Are you sitting comfortably? The political economy of the body

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the mass production of furniture in modern industrial societies and lower back pain (LBP). The latter has proven to be a major cost to health services and private industry throughout the industrialised world and now represents a global health issue as recent WHO reports on obesity and LBP reveal. Thus far there have been few co-ordinated attempts to deal with the causes of the problem through public policy. Drawing upon a range of sources in anthropology, health studies, politics and economics, the paper argues that this a modern social problem rooted in the contingent conjuncture of natural and social causal mechanisms. The key question it raises is: what are the appropriate mechanisms for addressing this problem? This paper develops an analysis rooted in libertarian social theory and argues that both the state and the capitalist market are flawed mechanisms for resolving this problem. There remains a fundamental dilemma for libertarians, however. Whilst the state and the market may well be flawed mechanisms, they are the dominant ones shaping global political economy. To what extent can libertarians work within these structures and remain committed to libertarian goals

Pametne uredske stolice sa senzorima za otkrivanje položaja i navika sjedenja – pregled literature

The health consequences of prolonged sitting in the office and other work chairs have recently been tried to be alleviated or prevented by the application of modern technologies. Smart technologies and sensors are installed in different parts of office chairs, which enables monitoring of seating patterns and prevents positions that potentially endanger the health of users. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of previous research in the field of the application of smart technologies and sensors built into office and other types of chairs in order to prevent diseases. The articles published in the period 2010-2020 and indexed in WoS CC, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore databases, with the keywords “smart chair” and “sensor chair” were analysed. 15 articles were processed, with their research being based on the use of different types of sensors that determine the contact pressures between the user’s body and stool parts and recognise different body positions when sitting, which can prevent negative health consequences. Analysed papers prove that the use of smart technology and a better understanding of sitting, using various sensors and applications that read body pressure and determine the current body position, can act as preventive health care by detecting proper heart rate and beats per minute, the activity of individual muscle groups, proper breathing and estimates of blood oxygen levels. In the future research, it is necessary to compare different types of sensors, methods used and the results obtained in order to determine which of them are most suitable for the future development of seating furniture for work.Posljedice dugotrajnog sjedenja na uredskim i drugim radnim stolicama u posljednje se vrijeme pokušavaju ublažiti ili spriječiti primjenom suvremenih tehnologija. U različite dijelove uredskih stolica ugrađuju se pametne tehnologije i senzori, što omogućuje praćenje rasporeda sjedenja i izbjegavanje položaja koji potencijalno ugrožavaju zdravlje korisnika. Cilj ovog rada jest davanje pregleda dosadašnjih istraživanja u području primjene suvremenih pametnih tehnologija i senzora ugrađenih u uredske i ostale vrste stolica radi prevencije obolijevanja korisnika. Analizirani su članci objavljeni u razdoblju od 2010. do 2020. i indeksirani su u bazama podataka WoS CC, Scopus i IEEE Xplore, a izdvojeni su prema ključnim riječima pametna stolica i senzorska stolica. Obrađeno je 15 članaka u kojima su se istraživanja temeljila na primjeni različitih vrsta senzora koji određuju kontaktne tlakove između korisnikova tijela i dijelova stolice te raspoznaju različite položaje tijela pri sjedenju, čime se mogu prevenirati negativne posljedice za zdravlje. U analiziranim istraživanjima autori su dokazali da primjena pametne tehnologije i bolje razumijevanje sjedenja uporabom različitih senzora i aplikacija kojima se očitava pritisak tijela i određuje njegov trenutačni položaj može preventivno djelovati zahvaljujući praćenju rada srca i broja otkucaja u minuti, aktivnosti pojedinih mišićnih skupina, pravilnog disanja, procjene razine kisika u krvi i sl. U budućim istraživanjima potrebno je usporediti različite tipove senzora, primijenjene metode i dobivene rezultate kako bi se uočilo koji su od njih najprikladniji za budući razvoj radnog namještaja za sjedenje

Activities recognition and worker profiling in the intelligent office environment using a fuzzy finite state machine

Analysis of the office workers’ activities of daily working in an intelligent office environment can be used to optimize energy consumption and also office workers’ comfort. To achieve this end, it is essential to recognise office workers’ activities including short breaks, meetings and non-computer activities to allow an optimum control strategy to be implemented. In this paper, fuzzy finite state machines are used to model an office worker’s behaviour. The model will incorporate sensory data collected from the environment as the input and some pre-defined fuzzy states are used to develop the model. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of this approach. The activity models of different individual workers as inferred from the sensory devices can be distinguished. However, further investigation is required to create a more complete model

Defining Mobile Tech Posture: Prevalence and Position Among Millennials

Background: Mobile technologies have revolutionized daily life, significantly impacting ADLs and IADLs, as well as use of the hand and upper extremity. The primary objectives of this study are to (a) provide a formal goniometric description of mobile tech posture and (b) examine the prevalence of this sub-optimal posture among a group of graduate students. Method: This study used a cross-sectional study design. Comprehensive goniometric measurements of the neck and upper extremity were taken with participants (N = 46) using their mobile devices while texting or using the Internet. Handheld usage data from the iPhone Screen Time feature (iOS 12) was collected from a sample of healthy young adults. Results: The participants spent an average of 143 min per day using mobile technology. Comprehensive goniometric measurements highlighted positions of clinical concern, including cervical spine flexion, scapular protraction, elbow flexion, and wrist ulnar deviation with thumb flexion. Discussion: Findings aligned with prior research suggesting several hr per day of handheld mobile technology use among young adults. Mobile tech posture, as described by goniometric trends, includes several positions of concern for musculoskeletal imbalance or cumulative trauma disorders (e.g., cubital tunnel syndrome; De Quervain’s tenosynovitis). Further research is recommended to examine broader societal trends and impact on occupational performance

Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Dentists and Orthodontists

WORK-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AMONG DENTISTS AND ORTHODONTISTS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. by Natalie R. La Rochelle Thesis Director: Dr. Eser Tüfekçi, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., M.S.H.A. Professor, Department of Orthodontics Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia May 2017 The practice of dentistry is physically demanding due to static and dynamic postures sustained daily throughout careers. Previous literature suggests that work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are not solely the result of work habits, but also due to the individual, his or her physical makeup, genetics, and personal lifestyle. A 33-question survey was distributed to 1000 general dentists and 2300 orthodontists. The overall prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders was greater among dentists and most often reported as self-limiting. Dentists were three times more likely than orthodontists to report WMSD; females were twice as likely to report WMSD than males; those who sought alternative medical remedies were two times more likely to have WMSD; and practitioners 6-10 years in practice were least likely to report WMSD. Dentists reported sitting in static positions longer than orthodontists; and those with WMSD indicated exercising, stretching, and seeking alternative health remedies more than dentists without WMSD

Implementation of luo-rudi phase 1 cardiac cell excitation model in FPGA

Dynamic simulation of complex cardiac excitation and conduction requires high computational time. Thus, the hardware techniques that can run in the real-time simulation was introduced. However, previously developed hardware simulation requires high power consumption and has a large physical size. Due to the drawbacks, this research presents the adaptation of Luo-Rudy Phase I (LR-I) cardiac excitation model in a rapid prototyping method of field programmable gate array (FPGA) for real-time simulation, lower power consumption and minimizing the size. For the rapid prototyping, a nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE)­based algorithm of the LR-I model is implemented by using Hardware Description Language (I-IDL) Coder that is capable to convert MATLAB Simulink blocks designed into a synthesisable VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) code and verified using the FPGA-In-the Loop (FIL) Co-simulator. The Xilinx FPGA Yirtex-6 XC6VLX240T ML605 evaluation board is chosen as a platform for the FPGA high performance system which is supported by the 1-lDL Coder. A fixed­point optimisation has been successfully obtained with Percentage Error (PE) and Mean Square Error (MSE) which are -1.08% and 2.28%, respectively. This result has given better performance for the hardware implementation in terms of 27.5% decrement in power consumption and 5.35% decrement in utilization area with maximum frequency 9.819 MHz. By implementing the constructed algorithm into the high performance FPGA system, a new real-time simulation-based analysis technique of cardiac electrical excitation has been successfully developed

Ergonomic Environment, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Secretarial Efficiencies in Tertiary Institutions in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Ergonomic environment, information and communication technology (ICT) and secretarial efficiencies in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State were investigated.  The population consisted of all secretarial staff and executives/directors in all tertiary institutions while the sample was 180 respondents randomly selected from three tertiary institutions.  The research instrument was questionnaire, validated with a reliability co-efficient of 0.77.  Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts and simple percentages for the research question while the hypothesis was tested using Pearson Moment Correlation Coefficient at 0.05 level of significance. Findings show that the physical environments of the institutions are conducive for work and some necessary facilities that could aid the efficiency of secretarial staff are provided but inadequate. It was concluded that good working environment is indispensable in today’s workplace for the efficiency and effectiveness of secretarial workers.  It was suggested that efforts must be made to design jobs that help employees reduce and break up their sitting time, among others. Keywords: Ergonomics, Secretaries, Efficiency, Work Environment, ICT. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-23-07 Publication date: August 31st 201

A Study of human office support in the office environment

This thesis is about seating, the problems it creates, and a solution to those problems. This chapter will provide an overview of our bodies, a look at our work and an analysis of the problems created. It will explain my idea for a solution and describe how that solution was achieved. The chapters which follow go into further detail about the material presented

Sitting Habit and Posture Investigation of Office Employees in Nigeria

Sitting is widely acceptable posture for various office works in spite of its attendant health hazards especially in situation when inappropriate chair with misfit and poor features is used. This study investigates the sitting habit of office workers as we ll as assesses their postural discipline in relation with workplace design. A randomly selected sample size of 250 male and 150 female employees from four work centres in forty - five different locations of five commercial hubs were used. The result of the a nalysis of data from structured questionnaire administered and the anthropometric data of the respondent show the level of mismatch that exists between employee characteristics and office furniture especially the chair and how it impact s on the sitting p osture of worker in offices visited. Workers sitting habit were observed to have strong association with risk factors such as type and nature of the office work, micro - ergonomics of facility arrangement of the workplace and duration of the work activities. This suggests that premium attention should be focus on reengineering of seat system in Nigeria