Effectiveness of a Novel Qigong Meditative Movement Practice for Impaired Health in Flight Attendants Exposed to Second-Hand Cigarette Smoke

This single-arm non-randomized pilot study explores an in ervention to improve the health of flight attendants (FA) exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke prior to the smoking ban on commercial airlines. This group exhibits an unusual pattern of long-term pulmonary dysfunction. We report on Phase I of a two-phase clinical trial; the second Phase will be a randomized controlled trial testing digital delivery of the intervention. Subjects were recruited in the Northeastern US; testing and intervention were administered in 4 major cities. The intervention involved 12h of training in Meditative Movement practices. Based on recent research on the effects of nicotine on fear learning, and the influence of the autonomic nervous system on immune function, our hypothesis was that this training would improve autonomic function and thus benefit a range of health measures. Primary outcomes were the 6-min walk test and blood levels of C-reactive protein. Pulmonary, cardiovascular, autonomic, and affective measures were also taken. Fourteen participants completed the training and post- testing. There was a 53% decrease in high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein ( p ≤ 0.05), a 7% reduction in systolic blood pressure ( p ≤ 0.05), a 13% increase in the 6-min walk test ( p ≤ 0.005), and significant positive changes in several other outcomes. These results tend to confirm the hypothesized benefits of MM training for this population, and indicate that autonomic function may be important in the etiology and treatment of their symptoms. No adverse effects were reported

Pengaruh Suhu dan Lama Pengovenan terhadap Karakteristik Cumi-Cumi (Loligo sp) Kertas

Cumi-cumi merupakan salah satu komoditas perikanan yang cukup penting setelah ikan dan udang, akan tetapi tidak semua jenis cumi-cumi disukai oleh masyarakat terutama yang berdaging liat dan tebal. Tekstur dan rasa yang khas serta kandungan protein yang cukup tinggi (15,6 gram / 100 gram) menjadikan cumi-cumi sangat potensial untuk dikembangkan sebagai produk olahan camilan yang bergizi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mempelajari pengaruh suhu dan lama pengovenan terhadap karakteristik mutu cumi-cumi kertas, mendapatkan cumi-cumi kertas yang di sukai dan mempunyai kadar air dan aw yang rendah sehingga mempunyai daya simpan (shelf life) yang lama. Dua perlakuan diberiakan pada penelitian ini yaitu suhu pengovenan (90, 100 dan 110)o C dan lama pengovenan (23, 35, dan 45) menit. Hasil pengamatan menunjukan bahwa produk mempunyai kadar air berkisar antara 2,70%-6,24% yang terendah yaitu produk dengan perlakuan pengovenan 110oC selama 30 menit. Nilai aw berkisar anatara 0,34-0,42, yang terendah pada produk dengan perlakuan pengovenan 110oC selama 25 menit. Hasil pengukuran nilai L (kecerahan) menunjukan bahwa perlakuan suhu mempengaruhi kecerahan produk, semakin tinggi suhu pengovenan menyebabkan semakin rendah nilai kecerahan produk. Semua perlakuan memberi pengaruh yang tidak berbeda nyata terhadaf nilai a dan b sehingga warna produk cenderung sama kemerahan dan kekuninggan. Hasil uji organoleptik menunjukan produk yang paling disukai adalah produk yang di oven pada suhu 100oC selama 25 menit, dengan aw 0,4; kadar air 5,46%; protein 66,52%; lemak 6,11%;abu 5,16%;karbohidrat 16,75% dan garam 2,08%.Kata kunci: cumi-cumi, karakteristik, pengovenan, dan suhu

Human Reliability Assessment dengan Metode Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique pada Operator Stasiun Shroud PT. X

Human realibility is a big tricky problem. Human failure rates depend on three main factors, namelyintrinsic, work environment, and stress. PT. X is a supplier for PT. LG Indonesia manufacturing productsmade from plastics. Human Realibility Assesment is conducted using HEART methods (Human ErrorAssessment and Reduction Technique). In the first phase, task analysis on operators’ activities is done usingHierarchical Task Analysis (HTA). The largest Human Error Probability was found when Operator No. 1did not insert the flash side carefully. The value of this probability is 0.53424. This factor is concluded as themain cause to shroud defectives, which results in customer penalyzing the company

Human Reliability Assessment dengan Metode Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique pada Operator Stasiun Shroud PT. X

Human realibility is a big tricky problem. Human failure rates depend on three main factors, namely intrinsic, work environment, and stress. PT. X is a supplier for PT. LG Indonesia manufacturing products made from plastics. Human Realibility Assesment is conducted using HEART methods (Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique). In the first phase, task analysis on operators’ activities is done using Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA). The largest Human Error Probability was found when Operator No. 1 did not insert the flash side carefully. The value of this probability is 0.53424. This factor is concluded as the main cause to shroud defectives, which results in customer penalyzing the company

On the relationship between cloud water composition and cloud droplet number concentration

Aerosol–cloud interactions are the largest source of uncertainty in quantifying anthropogenic radiative forcing. The large uncertainty is, in part, due to the difficulty of predicting cloud microphysical parameters, such as the cloud droplet number concentration (N_d). Even though rigorous first-principle approaches exist to calculate Nd, the cloud and aerosol research community also relies on empirical approaches such as relating N_d to aerosol mass concentration. Here we analyze relationships between Nd and cloud water chemical composition, in addition to the effect of environmental factors on the degree of the relationships. Warm, marine, stratocumulus clouds off the California coast were sampled throughout four summer campaigns between 2011 and 2016. A total of 385 cloud water samples were collected and analyzed for 80 chemical species. Single- and multispecies log–log linear regressions were performed to predict N_d using chemical composition. Single-species regressions reveal that the species that best predicts N_d is total sulfate (R²_(adj) = 0.40). Multispecies regressions reveal that adding more species does not necessarily produce a better model, as six or more species yield regressions that are statistically insignificant. A commonality among the multispecies regressions that produce the highest correlation with N_d was that most included sulfate (either total or non-sea-salt), an ocean emissions tracer (such as sodium), and an organic tracer (such as oxalate). Binning the data according to turbulence, smoke influence, and in-cloud height allowed for examination of the effect of these environmental factors on the composition–Nd correlation. Accounting for turbulence, quantified as the standard deviation of vertical wind speed, showed that the correlation between N_d with both total sulfate and sodium increased at higher turbulence conditions, consistent with turbulence promoting the mixing between ocean surface and cloud base. Considering the influence of smoke significantly improved the correlation with N_d for two biomass burning tracer species in the study region, specifically oxalate and iron. When binning by in-cloud height, non-sea-salt sulfate and sodium correlated best with Nd at cloud top, whereas iron and oxalate correlated best with N_d at cloud base

Sonar-induced pressure fields in a post-mortem common dolphin

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 131 (2012): 1595-1604, doi:10.1121/1.3675005.Potential physical effects of sonar transmissions on marine mammals were investigated by measuring pressure fields induced in a 119-kg, 211-cm-long, young adult male common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) cadaver. The specimen was instrumented with tourmaline acoustic pressure gauges used as receiving sensors. Gauge implantation near critical tissues was guided by intraoperative, high-resolution, computerized tomography (CT) scanning. Instrumented structures included the melon, nares, ear, thoracic wall, lungs, epaxial muscle, and lower abdomen. The specimen was suspended from a frame equipped with a standard 50.8-mm-diameter spherical transducer used as the acoustic source and additional receiving sensors to monitor the transmitted and external, scattered field. Following immersion, the transducer transmitted pulsed sinusoidal signals at 5, 7, and 10 kHz. Quantitative internal pressure fields are reported for all cases except those in which the gauge failed or no received signal was detected. A full necropsy was performed immediately after the experiment to examine instrumented areas and all major organs. No lesions attributable to acoustic transmissions were found, consistent with the low source level and source-receiver distances.Work supported by NOPP through ONR Grant No. N000140710992. Work at CSI additionally supported by ONR Grant No. N000140811231

Effects of Biomass Burning on Stratocumulus Droplet Characteristics, Drizzle Rate, and Composition

This study reports on airborne measurements of stratocumulus cloud properties under varying degrees of influence from biomass burning (BB) plumes off the California coast. Data are reported from five total airborne campaigns based in Marina, California, with two of them including influence from wildfires in different areas along the coast of the western United States. The results indicate that subcloud cloud condensation nuclei number concentration and mass concentrations of important aerosol species (organics, sulfate, nitrate) were better correlated with cloud droplet number concentration (N_d) as compared to respective above‐cloud aerosol data. Given that the majority of BB particles resided above cloud tops, this is an important consideration for future work in the region as the data indicate that the subcloud BB particles likely were entrained from the free troposphere. Lower cloud condensation nuclei activation fractions were observed for BB‐impacted clouds as compared to non‐BB clouds due, at least partly, to less hygroscopic aerosols. Relationships between N_d and either droplet effective radius or drizzle rate are preserved regardless of BB influence, indicative of how parameterizations can exhibit consistent skill for varying degrees of BB influence as long as N_d is known. Lastly, the composition of both droplet residual particles and cloud water changed significantly when clouds were impacted by BB plumes, with differences observed for different fire sources stemming largely from effects of plume aging time and dust influence