Visually deficient working conditions and reduced work performance in office workers: Is it mediated by visual discomfort?

IntroductionThe main purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate whether visual discomfort acts as a mediating factor between perceived visual ergonomic working conditions and self-rated visual performance among office workers who carry out administrative tasks and computer-based work at the Swedish Tax Agency.MethodsA questionnaire was sent to 94 office workers addressing: 1) perceived visual quality of the visual display units; 2) prevalence of eye symptoms; and 3) self-rated visual performance. Eighty-six persons (54 women (63%), 31 men (36%), and 1 of unspecified sex) answered the questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis investigated the association between visual ergonomic working conditions and visual performance, both with and without visual discomfort as a mediator.ResultsThe group mean of the Indexed survey questions indicated a reasonably good quality of visual ergonomic working conditions, a relative absence of eye symptoms, and acceptable self-rated visual performance. Results from multiple regression analysis showed a significant association between perceived visual ergonomic working conditions and self-rated visual performance (r² = 0.30, β = 0.327, p < 0.01). When visual discomfort was used as a mediator, the association between perceived visual ergonomic working conditions and self-rated visual performance remained the same (r² = 0.32, β = 0.315, p < 0.01).DiscussionIt was remarkable to discover that self-rated visual performance was independent of visual discomfort. Possible explanations include exposure factors not included in the current study, such as dry air and sensory irritation in the eyes, psychosocial stress, time spent performing near work activities, or time exposed to visually deficient working conditions.Relevance to industryThe strong connection between satisfaction with visual ergonomic working conditions and productivity in this study has implications for workplace profitability and staff satisfaction. If productivity is enhanced by better visual ergonomic working conditions, then managers of workplaces may be able to improve work outcomes by optimizing the physical work environment.     

奥钢联板坯铸机驱动力报警问题的分析及改进

浇铸过程中，驱动力报警会导致紧急停浇甚至滞坯事故发生。为防止事故发生，通常采用降速、强冷等措施，但降速造成成本浪费，强冷又产生裂纹等质量缺陷，两者都难以满足生产需要。通过对铸机的各项参数对比分析，找到影响驱动力报警的主要原因为辊缝异常，轻压下模型参数、冷却工艺设置不合理等，通过调整二冷工艺、优化模型参数、加强轻压下区域扇形段辊缝维护，可以达到明显降低驱动力、消除报警的目的，从而保证连铸生产稳定。     

Microwave-assisted combustion synthesis of ZnAl2O4 and ZnO nanostructure particles for photocatalytic wastewater treatment

ZnAl₂O₄ and ZnO nanostructure particles and in situ crystallization of zinc aluminate and zinc oxide coating layers on sintered α-Al₂O₃ and γ-Al₂O₃ granules by the microwave-assisted combustion method were investigated. For powders, the effects of solution pH value and for coated samples the influence of support type on the structure, microstructure, and photocatalytic activity of powders were studied. Results showed that variation of synthesis pH value caused to considerable change in agglomeration, specific surface area, obtaining up to 88 and 92% yields for zinc aluminate and zinc oxide nanoparticles, respectively. γ-alumina granules were more appropriate supports than the α-alumina ones because of the better photocatalytic activities and lower extent of the attritions for both zinc aluminate and zinc oxide coating layers.     

Texture Feature Extraction Method for Ground Nephogram Based on Contourlet and the Power Spectrum Analysis Algorithm

It is important to extract texture feature from the ground-base cloud image for cloud type automatic detection. In this paper, a new method is presented to capture the contour edge, texture and geometric structure of cloud images by using Contourlet and the power spectrum analysis algorithm. More abundant texture information is extracted. Cloud images can be obtained a multiscale and multidirection decomposition. The coefficient matrix from Contourlet transform of ground nephogram is calculated. The energy, mean and variance characteristics calculated from coefficient matrix are composed of the feature information. The frequency information of the data series from the feature vector values is obtained by the power spectrum analysis. Then Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier is used to classify according to the frequency information of the trend graph of data series. It is shown that altocumulus and stratus with different texture frequencies can be effectively recognized and further subdivided the types of clouds.     

A New NTRU-Type Public-Key Cryptosystem over the Binary Field

As the development of cloud computing and the convenience of wireless sensor netowrks, smart devices are widely used in daily life, but the security issues of the smart devices have not been well resolved. In this paper, we present a new NTRU-type public-key cryptosystem over the binary field. Specifically, the security of our scheme relies on the computational intractability of an unbalanced sparse polynomial ratio problem (DUSPR). Through theoretical analysis, we prove the correctness of our proposed cryptosystem. Furthermore, we implement our scheme using the NTL library, and conduct a group of experiments to evaluate the capabilities and consuming time of encryption and decryption. Our experiments result demonstrates that the NTRU-type public-key cryptosystem over the binary field is relatively practical and effective.     

新时代长江鱼类多样性保护的思考

长江是我国第一大河流,是世界生物多样性的热点区域,也是我国鱼类多样性最高的河流之一。在介绍长江鱼类主要生态习性生境条件的基础上,分析了导致鱼类多样性下降的主要因素——生境丧失和过度捕捞,并简要总结了目前已采取的保护措施及存在的问题,提出了关于新时期长江鱼类多样性保护的思考与建议:①建立以流域管理机构牵头,相关部门和地方共同组建流域生态保护机制;②有计划开展支流及通江湖泊的生态恢复,使支流的小水电逐步退出,使原本的通江湖泊恢复自然江湖关系;③提高民众环保意识,积极建立全流域禁捕机制和休闲垂钓机制,并让垂钓者成为渔政的管理者和监督者。     

淮河入江水道行洪能力分析

入江水道是淮河下游最大的泄洪河道,承担着淮河上中游70%以上的洪水泄入长江。根据1961—2018年大洪水期间的实测资料,利用水位流量法计算分析入江水道的泄洪能力和防洪能力。结果表明:因历史客观条件限制以及4个梯级控制河段整治的难度与复杂性,在不同时期各控制河段的行洪能力呈现各自不同的特点;经过多年持续有效治理,河道行洪能力整体得到提高;由近年来实测资料推算,各控制河段的行洪能力基本达到设计要求。对入江水道行洪能力的分析为淮河下游区的防汛抗洪和降低特大洪水威胁提供借鉴和参考,对区域经济社会又好又快发展具有现实意义。     

读懂衡器的最大允许误差

本文主要讨论衡器的检定分度数能否大于传感器的最大检定分度数nmax,这是一直困扰大家和争论不休的问题。作者由分析最大允许误差mpe本质入手,指出mpe是人为规定的误差,不是传感器实际的物理特性。通过理论分析得出的对单只传感器的衡器,n≤nmax和v≥vmin的误差限原则是不能违背的。对于四只传感器的衡器,不受上述误差限原则限制。     

适用于“一步酸溶法”生产氧化铝工艺中稀释料浆的高分子絮凝剂的合成

为达到"一步酸溶法"生产氧化铝工艺中稀释料浆在高温、高酸度工况下进行固液高效分离的目的,以丙烯酰胺(AM)与阳离子(DMDAAC)为共聚单体,通过水溶液聚合法合成了阳离子聚丙烯酰胺(CPAM)絮凝剂。以转化率和相对分子质量为目标,通过单因素分析法确定了最优的合成工艺条件,即反应温度30℃,单体总质量分数为30%,阳离子度5%,K2S2O8和NaHSO3质量分数均为0.005%,2,2′-偶氮二(2-脒基丙烷盐酸盐)(V50)质量分数为0.0025%,乙二胺四乙酸(EDTA)质量分数为0.05%的条件下,反应时间为6 h,获得相对分子质量为1.2×107溶解性能较好的阳离子型聚丙烯酰胺(CPAM)。