Prevention of musculoskeletal disorders at work: Validation and reliability in a multicenter intervention study

During the years 1986–1989 The Finnish Work Environment Fund initiated a multicenter, intervention study (programme) to prevent musculoskeletal disorders at work. The programme consisted of four different projects comprising methodological, epidemiological, and interventive themes. The main results were as follows: (1) More than half of the occupational physiotherapists and physicians involved in the project felt that they did not have adequate training for testing the performance capacity of the musculoskeletal system. Several of the most commonly used musculoskeletal tests had either poor validity in predicting future musculoskeletal troubles or had poor reliability. (2) A controlled intervention study showed that active training of neck-shoulder muscles can prevent musculoskeletal troubles, even more than ergonomic actions. (3) It is possible to reduce sick-leave due to low-back disorders by intervention measures directed toward both the work (environment, tools) and the workers (working methods, positive attitude to work, preparedness to keep fit). (4) The identification of ergonomic hazards with the help of teamwork proved to be feasible. The practical improvements, however, were difficult to implement in the prevailing conditions. Some of the improvements increased the work load and the stress of the workers. This aspect needs further consideration.     

Modification of phenol–formaldehyde resol resins by lignin,starch, and urea

Lignin‐based chemicals, starch, and urea were used as modifiers for phenol–formaldehyde resol resins. The effects of the addition stage of the modifiers used in the synthesis of the resins and the type of modification reagent on the structures of the resins and their molar masses and reactivities were investigated. The modifications with corn starch and lignin promoted condensation; this was verified by increased molar masses and high ratios of methylene bridges to the sum of free ortho and para aromatic groups with respect to the corresponding reference resin without a modification reagent. The later the modifier was added to the resin condensation mixture, the more methylene bridges were formed with respect to the amounts of free ortho and para aromatic groups. In addition, when urea or wheat starch was added in the later condensation stage, the final condensation also reached high stages. The modifications with lignosulfonate and starch, as well as the early addition of urea, enhanced p–p′ bridge structures. The lowest condensation stage and, therefore, the highest reactivity were found when wheat starch was added with the starting reagents. The curing heat of the wheat‐starch‐modified resins decreased according to the deferred addition point of starch. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 582–588, 2003     

Bonelike Hydroxyapatite Induction by a Gel-Derived Titania on a Titanium Substrate

Gel-derived titania coating on commercial pure (c.p.) titanium induces hydroxyapatite formation onto its surface from a simulated body fluid (SBF, a metastable calcium phosphate solution). The induced apatite is similar to bone apatite in that it is poorly crystallized, calcium-deficient, and carbonate-containing. Furthermore, the carbonate (CO^2–3) groups go into the apatite lattice and lie at the positions of PO^3–4 and OH^– to replace these ionic groups, resembling the (CO^2–3) groups of bone apatite. Therefore, the apatite induced by the gel-derived titania is said to be bonelike. A chemical stimulation, stemming from abundant hydroxyl groups and negative charges at the surface of the titania gel, is believed to be responsible for the bonelike apatite induction. The potential of bone-bonding is predicted for the gel-derived titania, for it is an efficient bonelike apatite inducer in the SBF.     

Determination of positional distribution of butyryl groups in milkfat triacylglycerols,triacylglycerol mixtures,and isolated positional isomers of triacylglycerols by gas chromatography and1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Positional isomers (1-butyryl-2X-3Y-rac-glycerol and 2-butyryl-1X-3Y-rac-glycerol;X,Y=long-chain acyls) of saturated triacylglycerols (TAG) with 34 and 40 acyl carbons were shown to separate in two chromatographic peaks on immobilized phenyl(65%) methylsilicone column by gas-liquid chromatography, and on reversed-phase ODS-1 column by high-performance liquid chromatography. The analysis of 500-MHz¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra showed distinct differences between 2-butyryl-1X-3Y-rac-glycerol and 1-butyryl-2X-3Y-rac-glycerol isomers in the resonance signals of methylene and methine protons of glycerol backbone, and carbon-2 methylene of acyl groups, and methyl protons of butyryl group. The¹H NMR spectra of three interesterified mixtures of three monoacid TAG containing saturated butyrate and caproate TAG and unsaturated butyrate TAG showed that triplets of methyl protons of butyryl groups atsn-1(3)- andsn-2-positions in saturated and unsaturated TAG had similar chemical shifts and that the chemical shift of caproyl methyl protons was different from those of butyryl methyl protons. The positional distribution of butyryl groups in isolated positional isomers of butyrate TAG, interesterified TAG mixtures, and natural and interesterified butteroil can be determined by integration of these signals.     

Asymmetric beam deflection by doubly grooved binary gratings

It is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that the inversion symmetry of the diffraction pattern of a binary grating at normal incidence can be efficiently broken by the use of nonsymmetric profiles with wavelength-scale transverse features. Theoretically, binary gratings with two grooves (of unequal widths but with the same depth) within the period can deflect as much as ～80% of normally incident radiation into the minus first diffraction order when the deflection angle is 45°.     

V-groove gratings on silicon for infrared beam splitting: comment

In a recent paper [Appl. Opt. 34, 2556 (1995)] beam-splitter gratings with one or more v-shaped features within the period were designed by the complex-amplitude transmittance method. We argue that this approach leads to incorrect results in the geometries considered and provide the evidence of its failure by numerical calculations based on rigorous electromagnetic diffraction theory.     

Diagnostic Reasoning in the Use of Travel Management System

We explore the appropriation of a self-management administrative system from the perspective of diagnostic reasoning. The case study, based on documents, ethnography and videotapes, concerns the appropriation of a travel management system in a major university in Finland. To explore this process from a user-centric view, we focus on the diagnostic work required in the appropriation of the new system, analyzing both the generic diagnostic reasoning of how the users navigate in the system and their individual and collaborative problem-solving strategies. This approach reveals the interaction between the users and the technology, which incorporates inbuilt models of users, administrative work and work processes. Our analysis concerns interactive instances which resulted from misdiagnosis of the functions of the system. For example, the orchestration and labeling of items in the application pose diagnostic challenges to end-users and may eventually be resolved in collaboration with administrative personnel. The individual and collaborative diagnostic reasoning sheds light on the hidden organizational embeddedness of self-management solutions, providing suggestions for developing the design and deployment of administrative self-management systems. The appropriated self-management system should finally be based on the end-user’s diagnostic reasoning so that the employees can base their actions on their taken-for-granted competence and the skills gained during the appropriation of the system.     

Bridging the physical and virtual worlds by local connectivity-based physical selection

The prevalent visions of ambient intelligence emphasise natural interaction between user and functions and services embedded in the environment or available through mobile devices. In these scenarios the physical and virtual worlds seamlessly gear into each other, making crossing the border between these worlds natural or even invisible to the user. The bottleneck in reaching these scenarios appear in the natural mapping between the physical objects and their virtual counterparts. The emergence of local connectivity in mobile devices opens possibilities for implementing novel user interface paradigms to enhance this mapping. We present physical selection paradigm for implementing an intuitive human technology interaction for mobile devices. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the paradigm we implemented two experimental set-ups using commercially available smart phones with IrDA connectivity. The experiments involved selecting a website by physically pointing at its symbol and making a phone call by pointing at an icon representing the person to be called. In tentative user experiments the physical selection method was more time-efficient and it was perceived more positively by the users than a conventional method.