Ergonomics in the German Democratic Republic

A survey of ergonomics in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was conducted over approximately a two-month period starting in mid-May 1982. This study was sponsored by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) located in New York City. IREX maintains scientific exchange agreements with Eastern European countries and the USSR. This survey is one of a series of similar studies conducted in Eastern Europe. Earlier countries surveyed were Romania (Seminara, 1975), Bulgaria (Seminara, 1976a, 1976b, 1982), the USSR (Seminara, 1977, 1979/80), Poland (Seminara, 1979a), Czechoslovakia (Seminara, 1979b), Hungary (Seminara, 1980), and Yugoslavia (Seminara, 1983).     

Human factors in the USSR (Part 2)

In this second part of a survey of the human factors discipline which the author conducted in the USSR, work at four further centres is discussed and there are some comments on exhibitions of Russian products, together with general observations and conclusions. The first part of this report, which compares the Russian and American development, research interests, and academic programmes, appeared in the December 1979 issue.     

Bulgarian ergonomics revisited

In his earlier and more intensive review of ergonomics in Bulgaria, the author concluded that this discipline was highly developed and enjoyed strong government support. It was found that the network of ergonomics activities across national, regional, and local industrial plant levels was perhaps the most highly organised and comprehensive extension of ergonomics concerns of any country in the world. The brief revisit described in this report revealed that ergonomics continues to enjoy a very high measure of respectability. As also noted earlier, the field of ergonomics is still largely the province of physiologists and engineers. Some psychologists that are associated with design organisations are involved in ergonomics activities but, for the most part, psychologists deal primarily with more traditional topics that fall under the heading of industrial or work psychology.     

A survey of ergonomics in Czechoslovakia

A survey of the historical development of ergonomics, and current research and training in this discipline, in Czechoslovakia. The report follows a series of visits to scientists in academic and research in institutions in the summer of 1978.     

The interpretation of the English landscape garden between 1815 and 1840 through Xavier Kurten’s work in Piedmont (north-west Italy)

Xavier Kurten (?–1840) was a Prussian landscape gardener who worked for the Savoy family in the Piedmont region of Italy in the first half of the nineteenth century. He designed or redesigned all royal parks, creating a specific style based on the English naturalistic garden approach. This research was performed with the aim of investigating the development of the English landscape garden in Italy. Historical documents relating to Kurten’s biography and his work in Piedmont, including plans, were collected and analysed. We analyse and discuss the features that characterised his work: the relationship between the landscape—garden—house, the path system, the use of water, the vegetation, and the garden as a productive landscape. Kurten’s style is compared with the projects of William Kent and Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown.     

Comparative in vitro and in vivo study of a nitroxyl derivative of 5-fluorouracil (magnizil) on human gastrointestinal tumors

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: There is much interest in nitroxyl derivatives of cytotoxic agents. We evaluated the potential activity of magnizil, a derivative of 5-fluorouracil, on human gastrointestinal tumors in 3 different in vitro and in vivo experimental models. METHODS: The activities of magnizil and 5-fluorouracil were comparatively determined in vitro on the HT29 cell line by a clonogenic assay and on tumor clinical specimens by an antimetabolic assay. The activity of both the drugs against human tumors was also assessed in mice with the subrenal capsule assay. RESULTS: A similar cytotoxic activity was found for magnizil and 5-fluorouracil on the HT29 cell line. As regards human tumors, a lower activity was observed for the nitroxyl derivative than for 5-fluorouracil, with response rates of 25% and 50%, respectively, at comparable concentrations. Moreover, among the tumors transplanted in the subrenal capsule of mice, two were sensitive to magnizil and 3 to 5-fluorouracil. CONCLUSIONS: Even though experimental results on human tumors indicate a somewhat lower activity for magnizil than the parent compound, its low toxicity and the possibility to clinically use high doses suggest the opportunity to further investigate the potential of this new anticancer agent on larger series of colorectal cancers in experimental systems.     

The joy buzzer in experimentation.

This article describes a novel piece of psychological apparatus recently used in a human factors study relating to the evaluation of a weapons system: the joy buzzer. The use of this novel piece of apparatus proved most successful for the problem under investigation. No doubt, there are many similar applications for the use of the joy buzzer in the field of applied psychology. It is hoped that other novel pieces of instrumentation will be similarly revealed for use in psychological experimentation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bisorbicillinoids Produced by the Fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trichoderma citrinoviride</Emphasis> Affect Feeding Preference of the Aphid <Emphasis Type="Italic">Schizaphis graminum</Emphasis>

We report the effects of some bisorbicillinoids isolated from biomass of the fungus Trichoderma citrinoviride on settling and feeding preference of the aphid Schizaphis graminum. Purification of the fungal metabolites was carried out by a combination of column chromatography and thin-layer chromatography using direct and reverse phases. Chemical identification was performed by spectroscopic methods including nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. The identified bisorbicillinoids appeared to be bislongiquinolide, its 16,17-dihydro derivative, trichodimerol, and dihydrotrichodimerol. A feeding preference test with alate morphs of S. graminum was used to identify the active fractions. Among the four bisorbicillinoids, dihydrotrichodimerol and bislongiquinolide influenced aphid feeding preference, restraining specimens from settling on leaves treated with metabolites. Taste neurons sensitive to these compounds, particularly to bislongiquinolide, were located on tarsi of the S. graminum alate morphs.