Survey of unsafe acts and its influencing factors in metal smelting industry workers in Kashan in 2016

Background and aims: The previous studies has shown high incidence of accidents and occupational injuries in metal smelting industry because of the nature of the processes. It was also found that more than 70 percent of the accidents occur due to workers' unsafe behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate and analysis of workers' unsafe acts in metal smelting industry in Kashan in 2016. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 178 Metal smelting Industry Workers. Workers' unsafe behaviors were determined by observation method using Tarannt checklist. Demographic data were collected by Self-made questionnaire. Data were analyzed using chi-square-test, t-test, ANOVA and linear regression by SPSS16 software. Results: 43.23 percent out of Workers' behaviors was unsafe. The most of the unsafe behaviors was Non-use of personal protective equipment and the least of them was indiscretion. The significant differences were observed between unsafe behaviors and age, education level, smoking, work stations and safety and health training (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study showed high prevalence of unsafe acts in metal smelting industry. The most of workers 'unsafe acts was related to lack of use of personal protective equipment. Producing and distributing high-quality personal protective equipment, encouraging the use of these devices and specialized training courses in the field, can reduce workers' unsafe acts and occupational accidents effectively

Modelling generalized firms' restructuring using inverse DEA

The key consideration for firms’ restructuring is improving their operational efficiencies. Market conditions often offer opportunities or generate threats that can be handled by restructuring scenarios through consolidation, to create synergy, or through split, to create reverse synergy. A generalized restructuring refers to a move in a business market where a homogeneous set of firms, a set of pre-restructuring decision making units (DMUs), proceed with a restructuring to produce a new set of post-restructuring entities in the same market to realize efficiency targets. This paper aims to develop a novel inverse Data Envelopment Analysis based methodology, called GInvDEA (Generalized Inverse DEA), for modeling the generalized restructuring. Moreover, the paper suggests a linear programming model that allows determining the lowest performance levels, measured by efficiency that can be achieved through a given generalized restructuring. An application in banking operations illustrates the theory developed in the paper

Parameters identification of industrial induction motor using manufacturer data sheet and power quality analyzer

© 2017 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved. This paper intends to identify circuit parameters of an installed induction motor in an innovative way which is different from standard tests. In this paper, easily available motor manufacturer data is used by which rated output power, rated terminal voltage, full load efficiency, full load power factor, nominal speed, number of poles, and locked rotor current are provided. In order to estimate the parameters, nonlinear mathematical equations of motor are derived and iterative Gauss-Seidel method is used to solve them in MATLAB. Identified parameters are then transferred to MATLAB/Simulink model of the motor to simulate its performance during Star-Delta start. Validation of parameters is evaluated by comparing the result of Simulink with real-time measurement of an industrial Power Quality Analyzer

Association of Brain-dead Donor's Urine Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin Levels With Kidney Allograft Function

Introduction. Development of delayed graft function is more prevalent in patients receiving a kidney allograft from brain-dead than living donors. This study aimed to evaluate the association between urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels in brain-dead donors and subsequent allograft function. Materials and Methods. Urine NGAL concentration was measured in urine samples obtained from 24 brain-dead kidney allograft donors before organ retrieval. The 24 kidney recipients were followed for 6 months. The immunosuppressive therapy was similar for all of the recipients. Following transplantation, plasma creatinine was recorded daily during the recipient's stay in the hospital and then at 1, 3, and 6 months after transplantation. Delayed graft function was defined as the need for dialysis in the first 7 days after transplantation. Results. The mean age of the donors was 28.7 +/- 11.2 years and 70.8 were men. Their median urine NGAL level was 7.4 ng/ml (range, 2 ng/mL to 45 ng/mL). Urine NGAL levels were only associated with the need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (P = .007). On the 1st day after transplantation, 16.7 of the recipients developed delayed graft function, which was declined to 12.5 on the 2nd day and to 8.3 during the 3rd day and the following days. No significant association was observed between the donor's urine NGAL levels and graft function (P = .86). Conclusions. Our results did not show any association between urine NGAL levels and outcome of allograft function obtained from brain-dead donors. Larger studies are required to confirm this finding

Foliar Applications of ZnO and Its Nanoparticles Increase Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Growth and Yield under Water Stress

Foliar application or minerals is a methodology to promote growth and/or yield and to protect plants against different kinds of stresses. Currently there is a great interest in evaluating the effect of nanoparticles for enhancing the effect of these treatments. This study was performed to evaluate and compare the effect of foliar application of zinc oxide (ZnO) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on the growth and yield of safflower under different irrigation regimes. Foliar applications of ZnO in all concentrations (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 g L) led to an increase in biomass yield, number of capitula per plant, number of seeds per capitulum, and grain yield of plants compared with control plants. The maximum increase in the studied traits was obtained with a ZnO concentration of 6, 8, and 10 g L. In a second round of experiments, we observed the effect of nanoparticles and found that spraying with ZnO and ZnO-NPs at a concentration of 10 g L may ameliorate the deleterious effects of water deficit. The results of the present study support the idea that foliar application of ZnO improves safflower yield, especially under drought stress, and showed that using of nanoparticles increases the efficiency of the application