The effect of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal, psychosocial and visual strain of VDT entry work: organization and methodology of the international study.

This special issue of the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) reports the results from an extensive multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation of the impacts on visual display terminal (VDT) work of musculoskeletal, visual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. For brevity, this effort has been referred to as the MEPS project (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress). This paper lays out the basic methodological structure of the study. The study was conducted in 4 countries utilizing VDT data entry workers as the primary subject population. A battery of objective and subject assessment measures, including muscle load, visual function, physical and visual strain, postural, ergonomic and psychosocial factors, were assessed at 3 different points in time. A pre-test was given prior to an ergonomic intervention. Two post-tests were given 1 month and 1 year after the ergonomic intervention.     

The effect of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal, psychosocial and visual strain of VDT data entry work: the Norwegian part of the international study.

The Norwegian MEPS (musculoskeletal--visual--psychosocial--stress) study included 3 groups: data entry, data dialogue (female) and data dialogue (male). Before intervention, the data entry group reported significantly more symptoms and signs of musculoskeletal illness and had longer periods in front of the video display terminal (VDT) without a break. The ergonomic intervention consisted mainly of ergonomic information and training. After intervention, the data dialogue female group reported a significant reduction in shoulder pain in parallel with a reduction in trapezius load. Increasing the understanding in how to adjust the work stand and chair may have been contributing factors to reducing the pain level. There was a significant reduction in eye problems in all groups; the greatest reduction in eye symptoms was seen in the groups who had new optometric corrections.     

Ecological costs on local adaptation of an insect herbivore imposed by host plants and enemies

Herbivore populations may become adapted to the defenses of their local hosts, but the traits that maximize host exploitation may also carry ecological costs. We investigated the patterns and costs of local adaptation in the pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea pityocampa, to its host plants, Pinus nigra and P. sylvestris. The two hosts differ in needle toughness, a major feeding impediment for leaf-eating insects. We observed a west-to-east gradient of increasing progeny size in the Italian Alps, matching the pattern in toughness of their respective local host plant. Eastern populations that feed on the native P. nigra with tough needles had larger eggs, and neonate larvae with larger head capsules, than western populations that feed on the native P. sylvestris and the introduced P. nigra with softer foliage. In a reciprocal transfer experiment that involved the eastern-most and the western-most populations of T. pityocampa from this region, and excluded natural enemies, we found evidence for local adaptation to the host plant. Specifically, larvae from the western population only performed well when raised on their local hosts with soft needles, and they suffered near-complete mortality on the tough foliage at the eastern site. In contrast, larvae from the eastern population survived equally well at both sites. Local adaptation involved a trade-off between progeny size and the number of offspring. We hypothesized that an additional cost, imposed by natural enemies, may be associated with increased egg size: we also observed a west-to-east gradient of increased egg parasitism. We tested this hypothesis in a common garden by exposing eggs of both populations to parasitism by two native egg parasitoids, Ooencyrtus pityocampae and Baryscapus servadeii. The eastern population suffered a higher level of parasitoid attack by O. pityocampae than the western population, and performance of hatched adults of both parasitoids was enhanced in large eggs. Thus, increased neonate quality (larger eggs yielding larger larvae) confers an advantage on tough foliage but incurs the ecological cost of increased parasitism, which may constrain further adaptation by this herbivore.     

The fate of dietary lipids in the Arctic ctenophore Mertensia ovum (Fabricius 1780)

Lipids of the Arctic ctenophore Mertensia ovum, collected from Kongsfjorden (Svalbard) in 2001, were analysed to investigate seasonal variability and fate of dietary lipids. Total lipids, lipid classes and fatty acid and alcohol compositions were determined in animals, which were selected according to age-group and season. Changes in lipids of age-group 0 animals were followed during growth from spring to autumn. Total lipids increased from May to September. Lipids as percentage of dry mass were lowest in August indicating their use for reproduction. Higher values occurred in September, which may be due to lipid storage for overwintering. Wax esters were the major lipid class accounting for about 50% of total lipids in age-group 0 animals from July and August. Phospholipids were the second largest lipid fraction with up to 46% in this age-group. The principal fatty acids of M. ovum from all age-groups were 22:6(n-3), 20:5(n-3) and 16:0. Wax ester fatty alcohols were dominated by 22:1(n-11) and 20:1(n-9) followed by moderate proportions of 16:0. The unique feature of M. ovum lipids was the high amount of free fatty alcohols originating probably from the dietary wax esters. In May, free alcohols exhibited the highest mean proportion with 14.6% in age-group 0 animals. We present the first data describing a detailed free fatty alcohol composition in zooplankton. This composition was very different from the alcohol composition of M. ovum wax esters because of the predominance of the long-chain monounsaturated 22:1(n-11) alcohol accounting for almost 100% of total free alcohols in some samples. The detailed lipid composition clearly reflected feeding of M. ovum on the herbivorous calanoid species, Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus, the abundant members of the zooplankton community in Kongsfjorden. Other copepod species or prey items seem to be less important for M. ovum.     

Biosynthetic origin of carbon-based secondary compounds: cause of variable responses of woody plants to fertilization?

Summary. We propose that variation in the responses of carbon-based secondary compounds to fertilization in woody plants has a biosynthetic cause. The synthesis of phenylpropanoids and derived compounds (e.g., condensed tannins) competes directly with the synthesis of proteins, and therefore with plant growth, because of a common precursor, phenylalanine. In contrast, the biosynthesis of terpenoids and of hydrolyzable tannins proceeds presumably without direct competition with protein synthesis. Therefore, accelerated plant growth induced by fertilization may cause a reduction in concentrations of phenylpropanoids but may affect less or not at all the levels of other classes of secondary compounds. A meta-analysis based on fertilization experiments with 35 woody plant species supported the predicted differences fertilizing significantly decreased concentrations of phenylpropanoids but not of terpenoids or hydrolyzable tannins. Received 14 May 1998; accepted 23 June 1998.     

The role of risk perception and other risk-related judgements in transportation mode use

AimsThe core aim of the present study was to examine the role of risk perception in use of private and public modes of transportation. An additional aim was to examine the relative importance of perception of transport risks with risk perception of non-transport factors and also to investigate differences in worry, perceived control of transportation modes, as well as trust in authorities’ risk handling, safety motivation, and attitudes towards transport safety.SampleThe results are based on a mailed self-completion questionnaire survey carried out among a representative sample of the Norwegian public aged from 18 to 65 years (n = 1864). Data collection was carried out during October–December 2008.ResultsPerceived control related to private modes of transportation, knowledge about safety and trust in authorities were found to be significantly different among respondents who often used private modes of transportation compared to those who most often used public modes. It was no significant difference in severity of consequences due to which transport modes that the respondents used most frequently.ConclusionIt may be that conclusions of previous research about the role of consequence judgement for precautionary action and demand for risk reduction are misleading when generalised to decisions about transport mode use.     

Lyotropic liquid crystals

Compositions of water and amphiphilic substances may form liquid crystalline structures, which are characterized by a combination of long-range order and mobility at the molecular level. Different combinations of amphiphilic substances give a rich variety of different structures of the liquid crystals. The present treatment relates these liquid crystalline structures to the structure of the amphiphiles. The degree of order for solubilized specia is related to their chemical structure and the differences in solubilization capacity are shown to follow the disordering induced by the solubilizate. The role of liquid crystals in disperse systems is briefly treated and two examples are described of their importance in biological systems.     

The Effect of an Ergonomic Intervention on Musculoskeletal,Psychosocial and Visual Strain of VDT Entry Work: Organization and Methodology of the International Study

This special issue of the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) reports the results from an extensive multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation of the impacts on visual display terminal (VDT) work of musculoskeletal, visual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. For brevity, this effort has been referred to as the MEPS project (musculoskeletal—eyestrain—psychosocial—stress). This paper lays out the basic methodological structure of the study. The study was conducted in 4 countries utilizing VDT data entry workers as the primary subject population. A battery of objective and subject assessment measures, including muscle load, visual function, physical and visual strain, postural, ergonomic and psychosocial factors, were assessed at 3 different points in time. A pre-test was given prior to an ergonomic intervention. Two post-tests were given 1 month and 1 year after the ergonomic intervention.     

Innovative ecomanagement practices and programs worldwide

It is easy to tell people how to be environmentally friendly. It is easy to promise what you intend to do in the future. But in my mind the number of green people declines when we talk about true round-the-clock environmentalists, those who live like they teach; we cut out the talkers and look at what people have achieved instead of what they intend to do.