Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “GARBAGE”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

A forward-facilitating influence of cortisol on catecholamines assessed during the work of garbage collectors.

OBJECTIVES: In this study, the hypothesis was tested of whether part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system can have a facilitating influence on mean adrenomedullary reactivity during a workday. METHODS: Data of a field study on 115 male garbage collectors were used for this purpose. Catecholamines and cortisol were assessed by urinary sampling during a workday and during a day off. The within-subjects baseline levels of the catecholamines, personal factors, physical work load, and work characteristics were controlled for in the analyses. RESULTS: The results showed that there is reason to assume a "forward-facilitating influence" between the aforementioned systems. The morning cortisol excretion rate explained a reasonable amount of the mean catecholamine excretion rates during a workday. The morning cortisol level explained more variance in the adrenaline than in the noradrenaline values, and for both catecholamines the influence of cortisol was more pronounced than the influence of psychosocial stress factors like autonomy and job demands. CONCLUSIONS: The morning level of cortisol proved to be a more powerful predictor of the reactivity of adrenaline than that of noradrenaline during work. The association between the pituitary adrenocortical system and the adrenomedullary system could therefore be a "forward-facilitating influence". It is recommended that future research should focus on cortisol as the predictor of neuroendocrine reactivity and on determining whether this predictive power is expandable to work-induced health complaints.

Adrenal Medulla↗
PubMed1984

[The behavior of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil fertilized with sewage sludge-garbage compost. II. Laboratory studies].

The possible destruction in the soil of PAH present in sewage sludge-garbage composts in considerable amounts has been studied under various conditions. Sandy and loamy soil were mixed with the compost and kept in a climate chamber at 20 degrees C, 25 degrees C and 28 degrees C with 30% and 80% relative moisture. One part of the samples was illuminated the other kept in the dark. Control samples with and without compost were sterilized. PAH determinations, bacterial counts on Moutonagar and counts of the actinomycetes were carried out in regular intervals. No influence of temperature, moisture or light could be demonstrated under the experimental conditions. No difference in the behaviour of PAH concentrations in sterilized and nonsterilized soil samples during the periods of experiment, no increase or decrease of PAH were found. There was no correlation between bacterial counts and PAH concentrations. The laboratory experiments confirmed the results of the field investigations.

Actinomycetales↗
PubMed1995

Autopsy cases among patients with mental disorders: an unusual case of asphyxia caused by the iron roller of a garbage truck.

A case of asphyxia of a young man suffering from "Identity Disorder" as delineated by the DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders revised in 1987) is reported. The patient jumped into the drum of a garbage truck and the iron roller in the drum asphyxiated him by compression. In addition to the presentation of this rare category of the DSM-III-R disorders as an autopsy case and an unusual means of asphyxia, we briefly reviewed other autopsy cases of the patients with mental disorders who died in Japan between 1988 and 1992.

Accidental Falls↗
PubMed1995

[Air microbial burden at garbage sorting facilities].

At two german garbage sorting facilities, germ concentrations in the air were analyzed at different working environments (waste reception, manual sorting). At plant A, maximum concentrations of total bacteria (14700 CFU/m3), gram-negative bacteria (7279 CFU/m3) and moulds (> 84806 CFU/m3) occurred in the air at the final manual sorting belts. Referring to concentrations of total bacteria and moulds, concentrations in the air at the final sorting belts were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than at the other working environments. At plant B, the counts of total bacteria reached 7173 CFU/m3 in the air at the waste reception site and 5512 CFU/m3 at the manual sorting belt. Maximum concentrations for gram-negative bacteria were 247 resp. 206 CFU/m3 and 70919 resp. 60848 CFU/m3 for moulds. At the waste reception site, the aerial concentrations of total bacteria lay highly significantly (p < 0.001) and of moulds significantly (p < 0.05) above aerial concentrations at the manual sorting belt. As causes, an intensive mechanical pretreatment of recycle material at plant A and whirling up of sedimentary dust of the floor during manual sweeping of the material on to the transportation at plant B are discussed.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed2004

The investigation of a class of capacitated arc routing problems: the collection of garbage in developing countries.

The collection, transport and disposal of solid waste, which is a highly visible and important municipal service, involves a large expenditure but receives, scant attention. This problem is even more crucial for large cities in developing countries due to the hot weather. A constructive heuristic which takes into account the environmental aspect as well as the cost is proposed to solve the routing aspect of garbage collection. This is based on a look-ahead strategy which is enhanced by two additional mechanisms. Interesting results were obtained when tested on instances with and without the presence of the effect of the environment.

Cities↗
PubMed2004

Formation of dioxins from incineration of foods found in domestic garbage.

There has been great concern about the large amounts of garbage produced by domestic households in the modern world. One of the major sources of dioxins (PCDDs, PCDFs, and coplanar PCBs) in the environment is the combustion of domestic waste materials. Exhaust gases from an incinerator, in which mixtures of 67 food items--including fruits, vegetables, pasta, seafoods, meats, and processed foods and seasoned foods--were analyzed for dioxins. Gases collected at the chimney port (9.15 ng/g) contained less total dioxins than those collected at the chamber port (29.1 ng/g). The levels of Cl1-Cl6-PCDDs and Cl1-Cl5-PCDFs were much lower in the gas collected at the chimney port than in the gas collected at the chamber port. The levels of Cl7-Cl8-PCDDs and Cl6-Cl8-PCDFs were higher in the gas collected at the chimney port than in the gas collected at the chamber port. A total of Cl4-Cl8-PCDDs (1.84-3.04 ng/g) comprised over 80% of the total PCDDs formed (2.24-4.00 ng/g). Total PCDFs (16.2-22.6 ng/g) comprised 78-86% of the total dioxins formed (18.9-29.1 ng/g). The PCDFs formed in the greatest amounts were M1CDFs (9.68-10.7 ng/g). Mixtures of commonly consumed food items produced ppb levels of total dioxins in exhaust gases upon combustion, suggesting that incineration of domestic food wastes is one of the sources of dioxins in the environment. A mixture containing some seasoned foods, such as mayonnaise spread on bread, produced more dioxins (29.1 ng/g) than a mixture without seasoned foods did (18.9 ng/g).

Dioxins↗
PubMed2005

Termination of the leprosy isolation policy in the US and Japan : Science, policy changes, and the garbage can model.

BACKGROUND: In both the US and Japan, the patient isolation policy for leprosy /Hansen's disease (HD) was preserved along with the isolation facilities, long after it had been proven to be scientifically unnecessary. This delayed policy termination caused a deprivation of civil liberties of the involuntarily confined patients, the fostering of social stigmas attached to the disease, and an inefficient use of health resources. This article seeks to elucidate the political process which hindered timely policy changes congruent with scientific advances. METHODS: Examination of historical materials, supplemented by personal interviews. The role that science played in the process of policy making was scrutinized with particular reference to the Garbage Can model. RESULTS: From the vantage of history, science remained instrumental in all period in the sense that it was not the primary objective for which policy change was discussed or intended, nor was it the principal driving force for policy change. When the argument arose, scientific arguments were employed to justify the patient isolation policy. However, in the early post-WWII period, issues were foregrounded and agendas were set as the inadvertent result of administrative reforms. Subsequently, scientific developments were more or less ignored due to concern about adverse policy outcomes. Finally, in the 1980s and 1990s, scientific arguments were used instrumentally to argue against isolation and for the termination of residential care. CONCLUSION: Contrary to public expectations, health policy is not always rational and scientifically justified. In the process of policy making, the role of science can be limited and instrumental. Policy change may require the opening of policy windows, as a result of convergence of the problem, policy, and political streams, by effective exercise of leadership. Scientists and policymakers should be attentive enough to the political context of policies.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Analyses of microbial community within a composter operated using household garbage with special reference to the addition of soybean oil.

A commercially available composter was operated using fixed composition of garbage with or without the addition of soybean oil. The composter was operated without adding seed microorganisms or bulking materials. Microflora within the composter were analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) in the case of oil addition, or by 16/18 S rRNA gene sequencing of the isolated microorganisms in the case of no oil addition. The results showed that, irrespective of the addition of oil, the bacteria identified were all gram positive, and that lactobacilli seemed to be the key microorganisms. Based on the results, suitable microflora for use in a household composter are discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

[The labor process and work-related accidents among garbage collectors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]

This study describes the work performed by garbage collectors in the Rio de Janeiro City Street Cleaning Company (COMLURB) (Rio Comprido division) and its consequences for their health. Data were collected through interviews and on-site video documentation. A detailed description of the work process was performed. In addition, we analyzed the workers' reports of their lifetime experience with job-related risks and accidents.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

An assessment of the risk of foreign animal disease introduction into the United States of America through garbage from Alaskan cruise ships.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) has been exploring methods of quantitative risk assessment to support decision-making, provide risk management options and identify research needs. With current changes in world trade, regulatory decisions must have a scientific basis which is transparent, consistent, documentable and defensible. These quantitative risk assessment methods are described in an accompanying paper in this issue. In the present article, the authors provide an illustration by presenting an application of these methods. Prior to proposing changes in regulations, USDA officials requested an assessment of the risk of introduction of foreign animal disease to the United States of America through garbage from Alaskan cruise ships. The risk assessment team used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate this question. Quantitative risk assessment methods were used to estimate the amount of materials of foreign origin being sent to Alaskan landfills. This application of quantitative risk assessment illustrates the flexibility of the methods in addressing specific questions. By applying these methods, specific areas were identified where more scientific information and research were needed. Even with limited information, the risk assessment provided APHIS management with a scientific basis for a regulatory decision.

Alaska↗
PubMed2006

[Co-digestion of waste activated sludge and kitchen garbage].

The effects of mixture ratio and hydraulic retention time on mesophilic co-digestion of waste activated sludge and kitchen garbage were investigated, and the mixtures having the ratios of 75%:25%, 50%:50% and 25%:75% on a TS basis, operated at the HRTs of 10d, 15d and 20d. In all the digesters, with an OLR 1.53-5.63 g/(L x d), there were no indication of failure, such as low pH, insufficient alkalinity, ammonia inhibition and accumulation of VFAs. The optimum operating conditions of all the digesters were found to be a mixture of 50%:50% in terms of the stability and performance, buffer capacity was the highest. The volatile solid removal efficiency, specific methane production and methane content in this condition achieved 51.1%-56.4%, 0.353-0.373 L/g and 61.8%-67.4%.

Bacteria, Anaerobic↗
PubMed1995

Acute and sublethal toxicity of seepage waters from garbage dumps to permanent cell lines and primary cultures of hepatocytes from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): a novel approach to environmental risk assessment for chemicals and chemical mixtures.

In order to evaluate the suitability of cytopathological criteria in isolated fish hepatocytes as endpoints in (eco)toxicological research, liver cells isolated from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by collagenase perfusion were exposed in vitro for up to 5 days to sublethal dilutions of two seepage water samples collected from garbage dumps. Hepatocytes were analysed with respect to acute (lactate dehydrogenase leakage) and sublethal toxicity (electron microscopy, stereology). In addition, acute toxicity (24 h) was tested in the piscine fibrocytic cell line R1 by means of crystal violet staining and neutral red retention. Acute toxicity in R1 cells and isolated hepatocytes could only be documented for sample I at dilutions of 1:2 and 1:4. This difference in toxicity could be corroborated by cytological alterations in isolated hepatocytes, which could be documented for dilutions of 1:100 and 1:8 in samples I and II, respectively. Ultrastructural changes were time- and dose-dependent and included reduction of hepatocellular volume, disturbance of intracellular compartmentation, modified heterochromatin distribution, transformation of rough endoplasmic reticulum into concentric membrane whorls, proliferation of lysosomes and cytoplasmic vacuoles, as well as reduction of hepatocellular glycogen. Although several hepatocellular reactions were found after exposure to either sample, the syndrome of ultrastructural alterations allowed clear differentiation between the two samples. Results illustrate that cytological effects far below macroscopically detectable damage can be discovered not only in intact fish, but also in fish cell culture systems. On the basis of the data presented, a multi-tiered test procedure for aquatic toxicity assessment exclusively based on tests with fish cell culture systems is proposed: (1) rapid screening for acute toxicity with permanent cell lines; (2) short-term tests with more complex, yet more sensitive systems such as primary hepatocytes with straightforward biochemical endpoints; (3) prolonged exposure of isolated hepatocytes in combination with ultrastructural and biochemical investigations as a sensitive tool to detect adverse effects at environmentally relevant toxicant concentrations.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

[Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "Garbage, the city and death"-- a German landscape of the soul].

No other recent "art event" has aroused so much public debate in Germany as Fassbinder's play "Garbage, City, Death" (1976). The controversy it sparked on its appearance has still not entirely died down. In a painstaking psychoanalytic interpretation Vogt first shows that the play achieves an artistic representation of the unconscious dilemma besetting the second generation of non-Jewish Germans in their relationship to National Socialism. In Fassbinder's play this dilemma, which is bound up with vicarious guilt feelings, is however only presented and not in any way worked out. The upshot is that all those forms of identification with German traditions that have been repudiated on a conscious level re-enter, as it were by the back door, and attain a new virulence. The author demonstrates that at the heart of the play a mechanism of guilt-refusal is operative that inverts the historical culprit-victim relation and makes the Germans themselves into the real victims. In the second part of his article Vogt is concerned to situate the play and the controversy surrounding it in a broader political context--Bitburg (1985), the "historians' conflict" (1986), Jenninger's speech (1988)--revealing a specific collective psychological inscape in present-day Germany for which, in its profounder well-springs, Fassbinder's play may be legitimately regarded as symptomatic. Fassbinder (born 1945) articulates for his generation aspects of an "ethnic disturbance" (George Devereux) which continues to persist precisely because there is a German past "that refuses to go away" (Ernst Nolte).

Drama↗