Energy cost saving starts on the shop floor

This paper describes how one company, the British subsidiary of an American multinational, met the problem of continually rising energy costs with a carefully co-ordinated energy conservation programme. This was linked with a pollution prevention programme and the environment and energy used an equation for cutting costs.     

The interaction of aging and 10 years of racing on ultraendurance running performance

The aim of this study was to examine the interaction between aging and 10 years of racing in endurance runners. Race-time data from 194 runners who had completed 10 consecutive 56-km ultramarathons were obtained. The runners were either 20.5 +/- 0.7, 30.0 +/- 1.0, 39.9 +/- 0.9, or 49.4 +/- 1.0 years old at their first race. Each runner's race speed was determined for each race over the 10 years. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, one-way ANOVA, and independent t tests and showed that performance improved and declined at greater rates for younger runners; younger runners had a greater capacity for improvement than older runners; approximately 4 years were required to reach peak racing speed, regardless of age; it was not possible to compete at peak speed for more than a few years; and the combined effects of 10 years of aging and racing neither improve nor worsen net performance. In conclusion, these data suggest that although these runners showed similar patterns of change in race speed over a 10-year period, the extent of change in performance was greater in younger than in older runners.     

Work-related factors contributing to chronic disability in low back pain

Low back pain is a costly and incapacitating musculoskeletal disorder. Prospective studies documenting the capacity of work-related factors to predict chronicity are few in number, the methodology used is very diversified, and the results obtained diverge. The aim of the present study is to investigate the capacity of work-related objective (non-psychosocial) and psychosocial factors to predict chronic disability related to low back pain. A longitudinal prospective study with two measurement times was carried out. The sample (N = 258) consisted of workers with subacute low back pain who were on sick leave and receiving compensation from the CSST (Quebec Workers' Compensation Board). Of all the work-related variables measured, perceived stress and fears and beliefs about work were associated with return to work status at the six-month follow-up. The results obtained show the importance of considering fears and beliefs about work when identifying people in the subacute phase of low back pain who are at risk of developing chronic disability.     

Segregation and Mortality: The Deadly Effects of Racism?

Elevated rates of mortality for African Americans compared to whites, coupled with the persistence of high levels of racial residential segregation, have directed attention to the structural manifestations of racism as potentially important pathogens for health. Using national mortality and census data for 1990 and a measure of black social isolation from whites, we examine the association between residential segregation and mortality in 107 major U.S. cities. Our analyses revealed that black social isolation tended to predict higher rates of mortality for African American males and females, although the strength of the association varied by cause of death. Socioeconomic deprivation explained a modest part of this association for black males but not for black females. Our analyses also found that a positive association between social isolation and mortality was more pronounced, for both blacks and whites, in cities that were also high on the index of dissimilarity. These findings highlight the need for research to identify the specific mechanisms and processes that link residential environments to adverse changes in health status.     

Presto: a software package for the simulation of diffusion processes

Conclusion Presto is a software which automatically generates FORTRAN code corresponding to approximation procedures of the solutions of stochastic differential systems.At the present time, it answers only to a few needs, but a diversification of its users and its simple internal structure could easily permit it to be developed towards a more ambitious system.Finally, let us mention that Presto is an INRIA product, which is free for academic institutions, universities, etc, which already have MAPLE and X-Windows licences. Presto can be run on any UNIX station under X-Windows environment.