blogging as an effectve learning tool

Blogging is an effective learning tool that is not utilized in many classroom settings. I have had personal experience learning from writing educational blogs. It is a different way of learning but I think it has many benefits that are overlooked often by educators. Having students look up the topics that their professor asked them to look up causes the student to learn by doing their own research. This works better then you might think. I remember blog topics that my professor asked me to write on over two years ago. It is great strategy for retaining information. In normal classrooms you sit and listen to a lecture, which is boring to most unless you are really interested and truly want to learn the material. Now this is not to say that blogging doesn’t have its disadvantages because it does. In my experience blogging is good for the big picture ideas. It falls short when you need to go into detail on topics or when you need to learn information for a test like the MCAT. However in my opinion its shortcomings are nothing compared to the benefits. Blogging makes learning fun, not boring. I would really like to see more teachers applying blogging into the classrooms. I think they would see students do better in the class and participate more in classroom discussions. Blogging also creates a better environment for learning. No longer do students have to stress out about exams because the students already have a better retention rate as compared to students who don’t use blogging. Stress is a killer that can cause diseases like heart disease, which is the number one killer of people in the United States. Stress is an unhealthy and unnecessary byproduct of popular education methods and blogging is the answer to this dilemma.

permeability vs penetration difference in lab clothing

Permeation and penetration at first glace seem similar in many ways but it is until you understand the definition that you see that these two seemingly similar words are very different. Penetration is when something uses pressure to pierce clothing or find seems or weak point and are able to get by whatever is in the way. Permeation on the other hand relies on no pressure to get by but rather passes through the object by osmosis. Permeation often uses a chemical way of getting by objects. Penetration seems to be much more noticeable because of the pressure that is usually associated with it. Permeability is deadly sometimes in lab setting because there is no warning that it is happening. In other words you cant feel anything happening to you because the substance can be leaching into your body without you even knowing. This is much like what happened to the professor at Dartmouth who dies because of mercury poisoning without even knowing that anything happened to her. She disposed her gloves and did everything by the book much like how you would expect a Dartmouth professor to do however he didn’t realize the small drops of mercury that eventually caused her death. Permeation resistant gloves are out there and are noticeably thicker than regular lab gloves. Because of the thickness it prevents the speed of permeability of a particular material passing through and reaching the skin. Not only is glove type a factor of permeability but also time that that glove is exposed to the chemical. The longer it is exposed the more material will make it through to the other side. When carrying out an experiment make sure that you have the right tools because it could kill you or cause serious injury. Consulting an expert in the lab is an important step that cannot be overlooked.

WBGT

The WBGT, also known as wet bulb globe temperature. It is an instrument used to read temperature, specifically a compiled temperature reading that takes into account things like; humidity, wind and inferred measurements (usually the sun). The apparatus has three distinct parts that are clearly visible. They are a wet bulb, dry bulb and globe thermometer. This is where the acronym WGBT comes from. This device was originally made by the US marines to keep their soldiers from experiencing health hazards related to heat. Some injuries they were trying to be protected from is dehydration, heat stoke, and heat exhaustion. The wet bulb globe temperature is also used a lot for sport events. Measuring the heat levels and declaring if it is too hot for football of soccer practice. You hear a lot about the heat index for football 2 a days during the summer. Every year there are schools that are on the news due to children suffering from dehydration and heat stroke, some all to often die as a result of heat as well. The national weather service uses a device like this to predict the heat index for that week. When the WBGT is high for that day people should drink a lot of water so that dehydration doesn’t set in. get as much sin protections as you possibly can. This is important for businesses to be aware of people they are liable for their workers safety and don’t want a workplace accident to occur on company time. If you are someone who is working outside for their job make sure that you take regular breaks when you feel necessary. If you are not allowed you should consult your manager and tell them the risks of a high heat index a lot of the times they will abide with your idea.

Units of exposure and biological effects

Learning about radiation is extremely interesting as it is an unseen force that can reap havoc on your body without you knowing. There are different types of radiation such as gamma radiation, alpha radiation, and beta radiation. These types of radiation are measured by different devices on different scales much like the metric system of measuring.  One method of measuring radiation is (rad), or roentgen absorbed dose. This scale measured the dose of decaying material that is being ionized. Another method of measuring radiation is the (rem), or roentgen equivalent man. This covers the amount of radiation that hits the body and its effect of the human race. You will most likely see rem expressed as millirem or (mrem). This is used mainly to see and compare the different types of radiation against each other and distinguish the different effect compared to the numbers collected. With these tools you will find that there is always radiation readings. This is known as background radiation. Background radiation occurs from many places one being space. There is constant radiation beaming down from the sun and other places in the cosmos. There is also regular radiation coming from small deposits of radioactive elements like uranium. Also oddly enough it’s also in the food we eat. Food such as bananas has potassium, which is radioactive. People who are exposed to greater amounts of ionizing radiation can be plagued with mutations in their genes causing abnormal growths and pain associated with these growths. However, this does not happen from normal expected exposure. This occurs from radiations from catastrophes like atomic bombs and radioactive melt down like the one a Chernobyl. These mutations occur at the cellular level in people and animals both. It affects the blood and sex cells in humans making having babies complicated as it can potentially cause the babies born to have defects and mutations like their mother or father.

Radon blog

Radon is a naturally occurring gas from the ground. It is formed by the process decay uranium in the soil and water. Many people may be unaware f the dangers of radon in their homes. Much like carbon monoxide radon is tasteless and order less causing health problems such as lung caner and is the second largest causer of lung cancer just behind cigarette smoking. Now you might be saying why does it only affect people indoors, particularly in the basements. This is because the gas in enclosed in a space where there is stagnant air. Outside you have wind and are mixed with other gases that make up the air we breath. This causes the dose of radon to not to be high enough to harm you negatively. During the winters is when a lot of people have problems with radon. This is most likely mainly because people spend more time indoors. So what’s the solution to this radon problem? The answer is to get a radon extraction system installed in your house. This system usually costs around 2,000 USD to install and must be done by people who are certified for installation. Installation is not very difficult and is pretty straight forward. There is a hole made in your basement wall for a pipe to be fitted be directed to go outside. Then a small fan is installed in the pipe to draw the stagnant air in your basement outside to prevent build up of radon gas. Not every house will have the same levels of radon in them so it is important to test the levels. If you are looking for a house you may want to find one that already has the system, as the older homes may be more expensive to install. Overall radon is a potential deadly disease that is all to common. If you are unsure if the house you want to buy has high doses consult your realtor and they will do an inspection.

preventing noise hearing loss with protection

Noises are all around you and it’s something that is harmful to your health given how loud the noise is. Consistent exposure of loud noises is detrimental to your health because of the damage it does to the little hairs in your ear responsible for sending signals to your brain. You can experience temporary loss after coming out of a concert and everything seems to be muffled. This is due to the hairs stopping the transmission to the brain. Concerts no doubt can cause hearing loss but you probably don’t go the concerts frequently. Day to day tasks such as mowing the lawn and using the blower to blow off the leaves on the driveway is something that I more common place. These tasks can really take a toll on your hearing after a while and it is suggested that you wear hearing protection while preforming these tasks. Noise is rated in DB’s or Decibels. An unsafe decibel rating is a rating over 85.   To combat these high numbers of DB’s there are hearing earmuffs and earplugs that cancel some of that noise. These forms of hearing protection come with a rating when you purchase one the higher the rating the better. When shopping for noise reduction earmuffs or earplugs you need to look at the NRR, or the noise reduction rating. The highest rating for both are rated at 30 or 31 however this is under ideal conditions so really you need to take that number and cut it in half to get the true rating. Because the rating is really half what it says it is in order to have optimal protection you should wear both the noise earmuffs and earplugs. This gives you a much better NRR rating. Failure to use hearing protection can lead to conditions such as tinnitus which is when you hear constant ringing in your ears. This doesn’t sound bad but it has been known to cause people to take their own life because it is irreversible and is chronic for the rest of your life.

Preventing Occupational Skin Damage

Skin damage in the workplace happens more often then you think, whether it be the misuse of chemical handling or long exposures that slowly deteriorate the skin. It only takes one slip up in the work place to cause that individual to live with irreversible damage. Lets talk about long-term exposures that can cause skin damage. It’s a little known fact that many truck drivers that have been trucking for years all experience skin damage to the left side of their face due to the constant UV exposures. To many of them it is just something that you have to deal with and comes as a part of the job. Many will have noticeable changes in their appearance but some develop melanoma and pass away. The fact is that just installing window tint to that side of the truck would greatly diminish skin diseases and damage associated with long term exposure from trucking. Also just putting on sun block can reduce the rates of skin cancer. As for short-term skin damage chemicals are accountable for most accidents in the workplace. You can see it here on Ohio University’s campus.  For, example with students in the chemistry labs there are some with burns from acids and bases used in labs improperly. People need to know that these safety rules are not to make you job harder on you but to protect yourself. Wearing the correct safety equipment is a must of you want to avoid permanent skin damage. Another big one is the food service industry. Making sure people wear cut gloves and burn sleeves in extremely important because it not only will save you money by not missing work from a preventable burn, but also the company you work for by not having to fill out an incidence repot and giving you a small sum of money for compensation.

LEV

(LEV), or local exhaust ventilation is an important device to use in factories or any workplace where they are toxic fumes and or saw dust and fine particles in the air. This device acts as a huge vacuum sucking up and filtering the debris to a box outside the building or factory.  However, having the fan on while you are running you equipment is not the only thing you have to do to insure that it works effectively. The worker must make sure that the ventilation hood or pipe is placed around one and a half feet away from the work station, or the width of the tube. If the workers are still not sure have them watch the smoke or debris and see if all of it is being sucked up in the tube. This method also works best if the tube can be laid down on the table and placed at and angle, as having it right about your head will make the debris come into the breathing zone. One common mistake that people make is not using a local exhaust ventilation system when they are welding or working outside. Working outside does decrease your exposure but you still run the risk of inhaling toxic fumes still or other hazardous particles. This is why it is still recommended to use a local exhaust ventilation system while working outside. If you have a tent set up outside this is applies as well. Some consequences of not using a local exhaust ventilation system including lung scaring, asthma, and even cancer. With the local exhaust ventilation system you need to make sure that your suction is high enough that it catches all of the debris otherwise you need to relocate it closer or get a unit that has higher air flow.

particulate matter as a health hazard

Particulate matter is a health hazard that not many people think of on a day-to-day basis. Particulate matter can be found in two places, indoors and outdoors. Many people don’t think about the quality of their air indoors. Many have a tendency to think that inside air always mean clean but that’s not the case. For instance in your home if you don’t use an exhaust fan while cooking your food you can increase your exposure to suspended particles which can lead to pneumonia, emphysema, and other lung diseases. Another danger of particle indoors as well as outdoors is carbon monoxide poisoning. You may see this in the news when it starts to get cold outside. People run generators inside their house not knowing that incomplete combustion of the fuel used creates carbon monoxide as a by product. This intern deprives the people in the area of oxygen and they asphyxiate and die. Particle size matters when it comes to your health the bigger particles in the air can be coughed up or come out in your mucus. The particles that you have to worry about are the smaller particles. These can be so tiny that they are fractions smaller then a strand of hair. These get into the deeper part of your lungs and become trapped in your alveoli. This can cause scaring with prolonged exposure due to your body trying to break down the particle trapped in your lung. This leads to decreased lung capacity and can lead to diseases such as pneumonia. This is a lesser-known work hazard that people seem to not pay attention to and brush it off. This is mainly because these workers will not see the effects immediately after inhalation but rather years after the incident. So next time you go into a workplace or in your own home think of these things and see if they might be affecting you negatively.

what is the wheatstone bridge and how is it used in air sampling

The Wheatstone Bridge is a very interesting part of Gas sensors that occupational hygienists use in their field work. Industrial hygienists use these gas meters to find if there are any contaminants in the workplace. Some weigh a few pounds while others only weigh a few ounces. This may not seem like a big deal but it matters when you have to put them on worker and expect them to wear it for their entire shift. What you find more often time then not is these workers will lake them off and put them down someplace else. This gives the occupational hygienists wrong readings and therefore wrong data collected. Or they may still have the gas sensor on them but they will have tucked the hose into their pocket because they don’t like having the hose taped on their body. Because of this it is important that the occupational health hygienist checks up on the workers around an hour after placing it on them. If they don’t do thins they could waste the entire day. Anyway back to the bridge. Basically the circuit is what the device uses to detect the toxic compounds or element in the air. There is a part of the bridge that has a heating compound that reacts with the combustible gases that are being sucked into the contraption. This heats up the heating compound and causes a specific temperature that is correlated with a number or reading. This then tells you how much combustible gas is in that area. There are other sensors that essentially do the same things as the Wheatstone bridge. There are two big ones, one of which is named metal oxide semiconductor, and the second is thermal conductivity. The names are pretty self-explanatory. The metal oxide detects metals that have oxidized in the air while the thermal conductivity, which measures how well the air pumped in conducts heat.

How Particle size relates to resiratory system

A major component of occupational health and safety that if often overlooked is air pollution, primarily air particles that you unknowingly inhale in. the lungs are a complex organ with approximately 1500 miles of airwaves and 300 to 500 alveoli. These alveoli are located at the ends of the respiratory tree. These alveoli are responsible for gas exchanges in the body and are essential to oxygenate the blood. When there is air pollution these particles can become trapped in these sacks causing them to form scar tissue and causing it to become ever harder to preform their function. The smaller the particle is the harder it is to get rid of. This is because the smaller particles can travel farther unto the lung. The bigger particles can be coughed or sneezed out of your lungs. However, these natural ways to dispel foreign objects from your body don’t work for smaller particulates. Not only do you have to worry about inhaling solid matter but also water particles that are suspended in the air. This can cause diseases such as pneumonia, which can cause death. The people that are most at risk are mainly ones the work in conditions that produce a lot of dust, such as minors, or factories that produce a lot of sawdust just to name a few scenarios where people would be exposed to high levels of pollution. This being said workers are not the only ones that are at risk. Children are at risk as well as the elderly population. Side effects from inhaling particles can range widely. Some of them include life expectancy to be shortened by up to three years. Other side effects include lung cancer and low birth weights in women who are pregnant. One  side effect that is lesser known is the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack.

Botox

 

Botox comes from Clostridium Botulinum. This is widely accepted as the most poisonous substance in the world. Even though it is so lethal you can still find it in everyday foods such as honey. Because the babies are so little their bodies cannot fight the trace amounts of spores and can die from botulism, otherwise known as floppy baby syndrome. This is why people are told not to feed their babies honey until the age of 2. However, as you grow this dangerous substance can and is used cosmetically. In fact Botox is approved by the FDA and has been for a long time. The dose of Botox is measured in units and one patient should never be given more then 100 units.  .01cc of Botox is equal to 4 units to put that in prospective medically. Doses of Botox differ depending on the area of injection and also sex of the individual. This is because men tend to have larger muscles, thus needing more injection units or cc. Botox works by paralyzing the muscles that lie under the skin to prevent them from contracting and showing the wrinkles. The botulinum toxin works at a chemical level by inhibiting the release acetylcholine at the synaptic terminal. So without the presence of acetylcholine the muscle cannot make contractions. Most people use Botox around their face especially where the crows feet are located and on the forehead and between the eyebrows. However, it has been know to be administered in the armpits of patients that have chronic perspiration. This is because the botulinum toxin also can block gland functions as well.  Botox lasts on average for 3-4 months although for some the effects can last for up to 6 months. This varies on how often the person will try and flex the particular muscles that were inhibited with the injection of Botox.