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Ergonomics in industrially developing countries: does its application differ from that in industrially advanced countries?

Demographic characteristics of industrially developing countries (IDCs) and some comparisons with industrially advanced countries (IACs), particularly those aspects relevant to ergonomics, are presented. The majority of IDC populations are engaged in subsistence agriculture (the "informal" sector) and consideration is given to the scope for ergonomics interventions, aimed primarily at raising productivity to alleviate the poverty suffered by rural families. Ergonomics issues prevalent in the "formal" sector are also discussed and the importance of finding simple, low-cost solutions through participatory approaches emphasised. The possible contributions of ergonomics to alleviating problems common to both sectors, such as transport, are also indicated and attention is drawn to the difficulties of applying formal standards. The improvement of living and working conditions from incorporating an ergonomics approach into the sustainable livelihoods model, by enhancing human capital, is described in the context of the other livelihood assets. This demonstrates the importance of the cultural dimension for the successful delivery of ergonomics benefits. The application of ergonomics differs between IDCs and IACs particularly through the limited infrastructure in IDCs to support ergonomics activity and interventions. This broaches the different contributions that can be made by ergonomics and occupational health practitioners and implies the need for closer collaboration between these professions.

Agriculture↗

Towards viable, useful and usable human factors design guidance.

This paper investigates the factors relevant to producing effective human factors design guidance, using the Engineering Data Compendium (EDC) as a research vehicle. A series of three exploratory experiments focusing on the factors that affect the usability, usefulness and viability of human factors handbooks was conducted. The results of these studies were interpreted in the context of the process by which the EDC was developed, leading to the following recommendations: (a) human factors guidance should be organized in a manner that is stepped in context; (b) human factors guidance should be based on an explicit requirements analysis; (c) the calibration of designers' perceptions of the cost of obtaining human factors information must be improved; (d) organizational policies must be changed to induce more effective information search behaviour.

Analysis of Variance↗

The application of ergonomics in rural development: a review.

The importance of ergonomics issues in rural development is highlighted in this paper. Some examples are given of the contribution that ergonomics has already made to industrially developing countries, cases which are mainly concentrated in the industrial sector. Key areas for future ergonomics research are identified, focusing on the needs of communities living and working in the agricultural sector where most of the population in the industrially developing world is located.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗

Phenolic removal in a model olive oil mill wastewater using Pleurotus ostreatus in bioreactor cultures and biological evaluation of the process.

Pleurotus ostreatus grown in bioreactor batch cultures in a model phenolic wastewater (diluted and sterilized olive oil mill wastewater-OMW), caused significant phenolic removal. Laccase, the sole ligninolytic enzyme detected in the growth environment, was produced during primary metabolic growth. The bioprocess was simulated with the aid of a mathematical model and the parameters of growth were determined. When the fungal biomass was increased in the reactor (during repeated batch experiments) the rate of reducing sugars consumption progressively increased, but a phenolic fraction seemed of being strongly resistant to oxidation. The toxicity of OMW against the seeds of Lepidium sativum and the marine Branchiopoda Artemia sp. was significantly decreased after biotreatment. On the contrary, the toxicity against the freshwater Branchiopoda Daphnia magna was not affected by the treatment, whereas on the soil and freshwater sediments Ostracoda Heterocypris incongruens was slightly decreased. Both treated and untreated OMWs, used as water for irrigation of lettuce and tomato plants, did not significantly affect the uptake of several nutrients by the cultivated plants, but resulted in a decrease in the plant yields, which was minimized when high OMW dilutions were used. As a conclusion, P. ostreatus is able to reduce phenolic content and toxicity of sterilized OMW, in bioreactor cultures. However, high OMW dilutions should be used, and/or additional treatment should be applied before use of the OMW in the environment, e.g. as water for irrigation. Further research should be done in order to transfer this technology under industrial conditions (e.g. by using unsterilized OMW).

Animals↗

Responses of oocytes and embryos to the culture environment.

Embryo development is strongly influenced by events occurring during oocyte maturation. Although many immature oocytes are capable of completing meiosis in vitro, only a small percentage of the original pool of immature oocytes is competent to continue development to the blastocyst stage and subsequently result in a pregnancy. This indicates that maturation of oocytes in vitro may not be occurring in an entirely normal manner. Cytoplasmic changes occurring during maturation, collectively termed cytoplasmic maturation, are essential for embryonic development. The cytoplasm of the oocyte may play a crucial role in assembling the correct metabolic machinery for production of sufficient energy for cellular functions during maturation, cleavage and blastocyst formation. A better understanding of the structural, functional and metabolic characteristics of the oocyte during maturation, and the consequence of changes in these parameters on developmental competence is needed. Understanding the role of cytoplasmic changes during oocyte maturation will help increase the efficiency of in vitro embryo production. Better embryo production strategies will facilitate basic research into the control of early development, improve implementation in endangered species, provide a source of high quality oocytes for nuclear transfer and transgenic technologies and benefit the commercial embryo transfer industry.

Animals↗

How the science and engineering of spaceflight contribute to understanding the plasticity of spinal cord injury.

Space programs support experimental investigations related to the unique environment of space and to the technological developments from many disciplines of both science and engineering that contribute to space studies. Furthermore, interactions between scientists, engineers and administrators, that are necessary for the success of any science mission in space, promote interdiscipline communication, understanding and interests which extend well beyond a specific mission. NASA-catalyzed collaborations have benefited the spinal cord rehabilitation program at UCLA in fundamental science and in the application of expertise and technologies originally developed for the space program. Examples of these benefits include: (1) better understanding of the role of load in maintaining healthy muscle and motor function, resulting in a spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation program based on muscle/limb loading; (2) investigation of a potentially novel growth factor affected by spaceflight which may help regulate muscle mass; (3) development of implantable sensors, electronics and software to monitor and analyze long-term muscle activity in unrestrained subjects; (4) development of hardware to assist therapies applied to SCI patients; and (5) development of computer models to simulate stepping which will be used to investigate the effects of neurological deficits (muscle weakness or inappropriate activation) and to evaluate therapies to correct these deficiencies.

Animals↗

CASH 2021: commercial access and space habitation.

Issues about commercialization of space have been a growing concern in the past decade for the space community. This paper focuses on the work from a team of 51 students attending the Summer Session Program of the International Space University in Bremen, Germany. CASH 2021 (Commercial Access and Space Habitation) documents a plan that identifies commercial opportunities for space utilization that will extend human presence in space, and will chart the way forward for the next 20 years. The group selected four commercial sectors that show the most promise for the future: tourism, entertainment, space system service, assembly and debris removal, and research and development/production. The content of this document presents the results of their research. Historical activities in each of the commercial sectors are reviewed along with the current market situation. To provide a coherent background for future commercialization possibilities a scenario has been developed. This scenario includes a postulated upon ideal future and includes social, political and economic factors that may affect the space industry over the timeline of the study. The study also presents a roadmap, within the limited optimistic scenario developed, for the successful commercialization of space leading to future human presence in space. A broad range of commercially viable opportunities, not only within the current limits of the International Space Station, but also among the many new developments that are expected by 2021 are discussed.

Agriculture↗

On the contribution of space medicine in the public health care.

With the beginning of space era, a new branch of medicine has arisen and has been developing along with human exploration of outer space. And even though space medicine mainly faces the same problems as traditional medicine--cosmonauts health care and their high efficiency--this branch, has its own features, associated with the unusual factors of space flight, of which weightlessness is the major one. During the development of manned cosmonautics (duration of a human stay in space has reached already 438 days), methods of cosmonauts medical support and monitoring of their condition have been developed, knowledge of human possibilities and methods of process of organism adaptation to various and frequently severe conditions of external environment have increased. All this led to the fact that nowadays space medicine can become useful for improvement of human health care not only in space but also on the Earth. Moreover, the problem of implementation of cosmonautics achievements, and in particular of space medicine, in practice of public health care presents one of the most important issues concerning human health care. It is also connected with public opinion which is more and more concerned about the efficiency of significant expenses on space activities, especially lately. People often are set by the questions: what has space given, what fruits has space research provided to mankind, which results of this research can be used on the Earth already today for improvement of their life, for discussion of many difficult earthly problems? In terms of using cosmonautics possibilities, its achievements for health care and treatment, it is possible to define a few branches, in which purposeful studies are carried out.

Aerospace Medicine↗

Real time confocal laser scanning microscopy: potential applications in space medicine and cell biology.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), in which tissues may be rendered fatally light-sensitive represents a relatively novel treatment for cancer and other disorders such as cardiovascular disease. It offers significant application to disease control in an isolated environment such as space flight. In studying PDT in the laboratory, low energy lasers such as HeNe lasers are used to activate the photosensitized cellular target. A major problem associated with these studies is that events occurring during actual exposure of the target cells to the system cannot be examined in real time. In this study HeLa cells were photosensitized and photodynamic activation was accomplished using the scanning microbeam from a confocal laser scanning microscope. This form of activation allowed for simultaneous photoactivation and observation and facilitated the recording of events at a microscopic level during photoactivation. Effects of photodynamic activation on the target cells were monitored using the fluorophores rhodamine 123 and ethidium homodimer-1. Potential applications of these forms of analyses to space medicine and cell biology are discussed.

Aerospace Medicine↗