An Ergonomic Investigation Pertaining To Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorder Problems Of Industrial Operators In Pressworking Operation

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) occur when there is a mismatch between physical requirements of the job and the physical capacity of the human body. Many manufacturing sector industries, especially workers from heavy industries are facing this kind of problem. MSDs have caused lost workdays, injuries, increased the total costs of workers compensation claims, and decreased employee morale, quality and productivity. Keeping these facts in view, present study was planned and investigations were undertaken, in a manufacturing industry, PHN Industry, Shah Alam, Selangor where a cross-sectional study was carried out on a group of male workers in an automotive factory. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorder and its relationship with various work -related and demographic factors

Vision screening results in a cohort of bhopal gas disaster survivors

Eye-related symptoms were prominent at the time of and soon after the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. We conducted a vision screening on the survivors to examine their current ocular status. Fifty-nine patients enrolled. We analysed the results from 48 patients (mean age 51 12 years) who had a documented history of gas exposure. The commonly reported symptoms were vision difficulties (n = 30), watering (n = 21) and headaches (n = 16). Thirty patients needed spectacles, 30 had cataracts and 17 had pinguecula. We found the prevalence of pinguecula to be significantly higher in this cohort. The need for vision care among this underserved population is highlighted

Bitemporal hemianopia; its unique binocular complexities and a novel remedy

Abstract Bitemporal hemianopic visual field impairment frequently leads to binocular vision difficulties. Patients with bitemporal hemianopia with pre-existing exophoria complain of horizontal diplopia, sometimes combined with vertical deviation (with pre-existing hyperphoria). The symptoms are a result of the phoria decompensating into a tropia (hemi-slide) due to the lack of retinal correspondence between the remaining nasal fields of both eyes. We measured these effects using a dichoptic perimeter. We showed that aligning the eyes with prisms could prevent diplopia if the bitemporal hemianopia is incomplete. We also describe the successful use of a novel fusion aid -the 'stereo-typoscope' -that utilizes midline stereopsis to prevent diplopia resulting from hemi-sliding in patients with complete bitemporal hemianopia

A novel approach for improving material stiffness using a direct method in below-knee prosthetic sockets

The conventional techniques for producing a socket are time-consuming disproportionate to the significant population afflicted by limb amputations. Although the new manufacturing direct method, the modular socket system (MSS) method, involves reduced labor time, the technique produces sockets with high stiffness that cause discomfort for those with lower limb amputations during walking. This study investigated the tensile characteristics of numerous materials in below-knee prosthetic sockets. Initially, a vacuum molding approach was used to produce the sockets, which involved various polymers and composite materials to improve the prosthesis socket properties. An F-socket device was also employed to ensure efficient production and optimized pressure distribution at the interface between the socket and the residual limb. A SOLIDWORKS® software was then applied to determine the numerical analysis (stress distribution and the maximum internal pressure). The samples from Group E involved utilizing a novel mixture compared to the direct and traditional methods of various materials. This study presents a novel prosthetic limb socket made from a mixture of four carbon fiber layers, utilizing 20% polyurethane resin and 80% acrylic as the matrix. The resulting material demonstrated acceptable stiffness, extended socket life, and reduced curing time. During the patient's gait cycle, peak pressure of 300 KPa was recorded using the F-socket, while SOLIDWORKS® software indicated an internal pressure of 343 KPa, aligning closely with F-socket measurements. The new direct-fit socket design prioritizes comfort and flexibility using materials with reduced stiffness

Statistical analysis of subjective preferences for video enhancement

ABSTRACT Traditional Thurstone scaling (1927) constructs a perceptual scale from pairwise comparisons without providing statistical inferences. We show that subjective preferences for moving video using pairwise comparisons can be analyzed to construct a perceptual scale and provide the statistical significance of preference differences. Two statistical methods (binary logistic regression and linear regression) are described. Data sets from two studies are used to demonstrate the perceptual scale construction from the traditional Thurstone method and from the described statistical methods. Both the studies showed videos on two side-by-side TVs. Four enhancement levels (Off, Low, Medium and High) were applied to the videos using a commercial device. Subjects made pairwise comparisons to indicate their preference of one video over another. The perceptual scales constructed from the three methods were comparable, except when there were cells missing from the preference matrix. Binary logistic regression easily permitted modeling of additional factors, such as side bias. Video quality can be systematically assessed using pairwise comparisons and statistical methods that permits construction of a perceptual scale and provide statistical significance for the compared levels

Clinical Utility of 'Peekaboo Vision' Application for Measuring Grating Acuity in Children with Down Syndrome

Peekaboo Vision is an iPad grating acuity app built with typically developing children in mind. Given the ease of using this app in the pediatric age group, this study determined its clinical utility in children with Down syndrome. Two groups of participants (children with Down syndrome and age-matched controls) were included. Presenting binocular grating acuity was measured using Peekaboo Vision and Teller acuity cards II in random order. Parents' feedback about their child's engagement and time taken to complete each test was documented. Thirty-seven children with Down syndrome (males = 23; mean age = 8.1 ± 4.2 years) and 28 controls (males = 15; mean age = 8.71 ± 3.84 years) participated. Time taken to complete the tests was comparable (p = 0.83) in children with Down syndrome. Controls were significantly faster with Peekaboo Vision (p = 0.01). Mean logMAR acuities obtained with Peekaboo Vision (0.16 ± 0.34) and Teller acuity cards II (0.63 ± 0.34) were significantly different (p < 0.001) in children with Down syndrome (mean difference in acuities: -0.44 ± 0.38 logMAR (95% LoA: -1.18 to 0.3). For controls, the mean logMAR acuity with Peekaboo Vision (-0.13 ± 0.12) and Teller acuity cards II (0.12 ± 0.09) was also found to be significantly different (p < 0.001) (mean difference in acuities: -0.24 ± 0.14 logMAR (95% LoA: -0.51 to 0.03) Peekaboo Vision test can be used on children with Down syndrome. Peekaboo Vision and Teller acuity cards II can be used independently but not interchangeably. The differences in the acuity values between the two tests could be a result of the differences in the thresholding paradigms, different testing mediums and the range of acuities covered

Critical Immaturities Limiting Infant Binocular Stereopsis

PURPOSE. To determine what critical immaturity is responsible for the poor binocular stereopsis of human infants. METHODS. Infant and adult psychometric functions were measured for detection of stereoscopic depth in a random-texture display. A test stimulus defined by horizontal binocular disparity and a distracter stimulus defined by vertical disparity were used. Adults were tested by direct psychophysical methods at several contrast values, and infants by forced-choice preferential looking at 100% contrast. RESULTS. Infant stereoacuity matured from unmeasurable at age 12 weeks to 7.9 arc min at 20 weeks, which was still far from the nominal adult value of 5 to 10 arc seconds. In contrast, infant d-max (maximum disparity) was 86.8 minutes at 20 weeks, which was near the adult d-max of 110.6 minutes. The average maximum level of infant performance at 20 weeks was 77% correct, still far below adult performance. When the adult stereogram was low contrast, adult extrafoveal performance was similar to infant performance. Infant and adult stereo performance was predicted quantitatively, using infant and adult monocular performance in detecting the stereogram texture. Infant and adult stereopsis performance approached, but did not reach, the predicted values. CONCLUSIONS. The infantlike performance of adults tested at low contrast and the similarity of infant maximum percentage of correct data relative to the predicted values suggested that the critical immaturity limiting infant stereopsis is the well-known insensitivity of the infant visual system to contrast. This conclusion supports the clinical use of stereopsis as a screening test for bilateral monocular function in infants. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci