The study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort among the sawmill workers of Kolkata and to identify the causative factors behind the development of such discomfort. For this study 110 male workers were randomly selected. For the symptom survey, modified Nordic questionnaire on detail discomfort feelings was performed. Analysis of working posture, repetitiveness of work, measurement of handgrip strength, measurement of pre and post working heart rate, measurement of lower back muscle flexibility were performed on the selected sawmill workers suffering from musculoskeletal discomfort. The results revealed that musculoskeletal discomfort was a major problem among the sawmill workers, primarily involving the lower back (100%), neck (95.96%), wrist (87.78%), and shoulder (84.44%). Their activities were highly repetitive and the handgrip strength of these workers was significantly lower than that of the comparison group. The results also revealed that musculoskeletal discomfort was high among the sawmill workers who were doing the job for a longer period of time than those who are doing the same job for a shorter period of time. Based on these findings, it appears that repetitiveness in work, handling heavy load, sustained work activity, strenuous job, and uncomfortable posture might be the causative factors for the development of their discomfort feelings. Thus to ensure good health, safety and productivity of these workers, some ergonomic measures have to be taken as early as possible.

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This paper relates to the firstphase one of a three-phase study. Phase 1 investigated and identified risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in 26 ‘One Tambon One Product’ (OTOP) groups working in the informal sector. Data was collected from 93 participants in Khangkoi District, Saraburi Province, Thailand during 2009-2010. Results of inspections and direct observations of work places and interviews of managers and workers showed risk factors related to posture, repetition, force and duration in the workers’ operations and the application of a checklist revealed that the OTOP groups had simple work processes. A knowledge-attitude-practice survey of managers and workers indicated that there was a moderate to high awareness regarding ergonomics and occupational safety and health principles and approximately 15% of workers reported WMSDs at a moderate level, mainly associated with lower back and shoulder pains, due to protracted periods of sitting. Specificrecommendations in response to OTOP conditions and needs were made. The second phase of the study involves a participatory ergonomics worksite intervention by a number of stakeholders and the final phase deals with an evaluation of the intervention and an establishment of guidelines for ergonomics programs for OTOP groups.

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This paper presents the results of an anthropometric data collected from polytechnic students in Malaysia. A total of 1032 (595 males and 437 females) students participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 18 to 24 years. A total of 34 anthropometric dimensions were measured. descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, standard error of mean, coefficient of variation, minimum, maximum and percentile for each parameter were estimated. In addition, the comparison between Malaysia anthropometric data and Thailand (South) anthropometric data were also presented. the results show that there is a total of 12 and 11 (of dimensions parameters) significant differences (p<0.05) between the male and female adults respectively.

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There is a rapid shifting of media: from printed paper to computer screens. This transition is modifying the process of how we read and understand text. The efficiency of reading is dependent on how ergonomically the visual information is presented. Font types and size characteristics have been shown to affect reading. A detailed investigation of the effect of the font type and size on reading on computer screens has been carried out by using subjective, objective and physiological evaluation methods on young adults. A group of young participants volunteered for this study. Two types of fonts were used: Serif fonts (Times New Roman, Georgia, Courier New) and Sans serif fonts (Verdana, Arial, Tahoma). All fonts were presented in 10, 12 and 14 point sizes. This study used a 6 X 3 (font type X size) design matrix. Participants read 18 passages of approximately the same length and reading level on a computer monitor. Reading time, ranking and overall mental workload were measured. Eye movements were recorded by a binocular eye movement recorder. Reading time was minimum for CourierNew14 point. The participants' ranking was highest and mental workload was least for Verdana14 point. The pupil diameter, fixation duration and gaze duration were least for Courier New 14 point. The present study recommends using 14 point sized fonts for reading on computer screen. Courier New is recommended for fast reading while for on screen presentation Verdana is recommended. The outcome of this study will help as a guideline to all the PC users, software developers, web page designers and computer industry as a whole.

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Acute supplementation of Panax ginseng (PG) is known not to impose any significant effect on endurance performance of recreational Malaysian runners, while caffeine augments the ergogenic property of some herbs. The present study was aimed to examine the effects of acute supplementation of caffeine and PG on endurance running performance in a hot and humid condition. nine heat adapted Malaysian recreational runners (age : 25.4±6.9 years, body mass : 57.6±8.4 kg; body height : 168.3±7.6 cm) ingested either placebo or combined dose of 5 mg.kg^-1 of body weight of caffeine and 200 mg of PG one hour before the running on treadmill at 70% of Vo₂max in this placebo-controlled double blind randomised study in a laboratory environment of 31°C and 70% relative humidity. They drank 3 ml.kg^-1 of body weight of cool water every 20 minutes during the exercise to prevent dehydration. Blood samples were withdrawn and oxygen uptake was recorded every 20 minutes while heart rate, core body temperature, skin temperature and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded every 10 minutes during the trials. Endurance time was significantly different (P<0.05) between experimental and placebo trials. Heart rate, skin temperature, core body temperature, oxygen uptake, RPE, plasma insulin, glucose, free fatty acid and lactate levels during the endurance exercise did not show any significant difference between the trials. Thus, we conclude that combined and acute supplementation of caffeine and PG in the said doses improved the endurance running performance of the heat-adapted male recreational runners.

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The present study was aimed to develop a simple method, i.e. the modified Fox test protocol (MFT) to predict VO₂max in female sedentary university students of Kolkata, India. One hundred and eleven (111) healthy untrained female students of the university of Calcutta (mean age, body height and body mass of 22.76±1.72 years, 163.52±4.70 cm and 53.03±3.78 kg, respectively) were randomly sampled for the study. They were further randomly divided into the study group (n=60) and confirmatory group (n=51). Direct estimation of the maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂max) comprised an incremental bicycle exercise followed by expired gas analysis by the Scholander micro-gas analyzer. The submaximal heart rate (HR_sub) was measured at the completion of five min of exercise at 110W workload. HR_sub exhibited significant negative correlation (r=-0.87, P<0.001) with VO₂max. Application of the computed norm in the confirmatory group depicted in significant difference between VO₂max and predicted VO₂max or PVO₂max. Limits of agreement between PVO₂max and VO₂max were substantially small. The standard error of estimate of the norm was also substantially small. From the present study, MFT is recommended for application in the sedentary female university students for accurate and reliable assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness in terms of VO₂max.

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In this study, I observed the greeting behaviors of 3,008 people or 1,504 dyads while they were waiting for and meeting another person at a station in Japan. I recorded human greeting behaviors and evaluated the factors that influenced them. I classified the greeting behaviors as body contact, wave, hail or bow. At least one of these four behaviors was observed in 43.4% of all. The greeting behaviors occurred more frequently in the person that arrived the second at the waiting location than in the first. Sex differences in greeting behaviors were also observed. For example, females waved their hands most frequently whereas males raised their hands to hail most frequently. Similarly, the greeting behaviors differed according to the sex patterns of the actors and the recipients. These findings suggest the possibility that relationship differences among male same-sex pairs, female same-sex pairs and opposite-sex pairs create sex differences in greeting behaviors like nonhuman animals.

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This article traces the origins and development of Participatory Ergonomics as a macroergonomic approach to Japan in the 1980s. Since that time participatory approaches have evolved to make it a powerful means for ergonomists around the world. Future generations and ergonomic trends are projected using one set of conceptualization. Based on this model four generations can be identified: physical, cognitive, neural and biological. Four trends are projected to become important; one of which will be the need to engage users in other participatory means. This will result in finding an increasing number of new applications based on a finite set of ergonomic principles. This model is consistent with trends in the digital age.

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The Thai Health Promotion Foundation supported the Improvement of Quality of Life of Informal Workers project in Ban Luang District, Amphur Photaram, Ratchaburi Province. There were many informal workers in Ban Luang District. Sweet-crispy fish producers in Ban Luang were the largest group among the sweet-crispy fish producers in Thailand. This project was aimed at improving living and working conditions of informal workers, with a focus on the sweet-crispy fish group. Good practices of improve living and working conditions were used to help informal workers build safe, healthy and productive work environments. These informal workers often worked in substandard conditions and were exposed to various hazards in the working area. These hazards included risk of exposure to hot work environment, ergonomics-related injuries, chemical hazards, electrical hazards etc. Ergonomics problems were commonly in the sweet-crispy fish group. Unnatural postures such as prolonged sitting were performed dominantly. One hundred and fifty informal workers participated in this project. Occupational health volunteers were selected to encourage occupational health and safety in four groups of informal workers in 2009. The occupational health volunteers trained in 2008 were farmers, beauty salon workers and doll makers. The occupational health and safety knowledge is extended to a new informal worker group: sweet-crispy fish producer, in 2009. The occupational health and safety training for sweet-crispy fish group is conducted by occupational health volunteers. The occupational health volunteers increased their skills and knowledge assist in to make safe home and safe community through participatory oriented training. the improvement of living and working condition is conducted by using a modified WISH, Work Improvement for Safe Home, checklist. The plans of improvement were recorded. The informal workers showed improvement mostly on material handling and storage. The safe uses and safe storage of chemicals were introduced among farmers. The awareness of healthcare using personal protective equipments is increased in all groups especially in farmers. Safe home by local occupational health volunteer is proposed to be one effective measure for improvement of quality of life.

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Participatory approaches are increasingly applied to improve safety, health and working conditions of grassroots workplaces in Asia. The core concepts and methods in human ergology research such as promoting real work life studies, relying on positive efforts of local people (daily life-technology), promoting active participation of local people to identify practical solutions, and learning from local human networks to reach grassroots workplaces, have provided useful viewpoints to devise such participatory training programmes. This study was aimed to study and analyze how human ergology approaches were applied in the actual development and application of three typical participatory training programmes: WISH (Work Improvement for Safe Home) with home workers in Cambodia, WISCON (Work Improvement in Small Construction Sites) with construction workers in Thailand, and WARM (Work Adjustment for Recycling and Managing Waste) with waste collectors in Fiji. The results revealed that all the three programmes, in the course of their developments, commonly applied direct observation methods of the work of target workers before devising the training programmes, learned from existing local good examples and efforts, and emphasized local human networks for cooperation. These methods and approaches were repeatedly applied in grassroots workplaces by taking advantage of their the sustainability and impacts. It was concluded that human ergology approaches largely contributed to the developments and expansion of participatory training programmes and could continue to support the self-help initiatives of local people for promoting human-centred work.

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The purpose of this study is to suggest a numerical model for postural control ability variations in children, young adults and the elderlies. Three sensors were attached to the subjects’ bodies at the vertex, the iliospinale and the mid-patellar to measure three-dimensional acceleration at each point while subjects maintained a standing posture for two minutes. Variations in acceleration at the vertex differed among the three age groups. Most children subjects could not maintain the initial position during the trials, whereas the young adult subjects could maintain it. Most elderly subjects could maintain their lateral balance however it was difficult for them to maintain their anteroposterior balance. From the results of acceleration measurement, it is indicated that the scalar of the average acceleration vector at the vertex point could serve as a numerical criterion of postural control ability.

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The present study examined the effects of different knee-raising postures in the supine position on swelling in the lower legs and feet of elderly women. Seven elderly women with no illness-related swelling maintained a supine position for 40 min on a bed under four knee-raising postures: downhill, raising the knees and further raising the feet; horizon, raising the knees with the lower legs in a horizontal position; mountain, raising the knees to a height above the feet; and control, stretching the knees without elevation of the feet. While maintaining a supine position, downhill and horizon conditions showed significant decreases in circumferences and increased bio-impedance at all measured positions of the calf and foot, compared to the control condition. In contrast, the mountain condition did not show decreases in all circumferences. No significant differences were found for heart rate, blood pressure or scores of subjective comfort in any body areas among the conditions. These results suggest that the downhill and horizon conditions have effects on lower leg swelling without causing additional discomfort or circulatory strain.

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The purpose of this study is to develop a driver’s optimum arousal level preservation system while driving. The important point of developing this system is how we keep a driver’s adequate conditions on driving. Most of the systems, which have been already put to practical use, are using audible sound or warning messages on a display to urge driver to take a rest. However, arousal levels are strongly related to the balance of autonomic modulations; therefore we need the stimulation that preserves a driver’s adequate condition physiologically. Some preceding studies reported that the stimulation using the biological rhythms especially heart beating rhythms are influential to human body. We gave a consideration to this fact and made a course of using driver’s heartbeat rhythm for the feedback stimulation to realize the demand. In this paper, we examined the stimulation from two points of views. The one is to investigate the possibilities of controlling a driver’s heartbeat rhythms by making synchronization between the driver’s heartbeat and a vibratory stimulation. The other one is to find out the stimulation that induces RSA (Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia) in order to adjust the parasympathetic modulations. The result of the experiment indicated that the 1[s] constant beat stimulation has an effect of inducing RSA, and the stimulation using a rhythm of heartbeat has a possibility of controlling driver’s heart rate variability, and its’ efficiency might be possible to be improved by adjusting the rhythm of the stimulation to the driver’s heartbeat rhythms.

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Previous research has examined aging effects on response inhibition using cognitive interference paradigms such as the Stroop task and the Simon task. Performance in these tasks requires participants to inhibit predominant responses. Reduced response inhibition is reflected by poorer performance in incongruent trials where prepotent responses can interfere with other correct responses, than in congruent trials without such interference (i.e., Stroop or Simon congruency effects). It is unclear whether such effects increase with nor-mal aging. Balota et al. (2010) reported that the Stroop effect can be a useful predictor of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease in a healthy control sample. Congruency effects are also subject to trial sequencing: They are smaller following an incongruent trial than following a congruent one. The present study determined whether response inhibition was affected by normal aging using the Simon task, with focus on the influence of normal aging on se-quence effects. Forty-three young participants and 14 healthy elderly adults performed the Simon task individually. Results indicated that both age groups showed the same magnitude of Simon effects and sequence effects, although overall response latencies were longer in elderly participants than in young participants. Furthermore, the elderly adults tended to make fewer errors than the younger adults. These findings suggest that normal aging may produce reduced processing speed but it does not affect response inhibition itself.

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Although role conflict management is necessary for the prevention of dropout from participation in sports, little has been known about it, especially regarding Japanese university student-athletes. Hence, this study examined the aspects of merit and demerit involved in their performances of academic, athletic, part-time job, family and human relationship roles. The merits and demerits were evaluated using the theoretical concepts of negative spillover (NSP), positive spillover (PSP), compensation and segmentation. In the research, a total of 108 participants (63 males, 45 females) described information about their multiple roles in the Multiple Roles Map (MRM) form. NSP with high frequency rates (3rd quartile) showed demerit that negative condition in athletic and part-time job roles tended to disturb performance of other roles (male ≥ 17.5%, female ≥ 15.6%). The results of PSP showed merit that positive condition in the athletic, part-time job and academic roles contributes to accomplishment of good performance in other roles (male ≥ 19.0%, female ≥ 17.8%). Compensation indicated that negative conditions in the roles were compensated by satisfaction in the human relationships and family roles and private time (male ≥ 9.5%, female ≥ 11.1%). The family role was segmented from other roles (male ≥ 71.4%, female ≥ 68.9%). Sharing these findings will be effective in helping to solve role conflict problems of university student-athletes in Japan.

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Specific examinations of university students in Japan revealed numerous people affected by hay fever among the younger population, various measures for hay fever prevention and dissatisfaction with commercially available hay fever masks. Questionnaire replies from 1519 students demonstrated the following results: (1) those with hay fever accounted for 36.5% of males and 44.0% of females; (2) masks and chemicals were mainly used hay fever treatments; (3) 38.4% males and 41.0% females wore masks to prevent problems from hay fever; (4) almost all of the users reported problems with commercially available hay fever masks; (5) male mask users reported ‘humidity’ and ‘occurrence of mist over glasses’, whereas female users reported ‘ruining make-up’, ‘humidity’, and ‘breathing difficulties as problems. These results confirmed that many young people suffered from hay fever. Further, we investigated the use of hay fever masks among young patients and the factors that could improve the effectiveness of the masks and eliminate the discomfort caused by masks used to prevent hay fever.

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Workshops were conducted as part of community planning projects by developing a workshop program to reduce the working time taken by preparations for town watching and map making, and to concentrate on community planning discussions. The workshop program allowed participants to introduce town watching and map making by using a geographic information system (GIS). We showed that a group using a GIS would take less time for map making. As a result, more time would be available for community planning discussion. However, there were some conflicts in the memories of the participants about the places discovered during town watching. Producing a map using a GIS resulted in more comprehensive and informative maps. The extra time available for community planning discussions allows a greater number of specific factors to be considered.

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Kaizen (work improvement) is the forte of Japanese industry. Kaizen activities were born in the early 20th century under the name efficiency research. These activities were the be-ginning of industrial engineering (IE). Later on people began to rethink the single-minded devotion to improving productivity. Then the job re-design concept was developed. The main target of kaizen in the area of occupational health and safety in Japanese manufacturing is the improvement of inadequate working posture followed by the improvement of work for transporting and lifting heavy objects. Unfortunately, the kaizen activities under-taken by most Japanese companies are still focused on improving productivity and quality. The know-how for promoting kaizen activities that integrate the three aspects of IE, occupational health, and ergonomics is not being accumulated, however. In particular, the IE techniques should be incorporated into kaizen activities aimed at occupational safety and health, and the quantitative assessment of workload is required. In addition, it is important for on-the-job kaizen training in the ERGOMA Approach for production supervisors, who are the main advocates of IE kaizen.

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