Objective: The primary aim of this study is to examine the effects of a backrest: using a prototype of a lumbar support presented in author's earlier study on the discomfort rating of the body parts of motorcyclist. Methods: One hundred motorcyclists participated in this study, all in good physical condition and with no immediate complaint of musculoskeletal disorders. Each participant was asked to sit for 2 hours on a motorcycle in two different sessions (with and without the lumbar support) in a controlled room environment. At every 15 minutes interval the participants were required to rate their discomfort level on the Borg's CR-10 questionnaire. Results: The rate of discomfort level (in all body parts) decreased over time during the testing period with the prototype. In terms of the discomfort 'break point', participants identified low back and upper back as the most affected body parts prior to comfort changes during the testing period with the use of the prototype. Conclusions: The use of this prototype provides a protective mechanism for the motorcyclist's musculoskeletal system, particularly the spinal column. Therefore, this prototype is capable of providing ideal posture while simultaneously enhancing the comfortability of the motorcyclist during the riding process (by reducing discomfort).

There is very little (or no) information about the riding discomfort of motorcyclists in Malaysia. Therefore, this study was done with the intention of highlighting the relationship of the discomfort on the motorcyclist's body parts during the riding process concerning factors such as body mass index (BMI), riding experience, riding hours, and preferred riding posture. This study (questionnaire survey) was done by using 957 respondents (481 males and 476 females) with an age range from 18 years to 24 years, which was collected from a previous study. The results indicate that the majority of motorcyclists who participated in this study are in the normal BMI category. However, the majority of these motorcyclists suffer discomfort in their body parts during the riding process. It is noticeable that the majority of female motorcyclists started with higher discomfort symptoms concerning the corresponding factors (BMI, riding hours, and riding experience) compared with male motorcyclists. Most male discomfort symptoms were focused on the buttock and upper body parts, whereas the female motorcyclists experienced discomfort in all of their body parts (lower, buttocks, and upper body parts). Furthermore, the results also highlight that the motorcyclists' discomfort was correlated with riding posture. Therefore, this study clearly identified that motorcyclists experience discomfort in their body parts during the riding process. The findings also highlight that the current interaction of humans (motorcyclists) and machine (motorcycle) is not an ideal ergonomic philosophy. However, further detailed study (laboratory and field study) needs to be done to uncover fully the parameters or factors that constrain the ergonomic comfortability in the motorcycle riding process. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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The objective of this study is to identify the direct influence of local income components, i.e. regional tax, revenue sharing fund of tax from the central government, revenue sharing fund of tax from the provincial government, and General Allocation Grant, on economic growth and its indirect influence through the components of local expenditures, i.e. goods, services, and capital expenditure and personnel expenditure, as mediator variables. In addition, investment and labor are included as control variables. This study uses path analysis with six exogenous variables i.e. regional tax, revenue sharing fund from the provincial and central government, General Allocation Grant, and two control variables, i.e. labor and investment. Endogenous variables of this study are economic growth, goods, services, and capital expenditure, and personnel expenditure. Two of the components of local expenditures also serve as mediator variables. The results of this study indicate that the component of income such as regional tax has a direct influence on and has a positive and significant relationship only with goods, services, and capital expenditure, General Allocation Grant has a direct influence on and a positive and significant relationship with goods, services, and capital expenditure as well as personnel expenditure, but it has a negative and significant effect on economic growth. In addition, General Allocation Grant also has a significant indirect effect and a positive relationship with economic growth through personnel expenditure. Revenue sharing fund of tax from the central government has a direct and positive influence and a significant relationship with personnel expenditure and economic growth. In addition, revenue sharing fund of tax from the central government also has an indirect and significant influence and is positively related to economic growth if only it goes through personnel expenditure. Whereas, revenue sharing fund of tax from the provincial government has a direct influence on and a positive insignificant relationship with goods, services, and capital expenditure as well as personnel expenditure, and it has an insignificant negative relationship with economic growth. As for components of local expenditures, only personnel expenditure that has a positive and significant relationship with economic growth, while goods, services, and capital expenditure have a negative and insignificant relationship with economic growth. Regarding control variables, investment has a positive and significant relationship with economic growth, and labor has a negative and significant relationship with economic growth. KEY WORDSEconomic growth, revenue sharing fund, central government, goods, services, capital expenditure, personnel expenditure, investment, labor. Decentralization, both political decentralization and fiscal, affects the outcome of development (Kalirajan and Otsuka, 2012). In addition, it is more dominant in increasing economic growth than centralization (Chu and Yang, 2012). The spirit of decentralization is i...