Information assistance systems as preventive mediators between increasing customization and mental workload.

BACKGROUND: The future of work in Germany is shaped by megatrends like globalization, automatization, digitization, and the demographic change. Furthermore, mass customization and the increasing usage of AI even in manual assembly offers new opportunities as well as it creates new challenges. OBJECTIVE: The trend towards mass customization in turn leads to increased complexity in production, which results in additional mental workload. This effect will continue in the foreseeable future. METHOD: Especially for small and medium sized companies, the backbone of Germany's economy, automatization and Human-Robot-Collaboration will take time to develop. Information assistance systems are and will be a bridging technology to help organizations to manage increasing complexity and the mental workload of their employees to not only boost productivity but also keep their workforce healthy. The ongoing demographic change further underlines the need to use information assistance systems to compensate possible age-associated deficits, but also keep older employees committed to their work and avoid effects of disengagement or disenfranchisement through participatory ergonomics. RESULTS: Information assistance systems can only develop their inherent potential if they are designed to support employees of varying age, competence levels, and affinity for technology. Participatory development and early engagement are key factors for an increased acceptance and usage of the systems as well as the individualization to make it suitable for each individual employee. CONCLUSION: Expanding the functionalities to an adaptive assistance system, using physiological correlates of mental workload as an input, is conceivable in the future.

Influence of Increasing Task Complexity and Use of Informational Assistance Systems on Mental Workload.

(1) Background: Cognitive aspects and complexity in modern manual mixed model assembly are increasing. To reduce mental workload (MWL), informational assistance systems are introduced. The influence of complexity and used assistance system on MWL should be investigated to further improve the implementation of such assistance systems. (2) Methods: Using a simulated close to real-life assembly task a 2 × 3 design was chosen, with two levels of assembly complexity (within subjects) and three different assistance systems (paper, Augmented Reality (AR)-glasses, tablet-between subjects). MWL was measured using either physiological response (electrocardiogram (ECG) and eye-tracking) or performance indicators. (3) Results: An influence of task complexity on MWL can be shown. Additionally, usability based differences between the used assistance systems become more evident with reference to the results of area of interest analysis. (4) Conclusions: Using a multi-modal measurement approach, it is possible to detect complexity-based differences in MWL. Additional research on validity and alignment is needed to further use these for (neuro-) ergonomic considerations and recommendations.

Results of a healthcare worker (HCW) survey on environmental awareness as an instrument for the preparation of an environmental report for the University Medicine Greifswald.

BACKGROUND: Environmental reporting is increasingly important for medical facilities. Currently, hospitals can determine the content of an environmental report as they see fit. OBJECTIVE: To examine the utility and scope of an employee survey as an instrument for the preparation of an environmental report at the University Hospital Greifswald. METHOD: For this purpose a questionnaire was developed with a focus on environmental behaviour and the significance attached to the protection of the environment. RESULTS: The employees of the University Medicine Greifswald attach an unexpectedly high significance to the protection of the environment. Based on this finding, this potential should be used to promote the optimal implementation of ecological-economic behaviour within the University Medicine. CONCLUSION: An employee survey is a useful instrument in the preparation of an environmental report.

Comparison of the antioxidant potential in urine, saliva and skin.

AIM: Free radicals, oxidative stress and their possible consequences for health are becoming increasingly important in modern medicine. Reactive species influence the organism, potentially causing oxidative cell damage. They can be produced by exogenous sources, or be a product of a variety of not only physiological metabolic processes, such as immune response, but also pathological processes. The antioxidant protection system protects the organism from oxidative damage caused by reactions producing an excess of free radicals. The analysis of antioxidant potential (AOP) is therefore becoming increasingly important for the diagnosis of individual vitality. METHOD: The photochemoluminescence method was used to measure the AOP in urine and saliva, spectrometry was employed to measure the ß-carotene content of the skin. In addition, it was investigated whether the AOP(saliva) correlated with the AOPU(urine) (uric-acid independent AOP) as well as the ß-carotene content of the skin. RESULTS: The AOP was significantly higher in urine than in saliva, and both values were significantly positively correlated with each other. However, there was no significant correlation to the ß-carotene content of the skin. DISCUSSION: The components of the AOPU(urine) are accumulated over time (night), whereas AOP measurement in saliva is like a snapshot, which explains why AOPU(urine) was significantly higher than AOP(saliva), although the two parameters are correlated with each other. ß-carotene is a fat-soluble antioxidant, whereas in our study, only water-soluble antioxidants were determined in the urine. This explains why there is no positive correlation between ß-carotene of the skin and AOP. CONCLUSION: For the characterization of the AOP in epidemiological studies, we recommend determining the AOPU(urine) and parallel to this, the ß-carotene content of the skin.

Can physical stress be measured in urine using the parameter antioxidative potential?

Although regular exercise is known to promote health, it is also well known that competetive sports can lead to an increase of free radical production, and thus to a drop in antioxidative potential. Thus, the present study examined the effect of competetive sports on the antioxidative potential (AOP). Using chemoluminescence, the AOP was measured in the spontaneous urine of leisure and semi-professional athletes during a training camp. Further, the parameters creatinin and uric acid were measured. It was shown that physical stress led to a drop in the antioxidant potential of up to approximately 50%. To compensate for this decline, special antioxidant food is recommended.