Postinfectious Bronchiolitis Obliterans

Childhood bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is an uncommon complication that is characterized clinically by persistent and continuous obstructive respiratory symptoms, and has been described secondary to various etiologic factors, including drugs, exposure to toxic fumes, allergic reactions, collagen vascular disease or infections. BO occurs most commonly in children after an episode of acute bronchiolitis and is considered a long-term sequela of viral infection.Postinfectious Bronchiolitis Obliterans (PIBO) is characterized by persistent airway obstruction with functional and radiological evidence of small airway involvement that is in general unresponsive to bronchodilator treatment.Although the condition is relatively rare, and its exact incidence is unknown, it is important to keep it in mind. PIBO is complication of lower respiratory tract epithelial injury, and is often misdiagnosed, delaying recognition and potential treatment. A PIBO diagnosis is usually based on a few factors, including a good medical history, positive clinical findings, and lung function test and imaging results, although biopsy and histopathology remain as the optimum diagnostic approach. There have to date been few studies proposing treatments for the condition, and no accepted protocol exists in literature. There is usually a fixed airway obstruction in PIBO. Various treatment approaches have been extrapolated from studies of post bone marrow transplantations and lung transplant BO. The clinical course is variable, and good supportive therapy is essential, with anti-inflammatory therapy often being employed.

Death

After having reigned for almost eight months Jovian passed away in his sleep in Dadastana. Although murder has been suggested, he most likely died of toxic fumes coming from the recently plastered walls of his bedroom, from the burning of a great amount of charcoal which most likely resulted in carbon monoxide poisoning, or from a combination of the two. He left behind his wife Charito and baby son Varronianus. His remains were deposited in the imperial mausoleum of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.

An Ergonomic Assessment of Different Postures and Children Risk during Evacuations

Crawling is recommended for avoiding high heat and toxic fumes and for obtaining more breathable air during evacuations. Few studies have evaluated the effects of crawling on physical joints and velocity, especially in children. Based on motion capture technology, this study proposes a novel method of using wearable sensors to collect exposure (e.g., mean duration, frequency) on children’s joints to objectively quantify the impacts of different locomotion methods on physical characteristics. An on-site experiment was conducted in a kindergarten with 28 children (13 boys and 15 girls) of different ages (4–6 years old) who traveled up to 22 m in three different postures: upright walking (UW), stoop walking (SW), and knee and hand crawling (KHC). The results showed that: (1) The level of joint fatigue for KHC was heavier than bipedal walking (p < 0.05), which was evidenced by higher mean duration and frequency. There was no significant difference between UW and SW (p > 0.05). (2) The physical characteristics of the children in the different postures observed in this study were different (p < 0.05). The ankle was more fatigued than other joints during bipedal walking. Unlike infants, the wrists and hips of the children became fatigued while crawling. The key actions flexion/extension are more likely to induce joint fatigue vs. other actions. (3) Crawling velocity was significantly slower than the bipedal velocities, and UW was 10.6% faster than SW (p < 0.05). The bipedal walking velocity started to decrease after the children had travelled up to 13 m, while the KHC velocity started to decrease after traveling up to 11.6 m. (4) In a severe fire, the adoption of SW is suggested, as the evacuees can both evacuate quickly and avoid overworking their joints. (5) There were no significant differences in the age (p > 0.05) and gender (p > 0.05) of the children on the joints in any of the three postures. To conclude, KHC causes more damage to body joints compared to bipedal walking, as evidenced by higher exposure (mean duration, frequency), whereas UW and SW are similar in terms of the level of joint fatigue. The above findings are expected to provide a useful reference for future applications in the children’s risk assessment and in the prevention design of buildings.

The Consumer Movement

The chapter opener follows the efforts of Senator Gaylord Nelson to advance an environmental agenda. Such events as the Santa Barbara oil spill and Cuyahoga River fire were symbols of manmade environmental disruptions. Nelson inspired Earth Day as a way to engage public opinion. Many on the New Left and the environmental movement now saw consumerism as the source of dirty air and water, toxic fumes, poisoned foods, and littered landscapes. That was a point of view Ralph Nader shared. No book on consumerism could ignore Nader’s role in the rise of the consumer rights movement in the 1960s. This section looks at Nader’s background and the controversy he triggered when he published Unsafe at Any Speed, as well as his commitment to wide-ranging consumer rights and environmental projects. The following section looks at “hip consumerism” to show how the counterculture influenced personal styles and gender identities. It features Stewart Brand, who with Ken Kesey launched the “Trips Festival” in San Francisco and then went on to produce the bible of alternative consumption, The Whole Earth Catalog.

Health risk assessment of metal fumes in an Iranian Mineral Salt company

Introduction: Salt is a crucial mineral for human health, however, workers of salt factories may be exposed to hazardous pollutants such as heavy metals. Heavy metal fumes are considered toxic for human health. This study aimed to investigate concentration and assess health risks posed by toxic fumes in a salt factory. Materials and methods: Three units in the factory including salt laboratory, maintenance and metalworks were sampled for Arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co) and lead (Pb) according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH7300 method, and analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometers (ICP-AES) Results: All hazardous levels of fumes were below the permissible limit. The highest concentration of toxic fumes (Cr) was found in the maintenance unit. With 0.0758 mg/m3 , the highest total concentrations of heavy metals (tHM) was found in the maintenance unit (tHM for Salt laboratory=0.0281 mg/m3 and metalworks=0.0103 mg/m3 ). In salt laboratory, the metal fumes concentrations were ordered as Pb>As>Cd>Cr>Co; in maintenance unit: Cr>Pb>As>Co>Cd; in metalworks: Cr>As>Pb>Co>Cd. The total hazard quotient (tHQ) and Life Time Cancer Risk (LCR) in salt laboratory unit were 5.11 and 4.93E-01, respectively; in maintenance the tHQ=9.35E+01 and Life Time Cancer (LCR) =5.90E-01; in metalworks tHQ=6.57 and LCR=4.95E-02. Conclusion: The pollutant levels were below the acceptable limit. Yet, the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks that they pose are not negligible. Therefore, enhancing the efficiency of the ventilation system and additional monitoring on wearing protective equipment as preventive strategies are proposed

Leaching of gold from flotation waste by thiourea

Throughout human history, gold has been the most sought-after and well-known precious metal in the world. It is synonymous with wealth in the financial market and jewellery. However, its use has a wide range of applicability in biomedicine, electronic engineering and other industries. Primary gold resources are limited and have been significantly depleted in recent decades. To cover the current demand, it is necessary to process secondary sources containing gold such as heaps, tailings, lean ores or electrical waste. New and especially more efficient technological procedures are needed for the processing of these secondary sources. From an environmental point of view, a hydrometallurgical process is considered to be more appropriate than a pyrometallurgical process, in which very toxic fumes enter the air. This work investigates the leaching of gold from flotation wastes using thiourea. It is flotation waste that is the target group of materials that are a source of precious metals. An interesting gold content is present in our waste sample (Hodruša Hámre tailings pond), but its evaluation depends on the setting of suitable technological conditions. In this work, thiourea is used as an alternative leaching agent to toxic cyanide, which is banned in Slovakia and many countries around the world due to its high environmental risk. The results of the study are described with respect to the gold recovery under optimized thiourea leaching conditions.

Automation of Welding Fumes based on MQ-2 Sensor in Welding Laboratory.

In practical welding activities, there are potential hazards that must be addressed. These potential hazards include exposure to toxic fumes and dust. Fumes in the welding process contain a lot of metal oxides and can cause chronic effects in the form of eye irritation, sensory irritation, and impaired lung physiological function. Therefore, an air intake sistem is needed to minimize the volume of fumes in the welding chamber . This study aims to design an automation of exhaust smoke using the sensor module, microcontroller and actuator. The resulting tool is equipped with a display of detected air quality conditions, and an alarm indicating that the air quality is in a dangerous level. The method used is experimental development with 3 main stages, namely: designing hardware and software, testing the tools and analyzing their work functions. The results obtained are that the MQ-2 sensor is able to detect changes in the concentration of welding smoke and can be used as an analog input to control the work of the indicator lights, alarms and exhaust fans. The average ability of the exhaust fan to absorb the smoke concentration in the welding chamber is 26.85 seconds for 33 ppm at 40 mm long welding and 29.51 seconds for 37 ppm at 80 mm long welding process. With this capability, this tool can be used as a technical solution related to Occupational Health and Safety in welding laboratories.