Journal of Human Ergology

ERGOLOGY AS A FIELD OF LIFE SCIENCE

Masahiko SATO

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 95-96
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: June 28, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.95

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MODERNIZATION OF PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE JAPANESE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LEG LENGTH AND HEAD FORM

Sumiko YANAGISAWA, Shiro KONDO

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 97-108
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2011

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.97

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Evidences of modernization found in changes of physical features of contemporary Japanese are discussed with special reference to leg pro-portion and brachycephaly. Anthropometrical research conducted in 1966-72 on 17, 585 male and 17, 952 female Japanese aged 5 to 59 years revealed that the mean lower extremity length grows faster in relation to its adult value than stature, the adolescent growth spurt of the former preceding that of the latter by about one year. Growth of both items occurs earlier in girls than in boys. The largest ratio of lower extremity length/stature in girls was seen at age 12 with 0.527, while it was at 13 with 0.519 in a previous survey of 1957-61 and about 0.51 in subjects aged more than 25 years. Measurements of the skull dimensions of 1, 585 adult Japanese women in 1956-57 showed that the cephalic index, or ratio of head breadth to head length, was on the average 85.9, 84.5, 83.5, and 83.0 for age 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59 years, respectively. This means that the brachycephalization is proceeding in time units of decades. As possible causes of these changes, assortative coatings associated with urbanization and improvements in general living conditions are mentioned and diseussed.

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RELATION BETWEEN STEP TEST AND BODY WEIGHT IN CHILDREN

Masahiko SATO, Terutoshi SAKATE, Masaru ISHII, Tetsuo KATSVURA

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 109-118
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2011

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.109

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The effect of body weight on step test results with respect to sex difference and transient change in the course of growth was studied in 59 boys and 65 girls from ages 11 to 14 years. Heart rate after step work showed no changes in the course of growth from ages 11 to 14 years. The difference in heart rate recovery between boys and girls was statistically significant though there was no difference in body weight. Therefore, in contrast to previous studies, the sexual difference in heart rate recovery was considered to be caused not by differences in work load due to differences in body weight but for other reasons, such as differences in stroke volume. A high positive correlation was found between body weight and oxygen intake, but no significant influence due to a relatively small change in ambient temperature from 25°c to 30°c in the step test could be observed. In multiple regression of heart rate recovery on body weight, resting heart rate, and oxygen intake, the most effective predictor with regards to comparison of standard partial regression coefficients was resting heart rate. The efficiency of body weight for the prediction was only 11.2 % for boys and 32.5% for girls. Such tendencies were also indicated by comparison of simple correlation coefficients among these variables.

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LOW BACK PAIN IN RELATION TO PHYSICAL WORK CAPACITY AND LOCAL TENDERNESS

Noriaki ONISHI, Hideko NOMURA

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 119-132
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2011

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.119

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Physical work capacity of garbage collectors and teachers for handicapped children among whom low back pain was predominant was investigated and compared with previous data on various industrial workers. Garbage collectors belong to a moderately fit working population with definitely larger body height, weight, and chest circumference but weaker muscle strength than usual industrial workers of 20 years ago. The physical structure, muscle strength, and other physical functions of garbage collectors had no relation to the experience of low back pain in individuals, whereas teachers of the handicapped who experienced chronical low back pain proved to have less muscle strength in the back, arms, and legs and to be less fit for jump stepping than those without a history of pain. Subjects having relatively low pain thresholds to local compression of the lower back were more frequent among teachers than among garbage collectors. It is suggested that for different modes of working or back loading the individual physical work capacity may play different roles in manifestation of the low back pain.

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FATIGUE AND STRENGTH OF UPPER LIMP MUSCLES OF FLIGHT RESERVATION SYSTEM OPERATORS

Noriaki ONISHI, Hideko NOMURA, Kazuhiro SAKAI

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 133-141
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: June 28, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.133

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The feeling of fatigue and muscle strength in the upper limb regions in male and female operators engaged in a flight seat reservation system with computer-aided character displays were studied. Feeling of fatigue was the most dominant in the shoulders, neck, and upper back. Next, it was frequent in forearm flexors and extensors of both arms in females and in the right hand areas in males. The mean rate was markedly higher for female operators than for males in each of these regions except the right hand. Fatigue increased on busy days predominantly among female operators whose rate of local pain in such regions reached more than half of that of a feeling of fatigue. Repeated sustained muscle contractions in operating the keyboard while watching the display may be presumed to be accountable for the feelings of fatigue. The female operators group with a high rate of fatigue in upper limbs proved to be of smaller body weight or to have less gripping strength, finger flexion, upper arm abduction, and back strength than the group with a low rate of fatigue. No similar differences could be seen among male groups. The female low-strength group may likely be easily affected by the overloading of the upper limbs due to inadequate working conditions.

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FACTORS AFFECTING ACCIDENT CAUSATION IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE OPERATIONS

Kazue INOUE

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 143-157
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: June 28, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.143

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Protocols of accidents compensated by the Endowment Assurance by the Agricultural Cooperative Insurance Business during the two fiscal years of 1970-71 in Saitama Prefecture were investigated. Sixty-five accidental injuries due to agricultural work were registered during the period, 6 being fatal. Thirty-four detailed replies were then gathered by enquete method. Injuries occurred most frequently during harvesting (42%), tilling (23%), and transportation (11%). Both full-time and part-time farmers engaged as the main workers of their families were involved in accidents, more than 60% occurring among elderly farmers above 40 years of age. Most accidents occurred in the busy farming seasons of late spring-July and of October-November. Fifty-nine percent of the 34 enquete-replying cases pointed to circumstances leading to haste on the day of the injury, 41% of these mentioning schedule delays by bad weather on the foregoing days as a reason. This factor was associated with both outdoor and indoor injuries. This kind of pressure forced by schedule delays proved to be particularly significant for accidents during harvest work, all but one of the eleven harvest accidents due to schedule delays being finger losses caused by combines, threshers, or reaping machines. A greater part of agricultural accidents are thus suggested to be closely related to the seasonal usage patterns of agricultural machines.

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EFFECTS OF MODERATE CHANGES IN AIR TEMPERATURE AND CLOTHING ON PULMONARY EXCHANGE AND ENERGY METABOLISM

Masahiko SATO, Sada MORISE, Yoko ISHIBASHI, Masaru ISHII

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 159-167
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2011

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.159

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Measurements of mean skin temperature, respiratory exchange, and energy metabolism during exposure to four steps of moderate temperature were made on eight young adult females wearing four different kinds of ordinary clothing corresponding to the four seasons. The experiments followed the Latin square method, and the effects of temperature, clothing, and paired subject factors were analyzed statistically. The temperature factor showed significant influence on the mean skin temperature (_S), heart rate, and ratio of oxygen removal, while the clothing factor significantly affected _S and pulmonary exchange (_E), and the paired subject factor significantly influenced _E and oxygen intake (_O2). No significant interaction between the three factors was observed. The relation between heart rate and _S and that between heart rate and _O2/kg were analyzed by means of analysis of covariance. Comparison of the standard partial regression coefficients of both relations disclosed that the _O2 was a more effective predictor of heart rate than _S. By calculating parameters of multiple regression in heart rate and in ratio of oxygen removal, significant curvilinear regression in the ratio of oxygen removal of air temperature was confirmed.

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RHYTHMIC FLUCTUATION OF ORIENTATION TO A CONTINUOUS MANUAL CONTROL TASK

Kazutaka KOGI, Yoshio SAITO

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 169-184
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2011

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.169

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Fluctuation of orientation to a tracking task was made observable by varying the controlled system characteristics according to the error level of the moment. Male adult subjects performed either compensatory or pursuit tracking for 15 min, and large error increases were seen between intervals of half a minute to a few minutes. Orienting to the task was examined in two ways. In the compensatory tracking, the subject was to find, as quickly as possible, randomly appearing, flickering illumination of the target spot. The critical flicker frequency thus measured was significantly lower during 15-sec periods preceding error increases than during steady control phases, low values from the former periods deviating from a normal distribution. In the pursuit tracking, saccadic eye movements were found less frequently during 15-sec periods prior to large error increases, resulting in lowered instantaneous saccade rates computed from distribution of saccade intervals. These results suggest that a recurrent phase exists in which orienting to the tracking temporarily declines prior to an apparent performance decrement, presum-ably due to spontaneous lapse of attention.

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PHYSICAL WORK LOAD ON AND DERMATOSES OF FEET OF DAM WORKERS STANDING ON AN INCLINED PLANE

Sadao HORINO, Koya KISHIDA

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 185-200
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: February 23, 2011

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.185

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Physical work load on and skin changes of feet of workers dealing with asphalt paving of a large rock-filled dam surface with an inclination of 27.5 degrees were investigated. While the operators of finishing machines stayed mostly on their machines, workers dealing with supplementary and miscellaneous work, all being elderly farmers working part time for a subcontractor, spent more than 70 % of their working time standing on an evenly inclined surface. The work flow among these standing workers was restricted by the conditions of the finishing machines resulting in a variety of work patterns and in frequent changes in working positions. According to oxygen intake and heart rate measurements, work by standing workers was physically moderate but ascending and descending on the smooth slope were much more difficult than level walking. Feelings of general fatigue were more frequent among machine operators, while tiredness in the legs remarkably increased in standing workers. The latter had higher fatigue rates for the posterior part of lower legs, ankle, and sole than the former. Painful callosities and burn scars were frequently observed on the soles of the feet of standing workers. These symptoms are most likely connected to the peculiar standing postures on steep and smooth inclinations and with the heated asphalt surface.

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Primate Studies in an Ergological Perspective

Morihiko OKADA

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 201-202
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: June 28, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.201

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Threshold Limit of Clothing Pressure

Teruko TAMURA

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 202-203
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: June 28, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.202

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Place of the Amateur in Biological Study of Man

Atsushi HAYAMI

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 203-204
Published: December 15, 1973
Released on J-STAGE: June 28, 2010

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.203

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ERRATA

1973 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 204
Published: 1973
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2011

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11183/jhe1972.2.2_204

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