Lumbar posture and trunk muscle activation during static and dynamic seated tasks on a novel dynamic ergonomic chair

peer-reviewedLow back pain (LBP) is a common musculoskeletal disorder and prolonged sitting often aggravates LBP. A novel dynamic ergonomic chair (‘Back App’), which facilitates less hip flexion while sitting on an unstable base has been developed. This study compared lumbar posture and trunk muscle activation on this novel chair with a standard backless office chair. Twelve painfree participants completed a typing task on both chairs. Lumbar posture and trunk muscle activation were collected simultaneously and were analysed using paired t-tests. Sitting on the novel dynamic chair significantly (p 0.05) between chairs. Maintaining lordosis with less muscle activation during prolonged sitting could reduce the fatigue associated with upright sitting postures. Studies with longer sitting durations, and in people with LBP, are required. Practitioner Summary: Sitting on a novel dynamic chair resulted in less lumbar flexion and less back muscle activation than sitting on a standard backless office chair during a typing task among pain-free participants. Facilitating lordotic sitting with less muscle activation may reduce the fatigue and discomfort often associated with lordotic sitting postures.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

Recruiting general practitioners and patients with dementia into a cluster randomised controlled trial: strategies, barriers and facilitators

Background: Recruitment of general practitioners (GPs) and their patients is reported as one of the most challenging steps when undertaking primary care research. The present paper describes the recruitment process of a cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) aiming to improve dementia care in the primary care setting. Methods: Recruitment data was analysed descriptively using frequency tables to investigate comparisons of recruitment rates and results of different recruitment strategies as well as reasons for participation and non-participation of GPs, patients with dementia (PwD) and their caregivers. Results: Over a period of 23 months, N = 28 GPs were successfully included in the cRCT. This represents an overall recruitment rate of 4.6%. The most efficient strategy in terms of high response and low labour-intensity involved the dissemination of calls for participation in a GP research network. Most frequently reported reasons for GP's participation were Improvement of patient's well-being (n = 22, 79%) followed by Interest in dementia research (n = 18, 64%). The most common reasons for non-participation were Lack of time (n = 71, 34%) followed by Not interested in participation (n = 63, 30%). On a patient level, N = 102 PwD were successfully recruited. On average, each GP referred about n = 7 PwD (range: 1-17; mdn = 6; IQR = 3.5) and successfully recruited about n = 4 PwD (range: 1-11; mdn = 3; IQR = 3.5). Conclusion: First, our findings propose GP research networks as a promising strategy to promote recruitment and participation of GPs and their patients in research. Second, present findings highlight the importance of including GPs and their interests in specific research topics in early stages of research in order to ensure a successful recruitment. Finally, results do not support cold calls as a successful strategy in the recruitment of GPs

A medical hand tool physical interaction evaluation approach for prototype testing using patient care simulators

peer-reviewedThe purpose of this study was to develop and test a physical ergonomics assessment approach for medical device handles. The method assesses wrist posture and force of exertion simultaneously by task element. Electrogoniometers and EMG sensors were connected through a data acquisition module for synchronization with video recordings of trials. Task analysis of video recordings were performed offline with Observer XT software. Average posture and force data across several repetitions of individual task elements were calculated and presented in a format suitable for informing product designers of specific issues during a test trial. A handle comfort questionnaire is proposed to survey subjective responses. The evaluation approach was applied to an endoscope needle in sampling a biopsy from the stomach wall using a gastrointestinal track simulator with ten physician surrogates. The results showed that for all task elements the wrist was in extension (33 degrees-45 degrees). Peak muscle forces ranged from 28% to 68% MVC across the three muscles studied. Muscle peak forces were above ACGIH HAL maximum threshold limits for four of the seven task elements, and above the action limit for all seven task elements for two muscles. The handle comfort questionnaire data also supported the high muscle force findings, and also on force distribution on the handle due to contact stresses. This combined approach could be used to collect and report detailed early stage ergonomics data from user trials on patient care simulators. The approach is proposed for use by medical device designers at the design stage of new products using prototypes, but it could also be used on existing products with real patients. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

Estimating upper limb discomfort level due to intermittent isometric pronation torque with various combinations of elbow angles, forearm rotation angles, force and frequency with upper arm at 90 degrees abduction

peer-reviewedIndustrial jobs involving upper arm abduction have a strong association with musculoskeletal disorders and injury. But there is still paucity of data on the different risk factors that are responsible for the genesis of such disorders or injuries. The current laboratory study is an attempt in that direction. Thirty-six right-handed male university students participated in a full factorial model of three forearm rotation angles (60% prone and supine and neutral range of motion), three elbow angles (45 degrees, 90 degrees and 135 degrees), two exertion frequencies (10 and 20/min) and two levels of pronation torque (10% and 20% MVC). Discomfort rating after each five-minute treatment was recorded on a visual analogue scale. Repeated measures ANCOVA with grip endurance time as a covariate indicated that forearm rotation angle (p = 0.001), elbow flexion angle (p = 0.016), MVC torque (p = 0.001) and frequency (p = 0.049) were significant. Grip endurance time was not significant (p = 0.74). EMG activity of the Pronator Teres (PT) and the Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevis (ECRB) revealed that both muscles were affected by forearm rotation and level of MVC torque. A supplementary experiment in which MVC pronation torque at different articulations was measured showed that some of the increased discomfort appeared to be due to increased relative NIVC at some of the extreme articulations. The findings indicated that, with the upper arm in abduction, an elbow angle of 45 degrees and forearm prone, are a posture vulnerable to injury and should be avoided. Grip endurance time as a covariate warrants further investigation. Relevance to industry There is still a paucity of data on risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders for upper arm articulations typical of industrial jobs, especially postures involving upper arm abduction. Industrial jobs involving upper arm abduction have a strong association with injury as operators must often maintain static upper arm abduction while performing tasks for long durations. This study presents discomfort and pronation torque MVC data at different upper arm articulations to identify and control high-risk tasks in industry well before they develop into Musculoskeletal Disorders, especially at the design stage when using biomechanical models. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

Unresolved and diffuse components of X-ray emission and X/K luminosity ratios in nearby early-type and late-type galaxies

We explore the nature of unresolved X-ray emission in a broad sample of galaxies of all morphological types based on archival Chandra data. After removing bright compact sources, we study L_X/L_K luminosity ratios of unresolved emission, and compare them with the Solar neighborhood values. We conclude that unresolved emission is determined by four main components, three of which were known before: (i) The population of faint unresolved sources associated with old stellar population. In early-type galaxies, their 2-10 keV band luminosity scales with the stellar mass with L_X/L_K = (3.1\pm 0.9) x 10^27 erg/s/L_K,sun; (ii) The ISM with kT ~ 0.2-0.8 keV present in galaxies of all types. Because of the large dispersion in the gas content of galaxies, the size of our sample is insufficient to obtain reliable scaling law for this component; (iii) The population of unresolved young stars and young stellar objects in late-type galaxies. Their 2-10 keV band luminosity scales with the star-formation rate with L_X/SFR = (1.7\pm0.9) x 10^38 (erg/s)/(M_sun/yr); (iv) In four old and massive Virgo ellipticals (M49, M60, M84, NGC4636) we find anomalously high X-ray emission in the 2-10 keV band. Its presence has not been recognized before and its nature is unclear. Although it appears to be stronger in galaxies having stronger ISM component, its existence cannot be explained in terms of an extrapolation of the warm ISM spectrum. Association with Virgo cluster of galaxies suggests that the excess emission may be due to intracluster gas accreted in the gravitational well of a massive galaxy. We investigate this and other possibilities.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

Observation of single collisionally cooled trapped ions in a buffer gas

Individual Ba ions are trapped in a gas-filled linear ion trap and observed with a high signal-to-noise ratio by resonance fluorescence. Single-ion storage times of ~5 min (~1 min) are achieved using He (Ar) as a buffer gas at pressures in the range 8e-5 - 4e-3 torr. Trap dynamics in buffer gases are experimentally studied in the simple case of single ions. In particular, the cooling effects of light gases such as He and Ar and the destabilizing properties of heavier gases such as Xe are studied. A simple model is offered to explain the observed phenomenology.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A. Minor text and figure change

A linear RFQ ion trap for the Enriched Xenon Observatory

The design, construction, and performance of a linear radio-frequency ion trap (RFQ) intended for use in the Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) are described. EXO aims to detect the neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe to $^{136}$Ba. To suppress possible backgrounds EXO will complement the measurement of decay energy and, to some extent, topology of candidate events in a Xe filled detector with the identification of the daughter nucleus ($^{136}$Ba). The ion trap described here is capable of accepting, cooling, and confining individual Ba ions extracted from the site of the candidate double-beta decay event. A single trapped ion can then be identified, with a large signal-to-noise ratio, via laser spectroscopy.Comment: 18 pages, pdflatex, submitted to NIM

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay in 136^{136}Xe with EXO-200

We report on a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe with EXO-200. No signal is observed for an exposure of 32.5 kg-yr, with a background of ~1.5 x 10^{-3} /(kg yr keV) in the $\pm 1\sigma$ region of interest. This sets a lower limit on the half-life of the neutrinoless double-beta decay $T_{1/2}^{0\nu\beta\beta}$($^{136}$Xe) > 1.6 x 10$^{25}$ yr (90% CL), corresponding to effective Majorana masses of less than 140-380 meV, depending on the matrix element calculation

A simple radionuclide-driven single-ion source

We describe a source capable of producing single barium ions through nuclear recoils in radioactive decay. The source is fabricated by electroplating 148Gd onto a silicon {\alpha}-particle detector and vapor depositing a layer of BaF2 over it. 144Sm recoils from the alpha decay of 148Gd are used to dislodge Ba+ ions from the BaF2 layer and emit them in the surrounding environment. The simultaneous detection of an {\alpha} particle in the substrate detector allows for tagging of the nuclear decay and of the Ba+ emission. The source is simple, durable, and can be manipulated and used in different environments. We discuss the fabrication process, which can be easily adapted to emit most other chemical species, and the performance of the source

A liquid xenon ionization chamber in an all-fluoropolymer vessel

A novel technique has been developed to build vessels for liquid xenon ionization detectors entirely out of ultra-clean fluoropolymer. We describe the advantages in terms of low radioactivity contamination, provide some details of the construction techniques, and show the energy resolution achieved with a prototype all-fluoropolymer ionization detector.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure