Negotiating participation: understanding the "how" in an ergonomic change team

In participatory ergonomic (PE) interventions, "how" effective participation by workplace parties can be achieved remains unclear. We conducted a case study of the dynamics of an ergonomic change team (ECT) process in a medium-sized (175 employees) automotive foam manufacturing plant. We present analyses of observer field notes and post-intervention interviews from which key elements on the dynamics of the "how" emerged: (1) impacts of facilitators' involvement and interests; (2) tensions in delimiting the scope of ECT activities; issues around (3) managing meetings and (4) realizing labour and management participation; and (5) workplace ECT members' difficulties in juggling other job commitments and facing production pressures. We highlight the ongoing negotiated nature of responses to these challenges by labour, management and ergonomic facilitator members of the ECT. We argue for greater examination of the social dynamics of PE processes to identify additional ways of fostering participation in ergonomic project implementation.     

Reduction of disulfide bonds in an amyloidogenic Bence Jones protein leads to formation of "amyloid-like" fibrils in vitro

Motivated by the finding that the amino acid sequence of the Bence Jones protein BJP-DIA was identical to that of the main protein component of the amyloid fibrils obtained from the same patient with AL-amyloidosis, (Klafki, H.-W., Kratzin, H.-D., Pick, A.-I., Eckart, K., Karas, M. & Hilschmann, N. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 3265-3272.), we attempted to create "amyloid-like" fibrils from the Bence Jones protein in vitro, without addition of proteolytic enzymes. Reduction of BJP-DIA, solubilized in PBS, pH 7.4, overnight at 37 degrees C resulted in the formation of a precipitate which had affinity for the dye Congo red. Electron microscopy of negatively stained samples of the reduced protein revealed aggregates of linear unbranched fibrils. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the precipitate consisted almost exclusively of intact light chain molecules. This result makes it possible to deduce a molecular model of these amyloid fibrils generated in vitro.     

Dielectric properties of apples in the range 0.1–100 kHz

Capacitance and conductance spectra are measured between 100 Hz and 100 kHz for three varieties of apple. Analysis of the spectra for several types of electrode material indicates that electrode effects may be neglected for frequencies above 1 kHz. Power-law responses are observed withCf ^–0.3 for the capacitance andG _a.c.f ^+0.9 for the a.c. conductance. Activation energies were found to be of the order of 0.05–0.15 eV for the three apple varieties and found to be frequency dependent. Comparison is made with an apple in which the cellular structure has been damaged by freezing. Freezing produced a significant increase in the high-frequency activation energy for conductance and a decrease in the power-law exponent to +0.3 for a.c. conductance. It is suggested that the dielectric properties result from a combination of relatively free ionic diffusion in the extracellular medium and the hopping of counterions along trap sites on the cell wall.     

Animating visible speech and facial expressions

We present four techniques for modeling and animating faces starting from a set of morph targets. The first technique involves obtaining parameters to control individual facial components and learning the mapping from one type of parameter to another through machine learning techniques. The second technique is to fuse visible speech and facial expressions in the lower part of a face. The third technique combines coarticulation rules and kernel smoothing techniques. Finally, a new 3D tongue model with flexible and intuitive skeleton controls is presented. The results of eight animated character models demonstrate that these techniques are powerful and effective.     

Simulation Study of Aspects of the Classical Hydrogen Atom Interacting with Electromagnetic Radiation: Elliptical Orbits

The present study examines the behavior of a classical charged point particle in near-elliptic orbits about an infinitely massive and oppositely charged nucleus, while acted upon by applied electromagnetic radiation. As recently shown for near-circular orbits, and now extended here to the elliptical case, rather surprising nonlinear dynamical effects are readily produced for this simple system. A broad range of stability-like conditions can be achieved by applying radiation to this classical atom. A perfect balance condition is examined, which requires an infinite number of plane waves representing harmonics of the orbital motion. By applying a scale factor to this radiation, stability-like conditions are produced where periodic variations in semimajor and semiminor axes occur for extended periods of time, before orbital decay eventually takes over due to the effects of radiation reaction. This work is expected to lead to both practical suggestions on experimental ideas involving controlling ionization and stabilization conditions, as well as hopefully aiding in theoretical explorations of stochastic electrodynamics.     

Decoupling climate-policy objectives and mechanisms to reduce fragmentation

ABSTRACT

The efficacy of climate-change mitigation policy within the building sector is examined in terms of how fragmentation can limit the extent of mitigation actions that can be achieved in a timely manner. The policy and regulatory context for the building industry is examined in relation to the policy context for solutions and recommendations that will work for all parties. Based on this analysis, two substantive recommendations are made for improved policy design. Firstly, a decoupling of policy objectives and policy mechanisms is needed so that the policy-taking stakeholders (in design, development and construction) can reduce energy use in buildings more effectively. Secondly, policy-taking stakeholders need an explicit and diverse system in order to advocate for policy objectives. The major aspect of this work is the development of a new conceptual framework that ties together these recommendations into a continuous process of policy-making and policy-taking. This framework demonstrates an idealized system that operates simultaneously top down and bottom up, and the development of policy objectives is influenced by stakeholders of all kinds to further the goals of an energy-efficient, low-carbon built environment.     

Corneal erosions in contact lens wear

Contact lens wear continues to be the highest single risk factor for microbial keratitis, particularly when worn in the extended wear modality. For microbial keratitis to occur, the presence of at least a bacterial load as well as a break in the corneal surface is required. One such break occurs in the case of a corneal erosion. These well-circumscribed areas of full thickness epithelial loss can occur both with and without contact lens wear, however the risk of infection is greater in the presence of a lens due to its capacity to provide a vector for the entry of bacterial pathogens. While erosions in non-contact lens wearers are thought to result from defective epithelial basement membrane anchoring, the underlying causes during contact lens wear are yet unknown. This article sets out to review corneal erosions associated with contact lens wear, their associated risk factors such as extended wear, the mechanisms that may be responsible for their formation and the factors that differentiate them from other contact lens related adverse events. Appropriate diagnosis and understanding of the relevant pathophysiology is important to the effective treatment and an understanding of the aetiological factors responsible for erosions is critical to the development of preventative strategies and effective clinical care.     

A class of low-pass FIR input shaping filters achieving exact residual vibration cancelation

This paper describes the construction of low-pass FIR filters for application as command input shapers in motion control systems. The filters are designed to operate on an arbitrary command input signal to ensure a finite settling time for system modes with known natural frequency and damping ratio. In addition, the required roll-off rate of the filter frequency response may be prescribed in the design. Excitation of unmodeled high-frequency modes can thereby be reduced. The filters also produce an input-smoothing effect that is useful in situations where discontinuities in the input signal or its derivatives would be detrimental to system performance or function. Numerical case studies are presented to clarify these effects.     

Analysis of Site-Specific Phosphorylation of PTEN by Using Enzyme-Catalyzed Expressed Protein Ligation

The activity and localization of PTEN, a tumor suppressor lipid phosphatase that converts the phospholipid PIP3 to PIP2, is governed in part by phosphorylation on a cluster of four Ser and Thr residues near the C terminus. Prior enzymatic characterization of the four monophosphorylated (1p) PTENs by using classical expressed protein ligation (EPL) was complicated by the inclusion of a non-native Cys at the ligation junction (aa379), which may alter the properties of the semisynthetic protein. Here, we apply subtiligase-mediated EPL to create wt 1p-PTENs. These PTENs are more autoinhibited than previously appreciated, consistent with the role of Tyr379 in driving autoinhibition. Alkaline phosphatase sensitivity analysis revealed that these autoinhibited 1p conformations are kinetically labile. In contrast to the Cys mutant 1p-PTENs, which are poorly recognized by an anti-phospho-PTEN antibody, three of the four wt 1p-PTENs are recognized by a commonly used anti-phospho-PTEN antibody.     

Food group intake patterns and nutrient intake vary across low-income Hispanic and African American preschool children in Atlanta: a cross sectional study

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The food group intake patterns of low income Hispanic and African American preschool children are not well documented. The aim of this study was to perform a food group intake analysis of low income minority preschool children and evaluate how macronutrient and micronutrient intake compares to Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). METHODS: A cross sectional study design using three-day food diaries analyzed by dietary analysis software (Nutrient Database System for Research) was used. Children were recruited from well-child clinics at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding and North Dekalb Grady Satellite Clinic, Atlanta, GA. Low-income, African American and Hispanic preschool age children (n = 291) were enrolled. A total of 105 completed the 3-day food diaries were returned and analyzed. Chi-squared tests were used to assess demographic variables. The mean percentage of intake per day of specific food groups and sub-groups were obtained (servings of given food group/total daily servings). Food intake data and proportion of children meeting DRIs for macro- and micronutrients were stratified by race/ethnicity, nutritional status, and caloric intake, and were compared using t-tests. Regression models controlling for age, BMI and sex were obtained to assess the effect of total caloric intake upon the proportional intake of each studied food group. RESULTS: The mean age of African American children was 2.24 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 1.07 years and Hispanic children 2.84 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 1.12 years. African Americans consumed more kcal/kg/day than Hispanics (124.7 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 51 vs. 96.9 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 33, p < 0.05). Hispanics consumed more fruits (22.0 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 10.7% vs. 14.7 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 13.7%, p < 0.05), while African Americans consumed more grains (25.7 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 7.8% vs. 18.1 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 6.4%, p < 0.05), meats (20.7 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 9.0% vs. 15.4 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 6.1%, p < 0.05), fats (9.8 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 5.4% vs. 7.0 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 5.8%, p < 0.05), sweet drinks (58.7 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 17.1% vs. 41.3 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 14.8%, p < 0.05) and low-fat dairy products (39.5 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 19.3% vs. 28.9 [PLUS-MINUS SIGN] 12.6%, p < 0.05). Among Hispanics, the proportional intake of fruits, fats and grains varied by total caloric intake, while no difference by total caloric intake was found for the dietary patterns of African Americans. Micronutrient intake also differed significantly between African American and Hispanic children. CONCLUSIONS: Food group intake patterns among low-income children differ by ethnic group. There is a need for more research to guide program design and target nutritional interventions for this population.