Thesis (MTech. : Chemical Engineering.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010.

Bakgrund: Policybeslutet att införa Rökfri arbetstid i Motala kommun är ett led i kommunernas och de fackliga organisationernas strävan att skapa en hälsofrämjande miljö. Rökfri arbetstid innebär att ingen ska utsättas för tobaksrök på sitt arbete. I Motala kommun trädde detta beslut i kraft 2007-07-01 och mottogs med olika åsikter bland de kommunanställda. Tidigare forskning har visat samband med engagemang och delaktighet i beslut med empowerment hos de anställda. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka anställdas reaktioner till Rökfri arbetstid i Motala kommun. Metod: En kvantitativ undersökning i form av fler alternativa och öppna frågor i en enkät som delades ut bland rökande personal på olika enheter i Motala kommun. Även Motala kommuns intranät Kanalen användes, där information om enkäten lades ut och de som ville kunde ta del av den. Resultat: Rökfri arbetstid ger resultat i positiv bemärkelse, de anställda som rökte röker i dag 30 % mindre på arbetstid samt 16 % har slutat. För de som var positivt inställda av deltagarna när beslutet togs visar även en minskning i sitt rökande på fritiden. Då beslutet togs 2007-07-01 var 54 % negativa till detta, i dag är siffran på 32,5 %. Resultatet visar också en stor irritation över att; deltagarna inte fått varit med och tyckt till om Rökfri arbetstid, informationen till de anställda har inte varit bra, cheferna ger inga direktiv och verkar inte veta vilka regler som gäller. I dag följs reglerna olika på olika arbetsplatser. Fortfarande finns det många av studiens deltagare som röker på arbetstid även om de har minskat sin konsumtion. Deltagarna själva vill ha klara regler för vad som gäller när någon trotsar rökförbudet. Diskussion: Mer information, mer empowerment till de anställda i Motala kommun hade gett mer positiva resultat än vi ser idag Låt de rökande få vara med och diskutera fram hur regler ska följas på arbetsplatserna samt vilket stöd de förväntar sig få från kommunen. De anställda måste också ta på sig ansvaret att leta efter information. / Background : The policy decision to introduce non smoking environment in the city of Motala is a part of the city and the unions’ efforts to create a healthy environment. Smoke-free working hours means that no one shall be subjected to tobacco smoke at work. The city of Motala took this decision in full force 2007-07-01 and it was received with different opinions from the city’s employees. Previous research has shown the commitment and involvement is greater if the employee feels empowerment at their work place. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the employee´s reaction to the decision to introduce non smoking environment in Motala. Method: A quantitative method was used. Questionnaire which included even open-ended questions was distributed among smoking employees in different work areas in the city of Motala. The questionnaire was also laid out on "kanalen" which is a communication platform within the city of Motala. Here could any employee take part of the survey. Results: Smoke free working environment delivers results in a positive way, people smoke 30% less at work and 16% have stopped smoking completely during working hours. For those who were in favor of the decision when it was taken can also show a reduction in their smoking in their free time. When the decision was made 2007-07-01 was 54% negative to this, today the figure is 32.5%. The results also show that irritation over this decision was; the employees had not been involved when it comes to decision around this subject, information has been lousy, directors did not provide any directive for the smokers and does not seem to know clearly what the rules are. Today the rules are followed differently in different workplaces. Still, there are many participants who smoke during working hours although they may have reduced their consumption. Participants themselves would like to have clear rules on what it is that applies. Discussion: More information, more empowerment to the employees in the city of Motala had gotten more positive results than we see today. Where does the information stops? Is it between local government leaders to the directors at different workplaces or is it the director that does not provide the information to the employees. Let the smokers be involved and discuss how the rules should be followed at the workplace and what support they may expect from the city. Employees must also take responsibility to look for information.

Modeling of airflow resistance in grain bulk requires knowledge of the tortuosity and velocity of the air flow through the grain bulk. In this study, experiments were carried out to determine these characteristics of airflow paths by analyzing digital images of smoke-visualized airflow paths inside a grain bulk obtained with a high speed camera. Colored smoke with approximately the same density as air was introduced into the test box for the visualization of the airflow through the grain bulk. Soybeans with a moisture content of 8.82% on wet basis were used in this study. The high quality videos obtained by recoding the fast movement of the smoke through the grain bulk was first separated into frames using a commercial software, VirtualDub (CRIM, Montreal, Québec, Canada), and the 512× 384 pixel RGB image files (frames) extracted from the recorded videos and read into ImageJ an image processing Java-based software developed by the United State National institute of Health, to track the movement of the smoke in the images, frame by frame to determine lengths, tortuosities of the different flow paths, as well as their velocities.

Research on sex and gender in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has primarily focused on differences in pulmonary function. Detailed gender- and sex-based analyses of other aspects of COPD, including epidemiology, risk factors other than cigarette smoke, pathophysiology, and measurement tools are warranted. In Chapter Two we analyzed administrative health services data to compare the prevalence, mortality and use of drugs and spirometry in men and women with COPD. Contrary to recent predictions, we did not detect a dramatic increase in the prevalence or mortality of COPD over time in women compared to men. We discuss how different coding practices in medical billing can impact the results. In Chapter Three we examined sex differences in COPD phenotypes. We hypothesized that male smokers would have more emphysema whereas female smokers would have more airway wall remodeling using data from high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans. We did detect more emphysema in male smokers but there was no evidence of increased airway remodeling in women. We discuss the limits of HRCT to detect airway differences in women and men. In Chapter Four we examined the use of HRCT in assessing emphysema. We hypothesized that the computer-derived estimates of emphysema (the fractal value and the % low attenuation area (%LAA)) would differentiate COPD from non-COPD as accurately as the radiologist’s emphysema scores, and would provide similar predictions in both men and women. Instead, we found that the subjective rating of emphysema best differentiated COPD, and the fractal value (a measure of emphysematous lesion size) better differentiated COPD compared with an established objective measurement, the %LAA. These results were generally the same in men and women. In Chapter Five we examined characteristics of COPD in women exposed to biomass smoke. We hypothesized that biomass smoke would induce an airway disease-predominant phenotype. We found that women with biomass smoke-exposed COPD had greater airway remodeling and less emphysema than women with tobacco smoke-exposed COPD. In summary, these findings suggest that sex and gender differences are present in COPD epidemiology and pathophysiology. However, current research measurement tools may limit the ability to accurately measure these differences.

Aukštas kraujo spaudimas yra aktuali problema tiek medicininiu, tiek ir socialiniu požiūriu ne tik Lietuvoje, bet ir daugiau kaip 50 milijonų žmonių visame pasaulyje. Aukštas kraujo spaudimas (AKS) yra vienas iš didžiausių koronarinių širdies ligų rizikos veiksnių. Gydant AKS didelis dėmesys skiriamas medikamentinėms priemonėms, kurios padeda atstatyti sutrikusias organizmo funkcijas. Tačiau labai svarbų vaidmenį gydant AKS atlieka kineziterapija. Tinkamai parinkti ir atliekami fiziniai pratimai padeda atstatyti pažeistą kraujagyslių tonusą, gerina širdies kraujagyslių sistemos funkciją bei judesių koordinaciją, didina darbingumą. Darbo tikslas – nustatyti fizinių pratimų ir dietos poveikį arteriniam kraujospūdžiui. Tuo tikslu buvo atliktas tyrimas, kuriame dalyvavo 488 tiriamieji, iš kurių 210 vyrų ir 278 moterys. Tiriamųjų amžius svyravo nuo 25 iki 70 metų. Visiems tiriamiesiems arterinis kraujospūdis (AKS) matuotas gyvsidabriniu sfigmomanometru dešinėje rankoje 2 mm Hg tikslumu, du kartus. Analizei naudotas dviejų matavimų vidurkis. Tiriamieji buvo sveriami medicininėmis svarstykl��mis 100 g tikslumu, matuojamas jų ūgis, Arterinė hipertenzija (AH) diagnozuota, jeigu sistolinis AKS rastas 140 mm Hg arba didesnis ir (arba) diastolinis AKS 90 mm Hg arba didesnis, arba kai AKS normalus (<140/90 mm Hg), kai paskutines dvi savaites tiriamieji vartojo kraujospūdį mažinančius vaistus. Antsvoriui vertinti apskaičiuotas kūno masės indeksas (KMI) (KMI=kūno masė (kg)/ūgis² (m)). Buvo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / High blood pressure is a common problem from both medical and social viewpoint in Lithuania as well as in more than 50 million people all over the world. High Blood Pressure (HBP) is one of the main risk phenomena of coronary heart illnesses. HBP medical pharmaceutical devices which help to reproduce damaged organism functions are mainly considered when curing. Nevertheless kinesytheraphy also plays a very important role in HBP treatment. Properly selected and done physical exercises support reproduction of damaged vein tonicity, improvement in heart vessel system functioning as well as coordination of movements and increase in efficiency. The aim of this work is to define the influence of physical exercises, diet and weight loss on arterial pressure. On this purpose the research was undertaken which involved 488 examined people, 210 of them were men and 278 women. Their age ranged from 25 to 70 years. For all the examined arterial pressure (HBP) was measured twice using mercurial sphigmanometer in their right hand at 2 mm Hg accuracy. For the analysis the average of both measurements was taken. The examined people were weighed on medical scales at 100 g accuracy, their height was also measured; Arterial Hypertension (AH) was diagnosed to those whose systolic HBP has been found in 140 mm Hg or more and (or) diastolic HBP in 90 mm Hg or more, or HBP is normal (<140/90 mm Hg), in the last two weeks they all have been drinking pressure reducing medicine. For the purpose of... [to full text]

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Banana production ranks fifth behind cereals as a food crop and has potential, along with other major crops, to feed the world's increasing population. Globally, continuous efforts and techniques including the use of plant tissue culture (PTC) have been devised for increasing the production of several Musa species. The choice of cytokinin (CK) is one of the most critical factors in developing a successful PTC protocol. Since the discovery of topolins as naturally occurring aromatic CKs, they have emerged as genuine alternatives to the long serving CKs (benzyladenine = BA, zeatin = Z and kinetin = KIN) in PTC. Globally, the past 15 years has witnessed a surge in the use of topolins and their derivatives in research laboratories. Topolins have demonstrated great potential during culture initiation and protocol optimization as well as for counteracting various in vitro induced physiological disorders in some species. In terms of general physiology (growth, phytochemical and photosynthetic pigment contents as well as genetic fidelity), the topolins were compared with BA using 'Williams' bananas with minimal residual exogenous CK carry-over effects. The five topolins tested were meta-Topolin (mT); meta-Topolin riboside (mTR); meta-Methoxy topolin (MemT); meta-Methoxy topolin riboside (MemTR) and meta-Methoxy topolin 9-tetrahydropyran-2-yl (MemTTHP). Based on evidence of potential CK- and auxin-like activity of smoke-water (SW) and karrikinolide (KAR1) at low concentrations, a similar comparative study involving both compounds and mT was performed. For a further understanding of banana physiology in vitro, the effect of supplementing either mT- or BA-requiring cultures with roscovitine (a cyclin-dependent kinase and N-glucosylation inhibitor) and INCYDE (an inhibitor of CK degradation) on the endogenous CK profiles was investigated. In addition, greenhouse experiments geared towards improving the acclimatization competence of tissue-cultured banana plantlets via application of different concentrations of SW and vermicompost leachate was conducted. Sterile shoot-tip explants were cultured on modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with 10, 20 or 30 μM of the tested CKs for 42 days while rooting experiments involved the use of classic auxins as well as SW and KAR1. Apart from 10 μM BA and 30 μM MemTTHP treatments, the number of shoots produced with all the CK treatments were significantly higher than the control. Treatment with 30 μM mT resulted in the highest number of shoots (7.3±1.0) which is an indication of the requirement of exogenous CK for increased shoot proliferation in 'Williams' bananas The use of 10 μM MemTTHP had the least root inhibitory effect during the shoot proliferation phase. As an indication of the toxicity of applied CK, MemT- and MemTR-regenerants were the most deformed while mTR-regenerated plantlets demonstrated the best quality across all the CKs tested. In mT- and BA-derived shoots, SW and KAR1 significantly increased the number and length of roots compared to the control. During the rooting phase, topolin treatments produced more off-shoots than BA-treated ones which inevitably improved the overall number of regenerated shoots. Total phenolic levels were highest in 10 μM mT- and 30 μM MemTTHP-treated plantlets detected in the aerial and underground parts, respectively. It is interesting that in the underground parts, 10 μM mT resulted in the production of the highest amount of proanthocyanidins which was approximately five-fold higher than in the control plants. On the other hand, 10 μM MemTTHP-treated plantlets had significantly higher total flavonoids within the aerial parts. In view of the stimulation of secondary metabolites in the majority of the CK-treated plantlets, the current results indicate the role of the type and concentration of applied CK as potential elicitors in PTC. Generally, the maximum photosynthetic pigment content was attained between 40-50 days. The control plantlets had the highest pigment content (1150 μg/g FW) while 10 μM MemTTHP had the best pigment stimulatory effect among the tested CKs. Nevertheless, in vitro propagation of banana devoid of CKs is not a practical option due to low shoot proliferation rates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the foliar surface showed that the stomatal density was highest in 10 μM MemTTHP-treated and lowest in 10 μM MemTR-treated plantlets. Prolonging the culture duration as well as increasing CK concentrations reduced the pigment content. However, the drastic breakdown in chlorophyll pigments beyond 50 days was slightly inhibited by the presence of mT, mTR, MemTTHP and BA compared to the control. Current findings indicate the potential anti-senescence activity of the topolins such as mT, mTR and MemTTHP under in vitro conditions. This study articulates that the right choice and concentration of CKs applied during in vitro propagation may alleviate photomixotrophic-induced physiological stress that usually accompanies the transfer of plantlets to ex vitro conditions. Findings indicate that the effect of subculturing contributed significantly to the higher rate of variation in 'Williams' bananas in vitro. The presence of CK in the culture media apparently aggravated the stress on the explants as indicated in the relatively higher percentage polymorphic bands compared to the controls. Among the tested CKs, the use of mTR and MemTTHP caused the least detrimental effect on the regenerants while mT-treated plantlets had the most polymorphic bands. Hence, it is recommended that subculturing cycles from the initial explant establishment should be limited to a maximum of five. The use of SW and KAR1 improved the level of photosynthetic pigment and phenolic compounds in the micropropagated bananas. However, they had a negative effect on shoot proliferation; hence their inclusion is more desired when used at the rooting phase of micropropagation. Perhaps, these compounds could be used in conjunction with auxin to increase the number of roots prior to the acclimatization stage. The enhanced photosynthetic pigment level resulting from addition of SW and KAR1 would also play a vital role during acclimatization of the micropropagated plants. The present finding serves as an alternative approach, available to researchers for improving the quantity of secondary metabolites in micropropagated plants. The highest regeneration rate (93%) was observed in BA + roscovitine treatment while mT + INCYDE-treated plantlets produced most shoots. Treatment with BA + roscovitine had the highest shoot length and biomass. Although not significant, there was more proanthocyanidins in BA + roscovitine treatments compared to the treatment with BA alone. On the contrary, total phenolics were significantly higher in mT + roscovitine treatment than in the mT-treated regenerants. The presence of roscovitine and/or INCYDE had no significant effect on the photosynthetic pigments of the banana plantlets. Forty-seven aromatic and isoprenoid CKs categorized into nine CK-types were detected at varying concentrations. The presence of mT + roscovitine and/or INCYDE increased the levels of O-glucosides, while 9-glucosides remained the major derivative in the presence of BA. Generally, the underground parts had higher CK levels than the aerial parts; however the presence of INCYDE increased the level of CK quantified in the aerial parts of both CK treated plantlets. Apparently, the presence of INCYDE serves to enhance transportation of the CK towards the aerial regions. From a practical perspective, the use of roscovitine and INCYDE in PTC could be crucial in the alleviation of commonly observed in vitro-induced physiological abnormalities. Soil drenching with SW significantly increased the root length (1:1000 and 1:500 dilutions) as well as fresh and dry weight (1:1000; 1:500 and 1:250 dilutions) when compared to foliar application. Vermicompost leachate (1:10 and 1:5 dilutions) significantly enhanced the shoot length, root length, leaf area and dry weights. Vermicompost leachate (1:20; 1:10 and 1:5 dilutions) also significantly increased the number of off-shoots. The positive effect on rooting is beneficial for acclimatization and establishment of tissue-cultured banana plantlets in nurseries and subsequent transfer to the field. However, field trials will be necessary to substantiate the effects demonstrated by these compounds. In an attempt to contribute to improving banana micropropagation, the current findings provide additional evidence on the increasing advantage of topolins over BA. Nevertheless, some detrimental physiological effects observed with some of the topolins (for example, MemT and MemTR) are clear indication that they should not be taken as a panacea in PTC. Besides optimizing efficient PTC protocols through stringent choice of CKs, other associated physiological and metabolic events taking place in culture during the optimization process need more in-depth investigation. In addition to contributing towards the better understanding of the mode of action of these CKs, such an approach will help solve associated physiological and developmental problems in vitro. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Modeling of airflow resistance in grain bulk requires knowledge of the tortuosity and velocity of the air flow through the grain bulk. In this study, experiments were carried out to determine these characteristics of airflow paths by analyzing digital images of smoke-visualized airflow paths inside a grain bulk obtained with a high speed camera. Colored smoke with approximately the same density as air was introduced into the test box for the visualization of the airflow through the grain bulk. Soybeans with a moisture content of 8.82% on wet basis were used in this study. The high quality videos obtained by recoding the fast movement of the smoke through the grain bulk was first separated into frames using a commercial software, VirtualDub (CRIM, Montreal, Québec, Canada), and the 512× 384 pixel RGB image files (frames) extracted from the recorded videos and read into ImageJ an image processing Java-based software developed by the United State National institute of Health, to track the movement of the smoke in the images, frame by frame to determine lengths, tortuosities of the different flow paths, as well as their velocities.

This study was the first to examine the effect of tobacco policies in prisons on the health of inmates. Kentucky has two types of tobacco policies in its 16 state prisons: indoor smoke-free policies, where smoking is allowed outdoors and tobacco-free policies, in which no tobacco of any kind is allowed on the grounds of the prison. The smoking rate of inmates is three times higher than that of current smokers in the non-incarcerated population which results in high rates of tobacco-related health conditions such as heart disease and lung cancer. A literature review discussed the evolution of tobacco policies in prisons , the motivations for strengthening policies in prisons and the unintended consequences. Health outcomes in the non-incarcerated population on the benefits to cardiovascular and respiratory health following passage of smoke-free laws in public places were reviewed. No studies have been found on the health outcomes of inmates with varying degrees of smoke-free or tobacco-free policies. The first study was a time series analysis comparing the frequency of medication refills for asthma and/or COPD before and after a tobacco-free policy was implemented. Short-acting inhaler refills decreased in the first few months following the tobacco-free policy date but returned to baseline within 12 to 15 months. Rapid turnover of inmates, minimum security status of the prisons, and possible loosening of enforcement may have been related to the gradual increase in use. The second study was a survival analysis on the time to an inmate’s first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with tobacco policy status (tobacco-free or smoke-free) of the prison as the primary predictor variable. Controlling for the multiple movements over time, facilities, co-morbidities, past smoking history, age and race, there was a 2.87 hazard for AMI for time spent in a smoke-free (indoors) prison compared to a tobaccofree prison. This finding may be due to the fact that tobacco is considered contraband after prisons become tobacco-free and inmates risk disciplinary action by smuggling or using tobacco in the prison, thereby reducing secondhand smoke for non-smokers and probably reducing the consumption of current smokers.

Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure are leading causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States. Outdoor tobacco smoke exposure conveys many of the same risks as indoor secondhand smoke exposure. Tobacco-free campuses policies are an intervention to promote a positive social norm that encourages smoking cessation, as well as reduces exposure to outdoor tobacco smoke. This dissertation contains a review of the policy implementation literature; findings from a psychometric analysis of the newly developed Tobacco-free Compliance Assessment Tool (TF-CAT) to assess compliance with tobacco-free campus policies; and results of a campus intervention study to promote compliance. The TF-CAT protocol is designed to count cigarette butts, observe smokers, and use GIS mapping to display hot spots. A total of 413 observations in primary and secondary campus locations yielded compliance data on both the academic healthcare and main campuses. Results show support for the concurrent validity of the TF-CAT. Inter-rater reliability of the measure is strong, and the tool is feasible, though time- and resource-intensive. The intervention study tested the effects of an efficacy-based messaging campaign on the number of cigarette butts observed on campus. After distributing 6,000 message cards in high-traffic areas over three days, there were fewer cigarette butts per day per site post-intervention compared to pre-intervention (n = 312 observations; median = 4.7 vs. 1.9; U=2239, p=.004). It is crucial for tobacco control advocates to ensure implementation effectiveness of tobacco-free policies. Future research needs to refine methods to measure policy implementation effectiveness. In addition, interventions need to be developed and tested to promote policy implementation effectiveness.