The effect of Aluminum on the increasing risk of developing anemia among workers of tile production plants

Background and aims: The aluminum-containing compounds are used as glaze in tile and ceramic production plants. It means that the workers working in these plants are in direct exposure to aluminum-containing compounds. The aim of this study was to assess the potential damages caused by aluminum among tile plant workers. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 60 workers whom were in direct exposure to glazing material were enrolled as case group and 112 workers whose jobs were different from the case group and who had no exposure to the chemical materials in tile plants were considered as control group. After taking fasting blood samples, it was performed cell count tests using an automated blood cell counter. Serum iron and liver function test were measured using auto analyzer. Serum aluminum measurement was done by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and ferritin was measured by ELISA. Results: The serum aluminum level was significantly higher in the case group (7.26±2.63) than the control group (5.48±1.75) (P<0.001), as well as the mean hemoglobin level was lower in the case group (14.28±0.88) than the control group (15.44±1.19) (P<0.011). However, the mean level of iron and ferritin as well as liver tests exhibited no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Occupational exposure to aluminum in tile production industries could increase the serum aluminum level but may decrease blood hemoglobin concentration, which is a predisposing factor for anemia possibly through intervening in blood iron and ferritin

Gaussian Copula Mixed Models with Non-Ignorable Missing Outcomes

This paper is concerned with the analysis of mixed data with ordinal and continuous outcomes with the possibility of non - ignorable missing outcomes . A copula-based regression model is proposed that accounts for associations between ordinal and continuous outcomes . Our approach entails specifying underlying latent variables for the mixed outcomes to indicate the latent mechanisms which generate the ordinal and continuous variables . Maximum likelihood estimation of our model parameters is implemented using standard software such as function nlminb in R . Results of simulations concern the relative biases of parameter estimates of joint and marginal models using data with non-ignorable outcomes . The proposed methodology is illustrated using a medical data obtained from an observational study on women with three correlated responses , an ordinal response of osteoporosis of the spine and two continuous responses of body mass index and waistline . The effect of the amount of total body calcium (Ca) , job status (Job) , type of dwelling (Ta) and age on all responses are investigated simultaneously

Determination of LC50 of copper in Litopenaeus vannamei

We determined the LC50 of copper (as CUSO_4) and it's Maximum Allowable Concentration (MAC) for Litopenaeus vannamei. The study was performed in 2003 for which bioassays were used for acute toxicity tests in a period of 96 hours during which water parameters such as water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, hardness, alkalinity were also measured. Ten treatments and three replicates for each treatment were used. A LC50 of 86.71, 27.28, 7.98 and 3.90mg/1 and also Maximum Allowable Concentration of 8.671, 2.728, 0.798 and 0.390mg/1 were determined at 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours post exposure. Results showed that L. vannamei is relatively resistant to copper. Hence, short period application of copper to white shrimp farms for controlling algal bloom is judged harmless to the fish

Pembelajaran Pengelasan Las Busur Listrik Berbasis Project Based Learning untuk Meningkatkan Keterampilan Berpikir Kritis dan Hasil Belajar Siswa

This research is an experimental research which aims to find the information of the students' critical thinking, affective learning outcomes, cognitive learning outcomes, psychomotor learning outcomes and response after the students's are given project-based learning. This research uses experimental research by using Quasi Experimental Design by using Time Series Design. The subjects of the research are eleventh grade students' of welding engineering skill of Vocational School 6 Samarinda, East Kalimantan in the odd semester of academic year of 2014/2015. There are 31 students'. The data is collected through pre-test and post-test to find the students' critical thinking skill, affective learning outcomes, cognitive learning outcomes, and psychomotor learning outcomes. The response questionnaire is used to find the interest, innovation, pleasure, easiness, clarity and students' interest to the learning process.The data is analyzed by using N-Gain descriptive analysis and t-Test. The result of the research shows that the research instrument which is used is valid. The result shows that the average students' critical thinking is in the high categorized > 0,70. The other result shows that the project based learning model gives the effect for the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor learning outcomes. Three of them are in the category of pass. The students' response in the project based learning is good. Based on the result, it can be concluded that project based learning for electric arc welding improve the critical thinking of vocational school and can make the students' pass the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor learning outcomes. Keywords: Project Based Learning, Critical Thinking Skill, Students' Learning Outcomes

On the Representation Theory of Orthofermions and Orthosupersymmetric Realization of Parasupersymmetry and Fractional Supersymmetry

We construct a canonical irreducible representation for the orthofermion algebra of arbitrary order, and show that every representation decomposes into irreducible representations that are isomorphic to either the canonical representation or the trivial representation. We use these results to show that every orthosupersymmetric system of order $p$ has a parasupersymmetry of order $p$ and a fractional supersymmetry of order $p+1$.Comment: 13 pages, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Ge

Pengembangan Perangkat Pembelajaran Mesin Bubut Cnc Tu-2a Merk Emco Austria Berorientasi Pada Model Pembelajaran Langsung

Kompetensi dasar mesin bubut CNC TU-2A mahasiswa masih rendah dan 81.82% dari 44 mahasiswa menyatakan bahwa materi mesin CNC sulit dikarenakan belum adanya perangkat pembelajaran. Penelitian ini bertujuan:1) mendeskripsikan aktivitas mahasiswa selama proses pembelajaran. 2) mendeskripsikan respon mahasiswa setelah pembelajaran. 3) mendeskripsikan hasil belajar mahasiswa setelah pembelajaran. Pengembangan perangkat pembelajaran mengacu pada model Thiagarajan, yakni model 4-D. Model ini terdiri atas empat tahap pengembangan, yaitu tahap pendefinisian (define), tahap perancangan (design), tahap pengembangan (develop) dan tahap pendiseminasian (disseminate). Rancangan penelitian yang digunakan adalah One Group Pretest and Postest Design dengan subjek pada uji coba terbatas mahasiswa Prodi S1 Pendidikan Teknik Mesin sejumlah 78 mahasiswa. Subjek pada uji coba luas mahasiswa Prodi D3 Teknik Mesin Produksi angkatan 2010 Unesa sejumlah 24 mahasiswa. Data dianalisis secara deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: 1) Aktivitas mahasiswa dalam kategori sangat baik, artinya mahasiswa sangat antusias dan tertarik dengan perangkat pembelajaran yang dikembangkan dengan prosentase sebesar 81.80% dan rata-rata skor 4.08. 2) Respon mahasiswa sangat positif, artinya mahasiswa sangat tertarik pada perangkat pembelajaran mesin CNC dengan prosentase sebesar 95.83%. 3) Ketuntasan belajar mahasiswa sebesar 76.33% dikatakan tuntas karena nilai mahasiswa diatas 61. Hasil instrumen Pre-test dan post-test memiliki validitas dikategorikan tinggi 0.60, nilai reliabilitas tinggi 0.83 dan sensitivitas 0.61 dikategorikan tinggi. Simpulan bahwa pengembangan perangkat mesin CNC efektif meningkatkan kompetensi dasar mahasiswa terbukti dengan meningkatnya proporsi jawaban dari 0.15 menjadi 0.81 mengalami peningkatan sebesar 66%

The Effect of Silymarin on Serum Concentration of Soluble Apoptosis Markers in β-Thalassemia Major Patients Receiving Desferrioxamine

ABSTRACT Background: Despite appropriate chelation therapy with desferrioxamine, iron deposition in visceral organs causes tissue damage in thalassemia major patients. Excess iron can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that may lead to cell death and apoptosis. Therefore, antioxidants such as plant flavonoids can be an effective treatment to reduce ROS in thalassemia patients. Aims: In this study, we aimed to investigate the serum levels of apoptosis markers in βthalassemia major patients treated with silymarin and ..

Effect of different dietary levels of plant protein on growth indexes of white Leg shrimp

The influence of different dietary levels of plant protein (30, 50 and 70%) on growth indices of White Leg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) fed with an original 38 percent protein was assessed and compared with that of the commercial shrimp diet. The average weight gain at the end of the culture period in treatment 1 (30% plant protein and 70% animal protein), was 5.89 plus or minus 0.06 grams, for treatment 2 (50% plant protein and 50% animal protein), was 6.22 plus or minus 0.25 grams, for treatment 3 (70% plant protein and 30% animal protein), was 6.19 plus or minus 0.24 grams and for the control treatment (20% plant protein and 80% animal protein), was 6.42 plus or minus 0.40 grams. Our study of the influence of experimental and control diets on growth indices including growth rate (GR), food conversion ratio (FCR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), specific growth rate (SGR), and average daily gain (ADG), demonstrated that the indices were better in the control compared to the treatments. No significant difference was found among the treatments and between the treatments and the control for the indices (P>0.05). The percent of net protein utilization (NPU) in treatment 1 was significantly more than other treatments (P<0.05). We also found that the application of diets containing 50% plant protein (with 20% soybean meal) and 70% plant protein (with 41.72% soybean meal) can decrease diet costs. Cost of one kilogram of pellet in treatments 1, 2, 3 were 83.3%, 68.3% and 53.3% lower than the control diet respectively. Decrease of cost in treatment 2 and 3, in comparison to control in terms of lowering shrimp production cost is very important

The effect of rosa damascena Mill hydro-alcoholic extract on the ileum contraction in rat

Background and purpose: Rosa damascena Mill in Iranian folk medicine is used for treating digestive disorders. We assessed the antispasmodic effects of extract of the leaves of this plant on ileum contractions in Wistar rats; possible mechanisms were investigated, too. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 48 male Wistar rats (150-200 g) were divided randomly into six groups of eight members, including control group and the groups received extracts of Rosa damascena Mill, propranolol, naloxone, L-nitro-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), and calcium chloride. To evaluate the effectiveness mechanisms, ileum was placed adjacent to antagonist drugs of β-adrenergic receptors, opioid and inhibitor of the synthesis of nitric oxide, and also under the influence of different doses of calcium chloride. The observed effects were recorded. Then, the percent changes were calculated. Statistical analysis was done using parametric tests of repeated measuring design, ANOVA and t tests. Results: Cumulative extract of Rosa damascena Mill (100, 500 and 1000 mg/k) decreased ileum contractions induced by KCl (P < 0.0001). Propranolol and naloxone significantly decreased the inhibitive effect of the extract on contractions induced by KCl (P < 0.0010), but L-NAME was ineffective. Also, calcium led to the contraction of depolarized tissue through KCI and this contractile effect decreased significantly by the cumulative concentration of Rosa damascena Mill (P < 0.0010). Conclusion: Extract of Rosa damascena Mill probably decreases ileum movements of the rat through stimulating the β-adrenergic and opioid receptors and voltage-dependent channels, and it may be used to treat digestive disorders