Is there enough information to calculate the financial benefits of ergonomics projects?

Many authors studied work situations and, mainly, ergonomics projects concerning the financial benefit point of view. At the same time seems to be little information available concerning these financial benefits in manufacturing companies' processes. The aim of this article is to identify if there enough information available within a company to quantify the financial benefits of an ergonomic project. The study was applied on two manufacturing companies, one in Brazil and other in Portugal. A literature review based checklist and a manager interview was applied on each company in order to identify if the information was available and how were been used. The two companies have revealed a good quantity of available information regarding ergonomics benefit calculation. The interviews showed that managers are not aware of the financial savings possibility with investments in ergonomics projects.     

Universal design and accessibility: an approach of the influence of muscle strength loss in the risk of falls in the elderly

This study was conducted with older adults living in a long-stay institution in the city of Foz do Iguacu, Parana, Brazil with the objective of assessing the influence of muscle strength loss in the risk of falls. The sample consisted of 65 elderly who walk without the aid of support for locomotion, 37 women and 28 men, aged between 67 and 80 years. The risk of falls was assessed through the TUG test. To determine the handgrip strength, a hand dynamometer model Jamar ( was used, which provides the result in kg / force (kgf), being held only with the dominant hand. The results showed that in the last 12 months, only 32% of the elderly surveyed had no fall and the average handgrip strength was 24.32 ( 11.22 kgf; 40% had one fall and the average handgrip strength was 23.82 ( 10.18 kgf; 8% had two falls and the average handgrip strength was 19.48 ( 8.21 kgf and 20% had more than one fall and the average handgrip strength of 18.13 ( 7.33 Kgf., indicating that the force levels are statistically lower among elderly at high risk of falls (p> 0.05). It was concluded that the lower the force level, the greater the likelihood of falls. Thus, it is important to stress that due to the loss of muscle strength, all ergonomic hazards and architectural barriers must be removed so that older adults can perform their tasks more easily, with comfort and safety.     

Nachhaltige Stressreduktion durch Introvision: theoretische Grundlagen und empirische Ergebnisse

The article deals with a re-analysis of two studies in which the pedagogical-psychological counseling and coaching method Introvision as method of reducing somatic symptoms (tinnitus, neck strain) and in particular the so resulting stress was tested. It based on the transactional stress model and the theory of mental Introferenz is a connection between consciousness and the emergence of conflicts of stress, as well as its specific somatic effects is produced. Subsequently, the data of both experimental and control groups are compared and brought into relation. In particular, three aspects are considered: the extent of exposure (as measured by the GSI and the TICS) between the study groups (tinnitus, neck strain), the development of the different study groups (tinnitus, neck strain) over time (pre, post, follow-up ) and possible similarities. On the one hand it can be said that comparable on a theoretical level in coping with stressful events in the sense of conflict avoidance strategies, the Introvision is however used as a conflict resolution strategy, and thus provides a means for the alternative stress management. The study groups differed in their baseline levels of both the normal population and from each other (in some cases significantly). Both study groups improved significantly compared to the control group, and have a similar profile. Especially in the initial values for the stress they are different, which suggests that tinnitus sufferers use different coping strategies (dramatized) (minimize) as concerned with neck tension. The Introvision proves consulting and coaching method for reducing the burden of somatic complaints and stress, as well as prevention methods, ie the further deterioration of symptoms (compared to the control group), one advancing chronicity process works effectively.     

Rehabilitation programs for elderly women inpatients with schizophrenia

This study aims to describe rehabilitation and resocialization methods we believe to be appropriate for application to female patients with schizophrenia, in a psychiatric unit with a predominantly older population. We briefly describe the unit and the interventions used as an example of the proposed rehabilitation and resocialization methods applied. The article provides an overview to guide accurate intervention, particularly in inpatient women, in different types of cognitive impairment under the broad category of schizophrenia. Our clinical approach includes a token economy approach, cognitive remediation therapy, and social skills training. The token economy intervention is particularly directed to patients that present with a high mental deterioration and/or debility. Cognitive remediation training is applicable to subjects with both cognitive and social dysfunction, but that do not possess signs of an organic cerebral illness or of substance abuse. Social skills training can be the third step to resocialization, training verbal and nonverbal communication competencies.     

Sue Kenny,Marilyn Taylor,Jenny Onix and Marjorie Mayo: Challenging the Third Sector: Global Prospects for Active Citizenship

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Calibration model with skew scale mixtures of normal distributions

This work presents a new linear calibration model with replication by assuming that the error of the model follows a skew scale mixture of the normal distributions family, which is a class of asymmetric thick-tailed distributions that includes the skew normal distribution and symmetric distributions. In the literature, most calibration models assume that the errors are normally distributed. However, the normal distribution is not suitable when there are atypical observations and asymmetry. The estimation of the calibration model parameters are done numerically by the EM algorithm. A simulation study is carried out to verify the properties of the maximum likelihood estimators. This new approach is applied to a real dataset from a chemical analysis.