Occupational xylene exposure and respiratory impairment of paint manufacturing workers

A cross-sectional study was conducted among paint workers to determine the association between xylene exposures with respiratory health. Sixty-four exposed workers working with xylene and 47 unexposed administrative workers were selected. Air xylene (AX) were analyzed using the Gas Chromatography while urinary methyl hippuric acid (MHA) were analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Lung functions were measured using Chestgraph HI-701 spirometer. The AX for the exposed was significantly higher than the unexposed workers (p<0.001). The urinary MHA of the exposed was higher than the unexposed workers (p<0.001). Among the exposed, more respiratory symptoms, higher lung functions abnormality and significantly lower FEV1% predicted and FVC% predicted were found. Findings showed significant correlations between AX and urinary MHA. AX significantly influenced the lung functions. Smoking years and education influenced the respiratory symptoms. Those exposed have early signs of lung impairment and respiratory symptoms. Smokers faced the risk of developing chronic irreversible respiratory diseases

Toxic effect of naphta exposure on respiratory system among workers in the tyre industry

A cross-sectional study was carried out on workers in a tyre manufacturing industry in Malaysia to determine the effects of naphtha exposure on lung functions and respiratory symptoms. Sixty male workers exposed to naphtha and 42 unexposed workers were selected for this study. Personal air monitoring carried out using solid sorbent tubes and low flow pumps (Model: PAS-500 Personal Air Sampler). Personal air monitoring showed that the mean air naphtha concentration was 28.50 mg/m3, the median was 28.47 mg/m3 and the inter quartile range of 1.27 mg/m3. The range was from 0.19 to 200.51 mg/m3 (PEL is 400 mg/m3). The lung function tests showed in 2 groups for all the 3 parameters (FVC%, FEV1% and FEV1/FVC) were in exposed group 96.16, 85.23 and 0.791 respectively and in Unexposed group was 113.23, 116.28 and 0.903 respectively.The lung function tests showed that there were significant difference in the 2 groups for FVC% (p < 0.001), FEV1% (p < 0.001) and FEV1/FVC% (p = 0.002). Multiple linear regression test showed that monthly household income significantly influence the FVC% predicted (b = 0.003, p < 0.001) and FEV1% predicted (b = 0.006, p < 0.001). In conclusion there was an inverse relationship between air naphtha concentrations and lung functions ability. Early impairment of the respiratory system is detected on the workers who are exposed to naphtha which made up of several chemicals

A Study on the awareness of road safety in Shwe Pyi Thar Township ( Tun Lin Naing, 2024)

This study aims to investigate the road safety awareness of road users in Shwe Pyi Thar Township, Yangon Region, using a descriptive method that incorporated both primary and secondary data. Primary data are gathered through a survey of 250 road users, including drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, using a structured questionnaire, while secondary data are collected from local authorities. The findings reveal a generally high level of road safety awareness, with most respondents consistently wearing seat belts or helmets and displaying a strong understanding of road safety practices. However, gaps in knowledge regarding legal speed limits, the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit, and the use of child car seats are identified. Additionally, infrastructure issues, such as inadequate street lighting and frequent traffic rule violations, highlight the need for better enforcement and improvements. To address these issues, targeted educational initiatives on speed limits, alcohol consumption, and child safety measures are recommended, alongside infrastructure enhancements and stricter enforcement of traffic laws

FACTORS INFLUENCING MICRO BUSINESSES AND FIRM PERFORMANCE IN RURAL AREA IN AYEYARWADY REGION ( Lin Sandar Naing, 2019)

This paper aims to identify the influencing factors on the financial behavior of micro business owners in rural area of Ayeyarwady Region and to examine the effects of financial behavior on the performance of micro businesses. This study is thoroughly done by collecting structured questionnaires to 160 micro business owners from one village group of Patanaw Township of Ayeyarwady Region. The study found that microfinance characteristics have the most influence on financial behavior of business owners than other two variables; household characteristics and socioeconomic characteristics. Family daily income and physical environment of the region have influence on financial behavior. It is also found that owner’s financial behavior influences the overall performance of the business

Modeling the effect of neighborhood competition on tree diameter growth in the Pacific Northwest Coast Range

Trees compete for various resources such as sunlight, water, and nutrients, which can be expressed as numerical terms, called competition indices (CI). Competition between individual trees is correlated with their growth and mortality. Therefore, CIs are used as independent variables to develop, improve and modify growth and yield models. This study was conducted to test the effect of neighborhood competition on tree diameter growth among Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg) and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), in the Pacific Northwest Coast Range, USA. After testing seven distance-independent CIs and three distance-dependent CIs, only the distance-independent CIs were found to significantly affect the diameter growth model. Among them, CIs with basal area and diameter information were the most impactful. As a result, a simple CI was very effective in a model that accounts for the basal area information of different tree species

Factor analysis study on sexual responses in women with Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aims: This study compared the components of sexual responses between Malaysian women with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and those without the disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study measured sexual responses by using the validated Malay version of Female Sexual Function Index. A factor analysis with varimax rotation method was employed using principal component analysis to explore the correlation structure of the different domains of sexual responses between the two groups. Components of sexual responses were obtained using Kaiser's criteria and compared between those in the diabetic and non-diabetic groups. Results: A total of 353 women (178 with diabetes and 175 without diabetes) were recruited. Three components of sexual responses emerged from the analysis in the study and control groups. Sexual pain was found to form a component together with lubrication and orgasm domains among the women with diabetes, unlike those without diabetes, where pain stood on its own. Sexual desire and arousal formed one component and satisfaction formed another in both groups. Conclusions: The domains in the sexual responses of Malaysian women were highly overlapping. It is concluded that the presence of pain as part of lubrication and orgasm component in women with diabetes indicates the importance of intact genital sensation, even though an adverse type of sensation, for vaginal congestion and orgasm to occur in this group of women

Age and sequence of eruption of permanent teeth in children and adolescents in North-eastern Malaysia

The aim of this study is to determine the age and sequence of eruption of permanent teeth as well as gender differences in children and adolescents in the state of Kelantan, north-eastern Malaysia. Cross-sectional data on permanent tooth eruption were collected by examining pre-school, primary and secondary school children of 5-17 years of age. The subjects were drawn by multistage random sampling from the school register. There were 2382 subjects in the sample, 1062 boys and 1320 girls. A tooth was considered erupted if any part of its crown was visible in the mouth. The data were subjected to probit analysis to compute the eruption time of each individual tooth in terms of median, 95th percentile and 99 percentile. The mean age of eruption of lower first molar is 6.0 years (5.8yr,6.2yr) at 95%CI and for lower canine is 10.2 years (10.0yr,l0.3yr) at 95%CI. The median age of eruption of each tooth was earlier in girls than in boys. Although the range of years during which the teeth erupted was similar in both sexes, the sequence of the individual teeth differed. All mandibular teeth, with the exception of first and second premolars in both males and females, tended to erupt earlier than their maxillary counterparts. The findings seem to correspond to earlier studies done in the other parts of the world, however the eruption time seems to be earlier compared to studies done in Thailand and Madras

Capacity-Speed Relationships in Prefrontal Cortex

Working memory (WM) capacity and WM processing speed are simple cognitive measures that underlie human performance in complex processes such as reasoning and language comprehension. These cognitive measures have shown to be interrelated in behavioral studies, yet the neural mechanism behind this interdependence has not been elucidated. We have carried out two functional MRI studies to separately identify brain regions involved in capacity and speed. Experiment 1, using a block-design WM verbal task, identified increased WM capacity with increased activity in right prefrontal regions, and Experiment 2, using a single-trial WM verbal task, identified increased WM processing speed with increased activity in similar regions. Our results suggest that right prefrontal areas may be a common region interlinking these two cognitive measures. Moreover, an overlap analysis with regions associated with binding or chunking suggest that this strategic memory consolidation process may be the mechanism interlinking WM capacity and WM speed.National Center for Research Resources (U.S.) (grant UL1RR025011)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant NIH RO1 DC05375)Wallace H. Coulter FoundationNational Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (Challenge Grant RC1MH090912-01

The Effect of Human Resource Systems on Employee Engagement and Employee Outcomes of Zin Yaw Phyu Car Showroom (Than Lin Naing, 2024)

The main objectives of the study are to analyze the effect of human resource (HR) systems on employee engagement and to analyze the effect of employee engagement on employee outcomes of Zin Yaw Phyu Car Showroom. There are 80 employees in the Zin Yaw Phyu Car Showroom. Data was collected from all employees according to the census sampling method. All the questionnaires is conducted with Five Points Likert scale. Primary data was collected from 80 employees by using structured questionnaires through questionnaire survey. The secondary data was gathered from relevant text books, pervious published research paper, and related internet websites. The descriptive statistics and regression analysis were conducted to analyze the collected data. The results of HR systems and employee engagement stated that HR variables of ability-enhancing practices and opportunity-enhancing practices were significantly positively effect on physical engagement and emotional engagement and all HR variables of ability-enhancing practices, motivation-enhancing practices and opportunity-enhancing practices were significantly positively effect on cognitive engagement. The results of employee engagement and employee outcomes stated that all employee engagement variables (physical engagement, emotional engagement and cognitive engagement) were positively significant on turnover intention and the employee engagement variables of emotional engagement and cognitive engagement were positively significant on job satisfaction. It can be recommended that HR system is important to improve employees' outcomes. The contribution of the study is that it will provide the industry of economy with valuable information that improves employees' outcomes. The results of this study may be employed as a policy consideration and further contribute to the literature of management studies