Impact of acute exposure to air pollution on the cardiorespiratory performance of military firemen

The objective of the present study was to determine the impact of acute short-term exposure to air pollution on the cardiorespiratory performance of military fireman living and working in the city of Guarujá, São Paulo, Brazil. Twenty-five healthy non-smoking firemen aged 24 to 45 years had about 1 h of exposure to low and high levels of air pollution. The tests consisted of two phases: phase A, in Bertioga, a town with low levels of air pollution, and phase B, in Cubatão, a polluted town, with a 7-day interval between phases. The volunteers remained in the cities (Bertioga/Cubatão) only for the time required to perform the tests. Cumulative load 10 ± 2 min-long exertion tests were performed on a treadmill, consisting of a 2-min stage at a load of 7 km/h, followed by increasing exertion of 1 km h-1 min-1 until the maximum individual limit. There were statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in anaerobic threshold (AT) between Cubatão (35.04 ± 4.91 mL kg-1 min-1) and Bertioga (36.98 ± 5.62 mL kg-1 min-1; P = 0.01), in the heart rate at AT (AT HR; Cubatão 152.08 ± 14.86 bpm, Bertioga 157.44 ± 13.64 bpm; P = 0.001), and in percent maximal oxygen consumption at AT (AT%VO2max; Cubatão 64.56 ± 6.55%, Bertioga 67.40 ± 5.35%; P = 0.03). However, there were no differences in VO2max, maximal heart rate or velocity at AT (ATvel) observed in firemen between towns. The acute exposure to pollutants in Cubatão, SP, caused a significant reduction in the performance at submaximal levels of physical exertion.

Developing construction site operations for EPC power plant projects

The purpose of this thesis is to find development areas for site operations in power plant construction projects delivered by Wärtsilä. The inspected operations are subcontractor management, site material management and work scheduling. The contractor's role in EPC project is to respond for engineering, procurement, and construction supervision. Geographical and cultural differences brings challenges for finding development areas as Wärtsilä delivers projects world-wide. Searching for development area is mainly made with survey, which answers were collected from the target company's site personnel. Based on the results, with good planning and preparation various problems would be avoided. An external view for the thesis was collected by an expert interview, which was held to three expe-rienced construction operating executives. Interviewees believed that with the se-lection of right site personnel and clearly defined areas of responsibility will great-ly affect the outcome of the project. Some of the theory has been collected from areas, which have helped to under-stand the inspected operations on site. Improving competence knowledge has been important due to the broad scope of work and the author’s inexperience of the topic. Also generally effective practices from construction projects has been col-lected to the theory part. Functionality of general practices have been reflected together with the results of empirically collected data for Wärtsilä's projects. As a result, a model was generated where development proposals and the benefits from new procedures were presented.

Diphtheria toxin IgG levels in military and civilian blood donors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Serologic data on diseases that are preventable by vaccines are necessary to evaluate the success of immunization programs and to identify susceptible subgroups. In the present study, we determined serum IgG levels against diphtheria toxin of military and civilian blood donors (N = 75; 69.3% males and 30.7% females) aged 18-64 years, from the Brazilian Army Biology Institute, Rio de Janeiro, using a commercial diphtheria kit (Diphtheria IgG ELISA; IBL, Germany). Most (63%) unprotected military donors were from the older age group of 41 to 64 years. In contrast, the majority (71%) of young military donors (18 to 30 years) were fully protected. About half of the military donors aged 31 to 40 years were protected against diphtheria. Among the civilians, about 50% of persons aged 18 to 30 years and 31 to 40 years had protective antibody levels against diphtheria as also did 64% of individuals aged 41 to 64 years. All civilians had a similar antibody response (geometric mean = 0.55 IU/mL) independent of age group. Military donors aged 18-30 years had higher IgG levels (geometric mean = 0.82 IU/mL) than military donors of 41-64 years (geometric mean = 0.51 IU/mL; P > 0.05). In conclusion, the existence of a considerable proportion of susceptible adults supports the position that reliable data on the immune status of the population should be maintained routinely and emphasizes the importance of adequate immunization during adulthood.

Defining Sales and Operations Planning Process in an Environmental Management Company

Sales and operations research publications have increased significantly in the last decades. The concept of sales and operations planning (S&OP) has gained increased recognition and has been put forward as the area within Supply Chain Management (SCM). Development of S&OP is based on the need for determining future actions, both for sales and operations, since off-shoring, outsourcing, complex supply chains and extended lead times make challenges for responding to changes in the marketplace when they occur. Order intake of the case company has grown rapidly during the last years. Along with the growth, new challenges considering data management and information flow have arisen due to increasing customer orders. To manage these challenges, case company has implemented S&OP process, though initial process is in early stage and due to this, the process is not managing the increased customer orders adequately. Thesis objective is to explore extensively the S&OP process content of the case company and give further recommendations. Objectives are categorized into six different groups, to clarify the purpose of this thesis. Qualitative research methods used are active participant observation, qualitative interviews, enquiry, education, and a workshop. It is notable that demand planning was felt as cumbersome, so it is typically the biggest challenge in S&OP process. More proactive the sales forecasting can be, more expanded the time horizon of operational planning will turn out. S&OP process is 60 percent change management, 30 percent process development and 10 percent technology. The change management and continuous improvement can sometimes be arduous and set as secondary. It is important that different people are required to improve the process and the process is constantly evaluated. As well as, process governance is substantially in a central role and it has to be managed consciously. Generally, S&OP process was seen important and all the stakeholders were committed to the process. Particular sections were experienced more important than others, depending on the stakeholders’ point of views. Recommendations to objective groups are evaluated by the achievable benefit and resource requirement. The urgent and easily implemented improvement recommendations should be executed firstly. Next steps are to develop more coherent process structure and refine cost awareness. Afterwards demand planning, supply planning, and reporting should be developed more profoundly. For last, information technology system should be implemented to support the process phases.

Military Crosstraining - harjoittelun vaikutus varusmiesten fyysisen suorituskyvyn kehittymiseen

Puolustusvoimien fyysisen koulutuksen tavoitteena on tuottaa toimintakykyisiä sotilaita kriisi- ja sodanajan joukkoihin. Liikuntakoulutuksella tuetaan varusmiesten fyysistä koulutusta, ja yhtenä tavoitteena on aktivoida liikunnalliseen elämäntapaan myös reservissä. Varusmiesten lähtökunto palvelukseen astuttaessa on ollut laskusuhdanteessa jo useamman vuosikymmenen ajan, joten sen valossa uusien harjoittelumuotojen ja lajien tutkiminen on ajankohtaista. Tutkimustyön aiheena olevan Military Crosstraining -harjoittelun voidaan sanoa olevan CrossFitin® sotilassovellus, joka urheilu- ja harjoittelumuotona kehittää mahdollisimman monipuolisesti harjoittelijan suorituskykyä eli kestävyyttä ja lihaskuntoa. Tutkimustyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää, millaisia vaikutuksia toiminnallisella ja korkea intensiteettisellä Military Crosstraining -tyyppisellä fyysisellä harjoittelulla (MCH) on varusmiesten fyysisen suorituskyvyn kehittymiseen voimassa olevien normien mukaiseen koulu-tukseen (NH) verrattuna. Työssä vertailtiin kahden samankaltaisen, mutta eri tyyppistä lihaskunto- ja kestävyysharjoittelua tehneen varusmiesjoukon fyysisen suorituskyvyn kehittymistä kuuden kuukauden varusmiespalveluksen aikana. Koehenkilöt olivat jääkäri- ja panssarintorjuntaohjusjoukkueissa palvelleita miehistöön kuuluvia varusmiehiä (n=110, ikä 20,1 ± 0,4, paino 79,3 ± 12,3 kg, pituus 1,81 ± 0,06 m, BMI 24,3 ± 3,3). Kvantitatiivinen tutkimus perustui normin mukaisten varusmiesten kuntotestien sekä kehonkoostumuksen tulo- ja lähtötestien tuloksiin. Tilastolliset analyysit tehtiin SPSS 22 ohjelmalla. Muuttujien välisiä yhteyksiä selvitettiin Pearsonin sekä Spearmanin korrelaa-tiokertoimilla. Ryhmien keskiarvojen välisiä eroja sekä muuttujien muutoksia selvitettiin kaksisuuntaisella T-testillä sekä mediaanitestillä. Lähtötilanteessa ryhmät olivat fyysiseltä kunnoltaan käytännössä samantasoisia. Tutkimuk-sessa ei havaittu merkitseviä eroja (p<0.05) ryhmien välillä kuntotestien lopputuloksissa eikä kestävyys- ja lihaskunnon kehityksessä, vaikkakin kehitys molemmilla oli huomattavaa (p<0.001). Suurimmat erot havaittiin kehon painoissa ja BMI:ssa ja niiden muutoksissa (p<0.001). MCH:n kehonpainossa ja BMI:ssa ei tapahtunut juuri muutoksia. Kehonpainojen erotus kasvoi oli 6,5 %:sta 9,4 %:iin (p>0.001), NH:n painon ollessa pienempi. BMI:n erot kasvoivat vastaavasti 5,2 %:sta 8,4 %:iin (p<0.001). Johtopäätöksenä todettakoon, että mahdollisesti Military Crostraining -tyyppinen harjoittelu lisää lihasmassaa normaalia liikuntakoulutusta enemmän aerobisen kunnon siitä kuitenkaan kärsimättä. Tällä olisi positiivisia vaikutuksia moniin sotilaan kenttätehtäviin, kuten haavoittuneen evakuointiin, taakaan tai kuorman kantoon sekä raskaiden tavaroiden nostamiseen.