Csms Implementation and Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Contractor Safety Performance in PT Vale Indonesia

Safety of life and work (safety) is the main value that must be owned by every company, not least PT Vale Indonesia (PTVI) as a nickel mining and processing company operating in Sorowako, South Sulawesi. This study aims to examine the implementation and effectiveness of CSMS, including the factors that affect the safety performance of contractors at PT Vale Indonesia in Sorowako. This study was conducted by analyzing the significance and correlation between CSMS implementation and its effectiveness as well as the influencing factors: culture and behavior, work conditions, resources, communication and training. The analytical tool used is Chi Square and Kendall's Tau with primary data obtained from the questionnaire survey to the parties related to CSMS that are contractors and stakeholders in PT Vale Indonesia and secondary data in the form of data safety record in EHS department of PT Vale Indonesia. The results of this study indicate that the CSMS program in PT Vale Indonesia has been implemented well and sufficiently, so the effects of the program have been in accordance with its objectives and lead to targets determined on the quantity side, but in terms of quality needs to be improved further by increasing fulfillment of CSMS implementation and significant influencing factors are: improvement of training, communication and culture and safety behavior

Analisis Gangguan Pendengaran Pada Penderita Diabetes Melitus Tipe-2 Berdasarkan Pemeriksaan Audiometri Nada Murni Dan Audiometri Tutur

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis gangguan pendengaran yang merupakan salah satu komplikasi kronis penyakit diabetes melitus tipe-2 berdasarkan pemeriksaan audiometri nada murni dan audiometri tutur. Jenis penelitian ini adalah cross sectional. Jumlah sampel yang diambil sebanyak 135 orang penderita diabetes melitus tipe-2 yang terdiri dari 45 orang yang mengalami gangguan pendengaran dan 90 orang yang tidak mengalami gangguan pendengaran. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan gangguan pendengaran yang dialami penderita diabetes melitus tipe-2 berdasarkan pemeriksaan audiometri nada murni umumnya ringan, sedangkan pada pemeriksaan audiometri tutur umumnya normal. Berdasarkan hasil uji statistik ditemukan hubungan yang bermakna antara usia penderita, lama menderita, hipertensi, hasil pemeriksaan audiometri nada murni dan audiometri tutur terhadap gangguan pendengaran. Tidak ditemukan hubungan yang bermakna antara penderita diabetes melitus tipe-2 terkontrol atau tidak terkontrol terhadap gangguan pendengaran

Spirometry outcomes in survivors of COVID-19 pneumonia

Introduction: Acute COVID-19 infection could lead to long COVID, a heterogenous condition which includes the respiratory system. But data on long-term respiratory complications are scarce and limited especially from our part of the world. Methods: A total of 443 post COVID-19 patients were recruited from post COVID-19 clinic. The following assessments were performed in all patients; symptoms, 6-minute-walk-test (6MWT), 1-minute-sit-to-stand-test (1STST), spirometry, and chest radiograph. Results: Patient’s mean age was 51 (13) years old, majority were male (60%), and Malay ethnicity (73%). Majority were in category severe (n=254, 57%), critical (n=122, 28%) and moderate (n=67, 15%). Abnormal spirometry (FVC 4% during 6MWT and 1STST, OR 1.8 (1.1-2.9) and OR 1.7 (1.1-2.6) respectively, and abnormal chest radiograph, OR 3.9 (2.5-6.2) compared to those with normal spirometry findings. 125 patients have full lung function test and gas transfer done which showed reduced TLC (80%) in majority of cases; 80% (n = 100), 86.4% (n = 108) and 94% (n = 117). Conclusion: Abnormal spirometry findings are common among post COVID-19 patients with pneumonia and are associated with poorer respiratory outcomes; exertional oxygen desaturation and abnormal chest radiograph. Therefore, these groups of patients should be referred for spirometry assessmen

Synthesis and Characterization of Silver-Coated Polymeric Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering: Antibacterial and In Vitro Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Biocompatibility

In bone tissue engineering, multifunctional composite materials are very challenging. Bone tissue engineering is an innovative technique to develop biocompatible scaffolds with suitable orthopedic applications with enhanced antibacterial and mechanical properties. This research introduces a polymeric nanocomposite scaffold based on arabinoxylan-co-acrylic acid, nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp), nano-aluminum oxide (nAl₂O₃), and graphene oxide (GO) by free-radical polymerization for the development of porous scaffolds using the freeze-drying technique. These polymeric nanocomposite scaffolds were coated with silver (Ag) nanoparticles to improve antibacterial activities. Together, nHAp, nAl₂O₃, and GO enhance the multifunctional properties of materials, which regulate their physicochemical and biomechanical properties. Results revealed that the Ag-coated polymeric nanocomposite scaffolds had excellent antibacterial properties and better microstructural properties. Regulated morphological properties and maximal antibacterial inhibition zones were found in the porous scaffolds with the increasing amount of GO. Moreover, the nanosystem and the polymeric matrix have improved the compressive strength (18.89 MPa) and Young’s modulus (198.61 MPa) of scaffolds upon increasing the amount of GO. The biological activities of the scaffolds were investigated against the mouse preosteoblast cell lines (MC3T3-E1) and increasing the quantities of GO helps cell adherence and proliferation. Therefore, our findings showed that these silver-coated polymeric nanocomposite scaffolds have the potential for engineering bone tissue

Proapoptotic and antimetastatic properties of supercritical CO2 extract of Nigella sativa Linn. Against breast cancer cells

Nigella sativa, commonly referred as black cumin, is a popular spice that has been used since the ancient Egyptians. It has traditionally been used for treatment of various human ailments ranging from fever to intestinal disturbances to cancer. This study investigated the apoptotic, antimetastatic, and anticancer activities of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO) extracts of the seeds of N. sativa Linn. against estrogen-dependent human breast cancer cells (MCF-7). Twelve extracts were prepared from N. sativa seeds using the SC-CO extraction method by varying pressure and temperature. Extracts were analyzed using FTIR and UV-Vis spectrometry. Cytotoxicity of the extracts was evaluated on various human cancer and normal cell lines. Of the 12 extracts, 1 extract (A3) that was prepared at 60 C and 2500 psi (∼17.24 MPa) showed selective antiproliferative activity against MCF-7 cells with an IC of 53.34±2.15 μg/mL. Induction of apoptosis was confirmed by evaluating caspases activities and observing the cells under a scanning electron microscope. In vitro antimetastatic properties of A3 were investigated by colony formation, cell migration, and cell invasion assays. The elevated levels of caspases in A3 treated MCF-7 cells suggest that A3 is proapoptotic. Further nuclear condensation and fragmentation studies confirmed that A3 induces cytotoxicity through the apoptosis pathway. A3 also demonstrated remarkable inhibition in migration and invasion assays of MCF-7 cells at subcytotoxic concentrations. Thus, this study highlights the therapeutic potentials of SC-CO extract of N. sativa in targeting breast cancer

The influence of ultrasonic vibration frequency on the properties of TiN coated biomedical Ti-13Zr-13Nb

Bare biomedical grade titanium alloys are prone to degradation when in a body fluid environment. Surface coatings such as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) can serve as one of the options to minimize this issue. Past reports showed that the PVD coated layer consists of pores, pinholes, and columnar growths which act as channels through which the aggressive medium attacks the substrate. Duplex and multilayer coatings seem able to address this issue to varying extents but at the expense of manufacturing time and cost. In this paper, the effect of an ultrasonic vibration frequency on PVD TiN coated Ti-13Zr-13Nb biomedical alloy was studied. Disk type samples were prepared and coated with TiN at fixed conditions: bias voltage (-125 V), substrate temperature (300 °C), and nitrogen gas flow rate (300 standard cubic centimeters per minute (SCCM)). An ultrasonic vibration was then subsequently applied to the TiN coated samples at frequencies of 8 kHz and 16 kHz for 5 min. All TiN coated samples treated with ultrasonic vibrations exhibited a higher corrosion resistance than the untreated ones. Microstructure analysis under Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) confirmed that the coated sample at frequencies of 16 kHz produced the most compact coating. It is believed that the hammering effect of the ultrasonic vibration reduced the micro channels’ size in the coating and thus decelerated the corrosion’s attack

Scanning ion conductance microscopy: a convergent high-resolution technology for multi-parametric analysis of living cardiovascular cells

Cardiovascular diseases are complex pathologies that include alterations of various cell functions at the levels of intact tissue, single cells and subcellular signalling compartments. Conventional techniques to study these processes are extremely divergent and rely on a combination of individual methods, which usually provide spatially and temporally limited information on single parameters of interest. This review describes scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) as a novel versatile technique capable of simultaneously reporting various structural and functional parameters at nanometre resolution in living cardiovascular cells at the level of the whole tissue, single cells and at the subcellular level, to investigate the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease. SICM is a multimodal imaging technology that allows concurrent and dynamic analysis of membrane morphology and various functional parameters (cell volume, membrane potentials, cellular contraction, single ion-channel currents and some parameters of intracellular signalling) in intact living cardiovascular cells and tissues with nanometre resolution at different levels of organization (tissue, cellular and subcellular levels). Using this technique, we showed that at the tissue level, cell orientation in the inner and outer aortic arch distinguishes atheroprone and atheroprotected regions. At the cellular level, heart failure leads to a pronounced loss of T-tubules in cardiac myocytes accompanied by a reduction in Z-groove ratio. We also demonstrated the capability of SICM to measure the entire cell volume as an index of cellular hypertrophy. This method can be further combined with fluorescence to simultaneously measure cardiomyocyte contraction and intracellular calcium transients or to map subcellular localization of membrane receptors coupled to cyclic adenosine monophosphate production. The SICM pipette can be used for patch-clamp recordings of membrane potential and single channel currents. In conclusion, SICM provides a highly informative multimodal imaging platform for functional analysis of the mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases, which should facilitate identification of novel therapeutic strategies

Ferritins: furnishing proteins with iron

Ferritins are a superfamily of iron oxidation, storage and mineralization proteins found throughout the animal, plant, and microbial kingdoms. The majority of ferritins consist of 24 subunits that individually fold into 4-α-helix bundles and assemble in a highly symmetric manner to form an approximately spherical protein coat around a central cavity into which an iron-containing mineral can be formed. Channels through the coat at inter-subunit contact points facilitate passage of iron ions to and from the central cavity, and intrasubunit catalytic sites, called ferroxidase centers, drive Fe2+ oxidation and O2 reduction. Though the different members of the superfamily share a common structure, there is often little amino acid sequence identity between them. Even where there is a high degree of sequence identity between two ferritins there can be major differences in how the proteins handle iron. In this review we describe some of the important structural features of ferritins and their mineralized iron cores and examine in detail how three selected ferritins oxidise Fe2+ in order to explore the mechanistic variations that exist amongst ferritins. We suggest that the mechanistic differences reflect differing evolutionary pressures on amino acid sequences, and that these differing pressures are a consequence of different primary functions for different ferritins

Higher dose corticosteroids in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 who are hypoxic but not requiring ventilatory support (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

BACKGROUND: Low-dose corticosteroids have been shown to reduce mortality for patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen or ventilatory support (non-invasive mechanical ventilation, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). We evaluated the use of a higher dose of corticosteroids in this patient group. METHODS: This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]) is assessing multiple possible treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19. Eligible and consenting adult patients with clinical evidence of hypoxia (ie, receiving oxygen or with oxygen saturation <92% on room air) were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual care with higher dose corticosteroids (dexamethasone 20 mg once daily for 5 days followed by 10 mg dexamethasone once daily for 5 days or until discharge if sooner) or usual standard of care alone (which included dexamethasone 6 mg once daily for 10 days or until discharge if sooner). The primary outcome was 28-day mortality among all randomised participants. On May 11, 2022, the independent data monitoring committee recommended stopping recruitment of patients receiving no oxygen or simple oxygen only due to safety concerns. We report the results for these participants only. Recruitment of patients receiving ventilatory support is ongoing. The RECOVERY trial is registered with ISRCTN (50189673) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04381936). FINDINGS: Between May 25, 2021, and May 13, 2022, 1272 patients with COVID-19 and hypoxia receiving no oxygen (eight [1%]) or simple oxygen only (1264 [99%]) were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus higher dose corticosteroids (659 patients) versus usual care alone (613 patients, of whom 87% received low-dose corticosteroids during the follow-up period). Of those randomly assigned, 745 (59%) were in Asia, 512 (40%) in the UK, and 15 (1%) in Africa. 248 (19%) had diabetes and 769 (60%) were male. Overall, 123 (19%) of 659 patients allocated to higher dose corticosteroids versus 75 (12%) of 613 patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 1·59 [95% CI 1·20–2·10]; p=0·0012). There was also an excess of pneumonia reported to be due to non-COVID infection (64 cases [10%] vs 37 cases [6%]; absolute difference 3·7% [95% CI 0·7–6·6]) and an increase in hyperglycaemia requiring increased insulin dose (142 [22%] vs 87 [14%]; absolute difference 7·4% [95% CI 3·2–11·5]). INTERPRETATION: In patients hospitalised for COVID-19 with clinical hypoxia who required either no oxygen or simple oxygen only, higher dose corticosteroids significantly increased the risk of death compared with usual care, which included low-dose corticosteroids. The RECOVERY trial continues to assess the effects of higher dose corticosteroids in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 who require non-invasive ventilation, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. FUNDING: UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council), National Institute of Health and Care Research, and Wellcome Trust