Orientador: Luis Carlos Paschoarelli / Banca: José Carlos Plácido da Silva / Banca: Nuno Miguel Lopes de Oliveira / Resumo: O presente estudo apresenta uma alternativa de aplicação dos princípios do design ergonômico no projeto e avaliação de uma assento modular com regulagem vertical, buscando prevenir e minimizar os problemas decorrentes do desvio da coluna vertebral do tipo escoliose: uma das principais seqüelas da paralisia cerebral (PC). A revisão bibliográfica abordou as relações entre design, ergonomia e fisioterapia, bem como os procedimentos de reabilitação da pessoa com PC, particularmente os meios tecnológicos de tratamento da escoliose. Os objetivos do estudo envolveram a intervenção projetual com a aplicação dos princípios do design ergonômico, e a aplicação e validação de técnicas clínicas e fisioterapêuticas na avaliação da usabilidade de assentos especiais para reabilitação. Aspectos éticos foram considerados na abordagem com 3 indivíduos portadores de PC e escoliose, sendo que um deles utilizou um assento adaptado com regulagem vertical, e os demais fizeram uso de assento comum. Os procedimentos das avaliações envolveram diferentes formas de abordagem e profissionais, com avaliações pré e pós-uso do produto, num intervalo de 90 dias. Os resultados indicaram melhorias psico-sociais, ortopédicas, neurológicas e clínicas do usuário do assento adaptado, sendo que a avaliação da biofotogrametria computadorizada indicou uma melhora significativa (p '< OU =') 0,01) nas condições posturais da coluna vertebral. Tais resultados comprovaram a eficiência da adaptação proposta no produto; uma nova alternativa na avaliação de usabilidade de produtos para a reabilitação; além da conseqüente melhoria na qualidade de vida das pessoas com necessidades especiais. / Abstract: This study presents an alternative application of the principals of ergonomic design, using this project and its evaluation of a vertically regulated modular chair, seeking to prevent and minimize the problems caused by the curvature of the spine such as scoliosis: one of the main consequences of cerebral palsy (CP). The bibliographical sources used approached the relationship between design, ergonomics and physiotherapy, as well as the procedure of rehabilitation of people with CP, particularly the technological methods of treating scoliosis. The objectives of this study involve the intervention of this project with the application of the principals of ergonomic design, and the application and validation of clinical and physiotherapeutic techniques in the evaluation of the use of special seating for rehabilitation. Ethical aspects were considered in the approach used with theree individuals with CP and scoliosis: one of them used the vertically regulated chair and the others the standard chair. The evaluation procedures involved a variety of methods of approach and different professionals, with pre and post use product evaluation, during a period of ninety days. The results showed psychosocial, orthopedic, neurological and clinical improvements to the adapted chair user: "Computerized Biophotogrammetry" evaluation showed significant improvement (p '< OU =') 0,01) in the spinal posture condition. Such results prove the efficiency of the proposed product adaptation; a new alternative in the evaluation of the use of the product for rehabilitation; and, consequential improvement to the quality of life of people with special needs. / Mestre

A indústria automotiva exige produtos que trabalhem em condições extremas. O desenvolvimento de componentes é uma ação de aperfeiçoar os motores de combustão interna para que atinjam a vida requerida com níveis de desgaste aceitáveis, respeitando os limites legais de operação, como por exemplo, valores de emissões de poluentes. Diante dessas exigências, se faz necessário estudar componentes considerados críticos que conhecidamente influenciam no desempenho do motor. A tribologia do par válvula e sede de válvula de admissão é um importante conjunto que se deve ter atenção quanto ao seu desgaste, visto que pode influenciar na degradação do motor quanto aos parâmetros de emissões de poluentes e requisitos operacionais de manutenção e de vida do produto. O objetivo foi avaliar o comportamento do par tribológico, válvula e sede de válvula de admissão, submetidos a ensaios em dinamômetro e veiculares (condições reais de operação), quanto ao nível e tipo de desgaste ocorrido no par. Os resultados obtidos foram correlacionados com os requisitos de desempenho legais e operacionais de um motor ciclo diesel, como também foi realizada a caracterização do tipo de desgaste ocorrido no par tribológico e comparada com a literatura específica. Com base nos resultados, concluiu-se que ocorreu uma excelente compatibilidade entre a válvula e a sede da válvula de admissão; o nível de desgaste não prejudicou o desempenho do motor e as emissões de poluentes; o par tribológico atendeu aos requisitos de trabalho extremos, como operação em altas temperaturas e pressão de combustão com baixas taxas de desgaste; e os tipos de desgastes observados foram classificados como desgaste adesivo e sinais de deformação plástica. / Automotive industry demands products that work under extreme conditions. The development of components for internal combustion engines is an action to improve this product, so that it reaches the required life with acceptable levels of wear and respecting the legal operating limits, such as values of emission pollutants. In view of these requirements, it is necessary to study components considered critical, which are known to influence the performance of the engine. So within this universe the tribology of the intake valve and valve seat insert is an important set, that must receive attention to its wear and consequently its influence to the engine degradation in the parameters of emission pollutants and performance related to the operational maintenance requirements and life of the product. The aim of this work is to evaluate the behavior of the tribological intake pair, valve and valve seat insert, submitted to dynamometer and vehicular tests (real operating conditions), regarding the level and type of wear occurred in the pair. The results were compared with legal and operational performance requirements of a diesel cycle engine, as well as the characterization of the wear type occurred in the tribological pair, with the related literature. Based on the results it was concluded that there was excellent compatibility between the valve and the valve seat material; the wear level did not impar the engine performance and emissions of pollutants; the tribological pair meeting extreme work requirements, such as high temperature operation and combustion pressure while maintaining low wear rates. The wear types observed were classified as adhesive wear and slight signs of shear strain wear.

Studies show that seat belt use by law enforcement officers is estimated to be at 50%, well below the national average. The purpose of this study was to explore what may be leading to reduced seat belt use by law enforcement patrol officers while also determining if different types of policies effect the level of seat belt usage by this population. The theoretical framework used in this study was Shafritz, Ott and Jang's theory of organizational culture and change. This quantitative study was conducted using a casual, quasi-experimental design; the research questions focused on understanding what phenomena may be occurring resulting in the lower seat belts by U.S. police patrol officers and what types of policies are resulting in increased seat belt usage by this population. Participants in this research consisted of 38 officers from police departments with patrol divisions. These departments were selected from the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The research indicated that officers may have false perceptions in regard to seat belt use. Trainings should be delivered to debunk some of these myths while also providing practical seat belt use training. The results of this study can be used to develop better policies to increase seat belt usage by law enforcement officers, which would likely reduce the injuries and death as a result of auto accidents. Decreased injuries and deaths of law enforcement officers would lead to decreased insurance and workers' compensation claims that would reduce the tax and financial burden faced by citizens and jurisdictions.

There are lots of elements involved in the design of a car. This study, which is inspired by the brief of BMW group, explores the seating unit of cars with regard to prototypical activities, such as, listening to music, working, looking outside etc. The current study proposes that these external stimuli have an effect on comfort experience and felt emotions. So, this study explores the relationship between types of music and activities typically performed by car passengers and emotion and comfort perception, through performing a within subject design empirical study. A car seat provided by BMW group was used to test the above mentioned relationships. Data was collected through a self-report questionnaire, heart rate equipment, a pressure mat and analyzed separately for each condition. Results of the study show that there is a successful emotion induction by task and music individually, and partly on task*music interaction. A comparison of congruent and non-congruent situations, i.e. high arousal music and high arousal task or low arousal music and low arousal task, showed that differences occur in subjects&rsquo / reported level of arousal. Furthermore, the results of the study indicated that comfort is related to valance factors, independent of arousal levels. Lastly, physiological measurements showed that only task has a significant effect on heart rate, implicating for the complexity of linking physiological data to emotion and comfort.

If you have to wear a seat belt when you drive, are you safer? Intuitively, it may seem that the answer is yes. After all, if you are wearing a seat belt and get in an accident, you are half as likely to die, and 62% of fatal accident victims were not wearing seat belts at the time of accident. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration, the Governors' Highway Safety Administration, and many other organizations highly recommend wearing seat belts. The NHTSA claims that in 2010 alone, approximately 12,500 deaths were prevented by seat belt use alone. Seat belt laws clearly reduce the chance of death to vehicle occupants in a given auto accident. In response to these findings, the federal government has made the release of highway funds to states contingent on the passage of state laws mandating seat belt adoption. Laws mandating seat belt use, along with extensive campaigns to raise public awareness, have caused seat belt use to rise from 69% in 1998 to 88% in 2009. As of this writing, laws mandating the use of seat belts when driving have been passed in every state save New Hampshire. Intuitively, this should make roads safer because seat belts make an accident more survivable. Does wearing a seat belt, however, make that accident more likely to occur in the first place? If a driver wears a seat belt now and I didn't before, does he feel safe enough to take more risk? In this paper, I examine this question using insurance premiums as a proxy for the likelihood of an accident. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 offers background information, including a framework with which to interpret a driver’s actions and a review of the relevant literature. Section 3 contains details on the data analyzed. Section 4 covers the results of my preliminary data analysis, model specifications, and robustness checks. Section 5 concludes.

A forest harvester operator is today facing a stressful work environment with a high demand on coordination skills and effectiveness to run the operation with positive economical outcome. The learning phase is very long compared to similar work.The vision for this project was to transform the machine, through intuitive and innovative interface design, into an extension of the operator’s body. In this way it provides higher productivity as well as user friendliness, shorter learning phase and a healthier work situation.This was realized through the use of prior but yet not market available related research. Through market studies, applicable technology already available in other industries was found. The result is a complete seat with controls for a conceptual Gremo harvester realizable in the year 2023.

This project aims to develop a rear side airbag and to investigate how the passenger in the rear seat is in need of protection in a side impact. It was found from the literature study that the head of children and thorax of adults are the most exposed body regions in side impacts. The side collision test done with a barrier by LINCAP (Lateral Impact, New Car Assessment Program) was found to produce the highest force on the rear-seated dummy, in comparison to the same test by IIHS (Insurance Institute Highway Safety), and that a high combined pelvic force results in a lower rating of the vehicle. The objective of the airbag concepts is to offer protection area to the most exposed body regions. The airbags are designed with the presumption that the occupant uses a seat belt and a pretensioner to limit the forward motion of the body, with the rationale that this enables design of airbags with reasonable manufacturing costs. The three new concepts of airbags were: thorax; thorax/pelvis and thorax/pelvis extended. From sled tests with the three new airbag concepts, it was found that an airbag, compared to no airbag, reduces the risk of injury at thorax by 70 percentage units and the force on pelvis is considerably reduced in a side impact. The thorax bag showed a reduction of the rib deflection compared to no airbag, but a high force on the pelvis motivates a protection area of pelvis. The tests with the two larger bags thorax/pelvis and thorax/pelvis extended resulted in a better protection of thorax, abdomen and pelvis than without airbag. Problems with positioning the pelvis area of the bags was noticed but not solved and may be a task in further investigations.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

No description available.

The high demands of manual wheelchair propulsion put users at risk of additional pain and injury that can lead to further reductions in independence and quality of life. Seat position is an adjustable parameter that has been shown to influence propulsion biomechanics. As a result, a number of studies have attempted to optimize this position. However, due to complexities in quantifying upper extremity demand, seat position guidelines are often based on studies aimed at reducing indirect quantities (e.g., cadence, handrim forces, joint ranges of motion and muscle excitation levels) rather than more direct measures of demand (e.g., muscle stress and metabolic cost). Forward dynamics simulations provide an alternative approach to systematically investigate the influence of seat position on more direct measures of upper extremity demand. The objective of this study was to generate and analyze a set of forward dynamics simulations of wheelchair propulsion across the range of attainable seat positions to identify the optimal seat position that minimizes upper extremity demand (i.e., muscle stress, metabolic cost and muscle antagonism). The optimization results showed both metabolic cost and muscle stresses were near minimal values at superior/inferior positions corresponding to top dead center elbow angles between 110 and 120 degrees while at an anterior/posterior position with a hub-shoulder angle between 10 and 2.5 degrees. These minimal values coincided with a reduction in the level of antagonistic muscle activity, primarily at the glenohumeral joint. Seat positions that deviated from these minimal values increased the level of co-contraction required to maintain a stable, smooth propulsive stroke, and consequentially increased upper extremity demand. These results can provide guidelines for positioning the seat to help reduce upper extremity overuse injuries and pain, and thus improve the overall quality of life for wheelchair users. / text