Assessment of Noise Exposure of Sawmill Workers in Southwest,Nigeria

Economic wood processing employs the use of industrial machines for cutting, shaping, milling, and sawing timber, thereby leading to the generation of high levels of noise. Published data from empirical studies have categorized noise as an environmental hazard of global significance. Furthermore, noise exposure limits for different industries and all the industrial machines available has not been formally established as it presently exists in developed nations around the world. Therefore, this study assessed the daily exposure of sawmills workers to noise in Southwestern Nigeria. Reconnaissance surveys were first carried out in Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, and Ogun States to select sawmills that were fully operational and fit for the study. Two fully functional sawmills in two cities of each State were eventually selected for data collection, making a total of 24 sawmills, while the Circular Machines (CM), Planer Machines (PM), and Band-saw Machines (BM) were the machines in each sawmill considered. Two machines each of CM, PM, and BM were considered in each sawmill, making a total of forty-eight (48) machines each of CM, PM, and BM. Sound data were collected between 7 am and 7 pm each day for six days (between Monday and Saturday) using Extech 407732 sound level meter and all stabilized measurements were taken three times at different intervals. The data collected were in three different periods: Machine No-work Period (NP_m), Machine Idle Period (IP_m), and Machine Working Period (WP_m). A two–way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was carried out at P < 0.05 to determine whether there is a significant difference in the sound level average before and after the break, for both the idle and working periods of the three machines considered. This was also done to determine whether there is a significant difference between the sound level average of the results collected during idle and working periods of the three machines. Noise Pollution Levels (L_np) ranged from 83.20 dB (PM) to 107.65 (BM) and 93.42 (CM and PM) – 116.00 (BM) respectively, while IP_m also gave the least noise pollution level of 95.79 dB and WP_m gave the highest level of 102.88 dB. The results revealed that all the machines’ L_np values in the working period are more than the 90 dB acceptable limit the recommendation value of 90 dB while 89.6% of CMs, 75% of PMs, and 89.6% of BM had their L_np above 90 dB in the idle period respectively. The minimum and the maximum noise dose levels for IP_m, WP_m and overall are 0.09 (BM) and 2.37 (CM), 0.50 (CM), and 4.77 (PM) and 0.69 (BM) and 6.64 (PM) respectively. The study found out that the fundamental contributing factors to the high noise levels in sawmills are poor machine maintenance, use of old and obsolete machines, poor housekeeping strategy, limited space, workers’ negligence, lack of PPE, and lack of occupational safety training. The study recommends that proper workplace practices such as use of personal protective equipment, new and modern machines, training, and occupational safety programmes be implemented in the considered sawmills.     

基于液晶光阀的全息照相控光仪

设计了通过液晶光阀自动调整全息照相物光和参考光辐照比至最佳状态,同时能实现曝光时间自动控制的控光仪.该仪器巧妙运用液晶光阀和硅光电池器件,使测量、调整、自控一体化,从而提高拍摄优质全息图的工作效率.     

Effect of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of ultrathin Co/Ge(1 1 1) films

Influences of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of Co/Ge(1 1 1) ultrathin films have been investigated by surface magneto-optic Kerr effect technique. As the oxygen exposure increases on Co/Ge(1 1 1) films, their magnetic properties could be modified. As an example for 15 ML Co/Ge(1 1 1) films, the coercivity increases from 730 to 920 Oe and the remanence Kerr intensity is reduced for 500 Langmuir (L) of oxygen exposure. Corresponding compositions analyzed by Auger electron spectroscopy measurement shows that the amount of oxygen on the surface layers increases with increasing the oxygen exposure time. Oxygen distributes on the topmost layers of the film. The adsorbed oxygen influences the electronic density of states of Co and results in the changes of the magnetic properties. Besides, the appearance of O/Co/Ge interface could modify the stress anisotropy, and as a result the coercivity of ultrathin Co/Ge(1 1 1) film is enhanced.     

Indoor radon measurements in dwellings of four Saudi Arabian cities

An indoor radon survey of a total of 269 dwellings, with one dosimeter per house, distributed in four Saudi Arabian cities was carried out. The objective of this survey was to carry out indoor radon measurements of two cities in the Eastern Province, Khafji and Hafr Al-Batin and to compare this with two cities in the Western Province, Al-Madina and Taif. The survey provides additional information about indoor radon concentrations in Saudi Arabia. The results of the survey in these cities showed that the overall minimum, maximum and average radon concentration were 7,137 and 30 Bqm⁻³, respectively. The lowest average radon concentration (20 Bqm⁻³) was found in Hafr Al-Batin, while the highest average concentration was found in Khafji (40 Bqm⁻³).     

高能闪光照相对电子束参数的要求

对高能闪光机光源性能用Monte-Carlo方法模拟研究发现：并非击靶电子束半径越小、发射度越低, 闪光机的照相性能就会越好. 研究结果表明：为了使闪光照相图像视面上照射量分布比较均匀, 对束半径与电子束归一发射度有一个联合限制, 对于20MeV闪光机, 如果击靶电子束有效半径是0.12cm, 那么仅当束归一发射度≥550cm.mrad时,在2°内的照射量不均匀性才小于5%.     

位相物体激光全息二次曝光法无损检测

为借助激光全息进行无损检测，获得位相物体的信息，对位相物体激光全息二次曝光法无损检测进行了研究，指出一般的二次曝光法测位相物体典型光路的缺点，提出了物光波2次通过样品的改进方案。利用此方案对一些位相物体(如普通玻璃和有机玻璃)作了无损检测实验，得到了较满意的实验结果。与普通检测方法相比，该方法具有精度高、结果直接可靠、不损伤物体等诸多优点。对改进方案稍作改动，即可用于塑料制品和玻璃制品生产线对加工产品进行在线产品质量监控。     

Evaluation of piezoelectric PVDF polymers for use in space environments. III. Comparison of the effects of vacuum UV and gamma radiation

Films of piezoelectric PVDF and P(VDF‐TrFE) were exposed to vacuum UV (115–300 nm VUV) and γ‐radiation to investigate how these two forms of radiation affect the chemical, morphological, and piezoelectric properties of the polymers. The extent of crosslinking was almost identical in both polymers after γ‐irradiation, but surprisingly, was significantly higher for the TrFE copolymer after VUV‐irradiation. Changes in the melting behavior were also more significant in the TrFE copolymer after VUV‐irradiation due to both surface and bulk crosslinking, compared with only surface crosslinking for the PVDF films. The piezoelectric properties (measured using d₃₃ piezoelectric coefficients and D‐E hysteresis loops) were unchanged in the PVDF homopolymer, while the TrFE copolymer exhibited more narrow D‐E loops after exposure to either γ‐ or VUV‐radiation. The more severe damage to the TrFE copolymer in comparison with the PVDF homopolymer after VUV‐irradiation is explained by different energy deposition characteristics. The short wavelength, highly energetic photons are undoubtedly absorbed in the surface layers of both polymers, and we propose that while the longer wavelength components of the VUV‐radiation are absorbed by the bulk of the TrFE copolymer causing crosslinking, they are transmitted harmlessly in the PVDF homopolymer. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3253–3264, 2006     

降铅冲剂对低水平铅暴露仔鼠血铅及脑铅的影响

目的:研究降铅冲剂对低水平铅暴露仔鼠血铅及脑铅的影响,为评价降铅冲剂的作用提供依据。方法:选用Wister大鼠仔鼠60只,体质量80~100 g,随机分成6组,每组10只,分别为空白组、模型对照组、EDTA对照组、降铅冲剂低剂量组、降铅冲剂中剂量组、降铅冲剂高剂量组;造模后开始给药,EDTA对照组给CaNa2EDTA注射液10(mg/kg)/d腹腔注射,降铅冲剂低、中、高剂量组分别予降铅冲剂5(g/kg)/d、10(g/kg)/d、20(g/kg)/d的剂量灌胃,空白组和模型对照组予等量蒸馏水灌胃,给药共30 d。用石墨炉原子吸收光谱仪测定仔鼠血铅、脑铅。结果:(1)染铅后,各染铅组的血铅水平与空白组比较都显著升高(P<0.001),经过30 d的治疗后,各治疗组的治疗后血铅水平均有不同程度下降,与模型对照组比较均有统计学意义。(2)染铅后,各染铅组的脑铅水平与空白组比较都显著升高(P<0.05),治疗后,各组脑铅与治疗前比较均显著升高,降铅冲剂低、中剂量组的脑铅与模型对照组比较显著下降。结论:降铅冲剂能显著降低低水平铅暴露仔鼠的血铅和脑铅含量,其综合疗效优于CaNa2EDTA。     

6AZO-CONTAINING SELF-ASSEMBLY ULTRA-THIN FILMS AND THEIR PHOTOVOLTAIC PROPERTIES

A kind of azo-containing resin (Azo-R) was synthesized by a simple way through the coupling reaction of 2-nitro-N-methyldiphenylamine-4-diazoresin (NDR) with phenol, and a new covalentely attached multilayer film from Azo-R as H-donor and photosensitive diazoresin, diphenylamine-4-diazoresin (DR) as H-acceptor via H-bonding attraction by selfassembly technique has been fabricated. Following the decomposition of diazonium group of DR under exposure to UV light, the H-bonds between the layers of the film convert to covalent bonds and the film becomes very stable toward polar solvents or electrolyte aqueous solutions. Thus the UV-irradiated azo-containing films can be used to measure photocurrent in a conventional three-electrode photoelectrochemical cell using KCl as supporting electrolyte. It was confirmed that the azo-containing multilayer film is responsible for the photocurrent generation.