Slips and falls in a cold climate: underfoot surface, footwear design and worker preferences for preventive measures

Slips and falls and associated outdoor injuries are prevalent in cold climates. The objectives of this field investigation were to describe the consequences of slips and falls on ice and snow and the associated injuries, to assess the risks of various icy and snowy surfaces, to identify design needs of footwear, and to ascertain preventive measure preferences of outdoor workers. The organizations investigated were a newspaper delivery service, a military regiment, mining and construction industries. The results showed that fall events occur most frequently on ice covered with snow. This is due to the difficulty of perceiving hidden risks in order to adjust gait strategies. The professional footwear provided does not provide enough protection against slips and falls. Slip resistant properties are ranked as one of the top requirements by the users. Their most preferred preventive measures are footwear with anti-slip properties and the application of anti-slip materials, such as sand or salt.     

Human-centred approaches in slipperiness measurement.

A number of human-centred methodologies--subjective, objective, and combined--are used for slipperiness measurement. They comprise a variety of approaches from biomechanically-oriented experiments to psychophysical tests and subjective evaluations. The objective of this paper is to review some of the research done in the field, including such topics as awareness and perception of slipperiness, postural and balance control, rating scales for balance, adaptation to slippery conditions, measurement of unexpected movements, kinematics of slipping, and protective movements during falling. The role of human factors in slips and falls will be discussed. Strengths and weaknesses of human-centred approaches in relation to mechanical slip test methodologies are considered. Current friction-based criteria and thresholds for walking without slipping are reviewed for a number of work tasks. These include activities such as walking on a level or an inclined surface, running, stopping and jumping, as well as stair ascent and descent, manual exertion (pushing and pulling, load carrying, lifting) and particular concerns of the elderly and mobility disabled persons. Some future directions for slipperiness measurement and research in the field of slips and falls are outlined. Human-centred approaches for slipperiness measurement do have many applications. First, they are utilized to develop research hypotheses and models to predict workplace risks caused by slipping. Second, they are important alternatives to apparatus-based friction measurements and are used to validate such methodologies. Third, they are used as practical tools for evaluating and monitoring slip resistance properties of footwear, anti-skid devices and floor surfaces.     

Ergonomics of technology transfer

It is beyond doubt that high technology has elevated the standards of living of mankind. The modern technology created and developed to a great extent by Western or developed societies is now in great demand in Eastern and developing societies who are trying to leap-frog towards advancement. But unfortunately, in the transfer of technology, both the giver and the receiver seem to make many mistakes. A technology transferred without considering the ethnic variables in the societies and differences in the climates, has found to cause problems to the acquirer. Due to the basic human factor differences such as sizes of people, physical environment, physical capacities and organizational and cultural differences, a technology which is unadapted has found to be inappropriate, harmful, hazardous and unsuccessful. In the areas of health, working conditions, production and finance, undesirable effects have resulted through haphazard technology transfer, For a successful transfer, it is therefore stressed that technology has to be adapted or modified taking into consideration the technological, anthropological and socio-economic factors of the acquiring population.     

Localisation of Amylose and Amylopectin in Starch Granules Using Enzyme-Gold Labelling

The independent localisation of amylose and amylopectin in a range of dry and hydrated native starch granules with varying amylose content (0—70 %) has been indirectly visualised using enzyme-gold cytochemical markers. Increasing amylose content was clearly demonstrated to result in distinct changes in granule architecture. In the absence of amylose (waxy maize starch) a framework of closely packed concentric layers of amylopectin exists in the granules. Low amylose content (potato starch) results in alternating layers of densely packed amylopectin and amylose molecules. High amylose content (amylomaize starch) granules were shown to possess an amylopectin centre surrounded by an amylose periphery encapsulated by an amylopectin surface. Elongated granules without the amylopectin centre were also observed in high amylose starches suggesting a relationship between amylopectin, amylose and granule shape. A model of starch granule architecture is proposed where increased compartmentalisation of amylose and amylopectin is observed in granules containing increasing levels of amylose.     

Slip resistant properties of footwear on ice

Current research on slipperiness of footwear has mainly focused on floors and lubricated floors. Slips and falls on icy and snowy surfaces involve not only outdoor workers, but also pedestrians and the general public; and occur in cold regions and in winter season in many parts of the world. However, in comparison with the size of the problem, research on slips and falls on icy and snowy surfaces has been scarce. The objective of this paper is to explore the slip resistant properties of footwear (soling materials, roughness and hardness) on ice. The coefficients of kinetic friction of four different soling materials (synthetic rubber, nitrile rubber, natural rubber and polyurethane) were measured on ice (-12 degrees C). The outsole roughness and hardness were also measured. Results showed that the polyurethane soling did not perform better than synthetic rubber, nitrile rubber and natural rubber on pure hard ice (-12 degrees C). Soling roughness was positively correlated with the coefficient of kinetic friction. The most slip resistant soling material (polyurethane) on floors and lubricated floors may not provide sufficient slip resistance on ice.     

Analysis of true jitter arising from pulse-stuffing schemes

In synchronous digital hierarchy and plesiochronous digital hierarchy networks, it is frequently necessary to recover a data clock from a gapped clock derived from stuff information present at the desynchronizer. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of the timing jitter resulting from phase-locked loop-type desynchronizers is presented. This analysis is different from the conventional analysis where the jitter is represented using a phase-error sequence. It is shown that such a simplified approach cannot accurately describe the jitter at the output of the desynchronizer. From the detailed analysis, it is also shown how the use of threshold modulation at the synchronizer reduces the low-frequency jitter at the desynchronizer. It has been demonstrated in the paper that when threshold modulation is used at the synchronizer, the dominating low-frequency jitter terms cannot be explained by the conventional jitter analysis methods. Therefore, in future networks, where tighter jitter performances are to be imposed on the synchronizers, jitter characterization using the proposed true jitter analysis technique would be very useful.     

Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities on Foodborne Pathogens of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Moraceae) Leaves Extracts

Abstract: Total water extract, ethyl acetate, and aqueous fractions from the leaves of Artocarpus heterophyllus were evaluated for phenolic content, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities against some foodborne pathogens such as E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) of extract and fractions determined by the agar dilution method were ranged from 221.9 μg/mL for ethyl acetate fraction to 488.1 μg/mL for total extract. In the agar diffusion method the diameters of inhibition were 12.2 for the total extract, 10.7 and 11.5 for ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions, respectively. A. heterophyllus showed significant antioxidant activity tested in different in vitro systems (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and Fe²⁺ chelating activity assay). In particular, in DPPH assay A. heterophyllus total extract exhibited a strong antiradical activity with an IC₅₀ value of 73.5 μg/mL while aqueous fraction exerted the highest activity in FRAP assay (IC₅₀ value of 72.0 μg/mL). The total phenols content by Folin–Ciocalteau method was determined with the purpose of testing its relationship with the antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Practical Application: The appearance of food is one of the major determinants of its appeal to consumers and consequently, sales of the product. Microbial contamination and lipid oxidation are the main factors that determine food quality loss and shelf-life reduction. Therefore, preventing microbial contamination and delaying lipid oxidation are highly relevant to food processors. The growth of microorganisms in food products may cause spoilage or foodborne diseases. Oxidative processes in food products lead to the degradation of lipids and proteins which, in turn, contribute to the deterioration in flavor, texture, and color of the products. A. heterophyllus leaves extracts demonstrated interesting biological properties that suggest its use as a new potential source of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agent.