Characterization of Pregnancy Induced Changes in Glucose Metabolism

Many reports indicate that pregnancy is a diabetogenic state in which there is both insulin resistance and an exaggerated maternal glucose and insulin response to food ingestion. However, the magnitude of these aberrations and their temporal relationship have not been adequately characterized. This study utilizes the hyperglycemic clamp technique to investigate the insulin secretory response and tissue sensitivity to insulin under hyperglycemic conditions in normal and gestational diabetic pregnancies. Our results indicate that third trimester normal pregnancy is characterized by an increased first phase (108.81+/-13.03 uU/ml) and second phase (228.57+/-43.40 microunits/ml) insulin secretory response as compared to non-pregnant controls (72.93+/-15.76, 103.02+8/-12.43 ) (p\u3c0.05). However, C-peptide values did not mirror those of insulin in that normal pregnant women during the third trimester of pregnancy demonstrated a significantly lower C-peptide to insulin ratio than either non-pregnant controls or gestational diabetic women in their third trimester (p\u3c0.05). In contrast to normal pregnant women, gestational diabetic women in their third trimester of pregnancy showed no increase in insulin secretion. Glucose uptake under hyperglycemic conditions tended to decrease progressively through pregnancy and was significantly lower than non-pregnant controls (10. 60+/-1. 19 mg/kg/min) in the third trimester of normal pregnancy (7.20+/-0.79 mg/kg/min) and gestational diabetic pregnancy (5.87+/-0.27 mg/kg/min) (p\u3c0.05). Furthermore, there was a significantly lower tissue sensitivity to insulin (defined by the ratio of the glucose uptake to the circulating insulin level during the final sixty minutes of the study) in normal third trimester pregnancies (0.03+/-0.01 mg/kg/min per uU/ml) and gestational diabetic pregnancies (0. 04+/-0. 01 mg/kg/min per uU/ml) as compared to non-pregnant controls (0.11+/-0.02 mg/kg/min per uU/ml) (p\u3c0.05). Neither glucagon nor growth hormone were found to be significantly different between the normal pregnant or gestational diabetic groups. These studies suggest that normal pregnancy is indeed characterized by a tissue insensitivity to insulin and that glucose tolerance (defined in this study as the rate of glucose uptake) in normal pregnancy is primarily related to the degree of compensatory hyperinsulinism. However, this increased compensatory insulin secretion appears to be absent in gestational diabetic women, thereby contributing to the deterioration of glucose tolerance observed in these women

Rechnergesteuerte Leistungsvermögensanalyse mit ABBA in der beruflichen Rehabilitation (Computer-controlled ana-lysis of capability with ABBA in occupational rehabilitation)

"ABBA, job inspection and strain analysis (ArbeitsplatzBegehungs- und BelastungsAnalyse), is a new software-supported expert system (PARADOX database with DELPHI programming system for Windows applications) based on the Ergonomic investigation system for the analysis of activities (Arbeitswissenschaftliches Erhebungssystem zur Tätigkeitsanalyse (AET)) which has been established for over 20 years. This new system makes it possible to compare job requirements with performance possibilities of disabled people in an objective, reliable and valid way and to interpret the results of occupational choice and work trials systematically and to evaluate them. Ergonomic information and the possibility of implementing measurements based on industrial physiology and industrial medicine improve diagnosis, occupational support, the arrangement of a working environment suitable for the disabled as well as placing, targeting these aspects at occupational integration." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Behinderte, Leistungsfähigkeit - Messung, EDV-Anwendung, Anforderungsprofil, berufliche Rehabilitation, Berufsfindung, Arbeitserprobung

The Effects of Grasp Conditions on Maximal Acceptable Combined Forces (pushing and pinch forces) for Manual Insertion of Snap Fasteners

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of grasp conditions (types of grasp, grasp width, glove and types of coupling) on maximal pushing force (MPF) and required pinch force (RPF) during snap fit assembly. The results indicated that the type of grasp, the type of coupling and wearing gloves have significant (p<0.05) effects on both MPF and RPF.  Regarding the pair wise comparison, there was no significant difference in the effect between the lateral pinch and chuck pinch. MPF and RPF were also not affected significantly by the width of the grasp. Furthermore, there was an interactional effect between the type of coupling and the wearing or rather not wearing a glove. This, of course, only affected the MPF

Wie verändert sich der Autofahrer im Alter?

Die meisten Unfälle werden bezogen auf das Fahreralter von jüngeren ( 60 Jahre) verursacht, wie die Unfallstatistik zeigt. Während dies bei den jüngeren Fahrern eher auf motivationale Aspekte und ein Überschätzen der eigenen Fähigkeiten zurückzuführen ist, liegt bei den älteren Fahrern die Ursache unter anderen in den durch körperliche und geistige Veränderungen verursachten Leistungswandlungen. Da in Zukunft die Anzahl der älteren Autofahrer zunehmen wird, stellt sich die Frage, in welchen Teilbereichen die Älteren unterstützt werden müssen, um ihre Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr zu erhöhen und somit die Unfallzahlen zu reduzieren

Auswirkungen eines Abstandsregelsystems auf Fahrerverhalten und Akzeptanz

Auf dem Gebiet der Aktiven Fahrzeugsicherheit werden Assistenzsysteme zur Unterstützung des Fahrers bei zahlreichen Aufgaben der Fahrzeugführung entwickelt. Fahrerassistenzsysteme haben das Hauptziel der Unfallvermeidung; sie sollen einerseits die Informationen für den Fahrer verbessern und ergänzen und andererseits Kontrollaufgaben des Fahrers automatisieren sowie in die Fahrzeugführung eingreifen (vgl. MICHON et al. 1990, BIEHL 1993). Vor allem Systeme, die die Aufgaben des Fahrers in den Bereichen Kontrolle und Fahrzeugführung übernehmen, müssen so ausgelegt sein, dass sie dem Verhalten des Fahrers entsprechen. Um Fahrerassistenzsysteme nach diesem Kriterium gestalten zu können, ist es notwendig, das Fahrerverhalten in den zu unterstützenden Fahrsituationen zu analysieren

The approach to typicality in many-body quantum systems

The recent discovery that for large Hilbert spaces, almost all (that is, typical) Hamiltonians have eigenstates that place small subsystems in thermal equilibrium, has shed much light on the origins of irreversibility and thermalization. Here we give numerical evidence that many-body lattice systems generically approach typicality as the number of subsystems is increased, and thus provide further support for the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. Our results indicate that the deviation of many-body systems from typicality decreases exponentially with the number of systems. Further, by averaging over a number of randomly-selected nearest-neighbor interactions, we obtain a power-law for the atypicality as a function of the Hilbert space dimension, distinct from the power-law possessed by random Hamiltonians.Comment: 6 pages, 2 png figures, revtex

Transitions of tethered polymer chains: A simulation study with the bond fluctuation lattice model

A polymer chain tethered to a surface may be compact or extended, adsorbed or desorbed, depending on interactions with the surface and the surrounding solvent. This leads to a rich phase diagram with a variety of transitions. To investigate these transitions we have performed Monte Carlo simulations of a bond-fluctuation model with Wang-Landau and umbrella sampling algorithms in a two-dimensional state space. The simulations' density of states results have been evaluated for interaction parameters spanning the range from good to poor solvent conditions and from repulsive to strongly attractive surfaces. In this work, we describe the simulation method and present results for the overall phase behavior and for some of the transitions. For adsorption in good solvent, we compare with Metropolis Monte Carlo data for the same model and find good agreement between the results. For the collapse transition, which occurs when the solvent quality changes from good to poor, we consider two situations corresponding to three-dimensional (hard surface) and two-dimensional (very attractive surface) chain conformations, respectively. For the hard surface, we compare tethered chains with free chains and find very similar behavior for both types of chains. For the very attractive surface, we find the two-dimensional chain collapse to be a two-step transition with the same sequence of transitions that is observed for three-dimensional chains: a coil-globule transition that changes the overall chain size is followed by a local rearrangement of chain segments.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, to appear in J. Chem. Phy

Classification and Quantification of Human Error in Manufacturing: A Case Study in Complex Manual Assembly

Manual assembly operations are sensitive to human errors that can diminish the quality of final products. The paper shows an application of human reliability analysis in a realistic manufacturing context to identify where and why manual assembly errors occur. The techniques SHERPA and HEART were used to perform the analysis of human reliability. Three critical tasks were selected for analysis based on quality records: (1) installation of three types of brackets using fasteners, (2) fixation of a data cable to the assembly structure using cushioned loop clamps and (3) installation of cap covers to protect inlets. The identified error modes with SHERPA were: 36 action errors, nine selection errors, eight information retrieval errors and six checking errors. According to HEART, the highest human error probabilities were associated with assembly parts sensitive to geometry-related errors (brackets and cushioned loop clamps). The study showed that perceptually engaging assembly instructions seem to offer the highest potential for error reduction and performance improvement. Other identified areas of action were the improvement of the inspection process and workers’ provision with better tracking and better feedback. Implementation of assembly guidance systems could potentially benefit worker’s performance and decrease assembly errors

Critical Dynamics in a Binary Fluid: Simulations and Finite-size Scaling

We report comprehensive simulations of the critical dynamics of a symmetric binary Lennard-Jones mixture near its consolute point. The self-diffusion coefficient exhibits no detectable anomaly. The data for the shear viscosity and the mutual-diffusion coefficient are fully consistent with the asymptotic power laws and amplitudes predicted by renormalization-group and mode-coupling theories {\it provided} finite-size effects and the background contribution to the relevant Onsager coefficient are suitably accounted for. This resolves a controversy raised by recent molecular simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure