Measurement of the thermal environment in industry.

The role of cardiovascular CT in occupational health assessment for coronary heart disease: An expert consensus document from the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT): Endorsed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American College of Radiology (ACR)

Profiles of factors affecting self-reported eye symptoms and objectively determined tear film characteristics have been examined and compared using data from 814 office workers. Multiple logistic regression analysis reveals significantly increased risks of subjective perception of eye symptoms for female gender, use of contact lenses and persons with health problems. A reduced break-up time (BUT) depends on personal criteria such as a history of eye disease and female gender. Age under 40 years, high relative humidity and formaldehyde exposure exceeding the 90th percentile are protective regarding BUT. For a thin lipid layer (as an indication of dry eyes) significantly increased risks are detected for high particle load, high endotoxin concentration and female gender. A thick lipid layer (as an indication of inflamed eyes) is significantly associated with a low educational level. The estimation of foam in the medial eye canthus seems to be unsuitable for evaluating indoor problems. The risk factor profiles agree on a few points only. The objectively examined thin lipid layer is the best eye-related indicator of the indoor environment. We therefore conclude that there is a need for the development and application of objective clinical methods for field monitoring in parallel with questioning. Self-reported eye symptoms in conjunction with indoor environmental problems should be validated by objective medical examinations such as semi-quantitative estimation of the superficial lipid layer, measurement of the break-up time or assessment of conjunctival epithelial damage. For unbiased proof of environmental impact, personal factors such as acute illness or low job satisfaction should be excluded. As a minimum requirement, measurements of particles, NO(2) and relative humidity (and if possible endotoxin) should be carried out to detect any indoor environmental reason for eye symptoms.

Defogging of particle images is a common task in machine vision-based measurement of particle size distribution (PSD) for granular materials or products. Current defogging methods are challenged by particle images captured in industrial environment, where artificial light is dominant in the imaging process and the fog is often unevenly distributed in the image due to its rapid and random movement. The recovered images may contain serious overexposures and result in failures in PSD measurement. To solve this problem, we propose a novel model-based defogging method for particle images with different fog distributions. First, a physical model is established to describe the image formation in industrial foggy environment with artificial light. Then, an adaptive method is proposed to estimate the range of the key model parameter (light intensity coefficient) and to obtain candidate defogged images. Finally, the fog-free image is generated by fusing the candidate images to reduce overexposures while retaining the image brightness. The proposed method was validated experimentally using iron ore particle images and compared with ten current defogging methods. Results demonstrate that our proposed method is adaptive to different illuminations and different fog contributions. It outperforms other defogging methods in removing unevenly distributed fog from the image and thus greatly improves the measuring accuracy of particle size. The proposed image defogging method can be integrated into machine vision systems for particle-handling processes to facilitate PSD measurement in foggy environment. The sample implementation of the proposed method is available at “ <uri xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://github.com/zhoushuyi/particle-image-defog</uri> .”

Real-life industrial environments pose a challenge for today's radio-based localization systems, as the radio channel is highly affected by the multiple interference present in the environment. Therefore, this paper presents a solution for generating Weighted Multilateration Position Estimation based on the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) for ToA (Time of Arrival) ranging measurements to enhance the fault tolerance, reduce the self-interference of the ranging system and finally enhance the accuracy of the position estimation. A coordinate descent algorithm for optimal anchor placement is demonstrated in this paper, which is based on results of 3D ray tracing. The applied 3D environment model is highly sophisticated, as it was generated by 3D laser scanning for gauging. In a final optimization step, power level adjustment is shown to further enhance the accuracy of the localization system. Concluding, a performance evaluation based on simulations, numerical optimization and experimental measurements in the industrial target environment will demonstrate the improvements of our comprehensive approach in terms of accuracy and robustness.

Modeling and understanding of propagation channel characteristics are necessary to develop wireless communication systems, e.g. transmitter and receiver hardware, modulation and demodulation algorithms. Indoor environments as propagation channels are important because of the complex multipath propagation characteristics and the massive usage of wireless communications in the indoor environments. Among the indoor environments, industrial environments are used for emerging massive machine type communication (mMTC), and conference room and lecture room are widely used for typical indoor wireless scenario. In this paper, we introduce indoor propagation channel measurements in industrial, conference room, and lecture room environments at 7.1 GHz frequency band. Channel parameters such as path loss exponent, shadow fading, delay spread, and K-factor are extracted from the measurements.

The surging advance in micro- and nanotechnologies allied with neural learning systems allows the realization of miniaturized yet extremely powerful multisensor systems and networks for wide application fields, for example, in measurement, instrumentation, automation, and smart environments. Time and location context is particularly relevant to sensor swarms applied for distributed measurement in industrial environment, such as, for example, fermentation tanks. Common RF solutions face limits here, which can be overcome by magnetic systems. Previously, we have developed the electronic system for an integrated data logger swarm with magnetic localization and sensor node timebase synchronization. The focus of this work is on an approach to improving both localization accuracy and flexibility by the application of artificial neural networks applied as virtual sensors and classifiers in a hybrid dedicated learning system. Including also data from an industrial brewery environment, the best investigated neural virtual sensor approach has achieved an advance in localization accuracy of a factor of 4 compared to state-of-the-art numerical methods and, thus, results in the order of less than 5 cm meeting industrial expectations on a feasible solution for the presented integrated localization system solution.

The correspondence between impact factor profiles of self-reported skin sensation and of objectively determined skin symptoms was examined using data from the ProKlimA project (1994-1999). A sub-sample of 925 office workers participated in measurements of skin hydration and sebum content and responded to a questionnaire assessing sensory perception. The calculation of multiple logistic regression models revealed a significant increased risk for female sex [Odds ratio (OR): 2.3; confidence interval (CI): 1.4-3.6], poor software (OR: 2.2; CI: 1.3-4.0), unfavorable job characteristics (OR: 1.8; CI: 1.1-2.8), allergic illness (OR: 1.5; CI: 1.1-2.2) and the use of skin cream (OR:2.6; CI: 1.6-4.4) on the subjective perception of skin sensation. Regarding the objective medical examination of the skin humidity a significant increased risk was detected for a high concentration of Total Volatile Organic Compounds (OR: 2.5; CI: 1.3-4.8) and a low relative humidity (OR:1.9; CI: 1.1-3.4). The likewise objectively measured low sebum content is not associated with environmental variables. The impact profiles on subjective vs. objective outcome variables differ in a clear and typical way. Skin related sensory perception is mainly influenced by job-related and personal impacts. Indoor environmental characteristics affect skin hydration. We conclude the need to develop, to adapt and to use objective clinical methods applicable for field monitoring parallel to questioning.

A cure for preventive medicine

Deployment of UHF RFID technology in the industrial environment is not easy to perform because of the heterogeneity of the environment, the propagation of the high frequency radio signal, the interference, and the associated time-consuming implementation. The paper deals with deployment and evaluation of developed autonomous system for measurement of UHF RFID signals in industrial environment. Such a system allows, in defined 3D real-world locations, to obtain autonomously information about the actual Received Signal Strength Indicator of the moving RFID tag (Etalon) that is registered while investigated with each antenna of RFID reader. A corridor was chosen as an experimental area, and Received Signal Strength Indicator was evaluated by both, simulation and measurement methods. The results show a statistically significant relationship between measured and modeled Received Signal Strength Indicator in dBm at the 99% confidence level. The presented autonomous system can contribute to a more comprehensive analysis of measuring the electromagnetic field emitted by the UHF RFID antennas in various industrial environments.

Hazards in quarry industries are unavoidable and inimical to the health of man and environment. Occupational health and safety measures mitigate the effect of the hazards. This study investigated the extent of workers’ compliance with measures for safe environment in quarry industries in Abakaliki capital development territory of Ebonyi State. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study consisted of 3450 workers of quarry industries in the area under survey. A sample of 358 workers was chosen using proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a 15-item structured questionnaire tagged Measures for Safe Environment Compliance Questionnaire (MSECQ). Internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha co-efficient and the overall reliability coefficient was 0.96. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while hypotheses were tested using t-test and one way analysis of variance. Alpha level for test of hypotheses was set 0.05. The results show that workers highly comply with measures for safe environment, exhibit high compliance with measures for safe environment in relation to reporting safety problems and every faulty equipment to management as well as working only when there is proper lighting. They show low compliance with measures for safe environment with regard to urinating into toilet/urinal within the quarry and defecating into toilet within the quarry. There is no significant difference between male and female workers in the level of compliance with measures for safe environment. There is significant difference in workers compliance with measures for safe environment based on level of education. It is recommended that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) should liaise with state and local health authorities in the health education of quarry workers and general control of quarries. Also, owners of quarries should take responsibility for every act of non-compliance in quarries and should ensure regular health education and training of workers and regular hazard control in the quarries.

Proceedings of the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility: executive summary

Proceedings of the Summit on Environmental Challenges to Reproductive Health and Fertility: executive summary

LUDWIG TELEKY WAS A MAJOR international figure in early twentieth century social and occupational medicine, admired for his scientific accomplishments, legislative and regulatory achievements, and progressive political views.1 He published some 350 papers, monographs, and books and cofounded an important journal, Archiv fur Gewerbepathologie und Gewerbehygiene (Archive of Industrial Pathology and Hygiene), yet at the same time held notable administrative positions. He was active in the German Social Democratic Party and played a significant role in international organizations as a founding member of the Permanent International Committee on Industrial Medicine in 1906 and as editor of the Encyclopedia of Industrial Diseases published by the International Labor Organization (founded in 1919).2 Teleky was born in Vienna, Austria, on July 12, 1872, and graduated in medicine from the University of Vienna in 1896.2 He was appointed lecturer in social medicine at Vienna in 1909, a position he held for 10 years.3 In that role he inspired future leaders of social medicine and international health such as the Croatian Andrija Stampar, who went on to play important roles in Yugoslavian public health, the League of Nations Health Organization, and the World Health Organization.4 In 1921 Teleky became medical inspector for factories for the Rhineland and, simultaneously, director of the Postgraduate Academy of Social Hygiene and Industrial Medicine at Dusseldorf.5 During his years in Austria, Teleky was respected for his broad views on social medicine and industrial hygiene.6 During his years in Germany, he was noteworthy for courageously keeping his distance from racial hygiene and eugenics.7 In 1932, because of Nazi persecution, Teleky was deprived of his German appointments and returned to Vienna. By 1938, it was necessary for him to leave Europe for the United States, where in 1939 he obtained a lectureship at the University of Chicago. In 1944 he took a position with the Labor Division of the New York State Department of Industrial Hygiene. While in New York City, Teleky devoted much of his time to writing and, among other works, published his History of Factory and Mine Hygiene (1948), from which this excerpt is taken. Near the end of his life, the Federal German Republic tried to make amends to him for having been victimized by the Nazis and conferred the Grand Cross of Merit on Dr. Teleky, and the Town of Hamm named a street after him.8

The accuracy of length measurements performed in harsh industrial environments by optical systems, such as laser trackers and absolute distance meters, for the dimensional inspection of large mechanical parts, strongly depends on the air refractive index. The latter is usually calculated as a function of ambient conditions i.e. temperature, pressure, humidity and CO2 content using the Edlen formula. Its value should be carefully controlled during length measurements. In industrial environments, monitoring all these parameters, especially temperature, with sufficient accuracy can be most difficult. Indeed, the industrial workspaces can be subjected to temperature gradients of few degrees, and an uncertainty of 1°C in the temperature estimation leads to an uncertainty of 1 μm/m in distances measured optically. The aim of this work is to develop and optimize an acoustic thermometer able to perform real-time measurements of the average air temperature along an optical pathway. This apparatus is destined to be integrated into a laser absolute distance meter to improve its performances. The acoustic thermometer presented in this paper is based on the measurement of the time of flight of acoustic pulses between two measuring heads. The requirements for such a thermometer, for measurements in industrial environments, make the technical choices and practical realization challenging. Indeed, the working frequency range should be in the ultrasonic region, which implies a strong attenuation of the acoustic waves in air and correspondingly a low signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, the whole measurement system should remain compact, with wireless communication between the measuring heads.

Background: most methods of uncertainty quantification for digital image correlation are orientated towards the research environment and it remains difficult to quantify all of the uncertainty introduced along the measurement chain in an industrial environment. This gap in capability can become critical when physical tests are required for certification purposes. Objective: To develop and demonstrate an uncertainty quantification method that was independent of a specific DIC system, easily integrated with the measurement workflow, applicable at the measurement location and capable of capturing the contributions from all sources of uncertainty. Methods: an elegant new method utilises the calibration target, commonly used with DIC systems to evaluate their intrinsic and extrinsic parameters, through reference measurements before and after relative motion between the measurement system and the object of interest. The method is described and demonstrated for quantifying the field of uncertainty associated with maps of displacement and deformation in a large-scale industrial component. Results: The fields of uncertainty associated with measurements, using stereoscopic DIC, of x-, y- and z- displacement components during a compression buckling test on an aircraft fuselage panel are presented. The derived uncertainty has independently been corroborated along one axis by moving a calibrated translation stage. Conclusions: A new method has been proposed that allows the quantification of the fields of uncertainty arising from all sources when DIC measurements are performed on a large-scale object of interest in an industrial environment. The method requires no additional equipment and can be readily included in the workflow of a measurement campaign.