Cardiovascular malformations, work attendance, and occupational exposures during pregnancy in Finland

To explore for associations between occupational factors and cardiovascular malformations, information on the parents of 160 infants with cardiovascular malformations and 160 control parents was studied. The case infants had been reported consecutively to the Finnish Register of Congenital Malformations. All mothers were interviewed identically after delivery, using both open and pro forma questions about detailed work tasks, exposures, and leisure activities during pregnancy. The interview information was evaluated blindly. Neither parental occupational titles nor maternal working per se gave new clues to the teratogenic risk; nor did shift working, wearing of personal protective equipment, or the mother's own opinion on exposures during pregnancy. Identified occupational exposures, as categorized by an industrial hygienist, showed no remarkable associations to cardiovascular malformations. Few mothers were exposed substantially to specific occupational hazards. Comparing mothers who used medications in the first trimester with those who did not showed an odds ratio of 2.2 (95% confidence interval 1.3-3.9) when adjusted for potential confounding by multivariate logistic methods.     

实施绩效考核的实践和体会

介绍绍兴市人民医院实施绩效考核的经验和体会.其经验在于:明确考核定位,把考核的首要目的定位于医院管理目标的实现和对管理过程的一种控制;运作方式是:制定考核标准、确立考核周期、明确考核部门及人员,使绩效考核真正落到了实处,收到了显著效果.     

A Review of Staffing in Childcare Centres in Six Countries

A review of the international literature on staffing in childcare centres in five English language countries and Denmark reveals both remarkable similarities and interesting differences in the childcare workforce. The paper compares characteristics of the workforce; their training and professional membership. It also compares conditions of work in each country, including salaries, staff benefits, and features of the working environment such as job satisfaction and staff turnover. Findings indicate that childcare workers tend to be young and female; that a relatively high proportion of untrained staff work in childcare centres; that, except in Denmark, the level of extrinsic benefits is startlingly low. Workers are paid relatively little compared to the average pay for women in their countries but the workforce does not benefit from enhanced conditions of work to compensate for low pay. However, the level of intrinsic satisfaction with the work is high. Caring for children is a satisfying form of employment, even if it offers a limited career structure.     

Shoulder strain in keyboard workers and its alleviation by arm supports

Summary Keyboard work consists mostly of dynamic contractions of the small muscles of the forearms and hands. This is accompanied by continuous activity in the arm, shoulder and neck muscles keeping the head and hand in the correct position. Eliminating the weight from the arm by means of support and the position of the arms influences the electrical activity of shoulder muscles when working at a keyboard. We studied the influence of elbow angle, as well as that of different arm supports, on electrical activity of upper trapezius muscle during keyboard work in healthy workers and persons suffering from shoulder pains. The measurements were carried out in the laboratory. EMG activities, which where measured as mean square root (RMS)-values at every 100-millisecond period in trapezius muscle when working, were lower, the greater the elbow angle. Furthermore electrical activity decreased when subjects used arm supports while working. It is evident that the static load to shoulder muscles can be lowered significantly in keyboard work, when the forearms are at an angle of at least 100 degrees and by using arm supports. The most convienient and ergonomic working position can also be found individually be the method used here.     

间餐与中学生脑力工作能力关系研究

为阐明课间加餐对中学生上午学习能力的影响，采用剂量作业试验，通过自身前后对比，分析了间餐与脑力工作能力的关系，结果表明间餐不仅加快了脑力工作速度，控制了末节课的错误率，而且较有效地降低了显著疲劳发生率，经ｌｏｇｉｓｔｉｃ逐步回归分析，显示间餐及高质量早餐均为阻遏疲劳发生之保护因子。     

大白鼠游泳输出功测定仪的研制和疲劳方程Y＝A＋B／T的建立

研制了可以直接连续测量大鼠游泳输出功率的仪器，建立了一个理想的动物模型，通过分析对功率曲线进行函数拟合，得出了代表疲劳发生、作功能力下降的双曲线方程，通过分析衰竭时间和功、功率等参数的关系提出了衰竭阈概念。     

Functional restoration in chronic low back pain

Conventional treatments have not slowed down the ever expanding low back pain (LBP) problem. Traditional treatment has most probably contributed to the growth of the problem. Therefore, in a search for new solutions, 'functional restoration' has been devised. In connection with chronic LBP the term has been associated with a full-day program lasting from 3 to 5 weeks. it includes multidisciplinary treatment of patients in groups with intensive physical and ergonomic training, psychological pain management, back school, as well as teaching in social/work related issues. The key concepts are 'acceptance of the pain', 'activity', 'self-responsibility', 'multidisciplinary' and 'quantitative functional evaluation (QFE)'. The latter is aimed so that the participants can feel the physical improvement, encouraging them to be able to go back to work, or at least to lead a more active life style. Several controlled studies suggest a lasting effect in terms of regaining their ability to work and improving pain behavior for a good part of disabled chronic LBP patients. However, it is noteworthy that randomized studies seemingly show poorer results than studies not employing randomized controls.     

Glucose preferences in wild and domestic guinea pigs

Male wild (Cavia aperea) and domestic (C. porcellus) guinea pigs were tested in two-bottle choice tests for preferences between glucose solutions of different concentrations and de-ionized water. Wild males showed significant preferences for concentrations between 0.025 and 0.4 M glucose while domestic males preferred only the 0.2 M glucose solution to de-ionized water. C. aperea males also consumed significantly greater volumes of liquid per kg body $\text{wt.}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}$ during the glucose tests than did the C. porcellus males. These comparative results contrast sharply with those obtained by other authors with wild and domestic Norway rats.     

Physiological effects of dynamic work on a bicycle ergometer combined with different types of static contraction

Summary The effects on heart rate, oxygen uptake, and pulmonary ventilation of muscular exercises, including both dynamic contractions, either simple or combined, were studied in 4 male subjects, aged 21 to 23 years. The dynamic work consisted in cycling on an ergometric bicycle at three power levels: 40, 80, and 100 W. The static work consisted in pushing against, pulling and holding with the arms a 6, 9, 12, or 18 kg load. The physiological effects are expressed as cardiac cost (HR), oxygen cost (VO₂) and ventilation cost (V). The physiological cost of the combined work increases according to the cycling power and to the isometric load developed. A statistical analysis shows that the costs of combined work are not different from the sum of the costs of the static and dynamic contractions measured separately. Thus, the physiological responses to the combinations investigated are of an additive type.     

Sleep-wake rhythm in an irregular shift system

Sleep in shift work has been studied extensively in regular shift systems but to a lesser degree in irregular shifts. Our main aim was to examine the sleep-wake rhythm in shift combinations ending with the night or the morning shift in two irregular shift systems. Three weeks' sleep/work shift diary data, collected from 126 randomly selected train drivers and 104 traffic controllers, were used in statistical analyses including a linear mixed model and a generalized linear model for repeated measurements. The results showed that the sleep-wake rhythm was significantly affected by the shift combinations. The main sleep period before the first night shift shortened by about 2 h when the morning shift immediately preceded the night shift as compared with the combination containing at least 36 h of free time before the night shift (reference combination). The main sleep period before the night shift was most curtailed between two night shifts, on average by 2.9 and 3.5 h among the drivers and the controllers, respectively, as compared with the reference combination. Afternoon napping increased when the morning or the day shift immediately preceded the night shift, the odds being 4.35-4.84 in comparison with the reference combination. The main sleep period before the morning shift became 0.5 h shorter when the evening shift preceded the morning shift in comparison with the sleep period after a free day. The risk for dozing off during the shift was associated only with the shift length, increasing by 17 and 35% for each working hour in the morning and the night shift, respectively. The results demonstrate advantageous and disadvantageous shift combinations in relation to sleep and make it possible to improve the ergonomy of irregular shift systems.