

Environmentally benign, biodegradable structures for supporting growing plants can be made in a process based on recycling of such waste plant fiber materials as wheat straw or of such derivative materials as paper and cardboard. Examples of structures that can be made in this way include plant plugs, pots, planter-lining mats, plant fences, and root and shoot barriers. No chemical binders are used in the process. First, the plant material is chopped into smaller particles. The particles are leached with water or steam to remove material that can inhibit plant growth, yielding a fibrous slurry. If the desired structures are plugs or sheets, then the slurry is formed into the desired shapes in a pulp molding subprocess. If the desired structures are root and shoot barriers, pots, or fences, then the slurry is compression-molded to the desired shapes in a heated press. The processed materials in these structures have properties similar to those of commercial pressboard, but unlike pressboard, these materials contain no additives. These structures have been found to withstand one growth cycle, even when wet

PEMBERDAYAAN PEREMPUAN MELALUI PEMBUDIDAYAAN TANAMAN SAYURAN DALAM POT BERBASIS APLIKASI TEKNOLOGI BOKASHI ECENG GONDOK

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Gusti Irya Ichriani Kambang Vetrani Asie Siti Zubaidah, Dan Syahrudin

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Vegetables cultivation in the pot based on Eichhornia crassipes bokashi technology application is the activity toempower women synergized with the natural resources around them. The purposed of IbM program implementationwere (1 empower and provide skills to the women group in order to utilize of natural resources (Eichhorniacrassipes, sawdust and alluvial soil and obtain vitamines, minerals and fiber for households through the vegetablescultivation in the pot and utilization of Eichhornia crassipes bokashi as growing mixture media; (2 as effort tosave on household spending and to creating entrepreneurship. This program was carried out with two groupsof women (the RW I women group and RW II women group from Cemara Labat, Palangka Raya, Central ofKalimantan. Socialization, training and coaching about cultivation of vegetables in the pot and making of Eichhorniacrassipes bokashi has given the ability and skills to the women group for utilizing natural resources around them.This IbM programme has sustainability. It is caused the women groups from RW I and RW II Cemara Labatwant to continue planting vegetables in the pot using Eichhornia crassipes bokashi, to meet needs of householdvegetables daily and it has raised a family entrepreneurship.

Hydraulics and gas exchange recover more rapidly from severe drought stress in small pot-grown grapevines than in field-grown plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, Pascual; Botía, Pablo; Keller, Markus

2017-09-01

Modifications of plant hydraulics and shoot resistances (R shoot ) induced by water withholding followed by rewatering, and their relationships with plant water status, leaf gas exchange and water use efficiency at the leaf level, were investigated in pot-grown and field-grown, own-rooted Syrah grapevines in an arid climate. Water stress induced anisohydric behavior, gradually reducing stomatal conductance (g s ) and leaf photosynthesis (A) in response to decreasing midday stem water potential (Ψ s ). Water stress also rapidly increased intrinsic water-use efficiency (A/g s ); this effect persisted for many days after rewatering. Whole-plant (K plant ), canopy (K canopy ), shoot (K shoot ) and leaf (K leaf ) hydraulic conductances decreased during water stress, in tune with the gradual decrease in Ψ s , leaf gas exchange and whole plant water use. Water-stressed vines also had a lower Ψ gradient between stem and leaf (ΔΨ l ), which was correlated with lower leaf transpiration rate (E). E and ΔΨ l increased with increasing vapour pressure deficit (VPD) in non-stressed control vines but not in stressed vines. Perfusion of xylem-mobile dye showed that water flow to petioles and leaves was substantially reduced or even stopped under moderate and severe drought stress. Leaf blade hydraulic resistance accounted for most of the total shoot resistance. However, hydraulic conductance of the whole root system (K root ) was not significantly reduced until water stress became very severe in pot-grown vines. Significant correlations between K plant , K canopy and Ψ s , K canopy and leaf gas exchange, K leaf and Ψ s , and K leaf and A support a link between water supply, leaf water status and gas exchange. Upon re-watering, Ψ s recovered faster than gas exchange and leaf-shoot hydraulics. A gradual recovery of hydraulic functionality of plant organs was also observed, the leaves being the last to recover after rewatering. In pot-grown vines, K canopy recovered rather

EFFICACY OF FUNGICIDES AGAINST CALONECTRIA PAUCIRAMOSA IN POT AZALEA.

Science.gov (United States)

Heungens, K; Pauwels, E

2015-01-01

Calonectria (formerly Cylindrocladium) infection of pot azalea (Rhododendron simsii Planch) is an important disease problem in which usually one or two of the four plants per pot show progressing leaf and especially stem lesions, leading to mortality of the respective plant and rendering the pot unmarketable. This may occur in a later stage of the growing season, leading to significant commercial losses. The main objective of this study was to test a range of fungicides for their efficacy against this pathogen. To test the fungicides, a bioassay was first developed in which mycelium and conidiospores of the pathogen were produced on Potato Dextrose Agar, blended in water, and dilutions of the resulting suspension inoculated at the base of 11-week-old cuttings three weeks after they had been trimmed. Disease progression was monitored up to 7 weeks post inoculation and a disease index on a scale of 0 to 3 was established. In the actual efficacy trial, the following fungicides (with corresponding active ingredient(s)) were tested as preventive treatments: Topsin M 70 WG (thiophanate-methyl), Sporgon (prochloraz), Signum (boscalid+pyraclostrobin), Switch (cyprodinyl+fludioxonil), Flint 50WG (trifloxystrobin), Ortiva Top (azoxystrobin+difenoconazole) and Fungaflor (imazalil). Disease expression started after about 2 weeks, increased approximately 1 index level, and leveled off 5 weeks after inoculation. The best control was observed with Sporgon, Ortiva Top and Signum. Switch produced intermediate effects and insufficient control was observed with Topsin, Flint and Fungaflor. These results explain why specific standard fungicide treatments, such as those with Topsin, fail to control the disease, while they can be effective against a different Calonectria species such as C. pseudonaviculata, the cause of boxwood blight.

Economic costs due to workers' sick leave at wastewater treatment plants in Bulgaria.

Science.gov (United States)

Toseva, Elka Ilieva; Stoyanova, Rumyana; Turnovska, Tanya

2018-03-09

The compensatory mechanisms of social security include expenses for sick leave. The aim of the study is to determine the economic cost due to sick leave among workers in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), comparing with the same economic indicators of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) in Bulgaria. The sick leave of 111 workers at 3 WWTPs was studied in the period 2012-2014 on the grounds of registered absences from work due to temporary incapacity for work. The economic indicators of the NSSI, the gross salary at WWTPs, payable social security contributions and compensatory payments for sick leave have been used for economic cost calculation for temporary incapacity of the workers. The frequency of cases and the frequency of lost days due to temporary incapacity were increased in the observed period at WWTPs and in Bulgaria, and it is significantly higher for the employed at WWTPs. The percentage share of workers equivalent to 1.66% at WWTPs have not worked for an entire year as a result of temporary incapacity in 2012, 2.76% - in 2013, and 4.61% - in 2014. The economic burden due to sick leave at WWTPs was raised from EUR 4913.02 in 2012 to EUR 16 895.80 for 2014 for employers and the NSSI. The frequency of cases and the frequency of lost days due to temporary incapacity were increased in the observed period at WWTPs and in Bulgaria, and it is significantly higher for the employed at WWTPs. The economic burden was equally distributed between employers and the NSSI. Med Pr 2018;69(2):129-141. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Uptake of 137Cs from coniferous forest soil by sheep's fescue in pot experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fawaris, B. H.; Johanson, K. J.

1994-01-01

The uptake of Chernobyl fallout radiocaesium ( 137 Cs) from forest soils with low nutrients, high organic matter content, and acidic pH were examined in pot experiments. Results of sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina) two harvests after growing period of 13 weeks each, showed a slight variation in the 137 Cs uptake. Transfer factor (TF) for 137 Cs based upon soil-to-plant relationships calculated, (Bqkg -1 plant DW/Bqkg -1 soil DW). The ranges were from 0.03 to 3.43 with a mean of 0.34 ± 0.31 for first cut and from 0.03 to 2.28 with a mean of 0.36 ± 0.33 for second cut. Variation in the uptake of 137 Cs by sheep's fescue grass might be due to the influence of soil pH and OM % in conjunction with soil moisture. The effect of potassium (K + ), stable caesium (Cs + ), and ammonium (NH 4 + ) that were added as chlorides on 137 Cs uptake by sheep's fescue were also tested in pot experiment under the same conditions of previous set-up. Results from three harvests after growing period of 13 weeks each, demonstrated that K + reduced the uptake of 137 Cs. In contrast the addition of both stable Cs + and NH 4 + found to enhance 137 Cs uptake by sheep's fescue. (author)

Transpiration and metabolisation of TCE by willow plants - a pot experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Schöftner, Philipp; Watzinger, Andrea; Holzknecht, Philipp; Wimmer, Bernhard; Reichenauer, Thomas G

2016-01-01

Willows were grown in glass cylinders filled with compost above water-saturated quartz sand, to trace the fate of TCE in water and plant biomass. The experiment was repeated once with the same plants in two consecutive years. TCE was added in nominal concentrations of 0, 144, 288, and 721 mg l(-1). Unplanted cylinders were set-up and spiked with nominal concentrations of 721 mg l(-1) TCE in the second year. Additionally, (13)C-enriched TCE solution (δ(13)C = 110.3 ‰) was used. Periodically, TCE content and metabolites were analyzed in water and plant biomass. The presence of TCE-degrading microorganisms was monitored via the measurement of the isotopic ratio of carbon ((13)C/(12)C) in TCE, and the abundance of (13)C-labeled microbial PLFAs (phospholipid fatty acids). More than 98% of TCE was lost via evapotranspiration from the planted pots within one month after adding TCE. Transpiration accounted to 94 to 78% of the total evapotranspiration loss. Almost 1% of TCE was metabolized in the shoots, whereby trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) and dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) were dominant metabolites; less trichloroethanol (TCOH) and TCE accumulated in plant tissues. Microbial degradation was ruled out by δ(13)C measurements of water and PLFAs. TCE had no detected influence on plant stress status as determined by chlorophyll-fluorescence and gas exchange.

Spent Pot Lining Characterization Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Ospina, Gustavo; Hassan, Mohamed I.

2017-09-01

Spent pot lining (SPL) management represents a major concern for aluminum smelters. There are two key elements for spent pot lining management: recycling and safe storage. Spent pot lining waste can potentially have beneficial uses in co-firing in cement plants. Also, safe storage of SPL is of utmost importance. Gas generation of SPL reaction with water and ignition sensitivity must be studied. However, determining the feasibility of SPL co-firing and developing the required procedures for safe storage rely on determining experimentally all the necessary SPL properties along with the appropriate test methods, recognized by emissions standards and fire safety design codes. The applicable regulations and relevant SPL properties for this purpose are presented along with the corresponding test methods.

Culturable fungi in potting soils and compost.

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, Doris; Lesch, Susanne; Buzina, Walter; Galler, Herbert; Gutschi, Anna Maria; Habib, Juliana; Pfeifer, Bettina; Luxner, Josefa; Reinthaler, Franz F

2016-11-01

In the present study the spectrum and the incidence of fungi in potting soils and compost was investigated. Since soil is one of the most important biotopes for fungi, relatively high concentrations of fungal propagules are to be expected. For detection of fungi, samples of commercial soils, compost and soils from potted plants (both surface and sub-surface) were suspended and plated onto several mycological media. The resulting colonies were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. The results from the different sampling series vary, but concentrations on the surface of potted plants and in commercial soils are increased tenfold compared to compost and sub-surface soils. Median values range from 9.5 × 10(4) colony forming units (CFU)/g to 5.5 × 10(5) CFU/g. The spectrum of fungi also varies in the soils. However, all sampling series show high proportion of Aspergillus and Penicillium species, including potentially pathogenic species such as Aspergillus fumigatus. Cladosporium, a genus dominant in the ambient air, was found preferably in samples which were in contact with the air. The results show that potentially pathogenic fungi are present in soils. Immunocompromised individuals should avoid handling soils or potted plants in their immediate vicinity. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Efikasi Chitosan untuk Memperpanjang Flower Longevity Bunga Anggrek Dendrobium Hibrida dalam Pot (Potted Flower

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I MADE SUKEWIJAYA

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Effication of Chitosan on Lengthening The Flower Longevity of Potted Orchid ofDendrobium Hybrid. The aim of the current research is to investigate general effects of Chitosantreatment on the flowering of Dendrobium orchid and to find out the optimum concentration of Chitosanin lengthening flower longevity of potted orchid of Dendrobium hybrid. Results of the research showedthat Chitosan application significantly affected variables of the number of flower per-plant, the length ofindividual flower, period of time to get full blooming, and the flower longevity. The best results for thoseof variables was achieved with Chitosan concentration of 0.15%.

Sickness presence, sick leave and adjustment latitude

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joachim Gerich

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Previous research on the association between adjustment latitude (defined as the opportunity to adjust work efforts in case of illness and sickness absence and sickness presence has produced inconsistent results. In particular, low adjustment latitude has been identified as both a risk factor and a deterrent of sick leave. The present study uses an alternative analytical strategy with the aim of joining these results together. Material and Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a random sample of employees covered by the Upper Austrian Sickness Fund (N = 930 was analyzed. Logistic and ordinary least square (OLS regression models were used to examine the association between adjustment latitude and days of sickness absence, sickness presence, and an estimator for the individual sickness absence and sickness presence propensity. Results: A high level of adjustment latitude was found to be associated with a reduced number of days of sickness absence and sickness presence, but an elevated propensity for sickness absence. Conclusions: Employees with high adjustment latitude experience fewer days of health complaints associated with lower rates of sick leave and sickness presence compared to those with low adjustment latitude. In case of illness, however, high adjustment latitude is associated with a higher pro­bability of taking sick leave rather than sickness presence.

Immunogenicity of plant-produced African horse sickness virus-like particles: implications for a novel vaccine.

Science.gov (United States)

Dennis, Susan J; Meyers, Ann E; Guthrie, Alan J; Hitzeroth, Inga I; Rybicki, Edward P

2018-02-01

African horse sickness (AHS) is a debilitating and often fatal viral disease affecting horses in much of Africa, caused by the dsRNA orbivirus African horse sickness virus (AHSV). Vaccination remains the single most effective weapon in combatting AHS, as there is no treatment for the disease apart from good animal husbandry. However, the only commercially available vaccine is a live-attenuated version of the virus (LAV). The threat of outbreaks of the disease outside its endemic region and the fact that the LAV is not licensed for use elsewhere in the world, have spurred attempts to develop an alternative safer, yet cost-effective recombinant vaccine. Here, we report the plant-based production of a virus-like particle (VLP) AHSV serotype five candidate vaccine by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient expression of all four capsid proteins in Nicotiana benthamiana using the cowpea mosaic virus-based HyperTrans (CPMV-HT) and associated pEAQ plant expression vector system. The production process is fast and simple, scalable, economically viable, and most importantly, guinea pig antiserum raised against the vaccine was shown to neutralize live virus in cell-based assays. To our knowledge, this is the first report of AHSV VLPs produced in plants, which has important implications for the containment of, and fight against the spread of, this deadly disease. © 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of soil water deficits on three genotypes of potted Campanula medium plants during bud formation stage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mao, Hongyu; Sun, Yanqi; Müller, Renate

2014-01-01

Potted ornamental plants are often exposed to drought stress during shipping and retailing, which decreases the value and postharvest quality. Thus, selection of genotypes which can better withstand soil water deficits is essential for sustainable production. Here, the response of three genotypes...

Repeated summer drought and re-watering during the first growing year of oak (Quercus petraea delay autumn senescence and bud burst in the following spring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristine Vander Mijnsbrugge

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Climate change predicts harsher summer droughts for mid-latitudes in Europe. To enhance our understanding of the putative impacts on forest regeneration, we studied the response of oak seedlings (Quercus petraea to water deficit. Potted seedlings originating from three locally sourced provenances were subjected to two successive drought periods during the first growing season each followed by a plentiful re-watering. Here we describe survival and phenological responses after the second drought treatment, applying general linear mixed modelling. From the 441 drought treated seedlings 189 subsisted with higher chances of survival among smaller plants and among single plants per pot compared to doubles. Remarkably, survival was independent of the provenance, although relatively more plants had died off in two provenances compared to the third one with mean plant height being higher in one provenance and standard deviation of plant height being higher in the other. Timing of leaf senescence was clearly delayed after the severe drought treatment followed by re-watering, with two seedlings per pot showing a lesser retardation compared to single plants. This delay can be interpreted as a compensation time in which plants recover before entering the subsequent developmental process of leaf senescence, although it renders seedlings more vulnerable to early autumn frosts because of the delayed hardening of the shoots. Onset of bud flush in the subsequent spring still showed a significant but small delay in the drought treated group, independent of the number of seedlings per pot, and can be considered as an after effect of the delayed senescence. In both phenological models significant differences among the three provenances were detected independent from the treatment. The only provenance that is believed to be local of origin, displayed the earliest leaf senescence and the latest flushing, suggesting an adaptation to the local maritime climate. This

Effect of Post-Infiltration Soil Aeration at Different Growth Stages on Growth and Fruit Quality of Drip-Irrigated Potted Tomato Plants (Solanum lycopersicum).

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuan; Jia, Zongxia; Niu, Wenquan; Wang, Jingwei; Zhang, Mingzhi

2015-01-01

Soil hydraulic principles suggest that post-infiltration hypoxic conditions would be induced in the plant root-zone for drip-irrigated tomato production in small pots filled with natural soil. No previous study specifically examined the response of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) at different growth stages to low soil aeration under these conditions. A 2 × 6 factorial experiment was conducted to quantify effects of no post-infiltration soil aeration versus aeration during 5 different periods (namely 27-33, 34-57, 58-85, 86-99, and 27-99 days after sowing), on growth and fruit quality of potted single tomato plants that were sub-surface trickle-irrigated every 2 days at 2 levels. Soil was aerated by injecting 2.5 liters of air into each pot through the drip tubing immediately after irrigation. Results showed that post-infiltration aeration, especially during the fruit setting (34-57 DAS) and enlargement (58-85 DAS) growth stages, can positively influence the yield, root dry weight and activity, and the nutritional (soluble solids and vitamin C content), taste (titratable acidity), and market quality (shape and firmness) of the tomato fruits. Interactions between irrigation level and post-infiltration aeration on some of these fruit quality parameters indicated a need for further study on the dynamic interplay of air and water in the root zone of the plants under the conditions of this experiment.

Effect of Post-Infiltration Soil Aeration at Different Growth Stages on Growth and Fruit Quality of Drip-Irrigated Potted Tomato Plants (Solanum lycopersicum.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan Li

Full Text Available Soil hydraulic principles suggest that post-infiltration hypoxic conditions would be induced in the plant root-zone for drip-irrigated tomato production in small pots filled with natural soil. No previous study specifically examined the response of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum at different growth stages to low soil aeration under these conditions. A 2 × 6 factorial experiment was conducted to quantify effects of no post-infiltration soil aeration versus aeration during 5 different periods (namely 27-33, 34-57, 58-85, 86-99, and 27-99 days after sowing, on growth and fruit quality of potted single tomato plants that were sub-surface trickle-irrigated every 2 days at 2 levels. Soil was aerated by injecting 2.5 liters of air into each pot through the drip tubing immediately after irrigation. Results showed that post-infiltration aeration, especially during the fruit setting (34-57 DAS and enlargement (58-85 DAS growth stages, can positively influence the yield, root dry weight and activity, and the nutritional (soluble solids and vitamin C content, taste (titratable acidity, and market quality (shape and firmness of the tomato fruits. Interactions between irrigation level and post-infiltration aeration on some of these fruit quality parameters indicated a need for further study on the dynamic interplay of air and water in the root zone of the plants under the conditions of this experiment.

Antileishmanial activity of some plants growing in Algeria: Juglans ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The current study was undertaken to evaluate in vitro the antileishmanial activity of three plants growing wild in Algeria : Juglans regia, Lawsonia inermis and Salvia officinalis. The hydroalcoholic extracts of these plants were tested on the growth of the promastigotes of Leishmania major. The plant extract effects were ...

Cs-137 soil to plant transfer factors derived from pot experiments and field studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horak, O.; Gerzabek, M.H.; Mueck, K.

1989-11-01

Soil to plant transfer factors (TF) of 137 Cs for different crop plants were determined in pot experiments, in outdoor experiments with plastic containers of 50 l volume, and in field studies. In all cases the soil contamination with 137 Cs resulted from fallout after the Chernobyl reactor accident. Mean TF derived for outdoor plants on a fresh weight basis, ranged from 0,0017 (leaf vegetables) to 0,059 (rye straw) and showed characteristic differences depending on plant part and species. Generally, for fruits and potato tubers a lower TF was found than for vegetative plant parts. Moreover, the data were compared with those from former experiments, carried out before the Chernobyl accident. There is a good agreement for cereals (with exception of rye) fruit vegetables and fodder crops, while actual TF are substantially lower for potatoes, leaf and root vegetables, but higher for rye. A significant negative correlation was observed between the TF and the soil activity concentrations for 137 Cs. In container experiments the TF were found to be influenced mainly by the clay content of the soil. 11 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs. (Authors)

Effect of anaerobic digestion and liming on plant availability of phosphorus in iron- and aluminium-precipitated sewage sludge from primary wastewater treatment plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarenga, Emilio; Øgaard, Anne Falk; Vråle, Lasse

2017-04-01

More efficient plant utilisation of the phosphorus (P) in sewage sludge is required because rock phosphate is a limited resource. To meet environmental legislation thresholds for P removal from wastewater (WW), primary treatment with iron (Fe) or aluminium (Al) coagulants is effective. There is also a growing trend for WW treatment plants (WWTPs) to be coupled to a biogas process, in order to co-generate energy. The sludge produced, when stabilised, is used as a soil amendment in many countries. This study examined the effects of anaerobic digestion (AD), with or without liming as a post-treatment, on P release from Fe- and Al-precipitated sludges originating from primary WWTPs. Plant uptake of P from Fe- and Al-precipitated sludge after lime treatment but without AD was also compared. Chemical characterisation with sequential extraction of P and a greenhouse experiment with barley (Hordeum vulgare) were performed to assess the treatment effects on plant-available P. Liming increased the P-labile fraction in all cases. Plant P uptake increased from 18.5 mg pot -1 to 53 mg P pot -1 with liming of Fe-precipitated sludge and to 35 mg P pot -1 with liming of the digestate, while it increased from 18.7 mg pot -1 to 39 and 29 mg P pot -1 for the Al-precipitated substrate and digestate, respectively. Thus, liming of untreated Fe-precipitated sludge and its digestate resulted in higher P uptake than liming its Al-precipitated counterparts. AD had a negative impact on P mobility for both sludges.

[sup 60]Co, [sup 63]Ni and [sup 94]Nb soil-to-plant transfer in pot experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerzabek, M.H.; Mohamad, S.A.; Mueck, K.; Horak, O. (Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf (Austria). Div. of Life Sciences)

1994-01-01

Soil-to-plant transfer factors for [sup 60]Co, [sup 63]Ni and [sup 94]Nb were obtained via pot experiments with a Dystric Cambisol and a Calcic Chernozem, both from Lower Austria. Investigated plants were greenrape (Brassica napus oleifera L.), bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The soil-to-plant transfer factors decreased from [sup 63]Ni to [sup 60]Co and [sup 94]Nb. Mean values from all experiments ranged from 1.12 ([sup 63]Ni) to 0.0045 ([sup 94]Nb). The transfer values obtained for [sup 60]Co and [sup 63]Ni are comparable to literature values, but [sup 94]Nb-transfer seems to be lower than previous estimates. All radionuclides showed differences between plant species and plant organs. Transfer values were also dependent on the soil type. (author).

Compost and vermicompost as nursery pot components: effects on tomato plant growth and morphology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazcano, C.; Arnold, J.; Tato, A.; Zaller, J. G.; Dominguez, J.

2009-07-01

Abstract Post transplant success after nursery stage is strongly influenced by plant morphology. Cultural practices strongly shape plant morphology, and substrate choice is one of the most determining factors. Peat is the most often used amendment in commercial potting substrates, involving the exploitation of non-renewable resources and the degradation of highly valuable peatland ecosystems and therefore alternative substrates are required. Here the feasibility of replacing peat by compost or vermicompost for the production of tomato plants in nurseries was investigated through the study of the effect of increasing proportions of these substrates (0%, 10%, 20%, 50%, 75% and 100%) in target plant growth and morphological features, indicators of adequate post-transplant growth and yield. Compost and vermicompost showed to be adequate substrates for tomato plant growth. Total replacement of peat by vermicompost was possible while doses of compost higher than 50% caused plant mortality. Low doses of compost (10 and 20%) and high doses of vermicompost produced significant increases in aerial and root biomass of the tomato plants. In addition these treatments improved significantly plant morphology (higher number of leaves and leaf area, and increased root volume and branching). The use of compost and vermicompost constitute an attractive alternative to the use of peat in plant nurseries due to the environmental benefits involved but also due to the observed improvement in plant quality. Additional key words: peat moss, plant nursery, soil-less substrate, Solanum lycopersicum L. (Author) 37 refs.

Consumer choice of cut flowers and pot plants : a study based on consumer panel data of households in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tilburg, van A.

1984-01-01

The objectives of the study were to relate aspects of consumer behaviour on cut flowers and pot plants to marketing variables and characteristics of households, to determine whether market segments could be found, and to determine the applicability of methods and models developed to the

Transformation of 15N-labelled ammonium nitrate in a pot experiment with winter wheat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, S.; Herbst, F.; Weigert, I.

1986-01-01

The transformation of 15 N-ammonium nitrate in the soil-plant system was investigated in Mitscherlich pots. Single nitrogen applications at the start of the growing season resulted in a decline in dry matter content and nitrogen uptake by the plant at the end of the ripening process. Root development shows respective reductions already after ear emergence. Nitrogen fertilization leads to an additional uptake of soil nitrogen. Between 60 and 85% of the fertilizer nitrogen is taken up by the plants. Only 2% of this nitrogen is found in the roots at the time of ripeness. Already 49 and 55 %, respectively, of the second nitrogen applications at the time of shooting or at the end of ear emergence is taken up by the plants after a few days, with 75 and 80%, respectively, of the nitrogen being utilized; but the second nitrogen application at the end of ear emergence has less influence on the crop yield. (author)

Effects of plant density and proportion on the interaction between wheat with alexandergrass plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo Bianco de Carvalho

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Determination of competitive relationships among plant species requires appropriate experimental designs and method of analysis. The hypothesis of this research was that two species growing in coexistence show different growth and development due to their relative competitiveness. This research aims to measure the relative competitiveness of wheat crop compared to Alexandergrass by the interpretation of plant density and proportional effects using replacement series experiments. Monocultures were cultivated in densities of 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 plants per pot and analyzed by regression of dry mass data. Mixture experiment was cultivated in wheat:Alexandergrass proportions of 0:6, 1:5, 2:4, 3:3, 4:2, 5:1 and 6:0 plants per pot and analyzed by graphical interpretation of growth and production characteristics. Both experiments were carried out in randomized complete block design with four replicates. Alexandergrass was more sensitive to intraspecific competition than wheat. Alexandergrass was lightly more competitive than wheat. Number and weight of spikes and number of tillers were the wheat characteristics more affected by Alexandergrass interference.

Pot plant production, environmental conditions and energy consumption in insulated greenhouses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bjerre, H.; Amsen, M.G. (Statens Planteavlsforsoeg, Havebrugscentret, Institut for Vaeksthuskulturer, Aarslev, Denmark)

1984-01-01

An energy experiment with 4 different types of greenhouses was carried out in the winter 1980-81 and 1981-82. Three of these greenhouses were insulated. The reference house was a single layer glasshouse with a mobile shading curtain, which was drawn at night. A comparison with the reference house showed the following energy savings for the insulated houses: Double glass 29-32%, double acryllic 39%, and thermal screens 22-24%. On average the air humidity was 80-86% RH in the double acryllic greenhouse and in the double glass house, whereas the levels was 5-10% lower in the 2 greenhouses with single glass. In spite of the high air humidity in the permanently insulated houses, no plant diseases occurred. The dry matter production of seven plant species was recorded in all greenhouses on the same date. Compared with the reference house 3 of the plant species showed a 5-10% higher production in the double acryllic greenhouse as well as the house with thermal screens. The remaining 4 plant species did not show any differences, between the 3 greenhouses. In the double glass house the production was considerably lower. To study the growth in detail, Tagetes plants were grown for 3-week periods during the winter in all houses. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the ratio between the growth in the 4 greenhouses was the same when periods of high light intensity were compared to periods with low light intensity. No characteristic changes with increasing light intensities could be observed between the different greenhouses. The differences between the greenhouses in time of production for the pot plants were generally small. The most remarkable difference in plant quality between the houses could be seen with Chrysanthemum and Kalanchoe. These 2 plant species were considerably less compact in the double acryllic greenhouse. Chrysanthemum was also less compact in the double glass house.

Determination of available phosphorous for plants using different sources and 33P as a tracer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bastidas, O.G.

1986-01-01

In an experiment with flower-pots we compared for three different types of soil the amount of phosphorus available to rice and barley from commercial phosphorus sources. We used 33 P to label the soil and based on the specific activity of the plants growing in flower pots, in the presence and absence of commercial phosphorus sources, the available amount of phosphorus for the plant was calculated. This was done for every source in TSP whits for each soil type. It was found that available phosphorus for the plant in the three soil types were TSP >> Thomas and Reno >> Roca Salto y Pesca > Roca Huila

Effect of growing plants on denitrification at high soil nitrate concentrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haider, K.; Mosier, A.; Heinemeyer, O.

1987-01-01

The availability of plant rhizosphere C deposits and its influence on microbial denitrification is not clearly defined. Conflicting reports as to the influence of plants and root exudation on denitrification continue to appear in the literature. The results of the authors earlier phytotron study indicated that denitrification was not stimulated in soils planted with corn or wheat compared to unplanted soils. Lower nitrate concentrations in the planted soils, however, may have led to misinterpretation of this data. A second study was conducted, to evaluate the effect of actively growing plants on denitrification where the NO 3 7 content of planted soils was maintained similar to unplanted soils. Simultaneously the C fixed by corn (Zea mays) and the fate of fertilizer N applied to the soil during the growing season were quantified. The corn was grown in a phytotron under a continuous supply of 14 CO 2 in 15 N fertilized soils to which 15 N-NO 3 - was added periodically during the growing season. The results of these studies showed that denitrification was not stimulated in soils planted with corn during active plant growth phase even when soil NO 3 - was relatively high. Denitrification was, however, greater in corn planted than unplanted soil when the recoverable root biomass began to decrease. Less N was immobilized and net 15 N immobilization was lower in planted soils than in unplanted soils. As denitrification was lower in planted soils during the time of active plant growth, the study suggests that root exudates did not stimulate either process

Prognostic factors for duration of sick leave due to low-back pain in dutch health care professionals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenstra, I.A.; Koopman, F.S.; Knol, D.L.; de Kat, E.; Bongers, P.M.; de Vet, H.C.W.; van Mechelen, W.

2005-01-01

Background: Information on prognostic factors for duration of sick leave due to low-back pain (LBP) is growing. In this prospective cohort study prognostic factors for duration of sick leave and course of disability were identified in a very early stage of sick leave due to LBP in an occupational

Prognostic factors for duration of sick leave due to low-back pain in dutch health care professionals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenstra, Ivan A.; Koopman, Fieke S.; Knol, Dirk L.; Kat, Eric; Bongers, Paulien M.; de Vet, Henrica C. W.; van Mechelen, Willem

2005-01-01

Information on prognostic factors for duration of sick leave due to low-back pain (LBP) is growing. In this prospective cohort study prognostic factors for duration of sick leave and course of disability were identified in a very early stage of sick leave due to LBP in an occupational health care

DOES COMPOSTING OF BIODEGRADABLE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE ON THE LANDFILL BODY MAKE SENSE?

OpenAIRE

Dana Adamcová; Magdalena Vaverková

2016-01-01

In this study white mustard (Sinapis alba) plants were allowed to grow in earthen pots, treated with municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) to study the effect of MSWC on the plant biomass production. Twenty-one days from the establishment of the experiment sprouts and the number of growing plants occurring in the earthen pots were counted. Plants growing in the earthen pots with the compost samples exhibited an increasing plant biomass while no changes were observed in their appearance; retard...

But How Do You Grow Plants Without Dirt?

Science.gov (United States)

Howells, Ronald F.

1978-01-01

Describes a class project on hydroponic farming (growing plants in water and in organic nutrients rather than dirt). Students formed a corporation to raise necessary funds and paid dividends from the proceeds earned selling the crop. (JMB)

Development of design evaluation tools for the JSFR fuel transfer pot

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chikazawa, Yoshitaka, E-mail: chikazawa.yoshitaka@jaea.go.jp [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, Oarai, Higashi-ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki 311-1393 (Japan); Hirata, Shingo [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 4002 Narita, Oarai, Higashi-ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki 311-1393 (Japan); Obata, Hiroyuki [Japan Atomic Power Company Ltd., 1-1, Mitoshiro-chyo, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0053 (Japan)

2014-07-01

Highlights: • JSFR is going to adopt an advanced fuel handling system. • A three dimensional analysis model for heat transfer evaluation of the JSFR fuel transfer pot has been developed. • The heat transfer models inside and outside the pot have been validated by reference experiments. • For a simpler design tool, a two dimensional analysis model has been developed. - Abstract: JSFR is going to adopt an advanced fuel handling system. As for ex-vessel spent fuel handling, a transfer pot with two fuel subassembly positions has been developed so as to shorten refueling period increasing plant availability. The pot is required to provide sufficient cooling capability in case of transportation malfunction. In this study, a three dimensional analysis model for heat transfer evaluation of the JSFR fuel transfer pot has been developed. The heat transfer models inside and outside the pot have been validated by reference experiments. Using the developed three-dimensional model, the JSFR fuel transfer pot has been analyzed. For a simpler design tool, a two dimensional analysis model has been developed. Comparison of the three and two dimensional analyses shows that two dimensional analyses could estimate pot cooling performance conservatively.

From Kennedy, to Beyond: Growing Plants in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Flemming, Cedric, II; Seck, Sokhana A.; Massa, Gioia D.; Hummerick, Mary E.; Wheeler, Raymond

2012-01-01

Astronauts cannot have their cake and eat it too, but what about growing a salad and eating it? As NASA continues to push the envelope on Space exploration and inhabitance the need for a fresh food source becomes more vital. The Life Support team at NASA is using a system developed by ORBITEC the VEGGIE, in which astronauts aboard the ISS, and potentially the Moon and Mars, will be capable of growing food. The introduction of plants not only gives astronauts a means of independently supplying food, but also recreation, oxygen replenishment and psychological benefits. The plants were grown in "pillows", the system used for growing plants within the VEGGIE. This test included 4 types of media mixtures that are composed of a clay based media called Arcilite and Fafard #2, which is a peat moss-based media ( <1 mm Arcilite, 1-2 mm of Arcilite, 1:1 <1 mm & 1-2 mm mixture and 1:1 Arcilite & Fafard mixture). Currently, 3 lettuce cultivars are being grown in 4 mixtures of media. Tests were being conducted to see which form of media has the ratio of best growth and least amount of microbes that are harmful. That is essential because a person's body becomes more susceptible to illness when they leave Earth. As a result, test must be conducted on the "pillow" system to assess the levels of microbial activity. The cultivars were tested at different stages during their growing process for microbes. Datum show that the mix of Fafard and Arcilite had the best growth, but also the most microbes. This was due to the fact that Fafard is an organic substance so it contains material necessary for microbes to live. Data suggest that the <1 mm Arcilite has an acceptable amount of growth and a lower level of microbes, because it is non-organic.

Root growth and physiology of potted and field-grown trembling aspen exposed to tropospheric ozone

Science.gov (United States)

M.D. Coleman; R.E. Dickson; J.G. Isebrands; D.F. Karnosky

1996-01-01

We studied root growth and respiration of potted plants and field-grown aspen trees (Populus tremuloides Michx.) exposed to ambient or twice-ambient ozone. Root dry weight of potted plants decreased up to 45% after 12 weeks of ozone treatment, and root system respiration decreased by 27%. The ozone-induced decrease in root system respiration of...

Medicinal plants growing in the Judea region: network approach for searching potential therapeutic targets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arie Budovsky

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Plants growing in the Judea region are widely used in traditional medicine of the Levant region. Nevertheless, they have not so far been sufficiently analyzed and their medicinal potential has not been evaluated. This study is the first attempt to fill the gap in the knowledge of the plants growing in the region. Comprehensive data mining of online botanical databases and peer-reviewed scientific literature including ethno-pharmacological surveys from the Levant region was applied to compile a full list of plants growing in the Judea region, with the focus on their medicinal applications. Around 1300 plants growing in the Judea region were identified. Of them, 25% have medicinal applications which were analyzed in this study. Screening for chemical-protein interactions, together with the network-based analysis of potential targets, will facilitate discovery and therapeutic applications of the Judea region plants. Such an approach could also be applied as an integrative platform for further searching the potential therapeutic targets of plants growing in other regions of the world.

Nutrition and growth of potted gerbera according to mineral and organic fertilizer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francielly Torres Santos

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In order to meet the growing market of gerbera, it is necessary to develop studies that maximize its production, especially using organic fertilizer. In order to assess the nutrition and growth of potted gerbera conducted with mineral and organic fertilization, an experiment in a greenhouse was done, located at Western Paraná State University, Brazil. The experimental design was made in randomized blocks, with four replications and five treatments. The treatments were defined according to the source of fertilization, mineral (NPK or organic. The organic fertilization were obtained by diluting in water four organic compost of poultry slaughter waste, obtained from in the composting process, in order to adjust electrical conductivity. The solution of the compost was used as organic fertigation, making the organic treatments. The liquid organic fertilizer, as well as irrigation of mineral treatment, was performed manually once a day. At the end of vegetative and reproductive periods, the levels of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Fe were quantified in the plant tissue. At the same time, biometric parameters were assessed (number of leaves, plant diameter, leaf area, dry matter of aerial parts, number of heads, inflorescence dry matter, stem height, head diameter and diameter stem. The liquid organic fertilizers, obtained by composting procession of poultry slaughter waste, can be used as alternative source for potted gerbera nutrition, since they provide better or higher culture growth than the mineral fertilizer.

Alternative soilless media for growing Petunia x hybrida and Impatiens wallerana: physical behavior, effect of fertilization and nitrate losses.

Science.gov (United States)

Chavez, Walter; Di Benedetto, Adalberto; Civeira, Gabriela; Lavado, Raúl

2008-11-01

The use of alternative soilless media for the production of potted plants requires knowledge of their physical and chemical characteristics to result in the best conditions for plant growth. We investigated the use of alternative soilless media based on river waste and Sphagnun sp. and Carex sp. from Argentinean peatlands on Petuniaxhybrida and Impatiens wallerana production at two fertilization levels (200 and 400mgl(-1)N). River waste or 'temperate peat' is the name given to a material, resulting from the accumulation of aquatic plant residues under an anaerobic subtropical environment, which is dredged from river banks. Our results showed that alternative substrates based on river waste can be used to grow high quality plants. This result was not fully explained on the basis of established methods to evaluate substrate quality. Highly concentrated fertigation solution decreased the substrate quality parameters and plant growth. Nitrate leaching from the alternative substrates containing river waste was lower than the standard peat-based materials, which makes river waste desirable from a sustainable pot production system perspective. River waste and Carex peat are suitable alternatives to Sphagnum peat from the Northern Hemisphere.

Design of a hot pilot plant facility for demonstration of the pot calcination process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buckham, J A

1962-01-01

A facility was designed for demonstration of the pot calcination process with wastes from processing aluminum alloy fuels, Darex or electrolytic processing of stainless-steel fuels, and Purex processes. This facility will also permit determination of procedures required for economical production of low-porosity, relatively nonleachable materials by addition of suitable reagents to the wastes fed to the calciner. The process consists of concentration by evaporation and thermal decomposition in situ in pots which also serve as the final disposal containers. This unit permits determination of pot loading and density, leachability, melting point, volatile material content, heat release, and thermal conductivity of the calcine. Also to be determined are transient calcine temperature distributions, fission product behavior during calcination, deentrainment obtained in the various parts of the system, decontamination achieved on all liquid and gaseous effluent streams, need for venting of stored pots, optimum means of remotely sealing the pots, and methods required for production of a minimum volume of noncondensable off-gas. This facility will employ nominal full-scale pots 8 and 12 in. in diameter and 8 ft long. A unique evaporator design was evolved to permit operation either with close-coupled continuous feed preparation or with bath feed preparation. Provisions were made to circumvent possible explosions due to organic material in feed solutions and other suspected hazards.

Can essential oils be used as novel drench treatments for the eggs and juveniles of the pest snail Cornu aspersum in potted plants?

Science.gov (United States)

The horticultural trade is an important pathway for the introduction and spread of invasive gastropods because potted plants are essentially portable microhabitats, which protect snails and slugs, especially buried eggs and juveniles, from desiccation and molluscicides. The identification of a drenc...

Clay pot irrigation for tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill production in the north east semiarid region of Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kebede Woldetsadik

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Water shortage is one of the major constraints for production of horticultural crops in arid and semiarid regions. A field experiment was conducted to determine irrigation water and fertilizer use efficiency, growth and yield of tomato under clay pot irrigation at the experimental site of Sekota Dryland Agricultural Research Center, Lalibela, Ethiopia in 2009/10. The experiment comprised of five treatments including furrow irrigated control and clay pot irrigation with different plant population and fertilization methods, which were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The highest total and marketable fruit yields were obtained from clay pot irrigation combined with application of nitrogen fertilizer with irrigation water irrespective of difference in plant population. The clay pot irrigation had seasonal water use of up to 143.71 mm, which resulted in significantly higher water use efficiency (33.62 kg m-3 as compared to the furrow irrigation, which had a seasonal water use of 485.50 mm, and a water use efficiency of 6.67 kg m-3. Application of nitrogen fertilizer with irrigation water in clay pots improved fertilizer use efficiency of tomato by up to 52% than band application with furrow or clay pot irrigation. Thus, clay pot irrigation with 33,333 plants ha-1 and nitrogen fertilizer application with irrigation water in clay pots was the best method for increasing the yield of tomato while economizing the use of water and nitrogen fertilizer in a semiarid environment.

Extractive distillation of nitric acid using the two-pot concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Counce, R.M.; Groenier, W.S.; Holland, W.D.; Jubin, R.T.; North, E.D.; Thompson, L.E. Jr.; Hebble, T.L.

1982-12-01

Experiments have confirmed the validity of a novel design for a nitric acid concentration system for use in shielded nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. Current plans for producing the scrub solution for the IODOX process require the concentration and recycle of low strength ( 3 ) 2 as the solvent and features two pots: an extractive distillation pot in which a concentrated acid product is obtained by contacting the acid feed with the solvent and a solvent recovery pot in which the solvent is dehydrated and recovered for recycle. In these experiments, a concentrated product of 89 wt % nitric acid was produced from azeotropic feed. The available vapor-liquid equilibria data for the Mg(NO 3 ) 2 -HNO 3 -H 2 O system has been empirically correlated, and a design methodology has been developed for the two-pot extractive distillation process

Spatial root distribution of plants growing in vertical media for use in living walls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Lars; Dresbøll, Dorte Bodin; Thorup-Kristensen, Kristian

2014-01-01

Background and Aims: For plants growing in living walls, the growth potential is correlated to the roots ability to utilize resources in all parts of the growing medium and thereby to the spatial root distribution. The aim of the study was to test how spatial root distribution was affected...... root growth was limited for plants in the middle or lower parts of the medium and 15N measurements confirmed that only plants in the bottom of the box had active roots in the bottom of the medium. The species differed in root architecture and spatial root distribution. Conclusions: The choice...... by growing medium, planting position and competition from other plants. Methods: Five species (Campanula poscharskyana cv. 'Stella', Fragaria vesca cv. 'Småland', Geranium sanguineum cv. 'Max Frei', Sesleria heufleriana and Veronica officinalis cv. 'Allgrün') were grown in three growing media (coir and two...

Uptake of radiocesium by three plants grown in 134Cs contaminated soil under pot experiment condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Jiemin; Li Hongyan; Niu Tianxin; Chen Ziyuan; Tang Shirong

2009-01-01

Pot experiment was conducted to investigate the accumulation dynamics of 134 Cs in shoots of Rumex acetosa, Rumex hastatus and Helianthus annuus grown in 134 Cs contaminated soil under greenhouse condition. Results showed that shoot biomass of H. annuus was significantly higher than that of R. acetosa and R. hastatus; among 3 plant species, 13 '4Cs specific activity in shoots was the highest in H. annuus after treatment for 50 days, however after treatment for 70 days, that in R. acetosa was the highest. Bioaccumulation ratio reached 1.5, 1.4 and 1.3 in R. acetosa, R. hastatus and H. annuus at the end of experiment, respectively, and the former two plants kept with trend of continuously increasing during the experiment period. Three plants were tolerant to 134 Cs contaminated slil and capable to translocate 134 Cs from soil to plants. Among them, H. annuus removed greatest 134 Cs amount in the above ground part, and R. acetosa, R. hastatus showed higher tranclocation factor of Cs than H. annuus. Three plants are promising for phytoremediation of soil contaminated with radiocesium, and also could be used for phytoremediation of radiocesium and heavy metals complex contamination, potentially. (authors)

Further investigations on the resilience capacity of Taraxacum officinale Weber growing on mine soils

Science.gov (United States)

Maleci, Laura; Bini, Claudio; Spiandorello, Massimo; Wahsha, Mohammad

2014-05-01

Heavy metal accumulation produces significant physiological and biochemical responses in vascular plants. Plants growing on abandoned mine sites are of particular interest, since they are genetically tolerant to high metal concentrations. In this work we examined the effect of heavy metals (HM) on the morphology of T. officinale growing on mine soils, with the following objectives: - to determine the fate of HM within the soil-plant system; - to highlight possible damage at anatomical and cytological level; - to assess the resilience capacity of Taraxacum officinale after three years of pot cultivation. Wild specimens of Taraxacum officinale Web, with their soil clod, were gathered from four sites with different contamination levels by heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn) in the abandoned Imperina Valley mine (Northeast Italy). Plants were cultivated in pots at the botanical garden of the University of Florence (HBF), and appeared macroscopically not affected by toxic signals (e.g. reduced growth, leaf necrosis) possibly induced by soil HM concentration. Leaves and roots taken at the same growing season were observed by light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Light microscopy observations show a clear difference in the cell organization of not-contaminated and contaminated samples. The unpolluted samples present a well organized palisade tissue and spongy photosynthetic parenchyma. Samples from contaminated sites, instead, present a palisade parenchyma less organized, and a reduction of leaf thickness proportional to HM concentration. The poor structural organisations, and the reduced foliar thickness of the contaminated plants, are related to soil contamination. Differences in roots micromorphology concern the cortical parenchyma. Moreover, all the samples examined present mycorrhiza. Ultrastructure observations of the parenchyma cells show mitochondrial structure alteration, with lacking or reduced cristae of the internal membrane at increasing

Production and quality of three varieties of chrysanthemum grown in pots with different NPK rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joice Crescencio Heidemann

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Chrysanthemum can be grown for cutting or as a pot plant year-round, providing a constant production flow. In Brazil, little is known about mineral nutrition and fertilization for this crop. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the production and quality of chrysanthemum varieties cultivated in pots with different NPK rates. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with the NPK rates (10-10-10 of 3 g L-1, 6 g L-1 and 9 g L-1 and chrysanthemum varieties Sheena, Calabria and Indianapolis. Pots of 1.2 L capacity were filled with substrate and placed three cuttings per pot kept in a fog chamber under long days. After 21 days, apical pruning was done and started the short-day period. After flowering induction, short days were suspended. It was realized analysis of variance and it was noticed that stem length and EC were affected by NPK rates. It was observed an inverse relation between the increase in NPK rate and cultivation cycle, resulting in precocity of flowering for all varieties. Plants cultivated under 9 g L-1 rate did not present toxicity symptoms, suggesting that this dose was more adequate for the production of pot plants for all three varieties.

Ionic channels in plants: potassium transport Canais iônicos em plantas: o transporte de potássio

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Antonio Costa de Oliveira

1995-01-01

Full Text Available The discovery of potassium channels on the plasma membrane has helped to elucidate important mechanisms in animal and plant physiology. Plant growth and development associated mechanisms, such as germination, leaf movements, stomatal action, ion uptake in roots, phloem transport and nutrient storage are linked to potassium transport. Studies describing potassium transport regulation by abscisic acid (ABA, Ca++, light and other factors are presented here. Also the types of channels that regulate potassium uptake and efflux in the cell, and the interaction of these channels with external signals, are discussed.A descoberta de canais iônicos presentes na membrana plasmática tem ajudado a elucidar importantes mecanismos fisiológicos em animais e plantas. Mecanismos associados ao crescimento e desenvolvimento das plantas, tais como germinação, movimento foliar, abertura e fechamento de estômatos, absorção de íons pelas raízes e armazenamento de nutrientes estão ligados ao transporte de potássio. Estudos descrevendo a regulação do transporte deste nutriente por ácido abscísico (ABA, Ca++, luz e outros fatores são apresentados. Os tipos de canais que regulam a saída e entrada de potássio na célula, e as interações destes com os sinais externos, são discutidos.

The presence of cucumber mosaic virus in pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L. in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milošević Dragana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available During 2014 a total of 67 pot marigold samples from five different localities in the Province in Vojvodina were collected and analysed for the presence of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV and Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV using commercial double-antibody sandwich (DAS-ELISA kits. CMV was detected serologically in all inspected localities in 67.16% collected samples. None of the analysed samples was positive for INSV. The virus was successfully mechanically transmitted to test plants including Chenopodium amaranticolor, C. quinoa, Datura stramonium, Nicotiana tabacum 'Samsun' and N. glutinosa, as well as pot marigold seedlings, confirming the infectious nature of the disease. The presence of CMV in pot marigold plants was further verified by RT-PCR and sequencing, using the specific primers CMV CPfwd/CMVCPrev that amplify coat protein (CP gene. Phylogenetic analysis based on the CP gene sequences showed clustering of the selected isolates into three subgroups, IA, IB and II, and Serbian CMV isolates from pot marigold belong to subgroup II.

Estimating the Sensitivity of CLM-Crop to Plant Date and Growing Season Length

Science.gov (United States)

Drewniak, B. A.; Kotamarthi, V. R.

2012-12-01

The Community Land Model (CLM), the land component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM), is designed to estimate the land surface response to climate through simulated vegetation phenology and soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Since human influences play a significant role shaping the land surface, the vegetation has been expanded to include agriculture (CLM-Crop) for three crop types: corn, soybean, and spring wheat. CLM-Crop parameters, which define crop phenology, are optimized against AmeriFlux observations of gross primary productivity, net ecosystem exchange, and stored biomass and carbon, for two sites in the U.S. growing corn and soybean. However, there is uncertainty in the measurements and using a small subset of data to determine model parameters makes validation difficult. In order to account for the differences in plant behavior across climate zones, an input dataset is used to define the planting dates and the length of the growing season. In order to improve model performance, and to understand the impacts of uncertainty from the input data, we evaluate the sensitivity of crop productivity and production against planting date and the length of the growing season. First, CLM-Crop is modified to establish plant date based on temperature trends for the previous 10-day period, constrained against the range of observed planting dates. This new climate-based model is compared with the standard fixed plant dates to determine how sensitive the model is to when seeding occurs, and how comparable the climate calculated plant dates are to the fixed dates. Next, the length of the growing season will be revised to account for an alternative climate. Finally, both the climate-based planting and new growth season will be simulated together. Results of the different model runs will be compared to the standard model and to observations to determine the importance of planting date and growing season length on crop productivity and yield.

ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT OF COHERENT LIGHT ON RESISTANCE OF PLANTS GROWING IN UNFAVOURABLE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Małgorzata Śliwka

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The results of experiments on the effect of the coherent light emitted by lasers on plant material show that properly selected laser stimulation parameters, such as: wavelength, power, time and type of exposure, allow to obtain a greater growth of plant biomass, changes in the content of elements in the biomass and increasing plant resistance to unfavorable environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of laser stimulation on selected plant species (Iris pseudoacorus L., Lemna minor L. to increase their resistance to low temperatures and the ability to adapt to an environment polluted by mining activities (Phelum pratense L.. Plants from experimental groups (Iris pseudoacorus L., Phelum pratense L., Lemna minor L. were stimulated with coherent light with specific characteristics. To irradiate plants from experimental groups different algorithms of stimulation parameters, differentiating the method and time of exposure were used. Plants group without the stimulation, were the reference group. The article discusses the results of preliminary experiments carried out on a laboratory scale and pot experiments.

Validation of sick leave measures: self-reported sick leave and sickness benefit data from a Danish national register compared to multiple workplace-registered sick leave spells in a Danish municipality.

Science.gov (United States)

Stapelfeldt, Christina Malmose; Jensen, Chris; Andersen, Niels Trolle; Fleten, Nils; Nielsen, Claus Vinther

2012-08-15

Previous validation studies of sick leave measures have focused on self-reports. Register-based sick leave data are considered to be valid; however methodological problems may be associated with such data. A Danish national register on sickness benefit (DREAM) has been widely used in sick leave research. On the basis of sick leave records from 3,554 and 2,311 eldercare workers in 14 different workplaces, the aim of this study was to: 1) validate registered sickness benefit data from DREAM against workplace-registered sick leave spells of at least 15 days; 2) validate self-reported sick leave days during one year against workplace-registered sick leave. Agreement between workplace-registered sick leave and DREAM-registered sickness benefit was reported as sensitivities, specificities and positive predictive values. A receiver-operating characteristic curve and a Bland-Altman plot were used to study the concordance with sick leave duration of the first spell. By means of an analysis of agreement between self-reported and workplace-registered sick leave sensitivity and specificity was calculated. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals (95% CI) were used. The probability that registered DREAM data on sickness benefit agrees with workplace-registered sick leave of at least 15 days was 96.7% (95% CI: 95.6-97.6). Specificity was close to 100% (95% CI: 98.3-100). The registered DREAM data on sickness benefit overestimated the duration of sick leave spells by an average of 1.4 (SD: 3.9) weeks. Separate analysis on pregnancy-related sick leave revealed a maximum sensitivity of 20% (95% CI: 4.3-48.1).The sensitivity of self-reporting at least one or at least 56 sick leave day/s was 94.5 (95% CI: 93.4 - 95.5) % and 58.5 (95% CI: 51.1 - 65.6) % respectively. The corresponding specificities were 85.3 (95% CI: 81.4 - 88.6) % and 98.9 (95% CI: 98.3 - 99.3) %. The DREAM register offered valid measures of sick leave spells of at least 15 days among eldercare employees. Pregnancy

Validation of sick leave measures: self-reported sick leave and sickness benefit data from a Danish national register compared to multiple workplace-registered sick leave spells in a Danish municipality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stapelfeldt Christina Malmose

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous validation studies of sick leave measures have focused on self-reports. Register-based sick leave data are considered to be valid; however methodological problems may be associated with such data. A Danish national register on sickness benefit (DREAM has been widely used in sick leave research. On the basis of sick leave records from 3,554 and 2,311 eldercare workers in 14 different workplaces, the aim of this study was to: 1 validate registered sickness benefit data from DREAM against workplace-registered sick leave spells of at least 15 days; 2 validate self-reported sick leave days during one year against workplace-registered sick leave. Methods Agreement between workplace-registered sick leave and DREAM-registered sickness benefit was reported as sensitivities, specificities and positive predictive values. A receiver-operating characteristic curve and a Bland-Altman plot were used to study the concordance with sick leave duration of the first spell. By means of an analysis of agreement between self-reported and workplace-registered sick leave sensitivity and specificity was calculated. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals (95% CI were used. Results The probability that registered DREAM data on sickness benefit agrees with workplace-registered sick leave of at least 15 days was 96.7% (95% CI: 95.6-97.6. Specificity was close to 100% (95% CI: 98.3-100. The registered DREAM data on sickness benefit overestimated the duration of sick leave spells by an average of 1.4 (SD: 3.9 weeks. Separate analysis on pregnancy-related sick leave revealed a maximum sensitivity of 20% (95% CI: 4.3-48.1. The sensitivity of self-reporting at least one or at least 56 sick leave day/s was 94.5 (95% CI: 93.4 – 95.5 % and 58.5 (95% CI: 51.1 – 65.6 % respectively. The corresponding specificities were 85.3 (95% CI: 81.4 – 88.6 % and 98.9 (95% CI: 98.3 – 99.3 %. Conclusions The DREAM register offered valid measures of sick

The use of coal mining wastes as soilles growing medium; Utilizacion de los Esteriles del Carbon como Sustratos en Cultivos sin Suelo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-12-31

This project was aimed at evaluating the technical appropriateness of coal mining wastes as: (I) substrate in soilless culture (hydroponics) being used as the only medium or in a mixture with other materials; (II) basic component for container gardening of decorative plants in order to determine the standard mixture with other materials and the most appropriate plant. A greenhouse was built for conducting the tests, vegetables and decorative plants were planted and an exhaustive control of the plantations was carried out. The results obtained proved that coal mining wastes can be used as soilless growing medium for vegetables and for container gardening. At present, the company HORPLASMA with three greenhouses (11,300 m``2) is dedicated to the growing of vegetables with coal mining wastes as substrate and the pot-culture of more than 30,000 decorative plants using as substrate a mixture of 60% coal mining wastes and 40% turf. (Author)

Response of rice cultivars to rates of nitrogen and potassium application in field and pot conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahmaniar, M A; Ranjbar, G A

2007-05-01

Nitrogen and potassium are the yield-limiting nutrients in rice production regions of Iran. Use of N and K efficient cultivars is an important complementary strategy in improving rice yield, increasing the quality properties of rice grains and reducing cost of production. In order to consider the effects of different amounts of N and K application on rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield and yield components in pot and field conditions these experiments were undertaken in 2004 at Sari Agricultural Station, Iran. Four levels of N (0, 50, 100 and 150 Kg N ha(-1) in field and 0, 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 g N pot(-1) in pot) corresponding with four levels of K (0, 75, 150 and 225 kg K2O ha(-1) in field and 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 g K2O pot(-1) in pot) were applied in a split-factorial plot design with three replications in both pot and field experiments, variously. Grain yield, number of grain per panicle, number of tiller, plant height, length of flag leaf, total and shoot dry matter, 1000 grain weight and harvest index have been increased by N application in field conditions. However, in pot conditions grain yield, number of grain per panicle, number of tiller, plant height, width of flag leaf, total and shoot dry matter, leaf nitrogen contents and harvest index have significantly been increased (p pot conditions (p < or = 0.05).

The effect of flurprimidol on Allium rosenbachianum Reg. forced in pots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Halina Laskowska

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The effect of flurprimidol on Allium rosenbachianum (Reg. flowering and forcing period was studied. Bulbs of 18-20 cm circumference were used in the experiment. Two methods of retardant application were used: bulbs soaking before planting and triple spraying of plants during the vegetation period (in the stage of leaf rosette, open leaves and in the phase of green, ‘sitting’ bud. Flurprimidol was used in the following doses: 15 mg ∙dm -3 , 30 mg ∙dm -3 , 45 mg ∙dm -3 and control (plants treated with distilled water. Bulbs were planted into pots on the 20 th of October and ‘wet cooled’ for 14 weeks in the temperature of 9°C. During forcing in a greenhouse, morphological features of plants were observed. It was noted that flurprimidol may be effectively used for suppressing A. rosenbachianum forced in a greenhouse as a pot plant. Flurprimidol used in concentration of 45 mg ∙dm -3 significantly inhibited growth of shoots and length of flower pedicels and leaves and increased number of flowers in inflorescences at the same time. Soaking bulbs of A. rosenbachianumin flurprimidol solution before planting shortened forcing period by 4 days.

The effect of organic fertilizers and different sowing dates on yield and yield components of flower and grain of Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P Rezvani moghaddam

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In order to find out suitable organic fertilizers for elimination of chemical fertilizers usage and the optimum sowing date in Pot Marigold cultivation, an experiment was conducted in the Agricultural Research Station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2007 growing season. For this purpose a split plot experiment based on completely randomized block design with three replications was used. The main factor consist of four different fertilizers (50 kg.ha-1 N, 40 t.ha-1 Cow manure, 20 t.ha-1 Compost fertilizer and 10 t.ha-1 Hen manure beside control (without fertilizer and three sowing dates (10th April, 1th May and 21th May were allocated as sub factor. The results showed that the length time of emergence to budding, budding to flowering and flowering to ripening decreased by delay in sowing date, significantly. By delay in sowing date, plant height and dry matter also decreased because of reduction of vegetative growing duration. The various fertilizers had not significant effect on developmental stages and morphological characteristics of Pot Marigold. Nitrogen fertilizer and Hen manure in compare of other treatments had significantly (p≤0.05 higher level in number of inflorescences, yield of inflorescences, yield of petal and seed yield. Thus, Hen manure can be a suitable replacement of chemical fertilizers in Pot Marigold cultivation. The various sowing dates showed significant effect on the most measured characteristics of seed and inflorescences yield components of Pot Marigold. The highest of all studied characteristics were obtained in 10th April and 1th May than 21th May sowing dates.

Determination of coefficient defining leaf area development in different genotypes, plant types and planting densities in peanut (Arachis hypogeae L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Halilou, Oumarou; Hissene, Halime Mahamat; Clavijo Michelangeli, José A; Hamidou, Falalou; Sinclair, Thomas R; Soltani, Afshin; Mahamane, Saadou; Vadez, Vincent

2016-12-01

Rapid leaf area development may be attractive under a number of cropping conditions to enhance the vigor of crop establishment and allow rapid canopy closure for maximizing light interception and shading of weed competitors. This study was undertaken to determine (1) if parameters describing leaf area development varied among ten peanut ( Arachis hypogeae L.) genotypes grown in field and pot experiments, (2) if these parameters were affected by the planting density, and (3) if these parameters varied between Spanish and Virginia genotypes. Leaf area development was described by two steps: prediction of main stem number of nodes based on phyllochron development and plant leaf area dependent based on main stem node number. There was no genetic variation in the phyllochron measured in the field. However, the phyllochron was much longer for plants grown in pots as compared to the field-grown plants. These results indicated a negative aspect of growing peanut plants in the pots used in this experiment. In contrast to phyllochron, there was no difference in the relationship between plant leaf area and main stem node number between the pot and field experiments. However, there was genetic variation in both the pot and field experiments in the exponential coefficient (PLAPOW) of the power function used to describe leaf area development from node number. This genetic variation was confirmed in another experiment with a larger number of genotypes, although possible G × E interaction for the PLAPOW was found. Sowing density did not affect the power function relating leaf area to main stem node number. There was also no difference in the power function coefficient between Spanish and Virginia genotypes. SSM (Simple Simulation model) reliably predicted leaf canopy development in groundnut. Indeed the leaf area showed a close agreement between predicted and observed values up to 60000 cm 2  m -2 . The slightly higher prediction in India and slightly lower prediction in

Plants get sick too!

Science.gov (United States)

Although many people may never have given consideration to plant health, plants can suffer from a wide range of diseases. These plant diseases are caused by micro-organisms, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The audience will be introduced to short case studies of several plant diseases that m...

Cell wall integrity signaling in plants: "To grow or not to grow that's the question".

Science.gov (United States)

Voxeur, Aline; Höfte, Herman

2016-09-01

Plants, like yeast, have the ability to monitor alterations in the cell wall architecture that occur during normal growth or in changing environments and to trigger compensatory changes in the cell wall. We discuss how recent advances in our understanding of the cell wall architecture provide new insights into the role of cell wall integrity sensing in growth control. Next we review the properties of membrane receptor-like kinases that have roles in pH control, mechano-sensing and reactive oxygen species accumulation in growing cells and which may be the plant equivalents of the yeast cell wall integrity (CWI) sensors. Finally, we discuss recent findings showing an increasing role for CWI signaling in plant immunity and the adaptation to changes in the ionic environment of plant cells. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reduced early growing season freezing resistance in alpine treeline plants under elevated atmospheric CO2.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martin, M.; Gavazov, K.S.; Körner, S.; Rixen, C.

2010-01-01

The frequency of freezing events during the early growing season and the vulnerability to freezing of plants in European high-altitude environments could increase under future atmospheric and climate change. We tested early growing season freezing sensitivity in 10 species, from four plant

A positive allelopathic effect of corn cockle, agrostemma githago, on wheat, triticum aestivum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, B.; Doll, H.

1992-01-01

The effect of com cockle on wheat was studied during germination and on adult plants in a growth chamber. Seedling length of wheat germinated together with corn cockle for 5 days increased 13%. Wheat growing together with corn cockle in pots to maturity had a statistically significant higher wheat...... biomass and grain production than wheat growing alone. However, two other experiments with adult plants harvested before wheat maturity showed no effect of corn cockle on wheat production per pot. Within the pots the presence of corn cockle influenced wheat in all three experiments. Wheat plants growing...... at the same position as a corn cockle plant were 20 to 50% larger than wheat plants standing alone....

When healthcare workers get sick: exploring sickness absenteeism in British Columbia, Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorman, Erin; Yu, Shicheng; Alamgir, Hasanat

2010-01-01

To determine the demographic and work characteristics of healthcare workers who were more likely to take sickness absences from work in British Columbia, Canada. Payroll data were analyzed for three health regions. Sickness absence rates were determined per person-year and then compared across demographic and work characteristics using multivariate Poisson regression models. The direct costs to the employer due to sickness absences were also estimated. Female, older, full-time workers, long-term care workers and those with a lower hourly wage were more likely to take sickness absences and had similar trends with respect to the costs due to sickness absence. For occupations, licensed practical nurses, care aides and facility support workers had higher rates of sickness absence. Registered nurses, and those workers paid high hourly wages were associated with highest sickness related costs. It is important to understand the demographic and work characteristics of those workers who are more likely to take sickness absences in order to make sure that they are not experiencing additional hazards at work or facing detrimental workplace conditions. Policy makers need to establish healthy, safe and in turn more productive workplaces. Further research is needed on how interventions can reduce sickness absence.

Radiation sickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endoh, Masaru; Ishida, Yusei; Saeki, Mitsuaki

1983-01-01

The frequency of radiation sickness in 1,060 patients treated at our Department was 12.8 percent. It was frequent in patients with brain cancer (12 percent), whole spine cancer (47 percent), uterus cancer (28 percent), lung cancer (22 percent) and esophagus cancer (12 percent). Radiation sickness following X-irradiation was studied in its relation to patient's age, size of radiation fields, dosis and white blood cell count. However, we could not find any definite clinical feature relevant to occurrence. There are many theories published concerning the mechanism of radiation sickness. Clinical experiences have shown that radiation sickness cannot be explained by one theory alone but by several theories such as those based on psychology, stress or histamine. (author)

A hydroponic system for growing gnotobiotic vs. sterile plants to study phytoremediation processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurzbaum, E; Kirzhner, F; Armon, R

2014-01-01

In some phytoremediation studies it is desirable to separate and define the specific contribution of plants and root-colonizing bacteria towards contaminant removal. Separating the influence of plants and associated bacteria is a difficult task for soil root environments. Growing plants hydroponically provides more control over the biological factors in contaminant removal. In this study, a hydroponic system was designed to evaluate the role of sterile plant roots, rhizodeposition, and root-associated bacteria in the removal of a model contaminant, phenol. A strain of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes that grows on phenol was inoculated onto plant roots. The introduced biofilm persisted in the root zone and promoted phenol removal over non-augmented controls. These findings indicate that this hydroponic system can be a valuable tool for phytoremediation studies that investigate the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on pollution remediation.

Car Sickness

Science.gov (United States)

... Preventable Diseases Healthy Children > Health Issues > Conditions > Head Neck & Nervous System > Car Sickness Health Issues Listen Español Text Size Email Print Share Car Sickness Page Content ...

Sick but yet at work. An empirical study of sickness presenteeism.

Science.gov (United States)

Aronsson, G; Gustafsson, K; Dallner, M

2000-07-01

The study is an empirical investigation of sickness presenteeism in relation to occupation, irreplaceability, ill health, sickness absenteeism, personal income, and slimmed down organisation. Cross sectional design. Swedish workforce. The study group comprised a stratified subsample of 3801 employed persons working at the time of the survey, interviewed by telephone in conjunction with Statistics Sweden's labour market surveys of August and September 1997. The response rate was 87 per cent. A third of the persons in the total material reported that they had gone to work two or more times during the preceding year despite the feeling that, in the light of their perceived state of health, they should have taken sick leave. The highest presenteeism is largely to be found in the care and welfare and education sectors (nursing and midwifery professionals, registered nurses, nursing home aides, compulsory school teachers and preschool/primary educationalists. All these groups work in sectors that have faced personnel cutbacks during the 1990s). The risk ratio (odds ratio (OR)) for sickness presenteeism in the group that has to re-do work remaining after a period of absence through sickness is 2.29 (95% CI 1.79, 2.93). High proportions of persons with upper back/neck pain and fatigue/slightly depressed are among those with high presenteeism (pwork when sick. The link between difficulties in replacement or finding a stand in and sickness presenteeism is confirmed by study results. The categories with high sickness presenteeism experience symptoms more often than those without presenteeism. The most common combination is low monthly income, high sickness absenteeism and high sickness presenteeism.

Engineering a wild fast-growing Mycoplasma bacterium to generate ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2018-01-12

Jan 12, 2018 ... The CCPP bacterium causes sick animals to experience severe symptoms ... because antibiotic treatment does not eliminate the responsible bacterium. ... To develop a fast growing CCPP vaccine for cheaper production and ...

Spectral composition of light and growing of plants in controlled environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tikhomirov, A.A. [Institute of Biophysics, Krasnoyarsk (Russian Federation)

1994-12-31

The curve of the action spectrum of photosynthesis is examined under the controlled influence of light that involves av 3-5 minutes irradiation with one specific spectral flux. Different curves were obtained for spectral affectivity of green leaf photosynthesis when plants have had long duration adaptation to lamps of different spectral composition and PAR intensity. The author suggests that the illumination of plants in natural conditions does not have to be copied for growing plants in controlled environments.

Effect of soil-moisture stress on nitrogen uptake and fixation by plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitrosuhardjo, M.M.

1983-01-01

The effect of four levels of soil moisture, namely 25, 30, 35, and 40% (g/g) on nitrogen uptake and fixation by plants was studied in a greenhouse experiment. Soybean and wheat were used in this experiment. Both crops were grown in pots containing 7 kg loamy alluvial soil. Rhizobium japonicum was used as an inoculant for soybean, one week after planting. Nitrogen-15 labelled urea with 10% atom excess was applied to each pot with a dose rate of 70 mg N/pot (20 kg N/ha) two weeks after planting. Soil moisture was regularly controlled with porous-cup mercury tensiometers, and the amount of water consumed by plants was always recorded. Water was applied to each pot with a distribution pipe which was laid down in the centre of the soil depth, horizontally in a circular form, and was connected with a smaller pipe to the soil surface. The result obtained showed that the amount of water consumed by plants grown in a higher level of soil moisture was increased until soil aeration problems arose. A different amount of water consumption between soybean and wheat was observed at least until a certain period of growing time. Fertilizer nitrogen taken up by both crops varied with the different levels of soil moisture. Generally, greater fertilizer nitrogen was taken up by both crops grown in a higher level of soil moisture. The symbiotic fixation of nitrogen was reasonable, although no clarification has been found about the role of the four levels of soil-moisture treatment on it. A similar effect of soil-moisture stress on nodule dry matter and acetylene reduction was found. (author)

Proton movement and coupling in the POT family of peptide transporters.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Joanne L; Li, Chenghan; Brinth, Allete; Wang, Zhi; Vogeley, Lutz; Solcan, Nicolae; Ledderboge-Vucinic, Gregory; Swanson, Jessica M J; Caffrey, Martin; Voth, Gregory A; Newstead, Simon

2017-12-12

POT transporters represent an evolutionarily well-conserved family of proton-coupled transport systems in biology. An unusual feature of the family is their ability to couple the transport of chemically diverse ligands to an inwardly directed proton electrochemical gradient. For example, in mammals, fungi, and bacteria they are predominantly peptide transporters, whereas in plants the family has diverged to recognize nitrate, plant defense compounds, and hormones. Although recent structural and biochemical studies have identified conserved sites of proton binding, the mechanism through which transport is coupled to proton movement remains enigmatic. Here we show that different POT transporters operate through distinct proton-coupled mechanisms through changes in the extracellular gate. A high-resolution crystal structure reveals the presence of ordered water molecules within the peptide binding site. Multiscale molecular dynamics simulations confirm proton transport occurs through these waters via Grotthuss shuttling and reveal that proton binding to the extracellular side of the transporter facilitates a reorientation from an inward- to outward-facing state. Together these results demonstrate that within the POT family multiple mechanisms of proton coupling have likely evolved in conjunction with variation of the extracellular gate. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Motion sickness in ancient China: Seasickness and cart-sickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Thomas; Bauer, Matthias; Benson, Judy; Huppert, Doreen

2016-07-19

To find and analyze descriptions of motion sickness in Chinese historical sources. Databases and dictionaries were searched for various terms for seasickness and travel sickness, which were then entered into databases of full texts allowing selection of relevant passages from about the third to the 19th century ad. Already in 300 ad the Chinese differentiated cart-sickness, particularly experienced by persons from the arid north of China, from a ship-illness experienced by persons from the south, where rivers were important for transportation and travel. In the Middle Ages, a third form of motion sickness was called litter-influence experienced by persons transported in a bed suspended between 2 long poles. The ancient Chinese recognized the particular susceptibility of children to motion sickness. Therapeutic recommendations include drinking the urine of young boys, swallowing white sand-syrup, collecting water drops from a bamboo stick, or hiding some earth from the middle of the kitchen hearth under the hair. The Chinese medical classics distinguished several forms of travel sickness, all of which had their own written characters. The pathophysiologic mechanism was explained by the medicine of correspondences, which was based on malfunctions within the body, its invasion by external pathogens like wind, or the deficit or surfeit of certain bodily substances such as the life force Qi. The concept of motion as the trigger of sickness initially appeared in a chapter on warding off the influence of demons and corpses, e.g., ancient magic and beliefs. © 2016 American Academy of Neurology.

Mental disorder sick leave in Sweden: A population study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lidwall, Ulrik; Bill, Sofia; Palmer, Edward; Olsson Bohlin, Christina

2018-01-01

The inability to perform productive work due to mental disorders is a growing concern in advanced societies. To investigate medically certified mental disorder and all-cause sick leave in a working population using demographic, socioeconomic and occupational predictors. The study population was the entire Swedish work force aged 16-64 years in December 31st 2011. The outcome was sick leave exceeding 14 days in 2012 with adjustment for 13 confounders. The risk of sick leave with a mental disorder is higher among women compared to men, among persons aged 30-39 and among parents in families with underage children. Employees in welfare service occupations within health care, education and social services have an elevated risk of mental disorder sick leave and constitute a large proportion of the workforce. The results support the need for improving early detection and prevention of mental disorders in the workforce. Improvements in psychosocial work environments are essential, where the higher risk in female dominated welfare occupations particularly, have repercussions on the quality of the welfare services provided for vulnerable groups in society. Better work-life balance in families with younger children could also mitigate the effects of a high total workload in that particular phase of life.

The sick-building syndrome; Das Sick-Building-Syndrom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henne, A.; Neumann, H.F.; Winneke, G.

1992-12-31

The sick-building syndrome is characterized by the presence of general, non-specific symptoms (e.g., headache, tiredness, respiratory problems, eye trouble, vertigo, nausea, unspecific hypersensitivity) in association with a particular indoor ambience. It is clearly distinguishable from `building-related illness`, referring to a well-defined clinical syndrome due to staying in a building and for which a cause can, in general, be established. Disorders in the case of the sick-building syndrome are manifold and confirmed objectifiable results are hardly available so far. Yet there are some organ-related methods for the confirmation of findings concerning, for instance, the eyes, the skin and the area of the nose. The causes of the incidence of sick-building syndrome are more or less unclear. It is a multifactorial phenomenon involving physical, biological, chemical, individual-specific and psychological factors. Buildings where sick-building syndrome occurs typically exhibit certain properties. The European Community has already made proposals for the investigation of incriminated buildings. A systematic survey by questionnaire together with individual interviews plays an import part towards clarifying the syndrome. (orig./UWA) [Deutsch] Das Sick-Building-Syndrom beschreibt das Vorhandensein von allgemeinen, nicht spezifischen Symptomen (z.B. Kopfschmerzen, Muedigkeit, Atembeschwerden, Augenreizungen, Schwindelgefuehl, Uebelkeit, unspezifische Ueberempfindlichkeit), assoziiert mit einer besonderen Innenraumumgebung. Deutlich hiervon abzugrenzen ist die ``Building related illness``, bei der ein klinisch definiertes Krankheitsbild vorliegt, das durch den Aufenthalt im Gebaeude verursacht wird und fuer das im allgemeinen eine Ursache ermittelt werden kann. Das Beschwerdebild beim Sick-Building-Syndrom ist vielfaeltig, und gesicherte, objektivierbare Befunde liegen hierzu bisher kaum vor. Dennoch gibt es einige organbezogenen Methoden zur Befundabsicherung, z.B. fuer das

Structural and functional analyses of the putrescine binding protein PotF from Xanthomonas citri

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santana, L.D.F.; Balan, A.

2012-01-01

Full text: The focus of our group is to determinate the role of ABC transporters in the physiology and growth of Xanthomonas citri, a phytopathogenic bacteria that infects citrus plants causing significant losses for the economy. One of the ABC transporters identified in the X. citri genome and that was showed to be active during the infection in Citrus sinensis plants was the putrescine transporter. This transporter consists of two internal membrane proteins PotG and PotH that form a pore, a cytoplasmic protein that gives energy for the transport and the periplasmic-binding protein PotF, which is responsible for the affinity and specificity of the system. Its function is associated to the microbial carcinogenesis, biofilm formation, escape from phagolysosomes, bacteriocin production, toxin activity and protection from oxidative and acid stress. In this work, we show for the first time, the expression, purification, functional and structural analyses of the X. citri PotF protein. The PotF was expressed from Escherichia coli cells strain Arctic, as a 40 kDa soluble protein, after induction of IPTG for twenty four hours at thirteen deg C. Using immobilized metal affinity chromatography for purification, the protein was eluted in the fractions with 10-500 mM of imidazole. To test the folding and cability to bind putrescine, spectroscopic analyses were performed using circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence. The data showed that PotF suffers conformational changes in presence of ligands and in different pH, suggesting a possible interaction with the tested ligand. Moreover, based on bioinformatics studies and molecular modeling analyses, we showed that X. citri PotF is highly conserved when compared to orthologs present in other bacteria, including the residues that form the ligand-binding site. The production of PotF in a soluble and stable form will allow us to start the crystallization trials in attempt to solve its structure. (author)

Structural and functional analyses of the putrescine binding protein PotF from Xanthomonas citri

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santana, L.D.F.; Balan, A. [Laboratorio Nacional de Biociencias - LNBIO, Campinas, SP (Brazil)

2012-07-01

Full text: The focus of our group is to determinate the role of ABC transporters in the physiology and growth of Xanthomonas citri, a phytopathogenic bacteria that infects citrus plants causing significant losses for the economy. One of the ABC transporters identified in the X. citri genome and that was showed to be active during the infection in Citrus sinensis plants was the putrescine transporter. This transporter consists of two internal membrane proteins PotG and PotH that form a pore, a cytoplasmic protein that gives energy for the transport and the periplasmic-binding protein PotF, which is responsible for the affinity and specificity of the system. Its function is associated to the microbial carcinogenesis, biofilm formation, escape from phagolysosomes, bacteriocin production, toxin activity and protection from oxidative and acid stress. In this work, we show for the first time, the expression, purification, functional and structural analyses of the X. citri PotF protein. The PotF was expressed from Escherichia coli cells strain Arctic, as a 40 kDa soluble protein, after induction of IPTG for twenty four hours at thirteen deg C. Using immobilized metal affinity chromatography for purification, the protein was eluted in the fractions with 10-500 mM of imidazole. To test the folding and cability to bind putrescine, spectroscopic analyses were performed using circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence. The data showed that PotF suffers conformational changes in presence of ligands and in different pH, suggesting a possible interaction with the tested ligand. Moreover, based on bioinformatics studies and molecular modeling analyses, we showed that X. citri PotF is highly conserved when compared to orthologs present in other bacteria, including the residues that form the ligand-binding site. The production of PotF in a soluble and stable form will allow us to start the crystallization trials in attempt to solve its structure. (author)

Spatial and temporal oxygen distribution measured with oxygen microsensors in growing media with different levels of compaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dresbøll, Dorte; Thorup-Kristensen, Kristian

2011-01-01

% compacted, respectively). The water distribution in the pot was determined as water content (gcm-3) in the top, middle and bottom layers of the peat. Oxygen content was also determined after a standard subirrigation cycle and after excessive irrigation where the bottom of the pots were left waterlogged...... for 24 h. Measurements were carried out at 5.5 weeks during the production phase and at 12 weeks at the end of the production. The results showed that with increasing compaction and density, more water was transported to the upper layers of the pot. After a standard irrigation cycle there was no effect...... in growing media and how this was affected by the physical characteristics of the growing media....

Effect of planting density and growing media on growth and yield of strawberry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tariq, R.; Qureshi, K.M.; Hassan, I.; Rasheed, M.; Qureshi, U.S.

2013-01-01

Strawberry (Fragaria ananasa), belonging to Rosaceae family, is a rich source of vitamins and minerals with delicate flavors. It is perishable crop which is exceedingly in demand for its taste, profitability, high yield and good quality. To make the plant growth successful in the container, the requirement of special media is very important step because plant growth is largely depended on the physiochemical properties of the growing media used. Winter strawberry production in a greenhouse using high plant densities and various media may be a viable alternative to open-field production system. Planting density can be increased thrice by using different production systems. Studies were conducted to see the impact of different planting densities and media on growth and yield of strawberry. The treatments were T 1 = Control, with normal planting distance of 30 cm x 60 cm and growing media silt, sand and farm yard manure (FYM); T 2 = 15 cm 2 x 30 cm and silt, sand and FYM; T 3 = 30 cm x 60 cm and coir; T 4 = 15 cm x 30 cm and coir; T 5 = 30 cm x 60 cm and peat moss; T 6 = 15 cm x 30 cm and 5 6 peat moss. Results showed that plants grown at low planting distance on all growth media showed more pronounced results as compared to high planting distance. Plants grown in peat moss at both planting densities moderately increased the plant height, canopy size, leaf area, number of fruits, fruit size, fruit weight and titratable acidity. A significant increase in fresh and dry weight of leaves, number of leaves, fruit yield in term of fruit number, fruit size and fruit weight, and fruit quality with high ascorbic acid contents were observed. On the other hand, plants grown in silt, sand and FYM (1 : 1 : 1) at both planting densities showed significant increment in vegetative growth resulting in early flowering with more flowers per plant, better fruit setting and fruit set percentage, greater fruit size and weight but fruit number per plant was reduced which lowered the overall

DOES COMPOSTING OF BIODEGRADABLE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE ON THE LANDFILL BODY MAKE SENSE?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dana Adamcová

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this study white mustard (Sinapis alba plants were allowed to grow in earthen pots, treated with municipal solid waste compost (MSWC to study the effect of MSWC on the plant biomass production. Twenty-one days from the establishment of the experiment sprouts and the number of growing plants occurring in the earthen pots were counted. Plants growing in the earthen pots with the compost samples exhibited an increasing plant biomass while no changes were observed in their appearance; retarded growth or necrotic changes were not recorded. The performed phytotoxicity tests show that the analyzed composts produced in the composting plant situated on the landfill surface achieved high percentages of the germinating capacity of white mustard (Sinapis alba seeds and can be therefore used in the subsequent reclamation of the concerned landfill.

Perspective d'utilisation des termitières dans l'amélioration de la fertilité des sols tropicaux : cas d'une expérimentation en pots de végétation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Endubu, M.

1992-01-01

Full Text Available Perspective of termitary mounds utilization in improvement of tropical soil fertility : case of a pot vegetation experiment. The fertilizing power offive termitary mounds of Yakonde soil serie (Y2 in Yangambi has been tested by rice growing in vegetation pots and compared with those of host soil 's and complex manure's. The obtained data have shown that termitary soils are more fertile than host soil, butless than complex manure. Among five forms of termitary mounds tested, "semi-arboricole" form proved to be efficient. Then, utilization of different forms of termitary soils as fertilizing materials in tropical regions appears possible, because of their wealth in nutrient elements for plants, abundance in tropical forests and easy get by tropical peasant.

Heat transfer and evaporative cooling in the function of pot-in-pot coolers

Science.gov (United States)

Chemin, Arsène; Levy Dit Vehel, Victor; Caussarieu, Aude; Plihon, Nicolas; Taberlet, Nicolas

2018-03-01

A pot-in-pot cooler is an affordable electricity-free refrigerator which uses the latent heat of vaporization of water to maintain a low temperature inside an inner compartment. In this article, we experimentally investigate the influence of the main physical parameters in model pot-in-pot coolers. The effect of the wind on the evaporation rate of the cooling fluid is studied in model experiments while the influence of the fluid properties (thermal conductivity, specific heat, and latent heat) is elucidated using a variety of cooling fluids (water, ethanol, and ether). A model based on a simplified heat conduction equation is proposed and is shown to be in good quantitative agreement with the experimental measurements.

Importance of intra- and interspecific plant interactions for the phytomanagement of semiarid mine tailings using the tree species Pinus halepensis.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Oró, Duli; Parraga-Aguado, Isabel; Querejeta, Jose Ignacio; Conesa, Héctor M

2017-11-01

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of plant interactions (intra- and interspecific) on the growth and metal(loid) uptake of the tree species Pinus halepensis to determine its suitability for the phytomanagement of semiarid mine tailings. The pioneer tailings colonizer grass Piptatherum miliaceum was selected for assessing interspecific interactions. The experiment was conducted following a pot experimental design employing mine tailings soil. Pots containing single individuals of P. halepensis or P. miliaceum and pots containing combinations with pines (two pines per pot, or one pine and one grass per pot) were used. The analyses included the determination of plant biomass, foliar element status and stable isotope composition, metal(loid) uptake and its translocation to different plant organs. P. halepensis strongly favoured the growth of P. miliaceum by increasing 9-fold the latter's biomass and alleviating its P limitation. In this interspecific treatment P. halepensis showed a strong N limitation (N/P = 7), which negatively affected its growth, (to about half the biomass of that obtained for the other treatments) and exhibited a significant increase in some metals translocation (especially Cd) into aerial parts. Interestingly, P. miliaceum showed a decrease in the root to leaves translocation factor for most of metals when growing together with pines. The effects of the intraespecific combination on growth and metal uptake in P. halepensis were less relevant than those obtained for the interspecific one. Further research should be focused on testing the behaviour of plant co-cultures under the addition of N or P amendments which could alleviate the negative effects of plant competition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sick building syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tjandra Y. Aditama

2002-06-01

Full Text Available Sick building syndrome describes a number of mostly unspesific complaints of some occupants of the building. The exact pathophysiological mechanism remains elusive. It is a multi factorial event which may include physical, chemical, biological as well as psycological factors. In many cases it is due to insufficient maintenance of the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning system in the building. Sign and symptoms can be uncomfortable and even disabling, which may include mucus membrane irritation, neurotoxic symptoms, asthma like symptoms, skin complaints, gastrointestinal symptoms and other related symptoms. There are various investigation methods to diagnose sick building syndrome, and on site assessment of the building is extremely useful. Prevention through a proactive air quality monitoring program is far more desirable than dealing with an actual sick building. Indoor air and the sick building symdrome serves as a paradigm of modern occupational and environmental medicine. (Med J Indones 2002; 11:124-31Keywords: indoor air pollution, sick building syndrome, building related illness

Virtual reality sickness questionnaire (VRSQ): Motion sickness measurement index in a virtual reality environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyun K; Park, Jaehyun; Choi, Yeongcheol; Choe, Mungyeong

2018-05-01

This study aims to develop a motion sickness measurement index in a virtual reality (VR) environment. The VR market is in an early stage of market formation and technological development, and thus, research on the side effects of VR devices such as simulator motion sickness is lacking. In this study, we used the simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ), which has been traditionally used for simulator motion sickness measurement. To measure the motion sickness in a VR environment, 24 users performed target selection tasks using a VR device. The SSQ was administered immediately after each task, and the order of work was determined using the Latin square design. The existing SSQ was revised to develop a VR sickness questionnaire, which is used as the measurement index in a VR environment. In addition, the target selection method and button size were found to be significant factors that affect motion sickness in a VR environment. The results of this study are expected to be used for measuring and designing simulator sickness using VR devices in future studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Why would plant species become extinct locally if growing conditions improve?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kramer, K.; Bijlsma, R.J.; Hickler, T.; Thuiller, W.

2012-01-01

Two assumptions underlie current models of the geographical ranges of perennial plant species: 1. current ranges are in equilibrium with the prevailing climate, and 2. changes are attributable to changes in macroclimatic factors, including tolerance of winter cold, the duration of the growing

Worried sick? Sickness absence during organizational turmoil

OpenAIRE

Bratberg, Espen; Monstad, Karin

2011-01-01

Sickness absence has risen over the past years in Norway. An explanation put forward is that a tougher labour market represents a health hazard, while a competing hypothesis predicts that loss of job security works as a disciplinary device. In this analysis we aim to trace a causal impact of organizational turmoil or job insecurity on sickness absence, applying a difference-in-difference approach. Utilizing a negative financial shock that hit specific employers and workplaces, we find that...

Possibilities to modify the radiological effect of gamma-rays, depending on methods and conditions of plant growing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savov, P.; Savova, N.; Krapchev, B.

1982-01-01

Wheat seed from the Altimir 67 and Sadovo 1 varieties were irradiated with 10, 20 or 30 krad gamma rays. Part of them were planted in pots and kept in hot-houses. The embrios of some of the other seeds were removed and placed in enriched with macro- and microelements both. A retarded growth in height was established in the seeds grown in hot-houses. The seeds that got the highest radiation die within 30 days. The Altimir 67 showed hig higher radiation than the Sadovo 1 variety. The retarded growth is not so marked in the plants grown on broth. Some of them survived even after having been 30 krad irradiated. These results are being studied in connection with the hypothesis of the reduced action of indirect radiation when the endosperm is removed and when microelements take part in the plant methabolism. (authors)

Women's experiences of long term sickness absence: implications for rehabilitation practice and theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Ockander, Marlene K; Timpka, Toomas

2003-01-01

In most European countries, spells of long-term absence contribute the largest number of days that are reimbursed as a result of sickness absence. This group is growing and it is constituted mainly of women. The present study seeks further knowledge about what happens then and there, i.e. how women on long-term sickness absence handle and explain, for themselves and others, this interruption in their daily life. Semi-structured interviews were performed with 82 middle-aged women with personal experience of long-term sickness absence. The women's accounts of sickness absence contained interpretations of what had happened to them, how things were at present, and what they thought the future would bring. Three different accounts could be distinguished: crisis, breakpoint, and migration. The perception of their own situation and especially what they thought about their future was associated with their feeling of power to take the initiative, and their well-being. From this study the authors have found implications for central topics of importance: time elapse, sense of coherence, reorientation/adaptation, vital goals, and gender.

Demethylation of methylmercury in growing rice plants: An evidence of self-detoxification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Xiaohan; Zhao, Jiating; Li, Yunyun; Fan, Yuqin; Zhu, Nali; Gao, Yuxi; Li, Bai; Liu, Hanyu; Li, Yu-Feng

2016-01-01

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant that poses a serious threat to human and the environment. Rice was found as an important source for human exposure to Hg in some areas. In this study, the transportation and transformation of IHg and MeHg in rice plants exposed to IHg or MeHg were investigated. The IHg and MeHg concentrations in rice roots and shoots collected every five days were analyzed by HPLC-ICP-MS and SR-XANES. When exposed to MeHg, the percent of IHg in rice roots and shoots increased while MeHg decreased significantly, suggesting prominent demethylation of MeHg occurred. However no notable MeHg was found in both roots and shoots of rice plant when exposed to IHg. SR-XANES analysis further confirmed the demethylation of MeHg with rice. This study provides a new finding that demethylation of MeHg could occur in growing rice, which may be a self-defense process of rice plant. - Graphical abstract: Inorganic mercury in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants exposed to methylmercury was detected: An evidence of rice plant against methylmercury phytotoxicity. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Demethylation of MeHg in rice plant was found in rice root. • Hg in rice roots mainly present as MeHg-SR or RS-Hg-SR form. • MeHg-SR in roots can be gradually transformed to RS-Hg-SR with rice growth. - Demethylation of MeHg in growing rice.

The prevalence of sick leave

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Backhausen, Mette; Damm, Peter; Bendix, Jane

2018-01-01

of long-term sick leave. Method Data from 508 employed pregnant women seeking antenatal care was collected by questionnaires from August 2015 to March 2016. The questionnaires, which were filled in at 20 and 32 weeks of gestation, provided information on maternal characteristics, the number of days spent...... on sick leave and the associated reasons. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were applied. Results The prevalence of sick leave was 56% of employed pregnant women in the first 32 weeks of gestation and more than one in four reported long-term sick leave (>20 days, continuous...... was a negative predictor. Conclusions The prevalence of sick leave was 56% in the first 32 weeks of gestation and more than one in four women reported long-term sick leave. The majority of reasons for sick leave were pregnancy-related and low back pain was the most frequently given reason....

Bidens tripartite L.: A Cd-accumulator confirmed by pot culture and site sampling experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Shuhe; Niu Rongcheng; Srivastava, Mrittunjai; Zhou Qixing; Wu Zhijie; Sun Tieheng; Hu Yahu; Li Yunmeng

2009-01-01

Characteristics of accumulation and tolerance of cadmium (Cd) in Bidens tripartite L. were investigated to identify Cd-accumulating properties. In this study, pot culture experiment and site sampling experiments were conducted to assess whether this plant is a heavy metal hyperaccumulator or accumulator. The results indicated that the Cd enrichment factor (concentration in plant/soil) and Cd translocation factor (concentration in shoot/root) of B. tripartite was principally >1 in pot culture and concentration gradient experiments. Shoot biomass was not reduced significantly (p -1 , the threshold concentration for a Cd-hyperaccumulator. In the site sampling experiment, B. tripartite also showed Cd-accumulator properties. Based on these results, B. tripartite could be identified as a Cd-accumulator. Thus, B. tripartite should only be considered as a Cd-accumulator.

Feeding and survival of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae on plants growing in Kenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Impoinvil, D.E.; Kongere, J.O.; Foster, W.A.; Njiru, B.N.; Killeen, G.F.; Githure, J.I.; Beier, J.C.; Hassanali, A.; Knols, B.G.J.

2004-01-01

The propensity of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae Giles (Diptera: Culicidae) to ingest sugars from various plants, and subsequent survival rates, were assessed with laboratory-reared males and females offered eight species of plants commonly cultivated and/or growing wild in western

Dust collection capacity of plants growing in coal mining areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maiti, S.K.

1993-01-01

Plant can act as living filter of dust pollution in coal mining areas, where the amount of suspended particulate matter and dust fall rate is very high. Therefore, plant species growing in coal mining areas are classified as evergreen or deciduous with simple and compound leaf basis. The dust arresting capacity of each leaf is measured and expressed in g/m 2 . The study indicated that evergreen plants with simple, pilose surface, like - Alstonia, Ficus cunea, F. benghalensis and Mangifera indica are good dust catcher than evergreen compound leaves of Cassia siamea, Acacia arabica and Leucaena leucocephala. Deciduous with simple leaves, such as Zizyphus mauritiana, F. religiosa, Psidium guyava are also good dust collectors. Suitable plant species also help in quick reclamation of mined out areas; one practical difficulty for establishment of trees as green belts or reclamation purpose, has been incidence of cattle grazing. This study suggested a systematic way of selecting plant species on the basis of their efficiency in dust control and resistance to cattle grazing. (author). 16 refs., 3 tabs

Effect of Bacillus Species Rhizobacteria on Kabuli Chickpea Plants Growth under Pots and Field Conditions

OpenAIRE

Ait Kaki, Asma; Benhassine, Sara; Milet, Asma; Kara Ali, Monira; Moula, Nassim; Kacem Chaouche, Nordine

2018-01-01

In the present research, some Bacillus strains were produced at the industrial scale in order to be tested on chickpea growth, under pots and field conditions. Bacteria reached high sporulation yields ranging from 0.8×109-2.5×109 and 8×109-10×109 spores mL-1 in flasks and 500 L bioreactor culture conditions, respectively. Under pots experiment, B. amyloliquefaciens (9SRTS) and B. amyloliquefaciens (CWBI) increased significantly the root mass (0.31 and 0.37 vs. 0.066 g, respectively) and reduc...

Potting media, transplants and yields in the production of glasshouse tomatoes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spithost, L.S.

1969-01-01

Samples of potting composts for raising tomatoes on holdings in the South Holland glasshouse district were collected in 1960 and 1961.

In propagation experiments with soil blocks, fresh weight of young tomato plants were found to vary widely. Some 3/4 out of the investigated composts were not

20 CFR 218.28 - Sick pay.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Sick pay. 218.28 Section 218.28 Employees... Beginning Date § 218.28 Sick pay. (a) From railroad employer. If the employee is carried on the payroll while sick, the annuity can begin no earlier than the day after the last day of sick pay. However, sick...

Inhibition of ethylene response by 1-methylcyclopropene in potted ornamental pepper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Luiz Finger

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In the face of great potential of 1-MCP in blocking ethylene action, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of 1-MCP on ethylene action and extend the post-production of ornamental peppers Capsicum annuum potted plants. Ornamental pepper cultivar Calypso shows complete abscission of leaves when exposed to 10µL L-1 ethylene. By exposing plants to ethylene, significant drops on a, b and total chlorophyll were found at the end of the treatment. Nevertheless, no changes on leaf total carotenoid were observed after the treatment with ethylene. When the plants were treated with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP, followed or not by treatment with ethylene, contents of a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid remained unchanged. Control plants showed no changes in chlorophylls or carotenoid contents after 48 hours from moving the pots from greenhouse to indoor conditions illuminated with white fluorescent light. The 1-MCP was able to prolong the post production shelf life, by inhibiting the abscission of leaves. Plants treated with 1-MCP, followed by ethylene had 38% accumulated leaf abscission, after 18 days of post production life, similar to control plants. After the same period, plants treated only with 1-MCP had 22% leaf abscission. The 1-MCP partially blocked ethylene and induced leaf abscission. Regardless which treatment was applied during post production life, there was a continuous decrease on leaf chlorophyll content beyond 18th day. Thus, 1-MCP was effective in preventing leaf abscission even in the presence of ethylene, avoiding deleterious effects of ethylene by blocking its receptor sites.

THE BIODEGRADABILITY AND MECHANICAL STRENGTH OF NUTRITIVE POTS FOR VEGETABLE PLANTING BASED ON LIGNOCELLULOSE COMPOSITE MATERIALS

OpenAIRE

Petronela Nechita; Elena Dobrin; Florin Ciolacu; Elena Bobu

2010-01-01

Considering the mild degradation strength and the fact that it may be an organic matter reserve for the soil, in the past years lignocellulosic materials have been used as fibrous raw materials in the manufacture of biodegradable nutritive pots for the seedling in vegetable containerized production. This paper analyses the behavior of the nutritive pots made from biodegradable composites for the vegetable seedling production process, focusing on their mechanical strength properties and biodeg...

Effects of plant cover on soil N mineralization during the growing season in a sandy soil

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Y.; Shao, M.; Wei, X.; Fu, X.

2017-12-01

Soil nitrogen (N) mineralization and its availability plays a vital role in regulating ecosystem productivity and C cycling, particularly in semiarid and desertified ecosystems. To determine the effect of plant cover on N turnover in a sandy soil ecosystem, we measured soil N mineralization and inorganic N pools in soil solution during growing season in a sandy soil covered with various plant species (Artemisia desertorum, Salix psammophila, and Caragana korshinskii). A bare sandy soil without any plant was selected as control. Inorganic N pools and N mineralization rates decreased overtime during the growing season, and were not affected by soil depth in bare land soils, but were significantly higher at the 0-10 cm layer than those at the 10-20 cm soil layer under any plant species. Soil inorganic N pool was dominated by ammonium, and N mineralization was dominated by nitrification regardless of soil depth and plant cover. Soils under C. korshinskii have significant higher inorganic N pools and N mineralization rate than soils under bare land and A. desertorum and S. psammophila, and the effects of plant cover were greater at the 0-10 cm soil layer than at the 10-20 cm layer. The effects of C. korshinskii on soil inorganic N pools and mineralization rate varied with the stage of growing season, with greater effects on N pools in the middle growing season, and greater effects on mineralization rate at the last half of the growing season. The results from this study indicate that introduction of C. korshinskii has the potential to increase soil N turnover and availability in sandy soils, and thus to decrease N limitation. Caragana korshinskii is therefore recommend for the remediation of the desertified land.

Effects of Irrigation Methods on the Growth of Petunia Grown in Heat Fusion Polyester Fiber Hardened Medium without Polythylene Pot

OpenAIRE

後藤, 丹十郎; 島, 浩二; 東, 千里; 森下, 照久; 藤井, 一徳; 元岡, 茂治

2006-01-01

Recenty, polyethylene pots(PP) present a significant environmental issue for waste disposal. To develop bedding plant production system without PP, properties of compacted medium hardened by heat fusion polyester fiber were investigated. Effects of irrigation methods on the growth of vegetative propagated petunia grown in medium without PP were investigated. The effect of medium type was not as significant as the difference in water loss per pot. Water loss per pot of medium without PP was ab...

Sick of Taxes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ljunge, Jan Martin

I estimate a price elasticity of sickness absence. Sick leave is an intensive margin of labor supply where individuals are free to adjust. I exploit variation in tax rates over two decades, which provide thousands of differential incentives across time and space, to estimate the price responsiven...... of sick leave, -0.7, with respect to the net of tax rate. Though large relative to traditional labor supply elasticities, Swedes are half as price elastic as bike messengers, and just as elastic as stadium vendors on the margin which they can adjust freely....

Attitudes towards sickness absence and sickness presenteeism in health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Krane, Line; Larsen, Eva Ladekjær; Nielsen, Claus Vinther; Stapelfeldt, Christina Malmose; Johnsen, Roar; Risør, Mette Bech

2014-08-27

In the health and care sector, sickness absence and sickness presenteeism are frequent phenomena and constitute a field in need of exploration. Attitudes towards sickness absence involve also attitudes towards sickness presenteeism, i.e. going to work while sick, confirmed by previous studies. Sickness behavior, reflecting attitudes on work absence, could differ between countries and influence absence rates. But little is known about attitudes towards sickness absence and sickness presenteeism in the health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark. The aim of the present paper is therefore to explore attitudes towards sickness absence and sickness presenteeism among nursing home employees in both countries. Eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide, the main attention of which was attitudes towards sickness absence and sickness presenteeism. FGDs were conducted in two nursing homes in Norway and two in Denmark, with different geographic locations: one in a rural area and one in an urban area in each country. FGDs were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using framework analysis to identify major themes and explanatory patterns. Four major significant themes were identified from the FGDs: a) sickness absence and sickness presenteeism, b) acceptable causes of sickness absence, c) job identity, and d) organization of work and physical aspects of the workplace. Our analyses showed that social commitment and loyalty to residents and colleagues was important for sickness absence and sickness presenteeism, as were perceived acceptable and non-acceptable reasons for sickness absence. Organization of work and physical aspects of the workplace were also found to have an influence on attitudes towards sickness absence. The general interpretation of the findings was that attitudes towards sickness absence and sickness presenteeism among nursing home employees were embedded in situational patterns of moral relationships and were

Trough and pot crop systems with leaching recirculation and defoliation levels for mini tomatoes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lais Perin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The use of raw rice husk as substrate allows the use of crop systems that promote the recirculation of leachate in long crop cycles. Mini tomatoes present relatively low demand for photoassimilates. Thus, partial defoliation of the sympodium could benefit the crop without damage to the production or quality of the fruits. The objective of this work was to evaluate the plant growth, fruit yield and fruit quality of Cherry Hybrid Wanda and Grape Hybrid Dolcetto mini tomatoes cultivated in two recirculation crop systems (pots and troughs, using raw rice husk as substrate, under three defoliation conditions (without defoliation, removal of one and two leaves of the sympodium. The Cherry cultivar showed higher plant growth, fruit yield and mean fruit size. The Grape cultivar produced fruits with higher sugar concentration. For the Grape cultivar, the removal of one sympodium leaf did not affect the plant responses. However, for the Cherry cultivar, it was necessary to maintain the complete sympodium. The trough cultivation system improved plant growth and yield, whereas the pot system increased fruit sugar concentration.

Reliability of sickness certificates in detecting potential sick leave reduction by modifying working conditions: a clinical epidemiology study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johnsen Roar

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Medical sickness certificates are generally the main source for information when scrutinizing the need for aimed intervention strategies to avoid or reduce the individual and community side effects of sick leave. This study explored the value of medical sickness certificates related to daily work in Norwegian National Insurance Offices to identify sick-listed persons, where modified working conditions might reduce the ongoing sick leave. Methods The potential for reducing the ongoing sick leave by modifying working conditions was individually assessed on routine sickness certificates in 999 consecutive sick leave episodes by four Norwegian National Insurance collaborators, two with and two without formal medical competence. The study took place in Northern Norway in 1997 and 1998. Agreement analysed with differences against mean, kappa, and proportional-agreement analysis within and between groups of assessors was used in the judgement. Agreements between the assessors and the self-assessment of sick-listed subjects were additionally analysed in 159 sick-leave episodes. Results Both sick-listed subjects and National Insurance collaborators anticipated a potential reduction in sick leave in 20–30% of cases, and in another 20% the potential was assessed as possible. The chance corrected agreements, however, were poor (k Conclusion Information in medical sickness certificates proved ineffective in detecting cases where modified working conditions may reduce sick leave, and focusing on medical certificates may prevent identification of needed interventions. Strategies on how to communicate directly with sick-listed subjects would enable social authorities to exploit more of the sick leave reduction potential by modifying the working conditions than strategies on improving medical information.

Interaction of Escherichia coli with growing salad spinach plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Warriner, Keith; Ibrahim, Faozia; Dickinson, Matthew; Wright, Charles; Waites, William M

2003-10-01

In this study, the interaction of a bioluminescence-labeled Escherichia coli strain with growing spinach plants was assessed. Through bioluminescence profiles, the direct visualization of E. coli growing around the roots of developing seedlings was accomplished. Subsequent in situ glucuronidase (GUS) staining of seedlings confirmed that E. coli had become internalized within root tissue and, to a limited extent, within hypocotyls. When inoculated seeds were sown in soil microcosms and cultivated for 42 days, E. coli was recovered from the external surfaces of spinach roots and leaves as well as from surface-sterilized roots. When 20-day-old spinach seedlings (from uninoculated seeds) were transferred to soil inoculated with E. coli, the bacterium became established on the plant surface, but internalization into the inner root tissue was restricted. However, for seedlings transferred to a hydroponic system containing 10(2) or 10(3) CFU of E. coli per ml of the circulating nutrient solution, the bacterium was recovered from surface-sterilized roots, indicating that it had been internalized. Differences between E. coli interactions in the soil and those in the hydroponic system may be attributed to greater accessibility of the roots in the latter model. Alternatively, the presence of a competitive microflora in soil may have restricted root colonization by E. coli. The implications of this study's findings with regard to the microbiological safety of minimally processed vegetables are discussed.

Growing media [Chapter 5

Science.gov (United States)

Douglass F. Jacobs; Thomas D. Landis; Tara Luna

2009-01-01

Selecting the proper growing medium is one of the most important considerations in nursery plant production. A growing medium can be defined as a substance through which roots grow and extract water and nutrients. In native plant nurseries, a growing medium can consist of native soil but is more commonly an "artificial soil" composed of materials such as peat...

Workers' opinions on the effect of contact with health care providers on sickness absence duration.

Science.gov (United States)

Steenbeek, Romy

2014-01-01

Because of the aging working population and the increasing age of retirement the number of workers with chronic illnesses and disabilities is growing. It is important that workers with health complaints receive efficient health care in order to remain fully or at least partly productive. To explore workers' opinions about the effectiveness of contact with health care providers in shortening sickness absence duration. Data come from a four-wave study from 2005 to 2008 among Dutch workers (n=1,424). Data were obtained on visits to health care providers, sickness absence and workers' opinions on whether and how their absence could have been shortened. A third of the workers were of the opinion that the health care provider (most often the general practitioner, GP) had played a role in preventing sickness absence and 35% were of the opinion that the health care provider had limited their absence. Most often the physical therapist (71%) and mental health therapist (61%) shortened sickness absence duration, in contrast to the occupational physician (OP, 25%) and GP (32%). The effectiveness of the health care providers' treatment was associated with the cause of sickness absence. Approximately 15% of the workers reported that their sickness absence could have been shortened if health care providers had provided the proper treatment and if waiting times had been reduced. Health care providers differ in their potential to shorten sickness absence duration. Health care providers can further reduce sickness absence and health care costs by providing the proper treatment and by reducing waiting times.

One-Pot Conversion of Carbohydrates into Furan Derivatives via Furfural and 5-Hydroxylmethylfurfural as Intermediates.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bing; Zhang, Zehui

2016-08-23

Recently, there has been growing interest in the transformation of renewable biomass into value-added fuels and chemicals. The catalytic conversion of naturally abundant carbohydrates can generate two-important furan chemicals: 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from C6 carbohydrates and furfural from C5 carbohydrates. Both HMF and furfural have received great interest as precursors in the synthesis of commodity chemicals and liquid fuels. In recent years, a trend has emerged to integrate sequential catalytic processes involving multistep reactions for the direct one-pot transformation of carbohydrates into the aimed fuels and chemicals. One-pot reactions have remarkably unique and environmentally friendly benefits, including the fact that isolation and purification of intermediate compounds can be avoided. Herein, the present article aims to review recent advances in the one-pot conversion of carbohydrates into furan derivatives via furfural and HMF as intermediates. Special attention will be paid to the catalytic systems, mechanistic insight, reaction pathways, and catalyst stability. It is expected that this review will guide researchers to develop effective catalytic systems for the one-pot transformation of carbohydrates into furan derivatives. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fractionation of phosphorus added as a vegetal residue (32 P) and a fertilizer (32 P) between soil, plant and microbial biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereira, M.C.

1988-04-01

Sugar cane straw and/or P-fertilizer phosphorus-32 labelled were added to a Red Yellow podzolic soil from Goiana-PE. The treated samples were used in a pot experiment, growing sorghum plants for 4 and 6 weeks, and in an incubation experiment with incubation periods of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 weeks without plants in order to follow the dynamics of the P added. After each harvest and incubation period the soil were analysed for 31 P and 32 P in the microbial biomass and in sequential extracts with resin (Pi), 0.5 M Na H Co 3 (Pi, Po) and 0.1 N NaOH (Pi, Po). The 31 P and 32 P contents of the sorghum in the pot experiment were also determined. (author)

Social inequalities in 'sickness'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wel, Kjetil A. van der; Dahl, Espen; Thielen, Karsten

2011-01-01

The aim of this paper is to examine educational inequalities in the risk of non-employment among people with illnesses and how they vary between European countries with different welfare state characteristics. In doing so, the paper adds to the growing literature on welfare states and social...... from Eurostat and OECD that include spending on active labour market policies, benefit generosity, income inequality, and employment protection. Using multilevel techniques we find that comprehensive welfare states have lower absolute and relative social inequalities in sickness, as well as more...... inequalities in health by studying the often overlooked ‘sickness’-dimension of health, namely employment behaviour among people with illnesses. We use European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data from 2005 covering 26 European countries linked to country characteristics derived...

High flow ceramic pot filters

OpenAIRE

van Halem, D.; van der Laan, H.; Soppe, A. I.A.; Heijman, S.G.J.

2017-01-01

Ceramic pot filters are considered safe, robust and appropriate technologies, but there is a general consensus that water revenues are limited due to clogging of the ceramic element. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of high flow ceramic pot filters to produce more water without sacrificing their microbial removal efficacy. High flow pot filters, produced by increasing the rice husk content, had a higher initial flow rate (6–19 L h−1), but initial LRVs for E. coli o...

Respostas de braquiária brizantha a doses de potássio Braquiaria brizantha responses to potassium rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W.T. DE MATTOS

1998-01-01

potassium rates in dry matter yield, plant tillering, potassium concentration and distribution in sampled parts of shoots. Ground quartz was used as substrate in pots. Eight potassium rates (0; 9.75; 39; 78; 156; 234; 312 and 468 mg K L-1 were used and the experiment was set in a randomized complete block design, with four replications. Plants were first harvested 38 days after transplanting the seedlings to the pots and the second harvest 33 days after the first one. In each harvest, plant tops were separated into: non-expanded leaves, laminae of the two newly expanded leaves, laminae of the other expanded leaves and culms plus sheaths. After the second harvest, roots were collected. Forage yield, plant tillering and potassium concentration in each sampled part were increased with potassium rates in the substrate. Maximum forage yield was reached at potassium rates of 365 and 399 mg L-1 and the highest tiller number ocurred at rates of 312 and 468 mg L-1. A second-order model fitted to the potassium concentration in the non-expanded leaves picked up in the two harvests and also in the other sampled parts in the first harvest. For the expanded (newly or other leaves or culms and sheaths in the second harvest, the data for potassium concentration fitted to a first-order model. The amount of potassium in the culms and sheaths exceeded that of any other part sampled in the shoot of this forage. The use of young leaf blades for potassium diagnosis in this forage is recommended. Critical potassium levels in this plant tissue were between 22 and 29 g kg-1.

Sick-listing adherence: a register study of 1.4 million episodes of sickness benefit 2010-2013 in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Leijon, Ola; Josephson, Malin; Österlund, Niklas

2015-04-14

This register study aims to increase the knowledge on how common it is that sickness benefit recipients are sick-listed for as long as their physician prescribes in their medical sickness certificate, i.e. sick-listing adherence, or wholly/partly bring return-to-work (RTW) forward, i.e. early RTW. The unit for analysis was an episode of 100% sickness benefit, commenced between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2013. Completed episodes of sickness benefit and full or partial early RTW was analysed by comparing the prescribed length of sick leave in medical sickness certificates and benefit days disbursed by the sickness insurance system. Probability for a full and partial early RTW was estimated with hazard ratio (HR) using the Cox proportional hazard model. In total, about 1.4 million episodes of sickness benefit (60% women) were included in the study. The overall sick-listing adherence was 84% for women and 82% for men during the first year of sick leave. Adherence varied between 82 and 87% among women and between 79 and 86% among men with regard to ICD-10 diagnosis chapter. The probability of an early RTW varied between diagnosis chapters, where mental disorders was associated with a lower probability of a full early RTW among women and men (HR 0.52 and HR 0.47) as well as a partial early RTW (HR 0.51 and HR 0.46). Younger age (16-29 years), high educational level and high income was associated with a higher probability of an early RTW, while older age (≥ 50 years), not native-born, low educational level, unemployment and parental leave were associated with a lower probability. The study demonstrates that sick-listing adherence is relatively high. Probability of an early RTW differs with regard to diagnosis chapter, demographic, socioeconomic and labour market characteristics of the sickness benefit recipients. Interventions intended to improve the sick-listing process, and to affect the length and degree of sick leave in certain target groups, should include

Modelling Visual Quality of Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana: Influence of Cultivar and Pot Size

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carvalho, S.M.P.; Almeida, J.; Eveleens-Clark, B.A.; Bakker, M.J.; Heuvelink, E.

2008-01-01

An explanatory model for predicting kalanchoe plant height and cropping duration has been developed for one cultivar and one pot size, as described in earlier papers. In two experiments (winter and summer) seven contrasting cultivars (`Anatole¿, `Debbie¿, `Delia¿, `Mie¿, `Pandora¿, `Tenorio¿ and

Reliability and stability of immobilization remediation of Cd polluted soils using sepiolite under pot and field trials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Yuebing; Xu, Yi; Xu, Yingming; Wang, Lin; Liang, Xuefeng; Li, Ye

2016-01-01

Long-term effectiveness and persistence are two important criterias to evaluate alternative remediation technology of heavy metal polluted soils. Pot and field studies showed addition of sepiolite was effective in immobilizing Cd in polluted soils, with significant reduction in TCLP extracts (0.6%–49.6% and 4.0%–32.5% reduction in pot and field experiments, respectively) and plant uptake (14.4%–84.1% and 22.8%–61.4% declines in pot and field studies, correspondingly). However, the applications of sepiolite offered a limited guarantee for the safety of edible vegetables in Cd-polluted soils, depending on the soil type, the Cd pollution type and level, and the dose and application frequency of chemical amendments. Bioassays, such as plant growth, soil enzymatic activities and microbial community diversity, indicated a certain degree of recovery of soil metabolic function. Therefore, sepiolite-assisted in situ remediation is cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and technically applicable, and can be successfully used to reduce Cd enter into the food chain on field scale. - Highlights: • Sepiolite has reliability and stability for remediation of contaminated Cd. • Sepiolite significantly decreases Cd bioavailability in soil and uptake in plant. • The treatment of sepiolite improves soil quality. - Sepiolite not only decreased soil Cd bioavailability and plant Cd uptake, but also improved soil quality.

Inflammatory fatigue and sickness behaviour - lessons for the diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnett, S V; Clark, I A

2012-12-10

Persistent and severe fatigue is a common part of the presentation of a diverse range of disease processes. There is a growing body of evidence indicating a common inflammatory pathophysiology underlying many conditions where fatigue is a primary patient concern, including chronic fatigue syndrome. This review explores current models of how inflammatory mediators act on the central nervous system to produce fatigue and sickness behaviour, and the commonality of these processes in conditions as diverse as surgical trauma, infection, various cancers, inflammatory bowel disease, connective tissue diseases and autoimmune diseases. We also discuss evidence indicating chronic fatigue syndrome may have important pathophysiological similarities with cytokine mediated sickness behaviour, and what lessons can be applied from sickness behaviour to chronic fatigue syndrome with regards to the diagnosis and management. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Workplace bullying and sickness absenteeism].

Science.gov (United States)

Campanini, Paolo; Conway, Paul Maurice; Neri, Luca; Punzi, Silvia; Camerino, Donatella; Costa, Giovanni

2013-01-01

To assess the relationship between workplace bullying and sickness absenteeism in a large sample of Italian workers. A cross-sectional study conducted by means of questionnaires. In all, 8,992 subjects filled in a questionnaire to detect workplace bullying, the presence of work stress factors and days of sickness absence in the last year. Workplace bullying and psychosocial stressor were measured by the means of the CDL 2.0 questionnaire. Days of sickness absence reported by the subjects. On average, days of sickness absence were 7.4, and 7.2% of the respondents were defined as bullied. Results from logistic regression analyses showed that a workplace bullying was associated with more days of sickness absence after controlling for gender, age, professional qualification, company sector and juridical nature and other psychosocial factors (men: OR =1.62; women: OR =2.15). The present study confirms that workers exposed to a workplace bullying reported higher sickness absenteeism as compared with non-exposed subjects, also when a potentially highly stressful work environment is considered. The results of the present study support that workplace bullying may be viewed as an extreme stressful condition. Interventions to avoid workplace bullying not only favoure workers' health, but also avoid the company costs associated with workers' sickness absenteeism.

Ion Frequency Landscape in Growing Plants.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariusz Pietruszka

Full Text Available It has been interesting that nearly all of the ion activities that have been analysed thus far have exhibited oscillations that are tightly coupled to growth. Here, we present discrete Fourier transform (DFT spectra with a finite sampling of tip-growing cells and organs that were obtained from voltage measurements of the elongating coleoptiles of maize in situ. The electromotive force (EMF oscillations (~ 0.1 μV were measured in a simple but highly sensitive resistor-inductor circuit (RL circuit, in which the solenoid was initially placed at the tip of the specimen and then was moved thus changing its position in relation to growth (EMF can be measured first at the tip, then at the sub-apical part and finally at the shank. The influx- and efflux-induced oscillations of Ca2+, along with H+, K+ and Cl- were densely sampled (preserving the Nyquist theorem in order to 'grasp the structure' of the pulse, the logarithmic amplitude of pulse spectrum was calculated, and the detected frequencies, which displayed a periodic sequence of pulses, were compared with the literature data. A band of life vital individual pulses was obtained in a single run of the experiment, which not only allowed the fundamental frequencies (and intensities of the processes to be determined but also permitted the phase relations of the various transport processes in the plasma membrane and tonoplast to be established. A discrete (quantised frequency spectrum was achieved for a growing plant for the first time, while all of the metabolic and enzymatic functions of the life cell cycle were preserved using this totally non-invasive treatment.

Sick Leave and Factors Influencing Sick Leave in Adult Patients with Atopic Dermatitis: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

van Os-Medendorp, Harmieke; Appelman-Noordermeer, Simone; Bruijnzeel-Koomen, Carla; de Bruin-Weller, Marjolein

2015-03-27

Little is known about the prevalence of sick leave due to atopic dermatitis (AD). The current literature on factors influencing sick leave is mostly derived from other chronic inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sick leave due to AD and to identify influencing factors. A cross-sectional study was carried out in adult patients with AD. sick leave during the two-week and one-year periods, socio-demographic characteristics, disease severity, quality of life and socio-occupational factors. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine influencing factors on sick leave over the two-week period. In total, 253 patients were included; 12% of the patients had to take sick leave in the last two weeks due to AD and 42% in the past year. A higher level of symptom interference (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.13-1.40) or perfectionism/diligence (OR 0.90; 95% CI 0.83-0.96) may respectively increase or decrease the number of sick leave days. Sick leave in patients with AD is a common problem and symptom interference and perfectionism/diligence appeared to influence it. Novel approaches are needed to deal with symptoms at work or school to reduce the amount of sick leave due to AD.

Sickness absence and sickness attendance--what people with neck or back pain think.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansson, Margareta; Boström, Carina; Harms-Ringdahl, Karin

2006-05-01

This study explores the decision of 33 men and women to be sick-listed from work for neck pain or low-back pain. Qualitative interviews with the subjects, who lived in a city or a sparsely populated area of Sweden, were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed in the interpretive tradition by the three authors. New, intense and threatening pain quickly made persons report sick. For other pain, sickness absence, its timing and duration, were negotiated on the basis of the subjects' self-image, work-duty norms, organisational and extra-organisational work factors. Thirty-one people aimed to return to work, but spine-related pain was a hindrance. Five strategies to avoid, delay or shorten sickness absence were identified. Concepts of the illness flexibility model well described how the workers balanced the factors driving them from work and those forcing them or attracting them to remain. The conclusion is that reporting sick is neither undertaken lightly nor for short-term reasons only. Instead, personal history and anticipated future, spine-related pain, workplace and labour market factors are also important considerations.

Changes in sickness absenteeism following the introduction of a qualifying day for sickness benefit--findings from Sweden Post

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Voss, M; Floderus, B; Diderichsen, F

2001-01-01

AIMS: In 1993, a qualifying day without sickness benefit was introduced to the Swedish sickness benefit system. The aim of the present study is to investigate sickness absenteeism before and after the introduction of the qualifying day, in the light of conditions inside and outside working life....... METHODS: The study was based on 1,952 female and 2,229 male employees of Sweden Post. Sickness absence was measured by sickness incidence one year before and one year after the introduction of the qualifying day (sick-leave events/person days at risk). Information about explanatory factors was collected...

Physical and chemical properties of artificial potting soils; Jinko jiban ryokuka baiyodo no butsuri kagakuteki seishitsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kudo, T. [Kajima Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1999-09-30

Artificial potting soils are developed mostly for roof garden, and a lot of products are now on the market. However, these products have the merits and demerits. Therefore, Kajima Corporation developed 'Kei-soil' and 'Souka-meijin' to make up defects of the existing artificial potting soils, and 'Eco-eco K' using waste at a rate of 100% with consideration for environment. The paper considered what kinds of quality these artificial potting soil products developed have from physical/chemical viewpoints. As a result, the following were made clear: (1) the artificial potting soil has more excellent physical property than chernozem; (2) Since 'Aqua-soil,' '{alpha}-base 2,' 'Viva-soil' and 'Soilen G' do not include fertilizer content very much, the manuring practice in planting is important; (3) 'Kei-soil,' 'Souka-meijin' and 'Eco-eco K' include fertilizer content. (translated by NEDO)

General practitioners' use of sickness certificates.

Science.gov (United States)

Roope, Richard; Parker, Gordon; Turner, Susan

2009-12-01

At present, sickness certification is largely undertaken by general practitioners (GPs). Guidance from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is available to help with this task; however, there has been little formal evaluation of the DWP's guidance in relation to day-to-day general practice. To assess GPs' training, knowledge and application of the DWP's sickness certification guidelines. A structured questionnaire was sent to GPs within a (former) primary care trust (PCT). It probed demographics, training and knowledge of sickness certification guidelines. Case histories and structured questions were used to assess current practice. In this group of 113 GPs, there was a low awareness and use of the DWP's guidelines and Website relating to sickness certification. The majority of the GPs (63%) had received no training in sickness certification, and the mean length of time for those who had received training was 4.1 h. Most GPs also felt that patients and GPs have equal influence on the duration of sickness certification. This evidence of variable practice indicates that GPs should have more guidance and education in sickness certification. Closer sickness certification monitoring through existing GP computer systems may facilitate an improvement in practice that benefits patients and employers. The DWP, medical educators and PCTs may all have an additional role in further improving sickness certification practice.

Can plants grow on Mars and the moon: a growth experiment on Mars and moon soil simulants.

Science.gov (United States)

Wamelink, G W Wieger; Frissel, Joep Y; Krijnen, Wilfred H J; Verwoert, M Rinie; Goedhart, Paul W

2014-01-01

When humans will settle on the moon or Mars they will have to eat there. Food may be flown in. An alternative could be to cultivate plants at the site itself, preferably in native soils. We report on the first large-scale controlled experiment to investigate the possibility of growing plants in Mars and moon soil simulants. The results show that plants are able to germinate and grow on both Martian and moon soil simulant for a period of 50 days without any addition of nutrients. Growth and flowering on Mars regolith simulant was much better than on moon regolith simulant and even slightly better than on our control nutrient poor river soil. Reflexed stonecrop (a wild plant); the crops tomato, wheat, and cress; and the green manure species field mustard performed particularly well. The latter three flowered, and cress and field mustard also produced seeds. Our results show that in principle it is possible to grow crops and other plant species in Martian and Lunar soil simulants. However, many questions remain about the simulants' water carrying capacity and other physical characteristics and also whether the simulants are representative of the real soils.

Can plants grow on Mars and the moon: a growth experiment on Mars and moon soil simulants.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G W Wieger Wamelink

Full Text Available When humans will settle on the moon or Mars they will have to eat there. Food may be flown in. An alternative could be to cultivate plants at the site itself, preferably in native soils. We report on the first large-scale controlled experiment to investigate the possibility of growing plants in Mars and moon soil simulants. The results show that plants are able to germinate and grow on both Martian and moon soil simulant for a period of 50 days without any addition of nutrients. Growth and flowering on Mars regolith simulant was much better than on moon regolith simulant and even slightly better than on our control nutrient poor river soil. Reflexed stonecrop (a wild plant; the crops tomato, wheat, and cress; and the green manure species field mustard performed particularly well. The latter three flowered, and cress and field mustard also produced seeds. Our results show that in principle it is possible to grow crops and other plant species in Martian and Lunar soil simulants. However, many questions remain about the simulants' water carrying capacity and other physical characteristics and also whether the simulants are representative of the real soils.

Cholesterol level in the circulating immune complexes of subjects suffering from the remote aftereffects of acute radiation sickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikitin, G.Yu.; Barabanova, A.V.; Nadezhina, N.M.; Tertov, V.V.; Orekhov, A.N.

1994-01-01

The potentiaoity of coronary atherosclerosis was assessed from cholesterol levels in the ciculationg immune complexes (CIC) in 53 subjects who suffered acute radiation sickness in 1986 after the Chernobyl power plant accident. CIC cholesterol levels of the subjects who suffered 3-4 years before acute radiation sickness of the first-second degrees of severity were found elevated as against an adequately matched reference group. Thus, subjects who suffered the second degree of severity acute radiation sickness after the radiation exposure, from 3-4 years later a group at high risk of coronary atherosclerosis

Healthy change processes - Relations with job insecurity, sickness absenteeism, sickness presenteeism and turnover intention

OpenAIRE

Bødal, Åshild

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of a healthy change process (HCPI) could predict negative outcomes that normally follow organisational change, such as qualitative job insecurity, total sickness (sickness absenteeism and -presenteesim) and turnover intention. It was hypothesised that negative relationships existed between a healthy change process and qualitative job insecurity, total sickness and turnover intention. In addition, it was believed that experienced st...

Sick Leave and Factors Influencing Sick Leave in Adult Patients with Atopic Dermatitis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harmieke van Os-Medendorp

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Little is known about the prevalence of sick leave due to atopic dermatitis (AD. The current literature on factors influencing sick leave is mostly derived from other chronic inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sick leave due to AD and to identify influencing factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in adult patients with AD. Outcome measures: sick leave during the two-week and one-year periods, socio-demographic characteristics, disease severity, quality of life and socio-occupational factors. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine influencing factors on sick leave over the two-week period. Results: In total, 253 patients were included; 12% of the patients had to take sick leave in the last two weeks due to AD and 42% in the past year. A higher level of symptom interference (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.13–1.40 or perfectionism/diligence (OR 0.90; 95% CI 0.83–0.96 may respectively increase or decrease the number of sick leave days. Conclusion: Sick leave in patients with AD is a common problem and symptom interference and perfectionism/diligence appeared to influence it. Novel approaches are needed to deal with symptoms at work or school to reduce the amount of sick leave due to AD.

Reliability and stability of immobilization remediation of Cd polluted soils using sepiolite under pot and field trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yuebing; Xu, Yi; Xu, Yingming; Wang, Lin; Liang, Xuefeng; Li, Ye

2016-01-01

Long-term effectiveness and persistence are two important criterias to evaluate alternative remediation technology of heavy metal polluted soils. Pot and field studies showed addition of sepiolite was effective in immobilizing Cd in polluted soils, with significant reduction in TCLP extracts (0.6%-49.6% and 4.0%-32.5% reduction in pot and field experiments, respectively) and plant uptake (14.4%-84.1% and 22.8%-61.4% declines in pot and field studies, correspondingly). However, the applications of sepiolite offered a limited guarantee for the safety of edible vegetables in Cd-polluted soils, depending on the soil type, the Cd pollution type and level, and the dose and application frequency of chemical amendments. Bioassays, such as plant growth, soil enzymatic activities and microbial community diversity, indicated a certain degree of recovery of soil metabolic function. Therefore, sepiolite-assisted in situ remediation is cost-effective, environmentally friendly, and technically applicable, and can be successfully used to reduce Cd enter into the food chain on field scale. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Biochar Application on Soil Properties and Plant Growth of Pot Grown Lettuce (Lactuca sativa and Cabbage (Brassica chinensis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan Haefele

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The effect of rice-husk char (potentially biochar application on the growth of transplanted lettuce (Lactuca sativa and Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis was assessed in a pot experiment over a three crop (lettuce-cabbage-lettuce cycle in Cambodia. The biochar was the by-product of a rice-husk gasification unit and consisted of 28.7% carbon (C by mass. Biochar application rates to potting medium of 25, 50 and 150 g kg−1 were used with and without locally available fertilizers (a mixture of compost, liquid compost and lake sediment. The rice-husk biochar used was slightly alkaline (pH 7.79, increased the pH of the soil, and contained elevated levels of some trace metals and exchangeable cations (K, Ca and Mg in comparison to the soil. The biochar treatments were found to increase the final biomass, root biomass, plant height and number of leaves in all the cropping cycles in comparison to no biochar treatments. The greatest biomass increase due to biochar additions (903% was found in the soils without fertilization, rather than fertilized soils (483% with the same biochar application as in the “without fertilization” case. Over the cropping cycles the impact was reduced; a 363% increase in biomass was observed in the third lettuce cycle.

Responses of potatoes plants inoculated with arbuscular ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A pot experiment was set to examine the impact of the foliar litter (Hardwickia binata and Azadirachta indica) and an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus on the development of two varieties of potato plants (Aida, Atlas). Three litter doses (0, 25 and 50 g) were applied to the pots after bedding plantlets. The plants were ...

Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Cristiano

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The most common substrate for potted ornamental plants is prepared with Sphagnum peat; however, the cost and declining availability of high-quality peat, due to environmental constraints, make it necessary to investigate for alternative organic materials. The present study aimed to determine the effects of partial compost replacement with peat and the optimum electrical conductivity (EC level of the nutrient solution in potted weeping lantana [L. montevidensis (Spreng. Briq.] under a recirculating soilless system. Three compost-based substrates were prepared by mixing peat (Pe with sewage sludge-based compost (Co. at a rate of 0% (Pe90Co0Pu10, control, 30% (Pe60Co30Pu10, or 60% (Pe30Co60Pu10, respectively. The soilless recirculated closed system was equipped with two different EC levels (high and low of nutrient solution. Growing media main characteristics and plant bio-morphometric parameters were evaluated. Our first evidence clearly demonstrates that the replacement of peat with compost at doses of 30% and 60% gave the poorest results for plant diameter, shoots, leaves, flowers, and fresh and dry mass, probably indicating that the physical characteristics of the compost based substrates may be the major factor governing plant growth rate. Compost media pH and EC values, too, showed negative effects on plant growth. Considering the effect of EC level, all morphological traits were significantly improved by high EC compared to low EC in weeping lantana. Thus, based on first evidence, further research is needed on organic materials for the establishment of ecological substrates with optimal physicochemical characteristics for the growth of weeping lantana.

Paid Sick Leave as a Means to Reduce Sickness Presenteeism Among Physicians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Steen Rostad

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Recurrent international data show that physicians often attend work while ill, termed sickness presenteeism. The current study investigated if sickness presenteeism scores among European physicians varied according to national paid sick leave legislation. We hypothesized that prevalence of presenteeism was higher in countries with lower levels of paid sick leave. We used repeated cross-sectional survey data, phase I (2004/2005, N = 1326 and phase II (2012/2013, N = 1403, among senior consultants at university hospitals in Sweden, Norway, and Italy. Analyses of variances assessed cross-country differences in presenteeism. To assess the impact of country on presenteeism, we used multiple regression analyses controlled for sex, age, family status, work hours, and work content. The results from phase I supported the initial hypothesis. At phase II, presenteeism scores had decreased among the Italian and Swedish sample. The results are discussed with regard to changes in legislation on workhours and medical liability in Italy and Sweden between phase I and II.

High flow ceramic pot filters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Halem, D.; van der Laan, H.; Soppe, A. I.A.; Heijman, S.G.J.

2017-01-01

Ceramic pot filters are considered safe, robust and appropriate technologies, but there is a general consensus that water revenues are limited due to clogging of the ceramic element. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of high flow ceramic pot filters to produce more

Energy efficient cultivation planning for pot plants. A calculation platform for energy efficient scenarios in the Poinsettia cultivation; Energiezuinige Teeltplanning voor Potplanten. Een rekenplatform voor energie-efficiente scenario's in de Poinsettiateelt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buwalda, F.; Van Noort, F. [Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw, Wageningen (Netherlands); Houter, B. [GreenQ, Bleiswijk (Netherlands); Benninga, J. [Landbouw-Economisch Instituut LEI, Wageningen (Netherlands); De Rooij, E. [DLV Plant, Wageningen (Netherlands)

2012-06-15

The project Energy Efficient Scheduling of Pot Plant Production was aimed at developing and testing a decision support system for pot plant nurseries. The system allowed growers and consultants to compare the effects of changes in production schedules and climate settings on crop performance and energy requirement. The model-based scenario tool incorporated dynamic crop models for Euphorbia pulcherrima, Ficus benjamina and Hydrangea macrophylla, and the KASPRO model for greenhouse climate and energy balance. The system automatically acquired data from a local weather forecast service, real-time, web-based nursery-specific data acquisition systems and crop registration modules. Web-based data sharing also supported benchmarking between nurseries. The system was tested in field trials, involving four nurseries for each pot plant species. Improvements in energy efficiency of the production process resulted from optimized pot spacing schedules and from temperature strategies incorporating more prominent influences of the season, weather conditions and crop developmental phase [Dutch] In het kader van het project Energiezuinige Teeltplanning voor Potplanten is gewerkt aan een adviessysteem dat potplantentelers in staat stelt om zelfstandig de energie-efficientie van teeltscenario's te evalueren op basis van actuele, bedrijfsspecifieke gegevens. Daarnaast maakt het systeem het mogelijk om via internet teeltscenario's te delen met teeltadviseurs en binnen bedrijfsvergelijkingsgroepen. Het systeem is gebaseerd op dynamische gewasmodellen voor Hortensia, Poinsettia en Ficus, en maakt voor het berekenen van kasklimaat en energiestromen gebruik van het rekenmodel KASPRO. Dit rapport beschrijft de werking van het systeem, de resultaten op 4 bedrijven per gewas, de reacties van de betrokken telers, en een evaluatie van het project. De belangrijkste mogelijkheden om de energie-efficientie van een teelt te verbeteren werden gevonden in verbeterde wijderzetschema

Growing halophytes floating at sea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Radulovich

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Freshwater shortages are increasingly limiting both irrigated and rainfed agriculture. To expand possibilities for controlled plant production without using land nor freshwater, we cultivated potted halophytes floating at sea that were provided with rain- and seawater. Plantlets of two mangroves (Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle and plants of two herbaceous species, sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum and salt couch grass (Sporobolus virginicus were grown in near-coastal tropical Pacific waters of Costa Rica for 733 days. There were a total of 504 rainless days, including two dry periods of ca. 150 d long each, evidencing prolonged and exclusive reliance on seawater. Pots with a sandy soil mixture and the transplanted plants were placed on low-cost wooden floating rafts with their lower end perforated and immersed for capillary rise of water. Free seawater entry and exit through the bottom from bobbing with waves, which also occasionally added water from the top, effectively controlled soil salinity build-up even during the rainless seasons. Continuous leaching made necessary frequent fertilizer addition. No water deficit symptoms were observed and midday canopy temperature during rainless periods was not significantly different between species or from air temperature. With all-year-round growth, height increase of mangrove plantlets ranged from 208.1 to 401.5 mm yr−1. Fresh biomass production of sea purslane and the grass was 10.9 and 3.0 kg m−2 yr−1 respectively. High yield, edibility and protein content of 10.2% dry weight established sea purslane as a potential crop. While further research is needed, the method evidenced to be a viable plant production option of potentially far-reaching applications.

Relation between sick leave and selected exposure variables among women semiconductor workers in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Chee, H; Rampal, K

2003-01-01

Aims: To determine the relation between sick leave and selected exposure variables among women semiconductor workers. Methods: This was a cross sectional survey of production workers from 18 semiconductor factories. Those selected had to be women, direct production operators up to the level of line leader, and Malaysian citizens. Sick leave and exposure to physical and chemical hazards were determined by self reporting. Three sick leave variables were used; number of sick leave days taken in the past year was the variable of interest in logistic regression models where the effects of age, marital status, work task, work schedule, work section, and duration of work in factory and work section were also explored. Results: Marital status was strongly linked to the taking of sick leave. Age, work schedule, and duration of work in the factory were significant confounders only in certain cases. After adjusting for these confounders, chemical and physical exposures, with the exception of poor ventilation and smelling chemicals, showed no significant relation to the taking of sick leave within the past year. Work section was a good predictor for taking sick leave, as wafer polishing workers faced higher odds of taking sick leave for each of the three cut off points of seven days, three days, and not at all, while parts assembly workers also faced significantly higher odds of taking sick leave. Conclusion: In Malaysia, the wafer fabrication factories only carry out a limited portion of the work processes, in particular, wafer polishing and the processes immediately prior to and following it. This study, in showing higher illness rates for workers in wafer polishing compared to semiconductor assembly, has implications for the governmental policy of encouraging the setting up of wafer fabrication plants with the full range of work processes. PMID:12660374

High flow ceramic pot filters.

Science.gov (United States)

van Halem, D; van der Laan, H; Soppe, A I A; Heijman, S G J

2017-11-01

Ceramic pot filters are considered safe, robust and appropriate technologies, but there is a general consensus that water revenues are limited due to clogging of the ceramic element. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of high flow ceramic pot filters to produce more water without sacrificing their microbial removal efficacy. High flow pot filters, produced by increasing the rice husk content, had a higher initial flow rate (6-19 L h -1 ), but initial LRVs for E. coli of high flow filters was slightly lower than for regular ceramic pot filters. This disadvantage was, however, only temporarily as the clogging in high flow filters had a positive effect on the LRV for E. coli (from below 1 to 2-3 after clogging). Therefore, it can be carefully concluded that regular ceramic pot filters perform better initially, but after clogging, the high flow filters have a higher flow rate as well as a higher LRV for E. coli. To improve the initial performance of new high flow filters, it is recommended to further utilize residence time of the water in the receptacle, since additional E. coli inactivation was observed during overnight storage. Although a relationship was observed between flow rate and LRV of MS2 bacteriophages, both regular and high flow filters were unable to reach over 2 LRV. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Different growth responses of C3 and C4 grasses to seasonal water and nitrogen regimes and competition in a pot experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Shuli; Liu, Weixing; Wan, Shiqiang

2008-01-01

Understanding temporal niche separation between C(3) and C(4) species (e.g. C(3) species flourishing in a cool spring and autumn while C(4) species being more active in a hot summer) is essential for exploring the mechanism for their co-existence. Two parallel pot experiments were conducted, with one focusing on water and the other on nitrogen (N), to examine growth responses to water or nitrogen (N) seasonality and competition of two co-existing species Leymus chinensis (C(3) grass) and Chloris virgata (C(4) grass) in a grassland. The two species were planted in either monoculture (two individuals of one species per pot) or a mixture (two individuals including one L. chinensis and one C. virgata per pot) under three different water or N seasonality regimes, i.e. the average model (AM) with water or N evenly distributed over the growing season, the one-peak model (OPM) with more water or N in the summer than in the spring and autumn, and the two-peak model (TPM) with more water or N in the spring and autumn than in the summer. Seasonal water regimes significantly affected biomass in L. chinensis but not in C. virgata, while N seasonality impacted biomass and relative growth rate of both species over the growing season. L. chinensis accumulated more biomass under the AM and TPM than OPM water or N treatments. Final biomass of C. virgata was less impacted by water and N seasonality than that of L. chinensis. Interspecific competition significantly decreased final biomass in L. chinensis but not in C. virgata, suggesting an asymmetric competition between the two species. The magnitude of interspecific competition varied with water and N seasonality. Changes in productivity and competition balance of L. chinensis and C. virgata under shifting seasonal water and N availabilities suggest a contribution of seasonal variability in precipitation and N to the temporal niche separation between C(3) and C(4) species.

Measured soil water concentrations of cadmium and zinc in plant pots and estimated leaching outflows from contaminated soils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, P.E.; Christensen, T.H.

1998-01-01

Soil water concentrations of cadmium and zinc were measured in plant pots with 15 contaminated soils which differed in origin, texture, pH (5.1-7.8) and concentrations of cadmium (0.2-17 mg Cd kg(-1)) and zinc (36-1300 mg Zn kg(-1)). The soil waters contained total concentrations of 0.5 to 17 mu g...... to 0.1% per year of the total soil content of cadmium and zinc. The measured soil water concentrations of cadmium and zinc did not correlate linearly with the corresponding soil concentrations but correlated fairly well with concentrations measured in Ca(NO(3))(2) extracts of the soils and with soil...... water concentrations estimated from soil concentrations and pH. Such concentration estimates may be useful for estimating amounts of cadmium and zinc being leached from soils....

Toward Self-Growing Soft Robots Inspired by Plant Roots and Based on Additive Manufacturing Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeghi, Ali; Mondini, Alessio; Mazzolai, Barbara

2017-09-01

In this article, we present a novel class of robots that are able to move by growing and building their own structure. In particular, taking inspiration by the growing abilities of plant roots, we designed and developed a plant root-like robot that creates its body through an additive manufacturing process. Each robotic root includes a tubular body, a growing head, and a sensorized tip that commands the robot behaviors. The growing head is a customized three-dimensional (3D) printer-like system that builds the tubular body of the root in the format of circular layers by fusing and depositing a thermoplastic material (i.e., polylactic acid [PLA] filament) at the tip level, thus obtaining movement by growing. A differential deposition of the material can create an asymmetry that results in curvature of the built structure, providing the possibility of root bending to follow or escape from a stimulus or to reach a desired point in space. Taking advantage of these characteristics, the robotic roots are able to move inside a medium by growing their body. In this article, we describe the design of the growing robot together with the modeling of the deposition process and the description of the implemented growing movement strategy. Experiments were performed in air and in an artificial medium to verify the functionalities and to evaluate the robot performance. The results showed that the robotic root, with a diameter of 50 mm, grows with a speed of up to 4 mm/min, overcoming medium pressure of up to 37 kPa (i.e., it is able to lift up to 6 kg) and bending with a minimum radius of 100 mm.

Presenteeism among sick workers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houtman, I.L.D.

2003-01-01

Much attention has been focused on absenteeism. However, ‘presenteeism’ is also an issue, i.e. staying at work even when feeling sick. Analyses have shown that, the greater the work pressure, the higher the percentage of people who keep working when feeling sick.

Growing plants on oily, nutrient-poor soil using a native symbiotic fungus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy S Repas

Full Text Available The roots of land plants associate with microbes, including fungal symbionts that can confer abiotic stress tolerance. Bitumen extraction following oil-sand surface mining in the Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada removes plant nutrients but leaves a petrochemical residue, making the coarse tailings (CT hostile to both plants and microbes. We isolated an endophyte strain of the Ascomycete Trichoderma harzianum we call TSTh20-1 (hereafter, TSTh from a dandelion that was naturally growing on CT. TSTh colonization allowed tomato, wheat, and remediation seed mixtures to germinate and their seedlings to flourish on CT without the use of fertilizer. Compared to control plants, TSTh increased germination speed, percent germination, and biomass accumulation. TSTh also improved plant water use efficiency and drought recovery. TSTh-colonized plants secreted twice the level of peroxidase into CT as did plants alone. Over two months, plants colonized with TSTh doubled the petrochemical mobilization from CT over plants alone, suggesting a peroxide-mediated mechanism for petrochemical degradation. TSTh grew on autoclaved CT, bitumen, and other petrochemicals as sole carbon sources. Further, TSTh is a micro-aerobe that could metabolize 13C-phenanthrene to 13CO2 in 0.5% oxygen. TSTh has excellent potential for contributing to revegetating and remediating petrochemical contamination.

Energy efficient cultivation planning for pot plants. A calculation platform for energy efficient scenarios in the Hortensia cultivation; Energiezuinige Teeltplanning voor Potplanten. Een rekenplatform voor energie-efficiente scenario's in de Hortensia-teelt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buwalda, F.; Van Noort, F. [Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw, Wageningen (Netherlands); Houter, B. [GreenQ, Bleiswijk (Netherlands); Benninga, J. [Landbouw-Economisch Instituut LEI, Wageningen (Netherlands); Dijkstra, T.; De Rooij, E. [DLV Plant, Wageningen (Netherlands)

2012-05-15

The project Energy Efficient Scheduling of Pot Plant Production was aimed at developing and testing a decision support system for pot plant nurseries. The system allowed growers and consultants to compare the effects of changes in production schedules and climate settings on crop performance and energy requirement. The model-based scenario tool incorporated dynamic crop models for Euphorbia pulcherrima, Ficus benjamina and Hydrangea macrophylla, and the KASPRO model for greenhouse climate and energy balance. The system automatically acquired data from a local weather forecast service, real-time, web-based nursery-specific data acquisition systems and crop registration modules. Web-based data sharing also supported benchmarking between nurseries. The system was tested in field trials, involving four nurseries for each pot plant species. Improvements in energy efficiency of the production process resulted from optimized pot spacing schedules and from temperature strategies incorporating more prominent influences of the season, weather conditions and crop developmental phase [Dutch] In het kader van het project Energiezuinige Teeltplanning voor Potplanten is gewerkt aan een adviessysteem dat potplantentelers in staat stelt om zelfstandig de energie-efficientie van teeltscenario's te evalueren op basis van actuele, bedrijfsspecifieke gegevens. Daarnaast maakt het systeem het mogelijk om via internet teeltscenario's te delen met teeltadviseurs en binnen bedrijfsvergelijkingsgroepen. Het systeem is gebaseerd op dynamische gewasmodellen voor Hortensia, Poinsettia en Ficus, en maakt voor het berekenen van kasklimaat en energiestromen gebruik van het rekenmodel KASPRO. Dit rapport beschrijft de werking van het systeem, de resultaten op 4 bedrijven per gewas, de reacties van de betrokken telers, en een evaluatie van het project. De belangrijkste mogelijkheden om de energie-efficientie van een teelt te verbeteren werden gevonden in verbeterde wijderzetschema

Energy efficient cultivation planning for pot plants. A calculation platform for energy efficient scenarios in the Ficus cultivation; Energiezuinige Teeltplanning voor Potplanten. Een rekenplatform voor energie-efficiente scenario's in de Ficus-teelt

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buwalda, F.; Van Noort, F. [Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw, Wageningen (Netherlands); De Jong, B.

2012-06-15

The project Energy Efficient Scheduling of Pot Plant Production was aimed at developing and testing a decision support system for pot plant nurseries. The system allowed growers and consultants to compare the effects of changes in production schedules and climate settings on crop performance and energy requirement. The model-based scenario tool incorporated dynamic crop models for Euphorbia pulcherrima, Ficus benjamina and Hydrangea macrophylla, and the KASPRO model for greenhouse climate and energy balance. The system automatically acquired data from a local weather forecast service, real-time, web-based nursery-specific data acquisition systems and crop registration modules. Web-based data sharing also supported benchmarking between nurseries. The system was tested in field trials, involving four nurseries for each pot plant species. Improvements in energy efficiency of the production process resulted from optimized pot spacing schedules and from temperature strategies incorporating more prominent influences of the season, weather conditions and crop developmental phase [Dutch] In het kader van het project Energiezuinige Teeltplanning voor Potplanten is gewerkt aan een adviessysteem dat potplantentelers in staat stelt om zelfstandig de energie-efficiëntie van teeltscenario's te evalueren op basis van actuele, bedrijfsspecifieke gegevens. Daarnaast maakt het systeem het mogelijk om via internet teeltscenario's te delen met teeltadviseurs en binnen bedrijfsvergelijkingsgroepen. Het systeem is gebaseerd op dynamische gewasmodellen voor Hortensia, Poinsettia en Ficus, en maakt voor het berekenen van kasklimaat en energiestromen gebruik van het rekenmodel KASPRO. Dit rapport beschrijft de werking van het systeem, de resultaten op 4 bedrijven per gewas, de reacties van de betrokken telers, en een evaluatie van het project. De belangrijkste mogelijkheden om de energie-efficientie van een teelt te verbeteren werden gevonden in verbeterde wijderzetschema

Crescimento e nutrição de erva-mate influenciados pela adubação nitrogenada, fosfatada e potássica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delmar Santin

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Ilex paraguariensis is considered a low P-requiring species because it grows naturally in soils with low P content, although no much information is also available for N and K requirements. This trial aimed to evaluate the effect of increasing P rates, combined with N and K rates on Ilex paraguariensis growth and its mineral composition. Phosphorus rates of 0, 100, 200, 400 e 600 mg dm-3 of P2O5 were combined with 0, 50 e 100 mg dm-3 of N e K2O. The fertilizers were mixed with the soil and placed in plastic pots of 2.9 dm3. Seedlings of Ilex were transplanted to the pots and grown for 120 days. Ilex seedling growth was affected by the interaction of P and NK rates. The best P rate was between 18.5 and 28.6 mg dm-3and the highest growth was obtained when P was combined with 100 mg dm-3of N and K2O. Iron deficiency symptoms appeared at the P rates of 400 and 600 mg dm-3 of P2O5. It can be concluded that Ilex responds to increasing P rates, as long as plant N, K and Ca requirement is met.

Cell physiology of plants growing in cold environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lütz, Cornelius

2010-08-01

The life of plants growing in cold extreme environments has been well investigated in terms of morphological, anatomical, and ecophysiological adaptations. In contrast, long-term cellular or metabolic studies have been performed by only a few groups. Moreover, a number of single reports exist, which often represent just a glimpse of plant behavior. The review draws together the literature which has focused on tissue and cellular adaptations mainly to low temperatures and high light. Most studies have been done with European alpine plants; comparably well studied are only two phanerogams found in the coastal Antarctic. Plant adaptation in northern polar regions has always been of interest in terms of ecophysiology and plant propagation, but nowadays, this interest extends to the effects of global warming. More recently, metabolic and cellular investigations have included cold and UV resistance mechanisms. Low-temperature stress resistance in plants from cold environments reflects the climate conditions at the growth sites. It is now a matter of molecular analyses to find the induced genes and their products such as chaperones or dehydrins responsible for this resistance. Development of plants under snow or pollen tube growth at 0 degrees C shows that cell biology is needed to explain the stability and function of the cytoskeleton. Many results in this field are based on laboratory studies, but several publications show that it is not difficult to study cellular mechanisms with the plants adapted to a natural stress. Studies on high light and UV loads may be split in two parts. Many reports describe natural UV as harmful for the plants, but these studies were mainly conducted by shielding off natural UV (as controls). Other experiments apply additional UV in the field and have had practically no negative impact on metabolism. The latter group is supported by the observations that green overwintering plants increase their flavonoids under snow even in the absence of

Office design's impact on sick leave rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Bodin Danielsson, Christina; Chungkham, Holendro Singh; Wulff, Cornelia; Westerlund, Hugo

2014-01-01

The effect of office type on sickness absence among office employees was studied prospectively in 1852 employees working in (1) cell-offices; (2) shared-room offices; (3) small, (4) medium-sized and (5) large open-plan offices; (6) flex-offices and (7) combi-offices. Sick leaves were self-reported two years later as number of (a) short and (b) long (medically certified) sick leave spells as well as (c) total number of sick leave days. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used, with adjustment for background factors. A significant excess risk for sickness absence was found only in terms of short sick leave spells in the three open-plan offices. In the gender separate analysis, this remained for women, whereas men had a significantly increased risk in flex-offices. For long sick leave spells, a significantly higher risk was found among women in large open-plan offices and for total number of sick days among men in flex-offices. A prospective study of the office environment's effect on employees is motivated by the high rates of sick leaves in the workforce. The results indicate differences between office types, depending on the number of people sharing workspace and the opportunity to exert personal control as influenced by the features that define the office types.

TNT removal from culture media by three commonly available wild plants growing in the Caribbean.

Science.gov (United States)

Correa-Torres, Sandra N; Pacheco-Londoño, Leonardo C; Espinosa-Fuentes, Eduardo A; Rodríguez, Lolita; Souto-Bachiller, Fernando A; Hernández-Rivera, Samuel P

2012-01-01

Plants growing in the Caribbean, Rubia tinctorum, Lippia dulcis and Spermacoce remota, were used in vitro to remove TNT from culture media. Plants were found to be resistant to high TNT levels. S. remota was able to remove TNT in less than 48 h. Part of the TNT was physically removed from the culture media by evaporation.

Action of ethylene, 1-methylcyclopropene and silver thiosulfate in two developmental stages of potted ornamental pepper(

OpenAIRE

Paula Cristina Carvalho Lima; Milena Maria Tomaz Oliveira; Wellington Souto Ribeiro; Lucas Cavalcante Costa; Fernando Luiz Finger

2017-01-01

The species of Capsicum genus have great genetic variability with enormous potential for marketing as ornamental potted plants. The exposure at ethylene induces various deleterious responses during plants life cycle, but there are few studies on how the ethylene affects early developmental stages of these ornamental plants. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of the application of ethylene and ethylene inhibitors, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and silver thiosulphate (STS) in two ea...

Phytostabilization of a Pb-contaminated mine tailing by various tree species in pot and field trial experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Meeinkuirt, Weeradej; Pokethitiyook, Prayad; Kruatrachue, Maleeya; Tanhan, Phanwimol; Chaiyarat, Rattanawat

2012-10-01

The potential of 6 tree species (Leucaena leucocephala, Acacia mangium, Peltophorum pterocarpum, Pterocarpus macrocarpus, Lagerstroemia floribunda, Eucalyptus camaldulensis) for phytoremediation of Pb in sand tailings (total Pb >9850 mg kg(-1)) from KEMCO Pb mine in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand, were investigated employing a pot experiment (3 months) and field trial experiment (12 months). In pot study E. camaldulensis treated with Osmocote fertilizer attained the highest total biomass (15.3 g plant(-1)) followed by P. pterocarpum (12.6 g plant(-1)) and A. mangium (10.8 g plant(-1)) both treated with cow manure. Cow manure application resulted in the highest root Pb accumulation (>10000 mg kg(-1)) in L. floribunda and P. macrocarpus. These two species also exhibited the highest Pb uptake (85-88 mg plant(-1)). Results from field trial also showed that Osmocote promoted the best growth performance in E. camaldulensis (biomass 385.7 g plant(-1), height 141.7 cm) followed by A. mangium (biomass 215.9 g plant(-1), height 102.7 cm), and they also exhibited the highest Pb uptake (600-800 microg plant(-1)). A. mangium with the addition of organic fertilizer was the best option for phytostabilization of Pb-contaminated mine tailing because it retained higher Pb concentration in the roots.

Sick Leave and Factors Influencing Sick Leave in Adult Patients with Atopic Dermatitis : A Cross-Sectional Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Os-Medendorp, Harmieke; Appelman-Noordermeer, Simone; Bruijnzeel-Koomen, Carla A.F.M.; de Bruin-Weller, MS

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the prevalence of sick leave due to atopic dermatitis (AD). The current literature on factors influencing sick leave is mostly derived from other chronic inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sick leave due to AD and to identify

Analyses of Sickness Absence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijnen, S.M.M.

2014-01-01

Sickness absence is an empirical phenomenon of all time. Generally, it has a medical cause. However, other factors also appear to have an impact on the actual rate of sickness absence, such as the institutional setting, the business cycle and the economic structure. Many questions on the different

Antioxidant properties of some plants growing wild in Turkey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serteser, A.; Kargioglu, M.; Gok, V.; Bagci, Y.; Musa Ozcan, M.; Arslan, D.

2009-07-01

In this study, the antioxidant activity of 50% aqueous methanol extracts of 38 plants growing in the Afyonkarahisar province of Turkey were evaluated by various antioxidant assay, including free radical scavenging, hydrogen peroxide (H{sub 2}O{sub 2}) scavenging and metal (Fe{sup 2}+) chelating activities. The methanolic fruit extracts of the Cornus and Morus species (H{sub 2}O{sub 2} and DPPH scavenging activities, Fe{sup 2}+ chelating activity) and the methanolic leaf extracts of the Mentha species (DPPH scavenging activities) examined in the assay showed the strongest activities. These antioxidant properties depended on the concentration of samples. (Author) 30 refs.

Rice Yield and the Fate of Fertilizer Nitrogen as Affected by Addition of Earthworm Casts Collected from Oilseed Rape Fields: A Pot Experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Min; Zhou, Xuefeng; Xie, Xiaobing; Zhao, Chunrong; Chen, Jiana; Cao, Fangbo; Zou, Yingbin

2016-01-01

The mechanism associated with improvement of soil nutritional status by oilseed rape crop, leading to better performance of rice crop, in rice-oilseed rape cropping systems is little known. The present study was aimed to test the hypothesis that earthworm casts produced during oilseed rape-growing season have positive effects on grain yield and fertilizer nitrogen (N) utilization in the subsequent flooded rice crop. A 15N-tracing pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of earthworm casts collected from oilseed rape fields on yield attributes in rice and the fate of fertilizer N. Soil treated with earthworm casts (soil: earthworm casts = 4: 1, w/w) (EC1) produced 39% higher grain yield than soil only (EC0). EC1 had 18% more panicle number and 10% higher spikelet filling percentage than EC0. Aboveground biomass and harvest index were higher in EC1 than in EC0 by 20% and 15%, respectively. SPAD values in flag leaves were 10% and 22% higher under EC1 than EC0 at 15 and 20 days after heading, respectively. EC1 had 19% higher total N uptake and 18% higher physiological N-use efficiency than EC0. These positive effects of earthworm casts on yield attributes offset negative effects of decreasing N rate from 0.74 g pot-1 (equivalent to the recommended field rate of 150 kg ha-1) to 0.44 g pot-1 (equivalent to 60% of the recommended rate). Fertilizer N retention rate was 7% higher while fertilizer N loss rate was 6% lower in EC1 than in EC0. Our study suggests that earthworm casts produced during oilseed rape-growing season are expected to have the following benefits on the subsequent flooded rice system: (1) improving growth and physiological processes in rice plants and consequently increasing rice grain yield, and (2) increasing fertilizer N retention rate and hence decreasing fertilizer N loss rate and reducing environmental risk.

Rice Yield and the Fate of Fertilizer Nitrogen as Affected by Addition of Earthworm Casts Collected from Oilseed Rape Fields: A Pot Experiment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Huang

Full Text Available The mechanism associated with improvement of soil nutritional status by oilseed rape crop, leading to better performance of rice crop, in rice-oilseed rape cropping systems is little known. The present study was aimed to test the hypothesis that earthworm casts produced during oilseed rape-growing season have positive effects on grain yield and fertilizer nitrogen (N utilization in the subsequent flooded rice crop. A 15N-tracing pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of earthworm casts collected from oilseed rape fields on yield attributes in rice and the fate of fertilizer N. Soil treated with earthworm casts (soil: earthworm casts = 4: 1, w/w (EC1 produced 39% higher grain yield than soil only (EC0. EC1 had 18% more panicle number and 10% higher spikelet filling percentage than EC0. Aboveground biomass and harvest index were higher in EC1 than in EC0 by 20% and 15%, respectively. SPAD values in flag leaves were 10% and 22% higher under EC1 than EC0 at 15 and 20 days after heading, respectively. EC1 had 19% higher total N uptake and 18% higher physiological N-use efficiency than EC0. These positive effects of earthworm casts on yield attributes offset negative effects of decreasing N rate from 0.74 g pot-1 (equivalent to the recommended field rate of 150 kg ha-1 to 0.44 g pot-1 (equivalent to 60% of the recommended rate. Fertilizer N retention rate was 7% higher while fertilizer N loss rate was 6% lower in EC1 than in EC0. Our study suggests that earthworm casts produced during oilseed rape-growing season are expected to have the following benefits on the subsequent flooded rice system: (1 improving growth and physiological processes in rice plants and consequently increasing rice grain yield, and (2 increasing fertilizer N retention rate and hence decreasing fertilizer N loss rate and reducing environmental risk.

Toxic element profiles in selected medicinal plants growing on serpentines in Bulgaria.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlova, Dolja; Karadjova, Irina

2013-12-01

Populations of medicinal plants growing on serpentines and their respective soils were analyzed for Fe, Ni, Mn, Cr, Co, Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Aqua regia extraction and 0.43 M acetic acid extraction were used for the quantification of pseudototal and bioavailable fractions, respectively, of elements in soil and nitric acid digestion for determination of total element content in plants. Screening was performed to (1) document levels of toxic metals in herbs extensively used in preparation of products and standardized extracts, (2) compare accumulation abilities of ferns and seed plants, and (3) estimate correlations between metal content in plants and their soils. The toxic element content of plants varied from site to site on a large scale. The concentrations of Fe and Ni were elevated while those of Cu, Zn, and Pb were close to average values usually found in plants. The highest concentrations for almost all elements were measured in both Teucrium species. Specific differences in metal accumulation between ferns and seed plants were not recorded. The investigated species are not hyperaccumulators but can accumulate toxic elements, in some cases exceeding permissible levels proposed by the World Health Organization and European Pharmacopoeia. The harvesting of medicinal plants from serpentines could be hazardous to humans.

Positive and negative consequences of sick leave for the individual, with special focus on part-time sick leave.

Science.gov (United States)

Sieurin, Leif; Josephson, Malin; Vingård, Eva

2009-01-01

To describe the consequences of long-term sick leave (>28 days) on working situation, health and lifestyle among employees from the public sector in Sweden. Employees in four county councils and two municipalities on long term sick leave on 1 November 2005 (n = 1,128) answered a questionnaire in February 2006. The response rate was 71.7%. Eighty seven per cent were still on sick leave when the questionnaire was answered: 54% part time and 33% full time. Reporting positive consequences was rare but reporting negative consequences, such as effects on the development of salary, the possibilities of pursuing a career or to change to another job were common. Sick leave seemed to lead to a considerable loss of zest for work, even if the respondents were back in work full time. Regardless of the negative consequences at work, 92% of those on part-time sick leave believed that the part-time sick leave was good for them even if many thought it had negative consequences for employer and colleagues. Long-term sick leave has negative consequences for the individual in work situations, even for those back at work full time. The development of salary and career seem to be most affected. The attitude towards part-time sick leave was positive and this result indicates that there is a potential for an increased degree of partial return to work in the group of people on long-term sick leave.

Sickness absence at a young age and later sickness absence, disability pension, death, unemployment and income in native Swedes and immigrants

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Bo; Nordqvist, Tobias; Lundberg, Ingvar; Vingård, Eva

2015-01-01

Background: Sickness absence with cash benefits from the sickness insurance gives an opportunity to be relieved from work without losing financial security. There are, however, downsides to taking sickness absence. Periods of sickness absence, even short ones, can increase the risk for future spells of sickness absence and unemployment. The sickness period may in itself have a detrimental effect on health. The aim of the study was to investigate if there is an association between exposure to sickness absence at a young age and later sickness absence, disability pension, death, unemployment and income from work. Methods: Our cohort consisted of all immigrants aged 21–25 years in Sweden in 1993 (N = 38 207) and a control group of native Swedes in the same age group (N = 225 977). We measured exposure to sickness absence in 1993 with a follow-up period of 15 years. We conducted separate analyses for men and women, and for immigrants and native Swedes. Results: Exposure to ≥60 days of sickness absence in 1993 increased the risk of sickness absence [hazard ratio (HR) 1.6–11.4], unemployment (HR 1.1–1.2), disability pension (HR 1.2–5.3) and death (HR 1.2–3.5). The income from work, during the follow-up period, among individuals with spells of sick leave for ≥60 days in 1993 was around two-thirds of that of the working population who did not take sick leave. Conclusions: Individuals on sickness absence had an increased risk for work absence, death and lower future income. PMID:25634955

Effects of plant growth regulators in heliconia ‘Red Opal’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Cecilia Ribeiro de Castro

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to evaluate growth regulators with purpose of reducing the size of heliconia ‘Red Opal’ potted plants. The experiment was carried out in randomized block design with five treatments (trinexapac-ethyl and paclobutrazol at rates of 37.5 and 75.0 mg of active ingredient per pot and control without growth regulator and five replicates. The treatments were applied 40 days after planting the rhizomes in pots filled with soil. Thirty and 150 days after the growth regulator application, plant height, number of leaves and shoots, petioles length and leaf area were evaluated. One year after planting the rhizomes in pots the number of inflorescence and leaves (leaves, sheathing leaf bases and inflorescences and rhizomes (rhizomes and roots dry mass were determined. Trinexapac-ethyl had no differences compared to the control in any of the variables evaluated. Paclobutrazol proved effective in reducing plant height, leaf area and petiole length and increase in number of leaves and shoots but the effect was temporary. Also, it did not affect the inflorescences production and leaves and rhizomes dry mass. Paclobutrazol is efficient to promote height reduction and to increase the number of shoots in heliconia ‘Red Opal’ potted plants without affect the inflorescence formation but its effects is temporary.

Suitability of some growth characteristics to indicate phytotoxicity in pot experiments on maize test plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bujtas, K [Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry (RISSAC) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1022 Budapest (Hungary)

1994-11-01

Assessment of phytotoxic conditions is often based on measuring the dry matter production of plants, although other growth characteristics may be more sensitive indicators of toxic circumstances. Purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of such variables as fresh weight, dry matter accumulation of shoots, longitudinal growth of leaves, and correlations between these variables for quantifying phytotoxicity caused by provocative rates of a lenacil-based herbicide. Impact of soil texture and soil pH on the manifestation of toxic symptoms were also investigated in a pot experiment on three soil types with maize (Zea mays L. cv. Carla) as test plant. Although the external circumstances were much different from field conditions, the observed differences in the phytotoxicity on the three soils were consistent with the application recommendations of the herbicide. High toxicities were observed on acidic sandy soil, and less on a similarly acidic soil of heavier texture. In contrast, slight stimulations were observed on chernozem soil at application rates lower than or corresponding to recommended field rates. Sum of the lengths of the leaves was a relatively sensitive indicator of bioactivity, showing cumulatively the effects observed for the individual leaves. Correlations between fresh weight/dry matter accumulation and fresh weight/sum of the lengths of leaves were shown to be linear over the application range, with slopes depending mostly on soil texture, and less so on soil pH. The results indicate that the suitability of the investigated variables for assessing phytotoxicity may be different on the different soil types. (author)

Suitability of some growth characteristics to indicate phytotoxicity in pot experiments on maize test plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bujtas, K.

1994-01-01

Assessment of phytotoxic conditions is often based on measuring the dry matter production of plants, although other growth characteristics may be more sensitive indicators of toxic circumstances. Purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of such variables as fresh weight, dry matter accumulation of shoots, longitudinal growth of leaves, and correlations between these variables for quantifying phytotoxicity caused by provocative rates of a lenacil-based herbicide. Impact of soil texture and soil pH on the manifestation of toxic symptoms were also investigated in a pot experiment on three soil types with maize (Zea mays L. cv. Carla) as test plant. Although the external circumstances were much different from field conditions, the observed differences in the phytotoxicity on the three soils were consistent with the application recommendations of the herbicide. High toxicities were observed on acidic sandy soil, and less on a similarly acidic soil of heavier texture. In contrast, slight stimulations were observed on chernozem soil at application rates lower than or corresponding to recommended field rates. Sum of the lengths of the leaves was a relatively sensitive indicator of bioactivity, showing cumulatively the effects observed for the individual leaves. Correlations between fresh weight/dry matter accumulation and fresh weight/sum of the lengths of leaves were shown to be linear over the application range, with slopes depending mostly on soil texture, and less so on soil pH. The results indicate that the suitability of the investigated variables for assessing phytotoxicity may be different on the different soil types. (author)

Proper knowledge about the growing fat; Himan ni kansuru tadashii chishiki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakamot, Yoichi

1999-07-01

Body fat is substituted for the energy adopted redundantly in the inside of the body, and the deep diabetes which relates to the increase in the fat person and this, high blood pressure, high fat blood diseases, ventilation and so-called life habit sicknesses such as an arteriosclerosis disease have been increasing. It thinks with growing fat when it wants it understood why it grows fat as to something as to that fearfulness about growing fat properly. The health making based on the individual and the weight control can't be missed to get the rich old age, which it lives through the middle age. (NEDO)

Plant response to heavy metals and organic pollutants in cell culture and at whole plant level

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Golan-Goldhirsh, A.; Barazani, O. [Ben-Gurion Univ. of The Negev, The Jacob Blaustein Inst. for Desert Research, Albert Katz Dept. of Dryland Biotechnologies, Desert Plant Biotechnology Lab., Sede Boqer Campus (Israel); Nepovim, A.; Soudek, P.; Vanek, T. [Inst. of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry (Czech Republic); Smrcek, S.; Dufkova, L.; Krenkova, S. [Faculty of Natural Sciences, Charles Univ. (Czech Republic); Yrjala, K. [Univ. of Helsinki, Dept. of Biosciences, Div. of General Microbiology, Helsinki (Finland); Schroeder, P. [Inst. for Soil Ecology, GSF National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Oberschleissheim (Germany)

2004-07-01

Background. Increasing awareness in the last decade concerning environmental quality had prompted research into 'green solutions' for soil and water remediation, progressing from laboratory in vitro experiments to pot and field trials. In vitro cell culture experiments provide a convenient system to study basic biological processes, by which biochemical pathways, enzymatic activity and metabolites can be specifically studied. However, it is difficult to relate cell cultures, calli or even hydroponic experiments to the whole plant response to pollutant stress. In the field, plants are exposed to additional a-biotic and biotic factors, which complicate further plant response. Hence, we often see that in vitro selected species perform poorly under soil and field conditions. Soil physical and chemical properties, plant-mycorrhizal association and soil-microbial activity affect the process of contaminant degradation by plants and/or microorganisms, pointing to the importance of pot and field experiments. Objective. This paper is a joint effort of a group of scientists in COST action 837. It represents experimental work and an overview on plant response to environmental stress from in vitro tissue culture to whole plant experiments in soil. Results. Results obtained from in vitro plant tissue cultures and whole plant hydroponic experiments indicate the phytoremediation potential of different plant species and the biochemical mechanisms involved in plant tolerance. In pot experiments, several selected desert plant species, which accumulated heavy metal in hydroponic systems, succeeded in accumulating the heavy metal in soil conditions as well. Conclusions and recommendations. In vitro plant tissue cultures provide a useful experimental system for the study of the mechanisms involved in the detoxification of organic and heavy metal pollutants. However, whole plant experimental systems, as well as hydroponics followed by pot and field trials, are essential when

Human proton/oligopeptide transporter (POT) genes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Botka, C. W.; Wittig, T. W.; Graul, R. C.

2000-01-01

The proton-dependent oligopeptide transporters (POT) gene family currently consists of approximately 70 cloned cDNAs derived from diverse organisms. In mammals, two genes encoding peptide transporters, PepT1 and PepT2 have been cloned in several species including humans, in addition to a rat...... histidine/peptide transporter (rPHT1). Because the Candida elegans genome contains five putative POT genes, we searched the available protein and nucleic acid databases for additional mammalian/human POT genes, using iterative BLAST runs and the human expressed sequence tags (EST) database. The apparent...... and introns of the likely human orthologue (termed hPHT2). Northern analyses with EST clones indicated that hPHT1 is primarily expressed in skeletal muscle and spleen, whereas hPHT2 is found in spleen, placenta, lung, leukocytes, and heart. These results suggest considerable complexity of the human POT gene...

Morning Sickness: Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy

Science.gov (United States)

... About ACOG Morning Sickness: Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy Home For Patients Search FAQs Morning Sickness: Nausea ... PDF Format Morning Sickness: Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy Pregnancy How common is nausea and vomiting of ...

Reversible sympathetic vasomotor dysfunction in POTS patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Freitas, J; Santos, R; Azevedo, E; Costa, O; Carvalho, M; de Freitas, A F

2000-11-01

Orthostatic intolerance refers to the development upon assuming an upright posture of disabling symptoms, which are partly relieved by resuming the supine position. Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is an orthostatic intolerance syndrome characterized by palpitations due to excessive orthostatic sinus tachycardia, lightheadedness, tremor, and near-syncope. Patients usually undergo extensive medical, cardiac, endocrine, neurological and psychiatric evaluation, which usually fails to identify a specific abnormality. We investigated the autonomic and hemodynamic profile of POTS patients and the efficacy of bisoprolol and or fludrocortisone. We evaluated eleven female patients with POTS before and after medical treatment with a cardio-selective beta blocker (bisoprolol) and/or fludrocortisone, and eleven age-matched controls. Variability of heart rate and systolic blood pressure was assessed by Fast Fourier Transform, and spontaneous baroreceptor gain by temporal sequences slope and alpha index. Modelflow was used to quantify hemodynamics. All patients improved greatly after medication. The autonomic and hemodynamic impairment observed in patients with POTS, particularly after orthostatic stress, is treated effectively with bisoprolol and/or fludrocortisone. These results need further confirmation in a controlled double-blind study. Proper medical treatment dramatically improves the clinical and autonomic/hemodynamic disturbances observed in patients with POTS. The data support the hypothesis that POTS is due to a hyperadrenergic activation and/or hypovolemia during orthostasis.

Clinical characteristics of subacute radiation sickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Benrong; Ye Genyao; Huang Shimin

1991-01-01

The clinical characteristics, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of subacute radiation sickness are analysed and discussed in this paper on the basis of clinical data from cases in a 137 Cs source accident in Mudanjiang and of a review of the literature. We consider that the subacute radiation sickness is a whole body disease caused by comparatively large dose of continuous or intermittent external irradiation in several weeks or months. it must be differentiated from acute radiation sickness, chronic radiation sickness, idiopathic aplastic anemia and other hematological diseases, such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

One-pot synthesis of gold nanostars using plant polyphenols for cancer photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Xiao-Long; Zheng, Cheng; Zhang, Yun; Yang, Huang-Hao; Liu, Xiaolong; Liu, Jingfeng

2016-01-01

Branched plasmonic nanostructures have been found to exhibit strong enhancement of the electromagnetic field surrounding their multi-branched petals. This feature endows them with improved performance in catalysis, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, photoacoustic imaging, and photothermal therapy. Albeit several synthesis techniques have been developed, the precisely controlled growth of highly branched nanostructures with a one-pot surfactant-free procedure is still challenging. Herein, we present a simple seedless route to synthesize gold nanostars (AuNSs) using a natural plant polyphenol, gallic acid (GA), as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The size and shape of AuNSs can be tuned by simply adjusting the amount of added GA. Under the optimum condition, the as-prepared AuNSs with diameters about 100 nm exhibit strong near-infrared absorption, good photothermal efficiency, and high biocompatibility. We demonstrate that AuNSs can be utilized for simultaneous photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy in living cancer cells. This study highlights facile synthesized AuNSs could serve as a promising platform for cancer diagnosis and therapy.Graphical AbstractGold nanostars (AuNSs) are synthesized by a simple seedless route using a natural plant polyphenol, gallic acid (GA), as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The AuNSs can be utilized for simultaneous photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy in living cancer cells. This study highlights facile synthesized AuNSs could serve as a promising platform for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

One-pot synthesis of gold nanostars using plant polyphenols for cancer photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Xiao-Long [Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University, The United Innovation of Mengchao Hepatobiliary Technology Key Laboratory of Fujian Province (China); Zheng, Cheng [Fuzhou University, The Key Lab of Analysis and Detection Technology for Food Safety of the MOE, College of Chemistry (China); Zhang, Yun [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen Institute of Rare Earth Materials, Haixi Institute (China); Yang, Huang-Hao [Fuzhou University, The Key Lab of Analysis and Detection Technology for Food Safety of the MOE, College of Chemistry (China); Liu, Xiaolong, E-mail: xiaoloong.liu@gmail.com; Liu, Jingfeng, E-mail: drjingfeng@126.com [Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University, The United Innovation of Mengchao Hepatobiliary Technology Key Laboratory of Fujian Province (China)

2016-07-15

Branched plasmonic nanostructures have been found to exhibit strong enhancement of the electromagnetic field surrounding their multi-branched petals. This feature endows them with improved performance in catalysis, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, photoacoustic imaging, and photothermal therapy. Albeit several synthesis techniques have been developed, the precisely controlled growth of highly branched nanostructures with a one-pot surfactant-free procedure is still challenging. Herein, we present a simple seedless route to synthesize gold nanostars (AuNSs) using a natural plant polyphenol, gallic acid (GA), as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The size and shape of AuNSs can be tuned by simply adjusting the amount of added GA. Under the optimum condition, the as-prepared AuNSs with diameters about 100 nm exhibit strong near-infrared absorption, good photothermal efficiency, and high biocompatibility. We demonstrate that AuNSs can be utilized for simultaneous photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy in living cancer cells. This study highlights facile synthesized AuNSs could serve as a promising platform for cancer diagnosis and therapy.Graphical AbstractGold nanostars (AuNSs) are synthesized by a simple seedless route using a natural plant polyphenol, gallic acid (GA), as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The AuNSs can be utilized for simultaneous photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy in living cancer cells. This study highlights facile synthesized AuNSs could serve as a promising platform for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Influenza in workplaces: transmission, workers' adherence to sick leave advice and European sick leave recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Christina Hansen; Tomba, Gianpaolo Scalia; de Blasio, Birgitte Freiesleben

2016-06-01

Knowledge about influenza transmission in the workplace and whether staying home from work when experiencing influenza-like illness can reduce the spread of influenza is crucial for the design of efficient public health initiatives. This review synthesizes current literature on sickness presenteeism and influenza transmission in the workplace and provides an overview of sick leave recommendations in Europe for influenza. A search was performed on Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Cinahl, Web of Science, Scopus and SweMed to identify studies related to workplace contacts, -transmission, -interventions and compliance with recommendations to take sick leave. A web-based survey on national recommendations and policies for sick leave during influenza was issued to 31 European countries. Twenty-two articles (9 surveys; 13 modelling articles) were eligible for this review. Results from social mixing studies suggest that 20-25% of weekly contacts are made in the workplace, while modelling studies suggest that on average 16% (range 9-33%) of influenza transmission occurs in the workplace. The effectiveness of interventions to reduce workplace presenteeism is largely unknown. Finally, estimates from studies reporting expected compliance with sick leave recommendations ranged from 71 to 95%. Overall, 18 countries participated in the survey of which nine (50%) had issued recommendations encouraging sick employees to stay at home during the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic, while only one country had official recommendations for seasonal influenza. During the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic, many European countries recommended ill employees to take sick leave. Further research is warranted to quantify the effect of reduced presenteeism during influenza illness. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.

Influenza in workplaces: transmission, workers’ adherence to sick leave advice and European sick leave recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Tomba, Gianpaolo Scalia; de Blasio, Birgitte Freiesleben

2016-01-01

Background: Knowledge about influenza transmission in the workplace and whether staying home from work when experiencing influenza-like illness can reduce the spread of influenza is crucial for the design of efficient public health initiatives. Aim: This review synthesizes current literature on sickness presenteeism and influenza transmission in the workplace and provides an overview of sick leave recommendations in Europe for influenza. Methods: A search was performed on Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, Cinahl, Web of Science, Scopus and SweMed to identify studies related to workplace contacts, -transmission, -interventions and compliance with recommendations to take sick leave. A web-based survey on national recommendations and policies for sick leave during influenza was issued to 31 European countries. Results: Twenty-two articles (9 surveys; 13 modelling articles) were eligible for this review. Results from social mixing studies suggest that 20–25% of weekly contacts are made in the workplace, while modelling studies suggest that on average 16% (range 9–33%) of influenza transmission occurs in the workplace. The effectiveness of interventions to reduce workplace presenteeism is largely unknown. Finally, estimates from studies reporting expected compliance with sick leave recommendations ranged from 71 to 95%. Overall, 18 countries participated in the survey of which nine (50%) had issued recommendations encouraging sick employees to stay at home during the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic, while only one country had official recommendations for seasonal influenza. Conclusions: During the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic, many European countries recommended ill employees to take sick leave. Further research is warranted to quantify the effect of reduced presenteeism during influenza illness. PMID:27060594

Growth responses of maritime sand dune plant species to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

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Mariusz Tadych

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In a pot experiment conducted in a greenhouse, the response of 6 plant species dominating in the succession of vegetation of a deflation hollow of the Łeba Bar to inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF was investigated. The inoculum was a mixture of soil, roots and spores of 5 species of AMF with the dominant species Glomus aggregatum. Except for Corynephorus canescens and Festuca rubra subsp. arenaria, both the growth and the dry matter of above-ground parts of plants of Agrostis stolonifera, Ammophila arenaria, Corynephorus canescens, Juncus articulatus and J. balticus inoculated with AMF were higher than those growing in soils lacking infection propagules of these fungi. Inoculation with AMF decreased the dry matter of root: shoot ratios in 5 plant species. This property was not determined in Festuca rubra subsp. arenaria due to the death of all control plants. The level of mycorrhizal infection was low and did not correlate with the growth responses found. The high growth reaction of Juncus spp. to AMF found in this study suggests that the opinion of non-mycotrophy or low dependence of plants of Juncaceae on AMF was based on results of investigations of plants growing in wet sites known to inhibit the formation of mycorrhizae.

Motion sickness: a negative reinforcement model.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowins, Brad

2010-01-15

Theories pertaining to the "why" of motion sickness are in short supply relative to those detailing the "how." Considering the profoundly disturbing and dysfunctional symptoms of motion sickness, it is difficult to conceive of why this condition is so strongly biologically based in humans and most other mammalian and primate species. It is posited that motion sickness evolved as a potent negative reinforcement system designed to terminate motion involving sensory conflict or postural instability. During our evolution and that of many other species, motion of this type would have impaired evolutionary fitness via injury and/or signaling weakness and vulnerability to predators. The symptoms of motion sickness strongly motivate the individual to terminate the offending motion by early avoidance, cessation of movement, or removal of oneself from the source. The motion sickness negative reinforcement mechanism functions much like pain to strongly motivate evolutionary fitness preserving behavior. Alternative why theories focusing on the elimination of neurotoxins and the discouragement of motion programs yielding vestibular conflict suffer from several problems, foremost that neither can account for the rarity of motion sickness in infants and toddlers. The negative reinforcement model proposed here readily accounts for the absence of motion sickness in infants and toddlers, in that providing strong motivation to terminate aberrant motion does not make sense until a child is old enough to act on this motivation.

Examining paid sickness absence by shift workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Catano, V M; Bissonnette, A B

2014-06-01

Shift workers are at greater risk than day workers with respect to psychological and physical health, yet little research has linked shift work to increased sickness absence. To investigate the relationship between shift work and sickness absence while controlling for organizational and individual characteristics and shift work attributes that have confounded previous research. The study used archive data collected from three national surveys in Canada, each involving over 20000 employees and 6000 private-sector firms in 14 different occupational groups. The employees reported the number of paid sickness absence days in the past 12 months. Data were analysed using both chi-squared statistics and hierarchical regressions. Contrary to previous research, shift workers took less paid sickness absence than day workers. There were no differences in the length of the sickness absence between both groups or in sickness absence taken by female and male workers whether working days or shifts. Only job tenure, the presence of a union in the workplace and working rotating shifts predicted sickness absence in shift workers. The results were consistent across all three samples. In general, shift work does not seem to be linked to increased sickness absence. However, such associations may be true for specific industries. Male and female workers did not differ in the amount of sickness absence taken. Rotating shifts, regardless of industry, predicted sickness absence among shift workers. Consideration should be given to implementing scheduled time off between shift changes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Parental availability for the care of sick children.

Science.gov (United States)

Heymann, S J; Earle, A; Egleston, B

1996-08-01

Parents have always played a critical role in the care of sick children. Although parents' roles remain crucial to children's health, parental availability has declined during the past half century. The percentage of women with preschool children who work has risen almost fivefold in 45 years from 12% in 1947 to 58% in 1992. The percentage of women in the paid work force with school-aged children has almost tripled in the same period, from 27.3% to 75.9%. Research has examined the effects of a variety of parental work conditions on children. However, past research has not examined how working conditions affect the ability of parents to care for their sick children. In this article, we examine how often the children of working parents get sick and whether parents receive enough paid leave to care for their sick children. This analysis makes use of two national surveys, which provide complementary information regarding the care of sick children. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative probability sample of 12,686 men and women; the National Medical Expenditure Survey is a panel survey of 34,459 people. First, we estimated the family illness burden. Second, we looked in detail at the number of days of sick leave mothers had. Third, we examined whether mothers who had sick leave had it consistently during a 5-year period. Finally, we conducted a logistic regression to determine what factors were significant predictors of both lacking sick leave. More than one in three families faced a family illness burden of 2 weeks or more each year. Yet, 28% of mothers had sick leave none of the time they were employed between 1985 and 1990. Employed mothers of children with chronic conditions had less sick leave than other employed mothers. Thirty-six percent of mothers whose children had chronic conditions had sick leave none of the time they were employed. Although 20% of working parents who did not live in poverty lacked

The Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis & Management

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Satish R Raj

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS, characterized by orthostatic tachycardia in the absence of orthostatic hypotension, has been the focus of increasing clinical interest over the last 15 years 1. Patients with POTS complain of symptoms of tachycardia, exercise intolerance, lightheadedness, extreme fatigue, headache and mental clouding. Patients with POTS demonstrate a heart rate increase of ≥30 bpm with prolonged standing (5-30 minutes, often have high levels of upright plasma norepinephrine (reflecting sympathetic nervous system activation, and many patients have a low blood volume. POTS can be associated with a high degree of functional disability. Therapies aimed at correcting the hypovolemia and the autonomic imbalance may help relieve the severity of the symptoms. This review outlines the present understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of POTS.

Industrial Sickness in Indian Manufacturing

OpenAIRE

Falk, Rahel

2005-01-01

In India, the term ‘sick units’ refers to economically unviable firms which are kept alive ‘in the public interest’ by means of subsidies of various kinds. Since this practice is common, and large parts of the industrial sector are affected, this phenomenon is referred to as industrial sickness. As of March 2001, the Reserve Bank of India counted over a quarter of a million of sick units with outstanding credit worth more than a quarter of a trillion of Indian Rupees, i.e. about 1.2 percent o...

Motion sickness, stress and the endocannabinoid system.

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Alexander Choukèr

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: A substantial number of individuals are at risk for the development of motion sickness induced nausea and vomiting (N&V during road, air or sea travel. Motion sickness can be extremely stressful but the neurobiologic mechanisms leading to motion sickness are not clear. The endocannabinoid system (ECS represents an important neuromodulator of stress and N&V. Inhibitory effects of the ECS on N&V are mediated by endocannabinoid-receptor activation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied the activity of the ECS in human volunteers (n = 21 during parabolic flight maneuvers (PFs. During PFs, microgravity conditions (<10(-2 g are generated for approximately 22 s which results in a profound kinetic stimulus. Blood endocannabinoids (anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, 2-AG were measured from blood samples taken in-flight before start of the parabolic maneuvers, after 10, 20, and 30 parabolas, in-flight after termination of PFs and 24 h later. Volunteers who developed acute motion sickness (n = 7 showed significantly higher stress scores but lower endocannabinoid levels during PFs. After 20 parabolas, blood anandamide levels had dropped significantly in volunteers with motion sickness (from 0.39+/-0.40 to 0.22+/-0.25 ng/ml but increased in participants without the condition (from 0.43+/-0.23 to 0.60+/-0.38 ng/ml resulting in significantly higher anandamide levels in participants without motion sickness (p = 0.02. 2-AG levels in individuals with motion sickness were low and almost unchanged throughout the experiment but showed a robust increase in participants without motion sickness. Cannabinoid-receptor 1 (CB1 but not cannabinoid-receptor 2 (CB2 mRNA expression in leucocytes 4 h after the experiment was significantly lower in volunteers with motion sickness than in participants without N&V. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate that stress and motion sickness in humans are associated with impaired endocannabinoid

[The sick individual as a concept].

Science.gov (United States)

Tejerizo López, Luis Carlos

2011-01-01

We start from the premise, shared by some current philosophical movements and by the author, which states that philosophy is not contemplation, or reflection, or introspection or communication. Philosophy is the art of shaping, inventing and creating concepts. It is an explicit way of introducing new differences in life, a different reading level, a specific jargon, which may imply revealing the flip side of the coin, or a dissimilar view of the side facing us. The philosopher is the friend of the concept, he holds it in his power, which means, basically and in all honesty, that philosophy is the discipline of creating concepts. Let us remember the brilliant idea of the Russian director Tarkovsky, who announced his greatest ambition as an artist: "To capture time". At the same time, we must recall one of the sayings of this director: "Every film I have directed and I intend to direct is always tied to characters who have something to overcome". The healthy individual lives in a specific time, with precise coordinates, aware that his life consists only of living that time. That is, living as defined by Josep María Esquirol: "Then we could also see that the best way of living the present is not to run after the fleeing time, but to see and live the opportunity that appears before us". One of the many circumstances that can intercept the way we see and live the opportunity that appears before us is sickness, one of those inescapable experiences we have not been taught how to pay an adequate attention to, and the meaning of which can, in a way, go unnoticed. As "time" goes by, the circumstance that we consider to be the basis on which existence is founded, sickness can appear, thus introducing a new dimension in the time of the healthy individual. For this reason we, as doctors and professionals, know that sickness "is tied to characters who have something to overcome". In view of the fact that a sickness invades a healthy individual and transforms him into a sick one

Explaining the gender gap in sickness absence.

Science.gov (United States)

Østby, K A; Mykletun, A; Nilsen, W

2018-04-17

In many western countries, women have a much higher rate of sickness absence than men. To what degree the gender differences in sickness absence are caused by gender differences in health is largely unknown. To assess to what degree the gender gap in sickness absence can be explained by health factors and work- and family-related stressors. Norwegian parents participating in the Tracking Opportunities and Problems (TOPP) study were asked about sickness absence and a range of factors possibly contributing to gender differences in sickness absence, including somatic and mental health, sleep problems, job control/demands, work-home conflicts, parent-child conflicts and stressful life events. Using a cross-sectional design, we did linear regression analyses, to assess the relative contribution from health and stressors. There were 557 study participants. Adjusting for health factors reduced the gender difference in sickness absence by 24%, while adjusting for stressors in the family and at work reduced the difference by 22%. A simultaneous adjustment for health factors and stressors reduced the difference in sickness absence by about 28%. Despite adjusting for a large number of factors, including both previously well-studied factors (e.g. health, job control/demands) and lesser-studied factors (parent-child conflict and sexual assault), this study found that most of the gender gap in sickness absence remains unexplained. Gender differences in health and stressors account for only part of the differences in sickness absence. Other factors must, therefore, exist outside the domains of health, work and family stressors.

Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the potential of three wild plant species for phytoextraction of mercury from small-scale gold mine tailings

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A. Fiqri

2016-04-01

Full Text Available A study that was aimed to explore the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM fungi inoculation on the potential of wild plant species (Paspalum conjugatum, Cyperus kyllingia, and Lindernia crustacea for phytoextraction of mercury from small-scale gold mine tailings was conducted in a glasshouse. Each of the plant seedlings was planted in a plastic pot containing 10 kg of planting medium (mixture of tailings and compost; 50%: 50% by weight. Treatments tested were three plant species and doses of AM fungi inoculation, i.e. 0 and 30 spores/plant. At harvest of 63 days, plant shoot and root were analyzed for mercury concentration. The remaining planting media in the pots were used for growing maize for 84 days. The results showed that the most potential plant species for phytoextraction of mercury was Paspalum conjugatum, while the most mercury tolerant plant was Cyperus kyllingia. Without AM fungi inoculation, the highest accumulation of mercury (44.87 mg/kg was found in the root of Paspalum conjugatum. If AM fungi were inoculated, the highest accumulation of mercury (56.30 mg/kg was also found in the shoot of Paspalum conjugatum. Results of the second experiment proved that the growth and biomass production of maize after mycophytoextraction by the plant species were higher than those of maize grown on media without mycophytoextraction of mercury.

Temperature-base and soma thermal for Zinnia ‘Profusion Cherry’ potted grown in protected environment

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Charleston Gonçalves

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The growing of consumer market demands introduction of new species of flowers and cultivars primarily for production under protected cultivation. The zinnia by the quickness of production can be regarded as an alternative, however demand studies by the lack of information in the literature. We evaluated the duration of different periods, the base temperature and thermal accumulation, expressed as degree-days for the potted zinnia ‘Profusion Cherry’, conducted under protected cultivation for different phenological subperiods. The test was conducted in a greenhouse covered with plastic and closed laterally with shading-net and the duration of subperiods were made to twenty times after sowing. The base temperature was determined by relative development and values-based temperature and thermal time in degree-days (DD. The results for the different phases were, respectively: first open flower-planting: 4.1 °C and GD 838, first open flower - 50% of flowers open: 3.0 °C and 184 GD and 50% of flowers open - senescence: 6.9 °C and 238 GD.

Part-Time Sick Leave as a Treatment Method?

OpenAIRE

Andrén D; Andrén T

2009-01-01

This paper analyzes the effects of being on part-time sick leave compared to full-time sick leave on the probability of recovering (i.e., returning to work with full recovery of lost work capacity). Using a discrete choice one-factor model, we estimate mean treatment parameters and distributional treatment parameters from a common set of structural parameters. Our results show that part-time sick leave increases the likelihood of recovering and dominates full-time sick leave for sickness spel...

Thermomechanical Impact of Polyurethane Potting on Gun Launched Electronics

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A. S. Haynes

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Electronics packages in precision guided munitions are used in guidance and control units, mission computers, and fuze-safe-and-arm devices. They are subjected to high g-loads during gun launch, pyrotechnic shocks during flight, and high g-loads upon impact with hard targets. To enhance survivability, many electronics packages are potted after assembly. The purpose of the potting is to provide additional structural support and shock damping. Researchers at the US Army recently completed a series of dynamic mechanical tests on a urethane-based potting material to assess its behavior in an electronics assembly during gun launch and under varying thermal launch conditions. This paper will discuss the thermomechanical properties of the potting material as well as simulation efforts to determine the suitability of this potting compound for gun launched electronics. Simulation results will compare stresses and displacements for a simplified electronics package with and without full potting. An evaluation of the advantages and consequences of potting electronics in munitions systems will also be discussed.

RPA and POT1: friends or foes at telomeres?

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Rachel Litman; Chang, Sandy; Zou, Lee

2012-02-15

Telomere maintenance in cycling cells relies on both DNA replication and capping by the protein complex shelterin. Two single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding proteins, replication protein A (RPA) and protection of telomere 1 (POT1) play critical roles in DNA replication and telomere capping, respectively. While RPA binds to ssDNA in a non-sequence-specific manner, POT1 specifically recognizes singlestranded TTAGGG telomeric repeats. Loss of POT1 leads to aberrant accumulation of RPA at telomeres and activation of the ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related kinase (ATR)-mediated checkpoint response, suggesting that POT1 antagonizes RPA binding to telomeric ssDNA. The requirement for both POT1 and RPA in telomere maintenance and the antagonism between the two proteins raises the important question of how they function in concert on telomeric ssDNA. Two interesting models were proposed by recent studies to explain the regulation of POT1 and RPA at telomeres. Here, we discuss how these models help unravel the coordination, and also the antagonism, between POT1 and RPA during the cell cycle.

Size-symmetric competition in a shade-tolerant invasive plant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pan, Xiao-Yun; Weiner, Jacob; Li, Bo

2013-01-01

competition need not be size asymmetric, and suggest that tolerance to low light levels involves a reduction in phenotypic plasticity. Responses of the invasive A. philoxeroides to crowding may be an example of an invasive plant’s success in establishing dense stands of closely related individuals......, a shade‐tolerant invasive species. Stem fragments of A. philoxeroides were grown at either low or high densities (6 vs. 24 plants per pot) under three light levels (10%, 34%, and 100% full sun). After 8 weeks, survival was 31% lower in pots with a higher initial density. Both high density and low light...... levels reduced plant size substantially. Mean plant biomass ranged from 0.23 g in high‐density and low‐light pots to 4.41 g in low‐density and high‐light pots. There were no strong or significant effects of density or light level on size inequality of survivors. Most of the variation in allocation...

Managerial leadership is associated with self-reported sickness absence and sickness presenteeism among Swedish men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyberg, Anna; Westerlund, Hugo; Magnusson Hanson, Linda L; Theorell, Töres

2008-11-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between managerial leadership and self-reported sickness absence/presenteeism among Swedish men and women. Five thousand one hundred and forty-one Swedish employees, 56% of the participants in a nationally representative sample of the Swedish working population, were included in this cross-sectional questionnaire study. The leadership dimensions measured were five subscales of a standardized leadership questionnaire (Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness Programme): Integrity, Team integration, Inspirational leadership, Autocratic leadership, and Self-centred leadership. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted, adjusting for factors in private life, employment category, labour-market sector, working conditions, self-reported general health, and satisfaction with life in general. Inspirational leadership was associated with a lower rate of short spells of sickness absence (women. Autocratic leadership was related to a greater amount of total sick days taken by men. Sometimes showing integrity was associated with higher rate of sickness absence >1 week among men, and seldom showing integrity was associated with more sickness presenteeism among women. Managers performing Team integration were sometimes associated with women taking fewer short (1 week) spells of sickness absence. Adjustment for self-reported general health did not alter these associations for men, but did so to some extent for women. Managerial leadership was found to be relevant for the understanding of sickness absence in the Swedish working population. There were distinctive gender differences.

Heavy metals content in plant-growing products as the results of agroecological monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuznetsov, A.V.; Lunev, M.I.; Pavlikhina, A.V.; Lobas, N.V.

2008-01-01

The generalised data on the heavy metals and arsenic contents in grain and vegetable cultures, green mass and hay of various grasses are presented. The dependence of heavy metal accumulation factors in plant-growing products on soil properties is shown. The estimation of levels of the heavy metals contents in accordance with the admissible content standards is given.

Sickness benefit cuts mainly affect blue-collar workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Aaviksoo, E; Kiivet, R-A

2014-08-01

To analyse the impact of sick-pay cuts on the use of sickness absence by employees of different socioeconomic groups. In 2009 cuts in sick pay were implemented in reaction to an economic crisis in Estonia. Nationwide health survey data from the years 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 were used to evaluate sickness absence among blue-collar and white-collar workers. The dataset comprised 7,449 employees of 20-64 years of age. Difference in prevalence of absentees before and after the reform was assessed using the chi-squared test. Odds ratios (OR) for sickness absence were calculated in a multivariate logistic regression model. After the reform, the proportion of blue-collar workers who had been on sick leave decreased from 51% to 40% (pgender, age, self-rated health, and presence of chronic disease, especially among those with low incomes; in white-collar employees it reached statistical significance only in those with good self-rated health (p=0.033). In a multivariate model the odds of having lower sickness absence were highly significant only in blue-collar employees (OR 0.63; 95% confidence interval 0.51-0.77, p<0.001). The cuts in sickness benefits had a major impact on the use of sickness absence by blue-collar employees with low salaries. This indicates that lower income was a major factor hindering the use of sick leave as these employees are most vulnerable to the loss of income. © 2014 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Development and bloom in hybrids of wild passion fruit cultivated in different types of pots and shading levels

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Eileen Azevedo Santos

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Ornamental hybrids of passion flowers are thoroughly diffused in many countries and used in the decoration of houses and gardens. However, the cultivation of ornamental passion fruits practically unexploited in Brazil. This study aimed at evaluating the growth and blooming of F1 hybrids of Passiflora L. (P. sublanceolata J.M. MacDougal [ex P. palmeri var. sublanceolata Killip] vs. P. foetida var. foetida L. cultivated in ceramic and concrete pots under different shading levels. The vegetative and flower evaluations were carried out weekly, in clonal cuttings 60 days after rooting. The height, leaf length and width, the number of internodes and leaves and stem diameter were evaluated using a randomized complete design in a factorial scheme which corresponded to two genotypes, two types of pot, three shading levels (25 %, 50 %, 75 % and seven weeks of evaluation, with four replications. For the variable number of flowers, the same experimental design was adopted. However, the number of evaluations was modified for three periods, but this was not considered for the flower diameter and leaf area. The shading levels of 25 % and 50 % were the most favorable to the growth in height, whereas hybrid genotypes under 25 % shade had greater increase in the number of leaves, internodes and stem diameter, showing tolerance to moderate shade. The higher values for length, width and leaf area were observed at 75 % shade. The greatest number of flowers was verified at 25 % shadow in concrete pots. As for the types of pot, the ceramic ones were more favorable to the growth of hybrid plants during the first weeks of acclimatization to the treatments, and the concrete ones were more propitious to blooming. Thus, the use of hybrid plants in concrete pots for the ornamentation of internal environments is recommended, if they are well illuminated.

Cinerama sickness and postural instability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bos, Jelte E; Ledegang, Wietse D; Lubeck, Astrid J A; Stins, John F

2013-01-01

Motion sickness symptoms and increased postural instability induced by motion pictures have been reported in a laboratory, but not in a real cinema. We, therefore, carried out an observational study recording sickness severity and postural instability in 19 subjects before, immediately and 45 min after watching a 1 h 3D aviation documentary in a cinema. Sickness was significantly larger right after the movie than before, and in a lesser extent still so after 45 min. The average standard deviation of the lateral centre of pressure excursions was significantly larger only right afterwards. When low-pass filtered at 0.1 Hz, lateral and for-aft excursions were both significantly larger right after the movie, while for-aft excursions then remained larger even after 45 min. Speculating on previous findings, we predict more sickness and postural instability in 3D than in 2D movies, also suggesting a possible, but yet unknown risk for work-related activities and vehicle operation. Watching motion pictures may be sickening and posturally destabilising, but effects in a cinema are unknown. We, therefore, carried out an observational study showing that sickness then is mainly an issue during the exposure while postural instability is an issue afterwards.

Sick-visit immunizations and delayed well-baby visits.

Science.gov (United States)

Robison, Steve G

2013-07-01

Giving recommended immunizations during sick visits for minor and acute illness such as acute otitis media has long been an American Academy of Pediatrics/Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice recommendation. An addition to the American Academy of Pediatrics policy in 2010 advised considering whether giving immunizations at the sick visit would discourage making up missed well-baby visits. This study quantifies the potential tradeoff between sick-visit immunizations and well-baby visits. This study was a retrospective cohort analysis with a case-control component of sick visits for acute otitis media that supplanted normal well-baby visits at age 2, 4, or 6 months. Infants were stratified for sick-visit immunization, no sick-visit immunization but quick makeup well-baby visits, or no sick-visit immunizations or quick makeup visits. Immunization rates and well-baby visit rates were assessed through 24 months of age. For 1060 study cases, no significant difference was detected in immunization rates or well-baby visits through 24 months of age between those with or without sick-visit immunizations. Thirty-nine percent of infants without a sick-visit shot failed to return for a quick makeup well-baby visit; this delayed group was significantly less likely to be up-to-date for immunizations (relative risk: 0.66) and had fewer well-baby visits (mean: 3.8) from 2 through 24 months of age compared with those with sick-visit shots (mean: 4.7). The substantial risk that infants will not return for a timely makeup well-baby visit after a sick visit should be included in any consideration of whether to delay immunizations.

Radionuclides and heavy metal uptake by lolium italicum plant as affected by saline water irrigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramadan, A.A.; Aly, A.I.; Helal, M.H.

2001-01-01

The use of saline waters to grow crops on increasingly metal polluted soils is becoming a common practice in the arid regions. Nevertheless, the effects of soil and water salinity on radionuclides and heavy metal fluxes in polluted areas are not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate in pot experiments the plant uptake of cesium-137, Co-60, Mn-54, Zinc, cadmium and copper from a polluted alluvial aridisol as affected by salt water irrigation. Fertilized soil material was planted in pots with L. Italicum for 18 weeks under greenhouse conditions. The plants were irrigated either with water or with salt solution of variable variable Na/Ca ratio and harvested every 5-7 weeks. In addition to elemental analysis of plants and soil extracts root length was determined by a gridline intersect method and the viable part of the roots was estimated by a root protein inex. Saline (Na) water irrigation increased cobalt-60, manganese-54 and heavy metal solubility in soil, reduced root viability and enhanced the uptake of Co-60, Mn-54, Cd, Cu, Zn and Na by L.italicum and reduced the uptake of Cs-137. Ca counteracted these effects partly. The presented results demonstrated a dual effect of salinity on radiouclides and heavy metal availability to plants and suggest a relationship between root mortality and the enhanced Co-60, Mn-54, and heavy metake ny salt stressed plants

Use of sewage sludge and coconut coir mix as a peat substitute for potted chrysanthemum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosenani, A.B.; Lim, F.Y.; Thohirah, L.A.; Fauziah, C.I.

2003-07-01

Recent central processing of domestic wastewater in Malaysia has initiated investigations into the disposal/utilization of the sewage sludge produced. We had conducted an experiment to investigate the feasibility of using dewatered sewage sludge and coconut coir as a peat substitute in a potting medium for chrysanthemum. The experiment involved 9 treatments with sewage sludge (SS) and coconut coir (CC) mixed in different ratios (v/v) to replace peat in the standard potting medium of 3:2:1 (soil: peat: sand).The potting medium contained the following treatments, T1: peat + recommended rates of Agroblend (Ag), a slow release fertilizer, and Grofas (Gf), a foliar fertilizer (commonly used medium and fertilization), T2: [1SS:1CC] + Ag, T3: [1SS:1CC] + half recommended rates of Agroblend and Grofas (1/2Ag + 1/2Gf), T4: [2SS:1CC] + Ag, T5: [2SS:1CC] + 1/2Ag + 1/2Gf, T6: [3SS:1CC] + Ag, T7: [3SS:1CC] + 1/2Ag + 1/2Gf, T8: [4SS:1CC] + Ag, and T9: [4SS:1CC] + 1/2Ag + 1/2Gf; laid-out in a randomized complete block design with 5 replications. Results of the study show that in general the media with sludge and coconut coir mixtures produced better plant growth and higher total number of flowers than peat. However, the higher ratio of SS:CC, (4SS:1CC) produced poorer plant growth and less number of flowers. Increase in sewage sludge in the medium resulted in increase in foliar contents of heavy metals. This study demonstrates that sewage sludge and coconut coir mixture in the ratio of 1:1 may best substitute peat in the potting medium for chrysanthemum with only Agroblend fertilizer application. (author)

Wild plant species growing closely connected in a subalpine meadow host distinct root-associated bacterial communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristin Aleklett

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Plant roots are known to harbor large and diverse communities of bacteria. It has been suggested that plant identity can structure these root-associated communities, but few studies have specifically assessed how the composition of root microbiota varies within and between plant species growing under natural conditions. We assessed the community composition of endophytic and epiphytic bacteria through high throughput sequencing using 16S rDNA derived from root tissues collected from a population of a wild, clonal plant (Orange hawkweed–Pilosella aurantiaca as well as two neighboring plant species (Oxeye daisy–Leucanthemum vulgare and Alsike clover–Trifolium hybridum. Our first goal was to determine if plant species growing in close proximity, under similar environmental conditions, still hosted unique root microbiota. Our results showed that plants of different species host distinct bacterial communities in their roots. In terms of community composition, Betaproteobacteria (especially the family Oxalobacteraceae were found to dominate in the root microbiota of L. vulgare and T. hybridum samples, whereas the root microbiota of P. aurantiaca had a more heterogeneous distribution of bacterial abundances where Gammaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria occupied a larger portion of the community. We also explored the extent of individual variance within each plant species investigated, and found that in the plant species thought to have the least genetic variance among individuals (P. aurantiaca still hosted just as diverse microbial communities. Whether all plant species host their own distinct root microbiota and plants more closely related to each other share more similar bacterial communities still remains to be fully explored, but among the plants examined in this experiment there was no trend that the two species belonging to the same family shared more similarities in terms of bacterial community composition.

Isolation of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria of guava plants (Psidium guajava

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blanca Estela Gómez Luna

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Guava production for 2008 in the state of Guanajuato was 177 ha in area planted and the same number of area harvested, production in 1,130.80 Ton. In traditional farming practices have made excessive use of mineral fertilizers, which, if it is true, ensure a good production are expensive and come to cause imbalances in agroecosystems by contamination of soil, water, and food. In this work we evaluated the effect of Bacillus subtilis strains as plant growth promoter rhizobacteria in guava plants under greenhouse conditions. We used three strains were inoculated potted plant with guava. We measured the height, number of branches and leaves. Guava orchards of 2 then display of soil were taken for the isolation andcharacterization of rhizobacteria. Selective medium was used with 1 - carboxylic acid, -1 - aminocyclopropane and selecting bacteria with ACC desaminase activity. For the isolates were determined antibiotic resistance, confrontation with fungal pathogens, plant growth tests in vitro and BIOLOG metabolic profiles. We found 30 isolates with ACC activities, 7 have the effect of biological control and 5 had effect on root development in vitro. The use of growth promotingrhizobacteria are an excellent alternative for improving the production of guavas, growing very little is known of themicroflora associated with the rhizosphere and the ecological role they have in the ground.

Sickness and love: an introduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Geest, S.; Vandamme, S.

2008-01-01

Love is a neglected topic in anthropology, for good reasons: it has always resisted scientific definition and analysis. By associating love with sickness seven authors attempt to capture various meanings and experiences of love. Two broad concepts arise: love as sickness and love in response to

Effect of Co-planted Purslane (Portulaca Oleracea L.) on Cd Accumulation by Sunflower in Different Levels of Cd Contamination and Salinity: A Pot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashrafi, Ali; Zahedi, Morteza; Soleimani, Mohsen

2015-01-01

Heavy metal bioaccumulation can be affected by various crop-weed interactions that potentially exist in agroecosystems. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of rhizosphere interaction of sunflower and purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) weed on cadmium (Cd) uptake and its allocation to sunflower grains. The experimental treatments consisted of two cropping systems (mono and mixed culture), two adjusted salinity levels (0 and 0.5% NaCl) and three artificial levels of Cd in soil (Control, 3 and 6 mg kg(-1)). The results showed that the growth of sunflower in the presence of purslane in comparison to mono culture of sunflower led to change of total Cd content and Cd allocated to grains only in saline conditions. Promoting effects of salinity on Cd concentration of grain were alleviated where sunflower was co-planted with purslane. Besides, supply of Zn in grains of co-planted sunflower was strongly affected by salinity. Results of this study revealed that although co-planted purslane could alter conditions in the shared rhizosphere, it had no effect on enhancing Cd uptake by neighboring sunflower directly.

Medically certified sickness absence among health care workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Khawaja, Rajab Ali; Sikander, Raheel; Khawaja, Asad Ali; Jareno, Rechel Joy Macadaan; Halepota, Aurangzeb Taj

2012-09-01

To compare the days and spells of sickness absence among males versus females and Saudi nationals versus expatriate employees of King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, and to identify the cause of sickness absence. The cross-sectional, descriptive study comprised 3117 King Khalid University Hospital employees. Records of physician-certified sickness absence from January 1 to June 30, 2009, were obtained from the employee health clinic's register. Absence rate, frequency, duration and severity were assessed and compared between genders and nationalities, and causes were noted. SPSS version 16 and student's t test were used for statistical analyses and comparison. A total of 377 (12.1 %) employees had 416 spells of sickness absence with 639 sick-off days (mean: 1.54 +/- 0.85). The probability of sickness absence was higher among Saudi (OR=1.33) and female (OR=1.39) employees. The association of sickness absence was not found among the absentees with either gender (p= 0.335) or nationality (p = 0.086). Almost all spells of sick-off days were of short duration. Longer spells were mainly due to chicken pox which was found to be more among the expatriates. Heavy absenteeism was found only among the Saudis. The most common causes of sickness absence were acute upper respiratory infection, diseases of musculoskeletal system and the digestive system. The rate, frequency and duration of absence due to sickness in the study were higher among Saudi and female employees. The rate of absence, with passage of time, has increased significantly among Saudi nationals.

ACUTE MOUNTAIN SICKNESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakub Krzeszowiak

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the most likely pathophysiological causes of the development of acute mountain sickness (AMS, also known as altitude sickness, its pulmonary form i.e. high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE, and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE. These diseases constitute extraordinary environmental hazards because they are directly connected with low atmospheric pressure, and thus low partial oxygen pressure. The above adverse atmospheric conditions start to affect humans already at an altitude of 2,500 meters above the sea level and, coupled with extreme physical exertion, can quickly lead to respiratory alkalosis, which is not present under any other conditions in the lowlands. Mountaineering above 4,500 m a.s.l. leads to hypoxia of internal organs and, primarily, reduced renal perfusion with all its consequences. The above adverse changes, combined with inadequate acclimatization, can lead to a situation of imminent danger to life and health. This paper describes in detail the consequences of acute mountain sickness, which can ultimately lead to the development of AMS and one of severe forms of HACE and/or HAPE.

The response of pot plants to reduction of energy consumption peaks in greenhouses. [Heating]. Potteplanters reaktion paa udjaevning af energiforbrugs spidser i vaeksthuse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jacobsen, L.H.; Adriansen, E.; Amsen, M.G.; Nielsen, O.F. (Danish Research Service for Plant and Soil Science, Research Centre for Horticulture, Dept. Hort. Engineering, Institute of Glasshouse Crops, Aarslev (DK))

1989-01-01

This experiment was started to avoid difficulties in energy supply, when big areas of greenhouses were connected to district heating. The aim of the experiment was to find ways to reduce energy consumption peaks at dawn and at dusk by means of simple techniques. This paper reports on the results of an experiment where five different pot plants were grown by a temperature control strategy based upon low day and high night room temperature set points (14 deg./22 deg. C) combined with reduced opening speed of the mixing valves. In general it may be concluded that it is possible to produce Chrysanthemum, Begonia, Kalanchoe, Hedera and Ficus with a temperature control strategy which reduces energy consumption peaks at dawn and at dusk without affecting the plant quality. However, it is necessary to apply growth retardants to Chrysanthemum and Kalanchoe to secure a good quality. The production time is reduced for Kalanchoe, increased for Chrysanthemum and Hedera and unchanged for Begonia and Ficus. (author).

Changes in alcohol drinking and subsequent sickness absence.

Science.gov (United States)

Salonsalmi, Aino; Rahkonen, Ossi; Lahelma, Eero; Laaksonen, Mikko

2015-06-01

The aim was to examine whether changes in alcohol drinking are associated with sickness absence. Repeated postal questionnaires on alcohol drinking were conducted among employees of the City of Helsinki in 2000-2 and 2007 to assess changes in drinking habits between these two time points. Data on the number of self-certified and medically confirmed sickness absences were derived from the employer's register. Sickness absences were followed from 2007 until the end of 2010 among employees participating in both questionnaire surveys. The study includes 3252 female and 682 male employees 40-60 years old at baseline. Poisson regression was used in the data analysis and population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated. Alcohol drinking was associated especially with self-certified sickness absence. Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for increasing weekly average drinking were 1.38, 1.18-1.62 among women and 1.58, 1.18-2.12 among men. Also stable problem drinking (for women 1.39, 1.26-1.54, for men 1.44, 1.10-1.87) and among women stable heavy drinking (1.53, 1.20-1.94) increased self-certified sickness absence. There were associations between alcohol drinking and medically confirmed sickness absence but these were mainly explained by health and health behaviours. Also, a decrease in weekly average drinking was associated with sickness absence among women whereas among men former problem drinking increased sickness absence. According to the PAF values, problem drinking had a stronger contribution to sickness absence than weekly average drinking. Alcohol drinking is particularly associated with self-certified sickness absence. Reducing adverse drinking habits is likely to prevent sickness absence. © 2015 the Nordic Societies of Public Health.

Ficus benjamina grown on pot with ebb-flood; Primo ciclo di coltivazione di Ficus benjamina con tecnica Ebb-Flood

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-01-01

The trial was carried out in 1994 in the experimental station at Tavazzano.The aim was to evaluate the production of Ficus Benjamina grown on pot with Ebb-Flood (closed system) and with a traditional technique. The trial started at february 8 and ended, after 154 days of cultivation, at june 29. Salinity an nutritional aspects of the soil solution were controlled during the cultural cycle, by means water extract analysis, taking into account the upper, medium end lower layers of the substrate in the pot, and also the growth of the plant at different ages during the cultivation, were considered. At the end of the trail the plants grown with Ebb-Flood technique showed a better development (vegetative mass and length) than those grown traditionally, with an higher commercial value.

Can Plants Grow on Mars and the Moon: A Growth Experiment on Mars and Moon Soil Simulants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wamelink, G.W.W.; Frissel, J.Y.; Krijnen, W.H.J.; Verwoert, M.R.; Goedhart, P.W.

2014-01-01

When humans will settle on the moon or Mars they will have to eat there. Food may be flown in. An alternative could be to cultivate plants at the site itself, preferably in native soils. We report on the first large-scale controlled experiment to investigate the possibility of growing plants in Mars

Prediction of sickness absenteeism, disability pension and sickness presenteeism among employees with back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergström, Gunnar; Hagberg, Jan; Busch, Hillevi; Jensen, Irene; Björklund, Christina

2014-06-01

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive ability of the Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Screening Questionnaire (ÖMPSQ) concerning long-term sick leave, sickness presenteeism and disability pension during a follow-up period of 2 years. The study group consisted of 195 employees visiting the occupational health service (OHS) due to back pain. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the area under the curve (AUC) varied from 0.67 to 0.93, which was from less accurate for sickness presenteeism to highly accurate for the prediction of disability pension. For registered sick leave during 6 months following the baseline the AUC from the ROC analyses was moderately accurate (0.81) and a cut off score of 90 rendered a high sensitivity of 0.89 but a low specificity of 0.46 whereas a cut off score of 105 improves the specificity substantially but at the cost of some sensitivity. The predictive ability appears to decrease with time. Several workplace factors beyond those included in the ÖMPSQ were considered but only social support at the workplace was significantly related to future long-term sick leave besides the total score of the ÖMPSQ. The results of this study extend and confirm the findings of earlier research on the ÖMPSQ. Assessment of psychosocial risk factors among employees seeking help for back pain at the OHS could be helpful in the prevention of work disabling problems.

Distributions of imidacloprid, imidacloprid-olefin and imidacloprid-urea in green plant tissues and roots of rapeseed (Brassica napus) from artificially contaminated potting soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Seifrtova, Marcela; Halesova, Tatana; Sulcova, Klara; Riddellova, Katerina; Erban, Tomas

2017-05-01

Imidacloprid-urea is the primary imidacloprid soil metabolite, whereas imidacloprid-olefin is the main plant-relevant metabolite and is more toxic to insects than imidacloprid. We artificially contaminated potting soil and used quantitative UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS to determine the imidacloprid, imidacloprid-olefin and imidacloprid-urea distributions in rapeseed green plant tissues and roots after 4 weeks of exposure. In soil, the imidacloprid/imidacloprid-urea molar ratios decreased similarly after the 250 and 2500 µg kg -1 imidacloprid treatments. The imidacloprid/imidacloprid-urea molar ratios in the root and soil were similar, whereas in the green plant tissue, imidacloprid-urea increased more than twofold compared with the root. Although imidacloprid-olefin was prevalent in the green plant tissues, with imidacloprid/imidacloprid-olefin molar ratios of 2.24 and 1.47 for the 250 and 2500 µg kg -1 treatments respectively, it was not detected in the root. However, imidacloprid-olefin was detected in the soil after the 2500 µg kg -1 imidacloprid treatment. Significant proportions of imidacloprid-olefin and imidacloprid-urea in green plant tissues were demonstrated. The greater imidacloprid supply increased the imidacloprid-olefin/imidacloprid molar ratio in the green plant tissues. The absence of imidacloprid-olefin in the root excluded its retransport from leaves. The similar imidacloprid/imidacloprid-urea ratios in the soil and root indicated that the root serves primarily for transporting these substances. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Job satisfaction and sickness absence: a questionnaire survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Roelen, Corné A M; Koopmans, Petra C; Notenbomer, Annette; Groothoff, Johan W

2008-12-01

When dissatisfaction with work precedes sickness absence, screening for satisfaction levels might usefully detect workers at risk of sickness absence. To investigate whether job satisfaction was associated with subsequent sickness absence days or episodes. A sample of workers was randomly drawn from a population of employees who had an episode of absence between January and April 2003. Job satisfaction was measured using a validated single question with a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied). Job satisfaction levels were linked to the number of recorded sickness absence days and episodes in 2003, distinguishing between short (1-7 days) episodes and long (>7 days) episodes. Of 898 questionnaires distributed, 518 (58%) were returned. The mean+/-standard deviation job satisfaction level was 5.1+/-1.4 and negatively related to the number of sickness absence days. Job satisfaction was also negatively related to the number of short episodes and long episodes of absence, but these associations were not significant. Job satisfaction was significantly related to total sickness absence duration. The association with the number of sickness absence episodes was weak and just below the level of statistical significance. Assessing work satisfaction levels might usefully identify those workers most likely to have the greatest sickness absence duration.

General Automatic Components of Motion Sickness

Science.gov (United States)

Suter, S.; Toscano, W. B.; Kamiya, J.; Naifeh, K.

1985-01-01

A body of investigations performed in support of experiments aboard the space shuttle, and designed to counteract the symptoms of Space Adaptation Syndrome, which resemble those of motion sickness on Earth is reviewed. For these supporting studies, the automatic manifestations of earth-based motion sickness was examined. Heart rate, respiration rate, finger pulse volume and basal skin resistance were measured on 127 men and women before, during and after exposure to nauseogenic rotating chair tests. Significant changes in all autonomic responses were observed across the tests. Significant differences in autonomic responses among groups divided according to motion sickness susceptibility were also observed. Results suggest that the examination of autonomic responses as an objective indicator of motion sickness malaise is warranted and may contribute to the overall understanding of the syndrome on Earth and in Space.

The ALFA Roman Pot Detectors of ATLAS

CERN Document Server

Abdel Khalek, S.

2016-11-23

The ATLAS Roman Pot system is designed to determine the total proton-proton cross-section as well as the luminosity at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by measuring elastic proton scattering at very small angles. The system is made of four Roman Pot stations, located in the LHC tunnel in a distance of about 240~m at both sides of the ATLAS interaction point. Each station is equipped with tracking detectors, inserted in Roman Pots which approach the LHC beams vertically. The tracking detectors consist of multi-layer scintillating fibre structures readout by Multi-Anode-Photo-Multipliers.

System for analysing sickness absenteeism in Poland.

Science.gov (United States)

Indulski, J A; Szubert, Z

1997-01-01

The National System of Sickness Absenteeism Statistics has been functioning in Poland since 1977, as the part of the national health statistics. The system is based on a 15-percent random sample of copies of certificates of temporary incapacity for work issued by all health care units and authorised private medical practitioners. A certificate of temporary incapacity for work is received by every insured employee who is compelled to stop working due to sickness, accident, or due to the necessity to care for a sick member of his/her family. The certificate is required on the first day of sickness. Analyses of disease- and accident-related sickness absenteeism carried out each year in Poland within the statistical system lead to the main conclusions: 1. Diseases of the musculoskeletal and peripheral nervous systems accounting, when combined, for 1/3 of the total sickness absenteeism, are a major health problem of the working population in Poland. During the past five years, incapacity for work caused by these diseases in males increased 2.5 times. 2. Circulatory diseases, and arterial hypertension and ischaemic heart disease in particular (41% and 27% of sickness days, respectively), create an essential health problem among males at productive age, especially, in the 40 and older age group. Absenteeism due to these diseases has increased in males more than two times.

Serum sickness

Science.gov (United States)

... the problem should be stopped. Avoid using that medicine or antiserum in the future. ... Call your provider if you received medicine or antiserum in the last 4 weeks and have symptoms of serum sickness.

Sickness absence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological treatments for individuals on sick leave due to common mental disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Salomonsson, Sigrid; Hedman-Lagerlöf, Erik; Öst, Lars-Göran

2018-01-30

Sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs) increase rapidly and present a major societal challenge. The overall effect of psychological interventions to reduce sick leave and symptoms has not been sufficiently investigated and there is a need for a systematic review and meta-analysis of the field. The aim of the present meta-analysis was to calculate the effect size of psychological interventions for CMDs on sick leave and psychiatric symptoms based on all published randomized controlled trials. Methodological quality, the risk of bias and publication bias were also assessed. The literature searches gave 2240 hits and 45 studies were included. The psychological interventions were more effective than care as usual on both reduced sick leave (g = 0.15) and symptoms (g = 0.21). There was no significant difference in effect between work focused interventions, problem-solving therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or collaborative care. We conclude that psychological interventions are more effective than care as usual to reduce sick leave and symptoms but the effect sizes are small. More research is needed on psychological interventions that evaluate effects on sick leave. Consensual measures of sick leave should be established and quality of psychotherapy for patients on sick leave should be improved.

Biological management of gray mold in pot roses by co-inoculation of thebiocontrol agent Ulocladium atrum and the mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Kaare; Kristensen, Kristian; Yohalem, David

2009-01-01

In pursuit of a biological disease and stress management strategy for ornamentals, a three-factorial experiment was performed to examine the effects of plant darkness stress, Ulocladium atrum and Glomus mosseae on gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea and plant vigour in potted roses. While darkness...

The Root-Associated Microbial Community of the World's Highest Growing Vascular Plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Angel, Roey; Conrad, Ralf; Dvorsky, Miroslav; Kopecky, Martin; Kotilínek, Milan; Hiiesalu, Inga; Schweingruber, Fritz; Doležal, Jiří

2016-08-01

Upward migration of plants to barren subnival areas is occurring worldwide due to raising ambient temperatures and glacial recession. In summer 2012, the presence of six vascular plants, growing in a single patch, was recorded at an unprecedented elevation of 6150 m.a.s.l. close to the summit of Mount Shukule II in the Western Himalayas (Ladakh, India). Whilst showing multiple signs of stress, all plants have managed to establish stable growth and persist for several years. To learn about the role of microbes in the process of plant upward migration, we analysed the root-associated microbial community of the plants (three individuals from each) using microscopy and tagged amplicon sequencing. No mycorrhizae were found on the roots, implying they are of little importance to the establishment and early growth of the plants. However, all roots were associated with a complex bacterial community, with richness and diversity estimates similar or even higher than the surrounding bare soil. Both soil and root-associated communities were dominated by members of the orders Sphingomonadales and Sphingobacteriales, which are typical for hot desert soils, but were different from communities of temperate subnival soils and typical rhizosphere communities. Despite taxonomic similarity on the order level, the plants harboured a unique set of highly dominant operational taxonomic units which were not found in the bare soil. These bacteria have been likely transported with the dispersing seeds and became part of the root-associated community following germination. The results indicate that developing soils act not only as a source of inoculation to plant roots but also possibly as a sink for plant-associated bacteria.

Relationship between concentration of rare earth elements in soil and their distribution in plants growing near a frequented road.

Science.gov (United States)

Mleczek, Patrycja; Borowiak, Klaudia; Budka, Anna; Niedzielski, Przemysław

2018-06-05

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of elements whose concentration in numerous environmental matrices continues to increase; therefore, the use of biological methods for their removal from soil would seem to be a safe and reasonable approach. The aim of this study was to estimate the phytoextraction efficiency and distribution of light and heavy (LREEs and HREEs) rare earth elements by three herbaceous plant species: Artemisia vulgaris L., Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg. and Trifolium repens L., growing at a distance of 1, 10, and 25 m from the edge of a frequented road in Poland. The concentration of REEs in soil and plants was highly correlated (r > 0.9300), which indicates the high potential of the studied plant species to phytoextraction of these elements. The largest proportion of REEs was from the group of LREEs, whereas HREEs comprised only an inconsiderable portion of the REEs group. The dominant elements in the group of LREEs were Nd and Ce, while Er was dominant in the HREEs group. Differences in the amounts of these elements influenced the total concentration of LREEs, HREEs, and finally REEs and their quantities which decreased with distance from the road. According to the Friedman rank sum test, significant differences in REEs concentration, mainly between A. vulgaris L., and T. repens L. were observed for plants growing at all three distances from the road. The same relation between A. vulgaris L. and T. officinale was observed. The efficiency of LREEs and REEs phytoextraction in the whole biomass of plants growing at all distances from the road was A. vulgaris L. > T. officinale L. > T. repens L. For HREEs, the same relationship was recorded only for plants growing at the distance 1 m from the road. Bioconcentration factor (BCF) values for LREEs and HREEs were respectively higher and lower than 1 for all studied plant species regardless of the distance from the road. The studied herbaceous plant species were able to effectively phytoextract

[Teacher sick leave: Prevalence, duration, reasons and covariates].

Science.gov (United States)

Vercambre-Jacquot, M-N; Gilbert, F; Billaudeau, N

2018-02-01

Absences from work have considerable social and economic impact. In the education sector, the phenomenon is particularly worrying since teacher sick leave has an impact on the overall performance of the education system. Yet, available data are scarce. In April-June 2013, 2653 teachers responded to a population-based postal survey on their quality of life (enquête Qualité de vie des enseignants, MGEN Foundation/Ministry of education, response rate 53 %). Besides questions on work environment and health, teachers were asked to describe their eventual sick leave(s) since the beginning of the school year: duration, type and medical reasons. Self-reported information was reinforced by administrative data from ministerial databases and weighted to be extrapolated to all French teachers. Tobit models adjusted for individual factors of a private nature were used to investigate different occupational risk factors of teacher sick leave, taking into account both the estimated effect on the probability of sick leave and the length of it. More than one in three teachers (36 %) reported having had at least one day of sick leave since the beginning of the school year. Respiratory/ENT diseases were the leading reason for sick leave (37 %). However, and because sick leave duration depended on the underlying health problem, such diseases came in third place among justifications of sick leave days (14 %), far behind musculoskeletal problems (27 %) and neurological and psychological disorders (25 %). Tobit models suggested that some occupational factors significantly associated with the risk of sick leave may represent promising preventive targets, including high psychological demand, workplace violence and unfavorable socio-environmental context. Our study provides objective evidence about the issue of sick leave among French teachers, highlighting the usefulness of implementing actions to minimize its weight. To this end, the study findings point-out the importance of

Relative deprivation and sickness absence in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Helgertz, Jonas; Hess, Wolfgang; Scott, Kirk

2013-08-29

A high prevalence of sickness absence in many countries, at a substantial societal cost, underlines the importance to understand its determining mechanisms. This study focuses on the link between relative deprivation and the probability of sickness absence. 184,000 men and women in Sweden were followed between 1982 and 2001. The sample consists of working individuals between the ages of 19 and 65. The outcome is defined as experiencing more than 14 days of sickness absence during a year. Based on the complete Swedish population, an individual's degree of relative deprivation is measured through income compared to individuals of the same age, sex, educational level and type. In accounting for the possibility that sickness absence and socioeconomic status are determined by common factors, discrete-time duration models were estimated, accounting for unobserved heterogeneity through random effects. The results confirm that the failure to account for the dynamics of the individual's career biases the influence from socioeconomic characteristics. Results consistently suggest a major influence from relative deprivation, with a consistently lower risk of sickness absence among the highly educated. Altering individual's health behavior through education appears more efficient in reducing the reliance on sickness absence, rather than redistributive policies.

Is part-time sick leave helping the unemployed?

OpenAIRE

Andrén, Daniela

2011-01-01

Using a discrete choice one-factor model, we estimate mean treatment parameters and distributional treatment parameters to analyze the effects of degree of sick leave on the probability of full recovery of lost work capacity for employed and unemployed individuals, respectively. Our results indicate that one year after the sick leave spell started, the average potential impact of part-time sick listing on an individual randomly chosen from the population on sick leave was positive for both gr...

Sickness absence patterns and trends in the health care sector: 5-year monitoring of female municipal employees in the health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Krane, Line; Johnsen, Roar; Fleten, Nils; Nielsen, Claus Vinther; Stapelfeldt, Christina M; Jensen, Chris; Braaten, Tonje

2014-07-08

Sickness absence is a growing public health problem in Norway and Denmark, with the highest absence rates being registered in Norway. We compared time trends in sickness absence patterns of municipal employees in the health and care sectors in Norway and Denmark. Data from 2004 to 2008 were extracted from the personnel registers of the municipalities of Kristiansand, Norway, and Aarhus, Denmark, for 3,181 and 8,545 female employees, respectively. Age-specific comparative statistics on sickness absence rates (number of calendar days of sickness absence/possible working days) and number of sick leave episodes were calculated for each year of the study period. There was an overall increasing trend in sickness absence rates in Denmark (P = 0.002), where rates were highest in the 20-29- (P = 0.01) and 50-59-year-old age groups (P = 0.03). Sickness absence rates in Norway were stable, except for an increase in the 20-29-year-old age group (P = 0.004). In both Norway and Denmark, the mean number of sick leave episodes increased (P sickness absence was higher in Norway than in Denmark. Both short-term and long-term absence increased in Denmark (P = 0.003 and P sickness absence rates in Denmark, while the largest overall increase in sick leave episodes was found in Norway. In both countries, the largest increases were observed among young employees. The results indicate that the two countries are converging in regard to sickness absence measured as rates and episodes.

[Vestibular testing abnormalities in individuals with motion sickness].

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yan; Ou, Yongkang; Chen, Ling; Zheng, Yiqing

2009-08-01

To evaluate the vestibular function of motion sickness. VNG, which tests the vestibular function of horizontal semicircular canal, and CPT, which tests vestibulospinal reflex and judge proprioceptive, visual and vestibular status, were performed in 30 motion sickness patients and 20 healthy volunteers (control group). Graybiel score was recorded at the same time. Two groups' Graybiel score (12.67 +/- 11.78 vs 2.10 +/- 6.23; rank test P<0.05), caloric test labyrinth value [(19.02 +/- 8.59) degrees/s vs (13.58 +/- 5.25) degrees/s; t test P<0.05], caloric test labyrinth value of three patients in motion sickness group exceeded 75 degrees/s. In computerized posturography testing (CPT), motion sickness patients were central type (66.7%) and disperse type (23.3%); all of control group were central type. There was statistical significance in two groups' CTP area, and motion sickness group was obviously higher than control group. While stimulating vestibulum in CPT, there was abnormality (35%-50%) in motion sickness group and none in control group. Generally evaluating CPT, there was only 2 proprioceptive hypofunction, 3 visual hypofunction, and no vestibular hypofunction, but none hypofunction in control group. Motion sickness patients have high vestibular susceptible, some with vestibular hyperfunction. In posturography, a large number of motion sickness patients are central type but no vestibular hypofunction, but it is hard to keep balance when stimulating vestibulum.

Motion sickness and postural sway in console video games.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoffregen, Thomas A; Faugloire, Elise; Yoshida, Ken; Flanagan, Moira B; Merhi, Omar

2008-04-01

We tested the hypotheses that (a) participants might develop motion sickness while playing "off-the-shelf" console video games and (b) postural motion would differ between sick and well participants, prior to the onset of motion sickness. There have been many anecdotal reports of motion sickness among people who play console video games (e.g., Xbox, PlayStation). Participants (40 undergraduate students) played a game continuously for up to 50 min while standing or sitting. We varied the distance to the display screen (and, consequently, the visual angle of the display). Across conditions, the incidence of motion sickness ranged from 42% to 56%; incidence did not differ across conditions. During game play, head and torso motion differed between sick and well participants prior to the onset of subjective symptoms of motion sickness. The results indicate that console video games carry a significant risk of motion sickness. Potential applications of this research include changes in the design of console video games and recommendations for how such systems should be used.

Efeitos de doses de nitrogênio e potássio e densidade populacional sobre a classificação de bulbos de cebola Effect of onion bulb classification as a result of nitrogen and potassium levels and planting density

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

André May

2007-09-01

Full Text Available O efeito de doses de nitrogênio e de potássio e da população de plantas foi avaliado na classificação de bulbos de duas cultivares de cebola. Os tratamentos foram arranjados em esquema fatorial 2 x 4 x 4 x 4, correspondentes a, respectivamente, cultivares (Optima e Superex, nitrogênio (0; 50; 100 e 150 kg ha-1 de N, potássio (0; 75; 150 e 225 kg ha-1 de K2O e população de plantas (60; 76; 92 e 108 plantas m-2. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi de blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições. Os fertilizantes utilizados foram nitrato de amônio e cloreto de potássio para o fornecimento de N e K, respectivamente. A aplicação de nitrogênio e de potássio reduziu para aproximadamente zero a porcentagem de bulbos não-comerciais para as duas cultivares. A maior percentagem de bulbos com diâmetro transversal entre 50 e 70 mm foi alcançada com 60 plantas m-2 e com a aplicação de 150 kg ha-1 de N, principalmente para a Superex. As maiores porcentagens de bulbos duplos ocorreram na cultivar Superex, com a aplicação de 150 kg ha-1 de N (17% do total de bulbos produzidos e sob população de 60 plantas m-2 (22% do total de bulbos.The effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer doses and planting densities were evaluated in bulb classification of two onion cultivars. The treatments were arranged in factorial 2 x 4 x 4 x 4, respectively correspondent by cultivars (Optima and Superex, nitrogen (0; 50; 150 and 150 kg ha-1 of N, potassium (0; 75; 150 and 225 kg ha-1 of K2O and planting density (60; 76; 92 and 108 plants m-2. The experimental design was of randomized blocks, with four replications The fertilizers ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride were employed to provide N and K, respectively. The nitrogen and potassium application reduced to near to zero the incidence of non-comercial bulbs in both cultivars. The largest percentage of bulbs measuring 50 to 70 mm was reached with 60 plants m-2 and application of 150 kg ha-1 of N

Economy and job contract as contexts of sickness absence practices: revisiting locality and habitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Virtanen, P; Vahtera, J; Nakari, R; Pentti, J; Kivimäki, M

2004-04-01

This study revisits two Finnish local governments-Raisio and Nokia-that in an earlier study showed different sickness absence rates in the early 1990s. The locality difference was interpreted sociologically, within a framework inspired by Bourdieu's theory of social field, habitus and practice. The same framework is applied in the present study, starting out from the hypothesis that a constant historical and cultural locality context tends to reproduce prevailing sickness absence practices. The hypothesis was tested by extending the context beyond the locality to the macroeconomic fluctuations that occurred during the 1990s and to the type of employment contract. In both localities a 30% rise was observed in levels of sickness absence from 1991-1993 to 1997-2000. At the beginning of the 1990s the absence rate among permanent employees was 1.86 times higher in Nokia than in Raisio; at the end of the decade the corresponding rate ratio was 1.88. The absence rates were significantly lower among fixed-term employees than permanent employees, but the locality difference was seen in their case, too. Both results support the hypothesis. In spite of major changes taking place in the national economy, the differences between the two towns' sickness absence rates persisted, which in this particular case probably reflects the persisting working-class character of Nokia and middle-class character of Raisio. The theory also applies to the difference between permanent and fixed-term employees: the peripheral power position of the latter on work related social fields leads to the observed practices, i.e. to the relatively low absence rate. The results of our revisit give reason to recapitulate and elaborate upon our theoretical interpretation with a view to deepening our understanding of the social origins of sickness absence practices in the post-industrial workplace, which is characterised by increasing atypical employment and growing job insecurity.

Nitrogen and substrate assessment for first-year pot-in-pot production in the Intermountain West.

OpenAIRE

Gunnell, JayDee; Grossl, Paul R.; Kjelgren, Roger

2008-01-01

We investigated optimum nitrogen rates and different growth substrates for short-term finish production of container and bare root shade tree liners in a pot-in-pot production system in the Intermountain West. In one study, nitrogen ranging from 0–27 g N·tree–1 (0–36 lbs N·1000 ft–2) as urea was applied to quaking aspen n (Populus tremuloides), ‘Autumn Blaze’ maple (Acer × freemannii ‘Autumn Blaze’),'Chanticleer’ flowering pear (Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’), and ‘Canada Red’ chokecherry (P...

RESULTS ON THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROMANIAN NATIVE PEAT BIO COMPOSITES POTS ON SEEDLING GROWTH

OpenAIRE

Florina Uleanu

2013-01-01

Seedlings production is an important link in vegetable culture because many vegetables species are grown by producing prior of seedlings. The theme work is in line with Western trends to produce seedlings by integrating new vegetables technologies, profitable, with positive effect on limiting pathogens to obtain seedlings, using biodegradable pots. Were conducted various observations and measurements on plants when they have reached the optimum phase for planting. We have determined: height o...

Reduction of Cadmium Uptake of Rice Plants Using Soil Amendments in High Cadmium Contaminated Soil: A Pot Experiment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dian Siswanto

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of agricultural residues on reducing cadmium uptake in rice plants. The rice plants growing on no cadmium/free cadmium soils (N, Cd soils (Cds, and Cd soils each amended with 1% w/w of coir pith (CP, coir pith modified with sodium hydroxide (CPm and corncob (CC under high cadmium contaminated soil with an average 145 mg Cd kg-1 soil were investigated. The results showed that the cumulative transpiration of rice grown in various treatments under high cadmium contaminated soil followed the order: Cds > CPm ≥ CP ≥ CC. These transpirations directly influenced cadmium accumulation in shoots and husks of rice plants. The CC and CP seemed to work to reduce the cadmium uptake by rice plants indicated by accumulated cadmium in the husk that were 2.47 and 7.38 mg Cd kg-1 dry weight, respectively. Overall, transpiration tended to drive cadmium accumulation in plants for rice grown in high cadmium contaminated soil. The more that plants uptake cadmium, the lower cadmium that remains in the soil.

Measures of work-family conflict predict sickness absence from work.

Science.gov (United States)

Clays, Els; Kittel, France; Godin, Isabelle; Bacquer, Dirk De; Backer, Guy De

2009-08-01

To examine the relation between work-family conflict and sickness absence. The BELSTRESS III study comprised 2983 middle-aged workers. Strain-based work-home interference (WHI) and home-work interference (HWI) were assessed by means of self-administered questionnaires. Prospective data of registered sickness absence during 12-months follow-up were collected. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted. HWI was positively and significantly related to high sickness absence duration (at least 10 sick leave days) and high sickness absence frequency (at least 3 sick leave episodes) in men and women, also after adjustments were made for sociodemographic variables, health indicators, and environmental psychosocial factors. In multivariate analysis, no association between WHI and sickness absence was found. HWI was positively and significantly related to high sickness absence duration and frequency during 12-months follow-up in male and female workers.

Preventative and Curative Effects of Several Plant Derived Agents Against Powdery Mildew Disease of Okra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moustafa Hemdan Ahmed MOHARAM

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The preventative and curative effects of some plant derived agents based on plant extracts or essential oils were studied at different concentrations against Erysiphe cichoracearum DC. ex Merat, the causal pathogen of okra powdery mildew by the detached leaf-disk and potted plants bioassays. Through detached leaf-disk assay, the highest mean preventative effect (97.74% was recorded by neem seed oil followed by jojoba oil (89.82% and extract of Rynoutria sachalinensis (82.77%. Neem seed oil at 1% was the most effective agent followed by jojoba oil and extract of R. sachalinensis at 1.5% and 2%, respectively, where they suppressed E. cichoracearum completely. Potted plants assay revealed that neem seed oil, jojoba oil and extract of R. sachalinensis as well as the fungicide (active ingredient dinocap showed higher preventative efficacy at all leaf olds treated after 7 and 14 days of inoculation as compared with extracts of henna and garlic. Moreover, the preventative efficacy partly remained apparent after 14 days of inoculation at all leaf olds tested. In field trials through 2010 and 2011 growing seasons, when the first symptoms of powdery mildew appeared naturally, 1.5% jojoba oil, 2% extract of R. sachalinensis and 1% neem seed oil were sprayed individually twice on grown plants to evaluate their efficacy on controlling powdery mildew, growth and yield of okra. Resulted showed that neem seed oil was the most effective agent and highly decreased the disease severity to 29.92%, recorded the highly curative effect (68.15% and also improved plant growth and pods yield.

Do work-place initiated measures reduce sickness absence? Preventive measures and sickness absence among older workers in Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Midtsundstad, Tove I; Nielsen, Roy A

2014-03-01

The article examines whether preventive measures and work adjustments at the establishment level affects sickness absence among workers aged 50 years and older. We combine survey data from a representative sample of 713 Norwegian companies, mapping the prevalence of preventive health measures in the work place in 2005, with register data on sickness absence and demographic variables for workers aged 50 years or older in 2001 and 2007. By means of a difference-in-differences approach, we compare changes and differences in the likelihood of sickness absence among the sample group, with and without the various measures/ instruments in 2005 respectively. In general, work-place preventive measures at the establishment level have not contributed to reducing the probability for sickness absence among workers aged 50 years and older. However, analyses comparing differences between industries find that the work-place measures have had a positive effect on public administration employees. Whether work-place preventive initiatives influence levels of sickness absence seems to be contingent on sector and industry. Therefore, work-place measures may be more effective in the public administration sector where most employees have office jobs compared to sectors such as manufacturing, construction and transportation, where many employees have manual work and more physical demanding jobs. Work-place initiatives thus seem to have less effect on preventing sickness absence in sectors dominated by manual labour.

Sleeping Sickness Surveillance In The Abraka Sleeping Sickness ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Confirmation of sleeping sickness (ss) was by the detection of trypanosomes in blood, body fluids and biopsy tissues. Thirteen (0.8%) seropositive subjects were parasitologically confirmed and treated with melasoprol at the Baptist Medical Centre (BMC) Eku. One (0.06%) patient died during the course of treatment.

Relative Deprivation and Sickness Absence in Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonas Helgertz

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Background: A high prevalence of sickness absence in many countries, at a substantial societal cost, underlines the importance to understand its determining mechanisms. This study focuses on the link between relative deprivation and the probability of sickness absence. Methods: 184,000 men and women in Sweden were followed between 1982 and 2001. The sample consists of working individuals between the ages of 19 and 65. The outcome is defined as experiencing more than 14 days of sickness absence during a year. Based on the complete Swedish population, an individual’s degree of relative deprivation is measured through income compared to individuals of the same age, sex, educational level and type. In accounting for the possibility that sickness absence and socioeconomic status are determined by common factors, discrete-time duration models were estimated, accounting for unobserved heterogeneity through random effects. Results: The results confirm that the failure to account for the dynamics of the individual’s career biases the influence from socioeconomic characteristics. Results consistently suggest a major influence from relative deprivation, with a consistently lower risk of sickness absence among the highly educated. Conclusions: Altering individual’s health behavior through education appears more efficient in reducing the reliance on sickness absence, rather than redistributive policies.

Fever and sickness behavior: Friend or foe?

Science.gov (United States)

Harden, L M; Kent, S; Pittman, Q J; Roth, J

2015-11-01

Fever has been recognized as an important symptom of disease since ancient times. For many years, fever was treated as a putative life-threatening phenomenon. More recently, it has been recognized as an important part of the body's defense mechanisms; indeed at times it has even been used as a therapeutic agent. The knowledge of the functional role of the central nervous system in the genesis of fever has greatly improved over the last decade. It is clear that the febrile process, which develops in the sick individual, is just one of many brain-controlled sickness symptoms. Not only will the sick individual appear "feverish" but they may also display a range of behavioral changes, such as anorexia, fatigue, loss of interest in usual daily activities, social withdrawal, listlessness or malaise, hyperalgesia, sleep disturbances and cognitive dysfunction, collectively termed "sickness behavior". In this review we consider the issue of whether fever and sickness behaviors are friend or foe during: a critical illness, the common cold or influenza, in pregnancy and in the newborn. Deciding whether these sickness responses are beneficial or harmful will very much shape our approach to the use of antipyretics during illness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Artificial horizon effects on motion sickness and performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Tal, Dror; Gonen, Adi; Wiener, Guy; Bar, Ronen; Gil, Amnon; Nachum, Zohar; Shupak, Avi

2012-07-01

To investigate whether the projection of Earth-referenced scenes during provocative motion can alleviate motion sickness severity and prevent motion sickness-induced degradation of performance. Exposure to unfamiliar motion patterns commonly results in motion sickness and decreased performance. Thirty subjects with moderate-to-severe motion sickness susceptibility were exposed to the recorded motion profile of a missile boat under moderate sea conditions in a 3-degrees-of-freedom ship motion simulator. During a 120-minute simulated voyage, the study participants were repeatedly put through a performance test battery and completed a motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire, while self-referenced and Earth-referenced visual scenes were projected inside the closed simulator cabin. A significant decrease was found in the maximal motion sickness severity score, from 9.83 ± 9.77 (mean ± standard deviation) to 7.23 ± 7.14 (p pitch, and heave movements of the simulator. Although there was a significant decrease in sickness severity, substantial symptoms still persisted. Decision making, vision, concentration, memory, simple reasoning, and psychomotor skills all deteriorated under the motion conditions. However, no significant differences between the projection conditions could be found in the scores of any of the performance tests. Visual information regarding the vessel's movement provided by an artificial horizon device might decrease motion sickness symptoms. However, although this device might be suitable for passive transportation, the continued deterioration in performance measures indicates that it provides no significant advantage for personnel engaged in the active operation of modern vessels.

Morning sickness

Science.gov (United States)

... not predict how you will feel in future pregnancies. Causes The exact cause of morning sickness is unknown. It may be caused by hormone changes or lower blood sugar during early pregnancy. Emotional stress, fatigue, traveling, or some foods can ...

Predictors of sickness absence in pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Mette Lausten; Thulstrup, Ane Marie; Juhl, Mette

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this cohort study was to investigate associations between parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), assisted reproductive therapy (ART), time to pregnancy (TTP), and engagement in physical exercise and the risk of sickness absence in pregnancy from 10-29 completed pregnancy...... with higher HR of sickness absence. Physical exercise of >120 minutes per week was associated with lower HR 0.84 (95% CI 0.75-0.95). CONCLUSION: Risk for sickness absence was higher among women who were multiparous, overweight, obese, received ART, and had prolonged TTP, and lower among women engaged...

Motion sickness incidence during a round-the-world yacht race.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, M; Griffin, M J

1995-09-01

Motion sickness experiences were obtained from participants in a 9 month, round the world yacht race. Race participants completed questionnaires on their motion sickness experience 1 week prior to the start of the race, during the race, and following the race. Yacht headings, sea states, and wind directions were recorded throughout the race. Illness and the occurrence of vomiting were related to the duration at sea and yacht encounter directions relative to the prevailing wind. Individual crewmember characteristics, the use of anti-motion sickness drugs, activity while at sea, and after-effects of yacht motion were also examined with respect to sickness occurrence. Sickness was greatest among females and younger crewmembers, and among crewmembers who used anti-motion sickness drugs. Sickness varied as a function of drug type and activity while at sea. Crewmembers who reported after-effects of yacht motion also reported greater sickness while at sea. The primary determinants of motion sickness were the duration of time spent at sea and yacht encounter direction to the prevailing wind.

Sickness certification difficulties in Ireland--a GP focus group study.

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, M; Thorley, K; Von Hout, M-C

2013-07-01

Sickness certification causes problems for general practitioners (GPs). Difficulty with the assessment of capacity to work, conflict with patients and other non-medical factors have been shown to influence GPs' decision-making. Inadequate leadership and management of certification issues add to GPs' difficulties. To explore problems associated with sickness certification, as part of a larger mixed method research project exploring GPs' experiences and perceptions of sickness certification in Ireland. A qualitative study in an urban region of Ireland. A focus group of four male and four female GPs explored problems encountered by GPs in certifying sickness absence. Thematic data analysis was used. Three major themes emerged: perception of the sickness certification system, organization of health care and cultural factors in sickness absence behaviour. Employment structures in public and private sectors and lack of communication with other health care providers and employers were identified as complicating sickness certification. GPs encounter a complexity of issues in sick certification and are dissatisfied with their role in certifying sickness absence. Our results open the debate for policy change and development in Ireland.

How physicians have learned to handle sickness-certification cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Löfgren, Anna; Silén, Charlotte; Alexanderson, Kristina

2011-05-01

Sickness absence is a common ''prescription'' in health care in many Western countries. Despite the significance of sick-listing for the life situation of patients, physicians have limited training in how to handle sickness-certification cases and the research about sickness-certification practices is scarce. Gain knowledge on physicians' learning regarding management of sickness certification of patients in formal, informal, and non-formal learning situations, respectively, and possible changes in this from 2004 to 2008. Data from two comprehensive questionnaires to physicians in Sweden about their sickness-certification practice in 2004 (n = 7665) and 2008 (n = 36,898); response rates: 71% and 61%, respectively. Answers from all the physicians ≤64 years old and who had sickness certification tasks (n = 4019 and n = 14,210) were analysed. ratings of importance of different types of learning situations for their sickness-certification competence. Few physicians stated that formal learning situations had contributed to a large or fairly large extent to their competence in sickness certification, e.g. undergraduate studies had done that for 17%, internship for 37%, and resident training for 46%, respectively. Contacts with colleagues had been helpful for 65%. One-third was helped by training arranged by social insurance offices. There was a significant increase between 2004 and 2008 in all items related to formal and non-formal learning situations, while there were no changes regarding informal learning situations. This study of all physicians in Sweden shows that physicians primarily attain competence in sickness certification in their daily clinical practice; through contacts with colleagues and patients.

Work health determinants in employees without sickness absence.

Science.gov (United States)

Schell, E; Theorell, T; Nilsson, B; Saraste, H

2013-01-01

Working ability is known to be related to good physical condition, clear work tasks, positive feedback and other occupational, organizational and psychosocial factors. In Sweden, high levels of sickness absence are due to stress-related disorders and musculoskeletal pain. To identify work health characteristics in a working population with a large variety of professional skills and occupational tasks. Employers' data on occupation, sickness absence, age and gender in a working population of 11 occupational groups and questionnaire responses regarding work-organization, environment, work stress, pain, health, and socio-demographic factors were collected. Employees with no history of sick-leave were compared with those with a history of sick-leave (1-182 days, mean 25 days). Of 2641 employees, 1961 participated. Those with no history of sick-leave reported less work-related pain, work-related stress, sleep disturbances, worry about their health, 'sick-presenteeism', monotonous work, bent and twisted working positions and exposure to disturbing noise than those with a history of sick-leave (P health, support from superiors, having influence on their working hours and evening and week-end working, longer working hours per week (P health and less neck, shoulder and back pain and more support from their superiors and influence on their working hours.

Motion sickness history, food neophobia, and sensation seeking.

Science.gov (United States)

Alley, Thomas R; Willet, Kathleen A; Muth, Eric R

2006-06-01

Motion sickness is believed to be caused by conflicting sensory signals, a situation that mimics the effects of ingesting certain toxins. Thus, one might suspect that individuals who have experienced a relatively high frequency of motion sickness may be particularly vigilant about avoiding anything that produces nausea, induding potentially nauseating toxins. Consequently, they may be more resistant to trying new foods, i.e., be more food neophobic, since unfamiliar foods can have unexpected adverse effects due to toxins or allergens. Likewise, many highly stimulating experiences can trigger motion sickness, so individuals who are more susceptible may be more prone to avoid such experiences, i.e., be less sensation seeking. Finally, it was expected that food neophobia would be more frequent in individuals low on sensation seeking tendencies. Self-reported motion sickness history in 308 adults (M= 18.8 yr.; SD = 1.6) was correlated with scores on the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking and the Food Neophobia Scale. As predicted, greater history of motion sickness was associated with lower Sensation Seeking scores. Food Neophobia was not correlated with motion sickness history but, as expected, was negatively correlated (r = -.42) with scores on Sensation Seeking. Further research is recommended that measures actual sensitivity to motion sickness.

Poisonous plants: a guide for parents & childcare providers

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Dauncey, Elizabeth A

2010-01-01

.... Thomas' Hospital, London. Helpful descriptions and more than 230 photographs will assist you in identifying 132 of the most poisonous plants and plant groups likely to be encountered as pot plants, in flower beds...

[Market Concentration in the Statutory Health Insurance of Germany since the Introduction of Free Choice of Sickness Funds].

Science.gov (United States)

Götze, R

2016-11-01

Background: The expansion of trust law to the German statutory health insurance (SHI) and the declining numbers of sickness funds suggest a strong concentration process in the German SHI market. The paper examines the level and development of market concentration since the introduction of the free choice of sickness funds in 1996. Data: The study is based on a dataset containing information on membership, contribution rate, openness, area of activity and legal successor for all sickness funds in the period from 1996 to 2013. Methods: Market concentration is measured by the concentration rate (cumulative market share of the largest market participants) and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI). In addition, the change in the HHI is also disaggregated into 3 factors: opening, switching and fusion of sickness funds. Results: Concentration rate and HHI decreased significantly between 1996 and 2008 due to opening of former closed sickness funds and a switching behaviour from large to small funds. The SHI Competition Enhancement Act of 2007 led to a turnaround. The reform permitted cross-type mergers and introduced a completely new system of budget allocation with the central health fund. The latter put an end to the growing membership of small funds due to adverse selection processes. As a result, market concentration in the German SHI rises. Although recent mega-mergers were uncritical for nationwide competition, the study already indicates the risk of market dominance on the regional level. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Emittance formula for slits and pepper-pot measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, M.

1996-10-01

In this note, a rigid formula for slits and pepper-pot emittance measurement is derived. The derivation is based on the one- dimensional slit measurement setup. A mathematical generalization of the slit emittance formula to the pepper-pot measurement is discussed

Corrosion Testing of Hybrid Welded Stainless Steel Pot

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sondrup, Lars de Caldas; Bagger, Claus; Olsen, Flemming Ove

2004-01-01

Investigation of the use of hybrid welding by preparation of tailored blanks for the manufacturing of a deep drawn pot.......Investigation of the use of hybrid welding by preparation of tailored blanks for the manufacturing of a deep drawn pot....

Health-related behaviours and sickness absence from work.

Science.gov (United States)

Laaksonen, M; Piha, K; Martikainen, P; Rahkonen, O; Lahelma, E

2009-12-01

To compare associations of health-related behaviours with self-certified and medically confirmed sickness absence, and to examine whether these associations can be explained by psychosocial and physical working conditions and occupational social class. The study included 5470 female and 1464 male employees of the City of Helsinki surveyed in 2000-2002. These data were linked to sickness absence records until the end of 2005, providing a mean follow-up time of 3.9 years. Poisson regression analysis was used to examine associations of smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, dietary habits and relative weight (body mass index) with self-certified (1-3 days) and medically confirmed (> or =4 days) absence spells. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated to quantify the sickness absence burden related to the behaviours. Smoking and high relative weight were most strongly associated with sickness absence, while the associations of other studied health-related behaviours were weaker. The associations were stronger for medically confirmed sickness absence spells for which heavy smoking and obesity more than doubled the risk of sickness absence in men and nearly doubled it in women. Adjusting for psychosocial working conditions had little or no effect on the associations. Physical working conditions and social class somewhat attenuated the associations, especially for smoking and relative weight. In self-certified sickness absence the PAF for smoking (16.4 in men, 10.3 in women) was largest, while in medically confirmed absence relative weight had the largest PAF (23.5 in men, 15.0 in women). Health-related behaviours, smoking and high relative weight in particular, were associated with subsequent sickness absence independently of psychosocial and physical working conditions and social class. Decreasing smoking and relative weight is likely to provide important gains in work ability and reduce sickness absence.

Effect of organisational change type and frequency on long-term sickness absence in hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstrøm, Vilde H; Kjekshus, Lars Erik

2015-09-01

The present study was conducted to investigate how the frequency of structural change and patient care-related change is related to employees' long-term sickness absence. Although a growing body of research is investigating the potentially harmful effects of organisational change on employee health, most studies have focused on single episodes of organisational change and do not differentiate among the types and frequencies of change. National registry data were collected from 2005 and 2007. A total of 34 712 health professionals from 56 hospitals were included (76% nurses, 18% physicians and 6% other health professionals) and the data were analysed using multilevel logistic regression. The research findings reveal a significantly higher probability of long-term sickness absence among employees who experienced more frequent structural changes (OR = 1.03; CI: 1.00-1.06; P changes. A higher frequency of organisational change may lead to more sickness-related absence among employees, with the effect depending on the type of change. These findings highlight the need for managers who are contemplating or are in the process of implementing organisational change to become more aware of the potentially harmful effects of frequent organisational change on employee health. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Impact of post-infiltration soil aeration at different growth stages of sub-surface trickle-irrigated tomato plants

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuan; Jia, Zong-xia; Niu, Wen-Quan; Wang, Jing-wei

2016-07-01

Sensitivity to low rhizosphere soil aeration may change over time and therefore plant response may also depend on different growth stages of a crop. This study quantified effects of soil aeration during 5 different periods, on growth and yield of trickle-irrigated potted single tomato plants. Irrigation levels were 0.6 to 0.7 (low level) or 0.7 to 0.8 (high level) of total water holding capacity of the pots. Soil was aerated by injecting 2.5 l of air into each pot through the drip tubing immediately after irrigation. Fresh fruit yield, above ground plant dry weight, plant height, and leaf area index response to these treatments were measured. For all these 4 response variables, means of post-infiltration aeration between 58 to 85 days after sowing were 13.4, 43.5, 13.7, and 37.7% higher than those for the non-aerated pots, respectively. The results indicated that: post-infiltration soil aeration can positively impact the yield and growth of sub-surface trickle-irrigated potted tomato plants; positive effects on plant growth can be obtained with aeration during the whole growth period or with aeration for partial periods; positive growth effects of partial periods of aeration appears to persist and result in yield benefit.

Microbial enrichment of a novel growing substrate and its effect on plant growth.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trifonova, R.D.; Postma, J.; Schilder, M.T.; Elsas, van J.D.

2009-01-01

Abstract The quality of torrefied grass fibers (TGF) as a new potting soil ingredient was tested in a greenhouse experiment. TGF was colonized with previously selected microorganisms. Four colonization treatments were compared: (1) no inoculants, (2) the fungus Coniochaeta ligniaria F/TGF15 alone,

Microbial enrichment of a novel growing substrate and its effect on plant growth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trifonova, R.; Postma, J.; Schilder, M.; van Elsas, J.D.

2009-01-01

The quality of torrefied grass fibers (TGF) as a new potting soil ingredient was tested in a greenhouse experiment. TGF was colonized with previously selected microorganisms. Four colonization treatments were compared: (1) no inoculants, (2) the fungus Coniochaeta ligniaria F/TGF15 alone, (3) the

Does self-efficacy predict return-to-work after sickness absence? A prospective study among 930 employees with sickness absence for three weeks or more

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Labriola, Merete; Lund, Thomas; Christensen, Karl B

2007-01-01

follows a cohort of 5357 working employees and 106 long-term sickness absent employees in Denmark. They were interviewed in 2000 regarding self-efficacy and various co-variates, and followed for 78 weeks in a national sickness absence register. Cox regression analysis was performed in order to assess...... or with Return-to-Work. CONCLUSION: The results may suggest that lower self-efficacy among employees with sickness absence is a result of the sickness absence itself rather than a precursor of it. This indicates a need to investigate the potential change in self-efficacy in relation to the employee's change......AIM: To compare levels of self-efficacy among the general working population and employees with sickness absence from work, and to examine if general self-efficacy measured before occurrence of sickness absence predicted subsequent onset of sickness absence and Return-to-Work. METHODS: The study...

Influencia de doses de potássio nos teores de macronutrientes em plantas e sementes de alface Macronutrient content in lettuce affected by potassium side dressing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiaini Kano

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Avaliou-se a influência de doses de potássio aplicadas em cobertura nos teores de nutrientes em plantas de alface cultivada para produção de sementes. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi blocos casualizados, com cinco tratamentos (0,0; 1,0; 1,5; 2,0 e 2,5 g planta-1 de K2O e seis repetições. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e à análise de regressão. Somente os teores de potássio e magnésio determinados na matéria seca da parte aérea das plantas foram influenciados significativamente pelas doses de potássio testadas, em que para o teor de potássio ocorreu aumento linear e para o de magnésio houve redução também linear. Conclui-se que os tratamentos testados não interferiram de forma significativa nos teores de macronutrientes das sementes, apesar de ter modificado os teores de potássio e de magnésio na matéria seca da parte aérea das plantas de alface, cultivar Verônica.The influence of potassium rates applied in side dressing was evaluated on the nutrient content of lettuce plants cultivated for seed production. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete blocks, with five treatments (0.0; 1.0; 1.5; 2.0 and 2.5 g plant-1 of K2O and six replications. Only the potassium and the magnesium content in the dry matter of the plant aboveground part was affected by the treatments. The potassium content increased and the magnesium content decreased, both linearly, as an effect of the application of increasing potassium rates. Also, despite of the effect on the plant potassium content, the treatments did not affect the seed macronutrient content.

Fractionation of phosphorus added as a vegetal residue ({sup 32} P) and a fertilizer ({sup 32} P) between soil, plant and microbial biomass; Particao do P adicionado como residuo vegetal ({sup 32} P) e fertilizante ({sup 32} P) entre solo, planta e biomassa microbiana

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira, M C

1988-04-01

Sugar cane straw and/or P-fertilizer phosphorus-32 labelled were added to a Red Yellow podzolic soil from Goiana-PE. The treated samples were used in a pot experiment, growing sorghum plants for 4 and 6 weeks, and in an incubation experiment with incubation periods of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 weeks without plants in order to follow the dynamics of the P added. After each harvest and incubation period the soil were analysed for {sup 31} P and {sup 32} P in the microbial biomass and in sequential extracts with resin (Pi), 0.5 M Na H Co{sub 3} (Pi, Po) and 0.1 N NaOH (Pi, Po). The {sup 31} P and {sup 32} P contents of the sorghum in the pot experiment were also determined. (author).

Do lower vertebrates suffer from motion sickness?

Science.gov (United States)

Lychakov, Dmitri

The poster presents literature data and results of the author’s studies with the goal to find out whether the lower animals are susceptible to motion sickness (Lychakov, 2012). In our studies, fish and amphibians were tested for 2 h and more by using a rotating device (f = 0.24 Hz, a _{centrifugal} = 0.144 g) and a parallel swing (f = 0.2 Hz, a _{horizontal} = 0.059 g). The performed studies did not revealed in 4 fish species and in toads any characteristic reactions of the motion sickness (sopite syndrome, prodromal preparatory behavior, vomiting). At the same time, in toads there appeared characteristic stress reactions (escape response, an increase of the number of urinations, inhibition of appetite), as well as some other reactions not associated with motion sickness (regular head movements, eye retractions). In trout fry the used stimulation promoted division of the individuals into the groups differing by locomotor reaction to stress, as well as the individuals with the well-expressed compensatory reaction that we called the otolithotropic reaction. Analysis of results obtained by other authors confirms our conclusions. Thus, the lower vertebrates, unlike mammals, are immune to motion sickness either under the land conditions or under conditions of weightlessness. On the basis of available experimental data and theoretical concepts of mechanisms of development the motion sickness, formulated in several hypotheses (mismatch hypothesis, Traisman‘ s hypothesis, resonance hypothesis), there presented the synthetic hypothesis of motion sickness that has the conceptual significance. According to the hypothesis, the unusual stimulation producing sensor-motor or sensor-sensor conflict or an action of vestibular and visual stimuli of frequency of about 0.2 Hz is perceived by CNS as poisoning and causes the corresponding reactions. The motion sickness actually is a byproduct of technical evolution. It is suggested that in the lower vertebrates, unlike mammals

[Sickness absence associated with major life events].

Science.gov (United States)

Markussen, Simen; Røgeberg, Ole

2012-05-29

Sickness absence in the Norwegian workplace doubled in the period 1993-2003. However, the extent to which the driving factors were medical or non-medical remains unclear, as does the extent to which the cause may be found in the composition of the workforce. A differences-in-differences regression model was used to estimate the added sickness absence associated with major life events such as separation, death of spouse and pregnancy in the period 1993-2005. The data were obtained from administrative registers covering the entire Norwegian population, and include all absence periods of 16 days' duration or more reported by a doctor's medical certificate. The primary outcome measures were incidence (the proportion of absentees in a given time window) and absence (the proportion of sick days in a given time window). The level of absence among employees exposed to the specified life events was compared to control groups matched for gender, age, education and income. In 1993, people in each of the three groups exposed to major life events had more frequent and longer periods of absence than people in the control groups. This added sickness absence increased between 1993 and 2005. The changes in added sickness absence were at times significant, particularly for pregnant women. While sickness absence among pregnant women in 1993 was 15.4 percentage points higher than in the control group, the difference had increased to 24.8 percentage points in 2005. We find it improbable for the increase in added sickness absence to be caused by changes in the medical impact of life events or alterations in the workforce composition. We believe the increase is caused by changing attitudes among the working population and in the medical profession towards sickness absence on grounds that are not strictly medical, combined with improved social acceptance and diagnosis of mental health issues, and/or a medicalisation of natural health variations (pregnancy) and emotional distress (grief).

Reducing sick leave of Dutch vocational school students: adaptation of a sick leave protocol using the intervention mapping process.

Science.gov (United States)

de Kroon, Marlou L A; Bulthuis, Jozien; Mulder, Wico; Schaafsma, Frederieke G; Anema, Johannes R

2016-12-01

Since the extent of sick leave and the problems of vocational school students are relatively large, we aimed to tailor a sick leave protocol at Dutch lower secondary education schools to the particular context of vocational schools. Four steps of the iterative process of Intervention Mapping (IM) to adapt this protocol were carried out: (1) performing a needs assessment and defining a program objective, (2) determining the performance and change objectives, (3) identifying theory-based methods and practical strategies and (4) developing a program plan. Interviews with students using structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, a literature research and, finally, a pilot implementation were carried out. A sick leave protocol was developed that was feasible and acceptable for all stakeholders. The main barriers for widespread implementation are time constraints in both monitoring and acting upon sick leave by school and youth health care. The iterative process of IM has shown its merits in the adaptation of the manual 'A quick return to school is much better' to a sick leave protocol for vocational school students.

Use of fully biodegradable panels to reduce derelict pot threats to marine fauna.

Science.gov (United States)

Bilkovic, D M; Havens, K J; Stanhope, D M; Angstadt, K T

2012-12-01

Fishing pots (i.e., traps) are designed to catch fish or crustaceans and are used globally. Lost pots are a concern for a variety of fisheries, and there are reports that 10-70% of deployed pots are lost annually. Derelict fishing pots can be a source of mortality for target and bycatch species for several years. Because continual removal of derelict gear can be impractical over large spatial extents, modifications are needed to disarm gear once it is lost. We tested a fully biodegradable panel with a cull or escape ring designed for placement on the sides of a crab pot that completely degrades into environmentally neutral constituents after approximately 1 year. This panel is relatively inexpensive, easy to install, and can be used in multiple fisheries. We used the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fishery as a test case because it is a large pot fishery and blue crab pots are similar to traps used in other pot fisheries. We had commercial fishers deploy pots with panels alongside standard pots in Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A.) to assess potential effects of our experimental pots on blue crab catch. We compared the number, biomass, and size of crabs captured between standard and experimental pots and evaluated differences in catch over a crabbing season (March-November) at five locations. There was no evidence that biodegradable panels adversely affected catch. In all locations and time periods, legal catches were comparable in abundance, biomass, and size between experimental and standard pots. Properly designed biodegradable panels appear to be a viable solution to mitigate adverse effects of derelict pots. ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

Efficient plant regeneration of bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara L., a medicinal plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arzu Ucar Turker

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Solanum dulcamara L. (bittersweet is a medicinal plant that has been used to treat skin diseases, warts, tumors, felons, arthritis, rheumatism, bronchial congestion, heart ailments, ulcerative colitis, eye inflammations, jaundice and pneumonia. A reliable in vitro culture protocol for bittersweet was established. Explants (leaf and petiole segments were cultured on Murashige and Skoog minimal organics (MSMO medium with various plant growth regulator combinations. Leaf explants formed more shoots than petiole explants. Plant regeneration was observed through indirect organogenesis with both explants. Best shoot proliferation was obtained from leaf explants with 3 mg/l BA (benzyladenine and 0.5 mg/l IAA (indole-3-acetic acid. Regenerated shoots were transferred to rooting media containing different levels of IAA (indole-3-acetic acid, IBA (indole-3-butyric acid, NAA (naphthalene acetic acid or 2,4-D (2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Most shoots developed roots on medium with 0.5 mg/l IBA. Rooted explants were transferred to vermiculate in Magenta containers for acclimatization and after 2 weeks, they were planted in plastic pots containing potting soil and maintained in the plant growth room.

First roman pot tested by TOTEM

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

TOTEM, one of the smaller experiments of the LHC, successfully tested its first 'roman pot' detectors on 3 November. A total of eight will be installed in the LHC near the CMS cavern. Marco Oriunno, project engineer of TOTEM (right), with Jean-Michel Lacroix from TS/MME (Mechanical and Materials Engineering) (left), standing behind one of the roman pot detectors. There is a small tribe in the land of CERN. Among its artefacts you may find colourfully painted rocks, a totem made of cardboard boxes, and a few roman pots. Known by the name of TOTEM, or 'TOTal, Elastic and diffractive cross-section Measurement' (not a tribe motto), they are a relatively small collaborative group in comparison to the main LHC experiments, with approximately 50 'tribe members'. Unlike the four larger experiments that will analyse new particles produced as a result of the collisions, TOTEM will investigate the ones that almost missed each other. When two beams of protons travelling in opposite di...

Plant growth on 'fly ash'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holliday, R; Hodgson, D R; Townsend, W N; Wood, J W

1958-04-12

Plants were grown in plot and pot experiments to assess the toxicity of the fly ash. It was found that plants grouped into three classes: tolerant, moderately tolerant, and sensitive. Boron was found to be a major compoent of the toxic principle of fly ash.

Physiological response of marigold (calendula officinalis L.) plants to gamma radiation, gibberellic acid and kinetin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noby, M.F.A.

2010-01-01

This study was carried out during the two successive seasons of 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 at the Experimental Field of Plant Research Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority at Inshas in a newly reclaimed sandy loam soil. The aim of this work was to study the effect of gamma radiation, gibberellic acid or kinetin and their interaction on the growth, flowering and the productivity of pot-marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) plants. The experimental trials included two factorial experiments; the first one was to study the effect of gamma radiation and gibberellic acid and the interaction between them on pot-marigold plants. Another experiment was conducted to study the effect of gamma radiation and kinetin and the interaction between them on pot-marigold plants. Pot-marigold seeds were irradiated before sowing with gamma rays at 0, 50, 100, 150 or 200 Gray (Gy) of gamma rays. After planting, plants were sprayed with either gibberellic acid (at the concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 150 or 200 ppm) or kinetin (at the concentrations of 0, 10, 20, 30 or 40 ppm). Generally, gamma rays treatments (50, 100 and 150 Gy) increased plant height, branch number/plant, leaf area, vegetative growth and roots fresh and dry weights of pot-marigold plants. Also, the same gamma doses accelerated flowering and decreased the period from sowing until flowering while increased flower head diameter, flower number/plant and flowers fresh and dry weights per plant and per feddan. In addition, gamma rays (50 - 150 Gy) increased volatile oil yield in flowers, leaf chlorophyll content, carotenoids and beta carotene in flowers, total soluble sugars and NPK %. The best values were obtained by 50 Gy dose of gamma rays, whereas the dose of 200 Gy gave the lowest values.

Repressor-mediated tissue-specific gene expression in plants

Science.gov (United States)

Meagher, Richard B [Athens, GA; Balish, Rebecca S [Oxford, OH; Tehryung, Kim [Athens, GA; McKinney, Elizabeth C [Athens, GA

2009-02-17

Plant tissue specific gene expression by way of repressor-operator complexes, has enabled outcomes including, without limitation, male sterility and engineered plants having root-specific gene expression of relevant proteins to clean environmental pollutants from soil and water. A mercury hyperaccumulation strategy requires that mercuric ion reductase coding sequence is strongly expressed. The actin promoter vector, A2pot, engineered to contain bacterial lac operator sequences, directed strong expression in all plant vegetative organs and tissues. In contrast, the expression from the A2pot construct was restricted primarily to root tissues when a modified bacterial repressor (LacIn) was coexpressed from the light-regulated rubisco small subunit promoter in above-ground tissues. Also provided are analogous repressor operator complexes for selective expression in other plant tissues, for example, to produce male sterile plants.

Enzyme activities at different stages of plant biomass decomposition in three species of fungus-growing termites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

da Costa, Rafael R.; Hu, Haofu; Pilgaard, Bo

2018-01-01

contributing to the success of the termites as the main plant decomposers in the Old World. Here we evaluate which plant polymers are decomposed and which enzymes are active during the decomposition process in two major genera of fungus-growing termites. We find a diversity of active enzymes at different...... stages of decomposition and a consistent decrease in plant components during the decomposition process. Furthermore, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that termites transport enzymes from the older mature parts of the fungus comb through young worker guts to freshly inoculated plant...... substrate. However, preliminary fungal RNAseq analyses suggest that this likely transport is supplemented with enzymes produced in situ Our findings support that the maintenance of an external fungus comb, inoculated with an optimal mix of plant material, fungal spores, and enzymes, is likely the key...

Evaluation of the sickness rate for acute myocardial infarction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Semenova, Y. V.; Litvinenko, T. M.; Takhanov, R. M.; Karpov, A. B.

2004-07-01

Cardiovascular diseases seem to be the main cause of people's death in industrial developed countries. That is why the active study of factors and conditions affecting the sickness and death rate for this group of diseases is being continued at present. Apart from the well-known risk factors, there is a group of technogenic factors the contribution of which to genesis of the examined group of diseases is not clear enough and requires a detailed study. One of such factors appears to be ionizing radiaiton, especially in case of a prolonged effect with the so-called small doses. The sickness rate due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the period 1999-2001 has been studied in the closed population ZATO Seversk. To conduct examinations there was created the towns AMI register to be a structural component of the regional medico-dosimetric register (RMDR) of the Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises (SGCE) personnel and population of ZATO Seversk. Information on coronary disasters among adult population above 20 is being collected according to the program AMI Register created by WHO in 1968 with our additional results of modern methods of examining patients with ischemic heart disease and prospective observation. The analysis of data obtained testifies to the tendency towards the sickness rate increase in the period under study both among residents of the town (2,011-2,014-2,238 per 1000 people in 1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively) and among SGCE workers (4,354-4,572-5,006 per 1000) that corresponds to general tendencies of AMI sickness rate on the territory of Russian Federation. it is noted that in the group of workers at the main production the AMI sickness rate exceeds similar indices by the plant as a whole (6,205-7, 176-6,518 per 1000). Great prevalence of this AMI form among workers of a large industrial enterprise can be conditioned by a predominance of male contingent high emotional mental load (shift work on complex technological equipment with

Evaluation of the sickness rate for acute myocardial infarction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semenova, Y. V.; Litvinenko, T. M.; Takhanov, R. M.; Karpov, A. B.

2004-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases seem to be the main cause of people's death in industrial developed countries. That is why the active study of factors and conditions affecting the sickness and death rate for this group of diseases is being continued at present. Apart from the well-known risk factors, there is a group of technogenic factors the contribution of which to genesis of the examined group of diseases is not clear enough and requires a detailed study. One of such factors appears to be ionizing radiaiton, especially in case of a prolonged effect with the so-called small doses. The sickness rate due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the period 1999-2001 has been studied in the closed population ZATO Seversk. To conduct examinations there was created the towns AMI register to be a structural component of the regional medico-dosimetric register (RMDR) of the Siberian Group of Chemical Enterprises (SGCE) personnel and population of ZATO Seversk. Information on coronary disasters among adult population above 20 is being collected according to the program AMI Register created by WHO in 1968 with our additional results of modern methods of examining patients with ischemic heart disease and prospective observation. The analysis of data obtained testifies to the tendency towards the sickness rate increase in the period under study both among residents of the town (2,011-2,014-2,238 per 1000 people in 1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively) and among SGCE workers (4,354-4,572-5,006 per 1000) that corresponds to general tendencies of AMI sickness rate on the territory of Russian Federation. it is noted that in the group of workers at the main production the AMI sickness rate exceeds similar indices by the plant as a whole (6,205-7, 176-6,518 per 1000). Great prevalence of this AMI form among workers of a large industrial enterprise can be conditioned by a predominance of male contingent high emotional mental load (shift work on complex technological equipment with

Self-reported and employer-recorded sickness absence in doctors.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, I J

2014-09-01

Doctors' sickness absence reduces the quality and continuity of patient care and is financially costly. Doctors have lower rates of sickness absence than other healthcare workers. To compare self-reported with recorded sickness absence in doctors in a UK National Health Service hospital trust. A retrospective questionnaire study. The main outcome measures were self-reported and trust-recorded sickness absence episodes of 4 days or more in two consecutive 6-month periods. The response rate was 82% (607/736). Self-reported sickness absence rates were 1.2% compared with a rate of 0.6% from trust-recorded data. There were 38 matched pairs of self-reported (mean duration: 18 days, standard deviation: 22 days) and trust-recorded (mean duration: 10 days, standard deviation: 17 days) sickness absence episodes of 4 days or more in the 12 months studied. A matched pairs t-test determined that the difference between the two means was significant (t = 2.57, P sickness absence was significantly under-recorded in this study population. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Effect of Different Fertilizer Applications on Plant and Fruit Yield in Greenhouse Organic Tomato Growing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Funda Ulusu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Greenhouse tomato production is in the first place in Turkey, 34% of total tomato production (3.614.472 tonnes is under greenhouse conditions. The increase in yield in Turkey is due to the spread of undergrowth cultivation besides the use of qualified varieties and seeds. Synthetic fertilizers can’t be used to obtain economic efficiency in underground organic tomato growing Therefore, the application of alternative fertilizers (barn stubble, green manure, organic fertilizer, vermicompost etc. needs to be improved. For this purpose, effect of the eight different fertilizer combination including organic and worm liquid fertilizer, humic acid and mycorrhizae applications on tomato plant and fruit yield were investigated in the study. Negative check without any fertilizer application growing and a positive check; a synthetic liquid fertilizer application was included. Experiment was set up according to completely randomised block design with 3 replications under greenhouse conditions. Tomato fruit length, diameter and weight was determined as fruit yield and fresh and dry weight as plant yield. There was not any statistical difference among fertilizer applications for fruit and plant yield. However, the highest tomato fruit yield was obtained in the treatments of organic (7.17 kg/ plot and worm fertilizers (4,80 kg/ plot in combination with mycorrhizae. The results were similar for fruit diameter and length. Plant fresh and dry weight was between 2.01 to 5.92 and 0.368 to 1.153 kg, respectively. The highest plant weight was belong to mycorrhizae and organic fertilizer application.

Phytoextraction potential of sunflower and white mustard plants in zinc-contaminated soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Zalewska

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Phytoextraction relies on plants with a high capacity to absorb heavy metals and remove them from the soil. The objective of this study was to analyze the potential of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. and white mustard (Sinapis alba L. for phytoextraction of Zn-contaminated soil. Research was based on a strict pot experiment conducted in a greenhouse. Seven treatments were established with increasing Zn concentrations: 0, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 600 mg Zn kg-1 air-dry soil. The first tested plant was fodder sunflower. In the following year, white mustard was sown in the same pots. Plants were harvested at the end of the flowering stage. The toxic effect of Zn on sunflower yields occurred at the contamination level of 200 mg Zn kg-1 soil. In the second year of the experiment, a significant decrease in mustard biomass took place in response to 400 mg Zn kg-1 soil. The contamination level of 600 mg Zn kg-1 soil resulted in complete plant death. Plant growth was not inhibited even at high tissue Zn concentrations of 515 mg Zn kg-1 sunflower DM and 422 mg Zn kg-1 mustard DM. The 2-yr cropping system did not contribute to a significant decrease in soil Zn content. Despite high concentrations of Zn in sunflower and mustard plants, total Zn uptake accounted for only 1% to 8% of the Zn rate introduced into the soil. However, in the long run, the growing of crops could reduce Zn contamination levels in the soil. The relatively high tolerance of sunflower and white mustard for Zn contamination and rapid growth of these species are possible alternatives for phytoextraction and phytostabilization of Zn-contaminated soil.

Expressão de caracteres de tubérculos em função do tamanho de recipiente usado no cultivo de batata na geração de plântulas Expression of tuber traits as a function of pot size used to grow potato seedlings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Alvaro Aloisio Verissimo

2012-12-01

Full Text Available No melhoramento genético de batata, para alguns caracteres, é possível eliminar genótipos inferiores já nas gerações iniciais, o que permite reduzir o número de genótipos avaliados a campo, proporcionando redução de custos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a influência do tamanho de vaso na expressão de caracteres de tubérculo, em famílias de batata, na geração de plântula. Em casa de vegetação, dez famílias de batata foram avaliadas em dois tamanhos de recipientes, vaso grande (1 L e vaso pequeno (250 ml. Os caracteres de tubérculos avaliados foram: cor, aspereza, profundidade de olho, sobrancelha, formato, uniformidade de formato, apontamento, curvatura, achatamento, aparência geral, massa por planta, massa média e número de tubérculos. O vaso grande proporciona maior expressão da variação genética para os caracteres profundidade de olho, sobrancelha, curvatura, achatamento, aparência geral e todos os componentes de rendimento. As maiores médias de produção de tubérculos em número, tamanho e massa foram obtidas no vaso grande, enquanto o maior coeficiente de variação genético para os caracteres formato, uniformidade de formato e apontamento de tubérculo foi obtido no vaso pequeno.In potato breeding, the exclusion of inferior genotypes by selection in early generations provides more versatility and cost reduction. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of pot size on the expression of tuber traits in potato families grown as seedling generation. Ten potato families were planted in two pot sizes, large (1 L and small (250 ml, in the greenhouse. The following tuber traits were evaluated: color, roughness, depth of eye, eyebrow, shape, uniformity of shape, pointing, curvature, flattening, tuber general appearance, total mass per plant, average tuber weight and number of tubers. The larger pot provided greater expression of genetic variation for the depth of eye, eyebrow, curvature

Various anti-motion sickness drugs and core body temperature changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Bob; Nakashima, Ann M; Hofer, Kevin D

2011-04-01

Blood flow changes and inactivity associated with motion sickness appear to exacerbate the rate of core temperature decrease during subsequent body cooling. We investigated the effects of various classes of anti-motion sickness drugs on core temperature changes. There were 12 healthy male and female subjects (20-35 yr old) who were given selected classes of anti-motion sickness drugs prior to vestibular Coriolis cross coupling induced by graded yaw rotation and periodic pitch-forward head movements in the sagittal plane. All subjects were then immersed in water at 18 degrees C for a maximum of 90 min or until their core temperature reached 35 degrees C. Double-blind randomized trials were administered, including a placebo, a non-immersion control with no drug, and six anti-motion sickness drugs: meclizine, dimenhydrinate, chlorpheniramine, promethazine + dexamphetamine, promethazine + caffeine, and scopolamine + dexamphetamine. A 7-d washout period was observed between trials. Core temperature and the severity of sickness were monitored throughout each trial. A repeated measures design was performed on the severity of sickness and core temperature changes prior to motion provocation, immediately after the motion sickness end point, and throughout the period of cold-water immersion. The most effective anti-motion sickness drugs, promethazine + dexamphetamine (with a sickness score/duration of 0.65 +/- 0.17) and scopolamine + dexamphetamine (with a sickness score/duration of 0.79 +/- 0.17), significantly attenuated the decrease in core temperature. The effect of this attenuation was lower in less effective drugs. Our results suggest that the two most effective anti-motion sickness drugs are also the most effective in attenuating the rate of core temperature decrease.

Retardadores de crescimento na produção de plantas floridas envasadas de açafrão-da-cochinchina Growth retardants on production of flowering potted thai tulip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Christina Rossini Pinto

2006-01-01

Full Text Available A introdução de novos produtos na floricultura brasileira é importante para o crescimento do setor. O açafrão-da-cochinchina (Curcuma alismatifolia possui inflorescência e folhagem altamente decorativas e grande potencial para produção como florífera envasada, com o auxílio de retardadores de crescimento, usados na produção de plantas compactas e atrativas. Avaliou-se o efeito de retardadores de crescimento na produção de açafrão-da-cochinchina `Pink', de 3/12/2004 a 28/4/2005, sob ambiente protegido, em Holambra (SP. Instalou-se experimento em blocos casualizados com três repetições e onze tratamentos: controle, paclobutrazol (20; 25; 30 e 35 mg i.a./vaso, via substrato, duas, três e cinco pulverizações de daminozide na concentração de 2,125 g L-1 e duas, três e cinco pulverizações de solução de daminozide (1,275 g L-1 mais chlormequat (0,2 g L-1. O propágulo foi plantado em vaso plástico (1,0 L com substrato comercial e fertirrigado diariamente. Paclobutrazol (35 mg i.a./vaso reduziu significativamente a altura da parte aérea e da folhagem e o comprimento da haste floral, sem alterar o comprimento da inflorescência e atrasar o ciclo de produção. Entretanto, as plantas não ficaram suficientemente compactas para atender às exigências de qualidade do mercado. Os demais retardadores estudados não afetaram significativamente a altura da folhagem e o comprimento da haste floral comparado ao controle.The introduction of new products is important for the growth of Brazilian floriculture industry. The thai tulip (Curcuma alismatifolia has a highly attractive inflorescence and foliage, and great prospect as a flowering potted plant with the aid of growth retardants, which are used to produce compact plants. The effect of growth retardants on `Pink' thai tulip production was evaluated under controlled growing conditions at Holambra, SP. The experimental design was randomized blocks, with three replications and

Autogenic feedback training experiment: A preventative method for space motion sickness

Science.gov (United States)

Cowings, Patricia S.

1993-01-01

Space motion sickness is a disorder which produces symptoms similar to those of motion sickness on Earth. This syndrome has affected approximately 50 percent of all astronauts and cosmonauts exposed to microgravity in space, but it differs from what is commonly known as motion sickness in a number of critical ways. There is currently no ground-based method for predicting susceptibility to motion sickness in space. Antimotion sickness drugs have had limited success in preventing or counteracting symptoms in space, and frequently caused debilitating side effects. The objectives were: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of Autogenic-Feedback Training as a countermeasure for space motion sickness; (2) to compare physiological data and in-flight symptom reports to ground-based motion sickness data; and (3) to predict susceptibility to space motion sickness based on pre-flight data of each treatment group crew member.

Effect of fertilizer and inoculation on the growth and yield of soybean cv.williams-82 in pot culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Achakzai, A.K.K.; Kayani, S.A.

2004-01-01

A pot culture experiment in response to different levels of added N fertilizer on soybean cv.Williams-82 was conducted in clay loam soil under the climatic conditions of Quetta. Fertilizer treatments were applied at the rate zero (control); 23; 25; 50; 75; 100 and 125 kg N/ha plus a constant dose of 60 kg P/sub 2/O/sub 5/ha and 30 kg K/sub 2/O/ha in all treatments (except control). These seven fertilizer treatments were applied to both non-inoculated and inoculated pot culture crop. Results showed that nodules were found to be absent in both set of experiments which could be indirectly attributed to either sufficient level of soil NO/sub 3/ (5.10 mm) or deficient level of total Fe (8.25 ppm) and Cu (below detection limit) or might be directly due to any other edaphic or climatic factor(s). Results also showed that in general petiole length, middle leaflet area,' plant height, yield, 100 seed weight (except inoculated fertilized), total number of pods/plant (except non-inoculated fertilized) and pod both set of experiment are significantly different (P > 0.05) as compared with their respective control treatment. While remaining yield attributes viz., one-seeded, two-seeded and three-seeded pods are found as non-significantly different in response to both fertilizer and inoculum treatments. Results further revealed that pots receiving N fertilizer without inoculum mathematically out-yielded (1718 kg/ha) in fertilizer dose of 100+60+30 kg NPK/ha, but inoculated pots out-yielded (1912 kg/ha) in fertilizer dose of 125+60+30 kg NPK/ha. It was also revealed that all growth parameters and most of the yield attributes exhibited significant positive correlation with yield. However, number of seedless and one-seeded pods also exhibited significant but negative association with yield. (author)

Effects of plant growth stage on the bioavailability of cesium and strontium in rhizosphere soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamaru, Yasuo

2006-01-01

The effects of plant growth stage on the bioavailability of Cs and Sr in rhizosphere soil were studied by soybean pot experiments. Soybean seeds were sown into 12 pots and the plants were grown in a greenhouse for 84 d. Three pots were kept unplanted. The concentrations of Mg, K, Ca, Sr and Cs in plants and in soil solutions at different growth periods were measured. The mass flow of the elements from soil solution to the root surface was calculated from the concentrations in the soil solution and daily transpiration of the soybean plant. The concentrations of elements in the soil solution decreased as the soybean plants grew. The decrease of Mg, K, Ca, and Sr was high in planted pots. The differences in Mg, K, Ca, and Sr concentrations between the planted and the unplanted pots indicated that the active uptake of these elements by the soybean plants caused the drop in their concentrations. However, no obvious difference in Cs concentrations was seen between the planted and the unplanted ports. Although the ratio of mass flow to actual uptake of Cs was 1.4 for the vegetative growth stage, it increased to 4.2 for the podding stage. This meant that the Cs mass flow was in excess of what was absorbed by the plants, so the Cs uptake was inhibited near the roots for the podding stage. It was assumed that the increase of Cs sorption due to the K concentration decrease in soil solution decreased the Cs bioavailability in the rhizosphere soil. The bioavailability of Cs and Sr in the rhizosphere was examined in a small-scale pot experiment. The soil-soil solution distribution coefficients (K d ) of Cs and Sr were observed as an index of their sorption level. K d of Cs increased in the rhizosphere soil after cultivation. The decrease of bioavailable fraction of soil Cs was also observed. The exchangeable Cs in the rhizosphere soil clearly decreased. On the other hand, no specific rhizosphere effect was observed for Sr bioavailability. These results showed that the Cs

Feed-forward and generalized regression neural networks in modeling feeding behavior of pigs in the grow-finishing phase

Science.gov (United States)

Feeding patterns in group-housed grow-finishing pigs have been investigated for use in management decisions, identifying sick animals, and determining genetic differences within a herd. Development of models to predict swine feeding behaviour has been limited due the large number of potential enviro...

Hyperventilation in a motion sickness desensitization program

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mert, A.; Bles, W.; Nooij, S.A.E.

2007-01-01

Introduction: In motion sickness desensitization programs, the motion sickness provocative stimulus is often a forward bending of the trunk on a rotating chair, inducing Coriolis effects. Since respiratory relaxation techniques are applied successfully in these courses, we investigated whether these

Efficacy of new inhibitors of ethylene perception in improvement of display quality of miniature potted roses (Rosa hybrida L.)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buanong, Mantana; Mibus, Heiko; Sisler, Edward C.

2005-01-01

1-Octylcyclopropene (1-OCP)and 1-Decylcyclopropene (1-DCP),ethylene receptor inhibitors,analogues to 1-MCP,substituted with longer carbon chain in the 1-position were investigated in miniature potted roses cultivar ‘Lavender ’.All levels of both chemicals protected as compared to untreated plants.1...

effect of plant hormones on the growth and nutrient uptake of maize

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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Key words/phrases: Acidic soils, exogenous plant hormones, liming, neutral compost, placed applica- tion .... placed into plastic pots of 18 and 10 cm upper and ... 0.61. *15 ml pot-1 mixture of micronutrient elements were added.

Determinants of sick-leave duration : A tool for managers?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Flach, P.A.; Krol, B.; Groothoff, J.W.

AIMS: To provide managers with tools to manage episodes of sick-leave of their employees, the influence of factors such as age, gender, duration of tenure, working full-time or part-time, cause and history of sick-leave, salary and education on sick-leave duration was studied. METHOD: In a

"Roman Pot" at the ISR

CERN Multimedia

CERN PhotoLab

1980-01-01

"Roman pots" are stainless steel containers, which can be moved from outside the vacuum chamber towards the beam. They house detectors which are conveniently at atmospheric pressure and can still be brought close to the limit of the circulating beam, to detect particles emanating at very small angles from the intersection of two colliding beams. Eifionydd Jones was the inventor of this device, highly successful at the ISR and now used again at the TOTEM experiment at the LHC. This particular Roman Pot, with a thickness of 0.2 mm, was built in 1980 for experiment R210 in intersection I-2, in preparation for proton-antiproton collisions in 1981. See also 7501065.

Effectiveness of early part-time sick leave in musculoskeletal disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Martimo, Kari-Pekka; Kaila-Kangas, Leena; Kausto, Johanna; Takala, Esa-Pekka; Ketola, Ritva; Riihimäki, Hilkka; Luukkonen, Ritva; Karppinen, Jaro; Miranda, Helena; Viikari-Juntura, Eira

2008-02-25

The importance of staying active instead of bed rest has been acknowledged in the management of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This emphasizes the potential benefits of adjusting work to fit the employee's remaining work ability. Despite part-time sick leave being an official option in many countries, its effectiveness has not been studied yet. We have designed a randomized controlled study to assess the health effects of early part-time sick leave compared to conventional full-day sick leave. Our hypothesis is that if work time is temporarily reduced and work load adjusted at the early stages of disability, employees with MSDs will have less disability days and faster return to regular work duties than employees on a conventional sick leave. The study population will consist of 600 employees, who seek medical advice from an occupational physician due to musculoskeletal pain. The inclusion requires that they have not been on a sick leave for longer than 14 days prior to the visit. Based on the physician's judgement, the severity of the symptoms must indicate a need for conventional sick leave, but the employee is considered to be able to work part-time without any additional risk. Half of the employees are randomly allocated to part-time sick leave group and their work time is reduced by 40-60%, whereas in the control group work load is totally eliminated with conventional sick leave. The main outcomes are the number of days from the initial visit to return to regular work activities, and the total number of sick leave days during 12 and 24 months of follow-up. The costs and benefits as well as the feasibility of early part-time sick leave will also be evaluated. This is the first randomised trial to our knowledge on the effectiveness of early part-time sick leave compared to conventional full-time sick leave in the management of MSDs. The data collection continues until 2011, but preliminary results on the feasibility of part-time sick leave will be available

Indoor air pollution and sick building syndrome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robertson, J P

1997-12-31

The topics discussed in this paper are accept that SBS (Sick building syndrome) is a reality ; understand the dimensions of the problem ; differentiate between sick building syndrome and building related illness ; introduce standards ; understanding the economics ; act pro-actively not re-actively.

Job demands, health perception and sickness absence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, C.A.; Koopmans, P.C.; de Graaf, J.H.; van Zandbergen, J.W.; Groothoff, J.W.

2007-01-01

Background Investigation of the relations between job demands, health and sickness absence is required to design a strategy for the prevention of absence and disability. Aim To study the relationships between (physical and psychological) job demands, health perception and sickness absence. Methods

Indoor air pollution and sick building syndrome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertson, J.P.

1996-01-01

The topics discussed in this paper are accept that SBS (Sick building syndrome) is a reality ; understand the dimensions of the problem ; differentiate between sick building syndrome and building related illness ; introduce standards ; understanding the economics ; act pro-actively not re-actively

Liquid abrasive pressure pot scoping tests report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Archibald, K.E.

1996-01-01

The primary initiatives of the LITCO Decontamination Development group at the Idaho Chemical Process Plant (ICPP) are the development of methods to eliminate the use of sodium bearing decontamination chemicals and minimization of the amount of secondary waste generated during decontamination activities. In July of 1994, a Commerce Business Daily (CBD) announcement was issued by the INEL to determine commercial interest in the development of an in-situ liquid abrasive grit blasting system. As a result of the CBD announcement, Klieber ampersand Schulz issued an Expression of Interest letter which stated they would be interested in testing a prototype Liquid Abrasive Pressure Pot (LAPP). LITCO's Decontamination group and Kleiber ampersand Schulz entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) in which the Decontamination Development group tested the prototype LAPP in a non-radioactive hot cell mockup. Test results are provided

Mosquito repellent activity of essential oils of aromatic plants growing in Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillij, Y G; Gleiser, R M; Zygadlo, J A

2008-05-01

Mosquitoes are important vectors of diseases and nuisance pests. Repellents minimize contact with mosquitoes. Repellents based on essential oils (EO) are being developed as an alternative to DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-methylbenzamide), an effective compound that has disadvantages including toxic reactions, and damage to plastic and synthetic fabric. This work evaluated the repellency against Aedes aegypti of EO from aromatic plants that grow in Argentina: Acantholippia seriphioides, Achyrocline satureioides, Aloysia citriodora, Anemia tomentosa, Baccharis spartioides, Chenopodium ambrosioides, Eucalyptus saligna, Hyptis mutabilis, Minthostachys mollis, Rosmarinus officinalis, Tagetes minuta and Tagetes pusilla. Most EO were effective. Variations depending on geographic origin of the plant were detected. At a 90% EO concentration, A. satureoides and T. pusilla were the least repellent. At concentrations of 12.5% B. spartioides, R. officinalis and A. citriodora showed the longest repellency times. Comparisons of the principal components of each EO suggest that limonene and camphor were the main components responsible for the repellent effects.

GPs' negotiation strategies regarding sick leave for subjective health complaints

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsen, Stein Tore; Malterud, Kirsti; Werner, Erik L.

2015-01-01

Objectives: To explore general practitioners ’(GPs’) specific negotiation strategies regarding sick-leave issues with patientssuffering from subjective health complaints. Design: Focus-group study. Setting: Nine focus-group interviews in three citiesin different regions of Norway. Participants: 48...... GPs (31 men, 17 women; age 32–65), participating in a course dealing with diagnostic practice and assessment of sickness certifi cates related to patients with subjective health complaints. Results: TheGPs identified some specific strategies that they claimed to apply when dealing with the question...... to sick leave. Conclusions and implications: GPs seem to have a conscious approach to negotiations of sickness certification, as they report applying specific strategies to limit the duration of sick leave due to subjective health complaints. This give-and-take way of handling sick leave negotiations has...

How Safe Is Measles Immunization Of Sick Children? | Ogbonna ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A prospective study to ascertain how safe is maeales immunization of sick children was carried out in Jos University Teaching Hospital, Family Health Centre. Out of 125 children who were vaccinated against measles 17(16%) were sick at the time of vaccination. Two (12%) of the sick children had post vaccination reaction.

Are environmental characteristics in the municipal eldercare, more closely associated with frequent short sick leave spells among employees than with total sick leave: a cross-sectional study

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background It has been suggested that frequent-, short-term sick leave is associated with work environment factors, whereas long-term sick leave is associated mainly with health factors. However, studies of the hypothesis of an association between a poor working environment and frequent short spells of sick leave are few and results are inconsistent. Therefore, we aimed to explore associations between self-reported psychosocial work factors and workplace-registered frequency and length of sick leave in the eldercare sector. Methods Employees from the municipal eldercare in Aarhus (N = 2,534) were included. In 2005, they responded to a work environment questionnaire. Sick leave records from 2005 were dichotomised into total sick leave days (0–14 and above 14 days) and into spell patterns (0–2 short, 3–9 short, and mixed spells and 1–3 long spells). Logistic regression models were used to analyse associations; adjusted for age, gender, occupation, and number of spells or sick leave length. Results The response rate was 76%; 96% of the respondents were women. Unfavourable mean scores in work pace, demands for hiding emotions, poor quality of leadership and bullying were best indicated by more than 14 sick leave days compared with 0–14 sick leave days. For work pace, the best indicator was a long-term sick leave pattern compared with a non-frequent short-term pattern. A frequent short-term sick leave pattern was a better indicator of emotional demands (1.62; 95% CI: 1.1-2.5) and role conflict (1.50; 95% CI: 1.2-1.9) than a short-term non-frequent pattern. Age (= 40 years) statistically significantly modified the association between the 1–3 long-term sick leave spell pattern and commitment to the workplace compared with the 3–9 frequent short-term pattern. Conclusions Total sick leave length and a long-term sick leave spell pattern were just as good or even better indicators of unfavourable work factor scores than a frequent short-term sick leave

Some problems of antibiotic therapy in radiation sickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shalnova, G.A.

1975-01-01

Data on the application of antibiotics and the mechanism of their action in radiation sickness are reviewed. Questions are discussed, such as the effect of antibiotics on the course and outcome of radiation sickness, the development of dysbacteriosis following irradiation, the effect of antibiotics on endogenic infection, the development of resistance of autoflora microbes to antibiotics in an irradiated organism and various aspects of the mechanism of action of antibiotics in radiation sickness. (author)

Factors associated with work-related accidents and sickness among maquiladora workers: the case of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Balcazar, H; Denman, C; Lara, F

1995-01-01

The health problems of maquiladora workers were explored in a sample of 497 workers of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. The workers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire containing four sections: a sociodemographic profile, occupational history, working conditions, and a health profile. Overall, 12.6 percent of the workers reported having an accident while working in the maquila, more than 40 percent of these requiring at least one day of disability, and 18.3 percent of workers reported having an episode of sickness/disease. More than 60 percent perceived health-related risks associated with working conditions. The presence of a doctor or nurse in the plant (odds ratio = 0.30), a perception of risk associated with working conditions (odds ratio = 1.85), and the plant offering information about work-related risks (odds ratio = 0.39) were among the significant predictors of work-related accidents and disease/sickness. The authors discuss the implications of these results for programs and policies to improve safety conditions in the maquiladora industry.

Sick leave patterns as predictors of disability pension or long-term sick leave: a 6.75-year follow-up study in municipal eldercare workers

Science.gov (United States)

Stapelfeldt, Christina Malmose; Nielsen, Claus Vinther; Andersen, Niels Trolle; Krane, Line; Borg, Vilhelm; Fleten, Nils; Jensen, Chris

2014-01-01

Objectives The aim was to study whether a workplace-registered frequent short-term sick leave spell pattern was an early indicator of future disability pension or future long-term sick leave among municipal eldercare workers. Setting The municipal healthcare sector in the city of Aarhus, which is the second largest city in Denmark. Participants All elder care employees who worked the entire year of 2004 in the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark (N=2774). The employees’ sick leave days during 2004 were categorised into: 0–2 and 3–17 short (1–7 days) spells, 2–13 mixed short and long (8+ days) spells and long spells only. Student workers (n=180), employees who were absent due to maternal/paternal leave (n=536) and employees who did not work the entire year of 2004 (n=1218) were not included. Primary outcome Disability pension and long-term sick leave (≥8 weeks) were subsequently identified in a National register. The cumulative incidence proportion as a function of follow-up weeks was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier curve. The relative cumulative incidence (RR) of experiencing events within 352 weeks was analysed in a generalised linear regression model using the pseudo values method adjusted for age, occupation, unfavourable work factors and sick leave length. Results A frequent short-term and a mixed sick leave pattern showed RRs of being granted a disability pension of 2.08 (95% CI 1.00 to 4.35) and 2.61 (95% CI 1.33 to 5.12) compared with 0–2 short spells. The risk of long-term sick leave was significantly increased for all sick leave patterns compared with 0–2 short spells. Adding sick leave length to the models attenuated all RRs and they became non-significant. Conclusions Sick leave length was a better indicator of future workability than spell frequency. Preventive actions should target employees engaged in homecare. The more sick leave days the greater the preventive potential seems, irrespective of spell frequency. PMID:24508850

Changes in plants and soil microorganisms in an artificial CO2 leakage experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, D.; Kim, Y.; Yoo, G.; Chung, H.

2017-12-01

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is considered to be a promising technology that can mitigate global climate change by greatly reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Despite the advantage, potential risks of leakage of CO2 from CO2 storage site exists, which may negatively affect organisms in the soil ecosystems. To investigate the short- term impacts of geological CO2 leakage on soil ecosystem, we conducted an artificial CO2 leakage experiment in a greenhouse where plants and soils were exposed to high levels of CO2. Corn was grown in a 1:1 (v/v) mixture of potting and field soil, and 99.99% CO2 gas was injected at a flow rate of 0.1l min-1 for 30 days whereas no gas was injected to control pots. Changes in plant growth, soil characteristics, and bacterial community composition were determined. Mean soil CO2 and O2 concentrations were 31.6% and 15.6%, respectively, in CO2-injected pots, while they were at ambient levels in control pots. The shoot and root length, and chlorophyll contents decreased in CO2-injected pots by 19.4%, 9.7%, and 11.9%, respectively. In addition, the concentration of available N such as NH4+-N and NO3-N was 83.3 to 90.8% higher in CO2-injected pots than in control pots likely due to inhibited plant growth. The results of bacterial 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing showed that the major phyla in the soils were Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Saccharibacteria_TM7. Among these, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria was lower in CO2-injected than in control pots (28.8% vs. 34.1%) likely due to decreased C availability. On the other hand, the abundance of Saccharibacteria_TM7 was significantly higher in CO2-injected than in control pots (6.0% vs. 1.3%). The changes in soil mineral N and microorganisms in response to injected CO2 was likely due to inhibited plant growth under high soil CO2 conditions, and further studies are needed to determine if belowground CO2 leakage from CO2 storage sites can directly

Acute mountain sickness

Science.gov (United States)

... GO About MedlinePlus Site Map FAQs Customer Support Health Topics Drugs & Supplements Videos & Tools Español You Are Here: Home → Medical Encyclopedia → Acute mountain sickness URL of this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/ ...

Plant tolerance to diesel minimizes its impact on soil microbial characteristics during rhizoremediation of diesel-contaminated soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrutia, O.; Garbisu, C.; Epelde, L.; Sampedro, M.C.; Goicolea, M.A.; Becerril, J.M.

2011-01-01

Soil contamination due to petroleum-derived products is an important environmental problem. We assessed the impacts of diesel oil on plants (Trifolium repens and Lolium perenne) and soil microbial community characteristics within the context of the rhizoremediation of contaminated soils. For this purpose, a diesel fuel spill on a grassland soil was simulated under pot conditions at a dose of 12,000 mg diesel kg -1 DW soil. Thirty days after diesel addition, T. repens (white clover) and L. perenne (perennial ryegrass) were sown in the pots and grown under greenhouse conditions (temperature 25/18 o C day/night, relative humidity 60/80% day/night and a photosynthetic photon flux density of 400 μmol photon m -2 s -1 ) for 5 months. A parallel set of unplanted pots was also included. Concentrations of n-alkanes in soil were determined as an indicator of diesel degradation. Seedling germination, plant growth, maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (F v /F m ), pigment composition and lipophylic antioxidant content were determined to assess the impacts of diesel on the studied plants. Soil microbial community characteristics, such as enzyme and community-level physiological profiles, were also determined and used to calculate the soil quality index (SQI). The presence of plants had a stimulatory effect on soil microbial activity. L. perenne was far more tolerant to diesel contamination than T. repens. Diesel contamination affected soil microbial characteristics, although its impact was less pronounced in the rhizosphere of L. perenne. Rhizoremediation with T. repens and L. perenne resulted in a similar reduction of total n-alkanes concentration. However, values of the soil microbial parameters and the SQI showed that the more tolerant species (L. perenne) was able to better maintain its rhizosphere characteristics when growing in diesel-contaminated soil, suggesting a better soil health. We concluded that plant tolerance is of crucial importance for the

Diffuse-Illumination Systems for Growing Plants

Science.gov (United States)

May, George; Ryan, Robert

2010-01-01

Agriculture in both terrestrial and space-controlled environments relies heavily on artificial illumination for efficient photosynthesis. Plant-growth illumination systems require high photon flux in the spectral range corresponding with plant photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) (400 700 nm), high spatial uniformity to promote uniform growth, and high energy efficiency to minimize electricity usage. The proposed plant-growth system takes advantage of the highly diffuse reflective surfaces on the interior of a sphere, hemisphere, or other nearly enclosed structure that is coated with highly reflective materials. This type of surface and structure uniformly mixes discrete light sources to produce highly uniform illumination. Multiple reflections from within the domelike structures are exploited to obtain diffuse illumination, which promotes the efficient reuse of photons that have not yet been absorbed by plants. The highly reflective surfaces encourage only the plant tissue (placed inside the sphere or enclosure) to absorb the light. Discrete light sources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), are typically used because of their high efficiency, wavelength selection, and electronically dimmable properties. The light sources are arranged to minimize shadowing and to improve uniformity. Different wavelengths of LEDs (typically blue, green, and red) are used for photosynthesis. Wavelengths outside the PAR range can be added for plant diagnostics or for growth regulation

Analyzing sickness absence with statistical models for survival data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Karl Bang; Andersen, Per Kragh; Smith-Hansen, Lars

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Sickness absence is the outcome in many epidemiologic studies and is often based on summary measures such as the number of sickness absences per year. In this study the use of modern statistical methods was examined by making better use of the available information. Since sickness...... absence data deal with events occurring over time, the use of statistical models for survival data has been reviewed, and the use of frailty models has been proposed for the analysis of such data. METHODS: Three methods for analyzing data on sickness absences were compared using a simulation study...... involving the following: (i) Poisson regression using a single outcome variable (number of sickness absences), (ii) analysis of time to first event using the Cox proportional hazards model, and (iii) frailty models, which are random effects proportional hazards models. Data from a study of the relation...

MOX manufacturing perspectives in a fast growing future and the MELOX plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bekiarian, A.; Le Bastard, G.

1991-01-01

The potential MOX fuel market will grow regularly in the nineties. In view of satisfying the needs of the market, mixed-oxide fuel manufacturers have a strong incentive to increase the capacity of existing facilities and to build new ones. The Belgonucleaire plant at Dessel has been in operation since 1973. It has been backfitted up to a capacity of 35 t/y of LWR fuel which is now fully available. To satisfy the need of MOX fuel it was equally decided to adapt facilities in Cadarache where a production line, with a capacity of 15 t/y, is now delivering its production. But planned production up to the end of the century implies further increases in manufacturing capacities : MELOX, a plant for 120 t/y is under construction on the COGEMA site of Marcoule as well as a further expansion of Belgonucleaire plant at Dessel (P1) is studied to reach 70 t/y on this site. Similar developments are also planned by SIEMENS for a new manufacturing capability at Hanau (Germany). MELOX as well as all the new facilities have to get high levels of safety concerning environment and personnel. This leads to largely automated operations, and a particular care for waste treatment. (author)

Evaluation of culture-based techniques and 454 pyrosequencing for the analysis of fungal diversity in potting media and organic fertilizers.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Sadi, A M; Al-Mazroui, S S; Phillips, A J L

2015-08-01

Potting media and organic fertilizers (OFs) are commonly used in agricultural systems. However, there is a lack of studies on the efficiency of culture-based techniques in assessing the level of fungal diversity in these products. A study was conducted to investigate the efficiency of seven culture-based techniques and pyrosequencing for characterizing fungal diversity in potting media and OFs. Fungal diversity was evaluated using serial dilution, direct plating and baiting with carrot slices, potato slices, radish seeds, cucumber seeds and cucumber cotyledons. Identity of all the isolates was confirmed on the basis of the internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal RNA (ITS rRNA) sequence data. The direct plating technique was found to be superior over other culture-based techniques in the number of fungal species detected. It was also found to be simple and the least time consuming technique. Comparing the efficiency of direct plating with 454 pyrosequencing revealed that pyrosequencing detected 12 and 15 times more fungal species from potting media and OFs respectively. Analysis revealed that there were differences between potting media and OFs in the dominant phyla, classes, orders, families, genera and species detected. Zygomycota (52%) and Chytridiomycota (60%) were the predominant phyla in potting media and OFs respectively. The superiority of pyrosequencing over cultural methods could be related to the ability to detect obligate fungi, slow growing fungi and fungi that exist at low population densities. The evaluated methods in this study, especially direct plating and pyrosequencing, may be used as tools to help detect and reduce movement of unwanted fungi between countries and regions. © 2015 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Decompression sickness in breath-hold divers: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemaitre, Frederic; Fahlman, Andreas; Gardette, Bernard; Kohshi, Kiyotaka

2009-12-01

Although it has been generally assumed that the risk of decompression sickness is virtually zero during a single breath-hold dive in humans, repeated dives may result in a cumulative increase in the tissue and blood nitrogen tension. Many species of marine mammals perform extensive foraging bouts with deep and long dives interspersed by a short surface interval, and some human divers regularly perform repeated dives to 30-40 m or a single dive to more than 200 m, all of which may result in nitrogen concentrations that elicit symptoms of decompression sickness. Neurological problems have been reported in humans after single or repeated dives and recent necropsy reports in stranded marine mammals were suggestive of decompression sickness-like symptoms. Modelling attempts have suggested that marine mammals may live permanently with elevated nitrogen concentrations and may be at risk when altering their dive behaviour. In humans, non-pathogenic bubbles have been recorded and symptoms of decompression sickness have been reported after repeated dives to modest depths. The mechanisms implicated in these accidents indicate that repeated breath-hold dives with short surface intervals are factors that predispose to decompression sickness. During deep diving, the effect of pulmonary shunts and/or lung collapse may play a major role in reducing the incidence of decompression sickness in humans and marine mammals.

Associations between work stress, alcohol consumption and sickness absence.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasse, R M; Nijhuis, F J; Kok, G

1998-02-01

To test an interactional model on the associations between work stressors, perceived stress, alcohol consumption and sickness absence. Cross-sectional survey. The study was part of a Worksite Health Project including an Employee Assistance Programme and a Health Promotion Programme in the Netherlands. Participants were blue-collar workers from two Municipal Garbage Collecting Departments and white-collar workers from a Pharmaceutical Company (N = 471). Measurements included socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, marital status), work stressors, perceived stress, alcohol consumption and sickness absence. Type of work-site (blue- or white-collar) and smoking behaviour were used as covariates. Regression analyses resulted in three major findings. First, in the presence of stress, abstinence increased the risk of sickness absence compared with moderate drinking. We failed to find a significant relationship between excessive drinking and sickness absence. Secondly, stress mediated the associations between stressor and alcohol consumption, and between stressor and sickness absence, although stressors also directly predicted sickness absence. The association between abstinence and sickness absence could reflect medical problems of abstainers or a lack of skills for coping with stress. The failure to find a significant detrimental effect of excessive drinking may have been due to use of a low threshold for excessive drinking and/or low power. Prospective studies are needed to gain insight in causal relationships between the variables concerned.

Effectiveness of early part-time sick leave in musculoskeletal disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karppinen Jaro

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The importance of staying active instead of bed rest has been acknowledged in the management of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs. This emphasizes the potential benefits of adjusting work to fit the employee's remaining work ability. Despite part-time sick leave being an official option in many countries, its effectiveness has not been studied yet. We have designed a randomized controlled study to assess the health effects of early part-time sick leave compared to conventional full-day sick leave. Our hypothesis is that if work time is temporarily reduced and work load adjusted at the early stages of disability, employees with MSDs will have less disability days and faster return to regular work duties than employees on a conventional sick leave. Methods/Design The study population will consist of 600 employees, who seek medical advice from an occupational physician due to musculoskeletal pain. The inclusion requires that they have not been on a sick leave for longer than 14 days prior to the visit. Based on the physician's judgement, the severity of the symptoms must indicate a need for conventional sick leave, but the employee is considered to be able to work part-time without any additional risk. Half of the employees are randomly allocated to part-time sick leave group and their work time is reduced by 40–60%, whereas in the control group work load is totally eliminated with conventional sick leave. The main outcomes are the number of days from the initial visit to return to regular work activities, and the total number of sick leave days during 12 and 24 months of follow-up. The costs and benefits as well as the feasibility of early part-time sick leave will also be evaluated. Conclusion This is the first randomised trial to our knowledge on the effectiveness of early part-time sick leave compared to conventional full-time sick leave in the management of MSDs. The data collection continues until 2011, but preliminary

Sick leave and depression - determining factors and clinical effect in outpatient care.

Science.gov (United States)

Bermejo, Isaac; Kriston, Levente; Schneider, Frank; Gaebel, Wolfgang; Hegerl, Ulrich; Berger, Mathias; Härter, Martin

2010-12-30

Sickness leave is a major source of societal costs in depression treatment. However, very little is known about the rationale behind sick leave and their effects on depressive symptoms. Aim of the paper is to evaluate the effect of sick leave on treatment outcome and the association of sick leave with patient, depression and treatment-related factors. For this we compared patients with sick leave and non-sick leave regarding symptom reduction following 6 weeks of treatment. A total of 118 patients of 41 physicians in a controlled clinical trial with a naturalistic prospective design were analysed. After 8 weeks of treatment no significant differences were found between patients who had or did not have sick leave, in terms of improvement of depressive symptoms. The analyses of physician, patient and illness-related variables regarding their predictive value showed no significant effect. No systematic effect of sick leave and no clear criteria were found that were related to receiving a sick leave certificate. It can be assumed that physicians do not only base the decision of whether to sign a depressive patient off sick on illness-specific factors. For a targeted implementation of sick leave as therapeutic measure predictors for effectiveness should be defined. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GENETIC PREDICTORS OF IDIOPATHIC SICK SINUS SYNDROME

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Chernova

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Published data demonstrating genetic determination of sick sinus syndrome is presented. The definition of this pathology is presented; the main symptoms are described, as well as genes that influence the development of idiopathic sick sinus syndrome, their polymorphisms and role in disorders of the cardiovascular system.

Go to work or report sick? A focus group study on decisions of sickness presence among offshore catering section workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Krohne, Kariann; Magnussen, Liv Heide

2011-03-18

To identify and explore the factors promoting sickness presenteeism among offshore catering section workers. Twenty men and women, working in the offshore catering section onboard three offshore oil and gas production platforms on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, participated in three focus groups. Data from the focus groups were analysed according to a phenomenological approach, and supported by theories on presenteeism. The results show that the decision to attend work despite illness, first and foremost, was based on the severity of the health complaint. Other factors identified were; the individual's location once the health complaint occurred, job satisfaction, the norms of the team, and experiences of how company policies on sickness absenteeism were implemented by the catering section leaders. Offshore working conditions may promote sickness presenteeism. The factors promoting sickness presenteeism onboard the platforms reflected experiences of a healthy work environment.

Evaluation of some organic residues on the availability of nutrients to plants using nuclear technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayed, S.A.S

2006-01-01

Two pot experiments were carried out under greenhouse conditions in Soils and Water Research Department, Atomic Energy Authority.The aim of this work studies the effect of chicken manure and rice straw either separately or combined with mineral fertilizer by different rates pronounced the recommended dose (120 kg N fed -1 ) or half the recommended dose (60 kg N fed -1 + BF) on wheat plant grown in sandy soils. Organic materials were mixed with soil before packed in pots (5 kg soil pot1). Mineral fertilizer was added ( 15 N-labeled ammonium sulfate) after thinned wheat plants. The recommended basic supplemental doses of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers were applied to each pot. Wheat grains inoculated by Azotobacter chroococcum before cultivation in the second experiment. In addition to this work aimed the study affect of different fertilizer treatments on NPK of wheat plants as well as nitrogen derived from fertilizer (Ndff), soil (Ndfs), air (Ndfa) and fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) after the harvest of yield.

The effect of part-time sick leave for employees with mental disorders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høgelund, Jan; Holm, Anders

reduces the duration until employees with mental disorders end their sick leave by reporting ready for returning to regular working hours. The programme allows fully sick-listed employees to resume work at reduced hours. When the sick-listed employee’s health improves, working hours are increased until...... the employee is able to work regular hours. We use combined survey and register data about 226 long-term sick-listed employees with mental disorders and 638 employees with physical disorders. Our analyses show that part-time sick-listing significantly reduces the duration until returning to regular working...... hours for employees with physical disorders. In contrast, we find that part-time sick-listing does not reduce durations for employees with mental disorders. The analyses also illustrate the importance of adjusting for unobserved differences between part-time sick-listed and full-time sick...

Produção de pepino de plantas enxertadas cultivadas em soluções nutritivas com diferentes teores de potássio Growth and yield of grafted cucumber plants cultivated in hydroponic solution with different potassium levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo César Costa

2001-11-01

Full Text Available O experimento foi conduzido em estufa tipo arco de 50 m² na Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas da UNESP em Botucatu. Plantas de pepino (Cucumis sativus L. não enxertadas e enxertadas em abóbora (Cucurbita sp. foram cultivadas em sistema hidropônico para estudar o efeito de níveis de potássio (45; 90; 180 e 360 mg.L-1 de K na altura da planta e produção de número de frutos/m². A condução das plantas foi em vasos de 28 L de capacidade contendo 20% vermiculita + 80% casca de arroz + solução nutritiva fornecida a partir de galões individuais contendo 20 litros de solução. O delineamento experimental foi blocos casualizados, com oito tratamentos (fatorial 4 x 2 e três repetições. Não houve efeito da enxertia e das doses de K sobre a altura da planta, porém, os níveis de potássio independente da enxertia alteraram o início da floração. A enxertia potencializou a produção aumentando em 39% o número de frutos/m² quando fornecido na solução nutritiva 45 mg.L-1 de K e 144% com 360 mg.L-1 de K. O menor teor de potássio, 45 mg.L-1, foi suficiente para atingir alta produção.The trial was carried out at Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas in Botucatu, Brazil. Cucumber plants (Cucumis sativus L. grafted on squash (Cucumis sp. were cultivated in hydroponic solution to study the effect of three potassium levels (45; 90; 180 and 360 mg.L-1 K on growth and yield of grafted and non grafted cucumber plants. There was no effect of plant height, but grafting and potassium level altered flowering outset. Grafted plants fertilized with 45 mg.L_1 K produced 39% more fruits than non grafted ones, and produced 144% more fruits when fertilized with 360 mg.L-1 K. The lowest K level studied (45 mg.L_1 K was enough to obtain high yield.

Part-time sick leave as a treatment method for individuals with musculoskeletal disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrén, Daniela; Svensson, Mikael

2012-09-01

There is increasing evidence that staying active is an important part of a recovery process for individuals on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). It has been suggested that using part-time sick-leave rather than full-time sick leave will enhance the possibility of full recovery to the workforce, and several countries actively favor this policy. The aim of this paper is to examine if it is beneficial for individuals on sick leave due to MSDs to be on part-time sick leave compared to full-time sick leave. A sample of 1,170 employees from the RFV-LS (register) database of the Social Insurance Agency of Sweden is used. The effect of being on part-time sick leave compared to full-time sick leave is estimated for the probability of returning to work with full recovery of lost work capacity. A two-stage recursive bivariate probit model is used to deal with the endogeneity problem. The results indicate that employees assigned to part-time sick leave do recover to full work capacity with a higher probability than those assigned to full-time sick leave. The average treatment effect of part-time sick leave is 25 percentage points. Considering that part-time sick leave may also be less expensive than assigning individuals to full-time sick leave, this would imply efficiency improvements from assigning individuals, when possible, to part-time sick leave.

The accumulation of elements in plants growing spontaneously on small heaps left by the historical Zn-Pb ore mining.

Science.gov (United States)

Stefanowicz, Anna M; Stanek, Małgorzata; Woch, Marcin W; Kapusta, Paweł

2016-04-01

The study evaluated the levels of nine metals, namely Ca, Cd, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Pb, Tl, and Zn, in soils and tissues of ten plant species growing spontaneously on heaps left by historical mining for Zn-Pb ores. The concentrations of Cd, Pb, Tl, and Zn in heap soils were much higher than in control soils. Plants growing on heaps accumulated excessive amounts of these elements in tissues, on average 1.3-52 mg Cd kg(-1), 9.4-254 mg Pb kg(-1), 0.06-23 mg Tl kg(-1) and 134-1479 mg Zn kg(-1) in comparison to 0.5-1.1 mg Cd kg(-1), 2.1-11 mg Pb kg(-1), 0.02-0.06 mg Tl kg(-1), and 23-124 mg Zn kg(-1) in control plants. The highest concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn were found in the roots of Euphorbia cyparissias, Fragaria vesca, and Potentilla arenaria, and Tl in Plantago lanceolata. Many species growing on heaps were enriched in K and Mg, and depleted in Ca, Fe, and Mn. The concentrations of all elements in plant tissues were dependent on species, organ (root vs. shoot), and species-organ interactions. Average concentrations of Ca, K, and Mg were generally higher in shoots than in roots or similar in the two organs, whereas Cd, Fe, Pb, Tl, and Zn were accumulated predominantly in the roots. Our results imply that heaps left by historical mining for Zn-Pb ores may pose a potential threat to the environment and human health.

Go to work or report sick? A focus group study on decisions of sickness presence among offshore catering section workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krohne Kariann

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To identify and explore the factors promoting sickness presenteeism among offshore catering section workers. Methods Twenty men and women, working in the offshore catering section onboard three offshore oil and gas production platforms on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, participated in three focus groups. Data from the focus groups were analysed according to a phenomenological approach, and supported by theories on presenteeism. Results The results show that the decision to attend work despite illness, first and foremost, was based on the severity of the health complaint. Other factors identified were; the individual's location once the health complaint occurred, job satisfaction, the norms of the team, and experiences of how company policies on sickness absenteeism were implemented by the catering section leaders. Conclusions Offshore working conditions may promote sickness presenteeism. The factors promoting sickness presenteeism onboard the platforms reflected experiences of a healthy work environment.

Assessing the phytoremediation potential of crop and grass plants for atrazine-spiked soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, Virtudes; López-Bellido, Francisco Javier; Cañizares, Pablo; Rodríguez, Luis

2017-10-01

Pollution of soil and groundwater by atrazine has become an increasing environmental concern in the last decade. A phytoremediation test using plastic pots was conducted in order to assess the ability of several crops and grasses to remove atrazine from a soil of low permeability spiked with this herbicide. Four plant species were assessed for their ability to degrade or accumulate atrazine from soils: two grasses, i.e., ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), and two crops, i.e., barley (Hordeum vulgare) and maize (Zea mays). Three different doses of atrazine were used for the contamination of the pots: 2, 5 and 10 mg kg -1 . 16 days after spiking, the initial amount of atrazine was reduced by 88.6-99.6% in planted pots, while a decrease of only 63.1-78.2% was found for the unplanted pots, thus showing the contribution of plants to soil decontamination. All the plant species were capable of accumulating atrazine and its N-dealkylated metabolites, i.e., deethylatrazine and deisopropylatrazine, in their tissues. Some toxic responses, such as biomass decreases and/or chlorosis, were observed in plants to a greater or lesser extent for initial soil doses of atrazine above 2 mg kg -1 . Maize was the plant species with the highest ability to accumulate atrazine derivatives, reaching up to 38.4% of the initial atrazine added to the soil. Rhizosphere degradation/mineralization by microorganisms or plant enzymes, together with degradation inside the plants, have been proposed as the mechanisms that contributed to a higher extent than plant accumulation to explain the removal of atrazine from soils. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The management of pot experiments for fertility studies with pasture ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The management of pot experiments for fertility studies with pasture crops. ... Discussions on soil preparation and potting procedure, rates and methods of nutrient addition, indicator crops and the ... species|pastures|crops|moisture gradients ...

Cascade Cropping System with Horticultural and Ornamental Plants under Greenhouse Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro García-Caparrós

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The blending of drainage with water of low electrical conductivity and the sequential reuse of the drainage water are innovative technologies to manage salts in agricultural drainage. Plants of Cucumis melo were grown in coir grow bags, and Rosmarinus officinalis and Cacti spp. were grown in pots with a mixture of sphagnum peat-moss and perlite. In order to assess the effect and evolution over time of these water treatments on plant growth and water management and removal of nutrients, three water treatments were applied over a period of eight weeks. These were: (1 standard nutrient solution; (2 blended water treatment (drainage water blended with water of low electrical conductivity (EC and (3 sequential reuse of drainage water treatment. During the experimental growing period, samples of water supplies and drainages generated in each water treatment were collected weekly and from these data water volume and nutrient loads were calculated. At the end of the experiment, leaf fresh weight of rosemary plants decreased under the fertigation with the blended and sequential reuse water treatments. Nevertheless, the application of blended and sequentially reused water allowed for the saving of significant amounts of water and nutrients in comparison to the standard nutrient solution treatment. Considering these advantages, we strongly recommend the setting-up of these water treatments in areas with water scarcity such as in the Mediterranean Basin.

Entitlement to Sickness Benefits in Sweden: The Social Insurance Officers Experiences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrika Müssener

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Social insurance offices (SIOs handle a wide range of complex assessments of the entitlement to sickness benefits for an increasing number of clients on sick leave and consequently, the demands on the SIOs have increased considerably.Aim: To gain deeper knowledge of the problems experienced by the SIOs in their work associated with entitlement to sickness benefits.Method: A descriptive and explorative qualitative approach was used to analyse data from two focus-group interviews, including six participants in each group.Results: The participants discussed different dilemmas in regard to; physicians’ responsibility for issuing sickness certificates, interactions with the insured individuals, disclosure of decisions, communications with medical consultants, documentation of sickness benefit claims, threats in the workplace, as well as their own competence. The SIOs regarded incomplete information on sickness certificates as a main problem, because they frequently had to contact the client and the physicians who issued the certificates in order to obtain further details, leading to delays in the decision-making whether to grant sickness benefits.Conclusions: More knowledge regarding SIOs work is required to improve the methods used in the sickness insurance system and to ensure adequate training of new staff members.

The formation and growing properties of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fiber growing media after thermo-oxidative treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.P.; Lin, S.M.

2007-01-01

This research uses three kinds of recycled synthetic fibers that all possess excellent thermal plasticity property as raw material to develop a new firm cultivation media: polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide and polypropylene. One can not only freely control plants cultivation growing condition by changing bulk density of the media, but also solve disposal problem after usage by applying thermal oxidative treatment during manufacturing processes. The water content, air permeability and formation conditions of these fiber growing media that are required in plants growing habitat were discussed, and compared the fallout with rockwool (RW) growing media that is commonly used at present days. The results indicated that the polyethylene terephthalate fiber media could attain best formation characteristics among these fibers at the same bulk density range. Furthermore, the fiber media that were thermo-oxidative treated at 240-260 deg. C could obtained above 90% total porosity, 23-49% air capacity and 48-68% water availability, water contents raised from 1735-1094 to 2145-1156% under bulk densities of 0.03-0.09 g/cm 3 , which conforms to the common plant growing habitat conditions. Its performance well surpasses the rockwool growing media. We also discovered that the thermo-oxidative treated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber media could be easily broken down and become powdery by exerting pressure, thus greatly reduce its volume and effectively improve disposal processes that are difficult presently for the huge refuse create by rockwool

GPs' negotiation strategies regarding sick leave for subjective health complaints.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsen, Stein; Malterud, Kirsti; Werner, Erik L; Maeland, Silje; Magnussen, Liv Heide

2015-03-01

To explore general practitioners' (GPs') specific negotiation strategies regarding sick-leave issues with patients suffering from subjective health complaints. Focus-group study. Nine focus-group interviews in three cities in different regions of Norway. 48 GPs (31 men, 17 women; age 32-65), participating in a course dealing with diagnostic practice and assessment of sickness certificates related to patients with subjective health complaints. The GPs identified some specific strategies that they claimed to apply when dealing with the question of sick leave for patients with subjective health complaints. The first step would be to build an alliance with the patient by complying with the wish for sick leave, and at the same time searching for information to acquire the patient's perspective. This position would become the basis for the main goal: motivating the patient for a rapid return to work by pointing out the positive effects of staying at work, making legal and moral arguments, and warning against long-term sick leave. Additional solutions might also be applied, such as involving other stakeholders in this process to provide alternatives to sick leave. GPs seem to have a conscious approach to negotiations of sickness certification, as they report applying specific strategies to limit the duration of sick leave due to subjective health complaints. This give-and-take way of handling sick-leave negotiations has been suggested by others to enhance return to work, and should be further encouraged. However, specific effectiveness of this strategy is yet to be proven, and further investigation into the actual dealings between doctor and patients in these complex encounters is needed.

A Historical View of Motion Sickness-A Plague at Sea and on Land, Also with Military Impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Huppert, Doreen; Benson, Judy; Brandt, Thomas

2017-01-01

Seasickness and its triggers, symptoms, and preventive measures were well known in antiquity. This chapter is based on an analysis of descriptions of motion sickness, in particular seasickness, in ancient Greek, Roman, and Chinese literature. A systematic search was made from the Greek period beginning with Homer in 800 BC to the late Roman period and ending with Aetios Amidenos in 600 AD, as well as in the Chinese medical classics dating from around 300 AD. Major aspects are the following: body movements caused by waves were identified in all cultures as the critical stimuli. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew that other illnesses and the mental state could precipitate seasickness and that experienced sailors were highly resistant to it (habituation). The Chinese observed that children were particularly susceptible to motion sickness; they first described the type of motion sickness induced by traveling in carts (cart-sickness) or being transported on a litter or in a sedan chair (litter-sickness). The western classics recommended therapeutic measures like fasting or specific diets, pleasant fragrancies, medicinal plants like white hellebore (containing various alkaloids), or a mixture of wine and wormwood. The East knew more unusual measures, such as drinking the urine of young boys, swallowing white sand-syrup, collecting water drops from a bamboo stick, or hiding earth from the kitchen hearth under the hair. The Greek view of the pathophysiology of seasickness was based on the humoral theory of Empedokles and Aristoteles and differed from the Chinese medicine of correspondences, which attributed malfunctions to certain body substances and the life force Qi. Many sources emphasized the impact of seasickness on military actions and famous naval battles such as the Battle of the Red Cliff, which marked the end of the Han dynasty in China, or the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English in 1588. A peculiar form of motion sickness is associated with Napoleon

A preliminary study on the uptake of radioiodine by rice plants from soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uchida, Shigeo; Muramatsu, Yasuyuki; Sumiya, Misako; Ohmomo, Yoichiro; Yamaguchi, Shuho.

1989-01-01

In an atmospheric discharge of radioiodines, direct deposition of the nuclides onto leaf surface must be the most significant pathway from the environment to man. However, 129 I reaches man through several pathways because of its long half life of 1.6 x 10 7 years. Root uptake of 129 I is one of the most important pathways of this nuclide. In Japan, rice is thought to be the most critical crop on the pathway. In this paper, uptake of radioiodine from irrigation water by rice plant was investigated. Rice plants, Oryza sativa cv. Nihonbare, were grown under flooded condition in Wagner pots containing soil collected in Tokai-mura. Iodine-131 was added as a tracer into the surface water in the pots at three different growing stages, heading, dough-ripe and yellow-ripe stages, respectively, and the plants were cultivated until the harvest time in a plant growth chamber. At the harvest time, concentration of 131 I in each organ of rice plant was measured with a NaI scintillation counter. The profile of 131 I in the soil was also investigated. The results obtained are as follows; (1) Activities of 131 I in leaf blade and sheath of lower part were generally higher than those of upper part. Compared to the 131 I activity of the flag leaf, the ratios of the activity in rachis-branch, hull and brown rice were 1.0-0.5, 0.1 and 1-5 x 10 -3 , respectively. These may suggest that iodine taken up by the roots scarcely re-translocated into rice. (2) Ratio of 131 I in brown rice and hull was about 1 : 4. (3) Activity ratio ('concentration of 131 I in brown rice'/'average concentration of that in the soil' during 6 days uptake experiment.) was 4-5 x 10 -4 . (author)

Systematic review of active workplace interventions to reduce sickness absence.

Science.gov (United States)

Odeen, M; Magnussen, L H; Maeland, S; Larun, L; Eriksen, H R; Tveito, T H

2013-01-01

The workplace is used as a setting for interventions to prevent and reduce sickness absence, regardless of the specific medical conditions and diagnoses. To give an overview of the general effectiveness of active workplace interventions aimed at preventing and reducing sickness absence. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Psych-info, and ISI web of knowledge on 27 December 2011. Inclusion criteria were (i) participants over 18 years old with an active role in the intervention, (ii) intervention done partly or fully at the workplace or at the initiative of the workplace and (iii) sickness absence reported. Two reviewers independently screened articles, extracted data and assessed risk of bias. A narrative synthesis was used. We identified 2036 articles of which, 93 were assessed in full text. Seventeen articles were included (2 with low and 15 with medium risk of bias), with a total of 24 comparisons. Five interventions from four articles significantly reduced sickness absence. We found moderate evidence that graded activity reduced sickness absence and limited evidence that the Sheerbrooke model (a comprehensive multidisciplinary intervention) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) reduced sickness absence. There was moderate evidence that workplace education and physical exercise did not reduce sickness absence. For other interventions, the evidence was insufficient to draw conclusions. The review found limited evidence that active workplace interventions were not generally effective in reducing sickness absence, but there was moderate evidence of effect for graded activity and limited evidence for the effectiveness of the Sheerbrooke model and CBT.

A direct reading on-line flowrate meter for use in radiochemical plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, B.V.; Kaimal, C.K.R.; Siddiqui, I.A.; Kumar, S.V.

1987-01-01

A device for measurement and remote direct reading display of the flowrates of streams in a radiochemical plant is described. The device is interposed in the measured stream and consists of a syphon pot with a specially developed attachment on the discharge line. Differential pressure switches are used to trigger a timer device at set levels in the pot and the time required for filling the pot during each cycle is measured and is used to compute and display the flowrate. The device is accurate and reliable and is simple to fabricate and install. It is maintenance-free since it has no moving parts. It is also suggested that a manometer with conductive contacts could be used in place of the d.p. switches. The background and various stages of development of the device are described. The operating data is tabulated and parameters required for plant applications are indicated in detail. A simple method to detect and correct for errors due to drift in d.p. switch setting is also outlined. Sketches of typical syphon pot, the schematic of the apparatus and suggested layout for application in radiochemical plant are also included. (author). 11 figures, 6 tables

HPLC-UV-ESI-MS analysis of phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties of Hypericum undulatum shoot cultures and wild-growing plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Rainha, Nuno; Koci, Kamila; Coelho, Ana Varela; Lima, Elisabete; Baptista, José; Fernandes-Ferreira, Manuel

2013-02-01

LC-UV and LC-MS analysis were used to study the phenolic composition of water extracts of Hypericum undulatum (HU) shoot cultures and wild-growing (WG) plants. Total phenolic content (TPC), determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay, and the antioxidant activity measured by two complementary methods were also performed for each sample. Mass spectrometry revealed several phenolics acids with quinic acid moieties, flavonols, mostly quercetin, luteolin and apigenin glycosides, flavan-3-ols (catechin and epicatechin) and the xanthonoid mangiferin. Differences in phenolic composition profile and TPC were found between the samples. The major phenolic in HU culture-growing (CG) samples is chlorogenic acid, followed by epicatechin, quercitrin and isoquercitrin. The WG plants presents hyperoside as the main phenolic, followed by isoquercitrin, chlorogenic acid and quercetin. The TPC and antioxidant activity were higher in samples from WG plants. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ventilation in day-care centres and sick leave among nursery children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolarik, Barbara; Andersen, Zorana Jovanovic; Ibfelt, Tobias

2016-01-01

ventilation in DCCs and sick leave among nursery children. Data on child sick leave within an 11 week period was obtained for 635 children attending 20 DCCs. Ventilation measurements included three proxies of ventilation: air exchange rate (ACR) measured with the decay method, ACR measured...... inverse relationship between the number of sick days and ACR measured with the decay method was found for crude and adjusted analysis, with a 12% decrease in number of sick days per 1 h(-1) increase in ACR measured with the decay method. This study suggests a relationship between sick leave among nursery...

Effects of temperature on Pinus patula seedlings growing in pots in a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The re-establishment of Pinus patula seedlings into sites with high harvesting residue (slash) loads can negatively affect the survival of these plants. Field trials have examined the role that insect pests and fungal diseases play in causing this phenomenon. Research has also indicated that temperatures at ground level tend ...

Study of prochlorperazine (Stemetil) in radiation sickness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dutta, A.K.

1976-01-01

The incidence of radiation sickness and the efficacy of prochlorperazine in alleviating it among the patients under radiotherapy have been investigated. 116 patients from those under radiotherapy were randomly chosen. 38% of this sample developed radiation sickness symptoms (nausea and vomiting). The onset of symptoms occurred in the earlier periods of radiotherapy. The younger and older group were more susceptible to side effects of radiation. Prochlorperazine was administered immediately after the onset of symptoms of radiation sickness in the dose schedule of 10 mg twice daily for adults and was continued for 5 to 10 days after the alleviation of the symptoms. This was found to be effective in all patients. (M.G.B.)

Phytoextraction of rare earth elements in herbaceous plant species growing close to roads.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikołajczak, Patrycja; Borowiak, Klaudia; Niedzielski, Przemysław

2017-06-01

The aim of study was to determine the phytoextraction of rare earth elements (REEs) to roots, stems and leaves of five herbaceous plant species (Achillea millefolium L., Artemisia vulgaris L., Papaver rhoeas L., Taraxacum officinale AND Tripleurospermum inodorum), growing in four areas located in close proximity to a road with varied traffic intensity. Additionally, the relationship between road traffic intensity, REE concentration in soil and the content of these elements in plant organs was estimated. A. vulgaris and P. rhoeas were able to effectively transport REEs in their leaves, independently of area collection. The highest content of REEs was observed in P. rhoeas leaves and T. inodorum roots. Generally, HREEs were accumulated in P. rhoeas roots and leaves and also in the stems of T. inodorum and T. officinale, whereas LREEs were accumulated in T. inodorum roots and T. officinale stems. It is worth underlining that there was a clear relationship between road traffic intensity and REE, HREE and LREE concentration in soil. No positive correlation was found between the concentration of these elements in soil and their content in plants, with the exception of T. officinale. An effective transport of REEs from the root system to leaves was observed, what points to the possible ability of some of the tested plant species to remove REEs from soils near roads.

Sick building syndrome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baechler, M.C.; Hadley, D.L.; Marseille, T.J.; Stenner, R.D.; Peterson, M.R.; Naugle, D.F.; Berry, M.A.

1991-01-01

This book discusses the aspect of indoor air pollution referred to as sick building syndrome. Covered are sources and health effects of various indoor air pollutants, and methods for mitigation of the problem, plus suggested analytical methods for environmental carcinogens found in indoor air

Stroboscopic Goggles for Reduction of Motion Sickness

Science.gov (United States)

Reschke, M. F.; Somers, Jeffrey T.

2005-01-01

A device built around a pair of electronic shutters has been demonstrated to be effective as a prototype of stroboscopic goggles or eyeglasses for preventing or reducing motion sickness. The momentary opening of the shutters helps to suppress a phenomenon that is known in the art as retinal slip and is described more fully below. While a number of different environmental factors can induce motion sickness, a common factor associated with every known motion environment is sensory confusion or sensory mismatch. Motion sickness is a product of misinformation arriving at a central point in the nervous system from the senses from which one determines one s spatial orientation. When information from the eyes, ears, joints, and pressure receptors are all in agreement as to one s orientation, there is no motion sickness. When one or more sensory input(s) to the brain is not expected, or conflicts with what is anticipated, the end product is motion sickness. Normally, an observer s eye moves, compensating for the anticipated effect of motion, in such a manner that the image of an object moving relatively to an observer is held stationary on the retina. In almost every known environment that induces motion sickness, a change in the gain (in the signal-processing sense of gain ) of the vestibular system causes the motion of the eye to fail to hold images stationary on the retina, and the resulting motion of the images is termed retinal slip. The present concept of stroboscopic goggles or eyeglasses (see figure) is based on the proposition that prevention of retinal slip, and hence, the prevention of sensory mismatch, can be expected to reduce the tendency toward motion sickness. A device according to this concept helps to prevent retinal slip by providing snapshots of the visual environment through electronic shutters that are brief enough that each snapshot freezes the image on each retina. The exposure time for each snapshot is less than 5 ms. In the event that a higher

An Enduring Vision: The Melting Pot That Did Happen.

Science.gov (United States)

Portes, Alejandro

2000-01-01

Discusses the 1963 book, "Beyond the Melting Pot," which argued that the melting pot never happened and neither assimilation nor cultural pluralism occurred (at least in New York City). Concludes that this is a landmark book because it challenges the canonical assimilation story, provides a new set of standards for expert knowledge in…

Energetic utilization of residues from wine-growing. Sewage plant Iphofen; Energetische Nutzung von Weinbaureststoffen. Klaeranlage Iphofen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steinle, Eberhard; Carozzi, Alvaro [Dr.-Ing. Steinle Ingenieurgesellschaft fuer Abwassertechnik mbH, Weyarn (Germany); Mend, Josef; Kurth, Matthias [Stadt Iphofen (Germany)

2010-09-15

The treatment of waste water from the wine-growing and the treatment of liquid residual substances in local purification plants frequently result in a temporary overloading and disturbances. An innovative drop-off scheme was introduced at the purification plant Iphofen (Federal Republic of Germany). With this drop-off scheme, the winegrowers directly supply the highly concentrated liquid residual substances from the winemaking to the purification plant. There the residual substances can be used for the support of the denitrification and fermentation. After the successful conversion of this system, a gas utilization with small cogeneration units could be installed. Thus the resulting mass of gas will be used to the production of electricity and thermal energy. The authors of the contribution under consideration report on this system approach and on first operational experiences.

The Uptake by Plants of Diethylstilboestrol and of Its Glucuronide

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gregers Hansen, B.

1964-01-01

The uptake of diethylstilboestrol and its glucuronide by plants could, under certain circumstances, present a potential health hazard. The relative uptake of the two compounds has therefore been studied in rye grass, red clover, mushrooms, and maize in pot and water culture experiments. It is con......The uptake of diethylstilboestrol and its glucuronide by plants could, under certain circumstances, present a potential health hazard. The relative uptake of the two compounds has therefore been studied in rye grass, red clover, mushrooms, and maize in pot and water culture experiments...

Avoidable sickness absence in a dutch working population

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kremer, A.M.; Steenbeek, R.

2010-01-01

Introduction Sickness absence has an important impact on employers (e.g. reduced productivity, high costs) and employees (e.g. replacement, job loss). Therefore, we investigated possible reduction by exploring avoidable sickness absence. Methods A questionnaire was filled out by 2,954 Dutch workers

Sick leave among home-care personnel: a longitudinal study of risk factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Holmström Eva B

2004-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sick leave due to neck, shoulder and back disorders (NSBD is higher among health-care workers, especially nursing aides/assistant nurses, compared with employees in other occupations. More information is needed about predictors of sick leave among health care workers. The aim of the study was to assess whether self-reported factors related to health, work and leisure time could predict: 1 future certified sick leave due to any cause, in nursing aides/assistant nurses (Study group I and 2 future self-reported sick leave due to NSBD in nursing aides/assistant nurses (Study group II. Methods Study group I, comprised 443 female nursing aides/assistant nurses, not on sick leave at baseline when a questionnaire was completed. Data on certified sick leave were collected after 18 months. Study group II comprised 274 of the women, who at baseline reported no sick leave during the preceding year due to NSBD and who participated at the 18 month follow-up. Data on sick leave due to NSBD were collected from the questionnaire at 18 months. The associations between future sick leave and factors related to health, work and leisure time were tested by logistic regression analyses. Results Health-related factors such as previous low back disorders (OR: 1.89; 95% CI 1.20–2.97 and previous sick leave (OR 6.40; 95%CI 3.97–10.31, were associated with a higher risk of future sick leave due to any cause. Factors related to health, work and leisure time, i.e. previous low back disorders (OR: 4.45; 95% CI 1.27–15.77 previous sick leave, not due to NSBD (OR 3.30; 95%CI 1.33–8.17, high strain work (OR 2.34; 95%CI 1.05–5.23 and high perceived physical exertion in domestic work (OR 2.56; 95%CI 1.12–5.86 were associated with a higher risk of future sick leave due to NSBD. In the final analyses, previous low back disorders and previous sick leave remained significant in both study groups. Conclusion The results suggest a focus on previous low

Sickness absence, moral hazard, and the business cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Pichler, Stefan

2015-06-01

The procyclical nature of sickness absence has been documented by many scholars in literature. So far, explanations have been based on labor force composition and reduced moral hazard caused by fear of job loss during recessions. In this paper, we propose and test a third mechanism caused by reduced moral hazard during booms and infections. We suggest that the workload is higher during economic booms and thus employees have to go to work despite being sick. In a theoretical model focusing on infectious diseases, we show that this will provoke infections of coworkers leading to overall higher sickness absence during economic upturns. Using state-level aggregated data from 112 German public health insurance funds (out of 145 in total), we find that sickness absence due to infectious diseases shows the largest procyclical pattern, as predicted by our theoretical model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effects of Autonomic Conditioning on Motion Sickness Tolerance

Science.gov (United States)

Cowings, P. S.; Toscano, W. B.

1994-01-01

This paper presents case-studies of 9 shuttle crewmembers (prime and alternates) and one U.S. Navy F-18 pilot, as they participated in all preflight training and testing activities in support of a life sciences flight experiment aboard Spacelab-J, and Spacelab-3. The primary objective of the flight experiment was to determine if Autogenic-feedback training (AFT), a physiological self-regulation training technique would be an effective treatment for motion sickness and space motion sickness in these crewmembers. Additional objectives of this study involved the examining human Physiological- responses to motion sickness on Earth and in space, as well as developing predictive criteria for susceptibility to space motion sickness based on ground-based data. Comparisons of these crewmembers are made to a larger set of subjects from previous experiments (treatment and test-only controls subjects). This paper describes all preflight methods, results and proposed changes for future tests.

Effect of Foliar Application of Iron, Zinc and Manganese Micronutrients on Yield and Yield Components and Seed Oil of Pot Marigold Calendula officinalis L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Rezaei Chiyaneh

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Although micronutrients effect on growth and yield of different plants has been intensively investigated, but there is limited information on its effect on grain yield and seed oil content of pot marigold Calendula officinalis L.. In order to investigate the effects of micronutrients (Fe, Zn and Mn spraying on yield and yield components and seed oil of pot marigold, a field experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Research Farm of Payame Noor University of Nagadeh in 2010. Treatments included Fe, Zn, Mn, mixed solutions of these elements (Fe+Zn, Fe+Mn, Zn+Mn, Fe+Zn+Mn and control (water. Treatments were applied in 2 g/litter twice at stem elongation and early flowering stages. Different traits such as plant height, number of capitol per plant, number seed per capitol, thousand seed weight, biological yield, seed yield, seed oil percentage and oil Yield were recorded. The results showed that foliar application of micronutrients had significant effects on all of these traits. Yield components, seed yield, oil percentage and yield were enhanced by foliar application, compared with control (untreated plants. The maximum number seed per capitol, thousand seed weight and biological yield were relevant to Fe treatment. The highest numbers of capitol per plant and seed yield (643.33 kg.ha-1 were relevant to Zn+Fe treatment and the maximum oil yield (124.20 kg.ha-1 was produced by Zn+ Fe+ Mn treatment. Seed yield and oil yield increased by 31.27% and 44.18% yields more than control, respectively. It can be concluded that, foliar application of micronutrients had positive effects to obtain high yield and oil of pot marigold.

Motion control, motion sickness, and the postural dynamics of mobile devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoffregen, Thomas A; Chen, Yi-Chou; Koslucher, Frank C

2014-04-01

Drivers are less likely than passengers to experience motion sickness, an effect that is important for any theoretical account of motion sickness etiology. We asked whether different types of control would affect the incidence of motion sickness, and whether any such effects would be related to participants' control of their own bodies. Participants played a video game on a tablet computer. In the Touch condition, the device was stationary and participants controlled the game exclusively through fingertip inputs via the device's touch screen. In the Tilt condition, participants held the device in their hands and moved the device to control some game functions. Results revealed that the incidence of motion sickness was greater in the Touch condition than in the Tilt condition. During game play, movement of the head and torso differed as a function of the type of game control. Before the onset of subjective symptoms of motion sickness, movement of the head and torso differed between participants who later reported motion sickness and those that did not. We discuss implications of these results for theories of motion sickness etiology.

The Mechanism Forming the Cell Surface of Tip-Growing Rooting Cells Is Conserved among Land Plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Honkanen, Suvi; Jones, Victor A S; Morieri, Giulia; Champion, Clement; Hetherington, Alexander J; Kelly, Steve; Proust, Hélène; Saint-Marcoux, Denis; Prescott, Helen; Dolan, Liam

2016-12-05

To discover mechanisms that controlled the growth of the rooting system in the earliest land plants, we identified genes that control the development of rhizoids in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. 336,000 T-DNA transformed lines were screened for mutants with defects in rhizoid growth, and a de novo genome assembly was generated to identify the mutant genes. We report the identification of 33 genes required for rhizoid growth, of which 6 had not previously been functionally characterized in green plants. We demonstrate that members of the same orthogroup are active in cell wall synthesis, cell wall integrity sensing, and vesicle trafficking during M. polymorpha rhizoid and Arabidopsis thaliana root hair growth. This indicates that the mechanism for constructing the cell surface of tip-growing rooting cells is conserved among land plants and was active in the earliest land plants that existed sometime more than 470 million years ago [1, 2]. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Focus Group Study Exploring Factors Related to Frequent Sickness Absence.

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Annette Notenbomer

Full Text Available Research investigating frequent sickness absence (3 or more episodes per year is scarce and qualitative research from the perspective of frequent absentees themselves is lacking. The aim of the current study is to explore awareness, determinants of and solutions to frequent sickness absence from the perspective of frequent absentees themselves.We performed a qualitative study of 3 focus group discussions involving a total of 15 frequent absentees. Focus group discussions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Results were analyzed with the Graneheim method using the Job Demands Resources (JD-R model as theoretical framework.Many participants were not aware of their frequent sickness absence and the risk of future long-term sickness absence. As determinants, participants mentioned job demands, job resources, home demands, poor health, chronic illness, unhealthy lifestyles, and diminished feeling of responsibility to attend work in cases of low job resources. Managing these factors and improving communication (skills were regarded as solutions to reduce frequent sickness absence.The JD-R model provided a framework for determinants of and solutions to frequent sickness absence. Additional determinants were poor health, chronic illness, unhealthy lifestyles, and diminished feeling of responsibility to attend work in cases of low job resources. Frequent sickness absence should be regarded as a signal that something is wrong. Managers, supervisors, and occupational health care providers should advise and support frequent absentees to accommodate job demands, increase both job and personal resources, and improve health rather than express disapproval of frequent sickness absence and apply pressure regarding work attendance.

Focus Group Study Exploring Factors Related to Frequent Sickness Absence.

Science.gov (United States)

Notenbomer, Annette; Roelen, Corné A M; van Rhenen, Willem; Groothoff, Johan W

2016-01-01

Research investigating frequent sickness absence (3 or more episodes per year) is scarce and qualitative research from the perspective of frequent absentees themselves is lacking. The aim of the current study is to explore awareness, determinants of and solutions to frequent sickness absence from the perspective of frequent absentees themselves. We performed a qualitative study of 3 focus group discussions involving a total of 15 frequent absentees. Focus group discussions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Results were analyzed with the Graneheim method using the Job Demands Resources (JD-R) model as theoretical framework. Many participants were not aware of their frequent sickness absence and the risk of future long-term sickness absence. As determinants, participants mentioned job demands, job resources, home demands, poor health, chronic illness, unhealthy lifestyles, and diminished feeling of responsibility to attend work in cases of low job resources. Managing these factors and improving communication (skills) were regarded as solutions to reduce frequent sickness absence. The JD-R model provided a framework for determinants of and solutions to frequent sickness absence. Additional determinants were poor health, chronic illness, unhealthy lifestyles, and diminished feeling of responsibility to attend work in cases of low job resources. Frequent sickness absence should be regarded as a signal that something is wrong. Managers, supervisors, and occupational health care providers should advise and support frequent absentees to accommodate job demands, increase both job and personal resources, and improve health rather than express disapproval of frequent sickness absence and apply pressure regarding work attendance.

Subjective health complaints in relation to sickness absence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, Corne A. M.; Koopmans, Petra C.; Groothoff, Johan W.

2010-01-01

Objective: The Dutch population is healthy in terms of living and working conditions, but the levels of subjective health complaints (SHC) and sickness absence are high in the Dutch workforce. Are SHC related to sickness absence? Participants: The study population included the personnel of four

Plant uptake of 134Cs in relation to soil properties and time

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Massas, I.; Skarlou, V.; Haidouti, C.

2002-01-01

134 Cs uptake by sunflower and soybean plants grown on seven different soils and its relation to soil properties were studied in a greenhouse pot experiment. Soil in each pot was contaminated by dripping the 134 Cs in layers, and sunflower and soybean plants were grown for three and two successive periods, respectively. 134 Cs plant uptake was expressed as the transfer factor (TF) (Bq kg -1 plant/Bq kg -1 soil) and as the daily plant uptake (flux) (Bq pot -1 day -1 ) taking into account biomass production and growth time. For the studied soils and for both plants, no consistent trend of TFs with time was observed. The use of fluxes, in general, provided less variable results than TFs and stronger functional relationships. A negative power functional relationship between exchangeable potassium plus ammonium cations expressed as a percentage of cation exchange capacity of each soil and 134 Cs fluxes was found for the sunflower plants. A similar but weaker relationship was observed for soybean plants. The significant correlation between sunflower and soybean TFs and fluxes, as well as the almost identical highest/lowest 134 Cs flux ratios, in the studied soils, indicated a similar effect of soil characteristics on 134 Cs uptake by both plants. In all the studied soils, sunflower 134 Cs TFs and fluxes were significantly higher than the respective soybean values, while no significant difference was observed in potassium content and daily potassium plant uptake (flux) of the two plants

Pharmacological and neurophysiological aspects of space/motion sickness

Science.gov (United States)

Lucot, James B.; Crampton, George H.

1991-01-01

A motorized motion testing device modeled after a Ferris wheel was constructed to perform motion sickness tests on cats. Details of the testing are presented, and some of the topics covered include the following: xylazine-induced emesis; analysis of the constituents of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during motion sickness; evaluation of serotonin-1A (5-HT sub 1A) agonists; other 5HT receptors; antimuscarinic mechanisms; and antihistaminergic mechanisms. The ability of the following drugs to reduce motion sickness in the cats was examined: amphetamines, adenosinergic drugs, opioid antagonists, peptides, cannabinoids, cognitive enhancers (nootropics), dextromethorphan/sigma ligands, scopolamine, and diphenhydramine.

Motion Sickness: First Aid

Science.gov (United States)

... com. Accessed July 29, 2017. Priesol AJ. Motion sickness. https://www.uptodate.com/content/search. Accessed July 29, 2017. Brunette GW, et al. CDC Health Information for International Travel 2018. New York, N. ...

Action of ethylene, 1-methylcyclopropene and silver thiosulfate in two developmental stages of potted ornamental pepper(

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Cristina Carvalho Lima

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The species of Capsicum genus have great genetic variability with enormous potential for marketing as ornamental potted plants. The exposure at ethylene induces various deleterious responses during plants life cycle, but there are few studies on how the ethylene affects early developmental stages of these ornamental plants. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of the application of ethylene and ethylene inhibitors, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP and silver thiosulphate (STS in two early development stages (seedling or initial flowering of potted ornamental peppers of the cultivars ‘Calypso’ and ‘MG 302’. Cultivar ‘MG 302’ showed intermediate sensitivity to ethylene, while the cultivar ‘Calypso’ showed complete abscission of leaves when exposed to 10 µl of ethylene for 48 hours in both development stages. Plants treated with 1-MCP showed similar durability to control for both varieties and developmental stages, and the treatment with 1-MCP + ethylene was beneficial only for ‘MG 302’. STS was the most efficient substance in delaying the ethylene, wherein at stage 1 there was no leaf abscission and at stage 2 had much reduced leaf abscission occurred, regardless the cultivar. Treatment with STS + ethylene was efficient only at stage 1 for ‘Calypso’ and at stage 2 for ‘MG 302’. According to the data, cultivars showed different levels of sensitivity to ethylene, ‘Calypso’ is very sensitive and ‘MG 302’ showed intermediate sensitivity. Regardless the cultivar, STS treatment significantly blocked the ethylene action in both development stages and the use of 1-MCP was less efficient

The work ability index and single-item question: associations with sick leave, symptoms, and health--a prospective study of women on long-term sick leave.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlstrom, Linda; Grimby-Ekman, Anna; Hagberg, Mats; Dellve, Lotta

2010-09-01

This study investigated the association between the work ability index (WAI) and the single-item question on work ability among women working in human service organizations (HSO) currently on long-term sick leave. It also examined the association between the WAI and the single-item question in relation to sick leave, symptoms, and health. Predictive values of the WAI, the changed WAI, the single-item question and the changed single-item question were investigated for degree of sick leave, symptoms, and health. This cohort study comprised 324 HSO female workers on long-term (>60 days) sick leave, with follow-ups at 6 and 12 months. Participants responded to questionnaires. Data on work ability, sick leave, health, and symptoms were analyzed with regard to associations and predictability. Spearman correlation and mixed-model analysis were performed for repeated measurements over time. The study showed a very strong association between the WAI and the single-item question among all participants. Both the WAI and the single-item question showed similar patterns of associations with sick leave, health, and symptoms. The predictive value for the degree of sick leave and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was strong for both the WAI and the single-item question, and slightly less strong for vitality, neck pain, both self-rated general and mental health, and behavioral and current stress. This study suggests that the single-item question on work ability could be used as a simple indicator for assessing the status and progress of work ability among women on long-term sick leave.

Estratégias para redução de girassol ornamental para comercialização em vaso Strategies for reducing the height of potted ornamental sunflower plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline de Moura D'Andréa Mateus

2009-09-01

Full Text Available O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o uso de tela plástica fotosseletiva e de doses do regulador de crescimento paclobutrazol (0; 0,25; 0,50; 0,75 e 1,0 mg L-1 de substrato no desenvolvimento de plantas de girassol ornamental cv. Sunbright Supreme em ambiente protegido, visando à comercialização em vasos. Dois abrigos foram cobertos com filme de polietileno transparente de 0,1 mm de espessura e, em um deles, o filme plástico foi aplicado sobre tela plástica de cor azul, com 30% de sombreamento. Foram realizadas avaliações de microclima e fitotécnicas. A radiação solar global foi reduzida em 27,5% com o uso da tela fotosseletiva, porém, houve pouca influência sobre a temperatura e umidade relativa do ar. Ainda, o uso de tela fotosseletiva não reduziu o porte das plantas e não influenciou significativamente o diâmetro do capítulo, o número de folhas por planta e o tempo para a floração. Todavia, o uso de paclobutrazol reduziu significativamente a altura das plantas, de modo que permitisse sua comercialização em vasos, sem prejuízos ao seu aspecto visual, visto que não diminuiu o diâmetro do capítulo. O uso do regulador de crescimento retardou a floração, por um tempo que variou com a dose empregada, mas que não ultrapassou uma semana.The objective of the research was to evaluate the use of photoselective plastic shadenet and the effect of plant growth retardant paclobutrazol drench at different concentrations (0; 0.25; 0.50; 0.75 e 1.0 mg L-1 of substrate on potted plants of sunflower cv Sunbright Supreme grown under protected environment. Two greenhouses were covered with transparent polyethylene film, 0,1 mm thick, and at one of them, the plastic film was applied over a blue photoselective plastic shadenet (30% of shading. Microclimatic and agronomic parameters were evaluated. The solar radiation was reduced by 27.5 % when the shadenet was used, which resulted in a very low influence on the air temperature and

Associations of work ability with frequent and long-term sickness absence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Notenbomer, A.; Groothoff, J. W.; van Rhenen, W.; Roelen, C. A. M.

Background Reduced work ability is related to long-term sickness absence. The relationship between work ability and frequent sickness absence has not previously been investigated. It is important to distinguish between frequent and long-term sickness absence as they are outcomes of different

RESULTS ON THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROMANIAN NATIVE PEAT BIO COMPOSITES POTS ON SEEDLING GROWTH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florina Uleanu

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Seedlings production is an important link in vegetable culture because many vegetables species are grown by producing prior of seedlings. The theme work is in line with Western trends to produce seedlings by integrating new vegetables technologies, profitable, with positive effect on limiting pathogens to obtain seedlings, using biodegradable pots. Were conducted various observations and measurements on plants when they have reached the optimum phase for planting. We have determined: height of seedlings, root length, leaf number, root volume total weight, weight of the aerial and weight of roots. The obtained data was calculated and considered as average / variant.

Growing container seedlings: Three considerations

Science.gov (United States)

Kas Dumroese; Thomas D. Landis

2015-01-01

The science of growing reforestation and conservation plants in containers has continually evolved, and three simple observations may greatly improve seedling quality. First, retaining stock in its original container for more than one growing season should be avoided. Second, strongly taprooted species now being grown as bareroot stock may be good candidates...

Sickness absence indicating depressive symptoms of working population in South Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Cheolmin; Ko, Young-Hoon; Yoon, Seoyoung; Jeon, Sang Won; Pae, Chi-Un; Kim, Yong-Ku; Patkar, Ashwin A; Han, Changsu

2018-02-01

Sickness absence has been regarded as an important indicator of workers' health and work productivity. This study is aimed to evaluate the association between depressive symptoms and sickness absence in workers of South Korea. We used nationwide cross-sectional survey data from 2889 individuals in the working population aged over 19 years in South Korea. Depressive symptoms were measured using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Those respondents who scored above 10 on PHQ-9 were regarded as having depressive symptoms. Sickness absence was considered a binary variable with an absence of at least 1 day in the past month. The survey instrument contained questions about sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, work-related factors, and chronic illnesses. Logistic regression models were used to find odds ratios and confidence intervals. The prevalence of sickness absence was found to be overall 4.6%. The adjusted odds ratio of sickness absence with depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) was 3.63 (Confidence Interval: 2.13-6.20) after controlling of possible confounders. Compared to minimal depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 sickness absences were more significant. The sickness absence based on the memory of the respondent in this study may result in a recall bias. Incidence of at least 1 day of sickness absence per month increased the risk of depressive symptoms after controlling for the possible confounding factors in general working population. It may be necessary to consider strategies for assessing depression in the workers who take sick leaves. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Travelers' Health: Motion Sickness

Science.gov (United States)

... sickness, especially when pregnant, menstruating, or on hormones. Race/ethnicity—Asians may be more susceptible to motion ... it, sitting in the front seat of a car or bus, sitting over the wing of an ...

Console video games, postural activity, and motion sickness during passive restraint.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Chih-Hui; Pan, Wu-Wen; Chen, Fu-Chen; Stoffregen, Thomas A

2013-08-01

We examined the influence of passive restraint on postural activity and motion sickness in individuals who actively controlled a potentially nauseogenic visual motion stimulus (a driving video game). Twenty-four adults (20.09 ± 1.56 years; 167.80 ± 7.94 cm; 59.02 ± 9.18 kg) were recruited as participants. Using elastic bands, standing participants were passively restrained at the head, shoulders, hips, and knees. During restraint, participants played (i.e., controlled) a driving video game (a motorcycle race), for 50 min. During game play, we recorded the movement of the head and torso, using a magnetic tracking system. Following game play, participants answered a forced choice, yes/no question about whether they were motion sick, and were assigned to sick and well groups on this basis. In addition, before and after game play, participants completed the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, which provided numerical ratings of the severity of individual symptoms. Five of 24 participants (20.83 %) reported motion sickness. Participants moved despite being passively restrained. Both the magnitude and the temporal dynamics of movement differed between the sick and well groups. The results show that passive restraint of the body can reduce motion sickness when the nauseogenic visual stimulus is under participants' active control and confirm that motion sickness is preceded by distinct patterns of postural activity even during passive restraint.

Tight or sick building syndrome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thirumalaikolundusubramanian, P; Shanmuganadan, S [Madurai Kamaraj Univ. (India). Dept. of Geography; Uma, A [Madurai Medical Coll. (India). Dept. of Medicine and Microbiology

1991-01-01

Modern buildings are designed with the usual heating, air-conditioning and ventilation equipment. In most of these buildings, air is continuously recirculated and, as a result, workers suffer from tight or sick building syndrome. This syndrome is discussed with reference to symptoms of air contamination, ventilation system standards and research needs. The most common symptoms of tight building syndrome are eye, nose and throat irritation, headache, fatigue, sneezing, difficulty in wearing contact lenses, chest tightness, nausea, dizziness and dermatitis. Symptoms experienced by 50 doctors and 50 paramedical personnel working in an air-conditioned intensive care unit and operating theatres of the Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai in India were studied by means of a questionnaire survey. In the present study, respiratory and ocular symptoms were observed more in those working in operating theatres and were believed to be due to excessive use of formaldehyde used for sterilization. Various suggestions were made to prevent sick building syndrome. Moreover, the physicians treating sick individuals should be aware of the symptoms caused by indoor air pollutants as sufferers invariably require a change of environment rather than drugs. (orig.).

Social inequalities in "sickness"

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van der Wel, Kjetil A; Dahl, Espen; Thielen, Karsten

2012-01-01

In comparative studies of health inequalities, public health researchers have usually studied only disease and illness. Recent studies have also examined the sickness dimension of health, that is, the extent to which ill health is accompanied by joblessness, and how this association varies...... consistent results. They analyze data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC); health was measured by limiting longstanding illness (LLSI). Results show that for both men and women reporting LLSI in combination with low educational level, the probabilities of non......-employment were particularly high in the Anglo-Saxon and Eastern welfare regimes, and lowest in the Scandinavian regime. For men, absolute and relative social inequalities in sickness were lowest in the Southern regime; for women, inequalities were lowest in the Scandinavian regime. The authors conclude...

Crescimento diferencial de linhagens de milho em solução nutritiva com baixo nível de potássio Differential growth of corn inbred lines in low potassium nutrient solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angela Maria Cangiani Furlani

1986-01-01

, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg K/liter, up to thirty four days of age, with the objective of determining the adequate K level for plant growth differentiation. In a second trial, thirty seven inbred lines were grown with 20 mg K/liter up to twenty five days of age. Both experiments were arranged in randomized complete blocks with four replications, in 2.8 liter pots with two plants per pot. The nutrient solutions were continuously aerated, without renewing, and plants were allowed to grow till K deficiency symptoms appeared in the lower leaves. Variations among lines were observed for shoot and root dry weights, for total K contents and dry matter produced per unit K absorbed (efficiency ratios. Larger variations among root systems (CV of means = 38.9% than shoots (CV of means = 28.5% were observed. Genotypes were ranked and classified, according to the total dry matter yields, in efficient, intermediate and inefficient plants. Variations in total K contents (CV of means = 9.0% and in efficiency ratios (CV of means = 23.0% showed high correlation with the total dry weights (r = 0.92 and 0.99, respectively. Both K uptake and K use mechanisms seemed to be involved, but the larger variations among efficiency ratios indicated that the K utilization process was the main factor limiting plant growth.

Sick leave analysis among self-employed Dutch farmers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartman, E.; Oude Vrielink, H.H.E.; Huirne, R.B.M.; Metz, J.H.M.

2003-01-01

Background Agriculture is one of the most physically demanding and risky industries. Aim The objective of this study was to provide baseline data on the diagnoses, occurrence and duration of sick leave of self-employed Dutch farmers. Method A database of 22807 sick leave claims of 12627 farmers

Sickness Behaviour: Causes and Effects | Viljoen | South African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper discusses sickness behaviour as a central motivational state. It deals with the adaptational value and underlying mechanisms of sickness behaviour and with the consequences of the body's failure to terminate the activity of the symptoms-producing cytokines. SA Fam Pract 2003;45(10):15-18 ...

Sleeping sickness surveys: game reserve adjacent villages in Malawi

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sleeping sickness surveys: game reserve adjacent villages in Malawi. ... Sera from 160 game ranger volunteers and from 82 suspected cases_of Rhodesian sleeping sickness were tested by use of ELISA, ... AJOL African Journals Online.

The effect on length of sickness absence by recognition of undetected psychiatric disorder in long-term sickness absence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, Hans Jørgen; Bech, Per

2009-01-01

of return to work. METHODS: Over one year all 2,414 incident persons on LSA in a well-defined population were within one week after eight weeks of continuous sickness absence posted the Common Mental Disorders Screening Questionnaire (CMD-SQ) to screen for mental disorders. In a randomized controlled trial...... (RCT), of 1,121 responding participants, persons with a minimum level of psychiatric symptoms 420 were allocated to the intervention group and 416 to the control group. The intervention was a psychiatric examination including diagnostics with Present State Examination and feedback regarding treatment...... to work. RESULTS: The rate of return to work was non-significantly lower for the intervention group than for the control group, except for persons without a psychiatric sick-leave diagnosis who were sick-listed from full time work, who showed a significantly higher rate of return to work...

Does evening work predict sickness absence among female carers of the elderly?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tüchsen, Finn; Christensen, Karl Bang; Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten

2008-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to predict the risk ratio of sickness absence lasting > or = 2 weeks due to shift work among Danish workers caring for the elderly during the evening and at night. METHODS: A sample of Danish carers of the elderly were interviewed in 2005. The response...... rate was 78%. A cohort of 5627 shift and day workers was followed for sickness absence lasting > or = 2 weeks and for sickness absence lasting > or = 8 weeks in a sickness compensation register covering all social transfer payments in Denmark. RESULTS: Among the evening workers, the rate ratio (RR......) of sickness absence lasting > or = 2 weeks was 1.29 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.10-1.52). The rate ratio for sickness absence lasting > or = 8 weeks was 1.24 (95% CI 0.99-1.56). CONCLUSIONS: Evening work may cause long-term sickness absence lasting > or = 2 weeks....

Deep Learning for Plant Phenotyping

OpenAIRE

Mori, Matteo

2016-01-01

Plant Phenotyping is an emerging science which provides us the knowledge to better understand plants. Indeed, the study of the link between genetic background and environment in which plants develop can help us to determine cures for plants’ sicknesses and new ways to improve yields using limited resources. In this regard, one of the main aspects of Plant Phenotyping that were studied in the past, was Root Phenotyping, which is based on the study of the root architectures. In particular, toda...

The Effects of Cropping Regimes on Fungal and Bacterial Communities of Wheat and Faba Bean in a Greenhouse Pot Experiment Differ between Plant Species and Compartment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Granzow

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Many bacteria and fungi in the plant rhizosphere and endosphere are beneficial to plant nutrient acquisition, health, and growth. Although playing essential roles in ecosystem functioning, our knowledge about the effects of multiple cropping regimes on the plant microbiome and their interactions is still limited. Here, we designed a pot experiment simulating different cropping regimes. For this purpose, wheat and faba bean plants were grown under controlled greenhouse conditions in monocultures and in two intercropping regimes: row and mixed intercropping. Bacterial and fungal communities in bulk and rhizosphere soils as well as in the roots and aerial plant parts were analyzed using large-scale metabarcoding. We detected differences in microbial richness and diversity between the cropping regimes. Generally, observed effects were attributed to differences between mixed and row intercropping or mixed intercropping and monoculture. Bacterial and fungal diversity were significantly higher in bulk soil samples of wheat and faba bean grown in mixed compared to row intercropping. Moreover, microbial communities varied between crop species and plant compartments resulting in different responses of these communities toward cropping regimes. Leaf endophytes were not affected by cropping regime but bacterial and fungal community structures in bulk and rhizosphere soil as well as fungal community structures in roots. We further recorded highly complex changes in microbial interactions. The number of negative inter-domain correlations between fungi and bacteria decreased in bulk and rhizosphere soil in intercropping regimes compared to monocultures due to beneficial effects. In addition, we observed plant species-dependent differences indicating that intra- and interspecific competition between plants had different effects on the plant species and thus on their associated microbial communities. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating

Differences in predictors of return to work among long-term sick-listed employees with different self-reported reasons for sick leave

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huijs, J.J.J.M.; Koppes, L.L.J.; Taris, T.W.; Blonk, R.W.B.

2012-01-01

Introduction The present study aimed to gain insight in the predictors of full return to work (RTW) among employees on long-term sick leave due to three different self-reported reasons for sick leave: physical, mental or comorbid physical and mental problems. This knowledge can be used to develop

Fast growing aspens in the development of a plant micropropagation system based on plant-produced ethylene action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Žiauka, Jonas; Kuusienė, Sigutė; Šilininkas, Mindaugas

2013-01-01

Representatives of the genus Populus (poplars), such as Populus tremula L. (European aspen) and its fast-growing hybrids, are recognized as being among the most suitable tree species for short rotation coppicing in Northern Europe. Several technologies have been developed for fast propagation of selected aspen genotypes, including laboratory (in vitro) micropropagation, which is usually based on the action of exogenous plant hormones. Seeking to minimize the use of the latter, the present study was designed to test if the conditions suitable for increased accumulation of plant-produced gas, including the gaseous plant hormone ethylene, inside a culture vessel could contribute to commercially desirable changes in aspen development. Shoot cultures of several European and hybrid (Populus tremuloides Michx. × P. tremula) aspen genotypes were studied using two different types of culture vessels: tightly sealed Petri dishes (15 × 54 mm) designed to provide restricted gas exchange (RGE) conditions, and capped (but not sealed) test tubes (150 × 18 mm) providing control conditions. Under RGE conditions, not only the positive impact of the ethylene precursors 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic-acid (ACC) and ethephon on shoot proliferation was demonstrated but also a several-fold increase, compared to the control conditions, in the mean shoot number per explant was recorded even on the hormone-free nutrient medium. Moreover, the shoots developed under RGE conditions were distinguished by superior rooting ability in the subsequent culture. These results suggest that a plant micropropagation system based on the action of plant-produced ethylene rather than of exogenous hormones is possible. -- Highlights: ► Aspen in vitro cultures were grown in different vessels. ► Small-volume vessels were used for restriction of gas exchange. ► Aspen explants produced most shoots in small-volume vessels. ► Shoot proliferation was increased due to explant response to ethylene. �

Work-family conflict as a risk factor for sickness absence.

Science.gov (United States)

Jansen, N W H; Kant, I J; van Amelsvoort, L G P M; Kristensen, T S; Swaen, G M H; Nijhuis, F J N

2006-07-01

(1) To study both cross-sectional and prospective relationships between work-family conflict and sickness absence from work; (2) to explore the direction of the relationships between the different types of conflict (work-home interference and home-work interference) and sickness absence; and (3) to explore gender differences in the above relationships. Data from the Maastricht Cohort Study were used with six months of follow up (5072 men and 1015 women at T6). Work-family conflict was measured with the Survey Work-Home Interference Nijmegen (SWING). Sickness absence was assessed objectively through individual record linkage with the company registers on sickness absence. In the cross-sectional analyses, high levels of work-family conflict, work-home interference, and home-work interference were all associated with a higher odds of being absent at the time of completing the questionnaire, after controlling for age and long term disease. Differences in average number of absent days between cases and non-cases of work-home interference were significant for men and most pronounced in women, where the average number of absent days over six months follow up was almost four days higher in women with high versus low-medium work-home interference. A clear relation between work-family conflict and sickness absence was shown. Additionally, the direction of work-family conflict was associated with a different sickness absence pattern. Sickness absence should be added to the list of adverse outcomes for employees struggling to combine their work and family life.

Hyperaccumulator of Pb in native plants growing on Peruvian mine tailings

Science.gov (United States)

Bech, Jaume; Roca, Nuria; Boluda, Rafael; Tume, Pedro; Duran, Paola; Poma, Wilfredo; Sanchez, Isidoro

2014-05-01

Tailings usually provide an unfavourable substrate for plant growth because of their extreme pH, low organic matter and nutrients, high concentrations of trace elements and physical disturbance, such as bad soil structure, and low water availability. Heavy metal contamination has also been one serious problem in the vicinity of mine sites due to the discharge and dispersion of mine-waste materials into the ecosystem. Moreover, Pb is considered a target metal when undertaking soil remediation, because it is usually quite immobile and not readily accumulated in upper plant parts. The presence of vegetation reduces water and wind erosion, which may decrease the downward migration of contaminants into the groundwater and improve aesthetical aspects. Plants growing on naturally metal-enriched soils are of particular interest in this perspective, since they are genetically tolerant to high metal concentrations, have an excellent adaptation to this multi-stress environment. Efficient phytoextraction requires plant species combining both high metal tolerance and elevated capacity for metal uptake and metal translocation to easily harvestable plant organs (e.g. shoots). Soil and plant samples were taken in Peru, at a polymetallic mine (mainly Ag, Pb and Cu) in Cajamarca Province, Hualgayoc district. Top soils (0-20 cm) were analysed for physical and chemical properties by standard methods. Total Pb concentrations in top soils were determined by ICP-OES. Pb content in plants were analysed separately (aerial and root system) by ICP-MS. Ti content was used as an indicator for contamination of plant samples with soil particles. Translocation Factor (TF) and Shoot Accumulation Factor (SAF) were determined to assess the tolerance strategies developed by these species and to evaluate their potential for phytoremediation purposes. The non-polluted soils had near neutral pH (6.8±0.1), a great content of organic carbon (42 ± 4.0 g•kg-1) and a silt loamy texture. Soil and plant

Dizziness and Motion Sickness

Science.gov (United States)

... that extends into the inner ear can completely destroy both the hearing and equilibrium function of that ... motion sickness: •Do not read while traveling •Avoid sitting in the rear seat •Do not sit in ...

Hexachlorobenzene dechlorination as affected by organic fertilizer and urea applications in two rice planted paddy soils in a pot experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, C.Y.; Jiang, X.; Yang, X.L.; Song, Y.

2010-01-01

Reductive dechlorination is a crucial pathway for HCB degradation, the applications of organic materials and nitrogen can alter microbial activity and redox potential of soils, thus probably influence HCB dechlorination. To evaluate hexachlorobenzene (HCB) dechlorination as affected by organic fertilizer (OF) and urea applications in planted paddy soils, a pot experiment was conducted in two types of soils, Hydragric Acrisols (Ac) and Gleyi-Stagnic Anthrosols (An). After 18 weeks of experiment, HCB residues decreased by 28.2-37.5% of the initial amounts in Ac, and 42.1-70.9% in An. The amounts of HCB metabolites showed that dechlorination rates in An were higher than in Ac, which was mainly attributed to the higher pH and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content of An. Both in Ac and An, the additions of 1% and 2% OF had negative effect on HCB dechlorination, which was probably because excessive nitrogen in OF decreased degraders' activity and the degradation of organic carbon in OF accepted electrons. The application of 0.03% urea could enhance HCB dechlorination rates slightly, while 0.06% urea accelerated HCB dechlorination significantly both in Ac and An. It could be assumed that urea served as an electron donor and stimulated degraders to dechlorinate HCB. In addition, the methanogenic bacteria were involved in dechlorination process, and reductive dechlorination in planted paddy soil might be impeded for the aerenchyma and O 2 supply into the rhizosphere. Results indicated that soil types, rice root system, methanogenic bacteria, OF and urea applications all had great effects on dechlorination process.

Trends in biological activity research of wild-growing aromatic plants from Central Balkans

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Džamić, A.M.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Flowering plants consists of more than 300.000 species around the world, out of which a small percentage has been sufficiently investigated from phytochemical and biological activity aspects. Plant diversity of the Balkans is very rich, but still poorly investigated. The aim of this paper is survey of current status and trends in research of wild-growing aromatic plants from Central Balkans. Many aromatic plants are investigated from morphological, physiological, ecological, systematic and phytochemical aspects. However, traditionally used medicinal and aromatic plants can also be considered from applicative aspects, concerning their health effects, and from wide range of usage in cosmetics, and as food, agrochemical and pharmaceutical products. In order to achieve all planned objectives, following methodology has been applied: field research, taxonomic authentication and, comparative biologically assayed phytochemical investigations. The total herbal extracts, postdistillation waste (deodorized extracts, essential oils and individual compounds of some autochthonous plants have been considered as potential source of antibacterial, antifungal, anti-biofilm, antioxidant and cytotoxic agents. In this manuscript, composition of essential oils and extracts were evaluated in a number of species, from the Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae and Asteraceae families. Extracts which were rich in phenols mostly of flavonoids, often showed high antioxidant potential. Also, phenolic compounds identified in essential oils and extracts were mostly responsible for expected antimicrobial activity. Current worldwide demand is to reduce or, if possible, eliminate chemically synthesized food additives. Plant-produced compounds are becoming of interest as a source of more effective and safe substances than synthetically produced antimicrobial agents (as inhibitors, growth reducers or even inactivators that control growth of microorganisms. Many different pathogens have

SICKNESS PRESENCE AND STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS OF HEALTH CARE WORKERS.

Science.gov (United States)

Škerjanc, Alenka; Fikfak, Metoda Dodič

2015-09-01

The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between sickness presence and stressful life events among health care workers. Data were gathered from all health care workers at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana employed there in the period between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010. Each employee obtained a questionnaire composed of two standardized international questionnaires. There were 57% of sickness present health care workers among the participants. The sickness present reported to have more diseases of family member than the non-sickness present (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.2-2.0), loan (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.1-1.6), their partner lost job (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.0-1.8), or they changed the place of living (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.0-2.0). The results of the study indicate that stressful life events with economic consequences might have an important influence on sickness presence.

Explanation of diagnosis criteria for radiation sickness from internal exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xing Zhiwei; Jiang Enhai; Du Jianying; Bai Guang

2012-01-01

A revised edition of the Diagnostic Criteria for Radiation Sickness from Internal Exposure has been approved and issued by the Ministry of Health. It is necessary to research the internal radiation sickness to adapt to the current serious anti-terrorism situation. This standard was enacted based on the extensive research of related literature, from which 12 cases with internal radiation sickness and screened out were involving 7 types of radionuclide. The Development of Emergency Response Standard Extension Framework: Midterm Evaluation Report is the main reference which approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency and World Health Organization. This amendment contains many new provisions such as internal radiation sickness effects models and threshold dose, and the appendix added threshold dose of serious deterministic effects induced by radionuclide intake and radiotoxicology parameters of some radionuclides. In order to understand and implement this standard, and to diagnose and treat the internal radiation sickness correctly, the contents of this standard were interpreted in this article. (authors)

Determinants of sick-leave length: still limited to diagnosis elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Lévy, Yvan; Denis, Angélique; Fassier, Jean-Baptiste; Kellou, Nadir; Schott, Anne-Marie; Letrilliart, Laurent

2017-12-01

Sickness certification implies that a health problem impairs ability to work. However, its assessment is seldom performed by physicians. Our objective was, therefore, to assess the specific influence of functional and environmental limitations on the length of sick-leave prescriptions. We conducted a cross-sectional study in French general teaching practices and recorded 353 initial sick-leave certifications. For each of them, the functional and environmental limitations were collected using the ATCIF questionnaire, derived from the International Classification of Functioning. Data analysis was based on a linear regression multivariate model. Among the functional limitations, "pain" was the main body function impairment (22% of impairments) and "mobility" the main activity limitation (48%). An environmental barrier was identified in 39% of sick-listed patients, mainly relating to "products and technology" (20%), which refers to workplace factors. The prescription was longer in cases of activity limitations relating to "mobility" and in cases of environmental barriers relating to "products and technology". The multivariate model explained 27% of the variability of sick-leave length through diagnosis elements and only 7% through functional and contextual elements. In sick-leave prescription, a functional and contextual approach, in addition to the traditional diagnosis-based approach, could better support patients' shared understanding and follow-up, and accountability towards health authorities. Implication for Rehabilitation Although sickness certification implies that a health problem impairs ability to work, decision on sick-leave length in general practice is primarily based on diagnosis. A more functional and contextual approach could better support patients' and other health professionals' shared understanding and follow-up, and accountability towards health authorities. Such evolution requires a change of paradigm in medical education, and the way of

Undetected common mental disorders in long-term sickness absence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, Hans Jørgen

2012-01-01

Background. Undetected Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) amongst people on sick leave complicate rehabilitation and return to work because appropriate treatments are not initiated. Aims. The aim of this study is to estimate (1) the frequencies of CMD, (2) the predictors of undetected CMD, and (3...... individuals registered on LSA who were sick-listed without a psychiatric sick leave diagnosis. In this respect, Phase 1 included 831 individuals, who were screened for mental disorders. In Phase 2, following the screening of Phase 1, 227 individuals were thoroughly examined by a psychiatrist applying Present...... State Examination. The analyses of the study were carried out based on the 227 individuals from Phase 2 and, subsequently, weighted to be representative of the 831 individuals in Phase 1. Results. The frequencies of undetected mental disorders among all sick-listed individuals were for any psychiatric...

Trends in sickness absence in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Kristina; Bihrmann, Kristine; Mikkelsen, Sigurd

2009-01-01

's Authority, and the Labor Force Survey indicated a stable and largely unaltered pattern of sickness absence during the last 20 years. Findings from Statistics Denmark showed an increase in the cumulative incidence proportion from 6.6 to 7.5% among employed people between 2000 and 2007. CONCLUSION: Our data...... a linear regression analysis to analyze time trends in sickness absence based on datasets from the Danish Employers Confederation, the State Employer's Authority, the Labour Force Survey, and Statistics Denmark. RESULTS: The findings from the Confederation of Danish Employers, the State Employer...

A Kink that Makes you Sick: the Effect of Sick Pay on Absence in a Social Insurance System

OpenAIRE

Petri Bockerman; Ohto Kanninen; Ilpo Suoniemi

2014-01-01

We examine the effect of the replacement rule of a social insurance system on sickness absence. The elasticity of absence with respect to the benefit level is a critical parameter in defining the optimal sickness insurance scheme. A pre-determined, piecewise linear policy rule in which the replacement rate is determined by past earnings allows identification of the causal effect using a regression kink design. Using a large administrative dataset, we find a substantial and robust behavioral r...

Demonstrating the potential for dynamic auditory stimulation to contribute to motion sickness.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behrang Keshavarz

Full Text Available Auditory cues can create the illusion of self-motion (vection in the absence of visual or physical stimulation. The present study aimed to determine whether auditory cues alone can also elicit motion sickness and how auditory cues contribute to motion sickness when added to visual motion stimuli. Twenty participants were seated in front of a curved projection display and were exposed to a virtual scene that constantly rotated around the participant's vertical axis. The virtual scene contained either visual-only, auditory-only, or a combination of corresponding visual and auditory cues. All participants performed all three conditions in a counterbalanced order. Participants tilted their heads alternately towards the right or left shoulder in all conditions during stimulus exposure in order to create pseudo-Coriolis effects and to maximize the likelihood for motion sickness. Measurements of motion sickness (onset, severity, vection (latency, strength, duration, and postural steadiness (center of pressure were recorded. Results showed that adding auditory cues to the visual stimuli did not, on average, affect motion sickness and postural steadiness, but it did reduce vection onset times and increased vection strength compared to pure visual or pure auditory stimulation. Eighteen of the 20 participants reported at least slight motion sickness in the two conditions including visual stimuli. More interestingly, six participants also reported slight motion sickness during pure auditory stimulation and two of the six participants stopped the pure auditory test session due to motion sickness. The present study is the first to demonstrate that motion sickness may be caused by pure auditory stimulation, which we refer to as "auditorily induced motion sickness".

Standing body sway in women with and without morning sickness in pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yawen; Chung, Hyun Chae; Hemingway, Lauren; Stoffregen, Thomas A

2013-01-01

Morning sickness typically is attributed to hormonal changes in pregnancy. We asked whether morning sickness is associated with changes in standing postural equilibrium, as occurs in research on visually induced motion sickness. Twenty-one pregnant women (mean age=30 years, mean height=163cm; mean weight=63kg) were tested during the first trimester. Laboratory-based balance measures were collected, along with perceived postural stability, the presence of morning sickness, and the severity of subjective symptoms. We varied the distance between the feet and the visual task performed during stance. Participants were classified as either experiencing (Sick, n=12) or not experiencing (Well, n=9) morning sickness. Perceived balance stability was lower for Sick than for Well women. The positional variability of sway was reduced for the Sick group, relative to the Well group. Positional variability decreased with wider stance width, and was reduced during performance of a more demanding visual task. Stance width and visual task also influenced the temporal dynamics of sway. Effects of stance width and visual task on postural sway were similar to effects in non-pregnant adults, suggesting that sensitive tuning of posture is maintained during the first trimester. The findings suggest that women with morning sickness may attempt to stabilize their bodies by reducing overall body sway. It may be useful to recommend that women adopt wider stance early in pregnancy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Part-time sick leave as a treatment method for individuals with musculoskeletal disorders

OpenAIRE

Andrén, Daniela; Svensson, Mikael

2009-01-01

There is increasing evidence that staying active is an important part of a recovery process for individuals on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). It has been suggested that using part-time sick-leave rather than full-time sick leave will enhance the possibility of full recovery to the workforce, and several countries actively favor this policy. However, to date only few studies have estimated the effect of using part-time sick leave in contrast to full-time sick leave. In thi...

Identifying workers at risk of sickness absence by questionnaire

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, Corne A. M.; van der Pol, Tjepke R.; Koopmans, Petra C.; Groothoff, Johan W.

2006-01-01

Background Sickness absence is an important economic problem, because of high costs and lost productivity. Determining factors associated with increased risk of sickness absence may lead to the development of preventive measures. Aims To determine whether self-report questionnaires can identify

Sickness absence frequency among women working in hospital care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, Corne A. M.; Schreuder, Jolanda A. H.; Koopmans, Petra C.; Moen, Bente E.; Groothoff, Johan W.

2009-01-01

Background Frequent short sickness absences result in understaffing and interfere with work processes. We need more knowledge about factors associated with this type of absence. Aims To investigate associations between the frequency of previous sickness absence and self-reported perceptions of

Uptake of metals and metalloids by plants growing in a lead-zinc mine area, Northern Vietnam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, Nguyen Thi Hoang; Sakakibara, Masayuki; Sano, Sakae; Nhuan, Mai Trong

2011-01-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the phytoremediation and phytomining potential of 10 plant species growing naturally at one of the largest lead-zinc mines in Northern Vietnam. Total concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic were determined in the plant and in associated soil and water in and outside of the mine area. The results indicate that hyperaccumulation levels (mg kg -1 dry weight) were obtained in Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (1140) and Pteris vittata L. (3750) for arsenic, and in Ageratum houstonianum Mill. (1130), Potamogeton oxyphyllus Miq. (4210), and P. vittata (1020) for lead. To the best of our knowledge, the present paper is the first report on metal accumulation and hyperaccumulation by H. cordata, A. houstonianum, and P. oxyphyllus. Based on the obtained concentrations of metals, bioconcentration and translocation factors, as well as the biomass of these plants, the two latter species and P. vittata are good candidates for phytoremediation of sites contaminated with arsenic and multi-metals. None of the collected plants was suitable for phytomining, given their low concentrations of useful metals (e.g., silver, gallium, and indium).

Uptake of metals and metalloids by plants growing in a lead-zinc mine area, Northern Vietnam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ha, Nguyen Thi Hoang [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, Matsuyama 790-8577 (Japan); Sakakibara, Masayuki, E-mail: sakakiba@sci.ehime-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, Matsuyama 790-8577 (Japan); Sano, Sakae [Department of Geology, Ehime University, Matsuyama 790-8577 (Japan); Nhuan, Mai Trong [Department of Environmental Geology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 334 Nguyen Trai, Hanoi (Viet Nam)

2011-02-28

This study was conducted to evaluate the phytoremediation and phytomining potential of 10 plant species growing naturally at one of the largest lead-zinc mines in Northern Vietnam. Total concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic were determined in the plant and in associated soil and water in and outside of the mine area. The results indicate that hyperaccumulation levels (mg kg{sup -1} dry weight) were obtained in Houttuynia cordata Thunb. (1140) and Pteris vittata L. (3750) for arsenic, and in Ageratum houstonianum Mill. (1130), Potamogeton oxyphyllus Miq. (4210), and P. vittata (1020) for lead. To the best of our knowledge, the present paper is the first report on metal accumulation and hyperaccumulation by H. cordata, A. houstonianum, and P. oxyphyllus. Based on the obtained concentrations of metals, bioconcentration and translocation factors, as well as the biomass of these plants, the two latter species and P. vittata are good candidates for phytoremediation of sites contaminated with arsenic and multi-metals. None of the collected plants was suitable for phytomining, given their low concentrations of useful metals (e.g., silver, gallium, and indium).

Control of a virtual ambulation influences body movement and motion sickness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hagstrom Jens

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Drivers typically are less susceptible to motion sickness than passengers. The influence of vehicle control has theoretical implications for the etiology of motion sickness, and has practical implications for the design of virtual environments. In the present study, participants either controlled or did not control a nonvehicular virtual avatar (i.e., an ambulatory character in a console video game. We examined the incidence of motion sickness and patterns of movement of the head and torso as participants either played or watched the game. Motion sickness incidence was lower when controlling the virutal avatar than when watching an avatar that was controlled by someone else. Patterns of head and torso movement differed between particpants who did and did not control the avatar. Indepenently, patterns of movement differed between participants who reported motion sickness and those who did not. The results suggest that motion sickness is influenced by control of stimulus motion, whether that motion arises from a vehicle or from any other source. We consider implications for the design of humancomputer interfaces.

Long working hours and sickness absence-a fixed effects design.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernstrøm, Vilde Hoff