Quantitative Assessment of Computer Inputs and Musculoskeletal Complaints among Three Workgroups

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders associated with computer use are closely related to the level of computer exposure. Various studies have been conducted for recording and evaluating long-term use of mouse and keyboard in computer workers. However, keyboard exposure is distributed over two hands and different fingers and mouse workload is mainly borne by the dominant hand which is with significantly higher musculoskeletal risk. This study utilizes an external logger for onsite measurements of computer activities in three professional groups over 6 months. All subjects include twelve university administrators, eight computer-aided design (CAD) draftsmen, and eight software programmers. Individual participant’s typing pattern was determined by a novel hardware and software developed in this study to separate keyboarding workload in the dominant hand from that in the nondominant hand. Each participant’s daily computer exposures, number of keystroke typing and mouse clicking, in one’s dominant and nondominant hand were then predicted by individual typing pattern and the logged computer activities. Estimated computer exposures of participants’ dominant and nondominant hand were then correlated with the musculoskeletal complaints collected by a questionnaire of body part discomfort rating. Regression analysis show participants’ average daily computer exposure was only moderately correlated with their hand discomfort. Research finding suggests computer associated discomfort may be affected by factors other than keyboard and mouse exposures.

High Molecular Weight Fucoidan Loading Into and Release from Hyaluronate‐Based Prefabricated Hydrogel and its Nanogel Particles Controlled by Variable Pitch and Differential Extensional Shear Technology of Advanced Twin Screw‐Based System

“…The drug-loading technique for the prefabricated hydrogels involves traditionally immersing them in the drug solution (typically an aqueous solution) due to their good swelling behavior in the solution. [2,4,5] For hydrophobic drugs, dissolution in organic solvents is essential necessitating an organic solvent removal to reduce its toxicity and to ensure the biocompatibility of drugloaded hydrogels. Further, this procedure may result in a substantial loss of medication as well as less encapsulation efficiency.…”