Prevalence and risk factors for low back pain among professional cooks working in school lunch services

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prevalence of self-reported low back pain among professional cooks was estimated to examine the effects of daily life conditions, job-related factors, and psychological factors on this disorder.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data was collected using a mailed self-administered questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 7100 cooks, 5835 (82%) replied to the questionnaire, including 1010 men and 4825 women. The mean age was 41.4 for men and 47.5 for women. The prevalence of low back pain during a 1-month period was 72.2% among men and 74.7% among women, with no significant differences between groups. By logistic regression analyses, factors significantly associated with the prevalence of low back pain in 1 month were female gender (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.32; 95% CI, 1.03–1.68), current smoking (PR 1.57; 95% CI, 1.24–1.98), and past smoking (PR 1.35; 95% CI, 1.01–1.79). As for job-related factors, the number of cooked lunches per person (PR 1.28; 95% CI, 1.05–1.56), breaks in the morning session (PR 1.33; 95% CI, 1.13–1.56), kitchen environment (PR 1.09; 95%, CI, 1.03–1.15), and height of cooking equipment (PR 1.13; 95% CI, 1.08–1.19) were associated with the prevalence of low back pain. As for psychological factors, job satisfaction (PR 1.22; 95% CI, 1.03–1.45), stress at work (PR 1.68; 95% CI, 1.42–1.99), financial constraints (PR 1.23; 95% CI, 1.03–1.47), health-related stress (PR 1.31; 95% CI, 1.08–1.59) and worries about the future (PR 1.24; 95% CI, 1.01–1.52) were similarly associated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Daily life conditions, job-related factors, and psychological factors are associated with the occurrence of low back pain. It is important to take comprehensive preventive measures to address a range of work and life conditions that can be improved to decrease the incidence of low back pain for professional cooks.</p

Prevalence of self-reported finger deformations and occupational risk factors among professional cooks: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies have pointed out that the school lunch workers in Japan are suffering from work-related disorders including finger deformations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of self-reported finger deformations and the association with job-related risk factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional questionnaire study of 5,719 subjects (response rate: 81%, 982 men and 4,737 women) was undertaken during September 2003 to February 2004.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Finger deformations were found among 11.7% of the men and 35.6% of the women studied, with significant differences among sex, age and sex-age groups. For both men and women the pattern of finger deformations across the hand was similar for the right and the left hand. For women, the deformations were found in about 10% of the distal interphalangeal joints of all fingers. Based on multiple logistic regression analyses, the factors female sex, age, the number of cooked lunches per cook and cooking activities were independently associated with the prevalence of finger deformations. High prevalence odds ratios were found for those frequently carrying or using tools by hands such as delivering containers, distributing meals, preparing dishes, washing equipment, cutting and stirring foods.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Among the school lunch workers studied, women had a higher prevalence of finger deformations on all joints of both hands. Various cooking tasks were associated with the prevalence of finger deformations. The results suggest that improvements in working conditions are important for preventing work-related disorders such as finger deformations.</p

Actual State of Supports for Students With Chemical Sensitivity and Recognitions of Students and Their Parents Regarding Harms by Aroma

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Quantum Theory of Conducting Matter: Newtonian Equations of Motion for a Bloch Electron

Quantum Theory of Conducting Matter: Newtonian Equations of Motion for a Bloch Electron targets scientists, researchers and graduate-level students focused on experimentation in the fields of physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, and material sciences. It is important that the reader have an understanding of dynamics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, electromagnetism and solid-state physics. Many worked-out problems are included in the book to aid the reader's comprehension of the subject. The Bloch electron (wave packet) moves by following the Newtonian equation of motion. Under an applied magnetic field B the electron circulates around the field B counterclockwise or clockwise depending on the curvature of the Fermi surface. The signs of the Hall coefficient and the Seebeck coefficient are known to give the sign of the major carrier charge. For alkali metals, both are negative, indicating that the carriers are "electrons." These features arise from the Fermi surface difference. The authors show an important connection between the conduction electrons and the Fermi surface in an elementary manner in the text. No currently available text explains this connection. The authors do this by deriving Newtonian equations of motion for the Bloch electron and diagonalizing the inverse mass (symmetric) tensor. The currently active areas of research, high-temperature superconductivity and Quantum Hall Effect, are important subjects in the conducting matter physics, and the authors plan to follow up this book with a second, more advanced book on superconductivity and the Quantum Hall Effect

Quantum Theory of Conducting Matter: Superconductivity and Quantum Hall Effect

Explains major superconducting properties including zero resistance, Meissner effect, sharp phase change, flux quantization, excitation energy gap, and Josephson effects using quantum statistical mechanical calculations. This book covers the 2D superconductivity and the quantum Hall effectsSuperconductivity is the most striking phenomenon in solid state physics. The electrical resistance normally arising from impurities and the phonons in a metal suddenly drops to zero below a critical temperature Tc. Not all elemental metals show superconductivity, which suggests that the phenomenon depends on the lattice structure and Fermi surface. The cause of the superconductivity is found to be the phonon-exchange attraction. Quantum Theory of Conducting Matter: Superconductivity targets scientists, researchers and second-year graduate-level students focused on experimentation in the field of condensed matter physics, solid state physics, superconductivity and the Quantum Hall Effect. Many worked out problems are included in the book to aid the reader's comprehension of the subject. The following superconducting properties are covered and microscopically explained in this book: zero resistance Meissner effect flux quantization Josephson effect excitation energy gap Shigeji Fujita and Kei Ito are authors of Quantum Theory of Conducting Matter: Newtonian Equations of Motion for a Bloch Electron, predecessor to this book on superconductivity