The purpose of this study was to use EMG data of the erector spinae muscles synchronized with three-dimensional video techniques to determine the body's responses to asymmetric lifting under weight belt conditions. The subjects performed static maximum voluntary exertions and dynamic lifts from 0° and 45° from the midline of the body. Three weight belt conditions were used. EMG data revealed significant differences in EMG variables with belt conditions. Weight belt use decreased burst area, peak voltage, and maximum frequency. Kinematic data indicated a significant difference in the left knee and left and right elbow range of motion when the type of lift, symmetric or asymmetric, was considered. Lifting technique also produced a significant effect on the maximum and minimum velocity of the center of mass. The results of the study indicate that weight belt use is an effective means of reducing spinal compression and thus may be helpful in preventing low back injury. / School of Physical Education

Chronic knee injury accounts for nearly half of the injuries from which runners suffer. Impact and propulsive forces are believed to contribute to the development of overuse injuries, so one method of protecting runners might be to reduce those forces. The purpose of this study was to examine the biomechanical role of running poles by comparing normal running to pole running. Ground reaction forces, tibial acceleration, and video data were collected on ten middle-age male recreational runners with a history of knee pain. Subjects ran across a force plate at a constant velocity of 3.5-3.7m/s with an accelerometer attached to the anteromedial aspect of the tibia. Hip, knee, and ankle joint range of motion and torque were calculated. Results indicated significant decreases in the average peak propulsive force and impulse, and a significant increase in peak hip joint torque. It was concluded that by providing an outside source of propulsion, running poles may be useful in reducing the risk of injury to runners. / School of Physical Education

Safety and health is a basic human need and when not met, exacts costs that prevent societies from realizing development goals. Injury is increasing as a leading cause of death and disability. As the result of advances in public health knowledge and safety engineering technology, accidents and other injury events are often preventable. Injuries result from identifiable determinants and conditions that create exposure to identifiable hazards. By controlling hazards, the toll of injury can be reduced. / International trade and investment can create conditions that increase or diminish the global injury burden. International institutions and national governments face the question of how to protect safety and health rights and reduce the injury burden in a world of increasingly global business activity. International institutions do not yet provide comprehensive regulation for exported harms. In common law nations, liability through formal law plays an important role in regulating conditions that can lead to injury. In such nations, private law can play an important role in filling segments of the regulatory gap relating to exported harms.

Female participation in high-contact sports has increased dramatically in the past two decades, raising concern regarding injury to the female breast and the need for protective equipment. While the use of chest/breast protectors by women is advocated, little is known of their efficacy and effect on athletic performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of chest/breast protector use on measures of performance and comfort, and to determine the mechanical response of the protectors to applied impacts. The four chest/breast protectors selected for study included rigid polyethylene and flexible closed-cell foam styles. To evaluate physiological and comfort differences among the control (no protector) condition and the protectors, female subjects completed a submaximal treadmill running protocol, during which metabolic, skin temperature and perceived comfort data were collected. To evaluate effects on general agility, subjects completed a timed agility test. To assess cushioning properties, the vertical acceleration-time and force-displacement histories of a projectile during surface contact with each protector were analyzed using a drop test method. Analysis of variance methods were used to compare metabolic, temperature, comfort, agility, and energy absorption variables. Graphic presentations accompanied by qualitative interpretation of data across the time history of the impacts were used to describe cushioning properties of the protectors. The chest/breast protectors in this study did not significantly increase oxygen consumption for submaximal treadmill running. Some but not all protectors produced significantly higher skin temperatures than the no-protector condition. Greater temperatures and temperature differentials between the skin and exterior equipment surface were associated with multiple plastic/fabric layers and closed-cell foam construction. No protectors produced significantly higher ratings of thermal sensation or perceived skin wettedness than the control condition. Two protectors were assessed as similar to the control condition on general comfort sensation while two were deemed to be significantly less comfortable. There was no decrease in general agility associated with protector wear. The closed cell foam protector generally showed better shock attenuation characteristics, while the rigid protectors generally demonstrated superior shock absorption. Relationships with regard to cushioning properties changed in response to systematic variation of missile mass and drop height. / Graduation date: 1992

This thesis uncovers the rational and Romantic assumptions about the relationship between objects and identity that are embedded in occupational therapy, and critiques current practice from that perspective. It is based on an initial assumption that there is in fact a relationship between people's identity and the objects they make, have, use and are associated with. This assumption is explored through an interpretive examination of the fields of literature that are commonly identified as informing occupational therapy, supplemented by selected popular literature. The exploration takes a philosophical approach, guided by notions from philosophical hermeneutics, including pre-understandings, the hermeneutic circle and fusion of horizons. The conclusion reached is that people informed by Western philosophies interpret the identity meanings of objects in both rational and Romantic ways. To inform the study, the nature of rationalism and Romanticism are then explained, and the implications of these philosophical traditions in relation to objects and identity are teased out. This interpretation is guided by a history of ideas methodology, which entails approaching historical texts from a new perspective, in this case the identity meanings of objects. Thus informed, occupational therapy literature, primarily that published in Britain between 1938 and 1962 is examined from the perspective of objects and identity. What is revealed is that rational and Romantic understandings of objects, and of patients' and their own identity are clearly discernible. Such understandings afforded early occupational therapists both ways to organise their growing knowledge of the therapeutic application of crafts and the transformative outcomes of occupational therapy intervention. Gradually however, factors both internal and external to the profession served to undermine therapists' Romanticism. Primary amongst these were World War II, which saw a redeployment of occupational therapists from mental health to physical rehabilitation settings; advances in rehabilitative medicine, which brought a reduction in secondary complications and the adoption of teamwork; and the development of new practice areas including domestic rehabilitation using gadgets to enhance function and pre-vocational rehabilitation. As a result, tensions between rational and Romantic understandings crystallised around two long-standing controversies. These were whether or not craft equipment such as weaving looms should be adapted to serve specific remedial purposes, and whether it was the process of making a crafted object or the quality of the finished product that was more important. In the event, these contested ideologies became largely irrelevant as craftwork was sidelined from mainstream practice. With it, occupational therapists' Romantic vision of transforming people's lives through creative activity also slipped away. Several reasons for this loss of one of the profession's founding philosophies are proposed. They include the substantial absence of the professions' philosophical foundations from its education, and the paucity of theory and research methodologies that might have informed the nature and process of transformative change that earlier occupational therapists had observed and reported. The thesis concludes by arguing for the importance of recovering a balance between rationalism and Romanticism. A call to action is issued, addressing change in educational practice, concerted research effort to identify and articulate transformative processes within occupational therapy, and political action focusing on the inclusion of Romantic perspectives within policy and strategic documents.

A study was undertaken to examine the major eye injury problems in industry, to determine the hazards that caused them, and to develop methods for improving industrial eye protection programs so as to reduce the incidence of eye injuries. The study was conducted in Alberta through the Occupational Health and Safety Division of Alberta Labour and the Alberta Workers' Compensation Board. A review of literature was performed to determine the status of eye protection programs, current epidemiological investigations and modes of protection, and to search for historical, legislative and cost benefit information. The project consisted of seven studies which were designed and carried out independently but, together, would provide a wide perspective concerning eye protection in industry. These studies were: a) A Review of W.C.B. Statistical Master File Data - which was concerned with a cumulative review of every eye injury claim received by the Workers' Compensation Board over the years 1974, 1975 and 1976. This included a review of Permanent disability claims, claims for lost work time and claims where only medical aid was required. b) A Review of Selected W.C.B. Personal Medical Files - which was concerned with the detailed review of eye injury claims from fifteen high eye injury risk industry classes. Each medical file was examined individually, paying particular attention to prevention-oriented information. c) A Survey of Occupational Health and Safety Officers - where thirty-one occupational health and safety officers (inspection personnel) were given an in-depth interview to obtain their perceptions and informed opinions on the nature of eye injury hazards, compliance factors, and the status of eye protection programs in industry. d) A Survey of Occupational Health and Safety Personnel - where questionnaires were sent to over six hundred persons in Alberta, identified as being involved in the provision of occupational health and safety services in industry. This included physicians, nurses, safety personnel, and persons in government. Questions were similar to those in Section c. e) A Review of the Minutes of Selected Joint Work Site Committees in Alberta - where the minutes of selected meetings concerning health and safety on the work site between management, the worker, and government, were analyzed to determine the extent of the unsolicited concern for eye injury prevention in companies which were known to have incurred a large number of eye injuries. f) A Review of Anecdotal Data - where several interviews were held with union and management representatives to determine the concern and need for eye injury prevention, and the development of eye protection programs at a policy level in industry. The comments and concerns of many other persons were also considered. g) A Review of Selected Site Visits to Industries in Alberta -where the researcher made six plant visits to better understand the conditions which lead to eye injuries and the problems in implementing preventive programs. It was found that industries involved in the manufacture or use of metal products, chemicals or construction materials were at high risk. More specifically, however, it was determined that certain occupational groups such as machinists, plumbers and pipefitters, welders, and mechanics were also at high eye injury risk. It was concluded that occupational classification and eye injury hazards should be treated as a basis to eye injury prevention. Injuries were found generally to occur most frequently among the young and inexperienced workers, while grinding and welding operations were found to be the most prevalent source of injury. Injuries occurred most often at certain times of the day, and there was some question of the effects of boredom and fatigue. It was found that there is a lack of knowledge and education concerning standards of eye protection and in the proper selection of the protector for the hazard. The physical strength of the protector was minor, however, in comparison to the need for better protector design and fitting of the device to the face of the worker. It was concluded that companies must be encouraged to develop eye protection policies as a basis to the provision of eye protection programs. A plan was recommended for the improvement of eye protection programs in industry. This included the presentation of a comprehensive eye protection program formulated through a review of literature on the subject, and the elucidation of a system of occupational vision care involving the interaction of all groups concerned with eye injury prevention in industry. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

Sun Yehuan. / "September 2004." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-223). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Thesis (MScPhysio)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Introduction: Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS), an overuse injury, is the second most common running injury and the main cause of lateral knee pain in runners. Due to the increasing number of runners worldwide there has been an increase in its occurrence. Runners with ITBS typically experience symptoms just after heel strike at approximately 20°-30° of knee flexion (impingement zone) during the stance phase of running. A variety of intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors may be responsible for why some runners are more prone to developing symptoms during the impingement zone as opposed to others. Abnormalities in running biomechanics is an intrinsic risk factor which has been most extensively described in literature but little is known about its exact relationship to ITBS. Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review was to provide an up to date evidence synthesis of the biomechanical risk factors associated with ITBS. These risk factors may need to be considered in the prevention or management of ITBS in runners. A clinical algorithm is also presented. Methods: A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted. An electronic search was performed in PubMed, PEDro, SPORTSDisc and Scopus of literature published up-until May 2014. Cross-sectional and cohort studies were eligible for inclusion if they evaluated the lower limb biomechanics of runners with ITBS or those who went onto developing it. All studies included in the review were methodologically appraised. Evidence was graded according to the level of evidence, consistency of evidence and the clinical impact. Data was described narratively using tables or narrative summaries where appropriate. A meta-analysis was conducted for biomechanical risk factors which were reported in at least two studies, provided that homogeneity in the outcomes and samples were present. Results: A total of 11 studies were included (1 prospective and 10 cross-sectional). Overall the methodological score of the studies was moderate. Increased peak hip adduction and knee internal rotation during the stance phase may predict the development of ITBS in female runners. These biomechanical risk factors may need to be screened for ITBS prevention, despite the evidence base being limited to a single study. Currently there is no conclusive evidence that any of the biomechanical parameters need to be considered when managing runners with ITBS. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za iii Conclusion: Biomechanical differences may exist between runners with ITBS and those who may develop ITBS compared to healthy runners. Although a large variety of biomechanical risk factors were evaluated, the evidence base for screening or managing these risk factors for runners with ITBS is limited. This is due to a small evidence base, small clinical effect and heterogeneity between study outcomes and findings. Further prospective and cross-sectional research is required to ascertain if abnormalities in running biomechanics may be related to why runners develop ITBS or to ascertain which risk factors may be involved when managing these runners. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Inleiding: Iliotibiale-band-sindroom (ITBS), ’n besering vanweë oormatige gebruik, is die tweede algemeenste hardloopbesering en die hoofoorsaak van laterale kniepyn by hardlopers. Namate die getal hardlopers wêreldwyd toeneem, neem die voorkoms van hierdie toestand ook toe. Hardlopers met ITBS ervaar tipies simptome ná die hakslag met die knie ongeveer 20-30° gebuig (die wrywingsone of “impingement zone”) gedurende die staanfase van hardloop. Verskeie intrinsieke en ekstrinsieke risikofaktore kan ’n rol speel in waarom sommige hardlopers meer geneig is as ander om gedurende die wrywingsone simptome te ervaar. Abnormaliteite in hardloopbiomeganika is ’n intrinsieke risikofaktor wat reeds omvattend in die literatuur beskryf is. Tog is weinig bekend oor presies hoe dit met ITBS verband hou. Oogmerke: Die doel van hierdie stelselmatige ondersoek was om ’n sintese te bied van die jongste bewyse van die biomeganiese risikofaktore van ITBS. Hierdie risikofaktore kan dalk oorweeg word om ITBS by hardlopers te voorkom of te bestuur. ’n Kliniese algoritme word ook aangebied. Metodes: ’n Stelselmatige ondersoek is met behulp van meta-ontleding onderneem. PubMed, PEDro, SPORTSDisc en Scopus is elektronies deurgesoek vir literatuur wat tot en met Mei 2014 verskyn het. Deursnee en kohortstudies is ingesluit indien dit gehandel het oor die biomeganika in die onderste ledemate van hardlopers wat ITBS het of later ontwikkel het. Alle studies wat deel was van die ondersoek is metodologies geëvalueer. Bewyse is aan die hand van bewysvlak, bewyskonsekwentheid en kliniese impak beoordeel. Data is narratief beskryf met behulp van tabelle of narratiewe opsommings waar dit toepaslik was. ’n Meta-ontleding is onderneem waar biomeganiese risikofaktore in minstens twee studies aangemeld is, mits daar homogeniteit in die uitkomste sowel as die steekproewe was. Resultate: Altesaam 11 studies is ingesluit (een prospektief en tien deursnee). Die metodologiese telling van die studies was oorwegend gemiddeld. Verhoogde spitsheupadduksie en interne knierotasie gedurende die staanfase kan op die ontwikkeling van ITBS by vrouehardlopers dui. Hierdie biomeganiese risikofaktore kan dalk nagegaan word vir ITBS-voorkoming, al was die bewysbasis beperk tot ’n enkele studie. Daar is tans geen afdoende bewys dat enige van die biomeganiese parameters oorweeg behoort te word in die bestuur van langafstandatlete met ITBS nie. Gevolgtrekking: Daar bestaan dalk biomeganiese verskille tussen hardlopers wat ITBS het of kan ontwikkel en gesonde hardlopers. Hoewel ’n groot verskeidenheid biomeganiese risikofaktore beoordeel is, is die bewysbasis vir die toets of bestuur daarvan by atlete met ITBS beperk. Dít is vanweë die klein hoeveelheid bewyse, die klein kliniese impak, en heterogeniteit tussen studie-uitkomste en bevindinge. Verdere prospektiewe en deursneenavorsing word vereis om te bepaal of abnormaliteite in hardloopbiomeganika ’n rol kan speel in waarom langafstandhardlopers ITBS ontwikkel, of om vas te stel watter risikofaktore ter sprake kan wees in die bestuur van hierdie hardlopers.

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of compression socks worn post exercise on the perceived rating of muscle soreness. Methods: In a randomly cross over design, 16 subjects performed a soreness inducing protocol. Below knee CG (Compression garments) were worn for the next 6 hours post exercise. HR (Heart Rate), RPE (rate of perceived exhaustion) and time to complete one cycle was measured throughout the intervention. PS (Perceived Soreness) was assessed prior, immediate post, 6h, and 24h post exercise. Results: There was no significant difference in perception of soreness between compression and no compression at 6h post exercise (p=.136) and at 24h post exercise (p=286). Conclusion: Compression socks worn post exercise did not significantly alter ratings of perceived soreness after a soreness inducing protocol. / by Friederike Feil. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The purpose of this study was to compare the protective characteristics of four different ankle braces and one form of ankle taping. An inversion and plantar flexion platform was used to induce ankle movements. The subjects used in this study consisted of 10 volunteer male students. The subjects had no sprains five months prior to testing. All subjects were tested in the same size 10 shoes, high tops and low tops. A Certified Athletic Trainer applied all ankle braces and ankle tapings. A closed basketweave with heel locks, adherent spray, and pre-wrap was used for all taping conditions.After the application of the ankle braces or taping, each subject performed two tests on the inversion and plantar flexion platform. A random order was used among the subjects. An ankle inversion platform was modified to induce 30 degrees of inversion and 35 degrees of plantar flexion simultaneously. The subjects will be filmed using a Locam 16mm at 200 frame/second. All subjects were filmed from the posterior plane with markings on the posterior aspect of the lower leg to help analyze the movement at the subtalar joint. A Calcomp 9100 series digitizer that was interfaced with a VAX computer was used to analyze the data and calculate the amount of angular displacement at the subtalar joint. An ANOVA with repeated measures was used to determine significant differences between support techniques. University procedures for the protection of human subjects was followed. ANOVA procedures indicated no significant difference in angular displacement between braces. A statistical analysis indicated that low top shoes provided significantly more support than high top shoes in braced ankles. / School of Physical Education