Assessment of workers' exposure to hand-arm and whole body vibration in one of the furniture industries in east of Tehran

Workers in wood industry are exposed to vibration and its damages. The purpose of this study was to evaluate exposure to hand-arm and whole body vibration in the wood industry. In this study, the parameters of whole body and hand-arm vibrations such as effective acceleration, overall equivalent acceleration, Vibration Dose Value and crest factor were studied on two Thicknessing planes, two sliding panel saw machines, two orbital sander, and three operators of perforate procedure. Assessments were done by the use of an oscillator and an analyzer of Svantak Co. Evaluating Hand-arm and whole body vibrations were conducted based on ISO 5349-1, ISO 5349-2 and ISO 2631-1 standards, respectively, and the findings/ the evaluated data were analyzed. The mean amount of daily exposure to hand-arm vibration (RMS) in Thicknessing plane, Orbital Sander and Sliding panel saw machine operators are respectively 5.56, 5.49 and 3.37 m/s2 . In addition, the average crest factor of the 3 jobs is higher than 6. Mean of daily Exposure to whole body vibration in 3 machine operators of Thicknessing plane, perforate procedure and Sliding panel saw is respectively, 0.28, 0.24 and 0.17 meters per square second. The crest factor for all the exposures was to be less than 6 and the mean of the calculated daily vibration dose equaled 5.83 with the standard deviation of 0.87( m)⁄s^1.75 . In further measured situations, exposure to hand-arm vibration is more than the standard level, so engineering and management measures are required to reduce the amount of exposure and support the health of the operators and the equipment

Acoustical and Thermal Characterization of Insulating Materials Made from Wool and Sugarcane Bagasse

Utilizing agricultural waste and natural fibers minimizes environmental impact and can improve the acoustic and thermal conditions of buildings. Natural fibers can be an alternative to non-biodegradable synthetic sound-absorbing materials. This study aimed to investigate the acoustic and thermal properties of insulating materials made from wool and sugarcane bagasse. Thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, acoustic and moisture absorption, and fire properties of five insulating materials made from sheep wool, goat fiber, camel wool as well as pith and fiber bundles of sugarcane bagasse were determined. The measurement of the sound absorption coefficient was performed in an impedance tube. The thermal resistance and thermal conductivity coefficient were measured according to the ASTM D5334–08 Standard. The findings show that camel wool has the highest sound-absorbing performance, thermal insulation, and fire-resistant properties. The lowest value of the noise reduction coefficient (NRC) was 0.52 for goat fiber, and the highest was 0.74 for camel wool. The maximum sound absorption coefficient of camel wool was 0.95 at a frequency above 1000 Hz. Thermal conductivity varies between 0.038–0.046W/(M.K). Hence, all materials tested can be considered thermally insulating. The results showed insulating materials made from wool, especially camel wool, had better performance than fiber and pith of sugarcane bagasse

Assessment of workers' exposure to hand-arm and whole body vibration in one of the furniture industries in east of Tehran

Workers in wood industry are exposed to vibration and its damages. The purpose of this study was to evaluate exposure to hand-arm and whole body vibration in the wood industry. In this study, the parameters of whole body and hand-arm vibrations such as effective acceleration, overall equivalent acceleration, Vibration Dose Value and crest factor were studied on two Thicknessing planes, two sliding panel saw machines, two orbital sander, and three operators of perforate procedure. Assessments were done by the use of an oscillator and an analyzer of Svantak Co. Evaluating Hand-arm and whole body vibrations were conducted based on ISO 5349-1, ISO 5349-2 and ISO 2631-1 standards, respectively, and the findings/ the evaluated data were analyzed. The mean amount of daily exposure to hand-arm vibration (RMS) in Thicknessing plane, Orbital Sander and Sliding panel saw machine operators are respectively 5.56, 5.49 and 3.37 m/s2 . In addition, the average crest factor of the 3 jobs is higher than 6. Mean of daily Exposure to whole body vibration in 3 machine operators of Thicknessing plane, perforate procedure and Sliding panel saw is respectively, 0.28, 0.24 and 0.17 meters per square second. The crest factor for all the exposures was to be less than 6 and the mean of the calculated daily vibration dose equaled 5.83 with the standard deviation of 0.87( m)⁄s^1.75 . In further measured situations, exposure to hand-arm vibration is more than the standard level, so engineering and management measures are required to reduce the amount of exposure and support the health of the operators and the equipment

Investigation of the Accidents Recorded at an Emergency Management Center Using the Pareto Chart: A Cross-Sectional Study in Gonabad, Iran, During 2014-2016

Background: This study investigated the accidents recorded at the Gonabad Hospital Management Center for Hospital Management from 2014 to 2016, and identified important causes or parameters that influenced the incidence of accidents using the Pareto chart. Materials and Methods: This descriptive and analytic study examined 25,414 incidents recorded at the Gonabad Hospital Management Center. The key variables such as the types of accident, age, time, types of lesion, and treatment, were collected for transport and non-transport accident. Data analysis was performed using Pareto chart as well as Minitabver v.16 and SPSS v.21 software. Results: Based on the results, the highest rate of the accidents (39.79%) were among people aged between 0-10 years. Transport accidents (17.61%) and heart attacks (10.92%) were the most common that occurred during the study. The spring had the highest rate of accidents, while the winter had the lowest. Conclusion: Transportation accidents had the highest rate of incidents and injuries; therefore, the safety of transportation and vehicles should be taken more seriously

Mapping geographical inequalities in oral rehydration therapy coverage in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17

Abstract Background: Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is a form of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea that has the potential to drastically reduce child mortality; yet, according to UNICEF estimates, less than half of children younger than 5 years with diarrhoea in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) received ORS in 2016. A variety of recommended home fluids (RHF) exist as alternative forms of ORT; however, it is unclear whether RHF prevent child mortality. Previous studies have shown considerable variation between countries in ORS and RHF use, but subnational variation is unknown. This study aims to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of relative and absolute coverage of ORS, RHF, and ORT (use of either ORS or RHF) in LMICs. Methods: We used a Bayesian geostatistical model including 15 spatial covariates and data from 385 household surveys across 94 LMICs to estimate annual proportions of children younger than 5 years of age with diarrhoea who received ORS or RHF (or both) on continuous continent-wide surfaces in 2000–17, and aggregated results to policy-relevant administrative units. Additionally, we analysed geographical inequality in coverage across administrative units and estimated the number of diarrhoeal deaths averted by increased coverage over the study period. Uncertainty in the mean coverage estimates was calculated by taking 250 draws from the posterior joint distribution of the model and creating uncertainty intervals (UIs) with the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of those 250 draws. Findings: While ORS use among children with diarrhoea increased in some countries from 2000 to 2017, coverage remained below 50% in the majority (62·6%; 12 417 of 19 823) of second administrative-level units and an estimated 6 519 000 children (95% UI 5 254 000–7 733 000) with diarrhoea were not treated with any form of ORT in 2017. Increases in ORS use corresponded with declines in RHF in many locations, resulting in relatively constant overall ORT coverage from 2000 to 2017. Although ORS was uniformly distributed subnationally in some countries, within-country geographical inequalities persisted in others; 11 countries had at least a 50% difference in one of their units compared with the country mean. Increases in ORS use over time were correlated with declines in RHF use and in diarrhoeal mortality in many locations, and an estimated 52 230 diarrhoeal deaths (36 910–68 860) were averted by scaling up of ORS coverage between 2000 and 2017. Finally, we identified key subnational areas in Colombia, Nigeria, and Sudan as examples of where diarrhoeal mortality remains higher than average, while ORS coverage remains lower than average. Interpretation: To our knowledge, this study is the first to produce and map subnational estimates of ORS, RHF, and ORT coverage and attributable child diarrhoeal deaths across LMICs from 2000 to 2017, allowing for tracking progress over time. Our novel results, combined with detailed subnational estimates of diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality, can support subnational needs assessments aimed at furthering policy makers’ understanding of within-country disparities. Over 50 years after the discovery that led to this simple, cheap, and life-saving therapy, large gains in reducing mortality could still be made by reducing geographical inequalities in ORS coverage