Validity of self-reporting and video-recording for measuring knee-straining work postures

The aim of this study was to compare the validity of self-reporting and video-recording as methods of measuring the duration of knee-straining work postures, and to evaluate the reproducibility of timings of the video-recordings. Thirty-nine carpenters and 33 floorlayers were video-filmed while working, and were asked immediately afterwards to quantify the amount of time spent in knee-straining positions. The investigators recorded the periods of knee-straining work with a stopwatch during playback of the video-film, and the agreement between the two investigators' measurements was studied in 13 pairs of measurements. The video-observation method was very effective for timing knee-strain work. Furthermore, Spearman's correlation coefficient (0.88) indicated a good association between observed and self-reported knee-straining work. Estimation of self-reported knee-straining work collected by interview showed good correlation with measurements of video-recordings. When judging the repeatability of timings of knee-straining work from the video-recordings, a high level of agreement was seen between the two observers in the 13 dual measurements of time spent in knee-straining work positions.     

Enantioselective determination of oxprenolol and its metabolites in human urine by cyclodextrin-modified capillary zone electrophoresis

A stereospecific capillary electrophoresis assay for oxprenolol enantiomers and their basic metabolites in human urine has been developed using hydroxypropyl-beta-CD as a chiral selector in the mobile phase. The bioassay method has been validated and the detection limit from spiked urine samples is 0.2 micrograms/ml. The calibration curves are linear from 0.4 to 16 micrograms/ml. Extraction recovery ranged from 84.7 to 96.4% for all the compounds studied. The influence of various parameters on the chiral separation of oxprenolol and its basic metabolites have been investigated. Urinary excretion profiles of oxprenolol enantiomers and those of two metabolites have also been studied, following a single oral dose of racemic oxprenolol.     

Preparation of La0.8Sr0.2Cr0.97V0.03O3 − δ films for solid oxide fuel cell application

La_0.8Sr_0.2Cr_0.97V_0.03O_3 − δ (LSC) is commonly studied as a ceramic interconnect material as well as a coating material for metallic interconnects for solid oxide fuel cell applications. However, it is difficult to sinter this type of material to high density. In order to overcome this problem and to study the material in form of a thin film we have used Pulsed Laser Deposition to obtain a dense, uniform film with the right stochiometry. Investigation of preparation-parameter dependence of the LSC films deposited on a stainless steel substrate during pulsed-laser deposition was carried out. The LSC films were deposited with KrF excimer laser (248 nm) on a stainless steel substrate at different oxygen pressure and substrate temperatures. The substrate temperature (873-1073 K) and the oxygen background pressure (5-20 Pa) were varied in order to obtain optimal growth conditions. The surface morphology and structural information of the films were obtained using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction, respectively. Under the optimal preparation-parameter conditions: substrate temperature of 1023 K and an oxygen pressure of 10 Pa the structure of the film agreed with the target structure and the SEM micrographs show that the surfaces are homogeneous, smooth, crack-free and dense.     

Oxidative damage to proteolytic enzymes: inactivation of papain and ficin by ferrylmyoglobin

 Ferrylmyoglobin [MbFe(IV)=O], formed by activation of metmyoglobin by hydrogen peroxide, inactivates the cysteine proteinases papain (EC 3.4.22.2) and ficin (EC 3.4.22.3) more efficiently than hydrogen peroxide, but less efficiently than hydroxyl radicals as generated by peroxynitrite or the Fenton reaction. Metmyoglobin and oxymyoglobin could not inactivate papain and ficin. Oxidation of papain and ficin by ferrylmyoglobin occurs in enzyme/haem-protein complexes with binding constants of approximately 10⁵ l · mol^–1; inactivation of proteolysis by papain plateaus at neutral pH to about ¹/₃ whereas the inactivation under acidic conditions was larger. Received: 11 July 1997 / Revised version: 16 September 1997     

Risk-based rules for crane safety systems

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has recommended a method called formal safety assessment (FSA) for future development of rules and regulations. The FSA method has been applied in a pilot research project for development of risk-based rules and functional requirements for systems and components for offshore crane systems. This paper reports some developments in the project. A method for estimating target reliability for the risk-control options (safety functions) by means of the cost/benefit decision criterion has been developed in the project and is presented in this paper. Finally, a structure for risk-based rules is proposed and presented.     

The Gyricon rotating ball display

Abstract— The Gyricon display consists of hemispherical black and white (bichromal) balls contained in individual liquid-filled cavities and disposed to orient in an electrical field. This bistable reflective light display currently has a diffuse reflectance of more than 18% and a contrast ratio of more than 6:1. The viewing angle approaches that of paper. A new method of fabricating the bichromal balls has enabled practical realization of large-area high-quality displays.     

Differential changes in induced seizures after hippocampal treatment of rats with an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide to the GABA(A) receptor gamma2 subunit

Binding energy of DNA-Cro protein complexes is analyzed in terms of DNA elasticity, using a sequence-dependent anisotropic bendability (SDAB) model of DNA, developed recently [M.M. Gromiha, M.G. Munteanu, A. Gabrielian and S. Pongor, J. Biol. Phys. 22(1996) 227-243.]. The protein is considered to bind aspecifically to DNA that reduces the freedom of movement in the DNA molecule. In cognate DNA, the Cro protein moves on to form specific interactions and bends DNA. A comparison of the experimental data [Y. Takeda, A. Sarai and V.M. Rivera, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86 (1989) 439-443.] with the calculated DNA stiffness data shows that delta G of the complex formation increases with stiffness of the ligand when the interactions are nonspecific ones, while an opposite trend is observed for specific binding. Both of these trends are in agreement with our approach using the SDAB model. A decomposition of the energy terms suggests that binding energy in the nonspecific case is used maily to compensate the free energy changes due to entropy lost by DNA, while the energy of specific interactions provide enough energy both to bend the DNA molecule and to change the conformation of the Cro protein upon ligand binding.     

Cancellation of inherent AM in semiconductor optical amplifier phase modulators

Pure optical phase modulation with a two-electrode semiconductor optical amplifier is demonstrated experimentally. The inherent amplitude modulation has been suppressed more than 50 times by modulating the two electrodes out of phase, whereas the overall phase response was reduced by only 7.5%. It has, furthermore, been found that the tolerances on the operating condition are not excessively stringent.<>     

Analysis of a WDM packet switch with improved performance underbursty traffic conditions due to tuneable wavelength converters

For realistic traffic, i.e., bursty traffic patterns, the use of tuneable wavelength converters is recognized as essential for reducing the complexity of photonic wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) packet switches. Results are obtained from an analytical traffic model that includes buffering in the wavelength domain and accounts for bursty traffic. The theoretical model is verified by simulations and from the model we find that higher traffic loads as well as burstiness can be accepted when tuneable wavelength converters are used. Consequently, a larger throughput of the photonic packet switches is obtained and very importantly, this is achieved while keeping the number of gates needed to realize the space switches nearly constant