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Human skin temperature data can provide reference advice for diagnosing many diseases, but current wearable skin temperature monitoring systems have few points and may miss temperature information in critical areas. This paper aims to develop a wearable system that can be used for local temperature monitoring and restore better the actual state of local human temperature by exploring ways to extend more temperature measurement points. This will provide better assistance in developing medical targeting and intelligent clothing.

The temperature measurement system contains modules for temperature monitoring, digital-to-analog conversion and regulated power supply, enabling fast reading of 12 channels of monitoring data. The microprocessor unit is the STM32F407. The instructions and control modes are written in C. The waist area was chosen as the monitoring area because it is susceptible to temperature, and many diseases are associated with skin temperature. Twelve points, including temperature-related acupuncture points and heat-sensitive points, were selected for testing and the data results agreed well with the infrared imaging results.

The waist is selected as the monitoring object, and an easy-to-wear waist temperature monitoring belt is designed to verify the application value of the system. The development of the system provides reference suggestions for the exploration of multi-point temperature monitoring systems and the integration capabilities of temperature measurement modules in wearable multifunctional systems.

In addition to waist temperature monitoring, the wearable temperature measurement system developed in this study can also be applied to other body parts. In addition, the system can be efficiently and effectively combined with various garments, making it a useful tool for researching human skin temperature.

The wearable temperature monitoring system designed in this paper extends the number of temperature test points to 12. The number of test points covers as many localized body areas as possible to indeed reproduce the temperature distribution of the human body. In addition, the selection of test points combines medically relevant body points with physiologically relevant heat-sensitive areas, which makes the temperature measurement data more valuable.

A new measuring system for three‐dimensional video recording is described, together with its application and possibilities in investigating dynamic working zones in garment manufacturing processes, employing a kinematic method. A video recording can be processed as a series of static frames or as a dynamic series of recordings, employing a system for video recording and storing the recordings from three planes (ground plane, side view and frontal representation of a workplace). Static zones are created by movements of levels one to four, while dynamic zones are created with the help of the whole body, using movements of levels five and six. Processing is done using a contemporary computerised system, software for processing video recording and software for image processing. The new measuring system presented works together with the measuring system for the processing parameters of garment sewing operations, and enables the investigator to work on movement cyclograms and dynamic workingzones, depending on the processing parameters,operation structure and workplace designing.Results obtained relevant for the investigations in garment engineering processes are described, with the emphasis on work study and workplace designing in the garment industry – the need to measure spatial values (angles, distances, dimensions etc.), temporal values (duration of the movements, movement trajectories, acceleration etc.). The process ofcreating a cyclogram for the graphic presentation of movements is also presented.

Acute and chronic pain affects more Americans than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined. Conservative estimates suggest the total economic cost of pain in the United States is $600 billion, and more than half of this cost is due to lost productivity, such as absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover. In addition, an escalating opioid epidemic in the United States and abroad spurred by a lack of safe and effective pain management has magnified challenges to address pain in the workforce, particularly the military. Thus, it is imperative to investigate the organizational antecedents and consequences of pain and prescription opioid misuse (POM). This chapter provides a brief introduction to pain processing and the biopsychosocial model of pain, emphasizing the relationship between stress, emotional well-being, and pain in the military workforce. We review personal and organizational risk and protective factors for pain, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, optimism, perceived organizational support, and job strain. Further, we discuss the potential adverse impact of pain on organizational outcomes, the rise of POM in military personnel, and risk factors for POM in civilian and military populations. Lastly, we propose potential organizational interventions to mitigate pain and provide the future directions for work, stress, and pain research.

The purpose of this paper is to present a surgical robot for spinal fusion and its control framework that provides higher operation accuracy, greater flexibility of robot position control, and improved ergonomics.

A human‐guided robot for the spinal fusion surgery has been developed with a dexterous end‐effector that is capable of high‐speed drilling for cortical layer gimleting and tele‐operated insertion of screws into the vertebrae. The end‐effector is position‐controlled by a five degrees‐of‐freedom robot body that has a kinematically closed structure to withstand strong reaction force occurring in the surgery. The robot also allows the surgeon to control cooperatively the position and orientation of the end‐effector in order to provide maximum flexibility in exploiting his or her expertise. Also incorporated for improved safety is a “drill‐by‐wire” mechanism wherein a screw is tele‐drilled by the surgeon in a mechanically decoupled master/slave system. Finally, a torque‐rendering algorithm that adds synthetic open‐loop high‐frequency components on feedback torque increases the realism of tele‐drilling in the screw‐by‐wire mechanism.

Experimental results indicated that this assistive robot for spinal fusion performs drilling tasks within the static regulation errors less than 0.1 μm for position control and less than 0.05° for orientation control. The users of the tele‐drilling reported subjectively that they experienced torque feedback similar to that of direct screw insertion.

Although the robotic surgery system itself has been developed, integration with surgery planning and tracking systems is ongoing. Thus, the screw insertion accuracy of a whole surgery system with the assistive robot is to be investigated in the near future.

The paper arguably pioneers the dexterous end‐effector appropriately designed for spinal fusion, the cooperative robot position‐control algorithm, the screw‐by‐wire mechanism for indirect screw insertion, and the torque‐rendering algorithm for more realistic torque feedback. In particular, the system has the potential of circumventing the screw‐loosening problem, a common defect in the conventional surgeon‐operated or robot‐assisted spinal fusion surgery.

Using financial incentives has been criticised for putting too much focus on things that can be measured. Value-based reimbursement may better align professional values with financial incentives. However, professional values may differ between actor groups. In this article, the authors identify institutional logics within healthcare-providing organisations. Further, the authors analyse how the centrality and compatibility of the identified logics affect the institutionalisation of external demands.

41 semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from healthcare providers within spine surgery in Sweden, where a value-based reimbursement programme was introduced. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis with an abductive approach, and a conceptual framework based on neo-institutional theory.

After the introduction of the value-based reimbursement programme, the centrality and compatibility of the institutional logics within healthcare-providing organisations changed. The logic of spine surgeons was dominating whereas physiotherapists struggled to motivate a higher cost for high quality physiotherapy. The institutional logic of nurses was aligned with spine surgeons, however as a peripheral logic facilitating spine surgery. To attain holistic and interdisciplinary healthcare, dominating institutional logics within healthcare-providing organisations need to allow peripheral institutional logics to attain a higher centrality for higher compatibility. Thus, allowing other occupations to take responsibility for quality and attain the feeling of professional pride.

Interviewing spine surgeons, physiotherapists, nurses, managers and administrators allows us to deepen the understanding of micro-level behaviour as a reaction (or lack thereof) to macro-level decisions.

This paper aims to optimize the stiffness coefficient of the elastic element for a passive waist assistive exoskeleton (WAE). There is a tradeoff between stiffness coefficient of elastic element of the exoskeleton and work efficiency of the wearer, because elastic element affects original bending motion of the wearer and the force requirement of erector spinae is compensated by the other muscles. However, there is no accepted conclusion on how to determine the proper stiffness coefficient, especially with respected to the effort of groups of muscles, not only erector spinae.

In this study, a consumption indicator based on muscle fatigue of seven muscles is proposed and a Bayesian-based human-in-the-loop optimization approach is adopted to optimize the stiffness coefficient. Pneumatic artificial muscles are used to replace the mechanical elastic part to adjust the assistive force automatically. The proposed optimization method is verified by the way of load-lifting experiments with three different conditions: without exoskeleton, with fixed air pressure and with optimized air pressure. Six subjects participated in the experiment and each experiment is performed in different day.

Compared with No-Exo condition and static assistance condition, the parameter-optimized waist exoskeleton averagely reduces muscle fatigue of the six subjects by 45.30 ± 29.14% and 30.94 ± 30.29%, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is effective to reduce muscle fatigue during stoop lifting task.

This paper provides a novel cost function construction method based on muscle fatigue and muscle synergy for passive WAE stiffness optimization.

This paper aims to concentrate on recent innovations in flexible wearable sensor technology tailored for monitoring vital signals within the contexts of wearable sensors and systems developed specifically for monitoring health and fitness metrics.

In recent decades, wearable sensors for monitoring vital signals in sports and health have advanced greatly. Vital signals include electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, electromyography, inertial data, body motions, cardiac rate and bodily fluids like blood and sweating, making them a good choice for sensing devices.

This report reviewed reputable journal articles on wearable sensors for vital signal monitoring, focusing on multimode and integrated multi-dimensional capabilities like structure, accuracy and nature of the devices, which may offer a more versatile and comprehensive solution.

The paper provides essential information on the present obstacles and challenges in this domain and provide a glimpse into the future directions of wearable sensors for the detection of these crucial signals. Importantly, it is evident that the integration of modern fabricating techniques, stretchable electronic devices, the Internet of Things and the application of artificial intelligence algorithms has significantly improved the capacity to efficiently monitor and leverage these signals for human health monitoring, including disease prediction.

Examines ergonomics with particular reference to the libraries of Liverpool John Moores University and the City of Liverpool Community College, Central. Following a definition of ergonomics and analyses of the physical aspects of the human nervous systems and sense organs, investigates library layout and the design and positioning of furniture. Scrutinizes causes and effects of noise and light in libraries. Discusses environmental aspects and health hazards, and examines visual display units.

This pragmatic research paper aims to unravel the smart vision-based method (SVBM), an AI program to correlate the computer vision (recorded and live videos using mobile and embedded cameras) that aids in manual lifting human pose deduction, analysis and training in the construction sector.

Using a pragmatic approach combined with the literature review, this study discusses the SVBM. The research method includes a literature review followed by a pragmatic approach and lab validation of the acquired data. Adopting the practical approach, the authors of this article developed an SVBM, an AI program to correlate computer vision (recorded and live videos using mobile and embedded cameras).

Results show that SVBM observes the relevant events without additional attachments to the human body and compares them with the standard axis to identify abnormal postures using mobile and other cameras. Angles of critical nodal points are projected through human pose detection and calculating body part movement angles using a novel software program and mobile application. The SVBM demonstrates its ability to data capture and analysis in real-time and offline using videos recorded earlier and is validated for program coding and results repeatability.

Literature review methodology limitations include not keeping in phase with the most updated field knowledge. This limitation is offset by choosing the range for literature review within the last two decades. This literature review may not have captured all published articles because the restriction of database access and search was based only on English. Also, the authors may have omitted fruitful articles hiding in a less popular journal. These limitations are acknowledged. The critical limitation is that the trust, privacy and psychological issues are not addressed in SVBM, which is recognised. However, the benefits of SVBM naturally offset this limitation to being adopted practically.

The theoretical and practical implications include customised and individualistic prediction and preventing most posture-related hazardous behaviours before a critical injury happens. The theoretical implications include mimicking the human pose and lab-based analysis without attaching sensors that naturally alter the working poses. SVBM would help researchers develop more accurate data and theoretical models close to actuals.

By using SVBM, the possibility of early deduction and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders is high; the social implications include the benefits of being a healthier society and health concerned construction sector.

Human pose detection, especially joint angle calculation in a work environment, is crucial to early deduction of muscoloskeletal disorders. Conventional digital technology-based methods to detect pose flaws focus on location information from wearables and laboratory-controlled motion sensors. For the first time, this paper presents novel computer vision (recorded and live videos using mobile and embedded cameras) and digital image-related deep learning methods without attachment to the human body for manual handling pose deduction and analysis of angles, neckline and torso line in an actual construction work environment.

Destructive changes in body shape can happen slowly over a long period of time and may affect any person who has difficulty moving efficiently, irrespective of diagnosis or age. Supporting the body in symmetrical supine lying has been found to protect and restore body shape, muscle tone and quality of life for people who would otherwise be left to become static in destructive lying postures. Those described as having complex and continuing health care needs or profound and multiple learning disabilities are likely to be at risk of developing changes in body shape. This article will consider predictable patterns of chest distortion and reduction of internal capacity of the abdomen and thorax with key characteristics for those supporting individuals at risk, non‐invasive measurement of body symmetry as a relevant outcome measure in the effort to protect body shape, the consequences for individuals, their families and service providers, positive feedback from families about the benefits of night positioning, the preventable nature of changes in body shape and the practical steps that may be taken to ensure the safety of the individual. Case studies will be presented which demonstrate that the body is a mobile structure which is vulnerable to distortion but also susceptible to restoration as long as the correct biomechanical forces are applied. It is proposed that therapeutic night positioning is an effective intervention which should be made available to those at risk of body shape distortion from an early age, or as a matter of urgency for those with late onset or temporary immobility.