An overview of methods used for quantification of heavy metal contents in vegetal samples

Continuous monitoring of heavy metals content in vegetal products is a priority for food control and a risk assessment strategy for human health. Having in view the importance of heavy metals surveillance, the aim of this paper is to identify, on the basis of literature data, the most suitable procedures and techniques used for accurate determination of them in vegetal samples. In most cases, quantification of heavy metals in vegetal matrix is preceded by digestion performed through different protocols chosen carefully because this is a critical step for obtaining accurate results. Among most used techniques for heavy metals’ assessment from vegetal products reported by literature it worth to be mentioned: atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), neutron activation analysis (NAA), anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV)

The Decreasing of the Energetic Losses at a Coke Dry Cooling Plant

The paper presents an energetic and technologic analysis of the metallurgic coke dry cooling plant (CDCPO) operating, and also the optimization of this process in the case of an industrial plant, existing in the Steel Works S.A. Galati. The drawn–up analysis is based on the thermal balance of the industrial plant, in order to establish some mathematical equations that characterize the technological process

Melting-Casting Plant Using Vibrating of Melts in order to Obtain Composite with Technological Utility

This paper presents the obtaining of composites materials with technological utility through vibration technology. In order to obtain these composites, and plant was designed and manufactured. In order to show the possibilities of these technologies, a number of composite samples were produced

Matrix-type certified reference materials for quality control of metal determination from solid environmental and vegetation samples

In the context of monitoring environmental factors, metals are one of the major analytical components. Applying appropriate determination methods and obtaining accurate results is a requirement imposed on environmental laboratories that perform quality control of water, soil, waste or vegetation. This study presents some examples of certified reference materials for quality control of the results of toxic metal determination from solid environmental and vegetation samples. The analyzed and verified metals were As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. The pre-treatment of the samples, the determination methods of metals and the obtained results are also presented. Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-EOS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) techniques are suitable for low metal concentrations, while ICP-EOS and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS) methods can be used at high concentrations

Occupational Risk Management in Industry

Occupational risk management is part of the occupational health and safety at workplace. Occupational risk management has a specific component relating to the assessment of the risk and a common component of all types of management including: planning, organizing, implementing, and controlling. Managers must understand the legal and moral liability of their job in ensuring a healthy and safe workplace and to make all necessary efforts to achieve and maintain this goal. Although this action is the responsibility of management, employees also have a role as important in ensuring health and safety at the workplace. The case study approach, this paper aimed to determine if employees respond to the important efforts being made by the organization to reduce the level of risk in the workplace and improve security. The case study was based on questioning of one total of 64 employees in the industrial sector in Galati area Romania. The questionnaire had a total of 24 questions chosen so as to show how well the respondents understood the occupational risk management, the attitude towards risk assessment at the workplace, how vigilant are at the workplace, if they understood measures security and the extent to which they meet

Unemployment and sectoral competitiveness in Southern European Union countries. Facts and policy implications

This article addresses the problem of the main factors driving sectoral unemployment in the Mediterranean countries most affected by this phenomenon. The choice of the four countries (Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal) relies on the fact that they are dealing with the highest unemployment rates in the European Union and a certain typology of the economic structure. The originality of our research is offered by its direction, less tackled until now, namely the focus on the particularities of the economic sectors, trying to capture differences between them. The importance and the impact of the results are supported by the methods used to produce them, indicators and econometric models that are on trend and bring extra information to available studies. Descriptive statistics and mismatch indexes are used to outline the economic and labour market structure, while the econometric models built on panel data capture the impact of factors such as GVA growth, specialization and labour market mismatches on the unemployment rate at six economic sectors level. Our paper makes three contributions to the literature. First, we have demonstrated that agriculture is the sector of activity less sensitive to output fluctuations in terms of unemployment and can become a buffer for the jobless in times of recessions. Second, we have proved that industry, as a whole, is highly responsive to economic developments and bad specialization could worsen unemployment situation in this sector. Third, we showed that educational mismatches have a significant impact on unemployment in those sectors of activity that employ low educated workforce

Quality of life and special issues in women with inflammatory bowel diseases

Introduction. The impact of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) on the quality of life (QoL) of patients is significant and it has important social and professional consequences. Materials and methods. We aimed to describe the patients’ perspective regarding the impact of IBD on their overall QoL and to evaluate the differences between men and women. An observational cross-sectional study, that included 180 patients with IBD in clinical remission, was conducted. All the patients completed a number of 3 questionnaires in order to evaluate the general aspects of their QoL. A separate questionnaire was created regarding gender-specific issues in women with IBD encounter. Also, particular features such as the incidence of anemia and osteoporosis among IBD patients were documented. The data obtained were analyzed and compared between the two gender-classified groups. Results. According to the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ), patients had a general perception of a good QoL, but the impact was higher in women. Fatigue and tiredness were severely perceived almost to the same degree regardless of their gender, whereas anxiety and unemployment were more present in men. No significant differences in women with IBD during the active disease and during disease remission were found. Conclusions. The overall quality of life of IBD patients is affected in many aspects, leading to the deterioration of their social and professional lives, for both men and women, but some aspects remain gender-specific and require a personalized standard of care

Ranking the dietary treatments of broiler chickens in order to reduce nitrogen pollution of the environment

The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology was used to rank the tested nutritional solutions and to choose the best nutritional solution in order to reduce environmental pollution with nitrogen. The evaluation methodology consisted in comparing by three evaluators the diets based on the zootechnical performances/thigh meat quality / environmental impact. The diets of tested nutritional solutions were contained either medicinal and aromatic plants (basil, thyme, sage) in a proportion of 1% (batch 2), respectively essential oils (0.05%) of the same plants (batch 1). The application of the AHP methodology indicated that the best nutritional alternative was obtained for basil, either in the form of essential oil or vegetal material