A Preliminary Surveying of the Meaning of Colored Pictogram Instructions for Emergency Settings in Manufacturing

AbstractPictograms are often used for situations where people often do not share the same language. The authors surveyed the comprehension of colored pictograms for emergency situations in manufacturing which can be affected by cultural and educational backgrounds. Colored pictograms for manufacturing setting, such as ‘push’, ‘step’ and ‘wheel’, were designed and presented to workers with different cultural and educational backgrounds in a factory. Their acting behavior scales were examined by conducting a questionnaire survey. Pictograms in different seven colors, such as white, black, red, yellow, green, blue and pink, were used in the survey. The questionnaire was presented to 138 factory workers in Thailand with three different nationalities: Thai, Myanmar and Cambodia. Results indicate that colors have effects on their acting behaviors. The mean values of the acting behavior scales for a group with higher educational backgrounds marked the highest of over 50% for red. On the other hand, the average value of middle and low educated groups marked the lowest of less than 3% for red color

A Preliminary Examination of Effect of Massage and Aroma Oil Massage in Foot Care Nursing

AbstractFoot care nursing is attracting attention as a medically effective treatment for the foot lesions caused by such problems as diabetes or aging. In this study, we experimentally examined how aromatherapy affects human brain functions during foot care nursing using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). 11 subjects received both foot care nursing massages and aroma oil massages. We analyzed the changes in their oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentrations based on their brain activity by t-tests, and the t-test results showed significant differences between two kinds of massages in both the somatosensory and prefrontal association areas. The oxy-Hb concentration in both massages with and without aroma oil also showed a tendency to decrease with time. Our questionnaire results showed that our subjects felt more comfortable and relaxed while receiving foot care nursing with aroma oils. These results suggest that aroma oil massages are an effective foot care nursing tool and that foot care nursing is a medically effective treatment

Analysis of Speech Anxiety among EFL Learners in Japan: A Comparison

Due to the high encouragement from the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) to promote more internationalization among Japanese graduates, many higher education institutions have started introducing more communicative courses such as public speaking and presentation skills. These goals not only aim to ameliorate students’ communication skills, but also to foster global human resources. Although considerable research has been conducted on students’ communication skills, few have explored the causes of speech anxiety among university students, especially in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Thus, this study aims to fill this gap by analyzing 43 university students in Tokyo, Japan. According to the results, a pivotal link between gender and speech anxiety was found. Specifically, the female students exhibited higher public speaking anxiety, compared to the male students. This study also investigated the sources of speech anxiety in four domains: communicative apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, test anxiety, and general anxiety of English. Among all four components, the EFL students recorded the highest anxiety in communication apprehension. It is also interesting to note that after completing the presentation skills course, the female students showed a significant reduction in the fear of negative evaluation domain. It is hoped that the findings of this study will be used by instructors to improve EFL students’ communication skills

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

Coral Ba/Ca Analysis Using ICP-OES With an Ultrasonic Nebulizer

The barium/calcium ratio (Ba/Ca) in coral skeletons has been used as a proxy to understand river floods and oceanic upwelling in the tropics and subtropics for the past centuries. Here, we establish a new method for Ba/Ca analysis using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), which has been widely used for coral proxy analyses and can save analysis time compared to other methods. We analyze Ba/Ca by combining an ultrasonic nebulizer with the intensity ratio calibration method to improve the signal intensity of Ba. Our method can determine Ba/Ca in samples with a Ca concentration of 9 mg/L with excellent analytical precision (<0.17 mu mol/mol) using ICP-OES

Corals Reveal an Unprecedented Decrease of Arabian Sea Upwelling During the Current Warming Era

Upwelling in the Arabian Sea driven by the Indian summer monsoon pumps deep, cold, and eutrophic seawater to the sea surface every summer. The Indian summer monsoon and the Arabian Sea upwelling were expected to intensify with global warming, following the hypothesis that the Eurasian landmass would warm faster than the Indian Ocean. Contrary to expectations, the northern Indian Ocean currently warms faster than the Indian subcontinent. A weakening of the Indian summer monsoon circulation is reported, which possibly weakens the Arabian Sea upwelling. However, a lack of observations limits understanding of current and historical changes of the Arabian Sea upwelling. Here, we reconstruct the Arabian Sea upwelling over the past millennium using modern and fossil corals. Our coral records show that the Arabian Sea upwelling intensity was very stable over the last millennium and unprecedentedly declines at present. Our finding implies anthropogenic forcing likely weakens the Arabian Sea upwelling

Corals Reveal an Unprecedented Decrease of Arabian Sea Upwelling During the Current Warming Era

Upwelling in the Arabian Sea driven by the Indian summer monsoon pumps deep, cold, and eutrophic seawater to the sea surface every summer. The Indian summer monsoon and the Arabian Sea upwelling were expected to intensify with global warming, following the hypothesis that the Eurasian landmass would warm faster than the Indian Ocean. Contrary to expectations, the northern Indian Ocean currently warms faster than the Indian subcontinent. A weakening of the Indian summer monsoon circulation is reported, which possibly weakens the Arabian Sea upwelling. However, a lack of observations limits understanding of current and historical changes of the Arabian Sea upwelling. Here, we reconstruct the Arabian Sea upwelling over the past millennium using modern and fossil corals. Our coral records show that the Arabian Sea upwelling intensity was very stable over the last millennium and unprecedentedly declines at present. Our finding implies anthropogenic forcing likely weakens the Arabian Sea upwelling