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result(s) for
"Automobile mechanics."
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I want to be a mechanic
\"I want to be a mechanic gives young children a realistic insight into the working day of car mechanics. Easy-to-read captions and color photographs of women and men from different cultures help children understand what's involved in being a mechanic. Young readers learn to respect the importance of doing a job well and appreciate the contributions these workers make to our life and the world around us\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Cardiovascular risk factors and kidney function among automobile mechanic and their association with serum heavy metals in Southwest Nigeria: A cross-sectional study
The burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is huge due to its associated morbidity, mortality and adverse socio-economic impact. Environmental pollution as a risk factor contributes significantly to the burden of CVD, especially in the low and middle income countries. One of the effective strategies to reduce CVD burden is to prevent or detect cardiovascular risk factors early in at-risk population. This study determined some cardiovascular risk factors, kidney function, and their association with heavy metals among automobile mechanics. This was a cross-sectional study involving 162 automobile mechanics and 81 age and sex matched controls. Serum levels of lead, cadmium and some cardiovascular risks were assessed and compared in the two groups. Associations between serum lead, cadmium and some cardiovascular risks were determined using correlation analysis. P value of <0.05 was taken as significant. The mean ages of the automobile mechanics and controls were 47.27±9.99 years and 48.94±10.34 years, respectively. The prevalence of elevated serum cadmium was significantly higher in the automobile mechanics (25.9% vs 7.9%; p = <0.001). The significant cardiovascular risk factors in the automobile mechanics vs controls were elevated total cholesterol (32.1% vs 18.5%; p = 0.017), hyperuricemia (20.4% vs 1.2%; p = <0.001), elevated blood glucose (16.0% vs 4.9% p = 0.013); and alcohol use (55.1% vs 30.0%; p = 0.001). Among the automobile mechanics, there were significant positive correlations between serum cadmium, atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) (p = 0.024; r = 0.382) and triglyceride (p = 0.020; r = 0.391). Significant positive correlation was found between serum lead and neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) (p = <0.001; r = 0.329). There were significant positive correlation between serum cadmium level, AIP (p = 0.016; r = 0.373) and TG (p = 0.004; r = 0.439); between serum lead and NGAL in all the study participants (p = 0.005; r = 0.206). Automobile mechanics have notable exposure to heavy metals and a higher prevalence of some cardiovascular risk factors. Health education and sensitisation as well as policies that would regulate exposure of persons to heavy metals should be implemented in Nigeria.
Journal Article
Storm cursed
Mercy Thompson has opened her garage again and is trying to get back to normal. Of course, now that the Tri-Cities are viewed as neutral ground, all kinds of supernatural beings are heading her way. With her mate Adam Hauptman's firm involved in providing security to a top-secret meeting with the US government and the fae, Mercy is tapped to handle everything else--including reports of a strange witch in town.
Book
Good Money After Bad
The civil complaint was the subject of an article by Senior Editor Mark Friedman in last week's Arkansas Business, and the fact that it was one of the most-read stories on arkansasbusiness.com in quite a while suggests that readers found the subject as compelling as I did. A multimillionaire could certainly afford to help out a trusted employee's son (far better than my mother could afford to spend thousands on a car that was worth less than the repair bill and still didn't run). According to the lawsuit, Nelson kept coming back for more, with eventual repayment of the earlier debt always dependent on getting more money right away.
Journal Article
Bad neighbors
\"Agnes Blythe and her glamorous Aunt Effie must take a break from restoring their inn to rake in the clues when a local mechanic is murdered\"--Amazon.com.
Book
Hazard quotient, microbial diversity, and plant composition of spent crude oil-polluted soil
Background
The present work assesses the concentration of some heavy metal, plant species composition, and microbial diversity of spent crude oil-polluted soil from electric generator plant house, auto mechanic workshop, bakery, and auto spare part shops in four local governments areas (Egor, Ikpoba-Okha, Oredo, and Ovia North) in Edo State, Southern Nigeria.
Results
Hazard quotient (HQ) of heavy metals varied in all the spent crude oil-polluted soil evaluated in the study. The HQ of heavy metals from auto mechanic workshop had the highest values for Cr (2.19), Mn (0.0965), Zn (4.1108), Fe (9.32015), and Cd (0.0155). The most frequent bacterial and fungal species found in all 16 sites were
Bacillus subtilis
(93.75%) and
Aspergillus niger
(100.0%) respectively. Auto spare part shops in Oredo had a bacterial count of 1.0 × 10
5
CFU/g while the bacteria count around power generator plants in Egor had a bacteria count of 1.71 × 10
5
CFU/g. Some of the plant species identified around all the sites include
Acanthospermum hispidum
,
Alternanthera repens
,
Axonopus compressus
,
Cyperus esculentus
,
Eleusine indica
,
Paspalum scrobiculatum
, and
Tridax procumbens.
Conclusion
Spent crude oil pollution of the soil led to high amounts of heavy metal in the soil. However, the presence of higher plants and variable diversity and richness of microorganisms found in the soil are likely contributing to the remediation of the polluted soil.
Journal Article
Assessment of occupational exposure to lead among workers engaged in a city bus garage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study
Background
Lead is one of the most nonessential toxic heavy metal agents found in automotive garages. The occupational exposure of garage workers to lead commonly poses acute and chronic health risks that can be prevented. In Ethiopia, there have been limited studies on lead exposure among garage workers, who overemphasize exposure to lead. This study aimed to assess occupational blood lead levels and associated factors in garage workers using a cross-sectional comparative design.
Methods
A comparative cross-sectional study design was used to compare the occupational blood lead levels of 36 randomly selected garage workers and 34 office workers who were matched by age and sex. Blood specimens were collected by trained medical laboratory experts. The collected blood samples were tested in a certified laboratory using a microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry (MP-AES) device at a wavelength of 405.78 nm. Excel and SPSS Version 26 were used for data management and analysis, respectively.
Results
The mean (SD) age of the exposed group was 39.0 (7.5) years, whereas the mean age of the unexposed group was 38.0 (6.1) years. The occupational mean (SD) blood-lead-level in the exposed groups was 29.7 (12.2) µg/dl, compared to 14.8 (9.9) µg/dl among the unexposed groups. The mean blood-lead level among the exposed workers was significantly different from that among the unexposed workers (
P
< 0.01). Of all the study participants, only 22.2% of the exposed groups had blood lead levels higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of 40 µg/dl. The main significant predictors of occupational blood-lead-level exposure among workers were extra working hours, service years, and having a previous (prior) employment history in a garage. The occupations of the two groups did not significantly differ in terms of blood-lead levels (
p
> 0.05).
Conclusions
The BLL of the Garage workers was significantly greater than that of the Non-Garage workers. Hence, it is advised that garage management should encourage workers to use exposure prevention methods, such as washing their hands before eating and taking showers after the completion of work, by providing regular occupational safety training.
Journal Article
Digital measurement of hands-on performance? Ecological validation of a computer-based assessment of automotive repair skills
We investigated the ecological validity of performance measures from a computer-based assessment tool that utilises scripted video vignettes. The intended purpose of this tool is to assess the maintenance and repair skills of automotive technician apprentices, complementing traditional hands-on assessment formats from the German journeymen’s exams. We hypothesise that the ability to correctly judge repair actions shown in videos is a good predictor of the ability to perform corresponding actions in hands-on scenarios. Apprentices in the third year of vocational training carried out repairs on real cars or car systems, while experts rated their performance. After this, they worked on our computer-based tests, which utilise videos of very similar repairs. The correlation between video judgement and hands-on performance was lower than expected for most repair actions as well as for overall scores, indicating insufficient ecological validity of the test score interpretations. However, the findings are promising for developing future tests, as the results for some repair actions indicate it is generally possible to develop ecologically valid video-based items focusing on hands-on skills. We discuss the results in the light of a validation framework that combines validity evidence from different sources for the same assessment tool. Finally, we hope our findings contribute to a broader discussion about the psychometric quality of exams.
Journal Article
Estimation of personal exposure to asbestos of brake repair workers
Exposure assessments are key tools to conduct epidemiological studies. Since 2010, 28 riveters from 18 brake repair shops with different characteristics and workloads were sampled for asbestos exposure in Bogotá, Colombia. Short-term personal samples collected during manipulation activities of brake products, and personal samples collected during non-manipulation activities were used to calculate 103 8-h TWA PCM-equivalent personal asbestos concentrations. The aims of this study are to identify exposure determinant variables associated with the 8-h TWA personal asbestos concentrations among brake mechanics, and propose different models to estimate potential asbestos exposure of brake mechanics in an 8-h work-shift. Longitudinal-based multivariate linear regression models were used to determine the association between personal asbestos concentrations in a work-shift with different variables related to work tasks and workload of the mechanics, and some characteristics of the shops. Monte Carlo simulations were used to estimate the 8-h TWA PCM-Eq personal asbestos concentration in work-shifts that had manipulations of brake products or cleaning activities of the manipulation area, using the results of the sampling campaigns. The simulations proposed could be applied for both current and retrospective studies to determine personal asbestos exposures of brake mechanics, without the need of sampling campaigns or historical data of air asbestos concentrations.
Journal Article