Master of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy) / Background: Handwriting is an important activity which is commonly affected after a stroke. Handwriting research has predominantly involved children. In adults, the focus of handwriting research has been identifying forgery, doctors’ handwriting legibility and the kinematics of writing strokes. There are no known studies which provide information on unimpaired adult handwriting in real situations to guide stroke rehabilitation therapists. Aim: This study aims to describe the handwriting practices of 30 unimpaired adults aged 65 years and over to inform adult handwriting rehabilitation. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional observational design. Three data collection methods were used: self-report questionnaire, handwriting samples collected using a digital pen and a handwriting log. Following ethical approval, 30 older adults were recruited using snowball sampling. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: The median age of participants was 72 years. Three-quarters of participants scored less than 4 for legibility on a 4-point scale. A tripod pen grip was used by 97% of the sample. Variations in handwriting were evident in letter size, slant and spacing. Participants wrote very little, an average of three times per day (SD = 1.5) and a median of 18 words per occasion. Most handwriting (85%) involved self-generated, not copied or transcribed text. Participants stood whilst writing for 17% of handwriting occasions. The most common reasons for handwriting were taking notes (23%) and completing puzzles (22%). Discussion: Legibility in older adults may not depend exclusively on the handwriting script that a beginning writer was taught at school, but may be due to other factors, as a person ages. A comprehensive adult handwriting assessment and retraining program should consist of relevant handwriting activities, involve self-generated text and few words. Conclusion: Findings will contribute to the ongoing development of an ecologically valid adult handwriting assessment and help inform stroke rehabilitation practice.

Thesis (M.S. Ed.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1992. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-59). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Kinesiology & Health Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ86295

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-32).

Att reglera sin gripkraft och lyfta ett föremål kan tänkas vara enkelt och självklart. Men för personer med visa neroulogiska sjukdomar som hydrocefalus och Parkinsons sjukdom har det visat sig att deras sjukdomar kan påverka deras gripkraft. Om nu gripkraften påverkas kan det kanske användas inom vården för att kontrollera sjukdomsförloppet, om det blir bättre efter behandlingar. På Medicinsk Teknik - Forsking och Utveckling (MT-FoU) har ett mätinstrument som mäter gripstyrkan och lyftaccelerationen konstruerats. För att detta instrument skall bli mer användbart i klinisk praktik behövs ett analysprogram för att ta fram resultatet efter mätningar gjorda med utrustningen. Ett datoriserat analysprogram har potential att vara betydligt snabbare, effektivare och objektivare jämfört med den manuella analys som används idag. Syftet med detta projekt är att skapa ett analysprogram som kan ersätta arbetet av den manuella analysen och som kan ta fram resultat från mätdata. Resultatet skall inte skilja mellan en manuell analys och den automatiska analysen. Målet är att analysen ska bli snabb, effektiv och vara objektiv samt ge samma resultat som en manuell analys skulle ge. Programmet som konstruerades blev snabbare och effektivare än den manuella analysen. Mätningar på sex stycken friska, frivilliga personer användes för att jämföra de automatiska och manuella analyserna. Ingen signifikant skillnad kunde påvisas för någon av de parametrar som skulle analyseras, och detta visar att det automatiska analysprogrammmet fungerar lika bra som manuella analyser och därmed kan ersätta dessa för att analysera framtida mätningar. Dock är detta endast testat på friska personer så om de automatiska och manuella analyserna är jämförbara även för personer som har en neurologisk sjukdom bör utredas vidare innan den automatiska analysmetoden tas i bruk. / To be able to regulate your grip force and lift an object can be simple for healthy people. However, for people with disabilities of neurological diseases such as hydrocephalus and Parkinson’s disease it has been found that their diseases can affect their grip force. If the grip power is affected, it may be used in healthcare to check the course of disease, if it gets better after treatment. At the department of Biomedical Engineering - Research and developmet a measurement device for analysing grip force and acceleration when lifting an object has been developed. In order for this instrument to be more useful in clinical practice, an analysis program is required to produce the result after measurements made with the equipment. A computerized analysis program has the potential to be significantly faster, more efficient and more objective compared to the manual analysis used today. The purpose of this project was to create an analysis program that can replace the work of the manual analysis and which can generate results from measured data. The results should not be different between a manual analysis and the automatic analysis. The goal was that the analysis should be fast, efficient and objective and also provide the same results as a manual analysis would provide. The program that was designed became faster and more efficient than the manual analysis. Measurements on six healthy volunteers were used to compare the automatic and manual analyzes. No significant differences could be detected for any of the parameters that were analyzed, and this shows that the results of the automated analysis are comparable to the manual analysis and thus can replace these to analyze future measurements. However, the automatic analysis has only been tested on healthy people, so if the automatic and manual analyzes are comparable even for people with a neurological disease should be further investigated before using the automatic analysis method on patient data.

This candidate thesis reports the findings of a study on an objective method for measuring grip stiffness in carton board packages with different geometries and material properties. Syntouch Biotac and a tensile tester were used as an objective method for measuring grip stiffness. In this project tests were carried out on packages with three different grammages and two different geometries. For each grammage and geometry, ten packages were tested. The study identifies that the applied method for the measurement of grip stiffness works to measure the change in grip stiffness regardless of where a load was applied on a package. Furthermore, the method demonstrates reasonable results. Finally, the study concluded that the objective testing method could distinguish between different material properties and geometries of the cartons being measured. / En studie om en objektiv metod för mätning av greppstyvhet hos kartongförpackningar med olika geometrier och materialegenskaper rapporteras här. Syntouch Biotac och en provdragare användes som objektiv metod för mätning av greppstyvhet. I detta projekt utfördes tester på förpackningar med tre olika materialegenskaper (ytvikter) samt två olika geometrier. För varje ytvikt och geometri testades tio förpackningar. Studien visar att den maskinbaserade metoden för mätning av greppstyvhet fungerar för att mäta förändring i greppstyvhet oberoende av på var tryck appliceras på förpackningen. Dessutom påvisade studien rimliga resultat. I studien kom författarna även fram till att den maskinbaserade metoden kan skilja olika materialegenskaper och geometrier åt, vilket är verifierar metoden.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:20:21Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 vidrichfilho_h_me_bauru.pdf: 1113584 bytes, checksum: 384c866bf4fdb913a86ecebde7460955 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente trabalho avaliou 60 indivíduos, sem patologias, 30 homens e 30 mulheres, entre 17 e 70 anos, totalizando 120 membros superiores. Elaborou-se um protocolo, a fim de se avaliar a força de preensão palmar plena, medida com o Dinamômetro JAMAR®, e a força de preensão pulpo-lateral, medida com o Medidor de Pinça B&L, correlacionando-as com o gênero, idade, posições dos membros superiores e medidas antropométricas da mão. Constatou-se que ambas as forças de preensão foram maiores no gênero masculino do que no gênero feminino, assim como, as medidas antropométricas das mãos. Levando-se em conta a correlação das forças com as posições dos membros superiores, nas quais foram avaliadas as forças não se encontrou correlação estatisticamente significativa em nenhuma das posições, porém, observou-se correlação com algumas medidas antropométricas das mãos, como largura da mão, comprimento do polegar e do dedo médio, assim como da mão. Portanto as medidas antropométricas devem ser consideradas em uma avaliação clínica e/ou ergonômica. / The present research evaluated 60 people without any current pathologies, 30 male and 30 female whose age range went from 17 to 70 years old making up a total of 120 upper limbs. A protocol was created aiming to evaluate full grip strength, measured with JAMAR® Dynamometer, and lateral pulp grasp measured with B&L Pinch, relating them to gender, age, upper limbs positions and anthropometrical hand measurements. It has been noticed that both grip strengths were larger with males rather than females as well as the anthropometrical hand measurements. Taking into consideration the relation of the forces with the upper limbs positions in which the forces were evaluated, no meaningful statistical relation was found in any of the positions, however, a relation with some anthropometrical hand measurement were noticed such as hand width, thumb and middle finger length, as well as the hand s. Therefore, the anthropometrical hand measurements shall be regarded towards a clinical and/or ergonomic evaluation.

This study tested the hypothesis that grip and wrist strength affect performance on wall volley tests that were designed to test ability in tennis, badminton, and volleyball.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(社会健康医学) / 甲第22153号 / 社医博第101号 / 新制||社医||10(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科社会健康医学系専攻 / (主査)教授 中山 健夫, 教授 小川 修, 教授 川村 孝 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Public Health / Kyoto University / DFAM

Complex interactive behaviour involves cognitive, sensation and motor behaviour and may consist of several sub interactive behaviours. It needs to be examined from different points of view. Although explaining everything in one model is not currently possible, it is possible to connect information from different sources to get a better understanding of the interaction to benefit product design. The long-term objective of our study is to develop a methodology for interactive virtual design assessment to study the interactive behaviour and achieve compatibility. This study summarized two experiments which covered many aspects of interactive behaviours in seated posture. Experiment one addressed manipulation behaviour and the hand control design of the car. Experiment two addressed seated reaching behaviour and ATM design. The two experiments are the basis of the advanced study for interactive virtual design assessment. They explored the limitations and advantages of digital prototypes and physical prototypes and suggested that digital prototypes and physical prototypes should be combined to provide design variations and to support human factor testing.