Ergonomics in traditional Iranian industries.

It is an acknowledged fact that Iranian carpet weavers are subject to excessive fatigue. Earlier investigation has shown this to be largely due to a non-ergonomic body position while working at a traditional loom. It would appear that significantly increased production could be achieved by eliminating or reducing this fatigue. An Iranian engineer has attempted to do this by inventing a metal loom which takes ergonomic factors into consideration. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the new loom by comparing the productivity of two groups in Kerman, Iran: one using the new ergonomic loom and the other using the traditional loom. In preliminary investigations various factors were taken into account so that the two groups might be considered comparable. After several observations the average productivity of each weaver was calculated (according to knots per day). The results showed that the ergonomic loom had the highest productivity figures for both sexes and that increased productivity was directly related to the degree of comfort of the carpet weavers.     

Ergonomics studies in Thailand: a future prospect

Ergonomics studies in Thailand began in 1967 after Professor Kovit Satavuthi graduated from the University of Birmingham, where he worked with Professor Nigel Corlett. Ergonomics was offered as an elective in the IE curriculum at Chulalongkorn University. Professor Satavuthi was later invited to teach manufacturing process and system at the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, School of Public Health, Mahidol University. He then added the ergonomics concept to the class as part of his lectures. The first international conference was organized by the Central Coordinating Board of SEAMEO-TROPMED Project, and it was held in Bangkok from 19-23 June 1972, thus bringing ergonomics into public attention. Most participants came from medical science and public health fields, however. Ergonomics popularity has begun to gain momentum in the past 4-5 years. This could be the result of more universities paying serious consideration to provide ergonomics knowledge to their students. It is also well-accepted that ergonomics is a multidisciplined subject. It requires knowledge from medical sciences, sociology, psychology, public health, and engineering. The results of ergonomics studies will have greater chances of success if they are concluded from all disciplines of knowledge. This paper reports some previous studies in Thailand and discuss how to build up an ergonomics team and to produce reasonable results with a sound application plan.     

Fantasizing the Feminine in Indonesia

Fantasizing the Feminine in Indonesia. Laurie Sears. ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1996. 350 pp.     

Agriculture and economic development in Indonesia

Like occasional other articles in Economic Botany, this one is little concerned with botany or plant utilization. Instead, it is a study in agricultural economics and social development in a part of the world where plant products, long produced under colonial management, have been significant items in development.     

Breast-feeding and post-partum amenorrhoea in Indonesia

The association between breast-feeding patterns and resumption of menses post-partum was examined in a prospective study in Indonesia. In order to examine these relationships directly in a longitudinal study, it was first necessary to distinguish among women who experienced infant mortality before menses resumed, women who weaned before menses resumed, and women who had return to menses while breast-feeding. Information on suckling patterns and menstrual status was collected by recall for 444 women at monthly visits for 2 years. Three main breast-feeding variables, minutes per episode, number of episodes per day, number of episodes per night, and other breast-feeding variables were derived for each woman, to give the average nursing pattern up to menses or the end of the study, which-ever came first. While high levels of nursing for each of these three main variables were found to be significantly related to delay in return of menses post-partum, the interactions between more minutes per episode, and more frequent day- and night-time feeds, were found to be the most important factors in the delay in onset of post-partum menstruation in those women whose menses resumed while still nursing or who remained amenorrhoeic and nursing at the end of the study.     

Naturally occurring Bacillus thuringiensis in Indonesia

S. HASTOWO, B.W. LAY AND M. OHBA. 1992. A total of 135 strains of Bacillus thuringiensis were isolated from soils of sericultural and natural environments of various regions in Indonesia: Sumatra, Java, Bali, Timor, Sulawesi and Kalimantan. Serologically, 63 strains were assigned to flagella (H) serotypes 3abc, 3ade, 4ac, 5ac, 6ab, 8ab, 9, 11, 17, 20ac, and 24, indicating a varied flora of B. thuringiensis in Indonesia. Of these, the serotype 3ade predominated, followed by the serotypes 3abc and 6ab. The other 72 strains (53·3%) were not sero-reactive against any of the H antisera to B. thuringiensis H serotypes 1–24. In toxicity tests, 34 strains belonging to serotypes 3abc, 3ade, 4ac, and 8ab showed larvicidal activity to the silkworm, Bombyx mori, while 74·8% did not exhibit insecticidal activity against larvae of B. mori and the mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. Morphotypes of parasporal inclusions were not correlated with insecticidal activities.     

Food-Sharing Networks in Lamalera,Indonesia

Exponential random graph modeling (ERGM) is used here to test hypotheses derived from human behavioral ecology about the adaptive nature of human food sharing. Respondents in all (n = 317) households in the fishing and sea-hunting village of Lamalera, Indonesia, were asked to name those households to whom they had more frequently given (and from whom they had more frequently received) food during the preceding sea-hunting season. The responses were used to construct a social network of between-household food-sharing relationships in the village. The results show that kinship, proximity, and reciprocal sharing all strongly increase the probability of giving food to a household. The effects of kinship and distance are relatively independent of each other, although reciprocity is more common among residentially and genealogically close households. The results show support for reciprocal altruism as a motivation for food sharing, while kinship and distance appear to be important partner-choice criteria.     

Schistosomiasis in Indonesia: past and present

Schistosomiasis is endemic in Indonesia in two isolated areas, Lindu valley and Napu valley, both located in the Province of Central Sulawesi. In 1940, a prevalence survey was initiated in Lake Lindu, which indicated a Schistosoma japonicum infection prevalence of 56% among the population of Anca, Tomado and Langko villages. Another survey was conducted in 1973 in Napu valley and very high infection prevalences of up to 72% were found among the population in Winowanga village. Since then, comprehensive studies on the epidemiology and the effects of control have been carried out in 24 endemic villages in both areas. Over the past six decades, schistosomiasis control has been implemented and the average prevalence is now much lower than before the control programme was launched. In 2006, it was 0.49% in 7 villages in Lindu valley. In Napu valley, the average infection prevalence among the population of 17 villages was 1.08% in the same year. Again in 2006, the prevalence of infection in snails ranged from 0 to 13.4% and from 0 to 9.1% in Napu and Lindu valleys, respectively. The highest prevalence among snails was found in Dodolo village. The prevalence of S. japonicum in the reservoir host Rattus spp. ranged from 0 to 20% and the highest prevalence was again found in Dodolo village. Contemporary data suggest that transmission of schistosomiasis is still ongoing in Indonesia despite regular surveillance and control activities covering the whole endemic area.     

Unmet Needs for Cardiovascular Care in Indonesia

Background

In the past twenty years the heaviest burden of cardiovascular diseases has begun to shift from developed to developing countries. However, little is known about the real needs for cardiovascular care in these countries and how well those needs are being met. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and determinants of unmet needs for cardiovascular care based on objective assessment.

Methods and Findings

Multilevel analysis is used to analyse the determinants of met needs and multilevel multiple imputation is applied to manage missing data. The 2008 Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS4) survey is the source of the household data used in this study, while district data is sourced from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance. The data shows that nearly 70% of respondents with moderate to high cardiovascular risk failed to receive cardiovascular care. Higher income, possession of health insurance and residence in urban areas are significantly associated with met needs for cardiovascular care, while health facility density and physician density show no association with them.

Conclusions

The prevalence of unmet needs for cardiovascular care is considerable in Indonesia. Inequality persists as a factor in meeting needs for cardiovascular care as the needs of people with higher incomes and those living in urban areas are more likely to be met. Alleviation of poverty, provision of health care insurance for the poor, and improvement in the quality of healthcare providers are recommended in order to meet this ever-increasing need.     

Preferences for sheep or goats in Indonesia

This paper aims to explore farmers’ preferences for sheep or goats based on feeding practices, animal and flock performances and economic benefits of sheep and goats in different agro-ecological zones in Central Java, Indonesia. In total, 150 smallholder farmers were selected from three agro-ecological zones: the lowlands, the middle zone, and the uplands. Feeding and performance parameters were estimated through weekly farm visits and farm records, from September 2001 to August 2003. In the lowlands, small ruminants were fed mainly with field grass and crop residues, whereas in the middle zone and uplands feeds fed were mainly field grass and leaves. Sheep were given more opportunities to graze than goats, however, grazing was not a major component in the diets. In the lowlands and the middle zone the differences in feed intakes, ADG and reproductive performances between sheep and goats were small. In all zones, does had significantly larger litters than ewes. In the uplands, goats had a significantly higher DMI, grew slightly faster, and had a higher weaning rate than sheep. Consequently, in the uplands, the total economic benefits from goat flocks were 25% higher than from sheep flocks. The major differences in agro-ecological conditions that affect the choice for sheep or goats were the availability of cassava peels in the lowlands, favouring a choice for sheep, and the abundance of leaves in the middle zone and uplands, which favours keeping goats. The promotion of goats by the government, the family tradition of keeping sheep or goats, the preference for sacrificing sheep for religious festivities, and the high initial investment needed to buy goat breeding stock could be other important motives to keep sheep or goats. Sheep fattening based on rice bran supplementation could be a feasible innovation in the lowlands. In the middle zone and uplands goat breeding could make a positive contribution to rural livelihoods.     

Life cycle assessment of gasoline in Indonesia

Purpose  

In the Indonesian transportation sector, gasoline is the most consumed fuel; in 2008 it accounted for 60% of the total fuel consumption in transportation. Increasing concern regarding environmental issues, particularly urban air quality, makes the utilization of gasoline in transport a crucial aspect to be analyzed. However, besides tailpipe emissions, there are many upstream processes when producing gasoline which need to be evaluated in terms of impacts to the environment.     

Fire risks in forest carbon projects in Indonesia

It is well known that forest carbon or sink projects have not been included in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), one of the flexible mechanismscreated under the Kyoto Protocol. The main concern for postponing sink projectsis related to issues of methodology and integrity. Project eligibility needs tobe judged in a transparent manner if they are real, measurable, provide long-term benefits to mitigate climate change, and provide additional benefits to thosethat would occur in the absence of a certified project.One of the biggest challenges in implementing sink projects is fire risks and the associated biophysical and socio-economic underlying causes. This study attempts to assess fire probability and use it as a tool to estimate fire risk in carbon sink projects. Fire risks may not only threaten ongoing projects but may also cause leakage of carbon stocks in other areas, especially in protected areas. This exercise was carried out in the Berbak National Park located in Jambi Province, Sumatra, Indonesia and the surrounding areas. Fire probability is associated with (i) the means by which access to a given area is possible, and (ii) vegetation type or fuel load. Although most fires were intentionally ignited, fire escape is common and is enhanced by long spell of dryweather. When this occurs, secondary road was the most frequently used means, and it was certainly the case during 1997/1998 big fires when damage to natural vegetation (natural and secondary forests) was substantial. Burnt natural vegetation was 120000 ha or 95% of the total burnt areas, and released more than 7 Mt of carbon into the atmosphere.