The force exerted during manual tasks is a dominant risk factor for upper-limb musculoskeletal disorders. To identify tasks that may lead to fatigue over a shift, or increase the risk of injury, the demands placed on the hand and forearm system must be quantified and predicted. The purpose of this research was to determine how different ways of simulating manual tasks affected the estimate of demand on the hand and forearm and how well normative data could be used to provide an estimate of that demand. The forces and moments required to perform 20 manual tasks were measured and simulations with three different levels of realism developed, ranging from simple feedback, with real parts, postures and timing to more controlled simulations with simplified parts, standard postures and 5s static exertions. 11 workers hired from a temporary employment agency each performed the simulated tasks and their physical demand was determined using perceived effort, the muscle activity of 8 hand and forearm muscles, and grip (or pinch) force matching. Based on these criteria, the best simulation was that with the same handle size, shape and orientation as the criterion version of the task using simple feedback to match one or two forces. Over the variety of tasks studied here, perceived effort, grip force matching and extensor digitorum activation provided the most similar demand estimate to the criterion task of all measured parameters. The more controlled simulation had the highest correlation compared with normative demand. Overall, the more changes in hand-object interface made between the task of interest and a simulation or normative data, the greater the discrepancy in demand. Normative data tended to underestimate demand, thus underestimating the risk of fatigue and injury. The use of simulations and task specific normative data to estimate hand task demand, with an accuracy useful for field measurements by ergonomists, was supported.

The force exerted during manual tasks is a dominant risk factor for upper-limb musculoskeletal disorders. To identify tasks that may lead to fatigue over a shift, or increase the risk of injury, the demands placed on the hand and forearm system must be quantified and predicted. The purpose of this research was to determine how different ways of simulating manual tasks affected the estimate of demand on the hand and forearm and how well normative data could be used to provide an estimate of that demand. The forces and moments required to perform 20 manual tasks were measured and simulations with three different levels of realism developed, ranging from simple feedback, with real parts, postures and timing to more controlled simulations with simplified parts, standard postures and 5s static exertions. 11 workers hired from a temporary employment agency each performed the simulated tasks and their physical demand was determined using perceived effort, the muscle activity of 8 hand and forearm muscles, and grip (or pinch) force matching. Based on these criteria, the best simulation was that with the same handle size, shape and orientation as the criterion version of the task using simple feedback to match one or two forces. Over the variety of tasks studied here, perceived effort, grip force matching and extensor digitorum activation provided the most similar demand estimate to the criterion task of all measured parameters. The more controlled simulation had the highest correlation compared with normative demand. Overall, the more changes in hand-object interface made between the task of interest and a simulation or normative data, the greater the discrepancy in demand. Normative data tended to underestimate demand, thus underestimating the risk of fatigue and injury. The use of simulations and task specific normative data to estimate hand task demand, with an accuracy useful for field measurements by ergonomists, was supported.

Current trends in industry are leaning towards specialized production systems and sedentary computer work tasks that are associated with low and less varying mechanical exposures. It has been suggested that physical variation is an effective intervention to reduce local fatigue and potentially musculoskeletal disorders. However, little is known in how the differences between physical variation patterns affect physiological and psychophysical responses. The general purpose of this thesis was to explore the biophysical effects of varying force amplitudes using forces, cycle times, and duty cycles that are relevant to occupation and longer-term health outcomes. Fifteen healthy males performed an elbow extensor sustained isometric exertion at 15% Maximum Voluntary Force (MVF), an intermittent contraction between 0% MVF and 30% MVF (On/Off), an intermittent contraction between 7.5% MVF and 22.5% MVF (MinMax), an intermittent contraction between 1% MVF and 29% MVF (1 Percent), and a sinusoidal contraction between 0% and 30% MVF (Sinusoidal). Eight commonly used measurement tools recorded biophysical responses as participants performed each condition for up to 60 minutes or until exhaustion, during 60 minutes recovery, and at 24 hours post-exercise. Measures included electromyography of the triceps muscles, mechanomyography, blood flow, heart rate, stimulated tetani and twitch responses, maximum exertions, and perceived exertion. The rate of response during exercise and comparisons between baseline, cessation, and recovery values were used to assess fatigue responses. This research shows that implementing physical variation, at the same mean amplitude, may provide reduced fatigue rate and that the magnitude and shape of the intermittent force variations affect exercise and recovery measures. Time varying forces may therefore provide the necessary mechanism to encourage beneficial physiological responses that would improve long-term health and well being of workers at low-load jobs.

Denna studie syftar till att få en ökad förståelse för hur arenachefer i Sverige rekryteras, vi tar även upp hur rekryteringsprocessen såg ut för respondenterna som deltog i denna studie. Vi kommer även att belysa vilka arbetsuppgifter och ansvarsområden de arenacheferna vi har intervjuat har. Arenacheferna är verksamma på arenor vars hemmahörande idrotter är på elitnivå, på dessa arenor arrangeras även allt ifrån uppträdanden med världsartister inom musikbranschen till mindre företagsevent. Ur resultatet framkommer det att rekryteringsprocessen, ansvarsområden och arbetsuppgifterna skiljer sig mellan de olika arenacheferna. Gemensamma nämnare för arenacheferna är att samtliga har ett ansvar för personal, ekonomi och säkerhet. / The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the recruitment of arena managers in Sweden, and also the recruitment process for the managers participating in this study. Furthermore we will highlight the job tasks and areas of responsibility of the managers interviewed in this study. The managers are employed at arenas that host everything from professional sports to music events featuring world renowned artists and minor company events. The results of this study show that the recruitment process, areas of responsibility and job tasks differ among the arena managers. What unites them is that they all have a responsibility for personnel, finances and security.

This study investigates the use of authentic subtitled similar task videos (ASSTVs) and their relationship to second language negotiation of meaning and language production among non-native speakers of English in an online task-based language learning (TBLL) environment. Over the course of two weeks, twenty intermediate nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English from the English Language Institute at Texas A&M University engaged in four communicative tasks in pairs using an online TBLL environment designed specifically for this study, and a chat tool in WebCT Vista, a course management system provided by the university. ASSTVs were videotaped and integrated into the online TBLL environment. Participants were divided into two groups, each of which consisted of five dyads, to test the effects of ASSTVs. Five dyads were provided with the ASSTVs and the remaining five dyads were not provided with them before the task completion process. The first section of this study examines the effects of ASSTVs on negotiation of meaning, and the second section examines the effects on language production. The amount of negotiation of meaning was calculated through the negotiation of meaning sequences model developed by Gass and Varonis and revised for online communication by Smith. Language production was investigated in terms of fluency and complexity with regard to lexical and syntactic complexity. A detailed analysis of the data from the chat-scripts showed that NNSs engage in more negotiation of meaning and produce more fluent and lexically diverse language when provided with the ASSTVs than NNSs who were not provided with them. Based on these findings, this study concludes that using ASSTVs in an online TBLL environment is a viable and effective tool for promoting negotiation of meaning and language production in terms of fluency and lexical complexity.

<p>Det har visat sig vara bättre att öva in listor med handlingsfraser genom att utföra dem (SPT, subject-performed tasks) än genom att bara läsa dem (VT, verbal tasks). Vid ett återerinringstest visar sig SPT-effekten då försöksdeltagare med SPTs har ett mycket bättre minne av materialet än försöksdeltagare med VTs. En förklaring till fenomenet är att utförandet av handlingsfraserna förser deltagarna med motorinformation. I den här undersökningen testas motorinformationens roll i SPT-effekten på ett sätt som skiljer sig från traditionell SPT-forskning. Försöksdeltagare fick antingen cykla eller använda en joystick för att navigera genom en virtuell värld där ord fanns utplacerade. Minnet för orden testades sedan i ett efterföljande minnestest. Det visade sig att joystickgruppen kunde återerinra sig fler ord än cykelgruppen. Effekten var oväntad och misstänks bero på bättre koncentrationsmöjligheter för joystickgruppen.</p>

Chunks and Tasks is a programming model based on the C ++ programming language. This programming model is used for electronic structure calculations, among other things.The purpose of this project is to improve the CHT-MPI software library for Chunks and tasks, so that calculations of matrix-matrix multiplications are performed more efficiently than they do with the existing software library. The software library is based on the work stealing method, which is a method the software library for Chunks and Tasks uses for the distribution of the calculation work. The considered way to improve the software library is by modifying the work stealing method in a way that makes the distribution of calculation work happen in a more efficient way , which will lead to calculations performed faster than before.Two different modifications of the work stealing method were tested and it led to two new methods, Method 1 and Method 2, which distributed the calculation work differently. Method 1 did not give results that were compatible with the theory, since the calculation time with this method was much longer than the previous method.  The results for method 2 were compatible with the theory for the method. Method 2 distributed the calculation work more efficiently than before which decreased the amount of data sent during the calculations, which led to a shorter calculation time than with the previous method.  This method made an improvement of the software library for the programming model Chunks and Tasks. / Chunks and Tasks är en programmeringsmodell baserad på programspråket C++. Denna programmeringsmodell används vid bl.a. metoder för lösningar av Schrödingerekvationen för elektronerna i molekyler. Syftet med detta projekt är att förbättra mjukvarubiblioteket för Chunks and Tasks, så att beräkningar av matris-matris-multiplikationer utförs på ett effektivare sätt än vad de gör med det existerande mjukvarubiblioteket. Mjukvarubiblioteket använder sig av work stealing-metoden vid fördelning av beräkningsarbetet. Det är tänkt att mjukvarubiblioteket ska förbättras genom att just modifiera work stealing-metoden på ett sätt som får arbetsfördelningen att ske på ett smidigare sätt, vilket i sin tur ska leda till att beräkningarna utförs under en kortare tid än tidigare. Två olika ändringar av work stealing-metoden testades och man fick två nya metoder, metod 1 och metod 2, som fördelade beräkningsarbetet olika sätt. Det som söktes var en metod som kunde minska mängden data som skickades under beräkningarna av olika matris-matrismultiplikationer, då en minskad data-mängd innebar en förkortning av beräkningstiden. Med metod 1 fick man en försämring, då beräkningstiderna blev mycket längre än tidigare. Med metod 2 erhöll man ett bättre resultat, med denna metod fördelades arbetet på ett effektivare sätt som ledde till att mängden data som skickades minskade, vilket även betydde att beräkningstiderna kortades ner. Med denna metod fick man en förbättring av mjukvarubiblioteket för programmeringsmodellen Chunks and Tasks.

In Chinese, a large percentage of the vocabulary consists of compound words where exemplars in the same taxonomic category often share the same head noun (Chen & Chen, 2006; Chow, McBride-Chang, Cheung, & Chow, 2008). This structural characteristic may facilitate an early understanding of the noun taxonomy. The current study aims to investigate taxonomic development in a group of Mandarin-English speaking children in the United States. A contrast association task (i.e., "A dog is not a ____") and a category association task (i.e., "A dog is a kind of ____") were used to elicit responses from different levels of the taxonomic hierarchy (e.g., coordinates, superordinates). Participants were 25 bilingual children aged 3 to 8 and 25 English monolingual age matches. It was predicted that the bilingual group would produce more task-specific taxonomic responses (i.e., coordinates in contrast association; superordinates in category association) than their monolingual counterparts. The results, however, were somewhat opposite to this prediction. Monolinguals were found to, in general, perform better in the category association tasks and the two groups performed similarly in the contrast association task. When English vocabulary size was taken into consideration, there was no statistically significant difference between the monolingual and bilingual children on the category association task. Factors which possibly explain such a difference between the two language groups in the two tasks, or the absence of a significant difference when vocabulary size was incorporated as a covariate are discussed. / text

Didėjant informacinių ir komunikacinių technologijų plėtrai į visas gyvenimo sritis, visų socialinių lygių žmonių bendravimas, ypatingai paauglių, vis labiau persikelia į virtualią erdvę. Kas paskatina priklausomybės nuo virtualios komunikacijos atsiradimą. Moksliniame lygmenyje vis labiau kalbama apie virtualią priklausomybę, tačiau gilesnės mokslinės analizės ypač Lietuvoje, labai trūksta. Siekiant išvengti ar mažinti šią priklausomybę būtinas gilesnis požiūris į šią problematiką, todėl ir atliekama nagrinėjamos temos analizė, kuri padės priartėti prie gilesnio šios problemos suvokimo. Tikslas – nustatyti priklausomybės nuo virtualios komunikacijos požymius. Darbo objektas – požymių nuo virtualios komunikacijos identifikavimas. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti komunikacijos proceso sudedamąsias dalis. 2. Apibrėžti psichologinės priklausomybės raidos ir požymių santykį. 3. Identifikuoti priklausomybės nuo kompiuterio požymius. 4. Identifikuoti priklausomybės nuo interneto požymius. 5. Apžvelgti Lietuvoje esančias prevencines priemonių nuo priklausomybės kompiuteriui ir internetui. 6. Atlikti paauglių priklausomybės nuo virtualios komunikacijos požymių identifikavimo empirinį tyrimą. Tikslui pasiekti ir uždaviniams išspręsti naudotasi šiais metodais: mokslinės literatūros palyginamąja analize ir sinteze, kontent analize, anketine apklausa. Tyrimas iš dalies patvirtino hipotezę, jog paaugliai jaučia stipriausią priklausomybę internetui, kuri didžiausias neigiamas pasekmes... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The relationship among various level of cociety has been moving on to virtuality, because the development of information and communication technologies grows to all spheres of life. It incites the dependence of virtual communication. There is a big discussion about virtual communication on the scientific level, but also we face a shortage of deeper analysis even in Lithuania. The deeper attitude is necessary to solve this problem. That is why this work deals with a discussed problem into a deeper way. Purpose of work – to ascertain the signs of dependence from virtual communication. Object of work – the signs identification from virtual communication. Tasks of work: 1. To ascertain the components of communication process. 2. To definite the relation of psychological dependence evolution and its sings. 3. To identify the signs of dependence from computer. 4. To identify the signs of dependence from internet. 5. To review and eveluate prevention means of dependence from computer and internet in Lithuania. 6. To carry out the empirical research of teens dependence signs identification from virtual communication. The research has been approved the hyphotesis partly only. The stongest dependence for teens is the internet, which has high negative impact for youth psychology. 50 per cent of teens agree with the biggest dependence from internet (33,3 per cent). But on the other hand there has been ascertain that researches of dependencies are very popular and the most important... [to full text]

The principles of parallel counting, the MPI program parcel, which was used in this work, allow to adapt them to solve tasks using computer net and peculiarities of implanting this parcel.