This special issue of the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics (JOSE) reports the results from an extensive multinational and multidisciplinary collaborative investigation of the impacts on visual display terminal (VDT) work of musculoskeletal, visual, ergonomic, and psychosocial factors. For brevity, this effort has been referred to as the MEPS project (musculoskeletal--...

Sixty female prawn seed collectors and 60 female control subjects from Sajenakhali and Sandeshkhali blocks of Sunderbans, West Bengal, India, were randomly selected to evaluate and compare musculoskeletal disorders and physiological stress. The control group was engaged in domestic work involving minimum hand intensive activities. The modified Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire and rapid enti...

BACKGROUND Changes in industries and work practices have coincided with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of MSDs and to assess postural loading in assembly workers of an Iranian telecommunication manufacturing company. METHODS Data were collected from 193 randomly selected workers in 4 units of the company. The Nordic musculos...

This review targeted all research previously conducted on the topic of musculoskeletal disorders and injury among physiotherapists, with a particular focus on studies that had examined individual, physical and psychosocial risk factors and provided suggestions or recommendations to prevent such injuries. Scientific literature published in English languages was searched using electronic way. A t...

The Norwegian MEPS (musculoskeletal--visual--psychosocial--stress) study included 3 groups: data entry, data dialogue (female) and data dialogue (male). Before intervention, the data entry group reported significantly more symptoms and signs of musculoskeletal illness and had longer periods in front of the video display terminal (VDT) without a break. The ergonomic intervention consisted mainly...

Introduction: laptop bag may be a contributing factor for musculoskeletal complaints in schoolchildren. Several studies have reported an association between carrying heavily loaded schoolbags and musculoskeletal pain or discomfort. Methods: 105 collegiate students were conveniently recruited in this study. Electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded during the treadmill walking at a speed of 4...

The propagation of cracks in layered glass from low-velocity impact of sharp or spherical tip projectiles is observed using high-speed photography. Tests are also carried out to determine the threshold impact energy for chipping in glass blocks and subsurface crack instability in an edge-supported glass plates. The results identify the median and subsurface radial crack systems as the prime dam...

We present a detailed comparative study of three conservative schemes used to transfer interface loads in fluid–solid interaction simulations involving non-matching meshes. The three load transfer schemes investigated are the node-projection scheme, the quadrature-projection scheme and the common-refinement based scheme. The accuracy associated with these schemes is assessed with the aid of 2-D...

Multi-axis system is constituted by the mechanical links, and the link position load deformations are nonlinear. That is an important factor to affect the positioning accuracy of multi-axis system. As the nonlinear characteristics of link position and load deformations, a novel method for modeling deformations of loaded components based on SVR was presented. The 2R manipulator load deformations...