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The physical dimensions of the workplace are important in industrial workstation design, as even small changes can impact worker productivity and occupational health and safety. A new model has been developed to describe the inner boundary of the normal horizontal working area and to determine the normal horizontal working areas. The generalized and proposed models were then used to compare the normal horizontal working areas.

Wastewater remediation technologies are rapidly evolving to meet the increasing water demand. The need to develop efficient, low-cost, and simplistic strategies has motivated researchers to explore newer fields of material science. Owing to high thermal stability, porosity, and accessible functionalities, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are finding numerous applications in the domain of wastewater treatment and resource recovery. The application-oriented development of MOFs has been accepted as a novel approach for the removal and recovery of metals from waste solutions. The desired properties in MOFs could be achieved by adopting suitable synthesis or post-synthesis functionalization strategies. Here, we have reviewed differently functionalized MOFs and their application in the removal of metals from waste solutions. We have also discussed the application of MOFs in the pre-concentration and recovery of actinides from seawater. Conclusions regarding the future scope of employing MOFs in the domain of environmental remediation have been included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the design of an industrial workstation, ergonomics guidelines are presented in a systematic manner. The guidelines provide a conceptual basis for a good workstation design. In a real world design situation, the implementation of the recommendations or guidelines needs the matching of the population anthropometry with the various components of the workstation. Adequate posture, work height, normal and maximum working areas, lateral clearance and visual requirement are determined for the intended user population. The procedure for determining the workstation dimensions and layout has been explained. The importance of building a mock-up of the designed workstation and its evaluation with representative subjects is emphasized. A case problem (supermarket checkstand workstation) is discussed to illustrate the workstation design procedure. Keywords: workstation design parameters, workstation dimensions, ergonomics guidelines, engineering anthropometry

Computer-aided human modelling programs can be effectively employed to analyze the fit of a worker to a workstation. The analysis is done within a three-dimensional computer graphics atmosphere. Six representative programs were chosen to exhibit the present condition of progress such as Cyberman, Combiman, Crew, Chief, Jack, Sammie and Mannequin. The programs can help the user to choose the most suitable workstation design from a list of options.

Nanofiltration (NF) with adsorptive membrane technologies are one of the most promising methods for the efficient treatment of industrial wastewater having toxic heavy metal ions. The present investigation deals with the fabrication of nanocomposite Fe3O4@MXene membranes by self‐assembly of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) and two‐dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets on the surface of cellulose acetate (CA) base membrane. The Fe3O4 NPs were found to be uniformly dispersed on the MXene sheet structure and thus expanded the 2D nanochannel of MXene. The water flux and the removal ratio of heavy metal ions by this nanocomposite membrane were found to improve significantly, compared to the virgin MXene membrane. Under the synergistic effect of layer sieving and the adsorption ability, the composite NF membrane was found to achieve a maximum of 63.2% for Cu2+, 64.1% for Cd2+ and 70.2% for Cr6+ removal from wastewater, respectively. Moreover, Fe3O4@MXene membrane also exhibited good recycling ability after washing by HCl solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile method to prepare 141Ce based fiducial marker sources was developed to put forward an alternate to 99mTc markers routinely used during nuclear imaging procedures. Cerium oxide microspheres were prepared as source substrate by 'internal gelation process'. 'State-of- the art' analyzing tools were used for characterizing the substrate. Neutron irradiation of microspheres in 'Dhruva' reactor was optimized. Post irradiation and quality evaluation, the sources were enclosed in an in-house developed portable device. 141Ce sources containing 37–59 MBq (1.0–1.6 mCi) of 141Ce were supplied to three nuclear imaging centres. Newly developed 141Ce fiducial markers could successfully supplement real time SPECT imaging procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zirconium phosphosilicate (ZPS) has been prepared by gelation route for its ion exchange applications. ZPS was characterised by X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transformed Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) and surface area analysis. K+ ion exchange behaviour was studied by pH titration. The material was found to extract Pu selectively over U from different mineral acids. Pu sorption behaviour on ZPS packed column was also been carried out. The pore volume was evaluated as 0.1336 mL g−1. The FTIR revealed the presence of –OH and PO43− groups on the surface of the material, while the SEM image indicates the irregular morphology and size of the sorbent. Different isotherm model: Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin–Rodushkevich and Temkin were used to understand the nature of sorption, while Lagergren 1st order, Intraparticle diffusion and pseudo 2nd order kinetics were used for modelling sorption kinetics. Suitable elution method was used for quantitative stripping of plutonium from sorbent. The radiolytic stability of the sorbent was evaluated upto 1500 kGy. A comparative evaluation of the sorption process has also been carried out with that reported in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional characterization of plutonium contaminated neoprene gauntlets and cellulosic materials are highly difficult not only due to the non‐geometric and unconventional nature of the sample, but also the radio‐toxicity associated with them. An analytical method based on direct current arc atomic emission spectrometric (D.C.Arc AES) technique was developed for direct determination of 22 metallic impurities in contaminated neoprene gauntlets and cellulose samples. The samples were incinerated to powder form and analyzed against seven point standardization using graphite standards. The interference free best performed emission lines of the analytes were chosen as the analytical lines for establishing the calibration curves required for their estimation. The linear dynamic range, sensitivity, detection limit, precession associated with these analytical lines were evaluated in the graphite matrix. Energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry has also been employed for comparative evaluation of the analytical performance of the developed AES based method as well as analysis of the actual samples. D.C.Arc AES based method was found to have 20% precession, while that for EDXRF was 10%. However, elements with lower Z values and lower concentration can only be determined by AES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylenimine (PEI), a cationic, hydrophilic flexible polymer has been incorporated into the polyamide (PA) skin layer through an interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction. The modified thin-film composite (TFC) membranes display improved forward osmosis performance: enhancement in water permeability and antifouling characteristics. The incorporation of PEI into the skin layer has been evidenced by different characterization techniques; FTIR for modification of surface functionalities, zeta potential for surface charge, water contact angle for hydrophilicity of the surface, SEM and AFM for surface morphologies including surface roughness, XPS for surface attachment of heteroatoms and their relative composition. PEI was found to induce a positive zeta potential, high degree of hydrophilicity and high factional free volume into the active skin layer. The increase in the relative composition of PEI in the active skin layer was found to decrease the surface roughness and the skin layer thickness. An optimized PEI composition showed significantly enhanced water permeability, salt rejection and fouling resistance in FO and pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plutonium in the form of oxide is stored in plastic vials and bottles during its analysis for trace metal assay. Due to radiation damage and moisture, small amount of oxide samples were found to be adhering to surface of vials/bottles. This required methods for safe disposal. Methods involving wet chemical and dry cleaning procedures were evaluated for effective removal of sticking α active plutonium oxide powder from these vials for their safe disposal. Dry cleaning method for removal of plutonium activity was found to be effective method for disposal of storage vial, while wet chemical method was found to be more suitable for removal of plutonium from damaged PVC bottles. The recovered Pu was checked for chemical purity for 24 analytes using glove box adopted high resolution inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]