Workload Intensity Research Articles

Validity and reliability of RPE as a measure of intensity during isometric wall squat exercise

Isometric exercise (IE), including wall squat training, has been shown to be effective at reducing resting blood pressure (BP). Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is also widely used as an accessible additional measure of IE intensity. Despite this, no RPE scales have been specifically designed for use with IE and it is not clear whether RPE is sensitive enough to distinguish between different lower limb IE workloads. Therefore, the aims of this study were to assess the validity and reliability of RPE as a measure of IE intensity (workload) and physiological exertion (Heart rate and BP), and to examine whether RPE is able to discern differences in wall squat workload (knee angle) at a resolution of 10-degrees, as was previous shown for heart rate (HR) and BP. Twenty-nine male participants completed eight separate isometric wall squat testing sessions, separated by a minimum of 5-h. Each session consisted of a single 2-min isometric wall squat test, at one of five randomized workloads (knee joint angles). Three of the knee angles were repeated, a second time, to allow measurements of reliability. Throughout the exercise protocol, HR and BP were recorded continuously; values for each 30-s time-point were calculated as the mean of the proceeding 5-s, and peak values for the 2-min bout were taken as the mean results for the final 5-s of the bout. In addition, mean results for the full 2-min period were calculated. RPE was collected every 30 s. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating RPE results with the criterion measures: Knee joint angle, HR, and BP. Differences in RPE were assessed across consecutive workloads and time-points. There were significant increases in RPE at each consecutive wall squat workload (P<0.001) and between each consecutive 30-s time point (P<0.001). In addition, the RPE results produced a significant inverse relationship with knee angle (r=-0.79; P<0.001) and significant positive relationships with HR (r=0.53, P<0.001) and BP (systolic: r=0.77; diastolic: r=0.62; and mean arterial pressure: r=0.70, P<0.001). RPE provides a valid and reliable measure of isometric wall squat intensity, physiological exertion and can discern between knee angles with a resolution of 10°. Patients and practitioners implementing isometric exercise training for arterial blood pressure reduction can use RPE to accurately monitor the intensity of the exercise and the physiological responses.

Analytical Comparison of Cloud Data Centre Services and Cost

Comparing with the traditional data centre, cloud computing makes it easier for enterprises to scale their services and lowers the cost of access for smaller companies. The cost comparison between cloud computing and the old-style data centre is an important issue of concern. In this paper, the cost roles traditional cloud data centre and server room are settled up, the performance of the data centre and cloud computing were tested based on the compared with the data centre with low workload intensity strength. More than a few data centre have a primary backup of data and servers. The cloud data centre provider like Amazon, Google Facebook data centre are called Availability zones. The availability zones are a within the same region, distinct colocation centre is connected to Virtual Private Cloud network. This research discovering new network architectures for the data centre. In this paper, we considerate the among different data centre charges and network architectures. the comparison on cost using current and predicted trends in data centre cost and power consumption.

Effects of workload on human cognitive performance of exposure to extremely cold environment

Many jobs like outdoor work and emergency rescue have to be exposed to extremely cold environments. The combined effects of the cold exposure and work intensity on human cognitive performance remain unclear. In this paper, the experiments of six Chinese young men exposed to an extremely cold environment (-10 °C) were conducted in a climatic chamber. The work intensity level was graded according to the metabolic rate corresponding to three walking speeds. Nine cognitive functions and one perceived were recorded to evaluate the subjects’ cognitive performance, including NCTB (seven items), Stroop, and RPE were measured. The increase of workload from moderate to high could lead to the acceleration of fatigue speed and the aggravation of fatigue degree 5 min earlier. Moderate work intensity is a noteworthy work level in extremely cold environment, which is an inflection point in the impact of fatigue and cognitive levels. The manual dexterity significantly increases by the workload intensity, and the high work intensity makes the hands more dexterous (29% increase). Extremely cold environment has a significant effect on short-term memory (decreased 33%). The selective attention was reduced by 16% in the extremely cold environment. With the moderate work intensity in extremely cold environment, the perceived judgment response speed would decrease. The combined effects of the extremely cold environment and the workload on the cognitive functions of psychomotor ability and attention or sensorimotor speed should be paid more attention to.

Risk And Resilience On Employees During Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic brought enormous changes and forced employees working in healthcare as well as industrial setting to adapt their daily works. This study aims to review the employee’s risks and resilience during covid-19 pandemic. Method: We performed a systematic-review literature by searching published reports on risks and resilience on employees during covid-19 pandemic. Systematic search was conducted on Google Scholar using the following keywords: "employee resilience" AND “COVID-19” and additional keywords "workers resilience" AND “COVID-19. Inclusion criteria comprised original article, written in English, fulltext available, and published on 2020. Result: During the Covid-19 pandemic, employees were at risks for increased workload and work intensity, psychological changes in the form of ambivalence, emotional exhaustion, distress, and job insecurity. Individual as well as organizational resilience are put under tested. At the organizational level, company may adapt their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and other development programs to response to societal challenges during covid-19 pandemic, create flexible working hours or arrangements, develop intervention programs for mental and physical health and well-being, provide financial supports, and creating a safe and supportive work environment. At the individual level, resilience can be built by applying effective coping strategies focusing on tasks, stress management, social, cognitive strategies, faith-based learning activities, and promoting meaning-based coping strategies. This later strategy helps employees search for meaning in their lives related to family, life goals, values and personal strengths. The leaders’ caring and emotional intelligence greatly associated with employees’ resilience. Conclusion: The COVID 19 pandemic put employees at risks for increased workloads, emotional exhaustion, increased distress, and low levels of job security. However, pandemic also brings opportunities for building resilience at the individual and organizational levels. Company leaders play pivotal roles in endorsing programs for employee resilience.

Automated Cognitive Workload Assessment Using Logical Teaching Learning-Based Optimization and PROMETHEE Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approach

Cognitive workload assessment plays an important role to examine the mental status of brain for emergency situations faced by air traffic controllers, military personals and many more. It is also significant for brain disorder diagnosis and psychological health monitoring. Mental workload induced by various factors needs to be critically examined for better decisions. This paper presents an automated model for cognitive workload assessment to provide accurate categorization on intensity of workload induced by multitasking situations. Statistical wavelets corresponding to brain frequencies act as features for categorization task. The brain analysis needs technical expertise to identify the relevant information but, due to lack of sufficient number of experts, feature selection model helps to identify the relevant features responsible to categorize cognitive workload. Teaching Learning based Optimization (TLBO) method has been modified using ‘Logical Operators’ for binary feature selection problem in the current study and evaluated based on different parameters. Results on Logical TLBO reached upto 100% for binary and multiclass classification of cognitive workload. The results also show the proposed method is converging in minimum iteration for multiclass cognitive workload. PROMETHEE based multi-criteria decision-making approach has adopted for ranking of algorithm to select the best algorithm when multiple alternatives are available. Based on study of current literature, this approach appears to be first time implemented to provide ranking of optimization algorithms. The PROMETHEE method also suggests that the Logical TLBO is best among all the other compared approaches.

Postura e dor cervical e lombar em professores de uma escola pública de Guaíba/RS

Introdução: A dor nas regiões lombar e/ou cervical estão entre as maiores queixas de dor entre professores. Objetivo: Avaliar a associação entre desordens posturais e a presença de dor lombar e/ou cervical em professores de uma escola estadual de Guaíba/RS. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo transversal, com amostra composta por 24 docentes, de ambos os sexos, que apresentavam ou não dor na coluna vertebral. Para a coleta dos dados foi realizada uma avaliação postural e aplicado um questionário com questões referentes à idade, tempo de serviço, IMC, carga horária e intensidade da dor. Para a análise dos dados, a associação dos achados posturais e o local de dor foi obtida através do teste de qui-quadrado (p&lt;0,05). Resultados: A média de idade foi de 45±8,85 anos, sendo a maioria do sexo feminino (62,5%). A dor mais prevalente foi na coluna cervical (33,3%), seguida de dor lombar (29,2%) e dor em ambas as regiões (20,8%). Observou-se que dos 16 pontos avaliados, houve associação entre o desalinhamento escapular e dor nas regiões cervical e lombar e entre a anteriorização da cabeça e a dor cervical. Conclusão: A alta prevalência de dor na coluna vertebral entre os participantes revela o quanto os professores estão expostos aos riscos posturais, o que favorece o surgimento de dores.

Trauma Versus Nontrauma Intensive Care Unit Nursing: A Workload Comparison.

Trauma centers with dedicated trauma intensive care units (TICUs) have recently been developed in South Korea. It is hypothesized that TICU nurse staffing is driven not only by the number of patients but also by the work intensity. This study aims to compare nursing workload characteristics between TICUs and non-TICUs. A 1-year retrospective study was performed in one TICU and five non-TICUs in a single trauma center from September 2014 to August 2015. Demographic data were collected along with nursing workload characteristics using the Workload Management System of Critical Care Nurses (WMSCN) score. A total of 332 trauma patients in the TICU and 2,346 nontrauma patients in non-TICUs were studied. TICU patients were younger (49.27 vs. 60.44, p < .001) and more frequently male (75.6% vs. 24.4%, p < .001). The most common admission reasons were motor vehicle crash (38.6%) and cardiovascular conditions (24.9%). Both intensive care unit and hospital length of stay were longer in TICU patients (12.72 vs. 5.43, p < .001; and 35.61 vs. 18.16, p < .001), whereas the mortality rates in the TICU were lower (11.1% vs. 15.1%, p < .001). Total WMSCN scores were significantly higher in the TICU (115.99 vs. 110.19; p < .001). This study found that nursing workload or work intensity was significantly higher in the TICU than in non-TICUs. Further multicenter studies using objective medical severity scores are warranted.

Mental Effort When Playing, Listening, and Imagining Music in One Pianist's Eyes and Brain.

We investigated “musical effort” with an internationally renowned, classical, pianist while playing, listening, and imagining music. We used pupillometry as an objective measure of mental effort and fMRI as an exploratory method of effort with the same musical pieces. We also compared a group of non-professional pianists and non-musicians by the use of pupillometry and a small group of non-musicians with fMRI. This combined approach of psychophysiology and neuroimaging revealed the cognitive work during different musical activities. We found that pupil diameters were largest when “playing” (regardless of whether there was sound produced or not) compared to conditions with no movement (i.e., “listening” and “imagery”). We found positive correlations between pupil diameters of the professional pianist during different conditions with the same piano piece (i.e., normal playing, silenced playing, listen, imagining), which might indicate similar degrees of load on cognitive resources as well as an intimate link between the motor imagery of sound-producing body motions and gestures. We also confirmed that musical imagery had a strong commonality with music listening in both pianists and musically naïve individuals. Neuroimaging provided evidence for a relationship between noradrenergic (NE) activity and mental workload or attentional intensity within the domain of music cognition. We found effort related activity in the superior part of the locus coeruleus (LC) and, similarly to the pupil, the listening and imagery engaged less the LC–NE network than the motor condition. The pianists attended more intensively to the most difficult piece than the non-musicians since they showed larger pupils for the most difficult piece. Non-musicians were the most engaged by the music listening task, suggesting that the amount of attention allocated for the same task may follow a hierarchy of expertise demanding less attentional effort in expert or performers than in novices. In the professional pianist, we found only weak evidence for a commonality between subjective effort (as rated measure-by-measure) and the objective effort gauged with pupil diameter during listening. We suggest that psychophysiological methods like pupillometry can index mental effort in a manner that is not available to subjective awareness or introspection.

Automated Fine-Grained CPU Cap Control in Serverless Computing Platform

Serverless computing has emerged as a new cloud computing execution model that liberates users and application developers from explicitly managing `physical' resources, leaving such a resource management burden to service providers. In this article, we study the problem of resource allocation for multi-tenant serverless computing platforms explicitly taking into account workload fluctuations including sudden surges. In particular, we investigate different root causes of performance degradation in these platforms where tenants (their applications) have different workload characteristics. To this end, we develop a fine-grained CPU cap control solution as a resource manager that dynamically adjusts CPU usage limit (or CPU cap) concerning applications with same/similar performance requirements, i.e., application groups. The adjustment of CPU caps applies primarily to co-located worker processes of serverless computing platforms to minimize resource contention, which is the major source of performance degradation. The actual adjustment decisions are made based on performance metrics (e.g., throttled time and queue length) using a group-aware scheduling algorithm. The extensive experimental results performed in our local cluster confirm that the proposed resource manager can effectively eliminate the burden of explicit reservation of computing capacity, even when fluctuations and sudden surges in the incoming workload exist. We measure the robustness of the proposed resource manager by comparing it with several heuristics which extensively used in practice, including the enhanced version of round robin and the least length queue scheduling policies, under various workload intensities driven by real-world scenarios. Notably, our resource manager outperforms other heuristics by decreasing skewness and average response time up to 44 and 94 percent, respectively, while it does not over-use the CPU resources.

Gendered Shares of the Family Rush Hour in Fulltime Dual Earner Families. A Cross National Comparison

There are recognised cross-national differences in the average amount and gender division of paid work and unpaid domestic work and care, but country differences between men and women in the timing and intensity of this daily workload remain under-investigated. Using couple-level time-use data from Australia, the UK, Finland, Korea and Spain (n = 1838), we probe cross-national differences in gendered time availability and constraint, focusing particularly on the early evening ‘family rush hour’. We identify daily time periods during which one partner in a fulltime dual-earner parent couple performs routine time-critical household labor and care, whilst the other partner is simultaneously at leisure. In all five countries fathers in dual fulltime earner couples are more likely than mothers to be at leisure whilst their partner does unpaid work, and this disparity occurs most in the early evening. Multivariate analyses reveal the unpaid work-leisure gap is widest in Korea and narrowest in the UK, confounding expectations that social democratic Finland would be most equitable in this measure.

Acil Serviste Minör Pediatrik Kafa Travmasında Hematolojik Belirteçlerin Değerlendirilmesi

Öz. Amaç:Çocukluk yaş grubunda morbidite ve mortalitenin en sık sebebi kafatravmalarıdır. Kafa travması olan çocuklarda beyin tomografisi için çeşitli protokoller tanımlanmıştır. Bunlarda klinik değerlendirmeler ön plana çıktığı için acil servislerde uygunsuz, abartılı hasta şikayetleri veya aşırı iş yükü yoğunluğu nedeniyle beyin tomografisi çekimi için karar vermek zor olabilir. Çalışmamızda minör pediatrik kafa travmalı hastalarda, beyin tomografisi çekimine karar verme aşamasında nötrofil-lenfositoranı ve trombosit-lenfosit oranının yol gösterici olup olamayacağını araştırmayı amaçladık. Materyal ve Metod: Bu retrospektif çalışmaya beyin tomografisi taramalarında patolojisi olan 96 hasta(grup I), yaşı ve cinsiyet bakımından bu gruba denk olan normal sağlıklı ve beyin tomografisi sonucu olan 99 (grup II) çocuk dâhil edildi. Grup 1 medikal ve cerrahi tedavi almalarına göre iki gruba ayrıldı. Hematolojik parametreler rutin laboratuvar yöntemleri ile çalışıldı. Her katılımcıda rutin hematolojik parametreler incelendi. Bulgular: Gruplar karşılaştırıldığında, nötrofil, lökosit, nötrofil-lenfosit oranı ve trombosit-lenfosit oranı grup I’ de grup 2’ye göre anlamlı derecede yüksekti (tümü için p&amp;lt;0.05). Alt grup analizlerinde; grup I’ de cerrahi tedavi gereken hastalarda nötrofil-lenfosit oranı ve trombosit-lenfosit oranı medikal izlem gerektiren hastalara göre istatiksel olarak anlamlı derecede yüksekti (tümü için p&amp;lt;0.05). Receiver operating characteristic analizi nötrofil-lenfosit oranı ve trombosit-lenfosit oranının minor kafatravmasında patoloji ve cerrahiyi öngörmede önemli olabileceğini göstermektedir. Sonuç: Minör kafa travmalarında nötrofil-lenfosit oranı ve trombosit-lenfosit oranının yüksekliği beyin tomografisi çekimi gerekliliği için yol gösterici olabilir. Ek olarak, bu parametreler patoloji saptanması durumunda uygulanacak tedavi yöntemini seçmede de yardımcı olabilir.

Wearable Sensors Differentiate Impacts And Intensity Between Games And Practices Among National Junior Ice-hockey Teams

PURPOSE: Use wearable sensors (WS) to compare player incurred impacts (PII) and absolute vs relative workload intensity between practices, games and teams to determine if developmental age affects these factors at the national team level. METHODS: 90 total members of the U.S. National (NTDP) U17 (45 members) and U18 (45 members) teams consented to procedures approved by EMU Human Subjects Committee. Bioharness-3 (Zephyr, MD) WS recorded triaxial accelerations during practices (P) and games (G) of the two teams over two seasons. Impacts were identified using Impact Processor (Zephyr, MD). Impacts greater than 6 g (Z3, Z4, Z5 and above) were used as previously validated for PII. Triaxial accelerations were used to generate absolute intensity metrics 30 minute exponentially weighted Dynamic Accelerations (DYNAs) and session DYNAs. Relative intensity metrics Individual Hustle Score (IHS) and Intensity factor (IF) were based on session DYNAs relative to Dynamic functional threshold (DFT). Intensities and PII of two teams were compared between sessions and teams using MANOVA with Tukey post hoc (α= 0.05; SPSS 26.0, IBM, NY) RESULTS: 7288 sessions (1400 G, 2802 P; U17 and 1039 G and 2047 P; U18) were compared. For all combined sessions, impacts were greater for U18 (6.4 ± 7.7) than U17 (5.4 ± 7; p<0.05). Interestingly, impacts in G were not significantly different. Therefore, differences between teams were solely the result of higher impacts in P for U18 (5.8 ± 7.3) vs U17 (4.1 ± 6.3; p<.05). For workload intensity, overall, 30-min DYNAs and Session DYNAs were not different between teams or for P, but both were higher in G for U17 (0.372 ± 0.0439 & 0.307 ± 0.0386, respectively) than U18 (0.360 ± 0.0579 & 0.292 ± 0.0524, respectively; p<.05). Although 30-min and Session DYNA were not different for P, IHS and IF were higher for U17 (0.896 ± 0.1016 & 0.790 ± 0.0964, respectively) than U18 (0.890 ± 0.1116 & 0.767 ± 0.0981, respectively; p<.05). CONCLUSION: Since PII are not different in G between U17 and U18, it appears developmental age does not affect PII in G. PII were higher in P for U18 than U17, but DYNAs were not different and relative intensities IHS and IF were higher, therefore, it doesn’t appear as though PII are related to developmental age in these two teams.

The Role Of Exercise Intensity In Cell Signaling: Is There A Repeated-bout Effect?

PURPOSE: Acute exercise elicits a temporary change in redox balance resulting in activation of antioxidant related gene expression and enzymes. We have previously shown in men that the type of acute exercise stimulus, constant workload (CW) vs. high intensity interval protocol (HIIP) results in different redox responses despite no differences in mean VO2. The present study tested whether these results translate to women. In addition, we asked whether the responses are amplified through a repeated bout effect, by comparing the responses after 1 bout to those after 3 bouts. It was hypothesized that HIIP would render greater cell signaling response compared to CW and that differences would be amplified after 3 sessions. METHODS: Healthy women ages 30-45y participated in this study in a randomized, cross-over design (n=12, projected) with a 2-week washout period between trials. Each participant completed a VO2max on a cycle ergometer to establish the workload for the exercise trials. Subjects were randomized to complete either CW or HIIP sessions first. Each trial occurred every other day for 5 days. A second VO2max was performed prior to the second trial to ascertain that VO2 max had not changed from baseline. CW consisted of 30-min of cycling at 70% VO2max. HIIP consisted of a 9-min ramp-up, 7 intervals of 1-min “all out” intervals at 90-100% VO2max followed by 2-min recovery for a total of 30-min of cycling. Blood draws were taken pre-, and 10- 30-, and 60-min post exercise during the first and third exercise session of each trial. Cell signaling was measured by nuclear localization of Nrf2 as well as protein abundance of GCLC and GSR in PBMCs. GR enzyme activity was measured in erythrocyte lysate. RESULTS: To date, 5 women have enrolled in the study and testing is still underway. The average intensity of the CW trial is 70.3% and the average intensity of the HIIP intervals is 91.7% VO2max. The early data show a trend for increased nuclear Nrf2 and GSR protein abundance HIIP compared to CW, and an amplification of the response after 3 sessions. CONCLUSION: These preliminary data suggest that delivering an exercise stimulus in short “pulses” of high intensity such as the HIIP elicits a greater protective signaling response as compared to a block of moderate CW exercise, and furthermore that these effects are amplified by a repeated bout effect.

The Acute Physiological Responses of Eccentric Cycling During the Recovery Periods of a High Intensity Concentric Cycling Interval Session.

Eccentric and concentric exercise is associated with disparate acute and chronic responses. We uniquely interspersed workload equivalent eccentric cycling during each recovery period of a high intensity interval training (HIIT) cycling trial to determine acute cardiopulmonary, thermal and psycho-physiological responses. Twelve males [age 28 years (SD 6), peak oxygen consumption 48 mL ⋅ kg–1 ⋅ min–1 (SD 6)] completed two high intensity interval cycling trials [4 × 5 min, 60% peak power output (PPO)] separated by 7–10 days. The CONR trial required participants to cycle concentrically during each recovery period (5 min, 30% PPO). The ECCR trial modified the recovery to be eccentric cycling (5 min, 60% PPO). High intensity workload (CONR: 187 ± 17; ECCR: 187 ± 21 W), oxygen consumption (CONR: 2.55 ± 0.17; ECCR: 2.68 ± 0.20 L ⋅ min–1), heart rate (CONR: 165 ± 7; ECCR: 171 ± 10 beats ⋅ min–1) and RPE legs (CONR: 15 ± 3; ECCR: 15 ± 3) were equivalent between trials. Eccentric cycling recovery significantly increased external workload (CONR: 93 ± 18; ECCR: 196 ± 24 W, P < 0.01) yet lowered oxygen consumption (CONR: 1.51 ± 0.18; ECCR: 1.20 ± 0.20 L ⋅ min–1, P < 0.05) while heart rate (CONR: 132 ± 13; ECCR: 137 ± 12 beats ⋅ min–1) and RPE of the legs (CONR: 11 ± 7; ECCR: 12 ± 7) remained equivalent. There was no significant difference in the aural temperature between the trials (ECCR: 37.3 ± 0.1°C; CONR: 37.4 ± 0.1°C, P > 0.05), yet during recovery periods mean skin temperature was significantly elevated in the ECCR (ECCR: 33.9 ± 0.2°C; CONR: 33.3 ± 0.2°C, P < 0.05). Participants preferred ECCR (10/12) and rated the ECCR as more achievable (82.8 ± 11.4 mm) than CONR (79.4 ± 15.9 mm, P < 0.01). In conclusion, eccentric cycling during the recovery period of a HIIT training session, offers a novel approach to concurrent training methodology. The unique cardiopulmonary and skeletal muscle responses facilitate the achievement of both training stimuli within a single exercise bout.

A Field Evaluation of Construction Workers' Activity, Hydration Status, and Heat Strain in the Extreme Summer Heat of Saudi Arabia.

Assess the impact of summer heat exposure (June-September) on residential construction workers in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia by evaluating (i) heart rate (HR) responses, hydration status, and physical workload among workers in indoor and outdoor construction settings, (ii) factors related to physiological responses to work in hot conditions, and (iii) how well wet-bulb globe temperature-based occupational exposure limits (WBGTOELs) predict measures of heat strain. Twenty-three construction workers (plasterers, tilers, and laborers) contributed 260 person-days of monitoring. Workload energy expenditure, HR, fluid intake, and pre- and postshift urine specific gravity (USG) were measured. Indoor and outdoor heat exposures (WBGT) were measured continuously and a WBGTOEL was calculated. The effects of heat exposure and workload on heart rate reserve (HRR), a measure of cardiovascular strain, were examined with linear mixed models. A metric called 'heat stress exceedance' (HSE) was constructed to summarize whether the environmental heat exposure (WBGT) exceeded the heat stress exposure limit (WBGTOEL). The sensitivity and specificity of the HSE as a predictor of cardiovascular strain (HRR ≥30%) were determined. The WBGTOEL was exceeded frequently, on 63 person-days indoors (44%) and 91(78%) outdoors. High-risk HRR occurred on 26 and 36 person-days indoors and outdoors, respectively. The HSE metric showed higher sensitivity for HRR ≥30% outdoors (89%) than indoors (58%) and greater specificity indoors (59%) than outdoors (27%). Workload intensity was generally moderate, with light intensity work more common outdoors. The ability to self-pace work was associated with a lower frequency of HRR ≥30%. USG concentrations indicated that workers began and ended their shifts dehydrated (USG ≥1.020). Construction work where WBGTOEL is commonly exceeded poses health risks. The ability of workers to self-pace may help reduce risks.

Observational Study of the Route’s Characteristics of Tourism Carriage in a Tropical City

The aim of this observational study was to describe the characteristics of circuits performed by horses used in carriage tourism in a tropical city and discuss their implications as a challenge for animal welfare. The tourism circuit of 33 Criollo horses (400 ± 50 kg) was followed by using the GPS from August 31 to December 2nd, 2018, in the rainfall summer season. The environmental temperature, humidity, and accumulated rainfall were obtained from a local meteorological station. The distance and number of trips, the number of people transported, and the time taken for working and resting activities were also registered to report descriptive statistics. A total of 69 trips were observed with a mean distance of 5 ± 0.5 km traveled in 47 ± 16 minutes, the number of trips performed by the horses being as maximum as six per day, and a continuous pulling activity of 4 hours and 42 minutes. The horses rested one day after two consecutive working days; resting within the same day lasted from one to 8 hours. The trips respected the carts’ capacity of 6 people including the driver (∼700 kg); mean daily temperature and relative humidity were 35.25 ± 1.54°C and 43.40 ± 6.58, respectively. No feed or water was offered during the carriage work. Considering that load-pulling capacity of light horses in low-friction surfaces can easily reach 2000 kg, carriage activity observed in the present study demand an under-maximum effort for horses. In addition, the length and intensity of workload does not imply a challenge for horse welfare. Nevertheless, watering practices could be improved and microweather conditions in warmer months should be monitored.

The Application of Accelerometer-Derived Moving Averages to Quantify Peak Demands in Basketball: A Comparison of Sample Duration, Playing Role, and Session Type.

Fox, JL, Conte, D, Stanton, R, McLean, B, and Scanlan, AT. The application of accelerometer-derived moving averages to quantify peak demands in basketball: A comparison of sample duration, playing role, and session type. J Strength Cond Res 35(12S): S58-S63, 2021-The purpose of this was to study compare peak external workload intensities in basketball using accelerometer-derived moving averages between different sample durations (0.5-5 minutes), session types (training vs. game-play), and playing roles (starting vs. bench players). Five starting and 3 bench players were monitored over a 15-week competitive season using accelerometers. For all training sessions and games, peak external workload intensities were determined using accelerometer-derived moving averages for PlayerLoad per minute (PL·min-1) across sample durations of 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 minutes. Linear mixed-models and effect sizes (ESs) were used to compare peak PL·min-1 between sample durations, session type, and playing role. Peak PL·min-1 was significantly different between all sample durations (p < 0.05; ES = 0.88-5.45), with higher intensities evident across shorter sample durations. In starting players, peak intensities were significantly higher during games compared with training for all sample durations (p < 0.05; ES = 0.69-0.93). Peak game intensities were higher in starting players using all sample durations (p > 0.05; ES = 0.69-1.43) compared with bench players. Shorter sample durations produced higher peak PL·min-1. Peak intensities were higher during games than training in starting players, indicating training may not adequately prepare players for the most demanding passages of game-play.

Workload Intensity and Rest Periods in Professional Ballet: Connotations for Injury.

Fatigue and overwork have been cited as the main cause of injury with the dance profession. Previous research has shown a difference in workload between professional dancers of different rank, but the role of sex has not been examined. The purpose of this study was to determine workload intensity, rest, and sleep profiles of professional ballet dancers. 48 professional ballet dancers (M=25, F=23) took part in an observational design over 7-14 days using triaxial accelerometer devices. Minutes in METS at different intensities, total time asleep and rest breaks were analysed. Significant main effects for rank (p<0.001) and rank by sex (p=0.003) for total PA, working day activity, post work activity and sleep. Sleep ranged between 2.4-9.6 h per night. All participants spent more time between 1.5-3 METS outside of work. Significant amounts of exercise where carried out outside of their work day, therefore when injury is reported per 1000 h dance activity, this extra-curricular activity might need to be included. When looking at potential causes of injury in dance, a global perspective of physical activity is required that includes activity outside of work and sleep patterns, all activities that influence physiological recovery.

Hysteresis behaviour of psychobiological variables during exercise

ObjectivesThe rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and the heart rate (HR) have been widely studied and monitored during exercise, but their hysteresis behaviour is still unexplored. Our aim was to study the hysteresis behaviour of RPE and HR in triathletes and non-athletes. DesignCross-sectional study. MethodEighteen triathletes at different competitive levels (elite n = 9, non-elite n = 9) and ten students were tested while cycling and running, using a pyramidal protocol (incremental/decremental workloads). The hysteresis area, considered positive when values of the dependent variables (RPE and HR) at the same workload were higher in the decremental phase than in the incremental phase, and vice versa for the negative areas, was calculated in all tests. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs test and Kruskal Wallis ANOVA were applied to detect intra- and inter-group differences, respectively, of RPE and HR values during the incremental and decremental phases, as well as between cycling and running. ResultsThe following results were observed: a) an incoherent relationship of RPE with HR and workload, b) positive hysteresis areas of RPE and HR in all groups during cycling and running, c) a partial negative hysteresis area of RPE, but not of HR, in the triathlete groups, d) larger hysteresis areas of RPE and HR in students than in triathletes, and e) larger hysteresis areas in cycling than in running. Conclusionsthe study of the hysteresis behaviour of RPE and HR reveals the history dependency of both variables, highlights their incoherent or non-unique relationship during a pyramidal exercise, and questions their widely assumed linear association to workload intensity. The hysteresis area is proposed as a new non-invasive marker of exercise stress and tolerance that should be further investigated.

Evaluation of cloud autoscaling strategies under different incoming workload patterns

SummaryCloud computing provides cost‐effective solutions for deploying services and applications. Although resources can be provisioned on demand, they need to adapt quickly and in a seamless way to the workload intensity and characteristics and satisfy at the same time the desired performance levels. In this paper, we evaluate the effects exercised by different incoming workload patterns on cloud autoscaling strategies. More specifically, we focus on workloads characterized by periodic, continuously growing, diurnal and unpredictable arrival patterns. To test these workloads, we simulate a realistic cloud infrastructure using customized extensions of the CloudSim simulation toolkit. The simulation experiments allow us to evaluate the cloud performance under different workload conditions and assess the benefits of autoscaling policies as well as the effects of their configuration settings.