bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A New Visible Albedo Normalization Method: Quasi-Lambertian Surface Adjustment
Authors: Zhuge Xiao-yong , Yu Fan , Wang Ye 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
A new visible (VIS; 0.55–0.9 μm) albedo normalization method, that is, the quasi-Lambertian surface adjustment (QLSA), is developed herein by using the geostationary meteorological satellite data and radiative transfer model. Taking the variation of relative locations between the sun, satellite, and clouds into account, the QLSA effectively reduces the inconsistencies in the VIS image brightness caused by the Lambertian surface approximation to cloud tops (i.e., the reflection characteristic is isotropic). The evaluation, using Chinese and Japanese geostationary satellite data, shows that the QLSA is more effective and accurate than three other albedo normalization methods currently in use. The new algorithm is applicable in regions with solar zenith angle and satellite zenith angle less than 60°, which, in the summertime, approximately corresponds to the time range from 0800 to 1600 local time (LT).
Respiratory biofeedback accuracy in chronic renal failure patients: a method comparison
Authors: Figueiredo Rogério Ramos , Castro Antonio AM , Napoleone Fernanda MG Gonzaga , Faray Leina , de Paula Júnior Alderico Rodrigues , Osório Rodrigo Alexis Lazo 
Published: January 2012

Objective: To analyse respiratory biofeedback effects on respiratory muscle strengthening in chronic renal failure patients. Design: Randomized controlled study. Setting: Nephrology and dialysis centre. Subjects and intervention: Forty-one end-stage renal patients on haemodialysis treatment were allocated into three groups: control ( n = 10), G-1 (inspiratory muscle training using Threshold IMT device; n = 16) and G-2 (biofeedback; n = 15) and given respiratory muscle training (three sessions/week for six weeks). Main measures: Forced vital capacity (FVC), expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) and maximal inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory (MEP) pressures were measured before and after the respiratory muscle training programme. Results: Both training methods were efficient since we found an increase after training in the FVC in the G-1 group (from 2.45 ± 0.17 to 2.85 ± 0.16; P = 0.001) and in the G-2 group (from 2.35 ± 0.19 to 2.55 ± 0.19; P = 0.007), in the FEV1 in G-1 (from 2.18 ± 0.16 to 2.46 ± 0.14; P = 0.01) and in G-2 (from 1.97 ± 0.17 to 2.20 ± 0.15; P < 0.0001), MIP in G-1 (from 70.63 ± 4.03 to 108.75 ± 7.41; P < 0.0001) and in G-2 (from 67.67 ± 5.02 to 96.33 ± 8.30; P < 0.001) and MEP in G-1 (from 73.13 ± 5.10 to 82.50 ± 6.74; P = 0.007) and in G-2 (from 67.67 ± 5.41 to 76.00 ± 4.29; P = 0.002). Conclusions: Respiratory biofeedback is efficient as a respiratory muscle training modality for patients with chronic renal failure.
Position of the Forearm and VDU Work
Authors: Aarås Arne 
Published: January 2012

Workload when using a mouse as an input device was examined in a laboratory study. Two positions of the forearm were compared. One mouse gave an almost neutral position whereas the traditional mouse required a pronated one. The muscle load was recorded by electromyography (EMG) from the extensor digitorum communis, extensor carpi ulnaris, and trapezius muscles. The muscle load of the forearm was significantly less when using a mouse operated with an almost neutral position of the forearm compared with a pronated one. In a prospective field study, a significant reduction was reported regarding pain intensity and frequency for wrist/hand, forearm, shoulder and neck after an intervention with the new mouse (p<0.009). All the participants reported pain at commencement. The control group using the traditional mouse reported only small changes in the pain level (p>0.24).
Bringing Ergonomics to the Design of a Behavioural Care Unit
Authors: Barnett Jacqueline B. 
Published: January 2012

The application of ergonomics is important when considering the built environment. In order to create an environment where form follows function, a detailed understanding of the tasks performed by the individuals who will live and work in the facility is required. Early involvement in the project is key to maximizing the benefit of ergonomics. At Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, this early intervention was embraced during the design process of a behavioural care unit for aggressive patients. The ergonomist was involved in three phases of design; user needs analysis, block schematics and detailed design. The user needs and characteristics were established using a combination of focus groups, interviews, direct observation, task analysis and critique of current working environments. The challenge was to present the information to the design team in a useful manner. The format chosen was a modification of Userfit (Poulson 1996) that outlined the various characteristics of the patient group and the design consequences with “what does this mean for me” statements. During the block schematics phase an iterative design process was used to ensure that the ergonomic principles and the user needs were incorporated into the design. Ergonomic input was used in determining the room sizes and layout and to ensure work processes were considered. Simple mock-ups and anthropometric data assisted in illustrating the need for design changes. Examples that highlight the areas of greatest impact of ergonomic intervention include the patient bathrooms, showers and tub room. Significant changes were made to the design to improve the safety of the work and living space of the end users. One of the greatest challenges was having an appreciation for the individual goals of the team members. Ensuring there was adequate space for equipment and staff often resulted in recommendations for increased space. This in turn would increase the cost of the project. The architect and, later in the project, the engineer had goals of bringing the project in on budget. The final design was very much a team effort and truly die result of an iterative process. The sum of the individual contributions could not match the combined efforts. It was only through the ergonomic contributions in this early design phase that the needs of the staff, patients and families could be so well represented. The success of the iterative process provides the foundation for bringing ergonomics considerations into the early design stages of future projects.
Integrated Management System (IMS) in Small and Medium Enterprises
Authors: Rentzsch Manfred , Ameli H. R. 
Published: January 2012

The Integrated Management System is a method which, when properly employed, provides for an operating result that is economically effective in the broader sense, socially and environmentally compatible in terms of design and can be made outwardly visible on the basis of the products and can be permanently documented. Such success is brought about if the management system not superimposed onto the company in “formal” terms, but rather is established as an integrated system and, as such, imbued with life by company personnel. From the “inside out” means that initiatives are generated from within the process and/or the activity and the performance goals of company management involved in quality assurance, environment protection and industrial safety are correspondingly oriented to this end. The scientific basis for this is provided by the theory on psychological regulation of work activities. Management is understood, on the one hand, as a institution and, on the other, in the functional sense as a control process at the function levels of leadership, planning, production, personnel, technology and resources. The performance goals mentioned can be effectively realized via interactive actions within the individual function levels. When it comes to the establishment of an IMS, inclusion of the employees involved in the process is an essential feature that is required for continuous improvement. The methodological procedure is described and the results obtained thereby are presented on the basis of examples from the metalworking industry.
Training Programs: Towards Transformation of Work Situation
Authors: Wendelen Elisabeth 
Published: January 2012

This paper discusses an experience of training in ergonomic work analysis (EWA). Two ergonomists of the National Institute for Research on Working Conditions (INRCT, in French) trained a group of employees in the Brussels plant of a multinational company. This training took place after having checked about fifty VDU (video display unit) workplaces. None of these 50 VDU users was aware of the possibilities of adjusting his or her specific workplace. The manager and the union decided to train one or two persons in each department, to enable them to answer minor questions of their unit's employees relating to adjusting their own workplace. It was agreed that more difficult problems raised by the employees would be transferred to external experts. The paper seeks to analyse the impact of this experience on the VDU workers: are they able to change their working conditions? What exactly did change? To conclude, some conditions necessary for the success of such training programmes are highlighted.
Effects of Age and Expertise on Pilot Performance: Support for Performance Based Retirement Criteria
Authors: Vincenzi Dennis A. , Mouloua Mustapha , Koonce Jefferson M. 
Published: January 2012

At any given chronological age, an individual may appear to be older or younger in various areas or aspects of aging. Ambiguity of age as a reliable indicator of gerontological changes has led to the derivation of the concept of functional age, which accommodates the fact that persons age at different rates along different dimensions (Gerathewohl, 1977; Gerathewohl, 1978a). Four groups of participants were required to conduct this study; young pilots, young non-pilots, elderly pilots, and elderly non-pilots. Our research found a great deal of variability within all four groups. Although differences due to age clearly exist, the results of this research indicate that experience does matter with regard to pilot performance. Experience as a pilot appears to mediate performance and offset some of the deleterious detriments that occur as a result of aging.
The Relation between Neuroendocrine Reactivity and Recovery from Different Natures of Work, Subjective need for Recovery, and Health Status
Authors: Sluiter Judith K. , Frings-Dresen Monique H.W. , van der Beek Allard J. 
Published: January 2012

A field study was performed to assess the relations between nature of work and work characteristics, neuroendocrine reactivity and recovery, and health status. The urinary excretion of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol was examined in fifty-nine male workers between 25 and 55 years of age during five consecutive days; three working days and two days off-work. The workers differed in the nature of their main work demands, i.e. mental, mental/physical, and physical work. Personal information and subjective perception of work characteristics, need for recovery, and health status were assessed by self-report through validated scales in a questionnaire. Multi-level analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to assess aforementioned relations. A main effect of nature of work was found in the neuroendocrine reactivity during and recovery from work in which the combined mental/physical group showed the least favourable reactions. Overall, half of the variation in subjective need for recovery and 54% of the variation in the level of health complaints was explained by a model with job demands, social relations at work, BMI, age, as well as by neuroendocrine measures of adrenaline and cortisol.
An Ergonomic Evaluation of the Effects of Veiling Reflection on the Human Visibility
Authors: Park Jae-Min , Lee Sang-Do , Kim Young-Sook 
Published: January 2012

Man perceive and react around him through the five senses. Also man give rise to the human sensibility and maintain his emotion. This study doesn't limit working environment to VDT environment, but considers the universal working environment acquiring information by eyesight stimulation. In this respect, designed and made is experimental equipment such as an external light for veiling reflection, visual target suggesting system, and visual target considered luminance contrast level. And reading the visual target is selected as work after excerpting the editorials from daily newspapers in Korean and Chinese letter and making target for experimental condition. In case of forming an abnormal veiling reflection we consider the form; a vertical (25%, 50%, 75%)and a horizontal (25%, 50%, 75%). The results from the subjective evaluation are analyzed by SD (Semantic Differential) methodology of 5 point scale for visibility and nuisance when an abnormal veiling reflection forms on target. In addition, the results of the objective evaluation are suggested by measuring and analyzing EEG (Electroencephalogram) of bio-signal for visual sensitivity. The results of this study can apply to basic data which create a guideline of a visual operation. In particular, it can be designed as an illumination environment concerning an ergonomic factor on visual operations, mental stress such as a visual inspection operation, visual information search operation, etc. As a result, we can expect to reduce the visual nuisance and contribute to the improvement of the performance and the uplift of the competitive power.
Assessment of Muscular Activity at Low Level - Experience from Whole-Day Emg Field Recordings
Authors: Hansson G.-Å. , Asterland P. , Skerfving S. 
Published: January 2012

Musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and shoulders is a major problem for both the individual and the society. The preventive actions have, so fare, seldom been successful, and further research on the relation between muscular activity and disorders are needed. It has been hypothesised that, even for the lowest activity of a muscle, the same fibres may always be activated (the Cinderella hypothesis). Thus, the relative duration of muscular rest is of special interest to study. Moreover, during prolonged activity at low levels, there might be a rotation of the activation between motor units, which coincides with the occurrence of short periods of EMG silence (gaps). Hence, whole-day electromyographic recordings (EMG), especially from the trapezius muscle, and characterisation of the low-level activity during real work, is most relevant in studies of neck and shoulder disorders. However, since the signal is in the μV range and with a wide frequency content (≈10 to 1,000 Hz), it is hard to acquire and certify high quality data. The quality may be improved by use of preamplifiers and ambulatory data loggers. Moreover, by calculating, and screening, the power spectra of the EMG, the mean power frequency and an artefact index, remaining possible artefacts may be detected. By inspecting the digitised (raw) EMG, these possible artefacts are then considered, and if appropriate, rejected, thus assuring a high quality of the data. In a study of cleaners and office workers - where we considered the statistical, rather than the physiological, properties of muscular rest and gap frequency - the optimal criteria for gap duration and threshold level were practically the same as the ones earlier used. As a general measure of task load, muscular rest is more suitable than gap frequency, and normalisation to a submaximal, rather than a maximal, reference contraction may be preferable.
Pedestrian Slipping - A Risk Assessment Based Approach
Authors: Thorpe S , Lemon P 
Published: January 2012

Pedestrian slipping involves a number of factors including the nature of the floor and whether it is contaminated, the type and condition of footwear and environmental conditions as well as the physical and mental capabilities of the individual who slips. It is the interaction of all these different factors which will determine whether a slip accident is likely to occur. This paper will develop a risk assessment based approach to slipping so as to give due regard to all the important contributory factors. Worked examples of risk assessments will be presented to demonstrate ways of assessing and controlling the slip potential of any given situation. These examples will be used to show that quick, easy and inexpensive interventions are often capable of significantly reducing the likelihood of a slipping accident.
Under the Constraints of Societal Changes, Media, Ethics and a More Top-Down Approach: What Does Prevention Research Have to Offer the Working Environment?
Authors: André J.C. 
Published: January 2012

The rapid change in the world of work requires permanent revision of research strategies in the field of occupational risk prevention. These must take the following factors into account: - technological development and development of linked organisations, - the reinforcement of the relations between individuals and their “bodies”, - the shift from the causal to the probable not to say the possible with regard to increasingly multifactorial occupational risks, - exploration of the effects of standard deviations (and not only statistical averages) on the harmful consequences of work, - links between work and the environment.
Cognition of Hazard Levels with Safety Signs and Pictograms in Korea
Authors: Lim Hyeon K. , Kim Dong H. , Ko Byung L. 
Published: January 2012

In Korea, most pictograms and sign words were mainly adopted from foreign countries, so that it is now in doubt whether they are in accordance with cognitive characteristics of the Korean people who communicate in their own unique language, Han-Geul. Thus, this research was aimed to investigate cognitive usability of foreign safety signs and pictograms now being used in Korea. For that purpose, a set of safety signs was randomly presented to the Korean people, and their cognition of hazard levels were rated by virtue of subjective scales and selective alternatives. In addition, safety sign words written in various colors were shown to the subjects, and their meanings as well as preference were asked. According to the results, correct cognition rates to most pictograms were lower than the acceptance criterion of ISO, 66%. Out of the illustrated pictograms, only one sign standing for ‘No-Smoking’ was acceptable. In the meanwhile, the higher the hazard level, the lower subjects' cognition of the contingency. Besides, results of the Quantification Method showed that Koreans associated ‘Danger’ with colors of Red, Orange, or Yellow subsequently, whereas ‘Warning’ with Red or Purple. Consequently, it is concluded that safety sign words and pictograms now being used in Korea fail to transmit hazard levels to the Korean people appropriately, and that it is quite urgent to develop a brand new set of safety sign words and pictograms based upon emotional characteristics of the Korean people, in Korea.
On Site Analysis of the Muscular Load during Three Car Assembly Tasks
Authors: Seghers J. , Ponnet H. , Spaepen A. , Moons K. 
Published: January 2012

This study describes the on site analysis of the muscular load during car assembly operations which involve opening or closing the bonnet. Car assembly involves 21 of these operations but three were selected as representative for analysis of muscular load of the lower back and shoulder muscles. Each cycle of a task lasted about 50 seconds, but was subdivided into a number of subtasks. Subjects were asked to report the most annoying and most strenuous subtasks. The first task was mounting the support bar for the bonnet of the car, and was subdivided into eight smaller operations. The second task was mounting the windscreen wipers and was divided into 6 subtasks. The third task, mainly involving adjusting the lights, was divided into five parts. Two subjective screening methods (NIOSH 1991, RULA) and two objective methods (EMG processing and video digitalisation) were used for data analysis. Due to the limitations of the NIOSH 1991 equation in these situations, we determined a Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) of 12 kg. Although the weight of the bonnet did not exceed the RWL, varying between 10.5 and 11.5 kg depending on the quantity of noise-insulation material, this did not guarantee acceptable postures or movements. The results from RULA indicated that work postures had a harmful effect on the musculoskeletal system. Electromyographic registrations indicated that the shoulder muscles (M. Trapezius and M. Deltoideus) work more dynamically relative to the back muscles (Erector Spinae bilaterally). There were high dynamic peak values for Deltoideus and Trapezius muscles, but long periods of static effort for the low back musculature. Both types of muscle activity are damaging for the musculoskeletal system, and this was confirmed by employees' subjective complaints regarding the back and shoulders. There were clear differences between the three tasks analysed. Peak values for the first task (mounting the support bar for the bonnet) varied between 60 and 85% of the MVC bilaterally for the shoulder muscles. A static load of 15 to 40% MVC was exerted on the low back musculature. For assembly of the windscreen wipers, effort of the shoulder musculature was relatively low (50% MVC) but there were peaks in activity for the Erector Spinae muscles (80–90% MVC). There were relatively few peak efforts while opening the bonnet during adjustment of the lights in the third task, with some above 70% MVC in the back muscles. For each of the tasks analysed, recommendations were given to the company to reduce the risks of back and shoulder complaints, addressing the arrangement of the work area and how the tasks are carried out. We will monitor the applications of our recommendations in future research.
Changes in Quality of Life and Health following Preventive and Rehabilitation Physical Training
Authors: Grunnet Kai 
Published: January 2012

The aim of the project was to improve shoulder-neck-back health, give an understanding for coping with pain and keep the participants in the workforce. 126 participants followed an intervention (physical training and relaxation) 2 hours twice weekly for 3 month. Before and after the training period a questionnaire was filled in with questions of among other life style, self-rated health and symptoms from muscles and joints. The main results were a drop in pain within the last week in 8 of out of 9 regions of the body, decrease in reports of sickness and improvement in self-rated health after the intervention as well as self-rated health compared to last year.