Printing Industry (printing + industry)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Effect of textile waste water on the spermatogenesis of male albino rats

JOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY, Issue 3 2003
R. S. Gupta
Abstract Textile waste water released from dyeing and printing industries situated in Sanganer, Jaipur (India), brought about inhibition of spermatogenesis in male rats. Water analysis showed the presence of heavy metals at more than permissible limits. Oral administration of waste water to the rats at the dose level of 26.6 ml kg,1 body wt. significantly reduced the weights of testes, epididymides and seminal vesicle. Treated animals showed a notable depression of various stages of spermatogenesis. The production of spermatids was inhibited by 70.8% in waste-water-treated rats. The populations of spermatogonia, preleptotene spermatocytes and secondary spermatocytes were decreased by 67.2, 71.1 and 73.2%, respectively. The total number of Sertoli cells was affected after waste water treatment. Reduced sperm count and motility resulted in treated groups. A significant fall in the content of various biochemical parameters of reproductive tissues was observed after water treatment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


FS13.3 Development of risk reduction strategies for preventing dermatitis

CONTACT DERMATITIS, Issue 3 2004
Terry Brown
Introduction:, A recent survey of the UK printing industry found a prevalence of 11% of occupational contact dermatitis (OCD), much higher than previously identified. Objective:, This pilot study aimed to evaluate risk reduction strategies derived from recommendations of a literature review of preventive intervention studies and a series of focus groups of printers and observations of printers undertaking their normal duties. Methods:, Four interventions were evaluated: (1) Provision of gloves of the correct size/type, plus use of an after-work skin cream; (2) Provision of information; (3) Provision of skin checks; (4) Development of best practice skin care policy. Each intervention was evaluated in two companies over a three-month period, at the end of which printers and managers were interviewed as to the effectiveness and acceptability of each intervention. Results:, Although this pilot study was short, all interventions were acceptable to some extent. The prevalence of frank dermatitis fell over the study period, particularly in intervention (3). Intervention (1) achieved an improvement of awareness in both management and workforce and an increase in the use of both gloves and cream. Intervention (2) highlighted problems of dissemination and the need for relevant information in an appropriate format. However. no single intervention was completely effective. Conclusions:, This qualitative research approach forms an essential first stage to improving understanding of ways in which OCD may be reduced among workers in the printing industry, and points towards the need for further testing of preventive strategies in larger-scale intervention trials, in printing and other industries. [source]


FS13.5 Occupational contact dermatitis: printer worker's viewpoints

CONTACT DERMATITIS, Issue 3 2004
Terry Brown
Introduction:, Occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) is very common in the printing industry due to contact with chemicals, paper, and wet work. It can be avoided by adequate protective measures, but the effectiveness of intervention depends heavily on the employer's and employee's awareness of this health risk. Objectives:, The study aimed to collect information on the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of print workers about the risk of OCD and methods of prevention. Methods:, A series of focus groups were held with print workers, health and safety officers and managers to discuss their awareness of dermal risk factors, risk behaviour at work, attitudes to health and safety and options on possible preventive measures. A number of companies were also visited to observe, overtly and covertly, the normal work practices. Results:, OCD was not perceived to be either a major problem or a health and safety priority. There was general agreement about the processes and work practices that could cause skin problems. However, work practices varied considerably and did not always reflect this awareness. There was general concern about the type and availability of personal protective equipment, especially gloves and after-work skin cream. The provision of an occupational health service was generally felt to be inadequate, and no company had a policy in place that specifically addressed skin care. Conclusions:, These findings highlight the urgency to intensify health and safety education on skin care within the printing industry. Recommendations were developed for the evaluation of a series of risk reduction strategies. [source]


Real-life applications of the MULVADO software package for processing DOSY NMR data

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 2 2006
R. Huo
Abstract MULVADO is a newly developed software package for DOSY NMR data processing, based on multivariate curve resolution (MCR), one of the principal multivariate methods for processing DOSY data. This paper will evaluate this software package by using real-life data of materials used in the printing industry: two data sets from the same ink sample but of different quality. Also a sample of an organic photoconductor and a toner sample are analysed. Compared with the routine DOSY output from monoexponential fitting, one of the single channel algorithms in the commercial Bruker software, MULVADO provides several advantages. The key advantage of MCR is that it overcomes the fluctuation problem (non-consistent diffusion coefficient of the same component). The combination of non-linear regression (NLR) and MCR can yield more accurate resolution of a complex mixture. In addition, the data pre-processing techniques in MULVADO minimise the negative effects of experimental artefacts on the results of the data. In this paper, the challenges for analysing polymer samples and other more complex samples will also be discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Optimal job splitting on a multi-slot machine with applications in the printing industry

NAVAL RESEARCH LOGISTICS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2010
Ali Ekici
Abstract In this article, we define a scheduling/packing problem called the Job Splitting Problem, motivated by the practices in the printing industry. There are n types of items to be produced on an m -slot machine. A particular assignment of the types to the slots is called a "run" configuration and requires a setup cost. Once a run begins, the production continues according to that configuration and the "length" of the run represents the quantity produced in each slot during that run. For each unit of production in excess of demand, there is a waste cost. Our goal is to construct a production plan, i.e., a set of runs, such that the total setup and waste cost is minimized. We show that the problem is strongly NP-hard and propose two integer programming formulations, several preprocessing steps, and two heuristics. We also provide a worst-case bound for one of the heuristics. Extensive tests on real-world and randomly generated instances show that the heuristics are both fast and effective, finding near-optimal solutions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010 [source]


Determinants of environmental innovation adoption in the printing industry: the importance of task environment

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 1 2007
Sandra Rothenberg
In this paper, we investigate the impact that the task environment has on the adoption of environmental innovations by firms. Specifically, we investigate the impact of two dimensions of a firm's external context , munificence and dynamism. We investigate both of these factors by drawing on the relevant literatures, developing hypotheses and testing our hypotheses with data drawn from the US printing industry. Our major findings are that firms in highly dynamic environments, as well as firms that have adopted other productive innovations, are more likely to adopt a greater number of environmental innovations. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]