Ruby Fruit Journal

Ergonomics

what are computer ergonomics

Curve Fingers to Play Piano, Scientist Says

Ben M. Hilberry, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue, and graduate student David C. Harding say their research into hand mechanics may eventually help people in hand-intensive occupations. Pianists were chosen for their study because their finger movement is primarily two-dimensional. Early research with five pianists with different playing techniques showed vast differences in the amount of stress on the finger joints. These results led to development of a computer program to determine finger positions to minimize force on the joints and tendons.
what are computer ergonomics

Full Text: San Francisco Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext) Sep 30, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

ergonomics desk

PAIN!; It’s your body’s way of attempting to tell you something

Sprains involve ligaments, the fibrous tissue that attaches bone to bone. One-third of all sports injuries are sprains. Unless you lose function, you can treat mild strains and sprains yourself with RICE. If the pain lasts longer than a day or two, see a doctor. Tendinitis is a common overuse injury. A tendon, the sheath covering the fibrous tissue that connects a muscle to a bone, becomes inflamed. This pain is usually generally distributed and starts right after exercise. If ignored or untreated, it may progress into numbness and a tingling sensation. The RICE formula is often the best treatment. Pain at a point in the middle of a bone may signal a stress fracture, tiny cracks in a bone that can come from bending it too frequently. The rate of bone breakdown from activity, a normal process, is greater than the rate of bone formation, or repair. The pain of a stress fracture that’s restricted to a specific area may be relieved by rest.
ergonomics desk

Full Text: The Ottawa Citizen Oct 1, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

mouse ergonomics

Getting back on your feet — quickly; New techniques speed recovery of hurt ankles

Despite the strength of ligaments and tendons, they can be overly stretched or torn when subjected to undue stress, such as when a walker or runner slips off a curb or steps on broken pavement, a basketball player jumps and lands on another player’s foot, a skater or skier takes a spill that traps one foot or a tennis player trips and rolls over the ankle while running for a ball. Any of these accidents can also fracture a bone in or near the ankle. The most common ankle injury, accounting for about 85 per cent of sprains, is the inversion injury, in which the foot turns in toward the midline of the body and the ankle turns out toward the ground. This usually results in a sprain of one or more lateral ligaments on the outer side of the ankle. The remaining sprains are eversion injuries, in which the foot turns out and the ankle turns in. These cause far more devastating injuries of the medial ligaments on the inside of the ankle. Eversion injuries usually take months to heal.
mouse ergonomics

Full Text: The Ottawa Citizen Oct 1, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

ergonomics in an office

Are Cheerleaders on the Way Out?

Cheerleading has always been a finely tuned barometer of social change. In my few decades on Earth, I’ve seen the status of saddle shoes and cartwheels and megaphones rise and fall as steeply as the radical and corresponding shifts in sex roles, teenage fads, parental attitudes and political ideologies. Now I hear that cheerleading is entering yet another new phase in its evolution. According to a wire service report from Montpelier, Vermont, there will be no cheerleaders at all when the high school football team stomps the gridiron this fall. Cheerleading there, and elsewhere, is verging on outright extinction. If it sounds as if I have some firsthand knowledge in this area, the truth, alas, is that I do. I was a junior-high cheerleader. I wore black-and-white saddle shoes, bobby socks, a little red jumper and a big black sweater when the weather turned cold. And yes, I probably shed a tear or two at the appropriate cue – a broken bone, a bloody nose, a pulled tendon – not mine, of course.
ergonomics in an office

Full Text: San Francisco Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext) Oct 1, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

ergonomics chairs

Brace yourself, or knees will pay the price

ergonomics chairs

Full Text: Houston Chronicle (pre-1997 Fulltext) Oct 1, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

what are ergonomics

Unbonded Performance

In the past 30 years, unbonded tendons have been used in some 400-million sq ft of building structures and many square feet of slab on grade in the US. Unbonded tendons, used to posttension prestressed concrete, are normally placed in forms before concrete placement. The tendon high strength steel strand is surrounded by grease and placed in a plastic sheath, which prevents the tendons from bonding with the concrete. The grease guards against corrosion and lessens friction during posttensioning. The major advantages of unbonded tendons include: 1. economics, 2. compact anchorages, 3. their ability to be placed in forms similar to those used in placing rebars, and 4. no risk of freeze induced cracks that may occur in winter grouting. Unbounded tendons do not offer the redundancy of posttensioned bonded tendons. The largest threat to unbonded tendons is corrosion, of which the greatest problems are inadequate grease covering, space between strand and sheath, and poor protection of the tendon’s end anchorage. Total encapsulation is slightly more expensive than other systems but should be considered for corrosive environments.
what are ergonomics

Full Text: Civil Engineering Oct 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

ergonomics workstation

A strange Sunday for quarterbacks

* Doug Flutie, the quarterback [Jim McMahon] once called a munchkin when both were with Chicago Bears, made another comeback with the New England Patriots, but the Pats are a bad football team and even Flutie’s alleged magic couldn’t help in a 31-10 loss to the Bills. He completed 15 of 41 passes. Conservatively three potential TD strikes were dropped. Bills’ [Jim Kelly] completed 12 of 17, three for TDs. * Vinny Testaverde, who had shown signs of a coming of age, managed only 83 passing yards against the struggling, unhappy Minnesota Vikings who won, 17-3 over the Buccaneers. About the only controversy the Vikes haven’t had this year is the one that usually dominates – Who’s No. 1? Wade Wilson or Tommy Kramer? Wilson was firmly established, but yesterday went down in the first quarter and Tommy Kramer directed the victory, withtwo touchdown passes. Notes: Ex-Argo punter Hank Ilesic had his problems with the Chargers yesterday in Phoenix, kicking nine times for a 41-yard average and having six returned a total of 84 yards. Ilesic himself stopped one of the returns to prevent a Cardinal touchdown . . . after four weeks on the injured reserve list, Canadian running back Rueben Mayes is eligible to start practising with the Saints, but there is no word yet on whether the tendinitis of his Achilles tendon will permit it. He hasn’t practised since spring mini-camp.
ergonomics workstation

Full Text: Toronto Star Oct 2, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

ergonomics desks

Flexibility, fitness should come first for football player

[Paul D. Grace] oversees sports injury care and management covering at least 37 varsity sports (MIT’s athletics is “one of the nation’s best-kept secrets,” he says). Experience, says Grace, shows him that flexibility literally has to come first in preventing football injury. He says warmed-up, limber muscle with good blood flow is less likely to be hurt. Ten minutes of pregame warmup and another 10 of post-game cooldown “can greatly reduce the incidence of these weekend maladies,” he says. Grace also recommends stretching during the week to control lingering soreness. Grace thinks you should concentrate on the achilles tendon, and the major upper-leg muscles – the quadriceps in the front and the hamstrings in the back. This, he says, should help you avoid the ankle and knee problems that result from football’s stops and starts, lateral moves and backpedaling.
ergonomics desks

Full Text: Telegram & Gazette Oct 2, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

ergonomics pc

Mayes to Run Today

ergonomics pc

Full Text: Times – Picayune Oct 3, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

small computer desks

Virginia Worries About Insulted Clemson, Injuries

[Nikki Fisher] started at tailback last year when [Marcus Wilson] was hurt and finished the season with 329 yards on 80 carries, including a 139-yard effort against North Carolina. But late in the year he suffered an Achilles’ tendon injury that still bothers him; he said doctors now believe it is gout. Fisher began summer drills as the No. 2 tailback behind Wilson but bruised ribs in the preseason and dropped to third. He initially resisted notions of redshirting this year despite getting only four carries in the season’s first four games, but [George Welsh] persuaded him three weeks ago it was the best course. He’ll likely start this week, though Welsh wouldn’t commit to anyone, and Fisher said Wilson promised on Sunday that he will play.
small computer desks

Full Text: The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext) Oct 3, 1989

ergonomic desktop

Technorati Tags:

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »