15 research outputs found
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The Relationship Between Emotion and Situational Interest In Context of Naturalistic Construction Injury Demonstrations
Despite OSHA regulations and strong advancements in construction safety over the past few decades, construction is still one of the most dangerous industries worldwide. Researchers have shown that safety training is crucial to injury prevention. Therefore, improving the way they are delivered so that they meet andragogical principles of learning is logical. However, when delivering new safety training it is imperative to understand the implications of the change on learning, retention, interest, emotion, and behavior. Although some literature can be used to reliably evaluate the implications of the proposed change in safety training, the relationship among injury experience, emotion, and situational interest remains unknown. To address this implications, this study tests the hypothesis that emotional responses to Live safety demonstrations (LSD) increase workersâ engagement and situational interest and elicits a strong emotional response. To test this hypothesis, a controlled experiment was designed and conducted that exposed 492 subjects to the live safety demonstrations (LSD) and measured emotional responses and situational interest before and after exposure. Once these data were collected, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify uncorrelated clusters of correlated emotions. Finally, a multivariate logistic regression was performed to test the hypothesis that some clusters of emotions can predict change (increase or decrease) in situational interest. The results show a strong relationship between negative emotional states and situational interest and no significant link to positive emotions. The implications of these findings are that workers in mid-negative and strong negative emotional states are more likely to maintain their interest in safety and be engaged in trainings than workers in positive emotional states. The relationships between the LSD and emotional response and situational interest response were explored in a separate paper
Antimicrobial Activity of Chitosan Films With Essential Oils Against Listeria monocytogenes on Cabbage
BACKGROUND: The highest incidence of listeriosis, due to consumption of ready-to-eat foods and fresh, shredded, minimally processed vegetables, occurs among pregnant women and the elderly. In order to reduce the prevalence of listeriosis among consumers, better protective measures are recommended. Chitosan films, with or without added essential oils, represent a modern, safe method of preserving the quality of such vegetables and significantly reducing the incidence of Listeria monocytogenes in these foods. OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial properties of composite chitosan-gelatin films with and without essential oils against two strains of L. monocytogenes, ATCC 19115 and ATCC 19112, in fresh shredded cabbage. METHODS: Shredded cabbage was inoculated with L. monocytogenes and packed between two layers of the chitosan composite film, then placed in Petri dishes. The prepared samples were stored at 4°C then analyzed for total viable count on PALCAM agar while incubated at 37°C, every 24 hours for 7 days. RESULTS: Average L. monocytogenes content ranged from 4.2 - 5.4 log CFU/g, reaching values of 7.2 - 8.6 log CFU/g in samples of untreated cabbage. A complete reduction of L. monocytogenes ATCC 19115 on cabbage was achieved after 120 hours in the presence of 0.5% chitosan film, whereas reduction of L. monocytogenes ATCC 19112 was achieved after 144 hours. In the presence of 1% chitosan film, the bacteria withered more quickly and complete reduction of both species of L. monocytogenes was achieved after 96 hours. CONCLUSIONS: All tested formulations of chitosan films exhibited strong antimicrobial activity on the growth of both strains of L. monocytogenes on cabbage. The best effect was achieved with a 1% chitosan concentration. The addition of essential oils increased the antimicrobial activity of all tested films