Head and facial dimensions of Chilean workers for design purposes and the differences with other populations.

BACKGROUND: An appropriate match between a product and its end-users requires anthropometric data, which show variations among different countries. Proper Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) fit is key for safety and comfort. Chile had no head and facial anthropometric data available in order to design face/head PPE. OBJECTIVE: To describe face/head anthropometric characteristics of Chilean workers. Additionally, this study compared those dimensions against other populations (United States (US), South Korea and China). METHODS: An anthropometric survey involving 21 measures was conducted between September 2013 to May 2016 using stratified sampling. The measurements were based on ISO/TS 16976-2 and ISO 15535 to ensure the highest standards possible, and a total of 474 workers, aged from 18 to 66 years old, participated in the survey. RESULTS: The biggest differences were in Neck circumference, Weight, Nose breadth, Nose protrusion, Bitragion chin arc, Face length, Subnasale-sellion length, Face width, Bigonial breadth and Bitragion subnasal arc. Head length of Chileans were longer than Chinese and South Korean ones, but shorter than US Head length. Chilean Head breadth is smaller than Chinese and South Korean ones. Chileans Face length was the largest observed. Face width of Chileans was smaller than US and Chinese ones. Gender specific differences were also observed in the inter-country comparisons. Chilean males had larger anthropometric dimensions than females. CONCLUSION: Chilean Head and face dimensions differed significantly when compared against US, South Korean and Chines Head and Face dimensions. Chileans have longer and narrower faces with wider mouths, with a head size in between the US and Asian heads. Face and head PPE for Chileans should use dimensions in the current paper in order to ensure proper fit.

Do older workers suffer more workplace injuries? A systematic review.

Aging populations are a dramatically increased worldwide trend, both in developed and developing countries. This study examines the prevalence of fatal and non-fatal work-related injuries between young (<45 years old) and older (≥45 years old) workers. A systematic literature review aimed at examining studies comparing safety outcomes, namely fatal and non-fatal injuries, between older and younger workers. Results show that 50% of the reviewed papers suggest that fatal injuries are suffered mainly by older workers, while the remaining 50% show no differences between older and younger workers. Regarding non-fatal injuries, 49% of the reviewed papers found no relationship between workers' age; 31% found increased age as a protective factor against non-fatal injuries; and 19% showed that older workers had a higher risk of non-fatal injuries than younger ones. This review suggests that older workers experience higher rates of fatal injuries, and younger workers experience higher rates of non-fatal injuries.

Developing countries and the use of ISO Standard 11228-3 for risk management of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Limbs (WRMSDs-ULs): The case of Chile.

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Limbs (WRMSDs-ULs) are one of the most common occupational diseases worldwide. Repetitive motion is one of the main risk factors associated with these conditions. Several efforts have been made within the scientific community in order to develop specific methods to assess the risk that repetitive work represents. Furthermore, internationally coordinated work has resulted in the generation of a series of ISO standards to address issues around ergonomics in the workplace. In 2012, Chile adopted the ISO11228-3 standard checklist in its regulatory process, creating the first technical standard of risk management for repetitive motion. The aim of this study is to present the results of a nation-wide online survey of Chilean Health and Safety Practitioners and Ergonomists, which was conducted in order to identify their level of application experience, most commonly adopted practices, and opinions on the first Chilean Standard for WRMSDs-ULs risk assessment. A second aim is to discuss common issues and possible improvements in public policies, and the adoption of international instruments by developing countries. A total of 331 respondents completed the survey (183 Ergonomists and 148 non-ergonomist). It was observed that a number of the participants consider that the adaptation of the ISO standard has several issues, ranging from simple ones as wording and format to more complex ones regarding overall structure, logic, and ease of use. One of the main issues expressed is the fact that during the adaptation process the instrument is applied in multitask jobs, without providing clear instructions or training. Furthermore, among the top three most used assessment methods were RULA and REBA, which are posture-driven, instead of methods validated for repetitive motion. The issues detected by the Chilean OHS practitioners are common in developing countries, where an intersection of lack of resources, public agency authoritarianism, and poor communication between public-private and public-public organizations contribute to poor consultation, validation, and adaptation processes. Suggestions to improve the current Chilean standard, as well as considerations for developing countries, are presented.

Gender inequality and sexual height dimorphism in Chile.

Chile has experienced significant improvements in its economy; thus, a secular trend in height has been observed in its population. Gender equality has also improved hand in hand with active policies addressing the gender gap in several dimensions (work, education, health) and overall economic improvement. This study examined changes in sexual height dimorphism in four samples of Chilean male and female working-age subjects and attempted to establish associations with gender equality and welfare. Sexual height dimorphism was calculated and compared with gender equality and overall welfare indicators between 1955 and 1995. Sexual height dimorphism reduction was seen to be strongly associated with greater gender equality and some general welfare indicators, such as the infant mortality rate. Gross domestic product per capita was not associated with sexual height dimorphism, but it showed significant associations with gender equality indicators. Overall, the gender gap has been reduced in Chile, which can be observed through improvements in gender equality indicators and a reduction in height dimorphism, mainly in areas associated with women's health. However, gender equality is still far behind in terms of female labour participation and women in political power, which require attention and further improvements.

Application of mismatch equations in dynamic seating designs.

Anthropometry is critical for product and workplace design. Highly prevalent, office work is associated with sedentarism and physical discomfort due to prolonged sitting. Dynamic seating (alternating across sitting, perching, and standing) has been suggested as an alternative to overcome those problems. The current study tested a large sample of anthropometric data for mismatch levels against national and international office furniture standards using dynamic seating as a framework with traditional and perching mismatch equations, applied to three recommended dynamic seating components. Dimensions present in the standards used did not match the majority of the sample. For sitting, seat width and depth individually presented the lowest levels of match, as well as under cumulative fit of all office furniture dimensions. However, these were alleviated when incorporating adjustability. Perching was shown to be generally impeded given commercially-available chair height options. Limitations in state-of-the-art perching equations are discussed, and two new models are proposed as design alternatives. Further research should focus on testing the criteria presented in this research through discomfort and objective measures.

Educational level and its relationship with body height and popliteal height in Chilean male workers.

A secular trend in body height has been experienced in many nations and populations, hypothesized to be the result of better living conditions. Educational level has been shown to be closely associated with body height. This study examined the changes in body height and popliteal height in a group of adult Chilean male workers by age cohort and the relationship of these with educational level. The body heights and popliteal heights of 1404 male workers from the Valparaíso and Metropolitan regions of Chile were measured in 2016. The sample was grouped by level of education (primary, secondary, technical and university) and age (21-30, 31-40 and 41-50 years). Robust ANOVA and post-hoc analyses using a one-step modified M-estimation of location were conducted based on bootstrap resampling. Both body height and popliteal height increased from the older to the younger age cohort. The largest increase was from the 41-50 to the 21-30 group, with a 1.1% increase in body height and 1.7% increase in popliteal height. When educational level was introduced into the analysis there was a marked increase in both body height and popliteal height for each cohort, but only in primary- and secondary-educated workers. Despite showing an overall increase in body height and popliteal height, younger workers with the highest levels of education showed fewer differences between them than did older workers with less education. The differences were larger in the older than in the younger cohorts. Similarly, this trend was less clear in workers with higher levels of education (technical and university), probably because of a dilution effect caused by increased access to higher education by workers in the lower income quintiles.

First-Ever Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack Incidence and 30-Day Case-Fatality Rates in a Population-Based Study in Argentina.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Epidemiological data about stroke are scarce in low- and middle-income Latin-American countries. We investigated annual incidence of first-ever stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) and 30-day case-fatality rates in a population-based setting in Tandil, Argentina. METHODS: We prospectively identified all first-ever stroke and TIA cases from overlapping sources between January 5, 2013, and April 30, 2015, in Tandil, Argentina. We calculated crude and standardized incidence rates. We estimated 30-day case-fatality rates. RESULTS: We identified 334 first-ever strokes and 108 TIAs. Age-standardized incidence rate per 100 000 for Segi's World population was 76.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 67.8-85.9) for first-ever stroke and 25.1 (95% CI, 20.2-30.7) for first-ever TIA, 56.1 (95% CI, 48.8-64.2) for ischemic stroke, 13.5 (95% CI, 9.9-17.9) for intracerebral hemorrhage, and 4.9 (95% CI, 2.7-8.1) for subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stroke incidence was slightly higher for men (87.8; 95% CI, 74.6-102.6) than for women (73.2; 95% CI, 61.7-86.1) when standardized for the Argentinean population. Thirty-day case-fatality rate was 14.7% (95% CI, 10.8-19.5) for ischemic stroke, 24.1% (95% CI, 14.2-36.6) for intracerebral hemorrhage, and 1.9% (95% CI, 0.4-5.8) for TIA. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides the first prospective population-based stroke and TIA incidence and case-fatality estimate in Argentina. First-ever stroke incidence was lower than that reported in previous Latin-American studies, but first-ever TIA incidence was higher. Thirty-day case-fatality rates were similar to those of other population-based Latin-American studies.

Program for the epidemiological evaluation of stroke in Tandil, Argentina (PREVISTA) study: rationale and design.

The availability of population-based epidemiological data on the incident risk of stroke is very scarce in Argentina and other Latin American countries. In response to the priorities established by the World Health Organization and the United Nations, PREVISTA was envisaged as a population-based program to determine the risk of first-ever and recurrent stroke and transient ischemic attack incidence and mortality in Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The study will be conducted according to Standardized Tools for Stroke Surveillance (STEPS Stroke) methodology and will enroll all new (incident) and recurrent consecutive cases of stroke and transient ischemic attack in the City of Tandil between May 1st, 2013 and April 30, 2015. The study will include patients with ischemic stroke, non-traumatic primary intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and transient ischemic attack. To ensure the inclusion of every cerebrovascular event during an observation period of two years, we will instrument an 'intensive screening program', consisting of a comprehensive daily tracking of every potential event of stroke or transient ischemic attack using multiple overlapping sources. Mortality would be determined during follow-up for every enrolled patient. Also, fatal community events would be screened daily through revision of death certificates at funeral homes and local offices of vital statistics. All causes of death will be adjudicated by an ad-hoc committee. The close population of Tandil is representative of a large proportion of Latin-American countries with low- and middle-income economies. The findings and conclusions of PREVISTA may provide data that could support future health policy decision-making in the region.

Disponibilidade de fósforo em dois latossolos argilosos e seu acúmulo em plantas de soja, em função do aumento do pH / Phosphorus availability in two clayey oxisols and its accumulation in soybean as a function of the increase in pH

O melhor aproveitamento do P, tanto o aplicado no cultivo quanto o residual do solo, em razão do uso de calcário em solos argilosos cultivados e adubados por muitos anos, pode ser viável. Objetivando avaliar o efeito do aumento do pH do solo e da aplicação de adubo fosfatado e calcário na semeadura sobre a disponibilidade de P e o seu acúmulo em plantas de soja, realizaram-se dois experimentos em Latossolo Vermelho Distrófico-LVD e Latossolo Vermelho Distroférrico-LVDf, argilosos, com elevados níveis de fertilidade. O delineamento experimental foi blocos casualizados, num fatorial 4x2x2: quatro níveis de pH, duas doses de P e duas de calcário, com quatro repetições. Cultivaram-se plantas de soja em vaso até a floração. Avaliaram-se o peso da massa seca, teor e acúmulo de P na parte aérea; teor de P e P remanescente no solo. A disponibilidade de P nos solos aumentou com a elevação do pH. Para o LVdf, houve interação entre pH e doses de P, os teores de P no solo aumentaram com o pH e com a aplicação de P. Para o LVD, houve interação entre pH e doses de calcário. O P remanescente foi reduzido pelo aumento do pH em ambos os solos. Nos dois experimentos, com o aumento do pH do solo houve incremento na produção de massa seca e de P acumulado. Em solos argilosos e com alto teor de P, a elevação do pH aumenta a disponibilidade de P, proporcionando maior produção de massa seca de soja.

The best P employment, both applied in the culture as the P soil residual, is possible, due limestone use in clayey soils cultivated and fertilized for many years. Aiming at evaluating the pH increase in the soil and the effect of the application of phosphated fertilizer and lime on the sowing on the P availability and its accumulation in soybean plants, two experiments in oxisols, Haplortox (one LVD and the other LVDf), with high fertility levels, were carried out. The experimental design was random blocks, in a 4x2x2 factorial, being four pH levels, two P doses and two limestone doses, with four repetitions. Soybean plants were cultivated in vases up to flowering. The dry mass weight, P contents and accumulation in the area, P content and P remaining in the soil, were evaluated. P availability in soils increased with pH elevation. For the LVDf, there was an interaction between the pH and the P doses, the P contents in the soil increased with the pH and with the P application. For the LVD, there was an interaction between the pH and the doses of lime applied. The P remaining was reduced by the pH increase in both soils. In both experiments, with the pH increase in the soil, there was an increment in the dry mass production and P accumulated. In clayey soils with a high P content, the pH elevation increases the P availability, providing greater soybean dry mass production.