A body-shaped lumbar-sacral support for improving car-seat comfort

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (s1) ◽  
pp. S129-S138
Author(s):  
Alessandro Naddeo ◽  
Liliana Di Brigida ◽  
Carlotta Fontana ◽  
Jessica Montese ◽  
Manuel Quartuccia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Models ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Interface Pressure ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Subjective Data ◽  
Car Seat ◽  
Statistical Correlations ◽  
Body Regions ◽  
Seat Comfort ◽  
Comfort Perception

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, the ergonomic study of the driving position is a critical aspect of automotive design. Indeed, due to the rising needs on the market, one focus for car industries is to improve the perceived comfort related to the cars’ interior. Driving a car for a prolonged time could cause complaints in some body-regions, especially in the lumbar-sacral area. Thus, special lumbar-sacral supports for driver seat has been proposed for reducing this kind of complaints. OBJECTIVE: Development of two virtual and physical models of lumbar-sacral support for improving both the lumbar/sacral and overall perceived comfort while driving. METHODS: Two prototypes of lumbar/sacral support have been realized: the first one was integrated into the seat, and the second one was shaped as a removable pillow (removable support). Fifty participants were asked to rate the perceived comfort in lab tests performed on a seating-buck by comparing three configurations (5 min each): a standard seat, seat with the removable support, seat with integrated support. Subjective data (by questionnaires) and objective data (interface pressure between backrest and driver) have been acquired and statistically processed. In addition, real driving tests have been performed to test the actual performance of the removable support in term of perceived comfort comparing it with the standard seat. RESULTS: Statistical correlations between subjective and objective data showed interesting results in comfort improvement through the adopted solutions. Real driving tests showed an improvement in comfort perception with the lumbar-sacral support towards the standard seat. CONCLUSIONS: Thanks to the virtual prototyping and the application of previous knowledge, coming from literature and experience, a solution for improving the overall comfort and reduce the lumbar/sacral pain while driving has been developed, tested, and assessed.

scholarly journals Estimation of Determinants of Farmland Abandonment and Its Data Problems

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 596
Author(s):  
Shinichi Kitano
Keyword(s):  
Census Data ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Farmland Abandonment ◽  
Subjective Data ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Abandoned Farmland ◽  
The Impact

Abandoned farmland is particularly problematic in developed countries where agriculture has a comparative disadvantage in terms of effective use of land resources invested over time. While many studies have estimated the causes of these problems, few have discussed in detail the impact of data characteristics and accuracy on the estimation results. In this study, issues related to the underlying data and the estimation of the determinants of farmland abandonment were examined. Most previous studies on farmland abandonment in Japan have used census data as the basis of their analyses. However, census data are recorded subjectively by farmers. To address this, surveys of abandoned farmland are being conducted by a third party, and the results are compiled into a geographic information system (GIS) database. Two types of datasets (subjective census data and objective GIS data) were examined for their estimation performance. Although the two sets of data are correlated, there are considerable differences between them. Subjective variables are compatible with subjective data, and objective variables are compatible with objective data (meaning that parameters are easily identified). Original data for analysis, such as policy variables, are compatible with objective data. In policy evaluation research, attention should be paid to objective data collection.

School combo-desk comfort assessment: A method for weighing postural factors that affect the overall perceived comfort

Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (s1) ◽  
pp. S47-S57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosaria Califano ◽  
Marianeve Cecco ◽  
Giuseppina De Cunzo ◽  
Nicoletta Napolitano ◽  
Emanuela Rega ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Test Procedure ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Statistical Correlations ◽  
Subjective Perceptions ◽  
General Law ◽  
Human Modelling ◽  
Comfort Perception ◽  
Postural Analysis ◽  
Digital Human

BACKGROUND: In recent years, a growing interest in ergonomics and comfort perception in secondary schools and universities can be detected, to go beyond the UNI-EN regulations and understanding how practically improve students’ perceived comfort during lessons. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyse the (dis)comfort perceived by students while sitting in a combo-desk during lessons; it proposed a method for understanding and weighing the influence of postural factors on overall (dis)comfort. METHODS: Twenty healthy students performed a random combination of three different tasks in two sessions - listening, reading on a tablet and writing. Subjective perceptions were investigated through questionnaires, in which the expected and the overall comfort were evaluated; postural angles were gathered by processing photos through Kinovea® software and were used for the virtual-postural analysis, using a DHM (Digital Human Modelling) software; statistical analysis was used to investigate the influence of subjective comfort of each body part on the overall perceived comfort. RESULTS: The statistical correlations were used to perform an optimization problem in order to create a general law to formulate the overall comfort function, for each task, as a weighted sum of the comfort perceived in each body part. The test procedure, additionally, evaluated the influence on comfort over time. The results showed how the upper back and the task-related upper limb are the most influencing factors in the overall comfort perception. CONCLUSIONS: The paper revealed a precise and straightforward analysis method that can be easily repeated for other design applications. Obtained results can suggest to designers easy solution to re-design the combo-desk.

scholarly journals Interface pressure and the prediction of car seat discomfort

1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane E. Gyi ◽  
J.Mark Porter
Keyword(s):  
Interface Pressure ◽  
Car Seat

Sitting and Standing Postural Analysis Through Car Seat Comfort Considerations

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Brazier ◽  
Cristina Brianso ◽  
Sébastien Laporte ◽  
François Lavaste ◽  
Henri Berger
Keyword(s):  
Car Seat ◽  
Seat Comfort ◽  
Postural Analysis

scholarly journals The binge-watcher’s journey: Investigating motivations, contexts, and affective states surrounding Netflix viewing

2019 ◽  
pp. 135485651989085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Castro ◽  
Jacob M Rigby ◽  
Diogo Cabral ◽  
Valentina Nisi
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Individual Activity ◽  
Subjective Data ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Browser Extension ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Viewing Sessions

The growth of Internet-distributed TV services has transformed video consumption, enhancing the level of control that viewers have over what they watch. Along with the release of entire seasons of programming at once, this has led to the phenomenon of ‘binge-watching’, in which several episodes of a program are viewed in one sitting. This article presents the results of a novel exploratory study focused on 40 Netflix viewing sessions from 11 millennials in their homes. Methodologically, we employed a novel mixed-methods approach that combines objective data (collected through a browser extension) and subjective data (collected via questionnaires completed before and after viewing). This novel approach allowed us to describe the binge-watcher’s experience in a holistic fashion. Results suggest that binge-watching is an individual activity mainly performed at the end of the day to relax, for boredom relief purposes, or for escapism. Furthermore, a binge-watching session lasts for an average of 2 h and 10 min, and variations on binge-watchers’ affective states were identified after Netflix exposure. Participants’ levels of valence (unhappy–happy) significantly decreased after binge-watching; their positive affect values increased primarily after watching sci-fi, while their negative affect values decreased after watching comedy and slightly increased after watching drama. However, the levels of arousal (relaxed–stimulated) remained the same. This study extends our current understanding of binge-watching in terms of viewer motivations, how it affects their viewing experiences, and participants’ subjective affective states. The investigation contributes, thus, to a relatively new domain of research concerned with the understanding of binge-watching behavior of serialized TV fiction.

A content analysis of Arabic YouTube videos for cancer treatment

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-273
Author(s):  
Ajayeb S. Abu Daabes ◽  
Faten F. Kharbat
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Objective Data ◽  
Video Content ◽  
Subjective Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Youtube Videos

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and assess Arabic videos related to cancer treatment to gain insights about the nature of health information as it is shared on YouTube. Accordingly, future strategies for different bodies are suggested to promote effective communication. Design/methodology/approach The approach is to select a representative sample of YouTube videos for certain search terms related to cancer treatment in the Arabic language. In order to identify the search terms, Google Trends is utilized. To retrieve the most relevant videos, a simple python tool is developed using YouTube API V3. For this study, the first 150 relevant videos are quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. Objective data and subjective data are collected for each video and analyzed. Objective data include video title, URL, length, view count, like count, dislike count, comment count and the associated tags. For content analysis, coding themes are defined for the subjective data as follows: video format, video authorship and video content. Video content includes three categories: types of treatments, targeted part and evidence-based indicators. Findings The study included 150 videos, from which 30 videos were not content related; therefore, 120 videos remain in the analysis. Using rounding values, it can be observed that the average video lasted 10 min, had 184,966 views, was commented on 263 times, was liked by 2,295 users and disliked by 148 users. Non-professional individuals (46 percent) posted less than half of the videos, whereas public institutions posted only 18 percent of videos. More than half of videos (56 percent) promoted using herbal, botanical, and other natural products for cancer treatment. The majority of YouTube video formats were videos (52 percent), followed by audio with captions (30 percent). News and stories were the dominant videos, with (16 percent), and other types of videos were mostly testimonials and private centers promotions. Only 6 and 9 percent of videos targeted the genetic and immune systems, respectively. Out of the 120 analyzed videos, 86 percent did not mention any risk factor for the recommended treatment, and 73 percent did not offer the details of their usage direction. Research limitations/implications Researchers need to understand the information that is currently available on social media platforms related to the high-risk diseases in order to design initiatives, tools, and actions to allow an easy effective transfer of knowledge. Practical implications Recounting in-depth knowledge of YouTube cancer treatment contents will allow policy makers, YouTube management, medical organizations, and government agencies to understand the viewers’ behavior of YouTube and their needs to provide accurate and trustworthy information to adopt evidence-based resources. Social implications Creating the suitable content, in terms of health promotion strategies, associated with the appropriate format and understandable language that people need will be one of the major responsibilities of YouTube management, government and professional bodies. The well-designed health messages will enhance users’ engagement and attention to health issues from trusted sources. Originality/value There is very less information about Arabic messages in social media, YouTube in particular, specifically regarding cancer treatment. Thus, this study is one of the first studies to explore how Arabic messages are presented on YouTube. The aim of the assessment is to extract the current status and suggest future strategies for different bodies to have effective communication toward the Arabic communities.

Back pain and car-seat comfort

1972 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A.W. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Back Pain ◽  
Car Seat ◽  
Seat Comfort
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