Working Conditions Research Articles

Life With Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Due to 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency: Challenges and Burdens.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an autosomal recessive genetic condition requiring daily medication(s) and attention to details. In addition to daily medications and regular visits with healthcare providers, families may live with perpetual angst regarding unpredictable occurrences of acute adrenal insufficiency. Despite numerous barriers and challenges imposed by this chronic condition, caregivers and healthcare professionals can empower our patients to achieve a good quality of life. CAH is a global condition for which access to health care widely varies depending on local resources. Major treatment aims include good health, good quality of life, and achievement of personal goals for affected persons. To achieve these aims, patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals interact to promote health maintenance and encourage positive outcomes for individuals with CAH. This article describes aspects of daily living with CAH through the perspective of 1 family and their healthcare team living in the United States. A young adult patient, nurse educator, and physicians provide their perspectives regarding patient health care, general well-being, and safety emphasizing that patients with CAH can thrive. Nevertheless, remembering and recognizing that many individuals with CAH live in areas with limited resources and enduring sociocultural barriers is essential. With access to knowledgeable healthcare providers, sufficient resources, and psychosocial support, "children with CAH can thrive and live normal lives." The future challenge is securing mechanisms to decrease the financial, sociocultural, and health access barriers in other communities throughout the world.

Nezha-D: Dynamic Characteristics and Design of a Ducted HAUV

Hybrid aerial underwater vehicles (HAUVs) can operate in water and air and are qualified for complex missions on the air-water interfaces. The unique working conditions put forward higher requirements for the propulsion systems of the vehicles. Present HAUVs’ propulsion systems mostly use propellers, but normal aerial propellers work inefficiently underwater, constraining the underwater applications of HAUVs. Besides, in-depth research of the thrusters, especially during the water-crossing process, is limited. These are two major factors that affect the further development of HAUVs. This paper aims to evaluate the feasibility of the ducted fan propulsion system and design a ducted HAUV with better underwater working capacity. Ducted fans have promising applications on HAUVs for higher underwater efficiency, but the outer ducts can lead to significant thrust loss during the water-crossing process. A novel experimental platform is firstly developed with the capability of collecting dynamic data of the thruster during water- air transition. The new water-crossing strategy and overall design of the HAUV are proposed based on the test results. The ducted HAUV is supposed to accelerate underwater and rush out with a certain speed to overcome thrust loss. A centroid adjustment mechanism has also been designed to realize the underwater motion switch for better efficiency. A prototype named “Nezha-D” is fabricated, and outfield tests are conducted to verify the feasibility of the new design.

The relationship between compassion fatigue, engagement and decent work among nurses: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundNurses face significant professional challenges arising from global pandemics, inadequate welfare protection, and declining social status. In this context, the decent working conditions for nurses are not adequately safeguarded. This study examines decent work status among Chinese nurses and its links work engagement, and compassion fatigue.MethodsThis study is a cross-sectional research. Through the method of convenience sampling, five reputable hospitals in Hangzhou, China, were selected, and a total of 838 nurses were surveyed. Data collection was conducted from April to May 2023. We employed a comprehensive set of assessment tools, including an evaluation of demographic characteristics, the Decent Work Perception Scale (DWPS), the Chinese version of the Compassion Fatigue Short Scale (C-CFSS), and the Gallup Q12 survey scale. ResultsThe findings of this study demonstrated that compassion fatigue was significantly negatively correlated with both decent work (r = -0.482, p < 0.001) and engagement (r = -0.461, p < 0.001). Additionally, decent work was significantly positively correlated with engagement (r = 0.811, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis revealed that compassion fatigue had a direct negative effect on decent work (β = -0.05, p < 0.001), while engagement partially mediated the relationship between compassion fatigue and decent work (β = -0.14, p < 0.001).ConclusionThis study found that compassion fatigue and engagement significantly influence nurses’ perception of decent work, with engagement mediating this relationship. Future research should explore these mechanisms further and develop interventions to enhance engagement and reduce compassion fatigue, improving nurses’ perception of decent work.

A Computationally Efficient Method for the Diagnosis of Defects in Rolling Bearings Based on Linear Predictive Coding

Monitoring the condition of rolling bearings is a crucial task in many industries. An efficient tool for diagnosing bearing defects is necessary since they can lead to complete machine failure and significant economic losses. Traditional diagnosis solutions often rely on a complex artificial feature extraction process that is time-consuming, computationally expensive, and too complex to deploy in practice. In actual working conditions, however, the amount of labeled fault data available is relatively small, so a deep learning model with good generalization and high accuracy is difficult to train. This paper proposes a solution that uses a simple feedforward artificial neural network (NN) for classification and adopts the linear predictive coding (LPC) algorithm for feature extraction. The LPC algorithm finds several coefficients for a given signal segment containing information about the signal spectrum, which is sufficient for further classification. The LPC-NN solution was tested on the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and South Ural State University (SUSU) datasets. The results demonstrated that, in most cases, LPC-NN yielded an accuracy of 100%. The proposed method achieves higher diagnostic accuracy and stability to load changes than other advanced techniques, has a significantly improved time performance, and is conducive to real-time industrial fault diagnosis.

Research on the Formation Characteristics of Fog and Frost on Optical Windows of Unsealed Equipment Compartments in Aircrafts

In this study, a numerical method for the formation and dissipation of fog and frost is established using the Eulerian multiphase flow liquid film model. In this approach, the formation and dissipation of fogging and frosting layers is directly determined by the saturation of the water vapor surface, and it does not depend on any empirical coefficients. Additionally, Buck’s formula is used to determine the saturation vapor partial pressure, which is applicable for a relatively wide temperature range (−50 °C to 10 °C). This numerical method was validated by the existing experimental data about fogging and frosting, and afterwards the fogging and frosting processes on the optical observation window in the aircraft are further analyzed for three typical working conditions, namely the ground, the fixed-altitude, and the high-altitude descent. The calculation results show that, under the ground working condition, the maximum thickness of the fog layer on the outer surface of the optical window can completely reach the millimeter level within one hour, and the average thickness of the frost layer can reach the sub-millimeter level, which is one order of magnitude smaller compared to under the ground working condition. Under the high-altitude descent working condition, by setting the fixed wall temperature boundary condition on the outer surface of the glass, it is found that in extreme cases, the maximum thickness of the frost layer on the inner wall of the glass can reach the sub-millimeter level within one hour. The research conclusions provide effective basic data support for the subsequent design of anti-fogging and defrosting devices under flight conditions.

Social contracts and occupational health and safety disclosure: evidence from companies in Indonesia

Social contracts and occupational health and safety disclosure: evidence from companies in Indonesia

Referring psychiatric patients to occupational health services for earlier return to work – a qualitative implementation study of barriers and facilitators

BackgroundMental disorders are a major public health challenge, and their prevalence is globally increasing. They substantially affect work ability, quality of life, and the number of years of disability. A new model for referring psychiatric patients to occupational health services (OHS) aims to improve the continuity of care and to promote the early return to work (RTW) of workers with diagnosed mental health conditions. The purpose of this qualitative implementation study was to identify the facilitators of and barriers to implementing the new model.MethodsWe used the Quality Implementation Framework and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) as theoretical frameworks. We interviewed the developers of the model and the psychiatrists and occupational health physicians who deliver it. We invited forty participants to join the study, 17 of whom consented. We conducted nine semi-structured group and individual interviews. Data analysis consisted of analysing the sessions, systematically coding the transcribed texts according to the main domains of CFIR, thematic analysis, and identifying the overarching themes and context-related mechanisms.ResultsWe identified three overarching themes crucially related to the implementation of the model: uncertainty about the scope and boundaries of the cooperation in the model, ambiguity about the size of the target group, and the existing sociocultural and self-stigma related to mental illness. Shared belief in the importance and the positive effects of the model and trust in the developers were the main facilitators of the implementation of the model. The main barriers were the limited availability of the e-referral system between the psychiatrists and OHS, uncertainty regarding the number of eligible patients, and the low number of actual referrals during implementation.ConclusionCollaborative models in mental health care should accommodate various stakeholders from different sectors involved in the treatment and rehabilitation of workers with diagnosed mental health conditions. Helping health care workers contact possible cooperation partners and knowing how to address important individual, workplace-related and sociocultural factors such as stigma may strengthen collaboration between different sectors and stakeholders in mental health care. Future studies should focus on the multi-actor feasibility of the new collaborative models and include the patients’ perspective.

Analysis of the Climate Impact on Occupational Health and Safety Using Heat Stress Indexes.

This study aims to compare multiple heat stress indexes, relating them to historical Brazilian occupational accident data. We selected eight indexes and applied multiple correspondence analysis to each one, a statistical method that generates graphs to visualize the association between variables in a database. The analysis and comparison of the graphs indicated that seven of the eight indexes presented similar behavior. It was also possible to relate ranges of index values with specific characteristics of the accidents. The technique allowed us to analyze the relationship between climate and work accidents and showed that the choice of the heat stress index does not significantly alter the results for most indexes studied.

Repeated axial compressive performance of GCFST columns: Test investigation and numerical analysis

Geopolymer concrete (GC) is green and environmentally friendly. In order to comprehensively study the mechanical properties and influence mechanism of geopolymer concrete-filled steel tubular (GCFST) columns under various working conditions, this study takes the strength grade of geopolymer concrete, length-diameter ratio and wall thickness of steel tube as design parameters. Eight GCFST columns are designed and the compressive performances are conducted under repeated axial compression. The load–displacement curve, the skeleton curve, the characteristic load and displacement, the ductility, and the energy dissipation were analyzed. Furthermore, the numerical analysis models were established through finite element software and the test results were compared with the simulation results to verify the accuracy of the finite element model. The results indicate that under different length-diameter ratios, the variation trends of the load–displacement curves for the specimens are slightly different, while the stiffness degradation curves present similar variation laws. The design parameters have significant effects on the bearing capacity, average compressive force, and energy dissipating capacity of the specimens. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results. Research results show the excellent bearing capacity of GCFST columns and the precision of finite element calculation results, which can provide a reference for related experimental research.

Efficiency in Occupational Skills and Safety Training For a Multicultural Workforce in the Building Industry: A Comparative Study

Efficiency in Occupational Skills and Safety Training For a Multicultural Workforce in the Building Industry: A Comparative Study

Honeycomb-structured biochar from waste pomelo peel for synergistic adsorptive and photocatalytic removal of Cr(VI)

Efficient removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) as a well-known highly toxic heavy metal is extremely necessary for people’s health and environmental safety. Biochar from waste biomass has attracted widespread attention in pollutant removal due to abundant pores, high surface area and low-cost, especially the presence of persistent free radical (PFRs). Here, waste pomelo peel was utilized to synthesize the activated biochar with the interconnected porous frameworks (APC). The obtained APC has an exponentially high specific surface area of 997.46 m2·g−1 as compared with pristine biochar (PPC) (8.78 m2·g−1) due to distinctive three-dimensional (3D) honeycomb-structured framework with interconnected pores. Meanwhile, through such green synthesis with the introduction of no other substances besides KOH, the APC is enriched with the oxygen-containing functional groups of C=O, C-H and O–H, which can firmly grasp Cr(VI) ions and convert them into low toxic Cr(III) ions. The APC exhibits excellent adsorption and photocatalytic removal of Cr(VI). The adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) reaches a maximum of 307.3 mg·g−1 as compared with the PPC (194.2 mg·g−1), which obeys pseudo-second-order kinetics and is a spontaneous endothermic process mainly controlled by intraparticle diffusion. Subsequently, the enriched Cr(VI) can be completely reduced under illumination by the existence of PFRs. Compared with PPC, the APC has strong light absorption, low band gap, more reactive oxygen species (ROS) and rapid charge carrier transfer, leading to high photocatalytic activity. Based on the trapping experiments and quantitative analysis of reactive species, the removal mechanism of Cr(VI) over APC is proposed. This work affords an effective approach to construct the honeycomb-like APC for the synergistic adsorptive and photocatalytic removal of Cr(VI), and hierarchical porous frameworks and PFRs are particularly beneficial for the enhancement of Cr(VI) removal, exhibiting potential practical application in wastewater treatment.Graphical

A ANALYSIS OF LEGAL PROTECTION AND LABOR GENDER EQUALITY IN THE COAL MINING INDUSTRY PT. MUTIARA ETAM COAL, PALARAN DISTRICT, EAST KALIMANTAN

Regulations related to legal protection and gender equality in labor are crucial aspects, especially in industries dominated by male workers such as coal mining. This study aims to analyze legal protection for gender equality in the coal mining industry, with a case study on PT. MEC. The research method used is qualitative descriptive with a case study approach. This research involves company leaders and employees as research subjects, with data collection techniques through observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis is carried out through the stages of collection, reduction, presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results of the study show that PT. The MEC complies with Law No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower, which explicitly prohibits gender discrimination in the workplace. The implementation of gender equality at PT. MEC is based on several key factors. First, the company implements an equal wage system between men and women, based on the principle of fairness and efforts to increase the retention of female employees. Second, PT. The MEC implements an inclusive recruitment policy that actively encourages women's participation in various departments, aiming to increase workforce diversity. Third, the company provides facilities and policies that support employee welfare, including maternity leave and adequate lactation facilities. PT. The MEC also takes special measures to ensure the safety of workers, especially women, including anti-harassment policies. However, challenges remain, especially in raising workers' awareness of gender equality rights and encouraging more women to pursue careers in the industry. Although PT. While MECs have demonstrated a strong commitment to gender equality and creating a fair working environment, further efforts are still needed to achieve all-round equality. These findings emphasize the importance of sustainable implementation of more comprehensive policies and strategies in the context of the coal mining industry.

Past, Present, and Future of Occupational Safety in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab

Past, Present, and Future of Occupational Safety in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab

Prevalence and predictors of infected diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) and DFU-related osteomyelitis amongst industrial workers wearing occupational safety footwear

Professionals like deep-miners and factory-workers wear specialized safety-shoes to protect against occupational hazards (OF). The risk factors, clinico-microbiologic profile and complications of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) in these professionals remain unexplored. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to describe the unique clinico-microbiologic profile of DFU in those wearing occupational-footwear (OF) and find risk factors for DFU related osteomyelitis in them. Of 331 DFU cases seen over 5 years, those wearing OF (n = 107, 68 underground-miners and 39 steel-factory-workers) had high prevalence of forefoot-DFU (81.3%), dorsal-DFU ( 58.9%), recurrent-DFU (31.8%) and of polymicrobial infections (16.8%). Those with osteomyelitis in the OF group ( n = 53) were younger (53.3 vs. 57, p = 0.02), had higher prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (41.5% vs. 24.1%), past-amputation (28.3% vs. 11.1%), higher SINBAD scores, and were also less likely to change occupational-footwear at < = 6-month-interval (22.6% vs. 55.6%) than those without osteomyelitis (p < 0.05 for all). Increasing age, history of past amputation, CRP and reduced frequency of changing the OF were significant positive risk factors for osteomyelitis. OF change at < = 6-month-interval had a protective effect against osteomyelitis (OR : 0.21, C.I 0.07–0.54, p = 0.002) as well as for recurrence (OR : 15, C.I.: 0.04–0.46, p = 0.002) of DFU. Existing national standards for OF manufacturing and regulations regarding their use in India are inadequate and must be made more stringent for professionals with diabetes, especially those at high risk for DFU like the elderly, history of past amputation or those with LOPS. They need detailed foot-measurements for proper fit, should wear OF always at their work-place and change OF frequently for adequate against DFU-related osteomyelitis as also, recurrent DFU.

Occupational and non-occupational factors of post-COVID-19 condition: a cross-sectional survey in the French general working population

IntroductionAlthough the working population carries the greatest burden of long COVID, occupational and non-occupational factors of the condition have not yet been well documented in this population. The aim of...

Assessing the Impacts of Occupational Stress on Primary School Teachers: A Study of the Walapane Zone, Sri Lanka

Occupational stress is one of the critical elements that influences the health and efficiency of the organizations, especially the teachers and, more so, the primary school teachers. This research looks into the consequence of work-related stress for primary school teachers in one of the educational zones in Walapane, Sri Lanka. To carry out this study, data from 107 teachers through a self-administered questionnaire was collected. The research found that work-family conflicts and health impacts are the reason for 34.2% of the variance in occupational stress levels. Nevertheless, 65.8% of occupational stress data remain unexplained, suggesting other influencing factors such as level of workplace engagements, absenteeism, chronic stress, and stress at the workplace. The conclusion calls for stress exercising measures, innovative yoga, meditation, sports, and ‘working-oriented’ systems to enhance work-life balance. It suggests certain organisational implementation measures aimed at enhancing working conditions.

An Adjustable Elastic Support Structure for Vibration Suppression of Rotating Machinery

Abstract The dynamic characteristic of a rotor-support system plays a crucial role in the operational efficiency and longevity of rotating machinery such as gas turbines. Traditional support structures with the fixed-parameter elastic stiffness have difficulties in adapting to the diverse and complex working conditions of flexible rotating machinery, particularly those that pass through multiple critical speeds. To address rotor resonance and enhance structural reliability, an innovative adjustable elastic support (AES) structure designed to improve the mechanical adaptability of rotors across various speed ranges is investigated in this paper. The AES structure is built upon the conventional squirrel cage elastic support by incorporating a stepper motor. By adjusting the rotation angle of the motor, the effective length of the cage bar can be modified, allowing real-time changes in the support state during rotor operation. This mechanism enables seamless transitions among multiple states: a constant stiffness elastic support, a separate state, or a variable stiffness dynamic absorber that modulates frequencies in real-time by altering the cage bar length. This dynamic capability effectively suppresses resonance peaks caused by mass imbalances. The design and implementation of the AES structure, along with a speed feedback-based adjustment scheme to accommodate the rotor's dynamic characteristics, are discussed. Experimental validation of a multisupport flexible rotor system demonstrates that a maximum vibration can be reduced up to 75%, highlighting its promising potential for engineering applications.

Design and Analysis of Combined Vibration Absorbers for Ship Propulsion Shaft Systems

The vibration of a ship’s propulsion shaft system directly affects the ship’s lifespan, and many studies have designed vibration absorbers only for one of the natural frequencies of a ship’s propulsion shaft system without considering the influence of multiple low-order resonance frequencies. In this paper, a vibration absorber combined with a magnetorheological elastomer vibration absorber and a rubber vibration absorber in series is designed, and it can cover two torsional natural frequency band ranges to achieve better vibration reduction performances in multiple different torsional natural frequencies. The torsional natural frequency of the propulsion shafting of a 45 m fishing vessel is determined based on a multiple-degrees-of-freedom equivalent discretization model. Two natural frequencies, 22.4 Hz and 131.4 Hz, of a ship propulsion shaft system are selected as the design goal parameters of the combined vibration absorber. The magnetic field is simulated to ensure that the magnetic field generated by an energized coil can meet requirements. Then, a dynamic simulation of the ship propulsion shaft system with a combined vibration absorber is conducted via co-simulation. Afterward, the device is installed on the intermediate shaft of the ship propulsion shaft system for simulation, and the vibration reduction effect of the device is analyzed at different frequencies by controlling the current. When the device is controlled to operate at the optimal frequency point, the results show that the angular acceleration vibration amplitude reduction around the first and third torsional natural frequencies of the propulsion shaft system reaches 90% and 18%, respectively. This study provides new ideas for the intelligent and controllable vibration damping of ship propulsion shaft systems, especially for the development trend of intelligent ship equipment under complex working conditions.

Modified kernel global-local marginal fisher analysis for rolling bearing feature extraction

Abstract The vibration signals of rolling bearings usually exhibit high-dimensional, nonlinear, and non-Gaussian distribution characteristics due to long-term operation under complex working conditions. Therefore, we proposed a novel algorithm named Modified Kernel Global-Local Marginal Fisher Analysis (MKGLMFA) for bearing feature extraction and dimensionality reduction. The proposed MKGLMFA algorithm introduces the kernel function to map data into a high-dimensional space to represent data nonlinearly first. It enhances the within-class compactness and between-class dispersibility by considering spatial relationships and label information when constructing adjacency graphs and simultaneously exploits the local and global geometry of data. Furthermore, a bearing fault diagnosis approach is presented based on MKGLMFA. It first processes the original vibration signals through MKGLMFA to obtain low-dimensional manifold features. Then these characteristics were input into the K-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifier to achieve fault pattern recognition. The superiority of the proposed MKGLMFA algorithm in feature extraction is verified in comparison with some existing state-of-the-art machine learning methods on three rolling bearings datasets. And the subsequent classification diagnosis experiments indicate the effectiveness and high efficiency of the newly raised MKGLMFA algorithm. In comparison with the representative diagnosis methods, the proposed method can extract more sensitive discriminant features, and the classification accuracy of diagnosis is significantly improved in consequence.

Study on erosion and residual strength of tee in high pressure manifold

ABSTRACT The complex fluid and solid particles inside the throttled pressure well manifold will cause a certain degree of erosion and wear on the inner wall, which will accumulate to form erosion defects and make the wall thickness thin, which may eventually lead to the failure of the tee due to irreversible damage, triggering serious safety accidents. In order to avoid the occurrence of such safety accidents, in-service training must be non-destructive testing to ensure the safe operation of the manifold. Therefore, for the tee of the throttle manifold, an erosion simulation model was established to carry out the study on the erosion and wear law of the tee with different displacements and sand ratios and analyze the erosion parts of the tee under different working conditions; and based on the erosion-prone parts of the tee, a residual strength simulation model of the tee with defects was established to carry out the influence of the depth of the defects and the internal pressure on the residual strength of the tee. The analyzed results can provide a theoretical basis for the nondestructive testing location and replacement timing of the tee.