Order-picking in deep cold--physiological responses of younger and older females. Part 1: heart rate

The sales figures of chilled and frozen food have been rising steadily over the years. Naturally, this has also led to an increase in the number of jobs related to these goods. While these workplaces are becoming more and more important there are, nevertheless, only a few investigations into the effects of working in deep cold on humans. Order-picking in a cold environment represents a high workload. Especially working at -24°C with wearing heavy cold protective clothing leads to explicitly higher strain. Since performance decreases with age, varying physical strain between younger and older employees can hypothetically be expected. In order to quantify the physiological responses to working in the cold, 15 subjects of two female age groups, each, (20- to 35-year-olds and 40- to 65-year-olds) were asked to carry out whole working day tasks in a chill room (+3°) and in a cold store (-24°C). Simultaneously, heart rate and other physiological relevant parameters were measured.     

Paths,Punctuations and Policy Learning—Comparing Patterns of European use of Scientific Expertise during the Covid-19 Crisis

Public Organization Review - The article examines changes in the role and position of experts in policy making in the EU member states and four additional West European mature democracies during...     

Order-picking in deep cold--physiological responses of younger and older females. Part 2: body core temperature and skin surface temperature

So far, it was unclear to what extent working in deep cold-storage depots has an influence on female order-pickers body core temperature and skin surface temperature considering different age groups. Physiological effects of order-picking in a chill room (+3°C) and cold store (-24°C) were examined on 30 female subjects (Ss), classified in two age groups (20- to 35- year-olds and 40- to 65-year-olds). The body core temperature was taken every 15 min at the tympanum and the skin surface temperature was recorded continuously at seven different positions. Working in the chill room induced a decrease of the body core temperature up to 0.5K in comparison to the value at the outset for both age groups which could be compensated by all Ss during the breaks. Working in the cold store caused a decline up to 1.1K for the younger Ss and 1.3K for the older Ss. A complete warming-up during the breaks was often not possible. Regarding the skin surface temperature, working in the chill room can be considered as unproblematic, whereas significantly lower temperatures at nose, fingers and toes, associated with substantial negative subjective sensations, were recorded while working in the cold store.     

Independence, Participation, and the Meaning of Intellectual Ability

This article presents a non-speaking person's perspectives on independence and the implications of newfound communication abilities for her participation in the world and upon the meaning of intellectual ability. The person with the communication disability also has autism and, early in her life, was classified by school officials as 'severely retarded'. The narrative focuses especially on the concepts of independence, participation, and intellectual competence or intellectual performance, and their relationship to the concepts of democracy, freedom, and identity, all from a non-essentialist perspective. In addition, the article addresses practical questions about how, from her perspective, the non-speaking person developed the ability to communicate without physical support.