Assessment of DNA damage in coal open-cast mining workers using the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus test and the comet assay

Coal mining is one of the most important causes of environmental pollution, as large quantities of coal dust particles are emitted. Colombia-South America has large natural coal reserves and “El Cerrejón” is the world's largest open-cast mine located in the northern department of Guajira. The aim of the present study was to evaluate genotoxic effects in a population exposed to coal residues from the open-cast mine “El Cerrejón”. 100 exposed workers and 100 non-exposed control individuals were included in this study. The exposed group was divided according to different mining area activities: (i). Transport of extracted coal, (ii). Equipment field maintenance, (iii). Coal stripping and, (iv). Coal embarking. Blood samples were taken to investigate biomarkers of genotoxicity, specifically, primary DNA damage as damage index (DI), tail length and% of tail DNA using the Comet assay (alkaline version) and chromosome damage as micronucleus (MN) frequency in lymphocytes. Both biomarkers showed statistically significantly higher values in the exposed group compared to the non-exposed control group. No difference was observed between the exposed groups executing different mining activities. These results indicate that exposure to coal mining residues may result in an increased genotoxic exposure in coal mining workers. We did not find a correlation between age, alcohol consumption and service time with the biomarkers of genotoxicity. Our results are the first data of genotoxic effects induced by coal mining exposure in Colombia, and thus, contribute to the exploration of test batteries use for monitoring of exposed populations and may stimulate designing control, hygiene and prevention strategies for occupational health risk assessment in developing countries.     

Crosslinking of polypropylene–polyethylene blends by peroxide and the effect of pentaerythritol tetrallyl ether

Crosslinking of polypropylene–polyethylene (PP-PE) blends involving 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90% of PP with dicumylperoxide (DCP) or tert-butyl perbenzoate (TBPB) and in the presence of coagent pentaerythritol tetrallyl ether (PETA) was investigated at 180°C. It was found that at lower concentrations of peroxide alone (e.g., 2.5% of DCP) only PE component is crosslinked in all compositions of PP-PE blends. In the crosslinking of PP-PE 50:50 with 4% of TBPB, insoluble gel was obtained, which contained 13% PP and 87% PE. If 2% PETA was also used, the portion of PP in gel increased to 39%; the total yield of gel in PP-PE blend increased from 50 to 70%. The lower crosslinking efficiency of coagent PETA in the PP-PE blends compared with PP alone is associated with better solubility of the coagent in the PE phase in contrast to the PP phase. The coagent does not particularly raise the crosslinking efficiency of peroxide in PE, but increases it in the PP phase. A remarkable decrease in melting temperature and temperature of crystallization of both polymer components depending on peroxide concentration was found by calorimetric measurements.     

Laterally chromatically dispersed, spectrally encoded interferometer

We present a single-shot line sensor based on spectral interferometry. Light of a broadband laser source is chromatically dispersed by a grating and focused onto a line on the surface such that each focal point on this line is formed by another wavelength. The entire height profile is obtained by applying a phase evaluation algorithm to the registered interference signal, followed by a model-based approach. The sensor concept is finally verified by experimental results.     

Interaction of an optically dense bose condensate with a resonant laser pulse

Propagation of a resonant laser pulse through an optically dense Bose-Einstein condensate is theoretically investigated. Changes in the spatial distribution of the condensate after the laser pulse propagation are analyzed. It is shown that atoms escape from the condensate due to the joint action of two factors: the transition of atoms from the ground state to an excited state upon absorption of the resonant photons and the effect of a zero-result measurement. The latter effect is interpreted in terms of the theory of quantum measurements.     

Chemiluminescence and thermo-oxidation stability of poly(2,6-dimethyl-p-phenylene ether) in blends with polystyrene and polybutadiene

It has been ascertained that chemiluminescence-time curves for samples of poly(2,6-dimethyl-p-phenylene ether) blended with high-impact polystyrene containing polybutadiene yield a very reproducible pattern even at a temperature of 190°C. The chemiluminescence light emission has been associated with consumption of double bonds in polybutadiene, and a corresponding rate constant and activation energies of chemiluminescence decay from both the isothermal and nonisothermal parts of chemiluminescence-time curves have been determined. As demonstrated by these curves, an attempt, to stabilize the blends toward thermooxidation by the peroxide decomposer and stabilizer led to retardation of the oxidation process only and further investigation searching for an optimum stabilizing system is required. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Easy estimation of the progress of artificial weathering of palm fiber-polypropylene composites by chemiluminescence

Date palm leaves were compounded with polypropylene (PP) and UV stabilizers to form composite materials. Residual thermo-oxidation stability of such composites undergone to accelerated weathering in Xenotest has been investigated by chemiluminescence method. It has been found that composites are much more stable than PP alone which was attributed to the direct interaction of cellulose fibres (reinforcing effect) and lignin (anti-oxidation effect) with polypropylene peroxyl radicals. Samples in which polypropylene is compatibilized with cellulose by Epolene E-43 wax are generally less stable than uncompatibilized ones probably because of the pro-initiation effect of cellulose on polypropylene oxidation.     

Influence of inspiratory resistance on performance during graded exercise tests on a cycle ergometer

Due to more stringent requirements to protect personnel against hazardous gasses, the inspiratory resistance of the present generation of respiratory protective devices tends to increase. Therefore an important question is to what extent inspiratory resistance may increase without giving problems during physical work. In this study the effects of three levels (0.24; 1.4 and 8.3 kPa s l⁻¹) of inspiratory resistance were tested on maximal voluntary performance. Nine male subjects performed a graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer with and without these three levels of inspiratory resistance. Oxygen consumption, heart rate, time to exhaustion and external work were measured. The results of these experiments showed that increasing inspiratory resistance led to a reduction of time to exhaustion (TTE) on a graded exercise test(GXT). Without inspiratory resistance the mean TTE was 11.9 min, the three levels of resistance gave the following mean TTE's: 10.7, 7.8 and 2.7 min. This study showed that TTE on a GXT can be predicted when physical fitness (VO₂-max) of the subject and inspiratory resistance are known. The metabolic rate of the subjects was higher with inspiratory resistance, but no differences were found between the three selected inspiratory loads. Other breathing parameters as minute ventilation, tidal volume, expiration time and breathing frequency showed no or minor differences between the inspiratory resistances. The most important conclusion of these experiments is that the overall workload increases due to an increase in inspiratory resistance by wearing respiratory protective devices.