An Engineering Psychology Based Analysis of Ladder Setup Procedures

ABSTRACT Accidents involving portable ladders are a common cause of serious occupational and non-occupational injuries throughout the industrialized world. Many of these injuries could be prevented with proper education, training and usage of portable ladders. This research focused on the human factors and engineering aspects of portable extension ladder usage. Results and analysis revealed evidence of unsafe acts that could lead to catastrophic ladder slide-out accidents in real-life situations. Six ladder setup methods were evaluated based on placement angles: the Basic, 75 Degree, Stand-Reach, L Sticker, 4:1, and Level methods. The level method produced the most accurate results with the lowest variability. Setup methods varied in complexity and level of instruction. Additional investigation included determining the coefficient of friction of common ladder setup surfaces in clean and contaminated conditions. Based on known ladder setup angles and coefficients of friction, a detailed engineering analysis was performed to determine the total number of slide-out failures for each ladder setup method. Analysis of the overall results revealed the need for additional user training and education. Based on test subjects\u27 setup angles, the ladder slide-out failure rate would have been 12.2 percent for ladders set up on a surface with the lowest measured coefficient of friction. When broken down by ladder setup method, the 4:1 Method had a failure rate of 18.8 percent, the 75 Degree Method had a failure rate of 15.2 percent, and the Basic Method had a failure rate of 9.8 percent. Overall results have been considered for modifications of existing ladder standards as well as areas of additional research

Research Integrity: the view from the Research Office

When we talk about research integrity, what we’re talking about are the principles, ideas and behaviours that make up good research practice. It’s about defining what excellence in the conduct of research looks like and creating frameworks to help researchers do the very best research they can. In Edinburgh Research Office, the work we do in the Research Integrity space is mainly focused on engagement with colleagues in the Schools and Colleges, as well as in central University functions, Edinburgh Innovations and the Institute for Academic Development. Our remit includes ensuring that the University complies with the requirements of the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, reviewing and updating policies and working with colleagues to ensure that we have the right training in place for our research community. We also act as a bridge between the University community and key external stakeholders including the funders, the UK Research Integrity Office and the Russell Group.The past four years have seen a series of important developments in this area. The publication of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report on Research Integrity in summer 2018 raised the profile of research integrity as a topic and led to the establishment of the new UK Committee on Research Integrity. More recently, the UK Government’s Trusted Research campaign was emblematic of an increased spotlight on international partnerships. From his vantage point as Research Integrity Manager in Edinburgh Research Office, Alan Campbell will outline the impact that these and other developments have had on the research integrity landscape. He’ll also discuss the steps that the University is taking to adapt to a rapidly changing environment

Gene-knockdown in the honey bee mite Varroa destructor by a non-invasive approach : studies on a glutathione S-transferase

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A theoretical model of a new electrostatic transducer incorporating fluidic amplification

This article concerns the design of a new electrostatic transducer whose backplate consists of a series of drilled pipes. A new one-dimensional model is derived which considers the interaction of the membrane with the air load, the air cavities, and the drilled pipes in the backplate. Dynamic equations for the impedance in each component of the device are calculated analytically and connected using interface conditions of continuity of pressure and radiation conditions into the air load. The model is able to produce solutions to the mechanical impedance of the device and the displacement of the membrane as a function of the device's design parameters. Model results for the output pressure compare well with previous experimental data. The inverse problem of retrieving the design parameters for a desired output is discussed

Norman Julius Zabusky OBITUARY

Norman Julius Zabusky, who laid the foundations for several critical advancements in nonlinear science and experimental mathematics, died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on 5 February 2018 in Beersheba, Israel. He also made fundamental contributions to computational fluid dynamics and advocated the importance of visualization in science.Published versio

Excerpts

Commencement address given by Alan K. Campbell, Director of U. S. Office of Personnel Management, to the Summer 1979 graduating class of The Ohio State University, St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio, August 30, 1979

Form without formalism

The systematisation of deductive inference can yield an account of the structure of sentences (propositions, thoughts) involved in such inference. In mainstream contemporary analytic philosophy, the idea of "logical form" is linked, explicitly or implicitly, with the idea of such a systematisation. But this is not the only thing one might mean by "logical form". An enquiry into the structures of thoughts can be motivated by considerations besides inferential behaviour. In this dissertation I sketch an alternative conception according to which the uncovering of the logical structure of discourse proceeds from no single principle but rather piecemeal, from region of discourse to region of discourse. On this conception, the availability of a syntactic characterisation of the valid inference patterns in which a judgment participates is not a necessary condition for the attribution to it of a certain logical form.I argue that Frege's revolutionary application of function-argument analysis to logic plays a central rôle in his equation of the categories in terms of which to ascribe structure to thoughts with the syntactic categories needed for the systematisation of inference. Though the application is plausible in the case of mathematics, I argue that function-argument analysis is ill suited to the analysis of predicative structure generally. As an illustration of this claim, following Michael Thompson's lead, I discuss "natural-historical judgments," a type of generic judgment about living things. I walk through a series of formal-semantic proposals for generic sentences, arguing that each founders on its imposition of function-argument analysis on natural-historical judgments. The logical form of natural-historical judgments is not to be understood on the functional model; the categories deployed in their grasp are not explained by their use in codifying inference patterns.I associate the view that the uncovering of logical form is a piecemeal, unprincipled affair with the later work of Wittgenstein. I bring out how Wittgenstein's engagement in the Tractatus with Frege's and Russell's conceptions of logic paves the way for his later development of the notion of grammar in the Investigations, in order to show how the conception of form I advocate has a genuine claim to logicality

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and Undifferentiated-Attention Deficit Disorder: Differences in Cognitive and Affective Characteristics and Responses to Stimulant Medication

The cognitive and affective characteristics and responses to stimulant medication of children who were diagnosed as having attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (AD-HD) or undifferentiated-attention deficit disorder (UADD) were investigated using a pretest-posttest experimental design. Nineteen AD-HD and 17 UADD children were compared using unpaired t-tests, prior to initiation of stimulant medication, on measures of intellectual functioning, impulsivity, problem behavior, and self-reported depression and self-esteem. Children from both the AD-HD (n = 12) and UADD (n = 12) groups were then compared before and after a 3-month trial of stimulant medication on measures of impulsivity, problem behavior, and self-reported depression and self-esteem using repeated measures analyses of variance. No significant differences were found between groups in cognitive ability, impulsivity, depression, self-esteem, anxiety, peer relationships, or social withdrawal. AD-HD children were found to exhibit more hyperactive, aggressive, and delinquent problem behavior. Significant improvement was found in both groups in self-reported depression and self-esteem following a trial of stimulant medication. A trial of stimulant medication was found to reduce hyperactive problem behavior in AD-HD children. Stimulant medication had a beneficial effect on peer relationships and aggressive problem behavior in UADD children but did not produce similar positive effects in AD-HD children. These results are discussed as in relationship to the issue of whether AD-HD and UADD are separate syndromes and to the previous literature regarding attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD/H) and attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADD/WO). Ramifications regarding appropriate treatment are also discussed