Predicting the load constant of the revised NIOSH lifting equation based on demographics.

Manual materials handling (MMH) and lifting activities have been identified as risk factors for lower back pain (LBP). Of the many tools available to analyse and design lifting tasks, the revised NIOSH lifting equation (RNLE) is perhaps the most widely used. However, the equation is based on data primarily from the West.

Revised NIOSH lifting equation: a critical evaluation.

The revised NIOSH lifting equation (RNLE) aims to manage lifting-related lower back pain (LBP), by determining safe load limits. Many researchers have studied the multiplier development criteria, the universal applicability of the equation and its ability to identify an increased risk of LBP in lifting tasks. Although a number of strengths of the equation have been highlighted, many limitations have also been identified.

Lower limb rehabilitation robotics: The current understanding and technology.

Background: With the increasing rate of ambulatory disabilities and rise in the elderly population, advance methods to deliver the rehabilitation and assistive services to patients have become important. Lower limb robotic therapeutic and assistive aids have been found to improve the rehabilitation outcome.

Objective: The article aims to present the updated understanding in the field of lower limb rehabilitation robotics and identify future research avenues.

Hand tremor suppression device for patients suffering from Parkinson's disease.

In this study, a wearable device is developed as a mechanical treatment to suppress hand tremors in people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD). The biodynamic modelling of the human hand was done by considering the hand as a primary mass-spring-damper system. Dual passive vibration absorbers have been designed to match the frequencies of tremors.

Lower limb rehabilitation using multimodal measurement of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit task.

Purpose: Assistive and rehabilitation devices are dependent upon detecting the user intent through physiological and kinematics changes. Rising from a chair and vice-versa have been less investigated for the purpose of rehabilitation-aids. This study investigates the muscle activation along with trunk and knee biomechanics in sagittal plane during sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit transfer.

Ergonomic evaluation of the wood cutting task using chain saw.

Workers whose hands are regularly exposed to hand-arm vibration may suffer from damage to the tissues of the hands and arms, which cause the symptoms collectively known as hand-arm vibration syndrome. However, investigations have shown that vibration hazards can be controlled and risks might be reduced by good design of the task/tools. In the present study, an experiment was conducted for the evaluation of risk in operating chain saw.

Design of a workstation and its evaluation under the influence of noise and illumination for an assembly task.

Objective: An experimental research was conducted to design a workstation for a lock manufacturing assembly.

Participants: Two experiments were conducted in the present study. Nine male subjects in the age range of 18-35 years participated in the first experiment.

Effects of vibration, feed force and exposure duration on operators performing drilling task.

It has been shown that vibration level, feed force, and exposure duration cause unfavourable effects on the work performance when hand-held vibrating tools are used by operators. Present study analyzed the effects of these variables on the heart rate and blood pressure of the operators carrying out the drilling task. Under three different levels of vibration (0.

The effect of age on cognitive performance under the impact of vibration in a driving environment.

The effect of organismic variable age on human cognitive performance was studied under the impact of vibration in different automobile driving environments, namely city streets, rural roads and highways. Reaction time was measured in milliseconds through a human response measurement system specifically designed for the purpose. Results of the study showed that age had a significant effect in city street and rural road conditions.

Physiological effect of vibrations on tractor drivers under variable ploughing conditions.

The vibration conditions to which tractor operators are subjected are complex and varied with multi axis translation and rotational vibration inputs to different parts of the body. Working under such conditions may lead to human fatigue and other driving related hazards. The present research was carried out to study the operators under varying conditions of vibration while driving a tractor with and without farm equipment on different fields.