Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Background: School children are mostly affected by diarrhoeal and respiratory infections and these are related to lack of proper hand washing. For children to be able to practice proper hand washing, they must have the knowledge and necessary resources to practice hand washing. The study’s purpose was therefore to establish the knowledge and practice of hand washing among primary school children. Purpose: The study’s aim was to assess the knowledge and practices of hand washing among primary school children in Kweneng Central Sub-District. Methods: A quantitative approach using a self-administered structured questionnaire to collect data regarding knowledge and practices on hand washing among primary school children was used. An observation checklist was also used to assess the practice of hand washing among primary school children. A stratified random sampling method was used to come up with a sample size of 330. SPSS 24.0 version was used to analyse the data. Results: The study revealed that the majority of primary school children had knowledge on hand washing but lacked proper hand washing practices. The results also showed that hand washing knowledge and practice among primary school children had no association with their age and gender. However, there was association between washing hands after going to the toilet and gender as well as the availability of bucket/basin to wash hands and gender. Conclusion: Children spend much of their day time at school; therefore schools are the right institutions to impart hand washing information and emphasise the importance of hand washing to the children. The availability of facilities such as clean water and soap are paramount to the facilitation of hand washing among primary school children and as such should be adequately provided in schools. Keywords: Hand washing, knowledge, practice, children, primary school.

The work presented in this dissertation was focused on developing an affordable, automated, upper extremity exercise system suitable for individuals with stroke and spinal cord injury (SCI). The three studies presented in this thesis demonstrated the efficacy of functional electrical stimulation-assisted exercise therapy (FES-ET). Furthermore a protocol was developed to implement FES-ET in participants homes via tele-rehabilitation. The protocol included the use of an improved version of the bionic glove, an FES device that enhanced hand grasp and release in SCI individuals in combination with a custom-built workstation that enabled task-oriented rehabilitation in the home setting, supervised over the Internet. In the course of these studies, an objective hand function assessment tool was developed to complement tele-supervised FES-ET and provide the therapist with an unbiased evaluation of the participants impairment. A major section of this dissertation is concerned with the development and testing of a novel exercise workstation named the ReJoyce (Rehabilitation Joystick for Computer Exercise), that can assess hand function electronically. The ReJoyce is an instrumented workstation that provides standardized upper extremity rehabilitation based on ADLs, in the guise of computer games played by manipulating attachments on the device. The three studies presented in this thesis focus on the scientific merits and the logistics of providing tele-supervised FES-ET with this workstation. The first study demonstrated the feasibility of treating and assessing individuals on the workstation who had recently suffered a stroke. The second study explored the relationship between the quantitative assessment of hand function with the workstation and two widely-used clinical tests. The last study involved daily, tele-supervised FES-ET or conventional exercises and therapeutic electrical stimulation (TES), maintained for 6 weeks, with SCI participants spread out over a large geographical area. FES-ET performed with the workstation resulted in statistically significant and clinically important improvements in hand function that were greater than those produced by the more conventional protocol. The results demonstrated the importance of including a range of exercises aimed at improving both strength and dexterity. It is concluded that tele-supervised FES-ET on a standardized workstation is feasible, effective and affordable in the current healthcare settin

People began to interact with their own environment since their birth. Their main organs to sense their surroundings are their hands, and this is the most natural way of interaction in human-human interactions. The goal of this dissertation is to enable users to employ their hands in interaction with computers similar to human-human interaction. Using hands in the computer interaction increases both the naturalness of computer usage and the speed of interaction. One way of accomplishing this goal is to utilize computer vision methods to develop hand interfaces. In this study, a regular, low-cost camera is used for image acquisition, and the images from camera are processed by our novel vision system to detect user intention. The contributions are (i) a method for interacting with a screen without touching in a distributed computer system is proposed, (ii) a benchmark of four hand shape representation methods is performed using a comprehensive hand shape video database, and (iii) a vison-based hand interface is designed for an application that queries a video database system, and its usability and performances are also assessed by a group of test users to determine its suitability for the application.

No description available.

<p>This master thesis was made at the Institute of Technology Stockholm and is a part of a robot hand project called 10-X with the aim to develop a low-cost robot hand that is light and strong.</p><p>The project specification is to further improve the ability to control the robot hand in a user friendly way. This has been done by implementing a controller, earlier used and developed at KTH, which is intuitive and easy to customize after the needs in different kinds of grasps. To make the controller easy to use an user interface has been made.</p><p>Before the implementation of the controller was made on the real hand it was tested and development on a simulation created in MATLAB/simulink with help from a graphic physics engine called GraspIt! The movement of the robot finger is effected of the force from a leaf spring and a tendon that bends the finger. Also the finger is exposed of contact forces and all these components had to be modeled in the simulation to make the finger act properly.</p> / <p>Detta examensarbete är genomfört på KTH Stockholm och är en del av ett projekt, kallat 10-X, vars syfte är att utveckla och ta fram en robothand som är lätt och stark samtidigt som den är billig.</p><p>Projektets målsättning är att vidare förbättra och utveckla möjligheten att kontrollera robothanden på ett användarvänligt sätt. Detta har gjorts genom att implementera en regulator, tidigare utvecklad och använd på KTH, som är instruktiv och lätt att anpassa efter olika typer av grepp. För att göra regulatorn enkel att använda har ett användargränssnitt skapats.</p><p>Innan regulatorn implementerades på den riktiga robothanden utvecklades och testades den på en simuleringsmodell, skapad i MATLAB/simulink med hjälp av en grafisk fysikmotor GraspIt! Rörelsen hos ett robotfinger påverkas av krafter från en bladfjäder och den lina som böjer fingret. Fingret utsätts också för kontaktkrafter och alla dessa komponenter blev modellerade i simulatorn för att få fingret att bete sig korrekt.</p>

I dagens digitala samhälle har sociala medier blivit en allt mer självklar del i vardagen för många människor. Näthandeln växer för varje år som går medan den fysiska detaljhandeln går allt sämre, därför är det viktigt för den renodlade fysiska butiken att synas även på internet för att påminna kunderna om att de finns. För de företag som inte väljer att ha en webbshop är sociala medier en möjlighet att vara närvarande dygnet runt och kommunicera med sina kunder på internet. En grupp butiker som har svårt att sälja sina produkter över internet är second hand butiker, eftersom de oftast bara har ett exemplar av varje produkt. Så frågan är om man kan använda sig av sociala medier för att lyfta fram second hand butikens breda sortiment och kommunicera butikskonceptets principiella fördelar för att locka nya kunder? Och hur kan man göra detta på bästa sätt? Som metod har vi valt att genomföra en aktivt deltagande observation. Vi har under fyra veckors tid drivit Myrorna i Borås Instagramkonto. Där har vi publicerat inlägg på kontot en till fyra gånger om dagen och visat olika produkter, avdelningar i butiken, kampanjer och berättat om verksamheten. Vi har under vår undersökning tagit reda på hur snabbt man kan skapa trafik på ett Instagramkonto, om en ökad närvaro på sociala medier ökar antalet kundbesök i butiken, vilka inlägg som ger bäst respons och om antalet inlägg per dag påverkar antalet gillningar. Resultatet vi har kommit fram till är att man relativt fort kan skapa trafik via sociala medier. Följare och gillningar var det som var lättast att få medan kommentarer var lite svårare. När det kommer till ökade kundbesök anser vi att det krävs en längre undersökningsperiod då antalet skilde sig marginellt gentemot förra året. De kundbaserade inläggen och personalinläggen visade högst engagemang på kontot. I vår undersökning fick vi fram att de dagar vi la ut tre stycken inlägg gav bäst respons och det dagar vi la ut ett inlägg gav sämst respons. Det visar att fler inlägg per dag inte betyder att engagemanget minskar. / In today's digital society social media has become obvious for many people in their everyday life. Online shopping is growing while the physical stores are deteriorating. As e-commerce takes a larger space of the market, it becomes more important for the pure physical store to be seen even on the internet to remind customers that they exist. For those companies that do not choose to have an online store, social media is an opportunity to be present 24 hours a day and communicate with their customers on the Internet. Second hand stores have difficulties selling products over the internet since they usually only have one copy of each product. So the question is whether you can use social media to highlight second hand store's wide product range and communicate the store concept's principal advantages to attract new customers? And which way is the most effective to do this? The method we have chosen is an active participant observation. During four weeks we have taken care of Myrorna i Borås Instagram account. We have published posts on the account one to four times a day and have shown the various products, departments in the store, promotions, and information about the company. In our research we have investigated how quickly you can create engagement on Instagram, if an increased presence in social media increases the number of customer visits, which type of posts provide the best response and how the number of posts per day affect the number of likes. The result we have reached is that we after a short amount of time could create traffic on social media. Followers and likes, was rather easy to get while the comments were a little more difficult. When it comes to increase the customer visits in store, we think it requires a longer period of research since the number of customers were only marginally improved. The customer-based posts and staff-based posts showed maximum response on the account. We found out that the days when we uploaded three posts we got a higher engagement than the days we only uploaded one post. It shows that more posts per day do not mean fewer likes per post.

Background: A computer game based Telerehabilitation platform has been developed to provide a seamless system for hand exercise and assessment in home settings for people with arthritis. The exercise program involves task-oriented training of real life object manipulation tasks performed with computer gaming. The platform will also be integrated with a telemonitoring, computer game based hand function assessment application. Objectives: 1) To determine test-retest reliability and convergent validity of the assessment application protocol in people with rheumatoid arthritis or hand osteoarthritis, 2) To conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial for assessing the feasibility, and therapeutic effects of the task-oriented training compared to conventional hand exercises, and 3) To qualitatively evaluate participants’ experiences on their respective exercise programs. Methods: Performance during three different object manipulation tasks was evaluated by the assessment application protocol on 40 people with arthritis. The performance measures were correlated with other common hand function measures. A six-week pilot randomized trial was conducted on 16 individuals with arthritis. The Arthritis Hand Function Test (AHFT), the Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, exercise compliance and task performance during three object manipulation tasks were the clinical outcomes. Focus group interviews were conducted on seven participants who had before received their home exercise programs. Results: The protocol demonstrated moderate to high test-retest reliability (ICCs between 0.5-0.84) of performance measures. Spearman correlation coefficients (rho) between task performance measures and other measures of hand function were low to moderate (0.4 < rho < 0.5 to 0.7). The pilot trial was not successful in terms of participant recruitment but demonstrated feasibility of study procedures, resources, and management. Except for two dexterity sub-scales of the AHFT, there were no significant differences in other clinical measures. Exercise compliance was >85% in both groups. The qualitative study provided initial evidence on the appropriateness, acceptance, perceived benefits, and a few practical difficulties in performing each exercise program. Conclusions: The hand function assessment application warrants validation in a variety of object manipulation tasks and in different patient populations. In order to proceed to a full-fledged trial, additional recruitment strategies, and revisions in the inclusion criteria must be considered. / February 2015

This master thesis was made at the Institute of Technology Stockholm and is a part of a robot hand project called 10-X with the aim to develop a low-cost robot hand that is light and strong. The project specification is to further improve the ability to control the robot hand in a user friendly way. This has been done by implementing a controller, earlier used and developed at KTH, which is intuitive and easy to customize after the needs in different kinds of grasps. To make the controller easy to use an user interface has been made. Before the implementation of the controller was made on the real hand it was tested and development on a simulation created in MATLAB/simulink with help from a graphic physics engine called GraspIt! The movement of the robot finger is effected of the force from a leaf spring and a tendon that bends the finger. Also the finger is exposed of contact forces and all these components had to be modeled in the simulation to make the finger act properly. / Detta examensarbete är genomfört på KTH Stockholm och är en del av ett projekt, kallat 10-X, vars syfte är att utveckla och ta fram en robothand som är lätt och stark samtidigt som den är billig. Projektets målsättning är att vidare förbättra och utveckla möjligheten att kontrollera robothanden på ett användarvänligt sätt. Detta har gjorts genom att implementera en regulator, tidigare utvecklad och använd på KTH, som är instruktiv och lätt att anpassa efter olika typer av grepp. För att göra regulatorn enkel att använda har ett användargränssnitt skapats. Innan regulatorn implementerades på den riktiga robothanden utvecklades och testades den på en simuleringsmodell, skapad i MATLAB/simulink med hjälp av en grafisk fysikmotor GraspIt! Rörelsen hos ett robotfinger påverkas av krafter från en bladfjäder och den lina som böjer fingret. Fingret utsätts också för kontaktkrafter och alla dessa komponenter blev modellerade i simulatorn för att få fingret att bete sig korrekt.

No description available.

Introduction: Garment work is repetitive and detailed and requires constant use of the hands. It is no surprise that garment workers are at high risk for developing repetitive strain injuries (RSI’s) (MFL Occupational Health Centre, 1999). Work-related upper limb disorders, popularly known as RSI’s, affect over 370,000 people in Great Britain with 86,000 new cases recorded in 2010. This costs employers almost £300 million in lost working time, sick pay and administration (The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, 2007). There is however no statistics documented on RSI’s among garment workers found for South Africa. Aim: To determine the prevalence of signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and de Quervains tenosynovitis. Method: A study using quantitative data was used. A validated questionnaire consisting of open-ended and closed questions was utilized. Data was collected from two hundred subjects of varying age, gender and ethnic group. Information on signs and symptoms and possible risk factors of RSI’s were obtained. The visual analogue scale was used to assess pain, a goniometer to measure active range of movement, the Phalens test, Reverse Phalens test and Finkelsteins test was used to assess the signs and symptoms of the two occupational repetitive strain disorders. Data analysis: All data was captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 15). Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, proportions, median, mode and interquartile range was used to summarize the data. Pearson’s Chi Square tests and Fishers Exact tests were used to test for association between two categorical variables. Independent Samples t-tests were used for the difference in age distribution between participants that presented with carpal tunnel syndrome and de Quervains tenosynovitis and of those who did not present with them. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Bar graphs, tables and pie charts were used to depict the results. Results/Discussion: The results of this study indicated that 59% of participants presented with signs and symptoms of de Quervains tenosynovitis and 63% of participants presented with signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. The prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome and de Quervains tenosynovitis was 42% and 43% respectively among garment workers in the eThekwini district. In addition, 100% of participants stated that they work under the following conditions, applying weight through the arms, repeated movement, work with their arms in unsupported positions, fast hand movements and holding or grasping for more than 2 hours continuously per day. Seventy two and a half percent of participants stated that their work entailed using vibratory tools for prolonged hours. Pearson’s Chi Square tests showed no association of use of vibratory tools to de Quervains tenosynovitis (P=0.666) or to carpal tunnel syndrome. This is inconsistent with the findings of the study completed by Leclerc et al. (1998) who stated that different dimensions of exposure to physical workload are widely recognised as risk factors. These risk factors include rapid hand motions, repetitive bending and twisting of the hands and the wrist, fast work pace, repetitive grasping with the fingers, mechanical stress at the base of the palm and the palm and the use of vibratory tools (Leclerc et al. 1998). Conclusion: This study has identified the prevalence of signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and de Quervains tenosynovitis among garment workers. It has also shown that a significant percentage of garment workers presented with symptoms of burning, tingling, itching and numbness in their hands as well as feelings of swollen and ‘useless’ hands. A significant number presented with functional limitations to certain activities of daily living suggestive of the presence of carpal tunnel syndrome. De Quervains tenosynovitis was indicated when a significant number of participants presented with pain, tenderness or swelling over the radial aspect of the wrist as well as functional limitations to certain activities of daily living. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2012.