Ergonomic Assessment of Workstations and Musculoskeletal Disorders Risk Assessment in the Central Oil Refinery Workshop of Hormozgan Province

Background: Working station includes the physical environment and arrangement of all equipment in the work place. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common occupational injuries. The purpose of this study was ergonomic assessment of workstations, determining the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and assessing the physical condition of the workers. Methods: This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 workers of the Central Workshop Oil refinery in Hormozgan. Worker postures were evaluated by Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) method. Finnish checklist was used to analyse workstation condition and Nordic Questionnaire was used to estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Logistic regression through SPSS16. Results: In 5% of cases, work environment condition was poor, in 5% of the cases, the pressures applied to the elbow and wrist, were severe and legs and buttocks were in poor condition.The prevalences of musculoskeletal disorders of waist (55%), back (52/5%) and neck (40%) were more than those of other parts of the body. There were significant relationships between age and back disorders, job experience and back and waist disorders, and finally, weight and shoulders and knees disorders. Conclusion: The results of this study showed the high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and poor work conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent these problems through appropriate designing of workstations based on ergonomics principles and training workers in identifying risk factors

MI-SegNet: Mutual Information-Based US Segmentation for Unseen Domain Generalization

Generalization capabilities of learning-based medical image segmentation across domains are currently limited by the performance degradation caused by the domain shift, particularly for ultrasound (US) imaging. The quality of US images heavily relies on carefully tuned acoustic parameters, which vary across sonographers, machines, and settings. To improve the generalizability on US images across domains, we propose MI-SegNet, a novel mutual information (MI) based framework to explicitly disentangle the anatomical and domain feature representations; therefore, robust domain-independent segmentation can be expected. Two encoders are employed to extract the relevant features for the disentanglement. The segmentation only uses the anatomical feature map for its prediction. In order to force the encoders to learn meaningful feature representations a cross-reconstruction method is used during training. Transformations, specific to either domain or anatomy are applied to guide the encoders in their respective feature extraction task. Additionally, any MI present in both feature maps is punished to further promote separate feature spaces. We validate the generalizability of the proposed domain-independent segmentation approach on several datasets with varying parameters and machines. Furthermore, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MI-SegNet serving as a pre-trained model by comparing it with state-of-the-art networks.Comment: Accepted by MICCAI 202

Evaluating the Medical Students' Expectations of Learning Professional English, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background & Objective: Teaching professional English is one of the fields of teaching English started from the 60's and simultaneous with the worldwide acceptance of English as a scientific language among scientists and researchers. In teaching Medical English, understanding the expectations of students is very important; however, up to now no study has been conducted about this topic. In this study, we evaluated the expectations of medical students from learning professional English. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A reliable and valid questionnaire was distributed among all of the students in the faculty of health and medical students who had the professional English course in the second semester of 2011. Descriptive statistics was performed by Mini Tab. Results: 199 students volunteered to participate and complete the questionnaire out of whom 36.4% were males. The mean age of the study samples was 22.3 ± 0.3 years. 95.5% of the students were interested in learning Medical English. The most frequent expectation was to understand medical texts and being capable of translating the texts to Persian language. The most favorable class activity expected from the teacher was to write the meaning of the words on the board and explain its components. Furthermore, most students wanted the final exam to be in English and include workbook practices. Conclusion: Medical English teachers can obtain higher satisfaction rate of students by considering the student expectations mentioned in this paper. Keywords Medical English Expectations Student

Ergonomic Evaluation of the Risk Factors of Musculoskeletal Disorders Using Quick Exposure Check (QEC) Method among Staff of a Oil Refinery in Iran

Background: Musculoskeletal Disorders occur due to either an immediate and acute trauma to the musculoskeletal system or frequent trauma over time. This study has been conducted to evaluate work-related musculoskeletal disorders by Quick Exposure Check (QEC) and identification of its risk factors in staffs of one of Tehran refineries in 2013. Methods: In this analytical and descriptive cross-sectional study, nine units in the central workshop and repair (maintenance) workshop of the selected refinery were selected and all 86 staffs of those units were included. The general Nordic questionnaire and QEC method was used. Results: Mean age, job experience and body mass index of participants were respectively 36.31± 9.2 years, 8.86±7.5 years and 25.92± 3.5kg/m2. Among all, 69.8% reported at least one work-related musculoskeletal disorder in the last 12 months. The most common disorder was in the lumbar area (47.7%). Moreover, 44.1% of job groups were in the 3rd and 4th level of priority for corrective interventions, based on the QEC method. There was a significant relation between total QEC score and type of job (P value= 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed the high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in more than half of the workers. The highest incidence of disorders was in the lumbar area

Carotid Ultrasound Boundary Study (CUBS): An Open Multicenter Analysis of Computerized Intima–Media Thickness Measurement Systems and Their Clinical Impact

[Abstract] Common carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT) is a commonly used marker for atherosclerosis and is often computed in carotid ultrasound images. An analysis of different computerized techniques for CIMT measurement and their clinical impacts on the same patient data set is lacking. Here we compared and assessed five computerized CIMT algorithms against three expert analysts’ manual measurements on a data set of 1088 patients from two centers. Inter- and intra-observer variability was assessed, and the computerized CIMT values were compared with those manually obtained. The CIMT measurements were used to assess the correlation with clinical parameters, cardiovascular event prediction through a generalized linear model and the Kaplan–Meier hazard ratio. CIMT measurements obtained with a skilled analyst's segmentation and the computerized segmentation were comparable in statistical analyses, suggesting they can be used interchangeably for CIMT quantification and clinical outcome investigation. To facilitate future studies, the entire data set used is made publicly available for the community at http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/fpv535fss7.

Prospective Acid Reflux Study of Iran (PARSI): Methodology and study design

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a common and chronic disorder but long term, prospective studies of the fate of patients seeking medical advice are scarce. This is especially prominent when looking at non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We designed a prospective cohort to assess the long term outcome of GERD patients referring to gastroenterologists. Consecutive consenting patients, 15 years of age and older, presenting with symptoms suggestive of GERD referring to our outpatient clinics undergo a 30 minute interview. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is performed for them with protocol biopsies and blood samples are drawn. Patients are then treated according to a set protocol and followed regularly either in person or by telephone for at least 10 years.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our data show that such a study is feasible and follow-ups, which are the main concern, can be done in a fairly reliable way to collect data. The results of this study will help to clarify the course of various subgroups of GERD patients after coming to medical attention and their response to treatment considering different variables. In addition, the basic symptoms and biological database will fuel further molecular epidemiologic studies.</p

Evaluation of Noise Pollution Levels due to Four-wheel Harvesting Machines in Bystanders and Machine Drivers

Background: One of the most widely used equipments in harvesting hay and grains are four wheel mowers. The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of noise exposure in drivers and bystanders in different states, speeds and gear of four wheel mowers (BCS Model 622). Methods: The ISO 5131 and ISO 6814 standards were used to assess noise exposure in drivers and bystanders, respectively. Experiments were done in totally randomized block models in the form of 2 × 3 × 4 factorials (2 moving blade conditions, 3 states of various motor rpm’s and 4 gear states) and three repetitions. Sound pressure levels were measured both at the driver’s ear level and the bystanders. In conditions where in the level of exposure was above permissible noise limits, octave band analysis was performed. Data analysis was performed in Excel and SPSS 16. Results: Drivers were exposed to noise pollution higher than the permissible level (according to the ACGIH standards) at 3000 rpm. Factors affecting noise level exposure in the driver and bystander included engine speed, gear ratio and cutting blade speeds and were all significant at the 0.01 level. Conclusion: Routive use of harvesting machines leads to adverse auditory effects. This fact highlights the necessity of controlling noise emission from this machine through engineering, technical and managemental practices. Keywords: Sound pollution, BCS Harvester, Sound Pressure Level (SPL), Engine Speed, Gear Rati

Understanding civil liability

La théorie de la responsabilité civile, en termes de la reconstruction rationnelle du droit constitue une connaissance nouvelle et importante de ce régime. L’analyse économique en reconstruit les règles et les institutions à partir de la norme de l’efficience. La théorie morale de la justice corrective interprète la responsabilité civile à travers l’égalité entre les parties. Mais, aucune de ces deux interprétations ne parvenue à expliquer la responsabilité civile. L’analyse économique, en traitant les règles de la responsabilité comme un moyen visant à maximiser la richesse, a modifié leur sens original. La justice corrective réduit la responsabilité civile au régime d’allocation équitable des coûts d’accident. La reconstruction de la responsabilité civile, afin de la comprendre, requiert de s’engager dans une approche philosophique qui trouve la rationalité dans la réalité. Dans cette optique, la responsabilité civile, contrairement à l’analyse économique ou à la justice corrective, est constituée à partir les droits et les principes indéniables, non les normes hypothétiques. La faute, en termes de droit de la volonté subjective, tout est redéfinie selon la pratique sociale sur l’attribution des résultats de nos actes, ce qui permet de croire que la responsabilité civile est toujours morale, même lorsque elle s’impose à partir d’une évaluation objective et extérieure.Tort theory in terms of rational reconstruction of the law has constituted a new and important knowledge of the tort liability. Economic analysis has reconstructed the rules and institutions by the value of efficiency. Moral theory of corrective justice has interpreted liability through equality between the parties. But neither of these interpretations could come to explain liability. The economic analysis by treating the liability rules as a mean of wealth maximization has changed their original meaning. Corrective justice reduced tort liability to the regime fair allocation of accident costs. The reconstruction in order to understand civil liability requires engaging in a philosophical approach in which reality is the source of rationality. In this context, liability, unlike the economic analysis or corrective justice, is formed from undeniable rights and principles, not hypothetical norms. The negligence in terms of right of the subjective will is redefined by social practice on the attribution results of our actions, which suggests that civil liability is still moral idea, even when it is imposed from an objective and external assessment