Prioritizacija i procjena ključa sigurnosti pokazatelja uspjeha u automobilskoj industriji

The performance of any management system needs to be monitored with adequate and proper indicators. This study aimed to identify, set priorities and assess key indicators for implementing an effective performance evaluation system. This descriptive-analytical study was carried out in three phase. In first phase, a semi-structured interview as well as a review of the company\u27s documentation and studies carried out, then a set of key indicators were collected and selected. The validity of the indicators were determined by experts (N = 11) and indicators were prioritized using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) according to SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time- bound) criteria. Following the study framework, a primary set of 60 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were collected. The results of the validity assessment showed 23 indicators had acceptable validity. The results of examining the relationships between the indicators showed that the percentage of corrected non- compliance and the number of risk assessments had a significant relationships with the total number of work-related lost time injuries as a lagging indicator. According to the results, the four the most important key performance indicators to assess the safety performance in the automotive industry were as follows: the number of risk assessments conducted, the percentage of corrected non- compliance, the percentage of safety educational programs implemented for workers, and Frequency Severity Index (FSI) index.Učinkovitost bilo kojeg sustava upravljanja treba pratiti odgovarajućim i ispravnim pokazateljima. Cilj ove studije bio je identificirati, odrediti prioritete i procijeniti ključne pokazatelje za primjenu učinkovitog sustava vrednovanja učinka. Ovo opisno-analitičko istraživanje provedeno je u tri faze. U prvoj fazi, polustrukturirani intervju, kao i pregled provedene dokumentacije i studija tvrtke, zatim je prikupljen i odabran skup ključnih pokazatelja. Valjanost pokazatelja odredili su stručnjaci (N = 11), a pokazatelji su odredili prioritete pomoću Analitičkog postupka hijerarhije (AHP) prema SMART (Specifični, mjerljivi, dostižni, relevantni i vremenski ograničeni) kriteriji. Slijedom okvira studije, prikupljen je primarni skup od 60 KPI. Rezultati procjene valjanosti pokazali su da 23 pokazatelja imaju prihvatljivu valjanost. Rezultati ispitivanja odnosa između pokazatelja pokazali su da je postotak ispravljene neusaglašenosti i broj procjena rizika u značajnoj vezi s ukupnim brojem ozljeda izgubljenog na radu kao pokazatelj zaostajanja. Prema rezultatima, četiri najvažnija ključna pokazatelja uspješnosti za procjenu sigurnosnih performansi u automobilskoj industriji bila su sljedeća: broj provedenih procjena rizika, postotak ispravljenih nesukladnosti, postotak provedenih obrazovnih programa o sigurnosti za radnike i indeks FSI

Characterization of radioactive aerosols in Tehran research reactor containment

The objectives of this research were to determine the levels of radioactivity in the Tehran research reactor containment and to investigate the mass-size distribution, composition, and concentration of radionuclides during operation of the reactor. A cascade impactor sampler was used to determine the size-activity distributions of radioactive aerosols in each of the sampling stations. Levels of a and b activities were determined based on a counting method using a liquid scintillation counter and smear tests. The total average mass fractions of fine particles (particle diameter dp < 1 mm) in all of the sampling stations were approximately 26.75 %, with the mean and standard deviation of 52.15 ± 19.75 mg/m3. The total average mass fractions of coarse particles were approximately 73.2%, with the mean and standard deviation of 71.34 ± 24.57 mg/m3. In addition to natural radionuclides, artificial radionuclides, such as 24Na, 91Sr, 131I, 133I, 103Ru, 82Br, and 140La, may be released into the reactor containment structure. Maximum activity was associated with accumulation-mode particles with diameters less than 400 nm. The results obtained from liquid scintillation counting suggested that the mean specific activity of alpha particles in fine and coarse-modes were 89.7 % and 10.26 %, respectively. The mean specific activity of beta particles in fine and coarse-modes were 81.15 % and 18.51 %, respectively. A large fraction of the radionuclides' mass concentration in the Tehran research reactor containment was associated with coarse-mode particles, in addition, a large fraction of the activity in the aerosol particles was associated with accumulation-mode particles

Nucleolar Organizer Regions in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background and aims. Several diagnostic methods are being employed to detect benign and malignant lesions, one of which is silver nitrate staining for organizer regions. The number of nucleolar organizing regions (NORs) can be used to show the degree of cell activity or metabolism in pathologic lesions. This study was designed to evaluate NORs as determinants of precancerous and squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and methods. A silver colloid technique was applied on paraffin sections of 40 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma and 25 cases of precancerous lesions; 15 specimens of normal epithelium were selected for the control group. After staining with silver nitrate, argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) were counted in 100 epithelial cells in three groups with the use of an oil immersion and ×1000 objective lens. One-way ANOVA and a post hoc Tukey test were used for statistical analysis. Results. The mean numbers and standard deviations of AgNORs were 1.58 ± 0.76 in normal epithelium, 2.1 ± 1.05 in precancerous lesions and 2.43 ±1.33 in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). There were statistically significant differences in AgNORs numbers between the groups (P<0.001) and significant differences in precancerous lesions between dysplastic and non-dysplastic epithelia (P<0.001). The mean AgNORs count per nucleus increased from healthy epithelium to precancerous lesion to SCC. Conclusion. This study suggests that the silver staining technique for the detection of NORs (AgNOR) can be used to distinguish precancerous lesions and benign and malignant lesions

Evaluation of the antifungal activities of various extracts from Pistacia atlantica Desf

Background and Purpose: Despite the availability of various treatments for fungal diseases, there are some limitations in the management of these conditions due to multiple treatment-related side-effects. The present study was designed to investigate the antifungal properties of different extracts from Pistacia atlantica Desf. Materials and Methods: Different parts of P. atlantica (i.e., dried fruit, fresh fruit and dried leaf) were separately extracted via percolation method with 80% methanol and water. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis was performed to determine the main constituents of leaf and fruit extracts from P. atlantica. In vitro anti-Candida activities of the extracts against Candida albicans, Candida glabrata and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were studied. For this purpose, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) were determined, using broth microdilution method, according to the modified M27-A3 protocol on yeasts, proposed by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Results: Based on GC/MS analysis, the main constituents of P. atlantica fruit extracts were &beta-myrcene (41.4%), &alpha-pinene (32.48%) and limonene (4.66%), respectively, whereas the major constituents of P. atlantica leaf extracts were trans-caryophyllene (15.18%), &alpha-amorphene (8.1%) and neo-allo-ocimene (6.21%), respectively. As the findings indicated, all the constituents exhibited both fungistatic and fungicidal activities, with MICs ranging from 6.66 to 26.66 mg/mL and MFCs ranging from 13.3 to 37.3 mg/mL, respectively. Among the evaluated extracts, the methanolic fresh fruit extract of P. atlantica was significantly more effective than other extracts (P<0.05). Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, novel antifungal agents need to be developed, and use of P. atlantica should be promoted in the traditional treatment of Candida infections

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundFuture trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050.MethodsUsing forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline.FindingsIn the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]).InterpretationGlobally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions.FundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.</p