| 1. |
- Kazmierczak, Karolina, et al.
(författare)
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An integrated analysis of ergonomics and time consumption in Swedish 'craft-type' car disassembly.
- 2005
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Ingår i: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-6870 .- 1872-9126. ; 36:3, s. 263-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Car disassembly is at the edge of extensive rationalisations due to increased legislative demands for recycling. This study focused on (1) assessing current mechanical exposures (physical work loads) for comparison with future rationalised systems, with particular emphasis on time aspects, (2) analysing disassembly work in terms of time consumption and exposures in constituent tasks as defined by a loss analysis technique, and (3) predicting the consequences of car disassembly rationalisation for mechanical exposures. The study showed that disassembly implied pronounced circulatory loads, and that more walking and higher lumbar peak loads were found than in studies of assembly work. Value-adding tasks comprised 30% of the total working time, and implied higher postural exposures for the head, arm, trunk and wrist, as well as less opportunities to recover, as compared to non-value-adding tasks. Organisational-type rationalisations can be expected to increase the time spent in value-adding work, thus increasing local exposures for the average worker, while a concurrent increase in mechanisation level might reduce circulatory exposures, the amount of walking, and peak lumbar loads.
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| 2. |
- Kihlberg, Steve, et al.
(författare)
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Ett produktionssystem under förändring - ergonomisk och teknisk utvärdering
- 2005
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- En ergonomisk och teknisk utvärdering genomfördes av en förändring av produktionssystemet i ett elektronikföretag som innebar en ökad automatisering. Själva förändringsprocessen utvärderades också. Automatiseringen av den manuella monteringen och transporten minskade exponeringstiden för manuell montering på systemnivå samt ökade produktiviteten. För den kvarstående manuella monteringen ökade dock repetitiviteten och ensidigheten. Montörerna upplevde också att den psykiska arbetsbelastningen var större i det nya systemet jämfört med det gamla. De ansåg också att de manuella monteringsstationerna som helhet var dåliga arbetsuppgifter. I den studerade förändringsprocessen var bristen på kontinuitet i arbetsledning ett av avdelningens huvudproblem. Arbetsledaren fick också sätta sin prägel på hur produktionsmålen skulle uppfyllas och hur arbetsförhållandena skulle utformas. Därigenom blev det arbetsledaren och inte den handlingsplan med arbetsrotation som en arbetsorganisationsgrupp utformade som avgjorde hur arbetsorganisationen utformades.
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| 3. |
- Stansfeld, S A, et al.
(författare)
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Aircraft and road traffic noise and children's cognition and health: a cross-national study.
- 2005
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Ingår i: Lancet. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 365:9475, s. 1942-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Exposure to environmental stressors can impair children's health and their cognitive development. The effects of air pollution, lead, and chemicals have been studied, but there has been less emphasis on the effects of noise. Our aim, therefore, was to assess the effect of exposure to aircraft and road traffic noise on cognitive performance and health in children. METHODS: We did a cross-national, cross-sectional study in which we assessed 2844 of 3207 children aged 9-10 years who were attending 89 schools of 77 approached in the Netherlands, 27 in Spain, and 30 in the UK located in local authority areas around three major airports. We selected children by extent of exposure to external aircraft and road traffic noise at school as predicted from noise contour maps, modelling, and on-site measurements, and matched schools within countries for socioeconomic status. We measured cognitive and health outcomes with standardised tests and questionnaires administered in the classroom. We also used a questionnaire to obtain information from parents about socioeconomic status, their education, and ethnic origin. FINDINGS: We identified linear exposure-effect associations between exposure to chronic aircraft noise and impairment of reading comprehension (p=0.0097) and recognition memory (p=0.0141), and a non-linear association with annoyance (p<0.0001) maintained after adjustment for mother's education, socioeconomic status, longstanding illness, and extent of classroom insulation against noise. Exposure to road traffic noise was linearly associated with increases in episodic memory (conceptual recall: p=0.0066; information recall: p=0.0489), but also with annoyance (p=0.0047). Neither aircraft noise nor traffic noise affected sustained attention, self-reported health, or overall mental health. INTERPRETATION: Our findings indicate that a chronic environmental stressor-aircraft noise-could impair cognitive development in children, specifically reading comprehension. Schools exposed to high levels of aircraft noise are not healthy educational environments.
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| 4. |
- Von Arnold, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Can distribution of trees explain variation in nitrous oxide fluxes?
- 2005
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0282-7581 .- 1651-1891. ; 20:6, s. 481-489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The impact of distance to tree stems on nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes was examined to determine whether it is possible to improve the accuracy of flux estimates from boreal forest soils. Dark static chambers were placed along transects between pairs of trees within a Norway spruce stand and fluxes of N2O and carbon dioxide (CO2) were measured during the period 1999-2003. The groundwater table was measured on every sampling occasion along the transects. In addition, radiation transmission, potential diffusion rate and biomass of forest floor vegetation were measured once at each chamber site along one of the transects and soil samples were collected at three depths, from which pH, denitrification enzyme activity, soil moisture, organic matter, and carbon and nitrogen content were determined. There was a high level of variation in the N2O fluxes, both spatially and temporally. However, the spatial variation in the N2O fluxes within the transect could not be explained by differences in any of the measured variables. Sometimes, mainly when no major peaks occurred, N2O fluxes were significantly correlated with CO2 release. It is concluded that distance to stems cannot be used to improve the design of sampling schemes or for extrapolating flux levels to larger scales.
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