Are cutout handles used when available in real occupational settings? Description of grips and upper extremities movements during industrial box handling

In order to achieve better postures and decrease musculoskeletal risks adequate design of hand/box couplings for manual materials handling (MMH) are still needed. No studies evaluating upper limb movement thorough direct measurements during box handling in workplace were identified in the literature. In this study we describe the types of grip and movements adopted by ten workers when handling redesigned boxes with cutout handles between different heights on industrial pallets. The new handles were used by 90% of the workers through different types of grip. Electrogoniometric measurements showed relatively safe forearm and wrist movements, although elbow inadequate range of movement was recorded. Despite the good acceptance of the cutout by workers, the new design requires extra internal space in the boxes reducing applications for this alternative of box.     

Infant Perception of Surface Texture and Relative Height as Distance Information: A Preferential‐Reaching Study

Two preferential‐reaching experiments explored 5‐ and 7‐month‐olds’ sensitivity to pictorial depth cues. In the first experiment, infants viewed a display in which texture gradients, linear perspective of the surface contours, and relative height in the visual field provided information that two objects were at different distances. Five‐ and 7‐month‐old infants reached preferentially for the apparently nearer object under monocular but not binocular viewing conditions, indicating that infants in both age groups respond to pictorial depth cues. In the second experiment, texture gradients and linear perspective of the surface contours were eliminated from the experimental display, making relative height the sole pictorial depth cue. Seven‐month‐olds again reached more often for the apparently nearer object under monocular, but not binocular viewing conditions. By contrast, the 5‐month‐olds’ reaching behavior did not differ between viewing conditions. These results indicate that 7‐month‐olds respond to the depth cue of relative height but provide no evidence of responsiveness to relative height in 5‐month‐olds. Both age groups responded more consistently to pictorial depth in Experiment 1 than in Experiment 2.     

The Impact of Food Price Inflation on Subjective Well-being: Evidence From Urban Ethiopia

The world has experienced dramatic food price inflation in recent years, which sparked social unrest and riots in various developing countries. In this paper, we use a novel approach to measure the impact of food price inflation on subjective well-being of urban households in Ethiopia, a country which exhibited one of the highest rates of food price inflation during 2007–2008. Using an ordered probit regression, we show that being negatively affected by a food price shock reduced subjective well-being of households significantly, although the economy was growing rapidly. We also show that relative standing has a large negative effect on subjective well-being of respondents. The fact that rapid economic growth was accompanied by a decline in citizens’ average reported level of life satisfaction brings its pro-poorness into question. We argue that controlling the rise in food price and ensuring that economic growth trickles down to the average urban citizen would enhance welfare significantly.     

Cooperative Institutions and Inequality in the OECD: Bringing the Firm Back In*

Objective. To examine the relationship between firm‐level cooperation, inequality, and redistribution in 18 advanced industrialized democracies. Methods. The relationships are investigated using multiple regression analyses of institutional, political, and economic variables. Results. Multilevel models reveal that contrary to neocorporatism, firm‐level cooperative ties have significant inegalitarian effects, particularly in the distribution of pretax, pretransfer market income. The effects, however, are also felt in the distribution of posttax, posttransfer income. Conclusion. By paying attention to the effect of firm‐level cooperation, the study sheds new light on inequality in the OECD as a result of both market‐based and nonmarket coordination.     

Brazilian version of an assessment tool for the evaluation of work organizational aspects (AOT) by the NIOSH WMSD Research Consortium: translation and application in industrial sectors

Work organization affects the production of a company as well as the health of employees. It is a challenge to create sustainable production systems with the least harm to the health. An observational assessment tool was developed by the NIOSH--WMSD Research Consortium and adapted by the SHARP study. The objectives were to translate this assessment tool into Brazilian Portuguese (as the Avalia??o de Aspectos Organizacionais do Trabalho--AOT) and to evaluate its applicability in an industrial setting. The AOT final translated version was obtained after a consensus by the research team. Difficulties arose in applying the translated version due to technical terms with no direct equivalents in Portuguese, nonexcluding or similar alternatives, and questions that gave room for various interpretations, besides the great complexity of the tasks performed in the sectors. Despite that, the results suggest that AOT was sensitive for discriminating differences between sectors. Nevertheless, for better application of this tool in complex industrial environments, it is necessary: training and consensus among evaluators, familiarity with organizational aspects of the occupational settings evaluated. Also for assuring the internal validity of the analysis, might be necessary, the creation of subdivisions in the sectors evaluated if the tasks vary significantly intra-sector. The present report can help to understand the difficulties inherent to the evaluation of organizational aspects on a collective level and also the possible implications related to the translation of this assessment into other languages.     

Guerrillera Editorship enacts the decolonial imaginary of Chicana editors

This project examines the editorial practices of former Chicana editors of a bilingual, alternative, activist Chicana/Chicano college student newspaper, mapping out the ways Chicana feminist epistemologies shaped their editorial praxis. Grounded in the decolonial imaginary of seven Chicanas, we identify a praxis we call Guerrillera Editorship in which Chicana editors integrate their leadership, advocacy, and written work within a muxerista orientation in order to work communally to honor the testimonio of contributors, strive towards social justice, and draw attention to Chicana issues. This work enhances an existing scholarly record that analyzes the rhetoric of Chicana feminists, but lacks an analysis of Chicana-led media production. By contextualizing the efforts of these contemporary Chicana cultural workers within the history of Chicana feminist print media, and drawing on Chicana feminist theories to guide the methodology and analysis of this project, we offer a Chicana-centered editorial activism whose decolonial underpinnings counter masculinist leadership styles and offset mainstream editorial practices.     

Picture Perception in Infants: Do 9‐Month‐Olds Attempt to Grasp Objects Depicted in Photographs?

Two experiments tested the DeLoache, Pierroutsakos, Uttal, Rosengren, and Gottlieb (1998 claim that 9‐month‐old infants attempt to grasp objects depicted in photographs. In Experiment 1, 9‐month‐olds viewed an object, a photograph of the object, and 2 flat, nonpictorial displays. On average, they reached for the photograph and nonpictorial displays with their hands approximately horizontal and close to the display surfaces, but reached for the object with their hands oriented obliquely and at significantly higher heights. The infants also exhibited similar behaviors when touching the photograph and nonpictorial displays. In Experiment 2, 9‐month‐olds exhibited similar behaviors when touching a photograph of an object and a photograph of textured carpet. The results of both experiments suggest that 9‐month‐olds treat photographs of objects as 2‐dimensional surfaces and not as graspable objects.