Ergonomic DHM systems - limitations and trends – a systematic literature review focused on the ‘future of ergonomics’

Digital Human Models (DHM) have been used for over 25 years. They have evolved from simple drawing templates, which are nowadays still used in architecture, to complex and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) integrated design and analysis tools for various ergonomic tasks. DHM are most frequently used for applications in product design and production planning, with many successful implementations documented. DHM from other domains, as for example computer user interfaces, artificial intelligence, training and education, or the entertainment industry show that there is also an ongoing development towards a comprehensive understanding and holistic modeling of human behavior. While the development of DHM for the game sector has seen significant progress in recent years, advances of DHM in the area of ergonomics have been comparatively modest. As a consequence, we need to question if current DHM systems are fit for the design of future mobile work systems. So far it appears that DHM in Ergonomics are rather limited to some traditional applications. According to Dul et al. (2012), future characteristics of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) can be assigned to six main trends: (1) global change of work systems, (2) cultural diversity, (3) ageing, (4) information and communication technology (ICT), (5) enhanced competiveness and the need for innovation, and; (6) sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Based on a literature review, we systematically investigate the capabilities of current ergonomic DHM systems versus the ‘Future of Ergonomics’ requirements. It is found that DHMs already provide broad functionality in support of trends (1) and (2), and more limited options in regards to trend (3). Today’s DHM provide access to a broad range of national and international databases for correct differentiation and characterization of anthropometry for global populations. Some DHM explicitly address social and cultural modeling of groups of people. In comparison, the trends of growing importance of ICT (4), the need for innovation (5) and sustainability (6) are addressed primarily from a hardware-oriented and engineering perspective and not reflected in DHM. This reflects a persistent separation between hardware design (engineering) and software design (information technology) in the view of DHM – a disconnection which needs to be urgently overcome in the era of software defined user interfaces and mobile devices. The design of a mobile ICT-device is discussed to exemplify the need for a comprehensive future DHM solution. Designing such mobile devices requires an approach that includes organizational aspects as well as technical and cognitive ergonomics. Multiple interrelationships between the different aspects result in a challenging setting for future DHM. In conclusion, the ‘Future of Ergonomics’ pose particular challenges for DHM in regards to the design of mobile work systems, and moreover mobile information access.

Findings report on the endemic fluorosis in the lower reaches of Xiaoqing river [小清河下游地区地方性氟中毒调查报告]

Objective: To find out the present prevalent situation of the endemic fluorosis in the lower reaches of Xiao Qing River , and to look for an effective way to altering sources to lower fluoride level. Methods: To determine the water fluoride content in the drinking water sources and investigate the basic condition of the water sources (type of the water sources, the depth of well, etc) in the three towns of this area . Make a sampling survey of the children aged from 8 to 12 about the dent al fluoro sis and determine the urine fluoride, and the skeletal fluorosis among the crowd over 16 y ears of age. Results: The survey shows that the lower reaches of Xiaoqing river belong to the drinking water type of endemic fluorosis caused by drinking deep well water. In this area, 65.71% of the water sources contain high level of fluoride, 57.51% of the children suffer from dental fluorosis, 0.58% of the crowd over 16 years of age suffer from skeletal fluorosis. High water fluoride rate is related with the depth of the well. If the well is over 500 metres deep, the fluoride content rate is clearly low. Conclusions: In this area, there are still some water sources which contain normal level of fluoride. By increasing the depth of the well down to 500 metres, the problem of high fluoride in water might be solved.

The beneficial effects of specialist thoracic surgery on the resection rate for non-small-cell lung cancer

We aimed to evaluate the effect of the appointment of a dedicated specialist thoracic surgeon on surgical practice for lung cancer previously served by cardio-thoracic surgeons. Outcomes were compared for the 240 patients undergoing surgical resection for lung cancer in two distinct 3-year periods: Group A: 65 patients, 1994-1996 (pre-specialist); Group B: 175 patients, 1997-1999 (post-specialist). The changes implemented resulted in a significant increase in resection rate (from 12.2 to 23.4%, P<0.001), operations in the elderly (over 75 years) and extended resections. There were no significant differences in stage distribution, in-hospital mortality or stage-specific survival after surgery. Lung cancer surgery provided by specialists within a multidisciplinary team resulted in increased surgical resection rates without compromising outcome. Our results strengthen the case for disease-specific specialists in the treatment of lung cancer. © 2004 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

A methodological framework for benchmarking smart transport cities

Besides responding to challenges of rapid urbanization and growing traffic congestion, the development of smart transport systems has attracted much attention in recent times. Many promising initiatives have emerged over the years. Despite these initiatives, there is still a lack of understanding about an appropriate definition of smart transport system. As such, it is challenging to identify the appropriate indicators of ‘smartness’. This paper proposes a comprehensive and practical framework to benchmark cities according to the smartness in their transportation systems. The proposed methodology was illustrated using a set of data collected from 26 cities across the world through web search and contacting relevant transport authorities and agencies. Results showed that London, Seattle and Sydney were among the world’s top smart transport cities. In particular, Seattle and Paris ranked high in smart private transport services while London and Singapore scored high on public transport services. London also appeared to be the smartest in terms of emergency transport services. The key value of the proposed innovative framework lies in a comparative analysis among cities, facilitating city-to-city learning.

The increasing cost of healthy food

OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in the cost and availability of a standard basket of healthy food items (the Healthy Food Access Basket [HFAB]) in Queensland. METHODS: Analysis of five cross-sectional surveys (1998, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2006) describes changes over time. Eighty-nine stores in five remoteness categories were surveyed during May 2006. For the first time a sampling framework based on randomisation of towns throughout the state was applied and the survey was conducted by Queensland Treasury. RESULTS: Compared with the costs in major cities, in 2006 the mean cost of the HFAB was $107.81 (24.2%) higher in very remote stores in Queensland, but $145.57 (32.6%) higher in stores more than 2,000 kilometres from Brisbane. Over six years the cost of the HFAB has increased by around 50% ($148.87) across Queensland and, where data was available, by more than the cost of less healthy alternatives. The Consumer Price Index for food in Brisbane increased by 32.5% over the same period. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Australians, no matter where they live, need access to affordable, healthy food. Issues of food security in the face of rising food costs are of concern particularly in the current global economic downturn. There is an urgent need to nationally monitor, but also sustainably address the factors affecting the price of healthy foods, particularly for vulnerable groups who suffer a disproportionate burden of poor health.

‘We’ve always cooked kangaroo. We still cook kangaroo. Although sometimes we use cookbooks now’ : Aboriginal Australians and cookbooks

Aboriginal Australians have a long history of eating native animals and plants. Food preparation techniques were handed down through the generations, without any need for cookbooks. But colonisation changed the diets of Aboriginal Australians, introducing us to a processed diet high in salt, sugar and fat, and causing a wide range of diet-related health problems. Over the years, many Aboriginal Australians lost their connections to traditional food preparation practices. In this paper, the authors provide a brief overview of Aboriginal food history and describe a newly-emerging focus on reintroducing native foods. They describe the work of an Aboriginal chef, Dale Chapman, who is actively promoting native foods and creating a native-Western food fusion. Chapman has developed native food recipes and a cookbook, in an effort to make native foods accessible to all Australians. She promotes a future when native foods are part of the identity of all Australians – both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.

Taking cues from outer space : the E&P sector can learn much about asset maintenance from the space and satellite industry

The E&P sector can learn much about asset maintenance from the space and satellite industry. Practitioners from both the upstream oil and gas industry and the space and satellite sector have repeatedly noted several striking similarities between the two industries over the years, which have in turn resulted in many direct comparisons in the media and industry press. The similarities between the two industries have even resulted in a modest amount of cross-pollinating between the respective supply chains. Because the operating conditions of both industries are so extreme, some oil and gas equipment vendors have occasionally sourced motors and other parts from aerospace contractors. Also, satellites are now being used to assess oil fires, detect subsidence in oil fields, measure oil spills, collect and transmit operational data from oil and gas fields, and monitor the movement of icebergs that might potentially collide with offshore oil and gas installations.

Creating efficiencies in teaching : where are the right resources when you need them?

Early career engineering academics are encouraged to join and contribute to established research groups at the leading edge of their discipline. This is often facilitated by various staff development and support programs. Given that academics are often appointed primarily on the basis of their research skills and outputs, such an approach is justified and is likely to result in advancing the individual academic’s career. It also enhances their capacity to attract competitive research funding, while contributing to the overall research performance of their institution, with further potential for an increased share of government funding. In contrast, there is much less clarity of direction or availability of support mechanisms for those academics in their role as teachers. Following a general induction to teaching and learning at their institution, they would commonly think about preparing some lecture materials, whether for delivery in a face-to-face or on-line modality. Typically they would look for new references and textbooks to act as a guide for preparing the content. They would probably find out how the course has been taught before, and what laboratory facilities and experiments have been used. In all of these and other related tasks, the majority of newly appointed academics are guided strongly by their own experiences as students, rather than any firm knowledge of pedagogical principles. At a time of increased demands on academics’ time, and high expectations of performance and productivity in both research and teaching, it is essential to examine possible actions to support academics in enhancing their teaching performance in effective and efficient ways. Many resources have been produced over the years in engineering schools around the world, with very high intellectual and monetary costs. In Australia, the last few years have seen a surge in the number of ALTC/OLT projects and fellowships addressing a range of engineering education issues and providing many resources. There are concerns however regarding the extent to which these resources are being effectively utilised. Why are academics still re-inventing the wheel and creating their own version of teaching resources and pedagogical practice? Why do they spend so much of their precious time in such an inefficient way? A symposium examining the above issues was conducted at the AAEE2012 conference, and some pointers to possible responses to the above questions were obtained. These are explored in this paper and supplemented by the responses to a survey of a group of engineering education leaders on some of the aspects of these research questions. The outcomes of the workshop and survey results have been analysed in view of the literature and the ALTC/OLT sponsored learning and teaching projects and resources. Other factors are discussed, including how such resources can be found, how their quality might be evaluated, and how assessment may be appropriately incorporated, again using readily available resources. This study found a strong resonance between resources reuse with work on technology acceptance (Davis, 1989), suggesting that technology adoption models could be used to encourage resource sharing. Efficient use of outstanding learning materials is an enabling approach. The paper provides some insights on the factors affecting the re-use of available resources, and makes some recommendations and suggestions on how the issue of resources re-use might be incorporated in the process of applying and completing engineering education projects.

How does innovation happen in the upstream oil & gas industry? Insights from a global survey

Few would argue that the upstream oil & gas industry has become more technology-intensive over the years. But how does innovation happen in the industry? Specifically, what ideas and inputs flow from which parts of the sector’s value network, and where do these inputs go? And how do firms and organizations from different countries contribute differently to this process? This paper puts forward the results of a survey designed to shed light on these issues. A joint research initiative between the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Queensland University of Technology, the survey was sent to 469 executives and senior managers who played a significant role with regards to R&D and/or technology deployment in their respective business units. A total of 199 responses were received from a broad range of organizations and countries around the world. Several interesting themes and trends emerge from the results, including: (1) service companies tend to file considerably more patents per innovation than other types of organization; (2) over 63% of the deployed innovations reported in the survey originated in service companies; (3) neither universities nor government-led research organizations are considered to be valuable sources of new information and knowledge in the industry’s R&D initiatives; and (4) despite the increasing degree of globalization in the marketplace, the USA still plays an extremely dominant role in the industry’s overall R&D and technology deployment activities. By providing a detailed snapshot of how innovation happens in the upstream oil & gas sector, this paper provides a valuable foundation for future investigations and discussions aimed at improving how R&D and technology deployment are managed within the industry.

A pre-clinical functional assessment of an acellular scaffold intended for the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds

Dermal wound healing is a biochemical and cellular process critical to life. While the majority of the population will only ever experience successful wound healing outcomes, some 1-3 % of those aged over 65 years will experience wound healing delay or perpetuation. These hard-to-heal wounds are comprised of degraded and dysfunctional extracellular matrix, yet the integrity of this structure is critical in the processes of normal wound healing. As such, extracellular matrix replacements have been devised that can replace dysfunctional extracellular matrix in hard-to-heal wounds with the aim of restoring normal wound healing processes. Here we evaluated a novel synthetic matrix protein for its ability to act as an acellular scaffold that can replace dysfunctional extracellular matrix. In this regard the synthetic protein demonstrated an ability to rapidly adsorb to the dermal surface, permit cell attachment and facilitate the cellular functions essential to wound healing. When applied to deep partial thickness wounds in a porcine animal model the matrix protein also demonstrated the ability to reduce wound duration. These data provide evidence that the synthetic matrix protein has the ability to function as an acellular scaffold for wound healing purposes.

Road safety knowledge exchange and capacity building between China and Australia

Road traffic injuries are one of the major public health burdens worldwide. The United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) implores all nations to work to reduce this burden. This decade represents a unique and historic period of time in the field of road safety. Information exchange and co-operation between nations is an important step in achieving the goal. The burden of road crashes, fatalities and injuries is not equally distributed. We know that low and middle-income countries experience the majority of the road trauma burden. Therefore it is imperative that these countries learn from the successes of others that have developed and implemented road safety laws, public education campaigns and countermeasures over many years and have achieved significant road trauma reductions as a result. China is one of the countries experiencing a large road trauma burden. Vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists make up a large proportion of fatalities and injuries in China. Speeding, impaired/drug driving, distracted driving, vehicle overloading, inadequate road infrastructure, limited use of safety restraints and helmets, and limited road safety training have all been identified as contributing to the problem. Some important steps have been taken to strengthen China’s approach, including increased penalties for drunk driving in May 2011 and increased attention to school bus safety in 2011/12. However, there is still a large amount of work needed to improve the current road safety position in China. This paper provides details of a program to assist with road safety knowledge exchange between China and Australia that was funded by the Australian Government which was undertaken in the latter part of 2012. The four month program provided the opportunity for the first author to work closely with key agencies in Australia that are responsible for policy development and implementation of a broad range of road safety initiatives. In doing so, an in-depth understanding was gained about key road safety strategies in Australia and processes for developing and implementing them. Insights were also gained into the mechanisms used for road safety policy development, implementation and evaluation in several Australian jurisdictions. Road traffic law and enforcement issues were explored with the relevant jurisdictional transport and police agencies to provide a greater understanding of how Chinese laws and practices could be enhanced. Working with agencies responsible for public education and awareness campaigns about road safety in Australia also provided relevant information about how to promote road safety at the broader community level in China. Finally, the program provided opportunities to work closely with several world-renowned Australian research centres and key expert researchers to enhance opportunities for ongoing road safety research in China. The overall program provided the opportunity for the first author to develop knowledge in key areas of road safety strategy development, implementation and management which are directly relevant to the current situation in China. This paper describes some main observations and findings from participation in the program.

Useful field of view test

A test of the useful field of view was introduced more than two decades ago and was designed to reflect the visual difficulties that older adults experience with everyday tasks. Importantly, the useful field of view is one of the most extensively researched and promising predictor tests for a range of driving outcomes measures, including driving ability and crash risk, as well as other everyday tasks. Currently available commercial versions of the test can be administered using personal computers and measure speed of visual processing speed for rapid detection and localization of targets under conditions of divided visual attention and in the presence and absence of visual clutter. The test is believed to assess higher order cognitive abilities, but performance also relies on visual sensory function since targets must be visible in order to be attended to. The format of the useful field of view test has been modified over the years; the original version estimated the spatial extent of useful field of view, while the latest versions measures visual processing speed. While deficits in the useful field of view are associated with functional impairments in everyday activities in older adults, there is also emerging evidence from several research groups that improvements in visual processing speed can be achieved through training. These improvements have been shown to reduce crash risk, and have a positive impact on health and functional well being, with the potential to increase the mobility and hence independence of older adults.

The baby boomers and beyond report : physical activity levels of older Western Australians 2006

Participation in sufficient levels of physical activity provides significant health benefits, particularly in older adults. The monitoring of physical activity levels in the Western Australian population is therefore necessary for developing and implementing strategies and programs for increasing participation. The Premier’s Physical Activity Taskforce (PATF) conducted a survey in 2006 to measure physical activity levels among Western Australian adults to follow-up the 1999 and 2002 state physical activity surveys. There is now widespread agreement that many health problems of older life – including the onset of frailty and disability – can be postponed or delayed by adopting health-enhancing habits such as physical activity. Adults over 65 years are the most rapidly growing age group and will continue to rise as more persons turn 65. If older adults could be encouraged to be more active as they age, frailty and disability associated with falls would be reduced, and function and physical and mental health in older people would be improved thereby reducing the burden of disease and injury. Given that physical inactivity is one of the most important and modifiable risk factors contributing to ill health, particularly for people as they age, the overall aim of this study was to examine patterns of physical activity in those aged 45 years and over – referred to hereafter as baby boomers+ – in more detail.

Modelling as a vehicle for philosophical inquiry in the mathematics curriculum

Philosophical inquiry in the teaching and learning of mathematics has received continued, albeit limited, attention over many years (e.g., Daniel, 2000; English, 1994; Lafortune, Daniel, Fallascio, & Schleider, 2000; Kennedy, 2012a). The rich contributions these communities can offer school mathematics, however, have not received the deserved recognition, especially from the mathematics education community. This is a perplexing situation given the close relationship between the two disciplines and their shared values for empowering students to solve a range of challenging problems, often unanticipated, and often requiring broadened reasoning. In this article, I first present my understanding of philosophical inquiry as it pertains to the mathematics classroom, taking into consideration the significant work that has been undertaken on socio-political contexts in mathematics education (e.g., Skovsmose & Greer, 2012). I then consider one approach to advancing philosophical inquiry in the mathematics classroom, namely, through modelling activities that require interpretation, questioning, and multiple approaches to solution. The design of these problem activities, set within life-based contexts, provides an ideal vehicle for stimulating philosophical inquiry.

Can Business Continuity Management Create Reliability in Airports? (Issues from Theory into Practice)

The advances made within the aviation industry over the past several decades have significantly improved the availability, affordability and convenience of air travel and have been greatly beneficial in both social and economic terms. Air transport has developed into an irreplaceable service being relied on by millions of people each day and as such airports have become critical elements of national infrastructure to facilitate the movement of people and goods. As components of critical infrastructure (CI), airports are integral parts of a national economy supporting regional as well as national trade, commercial activity and employment. Therefore, any disruption or crisis which impacts the continuity of operations at airports can have significant negative consequences for the airport as a business, for the local economy and other nodes of transport infrastructure as well as for society. Due to the highly dynamic and volatile environment in which airports operate in, the aviation industry has faced many different challenges over the years ranging from terrorist attacks such as September 11, to health crises such as the SARS epidemic to system breakdowns such as the recent computer system outage at Virgin Blue Airlines in Australia. All these events have highlighted the vulnerability of airport systems to a range of disturbances as well as the gravity and widespread impact of any kind of discontinuity in airport functions. Such incidents thus emphasise the need for increasing resilience and reliability of airports and ensuring business continuity in the event of a crisis...