Effect of working position and cold environment on muscle activation level and fatigue in the upper limb during manual work tasks

Several occupational groups are exposed to periods of low ambient temperatures while performing manual work tasks outdoors. Work tasks typically include heavy lifting, tool handling, and overhead work. This study evaluated the effect of working position and cold environment on muscle activation level (%RMS_max) and fatigue in the upper limb during manual work tasks. Fourteen male participants (25 ± 3 years, 80.9 ± 6.4 kg, 182 ± 5 cm) completed a 2-h test protocol consisting of five test periods alternating with four work periods, wearing identical sets of clothing, under cold (−15 °C) and control (5 °C) conditions. The work periods consisted of manual work at the hip level, manual overhead work, and a lifting exercise. The test periods consisted of isometric maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) and seated rest. Skin temperatures decreased during cold exposure, especially in the extremities. %RMS_max in the forearm was higher in the cold condition both during overhead work and work at the hip level than that for the same work in the control condition, especially at the end of the test when the difference was approximately 25% (equating to 2–3 %RMS_max). For the middle deltoid muscle, the %RMS_max was approximately three times (or 10 %RMS_max) higher during overhead work than work at the hip level, but there was no additional cost of working in the cold. Signs of deltoid muscle fatigue (decrease in electromyography median power frequency and an increase in %RMS_max) were observed during the overhead work periods in both temperature conditions. No decrease in MVC, as a sign of overall muscle fatigue, was observed in either condition.Relevance to industryThis study demonstrated that when wearing suitable cold-weather protective clothing, the adverse effect of work posture is much higher than that of cold on muscle demand and physical strain.     

花生红衣中黄烷醇抑制丙烯酰胺效果及其分离鉴定

目的研究花生红衣中提纯的原花青素(peanut skin procyanidins,PSPs-1)在化学模拟体系和食品体系中对丙烯酰胺产生的抑制效果,并对PSPs-1的组成成分进行鉴定。方法以天冬酰胺和葡萄糖反应产生丙烯酰胺作为化学模拟体系,以油炸薯条生成丙烯酰胺作为食品体系,通过HPLC分析PSPs-1对2种体系中丙烯酰胺的抑制效果,并采用反相高效液相色谱-电喷雾-质谱联用(RP-HPLC-ESI-MS/MS)技术对PSPs-1进行鉴定。结果在化学模拟体系中,PSPs-1具有明显的抑制丙烯酰胺生成的效果,并显示出非线性浓度效应,在添加量为0.1 mg/m L时达到最大抑制率,为(51.22?3.15)%;在食品体系中,PSPs-1的浓度及浸渍薯条时间皆对丙烯酰胺的产生有明显抑制效果,并显示一定的量效关系,PSPs-1浓度为0.1 mg/m L达到最大抑制率,为(51.03?2.97)%,且当浸渍时间为90 s时抑制效果最好(50.79±1.86)%。PSPs-1经RP-HPLC-ESI-MS/MS分析和与对照品比较,其可能是由含有儿茶素和表儿茶素的黄烷醇多酚组成。结论由儿茶素和表儿茶素组成的PSPs-1在2种体系中具有明显抑制丙烯酰胺产生的效果。     

Short communication: Temporal changes in the skin morphology of dairy cows during the periparturient period

Management of dairy cow productivity requires monitoring of their nutritional status by visual observation. It has been suggested that changes in hair coat appearance are among the indicators of nutritional state in dairy cows. Temporal changes in the skin morphology in cows, however, have not been reported. In this study, we examined the changes in the skin of dairy cows that occur during the peripartum period. Seven pluriparous cows were used. Skin samples were collected at 28 d before the due date and 28 d and 56 d after calving for morphological examination. Hair follicle width was 108.8 ± 5.9 µm (±SD) in the dry period, 95.5 ± 5.5 µm at 28 d after calving, and 104.2 ± 5.3 µm at 56 d postpartum. The percentages of anagen hair follicles during these 3 periods were 41.4 ± 3.4, 18.5 ± 3.4, and 32.3 ± 3.3%, respectively. The corresponding sebaceous gland sizes were 8,362.0 ± 707.6, 7,800.0 ± 831.4, and 9,186.8 ± 962.6 µm², respectively. Hair follicle width was positively correlated with percentage of anagen hair follicles. The thickness of epidermal and proliferation rate of epidermal cell were also correlated. However, the hair follicle width, sebaceous gland size and cell proliferation rate, and thickness and proliferation rate of epidermal cells did not show any marked changes.     

Development of an image evaluation method for skin color distribution in facial images and its application: Aging effects and seasonal changes of facial color distribution

In this article, we present an evaluation method for the skin color distribution in the face area. Unlike previous methods that extract a specific area, our method subdivides the entire face into small regions and analyzes detailed, per-frame textures. Our evaluation method for skin color distribution is based on facial feature points and includes segmentation that takes into account the facial skeleton and muscle orientation. The use of facial feature points enables a comparison at relatively equal positions on the face without depending on the shape or size of the individual's face. Our evaluation method is versatile, and as an application, we clarified age-specific features and seasonal variations of facial color distribution. As a result of applying this evaluation method to the facial images of women aged 20 to 78 years, we confirmed that the lightness of the face decreased as age increased. In particular, the decrease in lightness was remarkable in the region along the cheekbone, from the temple to the center of the cheek. Furthermore, we analyzed the seasonal changes of melanin distribution in the face area. This showed that the melanin index increased particularly in the cheekbone area in the summer when the influence of ultraviolet rays became large. Our novel methodology and the data presented in this article will be useful in various fields, such as dermatology, cosmetics, and computer vision.     

Modulation of Biodistribution,Pharmacokinetics, and Photosensitivity with the Delivery Vehicle of a Bacteriochlorin Photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy

Intravenous (i.v.) formulations with various amounts of organic solvents [PEG₄₀₀, propylene glycol (PG), cremophor EL (CrEL)] were used to deliver a fluorinated sulfonamide bacteriochlorin to mice, rats, and minipigs. Biodistribution studies in mice showed that a low‐content CrEL formulation combines high bioavailability with high tumor‐to‐muscle and tumor‐to‐skin ratios. This formulation was also the most successful in the photodynamic therapy of mice with subcutaneously implanted CT26 murine colon adenocarcinoma tumors. Pharmacokinetic studies in mice and minipigs revealed that with the same low CrEL formulation, the half‐life of the photosensitizer in the central compartment was longer in minipigs. Differences in biodistribution with the various formulations, and in pharmacokinetics between the two animal species with the same formulation, are attributed to the interaction of the formulations with low‐density lipoproteins (LDLs). Skin photosensitivity studies in rats showed that 30 min exposure of the skin to a solar simulator 7 days after i.v. administration of the fluorinated sulfonamide bacteriochlorin at 1 mg kg^?1 did not elicit significant skin reactions.     

Heuristic approaches for the optimal wiring in large scale robotic skin design

This paper faces the problem of optimizing the wiring and the connections in a tactile skin for robots. The robotic skin is a device composed of a network of tactile sensors, whose wiring can be very complex: the control of this complexity is a key problem. In the considered robotic skin, skin elements are grouped into skin patches, which output tactile data that have to be read by a micro-controller. The logical connections between the sensors must be defined in order to route signals through the network. A finite set of micro-controllers is given and a set of constraints is imposed on the given assignment and routing. The considered problem has a combinatorial nature and it can be formulated as a Minimum Constrained Spanning Forest problem with costs on arcs that cannot be a priori defined as they are solution-dependent. The problem is NP-hard. The paper introduces a mathematical formulation and then proposes a Multi-Start Heuristic algorithm and an Ant Colony Optimization approach whose effectiveness is evaluated through experimental tests performed on both real and synthetically generated instances.     

Effect of shallow-angled skins on the structural performance of the large-scale wind turbine blade

Two shallow-angled symmetric and asymmetric skins, with off-axis fiber angles of less than 45°, were proposed and employed to a 5 MW wind turbine blade. For the symmetric configuration, shallow-angled skins were applied to both the pressure and suction sides of the blade, while, for the asymmetric configuration, only the pressure side was implemented with a shallow-angled skin, keeping the conventional 45-degree-angled skin for the suction side. The blade tip deflection, modal frequencies, buckling stability, and failure index were computed for off-axis fiber angles of 45°, 35°, and 25°. The use of shallow-angled skins improved blade bending stiffness and strength. The buckling resistance decreased for symmetric skins and remained unchanged for asymmetric skins; the former case was compensated for by increasing the core thickness. For both skin configurations, a reduction in the blade failure index of up to 18% and 38%, and mass reductions of up to 8% and 13% were demonstrated for the 35° and 25° shallow-angled skins, respectively.     

Patterns in melanocytic lesions: impact of the geometry on growth and transport inside the epidermis

In glabrous skin, nevi and melanomas exhibit pigmented stripes during clinical dermoscopic examination. They find their origin in the basal layer geometry which periodically exhibits ridges, alternatively large (limiting ridges) and thin (intermediate ridges). However, nevus and melanoma lesions differ by the localization of the pigmented stripes along furrows or ridges of the epidermis surface. Here, we propose a biomechanical model of avascular tumour growth which takes into account this specific geometry in the epidermis where both kinds of lesions first appear. Simulations show a periodic distribution of tumour cells inside the lesion, with a global contour stretched out along the ridges. In order to be as close as possible to clinical observations, we also consider the melanin transport by the keratinocytes. Our simulations show that reasonable assumptions on melanocytic cell repartition in the ridges favour the limiting ridges of the basal compared with the intermediate ones in agreement with nevus observations but not really with melanomas. It raises the question of cell aggregation and repartition of melanocytic cells in acral melanomas and requires further biological studies of these cells in situ.     

Preparation,characterisation and structure of rabbit (Hyla rabbit) skin gelatine

Rabbit skin was used as a raw material to prepare gelatine. The yield of extracted rabbit skin gelatine was 8.49 ± 0.91% based on a wet weight basis. The bloom strength of 6.67% rabbit gelatine was 457.57 ± 3.302 g, and its gelling and melting temperatures were 27.8 and 34.4 °C, respectively. Sodium dodecyl sulphate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated that the content of the subunit components (α chain, β and γ components) of the rabbit skin gelatine achieved 97.915%. Amino acid composition analysis indicated that the total amino acid contents (proline plus hydroxyproline) in the rabbit gelatine were 222 residues per 1000 residues. The high content of the subunit components and amino acids could contribute to the gelatine's suitable gel properties. Rabbit gelatine had nearly all of the characteristic absorption peaks of collagen from rabbit skin, and the loss of the triple helical structure and damage to part of the hydrogen bonds occurred during the conversion of collagen to gelatine.