Technikaffinität als Ressource für die Arbeit in Industrie 4.0

Die zunehmende Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt bietet nicht nur vielversprechende Innovationen zur arbeiterzentrierten, adaptiven Aufgabengestaltung, sondern stellt den Einzelnen auch vor die Herausforderung, in höherem Maße mit digitaler Technik zu interagieren. Für die erfolgreiche Interaktion mit Technik sind zwei Faktoren ausschlaggebend: Wissen über bzw. Erfahrung mit technischen Systemen sowie Persönlichkeitsaspekte, die sich als Interaktionsstil im Umgang mit Technik manifestieren. Wir präsentieren das Konzept der interaktionsbezogenen Technikaffinität (affinity for technology interaction, ATI) als zentrale Ressource zum erfolgreichen Umgang mit Technik, und mit der ATI-Skala eine ökonomische und reliable Skala zur Quantifizierung der ATI eines Nutzers. Neben bestehenden Evaluationsergebnissen (N > 1500) stellen wir erste Ergebnisse einer Nutzerstudie vor, die im Rahmen des Projektes Factory2Fit durchgeführt wurde. Die Probanden interagierten mit 3D-Druckern und erlebten unterschiedliche Automatisierungsgrade des Prozesses. Zusätzlich zum Automatisierungsgrad wurde die Erfahrung der Probanden durch unterschiedliche Trainingsintensitäten variiert. Die Ergebnisse liefern erste Hinweise auf die Relevanz von ATI für die Vorhersage des Interaktionserfolgs mit Technologie und damit für Usability-Evaluationen in Industrie 4.0-Umgebungen

Measurement of multiple cytokines for discrimination and risk stratification in patients with Chagas' disease and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Chagas' disease (CD), caused by the hemoflagellate protozoan, Trypanosoma cruzi, is endemic in most countries of Latin America. Heart failure (HF) is often a late manifestation of chronic CD, and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Inflammatory processes mediated by cytokines play a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of CD. Keeping in view the inflammatory nature of CD, this study investigated the possible role of 21 different inflammatory cytokines as biomarkers for prediction and prognosis of CD. The plasma concentration of these cytokines was measured in a group of patients with CD (n = 94), and then compared with those measured in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) from idiopathic causes (n = 48), and with control subjects (n = 25). Monovariately, plasma levels of cytokines such as stem cell growth factor beta (SCGF beta), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), monokine induced by interferon gamma (CXCL9), and macrophage inhibitory factor (MIF) were significantly increased in CD patients with advanced HF compared to control group. None of the cytokines could demonstrate any prognostic potency in CD patients, and only MIF and stromal derived factor-1 alpha (CXCL12) showed significance in predicting mortality and necessity for heart transplant in DCM patients. However, multivariate analysis prognosticated a large proportion of CD and DCM patients. In CD patients, HGF and Interleukin-12p40 (IL-12p40) together separated 81.9% of 3-year survivors from the deceased, while in DCM patients, CXCL12, stem cell factor (SCF), and CXCL9 together discriminated 77.1% of survivors from the deceased. The significant increase in plasma concentrations of cytokines such as HGF and CXCL9 in CD patients, and the ability of these cytokines to prognosticate a large proportion of CD and DCM patients multivariately, encourages further studies to clarify the diagnostic and prognostic potential of cytokines in such patients

Comparative Analysis of Bacterial Community Composition and Structure in Clinically Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Central Venous Catheters

International audienceTotally implanted venous access ports (TIVAPs) are commonly used catheters for the management of acute or chronic pathologies. Although these devices improve health care, repeated use of this type of device for venous access over long periods of time is also associated with risk of colonization and infection by pathogenic bacteria, often originating from skin. However, although the skin microbiota is composed of both pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria, the extent and the consequences of TIVAP colonization by nonpathogenic bacteria have rarely been studied. Here, we used culture-dependent and 16S rRNA gene-based culture-independent approaches to identify differences in bacterial colonization of TIVAPs obtained from two French hospitals. To explore the relationships between nonpathogenic organisms colonizing TIVAPs and the potential risk of infection, we analyzed the bacterial community parameters between TIVAPs suspected (symptomatic) or not (asymptomatic) of infection. Although we did not find a particular species assemblage or community marker to distinguish infection risk on an individual sample level, we identified differences in bacterial community composition, diversity, and structure between clinically symptomatic and asymptomatic TIVAPs that could be explored further. This study therefore provides a new view of bacterial communities and colonization patterns in intravascular TIVAPs and suggests that microbial ecology approaches could improve our understanding of device-associated infections and could be a prognostic tool to monitor the evolution of bacterial communities in implants and their potential susceptibility to infections. IMPORTANCE Totally implanted venous access ports (TIVAPs) are commonly used implants for the management of acute or chronic pathologies. Although their use improves the patient's health care and quality of life, they are associated with a risk of infection and subsequent clinical complications, often leading to implant removal. While all TIVAPs appear to be colonized, only a fraction become infected, and the relationship between nonpathogenic organisms colonizing TIVAPs and the potential risk of infection is unknown. We explored bacteria present on TIVAPs implanted in patients with or without signs of TIVAP infection and identified differences in phylum composition and community structure. Our data suggest that the microbial ecology of intravascular devices could be predictive of TIVAP infection status and that ultimately a microbial ecological signature could be identified as a tool to predict TIVAP infection susceptibility and improve clinical management

Transportation noise impairs cardiovascular function without altering sleep: the importance of autonomic arousals

Aims: Chronic exposure to nocturnal transportation noise has been linked to cardiovascular disorders with sleep impairment as the main mediator. Here we examined whether nocturnal transportation noise affects the main stress pathways, and whether it relates to changes in the macro and micro structure of sleep. Methods and results: Twenty-six young healthy participants (12 women, 24.6 ± 0.7 years, mean ± SE) spent five consecutive 24-h days and one last morning in the laboratory. The first (baseline) and last (recovery) nights comprised a quiet ambient scenario. In-between, four different noise scenarios (low/medium/high intermittent road or rail scenarios with an identical equivalent continuous sound level of 45 dB) were randomly presented during the 8-h nights. Participants felt more annoyed from the transportation noise scenarios compared to the quiet ambient scenario played back during the baseline and recovery nights (F5,117 = 10.2, p < 0.001). Nocturnal transportation noise did not significantly impact polysomnographically assessed sleep macrostructure, blood pressure, nocturnal catecholamine levels and morning cytokine levels. Evening cortisol levels increased after sleeping with highly intermittent road noise compared to baseline (p = 0.002, noise effect: F4,83 = 4.0, p = 0.005), a result related to increased cumulative duration of autonomic arousals during the noise nights (F5,106 = 3.4, p < 0.001; correlation: rpearson = 0.64, p = 0.006). Conclusion: Under controlled laboratory conditions, highly intermittent nocturnal road noise exposure at 45 dB increased the cumulative duration of autonomic arousals during sleep and next-day evening cortisol levels. Our results indicate that, without impairing sleep macrostructure, nocturnal transportation noise of 45 dB is a physiological stressor that affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis during the following day in healthy young good sleepers